Phase III: The New Pull List Review

It's been awhile since I've done a Pull List Review. Since moving to MA, my Pull List has reduced in size pretty dramatically. Most of the series I dropped were simply because I preferred something more and was trying to limit the amount of books I'm getting.

Now I hope to get to my local comic shop (back at Rubber Chicken Comics in MA, though I will miss Joker's Child in NJ) once every week or two, and I'll do Pull List Reviews quicker due to having less items to read.

For now, here is where I am with the issues that made the cut:

Saga #13

The Writer and our Narrator.

The writing/art break is over and the series has started up again! As much as I dislike having to wait so long for my favorite series currently on the shelves, I am very happy that they can keep the same artist and writer by giving them the necessary time.

Quote of the issue: "No one makes worse first impressions than writers." This issue picks up Marko depressed at the death of his father while on the hunt for the author of the book that brought him and Alana together. They eventually find him on a planet covered in death and, well, it's really not the greatest first impression. Elsewhere, The Will and his crew are trying to get back on track, though he seems to be a bit out of touch with reality, having visions of The Wisp. Two new characters, journalists of some kind, are shown early in the issue; no doubt we'll see more of them soon.

Nothing super exciting in this issue, but the writing and art are still top notch and I'm looking forward to what comes next. 8/10.

Superior Spider-Man #15 and #16
In these issues, Spidey-Ock has it out for the Hobgoblin, who has been able to avoid his Spider-Bots due to the programming edit the Green Goblin (who still hasn't been revealed) did several issues back. The Green Goblin doesn't want Spider-Man too suspicious of the Spider-Bot error, Spidey does manage to get enough tracers on  Hobby to learn that his identity is Phil Urich, which he then broadcasts to all of New York City in the hopes of apprehending him quickly. This culminates in a tense showdown at the Daily Bugle, which brings to a head Phil's status at the newspaper and his relationship with Nora Winters, as well as putting a small rift between Robbie and Spidey.

The issue ends with Phil arrested and then freed by Menace, who is working for the new Green Goblin (or the old one, I guess, though I don't expect it to actually be Norman). Gobby gives Phil his own Green Goblin attire, calling him the Goblin Knight, which will be interesting when the current trio of Goblins throw down with Spider-Man. Next issue, though will see the return of Spider-Man 2099, for which I'm super excited
about!

Yeah, this could work.

These issues were a 9/10. Still want Peter back, but as it stands, the story is interesting enough.

Scarlet Spider #21

Sigh.

If you listen to the most recent The Podcast is a Lie episode (whenever we actually publish it...), you'll here me rant a bit on this issue.

The cover shows the original Scarlet Spider fighting Kaine. The cover reads, "Because you demanded it, Ben Reilly the original...". Fairly early on the fight starts between the two Scarlet Spiders. The original says it's Ben, Kaine confirms this when the original is unmasked, and there's a quick-but-acceptable background given as to why he isn't dead (well, I would have bought it).

Then, at the end of the issue (and this is potentially a spoiler if you weren't expecting it), it is revealed to actually be Kraven the Hunter. Kaine is seeing Ben due to the poison injected into his system (which we see in the beginning of the issue in an airport.

BAH HUMBUG. Issue isn't bad in and of itself, but this playing with my heart results in a 1/10. Maybe, if I was being impartial, I could see it landing a 7/10, but I think this was a cruel move on Marvel's part. :(

Thor: God of Thunder #12
If you don't like the character of Thor, I strongly suggest picking up this issue. It is a downtime issue, where Thor simply visits with his friends and does good deeds around the planet, but it has some really wonderful character brush strokes and makes me feel very confidant that, even with the God Butcher arc closed, this title will still continue to be awesome.

Also, the final panel showing Future Thor standing on a future-wasteland Earth is pretty promising too.

Cover isn't that bad, sans Marvel graphics.

This issue is a solid 10/10 for me, I really connected with it. I'd love a better cover though, this one just didn't pop enough compared to how much I enjoyed the content.

