Foolkiller #1 was a great start to a comic nobody wanted.
Talajic, Marzan and Mrva's art is great, and Bemis' story feels like it has personal elements that a character originated by Gerber should have (like the recent Howard the Duck this seems to be the key to using old Gerber characters, don't try to recreate Gerber's voice, instead use them as a channel for your own voice like he did).
Also, MIKE DEL MUNDO on Avengers #1!!! Hope this finally gets him the attention he deserves.
Foolkiller #1 was a great start to a comic nobody wanted.
Talajic, Marzan and Mrva's art is great, and Bemis' story feels like it has personal elements that a character originated by Gerber should have (like the recent Howard the Duck this seems to be the key to using old Gerber characters, don't try to recreate Gerber's voice, instead use them as a channel for your own voice like he did).
Also, MIKE DEL MUNDO on Avengers #1!!! Hope this finally gets him the attention he deserves.
Del Mundo is really good. Too bad no one picked up Weirdworld. He killed it on that book.
I think this issue of Betty & Veronica was better than the first. Most of the problems people had with the first issue are not to be found in #2. The desaturated coloring doesn’t really bother me, but they could stand to dial it back a notch.
I think this issue of Betty & Veronica was better than the first. Most of the problems people had with the first issue are not to be found in #2. The desaturated coloring doesn’t really bother me, but they could stand to dial it back a notch.
I agree. I think if the line was bumped up a bit, my issues with the art would disappear. As it is the line blends into the color.
I think this issue of Betty & Veronica was better than the first. Most of the problems people had with the first issue are not to be found in #2. The desaturated coloring doesn’t really bother me, but they could stand to dial it back a notch.
I agree. I think if the line was bumped up a bit, my issues with the art would disappear. As it is the line blends into the color.
Well, he seems to be going for a Rockwell/painterly/nostalgia vibe, and Rockwell never used holding lines. I think if he were able to work faster and color the book himself, he might go with no holding lines at all.
I think this issue of Betty & Veronica was better than the first. Most of the problems people had with the first issue are not to be found in #2. The desaturated coloring doesn’t really bother me, but they could stand to dial it back a notch.
I agree. I think if the line was bumped up a bit, my issues with the art would disappear. As it is the line blends into the color.
Well, he seems to be going for a Rockwell/painterly/nostalgia vibe, and Rockwell never used holding lines. I think if he were able to work faster and color the book himself, he might go with no holding lines at all.
I was just thinking the same thing. However, Adam's line work is soooooo good that it would be a shame if it went away.
Really enjoying the Clone Conspiracy & Dead No More so far. Slott has done a great job of tying a number of thematic threads from his run since Brand New Day into this story line. And I have no idea how it will end.
Captain America - Steve Rogers this week presents a chronological problem I'd not considered before. Exactly how old is
Helmut Zemo? Even without this rewritten history making him older, he'd probably be around 70. He's swapped bodies, but that was with the Counter Earth him who was presumably the same age. Did they ever explain his longevity somewhere?
Also the whole SHIELD operation is depressingly realistic politically, and further fuel for the launch of USAvengers shortly.
I started and have been really enjoying vol. 7 ("Mega-City Manhunt") of the wonderful Swiercynski/Daniel/Scott run on JUDGE DREDD, because I felt totally f--ked by our presidential election and I needed something that made me feel like an ugly, dystopian future could at least be fun in a comic book way.
Since I'm a Marvel Unlimited app reader, I'm about 6 months behind when it comes to the House of Ideas... so this week, I loved DARTH VADER #20 (it's been such a great title), and I even had fun with POE DAMERON #2. I'm usually not a fan of non-movie Star Wars stories, but hey, clearly things change. And of course I totally dug VISION #7 (the Scarlet Witch flashback issue). This is the only Marvel superhero title which is can't-miss for me.
