RATE WHAT YOU READ

[Paladin]

Never really got into House of M, but I'm liking the mini "House of M: Avengers" that's currently up to issue number 3. Mike Perkin's art is cool.

 

Thunderbolts is still doing well with Ellis in my opinion. I did have a flashback during the latest issue. Felt like I was reading an old issue of Bruce Jones and Mike Deodato's Hulk when I saw the Norman scenes.

 

Latest Uncanny was good. Interesting twist with Bishop. Art is good.

 

Never really a Buffy fan, but I remain hooked after the BK Vaughn mini-run.

 

And Texeira's art on the latest Moon Knight got me back on board for that issue. Found it hard to follow a couple of the characters though.

[MedicAR]

Ray Harryhausen Presents: Flying Saucers Vs The Earth #1 & #2

Bluewater Productions

Ryan Burton (W) Alan Brooks (A)

 

I'm going to be really nice in my review of this book. Keep that in mind. I really am being very nice.

 

This book is terrible. The only redeeming quality I can come up with is the cover art and that Ray Harryhausen's name is on the cover. I love Ray Harryhausen's work. I've never been a fan of his movies, though, if that makes any sense. I am fascinated by what Mr. Harryhausen was able to do, but the movies were always a little flat to me when it came to the stories and the acting. So while I enjoy watching his work, I tend to fast forward through the rest of his movies. I should have simply fast forwarded through this book instead of wasting the half hour of my life it took to read it.

 

After two issues, I don't have the slightest idea of what's going on or who the primary characters are. The art lacks enough definition to tell anyone apart. At one point, I decided that the book had been misprinted and the pages were out of order. That's how bad this book is, you can change places with the pages and make as much sense of it as the way it was intended.

 

I do find the art visually interesting, but not really appealling outside of the covers. I think I like the covers because they are not trying to tell a story and focus more on good visuals.

 

If you're a Harryhausen competist, I guess you could pick this up just to have it. Otherwise, I'd avoid it like the plague.

[MedicAR]

Jason and the Argonauts: The Kingdom of Hades #1

Bluewater Productions

David McIntee (W) Rantz (A)

 

I'm not actually trying to pick on Bluewater's stuff, I have just been wanting to read a couple of their titles for awhile and finally had the opportunity to do so.

 

Jason and the Argonauts is another of Bluewater's "Ray Harryhausen Presents..." line and while it is better than "Flying Saucers Vs the Earth," it's still not particularly good. The story is certain more coherent than "Flying Saucers" and the art is more visually appealling, but again the story is difficult to follow through a combination of problems with the writer and the artist.

 

I can accept jumping right into a story and getting the ball rolling, but the when the writer did that with this book, he left out a significant amount of backstory necessary to keep the reader involved/informed. A brief recap on the inside cover or a quick paragraph on the first page would ahve been plenty to introduce the main players and give a touch of background.

 

The artist renders the story in a manga-like style which is probably my least favorite comic style, but looking past that there are still problems. The characters are not particularly distinguishable from one another which makes keeping up with a large cast nearly impossible. Everyone has the same large eyes, the same square shoulders, and the same jaw line.

 

Putting the two creators together makes a bit of a mess. The book is easier to follow than "Flying Saucers" if only slightly so. Part of it may be my poor memory on the story of the original Jason and the Argonauts story, or my general lack of knowledge of Greek mythology, either way I read the first issue and couldn't care less if any other issues are ever released.

 

(thumbs u (out of five)

[MedicAR]

Project Superpowers #0

Dynamite Comics

Alex Ross (Story), Jim Krueger (W), Stephen Sadowski (A), Doug Klauba (A), with Alex Ross (A)

 

I had wanted to read this book since I picked it up however many months ago but simply haven't had the time. In the meantime, I had heard that it simply wasn't very good. Much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it.

 

Comparisons to Marvel's "The Twelve" abound and one could even make the argument that the two publishers' titles compliment each other very well. The Twelve has a very straight forward real world feel to it while Superpowers is more about magic and mysticism. The titles are also similar in that they are bringing back oft ignored characters from the Golden Age of comics. Without spoiling it, I really like the way Superpowers has contained and now returned the GA heroes it works with.

 

The story gets wordy, but is complimented by some very nice art. It's not Ross, but you can certainly see his hand in it. As for the "wordy" quality, it's not that I just want more pretty pictures, I just felt that a lot of it was redundant in that it explained the action in the panels unnecessarily. The writer did however fill in enough of the background on characters that I've have little or no exposure to prior to this book to let me enjoy it and gain a feel for them without getting into the minutia of every part of their history. One exception is The Flame, unless I just didn't pick up on it, there was next to no explanation of his abilities outside of a reference toward the end of the book. I would be more specific, but don't want to add any spoilers.

