bran
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Post by bran on Nov 2, 2018 15:21:45 GMT -5
The Boys were pretty great (can't believe 10 years passed already). It's 'men on a mission' type of thing, unlike Saga that is open-ended/chronicles.
Loved the Bouncer, old Jodo is still the best. Finally good western series after along while. (Speaking of witch.. El Topo 2.0 was published already, English translation announced for December.)
Scarlet is great but not too many issues. (Bendis needs to 'come out' and do more of his own stuff.)
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bran
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Post by bran on Nov 2, 2018 3:44:22 GMT -5
While Saga was still picking up the steam, Vaughan landed this somewhat of a sleeper series onto us, and it was I think generally accepted well by both critics and readers alike, yet not with the same kind of raving reviews Saga, Y, Private Eye and Ex Machina (deservingly) got. The reason being, I think is, just that here we have very little exposition of this elaborate time-traveling process and universe in the background, plus there are plenty of events that take place off-screen. That may be off-putting for some people. I reached the issue 22 now, and I can say it's warranted - it delivers. Even though Vaughan is masterful in editing/scenes switching and time-jumping, I have to say I was skeptical if he's gonna pull this one of.
So we have a bunch of teenage-girls, right at that age (early teens) where children start adopting their parent's life philosophies (or rebel against them, or both) and loose their original tell-it-like it is / not-prejudged perspective (view of the World, of people around them and just about everything else). The lot is sucked into the whirlpool of monumental space-time continuum related events, and it's a love-letter to Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future series. (I guess you could call it Back to the Future on steroids.) There are plenty of historical and cultural references, meta content, adventure and situations you just can not have without a proper time traveling contraption. Just like in Back to the Future, time-traveling rules are simple/linear, and characters are fleshed out well.
Where the other writers are struggling tremendously (and then some) Vaughan (and Chiang) they are sh**ing those memorable characters and situations effortlessly. Anyone interested just read first 7 pages of the 1st issue (where Erin wakes up her little sister Missy). You know them, they act and talk like people you meet on the street, in school, workplace etc. [For anyone interested there is a wonderful Martin Scorsese documentary 'A Letter to Elia', he talks about that at length.]
The main event in the backdrop of course is 'the battle of the ages' - a colossal conflict in between 'old timers' and 'teenagers from the future'. Just in case you are wondering who is who: Old timers are conservatives (often accused of wanting to preserve status quo no matter what), and 'future teenagers' are liberals (often accused of revisionist history). Old timer's time-intervention operatives are dressed as nights in shining armor and their titles resemble clergy, while teenager's agents resemble terrorists. While both groups operate, in that elaborate battle, with great conviction, all our fellowship want is to 'save Tiffany' and get back to 1988. Well it ain't that simple, the World won't ever be as simple and comfortable, with or without time-traveling adventure.
That's life, and until they (technically) get back to '88 we are called to enjoy the ride.
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bran
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Post by bran on Oct 4, 2018 12:44:16 GMT -5
Can't recommend this enough, it's a riot.
[The pacing is reminiscent of that in Joe Kelly's Deadpool, that's not something you see everyday.]
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bran
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Post by bran on Oct 4, 2018 12:29:28 GMT -5
This could be interesting, de Campi (Bankshot, No Mercy) it taking a shot at Taarna!
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bran
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Post by bran on Sept 28, 2018 2:34:52 GMT -5
DC Black Label, where creators are free to express themselves however they want! (unless someone complains, then we'll censor everything) What I find funny is that a penis is too abhorrent to depict, but hardcore ultraviolence and gore (presumably) will get full rein. There is something seriously wrong with that mindset.
Not only literal/physical sexuality, but verbal and psychological sexuality as well (even more so, that's a big one). That's why often you have 2 leads, both attractive physically (pretty faces, six packs etc), but people say there is no chemistry on the screen/page. No attraction, no magnetism, it comes out sterile.
(Lack of) mental violence is often overcompensated with physical violence as well.
