Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Here are this week’s comics ranked prior to reading them, based upon past performance and advance information released on each issue:

5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull TPB
4. World of Warcraft #7
3. Flash #240
2. X-Men: Divided We Stand #2 of 2
1. Star Wars Legacy #24

Here are the rankings after the first read through with a mini-review:

5. X-Men: Divided We Stand #2 of 2:

This issue is five mini stories involving some of the X-Men and how they are dealing with the closure of the mansion and disbanding of the team. We get stories about Beast, Illyana, Havok, Forge and Surge (with Moonstar). Beast just cleans up the mansion, Forge relives the Bishop attack, Illyana and Surge try to cope with their situations and Havok was just creepy in his situation. I didn’t dislike this issue, but I just didn’t connect with the mutants that I already didn’t like coming into this issue. I’d be interested to see what fans of Havok or Forge felt about their stories because it went in the “say wha?” bucket for me.

4. World of Warcraft #7:

I liked this issue, but I liked the other issues in this series more. Basically this issue has the characters out on the high sea where they get attacked by some sea monsters. The artwork continues to impress me. The range of characters created in such a grand manner is extremely eye-grabbing. Throw in that the colors make the art “pop” off the page and you have an excellent spread. The story felt a little forced with who rescues who and the fast acceptance of the king.

3. Flash #240:

This was a solid issue all around. Gorilla Grodd fighting with Spin (with a little monkey in tow), plus Flash tries to solve a mystery and someone tries to kidnap the kids. This issue has witty dialogue, excellent action, a couple of surprises and really outstanding artwork. Somehow the art manages to keep blurry (you know because he’s fast), but detailed backgrounds, while providing excellent visuals of the main characters. The fight between Grodd and Spin really shows off the art in this issue. I remain optimistic that this series is finally heading in the right direction.

2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull TPB

In an odd move Dark Horse released the trade and the first issue of the two parter in the same week. Always patient, I bought the trade. Let’s be fair an Indy comic is not the same thing as the movie. I judge this based on comics in general and previous Indy comics. It’s excellent. It’s got terrific dialogue and excellent action-packed artwork. Do some of the scenes seem confusing? Yes, and some characters even get lost, but man this comic ranks with the previous Indy stories from Dark Horse. Something about the comic that makes it cool is that there is a snarky narrator that gives you some insight into Indy’s thoughts and personality. If you can’t get to the movies or you really like seeing the movie adaptation in comic form then I highly recommend this.

1. Star Wars Legacy #24:

This issue gives you some more double-crossing, some battles, some origin and a new Skywalker. Yes, that’s right, another Skywalker pops up. This one is alive too! Not just a ghost. The artwork actually isn’t as great as it has been. Some of the panels have zero background and some of the characters in some scenes barely have the details of their faces drawn out. However, the story makes the issue great and the art does shine when it needs to. Like when some ghosts show up to chat with Cade. Did I mention someone uses the old Jedi mind trick? I love that old gag. Great issue and the next one promises an old favorite to return.