Reviews of books, comics, movies, and other random stuff.
[One Marvel, one DC, both published the previous Wednesday, plus a random indie from whenever I feel like it, each reviewed quickie-style: 1 Minute=bad, 10 Minutes=good. Connections, if any at all, may be forced purely for the experience.]A light week for the Big Two, notable more for releases from their imprints than their mainstream line - sorry Morrison fans, I ain't jumping on that bandwagon! - so as a result, Vertigo and Icon step up this week with The Losers #21 and Powers #9, joined by a serious stretch of the "indie" definition with Conan #13.Judging from its sales numbers,…
I first came across Greg Rucka's work in Gotham Central, during his Eisner Award-Winning "half a life" story arc (issues #6-10). In it, he puts his protagonist, Detective Renee Montoya, through the ringer in a well-paced, character-driven story of obsession and revenge. I'd only returned to comics less than six months prior at that point and was blown away by the difference in quality and style from the men-in-tights comics I'd grown up on and had initially sought out. Better yet, because Gotham Central takes place on the fringes of Batman's world, it was quality storytelling without the condescending pretension…
I was still out of comics back in 2000 when Marvel pulled off its Sentry hoax, pretending to have discovered a Silver Age creation of Stan Lee's that pre-dated even the Fantastic Four, and getting that bastion of reputable comics journalism, Wizard, to go along with the stunt. Purportedly their answer to Superman, but with the personal foibles that were Marvel's forte, even Lee played along, claiming to remember shelving the character because he was "so powerful, he could very well have destroyed the entire Marvel Universe and everything we were planning." They even created, and then killed, a fictional…
[From the ridiculous to the random to the superb, a quick roundup of notable indie comics (aka, not Marvel or DC proper, though Vertigo, Icon, Image, et al, do qualify) I picked up in the past month. Release dates may vary.]Realizing a few weeks back that I didn't have a single Image title on my regular pull list, I decided to shine the spotlight squarely on them this month, taking a look at five of their newest books: Beyond Avalon, Freedom Force, Mora, and, via their Two Bits sampler, previews of The Imaginaries and Lullaby. A mixed bag overall, qualitatively…
[One Marvel, one DC, both published the previous Wednesday, plus a random indie from whenever I feel like it, each reviewed quickie-style: 1 Minute=bad, 10 Minutes=good. Connections, if any at all, may be forced purely for the experience.]It was all about the Distinguished Competition this week as Marvel's output was overshadowed by the terribly lame, terribly short-sighted conclusion to Mark Millar's "Enemy of the State" story arc in Wolverine. I'm officially boycotting anything he's involved with! Their one saving grace came thanks to Brian K. Vaughan and the first issue of Volume 2 of Runaways. On the flip side, a…
If there's ever been a comic book that was the perfect gift for a comic book geek to give his non-comic book-reading girlfriend, Fade From Grace would be it. Elegantly written, and beautifully illustrated, it's a four-color "chick flick" that any self-respecting fan of quality comic books would love. Fade works on two levels, first as a traditional origin story following our hero, John, as he develops super powers - the ability to control his density - while saving his girlfriend Grace from her burning apartment. The first three issues follow John as he learns to control his powers and,…
[One Marvel, one DC, both published the previous Wednesday, plus a random indie from whenever I feel like it, each reviewed quickie-style: 1 Minute=bad, 10 Minutes=good. Connections, if any at all, may be forced purely for the experience.]It was a strong week for indies big and small, overshadowing the Big Two's output as everything from Grant Morrison's entertaining oddball, Vinamarama, to the intriguing Captain Gravity and the Power of the Vril, to the satsifying conclusions of Lurkers and Ezra made into my stack. The announcement of Ed Brubaker's signing an exclusive with Marvel finally tempted me into checking out his…
