Bullet Reviews #141.NOW!

Bullet Reviews #141 –  renumbering never sticks but those ‘#1’ logos sure get a lot of attention! This edition looks at Coffin Hill #4, Deadpool: The Gauntlet, Inhumanity: Superior Spider-Man, Night Of The Living Deadpool #1, The Maxx: Maxximized #3, Revolutionary War: Dark Angel, X-Files Conspiracy #1, and X-Men Legacy #22

Bullets may contain the occasional spoiler.

COFFIN HILL #4 (Vertigo)
Coffin Hill started with the mystery of what happened one night in the woods, and between this group of friends, which of course makes you want to know what happened earlier, and sets up flashbacks to be revealing parts of the story. The mechanics of it are obvious there, but it’s working, they are fulfilling in the way they flesh out the story.
They’re also deepening the mysteries too. Another main one of the series being what exactly the Coffin family is made of. They’re born naturally disposed to witchcraft, but the how and why remain. Is it a supernatural superpower power thing, a curse, deal with the devil, and what does it mean for them? Eve’s mother talks about protecting her from their duties, do they keep some secret evil flame, make human sacrifices maybe?
It’s not an awful cliffhanger but it feels like it ends rather abruptly – not a negative per se just an observation. One last thing hit me during this issue. I really love Eve’s character design, her go to look. It feels weird to talk about character design for someone who doesn’t have a traditional superhero costume, but it’s still equally distinguishable, and that’s another thing about Eve I enjoy. I think about other designs I really like, like Azrael – the red and yellow with the fire blades on the wrists version, Moon Knight, or Spider-Man 2099 to name a few, where even just looking at the character gives you enjoyment of a series, and that’s a real plus. ~ Scorpio Moon
(Check out our full review by Cal Cleary HERE)

DEADPOOL: THE GAUNTLET (Marvel)
This one was a freebie and worth every penny. It’s Deadpool Vs. Vampires, which would be fun had it not been so poorly written. The jokes are about as funny as the ‘jokes’ written for (fill in the blank) Movie. It was no surprise that this is also written by the same team who currently heads the NOW! series, which for me was as unfunny as Deadpool could get.
Deadpool wastes the bulk of the issue fighting a vampire who was only there to deliver a message. What we get is a boring fight sequence ending in the vampire’s demise and the introduction of what is supposed to be Dracula. Somehow Dracula decided that being his original, and far better, look was no good and degraded himself to look like a throw-away 90’s X-Men villain. I see him and I don’t even think of Dracula.
So, anyway, there isn’t much to say about this book, except I think I overpaid for it, and it’s only the first part of a digital only story. Which means I wouldn’t have had an interest in it even if it were good. If it isn’t paper it isn’t worth reading in my opinion. -Skott Jimenez

INHUMANITY: THE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN (Marvel)
And the Marvel misses keep coming. This one-shot is part of Marvel’s continued campaign to re-write the 616 to match the movies. See, since Marvel doesn’t have the rights to use the term ‘mutant’ in their movies they have decided to make the Inhumans the most oppressed people on Earth and somehow that translates into needing this one-shot.
Granted, there are a few moments here but there are more misses and when they charge $3.99 for something like this it’s those misses that overshadow the hits. Here we have the Superior Spider-Man hunting down Inhuman tech, which he wants for his own uses, and ends up in an apartment building fighting for his life against a particularly nasty piece of tech.
That pretty much sums op what I can say about it other than it was not really a book that I needed to pick up and it isn’t important to anything at all. Pretty sad considering. -Skott Jimenez

THE MAXX: MAXXIMIZED #3 (IDW)
Yeah, The Maxx! We’re three issues into the re-release of this iconic series from the 1990’s and let me tell you, it makes as little sense now as it did back then but, just like back then, it doesn’t matter because it’s the madness of it that makes it so much fun! For those who remember there is the big purple Maxx fighting the evil Mr. Gone. He tries to protect Miss Julie from Gone in this world but also tries to figure out what her connection is to the Jungle Queen in the Outback, the other world where Maxx finds himself from time to time.
Yeah, it seems a big much but despite the strangeness of it all the thing it while you’re reading it… in an odd way… it makes total sense. So, if you like a series that makes no sense and one where you’re lost through most of it but because the characters are so dynamic and the unique concepts are attention grabbers then this is the book you want. Honestly, I’ve always wanted to read this series from beginning to end and I’m glad IDW is re-presenting it in a monthly format with new colors and amazing covers by series writer/artist Sam Kieth. It’s a perfect, and entertainingly confusing package! -Skott Jimenez

