Tuesday, October 27, 2009
G-Man: Learning to Fly
G-Man: Learning to FlyBy Chris Giarrusso
Chris Giarrusso is the creator of the Mini-Marvels comics that used to come out from Marvel. They were often the best part of the comics they were printed in and I remember just reading the Red/Blue/Green Hulk backups he drew in the current Red Hulk series.
Mavel, in all their brilliance, decided to stop publishing Mini-Marvel comics, in case they were confused with the not-nearly-as-good Super Hero Squad. Thanks Marvel.
Still, Giarrusso hasn't given up on creating awesome, funny superhero comics. Instead, he's returned to characters he created in the back pages of Savage Dragon.
G-Man (the G stands for G), and his friends, Billy Demon, Suntrooper, and others, fight crime! Well, sometimes. After school. Or at school. Maybe.
G-Man pokes fun at a lot of super hero tropes, but it's also obvious that Giarrusso really likes super hero comics, despite their occasional (or even frequent) stupidity. I'd say he even embraces the stupidity.
The heroes have to help a wizard find his golden chalice (it was in the sink). A Christmas tree comes alive, steals a car, and ends up working for Santa Claus ("Evergreen want to take responsibility for actions and make amends.").
As the comics were orignally backups we see Giarrusso using his limited space in a way you don't see that much in comics anymore. He packs panels into the pages. 16 per page is not uncommon, and 12 is more regular. There is lots of talking in this comic, but it's all good.
G-Man never fails to cheer me up, and I hope that the current mini series is successful enough for Giarrusso to continue making these comics.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Whizzer and Chips
This is another of the free comics that the Guardian gave out to its readers, and it's far more like the ones I used to read (the Beano, the Dandy, the Topper, and the Beezer) when I was a little kid.One of the neat things about this one is that it actually is two different comics combined into one. Whizzer has the front page, but inside you'll find another front page, this time for Chips, and instructions on how to take out the staples and have two different comics. The front and back pages of Chips are in full colour, like the front and back of Whizzer, and unlike the rest of the comics which are either in black and white or have a single colour. Chips even has its own joke page!
Some of the comics inside are kind of weird. Most of them are just your average one or two page humour comics that I remember, but then you get the more adventurey ones that had apparently been phased out by the time I started reading comics. "Whizz" Wheels is about a "super-cyclist" who in this issue saves a villainous land agent from a forest fire while riding a penny farthing. Seriously.
There's also "Thingumajig!" which features a rather odd looking alien who, of course, says things like "Gg-uu-uuuh...my head spins and stomach tubes churn! This must be what Earthlings call sickness of the sea!" Oh aliens!
My favourite comic in it is also the only one I've ever seen before (or at least I think I've seen it before): Harry's Haunted House. It's about a ghost who doesn't like haunting people, and I thought it was fairly funny.
Or maybe I just really like the idea of a ghost sleeping in a bed.Thursday, October 22, 2009
Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator
Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator
Written by Mark Schultz. Art by Ariel Olivetti.
Fuck me, this was terrible. Just incredibly, incredibly bad in almost every way a comic can be.
Well, I suppose that is not true, here are ten ways in which it could have be worse:
1. It could have been drawn by many different artists with completely conflicting styles. Olivetti is far too reliant on digital painting or whatever, but his scenes in the Daily Planet office are pretty good.
2. It could have not featured any aliens of any sort at all (instead of barely featuring them) and just been about Batman and Superman exploring some empty caves.
3. Lois could have been killed along with every other non-superhero in Peru, causing Superman to have to travel back in time to save her.
4. Batman's costume could, somehow, have been stupider.
5. The badguy humans could somehow have been more vaguely defined (this one would be tough, as they didn't even have names, just an organization, I guess you'd have to not even name the organization.)
6. The Aliens could have been even less dangerous, and not even been able to damage Superman's costume.
7. Lois could have been completely useless, instead of saving Batman by having a "basic working knowledge of Kyptonian mechanics."
8. There could have been more tiny, annoying robots.
9. It could have had Aquaman in it.
10. I don't know. It could have been twice as long, that would have been pretty awful.
Written by Mark Schultz. Art by Ariel Olivetti.
Fuck me, this was terrible. Just incredibly, incredibly bad in almost every way a comic can be.
Well, I suppose that is not true, here are ten ways in which it could have be worse:
1. It could have been drawn by many different artists with completely conflicting styles. Olivetti is far too reliant on digital painting or whatever, but his scenes in the Daily Planet office are pretty good.
2. It could have not featured any aliens of any sort at all (instead of barely featuring them) and just been about Batman and Superman exploring some empty caves.
3. Lois could have been killed along with every other non-superhero in Peru, causing Superman to have to travel back in time to save her.
4. Batman's costume could, somehow, have been stupider.
5. The badguy humans could somehow have been more vaguely defined (this one would be tough, as they didn't even have names, just an organization, I guess you'd have to not even name the organization.)
6. The Aliens could have been even less dangerous, and not even been able to damage Superman's costume.
7. Lois could have been completely useless, instead of saving Batman by having a "basic working knowledge of Kyptonian mechanics."
8. There could have been more tiny, annoying robots.
9. It could have had Aquaman in it.
10. I don't know. It could have been twice as long, that would have been pretty awful.
Labels: comics, Dark Horse, DC
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Judge Dredd: The Chief Judge's Man
Judge Dredd: The Chief Judge's Man
Written by John Wagner. Illustrated by Will Simpson, Colin MacNeil, and John Burns.
Last time I wrote about 2000ad I said I'd wait until the next "all part ones" issue. But you know what? Screw that. Because for slightly more than the price of the average issue of 2000ad (£1.80) I can just buy collections from bookshops that sell everything for £2. Awesome!
Of course, unfortunately I start with one of the least interesting Judge Dredd comics I've read. Most of what I've read has been in random American reprints, so I really don't remember what I actually have read. Necropolis? with Judge Death? That was pretty good.
This, however, wasn't. It starts off with someone killing pro-democracy citizens of Mega-City One, and while Dredd isn't the biggest fan of democracy, he also doesn't like people breaking the law, so he goes after him.
Now, from the title you can probably guess that something fishy is going on with this killer, he's being told to kill these people by the Chief Judge. And I guess that's where my problem with this arises, I have no idea who any of the Judges that aren't Dredd are. There's a bunch of other Judges in this comic, and, presumbly, I'm supposed to know who at least some of them are? I know Dredd is an ongoing series, and has continuity, but I think this is only the second Dredd story from the last decade that I've read, so I really don't know. Is this in character for the Chief Judge? Iunno.
Anyway, there's some other stuff, and the prison's just outside of Mega-City One show up again (I last saw them in the most recent issue of 2000ad that I read), and it seems that those scenes are moving some larger plot forward.
There's also a kind of bizarre bit which seems retconned in. Maybe it was the intention from the beginning, but the killer suddenly having cockroach DNA just seems utterly ridiculous.
Meanwhile, in the art department, Colin MacNeil does a really good job on his part.
It's a bit static, and thus doesn't show movement/action that well, but that's frequently a problem with painted art. I think it looks pretty awesome. Maybe I should have bought that Devlin Waugh trade he did the art for.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Jackie
Jackie No. 580Feb 15th, 1975
Earlier this year the Guardian newspaper gave away reprints of old comics published by IPC.
I used to read some of the comics they published back when I was a kid living in the UK, though, needless to say, I didn't read this one. Both because I wasn't born when it came out, and because it is for girls. Ick.