Superior Carnage #2

The plan.

The Wizard is still at it, now having Cletus in his grasp. Alongside them is Klaw, whom we get more insight to in relation to his employer, the Wizard, and a new face, a wheelchair-bound  scientist named Dr. Malus. Malus quickly recognized that the Wizard is insane, which we are shown pretty clearly during this issue (at one point, Klaws points out that the Wizard has labeled and image of the Tarantula as "Agent Venom"). Klaw defends the Wizard as he considers him family due to their extended and colored history, which involves a few resurrections of Klaw by the Wizard.

Due to Cletus being lobotomized, the Wizard can't control his mind, though he tries multiple times while almost dying in the process. It also doesn't work on the Carnage symbiote. Then he gets the idea to transfer the symbiote to someone he can actually control, and settles on Dr. Malus, mostly due to the fact that his is crippled in a similar fashion to Flash Thompson, Agent Venom. We'll see how that goes next time.

I actually enjoyed the Wizard losing his mind and the dynamic between him and Klaw, but I find the Carnage aspect to be really minimal and I'm upset that we were promised a more lethal Carnage with its host lobotomized, but now we're going to get a new, randomly introduced guy as the host. Meh. I would have been more interested if they tried it on a face we knew.

Overall, issue is a 6/10, but I'm still holding out hope that they'll surprise me.

---

For the rest of the list, I still have to read Star Wars Legacy #6 and the last issue of Five Ghosts, but I'll add them to the next review.

The only series I actively dropped in disgust was Red Hood and the Outlaws. The art has changed dramatically and is inconsistent from panel to panel, much less issue to issue. The story is also boring and, for a title with his name in it, the Red Hood has been side-lined for months. Sad, because that was my last DC pull.

Keep an eye out for future PLRs and I'll be supplementing them with Trade Paperback Reviews as well.

Pull List Review: Minimum Carnage Finale

Hi all,

Sorry for the absence, I've been enjoying my holiday and not doing anything that looks remotely like work. I've occupied my time with Star Wars: The Old Republic, comic books, spending time with the Wife, Supernatural, and Star Wars Blu Ray (expect to see a continuation of Machete Order soon!). Good times.

Before I get to the first post for the current Pull List Review (I'll try to follow up with the next few shortly), I want to explain a minor change I'll be making to the blog. The three buttons you see up top (with difficulty on mobile browsers, sorry about that -- I don't know how to make them automatically resize for mobile) will be getting a couple more additions, featuring my more popular post tags. In additional, I'm moving away from the three days a week schedule and going to a minimum of two posts a week, preferable at the beginning and end of the week.

If you like/dislike the changes, let me know. Otherwise, enjoy my review of the final issues of Minimum Carnage (and the following Scarlet Spider/Venom issues):

