mysteriousmre's Reviews (1.22k)

Soule moves Swamp Thing away from traditional horror to something more along the lines of traditional fantasy. A welcome change after Snyder's gothic romance. Here Swamp Thing is preparing to confront Seeder, a reimagining of Floronic Man, who wants to take his place as the Avatar of the Green. To do this, he visits the Parliment of Trees for training and THAT'S where this book gets interesting.

In the previous volume, each time Swamp Thing would spawn in a new area, he'd grow to his normal size but incorporate the local plant life into his new body. Now in the green, we Javier Pina draw different Avatars and members of Parliment (like a trilobite and a freaking T-Rex just to name a few) and they're all brilliantly creative. Pina might be my favorite Swamp Thing artist. He draws a wonderfully crisp Alec Holland and the way he incorporates different plants and fruits into the character designs to hint at their personality and the time they existed is really special. Wolf and Lady of Weeds are the standouts and I hope we see more designs like these in the future!

I suppose plot-wise this is something Swamp Thing readers have all seen before, but the art and tone give it all a very fresh feel. If you know someone whose curious about Swamp Thing, but tends to stay away from horror this might be the book to recommend.

Quite the mixed bag this volume. The main Ninja Turtle book is great and has some wonderful twists and resolutions. What drags this collection down for me are the non-TMNT books collected here.

Mutanimals has some cool looking team members, but that style comes at the cost of substance. Slash is one of the more developed members of the team, but he really doesn’t make sense as a member of the team given his stance against killing.

The April & Casey portion of this volume had promise but ended up being wasted potential. It was waaaay longer than it had any right to be, and I think it does the Casey/April relationship a disservice. The book spends a good bit looking at their flaws and how they see themselves, but if the story is supposed to sell me on them being a good couple and team I think the story would have really benefited from the two of them talking about how they see each other and the positive things they’ve brought out in the other.

Don’t let the flawed execution of these side stories though keep you from enjoying the main TMNT story. The Turtles’ final confrontation with the Foot Clan is a solid conclusion and teases a fascinating new direction for the Hamato family.

The persona of Blue Beetle has a TON of history and world building behind it and the book does a good job of exploring that history, but not so much the history and world of Jaime Reyes.

A lot of people describe Jaime as DC’s answer to Marvel’s Spider-Man, and that’s not a bad description. The characters are both young teenagers who’ve stumbled into the role of superhero in a way that immediately impacts their lives and those around them. The difference is that Spider-Man stories explore what Peter’s life was like before becoming a superhero and in this particular story, Blue Beetle does not.

We are quickly introduced to some characters in Jaime’s life but before we get to see him interact with them in any meaningful way we are swept away into battles with super villains which, apart from La Dama herself, are very simple and uninteresting. That’s not a bad thing, Spider-Man stories usually have underwhelming antagonists as well. But Spider-Man stories have more interesting characters and relationships to fall back on, but because this story skipped out on establishing those characters and their dynamics with Jaime, Blue Beetle ends up feeling like diet Spider-Man with a fresh coat of paint. And that’s a real shame because the supporting cast they introduce for Jaime are all very different and have potential to be very interesting. Jaime has both of his parents alive (and a younger sister to boot)! His best friend Paco is his age, but a high school dropout. There’s a lot of wasted potential here because they focused on the wrong things right out the gate.

On the bright side, they nailed the voice of Jaime Reyes and the Scarab attached to his body. Jaime is the warm sweetheart and Scarab is the cold pragmatist and seeing the two of them clash for control is fantastic. This clash also also creates a great reason for why Jaime’s secret identity remains a secret as the Scarab uses every bit of the power it has over Jaime’s body to keep itself safe and under the radar.

It’s my understanding this book was cancelled shortly after the second volume, but there are plenty of Blue Beetle stories written before this reboot so while I found this volume disappointing, if nothing else it’s encouraged me to give prior Blue Beetle stories a shot.

An uneven conclusion to an uneven run. Still lots of great ideas that could have made for interesting storylines if they had been given the amount of time need for them to grow into something great. Still, a good idea is a good idea and I hope another writer picks up these threads and runs with them in their own work.

If you’re going to reboot a character from the ground up, you better replace what you threw out with something of substance. This was not it. I’m amazed at how bored I was reading this.

Green Arrow has a reputation among DC fans for being the social activist in the superhero community (and for being a brooding diet Batman if you watched the early seasons of Arrow). Starting with the New52, the writers decided to toss everything recognizable about the character out the window and start from scratch and what they gave us feels soulless and uninspired. The first three issues are VERY bare bones. The book skips Oliver Queen’s backstory (not a bad decision on its own, Batman by Scott Snyder did this as well in its first volume), but the story doesn’t give us a clue about his motivations as a character or why his antics of being a superhero are more important than his responsibilities at his company (something that you’d think would be pretty important since they threw out all the old continuity and have established NOTHING about the lead character). And if you’re wondering why I haven’t brought up the antagonists yet it’s because just like Green Arrow they have no distinguishing character or personality either. They exist because it’s a superhero story and the artist needs to fill up a few pages of action before picking up their paycheck.

We’re introduced to an entirely new supporting cast, but they don’t get explored beyond establishing their cookie cutter “nerd in the chair” stereotypes. The idea of a pacifist designing Oliver’s tech is cool, but it’s never explored just like the plot’s stance against violence in video games (which was an outdated topic, even when this book was published).

