You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September, 2008.
With the second to last issue of Marvel 1985, Mark Millar gives us something different once more. We leave Toby’s hometown and even his dimension, to find ourselves in the New York we all know from our youth. I mean the New York in which heroes like the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man are at home. Our hero protagonist escaped his own world in order to find some superheroes to defend his hometown against the villainous attack. However this turns out to be harder than expected, as the superheroes are not sitting around, waiting for somebody to cry wolf. They are quite busy fighting the evil of their own world and so blackmailing Spider-Man, by threatening to expose him, seems to be Toby’s only hope to get the attention of at least one of the supermen. Meanwhile in the “real world” things are turning sour really fast. The town seems lost when a new and even stronger opponent appears on the scene.
Although I said last month that I didn’t like the stylistically simplified art used by Edwards to present the superhero dimension, I must say that it really worked in this issue. I might even go so far as to say that this could be one of the best issues yet. The humor and drama are both well developed and the final cliffhanger is bombastic. It really makes you look forward to the next issue, when the villains will probably get their butts handed to them. Furthermore “the knowledge” Toby’s father gained from reading comics makes him the perfect opponent of the invaders. The message here seems to be that it pays off to read comics, at least if your town will ever be invaded by supervillains, that is. Can’t wait for the next and final issue of Marvel 1985. Story 8, Art 8, Re-read 8, Overall Score 8
Holy S*** ! Today I got the privilege to read the 3 first issues of the “Old Man Logan” series (8 issues) that came out in August this year. Let me first say that every Wolverine fan should get his hands on these books.
They tell the story of Wolverine, or Logan as he likes to be called, 50 years after practically all the well-known superheroes (Cap, Thor, Spider-Man, Cyclops…) have been killed by a swipe of supervillains who now share the country of America and rule with their individual iron fists. Logan lives on a farm with his wife and two kids and tries to make ends meet to pay off the rent to the Banners (Hulk’s grandchildren) who punish everyone who’s unable to pay by kicking their butts. But Logan swore never to fight again. So he gets beaten to a pulp and his old friend Hawkeye comes to help him, since his healing abilities aren’t what they used to be. Hawkeye offers Logan to accompany him on a delivery job through the whole country and paying him 500 dollars for it. Logan accepts. That is where the journey starts.
I will stop there, although it is hard to hold back. I would like to write the whole story so far and I can’t wait for the new issue to come out. The art (writer: Mark Millar, pencils: Steve McNiven, ink: Dexter Vines) of the book is very clean and very rough at the same time, though nothing special. The story follows a simple but entertaining plot line. This story would make for a great movie. I specifically appreciate the little details of this gruesome view of the world with no more superheroes to protect it. The Banners, for example, drive a stolen vehicle that used to belong to the Fantastic Four and they “repainted” it. If you ever asked yourself the question, what would happen if the bad guys actually won for once, this will give you a pretty interesting vision of what that might look like. Plus, you get Logan as a determined pacifist who would rather die than “pop his claws” again. Well, we’ll see…
Story 10
Art 9
Reread Value 9
Overall Rating 9/10
Malik
Renovations of my old appartment are still going on, so there will be no new work from me this week. Hopefully Malik will manage to get one or two review out. I will be back next week with the regular reviews. Stay tuned!
With the recent hype around the newest Batman movie The Dark Knight, I was expecting to see an increase in stories involving the Joker and Harvey Dent. And right on time, DC released the first of a two part mini-series called Two-Face – Year One. The first issue deals with the way Harvey Dent antagonizes the whole police department except for Gordon and a few others, on his quest to bring down Maroni and the whole mob with him. Batman is only a side figure in this tale and the real star is, like the title suggests, our favorite attorney at law. The story written by Mark Sable attempts to give an idea of who Harvey Dent really is, showing us his dark and repressed side, while insisting that he has a clean vest. The first issue mainly deals with Dent’s attempts to get Maroni convicted right up to the moment where the latter throws a can of acid into his face. Only when his face has been mutilated, his split personality takes over and Dent is lost to the new persona calling himself Two-Face.
