Our Trip to the Saskatoon Comic and Entertainment Expo!

Originally posted at Rock! Shock! Pop! 


Last weekend Courtney and I attended the Saskatoon Comic and Entertainment Expo (or SaskExpo) in the City of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Saskatoon is a small Canadian city of around 260,000 people located in central Saskatchewan, and is a 3 hour drive from Regina, the capital city of Saskatchewan, where I live. The promoters behind SaskExpo are the same people responsible for the hugely popular Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, which last year brought together the entire cast of Aliens for a 25th Anniversary reunion. We drove into Saskatoon on Saturday morning, and spent the night in Saskatoon to cover the convention for Rock! Shock! Pop! because cons rule, even when they're in remote locales like Saskatoon.

Saturday 

We arrived at the Prairieland Park convention centre just a little while after the doors of SaskExpo were open to the public. The media table was easy to find, and after a quick sign-in we had our passes and were on our way to the show floor. It was barely 11:00 a.m. and already the convention centre was packed with cosplayers and convention goers.

At first it was difficult finding our way to the panels we wanted to attended because although there were only two rooms assigned to panels, neither of them were marked or had any identifying signage. That was frustrating at first, but we quickly got used to it. Being a huge fan of Rat Queens, the ongoing fantasy series for Image Comics, our first stop was a panel with what was supposed to be writer Kurtis Wiebe and artist Roc Upchurch. Unfortunately, as we learned when we arrived, Roc Upchurch was unable to attend the convention due to passport issues, but thankfully Wiebe, who is originally from Saskatoon, was more than able to handle the session by himself (with the help of a con-appointed moderator, whose name I can't remember and didn't write down).

Wiebe's panel was full of the sarcastic, irreverent humor that Rat Queens is known for. After having him roll a D20, the panel mod had Wiebe do some quick word association. Here is how that went:

Mod: Gary Gygax
KW: Dead

Mod: H.P. Lovecraft
KW: Tentacles

Mod: Kobolds
KW: Haven't used 'em yet in Rat Queens

Mod: Mushrooms
KW: Everyone should try them once
Mod: The store bought grocery kind?
KW: The kind you trip out and hallucinate on.

Mod: Peter Panzerfaust
KW: Ending soon

And so it went. Wiebe talked at length about his writing process (“a whole lot of procrastination”), the inspiration for his characters, how he got into comics, and his generally indifferent attitude towards Marvel/DC. He also talked about the influence of his wife on Rat Queens, how she swears like a sailor, and it generally seems like the Kurtis Wiebe who wrote the depressing Green Wake is doing pretty well. I asked him about the future of the Peter Panzerfaust TV series (which the BBC optioned last year), and he basically told me that he didn't have a lot of involvement, and the producers don't really seem to “get it.” Lady Gaga was mentioned as a possibility for the theme song, so don't get your hopes up there, Panzer-fans.

Our next stop was the panel of my dreams, or nightmares, with Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund. Moderated by Phil LaMarr, Robert Englund delivered what I can only describe as a masterful performance in showmanship and crowd control to a packed audience of curious onlookers and hardcore Nightmare on Elm Street Fans, dozens of which were dressed up as Freddy (keep in mind that this is Saskatoon, so a dozen is actually a lot). LaMarr vetted questions from the crowd before Englund showed up, so there was barely a wasted moment throughout the whole session.

Englund was on fire. Full of enthusiasm and clearly excited to be in Saskatoon, he answered many questions about his life and career. He talked at length about the unrealized Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash project, about being roomates with Mark Hamill (he claims to have auditioned for both Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, before telling his roommate Mark that he should go audition for the part of Luke), and he was effusive in his praise of the films and TV shows he's been enjoying lately. Guardians of the Galaxy and Penny Dreadful (Eva Green's performance in particular) seemed to be what he's enjoying the most lately, although he also mentioned the French vampire film The Afflicted as something that horror fans should eat up right away.

The personal anecdotes came one after another and they were always entertaining. While Freddy seems these days like a long lost icon of the heydey of 80s and 90s horror, it's easy to see why Robert Englund became such an icon. His personality itself seems to embody the intimidating persona and wisecracking humor that are associated with the Freddy character. When asked what it's like being a person who audiences both fear and idolize, he was both funny and honest. “Well, I get a lot of free drinks. For real though, it opened the door for me to work abroad. I'm chasing a girl who looks like Penelope Cruz around in a Spanish castle. I could be chasing Linsday Lohan around in Santa Cruz. So life is pretty good.” Seeing Robert Englund was easily the highlight of the conference, and of my year so far.

We had some time to kill before the next session we wanted to attend, so we went off in search of lunch. Unfortunately, food options at SaskExpo were extremely limited and way too expensive, so we briefly left the convention centre in search of food. We came back with Subway. Call it a draw. After lunch we decided to explore the rest of the convention, as we'd basically spent the whole morning and early afternoon in panel sessions. The convention itself was split up into 3 major sections, one main hall near the entrance that included Artist's Alley, a hall to the left where fans could get autographs and photo ops, and also lead to the panel session rooms, and a hall to the right that contained all the merchandise vendors and trade show booths. After spending some time in Artist's Alley and checking out some local independent artists, we went to the vendor show floor to check out the merch. While there was more merchandise there than any convention I'd been to previously, I can't say there was anything that really interested me. None of the toys were convention exclusive, and most seemed to marked up well beyond what you'd pay at your LCS. There were however several craft vendors selling homemade geek apparel, costume accessories, handbags, swords, armor, and the like, that I did appreciate, and Courtney enjoyed even more. She had a very difficult time deciding what to buy, and thankfully, most of the DIY merchandise vendors weren't as overpriced as the people selling stuff you can get out of a Diamond catalog.

After milling about the convention center for a while, we went on to see our next panel: Lance Henriksen. I am a huge Henriksen fan, and I was looking forward to seeing him even more than Robert Englund, which is why it was a bit of letdown when his panel wasn't really that good. Henriksen showed up about 15-20 minutes late for the panel, and before he even began mentioned that he was suffering from jetlag due to his flight. The panel was less than half full, and Henriksen seemed kind of annoyed by LaMarr's moderation of the panel. He kept giving LaMarr this look like, “Hey man, I can handle this myself,” which was sort of disappointing as LaMarr seemed just as starstruck by Lance's presence as I was. 

Once he got going, Henriksen talked about his career and how it got started, about his illiteracy (apparently he couldn't read until age 30), his Terminator audition story, and when asked, he discussed at length the process of becoming Frank Black of TV's Millenium. This was kind of funny too, as while he clearly thought a lot about the character, it's clear that he had issues with the script and especially the dialogue. “You wouldn't believe some of the shit they had me saying.” That sort of thing. I asked him a question about what he did to prepare for the role of Jesse Custer in Near Dark, my favorite role of his, and he talked a bit about his take on what he thinks being a vampire on the road would be like. Scott Snyder would have loved that part of the panel. Eventually someone asked him a question about Pirahna II: The Spawning and he broke down laughing before he could answer. Unfortunately, no one asked him about The Visitor. There was an awkward moment when he started talking back and forth with Phil LaMarr in a Jamaican accent, seemingly not knowing that LaMarr played Hermes Conrad in Futurama. With very little to say before the end, Henriksen just sort of ended the session 15 minutes before it was supposed to end. While it was amazing getting to see the man in person, I'll admit I was a little letdown by his general lack of giving a shit. At that point, our feet were tired and we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel.

