(Click title to go directly to the review)
Advance Review: JAMES BOND #1
ART OPS #1
JUSTICE LEAGUE #45
Indie Jones presents Z-MEN #1
ONIBA: SWORD OF THE DEMON #0
KARNAK #1
LADY MECHANIKA: THE TABLET OF DESTINIES #6
Advance Review: SERVING SUPES #1
Marvel’s SECRET WARS BATTLEWORLD TRAVEL GUIDE PART XXII!
JAMES BOND #1
Writer: Warren EllisArtist: Jason Masters
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Reviewer: Humphrey Lee
Bond. James Bond. The man of action that everyone knows about even if they’ve never actively read any of the original books or bothered to see a movie with one of the numerous actors bringing him to life over the past half century. It’s funny too though because it’s rare that I have found a particularly “die hard” fan of Agent 007, albeit many would call themselves a fan of the character. I’m definitely in that latter category myself, brandishing a Bond record of “having seen most of the movies, probably” (i.e. I watched a bunch with my mother growing up and remember maybe half of them) but having most of my enjoyment of the property come from the new wave of Daniel Craig renditions of it and thinking Goldeneye was pretty boss when I saw it in theaters in high school. I like the style, I like swagger that comes with a bit of a cold workman’s attitude, and I appreciate the camp a little, when the camp is measured in a tiny increment (needless to say, not a terribly big fan of the Roger Moore Bonds I remember watching). I therefore am not a man who finds himself getting super excited about “Spectre” releasing this weekend because “OMG James Bond!” but because “OMG Daniel Craig James Bond and two of the three of these have been amazing!!” Likewise, I wasn’t completely jazzed to try out this first James Bond comic book foray in two decades (I believe) because “OMG! James Bond!” so much as it being “OMG! James Bond as done by one of my favorite writers of all time!” as TRANSMETROPOLITAN scribe Warren Ellis steps to the plate of telling some spy tales with the icon.
This James Bond arc, titled “Vargr” starts off with a story point that even I feel like I’ve seen before a couple times, Bond unleashing some good old revenge in the name of another double-oh who has been taken down in the line of duty. What’s interesting and exciting about this is really the pacing of the action and the cold brutality of it all. Much like the parkour chase scene in the front end of Daniel Craig’s debut in the role, “Casino Royale”, was kind of a kick in the cajones for the part, the deliberate act of hunting and cutting down the bad dude in the opening pages of this comic is a little bit of a contrast to the smooth and typically unflappable Bond we typically see. Usually 007 is the get the job done type but here he relishes the chase a bit and more dissects the poor bald bastard in question than just extracts a simple revenge before moving onto the next world-in-peril mission. It shows a bit more of a complexion to the character’s attitude than from what I remember from when I was younger, except up until these Craig days that it’s becoming more and more obvious as I type this up that I’m even more fond of than I thought.
But then the book goes pretty hard in the opposite direction, and it is also a combination of expected but a little deviation from the norm, at least the norm if your exposure to the character is all movie based such as mine. All the typical Bond traits are there again as reports back to MI6 post-brutal revenge; he slides in with almost a bit of aloofness, makes his not-so-thinly veiled sexual innuendo as Miss Moneypenny, and then has a bit of a back and forth with boss man M and so on. It also takes a bit more time to breathe though and it moves a little slower into the big threat that Bond is expected to tackle. Instead of doing the brief and flirt and then flying off to face THE NEXT HITLER! or whatever the megalomaniac du jour takes form in, he bums around in Q’s lab talking gun-carrying regulations for agents and then even chills in the MI6 cafeteria for a bit! Bond doesn’t show face in the cafeteria!! He’s too busy swirling dry martinis as he bangs flexible Russian cellists while skiing down a mountain that’s on fire! At least that’s what happens when you have to tell a complete tale in two hours and not over a couple hundred comic book pages and panels, and it’s nice to see the character breathe a bit for once instead of rushing from action piece to action piece.
