Here we go with more reviews from my pile of new issues. I have five on tap for today, starting with…
Wolverine Origins #40 
Writer: Daniel Way
Pencils: Scot Eaton
If you have been following this series you know that Wolverine has been creeping ever so closer to finding out the identity of the man who has been manipulating him from the beginning. A man named Romulus. Now honestly Marvel has been hyping this like the second coming but in my opinion it fell a little short. The story was good but not great; we saw Logan confront this beast who actually looks like an aged version of Wolvie himself. I won’t spoil it for you but it leaves the door open for a future confrontation between Logan and Romulus but it also seems likely that it will eventually involve Daken as well. One side note about this issue: at the end of last issue we saw Wolverine stab Omega Red with the Muramsa blade, so it will be interesting to see what happens with him. The artwork was solid as usual. 3.5 out of 5 (Parental Advisory)
Moving along we next have… Dark Reign The List: X-Men (one-shot)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Pencils: Alan Davis
I for one am really enjoying most of Dark Reign. Well, more so than Secret Invasion, that’s for sure. This issue is pretty much a stand alone story that just shows Norman Osborn trying to tick off Namor for betraying him by turning his ex-wife into some kind of wacky sea beast. There is also a peek at some of Matt Fractions early work at Marvel comics. It’s a Wolverine story but believe me when I say even Wolverine fans aren’t going to get worked up about this crappy stuff. I do like Namor being around for the most part; he is a good character on a team but alone I think he’s pretty useless. The only thing I really liked so far about Namor in Dark Reign was his fight with Sentry. It wasn’t a long drawn out battle or anything but it did give me something to think about instead of Sentry just showing up and whipping everybody. The art in the main story is good but as I said earlier the back story is terrible. All in all it was an OK issue but not worth the $4 price tag. Skip this one unless you’re a die hard gotta have it Namor, Dark Reign or X-fan. 3 out of 5
Up next we have…Dark X-Men: The Confession(one-shot).
Writers: Craig Kyle and Chris Yost
Pencils: Bing Cansino
OK, so basically in this issue we didn’t see too much action or find out anything we as readers didn’t already know. There were a couple of things that I did think were kind of funny but other than that it was a complete waste of an issue. We found out the shocking secret that Emma Frost is a whore with pretty much no morals. Wow, shocking huh? We then were enlightened that the boyscout-ish Scott Summers doesn’t care. I think maybe Cyke realizes when Jean comes back from the dead for the billionth time she’s going to give Logan a shot. I mean come on here. We know Emma has been a pole dancer at the Hellfire Club for goodness sake and I’m pretty sure everybody knew about her flings with Namor and Stark. I did think the artwork was decent but the story obviously could have been better. I did really like the cover though. Sort of another let down issue for me as far as content to be honest. 2.5 out of 5
Lets take a closer look at…Dark Avengers #9.
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Art: Mike Deodato
I loved this issue for a few different reasons. First off the cover and the interior art was phenomenal. I love Mike Deodato’s artwork: he just seems to have the right mix as far as drawing characters along with inanimate objects. The story itself was very good too. The cover is a little deceiving being that Ares and Fury don’t throw down but there is a confrontation about Ares son (phobos) working for Fury. I really thought that there would be a monumental fight but After a brief conversation Ares figures out that Nick can do a better job raising his son than he can. If that wasn’t enough the last couple of pages were absolutely incredible. I won’t give it away but if you’re a Sentry fan you’d better get this issue. I can’t wait for the next issue in this series to ship! 4 out of 5
Finally we’ve got…New Avengers #57
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Stuart Immonen
Well I’ll say one thing about this issue; the cover didn’t lead you on in any way, shape or form. It continues the story of the Hood’s gang splitting away from him and joining ranks with Dr. Harrow; a genius inventor who is an old Spider-Man villain. There was action a plenty in this one, including Spidey kicking the crap out of Osborn. I’ve really been enjoying this title ever since its inception and hope that Bendis keeps this train rolling. We also got to peek in on what the Hood and his chick Madame Masque are doing. They’ve been led to Cuba by Loki to find another source of power for him since Dormammu left his side. Loki reveals to him The Norn Stones; powerful magic is bestowed upon the person who wields them and the Hood is the wrong person to be in possession of them. This was a good issue but the artwork seemed a little less crisp than usual. 3.5 out of 5
That’s all for now but rest assured I’ll be sending more reviews your way soon.
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
The Dark Avengers book was one of my recent favs and shows a different side of Ares than we have seen. I’m just interested as to how it’s gonna play out since he KNOWS there is a team out there gunning for his boss.
I liked the X Men one-shot and grabbed it because i’m a big fan of Alan Davis and you’re right though man the back story was drawn horribly by Sam Keith but it was written pretty decent
Wolvie Origins: I totally agree that it fell flat. This story has taken awhile to wrap up and I was left going, “Ok…. and?” Also, when are we going to see the Muramasa blade fused to Daken’s third claws in regular continuity?
X-Men the List: “It’s a Wolverine story but believe me when I say even Wolverine fans aren’t going to get worked up about this crappy stuff.” LOL!! I picked it up because I’m a die-hard X-fan. I liked it and agree with your rating. Also, Namor is awesome as an X-man!
Confession: ” We found out the shocking secret that Emma Frost is a whore with pretty much no morals.” WAS a whore. There’s no denying she’s a one man woman now! I do agree though that this issue may have worked better as three pages in a comic. However, I think the point of it was to make people go “WOAH!” when Utopia began and Previews released this cover.
Dark Avengers: SENTRY +1!!
New Avengers: Didn’t read it.
I think I said this elsewhere, but that issue of New Avengers had AWFUL artwork inside. It was so incredibly sloppy! I felt really bad shelling out 4 bucks for that. I think it’s a new artist…I want the other guy back.
@Andy-didn’t Emma recently make whoopie to Namor or was that a flashback?
Billy, nice reviews. Keep them coming!