Review: Armor Wars Miniseries

Recently the Armor Wars four issue miniseries came to a close. Geared towards mostly younger audiences it was supposed to be a new twist on the classic event. But could it live up to it at all?

Story

Well it’s the same thing Armor Wars starts off with: someone stole Stark’s armor. Unfortunately it quickly diverts from there going from Stark attempting to shut down his stolen armors to, well, I’m not really sure. The story was truly all over the place, attempts at putting some new twist in at every turn to the point that by the time the story ended you weren't sure how it really related to the Armor Wars theme.

Every issue took a new direction; new villains, new armors and new plot. There was little coherence to this series and at even four issues managed to completely after the second installment. If you can't keep the focus on armors for four issues you’ve pretty much failed. Even worse, it’s a failure with a story that has been done before.

Grade: F

Art

As I mentioned this series was geared towards younger audiences and the art definitely reflected that. Having a cartoon/anime style it was filled with characters with exaggerated facial features and bright eye caching colors. At times you couldn’t tell what the artist was going for, the fight scenes often confusing. In terms of the target audience the art was a success; but for a regular collector like myself it didn’t work.

Grade: C

Writing

Like I said the story just went all over the place. So much was crammed into this story that not enough time could be spent on developing characters main or supporting. It also failed the move the story along at a good pace, going fast and jumping all over the place. So many twists were thrown in such as Omega Red and a shape shifter impersonating Rhodey that it just got annoying and confusing by the end. “In depth” is not a term I would apply to this.

Grade: F

Final Thoughts

Even for a younger audience this book doesn’t make the cut. Too many twists and turns, most of which were not needed and added nothing were made the primary focus by the end. For a title called “Armor Wars” there was a massive lack of the concept in the last half of the story. All in all the art and especially the story failed to captivate in any way. If you haven’t picked up the title and you’re not a completist don't waste your time or money.

Final Grade: F

I apologize for the formatting but for some unknown reason blogger refuses to put spaces in between paragraphs,

New Iron Man 2 Poster

Warning: you may need a tissue.

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(click image for larger size)

You may nerdgasm now.

Review: World's Most Wanted

The “highly acclaimed and award winning” story arc World’s Most Wanted has finally come to a conclusion after twelve long issues. While Marvel and critics claim this arc to be epic in nearly every aspect, you have to wonder if it really is. I don't know how much weight you’ll put into my opinion (I’m guessing zero), but here is my review of World’s Most Wanted.


Story
The story itself wasn’t highly original. Stark is on the run from Osborn and HAMMER and he is losing his mind in the process trying to keep the Super Hero Registration files from falling into Osborn’s hands. It’s reminiscent of Armor Wars when he was on the run from SHIELD and later when his body was failing from the damaged nervous system, just rolled into the same arc. Different yes, but somewhat the same principle. I’m not going to say it’s a copy, but it’s not 100% original either.

The other big problem I have is that it’s really more of making Stark look low. This is Marvel once again punishing the guy they have made popular by writing out of character to be the bad guy. Fraction said he saw it as Stark atoning for all his sins, not just the Civil War crap, but given what he’s gone through in his life; the artificial heart (twice), alcoholism and losing his company, his nervous system ruined, paralysis not to mention that whole death thing, how much more does the guy need to atone for?

This doesn’t mean the story didn’t have potential. It could still have been a fun read if the right things were done, which unfortunately they weren’t. There was so much filler that this arc could have easily been six issues and without missing out on any of the excitement that was present.

The start of the saga wasn’t bad, Stark eliminating his armories and having big names like Namor sent after him added an interesting element. This didn’t last and soon it became Stark fielding less and less advanced armors while continually trying to escape some D-rate villain that had a single appearance in an obscure 1980’s issue or something along that line. The using a less sophisticated armor didn’t make much sense given how newer armors capabilities would allow the onboard computer to do much of the things he wouldn’t be able to handle. It seemed like another lame excuse to start using the classic armor again. Seriously, the armor had its run but put the thing to rest already.

The addition of Pepper becoming a fighter was iffy at best. If you changed it from Pepper to Bethany Cabe, then beating Masque, being Iron Maiden (or whatever you want to call it) would have been far more believable. Pepper is just too much of that nice cheery girl to be really seen as a warrior, even in extraordinary circumstances. I do like the things Fraction had her do, but I just felt Pepper was ill suited to it.

Despite all the room for things to happen, too little transpired and what did was often repetitive. Too many issues felt the same.

Grade: C-


Writing
Fraction made one big mistake throughout the story: he told instead of showing. We were always told how Stark was losing his mind, he said it himself three times an issue. This was horribly repetitive as if we could somehow forget it. I started to roll my eyes every time Stark mentioned this. When Fraction did show it he did a good job (i.e. “Who is Happy?”) but too often that wasn’t the case.

Pacing was also bad. As I said earlier there was a ton of filler in this arc. We were greeted to a few pages of Stark going on about his mental state which by the second issue was a total waste of space. The issues all started to feel the same mid arc and that is never good.

