Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Random Review Corner

Looking forward to your Star Wars re-reads, Lardy.

I'll definitely pick up the rest of the trades, although I'm a bit wary that artists I don't like such as Carmine Infantino and Ron Frenz did a lot of the issues. OTOH, so did Walt Simonson and Al Williamson, who I love! And with writers like Duffy and Goodwin doing sizable runs, I think a good time is practically guaranteed.

Yay! Glad to learn you liked her art, Thoth.

Maybe the presence of so many of her spiritual daughters in the modern comics industry will convince her to return to comics.

You may be "looking forward" a looooong time cuz who knows when I'll get to something like that!

But then again, you never know with me!

Tee hee.

Capsule Comic Comment Corner :-

Dark Horse Baltimore: The Witch of Harju 3
Baltimore here is an implacable, unstoppable force again the evil plaguing the area. The trouble is that he's so formidable, you start to have some sympathy for the villain he mercilessly hunts down. Baltimore is one of those characters who begins with scars to show his vulnerability, but then seems to never really be at risk again. Around him, he's gathering a supporting cast who probably won't be anywhere near as fortunate. 3.5

Monkeybrain Comics Copernicus Jones 5
It's a hard boiled robot detective story, following in the footsteps of Electropolis. The art is clean and basic (and there's an unballooned bit of dialogue on one of the later pages. There's the occasional play on old genre cliches that brings a smile. 3.25

Dark Horse Groo v Conan 3
Rumour becomes fact. Fact is enforced by power. But power doesn’t quite translate to accepted truth. In a reversal of last issue, we see what the people of Conan's home have to say about the Groo v Conan battle. We also see the sheer delight over Groo's demise from last issue crumble under new facts. Or are they facts?

In a parallel story Sergio bares his bottom less often pretending to be Conan in the middle of the City. While the parallel stories take away a lot of the subtlety of previous groom book, it's made up for in the reaction of the rest of the cast to a fight that may or may not have occurred. 4

Dark Horse Project Black Sky 4
Written by Van Lente. This is a story created from homages to other comics. From Adam Strange, through Planetary and it's own lifting, Tarantino movies to Wolverine, Wonder Man and Mister X. There's even a Canadian flag that reminds me of Van Lente's Alpha Flight run. With such a smattering of sources, a few are interesting. But it's not in the same league as Moore or Morrison, who have been pulling this sort of trick for quite a lot longer. So the story doesn't quite pull off the level of coolness it's clearly trying for. It's more derivative than innovative in the end. 3.25

Capsule Comic Comment Corner :-

Image God Hates Astronauts 2
Anthropomorphic conspiracy, comedy and crime fighting, sometimes…of spaaaace! It manages to keep itself entertaining throughout as the little divergences are linked together by a central plot. The decent art also helps here. 3.5

Dark Horse Abe Sapien 17
There's quite a bit going on in this issue, making it feel like good value for the pennies. There's a touching moment about Abe's fears and also a very good observation about his habits.

It's good to see characters with enough depth and experience have some of their personality traits questioned every now and again. There's movement in the supporting cast too, as decisions on new destinations are made. I'm not particularly close to nay of the cast. After so many years of Hellboy/BPRD they seem to be pushed into the storylines. I can only imagine a lot of them will be fodder in some big finale later on. 4

Image Astro City 16
Despite there being a lot to like about the story, it just felt a little obvious. It has all the hallmarks of a good Astro City tale, weaving modern issues with a sense of nostalgia.

Perhaps it was because it was clear who the hero would be early on. Perhaps the main tale didn't stray far enough from the Superman/Luthor relationship. The only clunker was the final page containing an annoying character that contributed to me dropping the book when it was relaunched. 4

Archie Chilling Adventures of Sabrina 1
It only takes a page for the book to shed some Dennis Wheatley trappings, becoming something much darker and fun. There are cautionary tales, moments of horror and coming of age in small town swinging sixties. The art is moody and works well with both the chills and the optimistic tone the book also has. 5.25

Image Sex Criminals 8
Rats. I've missed an issue of this. The downsides of this issue are the lecture on birth control and the broad ranging advice through therapy. Not that any of the information is invalid, just that it veers into me feeling as though I'm reading a magazine (No, I don't subscribe to Birth Control Monthly. I get the annual digest.) But the bits in-between are great fun. I got a couple of short barking shock/laughs as I was reading it.

