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 Marvel Comics Presents #1 & 2
Written by Various
Art by Various
Reviewed by Nemo
A long time ago (the 80’s) Marvel had a series called “Marvel Comics Presents” and this series was a stomping ground for obscure B-list character to get noticed by the general public. It was a great time for characters like Man-thing and Lunatik. Well this series is back and I think that this is a good thing. It is fun to give these characters a place to have little adventures that don’t have a huge impact on the greater Marvel universe.
I was hesitant to pick up the first issue only because of the steep price of the book, 3.99. But when issue 2 came out I figured what the hell but yet again the price was 3.99. I understand that Marvel feels that they should have the right to charge more for a book that has four individual stories 3 of which are ongoing but that is a little high (one good thing is that you get an extra 10 page for a dollar).
Even with the price the first two issues where good, the first ongoing story centers around a police detective who has to find out who killed a man, the twist is the only witness to the crime is some bald guy that hangs out on the moon. The next one is a fun little tale about one of my favorite Avengers, Hellcat. Her adventure centers around a blind date that Hellcat must get to before 4 other Hellcats do, great fun. The third ongoing is a tale about the new Guardian who a member of Alpha Flight. He seems to be loosing his powers, powers that he seems to be addicted to. This story is the only one that I see playing a bigger role in the Marvel U only because of the X-Men are having there big crossover involving a new baby (it is way to long to get into here). The fourth tale is about the Taskmaster putting the crew of the S.H.I.E.L.D through the moves it is a stand alone and shows us again that Taskie is a bad MotherF – Shut Yo Mouth, I know you can dig it.
Over all I think that this book is worth you 3.99 because if you don’t like one story you have three others to choose from.
Justice Society of America #10
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Dale Eaglesham, Alex Ross, Ruy Jose, Drew Geraci, John Kalisz, and Rob Leigh
Reviewed by Kenne
In contrast to the reader-friendliness of Dynamo 5 because it's a new book, Justice Society of America is a good book because of how it pays homage to the things that have gone before. Also, unlike Dynamo 5, JSA has been around for many years in spite of it's low numbering (JSA was recently relaunched for at least the third or fourth time). Where a new book has to struggle to develop characters and a backstory, JSA is steeped and rich with plenty of both so that by this 10th issue, the reader feels they're in the middle of a saga that promises to be really good all the way to the end.
However, my only complaint with JSA #10 is my big complaint with most of DC these days. Which is that the writers at DC include the history of the DC universe, but they refer to the past with the assumption that their readers already know that past. For instance, in this issue, there are a few pages that refer to a comic that came out from DC a few years ago called Kingdom Come. However, while Alex Ross, the artist that drew Kingdom Come, draws pages in JSA #10 that refer to Kingdom Come, if the reader never read Kingdom Come, they really don't know much about what they're seeing. This is definitely a few pages designed to be really cool for the old-school comic fan, but what about the newcomers who are wondering what the heck is happening? If you ask me, there must be some way that DC can refer to their history without alienating the new readers.
All that aside, JSA #10 was a solid issue that was well written and well drawn. This book is well worth the purchase, and hey, if you're one of those new readers who are confused about what has come before, there's always wikipedia.
God bless Wikipedia.org.
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