Spoiler-ific Capsule Reviews

This week I got some comics, B.P.R.D. : King of Fear #5, Hellboy in Mexico one-shot, Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis #1, Dark Avengers #16, Siege #4, The Return of Bruce Wayne #1, and Thor and the Warriors Four #2. I will warn you, I am going to review each one with no regard for spoilering them, so proceed with caution!
Here we go!





Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis #1When I saw the solicit for this mini-series, I thought, "Written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Kaare Andrews!? SOLD!" After I read it, I was left scratching my head and turning up my lip...egh. I thought Andrews work on Spider-Man: Reign was fantastic, but I'm not sure what happened here. Emma Frost looks like a blonde sack of potatoes. And the fact that the X-Men spend half the book arguing about African politics just doesn't interest me. I don't usually drop a book after one issue, but in this case I'll make an exception.


B.P.R.D. : King of Fear #5
This series was advertised as the end of the so called "War on Frogs" and it ends with a bang. I have to admit that I am not completely caught up on the Hellboy universe, and I only started this series because Lobster Johnson was in the beginning, but this issue brings some big changes to the world and the nature of the B.P.R.D., who are now under the control of the U.N. And I'm not sure what is going on with Abe, but I hope the next mini Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plane sheds some light on his new direction. Good stuff, but I wouldn't recommend reading it with out being somewhat up to speed. Oh, and I don't know who the tea drinking robot in the Jules Verne style submarine is, but I heartily approve!



Dark Avengers #16 & Seige #4

I'm gonna hit these both together. Let me say that I was on board after "Secret Invasion" wrapped up with the Dark Avengers (though I wished they had just stayed Thunderbolts, I thought that was working great) and I was interested to see where it was all headed. Now, I'll say that I am SO GLAD this CRAP IS FINALLY OVER! About halfway through this arc I became completely fed up with Norman Osborn. And joy of joys, Sentry is dead! This character has held the Marvel universe hostage for far too long, and except for the truly awesome Age of The Sentry, I hope we can all just pretend he never existed. Steve Rodgers in back, basically as the new Nick Fury, and Thor has a big mess to clean up. Lets move on and be glad this little episode is behind us.

Thor and The Warriors Four #2
I am digging this series. It is fun and awesome. I don't care what you think about Power Pack. Beta Ray Bill shows up for this one, which is great, and has to continually assert that he is NOT a horse, or a 'Thorse' for that matter (half Thor, half horse!). Sure it is silly, but I recommend it. And the cover is hilarious!


The Return of Bruce Wayne #1

One word: Awesome!

Hellboy in Mexico

Two words: Totally awesome!

Wow! This blog is still on!? - Hellboy thoughts.

Hello again! I'll dispense with the usual excuses as to why I haven't posted in, like, forever. Just know that I got a new job and that's taking up most of my time that isn't also filled with baseball and Netflix.

Anyway, here we go.

I am slowly catching up on Hellboy via the trades. Most recently I finished Book 6, "Strange Places" and I was reminded once again just how good Hellboy is.

Let's compare Hellboy to a standard story by the Big Two. There is almost no comparison. As I was reading somewhere (I think in an interview with Mignola) the Big Two offer the illusion of change. It happens every month. Plastered on the cover of Brightest Seige: Frontlines: The Return (or whatever) are scrawled the words "Nothing will ever be same again!" Except it always is the same again. Batman or Captain America 'die' for awhile, but then they get better.

In Hellboy, as far as I have read (no spoilers please) Professor Bruttenholm dies, and stays dead. Roger the Homunculus sacrifices himself and it actually means something. It haunts the characters years later. Hellboy discovers more and more about who he is on his journey, and we feel that it has weight, that it is all leading to something. Real change and growth in characters as the status quo is allowed to shift.

This may mean that at some point the story may come to an end, but I'm ok with that. Ultimately, at the end, I think it will all feel more rewarding.