Now, that said, the master crime plot in play here is little more than a brief insertion between Bond’s brutal revenge and “a day in the office” piece. We see some stoners getting high on a new drug called “Green” than M is sending Bond off to Berlin to look into the trafficking of. Throw in menacing shot of some mean looking bastard at the end that is apparently the supplier’s muscle and that’s really our only nods to what faces our smooth talking secret agent for the rest of the arc to come. And that’s fine, since between the taste for what kind of action we can expect to see here between the way Ellis scripts it and Masters renders it is drawing enough; when you top it off with this creative tandem actually bothering to show a bit more personality through every day minutia for the MI6 organization, it’s actually pretty exciting. Sometimes seeing how the sausage is made can actually be a bit enjoyable… actually, no, scratch that, it’s always horrifying, but at least it gives you a new perspective on how the world operates and that insight can lead to a more engaging experience. I’m sure the shagging and the one-liners a plenty are inbound when Bond ships out and is confronted by this unknown new high but for this debut it was enough to see a little more common man behind the style-oozing death machine of the Queen. If I know Warren Ellis we’re about to get something pretty spectacular when the shit hits the proverbial fan and everything I’ve seen of Masters’ artwork here gives confident he’s got the chops to bring it to life. My anticipation over “Spectre” was already at a boiling point and now I can say that we are officially spoiled when it comes to the adventures of Agent 007, for casual and diehard fans of the character alike.
Humphrey Lee has been an avid comic book reader going on fifteen years now and a contributor to Ain't It Cool comics for quite a few as well. In fact, reading comics is about all he does in his free time and where all the money from his day job wages goes to - funding his comic book habit so he can talk about them to you, our loyal readers (lucky you). He's a bit of a social networking whore, so you can find him all over the Interwebs on sites like Twitter, The MySpaces, Facebookand a blog where he also mostly talks about comics with his free time because he hasn't the slightest semblance of a life. Sad but true, and he gladly encourages you to add, read, and comment as you will.
ART OPS #1
Writer: Shaun Simon (w/Gerard Way)Artist: Mike Allred
Publisher: DC Vertigo
Reviewer: Rob Patey (Optimous Douche if you’re nasty)
Vertigo has released me from my review paralysis of the past few months. TWILIGHT CHILDREN and now ART OPS has convinced me that WB has yet to complete amputate creative freedom from their publishing arm in the sake of the multi-media upsells. We’ve lost our super heroes and precious continuity to corporate interest, but I say those heroes are of a forgotten age anyway. The kid in me will always love the virtue of our modern Gods (now literally in Darkseid war), but the jaded cynic thirsting for new stories finds very little to satiate myself in those now shallow story waters.
ART OPS, as the name implies, is the story of operatives who secure art. Not the art pieces themselves, that’s actually a security guard company. Shitty story too, usually ends in alcoholism and divorce. I’m talking about the people who protect the spirit of art. See kids, for centuries now philosophers and stoners have pontificated whether a piece of soul is trapped in every piece of art that’s created. Giving the art itself a life beyond the artist. ART OPS confirms this purple haze of confusion, with a character story that skirts archaic matricide for our current whiney ways of simply hating and ostracizing our parents.
We’re introduced to the meta super spy organization on the night they secure Mona Lisa from the Louvre. She ends up whoring herself to a bag boy at Trader Joes, but that’s later.
What we learn is that Mona isn’t the only muse to manifest in real life. The ART OPS have saved and secured countless pieces of how we humans articulate our misery. From words, to pictures, to song, and maybe in later issues smell (did you miss Piss Christ back in the 90) ART OPS protects it. Essentially, if it can be conceived, it can come to life. This opens up a whole bag of worms about whether ideas have always been and we humans merely pluck them from the ether versus creating them. But I think we’re in heady enough space at the moment without further complicating things.
The ART OPS crew eventually falls to hubris. Their successes catch up with them and we witness the super team, and all the art they were partying with, absconded by…something. Cue dramatic duh-duh-duh.