Sunday

I'm going to perfectly honest here, we slept in on Sunday and missed most of what the morning had to offer. That was sort of okay though, because the only panel I really wanted to see was the session featuring Tyler Mane, the actor who played Sabretooth in the first two X-Men films and Michael Myers in Rob Zombie's Halloween films. A missed opportunity, but there you go. We might have had more reason to wake up earlier, but unfortunately comedian Dino Stamatopolous (aka “Starburns” from TV's Community) had to cancel at the last minute, and I just wasn't that into a panel on “Steampunk/Parasol Dueling” or “Convention Safe Weapon Smithing.” I'm also not a Trekkie, so the panel with Nana Visitor (of Star Trek Voyager) wasn't for me either. In fact, most of Sunday was spent out on the convention floor, checking out the merchandise, admiring the costumes, and talking to people at Artist's Alley (including Elaine M. Will, a local artist who's been doing some great work recently. Courtney recommends her graphic novel, Look Straight Ahead). We did pop into a few other panels, but until later in the day there wasn't anything really worth mentioning. John Barrowman of Torchwood fame also had a packed panel, but neither of us are Whovians so that panel held little interest.

Finally, after a few hours of hanging around the convention and shopping for merch, we attended the last panel of the convention, with none other than Phil LaMarr himself. Now, I've been a fan since Mad TV began and for as long as Futurama has been going on, but I had no idea just extensive LaMarr's voice work has been, and he consistently managed to surprise me with what he's been involved with. For example, I had no idea that he was the voice of the character Vulgrim in THQ's post-apocalyptic fantasy RPG, Darksiders, which was one of my favorite games of the last generation. He was also the voice of Samurai Jack, another cartoon I loved back in my college days but had no idea he was a part of. LaMarr's panel was easily the highlight of Sunday, but it was also a contender with Englund's for Best of the Show.

Although he's got an IMDB profile that can go toe to toe with anyone's, LaMarr has this everyman charm and generally seems thrilled to meet the fans and entertain people with his incredible range of impressions and character voices. In addition to doing Hermes' voice from Futurama, he also did impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mako's introduction to Conan the Barbarian, Mr. T, Chris Rock, Vamp (from the Metal Gear Solid series), John Stewart (the Green Lantern one, not the Daily Show one), Danny Glover, and more. He fielded his own questions from the audience, and never missed an opportunity to give the fans what they wanted. One poignant moment came when a fan asked about how he became involved with Static Shock, and he talked candidly about his frustration and anger about how it was cancelled in spite of its fantastic ratings, all because the WB didn't believe a cartoon starring a black teenager could sell toys. LaMarr also talked at length about the creation of one of his most beloved characters from Mad TV, the UPS Guy, and basically did a whole stand up bit for the audience involving the character. LaMarr embodied a perfect mix of a fan's enthusiasm and an entertainer's performance. He was a real joy to watch onstage, and a great way to end our convention experience. Courtney and I left the convention, determined to return next year in the hopes that we'll get to relive this awesome experience again.

This minion declares SaskExpo to be a huge success!

Abe Sapien #1, Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the B.P.R.D.

Abe Sapien #1
Dark and Terrible (1 of 3)
Writers: Mike Mignola and Scott Allie
Artist: Sebastian Fiumara
Colors: Dave Stewart

Abe Sapien #1 is the first Hellboy/B.P.R.D. comic I've bought since the original Lobster Johnson miniseries came out years ago.  Actually, I didn't even buy this.  Courtney was interested and, despite my observance that I never buy Mignolaverse books because I feel like I'm constantly in the middle of a story, she bought it anyway.  Well, this issue proved my concern about the accessibility of the Hellboy/B.P.R.D. comics to be true, but at the same time, it's just so well drawn and compelling that I don't really care.

This issue certainly takes place within the context of the greater B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth storyline, of which I'm only vaguely familiar.  It does very little to try and bring new readers up to speed other than lay out the very basics of the story: big demon crab-spiders called the Ogdru Hem seem to be crawling out of the earth and laying eggs all over the United States, and Abe Sapien has gone awol for reasons unknown.  The mystery of why Abe has left the B.P.R.D. to go on his own adventure is so far unexplained, but I'm sure it will be revealed as Mike Mignola and Scott Allie's story unfolds.

As someone who only has a passing knowledge of the current run on B.P.R.D. and Abe Sapien's backstory, I found myself lost in the middle of the bigger picture, but intrigued by the small story presented here.  In a sense, this is really how the story unfolds itself, as a group of hobos on a train swap stories about the Ogdru Hem, the devastation they've seen across American, and their theories about how the federal government is or is not responding to this demonic threat.  The bigger picture is lost on these homeless men, and as a new reader I identified with their fundamental lack of context or understanding.

If I'm being honest, I'd say that anyone who considers picking this up and isn't following B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth should probably start there, as it will provide a lot of the context for the story presented here, but readers who are curious about diving into the expanded Hellboy universe could do a lot worse than starting off with this new ongoing series starring one of Mignola's most memorable characters.

Abe Sapien and Fables Vol. 8

I did pick up Miss Fury while at the comic book shop today.  And then put it down again.  Quickly.  No one's boobs look like that.  Seriously.

So I picked up Abe Sapien #1 instead, which I found quite enjoyable.  The nod to Justin Bieber in the devil-conjuring scene totally hooked me.  Of course the girl wearing a Justin Bieber turtleneck gets sacrificed.  Of course.

I was definitely left with more questions than answers after this issue.  Christian tells me that can be a hazard of Hellboy comics.  I'm ok with the questions I have--so far, they are the sign that I want to keep reading.  There does seem to be an awful lot of yelling in this issue.  I was starting to wonder if this is a trademark of the writer because there are at least three separate instances of serious yelling.  The issue even ends with yelling.  And, of course, the yelling leads to questions that aren't answered.

The art is dark and creepy at all the right moments.  Whatever happened to that hobo's arm is totally cringe-inducing.  It also pays attention to the right details--when Devon's head drops after she is questioned on Abe Sapien's well-being, we know she's hurting.  Her body language in that entire sequence is spot on.

At this point, we know very little about what is going on with Abe Sapien himself.  He's in hiding, obviously, but why?  I have no idea.  I'll be waiting for the next issue to answer that.

On to Fables, Volume 8.  It's been months since I read Volume 7 and I finally picked up Volume 8 today.  I'm going to be honest.  I cried.  Happy tears though.  Bigby Wolf and Snow White get married!!  This is probably my favorite volume out of all of them so far.  I'm planning to read this again.  Mostly for the obvious reasons--Christian and I getting married in three months, for one.  Christian totally looking like Bigby Wolf, for another.

When Snow White and Bigby reunite, they begin to walk off and Snow exclaims, "Hold on, I need to go back and get my cane."  Bigby replies, "No, you won't need it.  You can lean on me from now on."

I couldn't see the panels until three pages later, I was so teary-eyed.  I'm such a softy.

Preview: H.A.R.D. Corps to Return in Harbinger Wars

The upcoming Harbinger Wars mini-series is already my most-anticipated comics event of the summer, but my enthusiasm has just reached a fever pitch with Valiant's announcement today that the H.A.R.D. Corps will be debuting in the new Valiant Universe in Harbinger Wars #3.

