Lemme say this before I get to the comix thing. Because people bitch about the weather so damn much this needs to be said and said loudly. I am currently living through the most beautiful Summer I have ever seen. Seriously. Gorgeous. Rarely over 80 degrees. Seldomly lower than 70. Once or twice over 85. Sunny and breezy and not even humid all that much. Top it off with some pretty dazzling Thunderstorms, always in the early/late evening when I've already gotten home and you got yourself one helluva Summer.
There now. Can't say that all I do is bitch about the weather. Moving on.
Picked up some good stuff at the LCS today. Got me some Avengers: Initiative, Avengers: Mighty, Walking Dead, Spidey, etc. Gonna be good. Already tore through the Kirkman and may post later in the week about it in a feature (it's over-due, trust me) so I will stay coy about it now, but dude. it was pretty fine.
Got my solicits for October and may sign up for DC's infinite halloween thingie, sounds like a blast. Thats where all of Arkhum's residents take turns trying to scare each other with stories every year. Got some interesting names penning stories this time around, David Arquette being the oddest and most "hmmm that could be good or really, really bad." Also definitely going to get me some Messiah Complex because apparently I am a complete X-man whore. Seriously. Never knew it before, never thought that this is where I would be, not too long ago I was content with my Dark Knight and my Sandman and my Fables. But now I'm like that one cheerleader from your high-school varsity team who nobody knows how she got on the team because she's not particularly athletic but certianly turns heads and ends up sleeping with the entire football team. The football team this time being Cyclops, Beast, Gambit, Cannonball, Wolverine, Iceman, and Jamie Madrox.
Keep sweeping through the Indies and Undies and never really find anything to shout about. Sure there's your hellboys and WDs and 603 titles penned by Ellis, Ennis, and Carey, but nothing has tickled my fancy in a great while. With the other hounds lording it up over Buffy and the complete Brian Wood comicography, its slim pickens. So yeah, anybody got any recommendations I'm all ears.
So cenTrale's old 7th tier of Hell chum is selling off his comics and I'm interested in taking a gander. Should be some good stuff. I wonder when that day will arrive for me. When I make the inevitable sale that everyone seems to make. When assets are liquidated, comics are sworn off for a year or so, maybe 2, then you walk in on a lark and pick up an issue of your favorite character and you are right back where you started, the cycle is complete. There's no escape, there's a reason we're Hellhounds. Its downright easy to drop by and walk through our gates, we're not guarding the way in, not that persistently that is. But try and get yourself out... good luck to ya.
Next Monday I will be on the road with the Siren so there may be a delay or a lack of something sinister altogether. Well, most of the drive will be through Ohio and Indiana so scratch that, there will be plenty of sinister things but they will be more of the mundane persuasion, like grown men wearing sweatpants outside of the confines of their home and towns small enough to survive solely around a single gas stations that double as a grocery store, movie rental shop, gossip fount, ice cream stand, apothecary, funeral home, and bingo parlor. *shudder*
Laters.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Captain America #28
Captain America #28
Writer: Brubaker
Artists: Epting & Perkins
Colorist: D'Amata
Spoilers Ahead. Please be aware that events in the past 4 issues of Captain America will be discussed below.
It takes a talent to keep a comic series alive and kicking after you've gunned down the titular character. With 'Steve Rogers & Friends' now just '& Friends,' readers could very easily be expected to bail on Captain America. Yet in spite of this, Brubaker's absolute mastery of the spy-thriller/espionage genre leaves me anxious for more each and every issue. And it's not like I'm a huge fan of the Falcon or Bucky or any of the myriad folks so crucial to the life of this story. One can easily forget that Cap's death was just chapter 1 of the story arc "Death of a Dream." Just as that title resonates and begins to suggest far more than the death of just one man (a.k.a 'a dream' instead of 'a hero'), Brubaker allows a very singular and powerful event reverberate down into all of the hollows of the Marvel Universe.
Captain America #28 is a fractured issue composed of an almost bewildering number of these reverberations. Split up into 9 brief mini-stories, the reader is constantly shuffled back and forth between arcs featuring the Winter Soldier, the Falcon, Tony Stark, Sharon Carter, and two antagonists, Doc Faustus and Sin. I suppose my only complaint is a quite purposeful lack of focus as the reader is never satisfied with just a few pages of material on each character. Yet I understand the reasoning behind such a disjointed approach, and for me that nullifies the disorientation. The world, as these characters know it, has been irrevocably shattered. The broken quality of the narrative is exacerbated by the generous amount of 'screen time' given to 'extras.' Brubaker is fond of giving the reader the thoughts of the average joe on the street (or bar stool as the case may be) and on a story arc like this one it's even more important. With Cap's death filtering down to each and every human of the Marvel Universe its easy to forget that there are more than just capes and hoods feeling the effects.
The Falcon/Winter Soldier dichotomy is really starting to pay off. As the latter character presses on toward his ultimate goal of killing off all those responsible for Cap's assassination (which includes, for the time being, Iron Man and the Red Skull), the Falcon is doing what he can to actually prevent the death of Steve Roger's self-proclaimed best friend. These two are going to come to blows soon enough and with Sharon Carter, the woman who delivered the fatal shot to Captain America (under mind control or not) teamed up with the Falcon, who knows what will happen if Bucky ever finds out who pulled the final trigger.
The only mini-story that seems to fall flat (1 outta 9 ain't bad) is the Professor X cameo. I realize that this is the proverbial coffin nail on Crossbones' part of this story but all of the Xavier style interrogation seemed excessive in a storyline as gritty and 'realistic' and 'noirish' as this one. Though it was interesting to see the interpersonal relationship between Tony and Charles, I had almost forgotten that they are both on the Illuminati, and while one can see that the two respect each other's abilities, a real friendship here is notably absent. Here's how the verbal exchange woulda gone down if Chuck and Tony weren't such detached Masters of the Universe:
Tony: "So, ole Crossbones' memory banks are a blank slate, eh?"
Chuck: "Yeah, that sumbitch got tore up inside."
Tony: "Well, you did what you could..."
Chuck: "Say, you wanna go grab a beer?" (says this while 'encouraging' a particular answer)
Tony: "Well I do now!" (Both of them hold their stomachs and laugh gleefully while Crossbones' head lolls back and forth, mentally destroyed)
~end scene~
Back to our regularly scheduled review...
The cover girl, Sin, steals some scenes and gives the dark issue its brief points of comic relief. Maybe I just have a thing for red-heads but it also gives the issue some much needed comicbook kick-ass babery. Nothing like a Jovovich like psychopath in a red-leather corset to, er, spice things up a bit. As the Red Skull's daughter and a woman soon to have a huge target on her freckled head, i foresee some hard times for the girl in the near future, but for now she's shooting first and, well, not really asking any questions so much as slithering into ridiculously tight-fitting uniforms.
The two biggest revelations of the issue involve the hunter and the hunted. We get some more inner-monologue from Bucky and while he isn't halting his quest to put a bullet in Tony, we can finally tell that he actually realizes this whole thing really isn't completely Tony's fault, and begins to try and figure out where the Red Skull fits in behind all this, crime detective style. Meanwhile Tony, after his above referenced meeting with Xavier, gets a rather disturbing letter. It appears Cap isn't through 'acting' in his own series after all. A friend of Matt Murdock's is holding a letter to be delivered to, and only to, Tony Stark in the event of Steve Roger's death. Apparently it was composed during the Civil War while Cap was having rather poignant thoughts of not making it out of that war alive. The whole "Dead Letter Department" min-story is a complete teaser as we never find out what it actually says. All we get is Tony's mumbled "Damn it Steve..." However, the whole letter sequence does arrive just after a purposefully planted segment where Tony is dismissing a S.H.I.E.L.D. soldier who has nominated himself to be Cap's replacement. Does this letter have anything to do with legacy I wonder?
As I said before, just as suspenseful as your Bourne Identity style spy thriller, Captain America leaves me wanting more each and every time. Rating: Snake-eyes, since you really can't be expected to maintain a Voltron each and every issue, especially when the last Voltron happens to be the death of Captain America.
Writer: Brubaker
Artists: Epting & Perkins
Colorist: D'Amata
Spoilers Ahead. Please be aware that events in the past 4 issues of Captain America will be discussed below.