The whole issue hangs very nicely on the characters, with only a late nod to the wider plot. That it can do so and still feel pretty natural is a sign of a very good read (although the birth control lecture did pad out a few pages). 5.25

Image Manhattan Projects 24
As I'm not a regular reader of this title, the impact of a few issues has been reduced quite a bit though. But The simple use of a couple of JFK quotes, the magic bullet and whatever shadowy figures normally jump round the title, make this one easy to get into. The cynical, yet frank, narrative on the use of politicians works well with the books' general outlook. The's a bit of a shift in scope late on, that probably worked a lot more for regular readers. 4.25

Image Walking Dead, The 132
There's a great range of pacing in this issue. We begin with a tense hostage scene, then a lovely family moment, followed by a huge surge forward in the reveal of a few issues ago. As we see the humans use solid tactics against the foe, a whole different horror genre makes an appearance. That was after a tantalising few possibilities too. 5.75

Dark Horse Usagi Yojimbo: Senso 3
Like Savage Dragon, Usagi Yojimbo has been on and off, mostly off, my various pull lists down the years. It's always been a solid read. But there were always other titles jostling in ahead of it. So, I actually feel a little badly that this one is a War of the Worlds cross over. I feel as though I'm jumping on a little bandwagon*, when there was nothing wrong with the main series.

This is the third issue, but it takes no time at all to get into the story. Sakai's characters have always been well developed, yet presented in a simple way, and the dialogue easy to follow. Seeing the technology of the invasion against Japanese arms adds quite a bit of tension to the tale.

Yotari and the general are the focal characters in the issue, with Usagi on a mission to warn other areas of the oncoming threat. There is lots of bravery, action and sacrifice making it a very enjoyable story. It's one to collect the other issues of.

*I do seem to have quite a few War of the Worlds comics though. 4.75

Loving these reviews, Thoth!

I absolutely love Sex Criminals and you're right when you say how the writing and lead characters are so good that them just doing stuff makes the issue great. It's such an enjoyable read.

I've always thought of picking up Yosagi Ujimbo but never have (much like Savage Dragon). Perhaps I'll finally get invested via TPB's like I started to do with Hellboy a few years ago.

Can't wait to check out Sabrina!

And as a regular reader of Manhattan Projects, I'm loving the latest issues. I love the sheer viciousness in the parody of JFK, like they did with FDR, Truman and all the others. The "batshit insanity" has stayed on point and kept this one of my favorite series.

I wasn't sure whether to post this review in this thread, the Re-Reads thread, or the Vertigo thread (where I posted a brief review of this same story five years ago.) I finally decided to post it here.

The 2003 mini-series Hellblazer: Lady Constantine, set in the late 18th Century and focusing on a female ancestor of John Constantine's, who was created by Neil Gaiman and first seen in Sandman, has been a firm favorite of mine since I first read it a few years ago.

Earlier today, I re-read it for the first time in at least a couple years, and I'm happy to say I enjoyed it just as much.

At the same time, it's a rather bittersweet experience, because at the time I first read it, writer Andy Diggle's star was ascending, having Lady Constantine, The Losers, Adam Strange, and a short but glorious run on the Hellblazer ongoing under his belt. He seemed to be destined for greatness, but, alas, it was not to be. Instead, he left DC for Marvel, where he got off to a very promising start on his first couple issues of Thunderbolts, which I raved about at the time, only for the quality of his writing to plummet for the rest of his time at Marvel. Since then, he's done mostly crime drama, which is one of the genre's I'm least interested in, with the odd blip like a three-issue run on Action Comics (he left before the first issue was even published) and a Doctor Who mini-series which I haven't read because I've just never been into Doctor Who.

