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| Wednesday, February 3, 2010 11:28 AM |
| The Take |
 by Fëanor |
Fëanor's (semi-)weekly comic book review post.
This post covers new releases from the week of 1/27. Beware spoilers!
New releases
Batman and Robin #7
Once again Grant Morrison tosses us into the middle of a story that's already in progress, and doesn't slow down for one moment to let us catch up. We're left breathless and floundering, expected to figure out what's going on all by ourselves. I love it!! The action is insanely fast-paced, with Batman defusing bombs, saving kids, and leaping onto the back of motorcycles in mid-air, all in a totally matter-of-fact manner, like he does it every day - because he does do it every day. We get a quick, fun glimpse of the British supervillain prison, meet warring gangs of super criminals, stumble into a haunted mine, and Batman decodes a domino game into a tunnel map. There's a quick Batwoman crossover, an unfortunate panel where Batwoman and Batman get their dialog swapped by mistake (oops), and then we discover the terrible lengths Dick has gone to to get Bruce back. He thinks he's doing the right thing, and indeed it makes perfect sense character-wise that he would do this, but of course we know Bruce would never have wanted it, and nothing good can come of it. Which just makes it all the more awesome as a plot development. The final page promises us Batman vs. Batman in the next installment. I can't wait!
Thumbs Up
Captain America: Reborn #6
Finally, this miniseries comes to an end, well after comics have begun coming out set after its events. But that's okay, it was worth the wait. This is a fantastically fun and exciting final issue, from Dr. Pym's hilarious first line ("And that's how a real scientist punches... you hacks."), to Steve's terrifying and breathtaking final vision of a future overrun with War of the Worlds-style alien invaders. Steve beating the crap out of the Red Skull in his mind is also so bad-ass I was practically pumping my fist in the air while I read it. "There's a reason you never win... it's 'cause I never let you!" But seriously, how many things can Sharon screw up? She was brainwashed into shooting Steve in the first place; it's her fault he got lost in time; and in this issue she tries to take out the Skull and mistakenly turns him into a far more powerful and destructive giant version of himself. Somebody lock her up!
It's a great moment when Steve calls Bucky Captain America, and they head out to fight the Skull together. Bucky: "Does shooting still count as fighting?" Steve: "It does today." Bucky: "Then we're good to go."
Oh, and looks like Sin will be the new Red Skull. That's a nice touch. But yeah, that apocalyptic vision of Steve's is very cool. I'm looking forward to seeing where Brubaker goes next with this.
Thumbs Up
Green Lantern #50
Oh, Green Lantern. I wish I could quit you. But as usual, I was suckered in by the blurbs on the cover. "50th ISSUE!" "PARALLAX REBIRTH." "Oh crap, I can't miss that!" But really, I could have. Sure, there are some fun scenes - zombie Aquaman tries to torture Mera with their zombie son, and she just says, "I never wanted children," and vomits blood all over them. Atrocitus responds, "Earthwoman, I have nothing to say but - welcome to the Red Lantern Corps." Uh, I think that turned him on. I also love Luthor getting all maniacal and excited about his new ring. Crazy Scarecrow getting all crazy is fun, too. But most of the dialog is, as usual with Johns, quite bad; the Jordan/Ferris relationship just isn't doing anything for me; and freeing Parallax to fight the zombie Spectre is such an obviously terrible idea it's ridiculous.
Thumbs Sideways
Irredeemable #10
The only problem with this comic is that it doesn't have enough pages. I need to know what happens next!! Charybdis is getting creepier by the minute, taking the monumentally tasteless step of hitting on his dead brother's girlfriend while they're going together to retrieve his body. And hey, where'd that dead body get to, anyhow?? I remain curious about, and intrigued by, the big demon guy, not to mention Bette Noir's little secret. And hey, we finally got a glimpse of some of Tony's childhood trauma and got an idea of what's going on in his head. Good stuff.
Thumbs Up
New Avengers #61
Bendis is so uneven! Some days I can't stand his dialog, and other days it's just hilarious. This comic must have been written on one of his hilarious days. The conversation between Spider-Woman and Spider-Man is really a lot of fun. I was also amused by the one supervillain making the classic mistake of gloating and trying to take a picture of the heroes getting defeated with his iPhone, while the other supervillain keeps saying, "C'mon man, quit it, this is what always gets us in trouble!" And indeed, it does. The thing with the bullet bouncing off both shields, a girder, the iPhone, and then hitting the dude in the neck is priceless. It also helps that artists Stuart Immonen, Daniel Acuña, and Dave McCaig filled this thing with gorgeous artwork.
Thumbs Up
Superman: Secret Origin #4
I couldn't remember if I'd dropped this book or was still reading it, but I decided to pick it up anyway. I'm glad I did, because this issue was fun. Gary Frank turns in his usual great art (Lois is hot in that skirt). There's a classic Superman vs. mutated monster fight in the streets of Metropolis; Superman has a great bonding moment with Jimmy on top of the Daily Planet building; the Jimmy Olsen/Lois Lane team comes together; and Luthor officially declares war on Superman and The Daily Planet. Awesome!
Thumbs Up |
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| Tagged (?): Avengers (Not), Batman (Not), Brian Michael Bendis (Not), Captain America (Not), Comic books (Not), Ed Brubaker (Not), Geoff Johns (Not), Grant Morrison (Not), Green Lantern (Not), Mark Waid (Not), Siege (Not), Superman (Not), The Take (Not) |
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| Wednesday, January 27, 2010 01:22 PM |
| The Take |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor's (semi-)weekly comic book review post.
This post covers new releases from the week of 1/20, plus another, older book. Beware spoilers!
Back issues and old data
Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan
This huge, beautiful book is a random collection of issues of the licensed Japanese Batman comic that came out in the late '60s, and which was largely unknown in the West. In fact the comic was nearly lost in Japan, as well, and the folks who put this book together (Chip Kidd, Geoff Spear, and Saul Ferris) had a hard time scrabbling together enough issues to make it worthwhile, and that were in fit condition to be photographed. Because they got the comics from here, there, and everywhere, some of the stories pick up in the middle of an arc, and others leave us with agonizing cliffhangers. Interspersed between the comics are full-color photos of Japanese Batman memorabilia from the same era.
The Batman manga was produced to cash in on the popularity of the Batman TV series, and it was drawn and written by Jiro Kuwata. Kuwata was given a stack of American comics to base his work on, but all he took from these were some basic characters and story ideas. His plots and his artistic visualizations of the characters are therefore almost entirely original. He even created a series of brand new villains for Batman and Robin to face off against - like the unkillable Lord Death Man; the incredibly powerful Go-Go the Magician (whose "magic" really comes from a weather-controlling gadget he stole); the super-intelligent gorilla named Karmak, AKA Professor Gorilla; and an evil mutant that wants to destroy humanity.
The plots are simple in construction, but full of exciting action and fantastic ideas, and the visuals are wonderful. Kuwata's Clayface, instead of just turning his fists into hammers and impersonating other people, transforms into a giant bird, a praying mantis, a pterodactyl, a statue, a drill, a sea monster, Pegasus, a giant beetle, and on and on. And in the insane climax of Clayface's origin story, Batman briefly shares the villain's powers, and beats him at his own game.
The comics are enormous fun, and it's interesting also to read the random trivia that was printed in the margins of nearly every page, and to see some of the truly odd Batman memorabilia that was sold in Japan. One thing that really struck me about these toys is how they almost always get the colors of Robin's outfit correct, but often choose random, totally inaccurate colors for Batman's outfit.
These comics are not complex or clever or realistic, but they are blazingly fast-paced, crazy imaginative, and totally entertaining. Kidd suggests that a sequel is in the offing, so I'll be on the lookout for that.
Thumbs Up
New releases
Captain America #602
Wow. I mean... wow. Brubaker has taken the crazy '50s Cap and put him at the head of an army of teabaggers, whom the real Cap must now oppose by going undercover. The last arc was basically Cap versus the economic crisis, and now we've got Cap versus the teabaggers. Crazy stuff, man. I don't know if I like it or not yet, but Brubaker sure has some balls on him. Meanwhile, there's now an ongoing backup story in this title following Nomad. It's pretty cheesy and bad.