Grade: C


Art
Larocca isn’t my favorite artist, but I’ve seen his past work and it’s better than this. There was nothing wrong with his pencils or the inks, it was the colors. Every person looked plastic and fake in the issues, making Larocca’s art look cartoonish at times. Osborn often looked ridiculous in my opinion, his hair further making him look like someone I expect to see in a Sunday morning comic strip.

Just like during the Knauf’s run, the colorist is taking away from the visuals. We went from dark and drab to everyone being shiny like they were just waxed.

Grade: C


Finish
Marvel and other outlets billed the ending of World’s Most Wanted as shocking. Iron Man fans billed it as totally predictable. I will give credit to Fraction; even though everyone knew what was going to happen in issue #19 it was still a very entertaining piece. We all knew Stark couldn’t die and Osborn was still going to be in control; it couldn’t end any differently, so a win for both signs was a given. I can forgive Fraction for the predictable ending because he had little choice.

Stark won because Osborn didn’t get his hands on any of the information he wanted. Osborn won because Stark was no longer a threat. Like I said, predictable. I did like at the end how Stark smiled and said “I won” which pissed Osborn off to no end, classic Stark (another Kudos to Fraction). Stark also had his contingency plan in place, knowing about all the legalities of SHIELD and having Donald Blake (a.k.a. Thor) as his doctor with power of attorney. It was also nice to see Pepper sabotage the stolen armors, throwing yet another wrench in Osborn’s plans.

In addition the video feed of Osborn beating a helpless Stark was shown all over the world, setting up the beginning of his fall. It looks like public opinion will begin to shift away from Osborn now, so by the time Siege rolls around chances are things will be going badly for him.

Grade: B+


Final Thoughts
Despite the positive critical reviews the majority of long time Iron Man fans have been giving it a big thumbs down. The arc overall was boring, laced with far more filler than substance and a storyline that repeated itself way too much.

Marvel no doubt points to the Eisner win a testament to its quality, but I counter with the opinion from long time Iron Man fans (the ones who have kept the book going for so long) that are ripping it apart. I’d venture to say those opinions are more telling than an award because who knows the character better than the ones who have follow all his exploits for decades? Are we not the ones who can determine if each action is in or out of character, instead of some committee that only gets handed the product when submitted? Ask the long time fans and all of them will tell you World’s Most Wanted can't hold a candle to previous sagas such as Armor Wars, Dragon Seed, War Machine and the other classic arcs. That the arc could have easily been half its length and contain the same amount of quality substance is a fact that should not be overlooked and frankly it should be questioned why it was allowed to happen.

All in all, Worlds Most Wanted despite its critical acclaim was unimpressive. Too long, too boring, and a predictable ending never make for a good story.

Final Grade: C-

Wolverine: Overexposed

There is no denying that Wolverine is one of the most popular comic characters out there. We loved the edge and grittiness he brought to teams consisting mostly of goody-two-shoes. We loved he was willing to do what it took to get the job done, including what others wouldn’t. He was original from his powers to his past and an all around great character. There was an awe and mystery surrounding him that helped propel him so quickly from cameo to mainstay.

Nowadays Wolverine is everywhere. And while I do mean everywhere from books to movies, let’s just focus on the medium he was created for: comics. Wolverine is all over the place. He holds multiple titles of his own with the likes of Wolverine Origins and Old Man Logan, he is part of a team in the X-Men, X-Force and New Avengers books and is in just about every alternate reality there is like the Ultimates and House of M. Literally, wherever we look, Wolverine is there.

And it has to stop.

I know Marvel wants to make the most of one of their most popular characters, but it’s to the point of too much. Origins is chided by fans for finally revealing Wolverine’s past, not only making it not that interesting but also taking away secrets that made the character so mysterious. They essentially filled in dates for things that were hinted at for years. Plus they did a big no-no in comics: they gave specific dates. Never give a specific date unless it’s something like Captain America when he fought in World War II and he was then frozen for an undetermined amount of time to get to the present. We now know exactly how old Wolverine is and it hurts the character.

Then you have the fact Wolverine is now a part of three teams, the above mentioned X-Men, X-Force and New Avengers. Where does he get the time for all of this? The two X titles okay, but does he really need to be in the Avengers?

Finally there is the problem on how powerful Wolverine has become. Before one of the great things was that underneath it all, the adamantium and the advanced healing factor, he was no stronger or faster than the rest. He one more by his never quit and aggressive demeanor that his actual powers. But Marvel made an excuse to make him more powerful, saying his body continually evolved and that the adamantium was holding his evolution back. Now he has superhuman strength and his healing factor, before just very quick, can now heal him as long as there is any flesh left. Basically, Wolverine is no longer killable. What fun is that in a character?

Yes, he survived this

If you look at the older X-Men and Wolverine books, you’ll see him struggle to recover from wounds that would keep a normal man down. His recovery would be much faster but he would still be weak for a short time. Think of when Omega Red was first introduced. He barely survived and was weak while he and other captured X-Men escaped. Now if that happened he’d be 100% healthy in a few minutes.

Look at Secret Invasion #6 when he fought the Skrull Queen. In a few frames we see half his face burned off and his forearm burned down to the bone, yet a few frames later he is perfectly fine. It’s too much. What good is a character if they can’t actually be beaten?

