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Post by strawhatjugh24 on Oct 22, 2018 1:24:07 GMT -5
Holy shit New Mutants is getting doper by the issue. I love Magik's punk rock demon goddess vibe,and I continue to love Gavin giving me a reason to finally care about characters I really never had much of an interest in. I like that you based this about twenty year olds growing into the people they will be, as it gives the series something with real world weight to gravitate to.
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Post by Gavin McMahon on Oct 22, 2018 10:05:16 GMT -5
Holy shit New Mutants is getting doper by the issue. I love Magik's punk rock demon goddess vibe,and I continue to love Gavin giving me a reason to finally care about characters I really never had much of an interest in. I like that you based this about twenty year olds growing into the people they will be, as it gives the series something with real world weight to gravitate to. Hahah! I'm glad you're enjoying it. New Mutants is one of the stories I'm always a little iffy/uncertain about so I love that people like it. It's very much a question of, they've been trained for kids so who are they now? I'm taking that and running with it. Be prepared for plenty of Magik. She's been very aggressive and a dark presence this far, and that isn't going to change entirely, but when some dark shit goes down, I'm excited to show that she has a moral compass. She's just more pragmatic than the others.
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goncet
Virgin-4-Lyfe
Posts: 96
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Post by goncet on Oct 23, 2018 20:23:46 GMT -5
Some reviews coming fresh out of the oven! Careful, they might be hot!
Black Panther #6 - Jake Hawkins continues to build his ongoing narrative in this latest issue. While T'Challa, Storm and W'Kabi deal with an alternate reality ruled by Ultron, the rest of the extensive supporting cast deals with the fallout and, in the shadows, villains plan their next moves. There is a lot of intrigue and spinning plates at work in this recent issue and, honestly, I find all of that more engaging than the alternate dimension story with T'Challa. Thankfully, we end with T'Challa and crew back in Wakanda and the next phase of Hawkins' story can begin and I'll be waiting for it.
New Warriors #34 - "The Quest for Franklin Richards" continues in this issue and the whole team starts to get something new to do. Christopher has always had a knack for introducing new plots while wrapping up old ones and making it all seem natural and he does that here. There is a wonderful scene near the end with Cannonball having to deal with his own feelings of guilt, a feeling the permeates this series. It hits that sweet spot that this series always strikes of character development and engaging dialogue. Also, there's a killer clown named Throatslash and, honestly, how can you hate on something that fun?
Max 2000 #47 - Wow, this is an unexpected, but delightful, treat! John Cheese grants us a look into five (five!) different characters. In honor of that, I'm discusings them in order of most enjoyed to least. Cheese has always excelled at horror and "The Butterfly Effect" was as creepy as they come. A thrilling story with a gut-churning ending. In many ways, "Bola de la Beastia" is the opposite of that tale. A fun and witty romp about an aging merc desperate to prove himself. Ramon is charming in his determination and I'm always a fan of when writers show off Taskmaster's humorous side. "Ride the Whirlwind" is something of an origin for the new Whirlwind and, of all of these, it feels like the story that would have most benefited from being a full blown issue. Everything we get here is great, but I can't help but feel the tragedy in her story would have been better felt with a little more room to breathe. The biggest outlier in these tales comes with, "My Own Hero," a story featuring someone outright attempting to do good because it is the right move. Haller is perhaps the most interesting of the five characters and the one I'm most interested in seeing more of. "Daughter of the Waves" is the weakest of the pack, but certainly not bad. While operating as something of a revenge tale it also seems to set up something potentially more in the future. In fact, most of these do. Perhaps there is something connecting these disparate characters or maybe not. Either way, I'm thrilled we got this fun collection.
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Post by johncheese on Oct 24, 2018 6:23:12 GMT -5
And finally we reach the last of the three title of this release. I apologise for the lateness, I have been out and about for a long time and finally have the time to get round to this. I apologise for the lateness, but will the reviewed titles be early risers, or too tired to continue. Let's find out...