Afterwards, the main writer leaves and the remaining issues are juggled between 2 writers who seem more interested in filling space waiting for the next person rather than writing a coherent story. I remember people saying New52 Green Arrow was bad, but I didn’t know it was THIS bad. This reboot was a HUGE misfire and I don’t think I’ll be reading more Green Arrow anytime soon.

A quick silly read about a Justice League put together for PR purposes forced to actually save the world. The world ending plot isn’t all that exciting, but it’s fun to see the team talk, clash, and interact with one another. I e heard the original JLI was like this but better so I guess I’m adding JLI to my reading list this year!

I was little nervous to read this adaptation. Prose scripts don’t always translate well into the medium of sequential art, but I think the team who worked on this did an excellent job transitioning this story into a graphic novel. I do have some problems with the second half of the story for meandering a bit from the main plot, but it’s my understanding that’s a common criticism of the novel as well.

Leigh Bardugo writes a really charming and honorable Diana, and her coming-of-age drive to prove herself to her peers on Themyscira makes sense given the island’s context as an afterlife for accomplished warriors. I was worried once she left the island Diana would be the target of overdone culture clash and “out of touch” jokes, but Bardugo uses the story’s lore and Diana’s sharp mind at picking up context clues that she dodges a lot of those terrible cliches.

The new character, Alia Keralis, really started to grow on me as her friendship with Diana grew in the second act. Alia gets bolder as the story goes on and she interacts with her supporting cast. She really comes into her own and I wouldn’t mind in the slightest if she became a supporting character in Wonder Woman’s main continuity.

One of the criticisms I’m seeing from people who read the novel is that this adaptation loses a couple details here and there since this is a shorter read. Personally I’m fine with that. I think the team did good with the space they had, and given the story meanders a bit around the halfway point, I think I would have been far more critical of this story if I had had to wade through more words to get back to focusing on the main plot. Another criticism I’m seeing is the art, and while I’m used to the monochrome style DC’s YA comics have been using, I agree that this book would have benefitted from more frequent use of colors like the red and yellow seen on Wonder Woman’s costume. It’s likely a way to cut costs, but the live action Wonder Woman movie used color in really interesting ways and it’s a shame this graphic novel wasn’t able to do the same.

If you’re interested by the plot but either don’t want to spend as much time with a normal book or just prefer graphic novels I say give this a shot. Warbringer is a solid new origin for a young Wonder Woman with a compelling plot and characters begging for a sequel.

This is without a doubt the most fun I’ve had reading an Ant-Man book since Nick Spencer’s run, and I arguably enjoy even more than Spencer’s Ant-Man.

For starters, the premise is great. Scott Lang is a wonderful dorky underdog, and when you see him trying to win respect from the hero community and his daughter it’s hard not to root for him. Cassie Lang is a great addition and Zub does a great job writing her as a fiery teenager ready to take on the world, without her devolving into an obnoxious and rebellious kid.

The plot itself is pretty creative. Scott and Cassie work with all sorts of insects throughout their adventure and the Pym Particles being a limited resource helps add some stakes to the action. The writing itself is great too, loaded with great jokes and jabs between characters. I loved Scott frantically telling people he wasn’t affiliated with the Nazi-bee man, Cassie trying to get permission to join the West Coast Avengers, and Scott accidentally making Spider-Man jealous.

Good plot, good stakes, and enough laughs and warm-hearted moments to keep me glued to my seat. HIGHLY recommended for Ant-Man fans new and old!

While Tynion leaves before he can conclude his overarching story with JLD, Ram V steps up to the plate and delivers one hell of a finale for this iteration of the team! My main criticism of the previous volume was how there was a lot of time dedicated to worldbuilding that ultimately didn't stick around and contributed nothing to the overall plot. This volume trims all the fat and the monologues without sacrificing the characters or themes Tynion established during his time with the series.

This volume contains 2 stories with one dealing with the Parliments of Life and the other being the team's inevitable confrontation with The Upsidedown Man. Having recently read ALL of the New52's Swamp Thing run I really appreciate how Tynion and Ram V mesh Alan Moore's and Scott Snyder's interpretations of the Parliments of Life. Moore introduced the Green, the Clear, the Grey, and so many others groups as living elementals whereas Snyder reinterpreted the Green, etc as sentient ecosystems all vying for control. Snyder's take was incredibly compelling, but groups like the Clear, the White, or the Melt didn’t fit into that mold since they were just elements and forms of matter. This story addresses that, tying them all together and establishing a fascinating symbiosis with them through Khalid as the new Doctor Fate. It's honestly the most compelling JLD has been since Witching Hour.

The final confrontation with The Upsidedown Man feels oddly sudden with little build up to it, but delivers in almost every way imaginable. Each member of the team gets a moment to shine and remind readers what they bring to the team (something I REALLY appreciate after reading the original JLD), the art and action is phenomenal, and the way Ram V uses Tynion's previous themes of belief in relation to magic and reality is incredibly satisfying. Every loose thread is tied up in a nice little bow and establishes Tynion and V's run as the definitive JLD series. Highly recommended for readers who've stuck with this series from the beginning. A great reward for sticking to the end.