Reviews

Reviews of books, comics, movies, and other random stuff.

A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

Review: The Guardian Line

Joe and Max #1
By Jason Medley, Claude St. Aubin & Chris Chuckery

Genesis 5 #1
By Lovern Kindzierski, Claude St. Aubin & Chris Chuckery

Code #1
By Mike Baron, Lovern Kindzierski, Howard Simpson, Dave Ross & Chris Chuckery
(All published by The Guardian line, December 2006)

Any sincere attempt by a comics publisher to reach new audiences (particularly from an all-ages perspective) is deserving of high praise, and Urban Ministries is doing exactly that with The Guardian Line, targeting the Christian demographic for whom the adventures of the superheroes they grew up with are neither representative of their beliefs nor appropriate for their children.

Of course, while good intentions are important, the final judgement should be based on the most basic of criteria: are they any good? The answer to that question is…they could be.

(more…)

Continue ReadingReview: The Guardian Line
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

Fierman Out at DC Comics

NOTE: I've rearranged the updates, so if you're checking this for the first time, scroll all the way down for the original post. ***** UPDATE (1/16 @ 12:49m): The Beat's latest update stirs the pot a bit as former and current DC staffers debate the story. It's mostly he said/she said stuff involving Vinnie Costa's take on working for Fierman, but there's an interesting bit about Nellie Kurtzman's departure from a current staffer, Joe Castleman [not sure if that's his real name or not], that possibly sheds some light on things: "...everyone in marketing worked with Nelie Kurtzman. Really nice…

Continue ReadingFierman Out at DC Comics
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

Review: Ed’s Terrestrials

Ed's TerrestrialsBy Scott Christian Sava and Diego Jourdan (Blue Dream Studios, 2006; $19.99)There's few things in comics that I love more than a good, all-ages graphic novel, both for my own personal enjoyment and to be able to share it with my 6-year old son. In the past, I've praised the likes of A Bit Haywire, Amelia Rules!, Bumperboy, and Superhero -- all excellent reads for kids ages 6-60+ -- and Scott Christian Sava's delightful Ed's Terrestrials joins that list.Fans of such entertaining Nickelodeon fare as Fairly Oddparents and Jimmy Neutron will love Sava's slightly younger-skewing tale of aliens on…

Continue ReadingReview: Ed’s Terrestrials
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

Best of 2006

In the most glaring sign yet of how much my tastes have changed over the 3.5 years since I started reading comics again, compare my Best of 2004 choices to this year’s stellar roundup (below). Posted nearly two months before the year had ended, that 2004 list was limited to ongoing series, two of which were canceled prematurely, in my opinion, and two others that were cut from my pull list a while back. The lone survivor, Conan, remains a consistently good read, and a repeat honoree on my 2005 list, but it didn’t make the cut this year. In fact, reflecting my gradual shift towards OGNs and TPBs, only three ongoing/mini-series made my list this year.

Top 10 Comics of 2006(in alphabetical order)

(more…)

Continue ReadingBest of 2006
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

Review: American Born Chinese

American Born ChineseBy Gene Luen Yang (First Second, 2006; $16.95)When I first heard about American Born Chinese back in July, I pegged it as the highlight of First Second's second wave of releases purely based on a few preview images and its solicitation copy. After doing so, I crossed my fingers that it would actually live up to my lofty expectations, as Deogratias had set the bar pretty high. It took me a while to finally pick up a copy, and before I did, it was named as a finalist for this year's National Book Award in Young People's Literature,…

Continue ReadingReview: American Born Chinese
A guillotine, a Sister of Battle, and a scrapbook picture from the 2001 National Poetry Slam.

On the Shelves: 12/28/06

Reading is fundamental. Don't waste your time reading bad comics out of habit! My weekly, semi-informed look at select comic books being released Thursday, 12/28/06 follows. The full shipping is list available at ComicList. [NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com] PICK OF THE WEEK Captain Gravity and the Power of the VrilAMERICAN MULE ENTERTAINMENT Public Enemy #2, $2.99 It was nice to see Public Enemy promoting their comic book alter…

Continue ReadingOn the Shelves: 12/28/06

No more posts to load

Newer Posts
Older Posts