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Post by G on Dec 4, 2010 9:47:20 GMT -5
Some movie and TV shows writers (like Joss Whedon and Kevin Smith) should have all the issues that they are going to write done before their stories are sent to the artist. That's a concept that seems ahead of it's time. I feel the same way about comic series. I know it'll never happen, but it seems like it would make sense to have either finished products or at least enough done in advance to make backup moves should some unforeseen problems arise. I think the worst thing that can happen is for the fans to notice there is a problem. A respectable series is never realizing there was a production delay problem.
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Post by cyberstrike on Dec 4, 2010 9:54:57 GMT -5
Some movie and TV shows writers (like Joss Whedon and Kevin Smith) should have all the issues that they are going to write done before their stories are sent to the artist. That's a concept that seems ahead of it's time. I feel the same way about comic series. I know it'll never happen, but it seems like it would make sense to have either finished products or at least enough done in advance to make backup moves should some unforeseen problems arise. I think the worst thing that can happen is for the fans to notice there is a problem. A respectable series is never realizing there was a production delay problem. I read that DC did that on Smith's Green Arrow run. He had his first arc done before they let the artist draw it and it's good thing they did because it was over year between #1 and #2, because he was making IIRC Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Mavel also did this on The Ultimates 2 Millar and Hitch had to have the first 6 issues done before they published #1. Image also did this on WetWorks #1-3 back in the 90s.
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Post by cyberstrike on Dec 4, 2010 10:03:55 GMT -5
Transformers Spotlight: Prowl #1 focuses on the classic Autobot. Set roughly 2 years after the events of All Hail Megatron, the story shows that Prowl is starting to realize that logic can't solve everything and shows him undercover as a cop car but when a building is about to collapse on a human Prowl jumps to save them against any logical reason. The art by EJ Su is OK but fans of earlier work might be disappointed by it. The story by Mike Costa is a great character driven story and shows that there is more to Prowl and explains some of his action in Ongoing.
Transformers: For All Mankind is the TPB name for Ongoing #1-6.
Set roughly about 3 years after the events of All Hail Megatron shows the Autobots wondering why they're still on Earth. Hot Rod begins to challenge Optimus Prime and becomes the voice a growing number of Autobots who want to leave. But when the Stunticons attack a plant and Breakdown is captured by a Skywatch unit led by Spike Witwicky and when Prowl is captured trying to help free Breakdown Optimus Prime orders the Autobots to free Prowl and during the escape Ironhide is killed (but he gets better) and Optimus Prime feeling guilt over the death of his friend and feeling that he can no longer lead the Autobots, resigns without picking a successor and then surrenders to Skywatch.
Hot Rod and a group of Autobots try to find a way off Earth and after Omega Supreme says no, they are attack by a group of Decepticons consisting of Swindle, Thundercracker, Motormaster, Dragstrip, Dead End, Wild Rider, and Scrapper. During the battle Swindle and Hot Rod face off and realize why are they fighting? The war is over. Realizing this the two teams work together to build a space ship to get off the planet and Swindle tells Hot Rod that he should call himself Rodimus Prime.
Meanwhile the other Autobots elect Bumblebee as the new leader of the Autobots, much to Bumblebee's dismay (this is story is told in Transformers: Bumblebee 4 issue mini-series).
Thundercracker reminisces how he survived the ending of All Hail Megatron and his growing respect for organic and human life.
Optimus Prime and Spike Witwicky talk about the burdens of leadership especially through a time of change.
Ultra Magnus arrives to investigate Ironhide's "death" and learns that Swindle is on Earth (this is a continuation of the events in Transformers Spotlight: Ultra Magnus #1) and goes off to arrest Swindle and learns that Rodimus Prime and Prowl are working with them. Rodimus tells Magnus that the war is over and the factions are a thing of the past and leaves but tells Rodimus that he will be back.