Thumbs Sideways
Dark Avengers #13
I haven't really liked a lot of the things Bendis has been doing with the Sentry, but I've been hanging in there anyway, waiting to see if maybe he was going somewhere interesting with all of this. Looks like we're finally getting near that ultimate destination, but I don't know if "interesting" is the word. More like "ridiculous" and "confusing." I mean, I wasn't sure it was even possible to muddy the waters any further regarding the Sentry's origin and identity, but Bendis has managed to do so here. Now we've got the suggestion that the Sentry is actually a worthless junkie scumbag addicted to super serum. Or maybe he's actually the God of the Old Testament. Or maybe he's actually Galactus. What?! I mean, seriously, WTF? This is nonsensical garbage.
Thumbs Down
Gravel #16
Here we take a break from the over-arching plot to do a one-shot murder mystery/ghost story. Then at the end the over-arching plot intrudes again, as Gravel gets warned once more not to interfere in affairs that don't concern him. It's a reasonably engaging story, but overall a bit disappointing. There's just nothing particularly fresh or creative here. Plus, I have my usual complaints about Mike Wolfer's ugly art.
Thumbs Sideways
Incorruptible #2
In this issue, we learn a bit more about the nature of Max Damage's powers, he takes another shot at being a superhero crime-fighter (it doesn't go so well), and then he stumbles on the trail of a supervillain and what I assume will be the first story arc. I'm finding the comic pretty interesting so far, but I still feel like I'm waiting for it to really grab me. Of course, it took a while for Irredeemable to grab me, too, so we'll see.
Thumbs Up
Joe the Barbarian #1
The premise of this comic - a kid has a vision of a fantasy world which could be real, or could just be a dream brought on by diabetic shock - is kind of an old story and wasn't particularly attractive to me, but the fact that it's written by Grant Morrison and cost only a buck made the book irresistible. In typical Morrison style, the comic dumps us right into the middle of the action and moves at a quick, staccato pace, using no narration and the absolute minimum amount of dialog to tell its simple story, forcing you to fill in the blanks. The premise, as I said, is a rather old and creaky one, and our main character is such a standard stereotype in so many ways - from his family situation to his nerd status at school - that it's easy for Morrison to tell us everything we need to know about him in a handful of panels. All that being said, the story is delivered with subtlety and skill by a master, who knows that most important art of writing: when not to say anything. I particularly like the choppy editing in the final sequence, as we jump back and forth between one world and the other. Also, there's the strong suggestion that future issues of the title will involve all your favorite characters from all your favorite franchises battling it out in an epic war, and that's pretty exciting.
Thumbs Up
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #2
The people infesting the station are treasure hunters, seeking a map supposedly hidden on DS9! I kind of figured. Oddly, this is identical to the plot of a Muppet comic I was reading recently. Anyway, I suspect Quark created the rumors about the map just to bring in more customers, but we'll see. A couple of odd things about the art in this comic: artist Fabio Mantovani must have a thing for Major Kira, because every time she appears, she's ridiculously over-sexualized. I know that's not exactly surprising to see in a comic book, but still. The other weird art thing: in one of the panels where Ben Sisko is shown talking to Gul Dukat, Sisko looks like he's roaring in a fit of rage, but it's completely out of context to what's actually happening in that panel.
Despite the not particularly creative plot and a few odd bits of art, I'm still enjoying the comic.
Thumbs Up
Star Wars: Dark Times #15
It's been a loooong time since I read an issue of this comic, but luckily it was easy enough to drop back into the story. I'm really enjoying the subplot involving all the intrigue and machinations between the Emperor and Vader. I like that the injured kid isn't an innocent, but is instead dumb and violent and ungrateful, and all-in-all a product of his environment. I also really like Jennir's status as a fallen Jedi - the way he's walking the line between the light and dark sides, and the totally bad-ass, Fistful of Dollars way he's working these two gangs against each other. And of course I love his bitter, sarcastic droid.
It's so nice to have a decent Star Wars story to read!
Thumbs Up |
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| Tagged (?): Avengers (Not), Batman (Not), Brian Michael Bendis (Not), Captain America (Not), Comic books (Not), Ed Brubaker (Not), Grant Morrison (Not), Gravel (Not), Mark Waid (Not), Siege (Not), Star Trek (Not), Star Wars (Not), The Take (Not), Warren Ellis (Not) |
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| Saturday, January 16, 2010 09:42 AM |
| (Last updated on Saturday, January 16, 2010 09:43 AM) | | The Take |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor's (semi-)weekly comic book review post.
This post covers new releases from the weeks of 1/6 and 1/13. Beware spoilers!
New releases (1/6)
B.P.R.D.: King of Fear #1
As per usual when picking up an issue of B.P.R.D., I felt a little lost at the beginning of this comic, like I'd forgotten some important plot details. But only a little. Even though it's not good for our heroes, I rather like the plot twist of the military withdrawing its support from B.P.R.D. and insisting on handling things its own way. That seems realistic, especially considering all the crazy crap B.P.R.D. has asked them to do. It's good to see Kate hanging out with her boyfriend again, and the Lobster's riddle-spewing ghost is both amusing and disturbing. And of course I loved seeing the link back to an earlier part of the Hellboy story. But what has happened to the Lobster and poor Johann now? Guess I'll have to wait and see. Anyway, another intriguing episode in the saga of the Hellboyverse.
Thumbs Up
Blackest Night #6
I really want to stop collecting this series! But something always draws me back in. This time it was the promise on the cover of "NEW GUARDIANS." Also, a quick flip through the book revealed that a whole bunch of random superheroes were getting rings, and that intrigued me. And, to be honest, there is some cool stuff in here. It's genuinely funny when Larfleez interrupts Sinestro's serious speech about tactics to point out that he wants the kill shot, too. It's cool when Barry grabs onto a chain of willpower and drags Hal along while he dashes two seconds into the future and outruns the black rings. The ring duplicating, deputizing thing is a bit gimmicky and hard to believe, but I loved the idea of Luthor getting an orange ring and Scarecrow getting a yellow ring - that's just perfect. Sadly, the other pairings of characters with rings don't work as well. The power of love overcoming the power of the black ring and turning Wonder Woman into a Whore Lantern, for instance. Yuck. And apparently the indigo ring comes with free language lessons, a staff, a loincloth, and body paint? Still, I have to admit, there are cool ideas here. It's hard to resist the concept of a huge ring war where every damn superhero and villain gets a magic ring and jumps into the fight.
After the main story, there's a cover gallery in the back advertising a bunch of upcoming Blackest Night tie-in issues, none of which really interest me. I don't quite get the numbering on them, either. Starman #81? The Question #37? Did they just make up those numbers or what? And why and how are there going to be so many tie-ins, anyway? I thought this series was finally almost over! How can it just go on and on?!
Thumbs Sideways
Siege #1
Speaking of epic, flagship, universe-changing miniseries, here's Marvel's new one. I'm not familiar with the name of penciler Olivier Coipel, but I rather like his work here, especially the two-page spread set in Asgard where Loki shows up to warn Balder about what's coming. There's an impressive vision of the city plus a creative panel layout. That full-page pic of the Avengers flying toward Asgard with Ares on the nose of a jet is also super hot. The comic is also pretty fun story-wise, especially now that I've mostly gotten over the lame plot device of Loki and Osborn manipulating Volstagg into creating another Stamford event. I like the way everybody but Osborn is pretty freaked out about going up against the Gods. I liked it when Thor shows up and gets into the fight, although I would have preferred to see more of Thor vs. Sentry (talk about a clash of the Titans!). And it's great having Cap jump up with his fist shaking in rage in that last panel. There's a transcript in the back of a longer version of Osborn's conversation about the siege with his Avengers which is kind of amusing, although my copy of it is a little messed up; the dialog on the third page is just a reprint of the dialog on the first page. You'd think Marvel would have paid a little closer attention to stuff like that on such an important comic, but whatever.
