Raien's reviews

Raien · Raien's reviews

Hello everyone. My real name is James Hurvid and I'm hoping to become a regular reviewer starting today. I've got three reviews to start with and I'm hoping to post reviews for the main Ultimate Universe on-going series in a week's time.

Grant Morrison’s New X-Men – Series Review

Back in 2000, Marvel offered long-term writer Grant Morrison a chance to take the X-Men comic book series in a bold new direction for new readers. Morrison accepted, and with the help of some sexy new uniforms (or so the back of the book tells me), New X-Men went on to win won numerous awards. The series kicked off in 2001 alongside Mark Millar’s Ultimate X-Men, who also had the brilliant idea of sexy new uniforms for new readers. But unlike Ultimate X-Men, which was part of a brand new Marvel timeline, Grant Morrison did not reset the X-Men continuity with New X-Men, so make sure you brush up on your X-Men history if you decide to pick this up (the 1990s television series is as good as anything, mind you). I read this series through the three Ultimate Collection books.

New X-Men begins with a new villain, Cassandra Nova, who I have since begun to regard as the second best X-Men villain since Magneto. Cassandra is a character almost literally from the Twilight Zone; a bald, wrinkled woman with an uncanny resemblance to Professor Xavier. Her freaky, unnatural presence is felt almost immediately in the first issue, and is intensified until her defeat at the end of the first Ultimate Collection book. Cassandra’s first act is to employ Sentinels to destroy the mutant island nation of Genosha, killing 16 million mutants and Magneto, which sets the tone for the rest of Morrison’s run.

In the world of New X-Men, the mutant population has exploded and despite the destruction of Genosha, mutants continue to dominate the news and popular culture. With Magneto dead, Xavier’s school is the leading force for mutant activity worldwide and his new X-corporation allows mutants to continue his work into adulthood. Does that sound exciting? I personally love it; it makes an excellent change from the usual “freedom fighter mutants versus oppressive humans” premise I’ve seen so many times. And some of the ideas that Morrison creates from it, like what mutant youth gangs might look like, or how disadvantaged mutants might be cared for, or what if two radically mutated beings were to have children, are nothing short of brilliance.

Characterisation is a particular strength in this series. While the recognisable characters are well handled, the series shines with the new students and teacher at Xavier’s school. Beak is the first new student to be introduced; a depressed teenager who is deformed like a bird but cannot fly. His accompaniment by the delinquent Angel makes for some engrossing conversation as their shared self-loathing come to heads with each other. And then there is Xorn, a Buddhist who has a small star for a head. His character introduces a unique philosophical perspective on the mutant concept, and he makes a good addition to the X-Men and teacher at Xavier’s school.

And I’d never thought I’d say this, but Morrison has turned Marvel’s butchering of the theory of evolution into a strength for the series. For a group that is trying to encourage real-world peaceful coexistence philosophy between humans and mutants, it was a masterstroke to have nature itself justify the eugenics movement. Beast discovers an “extinction gene” in all non-mutants, which will eventually bring about their deaths. Suddenly the world becomes a much more unsettling place, as the sympathy of mutants and humans for each other is compromised by nature itself. Mutants never think to address the superiority complex, not even the X-Men.

So after all this praise for New X-Men, it’s time to get to the fundamental problem. Morrison throws a lot of ideas onto the page but doesn’t give them any real direction. While this structure works well initially to create a feeling of chaos for the mutant world, it gets increasingly convoluted and out-of-proportion. And as a result, at least half the book is dedicated to peripheral concepts that simply aren’t as interesting as the main premise, like revisiting the alien Shi’ar and the Weapon X program. I appreciate that they had a part to play in the greater storyline, but they really weren’t interesting enough for the large number of issues dedicated to them.

And on top of that, Morrison’s use of plot-twists to drive the last Ultimate Collection book was quite frankly stupid. Good guys are regularly discovered to have been manipulated by villains, who were in turn manipulated by other villains, who were in turn manipulated by other villains, etc. It gets ridiculously convoluted and I simply gave up trying to make sense of it at the point I was taken to an apocalyptic future where the “master villain behind everything” revealed himself. The impact of this final reveal was diminished after seeing the same sort of thing just twice before.

As for the artwork, the revolving artists make it difficult to write anything in too much detail. Thankfully, the quality of work is never too inconsistent and it follows a generally high standard.

So is New X-Men worth reading? Absolutely, if your brain can contain it. The series’ strengths far outweigh its problems, and I found it a great companion to the more straightforward Ultimate X-Men.

PS: At the end of the third Ultimate Collection book, a “Morrison Manifesto” from 2000 was included, outlining Morrison’s complaints about the previous X-Men books and his plans for the series’ future prosperity. Reading this made me smile, because it closely reflected my own thoughts on a number of current comic book series. It’s an interesting read if you’re into that sort of thing.

The Sandman – Series Review

The Sandman was a fantasy comic book series penned by British author Neil Gaiman from 1989 to 1996. Having received numerous awards and critical acclaim over the course of its run, I decided to see what the fuss was all about.

The world of The Sandman is a unique one. There are seven deities called the Endless that embody and control various human concepts. These are Dream, Death, Desire, Despair, Delusion, Destruction and Destiny. Each of the Endless have their own realms and their own personalities. The titular Sandman is Dream, an almost emotionless character who controls dreams and imagination. In his realm, the Dreaming, there is a library that contains every story ever conceived, and there are a variety of inhabitants who were born from imagination, such as the Biblical characters Eve and Cain & Abel.

It’s hard to go into much detail on The Sandman’s story because the narrative is quite literally all over the place. Half the series exists as a vehicle to tell short stories, which are rarely fixed into any single place or point in time. In one issue, the story could take place in the contemporary America, the next issue might take place in Tudor England, and the next issue then might take place in a mythological realm like Hell or Asgard. There is no territory that Gaiman is not afraid to cover, and the sheer variety of content makes The Sandman completely unique in its design.

Gaiman is clearly a writer who is not afraid of research. His deep implementation of world cultures and history into his Sandman mythos makes for an engrossing read if you have any knowledge of the source material. Famous stories like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Orpheus & Eurydice take on new meanings under Gaiman’s direction. In many cases, Gaiman creates his own imitation myths that mimic the style and structure of ancient stories. And of course one of the Endless features in every story, so there’s always something new to take away from Gaiman’s work.

Not all of The Sandman is short stories, mind you. There are several longer character stories that often delve more deeply into the Endless and the various characters they interact with. But for me, these stories actually reveal one of The Sandman’s significant flaws; the characters are mostly bland and unmemorable. In some contexts, this doesn’t really matter. Ancient myths were never about character, so Gaiman’s imitation myths don’t suffer too much. But for most of my reading, I’m constantly fighting between a deep appreciation for the concept matter and boredom with the actual dialogue and execution. Characters tend to have stilted reactions to their encounters with The Dreaming, and Gaiman’s constant use of the “I am what I am” position is a real annoyance. Whenever a character calls something about Gaiman’s mythos into question, other characters overtly dodge the question by presuming common sense, asking other questions or just giving answers so ambiguous that meaning cannot be understood. While this can be interesting on occasion (“occasion” being the key word here), I would have thought actual answers could be made far more entertaining had Gaiman made an effort to give them.

Thankfully, Gaiman did open one door to a handful of well-written character stories, in the form of Death. Dressed as a punk-goth girl, Death is the sympathetic ear and comforting arm to whomever she meets. As a “free spirit”, she’s outspoken in her love of life and a joy to see on the page. It is through Death that characters are able to express themselves completely, and overcome their personal frustrations, whatever they may be. As the best of these stories, I can happily recommend the mini-series, Death: The High Cost of Living.

Another problem with The Sandman is that while the symbolism makes for some interesting concept material, it can be very easy to get lost in Gaiman’s world. Considering that The Dreaming was made to exist without strict real-world rules, Gaiman could have made more effort to provide the reader with an understanding of what’s actually happening in the story. Because quite frankly, if I’m expending all my energy trying to make sense of the story, then I’m not emotionally responding to the story.

As for the artwork, despite a revolving cycle of artists, there’s only one word to describe it; dated. It does a decent job of conveying Gaiman’s story, but there’s absolutely nothing special about it considering the quality of work we get nowadays.

So in conclusion, The Sandman is an excellent conceptual read, and an expansive journey across time and space, fact and fiction. But the series is constantly held down by bad character design and obtuse symbolism. It’s certainly worth a read, though. The Sandman is never a wasted experience.

Fables – Vol. 1-3 Review

Had I read one less volume of Bill Willingam’s Fables, I would have said this series was one of the worst I’d read since Ultimates 3. I can think of no better example of how important first impressions are to a reader’s involvement with a new story than with Fables. Thankfully, the series does redeem itself in the third volume, and while I still don’t think Fables is to my personal taste, I can’t fault the writing for that.

The premise of Fables is that fairytale characters (the titular “Fables”) have been driven out of their storybook lands by an unnamed “adversary” and are forced into hiding in America. The human Fables live in a district of New York City (dubbed “Fabletown”), and the inhuman Fables live hidden on farmland further out. The series focuses on the human Fables, introducing us to classic characters such as Snow White, Big Bad Wolf (disguised as a human called “Bigby”), Old King Cole and Captain Bluebeard. While I have to admit that this is a fascinating concept, my initial reaction upon reading the book was that the two settings (fairytale and contemporary) clashed rather than complimented each other.

My main problem is with the characters. Willingham’s idea was that with a contemporary setting, the Fables should have contemporary personalities and lifestyles, and so everyone has been re-characterised. For example, Snow White is now a government official responsible for running Fabletown and Prince Charming is now a womaniser who takes money from the women he sleeps with. I can see why some people would find these changes fascinating, but it just disconnects me from the concept. With faces that only look in passing like the fairytales they represent, dressed and speaking in a fashion that doesn’t relate to who these characters used to be, I simply fail to believe that these characters are the fairytales they say they are. With that said, how well do these characters stand on their own merits? Well, without development, they come across as little more than one-note stock characters. There’s an art to making simplistic characters interesting and Willingham clearly just didn’t have it. But even with development, there are only a few characters that I would call compelling. I feel there’s a lot to be desired from Fables’ characters in general.

In the first volume of Fables, Willingham uses a “whodunit” murder mystery (which turned out to be a hoax, surprise surprise) as an excuse to meet all the characters, but this was horribly executed. Not only did it not do a good job of introducing the characters, but the entire thing made no sense whatsoever. For example, Bigby manages to acquire cartloads of blood and has some other characters re-create the “murder scene” to see if a human body could contain that much blood. I’m not joking; this piece of complete stupidity actually happened in the book, and with Bigby already having worked out at this point that the scene was faked. And then at the end of that story, Willingham forces a party of people to gather round to hear the big reveal Poirot-style, despite that nearly everyone at the party had nothing to do with the case. Then Willingham has Bigby justify the gathering by spending a page telling Snow White how he always wanted to do it, and she didn’t think to correct him on how dumb the idea actually was. In short, the first volume is moronic in every sense of the word.

The second volume introduces us to the non-human Fables at the farm, and as such was a much better demonstration of the unique concept of Fables than the first volume. The story pays homage to the novel “Animal Farm”, in which the non-human Fables violently revolt against their forced seclusion. It was much more logical than the first volume (and overall much better), yet I feel that the violence of it was excessive, as if it were just for the sake of being dark. This book also continues and emphasises another problem with the first volume; expositional writing. There is very little dialogue here (until toward the end of the book) that felt natural or believable. Instead, it felt like the characters were just relaying plot points to the reader, and undermined what was going on in the story. Thankfully, Volume Three has neither of the above two volumes’ faults. Combining two separate stories, one of which sees romance bloom between the characters, Bigby Wolf and Snow White, the book is not only much more engrossing but much better written to boot. We see a more dynamic interaction between the human and non-human Fables for one thing, which does a lot to make the world of Fables an engrossing place to see. The idea of tiny policemen riding talking mice as spies was a particularly novel idea. It feels like this book is where Fables should have started, and I’m honestly tempted to say skip the first two volumes (Wikipedia explains it all anyway).

So overall, if you have an interest in fairytales and a lot of patience, you could find Fables a rewarding experience. But otherwise, it’s hard to really recommend Fables in place of other comic book series. While the story is good, I didn’t feel that it had the passion or flare that has made other series so memorable.

