STAR WARS: LANDO (graphic novel) by Charles Soule

Published in 2016 by Marvel Enterprises.

Written by Charles Soule.

Art by Alex Maleev and Paul Mounts.

Synopsis

Lando Calrissian is in financial trouble - he has debts and he is working them off by pulling off "jobs" for the people he owes money to. He makes a deal to pull off one big heist for Papa Toren in exchange for all of his debt being cleared and the possibility of making of making a lot of profit for himself.

Lando and his sidekick Lobot (see picture below) build a team and pull off the heist - stealing a space yacht from an imperial shipyard. Everything looks great until they find a Sith artifact onboard and realize that they've just stolen the Emperor's yacht!

My review

This is the fifth Star Wars graphic novel that I've read written by Charles Soule, and it was the weakest of the bunch. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't great like the others. The plot had a lot of zip at first but moved from a heist story to a horror story and it slowed down so much to build a sense of dread that it just failed to work for me any longer.

I rate this graphic novel 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Star Wars: Lando.

HAWKEYE: THE SAGA of BARTON and BISHOP (graphic novel) by Matt Fraction, David Aja, and more

Published by Marvel Universe in 2021.

Hawkeye: The Saga of Barton and Bishop is actually two collections in one. The first half of the collection is the text from Hawkeye Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon.

To be honest, the first collection is much better than the newer second half. 

In the second volume, Hawkeye and Bishop are working separately. At the end of Volume 1 she left for California to be an independent Avenger. That's not really a thing, but she's young and hadn't really thought it through.

I found the art and storyline to be convoluted, especially with the main storyline - the Bishop storyline. The shorter Barton storyline is a simple continuation of the actions in Volume 1. Even though it is the shorter part of the story, it feels like it is stretched out and padded while the much longer Bishop story arc feels rushed and poorly explained.

I gave a rating of 4 stars for Volume 1. I give a rating of 2 stars for Volume 2. That makes for a total score of 3 stars. 

This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: Hawkeye: The Saga of Barton and Bishop.

INCREDIBLE HULK: PLANET HULK written by Greg Pak, illustrated by Carlo Pagulayan, Aaron Lopresti, Juan Santacruz, Gary Frank, and Takeshi Miyazawa.

Originally published by Marvel Comics from 199-2007.

Synopsis:

Hulk is banished from Earth after helping The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, and others defeat a common enemy by using Hulk's brute strength. Hulk has been rendered unconscious and placed on a spaceship. Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) leaves a video message for Hulk to find on the spaceship when he arrives at his destination - a planet with no intelligent life. Reed knows that it is a wish of both Dr. Banner and Hulk to be someplace where Hulk cannot hurt anyone and no one can hurt Hulk. 

But, a wormhole opens up and sucks Hulk's spaceship to a different destination - the planet Sakaar.

Sakaar is ruled by a despotic, deranged emperor. He rules a planet with multiple species - all of them hate each other because he pits them against them against one another. He has discs attached to their bodies to control their impulses and allow him to deliver pain at will. He wears a suit of armor that Iron Man would envy and he runs a giant gladiator contest to punish anyone who dares stands up to his regime.

That is, until Hulk arrives...

My Review:

Planet Hulk has a reputation of being THE ultimate Hulk story arc. This story is also part of the inspiration for the Marvel movie Thor: Ragnarok. 

*********Spoiler alert*********

While this graphic novel has a great reputation, I found it to be very repetitive. Hulk meets a danger, he nearly dies but he wins by just brute forcing everything. Every new confrontation makes him stronger until it just gets to the point of ridiculousness. Every time Hulk turns around there is a new species with new traditions, new prophecies, and new attacks on the Hulk that make him stronger. Eventually, he gets so strong that he can literally tear apart the planet from the inside - it just became tedious for me. The whole plot is something attacks, Hulk mad, Hulk smash, Hulk get stronger, Hulk finds peace of mind, something new attacks, Hulk mad again, and on and on and on.

*********End Spoilers*********

The art is very beautiful, though.

I rate this graphic novel 2 stars out of 5. I had to force myself to finish it, even if it is a classic. 

