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Wacky Wizard Games Imprint and Three New Games Announced by @wwizardgames

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Wise Wizard Games announced the launch of Wacky Wizard Games, a new brand imprint focused on family-friendly, lightweight games. Three games are planned for release in 2024 as part of this new brand imprint: Star Realms Academy, Caution Signs, and Pack the Essentials. If you are interested and attending PAX Unplugged they will have prototypes of Caution Signs and Pack the Essentials. "We are super excited to be adding this new family friendly product line to our catalog. We wanted to maintain the focus of Wise Wizard Games on strategy card and dice games with geeky themes, and have created Wacky Wizard Games as an umbrella for lightweight games with a more whimsical, cute vibe," shared Debbie Moynihan, COO of Wise Wizard Games. Star Realms Academy Forge your own star realms, overloaded with cuteness! A kid friendly but still fun for grown-ups version of the popular Star Realms deckbuilding game for 2 players. A little less math, no reading necessary, but still tons of fun! 

@JohnMcCubbin3 Reviews: @Marvel Uncanny Avengers #5, Young Avengers #3, Age of Ultron #4, All-New X-Men #10


Here are today's "Guest Reviews" by John McCubbin from Imagination Centre. Included are Marvel's; Uncanny Avengers #5, Young Avengers #3, Age of Ultron #4, and All-New X-Men #10. I have also added my rating after each review. If you have any questions about my rating or want to discuss anything just leave me a comment.


See the Review Rating Overview page for more information on how I rate each comic.



Uncanny Avengers #5 - Let The Good Times Roll


Wonder Man, Wasp and Sunfire join the team just in time for Grim Reaper's revenge! Tension between the team builds as Havok's leadership is questioned! The death of a major character at the hands of an Avenger in broad daylight!


Preview



New Members


I've recently decided to go back and review the issues in this series that I haven't reviewed, having re-read them, but my reviews will be written as if I've not read the issues that follow them.

Although the first story had a few bumps along the way, it was overall very interesting, and after another read through, it was much more enjoyable, as the scheduling damaged the series to a certain extent. Now with new members joining the Avengers Unity Squad it looks like the series will become bigger and better, and the perfect cross between the Avengers and X-Men.

Plot

The Apocalypse Twins are born, but before they get a chance to be the caretakers they were meant to be Kang takes them away. Also Wonder Man and Wasp join the Avengers Unity Squad to help with the P.R., and Wolverine travels to Japan to recruit Sunfire.

Review

This was a fantastic issue, and although it wasn't as exciting as the series has been so far, it's still a better issue, as it's much more interesting, and the introduction of new characters is brilliant. I've really been enjoying what Rick Remender's been doing with this series, and although the series was hindered by shipping schedule it shouldn't be any longer, and we should get stories that flow much smoother, without readers having to re-read previous issues to refresh their memories. As I said this wasn't the most exciting issue I've ever read, whether Avengers or otherwise, and that's what's lowered the overall score, but it's made up for that with the interesting additions, as well as the dramatic dialogue, making it still better than the issues preceding it. I also really enjoyed that Remender took a bit of time at the start to show us where the series was heading next, as although there was a reference to the Apocalypse Twins at the end of the last issue, this issue makes it much more clearer, without giving too much away, but I'll talk more on that later in my review. Remender has also continued to do a marvelous job with the narration, and although there isn't as much of it in this issue, as there's been in the previous, he's still used it to the best advantage, and it continues to add depth to the story.

This issue saw a different artist for the first time in the series, as Olivier Coipel stood in as guest artist. Coipel didn't half do a good job, and although I loved John Cassaday's art in the previous issues, I still prefer Coipel's overall, and his style suits this style much more, as he's better at drawing character's in general, whereas Cassaday's better with action sequences (although Coipel's still amazing at that as well). Anyway although I will miss Cassaday's art, the delay in the shipping schedule was hurting the series, and I'd rather an artist just as talented that can do it on schedule would continue from him, but I will still be able to enjoy Cassaday's amazing covers, as he's continuing to draw them. Although Coiple isn't my all time favorite artist, he's still amazing, and I've enjoyed his art, especially on Thor, Siege, House of M, and when he returned to drawing Thor in The Mighty Thor, as his art is truly wonderful, and when I heard that he'd be working on this issue I was truly ecstatic. The detail in Coipel's art is brilliant, as everything looks perfect, and although there is the odd imperfection, it doesn't take away from the rest of his amazing artwork. I did however find the way Coipel drew Rogue's hair to be a bit weird, as although it looked messy, like Rogue's hair's meant to be, it also looked slightly unrealistic. Besides that Coipel's art was nothing short of phenomenal, and I'd gladly see him return to the series again, whether for a one off issue, or a more permanent basis.