So now that we covered mysterious and kooky, let’s look at the ookie. Reggie Riot, our protagonist ladies and gentlemen. With Horny Lisa and an ART OPS operative who uses words as his weapon, the three must find the head of ART OPS (Reggie’s Mom) and the missing art before we lose our collective soul. Oh, this part is ookie, because when Reggie lost his arm as a kid his mother had it replaced with an abstract concept of color that is as powerful a weapon as it is a burden of pain and in constant maintenance. Also, he’s kind of an entitled dick millennial who wines more than works. Old man Rob coming out on that one, but I abhor entitlement, even in fiction. I like the Mom, hate the kid. Famous first line on Tinder profiles everywhere and also applies here.
This all sounds fucked, I get it. Sometimes a book needs to be experienced to be truly understood. What I make sound silly or trite, comes to life under Allred’s always silvery agey hand. Though I will say, Mona Lisa is a stretch for Mike that one can’t help but applaud. I don’t care what digital tools might have been used to make her monumental malaise face, but when surrounded by Mike’s take on modern fashion, the creepy gets even creepier. I laughed when Mona was trying to get some in her army jacket and old timey hair, as well as felt uneasy. Just like my wedding night.
ART OPS won’t be for everyone. While it taps similar veins of limitless story fodder as FABLES and UNWRITTEN, there is a distinct INVISIBLES kookiness that sends ART OPS veering into a new hybrid realm. This one might be a tough sell to most Americans, since we believe Caitlyn Jenner is our current cultural mecca, but I have faith in comic fans. I have even more faith in those who worshipped once at the brain spew Karen Berger brought to Vertigo back in the 90s. I’m not ready to call dark golden age resurgence to that time from the past few year’s of Vertigo stop-start story commitment confusion, but I will say a few more home runs like ART OPS and TWILIGHT CHILDREN are damn good signs to comic continuity commitment.
When Optimous isn't reviewing comics he is making the IT words chortle and groan with marketing for MaaS360, Enterprise Mobility Management. He also has a comic coming out sometime soon, for updates head to robpatey.com.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #45
Writer: Geoff JohnsArtist: Francis Manapul
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Masked Man
As DC zooms in on four years of the New 52, which as you may recall started with Darkseid's first attack on Earth, Creative Officer Geoff Johns kicks off the next phase of the “Darkseid War”, mainly signified by a changed in artist, as Francis Manapul (who made his mark on THE FLASH) draws this, “Act Two: After Death”--After Death meaning, are you ready for the big spoiler from the last issue? Darkseid is dead, and this issue covers the ramifications of that. Incidentally, I'd like to mention this is the first time Darkseid has ever had more than one storyline in the Justice League book. He appeared only once in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, once in JUSTICE LEAGUE/INTERNATIONAL/AMERICA, once in JLA, and never in JUSICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA v2.
Now, I admit I've had much trouble following Johns' logic these past four years--mainly why anyone was doing anything they were doing. The Justice League has been sort of a fireworks display: grand, over the top and colorful. But this issue has really left me in the dust, as nearly all the Justice League members become gods: Wonder Woman (well, Brian Azzarello made her) God of War, The Flash--God of Death (because he's the new Black Racer), Superman--God of Strength (because he fell into a fire pit on Apokolips), Batman--God of Knowledge (because he has the Mobius Chair), Shazam--God of Gods (no idea as of yet), Lex Luthor--God of Apokolips (because now he has the Omega Effect). Now these could just be fun titles, as opposed to saying all these characters are now on par with Zeus, Orion, and Thor, etc. If that's the case, whatever. If they are more than that, then really, WTF? What are the rules of this universe? To paraphrase, 'strange women in ponds distributing swords' shouldn't make one a god. And what about Darkseid himself? DC's A #1 super-villain, the only guy big enough to launch the Justice League for the New 52 (their words), gets killed and is replaced by Lex Luthor?!? No wonder Darkseid fans can never catch a break when arguing with a Thanos fan. Sure this is all crazy and cool, but it also appears very destructive to the reality of the story, like at any moment the Earth will crack in two and a giant baby will step out and eat the Anti-Monitor, because apparently anything goes.
