Strange Tales 2

Strange Tales MAX #2

by Jody LeHeup (Series Editor), James Stokoe, Nicholas Gurewitch

Marvel's critically acclaimed indie anthology returns! The best, most exciting cartoonists working today re-imagine Marvel's greatest characters in three giant-sized issues! Get excited, folks. Comics absolutely do not get more awesome than this! Don't miss out on what's guaranteed to be one of the best reads of the year!

Collecting:

Strange Tales Vol. 2 #1-3

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Humor, Marvel, Superheroes, Anthologies

186 pages, Hardcover

First published April 6, 2011

Reviews

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange Tales II is a collection of short stories from a myriad of accomplished independent comic creators. With the broad range of talents, there are hits and misses, but for me, the hits elevated my enjoyment of this work.

I particularly enjoyed these stories: the blood and sinew Wolverine wrestling kayfabe by Rafael Grampa, the two stories by Los Bros Hernandez, and the two-page Kate Beaton strip with creative use of Rogue's powers and a kitten. It also featured early Marvel work from Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth), and Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese), who later successfully transitioned to mainstream comics work with the Big Two.

Your mileage may vary, since most of there stories buck traditional superhero tropes, but I enjoyed as it is, a sampling of the works of the best independent creators using world famous Marvel characters.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is Marvel's second volume of short whacky comics featuring their beloved characters where you can see the Thing talk to Harvey Pekar about getting a civil servant job or Wolverine stuff his face with hot dogs after a breakup, and so on.

The collection features some of the best artists of the indie comics world: Kevin Huizenga, Dean Haspiel, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, Jeff Lemire, Jeffrey Brown, Paul Hornschemeier, Nick Bertozzi, and Alex Robinson. Yet despite such talent, the stories are boring, unfunny and uninteresting.

The only ones I thought were ok were Kate Beaton's 2 page strips on Spiderman's enemy Kraven going to the prom and Thor going to the carnival and trying his luck on a strength machine (see cover image) and it go wrong. Nicholas Gurewitch has a great short strip about Galactus hiring Magneto as his new herald and then using him as a fridge magnet for his kid's report card.

But that was it for me. The rest of the book was a chore to get through and while the thought of a book of funny shorts featuring famous Marvel heroes is quite appealing, the end result in this book is quite disappointing. "Strange Tales 2" is a miss.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The appeal is a bunch of my fave indie comics artists doing strange short shorts about superheroes. Think: alt-comics meets Marvel/DC, and you know, a lot of these folks as it turns out really not only grew up reading superhero comics but still like them.. The idea is of course that they go for funny, and while some of it is, some of it isn't, as is to be expected with a quick collection. One of Harvey Pekar's last stories, Jeffrey Brown, Kate Beaton, Michael DeForge, and it's all smile worthy, at the very least. I liked it, for the most part, and of course, as with these things, two or three are awesome.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Another just okay anthology. Nothing specific that I didn’t like and nothing specific that I did. Just some of these hit while others didn’t.

[Sunil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I picked up this hardcover of Strange Tales II because I liked Kate Beaton's contributions. Which are basically the best contributions. Indie comics writers and artists have fun with Marvel characters, and, sure, anthologies are usually hit-or-miss, but this three-issue collection is hit-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-hit-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-miss-or-hit-or-miss. While it's generally fun to see the varying art styles, the writing is wildly off the mark, as no one seems to have any idea how to tell a satisfying story in two pages or four pages. Either it's too simple or too complex, so it feels disposable or it abruptly ends without any real point. Some cute ideas but mostly meh.

[Reid Chancellor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please. Please someone give Farel Dalrymple his own marvel run. His art is just stunning. Along with everyone in the book.

[Alex Sarll]

Alternative comics creators are unleashed on Marvel icons, with predictably variable results. Some have since been ushered into the Marvel fold proper anyway (Jeff Lemire); others have a brilliant mesh of their style with the chosen characters (Kate Beaton on Kraven! James Stokoe's intricate visions of destruction applied to Galactus!). A fair few are inconsequential but gently amusing, including los bros Hernandez and others so alternative I can't even find their credits on their pages. More than a couple are pointless, self-indulgent twaddle which reminds me why I don't read more alternative comics; it would be interesting to reverse the polarity and see if long-term Marvel company men could make more of Harvey Pekar's world than he manages with theirs.

[Pturingan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any anthology, there's stuff I liked, stuff I didn't like and stuff that I was just indifferent to. But I think the good stuff outweighed the bad stuff here for me. Plus, it's always a treat to see new stuff from Rafael Grampa.

[MechaComicReviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strange Tales II from Marvel is essentially the same concept as the first Strange Tales book from a couple months back: take classic Marvel superheroes and let prominent indie comic creators do their own spin on them. It’s fun, inventive, and, unfortunately in this second volume, a little meh. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some good stuff in here, but it’s not quite at the same caliber as the first Strange Tales.

In this one, we get Jaime Hernandez from Love and Rockets doing a women of Marvel beach party, Kate Beaton from Hark! A Vagrant doing a couple comedy strips, Jeff Lemire (from just about everything) doing a Man-Thing piece, and a variety of other creators. The stories in this volume aren’t as daring or memorable, but they are slightly more humorous. Also, it’s really weird, but there are waaayyy more Wolverine stories in this one.

Overall, this book is a fun experience that, unlike the first volume, gets to be in plenty of 50% off stacks at comic shops and bookstores. Fun but short.

[Greg L Goldstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A for effort:

Bring alternative/indie artists to the Marvel catalog and let them have some short story fun with these classic characters.