Some writers get spoiled by success, and Diggle would appear to be one of them. How else to explain how good he was when he was hungry and making a name for himself, and how bad he's been ever since?

For all that, Lady Constantine remains a gem. Unlike a lot of other Vertigo books, there's no excess verbiage, no weirdness for its own sake, no gratuitous gore. It's really just an unpretentious horror/adventure romp, but an impeccably crafted one. Johanna Constantine is a vivid protagonist, while the supporting cast -- Mouse, MacAllister, Jack-in-the-Green, Dorian Blackwood -- come alive with only a few bold strokes. Only the antagonist, Lady Blackwood, comes off a bit superficial, and even she takes on further dimension after the reveal of her true identity.

Goran Sudzuka, who is better known for Y: The Last Man, does what I think is a very good job drawing the story. In some spots, it reminds me of Jim Aparo circa the mid-1980s, solid storytelling and characterization with no unnecessary frills.

As I said in my earlier review, I think the hardcore Vertigo fans will probably find this one a bit lightweight, but I'm much more of a casual Vertigo reader, so it's perfect for me.

So I've been traveling for work, which has limited my time on LW but also given me a chance to read a few trades I've back logged, all of which turned out to be excellent.

At long last I finally read Paul Pope's Battling Boy after reading almost limitless praise for it over the last few months. Most of that praise comes from his peers--writers and artists--who couldn't help but gush over a creator that not only has one of the most unique styles in comics but also knows how to tell a story full of explosive action, super-interesting characters and a joyful sense of the weird. After reading it, all I can add is all that praise is understated: Battling Boy is perhaps the highlight of 2014.

Pope's artwork is hyper stylized but delicious to behold, and it works well on this mashup of sci-fi, superheroes and mythology. I'm not big on summarizing, so to give the barest recap: Battling Boy is the son of a Thor-like deity whose culture demands children aged 12 years to go on a 'ramble', which is essentially a heroic adventure, and thus his mission is to help defend a city-planet overrun with monsters and super-villains. This includes all those of super-cool powers and tech that revel in the absurd. Meanwhile, that planet's prior hero, a Flash Gordon / Wyatt Earp / Batman mashup has recently been killed, with his daughter swearing she'll take up the mantle...only to be annoyed at the emergence of this 12 year old interloper.

Pope delivers emotion in spades but never at the expense of the pacing, which makes sure you're engaged and turning pages at a quick rate. I read it all in one sitting.

The villains / monsters are gloriously depicted, and Pope obviously had fun creating them. Named and modeled in Kirby-esque fashion, the villains Sadisto is so obvious and yet so genius.

Can't recommend this one enough. If you have a tough time with superheroes not in the Alex Raymond / Curt Swan mode, it might be difficult to get comfortable right away, but even then I think that will be overcome.

Ps - the publisher for this one is the woefully underrated First Second.

Another superb trade I read while traveling was The Playwright, a fantastic little story by Top Shelf which I amazingly purchased for $3.99 during their crazy annual blowout sale. I picked it up because it's by Eddie Campbell, the genius artist of From Hell fame. Campbell is beloved in the indie scene, though he's only recently come on my radar. The Comics Journal, by Tom Spurgron (the best comics news / review site of them all) continually gushes over Campbell.

The Playwright is a comic book TPB but just barely. It's a landscape style hardcover book with the pages done as if they were newspaper strips. It's also a story entirely without any genre fixings: there's a very real chance it's actually an autobiography of Campbell's writing partner Darren White--it's very difficult to tell, given how grounded in reality it is.

Nonetheless, the work is amazing. It's poignant and powerful, easily roping you in right away into the story of the titular character, and then making sure to give you a few soft gut punches along the way, before you're desperately hoping there is some sort of happy ending for the lead. All the while, Campbell works his magic, providing captivating imagery that feels simple yet incredibly deliberate--and beautiful.

