Weekly Comic Book Reviews #2

All the previous weekly comic book reviews can be found here!

Star Trek Discovery: Captain Salu (One Shot)

Written by: Kirsten Beyer

Drawn by: Mike Johnson

This is a one shot double sized issue that ties in to the excellent tv show (if you aren’t watching the show I highly recommend it)!

This story takes place towards the end of Season 1 during a small period in between episodes when Salu is left to command the Discovery ship.

Writing is enjoyable enough, though it can tend to drag a little in places, particularly the first quarter of the issue where it can appear almost too wordy and not well scribed.

As the issue progresses though it does become a fun read and I especially liked the moral choices Salu is left to take whist doubting his own decisions.  The story gives a good insight to Salu, his confidence and if he could be a captain and the skills to be one.

Art is good with clear detailed characters and particularly the ships and space art but some of the distant characters can look a little unfinished and lifeless but overall is not enough to detract from the otherwise good pencils.

It doesn’t add to the Discovery storylines but it’s a good one shot comic particularly if you’re a fan of the show and helps add another layer of character to Salu.

Story – 7

Art – 7

Overall – 7

Written by: Tom Taylor

Drawn by: Juan Cabal, Douglas Franchin

The latest issue of Tom Taylors take on Spiderman continues the storyline that began in #1 and takes the fight to enemy 18 miles under New York!

Taylor is one of my favourite writers and that is not in any way being biased, just read any of his other work to see how great he is at writing fun and witty scripts, yet also handling the serious aspects of stories very well and he does this gracefully with Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman.

Although this is part of a story arc each issue does feel like its own unique story but ties into the ongoing events.  This issue doesn’t break any new ground but the writing is strong and engaging.  The witty banter between Spidey and the Human Torch is a particular highlight.

The art is constantly excellent and is a well drawn Spidey and has the level of detail required to make the art really standout.

The final part of the issue with Peter and Aunt May is very well told, very few words that allows the art to tell the story, leaving readers wanting to continue this subplot into the next issue. 

It may be only 4 issues in but this run by Tom Taylor is already a standout take on Webslinger.

Story – 8.5

Art – 8.5

Overall – 8.5

Thor #11

Written by: Jason Aaron

Drawn by:Lee Garbett

Unless you’ve been living under a marvel rock these past couple of months, it’s been hard to be unaware of the upcoming Mighty World of Marvels big Spring event ‘War of Realms’.  

The story that super scribe Jason Arrron has been working towards is a culmination of his past 4 years of work in Thor and all things Asgardian and it all comes to a head in the upcoming major event.

This issue marks the final issue before the story officially kicks off in the mini-series and marvel cross over event that is released in the same month.

This issue is treated more of a one shot storyline of Odinson questioning himself if he has what it takes to lead in the upcoming battle and the strength to win.

Lady Freya features heavily in this issue and the relationship between her and Thor is perfectly written with good emotion with Freya offering words of support, courage and love for her son and it is good to see a rare side of Thor, not often seen, vulnerability.  

Questions of worthiness have been a big theme running through Arrons run and this issue helps cement that and makes for an engaging story.

The final 3^rd of the issue does lead more in to the war itself with Malklith preparing for battle and the inevitable mighty war.

Supporting the strong story is wonderful art by with detailed panels and very rich detailed colours. Despite a lot happening on some of the pages, it never comes across as cumbersome.  The facial expressions do lack in emotion on some panels but overall it is very well drawn.

If you were unsure if The War of Realms would be a worthy story – this issue will help convince you otherwise.

Story – 8.5

Art – 8

Overall – 8.5

Uncanny X-Men – Winters End – One shot

Written by: Sina Grace

Drawn by: Nathan Stockman

This one shot is a finale of some sorts to the recent Iceman Mini Series written by the same writer.  The issue is a nice swansong to those who enjoyed that recent storyline and follows up after those events.

The story, while interesting doesn’t really captivate you and especially for those who never read the mini series featuring Mr Sinister as the villain, can be quite confusing and expects you to have read that adventure first.

There are some fun snappy one liners between iceman and his future self and some good dialogue between Bobby Drake and Jean Grey but other than that the story felt fairly flat.

The art too is a weaker point of the book and the colours and work can look almost smudged and rushed though some of the larger panel art can be nicely detailed.

If you enjoyed the previous iceman miniseries maybe add an extra point to this review but otherwise if you miss this, you won’t be missing anything in terms of progressing any X-related characters or fleshing out storylines that does more harm than good to IceMan.

Story – 6

Art – 6.5

Overall – 6