This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: INCREDIBLE HULK: PLANET HULK written by Greg Pak, illustrated by Carlo Pagulayan, Aaron Lopresti, Juan Santacruz, Gary Frank, and Takeshi Miyazawa.

HAWKEYE VOLUME 1: MY LIFE as a WEAPON (graphic novel) by Matt Fraction, David Aja, and more

Published in 2013 by
Marvel Worldwide, Inc.

This collection is the inspiration for the Disney+ series "Hawkeye." I really enjoyed this series and thought I'd read the source material. 

Just like in the series, most of Hawkeye's adventures are small time affairs. That's okay by me. Every adventure can't be (and shouldn't be) a "save the world" event.

Fans of Hawkeye in the MCU will be surprised that Hawkeye in the comics is not a family man. He's also a lot more disjointed and unorganized than he is in the movies.

That being said, this was an enjoyable read and this Hawkeye may not have an overwhelming love for his family, but he has a big heart in different ways.

I very much enjoyed the simplified art design and color scheme of most of this graphic novel. It gave it a sense of moodiness. 

I rate this graphic novel 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: HAWKEYE VOLUME 1: MY LIFE as a WEAPON (graphic novel) by Matt Fraction, David Aja, and more.

SPIDER-MAN: MAYHEM in MANHATTAN (audiobook) by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman

Originally published as a paperback book by Pocket Books in 1978.

Published by Marvel as an audiobook in 2019.
Read by Tristan Wright.
Duration: 4 hours, 9 minutes.
Unabridged.

Spider-Man is busy being "your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man" when he encounters a dead body thrown out of a New York City luxury high-rise apartment onto the street below. While he is investigating, two beat cops stumble upon them and a rookie cop on his first night shift tour takes a shot at Spider-Man. Worse than that, they make Spider-Man the prime suspect for the murder and Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson starts yet another media campaign against Spider-Man. 

Can things get worse? 

Spidey finds out that they certainly can as he begins an investigation to clear his name...

******

Spider-Man: Mayhem in Manhattan was kind of a tedious listen. Clearly, this book re-published as an audiobook in response to the Spider-Man craze that has come along since Spider-Man was added to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and not on its own merits as a piece of literature. Note: this book is not a part of the MCU, since it was published 30 years before the release of the first MCU movie. This was the first paperback in a short-lived series of books that Pocket Books published.

I am going to be tough on this audiobook because both Marvel and DC have done some nice work with their novels in the last few years - books that really dive deep into the character, something that Spider-Man actually helped to pioneer in the comics. This audiobook feels like more of a money grab - just publishing something that Marvel already owns rather than creating a new book written to higher standards. 

In this book the fight scenes are quite good, but the dialogue sounds stiff and like my grandparents would have spoken in 1978 rather than a college student (Yes, I was alive in 1978 - I am pretty old).

My biggest pet peeve is that there is a big reveal scene where Spider-Man finally figures out who is behind everything and the reader is supposed to be shocked who the bad guy is. Any casual fan of Spider-Man knows who it was from the little bit we saw of the character from the opening scene where the victim was thrown from the building. It was so anti-climactic when the big reveal officially happens. It would have been better to have just seen everything from Spider-Man's point of view and let it be a mystery to everyone.

The reader, Tristan Wright did a nice job.

I rate this audiobook 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: SPIDER-MAN: MAYHEM in MANHATTAN (audiobook) by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman.

Note: This book is also published under these alternate titles: The Amazing Spider-Man: Mayhem in Manhattan and Stan Lee Presents The Amazing Spider-Man: Mayhem in Manhattan.

IRON MAN: STEEL TERROR by Dean Wesley Smith

 

Originally published in book form in 1996.
Published in 2019 by Marvel.
Read by James Patrick Cronin.
Duration: 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Unabridged (but maybe not - see below)

As the Avengers settle down for a Christmas Eve dinner in Tony Stark's mansion (which doubles as Avengers headquarters), they are interrupted by news of a robot attack on a super secure research facility. TESS-One, a World War II era robot designed to counter super serum soldiers if it turned out to be necessary has returned from the dead. Can robots die? No matter - this robot was thought to be disposed of, but it is back. 

