Want to pay for shipping from France? Then the Iron Gentlemen could be yours! The French version of Threadless has this new design for sale and frankly it's pretty cool. If I wanted to pay for shipping I would definitely pick this bad boy up and sport it. Source: laFraise
The New 52: Week 3 Reivews - Part 1
Wow! What a week huh? Let’s kick it off with the mostcontroversial book of the week shall we…
Green Lantern Corps #1 – That’s right, can you believe theyactually tried to have Guy Gardner apply for a job as a football coach? AND HEDIDN’T GET IT! No fucking way! All kidding aside this book was pretty damngood. Guy and John try to return to a normal life on earth now that theuniverse has settled down for a minute, but find it increasingly difficultsince everyone knows they’re Green Lanterns. Back on OA someone wearing EmeraldDawn gloves is killing GL’s and taking their rings. Then quite possibly myfavorite planet from the GL lore is completely wiped out. This is the best GLCorps has probably ever been, because it’s not worrying about what Hal Jordonis doing. As long as it maintains the focus on just Guy and Stewart the bookwill be okay.
Score – Buy, I don’t think a lot of people are giving thisbook a shot and that’s their loss.
Catwoman #1 – Let me point something out about this bookinstantly, Judd Winick is not a controversial writer… he’s a bad writer. Thesad part is that he tries really hard to write woman and not once have I readanything from him and thought, “This is a real woman.” I’m assuming the partthat everyone has a problem with is the ending SPOILER she has sex with Batman…while they’re wearing their costumes. Frankly it’s just goofy and I couldn’thelp but laugh because it came across more like Manga than American comics.Here’s the good about this comic: Gets rid of Catwoman’s cluttered past, doesn’tmake her rich, doesn’t give her any real enemies and downplays her abilities atbeing a successful criminal. In other words it gives her character a challengefor once. The only real challenge she’s faced in the last few years was gettingher heart back (long story) and forgetting she had a baby (longer story).
So Winick came along and removed all that and really what hedid was make her less empowered and then at the end of the issue has herbasically admit to needing a man. Okay… so he hasn’t taken a woman’s civ class.Honestly how many of you can say you have? This entire situation feels a lotlike Denny O’Neil’s run on Wonder Woman back in the day when he gave her amaster and let her go shopping. That was a mistake that passed and so shallthis. I’m just happy that we don’t have the forget-a-baby past anymore. Now let’slook at the whole hooking up with Batman thing, if you think about everythingWinick has done with Batman has stemmed from Loeb’s run on Batman with Jim Leewhere they very famously kissed. Go re-read Hush and then look at everythingWinick did on Batman/Redhood and you’ll see what I mean. Winick saw the fanresponse from the kiss and thought, “Hey, I’ll take it to the next level.” That’sall; too bad he did it as tastelessly as possible. But from his prospective Ican see how he thought it would be really cool and a kind of a fan service. WillI keep reading the book? Probably, I like Catwoman and I’m curious to see whenthis train is going to wreck so it’s a double win for me. I hate to say it, but this female stereotype has existed in comics forever and day now and with so few women working at DC these days, I don't see the problem getting fixed any time soon.
Score – Buy, but the pressure is on for Winick to continueto deliver the controversy.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 – Please don’t let Roy be ajunkie, please don’t let Roy be a junkie, please don’t let Roy be a junkie! Anyways, this book was decent. Only because of the art though. Scott Lobdell’snarration was archaic and formulaic as you could get. There are literally nosurprises from this book and the only reason that it’s even on the radar is becauseStarfire has sex with Red Arrow and it’s explicitly implied that she’s sleptwith Jason Todd and is willing to sleep with anybody really. Sure Lobdellexplains this by saying that to her sex has nothing to do with love and thatshe basically sees humans as smells and sounds so they all look the same toher, but there is the overwhelming fact that she was a strong female lead forDC and is a character that children look up to due to the cartoon shows. Youcan blow it up to the extreme or calling it how it is, Lobdell trying to caterto a fan base that stopped buying comics because they were sexy enough.Remember, Lobdell was hot shit in the 90’s and back then sex sold every comicit could.
Still it’s sad to see Starfire’s role down played to asupporting character for B-list characters. She’s way better than that. Also Lobdellalludes to her past with the Titans and other teams and again this is a classiccherry picked history for DC. What doesn’t make any sense though is that if shecan’t remember all these teams she’s served on then it’s like she has amnesiawhich makes her character even worse. It’s like we all know how she’s reallysupposed to act, but she doesn’t and she and everyone else are taking advantageof that. It was just really out of place and again sad to see her character fallso far. Rocafort’s art is amazing though! He’s the best part of the book and Ihope after everyone wises up to Lobdell’s formula and he’s replaced, thatRocafort stays on. I kind of hate the fact that he’s working for one of the “BigTwo”, but he deserves a big book. If this one doesn’t pan out there better findhim something else real quick or I’ll track him down and start pitching himprojects. I’d at least finish my scripts on time *cough* Top Cow *cough*.
Score – Buy… it for the art.
Wonder Woman #1 – You know what would have made this bookbetter? Pants. Seriously that’s all it would have needed. Otherwise we have aGreek Gods inspired story that is actually pretty damn good. Zeus has knockedup an earth dweller and now someone (probably Hera), wants the woman and herunborn child dead. Hermes protects the woman by sending her to WW and fromthere a bigger mystery begins. It’s already started off better than the lastthree Wonder Woman reboots so that’s a very good sign. Also, unlike the JMS runthis book starts off with some action instead of just hammering six issues ofit towards the end of the run. The art is decent I can’t say I’m in love withit. I do like that Chiang can make WW look beautiful and yet powerful at thesame time. That’s something that a lot of artists miss. I do think that he wastrying too hard to not make her look sexy which makes her frame reallyinconsistent at times. She’ll have thick hips and broad shoulders and then she’llalmost look too small in her costume other times. He’s finding his balance I’msure, but for now it looks like effort rather than the natural way he’d like todraw her.
Score – Buy, as long as DC doesn’t interfere with Azzarellothis book is going to be really good.
Supergirl #1 – Please don’t mess up her origin, please don’tmess up her origin, please don’t mess up her origin. YAY! I was very happy withthis book. Finally they cleaned up the mess that was Supergirl and eliminatedall the crap that’s been tagged onto her since bring her back the last time.This story is simple and to the point. Supergirl lands in a big chunk of rockthat hits U.S. soil and goes straight through to Russia. The U.S. chases afterthe space junk and end up finding Supergirl. She doesn’t speak English and they’rein big robots trying to capture her. Needless to say this doesn’t line up withthe last things she remembers. She’s also wearing her graduation suit (nicetouch) and is afraid her mom’s going to kill her. The sun hits her and startscharging her body and she lashes out like anyone that wakes up in a strangeland would do. The battle goes on and on because they won’t stop until she’scaptured and she’s lost and confused and losing control of herself. ThenSuperman says, “Stop” in Kryptonian and she’s calm again.