It takes a talent to keep a comic series alive and kicking after you've gunned down the titular character. With 'Steve Rogers & Friends' now just '& Friends,' readers could very easily be expected to bail on Captain America. Yet in spite of this, Brubaker's absolute mastery of the spy-thriller/espionage genre leaves me anxious for more each and every issue. And it's not like I'm a huge fan of the Falcon or Bucky or any of the myriad folks so crucial to the life of this story. One can easily forget that Cap's death was just chapter 1 of the story arc "Death of a Dream." Just as that title resonates and begins to suggest far more than the death of just one man (a.k.a 'a dream' instead of 'a hero'), Brubaker allows a very singular and powerful event reverberate down into all of the hollows of the Marvel Universe.
Captain America #28 is a fractured issue composed of an almost bewildering number of these reverberations. Split up into 9 brief mini-stories, the reader is constantly shuffled back and forth between arcs featuring the Winter Soldier, the Falcon, Tony Stark, Sharon Carter, and two antagonists, Doc Faustus and Sin. I suppose my only complaint is a quite purposeful lack of focus as the reader is never satisfied with just a few pages of material on each character. Yet I understand the reasoning behind such a disjointed approach, and for me that nullifies the disorientation. The world, as these characters know it, has been irrevocably shattered. The broken quality of the narrative is exacerbated by the generous amount of 'screen time' given to 'extras.' Brubaker is fond of giving the reader the thoughts of the average joe on the street (or bar stool as the case may be) and on a story arc like this one it's even more important. With Cap's death filtering down to each and every human of the Marvel Universe its easy to forget that there are more than just capes and hoods feeling the effects.
The Falcon/Winter Soldier dichotomy is really starting to pay off. As the latter character presses on toward his ultimate goal of killing off all those responsible for Cap's assassination (which includes, for the time being, Iron Man and the Red Skull), the Falcon is doing what he can to actually prevent the death of Steve Roger's self-proclaimed best friend. These two are going to come to blows soon enough and with Sharon Carter, the woman who delivered the fatal shot to Captain America (under mind control or not) teamed up with the Falcon, who knows what will happen if Bucky ever finds out who pulled the final trigger.
The only mini-story that seems to fall flat (1 outta 9 ain't bad) is the Professor X cameo. I realize that this is the proverbial coffin nail on Crossbones' part of this story but all of the Xavier style interrogation seemed excessive in a storyline as gritty and 'realistic' and 'noirish' as this one. Though it was interesting to see the interpersonal relationship between Tony and Charles, I had almost forgotten that they are both on the Illuminati, and while one can see that the two respect each other's abilities, a real friendship here is notably absent. Here's how the verbal exchange woulda gone down if Chuck and Tony weren't such detached Masters of the Universe:
Tony: "So, ole Crossbones' memory banks are a blank slate, eh?"
Chuck: "Yeah, that sumbitch got tore up inside."
Tony: "Well, you did what you could..."
Chuck: "Say, you wanna go grab a beer?" (says this while 'encouraging' a particular answer)
Tony: "Well I do now!" (Both of them hold their stomachs and laugh gleefully while Crossbones' head lolls back and forth, mentally destroyed)
~end scene~
Back to our regularly scheduled review...
The cover girl, Sin, steals some scenes and gives the dark issue its brief points of comic relief. Maybe I just have a thing for red-heads but it also gives the issue some much needed comicbook kick-ass babery. Nothing like a Jovovich like psychopath in a red-leather corset to, er, spice things up a bit. As the Red Skull's daughter and a woman soon to have a huge target on her freckled head, i foresee some hard times for the girl in the near future, but for now she's shooting first and, well, not really asking any questions so much as slithering into ridiculously tight-fitting uniforms.
The two biggest revelations of the issue involve the hunter and the hunted. We get some more inner-monologue from Bucky and while he isn't halting his quest to put a bullet in Tony, we can finally tell that he actually realizes this whole thing really isn't completely Tony's fault, and begins to try and figure out where the Red Skull fits in behind all this, crime detective style. Meanwhile Tony, after his above referenced meeting with Xavier, gets a rather disturbing letter. It appears Cap isn't through 'acting' in his own series after all. A friend of Matt Murdock's is holding a letter to be delivered to, and only to, Tony Stark in the event of Steve Roger's death. Apparently it was composed during the Civil War while Cap was having rather poignant thoughts of not making it out of that war alive. The whole "Dead Letter Department" min-story is a complete teaser as we never find out what it actually says. All we get is Tony's mumbled "Damn it Steve..." However, the whole letter sequence does arrive just after a purposefully planted segment where Tony is dismissing a S.H.I.E.L.D. soldier who has nominated himself to be Cap's replacement. Does this letter have anything to do with legacy I wonder?
As I said before, just as suspenseful as your Bourne Identity style spy thriller, Captain America leaves me wanting more each and every time. Rating: Snake-eyes, since you really can't be expected to maintain a Voltron each and every issue, especially when the last Voltron happens to be the death of Captain America.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Sinister Monday #11
and just barely. as i write this its 11.12pm. damn close to being a sinister tuesday. Alas.
say it with me brothers...
Three!
(budda budda budda)
Sentence!!
(budda budda budda budda)
Howls!!!
*deafening cheer*
Justice Society of America #7
Johns scribing, Eagleton scratching.
What it means to be family. Legacy. More of the same?
Rating: Gimli
X-Factor #21
Writer: Peter David
Interesting how a guy who can multiply himself at will gets so damn lonely. Enter the Isolationist and host of mo' money, mo' problems (mo' babies?). Layla's acting all freaky too.
Rating: Gimli
World War Hulk #2
Pak and Romita Jr.
Hulk is getting the shaft every which way. If people only came up to him honestly instead of all this disingenuous postering and tricksterism. Maybe Mr Fantastic IS a Skrull.
Rating: Starscream.
New X-men #40
Kyle and Yost (a.k.a. the grim reapers of childrens)
Once again i go in kinda sorta hoping this would suck (okay not really but whatevs) and once again this series comes out, if not quite at the tip-top, then right there near the summit of a healthy buy pile. I think the new x-men must be a blast to write seeing as you can use familiar archetypes, framing, and toys but these still are your own creations and characters are still so malleable... you can kill them or spin them in any which way. The use of Colossus sister is a perfect example--girl's bad news.
rating: Snake-eyes.
Justice League of America #11
Brad Meltzer: writer
Gene Ha: artist
A House of Leaves style comicbook experiment. I've seen things like this go bad in a hurry. Good thing this one shines on and on.
Rating: Voltron (you have to see it to believe it. Also, you'll either love it or hate it, one of those)
The Order #1
Matt Fraction and Barry Kitson
Like the new x-men, here are some brand new toys. Mixed results, though they do get points for 'killing' off so many newbies right in the first issue. Sorta like the balls Lost had when it still thought killing Jack off in the first episode was a good idea.
Rating: Gimli (but unlike Lost, this likely won't get by on charm, hype, good luck, and plain old hot-shit writing)
Madman Atomic Comics #3
Mike Allred. Mike Allred all the time.
This is a comicbook dressed up like philosophy. Never wanted to read Preacher/100 Bullets/the Punisher/Scalped so much in my life. A visual experiment every bit as much adventurous as JLA #11 (perhaps more so) but much less successful--hmmm maybe its because the latter actually had a plot.
rating: Starscream
say it with me brothers...
Three!
(budda budda budda)
Sentence!!
(budda budda budda budda)
Howls!!!
*deafening cheer*
Justice Society of America #7
Johns scribing, Eagleton scratching.
What it means to be family. Legacy. More of the same?
Rating: Gimli
X-Factor #21
Writer: Peter David
Interesting how a guy who can multiply himself at will gets so damn lonely. Enter the Isolationist and host of mo' money, mo' problems (mo' babies?). Layla's acting all freaky too.
Rating: Gimli
World War Hulk #2
Pak and Romita Jr.
Hulk is getting the shaft every which way. If people only came up to him honestly instead of all this disingenuous postering and tricksterism. Maybe Mr Fantastic IS a Skrull.
Rating: Starscream.
New X-men #40
Kyle and Yost (a.k.a. the grim reapers of childrens)
Once again i go in kinda sorta hoping this would suck (okay not really but whatevs) and once again this series comes out, if not quite at the tip-top, then right there near the summit of a healthy buy pile. I think the new x-men must be a blast to write seeing as you can use familiar archetypes, framing, and toys but these still are your own creations and characters are still so malleable... you can kill them or spin them in any which way. The use of Colossus sister is a perfect example--girl's bad news.
rating: Snake-eyes.
Justice League of America #11
Brad Meltzer: writer
Gene Ha: artist
A House of Leaves style comicbook experiment. I've seen things like this go bad in a hurry. Good thing this one shines on and on.
