Mega Man 10 (video game)

Platform: PSN, X-Box Live Arcade, Wiiware
Developer: Inti Creates
Genre: Action, Platformer
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Release Date: March 1, 2010

I think I came down on Mega Man 9 harder than I intended to. It was a very good game, but it was not perfect. I had issues with it, to put it plainly, but I did not hate it.

I still have some of those same reservations - yet again, Mega Man has nothing past the basic controls of Mega Man 2 - but this time the game is just too damn good to care.

Story is simple, as it always is. This time, a virus is going around. The kicker? It only effects robots. It's their version of the flu, basically. Dr. Wily shows up saying none of it is on him - I'd say spoiler alert, but come on, I'm not telling you anything you don't know when I say he's full of shit - and that the crazed robots have taken the device he had used to develop a cure. Mega Man takes Wily at his word - I guess he forgot the last time Wily pulled the "fetch my stolen crap" trick with the Peace Keeping Robot from 3 - and goes to smash some robot heads together.

While the things that annoyed me with 9 carry over, everything else has improved. It's clear Inti Creates took all the lessons they learned from making Mega Man 9 and applied them to 10, because everything is just that much better. Mega Man 10 has what is easily my favorite group of levels since Mega Man 2, with a wonderful amount of variety, great gimmicks, interesting looks and killer design. The music is even better this time around - I thought 9 had a great soundtrack, but I wasn't fond of a couple themes - with an eclectic group of Robot Masters and subsequent power-ups. Some of the power-ups were even worth using outside of the boss battles for me, which is a far rarer occurrence than you'd think*.

Even the endgame is improved. Dr. Wily's Super Death Trap Castle is as frustratingly crazy as ever and the bosses are just as bad. The "Yellow Devil" version of this game is the Block Devil, which is almost fiendish, even once you get the pattern down, since it's made up of the blocks from the floor and wall. Meaning that being knocked off the ledge to your death is a concern. Then, after Wily has thrown everything he can at you and the game seems over, it has one last trick up its sleeve.

There are even some advancements to be found in the gameplay if you're willing to venture outside of Mega Man. Proto Man is available in the stock game - shield and all - and he has the slide move that used to be a staple of Mega Man's moveset. Meanwhile, Bass is available as DLC - complete with his ability to fire in eight directions from Mega Man and Bass - and he can combine with his robodog Treble, an ability that's been unavailable to us since the Rush Adapter in 7.

Oh, speaking of the DLC, I didn't bother with 9, but I got it this time. It was worth the money. Bass is, of course, fun to play as. But also on offer is the "Endless Stage" mode, a marathon session where your only objective is to stay alive for as many screens as you possibly can. Unfortunately, only Mega Man is on offer for this mode, but that does not make it any less addictive. I've dropped cash on worse DLC, for certain.

All told, 10 may just be one of the best entries in the Classic Mega Man series.

The Score: 9 out of 10

Mega Man 10 is pretty close to perfect. Well worth your cash. Tenth time's the charm.

* This might just be me, but for the classic series, I tend to find the different powers impractical for use outside of the designated boss they're strong against. The first a second game had some fairly practical powers, but as the series wore on it seemed like they ran out of interesting things to give you. This is all not to say that 10 doesn't have it's duds; Thunder Wool is completely useless and the Water Shield - which works the same way as the Leaf Shield from 2 - isn't a hell of a lot better.

Wolverine and the X-Men Vol. 1 (comic)

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artists: Chris Bachalo, Nick Bradshaw
Collects: Wolverine and the X-Men #1-4

You'll recall in my review of Schism that I named this the book I was looking forward to the most out of anything. Funnily enough, I ended up reading the Uncanny X-Men relaunch first. I didn't review it - I've yet to decide if I want to - and in case I don't bother the short version is Cyclops and his not-so-merry band of X-Men continue to be stuck too far up their own asses. This comic is the exact opposite; it's funny, visually interesting, packed with great characters and never dull.

It's the X-Men book I've been waiting a long time for.

The setup will be familiar to almost anyone; we're back on the school grounds again, arguably where the X-Men belong. Schism surprisingly plays more of a role here than it did in Uncanny. The Kid Helfire Club - who you'll recall orchestrated everything that happened in Schism - decide it would be pretty funny if Logans new school blew up on the first day. So they blow it up on the day the board of education is visiting the school to evaluate. Hilarity ensues. Also Krakoa is involved. This all takes place in the first three issues, I remind you. The fourth issue is a standalone bridging our introductory arc and what comes next.

