| #14 | 8/17/05 | #4 |
(Click title to go directly to the review)
SNAKE-EYES: DECLASSIFIED #1
BIRDS OF PREY #85
DEFENDERS #2
DEVIL’S REJECTS #1
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1
DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES #1
NEW THUNDERBOLTS #11
GREEN LANTERN #3
Indie Jones presents ROCKETO # 1
Indie Jones presents HERO@LARGE #1
Indie Jones presents MASKED COMMANDER
CHEAP SHOTS!
SNAKE-EYES: DECLASSIFIED #1 (of 6)
Writer: Brandon Jerwa
Artist: Emiliano Santalucia
Publisher: Devil's Due Publishing
Reviewed by Dave Farabee
Snake-Eyes' origin?
Didn't they already cover that about twenty years ago in G.I. JOE 26 and 27?
Ah, but this is an expanded origin. When Larry Hama covered the team’s most enigmatic member way back when, he just gave readers flashbulb snippets of Snake-Eyes' dark past - a few key firefights in Vietnam, the fateful injury that left him scarred and mute, the ninja training...all glimpsed, but still mysterious. Hama didn't even show Snake-Eyes speaking in any of the flashbacks.
The biggest question surrounding a follow-up, of course, is whether filling in the gaps makes the character more interesting or not. Do you find Wolverine more intriguing for ORIGIN's reveal his name is James and he caught colds as a kid? Does Boba Fett resonate more because the prequels showed his pop getting punked-out by Sam Jackson?
Or is it sometimes better to leave mystery-types as mysteries?
I think you know where this is going.
But truth be told, this isn't a bad little issue, just superfluous and clunky in some key spots. We do see Snake-Eyes speak, with writer Brandon Jerwa giving us glimpses of him at home before Vietnam as well as caught up in the thick of the war, and I'm pleased to say he's the guy he should be: troubled, taciturn, patriotic, and moral. Jerwa also shows him struggling with faith, an element I believe original to this series, but it didn't feel out of place. I liked it. Unfortunately, the same conversation with his dad that reveals his faith also reveals the origin of his codename, and it's a painfully contrived attempt to lend some meaning to it. I think it would've been best to leave the explanation more prosaic, never having been a fan of origin stories that over-explain key elements of a hero's mythos (e.g. "We named the dog Indiana!").
During the Vietnam sequences, Jerwa does a good job of keeping up with Hama's groundwork, with Stalker as the consummate platoon leader, future bad guy Wade Collins already showing some paranoia, and Tommy - aka Storm Shadow - as the one guy who manages to form a friendship with Snake-Eyes. Some of the Snake-Eyes/Tommy exchanges are pretty rough, alas. There's a "mission statement" vibe to everything Snake-Eyes says that has the same problem as his earlier waxing about his faith. These scenes just scream "HERE IS A KEY ASPECT TO THE CHARACTER!", and while I buy all the observations, I just wish the book had been more artful in delivering 'em.
Art throughout is solid, the kind of detailed, well-researched, military-friendly stuff you might find on the current PUNISHER series. Artist Emiliano Santalucia also does a good job of recreating several key panels from Hama's original run, though those may inadvertently work against the book for fans of the original JOE series. I see those iconic images Hama drew, and removed from their original, weighty context and placed in a talkier format, they feel hamstrung. For instance, there's a great page in the original origin story where we see a young version of the Joe's commander, Hawk, having to deliver the news to the recently discharged Snake-Eyes that his entire family was killed in a car wreck. There's no dialogue in the scene, just Hawk's narrative captions recalling the painful scene even as the “camera” zooms in on Snake-Eyes' bandaged face, brilliantly passive and unreadable under mirrored sunglasses. It's a powerful scene in its understatement, but in the expanded edition, the creators make a fatal error in filling the scene with the actual dialogue of the moment, reducing the mythic to the commonplace. It should feel legendarily tragic. Instead it feels perfunctory.
I'm vaguely curious to see where the series goes from here - next issue gets into all the ninja stuff - but suspicion is high that it'll just leave me, as all the other JOE relaunches have left me, with an increasing appreciation for what Larry Hama did twenty years ago with a toy-based comic that was better than it had any right to be.
BIRDS OF PREY #85
Writer: Gail Simone
Penciler(s): Joe Bennett & Eddy Barrows
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewed by Humphrey Lee
What we have here is the resolution of two major plot threads that have been running through BIRDS OF PREY for at least a half a year or more. The bigger issue at hand is that after months of fighting off the Brainiac virus Barbara Gordon was infected with early into Ms. Gail's run on this book, we finally get to her surgery to hopefully remove the virus, though the odds aren't in her favor. And on the other side of the coin we have the mother of all martial arts showdowns as Black Canary and her assembled crew of some of the DCU's more potent martial artists face off against The Twelve Brothers, a group of "legendary" martial arts masters that Gail has been building up for several months now. And at the end of the day what we get here is another great issue from Gail Simone and company, one that is filled with great dramatic bits, very solid action, and, quite frankly, one of the more touching endings I've seen in a comic all year.
First, I want to talk about the action, and with that, the art. As you might have noticed above, this months art chores are split between regular artist Joe Bennett and a man I'm unfamiliar with, Eddy Barrows. As far as the transition goes between the two artists, it's for the most part pretty fluid. Overall, it's pretty noticeable whenever the two switch off, but it's never detracting as Barrows’ stuff is very solid. In fact, there are a couple times where it is even debatable who's doing what page thanks to similar styles but different inkers and so on. The point is, the switching doesn't hurt the book, though at the same time, with such an important issue you wish that it was all the same artists to keep up the pace. And as I said earlier, half the book is action, so you have to watch out that you don't lose the dynamic between the pages. But the action does come through very well. Canary's team of some of the world's top fighters is very impressive. We get a group of BIRDS OF PREY regulars in Huntress and Savant and his partner Creote, but we also see some of the more "scary-good" fighters in Connor Hawke and Richard Dragon and Ted "Wildcat" Grant. For a Kung Fu lover like myself, that is just the mother load. And the Twelve Brothers bring the goods too. Gail has done a great job of building them as a physical threat throughout the past couple issues, and continues to do so this issue through Canary's internal assessment of the conflict.
