It’s Saturday, and that means it’s time for another
Comixtreme.com Done-In-One Review thread! With so many comics on the racks, our reviewers just don’t have the time to review them all, so this weekly collection of capsule reviews is here to give a little press time to those comics that didn’t quite make it to a full review.
Beowulf #1 (IDW Publishing)
By Chris Ryall and Gabriel Rodriguez
An old king builds a great hall, but when he fills it with music and feasting, a monster comes in and breaks up the party. This adaptation is based on a screenplay by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, and comes to theaters in November. The comic is true in spirit to the original saga. The creative team does a good job of setting the mood of Dark Ages Denmark. I like the combination of Rodriguez's art and Fotos' colors. The dialogue sometimes makes odd leaps, from "hero" speak, almost straight from the poem, to standard conversation, but overall it works. Hrothgar and Beowulf are true to the original source material. Ryall's best work is on Grendel; he has personality and a voice lacking in the original. Both Grendel and his mother are appropriately monstrous, although we don't see very much of her yet.
Rating: 3/5 --Eleanor Cromwell
Brawl #1 (Image Comics)
By Dean Haspiel & Michel Fiffe
This is a very weird comic, so I’ll do my best to describe it. It contains two separate stories in this issue, and both give you the feeling you’ve come up on the stories in the middle, although that dissonance is especially pronounced in the second story. The first story, “Immortal”, deals with the somewhat violent love story between people who seem to be super powered in some respect, although not superheroes. They are tied to some giant immortal alien thing, which the man finds out when he takes a trip through its intestines and finds hieroglyphics relating its story. (I’m not making any of this up.) The dialogue is a deliberately odd mix of hard bitten, florid, and anachronistic (I like the curse “Bug-knuckles!” so much, I think I’m going to start using it), which actually works in its own hallucinatory way. The second story, “Panorama”, is stranger only in the sense that it takes a long time to figure out what’s going on, even though it has the more straightforward plot. Augustus is a teenager in a new city, and it seems he has some kind of power that he’s barely aware of and can’t control. (A puberty analog?) It seems he can mutate flesh, his own and others, but the art sometimes doesn’t make that very clear. It comes off a bit like something David Lynch might have come up with while suffering a bad reaction to cold medication. It’s not bad, it’s just strange. Which is the most concise review of this issue that I can give you.
Rating: 3/5--Andrea Speed
The Clockwork Girl #1 (Arcana Studios/Aracana Kids)
By Kevin Hanna, sean O'Reilly, Grant Bond
There are three problems with kids' comics these days. First, there aren't enough of them. Second, they aren't sold where kids are shopping. Third, kids can't afford them. Well, there isn't much one title can do about #2, but The Clockwork Girl #1 from Arcana Kids does its darndest to solve #1 and #3. In this 99-cent first issue (which will be followed by a $1.99 issue two, still a bargain), Kevin Hanna, Sean O'Reilly and Grant Bond introduce us to this bizarre new fairy tale world where the sciences divide themselves almost into different states. The Chemist is at odds with the Geologist and the Botanist and so on. Wilhelm, the Tinkerer, has created a magnificent robot girl for his demonstration at the Haraway Fair. The girl is a miracle of technological wonder, but Wilhelm's plans may turn out to go askew when she befriends a mutant boy from the realm of Dendrus the Grafter, worshipper of the power of nature and Wilhelm's arch-rival. This comic is wonderfully engaging, with characters that are immediately likable and artwork that flows from one varied science to the other as smoothly as silk. It's like Romeo and Juliet meets The Wizard of Oz, unlike anything else on the stands, and gives us a new world that kids can get absolutely lost in.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
Conan #45 (Dark Horse Comics)
By Kurt Busiek, Greg Ruth, and Richard Starkings
Now this is the Conan I've been missing. With scant few issues remaining before the relaunch, Kurt Busiek and Greg Ruth return to conclude their "Born on the Battlefield" saga, which started way back in this series' earliest issues. This issue kicks off their telling of the Battle of Venarium, which pitches the clannish Cimmerians against their would-be Aquilonian conquerors. This is mostly an atmospheric issue, building up to the coming finale, though it's cleverly written nonetheless. Aside from Busiek neatly tying up a few minor plot threads, this almost reads as if it were a western - a western tale told through Indian eyes. And it's just that kind of insight that always makes me stand in awe of how well Busiek "gets" Robert E. Howard, and how much I've missed that perspective. But the real treat here has to be Greg Ruth's standout artwork. Of all the Dark Horse Conan artists, his is the least cartoonish. His characters feel real. You've seen their faces before, and know what thoughts pass behind their eyes. They have the ruddy skin of outdoorsmen, the wrinkles of age, the scars of battle. They're Howard's Hyborean dream come to life, and it's a feat that shouldn't be missed by any Conan fan.
Rating: 4.5/5 --S.A. Parvaze
The Death of the New Gods #1 of 8 (DC Comics)
By Jim Starlin and Matt Banning
Something is very wrong with the Universe and only two people are aware of it: Darkseid and Metron. But only Darkseid is willing to use this incongruity to his advantage, and this may just involve the demise of his hated enemies of New Genesis. This is a wordy issue, as Jim Starlin tries to bring readers up to speed about the New Gods. There is a lot of history here and I have only a smattering of knowledge, along with whatever else has been happening in DC's latest big event. But Jim Starlin is a writer that I am very familiar with and if anyone can pull off a great story of cosmic proportions it’s him. The art is very good, but what I really enjoy is when Jim is recounting the history of the New Gods he changes his style to resemble that of Jack Kirby. That's a nice touch. This is quite a busy first issue, while there isn’t much action, there are plenty of gripping moments to keep a reader's attention and infuse the desire to buy the next issue.
