Whatcha Readin'? 9/13/05
Sep. 13th, 2005 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrier
ASTONISHING X-MEN #12: A big ol' fight scene in the classic style, with everyone using their powers in clever ways. The way Kitty takes out the Sentinel is a great bit. Dragging Professor X off his pedestal is an interesting development, although it doesn't have as much impact as it might have, since he's hardly been around anyway. The big "twist ending" with Emma seems a bit pat -- hopefully there's more to it than what we're seeing. This storyline dragged a bit in spots, but overall it holds together pretty nicely.
"You've got your scenarios running, I'm sure. Very complex. Mine's simple. I'm a cat. You're a bird."
LA PERDIDA #5: An intense, suspenseful, and satisfying conclusion. The threat of violence is ever-present, but when it does happen it's mostly off-panel. The real "climax" is when Carla accepts her own culpability in the situation. Abel's artwork is terrific throughout -- loose and energetic, but capable of great subtlety when it's needed. I love the little recurring motif with the skeleton doll. Hopefully there will be a collected edition of this, it certainly merits being kept in print.
"What do you call it when you kidnap and abuse a person for money? What is that? It's criminal. You're a criminal."
OCEAN #6: Very much a big splashy "Hollywood" finale. The space station fight scene, with Kane strategically shifting the gravity controls, is very neat. I have to confess, I'm not really clear on what's going on towards the end, other than "Shit blows up". Not the deepest story ever told, basically "James Bond in Space", but a lot of fun.
"Now what?"
"Now we try not to die some more."
LOVE AND ROCKETS #14: Good stuff from all concerned this issue. I haven't really been able to get into Beto's longer storylines lately, but his short strips are very strong: "Where The Heart Is" is a nice little vignette, and "Kids Stuff Kids" is hilarious. Jaime is so consistently excellent that it's a little scary. "Day By Day With Hopey" is like a master class in subtle storytelling -- not a lot "happens", but every little gesture and expression speaks volumes. The way he balances black and white on the page just floors me.
"I got the feeling she was giving me the 'Are you a good dyke or a bad dyke' test and I failed miserably."
MR. BIG #5: A minicomic by Matt Dembicki ( http://www.waspcomics.com ). The story of scheming and politics among pond animals gets more complicated with the arrival of a new predator. Sort of walks a line between "Animal Farm" and "Watership Down", with realistically-drawn animals that nonetheless manage to be very expressive. The use of different lettering styles for each species is also a nice graphic device. A unique and compelling series.
"I hate those little things... hate 'em!"
MANHATTAN GUARDIAN #4: Damn, this is harsh. Morrison & Stewart introduce the charming and adorable Newsboy Army, and then throw them into the meat-grinder. A little over-the-top for my tastes, but I'll admit that it's brilliantly executed, and it does end on a semi-hopeful note. But damn.
"Oh, Miss Hollywood, I gone and ruined my big comeback."
SHINING KNIGHT #4: There's a neat little twist that I didn't see coming. And the connections between the various Seven Soldiers books are becoming more numerous and obvious. But otherwise, this issue felt kind of slim. It does it's job moving the meta-plot along, but Justin has been such a passive figure through most of this series, that by the time he gets his shit together, it feels like too little too late. Still worth a look, but probably my least favorite of the books so far.
"Red am I in battle. Red the ravens that follow at my heels."
KLARION #3: Sort of Charles Dickens by way of Tim Burton. The theme of lost/corrupted childhood pops up here too, but is handled much more subtly than in MANHATTAN GUARDIAN. The little nods to DC history are handled well -- bits like the "Erdel Gate" are inherently cool, even if you don't know what it's a reference to. Frazer Irving is doing outstanding work here -- all the Seven Soldiers artists have been bringing their "A game", in fact.
"I showed him television and he laughed and laughed, then became violently sick."
ZATANNA #3: Zatanna and Misty are great foils for each other, with some great back-and-forth dialogue. The opening sequence with the low-rent demon cracked me up. Misty's background is revealed, tying this series in even closer to the other Seven Soldiers books, as well as reinforcing the "fairy tale" theme. Lots of interesting stuff going on here, looking forward to next issue.
"I was a really bad superhero, Misty."
BEAVER: A minicomic by Jim Coon ( http://www.ebg.bizhosting.com ). The touching story of little Casey Jane and her loveable pet. Ok, actually it's just a bunch of painful double entendres strung together, but I laughed my ass off anyway.
"On a nice day, I like to play with my beaver outside."
THE BAKERS #1: Outstanding cartooning, the kind of great gags and pantomime that you used to get in newspaper strips and magazine cartoons, but never see anymore. "The Mall" unreels like a classic Looney Tune, one perfectly-paced catastrophe after another. Chuck Jones would be proud.
"She's a con artist! I mean, uh, look dumpling, there's no reason to be scared of the dark."
I WANT MY MJJ #1: A minicomic by Robert Upton ( robert_upton2002@yahoo.com ). An angry rant from a former fan, castigating Michael Jackson for his freakish behavior. There's a song parody ("I Am All Alone" for "You Are Not Alone"), and pin-ups of Michael in his younger, blacker days. The art isn't the slickest, but he does a pretty good caricature of Jackson (and the question mark in place of his overly-operated-on nose is a witty touch). Like any good intervention, it's harsh but done out of love. I wonder if he sent a copy to Jackson?
"I am all alone, what am I to do? My court date's coming up, Johnnie Cochran where are you?!?"
FELL #1: An interesting experiment in format: 16 pages of story (plus notes and sketches) for $1.99. It works, mainly because the story is so densely packed that it feels like a full issue and then some. The story is classic Ellis -- a brilliant but damaged protagonist, a murder involving odd sex acts, and lots of dry, biting wit. Should be lots of fun, and I hope the format catches on (if only because it might force some of these meandering writers to be a little more succinct).
