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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 11, 2019 16:36:08 GMT -5
OFF The RacksReal Reviews from Real Readers  Usually I pick my favorite cover from the new releases but on this day I went with a throw back to honor the first responders of 9/11. If you feel so inclined please donate |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 11, 2019 18:38:28 GMT -5
Gotham City Monsters #1Written by Steve Orlando Art by Amancay Nahuelpan Summary: In an abandoned section of Gotham now left only to Monsters an even greater menace returns. Plot: shaxper After reading this I think it's safe to say you can drop the actual Leviathen event and jump right into this as I had no problem getting the jist of what happened. The details aren't clear for me, but they don't really need to be; a great catastrophic event has happened leaving a section of Gotham destroyed and monsters have built their own community in its ashes and Bane is mayor of the rest of Gotham for some reason which paves the way for Frankenstein, Andrew Bennett(I, Vampire for the uninitiated) Killer Croc, Orca and Lady Clay Face(Holy D-List Villains Batman!) to join forces to stop Melmoth from concurring the world. It's basically a really great monster mash up that I just couldn't pass up even given my loathing of Steve Orlando, and I'm happy to say that it actually held up much better than anything else I've ever tried by Orlando; the each character was given their own introduction scene and the depth of characterization in each segment was really compelling, making you instantly invested in each character which is pretty impressive given that the last two members are villains that are not exactly big draws(orca and lady clayface). On top of that the cameos of such characters as the Mad Monk and the Tusk(Ireally wish they had kept him!) were really fun and the connection to Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers story was really well done. I'm seriously looking forward to seeing this play out. Art: I've never heard of Nahuelpan before and his look is nothing much to right home about. It's the kind of DC house style of late, lacking it's own individual sense of identity or mood, but it's atleast clean and conveys the action well so it at least doesn't distract from the story. Grade:7+/10 |
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Post by shaxper on Sept 11, 2019 19:11:22 GMT -5
Event Leviathan #4Written by Brian Michael Bendis Art by Alex Maleev Summary: Too late, thwhtguardian. Just bought and sped through issues #2-4 of Event Leviathan tonight. I'm in deep now, but my negative opinion of the event is solidifying. Four issues in and its clear what the overall scope of this series will be -- by the final issue, it will still be the same damn night it's been for the last four issues, or possibly the morning after. The threat they've been trying to analyze and prevent all along will not be thwarted, and this whole thing will end on a cliffhanger, forcing you to follow the next series to find out what happens. It's plain as day to me that this is where the series ends up going. In the meantime, absolutely nothing of importance has happened. A bunch of heroes stand around debating who Leviathan is while nothing actually gets accomplished. Four issues of that, now, and the big twist at the end of each issue, promising action and important new twists, never ends up delivering. I'll probably finish out the series because, four issues in, why not? But man was I a sucker to buy into this. I come back to mainstream comics after eight years and learn I was absolutely right all along. Pointless. Art: It's nice to look at, but there's only so much you can do to make folks standing around, talking, interesting for four issues now. Grade: 4/10 |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 11, 2019 19:29:09 GMT -5
Event Leviathan #4Written by Brian Michael Bendis Art by Alex Maleev Summary: Too late, thwhtguardian . Just bought and sped through issues #2-4 of Event Leviathan tonight. I'm in deep now, but my negative opinion of the event is solidifying. Four issues in and its clear what the overall scope of this series will be -- by the final issue, it will still be the same damn night it's been for the last four issues, or possibly the morning after. The threat they've been trying to analyze and prevent all along will not be thwarted, and this whole thing will end on a cliffhanger, forcing you to follow the next series to find out what happens. It's plain as day to me that this is where the series ends up going. In the meantime, absolutely nothing of importance has happened. A bunch of heroes stand around debating who Leviathan is while nothing actually gets accomplished. Four issues of that, now, and the big twist at the end of each issue, promising action and important new twists, never ends up delivering. I'll probably finish out the series because, four issues in, why not? But man was I a sucker to buy into this. I come back to mainstream comics after eight years and learn I was absolutely right all along. Pointless. Art: It's nice to look at, but there's only so much you can do to make folks standing around, talking, interesting for four issues now. Grade: 4/10 That does sound pretty horrid, you picked a pretty bad book to dip your toes into mainstream comics though so don't despair there are other books out there that are heaps better. If you're into the Hulk, Immortal Hulk is a great horror themed take on him that's a real joy to read, Hawkman is a great adventure book, Lois Lane gives you a great dose of crime noir and in a similar vane Wolverine: The Long Night also had a fantastic noir feel as well though it was only a mini series. |