I’m surprised that everyone didn’t take issue with this bookas well since at the surface level it looks like a man rushing in to save thedamsel in distress, but really it’s not that at all. Supergirl is on a planetthat isn’t her own, no idea what’s happening and suddenly strange people aretrying to capture her. Just when she can’t take anymore she hears her own languageand suddenly everything is okay. It’s not that he’s a man or even Superman, it’sthat it’s her language and for the first time since waking up she experiencessomething she knows and can’t help but take comfort in it. Maybe I read intothe story too deep, but I really enjoyed this book and that’s not something I’vebeen able to say since SG came back into the DCU shortly before InfiniteCrisis. Also I would have liked to have seen her in pants... Just saying.
Score – Buy and I really hope this creative team stays on togive Supergirl a solid foundation that others can’t screw up.
Batman #1 – This book had everything going for it: ScottSnyder on writing and hot off of Detective Comics, Greg Capullo one of the bestnon-mainstream artists in the business and a fresh start. Too bad this book wasalmost as bad as Batman and Robin.Where to begin with this pile of crap... the good: Bruce is a character againand doing things that benefit the city outside of his role as Batman, heactually has technology worthy of him as he creates a virtual Bat-computer totake with him everywhere he goes… that’s about it.
As far as what’s wrong with it? Bruce talk’s way to damnmuch, the scene at the beginning is terrible as Dick pretends to be the Jokerand his face is inspired by the movie. The story sits somewhere in-between theTim Burton movie and Seven and Snyder somehow forgot how to write for JimGordon. My second biggest gripe? That Bruce, Dick, Tim and Damian are all atthe mansion together. It’s just weird and too many younger male characters thatI care nothing for at this point since they’ve had their entire historystripped away. It was as if DC just wanted to show that they were all alive andin Bruce’s life somehow.
My biggest problem with the issue is the art surprisingly. Ilove Capullo’s art, but the inker and colorist Jonathan Glapion makeseverything Capullo does look like a bad cartoon. Nothing looks good and franklyif his name wasn’t on the cover I wouldn’t know that it was Capullo drawing; it’sso disappointing to see such a great artist have his craft neutered by thecolorist. Also if what I hear is true, that Capullo is the one reigning inSnyder who’s being given free control over his story and very little editingthen DC should perhaps edit this book so the artist can do his damn job!Seriously disappointing, I can’t recommend buying it and I’ll probably onlygive it the next issue to improve.
Score – Pass, really bums me out to say that.
Well here’s part one of week three, I’m behind still but I’llprobably catch up so I no longer feel obligated to finish what I’ve started.Then I can just review single issues and actually tackle the entire book. Ofcourse I’ll only be reading about half of the new titles since most of them aredisappointing at best. Also I’ve weighed in on the “controversial” issues so wecan all just move on and get over the fact that middle aged men can’t write forwoman any more than Bendis can write for minorities.
Review: Orchid #1
Orchid comes from the mind of Rage Against the Machine’s front man Tom Morello and this first issue has a grim future that offers little hope. The world has spun out of control and society, although advanced with knowledge has taken a step back to dark days; days when people are traded like cattle and one of the only jobs a woman can find is that of a prostitute. The picture painted to the readers is that of one of despair, but there is an underlining glimmer of a brighter future... somewhere. The story truly opens with the ocean swallowing up the world as we know it and forcing what’s left of humanity to the hills. The world develops and dangerous creatures emerge, but humanity pushes forward. But the high ground becomes the home for the rich and the poor are left to struggle and die. Until one man raised an army against them, it was a valiant effort,but in the end he died as well. Now the poor look at his mask as a symbol of hope and a new group of rebels have stolen the mask to start the uprising anew. Unfortunately they can’t quite escape and are soon captured by the palace guards. As they begin killing the rebels one by one with the very mask they stole, one of them manages to break free and take it over the cliff with them.
There’s quite a bit more of the story, but really I would just be walking you through it page by page. Again it its bleak and what’s scarier is that there is enough real world situations used that this outcome starts to look like a possibility for the future. This first issue may be hopeless, but the way it ends can only lead to a new future and new uprising. Then it will become a matter of the ending, will it be happy and hopeful or will event sin the first issue foreshadow something darker?
Morello does a fine job on his first outing as a comic writer. Since this was an advanced look at the book I don’t have any of the usual writing credits to see if someone was helping on breakdowns. Regardless it’s an interesting story that reminds me a lot of Rob Zombies work in comics. Grim dark worlds where in the end the monsters always seem to win. Hopefully Morello’s story won’t be so transparent and he’ll offer some different twists and turns yet to have been seen from his mind. It's not a new trend to have a musician write a comic and Dark Horse is no stranger to making it work. I'm not going to compare The Umbrella Academy to Orchid, that will be up to other readers to decide if this book can capture as big of an audience.
The art is good and it matches the story. Again it feels looks like the art that usually graces a Rob Zombie book, but that’s a very good thing. There is a good amount of realism in the art that matches the tone and message that Morello is going for, but there is also a supernatural futuristic aspect of the story that the artist nails as well. What was most impressive about the art was how rich and full each page was, it really made this terrible world come to life and all the more chilling because of it.
This book is going to be Dark Horse’s first day and date digital book, but interesting enough they’re offering an incentive to people to buy the book in print for $1 if they pre-order. I don’t know if you actually have to pre-order, but I would say it’s worth looking into. The book, even though devoid of hope, has a lot of interesting aspects to it that if played right could make it one of the stronger series to premier this year in comics.Whether you buy it in print or digital, just know that it’s worth the money either way.
Score: 4/5
Review: Terminator Robocop: Kill Human #2
Alright so this is my first review for Comic Bastards and I've decided to brave this series, because after reading Kevin's review which can be found here, I figured he wouldn't continue. I will admit that I have not seen any Robocop movie (egad!) but I know the story and have had the first movie sitting on my shelf for a while now. On the other hand I love Terminator so seeing this I thought that maybe it could be passable. NO! No this comic sucked! I would rather have eaten glass and listened to Vogon poetry instead! So with the story. Robocop has gone back in time and appears with a loud "FZZZZZZZ" and a large ball of light just as a man was about to be shot. This arrival kills the guy with the gun, with Robo giving a statement for the potential victim to re-evaluate his life or something deep and philosophical like that.
You know that scene in Terminator: Judgement Day where Arnie is using the mini-gun on all those police officers? Well it is at that moment that Robo shows up. The comic also decides to show us flashbacks of almost half of what happened in the previous issue, whilst trying to show us the current events. Robo becomes some whiney little teenager and I just wanted him to get shot. I did not want him to be the protagonist. Robo approaches Arnie and they have such a boring fight and then with some gun Robo blows up Arnie. Sarah and John Connor then run at Robo basically going "WTF?!?!" and then the next part really ticked me off!