I'm a DC Boy but I am sorry to say that I don't feel connected with any of their current titles. In listening to my trusted friends and podcasts, it seems like there's a lot of "this was good," but no "omg, this is a *must* read!" People were jumping up and down over a recent issue of SUPERMAN where the Kents (sorry - that's not their name anymore - I forget what they call themselves now) went to a county fair. So I went and got the issue, and read it - only to find it "meh." Comic reviews in general have always been way too hyperbolic to me, and this was my latest experience with that.
While the current artist is the weakest of the bunch so far, Archie continues to be a really good book under Mark Waid. Jughead is also quite good—a lighter, more comedic book, that is a nice contrast to Archie. Betty & Veronica, while containing the beautiful art of Adam Hughes, comes in at a somewhat distant third in the line. And while I really wanted to like Josie & the Pussycats, and the artwork is quite lovely, it has (so far) proven to be the first misfire of the line. I’m giving it one more issue to right the ship before I drop it.
My first Avengers comic was #150, which introduced a new lineup, and flashed back to the first lineup change which brought Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver to the team. So I was really looking forward to Avengers #1.1... and it was good. Not great, but good. It’s quick-paced like the Avengers comics of the era, so that’s a plus. The art is solid, though not Kitson’s best work. And you don’t really need to have read the original stories this weaves around (though it’s probably better if you have). But unfortunately the only part of the issue that really stood out for me was the letters page, which I though was a very clever idea.
Overall, it’s worth reading if you're an Avengers fan. Otherwise, you won’t be missing much if you skip it.
Even mentioning the classic Avengers #150, cannot elevate this 'memberberries 1.1 book to that great era. Too bad, really - but I don't guess I expected it to pull that off.
Holy crap! Ether #1 was so good! Matt Kindt does it again, but with a more whimsical approach than his usual work that is a lot of fun. You get a lot of character development without the need for exposition or slowing the story down. It's a pretty up-tempo story, but you'll slow down to ogle over David Rubín’s incredible artwork. I first saw his work in the Battling Boy spin-off, Aurora West books, and loved what I saw, but that was in black-&-white with gray tones. Here he’s doing full color (he pencils, inks, colors, & letters!), and it is glorious.
This may well be my pick for Best New Series, and Rubín will likely be my pick for Breakout Creator. It’s an A+ for me.
Just finished Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #1. Of all the Young Animal first issues thus far, Cave Carson is definitely my favorite. Unlike Doom Patrol #1, where it seemed to me that the weirdness overwhelmed the story, here the story is pretty straightforward with brief flashes and hints of wierdness. There are lots of guest stars to liven things up, but they fit in smoothly without the book feeling too crowded or forced. Oeming's artwork is some of the best I've seen from him. All in all a really good start to the series.
I just finished Cave Carlson 1; i really liked it. So far it has been my favorite first issue.
I've been trying to read the Cursed Pirate Girl tpb, but every time I start I get lost in the beautiful line work and lose my place. Usually when people rave about the level of detail in a book, the art has all the fluidity of a granite counter top. CPG is a glorious exception.
Cursed Pirate Girl is a fantastic series. It isn’t really an example of wabi-sabi, as there is no economy or simplicity in the linework, but the artwork does have that quality where the imperfections actually add to the charm and beauty of the drawings because they perfectly match the atmosphere of the story.
Finally got around to reading Millar's HUCK, vol.1, which was a lot of fun. It's like... a quieter, purer "Superman" with a dash of "Stranger Things." Thumbs up from me!
Also read CAVE CARSON HAS A CYBERNETIC EYE #1, which... wasn't my cup of tea. I love the actual title lol, and I love the idea of using Cave Carson and other C-level DC characters, and I mostly like Oeming's art. But the story itself? It starts out confusing, then goes depressing, and I didn't really enjoy any of it. But good on you, to the people who liked it. While I won't be continuing, I still hope it lasts.
Read two Brian Wood comics back to back last night-- as a longtime fan of Aliens comics, I think his (and Tristan Jones') Aliens: Defiance is the best Aliens book in years.
