Hello Folks, ML Miller aka Ambush Bug here. Thanks for clicking on another AICN COMICS column. Before we get into the reviews, I wanted to let folks know I will be at the Music Box of Horrors this weekend with a table selling my own comics while some amazing movies are playing at the Music Box Theater in Chicago. The doors open at 11:00am and I hope to see anyone in the Chicago area to talk horror and hang out for this amazing event. I hope to see you all there!
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CAGE #1
SHIPWRECK #1
CHAMPIONS #1
INSPECTOR OH #1
LADY MECHANIKA: LA DAMA DE LA MUERTE #1
JESSICA JONES #1
X-O MANOWAR #50
CAGE #1
Writer / Artist: Genndy TartakovskyColorist: Scott Wills
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Masked Man
After years of waiting and dropped balls, it's finally here, Genndy Tartakovsky's Power Man mini-series! Just incase you were living under a rock, Tartakovsky is an animation director who created DEXTER'S LABORATORY and SAMURAI JACK. He also dealt with Adam Sandler to direct both HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA movies. In the middle of the Transylvania movies, he started working on a fun project for Marvel: CAGE! By the time the second film came out, CAGE! was ready to go, but so much time went by, poor Genndy didn't know anyone at Marvel anymore. Turning to the so-called 'interwebs', Genndy asked Marvel to contact him, yada, yada, yada- CAGE! finally sees the light of day!
Simply put, CAGE! is Genndy's love letter to 70's Marvel comics and black exploitation movies. It's pretty crazy and insane in tone and action. To give ya the spoilers, first Luke Cage takes out the disco Bank Rollers. With some heavy violence that reminds me of Jack Davis' Mad Magazine work. Next he shows he's a man of the people, playing basket ball with some kids. Totally riffing on the old Spalding basket ball ad that used to be in every comic (which was draw by Jack Davis, no less). Then hanging out in Chinatown, he gets stood up by Misty Knight. When he goes to check on her, he has an amusing conversation with a guy in jail, in an empty police station. Going over to her apartment, he runs into some overly dramatic X-Men. And then falls into a slugfest with some of his archvillains: The X, Chemistro, Mace, Black Mariah and Mr. Fish. He decides it is wiser to retreat from the gang of villains when someone coldcocks him. Knocking him clean out! Then Genndy exclaims, who is capable of doing such a thing to our Power Man!?
So very much a roller coaster pace, with storytelling on par with the POWERPUFF GIRLS (which Genndy was a producer on). Everything stated as facts, with quick scene changes. Overall, I feel it's a bit jarring here though. I get what Genndy is doing and I like the intent, it just feels too rough and lacking of charm.
Likewsie with the artwork, I love the feel and the intent, more then how it comes across. Which again looks too rough and maybe rushed at times. To compare, the cover is prefect, not only is it a fresh new 'Genndy' take on Power Man, it's polished and refined. But inside, many of the pages have that out of control feel, that REN & STIMPY can sometimes have (Genndy did not work on R&S). A few of the figures are completely inhuman looking. Just not as strong as his work was on CLONE WARS, SAMURAI JACK or SYM-BIONIC TITAN.
Maybe my hopes were too high, but I can't help feel a bit disappointed with this first issue. Cartoon and Cage fans should still pick this up though. And Genndy has three more issues (that I'm totally going to pick up) to wow me- or for me to get what he's laying down better. So with that, I'm looking forward to the next issue!
SHIPWRECK #1
Writer: Warren EllisArtist: Phil Hester
Publisher: Aftershock Comics
Reviewer: Humphrey Lee
Aftershock Comics, in its short life in the industry, has been an odd duck of a publishing line for me. Every new book and every impressive creator pair that brings themselves to the shelves from the company looks great from the outset but nothing has really clicked with me so far for whatever reason per each. For some of them it has just been that the books have shipped late/erratically, other it’s just been that they obviously read better in chunks and I’ve decided to move to trade waiting, and for the rest, well, it’s just been a matter of them being only okay pieces of work. Shit happens, right? Then this book, SHIPWRECK, comes up from two gentlemen that have been hands down two of my favorite creators in this medium in Ellis and Hester since I came back to it sixteen years ago and I start to feel, this is it, this is the level up I’ve been waiting to see from this publishing line, no offense to those moving their ideas under its banner before. This is just a powerhouse tandem that really can step up excitement for what a new player to this industry has the potential to do and what other creations and creators they can bring to bear.
