What I bought - 9 November 2005
I may have to get my head examined. I spent under 10 dollars today. How will I drive my family into bankruptcy with this kind of non-profligate spending?!?!? Oh, the humanity!
You may think I'm being melodramatic. Who, me?
The Book of Lost Souls #2 by J. Michael Straczynski and Colleen Doran
$2.99, Marvel
Well, I'll give it two more issues, probably. The artwork is absolutely gorgeous, but if JMS keeps piling cliché on cliché, I'll have to jump ship. Let's see - abused wife who lives in a fantasy world? Check. Abused wife who is a princess in that fantasy world? You bet. Abused wife who sees her husband as a dragon? What do you know! Abused wife who finds the courage to prove to the world that her husband is a big jerk-off? Score again!
It's well written to a degree, and the story zips along, and I don't hate it, but it's too slick and far too familiar. Like I said, unless it goes really bad next issue, I'll check it out twice more, but unless it gets a LOT better, it won't last past that.
DMZ #1 by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli
$2.99, DC/Vertigo
Brian just reviewed this, but I didn't read his review, because I like to keep my reviews pure as the driven snow!
Holy mamma mia, DMZ is good. Go freakin' buy it. What will it hurt?
Oh, you want specifics? Damn you and your specifics! If you can't trust me, whom can you trust? Just look at that cover! That cover is worth a dollar alone! The story is, well, kind of ripped off from Escape From New York, but who the hell cares, right? It has some very nice scenes between Matt Roth and the chick who saves him, and there's some good violence, and everything has a nice vibe to it. Wood has a good ear for dialogue, and it's expository without bludgeoning you over the head with it. There's also a good sense of dread about the proceedings - we know things are going to shit, and the inevitability about it is nice, but the way it happens is still a punch in the gut. Matt Roth is a good protagonist, too - he's suitably terrified, but he's not paralyzed with fear. Bad things will happen in this title, I can tell. Bring it on!
Rex Mundi #15 by Arvid Nelson and Jim Di Bartolo
It's another issue of one of my favorites, even though Cronin doesn't like it. Boo, Brian! Yes, it only comes out occasionally, although Nelson has promised that it will come out six times a year and promises in this issue that the next one will be out in January. Yes, it has art problems - the art has always been beautiful, but original artist EricJ took off and now Di Bartolo is leaving after only two issues. Oh well. The story continues to hum along. The Duke of Lorraine is trying to bring about a world war, and he defies the king of France and annexes the Spanish Marches, which pisses off the Cordovan Emir and the rest of Europe. Ah, the intrigue! Meanwhile, Julien discovers more and more about the Holy Grail. Those familiar with the story will know some of what's going on, but it's still interesting watching him piece it together. The geopolitical situation ties in with the Holy Grail somehow (we're not sure how yet) and it's what is most interesting in the book. Brian didn't like the collected edition of the first six issues because it moved slowly. Yeah, the series in general moves slowly. But it's fascinating, and it's telling a grand story, and you need more historical/alternate universe/deviant Christianity/murder mysteries in your life!
Three books. That's it. I was so tempted to pick up Excalibur, but I resisted! I love Dazzler, but I resisted! Why? I have no faith. I have no faith that it will continue to be "surprisingly" good. I almost picked up Danger Girl! What a kick-ass cover! Ha, just kidding about that. Avoid Danger Girl like the plague it is!
You may think I'm being melodramatic. Who, me?
The Book of Lost Souls #2 by J. Michael Straczynski and Colleen Doran
$2.99, Marvel
Well, I'll give it two more issues, probably. The artwork is absolutely gorgeous, but if JMS keeps piling cliché on cliché, I'll have to jump ship. Let's see - abused wife who lives in a fantasy world? Check. Abused wife who is a princess in that fantasy world? You bet. Abused wife who sees her husband as a dragon? What do you know! Abused wife who finds the courage to prove to the world that her husband is a big jerk-off? Score again!
It's well written to a degree, and the story zips along, and I don't hate it, but it's too slick and far too familiar. Like I said, unless it goes really bad next issue, I'll check it out twice more, but unless it gets a LOT better, it won't last past that.
DMZ #1 by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli
$2.99, DC/Vertigo
Brian just reviewed this, but I didn't read his review, because I like to keep my reviews pure as the driven snow!
