Topic: Addicted2comics(:P)'s Comic Book Review Thread!!!!

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Spider-Girl: The End (2010)

Format: Paperback

Writer: Tom DeFalco

Artist: Ron Frenz

Summary: THIS IS IT! In a story spanning the history of the MC2 Universe, witness the battle you've been waiting for as Mayday Parker takes on her own clone, April! The fate of the Parker family hangs in the balance -- and so does an entire universe! The last stand of the Amazing Spider-Girl is here!

My Thoughts: Special thanks to a dude by the name of tomek at marvel.com for ordering this for me. I truly am sorry to see Spider-Girl go. There is a chance she may come back, after all, she survived 7 cancellations. Still, I will miss reading about May every month.

She is the One True Daughter of Spider-Man! Not Araña ! Just wanna make that clear as the people in charge of the mainstream comics are naming her that universe's Spider-Girl, and she will soon work under that name!

This is Spider-Girl:

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Not this:

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Just wanted to be clear.

I usually try not to spoil so much with my reviews, (DON'T READ IT IF YOU WANNA ENJOY IT YOURSELF IT IS AN AWESOME SURPRISE) but

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I thought they were going to kill off May!!! It said, right on the first page, an old lady (later revealed as the future April) that she was telling a bunch of kids what killed Spider-Girl!! In the first half of the book, she WAS dead!!!

Then there was a whole time-travel thing cuz her dying resulted in an apocalypse LONG Story, and then April sacrifices herself!

April did that! The girl that killed all those people and started calling herself Mayhem!! I came so close to crying while reading this book, and though I often get distracted in family moments (cuz her little bro Ben is such a cute baby!) but there is so much raw emotion and its all just written so well. The art was amazing, especially when depicting emotions. Very---it, it was just on target.

How the gang war ended, the family affairs, such a lost soul, and finishing up with what happened with Wes. Very nice!! 5 out of 5 easy!! Highly recommend this!!! (But you might wanna read the What If? origin issue, the 3 series, and the mini series first!!!  )

Rating
Out of 5

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Spider-Man: The Short Halloween(2009)

Format: Digital

Writers: Bill Hader
                  Seth Meyers

Artist: Kevin Macguire

Summary: Halloween is coming early this year as Spidey is knocked out during the Greenwich Village costume parade and an intoxicated reveler in a Spidey costume takes his place. 

My Thoughts:

Ok, as Halloween is drawing closer I always search for a spooky little comic to read. Last year I found this, and was pleased to see it again this year! 

So basically, a KOed Spidey swiched places with a drunk dressed as him. Oh the hilarity!! 

Ok, what with this being Spidey, the quippage factor is assured. What about the horror? Well, not sure you can exactly call it horror, but a new villain team is on the scene, and then there is the fact that the bad guys think Spidey's got a beer belley. Call it comedy, call it horror, but that's just wrong! 

always a fun thing to read. What with it being close to Halloween, I wished they bumped the creeepiness factor, but what are you gonna do? Its a cool little tale I recommend if you're looking for something fun to read this Halloween. 

Rating
Out of 5

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Marvel Holiday Special (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)

Format: Digital

Writer: Tom DeFalco, Shaenon Gregory, Jeff Parker, Mike Carey

Artist: Takeshi Miyazawa, Roger Langridge, Reilly Brown, Mike Perkins

Summary: Marvel celebrates the Christmas Season with these Holiday Stories!!!

My Thoughts:

I'm late reviewing these, but it was great to read Christmas Eve. I read 3 for the frst time, but 2007 I read last year, a favorite that made me come back. It has been a while since I read these, but i knew it was worth the read. The 4 issues include a Christmas Carol de J Jonah Jameson, evil mall santas, remote control mistletoe, and a cake-affair through Spider-Man and Wolverine. Thjer are actually plenty of other stories told here, but those were the highlights. The one downfall to these comics are the extreme weirdness (though it may be no srprise to some) and a slow pace in a couple stories. Otyher than that, these books are filled with hilarity!! :lol:

Now, normally I'd get into art I liked or sopmething, but as it varies per story or book, its hard to recall. Next year, if anyone's interested, I recommend these for the holidasys. If you like a serious, deep plot - - then maybe not. But light-hearted holiday stories these are!! 