I have read a lot of Two-Face stories and there have been a few origin tales already (the best of them being in Batman Annual #14). I sadly can’t say that this one was that good. Maybe it is that the story has been told too many times, or that this one just lacks originality. The first part of this mini-series is in my opinion pretty weak. The characters are too two dimensional. Even though the writer clearly tries to give them some depth, he fails. Also the art by Jesus Saiz is not to my liking. It’s not terribly bad, but it’s barely enough for a “Year One” comic about one of the most important characters from the Batman-verse. Let’s hope that the second part will save the series.
A rating for this mini-series will be given with the review of the second part.
Just dropped by quickly to let you all know, that I won’t be able to post any reviews until the weekend. I’m currently moving and with all the packing up of boxes and all the dull paperwork involved with such a step, I will be too busy to do any quality work for this page and therefore will rather postpone the next review until later.
In the meantime you can either get your fix at Comic Book Resources or get some related news at Bam! Kapow!
Yesterday I had the “pleasure” of reading “X-Men Origins: Beast”. Being a fan of physically strong mutants, like Colossus, I was looking forward to the release of this issue.
We meet Hank McCoy at a younger age, being a student and majoring in biology, as it seems. He gets hassled by some football players about his big hands and feet. You wonder how those guys even got into that class. Hank explains to his girl “friend” that he wishes to be a normal guy. Pushed by the bullies, he decides to enter the football team, trying to blend in. But breaking all records in American Football during only one game isn’t exactly “blending in”. After this display of his abilities, he gets attacked by the Conquistador, the last follower of Cortez, who wants Hank to steal a cold fusion reactor from his father’s work place. With a ruse Hank manages to free his parents, held hostage by the Conquistador, and drive the villain away. Charles Xavier enters the stage to convince Hank to join the X-Men at the price of erasing all the memory of him from his loved ones’ minds.
The cliché story by Mike Carey, with a questionable sense of humor, and the photographic coloring style by J.K. Woodward did not convince me at all. Being a fan of the furry blue creature, I felt disappointed. I do understand that superhero clichés were created with the first comics and the story seems to be an older one, since the X-Men present themselves in their original costumes from the 60’s, but having read the background stories of Colossus and Jean Grey, I did hope for more than this.
Story 5, Art 6, Re-read 6, Overall Rating 6
Malik
The seven part book series The Dark Tower, written between 1970 and 2004, is without a doubt Stephen King’s magnum opus. They cover the quest of a gunslinger on his journey to a tower, which holds mysterious powers. It seems that King however had not said everything in these seven volumes, as he currently is releasing a comic book series at Marvel, which covers the youth of said gunslinger.
“The Gunslinger Born” is the first story arc, released in 2007 and currently available in trade paperback form, and it tells the origins of Roland Deschain, from his manhood test to his first encounter with John Farson’s men. Together with his two friends Cuthbert Allgood and Alain Johns he is send out by his father to investigate what the enemy is up to. During their stay in Hambry, they learn of a gang known as the Big Coffin Hunters. While looking for a way to foil the gang’s plans to provide Farson with oil for his war machines, Roland falls in love with the young Susan Delgado. The events of this arc are largely based on Wizards and Glass, the fourth book in the Dark Tower saga.
Robin Furth, the personal research assistant of Stephen King, and Peter David put together the story of this first story arc, and they did a wonderful job. They include both the language King has developed for his book series, as well as the atmosphere, which is so important for this series. The art by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove is breath taking, to say the least. It is both very detailed and extremely atmospheric and fits the dark tale of Roland Deschain’s first adventure perfectly. The characters are sometimes so detailed, that they feel real. The only thing I would have to reproach this trade paperback edition, which I have read, is that it does not include the prose stories which were included in the original publications. Still, this graphic novel is not only something for those of you, who have not yet had the pleasure to read The Dark Tower, but also for those who enjoy dark western stories in general.
