Wolverines (click for source)
by Aaron Nash
This week I’ll be looking at the first issues of three new series that have come out in the last few weeks.
Wolverines #1:
Following hot on the heels of The Death of Wolverine and Legacy, Wolverines sets to continue the effects that Wolverine’s death has had on certain characters in the Marvel universe, while integrating the new characters introduced into a regular weekly comic format.
I wasn’t that big a fan of The Death of Wolverine story or Legacy, but I was intrigued by this as I have always like X-23 and have recently grown to really like Daken and Mystique. I wondered what the interaction between them all would be like in the wake of recent events, and am pleased to say that on the whole it kind of works.
This week I’ll be looking at the first issues of three new series that have come out in the last few weeks.
Wolverines #1:
Following hot on the heels of The Death of Wolverine and Legacy, Wolverines sets to continue the effects that Wolverine’s death has had on certain characters in the Marvel universe, while integrating the new characters introduced into a regular weekly comic format.
I wasn’t that big a fan of The Death of Wolverine story or Legacy, but I was intrigued by this as I have always like X-23 and have recently grown to really like Daken and Mystique. I wondered what the interaction between them all would be like in the wake of recent events, and am pleased to say that on the whole it kind of works.
Star Wars (click for source)
The story begins on a powerful image of a bloody Mystique shuffling down what looks to be a military corridor. It’s such a great start and one that unfortunately is never surpassed in the first issue until the very end. That is not to say that the rest of the story isn’t any good, as it is pretty enjoyable entertainment, but it just never hits those same awesome high notes. I will say that the ending to the first issue is magnificent as it really does leave the reader wanting more.
The art is pretty standard stuff, nothing particularly special, but nothing bad. It’s semi-understandable as this is a weekly comic, so the artists have to pump the pages out at a faster rate meaning there is less time for fine tuning, but still it does its job.
I was pleasantly surprised by the first issue of Wolverines and enjoyed it enough to give it a few more issues to see how the story develops. The ending is also so great that I just want to read the next issue to see if it can achieve the same level of awesomeness. I’d recommend this to any fans of fun Marvel team-up events and fans of the characters involved.
Star Wars #1:
Star Wars has become so big in popular culture that it’s hard not to see something related to it around every corner, and with the new film coming out at the end of the year this is no more true then at this very minute. As always happens, people see the franchise that George Lucas started way back in 1977 as the great cash cow that it’s become and decide it’s about time to create yet another original story set in the same universe starring everyone’s favourite heroes. It’s sad that they don’t just leave it alone, but then again they want to make as much money as psychically possible so I guess that’s what they are going to do.
Now, I love Star Wars as much as a lot of people, I grew up watching the movies and can still remember watching the re-releases of the original trilogy at the cinema as a kid. I’ve played lots of the games and read lots of the fiction, but looking at the sheer amount of material that is now available I’m starting to realise that enough is enough. That was until I discovered that a new Star Wars comic was coming out that was set between the first two films. This was intriguing enough to make me wonder if that spark from watching Star Wars as a kid could be reignited.
After reading the first issue the answer is, sadly, a no.
To get the good points out of the way; the artwork is fantastic throughout and really does feel like the successor to the films. The characters are all recognisable in looks and have great likenesses to the actors that portrayed them in the films. For the most part the panels flow reasonably nicely and the action is generally easy to understand. It is also nice seeing all of the old characters again in an interesting part of the Star Wars storyline.
That is sadly about it for the good points of the comic.
The art is pretty standard stuff, nothing particularly special, but nothing bad. It’s semi-understandable as this is a weekly comic, so the artists have to pump the pages out at a faster rate meaning there is less time for fine tuning, but still it does its job.
I was pleasantly surprised by the first issue of Wolverines and enjoyed it enough to give it a few more issues to see how the story develops. The ending is also so great that I just want to read the next issue to see if it can achieve the same level of awesomeness. I’d recommend this to any fans of fun Marvel team-up events and fans of the characters involved.
Star Wars #1:
Star Wars has become so big in popular culture that it’s hard not to see something related to it around every corner, and with the new film coming out at the end of the year this is no more true then at this very minute. As always happens, people see the franchise that George Lucas started way back in 1977 as the great cash cow that it’s become and decide it’s about time to create yet another original story set in the same universe starring everyone’s favourite heroes. It’s sad that they don’t just leave it alone, but then again they want to make as much money as psychically possible so I guess that’s what they are going to do.
Now, I love Star Wars as much as a lot of people, I grew up watching the movies and can still remember watching the re-releases of the original trilogy at the cinema as a kid. I’ve played lots of the games and read lots of the fiction, but looking at the sheer amount of material that is now available I’m starting to realise that enough is enough. That was until I discovered that a new Star Wars comic was coming out that was set between the first two films. This was intriguing enough to make me wonder if that spark from watching Star Wars as a kid could be reignited.
After reading the first issue the answer is, sadly, a no.
To get the good points out of the way; the artwork is fantastic throughout and really does feel like the successor to the films. The characters are all recognisable in looks and have great likenesses to the actors that portrayed them in the films. For the most part the panels flow reasonably nicely and the action is generally easy to understand. It is also nice seeing all of the old characters again in an interesting part of the Star Wars storyline.
That is sadly about it for the good points of the comic.
