Cry Havoc #6

Cry Havoc, Issue #6 is a title I somehow didn't get around to reading until this morning.  I patiently went to the comic book store every Wednesday for six months, buying the alternate cover, and reading it within a few days.  Don't get me wrong; Issue #6 is just as good as the first five issues.  I just had trouble getting started.  This issue contains the final battle between Good and Evil, the humans and the meta-humans, and the soldiers and the warlord.

At this point, all I have to do is recommend that trade paperback.  This is a graphically violent series, and there's a lot of nudity.  Most of all, I'd describe this series as "complex."  You can enjoy this series in trade paperback form by reading it once, but its best attribute is its re-readability.  There are a few things you won't catch the first time around, like an old Dovchenko film from the 1930s.  I love the reference to "our reptilian overlords," in the guise of the Shahmarans, although the intent of the usage of them isn't clear.

Mockingbird #5

Mockingbird, Issue #5 finally gets back to the zombies from Issue #1 that were looking at Bobbi Morse from behind the glass at the S.H.I.E.L.D. medical clinic.  It turns out that the virus Morse found in her blood that killed all those wild animals in Issue #4 has mutated.  Worse yet, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have experimented with it, injecting it into corpses, which then come back to "life" and go after Bobbi Morse.  The good news?  There's an anti-viral, if she can get to it.

I'm a big fan of Issue #1 of Mockingbird, and this is the best issue to come out since then.  I particularly like the guide to the S.H.I.E.L.D. medical clinic.  The title on a whole is a rousing adventure, and it's funny.  The second half of the comic features Mockingbird trying to find the Research and Development Lab with Howard the Duck and Miles Morales.  The final scene is pretty awesome, but I won't give it away.  Looking forward to Issue #6.

Hyperion #5

Hyperion, Issue #5 starts a new arc.  Hyperion and Doll have destroyed/freed the power behind the Dark Carnival, and now they're on their own, riding the open roads on a new 18-wheeler.  Their first ordeal?  Speed dating.  And as the cover points out, Hyperion is somewhat successful in his new round of high-jinx, meeting a fellow super-being called Thundra, from Squadron Supreme.  She has news, that someone or something survived the Carnival.

I love the ending of this comic, with a third super-being shows up at Doll's hotel room.  I wasn't sure which Earth this series takes place in, but I'm guessing Earth-616?  (Yes, I am turning into a Marvel nerd.)  That means that it's kind of funny that Doll went looking for Hyperion on the open roads when there were so many other super heroes about.  Maybe there's something specific about Hyperion, something that she needed at the time.

This comic is done by a really good team.  Chuck Wendig I mentioned yesterday, in my review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Issue #2, but the artwork of Ario Anindito and colorist Romulo Fajardo (born in Indonesia and the Philippines, respectively) is a highlight.  I guess I like Hyperion because it's plain, good fun, starring a character I'm not that familiar with, but one that I instantly identified with.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens #2

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Issue #2 is the second of a five-issue limited series, adapting The Force Awakens into the comic-book world.  In Issue #2, Rey and Finn escape Jakku on the Millennium Falcon, only to be captured by Han Solo and Chewbacca, who are then captured by Bala-Tik and the KanjiKlub.  The issue ends with the ranthars loose and Finn about to be devoured by one of them.

I read three Star Wars series, The Force Awakens, Jason Aaron's Star Wars, and Charles Soule's Poe Dameron.  The adaptation of The Force Awakens is written by Chuck Wendig, with art by Luke Ross and Frank Martin, and lettering by VC's Clayton Cowles, whose lettering I'm a fan of.  Part of the reason I picked this title up is that Wendig writes Hyperion for Marvel, a title I've grown fond of.  Luke Ross has done some stuff I've read, and Frank Martin does the colors for East of West, which also came out with a new issue this week.

In short, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the comic, is realized by a great team, and it's a great adaptation.  My favorite part of this comic is the flashback after Finn and Rey find out that the man who has captured them is indeed Han Solo, the Republic General and smuggler.  I'm actually having more fun reading this adaptation than I did re-watching the movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The Punisher #3

The Punisher, Issue #3  starts with the DEA thinking they're closing in on Frank Castle.  Meanwhile, Castle is closing in on the compound where the bad guys live, where they create EMC, the super-soldier drug.  Unbeknownst to him, Josaiah has a surprise for the Punisher: the redneck's daughter is being used as a suicide bomber.  Also, a former veteran from Castle's Marine unit known as "the Face" is still at large.

I've given my appreciation to the artwork, the coloring and the lettering of this title in previous reviews, but there's one thing I noticed about the artwork, and that's the colors being used, military greens and beiges.  I also appreciate the way shadows and light are used on the characters' faces.  I'm hooked on the realism of this comic.  The antagonists are very well developed, but they're new.  The Punisher isn't out there fighting the Penguin and Lex Luthor.  This means that he can dispatch the new characters instead of them getting away every time, like a Batman cartoon from the 1990s, where they all end up in Arkham Asylum.

Spider-Man/Deadpool #7

Spider-Man/Deadpool, Issue #7 is styled as a shelved issue of Amazing Spider-Man from 1968 that hasn't seen the light of day until now.  It starts out with millionaire Edwin Bagge tormenting Jameson about the Daily Bugle headline that reads, "Convention Chaos?" saying, "I want the lazy youth of this country pacified until they can go be heroes in Vietnam!"  Okay, so I was hooked from page 1.  By page 4, I started to suspect that this couldn't have been written in 1968, and it wasn't.

Cheers to the deception, though.  The artwork and layout are a little too distressed, and that was a big giveaway.  Still, it's a wonderful comic and not one you'd do well to miss.  If you plan on buying the trade paperbacks, make sure that Issue #7 is included in one of them or else go out and buy this issue; it's a real gem.

Spider-Man #6

Spider-Man, Issue #6 begins with Miles Morales (Spider-Man) talking with Fabio Medina (the mutant Gold Balls), while a private investigator (Jessica Jones) watches.  The first half of the comic is about more prosaic activities: getting Gold Balls to fit in as their roommate, Miles's father convincing Miles's mother to convince Miles's grandmother to call off the investigator, Ganke trying to avoid the "friend zone."  Then Tony Stark (Iron Man) calls, and Miles Morales is Spider-Man, the Avenger, once again.  Civil War II is happening.  

I've avoided the Civil War II titles, mostly because I didn't exactly love the original Civil War.  Sure, I read quite a bit of it while hanging out with my nephews, but it wasn't special.  In fact, I didn't know what Civil War II was about until I read this comic, and I have to say I'm moderately intrigued.  Aw, shit.  I guess I will read through the Spider-Man telling of the events, along with the telling of the events through the eyes of Ms. Marvel in her comic.