5 Ronin #1
07 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in 5 Ronin, Marvel, Reviews Tags: 5 ronin, alternate earth, deadpool, historical, japan, Marvel, samurai, wolverine
5 Ronin #1 Cover
Writing: Peter Milligan
Art: Tomm Coker
Colour: Daniel Freedman
Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna
The year is 1600, we’re in feudal Japan, and we have a ronin Wolverine. Every fact of that sentence contains something I am not a fan of. I’m so done with samurai, I’m so done with Wolverine, but why, then, did I pick up this book? The answer comes with me having recently read 1602 and I’ve been going through the Fantastic Four 1602 story, as well. I wanted to see a historical story that captured not only the period, but dealt with the mutants in question in a believable manner. I had really high hopes and expectations going into this. The concept of this limited series also had a role, since each issue deals with five different Marvel supers placed in Japan. While I’m not a Wolverine fan, I have Psylocke, Punisher, Hulk and Deadpool left to enjoy.
When I opened the book, the first thing to grab me, was the art. It is nice and gritty and has that sorta washed out looking colour palette that I’ve started to get tired of. I have been craving the more vibrant heroic stuff, of late, but that doesn’t detract. I also like how they drew Wolverine as a japanese man, rather than just inserting him from elsewhere, or something.
Getting into it, it sets the backdrop up nicely. It’s 1600, we’re in Japan, and there was a clan war at Sekigahara. The ronin in our tale’s master fell at that battle and the rumors have spread that theres a ronin wandering around that won’t stay dead. He receives a coded message informing him of a meeting of brothers. Of course, things do not go as planned. By the end, there is only one.
This issue was all right. I enjoyed it, but that’s it. There were parts that confused me with there being multiple Wolverines, but oh, well. I don’t particularly care. It’s the other characters
Spider-Girl #1
19 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Marvel, Reviews, Spider-Girl Tags: Marvel, ongoing series, spider-girl, super-hero
Spider-Girl #1 Cover
Apr 2011 | Marvel
Writing: Paul Tobin
Art: Clayton Henry
Colour: Chris Sotomayor
Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Spider-girl is back on the beat despite having previously lost her super powers. Living with her dad and still going to school, she spends her free time cleaning up the streets and tweeting her exploits. Things take a bad turn when Red Hulk shows up.
It seems a lot of comics I’ve been reading have begun with various words equating to how I never knew annoying about them. It has really made me question how much I really know about certain genres and my hobby. There is a lot of miscellaneous knowledge in my brain, and I can recognize a lot of characters in things, but most often than not, I’ve never read much, or anything of them.
Spider-Girl is one such topic. I can identify her in costume, but I couldn’t really tell you anything about her. I don’t read a lot of ongoing series, or long established things. My interest won’t always hold out. I prefer to read TPBs of story arcs that interest me, especially when they span several different series. Fortunately, the start of this issue gives a brief intro to the character before getting right into things, so I was able to read the book with more confidence.
I think I’m going to really like this. There are so many things about the character that I like. I like how the exposition is in the form of Spider-Girl’s tweets. I think that’s really cute. I like her personality and how she and her dad interact.
My daughter races across rooftops, swings through the streets, and then complains about walking up two flights of stairs.
Her time spent with Sue Storm was another great moment for me, especially the joke about hulk versus the thing, and their little heart-to-heart. It had a lot of nice heart warming moments for me that made me really believe and identify with Anya. The issue also had good balance between home life and super hero time, making it more real for me. I look forward to reading more.