So when you substitute all of the above with pure physical violence that's what you got. Ugly enough, all the ultra-violence is often not-consequential, too unpleasant.
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bran
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Post by bran on Sept 25, 2018 13:41:13 GMT -5
Saga 54 Well.. the feather soaked in blood does not amount for something good. The event was actually foreshadowed in previous issue. That's when Marko tells one of the reporters, that he is planning to start as a writer. We can see he's got the chops right away - in reply to some moralistic reporter's objection he states: "you can be writer or a peacemaker, you can not be both..". (Truth, ain't it..) Now here is a thing - Had he became a writer, wouldn't we be reading his words (instead of Hazel's)? Of course early loss of her father, whom she adored, could lead her to become a writer, hence we read her words every so often.
Overall, and despite their big break, I think Saga is stronger than ever, you can sense tons of events brewing in the background. In terms of in-Universe events their story didn't break public just yet - I expect that to happen right after "the break" (1st issue) and we'll have a chance to learn more about 2 major planets.
(I wander if Hazel's perspective, and overall tone, is gonna change as she approaches adulthood, and second-hand/told-to-a-child memory becomes first-hand.)
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 20, 2018 0:35:10 GMT -5
This is maybe not considered as classic (yet), but it's certainly a Peter Bagge classic. Other Lives It has something similar with Game of Thrones (novel). In Game of Thrones: Once upon a time there was a young and strong and handsome prince, and evil mad king. Young prince was fighting for the king, but one day he rebelled against king's oppression and tyranny. Price defeated the king, in that epic battle, married young, beautiful and rich princess from the Realm, and they lived happily ever after. Right? Wrong - Fast forward 15 years, and that's where our story starts: Young prince is now obese king who can hardly wear his over-sized armor (for semi-staged hunting escapades), beautiful princess is fornicating with her own brother (in fact all of her children were made with him), Realm is nearly bankrupted etc etc. Everything is turned around, it's obliteration of happy-happy joy-joy ending. In Other Lives the fairytale is college life and idealistic students, and our story starts some odd 15 years post graduation, in real life. Add early Internet and massive multi-player games into the mix, and there is plenty already. His art resembles Crumb, early Disney and even Fleischer brothers.
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 6, 2018 6:29:57 GMT -5
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea This is a travel-log from North Korea. I used it as a backup reading-material for a big fat manga series (but it can be consumed in any other way). Guy Delisle really perfected this minimalistic/clean-line/French school art, it's something like a "first person/present day Tintin for grownups". Good pacing, witty observations, characters flashed out nicely and most importantly - you know exactly where you left of when you return to it. The setting is really done well, that atmosphere of a socialist society is spot on. Despite all the equality, righteousness and progressive ideas it's supposedly based upon, the real life on a day to day basis is pretty much the exact opposite - paranoia (domestic traitors are all around and they just can not wait to collude with foreign spies; notice "the translator" and "the guide" they are from their secret police LOL), subordination, lack of private initiative, uniformity, group-mentality and so on so forth. Recommendation? There are 2 other travel-logs by the same author, which are ordered right away, so yes.
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 5, 2018 11:47:49 GMT -5
Nice! Very underrated artist/writer, hope he gets more recognition (finally).
