SPIDER-GIRL "Avenging Allies"

***1/2

Sorry that it's been so long since I have posted any reviews.  I have been pretty busy in life.  However, I have been doing some reading.  Some of that reading has included Marvel's "SPIDER-GIRL Avenging Allies," written by Tom DeFalco and drawn by Pat Olliffe.  This one is a graphic novel that collects Spider-Girl #12-16 and the 1999 Annual and is the third volume of Marvel's SPIDER-GIRL graphic novels.  To be honest I probably wouldn't have spent my time on a Spider-Girl book, but I happened across this one at my church's rummage sale for just a quarter.  Can't go wrong at that price!

May "Mayday" Parker is the daughter of Peter Parker, the original Spider-Man.  Mayday has inherited some of Spider-Man's abilities, including super-strength, some of his ability to stick to walls and most importantly, his agility and "Spider sense."  During this collection, she is in the process of learning how to use her abilities to combat crime and foes the likes of Darkdevil, the Avengers and the man named Kaine, who shows her the worst defeat she has ever known.  Spider-Girl also finds herself teaming up with Speedball to do battle with a Mr. Fantastic style villain named Mr. Abnormal.  Throughout the whole book, Mayday is battling her emotions, wondering if she is doing the right thing using her abilities in the same manner that her father did as Spider-Man.

As I mentioned earlier, typically this is not a book that I would have grabbed shopping by looking at the cover.  However, I'm glad that I was able to find this one at the rummage sale.  I was very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this novel!  Pat Olliffe  makes the book look wonderful and Tom DeFalco has always been an awesome writer in my personal opinion.  The only thing that I wasn't too crazy about with Spider-Girl, is the way that her thoughts are written in the second person.  I understand that DeFalco was trying to allow the reader to feel more like they were in fact in the story.  However, it didn't take to long to get used to how her inner thoughts were written.  I will definitely continue to look for other Spider-Girl comics.  All in all I thought that this was a very good book!  I'm going to give "SPIDER-GIRL Avenging Allies" a score of three and a half out of five stars.

DEATHLOK #6

****

It's been a little while since I have made a post for this site. For anyone secretly following this blog, I apologize. However, I finally have had some time to read another comic book. It's another Deathlok, however, not the same series of Deathlok that I have reviewed earlier. However, for background on the character, please check out my previous blog about DEATHLOK 1.

That being said, DEATHLOK #6 is written by Gregory Wright and illustrated by Denys Cowan for Marvel Comics and released in December of 1991. I don't have the previous issues for this one, but I don't think they are needed to understand the story as this is the first issue of a miniseries. We start the story as Deathlok secretly checks in on his son, Nick, who is eight years old. Unable to allow himself to be seen by Nick, he is watching him as he is on the playground at school. Suddenly, a vehicle approaches and starts blasting away at the school yard with gunfire, springing Deathlok into action. He neutralizes the situation, completely demolishing the car and the shooters end up escaping.

Later we find that the Punisher is also involved as he is investigating the shooters in a "war" on drugs. We also find that Silvermane (former head of HYDRA, currently believed deceased) is the one who ordered the hit on the school. We also discover that Nick and his friend are currently involved in the drug trafficking. During what the kids think is a pick-up, Silvermane kidnaps them. Deathlok takes chase and discovers that Silvermane is now a cyborg just like Deathlok, only not as powerful. Punisher, who is a shoot first ask questions later type of guy enters the fight and comes out guns blazing. Deathlok, trying to protect his son from stray bullets begins doing battle with Punisher. Meanwhile, Silvermane escapes on a subway car and the comic book ends on a cliff hanger "To Be Continued..."

First off, I like the look of this book. Cowan's drawing is phenomenal. The whole issue is eye-catching and full of action. He is also able to convey emotion quite well, even on a cyborg's face. As far as the writing is concerned, I thought it was quite good. I always like the banter between Deathlok's human brain (Michael Collins) and the cyborg's on-board computer. Also the whole story line of Michael Collins, who is a pacifist, and being trapped in a machine created to produce death, the whole time, not being able to be a part of his family who are too afraid of what he's become to believe that his is inside the cyborg.

This issue is entitled "Similar Machines," which can be taken in two ways. Deathlok and Silvermane are both cyborgs, one pursuing a peaceful world the other producing evil. Meanwhile Deathlok and Punisher are both engaged in a war against the drug dealers that are corrupting and poisoning the youth, however one refuses to cause the death of anyone (Deathlok's "No Killing Parameter") while Punisher is willing to play judge, jury and executioner with those whom he deems an enemy in his "War." With DEATHLOK #6, I think that I'm going to have to give a rating of four out of five stars.

GHOST RIDER: THE VISUAL GUIDE

***

Occasionally I wish to read something a little more substantial than a 24 page comic book. Enter the graphic novel! :) The last one I read is more of a informational reference book on the Marvel character "Ghost Rider." The book is called "Ghost Rider: The Visual Guide." It is written by Andrew Darling and edited by Laura Gilbert with visual designs by Lauren Egan and Jon Hall, though most of the artwork in the book is taken from the original comic book series.

