Milenko's Graphic Novel Reviews

['Ravishing' Ned Flanders]

����MY REVIEWING CRITERIA AND OTHER STUFF����

How Everything Flows Together: The Flow of the comic is what I'll be looking at here. This category may surprise you.

The Storyline: The plot. I'll give a brief overview and my thoughts on it.

Artistry: The art of a comic book is vital to its success. I'll be talking about that here.

re-readability: Whether I would read it again. Anywhere from 0%-100%.

Why I Liked/Didn't Like It: What I liked and didn't like about the Graphic Novel. Basically everything above with some things I may not have added.

My Rating: Anywhere between 1 & 5 stars (*) with 1/4 increments.

Final Thoughts: Just some personal thoughts. Doesn't have any bearing on my rating.

Up Next: The next Graphic Novel I will be reviewing.

Old Man Logan be first

[Spidey]

Sunstone. But I'd prefer if you covered it in all 5 issues or not at all. If you pick it up, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I covered it myself a while back. Like to read your thoughts on it.

['Ravishing' Ned Flanders]

How Everything Flows Together: Unlike some Trade Paperbacks that jump all over the place (some will on this list) this onecwas designed as a single stoey from the get go so that takes care of any issues with this one.

The Storyline: it's 50 years in the future and all the Marvel heroesvare dead and Logan is an old man as well as a pacifist living in what was once California but is now an arid wasteland run by an insane Hulk and his incestuous brood The Hulk Gang. A blind Hawkeye gets Logan to join him in bringing a batch of Super Soldier Serum to DC for The Resistance in order to get enough rent money for The Hulk Gang. Sadly it was a set up by Red Skull's secret police. Hawkeye is killed and Logan is presumed dead and taken to the White House and Red Skull. Logan revives and kills Skull before using pieces of the old Iron Man armor to quickly get back home with the cash. When he gets home he finds his wife and children dead and for the first time in 50 years he pops his claws and kills the entire Hulk Gang including a bat shit insane Bruce Banner. After they're dead he takes a baby Bruce Banner Jr and goes off to fix the world.

Artistry: it looks digitital so it may be but it's still awesome. 10/10

re-readability: I've read it a dozen times already so the re-readability is fairly high

Why I Liked/Didn't Like It: I loved everything. A gripping alternate universe story that i couldn't put down. I was done with this inside of 30 minutes

My Rating: * * * * *

Final Thoughts: Just amazing. You owe it to yourself to pick this up. Logan may be based off this story but this is better by far.

Up Next: Batman: A Death in the Family

Sunstone. But I'd prefer if you covered it in all 5 issues or not at all. If you pick it up, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I covered it myself a while back. Like to read your thoughts on it.

I'll grab it when I can. I have a list so i won't forget.

['Ravishing' Ned Flanders]

Batman: A Death in the Family

How Everything Flows Together: It's all one story so it flows like you would expect.

The Storyline: Jason Todd want's to find his birth mother and his journey takes him to Iran where he finds his mother but The Joker has dirt on her and uses her to lure Jason into a trap where he beats him to death. To keep Batman from doing anything Joker then becomes an Iranian Ambassador with Diplomatic Immunity. I'll leave the ending for you.

Artistry: Very well drawn but a bit dated.

re-readability: i'd but ot right in the middle at 50%

Why I Liked/Didn't Like It: it was all dated. I just couldn't get sucked into it.

My Rating: * * *3/4 out of 5

Final Thoughts: I love Batman and this was historic in the sense that DC let the fans decide if a major character lives or dies but it's a bit dated.

The main thing I don't really care for in my DC comics is the use of real places, leave that to Marvel. Gotham & Metropolis i like but NY and the UN not so much

Originally printed in 1988 I'm sure people loved the international politics that was throughout the entire thing. Things like the the Lebanese Civil War and Famine in Ethiopia and the Ayatollah Khomeini making The Joker an Iranian Ambassador to the UN. None of that really translates well 30 years later in 2018 though. I do suggest this to any Batman fan for the historic aspect of the fans voting alone but the story is good if a bit dated.


Up Next: A Lonely Place of Dying

[Jack-Hammer]

How Everything Flows Together: Unlike some Trade Paperbacks that jump all over the place (some will on this list) this onecwas designed as a single stoey from the get go so that takes care of any issues with this one.

