Showing posts with label comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comics. Show all posts

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Snap Judgments: Reviews for Dead, She Said #2, Secret Invasion #3, Final Crisis: Requiem and More!

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

There are probably some minor SPOILERS herein.

Dead, She Said #2 gets an A from Albo
I'm so happy that the second issue of this series kept up everything I enjoyed about the first. Many detective stories will put their protagonist through a lot of pain before the story wraps up, systematically degrading the private dick's body and thus emphasizing their eventual triumph as a result of superior intellect and sheer force of will rather than brute strength. Steve Niles has decided to cut to the chase in this tale, where our lonely detective's body is actually decomposing rapidly due to a little condition called death. Everyone's complaints about the smell aren't keeping him from investigating his own murder, though. It's a really handsome book with fun storytelling, and I really can't recommend it enough to fans of detective stories or horror. Or giant ants (here's looking at you, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull lovers!).

Detective Comics #846 gets a B+ from AHR
Hush is back! *crickets* Oh well, some more details on his origin remind readers why they should care, and all in all this is as clever and satisfying an issue of 'Tec as I've come to expect from Dini.

Reviews for Detective Comics #846, Secret Invasion #3, Final Crisis Requiem, I Hate Giants #1, and Ultimate Origins #2 after the jump!

Young Liars #5 gets a B from Albo
It seems that Young Liars' "Curse of the Sucky Odd Numbered Issues" is finally over! After a miserable #1 and #3 (and a great #2 and #4), this issue came as a huge relief. I can't say it was perfect, since the story as a whole still has me pretty befuddled as to the whys and wherefores, but the scenes within this book were strong enough to make me overlook such vital silly points. It's pretty awesome that we're only in issue five and already there are some major consequences hitting this group of unlikeable protagonists. Oh yeah, that's a problem isn't it? I HATE these people. Even when I like this book I hate it. What's a fanboy to do?

Final Crisis: Requiem gets a C+ from AHR
Funny and sad character moments in the first half, but the second half is a dry, dry history lesson on Martian Manhunter. Big fans of the character might enjoy, I wouldn't know. I do know that DC should have bought the rights to use the brand "Oreo" for this final send off.

I Hate Giants #1 gets a C+ from AHR
High school nerd angst. And not very deep angst at that. Fun art saves it from the discard pile.

Secret Invasion #3 gets a C from Albo
Beautiful to look at, but nothing nothing nothing happens happens happens. Last issue ended with Nick Fury showing up to the fistfight with a big glock, and this issue shows him firing it. This issue ends with SPOILER Captain America and Thor showing up to the fistfight, and I bet next issue will show them punching things. Snorlax. But like I said, Leinil Francis Yu's art is, as always, something to behold.

Ultimate Origins #2 gets an F from Albo
F for who the F cares. F for why waste an Fing issue of your big Fing Ultimate event on a story (Captain America's origin) that we've all read a million Fing times. F for I have so many more bad things to say about this book but I've already wasted too much Fing time on it.

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Friday, June 27, 2008

Weekanerd NYC: Japanese Art, Hippie Art and Cheap Art

Friday, June 27

Is Satoshia Kon the second greatest Japanese animator working today? Zip over to the West Side to watch the visual orgasm that is Paprika and then hear the filmmaker (accompanied by onscreen clips from his works) describe his own genius.

Burning Man East and CHEEP COMIX after the jump!

Saturday, June 28
There's so much crazy stuff going down at this festival I can't even begin to figure it all out. Singing, dancing, limbo, fake governers, silkscreening stations (BYOT), circus sideshows and a whole bunch more. People liken it to an East Coast Burning Man, without the nudity and probably less drugs. But don't let that dissuade you.

Sunday, June 29
Jim Hanley's crazy back issue sale has come around again! Each day it goes on another 10% gets knocked off the top. Monday it's up to 80% of course, but it'll be a madhouse and the selection will be quite picked over. I went last year and got a HUGE box of comics for $20 that I still haven't finished reading. If you read comics you can't miss this!

