X-Force #1 (Comics Review)

Another new week of comics, and that means another new week with a new book launching from Marvel, as part of its brand-new All-New Marvel NOW! initiative, under which the publisher is either relaunching some series, or launching new ones with characters old and new alike. One of this week’s big highlight is X-Force, which already existed under the Marvel Now banner, but not quite in this form, I’m given to believe. I’ve never read any X-Force or related comic, and neither have I read anything with any of the characters featured here, except for Psylocke, who has had some good moments in Brian Wood’s X-Men of late.

Being my first X-Force comic, and with these characters in particular, the transition is a bit rough. I barely know any of them, and Si Spurrier’s writing isn’t very comfortable in that regard either. But, I think the series has a really interesting premise all the same, with the X-Force team being mutantkind’s self-appointed black ops team, and that’s the charm, certainly. Rock-He Kim’s art on the other hand leaves a lot to be desired and is definitely one of the weaker points of this issue. It has neither the substance nor the charm that I expected.

Underworld 4: Kickass Selene Returns

I’m a pretty big fan of the Underworld franchise. The first movie was pretty good, and while the subsequent two didn’t quite hit the same mark, I still love how much they all expanded on the lore first hinted at in Underworld. Just a couple years ago, the fourth movie in the franchise came out, and for my money’s worth, it was pretty damn good. I saw it in 3D, and loved almost everything about it. I’ve seen it at least twice since then, and it has definitely held up to repeated viewings, and in a good way too.

Reposting all this reviews from 24FPS/Just Beyond Infinity to my own blog and has kind of made me want to watch all these movies again, the good ones mind you, and at the forefront, right at the top of the list, is Underworld: Awakening, which continues the tale of Selene, in a world changed utterly. Anyways, here’s my review.

Batgirl #28 (Comics Review)

Spinning out of the Wanted arc and then the Gothtopia tie-in last month, the new issue of Batgirl goes in a surprisingly different place as Gail Simone explores the thematic links between Gotham’s Bat-family and vampires of urban myths. As I keep saying, Gail Simone has made this title one of DC’s relative heavyweights since the New 52 relaunch, and its definitely one of my highest anticipated titles of each month. The Wanted arc was pretty damn excellent, and now it looks like we might be getting some smaller stories again, like the Ventriloquist 2-issue arc that we had before Wanted.

Barbara has been through a ton of things recently, and she is still picking up the pieces of her life. Its not easy, especially not when a madman comes into town, seemingly intent on some kind of righteous vengeance, a complete and total loon as it were. But she does gain an ally, someone who hasn’t been around in the series for a while and her return is quite fun indeed since I love her as a character and Gail injects a lot of humour in her scenes. To top it all off, Fernando Pasarin and Jonathan Glapion’s art is excellent as ever, another plus.