New Comics for the Week of 12-28-11

Tuesday isn't Monday but it will have to do, because its time for five new comics!

2000AD 1762. ALL-STAR WESTERN 4. ANNIHILATORS: EARTH FALL 4. 

LEGION SECRET ORIGIN 3. 

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MICRO SERIES - MICHELANGELO.

2000AD 1762 - Lee Garbett returns to 2000 AD to produce an extremely striking cover for Angel Zero, a bit of a dull series. Which only goes to show, with the right artist, even the dullest series can look awesome.

ALL-STAR WESTERN 4 - A very moody, if busy, cover by Ladronn, an artist I've never heard of. Western bounty hunter Jonah Hex beset by sewer people. Very cool.

ANNIHILATORS: EARTHFALL 4 - An incredibly boring cover to cap off this uninspiring end to one of the greatest runs in modern comics. Whatever happens next for Cosmic Marvel, I probably won't be there for.

LEGION SECRET ORIGIN 3 - I assume they were running late getting the cover copy together for the preview that the logo won't be that pixilated in print. A fairly stock standard Legion cover, with some pretty good art by Tom Feister, a significant improvement over a horrible horrible cover last issue.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MICRO SERIES - MICHELANGELO -  A classic pose with Mikey leaping off a roof, nunchaku twirling ready for action. This David Petersen cover looks rather nice, but what I'm really interested in is the Andy Khun interiors. I love that guy since his work on Image Comic's Firebreather.

Review - Fables 112

Publisher
VERTIGO/DC

Writer
BILL WILLINGHAM

Artist
MARK BUCKINGHAM

What They Said
Don't miss the special holiday issue – and because you've been good all year, it's even got extra story pages! Christmas is here, and we know this holiday isn't always jolly for our favorite Fables. In this issue we get a glimpse into the future fates of our wild and dear Rose Red. 


What I Say
Its Christmas time for our plucky expatriated Fabletown residents, and they've received the greatest gift of all, a chance to go home.With the threat of Mr. Dark finally put aside, the Fables have returned to the upstate farm and are making plans for retaking their old residency in Manhattan. But before they move out they are taking a breather to celebrate the holidays. The Wolf family are also taking a break from the trials of choosing a new North Wind to spend possibly their last Christmas as a whole family. Meanwhile, Rose Red has an unexpected guest and goes on a Christmas adventure to see he possibly future as one of the newest Agents of Hope.

Over at DC proper right now, with their new 52 relaunch initiative there are a handful of titles priced at 3.99. Almost to a one they all feel lightweight and over priced. Some have back-ups, but some don't! 3.99 for 20/22 pages of story? What kind of insane madness has taken hold over there? This special issue of Fables is priced at 3.99 too. But that's okay because you actually get 30 pages of story. And not split over back-ups, but the actually meat and potatoes of the book. Reading this issue is satisfying. Its chunky and you really feel like you get your value out of it by the end. Remember issue 100? And how it cost 10 bucks for 100 pages? That was another really good deal too. Fables is nothing if not a really good value for your money. Stuff happens between its pages.

As to the story itself, I must admit I must have missed something along the way, because I was feeling a little clueless about Rose Red and her 'Agent of Hope' role. The fact that I don't recall the exact events that lead to this new chapter in her life is concerning. But regardless its certainly a change for the character, and its really interesting considering the character's storied history over the course of the book. The characters she meets on her journey, and what she learns about what it means to be an Agent of Hope is powerful stuff that's sure to shape her character and her fate for years to come. And yet, even with all this heavy life changing character stuff, there's still time for lighthearted humor and classic character interaction. Fables is nothing if not an ensemble book with many voices.

Mark Buckingham has always been a great artist, and his long run on this title has been nothing if not exemplary. That being said, a few things have been bugging me lately. First of all, the coloring just doesn't seem as eye popping as it once was (and lately I've been rereading the series in Deluxe Oversized Hardcover, and this change in coloring feels much more pronounced to me). And second of all the boarders. For those that don't know, for a very long time now pretty much everything Buckingham draws is constrained in a pair of static boarding images that often change with the portion of the story we're reading. For the most part its a very neat device for conveying the story's tone while we're reading. But lately I've just feeling like the boarders are compressing the art. There are no full-bleeds in Fables, panels are 'trapped' between these art boarders, and it makes things feel small and cramped sometimes. Full-page splashes are just end up being big panels, regular pages feel like they are losing valuable page real estate for more 'stuff'. The thing is, this has largely always been the case, but for some reason it been feeling more pronounced to me since issue 100. I'm honestly not sure why, but there you go.