At first I felt Jason Aaron got the raw deal out of the split, with most of the power players sticking with boring Scott and his sinking island, but as it turns out he got the better end of the bargain. His eclectic group of mutants immediately proves themselves an engaging group, even as it becomes clear they're way out of their depth. The new kids are endearing and the old favorites are just as great. Everything simply works right from the first issue.

You can probably imagine my delight when I found out Chris Bachalo was on art duties. Turns out, he manages three issues before we need a fill in. But they are three stylish, visually striking issues. His exagerrated, animated style works perfect for a book like this; there are a couple of panels that aren't entirely clear in their storytelling, but they end up being minor issues in an otherwise beautiful book. Nick Bradshaw is also a strong artist in his own right and if he's the guy they have in mind for trading off art duties with Bachalo I'll have no complaints.

But there's just one other problem that has nothing to do with the contents themselves. The issue count. They want fifteen dollars SRP for four issues. This is quickly becoming standard at Marvel and it's starting to work on my last nerve. Once in a while is fine, but deliberately splitting stories or putting in a low issue count just to get more money out of the consumer is just low. I'm even more annoyed this time, because this is a series I'm buying rather than borrowing from the library.

The Score: 9 out of 10

If you are an X-Men fan and you don't like this book, I can only conclude that you either hate fun or are one of those odd souls that prefer King Cyclops and his team of villains.

Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (game)

Platform: PS Vita
Developer: Drinkbox Studios
Genre: 2D Platformer
Release Date: February 21st, 2012

For all the talk of the trouble the PS Vita is in - it does have a surprising lack of games for a system two months removed from a full year on the market - it does have several titles of a pretty high quality. Some are pretty faithful ports, which is astonishing in itself for a handheld, but of the native games it has thus far, Mutant Blobs Attack is probably one of the most fun.

You are a mutant blob who escapes from a science lab. Having been experimented on, you're understandably a little pissed. So it's time to absorb whatever junk you find lying around until you can get some revenge on those pesky humans.

Mutant Blobs Attack is a pretty standard platformer, but it's a well designed one. You're never at a loss for what to do or where to go, while traps and obstacles are quite clever. At times, the Vitas touch screen functionality comes into play, allowing you to magnetically move platforms and reverse the direction of certain traps. Even the collectibles - your other mutant blob buddies - are hidden in intelligent ways; some of the later ones take a bit of thinking to find while others require you to keep a sharp eye open.

Also included are a handful of levels taking advantage of the Vitas motion sensors, serving as bonus levels to add some variety. These are entertaining as well, allowing you to tilt the system to control your blob. A minor, unfortunate nitpick is the fact that this requires you to start with your Vita held flat, but it's hardly a major issue.

Style is the word with MBA. Everything is colorful and every level is packed with chuckle worthy jokes or homages to things long past. One of the "Tilt-a-Blob" levels was done in black and white with a pretty familiar border, paying simultaneous homage to black and white horror films and the original Game Boy. While the jokes aren't liable to make you laugh out loud, it's enough to make you smile and set a lighthearted tone that kind of obscures the fact that you're basically destroying the human race.

The game has about six chapters with three to six levels a piece, so it's a pretty respectable length for the money. Stages are long enough to keep your interest but short enough to get one in if you have five minutes to spare. In all, it's got quote a bit to offer for a downloadable title. It's well worth the price, especially if you're a PS+ subscriber where it has been offered for free.

The Score: 9 out of 10

If you love platformers, give this a download. It's a wonderful little 2D side scroller that deserves a spot on your Vitas memory card.

Saints Row: The Third (video game)

Platform: Playstation 3, X-Box 360
Developer: Volition, Inc.
Genre: Action Adventure, Sandbox
ESRB Rating: Mature
Release Date: November 15th, 2011

You are the boss of the Third Street Saints. Once a gang stuggling to gain control of a single city, the Saints have become a powerful multi-media empire. They have it all; comics, TV shows, an upcoming film and even their own crappy energy drink. But all good things come to an end.