This is an okay start for Siege. I'll stick with it for now, see how it goes.
Thumbs Sideways
Siege: Embedded #1
I wasn't planning on picking up this tie-in comic, but... well, you know me. Sometimes I just can't resist. Anyway, this thing is actually pretty interesting. There's a character named Todd Keller who's clearly a parody of Glenn Beck (and perhaps Bill O'Reilly, to a lesser extent). Really the whole thing is about the media, about news-reporting intrigue, and about how political forces can shape how people view them by controlling who tells the story and how. It's rather clever.
Thumbs Sideways
New Mutants #9
Good lord I love this comic. The opening, with a portal to hell opening and a bad-ass commando group stepping out - wow. I also like Doug, and I like the scene of reconciliation between him and Amara. But best of all is Magik's story of time travel and Lovecraftian doom. Yay! I can't wait to read more of this storyline.
Thumbs Up
New releases (1/13)
Aliens vs. Predator: Three World War #1
Despite the fact that I've given up on both the Aliens and Predator miniseries being put out by Dark Horse at the moment, I still couldn't resist giving the company's Aliens vs. Predator series a try, especially since it's written by a guy named Randy Stradley whom I just started following on Twitter (he does these little known Star Wars facts on there that are pretty funny). The comic doesn't waste time and jumps right into the action and the killing. A ship lands in the middle of a mining colony and out come the Aliens! The twist is, they're actually being led out on chains and used as attack dogs by a bunch of Predators! Woah. That's a terrifying and exciting concept right there. Later we learn these are actually a quasi-mythical faction of Predators who don't hunt with honor, but simply kill for no reason. Interesting.
This storyline is actually a sequel to another storyline I never read, but the comic does a good job catching you up on the important information, so I never felt lost or confused. The writing isn't fantastic, but the concepts are intriguing, so I'll probably hang in there for at least one more issue.
Thumbs Sideways
The Marvels Project #5
This comic continues the disappointingly brief and exposition-heavy summary of Steve Rogers' transformation into Captain America. I know we've heard this story a million times, but I thought they'd give it a new spin or a different perspective in this miniseries. Instead Brubaker is just kind of hurrying on past it. Ah, well. The fun part here is the first appearance of the Red Skull, who is, as usual, right in the middle of doing something really awful and despicable. The bits with Steele and Fury and the Nazi scientists are interesting, and it's great seeing Cap getting suited up in the classic uniform for the first time, and meeting The Angel, whose perspective on Cap is fascinating.
Thumbs Sideways
S.W.O.R.D. #3
I love the contentious relationship between Brand and Beast, and Beast's witty dialog. Writer Kieron Gillen is even managing to make Gyrich a vaguely interesting character, which is difficult indeed. I love the scene where the troops invade Lockheed's room (which has nothing in it but a basket, a bottle of liquor, and a picture of Kitty) and try to take him into custody, and he easily eludes them. The scene with Doug, Warlock, and the Celestial is clever and cool; the Unit's backstory is totally fascinating; and Beast's escape plan is pretty brilliant. I was kind of hoping this issue would suck so I could drop this comic, but no such luck! In fact, it's fantastic.
Thumbs Up
The Unwritten #9
I think it's fair to say that this is my favorite comic on the stands at the moment. This issue is full of magic, tension, mystery, drama, and tragedy. Watching the children, their heads full of fantasy and a desire to help, wander into the prison and toward their doom, trusting to the very last in the power of a make-believe world to save them, is absolutely agonizing and devastating. I love the scene where the Governor reaches toward the ghost of Roland holding out his horn and punches through him to the fire alarm. I love the doorknob that opens magic doorways. And then Roland blowing his horn, and the final, terrible, fateful transformation of the Governor into Count Ambrosio - WOW. This is amazing, amazing stuff.
Thumbs Up |
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| Tagged (?): Aliens (Not), B.P.R.D. (Not), Blackest Night (Not), Brian Michael Bendis (Not), Comic books (Not), Ed Brubaker (Not), Geoff Johns (Not), Green Lantern (Not), John Arcudi (Not), Lovecraft (Not), Mike Carey (Not), Mike Mignola (Not), Predator (Not), Siege (Not), The Take (Not) |
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| Tuesday, December 29, 2009 05:41 PM |
| The Take |
 by Fëanor |
Fëanor's (semi-)weekly comic book review post.
This post covers new releases from the week of 12/23. Beware spoilers!
New releases
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight - Willow
This entry in Dark Horse's One-shot Wonders series is a flashback story written by Joss himself, and focuses on what Willow was up to before the events of Season Eight. Turns out she left Kennedy behind and went on a mystical journey - a sort of witch's walkabout, to gain knowledge of herself and learn how to deal with the enormous amounts of power she has. The journey is full of guides and dangers and magic and fascinating metaphors. The math goddess gets all emotional for some reason. Then Willow gets naked and wet and chooses the sexy snake-lady trickster for her guide. Okay then. It's a pretty neat story, with some moving character development and some imaginative moments, even if it does get a bit cheesy at points.
Thumbs Up
Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield? #1
Due to Marvel's delayed publishing schedule and screwed up chronology, this one-shot, self-described as "The Stunning Aftermath of Captain America: Reborn," has been released before Captain America: Reborn is over! Also, it's not particularly stunning. D'oh! Still, it's not much of a spoiler to learn that Steve Rogers regains control of his body and our main characters survive. I think we all knew that was going to happen. There's a brief action scene, but this comic focuses mostly on thinking and talking, as Steve and Bucky discuss... well, the question asked by the subtitle of the comic (which is incredibly cheesy, by the way). It ends up being reasonably emotionally effective, and true to the characters. But it's also slightly underwhelming, as there's very little drama or conflict, and the outcome is pretty clear from the beginning. The bit with the President at the end is a little corny, too. And there's a weird moment between Steve and Sharon just before that that's oddly creepy, and I don't think it was meant to be creepy, but I'm not sure, so it kind of threw me off. I blame the artist.
Thumbs Sideways
Criminal: The Sinners #3
Tracy gets closer than he realizes to the solution to the murder mystery, then gets himself involved in a whole new kind of trouble (the Triads), while finally becoming aware of the other kinds of trouble he's already in. Poor bastard. It's just another tense, exciting issue of Criminal. The essay in the back, by Tom Piccirilli, is not my favorite - the writing is a bit clumsy - but I appreciate the attempt to bring attention to Korean crime thrillers, as I'm a fan of the genre myself. I'm particularly happy that The Chaser got mentioned, since I really enjoyed that film. Well, "enjoyed" is perhaps not the right word, but it's a great movie.
Thumbs Up
Green Lantern #49
This issue turns the focus on John Stewart and what he's been experiencing on the planet Xanshi. Interestingly, he meets a character there named Driq, who seems to be both a Green Lantern and a Black Lantern at the same time. He also does some relatively bad-ass stuff and has an important character moment. Then there's a separate short story where some Black Lantern tells Ray Palmer Nekron's origin story. Yawn. Yeah, overall, another mediocre issue of Green Lantern, with Johns' usual lame dialog and overdone narration. I'm seriously thinking about dropping this book. I still kind of want to know how this story is going to play out, but I'm not sure it's worth slogging through all this disappointing writing.
Thumbs Sideways
Hellboy: The Bride of Hell
Another entry in Dark Horse's One-shot Wonders series, this is one of the more difficult Hellboy comics I've read, not because the plot is complex, but because the moral and ethical issues are. It starts out looking like a typical, straight-up, Hellboy-saves-an-innocent-girl-from-an-evil-demon story, but the sect of knights who work for God and who are thus theoretically the "good guys" turn out to be pretty rigid, heartless, and bloodthirsty, while the demon and his servants turn out to be funny and sympathetic. It's a powerful, thought-provoking story that takes some really unexpected turns. I'm so pleased that Mignola can still surprise and delight me with stories about this character and his world.
Thumbs Up
Irredeemable #9
All kinds of exciting stuff goes down in this issue. Looks like The Plutonian is about to be replaced by someone even worse. And then there's Project Ultimatum, which is a crazy and fantastic addition to the story. And meanwhile, we've finally found out where Modeus is. Interesting! The only thing I don't like about this comic is how short each issue is. I just want to keep reading it and reading it.
