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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 25, 2019 16:41:04 GMT -5
OFF THE RACKS If you read it, let us know here! |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 25, 2019 18:20:58 GMT -5
Marvel Comics Presents #9Written by Charles Soule and Zach Thompson Art by Paulo Siqueira and Andre Araujo Summary: In the first feature Wolverine and his daughter defeat the Truth and in the second feature Wolverine enters the Matrix.
Plot: At long last Soule concludes his time traveling Wolverine road trip and while the last couple chapters have felt a little like it was treading water the ending was decent. I feel like the whole only the Truth can defeat the Truth element was something that needed prior development for it to really work as it felt a little like like a cop out being just dropped on the reader at the last second. That said, the thrust of Wolverine's journey was still solid and the end with his future self set in stone along with the demon was fitting. The second feature was a little strange, it was a play on the Marvel Spotlight feature, which in the past was used to set stories in past decades to reflect on then current events but here instead of being in the past it was set in a possible future. Combining elements of a typical Wolverine plot with a world similar to Ready Player One and the Matrix the story was fun for what it was but it was lacking in anything that would make you want to revisit again. All said and done although the book has had it's ups and downs I'm glad I've supported it thus far as I love anthologies. I don't know if more issues are slated but there was a solicit for letters to the editor so hopefully there will be more.
Art: It was goo to see Siqueira back on art as I had missed him in the last two chapters and the almost Mobius like work from Araujo fit the future Wolverine story very well.
Grade:6+/10
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 26, 2019 11:06:16 GMT -5
Grimm Tales of Terror: The Bridgewater Triangle #1Written by Brian Studdler Art by Deveis Gotten Summary: A group of college students travel out to the burbs of Boston to explore folktales surrounds the Bridgewater Triangle Plot: I kind of thought that this was going to be bad going into this as it was from Zenescope, but my curiosity over seeing local Massachusetts folklore in a comic won me over and I'm really sad that it did. I've read some bad books in my time...but never any I actually threw away after reading them. I just couldn't see myself ever wanting to read this book ever again and even donating elsewhere and inflicting it upon some other poor soul just seemed like a poor choice so in my trash can it went. The area known as the Bridgewater Triangle has a lot of great folklore around it, a mash up of Native American mythology, colonial history and urban legends and while the creature known as a Pukwudgie is featured here rather than relying on the Native American mythology it hails from it's played as a substitute for Jason that terrorizes a pair of amorous college kids in an abandoned summer camp. Why the writer chose to use the setting for their story with out actually using the setting is beyond me. Art: Adding insult to injury the art only serves to pile on the crap in this book, from nondescript looking female characters with ridiculously huge, anatomically incorrect breasts (a staple of zenescope) to two dimensional framing it's just a mess. But the worst part in my eyes? Nothing looks like Massachusetts. The Hocomock swamp is rendered in your typical spanish moss covered trees like something out of the everglades...which isn't what a swamp looks like in New England at all, and then while driving on a dirt road in what looks like the Amazon rainforest a character quips," We're on 138 now...." where as 138 isn't some back water, unpaved road but a busy state highway. Again, if you're going to use a setting why not actually use it? I get it, the artist isn't local but the internet allows you to get references easily: The Hocomock Swamp  Rt.138 in Taunton, Ma:  Grade: I'd like to give it a -100 out of 10 |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2019 13:55:40 GMT -5
 Shazam! #7. Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Dale Eaglesham and Scot Kolins. I had forgotten what has happened in this series since issue #6 was released over 3 months ago. I have no idea why there has been lengthy delays. The plot of Billy's biological father appearing is pushed aside to a later issue yet again. Mary reveals her hero ID to her foster parents and Billy is forced to do the same thing. Meanwhile the other 4 are still trapped in the Magic Lands. This whole series has had odd pacing. Johns has done much better in the past. Despite the delays the art looked rushed. 5/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2019 14:01:42 GMT -5
 Jughead's Time Police #4. Written by Sina Grace. Art by Derek Charm. Cover by Rebekah Isaacs. First I love this cover. This adventure showing all the different versions of Jughead thru the years plus the current Jughead jumping around throughout time... is just a fun and entertaining series. 9/10. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 27, 2019 17:16:01 GMT -5