Rating: Voltron (you have to see it to believe it. Also, you'll either love it or hate it, one of those)
The Order #1
Matt Fraction and Barry Kitson
Like the new x-men, here are some brand new toys. Mixed results, though they do get points for 'killing' off so many newbies right in the first issue. Sorta like the balls Lost had when it still thought killing Jack off in the first episode was a good idea.
Rating: Gimli (but unlike Lost, this likely won't get by on charm, hype, good luck, and plain old hot-shit writing)
Madman Atomic Comics #3
Mike Allred. Mike Allred all the time.
This is a comicbook dressed up like philosophy. Never wanted to read Preacher/100 Bullets/the Punisher/Scalped so much in my life. A visual experiment every bit as much adventurous as JLA #11 (perhaps more so) but much less successful--hmmm maybe its because the latter actually had a plot.
rating: Starscream
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Three-Sentence Howl: cenTrale #3
Well, good ol' RHD had to go ahead and fix some beefy mixings for LeftD, yours truly, the respective Sirens and assorted other demonic entities. Consequently, it behooved me to fill in on this occasion. Not that y'all mind an excess of cenTraley goodness; we all know it's what you crave. So feast like my fellow heads and I did during the siege of Troy, that "real war" as Ares recently described it in the pages of Mighty Avengers. Hades, everything has seemed so paltry since...
Fantastic Four #547
Writer: Dwayne McDuffie
Artist: Paul Pelletier
I can't help but think, every single time I reflect back on Hank Pym's comment about why everyone hates Reed Richards, that maybe LeftD is right and Pym is the Skrull in the “Infiltration's” cap. Yeah, so Richards is disgustingly smart, Panther gets shit done, Torch acts like a frat boy and Storm is not to be messed with under any circumstances, particularly those that deal with her features. Funny how this actually feels like a family, eh?
Ranking: Snake-eyes 'cause something is up someone's sleeve and I'm sure better is to come.
Nova #4
Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Sean Chen & Scott Hanna
It really is rather fascinating the difference between Richard Ryder all-powered up and Ryder otherwise: in the latter, his design is kinda straightforward and, in the former, he's got this really weird neck. This is not to say that I dislike either design, it's just that I do find the neck a touch distracting. On the other hand, this whole series and its Galactic ('cause they do deserve the capitalization) counterparts do a phenomenal job of placing the various quandaries facing the post-Civil War Earth in a fascinating context.
Ranking: Snake-eyes as it's good, but I feel like a couple of pieces to the puzzle were lost deliberately.
Runaways #27
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: Michael Ryan
Joss knows teenage rebellion via some seriously weird transformations. Joss also knows how to take material he himself did not originate and take it to a different place (i.e., Astonishing X-Men). Somehow, this lil' trip to the past with the Runaways crew has yet to completely convince me that Joss knows the Runaways.
Ranking: Gimli given that Whedon rarely disappoints, even more so when it comes to teenage superheroics.
Sub-Mariner #2
Writer: Matt Cherniss & Peter Johnson
Artist: Phil Briones
Why oh why do people continue to mess with Namor? Seriously, we know he's an Atlantean and, by default, is baseline stronger than we are, not to mention he's an Atlantean mutant, so who the hell knows what he can and cannot do? Oh, and he's an arrogant prick that would not hesitate to rip out the tongue alongside of the offending eye; so why fuck with this man?
Ranking: Gimli as it's only just starting to rev up but has a bit to go before it kicks out of el idle.
X-Factor #21
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Pablo Raimondi
You should be reading this comic. Really. Sooner or later everything important in Marvel will be traceable, in the best sense possible, back to this book.
Ranking: Snake-eyes because I'm really not kidding and this is only going to get better and not in that Aquaman sort of getting better 'cause Peter David ain't leaving anytime soon and if he does we might have a hostage situation on our hands.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Sinister Monday #10
There's good news and then there's bad news. What's that? You want to hear the bad news first? Such a noble little stoic you are. Well... the bad news is that for the first time in almost 2 months, I failed to visit the LCS. So no new comics for me. I was expecting a tidy little haul, too. But the good news is that this week's release will be just as robust, that on Wednesday (or thereabouts) I will drop by and oh the splendor and glory of purchasing 12+ issues at once! It shall be great. It will smell like victory.
In the comic void this past week I stuffed an ocean of music. The pitchfork music festival, a gogol bordello show last night, a brand new Pelican cd... but y'all could give a care, I know. You came here to read about fancy pictures and word-bubbles, about capes and WHAM!s and 'graphic narrative art.' I'll try and oblige.
The last few days I've been re-reading the House of M. Several points to make:
1. Really like Coipel's art. Makes a man think about purchasing Thor, if another more devious and 'Godly' hound didn't beat me to it. But share and share alike I spose. Coipel's art is crisp and functional, not as painstakingly real as a Cassaday or a McNiven (whose Thing + Invisible Woman desktop wallpaper adorns the PC of my new desk at work) but in the process more comicbooky. Vive la France! (er, Coipel's french)
2. BENDIS! loves himself some epics. I know him best through the various Avengers lines and for the upcoming Skrullsploitation saga. But back in the day, (okay, not quite 2 years ago) BENDIS! scribed the House and pretty much set up the foundation of contemporary Marvel U. Sure, the Muties didn't play much of a role in Civil War, but the Avengers did, and House is just as much there story as it is the X-men's.
3. Er, be careful what you wish for? tee hee hee.
4. For once a place for Logan to play protagonist and still be sort of a side character. Odd how that works, and I can't really explain it, but both fun and non-compromising at the same time. And by that I mean sure it adds to wolverine's rabid over-exposure but he's not out of character here.
In addition to this re-tread-ification, I've finished a brilliant collected volume of Brian Wood's called Demo. I owe thanks to el cenTrale for this. He's a Brian Wood fan-boy. can't get enough. loves him. wants to marry him, if, you know, a hell-hound could marry a 'body of writing'. What strange offspring that might produce. Hadean Criticism, perhaps? Don't we already have enough of that floating around these wastes?
In other news, the three hounds recently got together at a local hellmouth, um, watering hole and squared away our own collective pull-lists. Here's what I, LeftD nailed down:
New Avengers
Justice Society of America
the Walking Dead
the Amazing Spider-Man
Mighty Avengers
Daredevil
Captain America (what can I say, I'm a Marvelslut)
X-men
New X-men
Countdown
Madman's Atomic Comics
and others, I think. By the by, Fables, the official comic of Cerberus Reviews, was off the table. We all want to keep buying that'un.
So yeah, big BIG set up for next week. Could be, dare I say, WILL be, huge. like used car saleman commercial huge. and that's freaking fucking huge.
<-----D
In the comic void this past week I stuffed an ocean of music. The pitchfork music festival, a gogol bordello show last night, a brand new Pelican cd... but y'all could give a care, I know. You came here to read about fancy pictures and word-bubbles, about capes and WHAM!s and 'graphic narrative art.' I'll try and oblige.
The last few days I've been re-reading the House of M. Several points to make:
1. Really like Coipel's art. Makes a man think about purchasing Thor, if another more devious and 'Godly' hound didn't beat me to it. But share and share alike I spose. Coipel's art is crisp and functional, not as painstakingly real as a Cassaday or a McNiven (whose Thing + Invisible Woman desktop wallpaper adorns the PC of my new desk at work) but in the process more comicbooky. Vive la France! (er, Coipel's french)
2. BENDIS! loves himself some epics. I know him best through the various Avengers lines and for the upcoming Skrullsploitation saga. But back in the day, (okay, not quite 2 years ago) BENDIS! scribed the House and pretty much set up the foundation of contemporary Marvel U. Sure, the Muties didn't play much of a role in Civil War, but the Avengers did, and House is just as much there story as it is the X-men's.
3. Er, be careful what you wish for? tee hee hee.
4. For once a place for Logan to play protagonist and still be sort of a side character. Odd how that works, and I can't really explain it, but both fun and non-compromising at the same time. And by that I mean sure it adds to wolverine's rabid over-exposure but he's not out of character here.
In addition to this re-tread-ification, I've finished a brilliant collected volume of Brian Wood's called Demo. I owe thanks to el cenTrale for this. He's a Brian Wood fan-boy. can't get enough. loves him. wants to marry him, if, you know, a hell-hound could marry a 'body of writing'. What strange offspring that might produce. Hadean Criticism, perhaps? Don't we already have enough of that floating around these wastes?
In other news, the three hounds recently got together at a local hellmouth, um, watering hole and squared away our own collective pull-lists. Here's what I, LeftD nailed down:
New Avengers
Justice Society of America
the Walking Dead
the Amazing Spider-Man
Mighty Avengers
Daredevil
Captain America (what can I say, I'm a Marvelslut)
X-men
New X-men
Countdown
Madman's Atomic Comics
and others, I think. By the by, Fables, the official comic of Cerberus Reviews, was off the table. We all want to keep buying that'un.
