**AS ALWAYS BE MINDFUL THAT THERE WILL BE SLIGHT SPOILERS, READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL!!**

 

Spider-Man 2099 #3

Writer: Peter David
Artist: Will Sliney
Reviewer: Lee Gordon

Everyone should have a hologram like Lyla. Normally I skip over the intro page. It seems like every book that has one doesn’t need it, and every book that doesn’t have one, should require it. Miguel O’Hare is trapped in the year 2014 and this explains how.

Liz Allen, a Spider-Man alumni shows a side she never showed before. Being a CEO looks good on her. She exerts herself over her employee, who looks a bit like Matt Murdock, telling him to join Tiberius on a business trip to the third world country Trans-Sabal. He is reluctant to go, but he does.

Peter David seems to be having fun. His story telling prowess complements the art of Will Sliney. Of course, the problematic issue I have, after being able to see both Tiberius and “Mike” on panel after panel together, is how much they look alike. So much so that it is confusing that Tiberius hasn’t even mentioned anything about looking into a mirror.

In Spider-Man and Wolverine, Peter Parker travelled the globe and after renting a costume finds out about Ned Leeds. As a reader I always wondered how people didn’t figure out a hero’s secret identity more often.

The Spider Slayers play a key part in the story, one that is somewhat off key, especially since they don’t show up until late in the book, very late. And why are they called Spider Slayers when Alchemax is selling them for another reason? These mechanical creatures don’t even have anything to do with J Jonah Jameson. Anything that is used for warfare against anything that isn’t Spiderman should never be sold as a spider slayer.

The issue deals mostly with the rebels and the local government and then before the slayers emerge, we are re-introduced to an old spider villain, or a new Spider-man 2099 enemy who is just green with envy.

I enjoyed the issue, but clearly not as much as the first two, which left me looking forward to the next issue, this being that issue. I’ll buy #4, but I hope it’s more like #2 was, which will keep me around for #5.

3 out of 5 webs

The Death-Defying Dr. Mirage #1

Writer: Jen Van Meter
Artist: Roberto De La Torre
Color Artist: David Baron
Reviewer: Ray Willis

Today we are given the first issues of the limit series of Dr. Mirage. Dr. Mirage is paranormal investigator with ability to talk to the dead which allows her to give people closure of their love ones passing, help investigators with crimes, and stop the paranormal things from happening. The one thing is she can see every ones spirits but the one of her own deceased husband Hwen Shang. When we first meet Dr. Mirage we see her give closure to people by telling them what the spirits say and she reminds them she isn’t a fraud. She is then contacted to help with the matter of an Operation Sockeye by a retired military officer.

I enjoyed this book but it was a bit of a slow burn for me. I enjoy a good slow burn book every now and then. Jen Van Meter crafts up a really good story about Dr. Mirage and the artwork by Roberto De La Torre is really top notch.The thick lines and various items he draws was really interesting. Even the creature that is featured in here is a mix of Abe Sapien and a human like demon. Also the colors by David Baron is really top notch.The set up is really nice with her dealing with money, helping people, and learning more about her throughout the issue. You can see that she really misses her husband and is really lonely. There is some issues where the line work could be a bit more cleaner, especially around the faces and a slow burn book isn’t for everyone but I enjoyed this book nonetheless. I will stick with until the last issue though.

4 out of 5 ghosts

Moon Knight #7

Writer: Brian Wood
Artist: Greg Smallwood
Reviewer: Oz or “The Other One Who Knocks”

So, Moon Knight….for this to be one of the best comics in Marvel’s increasingly extensive arsenal, there has been minimal discussion about it here in this neck of the digital woods. Well, we’re gonna fix that. First off, Warren Ellis’ six issue run on Moon Knight was fucking awesome. It was “A Game” Ellis (Transmetropolitan being A+) with beautiful pencils from Declan Shalvey as icing on the cake. Marvel’s big eight issue crossover event featuring most of their marquee characters doesn’t even come close to six standalone issues of a previously perpetual C-list character finding inventive ways to beat the living shit out of bad guys in the dark corners of New York. But now with the creative team changing hands, can Brian Wood (DMZ) maintain the magic?

Wood opens up strong with an unknown attacker making a hell of an assassination attempt. Mr. Knight, of course, is on scene to put an end to it. The resulting foot chase across New York is a pretty fun adventure that seems to be Wood’s way of telling us that he’s not going to try and invent the wheel he inherited from Ellis. If you remember the previous run well enough, the plot feels familiar at first, but Wood throws enough monkey wrenches in the chase that he definitely establishes enough of his own signature in the narrative. He also leaves some of that standalone feel but also ends it on a note that could possibly be opening up possibilities for a wider story arc. Visually, Greg Smallwood does an outstanding job of hanging on to Shalvey’s aesthetic while throwing in some of his own bells and whistles. the action beats aren’t quite as clean as his predecessor’s work and Mr. Knight’s all-white motif stands out from the rest of the panel just a bit too much, but it’s pretty damn close to what we’ve seen previously.

Bottom Line: The book isn’t broken and Brian Wood isn’t trying to fix it….to his credit. Still an awesome, simple read that anyone can jump right into.

4.5 out of 5

The Names #1

Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: Leandro Fernandez
Reviewer: Ray Willis

I was actually excited to get this title.The Names by Peter Milligan is an intriguing tale of his wife Katya, who tries to figure out why her husband committed suicide. The opening gives us a glimpse of Mr. Surgeon, forcing Kevin Walker to write a suicide note and even has the bases covered with falsifying medical records to seem that he had depression. Katya knows that Kevin was not depressed and goes to his son who is a mathematical genius but also hasn’t spoken since the last time his father visited and gets no answers. She finds his weird phone with a recorded message on it, of him explaining to her in a cryptic message of what he knows but what she can do and tells her to trust no one. We even get to see what Mr. Surgeon is up to with trying to figure out how to fight against machines or parcels of sentient information.

The story is really nice and flows well.You get to see Katya breakdown because of what happens to her husband but doesn’t back down from finding the culprit.The art by Leandro Fernandez was really good and the faces of the people were nicely accurate. Some faces were a bit longer than others like Mr. Surgeon and the gentleman next to him but that didn’t bother me. There’s definitely more to this story than just a suicide of a business and Peter Milligan really set this first issue up really good. It sucks that it’s only an eight issue series but i’m going to enjoy reading every bit of it.

 

5 out 5 names