In fact Jackie is hardly a comic at all. There's only about six pages of actual comics in the whole thing. The rest of it is letters, short stories, agony aunts, pop star things, and other stuff that makes me glad I was not a girl who grew up reading something like this. Aiee.
The comics that are featured are both weeeeeeeeeeeird. The first one is all about how awesome and dreamy Donny Osmond is, though it features some nice art when it's not trying to replicate celebrities.
Just ignore her creepy, pupil-less, eyes.
The second one is even worse, and all about a girl trying to steal her best friend's boyfriend, leading to her friend's death. What a dick! Girls!
Jackie is strange, and I hope to never read it again. It does let me show this video though, which is pretty ace, and I feel a pretty accurate representation of this magazine.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Never Learn Anything From History
Never Learn Anything From History
by Kate Beaton
Oh man, these comics are awesome. I keep meaning to write about webcomics I read, but I never do. Clearly once they've released print books is the time to talk about them.
I will say once more, Kate Beaton's comics are awesome. So awesome I was willing to buy a book of them when I can (and did) just read them for free on the internet.
Beaton's comics are, mostly, comics about history. And while that doesn't sound very exciting, she is able to make it really funny. Mostly by taking real events, condensing them down to just a few panels, and making pretty much everyone act like an idiot. They are hilarious. Honest.
So this volume collects...a bunch of the comics from her website. Not all of them, I think due to quality problems and the like. Still, there's a lot here, and there's some commentary and the like. Though I think it's just the same stuff that was online.
So while the content is awesome, I had a couple of issues with the actual physical object. First it is expensive. Aieeeeee. $25? It's only like 80 pages or something. (Thankfully I got it at more than half off during a huge sale. Hurray!)
Also, I don't like the paper stock and the binding seems flimsy. I don't know if it is or not, but every time I open it, I am very careful because I am afraid the spine is going to break and all the pages are going to fall out. I don't want that to happen on a $25 book.
With this book Beaton decided to go the self publishing route (it kind of shows, there's not even a copyright notice in the book), and I'm guessing went through some sort of print-on-demand service, which a lot of webcomic people seem to use. I kind of wish they'd put more thought into this stuff. Or, alternatively, try to get someone else to publish it for them. Some publisher must have wanted to put this out right?
Anyway, here are links so you can go bask in her glory.
http://beatonna.livejournal.com/
http://www.harkavagrant.com/
!!! She's just put up a new one. Exciting.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Old New Warriors
New Warriors #1
By Fabian Nicieza and Mark Bagley
Wow, part of me can't believe this comic is so old. 19 years! Holy crap! That is probably older than some of these characters are meant to be.
Um, so yeah. It's a Marvel superhero team comic. It does what it does pretty well, introduces the characters, makes me wonder why Kid Nova (when did he start/stop using "kid"?) has such a terrible costume, why anyone knows who Namorita is, and who the hell invented Night Thrasher. Why the hell does this rich guy with computers and a suit of armour ride a skateboard?
(In related news, go read about Dwayne McDuffie's pitch for Teenage Negro Ninja Thrashers.)
I actually don't know much about these characters, but this series is supposed to be pretty good. This issue didn't blow me away, but I'm willing to check out further issues in quarter bins in the future...
Other things I read recently that I barely remember.
Bloody Mary #1
Garth Ennis. Carlos Ezquerra.
Oh man. Helix. Remember that? No? Well I don't either. It was a sci-fi imprint that from DC that crashed and burned pretty fast (like pretty much every imprint that just starts one day). I think Transmetropolitan was the only thing that made it out alive (transferred to Vertigo) and I don't know if anything else is even in print right now.
(I just looked it up on Wikipedia, and woah. It lasted over two years? That makes all of DC's more recent imprints that have died in less than a year (Focus, Minx, something else I'm sure I've forgotten) look like even bigger failures.)
Anyway, this is really just Garth Ennis war comics in the future. It's pretty good. I'm surprised there isn't a trade of it out. Oh wait, apparently Vertigo put one out like four years ago. Why didn't the comic shop I work in have that? I guess nobody remembers Helix.
Some Batman comic with Anarky
Just. Argh. No.
Some of those end of the world Wildstorm comics: I do not remember which ones.
Hey, these were pretty good (as usual). Though the art in the Gen13 interlude issue (by Dan Hipp) was definitely not as good as the work the regular artist Mike Huddleston was doing. It's not bad or anything, just probably not what superhero comic fans actually want to see.
By Fabian Nicieza and Mark Bagley
Wow, part of me can't believe this comic is so old. 19 years! Holy crap! That is probably older than some of these characters are meant to be.
Um, so yeah. It's a Marvel superhero team comic. It does what it does pretty well, introduces the characters, makes me wonder why Kid Nova (when did he start/stop using "kid"?) has such a terrible costume, why anyone knows who Namorita is, and who the hell invented Night Thrasher. Why the hell does this rich guy with computers and a suit of armour ride a skateboard?
(In related news, go read about Dwayne McDuffie's pitch for Teenage Negro Ninja Thrashers.)
I actually don't know much about these characters, but this series is supposed to be pretty good. This issue didn't blow me away, but I'm willing to check out further issues in quarter bins in the future...
Other things I read recently that I barely remember.
Bloody Mary #1
Garth Ennis. Carlos Ezquerra.
Oh man. Helix. Remember that? No? Well I don't either. It was a sci-fi imprint that from DC that crashed and burned pretty fast (like pretty much every imprint that just starts one day). I think Transmetropolitan was the only thing that made it out alive (transferred to Vertigo) and I don't know if anything else is even in print right now.
(I just looked it up on Wikipedia, and woah. It lasted over two years? That makes all of DC's more recent imprints that have died in less than a year (Focus, Minx, something else I'm sure I've forgotten) look like even bigger failures.)
Anyway, this is really just Garth Ennis war comics in the future. It's pretty good. I'm surprised there isn't a trade of it out. Oh wait, apparently Vertigo put one out like four years ago. Why didn't the comic shop I work in have that? I guess nobody remembers Helix.
Some Batman comic with Anarky
Just. Argh. No.
Some of those end of the world Wildstorm comics: I do not remember which ones.
Hey, these were pretty good (as usual). Though the art in the Gen13 interlude issue (by Dan Hipp) was definitely not as good as the work the regular artist Mike Huddleston was doing. It's not bad or anything, just probably not what superhero comic fans actually want to see.
Labels: comics, DC, Helix, I will spend 25 cents on anything, Marvel, Wildstorm
Friday, October 09, 2009
Metabarons
What better place than Quebec to read the last bit of The Metabarons in English that I had yet to read? Well, France I guess, but I more than likely wouldn't have been able to find it in English there. And I read this on the bus between Kingston and Montreal, so maybe I read it in Ontario.
Regardless! We most carry on.
The Metabarons: Alpha/Omega
By Charest, Joworowsky, Gimenez & Moebius (what an interesting order for the cover)
So while I really liked the Metabarons comic that Humanoids was putting out back in the day (2000-2002!) I never picked this up, because it was like $15, for 48 pages. Aieee! That was practically the price of the oversized hardcovers Humanoids was putting out. However, when I recently found it for $3, I decided to pick it up.
And hell, I am super glad I didn't spend $15 on this thing. It's three short stories, and an except from the book Charest was doing with Jodorowsky at the time.
(Which he didn't even finish! After completing only 30 pages in seven years, Humanoids got some other guy, with a completely different style, to finish drawing it. I looked through a copy of it in a book store in Montreal, and Charest's stuff is beautiful, but I can't believe how slow it was to produce that work.)