Some of the Aliens titles that have been part of interconnected 20th Century Fox brand crossovers, like Fire & Stone, and the more recent one, whatever it was called, weren't bad, but I also didn't find them very memorable. And certainly none of the characters within them stuck with me. There was usually so much to do with crowding the story with aliens, predators, and engineers, that the people seemed like placeholders.
But in Defiance, which as I understand it, is ongoing, we have gotten characters that are distinct and memorable, and a storyline that is clear, focused, and cinematic. And Tristan Jones is excellent. I hope it lasts awhile.
And the other, from Wood and Chater, is Briggs Land . I love it. I am probably forgetting something, but I feel like I haven't read anything from Wood that is set in modern times in a long time. (DMZ comes to mind, but of course that was near-future.)
It's a great, complicated, murky longform crime comic, and a family story, and a story about a closed society, maybe similar in comics to Aaron and Guera's Scalped, or an HBO or FX series, like The Sopranos or Sons of Anarchy. I think the first trade comes out in two months or so, if that sounds intriguing and you missed it.
I feel like Wood is consistently hitting for me the last few years. I loved his Star Wars series at Dark Horse. Black Road has been great. And these. The Massive didn't keep me the whole time, but it is one I want to get back to and finish sometime.
@David_D I hear BRIGGS LAND is great, glad you liked it. It's high up on my reading list. Brian Wood is one of those fantastic writers who is still very underrated in the industry.
Moving on-- I just read (Young Animal's) DOOM PATROL last night. Beautiful artwork. But the story... it was actually interesting until this one scene where a group of weird aliens begins their meeting in a hotel... at which point, the confusion and sheer boredom set in, and I just paged through the rest of the issue to look at the art. This now makes two Young Animal titles which I have tried and disliked. I wish this imprint would dial down the in-your-face "we're so weird, aren't we cool??!!" attitude, and simply concentrate on telling fun stories which are easier to follow. This isn't about not liking stories which challenge me; it's about not liking stories which bore and confuse me. But to those who dug it - more power to you.
Just finished A.D.: After Death Book 1, and I really liked it. First, the format. It's oversized—not quite magazine size, but bigger than a Golden Age comic. It’s also 64 pages of story—a mix of comic book format and illustrated text—at only $5.99 cover price. It’s a long, compelling read, especially for the price.
The story itself is presented in a mix of flashbacks and current happenings, and you slowly learn how the world came to be in the place it is. You don't learn everything, but then, the characters don’t know everything either. I have to say, I've never been a huge fan of Snyder’s writing, but this is easily the best I’ve read from him. The characters, even the ones we meet only briefly, feel nuanced and complex, the dialogue feels very natural (except for one page where a character gets a little expositiony), and the narration is quite lovely at times.
Lemire’s artwork is fantastic as always. It’s fully painted, as you might expect from him, but he’s using a much brighter palette than usual, and he’s making a lot of use of negative space. That, plus the page size and design, adds up to an open, almost dreamy quality, and makes it seem the story is about hope as much as it is about death. It’s an interesting contrast and makes me wonder where this story is going.
Can’t wait for the next issue. It’s a definite buy for me, and I highly recommend it.
Holy crap! Ether #1 was so good! Matt Kindt does it again, but with a more whimsical approach than his usual work that is a lot of fun. You get a lot of character development without the need for exposition or slowing the story down. It's a pretty up-tempo story, but you'll slow down to ogle over David Rubín’s incredible artwork. I first saw his work in the Battling Boy spin-off, Aurora West books, and loved what I saw, but that was in black-&-white with gray tones. Here he’s doing full color (he pencils, inks, colors, & letters!), and it is glorious.
This may well be my pick for Best New Series, and Rubín will likely be my pick for Breakout Creator. It’s an A+ for me.
I liked it as well. It reminded me of the Adam Strange story Paul Pope did in Wednesday's Comics.
