Posts Tagged ‘Vertigo’

« Older Entries

Playing Catch Up: Preacher

Saturday, May 1st, 2010

I’ve been raiding my friend’s library, and decided to give Preacher another shot. I picked it up before and for whatever reason didn’t stick with it. I think I got to the part where the angel and demon are doing the horizontal polka and I decided to try again later. That later happened to be quite a while.

The dark humor is landing stronger this time, and I’ve got the character voices going a bit stronger in my mind. The odd thing that occurred to me was how much these characters and the humor remind me of a Coen brothers movie. Everyone has their weird quirks, and whatever is possibly the worst that could happen, lands squarely in the middle of everyone’s lives. And every time John Wayne pops in, it reminds me of Elvis in True Romance, or the Lonely Cowboy/narrator in The Big Lebowski.

Looking forward to racing through the rest of the book. Cassidy rules.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Reading | No Comments »

Joe the Barbarian Issue #1

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Ads for Joe the Barbarian have been popping up in most of the comics I’ve been buying each week, and while I’m always wary of Grant Morrison, Sean Murphy’s art cannot be denied!

The book starts off with a simple familiar (toys come to life…or do they) premise, and surprisingly Morrison’s writing really seems to take a back seat to the storytelling that Murphy employs.  I especially love the sequence where our young protagonist comes home to a house rich with character.  Murphy says in a column in the back that he put in a lot of details that remind him of the house he grew up in, and this care is apparent as the mood builds while Joe ascends to his room.

The first issue is a single dollar. In today’s world of rising comic prices, there is no reason to skip this book.

Apparently the entire first issue is available online for free!

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in just me | No Comments »

Comics This Week

Friday, July 10th, 2009

11672_400x600question+mark

Jeff Lemire has been getting plenty of praise during the lead up to the release of The Nobody on the comic podcasts (11 o’clock, AC, iFanboy) I listen to.  Its books like this that really keep me listening to them, books that might slip through my fingers otherwise.  Word of mouth is definitely the best advertisement.  I haven’t read his Essex County Trilogy, but I’ve heard nothing but great things.  So based on his reputation and the dwindling number of titles remaining on my pull list, I snapped up The Nobody this wednesday (30% everything in store at Cosmic Comics you New Yorkers!).

The Nobody tells a somewhat familiar tale of an odd outsider, Griffin, coming to rest in the small town of Large Mouth: Home of the World’s Largest Bass.  Naturally, his past is covered up much like his face(see above).  Jeff Lemire’s writing and art make all the difference here.  His expressive brushwork really carries a lot of motion and with a simple look from a person on the page he’s telling you what each distinct inhabitant of the town is thinking or feeling.

I’m trying really hard here not to spoil anything…and I won’t.  Simply, as the bandages on the stranger unravel, so too do the mysteries and paranoia of the people of Large Mouth.  Even if you see whats coming next, Lemire has plenty of detours and surprises along the way.

It’s all in the details, the way the story and characters are revealed throughout and especially at the end.  His ability to take advantage of the comic book format shows Lemire’s expertise and love of the comic book form.  His writing brings to life rich characters without tons of exposition, and lovingly crafts the marriage between images and words.

In short: Dive in blind and read Jeff Lemire’s The Nobody.

soundtrack to read with here.

(blind because there is a nice detail revealed on the Vertigo website that I wasn’t aware of when I picked this up, and kept me guessing and wondering.  It won’t ruin the ending, but it does kill a bit of initial intrigue.)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in just me | No Comments »

Comics Catch Up!

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

yzchwgr3kk1mtc22hipu09loo1_500

It’s been a while since I talked about what I’ve been reading week to week…so here we go!

