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Post by Icctrombone on Aug 17, 2019 10:26:01 GMT -5
Superman: Year One #1 The writing is ... odd, but at least it's not full of whores, ethnic/feminist/religious caricatures, and the other offensive junk Miller's become infamous for in recent decades, which is nice. Hopefully the following issues will follow suit and keep out of the cesspool. I really don't know why JRjr has drawn half the characters as bobbleheads, though. I know his art's always been an acquired taste, but I like most of his '90s output; the stuff in this issue looks really sloppy by comparison. I just finished reading this issue. I really enjoyed it but I was puzzled by the narration which seemed to be the POV of young Clark and an outsider depending on which panel you read. I understand the Black Label books aren't in the canon , but they went far with his achievements as a teen and revealing his abilities to Lana was strange. Also, I thought they were going somewhere else with the gang of bullies in the school, like maybe a school active shooter scenario. I gave it a 8/10. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 20, 2019 4:31:38 GMT -5
Published less than 10 years ago, so it still counts as 'modern'... Watson and Holmes (tpb, 2013) collecting Watson and Holmes #1-5 (also 2013)  Another incarnation of Sherlock and Watson set in the modern day, in this case Harlem, but in many ways similar in style to the BBC series starring Agent Ross and Dr. Strange (you know, what's his name, Cucumberpatch...). Here, Holmes, although nominally a 'PI' based in Harlem, doesn't really seem to have clients but does take great, almost crusading, interest in specific cases. At the start, he meets Watson, interning at a hospital, and drags him into a kidnapping/narcotics case involving a few patients he'd treated. Also, in the epilogue (issue #5) they resolve a case of a number of newborn babies abandoned in garbage cans and dumpsters throughout the city - which is briefly set up in the first two pages of the first issue. The mysteries here are not very absorbing, but writer Karl Bollers really does a good job of introducing the characters, setting up scenes and dialogue and making it more or less believable that Watson would get caught up in Holmes' investigations. It would have been interesting to see how he developed the backstory of this Harlem Holmes, but it looks like the series only had one more issue after the five collected in this book. Too bad. Also, the art by Rick Leonardi (#1-4) and Larry Stroman (#5) is quite nice. |
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Post by BigPapaJoe on Aug 22, 2019 7:08:45 GMT -5
Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 1 Written by Scott Lobdell Penciled/Inked by Dexter Soy  Blaze through this recently. Like I said previously, I've really come on to Dexter Soy's work, and I thought the trinity of Red Hood, Artemis, and Bizarro was a cool concept. Essentially the reverse of the main Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman trinity. A lot of this first volume is essentially Red Hood going undercover to try and gain insight into Black Mask's criminal empire. Through a couple of strange circumstances, we get the three heroes of the title coming together by the end of the book. It's mostly a Red Hood story though, which is fine. I liked Scott Lobdell's method of getting inside Jason's head showcasing his rationale, and how he views the world due to his previous experiences that shaped him into what he is in present time. Batman is around a little bit, and the conversations between the former partners is interesting. When all the smoke is cleared, it definitely seems like this book is going in the direction of presenting anti-heroes on the fringe. I don't hate anyone thus far, so that's a plus. I'm excited for Vol. 2. |
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Post by Rob Allen on Aug 30, 2019 19:23:52 GMT -5
Something out of the ordinary for me. This was sitting in the waiting room in a building where my wife had an appointment. I read most of the book while waiting for her, and I plan to find it at the library to finish the story. This book is a lot of fun:  This was published in 2015 and became a New York Times bestseller and a Newbery Honor winner. The author has an "e-book" in pdf format about the making of Roller Girl: static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/1264874/25962458/1424189980167/MakingOfRollerGirl_sm.pdf |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Sept 8, 2019 5:43:16 GMT -5
The Twelve (deluxe edition tpb, 2014) by J.M. Straczynski (writer) and Chris Weston (artist); collecting: The Twelve 1-12 (2007-2012) and The Twelve: Spearhead (2010)  Wasn't sure whether to post this in the classic or modern section, since the first eight issues were released in 2007/2008, but then the final four only came out in 2012, while Spearhead, sort of a prequel, was published in 2010. I went with modern, since the story was concluded inside the 'modern' period used here, and I read these in a tpb published in 2014. I mostly enjoyed this. It features some really obscure Timely/Marvel characters, a few of whom only had one or two appearances in the early 1940s. The story starts at the end of World War II, as all of the costumed heroes march into Berlin with the Allied troops, but the twelve of them separate from the rest to inspect SS headquarters for any Nazis that may still be hiding out, and end up in the cellar, where they're gassed unconscious and put into cryogenic pods by a scientist who hopes to dissect them later and possibly create Nazi super-soldiers to restore the 3rd Reich's glory, blah, blah, blah. Only that scientist and his companions all get captured by Allied troops, and the twelve of them are forgotten down there, until they are found in the early 21st century when the building is being demolished for new construction. They're sent back to the US and revived; the government puts them all up in a big mansion so they can adjust to the shock (and maybe eventually become government agents or whatnot). Some of them stay, some of them go, and by the end of the first issue, we learn that one of their number, the Blue Blade is murdered. The rest of the series is kind of a flashback of the events that led up to that murder and why it happened. The story is pretty engaging (the murder mystery aspect is a bit reminiscent of Watchmen), but it actually wraps up at the end of the eleventh issue. The last issue is kind of superfluous, and it actually has several characters do stuff that basically contradicts their character development in the preceding issues. So, like I said, I mostly liked this, but it definitely started better than it ended.