And then we have Barbara's fight. Again, Gail has done a great job of keeping Babs on the cusp of a blend of emotions the past couple issues to make the whole situation much more dramatic. At times she's as tough as nails and ready to fight for her life, and then there are the quiet moments where she shows some frailty. We see more of both those aspects this issue as we get some time between Babs and her father, James Gordon, and we see that Babs is not one to sit and let all the others do the work as she wages her own little "war" on the Brainiac virus while under the knife. The resolution to it all though, comes off as a little sudden, but it's not like it's totally improbable or unexpected. To be honest it's probably more a victim of "running out of time" so to speak, as this issue definitely seems like it could have used a few more pages. If there's any major fault to this issue, that would be it right there. But once you get to that ending, those minor problems just become distant as that last page just tugs right at your own emotions.
A rollercoaster... that's what these past couple issues have been. And this book has definitely been a fun ride.
DEFENDERS #2
Writer: Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Kevin Maguire
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Prof. Challenger
My main trouble was that I had no sense of humor.Okay, here's the deal. DEFENDERS is one of my favorite comics published right now. It is hysterically funny the way these characters interact with each other. This issue finds our intrepid team taking on Dormammu in his own dimension where he rather easily, with the help of his sister, Umar, takes down the Defenders. There's serious threat going on, but I'm so busy laughing, I can't even worry too much about it. Anyway, I went and called dibs on this comic while I was in the midst of oxygen constriction from laughing so hard. The trouble is that unless someone's actually reading this comic already, I can't quite put into words exactly how to present the unique humor that pervades this book panel after panel after panel. So, this time around, I thought, why not try something different? So I called JoeyDaQ and requested a publicity interview with the main players in DEFENDERS #2. JoeyDaQ said something like "Publicity???? FREE Publicity???? Am I a publicity whore?????" And I said something like, "Huh?" And then JoeyDaQ said something like "When do you want 'em?" And I said something like "Maybe Sunday night?" And he said something like "Done." And then I said something like "Hey, while I've got you on the phone, can you tell me why an after-the-fact string bikini was drawn onto the obviously naked Umar throughout the first half of DEFENDERS #2?" And then I think I heard JoeyDaQ say something like "Um…pizza's here. Gotta go." *click*
-- The Frankenstein Monster
And that's how it happened. So, after a quick plane ride from Texas to New York I sat down in the Marvel Towers Presidential Hotel Suite with all the major players and interviewed them about their experiences working on DEFENDERS #2. So, without further ado, may I present Hulk, Namor, Dr. Strange, and Dormammu.
UMAR: *ahem* And Umar.
PROF: ....and Umar. Anyway....to kick off the discussion and since he's the one featured on the cover, let me ask Hulk: What is your most vivid memory of working on DEFENDERS #2?
HULK: Fish-man smells like sewer! Hey, why Hulk talking like this? Hulk not talk like this for years now!! Hulk know Fish-man's name is Nay-more!
PROF: Um...sorry. I just think it's always funnier when you talk in that idiot-Tonto-kind-of-talk. Here's some beans.
HULK: Mmmm. Hulk love beans!
PROF: So, what do you mean, "Namor smells like the sewer"?
HULK: Hulk hate snooty Fish-man! He stinks like dirty bathroom!
PROF: Namor?
NAMOR: The imperial blood-king of Atlantis stinks not! You are nothing more than a mindless gargantuan green gorilla!
HULK: *munch* Hulk love beans!
PROF: Actually, there is a certain...sewer...stench about you. Did you happen to swim up the Hudson to get here?
NAMOR: Of course. Why?
PROF: *ahem* Namor, perhaps you could share your favorite memory about working on DEFENDERS #2.
NAMOR: I was most satisfied by the absence of my belly button.
PROF: -- the Hell?
NAMOR: No. My belly button.
PROF: You don't have a belly button?
NAMOR: No. Check every panel featuring my glorious near-naked form. No belly button. IMPERIUS REX! I tire of talking with you. The Royal Prince is now ignoring you and the rest of these useless wastes of minimal intelligence.
DR. STRANGE: Maybe you could go take a warm shower with some deodorant soap.
NAMOR: What did you say?!?!
DR. STRANGE: I said nothing.
NAMOR: You said something!!!!
DR. STRANGE. Nothing. I assure you.
NAMOR: You said something. *flits into bathroom*
HULK: Hulk hate DEFENDERS #2!
PROF: What? Why?
HULK: Hulk drawn with green ropes wrapped all around him!!!! Stupid, puny ropes!!!
PROF: Erm. Actually, I think those are supposed to be bulging veins. You know? To show how huge and strong you are.
HULK: Hulk hate ropes!!!! But Hulk is strongest one there is!!! Hulk break stupid ropes!!!
PROF: Ho-kay.... Hey, Hulk, I hear Namor stole some of your beans and is hiding them in the shower right now. Why don't you go get them back?
HULK: Fish-man!!!! Give Hulk beans back!!!!!
*THUD!*THUMP!*CRASH!*
PROF: Dr. Strange, one of the things I really enjoy about this comic is how you act like you're so oblivious to all the jokes made at your expense. *laughter*
DR. STRANGE: I'm sorry, I don't follow you.
PROF: You know. *laughter* Oh, come on!
DR. STRANGE: I'm sorry.
PROF: Um..well...all those silly incantations, the puffy pirate shirt look, the 70s porn star moustache, oh...*laughter*...and the hysterical implications of you and Wong being...well...you know....
DR. STRANGE: By the Hoary Hohos of Hogwarts, you confuse my superior mind!
PROF: *ahem* Okay. Switching gears -- did you have any problems working with Hulk and Namor this time around? I noticed they aren't particularly fond of you.
