Summer has, er, sprung, but that hasn’t prevented us from reading comics and then reviewing them on the Internet this weekend. Check inside for a brief look at Ms. Marvel #39, Spider-Man: The Short Halloween, Superman #688 and X-Force #15. (continue reading…)

We’re past the point of opening Amazing Spider-Man download narrow margin the dvd reviews by discussing “Brand New Day” by now, I hope? Good. Because the simple fact remains that whatever you think of it, the comics have been – not one hundred percent consistently, but pretty darned regularly – very good. And this is a prime example. After a quiet few issues, we kick into our next “big” storyarc – one that already feels similar in tone to Dan Slott and John Romita Jr’s outstanding “New Ways To Die” – and if you can’t help but feel that the stories have already centred a little too heavily around the Osborns, it’s hard to deny that finally bringing the Dark Reign setup into play on the character who stands to be affected by it the most is an intriguing prospect.

download rob roy online As a predominantly DC reader, Joe Kelly has never really stood out for me – he was never really that well-suited to the likes of Superman and the JLA – but he impresses here, perhaps because the wisecracking Spidey is far closer in tone to the character (Deadpool) with whom he really made his name. Certainly, he knows how to bring the funny – a line in a conversation between Peter and Wolverine (although come on, are we not done with the overexposure yet?) had me laughing out loud, and there are chucklesome quips and asides throughout. And his character work, particularly with Harry, is strong – on the one hand, you can’t help but feel we’re simply going through a retread of ’70s storylines by playing on this setup, but on the other, it’s actually quite good to see the dynamic between Peter and a genuine best friend.

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Kelly seems determined to play up the significance of the arc by littering it with attempts at iconic images – and with the benefit of a 28-page issue, it means he can indulge in full-page splashes such as a cat-that’s-got-the-cream Osborn at Gracie Mansion, and a shouldn’t-work-but-kind-of-does homage to the cover of Amazing Fantasy #15, while still feeling like there’s a lot of story crammed in – at least three different plots are moved along to differing extents, here. The whole thing is given a classy feel by Phil Jimenez’s artwork – I’m still not convinced he’s the most suitable Spidey artist, but this is work that’s had thought and time put into it, with particular regard to various panels in which Spider-Man crouches and contorts in and from the shadows, reflecting the darker mood that being face to face with Osborn puts him in. And to be honest, it’s just nice to see the H.A.M.M.E.R. director not looking like Tommy Lee Jones for once.

I’m always slightly wary of storylines that the publishers or creators feel the need to big up in advance, rather than simply letting the pages speak for themselves – but there’s no denying that after no small measure of waiting, plunging Spider-Man head-first into Dark Reign has given the book fresh impetus. There’s a well-built, ominous sense of foreboding, despite the lingering effects of the fun factor introduced by the likes of Scott and Guggenheim, and it all combines to make this feel how the beginning of a “big” Spidey story should. Kelly’s slotted well into the “Brain Trust” (are they still calling it that?) already, and I’m certainly intrigued to see how it pans out.

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After so long waiting for the conclusion to this series, it’s hard to know what to say. Was it good? Well, yeah. In fact, it was really good a lot of the time. If it hadn’t been good in the first place, it’s fair to say that no-one would have actually cared when it disappeared off the schedules for 3 years. A better question at this point is to say “Was it worth the wait?” – and that’s harder to say. It delivered a Wolverine Vs. Hulk story, and it delivered a better one than the “real” Marvel Universe has done in years – but it does so just as the Ultimate Universe is about to lose all semblance of relevance. For most of us, 3 years of waiting will have soured the memory of the series irreconcilably, but future generations, enjoying the collection edition, will applaud our patience. Probably.

Strangely, Issue 6 is one of the more muted instalments. Perhaps Lindelof suffered a bit trying to wrap up the arc. Perhaps it just changed so much from the original plan that he wasn’t sure what he was doing with it. Or perhaps this was always the intentional ending, and it’s a 3 year wait that’s making it seem a bit hurried. At this point, it’s hard to look at it with an objective eye.

