Reviews

Thu Jul 3, 2008 — by Van Jensen

The Weekly Haul: Comics Reviews for July 3, 2008

Rounding up the latest comics issues

Things looked dour headed into the comics shop this week, but several books came out of left field and left me impressed. Rare that happens anymore when books get chewed over ad nauseum before they even hit shelves.

So let's celebrate this special little week, when the comics followed in the tradition of the grand U.S. of A. and liberated themselves from suckiness.

Book of the Week: Joker's Asylum #1 -- When it comes to the Joker, there are a few staple stories. And probably the most generic is Joker taking over a giant game show and threatening the kidnapped contestants with death.

So when this book -- which comes across like a clear cash-in on the upcoming Dark Knight film -- started off with that premise, I could only think, "Not again." That obvious bent is all set up, though, and writer Arvid Nelson swings the story in a direction that's not only surprising, it's also genuinely subversive.

The Joker's target is the "innocent," just not the contestants. He spares them (despite their idiocy), instead taking aim at a malevolent producer and the audience at home.

For anyone who bemoans the fact that thoughtful quiz shows are being swiftly pushed out of prominence by the like of Deal or No Deal, this is a story you'll love. Alex Sanchez also offers a very new art style that's scrawling but effective.

And the climactic line is a doozy: "Who's the real sicko, America?" Indeed.

Runners-Up:

High Rollers #1 and Station #1 -- Two new series from Boom! Studios, and both really shine. Station is a horror story set on an international space station, but at least so far there are no monsters or science fiction. The sizzle is all of the interpersonal type, as regional differences burn like a solar flare and one astronaut ends up killed.

High Rollers, from mystery writer Gary Phillips, is a Sopranos-like look at the rise of an L.A. crime lord. While the art in the first issue is too clean for the source material, Phillips keeps the story humming along as his antihero CQ starts to see the ugly side of a life in crime.

Astonishing X-Men #25 -- After the disappointing dragging-on-forever conclusion to Joss Whedon's run, I was all set to give up on this book, especially after learning it would be part of the listless X-Men's current continuity. Then I started reading it. Credit Warren Ellis with taking this book back to the characters, focusing skillfully on their relationships and putting together a great comic, even though nothing much really happens.

I'm still not sure about Simone Bianchi's take on the art, though I love how experimental he's being with design. And if the words, "Chaparanga, where alien spaceships go to die," doesn't make you excited for next issue, I don't think we can be friends.

Continue reading The Weekly Haul: Comics Reviews for July 3, 2008 ›

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Wed Jul 2, 2008 — by Alan Kistler

Review: 'The Invisible Man: Season 1'

Looking at, not through, the cancelled Sci-Fi Channel series' first season

It’s something every single sci-fi geek has wondered at some point, possibly while concocting fiendishly devious plans: what if I could turn invisible?

Of course, all the way back to H.G. Wells’ classic novel, The Invisible Man, we have been told time and time again that this power would basically screw us over. I mean, in that novel, the main character found himself permanently invisible, went insane and then became a maddened killer before he was put down like a dog in the street. This idea of how much it would suck to be permanently unseen has been told time and time again, including the 1950s Invisible Man television series and the Chevy Chase adaptation of Memoirs of an Invisible Man. Heck, the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four has control over her abilities and yet even she gets shafted since she has to deal with the fact that she’s overshadowed by her less powerful teammates.

In 2000, the Sci-Fi Channel began a live-action television series in which writer/creator Matt Greenberg gave us a whole new twist on the familiar story. Sadly, the show was cancelled and only enjoyed two seasons. But this year, the first season was finally released on DVD -- and there's a good reason to pick it up.

Continue reading Review: 'The Invisible Man: Season 1' ›

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Tue Jul 1, 2008 — by Andrew Wheeler

Review: 'Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel'

In between the game and the movie

Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel
By Jordan Mechner, A.B. Sina, LeUyen Pham, and Alex Puvilland
First Second, September 2008, $18.95

The first Prince of Persia game was a 2-D platformer almost twenty years ago, and the next big thing with the name Prince of Persia on it will be a major Jerry Bruckheimer-produced movie next summer. In between have been a number of games, with a number of different protagonists and plotlines. (And I’ve played exactly none of them, as far as I can remember – just to make that clear.) This year, in between the games and the movie, First Second is publishing a graphic novel loosely based on the series – or at least the title. It’ll be in stores in September.