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Friday, June 20, 2008

Snap Judgments: Reviews for My Inner Bimbo #5, Wolverine #66, RASL #2 and More

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

My Inner Bimbo #5 gets an A from Albo
This book is Sam Keith at his absolute rawest. The pages feature some of his best looking art in years and are densely packed with an incredibly personal story the likes of which I've never read before. Make no mistake, the book is slow going, but it is supremely rewarding. The story follows a sixty-something man who has spent his whole life looking for female approval and whose "femmy" side manifests herself as a "Bimbo," who starts as a sex slave but is always transforming into more mature forms, many of which are decidedly antagonistic. This is the last issue of the series, and I'm not sure if it was popular enough to collect in a trade, so I can't recommend strongly enough that you get out there and try to find some back issues. If you like Sam Keith at all, or are just looking for something completely different from every other book on the shelf, you really shouldn't miss this.

Review for Wolverine #66, Teen Titans: Year One #5, Genius #1, RASL #2, and Cthulhu Tales #3 after the jump!

Wolverine #66 gets an A from Albo
Awesome! The first issue in the "Old Man Logan" story, this book takes place fifty years after the villains finally won. Almost all of the heroes are dead, and the United States have been split into regions controlled by supervillain factions. Logan lives the quiet life of a farmer with a wife and kids (one of which is named Scotty... Awwww), getting by and paying rent to a gang of the Hulk's descendants who ride around in the old Fantasticar. It's a cool post-apocalyptic world, and while it certainly shares the Mad Max aesthetic touchstones that no post-apocalypse can get away from, there are a few cool little touches that separate it from what you've seen before. Anyway, the problems arise when pacifist Logan can't make rent and gets his ass kicked by the gang. His healing factor isn't what it used to be, which introduces some tension that most Wolverine stories don't have--finally the man isn't unbeatable. He has to accept a proposition from Hawkeye to go on a delivery mission for some cash, leaving his family behind. As long as they don't all get slaughtered, thus slinging this story down a cliched path we've all seen before, it should be a fun ride. Oh, did I mention Steve McNiven is a goddamn stunning artist?

Teen Titans: Year One #5 gets an A- from AHR
God the art in this book is fantastic. I can't get over it. Speedy's oval-shaped face and Little Rascals grin. Wonder Girl's continual wonder. The most convincingly handsome version of Green Arrow I've ever seen; let's all welcome Oliver's facial hair to modern times. This could be a picture book, and the story would be as engaging and clear as ever. But what of those word bubbles? I want to like Amy Wolfram's script, because the early-teen exuberance of the characters really does shine through, and it keeps the pace so quick there's little time to dwell on how clunky some of the dialogue feels. There's also some serious editorial problems in this book, from typos to lines that really needed another pass for clarity of action's sake. I also really wish that last panel was silent. Still the best looking book in comics today, anyone interested in cartooning or illustration must pick it up if only to steal from it.

Genius #1 gets a B from Albo
One of Top Cow's six "Pilot Season" comics, from which two will be voted "By You!" to become ongoing series. This is the first I've read, and it's pretty damn good. The pleasing art consists of nice clean cartoony line work (think a less pretty Karl Kerschl) with mostly subtle colors and just a few too many Photoshop tricks thrown in. The story is pretty original, about a physically diminutive but mentally colossal woman organizing street gangs into an all out war with the police. There's some connection between her and a cop that is trying to convince his superior officers that this is coming, but it's left unclear what that connection is in this ish. Definitely a fresh story, hopefully we'll be seeing more of it!

RASL #2 gets a B- from AHR
This is one moody book. I like the wordless and paranoia-inspiring walks around town, but Smith spends more than half the book having character engage in conversation about the very basics of parallel universes. Why? I don't think it's a difficult concept for most comic fans to grasp. The text of these conversations offer little in the way or new ideas or character development, but from an art standpoint it is nice to watch Smith do some fairly detailed work with his characters facial expression. It's a whole lot of close-ups, and the level of detail Smith puts into communicating their thoughts in their expressions is impressive to observe, but without an interesting plot to sink my teeth into it still feels like an illustration exercise.

