Welcome back! We're glad you made it through our week of absence (the turkey was delicious, by the way), and have returned to IGN's weekly comic book review round-up. This week marks the launch of our most anticipated Marvel NOW! release, FF, which happily met all expectations. Marvel also delivered the next installments of Uncanny Avengers, All-New X-Men, Thor: God of Thunder, and so much more.
At DC, we went back to that horrific future Gotham of Batman #666 in the pages of Batman Inc. #5, which ended with quite an interesting twist. American Vampire also delivered huge while Aquaman successfully laid the groundwork for Throne of Atlantis.
DC COMICS
Written by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti | Art by Moritat
"In All-Star Western #14, co-writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray transition from their strange Haly’s Circus introduction to the meat of the Jekyll and Hyde investigation. Their investigative team gains a key player and loses another in this book, but most of the book feels like filler until we get to the closing four pages." -Poet
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Final Score:
6.4
Written by Scott Snyder | Art by Rafael Albuquerque
"As I closed this book, I wasn’t surprised nor was I ashamed to find a single, solitary tear (a super manly one at that) streaming down my cheek. I won’t spoil anything here, but longtime readers of American Vampire will look back on this final chapter of The Black List as a shifting of the tide and a very definitive end of an era for the cast. Though there’s still one issue to go before the year-long hiatus, American Vampire #33 is, for all intents and purposes, the conclusion of the last two and a half years." -Joey
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Final Score:
9.7
Written by Geoff Johns | Art by Pete Woods & Pere Perez
"We’re on the brink of Throne of Atlantis, and Aquaman #14 serves as the calm before the storm. The issue delivers on its promise of a prelude chapter, but also plants seeds that seem to reach beyond just the coming story, particularly where Black Manta is concerned. Writer Geoff Johns hinges this issue on a conversation between Arthur and his half-brother Orm, as Aquaman confronts him on an apparent plot to attack the surface world. What follows is a tense read that builds the relationship of Arthur and Orm with ease." -Joey
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Final Score:
8.9
Written by Various | Art by Various
"In another case of life imitating art, we have a comic based on a TV series that itself was based on a comic. But compared to a book like Smallville Season 11, which seeks to continue and expand upon that show's mythology, Arrow #1 is little more than fluff and filler. Some of it is reasonably well executed, but nothing to justify the $3.99 cover price." -Jesse
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Final Score:
6.1
Written by Grant Morrison | Art by Chris Burnham
"Grant Morrison is nothing if not a planner. He plants seeds for stories years in advance and weaves an intricate narrative that at times feels like you need a Ph.D in DC continuity to fully understand. Fortunately, Batman Incorporated is a book that can still be enjoyed, even if you have a mere Master's or, heaven forbid, Bachelor's degree in the DC Universe." -Ben
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Final Score:
8.5
Written by Gregg Hurwitz | Art by David Finch
"The reinvention of Scarecrow takes a pretty big twist in this issue, and it's not a good one. What worked well here was that this was a smaller tale, a story of Scarecrow's troubled past, and his continuing obsession with his experiments and Batman's attempts to stop him. It was like a horror story, confined to a dank, rundown house on a forgotten street. Maybe that's why giant airships filled with fear gas feel so damn out of place. It seems like this little story has run its course and the 'to be continued' tacked on to the end is totally and completely unnecessary." -Ben
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Final Score:
6.0
Written by Len Wein | Art by Jae Lee
"Story-wise, Ozymandias might just be the most dull and uninspired of the Before Watchmen group. After four issues, the series is still doing little more than rehashing key events from the original Watchmen. If it wasn't for the gorgeous artwork, this series would be an easy pass." -Jesse
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Final Score:
6.4
Written by Darwyn Cooke & Amanda Conner | Art by Amanda Conner
"It's a good thing DC has temporarily doubled up on their Before Watchmen books now that the project is back from its brief hiatus. Ozymandias #4 was a dull (but pretty) read that illustrates so many of the flaws these books are capable of. Silk Spectre #4, meanwhile, represents the best Before Watchmen has to offer. It's a shame, really, that the best of these Before Watchmen books is also the first to reach its conclusion." -Jesse
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Final Score:
9.1
Written by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato | Art by Francis Manapul
"My favorite part of each Flash issue has got to be the stunning splash pages. They always employ an inventive layout and different elements of the setting to conjure up an impressive title page. Only, this time Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato save it for the very end and then follow it up with one of the most awkward cliffhanger pages I’ve ever seen. This book still suffers from problems such as shallow characters and bland dialogue, so messing up the execution of the book itself only makes matters worse." -Joshua
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Final Score:
5.9
Written by Josh Fialkov | Art by Andrea Sorrentino
"With the status quo thoroughly manhandled, Mary has gone from villainous vampire Queen of Blood to reluctant but devoted protagonist, hell-bent on saving the life of Andrew, who went through a transformation of his own from hero to baddest of the bad. With this switch-up, scenes with Andrew have an unsettling vibe. I, Vampire has always been a horror comic, but now the stakes are upped in a twisted way that makes each scene truly terrifying because you don’t know what awful thing Andrew will do next. Just wait until you see what he does to a dog." -Joshua
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Final Score:
8.1
Written by Jeff Lemire | Art by Graham Nolan & Victor Drujiniu
"Writer Jeff Lemire adeptly senses an opportunity to cover this lull in the main narrative’s energy by throwing the newest members of JLD at the mercy of the ever-temperamental House of Mystery. The move may not be overly elegant in its conception, with Frankenstein, Amy 'Amethyst' Winston, and Black Orchid arbitrarily blundering into certain danger, but it makes way for some strong moments. The mini-adventure gives Lemire plenty of space to acquaint the reader with three of the lesser-known but uniquely interesting personalities on his team. Better than that is the discovery that Black Orchid makes while exploring Constantine’s enchanted home." -Poet
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Final Score:
7.5
Written by Peter Milligan | Art by Miguel Sepulveda
"When we review a comic book, we score it based on the strength of both the writing and the art, as they are two parts to a whole. Miguel Sepulveda’s art never hits a wrong note and frankly looks amazing. I mean, did you see Atrocitus covered in blood and shadow while performing that magical rite? It looks sickeningly awesome. All the more shame that Sepulveda’s impressive talents be wasted on a book that trudges along delivering one unbelievably bad piece of writing after another." -Joshua
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Final Score:
4.5
Written by Scott Lobdell | Art by Kenneth Rocafort
"To be clear, I am only reading the main Superman title and not Supergirl and Superboy, so this issue marks my first exposure to the main H’el on Earth crossover event. In Superman #14, Superman meets the bad guy for the first time, and the results are as underwhelming as you’d expect from a villain with a name as eyeroll-inducing as H’el. Were E’vil and C’liche already taken?" -Joshua
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Final Score:
5.0
Written by James Tynion IV | Art by Juan Jose Ryp
"Talon is a decent book so far, but in a franchise as large as the Batman line, you really need to be better than decent to stand out from the crowd. James Tynion IV crafts an entertaining heist adventure as Calvin Rose begins targeting the assets of the Court of Owls. However, even after three issues it's not clear whether Talon has the wings to stay afloat as an ongoing series." -Jesse
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Final Score:
7.0
Source : ign[dot]com
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