TESS-One

Even worse, it is under the control of another robot - the dreaded Ultron. He was also thought to have been killed/destroyed, but he is back and is pursuing his goal to kill off humanity...

My take:

******Caution - spoilers*******

The Iron Man: Steel Terror audiobook was created from a 160 page novel published in 1996 by Pocket Books that was aimed at 12-15 year-olds. If you are expecting a continuation of the characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), you will be disappointed. 

The details for the audiobook say that it is unabridged, but I think that 2 hours and 15 minutes is simply too fast for a 160 page novel to be read. An abridgement would explain the breakneck pace of the plot. For example, Black Widow travels from New York to Russia (and has a fight) and then back to New York and then to Antarctica (and has an even bigger fight) and then back to New York in the span of about 12 hours. 

Featured heroes include: Iron Man, Black Widow, Jarvis the butler, Vision, Quicksilver, Crystal, Hercules and Hank Pym as Giant Man.

This audiobook was not particularly riveting. There was room for a lot of character development, but instead it became a punch fest (or energy blast attack fest) and Ultron was defeated by lab work done by Hank Pym that took him no more than half an hour to think up, create and then place on a rocket that he programmed to go to Ultron's lair. 

Missed opportunities to go for a quick buck on the good name of Iron Man from the MCU..

I rate this audiobook 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: IRON MAN: STEEL TERROR by Dean Wesley Smith. The original 1996 book can be found on Amazon.com here: Steel Terror: Iron Man Super Thriller by Dean Wesley Smith.

LOKI: WHERE MISCHIEF LIES: MARVEL UNIVERSE YA (audiobook) by Mackenzi Lee

 

Published in 2019 by Listening Library.

Duration; 9 hours, 10 minutes.

Read by Oliver Wyman.
Unabridged.

The eternal issue with Loki in the Marvel Universe is the sibling rivalry between Loki and Thor that is encouraged by their father Odin who dangles the possibility of inheriting the throne in front of both of them. Odin encourages Thor to be "The Hero" and Thor responds too enthusiastically and Odin disapproves. Odin encourages Loki to try and keep up with Thor, but Loki can't keep up physically so he is forced to act using magic and/or tricks and Odin disapproves.  This book is built on this tension.

It's an okay book, but not a great one. There are three main settings for the novel - Odin's court, on Alfheim and in London in the late 1800's. For me, the best part was the part in London, but it just never really grabbed me. In this novel, the brothers are in their late teens or early twenties (or the equivalent to that for Asgardians.) There was a great opportunity for Loki to grow and develop as a character, but due to the restrictions of essentially "borrowing" a character for this novel, the growth can't happen and that was unsatisfying. 

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: LOKI: WHERE MISCHIEF LIES: MARVEL UNIVERSE YA by Mackenzi Lee.

MARVEL'S AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR: THANOS: TITAN CONSUMED (audiobook) by Barry Lyga

Published by Disney in 2018.
Read by Tom Taylorson.
Duration: 10 hours, 4 minutes.
Unabridged.

Thanos: Titan Consumed is a prequel to the record-breaking Marvel Cinematic Universe's Infinity War movies, telling the early life story of the villain - Thanos.

The story starts with the birth of Thanos on the planet Titan. Thanos is born deformed. His face is deformed, he is freakishly large and he is purple on a planet where people are born all sorts of colors, but not purple. Purple is the color of death.

And so starts the tragic story of Thanos...

Well, it's sort of tragic.

Thanos has a horrible early life but he is pretty horrible in his own ways, even without external prompting. The author, Barry Lyga does a commendable job of breathing life into this story and making Thanos a character that the reader alternately hates and pities. The journey from Thanos: the scorned child to Thanos: the Mad Titan and Destroyer of Worlds makes sense in this telling. I found myself wishing that Lyga had had a hand in the writing of the Star Wars prequels and had told the story of the conversion of Annakin Skywalker (Jedi Hero) of Darth Vader, the evil Sith Lord. George Lucas' story is most unsatisfying on that point.

This is an excellent sci-fi novel. It was made all the more enjoyable by the reader, Tom Taylorson. He created a whole universe of voices and characters with his voice. A first-rate talent.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here:   MARVEL'S AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR: THANOS: TITAN CONSUMED.