I was just reading the original, chromium cover H.A.R.D. Corps #1 this weekend, and was reminded just how great of a concept this series had, and how well it could do in the present Valiant Universe if executed properly by the right creative team.

The Harbinger Active Resistance Division (or H.A.R.D. Corps) are a mercenary outfit employed by Omen Industries, a corporation with an opposing interest to those of Toyo Harada and the Harbinger Foundation.  The H.A.R.D. Corps themselves are comprised of ex-military vets who have been awakened from comatose states, and given the option to live again and work for the H.A.R.D. Corps.  They're granted Harbinger powers from a computer network named Softcore, and can use any number of powers, one at a time.  The catch is that each member of the H.A.R.D. Corps is implanted with a kill switch, that will cause their heads to explode if they are caught or go rogue.

With the war between Project Rising Spirit and the Harbinger Foundation bringing the corporate espionage of the Valiant Universe to the forefront in this crossover, it'll be very interesting to see how the H.A.R.D. Corps are going to affect this dynamic, or what role they will play.

In short, F.U.C.K. Yes, H.A.R.D. Corps!

Valiant reviews: Shadowman #4 and Archer and Armstrong #7

It's been a while since I've done a review of any Valiant Comics, but since their marketing department is nice enough to keep sending me preview copies and I'm still buying 3 out of the 5 monthly titles they're publishing, I figured I would review the last two Valiant issues I've read and give my thoughts on them.

Shadowman #4
Story by Justin Jordan and Patrick Zircher
Art by Patrick Zircher

This concludes the first story arc of the newest incarnation Shadowman by Patrick Zircher and Justin Jordan, and by newest incarnation, I mean a pretty even mix of the original Shadowman from the early 90s and the Garth Ennis reboot from the late 90s. This doesn't really mean anything to you if you're new to the character or Valiant Comics, but it makes for an interesting, if somewhat conflicted reading experience for people who are familiar  with the character's history and the various ways he's been portrayed over the years.

The biggest difference is this: the original Shadowman had no powers, was a jazz musician, and was possessed by a voodoo spirit to go out into the night and fight evil.  The reboot featured a much darker version of the character, and introduced many more supernatural elements into the story, including a parallel universe called Deadside, which is exactly what it sounds like: a voodoo-inspired land of the dead.  It was a good reboot, but short lived and too different from the original for some people's tastes.

This new series mixes elements from both the original series and the reboot, but leans much more heavily on the supernatural side, and is much more rooted in the traditions of the superhero genre.  Shadowman has a healing factor, a symbiotic costume, and a retractable scythe and to be honest: I'm not quite sure how I feel about that.  Shadowman has everything going for him, but he seems to lack depth beyond his slick presentation and coolness factor.

Patrick Zircher is a very solid artist.  His pages look polished and professional, but they haven't looked as good as the original preview pages that accompanied the teaser for the very first issue.  There hasn't been a substantial drop in quality over the past four issues, but the art seems to lack personality.  It reminds me very much of the kind of art you'd find in Marvel Comics a few years ago, or DC before the New 52.  Not that this is a bad thing, but compared to some of the other books Valiant is publishing, this looks the most like a standard superhero comic, which it really isn't.  Or shouldn't be.

Shadowman is a horror-adventure series starring a superhero.  In a sense, this is what DC tried to do with the relaunch of Animal Man and Swamp Thing, but not nearly as successfully as Zircher and Jordan have with Shadowman.  This is a really good comic book, and easily worth your time and your four dollars, but compared to the other Valiant titles I would rate it only above Bloodshot, which I quit reading a couple months back.

This arc ended much better than it began, and wrapped up very well.  I'd say this is pretty much how all introductory arcs should be written these days.  In four issues: the character is introduced, we get a glimpse of his power, the key villain is established, a crisis is averted, and plotlines for future story arcs are carefully seeded among the minor details.  In a Marvel book, this arc would have gone on for at least six issues.  At DC:  maybe seven?  Even though I would rank this series below my current favorites in the Valiant stable, and I'm not sure it's better than the original, it has my attention and will continue to take my money.  Go to  your local comic shop, pick up Shadowman, and let them take yours.

Archer & Armstrong #7
Written by Fred Van Lente
Art by Emanuela Lupacchino

I'm not going to talk as much about this as I did about Shadowman, but I will say a few things about Archer and Armstrong:

• It's my second favorite Valiant title; right behind Harbinger.  
• There's nothing else on the stands like A &A.  It brings together a lot of familiar elements with its emphasis on action, conspiracy theories, and buddy comedy, but it comes off as completely fresh and original. 
• I'm starting to warm up to this new version of the Eternal Warrior.  Yeah he's still a little too much of a "superhero" compared to the bad-ass original, but the dude's got style.  I submit the machine-gunning while driving scene in this issue as evidence.
• The banter between A&A continues to be hilarious, and I'm glad that Van Lente seems to have toned down Archer's "aw gee willickers Mr. Armstrong, I'm a dumb Christian" tone from the first couple of issues. 
• Emanuela Lupacchino has a name that is really hard to spell but its worth writing down because his/her (I'm honestly not sure) art is great, and doesn't make me miss Clayton Henry, whose art was cleaner and a little stiffer than this.  I don't know if Clayton is coming back to draw this series, but I wouldn't mind one bit if they decided to trade off arcs. 
• Kay McHenry is one of my new favorite ladies in the Valiant Universe, and maybe one of the only women in comics you'll see this month wearing pants and a shirt that looks more like LuLuLemon than a porn outfit.
• I always thought the Geomancers were stupid.  This issue proves that they are actually very cool.  Like Neo in The Matrix cool. 
• Mother Nature as a monkey in a dress: more comedy like this please.
• The Null are a very cool organization to pit against A&A.  One of the more interesting evil organizations I've seen in comics lately.  
• I can't wait to see The Immortal Enemy next issue!

Batgirl #17: Wait, What?

Batgirl #17
Writer: Ray Fawkes
Penciller: Daniel Sampere
Inker: Vicente Cifuentes

Writer Ray Fawkes?? Where's Gail Simone!?  Oh wait, she'll be back in two issues.  Call off the internet search party.

Ok, so you got me, I went into this issue with skepticism and came out with a "decent face" (that face you make when you're pleasantly surprised by something/someone--see the latest Judge Dredd movie for plenty of examples).

First off, props to Fawkes for writing this issue from her brother's perspective.  Ballsy move.  Readers are used to hearing Batgirl's inner thoughts but....

You know, I just thought of something.  I always associate Simone with Batgirl herself.  Her run on the series is characterized by Batgirl's inner narration.  I can't help but hear Simone's voice through Batgirl.  And I don't think I'm alone in that.  Her fandom freaked out when she was unceremoniously fired and re-hired on Batgirl.  Her voice was reestablished as Batgirl's and now we have a new writer for two issues.  I don't think it's a coincidence that Fawkes has chosen to take on her brother's voice.  At one point, her brother says, "I know her so well."  The statement struck me at the time because I didn't yet know that the narrator was her brother--I was still hearing Fawkes' voice.  All of Batgirl's readers are out there, knowing that a new writer is on Batgirl, and we're all thinking, "You don't know Batgirl.  What makes you think you can write Batgirl?"  Admit it, you thought it too.

I revise my previous statement.  I'm not going to finish with a "decent face."  Fawkes just blew my mind.  I'll be reading the next issue with relish.

