offtherack93

Off The Rack #93

Monday, June 4, 2018

The Ontario provincial election is dominating local news now and I can’t wait for it to be over. We are living in interesting times. My hope is that young voters get involved so they might be able to have a voice in their future. We don’t know what that future will look like and many people are predicting doom and gloom. I’m just going to wait and see. We have survived as a society through thick and thin. Most of us will be okay.

 

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Man of Steel #1 – Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Ivan Reis (pencils) Joe Prado (inks) Jay Fabok (art pages 21-22) Alex Sinclair (colours) Cory Petit (letters). This is it, the first DC comic book written by Brian Michael Bendis. The first thing I noticed was that it didn’t read like a Bendis book. There were snippets of dialogue that felt like Bendis talk but my overall feeling was somebody else wrote this. The super villain Rogol Zaar introduced in Action Comics #1000 starts off this weekly series by advocating the destruction of Krypton. Brian is following in the footsteps of John Byrne when he started writing the Man of Steel comics by changing the origin story a little. John’s most memorable change for me was the way the Kryptonians dressed. I don’t think there’s a heck of a lot that you can do with this iconic super hero that will be new to fans but I will continue to read Brian’s attempts as long as I am entertained. The last page did make me want to read the next issue and I’m glad I only have to wait a week to do so.

 

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Marvel Two-In-One #6 – Chip Zdarsky (writer) Jim Cheung (pencils) Walden Wong (inks) Frank Martin (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). I liked how they figured out a way to defeat GalacDoom in this finale. Reed’s revelation on the last page makes Ben and Johnny’s mission to reunite with their family much less certain. Victor’s part in this finale was quite cleverly done as well. On to the next universe as the search continues.

 

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Saga #52 – Fiona Staples (art) Brian K. Vaughn (writer) Fonografiks (letters). I have a feeling that this issue is the calm before the storm. We’re talking poo storm here folks.

 

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Super Sons/Dynomutt Special #1 – Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Fernando Pasarin (pencils) Oclair Albert (inks) Gabe Eltaeb (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). That was a fun story and a lot grimmer than I expected given that this is a team-up with an old Saturday morning cartoon character. I really liked the art although it looked like people had chapped lips. I prefer detailed art but you can get too detailed and then it becomes a distraction.

 

X-Men Red Annual #1 – Tom Taylor (writer) Pascal Alixe (art) Chris Sotomayor (colours) VC’s Cory Petit (letters). This is a good issue to read if you want to find out what this X-team is all about. It follows their leader, Jean Grey, as she gets reacquainted with life after coming back from the dead and ridding herself of the Phoenix Force. I wish the art could have been better though. Pascal’s faces are way too static when they should be conveying something. There are two pages where Jean is fighting Black Bolt and her face looks like it’s been injected with Botox. The last panel ties this annual into the regular book but you won’t be missing out on much if you don’t read this.

 

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Batman: Prelude to the Wedding: Robin vs. Ra’s Al Ghul – Tim Seeley (writer) Brad Walker (pencils) Andrew Hennessy & Mick Gray (inks) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Otto Schmidt (epilogue art) Dave Sharpe (letters). Prelude to the Wedding part 1. Tie-ins to major events are designed to entice fans to buy more books and are usually not worth reading but this one is really good. I like how they show Damian and Selina discussing the upcoming wedding and what it will mean to both of them. The fight between Damian and his grandfather was cool. The epilogue will delight Batfans as it gives a clue to who is going to crash the wedding. This made me want to read the next tie-in Nightwing vs Hush coming out June 6.

 

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Doomsday Clock #5 – Geoff Johns (writer) Gary Frank (art) Brad Anderson (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). This issue clears things up a little for me. We find out why Adrian Veidt is in Gotham City but there are way too many characters to keep track of. A few new ones are added here and a major one shows up on the last page. The original Watchmen had a lot going on too but my brain was much younger then. My old noggin is struggling to keep track of everyone and what they’re doing and where they’re doing it. I don’t know if I would keep reading this if it wasn’t for the art.

 

Amazing Spider-Man #800 – Dan Slott (writer) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). Go Down Swinging conclusion. It’s 80 pages of pulse pounding action as Spider-Man tries to keep the Red Goblin from killing his family and friends. You know that Peter beats Norman in the end but there are many nail biting moments before that happens. There are four chapters in the battle with the bad guy, three epilogues and an after credits scene just like in the movies.

Chapter 1: Crawling Through the Wreckage – Nick Bradshaw (art) Edgar Delgado (colours)

Chapter 2: Too Man Targets – Humberto Ramos (pencils) Victor Olazaba (inks) Edgar Delgado (colours)

Chapter 3: Family Infighting – Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils) Cam Smith (inks) Java Tartaglia (colours)

Chapter 4: The Goblin Triumphant – Stuart Immonen (pencils) Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Marte Gracia (colours)

Almost Solitary Confinement and The Return of Harry Osborn – Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils) Cam Smith (inks) Java Tartaglia (colours)

Goodbye – Marcos Martin (art) Muntsa Vicente (colours)

After credits scene – Mike Hawthorne (pencils) JP Mayer (inks) Jordie Bellaire (colours)

I was happy with how this storyline ended with a heroic sacrifice of a major character. This story brought back a lot of memories for me having read almost every Amazing Spider-Man comic book ever printed. Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin have had a long history and things are left so that there is potential for further clashes. I look forward to Dan Slott’s last issue hitting the racks June 20.

 

 

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