Cthulhu Tales #3 gets a D from Albo
So I think my three month love affair with Cthulhu is over. The first story in this book is honestly some of the worst crap I've paid for in a long time. Actually, you know what? All three of these stories are some of the worst crap I've paid for in a long time. Pointless tales + sub-par art - $3.99 = one unhappy Albo.

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Thursday, June 05, 2008

Snap Judgments: Reviews for Trinity #1, Ultimate Origins #1, Buffy #15 and More

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 #15 gets an A from AHR
Oh noes! Here endeth the Buffy/Satsu storyline, aka the ship that launched a thousand fics. I'll certainly miss the lesbian jokes, but this issue wraps up with excellent action sequences, heartwarming and heartwrenching drama, and a satisfying resolution that still opens up a few doors. Also lots of lesbian jokes.

Detective Comics #845 gets an A from AHR
Too much fun. Batman and Detective Chimp sitting at their computers IMing each other may top out some people's tolerance for silliness, but i found it delightful.

Reviews for H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Horrors #1, Omega: The Unknown #9, Secret Invasion #3, Trinity #1, Ultimate Origins #1 and House of Mystery #2 after the jump...

H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Horrors #1 gets an A from Albo
Kind of a weird idea. Celebrated underground artist Richard Corben does graphic adaptations (and expansions) of H.P. Lovecraft short stories and poems, and includes the original source text after each story. This works really well when the source is a vague poem that he has built an interesting narrative around, but when the source is a short story with more evocative imagery than the adaptation, things become a little less satisfying. He did the same thing with Poe, but I haven't gotten the chance to read those. All told, a cool experiment and a welcome serving of Corben's unique art.

Omega: The Unknown #9 gets a B from Albo
This book is so consistently good that for some reason it hardly excites me anymore. That sounds cynical, right? But I'm sitting here flipping through it and thinking "that's great, that's great, that's good too" but I know that when I was reading it I was a little bored. What's the deal? Well, in my heart I know this is a classic story that I'll be re-reading for years to come. The end is near!

Secret Invasion #3 gets a B from Albo
Ho hum. Very skeletal storytelling. Feels like an outline for tie-in issues to elaborate on, a very Marvel storytelling method I strongly disapprove of. Yu's art is still amazing, though, and the confrontation between Skrullica Drew and Tony Stark is pretty exciting though I'm pretty sure it's just some Skrullian mind games.

Trinity #1 gets an A+F=C+ from AHR
Wow. The first half of this book, in which Bruce, Diana, and Clark meet up for lunch and talk about a spooky dream they had, is awesome. I love any time attention is drawn to how insane Batman's "Bruce Wayne" persona is, and here Wondy actually calls him on it. But the second part of this book is a droning mish-mash of expository detritus featuring characters and situations that I have zero interest in, and after spending a fun lunch with my oldest DC pals I have no desire to jump into a red and green space land full of proselytizing god/alien creatures. Perhaps the writers are trying to set up two bands of alien/god creatures, since that description extends to the titular trinity, with the intention of showing us how much more interesting the group who act like humans are. These two very segmented stories are perfect examples of what I love and hate about DC.

Ultimate Origins #1 gets a C from Albo
There's nothing outright bad about the first issue of this major Ultimate event, but it just doesn't make enough of a statement right off the bat to justify its existence. You can hardly blame Bendis, though. I mean, how many universes can he be expected to turn upside down at once?

House of Mystery #2 gets a C- from AHR
Bleh. Reads like second rate Neil Gaiman, with really self-conscious and over-stated fantastical dialogue. It's brightened up by some fun touches (lady pirate bouncer) and a few pages of Jill Thompson's moody cartoon art, but what a let down after such a gripping and disturbing first issue.

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Monday, May 19, 2008

Panel Discussion: Scans from Young Liars, Amazing Spider-Man

Every week we at Geekanerd rip panels from our comics and put them on display here, recognizing the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the week. Beware some SPOILERS!

Click the pics for high res goodness!

Beatdown of the Week - Young Liars #3
Little Sadie here apparently attended the Jason Bourne School of Resourceful Dustupping. Not only does she pull an IV out of her transsexual junkie friend and jam it in her attacker's eye....
...she then proceeds to squeeze the remaining contents of the IV bag into the guy's face! Holy crapsticks that is hardcore.

