(writer) Gerry Alanguilan
(artist) Arnold Arre
I've been a fan of Filipino comic book creators Gerry Alanguilan and Arnold Arre since I was a college student, and one of the things I dearly miss about my old "Multiply" page is the reviews I wrote of their work, like the acclaimed Elmer and Mythology Class.
About two or three years ago the pair of them collaborated on an eight-page online story about Filipino superhero icon Darna, a bit of self-confessed fan fiction, and it basically blew my socks off and left me with a hankering for more work from the pair of them. Gerry declared some years later that his Darna team-up with Arnold was not in the cards, and that their focus was more on creating new characters.
Instead of Darna, they've given readers "Rodski Patotski: Ang Dalagang Baby" (very loosely translated as Rodksi Patotski: The Woman-Child), and I, for one, am utterly grateful.
The premise is simple enough: the title character, Roddelyn Rosario (nicknamed "Rodski"), born to Norbert and Glenda, a hard-up Filipino couple who have long prayed for children, is a bona fide genius, able to speak at infancy and able to detect a Ponzi scheme by the time she's six years old. Superstition and gullibility on the part of her parents' neighbors, who are angry with Rosarios when they are the only ones to avoid losing their money to the scam artist, nearly result in disaster for Rodski until she and her family are whisked off to a government think tank, where she spends the next eighteen years thinking up weapons for the Philippine government. In one instance, her efforts even help prevent war. Throughout all of this, Rodski, while brilliant, remains childlike, even into her twenties, and her parents actually find themselves setting her up with young men, even though Rodski herself is averse to the idea. The only men she is exposed to for a prolonged period of time are her father, her mentor Dr. Dalawangpuso, and her loyal bodyguard, Dindo.
Not long after her actions save the Philippines, however, Dr. Dalawangpuso detects a possible problem which may or may not have an impact on her intellect, and at a most inopportune time as well as her ingenuity may be needed to avert a catastrophe. The problem, is that she may be in love, and this apparently diminishes her genius-level brain power.
In a way, then, the question for Rodski is: does she choose love, or country?
Of course, there's more to the story than my fairly spoiler-free synopsis would suggest, but it's worth checking out to find out what it is.
This book is 95 pages of full-color delight, with Gerry Alanguilan delivering a fun, engaging story that both sings to fans of pop culture and is almost completely family-friendly at the same time. Coming from the creator such adult (or man-child, depending on how you view it) fare as Wasted and Elmer, this story represents a significant creative departure for Gerry, and I'm happy to report that he tells the story of this childlike prodigy as creatively and skillfully as he did his story of an angry chicken and a jilted young man. It's wonderfully whimsical, even despite or perhaps because of its fanciful depiction of a Philippines that is inordinately advanced in technology.
Alanguilan, however, is only half of the equation, as Arnold Arre, of whose work I have long been a fan, turns in some of the best work I've ever seen from him, and this time in full, glorious color. I was amused by the nods, inadvertent or otherwise, to some 90s pop culture icons like Sailor Moon and Lara Croft and by Arre's anime-inspired style in general, though I wondered at times if Rodski's choice of wardrobe could have been a little less risque for the benefit of the younger kids who should be allowed to read this wonderful volume. Anyway, it's a minor quibble, and doesn't really hurt the story overall.
Fans of the two creators, and of enjoyable comics in general should definitely pick this book up.
9/10
Sunday, April 27, 2014
The Blind Fighting the Blind: A Review of Daredevil #2
(writer) Mark Waid
(artist) Chris Samnee
(colorist) Javier Rodriguez
Now a resident of and practicing lawyer in San Francisco, Matt Murdock is still adjusting to the single biggest status quo shift his writers have ever given him. Deputy Mayor Charlotte Hastert pays him a visit, telling him that one of his old enemies, the Owl, may be coming to town. In the meantime, Matt faces a more immediate threat; a washed-up superhero named the Shroud who, like him, is a blind martial arts expert, but who also has some darkness manipulating power, and who may turn out to be more of a pain that Matt originally imagined. Also, there's an interesting development regarding the fate of Foggy Nelson.
This issue doesn't quite have the bombast of last month's debut, which is quite understandable given that Waid and Samnee are now settling into their narrative rhythm, but they nonetheless maintain the standard of excellence they established when they started working together way back in issue #12 of their previous volume of this series.
I loved the "fake-out" depicted in the first four pages of the issue, which featured the Shroud basically dreaming about the kind of life he wanted, only to realize it was being lived by someone else. I've only encountered this character once before, in a throwaway "Spectacular Spider-Man" storyarc back in 1993, and even then I found him somewhat unremarkable, although notably it was never mentioned that he was blind. Like Deadpool, who was originally a parody of DC Comics' Deathstroke, the Shroud was a deliberate mashup of preexisting characters in this case Batman (orphaned when his parents were shot dead in front of him, studied martial arts to be a hero) and the Shadow (has some kind of supernatural power over darkness), but unlike Deadpool he never really took off as a property.
Given his physical impairment, it's interesting that it took so long to pit the Shroud against the Marvel Universe's preeminent blind martial artist Daredevil, but now that Waid's finally gotten around to it, round 1 is pretty spectacular to watch. Matt doesn't quite flex his brain as much here (though he undoubtedly will next issue) as he did in the first issue, but it was fun to see him show off his extraordinary hearing to detect someone sneaking around on his roof. The main highlight of this issue was the fight scene, and what a throwdown it is, courtesy of Chris Samnee.
I'm fairly sure I've praised Samnee in other reviews I've written, but quite honestly I cannot seem to praise him enough. I could wax lyrical about how his depiction of Daredevil in action is like visual poetry, but I think it's sufficient for me to say that I like this guy's work better than that of anyone who's ever worked on this character, including Frank Miller, John Romita, Jr. and Joe Quesada. In fact, if Jim Lee himself renounced DC tomorrow and declared that he wanted to work on Daredevil, I honestly cannot imagine him doing a better job on this book than Samnee is doing right now. I can think of no higher praise. The irony is, I didn't even think Samnee would be a good fit for this book when I first found out he'd be working on it. I have never been happier to be proven wrong in my life.
Anyway, I'm hoping Waid and Samnee have big plans for the Shroud, whether as a misguided hero or a headache for Daredevil because this issue has shown a lot of promise. Also, I continue to wait on bated breath to see how Foggy Nelson's story will unfold.
9/10
(artist) Chris Samnee
(colorist) Javier Rodriguez
Now a resident of and practicing lawyer in San Francisco, Matt Murdock is still adjusting to the single biggest status quo shift his writers have ever given him. Deputy Mayor Charlotte Hastert pays him a visit, telling him that one of his old enemies, the Owl, may be coming to town. In the meantime, Matt faces a more immediate threat; a washed-up superhero named the Shroud who, like him, is a blind martial arts expert, but who also has some darkness manipulating power, and who may turn out to be more of a pain that Matt originally imagined. Also, there's an interesting development regarding the fate of Foggy Nelson.
