Happy Monday Morning! Once again we are kicking off the week with a new set of comic book reviews from the past week. This week we are going to be taking a look at how things turned out in Black Widow #8, Daredevil #31, and Power Rangers Unlimited: Edge Of Darkness #1. Each of these titles are serving up different types of stories. Let’s see how they turned out.
BLACK WIDOW #8
Creative Team
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artists: Elena Casagrande and Rafael De Latorre
Inkers: Elisabetta D’Amico and Rafael De Latorre
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
The Good: Building on the dynamic between Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova continues to be the strength of Kelly Thompson’s run on Black Widow. We see that once again shine with the natural back-and-forth the characters have throughout. This is especially effective in building up Natasha’s current state of mind as we are seeing her be more introspective about what happened with the family she gave up. It also made the ending with Yelena’s life at risk be something that comes at a surprise because as a reader you do drop your guard, like Natasha and Yelena do, that this would happen.
The appearance of Anya Corazon, aka Spider-Girl, is also done well to build up her character as one of the characters wo Natasha and Yelena will be mentoring. This is a great place to develop Anya’s character as Spider-Girl and secret spy. And as we see with her actions in Black Widow #8, Anya has the raw skills that wit training from Natasha and Yelena can grow even stronger.
The artwork by Elena Casagrande and Rafael De Latorre was solid throughout. Both artists are talented with Casagrande continuing deliver some of the best artwork from any artist working for Marvel. De Latorre equally does a good job with Spider-Girl’s scenes to deliver on the underground feel of her mission.
The Bad: The only problem that there is with Black Widow #8 is that Casagrande and De Latorre’s art styles do not match each other. It does cause a bit of time to get used to when the art style shifts happen both times. It’s not a big deal but does impact the flow of the story momentarily.
Overall: Black Widow #8 continues to establish this series as one of the best titles Marvel is publishing. Kelly Thompson does a great job writing the chemistry between Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova along with introducing Anya Corazon into the narrative. All this makes Black Widow a can’t miss title.
DAREDEVIL #31
Creative Team
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artists: Marco Checchetto and Mike Hawthorne
Inkers: Marco Checchetto and Adriano Di Benedetto
Colorist: Marcio Menyz
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
The Good: As each issue of this new era for Daredevil progress’ Chip Zdarsky has refined the flow of telling three ongoing narratives, with Elektra Natchios, Matt Murdock, and Wilson Fisk. Daredevil #31 does a great job with this as we once again see how every issue builds on one another. Here we see Elektra dealing with the fallout of her most recent fight and learning to be a better mentor to her new protégé, Alice. Specifically, dealing with consequences of getting Alice involved in her world leads to greater growth from Elektra as she doesn’t just have herself to worry about. This helps strengthen the drive that Elektra has as Daredevil as she is being much more thoughtful of her actions.
On the Matt Murdock side of things, finally having Matt and Warden Hollis have their big confrontation was something this part of the narrative for Daredevil that was needed. Matt finally showing that he won’t stand to constantly being attacked helped in further drive home how he is not just going to sit in is prison cell and take constant abuse. What consequences Matt will suffer and how this changes the status quo within the prison he is in will be interesting to see continue to play out.
On the villain side of things, Zdarsky continues to slow play the New York City’s gang situation. After the war in Hell’s Kitchen the various gangs are obviously resetting themselves. Integrating Mike Murdock as Matt Murdock into this story adds further interest for what is going on. It now places even more questions as to how Wilson Fisk will deal with what is going on. Which in turn makes Bullseyes big return be presented as an even bigger wild card.
The Bad: As much as I like Marco Checchetto and Adriano Di Benedetto there art isn’t at its best here. Its solid but I know it can be much better. It does seem as though both tried adjusting their styles to match one another. This led to the art not being up to par wit what has been expected of Daredevil thus far.
Overall: The consistency shown in Daredevil #31 as several different narratives are pushed is impressive. Chip Zdarsky has refined the balance between all the major characters involved in this current storyline with Elektra Natchios and Matt Murdock to grow greater in interest. The only thing that keeps the story back is the mix bag of the art but it doesn’t hurt the overall impact of Daredevil #31’s story.
POWER RANGERS UNLIMITED: EDGE OF DARKNESS #1
Creative Team
Writer: Frank Gogol
Artist: Simone Ragazzoni
Colorists: Igor Monti and Sabrina Del Grosso
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
The Good: Power Rangers Unlimited as a one-shot series has presented BOOM! Studios a new way to explore the history of the Power Rangers franchise. Edge Of Darkness once again spotlights Power Rangers Unlimited potential by diving into the origins of the Phantom Ranger and Rita Repulsa. With Phantom Ranger we get a better idea of what he actually is without fully revealing his identity. Placing him as one of the pre-Power Rangers warriors that Zordon had working for him furthers the narrative of how the Morphin Grid in BOOM! Studios Power Rangers Universe works. It also helps to establish how traditional Power Rangers like the Phantom Ranger can be connected to the Morphin Grid.
More importantly, Edge Of Darkness fully dives into Rita Repulsa’s backstory that was introduced in Go Go Power Rangers. Here we get a Rita who is a young, pure kid under the protection of her mother, Lady Fienna, as they are on the run from her father, Master Vile’s, wrath. Seeing Rita in this way does create greater investment in how she would eventually become the Power Rangers villain we all know and love. What was particularly interesting is how Edge Of Darkness dives deeper into Rita’s own connection to the Morphin Grid and what that means for the greater story around Dark Specter.
Simone Ragazzoni penciling along with Igor Monti and Sabrina Del Grosso coloring does delivers on the art style that is expected from a Power Rangers comic book. Everything is bright and colorful that helps add importance to everything being revealed. It creates even greater investment in the story because the art just amplifies it all.
The Bad: Nothing
Overall: If you are Power Rangers fan then Power Rangers Unlimited: Edge Of Darkness #1 is a can’t miss comic book. Edge Of Darkness does a fantastic job expanding on the origins of Phantom Ranger and Rita Repulsa. When all is said and done you are even more invested in both characters and are left hoping to see more of them in either Mighty Morphin or Power Rangers comic.
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