Mortal Kombat X #1 (click for source)
The story is pretty standard ‘space team’ fare with no original moments. The dialogue is clunky at best, seemingly only serving to please fan boys wanting to hear classic lines from the films adapted in poor humour. It’s a shame really as I usually like Jason Aaron’s writing. Although the characters are the same as those in the films, it just highlights how two-dimensional they all are in terms of emotion and depth.
It’s merely ok; Nothing more, nothing less. I’ve read far worse but at the same time I have read things far better. I guess it all depends how much you’re into Star Wars and how strong your rose-tinted glasses are.
I know that many will disagree with this review and many will just be sold on the idea of a new Star Wars tale. I even get that this is the first issue so there could be great things to come, but I sadly doubt it. It seems to simply exist as yet another money making scheme to con fans out of yet more money because they know they can. Either way, the comic will still sell and I can accept that some will enjoy the badly written story. I may give the second issue a go to just to see if it improves.
At heart I know that I will always give something Star Wars a try as it’s become indoctrinated into my mind. I guess I’m a fan-boy, but one who realises the films and the books generally aren’t actually that great when you try and look at them as more then reasonable entertainment that have long since become a stale money making franchise.
Mortal Kombat X #1:
Much like Star Wars, I grew up with Mortal Kombat. As a kid it was that infamous game that friends would talk about between themselves even if they had never played it. It was that violent game that you wanted to play but were never allowed to. It was also one of those games that once played you always remembered the characters as they were so unforgettable and stand out. Two of the most recognisable characters in the games were the yellow demon Scorpion and the ninja Sub-zero. It was hard growing up around the games and the films without casually hearing another child shout out ‘get over here!’ in reference to Scorpion’s most famous chain attack (which to this day I remember as being achieved by pressing ‘back, back, punch’ on the controller.) I love the franchise and feel it is one of the few fighting games that really has quite a good back story behind it.
How excited I was when I walked into the local comic store and saw Mortal Kombat X sitting on the shelf under new releases. I knew nothing about the comic but thought I’d give it a shot.
The writing is pretty good and feels far better than one would expect from a comic based on a video game. The story flows at quite a nice pace even if it can be slightly confusing with its constant jumping between times. Although I sometimes found myself confused, I didn’t feel like it destroyed any of my enjoyment of the story. The dialogue is again better than I expected and doesn’t feel half as corny as I thought it would be. The story is both interesting and fairly original. It also tries to give the characters more depth than I would have expected, which is nice.
The art is brilliant, with some truly stunning fight sequences and some ridiculously over-the-top violence. There is far more dismemberment then I expected to see, although there isn’t that much blood. It was quite refreshing to see a comic that wasn’t written for the ‘PG’ crowd, but for the fans of the games. The characters can become quite samey at times in terms of their looks which again doesn’t help in the jumping through time periods, but it’s not too bad.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the first issue of Mortal Kombat X and am intrigued to see where the story is going to go from here. I’d highly recommend checking this series out.
Read any new comics lately? Let us know what you think below!
It’s merely ok; Nothing more, nothing less. I’ve read far worse but at the same time I have read things far better. I guess it all depends how much you’re into Star Wars and how strong your rose-tinted glasses are.
I know that many will disagree with this review and many will just be sold on the idea of a new Star Wars tale. I even get that this is the first issue so there could be great things to come, but I sadly doubt it. It seems to simply exist as yet another money making scheme to con fans out of yet more money because they know they can. Either way, the comic will still sell and I can accept that some will enjoy the badly written story. I may give the second issue a go to just to see if it improves.
At heart I know that I will always give something Star Wars a try as it’s become indoctrinated into my mind. I guess I’m a fan-boy, but one who realises the films and the books generally aren’t actually that great when you try and look at them as more then reasonable entertainment that have long since become a stale money making franchise.
Mortal Kombat X #1:
Much like Star Wars, I grew up with Mortal Kombat. As a kid it was that infamous game that friends would talk about between themselves even if they had never played it. It was that violent game that you wanted to play but were never allowed to. It was also one of those games that once played you always remembered the characters as they were so unforgettable and stand out. Two of the most recognisable characters in the games were the yellow demon Scorpion and the ninja Sub-zero. It was hard growing up around the games and the films without casually hearing another child shout out ‘get over here!’ in reference to Scorpion’s most famous chain attack (which to this day I remember as being achieved by pressing ‘back, back, punch’ on the controller.) I love the franchise and feel it is one of the few fighting games that really has quite a good back story behind it.
How excited I was when I walked into the local comic store and saw Mortal Kombat X sitting on the shelf under new releases. I knew nothing about the comic but thought I’d give it a shot.
The writing is pretty good and feels far better than one would expect from a comic based on a video game. The story flows at quite a nice pace even if it can be slightly confusing with its constant jumping between times. Although I sometimes found myself confused, I didn’t feel like it destroyed any of my enjoyment of the story. The dialogue is again better than I expected and doesn’t feel half as corny as I thought it would be. The story is both interesting and fairly original. It also tries to give the characters more depth than I would have expected, which is nice.
The art is brilliant, with some truly stunning fight sequences and some ridiculously over-the-top violence. There is far more dismemberment then I expected to see, although there isn’t that much blood. It was quite refreshing to see a comic that wasn’t written for the ‘PG’ crowd, but for the fans of the games. The characters can become quite samey at times in terms of their looks which again doesn’t help in the jumping through time periods, but it’s not too bad.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the first issue of Mortal Kombat X and am intrigued to see where the story is going to go from here. I’d highly recommend checking this series out.
Read any new comics lately? Let us know what you think below!
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