Review- AVENGERS INFINITY CLASSIC

AVENGERS INFINITY CLASSIC (Marvel, First Printing, 2013; Softcover)

Collects Avengers Infinity #1-4 (cover dates September- December, 2000)

Writer: Roger Stern

Artists: Sean Chen (Penciler) and Scott Hanna (Inker)

Colorist: Steve Oliff

Roger Stern's return to writing The Avengers happened while I was on sabbatical from the hobby. A bunch of heavy hitter Avengers alumni team up to do some galactic avenging in the far reaches of space. Thor, Photon (the second Captain Marvel), Quasar, Moondragon, Starfox, Tigra, and future Avenger Jack of Hearts form an ad hoc space Avengers.

This is an epic cosmic adventure, with The Avengers taking on the Infinites, beings that are so powerful that the stars themselves are mere playthings to them. Even Eternity is dwarfed by their power.

The writing and artwork are solid and this a satisfying read. It seems silly to see such a sprawling, fate of the universe type tale confined to a mere four issues, as this would be pimped out in a major crossover today. That seems to be the problem for both Marvel and DC these days. Their sales are in the tank, propped up by gimmick variant covers that dealers order X number of copies to achieve the “incentive cover”, which they flip on eBay for more money than if they sold all of the copies that they order. The rest wind up in the $1 box at conventions. The next bubble is about to burst. When it does, maybe they will go back to making more self-contained reads like this.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Nothing unusual or remarkable to report.

Linework and Color restoration: These comics were made during the digital era, so no restoration is required.

Paper stock: Good eight glossy coated stock.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Laminated cardstock cover.

Review- AVENGERS VOL. 4: INFINITY

AVENGERS VOL. 4: INFINITY (Marvel, 2014; Hardcover)

Collects Avengers Nos. 18-23 (cover dates October, 2013- January, 2014)

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Artists: Leinil Francis Yu with Gerrt Alanguilan

Colorists: Sunny Gho, David Curiel, and Paul Mounts

This book as whole seem like a sparse scattershot of scenes and less like a run of 6 issues of a comic book title. This is due to the fact that these are tie-ins with the Infinity crossover, which I am not buying in hardcover due to the crappy paper and Jonathan Hickman's insane insistence on putting the covers in the back of the book while interrupting the story with those stupid white pages with a phrase on them. You are not Stanley Kubrick or Steve Jobs, and your use of whites to change scenes is not effective, it is annoying. 

Only Jonathan Hickman thinks that this...

Worse still, all of those stupid wasted pages (and yes, they are a waste) result in the variant covers being shrunk down four to a page. What is this, 2005? Who thinks that shrinking incredible artwork by John Cassaday down to thumbnail size adds more value to a book? Jonathan Hickman apparently does, as this is all done at his insistence. ...but he's a graphic designer, the apologetic fanboys chime in. Yeah, and I am a consumer of collected editions, buying more per year than I care to admit, and I call shenanigans. I will think twice...nay, thrice, before purchasing anything by Hickman ever again. Boring writing and annoying layouts are a tough sell when there are so many other better comic books out there competing for my collected editions dollar.

...is better than this. What a waste.

Leinil Francis Yu is a fan favorite, and I am not sure why. While he is decent on a technical level, his artwork is static. Everyone looks like a statue, even in action scenes. I prefer comic book artists whose work has energy, whose artwork “moves” even though it is an image on a page. In short, his art left me cold.

Maybe I am old. Maybe “the kids” really like this sort of stuff and I am out of step and out of touch. Or maybe I have just read too many truly great Avengers comics written by Roger Stern, Steve Engelhart, Roy Thomas, and Kurt Busiek to accept any substitutes. Maybe Marvel NOW really makes me wish for Marvel THEN, or maybe I just don't like being suckered with endless crossovers.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2.5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- There was a time when editorial mandated that caption boxes and word balloons were placed in a way that they wouldn't get sucked into the gutter in the inevitable collected edition. Apparently this edict has since passed, since there are a lot of words curving toward the gutter in this book.

I really like the spine redesign on all of these Marvel NOW! collected editions. While I am mostly immune to the spine and trade dress fetishes that many of my collected edition brethren have I can appreciate a well done spine design.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: #18, 20, 22, 23 Avengers 50^th Anniversary variants by Daniel Acuna and all four John Cassady and Laura Martin #19 50^th anniversary. All shrunk down four per page across two pages.

#19 Avengers 50^th Anniversary variant wraparound cover by John Cassady and Laura Martin, #21 Lego sketch variant by Leonel Castellani and #21 Lego variant by Leonel Castellani. All shrunk down on one page...but at least you get the brilliant “graphic designer” Hickman's faux Kubrick/Apple white pages throughout the book instead of a full size cover gallery in the back of the book. Count the pages, they would have fit if that assclown Hickman didn't insist on those wasted pages.