Batmanuel

Welcome James to the forum and to the wacky world of Whatever of which you are familiar with due to being a regular visitor to the shop.

I asked James to maybe do some reviews for us while talking in the shop, i noted his opinions on certain titles while we were talking and also noted a high level of intelligence and articulation while putting points across,

ever thought of doing reviews i asked, i think you may be quite good at it if you were to try it, and asked if he would do some random scribbling for us, when and if he had time that is.

well here we have his first outing, blunt and brutal at times, but honest and as Sharp as a razor, i had a feeling that he wouldn't be afraid to be controversial in his writings and like myself and my opinion of Kick Ass James rips into Fables.

I hope that this is the beginning of a new era of reader reviews for the forum and would like to extend my gratitude and thanks for the effort and the time committed to these reviews.

Thanks James Smile

Reaper

Liked the X-Men review Smile

And agree with the slightly weird angle that Morrison took the series as he progressed, I wasn't that keen on the jump into the future with the Phoenix egg and evil Beast thing. Couldn't see the point myself.

Raien

Thanks for the replies. I did some review browsing for Fables and I've noticed that every single positive opinion sounds more-or-less exactly the same.

"I loved the original fairy tales as a child, and I hate Disney."

Looks like Fables is yet another example of what Batmanuel refers to as "filling the void". Part of me feels vindicated, but another part of me wonders if, consider the characters are available to the public domain, whether another writer could do their own take on the concept and make it, you know, good.

The Rascal King

I can't belive you hate Fables that much.
Its actually a put on, isn't it? Like, seriously, you're pulling our legs.

Raien

The Rascal King

I'm not going to argue the fact that the Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum is badly written. Its awful, a jarring juxtaposition from the Ultimates, changed dialoge and character motivation.
But there is no way, and I mean NO WAY, that anyone can honestly say that Fables is that bad. Jack of Fables, maybe, but thats just because its a differnt tone of book, lighthearted and jovial, against Fables serious note.

(I just read your review of Sandman. Bad character design? I'm sorry, but you're clearly a madman.)

Raien

The Rascal King

I shall do that.

First of all, please don't write a review without being fully informed. Read the entire collections, then form an opinion. Its only fair.

I'm not sure what you were expecting, when you say an Intelligent Deconstruction of certain concepts. Fables was intended to, and has for 80+ issues now, tell a story.
Without reading more than 12 issues, you're missing out on massive character arc developments, and very important plot developments.
Bigby (Big-B. Big B.ad. How do you not get that?) grows past his town Sherrif role, itself is explained as to why they need their own personal one. More of Cinderella is explained, and she grows WAY past angsty, Beauty is not just a bitch, and as for "New Character" Rose Red? Honestly?
I don't want to give much away, but needless to say, the way the characters have grown in the past 7 years is phenominal. Almost everyone has been developed, Cindy, Flycatcher, Boy Blue, Red Riding Hood. If it could be said their was a "main character" in this ensemble cast, it would have to be Bigby and Snow, and their relationship has gone in such unique directions, in a similar way as Goldilocks did.
And Terrorist? Really? Political Activist! (I'll come back to that)
I really don't think that you can comment on Willinghams personal attitudes after reading 13 issues of something.

The first volume was a fun little jaunt into this world, establishing cartain facts. The Adverseary, (a 75 issue Arc which just recently concluded), chacarcters, roles and ideas. Don't forget that if a book doesn't sell, then it will be Axed (RIP Tech Jacket), and to avoid this you must write a self contained, entertaining arc, which can lead way into longer plotlines.

As for the first Arc, the Murder of Rose Red. Yes, Bigby sussed that Jack was running a scam at the offset, but the reader hasn't. It's needed to establish that Jack is a con-artist by Nature, so while it maybe obvious there is a scheme, its not clear what that is. So continuing a line of questoning was needed to establish what the scheme was, while in turn introducing the readers to a handful of characters, and subsequently their motivations.

Saying the party was forced is also a moot argument, its needed to show that all these characters are from a same shared experience, being Exiles. To say that this community of a number of hundreds would be unaware that a murder had taken place is rediculous.
How is it fair to say that a characters motivations for doing something, no matter how obscure is "Dumb". Its reasonable, and fairly sweet I thought, adding a human element to a character who is simply not-Human.

The second volume introduces the Farm, being an important local in itself, 1 of 2 places frequented in the first 50 issues by most of the cast. The idea was that it was a take on Animal Farm, a homage not being akin to a Rip-Off.

The book in itself has won awards due to the leght and depth of the series, which you have not read, and are thus forming an Opinion of something that you haven't read, the character and plot developments.

As for your Opinion, I know that everyone is entitled to their own, however no ammount of arguing that the Sky is Green becasue it is your opinion will ever make it so.

Fables is worth 100 New X-Men, and I think tomorrow I shall re-read the entire thing.

Reaper

Roooooooound four....... FIGHT!

Batmanuel

I suspected a certain amount of controversy to surround these reviews and opinions, and i wasn't disappointed.
It certinately woke you all up, sometimes it is unpopular to tear into something, but if its an honest opinion then why keep it to yourself, i recently had words about a certain Mark Miller book which i felt to all intents had deteriorated into nothing more than ultra violent kiddy p**n.
it was an unpopular veiw as the comic in question has garnered much critical acclaim.
However i still stand by my words, and the fact that its been ages since we have had a new issue further annoys me, this feels like such arrogance from the creators, its almost like saying well it will sell by the shed load even if its late, and even if it doesn't we have the retailers tied up for another three or four issues, and we have sold the film rights, so fuck em, they can wait.
From experience the best way to kill a comic is to ship it consistently late.
But that's another story for another time.
onto the matters at hand.
i feel at times that the industry looks for a hot potato to fill the void, and at times will substitute a warm one when a hot one is unavailable, at the time of the release of Fables and Y the Last man i remember discussing with persons at the time that they didn't deserve the amount of praise they were getting, although we did think that Y was the better of the two. But they were the best of the rest at the time, and that was that.
I am looking forward to more from this new blood, and weather you agree or disagree, it is sure to entertain.
anyone wishing to place a junxtapose opinion is not only welcome but encouraged Very Happy

The Rascal King

Y and Fables are not comparitable. Y was a Limited Maxi, while Fables is Ongoing.
If you were to cut Fables short at 60 Issues, you'd be mid story, and miss the end of a Maxi-Arc, while if you were to stretch Y to 80+ Issues, it'd be too much.

Raien

Rascal, it's fair enough if you think Willingham's series has improved over the course of time. But my review was specifically for the first two volumes of Fables, and I do not need to read the entire series to make a judgment on those two books. I'm not paying money to read a godawful whodunit story while Willingham takes his sweet time revealing characters.

Structure is just as important to a story as content. It is through structure that various revelations are given different degrees of emotional impact. For example, the betrayal of Snow White by Prince Charming was revealed through a coffee table discussion. How would the series have been affected if we were introduced to Prince Charming through the actual moment of betrayal? The moment of heartbreak on Snow White's face as she discovers that her Happily Ever After was just an illusion? Whatever content gets revealed doesn't change my opinion on the way it is revealed. If I was writing a story on the Fables concept, I'd start at the beginning, covering the destruction of the Happily Ever After step-by-sorrowful-step, delving into every heartbreak, every separation. That is what I would constitute a good deconstruction of the fairy tale.

If Willingham does that later in Fables, then hell, maybe I should read on. But this leaves one thing that you haven't touched upon; the quality of Willingham's writing. In light of that issue, what I think I'll do is read 1001 Nights of Snowfall (quite simply because it is a stand-alone story) to determine whether I think it's an improvement over what Willingham was writing in 2002. If not, then I'm not going to touch Volume 3 of Fables.

Anyway, NEW REVIEW!

All-Star Batman & Robin Vol. 1 Review

I’m goddamn conflicted. I was expecting this goddamn book to be goddamn terrible after all the goddamn hatred against it. And yet despite the goddamn overuse of the word “goddamn”, the constant repetition of random lines. Constant repetition of random lines. Constant. Reptition. Of. Random. Lines. And Batman telling other characters to Shut up all the time, Frank Miller’s All-Star Batman & Robin was actually quite entertaining. … Shut up.

It’s easy to see what makes this book so controversial, because it’s not a Batman story. Not really. It’s a Sin City story; another opportunity for Frank Miller to live out his darkest fantasies through a collection of author-inserted fantasy personas. If you like to see the victimisation of scantily-clad women or scantily-clad costumed women victimising men, scenes of crippling torture and constant foul and juvenile language, this is the book for you. But parents with young children, don’t fall for the happy smiling picture of Robin on the front cover. You don’t want your children asking you why Robin was forced to eat rats in the Batcave and sliced a crook’s mouth open bloodily with an axe.

But let’s get to the meat of this collection; the Batman and Robin characters. Batman’s character, despite being completely amoral (and often juvenile), was actually well characterised. Miller did a good job of explaining not only how and why Bruce Wayne went completely off the rails, but his position against crime and the authorities. Batman now sees his vigilantism as a literal war on crime, and he initiates Dick Grayson as a soldier in that war. He treats Dick Grayson barbarically because that is what he believes will toughen Dick up for fighting as Robin. Dick’s character is not as believably written as Batman, though. There’s no real sense of vulnerability to Batman’s manipulations, and it’s thus difficult to understand what actually clicks in Dick’s mind to make him want to become Robin. That said, there was enough trauma for Dick that the transformation into Robin was believable on a peripheral level. It didn’t remove me from the experience.

Compared to Batman & Robin, the other peripheral characters were underwhelming. They were all made to fit one-dimensional stereotypes, except for Vicki Vale, who seemed to switch from a completely self-obsessed character to an overly caring, concerned character without reason. So Batman and Robin pretty much carry the book by themselves, and the story lives and dies by how the readers react to them. Since most people do not read a Batman book to be discomforted by scenes of brutality, it’s safe to say that the book is inappropriate for the character’s usual audience. But since I came prepared for the character shift into Sin City territory, I was able to appreciate All-Star Batman & Robin on its own merits. I personally appreciated the feeling of horror and discomfort more than the more apathetic reactions I have felt towards a lot of traditional Batman stories.

That said, there is no excuse for the glaring juvenility of the character dialogue. I pointed this out in the introduction, but it seriously lets the entire book down. What could have been a serious read and, dare I say it, perhaps even a good companion piece to The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One, is ruined by a terrible pretence at “cool”. Thanks to that alone, it looks like All-Star Batman & Robin is going to be held up as the book that signalled the collapse of Frank Miller, alongside his movie, The Spirit.

Thankfully, Jim Lee’s stunning artwork looks to be untouched by Miller’s comedown. Even when the writing is at its very worst, the panels are always enjoyable to look at. So is this a book to buy? It’s at least a book to read once. Get it cheap.

Batmanuel

And its another interesting review from our Raien,
agree? or disagree, then post your thoughts.
but its a thanks again from me for taking the time and making the effort to write these reviews.

Raien

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? - Review

Neil Gaiman's two-part series about the death of Batman concluded last week. The story takes place during a memorial service for Batman, in which all the characters who knew him give different accounts of his death. Batman's ghost, meanwhile, observes the scene and has a conversation with his mother. Despite being a two-part story, it feels like two different stories. The structure and content between the two issues is considerably different, and the quality likewise becomes increasingly disparate.

The first issue was particularly enthralling for one thing alone; Alfred's account of the death of Batman. Alfred tells his audience that he and his actor friends became the Rogue's Gallery in order to keep Bruce Wayne out of depression. Alfred himself was the Joker, a completely unexpected and startling transformation. This was the most compelling twist on the Batman mythos that I think I've ever seen. If the entire two-part story was like this, I'd be giving it my full recommendation. Sadly, the quality of the Alfred account was not replicated, but the first issue was still enjoyable thanks to another well-told account from Catwoman, exploring her relationship with Batman and her abandonment of the costume scene.

The second issue is in complete contrast to the first issue. Gaiman abandons the fascinating stories and does the worst thing possible; he gives us a lecture. And to add the icing on the shit cake, he brought Batman's mother from the afterlife to give the lecture. An opportunity for some emotionally powerful dialogue between Bruce Wayne and his mother is gone to waste when Gaiman decides that the two family members should meet with complete apathy and discuss philosophy. Martha Wayne had no personality, her dialogue was mostly unmemorable.

