With
a new year comes some evaluation of the comic books I buy on a
monthly basis. I mentioned in my Phantom Manifesto that I needed to
drop five books, so I am going to do that today.
If
you’re new here, this is a post where I provide a little commentary
about the quality of the comics I read. I don’t do in-depth reviews
or plot synopses or anything like that (mostly). I’ll just talk
about how much I enjoy books (or don’t) and whether I think you
should buy them.
A+X
I
keep waiting for the quality to drop on this book and it hasn’t
yet. I was concerned when I saw that they were doing a multi-issue
story with… wait.
If
you don’t know, A+X
is a monthly book that features two creative teams telling two
one-shot stories that involve at least one Avenger and one X-Person.
It’s a lot of fun and doesn’t require any knowledge of current
events in the Marvel Universe.
Okay,
each issue thus far has had two chunks of easily digestible fun. So I
was worried when I saw that the current Cyclops and Captain America
story was going to last multiple issues. But so far it’s been great
and I’m okay with it. As long as this doesn’t become a regular
thing or one concept doesn’t end up dominating the book, I’m
good.
Verdict
– SUPER FUN BOOK
ALL-STAR
WESTERN
Still
the best from DC and one of the best overall. Jonah Hex is currently
stranded in his future (the DCU’s present) and has picked up a hot
lady to accompany him on his adventures. In recent issues Hex has
encountered Bruce Wayne, John Constantine, and Swamp Thing. It’s
been awesome. You should be reading this book, regardless of how you
feel about Westerns.
Oh,
and apparently regular series artist Moritat finally
needed a breather, because the most recent issue featured a fill-in
artist for the first half. That artist’s style didn’t mesh with
Moritat’s at all, but that portion of the story did at least take
place in a different time. And the artist was good, they just weren’t
Moritat.
Verdict
– TOP OF THE STACK
ASH
VS THE ARMY OF DARKNESS
The
art in this book is weird and fantastic. The story is interesting and
picks up right where the regular version of Army
of Darkness left off. But
I’m not digging the tone. It’s a little too serious. Ash gets off
some one-liners, but they almost feel obligatory rather than a
natural part of his character. I want very much to like this book, as
it’s AoD
and it’s by one of the best writers working today – Steve Niles –
but I’m not totally digging it.
Verdict
– PROBATION
BATMAN
Okay,
it’s time to be completely honest – I cannot remember for the
life of me what is going on in this book right now. I know it’s
still Zero Year and I know it’s still about Bruce Wayne with a
terrible haircut, but I can’t recall the plot. And that’s
probably not a good sign.
Verdict
– IS THIS BOOK TREADING WATER OR AM I JUST GETTING DUMBER?
BATMAN
AND______
I
am thoroughly enjoying the Batman and Two-Face story. I haven’t
decided yet how I feel about the change in Two-Face’s origin. It
isn’t a huge difference, but I don’t know that it works as
smoothly. Or maybe it makes more sense. I just can’t decide. Either
way, this book is solid and Patrick Gleason’s art seems to keep
getting cooler.
Verdict
- KEEPER
BATMAN
SUPERMAN
I
loved the first story arc, though at times I found Jae Lee’s art to
be a little confounding. It’s beautiful and he’s one of my
favorite artists, but not everybody is right for everything. Even my
beloved Francesco Francavilla isn’t perfect for every title.
But
in the end I dug that first story and was eager for more.
Then
we got the crap that’s happening now, which I cannot
enjoy because it is printed sideways and I can’t stand to read it.
I can’t even judge the story because I am so irritated about the
orientation of the book. Bret Booth is the artist for this arc. I
like his work just fine, but his style is what I would call “standard
modern DC”. I feel like this should be a title with different and
interesting artists trying new things. I mean, new things that don’t
make me read the comic in an uncomfortable way. If I have to read the
next issue in a mirror I’m dropping this one.
Verdict
– PROBATION
BATWOMAN
The
first issue by the new creative team is linear and entertaining. The
story is very easy to understand and the art is nice to look at. New
writer Marc Andreyko had to deal with making this a Zero Year tie-in,
so it’s kind of off, but anything would have felt strange after the
confusing mess that was the last creative team’s run. And I don’t
necessarily mean “mess” in a bad way, but I do mean “confusing”
in a bad way.
