Frazer IrvingBesprekingen

1525

Magik might be my all-time favourite X-Man and a whole storyline dedicated to her and limbo and the Darkchylde is magic to my ears (see what I did there?) I also love the change in art style for the limbo sections that really emphasises the hellscape of it all.

Cape may

3.5 ⭐️

I sort of liked it, especially the art. However, I felt the story lacked motivation and direct appeal. It also felt convoluted and forced. The art was great though, and I loved the various Batman (Batmen?) they depicted throughout the ages.

Overall, I can't say I was impressed. It was good, just not excellent.

Some new characters, and development of individual mutant powers. The art changes a few times throughout the book. Ultimately, good, not great.

This loses some of the momentum from the first collection - there are definitely some great bits, don't get me wrong, like Ilyana's meeting with Dr. Strange and the confrontation between Cyclops and Magneto, but how many times do we really need it told to us that someone is two steps ahead of the team, or that SHIELD is struggling to keep up with the mutants? Chris Bachalo's work is still really good, and is a nice counterpoint to Immonen(sp?) on All-New X-Men, but boy, does Irving ever feel like the wrong choice for this book.

Really wish I had a 3.5 to give out here. The initial "caveman Batman" segment is actually pretty cool, and the wrap-up stuff that ties back in to the main Batman storyline with Doctor Hurt and Darkseid is great (the panels-within-panels layout towards the end is possibly my favorite bit of comics art ever), but the middle witch-hunter/pirate/cowboy Batman parts are just...middling.

3.5 rating. 4 because it has Cyclops.

I love Cyclops and I'm reading this because I'm not liking most of what's happening to the other half of the X-men family, who seem to hate Cyclops. I'll never get that. I'm onto the next volume.

I have a soft spot for Marvel Cosmic. I think it started with the Micronauts. So I'm pretty excited about this event. Definitely some characters I don't recognize, but I'm liking it a lot and the "Saga" comic really helped fill me on events that I had missed.

Banished into history by Darkseid, the amnesiac Batman makes his way back to the present, living out numerous lives and roles in the process. The Justice League, with the help of Rip Hunter, attempts to track him, always one step behind. A bit confusing at times; I didn't understand how Darkseid "turned Batman into a weapon." Still, interesting to see the elements of Morrison's long game come together: the seeds of Doctor Hurt, the clues that Dick Grayson found in [b:Batman and Robin Vol. 2|7395327|Batman and Robin Vol. 2 Batman vs. Robin|Grant Morrison|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RQUoI-8zL._SL75_.jpg|9276736].

Unpolished. Frazer Irving isn't a very good narrative artist. Often felt like an unpolished film proposal. When long character bios are included at the end of your book with the apparent function of telling the story that didn't come across within the book itself... it's a red flag. Otherwise - there are some fun elements and twists, some great static illustrations (among a lot of bad ones, and barely a background in sight - even for establishing shots), and an 80's feel (that I'm not sure was intentional). I'm a big GM fan, and I'm not mad that I bought a used copy... but I doubt anyone will list this as among his better work.

I've never been a fan of Morrison, nor do/did I enjoy his Batman run.

5 stars for reminders of how badass Batman is.

A theoretically good idea that falls apart, like a lot of Morrisons work, in the last quarter, with time travel metaphysics, alternate universe theory and a lot of Mumbo jumbo that really only he can understand. The concept and delivery of a lot of it, was good and the various shades of Batman that we see through the ages is intriguing and leads to thoughts of other spin offs, but the conclusion felt garbled, mixed up and unsatisfactory. For fans and completists only.½

I really enjoyed this. When it first came on interlibrary loan I was a little confused, mainly b/c I had no memory of requesting it but I am glad that I did. The Shade is more of an anti hero then a hero. This volume goes back and forth between the current time period and the past. The stories from the past involve the Shade's interactions with various family members, related by blood and not. All of this leads to finding out how his family is connected to the current plot on his life.

I loved La Sangre and wish she had a book of her own. I would totally read it and yes that does have something to do with her operating in Spain but it also has to do with how selfless and tough she is. I would also read more about most of the other heroes that made an appearance like Montpelier. They seem so much more subtle and interesting then some of their American counterparts.

The historical tales that showed the Shade's interaction with his family were great. They showed a human side that the Shade's human side was never totally lost, and I loved them.