Read the rest of John McCubin's Review on Comic Vine

My Rating


Cover & Solicit - 3/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 4/5
Layout & Flow - 5/5
Story - 4/5
Verdict - 4


Young Avengers #3 - Parent Teacher Disorganization


A Fight scene, probably. And another one, but this time in a club. Plentiful feels. (aka "Meaningful emotional character beats" for people who aren't on tumblr) The fakest ID in history.

Preview



Can the Young Avengers Trust Loki?


I was really looking forward to this series before it came out, hoping for a fun series, but to be honest it hasn't been as good as I'd hoped for, and just keeps getting worse. Hopefully it turns round though, as I'd still like this to be a good series.

Plot

Wiccan and Hulkling are stopped by Laufey when taking Loki to Asgard, getting attacked by the Frost Giant, and when Ms. America comes to help she is followed by her parents.

Review

This was another disappointing issue, and both this issue, and the entire series has been a bit slow so far. Kieron Gillen hasn't done a terrible job of this series, but he hasn't half gave us a slow story, that doesn't really show much of the characters characteristics, and that's overall a bit dull. I really didn't like Gillen's Iron Man series, as it was overall poor, and I was seriously hoping that he didn't continue that quality into this series, but somehow he has, and I don't know why, as his previous work on Loki during his Journey into Mystery run was brilliant, and one of the main reasons that I decided to get this series. I do however commend him for coming up with a fairly unique storyline, it's just a shame that it's poor, but hopefully it picks up soon. Gillen did however do a decent job with the dialogue, and although the storyline itself is dull, the dialogue between characters has been fun, and shows that with the right storyline that this series could be brilliant.

Jamie McKelvie, and Mike Norton continue to produce some brilliant artwork, and it's been one of the best things about this series so far. I'm still not 100% sure how the art is split up between the two artists, as all the art looks very similar, and without seeing either artist's previous work I can't make comparisons from that. I did however get a comment on my previous review, with the theory that McKelvie does the character art, and Norton does the background art, which kind of makes sense. Either way the characters in this series are drawn brilliantly, and although the art overall isn't the best I've ever seen, the cartoon style of it suits the fun nature that this book should have, and overall makes the series more fun. The background art is also brilliant, and has ton's of detail, but the art in general is very well detailed. The colors from Matthew Wilson are also brilliant, and they really help set the tone of the series, making the art look more fun, even if the story isn't.

Read the rest of John McCubin's Review on Comic Vine

My Rating



Cover & Solicit - 4/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 3/5
Layout & Flow - 3/5
Story - 3/5

Verdict - 3.1


Age of Ultron #4 - Book Four


The impossible has happened!

The Earth has been taken by Ultron...what few super hero survivors there are try

And it is Luke Cage who discovers the secret behind Ultron's victory over all of mankind.

A secret that will have fans of Marvel comics arguing for years to come

Preview


Yet Another Disappointing Issue


I was really looking forward to this series, but overall it's been very disappointing, and I've started to think if it was even worth the trouble making it. The last issue was however a bit better, and showed promise, but will the series become as good as everyone hoped it would be, or will it go back to being poor?

Plot

Luke Cage has brought She-Hulk to what he believes was Ultron, but who was in fact Vision, but everything goes nasty. Also Captain America and the remaining hero's travel to the Savage Land, were they find Ka-Zar, and learn of Ultron's secret.