And it happens the book was really good too…
SHIPWRECK comes out of the gates swinging, combining rather stark but gorgeously rendered imagery while shrouding its plot in a thick mystery underlined with just a bit of exposition to get things going. Essentially, it is an introduction to Dr. Shipwright, who we find in the opening pages of the book washed ashore in tattered clothing and one arm bandaged and with no bloody clue what is going on around him. Happening upon a ghostly and desolate diner, Shipwright has some blanks filled in by one mysterious stranger with a notepad and way too much info on Shipwright before coming across a horror show in the kitchen that is serving up only grisly delights. Everything about this debut issue occurs to sell into the atmosphere of it all; Ellis and Hester want you suspicious and on your toes while questioning everything that they are putting in front of you. And in that regard it works and makes SHIPWRECK a highly engaging read, even if it suffers for a little bit of “pilotitis” in the middle act, info dumping us the reader into the background and supposition about Shipwright and his current predicament.
Now, all that background info on our Dr. Shipwright is intriguing, it’s just that it does come all in one big flow, and it becomes a little bit of a juggling act in trying to give the reader all the pertinent information necessary while being its own addition to the mysteriousness. While unknown man in the diner with his files and notepads is filling us in on Shipwright and his past as an experimental Air Force test pilot for some very hush hush and progressive science and on and on, there are all these little pushes and prods necessary to keep the ambiance properly creepy. Shipwright’s on edge and unhinged ticks and outbreaks alone are almost enough to sell the bizarre circumstances, but the panels themselves are filled with visual cues to keep the mind at unease, like spiders literally overflowing from the pages and some quirky and hazy murals playing around Shipwright like a looking glass into his psyche. And all that unconventional visual play looks outright tame when SHIPWRECK decides to just become a Rob Zombie flick once Shipwright bursts into the kitchen to find skewered organs being prepped and entrails on the skillet.
As if I haven’t rammed it home by now, the real identifying factor of this premiere are its visuals. A large amount of the force of the storytelling is coming through the visual cues and how Hester works his magic through them in carrying the book from confusion and unease to outright shock and then backs again. Ellis’ script does what it always does and makes Science Fiction mumbo jumbo the most exciting shit ever as he plays with dialogue in the magical way only he can, but Hester is here to sell all the little nuances of the tone the words alone can’t quite because a times they’re coming in dense to get the reader up to speed. And what Hester is doing with his pencil work is just an absolute exhibition in the art form, from the vibrancy and excess of the panels and their details to the flow of action, it’s just amazing work from an industry vet. It’s also goddamn miraculous work as well, when you factor that Hester basically had to relearn every goddamn thing he knew about his craft fighting through a disease that led him all the way to a corneal implant while working on this material. If that doesn’t a) impress you with just how dedicated and talented the man is and/or b) make you say “well, fuck my life” realizing how average you are while being fully functional in what you do with your skills while Hester continues to amaze given his circumstances, I don’t know how else you are reacting to such a turn of events because that’s all I’ve been thinking about since I closed up this first issue.
SHIPWRECK as a whole is simultaneously everything I wanted from this creative tandem and not what I expected at all. Warren Ellis is known for his sci-fi genre bending ideas and letting his collaborators work their magic, but even I’m kind of impressed with just how close to the vest he’s playing the mysteriousness of this circumstances around Shipwright and his plight and how much he handed the reins of the tonality over to Hester. There’s a lot more restraint in here than your normal Ellis script that loves to show off the thousands of high concepts and cool, terse wordplay he’s known for. But you absolutely cannot blame him once you see what that trust in Phil Hester’s talents has wrought and visual feast he lays out for the reader to have their fill on this time around. Make no bones about it, we get enough in the background info dump on Shipwright to know one of those super ambitious, super heady sci-fi sagas is simmering here, ready to explode at any moment, but I loved how much this issue went more for mood over concept. If SHIPWRECK is already this impressive with a relatively “slow burn” then I can’t even imagine what level of output to expect when its uncanny world really starts revealing itself and is crashing down upon us.
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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.