The climatic moments in the issue are predicated on the rather strange idea that Wolverine wants the Hulk to die, rather than Banner. A tough decision to get on board with, and one Lindelof doesn’t really manage to convince me of in the issue. Likewise, the Nick Fury “twist” at the end seems a bit of an afterthought. It’s not his strongest plotting, that’s for sure. However – there’s good dialogue throughout, and Yu’s artwork is so far beyond his work on Secret Invasion that it’s not even funny. Generally speaking, it’s an entertaining comic, despite its plotting flaws.

Whether or not Lindelof has redeemed himself with the tail end of the series remains to be seen. Either way, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll actually show his face in comics again at all, although there is a chance – Kevin Smith has proven that there’s a way back in, after all. It’d be sad to lose a writer as keenly capable as Lindelof altogether, but if we’ve learnt anything from Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk it’s that, well, he should probably stick to one-shots.very bad things dvd download girl happy divx online download dead buried dvdrip far off place a download

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Every month we take turns to delve into our trusty longboxes, pluck out a dusty back issue, and give you our thoughts. We’ll also try and place it in the context of the time it was originally published.

Despite the vast success he’s enjoyed over the past decade, reader opinion continues to be split on the subject of Brian Michael Bendis. For many, though, he’s earned the right to have stumbles such as Secret Invasion overlooked in perpetuity, courtesy of his top-end work on the likes of Ultimate Spider-Man, Powers and – perhaps most notably – Alias. A quite superb fusion of Bendis’ knack for crime fiction and characterisation, and his knowledge and grasp of the Marvel universe, the twenty-eight issues for which it ran represent one of the most consistently excellent comics runs of the past decade – and in the shape of failed superhero turned private investigator Jessica Jones, it introduced by far the publisher’s most compelling new character since… well, since I can’t remember when, quite frankly.

Something of a format breaker, this standalone issue is presented, rather than in standard comics format, as scripted dialogue alongside uncharacteristic painted art from Michael Gaydos – and one can’t help but wonder whether this was planned all along, or if the issue was forced into this style after Bendis realised he’d written too much dialogue. Either way, it somehow works perfectly, and is exemplary of the book’s wit and characterisation at its finest.

The story is a fairly straightforward one – Jessica is hired by J. Jonah Jameson with a view to uncovering Spider-Man’s secret identity, but disliking both the assignment and the editor’s attitude, pulls something of a fast one on him. There’s nothing more elaborate than that, but what makes this a real joy – aside from the reveal of the precise nature of Jessica’s clever trickery – is, quite simply, the way Bendis plays with character. Quite aside from the ranting of Jonah (of which more shortly), there’s a nuanced precision to his handling of Ben Urich, Robbie Robertson and even Betty Brant, and more specifically the dynamic within the Bugle offices. This particular corner of Spider-Man’s supporting cast has always been one of the MU’s strongest assets, and Bendis gets that, just as he gets how to write fluid, believable, characteristic and downright hilarious JJJ dialogue. More than that, he gets to the nub of the neuroses that lie at the heart of Jonah’s anti-mask paranoia, as well as exploring the more active side – from hiring Jessica to compiling a “Spider-Man map” of repeated sightings around Queens and ESU – of his Spider-hatred campaign.

Michael Gaydos’ art throughout the series was as consistently excellent as Bendis’ writing, but here he breaks out of his comfort zone somewhat to illustrate Bendis’ dialogue with a succession of paintings – and while it wouldn’t necessarily have worked every month, it’s fair to say he outdoes himself on this occasion. Stylised and yet with a tangible realism, they’re an aid to immersing the reader in the immediacy of what are, essentially, a pair of single-set, real-time scenes (split by two months). I’m not sure they could really be described as “storytelling” in the purest sense, but from an absolutely lovely Spider-Man panel (which I think I’m right in saying was the webhead’s only in-costume appearance in the series) to a superb two-page vista of Jonah looking out over the city, the entire issue is a visual delight.

Aside from setting up the later plot element of Jonah’s distrust of Jessica (not to mention a neat touch that jumped out on re-reading: an early mention of Jessica’s “Knightress” identity, a backstory thread that wouldn’t be picked up until long after the series had finished), this doesn’t do a huge amount to move the series along. But as an amusing standalone piece, it’s lovely – and nothing short of superbly crafted. Modern mainstream comics honestly don’t get much classier than Alias, and if you’ve never read it, you could do yourself a hell of a lot worse than starting from the beginning the next time you’re down the LCS.