 

All in all, this is a book I will definitely be reading more of!

 

(thumbs u (thumbs u (thumbs u (out of five)

[MedicAR]

Wolverine #66

Marvel Comics

Mark Millar (W), Steve McNiver (A), Dexter Vines (I)

 

Old Man Logan begins here and begins with a bang! Wolverine is one of those characters that has a huge following (as demonstrated by the 40 or 50 titles with him in it every month) that has always left me a little cold. I consider him to be Marvel's Batman in that when he's treated well by the creative team he's an amazing character with some incredible stories, but for the most part it's just monthly drek to pacate the fanboys.

 

This story looks to be one of the best treatments the character has ever had. The story takes off on page one and while it lacks much in the way of action, it still flows nicely and introduces what I assume will be most of the key players and sets up the rest of the story. Without providing spoilers, know that the heroes are gone and have been for the last 50 years and that Wolverine is gone too, replaced by an old man simply called "Logan."

 

Millar has made Logan a very accessable character by giving him a family and mundane (by Wolverine's standards) concerns. He's made the character something he hasn't been for some time......human. The reader actually feels for him and with him, and knowing what Logan used to be (and is still could be...?) makes the humanization feel almost depressing.

 

The art is crisp and beautiful. I hope there's a directors cut or something similar with the pencilled pages, as I'd like to see how the inks and color change it. I get the feeling that McNiven's art would work equally well on its own, but I must confess that the inks and colors are gorgeous! I'm actually excited to see where this story goes and can't wait for the next issue! I would give it five thumbs up, but it really needed just a little more action.

 

(thumbs u (thumbs u (thumbs u (thumbs u (out of five)

[followtheleader]

Project Superpowers #0

Dynamite Comics

Alex Ross (Story), Jim Krueger (W), Stephen Sadowski (A), Doug Klauba (A), with Alex Ross (A)

 

I had wanted to read this book since I picked it up however many months ago but simply haven't had the time. In the meantime, I had heard that it simply wasn't very good. Much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it.

 

Comparisons to Marvel's "The Twelve" abound and one could even make the argument that the two publishers' titles compliment each other very well. The Twelve has a very straight forward real world feel to it while Superpowers is more about magic and mysticism. The titles are also similar in that they are bringing back oft ignored characters from the Golden Age of comics. Without spoiling it, I really like the way Superpowers has contained and now returned the GA heroes it works with.

 

The story gets wordy, but is complimented by some very nice art. It's not Ross, but you can certainly see his hand in it. As for the "wordy" quality, it's not that I just want more pretty pictures, I just felt that a lot of it was redundant in that it explained the action in the panels unnecessarily. The writer did however fill in enough of the background on characters that I've have little or no exposure to prior to this book to let me enjoy it and gain a feel for them without getting into the minutia of every part of their history. One exception is The Flame, unless I just didn't pick up on it, there was next to no explanation of his abilities outside of a reference toward the end of the book. I would be more specific, but don't want to add any spoilers.

 

All in all, this is a book I will definitely be reading more of!

 

(thumbs u (thumbs u (thumbs u (out of five)

 

I actually enjoy this book too. Though I like Twelve better (so good), this book stands on it's own.

 

Pat

[MedicAR]

Project Superpowers #0

Dynamite Comics

Alex Ross (Story), Jim Krueger (W), Stephen Sadowski (A), Doug Klauba (A), with Alex Ross (A)

 

I had wanted to read this book since I picked it up however many months ago but simply haven't had the time. In the meantime, I had heard that it simply wasn't very good. Much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it.

 

Comparisons to Marvel's "The Twelve" abound and one could even make the argument that the two publishers' titles compliment each other very well. The Twelve has a very straight forward real world feel to it while Superpowers is more about magic and mysticism. The titles are also similar in that they are bringing back oft ignored characters from the Golden Age of comics. Without spoiling it, I really like the way Superpowers has contained and now returned the GA heroes it works with.

 

The story gets wordy, but is complimented by some very nice art. It's not Ross, but you can certainly see his hand in it. As for the "wordy" quality, it's not that I just want more pretty pictures, I just felt that a lot of it was redundant in that it explained the action in the panels unnecessarily. The writer did however fill in enough of the background on characters that I've have little or no exposure to prior to this book to let me enjoy it and gain a feel for them without getting into the minutia of every part of their history. One exception is The Flame, unless I just didn't pick up on it, there was next to no explanation of his abilities outside of a reference toward the end of the book. I would be more specific, but don't want to add any spoilers.