Holy mamma mia, DMZ is good. Go freakin' buy it. What will it hurt?
Oh, you want specifics? Damn you and your specifics! If you can't trust me, whom can you trust? Just look at that cover! That cover is worth a dollar alone! The story is, well, kind of ripped off from Escape From New York, but who the hell cares, right? It has some very nice scenes between Matt Roth and the chick who saves him, and there's some good violence, and everything has a nice vibe to it. Wood has a good ear for dialogue, and it's expository without bludgeoning you over the head with it. There's also a good sense of dread about the proceedings - we know things are going to shit, and the inevitability about it is nice, but the way it happens is still a punch in the gut. Matt Roth is a good protagonist, too - he's suitably terrified, but he's not paralyzed with fear. Bad things will happen in this title, I can tell. Bring it on!
Rex Mundi #15 by Arvid Nelson and Jim Di Bartolo
It's another issue of one of my favorites, even though Cronin doesn't like it. Boo, Brian! Yes, it only comes out occasionally, although Nelson has promised that it will come out six times a year and promises in this issue that the next one will be out in January. Yes, it has art problems - the art has always been beautiful, but original artist EricJ took off and now Di Bartolo is leaving after only two issues. Oh well. The story continues to hum along. The Duke of Lorraine is trying to bring about a world war, and he defies the king of France and annexes the Spanish Marches, which pisses off the Cordovan Emir and the rest of Europe. Ah, the intrigue! Meanwhile, Julien discovers more and more about the Holy Grail. Those familiar with the story will know some of what's going on, but it's still interesting watching him piece it together. The geopolitical situation ties in with the Holy Grail somehow (we're not sure how yet) and it's what is most interesting in the book. Brian didn't like the collected edition of the first six issues because it moved slowly. Yeah, the series in general moves slowly. But it's fascinating, and it's telling a grand story, and you need more historical/alternate universe/deviant Christianity/murder mysteries in your life!
Three books. That's it. I was so tempted to pick up Excalibur, but I resisted! I love Dazzler, but I resisted! Why? I have no faith. I have no faith that it will continue to be "surprisingly" good. I almost picked up Danger Girl! What a kick-ass cover! Ha, just kidding about that. Avoid Danger Girl like the plague it is!
posted by Greg at 11/09/2005 11:35:00 PM
9 Comments:
What, you didn't buy the lunch box? I flipped through it at my local store (where precious little ever seems to sell out, tragically enough) and I can now reveal the big shock twist behind Identity Crisis: the Earth-2 Superman is secretly John Byrne.
"Get off my damn lawn, you new-fangled superhero types! Why if'n I was younger I'd smack youse upside the head!"
That should be Infinite Crisis. For shame.
Polly and the Pirates was damn good.
Wood has a good ear for dialogue...
Is that in the Bendis sense, in which the characters talk and talk for page upon page, and it's all very natural and realsitic but you get to the end and realise that bugger all happened?
Or is it in the, you know, good sense?
Good sense.
Infinite Crisis
DMZ
Legends of the Dark Knight
Danger Girl Back in Black- the interiors were nice???
Gotham Central
Now there's a list to be proud of son!
Infinite Crisis - bah! I reject it! Get behind me, IC!
Actually, the dude at my comics shoppe has bought every single one of these issues building up to Infinite Crisis, plus IC itself, and he said I could borrow them all and read them. So I'm waiting, because I don't want to spend money on them.
And I second Brian's contention that the dialogue in DMZ is good, not Bendis-like. Although Bendis is decent as often as he's not.
Legends of the Dark Knight - eh. I like Pfeifer and Weston, but it just wasn't doing it for me. And I think Gotham Central will be one I pick up in trades, because the first two were good. And you must reject Danger Girl! YOU MUST!
"Legends of the Dark Knight - eh. I like Pfeifer and Weston, but it just wasn't doing it for me."
What does this mean, Greg?
Their first issue was this week.
So did you try it out at all, and didn't like it?
Because I thought it was really quite good.
No, I didn't read it. I stood in the store and read the first few pages and it didn't grab me. I can make snap judgments like that!
Blast you, Burgas!
It was a good story!
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