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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 15, 2020 18:53:48 GMT -5
OFF THE RACKSReal Readers, real reviews  |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 15, 2020 19:37:38 GMT -5
Hellboy Winter Special 2019Written by Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson and Scott Allie Art by Mark Laszlo, Leila Del Duca and Andrea Mutti Summary: A tale of a ghostly miser, a giant beast framed for murder and a demonic child fill out this winter special.
Plot: I've long been a big fan of these winter specials as they allow for a wider variety of writers and artists who aren't usually associated with Hellboy to take a swing for the fences...but this year was a pretty big let down. While I generally like short stories, and I think horror stories work especially well in that vain they still need their own beginnings, middles and ends and none of these entries bothered to build themselves properly; which kills any tension and gives the reader no catharsis at the end.
Art: On top of the lack luster stories, aside from Andrea Mutti, the artists picked turned in art that was just as flat as the plots.
Grade:5/10 |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 20:16:59 GMT -5
 Legion of Super Heroes #3. Written by Brian Michael Bendis. Art by Ryan Sook and Travis Moore. The Good: Bendis reveals more of the 31st century. Planet Gotham. Rimbor. Interactions between the Legion and other planets. Jon taking Damian to meet the Legion. The Bad: The Legion's horrified reaction to Damian. Bendis keeps pushing Jon's orientation to further issues. Mon-El starts to reveal his connection to Jon but is stopped. As before Bendis has so much potential with this title that can play to his strengths... but the minor teases get old really fast. He really would benefit from a co-writer that has a better sense of pacing. I feel like he is trying to be clever but it comes off as annoying instead. I have such mixed feelings. I like some of the stuff he does plus the art is beautiful. But I may end dropping yet another title that he writes due to his overly decompressed pacing. 6/10. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 20:31:41 GMT -5
 Archie #710. Written by Mariko Tamaki and Kevin Panetta. Art and Cover by Laura Braga. A new creative team. Archie and Sabrina are still a couple but there is a new girl in Riverdale. Who is Katy Keene and why is she so popular? Everyone wants to be her friend. This arc will re-introduce Katy Keene to the Archie Universe. Of course it is because of the new CW series Katy Keene (Riverdale spin off). This was the first issue since the New Riverdale launched in 2015 that I wasn't thrilled with. It may get better as the arc goes on. It is only 4 issues. I could see this fitting better in a Betty & Veronica title than the main Archie title. The art is decent. 6/10. |
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Post by hondobrode on Jan 18, 2020 3:58:21 GMT -5
 Dawnie is back and her last name is Gr'Ell. Grell ? Get it ? cute  Jon decides to bring the other half of the Super Sons to drop in to the 31st century, except, no says the Legion, with whispers of Baby Hitler and Saturn Girl implanting the idea it was just a dream and returning Damian to where he was in the 21st century and Jo Nah's dad, Crav the General Nah, warrior ruler of Rimbor, is arrested as he's the one after Aquaman's trident and upset he doesn't have it
and Mordru is interrogated on Planet Gotham and that doesn't go as planned 
I *** hate *** Blok's current look
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,867
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Post by shaxper on Jan 21, 2020 11:02:38 GMT -5
Hellboy Winter Special 2019Written by Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson and Scott Allie Art by Mark Laszlo, Leila Del Duca and Andrea Mutti Summary: A tale of a ghostly miser, a giant beast framed for murder and a demonic child fill out this winter special.
Plot: I've long been a big fan of these winter specials as they allow for a wider variety of writers and artists who aren't usually associated with Hellboy to take a swing for the fences...but this year was a pretty big let down. While I generally like short stories, and I think horror stories work especially well in that vain they still need their own beginnings, middles and ends and none of these entries bothered to build themselves properly; which kills any tension and gives the reader no catharsis at the end.
Art: On top of the lack luster stories, aside from Andrea Mutti, the artists picked turned in art that was just as flat as the plots.
Grade:5/10 Seems like the Mignolaverse was consistently gettig 8s or higher from you until last year. Do you perceive a general shift in the creative direction(s) of the universe, or is this just another in a series of random outliers? |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 21, 2020 11:28:43 GMT -5
Hellboy Winter Special 2019Written by Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson and Scott Allie Art by Mark Laszlo, Leila Del Duca and Andrea Mutti Summary: A tale of a ghostly miser, a giant beast framed for murder and a demonic child fill out this winter special.
Plot: I've long been a big fan of these winter specials as they allow for a wider variety of writers and artists who aren't usually associated with Hellboy to take a swing for the fences...but this year was a pretty big let down. While I generally like short stories, and I think horror stories work especially well in that vain they still need their own beginnings, middles and ends and none of these entries bothered to build themselves properly; which kills any tension and gives the reader no catharsis at the end.
Art: On top of the lack luster stories, aside from Andrea Mutti, the artists picked turned in art that was just as flat as the plots.
Grade:5/10 Seems like the Mignolaverse was consistently gettig 8s or higher from you until last year. Do you perceive a general shift in the creative direction(s) of the universe, or is this just another in a series of random outliers? It's definitely been a rocky road of late, while there have been flashes of the old brilliance here and there over all I feel like Mignola just hasn't had his heart in it. There were cracks towards the end of Hellboy in Hell which got suddenly truncated and then again at the end of BPRD which had yet another quick end but it's only grown since then. |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,867
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Post by shaxper on Jan 21, 2020 11:37:41 GMT -5
Seems like the Mignolaverse was consistently gettig 8s or higher from you until last year. Do you perceive a general shift in the creative direction(s) of the universe, or is this just another in a series of random outliers? It's definitely been a rocky road of late, while there have been flashes of the old brilliance here and there over all I feel like Mignola just hasn't had his heart in it. There were cracks towards the end of Hellboy in Hell which got suddenly truncated and then again at the end of BPRD which had yet another quick end but it's only grown since then. This makes me worry for the overall future of Dark Horse. In the past decade, they have lost Conan, Star Wars, and Usagi Yojimbo. If the Mignola-verse fizzles, what flagship is left for them? I wonder if this warrants its own discussion? |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 21, 2020 22:14:01 GMT -5
Iron Man 2020 #1
Plot: The Robot Revolution continues... still. Arno Stark has gotten legal approval that Tony Stark is dead, and the version of him that's running around is an AI, and AIs have no rights. He's apparently preparing for some sort of alien invasion only he knows is coming, and it uses robots. Basically, substitute every minor character that was a robot for the X-Men, and you have Slott re-writing Days of Future past.
