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Velvet #1 [Review]

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Walt

velvet001Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Steve Epting
Colors: Elizabeth Breitweiser
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Published by: Image
Cover Price: $3.50

I’m not sure what caught my eye about this–perhaps the Brubaker/Epting combo, maybe some ad, maybe just something when I was on the Comixology site recently…but this was in my Comixology pull-list that gets emailed Tuesday nights, and since I often check my stack against that, I was able to snag a copy. I don’t usually buy Image #1s as I tend to wait for the collected volumes, but given this was only $3.50 (beats the $3.99 Marvel standard), I got and read it.

We’re introduced to a group of black op spies. When one is killed, it kicks off a bit of a chain reaction as we follow a character that in most other stories would be minor, and learn that she–Velvet–is actually a Pretty Big Deal. She looks into the death herself, and quickly finds herself caught up in a bigger mess than expected, that kickstarts the foremost conflict of this first arc, if not the series in general.

Visually, this is quite good. I had a good ‘taste’ of Epting‘s work during the Captain America run a few years back, and this has a similar look. In and of itself it works well with the story, and as a new property like this, it DEFINES the characters and story. No complaints here.

Story-wise, I enjoyed this issue. It does what I feel a first issue should, introducing the world, the protagonist(s), the conflict(s), gives us some “in” on the characters, and leaves the reader interested in the story and where things will go from here. As with the art, no complaints from me.

As an issue, this is one where it’s the creative team rather than the title or concept that “sold” me. I wouldn’t particularly care for arbitrarily trying some new series about a “female spy” or any “spy story” for that matter, in and of itself. But on strength of their Captain America run, I’m interested in “anything” by Brubaker and Epting (particularly having been reminded OF their Captain America run).

Knowing most such series read better in collected volume, I can’t help but liken this single issue to the pilot of a tv show; yet as a pilot, I’m interested, and will probably check out the next issue. Given Image using the $9.99 first-arc TPB trick, for the price of the singles, I can probably expect to be able to buy the first two issues, opt for the collected volume, and still not exceed the individual issues’ cost…which is also a ‘selling point’ for me.

Definitely a recommended read if you’re looking for a quality spy thriller/adventure by Brubaker and Epting, particularly with an absolute lack of “superheroes.”

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Marvel Universe Series IV Revisited, Part 16

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Walt

I’ve commented mostly on the visual/art side of the cards in this set so far…I don’t care at all really about the “stats” given to the characters, and kind of had a blind eye to the lack of truly informative value of backgrounds for the characters…at least they had the first appearance listed, team affiliation, and a random factoid for context.

But with these 9 cards we actually get some real “meat” in the way of text with some detail about the “mysteries.”

These all were mysteries in 1993 when these cards were published. In the 20 years since then, I’m pretty well aware of the revealed origin of Wolverine (Origin); the background of Cable (Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, and much of Cable’s own series); that more was touched on with Ghost Rider in his series and the Midnight Sons stuff; we’ve had Onslaught as I believe the “official” revelation of the X-Traitor (Xavier himself), though the issue was brought up again in Messiah Complex with Bishop turned into a villain. I’m not sure if we’ve seen Doom’s face as yet.

I believe that the sixth member of the Infinity Watch was actually revealed in 1992 as Thanos, unless the Reality gem was passed to someone else after the Magus rather than given back to Thanos.

I remember being disappointed at the revelation of Spider-Man’s parents and the involvement of Norman Osborn. And while I believe I own the arc, I have yet to read the actual issues with Nightcrawler’s “true” origin, though I’m aware of it, as penned by Chuck Austen.

Other than the discrepancy on the Infinity Watch, these are–to me–some of the better cards in the set, simply for there being more TO them than the single-character cards.

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Filed under: Marvel Series IV Revisited, The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Superman vs. Shazam! TPB [Review]

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Walt

[Reprints All-New Collectors’ Edition #C-58, DC Comics Presents #s 33, 34, 49, and DC Comics Presents Annual #3 (1984). Cover Price: $19.99]

supermanvsshazamtpbMy initial criteria for choosing this volume? “Cheap” and “Superman” and “Shazam”/Captain Marvel. Also, “new.” As in…this just came out a few months ago (March, 2013 as far as I can tell) and thus qualified as “shiny and appealing,” so to speak. I also have to admit to appreciating the Shazam logo I’m most familiar with at the moment for pre-New 52 stuff (primarily due to Jeff Smith‘s Monster Society of Evil but have noticed for other Shazam items). Surfacey stuff, sure, but it yielded the sale and put the volume into my hands.