Far and away, Batman 686 written by Neil Gaiman and penciled by Andy Kubert was the best issue I’ve read since I last posted about my weekly addiction.  Alex Ross’ cover might spoil a bit for people…and DC should be scolded for having Batman be so unaccessible while the movie has the potential to drive new readers to the stands.  (yes I know the trades are always available)  This is the first of a two issue run that tackles the events after the massive Grant Morrison mindbender of Final Crisis and Batman RIP which I haven’t read, but thanks to podcast recaps and discussions, at least have an idea of the basic story.  I’ll check them out eventually, but I’m not a huge Morrison fan.  The issue is fantastic, and has some of the best pages I’ve looked at in a long time.  Batman apparenlty having been hit by Darkseid’s Omega Beam thing, Neil Gaiman is now telling some of the stories of Batman’s infinite deaths.  Rather than be brutal, physical deaths, they tackle the character, and take a looks at Batman/Bruce’s shortcomings as a human being.  This issue contains a story by Catwoman and Alfred, and both are fantastic, as well as the framing device of the story: a wake for the recently departed Batman.

(more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in just me | 1 Comment »

Comics This (And Last) Week

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

1575715161

Umbrella Academy (Way/Ba/Dark Horse) continues to present me with an odd, peculiar world that I can’t wait to read about.  Gabriel Ba is obvioulsy influenced by the great Mike Mignola, and when you merge that with your own energetic style it generates a nice flavor for this grim, humorous book.  There are quite a few questions plaguing me about the futures of these disfunctional super siblings.  Time Boy and the Kraken seem to be the only men of action for now.

Gigantic (Remender/Nguyen/Dark Horse) brings the destruction on a slightly smaller scale, but the conspiracy and tension heat up with the issue’s great cliffhanger.  Nguyen continues to deliver the big action on the page, and Remender keeps the story fun and pulpy; makes me glad to be reading this in issues.

0325322001227029188image_bigrunawayv3005_cov

X-Men (Fraction/Dodson/Marvel) was decent enough, I can’t complain about the writing or the art really, (though Dodson’s teen X-Men could stand to look a bit younger).  What I can complain about is it seems the events of the next Marvel event, Dark Reign, are reaching into this book, and suddenly pulling Emma away from the team.  I don’t believe that she is a traitor, and making her as such this late in the game seems strange.  Seeing Scott take charge and Colossus find himself is enjoyable enough.  I’m just worried to see such a good creative team get bogged down in Marvel’s “master plans”

Runaways (Moore/Ramos/Marvel) The action in this book is heating up!  As the Runaways get it together, and Chase seems to gain a knack for tinkering, the team lives up to its namesake as they flee the Majesdanian ship.  Moore’s handle on the characters is still firm, and Ramos’ energy spills across the pages.  Their newly-reunified-heroic-about-face is just around the corner.  Next issue is the one I’ve been most anxious for since Moore took over, I can’t wait.

10594_400x60010786_400x600

Madame Xanadu (Wagner/Hadley/Vertigo) brings in a sweet cameo from my favorite Endless, Death!  Madame Xanadu faces age and death, and reaches out to Death to prolong her life.  Death’s appearance easily makes any issue more enjoyable, and its a pleasure to see our heroine moving out of such a dark time.  The Jack the Ripper story coming up next looks great!

House of Mystery (Sturges/Rossi/Vertigo) is a book I look forward to each month, as the short stories prove to make each issue something special by itself, and take great advantage of the serialized format.  I’m really loving these past few that focus in on the origins of the characters, delving deeper into the riddle that is the House of Mystery.  Again, another appearance from a Sandman character, the bumbling Abel is always entertaining.  This issue seems to lean towards some more revelations as to Fig’s involvement and ties with the sentient house.  Its nice to see the layers finally get peeled back just enough to get a peek of what exactly is happening here.  Its reminding me of Lost in that respect, but its less frustrating by far.

whatifnff001_covwhatifsmbb001_cov What If?  I decided not to pick up this book?  I’d probably be feel like less of a sucker for falling prey to that damning collector mentality.  Only one more to go to conclude the Runaways back up story… Might as well take the plunge…groan.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in just me | No Comments »