Marvel Fanfare #94 - This title was probably one of the most surprising of the release, and its a credit to Gavin McMahon that he can easily surprise us with such tales. The dynamics of this Winter Guard story were quite interesting, and even at times felt like two stories; one focusing on the current dynamics of the team and the other focusing on their mission. Team books, especially those introduced for one off Fanfare/Max one shots are often hard to pull off, but this time the writer has done the characters proud. Hopefully we'll see some more Winter Guard action soon.
Rating - 9.5/10 (Early Riser)
Thor #38 - To be honest I didn't quite know how to approach a Thor review. I haven't read any of the series up till now, but fortunately Jeff Melton's addition to this release was easy to follow indeed. While this isn't the ideal jumping on point, I was able to enjoy the fight scene and the dialogue which almost feels like its ripped out of an actual Thor comic. Hopefully we'll see more from this writer soon.
Rating - 8.75/10 (Early Riser)
Young Avengers #11 - Dan Dolan gives us a further look at the future, and Ophiuchus's plans as he continues to mess with the Young Avengers. In particular the ending makes his schemes all the more dangerous and I do wonder how the Young Avengers are going to get out of this mess. Definitely one to watch for in the future, as its successor Serpent Society story.
Rating -8.75/10 (Early Riser)
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Post by Gavin McMahon on Oct 24, 2018 13:11:45 GMT -5
Marvel Fanfare #94 - This title was probably one of the most surprising of the release, and its a credit to Gavin McMahon that he can easily surprise us with such tales. The dynamics of this Winter Guard story were quite interesting, and even at times felt like two stories; one focusing on the current dynamics of the team and the other focusing on their mission. Team books, especially those introduced for one off Fanfare/Max one shots are often hard to pull off, but this time the writer has done the characters proud. Hopefully we'll see some more Winter Guard action soon. Rating - 9.5/10 (Early Riser) It makes me really pleased that both my efforts this month scored so highly! This was an odd one. As I mentioned in my letter section at the end, this was a revisit to a team I'd written for around a year at Marvel Anthology. It was great to step into the Winter Guard's shoes again after so long, and I think I've improved my writing style in the years since so I think I did them more justice in this issue than I did in the twelve at MA. I think with a team like Winter Guard, the characters are the selling point and so I wanted to get into their heads - quite literally in the case of some. The mission is the impetus for the plot moving forward but, whilst writing it, I knew this had to be predominately about these characters. I'd love to revisit them again, and again, so there could be more of the Winter Guard in the future.
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Post by johncheese on Oct 24, 2018 15:49:00 GMT -5
Some reviews coming fresh out of the oven! Careful, they might be hot! Max 2000 #47 - Wow, this is an unexpected, but delightful, treat! John Cheese grants us a look into five (five!) different characters. In honor of that, I'm discusings them in order of most enjoyed to least. Cheese has always excelled at horror and "The Butterfly Effect" was as creepy as they come. A thrilling story with a gut-churning ending. In many ways, "Bola de la Beastia" is the opposite of that tale. A fun and witty romp about an aging merc desperate to prove himself. Ramon is charming in his determination and I'm always a fan of when writers show off Taskmaster's humorous side. "Ride the Whirlwind" is something of an origin for the new Whirlwind and, of all of these, it feels like the story that would have most benefited from being a full blown issue. Everything we get here is great, but I can't help but feel the tragedy in her story would have been better felt with a little more room to breathe. The biggest outlier in these tales comes with, "My Own Hero," a story featuring someone outright attempting to do good because it is the right move. Haller is perhaps the most interesting of the five characters and the one I'm most interested in seeing more of. "Daughter of the Waves" is the weakest of the pack, but certainly not bad. While operating as something of a revenge tale it also seems to set up something potentially more in the future. In fact, most of these do. Perhaps there is something connecting these disparate characters or maybe not. Either way, I'm thrilled we got this fun collection. Thanks for the review(s)! As I may have mentioned before, these were all free ideas done as warm up excercises before writing actual stories. I'm glad you enjoyed the Butterfly Effect, it was definitely enjoyable to write and was well within my comfort range. Bola de Bestia was very diffrent and adds stress because I'm always uncomfortable with writing Tasky. I never know which version to use and that confuses me more than a few times. Expect more Whirly, in a few other titles, hopefully she'll kick up a storm real soon. Haller will be another character I plan to expand on, hopefully very soon. As for 'Daughter of the Waves' that may or msy not tie into 'the Deluge'...