On a fairly routine bank robbery, you're ambushed by suspiciously well armed bank tellers. From there, the heist goes bad, the cops show up and everything spirals out of control. You end up captured and threatened by a crime syndicate. Escape comes at the cost of a friends life*. Now you're stranded in a new city.

What the hell, you might as well take over, right?

Prior to this game, I had completely written off the Saints Row games. While I now know they came about by sheer coincidence, at the time the similarities to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - one of my all time favorite games - left me dismissing the franchise as a copycat. My initial assessment wasn't exactly wrong, but Saints Row the Third caught my attention with an intelligent reversal in the dynamic between it and its competition.

I've played Grand Theft Auto since the first one and part of the fun is that as time went on, they ended up throwing any and everything at the wall. The height of that was San Andreas, where you could do almost anything from taking over territory to flying a jetpack straight out of a James Bond flick. Grand Theft Auto IV featured a complete reversal, eschewing the silly or campy in favor of a serious take on an illegal immigrant attempting to make it in America. As a story it was an achievement, but as a game it was nowhere near as fun as any installment of the PS2 trilogy save III.

Saints Row, on the other hand, started as a fairly serious attempt at showing gang warfare. Arguably, they dropped that pretense with II, any remaining attempt to ground Saints Row in realism is out the window here. Grand Theft Auto has shunned its former bombast, leaving an opening Saints Row is now all too happy to fill. This game is over the top in every respect, surpassing even GTA's most outrageous moments in a varied experience that is never once dull.

Seriously, this game starts out with a bank heist turning into a massive shootout, with a helicopter forcibly pulling the safe from the building, while you're still on it. Eventually you are forced to leap out a plane, smash through the windshield of another plane and go out the back before catching a team member - dodging debris all the way down - so you can both parachute to safety. This is the tutorial level. It is not even the craziest thing to happen in this game.

Every time you think it cannot take you by surprise, it will introduce a plot twist or throw in a cameo that can only leave you smiling. Saints Row the Third is not concerned with telling a mature, serious story. Rather, it's content to toss luchadors, cyberpunk hackers, zombies, tigers and hoverbikes at you in a wild attempt to be the coolest game ever. It comes pretty damn close, too.

They even manage to throw something new in the side missions. While I realize that it's not a first for the series, the Insurance Fraud activities are still a pretty unique, fun diversion no other game has attempted. Others will see you driving around with a pissed off tiger in the backseat, hang with a luchador voiced by Hulk Hogan and participate in a murder based game show that I assume was inspired by The Running Man.

A gang territory dynamic is also in place, which is something I wish more sandbox games did more often, since it helps give a sense of reward to each activity you embark on when it has a tangible benefit, even if it's just a piece of territory.

One other thing in this games favor; the developers were clearly thinking of ways to alleviate player frustration and give them more options. Do you know how long I've wanted one of these sandbox games to let me to choose songs I like from the soundtrack and make a custom "station"**? The option's here with the "mixtape" function. Do you want to disable stations that cater to genres you hate? You can. Hate falling in water and wasting a good five minutes trying to get to shore? You're covered; a simple button press will warp you back.

Hell, cars don't even spontaneously explode upon hitting a tank! The car will be crushed in the area hit by the treads. It's the little things that count. Or kill, if you ask Bush.

I spoke of the soundtrack and this game has a pretty decent one. I suppose you could argue that the selection quality is not exactly on par with the distinguished competition, but there are several smart choices. Hell, there are at least three different rock stations, catering to different audiences. I can't say anything bad about a game that won't force me to listen to soft rock as I wait for something harder to come up.

Even better, money actually has its uses here. Rather than just give you a bunch of static weapons, you can upgrade just about anything you pick up. You can also buy property, another feature a certain other series saw fit to drop. All come with tangible benefits that will aid you in gameplay. There are in-game reasons to complete tasks in this game; as opposed to only getting a trophy for your trouble.

There is very little here to criticize. If I had to point to anything, it would be that the game feels a little short for one of its type. Even with generous amounts of dicking around I finished the main story in under twenty hours. Granted, that's twenty hours of the most fun I've had with a video game, but it still felt like it was over too soon.

The Score: 9 out of 10

Buy it now. There is nothing else that need be said. It is well, well worth the money.