Comics This (Last) Week

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

After 5 months of set up with Bendis’s Ultimate Origins, I was skeptical when I discovered the team for the big Ultimatum event, was Jeph Loeb and David Finch. Loeb seems to have become really hacky of late, I enjoyed Batman Hush, but I had a big draw in due to the comeback of Jim Lee, and Loeb’s prior success with Batman.  Loeb’s Ultimates Season 3 was ANYTHING but what I wanted of that title, and I dropped it after the first issue (It was nice to see Joe mad back, but no inks made the interior lack definition, and he was NOT a good fit for people expected of that title.)  All that being said, Ultimatum issue 1 (of 5) was a big nothing.  Finch’s art varies from serviceable to complete miss for me.  The spreads were nice, especially with the giant wave coming in, but, for example, the image of Magneto on a  throne is really hard to swallow, due to over rendering and muscular exaggeration seemingly trying to make up for something.  The drawing feels like its trying WAY to hard to live up to the iconic Magneto Jim Lee drew in the early 90s, and falls far from the mark.  Loeb’s story was 22 pages of simplistic set up, and unneccessarily dragged out the story.  I feel like he wanted that tidal wave to be a really OMG moment, but it just didn’t resonate with me.  I’m likely to flip through the 2nd issue when it arrives, but if it feels as bare as this issue, I’m done.

Gigantic by Rick Remender and Eric Nguyen from Dark Horse had a cover too pretty to pass up! From what I’ve heard, Remender has really been able weave ridiculous fun stories, and Gigantic seems to be heading that way.  The first issue was pure action, and it was fun to see a robot run rampant like that.  Just check out the cover, and imagine that carrying on for almost half the book!  The reasons as to WHY this happens are hinted at, and I can only hope the art keeps up the pace as the story is revealed over the rest of the mini.

Sandman Dreamhunters (Russell/Gaiman/Vertigo) is an adaptation of a illustrated book, based on a comic, inspired by folklore…I think…  That being said, I read the original years ago, and it was the first Sandman book I read, mainly due to the draw of Yoshitaka Amano’s illustration.  I have since read all 10 volumes of the comic, and enjoyed it.  Apparently, Dream Hunters was initially planned for comic form, and now with its anniversary Craig P. Russell has adapted it as such.  The interior is nice, and part of me is yelling, “Wait for the trade!”  I’m not in love with it, and I still feel the best reason to pick up the original is Amano’s art.  Even the covers by the fantastic Yuko Shimizu are a little shy of her usual style and energy.

House of Mystery (Sturges/Willingham/Rossi/Peterson/Vertigo) continues to be a book I look forward to each month, especially with the short story in each strengthening its value as a monthly book.  This months short really reminded me of Fables, which is a good thing.  Fig and her crew continue to venture into the bowels of her mind’s house, and I’ve no idea where its going to take them, but with Rossi on art, I’m more than anxious to stick around and find out.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in just me | No Comments »

(TOO MANY) Comics This Week

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

Kill Your Boyfriend (Morrison/Bond/Vertigo) was reprinted and unleashed today.  I’d heard a bit of buzz about the book and decided to give it a try.  Usually, I don’t care all too much for Grant Morrison, as I think he tends to muck up franchises with characters acting out of character.  So I figure, with his own short story, I’d have an easier time getting into it.  The main thing I, (and I’m sure most people my age) compare it to is Natural Born Killers.  After the romanticized murder spree couple, the similarities seem to end.  I’m not entirely sure what he was trying to say, if anything at all (the very last page seems to undermine anything that might have been learned in the previous sequence), but the book is quick, filthy fun.

Kick Drum Comix (Jim Mahfood/Image) came out, providing more short stories and goodness from Food1!  His style has developed and really grown on me over the past year.  I hope there are more of his full color comics down the line.

Mike Mignola on Hellboy!? Sign me up! (Mignola/Dark Horse). He hasn’t drawn a book in how long?  Anyway, its a classical Hellboy one-shot, plain and simple.  Buy it for the art, buy it because its fun.  The atmosphere and mood deliver, and the colors really bring to life Mignola’s world, weaved in dark shadows and myth.  It’s a great issue for a new comer to try out, and realize how much of a charming character Hellboy is.  Mike Mignola is such a modern master and its nice to see him back breathing life into his creation.

Ultimate Spider Man Annual (Bendis/LaFuente/Marvel) was some thing I heard a lot of buzz about, because it skated around a sensitive subject for the young Peter Parker which I won’t spoil here.  LaFuente has drawn one of my FAVORITE Spider Man’s ever!  The car chase scene was really exciting, and I’d love to see his work appear elsewhere (Runaways maybe?).  His Peter and MJ look great as well as everyone at the school, he really nails the youth.  The scene in the cafeteria where they have their little argument was so great with Bendis’s classic back and forth dialogue and LaFuente creating the scenes.  Most annuals kind of stink, but this was quite the exception to the rule!