The two things Johns does still do well ares: A) Incorporate DC history easter eggs, like seeing Luthor's Pre-Crisis wife Ardora show up in a New 52 way. B) Master emotions and character moments, so even when something bizarre is happening, he can have some really nice reflections coming from different characters, like Flash dealing with becoming the Black Racer and all the scenes with Lex Luthor (Johns should just write a Luthor book, seriously, Johns made him the star of his SUPERMAN (Pre-52) run, the main character of FOREVER EVIL, and pretty much the main character of the JUSTICE LEAGUE now). So it's often hard to hate Johns' League, since he still manages to charm you with nice scenes. If only the plots were as strong.
Considering the previous artists on the JUSTICE LEAGUE, Manapul is a big departure. Guys like Jim Lee, Ivan Reis, and Jason Fabok are the epitome of superhero artwork--beautiful glossy characters covered in amazing details. Manapul is much more raw, emotional, and dare I say artistic with his work. I'm not sure how his artwork better services the vibe of this story, and I'm a little put off by the large style change, but that doesn't mean it's not a great looking book on its own merits. Each page ripples with power and forces you to read on.
The New 52 was born of Geoff Johns' FLASHPOINT, leading to JUSTICE LEAGUE WAR (or Origins or whatever we should call the first 6 issues), which led to all the Trinity stuff and FOREVER EVIL. Now it's nearly full circle with Darkseid again and yet, on some level, I'm still waiting for the New 52 payoff. Like remember Johns' Shazam? He broke the mold, and it was a surprisingly good read with interesting characters. Now that Shazam is in the Justice League, he's a pointless explosion waiting to happen like the rest of them.
Z-MEN #1
Story: Jeff McComsey and Bill JemasScript: Jeff McComsey
Artist: Kurt Tiede
Publisher: Double Take
Reviewer: The Kid Marvel
Z-MEN is one of multiple indies that I’ve had the pleasure of receiving and will being doing reviews on them probably for the next month or so. This particular series is another zombie title but, is set in 1966, rather than the modern era in which most zombies stories are written.
The book opens up in a rural area of Pennsylvania, kind of reminded me of Smallville, with a local man checking the ID of man in stopped car, informing him that the location in which he’s trying to travel is dangerous and they aren’t letting anyway there because of it. At this point nothing is revealed about the danger and the man they have stopped, becomes increasingly angry and even violent. This individual is then stopped by a teenager, who shoots him in the chest after pushes down his father. Z-MEN then moves from this incident, to President Lyndon B. Johnson unware of the exact details of what is simply being called “mass murder”. Johnson then requests to have some of his Secret Service sent to Pennsylvania, in order to investigate and to better inform him of the growing situation.
Switching over then to a Secret Service office, we meet Clancy and Stuart, who I assume will become the Z-Men in the future and front this point on, it becomes mostly interactions between the characters, but nothing as far as the plot really becomes important, until the very end.
Overall, it was pretty disappointing there weren’t any zombies at all until the very end and consisted of so few panels. Most of the book consisted of filler dialogue that unfortunately, didn’t do anything to distinguish between the various characters and only built the world slightly, with not much given to the plot. A book using the trope or theme of zombies, need more than just zombies to differentiate it between every other zombie story. And in this case, I couldn’t find that hook in this issue at least. Zombies in the 60s could be a super interesting and intriguing time period to play with as a setting, but is the story about how people in the 60s would deal with this kind of situation? There is reference to radiation, so could the story focus on the use of technologies in the 60s and how they might have actually hurt human kind? What makes these zombies different? While it’s good to have questions relating to a story after a first issue, I need to have questions that I want answered because I’m curious, not because I’m generally confused to the story as a whole. I didn’t feel intrigued by the mystery, just kind of like ok there’s zombies, what about it?
