CrazyforRAMU's Profile

The art is good, the content is fascinating, and the script is delicious. Outstanding structure, pacing, and dialogue--every page is a delight. It doesn't advance the plot, but it delivers a stunning character study of 6160 Harry Osborn, revealing his motivations and raising important questions about his convictions. Best of all, it's a flawless example of "show, don't tell": Everything it teaches the reader about Harry comes from his choices and actions, not exposition.
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The storytelling offers up the same minor nitpicks I've been harping on all through the series: this line is corny, that plot twist feels cheap, these panels are unclear, yadda yadda yadda.

But here at the end, the creators expertly hook me with irresistible, top-quality work. The final critiques of American fascism are prescient and incisive. The happily-ever-after is executed flawless ly, leavened with the exact right amount of loss and grief. The art delivers perfect hoo-rah moments just when the script needs them.

It's a great comic.
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First, my nitpicks: The script could be MUCH clearer about the mechanics of Moira's beacon. The visual character designs are quite different from those seen in previous issues, and, subjectively, I don't like them.

But there's a lot here that I do like. I am fully in favor of Jean and the Phoenix's actions, and I'm intrigued by the new status quo they produce. I like the half-redemption the author orchestrated for Xavier.

Aside from the character designs, I think the art is tremendous. The wealth of detail, the intricate layouts, the polish, and the complex color work all give this issue an appropriately climactic feel.

The end of the Krakoan era has been overlong, over-complicated, and, at many points, poorly conveyed. But I think this issue is one of the bright spots.
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The anthology format giveth and it taketh away. The negatives:

The opening frame strip has a distinct lack of enthusiasm. I suspect Kieron Gillen resented having to pitch into an anthology. (Happily, the closing strip has all the enthusiasm that the opening lacks).

Tini Howard's strip is a shameless last whack at the dead horse of her beloved "Betsy Braddock is the bestest h ero ever and Rachel Summers is her submissive lesbian tradwife" premise. It's tied to the ceremony by the feeblest of threads.

The reprint of the Iceman Infinity Comic is just a disgusting marketing exercise. It's not a bad strip, but it has nothing at all to do with Mystique and Destiny.

But the positives are huge:

The Brombal/Pilliu strip (Logan and the kids) is messy and over-complicated, but also sincere and hilarious. "Sapphic Sapphire" and "Bisexual Menace" are both top-tier nicknames for Mystique. The author grapples with representational pitfalls in an engaging way, both in-universe and from a meta perspective.

The Claremont interview and the historical essay are both surprisingly rewarding.

Reprinting the strip from X-Force Annual #6 is brave. It's one of the all-time best moments in Mystique and Destiny's relationship, and including it here acknowledges the high bar set for the new work. This anthology might not clear it consistently, but in many parts, it gets up there.
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The plot of this climactic issue is simplistic, as is its repeated moral about the power of friendship. The storytelling is excellent; the art is attractive and the dialogue is realistic, funny, and engaging. But the story being told is a bit childish for jaded, crusty oldsters like me.

That being said, I'm still a big fan of this issue and the series as a whole. The letter columns thro ughout the volume tell the tale. This is something almost unique in the Marvel catalog at the moment: A book that is absolutely perfect for old nerds to share with their young nerdlings. That's nothing to sneeze at.

This issue's letters also point out another distinction: Where the vast majority of Marvel books eat their tails, endlessly recombining established heroes and established villains, the key characters in Spider-Boy are NEW. (Granted, they do iterate off existing characters; what is Madame Monstrosity if not the High Evolutionary reskinned for tween readers?)

Spider-Boy is quite literally a breath of fresh air, and that makes its simplicity a lot more palatable, even to the crustiest reader.
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The art remains beautiful, and the character interactions (particularly between the Maximoffs) are fun. There's not a lot of tension in the actual conflict and its resolution, though. The discovery that this whole arc is just setting up a bigger antagonist for the next one is a little disappointing.

I really don't know why this needed to be carved out as a miniseries.

One br ight spot is that a little internet spoilering taught me that I can quit grinding an ax over the "Angel" being too similar to another villain because it is, in fact, the same villain with a new alias.
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This issue presents some stunningly stylish scenes, crafted with dramatic art and sharp dialogue. But…How much plot-ground can you expect Bryan Hill to cover in just three issues? I hope they're all oversized.

Another limitation: This comic doesn't have a lot of mercy when it comes to explaining the characters' prior relationships. Thank god for the internet, huh?

The fact that Marvel paid for a Weapons of Vengeance sequel indicates that there are a lot of readers eager to see this.

I was potentially one of them. The demonic gore of WoV was far outside my wheelhouse, but the storytelling skill lavished on that series won me over.

Hellverine #1 seems put together with less care. The art is detailed and creepy, but it goes vague just wh en it needs to do clear visual storytelling. The prose is decent, but the scene structure is choppy and over-complicated.

And all too many of the ideas feel like first drafts to me. Human traffickers, an abusive priest, ripoff Cenobites, one-percenter cannibals, a goth lolita demonologist -- it's like Benjamin Percy just handed his nightmare journal to the artist and said, "Make all this look creepy cool."

The silver lining is that the final scene hints that Logan might be in for a meaningful story. That sinks a hook in me, a little; Hellverine and Project Hellfire certainly did not. So I'm rating #1 in the neutral zone between "average" and "good."
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When I strive to be as objective as possible, I think this isn't a great comic, but probably a good one, or at least nearly so. The art is strong, the script's structure is clear and well-paced, and the dialogue is properly Wolverine-terse.

I'm even a bona fide fan of Graydon's abrupt end; it's exactly what the character deserves.

