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Post by bigw1966 on Dec 8, 2010 17:00:36 GMT -5
I would buy that Starlin book in a second. I have the Modern Masters: Perez book and really you don't need anything else.
"G" In the Batman RIP books, Morrison basically tore Batman down to the bare bones in a really good story, Darkseid killed him in Final Crisis with his Omega Bean just as Batman shot him and killed him. But it turned out Batman was sent back in time which lead to the reveal of something that Morrison set up way back in his JLA run. With Batman -dead-, A lot of people tried to take his place, but Dick ended up being the one. He then decided to make Damian (Batmans son with Talia Al ghul from Birth of the Demon to be Robin. Damian was raised by the League of Assassins, and he is a little bad ass. Very brutal just like his daddy. So here you have a Batman who is not quite as deep in the darkness as bruce was and a Robin that will likely kill someone. Especially when he confronts the Joker, who thinks he is going to have some fun with him, until Robin tells him that he is not like the other Robins, and then reveals the crowbar he was carrying that he proceeds to beat the shit out of the joker with. Its a great contrast on the characters and has lead to some fucking great comics. Tim Drake became Red Robin, who was first seen in the Kingdom come comics and he left Gotham to take down The League of Assassins.
Batman (Bruce) began coming foreward through time everytime he died in The Return of Bruce Wayne. Those stories started at the Caveman time, Pirate time, Puritan time period, 1930's and then the present. Beyond the Bat Universe, Bruces return is throwing time out of balance. In the Bat Universe, he decides to reveal that he has been bankrolling Batman from the beginning and will have Batman's all around the world. which were revealed early on in Grants run.
All really good stuff, but its not designed to be someones first issue everytime you open a book, and thank god for that. I always hated that crap. If the story seems interesting, go buy the back issues and learn more.
anyhow, good stuff.
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Post by G on Dec 8, 2010 17:44:12 GMT -5
Captain America #611 Marvel Comics Writer - Ed Brubaker Artist - Daniel Acuna Cover - To be honest with you, I actually like this cover. Why? Well, I guess because this scene plays out in the book and I would call this a legitimate insight cover. Plus it's pretty solid compared to just some hero staring at me or fanning out. I'd rather have covers that say something. This one says "Why is Captain America in handcuffs?" Actually it's Bucky Barnes who turns himself in after a heart to heart discussion Steve Rogers. Apparently Bucky's past is coming out. When he was known as the Winter Soldier, the KGB was using him to sabotage America efforts or worse, kill Americans when directed. The further go on to give a mini-origin of the Winter Soldier saying it was the Russians who pulled Bucky out of the water as a dead man and was revived without his memories, only his killer instincts remained. He was used as their pawn for his abilities and returned to deep freeze until they needed him again. Steve explains he was able to return his memory to him but it nearly drove him insane. Unfortunately, Bucky was once again put under the control of someone else and was responsible for a bombing in Philadelphia which killed many including Jack Monroe, the Nomad. As the heat is coming down on him Steve Rogers appeals to President Barack Obama to grant Bucky a pardon. The President appears reluctant fearing backlash, so Rogers walks out. Once Bucky turns himself in (As Captain America) Steve Rogers appeals to the media that Bucky is the finest American he knows. As this plays out on tv in an asylum in front of the Red Skulls daughter, she laughs so hard that she has to be dragged back to her room. This story was interesting as it gave plenty of background and moments to watch. I've always felt that over the course of the last couple of years, Captain America has been one of the best Marvel series their is and it just continues to be a stronger title than most anything they have out. Ed Brubaker can give a good read. The art by Acuna follows in the usual style we've been used to since this run of Captain America began. It's highly realistic and believable. Although I don't think he's as good as some others who have worked on Captain America during this run, I cannot complain one bit either. It's a very solid job. Very good read. Id give it a 4.0
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Post by G on Dec 8, 2010 18:16:16 GMT -5
