Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

Amazing Spider-Man #557
Writer: Zeb Wells
Artist: Chris Bachalo
Publisher: Marvel

The latest Spider-man storyline wraps up and I’m mainly just pleased it’s over. I’m not a fan of Bachalo’s art and Wells first contribution to Brand New Day really just didn’t do much for me. Not that it was bad, but I’m not that into Spidey fighting gods and mystical…

Booster Gold #8
Writer: Geoff Johns & Jeff Katz
Artist: Dan Jurgens
Publisher: DC
Image via Wikipedia
I’ve really been enjoying Booster Gold so far, and this current story (Blue and Gold) in particular. What makes that a little surprising is that I have no particular attachment to either Booster Gold or this particular Blue Beetle.

But what DC is serving up…

Secret Invasion #1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Leinil Yu
Publisher: Marvel

So Secret Invasion is upon us. They hype has been heavy for the last few months, but Bendis has apparently been seeding his stories for years now with elements that lead up to this story. One of the big criticisms of Bendis’ last crossover event was that it was…

Astonishing X-Men #17
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: John Cassady
Publisher: Marvel

Whedon’s story continues its meandering pace this issue, though it does look like we might be getting close to a conclusion of some sort. The art is of course as good as ever, but this is a storyline that has just gone on too long.

I’m at the point where the…

Sometimes a story is progressing in what seems like a predictable, but perfectly satisfactory way, when it suddenly lurches in a whole new direction. Depending on how the author handles this, the result may be a great improvement or may significantly degrade the story.

In Raven’s Shadow, Patricia Briggs sets up a hero and heroine, puts them in peril and hints at romance between the two off them. In other words…

To avoid any confusion let me make it clear that I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of the Battlestar Galactica Season 2.5 DVD Boxed set for review. I made no promises about what I would say in that review in return for the review copy however.

Pegasus

One of the big selling points for Battlestar Galactica Season 2.5 was the extended version of the episode Pegasus. It’s also conveniently…

Another week, and another batch of comic book reviews. It’s another large column too this week I’m pleased to say. So enough pointless waffle and on with the reviews.

Ms. Marvel #7
Writer: Brian Reed
Artist: Roberto De La Torre
Publisher: Marvel

Ms. Marvel is in the middle of a Civil War tie in right now and it’s actually one of the…

Patricia Briggs fourth book departs from her previous Sianim series of novels and presents a stand alone tale set in a new fantasy world. Eschewing the trappings of standard fantasy, Briggs this time presents us with a world inhabited by creatures that bare a close relation to those in many real world folk tales. The result is a world that feels at once familiar and different.

When wild magic begins to…

Five comics up for review this week and the Marvel bias remains. I actually do want to review some of the Vertigo titles (specifically Fables and Y The Last Man to begin with) but in order to give them a fair review I need to read a decent run of those comics as they are very much…

Welcome to the latest edition of my weekly comic book reviews. It was something of a quiet week for me as far as new books are concerned, so I went looking a little further afield for things to review and the end result is my largest review column so far (plus it’s not all Marvel books so…