Marvel’s 1985 (Millar/Edwards/Marvel) has finally wrapped up. The ending wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but I really loved it.  This is probably the cheeriest book Mark Millar has ever written! (Though might have worked better in trade format)  Tommy Lee Edwards draws some GREAT stuff in this issue, as well as a tiny panel of Cap, which might be one of my favorite drawings in a comic this year!  When our young hero steals the spotlight and calls “Avengers Assemble!,” the smile on Cap’s face is infectious, and is one of those rare moments in good storytelling where the emotions on the page are infectious.  Its hard not to crack a smile.

Giant Size X-Men: First Class (Parker/Langridge/Cho/Kilisian/Haspien/Williams/Marvel) was filled with short stories just in time for Halloween.  From Beast going out on X-Files-ish adventures searching for the truth with a cameo by “The Thing” and Pod People to a Edward Gorey-esque tale about Professor X as a child (with rhyming verses!).  First Class is always goofy fun, and this issue is just in time as  a nice one-n-done Halloween treat. If you hate fun, then this book is not for you.

I read a lot of negative stuff about Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Box (Ellis/Davis/Granov/Marvel), but I thought it was OK. It was a fresh reminder of how awesome Alan Davis is, and Adi Granov was a nice suprise too!  At first I thought he was a poor fit for the X-Men, but upon reading Adi’s story he really helped set the mood and feeling of the steampunk X-Men adventure!  Ellis seems to have taken this issue as a sort of WHAT IF? as I don’t remember the agent in the Davis’s story having any success, and then even further, the possibility HE mentions comes to fruition in the bit Granov illustrates.  Granted, alternate realities is nothing new for Ellis, but I think this book would have been received better had it not been attatched to a $3.99 price tag… PS, steampunk X-Men mini please Ellis/Granov?

Who would have thought I’d still be picking Madame Xanadu (Wagner/Hadley/Vertigo) up? This issue brings us into the French Revolution, and our heroine again finds herself in the favor of nobles, but staying away from their affairs after the tragedy that happened during her stay with the Khans.  Unable to stay away from the affairs of mortals, she is wrapped up again into historic events, and finds herself trapped.  What I’m sticking around to find out is, she is leaping through time and getting closer and closer to our modern day, and what will happen then?

Final Crisis (Morrison/Jones/Pacheco/DC) was a giant mess for me.  All I see is Darkseid is coming back, and the heroes of the DCU are doomed.  I picked this up because I heard my favorite, Green Arrow, had a proud moment, and so I wanted to check it out for myself.  As  said before, Morrison is a litle too out there for me, and my unfamiliarity with the DCU made this book a mess for me.  It was pretty though (especially the last page)…and the little scene with Ollie was great…anti anti life equation arrow =P What a hero!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in just me | No Comments »

Comics Last Week

Monday, October 13th, 2008

I Kill Giants (Kelly/Nimura) is great, it is far from what I expected, and is turning into something with a bit more emotional weight than I had expected.  Nimura’s art has really grown on me; initially it felt a bit rushed, but he is really laying out some great pages to drive home the emotion.  We’re starting to round the home stretch in this mini, and more excited now than when I started.

Young Liars (Lapham) has sort of gotten back on track after last issue.  It does however sort of confirm the previous issue, which could have been interpreted as maybe a dream, or some weird psychological episode.  I might give this another chance if it comes up on a light week, but as of right now I’m dropping this book until/if someone says to try it again when the trade hits.  Its really too bad as the first 6 or so issues were a blast.

Green Arrow Black Canary (Winnick/Norton) is a title I’ve decided to give a try, I’ve been reading lots of the previous GA stuff, starting with Kevin Smith’s run, and having fun with it.  With several of the minis I’m reading ending or that I’m dropping them (see above), I decided to add another title.  This issue brought lots of the family dynamic that I really liked in Green Arrow, it seems more grounded than other DC titles, and that really pulls me in.  Plus, like Ollie, I liked Robin Hood when I was young.  It was a good read, considering I’m about 20 or so issues behind.  Dinah and Ollie make for a good sparky relationship, and Mia’s emotional courage is always admirable.  Maybe I’ll be back issue diving in Nov?