I felt like some of the plot pacing was a little off and didn’t always flow, feeling choppy at different points. Especially with certain scenes seeming more like filler, rather than contributing to the story or overall plot. The best advice I’ve ever heard about pacing, was from Matt Stone and Trey Parker, while visiting an NYU college class, stating that there should never be an “and then” in between the stories beats, it should always be therefore or but. It should go A happens and then B happens, it should be A happens therefore B happens, but C happened. A lot of how Z-MEN developed was filled with “and thens”, without really adding to plot.
I also was pretty turned off by the dialogue itself. Coming from someone who lacks a profanity filter the majority of the time, the use of cursing in the book felt unnatural and weird. It just didn’t fit and felt like it tried too hard. It almost felt like we’re going to drop (insert whatever curse word) just to use it, even if it felt like that situation didn’t call for it or was pretty unnatural in the language use for the character. When it came to the artwork, that also wasn’t doing it for me. In a lot of ways the art fit the setting and worked great as far of the background, but the characters themselves didn’t look even. The faces or bodies didn’t seem symmetrical and their facial expressions looked weird or off. I think the artwork needed alittle bit of tightening up and wasn’t as strong, as I feel it potentially could have been.
To conclude, Z-MEN could be an amazing story down the road, but the first issue could turn off a lot of potential fans. A lot of aspects are there or could be there, but they need to be cleaned up, shifted, cut or tightened. I guess the best way to explain how it came across was incomplete and more of draft, rather than a final script. I hope none of this is taken as me ripping this issue or speaking ill, I understand how difficult the creative process can be and putting your work out into the world. However, this just seems like an incomplete project, that could turn off potential readers because it isn’t as strong as it probably could be. I’ll be giving the 2nd issue a review in the future as well, hopefully the potential I think this story has comes across stronger.
ONIBA: SWORD OF THE DEMON #0
Writer: Vince HernandezArtist: Paolo Pantalena
Publisher: Aspen Comics
Reviewer: Masked Man
If there's one thing the comicbook industry can't get enough of it's samurai/ninja chicks. That said, here's another one from Aspen: Yukiko (no word yet on a last name), in a zero issue no less. Which leads me to lament, the fact that no one knows what a zero issue is anymore. Originally, as used by Valiant and DC comics, the zero issue was to give exposition of comics currently being published. They didn't launch a series, because often their content wasn't strong enough to launch a series. But they were fun, in-depth looks into characters you already cared about (plus a chance to make a few extra bucks). Now they are near pointless teaser issues- oh well. At least Aspen gave us a break on the price, at $2.50.
First off this is a great looking book. Pantalena gives us some really nice artwork. It has an anime / video game flair to it, but overall it's so strong, that even if you don't like that kind of flair, you should still like this. You could quibble that no one looks Asian in this comic, but no one looks Asian in manga or anime anyway, so what ya gonna do.
Storywise, we get the backstory on Yukiko become a master-less samurai, aka a ronin. So, the zero issue does what a zero issue is supposed to do, give us the backdrop of the character. Unfortunately, that's all it does, so it's a kind of, so what. Just another hot chick with a sword (to be more specific- she's just a goon, who worked for a bad guy, with a bit of a conscious). I assume the thing that really makes her interesting is being withheld until the first issue. Like what does 'Sword of the Demon' mean? Why does she have demon faces all over her armor? What will her adventures be like? As I alluded to, zero issues should be with held until past issue #4, so the publisher can tell if the character is reasonable hit. Then a boring zero issue will sell, because the audience has been built for it- or it's revealing an unknown twist.
So to be fair this isn't a bad comic, and at $2.50 what the hell, why not. It looks great, especially if you like samurai / ninja chicks. But for getting you excited to come back at full price next month, nah it kind of fails there.