DR. STRANGE: By the Astounding Ass of Arcturus Rann what a confounding statement you utter! The emerald-skinned one and the frilly-winged ankle-flyer are among my closest acquaintances -- they and the handsome, strapping and talented Wong, of course. *dreamy faraway look in his eyes* Oh, yes, and my other closest friend is the Silver Surfer, but he declined my invitation to put his life at risk once more in the multi-dimensional battle with the dreadfully dread...he who must not be named.
PROF: Um. You can say Dormammu here.
DR. STRANGE: Verily?
PROF: Yeah uh-HUH.
DR. STRANGE: Okay...DORMAMMU!
UMAR: And Umar.
DR. STRANGE: ...yes...and Umar. Anyway, the spaceway-spanning Surfer declined my offer but also clouded mine mystical mojo with a supernatural incantation introduced to him by a bronzed goddess of the surf.
PROF: What was that?
DR. STRANGE: “Cowabunga.” Have you ever encountered such an eerie and unsettling word?
PROF: ???
*CRASH*BLAM*WHEEZOO*KER-PLOSH*
PROF: Whoa! What the...?
HULK: Hulk smash green panty-man!!!!!
NAMOR: Only if you catch me, you witless Neanderthal with the brains of an anemone!!!!
PROF: Wow. Uh…see you later guys! Well, I guess Hulk and Namor have opted out of the rest of this...hey Doc, where're YOU going?
DR. STRANGE: By the Vintage Viagra of the Virile Vishanti, I must depart this dwelling to join my compatriots in their joyful antics!
PROF: ....... So, here we are now, just me and the dread Dormammu...
UMAR: And Umar.
PROF: ...and Umar. In DEFENDERS #2, you seem an unbeatable team. Even the Defenders are powerless before you. What...
DORMAMMU: Thank you. Let me first say, that it is an honor for you to speak to me as I am soon to be your Lord and Master of my domain. Second, I would like to address...
UMAR: What a gasbag.
DORMAMMU! Aaaaarrrrrgghhh! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DO THAT TO ME?!?!? I can't even get two FRIGGIN' words out and there you are interrupting and insulting me! It's as bad as when Mommy took us to visit the Diz'nee Dimension that summer and you kept holding your finger half an inch from my face! Practically TOUCHING me!!!!! You horrid witch!!!!!
*whimper* boo-hoo-hoo*
I love you so much, sister. Please forgive me...
PROF: Whu-What's going....
DORMAMMU: SILLLLLENNNNNNCCCCCE!!! You interrupt the dread DORMAMMU????!!!! NOW YOU MUST DIE!!!!
*ZAP*POOF*
UMAR: Smooth move, Dipshit. Now the interview's over.
DORMAMMU: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
THE DEVIL'S REJECTS #1
Writer: Rob Zombie
Art: Nick Stakal, David Hartman, and Michael Lopez
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
This is one hell of a book. In the same way that Rob Zombie kicked your front teeth out and bitch slapped your momma with this summer’s vicious circus of violence and mayhem THE DEVIL’S REJECTS, this one-shot from IDW will easily be remembered as one of the more disturbing experiences I’ve had the pleasure of laying my eyes on in a long time. Maybe it’s due to the fact that a lot of horror has been tamed down in cinema and books lately. I don’t know, but I was smitten from frame one of the movie that inspired this book and now I’m glad to say the feeling has transferred to the page. Zombie takes these despicable characters and gives them the spotlight with three vignettes, each focusing on members of the family known as The Devil’s Rejects.
The book starts out with a filthy trip through the mind of the devious Captain Spaulding. “Top Secret Clown Business” is an origin story of sorts as seen through the eyes of (easily) the scariest clown I’ve ever seen. Nick Stakal, who I last saw drawing IDW’s zombies-on-a-space-station miniseries, CONTAINMENT, supplies some disturbing, yet cartoonish panels which fit the demented clown’s story to a tee. As with the movie, I found myself laughing at the violence, and then reeling back at the intensity of it all. With this Captain Spaulding character especially, Zombie has a talent to entertain and then make me feel bad for being entertained by the carnage I just witnessed.
This is a theme that carries over into the second tale, “Carnival Kill Ride.” What Zombie does here is take the devilish characters of Otis B. Driftwood and his homicidal sister Baby and puts them into a comical situation: two killers go on a House of Horrors carnival ride at the state fair. Seeing these real terrors guffawing at the horrors in the ride is worth a chuckle or two, but soon, when these two get bored, they decide to turn the ride into a real house of horrors. It isn’t the murders that occur that disturbed me about this story; it was how far these characters go with the wanton destruction of their victims. Without an ounce of remorse or restrain, artist David Hartman depicts these characters as animals; utterly destroying their prey for the sheer thrill of the kill.
But I think it was the last tale, featuring Captain Spaulding, Baby, and Sigmund Freud of all people, that was the most memorable to me. By far, this is the best art of the bunch. I’ve never seen Michael Lopez’ stuff before, but I will definitely seek out his work in the future. His iconic splash page of a blood splattered Baby being protected by a gun-toting Captain Spaulding is easily the most memorable image of the book. In this story, Sigmund Freud analyzes these two deviants, dissecting their psyches and noting the methodology that inspires the madness that these two inflict on all of those unlucky enough to cross their paths.
This book is not for your Aunt Trudy who knits you scarves for Christmas. It’s not for Pastor Thomas or that girl that goes “eww!” at everything or that kid who wets himself whenever a car honks its horn. It’s dirty. It’s rough. It’s despicable. It made me laugh at the horror of violence, then feel bad about that reaction for a moment, but just a moment. Pretty soon, though, I just said “Fuck it.” and laughed again at how utterly badass and ballsy it all is and went along for this ride into the sick, the sadistic, and the surreal. This book highlights some of the best horror-type art out there today. From the Stakal’s warped panels, to Hartman’s hyper-violence, to those final iconic images by Micheal Lopez. There isn’t a horror book out there that looks better. I’d love to see Rob Zombie visit these characters again in celluloid or comic book form. He definitely has a firm handle on these Rejects and if this book is any indication, he’s definitely got more stories to tell.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1
Brian Michael Bendis: Writer
Mark Brooks: Artist
Marvel Comics: Publisher
Vroom Socko: Settling down with a nice Jewish girl
I’ve got to tell you, this book left me both exhilarated and entertained, but also conflicted and uncertain about where this whole thing is going. Which, since this story is essentially a budding teenage romance, is probably exactly the right way to feel.