But three of those things are basically the same story with different artists! First Moebius draws it (from his work on the Incal, and terribly recoloured), then Gimenez draws it (and damn, does he ever draw better robots) in an early Metabarons piece that apparently isn't in continuity anymore. Then Charest draws it! Admittedly, Charest's preview does feature a bunch of other stuff, and his version of the scene is gorgeous, but still!
The first story (also drawn by Gimenez) is unrelated to the others (!!!) and acts as a prequel of sorts to the whole Metabarons story. It's filled with the ridiculous things that most Jodorowsky comics have, but didn't really do much for me. Dunno.
The original Metabarons series never finished coming out in English. After Humanoids stopped publishing the issues/collections, DC republished the collections, but didn't finish it either.
Devil's Due currently have the license to publish the Metabarons in English, but I think it's been almost a year since they started publishing Humanoids stuff, and they haven't got very much of it out. To be honest, it's been so long since I read the series, I'm not sure if I'd even read the end. This volume made me wonder why I liked the series so much in the first place, and since I don't have my old issues anymore, maybe I will never find out.
Regardless! We most carry on.
The Metabarons: Alpha/Omega
By Charest, Joworowsky, Gimenez & Moebius (what an interesting order for the cover)
So while I really liked the Metabarons comic that Humanoids was putting out back in the day (2000-2002!) I never picked this up, because it was like $15, for 48 pages. Aieee! That was practically the price of the oversized hardcovers Humanoids was putting out. However, when I recently found it for $3, I decided to pick it up.
And hell, I am super glad I didn't spend $15 on this thing. It's three short stories, and an except from the book Charest was doing with Jodorowsky at the time.
(Which he didn't even finish! After completing only 30 pages in seven years, Humanoids got some other guy, with a completely different style, to finish drawing it. I looked through a copy of it in a book store in Montreal, and Charest's stuff is beautiful, but I can't believe how slow it was to produce that work.)
But three of those things are basically the same story with different artists! First Moebius draws it (from his work on the Incal, and terribly recoloured), then Gimenez draws it (and damn, does he ever draw better robots) in an early Metabarons piece that apparently isn't in continuity anymore. Then Charest draws it! Admittedly, Charest's preview does feature a bunch of other stuff, and his version of the scene is gorgeous, but still!
The first story (also drawn by Gimenez) is unrelated to the others (!!!) and acts as a prequel of sorts to the whole Metabarons story. It's filled with the ridiculous things that most Jodorowsky comics have, but didn't really do much for me. Dunno.
The original Metabarons series never finished coming out in English. After Humanoids stopped publishing the issues/collections, DC republished the collections, but didn't finish it either.
Devil's Due currently have the license to publish the Metabarons in English, but I think it's been almost a year since they started publishing Humanoids stuff, and they haven't got very much of it out. To be honest, it's been so long since I read the series, I'm not sure if I'd even read the end. This volume made me wonder why I liked the series so much in the first place, and since I don't have my old issues anymore, maybe I will never find out.
Labels: comics
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Macedonia
Macedonia: What does it take to stop a war?
Written by Harvey Pekar and Heather Roberson
Illustrated by Ed Piskor
Fuck, this book is dense. Crazy dense! It's mostly 12 panel pages filllled with text. And sometimes they can't even fit enough text into those, so they put in even more text. I'm not saying it's not good, but I guess I had just forgotten how many words Pekar crams into his comics.
And despite the co-writer, this really does seem like a Pekar comic. Because it is filled with words! And impossible to read in one sitting! I like American Splendor, but I think I've read enough for my life.
However, I clearly haven't read enough non-fiction comics about the former Yugoslavia (I mean, I haven't even read all of Joe Sacco's comics on the area!), and this one definitely delivers on giving you piles and piles of information about a country you more than likely know nothing about.
I find these comics kind of depressing, as I feel as though I am doing nothing to help the world. It's even worse when I consider that I've been in Eastern Europe and SE Asia, which are other places that deal with the corruption and racism that are some of the focal points of what is going on in the Balkans. Why am I sitting on my friend's bed writing about a comic? Why aren't I doing something to really benefit people? Fuck, I am so old (26!) and I don't feel I've really accomplished anything yet (more than many people, but what positive things have I really done?). Refusing to take part in society makes it incredibly hard to change it. And I am frequently left wondering what I can actually do to help the world.
Um, so freak out over.
I'm really curious as to how this comic was weird. Roberson went to Macedonia for her undergrad (!!!) thesis (making me feel like I accomplished nothing doing mine), and the comic shows her taking lots of notes, and recording interviews and her own opinions on things. Presumably she then gave these notes (and thesis) to Pekar, who turned it into a comic script and gave it to Piskor to draw. Did this happen? I really don't know. The book doesn't say, and I'm clearly too lazy to look up interviews. The book also lacks bios for anyone other than Pekar, which just seems weird.
It's good, read it if you want to know about Macedonia.
Written by Harvey Pekar and Heather Roberson
Illustrated by Ed Piskor
Fuck, this book is dense. Crazy dense! It's mostly 12 panel pages filllled with text. And sometimes they can't even fit enough text into those, so they put in even more text. I'm not saying it's not good, but I guess I had just forgotten how many words Pekar crams into his comics.
And despite the co-writer, this really does seem like a Pekar comic. Because it is filled with words! And impossible to read in one sitting! I like American Splendor, but I think I've read enough for my life.
However, I clearly haven't read enough non-fiction comics about the former Yugoslavia (I mean, I haven't even read all of Joe Sacco's comics on the area!), and this one definitely delivers on giving you piles and piles of information about a country you more than likely know nothing about.
I find these comics kind of depressing, as I feel as though I am doing nothing to help the world. It's even worse when I consider that I've been in Eastern Europe and SE Asia, which are other places that deal with the corruption and racism that are some of the focal points of what is going on in the Balkans. Why am I sitting on my friend's bed writing about a comic? Why aren't I doing something to really benefit people? Fuck, I am so old (26!) and I don't feel I've really accomplished anything yet (more than many people, but what positive things have I really done?). Refusing to take part in society makes it incredibly hard to change it. And I am frequently left wondering what I can actually do to help the world.
Um, so freak out over.
I'm really curious as to how this comic was weird. Roberson went to Macedonia for her undergrad (!!!) thesis (making me feel like I accomplished nothing doing mine), and the comic shows her taking lots of notes, and recording interviews and her own opinions on things. Presumably she then gave these notes (and thesis) to Pekar, who turned it into a comic script and gave it to Piskor to draw. Did this happen? I really don't know. The book doesn't say, and I'm clearly too lazy to look up interviews. The book also lacks bios for anyone other than Pekar, which just seems weird.
It's good, read it if you want to know about Macedonia.
Labels: comics
Monday, October 05, 2009
The Savage Runaways
All New Savage She-Hulk #1
For a character that's only ever shown up twice before, there's an oddly large amount of backstory here (and eight pages of interviews to talk about it!). It's sort of generic. Time travelling. Fighting some group of soldiery people who's name I forget (HAMMER? SWORD?). I liked the bits in the future with the tribe of women fighting the tribe of people that look kind of like primitive, cut-rate Wolverines. Worth a dollar, not $4 (which is the cover price).
Runaways Vol 3, #11
Noooooooooooooooo! Nooooooooooooooo! Noooooooooooooo!
I was all ready to enjoy Runaways again after the relaunch with Terry Moore writing failed to interest me at all (I read the first issue and I think that was it). This was Katheryn (Patsy Walker: Hellcat) Immonen's first issue, and it even started promisingly, the characters talked more like how I remembered, the art was good, everyone was just hanging out, which is probably what this book should be about as none of the characters want to be superheroes, but then...