I know nothing of the writer Rob Williams so I can't compare this work to any of his previous. Although I can say if this is his standard, why the heck is he in the comic industry!? He comes across as just being a fanboy of the two franchises and that he couldn't believe he was actually writing this project.P.J Holden did the artwork. Again I know nothing of his previous work but man does he suck! Every single bit of art in this comic is disgusting I wanted to squirt lemons into my eyes. Robocop was pouting or standing awkwardly. The depiction of Arnie is ugly! His face is slanted or bulging, I can't exactly tell because I am just so repulsed I don't know what is wrong with it.
Then we get told that the events of Terminator: Judgement Day are going to play out a little differently. No shit! We can already figure that out for ourselves because now frikken Robocop is in the story! Thanks for pointing out the obvious because we're all stupid and would never have noticed.
Dynamite! Stop it! You are a bad boy! Stop it, stop it now! Leave Robocop alone unless you can get a good writer.
I don't care if you are a fan of Dynamite or Robocop or the Terminator. Just do not buy this series because if you do I shall laugh at you and your misfortune! I will not continue to collect this series, not even to review. In fact I am contemplating on burning them or putting the two issues I have through the shredder. Please, please do not buy this series. I am not joking!
Score: 1/5
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Review: Executive Assistant: Iris #4
Okay, so that thing I couldn’t talk about at the end of issue #3… it really happened! This book has got some balls that is for sure. Ina strange way issue #3 also ended that chunk of Iris as this issue sees all of the crossover stories converging into one. The narration is different since our main character is dead and all and what could have been an interesting and strong transition turns out to be pretty shaky.
The story starts off with Villone taking over Diane’s company in the wake of her death. That’s right this rollercoaster just keeps going. That’s literally every executive assistant employer dead now and Villone continues with his master plan. At this point though you have to call bullshit since this guy is taking over company after company and each one has been after a mysterious death. The Feds or someone would be all over this guy and they’re not. At any rate, it becomes clear that Iris is being controlled by a chip and that her actions are not her own. After so many issues of Iris being painted the villain, it’s kind of hard to sympathize with her at this point.
She can feel the chip having less and less effect over her and she knows that Villone is aware of her change of heart. It’s not really clear why he’s aware of it, but he is. He sends her and his other two executive assistants on a mission and things get messy as Iris is counting down the minutes before her betrayal.
This is another, “If this ending sticks, it’s amazing”issues. I have a feeling that this cliffhanger will not simply be what it is though. If you don’t hate Villone yet you should, but not for the right reasons as he’s just one up’ing the other villains of the story. He’s actually only just appeared in the series and though he’s done some messed up things he’s just not to that level of hatred yet. I hate him because he’s an underdeveloped character and nothing he’s doing makes any business sense.
This is another, “If this ending sticks, it’s amazing”issues. I have a feeling that this cliffhanger will not simply be what it is though. If you don’t hate Villone yet you should, but not for the right reasons as he’s just one up’ing the other villains of the story. He’s actually only just appeared in the series and though he’s done some messed up things he’s just not to that level of hatred yet. I hate him because he’s an underdeveloped character and nothing he’s doing makes any business sense.
In general this issue was a good experiment, but the groundwork needed to be laid sooner in the series. Having Iris take over on the narration was a strong shift and it almost made me forget what book I was reading. This issue plus the next come across more like their own two issue mini that wraps up the three issue crossovers and frankly if that had done that it would have worked better. Part of me really liked this book, but I was left with too many questions. How long was Iris under control for? Why should I care that she’s being betrayed? How the hell do they know that she’s swaying from the programing when she is still treading alone as if everything was normal?Just too many plot holes in this issue that I think could have been handled better. Still as far as crossovers go I’m really interested in seeing how this bad boy ends and hopefully it won’t disappoint.
Score: 3/5
Review: Abe Sapien - The Devil Does Not Jest #1
In what’s sure to be the lead up story to Abe’s accident mentioned in B.P.R.D., this tale sees Abe setting off to talk to one of the relatives of his favorite author. Of course the author wrote about demons and abandoned his first family after knocking up a grad student of his, but we all have our interests’ right? This story opens with a chilling scene of Abe and then zips to the past to work its way back. It’s not the most original storytelling, but it’s effective.
Abe is enticed to visit the old house of Garver,the author/professor that Abe respects to see what he was working on before disappearing from the public’s eye. He and the grandson of Garver arrive at the house to visit the only other remaining family member, an uncle. Upon entering the house the Uncle instantly kills his nephew and Abe is forced to gun him down. He calls in the homicide to the local PD and stays and waits for them. When the officer arrives he takes Abe’s gun and starts to process the crime scene. That is until something begins moving from behind a door in front of the two dead men. The officer heads down the long hallway ordering Abe to stay put, but soon Abe is the only one left to figure out what’s going on in this crazy ass house.
This is another one of those books that I find it hard to say something new about the writing team, since I’ve talked about them at lengths already. Believe it or not Mignola and John Acrudi still make a great writing team and continue to create an interesting universe full of monsters.At this point I have to say if you don’t like their storytelling and writing styles then you’re not ever going to, but if you like them you’ll continue reading. Also if you’ve never read anything by them, then definitely give it a shot. That’s really all you can say about the writing at this point.Something I can give fresh prospective about is the art,having never seen James Harren’s art before I was really taken in by it. Harren has a great style that looks a bit like Locke& Key from IDW, but colored by Dave Stewart it has that tone and feel of the Hellboy-verse. Harren does a great job of not only drawing action scenes, but just setting up the panels in interesting ways to look at. A great example is a panel in which Abe is curious by what he’s hearing and has turned his head. The way the panel is set up makes you turn your head to look at Abe and this device is effective at emerging the reader into the story.
I’ve always said that I never read too much B.P.R.D. and what little I did, I quickly discovered that I wasn’t a big fan of Abe’s. I just never got into his character and so I wasn’t expecting much from this issue. Fortunately, Abe and company didn’t care about me liking them and delivered a great story that heavily connects to the bigger stories happening throughout the Hellboy-verse.If you’ve been digging Hellboy and B.P.R.D. then picking up this book is a no-brainer.
Score: 3/5
Review: Ghostbusters #1
Part of me wanted to cringe when I saw this re-launch; half of it was because it was another adaptation from the 80’s and the other half because it was following the look and attitudes of the movies rather than the comics. Surprisingly it was actually pretty good and worth picking up. Sure it didn’t knock it out of the park like TMNT did, but it’s a far better adaptation then other companies are doing that’s for sure.