I've been catching up on my Marvel reading. I finished Bendis and Maleev's short, unusual and, from what I have seen of the numbers, under-read International Iron Man.
It is a very unusual, character-driven and unflashy (for Iron Man) title. And, I thought, very, very good. A mix of spy thriller and personal Tony family story, I thought this reminded me of Bendis and Maleev's also short-lived (and also very good) Spider-Woman series-- especially #6, which is a fantastic, 80s-era SHIELD agent undercover as a rock star story that feels like it should be a backdoor pilot for a Dazzler reboot).
I don't know how many Iron Man fans passed on this one as the second, less "important" Iron Man title. But I think in the recent period where we had this, and the Tony Stark Invincible Iron Man, I think this was by far the better and more memorable of the two. Worth finding sometime in trade or on Marvel Unlimited, if you missed it.
The penultimate page in The Clone Conspiracy #3 was a doozy. It answers a lot of questions but raises a few more.
The Ramon Perez art on the new Nova #1 is outstanding. The story is pretty good too, and it looks like it's picking up the dangling thread of what happened to Richard Rider after the Thanos Imperative ended.
Is it just my cynicism or does Marvel's recent list of formulas include:
+ Take a beloved character you've killed + Bring them back to life + Turn them into a villain for a while + Rinse / Repeat
===========
+ Take a popular line-wide event from several years ago + Put the number "2" after the title + Tack on one additional issue beyond the original solicited length + Kill some characters + Repeat every 6 months
Comments
Talajic, Marzan and Mrva's art is great, and Bemis' story feels like it has personal elements that a character originated by Gerber should have (like the recent Howard the Duck this seems to be the key to using old Gerber characters, don't try to recreate Gerber's voice, instead use them as a channel for your own voice like he did).
Also, MIKE DEL MUNDO on Avengers #1!!! Hope this finally gets him the attention he deserves.
Hipsters! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I still have an issue with the art. Too muddy.
Doom Patrol #3. I really like where the book is going!
Captain America - Steve Rogers this week presents a chronological problem I'd not considered before. Exactly how old is
Also the whole SHIELD operation is depressingly realistic politically, and further fuel for the launch of USAvengers shortly.
Since I'm a Marvel Unlimited app reader, I'm about 6 months behind when it comes to the House of Ideas... so this week, I loved DARTH VADER #20 (it's been such a great title), and I even had fun with POE DAMERON #2. I'm usually not a fan of non-movie Star Wars stories, but hey, clearly things change. And of course I totally dug VISION #7 (the Scarlet Witch flashback issue). This is the only Marvel superhero title which is can't-miss for me.
I'm a DC Boy but I am sorry to say that I don't feel connected with any of their current titles. In listening to my trusted friends and podcasts, it seems like there's a lot of "this was good," but no "omg, this is a *must* read!" People were jumping up and down over a recent issue of SUPERMAN where the Kents (sorry - that's not their name anymore - I forget what they call themselves now) went to a county fair. So I went and got the issue, and read it - only to find it "meh." Comic reviews in general have always been way too hyperbolic to me, and this was my latest experience with that.
Let’s see what you’ve got, Reggie & Me.
Overall, it’s worth reading if you're an Avengers fan. Otherwise, you won’t be missing much if you skip it.
This may well be my pick for Best New Series, and Rubín will likely be my pick for Breakout Creator. It’s an A+ for me.
Usually when people rave about the level of detail in a book, the art has all the fluidity of a granite counter top. CPG is a glorious exception.
Also read CAVE CARSON HAS A CYBERNETIC EYE #1, which... wasn't my cup of tea. I love the actual title lol, and I love the idea of using Cave Carson and other C-level DC characters, and I mostly like Oeming's art. But the story itself? It starts out confusing, then goes depressing, and I didn't really enjoy any of it. But good on you, to the people who liked it. While I won't be continuing, I still hope it lasts.