I really enjoyed this. When it first came on interlibrary loan I was a little confused, mainly b/c I had no memory of requesting it but I am glad that I did. The Shade is more of an anti hero then a hero. This volume goes back and forth between the current time period and the past. The stories from the past involve the Shade's interactions with various family members, related by blood and not. All of this leads to finding out how his family is connected to the current plot on his life.

I loved La Sangre and wish she had a book of her own. I would totally read it and yes that does have something to do with her operating in Spain but it also has to do with how selfless and tough she is. I would also read more about most of the other heroes that made an appearance like Montpelier. They seem so much more subtle and interesting then some of their American counterparts.

The historical tales that showed the Shade's interaction with his family were great. They showed a human side that the Shade's human side was never totally lost, and I loved them.

I really enjoyed this. When it first came on interlibrary loan I was a little confused, mainly b/c I had no memory of requesting it but I am glad that I did. The Shade is more of an anti hero then a hero. This volume goes back and forth between the current time period and the past. The stories from the past involve the Shade's interactions with various family members, related by blood and not. All of this leads to finding out how his family is connected to the current plot on his life.

I loved La Sangre and wish she had a book of her own. I would totally read it and yes that does have something to do with her operating in Spain but it also has to do with how selfless and tough she is. I would also read more about most of the other heroes that made an appearance like Montpelier. They seem so much more subtle and interesting then some of their American counterparts.

The historical tales that showed the Shade's interaction with his family were great. They showed a human side that the Shade's human side was never totally lost, and I loved them.

I really enjoyed this. When it first came on interlibrary loan I was a little confused, mainly b/c I had no memory of requesting it but I am glad that I did. The Shade is more of an anti hero then a hero. This volume goes back and forth between the current time period and the past. The stories from the past involve the Shade's interactions with various family members, related by blood and not. All of this leads to finding out how his family is connected to the current plot on his life.

I loved La Sangre and wish she had a book of her own. I would totally read it and yes that does have something to do with her operating in Spain but it also has to do with how selfless and tough she is. I would also read more about most of the other heroes that made an appearance like Montpelier. They seem so much more subtle and interesting then some of their American counterparts.

The historical tales that showed the Shade's interaction with his family were great. They showed a human side that the Shade's human side was never totally lost, and I loved them.

This is setup, but decent intriguing setup. Cyclops and the other guys who were possessed and damaged by the Phoenix in AVX are off on their own being the outcast danger team of X-Men (while Wolverine runs the school). Their powers are broken and they are trying to keep the confidence of the new kids and the first thing that happens is they go to Hell (well, Limbo) and meet Dormammu. Excellent setup! Bendis doesn't seem to feel super comfortable with these characters yet, but that's actually an advantage since he's trying hard and on his best behaviour and not making them all talk like him.

Uh, so, Batman hopscotching through time (and often being found by a nice big time monster). That's the basic story line of this TPB collection. He gets to be stuck in the time of the colonies, of pirates, of cavemen, and Victorian time as well.

Of course, at the same time the JLA is trying to prepare for if Batman comes back to the present, loaded with an energy that could destroy the world or something... again.

The art wasn't bad (though I didn't love the second artist in the TPB). And since it was Grant Morrison, the writing was pretty good.

I do wish that every once in a while DC (or Marvel for that matter) would do a simple story instead of these mind-bendingly confusing ones.

Time travel plus Batman should equal awesome in my book. They're two of my favourite tastes; surely they should taste great together? But I was left kind of cold by this tale of Bruce Wayne clawing his way blindly back to contemporary Gotham through various ages. I read it in the prescribed context - after Batman & Robin volumes one and two, and Time and the Batman - but the larger story Bruce's brief adventures are meant to convey seemed rather dull. Indeed, I didn't expect there to be a larger story, since Batman has lost his memories throughout his journey. Well, mostly lost - it's Hollywood style amnesia.

That said, I liked the (oddly caucasian) early human, Pilgrim witch hunter and old west incarnations, though they had their flaws too: witch hunter Batman was easy to confuse with his rival in their identical Pilgrim outfits, and old west Batman's only major contribution was to be impossibly cool by outdrawing gunfighters using only batarangs. The fragmented story these parts were supposed to draw together got entirely in the way of any kind of interesting vignette of Bruce Wayne dealing with another era: he never does any detection (except as a witch hunter) and seems like a ghost haunting his own story. The tension supposedly set up by the threat he represents - talked about constantly by Batman's modern friends in flash forwards - never feels real, either, so its resolution comes as a let down rather than a pay off.

