Comic Picks By The Glick

Punisher War Journal vols. 4-5: Jigsaw & Secret Invasion

nester05 — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:11:19 +0000

These are the last two volumes of the series before it re-launched as just plain “Punisher” with Rick Remender taking over full writing duties from Matt Fraction. I know that sounds like a particularly pointless bit of info, but that’s how this series has felt to me. Aside from some clever bits like the Stilt-Man funeral and “World War Hulk” crossover issues, as well as the last issue of the series (collected in vol. 5), “War Journal” never really found its footing as the middle ground between Garth Ennis’ funny (in “Marvel Knights”) and serious (in “MAX”) takes on the character that it so wanted to be. The funny was never quite funny enough and the serious parts were more dull than anything else. As it is, the series as a whole is something that I’d recommend to fans of the character rather than the general public at large.

Comic Picks #60: Black Lagoon/Blackest Night

nester05 — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 02:11:04 +0000

I almost called this one “The Blackcast.” Then common sense intervened.

Wolverine: Not Dead Yet

nester05 — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:03:17 +0000

You wouldn’t think that a Wolverine story written by Warren Ellis with art by Lenil Yu from the late 90’s would merit a hardcover edition, but here it is anyway. Less a commentary on the story itself than on how the creators’ status has risen at the company over the past decade, this hardcover is grossly overpriced at $20 for four issues of content. The story involves Wolverine (during the time he was without his adamantium skeleton) being hunted by MacLeish, a villainous killer our hero thought he had killed years ago. Had I read this back when it came out, I probably would’ve thought it was an above-average story involving the title character, but I’ve since been spoiled by Ellis and Yu’s later and better works, not to mention the work of other writers (Jason Aaron, Greg Rucka, etc.) who have written the character themselves. Still, it gets some points for the clever title. If nothing else it makes me wish for Ellis and Yu to team up again to do a follow-up called “I’m Getting Better.”

Bakuman vol. 1

nester05 — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:48:48 +0000

Continuing with tonight’s theme is the latest from the creators of “Death Note.” While that series was entertaining for a while, it jumped the shark with the death of its co-protagonist halfway through and then crashed and burned spectacularly at the end. I wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of reading another manga from writer Tsugumi Ohba and artist Takeshi Obata, but the premise of their new series “Bakuman” (two kids set out to become manga creators) was so substantially different that I figured I’d give it a shot.

While this series is different, it shares enough of its predecessor’s dense, wordy style that if you liked it there and have an interest in creating manga and seeing how it is created, then you’ll probably like this too. A healthy appreciation (or tolerance of) shonen manga cliches is also recommended as our heroes talk at length about their manly passions, and romance blossoms (kinda) for one of the leads. That stuff bored me to tears, but at the same time it’s still interesting to see the Shonen Jump formula applied to something that is so far outside its usual purview. For that alone, I’ll keep reading it but at this point I’m more interested in the characters’ manga than the characters themselves.

A Few Thoughts on Manga at Comic-Con…

nester05 — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:02:35 +0000

The Best/Worst Manga of the Year” panel needs to be longer. One hour is not enough time to hear such great speakers as Jason Thompson, Christopher Butcher, and Shaenon Garrity talk about what rocked and what did not in the world of manga over the last year.

The only thing more disappointing than not getting into the Dark Horse panel this year was hearing that they didn’t have any new manga news to announce. Apparently [director of Asian licensing] Michael Gombos only talked about their Clamp reissues and not much else. I only have Comic Book Resources’ article to go off of, so if additional announcements were made please let me know.

That said, the announcement that Yen Press will be publishing Kaoru Mori’s latest series “Otoyome Gatari” makes up for the aforementioned disappointment. Yen publishes a lot of stuff I don’t read, one title that I absolutely love (“Yotsuba&!”) and “Sundome.” Even if it doesn’t live up to its hype, the staff at Yen have my undying gratitude for bringing it over here so I can experience it for myself.

