Here are today's Guest Reviews by John McCubbin from Imagination Centre for Marvel's; All-New X-Men #13, Guardians of the Galaxy #4, and Uncanny X-Men #7. 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.
All-New X-Men #13
The All-New X-Men find themselves face-to-face with the UNCANNY AVENGERS!
Young Cyclops meets the adult version of the little brother he thought he may never see again.
Preview
Kitty's Pryde
This has been one of my favorite series in Marvel NOW!, and although it doesn't always deliver, having had some poor issues, it's still been very fun, and has kept me drawn in. I've also loved seeing the development of the younger X-Men in their new environment, and overall it's been a brilliant series.
Plot
As the X-Men go after Mystique's trail, Mystique herself has a meeting to attend, with none other than Madame Hydra.
Review
This was an excellent issue, and although it's not the best the series has produced, it's been the best in a long while, and isn't far behind the even better issues. Brian Michael Bendis has really got a handle on both X-Men series, and although on average his Uncanny X-Men's been better, this has been the one that's excited me the most time and time again. I've always lover the more fun based comics, as although the more serious tone of Uncanny's been working, when Bendis delivers on the fun, it really outweighs the serious. Bendis also really seems to understand character's, and more importantly character dialogue, as although you can argue that the actions of certain character's in his previous work has been out of character, it's hard to say that about their dialogue, and this was shown perfectly during this issue. There was also plenty of emotion in this issue, showing exactly how the character's felt, which was brilliant, and Bendis dialogue once again prevailed here. The action was also handled perfectly, with ton's of excitement, as well as adding drama, and suspense. There were also some other brilliant appearances from other character's that haven't yet featured in this series, as well as some mystery over what may happen later in this issue, or the next, which yet again adds suspense, as well a speculation.
The art in this issue was phenomenal, and this is probably the best art that Stuart Immonen has done all series. Don't get me wrong, his art is always great, but there have been times during this series where it has slipped in the detail department, and looked a little too rough. Anyway this wasn't the case this time, as the detail was near perfect, with very little imperfections. Immonen's layouts were also once again superb, and really added more depth, and drama to the issue, whilst also helping to set the tone. There were however two parts of Immonen's art that really stood out to me in this issue, and the first thing was his action sequences. They were nothing short of epic, and although the fights themselves weren't the best I've ever seen, it was hard to tell that when I saw Immonen's fabulous artwork. It was simply amazing, and really explosive, adding ton's of excitement, and suspense. The other thing that stood out to me in Immonen's art was the way he handled the character's facial expressions, especially during Kitty Pryde's small speech. Now Immonen usually does a great job at showing how the character's feel, but he did an outstanding job in this issue, as you could easily feel, let alone tell what the character's were feeling.
My Rating
Cover & Solicit - 3/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 5/5
Layout & Flow - 5/5
Story - 5/5
Verdict - 4.7 - (Buy All-New X-Men #13) SAVE 10%
Guardians of the Galaxy #4
The biggest surprise hit of the year continues as critically acclaimed artist Sara Pichelli (Ultimate Spider-Man) climbs aboard!
Gamora is one the galaxy’s greatest warriors…with a deadly secret that could bring down the entire team.
Preview
Bounty on Gamora
This has been on of my favorite series in the Marvel NOW!, and although it's still to hit a consistent level, it has been outstanding, and I'm very happy I decided to get the point one issue.
Plot
After hanging out in a space bar with her fellow Guardians of the Galaxy, and having sexual relations with Iron Man (Tony Stark), Gamora is attacked, and it's revealed that there's a large bounty on here head.
Review
With last issue being as good as it was, this issue was actually slightly disappointing. Now don't get me wrong, it's far from terrible, and actually a good issue, but with a very explosive, and entertaining issue I was expecting a lot from this issue. On the other hand, with Angela, and writer Neil Gaiman making her début in next issue it was expected that this wouldn't be to big an issue, being more fun, which it was, and Brian Michael Bendis did a brilliant job. Bendis also did a decent job of focusing on Gamora, making her the main character in this story, but with everything else happening around about I couldn't help but feel that this was nothing more than background noise, which wasn't nice. I did however love the emotion that was in this issue, especially from Gamora, and Bendis did a brilliant job of showing her passion, and aggression. I also found the humor in this issue to be very appealing, and it made the issue that much more fun. I also loved seeing the continuation of character development, and how Tony's fitting into the team. Bendis also did a brilliant job of adding some action to this issue, as although it was far from perfect, added some excitement, and more drama, which is always nice.
