Carnival Comic Round Up 8/06/2014

Welcome one and all to comic round up day! Step right up we've got the wildest assortment of freaks and abominations this side of the coast! See! The amazing super doom and his never ending story arc! Gasp at the escapades of Rocket the talking raccoon and his daring prison break!  Marvel at the half man half plant that can only be referred to as some sort of Swamp thing while he battles otherworldly creatures! And you simply won’t believe your eye when a normal high School is transported to an alien world full of strange creatures and savage hunters.  All this and more you will find inside remember the oddities inside need your support so if you  like what you see support the comic of your choice and send money to comixology.com or your local comic book provider. If you would like to further donate to the house of comic oddity’s then like, comment or share this blog and let us know you care!  Now on to the show!

* NF Rating refers to Newcomer friendliness. See last week’s blog for more details. Also there will be no Roundup next week but that doesn’t mean there won’t be anything posted keep an eye out for my Review/Reflection of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

Superman/Wonder-Woman Annual: #01

1/5

*NF Rating: 1

Cyborg Superman launches and invasion force on the earth and only superman can stop it if he wasn't still possessed by doomsday.   Where do I even begin with this issue?  the fact that 80% of the story is babble while the rest reads like a fan-fiction, that Cyborg superman is in possession of the Stargate, or maybe it’s the awkward scene where the artist try to draw WW running but instead just end up with a gratuitous breast shot?, Or maybe it’s trying to find a good reason as to why I should be afraid of a giant space whale?  Well whatever you consider the height of absolute stupidity or silliness this issue probably has it.

Action comics Annual: #03

2/5

NF Rating: 1

Batman brings in some of superman’s old foes to help come up with a plan to stop super doom once and for all.   Still stupid but a lot less babbling helps the comic flow slightly better.  The weird little blue Nightcrawler monster was kind of neat when it turned into a big blue monster, but the name, Baka, frustrates me like crazy since all I can think of is the Japanese term of the same spelling that means stupid or fool.  Reader be warned, if you haven’t been following this comic you won’t have any clue who is who or what’s going on because I haven’t and I’m like “ who’s that guy? And that lady? Who on earth are these people and why are you in my superman book?”

Action comics: #34

1/5

NF: 1

Superman works with all of his friends and foes to find a away to defeat Brainiac.  ARRRGHH! Won’t this thing just end! He’s cured of being Were-doomsday let’s just end the stupid arc!  Alright, look if you absolutely love everything the New 52 has done and sing the praises of the D.C studios for being “bold” and “innovative” then you probably won’t mind anything that’s happened in the superman comics series but if you’re like me and don’t appreciate having someone completely stomp all over your favorite heroes then remind you of how badly they messed everything up every chance they get then I highly recommend avoiding action comic as it is the arch bishop of the new 52 proclaiming it’s gospel as loud as it can.

Detective comics: #34

2/5

NF: 1

The conclusion to Icarus as batman and bullock confront the source of the dangerous drug.   The whole arc this comic had been simply ok. Not to mention how easy it’s been to get lost during the story even when you follow it issue by issue. I love bullock and I always like seeing him but neither he nor batman really do anything that special so it’s just kind of a bland arc that is easily skippable.

Grayson: #02

3/5

NF: 1

Dick Grayson continues his job as a double agent for both batman and spiral.  The first four pages and the last two were honestly the most interesting parts of the issue.  The actual spy work really wasn’t as engaging as it should have been and the object they were after was kind of well…weird.  I mean who make an artificial stomach that gives you super speed and turns you into a cannibal?  So far there’s nothing in this comic that makes it stand out among the rest. 

Green Lantern: #34

4/5

NF: 3

Hal returns of Mogo to find Kilowag has brought his family up to visit.   A nice epilogue issue to the whole Durlan war, and a much needed breather issue. I loved seeing Hal’s brother and his family being brought up into space to visit with him and the worst thing that happens was a prisoner getting a little rowdy but quickly taken out.  But I must say the most hilarious thing about this issue is the cover, which claims bad things in store for Simon Baz …except all he does is show up with Hals family then stands in the background for the rest of the issue.  Comic book sensationalism for the quick cash grab at its best, nice work D.C. 

I feel like this sums up D.C v.s The Readers point of view on the green lantern cover.

Swamp Thing: #34

5/5

NF: 1

 Lady Weeds puts her final plan into action to try and kill the Swamp Thing.  This is another solid issue with good fights and a satisfactory conclusion.  The wolf’s monster form was really cool looking and felt like it was going back to Swamp Things horror roots.  I loved  the fate of Lady weeds very fitting.

Green Arrow: #34

3/5

NF: 0

Green Arrow faces off against Richard Dragon for control of Star city.   Wow, I’ve been reading this from the beginning of this arc and I’m still horribly confused. It’s not a bad read, unless you don’t like the Arrow TV show then I would avoid this comic, it’s just hard to follow.  I found it funny that Green Arrow has his own Damian type character now, making him even more like Batman.