Thumbs Up
The New Avengers #60
I gotta admit, this is a pretty great issue. Lovely art from Stuart Immonen, with beautiful colors by Dave McCaig, and a fun story in which Norman Osborn mistakenly blows up his own house, and Bullseye just laughs at him. Also, Pym and Strange take a magical, scientific, Fantastic Voyage inside of Luke Cage. And a dude's head gets blown up with a magic bullet. Good stuff.
Thumbs Up
New Mutants #8
Defeating the cat lady by tossing her own arm out the window and telling her to fetch it was cold - and awesome. Also, Magma is hot (literally!), the scene with the missiles is kind of sweet and sad, and it's great having Doug and Warlock back. I still refuse to read anymore of this Necrosha crap, though.
Thumbs Up |
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| Tagged (?): Avengers (Not), Blackest Night (Not), Brian Michael Bendis (Not), Buffy (Not), Captain America (Not), Comic books (Not), Criminal (Not), Ed Brubaker (Not), Geoff Johns (Not), Green Lantern (Not), Hellboy (Not), Joss Whedon (Not), Mark Waid (Not), Mike Mignola (Not), The Take (Not) |
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| Tuesday, December 22, 2009 12:31 PM |
| The Take |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor's (semi-)weekly comic book review post.
This post covers new releases from the week of 12/16. Beware spoilers!
New releases
Astonishing X-Men #33
This issue opens with Brand dumping a load of exposition and backstory on us while the X-Men reminisce. Then, giant hideous monster! Enormous aircraft! Crazy ideas involving zombies! Insane action! More reminiscing!
A rather strange issue, all-in-all. But we're getting closer to whoever the Big Bad is this time. Maybe it'll be... Forge's twin brother! From a parallel Earth's future! Or something.
There are some funny bits here, like when everybody's ragging on Wolverine. But hey, when did Cyclops get so incredibly powerful?
Not sure how to feel about the issue, really. It's all right, I guess.
Thumbs Sideways
The Authority: The Lost Year #4
This is the continuation of Grant Morrison's Authority storyline, which he started about a year ago, did two issues of, and then never finished. Keith Giffen has taken over the writing duties. I started collecting the original miniseries and was a bit disappointed when it didn't go anywhere, so I thought I'd pick this up and see where it takes the story. Apparently I missed #3, and apparently there are going to be a total of 12 issues. I don't think I need to see any more, though. The writing is melodramatic and overwrought, and the story, while epic and apocalyptic, still manages to be a bit dull. I love The Authority, so I keep wishing somebody would write a good story about them again one of these days. Sadly, this isn't it.
Thumbs Sideways
Captain America: Reborn #5
There are lots of great ideas in this issue. Steve is imprisoned inside a horrible Nazi-controlled alternate history America, designed by Zola and placed inside of the Red Skull's mind, which itself is now inside of Steve's skull. But still Steve finds a way to fight back, because he's just that bad-ass. Good old Steve. In the outside world, the Red Skull unleashes the awesome and insane Super-M.O.D.O.K. Squadron on Steve's friends. Meanwhile, Steve's friends are finding it pretty hard to fight back against him, even knowing that it's the Red Skull who's running the show. It doesn't look good! But I suspect everything will turn out right in the end, especially considering I've already seen Steve walking around in his own body in other comics set after this. Anyway, loved this issue. Extremely fun concepts and action, and just crazy enough to keep things interesting.
Thumbs Up
The Complete Alice in Wonderland #1
I love Lewis Carroll's Alice stories, and I find it hard to resist at least glancing at nearly every adaptation of them. And this book has a snazzy die-cut cover by John Cassaday, which made it doubly hard to resist. Overall it's pretty good, but also a bit disappointing. I hadn't thought much about creating my own comics in the past, but this comic made me think about it a lot, although sadly not in a "I'm inspired by how awesome this is" way. It was more of a "I really think I could have done this better" kind of way. The biggest problem I have is with the pacing. The whole thing feels incredibly rushed. Probably they had a strict issue- and page-limit staring them down, but I really think they needed to give certain sequences more time and space. It might even have been worth it to cut less important parts of the story out just to give the important things their due. But then I guess it wouldn't be "The Complete Alice in Wonderland" anymore. An example: in one panel near the beginning, Alice is crawling along a tunnel, and in the next panel she's already halfway down the rabbit hole, surrounded by weird stuff floating in the air. It's a jarring jump, and takes away the power and shock of the fall. I think we needed one very big panel devoted to the tumble into the rabbit hole. Then you move on to the slow fall and the stuff floating by, maybe on the next page. The sequence where Alice enters the White Rabbit's house, grows very large, kicks Bill out of the chimney, and then shrinks and escapes, is also horribly collapsed and rushed. We hardly get to see Bill at all, and barely understand what's going on before it's over. I also am not a huge fan of the manga-y representation of Alice, or the rather boring conception of the caterpillar (I much prefer Cassaday's versions of Alice and the caterpillar on the cover).
It's not a horrible comic. Some sequences are pretty well done visually and pacing-wise. But all the same, I don't think I'll bother picking up another issue.
Thumbs Sideways
Dark Avengers #12
In this comic, Bendis comes up with an excuse to strip Victoria Hand to her underwear. And I can't say I don't appreciate it on some level, but still. C'mon, man. Anyway, this issue ultimately turns into the war of the super-powered crazy people, and the upshot is that the Sentry becomes aware of the true nature and depth of his power, and Osborn gets a little closer to his inevitable breakdown. Still not sure I really like where Bendis is taking the Sentry as a character, but we'll see.
Thumbs Sideways
Incorruptible #1
Mark Waid's Irredeemable is going well, so now he's started a new series set in the same universe, but looking at the other side of the coin: instead of a God-like superhero turning evil, now we've got a bad-ass supervillain going straight. This first issue is intriguing and fun, with some good dark humor. I'm amused by the underage sidekick named Jailbait, and the slightly corrupted version of Jim Gordon. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
In the back there's an excerpt from The Unknown, another Mark Waid comic, this one about a paranormal detective. I was thinking of trying this out, and now I'm glad I didn't. Looks pretty dumb.
Thumbs Up
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #1
I was a pretty big fan of DS9 (until it went off the rails somewhere around the last season), and this comic reminds me why. It reintroduces you to all the recurring characters of the series in a very warm, nostalgic way, and even brings back a weird-looking alien background character and continues the running gag about him from the show (you never get to hear him speak, but there's the constant suggestion that he talks all the time whenever you aren't watching). The plot is an intriguing mystery about a sudden influx of visitors to the station. It's fun stuff. I'll be picking up the next issue to see where it goes.
Thumbs Up |
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| Tagged (?): Authority (Not), Avengers (Not), Brian Michael Bendis (Not), Captain America (Not), Comic books (Not), Ed Brubaker (Not), John Cassaday (Not), Mark Waid (Not), Star Trek (Not), The Take (Not), Warren Ellis (Not), Wonderland (Not), X-Men (Not) |
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| Tuesday, December 15, 2009 02:20 PM |
| (Last updated on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 03:13 PM) | | The Take |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor's (semi-)weekly comic book review post.
This post covers new releases from the week of 12/9. Beware spoilers!
New releases
B.P.R.D.: War on Frogs #4
The latest (and I believe last?) in a series of one-shots set back during the original plague of frogs, this one focusing on Johann Kraus. Peter Snejbjerg's art coupled with Bjarne Hansen's colors makes for some beautiful, creepy, atmospheric visuals. The story is eerie, unsettling, and moving, and provides some further development of Kraus' character.
Thumbs Up
Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #5
Gun Nuns, activate!! Lots of fun and darkly funny stuff in this issue. That eyeball guy is amusing. I didn't see the surprise twist coming - that the Caretaker herself was a gateway to heaven. And finally we're all set up for the big showdown that's been heading our way since Jason Aaron took over the Ghost Rider franchise. Meanwhile, the reprint origin story of the Son of Satan continues in the back of the book. Gotta say, this entry is pretty bad. Lots of corny dialog and clumsy recapping and exposition.