All really good stuff, but its not designed to be someones first issue everytime you open a book, and thank god for that. I always hated that crap. If the story seems interesting, go buy the back issues and learn more.. Well I totally agree with that. I don't need to be reminded every 2 issues what has taken place. I also mentioned in my review that if you're up on Batman, this all makes perfect sense, but if you're not (like me) it's going to be confusing and it was. I don't have the money or the resources to go buy a TPB to every series I try and catch up on. I'm trying a lot of things out. I'm trying to at least get a feel for what is happening. But you have to admit, when you walk away from a comic from 1-2 years and pick it up again, you don't expect the hero you knew to be someone else (Daredevil-Black Panther, Captain America- Bucky, Batman-Nightwing). Yeah, sometimes this stuff happens and happens quickly and sometimes it's good for the storylines. But also, when a character has been the same character for 40+ years and you take a brief hiatus from a comic (due to financial or other reasons), you don't expect to come back in a relatively brief time later and find everything completely different. You still kind of expect the character under the mask to be the same character he or she was when you left. Of course, that ever evolving changing soap opera world of comic books that creates all this drama in the first place which creates the uproars some of us have is exactly the same things that keep us wondering what we missed and looking to catch up to. Unless you have tons of time and especially MONEY, you're going to be behind on something. So thats why I encourage those who know, to say what they know. Thanks for the knowledge man.
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Post by G on Dec 19, 2010 18:14:14 GMT -5
Supergod #1 Avatar Press Writer - Warren Ellis Artist - Garrie Gastonny Cover - The cover might have been what originally attracted me to this story. It had an interesting look to it. What makes the cover even better is it actually depicts a scene inside the comic. Being the cover was what originally attracted me, I'd say it's better than most. Story - It appears Armageddon has struck and our narrator appears to be one of the only survivors nearby. He has located a voice recorder and taken a marijuana joint from a deceased body and he smokes it and tells his tale of how the world has come to meet this condition. He speaks of how England was the leader in the space race and far advanced over the rest of the world and beat everybody to the 1st manned space launch in 1955. Reminiscent of a Fantastic Four origin, three space explorers, 2 men and one woman, set off to explore space only to land completely changed as a 3 headed god with mushrooms growing from their legs. They are amazingly tranquil and only occasionally mutter sounds. But when engineers see them they cannot control themselves from instantly bowing down and masturbating feverishly once they come in sight of the god. Even to the point of pulling their own dicks off to the god known as Morrigan Lugus. Meanwhile, India is creating their own god through cloning methods and Artificial Intelligence. They create their god, the Krishna to help combat India's problems, namely poverty and overpopulation. When the Krishna comes to life, he has the perfect antidote for overpopulation and poverty.......kill everybody he can to reduce the population. We become witness to the Krishna destroying his people unmercifully. Meanwhile, Pakistan gets wind of what is going on and decides to send all of it's nuclear missiles towards the Krishna in an attempt to stop this Supergod's destruction. The Krishna merely commands a whim at the incoming warheads and sends the nuclear warheads back to where they came. Pakistan in it's own defense sends up it's protective force field walls that surround the country. Unfortunately the field is a wall and not a box and the nuclear warheads explode outside the country and the debris from nuclear destruction carry throughout the winds over top of the walls and into the lands in the form of a nuclear winter. We learn that Iran has created their own god, as well as the United States has one too. Just as our own is about to spring to it's cause, this issue ends. The issue tends to make you dream of possibilities that seem rather far fetched, but at the same time, comes off with a story that seems believable and with the combination of extremely solid artwork, this becomes a well made, easily enjoyable comic. The 1st issue only presents us with the scenario of what has happened before and what has brought us to where we are now. It's easy to see that things will continue to happen to get to where the narrator currently is. Unfortunately, I have missed out on issue #2, but I will track it down. I own or have ordered the rest and I will wait until I have #2 to continue reading this. As it is, I'm excited to see more. This looks like its a huge leap above a lot of other comics out there. Maybe not original in terms of it being about the end of the world, but rather its neat as told from the perspective many countries have created their own Supergods, either by accident, or on purpose. And obviously these gods are what is going to bring forth mankind's end. I'm going to give this a 4.5 because it is a well made product and easy to like. Supergod feels like it fulfills what comics can be when well done. Comics are make believe and this is too, but when the craft is well done, you don't care that the make believe is far fetched, rather, you sit back and enjoy. Personally, I'd rather read this than probably anything else I've reviewed so far. Supergod to me is a Super Good Comic.