This issue doesn't quite have the bombast of last month's debut, which is quite understandable given that Waid and Samnee are now settling into their narrative rhythm, but they nonetheless maintain the standard of excellence they established when they started working together way back in issue #12 of their previous volume of this series.
I loved the "fake-out" depicted in the first four pages of the issue, which featured the Shroud basically dreaming about the kind of life he wanted, only to realize it was being lived by someone else. I've only encountered this character once before, in a throwaway "Spectacular Spider-Man" storyarc back in 1993, and even then I found him somewhat unremarkable, although notably it was never mentioned that he was blind. Like Deadpool, who was originally a parody of DC Comics' Deathstroke, the Shroud was a deliberate mashup of preexisting characters in this case Batman (orphaned when his parents were shot dead in front of him, studied martial arts to be a hero) and the Shadow (has some kind of supernatural power over darkness), but unlike Deadpool he never really took off as a property.
Given his physical impairment, it's interesting that it took so long to pit the Shroud against the Marvel Universe's preeminent blind martial artist Daredevil, but now that Waid's finally gotten around to it, round 1 is pretty spectacular to watch. Matt doesn't quite flex his brain as much here (though he undoubtedly will next issue) as he did in the first issue, but it was fun to see him show off his extraordinary hearing to detect someone sneaking around on his roof. The main highlight of this issue was the fight scene, and what a throwdown it is, courtesy of Chris Samnee.
I'm fairly sure I've praised Samnee in other reviews I've written, but quite honestly I cannot seem to praise him enough. I could wax lyrical about how his depiction of Daredevil in action is like visual poetry, but I think it's sufficient for me to say that I like this guy's work better than that of anyone who's ever worked on this character, including Frank Miller, John Romita, Jr. and Joe Quesada. In fact, if Jim Lee himself renounced DC tomorrow and declared that he wanted to work on Daredevil, I honestly cannot imagine him doing a better job on this book than Samnee is doing right now. I can think of no higher praise. The irony is, I didn't even think Samnee would be a good fit for this book when I first found out he'd be working on it. I have never been happier to be proven wrong in my life.
Anyway, I'm hoping Waid and Samnee have big plans for the Shroud, whether as a misguided hero or a headache for Daredevil because this issue has shown a lot of promise. Also, I continue to wait on bated breath to see how Foggy Nelson's story will unfold.
9/10
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Prepping for the Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy #14
(writers) Brian Michael Bendis, Andy Lanning, Dan Abnett
(artists) Nick Bradshaw, Todd Nauck, Jason Masters, Phil Jimenez, Rafa Sandoval
The first thing that struck me about the cover of this issue was that Starlord, the lead GotG character, was no longer wearing his ridiculous blue and black space suit with the exposed face but an outfit strikingly similar to the leather jacket, pants, boots and full face mask that Chris Pratt has been sporting in promotional stills for the upcoming movie.
The second thing was Nick Bradshaw's art. Now, since I first laid eyes on Bradshaw's art I have believed him to be an Art Adams copycat, but I figured that, given the sheer number of books he's worked on, he is unlike Adams in that he is able to put books out on time. I was right on the first count, and wrong on the second. He is indeed an Art Adams copycat, with nearly nothing to distinguish his own style, and even less value-added but he is not at all more prolific; of the twenty pages of Brian Michael Bendis' story, Bradshaw only illustrates fourteen, with Todd Nauck and Jason Masters actually filling in for the remainder of the story.
The main story is pretty simple; J'Son of Spartax, Peter Quill/Starlord's dad, who has been chasing the Guardians since the very first story arc, has finally caught up with them, and things look grim for Starlord and his crew.
The first backup story, written by Andy Lanning and drawn by Phil Jimenez, is the origin of Groot, told completely without dialogue, save for Groot's trademark 'I am Groot' which he and everyone from his race utters, and the second, written by Dan Abnett and drawn by Rafa Sandoval, involves the 31st century Guardians, or at least some of them, like Vance Astro, Martinex T'Naga and Charlie-27, among others and may or may not tie into the main book at some point.
It's a nice meaty issue, the highlight of which, for me, is the Groot story, which boasts some fantastic art by Jimenez, but the weakness of the main story, which, really, is nothing more than a continuation of the story that began well over a year ago, basically undermines everything else, especially with Bradshaw's copycat art. Still, perhaps things will pick up with the next issue, given the appearance of a fairly prominent Avenger on the very last page.
6.5/10
(artists) Nick Bradshaw, Todd Nauck, Jason Masters, Phil Jimenez, Rafa Sandoval
The first thing that struck me about the cover of this issue was that Starlord, the lead GotG character, was no longer wearing his ridiculous blue and black space suit with the exposed face but an outfit strikingly similar to the leather jacket, pants, boots and full face mask that Chris Pratt has been sporting in promotional stills for the upcoming movie.
The second thing was Nick Bradshaw's art. Now, since I first laid eyes on Bradshaw's art I have believed him to be an Art Adams copycat, but I figured that, given the sheer number of books he's worked on, he is unlike Adams in that he is able to put books out on time. I was right on the first count, and wrong on the second. He is indeed an Art Adams copycat, with nearly nothing to distinguish his own style, and even less value-added but he is not at all more prolific; of the twenty pages of Brian Michael Bendis' story, Bradshaw only illustrates fourteen, with Todd Nauck and Jason Masters actually filling in for the remainder of the story.
The main story is pretty simple; J'Son of Spartax, Peter Quill/Starlord's dad, who has been chasing the Guardians since the very first story arc, has finally caught up with them, and things look grim for Starlord and his crew.
The first backup story, written by Andy Lanning and drawn by Phil Jimenez, is the origin of Groot, told completely without dialogue, save for Groot's trademark 'I am Groot' which he and everyone from his race utters, and the second, written by Dan Abnett and drawn by Rafa Sandoval, involves the 31st century Guardians, or at least some of them, like Vance Astro, Martinex T'Naga and Charlie-27, among others and may or may not tie into the main book at some point.
It's a nice meaty issue, the highlight of which, for me, is the Groot story, which boasts some fantastic art by Jimenez, but the weakness of the main story, which, really, is nothing more than a continuation of the story that began well over a year ago, basically undermines everything else, especially with Bradshaw's copycat art. Still, perhaps things will pick up with the next issue, given the appearance of a fairly prominent Avenger on the very last page.
6.5/10
Sunday, April 20, 2014
And Bendis Does the Jam Thing Again: All New X-Men #25
(writer) Brian Michael Bendis
(artists) David Marquez and various, including Arthur Adams, Bruce Timm, Skottie Young, David Mack, Lee Bermejo, J. Scott Campbell and many, many more.
About a week or so ago I reviewed another landmark issue in which writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist David Marquez were joined by a gaggle of guest artists, namely Ultimate Spider-Man #200, which featured a lovely tribute to the late, lamented "ultimate" version of Peter Parker. I remarked that Bendis really seems at home with these kinds of special issues, and he hits yet another home run with the 25th issue of the X-Men title he launched three years back, All New X-Men.
