quote:Originally posted by Sarcasm Kid: Well, what exactly do they call that haircut Superboy and Ray used to have when they started out? I think that contributed to the bad rep.
Wass that what they called a 'fade'? Where's Dean when we need him??
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Arachne, Secret Six is one of DC's best ongiong series currently published. Period. This is the book that made me a Gail Simone fan. I think she's done many really good things in her career, but S6 is the book where her talent really shines.
Just an awesome, AWESOME book. Dark. Funny. Morally ambiguous. Flat-out entertaining!
It's kind of the spriritual descendant to John Ostrander's Suicide Squad without being imitative. It's a travesty that this book isn't a top ten seller on Diamond's monthly list.
Try it, Arachne. I doubt you'll regret you did!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
LOL I think I'm more intrigues by this right now than by Fables. Maybe it's time to make a trip into the city to see what they have in stock, rather than ordering from my local CBS.
ETA: Or maybe I could just order from Chapters. If I ordered all four there'd be no S&H charges...
posted
It really doesn't get better than Matt Wagner's Green Hornet: Year One by Dynamite Entertainment, which I reviewed here a few times in the Green Hornet thread. #3 is the most recent issue out and is another terrific execution of story & art introducing readers to the world of the Green Hornet & Kato.
I was not much of a Green Hornet fan prior to this but I sure am now. Wagner uses the global 1930's backdrop to flesh out both characters, and Aaron Campbell and Francesco Francavilla provide an art style evocative of the era the character was born in while feeling fresh and exciting.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: It really doesn't get better than Matt Wagner's Green Hornet: Year One by Dynamite Entertainment, which I reviewed here a few times in the Green Hornet thread. #3 is the most recent issue out and is another terrific execution of story & art introducing readers to the world of the Green Hornet & Kato.
I was not much of a Green Hornet fan prior to this but I sure am now. Wagner uses the global 1930's backdrop to flesh out both characters, and Aaron Campbell and Francesco Francavilla provide an art style evocative of the era the character was born in while feeling fresh and exciting.
A Green Hornet book, set in the 1930's, written by Matt Wagner has to be as good as Sandman Mystery Theatre.
That's got to be a good thing. (P.S. - when do you gonna break down and read MAGE and GRENDEL, Cobie?)
From: Denver, CO | Registered: May 2004
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posted
SOON! Both are definitely on my list of trades to get (I just put in a big order so these will have to wait until my next big one).
But lately I feel that Matt Wagner is a contender for best writer in comics between Zorro, Green Hornet: Year One and Madame Xanadu. The guy is just so good!
And all the things you mention that would leave you to believe Green Hornet: Year One is good are as good if not better than what you imagine them to be!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Tonight, I finally dove into my TPB of The Astounding Wolf-Man Volume 1 which I've been holding onto for about 2 years. I'm really not sure why it took so long for me to read it. I mean, I rarely read a TPB as soon as I buy it as I constantly have a backlog of monthlies and trades and rarely prioritize any particular trade. Plus, I absolutely LOVE Robert Kirkman's writing on his other hit Image creations, Walking Dead and Invincible. So by all rights, I should have dove right into this thing a long time ago.
But I didn't. I read trade after trade after trade before this one, including tons that I bought after this one. Why? I think maybe I was afraid that this one was the dud of the Kirkman crop. I mean, no one ever talks about or reviews this Wolf-Man comic on the professional sites or even here. Using "search" button here, the most it ever got mentioned was here by Stu with just a little follow-up. Add into it that Kirkman announced last year that this title would be ending with #25 due in part to low sales and, well, the signs seemd to point to this one being the one that brought down Kirkman's batting average.
Well, for whatever reason (probably that final issue recently being solicited), I picked it up tonight over a bevy of more recently-purchased and more looked-forwarded-to trades and finally read it. I'd say, yes, this isn't as excellent as Invincible or Walking Dead, but it's still pretty darn good!
This is exactly what you'd expect if you've ever seen a cover or drawing of the character: a superhero book using the trappings of a horror staple. I wouldn't say the concept is groundbreaking (Man-Wolf or Werewolf By Night, anyone?), but the execution is really nice. I like, for example, how Kirkman slowly sets up the workings of a specific mythology for this character and for his take on traditional horror epics. He doesn't bury us under exposition but works it into the story a little bit at a time. It works really well here and leaves us waiting for more answers when each nugget we get begats more questions. It's very involving and engages me very well.
Kirkman's stuff is not really known for being dense reads, and this one is no exception. No narration and dialogue that can be minimal at times leads to this being a very brisk read. But if you enjoy Kirkman's stuff, you already know this. What keeps me coming back to his work is the sense of character he injects to the players and his trademark plot twists. Both are definitely present here, and this trade ends with a real hum-dinger on par with some of the others he's pulled on us.
Is it perfect? No. I'd say the superhero aspects tend to be pretty ordinary and only become more interesting when they cross over to the supernatural aspects and mythology. Kirkman has a habit over in Invincible of creating scores of throwaway characters (especially villains) to match his heroes against, and that trend continues here. The real draw is what's going on with our title character and the forces that surround him. The superhero aspect is average at best.
Fortunately, I think Kirkman realizes where the strength of the book lies and doesn't waste too many story pages on the stuff that's not interesting to us. It's a safe bet, given the ending, that Kirkman will be focusing less on the superhero stuff and more about what makes the character interesting in subsequent volumes.
The artist Jason Howard has a style that is reminiscent of the work of Michael Avon Oeming, who is best known for his work on Powers with Bendis. It doesn't ape his style but definitely belongs to the same school that Oeming and others come from--what I would describe as derivative of the look of Batman: The Animated Series. (Darwyn Cooke belongs somewhat to this school as well, though he and Oeming have transcended it, IMO.) It's a simpler, cleaner style than, say, the more hyper-detailed and 'realistic' styles out there.
I think Howard's style works pretty well, given this is a horror/superhero lovechild. Given that the horror aspects are more interesting in this series, I'd say that his work could be a turn-off to some. I mean, something more in the vein of Mignola or Colan might have gotten this book the tone and sales that Howard's style might not have. But the art is attractive and is accompanied by some striking monotones in night sequences and some John Workman-esque lettering.
Boy, this art criticque is coming off more negative than I'd intended! But more detail definitely could have helped in places. Probably the most negative thing to me is the Wolf-Man's fur or specifically, the lack of detail in it. It's basically just exterior outlines at the fringes of the figure work without any interior detail. I think some of the intent with the choice of Howard is to soften the horror and accentuate the superhero, but I'm not sure that was the right choice.
On the plus side, Howard can tell a sequential story very well, so you're not missing thos narrative captions. His designs for a lot of the other characters show a lot of imagination. I just wish his Wolf-Man was more elaborate. I also wouldn't say that Howard's backgrounds are particularly a strength either, but not so much that they are detrimental.
Overall, I enjoyed volume one quite a bit (including the art--really!). As I said, it's not up to the level of Invincible or walking Dead, but it's definitely worthy of attention. I'll say one thing--if I'd read this last night, I most definitely woulda been looking for Volume Two today when I used my gift card to buy more trades! Volume One most definitely leaves you eager to read what happens next!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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