Verdict
- PROBATION
CABLE
AND X-FORCE
This
book keeps in line with the new Marvel NOW ethic of all-action, all
the time. I’m enjoying it immensely, particularly since the story
is centering around one of my favorite mutants – Forge.
Verdict
– KEEPER
CHIN
MUSIC
The
first two issues of this book were weird words from Steve Niles and
beautiful pictures by Tony Harris. If you like those guys, you should
be reading this one.
Verdict
– TOP OF THE STACK
DOCTOR
WHO
I
was afraid IDW’s excellent Doctor
Who comic was going to go
out with a wet “pfffft” rather than a bang. The final story arc
was tedious and felt like a revisiting of one of my least favorite
stories from the last season of television – the Old West one with
Ben Browder. I don’t have anything against Westerns, but I have had
as much of the Doctor in the Old West as I want for the next decade
or so. Enough with the anachronistic villains in the desert.
I
will give that arc credit for tying up the old mystery of who was
living in the TARDIS and for including Oscar Wilde in a Doctor Who
story. I mean, it was inevitable, but it was still neat to see.
That
final arc was not the final story, though. IDW produced one final
adventure of Doctor Eleven in the form of an extra-long one-shot. The
premise is that the Doctor slips into our universe and meets Matt
Smith. Obviously this sounds like a terrible
idea. Until you notice the name on the top right corner of the book
in the writer’s spot – Paul Cornell. I have yet to discover a bad
piece of fiction from Cornell. This story was fun and executed in the
only way such a story could have been – with tongue firmly in cheek
and continuity meaningless.
Thank
you to IDW and all of the creators that the company employed to bring
us great Doctor who content over the past several years. If the new
publisher is wise they’ll continue using some of the same folks.
Verdict
– JOB WELL DONE
DOCTOR
WHO: PRISONERS OF TIME
This
was a fantastic companion to all of the other Fiftieth Anniversary
releases. I highly recommend you pick up the collected editions. The
art got spotty in a couple of issues, but the overall narrative was
awesome and answered one of the huge questions you never knew you
had. I won’t spoil it, but when you find out you’ll be pleased. I
guarantee an involuntary verbal, “OH!”
Verdict
– JOB WELL DONE
THE
EXTINCTION PARADE
I
liked Max Brooks’ story of the vampires realizing they’re fucked
after the zombie apocalypse, but I just couldn’t tolerate the art.
It isn’t bad, but it’s that overly-detailed and too-busy style
that a lot of the Avatar comics use and I just can’t stand to look
at that stuff.
Verdict
– THE WIFE IS READING IT NOW
HACK/SLASH
VS. ARMY OF DARKNESS
I
never imagined I’d be saying this, but this is a far better Army of
Darkness book than the one that one of my favorite writers is putting
out. The tone is perfect.
Ash and Cassie have a great rapport, the humor and stakes work well
together, and the story is well done and creates a decent reason for
the two of them to have teamed up. Somehow this manages to be a
logical continuation of both Hack/Slash
and Army of Darkness.
I love it.
Verdict
– TOP OF THE STACK
HARLEY
QUINN
I
have to admit that I was disappointed when I found out that Amanda
Conner was not going to be the artist on this book, that she was only
co-writing it with her husband Jimmy Palmiotti. But I love
Palmiotti’s writing and Conner’s humor so much that I still
wanted to check the title out.
The
zero issue was fun. It was a new starting point for Harley and had a
very Deadpool-esque feel to it. Not quite to the fourth-wall-breaking
extent of Marvel’s Merc With A Mouth, but definitely more zany and
cartoonish than the rest of the New 52 (which all takes itself far
too seriously in my opinion). It was set up as a try-out issue for
several different artists, each illustrating a short story in their
own style complete with commentary from Harley and the writers. By
the end, Harley’s new status quo had been set.
The
first issue has a slightly less chaotic tone, but is still a whole
lot of fun. Harley has to deal with the occupants of the building she
inherited in the zero issue while making ends meet. It’s utterly
ridiculous and an absurd situation for one of the most wanted
criminals of the DCU to be in and I love it for that. If the CW wants
a basis for their next DC show, they need look no further than Harley
Quinn running an apartment building (or retail block or whatever it
is).
Oh,
and the regular artist is awesome. I’m not familiar with Chad
Hardin, but he has a good comic book style that lends itself to
physical comedy without being too cartoony.