The entire premise of the title is that Hank McCoy, a.k.a. the Beast, devastated by Professor X's murder at the hands of his old friend Cyclops back in the pages of Avengers vs. X-Men, has gone back in time and brought FORWARD the five original X-Men, including himself, in the vague hope that this will somehow alter the present. A lot of things have happened since then (I stopped following the book after eleven issues, especially when they started bringing on the crossovers) and apparently the original X-Men can no longer go back to their proper time.
As a result, present-day Beast gets an ominous visit from a major character in the Marvel Universe whose identity I will not spoil, and gets a glimpse of the various potential futures lying in store for the X-Men which he may well have ruined with his actions.
Bendis really has a field day with such an enormous roster of artists, so much so that he eschews his usual "jam" format of having his guest artists do two-page spreads and goes for an approach that isn't usually my cup of tea but which works out just brilliantly here. There's humor and pathos in the various "alternate future" vignettes, and each one tells a mini story on its own. Of course, there are still the splash pages and those still look great, but for this particular issue Bendis needed several of his guest artists to flex some sequential muscle, and each and every one of them knocked his or her segment out of the park. Still, some of the newspaper strip/webcomic style art looks a little out of place in a comic book like this one, so I can't say I enjoyed this book quite as much as I would have if it had sported the more traditional "action" oriented artwork.
My personal favorite, largely for sentimental reasons, is Arthur Adam's Savage Land segment, which features a truly feral Beast scaring the hell out of Kazar and Zabu as he chows down on a dinosaur. It's a throwback to the comics I grew up with as a kid, and to be fair Adams has improved on his rendering skills since then.
It was quite considerate of Bendis to make this issue self-contained rather than use it as a springboard for a multi-issue story-arc, but it does require quite a bit of knowledge of what has gone before. Still, anyone with a passing knowledge of the X-Men should be able to figure things out easily enough, thanks to a little bit of exposition from the Beast's watchful visitor.
8.5/10
(artists) David Marquez and various, including Arthur Adams, Bruce Timm, Skottie Young, David Mack, Lee Bermejo, J. Scott Campbell and many, many more.
About a week or so ago I reviewed another landmark issue in which writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist David Marquez were joined by a gaggle of guest artists, namely Ultimate Spider-Man #200, which featured a lovely tribute to the late, lamented "ultimate" version of Peter Parker. I remarked that Bendis really seems at home with these kinds of special issues, and he hits yet another home run with the 25th issue of the X-Men title he launched three years back, All New X-Men.
The entire premise of the title is that Hank McCoy, a.k.a. the Beast, devastated by Professor X's murder at the hands of his old friend Cyclops back in the pages of Avengers vs. X-Men, has gone back in time and brought FORWARD the five original X-Men, including himself, in the vague hope that this will somehow alter the present. A lot of things have happened since then (I stopped following the book after eleven issues, especially when they started bringing on the crossovers) and apparently the original X-Men can no longer go back to their proper time.
As a result, present-day Beast gets an ominous visit from a major character in the Marvel Universe whose identity I will not spoil, and gets a glimpse of the various potential futures lying in store for the X-Men which he may well have ruined with his actions.
Bendis really has a field day with such an enormous roster of artists, so much so that he eschews his usual "jam" format of having his guest artists do two-page spreads and goes for an approach that isn't usually my cup of tea but which works out just brilliantly here. There's humor and pathos in the various "alternate future" vignettes, and each one tells a mini story on its own. Of course, there are still the splash pages and those still look great, but for this particular issue Bendis needed several of his guest artists to flex some sequential muscle, and each and every one of them knocked his or her segment out of the park. Still, some of the newspaper strip/webcomic style art looks a little out of place in a comic book like this one, so I can't say I enjoyed this book quite as much as I would have if it had sported the more traditional "action" oriented artwork.
My personal favorite, largely for sentimental reasons, is Arthur Adam's Savage Land segment, which features a truly feral Beast scaring the hell out of Kazar and Zabu as he chows down on a dinosaur. It's a throwback to the comics I grew up with as a kid, and to be fair Adams has improved on his rendering skills since then.
It was quite considerate of Bendis to make this issue self-contained rather than use it as a springboard for a multi-issue story-arc, but it does require quite a bit of knowledge of what has gone before. Still, anyone with a passing knowledge of the X-Men should be able to figure things out easily enough, thanks to a little bit of exposition from the Beast's watchful visitor.
8.5/10
Friday, April 18, 2014
Late to the Party: A Review of Inhuman #1
(writer) Charles Soule
(artist) Joe Madureira
In the wake of the significant events involving the Inhumans, Marvel has launched a new series involving both existing characters and those mutated by the Terrigen Mists that have been loosed on an unsuspecting population by no less than the apparently deceased king of the Inhumans, Black Bolt.
Inhuman deals with new characters who have inhaled the mists, and the race between Medusa, queen of the Inhumans and the relatively new character Lash, to gain their allegiance. Two metamorphoses occur in this issue; the first one, of a professor in Norway, does not really yield super-powered results. When drummer and wedding-band-regular Dante (another new character) gets a whiff of the mists, however, interesting things happen, and he finds himself a target for Lash, unless Medusa can protect him first.
I like this relatively recent practice of Marvel Comics of getting top-tier talent to do short story arcs on a variety of titles. Civil War veteran Steve McNiven, for example, has worked on at least three titles in as many years, boosting the sales profile of each and getting them noticed by readers both old and new.
Madureira, who rose to fame drawing X-Men books in the late 1990s, has, after an extended sabbatical from comics to work in the video game industry, has worked sporadically for Marvel since coming back in 2007. After a five issue stint on the Ultimates, Madureira or "Joe Mad" as he's more popularly called, has drawn three-issue stints on Avenging Spider-Man and Savage Wolverine. That's a total of eleven issues over a seven year period, which kind of highlights Joe Mad's timeliness issues, but the good news is that for fans of his anime-inspired art style, he absolutely delivers, as he does here. His take on Medusa, the only familiar character here, is drop dead gorgeous.
The problem with this issue, however, is that Charles Soule's script is, in a word, uninspired. I have no idea if it's because he was a last-minute replacement for original writer Matt Fraction, but from the character concept to the narrative, the issue just doesn't come together for me. I was intrigued by the notion of a "fake-out" lead character, which is clearly what the writer intended with the blond Norwegian professor whose Terrigenesis turns him into some kind of troll, but the concept isn't developed at all and quite frankly the pages spent on him would have been better devoted to developing Dante, clearly the hero meant to be launched by this series, a bit more thoroughly. I mean, it's bad enough that the character they've apparently come up with, a fire manipulator of some sort, has already been done several times before. Dante had better have something unique going for him.
I'm fairly sure I won't be sitting through too many of these issues, given Joe Mad's track record. I'd be surprised if he lasted longer than four or five issues on this title before Marvel finds something else for him to do. That's good news for me as I am trying to keep my monthly collection down to two or three titles at the most. I just hope the remaining issues of this story arc have scripts that are at least half as good as the art that brings them to life.