So yeah, big BIG set up for next week. Could be, dare I say, WILL be, huge. like used car saleman commercial huge. and that's freaking fucking huge.
<-----D
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Three-Sentence Howl: cenTrale #2
All-Star Superman #8
Writer: Grant Morrison
Pencils: Frank Quitely
Morrison continues to deliver a sci-fi strangeness that magnificently emphasizes the curiosity that is Superman. I mean, while we're used to an alien being representing what is best in humanity, it's not exactly standard storybook fare. My hat is off, then, to Morrison for reminding us of this fact.
Ranking: Snake-eyes 'cause this issue just isn't quite as good as some of the earlier ones (I have to maintain something that approaches consistency, right?).
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #53
Writer: Tad Williams
Pencils: Shawn McManus
They can keep their incongruous cover art. They can choke on it too. See if I care.
Ranking: Joe Camel (and if anyone wants a Starscream for this one...I swear to God I will go at any time, place of your choosing, over this one.)
Birds of Prey #107
Writer: Gail Simone
Pencils: Nicola Scott
Honestly, this arc has been a kind of fun romp through the fringes of the current DC-verse. That said, word is Simone leaves after next issue. If Tad takes over I might have to self-immolate or just boycott DC altogether...maybe both.
Ranking: Snake-eyes with a hope and a prayer that my reading options won't take a further turn for the worse.
Brave & the Bold #4
Writer: Mark Waid
Pencils: George Perez
Neither terribly exciting nor terribly bad, this particular comic is more of a diversion than anything else. Admittedly, that is all, I believe, it was ever intended to be. Therefore I won't judge it harshly as of yet.
Ranking: Gimli as it is enjoyable enough, but possibly not worth picking up on a consistent basis.
Detective Comics #834
Writer: Paul Dini
Pencils: Don Kramer
First time I've come across a multi-part story and it ain't bad. It isn't exactly fantastic, but it ain't bad either. Nice to see the Joker again in actual panels.
Ranking: Snake-eyes as this is probably the best single issue of any major “cape” in DC in the near and far future.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Battle Pope #12
Story: Robert Kirkman
Art: Tony Moore
Colorist: Val Staples
We all have our dirty little secrets. Maybe it’s the office supplies you can’t help but steal, maybe the constant consumption of grocery store produce before you make it to the register so you don’t have to pay for it, maybe it’s the dead bodies buried beneath your concrete floor in that basement apartment you rent. Its those “victimless crimes” we all do that we don’t let anyone know about for no particular reason other than we know that they are wrong, just not that wrong. That’s what Battle Pope is for me.
That’s not to say that Battle Pope is a bad comic, it’s just not supposed to be anything more than it appears to be. There are no deep hidden meanings to what is written, no larger than life moral lesson being taught here. No, if I had to give anyone advice before reading an issue of Battle Pope it would be to either turn the part of their brain that does the thinking off or get drunk first. Guess which one I prefer. And I’m ok with that lack of substance in a comic. It just reminds me that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and not a big brown smokey cock that people like to suck on. Comics were started to be fun for kids, not huge literary genres that change the way people view the coming zombie apocalypse or the god of dreams, but I’m ok with that too. I just like seeing someone firmly slap readers in the face and yell “STOP THINKING SO GOD DAMNED MUCH!” But that’s only cause I want to do that on a daily bases to everyone I meet.
Speaking of everyone you meet, who knew that the pope was such a horny old goat? At least in this incarnation. Fucks anything with two legs that lacks a Y chromosome. That and he likes to blow stuff up. But I’m getting ahead of myself, some back story is necessary. So one day God gets up and looks at His Daily Planner and sees circled in red “RAPTURE TODAY” and has to get His tired ass out of bed to call up the worthy souls into heaven. Problem is that only about 3 people are worthy. God gets pissed, and not like some-one-took-the-last-beer-from-the-fridge pissed, no, more like stubbed-His-toe-getting-up-from-the-couch-that-some-one-
burnt-cigarettes-into-while-drunk-tripped-over-the-rug-smacks-His-head-
against-a-cabinet-in-the-kitchen-that-was-left-open-only-to-find-that-
someone-drank-the-last-fucking-beer-without-asking-or-replacing-it pissed. Yeah, that pissed. So God throws up His hands and says fuck it I’m done, you are all on your own. That lets the devil and demons from Hell out to run the face of the earth, but they end up being basically just like people: Some are just annoying, some are just a little bad, others are just pricks. But that leaves all of humanity without any real direction and no one cares if demons are ruining everything. So the old Pontiff gets off his sorry ass and gets to fighting crime with his new side kick Jesus, who acts like a kid with down syndrome most of the time, like a hippy with some serious herb, like a frat boy with some serious herb, like a trust fund kid with no interest in earning a living. What I’m getting at is he is basically useless, though funny at times.
Anyway, so this particular issue has the Pope running around like he usually does, with no plan and no real care that he has no plan. Meanwhile Jesus and Santa Claus are trying to pull their weight by fighting crime. Yeah you read that correctly, pick up Battle Pope #11 if you want to find out about the Santa part. Anyway, they suck at it. Fighting just isn’t their thing. When the Pope finds out about their stunt he goes and does his thing to get them out of trouble but ends up being attacked by a small demon with a giant robotic suit who has a grudge against the Pope because he slipped the pickle to a female demon that the short one is jonesing over. The end is great but all I will say is that the Pope made God mad by sleeping with Jesus’ Mom at Christmas. Trouble ensues.
The artwork here is fantastic. All the characters are fleshed out in ink and pencil that makes them seem a lot more believable than most of your spandex wearing capes: The villains seem larger than life, God is awe inspiring, Jesus drools. Backgrounds aren’t ignored to make the main characters seem more life like either, Each one is meticulously drawn and all lend a sense of reality to each panel, from the diner the Pope frequents to the evil lab the short demon uses. Everything drawn is solid and plays nicely with the loose story. Most importantly the artist remembers what he is drawing and that he doesn’t have to take everything so damned seriously.
Battle Pope is a solid comic overall, no mistakes as far as I can see so I have to give this comic a Voltron: Nothing bad to see here dear reader, save for your pestering faces and the smell of dead bodies stinking up my apartment.
RHD
Art: Tony Moore
Colorist: Val Staples
We all have our dirty little secrets. Maybe it’s the office supplies you can’t help but steal, maybe the constant consumption of grocery store produce before you make it to the register so you don’t have to pay for it, maybe it’s the dead bodies buried beneath your concrete floor in that basement apartment you rent. Its those “victimless crimes” we all do that we don’t let anyone know about for no particular reason other than we know that they are wrong, just not that wrong. That’s what Battle Pope is for me.
That’s not to say that Battle Pope is a bad comic, it’s just not supposed to be anything more than it appears to be. There are no deep hidden meanings to what is written, no larger than life moral lesson being taught here. No, if I had to give anyone advice before reading an issue of Battle Pope it would be to either turn the part of their brain that does the thinking off or get drunk first. Guess which one I prefer. And I’m ok with that lack of substance in a comic. It just reminds me that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and not a big brown smokey cock that people like to suck on. Comics were started to be fun for kids, not huge literary genres that change the way people view the coming zombie apocalypse or the god of dreams, but I’m ok with that too. I just like seeing someone firmly slap readers in the face and yell “STOP THINKING SO GOD DAMNED MUCH!” But that’s only cause I want to do that on a daily bases to everyone I meet.
Speaking of everyone you meet, who knew that the pope was such a horny old goat? At least in this incarnation. Fucks anything with two legs that lacks a Y chromosome. That and he likes to blow stuff up. But I’m getting ahead of myself, some back story is necessary. So one day God gets up and looks at His Daily Planner and sees circled in red “RAPTURE TODAY” and has to get His tired ass out of bed to call up the worthy souls into heaven. Problem is that only about 3 people are worthy. God gets pissed, and not like some-one-took-the-last-beer-from-the-fridge pissed, no, more like stubbed-His-toe-getting-up-from-the-couch-that-some-one-
burnt-cigarettes-into-while-drunk-tripped-over-the-rug-smacks-His-head-
against-a-cabinet-in-the-kitchen-that-was-left-open-only-to-find-that-
someone-drank-the-last-fucking-beer-without-asking-or-replacing-it pissed. Yeah, that pissed. So God throws up His hands and says fuck it I’m done, you are all on your own. That lets the devil and demons from Hell out to run the face of the earth, but they end up being basically just like people: Some are just annoying, some are just a little bad, others are just pricks. But that leaves all of humanity without any real direction and no one cares if demons are ruining everything. So the old Pontiff gets off his sorry ass and gets to fighting crime with his new side kick Jesus, who acts like a kid with down syndrome most of the time, like a hippy with some serious herb, like a frat boy with some serious herb, like a trust fund kid with no interest in earning a living. What I’m getting at is he is basically useless, though funny at times.