Hit the jump for the highs and lows of Amazing Spider-Man #559's art!

Art Worth Praising - Marcos Martin, Amazing Spider-Man #559
I praised Marcos Martin in my review of the book but I'm glad I get to do it with some visual reference now! You can see in this page how deceptively simple his linework is. It feels very spare and uncluttered, but really there is a high level of detail crammed into every inch. The panel-to-panel storytelling is especially great on this page. Martin tells a fun little story with all the details he's packing into Spidey's characterization: the subtle wringing of hands behind the back as he worries about being seen as a psycho, the contemplative hand on the chin in the next panel, and the resolute fist in palm at the end... You would know what was happening in this page even without word balloons, which is really as good as it gets.

One more thing I want to say about Martin's art in this issue of Amazing Spider-Man is that his sense of architecture is spectacular throughout the issue--so many comic artists draw cities as block after block of homogenous rectangle buildings, but Martin does a great job of keeping his setting just as varied as real world New York.

Also contributing to the great look of this issue is Javier Rodriguez on colors. He is a perfect compliment to Martin, with a coloring job every bit as subtle and smart as Martin's linework. EXCEPT...

(Mis)Adventures in Computer Coloring - Amazing Spider-Man #559
Yes, this is the third time I've gotten on this book for grievous misuses of Photoshop. What happened, Javier? Every other page of this book is beautiful, so why did you lose all sense of subtlety and restraint for the nightclub scene? It's so unpleasant I can only hope you were just trying to make a statement about how distasteful you find clubbing.

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Thursday, May 15, 2008

Snap Judgments: Quickie Comic Reviews for May 14, 2008

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. There are probably some spoilers herein. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

Amazing Spider-Man #559 gets a B from Albo
Dan Slott returns as the best of the Brand New Day herd. The real star of the issue, though, is artist Marcos Martin who throws down some really good looking pages that come off as something like a Tim Sale/David Lapham lovechild. The only problem with the art is some ugly ugly ugly coloring in a night club scene that buries Martin's work under a layer of splattered Day Glo vomit.

Wolverine: The Amazing Immortal Man and Other Bloody Tales gets a B from Albo
This one-shot contains three David Lapham-penned short stories that take place in different eras of Logan's non X-Man life. The first, a story of Logan working as a circus act in the 30s, is by far the best, even if it doesn't quite fit with what we know of his history. Only the third story falls flat, mainly because it just seems like a very normal Wolverine story after you've been given two alternate perspectives on the ole Canucklehead.

Reviews for Newuniversal: Shockfront #1 and Young Liars #3 after the jump.

Newuniversal: Shockfront #1 gets a C from Albo
I'm willing to bet that my inability to grasp what this comic is going for is 100% due to the fact that I'm completely ignorant of previous newuniversal stories. That being said, this book certainly didn't do anything to make me want to rid myself of that ignorance.

Young Liars #3 gets a C from Albo
Yes, this is the third review this week wherein I evoke the name of David Lapham. Call me a fanboy. I was less than impressed by this issue for many of the same reasons I wasn't sure about the first issue... The story's chronology skips around so much that I have a hard time getting caught up in the stakes of any given moment. Hopefully things settle down a bit for issue four (like they did in issue two) so I can relax and really get into this promising story.

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Monday, May 05, 2008

Photos: Superhero Fashion at the Metropolitan Museum

I hit up a press preview of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's newest special exhibit, Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy. The exhibit features a variety of, how do you say, costume pieces?Originally intended to show off existing and prototype clothing/bodywear that is designed to actually enhance one's physical abilities, the works became an exploration of the symbolism and metaphor inherent in superheroes, and experimentation with those symbols and iconography surrounding superheroes. To sum it up, a bunch of famous designers created works based in some part on existing superheros' costumes.

Some of them are very crazy-runway fashion-y, but there are also some really interesting costumes that play with the basics behind hero costumes. I took a bunch of pictures for you guys to preview before you drop by. They're more runway than they are utilitarian (designed by the likes of Dolce and Armani), but they do give an interesting insight into the way different kinds of hero costumes are designed.