Thumbs Up
The Muppet Show #0
I think this marks the start of the new ongoing Muppet book, although I could be wrong. The concept - Rizzo Rat and Fozzie Bear pitching a Pigs in Space movie to Statler and Waldorf - is brilliant, but the execution leaves something to be desired. It's mildly amusing, and that's it. I kept wanting it to get better, and it never did. I also thought it was weird and pointless that they tried to hide the fact that the two movie execs were Statler and Waldorf by depicting them in silhouette at first. C'mon, it's two cranky, critical old guys. Who else were they going to turn out to be?
Thumbs Sideways
The New Avengers Annual #3
Sometimes I find comic book chronology really odd. It was months and months ago that a comic came out about Hawkeye breaking into Osborn's hideout to kill him. He subsequently got captured. A number of comics have come out since then dealing with the aftermath of that event - Hawkeye's inevitable escape. And yet only now do we finally get the comic that actually tells the follow-up story to the original issue, explaining the details of Hawkeye's escape. Making things even more confusing, the resurrected Steve Rogers shows up at the end of this issue, even though the miniseries bringing him back (Captain America: Reborn) hasn't finished yet, so we don't know how he got there. Sigh.
As for the story itself... well, it has its moments. It's fun seeing the rebel Avengers bust in and one-up the Dark Avengers. I don't like the art, though. It's that hyper-realistic, Alex Ross-style stuff that I always feel as if I should like, but that always ends up annoying me. Maybe I'm getting an uncanny valley vibe off of it.
Thumbs Sideways
S.W.O.R.D. #2
Marvel Boy gets captured in the opening of this, but again I'm confused by the chronology - is this the new, uber-powerful Marvel Boy, or the old, weaker Marvel Boy? Either way it seems like he should have been harder to nab. And why is Spider-Woman helping the Man? I thought she was with the rebel Avengers! Confusing. There are some corny bits to the story, too, but also a reasonably exciting plot about Gyrich forcibly expatriating all of Earth's alien residents. I'm loving the preview image from next issue, featuring Lockheed surrounded by flames and pointing two guns at us in his most bad-ass stance.
Thumbs Sideways
The Unwritten #8
This issue takes a quick jump backwards in time and retells some of the story's more recent events, this time with a focus on the governor of the prison that Tom has been put in, as well as the governor's children, who have a slightly unhealthy obsession with the Tommy Taylor books - an obsession that could put them in serious danger. It's another tense, unsettling, emotionally powerful issue crammed with brilliant ideas. I continue to believe this is one of the best comics on the stands right now.
Thumbs Up |
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| Tagged (?): Avengers (Not), B.P.R.D. (Not), Brian Michael Bendis (Not), Comic books (Not), Ghost Rider (Not), Jason Aaron (Not), John Arcudi (Not), Mike Carey (Not), Mike Mignola (Not), Muppets (Not), Roger Langridge (Not), The Take (Not) |
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| Tuesday, December 8, 2009 03:51 PM |
| The Take |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor's (semi-)weekly comic book review post.
Wow, it has been a looooooong time since I've posted one of these. I had been falling behind anyway, and then Nanowrimo happened, and I fell so much further behind that it became ridiculous. So I've decided to give up on the idea of catching up on all the comics I missed reviewing, and just pick up with the most recent week. Hope nobody minds!
This post covers some new releases from the week of 10/7 (because I happened to already have them written, so I figured I might as well post them), as well as new releases from the week of 12/3. Beware spoilers!
New releases (10/7)
Astonishing X-Men #31
Now this - this is a good X-Men comic. We start with alien fighting, then the whole team works together to save people in danger, and then there's a weird, creepy Sentinel attack! Also, amusing humor throughout.
Thumbs Up
Batman and Robin #5
The new artist is not as good as the old guy. Scarlet's backstory just makes her creepier. It's pretty disappointing to me that the new Red Hood is just... Jason Todd again. Boring! Once somebody pointed it out to me, I did get a bit of a chuckle out of the fact that there's a phone poll in support of Jason Todd in the book, considering that a phone poll is how it was decided he would be killed. Flamingo, meanwhile, is gross and disturbing.
Definitely not my favorite issue of this. Hoping for better soon.
Thumbs Sideways
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #29
Giant war! It's cute how Xander and Dawn teach the Slayers about guns. And now it turns out Oz & friends' hippie dippy crap about giving the magic to the Earth was a bit of a lie. In fact they were giving the magic to wrathful goddesses, whom they now call upon to save them. So yeah, getting rid of the magic was as bad an idea as it seemed. But calling on wrathful goddesses sounds like maybe an even worse idea. Hmm...
Thumbs Up
Captain America: Theater of War - Ghosts of My Country #1
Another in a series of Captain America: Theater of War one-shots. This one takes us through a series of important moments in the history of America, and each time a phrase is repeated, and Captain America's spirit is there. The book is alternately cheesy and effective. I can't quite decide how I feel about it.
Thumbs Sideways
Criminal: The Sinners #1
Hooray, Criminal is back! And so is Tracy Lawless. As usual he's got trouble closing in on him from every direction. Sleeping with the boss' wife? Really? And man, that's a bad job you got stuck with. I didn't expect kids to be the culprits!
I really enjoyed the interview with Darwyn Cooke in the back about the Parker books. Some great details on Cooke's adaptation process for The Hunter, and some really interesting insight into the story. And the appreciation of Sam Peckinpah's The Killer Elite was so convincing I immediately added the movie to my Netflix queue.
Thumbs Up
Dark Reign: Zodiac #3
The object of our villain/hero's immediate scheme is finally revealed, but it's really only the first part of a much larger plan to change the world. I'd love to see more of this story. Great writing and art. But man, that poor H.A.M.M.E.R. agent. He just had no luck.
Thumbs Up
Final Crisis: Aftermath - Run! #6
Pretty great ending for this series, and a poetic defeat for the Human Flame. He's trapped by his own lust for power, and his refusal to go back to the loser he used to be. Also, his stupidity. His stupidity definitely doesn't help. The bit with the cell phone pic is a nice touch.
Thumbs Up
Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire #3
Big showdown between both Ghost Riders and their enemies. I love Trull! Also, the Gun Nuns. Still really enjoying the reprint backup story, too. Exciting plot, and Witch-woman is hot!
Thumbs Up
The Incredibles #1
As I suspected, our storyline focuses on the alien virus introduced in #0. Turns out it passes on super powers! Cool idea, and I love the silly henchmen. "Should you really be holding a baby when you're on fire?" Also, I instantly approve of any character named Ungorilla.
Thumbs Up
New releases (12/3)
Captain America: Theater of War - Prisoners of Duty #1
Another surprisingly good entry in this series of one-shots. Exciting action, coupled with a powerful statement about the cruelty of war.
Thumbs Up
Dark Avengers Annual #1
Finally we find out what the new Captain Marvel has been up to since he ran out on the Dark Avengers. Turns out he's been calling home for further instructions, and also flirting with a goth art student. Then at the end he gets a new power set and a new uniform. Some vaguely interesting ideas here, and I could see how somebody could now go interesting places with the Captain Marvel character. But the writing is also pretty cheesy, especially as far as the goth art student is concerned. And it's painfully obvious that nobody knows what to do with this Captain Marvel guy. New writers just keep changing the character completely so they can try something different with him. It's kind of sad.
Thumbs Sideways
The Incredibles #3
Reasonably fun issue. There's a huge, super-powered war that might have been too hard to do even in an animated movie. So that's cool. Still, I feel like something is missing here. There's just not a lot of life or energy or creativity in the dialog and the story. I might drop this book.