The Return of Bruce Wayne is some fun, perhaps, and it's not not awful. I can't help but feel that maybe I'm missing something, though, and given my back catalogue of Elseworlds titles has much better versions of pirate and noir Batmen, it's hard not to see this as a lost opportunity.

Uncanny X-Men is one of the several X-Men titles on Marvel Now, and it struggles to differentiate itself from the others enough to be recognized as anything special.

Continuing directly where Revolution left off, the team has been forced into Limbo by Dormammu, who plans to kill her friends while making Magik watch, and then kill her. In the ensuing battle, Magik loses control and the Darkchylde is released. In order to end Dormammu's bid to overtake Limbo and to prevent the death of her friends, the Darkchylde absorbs the entirety of the dimension into herself and presumably kills Dormammu. Not knowing what this will do to her, she travels back in time to enlist the aid of Doctor Strange, but a Doctor Strange that is not an Avenger and does not bare ill will against her.

The next story arc finds the team assisting David Bond (Hijack), a new mutant (who seems to be older than most new mutants), who has discovered that he can control vehicles. They then hear that Fabio Medina's house is being surrounded by SHIELD (they had returned him to his home at his request after going to Limbo), so they decide to help. While Fabio is on the Helicarrier, they are able to track his location, and Magik transports them into the Helicarrier, they rescue Fabio, and Hijack takes momentary control of the ship.

After rescuing Fabio, they learn of a demonstration being held at U of M in Ann Arbor in support of mutants, so Cyclops decides to go and thank them for their support. Almost immediately, a new type of Sentinel, the Blockbuster Sentinel, is there to apprehend the X-Men, at any cost. Cyclops finally understands that they are the reason that the Sentinels keep coming, and decides that maybe if he died the attacks would stop. Of course, Magneto keeps this from happening, and after finally subduing the Sentinel, it self destructs before any information can be gleaned from it.

My problem with this volume was everything was so rushed. The Magik story, rescuing Medina, and then the Sentinel attack all seem to take place over the course of 2-3 days. I may be misreading the time span on these issues, but there was just so much happening, so fast, it's hard to feel really pulled into an of the arcs. I'm hoping that after Battle of the Atom, which is what all these issues are leading up to, that we get a chance to slow down a little and really get back to the character development. Again, Bachalo and Irving's art is top notch, my only wish being that Bachalo handled the arc with the Blockbuster Sentinel. Irving's art is just fine, but I would love to see Bachalo's take on the Sentinel design. While rushed, the book still delivers and I'll be continuing to follow this series.

After ten years away, James Robinson returns to Opal City and his greatest "creation"-- now clearly(?) set within the confines of the "New 52." Mikaal Thomas is Starman (again), and the series references the events of Cry for Justice but studiously avoids doing anything to indicate that superpowered beings existed in America prior to Superman. But it doesn't say they didn't, either, so you can interpret this story as taking place in the New 52 or the old continuity just fine. Now there's a masterclass. Anyway, speaking of Cry for Justice, I think it's awesome how all the cover blurbs basically boil down to "Maybe James Robinson still is a good writer."

Anyway, this is indeed pretty good. I think the post-reform Shade loses some of his spark, but Robinson otherwise delivers with a globe-trotting adventure, and that's what's cool here: we get to see Australia, Spain, and London, among other places, and I especially liked Robinson's invented superheroes of Spain, as well as the way this story draws into a perfect conclusion. The bits of backstory Robinson sprinkles in also work very well, as did his "Times Past" back in the Starman days.

The biggest kudos must go to Robinson's artistic collaborators. Darwyn Cooke, Jill Thompson, and Gene Ha each do a single issue, and each is great, of course, but Cully Hamner, Javier Pulido, and Frazer Irving each tackle a third of the main story, each taking a distinctive slice. Pulido takes the three issues in Spain, and his art is the definite highlight of the book, with thin lines, wonderful character design, and some cool layouts. Frazer Irving's use of lighting and color in the final part is perfect for a story so much about darkness and light, too. I wasn't familiar with the work of these three before, but I hope to see more in the future.