Anyway, so this particular issue has the Pope running around like he usually does, with no plan and no real care that he has no plan. Meanwhile Jesus and Santa Claus are trying to pull their weight by fighting crime. Yeah you read that correctly, pick up Battle Pope #11 if you want to find out about the Santa part. Anyway, they suck at it. Fighting just isn’t their thing. When the Pope finds out about their stunt he goes and does his thing to get them out of trouble but ends up being attacked by a small demon with a giant robotic suit who has a grudge against the Pope because he slipped the pickle to a female demon that the short one is jonesing over. The end is great but all I will say is that the Pope made God mad by sleeping with Jesus’ Mom at Christmas. Trouble ensues.
The artwork here is fantastic. All the characters are fleshed out in ink and pencil that makes them seem a lot more believable than most of your spandex wearing capes: The villains seem larger than life, God is awe inspiring, Jesus drools. Backgrounds aren’t ignored to make the main characters seem more life like either, Each one is meticulously drawn and all lend a sense of reality to each panel, from the diner the Pope frequents to the evil lab the short demon uses. Everything drawn is solid and plays nicely with the loose story. Most importantly the artist remembers what he is drawing and that he doesn’t have to take everything so damned seriously.
Battle Pope is a solid comic overall, no mistakes as far as I can see so I have to give this comic a Voltron: Nothing bad to see here dear reader, save for your pestering faces and the smell of dead bodies stinking up my apartment.
RHD
Monday, July 9, 2007
Sinister Monday #9
Sinister Monday... actually written on a Monday? Solomon Grundy? Bueller?
Usually I'm a bit better prepared. I generally write these posts on Sunday, where an ocean of time stretches out before me like those gigantic puddles that form after rainstorms on the back streets of the city where all the filth has clogged up the drains, fast-food styrofaom, candy wrappers, broken bottles, used condoms, dead rats, dead leaves, and dead babies... er, gee, where am I? Let that metaphor drag me away like the anchor of an oil tanker slamming into an iceberg, crew being sucked down into the inky void of... I'll stop, I promise.
Boy, it's great to have the three cerberus heads howling in chorus, ain't it? RHD's pumping out reviews like (oh Christ, not again) a, um, a person who enjoys reading comics and gets thoughts about them? Yeah, that's it. And beloved El cenTrale. He just won't shut his trap. goes on and on about radioactive sperm. it's radioactive sperm this, and radioactive sperm that. Keep this between just the two of us but me, I think he's jealous. I think old center head wishes he too could irradiate bitches with his essence. Um, just in case you think I've gone excessively crude and misogynistic all of a sudden, I'm using bitches in the female hellhound sense, and not the gangsta rap sense. Though I'm curious as to whether or not there isn't already a female rapper with a hellish surname, like Bitchy Von Hades, Sally Struthers, or Whorebags McGoingToHellWithLotsOfBling. This is why I need a research department. That and because as far as facts go, I'm fresh out.
Light load this week at the ole LCS. Seeing as I'm the only hound who makes a weekly trip, you'd expect my stash to be slightly smaller. And that's where you'd be wrong. I'm picking up something like 20 issues a month. 4 a week or so. This week it was:
Countdown: 43
Uncanny X-men #4,332,902 (plus endangered species chapter 2)
City of Others #3
and something else I pull but can't remember because i haven't got around to reading it yet. see folks? precious little facts. mostly just opinions (and metaphors, apparently).
Things I learned from the latest Uncanny X-persons:
1. Salvador Larocca isn't always bad. One shouldn't judge a guy on just one book (*cough* NewUniversal *cough*) and the silly practice of comicbook photo-realist art. I'm sorry but i don't care if you think it's fucking rad that ultimate nick fury looks like Sam Jackson. I'd rather he just look Black, loaded with weapons and it'll-kill-you-so-fast gadgets, and pissed off. Yet Larocca's X-persons are slick. Especially Storm. There is something in his lines which suggests a regal quality of an African born warrior goddess, and not 'just' a hawt black chick.
2. Warpath (nee Thunderbird) is still boring. Even when he's wrassling gators.
3. Morlocks, morlocks, evil little morlocks, where does your garden grow?
4. I'm a bit confused as to how exactly Masque's powers work. While everyone on the subway is incapacitated he says something to the effect of "Now these people will feel what it's like to be a mutant." And after he touches them they are all hideous freaks. But does he mutate them? Are they all mutants now? If so, Beast better call somebody. Surely, a little research on Masque couldn't hurt. And Beast probably has a better R&D team than Cerberus Reviews. Thus the me not having any facts dilemma mentioned above. And writing dilEmma just reminds me of the white queen and makes me wonder why she isn't in every x-comic. Talk about hawt.
As Far as DC's Countdown goes, I give it a resounding 'Meh.' I'm just not getting into it like I did 52's first trade (still waiting for the boys upstairs to put out Vol2, little help DC?). Maybe its a character thing, maybe I just don't care about Jason Todd, or Holly Robinson, or Jimmy Olsen (Must Die. sorry, old habits die hard. Or in this case, old advertising ploys die hard. Bruce Willis dies hard? Live free or... sorry again, I'm in stream of associative consciousness this morning. my bad). Also, it seems like every issue is artificially centered around some big event I could care less about. The death of a new god! A funeral to a character whose death never occurs in Countdown! The only issue I really enjoyed was the Olsen/Joker convo, the only issue to really end on a cliffhanger (i.e. the threat of Jimmy being Croc-clawed to ribbons).
As the lunch hour approaches my thoughts shift to edamame. see ya next week. and I'm out.
Usually I'm a bit better prepared. I generally write these posts on Sunday, where an ocean of time stretches out before me like those gigantic puddles that form after rainstorms on the back streets of the city where all the filth has clogged up the drains, fast-food styrofaom, candy wrappers, broken bottles, used condoms, dead rats, dead leaves, and dead babies... er, gee, where am I? Let that metaphor drag me away like the anchor of an oil tanker slamming into an iceberg, crew being sucked down into the inky void of... I'll stop, I promise.
Boy, it's great to have the three cerberus heads howling in chorus, ain't it? RHD's pumping out reviews like (oh Christ, not again) a, um, a person who enjoys reading comics and gets thoughts about them? Yeah, that's it. And beloved El cenTrale. He just won't shut his trap. goes on and on about radioactive sperm. it's radioactive sperm this, and radioactive sperm that. Keep this between just the two of us but me, I think he's jealous. I think old center head wishes he too could irradiate bitches with his essence. Um, just in case you think I've gone excessively crude and misogynistic all of a sudden, I'm using bitches in the female hellhound sense, and not the gangsta rap sense. Though I'm curious as to whether or not there isn't already a female rapper with a hellish surname, like Bitchy Von Hades, Sally Struthers, or Whorebags McGoingToHellWithLotsOfBling. This is why I need a research department. That and because as far as facts go, I'm fresh out.
Light load this week at the ole LCS. Seeing as I'm the only hound who makes a weekly trip, you'd expect my stash to be slightly smaller. And that's where you'd be wrong. I'm picking up something like 20 issues a month. 4 a week or so. This week it was:
Countdown: 43
Uncanny X-men #4,332,902 (plus endangered species chapter 2)
City of Others #3
and something else I pull but can't remember because i haven't got around to reading it yet. see folks? precious little facts. mostly just opinions (and metaphors, apparently).
Things I learned from the latest Uncanny X-persons:
1. Salvador Larocca isn't always bad. One shouldn't judge a guy on just one book (*cough* NewUniversal *cough*) and the silly practice of comicbook photo-realist art. I'm sorry but i don't care if you think it's fucking rad that ultimate nick fury looks like Sam Jackson. I'd rather he just look Black, loaded with weapons and it'll-kill-you-so-fast gadgets, and pissed off. Yet Larocca's X-persons are slick. Especially Storm. There is something in his lines which suggests a regal quality of an African born warrior goddess, and not 'just' a hawt black chick.