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Post by shaxper on Sept 11, 2019 19:34:54 GMT -5
Event Leviathan #4Written by Brian Michael Bendis Art by Alex Maleev Summary: Too late, thwhtguardian . Just bought and sped through issues #2-4 of Event Leviathan tonight. I'm in deep now, but my negative opinion of the event is solidifying. Four issues in and its clear what the overall scope of this series will be -- by the final issue, it will still be the same damn night it's been for the last four issues, or possibly the morning after. The threat they've been trying to analyze and prevent all along will not be thwarted, and this whole thing will end on a cliffhanger, forcing you to follow the next series to find out what happens. It's plain as day to me that this is where the series ends up going. In the meantime, absolutely nothing of importance has happened. A bunch of heroes stand around debating who Leviathan is while nothing actually gets accomplished. Four issues of that, now, and the big twist at the end of each issue, promising action and important new twists, never ends up delivering. I'll probably finish out the series because, four issues in, why not? But man was I a sucker to buy into this. I come back to mainstream comics after eight years and learn I was absolutely right all along. Pointless. Art: It's nice to look at, but there's only so much you can do to make folks standing around, talking, interesting for four issues now. Grade: 4/10 That does sound pretty horrid, you picked a pretty bad book to dip your toes into mainstream comics though so don't despair there are other books out there that are heaps better. If you're into the Hulk, Immortal Hulk is a great horror themed take on him that's a real joy to read, Hawkman is a great adventure book, Lois Lane gives you a great dose of crime noir and in a similar vane Wolverine: The Long Night also had a fantastic noir feel as well though it was only a mini series. That a mainstream publisher would pull this kind of crap for a main event is all the proof I need that the industry is in sorry shape, and that anything quality is an oversight and not the norm. Nah, I'll be taking another sabbatical from the mainstream once gotham city monsters concludes. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 11, 2019 19:55:42 GMT -5
That does sound pretty horrid, you picked a pretty bad book to dip your toes into mainstream comics though so don't despair there are other books out there that are heaps better. If you're into the Hulk, Immortal Hulk is a great horror themed take on him that's a real joy to read, Hawkman is a great adventure book, Lois Lane gives you a great dose of crime noir and in a similar vane Wolverine: The Long Night also had a fantastic noir feel as well though it was only a mini series. That a mainstream publisher would pull this kind of crap for a main event is all the proof I need that the industry is in sorry shape, and that anything quality is an oversight and not the norm. Nah, I'll be taking another sabbatical from the mainstream once gotham city monsters inevitably gets cancelled after 7 issues. I don't know, events have almost always been more miss than hit. Did this one seem more pointless than past ones? I haven't read it so I can't say for certain but the lead up to it was what made me drop Superman so I'm willing to bet it is pretty bad...but so was 1982's Marvel Super-Hero Contest of Champions (and the quasi follow up Secret Wars was pretty bad too) , 1988's Millennium was pointless(and the previous cross over Legends wasn't much better) and 1993's Bloodlines was an absolute abomination and yet there were plenty of great books put out by Marvel and DC during those years too. |
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Post by shaxper on Sept 11, 2019 20:05:22 GMT -5
That a mainstream publisher would pull this kind of crap for a main event is all the proof I need that the industry is in sorry shape, and that anything quality is an oversight and not the norm. Nah, I'll be taking another sabbatical from the mainstream once gotham city monsters inevitably gets cancelled after 7 issues. I don't know, events have almost always been more miss than hit. Did this one seem more pointless than past ones? I haven't read it so I can't say for certain but the lead up to it was what made me drop Superman so I'm willing to bet it is pretty bad...but so was 1982's Marvel Super-Hero Contest of Champions (and the quasi follow up Secret Wars was pretty bad too) , 1988's Millennium was pointless(and the previous cross over Legends wasn't much better) and 1993's Bloodlines was an absolute abomination and yet there were plenty of great books put out by Marvel and DC during those years too. Yes, I'd say this is the most pointless event I've ever read. Really. Whereas previous events have been ambitious but faltered, this one knows from the