And it isn't like we haven't heard these philosophy lectures from Gaiman before. The "What have you learned?" line is ripped from Sandman: The Dream Hunters. It's a great fundamental point about stories, but not one that needs repeating here in a Batman story. And as for Batman being a symbol of hope and passion for justice, name one important Batman book or film that didn't delve into that very position. In other words, this second issue is a regurgitation of everything we've seen before with Batman, yet ignores the one thing that hasn't been touched upon. Amazing.

Andy Kubert's art is very good, as usual. His work in this book is perfectly consistent. It's interesting to see the characters at the memorial service change faces between stories, depicting their different appearances over the years and in animation.

If I decide to pick up the collected edition, it will be for the first issue alone. If the comic is still in the shop, I might just pick that up cheap. There is nothing about the second issue that I consider worth buying.

Raien

Free Comic Book Day - Micro Reviews

The Avengers - Good writing, great artwork, "mystical sword" idea needs to die painfully.

Wolverine - Average saturday morning cartoon, nice artwork.

Blackest Night #0 - Boring talk about death in the DC universe, doubt newcomers will care.

Ultimo (manga) - Stan Lee drawn as a samurai. Why else would you want this?

Cyber Force: Hunter Killer - Nice artwork, dull derivative story.

Savage Dragon - Corny plot/writing, in dire need of Alan Moore.

Aliens - Alien biology lecture that will interest no one except Aliens fans.

Resurrection - Complete waste of time, could bore people to sleep.

GI Joe/Transformers Animated - Best toilet paper ever.

Simpsons Comic - First half is funny, second half is meh.

Archie Comic - The Beano had better writing.

Raien

Well, I'm a week late, but I've finally written my Ultimate Marvel series reviews. I know I've repeated the introduction for each review, but that's for when (or should I say "if"?) the reviews get posted on the main site. Enjoy!

Ultimate Spider-man – Series Review

Back in 2000, Marvel created an Ultimate universe to provide readers with all-new 21st century versions of classic Marvel characters. The first chapter of that universe now draws to a close in 2009, and we can look back at what has been achieved since its conception. Ultimate Spider-man was first published in 2000, as the first series written for Ultimate Marvel. The series has only had one writer, Brian Bendis, for its entire nine-year run. Artist Mark Bagley provided the artwork for most of the series, followed by Stuart Immonen.

Ultimate Spider-man kicks off with protagonist Peter Parker back in high school. Peter’s still the school geek, but thankfully this identity isn’t allowed to dominate his character as it did in the original comic book and 2002 movie. No longer shy and retiring, Peter has a small but firm group of friends that increasingly grows over the course of the series. Peter’s Aunt May and Uncle Ben are also much more lively and youthful than their original characters, making them an excellent couple to bounce off Peter’s headstrong emotions.

Despite being yet another teenage drama, Brian Bendis manages to make the Ultimate Spider-man characters much more engrossing thanks to a consistent focus on the theme of maturity. The teenagers learn from their mistakes, they grow up, their actions and reactions are always realistic and believable. The relationship between Peter and Mary Jane Watson was particularly well handled, as for the first time Peter trusts MJ with his Spider-man identity from the second volume of the series. The confidentiality gives Peter someone to confide in as well as develop the relationship to other levels. Another notable development was the transformation of the bully, “Kong”, into one of Peter’s friends was particularly subtle and well executed. Bendis took his time with the character (practically the entire series) to turn him from a cliché into someone deep and wholly likeable. His comparison with the immature Flash Thompson puts the change into an excellent perspective.

The maturity theme isn’t something exclusive to the teenagers; Aunt May has her own issues to deal with that develop throughout the series, including some well-written psychiatric sessions that divulge her thoughts and fears about Spider-man’s constant appearances in her life. Aunt May is constantly torn between protecting her nephew from characters like Spider-man and allowing him the freedom he needs to live happily. The dialogue between them comes across as incredibly accurate for their characters and makes for some very emotional scenes. Also of note is May’s adoption of Gwen Stacy after Gwen’s own mother refuses to take her. That event shows an incredible side to May’s personality that really gets you behind her as a character.

But of course, Peter Parker’s social life is only one half of the Ultimate Spider-man series. Thankfully, the life of Spider-man is just as engrossing. Bendis is a master at directing the action on the page; you can see how the fight progresses from panel to panel, making good use of angles. Bendis is also a great witticism-machine; none of Spider-man’s jokes fall flat as they so often do in the hands of other writers. Combine this with the excellent artwork of Mark Bagley and Stuart Immonen, and you get a mixture that makes some of the best action scenes I’ve ever seen committed to print. It’s an incredibly entertaining ride!

Ultimate Spider-man’s villains are also excellently written. Unlike their original counterparts, most of the new villains are tied together by a new super-soldier serum subplot. Having all been created by several rival programs to recreate Captain America, the villains go their different ways over the course of the series. Some become assassins-for-hire, whereas others like Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus look for revenge against Nick Fury; the man who hired them to create the serum. Green Goblin becomes a particularly vicious villain, as he regularly makes direct threats to Peter Parker and his family if Peter won’t follow him. In addition to the serum story is New York’s criminal underworld, revolving around the Kingpin. The gang wars and corrupt officials make for an exciting change of scene for Spider-man, often forcing him into the territory of other heroes, such as Daredevil and Moon Knight.

All-in-all, the Ultimate Spider-man series is an incredible package of variety, well-written characters, pulse-pounding action and feel-good stories. It’s also incredibly consistent, with only one real blip in its twenty volume run. If you have any interest in the Spider-man character or just a good story, Ultimate Spider-man is an absolute must-read.

Best Book: Ultimate Spider-man Volume 17: Clone Saga

Clone Saga is not a book I’d recommend to start reading with (for that, you really should pick up the first volume; Power & Responsibility), but instead as a fantastic culmination of the previous sixteen volumes. Without trying to spoil too much, Peter finds himself confronting characters long thought dead and is forced to reveal his secret identity to Aunt May. As the story progresses, Peter finds himself caught between the full force of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Fantastic Four. One of the reasons why this book stands out in my mind is that Peter is put under the most pressure the character has ever had to deal with, and Bendis makes an excellent job of showing how the stress of the situation is getting to him.

But what impresses me most of all is how Bendis ends the story. Considering how many bombshells get dropped on Peter in the space of about five issues, I was expecting it to take at least another volume for everything to get resolved. It’s the sort of story that writers usually create when they want to take the series away in a new dramatic direction (and I knew this before I read about the original Clone Saga story). But no, to my surprise, Bendis not only resolves everything in the remaining three issues, but he rewards Peter for his stress by ending the book on an even happier note than the beginning. To accomplish so much in the space of eight issues without sacrificing quality or consistency is a hell of an achievement, and another perfect demonstration of why this series has been so consistently enjoyable.

Ultimate X-Men – Series Review

Back in 2000, Marvel created an Ultimate universe to provide readers with all-new 21st century versions of classic Marvel characters. The first chapter of that universe now draws to a close in 2009, and we can look back at what has been achieved since its conception. Originally a script for the first X-Men movie, Ultimate X-Men was released in 2001 as the second on-going series for Ultimate Marvel. The series began under writer Mark Millar, and has since been authored by various writers to different degrees of success.

Ultimate X-Men begins on very familiar territory. The mutants are an emerging population, Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants are waging war on humanity and the American government has created the Sentinel robots to kill potentially dangerous mutants. So far, so Uncanny. It is in this landscape that Millar brings together the fan favourites as a younger, edgier group with new uniforms. Quick roll call; Professor X, Marvel Girl, Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast, Storm, Colossus and Iceman. Later issues introduce Rogue, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat to the X-Men, as well as many more favourite characters and villains to the Ultimate universe. Even Apocalypse.

One particular issue I have with the X-Men in general is that there clearly are a lot of themes that the writer has to juggle in order to create a satisfactory story. First, there’s the political/philosophical impact of the mutant concept and how it affects the individual characters, there’s the soap opera relationships that connect and break apart like Lego bricks, there’s the traditional superhero/supervillain conflicts that play out and the obligatory action-packed fight scenes. On top of that, writers have to know where and when to make use of the wide spectrum of characters that appear in this team book. Get the balancing act wrong and you end up with a story that’s sufficiently below expectations.

For the better part of the series, I feel the above predicament sums up Ultimate X-Men quite well. This series is by far the most inconsistent of the “four pillars”, regardless of who’s in the writing chair. Out of the nineteen TPB volumes of this series, I feel that only four of them got that balancing act just right. Out of those four, Mark Millar’s introduction counts for three of them. Volumes 1-3 are quite simply amazing in their design and execution. Not only do they feature some of the most despicable villains I have ever read (as villains should be), but they do an excellent job of developing both the personal and political landscape for mutants over the course of that run. Seeing the X-Men on a “world tour” to spread a positive image of mutantkind, and how the mutant power of Xavier’s son has affected him emotionally, this has been an excellent opportunity to see some powerful writing.

Of course, Millar wrote six volumes total, so why were the last three not as good? Quite simply, Millar gave them over to a story in which Magneto returns and the X-Men are forced into hiding from the Ultimates. The balance thus is tipped almost completely into action and thriller material. To be fair, it does the job well; it captures a good sense of claustrophobia. But it doesn’t capture the enormity and depth of the X-Men characters or their situation. No, the fourth book in my list of “balanced” is actually Volume 8, written by Brian Bendis of Ultimate Spider-man fame. This book, titled “New Mutants”, introduces an alternative school and philosophy to the X-Men, led by a newly-characterised Emma Frost. This book manages to revive the character development and political conflicts that made the first three volumes so exciting, and its conclusion with the death of Beast was a powerful end to Bendis’ run on the series.

Since Bendis left Ultimate X-Men, writer Brian K. Vaughan kept the series afloat with some good writing, but did nothing particularly memorable aside from creating an internet meme about pushing Xavier down a flight of stairs. Then Robert Kirkman, a writer respected for other series, was particularly atrocious with his handling of Ultimate X-Men, bringing the series down to cancellation point. It’s absolutely not worth reading.

The artwork, like the writing, has also been inconsistent over the series’ course, although it doesn’t help my memory that one particular issue (somewhere in Volume 4) was for some reason drawn by one of the worst filler artists I can recall in living memory. It was not only bad, but completely different from the rest of that book. It stood out like a sore thumb set on fire. But one of the biggest casualties of Ultimate X-Men’s artwork in general was Beast. In the first volume, artist Adam Kubert drew Beast with a very distinctive expression and figure that became a part of the character as much as the writing. So typically every other artist after Kubert ignored it, drawing Beast as a blue human, sometimes with slightly bigger hands if they could remember that was his mutant power in the first place.

So in conclusion, if you have an interest in Ultimate X-Men, I would recommend the first eight volumes by Millar and Bendis. If you really like those books, you may want to try Vaughan’s run from volumes 9-13. Don’t bother after that.

Best Book: Ultimate X-Men Volume 1: The Tomorrow People

This was a very close decision over Volume 8: New Mutants, but one thing clinched it; Ultimate Magneto. Unlike the “lovely Sir Ian McKellen” (to quote Grant Morrison) from the X-Men movie, Magneto in this series is an analogue of the hatemongering ideologues of the 20th Century. I have to wonder whether Mark Millar actually used figures like Hitler as a reference for Magneto’s dialogue. The character’s aspirations for a new world order, his efforts to alienate mutants with a new language and culture, his philosophy are all incredibly lifelike, and it becomes very easy to hate the character in ways that I often fail to do with other comic book villains. And the scariest thing is his ability to entice the heroes towards his philosophy; now that’s something I haven’t often seen in a modern comic book. But of course, the character is brought down spectacularly from grace when he calls Xavier “a stupid cripple”, exposing the hateful source of his philosophy.

I suspect many people will write off the literary qualities of a book such as The Tomorrow People because of its status as having mainstream appeal, but I think it’s an excellent examination of the mutant concept and the situations that surround it.

Ultimate Fantastic Four – Series Review

Back in 2000, Marvel created an Ultimate universe to provide readers with all-new 21st century versions of classic Marvel characters. The first chapter of that universe now draws to a close in 2009, and we can look back at what has been achieved since its conception. Ultimate Fantastic Four was the last on-going series to be released in Ultimate Marvel, back in 2004. It was co-authored by the Ultimate Marvel architects Brian Bendis and Mark Millar, before being handed over to writer Warren Ellis and later Mike Carey.