Takes on Superman, Spider-Man, The Flash and more after the jump....


Sponsored by Armani, who was onhand to give a little speech all in Italian. I left those pictures out, since he was wearing a suit that didn't include emblems, armor, spandex, or a cape of any kind.

First on the list was of course, Superman. The designers did a bit more playing around with the iconography of Supe's than re-imagining his costume, but Alex Ross in the background is a nice touch. They also had the original Supes movie costumes on display with a ghosting effect that transformed the mannequin wearing the costumes from Superman back to Clark Kent. Unfortunately the way it was set up taking photos didn't really work very well.

Here's a little taste of the Spider-man area. Most of these outfits were various evening gowns with hints of webs in them. Personally I found them pretty boring in terms of exploring Spidey's costume. Taking one of the most iconic costumes in comics and parsing it down to webs on a dress isn't really that interesting.


These lycra/spandex suits are actually speed suits, designed to help athletes move faster, specifically speed skaters or runners. As you can see by the backdrop, they are Flash inspired. This was the stuff I found pretty cool, as they were designing costumes that had real life applications and were still a throwback to comics.

A couple of flying suits, including a glider suit (back) and glider wings equipped with twin turbine engines capable of generating enough thrust to propel a person through the air. They can both actually be used and do work at what they do, which is let you move freely through the air (though I believe parachutes are required when one actually goes to land).

The original costume worn my Lynda Carter for the Wonder Woman series. They split the heroes up into archetypes, armored, mutant, speed, patriotic, etc. This is the centerpiece of the patriotic section.

I actually really enjoyed these two costumes in the Patriotic display. They remind of a lot of Sandman (obviously), and also of the sort of non-costume but still emblematic Starman.

The "mutant" heroes area, which focusing more on clothing that symbolized mutation rather than served any utilitarian purpose, was really gorgeous.

The exhibit touched upon the way that female characters are portrayed primarily as sexual creatures to be viewed by men. A variety of Catwoman inspired costumes played with fetish and revealing clothing. Surprisingly they weren't even that risque compared to a lot of comic book fodder. I'm not going to go into depth here, but their touch on sexism and misogyny in comics was greatly appreciated.


This lady was reporting for Marvel and making all sorts of cheesy jokes in her little snippets. Oh Marvel.com, you and your quirky pink haired reporters.

The "armored" heroes area, showing a variety of "armored costumes" touching on both Iron Man and Batman as examples. That's the actual Iron Man suit used in the movie. I'm pretty sure that costume in front of it was what Witchblade creators originally wanted, until they were told that it hurts to get punched in the boob. (kidding)


I couldn't for the life of me get a clear shot of this costume, but I really like the human bullet motif going on, with the entire top and helmet designed like shell casings and bullets. There was also a female version, and of course I couldn't help but think of the new Bulleteer.


This was one of my favorite designs. It looks like a costume straight out of Batman Beyond, and I really love it. The use of armor-like materials and the big bulky armored arms look really cool, I was really looking for more stuff like this, things that looked like they could almost make their way into the comics.
Also exciting, they had issues of characters first appearances on the wall, actual issues. I've never wanted to steal something from the Met as much as I did right then.

And lastly, maybe the BEST reason to come to this exhibit is the chance to see this:Ladies and Gentlemen, when else are you going to see huge statues of the Big Three in the atrium of the Metropolitan Museum of Art?

That's it for now. If you're interested take your behind over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where this exhibit will be showing until September 1st.

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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

"That Was A Hell Of A Thing!" - Galaxy Quest Comes to Comics

Everyone knows that nerds like Star Wars and Star Trek. But you can really tell when you're dealing with a geeky individual of true good humor and taste by how strongly they react when you mention Galaxy Quest, the unbelievably wonderful sci-fi comedy classic. I used to work in a video store where we'd watch this about twice a week on the store monitors. Galaxy Quest and Bring It On. That was a great job.