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Post by G on Dec 19, 2010 19:10:30 GMT -5
Pale Horse #1 Boom Studios Writer - Andres Lozano Artist - Christian Dibari Cover - Sadly this reminds me of a simplistic Walking Dead style of cover giving what looks like a half-assed effort to form a cover that doesn't say much. What makes this even further sad is that this cover for however half-assed it is by Robert Adler, is a ton better than any of the art inside. So in that sense, it overachieves. Story - Cole is a local skins trader who comes home to find his Indian wife raped and near death. She only has time to tell Cole where she hid their baby son Thomas. Cole finds Thomas, drops him off at the church and goes to the saloon and kills the 3 men involved with raping and killing his wife. He picks up his son from the church and now he's a wanted man. Three years pass by and now Cole is a bounty hunter who is great at what he does. He brings them to the local sheriff who skims 50% of the loot off the bounty because they have an agreement. The sheriff says it doesn't look good for him to be bringing these dead wanted men to him because he's a wanted man himself. Cole lets the sheriff know that anybody that wants to come looking for him can because he isn't that hard to find. Eventually, they do exactly that and Cole shows his son Thomas the tricks of the trade keeping one alive barely for info. This one begs for death but Cole says he will only mercy kill him if he gives him the info he wants, otherwise he's going to show him how horrible life can be. The story ends there. The story itself wasn't that bad. It reads like a gritty Jonah Hex with more blood and gore, the problem with this story is quite clear.....the art is amazingly bad. It's done just well enough to tell the story but it's clear to see this artist is like a regular amateur who wants to make it into comics and somehow he was the lucky sap who caught a break. Any other artist turning in artwork this lame would be turned away in a heartbeat. It's a damn shame someone gave this guy a job. It's even further a shame that the writer had to suffer seeing his story told with art by someone this bad. This book could have been around 2.5 - 3.0 if not for the art, but the art is so bad I can't give this above a 1.5. Comics shouldn't settle for this kind of un-professionalism. In the end, it makes Boom look bad. The story is sorta decent for comics, but nothing else is.
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Post by defiant1 on Dec 19, 2010 21:38:25 GMT -5
Pale Horse #1 Boom Studios Writer - Andres Lozano Artist - Christian Dibari Cover - Sadly this reminds me of a simplistic Walking Dead style of cover giving what looks like a half-assed effort to form a cover that doesn't say much. What makes this even further sad is that this cover for however half-assed it is by Robert Adler, is a ton better than any of the art inside. So in that sense, it overachieves. Story - Cole is a local skins trader who comes home to find his Indian wife raped and near death. She only has time to tell Cole where she hid their baby son Thomas. Cole finds Thomas, drops him off at the church and goes to the saloon and kills the 3 men involved with raping and killing his wife. He picks up his son from the church and now he's a wanted man. Three years pass by and now Cole is a bounty hunter who is great at what he does. He brings them to the local sheriff who skims 50% of the loot off the bounty because they have an agreement. The sheriff says it doesn't look good for him to be bringing these dead wanted men to him because he's a wanted man himself. Cole lets the sheriff know that anybody that wants to come looking for him can because he isn't that hard to find. Eventually, they do exactly that and Cole shows his son Thomas the tricks of the trade keeping one alive barely for info. This one begs for death but Cole says he will only mercy kill him if he gives him the info he wants, otherwise he's going to show him how horrible life can be. The story ends there. The story itself wasn't that bad. It reads like a gritty Jonah Hex with more blood and gore, the problem with this story is quite clear.....the art is amazingly bad. It's done just well enough to tell the story but it's clear to see this artist is like a regular amateur who wants to make it into comics and somehow he was the lucky sap who caught a break. Any other artist turning in artwork this lame would be turned away in a heartbeat. It's a damn shame someone gave this guy a job. It's even further a shame that the writer had to suffer seeing his story told with art by someone this bad. This book could have been around 2.5 - 3.0 if not for the art, but the art is so bad I can't give this above a 1.5. Comics shouldn't settle for this kind of un-professionalism. In the end, it makes Boom look bad. The story is sorta decent for comics, but nothing else is. Having dated someone who was traumatized by being raped, I have no interest in reading fiction