2. Warpath (nee Thunderbird) is still boring. Even when he's wrassling gators.
3. Morlocks, morlocks, evil little morlocks, where does your garden grow?
4. I'm a bit confused as to how exactly Masque's powers work. While everyone on the subway is incapacitated he says something to the effect of "Now these people will feel what it's like to be a mutant." And after he touches them they are all hideous freaks. But does he mutate them? Are they all mutants now? If so, Beast better call somebody. Surely, a little research on Masque couldn't hurt. And Beast probably has a better R&D team than Cerberus Reviews. Thus the me not having any facts dilemma mentioned above. And writing dilEmma just reminds me of the white queen and makes me wonder why she isn't in every x-comic. Talk about hawt.
As Far as DC's Countdown goes, I give it a resounding 'Meh.' I'm just not getting into it like I did 52's first trade (still waiting for the boys upstairs to put out Vol2, little help DC?). Maybe its a character thing, maybe I just don't care about Jason Todd, or Holly Robinson, or Jimmy Olsen (Must Die. sorry, old habits die hard. Or in this case, old advertising ploys die hard. Bruce Willis dies hard? Live free or... sorry again, I'm in stream of associative consciousness this morning. my bad). Also, it seems like every issue is artificially centered around some big event I could care less about. The death of a new god! A funeral to a character whose death never occurs in Countdown! The only issue I really enjoyed was the Olsen/Joker convo, the only issue to really end on a cliffhanger (i.e. the threat of Jimmy being Croc-clawed to ribbons).
As the lunch hour approaches my thoughts shift to edamame. see ya next week. and I'm out.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
TGIC #5
Well, I ain't gonna lie, it's been a good long while since I've posted in this regard. Not that the number on this here TGIC would lead you to believe I've been so silent as I might imply. Admittedly – and interestingly – I haven't exactly felt as though that which needs saying hasn't been said, what with LeftD holding down the fort in such a superlative manner in my (and Righty...he'd gnaw on our collective leg were I to forget him) absence. Hades, his pull list all but perfectly reflects the various changes and challenges posed by the big two in the past few months (when was the last time you envied someone for a pull list including both New Avengers and Captain America?). Nonetheless, I've been quiet for quite long enough and have a thing or two to, ever so briefly and in a split infinitive manner, say...
I think the duology, as a certain someone has described Marvel and DC, may have jumped the shark. Yes, they now can pull off yearly events and, yes, they are now able to pull off the “perpetual” yearly event (52, Countdown, the revised Spiderman [and I have no idea which book this applies to, still], etc.). Furthermore, both companies now have the talent (BENDIS!, ..., ..., hmm, well, BENDIS! and so on, I suppose) to pull off such extravaganzas. OK, ain't gonna knock that unless I have to...and I really ain't had to quite yet.
Nonetheless...WTF??? I'm very much in support of easter eggs and the like, but you seriously expect us not to be pissed about, or at the very least wary of, a company-wide plan that somehow or other ties in everything that has taken place over the last couple years. Sure, we keep hearing about these really super retreats that every writer comes out of pumped to continue to pull the wool over the readers' eyes, and yet, I can't help to feel cheapened by all this. Sure, we should really worry about what we're reading at a panel-by-panel level, and yet. And yet...
While we're on the whole WTF thing...
Radioactive sperm. Really? Not that anyone would take the bet, but $20 says they regret this much sooner than later. Marvel just can't seem to get their quasi-Elseworlds shit together. I probably, though no promises, wouldn't be as pissed were it not for the horrific track record. Bloody well commit if you don't want to look like a damn idiot. For the love of Zeus in Olympus, can't we at least kill a character without resorting to a dumb ass gimmick like...oh, I don't know...RADIOACTIVE SPERM!!!
Anyways, that's about all I can really stomach being pissy in the stomach concerning. Funny how a brief rant ends up significantly shorter than one of my “quick” reviews, eh? See you later on this week for some more review-ing goodness. As always, your overly friendly and slobbery,
cenTrale
Thursday, July 5, 2007
The Boys #7
Story: God (a.k.a Garth Ennis)
Art: Darick Robertson
Hey look at the time. Its fanboy time again. Sure it's been a month since I've touched a comic and yes, I've been drinking less than normal but don't worry dear reader, I'm back and off the wagon. Point in fact, its only 10:30 and I've been drinking since 10:00 AM. So this review should be not only educational but also entertaining, ridden with typos and at times make no sense what so ever. Lets put on our drinking hats, put on some Motorhead, and review The Boys' return from hiatus.
Originally published by DC imprint WildStorm Productions, The Boys was dropped for being written by Garth Ennis; By that I mean it was too graphic, vulgar and well written for DC to handle. The first six issues are fantastic and show the titular characters getting back together to once again keep the capes in check with their brand of vigilante justice. Turns out that all those wonderful super powers that everyone has come from doing drugs…ok not all drugs but a specific kind. In pure form it gives you powers indefinitely. In small form it just acts like pcp on crack…err…you know what I mean. The Boys use this drug to level the playing filed with these bastards, cause most of them are, bastards that is, and act like the Russian CIA agents before the wall fell. Any cape doing anything illegal is visited and treated like redheaded stepchild in a foster home.
That first arc introduces a new boy to the group who lost his girl in a tragic if not darkly humorous superhero accident. The end of the first arc concludes wonderfully with the new guy testing out his newfound powers in the middle of a fight with a superhero group and accidentally punching through the one cape he was fighting. If that weren't enough ichor for the fan base, then a hamster wiggles its way out of the dead cape's nether regions wrapped in duct tape. This part doesn't need to be mentioned for story or art reviewing, I just wanted to see that in type.
That was the last issue that WildStorm produced before they dropped The Boys like a colicky baby. The good news is that Dynamite Entertainment, the same folks that bring you Army of Darkness, picked up the dropped series and said do whatever the fuck you want, you're Garth fucking Ennis. Cause he is you know, Garth Fucking Ennis. It is actually his middle name. True story.
The new issue, well, its great. The opening line alone is worth the price of admission. An armor clad cape sits in an office saying "Doctor—I can't stop fucking things…" The title of this arc is "Get Some" and that alone is worth buying all the issues. Any group that is willing to pun and pun well gets my loyalty. The story lines is basically just starting to get rolling but two separate tracks are already being laid to converge and I predict a lot of violence and mayhem, which I look forward to. The Boys are getting started up with their intel gathering and training their new recruit while the cape with the nymphomaniac impulses is killing small Mexican rodents with his member, and trying not to pull a fucked up Graduate on his young side kick. Lots of jokes abound and Ennis's dark humor is prevalent throughout. I just don't see this ever going south.
The artwork has kept its standards high as well and with the publishing crossover nothing has been lost. Darick Robertson continues to draw The Boys with detail that rivals most any comic that I've seen. In this issue two of The Boys enter a comic shop and Robertson gives each and every comic in the shop that you can see a distinct title and cover art. Roberston 's dedication to the small details makes The Boys an entertaining read; His attention to human anatomy sometimes makes you squeamish (see the hamster scene mentioned above). As long as Robertson continues to flesh this comic out it will always be worth looking through.
Currently this comic is one of my favorites. As anyone who has read any of my past Ennis based posts before can tell you, I'm gay for the guy. I know my fellow hounds will kill me but I think this particular series is groundbreaking in what it is doing and its continuation after being dropped by a major publisher to go to an independent is a rare occurance. For that alone I'd like to give The Boys our top rating but I need to know what that character is.
Drinks drunk: one very heavily poured Knobb Creek and Coke.
Art: Darick Robertson
Hey look at the time. Its fanboy time again. Sure it's been a month since I've touched a comic and yes, I've been drinking less than normal but don't worry dear reader, I'm back and off the wagon. Point in fact, its only 10:30 and I've been drinking since 10:00 AM. So this review should be not only educational but also entertaining, ridden with typos and at times make no sense what so ever. Lets put on our drinking hats, put on some Motorhead, and review The Boys' return from hiatus.
Originally published by DC imprint WildStorm Productions, The Boys was dropped for being written by Garth Ennis; By that I mean it was too graphic, vulgar and well written for DC to handle. The first six issues are fantastic and show the titular characters getting back together to once again keep the capes in check with their brand of vigilante justice. Turns out that all those wonderful super powers that everyone has come from doing drugs…ok not all drugs but a specific kind. In pure form it gives you powers indefinitely. In small form it just acts like pcp on crack…err…you know what I mean. The Boys use this drug to level the playing filed with these bastards, cause most of them are, bastards that is, and act like the Russian CIA agents before the wall fell. Any cape doing anything illegal is visited and treated like redheaded stepchild in a foster home.
