As I stated last week I have been doing a lot of DC Comic reviews lately. This is not intentional I just found that either I had more DC titles on my pull and or the DC reads were just better than the Marvel reads for that particular week. I don’t see myself as a DC fan boy or a Marvel fan boy. I love all my comics equally, without discriminating against any one publisher over another. If anything I feel that I could stand to explore more publishers to get other perspectives and writing styles. I just wanted to get that thought out of the way, before any unsightly stigmas were attached to this blog. That being said, let’s take a look at the pulls for this week:
Comic Pull List Feb/1/12
DC
Action Comics #6
Batman Detective Comics #6
Red Lanterns #6
Stormwatch #6
Swamp Thing #6
Dark Horse
Star Wars Dawn of the Jedi #0
Marvel
The Amazing Spider-Man #679
Uncanny X-Men #6
Venom #13
Winter Soldier #1
This week going through my Marvel pulls I was pretty satisfied. I was curious to start Winter Soldier as I have never really followed Captain America, but I was definitely not surprised that it lived up to the hype I was hearing throughout the day. With a writer like Brubaker at the helm of it, a man who has pretty much crafted Bucky to what he is today, one should not be surprised that this title has some momentum behind it. I look forward to continuing it. Venom started it’s “Circle of Four” arc, which at a glance did not really reel me in as I thought it would. I have loved Remender’s work on Venom to this point so I will be staying on it, but I really dislike the 13.1/13.2/13.3/13.4 style they are going with on this story, I want more Venom but not in this fashion. Alas let’s get to the review for this week, Amazing Spider-Man #679!
Amazing Spider-Man #679
Written by Dan Slott
Art by Humberto Ramos
Now when you are reading a story involving time-travel, a story can get pretty backwards, forwards, upwards, and in most cases downwards pretty quickly. I am pleased to say this is not the case in this issue. Going back to a few weeks ago, when the story began in #678, I will openly admit the only reason I did not review that issue to begin with was because Mr. Slott had the luck of seeing that issue released alongside Batman #5. It was an extremely hard decision for me that week, but I felt that based on the usage of art that Amazing Spider-Man just wasn’t meant for the spotlight that week. Mr. Slott answers that decision, with some well-written vengeance. I had a blast with this story, it was short and sweet. This is a big deal, because the forces Slott has Peter Parker contending with can get pretty out of hand quickly in the hands of a gung-ho writer. I think the biggest strength in this issue, is the cast of characters, which range from Peter, to his Horizon buddies/co-workers, to MJ herself. This is a story of the “ultimate consequence“ scenario, something that Spider-Man cannot afford to let happen. Millions of people are on the line, and true to form Spider-Man is pulling out all the stops to make sure that the threat is stopped. Now if you’re expecting an issue with tons of action and crazy battles, you won’t find that here, not in the way you would expect. This issue (and the one before it) were a thrill ride for me, because Slott manages to give us enough stops, swerves, and pulls to keep us in our seat reading and guessing. Time-Travel was a great method for this and in the end served up a great surprise ending. As always I really enjoy the art from Humberto Ramos. Not to play down Caselli, whose art I also enjoy, but I just feel that Ramos is just a great artist for Slott. Slott nails the character so well with his wittiness and attitude, and Ramos backs him up with pencils that just extend that, it just looks and feels right to me. That’s just my opinion, either way its all great pages to me. Check it out, and get ready for Ends of the Earth!
Cosmic Rating 5/5
Good
- Great two issue story, very fun read.
- A thrill ride, with an unexpectedly great usage of time travel
- This is a story for those who enjoy the big picture, some friendly neighbourhood food for thought
- Ramos brings it all home with some lovable pencils
Bad
- This is a “big picture” story, which may not be likable by all. I would advise that action junkies just sit back and get ready for Ends of the Earth…I think it’ll be a good one.
So that concludes the Cosmic Comic Review for this week. I noticed a lot of new readers on my blog this week, so I just want to take the time and extend a big welcome to you all. To readers young and old, old and new, I extend the invitation to leave a comment, pose a question, or just like a post if you feel so obliged. Let’s get some conversation brewing fellow readers, because in the end what good is an opinion if you don’t share it? Until next time, take care and happy reading!
Luca “Joriko” Baldassarra
Follow me on Twitter @Lucacosmic AND Check out my fan-page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Lucacosmic!
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