But then Immonen had to kill one of my favourite characters. Hell, who am I kidding, I like all of these characters, but so many of them have died in this series already. Stop killing the characters! No! Just stop it. I hate you. I hope that character isn't dead. I guess I'll look for more issues (and I'll probably even read the stuff I missed at some point), but I really don't want more characters in this comic to die. It makes me sad.
Update! Since originally writing this I've read the first trade of Terry Moore's run (bizarrely only including six of his nine issues), which wasn't very good, and heard about/seen some of the final issue of the current run (#14).
The art looks not very good, the colouring is less than awesome (apparently coloured on a laptop at cons), and these combine to create some of the least Asian Nico panels I've seen. Plus the story just stops, it doesn't end. It's just the end of the comic. It seems as though Marvel just cancelled the series before this writer's story could end. Though admittedly this was solicited as a four part story.
Oh well, maybe next time.
For a character that's only ever shown up twice before, there's an oddly large amount of backstory here (and eight pages of interviews to talk about it!). It's sort of generic. Time travelling. Fighting some group of soldiery people who's name I forget (HAMMER? SWORD?). I liked the bits in the future with the tribe of women fighting the tribe of people that look kind of like primitive, cut-rate Wolverines. Worth a dollar, not $4 (which is the cover price).
Runaways Vol 3, #11
Noooooooooooooooo! Nooooooooooooooo! Noooooooooooooo!
I was all ready to enjoy Runaways again after the relaunch with Terry Moore writing failed to interest me at all (I read the first issue and I think that was it). This was Katheryn (Patsy Walker: Hellcat) Immonen's first issue, and it even started promisingly, the characters talked more like how I remembered, the art was good, everyone was just hanging out, which is probably what this book should be about as none of the characters want to be superheroes, but then...
But then Immonen had to kill one of my favourite characters. Hell, who am I kidding, I like all of these characters, but so many of them have died in this series already. Stop killing the characters! No! Just stop it. I hate you. I hope that character isn't dead. I guess I'll look for more issues (and I'll probably even read the stuff I missed at some point), but I really don't want more characters in this comic to die. It makes me sad.
Update! Since originally writing this I've read the first trade of Terry Moore's run (bizarrely only including six of his nine issues), which wasn't very good, and heard about/seen some of the final issue of the current run (#14).
The art looks not very good, the colouring is less than awesome (apparently coloured on a laptop at cons), and these combine to create some of the least Asian Nico panels I've seen. Plus the story just stops, it doesn't end. It's just the end of the comic. It seems as though Marvel just cancelled the series before this writer's story could end. Though admittedly this was solicited as a four part story.
Oh well, maybe next time.
Labels: comics, Marvel, One dollar theatre
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher, and Baker Street
Sandman Mystery Theatre: Dr. Death and The Night of the Butcher
(This is a terrible review made from random notes about a comic I read weeks ago.)
These stories are an improvement over the last couple I remember reading. The Night of the Butcher genuinely had me wondering what would happen next, and I was glad I wasn't reading the series as a monthly.
I liked that the villains in these stories weren't who you expected them to be. The earlier stories really seemed to telegraph which character appearing was the bad guy, so it was nice to be somewhat surprised. It also made the detective work done by both the Sandman and the police make more sense as they had to work to find out about the criminal, as opposed to just stumbling upon whatever.
I also enjoyed the Sandman's relationship with the police: hatred from one, partial trust from another. It sort of made sense in a real world sort of way.
Dian's reactions to what she experienced in this volume also seemed more "real" than what you get in most super hero comics. She doesn't immediately accept what was going on, and has to think about what she's going to do. At least days and possibly loner pass while the characters just think about things.
I'm not really sure what's going on with the art. The title page of the trade credits David Hornung as colourist, but the title pages for each story just say "art by," while the letterist is named. It's weird, but I guess it just means "pencils and ink" and my brain just melted.
While Guy Davis is an artist who's work I have enjoyed on the BPRD comics from Darkhorse, I preferred the art in the first story of this volume where Davis just did the layouts and Vince Locke did "art," whatever that means.
There's one part in the second story, which Davis illustrates it all himself, where a woman finds...something in her toilet. What is it? I have absolutely no idea. It's a bloody something. It's only a couple of pages later that someone says what it is, but even once you know it doesn't really help you identify the drawing.
The colouring!
(Yes this is important in this comic.)
The colouring in the first story is far better (and brighter!) than the second. It wasn't that noticeable while I read both stories, but flipping through the book there's a huge difference.
Colouring in the second story is really weird. People's skin tones just seem to be white. Entirely white, not coloured at all. It looks really strange and I wondered if it was a printing error or something. Considering the colourist was supposed to be the same for both stories in this volume, I really have to wonder what happened.
Baker Street
This is an earlier Guy Davis work, and it's...not so good. Considering there don't seem to be that many comics about the punk scene in general, and even fewer where there is any actual knowledge of the scene involved, it seems weird that Davis, who apparently was in the punk scene, would do something like this weird mashup of Victoriana and punks. I only managed to read the first issue of the trade cause I didn't think it was that good.
(This is a terrible review made from random notes about a comic I read weeks ago.)
These stories are an improvement over the last couple I remember reading. The Night of the Butcher genuinely had me wondering what would happen next, and I was glad I wasn't reading the series as a monthly.
I liked that the villains in these stories weren't who you expected them to be. The earlier stories really seemed to telegraph which character appearing was the bad guy, so it was nice to be somewhat surprised. It also made the detective work done by both the Sandman and the police make more sense as they had to work to find out about the criminal, as opposed to just stumbling upon whatever.
I also enjoyed the Sandman's relationship with the police: hatred from one, partial trust from another. It sort of made sense in a real world sort of way.
Dian's reactions to what she experienced in this volume also seemed more "real" than what you get in most super hero comics. She doesn't immediately accept what was going on, and has to think about what she's going to do. At least days and possibly loner pass while the characters just think about things.
I'm not really sure what's going on with the art. The title page of the trade credits David Hornung as colourist, but the title pages for each story just say "art by," while the letterist is named. It's weird, but I guess it just means "pencils and ink" and my brain just melted.
While Guy Davis is an artist who's work I have enjoyed on the BPRD comics from Darkhorse, I preferred the art in the first story of this volume where Davis just did the layouts and Vince Locke did "art," whatever that means.
There's one part in the second story, which Davis illustrates it all himself, where a woman finds...something in her toilet. What is it? I have absolutely no idea. It's a bloody something. It's only a couple of pages later that someone says what it is, but even once you know it doesn't really help you identify the drawing.
The colouring!
(Yes this is important in this comic.)
The colouring in the first story is far better (and brighter!) than the second. It wasn't that noticeable while I read both stories, but flipping through the book there's a huge difference.
Colouring in the second story is really weird. People's skin tones just seem to be white. Entirely white, not coloured at all. It looks really strange and I wondered if it was a printing error or something. Considering the colourist was supposed to be the same for both stories in this volume, I really have to wonder what happened.
Baker Street
This is an earlier Guy Davis work, and it's...not so good. Considering there don't seem to be that many comics about the punk scene in general, and even fewer where there is any actual knowledge of the scene involved, it seems weird that Davis, who apparently was in the punk scene, would do something like this weird mashup of Victoriana and punks. I only managed to read the first issue of the trade cause I didn't think it was that good.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
2000AD prog 1654
Oooh, a review of last week's issue of 2000ad, exactly what you want to read. Especially since if you really wanted to read one, you'd probably have gone to this site.
