Review: The Hood- Blood From Stones

THE HOOD: BLOOD FROM STONES(Marvel, 2007; Hardcover)

Collects The Hood Nos. 1-6 (cover dates July- December, 2002)

Writer: Brian K. Vaughn

Artist: Kyle Hotz

I really enjoy Brian K. Vaughn's writing, and have been Jonesing for more. He's been sort of missing in action from the comic book scene for a while, although that will soon change, according to Image's March 2012 solicitations. Kyle Hotz's artwork isn't as refined here as it would become in just a few years. His sense of pace and overall storytelling ability is excellent, but he still had some rough edges at this point in his career. I loved his work on both Marvel/MAX Simon Garth: The Zombie mini-series a few years ago.

The Hood is a marginal villain who was made into a major villain. This story tells his origin and rise to power and is an enjoyable read. Bendis basically made him into the focal point of the Marvel Universe in The Avengers a while back. Whatever the case, I enjoyed this book. I got it brand new for $5.00, and it was 75-90 minutes well spent.

The OCD zone- This is one of Marvel's Premiere Edition hardcovers, which have glued binding. Not to be confused with their Marvel Premiere Classics hardcovers, which are the same dimensions as these but have sewn binding and nicer paper. I normally despise hardcovers with glued binding, but when the book is on the thinner side like this one is I can tolerate it.