Travis Bass's Comic Reviews

Reviewer For: Comic Book Herald Reviews: 18
7.4Avg. Review Rating

Overall, this issue does not deliver on the promises made during this arc, and in fact was a rather rushed comic. World War Wendigo started off fairly strong, setting up a giant threat for the X-Men, and then proceeded to drag its feet for three issues only to quickly rap everything up in the final issue. While there are some nice character moments here and there, this is honestly not worth the read unless you are a hardcore X-Men, or even Alpha Flight fan.

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This is another great issue in a fantastic series. It's fascinating how you can make a bunch of crooks who are complete jerks, and who have no intention of reforming, likeable in an unlikeable way. Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber have been doing a great job, and hopefully will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

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Despite the problems, this is still a good, dark story involving an apocalyptic army of flesh eating monsters (each as strong as the Hulk) spreading across the Canadian landscape. X-men and Alpha Flight team up, there is some lovely dark humor, and lets say something interesting happens involving Wolverine. I recommend going back to issue #8 where this story began and catch up. Just don't expect the world when you get to this issue.

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Overall, this is an alright beginning to the series. If you're a fan of the original Guardians, you will probably like this, although you may be disappointed that they are not technically the main characters of this issue. If you have no idea who these characters are, but you like the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, you may enjoy this. The problem is that these characters are not fully introduced, the plot isn't fully revealed until near the end of the issue, and honestly it may be best to wait for this to be collect or at least wait a couple ofissue to how this arc turns out. If you have a basic grasp of these characters (like me) and like these kinds of far out cosmic stories, this might be worth a pickup.

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Avengers & X-Men: Axis #1 is a decent start to Marvel's next event, and sets up some rather interesting possibilities for the rest of the series. The writing is enjoyable and art is cool, but unfortunately this issue suffers from not being a self-contained story, even though it's a first issue. If you've been reading Uncanny Avengers (and Captain America doesn't hurt), than you will have no issues here. If this is your first exposure to these titles, you won't be so lost that everything they say is gibberish, it's just that a fair amount of the plot relies on familiarity with what has happened in other titles. It's all right, let's just hope with event being nine issues long, Rick Remender doesn't stretch things out to the breaking point to "justify" its length as previous Marvel events have (looking at you Age of Ultron).

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Overall, this is a fine first issue to a series that I have high hopes for. The artwork is amazing, and unlike anything you will see from either Marvel or DC (or even Image honestly). And while the art can get a little hard to follow here and there, and there's not a lot of story here, the unique layouts and interesting setup for the future of this series makes this issue worth a look.

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Cyclops #6 is a good first issue overall. While the artwork could be improved upon, it is serviceable with some memorable moments here and there. The writing is very good, and a great continuation of what Rucka set up. What is rather impressive is that this is a good jumping on point if you haven't been reading this title. Thankfully one advantage this title (along with the rest of Marvel's cosmic line) over DC's Green Lantern titles is that this book doesn't get tied up in massive crossovers with the rest of the cosmic books. Granted there is a cosmic event coming up, but for right now this is a fun standalone book about space pirates and a father trying to make amends for missing out the first time on his son's life.

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Overall this is a fine issue. While I really like the premise of the book, I like the writing, and I love the art, I wish this book had reached the exploration point I have been waiting for. Granted, this issue wraps up the opening story arc, and we finally reach the point where Dawn wants to explore the unknown with the Silver Surfer. Despite the negativity I seem to be giving off about this series, I still highly recommend this series, especially if you're a fan of weird realities, trippy images, and just a fun energy to everything.

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Uncanny Avengers has been a very good title since its inception as the launch title of Marvel Now! Rick Remender does a good job grounding this story after the cosmic level things that happened last arc, but it does stumble a bit. There's good character work, and things look like they are about to get very bad for these characters very soon. Unfortunately the art drags this issue down a bit, but this is still a fine issue, and can even be used as a jumping on point for this series.

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Overall Avengers & X-Men: Axis is shaping up to be a fun event. We're two issues in, they have basically comprised almost entirely of fighting, and the stakes are being continuously raised throughout the book. There are still some hiccups involving the large cast of characters, large number of plot points being carried over into this book, wavering art, and more jokey dialogue from the characters (especially last issue), but everything seem to be coming together so far. While we still have seven more issues (and several more artists rotating in) to see if this event falls flat on its face, with Rick Remender at the helm, I think we're in for an enjoyable ride.

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Black Widow continues following the life of Natasha when shes not doing Avengers related business. This issue also follows the series current trend of working as a done in one, but at the same time adding to a larger story. If you have not been reading this book, I recommend checking out the first trade and then catching up to this issue. If you have been following this book, this issue does not miss a step from the rest of the series.

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Overall, I am pleased with how this issue turned out. I would have liked the two teams to have met up by now, but the writers at least appear to be moving them towards that goal and do not appear to be padding things out. What is also nice about this story is that it appears to be completely self contained. There are no tie-ins to this story, not even from the two individual series for these teams. The artwork is also enjoyable to look at, and provides much of the book's humor. If you're a fan of both titles, than this is definitely worth a look at. Even if you only know one of the teams, you should be able find a lot of entertainment from this as well.

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However, taking the issue as a whole, the story more than makes up for the artwork, pathing the way for our final showdown in issue #10. If you have been following this series up to this point, then it's safe to say you're just as hooked on this book as me and have already read it. If you haven't followed this series, then DO NOT start here. As a final word on this issue, let me just say that it does not appear this series finally will disappoint, and I am excited for the last issue.

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All in all, this is a really good issue that continues a story that has improved with each installment. It's not required to have read the rest of this series leading up to this arc, so if you are at all interested in reading the current Captain America, I would recommend starting with issue #22 and then getting this one. But if you have been reading this series, issue #23 begins to bring everything previously introduced to a head. This arc is shaping up to be one of the better stories of Remender's run on Cap.

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Ms. Marvel is book that gets better with every issue. Wilson is doing something special with an offbeat title that has so far remained fairly separate from the main Marvel Universe (Wolverine guest star notwithstanding). If you want to read a fairly straightforward tale of a teenage superhero trying to find her place in the world, this is just what you are looking for. If this seems too "trite" or "gimmicky" at first glance to you, Ms. Marvel has a lot of heart behind it and you would be remiss if you didn't at least give it a look, especially this issue and the last one. I also can't fault a hero whose favorite food appears to Gyros.

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Ms. Marvel #8 is another fun issue in what is one of Marvel's most enjoyable titles. The only real problem I have with this issue is that the last page could have been a little clearer as to what it meant. This is a minor gripe, as the writing is still fun to read, and the artwork is gorgeous to look at. This issue is certainly a pickup if you have been following this title; and if you haven't, then this issue isn't a bad place to start.

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This issue continuesthe series upward climb in quality. Fun writing and art make this a great book toread, and the light connection with the Marvel Universe makes it a good series for new comic readers as it doesn't feel to dense, but it slowly introduces them to some of the more obscure sides of the Marvel U. Hopefully this book continues its success, and remains with us for a long time.

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With great artwork and great writing, Time Runs Out is turning out to be far more exciting than Marvel's past events. If I have one problem with issue, it's that we did not get to see much of what has happened during the 8 month gap. Similar to Avengers 35, it's building up mystery by not letting the audience know what all the other characters know, especially if we would have seen the events of the gap period. Small problems aside, this is a fantastic issue setting up a big story that's going to explode very soon.

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