Legendary Star- Lord #02

4/5

NF: 3

Star-Lord and his half sister come up with a plan to steal money from the mysterious Mr. Knife. Huh, star lord having a sister is news to me, I like her though.  I’m a little uneasy with how much Peter is waffling between his comic version and his movie version in this issue. It’s like the writers cant decided which version of peter quill they want to use.

Rocket Raccoon #02

4/5

NF: 2

Rocket escapes from a maximum security prison.   It’s fun and funny but the jokes are starting to wear a little thin and their illogical context becoming more apparent. I don’t understand why aliens would understand let alone use earth pop culture jokes.  I’m also unaware of anytime Rocket and Deadpool have ever had an encounter yet he talks like he knows him, logic issues.  However the book still has a silly space story vibe and that’s fine, if you loved the GoG movie you’ll probably love this comic.

Original Sin: Thor & Loki: #03

5/5

NF: 2

Thor and Angela fight while Loki and the Queen of Angles make a bargain.  This was definitely a more interesting issue as we see what kind of threat the Angles are in both power and cunning making me look forward to future stories with them.   Though I kind of chuckled to see the return of the female Loki, which is a little confusing since I always thought female Loki was using Sif’s body to do what he did, but whatever it’s not like comics are ever consistent.  I always enjoy it when I actually learn something new from a comic book, in this case the phrase “ shall I be mother” a popular British term that is used when pouring tea.  

Original sin 3.4 Hulk vs. Iron Man: #04

3/5

NF: 2

Stark discovers the real truth behind his tampering with the gamma bomb.   On one hand this was a nice character moment between Stark and Bruce but on the other hand what a cop out.  Pride is the real sin, oh brother, why even make this story if the end was going to be so unimportant.  

New Avengers #22

4/5

NF: 0

The illuminate have to deal with the aftermath of their decisions.   The art style was a little off as Panthers head would often look a little too big for his body.  I like the melancholic ending to this arc and seeing that another universe encroaching was a nice touch.  

She Hulk: #07

4/5

NF: 3

She-Hulk is hired to look for a missing scientist who shrunk himself using Pym particles.   Back to the regular art wich is so much easier to look at then the substitute artist from last month. While the story isn’t anything groundbreaking it is nicely put together and if you’ve been enjoying she-hulks lawyering adventures then this issue fits nice and snug in all those stories.

The Punisher: #09

3/5

NF: 3

The Punisher stops crossbones plans to blow up a ship.   Not the strongest issue of punisher but not a bad one either just kind of in the middle somewhere.  Random black widow cameo for no reason other than to put Castle in South American prison.

Superior Spiderman: #32

4/5

NF: 2

Ock Spidey begins gathering an army of spider men to stop an interdimensionl serial killer.  It’s cool to see all these different spider men and the story is not dull, but the big bad is a little underwhelming. We basically have some steam punk guys with a diving helmet and with what looks like an energized tuning fork is popping off all the spiders, I just was kind of hoping for something a little more ominous.

Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-man: #04

5/5

NF: 1

Miles fights against the green goblin with and an unexpected ally comes to help.  Ok so *spoiler* Peter Parker may or may not be alive.  I’m still eyebrowing the whole thing, my money is still on a clone or some weird spiderverse tie in thing. Still confusion aside the issue is fantastic and the goblin is as frightening as ever.

Figment #03

4/5

NF: 1

Blair and Figment put their brains together to figure a way out of the sound fairies dungeon.  This book still continues to be weird.  I just can’t get the pulse of this book whether its childish or mature whether it’s simple or complex. The only thing I can say for sure is that it’s family friendly and in all honestly more entertaining than I thought it would be.  I can also say that I love figments eternal optimism humorously never getting down or frightened but looking at the world as glass half full.

Fairest: #28

5/5

NF: 0

The witches of the 13 floor come up with a solution to the glamour issue and Reynard finds love.  Fairest has been the strongest spin off of fables and this issue continues to be of caliber. However both Fables and Fairest are both very heavy in story and as a result it’s not really meant for people just coming in.

Invincible: #113

5/5

NF: 0

Invincible child is born and Robot tries to make and alliance with the kryptoni… Sayie…. Viltrumites, yeah that’s the right one.   This has been a crazy arc with crazy stuff…so business as usual for image comics. Seriously these guys just sit around there offices thinking of all the ways to mess with their readers heads. If you’re looking for a superhero comic that takes all the kid glove off and gives you graphic violence and uncensored subject matter then this is for you.

The Woods: #04

5/5

NF: 1

The kids find a Mayan temple in the middle of the woods and trouble ensues back at the school.  Love this comic.  I like seeing the survivalist storytelling coming out into full play and dealing with generational issues in a far more mature and intelligent way than most other stories. Plus you can never go wrong with monsters. 

Step right up folks! Come see the crazy fantastic Pic of the week attraction! 

This week I couldn't just decide on a single picture because you all really needed to see some of the highlights of this week’s Superman Doomed story line.

First up, Super doom snorts kryptonite gas.  I believe you can all insert your own joke here.

Second that is so obviously the Stargate that it practically teeters on copyright infringement.

But it’s not all bad here’s something cool.

There are so many more hilarious moments I could share, along with some cool ones, but if you want to see the rest I suppose you will actually have to buy the comics.