Thumbs Sideways
The Marvels Project #4
I was a little disappointed with this. The opening especially is really over-narrated, and it's pretty harsh how Brubaker casually dispatches The Ferret. It's a little tiresome reading yet another summary of Steve Roger's early life. Why not do something different with it this time? I mean, this is just a straight-up summary of the same events we all know by heart. John Steele is interesting, and I like how he meets up with Nick Fury and his guys; I imagine they'll get along well. But the way Brubaker just skips through Steele's interactions with the German townspeople seems a bit clumsy. I like seeing the assassination of Erskine from the perspective of the saboteur; that's interesting. But yeah, overall this is definitely not my favorite issue of this series.
Thumbs Sideways
Scalped #33
In case you were wondering, yes, Scalped is still awesome. I'm glad to see our hero seems to finally be pulling himself together and enacting some kind of plan, even if it involves teaming up with the ultimate scumbag, Diesel. Is Chief Red Crow's big plan to defuse the Hmong situation to just get beaten up? I'm not sure that's going to satisfy them...
In the back of the book is a preview for something called Luna Park. It's awful! So that's good to know.
Thumbs Up
Siege: The Cabal #1
This one-shot is meant to bridge the gap between Marvel's last big event (Dark Reign) and its next one (Siege). It involves Norman Osborn rather arbitrarily deciding to move on Asgard. He also has a violent argument with Doctor Doom over Namor. I don't really care for this comic. I think the problem is that I don't understand the characters' motivations. They just seem to be performing random acts in service of Bendis' plot. Also, the preview of Siege #1 is disappointing. It looks like Loki and Osborn are going to team up to create an inciting incident nearly identical to the one that started the Civil War, as an excuse for Osborn to move on Asgard. First of all, I don't even get why Osborn is going after Asgard. He has to know he can't take on a whole city full of Gods. Why not just let them be if they're not coming after him? And it's also really disappointing to me that Bendis is just going to reuse the same plot mechanic from Civil War. I mean, come on. That is lame.
Thumbs Sideways
Supergod #2
This series is amazing. The natural next step in Warren Ellis' examination of the concept of the superhuman. Now he's looking at the superhuman in relation to humanity's conception of religion - Superheroes as Gods. The problem is, once you've made a God, how do you control it? How do you understand it? And the answer is, you can't. This comic is loaded with amazing, mind-blowing ideas and incredibly dark humor.
Thumbs Up
Ultimate Spider-Man #5
I was really excited about this comic at first, but I'm starting to get tired of it. It's cute. The art's good. The story's okay. But it's not blowing me away anymore. And that Bendis dialog! It really starts to grate on you. I mean, how many books did I buy this week by Bendis? That guy is everywhere! Can't he just back off a little?
Thumbs Sideways |
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| Tagged (?): Avengers (Not), Batman (Not), Brian Michael Bendis (Not), Buffy (Not), Captain America (Not), Comic books (Not), Criminal (Not), Dark Reign (Not), Ed Brubaker (Not), Final Crisis (Not), Ghost Rider (Not), Grant Morrison (Not), Jason Aaron (Not), Mark Waid (Not), Pixar (Not), Scalped (Not), Siege (Not), Spider-Man (Not), The Take (Not), Vampires (Not), Warren Ellis (Not), X-Men (Not) |
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| Wednesday, October 28, 2009 06:29 AM |
| The Take |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor's (semi-)weekly comic book review post.
This post covers new releases from the week of 9/30. Beware spoilers!
Back issues and old data
The Hunter
Darwyn Cooke adapts as a graphic novel one of Donald Westlake's Parker novels, which Westlake wrote under the pen name Richard Stark. The story I'm familiar with from the film adaptations, but this is a different version of it altogether - from what I can tell, far more faithful to the source material. The great majority of the opening sequence is entirely wordless, making for some really powerful but subtle storytelling. About a quarter of the way through the book, Cooke takes a 180 and resorts to a whole lot of exposition to fill us in on the backstory, but the writing is so good it doesn't feel like cheating at all. One of the most fascinating things about the book is that it's a character portrait of a man who resists at all times any attempts to sympathize with him. The very first page of the book sees him responding to a kind offer of help with a curse. When his remorseful ex-lover tells him she takes pills every day to try to get over what she did to him, he says, "Take too many pills." When she does, he cuts up her face and dumps her in the woods so it will take longer for her to be found and identified, and he'll have more time to do what he needs to do. He's a hard, brutal man - not totally heartless, as his mission is one of passion and revenge, but certainly not sensitive or romantic. He's willing to do whatever it takes - even casually, efficiently, and single-handedly taking on a huge criminal empire - to get back at the people who hurt him, and to return to the pleasant, mechanical pattern that his life once had.
If the book has a flaw, it's that the ending is perhaps a bit anticlimactic, but really I'm just picking at nits. It's brilliant and riveting, and I can't wait for the next one, which we can apparently expect in summer of next year.
Thumbs Up
I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets
An amazing collection of reprints of the Golden Age work of writer/artist Fletcher Hanks. Most of these stories star either the interplanetary techno wizard Stardust, or the magical jungle goddess Fantomah, although there are a couple of random stories featuring tough logger Big Red McLane and space cop Buzz Crandall. It doesn't really matter that much who's in the stories, however, as every one of them has exactly the same structure: an incredibly powerful hero discovers that a crazed villain is planning to wreak terrible havoc. After the villain has set his evil plans into motion, the hero intervenes, easily defeats the villain, and then gives him a horribly appropriate punishment, a la Dante's Inferno. The sameness of the plots does not lead to boredom, however, as the details are endlessly inventive. The stories and dialog are oddly simplistic and almost childish in terms of logic, conception, and motivation, and yet they're also epic in scope and surreally imaginative. (The title of the book is an actual line of dialog from one of the comics; the characters are spitting out fantastic stuff like that all the time!) Hanks' art perfectly complements his writing; it's big, bold, weird, and striking, and yet also simple in its colors and forms.
Hanks' heroes are impossibly, unimaginably strong, and yet one gets the sense they're not being quite as heroic as they could be. Each story opens with the hero somehow becoming aware of what the villain is about to do, but quickly thereafter the hero vanishes from the story, and for the next few pages we simply watch as the villain sets his horrible plan into motion and begins murdering innocent people and destroying whole cities or planets. It's only as the chaos is about to reach its peak that the hero finally strolls onto the scene and takes care of business.
Hanks' villains seem like children compared to his God-like heroes, and yet their powers and schemes are also epic in size. Inevitably they have whole squadrons of bombers at their disposal, or the ability to create tsunamis, or to stop the Earth from spinning. But rarely do they think their plans through. After you've thrown everyone else off the Earth to steal their wealth, what good will that wealth be to you? Hanks' heroes seem troubled by similar short-sightedness, which is never clearer than in this unintentionally hilarious text on the title page of one of the comics: "Stardust, whose vast knowledge of interplanetary science has made him the most remarkable man that ever lived, devotes his abilities to racket-busting."
Hanks' stories are simple and clumsy, but also full of amazing magic, insane technology, indelible images, and incredible action. I will definitely have to pick up the second collection, You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation!
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the book's unique and wonderful afterword, "Whatever Happened to Fletcher Hanks?" This is a short autobiographical story by Paul Karasik, the guy who put this collection together, in which he explains how he became fascinated by Fletcher Hanks, what Hanks' work means to him, and how he started trying to track down what had happened to Hanks by finding and interviewing his son, Fletcher Hanks, Jr. The clever bit is that Karasik has chosen to write his afterword in the form of a comic - a smart, subtle, funny, and moving comic, at that. We learn some unsettling facts about Hanks here - that he was an abusive drunk who walked out on his own family. But he also made some incredible comics.
Thumbs Up
New releases
Aliens #3
This series is finally starting to get a little interesting. We get more backstory and explanations, and also the android is malfunctioning in pretty fascinating ways - he's even falling asleep and dreaming.
Thumbs Sideways
Dark Reign: Lethal Legion #3
All the secrets finally come out, and all the mysteries are revealed. Turns out everybody was betraying everybody else! It's actually a pretty complicated story, with a lot of little twists and turns, and some intriguing characters at the heart of it. I particularly liked the relationship between the Reaper and Wonder Man. And the Grey Gargoyle's totally wrongheaded guesses as to the true identities of Osborn's Avengers are pretty funny.