Realizing that they could get more done if they had more help Swindle suggests to Rodimus that they recruit one more of the Contruticons, Rodimus doesn't think that would be a good idea due to memories of the Autobots fighting Devastator and his trashing NYC, Swindle then suggests freeing Breakdown. Rodimus agrees and Motormaster, Dragstrip, Wild Rider, and Dead End go to rescue Breakdown who is currently the personal transportation of Spike. The Stunticons rescue Breakdown and Spike escapes and returns to the Skywatch base. Where they learn the location of Rodimus and Swindle's base, but realizing that they lack the firepower to take this many Transformers, Spike goes to talk to Optimus Prime. Ultra Magnus returns to Bumblebee's base and demands that Bumblebee's team help him arrest Swindle and Rodimus. Bumblebee agrees and his team races back to Swindle and Rodimus base, where Rodimus tries once again to tell them that the war is over and that living with the humans is impossible. Swindle betrays Rodimus and reveals his newest creation: Mensor and orders Mensor to destroy the Autobots.
All the Autobots on both teams try to take down Mensor but with little effect, when Optimus Prime and Skywatch joins the fray does Mensor finally goes down and is captured.
Optimus Prime refuses to retake command and Bumblebee is now the undisputed leader. Spike makes Bumblebee a deal for the Autobots to join forces with Skywatch to hunt the remaining Decepticons on Earth and Bumblebee accepts. And a disheartened Rodimus steals Ultra Magnus' spaceship to finally escape Earth.
The art by Don Figueroa is good but some of his new designs suck (like Hot Rod/Rodimus and Thundercracker) and some are great (like Jetfire, Mensor, and Omega Supreme) the biggest compliant with fans are his faces especially for the Autobots and I agree. But I must say that his attempt to mix the orginal G1 designs, with the newer Classic/Universe/Generations designs and the Live Action Movies designs is a nice try but overall it's a mixed bag abut IMHO the series would be better without it.
The story by Mike Costa stats off slow but builds to exciting, action packed, and rewarding climax. I like that just when you think Costa is going with the traditional pick new leader for the Autobots (Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime) he instead gives the job to Bumblebee. Costa also makes what could be read as a statement on the USA's Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by having Hot Rod stating "The war is over so why are we still here?" I must also say that the Witwicky's finally makes sense in a Transformers universe. I like that Spike is a conflicted and has to deal with his father who is also his superior officer and deal with Optimus Prime who just wants to be punished.
Final Thoughts: Finally a new and different direction that actually feels new and different. While some of the new designs take some time to get used to, but if you can survive that and go into this series with an open mind then do yourself a favor and check it out. I give it a 4 out 5.
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Post by defiant1 on Dec 4, 2010 16:00:53 GMT -5
That is where the editorial side is lacking. If the book isn't meeting schedule or not up to par, they need fill-in artists to help and complete the book and get it back up to par. In the 70's, if a book was late the reader would get a reprint (filler) instead. The character didn't go unpublished for a month (or 18). df1 It's not just the artists it's the writers as well. Warren Ellis is perfect example of a writer streching himself to far. I understand he wants to make a lot of money so he accepts 20 projects and then he can't do them because he's over extended himself and then the work suffers and it's the same with Mark Millar and Grant Morrison. Some movie and TV shows writers (like Joss Whedon and Kevin Smith) should have all the issues that they are going to write done before their stories are sent to the artist. Having run my messageboard for 6 years and having so many creators toss out well-intention promises (a.k.a. lies), I had a revelation. This is how freelance and contract laborer's manage their bills. Since they don't punch a clock and receive a steady paycheck, they have to spend a good portion of their time lining up the future jobs. While they are lining up their work, better jobs roll in and they focus on whatever will pay their bills the most effectively. I had so many creators that would stop by my board during a lull in their workload and you could tell they just wanted to use my sites to market they're work. That would be fine, but they'd make promises and then wander off for a year... or indefinitely. I really got sick of it. I understand it, but I don't live that way and I am pretty good about doing what I say I'll do. The attitude and lack of respect I got from creators is high on the list as to why my Defiant checklist went offline for many months and a key reason why it's only a list of comics instead of a full blown site like it once was. df1
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Post by G on Dec 8, 2010 14:10:39 GMT -5