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The Marvelous Adventures of Gus Beezer and Spider-Man 

Format: Digital

Writer: Gail Simone

Artist: Jason Lethcoe

Summary: A young boy with a fantastic imagination forces his way through a family picnic, dreams of encountering his hero (Spider-Man), learns to outrun his older sister, and enjoys quality time with his distant cousin, Peter Parker.

My Thoughts:

This was sooo cute!! I couldn't help but laugh at Gus hanging around Peter, what with his Spidey-fandom. Haha, we know something you don't know!! Well, uh, other than that it was a very humorous, childlike series. I especially enjoyed when he told off JJJ for calling spidey a criminal!! LOL

In case anyone is wondering, Gus has one-shots with Wolverine, Hulk, and some other X-Men. I've just only had the chance to read the Spider-Man one-shots. But, not something I'd regularly read.

As cute as it is, and funny as well, it really is designed just for smaller kids. I think really a person of any age can sit down and enjoy this, but there is definitely an infantile touch. Ignoring that, the comedy in this had me on the verge of tears at one point laughing either at the jokes or the stupidity of a little boy.     Just the little things, like talking someone's ear off or, say,

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using a ball of webbing he got as a gift to freak out his sister with a room full of spider webs.

   

Worth reading if you're into family style comics.

Rating
Out of 5

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BRINGING THE THREAD BACK WITH MANGA!!!!!

Fruits Basket (Furuba)
136 Chapters/23 Volumes

Format: Digital

Writer/Artist: Natsuki Takaya

Summary:
Tohru Honda is a high school freshman who is having a serious bout of misfortune. Not only was she recently orphaned with the tragedy of her mother's death, but she also has no where to live and is currently residing in a tent! However, when her luck to seems to be at its worse, she meets the Sohma family - and is invited to stay with them in exchange for taking care of the household chores.

But it isn't long before Tohru discovers the Sohmas have deep a secret. The family is cursed by the spirits of the Chinese Zodiac, and some of the children born into the Sohma family are possessed by these spirits. When possessed, they cannot be "huggled" by the opposite sex, or they transform into their respective Zodiac animal!

However, this doesn't phase Tohru, who promises to keep their secret. She continues living with them, and her grave humbleness and thankfulness never wanes. As a result, they come to be very important people in her life, and the Sohmas begin to realize how very lucky they are to have her.



My Thoughts:

I'm writing from the perspective of a person who normally watches/reads all of the things with action - vampires, bounty hunters, ninjas. A lot of fighting and no mushy feelings. That's what I typically like. And I thought I'd read Fruits Basket because I thought the anime was really sweet, in that kind, sensitive yet still a little funny way. A cool break.

The immediate faults that came to mind were that sometimes the speech bubbles got confusing, not knowing who was saying what and in what order, but it's not enough to really distract anyone, at least I wouldn't think. Also, in the beginning, it appeared to have the same faults as the anime as well. Tohru - the main protagonist - was far to air-headed to truly be cared about, someone who somehow solves everyone's problems yet can't stop crying or being a klutz. Really a Mary Sue character. To stop an abuser with her words? Highly...unlikely.

However, the manga, as I should have known, dug even deeper. The main girl is no longer a Mary Sue, at least not in the later chapters. You see why she gets involved with the cursed boys the most and how she's not doing it to simply be "nice" to them, but because of other feelings as well. You see her and so many other members of the cast evolve over their high school years. You see people letting go of what they were dependent on to grow into true adults. You see backgrounds that previously weren't established which brought a whole new light to their dimensions.

The one issue I won't forget is when you see the backstory for "Hana". Exiled as a sort of witch, given power she can barely control. In a way, it kind of reminded me of Marvel's X-Men. Out of all the heart-warming Fruits Basket volumes, that one chapter is the only one that literally brought me to tears.

The artwork and bubble-placement was so confusing for me reading this, but the overall story was outstanding. I'm sorry the anime only got so far in the storyline because there was a lot more for them to deliver. The mere depth of each character is amazing and I'm sure anyone would enjoy this.

Rating
Out of 5