Thumbs Up
Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man #4
The end of this series does not disappoint. All of our subplots collide in a scene of extreme hilarity and chaos at Mayor JJJ's festival. I love Bullseye throwing a yap dog into Venom's eye, and the gangsters bonding over corn dogs. In the end, everyone of any importance mistakenly thinks Venom is a hero, and he's learned absolutely nothing from the entire ordeal. Fantastic!
Thumbs Up
Die Hard: Year One #1
I'm really tired of the whole "Year One" phenomenon, but I like the Die Hard franchise enough that this seemed worth trying. Unfortunately, it's quite bad. There's too much narration, it's poorly written, and nearly every character in the book is a completely disgusting and terrible human being. It's repulsive.
Thumbs Down
Green Lantern #46
We get to find out who those lovers are at the heart of the Star Sapphire's power battery: they're the original Hawk Girl and Hawkman. Sort of. I think. Meanwhile, there's lots of cheesy dialog, and then Sinestro gets to have his showdown with Mongul over ownership of the Yellow Lanterns. It's pretty cool how he wins. The arrival of Abin Sur and Arin Sur at the end is not at all a surprise, though it is rather melodramatic and over-the-top.
Thumbs Sideways
Jack of Fables #38
Jack Frost travels from fantasy world to fantasy world, and finally gets himself settled in a grand old fantasy adventure. Meanwhile, his Dad keeps getting uglier, fatter, and more disgusting. He's not anywhere near as charming as he used to be, and I don't see him coming to a good end. The dialog is still quite funny, and the tale reasonably entertaining, but I'm losing interest in this title.
Thumbs Sideways
Marvel Divas #3
Heh. I like the Runaways joke. I'm also really impressed with how this comic has turned into a funny, moving, realistic story about a woman dealing with cancer, and her friends rallying around her even as they deal with their own personal problems. Of course, because it's a superhero comic those personal problems have to do with winning a cursed monkey's paw at an auction, fighting with a super boyfriend over committing a robbery, and making a misbegotten deal with the son of the Devil. It's great stuff!
Thumbs Up
New Mutants #5
This issue ties up of some of the loose ends from the last story arc, gives us the return of Warlock, and introduces us to a new artist. Not sure how I feel about the weird new art, but I'm still loving the writing and the characters.
Thumbs Up
Wolverine: Weapon X #5
Another big showdown - this time including sharks! - a shocking reveal about Maverick's participation in all this, and that's it for the first story arc in this title. I have to say, I'm really disappointed. I was expecting a lot from Jason Aaron on Wolverine - especially Aaron on Wolverine versus new Weapon X soldiers armed with laser claws. But despite some great concepts and a few great scenes, overall this book has been pretty dull and mediocre. I think I'm dropping it.
Thumbs Sideways |
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| Saturday, October 24, 2009 04:12 PM |
| The Take |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor's (semi-)weekly comic book review post.
This post covers new releases from the week of 9/23. Beware spoilers!
New releases
Final Crisis: Aftermath - Dance #5
Super Young Team reunites, but of course they have to do it on a Dr. Phil-like talk show. Then it's time for the big showdown. Is that Mr. Mind in Rising Sun's head? This issue wasn't as fun as previous issues, but I'm hoping the conclusion will be exciting.
Thumbs Up
Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size #1
Two of the most disturbing comics I've ever read came out the same week. This is one of them. There is so much in this book that is disgusting and wrong. It's depressing and horrific to see what's become of Bruce Banner. I mean, inbreeding and cannibalism? Ugh. And yeah, Wolverine is tough, but it's a little hard to believe he'd be able to kill the entire Hulk family so quickly and easily. I mean, the Hulk is practically impossible to kill! The odd ending with Wolverine riding off into the sunset with little baby Bruce on his back is almost too cute. An impressive and explosive - but also sickening and slightly disappointing - conclusion to a great series.
Thumbs Sideways
The Incredible Hercules #135
I keep ditching this series and then picking it up again. This issue I had to get because it focuses on Amadeus Cho, one of my favorite characters, and it connects back to the old school Master Mind Excello stories. The introduction is done up as a combo of a Choose Your Own Adventure novel and a D&D module, and that thematic premise is carried forward throughout the rest of the book in a really clever and funny way. I'm impressed! But I think I'm leaving this series alone again until something similarly clever pops up.
Thumbs Up
Monsters, Inc.: Laugh Factory #2
This issue features the return of Mr. Waternoose, and the reveal of a powerful new "Master Door" technology. But just as in the first issue, interesting ideas that have the potential to be developed over an entire series are introduced and hastily resolved in only one issue. This series still feels rushed and clumsy, and is definitely not living up to its source material.
Thumbs Sideways
The Muppet Show: The Treasure of Peg Leg Wilson #3
I enjoy the amusing board game gag, and the rather moving scene between Animal and the fleas. But yeah, this could be better.
Thumbs Sideways
The New Avengers #57
I am so loving this art, but the incredibly wordy thought bubbles are not so good. Show don't tell, Bendis! It's also a bit hard to believe that the crippled rogue Avengers could have escaped from the united forces of Norman's Avengers and the Hood's entire gang. Of course, Norman catches up with them almost immediately, but still. At least the ending is dramatic and exciting, and the subplot with Loki and the Hood is a ton of fun.
Thumbs Up
No Hero #7
I said earlier that two of the most disturbing comics I ever read came out this week. This is the other one. The conclusion of this miniseries makes it clear just how appropriate the title is. There are indeed no heroes here. The superhuman security team secretly controlling the world is morally bankrupt and awful. The agent sent in to destroy that team is a horrifically twisted, homicidal individual. The people and nations who have joined together to send him in are just as terrible; they don't want freedom for the world, they just want to steal back their power from the superhumans. And once the evil superhumans have fallen, the whole broken world falls with them. All is death and horror and evil. Even for Warren Ellis, this is an incredibly dark and depressing and cynical story. But also incredibly powerful and well told.
Thumbs Up
Star Trek: Spock - Reflections #3
More fascinating gap-filling recollections from Spock. First up is a telling meeting between T'Pring and Spock that takes place between the events of the original TV series and the first movie - she really does know him well. Then another example of how Kirk would commit daring acts of bravery that flaunted the regulations, and he'd still somehow get results. And then a moving letter from Picard explaining Kirk's death. This is really a fascinating and powerful series.
Thumbs Up
Superman: Secret Origin #1
A really emotionally effective, totally human and believable, and somehow wonderfully original retelling of Superman's childhood - how he learned to deal with his incredible powers and with the revelation that he's not from Earth, and even how he first met his nemesis, Lex Luthor. Once again Johns and Frank are a dynamite combination.
Thumbs Up
Wednesday Comics #12
Batman - Batman lets some shameless, murdering hussy find out his secret identity, and then kisses her while she's bloody and dead? I just don't buy it! This should not be a Batman story.
Kamandi - It's a bittersweet ending, but Kamandi still has some hope of finding more of his kind. Definitely one of the most beautifully drawn stories of the series, even if it didn't always move me.
Superman - A weirdly anticlimactic ending. The threat of danger at the end of the last episode is immediately defused and deflated at the start of this one, and everything is suddenly just fine. A little disappointing, but I do like that Batman got to save the day, and that Superman is now feeling at home again.
Deadman - This conclusion is pretty interesting. Deadman finds himself having to do the dirty work of Hell to maintain the balance he upset by interfering earlier.
Green Lantern - A fun, cute ending to one of the more solid and entertaining strips.
Metamorpho - Heh. The French chef and his helpers get left behind during the escape. I like the silly previews of future Metamorpho stories that will never be. This was an uneven strip, but definitely had its moments.
Teen Titans - Absolutely the worst strip in Wednesday Comics. Terrible from beginning to end.
Strange Adventures - One of my favorite strips has one of my favorite final episodes. Absolutely beautiful. "And the days roll by, one by one... days of strange adventure."
Supergirl - This strip ends with a really cutesy, Twilight Zone-style surprise reveal. Yawn.
Metal Men - A surprisingly moving, if also rather corny, conclusion to one of the less interesting strips in the book.