6/10
Inevitable Disappointment: A Review of Superior Spider-Man #31 (Mild Spoilers)
(writers) Dan Slott and Christos Gage
(artists) Giuseppe Camuncoli, John Dell, Will Sliney
After the sheer narrative punch of last issue, it was perhaps inevitable that Marvel would let me down with the resolution of "Goblin Nation" and of the entire Superior Spider-Man series.
Having retaken control of his body from Otto Octavius, who quite literally gave up the ghost last issue, Peter Parker/Spider-Man puts an end to the threat posed by the Green Goblin, for now. He also sets things right with those close to him, though he's unable to mend some fences the way he would have liked.
There was really no doubt as to how the "Goblin Nation" storyline would be resolved, and the only major issue left to be resolved this issue was the identity of the Green Goblin, which Slott kept hidden from the readers ever since he appeared in issue #5. Even without the meaty narrative turn that took place last issue, the revelation of who was under the Goblin mask, as twists go, was utterly flaccid. Then again, Slott and company were never going to top themselves after last issue, which, to my mind at least, was one of the best of the entire series, so maybe I can cut him some slack. Still, this issue feels like a bit of a cop-out.
This issue was intended to tie things up in time for The Amazing Spider-Man #1, out in two weeks, and in order to keep readers guessing, Slott keeps a lot of cards close to his chest. If things are going to go really badly for Peter in view of everything that Otto has spent the last year or so doing, the proverbial poop isn't going to hit the fan until the relaunch hits. Still, if nothing else, in this issue, particularly the second half written by Christos Gage and drawn by soon-to-be Spider-Man 2099 artist Will Sliney, Peter mends some of his "core" relationships, namely those with Aunt May and Mary Jane, both of whom were on the receiving end of some of Ock's nastiness.
Everything is else is left pretty much in the air, and it should be interesting to see how the likes of the Avengers react to the return of Peter, especially considering they never knew he was gone in the first place.
As swan songs go, however, considering the kind of sales Spider-Ock pulled in for Marvel during his 30-issue tenure, I feel they could have given him something a little more meaningful.
6.5/10
(artists) Giuseppe Camuncoli, John Dell, Will Sliney
After the sheer narrative punch of last issue, it was perhaps inevitable that Marvel would let me down with the resolution of "Goblin Nation" and of the entire Superior Spider-Man series.
Having retaken control of his body from Otto Octavius, who quite literally gave up the ghost last issue, Peter Parker/Spider-Man puts an end to the threat posed by the Green Goblin, for now. He also sets things right with those close to him, though he's unable to mend some fences the way he would have liked.
There was really no doubt as to how the "Goblin Nation" storyline would be resolved, and the only major issue left to be resolved this issue was the identity of the Green Goblin, which Slott kept hidden from the readers ever since he appeared in issue #5. Even without the meaty narrative turn that took place last issue, the revelation of who was under the Goblin mask, as twists go, was utterly flaccid. Then again, Slott and company were never going to top themselves after last issue, which, to my mind at least, was one of the best of the entire series, so maybe I can cut him some slack. Still, this issue feels like a bit of a cop-out.
This issue was intended to tie things up in time for The Amazing Spider-Man #1, out in two weeks, and in order to keep readers guessing, Slott keeps a lot of cards close to his chest. If things are going to go really badly for Peter in view of everything that Otto has spent the last year or so doing, the proverbial poop isn't going to hit the fan until the relaunch hits. Still, if nothing else, in this issue, particularly the second half written by Christos Gage and drawn by soon-to-be Spider-Man 2099 artist Will Sliney, Peter mends some of his "core" relationships, namely those with Aunt May and Mary Jane, both of whom were on the receiving end of some of Ock's nastiness.
Everything is else is left pretty much in the air, and it should be interesting to see how the likes of the Avengers react to the return of Peter, especially considering they never knew he was gone in the first place.
As swan songs go, however, considering the kind of sales Spider-Ock pulled in for Marvel during his 30-issue tenure, I feel they could have given him something a little more meaningful.
6.5/10
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Late to the Party: Black Widow #1 to #5
(writer) Nathan Edmonson
(artist) Phil Noto
I have a confession to make: even though I have been familiar with the Black Widow character appearing in Marvel Comics publications for almost as long as I have been reading comics, I have never really been much of a fan, and I have never collected comic books in which she had a starring role, the closest being the issues of "The Ultimates" in which an alternate version of her appeared (and in which she turned out to be not quite what I expected). The truth of the matter is that I have become a fan of the character thanks to actress Scarlett Johansson's portrayal of her in 2012's The Avengers, and in this year's Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Thus, when Marvel stuff the entirety of issue #1 into Superior Spider-Man #30 as an extra, featuring a fairly interesting script by Nathan Edmonson and some drop dead gorgeous art by Phil Noto, I didn't need much convincing to pick the series up, and I have to say, I'm glad I did.
Each of the first three issues contains a solo adventure for Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. the Black Widow, who, when not helping the Avengers save the world, is busy atoning for her past life as a KGB assassin, taking on various high-paying odd jobs that involve protection or rescue, a marked contrast from her former line of work. Issues #4 and #5 raise the stakes a bit as Natasha takes on a mysterious organization that, in issue #4 does its dirty work through a former Russian Orthodox monk, and may have bitten off more than she can chew.
Nathan Edmonson makes the character accessible for anyone who knows her strictly from the Avengers movie, and I confess that, outside of Mark Millar's Ultimates, and the odd Avengers or Daredevil issue, I didn't really know her all that well either as a character. His script isn't all that slick, though, and I sometimes get the impression he spends too much time hammering the "atonement" point home, although he drops it around the fourth issue.
The real draw for me, though, is Phil Noto's art (pardon the pun). I've admired this guy's work for some time but have never really felt compelled to buy anything he has worked on, until now. The 70s-inspired visuals are a perfect fit for this book, and although his Natasha seems a little masculine from time to time, the most important thing is that she is utterly credible as a truly formidable superspy.
I'm definitely staying on board for at least as long as Noto is.
7.5/10
(artist) Phil Noto
I have a confession to make: even though I have been familiar with the Black Widow character appearing in Marvel Comics publications for almost as long as I have been reading comics, I have never really been much of a fan, and I have never collected comic books in which she had a starring role, the closest being the issues of "The Ultimates" in which an alternate version of her appeared (and in which she turned out to be not quite what I expected). The truth of the matter is that I have become a fan of the character thanks to actress Scarlett Johansson's portrayal of her in 2012's The Avengers, and in this year's Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Thus, when Marvel stuff the entirety of issue #1 into Superior Spider-Man #30 as an extra, featuring a fairly interesting script by Nathan Edmonson and some drop dead gorgeous art by Phil Noto, I didn't need much convincing to pick the series up, and I have to say, I'm glad I did.
Each of the first three issues contains a solo adventure for Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. the Black Widow, who, when not helping the Avengers save the world, is busy atoning for her past life as a KGB assassin, taking on various high-paying odd jobs that involve protection or rescue, a marked contrast from her former line of work. Issues #4 and #5 raise the stakes a bit as Natasha takes on a mysterious organization that, in issue #4 does its dirty work through a former Russian Orthodox monk, and may have bitten off more than she can chew.
