Herv St.Louis's Comic Reviews

Reviewer For: Comic Book Bin Reviews: 23
7.1Avg. Review Rating

7
52 #23

Nov 5, 2006

The artwork in this issue is intriguing. It's a mix of clean ink lines, and spotty dots at the same time. It feels like a clean Geoff Darrow. Yet, it captures the essence of the story in each setting very well. The scenes on the island are cleaner and tight, while the hidden dungeon is dirty. As for the origin of Wildcat, in the back of the issue, Ordway is a great pick for the story. He gives Wildcat's tale an old look and feel.

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7
52 #25

Nov 5, 2006

About the artwork, there is nothing to say. So many people worked on it that it's like putlock. It only shows the weakness of some of the artists when some pages are realistic and others seem rushed. I guess the editors had to divide this story in small parcels to make sure they could get it out on time. One of Intergang's associate seems like a cross from Mojo and Humpty Dumpty!

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3
52 #26

Nov 12, 2006

The artwork is decent, considering the poor material the artists have to work with.

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9
Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #532

Jul 23, 2006

Its a personal story where we see how much a manipulator Tony Stark is and the amount of influence he has. It paints Tony Stark as a dark person. Although he is a hero, its entertaining to think that heroes are not virtuous and perfect and that they have faults. Peter Parker has never looked so easy to influence. Peter Parker has signed a Faustian deal with Tony Stark and it will be interesting to see how he escapes from it.

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9
Amazing Spider-Man (1999) #535

Oct 2, 2006

I enjoyed Garneys Spider-man. There are few lines, but they convey all the motion and emotion required for the story. I like the proportion given to character. Spider-man is not a body builder. Hes slim and shorter than Tony Stark. Its the first time in years that I can positively say that Marvel characters are gaining individual features and body types. Its a good time to be reading comics.

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4
Astonishing X-Men (2004) #15

Jun 24, 2006

Trouble is as nice and cool Marvel wants to make this comic book, it fails when a first time reader picks it up. If a second reading is needed to understand all that happens, from someone who has read weird comics all his life, imagine a new reader picking this up after seeing the X-Men film. Can the creators get back to comic book basics instead of the stylish and padded hype?

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3
Astonishing X-Men (2004) #16

Aug 28, 2006

Yes the artwork is gorgeous and the writer leaves enough room for Cassaday to show his best work. Cassaday of course enjoys the silent scenes hes given and makes the best of them. Yet, for all his good work, this series should be cancelled or passed on to a writer who actually to tell a story, instead of stretching a 22-page story into six months worth of comics.

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6
Astonishing X-Men (2004) #17

Sep 23, 2006

Cassadays work is a pleasure to watch. He adds to the psychological element of this story. If fact if he werent there, people would have complained that this story was poor a long time ago.

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6
Black Panther (2005) #17

Jul 4, 2006

The artwork continues to work well. Every character has a unique face, although some of the hookers look dangerously like other super heroine!

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9
Black Panther (2005) #18

Jul 26, 2006

I really like how Eaton has replaced John Romita Jr. His work is less glamourous but more solid. Also, he gives each of his characters unique faces. Janson overpowers anyone he inks, giving a rough sketchy feel to the artwork. Its as if he used dried inks to ink the artwork.

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10
Black Panther (2005) #19

Sep 2, 2006

A new inker is working on the series, enacting a style different from Klaus Jansons sketchy inks. It works as Eaton is still here and continuously draws the best Strom in years.

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9
Black Panther (2005) #20

Oct 2, 2006

This issue, there is a new artist. His style is different, but I love his interpretation of the Inhumans. His depiction of Medusa was the best part of the entire book!

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7
Civil War #3

Jul 23, 2006

McNivens interior pages are beautiful and with the help of the colourist, well textured and cinematic feel. It feels like this a blockbuster on a wide screen. His work reminds me of Paul Smiths Golden Age which was also a cinematic feat.

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9
Civil War #4

Sep 23, 2006

McNivens work is great. Its a mix of Brian Bolland and Paul Mounts. Hes not the best at facial expressions, but he can create compelling destruction scenes. Il like how Captain America looks like an old army grunt.

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8
Civil War: Front Line #1

Jun 24, 2006

The artwork of this series is ragged but good. Bachs can draw normal humans, fat, old or thin very well. This is what a series like this needs. What wasnt very impressive was his Ironman. Fortunately his Spider-man was nice. He adds good solid backgrounds that capture the feel of the story. The supplement by Kobayashi was very pleasant visually, although it had storytelling problems. In some frames, it was difficult to understand that Spider-man was crawling a movie screen.

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8
Civil War: X-Men #1

Jul 23, 2006

Paquettes work is good super hero material for someone who doesnt particularly like them so much. I think he secretly likes them but wont admit it too much!

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9
Eternals (2006) #3

Aug 30, 2006

Romita is great as usual and his characters are easy to relate to. Of course his action scenes are impressive. I like to think of him as something similar to the Kubert brothers. The child of another comic book master, but who goes beyond his father. And in Romitas case, he goes beyond Adam and Andy Kuberts work!

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7
Franklin Richards: Super Summer Spectacular #1

Jul 9, 2006

The artwork is part Calvin and Hobbes, part Peanuts. Fortunately for Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes creator, Franklin doesnt have one tenth of the imagination of Calvin. The artwork is effective and cute. The action really moves forward and the cartoon effects were pulled nicely. The visual pacing was sound and Eliopoulos is a great storyteller and a good humourist. If the story can be as inventive as his work, perhaps Watterson should be afraid.

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7
Ghost Rider (2006) #1

Jul 22, 2006

The artwork is flaming and has a nice colour pallette. The colourist should be credited for giving a 3D feel to the artwork.

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8
Invincible Iron Man #10

Jul 23, 2006

The artwork is cool and the armour has changed again since I last checked it out. Stark looks completely different as a blond and without his trademark goatee. It makes him look to young and generic, but I cant complain much as it is part of the current plot.

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6
Squadron Supreme (2006) #5

Jul 23, 2006

As usual Frank gives us great graphics but even someone as talented can show weaknesses when the script he is provided with doesnt allow him to do anything worthwhile. All he could do this issue is show emotions on the face of characters. He handled that without any problems. Yet, he must surely ache for more stuff to do.

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7
Squadron Supreme (2006) #6

Aug 20, 2006

I thought that Squadron Supreme was dependent on Gary Franks work. I was wrong. Barranco and Cifuentes matched his style well, while not keeping their own interpretations of the characters. Usually when reading series where the artists designs are so prevalent, one loses interest and cannot suspend disbelief when a fill in penciller comes to the rescue. Not this time. While the facial expressions which are staples of Frank are absent, the storytelling is decent. One caveat, the super hero staging and fight is weak.

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5
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #474

Jun 24, 2006

I liked Cruz work, but felt that he was drawing a clich story about Earth heroes travelling to another world only to attempt to save, said world. Even the ending with Psylocke crying out for her brother seemed like something I had read before. I cant blame this on the artist as hes just following the script he was given, but when writers write trite stories like this, it makes their comic book look like something readers have read before. Although the artist is excellent, his efforts look mediocre because of the story.

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