Plot-wise, this book is pretty simple. Peter Parker, who’s just broken up with MJ, gets a phone call from Kitty Pride, who’s just broken up with Iceman. And the two of them go on a date. That’s it, really. Well, the date does involve beating the hell out of ultimate whipping boy The Shocker, but yeah, it’s just a first date.
Which is not to say the story sucks. Far from it.
Bendis has crafted one helluva comic here. The setup/buildup to the moment when these two meet is narrative perfection. Right from the get go Bendis expertly shows just how and why these two characters would make a perfect item. What makes it especially fun is that not only is this relationship NOT a riff on a Marvel Classic event, but it’s something that could only exist in the Ultimate brand. I mean really, if the originals were to date, it’d be much too creepy. (See Chuck Austen’s Angel/Husk statutory rape storyline for a clearer example.)
Artwise, this is the first major work I’ve seen from Mark Brooks, other than the recent flashback scenes in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. And is it my imagination, or did the villain of that piece have a cameo? In any case, while I wouldn’t want Bagley to go anywhere anytime soon, this Brooks fellah would certainly be a worthy successor. This book is essentially three or four conversations between two teens, (with some action on the side,) and Brooks makes sure that none of it is boring. Just watching the facial expressions during their phone conversation is proof enough of that.
What I really enjoyed about this book is that, as I said earlier, it’s something completely new. Bendis is taking the character of Spider-Man in a direction he’s never been in before. Rather than have him hook up with the Black Cat, or fiddle around with creating Ultimate Kangaroo or some such, Bendis gave us this. What I especially love about it is the unintentional subtext to the relationship. Think about it, high school geek Peter Parker is dating a girl who physically isn’t there! At least he won’t be lying when he tells people he met his girlfriend while fighting a Wolverine!
But then, there’s the uncertain part I mentioned. Because, like it or not, this book doesn’t exist in a vacuum. There’s Ultimate Spider-Man #78 out there, the book where MJ expresses her undying love for Peter, and that she’s going to try to win him back. And there’s the fact that Bendis is a natural born sadist (I mean that in the nicest way possible) who loves to torture his fans. I can easily see MJ turning into some sort of possessive stalker over this. Hell, Bendis could even have her get killed by an enraged “You’ll take me seriously now” Shocker, simply because nobody would see it coming. All I know is that this little triangle isn’t going to be pretty; this is Bendis we’re talking about. He just loves to fuck with us.
Then again, that’s all stuff that’s coming up, or may never come up at all. For right now, for this issue, what we have here is a whole lot of fun wrapped up in a neat little package. All in all, it’s a great first date.
DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES #1 (of 8)
Original story: Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Adaptation script: Andrew Dabb
Artist: Steve Kurth
Publisher: Devil's Due Publishing
Reviewed by Dave Farabee
I don’t know if kids even read these days, but if you were a school-age geek back in the mid-to-late ‘80s, there’s a good chance you went through the rite of passage of reading the DRAGONLANCE novels. They were the first real push into fiction from guys behind the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS games, and what they lacked in craft – which was plenty – they made up for with a weighty, Tolkien-esque tone that belied their commercial origins. The ensemble cast was memorable, too, featuring a half-elf struggling with his heritage, an over-the-hill dwarf with heart problems, and everyone’s favorite antihero, Raistlin, an asshole magic user continually dumping on his utterly devoted lug of a brother.
I think I’m supposed to be a little embarrassed about being into this stuff back in the day and remembering it fondly now - I’ve looked back on the books, and the craft really is pretty shaky – but I’m not. If anything, the books remind me of the superhero comics that resonated with me as a kid, and I’m certainly not ashamed of them. None of my favorite comics of the ‘80s were completely free of pulp clichés or untouchably artful (try re-reading Miller’s DAREDEVIL – it’s got some groaners amidst the greatness), but at their best they were possessed of a heady blend of larger-than-life adventure and gravitas that overcame their technical failings.
So it was with DRAGONLANCE, and with that as preface, it’s time to see whether the flawed-but-fondly-remembered series holds up as sequential art…
The story, for you kiddies, oldsters, and hipsters who’d sooner re-read Tolkein’s SILMARILLION for the tenth time than read a fantasy novel based on a game, begins with the reunion of a group of adventurers after several years apart. They include an elf, a dwarf, a knight, a magic user, a Hobbit knock-off – plenty of the usual standards. And it’s the classic gaming scenario for those familiar with the games – “the characters all meet at an inn…” – but the backdrop of a world where the old, true gods have seemingly abandoned the people is an interesting one. The heroes all have their own personal angst to deal with, but they’re also looking for faith (it’s perhaps noteworthy that one of the series’ original co-writers is a devoted Mormon). Ironically, religious fervor is on the rise in their world, but only at the hands of charlatans and the power-hungry.
So they meet at an inn and all hell breaks loose.
There’s a portent of the old gods, a clash with some goblins, a guy getting pitched into a fireplace, and a harried escape in a treetop town that’s a little like the Ewok village in RETURN OF THE JEDI. It’s all drawn by Steve Kurth, clearly matured from his early G.I. JOE work and rather faithful to the designs of the ‘80s D&D paintings associated with the books. His action scenes are clear and energetic, his character work suitably detailed (if occasionally off in the particulars). At times he nearly ends up overshadowed by the book’s colorist, though. Djoko Santiko wields a mean digital paintbrush and establishes a look suggestive of rich oil paints over Kurth’s pencils. At a glance it looks great, almost HEAVY METAL caliber, but closer inspection reveals those metallic gleams and evocative nighttime effects are making up for some very minimal backgrounds. I’ve always felt a sense of setting is vitally important to these quasi-medieval jaunts, and after seeing through the glitz of the art, I regret to say it falls short on that count. More shots of the treetop city would’ve been a start, but all the locations could’ve used the impressive attention given the characters.
