If this was a faithful adaptation of the film, I won't bother to watch it, even on cable. While the story reverses some of the cliches of the tradition...moreIf this was a faithful adaptation of the film, I won't bother to watch it, even on cable. While the story reverses some of the cliches of the traditional slasher story, what bothered me was the innate lack of justice in the tale. Each of the male victims was lured to doom by the nature of their own aloneness, but only one did anything "wrong" to lead to this doom. The others were simply victimized by an unstoppable evil. What some creators have forgotten is that unstoppable evil that has no rules to follow or limits to what it can do...just isn't interesting. In this case, the male victims aren't even lusting after Jennifer to any unreasonable degree. SHE pursues THEM. Each victim is a loner, only one due to his own bad behavior. The others are already somewhat victimized by their peers or their circumstances. So they die. The end. That's remarkably unsatisfying as a story. The artwork is the ony redeeming feature of the book, with each chapter done by a different artist. Jim Mahfood's chapter is remarkably strange and noteworthy, even though I'm not a huge fan of his work. The rest are good, much better than the story deserves. So, if you read this one, do it for the artwork.(less)
I'm still not sure I understand the ending. I'm not entirely sure that I want to understand the ending, because it may mean getting inside the head of...moreI'm still not sure I understand the ending. I'm not entirely sure that I want to understand the ending, because it may mean getting inside the head of one of the personalities of a deranged serial killer. The ending is sort of like having a dream conversation with The Joker, only you're not sure whether it's in his head or yours. The basic story is that an ex-cop finds out more about an old case than anyone would want to know. A serial killer seems to be infatuated with her, and leaves "love notes" in the form of staged death scenes. Oddly, the victims seem to be criminals of various kinds. From an already weird and creepy start, it gets weirder and creepier with each death, until...well, there's that ending again. I still have qualms about it, because there are several ways to interpret the final few pages, all of them disturbing. I should have expected strangeness from the writer of Night Trippers and Lazarus Jack, but even so...(less)
Once again, the absence of punctuation rears its ugly head. "I had a baby, Morrigan," is probably what the writer meant, when the character who had a...moreOnce again, the absence of punctuation rears its ugly head. "I had a baby, Morrigan," is probably what the writer meant, when the character who had a baby was talking to The Morrigan. In fact what was written was "I had a baby Morrigan" which has a rather different meaning. No, really. The image of a baby Celtic death deity is difficult to ignore, once it starts running around in your head...you know, sucking its thumb as it commands ravens on the field of battle, that kind of thing. Otherwise, and other than the fact that The Morrigan is mysteriously made male in this story, the story had some really good bits. I especially liked the use of the motif of the grateful beasts, helping out someone who had been kind to them. That was the best folkloric element in this volume of stories. The role reversal in the Seven Dwarfs segment was also good, with the sleeping prince encased in a glass casket. You just know there's going to be a kiss in there somewhere, by the time he gets awakened. I still wish they'd tone down the fan service a bit. It's so heavy-handed that it's getting silly.(less)
This collection of stories from the ongoing Grimm Fairy Tales series is a mixed bag. There are some thoughtfully deep Jungian moments, alternating wit...moreThis collection of stories from the ongoing Grimm Fairy Tales series is a mixed bag. There are some thoughtfully deep Jungian moments, alternating with cheesy fan-service...such as the evil Cindy, who looks like a cheerleader from hell, but is just so cute after she's eviscerated someone...No, really, some of the stories play it like that, and after a while that becomes annoying. Still, that's the market that Zenescope is playing to with this series, which is really too bad. When they choose to tell a version of one of the traditional tales, they do it well. "Grandfather Death" is one featured in this volume, not as well known as some of the other tales collected by Perrault or the Brothers Grimm, because it's such a dark tale. This book handles it well, though, as the character is torn between honor and love, as in the original. The rest of this volume is mainly stories building toward a big showdown which was rather disappointing. Up until that point, the story was better and more interesting. One other minor quibble...the editor or the letterer for Zenescope really needs to learn that commas are not inherently evil, and can in fact be used for good. Too often, the reader has to figure out where the comma really ought to have been. To paraphrase a famous T-shirt: "Let's eat grandma" is not the same as "Let's eat, grandma"(less)
Brian Michael Bendis has been far more popular as a writer for comics than he was as an artist. This collection of his early work shows why this is ac...moreBrian Michael Bendis has been far more popular as a writer for comics than he was as an artist. This collection of his early work shows why this is actually a sad thing. He was really quite a good artist, and had he continued to develop his art to the extent he developed his writing, he might have been one of the greatest ever. While this book contains a motley assortment of his early work, he showed flashes of brilliance, especially in his noir crime stories. The overall quality of the book is wildly inconsistent, which is why I only gave it three stars. Some of the humorour pieces fizzle, and some of the true life stories were told in an odd style that didn't quite work. Still, if you are interested in the history of modern comics, this is worth your time.(less)
