Welcome to our post-Labor Day edition of
Done-in-One Reviews. We hope you enjoyed your week, now how about a handful of quick reviews for your reading pleasure?
Challenger Deep #1 (Boom! Studios)
By Andy Schmidt, Chee, & Andrew Dalhouse
I am torn on how to review this one, because I’m sure we’ve all seen this movie before: a nuclear sub goes down in the Marianas Trench, and the crew needs to be rescued before the missiles detonate or they simply suffocate. Only one man can lead the rescue team … but he’s retired, and he doesn’t want to. Will the Feds lure him back in time to save the surviving crew - nay, the world? And what about the small mutiny going on amongst the survivors? Again, we have all seen this movie - possibly with Denzel Washington - and yet this comic is a slick machine (no pun intended - how many times do I use that in a review? Far too often). It’s well written, reads fast, and the art by Chee is easy on the eyes. It’s a fast, entertaining read for anyone who’d like an action movie in a handy readable form, but it gets points off for predictability.
Rating: 3.5/5 --Andrea Speed
High Rollers #2 (Boom! Studios)
By Gary Phillips, Sergio Carrera, & Andrew Dalhouse
CQ’s mission continues, as he wrecks havoc amongst the drug gangs and effectively breaks the relationship between Trey and El Chugo. Now, I miss The Wire as much as anyone - more so, in fact; I can’t believe I don’t have another season to look forward to - but some things work better in the hands of talented actors than they do simply on the page. In the beginning of this issue, for example, I found the street slang used almost funny in its clunkiness; it was trying so hard to sound authentic that it seemed to shoot itself in the foot (no pun intended). Beyond that, there is a good action oriented story here, although if you didn’t catch the first issue of this, you’ll have no idea who anyone is or why they’re doing what they’re doing. The art continues to be good in close ups and weak just about everywhere else. As street gangster sagas go, it’s a good story, but it’s going to need to pick up some steam here if it wants to be great.
Rating: 3.5/5 --Andrea Speed
Necronomicon #1 (Boom! Studios)
By William Messner-Loebs & Andrew Ritchie
No, not everything out of Boom Studios is connected in some way to H.P. Lovecraft - it just seems like it sometimes. And in this miniseries (not tied to the current Cthulhu series), an exchange student named Henry is befriend by friends at college who belong to a secret society. This society learns of his facility with languages, and want him to translate a special old book called the Necronomicon. He’s so happy to finally have friends and be accepted that the oddity of this situation and the book itself doesn’t really occur to him or bother him. Messner-Loebs sets this up like a period mystery, much like a story he had in the anthology series Cthulhu Tales a couple of issues back, which I believe he also did with Ritchie, giving a very period specific look to the story as well (it takes place In the Prohibition era). It works as a nice contrast to all the creepy stuff that eventually occurs, and leaves me in the strange position of almost admiring it more than I actually liked it. But I do want to see where this goes and how Henry ends up, so I’d say the comic succeeded in its mission. A strange, eerie start to what could be a really good miniseries.
Rating: 3.5/5 --Andrea Speed
Star Wars: Rebellion #16 (Dark Horse Comics/Lucas Books)
By Rob Williams, Dustin Weaver & Dan Scott
The third leg of the all-Star Wars "Vector" crossover concludes this issue. Ancient Jedi Knight Celeste Morne, trapped in suspended animation for thousands of years after being possessed by a Sith artifact, has been stranded on an isolated moon for the 20 years since Darth Vader woke her up. Now she faces a group of rebels, including a young Luke Skywalker, who has never met another Jedi besides the late Obi-Wan Kenobi. Celeste, driven mad by her isolation, attacks Luke, while the spirit of the Sith Karness Muur sees in Luke a potential new host... and if not him, his companion Princess Leia. Although the first section of "Vector" was kind of dull, the middle section in Dark Times and now this title have been much better. Celeste works well as a sympathetic character, even as she's become a genuine threat to young Luke. Luke, meanwhile, is torn between fighting for his life and hoping to learn more of the Jedi from this mysterious woman. I'm anxious to see how the story will lead into the last four chapters in Star Wars: Legacy. Dustin Weaver's art is good, evoking the actors but still telling the story well, and Dan Scott gives us a nice cover. "Vector" started slowly, but it's gotten better as the year progresses.
