Graphic Novel Review: Beasts of Burden & Irredeemable
Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites, by Evan Dorkin & Jill Thompson
Think of this as The Incredible Journey/Milo & Otis meets X-Files. Sounds bizarre, no? In lesser hands, this concept would be a mess. But with Dorkin’s smooth plotting and dialogue complimented by Thompson’s reliably charming watercolor illustrations, this is likely one of the best original series coming out of Dark Horse these days - and close second to any of the Hellboy/B.P.R.D. titles.
It also makes me want to get a cat. Or a pug.
Irredeemable Volume 4, by Mark Waid & Diego Barreto
Although the premise of this series is an original enough - pushing the concept that not only does power corrupt, but that absolute power corrupts absolutely - my interest started to wane for the very first time with this latest volume. At first I thought it was because of the split narrative structure. But since it worked so brilliantly in the first several volumes, I then realized that it wasn’t that.
What it clear is that Waid has a long-term endgame in mind. But it is taking too long, with seemingly unnecessary subplots that are detracting from the over-arching premise. If Waid - who penned such masterpieces as Marvels and Kingdom Come for the big two (Marvel and DC, respectively) - does have a winning hand here, he needs to play his cards a little more quickly. Or more consistently.
Think of this as The Incredible Journey/Milo & Otis meets X-Files. Sounds bizarre, no? In lesser hands, this concept would be a mess. But with Dorkin’s smooth plotting and dialogue complimented by Thompson’s reliably charming watercolor illustrations, this is likely one of the best original series coming out of Dark Horse these days - and close second to any of the Hellboy/B.P.R.D. titles.
It also makes me want to get a cat. Or a pug.
Irredeemable Volume 4, by Mark Waid & Diego Barreto
Although the premise of this series is an original enough - pushing the concept that not only does power corrupt, but that absolute power corrupts absolutely - my interest started to wane for the very first time with this latest volume. At first I thought it was because of the split narrative structure. But since it worked so brilliantly in the first several volumes, I then realized that it wasn’t that.
What it clear is that Waid has a long-term endgame in mind. But it is taking too long, with seemingly unnecessary subplots that are detracting from the over-arching premise. If Waid - who penned such masterpieces as Marvels and Kingdom Come for the big two (Marvel and DC, respectively) - does have a winning hand here, he needs to play his cards a little more quickly. Or more consistently.