COMIC BINGE: Thor, Vol. 1: Goddess of Thunder, Batman, Vol. 6: Graveyard Shift & Rolling in the Deep
Another week here at Comic Binge and I’ve finally been able to pry myself away from Batman: Arkham Knight long enough to get some reading in. I’ve been dying to get my hands on the first volume of the again rebooted Thor, since there has been much clamoring over the new female Thor. I personally enjoyed the Goddess of Thunder but more in the sense that she was really humorous and her character enabled a lot of humorous opportunities for our now powerless male characters. Thor is seemingly lost without the power of Mjolnir to wield, and thus resorts to challenging the new Thor as often as he can to reclaim his power. Also, there was a moment where Odin really went hard on the Thorina because he was basically telling her that the only place for her was the kitchen. Moments like this were a plenty in this book, which I suppose is to serve up the necessary power for our new girl Thor to kick ass. A lot of it was bickering back and forth between whether or not the new Goddess of Thunder was actually Thor, but I’ll hope that that is resolved and the next book could continue with a good story. I will say it makes me miss the other Marvel NOW! Thor book that was previous to this, but I think I could probably take another volume of the female Thor. This is a new title definitely worth checking out still.
RATED : ( PG )
STORY : ( 7 / 10 )
ARTWORK : ( 8 / 10 )
COVERS : ( 7 / 10 )
AWESOME : ( 8 / 10 )
FINAL RATING : ( 7 / 10 )
Another book I’ve been waiting to get to is the latest volume of Scott Snyder’s Batman. Thinking that I was in for a treat of a new story, I was a little disappointed to find out that this volume contains all of the issues omitted from the previous volumes. This is both great and awful at the same time and I’ll explain why. Sometimes when you are reading intense and well-written story arcs such as Snyder, you want all of the excess trimmed and it was. I appreciate that these issues didn’t break up the excellence contained within all previous volumes, but it really left these stories to stand alone when they truly cannot. It was nice to have all of these in one place, but I would have liked some context or summary to provide some details to the stories we’re reading. Sure, I can piece some things together but you know that you are missing out on good things when this team is behind the Batman story. Otherwise, the book is pretty much just as great as those before it, regardless of my issues issues. When Scott Snyder is writing Batman, you have no excuse not to be reading. I’m interested to see where this Gotham is headed next, but surely Snyder has to be nearing the end of the line with this title as he has so much else to focus on outside of DC’s #1 title.
RATED : ( PG-13 )
STORY : ( 7 / 10 )
ARTWORK : ( 8 / 10 )
COVERS : ( 8 / 10 )
AWESOME : ( 9 / 10 )
FINAL RATING : ( 9 / 10 )
Finally, I have to share a little review for an actual book I read yesterday called Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant. And no, it has nothing to do with that one song by that chick Adele, as much as you may have been hoping so. It was recommended to me by a coworker and I wasn’t steered wrong at all. It’s a short little book clocking in at 120 pages, so it’s perfect for me and others who maybe read comics for their brevity. The story starts with a television network called Imagine (imagine Discovery, Nat. Geo.) that is filming a “documentary” about the hunt for mermaids. Calling to the Discovery Channel Shark Week specials of recent years that feature some larger than life stories to exaggerate the awesomeness that is sharks, Rolling in the Deep does everything to make you question the events unfolding on the page. It reads as a retelling of the tragic story of the SS Atargatis and its crew that were lost at sea during their escapades near the Mariana Trench. The book is sort of like a SyFy flick, combined with a fake documentary Blair Witch style, and a little bit reality TV. I wasn’t expecting so much greatness packed into this little book, but it fires on all cylinders and provides all of the great staples for a good horror story. There are faces flying, mysteries abound, and plenty of laughs and scares to make you want to go Rolling in the Deep again. This is a must-read book if you like creature horror or a good suspense/sci-fi story.
RATED : ( R )
STORY : ( 9 / 10 )
COVER : ( 7 / 10 )
AWESOME : ( 10 / 10 )
FINAL RATING : ( 9 / 10 )