This graphic novel is credited as “created” by Mechner (seemingly because he invented the original game, and maybe still owns a piece of it), written by Sina, and with art by Pham and Puvilland. And, as far as I can tell, the story here has nothing specific to do with any of the previous incarnations of Prince of Persia. (If I’m wrong, please correct me in comments.)

In this graphic novel, you actually get two stories for the price of one – they’re told intermingled, though, which can make it difficult to remember which story a particular panel belongs to, or which characters belong to which stories. (Evil, nasty overlords being depressingly common in stories like this, for example.) I did read Prince of Persia in bound galley form, though – without color – so it’s quite possible that the palette of the two stories are different enough to make that distinction clear in the final book.

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Tue Jul 1, 2008 — by Ric Meyers

'Batman: Gotham Knight' Review

Six anime directors and stellar special features get you starvin' for Dark Knight

As we await the gourmet meal that The Dark Knight promises to be, a worthwhile hors d’ouevre to truly whet your appetite is Batman: Gotham Knight -- a DC Universe Animated Original Movie DVD arriving in stores July 8th.

As director Christopher Nolan prepared his audacious sequel to Batman Begins, someone got the great idea to unleash the crew who brought you the direct-to-DVD Animatrix (arguably superior to the Matrix sequels themselves) on the caped crusader. The result starts intriguing, than grows to become involving, then engrossing, and finally inspired and inspiring.

Three renowned anime studios (Madhouse, Production LG, and Studio 4°C) were given six short scripts – by comic and film scripters Brian Azzarello & Greg Rucka, Alan Burnett, Jordan Goldberg, David S. Goyer, and Josh Olson – and carte blanche (within budgetary reason). They assigned anime directors Yasuhiro Aoki, Futoshi Higashide, Toshiyuki Kubooka, Hiroshi Morioka, and Shojiro Nishimi one tale each, then sat back and savored.

The result is an eye- and mind-full. Although the cover copy says the stories are interlocking, they are actually held together by the power of Batman’s personality, psychology, and myth – making them a perfect set-up for the live action movie which appears ten days later. More accurately, the animated thrillers are cumulative – starting with character revelations and finally exploding into full-blown mini-action movies.

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Tue Jul 1, 2008 — by Rick Marshall

Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #9 - Forest of the Dead

What's in a name? Quite a bit, apparently...

[EDITOR'S NOTE: My apologies for the late arrival of this week's "Doctor Who in Review." We've been catching up after all of the Wizard World Chicago chaos! It's times like these that I could really use a TARDIS. - RM]

The hit BBC series Doctor Who is now in its fourth season on the Sci-Fi Channel, and since we're all big fans here at ComicMix, we've decided to kick off an episode-by-episode analysis of the reinvigorated science-fiction classic.

Every week, I'll do my best to go through the most recent episode with a fine-tooth comb (or whatever the "sonic screwdriver" equivalent might be) and call out the highlights, low points, continuity checks and storyline hints I can find to keep in mind for future episodes. I'll post the review each Monday, so you have ample time to check out the episode once it airs each Friday at 9 PM EST on Sci-Fi Channel before I spoil anything.

Missed a week? Check out the "Doctor Who in Review" archive or check out any of the past editions of this column via the links at the end of this article.

Keep in mind, I'm going to assume readers have already watched the episode when I put fingers to keyboard and come up with the roundup of important plot points. In other words, SPOILER ALERT!

Let's begin now, shall we?

Season Four, Episode #9: "Forest of the Dead"

Continue reading Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #9 - Forest of the Dead ›

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Tue Jul 1, 2008 — by Van Jensen

Review: 'Demo' by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan

Rewriting the book on superpowers

It seems every month that a new comic comes out purporting to offer a new, more realistic slant on superheroes. From Watchmen to Next Men to Powers to Kick Ass, that idea has long been a popular one.

Except, none of those comics feel very real. Sure, they take elements from reality and offer a slightly more grounded or cynical look at heroes, but the stories within their pages don't begin to evoke everyday life.