Oh, also, I love this first page.  Love it!

Katana #1: On the Fence

Katana #1
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Artist: Alex Sanchez
DC Comics
February 13, 2013

I picked up Katana because it's written by a female author I haven't read.  I read Gail Simone religiously and I've read some of DeConnick's Captain Marvel but I haven't read anything by Nocenti yet.  I have to admit, the writing is good but, so far, very safe.  It's subtle, rather than beating you over the head with action and a ton of unanswered questions.  There's a nice balance, which can be refreshing.  But I hope the momentum kicks up in future issues.

I like the character of Katana a lot more than I thought I would.  I'm a newbie, so forgive me if I'm stating the obvious, but her belief that her dead husband lives in the sword (now her sword) that killed him really drew me in.  She's alone, she's grieving, but she's also a fighter.

The art is particularly good during the action sequences but lags a bit otherwise.  Don't be fooled by the cover--the art inside is quite different.  The pastel colors seem like an odd choice but they become much more vivid towards the end of the issue.

I'm still on the fence about this one but I'll probably give it a few more issues to show me what it's got.

So many comics, so little time.

As Courtney mentioned last week, we haven't quit reading comics (you'd have to pry them from my cold dead  hands!) but between getting sick with the flu for a week, writing our theses, and starting a new full-time job, we have very little free time to update this blog.  We're not about to give up blogging, but you can expect our posts to be more infrequent until things quiet down.

I've also been cutting a lot of the fat from my pull list, as DC continues to bore me with what I've felt are a lot of really mediocre comic books.  Clearly there is a lot of restructuring going on  there, what with people being let go and then rehired, and then books being announced only to be cancelled before they are published. Something is clearly rotten in the state of Denmark, but in my opinion you could tell that from the low quality titles they've been publishing for the last few months. Once the Rotworld  story arc ends in Animal Man and Swamp Thing, I'll be dropping both of those titles, I doubt Dial H has much of a future, considering how quickly DC is cancelling low-selling titles these days.  If I'm really honest, the only book I'm really enjoying from DC right now is Wonder Woman.

Marvel Now, on the other hand, has been a huge surprise. There are a lot of comics I'd like to read but won't for budgetary reasons, but a lot of titles I've taken a chance on (FF, Avengers Arena, Deadpool, All New X-Men) have been routinely entertaining.  All New X-Men is my most-anticipated book every month, which is something I never thought I'd say.

My enthusiasm for Valiant comics has been cooling off over the past few months. X-O Manowar and Bloodshot just were not meeting my expectations, and neither has Shadowman, so I've dropped each of them from my pull list.  Harbinger has been getting better with every issue, and from a story perspective, is one of the best mainstream comics being published today. My only issue with Harbinger is the art often looks rushed and inconsistent. Warren Simons, get a regular artist on this book now! Archer and Armstrong was the title I was looking forward to the least when it was first announced, but it's actually a lot of fun, and is maybe the most consistently good book Valiant is putting out each month.

Last year everyone was raging about  Image Comics and creator-owned books, and while I am all for more independent creators, not many of the books Image is publishing these days appeal to me. Of course I'm still reading Saga, Prophet, and The Manhattan Projects, but beyond that? I would love to read more Image Comics, but honestly, they're just not publishing a lot of books that appeal to me lately.

So what am I most enthusiastic about lately? Well, that would be my growing stack of hardcovers and trade paperbacks.  I went a little overboard during the holiday season, and now have a ton of books that I still have to read. I rediscovered my love for Alejandro Jodorowsky's comics last year when a friend of mine gave me a copy of Screaming Planet as a Secret Santa gift, not knowing that years ago I was completely gaga for all the Humanoids stuff back when they still had a distribution deal with DC. Now, Humanoids Inc. has retrieved all the publishing rights to their stuff, and have been re-releasing their comics in ultra-rare, premium oversized hardcovers.  Just in the past month alone I've purchased The Incal, Before the Incal, Megalex, The Technopriests: Supreme Collection, The Metabarons: Ulimate Collection, and The Metabarons: Supreme Collection, all in their hardcover glory.  Of those, I've only had time to re-read The Metabarons, and about half of The Technopriests.

I could go on and on forever about the greatness of Jodorowsky and his sci-fi epics, but needless to say, if you've never read The Metabarons or any of the comics I've just mentioned, go buy them before their disappear again. It could be years before they become available again in English, and they are some of the greatest sci-fi epics ever written in the medium.

As if all that wasn't enough, I've started going back to the Judge Dredd Complete Case Files that I bought last summer, and have been rediscovering my love of Dredd. I think I went about reading those graphic novels the wrong way last summer. As much as I appreciate having been able to read some of Dredd's earliest adventures in The Complete Case Files Vol. 1, I would really recommend that new readers not start with that first volume, but instead, start with one of the mega-arcs like The Cursed Earth, The Day the Law Died, The Apocalypse War, or Judge Death.  Speaking of Dredd, lately I've been discovering a lot of the 2000AD stuff that, being a Canadian, I've never really had the opportunity to read. In particular, I've really been enjoying what I've read of Pat Mills' work on ABC Warriors and Nemesis the Warlock. Unfortunately, it looks like a lot of the ABC Warriors stuff is very hard to find, and very expensive.

Oh yeah, and I've got Matt Wagner's Grendel Omnibus, Volume 2: Devil's Legacy to read as well.

So what am I doing wasting my time writing here, I've got comics to read!

What We've Been Reading: January, 2013

Alright, I'm going to make this quick to get all caught up to what we're reading now.  Christian and I were ridiculously sick over the holidays so we've been catching up on our lives ever since then.  But that doesn't mean we stopped reading comics!  What have we been reading?  Well, let's start with Colder, because I am still so freaking blown away by the last issue that I can't stop thinking about it.  Remember that issue I picked up on a whim back in November with the creepy cover?  Yea, this one:

Creepy, right?  Well, Christian and I are IN LOVE with this comic.  It's incredibly well-written--total page-turner.  I'm not even going to describe the plot for you because you should just go read it; it's THAT good.  We just read the third issue and it's only a four-issue run, so you need to get your hands on it before it's over.





What else have I been reading...let's see.  Well, I tried out Brian Wood's Mara but it was pretty lame, to be honest.  I picked it up because I played power in high school volleyball and I thought there would be some good old volleyball talk.  He missed out on all the good lines he could have used! Volleyball players like to get low and hit balls, for example.  Boy, was I ever disappointed.  I don't think this guy has ever watched a volleyball game before and neither had the artist, for that matter.  Everyone was very stiff and posed--the volleyball matches were skimmed over, although still managing to screw up the entire concept of volleyball.  What position does Mara even play?  They're playing indoor volleyball, not beach volleyball, so there is no way there would be ONE star player who gets to call all the shots and hit the balls.  You know who really calls the shots in indoor volleyball?  The setter.  Yep, that's right, the one who DOESN'T get to hit the ball.  Anyway, I'm getting all worked up again.  Oh, but the kicker was that she uses her new-found superpowers to CHEAT at volleyball.  So frustrating!

Batgirl, Batgirl, Batgirl...what to say about Batgirl?  Well, Gail Simone is still around.  THANK GOD!  So, I am back on the bandwagon.  And it's still awesome.  That is all. Oh but wait, what is under that bloody platter lid that the Joker is holding?  And what is going on with her brother??  Is her mother dead???  Did the Joker cut something off of Batgirl????  The next two issues will be written by someone else, which is sad-making.  But then Simone will be back.  And it will be good.