I know it sounds like I'm bagging on a good thing, make no mistake Fables is one of my top titles every month. I'm not sure what I'd do without this contemporary fantasy stalwart on my pull list. A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE.

Review - Dark Horse Presents 7

Publisher 

DARK HORSE

Writers

MIKE MIGNOLA, ANDI WATSON, NEAL ADAMS, HOWARD CHAYKIN, M. J. BUTLER, STAN SAKI, TONY PURYEAR, BRANDON GRAHAM, FELIPE MELO, and CARLA SPEED MCNEIL

Artists 

MIKE MIGNOLA, ANDI WATSON, NEAL ADAMS, HOWARD CHAYKIN, M. J. BUTLER, STAN SAKI, TONY PURYEAR, BRANDON GRAHAM, JUAN CAVIA, and CARLA SPEED MCNEIL

Editor

MIKE RICHARDSON

 

What They Said 

Mike Mignola's Hellboy is the centerpiece for the 7th all-star issue of Dark Horse Presents!

In addition, this issue packs the beginnings of two new stories--200 People to Kill and Skultar, a brand-new Age of Reptiles story by Ricardo Delgado, a new Skeleton Key story by Andi Watson, and continuing stories by Howard Chaykin and Neal Adams!

* Brand new Hellboy story written and drawn by Mike Mignola!

* New Age of Reptiles and Skeleton Key stories!

What I Say
Contrary to what the solicitation text says, neither 200 People to Kill or Age of Reptiles appear this issue. In their place we appear to to have gotten a new Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Saki and a one-off story by Brandon Graham. I'm going to call that a win on our part.

Another issue of Dark Horse Presents is upon us, and once again it provides us with ten 8-page comics as only the most creative folks in comics can bring us. I'll break things down once again just to keep things concise.

HELLBOY: THE AZTEC MUMMY - Mike Mignola graces us with a one-off Hellboy tale that is largely an extended fight scene book ended by some exposition to explain the set-up. Other then Mignola's exceptional artwork I found this story a little thin on the ground, it didn't feel like it economize its space resrictions very well. But it's Hellboy and Mignola. So its still OKAY.


SKELETON KEY: LOST PROPERTY - Those adorable time and space traveling rascals; fox spirit Kitsune, schoolgirl Tamsin, and Mr. Raccoon find themselves completely lost and trapped in a museum of lost things and the only way out is to get even more lost. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite strips running in DHP. The art style, though deceptively simple, is full of life and energy. Sight gags, little background gags, and general madcapness makes this strip EXCELLENT.


BLOOD PART 6 - More incomprehensible madness. GAWD AWFUL.

MARKED MAN PART 7 - The penultimate chapter to a rather good hitman story. Lately I've been getting more and more interested in Howard Chaykin as a creator. I've really warmed up to his art style recently, and though sometimes figures look a little weird, and sometimes its a little hard to tell what characters are doing its always very unique to look at. I wish I could say the same about the coloring, which feels overly digital, with lots of very mood breaking brightness too it. This seems to be Chaykin's preferred coloring style at the moment, but I sort of wish it would get dialed back a bit. This installment sees a number of plot threads come together with LaFarge and Hecht meeting for the first time as LaFarge heads to confront the bastards who murdered his family. GREAT.

SKULTAR THE UNCONQUERED PART 1 - A new strip. I'm honestly not entirely sure what the make of it. It starts out with typical epic fantasy, with a Conan style hero, Skultar, saving a township from soldiers stealing all their male children for a far off war. But it soon turns to a bit of parody with Skultar's sidekick who interprets prophecy concerning Skultar the Unconquered, predicting how Skultar should conduct himself, how to act, and being self aware of their cliche situation. Only he gets things a little wrong in the end. Like I said, I'm, not sure about this strip yet. The art is only so so, a little muddy in places, but it has potencial. We'll see where it goes next month. WE'LL SEE.