start it's only trying to sell you on exactly two things: 1. Can the heroes stop Leviathan before he strikes tomorrow morning? Considering it's been four issues and absolutely nothing has happened yet, I surely doubt it. And 2. Who is Leviathan? This is the real crux of the series -- a whodunnit mystery that's so thoroughly forced to the point that all the heroes have decided Leviathan must be someone they already know based upon zero evidence from the first moment, and they discuss pretty much nothing else for four issues. Two problems, though: One, absolutely all evidence points to it being Manhunter. Really, absolutely everything that's transpired thus far points to this, including some rather obvious misdirection on the parts of both Batman and Superman. And two, in a post-Armageddon 2001 world, no hyped event is going to end up with a predictable solution that fans could have guessed in advance, so the solution is likely going to end up being something half-baked that we couldn't have seen coming. So either it was obvious all along, or it's going to be impossible to call. My guess -- Manhunter is working for Leviathan, and Leviathan is secretly...(insert random forgotten DC property in need of a short revival here), which we couldn't have possibly seen coming. Whoever would have guessed it was really Crazy Quilt! Really, this series offers literally nothing else. We have had ONE true action scene in four issues (told in flashback), and absolutely no plot development nor substantial characterization whatsoever. I think Bendis watched Clue one too many times and somehow thought he could make it work as a major event for DC. I love a good murder mystery party, but a hyped multi-issue event isn't the place to do it. Even the worst mega events at least have a ton of moving pieces, subplots, and side-stories. There's at least a lot going on and opportunities to see our favorite heroes interacting and doing stuff. This has none of that in favor of labored excessive decompression that manages to drag out an entire evening into six eventless issues -- it's a marketing tease, and absolutely nothing else. DC isn't even selling entertainment here; just hype. |
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Post by shaxper on Sept 11, 2019 20:44:04 GMT -5
Gotham City Monsters #1Written by Steve Orlando Art by Amancay Nahuelpan Summary: In an abandoned section of Gotham now left only to Monsters an even greater menace returns. Plot: shaxper After reading this I think it's safe to say you can drop the actual Leviathen event and jump right into this as I had no problem getting the jist of what happened. The details aren't clear for me, but they don't really need to be; a great catastrophic event has happened leaving a section of Gotham destroyed and monsters have built their own community in its ashes and Bane is mayor of the rest of Gotham for some reason which paves the way for Frankenstein, Andrew Bennett(I, Vampire for the uninitiated) Killer Croc, Orca and Lady Clay Face(Holy D-List Villains Batman!) to join forces to stop Melmoth from concurring the world. It's basically a really great monster mash up that I just couldn't pass up even given my loathing of Steve Orlando, and I'm happy to say that it actually held up much better than anything else I've ever tried by Orlando; the each character was given their own introduction scene and the depth of characterization in each segment was really compelling, making you instantly invested in each character which is pretty impressive given that the last two members are villains that are not exactly big draws(orca and lady clayface). On top of that the cameos of such characters as the Mad Monk and the Tusk(Ireally wish they had kept him!) were really fun and the connection to Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers story was really well done. I'm seriously looking forward to seeing this play out. Art: I've never heard of Nahuelpan before and his look is nothing much to right home about. It's the kind of DC house style of late, lacking it's own individual sense of identity or mood, but it's atleast clean and conveys the action well so it at least doesn't distract from the story. Grade:7+/10 Just finished this up. I can't say I enjoyed it as much as you, but I see its potential. I found Orlando excessively wordy and inaccessible. He presents names and details like you should know them already and then explains them much later on, I think, just to impress you. You mentioned the series drawing inspiration from Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory, and that's it exactly -- Orlando's approach reeks of Morrison's inaccessible, let-me-pretend-to-be-more-clever-than-you-when-I'm-actually-just-being-needlessly-vague style. But yeah, I love Morrison's Frankenstein, and I grew up on the Grant/Breyfogle Detective Comics, so Lady Clayface is a major draw for me. So I will stick with this and see where it goes. I honestly feel the characterization could be a lot richer, and Orlando only has five issues left to do something meaningful with this line-up, but I'll stick around to see where two of my preferred D list DC characters go. If Klarion the Witch Boy shows up, I'll be happier still. I'd also give this a 7/10 |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 11, 2019 21:25:11 GMT -5