CHAMPIONS #1
Writer: Mark WaidArtist: Humberto Ramos
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Masked Man
Marvel's Champions are back! Or at least in name. The original team featured a hodgepodge of heroes (Hercules, Black Widow, Ice Man, Angel, and Ghost Rider), but this new team features all of Marvel's next gen / replacement heroes (Spider (Miles) Man, (Sam) Nova, Ms. (Kamala) Marvel, (Amadeus) Hulk, (teenage) Cyclops (from the past), and (the Vision's daughter (?!?)) Viv) (Man, it was a pain typing all that. These days DC has messed-up continuity and Marvel has messed-up hero identities). On some level it seems like Marvel should have entitled this comic, MILLENNIALS! Heck, on the last page Waid and Ramos has them all staring at their phones talking about things going viral, #Champions.
Before getting to the review itself, I thought we'd make fun of Marvel and point out this NOW! comic (next year it will be NOW MARVEL!) takes place after CIVIL WAR II. Which of course isn't over yet so, spoilers! Spider (Miles) Man and (Sam) Nova quit the Avengers! Try and act surprised when the issue finally comes out.
Now to the spoilers of this issue, Ms. (Kamala) Marvel quits the Avengers too. Basically, this new breed of kid heroes are feed-up with adults screwing everything up: ala CIVIL WAR II. So they decide to form their own team, the Teen Tita- er Champions. They figure they need more brains, so they recruit (Amadeus) Hulk. Who in turn figures they need a super computer, so they recruit Viv. Then in this 31 page extra sized issue, they rescue some coal mines and rescue some women from a slavery ring run by an evil clown, Pagliacci. When Pagliacci is cornered by Amadeus, and a crowd, everyone wants his blood and have their cameras ready (well phones really). But Kamala steps in and while trying not to give a speech, gives one. One rarely heard in superhero comicbooks these days, which is superheroes are about hope, not retribution.
That was easily the best part of the issue. Kamala stating the role and goal of being a superhero. Even in the face of the despicable Pagliacci. In some way it's kinda sad that Marvel is on this merry-go-round of civil wars. Heroes killing heroes becoming a main stream and common place. Even Alan Moore, the guy who basically created this new environment, is amazed how everyone has taken his anti-superhero concept and have molded it into 'the' superhero concept.
The rest of the issue was fairly dull and by the numbers, with some inferior artwork. For as good as an idea Waid had for creating the team, nothing is particularity interesting about the issue itself. If you're not a big fan of any of the heroes involved, I'm not sure you'll be anymore than mildly entertained by CHAMPIONS #1. Although, points for the scene of the ex-Avengers going over to the Vision's house to see if his daughter, Viv, could come out and play.
With the artwork, some of Ramos' work is nice and interesting to look at. But in an effort to be 'fresh and fly' a lot of it is quite ugly. If you are going to distort figures and faces (odd none of his backgrounds are distorted to match), you should still be able to do it in a pleasing manner (assuming you don't want everything to be ugly). Worse than that this, is his storytelling. Mind you, it's not bad or confusing storytelling, it's missed opportunity storytelling. Ramos goes for a character or object shot nearly every time, instead of showing the action and how it relates to the story (A flying car? Make sure to show it on the ground and just say it was flying).
So not a very strong launch to the newest CHAMPIONS, but I'm sure Marvel will relaunch the series in a few months anyway.
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INSPECTOR OH #1
Writer: Matt and John YuanArtist: Matt Yuan
Publisher: 1FirstComics
Reviewer: Lyzard
The term “sophomore slump” is usually attributed to music acts with the inability to follow up a breakthrough album, but it can be applied to other forms of artists like directors, showrunners, or comic book writers. For those in the indie game, the sophomore slump is a real and disastrous threat. You are only as good as your last book and without the backing of a major publisher you can’t always come back from a disappointing follow up. So what’s an indie supposed to do? Create a new book with the same tone? Go more outrageous? In the case of the Yuan’s, whose SERVING SUPES I found to be just the right amount of sarcasm and offensives to have a large appeal, they decide to produce a piece that lessens the offense. As to whether this shrinks the appeal, that depends on what you think America’s sensibilities are.
INSPECTOR OH follows an exorcist in 6th century BC China. While Oh has some brains and wit, he is constantly in need of assistance from his niece Ziyi for whenever his curiosity and eagerness gets the best of him. Together they travel through ancient China defeating evil spirits with the help of Oh’s imaginary “totally not like a power ring” rock. More of this is covered in #0, which I highly recommend reading before #1 if you want a better sense of the characters, rather than the two-dimensional versions presented in the “first” issue.