I was enjoying where the story was going at first, but it he's now had 20 issues, and it's still just perocating... apparently '2020' is an event.. there's 18 parts in the 'checklist'.. including a Force Works book, a Rescue book and 'iWolverine' (they mentioned a robot double of Wolverine in this issues, so that must be it).
This might be the one that gets me to stop buying Iron Man comics (it almost happened with Riri... they pulled that back and put her in her own book just it time)... maybe when the trade comes out.
Overall: 4/10
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 22, 2020 12:59:30 GMT -5
It's definitely been a rocky road of late, while there have been flashes of the old brilliance here and there over all I feel like Mignola just hasn't had his heart in it. There were cracks towards the end of Hellboy in Hell which got suddenly truncated and then again at the end of BPRD which had yet another quick end but it's only grown since then. This makes me worry for the overall future of Dark Horse. In the past decade, they have lost Conan, Star Wars, and Usagi Yojimbo. If the Mignola-verse fizzles, what flagship is left for them? I wonder if this warrants its own discussion? While there are still some good books put out by dark horse it definitely has seen better days, which is a shame. |
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Post by rberman on Jan 22, 2020 12:59:53 GMT -5
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 22, 2020 13:20:54 GMT -5
There was a very limited period of time when Legion sold very well without being tied to the Superman/boy mythos. Otherwise it's always been marginal. At a guess I'd say that it has a lot to do with not being directly tied into the main DCU. Yes it's tied in, but it's a thousand years in the future so Batman isn't going to just show up and it's not going to have intimate ties to whatever stupid event is happening this week. Since shared universe fans are a superstitious and cowardly lot outlier books seldom do well. |
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Post by rberman on Jan 22, 2020 13:42:12 GMT -5
There was a very limited period of time when Legion sold very well without being tied to the Superman/boy mythos. Otherwise it's always been marginal. At a guess I'd say that it has a lot to do with not being directly tied into the main DCU. Yes it's tied in, but it's a thousand years in the future so Batman isn't going to just show up and it's not going to have intimate ties to whatever stupid event is happening this week. Since shared universe fans are a superstitious and cowardly lot outlier books seldom do well. That's lame but probably accurate. I enjoyed reading Silver Age LSH in grade school and Levitz/Giffen era in junior high. I found each one engaging in its own right without any need for crossover. I guess I am an outlier too. |
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Post by brutalis on Jan 22, 2020 13:45:10 GMT -5
Maybe because new fans for LOSH really aren't there for it. It is a "dated" concept because most kids of today are NOT into groups or clubs. It is a world of Individuals. Hanging out together as a "group" isn't what kids do today. The only large groups of kids you will find is via internet connect these days via chat rooms or group gaming and not in person. Plus, the old guard fans want the "traditional/classic" LOSH they grew up with, but DC seems intent on forgetting that version in favor of changing or killing off beloved characters. Anything to entice new followers to the LOSH is good, but it's difficult to create a "new" universe in a short amount of time without taking time to build up each character. Everyone needs their moment to shine, and with the sales driven buy or cancel in a matter of months aspect of comics these days, time is not on the LOSH side. Example: this is only the 3rd issue and Ultraboy's dad and Superboy and Robin are more prominent than showing and giving us Ultraboy and the LOSH having ADVENTURES together. Gimme the Legion members without all the backstory/set up and just get on with the teens doing their thing in the future and reveal their world around that. |
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Post by rberman on Jan 22, 2020 13:49:39 GMT -5
Maybe because new fans for LOSH really aren't there for it. It is a "dated" concept because most kids of today are NOT into groups or clubs. It is a world of Individuals. Hanging out together as a "group" isn't what kids do today. The only large groups of kids you will find is via internet connect these days via chat rooms or group gaming and not in person. Plus, the old guard fans want the "traditional/classic" LOSH they grew up with, but DC seems intent on forgetting that version in favor of changing or killing off beloved characters. Anything to entice new followers to the LOSH is good, but it's difficult to create a "new" universe in a short amount of time without taking time to build up each character. Everyone needs their moment to shine, and with the ales driven buy or cancel in a matter of months aspect of comics these days, time is not on the LOSH side. Example: this is only the 3rd issue and Ultraboy's dad and Superboy and Robin are more prominent than showing and giving us Ultraboy and the LOSH having ADVENTURES together. Gimme the Legion members without all the backstory/set up and just get on with the teens doing their thing in the future and reveal their world around that. This also happened in the Johns/Perez "Legion of Three Worlds," the top selling Legion story of the last 20 years. Perez' presence was surely a draw. But also, despite having the titular three Legions' worth of heroes to play with, the plot was mainly about Kid Flash, Connor Kent, and the Tornado Twins defeating Superboy Prime. That continuity-heavy story could have been told in modern times without involving the Legion at all. Mark Waid actually predicted this in the Threeboot, which featured the Legion contending with a generation of grown-ups who only knew how to communicate with each other through social media rather than getting together in person. So maybe LSH is just ahead of its time, and kids twenty years from now will mock their elders for being so wired? |
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