And this is why Demo stands so far apart. The on-again, off-again series from writer Brian Wood and artist Becky Cloonan is finally concluded, and all 12 issues are now collected in a substantive new softcover (Vertigo, $19.99).

Begun in 2003 with a first issue featuring a girl struggling to handle her newfound telekinesis, the series was always about the people in the stories, not the abilities that set them apart. That first issue is rich with metaphor: the girl learns how to break away from home, become independent and not get in the way of her potential. Valuable lessons for anyone.

One of the strongest issues (#5), follows a girl who physically changes in appearance to match the desires of the people who see her. She could be a kooky X-Man, but Wood instead uses the strange ability to explore perception and desire, and the line between love and lust.

While the material is well worth reading on its own, one of the subtexts to watch is the continued development of Wood and Cloonan. You can trace their growth as creators along with the issues, and in the end the series is something entirely new again, not really touching on superpowers at all.

Cloonan's work is exceptional, bouncing between styles from issue to issue. It's hard to believe one person was responsible for such a disparate collection of art.

And while Demo features almost entirely young, hip characters -- Wood's bread and butter -- he writes their interactions with as much grace as any writer in comics. There is a deep, haunting truth to these stories, so realistic it almost hurts.

Van Jensen is a former crime reporter turned comic book journalist. Every Wednesday, he braves Atlanta traffic to visit Oxford Comics, where he reads a whole mess of books for his weekly reviews. Van's blog can be found at graphicfiction.wordpress.com.

Publishers who would like their books to be reviewed at ComicMix should contact ComicMix through the usual channels or email Van Jensen directly at van (dot) jensen (at) gmail (dot) com.

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Mon Jun 30, 2008 — by Andrew Wheeler

Review: 'Superpowers' by David J. Schwartz

A new novel about a superhero team from Madison, Wisconsin

Superpowers: A Novel
By David J. Schwartz
Crown, June 2008, $14.95

There are two kinds of superhero novels, with very different rules. The more common – but less respected – kind of superhero novel takes characters and situations we already know from an existing comics universe and tells a story using that furniture. Those books can be amazing, like Elliott S. Maggin’s two Superman novels, Last Son of Krypton and Miracle Monday, or they can be mediocre, like…fill in your own example here. But they all hit the ground running, since they work from our knowledge of those universes. Who would read a Spider-Man novel if he’d never heard of Spider-Man?

The other kind of superhero novel tends to come from people outside the comics field, and usually reinvents the wheel in its vision of superheroics. (Like everything else, sometimes doing it elegantly and sometimes producing an oval object that doesn’t even work as a wheel.) Some of the better examples of that type of superhero novel are Michael Bishop’s Count Geiger's Blues and the recent Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman. Those books often have aggressively obvious titles – Superfolks, Hero, that kind of thing – to immediately signal to the audience that they’re novels about superheroes.

Superpowers is one of the latter kind of novels, down to the title. The British cover (see the continuation) even has line drawings of the characters in costume (by Norm Breyfogle, a name we who read comics will nod knowingly at), much in the style of last year’s Soon I Will Be Invincible. And the set-up is quite typical of an outsider superhero novel: five undergraduates at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) develop individual superpowers after an evening of drinking homemade beer. (One of the endearing things about Superpowers is that Schwartz doesn’t even try to explain their origin – something unexpected happened, and they now have powers. Period.)

Continue reading Review: 'Superpowers' by David J. Schwartz ›

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Mon Jun 30, 2008 — by Van Jensen

Review: 'All Star Batman and Robin Vol. 1'

Frank Miller and Jim Lee team up to punch comics fans in the face

A couple years ago, back when Frank Miller and Jim Lee's All Star Batman and Robin started inconsistently shipping, I read the first few issues and then waved the series off. I hated it so much I added an extra "S" and started referring to it by the acronym ASSBAR.

At the time, it seemed like a good portion of comics critics felt similarly about the book. Then a curious thing happened. More and more reviewers started to come around to the new, harsh Batman that called Robin "retarded" and tried to kill cops.

Now with the first volume conveniently collected, I decided to revisit the series. Had it improved? Had I just given up to early? Or was it still ASSBAR?