* This kind of annoyed me a bit. He's easily one of the coolest characters in the game and he's dropped within the first twenty minutes. He's also the only asian I can think of in the game, which is pretty glaring in a game that includes a bunch of characters of different ethnicity. I guess they chose him for the role because he was a long standing member of the series cast - he was in both of this games predecessors - but geez, that's a cheap attempt to garner player involvement in the fight against the enemies. Especially when you've killed his murderer at the end of the first act.

** I'm pretty sure that this was an advertised feature for Grand Theft Auto IV at one point. Obviously, it didn't make the cut.

Chew - Volume One : Tasters Choice (comics)

Writer: John Layman
Artist: Rob Guillory
Collects: Chew #1-5

When it first started, this was probably the internets favorite creator-owned book. The critics favorite too. It's won a few awards and is probably on the way to many more. I'm here to tell you that it deserves every one of them.

Tony Chu has a special ability. He's Cibopathic, meaning he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. As the book explains, it means when he bites into an apple, he can tell the tree it was picked from, the pesticides used on it and the date of its harvesting. It also means if he chows down on a bit of a dead body, he can find out who killed the person, with what and where it was done. Did I mention he's a detective? You can see how this would come in handy; you know, aside from the disgusting parts like eating a bit of a dead dog.

This book is utterly unique from top to bottom. From the premise to the artwork to the humor, you simply won't find anything like it on shelves. This is one of those books that just nails it right off. It's fun, it's funny, it's fairly gross and it has a lot of heart. This is a book that has absolutely everything going for it.

It doesn't take long for the book to hook you. By the end of the first issue, it's easy to fall in love with this world and this cast of characters. Chu lives in a strange world with stranger things happening to him, but he's very likable, as is his partner Mason. It's why the events of the volume, including the last issue, hit as well as they do. We get a reveal that, under normal circumstances, I'd argue was a bit too soon for an ongoing series; but by this point Layman has painted a vivid enough world with characters diverse enough that it still works all the same. That's pretty impressive.

Even the art's a winner. Admittedly, there were some bits that took some getting used to, but the artwork in Chew is a thing all its own. By the end of the volume, I was a convert; and I didn't hate it to start with. I couldn't picture the book looking any other way. It's exagerrated and - loathe as I am to say this, as it's often taken in a negative context - cartoony, but it combines with bright colors to paint a vivid picture. The gross out humor and things Chu is forced to eat would not work in a more realistic style; here, the color and the style take some of the disgusting edge off, leaving a palatable sense of icky humor I imagine even those with relatively sensitive stomachs could take.

I simply cannot rave enough about this book; John Layman and Rob Guillory have a real winner on their hands.

The Score: 9 out of 10

Buy it. Seriously, just buy it. After one volume, this has quickly wormed its way into my heart. It may be my favorite creator owned series not written by Brian K. Vaughn. The lost point comes from the art taking a bit of getting used to, but once you do you won't be able to picture the book any other way. I'm definitely on board this book now and in the future. I highly recommend Chew.

Infestation V.2 (comics)

Writers: Scott Tipton, David Tipton, Erik Burnham, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artists: Casey Maloney, Gary Erskine, Kyle Hotz and David Messina
Collects: Star Trek: Infestation #1-2, Ghostbusters: Infestation #1-2, Infestation #2

So remember what I said about this event having some promise it wasn't quite living up to? You can go ahead and scratch that. This second volume kicks so much ass you could be forgiven for utterly forgetting that the Transformers: Infestation mini from the first volume happened at all.

I'm not even joking. It starts with the Star Trek miniseries, which is a complete jump forward in quality from anything in the last volume save Infestation #1. Kirk, Spock and Bones are besieged by zombies and have to fight them off.

This is a striking mini because the writing is there this time. There are no jarring character moments or tonal shifts here. The Original Series crew feels like they should, right down to their methods of solving the crisis. Normally, your heroes will immediately get to the decapitations when faced with a zombie menace. Not the OS boys. They are committed to finding a solution to the problem rather than just surviving, even if that means setting out to cure the damn zombie virus, which is not a goal you see everyday in zombie media (because, you know, they're fricking dead).

It continues into the Ghostbusters mini. This one made the entire event for me. You know the drill; our favorite boys with the neutron accelerators take on zombies. This one, however, is chock full of great moments, from a zombie Mr. Stay Puft to demon zombie cats to the original and zombie Stay Pufts duking it out in the middle of New York.