But, no matter, here it is anyway. Mostly because I was so excited to buy an issue of this off the news-stand, something I had never done before in my times visiting/living in the UK/Ireland. (Which is where I currently am.)
For those that don't know, 2000ad is a weekly sci-fi anthology comic that has been published in England forever and ever and ever. It's on issue 1654, I can't even understand that.
Judge Dredd: Tour of Duty part 5
Dredd is in the Cursed Earth doing some prison thing. It's written by John Wagner, so even before reading, you know it's more than likely going to be good, as he's one of the people who created Dredd and has been writing him since issue two or whenever Dredd first appeared. There's some weird caption stuff going on here, where it seems like it sh/could be internal narration/a character thinking. But than later on the captions refer to that character in the third person. So I dunno.
And yeah, it's pretty good. Probably the best thing in the issue. The art by Colin MacNeil is pretty good. I like the robot dressed in Judge gear, though I wish we'd gotten to see a full body shot.
Kingdom: Call of the Wild part 5
This one didn't really do much for me. The main character seems to be mentally delayed in some way. He always speaks in terrible English, and doesn't seem to understand things. Not really a character I want to read about. The character I would like to read more about is the human character who's apparently been held hostage by some mutant people things for two years. Or the other mutants, even if some of them look like Tank Girl kangaroo people.
Strontium Dog: The Mork Whisperer part 4
Strontium Dog is another of the comics that has been in 2000ad forever. It hasn't been in every issue (I think Dredd has), but it's there fairly frequently. It's about a mutant bounty hunter travelling the galaxy, and while I probably should like it, I don't really get the appeal to be honest. It's alright, but I didn't really dig the art (or maybe just the colouring). I mean, it is drawn by Carlos Ezquerra, who's stuff I usually enjoy.
I think Johnny Alpha (the main character) looks like Jesse Custer from Preacher without his armour on.
Shakara: Destroyer part 5
Wow, now this has nice art. Or at least this first floating thing is.
(Yes, I have access to a scanner now.)
The other character designs don't do much for me. And the comic doesn't do much to explain why Robbie Morrison has multiple strips in this issue and is fairly well known as a 2000ad writer. His run on the Authority was super horrible. It's just a big robot fight scene! With teknosaurs! I do not know why I don't like it.
Nikolai Dante: Lulu's War part 4
This is Robbie Morrison's better known comic in 2000ad, and it's actually good. The so called lead "Nikolai Dante" doesn't actually show up, but I have no idea who that is so it doesn't matter. This comic is set in some weird future version of Russia with tsars and the like? I think. I am not sure.
This is good though. Vampires, corrupt aristocrats, some woman who seems to have magical powers with insects for blood or something. I would read more of this. Too bad this is the last part!
Overall? It was alright. I only really liked two of the stories, and the Nikolai Dante one is going to be in the next issue. I think I will wait for one of those periodic issues where every story is a part one before I pick this up again.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Secret Invasion: Requiem
Okay, so I guess this actually cost 33 cents or something, but close enough.
This is, like a number of recent Marvel comics, actually a couple of old stories that have been recoloured. Plus a new framing sequence drawn by Khoi Pham (whose art I really liked on Hercules, but who didn't impress me that much here).
The framing sequence is really just there to introduce the other comics though, so it's not really Pham's fault as he wasn't given the most interesting stuff to work with. The other comics are there to show that Ant Man (Henry Pym) has always been a jackass. The first story (by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby) is the first appearance of the Wasp, and also features Ant Man's origin. Which is that his wife, who was a Soviet defector, got killed when they went back to the Soviet Union for a holiday. WTF? Is that still in continuity?
So Pym is doing ant science in his lab, when another scientist shows up and asks him to help with his gamma ray beam. To the other scientist's great shock and annoyance, Pym tells him that he doesn't know anything about that field. I kind of love that, this guy shows up at Pym's house to ask him for help, yet doesn't even know what type of science he does. He even mentions that Pym is a famous scientist (for what, I don't know). The real reason this scientist is in the story is to introduce his daughter! Janet Van Dyne. Who apparently looks exactly like Pym's ex-wife. Except they look nothing alike at all. Pym is just crazy.
To add to this, when Van Dyne becomes the Wasp, Pym decides to give her completely untested powers that he hasn't even tried on himself. "Here, let me implant these wings and antenna under your skin." Then they fight a monster. And Van Dyne is all like "Oh Hank Pym, you are so dreamy."
(So this comic was lying on a table at the house I'm staying at, and one of my friends picked it up and started looking through it and said he was amazed at how good the art looked in the first story. He was shocked when I told him that art was from the '60s. Colouring is so important.)
And then! We have the famous issue where Ant Man hits the Wasp. And is just generally insane (he builds a robot to attack the Avengers so that he can then defeat it).
I think one of the most hilarious things about this issue is that apparently the other Avengers are so used to the Wasp's terrible wardrobe (that purple thing!), that when she shows up to a meeting in a turtleneck, coat, and sunglasses (to hide the beating Ant Man gave her), nobody says a word about it until she takes her sunglasses off and they see her black eye.
After both the reprints, we get a couple more new pages and see that Hank Pym has decided to become a new the Wasp, in order to honour the one that just died in Secret Invasion. Ultimately, all this comic does is make me wish that it was Hank Pym (a character who has apparently always been an insane idiot) was the one who had died instead of the Wasp (one of the oldest female superheroes the Marvel universe has). Oh well, I'm sure she'll be back eventually.
But really, this comic was worth the price I paid for the three pages showing every costume/outfit the Wasp has ever worn. Holy shit! I bet that took way too long to put together.
This is, like a number of recent Marvel comics, actually a couple of old stories that have been recoloured. Plus a new framing sequence drawn by Khoi Pham (whose art I really liked on Hercules, but who didn't impress me that much here).
The framing sequence is really just there to introduce the other comics though, so it's not really Pham's fault as he wasn't given the most interesting stuff to work with. The other comics are there to show that Ant Man (Henry Pym) has always been a jackass. The first story (by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby) is the first appearance of the Wasp, and also features Ant Man's origin. Which is that his wife, who was a Soviet defector, got killed when they went back to the Soviet Union for a holiday. WTF? Is that still in continuity?
So Pym is doing ant science in his lab, when another scientist shows up and asks him to help with his gamma ray beam. To the other scientist's great shock and annoyance, Pym tells him that he doesn't know anything about that field. I kind of love that, this guy shows up at Pym's house to ask him for help, yet doesn't even know what type of science he does. He even mentions that Pym is a famous scientist (for what, I don't know). The real reason this scientist is in the story is to introduce his daughter! Janet Van Dyne. Who apparently looks exactly like Pym's ex-wife. Except they look nothing alike at all. Pym is just crazy.
To add to this, when Van Dyne becomes the Wasp, Pym decides to give her completely untested powers that he hasn't even tried on himself. "Here, let me implant these wings and antenna under your skin." Then they fight a monster. And Van Dyne is all like "Oh Hank Pym, you are so dreamy."
(So this comic was lying on a table at the house I'm staying at, and one of my friends picked it up and started looking through it and said he was amazed at how good the art looked in the first story. He was shocked when I told him that art was from the '60s. Colouring is so important.)
And then! We have the famous issue where Ant Man hits the Wasp. And is just generally insane (he builds a robot to attack the Avengers so that he can then defeat it).
I think one of the most hilarious things about this issue is that apparently the other Avengers are so used to the Wasp's terrible wardrobe (that purple thing!), that when she shows up to a meeting in a turtleneck, coat, and sunglasses (to hide the beating Ant Man gave her), nobody says a word about it until she takes her sunglasses off and they see her black eye.