The story features a lead character, the Playwright, who has alienated himself from everyone in his world, and has become so antisocial that he can barely interact with another human being. Meanwhile, his work is critically and commercially successful, obviously driven by his deep seated issues (which are all brilliantly explained). An interesting conundrum for anyone who ever aspired to be an artistic genius. More than that, it's an essential read for anyone whose ever felt their anxiety, fear or anything else prevent them from engaging fully into "society" or human relationships. In an age where the internet can sometimes be a "safe" way to do that, but become harmful in preventing actual human interaction, the story is especially relevant. The Playwright has never known a sexual, romantic relationship, or more importantly, a loving and intimate one. As the story progresses, and possibly hints of one emerge, you are rooting for him with all you have.

All in all, it's a wonderful story in a unique format, and showcases just how limitless the comic book medium can be. Highly recommended!

Hang on. Living in Legion World is a bad thing? After you sold me the virtual real estate, you're telling me this?

We're called "pushers" in the biz.

The Corner of Capsule Comic Comments Continues...

Witchfinder: Mysteries of Unland Dark Horse 5
A finale where one of the supporting cast saves everyone's skin on a few occasions. There are some decent Lovecraftian Innsmouth moments, but the horror behind them doesn’t quite payoff as the ending is a little too neat. There's a crossover moment between this and Abe Sapien. It's nicely themed, even though I'm not sure on the details. 4

Wild's End Boom! 2
The reserved pacing serves to increase tension as the events of last issue are explored & new discoveries are made. It's a tale that isn’t getting ahead of itself at all, allowing for some very good characterisation to emerge. 4.5

Black Market Boom! 4
Some decent twists and turns spoiled somewhat by everything going according to someone's master plan. I much prefer things working out with a few actual hitches along the way. There's an unlikely moment on how the main character bribes his way into sensitive information and humanity putting up with the supers is also stretched a little. 3.75

Imperial Image 3
White slacker, with some relationship issues lucks into some cosmic power that connects him with his father issues. Not terribly original these days, but the light tone and decent art makes it an easy enough read to the cliff hanger. 3.5

October Faction IDW 1
A little like the Addams family with some more action. There are a few hints about broader connections beyond the family. If they can keep the kids away from being too good at what they do and smug about it, the book will keep a little empathy going. As usual, there's some scratchy, macabre art to accompany Niles' story. 3.75

Winterworld IDW 3
It's by Dixon and Guice, so this Mad Max meets the ice age tale was always going to be decent. The art is excellent, and keeps your attention more than the lean action movie based plot. This is apparently a connected series to Dixon's previous Winterworld story of years ago.3.75

Wytches Image 1
I'm not a huge fan of the popular portrayal of witches. Added to that, we have yet another young character in the story too. In fact, it was only the writer's name that made me take a glance, and I'm sure I'm mistaking him for someone else. Still, the opening pages had a shocking enough payoff to delve further into the woods. We get some solid characters trying to make a new start, but haunted by past events. It's too early to say if the series has legs, but it's worth a second look. 4

Thomas Alsop Boom! 5
Picked up entirely because of the Luthor Arkwright sounding name. In superhero terms, the central character is a cross between the Authority's Doctor and Jack Hawksmoor. Then you take away all the superhero trappings, and add in a beanie and some Hellblazer occult trappings. Since this is my first issue, Alsop hasn't become too annoying yet. However, his actions in this issue should have irritated more than enough people to have a negative impact on his self assurance. 4

Justice Inc Dynamite 2
I've always been fond of the idea of pulp characters, but found reading them in a more noir setting, such as the 1980's revamp of The Shadow and Justice Inc for DC even more appealing. More recently, it would seem like every forgotten character has been picked up, dusted off and pushed out into the modern glare in the hope that it's the one to take off. Generally, the quality has been mixed.