Scarlet Spider 11 (Minimum Carnage Part 4) This issue starts with a nice fight scene between Carnage and Scarlet Spider as well as Venom going crazy against the Enigma Force (group, not power). Venom gets calmed down and then captured along with his friends, while Scarlet gets the upper hand on Carnage, only to give it up in an effort to save the Redeemer. We finally meet Radu, learn the history of symbiotes in the macroverse and Radu's plan with them, which is the build an army out of Carnage and Venom's suits. It's an action packed issue with strong art and a decent enough storyline. Issue gets an 8/10.
Venom 27 (Minimum Carnage Part 5) An army is created by cloning and combining Venom and Carnage's symbiotes with mindless Macroverse clones Radu had been growing. Venom and Carnage fight it out, but Carnage has the upper hand because he can control the symbiotes due to not being nuetered (also, Carnage has been shown having the ability to manipulate many hosts via his symbiote before, so this isn't much of a stretch. Venom realizes he has to release the beast, so to speak, and fights viciously, beheading Carnage. Pause. This doesn't make sense to me because Carnage continues to live -- Cletus Kasady, the host, should be dead. The symbiote shouldn't have anything to do with him surviving that, but that gets ignored. Scarlet comes to aid in the fight, while the Enigma Force are busy escaping with Venom's reported friend. Radu is seen fighting the uncontrollable symbiotes and then teleporting away before the Enigma Force can attack. Venom once again goes all out, unleashing the symbiote more and more in his fight against Carnage, finally using a psychic shriek to defeat the clones and Carnage (which happened with Eddie Brock in Planet of the Symbiotes, way back when). Carnage, however, sinks into the floor, disappearing. Why the symbiote can break down and rearrange its host, I'll never know. Seems like a new thing to me. Either way, we next see some microscopic carnages wreaking havoc back in the real world, while our heroes remain behind. The art is awful for most of the issue, the Carnage inconsistoncies bother me, and the whole trip through the Macroverse doesn't seem to accomplish too much, leaving this a 6/10 for me.
Minimum Carnage Omega This issue ooens with Carnage killing random folks while growing bigger and bigger, both due to time spent in the real world and his absorption of the clones that traveled with him. Our heroes get sent back to Earth by the Enigma Force and go toe to toe with Carnage -- literally, because they're still no bigger than his toe. The heroes get their ass kicked for a bit before reverting to their original size, at which point they begin to turn the tables. Venom finished the fight by force feeding Carnage a sonic grenade given to them by the Enigma Force. One of the major turning points for the whole arc comes when Scarlet Spider, realizing (FINALLY!) that the heroes are responsible for every time a killer escapes and kills again, lobotomizes Cletus Kasady with one of his spikes. Venom doesn't agree with this tactic and tries to get Cletus medical help. We learn that, while Cletus may be gone, the Carnage symbiote is now in 100% full control, making him more dangerous than ever. This is a bit unfortunate because Cletus was already suffering from a painfully repetitive personality, but we'll see how it goes from here. For now, however, this issue gets a 9/10 because of the lovely art, the acceptable conclusion to the story line, and someone not completely insane (ie, Punisher) realizing that imprisoning some of these super-villains isn't enough.
Scarlet Spider 12 How does Scarlet feel after this big revelation? Upset that he was, is, and always will be a murderer. He gets hammered and attempts to leave Houston and his friends behind. Fortunately, a heist occurring in the hotel Kaine is living in spurs his friends into action, which eventually gets him into the action. It's definitely a filler issue, but shows that Kaine is a bit deeper than some other characters and really shows some interesting relationships he's building. I'll rate it an 8/10 and am looking forward to seeing where the series is going.
Venom 27.1 This is a bit of a strange issue. Per usual, Flash is depressed and thinking about all the shitty things that have been going on. When he sleeps, however, the demon/symbiote setup seems to take him over and terrorize both criminals and Flash's mother, with Flash waking up none the wiser. The big issue looked at here is Flash coping with how much of a bully he was in high school. He meets up with someone he bullied terribly for being gay and then talks to Peter about their rocky history. After Peter is painfully honest, Flash announces that he's officially leaving New York, forever. This issue was nothing special but not terrible either, so it gets a 7/10 and we'll see Venom in Philadelphia next time.

Next post (coming after the weekend) will feature the rest of the Spider titles I've read this month. Until then, I hope you have a Happy New Year!

Extra! Extra! Minimum Carnage (Alpha)

Hi all!

Triple threat!

For this week's Extra! Extra!, I'm switching it up a bit! I picked up my pull list this weekend and am working my way through it, but I read one particular issue that I have been excited for and, for once, WASN'T disappointed! As you can tell from the post's title, I'm talking about Minimum Carnage: Alpha, a crossover event between the Venom and Scarlet Spider titles, featuring one of my favorite comic villains (I know, I have bad taste), Carnage.

First, a history lesson! The first comic book I remember reading as a kid was an issue from the 14 issue Maximum Carnage arc. I had picked it up because I loved the cover (as I do most of the Maximum Carnage covers). I'd had comic books before, but I don't remember actually reading them (more than looking at the pictures) until this issue. I was probably five or six, possibly a little older (I doubt I read it during it's initial release). Since then, I have always been fond of comics, though only recently (the past four years or so) been heavy into collecting them.