On a fannish level: barmaid Tika’s not cute enough, mysterious old man Fizban needs to be more roguish and less creepy looking, Sturm doesn’t look haggard enough, Tasselhoff’s chin is too “Jay Leno”, and the first appearance of Raistlin, with his hourglass eye pupils and pasty skin, isn’t nearly as startling as it should’ve been. Overly picky on my part? Maybe, but we’re talking well-known material and characters with a pre-existing visual history from all those Larry Elmore book covers. It’s gonna get scrutiny.
Personality-wise, all the characters are in place and faithful to their prose counterparts. Flint the dwarf has mysteriously gained a brogue that seems to work, and one of the bad guys has mysteriously gained a stutter that doesn’t. The feel is there, though, far more than I’d expect from, say, a Hollywood adaptation. It’s nice to see these characters again, a motley crew of flawed, arguing friends reminiscent of superhero teams like The Avengers or the X-Men at their best. For getting that right and for featuring an art team whose enthusiasm is felt enough to expect growth, DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES will keep this nostalgic fan watching. Readers looking for a comic to scratch the swords ‘n’ sorcery itch could certainly do worse.
NEW THUNDERBOLTS #11
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artists: Tom Grummett (penciller)/Gary Erskine (inker)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Prof. Challenger
*NOTE TO READERS* This review by Prof. Challenger was written before he conducted the interview intended to be a part of his review of DEFENDERS #2. Due to the unfortunate…resolution of that review, this may very well be his last published writing. If anyone out there could inform the powers that be at AICN as to the whereabouts of our A.W.O.L. Sorcerer Supreme since he bounded out of the Presidential Suite on Sunday, it would be appreciated. According to Wong, only Dr. Strange knows the frickin' incantation necessary to rehydrate a human who's been incinerated by the Dread Dormammu…
UMAR: And Umar.
Yes, and Umar. Thank you for your help in this important matter. Now back to the review.
Have I mentioned before that I think this whole HOUSE OF M stuff is crap? Well, even if I have, I'm eating crow regarding this particular tie-in. NEW THUNDERBOLTS proves how a creative team can take an insipidly derivative by-the-numbers crossover non-event like HOUSE OF M to produce an excellent stand-alone issue tied into said crossover non-event.
I present for your consideration the latest issue of NEW THUNDERBOLTS. Let me tell you how well-done this single issue is. Not only does it actually make the HOUSE OF M storyline sound intriguing, it also made me care about a character I have generally loathed ever since he appeared on the scene. I'm talking, of course, about Capt. Marvel, Jr./Genis.
When NEW T-BOLTS came on the scene about a year ago, the one reservation I had about the series was the inclusion of Capt. Marvel, I mean, Photon. Everybody else, I was fine with. But here you go taking this icky crossover issue and making me start to like the guy. In the HOUSE OF M continuity, Capt. Marvel (Ms. Marvel in the "real" world) and the Kree are hunting the Thunderbolts who are outlaw freedom fighters battling against mutant tyranny. Private Genis-Vell is a member of the Kree army helping Capt. Marvel out. He's not known to have any powers in this reality but he keeps becoming overwhelmed by a sense of time and space distortion that gives him glimpses into the world as it is supposed to be. His innate cosmic awareness is trying to alert him to the fact that the universe as he knew it has drastically changed.
But this issue is also a character piece for Eric Josten/Atlas. In this changed reality, he is Maj. Josten, leader of a human fighting force called the Howling Commandos. Maj. Josten is publicly serving the cause of the Mutant/Kree alliance, while secretly a leader in the Human Underground Resistance planning to kill the Kree as a springboard toward an alliance with the Shi'ar against the mutants. Genis-Vell, however, sees glimpses of who Josten is in the "real" world and challenges him with that vision. For example, at one point Genis challenges him with this line: "If you had the choice, which would you rather be - a good man on a world doomed to extinction or a bad man on a world filled with potential?" Ultimately, both Genis and Josten are faced with a decision whether to sacrifice their lives and run the risk of utterly destroying the only reality they remember.
Some of the little things, for me, were the most fun. I don't know which things are actually part of the HOUSE OF M overall or just revelations unique to the NEW THUNDERBOLTS comic, but here's a few that I liked. Gen. "Dum-Dum" Dugan's appearance as a leader in the Human Underground Resistance was appropriate and made me wonder where Fury was in this whole HOUSE OF M thing. I was surprised by the fate of Rick Jones in the HOUSE OF M reality, especially considering how central he has been to alternate reality stories in the past and Capt. Mar-vell particularly. The bits with Josten driving the "Atlas" class Sentinel was sheer brilliance in both concept and imagery. Killgrave's secretive recognition as a hero in the HOUSE OF M reality. This showed how so often the line between hero and villain may be shaped more by circumstance than an intrinsically "good" or "evil" nature.
I'm not going to spoil the whole thing for you though. I will challenge you to pick it up and see if I'm not right about this comic. It has action, intriguing revelations, great art, and consistently solid characterization. For a cross-over non-event tie-in, this comic was a total and pleasant surprise.
GREEN LANTERN #3
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Carlos Pacheco
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewed by Dave Farabee
This issue wraps the first arc on the relaunched GREEN LANTERN, now with 100% more Hal Jordan. Having enjoyed its miniseries predecessor, GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH, before DC’s gloomy new editorial direction drove me into a superhero malaise, I had a notion to look in on the ongoing and see how things were shaping up. And it worked out for me.
Good book!
As the issue opens, Hal Jordan’s in a bit of a spot because he’s got to deal with a defective version of one of the already-murderous Manhunter robots. The Manhunters were the original space cops created by the same aliens who would go on to create the Green Lantern Corps to supersede them (turns out unfeeling robots make for crappy cops). The Manhunters are bad news in general, and if you do happen to beat one, they have a tendency to pop like a nuke. And that’s the old model of Manhunter. There’s also a new model on the scene, and it’s about equally interested in destroying its predecessor (even if it nukes the newly rebuilt Coast City in the process) and fulfilling it’s plain-Jane normal objective: “Terminate all life.”
