Bullet Reviews #116

I should have probably called this ‘Avengers Presents Bullet Reviews’ with the number of Avengers related books in this week’s installment! But that’s not all we have! Remember that preview of Zenescope’s OZ #1 we had a few days ago? Well, this time we review the issue along with the print version of the Guardians Of The Galaxy digital stories!

AVENGERS #15 (Marvel NOW!)
For every poor issue of Avengers there are always the ones that make us keep buying. This issue is a prime example of that. This is what we call a set-up issue. Can’t explain why this is but Marvel excels at set-up issues. They just don’t seem to be able to make the event worth the time. Yet we find ourselves immersed in reading the adventures of Earth’s Mightiest even when the roster is a bunch of no names or has been’s that no one has cared about for quite some time. This issue focuses on what to expect for Infinity, Marvel’s Next Big Event, starring The Mad Titan himself, Thanos. But it doesn’t matter that Thanos is the end game here, right now the Avengers have bigger fish to fry, such as the evolved species that can wipe out the planet. Remember the days when it wasn’t always about wiping out the planet? Remember when there was a coherent story that was more plot driven than action driven? Long gone are the days of brilliant writing and deep emotional stories, even though Hickman is one of the top writers in the Marvel bullpen, he can’t seem to make Avengers relevant to me, while his New Avengers rocks my world! Doesn’t make sense! Point being this issue was really well done, even though nothing really happened until the very end. I will keep reading though, how else am I supposed to know how Infinity comes to be!? -Nick Furious

AVENGERS A.I. #1 (Marvel NOW!)
Before you belittle me for buying ANOTHER Avengers title after I constantly complain about how awful most Avenger titles are, you have to know this about me: I will try any comic series once. The Publication page is done in a unique format that imitates computer programs. Not a bad start Avengers A.I. but let’s see what exactly you plan on bringing to the table, especially when I have no room in my budget for buying another comic series. Sam Humphries has never been a writer I rave about but I do believe he is not the worst by any stretch of the imagination. Andre Lima Araujo however has way too Picasso-ish drawings to grab my attention. And Sam Humphries with poor artwork is not the best combo. It is strange because Dustin Weaver and Marte Gracia made a great cover, they should have just drawn the whole issue. Every character has a notorious fan following, but Runaways has such a grueling fan base they just won’t let these characters go! But I believe that Victor Mancha is a GREAT fit for this comic and he actually feels like he belongs. Vision and Hank Pym are Avengers and always fit on any bill regardless of title. However Doombot is simply added for humor and zingy one liners that aren’t funny at all. As for Agent Monica Chang, she made Ant-Man look like a straight up bitch! Way to try to tell how cool Monica Chang is Marvel, you made Pym look like a clueless idiot. Which he most certainly is not. I remember how hard he hit Wasp, he could have bitch slapped Chang back to Chinatown if he wanted. But when you talk about Avengers A.I. it just sounds like a book Stark was born to be added to, only one problem, he is in too many already. Maybe drop him from Guardians of the Galaxy or Avengers (who has way too many characters no one cares about to begin with). Or maybe Spider-Man could be added to the roster? I dunno, this team just feels thrown together, I am gonna give it a few issues but as of right now this series doesn’t seem to be doing anything special except finding the power to waste my paycheck. -Nick Furious

DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL #1 (Marvel)
The beginning of the final part of the Deadpool Kills… trilogy is here! Yeah, I know everyone was looking forward to this as much as I have been. So first Deadpool, not the 616 version, realized the reality of what he is and that he basically doesn’t have control of his life so he set out to kill every version of every Marvel he can in Deadpool Kills Marvel. But he soon realized that this wasn’t going to work so in Deadpool Killustrated he went after the core concepts that all the Marvels were based on (he got a kick out of finding out Namor was a take off of The Little Mermaid). This didn’t work but he figured out the actual source of everything: Deadpool. Yeah, it’s kind of a mess but what do you expect from a book starring Deadpool? In this series Deadpool, now called Dreadpool, is going after all the other versions of Deadpool in hopes of ending everything. Our Deadpool may be the only one that can stop him once and for all but not before we get a healthy dose of Deadpools from countless realities, and yes this also means that these Deadpools may even like different Golden Girls! Sadly, this means some of our favorite versions will be gone forever so let’s take a moment to remember those we have lost this issue: Headpool. Dogpool. Pulp Hero Pool. You will be missed. This book, however, will be a much fun as Deadpool can be when he’s on the run from himself. I have to say that I like this set of books better than the Marvel NOW! version of this character. It’s just plain fun… if you aren’t one of the Deadpools targeted for death that is! -Skott Jimenez

GRIMM FAIRY TALES PRESENTS OZ #1 (Zenescope Entertainment)
After being teased about the introduction to Oz with hints in the main series, Grimm Fairy Tales, we finally see this world of hope come to life. As always with the Zenescope books the art is absolutely amazing. However, it is a little annoying that the character who appears to be The Wicked Witch of the West is not green. Although she is dressed in green and her magic is green her skin color remains normal. It’s a small complaint and pretty much the only one I have for this book. The story was a great beginning to this series.  Dorothy has no idea that her life is going to change drastically when she is whisked away to Oz to become the savior of not only Oz but also the four other realms of the Grimm Fairy Tales universe. Toto was a complete and total surprise to me but one that I liked. In this story he is a large wolf that originally hails from Oz. He is sent by a man who is seemingly a protector of Oz to find something that is not quite explained in the beginning of the book. He arrives in Kansas and is taken in by Dorothy. One of the Wicked Witches soon shows up and sends Dorothy, her house, and Toto flying into Oz. She is met by a welcoming committee of strange little goblin men, who I can only assume will be playing the part of the munchkins, and the Wicked Witch. This leaves the book to end on a very tantalizing cliff hanger. I can’t wait for the next issue to find out what is so special about Dorothy and how exactly she is supposed to save all the realms. -Kelsey Coveney

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: TOMORROW’S AVENGERS #1 (Marvel NOW!)
How in the world do you write a book called Guardians of the Galaxy and it is pretty much crap with pages, then you write a book titled Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow’s Avengers and all of a sudden you have figured out how to make gold? Tomorrow’s Avengers is a much more in-depth look at the inbetween moments for the Guardians. Something tells me all the “questions” people have had about Peter Quill returning will be answered in this new series. This series might as well be called “The Essentials to Understanding who the Guardians of the Galaxy are” because that is exactly what it is. We finally come to understand the brute strength of Drax, the tenacity and mouthiness of a certain Raccoon, why Gamora is the most dangerous woman in the world and how Groot came to be. Finally I actually care about these people and what they plan to bring to the Marvel Universe, if anything it will be best showcased in this title which is also written by Bendis and the artwork is scattered each character done by a different artist, but the artwork is pretty snazzy if I do say so myself. It is always interesting when the cover is the crappiest artwork on the issue. I will be back for this title, it was well written and the artwork was well worth my time. I rarely get to say good things about both unless I am talking about a DC title. -Nick Furious