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Post by berkley on Sept 9, 2019 2:49:15 GMT -5
It sounds so much like Watchmen that I wonder if it's a deliberate comment of some kind on the Moore+Gibbon work.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Sept 9, 2019 3:40:57 GMT -5
It sounds so much like Watchmen that I wonder if it's a deliberate comment of some kind on the Moore+Gibbon work. No, I don't think so. Yes, the murder mystery driving the plot is similar, as is the depiction of the heroes as very flawed and troubled individuals, but it focuses on different themes: mainly, the cultural shock they endure by being revived after 60 years, the clash between their 1940s values and those of the contemporary world, and the emotional toll on several of them as they deal with the fact that their loved ones, including children, are either dead or now much physically older than they are. By the way, I forgot to mention that initially, just after they were all revived, they were kept in a hospital which was set up to look like it was still the 1940s, with the hospital staff acting and dressed for the period as well - and then one of them (the Phantom Reporter) picks up on some little clues that they're being fooled. Basically, just like that last bit in Captain America: First Avenger.
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Post by berkley on Sept 13, 2019 23:35:39 GMT -5
Assassinistas #1
Bit of a disappointment, as I didn't find anything much that grabbed me apart from the Gilbert Hernandez artwork. I have the rest of the miniseries but really don't feel motivated to read it through, though I'll probably at least skim through them - again, if only for the Hernandez art.
Cinema Purgatorio #14
No change in my assessment of the five regular serials that make up this anthology: the Moore, Ennis, and Gillen features are all first rate, and the other two I hardly even look at now.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 24, 2019 21:14:50 GMT -5
Not sure which week these came out, so.... Conan #9 - Conan fights his way through nightmares out of a giant sandworm. OK, I'm done with Aaron's silly uber framing story... get on with it already! Sadly, looking at the covers, it seems to go at least 3 more... not sure I'll keep buying. Savage Sword #9 - I think I missed one here, but pretty decent story.. it was part 3 of 3 and I don't recall the middle, but it was pretty easy to catch up.. definitely the better book atm. Iron Man #16 - I love how they brought in Gail Simone to write the crossover tie ins then Slott comes back like it never happened... it's like the 90s! A bit like Conan, I'm ready for Slott go get on with it.. his AI storyline is fun, but it doesn't need to be so long. I do wonder if he's dragging it out so he can end in 2020 and give the armor to Arno... Once and Future #2 - Read the 1st one on Hoopla, and it was interesting enough to get me to buy the 2nd.. VERY slow, but intriguing. Not sure it's enough story for my $3.99, but I'll definitely at least read it somewhere. The big excitement is I found a library that would give me access to Hoopla! I don't love reading on the screen, but it's nice to have access to stuff... pulling trades from the library is tough (the mess up so often, and never have what you want it seems...) Besides continuing re-reading the Sandman trades I don't have.. Immortal Hulk Vol 1 - I liked the vibe, but the story was just.. boring. Glad I was able to check it out without paying money  Eternal Empire vol 1 - I had grabbed a couple random issues of this, but missed the first one, so it was nice to actually read the story. Decent fantasy about an Egypt-like kingdom (but based on Dragons).. not a masterpiece by any stretch (very boring, computer generated art), but decent story. |
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Post by tingramretro on Sept 25, 2019 3:28:14 GMT -5
Flash Forward #1, carrying on the ongoing saga of Wally West from where it was left in Heroes In Crisis. Interesting, but I have no idea where the story is going.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 9, 2019 21:18:12 GMT -5
Wally has a book after that? Wow, how can that even work?
Got a couple trades and some Hoopla time:
Star Wars: Age of Rebellion: Heroes - A series of 1 shots for the main characters... not bad, but nothing spectacular. We see Leia saving Lando and establishing herself as Boschh (which I think we're seen before in other continuities).. Han collecting his reward after a New Hope and losing it to Morals (which I KNOW we've seen before).. Lando early on in his tenure of Cloud City being moral (the worst of the lot, just on Ham-handedness), and Luke doing some Luke things in between movies (which was fine, but not terrbily interesting. Then there was an annual story about Yoda just before Luke arrived (meh), and a parody-ish story about Biggs and Porkins going on vacation... the art screamed parody, but the mood was pretty serious, almost depressing. I think it would have been awesome with art more fitting to the tone.
Villains - I generally liked these better.. The Tarkin one called on the James Luceno novel to show Tarkin's vicious side, which was a bit weird to see with the drawing looking like Peter Cushing, but it told a good story. The Vader one was a story that could have fit into either Vader series.. probably could have given the book to someone else since he's got a series. Jabba's was fantastic.. the best of the lot, showing a bit of what he does as the crime lord of Tatooine... fantastic story. Boba Fett featured Fett hunting a rogue bounty hunter that seemed like a cool character, and pointing out he's a bad man.
