Damage Control (Series 2) #4 of 4

This issue closes the door on series 2. Will Damage Control be wrestled back from its new owners? Will the Big Apple be restored? Why is the Punisher still hounding Robin? More importantly, was does Nick Fury and SHIELD have to do with any of this?

I found myself both on the edge of my seat in suspense and laughing out loud at this issue. I enjoyed how it ended. I thought all of the plot lines were fairly well tied up. The only problem I would say with this issue is that the art was a little sloppy. I don’t know if Ernie Colon was rushing to finish this issue on time or what. Other than that, it’s a great issue.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Overall series rating: 8.0

RIP: a fond farewell.

   Today, the last remaining original member of the punk rock band, the Ramones died today. Tommy Ramone was 62.

    Their heyday started right around 1977, the year I was born. So, naturally, I was a big fan of these guys. "I Wanna Be Sedated" was probably my favorite song, but I was also very keen to one of their more obscure songs- "The KKK Took My Baby Away." Interestingly enough, the song isn't in support of the Klan. In fact, it's a song about how a girl's racism caused the boyfriend to dump her. Who said punk music didn't have a message?

  Anyway, I just wanted to post a small tribute to not only Tommy, but to the band. Members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as Grammy winners, and stars of the off-the-wall but surprisingly tame Roger Corman classic, Rock n' Roll High School- Joey, Tommy, Dee Dee, and Johnny not only rocked our socks off (and make us wanna be sedated) but they inspired the next generation of rock musicians.

Their influence was limitless even if their time on earth was.

Damage Control (Series 2) #3 of 4

The new management of Damage Control has rejected the latest contract of its construction workers and thus the blue collars are on strike. Without anyone to man the bulldozers and hammer the nails, the Big Apple lies in ruins. With most of the Marvel elite superheroes missing or indisposed, there’s very little chance of their help. However, the Avengers have managed to allow the Sensational She-Hulk to help out with some excavation rescues. But when a new pair of robotized super villains arrives on the scene seeking revenge against Damage Control for their past failures, it seems like the Green Goddess isn’t going to get any work done.

The mystery as to who, how, and why the new management of Damage Control is out to ruin the company deepens. Many of your favorite characters are left without jobs. I must say that I found it interesting that the intern at DC has been given a paid assistant executive job while the entire R&D department is laid-off. Would that happen in the real corporate world? DC also gets a new intern, but they’re often unpaid, so I can understand that move.

Speaking of DC, I think the powers that be at Marvel decided to take some pot shots at their rival comic publisher. Many of the strikers brandish signs that say “DC Sucks” or “DC is Lousy.” Sure, Damage Control can be shortened to DC like I’ve done in this review. But, I think the editors and artist Ernie Colon took advantage of that fact and used it to stick it to their opponents.

I’m not sure if I applaud that or think it’s a low blow. I’m still pondering that and that may affect my rating of this issue in the future when I come to a final decision.

Worth Consuming.

Rating (as of 7/12/14): 8 out of 10 stars

Daredevil (2011-2014), Volume 6

Yes, I know, I jumped ahead and by quite a bit. When I last left this new Daredevil series, the blind superhero of Hell’s Kitchen had just finished up a battle with Klaw: The Living Master of Sound. Daredevil had also uncovered a cabal of super villain organizations that were working to create a database of the collective secrets of the world’s governments, mega-corporations, and the rich and famous. I think the next issue I needed to read (in order to stay ‘in order’) was issue #11.

Well, I’m reading volume 6 now which starts off with issue #28. So, I’ve missed about a years or more worth of storyline. Foggy Nelson is on disability with cancer, Matt Murdock is on his own and drowning in paperwork and responsibilities as Daredevil, and that cabal I talked about is a thing of the past.

Speaking of the past, it catches up with Murdock when a schoolyard tormentor comes to him for help in a wrongful arrest suit. When Matt agrees to help in makes him and his Daredevil alter-ego the target of a new threat- the white supremacist terror group the Sons of the Serpent. (BTW- this group is not to be confusion with the Serpent Society. That group is a bunch of super villains that employ snakes, have snake-like powers, and serpent codenames. The Sons are a lot like Cobra, just more evil and fonder of white sheets.)

I know I broke my rule against spoilers by jumping ahead. But I couldn’t help myself. This was the next volume my library had plus the volume I found has the MarvelNOW! Imprint on it and I wasn’t sure if this was a continuation of volume 1 or not. (Apparently, Marvel did not reboot the series when they created the MarvelNOW! Imprint. I guess this new series come out too soon to confuse readers with yet another retooling of the series and thus why some volumes say Marvel and later editions say MarvelNOW!) I still want to read issues 11-27 and I will get to them. I was so hooked on the series I just had to read what happened next even if that meant skipping 5 volumes worth of stuff.

The art, though drawn by a different team of artist, continues to innovate and amaze. The color scheme seems to stay bright and vibrant. It’s all perfect. Plus, Mark Waid just keeps taking the Man without Fear to higher and higher levels of awesome. There are some shocking elements in the book and I was hooked on all of it.