We've also been reading All-New X-Men (the younger X-Men time travel to confront their older selves) and Avengers Academy (Hunger Games with superheroes)--both good, both recommended, but I'll leave those for another day.  Right now, I'm going to read issue 7 of Fables, because I'm supposed to be doing thesis work.  A graphic novel about fairy tales totally counts, right?

Gail Simone Fired Through E-mail

I just found out that Gail Simone was informed in an email from her new editor that she is no longer the writer of Batgirl.

She was fired in an email.

I am so unbelievably pissed off.

For those who haven't been reading our blog for long, Batgirl is one of the first comics I started following in the New 52.  It's also the first superhero comic I really identified with.  You can read my first blog post about her here: Tonight, I'm Batgirl.  I can't express how disappointed I am in DC's decision to remove Simone as Batgirl's writer. 

Simone has been incredibly classy about the whole mess.  You can read her response here: I am so fricking fortunate.  There has been an outpouring of support for her on Twitter.

All I have to say is that I will be taking Batgirl off of Christian's and my pull list as soon as Simone's run is over and I will be following Simone to wherever her next project takes her.

All Aboot the X-Men: Uncanny Avengers #2, X-Men Legacy #2, and All New X-Men #2

So first off, this is the most X-Men comics I've read in a single week in well, I can't even remember the last time I bought three X-Men related comics all at once.  And yet, here I am, absolutely loving the shit out of these books.

I know a lot of people were wary about Marvel NOW going into this relaunch, but if you're reading the same books I am, I don't know how you could not be excited about the future prospects of these titles, except perhaps if you're burnt out on superhero books altogether.  In that case, this week had a lot of alternatives for you, like: Nowhere Men #1, Prophet #33, and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #1 if that's your bag.  But me, I'm gonna talk about some X-Men comics.

Uncanny Avengers #2
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: John Cassaday
Marvel

Yes, this is technically an Avengers book, but come on, this post-AvX title is mostly about the mutants.  Even though the Red Skulls super-powered S-Men are explicitly "not mutants," they act like mutants. It's an X-Men comic with Thor and Captain America in it: deal with it.  This issue was delayed somewhat because that's how John Cassaday works, and I don't know why anyone should be surprised by this.  Was it worth that wait?  Well, that I'm not so sure about.    

John Cassaday was one of those artists, along with Brian Hitch and Greg Land, who was on fire in the early 2000s.  They were some of the major artists to pioneer the widescreen format, and when you first saw their work, it really stood out as being hyper-modern.  Their comics screamed: this is the future!  However, history hasn't really been kind to any of these artists.  Of the three, Hitch has been the most consistent, Land is mostly hated now due to his inability to draw people that don't look like porn stars, and Cassaday, well, he hasn't drawn an ongoing series since Planetary ended.  Cassaday's art is not what it used to be.  It's still very good, and he has an inimitable style, but his minimalist style has grown into the tendency to look static and flat, and even worse, are some of his costume design choices.  Does Captain America need chain-mail armor?  Why is Rogue dressed like she is on her way to Yoga class?  These are the questions I find myself asking as I read Uncanny Avengers.

This is too bad, because the story is actually a lot of fun.  A clone of the original Red Skull has stolen the body of Professor X, cut out his brain, fused it to his own, and has been using Professor X's mind powers to create an army of mutant haters.  There is a real Silver Age feel to all of the scenes involving the Red Skull, and it almost seems like this would be a great book for Tom Scioli to draw instead of Cassaday.

Uncanny Avengers is a fun comic, but not extraordinary.  Remender's story hits all the right notes for a book that combines Avengers with a throwback to the classic X-Men, but I wouldn't call it a return to form for Cassaday.  If you don't mind following a book that is likely to be delayed again and again until Cassaday is replaced or the title is cancelled, I'd say give it a chance.  That's a pretty backhanded recommendation, I realize, but really, the concept is here for a fun, entertaining comic book.  I just wish it was drawn by someone who can stick to a schedule.

Story 4 Art 3.5


X-Men Legacy #2
Writer: Si Spurrier
Artist: Tan Eng Huat
Marvel

X-Men Legacy is a comic that I don't even want to talk about, because I don't want to spoil what's inside for anyone.  What can I tell you to expect without going into detail.  Well for one thing: X-Men Legacy is weird.  Weird in the best way.  It's weird in a way that will open doors to other ways of thinking.  You'll think: "I never thought about my own mind like that before, thank you Si Spurrier, for making me think about my own mind again."  Superhero books don't normally go in for complexities: thematically, linguistically, or emotionally.  X-Men Legacy is all about the messy complexities.  It embeds manifestos within dialogue, cloaks raw emotions and psychology within weird fiction, and it unsettles the way you read, by forcing you to read in Scots dialect, which no comic has successfully done in ages as far as I'm concerned.

People often like to talk about how they "only read the books that matter."  I understand this sentiment while I disagree with it vehemently.  The stories that matter are the stories that should have some greater meaning, convey some deeper emotion or theme, and maybe tell us something about what it means to be human.

X-Men Legacy is a vital addition to Marvel's lineup, and an argument for it's continued relevance in spite of increased corporatization and the increasing homogenization of their product line.

Story 4.5 Art 4

All New X-Men #2
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Stuart Immonen
Marvel

I have had a love/hate relationship with Bendis for years.  I've loved Alias, The Pulse, Powers, Ultimate Spider-Man, and his early runs on Avengers/New Avengers, and I've hated his Moon Knight, and later runs on Avengers/New Avengers.  I was completely prepared to hate his take on the X-Men.  I had no intention of even buying this issue after the lackluster debut.  I would have been so wrong.

All New X-Men #2 is the proper debut of Bendis' all-new direction for Marvel's mutants, and it is a great start to what I'm optimistic will be a very interesting year for the X-Men.  In another writer's hands, this hackneyed plot of Back to the Future style time-travel would fall completely flat, but Bendis plays it all up for big emotional payoffs and fantastic dialogue.  Every one of the original five X-Men has a great moment, and their encounter with both the realization of their future selves as well as their increasing understanding of the future itself is beautifully realized.  I would never have thought that Bendis would make a great writer for the X-Men, but here he is, in all his Claremontian glory.

This is another book that I  really don't want to spoil for any potential new readers, which might seem like a lazy and impotent gesture when you can just go to any number of more popular blogs to spoil it for yourself, but let me just say this:  this was the best book I read this month.  If you ever loved the X-Men, and have been wanting the opportunity to start over with the mutants.  NOW is your chance.

Story 5 Art 5

Journey Into Mystery #646: "Stronger Than Monsters"

Journey Into Mystery #646
"Stronger than Monsters (1 of 5)"
Writer: Kathryn Immonen
Artist: Valerio Schiti
Color Artist: Jordie Bellaire
Marvel

This review begins with a bit of a disclaimer: I don't really know anything about The Lady Sif, outside of her role in last year's Thor movie.  I've never really been much of a fan of Thor or the Asgardians until recently, and so I'm coming into this series as a complete newbie to the character of Sif and her world.  I'm happy to say that this didn't affect my enjoyment of this issue at all.