Some of the Aliens titles that have been part of interconnected 20th Century Fox brand crossovers, like Fire & Stone, and the more recent one, whatever it was called, weren't bad, but I also didn't find them very memorable. And certainly none of the characters within them stuck with me. There was usually so much to do with crowding the story with aliens, predators, and engineers, that the people seemed like placeholders.
But in Defiance, which as I understand it, is ongoing, we have gotten characters that are distinct and memorable, and a storyline that is clear, focused, and cinematic. And Tristan Jones is excellent. I hope it lasts awhile.
And the other, from Wood and Chater, is Briggs Land . I love it. I am probably forgetting something, but I feel like I haven't read anything from Wood that is set in modern times in a long time. (DMZ comes to mind, but of course that was near-future.)
It's a great, complicated, murky longform crime comic, and a family story, and a story about a closed society, maybe similar in comics to Aaron and Guera's Scalped, or an HBO or FX series, like The Sopranos or Sons of Anarchy. I think the first trade comes out in two months or so, if that sounds intriguing and you missed it.
I feel like Wood is consistently hitting for me the last few years. I loved his Star Wars series at Dark Horse. Black Road has been great. And these. The Massive didn't keep me the whole time, but it is one I want to get back to and finish sometime.
Moving on--
I just read (Young Animal's) DOOM PATROL last night. Beautiful artwork. But the story... it was actually interesting until this one scene where a group of weird aliens begins their meeting in a hotel... at which point, the confusion and sheer boredom set in, and I just paged through the rest of the issue to look at the art. This now makes two Young Animal titles which I have tried and disliked. I wish this imprint would dial down the in-your-face "we're so weird, aren't we cool??!!" attitude, and simply concentrate on telling fun stories which are easier to follow. This isn't about not liking stories which challenge me; it's about not liking stories which bore and confuse me. But to those who dug it - more power to you.
The story itself is presented in a mix of flashbacks and current happenings, and you slowly learn how the world came to be in the place it is. You don't learn everything, but then, the characters don’t know everything either. I have to say, I've never been a huge fan of Snyder’s writing, but this is easily the best I’ve read from him. The characters, even the ones we meet only briefly, feel nuanced and complex, the dialogue feels very natural (except for one page where a character gets a little expositiony), and the narration is quite lovely at times.
Lemire’s artwork is fantastic as always. It’s fully painted, as you might expect from him, but he’s using a much brighter palette than usual, and he’s making a lot of use of negative space. That, plus the page size and design, adds up to an open, almost dreamy quality, and makes it seem the story is about hope as much as it is about death. It’s an interesting contrast and makes me wonder where this story is going.
Can’t wait for the next issue. It’s a definite buy for me, and I highly recommend it.
It is a very unusual, character-driven and unflashy (for Iron Man) title. And, I thought, very, very good. A mix of spy thriller and personal Tony family story, I thought this reminded me of Bendis and Maleev's also short-lived (and also very good) Spider-Woman series-- especially #6, which is a fantastic, 80s-era SHIELD agent undercover as a rock star story that feels like it should be a backdoor pilot for a Dazzler reboot).
I don't know how many Iron Man fans passed on this one as the second, less "important" Iron Man title. But I think in the recent period where we had this, and the Tony Stark Invincible Iron Man, I think this was by far the better and more memorable of the two. Worth finding sometime in trade or on Marvel Unlimited, if you missed it.
The Ramon Perez art on the new Nova #1 is outstanding. The story is pretty good too, and it looks like it's picking up the dangling thread of what happened to Richard Rider after the Thanos Imperative ended.
+ Take a beloved character you've killed
+ Bring them back to life
+ Turn them into a villain for a while
+ Rinse / Repeat
===========
+ Take a popular line-wide event from several years ago
+ Put the number "2" after the title
+ Tack on one additional issue beyond the original solicited length
+ Kill some characters
+ Repeat every 6 months