After both the reprints, we get a couple more new pages and see that Hank Pym has decided to become a new the Wasp, in order to honour the one that just died in Secret Invasion. Ultimately, all this comic does is make me wish that it was Hank Pym (a character who has apparently always been an insane idiot) was the one who had died instead of the Wasp (one of the oldest female superheroes the Marvel universe has). Oh well, I'm sure she'll be back eventually.
But really, this comic was worth the price I paid for the three pages showing every costume/outfit the Wasp has ever worn. Holy shit! I bet that took way too long to put together.
Labels: comics, I will spend 25 cents on anything, Marvel
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Pirates and space girls
The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury #295
I liked the idea of this, that there have been hundreds of adventures already, so you don't need an origin story. Yes, fantastic.
And the art is pretty good too. However this felt weirdly light. The first half of the story featured things being stolen and space battles and stuff. But then the second half was just talking heads trying to solve a puzzle. I did get a good idea of who Miranda Mercury is, and I am curious about the other issues in this series, but...
El Cazador Collected Edition #1
I was really hoping for the pirate equivalent of Way of the Rat, the martial arts comic written by the same person (Chuck Dixon) and published by the same company (CrossGen) at the same time (2002-03), but, sadly, I did not get it. This is the first three issues of the series (that only lasted six and a special) and it's sloooooow. So many characters and I sort of felt the pirate character who was killed early on had his character developed through his three lines of dialogue than the supposed main characters. Still, it's not like I can think of a better pirate comic produced recently. Oh wait! Scurvy Dogs!
I liked the idea of this, that there have been hundreds of adventures already, so you don't need an origin story. Yes, fantastic.
And the art is pretty good too. However this felt weirdly light. The first half of the story featured things being stolen and space battles and stuff. But then the second half was just talking heads trying to solve a puzzle. I did get a good idea of who Miranda Mercury is, and I am curious about the other issues in this series, but...
El Cazador Collected Edition #1
I was really hoping for the pirate equivalent of Way of the Rat, the martial arts comic written by the same person (Chuck Dixon) and published by the same company (CrossGen) at the same time (2002-03), but, sadly, I did not get it. This is the first three issues of the series (that only lasted six and a special) and it's sloooooow. So many characters and I sort of felt the pirate character who was killed early on had his character developed through his three lines of dialogue than the supposed main characters. Still, it's not like I can think of a better pirate comic produced recently. Oh wait! Scurvy Dogs!
Labels: comics, One dollar theatre
Friday, September 25, 2009
Big guys hit things
Savage Dragon #75
Raaaarrggh!!! At Free Comic Book Day earlier this year I got the free issue of Savage Dragon (#148) and was shocked at how much I enjoyed it. That, combined with a conversation I had with a fellow comic nerd, and a pretty nice sketch Erik Larsen did for me at the Emerald City Comicon (monster!), made me pick up this issue. And it's good! It's really just monsters punching each other, but half the time that's really all I want from my comics. Watch out quarter bins! I am looking for Savage Dragon! Or hell, maybe I'll start picking up the Savage Dragon Archives. 25 issues for $20! Wait, that's not such a great deal vs. quarter bins...
The Nine Loves of El Gato: Crime Mangler
El Gato is a Mexican, masked, luchadore wrestler. He apparently mangles crime. However, this comic is set before he is a true crime mangler and is instead about when he was just a dude (mostly a dude who wrestles), and the girls he slept with before finding his true love. Apparently an earlier El Gato comic was "the Nine Lives" which makes the title of this make more sense. Anyway, this is nine different stories by nine different artists, who aren't your average "big dude punches stuff" artists. Actually, looking it up some of the artists are old school Marvel artists, crazy. I wish I still had this comic so I could look at the art again. Some of the artists are indie people though. Still, it's pretty decent stuff. Definitely worth the 25 cents I paid for it.
Raaaarrggh!!! At Free Comic Book Day earlier this year I got the free issue of Savage Dragon (#148) and was shocked at how much I enjoyed it. That, combined with a conversation I had with a fellow comic nerd, and a pretty nice sketch Erik Larsen did for me at the Emerald City Comicon (monster!), made me pick up this issue. And it's good! It's really just monsters punching each other, but half the time that's really all I want from my comics. Watch out quarter bins! I am looking for Savage Dragon! Or hell, maybe I'll start picking up the Savage Dragon Archives. 25 issues for $20! Wait, that's not such a great deal vs. quarter bins...
The Nine Loves of El Gato: Crime Mangler
El Gato is a Mexican, masked, luchadore wrestler. He apparently mangles crime. However, this comic is set before he is a true crime mangler and is instead about when he was just a dude (mostly a dude who wrestles), and the girls he slept with before finding his true love. Apparently an earlier El Gato comic was "the Nine Lives" which makes the title of this make more sense. Anyway, this is nine different stories by nine different artists, who aren't your average "big dude punches stuff" artists. Actually, looking it up some of the artists are old school Marvel artists, crazy. I wish I still had this comic so I could look at the art again. Some of the artists are indie people though. Still, it's pretty decent stuff. Definitely worth the 25 cents I paid for it.
Labels: comics, I will spend 25 cents on anything
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tangent comics
Back when these first came (1997) out I was strictly a Marvel Zombie. Oh, and some Wildstorm/Image books. But I guess that there wasn't much out the week these came out. Or just the differentness of the Tangent covers made me pick up a couple of them (The Joker, which was really good, and Secret Six, which was okay).
(And those covers were so good! So different! White space! Weirdness! Designed by Rian Hughes! And shit, check out all those other logos he's done. And alternative logos he designed that were never used!)
I've read most of the others over the years, which have gone from awesome (John Ostrander's Nightwing) to, uhm, not so awesome. I read...maybe half of that 12 part series that came out last year, but didn't really dig it.
Doom Patrol
I like the idea that this is a basically a doomsday cult that knows the earth is going to end. As they saw it happen before traveling back in time. Overall the comic isn't that great though. The future isn't that interesting. The character designs (and the characters themselves) are kind of blah. And I dunno. It just doesn't do much for me.
Tales of the Green Lantern
I really find it hard to care about Green Lantern and Blackest Night and everything when the main character is Hal Jordan, who I find to be incredibly boring. Even typing this sentence is making me sleepy. The Tangent Green Lantern, however, is one I really wish there were more comics about. The original Tangent GL one shot featured JH Williams III art (yay!) in a variety of styles in an anthology of stories about people wronged and killed. GL acted as a narrator/facilitator and helped the spirits get revenge. It was good. This one doesn't feature as much art by Williams, but it does feature a trio of stories that could all, maybe, be the origin of this Green Lantern. I really want more. It's basically just an updating of House of Mystery or whatever (complete with "host"), but it's really good.
Sea Devils
You know, I think I've read this one before. Or maybe it just seems so boring because all undersea city comics are the same and I just don't care. Oh no, the humans have done something, oh no, a giant monster is attacking, oh no, I don't want the job my father has. It just seems really cliched and blah. I liked the cameo by the Joker though.
(And those covers were so good! So different! White space! Weirdness! Designed by Rian Hughes! And shit, check out all those other logos he's done. And alternative logos he designed that were never used!)
I've read most of the others over the years, which have gone from awesome (John Ostrander's Nightwing) to, uhm, not so awesome. I read...maybe half of that 12 part series that came out last year, but didn't really dig it.
Doom Patrol
I like the idea that this is a basically a doomsday cult that knows the earth is going to end. As they saw it happen before traveling back in time. Overall the comic isn't that great though. The future isn't that interesting. The character designs (and the characters themselves) are kind of blah. And I dunno. It just doesn't do much for me.