Finally in a story from the annual, we get an IG-88 story, which is almost as good as Jabba's... much better than other IG-88 stuff they've come up with.
To finish my sci-fi reading, I also read Mech Cadet Yu by Greg Pak.. a series I started by in singles just before I stopped buying them, but happily Hoopla had the ones I was missing. It's essentially Pak's version of a giant Robot manga. Great (if predictable) Character beats, fun robots, but it falls a little short of what a more traditional Manga story would do.. I think the good guys won a bit too easily in the end. Good story overall though.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Oct 14, 2019 4:35:36 GMT -5
Atomic Robo, FBCD 2012, 2014  As noted in the " What classic comic have you read lately" thread, I found some comics in my short box that have been sitting in there for years unread. These two round them off - both picked up from a dealer at the Zagreb comics show who lets you take one if you buy something else from him. I very thoroughly enjoyed the Atomic Robo stories, and it reminds me that someday, somehow, I'll have to get around to reading more Atomic Robo. Fun stuff. However, the Robo stories are only about a third of these FBCD giveaways, which also function as samplers for Red 5 Comics. The other material didn't interest me as much, with the exception of 'Bodie Troll' (in the 2014 book). Very cute and very well drawn - I'll probably keep an eye out for more of these.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 14, 2019 15:29:12 GMT -5
Atomic Robo, FBCD 2012, 2014 As noted in the " What classic comic have you read lately" thread, I found some comics in my short box that have been sitting in there for years unread. These two round them off - both picked up from a dealer at the Zagreb comics show who lets you take one if you buy something else from him. I very thoroughly enjoyed the Atomic Robo stories, and it reminds me that someday, somehow, I'll have to get around to reading more Atomic Robo. Fun stuff. However, the Robo stories are only about a third of these FBCD giveaways, which also function as samplers for Red 5 Comics. The other material didn't interest me as much, with the exception of 'Bodie Troll' (in the 2014 book). Very cute and very well drawn - I'll probably keep an eye out for more of these. Atomic Robo is just pure joy. If the world were fair and people had any taste Atomic Robo would have been a runaway hit. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Oct 16, 2019 11:23:04 GMT -5
Section Zero (2018 - for the most part...)  (That's not an image of the book I have, since I bought the pdf version) If you're not familiar with this, Section Zero started out as a series in 2000, but only three issues were released and then it went into limbo. Then a few years back, creators Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett launched an ultimately quite successful Kickstarter campaign to finally finish, so that over half of the material in this book is brand new. Anyway, the story follows the exploits of the members of the mysterious Section Zero, a kind-of/sort-of UN agency that all of the world's governments pretend it doesn't exist. They follow up on reports of various weird (Fortean) phenomena and deal with them appropriately. Some of the agents have superpowers, some don't, so it's like X-Files or Men in Black with some super-heroics thrown in for good measure. One thing I really liked, by the way, is that they didn't simply pick up the story where it left off in 2000, but took into account the intervening years. Up to this point, I'd only read very few things written by Kesel, and nothing with Grummett's art, and I've found both are to my liking. This is just lots of fun from cover to cover and the artwork is gorgeous. I'd really recommend picking this one up; the whole series was released this year in 6 issues by Image, although I'd recommend getting the collected Kickstarter hardcover edition (or its e-book version) - which is still available at their site, Panic Button Press.
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Post by brutalis on Oct 16, 2019 13:45:08 GMT -5
Section Zero (2018 - for the most part...) (That's not an image of the book I have, since I bought the pdf version) If you're not familiar with this, Section Zero started out as a series in 2000, but only three issues were released and then it went into limbo. Then a few years back, creators Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett launched an ultimately quite successful Kickstarter campaign to finally finish, so that over half of the material in this book is brand new. Anyway, the story follows the exploits of the members of the mysterious Section Zero, a kind-of/sort-of UN agency that all of the world's governments pretend it doesn't exist. They follow up on reports of various weird (Fortean) phenomena and deal with them appropriately. Some of the agents have superpowers, some don't, so it's like X-Files or Men in Black with some super-heroics thrown in for good measure. One thing I really liked, by the way, is that they didn't simply pick up the story where it left off in 2000, but took into account the intervening years. Up to this point, I'd only read very few things written by Kesel, and nothing with Grummett's art, and I've found both are to my liking. This is just lots of fun from cover to cover and the artwork is gorgeous. I'd really recommend picking this one up; the whole series was released this year in 6 issues by Image, although I'd recommend getting the collected Kickstarter hardcover edition (or its e-book version) - which is still available at their site, Panic Button Press. Edo, you need to read the Kesel/Grummett run on Superboy (during the death of Superman phase in the 90's) that they did. Really fun, lighthearted in the "classic" style of comics from the 70's. It's a shame the 2 of them haven't been allowed to doing more comics together. Kind of similar in tone to DeFalco/Frenz/Oliffe Spider-Girl run where you can dive on in and enjoy yourself! |
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