The Storyline: it's 50 years in the future and all the Marvel heroesvare dead and Logan is an old man as well as a pacifist living in what was once California but is now an arid wasteland run by an insane Hulk and his incestuous brood The Hulk Gang. A blind Hawkeye gets Logan to join him in bringing a batch of Super Soldier Serum to DC for The Resistance in order to get enough rent money for The Hulk Gang. Sadly it was a set up by Red Skull's secret police. Hawkeye is killed and Logan is presumed dead and taken to the White House and Red Skull. Logan revives and kills Skull before using pieces of the old Iron Man armor to quickly get back home with the cash. When he gets home he finds his wife and children dead and for the first time in 50 years he pops his claws and kills the entire Hulk Gang including a bat shit insane Bruce Banner. After they're dead he takes a baby Bruce Banner Jr and goes off to fix the world.

Artistry: it looks digitital so it may be but it's still awesome. 10/10

re-readability: I've read it a dozen times already so the re-readability is fairly high

Why I Liked/Didn't Like It: I loved everything. A gripping alternate universe story that i couldn't put down. I was done with this inside of 30 minutes

My Rating: * * * * *

Final Thoughts: Just amazing. You owe it to yourself to pick this up. Logan may be based off this story but this is better by far.

Up Next: Batman: A Death in the Family


I'll grab it when I can. I have a list so i won't forget.

Old Man Logan was one of my favorite storylines of any comic in well over a decade.

Any storyline that really emphasizes the human aspect of Wolverine, the simple fact that he's a flawed human being trying to do the best he can to make up for awful things that he's done in his past is always a good read to me. That aspect and to protect the ones he loves are the constant, key elements of this story and that's never lost among all the battles with post apocalyptic gangs and inbred cannibals. Flawed heroes are simply a lot more fun and more interesting to me than paragons of virtue and black & white morality.

['Ravishing' Ned Flanders]

How Everything Flows Together: pretty good being 1 story.

The Storyline:This is pretty much a direct sequel to A Death In The Family in that it deals with Batman coping with the death of Jason Todd, which is to say not very well. He's taking chances he never would have in the past and has been getting injured so much Alfred actually tells him he doesn't plan plan on spending the rest of his life as a nurse. In comes Tim Drake. Years ago he figured out the secret identities of both Batman & Robin (Dick Grayson) and as such is able to figure out Jason Todd was Robin as well. He spends his half of the story trying to convince Dick to stop being Nightwing and become Robin again thinking that with someone at his side he'll simmer down a bit. Dick refuses saying Robin died with Jason Todd but goes to help Batman hunt Two-Face as Nightwing. Instead of giving up Tim puts on the Robin costume himself and actually saves Batman & Nightwing. After capturing Two-Face Bruce agrees with Tim, Alfred & Dick and agreed to take thing with Tim one day at a time. He becomes the 3rd Robin.

Artistry: Still pretty 80s which is to say good but dated.

re-readability 55%: a bit more than a Death In The Fanily but not by much

Why I Liked/Didn't Like It: I liked it. The story showed Batman is in fact human with actual emotions which is nice.

My Rating: * * * * out of 5

Final Thoughts: It's good but nothing to write home about really. Read A Death In The Family if you haven't.

Up Next: The Amazing Spider-Man: Civil War

['Ravishing' Ned Flanders]

How Everything Flows Together: It flows pretty good. All the issues are right in a row instead of skilling some like they do sometimes.

The Storyline: This one tells the story of Civil War from the view of everyone's favorite webslingerc Spider-Man. He's Tony Stark's right hand arachnid with a new suit not to different from the Iron Man suit when you think about it. At first he's all for thr Superhuman Registration Act, even going so far as to unmask on National TV. Since then he's been having 2nd thoughts and demands to see where the other Superhumans are being kept. Once he realizes it's in the Negative Zone he knows he made a mistake and goes back on National TV to denounce the S.R.A. Parker goes into hiding with Captain America and the others and they get ready. The final battle happens but i don't know how it ends. That's in Civil War

Artistry: much more modern and clean than the last 2.

re-readability: easily 85%

Why I Liked/Didn't Like It: i loved it. Who doesn't love a good Spider-Man Comic? The story kept me engrossed and the art was done very well.