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in just me | No Comments »

Comics This Week

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

Marvel 1985 (Millar/Edwards) was a nice bit of fun and surprise, and part of me was expecting Spider Man in his usual PJs.  This comic book has been a fun romp wallowing in its own classic comicness, and still brings a smile to my face as the boy Toby runs into one legend after another.  The biggest of all shows up, setting the stakes higher than ever!  I hope Millar brings a good conclusion to this story, as of right now, I’m afraid the ending might be a bit rushed.  Edwards seemed to be especially on top of his game this issue!

Runaways (Moore/Ramos) is still my favorite book out, and Moores grasp of these kids is solid.  The super hero hi-jinks is still balanced nicely with the youthful drama, and makes sure the team dynamic is still the reason to read this book.  Ramos is not for everybody, but I’m enjoying him despite the occasional unclear panel or two.

Madame Xanadu (Wagner/Hadley) pulled me back in last issue, and continued to keep my interest perked this month as well.  What’s up with the Phantom Stranger? I keep getting the feeling he is Destiney of the Endless from Sandman.  Wagner is keeping me interested enough come back next month, though I’m considering waiting for the trade on this.  On the other hand, Hadley is an artist I’d love to see on other books, (Runaways maybe?=P).

In other comic news, RIP Minx comics.  It seemed inevitable, but it’s always sad to see a ship go down.  Also, I got my hands on some random Green Arrow (Year One and the Kevin Smith story)! Huzzah!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in just me | No Comments »

Comics Last Week

Monday, September 15th, 2008

Jim Mahfood’s Kickdrum Comix #1 came out, I bought it mostly for the art, the short stories were nice, but his visuals are the big reason to buy his book.  His art has really grown on me over the past year or so as he has become more dynamic.

I also picked up NYX: No Way Home #2 (Liu/Andrasofsky), and am more surprised by how much better this book is than the first mini series (TBH thats not saying much).  The characters are an interesting contrast to my favorite, Runaways; these kids just can’t catch a break, and move from one awful situation to another.  Part of me would like to see a crossover, but that would hurt what I enjoy so much about Runaways: its so far removed from the standard Marvel U.  Andrasofsky is doing a good job on interiors, and while I don’t think hes as good as Middleton, he is able to so far keep to the schedule.  I think this is Marjorie Liu’s first run at writing comics, and I’d like to see what else she can do.  She has done a great job so far, and in this issue made a gutsy decision to have a few pages without dialogue as Kiden snuck back into her apartment.  On that note, its impressive that with her powers, Kiden hasn’t used them to solve so many of her problems, she could easily steal to take care of herself and her friends.

Young Liars (David Lapham) took a giant left turn this issue, and brought the book out of its pulpy roots, into the weird world of sci fi as only Lapham can bring.  Honestly, the issue was still funny in its own dark, messed up way that I expect, but I’m not really sure how I feel about it, it was initially a bit of a turn of.  But then again, why the hell not?  I do miss the craziness of the stories main “adventurers”, and hope that this historical detour pays off eventually.  As for now I had a blast with the first six issues, and I’m going to stick with it to see where it goes, but ultimately, this was a step in a direction I wasn’t looking for.

I also picked up Big Hero 6 (Claremont/Nakayama) against my better judgement.  Claremont still writes like every issue is a first, and OK this one IS a number1, but the story was blah and the character designs were just as blah.  I understand it’s a kids comic, but this pales in comparison to Parker’s X-Men First Class.  Also, at the end (SPOILERZ!) of the first issue they decide to go to NYC!  I know its an old joke now, but EVERYTHING in the Mavel U takes place in NYC, and it’s a little sad that they had to drag this book out of Tokyo.

Sadly the book I was looking forward to, I Kill Giants was sold out, so next week I’ll be looking forward to that.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in just me | No Comments »

« Older Entries