The art’s fairly standard-ish, especially for what I tend to “picture” as the generic “pre-mid-’80s” type visuals. Not horrible or anything, but nothing that blows me away by “today’s standards.” Yet, I certainly appreciated that often–while they appear QUITE similar otherwise, I COULD distinguish Captain Marvel’s face from Superman’s face…certainly something QUITE good in my book! It could be argued that the art is limited a bit, constrained by the standard-ish panel structure…that is, a lack of contemporary creative layouts and full/half/double-page splashes and the like. With most everything being in individual panels, there’s not a lot of room for much of the artistic impressiveness that would grab me with more recent art. While that’s a bit broad considering this volume spans a number of years, I largely read it in one go, and the visual style kinda blurs for me on older stuff.

Story-wise…by contemporary standards (again), can’t say I’m all that thrilled with this. Characters didn’t seem all that deep to me (some seemed to just come out of nowhere, with little or no context), and there were plotholes one could drive a truck through. Characters were all too quick and willing to “accept” something at face value with seemingly no consideration for the depth or scope of the issue at hand…and villains’ motivations seemed extremely thin.

All that said, or despite saying all that, I rather enjoyed the volume in and of itself. Even with the extremely limited prior exposure I’ve had to Captain Marvel, I know enough to recognize Sivana, Mr. Mind, Black Adam, the multiple Earths, and have recently learned a bit about Hoppy and the extended Marvel family (Uncle Marvel was–like Hoppy–quite a bit on the far-fetched side, but I recognized the character as Billy’s uncle from Shazam: The New Beginning).

While the stories may have been published years apart, in the general sense of the pre-Crisis DC Multiverse of the ’70s/early-’80s, these fit together well enough, and it was cool to see the nods to continuity.

I don’t know that I’d really recommend this to a new fan of the Shazam or Superman stuff as any sort of ‘essential reading’ (unless you’re particularly interested–specifically–in “digging in” and “experiencing” the historical element of the characters’ earlier interactions). But this does fit in quite nicely with other “themed” classic Superman collections that take a particular element (Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Zod, the Phantom Zone, the Daily Planet, the Bottle City of Kandor, etc) and present some stories focused on it.

For the price (especially if discounted) the volume is quite a good value for the time it’ll take to read, even though the art and stories don’t hold up real well with contemporary comics. This is a time-capsule showcasing Superman/Captain Marvel (Shazam) crossover/team-ups of the past, and for me, upon filing, will be a welcome addition to my bookshelf.

Filed under: DC, TPBs | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Marvel Universe Series IV Revisited, Part 15

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Walt

I’m not too fond of this page…though the backgrounds fit together, and there’s some carry-over of the various energy-blasts from one card through others, for the most part these don’t really seem to fit together as a clear singular image/scene…the characters seem staged more simply to be their own cards, and not much else.

Other than Death’s Head II and Die-Cut, who I believe I’ve seen on some “fancy” covers of Marvel UK comics in bargain bins, I’m really not familiar with these characters. Motormouth sounds vaguely familiar…though even as I type that, I think that might be due to Dark Horse‘s Comics’ Greatest World title Motorhead.

While I believe Death’s Head had some sort of interaction with the Transformers, I can’t think of any real interaction between these characters and what I consider the “mainstream” Marvel Universe…outside of a half-recalled image of Wolverine involved with Death’s Head, perhaps.

These characters all reek of the ’90s to me, and really not in a good way. Mostly my memories of the ’90s carry a certain fondness, if not outright recognition of a certain hokiness and such, but these just don’t even hold much interest for me, with the character names themselves seeming extremely “dated.”

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The ’80s Revisited: Shazam: The New Beginning #s 1-4

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Walt

shazamthenewbeginning001Writers: Roy and Dann Thomas
Artist: Tom Mandrake
Inker: Jan Duursema
Letterers: Agustin Mas
Colorists: Carl Gafford, Joe Orlando
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Dates: April/May/June/JUly 1987
Cover Price: $0.75

Until this month, I’d really only known DC‘s Captain Marvel (Shazam) as a guest-star…an important figure, but I’d only really ever stuff where he was a guest-star, not THE star, of a book. While memory may fail me, I’m pretty sure my first real introduction to the character was Action Comics Annual #4 (a 1992 Eclipso: The Darkness Within crossover).

I saw him again pictured in Death of Superman stuff–the funeral stuff at least. I believe I would have seen him in Zero Hour, and I was aware of the Power of Shazam series though I’ve yet to actually read any issues except the Blackest Night issue from a few years ago. Maybe his most significant–and to me, emotional–appearance was in Kingdom Come.