USAGI YOJIMO: BUNTORI - Stan Saki brings us a spooky one-off story of ghostly samurai, who don't know they are dead, locked in eternal battle. And only the rabbit ronin Usagi can bring them their peace. Usagi Yojimbo is one of those great long running comics that is both storied and accessible. And this short-story is no exception. Easy to jump right into, and tells a complete story. That takes a special kind of talent. And Stan Saki has no shortage of that. His art style is at once cartoony, but lavishly detailed with bold lines. This particular story is also in color, which is a nice change of pace but I'm not sure it strengthens the piece. Maybe I'm just used to it in black and white. FANTASTIC.


CONCRETE PARK PART 1 - In the near future rapid population growth is driving up organized crime rates as the cities of the world face massive food shortages. Issac is a young tough who watches his sister get gunned down, while Luca is a young up and coming gang leader out to solidify her position by making a deal with another local gang. Being the first installment there are still a lot of lingering questions about what this series is actually about. Art wise its not that impressive or exciting but it gets the job done. Another WE'LL SEE.

THE SPEAKER - Ah, Brandon Graham you brilliant bastard. King City was one of the best sci-fi series of the last 10 years and while I wait patiently here for his next series (Extreme Studio's Prophet revival) we get this unexpected surprise. Presented in Graham's typically experimental style, it tells the story of a man's Voice who returns after the man has passed away. If that sounds crazy, it sure is. The world needs more comic creators like Brandon Graham, he does more cool stuff in 8-pages then most creators do in 80. Chestnuts like this are why I read DHP. AMAZING.

THE ADVENTURES OF DOG MENDONCA AND PIZZABOY PART 4 - I liked this installment of AoDMaP a lot more then last month's origin story conclusion. We still have the 'present day' book ends that are rather humorously tongue and cheek, but the main meat of the story was also in good fun. Plus we get to see a bit more of chain smoking monster girl Puzzal in action, who I really want to see more of. Seeing more of Dog in an afro would also be just fantastic. I'm starting to warm up to this series a lot more, though the art still seems a bit dark despite its very cartoonish style. I get the feeling its been shrunk down a bit from its original dimensions to fit, as apparently the Dog Mendonca series hails from Europe, and probably isn't drawn with US standard comic dimensions in mind. FUN.

FINDER: THIRD WORLD PART 7 - I finished reading Finder Library Volume 2 and Finder: Voice GN this month, so I have Finder on the brain pretty good at the moment. Jaeger is still at his delivery job, this time saddled with a nearly impossible task, even with his amazing skills as a tracker. He winds up in the back seat of a very particular car, and what happens next blows his mind. This particular installment felt a little light thanks to a pair of single page splash-pages that didn't do a whole lot to move the story forward. But overall its as good as it ever was. MCNEIL's artworks is completely off the chains, and seeing Finder in color is one of the cooler parts of its inclusion in DHP. AMAZING.

So there we go. Another fantastic issue of Dark Horse Presents. Next month sees the launch of Brian Wood's new science fiction series The Massive. And Mignola is back with a new BPRD short-story. Also more Beasts of Burden apparently. And the final chapter of The Marked Man. And more Finder. Basically the next issue is going to be the best issue yet. Which is pretty much the case with every new issue of Dark Horse Presents. This book drives me crazy with how great it continues to be. Why aren't you reading it?!

New Comics for the Week of 12-21-11

Thanks to going out of town to see family for Christmas I'm now hopelessly behind schedual. As much as I want to I'm never going to get through the backlog of week's I'm behind on. There are certain reviews I still want to write up, but the fact is I'm going to cherry pick them instead of doing them all. Its the only way at this point.

At any rate, it is a new week and that means Five New Comics!

DARK HORSE PRESENTS 7. FABLE 112. LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 4. NEAR DEATH 4. SAVAGE DRAGON 177.

DARK HORSE PRESENTS 7 - Listen to this line-up. Mike Mignola. Howard Chaykin. Stan Sakai. Brandon Graham. Carla Speed McNeil. Good lordy that sure is a line up. Cover is very striking as Mignola is a master of cover design.

 
FABLES 112 - Tis the season. Long time series Fables brings in the holidays with this fab Joao Ruas cover. Santa! Death! Some little girl!

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 4 - This covers a little boring, but this book is on FIRE. Action! Adventure! Ultra-Boy!