Galaxy Quest ended with the doors wide open for a sequel, but stupid Dreamworks never made one. Why?! The movie made money and Tim and Sigourney Weaver both said they'd do another one, but ours is not to question the will of movie execs, just to complain about their decisions. Luckily, like the throngs of Buffy fans, we GQ cultists may now be able to half-satisfy our fandom with a new comic book that picks up where the movie left off. You can read the full press release over at Comic Book Resources, but the bullet points are:

  • The book will be a five-part series called "Galaxy Quest: Global Warming".
  • It's from IDW Publishing, the folks who publish Angel and a lot of Niles/Templesmith stuff, as well as Gnerd favorites Locke and Key and Zombies vs Robots.
  • It's written by Scott Lobdell,who's been writing X-Men books for Marvel since the early 90s, so we can assume he knows a thing or two about genre conventions and is ready to get to satirizing.
  • The artist is Ilias Kyriazis, and you can peruse his Deviant Art page to get a flavor of his work. He's also got a comic of his own on Zuda called "Melody", though presumably he will now be devoting 100% of every waking hour to making sure he's capturing the dry sardonic humor of Alan Rickman's facial expressions.
Are we excited yet? Let's all enjoy a classic scene after the jump.


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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Snap Judgments: Quickie Comic Reviews for 4/23/08

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. There are probably some spoilers herein. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

Batman #675 gets an A from AHR
Excellent emotionally-charged art from Ryan Benjamin, and a story from Grant Morrison that on one hand feels like covered ground (Bruce's girlfriend senses a dark side), but on the other is done with a raw sense of urgency and ugliness that indicates a very dark road to come in the R.I.P. storyline.

Hack/Slash #11 gets an A from AHR
I dropped off this book for a while cause I thought it was getting a little cheeseball. But this issue is great; it picks up on old plot threads, yet also has a simple, impacting done-in-one storyline. It's nowhere near as depressing as the last issue, but still maintains some emotional depth around main character Cassie, who is thoughtful and reserved about her sexuality in a way that's highly unusual for an ass-kicking comic heroine to be. I'm hooked again.


Ultimate Spider-Man #121, Fall of Cthulhu #11, The Spirit #16, Countdown #01 and Flash Gordon #0 all after the jump!

Ultimate Spider-Man #121 gets an A from Albo
I haven't read an issue of this comic since the first couple of years it was on the stands. I never could get past Bagley's art to fully enjoy Bendis' great storytelling. Now Bagley is gone and the team of Stuart Immonen and Wade von Grawbadger are producing some really great stuff. They are capable of drawing teenage kids that actually look like teenage kids and have oodles of personality. Oh yeah, and Bendis is still a great writer.


Fall of Cthulhu
#11
gets a B from Albo
I picked up Cthulhu Tales on a whim last week and really enjoyed it, so I took a chance and hopped onto this book to see if it provided the same level of solid horror storytelling. The verdict: Pretty much. It doesn't really do anything new, but the ominous sense that the people in this small town are about to face some truly horrific shit provides a chilly enjoyment.

The Spirit #16 gets a C from Albo
*Sigh* I miss Darwyn Cooke. This tale is such a by-the-numbers murder mystery you wonder why they bothered.

Countdown #01 gets a D+ from AHR
This issue opens with Jimmy Olsen recounting a bad dream in which he was given the impossible task of writing a good story about the post-52 multiverse. Get it? Bet the fans who bought this crap every week for a year are loving that one. Though apparently Harley and Holly Robinson are living together now, so maybe it was all worth it.

Flash Gordon #0 gets an F from Albo
Oh God why? The storytelling in this preview book is nonsense. The art looks like the anime crap you can find painstakingly scrawled on notepaper in every high school in America. And not content to just draw poorly, the artist reuses the same drawings over and over again. Not in succession or for comedic effect but just whenever he doesn't have the energy to draw a character's face again. Which for some reason is a lot. You'll see what I mean when we do Panel Discussion this weekend.