I didn't start reading Criminal until after this volume, so I just went back to read it. It was well worth the effort. Leo is a brilliant criminal, one...moreI didn't start reading Criminal until after this volume, so I just went back to read it. It was well worth the effort. Leo is a brilliant criminal, one who can plan a crime with maximum efficiency and who always gets away, whether the crime succeeds or not. Then, he's approached by a crooked cop who needs Leo's help to pull off a huge job. An enormous payday with inside help? What could possibly go wrong? Brubaker is at his best in this kind of noir crime fiction, and the artwork of Sean Phillips set a great mood. The book is very violent, and a bit more gory than absolutely necessary. That, combined with some odd lapses by the main character, are the reason it didn't earn a fifth star.(less)
This collection is good, but not great. Put together as the 2004 benefit for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund by folks at the Small Press Expo, it su...moreThis collection is good, but not great. Put together as the 2004 benefit for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund by folks at the Small Press Expo, it suffers from the same problem as a lot of well-meaning anthologies...inconsistent quality. It's hard for an editor to turn down a generous creator whose work is only so-so. In some cases, the work is unusual and clever, in other cases it consists of some variation on the theme "War is bad." Several cliches abound, but a few of them are taken to delightful extremes. For instance, the old chestnut about cockroaches surviving World War III to become the next civilization is taken a step further, to their extinction after World War VI, and what comes after them. One war is simply a game being played by two kids, and another is part of the Crusades. Most are more modern, and it is these modern war stories that sometimes have a sameness to them. Still, it is an interesting anti-war anthology, and worth reading.(less)
This short graphic novel is finely crafted, but the ending was so bad that it cost the book two full stars, in my estimation. The book is a graphic ada...moreThis short graphic novel is finely crafted, but the ending was so bad that it cost the book two full stars, in my estimation. The book is a graphic adaptation of a short story, one in which a woman seems to love books more than anything else in her life. The reason for this is never explored or explained, but that was okay, given the short length of the story. Then, one magical evening, she finds an old Winnebago on a street, one filled with every book that she has ever read. The story progresses from there, and had me riveted for most of the length of this short book. The idea that your reading material has a life of its own, in a way, was fascinating, and the story's idea that the woman's life would be so totally altered by this odd chance encounter kept me turning the pages with delight. Then, a few pages before the end, the author ruined the whole thing. I was dragged out of the story into a truly hellish ending that just didn't work. Not just for me. I've shown it to others, and so far they all balk at the same point in the story. Having your central character make a drastic choice that isn't foreshadowed and doesn't make sense, and leads to results that also don't make sense...just not good writing, and the editor who let it slide might want to think about another career choice. I can only recommend the first 34 pages of this book. Stopping there with no resolution may be better than finishing this book.(less)
I wanted this to be better than it was, and liked parts of it enough that I felt like it deserved three stars, but it kept wandering from two to four...moreI wanted this to be better than it was, and liked parts of it enough that I felt like it deserved three stars, but it kept wandering from two to four in quality. The metafiction of this book is that other than one short story, it takes place well into the career of an established heroine, and thus we are supposedly reading issues 1, 124 and 295-300 of an ongoing series...the rest of which exists only in the author's imagination. Miranda and her father are a bit like Alan Moore's Tom Strong and family, but in a different setting. I found it difficult to avoid the comparison after the first couple of stories. The most powerful part of the story doesn't come from the action and adventure, but instead from a side story, as the reader learns that Miranda may be slowly dying. Unfortunately, the rushed nature of the format makes this more difficult to care about, and the inevitability of her death never quite made sense. For someone who deals with the impossible on a daily basis, why is this one challenge unstoppable? I wish there were more stories about the character, but I don't know if the conceit of the non-existent series would hold up.(less)