THE DEATH of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR AFTERMATH (audiobook) by Larry Hama

Published in 2015 by GraphicAudio.
Performed by a multicast.
Duration: 5 hours, 35 minutes.
Unabridged.

Set in the days after the conclusion of the superhero Civil War, this book deals with the aftermath of the assassination of Steve Rogers (aka Captain America) on his way to a courthouse to face a judge for not complying with a superhero registration policy. If you are only familiar with the Marvel movie Captain America: Civil War, this movie will be confusing. The movie is inspired by this comic book series, but does not follow it.

The superhero world (and the regular people, too) is mourning the murder of Captain America. In particular, Bucky Barnes (aka The Winter Soldier) is on the hunt for the killer. He is not alone. Falcon, Black Widow, Nick Fury and Sharon Carter are also looking. Turns out that even though Captain America is gone, many of his oldest enemies are still on the prowl...

I really enjoyed Civil War, but the follow up was just so-so. The big plot from the bad guys was unnecessarily complicated and was not made entirely clear in this adaptation (perhaps it was more clear in the book that this adaptation came from). To me, it seemed like the villains could have achieved one of there minor goals (influencing the American Presidential election) for less money by cutting back on minions and secret bases and just throwing a crapload of money  at politicians, like the Koch brothers and George Soros do.

The production was excellent. GraphicAudio always produces stories like old-fashioned radio plays. This one has more than 20 voice actors and lots of special effects but that wasn't enough to completely redeem this disappointing story.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: THE DEATH of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR AFTERMATH.

MARVEL'S AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR: THE COSMIC QUEST: VOLUME 1: BEGINNING (audiobook) by Brandon T. Snider

Published by Disney in May of 2018.
Read by Tom Taylorson.
Duration: 4 hours, 4 minutes.
Unabridged.

Brandon T. Snider was stuck in a hard place when he was picked to write this book. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) had just released Infinity War and there was no way that Snider was going to be allowed to release any spoilers for Endgame. In fact, there was really no way that he was going to be allowed to move anything forward in any meaningful way. The ABC TV show AGENTS of SHIELD has been dealing with this problem for years - how do you tell an interesting story when you are so constricted in what you can write about?

Well, in this case, he pretty much failed.

The story centers around two brothers who are MCU characters. No, not Loki and Thor. They are the Collector (featured in the first Guardians of the Galaxy
movie and played by Benicio del Toro) and the Grandmaster (featured in Thor: Ragnarok and played by Jeff Goldblum).

The book is set after Thor: Ragnarok and before Infinity War. The Collector is re-building after the disaster that happened when he was visited by the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Grandmaster has lost everything and is trying to start over again without letting his brother know how far he has fallen.

They decide that their best bet is to look for the Infinity Stones themselves. As they search, they are told the plots of the movies The Avengers, The Age of Ultron and The Guardians of the Galaxy. Of course, the Grandmaster refers to the plot of Thor: Ragnarok. 

Sadly, these interludes are the best part of the book. Most of the rest of the book consists of the two brothers visiting one seedy location after another on the planetoid Nowhere and doing nothing much. They talk to each other in a passive-aggressive manner, they unite to argue with other people and they are forced to move on.

So, in summary, the best part of this book are the various re-tellings of MCU movies that you have undoubtedly seen. It is pretty clear that this book was a cash grab by Disney for fans desperate for anything Marvel related that might offer a clue to what happened after the events of Infinity War. Don't fall for it.

The audiobook was read by Tom Taylorson who had the unenviable task of trying to play a character played by Jeff Goldblum. Taylorson did a good job of catching the quirkiness of the Grandmaster but only Jeff Goldblum can capture the true spirit of Jeff Goldblum.

I rate this audiobook 1 star out of 5.  It can be found on Amazon.com here: MARVEL'S AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR: THE COSMIC QUEST: VOLUME 1: BEGINNING.

THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL: 2 FUZZY, 2 FURIOUS (audiobook) (Unbeatable Squirrel Girl novelization #2) by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale

Published in 2018 by Listening Library.
Read by Abigail Revasch and Tara Sands.
Duration: 8 hours, 20 minutes.
Unabridged.