This one honestly took me a long time to get through. It is 125 pages long, and for a book with pictures has an awful lot of words. Normally, I would find this to be refreshing, except for the fact that for many of the words, I needed a magnifying glass! Lots of VERY small type. In addition, the reading is generally pretty dry, as it is simply an informative look at the character, and not really a storyboard format. It felt like a graphically intense history book!

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the book. For someone like me who hasn't been able to find and/or afford every back issue of Ghost Rider going all the way back to 1972, this book was very informative as to the background of this edgy demonic hero in the Marvel Universe. I've always been a huge fan of Ghost Rider and his look and what he stood for - vengeance - and The Visual Guide does a great job of capturing all the eras of Ghost Rider, from Johnny Blaze to Danny Ketch.

Even though I thought that the writing was very dry and drawn out, I do think that the overall look of this book redeemed it to a halfway decent score in my book. I'm going to score "Ghost Rider: The Visual Guide" at three out of five stars.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #212

***1/2

Previously I have reviewed the issue prior to this one. Feel free to check out my review of CAPTAIN AMERICA #211. Issue #212 was written and drawn by Jack Kirby as well and was released by Marvel in August of 1977. We pick up where the last one left off, in the living castle of Arnim Zola, the brilliant but evil geneticist who is responsible for preserving the brain of a high ranking member of the Third Reich. Zola has implanted the brain into a body built for speed and strength. The plan is to put Cap's face on the newly rebuilt Reich officer, who we find out in this issue is in fact Adolf Hitler.

Kirby throws the reader directly into the action in this one. The Cap and Donna Maria are doing their best to escape the clutches of Zola as they are in a castle that was genetically engineered by Zola as a living prison with the soul purpose of holding Captain America prisoner. We find Cap's girlfriend, Sharon, being escorted by the Red Skull to the castle to witness Cap's demise. However upon escape from the castle, the Captain and Donna Maria have to do battle with some more of Zola's creations. During this battle, Captain America is blinded by a chemical explosion caused by Donna. This blinding occurs just before the Skull shows up. Now Captain America has to do battle with Red Skull while blind.

A whole lot of action! Well done Kirby! Couple that with Kirby's great artwork, and you have yourself a pretty darn good comic book. Once more I think that this one deserves a three and a half out of five stars. Gotta love consistently good comics by the masters. Of course, I guess that's why their called the masters!

DAREDEVIL #355

****
Daredevil #355 is a Marvel publication from August of 1996. This issue was written by Karl Kesel and penciled by Cary Nord and S. Epting.

In this issue, Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson have partnered with Rosalind Sharpe's law firm, and Matt has been put in charge of defending a known killer. This is a test of Matt's ethics as he knows that Hyde, his defendant, is not guilty of the accused crime, but is guilty of numerous other crimes. During Matt's investigations, he, as Daredevil he faces off against Pyro, the mutant master of flames who is trying to destroy evidence in the case that Matt is investigating.

I've always been a fan of Daredevil stories. Kesel run at this time was no different. There are always layers to the Daredevil character. Plenty of action, and there is always light into the life of the blind lawyer and his personal coping with the death of his father, the stress of a legal career and the pressure of a secret identity.

Kesel's writing was very well balanced by the great overall look provided by Nord and Epting and the colors from Christie Scheele. All the elements really make this comic come alive, which is why I give DAREDEVIL #355 a four out of five stars.

CYBER FORCE #3

**

CYBER FORCE #3 was published by Top Cow Productions Inc., which is a division of Image Comics. Released back in June of 2006, CYBER FORCE #3 was written by Ron Marz and had an art team of Pat Lee (pencils); Erik Sander, Sal Regia (inks); Alex Milne (background design); and colors by Dream Engine.

What a slow story. Though it starts out with a dog fight between the airforce and alien crafts, there wasn't any decent action until the last page. I actually had to re-read parts of this one because I fell asleep somewhere in the first half of the issue. That's not a good sign.

I've never been too fond of comic books that are all artwork with very little written word. However, usually with comics of that nature, the story moves quickly, propelled by the drawings. Not the case with this comic. While the drawings were awesome, the story just kept dragging; one page in particular left a couple of characters talking in a bigger series of frames that were elaborately drawn, but really the dialog was next to meaningless for the amount of space that it took up.

I would say that the only thing about this book that was redeeming was the art. It was wonderfully drawn. The characters actually seemed to live on the page. The art team did an outstanding job of giving the characters emotion and depth in the visual, even if the story didn't provide it.

I think that if I found more of CYBER FORCE in a back issue discount rack, I would probably buy some more so that I can get to know the characters a bit better. Who knows, if I know the characters and the background better, maybe the slow storyline in this issue would have more meaning for me. But since I don't know the background on this one, I'll have to rate it at two stars out of five.