Shazam! #7. Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Dale Eaglesham and Scot Kolins. I had forgotten what has happened in this series since issue #6 was released over 3 months ago. I have no idea why there has been lengthy delays. The plot of Billy's biological father appearing is pushed aside to a later issue yet again. Mary reveals her hero ID to her foster parents and Billy is forced to do the same thing. Meanwhile the other 4 are still trapped in the Magic Lands. This whole series has had odd pacing. Johns has done much better in the past. Despite the delays the art looked rushed. 5/10. The delays killed this for me, it had a great start but I couldn't keep with it. |
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Post by hondobrode on Sept 28, 2019 11:59:15 GMT -5
Grimm Tales of Terror: The Bridgewater Triangle #1Written by Brian Studdler Art by Deveis Gotten Summary: A group of college students travel out to the burbs of Boston to explore folktales surrounds the Bridgewater Triangle Plot: I kind of thought that this was going to be bad going into this as it was from Zenescope, but my curiosity over seeing local Massachusetts folklore in a comic won me over and I'm really sad that it did. I've read some bad books in my time...but never any I actually threw away after reading them. I just couldn't see myself ever wanting to read this book ever again and even donating elsewhere and inflicting it upon some other poor soul just seemed like a poor choice so in my trash can it went. The area known as the Bridgewater Triangle has a lot of great folklore around it, a mash up of Native American mythology, colonial history and urban legends and while the creature known as a Pukwudgie is featured here rather than relying on the Native American mythology it hails from it's played as a substitute for Jason that terrorizes a pair of amorous college kids in an abandoned summer camp. Why the writer chose to use the setting for their story with out actually using the setting is beyond me. Art: Adding insult to injury the art only serves to pile on the crap in this book, from nondescript looking female characters with ridiculously huge, anatomically incorrect breasts (a staple of zenescope) to two dimensional framing it's just a mess. But the worst part in my eyes? Nothing looks like Massachusetts. The Hocomock swamp is rendered in your typical spanish moss covered trees like something out of the everglades...which isn't what a swamp looks like in New England at all, and then while driving on a dirt road in what looks like the Amazon rainforest a character quips," We're on 138 now...." where as 138 isn't some back water, unpaved road but a busy state highway. Again, if you're going to use a setting why not actually use it? I get it, the artist isn't local but the internet allows you to get references easily: The Hocomock Swamp Rt.138 in Taunton, Ma: Grade: I'd like to give it a -100 out of 10 I'll admit a prejudice on my part. I have no taste or potential interest in anything from Zenescope. |
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Post by hondobrode on Sept 28, 2019 12:05:39 GMT -5
Shazam! #7. Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Dale Eaglesham and Scot Kolins. I had forgotten what has happened in this series since issue #6 was released over 3 months ago. I have no idea why there has been lengthy delays. The plot of Billy's biological father appearing is pushed aside to a later issue yet again. Mary reveals her hero ID to her foster parents and Billy is forced to do the same thing. Meanwhile the other 4 are still trapped in the Magic Lands. This whole series has had odd pacing. Johns has done much better in the past. Despite the delays the art looked rushed. 5/10. The delays killed this for me, it had a great start but I couldn't keep with it. The delays are on Eaglesham, I'm pretty sure. Can't believe it's spiraled so far off schedule and that DC and the editor haven't kept this on track, especially with the goodwill and mojo from the movie; a small tragedy here. I'm a big Shazam fan, and Johns fan too, but I'm really disappointed with this killing the vibe. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 28, 2019 18:53:25 GMT -5
