CrazyforRAMU's Profile

This is a surprisingly epic conclusion to an arc that I thought had its share of troubles along the way. All the plot threads stitch together nicely, the story is mercifully freed from exposition, and I feel that both Steve and the author would be satisfied with the morals delivered at the end. However, I believe that the art falls short of its full potential here. I don't want to say that it's ba d by any means. I just think that stronger, clearer art is the missing piece that would take this issue all the way to perfection.
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At no point have I found this volume less than good, but I'm surprised by how sharply my judgment swings toward greatness once Myrddin and his Twilight Court are off the stage. The art is excellent all the way through this issue, but I feel that the script improves dramatically, in both content and prose, as the focus shifts to Thor, Scarlet Witch, and Nightmare.

This was surprisingly clear and fun, given how complicated the arc leading up to it has been. The action is gory, the voices are entertaining, and the plot goes through some powerful twists on its way to the climax.

It's a perfectly satisfying timey-wimey yarn. It's written and illustrated well, and it loads some memorable new material into the FF canon. I get the sense that the creators are striving to make this one-shot more profound than it really is, though.

For a flashback Claremont miniseries, this is off to a pretty good start. There's plenty of action, and the plot makes forward progress without too much digression. The art has a solid retro vibe, in an almost entirely good way. It's the writing that will make or break the book, depending on the reader's subjective enthusiasm for Claremont. It's an unabashed demonstration of all that's good AND ba d in the author's signature style: snappy turns of phrase, engaging character interactions, cheesy accents, questionable gender roles—the whole enchilada.
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I feel like the comedic Seinfeldian nonsense drowned out the long-term plot in this episode. The individual bits are amusing, but they don't seem to add up to anything. Much as I love Patsy Walker, I believe she gets too much spotlight here. And the art drifts further away from Andrés Genolet's high standard. And finally, I might be too much of a fan of Jed MacKay's Avengers, but I stumbled over C arol trying to recruit Jen to be the Avengers' conscience—that is EXPLICITLY the reason she already put Sam Wilson on the team.
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It's a nigh-overwhelming cavalcade of new (new to this story, you know what I mean) villains. None of them really stand out to me, but none of them are terminally embarrassing, and they certainly keep things busy. The writing remains cartoony in a somewhat problematic way; the art remains cartoony in a wholly great way.

The art looks terrific. There's a nice balance between mature, deep development of plots and characters and dialogue that veers into the corny. All in all, I think it's a good recreation of the spirit of the cartoon.

For me, this issue gets close to good comics territory—only close—because the plot and character developments are, in theory, pretty powerful. In practice, they could hit a lot harder. The writing is never bad, but neither is it ever great. Even the art is improvable: While every panel is gorgeous, clarity is lacking at some key points.

The pettiest of nits to pick: This series has nev er made full use of Ms. Marvel, but this issue's bland portrayal might be the bottom of the barrel.
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I was surprised by how cold this left me. I've yet to see a truly good Victor Strange story; the character is like a virus that can take down even my favorite authors. And somehow, the sitcom humor that I found so charming in #11 became cloying and disappointing here. Perhaps it's the way Clea and Stephen slide into the lamest sitcom stereotypes: the arbitrarily jealous wife and the unobservant hu sband. The silver lining is that this may be as adorable as the Sanctum Snakes have ever been.
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The awesome, pivotal moments cram together until they'd get stuck going through a doorframe. The only reason the script slows down is for a character to make a sassy quip in a same-y voice, never to unpack the meaning or potential of these developments. The art is wildly uneven; brilliant one moment, embarrassing the next.

Petty nitpick: Except for not using the word "darling," Polaris sounds EXACTLY like Emma Frost.
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Now the premise of the series is clear. And there's a tragic story here, but it's not on the pages. Rather, it's in the cavalcade of missteps that must have been made in the creative process. I think the pitch had tons of potential: Marvel Death Takes a Holiday. But instead of refining that premise with inventive imagination, the creators and editors saddled it with a scenery-chewing Thanos, super fluous super-conflict, and tone-deaf heroes. Then they fired it into the world bearing a title guaranteed to mislead readers and give them unrealistic expectations. Even the art, which I enjoyed in the previous issues, gets a little loosey-goosey as the series heads into its final act. What a pity.more

This was like reading a bulletin point explanation of what's happening. It felt too formulaic to fully digest or enjoy for me. Duggan can do better and has before multiple times but this feels like we're in a hurry or a means to an end. Interesting ideas in some panels are lost in the bigger picture. Lucas Werneck has gotten better and his art is some splash pages is wonderful. Other panels are st ill in need of attention especially the actions sequences. Finally that M.O.D.O.K. resignation letter is a waste of space. Hickman brought the data pages to prominence but no other writer knows how to use them properly except for Al Ewing. more

Color me surprised that I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Claremont has his tropes and his weirdness that cannot be denied, however his writing is mired in his insistence to overwrite and to base his stories in very specific continuity that, even for someone as big into comics as I am, can bog things down. This was mostly clean though. You don't need to read Uncanny X-Men #268 to enjoy t his. You can shrug off Wolverine's current status quo even. And you get a rather classic feeling story out of it. If Marvel insists on giving older creators these nostalgia bait comics to write, I hope they veer more into this lane where they can stand on their own.more

I'm not sure why the critics seem so put off by this title. Is it wordy? Sure. But what's being said is usually pretty poignant, and when it's not, it's fairly breezy dialogue that doesn't feel forced. This arc is a near-classic sort of Captain America story. Nazis are bad; progress is good. I don't see the big misstep that I hear about in the reviews. One of the best aspects about the Captain Ame rica character that is ever-present in this first arc is his indomitable will. His persistent and unwavering defiance of strongmen. His frank inability to stand by and let hatred go unanswered. It's Cap at his best. This is a trade I would hand to someone who doesn't get Captain America, because I don't think you can read it and come away still misunderstanding who this character is. I have nothing but praise for it.more

The action-oriented side of this resolution is thoroughly satisfying. The art is great, the stage direction is inspired, and the restrained dialogue remains choice. There are a few nice hints dropped about future developments. The thematic undercurrent about warriors and soldiers is still there--though I think making it a little less subtextual could actually have made the story even stronger.
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A twist too many imo, crossing the line from "oh!" to "oh brother." There's a certain vibe in this series that didn't do it for me-it seemed like Ewing wanted this to be Emma Peel's adventures rather than Janet Van Dyne's.

This finale is remarkably complicated and busy, yet it never gets bogged down or confusing. The deceptively simple art helps clarify both the ongoing narrative and its impact on the characters.

What an impact this had! Dramatic introductions and reconciliations abound. After being a little disappointed with Hank's prominence in the previous issue, I was much happier with the Jan/Hank b alance in this one. And a small but significant role for Nadia was much appreciated.

This also sets up a promising second-string Avengers squad. I just wish I had confidence that a good writer was ever going to pick them up and run with them.
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It feels like someone finally, FINALLY sat down at the "Fall of X" organ and decided to use both keyboards and pull out ALL the stops.

The result is dense. Slow. Nigh-overwhelming, and it requires both a lot of exposition and a lot of continuity homework.

But I think I kinda love the results. It helps that all of the art is good, and some of it is spectacular.

This is a charming and surprisingly dense adventure. The art is consistently terrific, and the new characters enrich Bailey's cast as well as the wider Marvel universe. If you're looking for mature depth, Bailey's continued struggles with poverty are plenty to chew on. As usual, the B strip lags a little bit behind, saddled with a simplistic premise and stiff art. It still gives Bailey another cha nce to turn on the charm, though.
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