I guess this could be considered same-ol’ same-ol’ when it comes to supervillains, but there’s a scene that instantly sets the frantic tone for the issue on page 3, a scene that made the threat immediate and scary. Green Lantern’s just started duking it out with Manhunter 2.0 when we get a caption of its internal thoughts as it evaluates the source of his power: “Willpower nexus located on right hand,” it recognizes, and then, immediately, it formulates its plan of action: “Remove hand.” It starts crushing his wrist and…
Well, best to let you see for yourself, but suffice to say it kicks the issue into high gear straightaway. Most of what follows is a running chase between Hal and the two Manhunters with memorable moments throughout. In particular, I liked the idea that this new Manhunter has a variant of a Green Lantern power battery actually powering it from within. When Hal starts slingin’ energy at it, it just uses the battery to start siphoning his power at high speed, and suddenly his ring’s running on empty. When the two Manhunters take their fight to the air and Hal’s left just standing there, ring all but drained, he begins working up one hell of a Plan B…
“I need a ride.” And he turns to a nearby F-16.
It’s a beautifully inspired moment, and the culmination of three issues reestablishing Hal’s ties to the Air Force and love of flight. As when Geoff Johns took over on THE FLASH, his writing cuts to the heart of the character, building up the elements that make him cool and, most of all, unique from other heroes. If Hal’s going to be a test pilot, Johns is going to use that for everything its worth. He’s going to hook Green Lantern up with old flight buddies and immerse him in the pilot’s ethos and culture. He’s going to make him a hotshot who’s got a plan even when he’s redlining. He’s gonna make him a ladies’ man.
Aided and abetted by Carlos Pacheco, the next-gen answer to John Byrne or Alan Davis, he sells it. It always helps to work with the best, and Pacheco is a consummate superhero artist.
Here and there I did hit a few speedbumps on the tarmac: Johns likes to use overlapping narrative captions and periodically I lost track of the voices, usually in the middle of a frenzied action sequence. I think they could stand to be toned down a bit. I was also disappointed that we never quite knew the capabilities of the Manhunters. Obviously they’re strong, obviously they can fly, and Manhunter 2.0 has a freaky little hand weapon that seems to do…stuff…but even amidst the issue’s fast pacing, learning a few specifics would’ve been nice. Lastly, I wondered about Green Lantern’s interaction with a hardass general who relents surprisingly easily. Later in the issue we get a sense for why the general did what he did, but the fact that he took crap from his own subordinates in the earlier scene still makes it hard to buy.
These are little moments lost in the immediacy that drives the issue, so I’m not putting ‘em on the permanent record. My gut reaction is that this is how you do an action issue right, how you generate reader suspense even when they’re fully aware the hero ain’t gonna get croaked, and how you make danger exhilarating rather than wearying. There’s even a subplot involving Hal’s brother that comes to fruition, and if it’s a little heavy-handed, it still feels right, feels like the culmination of the themes building since GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH. All this, and the issue’s got what has to be the coolest, most defining line Hal Jordan’s ever uttered, appropriately occurring when he seems screwed six ways to Sunday. I won’t spoil. You need the context.
If Hal, Johns, Pacheco, et al. can just maintain this light in the face of DC’s coming darkness and infinite crossovers, they’ve put together the kind of book that I can even imagine sticking with. (Note: for us disgruntled types, that’s the equivalent of a ringing endorsement.)
ROCKETO # 1
Written by: Frank Espinosa and Marie Taylor
Illustrated by: Frank Espinosa
Published by: Speakeasy Comics
Reviewed by: superhero
Man oh man, I was waiting for this comic with bated breath.
Every preview of the artwork I had seen on all the internet comic news outlets had piqued my curiosity from the moment I laid eyes on Espinosa’s artwork. The preview pages I saw promised something really engaging and different. It looked like ROCKETO was going to be a book that captured my imagination and thrilled me with a bold new innovative style. The images seemed to jump off the screen and promise an adventure in the vein of Flash Gordon or John Carter of Mars. I was psyched for this book in a big way.
Unfortunately, it only halfway delivered for me.
The main draw of this book is the artwork. Honestly, it’s been a long time since I’ve laid eyes on a comic book whose artwork made me stop and go, “whoa”, and ROCKETO made me do just that. The thing that’s so astounding about the images that are placed on the page is that Espinosa is embracing a style that uses bold brushwork. His work adds a vibrance and energy to ROCKETO that few comic books have. Every page is an astonishing new work of art. Mr. Espinosa makes his images bounce across the page with the use of his brush and each page is like a brand new painting in and of its own. In all seriousness, each panel of this book should be hanging in a gallery. Espinosa’s work is that good and that fascinating. It’s not your typical comic book art and I’m thankful for it. This book is full of comic ART. It’s so good, so innovative, that I can honestly see a narrower minded comic fan being turned off by it. Espinosa is an artistic talent to watch and I can’t wait to see more artwork by him. My only complaint about the book’s art would be the muted palette used in the coloring. While the pages look beautiful I would have expected a fantasy series like this to possibly use some brighter primary colors to add impact to the story. As of right now, Mr. Espinosa seems to be just using a muted palette of pastel shades. While the pages look beautiful I personally would have liked to see some brighter shades of red or blue to help make some of the action pop off the page. But like I said, the artwork is beautiful to behold and my criticism is a nitpick at best. ROCKETO really is a gorgeous book to behold.
Now if only the story were as engaging.