Better still, the voices of the character are almost pitch perfect. One of the tests, for me, of getting a character right is if you can hear their voice in your head, saying the lines. If it didn't originate in film or animation, go with an iconic version, like, say, Batman: The Animated Series Joker. I swear I could easily imagine Bill Murray saying the lines given to Venkman. Same goes for Akroyd, Harris and so on for their characters. It's the best part of an already highly enjoyable story.

Even better? Apparently this writer is on board the Ghostbusters ongoing IDW started up after this event. I am so on board for that.

Then, we finish with Infestation #2, which caps off the core plot of this event. I mentioned last time that DnA made that issue work by interesting me in characters I had no prior history with, despite them having been around a while. Nothing has changed with this installment and it's the cherry on top of the rest of the volumes ice cream. I'm interested in reading more of these characters now and apparently there are stories available for me to go to read more about them.

Artwise, all three stories are clear winners. The Star Trek miniseries is cleaner in the linework and coloring than the others. Ghostbusters was the one I had a bit of trouble with, since the style is a bit more exaggerated and cartoonish, but after the two minutes it takes to adapt you realize it suits the story very well. David Messina is still on for the Infestation issue and he does as well as last time.

I'm very impressed by how much the second half turned this event around from just above mediocrity.

The Score: 9 out of 10

This volume made the whole exercise worth it. It's a great read from cover to cover. I'd now recommend both volumes of this event to people, with the minor caveat that the first volume has a bit of subpar or jarring material. This one completely makes up for that, though.

Hulk: The End (comics)

Writer: Peter David
Artists: George Perez, Dale Keown
Collects: The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect #1-2, Hulk: The End

For those not in the know, at some point years ago, Marvel decided it might be a good idea to put out some comics centered around the end of a given superhero. Obviously, "the end" in superheroics means death, since they're not going to stop fighting until they croak, and that point is not one superhero comics tend to go to. Even if they did kill off a hero, it would be in the more likely outcome of dying in the line of duty or something similar. It can be powerful, of course, but in a different way.

Marvels answer was "The End", a line of books centered chiefly around the possible end of a given hero. Each book was its own thing, not tying to any greater events. The line had no continuity between the books; Marvel simply rounded up the iconic creators of a given character and asked them to put together an "end" to that hero as they envisioned it. The Hulk was the first hero to get the treatment and they tapped Peter David for the project, since he's one of the few definitive Hulk creators.

The result is striking and it becomes clear pretty quick this isolated form was the right way to go. It allows Peter David to go back to the core concepts behind the character to fashion his "end", as it were. Hulk was, of course, a product of the Atomic Age, with all the fears and problems that came with it. Obviously, the Cold War came and went - and while the possibility lingers in our worst nightmares, the probability of that terrifying "World War III" coming to pass is very low - but even today the spectre of nuclear radiation and the damage it can do hangs over us like a Damocles sword. Japan can attest.

Well, in this reality, that dreaded World War III came to pass and humanity is gone. Bruce Banner and his alter ego are the only ones left. It's the loneliest of lives, Banner struggling to keep his sanity while wanting nothing more than to die, but with the Hulk refusing to allow him that peace. Banner is left to wander the wasteland, looking for perhaps some sign that something has survived. But it's a sign that never comes.

Peter David brings us right back into the thick of the Jekylll and Hyde dynamic that sits at the heart of the concept. Banner is weary and wants nothing more than to join his loved ones - Betty, Rick, the whole nine - in the aftermath. But the Hulk is our dark side personified, here more than ever. He's selfish, crude and hateful. Everything is out to get him, of course, even when the only thing left to attack him are cockroaches. Rather than deal with the last remnants of humanity - who, when you think about it, Banner could probably have helped if Hulk let him - he walks away, leaving them all to die to seal himself in a cave so he doesn't have to hear them die. So he can be alone.

Peter David is in top form here, if you ask me, putting forward a story that perfectly suits the Hulk. There's a reason David is considered one of the definitive Hulk creators; he gets the character and everything that goes with him to a tee. His long run on the book proper attests. Here he's distilled it all down to a grim, unsettling portrayal of the last days of the Hulk. The Hulk is the monster personified and when he finally gets what he wants, we start to see that one chink; maybe, just maybe, he was always fooling himself.