Story 8
Art 10
Reread Value 9
Overall Rating 9/10
HBO just launched its new series called True Blood and since it is “the new thing” to release a comic book with your new series, I thought I’d take a look. True Blood – The Great Revelation is a Top Cow release, written by Brian Cain, Gregg Hale and David Wohl and featuring art by Jason Badower. The art is fairly standard, nothing exceptional here, but it is still very nice. The story revolves around the Vampire King from California, who explains how the world has changed for his race. Since the Japanese have developed synthetic blood, there is no need any more for the vampires to kill in order to sustain themselves. So this comic book is actually only a short introduction to the world of True Blood. And best of all you can read it for free on their official website.
I also watched the first episode of the series, which premiered last Sunday, and I must say that my interest was aroused. I’m not sure if this will become one of my new favorites, but I will definitely watch the next few episodes to find out. I won’t tell you what exactly the show is about as I think it would ruin the pilot for you. I’m not sure if True Blood will feature regular comic books online, like Heroes does or if this is just a onetime thing for introductory purposes. Story 7, Art 6.5, Re-read 6, Overall Rating 6.5
I decided to introduce a little change into the reviews of our monthly comic books that we have been doing so far (Buffy, Angel, Spike, X-Men: Origins etc.) These reviews will be a little shorter from now on, and the layout of the grading system will also change slightly, in order to reduce the workload for these issues and let us concentrate more on entire story arc TPBs. And now enjoy the reviews of Buffy – Season Eight #18 and Angel – After the Fall #12.
Joss Whedon’s latest mini arc reaches part three and after last month’s shock, revealing that the mystery woman, who’s pulling the strings, is in fact none other than Buffy’s favorite sidekick Miss Willow Rosenberg. While her friends are still stuck in their own time period, trying to find a way to get Buffy back, the Slayer from Sunnydale is in the meantime helping her new friend Melaka Fray to kick some Vampire butt. However, when they split paths for a while, Fray is approached by Willow. When Fray, moments later, attacks Buffy, the reader is left to wonder what exactly the witch has told the Slayer from the future. Script wise the newest issue is flawless. Whedon advances the story properly and keeps up an enormous amount of humoristic dialogue. The cartoony art style slowly grows on me and so issue #18 was a delight to read. Story 8, Art 8, Re-read 7, Overall Rating 8
Once again I’d like to recant my statement from last week. This is in fact not the last issue of the series. Originally only 12 issues were planned, but the mini arc “First Night” was introduced in between and so the “After the Fall” storyline will continue until #16 and will be followed by the six issue arc “Aftermath”. Last month Gunn took away Angel’s magical healing powers and left him for dead. Now our hero is standing “besides himself” talking to an old friend, who explains to him that it’s time to let go. While Angel struggles with his own death, Wes appears to finally bring a little insight. The senior partners have updated his mind and he is now in possession of the real plans that they had for Angel all along. Whedon and Lynch’s vision finally turns into something solid. The appearance of a character from the Angel’s past (I don’t want to ruin the surprise) and the information Wes shares with us, make this issue one of the more interesting ones in the series. I’m excited to see how Angel will deal with the vision Wes showed him in next month’s issue. Story 8.5, Art 7, Re-read 7, Overall Rating 8
Due to some unforeseen circumstances I will post this weeks link collection one day earlier and will probably start off the new review week on Sunday. I’m currently working on my last paper and will therefore have too much work to post a review today. So here are some of this weeks news and interesting posts.
Comic shop owners got notified this week that they were to destroy every copy of “All Star Batman And Robin The Boy Wonder” #10, as there was a mishap in the censor department and the issue ended up with quite a lot of “filthy language”. If you want to know how exactly that looks like, you can read the whole article here at comic book resources.
In this article several of the comics, used as source material for The Dark Knight, are discussed.
An interview with Mark Millar on the film version of his current comic series Kick-Ass.
Joss Whedon has paused production on his newest show Dollhouse in order to up the quality of the shows scripts. The prolific perfectionist was not entirely happy with the work the writers had come up with so far and therefore he has requested several rewrites in order to keep the show on a high level. Details can be read here.
Recent Comments