I know it won’t happen but Marvel really needs to tone down Wolverine’s exposure, and get him back to what made him interesting to begin with. He’s in too many titles and it’s getting a bit annoying to see him everywhere. Worse is that they’ve watered the character down by telling his past and making him too powerful. A lot of the things that made the character great are now gone.

I like Wolverine as a character, and I was one of those kids who got hooked on the X-Men because of the cartoon back in the 90’s. But that character, the one that caught everyone’s interest instantly is gone.

Siege

Just recently Marvel announced what the next will be: Siege. Written by Brian Michael Bendis (who seems to be writing 75% of Marvel comics at the moment) it is to bring Dark Reign to a close.

Bendis explains that Norman Osborn will be setting his sights on Asgard seeing them as a threat. We're left to assume he has some big plan in order to bring down a city filled with Gods, and to the rescue will be the Avengers, including the reuniting of the three classic Avengers: Iron Man, Thor and Captain America.

According to Bendis the event will affect the Avengers the most, involving all the teams. I'm guessing we are going to see a Mighty Avengers team consisting of the big three plus some others, a different New Avengers team and likely the end of the Dark Avengers. Bendis is claiming this will be the biggest impact to Earth's mightiest heroes since Disassembled.

The series will be only four issues and supposedly be action packed and move quickly. I'm shocked Marvel editors agreed to do, but Bendis was able to convince them so congrats to him for not wanting to stretch a story when it doesn't need to be.

At this point I'm just not optimistic anymore. Yes I know I have been negative and cynical but Marvel hasn't given me any reason not to be in recent years. Bendis says Thor, Cap and Iron Man will put aside their differences, but frankly I'm not buying it. I've just seen too much Iron Man bashing from Marvel in recent years to really believe Stark wont somehow be lambasted and made to look bad yet again.

For the most part the story sounds interesting. Hopefully Bendis can pull this off and Dark Lame can come to an end. Maybe I just haven't been reading enough Marvel titles, but I've been thoroughly unimpressed with what little has happened under Osborn's rule. It just seems like a wasted opportunity to me.

We'll see where this goes though. Hopefully it will live up the hype Marvel will be putting into it.

Spider-Man Aesthetics

I admit I don't read Spider-Man at all. There have been a few arcs that have interested me but that’s it. I don’t have anything bad to say about the character himself; I think he’s pretty original, but he’s just never done it for me. But there is something I don't understand that happens with him sometimes:

Why does Spider-Man look like an anorexic teenager wearing pajamas?

Yes, it depends on the artist and some draw him in the more classic style, but some draw him like a scrawny teenager picked off the street and thrown in a costume. I don't get it.

I know Parker was a teen when he became a super hero but I’m pretty sure he’s not a teen any longer. His body has developed and he’s actually filled out with muscles, and super strength is a part of his power set. So why is he drawn like he hasn’t eaten anything in months? I get he’s not supposed to be muscle-bound like Thor or Luke Cage, but there is no reason for him to look like he’s skin and bones.

Also, why do some artists draw the outlines of his feet through his costume as if the feet have no soles? Seeing his toes is awkward and honestly a bit goofy.

So when the editors at Marvel get the layouts from the artist, don't they see it and say to themselves “that looks weird?” I know I would. I’m not saying you should tell an artist his style per se, some will draw characters bigger, some smaller, but I think when it goes into the realm of making him look like Dr. Strange could pick Spider-Man over his head and break him like a twig, I think the editor needs to step in.

Tony Stark Disassembled

Well if you haven’t heard by now the upcoming arc for Iron Man following World’s Most Boring… err, World’s Most Wanted, will be Tony Stark Disassembled.

Sigh.

So basically the next arc is exactly what we thought it will be: dealing with the aftermath WMW whose sorely predictable ending will end with a fight between Stark and Osborn and each emerging victorious in their own way. TSD will focus on Stark being put back together as a person both in body and mind.

Oh look, more ways to make Stark pay for the past three events fans hated that he didn’t actually cause. Yippee! For whatever reason Marvel decided twelve issues of crapping on Stark wasn’t really enough, so they need to create a supplementary arc to fully cover how shattered he has become. I know I can’t wait!

Seriously, how is this supposed to be entertaining? Honestly, I want to know. We’ve had to deal with an arc where we’re told five times and issue Stark is losing his mind and running away. It’s been a comic adaptation of the movie Run Lola, Run! featuring Iron Man.

Not to mention they pick a name for the arc that related to Avengers: Disassembled, considered a terrible arc by Avengers fans. Way to go Marvel! Nothing entices people to read an arc by relating it to a failed arc.

I don't know what to say at this point, I just don't. I thought this would be a long, well thought out post but as I wrote I found myself unable to muster anything that I haven’t said a hundred times over. Even the paragraphs that I’ve written seem like a repetition of the one before it.

The title has become so boring and predictable and Marvel has told us the six issues that follow will just be more of the same crap. I’m seriously starting to contemplate dropping the title because it is just that uninteresting and banal.

I’m getting depressed just writing this article, and that is probably the most telling thing of all about the direction of this book.