Event Leviathan #4Written by Brian Michael Bendis Art by Alex Maleev Summary: Too late, thwhtguardian . Just bought and sped through issues #2-4 of Event Leviathan tonight. I'm in deep now, but my negative opinion of the event is solidifying. Four issues in and its clear what the overall scope of this series will be -- by the final issue, it will still be the same damn night it's been for the last four issues, or possibly the morning after. The threat they've been trying to analyze and prevent all along will not be thwarted, and this whole thing will end on a cliffhanger, forcing you to follow the next series to find out what happens. It's plain as day to me that this is where the series ends up going. In the meantime, absolutely nothing of importance has happened. A bunch of heroes stand around debating who Leviathan is while nothing actually gets accomplished. Four issues of that, now, and the big twist at the end of each issue, promising action and important new twists, never ends up delivering. I'll probably finish out the series because, four issues in, why not? But man was I a sucker to buy into this. I come back to mainstream comics after eight years and learn I was absolutely right all along. Pointless. Art: It's nice to look at, but there's only so much you can do to make folks standing around, talking, interesting for four issues now. Grade: 4/10 It's Bendis.. his speciality is people standing around and talking (usually, they all sound like Spider-Man) |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 12, 2019 8:18:30 GMT -5
Gotham City Monsters #1Written by Steve Orlando Art by Amancay Nahuelpan Summary: In an abandoned section of Gotham now left only to Monsters an even greater menace returns. Plot: shaxper After reading this I think it's safe to say you can drop the actual Leviathen event and jump right into this as I had no problem getting the jist of what happened. The details aren't clear for me, but they don't really need to be; a great catastrophic event has happened leaving a section of Gotham destroyed and monsters have built their own community in its ashes and Bane is mayor of the rest of Gotham for some reason which paves the way for Frankenstein, Andrew Bennett(I, Vampire for the uninitiated) Killer Croc, Orca and Lady Clay Face(Holy D-List Villains Batman!) to join forces to stop Melmoth from concurring the world. It's basically a really great monster mash up that I just couldn't pass up even given my loathing of Steve Orlando, and I'm happy to say that it actually held up much better than anything else I've ever tried by Orlando; the each character was given their own introduction scene and the depth of characterization in each segment was really compelling, making you instantly invested in each character which is pretty impressive given that the last two members are villains that are not exactly big draws(orca and lady clayface). On top of that the cameos of such characters as the Mad Monk and the Tusk(Ireally wish they had kept him!) were really fun and the connection to Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers story was really well done. I'm seriously looking forward to seeing this play out. Art: I've never heard of Nahuelpan before and his look is nothing much to right home about. It's the kind of DC house style of late, lacking it's own individual sense of identity or mood, but it's atleast clean and conveys the action well so it at least doesn't distract from the story. Grade:7+/10 Just finished this up. I can't say I enjoyed it as much as you, but I see its potential. I found Orlando excessively wordy and inaccessible. He presents names and details like you should know them already and then explains them much later on, I think, just to impress you. You mentioned the series drawing inspiration from Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory, and that's it exactly -- Orlando's approach reeks of Morrison's inaccessible, let-me-pretend-to-be-more-clever-than-you-when-I'm-actually-just-being-needlessly-vague style. But yeah, I love Morrison's Frankenstein, and I grew up on the Grant/Breyfogle Detective Comics, so Lady Clayface is a major draw for me. So I will stick with this and see where it goes. I honestly feel the characterization could be a lot richer, and Orlando only has five issues left to do something meaningful with this line-up, but I'll stick around to see where two of my preferred D list DC characters go. If Klarion the Witch Boy shows up, I'll be happier still. I'd also give this a 7/10 It gets the plus from me mostly on potential and the fact that I usually hate Steve Orlando's writing so the fact that he turned in something decent I feel deserves a little praise to balance out my usual vitriol towards his craft. The way I see it is that this is the DC version of House of Frankenstein/Dracula, meaning that I don't think it'll be the greatest thing since sliced bread but I'm hoping it'll be fun just to see my favorite monsters on one screen. And you know, sometimes that's good enough. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 12, 2019 8:40:33 GMT -5
Sonata #4Written by David Hine and Brian Haberlin Art by Brian Haberlin and Geirod Van Dyke Summary: Sonata, Pau and Treen fend off a pack of Grimkats while their parents run into danger in the Valley of Sleeping Giants.
