Paul Smith (16)Critiques

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Baita exposição de um período da história dos quadrinhos através de um viés político.

Claremont's New Mutants run is incredible. Overall. The beginning is a bit meh as it gets going and the characters find their voices. And my favourite New Mutant hasn't joined the team yet either, which doesn't help.

Not an unpleasant read by any stretch, but not Claremont at his best either.

I still find it tough to review these Omnibuses. They're a great way to collect and read stories, but each one has so much content it's hard to give one simple review for the whole.

Like, this volume includes The Brood Saga, the introduction of the Morlocks, 2 weddings, the Wolverine miniseries, the Magik miniseries, multiple annuals, God Loves, Man Kills, and more besides. How do you give one star rating to all that?

But at the end of the day, its peak Claremont with some fantastic art teams and wonderful, iconic stories. Which I guess gets 4 stars from me.

Good god, where to start?

It's shocking to think that Chris Claremont, whom I absolutely adored just a few years earlier for his work on the X-Men comic with first Dave Cockrum, then John Byrne, could write something as absolutely boring and ridiculous as this crap.

And all I'll say about Paul Smith's art is, I hope he's given up completely, because he's terrible.

All I can say is, thank Christ that's over with.

What a steaming pile of shit.

Total nostalgia read. I remember picking up the single issues of the New Mutants from the corner store. Some decent stories here - the few issues with Team America are pretty hokey but Claremont sets up some interesting plot points that I'm looking forward to reading in the next few volumes including the Demon Bear stories.

2.5 stars. This collection of issues from 1985 doesn’t hold a candle to the graphic art of today. It does, however represent the stylistic differences between then and now.

I picked this up after seeing the movie, and reading it many months later just makes me want to see the movie again.

Here are my issues: sexism and racism. The kick-butt heroine wins her battle and is suddenly less clothed. She just wants Strange to hang out and be her consort, because she’s not confident she can rule now that she’s won. Blech. Couldn’t the men creating this comic just giver her the victory without making her so dependent on a man.

I was also offended by the racist portrayal of Strange’s employees/servants. Wong is so stereotypical it is just wrong. Although these issues don’t address it, I think Sara is meant to be Native American. She wears feathers and has red skin. Ya think? Again, it’s just wrong. Even In the 1980s when these were originally published, that was inappropriate.

Aside from all that, the stories of Doctor Strange battling evil throughput the dimension were fun. Not Earth shattering, but okay.

Now where’s that movie?

I made it about halfway through this, and it is pretty much unreadable. The writing is just so bad, and the story is just, I don't know, it's just stupid. The illustrations are ok, not great. Flipping through the last half, it looks like it might get a bit better, but I'm not going to waste my time.

While this was once considered an "Elseworlds" book, it's now almost entirely accepted as canon in the JSA continuity.

A well-told tale providing new insights into many older characters, and a rare look at superheroes in the years between WWII and the Silver Age.

Vintage Dr. Strange - this is a good collection of Strange tales. A good read with good artwork.

Silly and boring.

Despite the fact that this story is labeled "Elseworlds," I'm not sure why it wouldn't work as a prequel to the DC universe as seen in Robinson's Starman series; in fact, it has a number of elements in common with it. This follows DC's World War II superheroes as they adapt back to life post-war, in a world that seems to be leaving them behind. Like the best of superhero stories, it thus becomes universal, telling a story about how anyone would adjust to life in what the 1950s brought. With a sprawling cast that's sometimes hard to keep straight, it feels big, and the conspiracy at the story's heart unravels audaciously.

Paul Martin Smith's artwork is good, but Richard Ory's colors bring them to life; this book wouldn't be half so good without the additional subtleties and tones they deliver.

The title that updated the Justice Society for the modern era. Really good stuff. The thing about this book is if like The Watchmen by Alan Moore you will like this book. There are similar themes to that series in this book.

As with any of Marvel's "Classic" collections, you will probably appreciate this graphic novel more if you originally read it when it was first released. Chris Claremont repeats his Uncanny X-Men-style team origin, with the New Mutants being a geographically diverse team (a Brazilian, a Scot, a Redneck, an American Indian, and a Vietmanese, in this case). There is some cheesy stuff in here and some overly dramatic dialogue--Professor X vowing that these kids will not be made into heroes and be put in harm's way is laughable, as in the same scene he outfits them in uniforms, gives them code-names, and tests them in the Danger Room--but this is the groundwork for many great stories to come, and thus is essential reading for any X-Men fan.

Eh...this trade was okay, but there's nothing spectacular about it. The whole thing feels like a lot of filler; there's very little plot to keep the story moving forward. Instead, it's just fight after fight with very little between fight sequences.

The danger room turns against the X-Men, but we're never told why. Then the X-Men go to South America, where a SHIELD team was cut down, to protect the people and find out what's going on there. So the reader finds out some history of the Sentinels, but the rest isn't explained. I guess that will be touched upon in a future trade, maybe. And then there's Wolverine's funeral, which I really can't make myself care about because everyone who has read more than a few issues of Marvel Comics knows that no one stays dead, so comic book deaths are just useless farces designed for a cheap ratings trick.

And that's really about it.½

Leave It To Chance is a graphic novel packed with GIRL POWER! Chance is a 14 year old girl who wants to be just like her father. Even though her father is a ghost chaser! Her father doesn't feel like it is for her, he would rather pass on to a boy. Chance's goal is to prove him wrong, that she is enough for the job even if it means battling grotesque beings from another world. But she does it along with some help from her sidekicks!

This story reminded me of the Ghostbusters movie! Chance is an adorable character. You get attatched to her and have to root her on!

This book is full of girl power and I would use it in the classroom to inspire young girls. It would be cool for kids to see a girl in this role. Graphic novels are a great way to introduce children who may be shy to book sharing.

Weird. I'm a huge fan of Robinson's work at DC, I love supernatural adventure stories and I'm always looking for female-led adventures but this one just failed to grab me.

Nice over-sized format, great binding.
Story of the teen daughter of a sorceror/paranormal investigator getting into trouble and having adventures. I really like this one. Scary on occasion bust mostly light hearted.
MIDDLE SCHOOL

One of my fave graphic novels, and one of the few that I've re-read with pleasure. A real novel, too, with a beginning, middle, and end, and not just part of an ongoing comic book series.½

The From the Ashes period. Some beautiful work in here, as far as writing and art.

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