Journey Into Mystery #646 begins in media res, as Sif rescues one of Volstagg's sons from Asgard's library, set on fire by the demons of Surtur.  Sif explains to the mother of the boy that she's tired of constantly fighting battles after they occur, and this inspires her to seek out a power that can help her destroy her enemies before they attack.  Sif remembers the legend of the berserkers, and travels throughout the realms to find someone who can teach her the secret of the berserkers.  By the end of the issue though, it seems that Sif has received more than she bargained for.

I really enjoyed the first issue of this new arc.  Despite not knowing anything about Sif, I became invested and interested in her story.  High-fantasy can become cheesy if not handled well, but Immonen's writing contains enough modern self-awareness to balance out all the flowery speech of the Asgardians.  Speaking of which, there is a lot of text in this book.  If you find yourself constantly complaining about decompression in modern comics, this is the book for you.  There is tons of dialogue and narrative captions throughout this issue, and though it took some time to get through, it never felt overly cumbersome or threw off the pace of the issue.

Valerio Schiti's art was also very good, reminding me somewhat of Cliff Chiang's work on Wonder Woman.    Again, Schiti's art maintains this great balance between the Marvel fantasy style and a pop-art sensibility, brought out in these pages by Jordie Bellaire's bright colour work. I hope this art team decides to stay throughout the entire first arc, because after a first issue this good, I'd hate to see it drop in quality.

If you're on the fence about Journey into Mystery, or you're an Midgardian noob like me, give it a look.

Story 4 
Art 4

Deadpool #2: "We Fought A Zoo"

Deadpool #2
"We Fought A Zoo"
Writers: Brian Posehn & Gerry Duggan
Artist: Tony Moore
Colours: Val Staples
Cover Artists: Geof Darrow and Peter Doherty
Marvel

When Marvel NOW first announced a new Deadpool series, I was not interested. Deadpool has been more or less off-my-radar entirely ever since Daniel Way took over his title, and it wasn't until I found out that one of my favorite comedians, Brian Posehn, would be taking over the book with co-writer Gerry Duggan (Infinite Horizon), and that Tony Moore was going to be the artist.

"SOLD!" I said, as I slapped my money down on the counter at Comic Readers (lie: I paid with debit), and nearly pissed myself from laughing so hard as Deadpool slaughtered his way through two U.S. presidents (including a wheelchair-bound FDR) and a giant Godzilla-alike (with Mothra sized nipples).

The second issue of this series continues the chest-bursting (or was that "gut-busting?") one-liners from last issue, but the visual gags and excellent artwork by Moore really make Deadpool great sequential art.  It's one thing to tell a good joke in a word balloon, but the comedy in both the art and writing puts this on the level of MAD Magazine.

Comedy isn't often a respected genre in comics, and Deadpool isn't exactly a respected character either (I mean, he's a Deathstroke ripoff created by Rob Liefeld, fer cryin' out loud), but this is just a fantastic comic book. I'm dead serious.  Deadpool is exciting to look at, and a blast to read.

Story: 4 
Art: 5 

Christian's Week in Comics 11/14/12: Saga, Thor, Bloodshot and more!

OK.  Holy hell did I ever buy a bloody lot of comics today.  Right.  So instead of doing three or four mini-reviews in my "Week of Comics" thingy, I'm going to try and keep my thoughts on each book to a minimum, and assign a little number rating out of five (people apparently like numbers- I am allergic to mathematics).  Alright, enough with the preamble!

Batman #14
"Funny Bones"
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Greg Capullo
DC

I'm just going to say it right now, this is the best Joker story in years.  Snyder and Capullo have stepped out of the shadow of Heath Ledger and a delivered a chilling new version of the Man Who Laughs that has more in common with Freddy Krueger than any former incarnation of the Clown Prince of Crime.

This isn't an issue you want spoiled, so go to Comixology or your local comic shop and read it for yourself, or else the Joker is going to keep hitting Alfred Pennyworth with his hammer, and God only knows what he's done to Alfred's eyes.   Story: 5 Art: 5

X-Men Legacy #1
"Prodigal"
Writer: Si Spurrier
Artist: Tan Eng Huat
Marvel

People (if they can be so generously described as "people") like to complain a lot about how the Big Two never take risks, and then proceed to not support the books that Marvel and DC publish that challenge this preconception.  I hope I am wrong, because X-Men Legacy is one of the riskiest damn books Marvel could have decided to publish as part of its Marvel NOW event.

For starters, it's a book by a relatively unknown writer from the UK, Si Spurrier, drawn by another unknown artist, Tan Eng Huat, and stars David Haller, a mentally ill mutant with a serious case of disassociative identity disorder otherwise known as Legion.  It's also as mad as Spider Jerusalem's acid flashbacks.  Although careful readers will be able to make sense of what's going on inside and outside of Legion's crazed head, Spurrier and Huat seem determined to blur the lines between reality and the Qortex Complex, the brain-jail where Haller has locked up all the deviant psycho-personalities lurking in his skull.

This is a great book for new readers to get into, and if you find yourself pining away for the days when crazed men from across the pond like Warren Ellis and Grant Morrison used to scribe for Marvel, this is the X-book for you. Story: 4 Art: 3.5

Saga #7
"Chapter Seven"
Writer: Brian K. Vaughn
Artist: Fiona Staples

Ah, can you feel that? It's the collective sigh of relief from thousands of readers who can finally breathe easy because the greatest comic being published right now is back from its three-month hiatus. Yes, Saga is back, and despite the break, this book hasn't missed a step.  Picking right up from where issue #6 left off, Marko's parents have arrived and are not very pleased with his choice of life partner.  After a masterful look into the war-torn past of Marko's father, which really serves the anti-war metaphor that underlies the entire book, Vaughn and Staples split the parents up with the newlyweds, leading to some great moments between characters.

I'll admit I was little worried when Saga first went on hiatus, but now that it's back, I realize I had nothing to fear. If you haven't read the first 6 issues of Saga yet, you'll need to pick up the first trade before jumping on with this arc.

Also: giant swollen alien testicles.    Story: 5 Art: 5

Bloodshot #5
"The Rise and Fall Part 1"
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artists: Manuel Garcia Arturo Lozzi
Valiant

Bloodshot is not everyone's cup of tea.  I get that.  It's full of blood and nastiness and mixes its hard military SF with real sociopolitical overtones that can be hard to swallow.  But me, I like my tea bitter (which is kind of apt, since if Bloodshot were a tea, he'd be Earl bloody Grey). This issue finds Bloodshot storming the secret base of Project Rising Spirit, but finds more than he bargained for in the special ops nightmare that is Chainsaw: an early project of PRS' that also attempted to fuse human beings with sharp cybernetic objects.

