Comic Book Day: July 10 Comic Book Reviews

I realize that I am a little behind with my reviews for the week. As most of my readers know I have been very busy with working for Vox Magazine and the Columbia Missourian, both of which cause me to spend most of my time during the week working on stories and articles. This week's pull was definitely smaller (since I didn't have to catch up on Hawkeye any more) and I didn't have the funds to get the last few issues of Avengers, Daredevil, or FF. With an extremely small pull this week I felt like I could focus more on what these latest issues of Young Avengers and Hawkeye had to offer than I normally could.

As always, I give readers warning to FULL SPOILERS ahead. Proceed with caution.

Young Avengers Vol. 2 Issue #7 "Breakfast Meat" 

Young Avengers #7 cover by
Jamie McKelvie
Image courtesy of Marvel Wiki

How does Kieron Gillen cover the 3 month jump in time from the end of issue #5 to issue #7? Through the use of social media of course! While the use of social media to cover the missing plot is fantastic, this book has the feeling of being stagnant since the action hasn't moved forward in terms of what happened at the end of issue #7. This book does offer plenty of character goodies that Gillen has proven to be very adept at inserting into the narrative. Particularly with Kate Bishop. In the scene with the diner when Prodigy finally catches up with the Young Avengers, we see Kate fully accept her role as the team leader. She's cautious, strong and dives head first into being there for her team. The nuances between the team members shows a level of comfortableness that they have definitely reached. And with the return of Jamie McKelvie after his brief absence, he fully emphasizes that dynamic between the characters.  McKelvie's art once again knocks it out of the park. The montage of Prodigy tracking down the Young Avengers is definitely my favorite design of a page to date. This book offers so many little details that even I didn't catch until reading Gillen's writer notes that explained his decisions behind the script. If you aren't following Gillen on tumblr for that insight into his mind, then you really are missing out on an excellent look into the details and crafting of a great comic book in the Marvel NOW! line up.

Verdict: 8 out of 10.  The book hasn't moved too far forward in terms of plot, but there is some fantastic character growth and dynamics going on here.

Hawkeye Issue #12

Hawkeye #12 cover by
Francesco Francavilla
Image courtesy of
fuckyeahavengingarcher.tumblr.com

While Francesco Francavilla brings a 180 switch in art style to this issue, Hawkeye #12 is still visually stunning. The lines are less blurry, the coloring is darker and the issue takes a step away from the light hearted, whimsical feel of David Aja's art. Overall, this issue offers an overarching narrative to Hawkeye's life that we haven't fully received in the past issues. We get to see the beginnings of what has made Clint Barton become the Clint Barton we know and love. Even with Clint taking a back seat in this issue, since he is only seen around the end of the book, the story adds another facet to Clint's life. Coming from a broken family with an abusive father, we see the trail that he has walked and how it ties into what he has become. While the issue can feel a bit removed from the rest of the series, we still have the continuity with the tracksuit mafia and even a short appearance from Lucky (AKA Pizza Dog). Without having direct interaction with Hawkeye in the book, these are the best ways that Fraction and Francavilla still keep the feel of the past issues going. I'm excited to see what comes next with Barney Barton and the back story that we are finally seeing on Hawkeye. Fraction keeps these stories coming and he continues to impress.



Verdict: 9 out of 10. I loved getting to see a book dedicated to where Hawkeye came from. As I always say with Matt Fraction... more please?

Comic Book Day: June 26 Comic Book Reviews

My pull for this week was a little smaller in terms of newer issues. But even without new issues lining my comiXology shopping cart, I still managed to spend $25 on comic books in one sitting. Mainly because I decided that I was going to catch up with Matt Fraction's Hawkeye book because I was so freaking excited about the Pizza Dog issue that came out. I still have a few titles that I desperately need to catch up on (Captain Marvel, Avengers and All New X-Men mainly) but I decided to focus on the three newest issues that I deemed most important to me at the moment. So without further ado, my reviews of the latest in Young Avengers, X-Men and Hawkeye! As always there will be SPOILERS.

