Night has fallen.
*Sigh. Computers...
LAST WEEK’S REVIEWS weren't much:
Alan Moore’s Twisted Times (shine on, Abelard Snazz, early Moore hero, your adventures collected here, shine on)
The Long Haul (out this Wednesday, new Antony Johnston/Eduardo Barreto Western comics, fun without breaking ground)
Groan. Machines.
*Well, my thing for today needs to be carried over to tomorrow, so here’s
THIS WEEK IN COMICS
seeing as how late it is. Lots of stuff.
Project: Superior: Ah, I’ve been waiting for this one. Big fat 288-page anthology of superhero-type stories by assorted non-superhero creators, dealing with original concepts rather than tossing established icons through the indy comics tumbler as seen in another recent anthology, although I bet said anthology would actually be able to use the term ‘superhero’ in the title if it wanted to, without fear of the comics police arriving to take them to the funnybook pokey. I think this will be a very cool book, although I guess there’s an outside chance that it’ll be 200+ pages of ‘lol superheroes are childish’ which won’t be much fun. Anyway, check out the contributors here to bolster your confidence; a very cool list, including Paul Pope, “Scott Pilgrim” creator Bryan Lee O’Malley, “Wolverine” enthusiast Jeff Brown, and the “Street Angel” team of Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca. And speaking of which...
Street Angel #5: Back to the funny? Oh, I think. I suspect. I liked the book a lot last issue too, though. I guess I understand the tonal shift criticisms last issue attracted (as opposed to the tonal shift criticisms issue #3 attracted, which I didn’t understand at all), but I thought the story worked well. I thought it expanded nicely on bits of the character (pride, her uncertain social situation) that were present in earlier issues, just not fully explored. I believe this issue is going to be the last one for a while, with a trade following soon after as the focus of the creative team’s “Street Angel” attention. So please, savor this book while there’s still new stuff coming.
Concrete: The Human Dilemma #3 (of 6): Still sifting through older “Concrete” work, as this new miniseries inches forward. If nothing else, I can attest to its power in getting new fans hooked.
Seven Soldiers - Shining Knight #1 (of 4): Ok, according to Morrison, not only is every miniseries in this project supposed to stand alone (yet fit together), but every issue, as in every individual comic? “So there are seven characters and each character gets four books which tell a very distinct story and reintroduce that character to the audience. Each of the four issues are also self-contained reads because I wanted to try a completely modular story,” says the writer. Does that extend to the book that came out the other week? Because the prior “Seven Soldiers” #0 didn’t work very well as a self-contained story at all, though it made a fairly excellent introduction to the premise; not very modular, as Morrison puts it, but enough intriguing material was evoked and suggested. I presume the self-contained structure will become more evident (or easier to handle) within the confines of individual character series; and, it's not to say that the project needs to succeed on every one of its writer's announced levels to be a success in my eyes.
Vimanarama #2 (of 3): And, as the same interview linked above suggests, this and “We3" and “Seaguy” were apparently intended as original graphic novels, but got themselves split up by DC. I do think that “Seaguy” wouldn’t have had to put up with the (in my opinion puzzling) reputation for incomprehensibility that it’s since been stuck with had it been released as a single piece at the outset. But DC’s gonna do what the Direct Market wants. Heh. Again, not that any of that helped poor “Seaguy”. Anyway, this is a really cool series, set in Belgium or Iceland or somewhere, and there’s lots of good humor. Fun week for Morrison fans.
Terra Obscura Vol. 2 #6 (of 6): Hey, look what’s ending! This sort of late ABC miniseries, riffing off of the old World’s Finest thing one more time. There’s not much in this series that co-plotter Alan Moore hasn’t done in a thousand alternate flavors of genre reflection already, but it’s ok superhero smash punch fun.
Adam Strange #6 (of 8): Ditto on the smash punch, although last issue was kind of weak (and rather dim, artwise). Fingers crossed for satisfying resolution!
Stoker’s Dracula #4 (of 4): Low low selling but ravishing Roy Thomas/Dick Giordano adaptation of the tale; good use of the comics form in translating Stoker’s correspondence structure! This conclusion has been decades in the making, and I’ll be there for it.
The Punisher MAX #18: BOOM!