Ordinarily I would walk you through the story, but what is going to stand out to everyone that picks this book up is the art. The art is not my cup of tea. It’s trying to do a cartoony version of the movies and frankly I’m not a fan of it. The exaggerated features are distracting and make the world look fake and unrealistic. The thing about Ghostbusters is that even though it’s dealing with the supernatural and has comedic moments, it’s still grounded in the real world and that’s why it works. By having cartoonish art; it breaks that, especially since the story has a very serious tone. Dan Schoening is a good artist, but he was not the right choice for this book which is why I’m curious to see how it’s received by others.
As for the story, it begins with a dream sequence which I really hate. We’re inside the mind of Ray and all of the Ghostbusters are on a talk show hosted by Ja’nine. The dream is use to recap the personalities and backgrounds of each of the Busters and although it’s effective, anyone that’s watched either of the movies, played the video game, read the previous comics or watched the countless cartoon versions, will find themselves waiting until this chunk of story finally ends. The dream ends with Ray talking to the ghost of John Belushi dress as a Blues Brother. I’m sure someone is excited by this; frankly I found it to be in poor taste.
After the extended opening, were taken to the present in which the Busters are business as usual. They’re still considered heroes, but business is kind of slow because people don’t want to pay them anymore. The actual interesting part of this story came in the mini-story at the end of the issue that saw the return of a character from the first movie. I really liked the angle that it added to the story and that’s what hooked me for the next issue.
If you like Ghostbusters and can overlook the art then pick this puppy up. If you’re kind of tired of 80’s adaptations regardless of who’s doing them, the feel free to pass. The story is decent, but so far it hasn’t shown that it’s going to revolutionize the Ghostbusters and frankly anything that it does will just be erased by the next company to take a stab at the series. The books getting a pretty low score, but that’s not just due to the issues I took with the book it's because this isn’t a very strong adaptation it’s hard to say that it’s for everyone. Ghostbusters is already a niche series; add the fact that it’s in comic form with cartoon images and it’s difficult to say that this is for everyone.
Score: 2/5
Review: X-Men Schism #1
Let me just say that I’m not a fan of Jason Aaron’s writing.I bought the first twelve issues of Scalped and didn’t read them until I had all twelve in hand. Then I sat down and read them and by issue five I knew I would never buy this book again. It wasn’t for me. Perhaps I’ve read too much or just was jaded by from too many comics.Maybe and just maybe it’s because he writes in the most obvious way possible. Scalped didn’t surprise me once and yet all I heard about it was how different it was and you never knew where it was going next. Maybe that’s would be true if you hadn’t read another comic in your life. The same thing happened on Wolverine,I bought the first six issues (month to month) and after each issue I was left wondering why no one else could see what Aaron was doing. With Schism I was already unimpressed by it just from the announcement that it was coming. I find it interesting that the editors are actually saying that this is the event that they’ve been building to since Messiah boring Complex. After all those hoops and muddled story lines the end result is X-Men Gold and Blue again? Hello 90’s, we’ve officially returned. That’s all I could think of while reading this book.
The story begins with Logan showing up on Utopia with arrows and throwing stars sticking out of his body. He’s greeted by the new generation of mutants led by Hope, who stands ready for combat training. He tells them to piss off in the nicest way possible, but not before lecturing one of them about playing with dolls rather than combat training. He lies down to “sleep for three days”when Cyclops shows up at his door and tells him he needs him. Logan gets up and gets dressed even though he has a hilarious sign on his door that says “Do not disturb or you’ll be stabbed multiple times.” The best part is that Cyclops came to his room to find him and then asked him if he was supposed to be at combat training. P.S. Cyclops wrote the schedule that put Wolverine at combat training.
The next boring batch of scenes has Cyclops at the UN giving a speech on the world’s nations disarming their Sentinel programs. Kid Omega aka Quentin Quire shows up and makes the entire UN tell the truth. For that they sick some Sentinel’s on Cyke and Patch and they remark on how jacked up it is that someone brought Sentinel’s to a speech about disarming Sentinel’s. From this one-act every nation starts showing off their Sentinel’s that they have in hiding even though the entire mutant population lives off the coast of San Francisco. Then Wolverine buys the girl from before a doll. Actually he makes Kitty buy the damn thing and he gives it to her. P.S. the girl is fourteen and probably isn’t thinking about dolls anymore any ways (granted I know that's not the point). My point is that the use of the doll is outdated and not as forward thinking as the rest of the story is pretending to be. You can't have a relic concept of girls with dolls and then have your version of necular disarming at the same time. One of those concepts ends up looking rather silly.
If you don’t see where this story is going then you don’t deserve to know. This “big event” is so transparent that it’s not even funny. I can’t even in good nature call it a “big event”, because there’s nothing new here. It’s just recycled story lines from Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly. Literally Aaron and (I’m assuming) the editors, have taken the table scraps form those two runs and put them on the same plate; and that color of that plate? Blue and Gold.
This series may already be on the fourth issue, but I don’t seethe point of reading anymore. I already know what happens and Marvel’s marketing machine wouldn’t let you not know, even if I wanted. The biggest problem I had with this book was that Cyclops and Wolverine got along really well. It’s completely against their characters since they’ve always butted heads;it’s what kept each character in line. But here… they’re friends and I find that less believable than the entire world armed with Sentinels. I do still agree with everything Aaron said about Alan Moore though, even if I don’t like his writing he’s still right in that regard.
Score: 2/5
Writer: Jason Aaron Publisher: Marvel Comics
WTF Review: The Bionic Man #1
I wasn’t a huge fan of Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet, but I did enjoy it for the most part so when the same team was tapped for The Bionic Man I was instantly interested. What I got was basically the exact same problems that arose in Green Hornet: a halfway decent story with a new take on an old idea, with a character that no one can possible like in real life because they speak like a child 90% of the time.At its core the story is just Green Lantern minus the space protector angle, otherwise everything fits: Best pilot ever, bravest man ever, chronically late for work due to sex, problems with superior officers, etc, etc. That’s all that Smith and company have done is transplant Hal Jordon onto Steve Austin and given him the mind of a twelve-year old boy.
The story isn’t bad actually, it’s very predictable, but that’s kind of how these tragic beginning stories have to be. You can’t have someone say, “We can rebuild him” if there’s no reason to. In a nutshell the story goes like this. Mystery man breaks into a lab and steals a chip and a new arm and he looks a lot like the guy on the cover until you see his jacked up face. The next day Austin is late for the final flight of the new prototype plane he’s been testing. While he’s late everyone talks about how great he is and basically tugs one-off about him. We meet Steve, he’s an idiot. He shows up for the flight and everything on this plane goes wrong… even though this is supposed to be the final testing of the plane before it goes into production and then cliffhanger!
The reason this book falls into the WTF category is for Steve’s dialog alone. Everything he says is ridiculous and the funny part is that no one and I mean no one acknowledges anything he says. Here’s an example,but let me set the stage for you. Steve has just had his prostate examined before flying on his final test flight. Why you ask? I have no fucking clue.Doctor: How often am I going to see you now that you’releaving the good life behind?