As much as I love that nickname, I may have to retire it, because this series is not as bad as I first thought. Miller displays a near-mastery of pulp dialogue and narration, and Lee proves what everyone already knows, that he's a master draftsman of superhero comics.

In case you're one of the select few who haven't read the book, it's a wholly new take on Batman's first years, and he's portrayed as essentially a psycho. Which, in a lot of ways, makes sense. You have to be pretty nuts to put on tights and kick the crap out of muggers.

But Miller pushes it to ugly extremes, with Batman kidnapping Dick Grayson and forcing him into the war on crime, nearly killing fellow superheroes and possibly killing corrupt police officers. This Batman is completely unhinged, which becomes fully apparent in a later issue when the Joker appears and seems sedate by comparison.

Now, this is what Miller does well, crackling along at the harsh edge of humanity as he has in Sin City, 300 and elsewhere. But there are two inherent problems: First, this goes against every incarnation of Batman we've seen and degrades the character. Second, and most importantly, that degradation doesn't work because it's paired with Lee's artwork.

Continue reading Review: 'All Star Batman and Robin Vol. 1' ›

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Sun Jun 29, 2008 — by Matt Raub

Review: 'Wanted'

Can Timur Bekmambetov's comic adaptation bend bullets?

Reviewing Wanted, the film based on the Top Cow miniseries by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones, is a difficult request. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, the film is enjoyable, but solely on a puerile level, and undoubtedly not for the reasons that Bekmambetov intended. This movie is exactly what would happen if a hyperactive 16-year-old was given free range to write a script; it features an Angelina Jolie butt-shot, bullets that don’t travel at normal speed or in a straight line, and the euphoria of telling off your boss and all the jerks at work. But when asked if this film is actually any good, or even a good comic adaptation, the answer is a strong “No.”

Those of you who remember the comic series remember a truly raunchy adventure about an assassin named Fox who recruits a cubical jockey to take his father’s place in a secret society of supervillains known as The Fraternity. From there, we get a few twists and turns thrown our way, but primarily, this was a comic book about all things comic books: superheroes, villains with puffy capes, a cannibal baddie, and even a few digs on other genre flops like Adam West’s Batman.

With that in mind, the movie takes its own liberties, and generously at that. Replace “supervillains” with "assassins," “puffy capes” with “bullets that curve," and “cannibal” with Morgan Freeman. It is totally understandable how this movie was sold, because people are so afraid of doing superhero films that don’t have names like “Iron Man” or “Batman” attached to them, so instead they were going for a Matrix redux, and failed miserably.

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Fri Jun 27, 2008 — by Andrew Wheeler

Manga Friday: Girls and Boys, Boys and Boys

Into the worlds of redikomi and yaoi

 This week's "Manga Friday" features titles from two Aurora imprints that are for adults only. I'll try to keep the review itself safe for somewhat younger readers, but, if you're twelve or so, picture me shaking my finger sternly at you and saying you should move on to something more age-appropriate.

Next week should see Manga Friday return to a variety mix, so you kids can come back then.

Most of the manga that get translated for the US market are either shonen (boys’ comics, like Naruto and Bleach) or shojo (girls’ comics, like Fruits Basket) – stories for tweens and young teens, mostly. (That’s the biggest audience for manga in Japan, too, so there’s more of those kinds of stories to translate to begin with.)

But there are also seinen (stories for “men” – mostly in their twenties – like Lone Wolf and Cub) and, the smallest subset, josei (stories for adult women). The books this week are all josei, roughly the Japanese comics equivalent of American romance novels.

(My initial plan was to review two redikomi – books about boy-girl romances, with some tasteful sex – and then two yaoi – boy-boy romance stories for a female audience. But I only managed to get through one yaoi book, so there are only three reviews here this week.)

Love for Dessert
By Hana Aoi
Aurora/Luv Luv, May 2008, $10.95

Love for Dessert has six stories, all with a (sometimes very loose) food theme – the title story sets the tone. Koyama is a young woman who’s just gotten a full-time job at a big ad agency, working for a tough young boss, Kuze.