I’ll presume for the sake of effort that everyone reading this knows who the Fantastic Four are through either the films or television series (if not, wikipedia is your friend). The Ultimate Fantastic Four (UFF, as they shall now be called) are pretty much identical to their mainstream counterparts, except now the team are much younger and with a brand new origin to replace the now-dated “cosmic rays” story. This time, it’s a pioneering teleportation experiment gone wrong thanks to the arrogance of fellow scientist Victor Van Damme, who is himself transformed by the same accident into arch-nemesis Dr. Doom. As the series continues, UFF introduces more “ultimate” versions of popular characters, such as the Mole Man, Namor the Sub-mariner, the Silver Surfer, the Inhumans and the alien Skrulls. UFF also introduces for the first time the now-infamous Marvel Zombies.

Like its mainstream counterpart, UFF is very much a series of style over substance. When you read UFF, you get big science-fiction ideas; monsters, robots, space-travel, time-travel, dimension-travel and the lost city of Atlantis. Rarely are these ideas explored beyond surface level. As far as the writers appear to be concerned, these grand scenarios only exist to introduce and fight the variety of characters and villains in FF lore. But of course, not every series needs to be deep and thought provoking, and UFF is a perfect light read.

Mark Millar and Warren Ellis deserve credit for their excellent writing. These two really know how to blend the warm family moments with a good sense of humour. The introduction of a new family member, Dr. Franklin Storm, was a particularly nice touch as the voice of reason against the FF’s headstrong ideas and adventures. With a deft blending of fear for his children’s safety and his pride in their achievements, it’s hard to imagine how the series could be as interesting without him. UFF also introduces a new application for the Baxter Bulding; the team’s HQ. Whereas the original Baxter Building felt somewhat lifeless due to the lack of human presence, the new building is now the scene for a school for young geniuses, who are soon replaced by the confused soldiers ordered to protect the technology inside. I think the human presence here makes a big difference to the tone of the series.

However, while I wish I could say that UFF was consistently entertaining throughout it’s sixty-issue run, I don’t feel that has been the case. Mike Carey began writing the series with Issue 33, and to be quite blunt, his ideas have not been as exciting as the writers before him. While I don’t think his work can be called “bad” by any means, it does feel generic. It feels like the stories we’ve read before in other forms and in other places. It’s not hard to see why Marvel decided to cancel UFF in these circumstances. Still, the series’ first half was well worth the reading, and I would recommend it to everyone who has an interest in this series.

Best Book: Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 3 (Hardcover)

If there is one collection of stories that embodies the absolute essence of enjoyable Fantastic Four writing, it’s Mark Millar’s run on UFF, collected in the third hardcover volume. There are four stories available here:

1) Reed Richards is tricked into building a teleporter to the Marvel Zombie universe, where he finds that Magneto is the only living superhuman.
2) The FF investigate the once-lost city of Atlantis, only to awaken the arrogant Namor.
3) The FF travel back in time to prevent the teleportation accident, only to allow the alien Skrulls’ complete destruction of the human race.
4) Johnny Storm becomes host to a strange creature, and the Zombie Fantastic Four break free from their prison.

As well as the great variety on offer here, Millar has an excellent knack for adding the details that keep the series on the edge of believability. The plight of Magneto in the first story becomes more sympathetic when he introduces the civilians that he’s been protecting; one of whom he has been helping with her diabetes. Sue and Johnny’s absent mother is revealed in the second story to have left the family to search for Atlantis, and her actions are disputed with subtlety, avoiding the usual demonising of an uncaring parent. And all of the above is depicted brilliantly by Greg Land’s artwork. While some have criticised his use of photo referencing, it’s hard to deny that the cinematic visuals are a perfect companion to the grand-scale stories told by Millar. If you want great light entertainment, then it doesn’t get much better than the UFF Hardcover Vol. 3.

The Ultimates 1 & 2 Review

Back in 2000, Marvel created an Ultimate universe to provide readers with all-new 21st century versions of classic Marvel characters. The first chapter of that universe now draws to a close in 2009, and we can look back at what has been achieved since its conception. The Ultimates was created in 2002, as the Ultimate Marvel equivalent of the Avengers. The book was released as three mini-series rather than a single traditional on-going series. This review covers the first two instalments, titled The Ultimates and The Ultimates 2, and created by writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch.

The first Ultimates book takes place in 2002; it’s not only post-9/11, but America has also survived its first major mutant attack by Magneto in the first volume of Ultimate X-Men. The Bush Administration is kicking in its Homeland Security initiative and Nick Fury, head of the United States’ military S.H.I.E.L.D. division, creates a team of superhumans to protect America from further attacks; the Ultimates. In the Ultimates team are Captain America, Iron Man, Giant Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Also on the team, yet opposed to America’s defence strategy is Thor, a Norwegian writer and hippy who may or may not be the Norse God of Thunder.

Using the then-contemporary political landscape to establish the Ultimates was a masterstroke. The setting’s realistic complexity gives the book not only a level of depth rarely seen in most superhero stories, but it allows Millar to explore a variety of innovative ideas. Unlike the Avengers, the story of The Ultimates is not driven by a line of unambiguously evil villains, but the political commentary about the ethics and effectiveness of their work. Without an immediate enemy to defeat, the Ultimates find themselves having to justify their funding to the government and the general public. It’s only when an alien invasion is revealed that their necessity becomes apparent.

But Millar thankfully doesn’t drown the book in politics and philosophy. At the heart of the story is the team dysfunction; every character has a strong personality and there’s constant head butting between them. To try and describe them all here wouldn’t do them justice, but I would like to honour the man who I think is the heart of the story; Captain America. As a World War II veteran recently resurrected from a block of ice in the Antarctic, Captain America becomes the symbol that represents the ideal of the Ultimates, and yet he struggles to deal with the changes to society and the fact that his closest friends are now either dead or living as pensioners. It’s painful to see a man who gave his life for millions of civilians eventually forced to isolate himself from the modern world to stay comfortable. His attitude to the world is too black-and-white for modern socialising, and while he has a normally respectful demeanour, he proves himself to be a violent reactionary. But at least he gets the best line in the book (“You think this A on my head stands for France?”).

Bryan Hitch’s artwork is simply breathtaking. It comes to no surprise that this is the man who helped pioneer “decompressed storytelling”, the use of large panels to lend weight and intensity to a particular scene. Hitch uses it to full effect in The Ultimates, filling pages with rich detail that borders on the photo-realistic without it ever looking too static. The effect is even more impressive with the hardcover editions; larger glossier pages only serve to make the artwork more mouthwateringly good than the standard size pages. But Millar deserves credit too, because his direction of the action allows for some splendid battle scenes that never become confusing no matter how immense they become. I have yet to see any comic rival the epic scale of a scene in Millar and Hitch’s run on The Ultimates.

The Ultimates 2 can be summed up in six words; Bigger and Better than The Ultimates. With the character introductions out of the way and the real-life America instigating further wars in the Middle East, Millar brings the political landscape to the forefront of the story, ramping up the stakes as the team find themselves fighting an even greater threat than the first book’s alien invasion; a co-ordinated attack on America by all their enemies around the world. The faster pace and revelation of a traitor in the team makes The Ultimates 2 more gripping than the first book. This time, there are serious casualties for the team. The Ultimates 2 also fleshes out the character of Thor, finally revealing whether he really is the Norse God of Thunder, which makes for a fascinating spin on the character and the series in general.

Both volumes of The Ultimates are absolute must-reads. The writing and artwork both set incredibly high bars for comic books. But if you somehow manage to find a hardcover copy, then for God’s sake, take it! Bryan Hitch’s cinematic artwork was made for big, glossy pages, and the added cover art is just mouth-watering to look at.

Raien

I've just read Volume 3 of Fables (I know that I said I'd read 1001 Nights of Snowfall, but that book was conveniently exchanged for this on the shelf when I went in to collect it), and I'm gobsmacked. Of all the complaints I had about the first two books (expositional writing, two-dimensional characters, gimmicky use of fairytales, retarded plot developments, etc), I couldn't find any of those complaints in Volume 3.

It doesn't feel like a different book however, so I have to resign myself to the position that Willingham's writing and characters have subtlely developed over the course of both volumes. I won't take back what I said about the first volume, however, because I still remember it as one of the worst comics I've ever read. But I do want to amend the review, if not completely rewrite it, to take account of the fact that the series does radically improve within the space of ten-fifteen issues.

The Rascal King

Not that saying "I told you so" will make me particularly happy (ok, I'll admit, I'm a dirty liar), but I told you so.

Seriously, you won't regret reading it if you continue.
(Oh, and 1001 Nights of Snowfall is amazing. But my favourite Stand-alone is the Last Castle).

Raien

There's quite a few series I'd like to start reading, so I'll probably read Fables as far as the defeat of the Adversary and leave it at that. And I'll give 1001 Nights of Snowfall a go for good measure.

Raien

The Spectacular Spider-man Animated Series - Seasons 1 & 2 Review

A twist(!!!) for this review, as I'm not reviewing a comic this time, but a television cartoon series. Spectacular Spider-man first came out last year in 2008, and it has just recently completed its second season to overwhelming critical acclaim. In a nutshell, Spectacular Spider-man is an equivalent to Batman: The Animated Series. It captures the essence of what made the Spider-man comics so popular and every aspect of it just oozes quality (and btw, I'm saving the best part for last in this review!).

Spectacular Spider-man takes Peter Parker and friends back to high school, where they're sporting trendy new images and have to deal with growing up and commitments to relationships/work/blahblahblah. Despite this sounding a lot like Ultimate Spider-man, I have to give credit to Spectacular's writers for not blatantly stealing plotlines from the comics, except perhaps with two exceptions. The first is Mary-Jane Watson. Ditching the modern trend of making MJ Peter's first girlfriend, MJ appears to have been literally ripped from her original comic appearance, right down to hiding her face until she says the corny "Tiger, you just hit the jackpot" line. From that point on, she refuses to be tied down to a particular boyfriend, just like in the comics. The second exception is Eddie Brock, whose character as a college intern working for Dr. Curt Connors was stolen from Ultimate Spider-man. However, this time around Brock's no longer estranged from Peter, so there's a different relationship between them that feels fresh.

Sometimes though, the lack of familiarity can be a little unnerving for someone so entrenched in the original storylines. The re-characterisation of Gwen Stacy as a geeky classmate is, I'm sure, a particularly divisive decision for fans, despite that she's still central to the story and just as well-developed as everyone else in the series. And another strange change (rhymes!) is that Kenny "Kong" was brought over from Ultimate Spider-man, and yet his Spider-man obsession and later character development was given to Flash Thompson instead. Weird.

All the popular Spider-man villains are back with a fresh coat of paint, except for Kingpin, who has been replaced by Tombstone for variety's sake. The plotting for the most part is excellent, and the way Peter's personal life gets involved in Spider-man's fights can be incredibly imaginative. But at times, it does feel like there's an imbalance between the action and the drama. For a good half the episodes of Season One, there's a sense of "Let's just find an excuse to introduce a popular Spider-man villain", whereas part of Season Two suffers an excess of "Let's find ways to demonstrate that Peter's struggling with his relationship". There's still some exciting developments, but I do find myself wanting the direction of the story to change more quickly than it did. I probably don't need to go into much more detail on the writing department, because if you've ever read Ultimate Spider-man (as I'm sure most people have), then you can expect that same high quality. Even the banter's good.

BUT NOW FOR THE BEST PART! Spectacular Spider-man's fight scenes are fucking incredible! Fans of the 1990s cartoon, you were missing so much when Fox decided to censor violence in that series to the extent that Spider-man wasn't even allowed to throw a punch! In this series, Spider-man goes all out. Punches are thrown, buildings are destroyed, fight scenes can last for as long as ten-fifteen minutes in a twenty minute episode. This series not only sets the bar for fight scenes in animated television, but it is actually better than the Spider-man films. No joke. The particular highlight for me was when Black-suit Spider-man first fought the Sinister Six; mainly because it wasn't a fucking cop-out like most such encounters. You know, where the hero fights them one at a time or tricks them using something in the scenery. No, in this fight scene, the entire group fight as one, and Spider-man takes them all out using just his powers and their own technology against them. It's incredible to watch.

