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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 22, 2024 14:19:14 GMT -5
Man, that DC Apes special was amazing! Though as fun as more Monkey Prince was, and as much as I loved seeing Joe Simeon return in the JLA(Jungle League of America) feature my favorite was definitely Phil Hester doing Detective Chimp. I always love seeing anything from Hester, but his art style really is just perfect for a detective story so it was doubly awesome here
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 21, 2024 16:35:18 GMT -5
Vengeance of Moon Knight #3Written by Jed MacKay Art by Alesandro Cappuccio Summary: The new Moon Knight is stirring up trouble with the local thugs and it's up to Soldier, Reese, Tigra and Hunter's Moon to stop it. Plot: The fall out to Marc Spector's death continues to be a slooow burn but the character developments that MacKay is working in are as compelling as ever. And although the pacing and reveal of the new Moon Knight's identity have been slow I have been really enjoying how each issue has focused on one of Moon Knight's supporting characters, showing us how they are dealing with Marc's death and what they plan to do in his absence. These heavily characterized snap shots don't move the plot forward much but the characterization is absolutely fantastic and I'm really enjoying getting to know these characters as people. I loved seeing Reese's rage, Tigra's passion and here we saw Soldier's sense of honor...and it's been wonderful and so real. I really can't wait to see the issue focusing on Hunter's Moon, he's been a fantastic addition to Moon Knight's mythology but there is so much we don't know about him so I'm really looking forward to learning about him. I don't know how long it will take for MacKay to get to the revelation of the new Moon Knight but I'm in it for the long haul. Art: I really love how when he does action Cappuccio's art style almost takes on an impressionistic style; figures get a fuzzy kind of glow to them and become slightly indistinct but the emotion of the action(the brutality of the hits or fear a character is feeling) shines through and it's incredibly clear at conveying the feeling of the scene. Grade:10/10
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 20, 2024 16:10:01 GMT -5
World's Finest continues to be a total joy to read, I loved the main feature of Lex and the Joker breaking into the Rock of Eternity and the continuation of the Mite-Fall story from the annual was amazingly fun.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 19, 2024 12:35:27 GMT -5
Nightwing #112Written by Tom Taylor Art by Sami Basri Summary: Batman and Night wing travel to Vietnam to stop Iko from being exploited by his uncle. Plot: More and more the ancillary Batman family titles are showing up Batman and Detective Comics, I read this team up between Dick and Bruce and I just can't stop thinking, "Why doesn't Batman smile like this in the main books?". The plot was definitely light, a boy who stands to inherit a fortune has his father killed by his uncle is saved by Batman and Nightwing...but the message of family being there to support each other in the face of a family exploiting another member for money was crystal clear and it well done. Not everything needs to be a 12 part epic, (in fact very few stories warrant that many issues) sometimes a simple, fast paced, two part story is just what is needed and Taylor really seems to grasp that. I continue to love this book and I look forward to more. Art: Basri definitely isn't up to par with Bruno Redondo but he has a similar fun style and energy that just works well with Nightwing's character. Grade:9/10
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 17, 2024 6:34:59 GMT -5
Made the trip out to the LCS today and picked up 2 weeks worth of books. Not sure which were this week or last, but this is what I read tonight... Bat-Man: The First Knight #1Excellent start. Love the Perkins art and the retro-period feel of the book. (5/5) Birds of Prey (2023) #7Really digging this book and have become enamored of Kelly Thompson's work that I have read (but haven't rea da lot). I dig the concepts of the Red and the Green, and how they are using them here, and look forward to more (5/5) The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries (2024) #3Always a fun book and this was a particularly fun romp with Catwoman and Penguin. And at $2.99, it's one of the best values on the shelves. (4/5) Shazam! (2023) #9Looks like this was Waid's swan song on the book as a new writer is listed for next issues. I like what he's set up, but I am not a big enough fan of the character to stick around if the new run starts poorly, and I was kind of meh on this issue. Felt like filler. Fun filler, but filler. And Shadow Thief is a particular favorite of mine and he felt like a throwaway waste here to who had no purpose except to fuel an undeveloped plot line. Least favorite issue of the run so far. (2.5/5) Helen of Wyndhorn #1Love Bilquis Evely's art, and the pulp era stories this one is thematically based on are right in my wheelhouse, but King has a habit of starting strong and finishing weak for me, so we'll see where this goes. I did like the Supergirl run he and Evely did together and I dug the first issue, so let's see where it goes. (4/5) -M I could never get over the fact that King never credited Charles Portis for the plot of