KARNAK #1
Writer: Warren EllisArtist: Gerardo Zaffino
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Humphrey Lee
I’m not an event guy when it comes to my comic book universes, but I also understand the advantages and necessity for occasional framework repair via a reboot of some variety or what have you. Sometimes you need to make the doorway more accessible in order for people to feel comfortable walking through it into your home. So while I typically don’t find myself partaking in these “earth-shattering” or “jaw-dropping” or (more accurately) “wallet-pumping” endeavors to shake up long-running universes, I’m often intrigued by the new status quos they help realize. They are the prime opportunity for intriguing new creative teams to take a run at these established characters I love but have found stagnating for whatever reason, whether it is a previous crew I wasn’t jiving with or a company-wide usage/mandate I found unappealing to the character, or whatever have you in today’s state of corporate comic books. Sometimes, though, sometimes you just see one of these reset buttons churn out something completely unexpected and tantalizing.
That bit of unexpectedness is actually two fold here, in that a) fucking Karnak, of all characters, is getting his own book in the fallout of SECRET WAR and everything Inhuman currently transpiring in the Marvel Universe and b) Warren fucking Ellis is the one handling the writing chores. It’s one of those world-colliding moments where you realize that for some reason a D-tier character (popularity-wise) is getting his own series, but that the guy who created mind-blowingly classic material such as PLANETARY and TRANSMETROPOLITAN and mother-loving NEXTWAVE has decided he wants to write a book about this D-lister, whose power is that he sees the flaws in everything. Knowing what Ellis is capable of, the immediate upside to this is that we could get a super-stylish comic book involving a highly philosophical character that can shatter your plans as easily as your kneecaps. The downside is we could get rid of the philosophical stuff and get a watered down version of Ellis’ Midnighter that he also abandons after an arc to focus more on his creator-owned material. Love the man, he is hands down one of my favorite writers of all time, but I knew going into this what his tendencies tend to be, and the latter was definitely in the realm of possibility. One issue in and, thankfully, we’re firmly in scenario A.
I honestly have no clue what has actually befallen the Inhumans recently in comic book form, as I am firmly in two categories of Marvel reader these days: one who predominately waits to read Marvel books in clumps via the Marvel Unlimited or that has to be highly impressed by the team put on a title to spend my cash on a book as it comes out (this gig isn’t all comps and glory, folks--I’m just like you). It does still happen often enough, though, getting lured in by those super high tier creative teams, and here we are, watching as the chrome-domed former advisor to King Black Bolt of the Inhumans is instead running a monastery of a sorts and being solicited by Phil Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D for help. Almost immediately that stylishness creeps into the book and character in the form of stoic presence. Hooded and serenely walking his Tower of Wisdom with his hands behind his back, he strikes an impressive figure of a man not to be trifled with. He doesn’t mince words or waste energy; he’s the epitome of coiled snake, and he has no qualms with reminding his students that they are insignificant specks compared to the rocks beneath their feet. He’s every R. Lee Ermey character ever, just without the shouting and spittle.
He’s also kind of a psychopath when you really get down to brass tacks. There’s not a whole lot of plot going on this series premiere – it’s mostly a tone-builder, between his near hobo-like visage and the demands of a child exposed to the Terrigen mists being placed into his Tower of Wisdom until he decides to let him reenter society. This kidnapping, though, sets the stage for the second half of this issue and a bleed into the next, as it involves a group called the I.D.I.C. (International Data Integration and Control), which is a splinter of A.I.M., and nabbing Terrigen folk, a point that obviously hits home with a man like Karnak. Throw in some sleeper agent fisticuffs, a calm yet vicious interrogation of said agent, and the beginnings of a sleeper cell raid and while his motives aren’t always quite graspable, we really start to get an idea of how this Karnak cat operates: brutal and efficient.
So style rules the day and, of course, the art is as integral to that execution as any of that Warren Ellis wordplay. I’m not very familiar with Gerardo Zaffino’s work, but it really presents itself well. It kind of reminds me of another of Ellis’ stable of art collaborators, Declan Shalvey. It’s got a bit of scratchiness to me. The lines are clean enough and everything is well-formed, but then it gets a bit dirty with the shading and lots of kinetic motion waves. It’s got that presence you epitomize with good Batman art; it’s smooth but carries the weight of its station, like any time you get the Caped Crusader striking his “fists clenched, ready to dive off into the night” pose on some rooftop corner.