She’s also been befriended by “Morimoto from Sales,” who indulges her sweet tooth, and eventually (once the big rush job, which has been causing agida and getting Koyama behind, even after lots and lots of overtime, is done) gets her drunk and tries to seduce her.

Continue reading Manga Friday: Girls and Boys, Boys and Boys ›

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Thu Jun 26, 2008 — by Van Jensen

Review: This Week in 'Trinity' - Part 4

Your weekly dose of DC's big three

We're up to week five of DC's big weekly event, and I regret to inform you that I've already caught myself thinking "same old, same old."

What happened?

The fight with Konvikt continued, with all the heroes getting knocked around, including your Big Three. At least they took the fight away from civilians, but still, so far the main point seems to be that there's nothing really special about Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. They get their butts kicked by giant, purple aliens just like everyone else.

Quick tangent -- I'm not sure if there are any other Weeds fans out there, but I find it impossible to read the name "Konvikt" and not immediately think "Dumb name" in Doug's snarky voice.

Back to the issue, which was pretty breezy, it ends with Batman doing some detective work to take a new tack with Konvikt (dumb name), and then getting ambushed by another alien, Graak (really dumb name).

Meanwhile, villains Morgaine Le Fey and Enigma (who needs to just come out of the Two Face closet and admit to being  Harvey Dent) watch on their magic crystal ball and offer cryptic commentary.

Whoop-dee-doo.

Continue reading Review: This Week in 'Trinity' - Part 4 ›

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Thu Jun 26, 2008 — by Van Jensen

Review: 'Madame Xanadu #1' by Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder Hadley

Occult heroine returns in new Vertigo series

Fresh off another successful Grendel run and two excellent Batman miniseries (Monster Men and Mad Monk), Matt Wagner is switching gears so hard he may have just shredded the transmission.

A revival of the occult heroine Madame Xanadu? Really?

Sure enough. Wagner is writing the Vertigo series, the first issue of which debuted this week. It's, well, odd, for lack of a better word. The first chapter begins in Arthurian times as Xanadu tries to prevent Camelot's bloody fall.

Wagner channels a bit of Shakespeare's lyricism in Xanadu's dreamy, esoteric narration. And much of the goal seems to be recasting the common legend in surprising ways, not the least of which is Merlin as an old horndog.

The art, by relative newcomer Amy Reeder Hadley, is as graceful and natural as the titular character. The slight manga influence further similarizes the book to Elf Quest, which it mirrors fairly closely in tone.

The only real problem so far is the lack of scope in the first issue. Not a whole lot happens, at least till the last page, and there's almost nothing to hint that this series is going to be an epic love story between Xanadu and the Phantom Stranger that lasts through several ages. I had to check the PR cheat sheet for that info.

Van Jensen is a former crime reporter turned comic book journalist. Every Wednesday, he braves Atlanta traffic to visit Oxford Comics, where he reads a whole mess of books for his weekly reviews. Van's blog can be found at graphicfiction.wordpress.com.

Publishers who would like their books to be reviewed at ComicMix should contact ComicMix through the usual channels or email Van Jensen directly at van (dot) jensen (at) gmail (dot) com.

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Thu Jun 26, 2008 — by Van Jensen

The Weekly Haul: Reviews for June 26, 2008

Rounding up the latest comics issues

Just for the fun of it, here's one last story from Heroes Con (which I reported on extensively here and here). Nobody's mentioned this, but simultaneous to the comics convention was another big event titled "Dub," basically a con for tricked out cars. One of the funniest things I've ever seen was a group of P. Diddy look-alikes gaping as a Heroes attendee strolled past in full manga gear (don't know which character) and did a spinning kick/sword swipe right in front of them. I'm still amazed the weekend ended peacefully.

That aside, let's turn to the week in comics, which was huge. HUGE. DC trotted out Final Crisis #2, and Marvel counter-punched with an incredible 30-plus issues. Once the smoke cleared, Marvel stood up strong, dominating another go 'round. And DC's bad month just got worse.

Book of the Week: The Immortal Iron Fist #16 -- This is a packed book, starting out with the wind down from the epic battle that just took place in the Seven Cities of Heaven. Danny Rand is a changed man, dismantling his corporation and doing whatever he can to help the world.

