Sunday Comics Jan 18 2015

 

Copperhead 05

I've been honestly enjoying Copperhead but with issue 5 and the end of the first story arc I can say I love this comic, Jay Farber, Godlewski,Riley and Mauer have proven that my instincts and the blurbs about this were right. Copperhead has a much more nuanced story then it seems at the outset and does live up to the expectations I would have if someone told me it was an homage to the Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers mixed with a whole lot of the feeling of David Milch's amazing western Deadwood. Given Farber only has twenty some odd pages a month to build this story he has done a marvelous job in revealing what's behind the curtain of his story and the payoff in issue five for all the forsahdowing and tension of the first four is very satisfying. They have built up a lot of depth in the cast so far and I would say again its a great companion sci if drama to Saga. Bravo. Pretty much five stars...

Shutter #8

Two for two in the image front this week as Joe Keating and Leila de Luca deliver another great and revelatory issue of Shutter. Between issues 7 and 8 Kate has her memories and knowledge of her family with her as only child shaken and shattered when she meets not just a younger brother but a homocidal older sister and possibly more. This issue exposes more of the family history she does not recall or never knew nor thought about. This issue opens with a two page newspaper comic strip like montage that is all about the Cat Clock and is prett inventive in the way that it uses recognizable strips to tell the story crossing from one strip to another. Some of the best bits in this issue are the little details like how even the cover is a part of the overall story and introduces someone who I think will turn out ot be impotant. I'd say four to four and a half stars

 

Rat Queens: Braga special 1

Out of all the great the background characters in Rat Queens Braca of the Peaches is pretty much my favorite or she's even with the group the four Daves but that could be because of that old Kids in the Hall sketch (these are the Dave's I know.. Look it up). I'd compares this to Conan in my pull list post and that rung pretty true in that there is a whole lot of violence in this issue with an Orc vs Orc dispute but there is also some very interesting personal things revealed and I love some of the possible implications and developments in this issue. This story happens right after the events of issue five and it appears lots of characters were blowing off some steam that night. Tess Fowler does a pretty great job illustrating this sort of origin story and I hope we will see her work again given how well this special came out. Braga has gained a lot of depth with this story and well hefully see more of her past.... Four to four and a half stars...

 

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Judas Contact...

 

I loved the old Marv Wolfman George Perez new Teen Titans from the eighties when I was a teenager their book in my memory is brighter then the Claremont/Cockrum/Smith Uncanny Xmen so this new interpretation I had to read. Jeff Lemire has a great repututaion and has written some books I have enjoyed including the new 52 title Frankenstien and the Agents of SHADE which was my favorite of any of the initial offerings given the Dodson's did the art my expectations were pretty high. Overall I dug this book which strikes me more as the beginning of something rather then a full ing in and of itself. Jeff sets up three story arcs and hints at several more within the pages of this but only pays off on one of the promises he makes. As an old time fan I have to give Jeff and Terry kudos for making me not notice the characters they chose not to include by getting me fully investing in the handful the do use; Victor Stone, Tarra Markov, Garlfield Logan, Joseph Wilson Raven and the mysterious alien Starfire.

 

Though I can not say for sure how more recent fans of the Titans might feel about this book I can say that for an old fan the re visioning works pretty well. Jeff has clearly defined personalities for these characters and reveals them clearly over the corse of the story, the rebellious angry young girl, the underachieving son of the successful mom, the precocious smart caring son of a different family, the respectful girl raised by her grandparent, the disaffected loner and the terrifies outsider looking for help. Jeff know his DC and Teen Titans history; you can tell from the Easter eggs throughout the book for long time fans like me.and much like the amazing Guardians of the Galaxy film last summer they were winks to fans more then integral parts of the story. This book stands well on its own I believe having gone back to read it several times. Its a solid teenage hero tale that spins out of the feeling most teens have of disassociation with their parents and finding a place where they belong among people like them seen throught the lens of the superhero origin story. If anything the end comes all too soon leaving what seems to me the most interesting part for the future volumes. Fans of the marvel series Runaways would likely find the book happily familiar both with the characterful writing that keeps you engaged and with the clean and well thought out art choices.

Terry and Rachel Dodson pull from several styles in creating the overall look of this book. I think given one of the entryways into the Teen Titans comes from the animated series's that have been around its no wonder that the style they chose has hints of animation influence; Joseph Wilson's design looks almost pulled from Japanese animation particularly his profile at times and Tara Markov could easily at times have been drawn by Adam Warren who first adapted the Dirty Pair for US comic audiences. The color palet that they cose to work with also has more of the vibrancy that I associate with animation and doesn't go in for lots of the dark and more stark contrasts that I feel are being I used more in the "grittier" and grimmer comics DC seems to put out lately. This book looks more in line with the Batgirl with art by Babs Tarr and Cameron Stewart the it does with sat Batman or Superman right now. Anyone who likes comics that straddle that style line between American comics and Japanese manga and animation should likely enjoy the look of this.