Wonder Woman - The lesbian make-out session between the villains in this episode is pretty much the only interesting thing that happens. Once again the action is so cramped, poorly drawn, and laid out that it's nearly impossible to tell what's going on. Lame. Just lame.
Sgt. Rock and Easy Co. - This strip was mostly a huge disappointment to me, but this final episode has a bit of a twist ending that's actually quite moving.
The Flash - One of the better strips wraps up in true postmodern fashion, by concluding the action in a comic strip inside a comic strip. As Iris points out, it "doesn't make any sense at all," but it's still a ton of fun, especially when Barry whisks Iris off to the restaurant at the end.
The Demon and Catwoman - This strip was uneven, but this last episode is sexy and cute.
Hawkman - For about half of this strip's length, I really hated it, but then it took a sudden turn toward the totally awesome. This ending keeps the awesome going, as Hawkman kills a T. Rex by carving through to its brain from inside its mouth while Aquaman keeps its jaws open. Then there's this exchange - Superman: "Sorry we're late, Batman. There was a black hole in hyperspace. Don't ask." Batman: "Save the Earth, and all is forgiven." Heh.
Although the strips themselves were uneven, Wednesday Comics was a wonderful experiment and a great format in which to deliver comics. I hope they do something similar again in the future.
Thumbs Up |
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| Tagged (?): Avengers (Not), Batman (Not), Brian Michael Bendis (Not), Comic books (Not), Final Crisis (Not), Flash (Not), Geoff Johns (Not), Green Lantern (Not), Greg Pak (Not), John Arcudi (Not), Mark Millar (Not), Monsters (Not), Monsters Inc. (Not), Muppets (Not), Neil Gaiman (Not), Pixar (Not), Star Trek (Not), Superman (Not), The Take (Not), Warren Ellis (Not), Wednesday Comics (Not), Wolverine (Not) |
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| Friday, October 16, 2009 04:38 PM |
| The Take |
| by Fëanor |
Fëanor's (semi-)weekly comic book review post.
This post has really gotten out of control lately. It takes so long to write that I've started to look at it as a chore, and I've purposefully avoided working on it, which doesn't make sense; this is supposed to be something I'm writing for myself, for fun, on my own blog! And when I do get it done, it's so long that even I don't want to read it. For now I'm going to stick with it, but try to keep my reviews as short as I possibly can. If it remains a chore, I might drop it altogether.
This post covers new releases from the week of 9/16, plus a back-issue I missed. Beware spoilers!
Back-issues and old data
Dark Wolverine #77
The first story arc of Dark Wolverine ends with a kind of stalemate. But Daken has gained allies and is owed favors. Clever guy. Clever book.
Thumbs Up
New releases
Batman and Robin #4
Scarlet is seriously creepy. She and the new Red Hood are taking a violent but effective approach to crime-fighting. But who is Oberon Sexton, and who is the Flamingo? Hmm.
Thumbs Up
Blackest Night #3
Flash: "Whoever did this... crossed one hell of a line." I couldn't have said it better myself, Barry! The new Firestorm is seriously lame, and there's lots of corny dialog and melodrama in this issue. But it's good to see the Indigo Lanterns finally showing up and explaining how to defeat the Black Lanterns. It feels satisfyingly right that to counter the absence of light you'd need to combine the whole light spectrum to make White.
Thumbs Sideways
Captain America: Reborn #3
More emotionally effective time-shifting scenes with Steve. He figures out a clever way to send a message to the present that reminds me of an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Bucky makes a bad-ass escape, Sharon makes another in a long line of really bad choices, and then there's a really effective and creepy ending.
Thumbs Up
Dark Avengers #9
A surprisingly moving and effective issue focusing on Ares' relationship with his son, and his reaction to discovering that the kid is essentially working with his enemies. Also features a shocking sequence with the Sentry, and another amusing Osborn freakout.
Thumbs Up
Dark Reign: M.O.D.O.K. - Reign Delay #1
A comedic one-shot in which M.O.D.O.K. is tricked by Norman Osborn into returning to his hometown of Erie, PA, where he comes face to face with what a desperate & pathetic a loser he used to be - and still is. It's only when he meets a hero even more desperate & pathetic than he is that he stumbles on success. The book relies on shame and the incompetence of its main character to generate humor, and that's my least favorite type of comedy. Still, the book has its moments.
Thumbs Sideways
Dark Wolverine #78
This issue reminds us that Daken and Norman Osborn are not nice guys. In fact, they're both extremely clever and manipulative scum bags who aren't afraid to kill innocent people to get what they want. Fun!
Thumbs Up
Star Trek: Romulans - Schism #1
Klingon sex is scary. I've enjoyed Byrne's other books in this storyline, but I'm having a hard time getting into this one. Maybe it'll get better.
Thumbs Sideways
Ultimate Armor Wars #1
I was expecting a lot from a new Warren Ellis book set in the Ultimate universe, so naturally I was a bit disappointed in this rather dull story about Tony getting robbed and saving a girl. But it does have a classic Ellis-style line of dialog: "I'm dying of super-powers."
Thumbs Sideways
Wednesday Comics #11
Batman - More clumsy dialog and hard-to-believe emotional reactions from Batman and our villainess. Is her heart made of ice or gold? Azzarello can't seem to decide. And I can't shake the feeling this is a mediocre crime noir story that shouldn't have Batman in it at all.
Kamandi - Our happy ending is interrupted by a deus ex tragedy. Argh! That sucks.
Superman - Some fun action and an exciting ending, but the dialog, though occasionally effective, is mostly just a load of clumsy exposition.
Deadman - The other shoe finally drops and what's really going on is at last revealed. Only thing is, everything seems to be resolved, so I'm not sure what's left for the last issue.
Green Lantern - Giant space fight! I don't really get why the narration says, "They came, they saw-" and then never finishes the phrase. But otherwise, fun.
Metamorpho - Another big reveal/happy ending that seems to leave little room for another issue's worth of doings. Cool art, some fun action, but not as exciting as one might hope.
Teen Titans - I believe I've read comics that sucked worse than this one, but I can't really think of any right now.
Strange Adventures - A slightly disappointing entry in an otherwise great strip; basically this episode just repeats and slightly augments the ending of the last episode. Still, it's pretty fun and the art is great, so...
Supergirl - Supergirl sucks at nonverbal communication, and the aliens shoot her. Luckily, the superpets are coming to save the day. I remain unable to get into this strip. It is cutesy and dull.
Metal Men - A terrible sacrifice is made by the few for the good of the many! It's actually slightly moving. Slightly.
Wonder Woman - Another cluttered and confused episode of this strip. Well, at least it's consistent. All the gleeful bondage harks back to the rather embarrassing origins of this character. But hey, since when did the lasso make you a slave? I thought it just made you tell the truth.
Sgt. Rock and Easy Co. - Finally, a real action scene! Unfortunately, it's a pretty clumsy action scene, with more unbelievable back and forth between Rock and the Nazi Captain. Sigh.
Flash - A surreal, powerful, dramatic climax with more unique and imaginative panel layout - this time the strip spirals down toward a point in the bottom right corner. I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but it's an interesting, emotionally effective story with well written dialog, so I'm okay with it.
The Demon and Catwoman - Exciting magical action! The Demon even breathes flame. But Catwoman's jokes at the end fall a bit flat.
Hawkman - Aquaman sets a shark and an octopus on a T. Rex! That might be the coolest thing I've ever seen Aquaman do. Awesome!
Thumbs Up |
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| Tagged (?): Avengers (Not), Batman (Not), Blackest Night (Not), Brian Michael Bendis (Not), Captain America (Not), Comic books (Not), Dark Reign (Not), Ed Brubaker (Not), Geoff Johns (Not), Grant Morrison (Not), Green Lantern (Not), Iron Man (Not), John Arcudi (Not), John Byrne (Not), M.O.D.O.K. (Not), Paul Pope (Not), Star Trek (Not), Superman (Not), The Take (Not), Ultimate Comics (Not), Warren Ellis (Not), Wednesday Comics (Not), Wolverine (Not) |
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