Mike McKoneReseñas

1287

See my blog note on it:

http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/2006/05/quick-booknotes-on-some-graphic-novel...

Borrowed from my local public library.

See my short note on it:

[http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/2006/12/short-notes-on-graphic-novels-8.html]

This book is not at all essential to the appreciation of "Planet Hulk". It's fine, especially if you want to see Hulk with a beard, but ultimately it's pretty forgettable.

This is a reasonably satisfying end to this incarnation of the New Avengers. The parts that deal with the New Avengers and their interactions are quite good. The time spend dwelling on the Hood I didn't enjoy as much, as I didn't really care about him and his ongoing quest to regain lost powers. The Siege tie-ins, while full of good moments (Steve Rogers returns! Wolverine, Nick Fury, his team, the Young Avengers and everyone else make an appearance!), retread too much of the main Siege issues. The artwork was generally decent.

Some of the art is lovely, but I just can't take the Fantastic Four seriously. Their vehicle looks like it was stolen from a carnival ride. They act like they're about 6 years old all the time.½

This Siege tie-in has some great material, but also has some retread which brings it down somewhat. For those who buy all the tie-ins trying to get the complete picture of the event, it can be annoying to see the same story again and again without even changing the POV. That said, this is still a worthwhile collection.

The first story in the collection is Dark Reign: The List, which recounts Ronin's (aka Hawkeye) attempted assassination of Osborn. While this is an entertaining story, with some great action, I already read it as part of Siege: Dark Avengers and I understand that it is also part of Dark Reign: The List (which I haven't gotten to yet). So, I don't feel it added any value to this book beyond increasing the price. Hence four stars instead of five.

The second part of the book follows the true Avengers as they become aware of Siege and take action. It opens with The Hood, the members of whom have been powered-up by Loki's Norn stones, hunting down the "renegade" Avengers who are in hiding. Mainly it's a series of fights, but it does have some fun interplay among the heroes, including Spider-man and Spider-Woman, as well as heralding the return of the real Captain America - Steve Rogers. The story also includes some personal interplay between the various romantic entanglements. Luke Cage gets spot-lighted, which I enjoyed since I'm not very familiar with the character. Here we see him in conversation with his wife about what their responsibilities are to their friends but also to their family. A similar situation happens with Ronin and Mockingbird. It was nice to see the characters interact this way.

The final part of the book returns to The Hood, specifically its leader Parker. When Loki took back the Norn stones during Siege, Parker lost his power and he and Masque went on the run. The New Avengers decide that everyone must be held accountable for the crisis and go after them, which means a showdown with Count Nefaria. The final pages concern a heartfelt speech from Cage overlaid on images of all the heroes. It was a sentimental, but effective way to close the book.

Overall, though I was disappointed in the duplicated material, this was an excellent tie-in with lots of great action and thoughtful storylines. High recommended.

Well, I finished this book two days ago, and I'm having trouble remembering what most of it was about. I guess that says something.

The one part that I really liked was Clint Barton totally going after the Dark Avengers, even though he knew it was pretty much a suicide mission. It's about time someone snapped and went after them, even though the odds were stacked against him.

And, from what I remember, there were a lot of splash pages, which I dislike. I think they're just lazy story telling, especially when there's page after page after page of them (which there was at the end).

Other than that, nothing really noteworthy happened in this trade.

This is the kind of book I would have loved to read as a teenager. Don't get me wrong - I loved it fine as an adult, but reading that ten years ago? Would have done me a world of good.

It's the beginning of the new Teen Titans, with Robin, Superboy, Wondergirl and Kid Flash. It has an ok plot, but the overall theme is each of them trying to find a place in the world, an identity that is their own, somewhere to fit in. Which is why I would have loved to read it as a teenager, but also why I loved to read it yesterday.