Now, I would conclude this review by saying "Buy the season boxsets", but for some ridiculous reason, Marvel have been trying to scam money by releasing three-episode volume DVDs. Didn't this practice die out five years ago after Pokemon and the like? So you're going to have to wait a while for the proper boxset releases. In the meantime, every episode of both seasons are available at high quality on youtube. You will not regret taking the time to watch this series. It's just amazing.

CatFang

Hi Raien

Belatedly welcome to the forum from me.

It's good to see a reviewer with some passion and different opinions on things.

Although I feel I do need to mention the fact that Bats said he was hoping to inject some life and bit of controversy to the board discussions again - but as soon as something a bit "edgy" came up as a result the thread was shut by a moderator...

Still...

I haven't read most of what you've reviewed (only the Sandman) - although I am now tempted to look at a couple of things, which must be good, right?

Even so there a couple of things I just wanted to pick up on:

1) While the passion and the emotional aesthetic response to a book is great, it might be good to get a bit of an idea of whether you are responding to a book that was or was not "written for you as a target audience" - that is, to have a bit of comment on authorial intention. For example, I would probably not like books written for sports fans, or romantic comedies, but that does not make them "bad books" in their class.

I think you mentioned that you are a writer yourself - so you'll probably appreciate people doing that when they come to review your own work Very Happy

Maybe when we've got to know you a bit better I'll be able to judge if what you like and why you like it will be a good guide for me.

2) The real thing I want to bring up from the reviews, though, is the idea of "dated" artwork. Surely being able to recognise the period any artistic work is from, whether that is comics, painitng, music, sculpture, writing etc, just goes to make the work "dateable", not "dated".

People don't think, for example, that the great mediaeval religious art looks rubbish now because the conventions of perspective and representation are different.

Anyway - looking forward to seeing more reviews.

Raien

CatFang

Raien

CatFang

Raien

Raien

Ultimate Spider-man #132 rant

If there's one thing that I hate worse than a simply bad comic, it's a wasted opportunity. An occasion where the writer is in a perfect position to bring out our emotions as readers, and yet doesn't take it. USM #132 is a prime example of that.

Despite most people's abhorrance of USM's connection to Jeph Loeb's Ultimatum, I have always thought that the Ultimatum Wave, which destroyed New York, was a perfect image with which to bring down Peter Parker's career as Spider-man. The depiction of Spider-man saving civilians from floodridden homes is immediately relatable with the natural disaster images we see on television, and a perfect way to showcase Spider-man's nature as a down-to-earth hero. If his collapse was brought about by exhaustion, it would have demonstrated his own mortality, serving as a fitting memoir for all the real people who save lives from situations like these.

So why the fuck did Bendis bring this Dr. Strange plot device out from nowhere!? It's completely irrelevant and disconnected from the context of the Ultimatum Wave. There's no way to emphathise with Peter's plight in this story, and Peter's apparent death just loses all emotional significance. It's not badly written, but I could not be more pissed off that Bendis decided this was the way Peter should go. With a magic explosion.

Batmanuel

Cat-Fang:

CatFang

OK

I trust you Very Happy

Hey Zeus

I don't

Raien

CatFang

Wow.

Did someone get out the wrong side of bed?

Hey Zeus is right though - you shouldn't trust Bats, he's a tricky one, but he is sworn to be my slave because of a certain Jim Starlin sketch Very Happy

Everyone else beware!

Reaper

I don't think Spider-Man died in the explosion though it has left it in the air as to who has. You are right however that it is a complete tangent and we wouldn't be any worse for it having been written into the Ultimatum saga.

Hey Zeus

I spent the last few minutes deciding the best way to react to Raien last comment. In another post I apologised for a misunsdertanding between us, clarified my point and wished him the best, then I saw his childish post about my off hand comment
and i just couldnt decide the best way to react
the first and most obvious way to react would have been to insult his penis size and call him a pigfuck (thanks for telling me that insult bats its great Very Happy

)
the second would have been to send him 2000 private mesaages with full stops in them
the third would have been to react like Catfang has, bemoaning the way this good forum has descending in to child like bickering and generally giving a level headed response to what people have said
the fourth would have been to have had a reasoned debate about the merits of my post and its lack of punctuation

Instead I am going to leave it, wish Raien the best of luck in his reviews and in his future posts. I have no ill will towards you and i hope we can leave this behind us.

P.S Thanks Catfang for adding some kind of rationality in to the whole affair

Raien

I'm sorry I'm late with this review, but despite my enjoyment of Marvels, I found it frustratingly difficult to write about. At least there's a nice bonus to make up for time wasted.

Marvels Review

Marvels was a four-issue mini-series released in 1994, written by Kurt Busiek and painted by Alex Ross (yes, this comic is actually painted). Set in the Marvel universe from the 1940s to the 1970s, Marvels tells the story of freelance photographer Phil Sheldon, who finds himself enthralled by the appearance of superheroes and their impact on society and politics. Everyone's favourite Marvel heroes appear and we get to see an in-depth look at the so-called Golden Age of Marvel, the era before upstarts like Spider-man and the X-Men became the face of the company.

At first glance, Marvels sounds like the sort of book that only people interested in the Marvel universe would enjoy, and yet I feel this setting is really irrelevant to what makes the book so engrossing. Marvels is really an examination of how society reacts to life-changing events, and this could be done just as effectively with real events, such as 9/11 or the 1960s American civil rights movement. What Marvels really proves is Kurt Busiek’s incredible ability to deconstruct society and write characters as real, believable people in the face of momentous change. The structure of Marvels constantly shifts between a documentary about the superheroes and the more conventional story of Phil Sheldon as his career and family life are affected by his obsession with superheroes. The two elements are intertwined in such a manner that feels incredibly natural and I honestly wasn’t aware of the changes when they took place. The flow of the story was consistently steady, never breaking until the end of a chapter.

Now despite my earlier statement, I can’t deny that the presence of superheroes defines Marvels as a piece of literature. Despite that they speak very little, offering next to nothing of their own personal opinions, it is actually this distance between the superheroes and the “everyman” that makes them feel particularly real, compared to the traditional adventures we see them in. A fight between Namor the Submariner and the original Human Torch takes on completely new meaning through the eyes of the “everyman” who simply cannot predict what will come about from the battle. In addition to this, Kurt Busiek offers some fresh perspectives on important events in the Marvel universe, such as invasion of Galactus or the celebrity marriage of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. But two events particularly stand out in my mind. The first event is the initial wave of paranoia against mutants. The rioting and the mobs make this a very human story, touched with a particular sadness as Sheldon discovers that his daughters have been hiding a mutant girl from the mob in his basement. Having been unable to understand how mutants saw themselves in society, this event is an eye-opener for Sheldon and helps define the development of his character. The second event is the death of Gwen Stacy, a character famous in comics for being Spider-man’s girlfriend. It was quite a surprise to see Gwen Stacy play such a fundamental role in Marvels because I had never once associated her with the “everyman”. I find Gwen an interesting demonstration of how one character can blur the line between our perception of the real and of the imaginary.

As a side-note, it’s interesting that the chronology of Marvels stops just short of having to explain why the Marvel characters don’t age with time. This decision is perfect for securing the illusion of Marvels as a story set in the real world. Even knowing how later Marvel stories would play out, it’s easy to imagine that the superheroes would be getting older within the context of Marvels.

Alex Ross’s artwork is a perfect accompaniment to Kurt Busiek’s writing, not only in the quality of the painted panels, but in the choice of painting from photographic references. As a technique that I often see employed by artists who want to capture important historical events, the use of it here only further develops the sensation that Marvels captures something real and significant to human interests. As much as I would normally prefer the presence of pencils in comic books, I do not think pencilled artwork would have the same impact on Marvels as Alex Ross’s paintings.

Overall, Marvels is a fantastic book that delves into the everyman’s perspective of the incredible and provides a good alternative history of the Marvel universe to boot. It should be in everyone’s collection.

Astro City: Life in the Big City – Follow-up Review

I bought this book for one reason alone, that it was proclaimed to be the spiritual sequel to Marvels written once again by Kurt Busiek. In that context, I found myself very disappointed by Astro City. It’s partly due to the fact that it emulates the DC universe, which I find to be a much more unbelievable setting than Marvel. But it’s also partly due to the choice of perspectives, with one notable exception. A quick initiation to begin; the titular Astro City is essentially this book’s version of Metropolis, featuring a variety of heroes based on DC (and sometimes Marvel) icons. The Samaritan is based on Superman, Jack-In-The-Box is based on Batman, Winged Justice is based on Wonder Woman, the First Family are based on the Fantastic Four, etc. Each chapter in the book is told from a different perspective, either a superhero or an “everyman” character.

The first chapter of the book explains the daily life of the Samaritan, and this is the exception to my disappointment with Astro City because it allowed me to finally “get” the appeal of Superman. In the same way that courage has always been defined as the facing of one’s fears, heroism is in many respects idealised as a sacrifice of personal freedom. But while Spider-man has always flaunted his sacrifices, defining him as the relatable superhero, Superman has never been given any obvious sacrifice to contend with. It’s the lack of self-interest that makes Superman less relatable as a character, and Busiek does the most ingenious thing by making that lack itself the personal sacrifice. When the Samaritan sleeps, he dreams of flying; the obvious metaphor for personal freedom. Of course, if Superman had that dilemma, it’s unlikely that any reader would want to be Superman. I certainly wouldn’t. But in this case, the Samaritan highlights the importance of self-sacrifice and thus the importance of Superman.

Right, that’s enough praising. Now for the remaining disappointment that is the next five chapters. To go back to Marvels for a moment, at no point did “everyman” Phil Sheldon ever speak to, or directly interact with, a superhero. That’s what made him so relatable, because of course meeting a superhero is a very rare event, an exception. So when every “everyman” in Astro City directly interacts with superheroes, the ability to relate disappears. Chapter Four features a woman talking about threats and rules and talismans, but I can’t relate to her because she lives in a small part of town where apparently werewolves, vampires and other demons stalk the night. As possibly the most realistic character in the book, her situation makes her perspective quite alien to me, and I have no emotional reaction to her. How can I? She protects herself from monsters. For the other “everyman” stories in Astro City, they’re the sorts of things we’ve seen many times before in comics and television. Batman: The Animated Series is a good example of a series that repeatedly introduced new everyman characters that through circumstance became involved with Batman and his rogues. Astro City offers nothing really deeper than those stories.

I don’t want to go any further than that, but aside from the first chapter, I don’t understand what people find so special about Astro City. It’s not especially original or especially relatable as Marvels was.

Raien

X-Men Forever Alpha - Review

I don't get along very well with the X-Men. I want to enjoy it, but the series has become so expansive, with a million different stories being told, it's so hard to find something I consistently like. I hate the convoluted packaging of the current X-Men universe, with several on-going titles and a truckload of mini-series (most of which belong to Wolverine). I hate the convoluted nature of the stories, which are often too detached from reality to be emotionally relatable, not helped by constant time travel/dimension travel storylines.

Ultimate X-Men was a nice breath of fresh air. Just one on-going series to read, with Mark Millar and Brian Bendis both doing a good job of keeping the series grounded in reality. But since that series (and the general Ultimate universe) came crashing down, Marvel saw fit to find a replacement in the form of X-Men Forever. X-Men Forever is another alternate universe story that, unusually, takes place shortly after an old 1990s X-Men series that was cancelled after just three issues. (Fun Fact: The first issue of this trilogy is the highest selling comic of all time to date).

Chris Claremont wrote those original three issues and returns to write X-Men Forever, telling us in an interview that the new series will delve deeply into political stories, and that characters will age in real time. When characters die, they will never ever be resurrected. So the concept of this series sounds very promising, despite the bad things I've heard about Claremont's recent X-Men work. So with fingers crossed, I delved into the Alpha issue, which reprints the original 1990s trilogy.

The story of X-Men Forever Alpha is that Magneto has abandoned the fight between humans and mutants to live alone in his sanctuary, Asteroid M, but the two warring sides won't leave him alone because of his murderous past. A militant mutant group called the Acolytes encourages Magneto back to fight, and so the X-Men are forced to challenge Magneto on Asteroid M. While the writing is by no means subtle, it is in my opinion, handled very well. The characters all come through nicely, particularly Magneto, who finds himself torn between his belief in protecting mutants from humankind and his exasperation at the aggression towards him as an individual. In this light, the discussion of X-Men philosophy feels particularly appropriate for the nature of this story. Woven into the book is a subplot where Magneto discovers that scientist Moira McTaggart had previously used genetic engineering to manipulate his personality. This was a good avenue to see a man already on the edge of sanity driven over into madness, and made for some compelling confrontations between Magneto and McTaggart.