his Supergirl story to really get into it, and it was the same was the same with his Human Target as he just completely took the plot of Rudolph Mate's D.O.A and made it a superhero story. If he had just said adapted from the work of... at the start I could get over it but without that it just felt slimy. That said, I have a real hard time saying no to Bilquis Evely so I did pick up Helen of Wyndorn and I did really enjoy it. With the initial setting in the American west and the mentions of obscurity in the literary world it definitely seemed like a play on Robert E. Howard though I suppose it could be really any pulp writer of the time really. Either way it was a fun start and I hope King can keep it together to land the ending. As an aside, are you keeping up with Thundercats? Without spoiling anything, I think I may only go for one more issue. While I like that it's not trying for a straight up adaptation or continuation of the original series, I don't enjoy that it's pacing and characterization hews so close to the original cartoon. As a kids cartoon from the 80's it was okay that there wasn't much in the way of characterization and that plots were light and quick with out any real development or consequences...but I want more out of a story these days and the book doesn't seem to be going for that. On top of that, outside of giving Tygra muttonchops the character designs are identical to the original series which gives me pause when the plot does diverge from the cartoon. It looks like the original Thundercats so I half expect it to feel the same which gives it a weird feel sometimes. It's like it's trying to have it's cake and eat it too, appealing to the fans of the original series in looks and plot structure while trying for a wider audience with a new origin and the result is neither push really works in my eyes.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 17, 2024 6:10:51 GMT -5
Action Comics #1063. The conclusion of Aaron's Bizarro arc. This was definitely a really unique twist on Bizarro that made the character more interesting. Plus we had Timm's beautiful art. Cool twist with Superman needing the Joker's help to defeat Bizarro. I think I'm going to like a new creative team with every arc. Yeah, the Bizzaro story was really well done and I loved that the Bizzaro Joker was sane. I was sad to lose the Superman-Family anthology set up Action had before but this was really good too so I'm hoping that continues.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 17, 2024 6:09:26 GMT -5
It's nice that this one has an English-language edition. Two years ago there was another Bonelli/DC crossover featuring the Justice League and Nathan Never (probably my favorite Bonelli character/series), called Double Universe.
Unfortunately, it hasn't been translated into English as far as I know.
I never heard of that but it looks fun! I wish it got a translation, maybe if Dylan Dog does well it will.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 17, 2024 6:07:37 GMT -5
I was able to get Brave and the Bold... very pleased with the Maps story! DC just doesn't know what they are missing not giving her more regular time. I actually enjoyed most of the issue, which was nice Future Maps in Birds of Prey got weird... I'm hoping for some additional explanation in the next couple issues. Yeah, I'd love more of Karl Kerschl's stories, especially if they feature Maps! My dream team right now for Batman and Detective would be Karl Kerschl on Batman and Dan Watters on Detective, they both nail the characterizations of the various Bat-Family members and know how to tell stories with actual plot structure. That last bit seems like a low bar to clear but Ram V and Zdarsky have proven otherwise of late.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 16, 2024 15:14:37 GMT -5
Ultimate X-Men had some beautiful art by Peach Momoko...but it didn't feel like an X-Men story at all. Agreed... it was much more similar to Demon Days than any X-Men story. I wasn't expecting it to be, though. I'm also reading Ultimate Black Panther, which is meh so far. Maybe just too slow plot wise. X-Men was pretty slow to... not alot going on so far. But it is awfully pretty... worth the buy for that for sure. See, I thought Ultimate Black Panther was pretty cool, I liked the subtle changes to wakanada's world and I loved the new take on Killmonger.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 15, 2024 15:54:58 GMT -5
First Knight was so very good. I’d love them to use the same formula applied to other characters. Yeah, a similarly themed Superman book for instance would be fantastic.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 15, 2024 5:09:22 GMT -5
Has anyone read any of the Solomon Kane novellas? I've long enjoyed the comics, and during this latest reading of mine I came across two separate adaptations of Deaths Black Riders and I'm wondering which is closer to the original. I want to say the earlier Marvel version by Roy Thomas likely strayed more as it had Kane and Conan team up, but you never know.
I have, but so long ago that I don't remember them well in detail, just the overall setting and atmosphere, and of course Kane's character, which I think the Marvel adaptations tried to stick to. Where or when did the Marvel version of this story appear? If it was in the 1970s then I'd imagine I must have read it at the time but I can't place it off the top of my head.