Paper rating: 4 out of 5. The glossy coated stock paper is a fair weight and is of the non-shriveled variety.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. Perfect bound/ glued binding. It lays pretty flat in one hand since it is a thin book.

Hardback cover coating rating: 4.5 out of 5. The cover has the image printed directly on it, no dustjacket required. The coating has a somewhat odd feeling to it, but the dull matte finish is scuff resistant with reasonable handling.

Buy AVENGERS VOL. 4: INFINITY HC at InStockTrades!

Reviews- FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2013 offerings Part the Second

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2013 offerings Part the Second

Note: Free Comic Book Day will be referred to as FCBD from here on out.

Ramayan 3392 AD FCBD Special (Graphic India, cover date 2013)

Writer: Various

Artist: Various

Colorist: Various

This jumps all over the place, bordering on being unreadable. Pass.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 0.75 out of 5.

Chakra The Invincible FCBD Special (Graphic India, cover date 2013)

Writers: Stan Lee, Aswin Pande, and Jeevan Kang

Artist: Jeevan Kang

Stan Lee is, without question, on the Mount Rushmore of comic book creators. God bless him for still being out there trying new things, especially when you consider his age and the fact that he's loaded and doesn't have to work. He has repeated his formula one time too many, though. This is basically his attempt at creating a superhero for India. It's decent enough but pretty forgettable.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2.5 out of 5. 

FCBD 2013: Infinity No. 1 (Marvel, cover date May, 2013)

Writer: Jonathan Hickman, Scott Edelman (LR back-up story), and Warren Ellis (A: EW)

Artists: Jim Cheung (Penciler) and Mark Morales (Inker), Mike Zeck (LR back-up story), and Mike McKone (A: EW)

Colorists: Justin Ponsor and Jason Keith (A: EW)

This is a prelude to Marvel's upcoming Infinity mini-series, which will help catapult Thanos back dead center in the Marvel Universe in anticipation of the Guardians of the Galaxy and/or Avengers 2 movies. Everything is slick and familiar looking for those who wandered in off the street. If someone had only seen the films and never read a comic book then they would get this.

The Thanos back-up story is reprinted from Logan's Run No. 6 from 1977 was a quarter box find of mine circa 1983. It was my first exposure to Thanos and Drax the Destroyer. I had no idea until much later that they were tied into the Marvel Universe.

There is also a four page preview of the forthcoming Avengers: Endless Wartime hardcover original graphic novel. As the Marvel Universe becomes more intertwined with the Marvel movie Universe, I expect the film versions to become the dominant interpretations of the characters, for better or worse. I doubt that this book will suck, though. It's Warren Ellis and Mike McKone, for chrissakes!

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5. 

Buck Rogers In The 25^th Century A.D. (Hermes Press, cover date 2013)

Writer: Phillip Nowlan

Artists: Richard Calkins

This a sampler of the Buck Rogers strip books that Hermes Press has been releasing. There are three “arcs” collected here. Two full color Sunday strips arcs which were originally printed in 1936 and 1937. I found these to be a tough read, nowhere near the quality of Flash Gordon. They were fascinating from a strictly historical viewpoint. I will not be buying these in hardcover.

There is also the original black and white dailies which ran from the premiere on January 7, 1929, and the six following strips. Buck Rogers did not journey into space, but instead fell into an abandoned Pittsburgh mine, where a strange chemical preserved him in suspended animation for 500 years. These dailies were far more entertaining if offensive to modern sensibilities. The Mongols are evil and have taken over the world!

There are images of the memorabilia of the 30s-50s throughout the back, which are equally fascinating.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3 out of 5. 

The Red Ten: FCBD 2013 No. 0 (Comix Tribe, cover date 2013)

Writer: Tyler James

Artists: Tyler James (Penciler), Vic Moya (Inker), and others.

Colorists: Vasen Sorbal and others.

This is pretty derivative. The Alliance are basically The Avengers, and their nemesis, Oxymoron, is essentially the Joker. I am guessing that this will be a comic book riff on Ten Little Indians, judging by the text introduction which apes that poem, and the fact that there are ten members of the team. This is also billed as a ten issue murder mystery.

This was enjoyable enough, and some of the creators involved are decent enough that with some work they could possibly produce some good stuff. Time will tell.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2.75 out of 5. 

Bleeding Cool: FCBD and Beyond (Avatar Press, cover date May, 2013)

Writer: Rich Johnston and others

For those of you who don't know, Bleeding Cool is like the CNN of nerd culture. Up to the nanosecond updates, rumors, gossip, and everything else to do with comic books, movie, and television series related to the medium. They launched the bi-monthly magazine last year, and it fills a much-needed vacuum since Comics Buyers Guide unfortunately closed it's doors earlier this year. I still enjoy print magazines since I have an aversion to reading electronic devices on the toilet.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

I will have lots more FCBD reviews over the next week or so. I spent the entire day hitting various comic shops in the Detroit area.