Nathan Edmonson makes the character accessible for anyone who knows her strictly from the Avengers movie, and I confess that, outside of Mark Millar's Ultimates, and the odd Avengers or Daredevil issue, I didn't really know her all that well either as a character. His script isn't all that slick, though, and I sometimes get the impression he spends too much time hammering the "atonement" point home, although he drops it around the fourth issue.
The real draw for me, though, is Phil Noto's art (pardon the pun). I've admired this guy's work for some time but have never really felt compelled to buy anything he has worked on, until now. The 70s-inspired visuals are a perfect fit for this book, and although his Natasha seems a little masculine from time to time, the most important thing is that she is utterly credible as a truly formidable superspy.
I'm definitely staying on board for at least as long as Noto is.
7.5/10
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Peripheral: My Theory on Why Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Isn't at the Top of the Ratings Heap
I find it strange that, even though I am a comic-book fan through and through, with a particular preference or Marvel Comics, and even though I am also a fan of television adaptations of comic book series such as The Walking Dead, I have next to no interest whatsoever in following Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ongoing television series. I find it even stranger that, for all of the box-office clout that Marvel seems to wield at the box office, they seem unable to translate those all-conquering numbers, and the audiences they represent, into a similarly dominant number of television viewers.
Obviously, I have no intention of reviewing a series I haven't actually watched, but considering that the series is a far cry from the ratings juggernaut that Marvel Studios were no doubt hoping for, I thought I might give them some thoughts on what they may be doing wrong, as opposed to the creators of TWD, currently the most popular show on television right now.
Of course, it seems a bit ridiculous that Marvel should be taking unsolicited advice from someone like me, but hey, it's a free country, and more than that, ultimately it's the attention from the fans, or lack of it, that can drive these movies and T.V. shows to great heights of success, or right into the ground.
My theory is this: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., unlike the massive movie franchise from which it was spun off, has very few moorings in the comic books on which the movies were based, apart from the titular organization to which the characters belong. The lead character, Clark Gregg's Phil Coulson, is a creation exclusively for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and was a common thread running through most of the films, starting with Iron Man. Every other lead character, however, seems to have been created purely for the show, although a few minor characters from the comics, like Deathlok and Victoria Hand are featured, and some characters both from the comics and the MCU, like Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) from the Thor series, as well as Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and S.H.I.E.L.D. head honcho himself, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) have done walk-ons as well. These appearances, however, seem to be few and far between, and feel like nothing more than crumbs from the MCU pie.
For me, the charm of the MCU is seeing characters I have grown up with in one medium vividly realized in another. The first Spider-Man movie, for all its flaws, was an utterly magical experience for me, and while I only started reading Avengers comics when I was quite a bit older, I was similarly enthralled when "Earth's mightiest heroes" had their big-screen team-up two years ago. I've loved most of these adaptations, even some of the less-well received ones, and it's in no small part because I grew up with the characters whose adventures were realized onscreen. Characters like the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men were all a part of my childhood and adolescence, and so, when their adaptations were well-done, and sometimes even when they weren't, I was happy. Judging by the grosses, so were a lot of other people.
With AoS, the rule is different, and the creators of the show seem less interested in tapping fans' nostalgia and instead cashing in purely on the Marvel brand. It calls to mind the short-lived, pre-Marvel studios television series Mutant X, which Marvel and some partners made in an apparent attempt to circumvent the exclusive license enjoyed by Twentieth Century Fox to produce X-Men related films and shows, although no similar legal issues exist here. Basically, Marvel wanted to sell audiences a product with their name on it, but with next to none of the history that truly made their name resonate with so many people. That seems to be eerily similar to what's happening here, although AoS certainly has more polish that Mutant X ever did, at least based on the little I've seen.
With TWD and even Game of Thrones, people know that they're getting the main characters from the books on the small screen; it's one of the reasons why Vol. 1 of TWD comics, (a collection which, by the way, is over ten years old) has been a consistent bestseller ever since the T.V. series premiered; people wanting to see where the show came from get almost exactly what they're looking for, as Season 1 was remarkably faithful to much of that first volume, the usual liberties notwithstanding.
Marvel, to be fair, has made some attempts to draw connections between the MCU and AoS, as evidenced by the aforementioned guest appearances and, most recently, a significant narrative tie-up between the show and the highly successful film Captain America: The Winter Soldier. At the end of the day, though, Marvel still hasn't addressed the fact that AoS has very little to do with the comic books on which the whole MCU was based.
While I understand the imperative at Marvel is to bring as many characters as possible to the big screen (which isn't even necessarily true, given that Daredevil, a character worthy of a decent feature film if ever there was one, will have a Netflix series next year), there are, to my mind, plenty of supporting S.H.I.E.L.D. players who really wouldn't be able to support a feature film on their own but who might just go the distance in a T.V. show, like the Contessa, Clay Quartermain, and maybe even Gabe Jones and Dum Dum Dugan, who were Howling Commandos in the first Captain America movie but who also happen to be S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the comics. If there's a problem with aging them, then maybe their kids could be S.H.I.E.L.D. agents instead. It's a pretty substantial list, and any of those characters would more likely resonate with fans than generic, made-exclusively-for-T.V. characters with cookie-cutter names like Ward, Fitz and Garrett. With shows involving superheroics like Heroes and Alphas, and more investigative/conspiracy shows on the air than you could shake a stick at, AoS needs something to set itself apart, and that could have been characters derived from comic books with decades of history.
Not only that, but if the show won people over with their stories, then fans of the television series could then dive into old S.H.I.E.L.D. comic books and relive the fun in another format, just as the newly-won-over fans of TWD did when they went off in search of the trade paperbacks.
As it is, well, it really just strikes me that, in the great, MCU scheme of things, AoS just doesn't matter, and to many of the millions of people who pay good money to patronize the MCU, the T.V. show feels like a side dish they can skip.
Again, this isn't me dissing the show, which I can't do because I don't watch it. It is me, however giving my opinion as a virtual lifelong geek as to why the billions of dollars in box-office revenue from the MCU are not translating into chart-topping ratings for AoS.
Obviously, I have no intention of reviewing a series I haven't actually watched, but considering that the series is a far cry from the ratings juggernaut that Marvel Studios were no doubt hoping for, I thought I might give them some thoughts on what they may be doing wrong, as opposed to the creators of TWD, currently the most popular show on television right now.
Of course, it seems a bit ridiculous that Marvel should be taking unsolicited advice from someone like me, but hey, it's a free country, and more than that, ultimately it's the attention from the fans, or lack of it, that can drive these movies and T.V. shows to great heights of success, or right into the ground.