I know, I know…writing this next part is killing me because I SO wanted to like this book, especially when I saw the art. I just wanted to love it. So it really breaks my heart when I say that the story itself fell flat on its beautiful face for me. ROCKETO seems to not know what story it wants to tell. It bounces around from telling us about Rocketo’s family to a story about his father to the history of the world they live on (The planet Lucerne.) to the tragic story of his parent’s demise. The narrative is all over the place. Honestly, it seemed to me like someone snuck into the pre-press files right before this book was going to be printed and shuffled all the pages around. While the story makes sense, there’s no flow to the events that occur. It just jumps from one plot to the next without any real reason. The real thing that killed me was when the story gets into the history of Lucerne and how things came to be. I was so interested in that particular piece of the story that when Espinosa bounces us back to the present to see what Rocketo was up to I couldn’t have cared less! I wanted to know about the main character, an adventurer by the name of Olympius Kinkaid, of the history of Lucerne! Who cares about silly lil’ Rocketo playing with his parents? I want to read about the adventures of Olympius Kinkaid!
The problem is most of ROCKETO’S story takes place when he’s a boy and he’s dealing with his parents. The real engaging part of the book is when Rocketo reads about the history of his world, the disasters that befell it and the races of survivors that rose to conquer and explore the world afterwards. The book is supposed to be about Rocketo but I don’t want to read about Rocketo! Espinosa has made the fatal mistake of making his back story more interesting than the story he’s trying to tell. Not to mention that he uses a flashback within a flashback to tell it…and that’s just bad form.
ROCKETO could have been a really stellar book if the story had just been thought out more. If the writers wanted to tell us about the world Rocketo inhabits then they should have just told that story and led us into Rocketo’s life later on. Instead they jerk the reader between plots so as to make the book a bit of a frustrating read.
What makes ROCKETO worth buying is the artwork. If you can look past a bit of sub-par storytelling (And I know a lot of you can…I mean the X-Men comics are selling like hotcakes, right?) ROCKETO is more than worth a look. The artwork alone is worth the price of admission. Still, if the storytelling doesn’t get better even Espinosa’s stunning artwork may not even be able to keep my buying. But as of right now he’s definitely got me at least wanting to check out the next issue and that, in and of itself, is an accomplishment. What will really surprise me is if he’s able to keep me coming back for issues three and onward. Right now it’s only getting one more chance but who knows? That may enough to turn this comic fan around.
HERO@LARGE #1
Writer: Erick Hogan
Penciler: Jeremy Treece
Publisher: Speakeasy Comics
Reviewed by Humphrey Lee
Okay, we all know how crucial the first issue of a brand-spanking-new comic is. Especially in today’s market. Anymore, this is the make it or break it issue, as with the trade-driven market we're facing this is the only actual issue someone might actually buy of the comic. So you need to hook them baby, oh yea. You need your interesting lead character, you need your riveting storyline, you need your interesting cast of supporting characters, and a cover, yea, you need that cover to do some "heavy lifting" so to speak. So how does HERO@LARGE (man, if there was ever a comic book title to screw with your hyperlinking) fare? Well, I'm going to be getting the second issue, I'll give it that.
The premise of this book is quite simple, Alpha Major, at one time the city of Megalotropolis' biggest hero, is washed up. He seems to be a bit of your traditional mask and cape kinda hero, but that doesn't cut it anymore The people want more modern, and more importantly, more marketable. And Alpha Major definitely isn't that anymore. He's lost his touch with the people, he's lost his place in the city's resident supergroup, and he's lost his motivation to do what he used to love.
The story itself isn't very unique, but at the same time it's not something you see all that often. Right off the bat, though, it does succeed in bringing out some pretty interesting side-characters, but as for the lead, well, the jury is still out on him. Like the main character, I think the book is trying to find direction, and it reflects on both of those aspects. Alpha Major is shown, at first, as your typical loud and boisterous superhero. A little of your "All American Boyscout" type, which is just, well, annoying. But after his fall from grace we see the character’s potential. As he pulls himself up from living in his own filth to once again try to reclaim his title as the city's greatest and most popular superhero, we see some determination, and some grit, but the light-heartedness I would like to hope you want in your superheroes.
And with all of that said I should point out that there are some good funny bits in this book. It wasn't as much on laughs as I expected it was going to be when I first read about it, and especially when I saw that great cover, but it does have a couple, especially a nice little sight gag at the end to let you know where the book stands. And while a lot of people are probably going to take issue with the art, I have to say I like it. It's definitely not typical, there are a lot of jagged edges on the characters, but I do think it matches the tone of the book perfectly. And really, the body renderings of the characters aren't that "odd" but there are some random facial expressions that are just way out there. But again, it does seem to fit with what the book is going for.
So, overall I have to say that this first issue did its job for the most part. You get a lead that is somewhat interesting, but has some potential to be very much more so depending on how the direction of the book goes. You've got a nice start on supporting characters, though the scenery is a bit bland. If the city is so important to Alpha Major, then we definitely need to be seeing more of it. There's a little bit of genuine emotion in here and some nice gags as well. It's enough to get me to buy the second issue, and enough for me to recommend this to anyone out there looking for something different. Hopefully the creative team can pick up the strong parts of the book and run with them.
MASKED COMMANDER
Written By: John May
Pencilled by: Chris Samnee
Inked by: Andy Pursley
Published by: Meridian Arts
Reviewed by: superhero
I just love whacked out ideas for comic books.
Sometimes the weirder the idea is the more I cater to it.
What’s the big idea of MASKED COMMANDER that had me grinning from ear to ear as I decided to check this book out?
MASKED COMMANDER tells the story of an imaginary Presidential candidate who once he reaches the highest office in the land realizes that his ability to get things done within the system is almost impossible. He’s constantly second guessed by the media and other politicians. His quest to fulfill his idealistic goals often fall short as he inevitably comes up against all forms of opposition. Eventually he begins to feel impotent and trapped in the office he struggled so hard to get to. He discovers that, having become President, he is actually less able to affect change than he was able to as just a Presidential candidate.
So being faced with the realization that other people won’t just follow him blindly down the path that he sets for the country what does he decide to do? He decides to put on a costume and go on covert missions that the U.S. government or military wouldn’t even touch. He enlists his secret service agents to act along with him and he puts on a cape, a mask, and what looks like a modified Bucky (Captain America’s old sidekick) costume and go take care of the business that won’t get done if just left up to the policy makers in Washington D.C.