This was the first issue not to feature any art from Steve McNiven, with the co-artist of the last two issues, Sara Pichelli doing all the art on this issue, and becoming the main artist of the series. Now I still much prefer McNiven's art, but Pichelli did do an excellent job, and this has to be her best work on this series. The fact that she's working on her own has definitely got to add to this, as she has total freedom, not having to work around another artists layouts. Talking of layouts, Pichelli did an excellent job with them in this issue, and it really added a lot more depth, and drama to the issue, especially in the bar sequence at the start. Pichelli also does a great job of drawing all the character's, making them look amazing. The emotion Pichelli added to this issue through the character's facial expressions was also outstanding, and especially on Gamora, who had ton's of different feelings throughout this issue, with passion, and desire whilst flirting with Tony, and pain, and anger whilst fighting the bounty hunter. The action was also handled perfectly in this issue, and Pichelli really did a splendid job, especially with the bar fight, as she managed to make it look exciting, whilst also fun, which isn't easily done.
Read the rest of John McCubin's Review on Imagination Centre
My Rating
Cover & Solicit - 5/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 5/5
Layout & Flow - 4/5
Story - 5/5
Verdict - 4.9 - (Buy Guardians of the Galaxy #4) SAVE 10%
Uncanny X-Men #7
Dormammu's machinations have pulled all of the UNCANNY X-MEN into the hellish dimension LIMBO!
Can Magik match the evil demon's lord's sorcery? Is she even on the X-Men's side anymore?
Preview
In Need of a Doctor
This has been a series that I just picked up recently, having not long read the back issues. It has however been amazing me, and although it's not as fun, or exciting as All-New X-Men, it has overall probably been more consistent, and maybe even a little bit better.
Plot
Magik goes to Doctor Strange for help, and tells him about the X-Men's battle against Dormammu.
Review
This was yet another brilliant issue, but it wasn't as good as the last couple, and was actually slightly disappointing. After the amazing build up that's been happening in this story I was expecting an epic conclusion, and although it wasn't a bad conclusion, it wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be, and was slightly anticlimactic. Brian Michael Bendis did however still do a brilliant job of this issue, and although it overall was a bit disappointing, I did feel that it was a very clever way to finish the story, and although it's not necessarily the way I'd prefer, I have to give him credit for that. Bendis also did a great job of showing the character emotion, especially in Magik, as whilst telling her story you can really feel her emotions over the subject, which is interesting as this shows how she's developed as a character, as she'd never have been like this before the X-Men accepted her as a member. I also liked the way Bendis handled the action, but it still could have been better, as with the anticlimactic overtone, and narration it really took away from the suspense, and drama. I did however love that Bendis added a bit of mystery to the story, and although it doesn't leave too many questions, what we find out is very exciting, and kind of makes up for the anticlimactic tone of the issue.
The art from Frazer Irving was once again brilliant, and I've been really pleased that he worked on this story. His style is simply made for this type of story, and his art always shines in these kinds of moments, as although Chris Bachalo was winning me over with his art on the previous issues I seriously doubt that his style would have worked with this story. The way Irving laid out his art also really helped, especially in this issue, as with the narration over the top, it really helped to set the tone of the issue, as well as add a bit more drama. I also loved how he had one double page that was virtually all black, apart from a small silhouette, which although not easy to see, was still nice. Irving also did a fantastic job with the action sequence, as it was at times explosive, as well as exciting, and the emotion throughout was perfect. Talking about emotion, Irving also did a decent job of showing the character emotion during this issue, as although he's not the best at showing character's emotions, he's far from the worst, and did a brilliant job during this issue. I did however still dislike how Irving drew Emma Frost during diamond form, but as this didn't feature too much, it didn't make any difference to the art overall.
My Rating
Cover & Solicit - 4/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 3/5
Layout & Flow - 5/5
Story - 4/5
Verdict - 3.9 - (Buy Uncanny X-Men #7) SAVE 25%
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