Comic Reviews
Let's see if I can't keep up with these in a more timely manner.
Batwoman #5 - So Batwoman hunts down the ghost who's been kidnapping children and gets her to stop (cool "fight" with neat use of borders by Williams III), but there's someone else who was using the woman and the children are still lost. The Department of Extranormal Operations comes up to Kate and blackmails her into working for them, which Batman is not happy about. Neat art (as usual) and a story that is starting to chug along.
Eldritch! #4 - This issue follows the father of the demon baby and his denial of the elder gods invading his home. His wife tries to get him to admit a problem and do something about it, but he can't and she seems to commit suicide (that part was a bit confusing). Lots of creepy ass scenes (the mother stabbing the demon baby in the head) and good character development. The story doesn't move forward too much, but taking the time to flesh out the father was a welcome change of pace.
The Savage Dragon #175 - Confusing. I haven't read Savage Dragon in a long time, but this was touted as a jumping on point. Seems like Dragon was an amnesiac alien warlord and he's now in space with his family and there's parallel Earths and time travel and I have no idea what's going on. Part of the problem is some time jumps between pages that could have used more transitions. The issue was 48 pages long, but only half was dedicated to Dragon with the other half following a character with no introduction (I figure she's been part of the series?) and a short story of Vanguard faking a "Galactus" attack to protect the Earth (doesn't work). Everything here is all over the place and could use more focus, especially if this is supposed to be a new beginning for the series. The art's nice, though.
Secret Avengers #21 - So the SA have to invade a government building in a smart way (fake, hologram fire) in order to find a double agent selling secrets to ancient elder gods. Everyone gets a little bit to do (Beast does sciencey stuff, War Machine shots his guns, Moon Knight tortures someone,Valkyrie does some stabbing, Steve keeps his cool and gets everyone home). Final Ellis issue is about the same level as the one where they take out an office building, not as good as the crazy sci-fi issues. The series as a whole was a lot of fun, but like with a lot of other Ellis done-in-one stories, I wish it built to something in the end.
Atomic Robo and the Deadly Art of Science TPB vol. 05 - Another volume of Atomic Robo, this one showing Robo's start as an adventurer and a budding romance. It was nice to see the start of Robo's career and having Tesla kick the shit out of Edison (that asshole), but Robo is a bit (very) annoying throughout and I don't really sympathize with him as much as i usually would. The FCBD issue about a young girl dreaming of working with Robo and showing off at a science fair is really cool and funny and has a sweet ending.
The Comics Journal #301 - Not sure if I should talk about this here as it's almost all essays about comics. The biggest part this volume is a discussion of R. Crumb's Genesis. It was interesting with a half dozen view points, but after six essays, then six more essays critiquing the first six, you get
well over a hundred pages about a comic that I haven't read and don't have any more interest in reading that I had before.
Also notable is a look back at Cerebus, does it work as a single piece of literature, and trying to analyze it without bringing Sim's politics into it (well, as much as Sim lets you ignore them). Usually people either love Cerebus and apologize for it or hate it. It was nice to read a more neutral critique.
There's a ton more essays and reviews, the only thing really standing out for me is the look behind the scenes at making a journalistic comic and all the work and thought that goes into that kind of reporting. There's also a series of comics that were adapted from a Dr. Seuss idea, which were good, but definitely missing something.
Wolverine and the X-Men 4 - This issue deals more of the day-to-day operations of the school, which leads to plenty of funny moments (I love the teachers getting together discussing the problems that they are having). Having Deathklok teach a class on future history (Days of Future Past is the text book!) is both inspired and so very wrong. The two big things to come out of this is the introduction of Apocalypse's clone attending the school (he seems like a happy, if oblivious, dude) and us finding out that Angel no longer has his memories but thinks that he's a real angel (I thought he was dead?). Funny issue, if a bit of a placeholder.
Wolverine 300 - The Hand and the Yakuza are fighting and Wolverine's in the middle of it and Sabretooth is there for some reason (he also shows up at the end of Wolverineand the X-Men). There's some good parts (Wolverine fighting a plane full of Yakuza, "Sky Yakuza go!", the kinda scary way ninjas come into play, and some good action scenes), but I'm mostly lost with the story. Seems like Wolverine is just walking into something with a long history and we're just picking it up as we go along. This doesn't really feel like an anniversary issue. The story doesn't start or end here and there's nothing for a n00b to grab onto if they picked it up for the #300. Also, the Jeph Loeb backup preview looks kinda stupid and involves Sabretooth for the third time in two issues. Didn't know there was such a pent up demand for him.
Chimichanga - This is a cute kids series from Eric Powell following a little girl who is the "breaded lady" in her circus and her pet monster that she finds. It's sweet and innocent (for an Eric Powell story) with nice, expressive artwork gull of exaggeration. The story is a bit of Monsters, Inc in reverse with two characters who only have each other to take care of them. It's light, but well worth the read.