I feel like Karnak has had some great Wu Tang moments (i.e. “Ain’t Nuthing ta Fuck Wit”), but that’s all he’s had: the occasional and very, very brief shot at making a claim at being a cool character. Now he’s got some limelight with a creative team very much capable of earning Karnak a place in that beam. The attitude is there, the action – albeit only in brief doses - is highly impressive, and despite the somewhat deadpan nature of the character the book finds its moments to get a joke out of its serious to the point of being kind of cheesy nature. Now it’s just a matter of seeing what kind of story beats develop out of this new groundwork of “Ass Kicking Abbot,” if any, for the Inhuman with the knack for shattering the best laid plans. Also, yeah, let’s see if Ellis also sticks with it beyond an arc this time as well, though I have to imagine a man of his notoriety does not latch on to a project like this unless he’s got something to tell. This book will definitely survive on Ellis’ special brand of smartest man in the room meets limb-shattering ultra-violence alone because of how well it adheres to the character; I’m just curious how far above that this Inhuman’s tale can evolve in its own right.
LADY MECHANIKA: THE TABLET OF DESTINIES #6
Writer: M.M. ChenArtist: Joe Benitez and Martin Montiel
Publisher: Benitez Productions
Reviewer: Masked Man
Joe Benitez's second Lady Mechanika story comes to another rousing conclusion. With a curve ball that I sure didn't see coming- and one I'm not sure the story needed either.
Ok let's talk spoilers- note, this is the final issue. So the Director and his goons have forced Mr. Strassmann and Prof. Thomsen to build him his ancient super bomb. At gun point, and by kidnapping the Thomsen's young niece Winfred. Lady Mechanika, with her jungle warrior partner for the day, Akina, show up just in time. A climatic battle ensues and we discover the Director and his goons aren't quite human! In traditional fashion, Lady Mechanika deposes of the super bomb, and any chance of making more super bombs. But mysteries for the future linger in the air, as the Rosicrucian Club (a group that helped her get to Africa) has vanished. And Lady Mechanika is left to wonder if they aren't quite human either.
A spot on action and adventure- which for me is all I ask of a comicbook. Mechaika herself is charismatic and unique (in character) enough to not be a cardboard hero. And while spunky children can often be annoying, Winfred was a very likable character, and I wish she factored into the final battle (not in an Ankin way, but a Johnny Quest way). As for the villain twist / reveal at the end. It wasn't a bad idea. I'm just not sure if Lady Mechanika, as a concept, should go there. We already have a nice steam punk world, clandestine super tech that created Mechanika, and buckets of old Jules Verne and Sir Henry Rider Haggard (look him up) adventure, so why add this? Seems like it might be too much, breaking the reality of the world.
Artwork wise, opposed to the first LADY MECHANIKA mini-series, it holds up to the end. Benitez seemed to lose steam (oui) as the first series came to a close, but not here. Surely helped with Martin Montiel at his side. Aside from good action, story telling, figures and the typical comicbook necessities, the attention to detail is a delight. As it should be with a steam punk world. As I've mentioned before, if you are a steam punk fan, I have no idea why you aren't buying this fine book.
With some continued story telling, allowing characters and relationships to grow, LADY MECHANIKA could become a great book. As for now, in the Masked Man's scale of Crap, Poor, Decent, Good, Great - LADY MECHANIKA: THE TABLET OF DESTINIES scores a GOOD.
In stores next week 11/4/15!SERVING SUPES #1
Writers: Steve Stern, Matt YuanArtists: Matt Yuan, John Yuan
Publisher: Devil’s Due Publishing/1First Comics, LLC
Reviewer: Lyzard
Don’t judge a book by its cover. I’m serious. I understand the joke that the Yuan twins are going for, mentioning their brief flirtation with Hollywood by way of a marginally successful movie on the cover of their comic, but it is an unnecessary and so easy to backfire joke if readers happen to have actually seen the film. SERVING SUPES is far superior to the Yuans’ claim to fame.
