Do you ever come across somebody’s work and think, “This is the ideal medium for what I’m seeing.” It could be a story, an opinion, some artwork, music-it doesn’t really matter. There are some times when you just sit back and realize that the planets have aligned and you’re experiencing the optimum experience. Well, I feel that way about Terry Moore’s Rachel Rising.
I read the first issue of Rachel Rising and did not like it. I couldn’t figure out why. And it drove me nuts. I tried to pick it apart and figure out what turned me off. Couldn’t do it. I just knew it made me uncomfortable. So I read the second. Same thing. Read the third. Read the fourth. Read the fifth. Cannot wait for the sixth. Read the rest of this entry »
Hey, you! You looking all sad and morose in the corner! Do you want to have fun? Do you say to yourself, “Man, my life would be infinitely better if there were more monsters in it.” Do you? Are your reading habits confined to the big name superheroes? Have you felt the desire to branch out into the fringe characters that offer a change of pace? Well, do I have the comic for you!
Marvel’s Legion of Monsters by Dennis Hopeless with art by Juan Doe. Before I continue, can we take a moment to admire THESE names? I mean, they aren’t nearly as fun to say as Tradd Moore but hell, they’re poetic. Okay-serious business now: Read the rest of this entry »
If you want to know the truth, I do these posts completely for my own benefit. I, personally, don’t even read reviews. I read tweets primarily. That’s right, there’s actually someone out there that sees your self-promoting tweets and says, “Yeah, what the hell. I’ll read that.” Then there are podcasts and the scattered sage wisdom of my friends and family. But let’s say that you do actually read reviews before you buy. (You pansy) Let’s say you patrol the blogs to find a good book. If you do that, chances are you’ve already heard about The Strange Talent of Luther Strode. Read the rest of this entry »
I wanted to call this post: Top Books of 2011 That I Wish I Had Kept Up On Instead Of Watching Brad Meltzer’s Decoded. I didn’t. Because…that would be a long title. But that’s essentially what this list is about.
I can’t tell you what the greatest books of 2011 are. You probably have completely different tastes than I do. You may love the books I hate, so even “Worst Of” lists are dumb. So what do I have left? Books that I enjoyed but stopped reading because I get too damned distracted on Wednesday nights when Brad Meltzer is throwing conspiracies in my face over on The History Channel. Brad, you’re doubling my “To Read” pile. Read the rest of this entry »
Everybody’s forever complaining about remakes. Come up with something original. Remakes are just lazy storytelling. You’re ruining the originals. Blah blah blah. You know what I say to them? Psbbbbbbt. That, boys and girls, was the textual interpretation of me blowing a raspberry. (Stop it) You’ve got to remake movies and books and comics and music. You have to, if you want to keep the stories alive.
I know people that won’t watch movies that are in black and white. Even if they’re classics, they won’t do it. Those people are dumb, but the fact is: they exist. Not everyone will search through the back issues of golden/silver/bronze age comics. Some find those stories obsolete. Of course, they’re wrong; but, again, they exist.
Now I must insist that all remakes and reproductions are made out of respect and love for the original/source material. That’s the only way I can support this trend. I don’t want your favorite book or movie or whatever to be bastardized just for the easy generation of funds. Is that what’s happening? Sure. But I’d like there to be some heart behind it. Where can you find such an occurrence? Andy Diggle and Davide Gianfelice’s Six Guns. Read the rest of this entry »
There’s something that appeals to me when it comes to reading an anti-hero. It might be the believability. I have an easier time coming to terms with a character that is not good all of the time. Great characters have faults. People can be evil even when they aren’t “super villains”. Josh Fialkov’s The Last of the Greats is a phenomenal anti-hero book. Certainly, it’s a very realistic take on the ‘what if’ scenario if superheroes were real.
Let me set you up here:
“Meet mankind’s last hope for survival. He’s called The Last, and he hates out guts.”