Jim Lee's pencils look fantastic for a 1990s comic, and the added cover/poster art is a nice addition. However, it suffers from a problem that I notice appeared in a lot of comics in the 1990s. It's far too "busy". There's so much detail on the page that it can be difficult to make out who's speaking and what's happening. This could be just a colouring problem though, and I think a modern colouring would do wonders for the effect of this book. But even so, the original artwork is still strong enough that it doesn't bring the book down too far. The character expressions are captured well, and the action is typically epic for X-Men.

In addition to the 1990s issues, there is a preview of the first "proper" issue of X-Men Forever. The writing looks just as good as the Alpha issue did, so that's got my hopes up. Wolverine dies, so that's another good sign. And the artwork looks up-to-date and top notch. So overall, if X-Men Forever Alpha is any indication of the rest of this series, then it looks like it will be a solid replacement for Ultimate X-Men.

Raien

Here's the new Fables review that I have written to replace the original review in my first post (which I have since edited out as well).

Fables - Vol. 1-3 Review

Had I read one less volume of Bill Willingam’s Fables, I would have said this series was one of the worst I’d read since Ultimates 3. I can think of no better example of how important first impressions are to a reader’s involvement with a new story than with Fables. Thankfully, the series does redeem itself in the third volume, and while I still don’t think Fables is to my personal taste, I can’t fault the writing for that.

The premise of Fables is that fairytale characters (the titular “Fables”) have been driven out of their storybook lands by an unnamed “adversary” and are forced into hiding in America. The human Fables live in a district of New York City (dubbed “Fabletown”), and the inhuman Fables live hidden on farmland further out. The series focuses on the human Fables, introducing us to classic characters such as Snow White, Big Bad Wolf (disguised as a human called “Bigby”), Old King Cole and Captain Bluebeard. While I have to admit that this is a fascinating concept, my initial reaction upon reading the book was that the two settings (fairytale and contemporary) clashed rather than complimented each other.

My main problem is with the characters. Willingham’s idea was that with a contemporary setting, the Fables should have contemporary personalities and lifestyles, and so everyone has been re-characterised. For example, Snow White is now a government official responsible for running Fabletown and Prince Charming is now a womaniser who takes money from the women he sleeps with. I can see why some people would find these changes fascinating, but it just disconnects me from the concept. With faces that only look in passing like the fairytales they represent, dressed and speaking in a fashion that doesn’t relate to who these characters used to be, I simply fail to believe that these characters are the fairytales they say they are. With that said, how well do these characters stand on their own merits? Well, without development, they come across as little more than one-note stock characters. There’s an art to making simplistic characters interesting and Willingham clearly just didn’t have it. But even with development, there are only a few characters that I would call compelling. I feel there’s a lot to be desired from Fables’ characters in general.

In the first volume of Fables, Willingham uses a “whodunit” murder mystery (which turned out to be a hoax, surprise surprise) as an excuse to meet all the characters, but this was horribly executed. Not only did it not do a good job of introducing the characters, but the entire thing made no sense whatsoever. For example, Bigby manages to acquire cartloads of blood and has some other characters re-create the “murder scene” to see if a human body could contain that much blood. I’m not joking; this piece of complete stupidity actually happened in the book, and with Bigby already having worked out at this point that the scene was faked. And then at the end of that story, Willingham forces a party of people to gather round to hear the big reveal Poirot-style, despite that nearly everyone at the party had nothing to do with the case. Then Willingham has Bigby justify the gathering by spending a page telling Snow White how he always wanted to do it, and she didn’t think to correct him on how dumb the idea actually was. In short, the first volume is moronic in every sense of the word.

The second volume introduces us to the non-human Fables at the farm, and as such was a much better demonstration of the unique concept of Fables than the first volume. The story pays homage to the novel “Animal Farm”, in which the non-human Fables violently revolt against their forced seclusion. It was much more logical than the first volume (and overall much better), yet I feel that the violence of it was excessive, as if it were just for the sake of being dark. This book also continues and emphasises another problem with the first volume; expositional writing. There is very little dialogue here (until toward the end of the book) that felt natural or believable. Instead, it felt like the characters were just relaying plot points to the reader, and undermined what was going on in the story. Thankfully, Volume Three has neither of the above two volumes’ faults. Combining two separate stories, one of which sees romance bloom between the characters, Bigby Wolf and Snow White, the book is not only much more engrossing but much better written to boot. We see a more dynamic interaction between the human and non-human Fables for one thing, which does a lot to make the world of Fables an engrossing place to see. The idea of tiny policemen riding talking mice as spies was a particularly novel idea. It feels like this book is where Fables should have started, and I’m honestly tempted to say skip the first two volumes (Wikipedia explains it all anyway).

So overall, if you have an interest in fairytales and a lot of patience, you could find Fables a rewarding experience. But otherwise, it’s hard to really recommend Fables in place of other comic book series. While the story is good, I didn’t feel that it had the passion or flare that has made other series so memorable.

Raien

Before I get this review underway, I'd just like to say that the two new issues of Amazing Spider-man (American Son Pt.1 and The Short Halloween) are the best stories for this comic I've read since I started reading it. Joe Kelly's scripting is tight and pitch-perfect character design, and The Short Halloween is a great comedy alternative to the standard stories. Pick both up!

Superman: For Tomorrow - Vol. 1 Review

Well, this was certainly the biggest disappointment I've experienced in a long while. There aren't many books that I've stopped reading due to sheer boredom, but For Tomorrow is now added to the list. Which is a shame, because it promised the super team-up of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Jim Lee. And while Jim Lee was certainly up to his usual high standard, trying to figure out how the writer of "100 Bullets" could go so wrong in so many ways is quite a mystery.

The story begins with a quirky exchange between a priest and a cop. I found both characters to be immediately interesting because they both exuded a sense of self-confidence that you rarely see from characters in their position (because most writers like to believe that priests are weak, humble characters who make long moralising speeches and quote the Bible in every other sentence). Then Superman appeared before the priest and poured his heart about the depressing nature of the world and his job. The very idea of the god-like Superman confessing emotional weakness to a stranger is a very powerful statement and I closely anticipated the fulfilment of that potential.

But no, it turns out we weren't seeing a revelation of emotional weakness. This was, in fact, an attempt by DC to make Superman a darker, brooding character in order to appeal to the teenage/adult audiences (I presume they had a case of selective amnesia and forgot all about the 1990s). There was no hope to brighten Superman's character in For Tomorrow, or even a mask of happiness for the public eye, and so Superman was turned into a bland cliche. If you just read the dialogue without knowing who was speaking, then it could belong to any dark, brooding superhero. It's as if the very characteristic of "dark/brooding" robs a character of his uniqueness and charm.

But this isn't the only problem with Superman's conversation with the priest. Quite simply, I can't make sense of what the characters are saying to each other. Sometimes it tries to be humorous banter and sometimes it appears to be conveying a moral message, but when the direction of the conversation changes, I'm left scratching my head as to what brought about the change. It feels like the dialogue could be fantastic if it made sense, and I honestly don't know what's making it such a difficult read.

Thankfully, Superman's account of past events is much simpler. A million people mysteriously disappear off the face of the Earth while Superman was out in space, and Lois Lane is among the missing. Superman locates the source of energy signals in a wartorn Middle-eastern country, at which point Superman appears to drop the investigation entirely in order to involve himself in the conflict. This is where the story dies. Apart from a rehashed "war is bad" theme, there is absolutely nothing of substance to this new development, and it feels abrupt when it begins. It feels like an excuse to throw in some fights with an original villain called Equius, yet Equius has to be the most unoriginal Superman villain created this decade. There is nothing compelling about him.

Superman then gets the device that caused the Vanishing, and the next few issues devolve into a vague cliche conspiracy theory narrative (tip to Azzarello: it wasn't original in 100 Bullets either) and random fighting. The book peters out with nothing of interest accomplished and nothing of interest to look forward to in the second volume (which I consequently will not be reviewing).

Of course, the big question is why review this book at all? It's clearly mediocre, unimportant and destined to fall into a sea of crappy comic books. I haven't seen a single good review for it since putting it down. Quite simply, I'm reviewing this because DC thought it good enough for an Absolute Edition. After all, wasn't the point of releasing Absolute Editions to highlight the very best of DC-owned storytelling? It certainly tricked me into reading this crap. Maybe it's just to showcase Jim Lee's artwork again, but really, DC. Charging over £50 for a book this bad? You have no shame.

Raien

Kingdom Come Review

Kingdom Come was a critically acclaimed limited series released in 1998 by writer Mark Waid and painter Alex Ross of Marvels fame. As an Elseworlds tale, Kingdom Come spans the entire DC universe and tells us what could happen if the old heroes were shunned by a public that wanted darker, ruthless superheroes. It's clearly a poke at the 1990s trend of dark superhero comics, and it unfortunately doesn't make sense in any other context except that. Why would any sane person want darker superheroes in real life? Thankfully the concept has another angle, that the superheroes have lost sight of saving people and are just fighting for thrills, which does a much better job of carrying the story.

So the story begins with a forced Biblical angle, as a pastor is brought to bear witness on the events of Kingdom Come by a mysterious Angel of Death... or something like that. I admit that I find Biblical references hard to grasp generally, but I really didn't understand what Mark Waid was trying to get at with this in Kingdom Come. Apparently the pastor was supposed to pass judgement on Superman at some point, but when the moment came, I swear that nothing actually happened. The moment passed without comment, and I was just left confused by it.

But anyway, the story goes that a new superhero called Magog kills the Joker and is praised by the general public. Superman loses faith in justice and hides in the Fortress of Solitude for ten years. Wonder Woman appears and reveals that the new superheroes are killing people with their excessive fighting, culminating in Magog getting the entire state of Kansas destroyed in a nuclear explosion. So Superman gets the old Justice League back together in order to recruit the new heroes under traditional morals and bring peace back to the world.

But Superman has a problem. Wonder Woman wants to be forceful and militant against the heroes that stand against Superman, and she encourages the building of a prison to hold the rebels until they accept Superman's rules. Batman, on the other hand, believes that excessive force won't change minds, and that patience and methodical movement is the only solution. But since Batman refuses to return to the Justice League, Wonder Woman has her way, which almost leads to disaster.

I have to say, Mark Waid does a really good job of getting us feeling the oppressive nature of this new world of ruthless dominance and fighting from superheroes. The atmosphere is a pitch perfect demonstration of why Superman decided to leave humanity in the first place. The characterisations of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman is equally top-notch. Their emotions are relatable, their personalities are distinct and you can practically feel the friction as they exchange ideologies with each other. The story in general does a really good job of exploring new philosophical territory and how the DC superheroes react under extreme pressure.

However, the Biblical angle comes back to bite and an already complicated moral dilemma is made even further complicated by a series of false dilemmas. For example, we're supposed to believe that if the superheroes fight each other, the result will be Armageddon. Umm... why doesn't it just end like every other superhero team-up fight? Why are there no third options? The problem here is that when every character talks about dire consequences like this, it feels like an overexaggeration to play into the Biblical abstracts, when it should be a realistic threat that can be solved with a bit of common sense. As such, I found Kingdom Come to be headache-inducing at times because the story didn't make much real sense.

It's funny that Alex Ross's artwork seems to reflect Mark Waid's writing in every way. The characters are incredibly detailed in their design, the location scenes capture the mood of the scenes perfectly; everything about it just oozes quality. You can turn any panel into a poster and it would look just as good as a stand-alone image. It's fascinating to see so many DC heroes rendered in this realistic painted style, and I even found an easter egg in the form of characters from Monty Python's Life of Brian. But just like Waid's writing, Ross's artwork at times suffers from overcomplication. Namely in the action scenes, where multiple characters are fighting in a single panel and it's hard to tell which way is supposed to be "up", Ross's lack of distinct outlines makes it difficult to see what exactly's happening in the panel and it can be headache-inducing at times. It's a general criticism I have of 1990s comics, where the panels are simply too busy, but I never thought I'd see it in an Alex Ross book.

