Comics for Noobs: March 7th
Mar 7, 2013 by     Comments Off on Comics for Noobs: March 7th    Posted In: Reviews

We’ll jump right into things with this week’s Comic for Noobs and review arguably the most talked about release this week: Age of Ultron #1!

Age of Ultron Age of Ultron #1 published by Marvel Comics

In Marvel’s next big event, Ultron has finally taken over and all the heroes are in hiding. Spider-Man has been captured, Hawkeye has to rescue him, and the villains aren’t making it any easier for him. Ultroverlords all the cards  and it doesn’t seem like anyone has a plan to stop him, even Captain America.

Brian Michael Bendis writes a very intriguing issue for this event. It gives the reader absolutely no background. No explanation is given as to how Ultron took over or how Spider-Man became captured. Rather, the reader is just thrown into the story and left to wonder. Brian Hitch’s art is, of course, fantastic. I’ve said before on the blog here that I would be happy with Hitch drawing The Ultimates forever, but I’ll settle for this event, I guess.

If you’re a new reader, I actually think this could be perfect. It seems like there doesn’t need to be a lot of background involved. If you know what Spider-Man and Hawkeye look like, then you should be okay. I have no idea where the story is going, but I’m sticking around and new readers will likely enjoy it.

Art: 9/10
Script: 10/10
Parental Concern: Substantial. Many, many gunshot and arrow wounds.

LostVegas_Cover

Lost Vegas #1 published by Image Comics

Jim McCann and Janet Lee team up again to bring us a new story. That of Roland, a con man who lost big and is now a worker/slave on the space casino LostVegas. Roland has a plan though. He’s going to escape with the help of a couple of other workers and a strange alien entity. He’s got twenty-four hours and he’s putting it all on the line. When you’ve got nothing to lose, the odds are worth risking.

Lost Vegas is, simply, Star Wars meets Ocean’s ElevenJim McCann makes a very interesting story with some cool characters. The alien pit bosses, crazy prisoners, and more help make this world one worth reading about. Janet Lee’s art is cartoonish while at the same time keeping the hard lines that comics are often known for. It’s a unique style that will lend a nice look to this story.

As a new reader, going with a team that’s won an Eisner could be a pretty good decision. Plus, it’s a unique story with great art. New readers could do a lot worse.

Art: 8/10
Script: 9/10
Parental Concern: Minimal.

Hypernaturals9Hypernaturals #9 published by BOOM! Studios

The universe is protected by a superpowered police force known as the Hypernaturals. Each go through testing and evaluation before being allowed to join the team. When a Hypernaturals team goes missing while on a mission, retired members and new recruits must band together with the Hypernaturals’ greatest enemy to find what happened to the missing members.

The book begins with a battle from sixty-five years into the past with a former team of Hypernaturals. The team defeats the enemy only to find a strange gem. Back in the present, the ad-hoc Hypernaturals team are battling their own enemies in different realities and places. It all ends with a startling discovery about a captured villain.

Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning are writing a cosmic story with strong action and dialogue, but a bit confusing on the details. Past events are not explained adequately and characters are not really introduced well. The art is great and the story seems pretty interesting, but it’s just not put in the right context.

New readers may need to beware. They’ll likely be a bit confused and lost.

Art: 9/10
Story: 6/10
Parental Concern: Mild.

AmeComiGirlsAme-Comi Girls #1 published by DC Comics

Ame-Comi Girls is a digital first series that DC was doing that began publishing in print this week. It seems to be an anime inspired, female-centric comic that brings together everyone from Catwoman to Wonder Woman to Poison Ivy all in one story.

It seems that the female heroes are battling Brainiac as she attempts to take over the world. After an initial struggle, they succeed in taking down the minions and Batgirl manages to short out the ship’s electrical system and stop the invasion. With their plans dashed, the female villains try to make an exit, but not before Brainiac makes a big return.

Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, and Eduardo Francisco create this story. It’s fast-paced, action-packed and has good dialogue. The only real complaint is that the entire book is done as a double page spread. Each pair of pages are comprised from just a couple of panels spread across them, which gives great visuals, but makes the story seem a lot quicker since there are fewer panels. It may have been a format that worked better in digital. As far as the story, it seems that there is a lot that needs to be filled in by previous issues in previous tie-in series, as is even mentioned in little footnotes.

Art: 9/10
Script: 7/10
Parental Concern: Minimal. Violence.

 

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