Batman The Return #1 DC Comics Writer - Grant Morrison Artist - David Finch Cover - I hate covers like this. David Finch is capable of so much more and I don't think this is even worthy of a convention sketch. This is something any comic artist should be able to whip up in 5 minutes. This is a kind of cover that makes me yearn for the old days. (This is one are where I'm gladly an oldtimer). For those actively following Batman, this little one-shot was probably a lot easier to figure out. The best I can tell is Batman is no longer wanting to be a single Batman. He wants to employ other Batmans and have them spread out so Batman can literally be everywhere. He gives his closest "friends" orders and informs them of his plans. Since there is more than one Batman and Robin in this story, I became a bit confused. The is a scene where Batman and Robin are fighting some huge beast called Traktiri. And while Batman fights the thing, Robin does is own thing which pisses Batman off. Later Robin rips off his Robin badge and says find another Robin. Nightwing jumps on Batman and says he never obeyed orders either when he was Robin and Batman needs to lighten up. When tempers calm down they all agree to do the missions they are told. In the background is some story going on about a Middle East looking division called Leviathan. Early in the story Batman saves a young kid from a crazed lunatic suicide bomber from atop the tower and gives the boy safely back to his Arab looking father who says the boy is his life. At the end the Leviathan is upset with this man claiming you brought Batman here and he was too close to finding us. This is unacceptable and the boy who was saved by Batman now looks hypnotized by the Leviathan and shoots his father dead. The story ends here. Story wise, I thought it was a pretty good read. The scenes played out nicely and it read along really well. My only problem is, if you didn't already understand all these characters in Batman, this book was going to confuse you and it certainly did me. It's had keeping up with multiple Batmans and Robins and knowing whos who and what's what. Being this was a One-Shot and seemed to hint at a new direction for Batman, I thought maybe they could have done a bit more to explain the characters a bit better. But Im sure, it's just my fault Im out of the loop and if you already understand Batman, everything makes perfect sense. Sorry I missed out. While I didn't understand everything. The book was enjoyable. The art from David Finch was also very nice. Yeah, he cross hatches a lot of his details and such, but in the end, it comes out looking pretty nice. He has nice layouts to his pages. He tells a story well. I see a lot worse from other artist who are touted more. Finch knows enough to tell a good story. Surprising at the end is a script for a lot of the pages side by side with the pencils. Which is nice. I found numerous cases where Finch took liberties with the script and didn't draw the panels exactly as he was directed. He drew basically what was asked, but some of the details he was told to do, he just totally ignored. All in all, this was a pretty good book. The cover sucked and the confusion aspect of not knowing things as well as I would have liked sucked. But if you know Batman, this is not bad at all. Since I don't know him as well as I should, I'm going to give this a 3.0......If I knew the characters the way they expected me to know them, I'd give it a 3.5.
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Post by bigw1966 on Dec 8, 2010 14:55:33 GMT -5
this one shot was alright, but Its not as good as Batmn Inc. which does more to set up the new direction. Morrison has been following a path since he started on the Batman book 3 years ago. It culminated in Final Crisis and then he started Batman and Robin which basically turned the characters on their ear making Nightwing Batman and Damian Robin. Damian is more like Batman, and Dick is like Nightwing in the Batman suit. The book is great. I recommend the TPBs of the main Batman series starting with BATMAN: R.I.P.
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Post by G on Dec 8, 2010 15:55:54 GMT -5
Batman Inc #1 DC Comics Writer - Grant Morrison Artist - Yanick Paquette Cover - Other than being slightly creative for using flags of different countries in the background, I hated this. Even my wife thought the cover sucked. Batman makes his way to Japan with Catwoman to train a Japanese Batman recruit Mr. Unknown who unfortunately has ties to the Japan Underworld and doesn't quite make it to training day. As Batman goes to meet him he finds the grizzly remains. Someone beat him to it. Lord Death Man (a dude that seems like a mixture of the Red Skull and the Joker) and his goons. Mr. Unknown had his own protege Jiro and now Lord Death Man wants him too. Batman's detective work leads him to Jiro just in time to find Lord Death Man meeting Jiro too. Holding onto Jiro's girl like he's going to choke her while she's tied up in a chair above some kind of contraption. Jiro is unfazed and shoots Lord Death Man through the window. Unfortunately Jiro's girl is not relieved and says he was the only one who can stop it. Before anyone kind find out what, the contraption she is sitting on opens up and she falls into a totally water filled apartment room with an octopus in it. Catwoman makes chase into the water and Batman and Jiro have their hands full with Lord Death Man's goons fighting on a mined laced floor. The issue ends there. It's a good thing I read Batman The Return first because this obviously continues on with Batman looking for other Batman recruits around the globe. Once again the story moves well and fast. Watches like a good tv show and ends right when things are getting good. The art is superb! Nice and clean. Sorta reminded me of an Adam Hughes except on Batman and without as much of the Adam Hughes styling. Really well done solid work. As a continuation to Batman The Return, this was more enjoyable in all aspects including visuals. If I had the next issue, I would have read it. Out of the numerous titles of Batman I have picked up in recent months with disappointing results. This read pretty much better than all of the rest. I'd give is a solid 3.5.