My Rating: * * * *1/2 out of 5

Final Thoughts: This was was really enjoyable. I haven't read Civil War yet but this does a great job of telling the story from a certain perspective instead of the broad story trying to get everything in. The one thing that bothered me above all else was how they would do a scene and say wanna find out what's on the tv screen? It's in Civil War 5 & 6 or this scene is in DareDevil #93 if you want to read the rest of it. Being a compilation of individual comics i can understand why they're doing it but it still bothers me.

Up Next: The Road To Civil War

['Ravishing' Ned Flanders]

How Everything Flows Together: It doesn't. There is 3 different stories all in 1 binding.

The Storyline: there are 3 different ones.

Artistry: All 3 stories were different but I liked it.

re-readability: 10% I've only read it once.

Why I Liked/Didn't Like It: it just seemed like a mash up of things that didn't really belong together and that took a lot of enjoyment out of it for me

Final Thoughts: This was passable but barely. Illuminati gave us the rumbles that would become Civil War (as well as set up Planet Hulk) and gave me a look at characters I've never read before as well as one I never knew existed which is always awesome. The art had that sketched look which I enjoyed. Had they added more like this i would love this one as much as I do all the others but i fell on its ass after this.

I may have missed something but The Fantastic Four didn't even belong. It didn't seem to pave the way to Civil War like everything else did so even with good art it just pulled everything down.

Spider-Man added to the other Spider-Man G.N. I have and the end leads right into Civil War.

Spider-Man & Illuminati were highly enjoyable and I recommend getting this for those alone but F4 brought it way down and is unfortunately right in between the 2 .

My Rating: * * out of 5

Up Next: Civil War

['Ravishing' Ned Flanders]

How Everything Flows Together: About as good as ylu'd expect with a songle storyline.

The Storyline: You've all seen the movie right? Instead of Sokovia it's Stamford. Insyead of Tony & Co it's a group of young super heroes that accidently cause a villian named Nitro to blow up an elementary school as well as a few city blocks to get away.

Artistry: Modern and amazing

re-readability: 100%

Why I Liked/Didn't Like It: I love the more modern style more.1

Final Thoughts: Mark Millar & Steve McNiven come together to give us quite possibly the biggest event in the Marvel Universe and they hit another one right out of the park.

just like Old Man Logan everything flows together perfectly the modern illustration and the linear storyline makes this one another I can't put down.

Millar & McNiven are quickly becoming my favorite combo in comic books. Their writing and illustration just work, there's no other way I can say it.

My Rating: * * * * * out of 5

Up Next: Flashpoint

['Ravishing' Ned Flanders]

How Everything Flows Together: Like Old Man Logan & Civil War this is just one novelesque story the split up into parts so it all flows together perfectly.

The Storyline: Anyone who has seen Season 3 of The Flash or the Animated movie Justice League: The Flaspoint Paradox knows the basic storyline. The Flash goes back in time to keep his mother from getting killed and succeeds. In doing so he creates a massive change in the timeline. Superman is missing, Batman is Thomas Wayne instead of Bruce & Cyborg is the American hero. Also Aquaman & Wonder Woman are both completely nuts and have sunk Western Europe & Taken over the UK respectively. Flash goes about getting everything fixed and by the end knows not to mess with the timeline anymore. This was another amazing read and one I could not put down once I picked it up and the Storyline was a big part of that.

Artistry: My favorite kind, it's modern, sleek and will translate well into the future. I enjoyed looking at the illustrations almost as much as reading the story which is a plus in my book.

re-readability: 100%

Why I Liked/Didn't Like It: I loved it. I'm more of a Marvel fan in the fact that most of my favorite superheros growing up were from Marvel but DC is growing on me. I'm excited to read more from the company and see if they can change my mind some more of if Marvel will keep an Iron grip on my heart.

Final Thoughts: If you're a fan of any of the main DC characters I suggest this one as well as all the tie in ones that takes place in the Flashpoint world that are about each individual hero. I don't have those ones yet but I will and I'm rather excited to read them.

My Rating: * * * *3/4 out of 5

Up Next: Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia