Todd Klein's Blog, page 285
February 27, 2013
And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN 15, GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS 15
February 26, 2013
And Then I Read: ZORRO Volume 2
February 25, 2013
And Then I Read: WONDER WOMAN 15, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 15
Images © DC Comics, Inc.
Writer Brian Azzarello is having some fun in this title with demi-gods, various illegitimate children of Zeus that are hiding out in our world, sort of the way the Fables characters do in their book. Wonder Woman is trying to find these half-brothers and half-sisters for her own reasons. Meanwhile, one of them is hanging out with Orion of the New Gods, who doesn’t take kindly to interference from Diana. As you can guess, a battle ensues, and in it Diana finds she has a new power. This is a more enjoyable storyline to me than the previous one, and I rejoice in the art of Cliff Chiang on this issue.
In this book, writer Paul Levitz sets aside some of the many storylines he’s juggling to focus mainly on a time-disrupted Barcelona, where dinosaurs and other anomalies from the past are mixed together with the city’s beautiful art nouveau architecture and a few Legionnaires to create a lovely scramble. Magic-wielding Glorith gets some time in the hot seat, literally, and handles it well. The art by Francis Portela is almost as much a star as the storyline, beautiful work on the future Barcelona and all the other fun stuff.
Both books are recommended.
February 24, 2013
And Then I Read: DARK HORSE PRESENTS 18
Image © Dark Horse Comics.
I love the Steve Rude cover featuring Captain Midnight, the lead story, and it’s off to a good start! Bringing back a very old character can be tricky — do you go with a period piece or present him as a man out of the past, as Marvel famously did when they brought back Captain America in the 1960s. Writer Joshua Williamson and artist Victor Ibàñez have gone the latter route, with the Captain suddenly appearing in today’s skies thinking he’s still in World War Two (I think), and picked up by Navy pilots. Nice start, let’s see where it goes!
“Finder” has gone psychedelic this time. Interesting art, the story is not clear to me, though.
“Gamma,” the first part of a new series doesn’t work particularly well for me, either in the story or the art.
Another great Richard Corben Poe adaptation of “The Shadow.” Not sure if the original is a story or a poem, I don’t recall it, and of course Corben uses the Poe framework to build his own story. Quite a good one.
“Memories of the Caspian” is an autobiographical tale, something DHP seems to do periodically, and a fascinating one about growing up on the shores of the Caspian Sea, and coming back to it much later as an adult. Fine writing by Dara Naraghi, great art by Victor Santos.
Still not warming to “City of Roses.”
A new “Resident Alien” story by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse is very welcome to this reader, and it begins well, in a Native American spirit world of sorts, then cutting to investigators in the past trying to figure some things out.
“Alabaster” begins a new series written by Caitlín R. Kiernan, art by Steve Lieber, two solid pros. Like much of Kiernan’s work, it has a dark, southern feel that hovers on the border between fantasy and horror. Lieber’s art is fine, with a softer touch than some previous work. If talking, anthromorphic animals telling stories and ghostly companions appeal to you, here they are.
“UXB” continues to elude me, not sure what’s going on or why I should care, but the visuals are interesting.
Finally we have the first part of a “monsters under the bed” story with cute art by Ron Chan. A little too cute, perhaps, but okay.
Recommended.
February 23, 2013
And Then I Read: JUSTICE LEAGUE 15, AQUAMAN 15
Images © DC Comics, Inc.
These are the first two chapters of the “Throne of Atlantis” crossover written by Geoff Johns. At last a crossover in two books I’m already reading! As seen in AQUAMAN 14, Aquaman’s brother is king of Atlantis, a realm that has no love for surface dwellers. Someone knows this and literally throws a bomb at them, causing the Atlanteans to take up arms and prepare to attack large cities on the US east coast including Metropolis. Their attack is pretty impressive, and even Superman and Wonder Woman struggle to deal with it, while Batman and other Leaguers are trying to help in other areas. The attack has interrupted some other plotlines like Clark and Diana’s developing romance, but this new storyline is pretty exciting so that’s okay with me. In the Shazam backup, Billy Batson is still trying to figure out what his powers are and how to use them. He’d better get up to speed soon, as major trouble is about to arrive on his block. Terrific art on both, with Ivan Reis coming over from AQUAMAN as the penciller on the main story and Gary Frank continuing his fine work on the backup.
In this book, Arthur and Mera are trying to help the people of Gotham City, also under watery attack, with Batman involved of course. Vulko, the ex-Atlantean fills us in on some of the motivations for the attack, and the confrontation between brothers is finally at hand, as shown above. Now it’s up to Arthur to decide…which side is he really on? I liked the pencils by Paul Pelletier almost as much as that of Ivan Reis on previous issues.
Both titles are recommended.
February 22, 2013
And Then I Read: SWAMP THING 15, WORLD’S FINEST 7
Images © DC Comics, Inc.
If you’re reading SWAMP THING to see him battle giant monsters, here it is. If you’re looking for character development with Abby, that’s here too. I lean heavily toward the latter. As I’m not reading ANIMAL MAN, I’m getting only half the crossover, so I’m not giving this storyline much of a chance, but that said, it has some things I like. Then there’s Batman. Swamp Thing and Batman were wonderful together as written by Alan Moore. Unfortunately, since then every other encounter has suffered for me by comparison. The art by Marco Rudy is not as appealing to me in places as past issues, but not bad overall. Mildly recommended.
Paul Levitz is keeping me quite entertained in this title, even though it probably would be enlightened by reading the EARTH TWO book it’s connected to. I don’t feel I need to do that to enjoy it, as the characters and situations here are enough. Yes, I don’t know how this version of Robin got into the story, but it doesn’t matter, Paul makes it work with on-target dialogue and plotting. Huntress and Robin are trying to find the source of digital theft from Wayne Enterprises, and as you can see, meet up with some rough guardians. Power Girl is following another lead in Africa that might have connections to Apokolips. Both stories are well drawn by Kevin Maguire and George Perez, respectively. Recommended.
February 21, 2013
And Then I Read: DARK HORSE PRESENTS 17
Image © Carla Speed McNeil and Dark Horse Comics.
I can’t decide what I think about “Finder,” the cover feature and first section of this anthology. At times it seems easy to follow and entertaining, at others it goes off the rail for me. This episode makes sense internally, but I can’t figure out where it fits into what went before. Nice art, and I appreciate the hand lettering.
“City of Roses” Chapter 2 continues this dark crime saga. Not very appealing to me, and the art is kind of a strange mix of realism and impressionism that kind of works at a glance, but not so well when you look more carefully.
David Chelsea’s “The Girl With the Keyhole Eyes” has not really been a story, more a series of unfinished ideas strung together on a theme, reminding me of some old underground comix. It ends with an in joke for old cinema fans.
I haven’t cared for the new “Aliens” story, which also ends here. It does have a resolution that works, but for me the art style of Sam Kieth plays against the entire idea of Aliens, so I can’t say this was a success.
Part 2 of “Deep Sea” is a winner, finally something I can recommend highly in this issue. A deep-sea expedition that disappeared into the deepest trench in the ocean 50 years ago has returned suddenly with the explorers unaged. To them, it seemed they were gone only short time. This anomaly is only the beginning of the strange goings on here!
Richard Corben continues his quirky adaptations of Poe poetry (I think) with “The Sleeper,” adding lots of meat to the skeleton provided by the author. Great stuff.
MIchael Avon Oeming offers “The Sacrifice,” a well-drawn and well-told short story that seems to be one kind of fantasy quest, but turns into another.
“Concrete Park” is getting more science fictional, but still doesn’t appeal to me.
I’m not sure what I think of “UXB.” It’s quite dystopian in a British way, and could become something I enjoy, it’s too soon to tell. So far it hasn’t grabbed me.
Finally we have a “Mr. Monster” story from Michael T. Gilbert that’s also a “Munden’s Bar” story. I like both these things, and this was good fun. I wonder if it’s new or has been around for a while?
In all the enjoyment level of this issue was a bit low for me, but still recommended.
February 20, 2013
Blogging Break
Image © Bill Willingham and DC Comics, Inc.
No time for any more real blog posts this week until maybe Friday, I’m busy working hard on several lettering projects including FABLES 127, sampled above. Back soon as I get some breathing space!
February 18, 2013
Incoming: FABLES DELUXE EDITION Book Six
Image © Bill Willingham and DC Comics, Inc. Cover art by James Jean.
I’ve been looking forward to this one, not only because I enjoy seeing the great art and coloring of FABLES on the bright white glossy paper that so improves the look over the original comics, but also because I provided the introduction to the book. I’m not sure why they asked, but I enjoyed writing it, and hope others enjoy reading it, though if you’re like me, you’ll probably jump over it and start reading those great comics. The wedding of Bigby and Snow is the highlight of this collection, and there are also some cool extras, including maps. I love maps…
February 16, 2013
And Then I Read: MOOMIN Vol. 7 by Lars Jansson
There can’t have been many comic strips that were begun by a female writer/artist and then taken over by her brother, but that’s the case with the “Moomin” strip begun by Tove Jansson. Tove created the Moomins in a series of charming fantasy novels for children, then developed the comic strip for a British newspaper at their request. Her brother Lars was good at languages and did the English translations from the start. Though born into a family of artists, Lars had always concentrated on writing, producing quite a few novels apparently (I haven’t seen any of them). After a few years Tove tired of the strip’s daily grind and Lars began writing the stories, and eventually took over the art as well, after a six-month crash course in cartooning like his sister, with help from their mother.
The Moomin strip continued with equal success for longer with Lars than it had with Tove, and the four storylines in this volume are very entertaining. There isn’t as much of the poetic fantasy as Tove put into the books, but Lars had a talent for social and societal satire and humor that was perfect for a daily strip. Here we have the Moomins (sort of a cross between Winnie the Pooh and a hippopotamus) as colonists on what they think is an unknown continent, but which soon proves to be full of their old neighbors and rivals; young Moomin joining the scouts, but not willingly; Papa Moomin inheriting a large farm and the family trying out the farming life, while not having a clue how to do it; and finally the Moomins prospecting for gold, and starting their own local gold rush.
Fun stuff with characters that are all more complex and resourceful than they seem on the surface, just like many people. Recommended.
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