And so, with 2014 arriving, I didn't get chance to read the final few comic books which were released in 2013 (due to me only being able to pick them up on New Years Eve). However, as nothing has really been open since and life is quiet again, I sat my arse in a chair and hammered through my final six comics of 2013 and, I gotta admit, it was kind of a mixed bag.
It all started with Ten Grand #6, which continued the story of (literally) born-again mobster Joe Fitzgerald attempting to save the sould of his love from the depths of hell, while suffering from the slight problem of remembering why he'd gone to the afterlife in the first place. Now, I had said previously (see here) that the book was gonna be cut from my pull list and, unfortunately, this issue was the final nail in the coffin as, much like with issue 5, this story was difficult to follow and, ultimately unenjoyable. Nothing against new artist C.P. Smith but I think that the draw of this series was the art of Ben Templesmith and that, without him, the story is bland not able to keep my attention.
Fortunately, Mass Effect: Foundations #6 improved my mood with a bit of surprise for me; a relatively good issue!! Following on from the prior issue, I got to see the conclusion to Miranda and Jacob's attempts to locate their Shepard's body while steeering clear of deadly Batarians. Now (sadly) most of this series has felt rather bloated in it's storytelling, but the surprise for me was that this story had a much tighter plot that seemed to avoid padding scenes and adding pointless plot twists for the sake of it. I don't know if it was due to being spread over two issues, but I enjoyed the room to breathe the story got, making it much easier to take in and giving me hope the rest of the series can improve.
And then, my mood improved further with Fantastic Four #15, which was also a book which vastly improved upon its previous issues as the first family not only met their counterparts and found a solution to their arc long medical problems, but also encountered a villainous Ant-man and (finally) the long-awaited Doom the Annihilating Conquerer.
The issues came across far superiorly written in this issue, as I understood what was going on far better than I have for much of the series, which made it much more enjoyable along with the gorgeous art by Raff Ienco and Paul Mounts (who, I think, deserves a medal for being on Fantastic Four so long) The issue wasn't perfect (or even the best thing I read this week), but it was a marked improvement on the volume as a whole. It's a bit of shame this issue came about here as it is a little bit of 'too little, too late',
And with that (rather suprising) few reads, I decided to call time for a bit and finish the rest later. So far, it's certainly been an ok day (though, sadly, not outstanding), but with three of the weaker books I pick up having been looked over and three stronger books left to read, I can only assume my day would improve.
For the rest, see part 2 here!!!
It all started with Ten Grand #6, which continued the story of (literally) born-again mobster Joe Fitzgerald attempting to save the sould of his love from the depths of hell, while suffering from the slight problem of remembering why he'd gone to the afterlife in the first place. Now, I had said previously (see here) that the book was gonna be cut from my pull list and, unfortunately, this issue was the final nail in the coffin as, much like with issue 5, this story was difficult to follow and, ultimately unenjoyable. Nothing against new artist C.P. Smith but I think that the draw of this series was the art of Ben Templesmith and that, without him, the story is bland not able to keep my attention.
Fortunately, Mass Effect: Foundations #6 improved my mood with a bit of surprise for me; a relatively good issue!! Following on from the prior issue, I got to see the conclusion to Miranda and Jacob's attempts to locate their Shepard's body while steeering clear of deadly Batarians. Now (sadly) most of this series has felt rather bloated in it's storytelling, but the surprise for me was that this story had a much tighter plot that seemed to avoid padding scenes and adding pointless plot twists for the sake of it. I don't know if it was due to being spread over two issues, but I enjoyed the room to breathe the story got, making it much easier to take in and giving me hope the rest of the series can improve.
And then, my mood improved further with Fantastic Four #15, which was also a book which vastly improved upon its previous issues as the first family not only met their counterparts and found a solution to their arc long medical problems, but also encountered a villainous Ant-man and (finally) the long-awaited Doom the Annihilating Conquerer.The issues came across far superiorly written in this issue, as I understood what was going on far better than I have for much of the series, which made it much more enjoyable along with the gorgeous art by Raff Ienco and Paul Mounts (who, I think, deserves a medal for being on Fantastic Four so long) The issue wasn't perfect (or even the best thing I read this week), but it was a marked improvement on the volume as a whole. It's a bit of shame this issue came about here as it is a little bit of 'too little, too late',
And with that (rather suprising) few reads, I decided to call time for a bit and finish the rest later. So far, it's certainly been an ok day (though, sadly, not outstanding), but with three of the weaker books I pick up having been looked over and three stronger books left to read, I can only assume my day would improve.
For the rest, see part 2 here!!!
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