Quick comic reviews while I pour coffee down my gullet? Sure, I can dig that.
Ferro City by Jason Armstrong from Image is another interesting title coming out of the home that begat Spawn. It's sort of like Darwyn Cooke's Slam Bradley found himself dropped into the middle of Blade Runner with a twist of Terminal City tossed in for good measure, to make sure that my media references are piled on good and thick. Sometimes the writing (intentionally or not) gets a little thick with the noir-derivative vibe, but able cartooning and a lively world helped me enjoy the heck out of it just fine.
The latest issue of Seven Soldiers: Zatanna helps put some more pieces of the uber-plot into place while packing in more action than most current mainstream comics manage in a six-issue arc. I love this sort of hyperdense form that's a radical departure from both over-expositioned 60s and 70s material as well as the current decompression trend.
Another title that manages to do the meaty thing very well is the first issue of The Winter Men, even if's just the first half of the first act of the miniseries. There's never any dialogue for the sake of dialogue in Brett Lewis�s script, but it never feels inorganic in its delivery. John Paul Leon is, of course, John Paul Leon and his art is always a pleasure to see.
Hero@Large is the first title from Speakeasy that I've read and while it's tempting to write off the whole superhero-gone-to-seed storyline, the comedic timing of Erick Hogan, combined with Jeremy Treece�s funky, grafitti-influenced designs makes this first issue one to pick up. I do think it'll be interesting to see if the manage to continue to make the low-budget superhero idea as compelling as they (rather surprisingly) manage to do in this debut without sliding into the morass of maudlin manipulation that is just to the left or right of their current track.
The Ultimates have an annual and not much happens, ignoring the things that made annuals such an anticipated event until things like Atlantis Attacks ruined the whole concept. Steve Dillon does draw the living shit out of it, though, which is a reason to at least give it a gander on the stands. At first I thought the script was deceptively simple, but some consideration has led me to believe that anyone who can't see the fate of Nick Fury's assassin from page six or so is an idiot and they should probably be watching Scooby-Doo for its clever plots instead of spending $4 on this. Oh yeah, the Ultimate Defenders show up again, probably just to annoy me.
Time to pack up the palm and head to work. Before I'm off, though, I wanted to make sure to tell you check out Alex Robinson's Tricked - the first hundred pages have already made sure that I think that it's a winner.
Ferro City by Jason Armstrong from Image is another interesting title coming out of the home that begat Spawn. It's sort of like Darwyn Cooke's Slam Bradley found himself dropped into the middle of Blade Runner with a twist of Terminal City tossed in for good measure, to make sure that my media references are piled on good and thick. Sometimes the writing (intentionally or not) gets a little thick with the noir-derivative vibe, but able cartooning and a lively world helped me enjoy the heck out of it just fine.The latest issue of Seven Soldiers: Zatanna helps put some more pieces of the uber-plot into place while packing in more action than most current mainstream comics manage in a six-issue arc. I love this sort of hyperdense form that's a radical departure from both over-expositioned 60s and 70s material as well as the current decompression trend.
Another title that manages to do the meaty thing very well is the first issue of The Winter Men, even if's just the first half of the first act of the miniseries. There's never any dialogue for the sake of dialogue in Brett Lewis�s script, but it never feels inorganic in its delivery. John Paul Leon is, of course, John Paul Leon and his art is always a pleasure to see.
Hero@Large is the first title from Speakeasy that I've read and while it's tempting to write off the whole superhero-gone-to-seed storyline, the comedic timing of Erick Hogan, combined with Jeremy Treece�s funky, grafitti-influenced designs makes this first issue one to pick up. I do think it'll be interesting to see if the manage to continue to make the low-budget superhero idea as compelling as they (rather surprisingly) manage to do in this debut without sliding into the morass of maudlin manipulation that is just to the left or right of their current track.The Ultimates have an annual and not much happens, ignoring the things that made annuals such an anticipated event until things like Atlantis Attacks ruined the whole concept. Steve Dillon does draw the living shit out of it, though, which is a reason to at least give it a gander on the stands. At first I thought the script was deceptively simple, but some consideration has led me to believe that anyone who can't see the fate of Nick Fury's assassin from page six or so is an idiot and they should probably be watching Scooby-Doo for its clever plots instead of spending $4 on this. Oh yeah, the Ultimate Defenders show up again, probably just to annoy me.
Time to pack up the palm and head to work. Before I'm off, though, I wanted to make sure to tell you check out Alex Robinson's Tricked - the first hundred pages have already made sure that I think that it's a winner.