That first arc introduces a new boy to the group who lost his girl in a tragic if not darkly humorous superhero accident. The end of the first arc concludes wonderfully with the new guy testing out his newfound powers in the middle of a fight with a superhero group and accidentally punching through the one cape he was fighting. If that weren't enough ichor for the fan base, then a hamster wiggles its way out of the dead cape's nether regions wrapped in duct tape. This part doesn't need to be mentioned for story or art reviewing, I just wanted to see that in type.
That was the last issue that WildStorm produced before they dropped The Boys like a colicky baby. The good news is that Dynamite Entertainment, the same folks that bring you Army of Darkness, picked up the dropped series and said do whatever the fuck you want, you're Garth fucking Ennis. Cause he is you know, Garth Fucking Ennis. It is actually his middle name. True story.
The new issue, well, its great. The opening line alone is worth the price of admission. An armor clad cape sits in an office saying "Doctor—I can't stop fucking things…" The title of this arc is "Get Some" and that alone is worth buying all the issues. Any group that is willing to pun and pun well gets my loyalty. The story lines is basically just starting to get rolling but two separate tracks are already being laid to converge and I predict a lot of violence and mayhem, which I look forward to. The Boys are getting started up with their intel gathering and training their new recruit while the cape with the nymphomaniac impulses is killing small Mexican rodents with his member, and trying not to pull a fucked up Graduate on his young side kick. Lots of jokes abound and Ennis's dark humor is prevalent throughout. I just don't see this ever going south.
The artwork has kept its standards high as well and with the publishing crossover nothing has been lost. Darick Robertson continues to draw The Boys with detail that rivals most any comic that I've seen. In this issue two of The Boys enter a comic shop and Robertson gives each and every comic in the shop that you can see a distinct title and cover art. Roberston 's dedication to the small details makes The Boys an entertaining read; His attention to human anatomy sometimes makes you squeamish (see the hamster scene mentioned above). As long as Robertson continues to flesh this comic out it will always be worth looking through.
Currently this comic is one of my favorites. As anyone who has read any of my past Ennis based posts before can tell you, I'm gay for the guy. I know my fellow hounds will kill me but I think this particular series is groundbreaking in what it is doing and its continuation after being dropped by a major publisher to go to an independent is a rare occurance. For that alone I'd like to give The Boys our top rating but I need to know what that character is.
Drinks drunk: one very heavily poured Knobb Creek and Coke.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Sinister Monday #8
Let me indulge a letter to the editor for just one moment. Ahem.
Dear Cerby,
Love the site, but have to ask, where'd the single issue reviews go? Nobody out there in the comic blogdom has anything quite like them, and for a while you guys were doing about 2 per week or at the very least one. I miss them.
Sincerely,
the Velociraptor
Well Mr Dinosaur, sir, we here at the Cerby (Cerby? how cute!) have been asking ourselves that very same question. And since this is the first time we've ever been written to by a member of an extinct species (or pathetic NBA team), behold! A single issue review! Fresh from the convoluted folds of LeftD's gray matter. Hope you enjoy it... er, Rapty.
X-men #200 (+ Endangered Species chapter 1)
Writer: Mike Carey
Artists: Chris Bachalo & Humberto Ramos
Ridiculously Awesome 4-part fold-out cover: David Finch
It's time for Mike Carey to put up or shut up. Dude's been waiting for this. Giving interviews for this. Building and preparing for this. And now the show is his. Endangered Species, a storyline that Carey is a chief architect of, launches its first chapter in the rear of X-men #200. A double-sized issue to begin with, there is a lot of room inside for all kinds of character depth and fireworks. Usually with Carey, the former is sacrificed on the napalm soaked altar of the latter. But I can't fault the guy for trying to fit too much into the space of single issue. Oh wait. Yes I can, and yes I have. Carey's pace on the X-men has been frenetic and disorienting. I've never really bought into his team, it never made sense to me. Why would these folks even hang out together, much less campaign as superheroes together? Carey has had much to say on this topic. The cliff notes reads that he wanted a stable core (Iceman, Rogue, and Cannonball) surrounded by an 'unstable' core (Mystique, Omega Sentinel, and Lady Mastermind). I think the first triforce works just fine, though I've never been the biggest Rogue fan. But the latter triumvirate... nope. I just don't see these guys as X-men.
Together, these two cores compose Carey's self-described 'strikeforce,' a group that has been through the wringer lately. Mowing down villains at a startling rate, with each batch of adversaries dispatched something 'important' has been added to Carey's master plot-line. Be it the recuperation of Sabretooth in the "Children of the Vault" storyline, the infection of Rogue with Strain-88 when the X-men faced Pandemic, or the destruction of Providence and the attack from Hecatomb in their most recent adventure, Carey's ducks are all lined up in a pretty little row. A row that is about to get a few hand grenades chucked at it.
It's no secret that this issue marks the return of both Gambit and the Marauders. But like BENDIS!' remarks on how the Skrulls may have already infiltrated the Marvel U so well that the "war may have already been lost," I am surprised how exposed and bewildered even the most veteran X-men are at this attack, largely from within. You'd think that what with being an endangered species and all you'd have a guy like Logan purposely watching certain former baddies turned goodies. You know he doesn't trust them anyways. And Wolverine, pugnacious or not, is right. Massive defections occur in this issue, and with them a high body count. The fate of two very beloved X-men is in doubt, but their 'deaths' are shadowed just enough to make one question whether or not there is anything to be worried about. These are the X-men after all, and while not Hawkeye or the Flash, these dudes have a way of surviving apparent deaths.
The plot shifts from New Orleans to Cable's ruinous island nation of Providence, to Westchester and back, but most of the action happens at the childhood home of Rogue. Struggling to secure a sense of self in a mind that has recently absorbed 8 billion alien intelligences, Rogue is going back to her roots in the hope of saving herself from the very real possibility of going insane. The X-men Old Guard of Whedon's team are called in to help (apparently this is before they sally forth to Breakworld), and arrive just in time for the shit to hit the fan. The latter portion of the issue features a scrum between an out-gunned X-tribe and a Marauders squad chock full of femme fatales.
Back in Providence, Cable fairs just as poorly. In a very slick, perhaps too slick, cinema style set-up, Cable squares off with Gambit. I've never fully understood the popularity of either of these two characters, specifically the "ragin' cajun", the X-men in particular, but the Marvel U as a whole already have plenty of misunderstood love to hate 'em badboys, to me Gambit just seems superfluous. But don't tell that to his mighty legion of fans. They will be pleased to find him fucking shit up on a grand scale.
A few words on the art-work. Both Ramos and Bachalo have an army of detractors. They claim the artwork is too aggressively unrealistic. Blocky and disproportionate. The only thing I have to say in the defense of "Ramachalo" is that most of these haters are forgetting one important thing. This is a comicbook. Not a Miyazaki anime film. I have a growing dislike of 'photo-realist' comic artists (Like Larocca, e.g.). I also favor artists who have their own style and don't ape other well known signatures. Oddly enough the only people Bachalo and Ramos' artwork resembles is each others, and pairing them up works better than most tag-teams. Having read through the issue three times now I find the transitions smooth, nearly indistinguishable. So what if Guthrie's biceps are larger than his head. So what if Mystique's face when viewed straight on and then in profile looks like two entirely different people. For the most part the penciling is original and bold. And it never lapses one frame from fully supporting the story.
This may sound odd but it's too bad the Endangered Species chapter is included here. X-men #200 is a solid issue on its own, but for many people the 'add-on' will trump most of what came before it in terms of shock value and genuine 'holy shit, i didn't just read that, did I?-ness." One thing is for certain, the Beast is for real. Like Carey himself, Beast is going all in. Whether or not the Beast of X-men lore would actually do something like this is an argument for another day. I aim to think that he merely has full confidence in his own team, and that in getting aid, from whatever horrible source that takes him up on his offer, he believes that in the end, when the inevitable melee occur, the good guys will come away with the 'W'. Plus, as my good friend and Cerberusian colleague cenTrale has recently said, "Plus, I think if needed [the Beast] can really throw down." In short, he's not afraid you or anyone, punk. But I sorta am. Jesus. What the Hell is he thinking! I mean seriously! That's like working with devil himself... that's... that's... oh well, that would be spoiling things now wouldn't it?
Rating: a hybrid composite. (Main story = a Gimli. Endangered Species = a Voltron) Over-all? a Snake-Eyes.
And just like X-men #200 has some great bonus material at the end, so does Sinister Monday #8. And by that I mean...
3...
sentence...
howls!