It was actually much later, it was in 1994 and it had Conan and Kane actually meeting through magical shenanigans. I thought it was fun, and I can't find any story summaries of Death's Dark Riders on line so I can't confirm it but I'm thinking that having Conan meet Kane was Roy Thomas' invention, especially as it didn't happen in the latter Dark Horse adaptation.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 14, 2024 4:22:55 GMT -5
Made the trip out to the LCS today and picked up 2 weeks worth of books. Not sure which were this week or last, but this is what I read tonight... Bat-Man: The First Knight #1Excellent start. Love the Perkins art and the retro-period feel of the book. (5/5) Birds of Prey (2023) #7Really digging this book and have become enamored of Kelly Thompson's work that I have read (but haven't rea da lot). I dig the concepts of the Red and the Green, and how they are using them here, and look forward to more (5/5) The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries (2024) #3Always a fun book and this was a particularly fun romp with Catwoman and Penguin. And at $2.99, it's one of the best values on the shelves. (4/5) Shazam! (2023) #9Looks like this was Waid's swan song on the book as a new writer is listed for next issues. I like what he's set up, but I am not a big enough fan of the character to stick around if the new run starts poorly, and I was kind of meh on this issue. Felt like filler. Fun filler, but filler. And Shadow Thief is a particular favorite of mine and he felt like a throwaway waste here to who had no purpose except to fuel an undeveloped plot line. Least favorite issue of the run so far. (2.5/5) Helen of Wyndhorn #1Love Bilquis Evely's art, and the pulp era stories this one is thematically based on are right in my wheelhouse, but King has a habit of starting strong and finishing weak for me, so we'll see where this goes. I did like the Supergirl run he and Evely did together and I dug the first issue, so let's see where it goes. (4/5) -M The Bat-Man and Birds of Prey were definitely the highlights for me, both have amazing art and their stories are really intriguing.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 13, 2024 15:53:00 GMT -5
Batman and Robin #7Written by Joshua Williamson Art by Simone Di Meo Summary: Damian's crush from Lazarus Island, Flatline, has turned up in Gotham and trouble is right on her heels. Plot: While the Man-Bat story continues to move rather slowly it is still a compelling change for Man-Bat that really honors his origin (how he almost worshiped Batman) to making a serious heel turn as he feels Batman is not living up to his potential. On top of that Williamson's efforts into growing Damian as a character as well as the father and son relationship between Damian and Bruce really reached a crescendo here as Bruce gave the father/son talk about Flatline that only Batman could give, "Slow down. I'm not going to lecture you on jumping into spending a night with a known criminal but..." I mean, c'mon that's perfect advice coming from Bruce. And as cute as Damian and Flatline are I think what I'm most interested in the teased team up between Batman and Shush for the next issue. I didn't think I'd like Shush when she was introduced, I mean Sh-Hush is pretty lame at face value, but her characterization has been fun and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes. Art: The only real negative I have with this issue is that Di Meo is sadly back on art. While I've gotten used to his manga influenced angular style I still don't enjoy the wasted space he employs in his panels and his action is really unclear and hard to follow which is a major turn off in a superhero book. Grade:7/10
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 13, 2024 15:23:46 GMT -5
Me too... Batman/Dylan Dog #1Written by Roberto Recchioni Art by Gigi Cavenago Summary: When long time Dylan Dog nemesis Professor Xabaras invites the clown prince of crime to London to collaborate mayhem ensues. Plot: I've loved Dylan Dog ever since Dark Horse first translated Tiziano Sclavi's original story line from 1986...but sadly Dark Horse only ever did those scant few seven issues, so I was pumped to get more here with the crossover with Batman. Right off the bat the comic delivers on introducing the two characters in Dylan Dog and Batman allowing readers who may not be familiar (with either character) in an organic way before jumping right into the action and after the two meet they feel so perfect together as Dylan's human plays well off Batman's stoicism. The main plot itself doesn't break any new ground as it pairs the two heroes villains in a paper thin way in order to have the two international heroes paths cross but despite that contrivance it has a look and flair that is a throwback to those multitude of Batman team-ups of the 90's that I loved growing up so it definitely hots that nostalgic note. If you didn't love those slightly simplistic crossovers you may not love this but for me it was well worth the price of admission. Art:The comic looks fantastic and perfectly matches the tone of the writing with an energetic, pulpy feel to it. There's a definite European feel to the art but in the action scenes it deftly switches to a more distinctly American style and the two blend together really well giving you a stylish read that is sure to be memorable. Grade:8/10
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Post by thwhtguardian on Mar 12, 2024 8:05:01 GMT -5
OFF THE RACKS!Real Readers, Honest Reviews What Did You Pick Up This Week?
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