I LIVE!

nester05 — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:21:05 +0000

This year’s Comic-Con was a more manageable beast than last year’s. I don’t know if it was the absence of the “Twi-hards” or just better management on the part of the con staff, but the crowds were less beastly than they were last year. In addition to seeing panels with great and legendary creators like Moto Hagio, Neal Adams, Brian Michael Bendis and Sean Phillips, my zeal to get to each panel with enough time also led me to hear creators like Keith Knight, Kurt Busiek, Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba talk about their work as well. Then there were the three panels I attended where Jason Thompson (author of “Manga: The Complete Guide” and “King of RPGs”) was a feature or main speaker and those were very entertaining as well.

Still, the main reason I go each year is for the comics. Even though I’ve heard lots of people gripe about how comics are getting crowded out of Comic-Con by Hollywood (which is basically true), it’s still the best place around to find good deals on lots of graphic novels. While I plan to talk about all of these eventually, here’s the full list of what I got at the con (in the order I pulled them out of my bag):

Intersections: Sean Phillips & Duncan Fegredo My Space Dark Horse Presents vol. 3 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic vols. 1-4, & 6-8 Guardians of the Galaxy vols. 2-3 Immortal Weapons Dark Avengers vol. 1: Assemble Grendel Tales: Homecoming, The Devil in Our Midst, & The Devil May Care American Splendor: Another Dollar Nova vols. 3-4 Batman: Detective & Death and the City (Because I really can’t go to this con without buying a Batman comic…) The Programme vols. 1-2 Fear Agent vol. 1 War of Kings: Road to War of Kings The Question: The Five Books of Blood Thor vols. 2-3 Simon Dark vol. 3: The Game of Life X-Men: S.W.O.R.D. — No Time to Breathe A Drunken Dream & Other Stories Luna Park Wolverine: Not Dead Yet (… or a Wolverine one either.) Ultimate Comics: Wolverine vs. Hulk Girl Genius vol. 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm Sandman Mystery Theatre vol. 8: The Blackhawk & The Return of the Scarlet Ghost King of RPGs Siege (the collection of Marvel’s latest crossover, in case you thought it was some other “Siege”) Incredible Hercules: Assault on New Olympus New Avengers: Secret Invasion Books 1 & 2 Hawaiian Dick vol. 2: The Last Resort Counter X vol. 3: X-Man But I Like It Punisher: Frank Castle — Six Hours to Kill Punisher War Journal vols. 4-5 Heart of Empire, or The Legacy of Luther Arkwright Captain America: Reborn (or, vol. 11 in Ed Brubaker’s run for those of you still counting) Bakuman vol. 1 Peepo Chhoo vol. 1 Indiana Jones Omnibus vol. 1: The Further Adventures Concrete vols. 6-7 Secret Warriors vol. 1: Nick Fury — Agent of Nothing Iron Man: Execute Program Star Wars: Twilight & The Stark Hyperspace War (I’m fairly certain that the former title doesn’t involve vampires…) Biomega vol. 3 Usagi Yojimbo vol. 24: Return of the Black Soul (plus issues #128 and 129) Midnight Nation Wasteland vol. 4: Dog Tribe Penny Arcade vol. 6: The Halls Below Runaways: Rock Zombies A Distant Neighborhood vol. 2 Maxwell Strangewell Green Lantern: Rebirth, No Fear and Blackest Night (the latter of which I’ll be talking about in the podcast this week, so stay tuned…)

WIBR: Wolverine Weapon X vol. 2 — Insane in the Brain

nester05 — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:02:29 +0000

While the first volume of “Wolverine Weapon X” was pretty much everything you could want, or expect, from a Wolverine story writer Jason Aaron takes a different approach with this second volume. “Insane in the Brain” begins with Logan in an insane asylum and not being able to remember how he got there, who he used to be, or even what his name is. Now we all know that he’ll eventually remember, pop his claws and unleash his berserker rage on the guilty parties, but the real fun of the story comes in how Aaron slowly escalates the weirdness of the setting, and showing how the title character is helpless to do anything about it before that happens. He also creates a promising new villain in Dr. Rot due to the fact that he specializes in messing with the one aspect of Wolverine that’s always been a bit scrambled over the years: his brain. The volume concludes with an interesting one-off as Wolverine gets a new girlfriend and the audience hopes that she doesn’t wind up dead like ALL (well, there was that girl from Greg Rucka’s run…) the rest. You are getting less pages for your money in this volume, but it’s a more satisfying experience.

WIBR: Star Wars — Legacy vol. 9: Monster

nester05 — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 06:26:51 +0000

This is the next-to-last volume of the series and it represents a satisfying build to the finale. Cade and company wind up taking a very lucrative job that sends them to the planet Wayland — the site of his father’s sabotaged efforts to use the Yuuzhan Vong’s terraforming abilities for good. That’s only part of the story as writer John Ostrander juggles this thread with others involving Emperor Roan Fel’s Imperials engaging in peace talks with the Jedi, the Sith’s plans to interrupt those talks (as well as other plans to find out what has happened to Darth Krayt), and Nyna Calixte’s efforts to spin all of this in a way that benefits her. You’d think that having so many threads, characters and agendas to consider would lead to a jumbled mess of a storyline, but Ostrander navigates it all with ease and artists Jan Duursema and Dave Ross make it all look good. It also highlights how interesting the supporting cast has become as their struggles are just as interesting as Cade’s. Overall, it’s still the comic to read if you’re looking for some good “Star Wars” storytelling.

Comic Picks #59: Wednesday Comics

nester05 — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:11:01 +0000

If you want to see how art can truly trump writing, here’s your answer.

WIBR: Shade the Changing Man vol. 3 — Scream Time

nester05 — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 05:05:19 +0000

It’s easy to see how this series broke new ground at the time in mainstream comics. The overall “madness” of the premise gives us lots of interesting stories as Shade wanders around Santa Fe trying not to feel guilty while insect legs grow out of his head, and his showdown with the American Scream in a megamart-styled Wild West. Still, time marches on and a lot of the boundary-pushing that was cool then comes off as rather quaint now. What makes this volume readable is how writer Peter Milligan keeps to a logical progression of events in this stories, so that even if they are awash in weirdness the plot remains understandable and fairly easy to follow. The most surprising thing here is looking at artist Chris Bachalo’s style then and marveling at how it has changed over the years. There are kernels of what would become his contemporary style here, but his older style still works pretty well in terms of bringing the surreal to life on the page.

WIBR: Batwoman — Elegy

nester05 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 04:57:04 +0000

Some of you have already heard that this collection is a real showcase for the talents of artist J.H. Williams III — and you heard right! I truly doubt that I’ll see a better illustrated superhero comic this year as the man’s genius for page and panel layout (conveying action and story without sacrificing clarity) is visible on every page. His chameleonic ability to change styles is also on show, and while it could’ve degenerated into gimmickry, it serves each scene well. While the art is the main attraction here, the story by Greg Rucka is also pretty good. Not only is his gift for effortlessly writing strong female characters on show here, he also pulls off the doubly difficult task of making Kathy Kane’s lesbianism a necessary part of the story, and on making her motivations distinct from all of Gotham’s other vigilantes. The problem is that Rucka does too good a job of grounding Kate’s backstory and character in the real world, to the point where the superhero elements seem out of place in her story. I won’t argue that a “religion of crime” is a great idea for the DC Universe, but here it almost comes off as being more silly than anything else. That being said, even as someone who appreciates comics more for their writing than their art, this is still worth picking up in hardcover just to admire Williams III’s work.

