By Robin Jones
Written by Charles Soule
Art by Javier Pulido
You know something, Marvel seem to be following a trend at the moment. With the success of Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye/Hawkguy/Pizza Dog book and its fresh take on the world of superheroes and what they do in their “downtime”, someone, somewhere in the echelons of Marvel’s office has said “You know something, this sells! We need more books where superheroes aren’t doing superhero things!” So along comes another superhero story without much superheroing in it. Yes it’s All New Marvel NOW She-Hulk #1… THAT was a mouthful.
Jennifer Walter’s, that big, green beauty, resigns from her job practising law for a very unscrupulous firm and decides to head out on her own and start her own firm. Forget action; forget Walter’s turning into a raging She-Beast and destroying her former employer’s office. This is a humour laden, lawsuit filing Walters. This is Ally McBeal with the contrast played around. Soule’s writing is witty and charming, the sections on the legal side of things are fast paced and don’t become tedious or boring and again it’s interesting to see what Jennifer the “glamazon” does outside of being a hero. The premise of issue one is Jennifer up against the legal team of one time lover, Tony Stark, as she is battling them over a repulsor patent. What could have been a tedious and massively under-whelming story is given buoyancy and credibility through Soule’s writing.
The tone is whimsical and light, funny and charming. Soule’s writing seems effortless, and you like Walter’s plucky attitude and no-nonsense legal wrangling instantly. Like I mentioned before, those looking for action and smashing should be warned, this isn’t the focus of the book and all action happens off panel, which on the one hand helps channel the books tone but on the other, I don’t think it would have hurt the story to see Walter’s taking on Stark security robots.
Initially I thought this had been drawn by Mike Allred on a bad day. It is the only thing which let the book down for me. Whilst not all comics should look the same, She-Hulk lacks the style and punchyness of Hawkeye. Some of the panels seem below par, and Walter’s occasionally looks bug-eyed and out of proportion. In contrast, Kevin Wada’s cover work is beautiful and elegant, and you find yourself wishing that maybe they had gone with that style over Pulido’s. More of the “glamazon” and less “She-Bulk”. It’s a shame as it lets down Soule’s work.
All in all, She-Hulk is a funny tale which is setting up a quirky world for Ms Walters to inhabit. Also I understand the charm and interest in seeing big heroes during their “day job” and when done right, like with the afore mentioned Hawkeye and seemingly within the pages of She-Hulk, it’s an interesting and fresh take on the genre, but I worry that sooner or later we are going to end up with a Wolverine comic where the focus is on him being a lumberjack, or an Iron Man comic focused purely on business meetings, pie charts and choosing polish finishes for his suits of armour.
I give this 7 out of 10!
Don’t Hulk out guys, get your fix of She-Hulk right HERE!
For more comic views and reviews follow Robin on Twitter at @Hulksmash1985
Posted on February 21st, 2014
Category: PULP FRICTION, REVIEWS
Tags: Charles Soule, Comic Blog, Comic Reviews, hulk, Javier Pulido, Jennifer Walters, marvel comics, Robin Jones, She-Hulk #1 Review
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Art by JEROME OPEÑA
The team is growing in size, the question will be how can Hickman balance the team and its members and keep things moving along without biting off more than he can chew.
The theme of this series so far is expansion and the first issue hit the point home even further as the team was split in two. The team is growing in size, the question will be how can Hickman balance the team and its members and keep things moving along without biting off more than he can chew.
Hickman creates a threat that is worthy of the Avengers’ firepower, and the issue flows at a great pace as Hickman allows you to absorb every beat of the story.
The Positive
The new threat of the Garden is further explained in this issue through flashbacks as EX Nihilio explains his process to the reader and it’s very frightening indeed, and cements himself as a very credible villain. Hickman creates a threat that is worthy of the Avengers’ firepower, and the issue flows at a great pace as Hickman allows you to absorb every beat of the story.
Hulk Good…now Hulk Bad!
The Negative
Hulk Good…now Hulk Bad! Same old character development for the Hulk and Banner.
The addition of new members is fun and exciting but so far it’s only added up to cameos or a witty line or two.
The Verdict
Hickman is building something solid with the Avengers, but it’s the wait that some people might not like. The addition of new members is fun and exciting but so far it’s only added up to cameos or a witty line or two. Hickman has earned my trust after his time on Fantastic Four, stick with this folks.
