Random Reviews
Nov. 9th, 2007 12:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierASTONISHING X-MEN #23
Joss Whedon & John Cassaday
Marvel
Wow, what a great issue! Intense action, twisty plot, witty dialogue, and lots of "Hell Yeah!" moments -- pretty much everything I could want in a mainstream spandex book. We always hear about Cyclops being such a great leader, tactician, etc. but for once we really get to see it. "What other lies have you told?!!" followed by 4 pages of Optic Pwnage. Love it. Really going to miss this when it's over.
BATMAN #669
Grant Morrison & J.H. Williams III
DC
Morrison and Williams on Batman sounds like a dream team, but this just didn't work for me at all. A feeble murder mystery, corny old superheroes gettting grimly 'n grittily "deconstructed", and Batman running around in circles for 3 issues. Williams usually does a good job balancing "arty" layouts with readability, but I was frequently lost here. Major disappointment.
BATMAN #670
Grant Morrison & Tony Daniel
DC
Better, but still kind of underwhelming. Lots of fannish trivia gets referenced (I Ching! rofl!) -- Ra's wanting to use Deadman-style mind transfer in order to get a new body is actually pretty clever. Batman comes off as kind of a dope: "Gasp! The villain who's whole shtick is based on coming back from the dead can't possibly be back from the dead!" If the storyline were going to be confined to this one book, I'd probably keep up with it, but "To be continued in ROBIN #168"? Fuck that noise.
BIFF BAM POW! #1
Evan Dorkin
Slave Labor Graphics
Dorkin lets his wacky, all-ages side out to play, and the results are a blast. Characters like One-Punch Goldberg, Nutsy Monkey, and Kid Blastoff are full of charm and the gags come fast and furious. Tremendously fun.
LOCAL #10
Brian Wood & Ryan Kelly
Oni Press
We get some insight into Megan's brother Matthew, which in a roundabout way sheds some light on why Megan is the way she is. Some pretty brutal stuff here, but compelling. Kelly's B&W work is really lush and beautiful. He does an interesting trick here: the "current day" scenes are inked with a lot of tone and texture, while the flashbacks are more clean and open. It's a subtle distinction, but very effective in setting them apart. Nice work all around.
MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #4
Mike Allred
Image
I tend to like "wacky fun Madman" more than "serious philosophical Madman" (admittedly, both have been a part of the character since day one). Here we basically have a whole issue of Frank scratching his head and going "Huh?" while various characters go around making vague prouncements about "something big" that's going to happen. It's not awful (and the surreal visuals are neat), but I do kind of wish he'd quit vamping and get on with it already.
SHAOLIN COWBOY #7
Geoff Darrow
Burlyman Entertainment
What's going on here? Damned if I know, but it's sure weird and disturbing and drawn in obsessive detail. Works for me! Gotta love that John Severin cover -- dude hasn't lost a step since the glory days of EC.
SUBURBAN GLAMOUR #1
Jaime McKelvie
Image
Off to a nice start. Paints a vivid portrait of bored & frustrated teenagers, itching for their adult lives to begin, but not sure what they want to do with themselves. I knew it was coming, but I was actually a little put off by the inevitable supernatural element, just because I was enjoying the story as a straight-up slice of life thing. We'll see where it goes. The art's gorgeous, and I love the simple coloring and the bold, graphic cover design.
X-MEN FIRST CLASS #5
Jeff Parker, Roger Cruz, & Colleen Coover
Marvel
Heroes fighting to a contrived stalemate is kind of a Marvel tradition, but this is a particularly creaky iteration. The fight itself just isn't very interesting -- The Hulk and the X-men toss each other around a lot, but never seem to have any strategy or goal in mind (well, you don't expect much strategy from the Hulk, but the X-Men are supposed to be all about teamwork, clever application of powers, etc.). Eventually they decide that Hulk is just a misunderstood misfit like them, and let him go. Pretty pointless overall. I did like the bit where Prof. X can't concentrate to use his uber mind power because Thunderbolt Ross won't shut the hell up. Cruz draws a great Hulk, but I don't really care for his rendition of the X-Men (Hank McCoy is a tall, skinny guy? WTF?). Colleen Coover's 2-pager is adorable and awesome. I know it would never fly with the fans, but I really wish she could just draw the whole book.