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEADPOOL #1 (Marvel)
Deadpool wakes from a food coma to find that not only is the world less colorful but it’s just down right dead! I’ll admit that the only reasons I wanted to check this out was because it was from the same guy who wrote the Deadpool Killogy: Cullen Bunn, which I loved, and the chance to have some pretty sweet looking Deadpool covers in my collection.
What I didn’t expect was a story in which Deadpool actually seems to understand the seriousness of the situation. He seems shocked to see zombies and even more shocked at what they have to say. Yeah, these zombies talk and it was a shocker to everyone involved.
So, yeah, that was nice but, as I said, it was better that Deadpool actually sees the situation for as bad as it is. Even when he’s surrounded by the undead he gets that he may not make it and resigns himself to fighting to the death. It adds a new layer to this character while keeping the entertainment value as high as it has always been. Now, I’m sure people are asking about the other heroes… well, their fate is revealed in this issue as well.
What I worry about with this story, is if it will get too close to Marvel Zombies territory. I don’t really want that but if Bunn is writing it I’m sure it will still be a story… to die for! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist!) -Skott Jimenez
(Check out our full review by 2 Comic Nerds HERE)

REVOLUTIONARY WAR: DARK ANGEL (Marvel)
Mys-TECH is back and up to no good and that means nothing but bad times for the daughter of one of them: Dark Angel.
I’d have to say the writers of these books are doing a really good job explaining who these characters are without taking up too much story space. I never really followed Dark Angel back in the 90’s, I was a Death’s Head II guy personally, but Gillen does a fantastic job explaining who she is and what Mephisto is doing in this book.
Even though we’re only two issues into this event I am really enjoying the format. I like that it’s not the usual ever-growing Marvel event. It’s fairly self-contained and even with the challenge of trying to fully explain characters that haven’t had any spotlight in about 2 decades it’s still more fun than most of the mainstream Marvel events we’ve had recently. But the main reason I’m in this one is because of the next book coming out: Death’s Head!
For those of us who were collecting in the 90’s and remember Marvel UK this story is a lot of fun, for those who weren’t I think you can still enjoy it because it’s really well written. -Skott Jimenez

X-FILES CONSPIRACY #1 (IDW)
IDW’s annual event begins but this time it isn’t zombies or elder gods, this time it’s The X-Files own Lone Gunmen who begin to unravel the mysteries of the world, but these revelations may cost them their lives!
Now, I’m not a fan of The X-Files, I’ve seen a few episodes but I’ve never read the comics and I’m not at all familiar with The Lone Gunmen but this story still interests me. I know enough about The X-Files to know that while they have dealt with a lot of different things it will still be interesting to see how these characters react to Ghostbusters, Robots In Disguise, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the avenging spirit The Crow. I think they may actually get along with the Busters, maybe even trade notes on spooks and such. Fans of the Files will certainly get a kick out of these stories while passing fans like myself will enjoy seeing our respective favorite franchises through the eyes of ‘regular’ people.
Also, be on the look out for the Subscription Variant covers. They feature Mulder and Scully shining a flashlight on something that represents the other franchises and they have some pretty cool glow in the dark effects. I picked up the Transformers one. -Skott Jimenez

GATEWAY #1 (IDW)
People spend a lot of time wondering about what will happen when they die. There are so many different religions and ideas about the afterlife. Where do you even begin? With GateWay #1, Joe Halpin Sr. and Joe Halpin Jr. have created a world based on two ideas. First, there is an afterlife and, second, we have no frickin’ idea how it works. Jake is a tough guy, a cop, and someone who will do what needs to be done to get the job done, even if the job means getting your hands dirty. As an undercover narc, Jake knows a bad deal when he walks into one, and he just did. He meets a low level dealer named Nikoli and runs into some nasty Russian drug pushers who just want the money and Jake dead. A firefight ensues, but then Jake suddenly wakes in an alley and things get really weird. He finds himself in another world, that still looks like Earth, but there are some differences, not the least of which is the rabid black eyed monster that looks like one of the Russians that Jake just got done shooting. Jake is led to Hopetown to meet Councilman Mason and he and a group of “Newborns” are told that Hopetown was setup to protect people, and the best minds are trying to understand this world. Jake knows there is more going on than meets the eye, and he is right. This book is a good establishment of the premise that something is not quite right in this version of Purgatory. I will keep an eye on this book as the story unfolds. -Aaron Clutter

X-MEN LEGACY #22 (Marvel)
So Legion’s all powered up but the villain still has the upper hand, with a super nuke about to set off WW3. In a really great surprise move, we see that he’s called up the X-Men for help, and you get Wolverine, Cyclops, the whole lot of ‘em. This is big for Legion, turning to the team, and when they get there, he knows the situation, so they turn to HIM for leadership. It’s a massive situation, such a moment for him, and he almost melts under it. He pulls himself together though, and as he leads these heroes into battle his narration is also a meditation on leadership, and Legion doing things his way. There’s always this poetic, philosophical, mental science part of X-Men Legacy issues now, and my words can’t do his justice, they’re always the highlight. Visually we’ve got a very bright, colorful issue. It matches the heroic tone perfectly, and certainly must have been intentional, to coordinate with the appearance of all the super hero X-Men guest stars. This comic continues to be all around impressive, and every issue is a commentary on the X-Men themselves, always making it an essential read. -Scorpio Moon

That was Bullet Reviews #141, here’s the full archive!