CrazyforRAMU's Profile

A good answer to the question, how great does a comic have to be for me to call it great, even when the last page makes me say, "Who?"

The core plot developments here are unsurprising, perhaps even predictable, and that might tempt a reader to dismiss this issue as one of the title's lesser ones. But there are enticing hints about what comes next, and these are all tied strongly to individual characters. While the script is honest about the limitations of the "content/content" pun, the narration works some thematic magic when it comes to storms and similar terrible things.

Another formidable serving of art (along with impressive full-spectrum color work) helps elevate the whole experience and keep it far from disappointing.

Side note: Illustrating this upcoming Roxxon Thor comic is the ONLY thing that will EVER make me say, "This looks like a job for Greg Land!"
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The D&D&Dr. Strange story wraps up in a satisfying way that I love, though I'll admit it's not the most challenging or complicated plot these creators have tackled. Their storytelling remains outstanding, but both author and artist have done better.

The final epilogue scenes leave me conflicted. The links forged to the title's past and future plotlines are terrific. The abrupt, clumsy i ntroduction of a Big Dumb Crossover? Not so much.
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This is shaping up even juicier than I expected! The art is splendid, as always, and the dialogue is packed with sharp lines and distinctive voices. This issue did a great job of massaging in vital backstory (as the 90s are my blind spot, I had no idea Jack and Ganymede Were A Thing) while also pushing the plot forward. Jen is easy to empathize with, and the crushing weight of what she's going thr ough is clear without the need for excess melodrama.
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It's a high-octane war issue, with dramatic action perfectly structured and timed to let the characters clinch big wins and fire off memorable one-liners. The Avengers manage to come across as more effective and more entertaining than the entire mutant community, even though their Orchis fight fills a mere fraction of the pages that the mutants are putting out.

This is well-crafted and thoroughly enjoyable, but it's not perfect. The inclusion of Yuna Yang from the Captain Marvel solo is charitable, but I think it might be confusing for readers who aren't following that title. (If you are following it, like I am, I feel for you.)

The art is dynamic and nicely polished. However, the visual style is so undistinguished that I didn't really even notice that this issue introduces an entirely new artist. In one sense, that's a very good thing; in another sense, it's not good at all.
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After the last volume, I was dearly hoping that Deadpool wouldn't immediately lose his love interest, Valentine Vuong.

Alas.

This issue eases the loss by making it a central part of Wade's characterization, and I appreciate that a lot.

It's an action and gore-heavy ride. Not all of the humor lands, but Wade's voice sounds good and improves the pace and flow. Simila rly, the art is imperfect, but it does a praiseworthy job of carrying the cinematic fight scenes with excitement and a fair degree of clarity.
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Frankly, I found the peeks inside the Venom symbiote's mind at the beginning and end more intriguing than any of the over-the-top violence in between.

Leave it to Al Ewing to step into the middle of the theological/psychological stuff Torunn Grønbekk is doing and turn Carnage into a pruning fork, trimming away some of the divergent timey-wimey stuff he's let grow wild. Hopefully, this s ets the stage for a more focused, more intense exploration of the Eddie-Venom-Dylan relationship.

The sketchy finish on the art still rouses my ire a little, but it certainly handles symbiote violence and body horror well.
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The great strengths here are some crystal-clear art and a relentless thematic unity: Everything is about parental relationships, whether healthy or unhealthy. That theme helps tie together a wide-ranging collection of scenes that might otherwise feel digressive.

The bad news: Though it does good storytelling, the art rarely rises to memorability. Peter's past-tense narration is a mercur ial crapshoot. Some scenes, it elevates to greatness. Others, it spoils and confuses. The pace is awfully slow.

Also, some internet research tells me that the antagonist revealed at the end is practically the definition of a creator's pet. JM DeMatteis is pretty much the only person on Earth who's interested in them.
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I REALLY didn't like this, and though I'll accept that my subjective reactions were the biggest stumbling blocks, I'll argue against calling it great.

The visuals are detailed, but stiff and jumbled. They have no narrative flow, and clarity is often lacking. This art is not showing me what I want to see, and I don't think it's illustrating everything the author wants it to, either.

The dialogue sounds reasonably natural, the prose is grammatically correct, and it even rises to some flowery, poetic heights. But it's not insightful. Its characterization of Cap is shallow and perfunctory. He defends the innocent and he doesn't give up; is this news to anyone? The epic good-vs-evil conflict is laid out in simplistic terms, too.

There's real storytelling talent and effort on display here. But I think it's all being used to try and make a molehill into a mountain.
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This issue lets A-list mutants engage in a pointless, bloodthirsty sideshow, slaughtering yet more Orchis goons and some associated lowlifes. Meanwhile, the actual narrative idles exactly where Fall #3 left it.

Thanks to Joshua Cassara, it is a very PRETTY, gory sideshow, but it means little.