I love Wolverine and The Punisher, but it seems absolutely redundant reading those books in a world where Bloodshot exists.  Here, you get the best of both worlds.  Bloodshot is basically an indestructible cybernetic Punisher with a head full of secrets that would make Julian Assagne blush.  If brutal, bloody action and modern day military SF sounds like your thing, read this book. Even though this is #5, the helpful back matter on the first page of the book will fill you in on everything you need to know about the series going into this new arc.  Valiant has been doing a great job of making each issue friendly to new readers, and Bloodshot #5 is no exception to that. Story: 4 Art: 3

Thor: God of Thunder #1
The God Butcher, Part One of Five, "A World Without Gods"
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Esad Ribic

Thor is a character who I've always liked as an Avenger, but haven't been interested in reading in his own book.  This changed when I saw preview pages of Esad Ribic's interiors for this new series.  The painterly quality of Ribic's art seems like it was transported out of the pages of some forgotten issue of Heavy Metal and into my Marvel comic, and I absolutely love it.  Sometimes art drawn in this fashion doesn't work as well sequentially, but Ribic's strength as a visual storyteller shines here. He and Aaron make an excellent pair, as Ribic's visuals compliment Aaron's story of Thor across three time periods.  The mood of this story is foreboding, and often eerie. Thor's anger and confusion when he arrives at the atheist planet is palpable, and his dismay when he finds the butchered corpses of the Sky Lords fills the comic with a overwhelming sense of dread and despair.  Epic is a word that gets tossed around quite loosely in geek culture, but in the case of this story, it thoroughly applies.  If I had to pick a favorite moment, it was when the old God-King Thor (heretofore known as O.G. Thor) asks for someone to bring him his metal arm, only to remember that all his servants are dead. Story: 4.5 Art: 5

Shadowman #1 Review on iFanboy.com's "Pick of the Week" podcast

Hey gang, Christian here.

I'm an occasional poster on iFanboy.com and a longtime listener of their "Pick of the Week" podcast.  This week, I was lucky to have been selected by the iFanboy crew, who read a short review of Shadowman #1 I wrote on this week's podcast.

If you're not already a listener of the podcast, give it a shot.  It's like listening to a bunch of your friends sit around and talk about their favorite comics.  Also check out their "Don't Miss" podcast, where they talk to a comics creator about an upcoming book that you, well, shouldn't miss.  For example, last week they talked to Joshua Hale Fialkov about the surprisingly excellent Masters of the Universe: The Origin of Skeletor #1.

They're both great shows and I look forward to them every week.

Side note #1: I've learned something after listening to someone else read my review. I definitely need to make my sentences shorter and less wordy. I got the feeling that my long run-on sentences were a little hard to process.

Side note #2: I imagine our readers are a colorful gang of rogues, kind of like The Warriors.

Thought Bubble Anthology: 2012 Edition

The Leeds Comic Art Festival Anthology 2012: Thought Bubble
November 2012
Image

Once again, the cover caught me!  For those of you who don't know me, I'm writing my MA thesis on fairy tales right now and I have had a thing for the Little Red Riding Hood story lately.  You can read about that on my other blog: "Must I Write?"

The next thing I noticed was that this anthology contains stories from Kate Beaton, of Hark, A Vagrant (hilarious, and one of Christian's favorites) and Gail Simone (current writer of Batgirl).  So, I was curious and I picked it up.

There are some real gems in here.  Steve Reynolds tells a poignant but funny story about his dad's floating ear, Dave Johnson tells the hilarious story about how he met Bob Layton, and Gail Simone's depiction of a comic book store in the Victorian(?) period selling comics called "Bat Gentleman" and "Lady Wonder" is awesome.

But, I have to say that I had two big favorites: the first was Kristyna Baczynski's "Due Returns" and the second was Ivan Brandon's "I'm Through."  Apparently I also have a thing for portal stories.

Totally worth the $4!

Colder #1: "Like Lemons Frozen in Kerosene"

Colder #1 (of 5)
Writer: Paul Tobin
Artist: Juan Ferreyra
Letters: Nate Piekos
November 8, 2012
Dark Horse

This is not the kind of comic I normally pick up.  This is the kind of comic I look at from a distance and still have nightmares about later.  But instead, I picked it up and showed it to Christian:

"Look! What a creepy cover!"

-*nods*

"Oh my god! His finger is in his eye! Ew! I didn't see that!"  *puts comic back on shelf hurriedly, stares at it* ...*pick it back up, flips through* ...."Ok, I'm getting this one."

So, it was the art that sold me on this issue initially.  It made me think of Locke and Key, Stephen King stories, and Hellboy all in one.  The characters pop off the page and suck you into their world--particularly the villain--Nimble Jack.  You have to check out more of the art on Paul Tobin's blog: paultobin.net. Every time I see the cover, I get that uncomfortable feeling at the back of my neck.  Also, the color leaking out of the panels during the murder of a prisoner by Nimble Jack is brilliant.

Even though I was drawn to the art right away, I had no idea that the writing itself was going to be incredibly reminiscent of Joe Hill's Locke and Key, and I love Locke and Key. Colder has just the right mix of contemporary life (people videotaping Reece's mugging, rather than helping) and supernatural occurrences (Nimble Jack stepping out of a portal into an asylum).

Also, good on Reece for not going down without a fight!  She's feisty, and I hope that carries on into the rest of Colder.  She won't be such an easy victim for whatever's coming her way.

My only nitpick is that it seemed a bit strange for Reece to open up so much to the police officer.  I understand that it was a good plot device to explain to us why she has this blue dude in her apartment but it was a little too obvious about being a device.  Also, was the cop flirting with Reece? It was just an odd conversation, even though I was totally absorbed by the mystery of Declan.

By the time I reached the last few pages of this issue, I knew I was going to have to keep following the next four issues in order to get some answers.  Like, what is it that Nimble Jack smells on Reece?  Something that smells like "lemons frozen in kerosene! Forty degrees below zero! Forty steps beneath the basement! Forty winks!" (the poet in me really liked those lines).  What did Nimble Jack do to Declan?  What are Declan and Reece going to talk about?  Is there more to Reece than meets the eye?

If you're a fan of horror comics, you need to follow this series.  I went into Comic Readers yesterday expecting not to find anything new to follow and boy, was I wrong.  I'll be picking up the next four issues of Colder!

What We're Reading: 11/06/12

So you might have noticed that it's been awhile since Courtney has posted anything on this site.  She still intends to write for the blog, but unfortunately, she and I have both been really busy as of late.  She just returned from the Sirens Conference a few weeks ago, and has been playing catch-up ever since. You can read about her experiences at the Sirens Conference here.

As I've probably said a dozen times before now, graduate school is just leaving us both feeling mind-wiped as we're working on our thesis projects.  We barely have enough energy at the end of the day to read our comics, let alone write about them afterwards.  She hopes to do more writing here in the future, and I'm not going to stop encouraging her to do so, but don't expect her to post regularly until the semester is over.

In any event, even if we're not going to review all of them, here's what we're looking forward to reading this month:

• Animal Man #14 (DC)
• Archer & Armstrong #4 (Valiant)
• Batgirl #14 (DC)
• Bloodshot #5 (Valiant)
• Captain America #1 (Marvel)
• Colder #1 (Dark Horse)
• Deadpool #1 (Marvel)
• Dial H #5 (DC)
• Earth 2 #6 (DC)
• Harbinger #6 (Valiant)
• Hit-Girl #5 (Icon)
• Masters of the Universe: The Origin of Skeletor #1 (DC)
• Prophet #32 (Image)
• Saga #7 (Image)
• Shadowman #1 (Valiant)
• The Secret Service #5 (Icon)
• Swamp Thing #14 (DC)
• Thor: God of Thunder #1 & #2 (Marvel)
• Uncanny Avengers #2 (Marvel)
• Wonder Woman  #14 (DC)
• World's Finest #6 (DC)
• X-O Manowar #7 (Valiant)

Review: Shadowman #1

Shadowman #1

Writers: Justin Jordan & Patrick Zircher
Artist: Patrick Zircher
Valiant

Shadowman on the N64 was one of my favorite video games when I was a kid.  I've always had a thing for dark, supernatural characters, probably stemming from my love of Morbius the Living Vampire and of course, Spawn, who everyone was a fan of in the early-to-mid nineties.  The funny thing is though, I didn't even know Shadowman was a comic book character. The only Valiant titles I was aware of at the time were Harbinger, X-O Manowar, Solar: Man of the Atom,  Magnus Robot Fighter, and those Nintendo comics they used to publish.  It wasn't until I was in my early twenties when I discovered that one of my favorite writers, Garth Ennis, had written four-issues of Shadowman, that I became interested in the character.  I've since gone back and read much of the original Shadowman series, and I can definitely say that I am a fan.  As soon as the relaunch was announced, I've been anticipating the release of Shadowman #1 from co-writers Justin Jordan and Patrick Zircher, with art from Zircher as well.