 

All in all, this is a book I will definitely be reading more of!

 

(thumbs u (thumbs u (thumbs u (out of five)

 

I actually enjoy this book too. Though I like Twelve better (so good), this book stands on it's own.

 

Pat

 

Somebody actually reads my reviews?!?!?!

 

[Pirate]

Walking Dead #50

 

Glorified Splash issue designed to sell the art. 10 pages long, half splashes, unbelievable story as no one wakes up sounding like a zombie. Really disappointed in Robert this Month. Guess he should have dragged the previous storyline to 50. Might be time to go to trades on it.

 

(thumbs u (out of 5)

[followtheleader]

Project Superpowers #0

Dynamite Comics

Alex Ross (Story), Jim Krueger (W), Stephen Sadowski (A), Doug Klauba (A), with Alex Ross (A)

 

I had wanted to read this book since I picked it up however many months ago but simply haven't had the time. In the meantime, I had heard that it simply wasn't very good. Much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it.

 

Comparisons to Marvel's "The Twelve" abound and one could even make the argument that the two publishers' titles compliment each other very well. The Twelve has a very straight forward real world feel to it while Superpowers is more about magic and mysticism. The titles are also similar in that they are bringing back oft ignored characters from the Golden Age of comics. Without spoiling it, I really like the way Superpowers has contained and now returned the GA heroes it works with.

 

The story gets wordy, but is complimented by some very nice art. It's not Ross, but you can certainly see his hand in it. As for the "wordy" quality, it's not that I just want more pretty pictures, I just felt that a lot of it was redundant in that it explained the action in the panels unnecessarily. The writer did however fill in enough of the background on characters that I've have little or no exposure to prior to this book to let me enjoy it and gain a feel for them without getting into the minutia of every part of their history. One exception is The Flame, unless I just didn't pick up on it, there was next to no explanation of his abilities outside of a reference toward the end of the book. I would be more specific, but don't want to add any spoilers.

 

All in all, this is a book I will definitely be reading more of!

 

(thumbs u (thumbs u (thumbs u (out of five)

 

I actually enjoy this book too. Though I like Twelve better (so good), this book stands on it's own.

 

Pat

 

Somebody actually reads my reviews?!?!?!

 

I just noticed the title. Just kidding, I read almost every post in Modern.

 

Pat

[MedicAR]

Iron Man Viva Las Vegas

Jon Favreau (W) Adi Granov (A)

Marvel Comics

 

I'm a huge fan of Jon Favreau and not just because he made the movie to see this summer (at least so far, it's the movie to see this summer). I loved "Swingers" and even enjoyed "Made" quite a bit. The former is a must see for all single mid to late 20 something guys.

 

When Jon Favreau makes movies, he can tell a story and makes the viewer feel like they know the characters. He makes you sypmathize with his characters. He can make you love or hate them, even make you feel embarrassed for them. I was really excited to learn of him working on a book for Marvel and even more excited to know it would be Iron Man. He is a fantastic visual storyteller......at least on celluloid.

 

Stick with me here.....

 

Adi Granov paints some beautiful pictures. Really incredible stuff. He has a style that I actually like too! You can almost feel the metallic surfaces when he paints Iron Man, and he can paint some beautiful women too. He's not the premier comics artist of the female form, but he's no slouch either. I said it before, but I want to emphasize that he paints beautiful pictures. Each panel he does is very, very nice. But that's the problem, his art is broken down into panels and stays there, it doesn't flow. Even his action sequences lack the dynamic that makes it exciting.

 

This review is a tough one for me. I really like and respect the work of both creators. Both are very good at what they do. This book should be a slam dunk, but it's not. I might be over thinking this a bit, but you can be the judge. Favreau has always told stories on film where even the character driven stuff has literal movement to it. Granov paints beautiful pictures, but they are static...you know, competely lacking in movement. I don't think the two styles mesh in the least. With no fluid artwork to keep it alive, the story falls flat. Tony Stark becomes a pale caricature of what we saw in the movie and Iron Man (while he looks great) doesn't do anything to make the story more exciting.

 

I'll pick up at least one more issue to see if this was just a slow moving prolgue to a better book, but I really don't expect much. Sorry Jon and Avi.

 

(thumbs u (thumbs u (out of five)

[followtheleader]

Medic,

 

I have to disagree with the Iron Man review. I really enjoyed it. I've only read #1 so far (not sure if #2 is out yet). This is coming from someone who isn't a big fan of Iron Man (especially the modern take).

