Join us as the Marvel Reporters turn into the Marvel Reviewers our weekly review roundup. This is where we have assembled to give our thoughts on various issues that are released each week. This week we have Bryan. Jay, Josh, and Tatiana giving reviews for books for the week of June 05, 2019. Check out the reviews below and let us know what you think in the comments below or on Twitter. Welcome to the MARVEL REVIEWS, hope you enjoy the experience!
MARVEL ACTION: AVENGERS #5
“The Ruby Egress Part Two”
Written By: Matthew K. Manning
Art By: Jon Sommarvia
Additional Inks By: Sean Parsons
Colors By: Photobunker
Letters By: Christa Miesner
Cover By: Jon Sommarvia
Variant Cover By: Billy Martin
Price: $3.99
The Avengers must stop Count Nefaria before he merges the two stones and unleashes an army he controls on the world. This issue cleans up a little of my problems with the last issue where it fills us in on where we came in the last issue. This book delivers on the action as the title indicates but I feel like this arc misses some of the character moments that made me like the last arc. Sommarvia continues to do a great job bringing an animated influence to the book, almost capturing a Wolverine and The X-Men. ~ Jay @ComicBookTheate
Verdict: 4 Stars
THE INCREDIBLE HULK: LAST CALL #1
Written By: Peter David
Pencils By: Dale Keown
Inks By: Mark Farmer, Marc Deering, Walden Wong & Scott Hanna
Colors By: Peter Steigerwald & John Starr
Cover By: Dale Keown & Peter Steigerwald
Variant Cover(s) By: Adam Kubert, David Curiel & Junggeun Yoon
Price: $4.99
As tough a topic as suicide enough – tough enough for Marvel to remove a page depicting it from the print version – the Incredible Hulk: The Last Call tackles it with compassion and care. By setting the tale in a time when Betty was dead and Bruce blamed himself for it, Peter David was able to craft a standalone tale about reaching for help in the darkest of times. Veronica is an interesting character in her own right, bringing with her a minor villain for the Hulk to fight even as she lends a comforting ear to the desperate Bruce. As for Betty, while I’m never a fan of stories in which the leading lady is dead, the issue serves as a poignant reminder of her importance to Bruce and The Hulk franchise as a whole – something the comics and films would do well to remember. The end result is an alternately heartbreaking and heartwarming conversation that humanizes not only Bruce but his greener half, plus you can go wrong with the sweet Deadpool cameo.
The artwork is solid and steady, with Dale Keown’s pencils adding a dynamic and urgent element to what could easily become a stagnant narration otherwise. The Hulk looks powerful and at times frightening without ever veering into the cartoonish, and the many action sequences throughout the issue are punchy and enjoyable. From an aesthetic point of view, it’s just a really good-looking comic.~ Tatiana @myrcellasear
Verdict: 4 ½ Stars
MARVEL TEAM-UP #3
Written By: Eve L. Ewing
Art By: Joey Vazquez with Moy R.
Colors By: Felipe Sobreiro
Cover By: Stefano Caselli and Triona Farrell
Price: $3.99
This is the conclusion of this team up adventure of Peter Parker and Kamala Khan. Peter and Kamala have now gotten comfortable in each other’s bodies. That is until they realize they might be stuck. Peter is used to this stuff by now, but Kamala is still new to it. In this issue, you really get to see the negative side of body swapping. We get to see the mentor in Peter, as he consoles her through it, so they can defeat Jackal and save Dr. Rosario.
This whole arc, especially this issue, is very cliche. Anyone familiar with body swapping stories like Superior Spiderman or movies like either Freaky Friday will be able to predict how this all ends. However, the characters themselves, especially Peter, point out how some of the cliche-ness. Also, Kamala has amazing chemistry together that feels like a mix of old friends and mentor/mentee. Overall, this issue was cliche but very fun. ~ Bryan @BryanCK
Verdict: 3 ¾ Stars
MEET THE SKRULLS #5
“Family Unit Part 5”
Written By: Robbie Thompson
Art By: Niko Henrichon
Colors By: Laurent Grossat
Letters By: V.C.’s Travis Lanham
Cover By: Marcos Martin
Price: $3.99
The Warners find out the truth about Moloth but is it too late for them? This has been an amazing mini-series and this was a great ending to it. Now, this wasn’t a perfect issue, because I would have preferred it be spread over two issues to get more character beats in it like them dealing with their father’s death and Moloth infiltrating them a little longer, but it was very solid. The way everything flowed was nicely timed and executed and I kind of love that we didn’t get that closure because this story isn’t over (yes I understood the code Lowe) so I am going to be paying special attention to my Marvel books from now on looking for one of the Warners. The themes here were so great from family to self-hatred and acceptance were so well done Thompson did an amazing job. Henrichon also did one as he brought this whole thing to life making us feel for the family of spies as a family. ~ Jay @ComicBookTheate
Verdict: 4 ½ Stars
SAVAGE AVENGERS #2
Written By: Gerry Duggan
Art By: Mike Deodato Jr
Colors By: Frank Martin
Cover By: David Finch & Frank D’Armata
Variant Cover(s) By: Simone Bianchi & Simone Peruzzi; Nick Bradshaw & Richard Isanove; Mike Deodato Jr & Frank Martin; Tomm Coker & Michael Garland
Price: $3.99
The writing by Gerry Duggan has set up a story that could twist in about fifty different ways. As we learn more about Kulan Gath and his intentions on Earth, we find that it’s not going to be an easy path for all of our heroes and it stands to reason not everyone may make it out alive.