Teen Titans: Earth One may not hit everyone the way it did me. Jeff Lemire really hit it right in my opinion in terms of taking a classic comic story I loved, The Judas Contract by Wolfman and Perez, character that I fondly remember and rich comic history and revisited with a lot of love and respect. He changed things yes, it's not the same story and people looking for that will be missing out on what he did write. I think this will play well for most old fans with open minds and hefully just create some new ones I'd expect people who loved the Runaways from marvel or who are now enjoying coming of age hero tales like Nova and Ms.Marvel are just the right new audience for this.

Is it a five for five shots that is for you to decide but it hit much more then not for me... Worth the money in my opinion. Out today Nov 19th at your local friendly comic stores....

Ps among the best bits in this for me were the seen a new cool take on Raven and getting Cyborg back where he belongs with his friends.

 

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Sunday Comics (Monday nov 10 really)

 

Rocket Racoon 5

This was the winner of the week and pretty much had me in stitches from just about page one till the last panel. Scotty Young may be stepping away as artist and just do the writing from now on for Rocket but his swan song was my call for best story of the week. This book really was the one that grasped the same tone as the Guardians Movie, sure in this format it was a gimmick they can do only once but it so worked. Honestly the "Rocket" version of Kitty's Fairy Tale from back in the day of Uncanny Xmen by way of Giffen'ish Lobo was the fun that I needed. Five shot out of five.

 

Amazing Spider-Man 9

Its surprising to me just how much I have been enjoying the Dan Slott Spider-Man. I have been a Spidy fan on and off over the years and the reason I finally checked this out were the upcoming Silk, Spider-Woman and Spider Gwen series and its been a real hoot. I grabbed the first Original Sin issue which I really liked and the Edge of Spiderverse were another draw I can credit for picking up this wild fun issue. This issue plays wild and loose with the alternate universe thing that Marvel has been doing so well lately. The art by Oliver Coipel has a clean and clear style and has a panel flow that was ps easy to follow it made me think of movie storyboards. The backup that reintroduces the villains behind the story who have been kicking around in the last few issues in a manner where you don't really notice the exposition to being us occasional readers up to speed. Its definitely a four shots out of five is not a bit more because its got just enough tongue in cheek to make it a Spidy story.

 

I've got some other issues to get too but these won me pretty clearly out of the books I got to this last week.

 

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Rocket.....

So I'm pretty surprised with how much people loved Rocket and Groot in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie that no one seems to be talking about the Scotty Young Rocket comic book and particularly this issue. Very few comics these days make me laugh out loud as much as this single issue did, sure it was a gimmicky issue, they can only really do this once and get away with it but this was worth four dollars for all the honest laughter it brought me. Sometimes comics should just be funny; I needed a break from all the not so great news of this week in particular and well this twenty some odd pages did the trick for me. Will this issue be a big piece of continuity, will it be relevant in ten or seventy five years well who knows but it was damned funny and gave me a great amount of joy for the visual jokes and storytelling and yeah it gave me the Rocket and Groot I really wanted. Great work. If you need some levity this is the Racoon and tree your looking for. Five stars if you need a rating....

 

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City guides for the Uncanny

Ok, you'll have to excuse my use of the comics reference but when it comes to Mur Lafferty finally getting a big publisher contract I though a little comic nod in order. I first became aware of her through her I should be writing podcast and Playing for Keeps, her superhero tale that helped keep me sane in a kinda crazy making job. Mur had worked in both long and short form fiction and is the current editor for the Escapepod podcast among many other creative projects.

I recently finished the ARC for The Shambling. Guide to New York City and will giving it a full review soon but here are the cover

And a link to Orbit Books site for the book trailer

 

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Grimm Tales.....

This Is the blog I started first and though it has been silent for far too long it has always been about free media that I think is worth your time. Over the last two years the has been some great TV and I plan to cover it.....

At the moment I am catching up on the goodness that is Grimm. I have to admit I liked the show initially for the nominal sidekick Monroe... And I still really like his the most and adore his story but the urban fantasy police procedural known as Grimm set in my new home state of Oregon has really won my heart. The character arcs are rich and complex and everyone has a good and a dark side to them. Grimm is more then just a re-telling of the fairy tales its an exploration of hat it is to be a caring being and it asks as much of its heroes as it does of its villains. I find myself wanting to k ow more of the mythology as much as I want to see more of the major players. Don't get me wrong Monroe and his lover are still my favorites just as much as Spike was my favorite in Buffy and Dargo was in Farscape but I do love the show and its supplanting Once as my favorite fantasy on TV....

Debates....

Ok

I have something very simple to say about the debate of tonight....

Look not at what was said I say... Politicians say a lot of things good and bad both and make promises that because of the way things work won't ever happen (unless it's for the 1% but that's a different argument....)

Look at behaviour.... Mitt acted in a way I remember very well...

I was bullied throughout grade school, high school and into some of my working life. I know for bullies and Mitt Romney is a stellar example of one. He acted totally entitled to have his way and ran roughshod over the rules of the debate. I would never have voted for him before but now I'm incensed...

Mitt must never have power other then the obscene amount he already has because if the money he inherited. He will forever be called money boo boo from now on. I'd have needed subtitles to understand him in full...

Don't vote Mitt... unless you want to vote him off This Planet Earth....