Stan update: Ms. Marvel gets to do A Thing, but it's an "any mutant could do this" s ort of thing. Okay, yeah, TECHNICALLY, only two other mutants could do the thing, but there's nothing distinctively Kamala-y about the thing.
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What could be one of the most exciting installments of the series is dragged down by repetitive exposition, character art that belongs on the TVtropes page for "Dull Surprise," and character work that demonstrates the difference between "good childish" and "bad childish" by sticking almost exclusively to the latter.

And yet, at a content level, there's nothing fundamentally wrong with t his story. The pace is slow (mainly due to the exposition), but there's logic and interest in the characters' choices and the effects they have. Even their feelings are valid, as simplistically as they're expressed.
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Usually, I serve myself well by judging each issue on its own merits. But this is a case where that policy trips me up. The author has tweaked and nudged this entire series to work as one unit. If #2 was slow and expository, it's so that #3 can be a single-minded revelation that hits like a freight train.

The art's pretty, though, as usual, the settings are a bit vague. The words are te rse but memorable; the pace is brisk. The whole issue is designed as a crucible to test Xavier's character and bend the plot around the outcome of the test.

With all the groundwork and context handled in previous issues, this one is free to be as powerful as possible.

Derbycomics does good devil's advocate work, though. They're right; the Moira/Enigma scenes ARE just as convoluted and tiresome as the earlier issues' exposition. But I contend that Xavier's ordeal is strong enough to elevate the expository bits and make them painless.
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Laser-like focus and stunning art lift this issue to greatness. It is ALMOST all one fight, but there's enough big-picture plot development at the end to keep this stitched into the ongoing story. Plus, the mistaken identity twist keeps the "deadly sins" premise fresh.

I'm always finding tons of nits to pick in this volume's storytelling, and this more-than-double-sized issue offers up a bumper crop. The different artists don't harmonize particularly well, and each one offers up their own regrettable foibles. The pace is uneven, some of the scene transitions are messy, and the dialogue often falls into clichés.

But I'll argue strenuously that this is a good comic overall. There are plenty of moments of charm and brilliance where the words, or the art, or both together, accomplish something great.

It helps that the plotting is rock solid, logically combining every costumed guest star and all of the volume's new ideas for the climax.

The best feature, for me, is the exquisite, versatile character work. A great take on Ms. Marvel. Bumbler executing flawless comic relief. Agent Gao crossing the moral event horizon. Prowler and Scorpion; Raneem and her father. Poor, poor Shift.

The only thing missing is a similar deep dive into Miles, but I expect that's what #19 is for.

And for once, I have kudos for an editorial decision: Celebrating a milestone by delivering one MONSTER story is SO MUCH BETTER than padding out a regular issue with a bunch of shabby backup strips.
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This is the most Sandman-y installment of the series so far. That's mostly a good thing, but not entirely. The dreamy mysticism and cosmic world-building don't leave much room for developing the big-picture plot. On the other hand, they give this installment a sense of profound depth, and the world-building fits into this volume's unique take on Marvel cosmology.

The art is just as spec tacular as it needs to be (although Aiko's expressions get goofy in several panels). The script strikes a great balance between snappy stick-in-your-memory lines and deep exploration and development of Aiko's character.
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Simply lovely. It must be killing Hickman to write something that you don't need a PhD to read. Is this really all it took to make Spider-Man enjoyable again?

This is a slow issue, and a great example of why that's not necessarily a bad thing. Although it makes little progress on the "big picture" plot, all of the scenes are complete and enjoyable in themselves. The world-building continues apace, nicely constrained by Pete's point of view. The art remains good, though the colors are muddy--but maybe that's a necessity in an Ultimate universe? The dialo gue is pretty scrumptious; we hit plenty of memorable lines.
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This issue is all about pulling back the curtain on the monster du jour, and she just gets creepier and creepier the more we learn. For me, the bad news is that the ghost detective's stutter is DAMNED annoying, and I think it actually slows the pace down. But I balanced that out by appreciating the art much more this time around. All of the detail that I didn't see in #9 shows up here, turning the settings incredibly creepy.
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I need to keep this issue, and the arc as a whole, in mind as an object lesson. This installment is just as violent and gory and "performatively tough" as those that have come before. But the development of the plot and the context added by Sabretooth's characterization make all the difference in the world to my reception.

The authors and the artist deserve kudos for sticking to a high- concept structure -- the "split screen" effect that shows reality and Logan's altered perception in parallel -- and keeping it rigorously clear.

The authors still don't synergize as well as they could; the plot threads are dissonant, and the Exiles feel distant from the core Creed/Logan story.

I'm never going to be a fan of violence for the sake of violence. But violence as part of an exploration of crushing trauma? That I can get behind.
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This series ends just as absurd and audacious as it began, but the big difference is that it finally won me over with its shameless confidence and its clever scripting tricks.

The resolution is pretty easy to call in advance, but the writing is stylish enough to keep it from being disappointing.

The art sticks in my craw as a weak spot, though. It has some amazing moments o f visual storytelling, but the shortage of detail provides an equal number of disappointments. The horrors of the Red Skull's mad science experiments, in particular, are undercut by vague visuals.
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