The focus on absurdist and self-reflexive humor is similar to that of SERVING SUPES but the material is toned down for a younger audience. I’d put INSPECTOR OH somewhere between THE JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES and KUNG FU PANDA in regards to tone. I could see a character like Uncle Chan lambasting Oh for his lack of concentration and while the jokes aren’t as immature or as lazy as Jack Black’s, I wouldn’t be surprised if “jombies” popped up in the story lines.
INSPECTOR OH is less a good measurement to whether or not the Yuan’s can create a strong follow up to SERVING SUPES but more a solidification of their style. The first two issues of INSPECTOR OH didn’t grab me as much as the first two for SUPES which leaves me unsure if the comic has the legs of continuing five issues in to be as strong as its predecessors. Perhaps don’t read SERVING SUPES #5 back-to-back with this.
Lyzard is Lyz Reblin, a graduate student at Michigan Tech pursuing a doctorate in Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture... 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."
LADY MECHANIKA: LA DAMA DE LA MUERTE #1
Writers: Joe Benitez and M.M. ChenArtists: Joe Benitez and Martin Montiel
Publisher: Benitez Productions
Reviewer: Masked Man
Joe Benitez's Lady Mechanika is back with her 4th adventure, LADY MECHANIKA: LA DAMA DE LA MUERTE. Mixing up the timeline a little bit, this story takes place after her first adventure, “The Mystery of the Mechanical Corpse” and before the other two. This first issue also kicks off just as strong as the others. Although it starts a bit different than the others too.
Mechanika, mourning the loss of her friend Dallas, ends up walking the Earth (as they say) and whines up in a small Mexican town, just in time for the day of the dead celebration. The bulk of the book is just Mechanika meeting the towns folk and joining in on the celebration. Mechanika has always had a touch of sorrow to it (never as much as say Batman), and this issue really lets her live it. In a real non-overbearing way. On some level everything is a bit cliché, but Benitez and Chen carry it off with such understated charm and warmth you don't mind one bit. For an issue with virtually no action, I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.
So while there is no action in this issue, there is a whole lot of promise of action to come. As Mictecachuatl, the Aztec goddess of death, appears to be up to no good with Faustian deals and Ghost Rider rejects. I feel I should make this clear that this isn't just a set-up issue. While it does allude to action to come, it doesn't spend all it's time setting it up. Like I mentioned earlier, this issue is about Mechanika allowing herself to be absorbed in something different. With that, Benitez spends a good deal of time explaining the holiday to her and the readers.
Artwork wise this issue is as strong as hell (pun intended). Benitez, backed by Montiel has been a good combo. When Benitez was flying solo, I unfavorably compared him to George Perez. In that, Benitez started strong with highly detailed work (like Perez), but would run out of steam by the end of series (unlike Perez). But with Montiel's help, Benitez's work as been strong start to finish. And not just in detail, but storytelling too, as Benitez can cram 13 panels on a page. Unlike other comics, which often do this because of poor pacing, Benitez uses smaller panels to tell smaller story points and allow the dialogue to have breathing room. Expertly saving space for bigger moments. I can't tell you how many comics I've seen where an artist would waste half the page on a nothing panel, and then cram a major story point or action into a tiny panel. I recommend budding artists to study these pages, because while they may appeared cramped, once you read them, you'll see how affective they are (you don't need wide screen shots all the time).
So a really nice and different start to a Lady Mechanika book. I look forward to seeing how Benitez and company managed the dreaded tech and magic mash-up. Personally, I think everyone over thinks it. I suspect Benitez and Chen will not have this problem, so just enjoy it.
You can pick up this comic at TFAW by clicking this link!
JESSICA JONES #1
Writer: Brian Michael BendisArtist: Michael Gaydos
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Lyzard
Let’s be honest, Marvel is bringing back Jessica Jones because of the success of the Netflix Marvel series (not just hers, but DAREDEVIL and LUKE CAGE too). It is to lure in new readers which, as Jessica Jones hasn’t had her own book in about fifteen years, and that probably is a large segment of the demographic that’ll purchase this book. So did Marvel, Bendis, and Gaydos take this into account when bringing back JJ? Not really.
JESSICA JONES #1 starts off suddenly. She has just been released from prison (we don’t know why) and upon her release is hounded by B-grade Marvel superheroes about some baby. There’s a segment regarding her job as a private investigator for Alias Investigation but that plotline is overshadowed by the randomness of the overall arc.