Steve: With that fat retirement health plan the government’sproviding? Try once every twenty years.
Doctor: I’ll miss you, Steve (they shake hands) It’s alwaysa pleasure being your physician.
Steve: ew… this was the hand, wasn’t it?
Doctor: Tear a new one in the sky, Austin.
Now if that doesn’t hit you the first time then read it again. First off all Steve basically tells the Doctor he’s never seeing him again and the Doctor just says, “Yeah we had fun.” Then Steve asks if that was the hand up his bum and the Doctor tells him to tear the sky a new one? I’ve read this scene four times and the dialog makes no sense and that’s Steve’s dialog the entire time, completely out of sync with everyone else.
The sad part is the book is not half bad, but Dynamite didn’t want to strip Smith’s script for the story alone, no they needed the dick jokes. I’ll say that I’m curious enough to read the second issue, but only to see if there are more ridiculous scenes like the one I’ve pointed out here. Hell this is the first WTF Review to receive a half way decent score; that says something right?
Score: 3/5
Mountain Meet Mole Hill: Stop Killing Babies!
You know what's becoming a real world problem and shaping the minds of the youth of tomorrow? Baby killing! First we had the Ultimate Red Skull holding guns to a baby's head.
Then we have the jerk throwing the baby out the window!
After this chilling scene I'm sure that the youth of tomorrow will grow up and have kids and just start throwing them out windows!
Now we have a baby exploding in Demon Knights #1.
Can you believe this! Kids are going to grow up and have to choose from throwing a baby out the window or blowing it up with witchcraft! Insane what comics are teaching kids today. What's that? Woman's rights and sexism? ...Those are a thing of the past, we don't need to deal with those anymore. We need to deal with people who aren't spending any energy on babies dying in comics due to unnatural circumstances because that's the real issue, right Bleeding Cool?
We can very easily change the way that people view and treat women in our society, but baby killing... that's a battle we'll never win if comics keep up this pace of one baby death a year. At this rate we'll be lighting them on fire or putting them in cute Cupid diapers with bows and arrows, just terrible! So please let's all spend a lot of time weighing in on how disturbing it is when a baby explodes. Although, I have it on good authority that that baby in Demon Knights #1 killed another baby and that's why a demon was able to posses him so maybe the little bastard had it coming.
The New 52: Week 2 - Part 1
I know everyone has already run around talking about what they thought of the second week of the release and sure everyone’s now talking about the third week, but we were a little busy reading and talking about something other than DC and all of its critical darlings. Still, I’ve got an opinion about the issues I’ve read thus far and instead of the grueling process of reviewing them all at once we’re splitting them up. Frankly it’s less to write and read in one sitting and we can all agree by now that is a good thing. Too bad DC didn’t take this in to consideration when doing its scheduling. If you need a recap of the first week you can read that here. The grading is simple, it’s either Buy or Pass and nothing in-between so let’s get started.
Batwoman #1
How the hell can they call this a relaunch title? We all know that this has been sitting in the can for six months due to“delays” and all they did was change a couple of lines of dialog and slapped a one on the cover. The story was boring, the art was decent and Black Mask was the only thing interesting about this title. This series will not make it because it only appeals to a niche group of DC readers that will support it to the end of time, but it never grows outside of that niche. Also Batwoman as a character is flat and uninteresting. Is this book even needed when you have Babs as Batgirl again? Answer: No.
Score: Pass, I’m 50/50 on this books survival.
Legion Lost #1
Here’s the thing about the Legion, it worked in the 70’s and 80’s because DC’s continuity was so jacked up they could pull a Back to the Future and screw around with crap. But DC’s launched a brand spanking new continuum so I have no idea what they would fuck it up by having the Legion exist. The Legion always shows up and pretty much writes out the future for DC and guess what? It makes the DCU cheesy and predictable. Well this book is no different; except the Legion finally has costumes that aren’t stuck in the 70’s and this particular batch have been trapped in the past. It’s not interesting, it’s not new and Pete Woods’s art can’t save it. I hope this book is cancelled and the Legion is just forgotten about since they’re archaic characters and terrible storytelling devices. I can’t express how much this book annoyed me and how little the story did. Just terrible and not what DC should have done for a reboot.
Score: Pass, fuck the Legion.
Batman and Robin #1
Prior to this book, we’ve had Batman show up in three different comics. In each one he’s been younger and bit more inexperienced. This issue makes him an old man again. Not only does he still have a son, but this issue 100% acknowledges all of the previous Robin’s and Dick’s time as Batman… here’s the problem with that: Justice League, Action Comics, Green Arrow and basically every other book has acknowledged that this is the start of the superheroes in that world. Meaning that even though some books are set in the very beginning and others ahead in the future, they’re all still starting new. By having this sordid past still exist for Batman you completely change everything and basically screw up the timeline. Aside from that this issue is pretty terrible and showed that there are too many Bat books in the reboot. Tomasi writes Batman as that guy that shows up without a girlfriend to a couples hang out and tries to impress everyone else’s significant other with his sensitivity, but every knows he’s just a douche. You sir have made Batman a douche. Also Damian isn’t even annoyingly cool anymore, he’s just annoying. I remember the art being okay…yay!
Score: Pass, look at that three in a row!
Deathstroke #1
I liked it. I felt that was important to say straight from the beginning. Deathstroke is still a bad-ass, but the world doesn’t know he’s a bad-ass. He’s considered over the hill even though he takes crazy missions and always gets the job done. His handler sets him up with a young team of killers at his employers request and Deathstroke is none too pleased. Kyle Higgins nails Deathy perfectly and all he did was kept him the same. What he did was eliminate the crap from his past that always had him looking stupid. No more Titans business or fretting about his children, he just kills. I always thought it was out of character for him to care so much about his kids when he more than likely was just going to produce another. This was one of the first books I really liked and hopefully fans of Deathy’s last series will latch onto this one and keep it going.
Score: Buy!
Superboy #1
Have you seen the new Young Justice cartoon? Then you know Superboy’s origin! This book seemed more like what I call an “editor’s book” in which the editorial team has more control over the content than the creative team. They’re just there to write the script they want and be the name on the cover. Lobdell does a decent job with it and the new angle for Connor is interesting since he’s not constantly worrying about being a clone and feeling inferior to Superman, but it’s not his best work. You can tell that this story is very neutered and that’s a shame. Still better than the last series though, that was an utter piece of shit. The art is good, but I can see it getting really sloppy and loose if the deadlines get tighter.
Score: Pass. Better than the last series, but still not worth the money.
Resurrection Man #1
This book has two things going for it,an awesome premise and strong creative team. Unfortunately neither of those two things turned out to be very good which is a shame. I missed out on the original Resurrection Man series, but always heard how cool and interesting it was. This series is basically just an escaped soul from Heaven or Hell finds its way back into its body after each death and has a new power after each resurrection. The power basically helps them out of that current situation so they can stumble on to their next seemingly coincidental mission. Abnett and Lanning have become formula writers and basically deliver the same goods they always do. There was nothing exciting about this book and that really bummed me out. I expected them to come with a fresh angle to their first DC book, but instead I got the whole “Heaven and Hell fighting over this soul” bit and I can’t even begin to be interested in it. I’ll give it another shot, but I’m not expecting much.