Sadly, Volume 6 only has 3’new’ issues. The last 2 issues are taken from Indestructible Hulk. Yes, those issues guess star Daredevil, but they’re already been reprinted in IH Volume 2 and I would’ve liked to read some Daredevil stuff that I had yet to seen prior. Had I bought this instead of checked it out from my library, I would’ve felt gyped. So, be aware of this if you are trying to collect both series in reprint form. It’s a good thing that those 2 issues are excellent and worth a re-read.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Damage Control (Series 2) #2 of 4

The new CEO of Damage Control, Robin, is in the Punisher’s sights after she goes to the office of the Kingpin. Robin has gone to meet with the villain to announce that his stranglehold on the company will not have a bearing on the repairs to New York City in the aftermath of the Acts of Vengeance storyline. Frank Castle can’t hear what they are saying but in his warped mind, any dealing with a known super villain makes you a villain as well.

I like that the Punisher finally gets a taste of his own medicine in Robin. She’s a take no prisoners (or crap from anyone) type of gal. So, when Castle points a loaded machine gun at her noggin, she brushes it away not out of fear for her life, but that he might ruin her furniture. It’s a very clever take on an anti-hero that I think has been given way too much credit. Bravo Dwayne McDuffie for not kowtowing to Marvel and making the Punisher the comic foil instead of the over bloated-ego hero for once.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daredevil (2011-2014), Volume 1

 I was born right before the Frank Miller era on Daredevil. So, by the time I was 3 or 4 and starting to read and get interested in super heroes and comics, the only Daredevil I knew was dark, brooding, and seemed to be the bad luck Chuck of the Marvel Universe. It seemed like every relationship Matt Murdock would have with a woman would end in their death, of tragically. Plus, after being exposed as Daredevil in public, sent to prison, and then possessed by a demon and made the evil leader of the Hand band of ninjas, it just seemed like nothing would go ole Hornhead’s way.

  Enter Mark Waid, the legendary scribe of such classics as Kingdom Come and Spider-man, as well as holding the distinction of being referred to as the only man alive to have read every Superman comic book ever made. Well, Mr. Waid hoped to add a little joy to Daredevil’s life. After 30 plus years of doom and gloom, the author thought it was time for some levity. I think Mark Waid made the write choice (pun intended!)

Though the public still thinks Murdock is Daredevil, there’s still some lingering doubt, because hey, the guy’s blind! However, that uncertainty has made any trail case defended by Murdock or his partner, Foggy Nelson a laughing stock and a kangaroo court. Thus, the firm of Murdock and Nelson is forced to change their strategy. Instead of defending the downtrodden and wronged, the lawyers will now prep these clients in how to properly defend themselves in court. If the client wins, Murdock and Nelson get a percentage of their winnings.

Their first client has a history of hearing voices. So when Daredevil goes on an investigation of his own, he finds perhaps the worst enemy possible for a blind superhero that relies on a type of echolocation to perform his duties. That’s right, Daredevil runs afoul of Klaw, the super villain made of living sound.

Also, there’s page after page of beautiful artwork that has a Mike Allred/ Darwyn Cooke quality to it thanks to artists Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin. It’s clean, retro, and the color palettes are stunning. Also, their take on Daredevil’s ‘radar’ sense is brilliant and shines where the film failed. Plus, if you look at this volume’s cover, you’ll see how the artists are using words to describe sounds and how they make a shape of an object around Daredevil. His radar sense gives him a 360 degree idea of his surroundings and I think this technique was brilliantly executed. I might just have a couple of new favorite artists.

I like this new take on Daredevil. That goes to say that I don’t hate what Miller or his numerous predecessors did with the hero. I just find that I like brevity and wit, and humor, and to see the day-to-day workings of superheroes when they are in their secret identities. The rest of this series is now on my radar!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Damage Control (Series 2) #1 of 4

This volume of Damage Control begins during the ‘Acts of Vengeance’ storyline where all of the Marvel Universe villains have teamed up and laid waste to the Big Apple and those costumed heroes who protect it. The Mayor of New York is clamoring for Damage Control to begin immediate repairs. However, with a shift in upper management comes a new owner of Damage Control- one of which looks to trim the fat from what they deem ‘unnecessary expenses.’ So unless the crew of Damage Control can justify spending millions and millions of dollars on man hours, construction materials, and heavy machinery, Manhattan will have to lie in rubble.

Meanwhile, as Gotham burns, John Porter and a crew of security experts have been called to the Cage, a maximum security prison designed to keep the worst of the worst super villains off the streets. Thanks to a prison riot during  the Acts of Vengeance, the Cage is far from secure. Now with the Damage Control repair crew trapped with the riff-raff the prison is designed to keep out of society, only Captain America can be spared in hopes of quelling the riot and bringing our construction crew heroes out safely.

So there are essentially 2 stories in this issue- the shakeup at Damage Control and the prison riot. I liked the prison riot part of this issue. It captured the fun, the thrills, and the off-the-wall laughs of the first series. The buy-out of Damage Control was something I felt like I could do without. I am of the maxim “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Yes, that rule of thumb makes me hate change, but I really felt like Damage Control was perfect as it is. Hopefully life for the employees will return to normal by the end of this series. I would hate for this new boss to be on staff permanently.

Thus, this makes for an uneven tale. I liked the great sketchy art of Ernie Colon and the prison scenes prove that writer Dwayne McDuffie still has it. Maybe this first issue was like a pilot on TV. It’s going to get better, you just have to work the introductions and kinks in the plot out before it becomes an instant classic. God, I hope so!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.