Hulk: The End was a one shot. As you can guess, that's not going to fill a trade, not by a long shot. Luckily, Marvel pulled the shrewd move of packing in another classic from David. The two oversized issue miniseries "Future Imperfect" that Peter David had done with George Perez. Man it's great.

It hits some - but not all - of the same themes as The End. It's another possible future for the Hulk, only this time, when the bombs dropped, humanity survived and Hulk turned into a vicious ruler of all known as The Maestro. It is, again, the worst of the Hulk to the extreme, now ruling over a rotted, dystopic, seemingly hopeless future.

It's a classic for a reason.

If there's a downside, it's the future lingo. This is always such a dicey proposition. On the one hand, lingo is going to change in the far future, but making it feel organic or outside of the realm of completely goofy is a challenge. David doesn't quite nail it. Still, it's not too difficult to get past, at least for me. It's ignorable, at any rate.

What puts it over the top is the art by George Perez. Man, can that guy draw. Perez has always been able to pack in so much detail in his work with excellent figurework and storytelling. Perez is one of the greats of the business, for sure, so having him on a project is a definite boon.

The Score: 9 out of 10

This trade is fantastic. Both stories are great reads and well worth the time. Great stories, great art, great package. Definitely pick this up if you like the Hulk. It's a worthy addition to the bookshelf.

Thor: The Trials of Loki (comics)

Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Artist: Sebastian Fiumara
Collects: Loki #1-4

It's always kind of funny when a character centric miniseries - like the Loki miniseries this collects - has the trade branded with the franchise they come from. It's mostly Marvel that does this; anyone remember the completely redundant name that was "Hulk: Skaar - Son of Hulk"? Now this. How many people out there don't already know Loki is a Thor villain? Hell, who couldn't get that just from the back covers description?

DC doesn't do it - Luthor and Joker kept their names - so why Marvel does it is kind of beyond me.

Anyways, there's that old saying about how a hero is only as good as his villains. I'd argue it's not a hundred percent accurate - take Batman, who works in whatever the hell you put him in regardless of who he's fighting - but for the most part it's true. Lets face it, the villains are just damn interesting; and if they're particularly well written you'll like them anyways despite their deeds.

Loki can be like this, depending on who's writing him. This tale in particular plays up his ambiguity. It's part origin story, part "the world through Lokis eyes". We see the events that lead to his destiny; to bring about Ragnarok and the fall of the gods.

His version of events, anyways.

Everyone is the hero of their own story and Loki is no exception. Thor confronts him in his hiding place, demanding answers for the actions prior to where we start. So Loki tells the story as only he can. He's cast in a sympathetic light, to say the least; his tale is one of jealousy and inadequacy, a lesser among gods. All of his actions in this tale are born from this jealousy; of his half brother Thor, of the love and attention Thor receives, his bond with Sif and more. In a way, his plight and actions become a bit more understandable, though not excusable. You can see how he got there.

Ahh, but there's an unspoken reality in that we're never quite sure just how much of his tale is true.

Loki is, if you're somehow unaware, a trickster god. He deals in lies, deceit and mayhem. It's in his nature. As such, even as we're reading there's a doubt. What parts of the tale are lies? What parts are fact? Is any of it true? Or is the trick that this time, he really is telling the truth, but his very nature leads us to wonder otherwise?

We don't know. Not even Thor knows. He even muses to himself that he's not a hundred percent sure of the details, even those that revolve around him. He is, of course, an immortal god. Time tends to swallow memories, leaving details to fade. In this respect, the very nature of the character is a strength for this story.

You know what else is a strength? The bitchin' art. It's absolutely perfect, especially for the heavy fantasy vibe something like Thor needs. From dragons to rainbow bridges to nine realms. Sebastian Flumara beautifully illustrates them all. It's only amplified by the bright, bold coloring.

Honestly, I can't even think of anything negative to say about this comic. The only thing really keeping it from going higher is perhaps as simple at not quite pushing the envelope like some classics might. But that's just a matter of opinion on my part; I still cannot say enough kind words about this trade. I was engrossed and enjoyed it a great deal.

The Score: 9 out of 10

This is a book that, honestly, has very few flaws. Offhand, I really cannot think of one. It's a great comic, one that can easily be read no matter your knowledge of Thor. It provides all the basic information you need while providing a great story that does not bond itself to any specific time period. It's as easily accessible as they come and well worth picking up, in my opinion.