Grimm Tales of Terror: The Bridgewater Triangle #1Written by Brian Studdler Art by Deveis Gotten Summary: A group of college students travel out to the burbs of Boston to explore folktales surrounds the Bridgewater Triangle Plot: I kind of thought that this was going to be bad going into this as it was from Zenescope, but my curiosity over seeing local Massachusetts folklore in a comic won me over and I'm really sad that it did. I've read some bad books in my time...but never any I actually threw away after reading them. I just couldn't see myself ever wanting to read this book ever again and even donating elsewhere and inflicting it upon some other poor soul just seemed like a poor choice so in my trash can it went. The area known as the Bridgewater Triangle has a lot of great folklore around it, a mash up of Native American mythology, colonial history and urban legends and while the creature known as a Pukwudgie is featured here rather than relying on the Native American mythology it hails from it's played as a substitute for Jason that terrorizes a pair of amorous college kids in an abandoned summer camp. Why the writer chose to use the setting for their story with out actually using the setting is beyond me. Art: Adding insult to injury the art only serves to pile on the crap in this book, from nondescript looking female characters with ridiculously huge, anatomically incorrect breasts (a staple of zenescope) to two dimensional framing it's just a mess. But the worst part in my eyes? Nothing looks like Massachusetts. The Hocomock swamp is rendered in your typical spanish moss covered trees like something out of the everglades...which isn't what a swamp looks like in New England at all, and then while driving on a dirt road in what looks like the Amazon rainforest a character quips," We're on 138 now...." where as 138 isn't some back water, unpaved road but a busy state highway. Again, if you're going to use a setting why not actually use it? I get it, the artist isn't local but the internet allows you to get references easily: The Hocomock Swamp Rt.138 in Taunton, Ma: Grade: I'd like to give it a -100 out of 10 I'll admit a prejudice on my part. I have no taste or potential interest in anything from Zenescope. As am I, I think this was the first time I've actually bought one of their books after years of cringing at their horrible covers. I went into not expecting much but even the low expectation I had was much too high. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 28, 2019 20:26:00 GMT -5
Hill House SamplerWritten by Joe Hill,Mike Carey and Carmen Machado Art by Leomacs, Peter Gross and Dani Summary: A preview of three of the new books coming out under horror writer Joe Hill's new imprint.
Plot: I'm a big fan of horror, especially in comics and although I have generally liked Hill's father(Stephen King) more than Hill himself the fact that he was getting his own imprint was incredibly promising and this preview definitely showed that books look like they have a good chance of delivering the goods. The setting of an idyllic summer town in contrast to bloody murder presented in Basket Full of Heads definitely seemed the strongest of the three titles shown, but Mike Carey's Dollhouse Family had a great concept that I'm dying to explore. The third book by Machado was the only book I wasn't immediately sold on in the preview, two girls with lost time with some shadowy horror images at the end just wasn't enough to tell you what the book was about and the art by Dani wasn't exactly big on details with a lot of the panels being very muddy; still even though not as amazing as the other two I'll probably still be checking it out.
Grade:8/10 |
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Post by Dizzy D on Oct 1, 2019 11:28:15 GMT -5
Harleen #1
Written by Stjepan Šejić
Art by Stjepan ŠejićThis is a copy of a post I've written on another site and does not really fit the usual format, but I wanted to talk about this comic. Format: It's part 1 of 3 (far as I can tell the whole series will be coming out monthly and then collected). It's a graphic novel in a European softcover format (well sorta, there is no standard European comic format, so this one is a bit shorter (to be clear, I'm talking about height/width not pagelength.) than most that I have), so it's larger than standard American comics. 64 pages, no ads whatsoever unless you count issue 2 coming in October at the end. Summary: It's the story of Harleen looking for a grant for her research (with a few flashbacks to her college time and beyond), getting hired at Arkham up to her first interview with the Joker. It's all Harleen before she became Harley Quinn in this issue, so no wacky hi-jinks at all. Just an idealistic young woman, who has made some bad decisions in the past, trying to get a job to prove her theories, but haunted by nightmares. Plot: Spoilers though basically this is all familiar territory for most of us, I guess. Still spoiled for long: I will be doing my best to sticking to using Harleen for the young Dr. Quinzel and Harley after she has been changed by the Joker/current version, but I may slip from time to time.
In this first issue, Harleen is an idealistic researcher, having done research on American soldiers turning war criminal and is working on a theory about prolonged high stress environments have the fight or flight response overruling empathy till it actually breaks any empathy within a person. She wants to research this further, hoping to find a way to if not cure it, at least predict it/diagnose the early stages and prevent people vulnerable to this behaviour from escalating. Sadly for her, no company seems to think that there is any money in this, so no research money is available.