referencing it. I think to many people it's just a word people toss around because it sounds really bad and it warrants justice. I connect it more to an actual horror that permanently disrupts someone's life and changes the way they view everyone they meet for the rest of their life. I have no doubt the art and the rest of the book looks bad. Who is the western theme trying to appeal to? That was popular in the 1950's. The story would have to be pretty riveting to make any waves in the market. It also alienates a younger readership. Really brilliant (sacrcasm) in a market where a comic needs any readers they can get. You were very kind to give this comic a shot. If you moved your reviews over to your web page, you could probably write these small publishers and get complimentary comics in exchange for posting reviews. Of course you might have to take a crappy comic and give your review a positive spin somehow, but it's still something to think about. df1
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Post by defiant1 on Dec 19, 2010 21:47:18 GMT -5
Supergod #1 Avatar Press Writer - Warren Ellis Artist - Garrie Gastonie Cover - The cover might have been what originally attracted me to this story. It had an interesting look to it. What makes the cover even better is it actually depicts a scene inside the comic. Being the cover was what originally attracted me, I'd say it's better than most. Story - It appears Armageddon has struck and our narrator appears to be one of the only survivors nearby. He has located a voice recorder and taken a marijuana joint from a deceased body and he smokes it and tells his tale of how the world has come to meet this condition. He speaks of how England was the leader in the space race and far advanced over the rest of the world and beat everybody to the 1st manned space launch in 1955. Reminiscent of a Fantastic Four origin, three space explorers, 2 men and one woman, set off to explore space only to land completely changed as a 3 headed god with mushrooms growing from their legs. They are amazingly tranquil and only occasionally mutter sounds. But when engineers see them they cannot control themselves from instantly bowing down and masturbating feverishly once they come in sight of the god. Even to the point of pulling their own dicks off to the god known as Morrigan Lugus. Meanwhile, India is creating their own god through cloning methods and Artificial Intelligence. They create their god, the Krishna to help combat India's problems, namely poverty and overpopulation. When the Krishna comes to life, he has the perfect antidote for overpopulation and poverty.......kill everybody he can to reduce the population. We become witness to the Krishna destroying his people unmercifully. Meanwhile, Pakistan gets wind of what is going on and decides to send all of it's nuclear missiles towards the Krishna in an attempt to stop this Supergod's destruction. The Krishna merely commands a whim at the incoming warheads and sends the nuclear warheads back to where they came. Pakistan in it's own defense sends up it's protective force field walls that surround the country. Unfortunately the field is a wall and not a box and the nuclear warheads explode outside the country and the debris from nuclear destruction carry throughout the winds over top of the walls and into the lands in the form of a nuclear winter. We learn that Iran has created their own god, as well as the United States has one too. Just as our own is about to spring to it's cause, this issue ends. The issue tends to make you dream of possibilities that seem rather far fetched, but at the same time, comes off with a story that seems believable and with the combination of extremely solid artwork, this becomes a well made, easily enjoyable comic. The 1st issue only presents us with the scenario of what has happened before and what has brought us to where we are now. It's easy to see that things will continue to happen to get to where the narrator currently is. Unfortunately, I have missed out on issue #2, but I will track it down. I own or have ordered the rest and I will wait until I have #2 to continue reading this. As it is, I'm excited to see more. This looks like its a huge leap above a lot of other comics out there. Maybe not original in terms of it being about the end of the world, but rather its neat as told from the perspective many countries have created their own Supergods, either by accident, or on purpose. And obviously these gods are what is going to bring forth mankind's end. I'm going to give this a 4.5 because it is a well made product and easy to like. Supergod feels like it fulfills what comics can be when well done. Comics are make believe and this is too, but when the craft is well done, you don't care that the make believe is far fetched, rather, you sit back and enjoy. Personally, I'd rather read this than probably anything else I've reviewed so far. Supergod to me is a Super Good Comic. Ellis is one of the more competent writers out there, he just rarely writes anything on a topic that interests me. When he did, he was dragging out the plots to the point they made me lose interest. Your review makes me think there must be symbolism injected into the story. The plot you wrote doesn't interest me, but I imagine it would be easy to get immersed in it compared to the other comics out there being sold. df1