Verdict
–KEEPER
INDESTRUCTIBLE
HULK
The
art has gotten a little shaky, but the story is still excellent. As
long as we keep seeing the basic premise of “Banner is the smartest
one there is”, I’ll keep reading.
Verdict
– TOP OF THE STACK
IRON
MAN
Tony
Stark at his egotistical best. Now he’s building the City of the
Future. Surely nothing could go wrong there, right? Plus, Mandarin’s
rings are assembling what I like to call the Mandarin Corps in a
blatant… what’s the word for when you’re doing a
tongue-in-cheek, intentional ripoff? I don’t know but it’s
basically DC’s rainbow Lantern Corps, but with Mandarin’s rings.
Right down to the whole, “…You have been chosen…”
Verdict
– TOP OF THE STACK
REVIVAL
Tim
Seeley and Mike Norton continue to produce a quality supernatural
thriller.
Side
Note: I am often shocked at how graphic and profane Mike Norton can
be on Twitter. Then I realize I’m looking at Jim Norton.
Verdict
– TOP OF THE STACK
SAGA
So
remember up there when I said I had no idea what was going on in
Batman? Not only do I know exactly what happened in the last issue of
Saga,
I could give you a synopsis of everything
that has happened in this book since the first issue.
This
is still the best comic book I have ever read.
Verdict
– TOP OF THE STACK
STAR
WARS
This
was an okay comic, but nothing I’d say was a must-read. As I said
with Doctor Who and IDW, I certainly hope that when Marvel starts
putting together Star Wars comics they use a lot of the same talent
as Dark Horse.
Side
Note: I saw a lot of mockery of Disney’s decision to put a
committee together to determine what was canon in the Star Wars
universe. Really? You think with the rich (and insane) history of the
franchise it’s a bad idea to define what will impact all future
media releases? I heard the news and was excited and impressed that
they had the foresight to do such a thing and enough respect for the
history of the license to be planning something like this.
Granted,
I knew there was a good chance that much of my beloved Expanded
Universe would be rendered invalid, but that doesn’t mean those
stories don’t exist anymore. Heck, a ton of EU stuff contradicts
itself and movies anyway. How frustrating was it to see Even Piell’s
conflicting stories in the EU novels and on Star
Wars: The Clone Wars? No
more of that!
Then
I started to see people’s reactions. They were mocking Disney for
doing it. I’ll never understand the internet.
Verdict
– TOP OF THE STACK
STAR
WARS: DARK TIMES
For
me, this is the go-to Star Wars comic. I love all of the characters
and the story of Vader’s obsession with hunting Jedi has been
engrossing – exactly what I expected to see after the allusions of
the movies. I believe the last issue was the last issue, judging from
the cryptic message in the letters column. While I hope that Marvel
will draw from the talents Dark Horse has used over the years, I
doubt very much they will directly continue any of Dark Horse’s
narratives.
Verdict
– BUY THE COLLECTIONS
UNCANNY
AVENGERS
This
book is a rip-roaring adventure in the Mighty Marvel Manner (or
whatever). Rick Remender is telling what feels like one of the
ultimate tales of the X-Men, but that doesn’t mean that the
Avengers that are involved are second bananas. Wonder Man, Cap, and
Wasp are all critical to events and Remender is managing a
spectacular all-star ensemble cast in a way that I would not have
thought possible. How the fuck do you team up Havok and Captain
America? This is how. I love
this book. And the fact that it has made its way through a string of
amazingly talented artists with complimentary styles (by which I mean
the change-ups have not been jarring to the narrative) is a singular
achievement.
Verdict
– TOP OF THE STACK
UNCANNY
X-FORCE
I
am loving this story because it feels like there is no chance in hell
that the good guys are going to win, but you know they will.
BUT
AT WHAT COST!?!
Verdict
– KEEPER
WALKING
DEAD
Excellence
in every single issue.
Verdict
– TOP OF THE STACK
THE
WAKE
This
undersea saga by Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy just keeps getting
weirder. I started off feeling like it would be a great movie, but
now it’s almost getting too big. I’d still love to see it on the
silver screen, but it would be a massive undertaking.
Verdict
– TOP OF THE STACK
WOLVERINE
Paul
Cornell. Alan Davis.
