October Comic Reviews

I've reviewed some good and bad new comics recently, this bunch were generally OK.

I was slightly disappointed with Fantastic Four #550 by Dwayne McDuffie & Paul Pelletier. Mainly because recent issues have been very good and I didn't feel that this issue was of the same quality. The art was still good but I didn't think that the plot worked in terms of drama and resolution. The villain(s) was a bit faceless and the solution a bit contrived and complicated.

A bit of a let down.

One last point, I'm pleased it was Sue's bum and not Ben's that took prominence on the cover. Not a good effort by Michael Turner and I never like to see Reed stretching his neck.

Rating 6/10



When this story in Mighty Avengers is finished I'm going to have to go back and re-read it. I'm sure that it will make more sense and be generally better overall.

There has been some discussion over on the Comics Should Be Good web site about decompressed storytelling and Bendis in particular. This is a good example of his style.


Frank Cho's art and cover are good points and it's a shame he will be leaving the title soon (but good news for it's frequency!)

Rating 6.5/10 (as a monthly read)




Don't get excited by the cover to New Avengers #34 by Bendis and Yu. This scene does not happen in this issue.

In fact, 90% of the issue focuses on The Hood and his plan to use the chaos that super-heroes are currently finding themselves in to make lots of money. The character of The Hood seems to be slightly different to that of the original in the trade I read just recently. But it's still quite a good issue. Some good dialogue and a nice idea. The only hero that turns up in the issue is Tigra and she doesn't come off too well.

Rating 7/10



I probably didn't need to buy this annual and, if you don't, you won't miss anything vital.

It's quite a good story by a new creative team (to me at least) Gregg Hurwitz and Marcelo Frusin. I particularly liked Frusin's art as it was a good European style.

Rating 6.5/10