This series combines Doc Savage (the Man of Tedium) with The Shadow and The Avenger. DC tried this sort of thing with the terribly titled First Wave a few years ago, substituting the Spirit for the Shadow. This issue is about that level of quality. Savage and Shadow are very strong characters, and the plot is pushed into the background. It's also the origin issue of the Avenger, now tied with the other two. It's as creepy and tragic as always, and is the best feature of the book. The way he discovers his powers is a bit hokey, and the famous supporting cast seem a bit on the forced side. The decent art is a big plus for the book. 3.75

Stray Bullets: Killers Image 8
It's a feature of the book that you see so many sides to each character. When they're brave or scared, or putting up a front. When they talk to their mother, girlfriend or buddy. You see them trying to struggle through, before circumstances reach out and drag them in different directions. The plot itself is a grim conclusion to the events of the previous issue. Everything connects effortlessly as usual, with the story being something that most crime/thriller writers can only dream of. 6

I love thoth's format so much that I can't help but steal it to share my thoughts on the latest batch of floppies I read! (Hope you don't mind, buddy, imitation is definitely the sincerest form of flattery! ) Same scale out of 6, but keep in mind I'm MONTHS behind in my reading!

Buffy Season 10 Dark Horse 4
Good issue with the best writer/artist combo going in Buffy comics. Nicholas (Xander) Brendan co-writes the script which highlights the hilarious Dracula/Xander dynamic. Some forward momentum as we get some answers on lingering subplots. Downside, no feel for a Big bad yet this season. 4

Chew Image 42
Another quality, humorous issue, but it seems that in the last third of the series, the time for these one-off diversions seems a little passe. The larger story isn't served terribly well, but any issue of Chew is better than the norm. 3.75

Daredevil Marvel 4
A bit of a non-ending to the latest volumes opening arc involving Owl and the shroud. More of a set-up for later developments. Great art, as usual by Chris Samnee, but I usually expect more of a *bang* from a Waid arc. 3.25

Fables DC/Vertigo 141
The final arc begins. Is it just me, or does the set-up for a confrontation between Snow and Rose seem like it's being force-fed to us? Willingham has a ways to go to convince this reader it's how the series must end. 2.75

Fatale Image 23
Kind of a psychodelic/sexual penultimate issue to fill in some of the mysterious Josephine's history. We still don't learn all that much about her except that she had a male child, and he was tragically susceptible to her powers. Some nice imagery but kind of a placeholder for the Fatale finale (like that one? ) 3.25

Invincible Image 112
Things are taking a turn for the worse in Invincible's universe as one of the supposed good guys turns homicidal despot. several long-running supporting heroes meet their ends here. I'm caught between feeling all been there, done that with Irredeemable and countless others. Difference here is, we've been immersed in this universe for a decade before this particular turn. We'll see if Kirkman sticks the landing here. 3

Lone Ranger Dynamite 25
The second volume of quality Dynamite Lone Ranger series comes to an end. I think this issue encapsulates why I'm not continuing with volume 3: It seems there are very few compelling stories you can tell with these characters when you know they won't bend or break their moral code. You never really think Tonto's going to kill the bad guy. You can only see bad guys getting shot through the hand so many times! Cavendish from volume one is really the only compelling bad guy they've had.

Ending montage of the pair's future is interesting, but there's no reason to assume it's anything near definitive. The montage doesn't discourage that feeling by being all shadowed, obtuse and ambiguous. 2

The Massive Dark Horse 24
Brian Wood has an interesting arc centered on the mysterious Mary conclude here in a tense but kind of unearned manner. I'm also not so crazy about the widening hints that we have a time-traveller amongst our cast. In an otherwise semi-realistic and plausible post-apocalyptic scenario, I can't understand why Wood would stretch into more "out there" territory. Six issues left to stick the landing, Brian. 3

Outcast Image 1
Excellent, tense debut issue from Walking Dead and Invincible's Robert Kirkman and artist Paul Azaceta. Exorcism is a fascinating basis for a series and one Kirkman may be taking the right approach to. Lots of bang for the buck in a super-sized debut for only $2.99. Compelling characters. I'm curious to see how Kirkman will turn this into a longterm concept for an ongoing. But this is an excellent way to catch my attention off the bat! 5.5

Saga Image 20
Bit of a snoozer after that bomb Hazel dropped on us in her narration last issue. No follow-up on that, though a couple of possible reasons leading up to it may have started being dramatized. The stinger at the end of this issue, though shocking in a way, feels a little unearned because we haven't really gotten to know the character(s) affected all that well. But any issue of Saga is better than at least 90% of comics on the stands. 4.25

