GIANT-MAN / WAR OF THE REALMS: STRIKEFORCE – THE WAR AVENGERS [Comics Review]: A Marvelous Day!

It’s near the weekend, fellow geeks, and in the time between now and Friday night, we’ve got a quick look at our friends over at Marvel, and what they’ve got in store for us in the upcoming weeks! We’re going for a quick two-‘fer here, with two of our best writers here taking a gander at GodHatesGeeks!




“The Dean” Gene Selassie
@GeneSelassie
GIANT-MAN #1 – Marvel Comics

The Norse All-Mother, Freyja, recruiting Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath and Atlas to go undercover in the Frost Giant occupied land of Florida should be instant 5 out of 5. However, this comic was a tour de force in several minor issues adding up to major ones.

I normally stand for any book written by Leah Williams. The fact that she’s not on a long form/ongoing X-men title is a crime. Marco Castiello’s work is very dynamic and has an early Olivier Coipel vibe. Rachelle Rosenberg is, once again, an unsung hero: her colors make everything seamlessly come together on the page. But several minor issues nagged me throughout.

Minor issues such as scene transitions feeling a bit awkward affected a few pages. Some of the choices of colors made it impossible to tell if Freyja was crying or if those were battle scars. But the biggest gripe was with some of the characterizations, namely Scott Lang and Erik Josten. Neither of them, whether through their dialogue, or actions, felt quite like themselves.

Unfortunately, this is a microcosm of an issue with Marvel the past 2-3 years. There seems to be a dearth of diehard X-men fans staffed as writers there. And whenever they write the X-men, they knock it out of the park 99 out of 100 times. But the moment they write non X-men related characters, it just doesn’t click.

The high concept is such a batshit crazy one that, despite the minor qualms I have, I’m in for the long haul. 3.5/5 Bibles.

-Gene Selassie




Felipe “The 3rd Deacon” Crespo
@F7ovrdrv
WAR OF THE REALMS: STRIKEFORCE – THE WAR AVENGERS #1

WARVENGERS!

Aside from the disappointment that Captain Marvel doesn’t scream out “WARVENGERS ASSEMBLE!, I loved this one.

Linework and coloring is great. Title is appropriately action-heavy with big, vivid panels (and fire sharks!), and the team lineup definitely earns the Strikeforce moniker (Captain Marvel, Widow, Bucky, Venom, Weapon H, Lady Sif, Deadpool, and Captain Britain).

If you haven’t been following the general storyline, Deadpool gives a very brief and great overview on page seven of this issue. In the team’s first issue, we see Danvers finish assembling her team, have a run in with a certain grandiose monarch who unsurprisingly doesn’t want to help, AND deal with their first loss. A lot goes on here.

Deadpool is at his best if you love Ryan Reynolds‘ portrayal. Personally, I like that the writers are seeing his version of the character as the definitive version, but I digress. The team dynamic is interesting as a whole, and I can’t wait to see where this title is headed. 5/5 Black Widow Movie Posters.

-Felipe Crespo