"I have to take quite a lot of pills now."
(I also got FOLLOWING CEREBUS #5, but I haven't read it yet.)
"You've got your scenarios running, I'm sure. Very complex. Mine's simple. I'm a cat. You're a bird."
LA PERDIDA #5: An intense, suspenseful, and satisfying conclusion. The threat of violence is ever-present, but when it does happen it's mostly off-panel. The real "climax" is when Carla accepts her own culpability in the situation. Abel's artwork is terrific throughout -- loose and energetic, but capable of great subtlety when it's needed. I love the little recurring motif with the skeleton doll. Hopefully there will be a collected edition of this, it certainly merits being kept in print.
"What do you call it when you kidnap and abuse a person for money? What is that? It's criminal. You're a criminal."
OCEAN #6: Very much a big splashy "Hollywood" finale. The space station fight scene, with Kane strategically shifting the gravity controls, is very neat. I have to confess, I'm not really clear on what's going on towards the end, other than "Shit blows up". Not the deepest story ever told, basically "James Bond in Space", but a lot of fun.
"Now what?"
"Now we try not to die some more."
LOVE AND ROCKETS #14: Good stuff from all concerned this issue. I haven't really been able to get into Beto's longer storylines lately, but his short strips are very strong: "Where The Heart Is" is a nice little vignette, and "Kids Stuff Kids" is hilarious. Jaime is so consistently excellent that it's a little scary. "Day By Day With Hopey" is like a master class in subtle storytelling -- not a lot "happens", but every little gesture and expression speaks volumes. The way he balances black and white on the page just floors me.
"I got the feeling she was giving me the 'Are you a good dyke or a bad dyke' test and I failed miserably."
MR. BIG #5: A minicomic by Matt Dembicki ( http://www.waspcomics.com ). The story of scheming and politics among pond animals gets more complicated with the arrival of a new predator. Sort of walks a line between "Animal Farm" and "Watership Down", with realistically-drawn animals that nonetheless manage to be very expressive. The use of different lettering styles for each species is also a nice graphic device. A unique and compelling series.
"I hate those little things... hate 'em!"
MANHATTAN GUARDIAN #4: Damn, this is harsh. Morrison & Stewart introduce the charming and adorable Newsboy Army, and then throw them into the meat-grinder. A little over-the-top for my tastes, but I'll admit that it's brilliantly executed, and it does end on a semi-hopeful note. But damn.
"Oh, Miss Hollywood, I gone and ruined my big comeback."
SHINING KNIGHT #4: There's a neat little twist that I didn't see coming. And the connections between the various Seven Soldiers books are becoming more numerous and obvious. But otherwise, this issue felt kind of slim. It does it's job moving the meta-plot along, but Justin has been such a passive figure through most of this series, that by the time he gets his shit together, it feels like too little too late. Still worth a look, but probably my least favorite of the books so far.
"Red am I in battle. Red the ravens that follow at my heels."
KLARION #3: Sort of Charles Dickens by way of Tim Burton. The theme of lost/corrupted childhood pops up here too, but is handled much more subtly than in MANHATTAN GUARDIAN. The little nods to DC history are handled well -- bits like the "Erdel Gate" are inherently cool, even if you don't know what it's a reference to. Frazer Irving is doing outstanding work here -- all the Seven Soldiers artists have been bringing their "A game", in fact.
"I showed him television and he laughed and laughed, then became violently sick."
ZATANNA #3: Zatanna and Misty are great foils for each other, with some great back-and-forth dialogue. The opening sequence with the low-rent demon cracked me up. Misty's background is revealed, tying this series in even closer to the other Seven Soldiers books, as well as reinforcing the "fairy tale" theme. Lots of interesting stuff going on here, looking forward to next issue.
"I was a really bad superhero, Misty."
BEAVER: A minicomic by Jim Coon ( http://www.ebg.bizhosting.com ). The touching story of little Casey Jane and her loveable pet. Ok, actually it's just a bunch of painful double entendres strung together, but I laughed my ass off anyway.
"On a nice day, I like to play with my beaver outside."
THE BAKERS #1: Outstanding cartooning, the kind of great gags and pantomime that you used to get in newspaper strips and magazine cartoons, but never see anymore. "The Mall" unreels like a classic Looney Tune, one perfectly-paced catastrophe after another. Chuck Jones would be proud.
"She's a con artist! I mean, uh, look dumpling, there's no reason to be scared of the dark."
I WANT MY MJJ #1: A minicomic by Robert Upton ( robert_upton2002@yahoo.com ). An angry rant from a former fan, castigating Michael Jackson for his freakish behavior. There's a song parody ("I Am All Alone" for "You Are Not Alone"), and pin-ups of Michael in his younger, blacker days. The art isn't the slickest, but he does a pretty good caricature of Jackson (and the question mark in place of his overly-operated-on nose is a witty touch). Like any good intervention, it's harsh but done out of love. I wonder if he sent a copy to Jackson?
"I am all alone, what am I to do? My court date's coming up, Johnnie Cochran where are you?!?"
FELL #1: An interesting experiment in format: 16 pages of story (plus notes and sketches) for $1.99. It works, mainly because the story is so densely packed that it feels like a full issue and then some. The story is classic Ellis -- a brilliant but damaged protagonist, a murder involving odd sex acts, and lots of dry, biting wit. Should be lots of fun, and I hope the format catches on (if only because it might force some of these meandering writers to be a little more succinct).
"I have to take quite a lot of pills now."
(I also got FOLLOWING CEREBUS #5, but I haven't read it yet.)