Cheech and Clive O’Huang are the operators of Hero Hunters LLC, serving up papers to a particular clientele: supes. We are talking ‘bout both heroes and villains here. In order to handle such a niche market, you would think the O’Huangs would have formed a cracked team of specialists. Special is indeed a word that could be applied to their co-workers. You see, Cheech and Clive live in a world where the mundane and the extreme cross paths quite regularly, and it is hard for the average Joe to get the upper hand on awesome Johnson.
Polarity is a major thread throughout the comic. Playing against type, the comic treats supers as a nuisance rather than a saving grace, as is the most popular angle within the genre.. The muscle of their team is not a musclebound macho man but a butch, fit woman. Though identical twins in the physical sense, Cheech and Clive are opposites as well. Cheech is the level-headed one while Clive reaches emotional extremes seen more commonly in manga rather than American comics. Even though the actual writing is done by only one of the real life twins, along with Steve Stern, the dialogue has that natural flow that comes when siblings converse.
In many ways the comic reminds me of a cleaner, PG-13 version of THE AUTEUR. While the Yuans’ artwork isn’t nearly as sharp and clean as James Callahan and doesn’t pop with as many colors as Luigi Anderson’s work, it still has that playful, bizzarro feel to it. Between its simplistic, light on the action drawings and use of the traditional fit, SERVING SUPES reads like a Sunday funny.
It is indeed funny--much funnier than the film the two were a part of. SERVING SUPES has got just the right amount of sarcasm and offensiveness to have a large appeal, beyond the audience that may or may not already know of the Yuans.
Lyzard is Lyz Reblin, a graduate student at the University of Texas pursuing a master's degree in Media Studies... which is just a fancy way of saying she plays a lot video games, watches far too many horror films, and then tries to pass it all off as "research."
SECRET WARS BATTLEWORLD TRAVEL GUIDE PART XXI
orThis week, AKRON! AKRON! HE’S OUR GUY! HE’S COMING TO THE MAIN MARVEL UNIVERSE AND IT’S GOING TO BE AWESOME…
By Henry Higgins is My Homeboy
Previously on SECRET WARS, Angela became the new Lord of the Faustian deal. Also, Marlowe got GOT.
1872 #4 (Gerry Duggan & Nik Virella)The town of Timely is in a spot of trouble, but the last line of Red Wolf, a still drunk Iron Man and the Black Widow/Dr. Banner team up. Plus, we get an evil Wonder Man who gets murdered SO hard. What’s been one of the coolest sections of the entirety of Battle-World finally tries to reach a level of peace, and then everyone gets into cowboy gunfights. It’s so good.
AGE OF APOCALYPSE #5 (Fabian Nicieza & Iban Coello)This is a weird world.
Okay. So, the super Legacy virus and the battle with the final form of a Capcom videogame version of Dr. Nemesis all makes sense. What makes LESS sense is the sudden turnaround for Havok (who’s been a general douche this whole story), or how the virus wasn’t killing any other people, or the whole Jean Grey thing. Like, all of the Jean Grey thing. It’s confusing.
AGENTS OF A.T.L.A.S. #1 (Tom Taylor & Steve Pugh)The Agents of ATLAS (including Gorilla-Man, M-11, Namora, Venus, Marvel Boy, and Jimmy Woo) have returned, and even if it’s in another reality torn apart and rebuilt by GodKingDoom, they’re still VERY much the Agents of ATLAS. It feels just like one of the last times we saw this team, which is pretty nice. Really, this world is worth a visit if you’re a fan of the squad.
WEIRDWORLD #5 (Jason Aaron & Mike Del Mundo)WEIRDWORLD IS GOING TO BE A SERIES AND THAT’S FUCKING AMAZING EVERYONE SHOULD BE READING WEIRDWORLD!
Battle-World Travel Tips!
It looks like some of Battleworld will still be prime real estate in the restored Marvel Universe! Timely and WEIRDWORLD are both coming back, and that’s fucking great.
Proofs, co-edits & common sense provided by Sleazy G
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