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goncet
Virgin-4-Lyfe
Posts: 96
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Post by goncet on Oct 31, 2018 22:40:03 GMT -5
Lots of issues to get through so, here's some more reviews.
Marvel Fanfare #94 - Gavin McMahon delivers a tale of the Winter Guard in this stellar issue. I'm amazed at Gavin's ability to weave together three central character arcs, two of which involve romantic relationships between characters, in a single issue that also involves a tense, elaborate fight sequence. While the side characters, the scientists and general, who help our main team get to the action of where they need to go might seem a little much when trying to juggle a large team like this. McMahon manages to deftly avoid the potential pothole and makes the most of his time. As for the question of more tales from the Winter Guard? If they're all as good as this sign me up!
Fantastic Four #79 - The Quest for Franklin continues and I feel confident mentioning that this has been a story arc that always felt more at home in Fantastic Four. The whole group are united in their search for Franklin and we get some fun scenes of them traversing through different realities. The main thrust of this story is Sue, as the device Reed made is powered by her love for her son. In the end, Franklin is saved, but not in a way that I was expecting. As with any good Four story, the central dynamic of the group is key and I'm happy to report that Tobias has not lost sight of that.
Young Avengers #11 - A vision of the future, a grim and unpleasant future, that is what we open on in the penultimate issue of Dan Dolan's "first season" of Young Avengers. I really enjoy the structuring of this issue, weaving in and out of the predicted future to our present day, where our young heroes confront their current destinies. It is the endless struggle of the young to have ideas of what they should be thrust on them by the older generations. In a way, the situation Dan puts our heroes in is a cogent metaphor for that, while also being engaging in it's own right. The final reveal of who Ophiuchus really is makes sense if you know about the Zodiac's history in Marvel. It is still a delight and we are all set up for a potential end game with very high stakes.
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Post by Gavin McMahon on Nov 1, 2018 8:05:05 GMT -5
Marvel Fanfare #94 - Gavin McMahon delivers a tale of the Winter Guard in this stellar issue. I'm amazed at Gavin's ability to weave together three central character arcs, two of which involve romantic relationships between characters, in a single issue that also involves a tense, elaborate fight sequence. While the side characters, the scientists and general, who help our main team get to the action of where they need to go might seem a little much when trying to juggle a large team like this. McMahon manages to deftly avoid the potential pothole and makes the most of his time. As for the question of more tales from the Winter Guard? If they're all as good as this sign me up! Thank you for the review, Liam!
I've mentioned in other replies to the feedback that the Winter Guard was the first time, in fan fiction, where I really attempted to push myself and work with characters outside of the big leagues (maybe five or six years back, I think) and it was writing them in this issue that I really felt, for the first time, like I was doing them justice. Travis had previously worked with the team in Marvel Fanfare #88 and #89, and I followed the threads he'd set up for the conflict of the issue: the location and destruction of science cities. Beyond that, I knew this had to be a character piece to flesh them out. I wanted to bring the animosity and sense of betrayal between Ursa Major and Darkstar to the fore, I wanted to humanise Vostok through his connection with Fantasma, and I wanted to showcase the others in smaller ways by opening dialogue for them: Red Guardian won his title so who did he step on to do so? What are the ramifications of Starlight's powers? What can become of the previous Winter Guard members when they're disgarded? Some of which are rehashed/improved storylines from my previous attempt at the title. In that regard, I'll admit that Zaslon, Titanium Man and Gremlin took a bit of a back seat because these characters are so underused in the mainstream that I really needed to try and make them complex and nuanced, another issue would have allowed me to delve deeper and establish who exactly Zaslon, Titanium Man and Gremlin are as well.