LAST WEEK’S REVIEWS weren't much:
Alan Moore’s Twisted Times (shine on, Abelard Snazz, early Moore hero, your adventures collected here, shine on)
The Long Haul (out this Wednesday, new Antony Johnston/Eduardo Barreto Western comics, fun without breaking ground)
Groan. Machines.
*Well, my thing for today needs to be carried over to tomorrow, so here’s
THIS WEEK IN COMICS
seeing as how late it is. Lots of stuff.
Project: Superior: Ah, I’ve been waiting for this one. Big fat 288-page anthology of superhero-type stories by assorted non-superhero creators, dealing with original concepts rather than tossing established icons through the indy comics tumbler as seen in another recent anthology, although I bet said anthology would actually be able to use the term ‘superhero’ in the title if it wanted to, without fear of the comics police arriving to take them to the funnybook pokey. I think this will be a very cool book, although I guess there’s an outside chance that it’ll be 200+ pages of ‘lol superheroes are childish’ which won’t be much fun. Anyway, check out the contributors here to bolster your confidence; a very cool list, including Paul Pope, “Scott Pilgrim” creator Bryan Lee O’Malley, “Wolverine” enthusiast Jeff Brown, and the “Street Angel” team of Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca. And speaking of which...
Street Angel #5: Back to the funny? Oh, I think. I suspect. I liked the book a lot last issue too, though. I guess I understand the tonal shift criticisms last issue attracted (as opposed to the tonal shift criticisms issue #3 attracted, which I didn’t understand at all), but I thought the story worked well. I thought it expanded nicely on bits of the character (pride, her uncertain social situation) that were present in earlier issues, just not fully explored. I believe this issue is going to be the last one for a while, with a trade following soon after as the focus of the creative team’s “Street Angel” attention. So please, savor this book while there’s still new stuff coming.
Concrete: The Human Dilemma #3 (of 6): Still sifting through older “Concrete” work, as this new miniseries inches forward. If nothing else, I can attest to its power in getting new fans hooked.
Seven Soldiers - Shining Knight #1 (of 4): Ok, according to Morrison, not only is every miniseries in this project supposed to stand alone (yet fit together), but every issue, as in every individual comic? “So there are seven characters and each character gets four books which tell a very distinct story and reintroduce that character to the audience. Each of the four issues are also self-contained reads because I wanted to try a completely modular story,” says the writer. Does that extend to the book that came out the other week? Because the prior “Seven Soldiers” #0 didn’t work very well as a self-contained story at all, though it made a fairly excellent introduction to the premise; not very modular, as Morrison puts it, but enough intriguing material was evoked and suggested. I presume the self-contained structure will become more evident (or easier to handle) within the confines of individual character series; and, it's not to say that the project needs to succeed on every one of its writer's announced levels to be a success in my eyes.
Vimanarama #2 (of 3): And, as the same interview linked above suggests, this and “We3" and “Seaguy” were apparently intended as original graphic novels, but got themselves split up by DC. I do think that “Seaguy” wouldn’t have had to put up with the (in my opinion puzzling) reputation for incomprehensibility that it’s since been stuck with had it been released as a single piece at the outset. But DC’s gonna do what the Direct Market wants. Heh. Again, not that any of that helped poor “Seaguy”. Anyway, this is a really cool series, set in Belgium or Iceland or somewhere, and there’s lots of good humor. Fun week for Morrison fans.
Terra Obscura Vol. 2 #6 (of 6): Hey, look what’s ending! This sort of late ABC miniseries, riffing off of the old World’s Finest thing one more time. There’s not much in this series that co-plotter Alan Moore hasn’t done in a thousand alternate flavors of genre reflection already, but it’s ok superhero smash punch fun.
Adam Strange #6 (of 8): Ditto on the smash punch, although last issue was kind of weak (and rather dim, artwise). Fingers crossed for satisfying resolution!
Stoker’s Dracula #4 (of 4): Low low selling but ravishing Roy Thomas/Dick Giordano adaptation of the tale; good use of the comics form in translating Stoker’s correspondence structure! This conclusion has been decades in the making, and I’ll be there for it.
The Punisher MAX #18: BOOM!
posted by Jog at 9:02 PM
|
<< Home