Middle school in a new town is tough enough - establishing new friendships, figuring out a new school and a new town and more.

Being a superhero in middle school has extra difficulties. How do you keep your secret identity a secret? How do you keep up with your homework when you are patrolling for bad guys at night? How do you balance your superhero and regular people friendships? And, if you are Squirrel Girl, you also have to balance your squirrel and human friendships. 

After successfully establishing herself as a genuine superhero in the first novel, Squirrel Girl is working on non-violent ways of dealing with bad guys, she has a tough new English teacher and she and her BHFF (Best Human Friend Forever), Ana Sofia are still sorting out what friendship is all about.

Squirrel Girl's new town (Shady Oaks, New Jersey) is getting a mall. But, everything seems a bit off to Ana Sofia. The promotions are weird, people are reacting strangely and the mall's logo looks an awful lot like the Hydra logo...

I really enjoyed the first Squirrel Girl novel. It was all about her origin story and it was a lot of fun. This novel was also fun, but not quite as good. There were laugh out loud moments (Squirrel Girl group texting the Avengers and their responses) and there were touching moments (Ana Sofia struggles with her hearing - she wears hearing aids but they don't fill in all of the gaps. My wife and my daughter also wear hearing aids and her struggles were accurate to their struggles).

But, there was a lot of repetition of things and the extended squirrel conversations were mostly annoying.

The last book was clearly meant to be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This book had a bit of trouble because in the two years since the first novel was written, six movies have been released and some of the characters don't match up so well any longer. Don't sweat it. It's still a fun time. I'll keep an eye out for a third book.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars our of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL: 2 FUZZY, 2 FURIOUS.

Link to my review of the first novel in this series: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-unbeatable-squirrel-girl-squirrel.html

DAREDEVIL: GUARDIAN DEVIL (audiobook) by Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada

Published by GraphicAudio in 2015.

Written by Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada.
Adaptation by Richard Rohan.
Duration: Approximately 3 hours.

Performed by multiple voice actors.

GraphicAudio specializes in multicast voice performances of audiobooks - they are like old-fashioned radio plays, but heavy on the action. In this story, there are 26 different voice actors and a lot of special effects.

Daredevil is a superhero by night and a lawyer named Matt Murdock by day. As a child, Murdock was blinded by an accident, but exposed to some sort of radiation in the same accident that radically enhanced his other four senses to the extreme. These enhancements allow him to fight crime, which he primarily does in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City.

Murdock is having a crisis of faith after a rough romantic breakup. Despite his devil personae, Murdock is a faithful Catholic of sorts. When he encounters a young woman with her baby on the run he immediately steps in to help her. Through a series of conversations and visits from mysterious strangers Murdock is told that the baby is either the return of the Messiah or the Anti-Christ.

Daredevil sets off to investigate and it only gets weirder...

***********

This is a very busy 3 hour audiobook adaptation. There are times when it moves a little too fast. In two separate scenes there is active dialogue going on in the foreground while a TV or radio news report is going on in the background - and both of the items are important to the story.

But, it was an interesting story - in many ways the action was secondary to the morality play and the psychological aspects. Also, fellow Marvel Comics characters Doctor Strange, Spider-Man and Black Widow make appearances.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. 

ANT-MAN: NATURAL ENEMY (audiobook) by Jason Starr

Published in 2015 by GraphicAudio
Performed by more than 25 voice actors.
Duration: Approximately 5 hours.

Scott Lang, better known to superhero fans as Ant-Man, has moved to New York City with his teenage daughter to take advantage of some job opportunities in the tech field. If you only know Ant-Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are a few differences in this book, but nothing that is insurmountable.

Scott Lang's criminal past comes back to haunt him when a former partner in crime breaks out of prison. People connected with his conviction are dying all across the country - and the FBI thinks that Scott Lang is next. Why? Because Lang testified against him in the plea deal that turned him away from a life of crime.

Lang knows that he doesn't really need police protection - after all, he is a superhero. But, he can't tell the FBI that.

Meanwhile, his daughter is having typical "mean girl" problems with a classmate when it occurs to her that she knows where her dad keeps his Ant-Man suit and she has the combination to the lock...