My theory is this: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., unlike the massive movie franchise from which it was spun off, has very few moorings in the comic books on which the movies were based, apart from the titular organization to which the characters belong. The lead character, Clark Gregg's Phil Coulson, is a creation exclusively for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and was a common thread running through most of the films, starting with Iron Man. Every other lead character, however, seems to have been created purely for the show, although a few minor characters from the comics, like Deathlok and Victoria Hand are featured, and some characters both from the comics and the MCU, like Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) from the Thor series, as well as Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and S.H.I.E.L.D. head honcho himself, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) have done walk-ons as well. These appearances, however, seem to be few and far between, and feel like nothing more than crumbs from the MCU pie.
For me, the charm of the MCU is seeing characters I have grown up with in one medium vividly realized in another. The first Spider-Man movie, for all its flaws, was an utterly magical experience for me, and while I only started reading Avengers comics when I was quite a bit older, I was similarly enthralled when "Earth's mightiest heroes" had their big-screen team-up two years ago. I've loved most of these adaptations, even some of the less-well received ones, and it's in no small part because I grew up with the characters whose adventures were realized onscreen. Characters like the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men were all a part of my childhood and adolescence, and so, when their adaptations were well-done, and sometimes even when they weren't, I was happy. Judging by the grosses, so were a lot of other people.
With AoS, the rule is different, and the creators of the show seem less interested in tapping fans' nostalgia and instead cashing in purely on the Marvel brand. It calls to mind the short-lived, pre-Marvel studios television series Mutant X, which Marvel and some partners made in an apparent attempt to circumvent the exclusive license enjoyed by Twentieth Century Fox to produce X-Men related films and shows, although no similar legal issues exist here. Basically, Marvel wanted to sell audiences a product with their name on it, but with next to none of the history that truly made their name resonate with so many people. That seems to be eerily similar to what's happening here, although AoS certainly has more polish that Mutant X ever did, at least based on the little I've seen.
With TWD and even Game of Thrones, people know that they're getting the main characters from the books on the small screen; it's one of the reasons why Vol. 1 of TWD comics, (a collection which, by the way, is over ten years old) has been a consistent bestseller ever since the T.V. series premiered; people wanting to see where the show came from get almost exactly what they're looking for, as Season 1 was remarkably faithful to much of that first volume, the usual liberties notwithstanding.
Marvel, to be fair, has made some attempts to draw connections between the MCU and AoS, as evidenced by the aforementioned guest appearances and, most recently, a significant narrative tie-up between the show and the highly successful film Captain America: The Winter Soldier. At the end of the day, though, Marvel still hasn't addressed the fact that AoS has very little to do with the comic books on which the whole MCU was based.
While I understand the imperative at Marvel is to bring as many characters as possible to the big screen (which isn't even necessarily true, given that Daredevil, a character worthy of a decent feature film if ever there was one, will have a Netflix series next year), there are, to my mind, plenty of supporting S.H.I.E.L.D. players who really wouldn't be able to support a feature film on their own but who might just go the distance in a T.V. show, like the Contessa, Clay Quartermain, and maybe even Gabe Jones and Dum Dum Dugan, who were Howling Commandos in the first Captain America movie but who also happen to be S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the comics. If there's a problem with aging them, then maybe their kids could be S.H.I.E.L.D. agents instead. It's a pretty substantial list, and any of those characters would more likely resonate with fans than generic, made-exclusively-for-T.V. characters with cookie-cutter names like Ward, Fitz and Garrett. With shows involving superheroics like Heroes and Alphas, and more investigative/conspiracy shows on the air than you could shake a stick at, AoS needs something to set itself apart, and that could have been characters derived from comic books with decades of history.
Not only that, but if the show won people over with their stories, then fans of the television series could then dive into old S.H.I.E.L.D. comic books and relive the fun in another format, just as the newly-won-over fans of TWD did when they went off in search of the trade paperbacks.
As it is, well, it really just strikes me that, in the great, MCU scheme of things, AoS just doesn't matter, and to many of the millions of people who pay good money to patronize the MCU, the T.V. show feels like a side dish they can skip.
Again, this isn't me dissing the show, which I can't do because I don't watch it. It is me, however giving my opinion as a virtual lifelong geek as to why the billions of dollars in box-office revenue from the MCU are not translating into chart-topping ratings for AoS.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Half a Million Copies
This won't be a long post.
The initial figures are in, and it seems that the return of Peter Parker to the pages of Spider-Man is quite highly anticipated, by comic book retailers at the very least. Orders for April's The Amazing Spider-Man #1 are estimated at over 500,000 copies (close to 600,000, actually). This is the most copies sold of any single issue since 2009's The Amazing Spider-Man #583, which featured a then newly-inaugurated President Barack Obama on the cover. These figures have, without a doubt, been inflated somewhat by the usual practice of offering variant covers as incentives to retailers, but it is still undoubtedly impressive.
I find myself chuckling at the thought of Peter's return generating such gargantuan sales considering that, prior to his "death" and replacement by Otto Octavius at the end of issue #700 of The Amazing Spider-Man, the title was averaging sales in the high 50,000s, with the occasional spike in sales due to some "event" storyline (or, as in the case of the Obama issue, a once-in-a-lifetime gimmick). For the thirty issues that Otto has been in charge, the flagship Spider-Man book, Superior Spider-Man, has never sold fewer than 75,000 copies in the United States. People liked the new direction.
Still, it apparently wasn't easy for writer Dan Slott, who actually received death threats, apart from the expected hate mail, over Peter's "death" back in 2012. He and Marvel must be heaving huge sighs of relief that their new series is off to such an "amazing" start.
Of course, it remains to be seen if the retailers' zeal is reflective of what their customers want, and even assuming they've got it right, it also remains to be seen what kind of long-term sales this new story direction can sustain. After all, gimmick-free, variant-cover-free Peter, back when he was still married and being written by J. Michael Straczynski, was regularly selling over 100,000 copies on the average, the kind of numbers publishers would probably kill for nowadays, but post "Brand New Day" Peter couldn't regularly sell much more than half that amount, barring the odd spike every so often due to "event" storylines.
Assuming Marvel have gotten it right and this new Amazing Spider-Man sustains, if not improves upon the monthly sales of Superior Spider-Man, I will definitely find it funny that to get people to read about Peter Parker's adventures, Marvel actually had to keep him out of his own title for over a year.
The initial figures are in, and it seems that the return of Peter Parker to the pages of Spider-Man is quite highly anticipated, by comic book retailers at the very least. Orders for April's The Amazing Spider-Man #1 are estimated at over 500,000 copies (close to 600,000, actually). This is the most copies sold of any single issue since 2009's The Amazing Spider-Man #583, which featured a then newly-inaugurated President Barack Obama on the cover. These figures have, without a doubt, been inflated somewhat by the usual practice of offering variant covers as incentives to retailers, but it is still undoubtedly impressive.
I find myself chuckling at the thought of Peter's return generating such gargantuan sales considering that, prior to his "death" and replacement by Otto Octavius at the end of issue #700 of The Amazing Spider-Man, the title was averaging sales in the high 50,000s, with the occasional spike in sales due to some "event" storyline (or, as in the case of the Obama issue, a once-in-a-lifetime gimmick). For the thirty issues that Otto has been in charge, the flagship Spider-Man book, Superior Spider-Man, has never sold fewer than 75,000 copies in the United States. People liked the new direction.