So in conclusion, Kingdom Come showcases some very strong performances from both Mark Waid and Alex Ross, but in general suffers from a severe case of TOO MUCH! I still think the book's strengths far outweigh the flaws, but I can't help but think how good this book could have been with streamlining.

Raien

Batman & Robin #1 - Review

I admit that I'm not the biggest fan of Grant Morrison's run on Batman so far. Reading both the books and subsequent interviews with the man himself, I find my impression of him wandering between cleverness and pretentiousness. I like mysteries and symbolism as much as the next reader, but the obfuscation of it feels like it excludes everyone except the dedicated reader. Thankfully, despite being a direct continuation of that run, Morrison's new series is a completely different beast. Abandoning the overcomplicated plot of his past issues, Morrison tries to invoke the simple, linear storytelling of his work in the excellent All-Star Superman.

For those who don't read the news, Batman is dead (well, sealed in another dimension. DC obfuscated his fate to increase sales). So Dick Grayson (aka Robin/Nightwing), is the new Batman, and Bruce Wayne's son, Damien (a character created by Morrison), is the new Robin. With a minimal amount of text, Dick Grayson's discomfort behind the Batman cowl is well-demonstrated without making him feel too ineffective as Batman. As a man clearly afraid of not living up to such a mythic figure, it's compelling to see if it will become his undoing. Damien, on the other hand, sounds as ridiculous and unnatural as he ever did in previous Batman stories. It feels like he's channeling Jeph Loeb, being brash and arrogant as a misunderstood attempt at "cool". Okay, to be fair, he's not as annoying in this issue as he has been, but the underlying problems are still apparent. Damien could very well be the most unpopular Robin since Jason Todd, and I would honestly not be surprised if for a bit of fun, Morrison engineered a reader vote for his fate.

With new heroes, Batman & Robin #1 also introduces a new group of villains; the Circus of Strange. The issue begins with new villain Mr. Toad driving an old-fashioned car recklessly down a tunnel to escape from the cops, when a now-flying Batmobile catches up and blows him off the road. I really like this scene for its stylistic flare. Frank Quitely's art evokes 1950s sci-fi with the flying Batmobile, and the heavy use of streak-lines to reflect the speed is very effective for such a simplistic chase scene. It's a shame that Quitely's art isn't so consistently good elsewhere in the issue. As soon as Mr. Toad's in prison, the art for some reason becomes sketchy and is simply not appealing to look at. Later on, we're introduced to a man on fire and the leader of the Circus himself, Pyg, who puts doll masks on people in order to transform them into his slaves. This would have been amazing if it wasn't so cliche. Morrison did literally nothing to develop the character into something new and exciting, and I was left wanting more. Perhaps next issue...

Overall, I liked the direction that Morrison took with the writing, but I feel he went too far. If you make writing too minimal, it becomes increasingly expositional, and that's exactly what happened here. Still, I found myself re-reading the issue several times (not something I do very often) and I can happily recommend it.

Longshot

Honestly I don't normally like batman, only really read Kevin Smith's short run and some of the All Star stuff. However this [and Detective comics due to it being Batwoman/Question] is luring me in. I think its almost entierly the creative team of Morrison/Quitely from All Star that I love.

To be honest I love his art, but as you have said this doesen't seem to match to the usual standard. I think I'll give this one a miss however, as I am attempting to cut back. Unless you can give me a solid reason that I should be picking it up [a more compelling review of issue 2 maybe].

Raien

Top 10 – Vol. 1 & 2 Review

Wow… I’ve pretty much read the list of Alan Moore’s most famous works (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, etc) and I have to ask why Top 10 is not on that list. For me, this is not only the most entertaining Alan Moore comic I’ve ever read, but probably the most entertaining comic from any author. I’m rather sad that Moore only wrote twelve issues; he set up several plot threads for further development at the end of the last issue and I would really like to see where he could take them (Smax mini-series not included).

Okay, I actually can hazard a guess as to why Top 10 isn’t all that famous. The book’s setting is Neopolis, a fictional American city where all the residents are stereotypical comic book characters, such as superheroes, supervillains, monsters, robots, aliens, intelligent animals, gods, etc. With a cultural background limited to a select audience and an incredible scope for variety, Top 10 outwardly looks like it’s written with comic book geeks in mind (and after reading it, I’m not entirely sure if that isn’t actually the case). However, what ultimately makes Top 10 a relatable series is that the central characters are police officers. Anyone who’s seen a standard television cop drama (which is practically everyone) should be able to get the gist of what kind of characters appear in Top 10 and the general formula for plot progression.

The book kicks off with new recruit Robyn Slinger (aka “Toybox”) starting her first day at the precinct. Flying in the face of expectations, Moore spends very little time dwelling on Robyn’s introduction or her P.O.V. After some establishing scenes, Robyn soon gets partnered with a gruff muscular blue man called Smax and the focus quickly switches to the first case. Top 10 wastes no time getting into multiple interwoven plot threads; there’s a good mixture of on-going detective mysteries, more straightforward cases and character developments. Everyone gets their time in the spotlight, and there’s a wonderful array of interactions that bring out everyone’s personality. Quite frankly, Top 10 is a perfect demonstration of the mastery of Alan Moore, as he was not only able to interweave all these threads together believably, but within the space of twelve issues. Most writers can’t fit even half the content of Top 10 into twelve issues.

Rather than attempting the impossible effort of describing such a complicated plot, I would prefer to point out a few things about Top 10 that I found particularly memorable. First there is Sergeant Caesar, an intelligent dog in a humanoid exoskeleton, often wearing colourful shirts and a pair of glasses. Now that is a fascinating contradiction in itself, but Moore takes the character further by addressing how he works on an emotional level. One particular subtlety is that Caesar can lie about his intelligent dog psychology and no one is able to call him out on it. Telling an officer that he’s only sexually attracted to other dogs, and then recalling the lie to another officer later was particularly hilarious.

Then there’s another officer who doesn’t join the precinct until the last couple of issues, yet is probably the most entertaining of all of them. Joe Pi is an A.I. brought in to replace an officer killed in action. Naturally the other officers feel threatened by Joe because of his calculating abilities and their preconceptions of an emotionless machine, so Joe has to go out of his way to prove his sympathetic personality through good humour and a generally likeable persona. And yet his efficiency and general lack of mistakes leaves me wondering how he actually comes to be so sympathetic. There could have been some interesting questions about A.I. psychology in Top 10 if only Alan Moore kept on writing.

Of course, the cases themselves can be just as fun as the protagonists. In no particular order, there’s a drunk Godzilla using trucks as beer cans, a cat-and-mouse fight that escalates into its own continuity-erasing comic book crossover (with “Galacpuss” no less), and an insane telekinetic who believes himself to be Santa, steals reindeer from the zoo, makes them fly with his powers and gives one of them a heart attack. Genius.

As the artist, Gene Ha was perfectly chosen for Top 10. For such a heavy book, the art perfectly conveys detail and emotion without feeling like it’s trying to compete with Moore’s sometimes page-filling writing. Ha should be particularly credited for his wonderful landscapes of Neopolis, and for the sheer variety of comic book character designs that homage a variety of popular icons, if not featuring them altogether as cameos.

Top 10 is a book that’s best read as a cop drama first and a superhero comic second, but it’s the play between both that makes it such a compelling read. Down-to-earth relatability has always been best paired with a fantastic concept, and that has never been better demonstrated than Top 10.

Raien

Wednesday Comics #1 Review

DC tries something new this week (if you can call a throwback to 1940s comic magazines “new”, but hey, you take what you can get) in the form of Wednesday Comics, a collection of fifteen one-page serials that will continue every week. Featured within is a mix of DC’s most famous superheroes (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, etc) along with some relative unknowns. Each story also features a different writer and artist, giving Wednesday Comics a similar mix of famous names (Neil Gaiman, Brian Azzarello, Adam Kubert, Kurt Busiek) and unknowns. Another unique detail to Wednesday Comics is that each page is four times the size of a standard comic book page, with the book folded like a newspaper to fit on store shelves. I presume the comic was made larger to fit more panels on the page, but I think DC backfired by making it too large. Bigger than an oversized hardcover, not only is Wednesday Comics difficult to read comfortably, but the folding also obstructs the artwork. It’s an unnecessary complication to something that is supposed to be simple entertainment.

Anyway, with the obvious limitations of one-page stories, it’s clear that DC aren’t attempting to reach new literary or emotional heights with Wednesday Comics. The question is how well the one-page format works as a novelty and whether the novelty can stay interesting long enough to get readers continuing to purchase it every week. I personally think it has potential. It might not be as engrossing as a modern comic but the simple, fast-moving stories carry their own charm and, in the right hands, can prove to be a lot of fun.

I have to emphasise “in the right hands” in Wednesday Comics’ case, because quite frankly I don’t feel that all the writers really knew how to make the most of the new format. Two notable offenders were Kurt Busiek’s Green Lantern and Adam Kubert’s Sgt. Rock, where the strips read as if they were simply first pages in a standard comic. Now ask yourself this question; would you enjoy standard comics if they were released at a rate of one-page-per-week? Then perhaps you can understand why it doesn’t work here. For something like this, writers need to think outside the box, providing the readers with an incentive to keep reading. If your strip has no hook, then it just isn’t going to interest people. That said, no one missed the point more completely than Ben Caldwell in his Wonder Woman strip. His reaction to the one-page format was to force as much story as he could into his page. I counted fifty panels in total, many so small that despite being a quadruple-size comic, I had to squint in order to make out the detail. Utterly ridiculous.

Thankfully, there were some enjoyable highlights in Wednesday Comics. Brian Azzarello’s Batman strip did everything right. Had I not known it was a serial, I would have said it made a great short story in it’s own right. A tragedy permeated by the fact that sometimes the heroes don’t always act in time, transformed into a hook by the promise of a continuing issue. Karl Kerschl’s Flash strip was also enjoyable, and although not as emotionally engaging as Batman, it at least felt substantial and had an intriguing hook at the end. Superman makes a good runner-up simply because of Lee Bermejo’s typically excellent artwork.

So at the end of the day, I’m feeling pretty underwhelmed by Wednesday Comics. Granted, I wasn’t expecting much to begin with, but after reading the excellent Batman strip (which DC put at the front), I was disappointed to see that the majority did not hold up to that level of quality. That said, maybe I’m jumping the gun. Despite my initial impressions, I think that due to the nature of the format, it’s too early to tell whether it’s worth continuing or dropping altogether. Next week, however, I’ll have a better perspective. In the meantime, …meh.

Batmanuel

Thanks for taking the time out to write these reviews, i will read them properly later and maybe post some comments, but for now cheerio Smile

Raien

I just finished reading Wednesday Comics #2, and now I'm in a better position to comment on the stories.

Batman has now fallen into the pattern of "Let's release a standard comic at a one-page-per-week rate", so despite that Azzarello's writing is still very good, my interest in it has declined since last issue. Green Lantern and Sgt. Rock are still guilty of that trait, but now the latter is pulled off so abysmally that I no longer even care to read it. I'm also disappointed by the latest development in the Flash strip, as what I expected to be a sinister trap for the hero was in actuality part of the on-going love story.

I would now like to add Hawkman, Metal Men and Metamorpho to Wonder Woman and Sgt. Rock in the list of "Don't bother" strips. The first strip is a horrible attempt at poetic license (and I do mean horrible), the second relies entirely on metal-based jokes (really?...), and the third is a blatant and crap rip-off of Alan Moore's Tom Strong comic series.

Yeah... Neil Gaiman actually decided to shorten the development of the main story in favour of cartoon kids telling us how awesome Metamorpho is. How on earth did Gaiman figure that rehashing the first issue of Tom Strong would not go unnoticed WHEN THIS ISSUE WAS RELEASED ON THE SAME DAY AS A REPRINT OF TOM STRONG #1!? It beggars belief that an award-winning author had so little originality that he couldn't do something original with the one-page format.

With all this negativity, there is one jewel in Wednesday Comics' crown that has revealed itself; Kamandi. Not only is this the most accurate recreation of a classic 1950s comic strip, but it also shows the most imagination, characterisation and effective use of the one-page format. The writing may be a little stinted, but that doesn't stop Kamandi being the main strip to read.

Unless my opinions significantly change with the following issues, I'll refrain from commenting on individual stories. As for Wednesday Comics as a whole, I have to say that I'm thoroughly enjoying 2/3 of the strips, and that I'm willing to keep reading. I'm certainly not going to get light entertainment like this anywhere else in comics.