**spoiler alert** At times brilliant, and at times it felt like Alan Moore was just showing off his knowledge of literature. Interweaving the story wi...more**spoiler alert** At times brilliant, and at times it felt like Alan Moore was just showing off his knowledge of literature. Interweaving the story with that of "Three Penny Opera" was startling and rather brilliant, but confusing to anyone who did not recognize the slightly revised lyrics for what they were. Blending Mack the Knife with Jack the Ripper was also clever and interesting, but making the Nautilus into the ship from the "Pirate Jenny" song was almost too much. On the other hand, the brilliant and clever parts were just that. I didn't really care for the artwork in this volume, though, and I didn't like the text parts, which seemed rather forced.(less)
This takes a fairly interesting premise, that Paul Revere's career as a silversmith was more than meets the eye, and blends it into a story of intrigu...moreThis takes a fairly interesting premise, that Paul Revere's career as a silversmith was more than meets the eye, and blends it into a story of intrigue and werewolves during the American Revolution. This graphic novel is good, but could have been better. Unfortunately, the random demons [harpies?] are never really explained, even though the werewolves make sense. References are made to the Roanoke colony's disappearance, but that doesn't match the rest of the story, and like the demons, is never explained. By tying the story to a modified version of Longfellow's poem about Paul Revere, there are some clever twists, but some not clever enough. For instance, he uses crows in place of the pigeons in the original poem, even though ravens would have made more sense [and better scansion]. Continuing the poetic ties, the book also uses excerpts from poetry by Poe and Emerson to fairly good effect, and the story makes a good comparison between the evil that men can do on their own and that of the supernatural.(less)
This surreal tale wanders between spoof and nightmarish confusion, as the "heroes" of Philadelphia fight crime with super-powers both real and imagina...moreThis surreal tale wanders between spoof and nightmarish confusion, as the "heroes" of Philadelphia fight crime with super-powers both real and imaginary, and find themselves trapped in a postage stamp, among other odd situations. I didn't care much for the artist's visual style, but the story was strange enough that I couldn't put it down. It kept me turning the pages, wanting to see what weirdness would come next.(less)
This is a fictionalized account of the lives of two French cartoonists, best known for their longtime collaboration on something unfamiliar to most Am...moreThis is a fictionalized account of the lives of two French cartoonists, best known for their longtime collaboration on something unfamiliar to most Americans. Some of their works have been translated into English, including by the publisher of this volume, but not widely read. As a result, this book has to stand alone as a memoir of the lives of the two artists, and for the most part it succeeds. Some of the interludes are very moving, such as a one-page, six-panel summary of a human life. Because I was not already a fan of their work, I found their artwork styles to be only okay, but certainly adequate for the telling of the stories in this book. Unfortunately, only some of the stories were really all that interesting. Some of them were a bit...um...boring, especially the stories about not being able to create on schedule. Every graphic memoir seems to have a segment on that topic, and after a while the idea just isn't that interesting. Overall, the book is interesting and worth reading, but nothing great or groundbreaking.(less)
Rushed and a bit incomprehensible, which is too bad. The story started out with a Houdini-like character, but with real magic involved. That blend see...moreRushed and a bit incomprehensible, which is too bad. The story started out with a Houdini-like character, but with real magic involved. That blend seemed good, but the jumps back and forth in time, and from dimension to dimension, were often too confusing. By the end I was turning pages just to see if the payoff was worth the wait, and felt that the answer was a resounding "maybe".(less)
I was really enjoying this graphic novel, up until it neared the supposed resolution. Then, it stopped making sense. I was able to suspend my disbelief...moreI was really enjoying this graphic novel, up until it neared the supposed resolution. Then, it stopped making sense. I was able to suspend my disbelief on the issue of the FBI automatically dismissing the idea of a killer and/or mole, even when they were losing protected witnesses. I was able to suspend my disbelief when the writer kept allowing one character to survive against impossible odds. Once the "real" identity of the killer is shown to the reader, though, the story goes crazy, and everything after that turns into a hash of mindless violence. Also, I hope Andy Diggle never has to travel to Texas for any reason. Every local and federal agent from Texas is shown in a seriously negative light in this story. I'm giving this book three stars for the excitement of first half of the book. If the rest had been as good, it would have been at least four.(less)
The Voyeurs is difficult to describe. The title partly describes the life of the central character, supposedly based on Bell herself. If it is truly a...moreThe Voyeurs is difficult to describe. The title partly describes the life of the central character, supposedly based on Bell herself. If it is truly autobiographical, I'm amazed that Gabrielle Bell hasn't died of terminal moping, as she portrays herself as the most depressed and depressing person on the planet much of the time. The story is intriguing because she travels to all sorts of exciting places, interacts with amazing and creative people, and somehow comes out of it making the reader think that she should get her meds checked. Bell is a self-educated artist who is really good at design and visuals, but she's also very good at self-deprecating writing. She comes across as an agoraphobic depressive for much of the book, but somehow manages to make that interesting, as if we're voyeurs ourselves, watching this wreck of an artist. Whether we're watching her eat her way through a San Diego ComicCon or ignore the French countryside, it's actually riveting.(less)
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