We’re living here on Earth like we do and there’s war, hunger, and desperation. One day, a group of super powered beings show up. They fix everything. They give us Utopia. And we hate them for it. We destroy them all…except one. Now we find our planet in danger and there’s only one guy that can help us. Turns out he’ll help us, but at a price. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m going to tell you a little something about my mother. Yep. I write about comics and I’m going to lead in by talking about Mommy Dearest. I think deep down my mother had a deep fear that her children were going to turn out to be idiots. From our very beginnings, she was determined to constantly hold us to higher standards. My brother had it worse; she put him in a bilingual kindergarten class just so he could be exposed to spanish constantly. (She didn’t try that with me. She’s still trying to keep me from eating crayons…) At any rate, she would try to slip in educational material into any source of entertainment. My point: she would have approved of Green Lantern: The Animated Series #0.
This comic is going hand-in-hand with the newest animated series on Cartoon Network. I watched the first hour long special. I read the first comic. Let’s do this. Read the rest of this entry »
Who doesn’t like a good buddy-movie? Buddy-cop, buddy-losers, buddy-criminals…chances are, hijinks are going to ensue. Why should a buddy-comic be any different? It shouldn’t. There are still hijinks and assorted shenanigans.
Witch Doctor by Brandon Seifert with art by Lukas Ketner partners Dr. Marrow, a man specializing in the dark forces and the supernatural, with Eric Gast, a veteran serving as a paramedic assisting Dr. Marrow. They go around as part of the Mystics Without Borders program, finding dangerous monsters and demons and fighting them with magic and science. It sounds awesome, right? It is seriously one of the best books being put out by Image. Read the rest of this entry »
You know what it takes for me to be interested in a new comic book? A name. Maybe two. I have trust in creators. Characters? No. All it takes for a character to go south is one writer with “vision”. Screw them and their “vision”. Pretty soon your favorite character is a whiney addict that never worked out their issues with their father. And all you wanted was to see them kick some ass. But find a creator or creative team that appeals to you and pretty soon you’re introduced to new characters, new stories and all the while enjoying it because it’s coming from talent that speaks to you.
Brian Azzarello is on that list for me. If I need to see the darker side of comics, I can turn to this guy. Add Eduardo Risso into that mix and I’m in great shape. So I see their names attached to Vertigo’s Spaceman and see that it’s selling for $1.00 and…well, you know. I’ve gambled more money on less. Read the rest of this entry »
Okay, with all the excitement in the DC Universe, it’s possible our radars have been slightly skewed. So bear with me as I tell you that in the midst of your issue twos, now is a really great time to be reading X-Men titles.
Ah yes, The X-Men. Seems like just yesterday we were all infected with vampirism. I hate to disappoint you, but we’re done with that. And now…the band’s breaking up….kind of. In the aftermath of Schism, Logan and Scott have decided to go their separate ways and people are picking sides. Now, let’s say that you didn’t read Schism (even though I told you to and you totally should). And let’s say you didn’t read the Regenesis One Shot from last week (totally should). You’re going to be fine. Read the rest of this entry »
I love animation. Cartoons are such a large part of my entertainment selection. And, like so many of you, Disney Animation basically structured my childhood. I believed in my dreams, thought animals could be your best friends, believed in magic, and sang at the drop of a hat. Not going to lie to you, I still do that last one. Honestly, when I watch Disney animated movies to this day, all of those points still ring true. So imagine my delight when I found a comic book that generated the same feelings.
Mystic is a CrossGen title that has all the elements of a animated classic. And from what I understand, this new title is not like the original book at all. Giselle and Genevieve are teenage orphan girls that are best friends. Genevieve is a romantic dreamer, Giselle has a rougher, more impulsive demeanor. Living in poverty, they manage to sneak away daily to study the Noble Arts (which, from the name, you can gather is restricted to the more affluent crowd). Through a series of strange events, Giselle is taken on as one of several apprentices to master the magical Noble arts. Genevieve is left behind. Both want to change the world, they’re just going to go about it in very different ways. Read the rest of this entry »
Nervous anticipation. That’s the only way I can explain how I feel about the relaunch at DC. Let’s get this out of the way. I think it’s wonderful. Everything has just felt so stagnant at DC recently. They needed to mix things up a bit. So, I find this extreme move completely remarkable and brave. Fortune favors the bold, people. Let’s kick off the new 52, shall we?