That's a lot of Carnage...

Maximum Carnage lacked any kind of depth, but it was constant action and awesome Super Hero fights between some of my favorite characters -- especially Spider-Man, Venom, and Carnage. Since then, I've collected most of Carnage's appearances (I'm missing some items relating to Toxin and alternate universes) and have followed Venom and Spider-Man heavily.

From Carnage USA

I was pretty bummed when I found out Sentry had ripped Carnage in half and left him floating in outer space (and it wasn't even in a Spider title!). Fortunately, it was very much a "comic book death" -- Carnage came back last year in a self-titled short series and then made another reappearance in Carnage USA.

Unfortunately, both of those short runs were pretty bad. The writing was nothing special, though it hit some interesting plot elements, and the art was AWFUL. I HATED the art for both runs, and Carnage had always incurred some of the most vibrant issues (which I'll talk about next Monday!).

I'd heard about Minimum Carnage a little while back and was excited to see Scarlet Spider (which I've been enjoying), Venom (which is meh, but is Venom!), and Carnage mix it up. I wouldn't mind a guest appearance from Spidey down the line, but for now I'm excited about the trio. None of them are stable characters, and the protagonists are NOT altruistic (or overly successful) heroes.

Onto issue Alpha! The first thing that makes me over the top excited is the art! Finally, a vibrant carnage comic down in the style of modern issues, no left overs from Dark Avengers! I assume the series will stick closely to the art I've been enjoying in the Scarlet Spider and Venom on-goings.

The first (and only!) thing I dislike is what they did to Cletus Kasady:

Kasady - 90s

Kasady - Now

How can you screw up a red-headed serial killer with a middle-aged dad?

The advertised plot involved carnage somehow shrinking and causing a ruckus  Personally, that sounded terrible and I assumed I was getting this issue simply because it was Carnage. Turns out, it might be more interested than I initially suggested -- we're going to the Microverse!

I LOVE Carnage's updated look!

As it turns out, Carnage has been freed by some Microns; they plan on using Carnage to wage a one-man war for them in exchange for setting him free in a universe more-or-less devoid of Super Heroes. Agent Venom is brought in to hunt him down, while Scarlet Spider gets involved after running into some of Carnage's handiwork, actually running into the villain in this issue when he learns the identity of his next victim: a scientist working on something called the "Prometheus Device."

The issue is quickly wrapped up when Carnage flees into a portal to the Microverse and Venom comes across Scarlet Spider at the scene of the fight. Venom and Scarlet don't know each other, so next issue may have some interesting conflicts there.

As a plot, it's actually more interesting than most of Carnage's other stories, even during his origin and fame of the 90's.

But, still, the biggest thing for me is that Carnage has a distinct style again and actually LOOKS like Carnage! Here's hoping this only gets more interesting as he begins to terrorize a brand new universe...

50 Shades of Spidey

Down for maintenance, sorry for the inconvenience!

Working on the Nerd-Cave

Finally back in our apartment, and I decided to throw up some comics! I've got a few more frames left, but I need to find some non-Spidey/Venom/Carnage stuff to hang up -- I just love their covers though!

And, before you ask, yes, this WAS pretty much my first time using a hammer and nails and it WAS the first time I've ever hung pictures and YES, they are crooked as hell.

Oh well!

I also need to find a large shelving unit of some kind to hold my seven (at the moment) long boxes of comic books. I don't want them stacked like they are now, it makes getting to the bottom boxes a pain. Maybe a trip to IKEA is in order...

Suggested Reading (Venom Edition)

The man, er... thing of the hour!

I just finished reading the current issue of Venom (check "Dusting Off the Pull List" for a review!) and figure I would make this week's Suggested Reading about one of my all-time favorite Marvel characters.

Yes, I am aware that, for the most part, Venom is a terrible character. I've accepted that and am moving on.