4 out of 5
For more comic views and reviews follow Ruben on Twitter at @Ruben_Mendoza and check out his YouTube channel over at http://youtube.com/rubenm33
Click here to view Avengers Vol. 5 comics
Posted on January 24th, 2013
Category: REVIEWS, THE BURRITO BANDITO
Tags: Avengers Vol. 5 #2 Review, Burrito Bandito, captain america, Comic Reviews, hulk, iron man, Jerome Opena, Jonathan Hickman, marvel comics, Ruben Mendoza, thor
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Jerome Opena
Marvel had to pick a worthy successor to take over one of its flagship franchises…and no one is more worthy than Jonathan Hickman.
With Brian Michael Bendis’ run on the Avengers, Marvel had to pick a worthy successor to take over one of its flagship franchises…and no one is more worthy than Jonathan Hickman. I for one have been on Avengers overload as of late, but still decided to take the plunge.
In order for the Avengers to take on this new threat, they must recruit new members from the past and present.
The Positive
Jonathan Hickman handles the first issue quite well, and further explains the issue of expansion for the Avengers. In order for the Avengers to take on this new threat, they must recruit new members from the past and present. We get a great breakdown on all the current members and why they are on the team as well as explanations for reserve members. The art is great and helps to make this issue a fantastic read, great work from Jerome Opena.
The art is great and helps to make this issue a fantastic read, great work from Jerome Opena.
The Negative
The tie in to the Marvel Movie Universe, I understand that Marvel is trying to get the movie goers to get into comics but it’s getting a little tiring seeing the same teams in two different comics (Avengers, Avengers Assemble). The timeline is also a tad confusing because we have the Amazing Spider-Man on the team and not the Superior Spider-Man. The comic doesn’t take time to mention where we are at in the timeline, other than a “THEN” and “NOW” tag here and there.
Hickman’s taking the group to bigger and better places; this is an exciting time to be a fan of the Avengers.
The Verdict
Nitpicking aside, there is a lot to love about Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers. Hickman’s taking the group to bigger and better places; this is an exciting time to be a fan of the Avengers. The new threat while familiar appears to be very interesting and with a roster as deep as the Avengers has, we are in for quite a ride.
4 out of 5
For more comic views and reviews follow Ruben on Twitter at @Ruben_Mendoza and check out his YouTube channel over at http://youtube.com/rubenm33
Click here to view Avengers Vol. 5 comics.
Posted on January 16th, 2013
Category: REVIEWS, THE BURRITO BANDITO
Tags: avengers assemble, Avengers Vol. 5 #1 Review, Burrito Bandito, captain america, Comic Reviews, hulk, Jerome Opena, Jonathan Hickman, marvel comics, Ruben Mendoza, thor
By Jon Palmer
The writers of The Incredible Hulk have been subtly playing with the relationship between Banner and The Hulk since the start of this new series.
It all begins coming together at the end of issue 7.1 and where the writers clearly subvert the mantle of “You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry”. Of course, any Hulk fan knows we would, I mean what’s not to like about a big green beast who smashes things, has been to outer space where he became a father, came back to Earth and got his old adversary so mad he became the Red Hulk?
Incredible Hulk Vol. 4 #8
Aside from all of that, issue 8 and 9 of The Incredible Hulk is where it begins to bring it all together and tantalises us with what’s to come. Jumping a couple of pages in the issue it’s the prologue that hints at the change when it tells us that The Hulk has to “Stay Angry! This is all thanks to The Hulk and Banner occupying ‘one body’ again. Again? You might well be asking that very question, and if you missed that little journey I’d go back and see the first seven issues, which brings up a few treats, from seeing Banner’s erratic state of mind turning every living creature he can find into a ‘hulked’ up version of itself. Even better is the unlikely person The Hulk teams up with to get him out of his predicament with Banner.
Back to these issues though, the ‘Stay Angry’ is to do with The Hulk’s state of mind and how Banner still controls him. We start with The Hulk waking up in a room, not knowing how he got there, surrounded by Dog-Men, and a couple of smashes later meets The Punisher. The Hulk is now trying to figure out what Banners up to and teams up with The Punisher to find Pitbull, leader of the Dog-Men. During their journey and to stop Banner from appearing, The Hulk asks The Punisher to do something that I found a humourous slant on the plot device that’s being developed and works only because it’s The Hulk. Eventually they catch up with Pitbull and after some coercing The Hulk is led to a storage unit and left wondering what Banner wanted with what he finds inside. Unfortunately he doesn’t have long to think about it as he wakes up in Atlantis …
The Hulk asks Punisher for help...
In Atlantis, The Hulk wakes up to the figure of an attentive nurse, which would be a good thing if Banner hadn’t put you there for a reason. Oh, and as he discovers quite quickly there’s something glowing in The Hulk’s chest, he wants it out and so do the “angry fish people”. The chase ensues and it has to be said some of the best ‘smashing’ that there has been known underwater, which aids The Hulk and his nurse to escape. On the surface we find out again that this is another stage in Banner’s plot and at the end leaves us wondering why he’s floating around in space.