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 4, 2018 16:25:56 GMT -5
Almost done with Homunculus by Hideo Yamamoto, and it's brilliant. Psychological drama/triller like you haven's seen, highly recommended. The same guy is the author of Ichi the Killer manga (made famous by Takashi Miike's movie adaptation). Found this on youtube, it's pretty accurate and without spoilers:
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bran
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Post by bran on May 20, 2018 15:07:46 GMT -5
Gideon Falls #3Written by Jeff Lemire Art by Andrea Sorrentino Colored by Dave Stewart Summary: In the city Norton tries to form a partnership with his psychologist after he learns she sees the Barn, while in Gideon itself Father Fred meets a doctor of his own. Plot: Jeff Lemire's dark, supernatural crime story Gideon Falls continues to suck me further into the nightmare. We're only three issues into this newest thriller but I really feel like this is going to be a new benchmark for pschological horror; reading this book is like seeing the Exorcist or the first time, it starts off slow and there are few scares but as we meet the characters and explore their world an ominous feeling begins to grow in the pit of your stomach and that's exactly what we see Lemire doing here. We don't know what the Black barn is, or how the two dueling narratives fit together but as we learn more of the characters and see more teases of the world around them a pervasive feeling of stress and paranoia creeps into you. It's a delicious feeling from a comic and really highlights the meticulous attention to detail that Lemire packs into each character interaction. Art: As strong as the story is the art is even better, Sorrentino's use of gestures and posture as well as his alternating camera focus from panel to panel really tell the story in a completely visual way that doesn't need words to express both characterization and tone. In this scene where Father Fred is trying to prepare for his first homily you can just feel the stress, and the progression of panel size from small to large back to small creates a fantastic cinematic feel that is incredibly engrossing. On top of that the muted earth tones that Stewart uses give it a very stifled feel, like the pressure you feel right before a thunder storm. I'm constantly amazed by just how varied Stewart's style is as a colorist. Usually, if you notice the colorist at all, it's for a style that looks the same in all their work. but from Hellboy, to Batman to here Stewart crafts a unique pallet for each work that always stands out. Grade:10/10
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bran
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Post by bran on May 10, 2018 14:30:52 GMT -5
mikelmidnight, it's allright if it's a girly book, look: 1. Superpowers - Women have superpowers, we guys know that, so check. 2. Spandex - That you'll have in spades, women love spandex (Say if you live in populated area, go outside count guys who wear tights vs women, see who wins). 3. Violence - Girly comics may not have that much physical violence, but they more than compensate for it in mental violence, so check. Having said all that I don't think it's actually drama/girly comic, it's not really Brubacker's forte, and it reads in description it's a crime story, perhaps wrapped up with drama. For the lack of a better word I think we can call it a melodrama (which is how all original "noir" films were called back in a day).
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bran
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Post by bran on Apr 30, 2018 10:09:38 GMT -5
For me these 3 titles marked the 90s: Preacher Sin City Sandman
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bran
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Post by bran on Apr 27, 2018 14:02:26 GMT -5
Here's a list of the 2018 Eisner NomineesOf those, I've only read the first volume of Lemire's Royal City, which I really liked. Vol. 2 is up on hoopla now and it will be one of my 10 borrows next month (I've used up all of this month's already). I want to check out the Black Bolt series (our library just got the trade) ad both Grass Kings and Redlands are by creators whose work I enjoyed so bear checking out. Skroce's more recent stuff has interested me far more than his stuff for Marvel back int he day, so I might check it out if I get the chance. Grass Kings, by Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins (BOOM! Studios)
This one (1st issue) I bought with no expectations, just figured if they bothered to water-color all pages, can't be bad. It's not bad - it's excellent. It has drama, mystery (missing person), character development is going well. It's slightly reminiscent of 1st season of Twin Peaks, in a sense that area/setting is extremely well done, like additional character. Royal City, by Jeff Lemire (Image)Lemire was firing on all cylinders last year...
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bran
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Post by bran on Apr 25, 2018 3:33:11 GMT -5
Absolutely nothing. But apparently he resonates with millennials. If so, that's fantastic. If he is a rabbit-hole for them... let him do whatever he is doing.
I went through his Batman run, it ain't Miraclemen but it's solid, above average Batman to say at least. It's huge run too, does not appear fragmented, with some nice art. I'd say this: If I were DC/Marvel I would want him on major titles. If I were him I would run away from Superman/Batman as far as possible. All he has to do now is deliver creator/owned mini series for Image, and sooner or later he'll hit a bulls-eye (and join Vaughns, Kirkmans and Millars of the World...).
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