WIBR: Twin Spica vol. 2

nester05 — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:59:18 +0000

You know, I like this series but the events of this volume were a real bummer. After being accepted into the Tokyo Space School, Asumi finds herself acclimating rather well to its curriculum and solidifying the friendships she began in the last volume. The problems begin when she finds out that if she becomes an astronaut, she’ll have to have a specially made suite to accommodate her — a drain on the school’s strained budget. Making matters worse is that the teacher who brings this up has a grudge against Asumi’s father and while the plan to dismiss her is decried by the school faculty, one of the higher-ups privately asks him to get rid of her “quietly.” Then in the second “bonus story,” we see a young Asumi’s efforts to make friends with a girl who was injured in the rocket crash that her father was responsible for. I’d like to say it ends on a high note, but the “magical realism” employed to make it work didn’t feel right. Here’s hoping we get less depressing character drama in the next volume, and more focus on the cast’s training to become astronauts.

WIBR: Criminal vol. 5 — The Sinners

nester05 — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:05:17 +0000

I don’t know if writer Ed Brubaker knew at the time that this will probably be the last we’ll see of “Criminal” for a while (artist Sean Phillips is busy with other projects including “The Dark Tower” and the follow-up to “Incognito” due later this year), but at least this volume begins the hiatus on a high note. “The Sinners” brings back Tracy Lawless, the ex-commando turned hired muscle from the second volume, and finds that he hasn’t adjusted well to working within Sebastian Hyde’s organization. So instead of using him for killing, Hyde puts him to work on solving the mystery behind the deaths of several made men in the city. It’s a foregone conclusion that Lawless’ investigation will lead him down a dark path of betrayal and violence, but the threats come from unexpected angles here and while our protagonist doesn’t exactly get a happy ending, it’s refreshing to see the main character in a noir thriller like this successfully administering his own brand of justice. My sole gripe with this volume is in the main character’s romance with Hyde’s wife which feels like it was dictated by genre conventions rather than organic character development.

WIBR: Freakangels vol. 4

nester05 — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 05:01:49 +0000

This latest volume in what is shaping up to be writer Warren Ellis’ most substantial and best post-”Transmetropolitan” work (yes, even better than “Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.”) not only answers some questions, but also raises new ones right out of their ashes. After a brief detour showing us the “world-ending” event that the kids performed six years ago, we pick right back up again to find out that Kait’s mystery assailant isn’t all that mysterious and witness firsthand the complications in Luke’s efforts to escape Whitechapel. It’s gratifying to see that Ellis has stuck with this series as the worldbuilding possibilities he’s set up here just beg to be explored and his always-excellent dialogue supports the convention-busting appeal of the cast. He also has a great artistic collaborator in Paul Duffield, whose art clearly has a “manga-style” bent to it without being slavishly devoted to one style or a particular set of conventions.

What I’ve Been Reading: DMZ vol. 8 — Hearts and Minds

nester05 — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 20:06:38 +0000

The last time I talked about this series, I mentioned how it was setting the stage for war journalist turned political player Matty Roth’s downfall. While Matty has proved adept at reporting and putting human faces on the crises of the DMZ, he has always been one step behind the political and military forces that shape the area. Even the one he voted and now works for, Parco Delgado. With that as a setup, the stage was set for him to have a downfall that would make the trials of Dash Bad Horse over in “Scalped” look like the day at the beach. Long story short, that is what happens and the result is an engrossing, if depressing, read.

That’s not how this volume starts off, though. In the opening arc, “No Future,” we get an inside look at the militia organization that has made its home in the ruins of the Empire State Building. These guys spend their time shut off from the outside world, engaging in group therapy, and affirming and re-affirming their bonds as comrades before heading out into the city to try and restore order. If that sounds like cultish behavior to you, then you’re not far off as we get to see the inner workings of their organization through the eyes of one of their soldiers, Tony, who lost his family when everyone got out on Evacuation Day.

While Tony finds some solace in this setup and in following the orders that come down from above, we see firsthand the toll that his survivor’s guilt takes on him and how he eventually commits to doing something you usually don’t hear about outside of the Middle East. It’s a well-drawn setup that gains added depth in the talks Tony has with his superiors. Though the people on his level may be good soldiers with lots of psychological issues, the people above them know how to manage that and find ways to use the political situation to their advantage. Everything in this story feels entirely plausible and is all the more compelling as a result, and due to Ryan Kelly’s art. Regular artist Riccardo Burchielli is no slouch, but as with Kelly’s other work with writer Brian Wood (“Local,” “Northlanders: The Cross + The Hammer,” and “The New York Four”) he shows that he’s not just talented at drawing scenery and depicting action, but that he can make his characters’ emotional states visible on the page.