I’m no expert on illustrating comics but so far with what’s been in these issues and former issues, along with the action sequences have been brilliant. I can’t really say much more on the art than that because I just find it fits the comic brilliantly and complements the story and arc as it should do.
Can we really empathise with Banner’s plight anymore?
What The Incredible Hulk is doing at the moment is setting up a whole new war between Banner and The Hulk, and feeding us some snippets of what Banner is up to along the way. The changing balance between The Hulk and Banner is an ingeniously brilliant twist by the writers, with the whole idea of who’s controlling who or who’s keeping who buried now, I like a lot. Even more compelling is the way that while I’ve always been a fan of The Hulk, I always empathised with Banner’s plight of wanting to separate in the early comics but ultimately as this story is driving home, these two are inseparable.
You can follow Jon on twitter at @palmerjono
Posted on June 25th, 2012
Category: IN THE BLACK HALL, REVIEWS
Tags: comics, comics review, hulk, Incredible Hulk, Incredible Hulk Vol. 4, jason aaron, Jon Palmer, marvel comics
The hype has built up over nearly 50 years of comics and 5 feature films. Finally, Marvel’s The Avengers make their début on the big screen. Could it possibly live up to these enormously high expectations? You’re damn right it can!
Avengers Assemble Poster
If anyone could do justice to the legacy of The Avengers, it would be Joss Whedon. The man who brought us Firefly, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and, most recently, The Cabin In The Woods has been a champion for geeky cinema and TV for years. Who better to bring some of Marvel’s most iconic together in a single movie?
Whedon’s influence is clear throughout the dialogue; fans of his work will definitely appreciate his trademark pop culture references and very quotable lines, but never takes the attention away from the matter at hand: The Avengers themselves. This could have easily turned in to a Joss Whedon film featuring The Avengers (or vice versa for that matter) but, fortunately, the perfect balance between the two is struck. Joss has quite the history with Marvel comics, he had a run on Astonishing X-Men, one of the most acclaimed X-Men series’ of all time, and his knowledge of the source material is impressive. There are plenty of hints and moments during the 2 hours and 22 minutes that comic book fans will absolutely love. Another potential pitfall would be the film relying on these comic fans acquaintance with the characters and at the same time leaving newcomers and fans of the films behind. Yet another perfect balance is struck. The hardcore fans will still get the most out of it but people who have only seen the recent Marvel Studios films will also get their money’s worth.
Avengers Assemble could have tripped up with its cast. After decent performances in Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, many thought that Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans were looking to be up staged by the undeniably charismatic Robert Downey Jr. Fortunately, each member of the main cast delivers on every level. Thor is appropriately otherworldly, Tony Stark is brilliantly charming and narcissistic, Steve Rogers is perfectly prideful and straight forward, Black Widow is wonderfully strong and seductive, Hawkeye is full of brash confidence and Nick Fury is as commanding as ever. The two that truly exceeded my initially sceptical expectations were Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. I can say, without a doubt, that Mark Ruffalo is the best Bruce Banner we’ve ever seen on the silver screen. The Hulk is perfectly portrayed (he is motion-captured by Ruffalo himself and it really shows) and has some of the best moments in the entire movie. At first, I didn’t feel that Loki would be able to carry the role of the single supervillain. Hiddleston’s slyly charming portrayal of the mischievous Asgardian is brilliantly on display and he holds his own against the superhero supergroup.
Amazingly, each hero manages to get the screen time they deserve. Everyone gets their own character development, funny lines of dialogue and fair share of kicking ass. Even the not-so-super heroes Black Widow and Hawkeye play prominent roles. Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow really gets her big break and demonstrates that a strong woman can hold her own against demi-gods and super-soldiers (another trademark of Mr Whedon).
Pretty much the only negative I can draw on is that during action-heavy sections, things can get pretty muddled and hard to follow. However, it’s the only way a movie featuring The Avengers could be under 3 hours long and every one of the 142 minutes is glorious.
Overall, Avengers Assemble is everything you could possibly want from an action packed superhero movie. It’s so much more than a sum of its parts in every way. It does justice to half a century of source material, is undoubtedly the best Marvel Studios film ever made and it just might be the best film of 2012.
Rating: 9.5/10
You can follow Jack on his website www.jlwchambers.com or on twitter at @jlwchambers
Posted on April 28th, 2012
Category: REVIEWS
Tags: avengers, avengers assemble, avengers the movie, captain america, hulk, iron man, loki, marvel, marvel comics, marvel studios, the avengers, thor
.jpg?150,233,0,,80,1088094271)