Still, it apparently wasn't easy for writer Dan Slott, who actually received death threats, apart from the expected hate mail, over Peter's "death" back in 2012. He and Marvel must be heaving huge sighs of relief that their new series is off to such an "amazing" start.
Of course, it remains to be seen if the retailers' zeal is reflective of what their customers want, and even assuming they've got it right, it also remains to be seen what kind of long-term sales this new story direction can sustain. After all, gimmick-free, variant-cover-free Peter, back when he was still married and being written by J. Michael Straczynski, was regularly selling over 100,000 copies on the average, the kind of numbers publishers would probably kill for nowadays, but post "Brand New Day" Peter couldn't regularly sell much more than half that amount, barring the odd spike every so often due to "event" storylines.
Assuming Marvel have gotten it right and this new Amazing Spider-Man sustains, if not improves upon the monthly sales of Superior Spider-Man, I will definitely find it funny that to get people to read about Peter Parker's adventures, Marvel actually had to keep him out of his own title for over a year.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Spider-Jam: A Review of Ultimate Spider-Man #200
(writer) Brian Michael Bendis
(artists) David Marquez, Mark Bagley, Sara Pichelli, Mark Brooks, David LaFuente
In the three years that have passed since Marvel killed off the "ultimate" version of Peter Parker, a lot has happened to the world in which he used to live. Miles Morales has assumed the Spider-Man identity. The earth was almost destroyed by Galactus, and much death and destruction resulted.
In this issue, Peter's friends and loved ones meet up at May Parker's house to celebrate his life, while Miles, who never actually met Peter, has also been invited considering that he has chosen to carry on Peter's legacy. Writer Brian Michael Bendis and his artists take the opportunity of the 200th issue of Ultimate Spider-Man to truly and properly say goodbye to ultimate Peter Parker,
Each of the gathered characters asks the singular question: what would Peter have been like if he had lived to adulthood? The speculative answers which several members of Peter's supporting cast, and even Miles himself, give are visualized in lavish two-page spreads by the myriad guest artists whose work adorns this issue. Interestingly, and perhaps understandably enough, it's Miles' "vision" for Peter that is the least interesting, but illustrated as it is by Sara Pichelli, it still looks great.
Bendis has done this sort of thing --i.e. working with several artists on a single issue-- before, several times in fact, but perhaps most notably with the Avengers: Finale that Marvel published way back in 2004, where each of the Avengers (and Jarvis), in the wake of the death and destruction that resulted from the "Event" storyline titled "Avengers Disassembled" reminisced on what they thought the Avengers' greatest achievement was as a team.
This book is actually Bendis' best "jam session" yet, thanks to some very cohesive work from his artists. David Marquez's art provides the glue that effectively holds everything together, and Justin Ponsor's palette of colors really makes the work of each and every artist on the book pop. It doesn't have the disjointed feel that marred several of Bendis' previous "jam" works.
The writing feels more focused here, which says a lot considering how Bendis can often meander with his dialogue. It really comes across as a heartfelt sendoff to a character that Bendis genuinely loved, but who, in view of developments in the "mainstream" Marvel universe, had really just become superfluous. As sendoffs go, they don't get much better than this.
8.5/10
(artists) David Marquez, Mark Bagley, Sara Pichelli, Mark Brooks, David LaFuente
In the three years that have passed since Marvel killed off the "ultimate" version of Peter Parker, a lot has happened to the world in which he used to live. Miles Morales has assumed the Spider-Man identity. The earth was almost destroyed by Galactus, and much death and destruction resulted.
In this issue, Peter's friends and loved ones meet up at May Parker's house to celebrate his life, while Miles, who never actually met Peter, has also been invited considering that he has chosen to carry on Peter's legacy. Writer Brian Michael Bendis and his artists take the opportunity of the 200th issue of Ultimate Spider-Man to truly and properly say goodbye to ultimate Peter Parker,
Each of the gathered characters asks the singular question: what would Peter have been like if he had lived to adulthood? The speculative answers which several members of Peter's supporting cast, and even Miles himself, give are visualized in lavish two-page spreads by the myriad guest artists whose work adorns this issue. Interestingly, and perhaps understandably enough, it's Miles' "vision" for Peter that is the least interesting, but illustrated as it is by Sara Pichelli, it still looks great.
Bendis has done this sort of thing --i.e. working with several artists on a single issue-- before, several times in fact, but perhaps most notably with the Avengers: Finale that Marvel published way back in 2004, where each of the Avengers (and Jarvis), in the wake of the death and destruction that resulted from the "Event" storyline titled "Avengers Disassembled" reminisced on what they thought the Avengers' greatest achievement was as a team.
This book is actually Bendis' best "jam session" yet, thanks to some very cohesive work from his artists. David Marquez's art provides the glue that effectively holds everything together, and Justin Ponsor's palette of colors really makes the work of each and every artist on the book pop. It doesn't have the disjointed feel that marred several of Bendis' previous "jam" works.
The writing feels more focused here, which says a lot considering how Bendis can often meander with his dialogue. It really comes across as a heartfelt sendoff to a character that Bendis genuinely loved, but who, in view of developments in the "mainstream" Marvel universe, had really just become superfluous. As sendoffs go, they don't get much better than this.
8.5/10
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Late to the Party: A Review of Night of the Living Deadpool #3 and #4
(writer) Cullen Bunn
(artist) Ramon Rosanas
When I reviewed the first two issues of this miniseries I honestly didn't quite see the point, other than to cash in on the "Walking Dead"-inspired zombie craze and to showcase some gorgeous art by Spanish artist Ramon Rosanas. As it turns out, there's a method to all this madness. It doesn't quite justify what has been a largely hollow experience, but at least it ends on a high note (which I will not spoil). I got both these issues late, but given that I already reviewed the first two I decided to finish off the miniseries.
In issue #3, Deadpool deals with the genocidal old women he met at the end of issue #2 and is welcomed into what seems to be a thriving community of survivors. It is there that he meets former Advanced Idea Mechanics scientist and learns that he caused the outbreak in the first place. Also, a bite from a zombie that Deadpool sustained in issue #2 comes back to haunt him in a big way.
In issue #4, Deadpool sets out to cure the world of the zombie malady by heading back to where it all started: the laboratories of A.I.M., but what he finds out is not quite what he expected.
Considering that Wade Wilson/Deadpool was originally conceived as a parody of DC Comics' Slade Wilson/Deathstroke the Terminator, it is only fitting that he is placed smack in the middle of a parody of one of the most well-worn pop-culture genres, the zombie apocalypse. The first two issues went through the laundry list of zombie story tropes, seemingly without much new to say, but the third issue picks things up a little bit, and the fourth issue delivers a surprising, if somewhat anticlimactic finale. Still, it's a very, very "Deadpool" way to end the miniseries.