NEAR DEATH 4 - Start of the series first two-part story. This series has some of the better cover designs on the stands. Some crazy rough and tumble gunplay going on here.

SAVAGE DRAGON 177 - Giant radioactive Osama Bin Laden. You're either going to loath it for its obvious shock value, or you are going to love it for its complete inanity. Either way Erik Larsen is in top form on the cover. Not sure I dig the old style logo though, and I've never been a fan of artificial 'weathering' of cover art. But some people dig it.

New Comics for Week of 12-14-11

For a second there I thought I was getting caught up, but woop woop I'm still a week behind on reviews! This is tougher then I thought. I shall attempt to have last week reveiws caught up by Wednesday. We'll see. Regardless, its MONDAY! And that means NEW COMICS SHIPPING FOR THE WEEK OF 12-14-11!

20TH CENTURY BOYS VOL.18. AVENGERS 1959 4. LEGION LOST 4. 

RESURRECTION MAN 4. STAR WARS AGENT OF THE EMPIRE 1.

20TH CENTURY BOYS VOL.18 - Naoki Urasawa is a comic genius, 20th Century Boys has been a continual bright spot in my comic reading diet. We're nearing the end game of this series now, and I can't wait to see how things tie up.

AVENGERS 1959 - Every time I think I've finally run out of Marvel titles to read, and my pull list will be Marvel-free for the first time ever, something grabs me. In this case Avengers 1959 blindsided me, more then likely because I was coming off a Howard Chaykin high from his Marked Man series in Dark Horse Presents. I'm also am a sucker for period pieces and cold war spy thrillers. Loving this cover, with Nick Fury and the Blonde Phantom running and shooting things, with sinister bad guy looming over. Chaykin's still got it.

LEGION LOST 4 - Over the last 6 months I've become a bit of a Legion of Super-Heroes fan, perhaps boarder-lining on the obsessive. Fabian Nicieza's Legion Lost has been, after a questionably shaky start, consistantly good. This issue is meant to spotlight Dawnstar. Probably my second least favorite Legionnaire. Lets see if Fabian can turn my opinion around. 
This cover's sort of stock, and considering this is a Dawnstar issue, her being MIA on the cover is a bit odd.

RESURRECTION MAN 4 - Dan Abnett is emphatically one of my favorite comic writers currently working. When paired with his buddy Andy Lanning, magic happens. From Legion Lost (the first one), to Nova, to Guardians of the Galaxy, to this, they are just the best duo in comics.
This is a fun girls with guns cover (who, btw, seem like really interesting characters, extreme fashion sense aside. Apparently they were characters in the original series), and my new favorite enigma, THE TRANSHUMAN. Can't wait to see what his deal is.






STAR WARS AGENT OF THE EMPIRE - IRON ECLIPSE 1 - Star Wars Rebellion Era + John Ostrander + James Bond = Perhaps a Star Wars title I can get behind. 
I'm... actually not to hot on this cover, the cover copy seems really busy with so many titles and subtitles, and the tag lines all over the place. But I'm very interesting it what this comic is about, I can forgive it.

Review - Spaceman 2

Let me preface and say I have not read 100 Bullets. Super sorry. The Deluxe Hardcovers are on my master 'to buy' list. I'll get to them at some point. I say this because I'm coming into reading Spaceman not as a Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso fan, as I'm sure many people reading the book are, but as a Science Fiction fan. That's right, the title's concept and premise were what got my attention, not the creative team involved. Shocking. I know. But if I've learned one thing reading Spaceman, its that I need to put 100 Bullets higher in my 'to buy' queue cause apparently these Azzarello and Risso cats are quite good.

Spaceman is story of Orson, a genetically modified human intended for Martian exploration. But instead of the red planet he and his brothers were built for, he got stuck on Earth with rampaging flooding from melting polar caps, huge class divides, and awful reality television. Spending his days salvaging wrecks and other junk from a bygone age from the vast growing ocean.

Last issue introduced us to Orson's world, and one of the key plot threads was the kidnapping of foster child, and popular star of a reality show (of which being part of the reality show is a prerequisite to being taken care of by her foster parents). Orson, while out salvaging, runs into the kidnapper, and gets a bullet for the trouble. Thing is, whatever Orson is is built tough. But while he's not physically hurt, it shakes something loose in his head. Since last issue we've been treated to flashes of Orson and his brothers on their Mars mission that never happened. What exactly these flashes are is a bit of a mystery, but wherever they're coming from they seem to correlate with whatever Orson is feeling at the time. I'm looking forward to seeing what those are all about.