Young Avengers Vol. 2 Issue #6: The Toll 

Young Avengers #6 cover by
Jamie McKelvie & Matthew Wilson
Courtesy of comicvine.com

The first thing I have to say is that Tommy is back! We finally get to see a little but of what Speed has been up to since the end of Children's Crusade. He and Prodigy, a former mutant, band together to take on the ultimate teenage task: working a boring temp job. With this being the beginning of a new story arc for Young Avengers, Kieron Gillen is setting up a new plot with a new, sinister villain materializing out of Tommy's past to contend with. I was slightly upset that we didn't get the wise-cracking, sarcastic Tommy we had been left with, but the new characterization by Gillen does seem promising. I'm not as familiar with Prodigy, but I did love the opening sequence with him answering phones as a tech assistant. I have no idea where these two actually work, but it seems perfectly suited to their respective abilities. Gillen has done a masterful job at capturing what a day job for a super hero actually could be. This book also featured the artistic talents of Kate Brown. It's definitely not the same art as the first arc, but it embraces the style with its own flair. It looks a little darker, but Brown has done a great job of capturing the dynamics between the characters. The art doesn't pop off the page as much, but it still works to tell the story in a dynamic way. With the exciting and mysterious finish to this book, Gillen and his team seem to be promising exciting things to come in this arc.
Verdict: 9 out of 10. there are definitely exciting things to come with this arc. I feel it in the Force.

X-Men Vol. 4 Issue #2 

X-Men #2 cover by
Olivier Copiel & Frank Martin
Image courtesy of comixology.com

In the last issue there was a lack of action and violent destruction of buildings (which I said was actually a good thing for a first issue). In this second issue, however, we are starting to see more violence, and definitely more teamwork between the new X-team line up. The wonderful thing about Brian Wood, is that he doesn't sacrifice the storyline for a few bits of combat. You can see as Rogue and Kitty fight Arkea in the Jean Grey School, the story continues to move forward. We learn more about the enemy in the fight sequences than we would if they were just explained to us in conversation. Because the action of the panels, and the visual aspects of the book help to drive the story forward. While Rogue is swinging away, we get chilling quips from Arkea coupled with the glare of Karima Shapandar's deadpan eyes. The art once again is stunning, dark and dynamic. Olivier Copiel matches the style of the panels perfectly with the tone of the characters. Not only do we get to read about Jubilee becoming a more stark and grown up character, but we get to see it as well. Copiel brings the care and devotion that Jubilee has for this baby (now known as Shogo) to life on the page. This issue was jam packed full of goodies, with great art and the driving storyline that had a pretty sweet cliff hanger. I honestly can't wait for the next issue to come out in July.

Verdict: 8.5 out of 10. Wood and Copiel are stepping up their game, showing that this book and these ladies are not to be messed with.


Hawkeye Issue #11: Pizza is My Business 

Hawkeye #11 cover by
David Aja
Image courtesy of comixology.com

OK everyone, let's be honest with ourselves. Who wasn't excited as hell for an issue of Hawkeye entirely dedicated to Pizza Dog!? We have gotten comics about super hero pets before, but this is definitely my favorite one to date. I can't help but smile like an idiot while following Pizza Dog's adventures around his home. With very little (understandable) dialogue, the book still allows for the story to move forward. This book couldn't have been as interesting as it was without the amazing art by David Aja. I absolutely adored every single page while reading. The way Aja captured the mundane abilities a dog has, like the heightened sense of smell and hearing, was brilliant. This issue didn't need dialogue to keep the action moving simply because each panel told a story that fit so well together, dialogue would have bogged it down. And the story itself fit neatly into the last issue, with a little bit of closure on Gil, and picking up from the final scene of #10. And Pizza Dog gets his own action scenes as well, which was fun and interesting. During one of the scenes I vowed to never buy another book if they killed him. There is no doubt that Aja and Fraction are delivering an outstanding series right now. Hawkeye has easily moved up to the  top of my reading list due to the fantastic storyline and the beautifully, unique art. No other book I am reading looks like this one and I love it!

Verdict: 9.5 out of 10. Pizza Dog delivers just as much punch and adorableness as Hawkeye does. Can we have another?