I wish I was new to comics. I’d really like to see if this book had the desired effect of generating interest for new readers. Personally, I can’t imagine why it would. Justice League #1 was genuinely uninspired. No real cliff hanger, no real spark. Could it be that I’ve just been trained to expect those things? Desensitized to the awesomeness that is superhero team ups? It’s possible. I remember having that awe as a kid; maybe the new reader would feel that same way.
But let’s be realistic here. It’s the first issue and I feel that it fell short. But let’s look at it from that new reader’s perspective: We learn that the general population is not a fan of super-powered individuals. We learn that Batman, Green Lantern and Superman have never met. We learn that Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) is a cocky jerk. And that’s it. So what?
It felt like a generic comic book movie. Something that tries to cast its net to catch everyone and inevitably ends up catching no one. Sure, it has funny line after funny line so you think you’re having a good time. Then there’s the tip of the hat to those in the audience that are seasoned in the character’s lore-maybe a joke about Darkseid that only a few people will chuckle at. And you feel fairly positive during the whole experience only to walk out of there feeling like you just wasted your time and wondering where was the substance?
Sadly, that’s my feelings toward Justice League #1. Geoff Johns and Jim Lee delivered a product that was nice to look at but just was in no way fulfilling. You can market this baby all you want, gentlemen. It was simply empty calories. But the good news is: the general population (especially kids) love empty calories. Maybe that’s just what you were looking for.
Stay tuned for our feelings on the rest of the 52. We’re in this for the long haul. Fingers crossed.
I don’t mean to blow your mind here, but did you know Marvel released a Captain America movie this summer? Yeah, it was sort of hard to miss. But you know what? I liked it. A lot. It was everything I needed it to be. There was, however, a bit of a hang-up for me. Captain America and Bucky are friends and around the same age. I completely understand the Bucky and Steve dynamic in the movie. I understand why it needed to be that way for the movie. No one likes plucky kid side-kicks anymore. People want sexy stars. And the only thing better than one pretty boy heart-throb is two pretty boy heart-throbs. Keep adding them to the machine and you’ve got a teen sensation and before you know it, the years add up and you’re getting kicked out of Menudo. But…I digress.
Let’s turn down the Latin heat and get back to comics. The Cap and Bucky dynamic fascinates me. It’s taken so many different approaches-from original inception to modern day dual-Caps to same-age movie personas. But I like it when Bucky’s a kid. And I like it when he’s more than just a lovable ball of enthusiasm. For example, I like Bucky in Captain America & Bucky #621. Read the rest of this entry »
Kids. Kids. Kids…kids. As far as oppositions go, they’re the worst. Right? I mean, you can’t really fight them. If they’re good, you can’t help but being in awe of them. Creepy kids are really unsettling. Plus, it’s evil in a cute little package.
On the flip side, kids as allies sort of suck too. You can’t really expect too much out of them. You don’t know if they’re mature enough to mentally handle the situation. You want to protect them. They can be annoying. It’s just sticky business no matter what side you’re on.
So the X-Men have been dealing with this since they started. They’re based out of a school. Mutants are facing continuous backlash and when big problems strike, they always end up digging their recruits out of the kiddie pool.
X-Men: Schism is just like that. It just makes the bad guys young. And creepy. And good at being evil. Children trying to take over the world. Sonsabitches. Read the rest of this entry »
Here we are in the midst of Marvel’s Spider-Island event. Now, I don’t know about you but it seems, as of late, the only reason to plug on through the events is the side stories. We get to see some fringe characters in a mini-series format and they really shine. They’re becoming a bigger pull for me than the event itself. Granted, it’s early yet (and I did actually enjoy Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man #667 for Part 1 of Spider-Island) but I’ve found my star of the event.
Cloak & Dagger by Nick Spencer with art by Emma Rios. This is the first issue in this three-parter and I’m already wishing it were an ongoing series. Read the rest of this entry »