My favorite Deadpool miniseries remains to be "Wade Wilson's War" because of how unabashedly crazy it was, and how both writer Duane Swierczynski and artist Jason Pearson captured that insanity in the four issues spanning the miniseries. This series is nowhere near the acid-trip that series was and, really, is just yet another zombie book with a nice twist at the end. Bunn turns in a serviceable story but really, it never did stand out, even as a parody.
Ramon Rosanas' work, though, is really something wonderful to behold, and I for one would really love it if he worked on a more mainstream book someday.
7/10 (both issues)
(artist) Ramon Rosanas
When I reviewed the first two issues of this miniseries I honestly didn't quite see the point, other than to cash in on the "Walking Dead"-inspired zombie craze and to showcase some gorgeous art by Spanish artist Ramon Rosanas. As it turns out, there's a method to all this madness. It doesn't quite justify what has been a largely hollow experience, but at least it ends on a high note (which I will not spoil). I got both these issues late, but given that I already reviewed the first two I decided to finish off the miniseries.
In issue #3, Deadpool deals with the genocidal old women he met at the end of issue #2 and is welcomed into what seems to be a thriving community of survivors. It is there that he meets former Advanced Idea Mechanics scientist and learns that he caused the outbreak in the first place. Also, a bite from a zombie that Deadpool sustained in issue #2 comes back to haunt him in a big way.
In issue #4, Deadpool sets out to cure the world of the zombie malady by heading back to where it all started: the laboratories of A.I.M., but what he finds out is not quite what he expected.
Considering that Wade Wilson/Deadpool was originally conceived as a parody of DC Comics' Slade Wilson/Deathstroke the Terminator, it is only fitting that he is placed smack in the middle of a parody of one of the most well-worn pop-culture genres, the zombie apocalypse. The first two issues went through the laundry list of zombie story tropes, seemingly without much new to say, but the third issue picks things up a little bit, and the fourth issue delivers a surprising, if somewhat anticlimactic finale. Still, it's a very, very "Deadpool" way to end the miniseries.
My favorite Deadpool miniseries remains to be "Wade Wilson's War" because of how unabashedly crazy it was, and how both writer Duane Swierczynski and artist Jason Pearson captured that insanity in the four issues spanning the miniseries. This series is nowhere near the acid-trip that series was and, really, is just yet another zombie book with a nice twist at the end. Bunn turns in a serviceable story but really, it never did stand out, even as a parody.
Ramon Rosanas' work, though, is really something wonderful to behold, and I for one would really love it if he worked on a more mainstream book someday.
7/10 (both issues)
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
A Spoiler Free Review of the Season 4 Finale of "The Walking Dead"
"A"
written by Scott Gimple
directed by Michelle MacLaren
After getting basically knocked on my ass by the recent episode of The Walking Dead, title "The Grove," which featured some arguably some of the most disturbing fratricide ever featured on television if not mass media in general, I expected a truly terrifying finale. The penultimate episode, while it featured quite a few zombies, felt somewhat transitional, like it was designed simply to get the characters involved into a certain position in time for the finale.
The last episode definitely delivered on its promise of chills, and as with the more truly disturbing TWD episodes, it was living, breathing humans, not the walking dead, that proved to be truly scary.
To be as spoiler-free as possible I will keep the synopsis short and sweet. This episode focuses on Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Carl (Chandler Rigg), Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Daryl (Norman Reedus). It features two climactic, extremely violent confrontations, and ends with one hell of a cliffhanger. Suffice to say, "Terminus," which has been the buzzword for the entire second half of season 4, was not at all what the survivors were hoping to find. That's basically it; anything more could give away some of the nasty shocks the episode has in store for viewers.
Fans of the show familiar with the comic book series and its twists may recognize Terminus and the true nature of its inhabitants, but to the credit of the people running the TV show, although they've shown us a little bit of what the "Terminians" are really like, as well as certain hints here and there, they haven't quite shown their hand just yet; they're saving that for Season 5.
This episode, however, belongs to Rick. The narrative is interspersed with flashbacks to the prison which, prior to the second invasion by governor-led forces of its walls, was truly becoming a home to Rick, and which are effectively juxtaposed with the violence and paranoia in which Rick and the tattered remains of his crew find themselves caught up. He is both cunning and unbelievably brutal in this episode, and both Scott Gimple's script and Andrew Lincoln's gut-wrenching performance remind viewers why Rick is the series' lead character, even though he's been away for several episodes at a time. Rick's journey is an utterly compelling one, and the manner in which Lincoln inhabits the character makes it hard for me to imagine anyone else playing him with the same effectiveness.
Though these events may be familiar to readers of the comic book, the TV creators have shown time and again that, while they strive for the most part to pay faithful homage to those pages, they have not shied away from some pretty radical deviations time and again. People hale and hearty in the comics have bitten the dust (or been bitten) in the TV show, so basically the rule is that nobody is safe.
Heck of a way to end the season, really...
9/10
written by Scott Gimple
directed by Michelle MacLaren
After getting basically knocked on my ass by the recent episode of The Walking Dead, title "The Grove," which featured some arguably some of the most disturbing fratricide ever featured on television if not mass media in general, I expected a truly terrifying finale. The penultimate episode, while it featured quite a few zombies, felt somewhat transitional, like it was designed simply to get the characters involved into a certain position in time for the finale.
The last episode definitely delivered on its promise of chills, and as with the more truly disturbing TWD episodes, it was living, breathing humans, not the walking dead, that proved to be truly scary.
To be as spoiler-free as possible I will keep the synopsis short and sweet. This episode focuses on Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Carl (Chandler Rigg), Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Daryl (Norman Reedus). It features two climactic, extremely violent confrontations, and ends with one hell of a cliffhanger. Suffice to say, "Terminus," which has been the buzzword for the entire second half of season 4, was not at all what the survivors were hoping to find. That's basically it; anything more could give away some of the nasty shocks the episode has in store for viewers.
Fans of the show familiar with the comic book series and its twists may recognize Terminus and the true nature of its inhabitants, but to the credit of the people running the TV show, although they've shown us a little bit of what the "Terminians" are really like, as well as certain hints here and there, they haven't quite shown their hand just yet; they're saving that for Season 5.
This episode, however, belongs to Rick. The narrative is interspersed with flashbacks to the prison which, prior to the second invasion by governor-led forces of its walls, was truly becoming a home to Rick, and which are effectively juxtaposed with the violence and paranoia in which Rick and the tattered remains of his crew find themselves caught up. He is both cunning and unbelievably brutal in this episode, and both Scott Gimple's script and Andrew Lincoln's gut-wrenching performance remind viewers why Rick is the series' lead character, even though he's been away for several episodes at a time. Rick's journey is an utterly compelling one, and the manner in which Lincoln inhabits the character makes it hard for me to imagine anyone else playing him with the same effectiveness.
Though these events may be familiar to readers of the comic book, the TV creators have shown time and again that, while they strive for the most part to pay faithful homage to those pages, they have not shied away from some pretty radical deviations time and again. People hale and hearty in the comics have bitten the dust (or been bitten) in the TV show, so basically the rule is that nobody is safe.
Heck of a way to end the season, really...
9/10
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