 

By the way, Swingers was frickin' awesome.

 

Pat

[MedicAR]

Was there anything specific you liked? I just felt it was really slow and almost disjointed. I'm not a big Iron Man fan either, but do like both creators. That was why I picked it up.

 

And yeah, I need to watch Swingers again........

[MedicAR]

Joker's Asylum: The Joker #1

Arvid Nelson (W), Alex Sanchez (A), Andy Kubert (cover)

DC Comics

 

If DC's only goal of this book was to cash in on "The Dark Knight" hype, they succeeded. If their goal was anything else, consider this book a dismal failure.

 

Alex Sanchez was clearly influenced by the incomparable Bill Sienkiewicz, emphasis on the incomparable. Mr. Sanchez has the scribbly style down, but needs to work on consistency and defining his characters. For example, this book takes place on a game show with two contestants, one male and one female. Look closely at the female as the book goes on, her hair is blonde, then it's red (granted this is the colorist, but still....), her top is strapless, then it has straps, her hairstyle varies from slicked back to big "Dallas style" hair. The Joker was plainly based on Heath Ledger's portrayal with a few images being almost direct swipes from some of the stills we've seen, but then again, in some panels he looks more like a pasty Two-Face. Mr. Sanchez may not have been informed that there would be a letterer either, as a couple of panels repeat the captions which I found to be distracting and annoying, either letter it or put it in the art, don't do both. Many of his panels stand alone very nicely with some fantastic imagery, but he needs to work more on telling a story.

 

And speaking of story, let's cover Arvid Nelson's work on this book. I don't know if was constrained by the page count or just didn't have a Joker story to actually tell. Without dropping spoilers on you, let me say this: it's about as cliched as one can get with a Joker story. Nothing new, nothing shocking, nothing special. The intro is in the style of EC's horror hosts, except lamer than the Crypt Keeper could ever even try to be.

 

I would have said the best thing about this book is the Andy Kubert cover, but the Ambush Bug ad in the back was the high point for me.

 

(thumbs u (out of five)

[MedicAR]

1985 #1 (of 6)

Mark Millar (W) Tommy Lee Edwards (A)

Marvel

 

Man, I feel like a real critic with the reviews I've been doing lately. I don't seem to like anything, as I'm sure both of you have noticed.

 

That's why I ran to my computer as soon as I finished the first issue of "1985." This is a fantastic book! I didn't really know what to expect other than it was about a kid from a broken family that likes comics all set in 1985. I guess I was thinking it would be more about the hobby and growing up in it than it really is. In order to keep the review spoiler free (as always) I'll stop there. Let's just say this book looks like it will be a lot of fun!

 

Mark Millar made me feel like I knew the lead character, Toby. Heck, if I hadn't had a solid "normal" upbringing with two parents that stayed together, I could have been Toby. The story moves nicely from page to page despite hinging on mostly dialog. That's a compliment for both the writer and the aritst! There's several comic geek cliches in the book that we'll all recognize and I think most of us will love.

 

Tommy Lee Edwards. Huh......well......if you had shoved this book in my face at the LCS, I would have told you the art wasn't for me. Once I sat down and read it, particularly the first page, I'm happy to say it most definitely is for me! His style fits this story perfectly, it's not overblown, and not too understated. Scribbly, but not so that it takes away from the story. In fact the scribbly style makes the book feel like a pleasant memory, if that's possible.

 

I know issue #2 is out now, I just need to find it. Unless this series takes a sudden nose dive, I'd put it on the "Ten Best of 2008" list!

 

It gets a perfect score despite the lack of action! How often can anyone say that?

 

(thumbs u (thumbs u (thumbs u (thumbs u (thumbs u (out of five)

[followtheleader]

Medic,

 

I also enjoyed 1985. Not sure I'd give as high a rating as 5. But it was good.

 

For the most part, I loved the humor and Marvel stabbing at itself.

 

Pat

[MedicAR]

Medic,

 

I also enjoyed 1985. Not sure I'd give as high a rating as 5. But it was good.

 

For the most part, I loved the humor and Marvel stabbing at itself.

 

Pat

 

Again, trying to remain spoiler free, the jabs Marvel took at itself were funny. The guys running the comic shop were as authentic as one could get.

 

In hindsight, it may not have been a five (thumbs u book, but I have just read so much bad stuff lately that this was an incredible breath of fresh air. I really liked both the writing and (once I got into it) the art too. I also found and read the second issue which was more of the same "ahhh to be a kid again" and "gee whiz" style of fun.