This book was a solid win for GraphicAudio. The last few superhero audiobooks of theirs that I have listened to have been too muddled and too hurried. This one had the pacing down just right and fell right in line with the "feel" of the Ant-Man movies (just set a few years later). It is funny, the characters are likable and the action is quite good. But, the final challenge for Ant-Man and its solution were a bit off for me.

I do enjoy GraphicAudio's old-fashioned radio play style. Each character is voiced by a separate actor with sound effects thrown in as well. The actor that played Tony Stark should get a special award for sounding exactly like Robert Downey, Jr.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: ANT-MAN: NATURAL ENEMY (audiobook) by Jason Starr.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: DARK DESIGNS (audiobook) by Stefan Petrucha

Published in 2016 by GraphicAudio.
Performed by a multiple performers.
Duration: approximately 6 hours.

S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors discover a dormant virus in Captain America's bloodstream while performing a newfangled ultra deep scan after an encounter with a different dangerous virus. This is not just any virus, it is an "extinction-level" virus, meaning it has the potential to wipe out the human race if it were to become an active virus.

So, Captain America is placed into a containment area so the virus won't kill off the world in case it goes active. But, giant old Nazi robots from World War II keep coming to life with Adolf Hitler's voice demanding to fight Captain America. If he doesn't show up to fight, they threaten to start killing nearby civilians. Iron Man shows up to help, but these robots are really just too much for one Avenger to handle and everyone else is busy, unreachable or just too unpredictable (you don't unleash Hulk into downtown Paris).

How can Captain America fight these robots when he is supposed to be under quarantine? What's making these robots come to life after all of these years? How long has Captain America been carrying this virus and where did he pick it up? Will S.H.I.E.L.D. be able to come up with a cure or will they have to put him into cryogenic stasis and hope for a cure in the future?

Graphic Audio's production values are always good - like an old-fashioned radio show. The actors are all good, but I especially enjoyed the performance of Richard Cutting, the actor that played Iron Man/Tony Stark. He sounds so much like Robert Downing, Jr.'s version from the Marvel movies that you would swear that Downing was performing the part himself.

The part of the story with Captain America having to be quarantined is intriguing, especially the ongoing debates with the epidemiologist that is brought in. But, the story of the Nazi "sleeper" robots is a re-hash of a previous story and, in the end, just suffers from some serious logic problems. Why would the Nazis design these robots to attack Captain America one at a time, like in a video game where the hero character fights increasingly difficult characters as he works his way up to the "big boss"? Also, the historian in me asks why Hitler wouldn't simply unleash all of these nearly unstoppable robots (I think that there are 7 of them in the two inter-related stories) onto Russian, British and American foot soldiers and take out tens of thousands of them in one fell swoop and just make Captain America a hero without an army to back him up?

Oh, well. Asking comic book stories to make sense kind of defeats the purpose of comic book stories.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: CAPTAIN AMERICA: DARK DESIGNS.

THE AVENGERS: EVERYBODY WANTS to RULE the WORLD (audiobook) by Dan Abnett

Published by GraphicAudio in 2015
Read by a multicast
Duration: 6 hours, 9 minutes.

Unabridged.

Captain America is called to Berlin to uncover a Hydra plot. Iron Man is called to Washington, D.C. to confront Ultron. Thor is in Siberia confronting a magical threat of immense proportions. Dr. Banner is investigating a mystery of his own with SHIELD. And, Black Widow and Hawkeye have their own problems confronting A.I.M.

In The Avengers: Everybody Wants to Rule the World, the Avengers are each pulled into their separate top-level emergencies - each of which could result in a worldwide disaster. Soon enough, the Avengers discover that each of these threats has arisen in response to a much larger threat - if only they can figure out what it is in time...

Usually, I really enjoy GraphicAudio's adaptations of comic book novels. Their use of sound effects and multiple actors remind me of an old-time radio show.

But, a high quality performance could not hide the fact that the action in this audiobook was too crowded with 5 separate plot lines. None of them were properly developed and the whole thing seemed half-baked throughout. It was a hurried mess that would have been better if it were simplified even more (drop out one or more of the plot threads) or greatly extended in order to properly tell each of the stories. 