These are five "Venom" runs with Eddie Brock behind the wheel that I think you should read:

Venom: The Madness (3 Issues) This run does NOT feature the best writing, or the best plot. In fact, the plot is absolute crap. What it does have, however, is a pretty awesome match-up between Venom and the Unstoppable Juggernaut. Two powerhouses that are usually, but not always, considered villains pounding the crap out of each other? I think so! Also, this is the peak of the symbiote going nuts. Do to some TMNT-style goop, Venom literally begins to go insane, physically manifested as addition Venom-heads, each with their own personality. I'm a huge fan of the over-the-top, larger-than-life, more-dashes-please symbiote costume, and this is a perfect example. And, now that I think of it, probably half the reason I dislike the current series of Venom.
Venom: Separation Anxiety (4 Issues) This run is better than "The Madness", but not by much. It is typical '90s Venom when he is still trying to be a hero (or at least anit-hero). The twist is that Venom gets captures and the symbiote is experimented on, resulting in FIVE new symbiotes! You can never have enough symbiotes, right? Well, Venom (and guest stat Spider-Man) feel differently. This series also gets a special nod because there is a Genesis game, "Separation Anxiety" that, while a sequel to the Genesis game "Maximum Carnage", follows this story line -- more or less. And yep, it was equally as frustrating as the first game!
Venom: Carnage Unleashed (4 Issues) My favorite comic book showdowns have to be between Venom and Carnage. You get terrible one lines, over developed plot-devices just so they can meet, and some great action scenes. Carnage Unleashed delivers all of these. Carnage fins a way to use the Internet (I'm not kidding) as a means of travel for his symbiote to unleash his special brand of destruction. Yes, there is a virtual showdown between Venom and Carnage, because who in the '90s didn't love video games? This series in particular has some amazing art and I absolutely love the covers; every good Venom book should have an awesome cover.
Venom: Planet of the Symbiotes (5 Issues... Kind of) Ok, technically I'm cheating here. The Planet of the Symbiotes arc is a "super special" crossover between several Spider-Man titles and one Venom issue. It does, however, continue the story thread left off in Separation Anxiety. That being said, it features Spidey, Scarlet Spider, and Venom having to fight an entire city and then planet of symbiote controlled people/creatures. Oh, and a 100 foot tall Carnage also makes an appearance. Because, when I want some Deus ex Machina in my book, I want it big. And Carnage-y. Additional nod because each issue, along with having a great cover, is a flip book (two comics in one, each cover the beginning of the respective story) with a Scarlet Spider vs Lizard story line (that is beyond terrible) featured.
Venom: Finale (3 Issues) This run is on here for a few reasons. First, it ends the Venom series that this list is compromised off. Second, it's got solid art throughout. And third, it has a few important story implications. Venom had recently been hired by a secret branch of the US Government to perform missions as they saw fit (hmm, sounds familiar). At the beginning of this run, they've become concerned with Venom's vicious tenancies and have decided to terminate him via the thermite bomb they planted in his chest. Venom finds out and is not pleased with this, leading to a NYC rampage and the involvement with Spider-Man. "Agent" Venom is not a new thing, obviously. The last issue of this run is especially noteworthy because it features the death of the symbiote, leaving Eddie Brock alone once more. But, you know, not for terribly long.

Honorable mention: Venom: The Enemy Within Issue #1 has a phenomenal cover, shown below.

And yes, it glows in the dark!
The worst Venom? Tooth and Claw. Sure, it features Wolverine, which is something I'd normally enjoy, but the story is an insane mess that I refuse to even explain here (if I'm even capable of doing so. SKIP IT!).

This isn't the last you'll see of Venom on here -- this was strictly for the "Venom" series title. He has some other great appearances that I'll get around to at some point.

I recently just stumbled upon this review of Venom throughout his beginning and the end of the Lethal Protector series, which is a pretty good read if you want to learn about Eddie Brock and Venom. The writer is very detailed and gives justified opinions on the character and stories: check it out here!

Next Week: Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels -- I feel like switching it up a bit.