As for the title story, things pick up with Matty announcing to the world that Parco’s government is now a nuclear power. This doesn’t sit well with what remains of the United States government and they immediately begin making plans to deal with it. In the meantime, we get a look at what Matty has become now that he has worked his way into a position of power within Parco’s organization. Previous volumes have shown that Matty has essentially gone and “drank the Kool-Aid” when it comes to his faith in the governor, and the results of that are shown here as he and the team of commandos assembled under his watch head out into the city to solve Parco’s problems using means both violent and non.

Things come to a head after Matty is attacked by U.S. troops and the location of Parco’s nuke is revealed. In these moments, we see that Parco is almost as canny a political operator as he has made himself out to be and that Matty is a petty fool who had no right to the power he was given. Much as I’d like to congratulate myself for seeing this coming, it’s still depressing since the outcome was so obvious (though the way it got there wasn’t). Also, much as the political maneuvering on every side of the conflict is engaging to watch, this is still a very depressing situation to watch unfold. I’m not about to suggest that Wood inject some of the over-the-top “How screwed is he now!” drama that Jason Aaron brings to “Scalped,” but a greater focus on the politics would make the events here more interesting.

That being said, I am still very interested in seeing where Wood goes with Matty from here. Cut off from his friends and family, a pariah in the most dangerous place on Earth, the smart thing for him to do would be to get the hell out of town and not look back. Yet Matty has never been one to do the smart thing, and it’ll be interesting to see him try to repair the bridges he’s burned in this volume. Assuming he survives, as there are lots of people in DMZ’s supporting cast who would be fine replacements for him as a main character.

Comic Picks #58: Even more “Blade of the Immortal”

nester05 — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 03:13:51 +0000

Because not only can I not stop talking about this series, we’ve seen a lot of it this year as well.

WIBR: Jack of Fables vol. 7 — The New Adventures of Jack & Jack

nester05 — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 05:16:20 +0000

The podcast will be coming either much later tonight or more likely tomorrow due to a bad day of epic proportions on the part of the uploader. In the meantime, this latest volume of “Jack of Fables” finds the series in transition. With all of its stories and supporting cast sent off to parts unknown in “The Great Fables Crossover,” it’s time for the series to find a new game. It does that by turning the titular Jack into a dragon (complete with a hoard of gold) and shifting the focus to his son, Jack Frost, as he tries to become a true hero. Naturally, things don’t go smoothly for either but it’s handled deftly with the series trademark wit, administered with just the right amount of self-awareness to keep things from becoming too precious. I do like the fact that they seem to be setting up a confrontation between the two Jacks, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they resolve it since writers Willingham and Sturges would never go for the obvious “dragon slaying” metaphor here.

WIBR: Chi’s Sweet Home vol. 1

nester05 — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:59:59 +0000

IT’S A CUTE KITTY MANGA!!!

Uh… and there’s not much more to say than that. If you’re a cat person like me, then you’ll find it impossible to resist this series’ charms as mangaka Konami Kanata does an incredible job of making Chi’s behavior both familiar and utterly believable to any cat owner. My main issue with the series is that Chi’s “voice” has the same saccharine stylistic quirks of a little kid’s and is completely unnecessary to the action 99% of the time. I think it’d be better off without Chi’s dialogue… but the manga as a whole is so cute that I just don’t care.

Now that’s an interesting coincidence…

nester05 — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 05:31:45 +0000

In the space of a week I’ve read two comics that have featured surprise same-sex hook-ups. The first one happened in the pages of John Layman and Rob Guillory’s “Chew vol. 2″ while the second appeared in vol. 2 of Masayuki Ishikawa’s “Moyasimon.” Both were quite surprising to read, though it was more surprising to observe that the Americans produced a more interesting scene.