It isn’t until the end of the issue we find out who the baby is, so you essentially spend thirty pages utterly confused. I get having mystery, but there are too many questions thrown at you and too few answers by the end. There’s also the problem of including B-grade Marvel superheroes. If this comic is meant for new readers then why include the likes of Spider-Woman and Misty Knight? Do they expect these characters, who haven’t appeared in either the MCU or TV series, to be recognizable? There are a few recognizable characters mentioned, including a possible hint towards the Purple Man. Please dear God tell me that am I wrong because even if this comic isn’t meant to be continuous of the show I don’t want to re-tread that story again. Netflix did it so well.
Then there’s Gaydos’ art. Perhaps he is staying true to the original (as I mentioned, I wasn’t a reader of those books), but the style is unflattering for show viewers. Actually I find it unflattering regardless of comparison to the show. I won’t name the color artist here because his work turns Gaydos’ drawings into a muddled mess. Then there’s the depiction of Spiderwoman who is a deadringer for Krysten Ritter’s look on the show. I don’t care if your depicting Jessica Jones as she was, don’t include a character that looks exactly like the Netflix version. You can’t ignore this resemblance.
Look, maybe you disagree with me judging the book based on the show, so here’s a non-influenced opinion. The comic just ain’t that good period. Jessica Jones comes off as whiny, not brooding. Everyone else is b*tchy and the artwork is subpar for Marvel.
We know Marvel can do better. Look at Tartakovsky’s LUKE CAGE. It has a completely separate direction and look than the TV show and that’s the direction JESSICA JONES should have taken.
X-O MANOWAR #50
Writer: Robert VendittiArtist: Joe Bennett
Publisher: Valiant Entertainment
Reviewer: Masked Man
Well it's been over four years and now 50 issues since the return of Valiant Entertainment (Comics) main man, X-O Manowar. It beats his Acclaim run, but he still has a way to go to beat his initial Valiant run. Coming together in this grand finale issue, Venditti and Bennett are joined by Fred Van Lente, Jody Houser, Matt Kindt, Clayton Henry, Javier Pulido and Tomas Giorello with some back-up stories. Cary Nord, Doug Braithwaite, Deigo Bernard , Rafa Sandoval and Robert Gill also provide some two-page spread art. As you can see, Valiant went all out for this anniversary issue.
First off, Venditti puts an ending to his 50 issue run with “Long Live the King”. The issue starts with some flash back pages (by the guest artists) getting everyone up to speed on X-O Manowar's, or rather the man in the armor, Aric's career. A Visigoth warrior, enslaved by aliens known as the Vine. Stealing their powerful X-O Manowar armor, he whips them and returns to a present day Earth. The now broken Vine follow him, hoping to find a home on Earth. Then an ancient alien race known as the Torment comes to Earth looking for trouble and absorbs Aric into them. Get all that? Well it's been 49 issues.
After that (warning spoilers) the real story starts, as Aric goes on a vision quest and discovers the Torment aren't really badguys. Getting free of them, his calls off the rest of the Valiant heroes from attacking the Torment, as they then up and die of old age. But not before giving Aric some gift of their knowledge. Which he uses to find the Vine a new planet to live on. Ending the Vine / Human war for good.
Now, the first back-up story goes into Aric's personal history, as Aric isn't the man of war he used to be (a theme of the whole issue and run). It also lays the ground work of a future X-O story. The next back-up story is about Ninjak, oddly enough. In kind of a Batman / Superman way, Ninjak give us his insight on Aric (while killing people of course). The last story seems to connect with the first, jumping into the future and seeing what Aric is up too now- no good it seems. This is kinda funny, because NINJAK is currently doing a future story too.
I applaud the tone, point, and artwork of this issue. I like the character development Venditti crafted and the non-need for a might makes right conclusion. The artwork likewise, is most impressive through out: From Tomas Giorello's beautiful storybook pages, to Javier Pulido's simplistic cartoon style- and Joe Bennett's cool superhero style. Though the whole vision quest and oops the Torment aren't really badguys was kinda boring. So while I appreciate Venditti trying to do something different in the finale, I think he just stopped at being different. Forgetting to craft interests and excitement. And to be honest, alien badguys turning out not to be badguys, isn't that unique and different.
I really wanted to score this a Good, on the Masked Man's scale of Crap, Poor, Decent, Good or Great, but ending the game with a bunt instead of some kind a hit (single, homer, grand slam, anything) just makes it all feel flat. And so it settles for a very strong DECENT.
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