I Love Comics (Blah, Blah, Blah…)

*All comics will be rated on a scale from 1 to 10*

Adventureman # 4

Amazing Spider-Man # 850

Batman # 100

Batman: The Adventure Continues # 5

Black Widow # 2

Deadpool # 7

Firepower # 4

Justice League # 54

Miles Morales: Spider-Man # 19

Official Handbook To The Conan Universe # 1

True Believers: Black Widow & Daredevil # 1

True Believers- Black Widow: Red Guardian # 1

Young Justice # 19

Amazing Spider-Man # 850- This is an issue that pretty much has all the bells and whistles attached to it (See the $9.99 price tag); I know I’ve said that Nick Spencer’s writing on ASM has been hit or miss but the story in this issue was a great story to digest as Spencer really pulled out all the stops here. Yes, Norman Osborn is back as The Green Goblin but instead of the usual “I’m going to kill Spider-Man” aspect that takes up an entire issue, we get something completely new in the form of the former teaming up with Spider-Man against The Sin-Eater which was done quite well and I enjoyed how the story was broken up into three chapters and the artists. Ryan Ottley, Humberto Ramos, and Mark Bagley really outdid themselves as every page was packed with some visual greatness and these gentlemen proved they are indeed masters of their craft when delivering such great sequences in these pages. And with issue # 850 now come and gone, I hope we get closer to the identity of Kindred and that Spencer will again deliver another big story like the one contained in this issue. And let me take some me to give my thoughts on the backups stories that are featured here.

– “All You Need Is…?” by Kurt Busiek & Chris Bachalo takes the readers back to Peter Parker’s college days as he meets up with The Red Rajah, an old Defenders villain who emerges from a mystical crystal called the Star of Capistan. Using a museum as a backdrop for the battle is excellent as well as using J. Jonah Jameson as the host of the Rajah, plus I also like how Spidey was listening to The Beatles while battling The Rajah (Cool!); First off, let me just say it’s amazing (No pun intended) that Kurt Busiek returned to write a Spider-Man story (Or any story for Marvel) as he is absolutely one of the best storytellers in comics and with Chris Bachalo providing the artwork (His best to date) this is a story that you’ll want to read over and over.

– “Four Shoes” by Tradd Moore (Making his writing debut) sees Spidey tangle with someone wearing some stylish medieval armor all while trying to save …….ready for this!…..a dog named “Tina Four-Shoes” who is a wizard (Yeah I know, it’s weird!); This story could have had a lot more balance to it, but since it’s Moore’s first time out as a writer, I think most comic fans will cut him some slack. And his artwork was basically all over the place, making it hard for anyone to take this story with a grain of salt (

was right all along about Moore’s art); Hopefully, his writing will get better as time goes on.

– ” A Family Affair” by Saladin Ahmed & Aaron Kuder delivers the first-ever meeting between Starling (A character mostly known to show up in “Miles Morales: Spider-Man”) and who’s the granddaughter of Adrian Toomes (The Vulture) meets up with Spider-Man. It was a great story but nothing to brad about but at the same time, I understand that Ahmed and Kuder had six pages to work their story in so I can’t nitpick any further.

Overall, this oversized issue of ASM will make any Spider-Man fan happy with the contents within this issue, but somewhere down the line Marvel should consider adding more backup stories with lots of fanfare and leave some in a file (I.e. Moore’s story)

Batman # 100- This was an issue that totally was worth the wait and the hype. I mean, words cannot explain how wonderful this landmark issue was FANTASTIC!! Seeing the entire Bat-Family rally together to take down The Joker’s army was a beautiful thing to see and read’ Plus, the Batman/Joker battle was really good, in my opinion, outranked the battle from “Endgame” from Scott Snyder’s run; James Tynion IV has once again shown what a terrific writer he is when it comes to adding new elements to Batman’s world all while shaking up his status quo and inviting readers both old and new to discover why Batman’s one of the world’s most popular heroes. This issue also carries some epilogue stories written by Tynion with art by Carlo Pagulayan and Guillem March which showcases the fallout from “Joker War”

so this new era of Batman under Tynion’s watch will continue to be an absolute home-run and it will only get better as time marches on.

Batman: The Adventures Continue # 4- Really got a kick out of the modern-day retelling of Jason Todd’s early days as Robin to him assuming the identity of The Red Hood. I know that many Batman fans will remember the Jason Todd stories with fondness but I do enjoy how Alan Burnett and Paul Dini refreshed Jason’s story but at the same time paid homage to the original ones, so now I’m definitely excited to see what happens next.

Black Widow # 2- I really like the concept of Natasha being retired and having a kid AND a fiancé (Plus it was interesting to see both Hawkeye and The Winter Solider be shocked by that);

At the same time, what really made the story so great was that you could tell nothing was normal (At least when it comes to Natasha Romanoff), and seeing as how the surface of Nat’s new life is slowly beginning to unravel will really get anyone invested in this storyline as this could be a sensation spy thriller.

Well, that’s it for me this week. I’ll be back with some new reviews so thanks for sticking around and I will see you all next time.