Rating: 3.5/5 --Terry Verticchio
G.I. Joe: America's Elite #28 (Devil's Due Publishing)
By Mark Powers & Mike Bear
It's part four of the "World War III" storyline, and things are really heating up. Duke's captors have kidnapped his idealogically distant father to play mind games with the legendary Joe, while in Chechnya, Falcon makes contact with the Oktober Guard. It's interesting that, when this title was relaunched 28 issues ago, the Joe team was trimmed down to a handful of operatives. Now, with Cobra initiating a World War, every member of G.I. Joe who hasn't taken the dirt nap has been reactivated. (We even get to see Joe Colton's map detailing where every member is currently deployed!) Since this storyline began, this comic has been packed with true excitement and genuine suspense, and the real fight hasn't even begun yet. If you're a G.I. Joe fan and you're not reading this comic, you're just not really a G.I. Joe fan.
Rating: 4.5/5 --Blake M. Petit
Grimm Fairy Tales 2007 Annual (Zenescope)
By Joe Tyler, Ralph Tedesco, Raven Gregory, Linda Ly, Tommy Castillo, Christian Beranek, Mark Dos Santos, Dan Leister, Ed Sharam, Siva, Tone Rodriguez, Talent Caldwell
Since its inception, Grimm Fairy Tales has been a strange duck. Sometimes it's a horror comic, sometimes a cheesecake book, sometimes it's a done-in-one, sometimes part of a larger story, sometimes excellent, sometimes... less so. And sometimes, such as with this annual, it accomplishes all of those at once. In the framing sequence Belinda, the "bad" storyteller, fills in for Sela reading to a group of schoolchildren. The stories she tells, though, are even more horrific than those Sela frequently shares. The stories include a twisted retelling of Jack and Jill with an EC Comics flair, a bizarre steampunk The Old Woman in the Shoe, a truly grotesque Peter Pumpkin Eater, a totally off-the-wall Little Boy Blue, and a version of Pinocchio that turns out to be a teaser for the next Grimm Fairy Tales Presents spin-off. As with any such anthology, some of the tales are better than others, and the framing sequence still leaves me perplexed. It's clear that Tyler and Tedesco have a larger storyline in mind, but I still haven't the foggiest notion what that story could be.
Rating: 3/5 --Blake M. Petit
Ray Harryhausen Presents: Sinbad, Rogue of Mars #1 (BlueWater Comics)
By Greg Thompson and Jeff "Chamba" Cruz
Sinbad is held prisoner on Mars and is trying to protect himself and his few friends from the evil tyrants. This issue is very much like Gladiator or even better yet it is like the arena scene from Star Wars Episode II. The issue starts off with Sinbad going to his first battle and it just rolls from there. There is a lot of quick action and exotic creatures in the mix. Sinbad fights for a humble race but learns you cannot trust the emperor. I have to say that I picked this up on a whim and for the art alone. The story was okay but the art is absolutely beautiful. I love energetic and lively art and this has it. It looks like a Disney cartoon gone rogue. The pencil and color work of Chamba is the real draw here. My one complaint about the art would be sometimes the panels are too dark. Besides that the interiors are immaculate.
Rating: 3.5/5 --Ryan Broussard
Star Wars: Dark Times #5 (Dark Horse Comics)
By Mick Harrison, Douglas Wheatley & Ronda Pattison
Set between Episode 3 & 4, we see the aftermath of Order 66 and how surviving Jedi and a certain Sith cope with this new era. The last chapter of this arc sees our two main heroes find the person they are looking for, while Darth Vader realizes some difficult truths about joining the Darkside. In this issue Dass Jennir, a Jedi who has had to make some costly compromises and his partner Bomo Greenbark, a Nosaurian who has lost his wife and is close to finding his daughter, with the aid by the crew of the ship Uhumele have finally found Bomo's daughters new owner, only to discover something truly disturbing. My main interest in this book is the sub-plot, that looks like it will be an ongoing theme through-out this series, and that is of the evilution of Darth Vader. Harrison's approach to this comic seems to be one of exploring Vader's descent into the soulless creature we see in the later films, but also a look at other characters, planets and a myriad of untold stories that can be scribed in the years of the Dark Times. Still mourning the the loss of wife, Vader is having to come to terms with the decisions he has made and this shows in the art work, I know it's difficult to portray sadness and regret in a mask that has no expression but Wheatley's understanding of body language speaks volumes and comes across very well especially when it comes to strong emotions displayed by Bomo.
Rating: 3.5/5 --Mathew Smith
Terror, Inc. #3 (Marvel Comics)
By David Lapham and Patrick Zircher
Terror takes the fight back to the enemies in this issue, and boy does he. Terror shows just how vicious he can be, especially without the mystical arm that keeps him in check. Zircher piles on the gore, and Lapham continues to write this gritty, darkly humorous character without holding anything back and seems to have a disturbingly good time doing it. He has a both essential and interesting character in Terror's assistant, Mrs. Primo. She helps this story nearly as much as Terror himself. There is a significant twist in the ending sequences of this issue, and it ties in well this the first issue of the series, making the limited series feel that much "tighter" and really gives the continuation of the plot meaning as it goes into the final two issues. Marvel needs more refreshing MAX titles like this one.
Rating: 4/5--Ben Lehnsherr
October 20th 2007, 11:03 AM
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