Sex Criminals Image 6
Easily one of the best comics on the market, more because of the human, relatable characters and situations than even the out-there premise of "people with the ability to stop time with their orgasms who rob banks to save a library"! It's really the truth in the characters and the humor in what they do that makes the book such a joy. It's nice to see Jon becoming the narrator in this story. Only downside is the premise about what his medication does to him doesn't feel super-fresh. 5

Stray Bullets: Killers Image 4
Seriously, where the hell has Stray Bullets BEEN all my life?!?! David Lapham is one of the best writer-artists in modern comics! he has this way of effortlessly immersing you into his characters' lives and setting up a tense, engrossing story. I'd heard of Stray Bullets many years ago but somehow never got around to picking it up. I'm glad Lapham launched this new series through Image and gave me another chance! 5.25


Wow, that was neat! The typical reviews I do take me FOREVER to write--if I can do this more often, I can share more of my thoughts about books I pick up. Thanks, thoth!

No problem >sniff< at all. Just keep sending the cheques On you being months behind, I should point out that I try to go out of my way to not put any spoilers in any of the reviews. I'd hate to ruin anyone's enjoyment of the book either in floppy or in TPB.



The short reviews are a win-win. Readers get the gist of several comics quickly, or can even just look at the ratings. You get to go for the gut reactions without spending ages typing up much the same thing. You then get bags more time for more reads. And I get royalty cheques or Shakes vouchers.


Re Chew: My spotty reading of late has told me that it could use an occasional kick in the pants to get where it's supposed to be going.

Re Fatale: Jillikers! Is it the penultimate issue before the fateful fanfare final farewell Fatale? I've got the first 3 or 4 and just stopped for some reason. I always meant to go back, but now it's (almost) over. Read more in my monograph "How to treat comics like relationships with people you like." to stop this happening to you!

Re Outcast: I've read Walking Dead since pretty early on. As it wasn't big 2 superheroes, I was a bit later to Invincible, but it has consistently been good. So, I see the preview for Outcast and go "meh" From you review I'll need to give it a shot. It'll save me time getting back issues later.

Re Sex Criminals: Agreed regarding the characters being the strongest part of this. I think that they made a good decision about getting the characters to use their powers to help the things close to them that they care about. But it's also good that the nature of their powers isn't used as the sole gimmick to drive the book forward. The small downside is that I have to innuendo check every post I make about it. I took two out of this one

Re Stray Bullets: DC have just released some sort of "blue sky" mandate. But at Image, this has been going on naturally across a number of genres for years and years. Even to the point of seeing titles like this join forces, although I still see the El Capitan logo. Word of mouth & the Image logo should really help this book, as I've never read a less than excellent issue of it. I'd strongly recommend TPBs for the earlier issues too. He also did Murder Me Dead, which groaning title aside, I also bought at the time, and has a TPB.

Oh, yeah! There's an "uber alles" edition reprinting the entire pre-Killers 41 issues that I'm definitely gonna get! I'll either find a sweet eBay deal or get it on my next In-Stock Trades order (where it's 42% off!).



So far, all I can vouch for is that great first issue, but reviews have been favorable for subsequent ones. I think Cobie's said good things, too.



I try to make mine spoiler-lite, too. Any plot details I mention can be gleaned from solicitations.



I've been trying to pinpoint a Top Five for 2 or 3 years, now, since the last time I posted one. But I'm absolutely sure Sex Crims would make the list! Plus, never forget that it has, hands down, the best current letter column in comics! (Maybe I should try to get published in it; I've got a "porn in the woods" story I haven't seen the like of in it, after all! )



There was some great world-building in the last arc, but it seems that writer Layman is determined to fit as many absurd food-related powers as possible into the time allotted. This issue's power was especially lame.



In a way I think you're helping Random Review find its distinctive identity versus "Any Recommendations". They don't necessarily have to be short, but individual issues and OGNs are better reviewed here, I think. The other thread is better for general direction reviews, positive or negative, I think.