Score: Buy, for now.
Well there you have it for this first set. I’ll keep pumping them out so long as I don’t blow my brains out from reading essentially the same story over and over again. I hate origin stories and that’s all these first issues have been so far which is too bad really. Stay tuned for part 2!
The New 52: Week 2 - Part 2
I sat down this weekend thinking that I would get through the rest of week 2 and week 3, but I only managed week 2. There was some highlights and much better than part 1 for sure, but still plenty of room for improvement. House rules apply so let’s get going on this already I’m tired of talking about DC. I looked at that thing on her left for an hour before I realized it was the shark inside...
Suicide Squad #1
This was interesting, but I hope it getsbetter. I like how they train them, even if I’ve seen it done a before in spymovies, it worked for the place setting and made the Suicide Squad interestingagain. Harley Quinn was completely lack luster and frankly the new look sucks.I think there could have been a better way of updating her old costume ratherthan dying her hair purple. I liked Deadshot and hopefully they don’t make himwhine about his kid every five minutes like they did before. It made me wantthe kid to die and that’s no way to make someone feel. Decent all around and we’llhave to see if it can survive, but I think it has a market for sure.
Score: Buy
Mister Terrific #1
It was decent, but again needs work. Ilike that they actually put a fucking hero on the West Coast rather thanshoving them all in fictional cities and New York. The first story arc seemsambitious and I’m not a big fan of stories that brag about how much the maincharacter has built and done only to destroy it by the end of the issue. Itdoesn’t make me sympathize with them it just feels like a waste of my time.Also I’m pretty sure British people don’t have candid conversations aboutpeople’s butts with one another when they’re strangers. On that note, I don’tthink I want to know that Mister Terrific has a nice butt to begin with. Istill enjoyed the book and hope that Eric Wallace can find his groove with thisstory the way he did with Titans. Outof all of the books thus far, this was one of the few I really enjoyed whilereading it since it changed how it handled the origin story making itrefreshing.
Score: Buy
Demon Knights #1
Here it is the first book that I actuallyenjoyed and didn’t have the slightest clue as to what was going on! It was new,it was fresh and it used characters I was familiar with in a different and newway! It’s everything I wanted from a reboot! Paul Cornell takes some of DC’sbiggest throw away characters and throws them all together in a way thestrangely makes sense and it is a joy to read. Loved the art, the story andjust the freshness of the ideas in the book and honestly I wish DC and othercreative teams had tried to be more like this book and less like… well how theyare.
Score: Buy, buy and buy again!
Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1
I see what you’redoing here and I’m not sure if I like it. Jeff Lemire is a good writer, but Ithink he’s better off doing his own stuff than playing in the DCnU. Superboywas a bust, Animal Man was tolerable and now we have another Morrison heavycharacter with Frankenstein. This book was one part S.H.E.I.L.D., one partHowling Commandoes (the monster squad version) and then the rest wasFrankenstein. I liked some of it, didn’t care about the rest of it and couldsee at least two potential future story arcs of “trouble” waiting to happenwhich I didn’t care for. Everything in the book was pretty obvious and thatmakes for a boring read. Hopefully DC will let Lemire just take off with thebook and we can get a solid twelve issues before it’s cancelled and six of themwill be amazing.
Score: Buy for now.
Red Lanterns #1
I liked this book a lot, it wasn’tperfect, but then what first issue is? My biggest beef with this issue is thatit and the rest of the Green Lantern universe are continuing right where theyleft off. I guess DC took the approach of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”with a few of the books, but it really defeats the point of Justice Leagueacting as the catalyst for the new universe. At any rate the creative team onthis book is very solid as Peter Milligan is a welcomed voice to the GLsection. Benes shows that he can draw something other than women which waseveryone’s biggest fear with him on the title. This is a good book for him ashe can finally prove himself as a growing artist and not get pigeon holeddrawing sexy babes like several other artists have. I’m 50/50 on this bookpicking up right where the last issue of Green Lantern left off, but we’ll seeif they can make it work. Right now it seems like we’ve got two universes goingwhich seems to be a problem that DC just isn’t willing to fix.
Score: Buy!
Grifter #1
I’ve never been that familiar with Grifter so Ireally took this opportunity to jump on board with this book. It didn’t hurtthat it had writer Nathan Edmondson on it either and I’m a big fan of hiscreator-owned work. That being said, I wasn’t nuts about everything in thisissue, but I was thankful as hell that it wasn’t just a boring origin issue. Itgives you enough to get the story going and then in Edmondson fashion, you’rebrought along on a mystery to unveil the rest of the origin. It’s a decentstory, but I think the next issue will be far better. Cafu’s art was great andif any other artist tackled this book they wouldn’t have done the storyjustice. It’s clear that the creative team isn’t quite in sync yet, but whenthey get there it’s going to be great.
Score: Buy!
Green Lantern #1
I have had the rare opportunity to buy two Green Lantern #1’s in my life time now and really I don’t see the point.This issue is just Green Lantern # 68, it doesn’t miss a beat at all which is a damn shame since the last story arc made a big mess of everything; a big uninteresting mess that is. The only interesting thing that Johns does in this issue is show that Hal has distanced himself from Humanity too much, but then you have to remember that it was Johns that did that too him in the first place. The story has potential, but it is nowhere near as good as Green Lantern#1 back when Hal was first brought back from the dead. Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the first book that returns to its original numbering after fan realize they’re still lost from the last series and that nothing is new with this book at all. Real shame too since it could have made new seeds for a new future threat the way Alan Moore did back in the day. Instead we’re just treading water waiting for something interesting to float by.
Score – Buy for now, but really be preparing to drop it when Johns gets too busy to write anymore.
Well there you have it that’s week 2 and I have to say it wasn’t that exciting. In fact I think the excitement is wearing off as fans can buy the books in stores and don’t want them digitally. For me this shit is starting to feel like a chore to get done each week. Oh well, I’ll press on to week three before number four can hit.
This Kicks All Kinds of Ass: Batman Arkham City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QoWgrcoGAaQ Listen I know you're a smart sophisticated comic fan that has other interest other than comics. Perhaps video games that incorporate comic characters? Maybe a small little unknown title by the name of Batman: Arkham City.
Hands down the best Joker performance of all time belongs to Mr. Mark Hamill. This trailer does an exceptional job of giving you a little tidbit of that magical performance. I've seen a lot of hype for this game ( adding Catwoman, Robin, Deadshot, ect.) but I can honestly say this was the first trailer that struck a nerve a got me stoked and thinking, "Arkham City, day one."