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Post by cyberstrike on Dec 8, 2010 16:03:29 GMT -5
this one shot was alright, but Its not as good as Batmn Inc. which does more to set up the new direction. Morrison has been following a path since he started on the Batman book 3 years ago. It culminated in Final Crisis and then he started Batman and Robin which basically turned the characters on their ear making Nightwing Batman and Damian Robin. Damian is more like Batman, and Dick is like Nightwing in the Batman suit. The book is great. I recommend the TPBs of the main Batman series starting with BATMAN: R.I.P. I've read that a lot of people that HATE Grant Morrison's run on the various Batman titles.
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Post by G on Dec 8, 2010 16:10:52 GMT -5
this one shot was alright, but Its not as good as Batmn Inc. which does more to set up the new direction. Morrison has been following a path since he started on the Batman book 3 years ago. It culminated in Final Crisis and then he started Batman and Robin which basically turned the characters on their ear making Nightwing Batman and Damian Robin. Damian is more like Batman, and Dick is like Nightwing in the Batman suit. The book is great. I recommend the TPBs of the main Batman series starting with BATMAN: R.I.P. Thanks for the clarification, but to be honest, hearing that description was kinda disappointing. Reading Batman, even with this clarification, makes knowing who is who and in what role and why all the more confusing. I don't want to read Batman and think he's someone else. What happened with Bruce Wayne? Did he die in that Batman book that came out like 2 years ago? I've got that one comic, I just never knew how it turned out.
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Post by cyberstrike on Dec 8, 2010 16:28:12 GMT -5
The Art of Jim Starlin: A Life in Words & Pictures
Written by Jim Starlin Art by Jim Starlin.
Published by Desperado and IDW
This is 300+ page oversize hardcover is a retrospective of Starlin's 40 year career in comics and novels. And features covers, b&w art, final color art, paintings, portfolios plates, and photos with Starlin talking about his career and his life. He also critiques some of his own work and tells some funny, not so funny, interesting, and some sage advice for people wanting to break into comics.
His chapters on his work on Captain Marvel, Adam Warlock,The Metamorphosis Odyssey, The Death of Captain Marvel, and Dreadstar are a true delight.
He also talks about his writing only books like The Cosmic Odyssey, The Weird, The Silver Surfer, The Infinity Gauntlet, Batman: A Death in the Family, Batman: The Cult, and The Punisher: P.O.V. (which was originally to be the sequel to Batman: The Cult) and many others. He talks about his novels: Among Madmen and Thinning the Predators.
In the last chapter he talks about his most recent dealings with Marvel and DC and while he tries to not to come off as bitter, it's plain to see that he's still pissed at the way they treated him.
He does show some of his finished work for Breed III, (although he states that the book will never be published yet he put on his Facebook page, a teaser saying that it will be published by Image in the summer of 2011) and there are some complete rare b&w stories from Heavy Metal and Epic Illustrated.
The book is $50 and there is also a limited edition signed and numbered edition with a different cover for $75 and this book gives some insight into comics history and one of the creative minds in business.
If like me you are a HUGE fan of Jim Starlin then this book is for you. I'm giving it a 5 out of 5.
Also coming in February is The Art of George Perez.
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