Batmanuel

I hate the Wednesday comics format,

hell if i want to fight with a massive amount of news print paper in order to read it i will buy the financial times.

i don't mind the trash paper, in fact i like it,

shame thy couldn't have priced it at the average price of a fleet street rag though.

it the size i don't like.

Raien

Right, it's a new academic year and a new time for REVIEWS!!!

A Bit of JMS Spider-man – “Unintended Consequences” and “Happy Birthday” Review

Back in 2001, acclaimed writer Joe Michael Straczynski began work on a popular run of Amazing Spider-man that lasted until 2005. I recently picked up a collection of three trades from the series, along with the recommendation that it pioneered a serious direction for Spider-man that was of very high quality (although the 1990s was so bad that, let’s face it, Ultimates 3 would appear high quality in comparison). But having read through two of the books now, I can’t say it was particularly satisfying. JMS writes his dialogue well enough, but as I’ve begun to notice with the likes of Ed Brubaker, good writing doesn’t mean very much when you don’t have an interesting story to tell.

While JMS writes a good variety of science fiction, there isn’t a single concept that feels original or inspired. His “gimmick” seems to be to resurrect one dead science fiction trope after another, failing to use them in any meaningful way. That said, it’s hard to see how JMS could develop the series when the main characters are stuck in a complete rut. Peter Parker’s life is Boring. Bland. Banal. Every moment where I have to sit through Peter’s preaching of life lessons in a science class slowly drains my will to live. Why make Peter a science teacher to begin with anyway? Sure it’s a natural progression for the character, but it’s absolutely no fun to read, which one would presume was the whole point of writing a comic book.

Then there’s Aunt May and Mary Jane. Or should I say, cardboard cut-outs of Aunt May and Mary Jane? Seriously, there is no depth to either of these characters. It’s as if Peter constantly pulls a little string on their backs that makes them repeat certain catchphrases. Aunt May says, “I don’t like seeing Peter as Spider-man, but I’ll have to get used to it”, and Mary Jane says “I love you Peter and support whatever you have to do”, or alternatively, “I want sex. GIVE ME SEX!” There’s not even any satisfaction in seeing Spider-man. He never does anything exciting, and anytime he comes within fifty feet of an attractive woman, JMS brings up the big “I’m married” sign without motivation and ends any wishful thinking the reader might have.

*sigh* I wish Brian Bendis was writing this book... But that probably wouldn’t change much. The problem is that Spider-man is now tied to an overly repetitious routine that gets old incredibly fast. If only there was some way to get Peter out of that teaching job so he doesn’t bore the readers every single week. If only Peter had a perfectly natural excuse to break up his marriage so that he could start dating chicks again. If only there was some way to get JMS off the book so we don’t have to read yet another story about radioactive, mind-controlling creatures from outer space in another dimension at the far-flung reaches of time. Hmm… *scratches chin* Maybe some sort of retcon could accomplish all of this. Would Marvel be bold enough to attempt such a thing? We can only hope… and pray.

Spider-man Blue Review

The death of Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker’s first girlfriend, is probably the most important event in the Spider-man canon. Yet Gwen Stacy herself is a character always talked about, but never given a voice. What did Gwen have that made her so special to Peter? Why is she still so important over 30 years after her death? With intrigue, I picked up the 2002 limited series, Spider-man Blue, created by the team of the classic “Superman For All Seasons”, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. According to blurbs, this is the book that explains the love between Peter and Gwen.

It doesn’t. Spider-man Blue was not about Peter and Gwen’s relationship, but the events leading up to their romance. As such, Gwen actually didn’t feature much in the book at all, and when she did appear, there was practically no expression of her character. Peter’s own narration of the story was the only thing that suggested that Gwen was anything more than an average fling, and part of me wishes that some of that expression was brought into the actual story. But with all that said, Spider-man Blue was not actually a bad book. It was just an inappropriate choice of story for what was being advertised.

Spider-man Blue could probably best be described as a second look at a short-but-significant period in Spider-man’s history, covering the introductions of Harry Osborn, Gwen Stacy and Mary-Jane Watson and other significant developments in Peter Parker’s social life. Coinciding with the social drama is a variety of classic villain fights to balance the book out, with fan favourites such as the Rhino, the Lizard and the Vulture. I don’t know how much of this book is Jeph Loeb’s original writing and how much has been taken from the original comics, although I suppose it doesn’t really matter. The flow of the story from one event to another feels entirely natural.

Jeph Loeb’s writing is just as real and moving as it was in Superman For All Seasons. The narration by Peter Parker evokes that familiar sense of nostalgia and the integration of metaphors and on-going themes gives it a poetic license that feels particularly welcome in this sort of story. Although we never get a window into the lives of the secondary characters as Superman For All Seasons did, they are for the most part open and expressive as individuals. The villains perhaps don’t have as much development, but then they were always a simple excuse for some impressive fights, so we can let that slide.

Tim Sale’s artwork in Spider-man Blue is probably the best I’ve seen from him, if not the most evocative of classic comic design. Sale perfectly blends the traditional 1970s Spider-man art with his own distinctive style to create a book that feels both familiar and fascinating. As in Superman For All Seasons, Sale takes advantage of big panels to show off the depth and detail in his pencilling. The fight scenes should receive special credit as Sale draws the most imaginative, colourful panels that I’ve seen from a Spider-man artist; no elaborate trick from classic Spider-man has been spared.

There aren’t many Spider-man books I know of that can be called definitive, but Spider-man Blue is certainly a definitive Spider-man book. It may not fulfil the main hook, which is to explain Peter’s love for Gwen Stacy, but it is emotionally fulfilling in every other way and absolutely deserving of a purchase from anyone who enjoys Spider-man.

Raien

Batman: The Man Who Laughs – Review

As popular as Ed Brubaker is in the genre of crime noir comic books, I have yet to read a comic written by him that I properly enjoy. His dialogue-writing skills are up there with the best comic book writers, but the direction that his stories take always feel incredibly bland and predictable in comparison. There hasn’t been a concept that engaged me, or a plot twist that surprised me. And while Batman: The Man Who Laughs is certainly the best I’ve seen from him thus far, it’s still a good example of how he can stop a story short of its potential.

The Man Who Laughs is a graphic novel that tells the story of the Joker’s first appearance in Gotham City, following the origin story depicted in Alan Moore’s classic graphic novel, The Killing Joke. This book also establishes the opening of Arkham Asylum and the creation of the Bat Signal, making this an important piece of canon for the fans. And as a very nice touch, The Man Who Laughs is actually a pseudo-remake of the original Joker story created by Bob Kane back in the 1940s, where the Joker killed a string of wealthy billionaires to steal their jewels.

The story begins with what is debatably the best part of the entire book, the discovery of several victims that the Joker used to create his famous Joker Serum. It’s a fantastically horrific scene that sets up the character perfectly. In the next scene, the Joker hijacks a television news camera to inform the public that a wealthy billionaire will die at midnight, and already the first problem with The Man Who Laughs comes to light. The Joker’s dialogue has been reduced to a string of unnaturally forced bad jokes. It’s a far cry from the genuinely witty dialogue that other writers have given the Joker, and it’s only without the wit that you realise how charismatic it made his character. So now the Joker is no longer a joy to behold on the page, we’ve lost one of the story’s main hooks.

But does the Joker still kill people in a variety of interesting ways? Well, after the Joker uses the time-released poison that appeared in the original Bob Kane story, he simply gets his masked henchmen to storm the buildings and shoot the victims. While Bruce Wayne is himself poisoned by Joker Venom (the other high point of the story), it’s never explained how. Compared to Bob Kane having Joker hide in a suit of armour and disguise himself as the police chief, this is incredibly unimaginative. Any stock villain can just storm the buildings, so why have the Joker do it twice?

Before I continue, I’d also like to question Brubaker’s depiction of the mentally ill men who the Joker releases on a shooting spree. As much as I am aware of how badly the mentally ill have been stereotyped in the past, I can’t recall a comic book where they’ve been depicted in such an alienating and derogatory fashion as they have here. I tried looking at this in the intended context, but it was just so offensive that it left a sour taste in my mouth when I put the book down.

Finally, we come to the climax of the story and the Joker’s true motivations are revealed. It turns out the Joker has been driven by chemically induced hatred for the citizens of Gotham. Seriously? He’s driven by hatred? What happened to “Life is a joke, and death is the punchline”, the philosophy that makes the Joker such a force of chaos? How does hatred inspire the Joker’s love of performance murders? This twist is not only one of the most out-of-character turns we’ve seen in recent years, but it completely rejects everything that made the Joker a fascinating villain.

So in conclusion, we have an important Joker story that spoils the Joker character in every conceivable way. It’s an incredible feat to take what is debatably the most unique and charismatic villain in comic book history and make him the bland and unappealing figure that he was in The Man Who Laughs. I could give the rest of Ed Brubaker’s story and Doug Mahnke’s art a good write-up if it wasn’t for this shameful treatment of an icon. Seriously, everything except the Joker was enjoyable. Bruce Wayne’s poisoning was a particularly gripping moment. But as with all the Ed Brubaker comics I’ve read, there is unmet potential here and the story feels stilted as a result.

Batmanuel

i feel that maybe you are missing the point in the term Review,
and to all intents misinterpreted it as critic.

you should either be one or the other, being overly critical is best left to the Critics, oh and me Laughing

reviews should be reviews, perhaps you should research the underlining language that reviews use.

being too critical all of the time becomes tiresome.

although i do feel that a have a rant section where people can let off steam may be in order.

you could have your own things i hate most about everything thread Smile

Toodle Pip Old Bean Wink

Raien

First of all, "critics" are not people who just give negative opinions. Anyone who publically shares an opinion, regardless of whether it's positive or negative, is a critic.

I understand what you're getting at, though. The problem with my reviews is that they lack professionalism. They're missing the consistent framing and structure that readers would expect to help them make an educated opinion.

And personally, I don't find myself as able to go into detail on the things I enjoy compared to the things I hate (hence, the majority of my "reviews" have been negative). So maybe it would be best if I just give up the idea of reviews and make recommendations and criticisms as I find them in the Casual/Rant forums.

PS: I never did finish that Superman For All Seasons/All-Star Superman Double Review, due to my inability to accurately describe the (awesome) experience of reading the latter title. That said, here's the Superman For All Seasons review, since that was completed.

Superman For All Seasons Review

Superman For All Seasons was written and drawn respectfully by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, as a book that delves into the origin of Clark Kent as Superman. The most fascinating thing about this book is that it is literally written as a nostalgia piece, beginning with faux snapshots of Clark Kent growing up on the farm with his parents, and maintaining that general motif throughout the book. Tim Sale draws very large panels precisely to create a snapshot effect, and the general result is a book that could in some respects feel like a photo album (the cornfields on the Kent farm are particularly beautiful to look at). While the story is divided equally between Smallville and Metropolis, it is Smallville that is given the most care by both Loeb and Sale. Loeb provides a romantic description of Smallville that just about anyone can associate with “the past”. It was a simpler time, when everyone lived a short distance from each other, lived happily and without suffering. Of course it will probably date horribly for new generations growing up with the internet, but at least it provides a relatable explanation for Superman’s personality. Clark simply wants the world to reflect the idyllic life he had in Smallville. I’ve often found it difficult to believe that Superman can be so selfless with such power, but Superman For All Seasons is one of the only books that make it work for me.

Superman For All Seasons is actually not told through Superman’s perspective, but four other characters that interact with both his Clark Kent and Superman personas. As such, we get a variety of opinions on what Superman represents on both a personal level and a mythic level. Jonathan Kent is the voice in the first chapter (Spring), telling us about Clark’s maturity in Smallville. Lois Lane is the voice in the second chapter (Summer), telling us how the presence of Superman has changed life in Metropolis. Lex Luthor is the voice in the third chapter (Fall), telling us how and why he tries to bring down Superman. Lana Lang is the voice in the final chapter (Winter), telling us about her lost love for Clark and why he gave up everything to save lives. As such, Superman For All Seasons may be generally light in content, but it is incredibly well rounded in emotional substance. You cannot help but sympathise with the character, even though he represents an impossible ideal. This, of all things, is why Superman For All Seasons is a definitive Superman story.