Review: Frank Miller's Holy Terror
Frank Miller’s newest work mixes the world of superheroes with deep political, religious and social commentary. At its core the book is a love story admits one of the worst nights in human history or just Batman beating Al-Qaeda ass. Fans of Miller’s art work are in for a treat as the book is full of his unique style made famous by Sin City and 300. The real question is, can Holy Terror live up to the hype that inevitably surrounds any new Frank Miller work but especially one of this magnitude? The story begins with a chase; a cat burglar has made off with a diamond necklace and is now being stalked by the masked vigilant The Fixer. Her name is Natalie and this isn’t the first time her and the Fixer have done this song and dance. He catches up to her and they begin beating the shit out of each other, and then embrace for a kiss before returning to the fight and shouting about how much they hate one another. As they give in to each other’s attractions they are suddenly over taken by an explosion of nails. One nail goes through Natalie’s leg and the Fixer grabs her and gets them both out of harm’s way.
It becomes clear that the city is under attack by terrorists and the Fixer is none too happy about it. They head out to find someone to murder and low and behold they come across a rooftop full of Al-Qaeda. They make quick work of the group with the exception of one; they keep him to torture and try to get as much info out of him as possible. Unfortunately, he’s been trained to withstand torture so they don’t get much out of him other than the remote detonator he has on him. They throw him off the roof then hit the button blowing him to pieces. It’s been a busy night already, but it’s going to get worse before it gets better as the attempt to clear the terrorists out of the city.
If you’re expecting anything resembling Frank Miller’s previous works then the only place you’ll find it is in the artwork and storytelling style. Miller’s story is rich with social commentary as he basically calls out numerous subjects from religion to political and he’s does it all with Batman. Sure the main character is called the Fixer, but you can’t look at him and not see Batman. You can’t look at Natalie and not see Catwoman and you sure as hell can’t look at his cop friend Dan and not see young Jim Gordon and Miller isn't trying to hide it. Even still, Miller manages to make the characters introduced in the story believable and stand on their own as they take on the worse night of their lives.
This book doesn’t back down for a minute and frankly some are going to be turned off by this story. It takes a hard look at the United States under attack from within, but from a very different way than 9/11 when down. That’s one of the things that Miller does right is that he creates his own terror unleashed on the world rather than try to use real world events to drive his commentary. It was a smart move since one of his goals with the story is to show what real terror can do to someone. This is a stunning tribute to 9/11 in a way only a comic book can be and told in a way only Miller could.
Artistically Miller has grown; the technique for the book is very much that of Sin City, but with a unique look of its own. Miller intentionally clutters the page with extra lines to give the book a different tone and atmosphere than his previous works. He manages to make the book look real even down to the superhero costumes. The art is very balanced keeping a consistent look throughout with very few scenes that reverse the contrast to predominately black or white. It’s great to see Miller’s style continuing to grow as it shows his longevity in the business.
I really don’t know how this book will be received by others. Will it get a free pass because it’s Frank Miller or will there be a backlash as he grows as an artist and storyteller in front the public’s eye. One thing is for sure though, this book is almost guaranteed to be a critical darling and garnish the respect of Miller’s peers in the comic industry, but let’s hope it’s because of what the book accomplishes and not because of the creators name alone.
Will I be picking up Holy Terror when it’s released for purchase? I most certainly will. It is book worth reading, worth owning and most of all worth experiencing for one’s self before passing judgement. Most importantly, if you find yourself offended... then good. At the very least Miller has made you think, feel and consider something that you hadn't before.
Score: 5/5
Writer/Artist/Creator: Frank Miller Publisher: Legendary Pictures
Art Friday: The Awesomeness
It's Friday and so we're bringing you a bunch of awesome art found on the net. It's also our 200th post so hey double awesome! I'm not able to sit and write the credits out to all of these artist without fear of unemployment so if you know who they are re-post the image and credit in the comments. Otherwise enjoy!
Interview: Jeremy Barlow Writer of 'Kult'
Welcome to Comic Bastards very first interview! We had the opportunity to talk to Jeremy Barlow, writer of Dark Horse Comics Kult, Metalocalypse and many other things that we'll cover in the interview itself. So sit back, or hunch forward in your chair and enjoy our first interview of the site! Comic Bastards) Obviously the Kult is your big project right now, but what did you work on leading up to Kult?
Jeremy Barlow) For Dark Horse I've scripted Dethklok/Metalocalypse, some Dungeon Siege webcomics, and I've written a few Star Wars graphic novels. Earlier this year my friend Dustin Weaver and I did a short story in Image Comics' Outlaw Territory II anthology, called "They'll Bury You Where You Stand!" which was as much a horror piece as it was a western.I'm doing more in that vein from here on out.
CB) Kult seems inspired by the Matrix at the surface level, is that accurate?What other influences did you have while crafting the idea for the series?
JB)Yeah, Kult and The Matrix share some thematic overlap, but its hard separate which inspired the other. The Kult RPG predates The Matrix by several years, and I have no idea if the Wachowskis had encountered it prior to making their movie, but I encountered their movie before writing the series so it's all cyclical.
Nods to The Matrix are intentional, but with the aim of subverting the expectations that those allusions create. Neo's path follows the classic Hero's Journey, and I wanted to turn that on its head and ask, what if the person chosen for a grand destiny was the last man on Earth anyone would want to see achieve it?
Clive Barker's Hellraiser and The Great and Secret Show are other obvious influences. I'm also a huge fan of psychological horror films of the 60's and 70's -- Dario Argento's Deep Red, Nicholas Roeg's Don't Look Now,for example -- and I aimed for that same mood and sense of dreadful inevitability that those movies share. What works so well in that medium is challenging to do in comics, but we gave it a good shot.
CB) Both your artist (Iwan Nazif) and cover artist (Jake Murray) are new to comics, what was it like working with a new artist talent and how did you approach the partnership?
JB) It was fantastic. Jake's covers really sell the series, don't they? Dark Horse editors Dave Marshall and Brendan Wright assembled Iwan, Jake, and I as a team, and because Iwan lives out of the country and doesn't speak English, my interactions with him were limited. Brendan and Dave were great mediators, though, and were able to communicate ideas back and forth. Despite the distance and language barrier it felt very collaborative -- much more so than the usual work-for-hire situation.
CB) The third issue of Kult will be out next month, what can you tell us about it in the meantime?
JB) The screws tighten on our protagonist Tomas Zenk. So far he's been told that the great machine that's enslaved humanity has chosen him as its next ruler, and he's rejected that fate completely and tried to remove himself from the equation. In the third chapter he'll experience the ramifications of forcing reality to rebuild around his absence and the price his precious family has paid for it. It'll be the turning point in his journey, when he realizes that wielding the power he's been given elevates him beyond those that both want to help and destroy him. His world view was already dark to begin with, but we'll see what happens when the world begins conforming to him instead of the other way around.