Plus, I'm not as funny as you, so I can only imitate the format!

I don't read the solicitations of the books I'm already likely to buy. I skip past entries in Previews and online.

I think it's from seeing one too many overlong film trailer years ago. One of those that gave away the entire plot in a desperate bid to get people to come in the door.

I hear other folks feeling the same way, so I do think too much is given away. Worse, the wrong information is given away. Look at the Legion out to kill a kid stuff in the current solits for a good example of that. "Oh, it will really get the attention of Legion fans" they must have thought. It sure will. They'll stay away in droves, certian that DC have sunk even lower than usual.



Yeah, I felt that too of late. While needless cramming may seem appropriate for a food related comic, it is getting in the way a bit.



That seems like a decent fit for me. I'd probably use the other thread to go into a bit more depth (or long winded rambling as you know those posts as) on that thread. But there's certainly room for crossing over between the two. It's a bit of a moot point for me really, as now the format has been duplicated, I'll be starting a Haiku Review for You thread next month.


Flattery may be legal tender where you come from, but I'll take the Shakes Ale vouchers thank you



I'm hoping that this exercise will give me a decent pull list once again. I'm pleasantly surprised at how many good titles are out there, so it's not been much of a struggle. I've still got a pile to go through too - Sixth Gun, Victories, Squidder, Multiversity etc... I'll take a look at Battling Boy and Outcast too now.

I also like the format quite a bit and think I may be stealing it too in the future. It's a "down and dirty" by getting that gut feeling out there. Oftentimes I find myself repeating the same adjectives when my reviews go to long.

I think "Any Recs?" is good for "best of the best" nods where you really want to get into detail. You're both right that this format helps give RanRev a better identity.

Btw, I abhor having to summarize anything and avoid it at all costs.

Also, a few other thoughts:

- I reviewed Outcast #1 in this thread and was full of high praise. I think I also posted a quick post on #2 saying it was equally great. Thus far it's seen some phenomenal storytelling from all the creators involved and is full of mood and atmosphere. I think Kirkman will get some serious mileage out of the exorcism genre as he knows how to blend character and plot seamlessly.

- glad you saw my Battling Boy review, Thoth. Can't praise it enough.

- I also am totally in love with Stray Bullets. I had read some old issues in the past but I'm definitely less familiar with it than I'd like to be. I hope to change that by also buying the new collections of the old issues too.

- I feel the same way on Chew. As we get closer to the end I'm just expecting a little more sizzle, pun intended. Layman appears to get distracted by his work for hire stuff and arguing with fans on the internet. He needs to suck it up and send this one over the finish line.

- I also avoid solicits for anything I know I'm getting. And actually, I actively stopped reading any interviews for comics I have an interest in. It almost always takes away from the experience by influencing me negatively (more often than not they don't come across well, even the nicer ones) or positively, and then I wonder if I only like a series because I like the creator. I want to try to experience any single issue in as much as a vacuum as is possible--I only want what I'm reading to be good, not influenced by unearned outside forces.

- Sex Crim is definitely a best of the best series right now. I gobble it up each issue and not only is it excellent at every level, it's wholly unique in the market.

- I actually love Satellite Sam even more, though I can clearly see that one is much more geared towards certain sensibilities. That's a contender for my favorite series right now.

- when you read the Fatale finale, Lardy, let's discuss. I've purposely avoided posting about it until you or someone else has read it.

Doctors were stunned I managed to survive reading my comics in a vacuum. I explained to them that it was a comics vacuum, so you only die after a strictly enforced 30 second period. 29.9 seconds out there and you suffer no side effects at all.



I wonder if my liver is going to be up to all the Shakes drinks my vouchers are going to buy me...


Thanks to you Cobie, I'm now reminded of that terrible issue where Ronnie Raymond was now a fashion model, called RonRay. Years of therapy to forget that DC & Firestorm low point, Cobie...gone. Luckily, I take my therapy where I can get it, and Shakes is as good a place as any.



I'll pop a review up once I get my mittens on it.