Joss Whedon & John Cassaday
Marvel
Wow, what a great issue! Intense action, twisty plot, witty dialogue, and lots of "Hell Yeah!" moments -- pretty much everything I could want in a mainstream spandex book. We always hear about Cyclops being such a great leader, tactician, etc. but for once we really get to see it. "What other lies have you told?!!" followed by 4 pages of Optic Pwnage. Love it. Really going to miss this when it's over.
BATMAN #669
Grant Morrison & J.H. Williams III
DC
Morrison and Williams on Batman sounds like a dream team, but this just didn't work for me at all. A feeble murder mystery, corny old superheroes gettting grimly 'n grittily "deconstructed", and Batman running around in circles for 3 issues. Williams usually does a good job balancing "arty" layouts with readability, but I was frequently lost here. Major disappointment.
BATMAN #670
Grant Morrison & Tony Daniel
DC
Better, but still kind of underwhelming. Lots of fannish trivia gets referenced (I Ching! rofl!) -- Ra's wanting to use Deadman-style mind transfer in order to get a new body is actually pretty clever. Batman comes off as kind of a dope: "Gasp! The villain who's whole shtick is based on coming back from the dead can't possibly be back from the dead!" If the storyline were going to be confined to this one book, I'd probably keep up with it, but "To be continued in ROBIN #168"? Fuck that noise.
BIFF BAM POW! #1
Evan Dorkin
Slave Labor Graphics
Dorkin lets his wacky, all-ages side out to play, and the results are a blast. Characters like One-Punch Goldberg, Nutsy Monkey, and Kid Blastoff are full of charm and the gags come fast and furious. Tremendously fun.
LOCAL #10
Brian Wood & Ryan Kelly
Oni Press
We get some insight into Megan's brother Matthew, which in a roundabout way sheds some light on why Megan is the way she is. Some pretty brutal stuff here, but compelling. Kelly's B&W work is really lush and beautiful. He does an interesting trick here: the "current day" scenes are inked with a lot of tone and texture, while the flashbacks are more clean and open. It's a subtle distinction, but very effective in setting them apart. Nice work all around.
MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #4
Mike Allred
Image
I tend to like "wacky fun Madman" more than "serious philosophical Madman" (admittedly, both have been a part of the character since day one). Here we basically have a whole issue of Frank scratching his head and going "Huh?" while various characters go around making vague prouncements about "something big" that's going to happen. It's not awful (and the surreal visuals are neat), but I do kind of wish he'd quit vamping and get on with it already.
SHAOLIN COWBOY #7
Geoff Darrow
Burlyman Entertainment
What's going on here? Damned if I know, but it's sure weird and disturbing and drawn in obsessive detail. Works for me! Gotta love that John Severin cover -- dude hasn't lost a step since the glory days of EC.
SUBURBAN GLAMOUR #1
Jaime McKelvie
Image
Off to a nice start. Paints a vivid portrait of bored & frustrated teenagers, itching for their adult lives to begin, but not sure what they want to do with themselves. I knew it was coming, but I was actually a little put off by the inevitable supernatural element, just because I was enjoying the story as a straight-up slice of life thing. We'll see where it goes. The art's gorgeous, and I love the simple coloring and the bold, graphic cover design.
X-MEN FIRST CLASS #5
Jeff Parker, Roger Cruz, & Colleen Coover
Marvel
Heroes fighting to a contrived stalemate is kind of a Marvel tradition, but this is a particularly creaky iteration. The fight itself just isn't very interesting -- The Hulk and the X-men toss each other around a lot, but never seem to have any strategy or goal in mind (well, you don't expect much strategy from the Hulk, but the X-Men are supposed to be all about teamwork, clever application of powers, etc.). Eventually they decide that Hulk is just a misunderstood misfit like them, and let him go. Pretty pointless overall. I did like the bit where Prof. X can't concentrate to use his uber mind power because Thunderbolt Ross won't shut the hell up. Cruz draws a great Hulk, but I don't really care for his rendition of the X-Men (Hank McCoy is a tall, skinny guy? WTF?). Colleen Coover's 2-pager is adorable and awesome. I know it would never fly with the fans, but I really wish she could just draw the whole book.
