Reviews:
When I first saw this in my stack I thought to myself "Wow, the past month must have went by really fast" because I could have sworn I just read Iron Fist. Turns out I was right and wrong, I did just read Iron Fist but the month hadn't gone by fast. Normally when an issue takes a look at a past Iron Fist there is some type of indication on the title by way of a sub-heading to the title, but #24 lacked that which probably helped throw me for a loop.
I've been enjoying Swierczynski's current arc more than his first one, but the one thing that continues to keep it from being an elite book for me is the art. Granted I think Foreman's pencils have improved since the run started, but they pale in comparison to Kano's outstanding performance here. This book was an absolute beauty, and I would love to see Kano take on Iron Fist full time.
The writing is almost as good as the art which is totally not a knock against Swierczynski's work here. In fact, I think his writing is here is better than it has been on some of his previous issues of Iron Fist. From the start he is able to make me care about a character I've never encountered before and that early success makes the rest of the issue where we see Li grow into his own work perfectly. Who would have thought a story about an Iron Fist who doesn't want to get his hands dirty could be so much fun to read. Li Park is a different kind of Iron Fist and hopefully one we get to see more of in the future.
Since Fraction and Brubaker first relaunched Immortal Iron Fist these types of issues have been hit or miss, but issue #24 is definitely a hit perhaps even the very best of these types of back stories.
Superman #686
I'm really confident that this book WILL be great. But seriously. SERIOUSLY. Come on.
Especially since Rucka's run on Action Comics hit the ground running with lots of action and set up for the long haul or at least the next year, this was not the kind of book I wanted to read from Robinson and Guedes. As usual though, I can't say [er type] with a straight face that this was a bad comic. It wasn't at all, honest. However, as we all know Mon-El and the Guardian are going to be taking care of Metropolis so reading another issue of putting the pieces into place was somewhat frustrating.
Some people like to say that when people complain about nothing happening in a comic they are simply skimming over important dialogue and looking for things blowing up. I'm not one of those readers, and I enjoyed the well written and necessary character and relationship development between Mon-El and Jim Harper. I think their relationship will make for some great stories, so please let's get to these stories. Granted you can't tell these stories without having set up their relationship, but that relationship could have easily been developed in previous issues that were infinitely more disappointing than this one because we had to see Superman mull over a decision when we already knew exactly what he was going to do.
So, perhaps my complaint isn't so much with THIS issue on its own but rather with the pacing of this book over the past few months. However, based on the last page reveal it seems things will finally kick into high gear.
Quick note on the art, I love the work of Guedes and Magalhaes. These two work wonderfully together, and I hope they stick on the book as Robinson takes it to the next level because like I said earlier I know he will.
Daredevil #117
Another issue of Daredevil, solid as usual especially with a little Mister Izo thrown in for good measure.
Majority of the issue is spent dealing with fallout from the previous story arc such as Matt's complicated situation with Dakota North and his battle with Milla's parents. As usual, the life of Matt Murdock goes from bad to worse although he has no one to blame but himself. Of the scenes in the first two thirds of the book, the ones involving Dakota are the strongest; I'm ready for Milla to simply be gone from the picture.
On top of being ready for that I'm also ready for Matt to start to turn things around. What is going to make this story arc so interesting is that to do so Matt will need his arch nemesis the Kingpin. So naturally the issue is at its best during the final few pages where we get to see the first exchange between Daredevil and Kingpin in quite sometime.
Art is perfect as usual.
Looks like Brubaker and Lark are going out with a bang.
Quickies:
Captain America #48: Good wrap up to another three part arc. Although I'm looking forward to both Ross' return and the development of a more over-arching storyline that this run of Captain America became famous for.
New Avengers #51: Wasn't really excited for this issue since I don't care about Doctor Strange, but I was pleasantly surprised. The scenes with Strange searching for a replacement were more entertaining than I had expected plus Bendis also provided us with some great team building dialogue scenes and his usual comedy. Jessica's conversation with Spider-Man and Luke was particularly hilarious. Assuming the rest of the arc will be more Strange-centric, but that isn't as scary a proposition as it seemed before reading this issue.
News about the blog:
I hate myself.
Not really, but I am pissed that I haven't kept up with this blog like I planned. Teaching, especially being a first year teacher, can put a serious strain on time and energy. However, I think I have decided on a format that I can stay consistent with. Hopefully you can expect written weekly reviews each and every week PLUS a once a month recorded podcast with more detailed and spoiler-ific discussion of my pick of the month, selected other books, and my thoughts on a few of the major comic book happenings of that month.
PS:
The guys from my local comic shop, Atomic City Comics, have started a podcast. Check it out.