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Post by G on Dec 19, 2010 22:51:10 GMT -5
Your review makes me think there must be symbolism injected into the story. The plot you wrote doesn't interest me, but I imagine it would be easy to get immersed in it compared to the other comics out there being sold. To put it mildly.........Exactly! What makes this book work is it just comes off better than other comics and it is solid work both in story and art. I could read it and enjoy. I could look at it and tell a lot of hard work went into it. It was quite simply, a well made comic that set it apart. It probably does have some symbolism splattered within it, but I didn't really notice it. I just let my brain and eyes sit back and take a ride. Knowing how we have become jaded with a lot of comics, I try not to give mediocre books glowing reviews. I think this one deserved the 4.5....
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Post by G on Dec 19, 2010 23:11:48 GMT -5
You were very kind to give this comic a shot. If you moved your reviews over to your web page, you could probably write these small publishers and get complimentary comics in exchange for posting reviews. Of course you might have to take a crappy comic and give your review a positive spin somehow, but it's still something to think about. I think my viewpoints about comics paint me as a one-sided old timer who's time has passed him by, but I really think I approach comics with an open mind and I give literally all types of comics and genres a try. In fact, I feel my collection is weak when I have an area that isn't represented. So even in my back issue collecting, I go after all types of books. You certainly have a lot more obscure stuff than I and I marvel at some of the stuff you have shown both here and on your own board, but truth of the matter is, I have quite a bit of diversity in my collections too, maybe not just as obscure as yours or others, but certainly I am not prone to buying only 1 type of comic either. I collect virtually anything that can be called a comic. That's why I love comics so much! There is no end to the want list!!! When it comes to new comics and my reviews, I feel the same way. I entered 2010 knowing literally nothing about nothing. I don't leave it in much better shape, but I at least feel I have had a great sampling of comics. I have intended to write a lot more reviews, I just don't get around to it because it takes time to scan and then upload covers and then write about the book with any bit of open mindedness and honesty. I try giving everything a chance. Even if it is stuff I don't normally dig, I'll give it a shot. The reviews are totally my own. I'm sure I write things that some would disagree with on some books and agree with on others. My reviews are just my views alone and Im sure you know that. I just want to say, I'm not stuck reading Marvel and DC super-hero comics. I sample a lot of things and it really hasn't been shown with these reviews because I get too lazy to review more. Thanks for the idea about posting on my website. I found it to be a damn good one and one I would really love to consider. The problem is I find godaddy's website editor to be a pain in the ass. I'm sure my main billboard site looks lame as hell and I have a great desire to improve it over time. The problem is, anytime I set out to do anything, it takes me damn hours of frustration just to get things semi-decent. What you see is what I've done settled on after my frustration experiments have left me exasperated and finished. If I knew a way to easily get a lot of reviews on my page, Id do it. Basically, all I have with them is a paid for name and I get a free basic, basic, basic, basic advertisement laced (godaddy) site free for owning the domain name (Comic Crack). I've often considered upgrading to more paid features, I'm just not ready for it yet both money and time wise. Maybe down the road. As it is, the free website you get for owning a domain name is just about as cumbersome as anything I've ever done with web design. I find it MUCH, MUCH, MUCH easier to work on Proboards stuff. But I have to admit, I like your idea a lot. Not so much because I would want free comics (which would be really nice), but moreso because it would just be nice to do it and have something like that on my billboard site. Maybe one day when I feel more adventuresome and have more time to work on stuff like that I'll try putting more up. I'm actually rather disappointed with how my site looks but I feel it does what I need so far. But honestly, your thought was intriguing. Thanks for the very constructive input!