Plot: In this fourth outing Hine and Haberlin’s script continues to set everything onto the page with a clean, pulpy simplicity. Through their differeing reactions to the Grimcat attack we the fact that Sonata’s people are peaceful, while Pau’s people are warlike is again established while we learn more details pointing towards how the Lumani evidently turned their back on advanced technology in favor of being more in tune with the environment. I've said it in the past reviews but it bears repeating, yes it’s all pretty simple stuff and like it's clearest inspiration, Star Wars, the dialogue can feel a bit clunky in places, but honestly neither are serious distractions as the fantasy world itself and its ability to draw you and and explore it yourself is the main draw to the book and that mystery continues to be a strong presence. On top of all that the overall momentum of the series seems to be picking up quite well, now that the basic plot dynamics are set up the sense of adventure is really getting turned up and we're churning our way through some pretty impressive visuals.
Art: Though a little bit wooden in bigger shots, Haberlin’s art is remarkably atmospheric in the smaller moments of this issue, with the emotions of Sonata and Pau rendered in an incredibly vivid way in the close-up shots. I think what really makes it work here are Van Dyke’s colors which have a profound effect of higlighting the emotions of the issue, granting a starry glow to a significant moment between Sonata and Pau that might otherwise have felt stiff and awkward in spite of Habelin’s best efforts reminds me of the soft look that such scenes would have gotten in old Hollywood movies which is a great effect.
Grade:9/10 |
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Post by shaxper on Sept 12, 2019 9:30:22 GMT -5
The way I see it is that this is the DC version of House of Frankenstein/Dracula, meaning that I don't think it'll be the greatest thing since sliced bread but I'm hoping it'll be fun just to see my favorite monsters on one screen. And you know, sometimes that's good enough. My feeling, exactly. If Orlando can get out of the way and just let the characters be themselves, I'll be content. I don't need a brilliant plot and witty, enigmatic dialogue. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 12, 2019 9:41:35 GMT -5
The way I see it is that this is the DC version of House of Frankenstein/Dracula, meaning that I don't think it'll be the greatest thing since sliced bread but I'm hoping it'll be fun just to see my favorite monsters on one screen. And you know, sometimes that's good enough. My feeling, exactly. If Orlando can get out of the way and just let the characters be themselves, I'll be content. I don't need a brilliant plot and witty, enigmatic dialogue. Was there a lot of that? I mean, I can kind of see Frakenstein's dialogue being described that way but I've always liked that he talks like he learned how to speak English from reading 19th century poetry. |
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Post by shaxper on Sept 12, 2019 10:01:42 GMT -5
My feeling, exactly. If Orlando can get out of the way and just let the characters be themselves, I'll be content. I don't need a brilliant plot and witty, enigmatic dialogue. Was there a lot of that? I mean, I can kind of see Frakenstein's dialogue being described that way but I've always liked that he talks like he learned how to speak English from reading 19th century poetry. It was mostly just dropping names and references that the reader did not understand, only to explain them all a few pages later. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 12, 2019 20:18:18 GMT -5
Was there a lot of that? I mean, I can kind of see Frakenstein's dialogue being described that way but I've always liked that he talks like he learned how to speak English from reading 19th century poetry. It was mostly just dropping names and references that the reader did not understand, only to explain them all a few pages later. Maybe its because I just re-read Seven Soldiers last week but I didn't lose any references like that; about all that I was missing were references to what I'm assuming is the Leviathan event. |
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