You can see the influence of Orson Randall, and it's nice to see his presence linger on after his death. Danny's transitioning into a more mature character, asking the big questions. It's the natural result of the recent ground-shaking, and Matt Fraction's a smart man for taking things in that direction.

There are lots of extremely well written little personal moments in this issue, between Danny and Misty, Jeryn, Luke Cage and a swarm of pint-sized karate students. But before things get too heart-warming, Fractioin ends with a game-changing reveal that's shocking in part because of how well it's set up, in part through brilliant page layouts.

The only question is how well the book will hold up once Fraction moves on.

The Runners Up:

Captain America #39 -- There's lots to see in this issue, as per usual with Ed Brubaker, but the main draw is the fight between Bucky and the former Nomad, both of whom are essentially masquerading as Captain America. Think about that: A revived Bucky with a robotic arm fighting against Nomad.

That sounds like something straight out of the dreadful muck of the '90s, yet Brubaker pulls it off with ease, crafting another tense and dramatic issue with plenty of action. There's also the continued subtle developments of Red Skull's agenda, a nice moment for Sharon Carter and a quality fill-in artist for Steve Epting.

Daredevil #108 -- We've finally seemed to pass the "Matt Murdock's life can't get any worse" stage that had dragged on for several years. He's still miserable (and he gets his butt kicked), but he has quite the interesting case to dive into and appears to be responding well to the mental challenge (even if he does resort to  fisticuffs at one point). Also, Dakota North is quickly becoming a favorite character.

Continue reading The Weekly Haul: Reviews for June 26, 2008 ›

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Wed Jun 25, 2008 — by Van Jensen

Review: 'Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War Vol. 2'

Geoff Johns and Co. wrap up the best superhero event of 2007

This past weekend at Heroes Con, a panel of some of comics' biggest stars weighed in on collaboration and, eventually, the art of the crossover.

Mostly, that meant griping about the impossible task of tying into a Final Crisis or Secret Invasion. Matt Fraction went so far as to say he opted out of some crossovers because the stress of it would take years off his life. Jimmy Palmiotti essentially acknowledged the failure of DC's Countdown.

Clearly, it's not that hard for a big superhero event to careen right off the tracks. Which means we should all pay attention when one works particularly well, as in Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War (Volume 2 is out now in hardcover at $24.99).

The story is simple enough: Sinestro breaks loose and raises the most terrifying army ever seen, including all of DC's strongest villains except for Darkseid. And the Green Lanterns fight back.

In this second half of the story, we see the classic turning of the tide back in the heroes' favor, although Geoff Johns and crew add enough wrinkles to make the inevitable victory quite shadowy, if not outright pyrrhic.

Continue reading Review: 'Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War Vol. 2' ›

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Tue Jun 24, 2008 — by Andrew Wheeler

Review: 'Maps and Legends' by Michael Chabon

A collection of essays on comics, popular fiction, and writing

Maps and Legends
By Michael Chabon
McSweeney’s Books, May 2008, $24.00
 
Michael Chabon has had the good luck to be writing in an era when it’s possible to both be a respected, bestselling literary writer and have a public, abiding love for some of the more disreputable genres. His best-known novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay, is not only a fictionalized story of the fledgling comic-book industry during World War II, but also has a very definite fantasy element. And his latest novel, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, is a detective story set in an alternate history – tying it into two types of genre fiction.

If he’d started writing twenty years earlier, or even ten, he probably wouldn’t have been able to do that; only in the last decade or so have writers like Chabon (and Jonathan Lethem, who transitioned from genre science fiction straight into the “literary novel”) been able to admit to their love of genre. Previously, literary writers could go slumming and use genre ideas once in a while – think Doris Lessing with the “Canopus in Argo” series, or The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood – but they could never admit to reading or liking books actually published in that genre. Kurt Vonnegut, after all, was only taken seriously because he ritually denied being a SF writer every day before breakfast.

But Chabon goes even further than his pop-culture-loving compatriots do; he doesn’t just admit to liking science fiction and detective stories – he’s even willing to claim that comics can be pretty damn good, and that some of them have influence him.

Continue reading Review: 'Maps and Legends' by Michael Chabon ›

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