If that's too heady,there are also some exploding heads, psychological water torture scenes, and visceral monster attacks. Fun for everyone!
CB) I see that you’ve worked on a few licensed products, which has been your favorite to work on?
JB) I've been fortunate to work on some great properties with some great people, but the best was Metalocalypse. I was a huge fan of the show before getting the gig, to the point go being freaked out and worried that I couldn't live up to it once I landed the job. Those characters are so well-defined and hilarious that once things got rolling it almost wrote itself. I'd write a hundred more issues if they let me.
CB) Are there a lot of extra hoops to jump through when writing a license product compared to your own material?
JB) There are different hoops, for sure. Again, I've been lucky to work with people like Randy Stradley at Dark Horse and Lucas film's Sue Rostoni on the Star Wars books and the long relationship between those companies is such that all the kinks have been worked out. If you turn in a tight outline, and if you make any adjustments they ask for at that stage and then stick to them through the scripting, it's smooth sailing.
The nightmare licensed projects are the custom jobs, when you're working for a corporate client's advertising department, which is often full of people who like comics but have no idea what goes into making them. If you're not careful about the wording in your contract, you can get stuck in a frustrating loop of constant, contradictory revisions. Those jobs do tend to pay better, though, so it all depends on what your patience can handle.
The hardest part of working on creator-owned material, on the other hand, is making time for it in-between the paying jobs, and then convincing an editor or publisher to put their faith in you. Though the Internet is the great equalizer nowadays, and doing original comics digitally is becoming the way to go. I'm still figuring it all out.
CB) In the case of Dethklok, how did you go about capturing the characters unique voices?
JB) Like I said, because those characters are each so distinct and well-defined, it was easy. You spend enough time with them and you know exactly how they'd act or respond in any given situation. Show creator Brendan Small put it best in a recent interview when he said (and I'm paraphrasing), the fun of those character comes not from the fact that they're a bunch of nihilists, but that they're somewhat sensitive guys who think they're nihilists. It's genius.
CB) When you write, do you listen to music and if so what do you play?
JB) When I'm plotting or outlining, I often have to work in silence. Something about figuring out what happens needs deeper focus and a quiet house. When I'm scripting scenes and writing dialogue -- executing how it happens --I'll have music on, and will either play something that fits the mood of the story (upbeat for action or high drama) or something soft to keep me rolling and from getting too stressed about the deadline I'm probably bumping up against.So I alternate between metal and classic jazz. Seriously. I get stuck on certain bands, too, and will shuffle a discography for weeks at a time. Right now I'm completely in love with the British band Elbow.
CB) What’s one question that you hate to be asked?
JB) "How does one break into comics?" It's not a bad question to ask yourself, if making comics for a living is what you want to do. You have to chart a path and stick to it,for sure. Too often though the person asking that question in an interview or at a convention isn't asking for wisdom or guidance, they're looking for a shortcut when there isn't one. Doing anything professionally requires a lot of focus and hard work. You have to grind it out, just like everyone else --there's no way around that, no matter how hard you try not to try hard.
CB) Last question and it’s from left field. Do you prefer Batman (1989) or Batman Begins (2005)?
Ha! I've never had to choose. Hm. Nolan's version is outstanding, but based on its weirdness, its endless quotability, and that I saw it about ten times in the theater at a tender age, I have to go with Burton's Batman. If Liam Neeson had, at any point, shouted "This town needs an enema!" or "And where is the Batman? He's at home, washing his tights!" I'd have given Batman Begins the edge. But, alas.
We'd like to thank Jeremy for taking the time to talk to us and Dark Horse Comics for helping arrange the interview. If you like what you read and want to check out Jeremy's projects then stop by his website www.jeremybarlow.com and be sure to tell him we sent you!
Review: Executive Assistant: Violet #3
Of all of the Executive Assistant titles, Violet really never grabbed me. I liked the concept and it was again different from the other titles, but something about it made me hard to latch onto it. Maybe it was the whole “mother who used to be an executive assistant” angle that I didn’t care for. But with all of the crossovers from the “Hit List Agenda” wrapping up, I couldn’t resist giving this book another shot to impress me and I’m glad that I did. This book, the one I barely paid attention too ended up tying into the Iris series the most! The issue begins with Violet holding a gun on her employer, the spoiled movie star turned CEO of a multi-billion dollar company. We see our bad guy of the series Villone make another appearance as he’s tries to kill yet another business partner. Villone goes on a James Bond villain speech about how he tricked the spoiled brat into killing his own father just so that he could ruin the company. Then he would buy up all the stock and gain control of it for its factories… to save money on building his own of course! It’s the lamest part of the book and I kind of had to roll my eyes and just accept everything they were rambling on about.
The good stuff comes in the way of action as Violet manages to break free from the chip and go on a killing spree! She hasn’t quite evened the score, but it’s a start. She’s pegged for the murder of her employer and forced into hiding. As she makes it to her mother’s house she finds that Villone has sent goons there already. Little do they know that Violet’s mama is one bad mother… shut your mouth! At any rate, Violet and Mama suit up to save her old fiancé before going after Villone.
Was this book perfect? Nope, but it was actually pretty enjoyable; I really thing that a lot of the dialog and narration could have been cut out and wouldn’t have damaged the story in the least bit. My second time through the issue I found myself only needing to skim the dialog and really just enjoy the action and gun play. I would definitely say that too much dialog and narration hurt the issue and it’s something writer Marc Andreyko needs to work on.
The art by Pop Mahn is really good and consistent. He’s the first artist to get to draw some of the other EA’s and he makes them recognizable with his own style. The only thing Mahn seemed to struggle with was the faces of the characters. Especially during intense moments the faces seem to change constantly. This is particularly noticeable with Villone’s character as his forehead grew and shrank from the beginning of the issue.
I really didn’t expect to enjoy this book, sure I’ve liked all the other mini’s and have struggled with Iris. But this title really didn’t interest me and started seem like one too many tie-ins. This last issue though really saves the series and does a great job of leading back into issue four of Iris. I think this is one of the best handled crossovers in comics and because of that I’m really looking forward to the outcome.
Score: 3/5
Artisitc! Rafael Grampa
I don't really need to say just how awesome Rafael's art is, but I will. I will definitely be checking out his creator owned series as well since it looks just as stunning. If you want more of Rafael's art check out his blog.
Finally A Cover I Can Agree With
It's like someone at Marvel finally looked at Wolverine's over-saturation and realized what every comic fan already knows... Wolverine sucks. What little coolness he had has been gone for decades! I don't know what punk motherfucking mutant that is, but he's my new favorite mutant. At least until I read the issue.
Why In The Hell Not? Embryonic Superheroes
Once it has been seen, it can't be unseen! Can you guess them all? I can't because that means I have to look at them. Which is something I can't handle. What I'm trying to say is that these are gross.