What this book does well, and what I appreciate as a ravenous science fiction fan, is its world building. It presents a world that has become seriously damaged by the exploitation of mankind, but its still a world where society survives. There is still law and commerce, even in the face of ever increasing class stratification in a shrinking world striped of resources. A lot of thought has gone into this world and the people that inhabit it. The most obvious aspect of this world building is in the language characters use. Where most writers would just replace  few curse words and call it 'future speak', Azzarello has taken English and crafted a complex and believable future slag out of it. It takes some getting use to, but context is everything. Some people are going to find it obtuse and confusing, but I personally find it charming and really adds to the world. And individual characters have their own unique usage of the slang, so it gives different people from different backgrounds unique voices.

Good science fiction comics are often few and far between, especially ones as high profile as this comic (that $1 first issue was a brilliant marketing strategy, I hope it pays off). As a 9 issue mini-series, its going to be a very contained, manageable, series to invest your time in. I recommend checking it out. FANTASTIC.

Next: ACTION COMICS.

Review - Savage Dragon 176

Once upon a time there was a comic about an amnesic super-cop with a fin on his head. 176 issues latter... a lot has changed. That super-cop got fired, became a government agent, accidentally changed history, went on the run across a ravage America, saved the world, saved the world again, got married, accidentally let the world get enslaved, lost his wife, became a cop again, had his brains eaten, and then died. Now his kids protect the city of Chicago from the super-freaks that aim to control/destroy it. Its bombastic, violent, crass, and sometimes heartfelt comic storytelling at its finest. With the sort of storied history that captures a reader's imagination, drawing him/her into the web of adventure it provides.

It also sells on 5,000 copies a month, which is continuing miscarriage of justice bordering on the criminal.

This issue title hero, Malcolm Dragon, struggles with bullies. One of the high school blowhard type, and the other a power armor wearing enigma trying to reshape society in his vision, and failing miserably at it. Malcolm's troubles with a high school meathead showcases series creator (and writer/illustrator for 176 issues) Erik Larsen's ability to take a classic super-hero trope, in this case the hero's high school troubles, and turn it right on its ear. Malcolm can't hide who he is, and doesn't want too, but when he's getting picked on he can't just haul-off and slug the jerk either.

And then Overlord shows up. The original Overlord had a long history with Malcolm's dad, but since Savage Dragon 150, this new Overlord has been making rounds. Pushing for things like better human/freak relations, and generally playing the hero. Albeit a bit of a heavy handed hero, who's not afraid to kill and generally make a mess of things. His dream of better conditions for disenfranchised freaks and mutants hasn't been getting much traction within the freak communities. Many see Overlord as a phoney behind an iron mask, not to mention enjoy smashing and stealing things. Overlord wants to get Malcolm to help him, but when Malcolm blows him off (since Overlord was pretty much the one that killed his dad) Overlord reacts by trying to clobber Malcolm.

Ever since Malcolm, and his step-sister Angel, took over the title after their dad died there has been a conceited effort to build up an extended cast at least as good as Dragon always had. Overlord being a prime example of a good foil for Malcolm, without being and out and out villain. Though the big myster of who Overlord is, seems to have been going on for quite a while now. It'd be nice to get some resolution to that.

Also this issue, a 6-page back up feature by Gary Carlson and Frank Fosco, Vanguard. Carlson and Fosco are long time collaborators with Erik Larsen, having worked on numerous projects under Erik's editorial-ship. Vanguard has always been one of the better supporting cast members of Savage Dragon, and having him in a title of his own again (even if it only is a series of back-ups) makes for a seriously entertaining read. Between the main Savage Dragon feature, and the Vanguard back-up you really feel like you get your money's worth out of Savage Dragon.

Savage Dragon has continually been one of the most reliable comics I've ever read, the fact that it doesn't have the comercial success to go along with its continuing critical success is appalling. If you read one super-hero comic, make it Savage Dragon. You will never regret it. FINTASTIC.

Next: SPACEMAN.