I'm so happy that people reacted so positively to this issue because I feel like it's one of the issues I worked hardest on perfecting (including all of their small Russian mannerisms such as referring to Mikhail as Masha and Nikolai as Kolya) and I'm constantly in a mental battle with myself about whether or not I should push a series to really develop these characters and this world. I'd run into the Darkstar issue, since she's actually appearing in Excalibur and I should've checked before using her, but I suppose there's always Sasha Roerich or Reena Stancioff if I had to write out Laynia and replace her on the team. Who knows? Maybe I'll finally get the push to propose this as a monthly series with reviews like these (part of an issue one has already been written)!
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goncet
Virgin-4-Lyfe
Posts: 96
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Post by goncet on Nov 9, 2018 23:42:36 GMT -5
More reviews as I slowly make my way through the bevy of new releases.
Thor #38 - I was a little nervous about this one, having never read any of the previous issues, but Jeff Melton made this return issue very easy to jump into. I really appreciate the feel of a silver-age comic that he crafts here. The exchanges between Thor and Loki, in particular, feel straight out of the Lee/Kirby era. It's a bit hard to judge how this issue holds up as the conclusion to an arc, but on it's own, it is a fun and energetic return. Here's to more from Melton and the God of Thunder!
New Mutants #3 - There are few writers here at M2K as adept at creating fun team dynamics as Gavin McMahon is. Through both this title and Mutant Underground, McMahon has shown a fondness for tackling the particular issues that plague people having to work in high pressure situations and what situation is more high pressure than a horde of Demon Bears?! The fight with said enemies is exhilarating and not without it's share of action, but the heart of this series is these people having to reconcile how much they've changed since their teenage years. There's a lot of fun in that dynamic and I've found particular joy in Magik and Moonstar's cold back-and-forth. The team has escaped the Badlands, but they have a long way to go to be the group they once were.
Ghost Rider Annual 2018 - Much like with Thor, I don't believe I've read an issue of Ghost Rider before this one, but what a fun start! This annual gives us a reunion, of sorts, with the Champions...in the year 2099! It's a long issue, perhaps the longest I've read here on the site, but it never lost my attention. Hercules is so much fun to witness, Black Widow and Garret had a fun dynamic and the concept of Darkstar becoming the embodiment of the Darkforce was very interesting. The story is fun and goes to an exciting conclusion that I, honestly, wasn't expecting. It does feel like Ghost Rider himself took a backseat in this issue which is a bit of a disappointment, but I'll take it if we get to have Hercules being his awesome self.
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Post by Gavin McMahon on Nov 11, 2018 9:05:40 GMT -5
New Mutants #3 - There are few writers here at M2K as adept at creating fun team dynamics as Gavin McMahon is. Through both this title and Mutant Underground, McMahon has shown a fondness for tackling the particular issues that plague people having to work in high pressure situations and what situation is more high pressure than a horde of Demon Bears?! The fight with said enemies is exhilarating and not without it's share of action, but the heart of this series is these people having to reconcile how much they've changed since their teenage years. There's a lot of fun in that dynamic and I've found particular joy in Magik and Moonstar's cold back-and-forth. The team has escaped the Badlands, but they have a long way to go to be the group they once were. Thank you, Liam! This is high praise indeed. I'm glad that you're enjoying both of my X-Men series, and there will be a slight crossover in the next issue of New Mutants after this arc's conclusion. So I'm taking a very it's all connected theme with these titles. It makes me so happy that you enjoyed the action sequences since I struggle with those a lot, I always think I'm not getting the right pace or its a little more muddled than I would like! There's a struggle with the first arc, it sets the pieces into place, so I'm very much glad to have now completed it and be able to move forward with all of the characters acting as a unit.
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