Ink of Blood

(This review may contain spoilers).

Having seen bits and pieces of this storyline in other comics, I was really quite eager to see the full story of the Skrull invasion.

It was interesting to see the effects of Earth’s mightiest heroes not being able to trust each other, although I think it would have been less easy if there hadn’t been so much conflict generated by the Superhero Registration Act.

One thing I found particularly interesting was the implication that some of the Skrulls went native. I would have liked a bit more background about how the Skrulls’ shapeshifting ability worked, however, as they seemed able to change at will with no ill-effects.

Despite the conflicts in the superhero community, it was good to see them fighting alongside each other, though I found most of the fight scenes to be quite confusing.

I particularly enjoyed the banter between the two Spider-Mans, even without knowing which one was the real Peter Parker. I would have liked to see a bit more of two identical superheroes having to face off against each other, though, particularly with the implications that some of the Skrull didn’t know that was what they were.

I thought it was interesting to see the Skrull side of things, even though it was clear that they were doing entirely the wrong thing. There were some implications that things weren’t quite as simple as them wanting to conquer a planet just because they could.

I particularly felt for Tony, not only with the virus hitting him hard, but also with what was said to him. It was understandable that he began questioning everything and even though there was still obvious conflict between him and Thor, at least, I did have some hope that things might eventually get better.

I also really liked seeing the Young Avengers, though I would have preferred seeing a bit more of Teddy’s and Billy’s relationship, along with perhaps some greater detail about Teddy perhaps struggling with his own heritage.

I liked seeing the different heroes make an appearance and it was pretty cool to see Maria Hill facing off against one of the Skrull impostors, though I found myself a bit confused there.

It was good to see Beast and Wonder Man working together when neither of them were sure they could trust the other, but I would have liked to see a better resolution. It also would have been good to see a bit of background to the crashed ship.

While the dossiers on the Skrulls were informative to read, I would have liked to have those a bit less dry and engage me more as a reader.

I still enjoy reading the Marvel universe and in the future, I’d like to see more of the fallout from these events and the Superhero Registration Act.

(This review may contain spoilers).

Bucky is one of Marvel’s characters who I have a slight obsession with in all his forms… thought that did start with the movie version of the character. However, the redemption arc storyline (my favourite type) seemed more prevalent in the comic book world.

That having been said, even though I would have preferred to see more of Bucky after he was no longer a lethal puppet, I did find the main story a really informative read.

It was interesting to see a mix of paranormal in with the action, though I was at a loss about who of the enemies were allied with each other and who was working alone.

I did like seeing brief glimpses of banter between Nick Fury and his comrades and it was also good to see something of the technology utilised by SHIELD.

I particularly liked seeing the glimmers of memory come through as Bucky tried to carry out his mission as the Winter Soldier. Although those were few and far between, it afforded a glimpse into Bucky’s past and something of his relationship with Steve as his friend and mentor.

It was interesting to note the differences in Bucky as the Winter Soldier and Bucky with his previous memory returned, especially as my previous experience with him made it clear there was nothing of Steve’s Bucky left… not until the Cube became involved.

I thought it made sense that Ran was distrustful of Bucky, but it was good to see the two of them fighting alongside each other, Ran forced to trust Bucky to have his back while convinced he was being played.

I liked seeing the relationship form between Ran and Mila, even though it was a bit cliched. While the ending was kind of sad, I could appreciate the irony.

There was a lot of bloodshed in this particular set of comics, but the creepiest thing was what the main villain could do. I wasn’t quite sure how Bucky was able to shake it off, but I suppose it did a good job of showcasing his survival instinct.

Although I had read the first comic before, it was interesting to note the differences in style and the atmosphere of the world. The first comic was visually dark, while the second was set more during the day, even though they both dealt with very dark subject matter.

Reading this comic book only served to make me like Bucky’s character even more. I would definitely seek out more of him in future comics.

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’d probably ideally give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. While I thought the concept of a new generation of mutants was a really good one, I found it much harder to connect emotionally to this team… even though I had seen Jubilee in other areas of this ‘verse.

Probably the biggest problem I had was with Emma Frost. I couldn’t see her as empathic towards the students and even though there were some intriguing interactions between her and Monet, I found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Out of the Generation X group, I found Penance to be the most interesting character. It was good to see the others trying to engage with her, but she came across as very much something of a wild creature. I would have liked to see more of her, as there was very little detail about her history… or even really a personality, save for a few glimmers.

While I did enjoy seeing the snarky side of Jubilee, I didn’t really get the feeling she’d grown up very much. I couldn’t remember what she was supposed to be able to do, but I did think Monet seemed to be highly over-powered. I didn’t find her very interesting, though, as she seemed to come across as a typical rich girl.

I did like seeing some of the different other powers. Husk, especially, I would have liked to see a bit more background of what she could do. It was very confusing to see her suddenly able to change her form to be virtually indestructible, though it was good to see that she was affected by the wounds she’d received.

The Christmas story was a bit of a jarring change, particularly since the villain from the previous comics had just vanished. I felt there was a lot of potential during the Christmas story, but I as disappointed to see a lack of acceptance on both the humans’ and the mutants’ sides. Not only did the story come to a conclusion that was anything but satisfactory, but it left a sour taste in my mouth by the end.

I did prefer Banshee to Emma, as I had the impression he really did care about the students.

I felt that the final story could have been a good way of showing how Generation X, or at least some of the members, might have been able to work together. However, although there were conflicts, there was very little in the way of any of the members attempting to work together.

Many of the individual team members were characters I would have liked to see separate. I just couldn’t see them ever being able to work together.

One other good part about this was being able to see a brief interaction between Logan and Jubilee. I enjoyed the father-daughter aspect and it would have been good to see more of the family feels in general.

I don’t think I’d seek out more comics about Generation X, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more of those like Penance and Husk in the future.

(I received a free copy of this book, through NetGalley, in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I thought the concept of this comic was a really intriguing one. I liked seeing the conflict in the relationship between Kenton and his father, though I would have liked to see more of Kenton’s relationship with his siblings and also with various other members of his people. It was quite hard to care about what happened to them, as it was hard to differentiate between the different characters.

There was a bit of confusion when the Duchess and her entourage had appeared, as the Duchess in particular seemed to be wearing clothes that had a more Earth-feel to them.

I did find the ability of the Sand Masters to be really interesting to see, even though I would have liked to see a bit more of their background. For instance, were the Sand Masters only men? I couldn’t tell if there were any women in the ranks.

Although I was a bit disorientated with the other random plot that cropped up, it didn’t take long to realise how the characters involved related to the others in the main storyline. And I liked meeting Ais, as she seemed to come across as quite a strong person.

It was interesting to see something of the politics in the city and how the other leaders viewed the Sand Masters. While I did think there was a bit too much exposition, especially at the beginning, it was good to see Kenton having to argue for the survival of his people. However, apart from one other survivor, who was suspected of being a traitor, there were very few members of the Sand Masters I was able to get to know. And although there were hints of those with less power being looked down upon, that didn’t really crop up very much.

The artwork was really good and I liked the visual representation of the abilities. I was a bit confused by the history of the tensions between the two different peoples and I would have liked to see a bit of history: shown, instead of just talked about.

Even though there were some problems and I didn’t quite feel this comic lived up to my expectations, it was easy to read and I did enjoy learning about the world and the characters. I felt this was more of an introduction to the world and that there was a lot still to be explored.

In the future, if given the opportunity, I would probably read further issues of this series.