Harleen is also young (well 30 years by the time the story starts), depressed, single with only 1 friend around (a friend from college who has less scruples but still is a good friend to her). There is the bit with Harleen sleeping with one of her college professors so she has a reputation for sleeping around to raise her grades, but the reputation is unearned: the story establishes that she was already top of the class for the relationship began and that she was just not interested in her fellow students, finding them immature (also one of her later employers points out that she had great grades in *all* classes and they had some of the same teachers (including one crotchety old woman) and knew that Harleen had to put in some real work to pass those classes). Still it was a mistake and she is paying for it, especially as one of the girls that spread the rumours is working at her current place of employment.
After a night drinking with her friend from college, Harleen runs into the Joker and gang stealing weapons. The Joker points his gun at her, but decides not to shoot her (he just thought it was funnier if she would have nightmares for the rest of her life of this moment than the single shot). Batman then arrives on the scene and fights the Joker and the pretty brutal fight is a big part of Harleen's nightmares for the coming months. She does get a bit of good news; Lucius Fox, on behalf of the Wayne Corporation tells her that he believes that her ideas have merit and that Wayne is very interested in ways to reduce crime so she has her money, Wayne has invested in Arkham, so she will have access to Arkham.
So Harleen can go to Arkham to interview criminals to find any that match her theory (quick cameos of a lot of the main Batman rogue gallery including Ivy. Ivy and Harleen don't connect in the one-panel interview, while the original fan comic this thing is based upon is Harley telling this story to Ivy, so if that narrative device was worked in here, I'd have expected some reaction from Harleen to Ivy in the narration. Oh and Ivy is absolutely unqualified for her research; Ivy's problem is not that she lacks empathy, she feels the pain of all plants around her and Harleen taking notes on dead trees does *not* endear her to Ivy. She still has nightmares about her first encounter with the Joker, so she tries to avoid him, but finally decides to look into him. Interviews by other doctors, she realizes that he lies to all of them, displaying a different persona to each of them for his own amusement, but a video of Joker outside a courtroom being accused by the relative of some victim shows her what she believes to be the real Joker and he fits her theory perfectly. Still she does not want to meet him again.
It's only when DA Harvey Dent approaches her and tells her to drop her research, because he thinks it will prove an easy way out for many criminals in Gotham. Harleen is infuriated and fueled by her anger, she finally has worked up the courage to interview the Joker. It seems that the Joker realizes that he can't play the usual games with her as she tells him that she looked through the previous interviews. He asks her to call him Jay and she, thinking that she can control this situation, agrees to call him Mister Jay from now on.
To be continued... Opinion:If you read bits of the original fan webcomic by Šejić: this is a complete rewrite/rework, while probably still hitting the same themes (the web comic was mostly short scenes further along in the relationship between Joker and Harley and mostly Harley coming to grips with her mistakes and moving on with Ivy. This first issue is all about establishing who Harleen Quinzel was before meeting the Joker: not a bad person, but haunted by a mistake she made and a traumatic experience and the frustrating experiences she has with her co-workers and the people at Arkham, all building up to her making her greatest mistake. I really liked it (and I usually care little for Harley (at least the Deadpool-lite version that many current writers have made of her) and even less for the Joker) and am eagerly awaiting the next issues.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Oct 1, 2019 11:54:34 GMT -5
Harleen #1
Written by Stjepan Šejić
Art by Stjepan ŠejićThis is a copy of a post I've written on another site and does not really fit the usual format, but I wanted to talk about this comic. Format: It's part 1 of 3 (far as I can tell the whole series will be coming out monthly and then collected). It's a graphic novel in a European softcover format (well sorta, there is no standard European comic format, so this one is a bit shorter (to be clear, I'm talking about height/width not pagelength.) than most that I have), so it's larger than standard American comics. 64 pages, no ads whatsoever unless you count issue 2 coming in October at the end. Summary: It's the story of Harleen looking for a grant for her research (with a few flashbacks to her college time and beyond), getting hired at Arkham up to her first interview with the Joker. It's all Harleen before she became Harley Quinn in this issue, so no wacky hi-jinks at all. Just an idealistic young woman, who has made some bad decisions in the past, trying to get a job to prove her theories, but haunted by nightmares. Plot: Spoilers though basically this is all familiar territory for most of us, I guess. Still spoiled for long: I will be doing my best to sticking to using Harleen for the young Dr. Quinzel and Harley after she has been changed by the Joker/current version, but I may slip from time to time.