The voice actor that played Tony Stark/Iron Man deserves special recognition for sounding exactly like the actor that plays the character in the Marvel movies, Robert Downey, Jr. The actor that played Quicksilver had a bizarre accent that sounded more like Katherine Hepburn's accent than his sister's. Truly an odd choice by the GraphicAudio team.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: THE AVENGERS: EVERYBODY WANTS to RULE the WORLD (audiobook) by Dan Abnett.

THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL: SQUIRREL MEETS WORLD (audiobook) (Unbeatable Squirrel Girl novelization #1) by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale

Published in 2017 by Listening Library
Read by Abigail Revasch and Tara Sands
Duration: 7 hours, 53 minutes
Unabridged

I am new to Squirrel Girl, sort of. Years ago, I had a middle school student on the autistic spectrum in my class with a comprehensive Marvel heroes book. He loved to look at that book rather than do his class work so I would "borrow" his book and find an interesting character and then talk to him about that character later on. Squirrel Girl caught my eye because, on the surface, she is ridiculous. All cute, fluffy and imbued with all of the powers of a squirrel. Doesn't seem like much when compared to the Incredible Hulk, does it? So, I told him my favorite all-time superhero was Squirrel Girl. And, to be honest, I liked the idea of a superhero that is not enhanced with over-the-top powers so she became my default answer to the question, "Who's your favorite superhero?" (asked by students who want to get off topic).

In reality, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World was my absolute first experience with a Squirrel Girl product of any sort and I enjoyed myself immensely. We listened to this on a family vacation and everyone enjoyed it.

This book is firmly set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so if you are a fan of the movies but not real big on the comics you will do just fine with this book. 

Squirrel Girl has moved from California to New Jersey. She has a lot on her plate. She needs to make new friends, do her math homework and hide the fact that she has a long bushy tail and can talk to squirrels. But, she has a relentlessly perky personality and eventually she finds a human friend and befriends a whole lot of squirrels. And those friends will be helpful once Squirrel Girl uncovers a series of bad things going on all across her new hometown.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World is whole lot of fun as an audiobook. The readers, Abigail Revasch and Tara Sands, deliver an enthusiastic, chipper performance and Squirrel Girl's wide-eyed enthusiasm shines through. 

On a personal note, there is a character named Ana Maria in the story. She is Squirrel Girl's human sidekick, sort of like Lois Lane to Superman or Alfred to Batman. She is also hearing impaired and depends on hearing aids. My wife and my daughter depend on hearing aids, but not as much as the Ana Maria character does. They both commented that Ana Maria's comments about hearing aids and her first-person descriptions of her adaptations to deal with the problem struck both of them as very authentic and well-done. 

This was a very enjoyable audiobook experience. 

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL: SQUIRREL MEETS WORLD.

Link to my review of the second novel in this series: https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-unbeatable-squirrel-girl-2-fuzzy-2.html

BIG HERO 6: THE JUNIOR NOVELIZATION by Irene Trimble

Published by Disney and Blackstone Audio in October of 2014
Read by MacLeod Andrews
Duration: 2 hours, 18 minutes
Unabridged

Big Hero 6 is, in my mind, one of the best superhero movies that has been made in this time of the renaissance of the superhero movie. It is fun and colorful, but it also has loss and shows the power of friendship and love. It also demonstrates how love can be twisted into something evil.

Hiro Hamada is a teenaged robot-building prodigy who competes in robot fighting contests. His brother attends the local university in the future city of San Fransokyo and also builds robots in a high-tech lab in the school with several other talented young engineers. When his brother dies in a horrible explosion at the lab, Hiro is thrown into a profound depression.

He re-discovers Baymax, a health care robot built by his brother, and he and Baymax discover clues that his brother wasn't killed in an accident, but was murdered instead. Baymax, Hiro and his brother's friends from the laboratory use their skills to create the tools they need to confront the villain.

This book closely follows the movie. It does add a few lines and take away a few lines here and there to make the book format work smoothly but it is very faithful to the movie. It perfectly captures the relationship between Baymax and Hiro and the narrator. MacLeod Andrews, absolutely nails the voice of Baymax, which I think was essential to the success of the audiobook.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

You can buy this audiobook on Amazon.com here: BIG HERO 6: THE JUNIOR NOVELIZATION.