The art here by Mike Deodato more than fits the overall tone of the book. The story is broken into different sections, some told view flashback, and other looks at different points in time. Each section is meticulously cared for and drawn in a distinctive fashion. The world is their oyster and they’ll be able to pull from a ton of artistic directions as this book grows. ~ Josh @FightOnTwist
Verdict: 4 ½ Stars
STAR WARS: AGE OF REBELLION – LUKE SKYWALKER #1
Written By: Greg Pak
Pencils By: Chris Sprouse, Scott Koblish & Stefano Landini
Inks By: Karl Story & Marc Deering
Colors By: Tamra Bonvillain
Cover By: Terry & Rachel Dodson
Variant Cover(s) By: Chris Sprouse, Karl Story & Neeraj Menon; Mike McKone & Guru-eFX
Price: $3.99
Unlike plenty of other Marvel comics that flit between artists, the Luke Skywalker one-shot from Star Wars: Age of Rebellion fails to maintain a coherent look throughout. The cuts between artists are at time as a voyage through space without a seatbelt must be, creating turbulence in what might otherwise be a smooth ride through Luke’s youth. Individually some character designs are better-looking than others, at least for my taste, but no particular style is wrong. It’s just that in this case Marvel would have been better served sticking to a single art team, seeing as it’s only one issue.
Despite the artistic stumbles, Greg Pak creates a compelling psychological battle between Luke and Palpatine that proves he understands the characters he’s dealing with. Though Luke flirting with and rejecting the Dark Side is not new material by any stretch of the imagination, the story approaches it with a fresh take – and the fact that he’s fending off the forces of evil while in the middle of a cargo run helps keep things exciting. It’s not a particularly intricate plot, but it doesn’t need to be. Instead, it’s a nice callback to the boy Luke used to be on the way to becoming the man he is now. ~ Tatiana @myrcellasear
Verdict: 3 Stars
THE WAR OF THE REALMS #5
Written By: JASON AARON
Pencils By: RUSSELL DAUTERMAN
Art By: (If only 1 person does Pencils and Inks Or Art)
Colors By: MATTHEW WILSON
Cover By: ARTHUR ADAMS & MATTHEW WILSON
Variant Cover(s) By: GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI & ELIA BONETTI; VICTOR HUGO; PEPE LARRAZ & DAVID CURIEL; MARK TEXEIRA & RACHELLE ROSENBERG; DAVID YARDIN & EDGAR DELGADO WITH MIKE HAWTHORNE
Price: $4.99
Jason Aaron continues to wind down his masterpiece with all the flurry and pace you might expect of a story seeded over five years ago. The callback to Rune King Thor in this issue is a treat for the long-time Thor readers and those who’ve been with Jason Aaron the whole time. As good as this story has been, perhaps it deserved the length and intricacy of a 12-issue run, but the story thrives as it is currently written.
One of the key components of this series has been the art. Each different tie-in, focus, and area has been given a distinctive style. The look of the characters like Daredevil when he has Heimdall’s powers is spectacularly on point. The battles are never short of standout moments and the attention the artists gave to the realms and the realm masters has really helped sell the larger narrative of the War of the Realms. In other words, you genuinely get the sense you’re traveling from situation to situation, all of them with their own unique look and sound. ~Josh @FightOnTwist
Verdict: 5 Stars
THE WAR OF THE REALMS – NEW AGENTS OF ATLAS #3
“Fire & Ice Chapter Three”
Written By: Greg Pak
Art By: Gang Hyuk Lim
Colors By: Federico Blee; Andres Mossa; Erick Arciniega
Letters By: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover By: Woo Dae Shim
Variant Cover By: Annie Wu
Price: $3.99
The New Agents of Atlas plan their final attack on Sinder and take the fight to her. I am LOVING this mini-series and want it to be an ongoing so bad! Pak does a great job balancing this huge cast of characters giving them each time to shine and showcase their personalities. I also have to give a slow clap for bringing in Monkey King and keeping him so cocky, and a hell yeah when Shang Chi puts him in his place! Pak does such a great job here and pays attention to little things like something that bonds all of us is food and using Spam, something that is popular in Asian counties was a nice touch. ~ Jay @ComicBookTheate
Verdict: 4 ¾ Stars
Let us know in the comments what you think of The Marvel Reviews for this week!