Rating: 3.5/5 --Blake M. Petit
Vampirella Quarterly Summer 2008 (Harris Publications)
By Joshua Hale Fialkov, Noah Salonga, & Jay David Ramos
Adam’s true nature comes out, much to Vampi’s horror, and her long lost sister Draculina goes on a villain rant, explaining who she is and what she’s doing. To its credit, this issue doesn’t devolve into stereotypical cat fights, although the sisters fight. But in the minus column is all this exposition, which admittedly has to be explained to Vampi (who has no memory of her sister), but it still just hits the floor like a lead balloon. Also, how Vampi “saves” Adam … what did I miss there? I didn’t get how that worked at all. I have a feeling it’ll make more sense to long time Vampirella readers more familiar with her mythos than I, but it just zipped past me. What the hell? If it was that simple to rid him of Chaos in the first place, why didn’t she do it sooner?! But then she wouldn’t encounter a hot, big breasted blonde in a black Vampirella suit, and they wouldn’t fight. The artwork is pretty good, although not quite as good as last issue. (And if I can be frank enough to avoid getting censored, Draculina has one pebble like nipple always popping, like one of those things on some Thanksgiving turkeys that tells you when its done. I just found it visually very distracting, and believe me, I didn’t want to constantly look at her chest. Which puts me in the minority, I know.) There are some things to like about this issue, and yet there some very risible things too. But that’s how Vampirella’s been lately.
Rating: 3/5 --Andrea Speed
Wulf & Batsy #3 (Viper Comics)
By Brian Baugh
Here’s another hard to explain comic. It’s a throwback to older comics, with a vampire and werewolf pair who only want to live in (relative) peace without getting chased out of town by a mob of humans with torches, who just don’t understand. In this issue, after having caused a bit of a bloody kerfuffle in a town called Eppworth Ruddy, they wander until they find a graveyard that seems perfect for a quiet night’s stay, but isn’t, as the local dead inform them. A human doctor is disrupting their eternal rest, digging them up for nefarious deeds, so Batsy feels they need to investigate and put an end to his evil shenanigans. He’s a mad scientist who lives in a creepy old mansion. Wow, that doesn’t sound at all like a recipe for trouble. The story is a breezy read that is unusual in that it takes the monster’s point of view, and is very light in spite of the EC level walking skeletons (artfully rotting). There’s an always amusing back page advertisement for “novelties”, such as x-ray specs and realistic vampire teeth, which is fun to read. The only thing that distresses me about this book is the cheesecake (which the Josh Howard cover makes pretty blatant), and the cute art, and I do mean cute. It’s almost adorable, which is extra disturbing when the cheesecake happens. If it was Vampirella, up front, constant, and obvious about its cheesecake, I could almost accept it better; in this cutesy format, where it just sneaks up on you, it makes it kind of unsettling. But this is a fun little comic, and just the thing for someone wanting a lighter, less grim horror tale.
Rating: 3.5/5 --Andrea Speed
X-Men Origins: Beast (Marvel Comics)
By Mike Carey and J.K. Woodward
So far, these new sets of X-Men Origins stories have been fantastic, with both the Colossus and Jean Grey stories, and now this Beast issue. Mike Carey shows an excellent knowledge of the character, and an uncanny (heh) ability to tap into what makes Beast such an X-favorite, his wit and his heart. He manages to add nice touches to Beast's early life without changing previously continuity, using a strong script peppered with well timed comedy. The dialogue he uses feels real and genuine, and this beautiful painted art by Woodward definitely helped achieve that. Given the time frame used here, having a book with that old Alex Ross' Marvels feel to it works out well to establish a more innocent time in the Marvel Universe. Some Beast fans may cry foul that you don't see the blue-skinned version outside of a few flash-forwards, but everything here was an absolute delight to read. Most definitely recommended.....
Rating: 4/5 --Ben Lehnsherr
As always, if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about Done-in-One Reviews, we're open ears. Feel free to post below.
September 7th 2008, 01:40 PM
Linear Mode