Tales of the Green Lantern
I really find it hard to care about Green Lantern and Blackest Night and everything when the main character is Hal Jordan, who I find to be incredibly boring. Even typing this sentence is making me sleepy. The Tangent Green Lantern, however, is one I really wish there were more comics about. The original Tangent GL one shot featured JH Williams III art (yay!) in a variety of styles in an anthology of stories about people wronged and killed. GL acted as a narrator/facilitator and helped the spirits get revenge. It was good. This one doesn't feature as much art by Williams, but it does feature a trio of stories that could all, maybe, be the origin of this Green Lantern. I really want more. It's basically just an updating of House of Mystery or whatever (complete with "host"), but it's really good.
Sea Devils
You know, I think I've read this one before. Or maybe it just seems so boring because all undersea city comics are the same and I just don't care. Oh no, the humans have done something, oh no, a giant monster is attacking, oh no, I don't want the job my father has. It just seems really cliched and blah. I liked the cameo by the Joker though.
Labels: comics, DC, I will spend 25 cents on anything
Monday, September 21, 2009
Punching people
Lobo: Blazing Chain of Love
I can't really believe that Lobo has been in so many comics. Even ignoring all the one shots (like this one) and miniserieses, he had a 64 issue series in the '90s. 64 issues! That's crazy! In this one Lobo is trying to track down a hooker and ends up going to a harem planet. It's fairly predictable, but I liked the art by "Denise Cowan" and the last page gag about condom use was pretty funny.
Troublemakers #1
It's alright. The cover blurb of "Choose life. Choose a job. Choose this comic." made me think it'd be more about 20something slackers with superpowers, but instead we get a comic about teenagers who were given superpowers by the company their parents work for and they're raised in some top secret facility and blah blah blah. It doesn't have supervillains or anything, which I suppose makes it different from most of these comics, but yeah. The letters page and other Acclaim/Valiant company info is so weird looking back on it today.
Hercules: Prince of Power #1
Hercules is a jerk. Hercules drinks. Zeus kicks him out of Olympus. Into space! Hercules meets aliens. Hercules continues to be a jerk, and drink, and fight. But he's still a hero. And a jerk. And he gets a robot drunk. Hercules is awesome. I need to catch up on the current series. And find more issues of this.
I can't really believe that Lobo has been in so many comics. Even ignoring all the one shots (like this one) and miniserieses, he had a 64 issue series in the '90s. 64 issues! That's crazy! In this one Lobo is trying to track down a hooker and ends up going to a harem planet. It's fairly predictable, but I liked the art by "Denise Cowan" and the last page gag about condom use was pretty funny.
Troublemakers #1
It's alright. The cover blurb of "Choose life. Choose a job. Choose this comic." made me think it'd be more about 20something slackers with superpowers, but instead we get a comic about teenagers who were given superpowers by the company their parents work for and they're raised in some top secret facility and blah blah blah. It doesn't have supervillains or anything, which I suppose makes it different from most of these comics, but yeah. The letters page and other Acclaim/Valiant company info is so weird looking back on it today.
Hercules: Prince of Power #1
Hercules is a jerk. Hercules drinks. Zeus kicks him out of Olympus. Into space! Hercules meets aliens. Hercules continues to be a jerk, and drink, and fight. But he's still a hero. And a jerk. And he gets a robot drunk. Hercules is awesome. I need to catch up on the current series. And find more issues of this.
Labels: comics, DC, I will spend 25 cents on anything, Marvel
Saturday, September 19, 2009
DC annual things
Justice League Quarterly #4
Okay, I guess this isn't actually an annual, as they came out four times a year (presumably?) but it's thick and has lots of comics. I've liked what I've read of JLE/I, so hoped this would be decent.
The opening story with the Injustice League is okay, but it's kind of clear I'm missing the joke. Oh look! Cluemaster.
The second story is better, but yeah, Guy Gardner is a jerk. I don't really want to read comics about him. I liked the way the demon was defeated. Talking!
Finally there are 12 (!) pages of a scrawny, gross cat doing scrawny gross cat things to various Justice League members. I find it kind of crazy that DC published something like that. But it was fun enough, and the last panel explaining why the cat was there was funny.
Justice League America Annual 8
Ooooh, an Elseworlds. They don't make these anymore. Though perhaps making _every_ annual you published an Elseworlds one year was kind of overkill. The main story in this annual has (shock!) a post apocalyptic future were everyone has died, but heroes who are just like the JLA will team up and win the day, blah blah blah. This was better than the Elseworlds: Superman annual I read. Which had something about aliens invading earth and slavery, etc. I hope someone did an Elseworlds were it was just a romantic comedy featuring Wally West (or someone) who is not the Flash at all.
There is one good thing to this annual: the Evan Dorkin backup strip. Featuring the JLA doing nothing, while the O Squad (featuring Amazo, Chemo, Despero, Sinestro, Kanjar Ro, Staro, and so forth) team up and fail to fight the Justice League. Evan Dorkin is good. The signatures of the villains are pretty awesome. This site is posting lots of Dorkin's old comic strips.
Teen Titans Lost Annual
Woah, something new? This only came out last year! And yet I can still buy it from a quarter bin. Fantastic.
This was, I believe, Bob Haney's final comic, and I really have to wonder if he meant for it to be so bizarre, or if penciller Jay Stephens made the villains extra ridiculous on purpose. I mean, the story is crazy enough with JFK being abducted by aliens, but making those aliens mods who are fighting another race of aliens who are hippies is kind of crazy. And Aquaboy is completely useless! So useless he doesn't even bother going to the alien planet with the other Titans. Amazing!
The art is totally good too. I get a Jack Kirby vibe from it, but also a bit of Paul Pope. Anyway, it's good. I am curious as to what the pencils looked like before Mike Allred (the inker) got to them though.
And that final page is pretty awesome. JFK in space!
Okay, I guess this isn't actually an annual, as they came out four times a year (presumably?) but it's thick and has lots of comics. I've liked what I've read of JLE/I, so hoped this would be decent.
The opening story with the Injustice League is okay, but it's kind of clear I'm missing the joke. Oh look! Cluemaster.
The second story is better, but yeah, Guy Gardner is a jerk. I don't really want to read comics about him. I liked the way the demon was defeated. Talking!
Finally there are 12 (!) pages of a scrawny, gross cat doing scrawny gross cat things to various Justice League members. I find it kind of crazy that DC published something like that. But it was fun enough, and the last panel explaining why the cat was there was funny.
Justice League America Annual 8
Ooooh, an Elseworlds. They don't make these anymore. Though perhaps making _every_ annual you published an Elseworlds one year was kind of overkill. The main story in this annual has (shock!) a post apocalyptic future were everyone has died, but heroes who are just like the JLA will team up and win the day, blah blah blah. This was better than the Elseworlds: Superman annual I read. Which had something about aliens invading earth and slavery, etc. I hope someone did an Elseworlds were it was just a romantic comedy featuring Wally West (or someone) who is not the Flash at all.
There is one good thing to this annual: the Evan Dorkin backup strip. Featuring the JLA doing nothing, while the O Squad (featuring Amazo, Chemo, Despero, Sinestro, Kanjar Ro, Staro, and so forth) team up and fail to fight the Justice League. Evan Dorkin is good. The signatures of the villains are pretty awesome. This site is posting lots of Dorkin's old comic strips.
Teen Titans Lost Annual
Woah, something new? This only came out last year! And yet I can still buy it from a quarter bin. Fantastic.