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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Snap Judgments: Quickie Comic Reviews for 4/16/08

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. There are probably some spoilers herein. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

The Damned: Prodigal Sons #1: A
The ignorant S.O.B that I am, I didn't realize this issue was a continuation of previous material when I picked it up. That being said, I had no trouble hopping on and getting into the demonic noir world of The Damned. Honest to goodness solid cartooning spiked with a story I actually haven't read before makes this my fave of the week. -Albo


X-Men: Divided We Stand #1: A
I heart emo superheroes! Abadonment is the theme du jour, or more specifically the sense of betrayal and loss that the x-kids feel after coming back from Iraq, er, I mean whatever went on in Messiah Complex. I didn't read that, but like many a great superhero comic, these stories work out of context as tales of the (meta)human experience writ large. -AHR

Cthulhu Tales #1, Pigeons From Hell #1, Powers Annual 2008 and Captain America #37 all after the jump!

Cthulhu Tales #1: A
As you'll see, this was a week of experimentation for me. I know jack diddly about the Cthulhu mythos, so why I picked up this anthology book from Boom! Studios is a mystery. Actually, it's pretty simple: I like Steve Niles' work on Simon Dark and his name was on the cover. But enough about me. Every one of these stories was a great little nugget of horror goodness, especially Niles'. Their only fault is that at the end of each I wanted more more more. Except maybe the last one that was about a bunch of fat sports fans. -Albo

Pigeons From Hell #1: B
If you can believe it, this book also has a backstory that I was unaware of before I picked it up. Apparently the story was originally told by Conan creator Robert E. Howard, and this is just a "modernization" of his tale. The story is pretty contrived and the dialogue is way hokey, but the energetic art by Nathan Fox and superstar colorist Dave Stewart is enough to make me not regret the purchase. -Albo

Powers Annual 2008: C
You know, there may be something great about this ish (primarily written by artist Mike Oeming) but I'm really not sure what it is. It's a story about cavemen fighting. Maybe it's an allegory? Maybe it's just boring. -Albo

Captain America #37: D
If you have friends who think all comics are about smarmy, laconic, self-righteous manly men in tights, DO NOT give them this book. Cause there's a lot of that crap, and it's boring. All posturing and intense stares, zero drama. -AHR

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Snap Judgments: Quickie Comic Reviews for 4/9/08

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. There are probably some spoilers herein. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

B.P.R.D 1946 #4: A
Dense story and crazy action, a winning combo in my book. In past issues this book's adventurous tone has felt bogged down by some extremely grim plot-points, but this issue focuses on more fantastic elements of the story and wisely pays extra attention to the best character to come out of this series, Little Evil Russian Girl. -AHR

Young Liars
#2: A

David Lapham's Vertigo book reads a lot like his on-hold opus Stray Bullets, but with enough twists to make it feel like it's own animal. The story of a desperate kid's life falling apart has enough "oh shit" moments to make it stick in your mind for quite some time. -Albo

Simon Dark, Wild Cards, Amazing Spider-Man, Wonder-Woman and Fantastic Four all after the jump!


Simon Dark #7: B
Violence, violence! The most unsettling issue yet with a heavy emphasis on scrazy zombie carnage, but also in evidence are many elements of what has made the book great from the start; perfectly timed moments of deadpan humor, excellent artsy art, and a gentility to the character of Simon which strikes a sad contrast with the realistic vision of Gotham he inhabits. The only thing missing is a memorable storyline. -AHR


Wild Cards #1: B
Based on a series of sci-fi novels that started in 1987, this book is about an alternate earth where an alien virus has killed 90% of humans (referred to as "drawing the Black Queen"), horribly mutated 9% (called "Jokers") , and given superpowers to 1% (those would be the "Aces"). Pretty exciting first issue that definitely makes me want to stick around for issue 2. -Albo

Amazing Spider-Man #556: B
A little boring, but the art is pretty fantastic. Three pages of fat Spidey are funny. -Albo

Wonder Woman #19: C+
A lot of the resolutions in this issue hinge on one character convincing another character to do something huge by offering them a song-lyricesque platitude about peace and understanding. I guess that's superheroes for you but it's less than I expect from Simone. I do like the way she's writing Wonder Woman, combining the military detachment of Batman with the humanitarian idealism of Supes....she's an interesting balance between the two extremes. -AHR

Fantastic Four #556: C
What the heck? I was so excited about this book a couple issues ago, and it's already devolved into mediocrity. The art (which I praised extensively) has become a hard to decipher jumble. The characters for some reason are all dumb as bricks (when arriving at a battle scene where a killer robot has demolished 22 heroes including Iron Man, the Sentry, Wolverine, Dr. Strange and others, the Thing says "Take it easy, I got this guy."). And then all those heroes that were bleeding and unconscious all spring back into action at once, none the worse for wear. Sigh. -Albo

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Thursday, April 03, 2008

Snap Judgments: Quickie Comic Reviews for April 2, 2008

Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. There are probably some spoilers herein. Arranged from BEST to WORST.