But subjectively, this does absolutely nothin g for me. The plot doesn't engage my interest, the style and tone of the words and art leave me cold, I don't see any depth in the characterization, and there is not nearly enough talent or creativity on display to engage my interest and make me appreciate the storytelling. And the backup strips are just superfluous bloat to me.

I agree with Loafy Trophy: The final issue, and the volume as a whole, felt like a very pro forma portrayal of Wolverine, not fatally flawed, but lacking novel ideas or revolutionary insights.
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Having all the players' identities revealed really helps this series focus up. Some of the dialogue is still clunky, and some of the visuals are still stiff (and the artist collaboration is, I think, a B-minus at best), but the conflict develops in an engaging way. The best part might be MJ's insights into Felicia's thoughts; it's not exaggerating to say that Felicia's inner conflict is the actual crux of the story.

Still, a big improvement only brings this comic up to average.
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Every aspect of this comic is relentlessly adequate. The ideas, the pace, the art, the dialogue, the character interactions--all adequate.

I'm NOT saying this issue is bad. But the magic mojo that takes it from average to good has to be provided by the reader. If you love Spider-Punk, this probably lands as a good comic. If you don't, it's not going to stick in your memory or turn you i nto a fan.
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The art is great throughout all the strips, but the scripting could be much better.

Spider-Woman's debut is long on style and attitude and short on substance. Spider-Rex is finally exceeding my personal limit on absurd stupidity. And the final strip is barely a strip at all, just a teaser. Araña's voice sounds good, at least. Weapon VIII is way out in front in the "which variant will b etray the good guys" race, I think.
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Though the words and art remain simplistic, the need to resolve the plot gives them much-needed focus. The story threads its way to a happily ever after, letting the heroes use discourse and empathy to resolve the neighborhood's conflict. The journey also requires its fair share of violence and superheroics, which keeps things from getting too sappy.

Overall, this series was mighty roug h, but by the end, it's put Night Thrasher in a good place and opened a welcoming door to further adventures.
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I like smart writing. I don't like writing that pretends to be smart.

When the prose isn't clumsily pretentious, it's clichéd. The pace is slow, the plot barely develops, and T'Challa's self-pity is muddled and repetitive.

The art is certainly above average; the anatomy is great, and characters and settings alike have a wealth of detail. But the art is also stiff; it rarely gives a sense of motion, and it could be a much stronger, clearer storytelling tool.

I am being harsh. But this is definitely a flawed comic, and I didn't enjoy reading it.
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It hurts to see what might be my favorite book drop the ball this hard. The romantic culmination between Jen and Jack is perfectly fine, but are we really doing Ganymede like this? She's just gone offscreen? We don't get to actually see Jack deal with this genuinely difficult situation? There was a lot more potential for both comedy and storytelling in her involvement, and we're going to have Jack go "Lol just kidding" and she conveniently disappears? I know Ganymede's an obscure character, but if this is how we're treating her, don't bring her in in the first place. more

After some satisfying combat, this turns into a happily-ever-after of the best possible sort. This is the kind of comic you want to stand up and cheer for (provided you're engaged with the characters, and if you aren't, there's no reason to come this deep in the series).

On the technique side, this shows a rare and remarkable bond between author and artist. With consistently impeccable work in previous issues, Andrés Genolet has demonstrated over and over that they have a reliable ability to illustrate the characters, the world, and the feelings in play. Here, the author trusts that ability completely, putting into prose only those words that are absolutely necessary and trusting the artist to carry an equal share (at least) of the storytelling weight.

The trust pays off and the results are terrific.
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I loved this. Not so much that I'm blind to some flaws: the flow of the prose is sometimes rocky, the art lacks details, and the importation of the MCU TVA leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But I'm blown away by the much bigger positives.

Gwen's voice is authentic and her story unfolds with an enthralling pace. The art features amazing blocking and undeniable dynamism. The script has grea t thematic symmetry, circling around the relationship between Gwen-65 and Gwen-616 as considered by the protagonist as well as the creators.

Best of all, after Marvel has pushed the stupid "Ghost-Spider" name for YEARS without getting traction, Stephanie Phillips makes it work, rapidly and effortlessly.

Nitpick: On balance, I love Federica Mancin's art. But that cameo panel features one of the worst Peter Parkers I've ever seen.
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The pace starts off a little slow, the character work is entirely quip-based, and most of the plot development is pedestrian. But the author engineers another incredible last-page twist, the quips are funny, and the art is amazing. Plus, the Avengers get some hoo-rah payback for their defeat in the previous issue.

I'm reading all the tie-ins, so I can't really speak to this title's abil ity to stand on its own. I suspect that without at least reading Doctor Strange, this could be hard to follow.
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It's par for the course for this title: razor-sharp bits of dialogue sprinkled through blisteringly hot art that does an exceptional job at visual storytelling. Stylish as hell--and still frustrating in the way it ambiguously inches the plot forward.

Sass: 5 points to Bryan Hill for the elegant allusion to Plato's Cave.

Poor Union Jack! He only gets to come out and play during "monster invasion" events. See 2020's The Union, which is referenced a few times here. Or don't see it; it wasn't great.

Happily, this is much more enjoyable. The real party piece is some brilliant art put together by a large, talented team. Kev Walker is reliably great, and here, he goes full Mignola, as befits a speedy horror/a ction story.

The script sets a breakneck pace. The dialogue is clipped, tense, and natural-sounding. The author plays the plot cards a little close to the vest; Union Jack's relationship to the vampires is far from fully explained.

This issue also employs a device that I personally love (which is why I don't call it a cliché): Using a new, mundane protagonist to deliver an outsider's view of superheroes. I contend that it does great work here, and it provides a perspective that is so far unique in the event.
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