Challenge is, stories and art are all over the map in terms of quality. Some of it is not good at all. DC did it much better overall with its beloved "Bizarro" series of books years prior.

Still, both Jamie and Gilbert Hernandez (Love and Rockets) have stories here, and for me, that made up for some of the misfires.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lotta indie comics artists in here I really like (Kate Beaton, Michael Deforge, Jeff Lemire, Frank Santoro, Jillian Tamaki, Nick Gurewitch, etc.) and there is a diverse array of excellent artistic style on display here. Unfortunately, most of these are just put in service to stupid little jokes that don't land. Oh well.

[Johnny Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different. Like a load of web (excuse the pun) comics from up and coming-indie talent. So it is hit and miss as a lot are just shorts that seem random, some are funny, silly.
I mean if you want just random reads featuring Marvel characters then you cannae go wrong. But if you want proper stories, pick up proper story arcs.

[E.E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As one might expect, the tone/visual style/themes jump wildly from story to story. Some of them
I loved, some I found rather dull. Still, it’s refreshing to see well-known Marvel characters treated less reverently, even if not all the treatments are equally satisfying.

[Glyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up, years and years ago, because Kate Beaton’s comics were in it. On a lark, I dug it up and read it through today. Man, idk. It’s pretty uneven but some had really cool art. They really like Spider-Man, Wolverine, and the Silver Surfer.

[Sezer Turgay · Rating 3 out of 5]

İlk cilde göre oldukça zayıf ama genç cartoonistlere ön ayak olmuş bir kitap kayda değen hikayeler US Soldier (Benjamin Marra),Silver Surfer (James Stokoe) ve Jon Vermilyea'nın Modok&Antman hikayesi oldu.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best. All my favs are reporting for duty: Deforge, Brown, Pekar?! So good!

[Oliver Ho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly fun, interesting takes on Marvel characters and tropes. The artwork is uniformly great.

[Berslon Pank · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume had an emotional depth to some of the stories and characters that wasn't there in the first volume. The jokes were better than the first volume as well.

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really that strange. The coolest thing is realizing that all these independent artists read the same books I did growing up.

[Natalie Weizenbaum · Rating 3 out of 5]

hit or miss with an emphasis on the latter, but all the same I'm glad they let people get weird with it

[Ellie Ryken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give this book 3.5/5 I enjoyed a lot of the comics but a lot were to weird or had stale jokes I definitely will check out some of these creators in the future

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

As advertised, this is pretty weird, mostly in a good way. The Silver Surfer comics were my favorite.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like seeing these characters in so many different styles, but there are fewer good comics in here than volume 1 and the majority of the jokes fall flat.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As interesting as it is to see what these artists do with Marvel characters, much of it more novel than enjoyable.

[Kevin Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange Tales is a fun romp. In some ways, it's the best of both worlds, with some of the biggest alternative comics artists tackling Marvel superheroes for a laugh. You can tell that the artists were having fun with it without taking it too seriously. For some, the results are engaging. For others, I think the constraints of the project don't allow them enough room to stretch out their wings.

The cynical view is that Marvel is trying to co-opt some street cred from these artists without really taking any chances on them. The anthology format never allows for more than 6 pages per artist, with most stories being only 4 pages. This limits their ability to do anything more than a gag. While most seem to be gently mocking the Marvel style, because they don't have the chance to develop, some of the bits come off as more of an amateurish mimicry. The result is more "What the...?" than "What if..." I would love to see Marvel truly take a chance on independent creators by giving them the chance to do full-length books or series.

The highlight for me is the Hernandez brothers' affectionate take on the Silver Age in their own inimitable styles, mostly because they're master storytellers who can tell an actual story with a beginning, middle and end in just 6 pages. Most of the stories featuring the Silver Surfer are interesting, as well, which I think speaks to the appeal of the character among alternative artist types.

[Ken-ichi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most people (probably) I got this b/c it features the work of Kate Beaton, who is sort of an Internet comics hero in her own right, and her story about Kraven at the prom lived up to expectations, as did Nicholas Gurewitch's story. The rest varied from mildly amusing to kind of dull. It was definitely interesting to see how much play Galactus got. I guess he's just naturally ridiculous.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cool set of comics. I must say, the ones I most appreciated were made by artists that I know for their decidedly un-superhero-based work (Kate Beaton, Jeffrey Brown, etc). It's great to see a reimagining of characters that they clearly love but don't work with. I must confess, I think the artists who don't generally draw superheroes also created the most interesting panels. One day I may get past my bias against more traditional comic drawing styles, but until then, I'll always cringe a bit at superhero comics.

[German Chaparro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this uneven compilation of Marvel-based comics written by "underground" artists. The stories by Gilbert Hernandez and Harvey Pekar are the best by far, followed by the stories by Kate Beaton, Gene Yang and Kevin Huizenga. Sadly, other big names such as Jhonen Vasquez and Nicholas Gurewitch seemed to have just phoned it in. Some other stories by other people I don't know were pretty mean and/or boring.

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will forever be a sucker for the pairing of mainstream superheroes and indie creators, and this one's an improvement over its predecessor (Also be sure and check out DC's take on the same premise, Bizarro Comics).

Anthologies are always going to be a mixed bag, but for me there was something to love in every story

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Indie comic creators get to take the Marvel properties for a spin. Like any anthology, it has its hits and misses, but this one's worth checking out to see what you enjoy. Some of the contributors seem to be writing just for themselves, but Kate Beaton, Jaime Hernandez and Harvey Pekar were among my favorites here.