See what I mean? This idea is just ridiculous but it’s a great idea. Even though the idea is great the idea itself actually leads to some of the problems I actually had with the book.
As I read the book all these questions popped into my head about what the protagonist was doing that aren’t addressed in the book. Maybe I’m taking this book a little too seriously, I mean some of it is presented in a lighthearted tone, but there were some things about this book that left me really questioning a lot of what the book was actually trying focus on. Obviously this book seems to be trying to make some kind of statement as to how different elements of our society are tying down the political process and it makes that point quite clearly within the framework of a typical comic book adventure story. This is something that MASKED COMMANDER succeeds at quite admirably. My problem with it is that it just doesn’t go deep enough into the issues that it keeps raising. It seems to ignore so many aspects of the story framework that it just left me wondering not only about the plausibility of the premise but about the actual motivations of the character as well.
Now I realize that the actual idea itself is completely implausible. The problem is that the story as presented wasn’t able to suspend my disbelief completely. Usually with wacky ideas the tone is fast and loose which will let you just go with the story despite the completely silly premise you’re reading about. The thing is the tone of MASKED COMMANDER’s origin story comes across as so serious it becomes hard to ignore the larger questions that it raises. Like is this guy a Democrat or a Republican? What are his policies? What does he believe in besides the ambiguous ideals he talks about in the book? What exactly is he fighting for? Not to mention it never addresses the age-old comic book question: is putting on a mask and hitting people the best way to solve a society’s ills? And how about the fact that putting on a mask and acting like a vigilante is actually a crime? Or how about the possibility that a national leader who takes the law into his own hands could be seen as fascist?
These are just some of the problems I had with the story as presented. But as I said before, I could be taking the book a little too seriously. The thing is, the issues that drive the Commander to action are pretty serious in and of themselves so shouldn’t the creators address the other inevitable issues that a President who fights terrorism on his own would bring up? Maybe I should have just let go a bit more while reading this book. I mean we are talking about a comic where the main hero rides around in a plane called Air Fort One. Maybe I shouldn’t try to read politics into a book that looks like it just wants to be a simple super hero story but the undertones of the origin seem political so it was just something I couldn’t ignore.
The other thing that slightly bothered me about the book was the storytelling method used in telling the Commander’s origin. The story is presented in flashback fashion. My problem with this is that I’m being told the story instead of seeing it unfold as it happens. I personally would have preferred his origin story playing out so I could get to know the character and his circumstances a bit more. As it’s presented the Commander’s origin reads like a storybook. Like we’re being told about the Commander instead of actually experiencing what he’s going through. Obviously the storytellers here had limited space to fit the origin in but I actually think the Commander could have been a more compelling character if we’d actually gotten to know him instead of being told about him.
The art in MASKED COMMANDER is very good and has an old school flair to it. The line work is simple but elegant and the coloring actually adds to the impact of the storytelling. Samnee’s pencils and Pursley’s inks combine to give the story a flavor of comic books from days gone by while Thompson Knox’s colors give a punch to the page without actually distracting from the artwork itself. All in all the art team is extremely capable and added to the enjoyment I had while story.
Despite my criticisms I did actually enjoy the book. Right now it seems like MASKED COMMANDER could really develop into something interesting and fun. My problems with it stem from the fact that it may not have the courage of its convictions. If you’re going to bring up political issues in a book then you should address them. I understand that, for the most part, the creators are developing a straight up adventure story but if it’s going to star The President of the United States of America then you’d better be prepared to address some of the larger issues that go along with it. I mean, EX-MACHINA does and it only stars the Mayor of New York City.
I also have to address something else before I finish this review. The book only seems to be available through its website www.maskedcommander.com. The problem is that the book itself costs $3.50 and once you pay for shipping via their Amazon shop you’ll be paying over six dollars for a single comic that’s no longer than your average Spider-Man comic! While that may not be a huge deal for buyers looking for something different in their comic reading most comic buyers will probably balk at the price. I, personally, like supporting independent books that look interesting to me so I didn’t really have a problem with it but I guess you’ll have to decide for yourself whether a comic book you’ve probably never really heard of is worth six bucks.
Remember, if you have an Indie book you’d like one of the @$$holes to take a look at, click on your favorite reviewer’s link and drop us an email.
Remember, if you have an Indie book you’d like one of the @$$holes to take a look at, click on your favorite reviewer’s link and drop us an email.
LIVEWIRES #6 (of 6)
I think what I’ve liked best about this series is that, amidst all the action and robot carnage, it’s had 101 bitchin’ ideas I’ve had to work to wrap my puny little mind around. I actually think Adam Warren is rockin’ the sci-fi angle harder than Warren Ellis does in his superhero work. Ellis doles out his tech in bite-sized nuggets, but Adam Warren just immerses the reader in it, daring him to keep up as classic Marvel action gets well and truly weird. For the fiery finale, the last remaining Livewire, Stem Cell, is up against an entire S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier packed to the gills with networked, Nick Fury Life Model Decoys (if you have to ask, you’ll never understand). It’s ridiculously weird, it’s weirdly cool, and the book’s still got some tricks up its sleeves. Namely, Stem Cell’s realization that she needs to remove a programming block to have even a chance of survival. And no, she’s not trying to find her humanity or some shit – she’s trying to remove it. Remove it so she can cut loose hardcore. It’s the book’s core theme if it’s got one: the anti-Pinocchio, anti-Data, anti-“being more human will solve everything!” Consider LIVEWIRES Marvel’s best sleeper title of the year, and either track down the back issues or keep your eyes peeled for the pending digest collection. - Dave
DETECTIVE COMICS #810
Okay, when I’m wrong, I’ll say it and this time I’m glad I was. In last week’s column, I mistakenly thought the mysterious burned man trouncing through this useless “War Crimes” crossover was Azrael, back from wherever the hell his shitty old series faded him off to. Turns out I was wrong, thank god. But even that good news doesn’t save this story, which again seems unnecessarily in the crossover-ripe state in which DC Comics are in these days. There is a nice little moment with the Joker towards the end that’ll keep me around for at least another issue, though. - Bug