(Minor spoilers for a specific scene in both series follow…)

In “Chew,” FDA agent Tony Chu’s professional life has been made a living hell by his superior, Applebee who hates him for reasons that aren’t really that clear. It’s the series’ biggest issue in my opinion and vol. 2 continues along those same lines when Chu’s ex-partner from his police days, John Colby, becomes his current partner, cyborg face and all. They’re both good friends as well as partners, so when Applebee goes on the warpath looking for Chu after he takes off to investigate Chu begs Colby to find some way to get him off of his back.

The final scene of the issue is a full-page shot of Colby sleeping in bed while Applebee stares at the ceiling.

It took me a few seconds to realize exactly what I was looking at here, but when it finally hit me, I couldn’t help but laugh. I mean, I was expecting Colby to resort to something like knocking Applebee out and putting him in a closet but that would just be too mundane for this series. While Layman has shown that he can pull of strange concepts with the greatest of ease in this series, such as the worldwide ban on poultry, and even get good stories out of them, this is probably the most character-driven moment of the series. What’s even more interesting is that Layman even set it up in a counter-intuitive fashion earlier in the volume when Colby makes an offhand remark that Applebee’s anger comes from his repressed homosexual urges. Chu’s interaction with Applebee near the end of the volume would tend to bear out this idea, but there are a lot of other questions begging to be answered and situations to be explored. If nothing else, it makes me hope that Layman continues to find unorthodox situations to conventional problems in this series.

As for the scene in “Moyasimon,” it involves college freshman Hazuki Oikawa waking up naked in a futon with upperclassman Aoi Muto after the two got completely sloshed while they went out to eat with Professor Itsuki the previous night. Now there’s a chance that Ishikawa could write off this situation as a hilarious misunderstanding, but that would be taking the easy and far less interesting way out. To be perfectly honest, I’m hoping that he does develop the relationship between the two because it would make a refreshing change from all the gay relationships that we see in localized manga both serious (see Fumi Yoshinaga’s “Antique Bakery” and “Ooku”) and fanservicy (see all of her titles that Digital Manga has released that aren’t “Antique Bakery”). It’d also make a good fit for the series’ underlying theme of broadening one’s horizons, as it shows you one more way people can change and grow when they get to college.

At any rate, it wouldn’t surprise me terribly if we found out that Oikawa just passed out before anything happened in the next volume. Though the series has been fun, it hasn’t really been all that deep since Ishikawa has yet to show that he has a story that he wants to tell with the characters he’s created. These two volumes have given me the distinct impression that he sees the series as more of a vehicle to talk about the things that interest him, such as germs, fermentation, what makes good sake, crazy college clubs. That’s not a bad thing, but as these things have mostly been exploited to comedic rather than dramatic effect I’m betting that Oikawa’s heterosexuality will emerge from this encounter bruised but unchanged. It’s a shame because as “Chew” shows us, such a scene can be played for more than a cheap laugh.

WIBR: Chew vol. 2 — International Flavor

nester05 — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 06:30:42 +0000

While I generally enjoyed the first volume of this series, it was essentially just setup for future stories and its “surprise twist” at the end wasn’t very surprising. Now that these “future stories” are here, I can say that “Chew’s” future is looking pretty bright. Re-teamed with his old partner, cibopath Tony Chu is sent on another crappy assignment that ends with him encountering a strange plant… that may be a fruit… that also tastes like chicken. This leads him to a tropical island where chicken has been recently outlawed, a large-breasted martial arts expert working for the Department of Agriculture, his brother who now has a job cooking this “fruit,” and an international assassin known only as the “Vampire.” All of this is played dead straight, which makes things even funnier and writer John Layman throws in a few genuinely surprising plot twists along the way which makes me think that he has a plan for this series. Or he’s just really good at plotting by the seat of his pants. Hats off to artist Rob Guillory as well, since the series wouldn’t be as entertaining without his comically twisted art.