Reviews - Week of October 07, 2009

***Book of the Week***

Dark Reign: The List - Secret Warriors
Writer: Jonathan Hickman / Artist: Ed McGuinness
I found this book to be deceivingly good. Being a List title, I was expecting a story about Norman Osborn forcefully exerting his will on the Marvel Universe. Nope. Instead, this comic was basically just another helping of Secret Warriors, which is never a bad thing. The events concluding the last issue of Secret Warriors are immediately continued here, as Nick Fury and his cyborg agent plan to infiltrate Avengers Tower to....ask Osborn for help? Yep. Apparently there's a bad guy out there so dangerous that even these guys can put their differences aside and team up. Of course, not everything is as it seems in this espionage book, as Fury continues to have the last word in every confrontation. Jonathan Hickman does such an amazing job creating new situations for Fury in every book and then coming up with a cool way for him to get out of said situations. McGuinness's art is pretty stylish here, emulating some of the work from 70s comics and old Bond films. Some of the faces were a little odd-looking at times, but I very much appreciated his art as a whole. However, Hickman is the true star of this book as he continues to make Nick Fury the coolest dude in the Marvel Universe.
IGN - 6.9/10
Comic Book Resources - 3.5/5

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Amazing Spider-Man #608
Writer: Marc Guggenheim / Artist: Marco Checchetto, Luke Ross
The brilliant, fast paced, and exciting run Amazing Spider-Man has recently given us ends here. That doesn't mean this a terrible comic though. A semi-cool back story (although completely ridiculous) of the new villain is told and the issue ends with a pretty interesting situation with Peter's awesome roommate, Michelle, caught in the middle of the action. Nothing makes up for the lame premise though. The villain is dumb, his quest to torment Peter is cliche, and Kane and Ben Reilly don't belong in any Spider-Man book ever again. Even Guggenheim's take on Spidey fails, as it seems like he's trying a bit too hard to come up with some of the Web Head's famous wisecracks. The combined efforts of Checchetoo and Ross on art is adequate. There isn't anything really impressive about it, but no glaring weaknesses either. Overall though, this issue (and probably the whole story arc) should be skipped. Wait for "The Gauntlet."
IGN - 6.3/10

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Cable #19
Writer: Duane Swierczynski / Artist: Gabriel Guzman
I'll admit it! This book confuses me. I hate its slow, repetitive pacing and almost want to cry every time Swiercynzki introduces a "new" story arc, but the action sequences are pretty darn cool. That's where this issue of the bland series falls. Cable finally gets to go to work and whoop up on some Brood. I like seeing him succeed. Maybe that's why I'm so disappointed by this series. Swierczynski continues to write Cable as an incompetent babysitter, rather than the super badass soldier from the future that he really is. He also continues to write Bishop as a bumbling idiot who can't accomplish the simplest of tasks. Both Cable and Bishop can't possibly make it through this story alive, and seeing as how the book's not called Bishop and given how lame he's become, go ahead and kill Bishop off. Please! Another bad thing about the writing is its hokey nature. The characters should not be spouting out Bendis quips in the middle of a Brood invasion. Not only does it detract from the action, but it's not funny either. Guzman's art is far too cartoony for this book. I think a more dark and moody style would fit it better. Maybe Roberto de la Torre or Leinil Yu would be more suitable. If you couldn't tell, there's a lot wrong with this book. But the action was good and Cable was cool in it. Finally!
*This book was not reviewed by any major comic book site