American Splendor #1: B
New home at Vertigo, same old book. This ish has eight stories, some better than others (the David Lapham-illustrated lead story about a visiting "fan" stands out) and featured without ads. Yay! - Albo

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #13: B
High on situational comedy, low on plot progression, lol racism. -AHR

Omega: The Unknown #7: B from Albo, B- from AHR
While perhaps not quite as tight as last issue, in general this book just keeps getting better. The intro comic "drawn" by the titular hero is extremely cool and I really wish I didn't have to wait for the last three issues because I'm really pumped to see what happens next. -Albo

Issue includes a beautiful comic-within-a-comic sequence by Gary Panter, a very funny scene about movie theater etiquette, and some unsatisfyingly rapid plot development in the last few pages. It lacks the hypnotically smooth story progression of past installments, and feels like an issue without a theme. -AHR

Reviews for The Walking Dead #48, Secret Invasion #1 and Kick-Ass #2 after the jump!

The Walking Dead #48: B-
We finally get to the action Kirkman has been promising for months, and though the events certainly shake up the long stabilized status quo, the extremity of what happens left me more stupefied than upset. Probably wouldn't be an issue if I was reading this in a trade, but as it is this issue feels like an story experiment and not a chapter of a larger whole. -AHR


Secret Invasion
#1: C

Ho hum beginning to this year's Mega Marvel Event. There's a good twist near the end that I really hope turns out to be legit, because it would make the oncoming story much more interesting than the big fistfight I fear it's going to become. -Albo

Kick-Ass #2: D from AHR, D from Albo
I wish the main character actually had died in the first issue. That would have been some realistic (and nihilistic) shit. Instead, mere months after being stabbed, beaten and hit by a car, not only is this skinny nerd eating non-tube-based meals, he is trashing four gigantic gang members and winning over the criminally depraved inhabitants of the ghetto (lol racism). You can ultra-violent it up as much as you want, it's not hardcore unless there are consequences. -AHR

I told a lot of people about this book after thoroughly enjoying the first issue, and now I have egg on my face and it makes me angry. This issue was boring as all hell: the first half is all about our hero sitting in a hospital bed and the second half ditches the "realism" that I so enjoyed about the first issue and has our hero kicking the crap out of a group of beefy hoodlums. This is a skinny kid that's never had any fight training, mind you. But even without the realism problem, this book has already jumped the shark in terms of writing quality. There wasn't a single satisfying moment to be found within these pages. -Albo

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Monday, March 31, 2008

Panel Discussion: Scans from All-Star Superman #10, New Avengers #39, Transhuman #1 and More

Every week Geekanerd brings you the best, worst and weirdest panels from our week in comics. If you didn't read your books, there will be giant SPOILERS. Click the images for high res action!

Best Opening Page - New Avengers #39
Albo: This issue is basically a Maya solo story, so starting through her eyes on a silent page (she's deaf) is perfect. The hand reveal is a wonderful "fade in", and the subtle touch of leaving the right side of the last panel open elegantly guides our attention to the next page. David Mack's got them skillz.

Saves, Skrulls and Slurs after the jump!

Best Save - All-Star Superman #10AHR: What really gets me about this sad, elegant sequence is the first long panel of the girl dropping her cell phone. It's a lonely image that sharply conveys a final decision to close off from the world. I think it gets to the heart of what makes Superman unique that even with all the crazy shit going down in both his life and the world at large, saving people from their own personal despair still registers on Superman's hero-sense. He wants to save everyone, and it's nice to believe he can.

To Me, My X-Monkeys - Transhuman #1