Batwoman #5 - So Batwoman hunts down the ghost who's been kidnapping children and gets her to stop (cool "fight" with neat use of borders by Williams III), but there's someone else who was using the woman and the children are still lost. The Department of Extranormal Operations comes up to Kate and blackmails her into working for them, which Batman is not happy about. Neat art (as usual) and a story that is starting to chug along.
Eldritch! #4 - This issue follows the father of the demon baby and his denial of the elder gods invading his home. His wife tries to get him to admit a problem and do something about it, but he can't and she seems to commit suicide (that part was a bit confusing). Lots of creepy ass scenes (the mother stabbing the demon baby in the head) and good character development. The story doesn't move forward too much, but taking the time to flesh out the father was a welcome change of pace.
The Savage Dragon #175 - Confusing. I haven't read Savage Dragon in a long time, but this was touted as a jumping on point. Seems like Dragon was an amnesiac alien warlord and he's now in space with his family and there's parallel Earths and time travel and I have no idea what's going on. Part of the problem is some time jumps between pages that could have used more transitions. The issue was 48 pages long, but only half was dedicated to Dragon with the other half following a character with no introduction (I figure she's been part of the series?) and a short story of Vanguard faking a "Galactus" attack to protect the Earth (doesn't work). Everything here is all over the place and could use more focus, especially if this is supposed to be a new beginning for the series. The art's nice, though.
Secret Avengers #21 - So the SA have to invade a government building in a smart way (fake, hologram fire) in order to find a double agent selling secrets to ancient elder gods. Everyone gets a little bit to do (Beast does sciencey stuff, War Machine shots his guns, Moon Knight tortures someone,Valkyrie does some stabbing, Steve keeps his cool and gets everyone home). Final Ellis issue is about the same level as the one where they take out an office building, not as good as the crazy sci-fi issues. The series as a whole was a lot of fun, but like with a lot of other Ellis done-in-one stories, I wish it built to something in the end.
Atomic Robo and the Deadly Art of Science TPB vol. 05 - Another volume of Atomic Robo, this one showing Robo's start as an adventurer and a budding romance. It was nice to see the start of Robo's career and having Tesla kick the shit out of Edison (that asshole), but Robo is a bit (very) annoying throughout and I don't really sympathize with him as much as i usually would. The FCBD issue about a young girl dreaming of working with Robo and showing off at a science fair is really cool and funny and has a sweet ending.
The Comics Journal #301 - Not sure if I should talk about this here as it's almost all essays about comics. The biggest part this volume is a discussion of R. Crumb's Genesis. It was interesting with a half dozen view points, but after six essays, then six more essays critiquing the first six, you get
well over a hundred pages about a comic that I haven't read and don't have any more interest in reading that I had before.
Also notable is a look back at Cerebus, does it work as a single piece of literature, and trying to analyze it without bringing Sim's politics into it (well, as much as Sim lets you ignore them). Usually people either love Cerebus and apologize for it or hate it. It was nice to read a more neutral critique.
There's a ton more essays and reviews, the only thing really standing out for me is the look behind the scenes at making a journalistic comic and all the work and thought that goes into that kind of reporting. There's also a series of comics that were adapted from a Dr. Seuss idea, which were good, but definitely missing something.
Wolverine and the X-Men 4 - This issue deals more of the day-to-day operations of the school, which leads to plenty of funny moments (I love the teachers getting together discussing the problems that they are having). Having Deathklok teach a class on future history (Days of Future Past is the text book!) is both inspired and so very wrong. The two big things to come out of this is the introduction of Apocalypse's clone attending the school (he seems like a happy, if oblivious, dude) and us finding out that Angel no longer has his memories but thinks that he's a real angel (I thought he was dead?). Funny issue, if a bit of a placeholder.
Wolverine 300 - The Hand and the Yakuza are fighting and Wolverine's in the middle of it and Sabretooth is there for some reason (he also shows up at the end of Wolverineand the X-Men). There's some good parts (Wolverine fighting a plane full of Yakuza, "Sky Yakuza go!", the kinda scary way ninjas come into play, and some good action scenes), but I'm mostly lost with the story. Seems like Wolverine is just walking into something with a long history and we're just picking it up as we go along. This doesn't really feel like an anniversary issue. The story doesn't start or end here and there's nothing for a n00b to grab onto if they picked it up for the #300. Also, the Jeph Loeb backup preview looks kinda stupid and involves Sabretooth for the third time in two issues. Didn't know there was such a pent up demand for him.
Chimichanga - This is a cute kids series from Eric Powell following a little girl who is the "breaded lady" in her circus and her pet monster that she finds. It's sweet and innocent (for an Eric Powell story) with nice, expressive artwork gull of exaggeration. The story is a bit of Monsters, Inc in reverse with two characters who only have each other to take care of them. It's light, but well worth the read.