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Post by cyberstrike on Dec 20, 2010 17:22:08 GMT -5
Pale Horse #1 Boom Studios Writer - Andres Lozano Artist - Christian Dibari Cover - Sadly this reminds me of a simplistic Walking Dead style of cover giving what looks like a half-assed effort to form a cover that doesn't say much. What makes this even further sad is that this cover for however half-assed it is by Robert Adler, is a ton better than any of the art inside. So in that sense, it overachieves. Story - Cole is a local skins trader who comes home to find his Indian wife raped and near death. She only has time to tell Cole where she hid their baby son Thomas. Cole finds Thomas, drops him off at the church and goes to the saloon and kills the 3 men involved with raping and killing his wife. He picks up his son from the church and now he's a wanted man. Three years pass by and now Cole is a bounty hunter who is great at what he does. He brings them to the local sheriff who skims 50% of the loot off the bounty because they have an agreement. The sheriff says it doesn't look good for him to be bringing these dead wanted men to him because he's a wanted man himself. Cole lets the sheriff know that anybody that wants to come looking for him can because he isn't that hard to find. Eventually, they do exactly that and Cole shows his son Thomas the tricks of the trade keeping one alive barely for info. This one begs for death but Cole says he will only mercy kill him if he gives him the info he wants, otherwise he's going to show him how horrible life can be. The story ends there. The story itself wasn't that bad. It reads like a gritty Jonah Hex with more blood and gore, the problem with this story is quite clear.....the art is amazingly bad. It's done just well enough to tell the story but it's clear to see this artist is like a regular amateur who wants to make it into comics and somehow he was the lucky sap who caught a break. Any other artist turning in artwork this lame would be turned away in a heartbeat. It's a damn shame someone gave this guy a job. It's even further a shame that the writer had to suffer seeing his story told with art by someone this bad. This book could have been around 2.5 - 3.0 if not for the art, but the art is so bad I can't give this above a 1.5. Comics shouldn't settle for this kind of un-professionalism. In the end, it makes Boom look bad. The story is sorta decent for comics, but nothing else is. Having dated someone who was traumatized by being raped, I have no interest in reading fiction referencing it. I think to many people it's just a word people toss around because it sounds really bad and it warrants justice. I connect it more to an actual horror that permanently disrupts someone's life and changes the way they view everyone they meet for the rest of their life. I have no doubt the art and the rest of the book looks bad. Who is the western theme trying to appeal to? That was popular in the 1950's. The story would have to be pretty riveting to make any waves in the market. It also alienates a younger readership. Really brilliant (sacrcasm) in a market where a comic needs any readers they can get. You were very kind to give this comic a shot. If you moved your reviews over to your web page, you could probably write these small publishers and get complimentary comics in exchange for posting reviews. Of course you might have to take a crappy comic and give your review a positive spin somehow, but it's still something to think about. df1 I think that Westerns are making a comeback you had 3 movies Jonah Hex, The Warrior's Way, and the remake of True Grit this year that are westerns (or have elements of the Westerns in them) and Cowboys and Aliens (based on the comic of the same name) is coming out next year, there is supposedly a new Lone Ranger movie in the works with Johnny Depp slated to play Tonto. There are also rumors that Paramount is supposed to be thinking about bring back classic TV westerns Have Gun-Will Travel and Gunsmoke as movies. In comics The Lone Ranger has just finished a 25 issue run at Dynamite and has an upcoming "crossover" book called The Lone Ranger: The Death of Zorro coming out next year and IIRC Jonah Hex is still going strong at DC despite the lackluster movie, and Marvel's Max Comics has just published a second series with The Rawhide Kid by Howard Chaykin.
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