I also think it could be used the other way for "worst of the worst". A recommendation can be to 'skip' as much as to 'buy on sight'. My opinion, anyway.



While I don't think it's necessary to summarize, I think it can be necessary to give 'some' idea of the premise in order to inform the reader.



It's good to see that subsequent issues deliver on the promise of the first. I'm curious to see how the concept plays out over a potentially long-lived series. Obviously, Kirkman's delivered same on TWD, but it's harder to imagine how this one might unfold--hopefully not as a story arc per possessed person.



I'm sure I'll eventually check this one out, too.



Lapham is soooo talented! He feels like his generation's Frank Miller but with his own sensibilities.



Again, I thought the previous arc with the visions of a certain deceased character was awesome. Even the issue I reviewed was funny and entertaining and there was 'some' plot advancement. But it feels like Layman is trying to exhaust his ideas for powers and oddball stories before the end. If that's the case, he probably should have set the series up for more than 60 issues.



A big difference for me is that I feel Sex Crims is wholly satisfying on an issue-to-issue basis. Sam was hard for me to follow in that manner with its large cast.



Oh, definitely! I'm wondering, in turn, what you felt about my thoughts particularly on Fables and Lone Ranger, as well.

On Fables, I'm pretty much in 100% agreement. I think if it wasn't ending, I would dropped the series a few months back. That being said, these latest issues have been good. Some big, exciting moments. But it can't get over that forced feeling you mention.

On Lone Ranger, I certainly get what you're saying, though I don't find it particularly jarring that the main two will not stray from their moral code. I think there's still a lot of mileage for them so long as the story is good. I know you've always been a character-first reader and that kind of limitation can be a turn off. I don't long a story-first approach if it's good, there are other characters who can evolve and the big two get at least some good moments.

I think this latest LR run was not a good as the prior, though I liked it a lot and found just about every issue enjoyable. The art was also terrific (though I really missed Carriello). It's definitely my favorite Dynamite series in 2014. I'm definitely in for the third run. I like the character and genre that much, and I think Gray will be a great fit, as he comes with experience working on another huge western character whose personality changes or evolves very little. I think he can come up with some good settings and situations to showcase LR and Tonto, or at least I hope.

I don't think it's ever really been as good as it was during the saga with the Adversary, but there have been some good-to-great issues and storylines here and there. I think the best issue recently was the one in which Bigby meets some departed characters and they get a final send-off. A really amazing issue. But Rose v. Snow? Totally forced and arbitrary.



I'm not saying that the Ranger and Tonto should break character and their morality, but I feel they require extra story juice to make them compelling. I think Matthews and Cariello were perfect last volume, but Parks' writing particularly was much more hit or miss.

Otherwise, I think westerns work best where there is tons of moral ambiguity. It just fits the lawlessness of the setting and the colonization of the frontier. Basically, Hex was a perfect character for it.

I don't read many Western comics, but I love me a good Western movie. Three of my favorite movies of all time are Walter Hill's The Long Riders, Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, and Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Are you a fan of those kinds of movies, Lardy? And if so, would you like to discuss them further in the Anywhere Machine? I seem to recall a thread a few years ago about Western movies.

I'm a HUGE western fan, and I'll gladly contribute. GB&U is among my all time favorite movies ever! And the Wild Bunch is superb--IMO, Peckinpah's best.

A certain moral ambiguity in westerns is definitely an element that enhances the genre. But that being said, I still absolutely love a whole plethora of pre-60's westerns in film, comics, etc that didn't delve into that concept so fully...at least not with the lead. It takes a little more nuance, which this latest round of LR lacked at times, but it can be done.

It's asking a lot, but if the current writer taps into the Oxbow Incident, High Noon, Tombstone, etc, the Lone Ranger could be nothing short of brilliant. Combined with some one off stories in line with Winchester '77 and Stagecoach, and there is a lot to mine.

Thanks, Cobie.

I couldn't find any thread about Western movies, but we could certainly talk about them in the So What Are You Watching thread. I'm certainly going to be watching the three movies I mentioned over the next few days.