Review

Just when I started to think that this series was heading in the right direction we get this, yet another disappointing issue. What made this issue even worse was once again it continues to show promise for the future, but it's gotten to the point that I won't believe that this series will be good until I see it shown consistently throughout a few issues, but I still hope that it is eventually good. Brian Michael Bendis has done good work in the past, having done some good stories on the Avengers, and currently doing a brilliant job on All-New X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy, but this hasn't been one of his best attempts at giving us a good story. To be honest I've wanted to love this series, and I can actually see why it's been so slow, as even though it's been doing it at a snails pace, the series has been developing, but at the end of the day it's not doing it quick enough, and the series has lacked in excitement. The action sequence also didn't really help the issue much as it lasted not very long, and due to it giving a highly entertaining start, it made the rest of the issue feel even more disappointing. There was however still the odd moment were I felt that this was a good issue, but it was only few, compared to the amount of times I felt it was dull, and disappointing, but I still hold onto hope that this series will become good, although I still think that this series' length was way too ambitious.

To be honest even the art from Bryan Hitch wasn't as good this time, and although it was still brilliant, it wasn't quite as detailed, and wasn't as good as it's been. Hitch's art was however still the best part about this issue, and was still better than a lot of other artists, it's just that there were points were it felt slightly rushed, and didn't appear to have quite as much emotion in it compared to his previous work on both this series, and previous series like The Ultimates, and Fantastic Four. There were however moments were his artwork shined, and looked like the brilliant artwork I've loved in the past, especially when he drew closer into the characters, as it gave so much more detail, whereas some of the other pages/panels felt like they were too over crowded. There was however still times were he also added brilliant emotion to the characters, making the artwork feel more alive, and that was nice. The character that I liked his art on the most was Red Hulk (Thunderbolt Ross) who actually looked better this time, and much more muscular, and overall more powerful, although he did do a brilliant job on him last issue as well.

Read the rest of John McCubin's Review on Comic Vine


My Rating


Cover & Solicit - 3/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 3/5
Layout & Flow - 4/5
Story - 3/5
Verdict - 3.1



All-New X-Men #10


The Uncanny X-Men come to the Jean Grey School to recruit.

Who will join Cyclops and his revolutionary crew? The answer will shock you!

Mystique and Sabretooth continue to hatch their master plan and it doesn't bode well for the All-New X-Men.

Preview



The Uncanny X-Men Visit the Jean Grey School


This has been one of my favourite series since the start of Marvel NOW!, and although it's not always been brilliant, it's mostly been fun, and entertaining, and overall very interesting, as being the best X-Men series I have read in years.

Plot

The Uncanny X-Men visit the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning to recruit students to their new school named after Professor X. Also Mystique, Sabretooth, and Lady Mastermind rob a bank transport truck.

Review

This wasn't the best issue this series has seen so far, and in many ways it's probably the worst, but it was still interesting, and had it's moments. This really hasn't been a brilliant week for Brian Michael Bendis as with Age of Ultron continuing to disappoint the last thing he needed was a poor issue from this series, which overall has been fantastic, and relatively consistent. This issue wasn't terrible however, and it did a brilliant job of starting the development for the next stage in this series, but due to it focusing too much time on development it was slightly slow, and a bit dull. The dialogue however was very good, and although the lack of excitement was disappointing, this issue was still interesting, and ended with a brilliant cliffhanger conclusion (although I won't spoil what that was).

The art in this issue was once again fantastic, and Stuart Immonen continues to do an amazing job. As I said in my last review I was slightly disappointed to see David Marquez leave the series (at least for now), as I really enjoyed his artwork, but at the same time I was happy to see the return of Immonen, and now that he's been back for a couple of issues I'm even more happy. Immonen's art is simply stunning, and everything about it's fabulous. The only minor complaint I'd make about his art is that like usual it's not always perfectly detailed, but the detail in the rest of the issue outweighs that by a mile, and I can easily forget the small imperfections due to the overall wonderful art. I also liked his action sequence, as although it wasn't too long, and at first glance a little confusing (not due to him) I really enjoyed it, and he reminded me why I consider him one of the best artists on action sequences. The emotion, and expressions on the characters were also brilliant, and really helped make the feeling of the characters clear, and overall Immonen's art made this issue better than it'd be otherwise.

Read the rest of John McCubin's Review on Comic Vine


My Rating


Cover & Solicit - 4/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 4/5
Layout & Flow - 4/5
Story - 3/5
Verdict - 3.6


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John McCubbin is a blogger at http://imaginationcentre.blogspot.co.uk/ and a comic book reviewer at Comic Vine. The use of this review has been authorized by the original author.

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