In this first issue, Harleen is an idealistic researcher, having done research on American soldiers turning war criminal and is working on a theory about prolonged high stress environments have the fight or flight response overruling empathy till it actually breaks any empathy within a person. She wants to research this further, hoping to find a way to if not cure it, at least predict it/diagnose the early stages and prevent people vulnerable to this behaviour from escalating. Sadly for her, no company seems to think that there is any money in this, so no research money is available.
Harleen is also young (well 30 years by the time the story starts), depressed, single with only 1 friend around (a friend from college who has less scruples but still is a good friend to her). There is the bit with Harleen sleeping with one of her college professors so she has a reputation for sleeping around to raise her grades, but the reputation is unearned: the story establishes that she was already top of the class for the relationship began and that she was just not interested in her fellow students, finding them immature (also one of her later employers points out that she had great grades in *all* classes and they had some of the same teachers (including one crotchety old woman) and knew that Harleen had to put in some real work to pass those classes). Still it was a mistake and she is paying for it, especially as one of the girls that spread the rumours is working at her current place of employment.
After a night drinking with her friend from college, Harleen runs into the Joker and gang stealing weapons. The Joker points his gun at her, but decides not to shoot her (he just thought it was funnier if she would have nightmares for the rest of her life of this moment than the single shot). Batman then arrives on the scene and fights the Joker and the pretty brutal fight is a big part of Harleen's nightmares for the coming months. She does get a bit of good news; Lucius Fox, on behalf of the Wayne Corporation tells her that he believes that her ideas have merit and that Wayne is very interested in ways to reduce crime so she has her money, Wayne has invested in Arkham, so she will have access to Arkham.
So Harleen can go to Arkham to interview criminals to find any that match her theory (quick cameos of a lot of the main Batman rogue gallery including Ivy. Ivy and Harleen don't connect in the one-panel interview, while the original fan comic this thing is based upon is Harley telling this story to Ivy, so if that narrative device was worked in here, I'd have expected some reaction from Harleen to Ivy in the narration. Oh and Ivy is absolutely unqualified for her research; Ivy's problem is not that she lacks empathy, she feels the pain of all plants around her and Harleen taking notes on dead trees does *not* endear her to Ivy. She still has nightmares about her first encounter with the Joker, so she tries to avoid him, but finally decides to look into him. Interviews by other doctors, she realizes that he lies to all of them, displaying a different persona to each of them for his own amusement, but a video of Joker outside a courtroom being accused by the relative of some victim shows her what she believes to be the real Joker and he fits her theory perfectly. Still she does not want to meet him again.
It's only when DA Harvey Dent approaches her and tells her to drop her research, because he thinks it will prove an easy way out for many criminals in Gotham. Harleen is infuriated and fueled by her anger, she finally has worked up the courage to interview the Joker. It seems that the Joker realizes that he can't play the usual games with her as she tells him that she looked through the previous interviews. He asks her to call him Jay and she, thinking that she can control this situation, agrees to call him Mister Jay from now on.
To be continued... Opinion:If you read bits of the original fan webcomic by Šejić: this is a complete rewrite/rework, while probably still hitting the same themes (the web comic was mostly short scenes further along in the relationship between Joker and Harley and mostly Harley coming to grips with her mistakes and moving on with Ivy. This first issue is all about establishing who Harleen Quinzel was before meeting the Joker: not a bad person, but haunted by a mistake she made and a traumatic experience and the frustrating experiences she has with her co-workers and the people at Arkham, all building up to her making her greatest mistake. I really liked it (and I usually care little for Harley (at least the Deadpool-lite version that many current writers have made of her) and even less for the Joker) and am eagerly awaiting the next issues. I probably won't be picking this up but I really love that DC is putting out the OGNs to the mass market rather than just sticking with comic shops. |
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