This was, I believe, Bob Haney's final comic, and I really have to wonder if he meant for it to be so bizarre, or if penciller Jay Stephens made the villains extra ridiculous on purpose. I mean, the story is crazy enough with JFK being abducted by aliens, but making those aliens mods who are fighting another race of aliens who are hippies is kind of crazy. And Aquaboy is completely useless! So useless he doesn't even bother going to the alien planet with the other Titans. Amazing!
The art is totally good too. I get a Jack Kirby vibe from it, but also a bit of Paul Pope. Anyway, it's good. I am curious as to what the pencils looked like before Mike Allred (the inker) got to them though.
And that final page is pretty awesome. JFK in space!
Labels: comics, DC, I will spend 25 cents on anything
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Girls girls girls
Anima #0
I had heard some good things about this series on the internet recently. And foolishly thought maybe this would be a good issue to start on, as I clearly have no idea what Zero Hour was. It doesn't really make much sense, and it seems to be all about revealing characters' mysterious backstories and giving answers to readers. But I have no idea what the questions even were.
Bad Girls #1
This has a really nice Darwyn Cooke cover. Then the art inside is nothing like it at all. Not that the art is bad, in fact I quite like Jennifer Graves work here, it looks like somebody...good...
The story is nothing new. New girl in school. Nerdy boy. Bitchy girls. Superpowers. Etc. It's done better than some I've read. But I'm not in high school anymore, plus my high school was never like that anyway.
Girlfrenzy! JLA: Tomorrow Woman
I think I read the JLA comic this is spinning out of, but I reallllly don't remember it. Thankfully, enough information is given in this comic to let me understand what's going on. The story is kind of dumb, but given it has to take place during JLA #5 I can forgive that.
I do like Tomorrow Woman's costume though.
I had heard some good things about this series on the internet recently. And foolishly thought maybe this would be a good issue to start on, as I clearly have no idea what Zero Hour was. It doesn't really make much sense, and it seems to be all about revealing characters' mysterious backstories and giving answers to readers. But I have no idea what the questions even were.
Bad Girls #1
This has a really nice Darwyn Cooke cover. Then the art inside is nothing like it at all. Not that the art is bad, in fact I quite like Jennifer Graves work here, it looks like somebody...good...
The story is nothing new. New girl in school. Nerdy boy. Bitchy girls. Superpowers. Etc. It's done better than some I've read. But I'm not in high school anymore, plus my high school was never like that anyway.
Girlfrenzy! JLA: Tomorrow Woman
I think I read the JLA comic this is spinning out of, but I reallllly don't remember it. Thankfully, enough information is given in this comic to let me understand what's going on. The story is kind of dumb, but given it has to take place during JLA #5 I can forgive that.
I do like Tomorrow Woman's costume though.
Labels: comics, DC, I will spend 25 cents on anything
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Action Comics Weekly 603
Oh hey, since Wednesday Comics, DC's most recent weekly anthology series is coming out (and almost over), lets go back and look at another time they tried this.
This is the third issue from this experiment, which only lasted 42 issues (it must have sold terribly!), and features Kyle Baker drawing a flying dude, Deadman, Superman, Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, and... Hey, this sounds familiar. Okay, so I'm over exaggerating the similarities. Kyle Baker drew Blackhawk, and he only drew the cover. But now, onto the inside!
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern story is fairly crap, but about halfway through I realized it had pretty good art. Gil Kane isn't someone I've ever really noticed before, probably because...I don't really have an excuse. He is oooollllddd. I started reading comics during the '90s. So yeah. His art in this is good though, after I finished reading the comic, I went back and just looked at the art, ignoring the words, and had a much more enjoyable experience.
If I had a scanner there would now be a picture of Hal Jordan bitch slapping Star Sapphire.
Secret Six!
Oh, this is terrible. Just stupid and I don't know what is going on at all. The 12 year old wunderkind scientist they're going after looks like Kim Jong Il.
The curent Secret Six series is a million times better.
Deadman
So I was at my friend's house last month, and saw she had some issues of a Deadman series from a few years ago. I read issue two, with the intention of reading more, but it was too bad. Just stupid crap I didn't care about at all, wrapped inside really nice Mike Mignola covers
This story is better. I like the ancient Mayan god dude, though it's a bit too "hey brown person, your gods were lies". Then there's some alien stuff and I wonder why everyone seems to think that South Americans needed mystical help to build shit.
Superman
Only two pages! Apparently supposed to look like the newspaper strips. It's fairly good. Stuff happens. But why didn't Superman just move the guy out of the way of the train instead of trashing the tracks?
Wild Dog
I like Wild Dog's logo font. The two (!) pages of letters from people writing in to say how awesome the Wild Dog miniseries was and how there should be more comics about people shooting terrorists is kind of frightening. The comic itself is not as bad as I had first though after it's opening lines ("What in the Hell...Was that a sonic boom?" "No..That was an explosion... Nearby!"). I'm not convinced to pick up that miniseries from quarter bins yet.
Blackhawk
Oh hey, this was good. Blackhawk is hanging out after WWII and needs stuff to do. Stuff that involves sexy dames and flying planes. I would read more of this one.
An ad for TailgunnerJo
This series sounds messed up. Is it any good? Did I once read issue one? I do not recall...
This is the third issue from this experiment, which only lasted 42 issues (it must have sold terribly!), and features Kyle Baker drawing a flying dude, Deadman, Superman, Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, and... Hey, this sounds familiar. Okay, so I'm over exaggerating the similarities. Kyle Baker drew Blackhawk, and he only drew the cover. But now, onto the inside!
Green Lantern
The Green Lantern story is fairly crap, but about halfway through I realized it had pretty good art. Gil Kane isn't someone I've ever really noticed before, probably because...I don't really have an excuse. He is oooollllddd. I started reading comics during the '90s. So yeah. His art in this is good though, after I finished reading the comic, I went back and just looked at the art, ignoring the words, and had a much more enjoyable experience.
If I had a scanner there would now be a picture of Hal Jordan bitch slapping Star Sapphire.
Secret Six!
Oh, this is terrible. Just stupid and I don't know what is going on at all. The 12 year old wunderkind scientist they're going after looks like Kim Jong Il.
The curent Secret Six series is a million times better.
Deadman
So I was at my friend's house last month, and saw she had some issues of a Deadman series from a few years ago. I read issue two, with the intention of reading more, but it was too bad. Just stupid crap I didn't care about at all, wrapped inside really nice Mike Mignola covers
This story is better. I like the ancient Mayan god dude, though it's a bit too "hey brown person, your gods were lies". Then there's some alien stuff and I wonder why everyone seems to think that South Americans needed mystical help to build shit.
Superman
Only two pages! Apparently supposed to look like the newspaper strips. It's fairly good. Stuff happens. But why didn't Superman just move the guy out of the way of the train instead of trashing the tracks?
Wild Dog
I like Wild Dog's logo font. The two (!) pages of letters from people writing in to say how awesome the Wild Dog miniseries was and how there should be more comics about people shooting terrorists is kind of frightening. The comic itself is not as bad as I had first though after it's opening lines ("What in the Hell...Was that a sonic boom?" "No..That was an explosion... Nearby!"). I'm not convinced to pick up that miniseries from quarter bins yet.
Blackhawk
Oh hey, this was good. Blackhawk is hanging out after WWII and needs stuff to do. Stuff that involves sexy dames and flying planes. I would read more of this one.
An ad for TailgunnerJo
This series sounds messed up. Is it any good? Did I once read issue one? I do not recall...
Labels: comics, DC, I will spend 25 cents on anything
