Comic Book Reviews: 02/26/2014

Guardians of the Galaxy #12
Marvel | (W) Brian Michael Bendis | (P) Sara PichellI & Stuart Immomen | (I) Sara PichellI & Wad Von Grawbadger

In this week’s Guardians of the Galaxy All-New X-Men, the sluggish pace of “The Trial of Jean Grey” crossover continues. Four issues in and the focus remains on the X-Men; this issue feels like a prologue for the recently announced Cyclops ongoing (sidenote: I thought Christopher Summers died at the hands of Vulcan, when did he get better?). Bendis’s script has a couple funny lines delivered by Rocket and Peter but ultimately the Guardians serve as the young X-men’s taxi service more than anything else. For a crossover called “The Trial of Jean Grey”, one would expect to see the trial to occur before part 5. Pichelli and Immonen are spot on with capturing the emotion of the script and they are able to make these diverse characters look right at home standing next to each other. Where they stumble slightly is the monotone backgrounds. The story has two distinct odd moments. The first is Peter and Kitty greeting each other, how long have they been on this ship together? I would think that this type of interaction would occur before leaving Earth. The second is the continued romance between Cyclops and X-23 which feels more at home in a fan-fiction than a major publisher. Ultimately, this issue reads like it would fit in at home as part of a trade but isn’t satisfying as a single issue.

Score: 5.5 /10

Hawkeye #15
Marvel | (W) Matt Fraction | (P) David Aja | (I) Matt Hollingsworth

This issue opens with Hawkeye’s standard line “Okay..This looks…” and ends with a little misdirection, which is a theme throughout this tale. It is refreshing to have Aja on art duties, after two issues focusing on the “Kate” storyline, as his craftsmanship is perfect for this book. Fraction’s witty scripts and Aja’s usage of details in every shot truly make the “Barton” storyline the “A” story. Even when the chips look down and dealing with serious stakes, this series delivers a steady stream of humor and subtlety. Do yourself a favor and make sure that you read everything that Barry writes down. Barton’s civilian cast highlight the heart of the struggle which takes place and define Hawkeye’s motivations. The super-woman of Hawkeye’s life are interestingly woven throughout the story and help piece together who is targeting the building, but it would be nice to see them do more than just be a glorified Google search. The ending, while shocking in content, means nothing. Any fan who has read comics knows that a publisher won’t leave the protagonist in that situation.

Score: 9.0 /10

The Superior Spider-Man #28
Marvel | (W) Dan Slott | (P) Giuseppe Camuncoli | (I) John Dell

Otto Octavius is no Peter Parker. The Spider-Man before us continues to act in a very non-Friendly-Neighbrohood-Spider-Man way and it works. Prioritizing equipment over lives, talking down to friends, focusing on himself above all else. These are things that we would never see Peter do and because Otto is the hero of this tale it is still surprising when he doesn’t act more heroic. The Goblin Nation easily (almost too easily) dismantles all of Otto/Peter’s support; with the exception of a spunky red head who is just a little too capable and cunning in this issue. The pieces that have been constructed over the last few years are crumbling around Spider-Man, to pave the way for a new ongoing and status quo. There is some heavy handed foreshadowing as ghost-Peter continues to rummage in Otto’s mind and loses himself. How will this impact Peter? What does this mean for Spider-Man? Honestly, it really doesn’t matter because the current incarnation is still a a refreshing take. The best parts of this issue are Otto-Spidey trying to out maneuver the Goblin King (who is probably not Norman), unfortunately there are many sections of side characters running around being two dimensional and over the top.

Score: 7.0 /10