Daredevil #98
Writer: Brubaker, Artist: Lark
I wish I, too, could kick the door off a police car from the inside while wearing handcuffs and recovering from a savage beating from a drug-crazed sociopath. I also wish gravity effected every falling object the same and that no matter how quickly a man dives off the top of a building he won't catch up with something else that started falling a few seconds earlier. But maybe I'm just being picky... or maybe I just really wanted to see Stark and DD have a tete a tete--that so much to ask?
Rating: Lando
Fables #62
Writer: Willingham, Artists: Buckingham/Pepoy
The interior is solid, that's a given. What's also a given? A James Jean cover, but this one wins cover of the year, hands down; my eyes are bleeding from the goodness.
Rating: Snake-Eyes
Amazing Spider-Man #541
Writer: JMS, Artist: Garney
Just a few more issues until One More Day and then Amazing Spidey goes almost kinda sorta weekly. That is all well and good except this issue kinda sorta sucked balls. Melodramatic!!!!
Rating: Starscream
Captain America #27
Writer: Brubaker
Artist: Epting
Who does Tony Stark need fear the most? Not the Hulk, not Ultron, not the entire New Avengers Crew, Doom, or anyone else. The man better be prepared for the Winter Soldier.
Rating: Snake-Eyes (like most things in life, including that drink in your hand, this coulda used more Red Skull)
Dear Cerby,
Love the site, but have to ask, where'd the single issue reviews go? Nobody out there in the comic blogdom has anything quite like them, and for a while you guys were doing about 2 per week or at the very least one. I miss them.
Sincerely,
the Velociraptor
Well Mr Dinosaur, sir, we here at the Cerby (Cerby? how cute!) have been asking ourselves that very same question. And since this is the first time we've ever been written to by a member of an extinct species (or pathetic NBA team), behold! A single issue review! Fresh from the convoluted folds of LeftD's gray matter. Hope you enjoy it... er, Rapty.
X-men #200 (+ Endangered Species chapter 1)
Writer: Mike Carey
Artists: Chris Bachalo & Humberto Ramos
Ridiculously Awesome 4-part fold-out cover: David Finch
It's time for Mike Carey to put up or shut up. Dude's been waiting for this. Giving interviews for this. Building and preparing for this. And now the show is his. Endangered Species, a storyline that Carey is a chief architect of, launches its first chapter in the rear of X-men #200. A double-sized issue to begin with, there is a lot of room inside for all kinds of character depth and fireworks. Usually with Carey, the former is sacrificed on the napalm soaked altar of the latter. But I can't fault the guy for trying to fit too much into the space of single issue. Oh wait. Yes I can, and yes I have. Carey's pace on the X-men has been frenetic and disorienting. I've never really bought into his team, it never made sense to me. Why would these folks even hang out together, much less campaign as superheroes together? Carey has had much to say on this topic. The cliff notes reads that he wanted a stable core (Iceman, Rogue, and Cannonball) surrounded by an 'unstable' core (Mystique, Omega Sentinel, and Lady Mastermind). I think the first triforce works just fine, though I've never been the biggest Rogue fan. But the latter triumvirate... nope. I just don't see these guys as X-men.
Together, these two cores compose Carey's self-described 'strikeforce,' a group that has been through the wringer lately. Mowing down villains at a startling rate, with each batch of adversaries dispatched something 'important' has been added to Carey's master plot-line. Be it the recuperation of Sabretooth in the "Children of the Vault" storyline, the infection of Rogue with Strain-88 when the X-men faced Pandemic, or the destruction of Providence and the attack from Hecatomb in their most recent adventure, Carey's ducks are all lined up in a pretty little row. A row that is about to get a few hand grenades chucked at it.
It's no secret that this issue marks the return of both Gambit and the Marauders. But like BENDIS!' remarks on how the Skrulls may have already infiltrated the Marvel U so well that the "war may have already been lost," I am surprised how exposed and bewildered even the most veteran X-men are at this attack, largely from within. You'd think that what with being an endangered species and all you'd have a guy like Logan purposely watching certain former baddies turned goodies. You know he doesn't trust them anyways. And Wolverine, pugnacious or not, is right. Massive defections occur in this issue, and with them a high body count. The fate of two very beloved X-men is in doubt, but their 'deaths' are shadowed just enough to make one question whether or not there is anything to be worried about. These are the X-men after all, and while not Hawkeye or the Flash, these dudes have a way of surviving apparent deaths.
The plot shifts from New Orleans to Cable's ruinous island nation of Providence, to Westchester and back, but most of the action happens at the childhood home of Rogue. Struggling to secure a sense of self in a mind that has recently absorbed 8 billion alien intelligences, Rogue is going back to her roots in the hope of saving herself from the very real possibility of going insane. The X-men Old Guard of Whedon's team are called in to help (apparently this is before they sally forth to Breakworld), and arrive just in time for the shit to hit the fan. The latter portion of the issue features a scrum between an out-gunned X-tribe and a Marauders squad chock full of femme fatales.
Back in Providence, Cable fairs just as poorly. In a very slick, perhaps too slick, cinema style set-up, Cable squares off with Gambit. I've never fully understood the popularity of either of these two characters, specifically the "ragin' cajun", the X-men in particular, but the Marvel U as a whole already have plenty of misunderstood love to hate 'em badboys, to me Gambit just seems superfluous. But don't tell that to his mighty legion of fans. They will be pleased to find him fucking shit up on a grand scale.
A few words on the art-work. Both Ramos and Bachalo have an army of detractors. They claim the artwork is too aggressively unrealistic. Blocky and disproportionate. The only thing I have to say in the defense of "Ramachalo" is that most of these haters are forgetting one important thing. This is a comicbook. Not a Miyazaki anime film. I have a growing dislike of 'photo-realist' comic artists (Like Larocca, e.g.). I also favor artists who have their own style and don't ape other well known signatures. Oddly enough the only people Bachalo and Ramos' artwork resembles is each others, and pairing them up works better than most tag-teams. Having read through the issue three times now I find the transitions smooth, nearly indistinguishable. So what if Guthrie's biceps are larger than his head. So what if Mystique's face when viewed straight on and then in profile looks like two entirely different people. For the most part the penciling is original and bold. And it never lapses one frame from fully supporting the story.
This may sound odd but it's too bad the Endangered Species chapter is included here. X-men #200 is a solid issue on its own, but for many people the 'add-on' will trump most of what came before it in terms of shock value and genuine 'holy shit, i didn't just read that, did I?-ness." One thing is for certain, the Beast is for real. Like Carey himself, Beast is going all in. Whether or not the Beast of X-men lore would actually do something like this is an argument for another day. I aim to think that he merely has full confidence in his own team, and that in getting aid, from whatever horrible source that takes him up on his offer, he believes that in the end, when the inevitable melee occur, the good guys will come away with the 'W'. Plus, as my good friend and Cerberusian colleague cenTrale has recently said, "Plus, I think if needed [the Beast] can really throw down." In short, he's not afraid you or anyone, punk. But I sorta am. Jesus. What the Hell is he thinking! I mean seriously! That's like working with devil himself... that's... that's... oh well, that would be spoiling things now wouldn't it?
Rating: a hybrid composite. (Main story = a Gimli. Endangered Species = a Voltron) Over-all? a Snake-Eyes.
And just like X-men #200 has some great bonus material at the end, so does Sinister Monday #8. And by that I mean...
3...
sentence...
howls!
Daredevil #98
Writer: Brubaker, Artist: Lark
I wish I, too, could kick the door off a police car from the inside while wearing handcuffs and recovering from a savage beating from a drug-crazed sociopath. I also wish gravity effected every falling object the same and that no matter how quickly a man dives off the top of a building he won't catch up with something else that started falling a few seconds earlier. But maybe I'm just being picky... or maybe I just really wanted to see Stark and DD have a tete a tete--that so much to ask?
Rating: Lando
Fables #62
Writer: Willingham, Artists: Buckingham/Pepoy
The interior is solid, that's a given. What's also a given? A James Jean cover, but this one wins cover of the year, hands down; my eyes are bleeding from the goodness.
Rating: Snake-Eyes
Amazing Spider-Man #541
Writer: JMS, Artist: Garney
Just a few more issues until One More Day and then Amazing Spidey goes almost kinda sorta weekly. That is all well and good except this issue kinda sorta sucked balls. Melodramatic!!!!
Rating: Starscream
Captain America #27
Writer: Brubaker
Artist: Epting
Who does Tony Stark need fear the most? Not the Hulk, not Ultron, not the entire New Avengers Crew, Doom, or anyone else. The man better be prepared for the Winter Soldier.
Rating: Snake-Eyes (like most things in life, including that drink in your hand, this coulda used more Red Skull)
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