FUCK
YES.
I
think Marvel is relaunching this one in a couple of months. Cornell
is still writing, so I’ll still be reading.
Verdict
– GREAT BOOK
WOLVERINE
AND THE X-MEN
This
one is also getting relaunched, but with a new creative team.
Verdict
– DROPPING IT
Okay,
so I didn’t drop five titles. But between dropping Wolverine
and the X-Men, the loss of
IDW books (and no new Who
announced), and the impending end of Star Wars at Dark Horse, that’s
five.
That’s
a cop-out. I will do my best to take another look at this before it
posts. If there isn’t a green Side Note below this statement when
it does, then I have failed not just you, but myself!
Other
Comic-Related News
Adam
WarRock is amazing.
I
realize that this is not going to be news to most of you, but it’s
a revelation that I’ve only recently experienced.
Sometime
last year (or maybe even in 2012) I downloaded WarRock’s Browncoats mixtape – the
show, not COBRA’s saboteur; though I would totally download that
too). I didn’t know anything about WarRock other than he was
frequently mentioned by Comics Alliance’s Chris Sims. I was
expecting something humorous. Possibly along the lines of mc chris.
What I got instead was some serious, well done hip-hop that happened
to be about the crew of the Serenity. I thought it was well done, but
the tone was so different from what I was expecting that it didn’t
click with me. I posted something on Twitter expressing this
sentiment and was immediately attacked by some insane Adam WarRock
fan.
I’m
not sure this is the first instance of somebody having a problem with
me expressing my opinion, but it has certainly been an ongoing theme
lately. If you don’t like or agree with my opinion that’s fine.
But if you think you can tell me that I shouldn’t be expressing my
opinion then you can stuff that right up your ass.
I
responded to this guy something along those lines and before it got
any further WarRock himself stepped in with something along the lines
of, “Hey guys – not everybody has to like everything; let’s all
be cool.” I don’t want to read too much into whichever 120
characters he used to express this, but I feel like he recognized
that his nutjob fan might turn a potential fan away. The nutjob is
the one that tagged WarRock in the first place. I wasn’t even
following the guy. And I’ll tell you this – if WarRock hadn’t
stepped in I don’t know that I would have ever given his music
another chance. I’m not saying that I need the gentle hand of every
musician in the world to guide me to liking their music, but if my
only interaction had been with that one hypersensitive dude I
probably would have written the whole thing off.
I
listened to the Browncoats Mixtape a few more times and liked it, but
it still didn’t quite click. But I had a lot of respect for WarRock
himself. I added him to my Twitter feed just to keep abreast of what
he was up to.
A
couple of weeks ago I found out that what he was up to was a DoctorWho Mixtape. It was going
to be time to give Mr. WarRock another try, because nobody
is going to be rapping about Doctor Who without me checking it out.
The
Doctor Who Mixtape is ridiculously good.
This
time I was prepared for WarRock’s legit hip-hop style and was able
to enjoy the 8 track collection from that perspective. The samples
are fantastic and the rhymes are mesmerizing. I think WarRock’s
flow is influenced more by Jay-Z, Nas, and Tupac than by the Native
Tongue stuff I prefer, but the guy has a lot of talent.
Anyway,
I quickly downloaded everything on his site. The reason this little
mini post is popping up in the Comic Book Update is because a ton of
his stuff is comic book oriented. In addition to mixtapes about Game
of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica, and Doctor Who he has collections
about X-Factor, the West Coast Avengers, and Marvel NOW (there’s a
track on that one about the Hulk that is just stupid good). It’s
all great stuff and you should go download it now:
Now,
the problem I have is that I’ve gotten all of this great music for
free and I want to contribute something to the guy that made it. If
you’re like me and feel that artists should be compensated for
their hard work by individuals, then there’s good news – he has a
Bandcamp page with stuff for sale!:
There
are full-length albums and a t-shirt. Go buy them.
I’m
hoping to catch WarRock on tour now and I really think he would make
a great Dragon con performer. Hip-hop has been sadly underrepresented
at my favorite con, which is inexcusable because it has had the
longest running relationship with nerd culture. You can go back to
the early 90s and find guys like Del Tha Funkee Homosapien
referencing dorkery.
Stay tuned to Needless Things for more about Adam WarRock...
-Phantom
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