Shadowman #1 begins with a very strong opening scene.  It establishes several things that will become important to the series going forward (the Shadowman legacy, the villain, Master Darque, the threat of Deadside), but it's just a fantastic scene in its own right.  It is easy to see why Valiant chose to preview these pages, as they are just breathtakingly well-illustrated.  The first five pages of this comic are probably the best five pages you're going to see this week, if not this month.

After the initial scene, we meet Jack Boniface, and here is where I need to balance my expectations as a fan of the original incarnation of the character to this new version.  The original Jack Boniface was a jazz musician, and as such, he was a wild, unpredictable character who improvised his way through every situation.  That being said, in the original series we never really got to know much Jack very well, and he remained somewhat of a cipher throughout the series.

Shadowman #1 changes things as this all-new version of Jack is a self-described Jack-of-all-trades.  He never holds down a job for very long, we're told, and he's currently working in a museum that houses Voodoo artifacts.  The real depth of Jack's character though, is in his desire to know the truth about his parents.  It was this aspect of Jack's character that made me interested in his story.  Not only because it gave the book some basic human drama, but it brought forward the concept of Shadowman as a legacy or mantle that has been passed down through generations, something that hasn't really been effectively done in comics since James Robinson's Starman.

Jack was orphaned long ago, and the only memento he has to remember either of his parents by is an unusual pendant we see his father Josiah give his mother in the introductory scene.  This pendant is clearly going to be important, as later in this issue, Jack throws it into the ocean, prompting the Voodoo powers-that-be to seek him out again and reclaim his body for the Shadowman.  

We're also introduced in this issue to the major villain of the first-arc, Mr. Twist, a demonic entity composed of miscellaneous organs, teeth, and muscle tissue.  After reading the last thirteen or so issues of Jeff Lemire's Animal Man, I've become pretty desensitized to this kind of gruesome bio-horror, but Jordan and Zircher give Mr. Twist enough personality to make him stand out from The Rot in Animal Man and Swamp Thing.  As an introductory villain, Twist's a nasty looking, but impressively rendered character.  I'm just hoping Jordan and Zircher don't drag his story out for fourteen or so issues, and that we see some other villains in the coming issues that are as freakish and well-drawn as Mr. Twist.

This issue took a second read to really grow on me. On first reading it, I felt a little underwhelmed by Shadowman #1, but understood that was probably because I've been so inundated with preview material since the title was announced that at least a quarter of this book was spoiled for me.  Reading it a second time though, there is a lot to admire in this first issue.  It introduces the hero, gives us some of his backstory while teasing us with the mystery of his origins, and introduces the primary and secondary antagonists, and that's not even mentioning Zircher's excellent artwork.

The only thing that stuck out to me as strange about this first issue was the last page, when Boniface shouts, "I AM SHADOWMAN!"  It was cliched, hokey, and over-the-top. And besides, when did he decide to call himself Shadowman?  And why?  My guess is that is what the spirit who has possessed Boniface calls itself, but it was a little silly and tonally stood out from the rest of the issue.

Shadowman #1 has pretty much everything you could want in a first issue of a new ongoing series.  If you've never heard of the character before, only remember him from the N64 and PS2 games, or if you're a longtime fan of the character, I recommend you pick this up, especially if you've been looking for a new title that mixes action-adventure with supernatural horror. This is a new beginning for Shadowman in the new era of Valiant Comics, and if you're reading this blog, you've got no reason not to check it out. 

Review: Swamp Thing Annual #1

Swamp Thing Annual #1

Writers: Scott Snyder & Scott Tuft
Artist: Becky Cloonan
DC Comics

This issue was a breath of fresh air.  I haven't exactly been silent on my feelings regarding the overall direction of Swamp Thing and Animal Man since the New 52 began.   Initially, I loved that both of these books were essentially superhero horror stories, and I really enjoyed the interconnectedness between the two titles.  However, as the months settled, these books started to feel stagnant, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that they've essentially been facing the same mutual antagonist since day one: The Rot.  This lead into the Rotworld crossover, which I was initially excited for, but the delay brought on by Zero Month has made this crossover seem like its stalling.  These titles are just barely keeping me interested, especially as this crossover is scheduled to drag on into February 2013.  And in comes this issue, with guest co-writer Scott Tuft and art by the always wonderful Becky Cloonan.

Full disclosure: Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan's miniseries Demo was one of the first graphic novels I ever bought.  I have been fan of Becky's art ever since, so my capacity to judge her art objectively is somewhat blinded by the fact that I am an unabashed fan.

Along those same lines, Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft's 2011 collaboration, Severed, was one of my favorite comics of last year, so as soon as I heard that Tuft co-writing this issue, I started getting chills.

So it pains me to say that this issue is a bit of a mixed bag.

Most of this issue takes place outside of the main story of the Rotworld crossover, and this is where the issue really shines.  The introduction and conclusion of the story are pencilled by Andrew Belanger and take place within the Rotworld story, although not exactly from where Issue #13 left off, and well, it just serves to remind me of how tired I am of the whole storyline involving The Rot.  Once we're past that intro, and the story focuses on Alec Holland and Abby Arcane's first meeting, the issue really starts to take off and reminds me of why I love these characters.

It's difficult to describe the tone and atmosphere of this issue.  I'd say it's a cross between a romance comic and an EC horror book.  Most of the issue just focuses on Abby and Alec's first date, and it's exactly as charming and sweet as you'd think a story about star-crossed lovers drawn by Becky Cloonan would be...and then Anton Arcane is shown skinning a hanged man so he can wear his body like a meat-suit.

Wow, that got dark quickly.

Despite the abrupt shift in tone and genre however, the story and the art just work.  This is the best art I've seen in Swamp Thing, actually, any DC Comic, since Yanick Paquette left as the full-time artist on this book.  It's a real shame she isn't staying on this book longer, which is the same I'd say for Scott Tuft as co-writer.  Clearly, he and Snyder share the same horror sensibilities.  Though much of this issue is really light-hearted and romantic, this issue gets downright scary, much more than in any previous issue of Swamp Thing.

If Scott Snyder can leave The Rot storyline behind and bring Tuft on as a co-writer full time, it might be enough to keep me interested.  Anton Arcane has turned out to be a genuinely frightening threat, but crossover fatigue is keeping me from being excited about this book any more.  I know it sounds like backhanded praise, but if you've been feeling like I have about Swamp Thing, I'd recommend you pick this issue up. You might be pleasantly surprised.