MARVEL'S GUARDIANS of the GALAXY: THE JUNIOR NOVEL by Chris Wyatt

Published in 2014 by Disney.
Read by Chris Patton.
Duration: 1 hour, 39 minutes.
Unabridged (sort of).

Guardians of the Galaxy: The Junior Novel is the sanitized, unabridged version of the abridged book of the movie. That means that not all the movie is in this book, but the audiobook version that I listened to does have everything that the abridged book has in it.

We picked this up to listen to on a short family trip. We are all fans of the movie but we were interested in a version with no cursing and less sexual references when we were listening in the car. Some scenes are edited and lots of great dialogue has been added that was not in the movie. It makes me wonder if the author was working from an early script.

The reader, Chris Patton, does a good job of voicing each of the Guardians, especially Rocket and Drax.

But....despite all of these good things the book ends at just past the halfway point - the point where the Guardians just lost the Infinity Stone to Rona the Accuser. The story just ends at the low point of the movie and there is an epilogue that says something like this" "...and they go on to have lots of amazing adventures and save the day when they confront Ronan." It was longer than that but you get the idea.

So, I rate this audiobook 2 stars out of 5. What was there was good but it was not the complete story. It is my understanding that there is a longer audiobook version written by a different author. I have no idea if it has been rendered more "kid friendly" or not.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.

SPIDER-MAN: DROWNED in THUNDER (audiobook) by Christopher L. Bennett

Published by GraphicAudio in August of 2013

Multi-cast performance
Duration: Approximately 5 hours

Marvel Comic's Spider-Man swings into action in Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder. He is up against a robot attack against New York's Diamond District in a scene that was very reminiscent of the classic Superman cartoon "The Mechanical Monsters." But, Spider-Man always has a different take on things than the Man of Steel. Spidey's comments and tendency to not quite have everything under control give this caper a unique twist.

Of course, J. Jonah Jameson continues his media barrage against the webslinger, Peter Parker and M.J. are working through relationship issues and Spider-Man continues to struggle with his work/superhero/home life balance. But, in this story he faces other issues, including robot attacks from an undetermined source, a messed up Spidey Sense and a non-stop rainy weather pattern that make his webs a lot less effective and make it hard to swing through the city.

This is an interesting story. The partnership Spider-Man forms with an old adversary is entertaining as they try to work together and the GraphicAudio treatment of the story is professionally done and top-notch (as always). They add special effects and have a whole troupe of actors tell the story much like an old-fashioned radio play.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.
This audiobook can be found on Amazon here: Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder.

MARVEL'S AVENGERS: THE AGE of ULTRON: THE JUNIOR NOVELIZATION (audiobook) by Chris "Doc" Wyatt

Published by Marvel Press and Blackstone Audio on April 10 of 2015.
Read by Tom Taylorson
Duration: 1 hour, 34 minutes.
Unabridged.

Marvel's Avengers: The Age of Ultron: The Junior Novelization is my third audiobook of a junior novelization of a movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They adhere closely to the movies, have all been well-read, easy to listen to and, on the whole, quite enjoyable. 

But, this one is troubling because it only covers half of the movie. Literally, this audiobook is about half of the length of the other audiobooks as well. If you have seen the movie, it only goes to the fight scene in the ship that is being harvested for scrap metal and it alludes to the Iron Man/Hulk fight scene. That's it. 

Ultron

Up to that point, it's an enjoyable audiobook. Reader Tom Taylorson does a very good job with the different voices of the Avengers, especially Thor. He also does an especially good job with the voice of Ultron - sometimes he sounds exactly like James Spader who voices him in the movie.

The problem is that this is only half of the movie is in this audiobook.

It probably stems from the fact that this book was published a week before the movie was premiered in Los Angeles and about 3 weeks before it was released across the United States on May 1, 2015. To me, this seems like a promotional gimmick - a way to gin up interest before the movie came out. The problem is, we are stuck with just having half of a story long after the movie has been released.

I rate this audiobook 2 stars out of 5. What is there is excellent - but it's only half of the story.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon here: Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron: The Junior Novel.

Note: I was sent a copy of this audiobook by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.