As someone who got into comics via the 90s X-Men cartoon – and whose first X-Men story was actually X-Men #1 back in a UK reprint series, let me state for the record: I love Chris Claremont’s last couple of years on the X-Men. That’s why, when the chance came up to re-evaluate Claremont’s final arc, from the opening 3 issues of X-Men (Vol. 2) I just couldn’t say no. After all, at $4.99 for over 3 comics’ worth of material, it’s pretty good value, and if nothing else it’ll provide a nice reading copy to go alongside my worn and aging originals.

Of course, this book isn’t really aimed at me. It’s aimed at the people who might want to pick up X-Men Forever  (the premise of which is “What if Chris Claremont never left the X-Men?”) but who weren’t there the first time around. Since “X-Men #1” was written as a jumping on point anyway, the story in Alpha stands alone quite well, which wasn’t always the case with Claremont’s X-Men stories. For better or worse, it’s full of all the tropes that made his run enjoyable in the first place – well-defined characterisation, speech bubbles full of dodgy accents, and philosophical monologues on virtually ever page. As a microcosm of what Claremont’s run was like, it can hardly be faulted.

It helps that the story is fairly action-packed, too. Compared with the decompressed, 6-issue arcs of today, this 3-issue arc manages to feel like several blockbuster events crammed into one. The story shows the reunited X-Men going out on a mission against – who else? Magneto – and over the course of it, recalls events from hundreds of issues ago (the sinking of the Leningrad, Moira raising the infant Magneto) while also climaxing with the apparent death of Eric himself. The opening sequence, in which the X-Men team simulate an attack on the mansion as a training exercise, is a great sequence, though after such a strong opening, the arc does start to suffer towards the end. Lee tends to overcrowd his pages, while Claremont uses any remaining space for dialogue, and it becomes clear that this was not a story designed to be read in one sitting. About two-thirds in, you’ll be longing for a month’s break just so you can digest it.

The issue also contains a few pages as a teaser for X-Men Forever, which show Claremont sticking to the premise far more than the promo art initially suggests. Whether or not it has any appeal outside the X-Men nostalgists is hard to gauge, but off the back of this collection, I’m actually feeling quite charitable towards what I’d previously viewed as an ignorable Claremont vanity project – so in that respect, at least, it’s done its job.

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It’s hard to know what to make of Captain America at the moment. Ed Brubaker’s long term planning for the book has been exemplary, with the audacious move of restoring Bucky to life being followed with an even more attention-grabbing move. The playoff for killing Steve Rogers was enormous, both in media profile for the title and the storytelling momentum that swung to book through two years’ worth of stories without the need to pause for breath.

And then the pace began to slacken. Bucky Barnes’ adventures seemed to be stuck in a holding pattern, endlessly dwelling on his past. Almost as if the book was waiting for a certain issue number.

It’s impossible to write about ‘Captain America #599′ without considering the wider implications for the character of various hints from Marvel as to the content of next month’s spectacular. It may sound rather shallow to hold Brubaker’s run in less esteem if he has indeed always intended to raise Rogers from the dead, but the writer’s work will be viewed differently if his radicalism does prove to be a front.

The appeal of Brubaker’s run, and the reason why the writer has had so much success in drawing in readers with no particular attachment to Cap, was that he treated the property as a living, breathing entity. Of all Marvel’s properties, Rogers most resembled the Fantastic Four, who for decades have held little appeal for readers due to their static status quo. Over time, this has become a self-perpetuating view, with any actual change to their set-up being dismissed by readers as a temporary gimmick, and abandoned by the publisher when it fails to fuel sales.

This issue itself gives grounds for optimism, with last month’s return of energy to the writing maintained, as Barnes considers over half a century of birthdays. Given the tendency to melancholy the book has shown in recent months, it’s refreshing to see Cap’s musings being interspersed with comparatively light-hearted action, as he fights off an assassination attempt in modern-day New York. Another novel development is the inclusion of the Avengers in the book. While Brubaker has obviously enjoyed his work’s isolation from the Marvel Universe, a story about how his character has grow into his place in the world wouldn’t be complete without an appearance by his team, and the writer sensibly breaks his unwritten rule. At the risk of sounding rude, this issue is a very well crafted brick. It just remains to see what the finished house looks like…