Of course, he again wound up on my radar with the Superman/Shazam: First Thunder story shortly before Infinite Crisis, and then during the magical side of that story. I was aware of (but again have yet to read) the Trials of Shazam series. I was aware of the “corruption” of Mary Marvel with the Final Crisis stuff, and recall seeing Captain Marvel in the I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League, as well as an issue or two of Giffen/DeMatteis‘ original Justice League. And of course, I was aware of the property from various things I’ve read about the history of comics, and seeing solicitations for the various collected volumes (such as the Showcase volume).

And most recently, probably getting my hands on the collected edition of Jeff Smith‘s Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil and a few issues of the Johnny DC Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam series.

shazamthenewbeginning002I saw the Monster Society of Evil and Billy Batson stuff as stand-alone/out-of-continuity things, so haven’t considered those.

Which brings me to my recent acquisition/reading of the New 52 Shazam vol. 1, which in turn led me to an immediate reading of the serendipitously having-just-bought this entire 4-issue mini in a quarter-bin…which I understand backtracks a bit from the Legends crossover and tells the origin of Billy Batson and Captain Marvel in context of the then-new DC Universe post-Crisis on Infinite Earths.

All of the above to get to actually talking about the issues this post purports to be about.

Much as I wanted to LIKE this, much as I was interested–at least conceptually–in reading this, and appreciate HAVING read it, now having the “experience” of the series as part of my Shazam/Captain Marvel knowledge-base…the series was ROUGH to get through.

First and foremost, this is a series from some 25 years ago–more than 1/3 of the character’s entire existence ago. It’s very much a product of the ’80s, and quite verbose…there were times I was taken out of the story simply being overwhelmed by the density of text in any given 2-page section I’d turn to.

shazamthenewbeginning003I’m honestly quite convinced that this same story told in present-day with all the main elements would easily be done as at least 12 issues (a 3-issue mini per issue). (Given that density, I’m honestly not going to attempt to recap the story itself in this post!).

Yet, rough as it was to get through–having read primarily “new” comics for a number of years now and rarely actually delving into anything older than 1993 for more than a single issue at a time–I’m quite glad to have read this. Sure, it’s a lot packed into few pages…but while that drives against what I’m “used to,” and so gave a bit of negative by way of my having to “force” myself to stick to the series rather than read something else and then come back to it…ultimately, I am glad I did so. 

There were plenty of plot holes and “leaps” of logic, stuff that wouldn’t fly today…but there was a lot more to ’em than I imagine there’d’ve been to similar concepts a decade or two earlier, or even at the beginning of the property in the 1940s.

But we got the “essential” stuff: Billy, the Wizard, Sivana, Black Adam…even reference to Hoppy. And with the density of narration and dialogue, while not as smooth as a modern depiction, we get quite a bit of detail and motivation. Not so much “shown” as “told,” but the end result is largely the same…especially combined with my pre-existing knowledge of the character.

shazamthenewbeginning004Visually, I can’t say I was all that impressed. The art wasn’t bad, by any means…but it really didn’t stand out all that much to me (especially not compared to Gary Frank‘s art on the New 52 volume, and my memory of the cover to Action Comics Annual #4). Sure, those may be unfair comparisons, but they are what they are. It also certainly did NOT help that the copy of the issues I read are very much “reading copy” condition…with much of the art a bit faded and blurred due to the ink/newsprint paper quality from the time.

Barring specific interest in this take on the character–time period or creative team–I don’t know that I’d particularly recommend seeking these out. However, if you find ’em in a bargain-bin in readable condition, they’re worthwhile, and if you can get the set for $4 or less, the time you’ll likely spend reading one issue would “value” the issue far beyond a modern $3.99 issue.

Having now read this, I’m definitely interested in reading/re-reading other Shazam stuff…though beyond the recent Superman vs. Shazam tpb, I don’t think I’m gonna go “older” than this series…I’ll stick to the Power of Shazam run I bought a year or two back, and whatever collected volumes I can get my hands on. I’ll also be seeking out more on Black Adam, having come to like that character quite a bit under Johns‘ writing, in 52 and in JSA.

Filed under: The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Marvel Universe Series IV Revisited, Part 14

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Walt

This is another page that most of the characters didn’t mean much to me at the time, though several have come to mean quite a bit in the years since I was exposed to them here.

I’m probably least-familiar with the Ovoids and the Rigellians. I know of the Brood and their history with the X-Men; the Titans and their history with Thanos; the Badoon I know of from issues of Warlock/Warlock and the Infinity Watch and their role in Gamora’s past, I believe.

The Asgardians I came to “know” more during the Heroes Return run of Dan Jurgens‘ Thor, the Skrulls I now most associate with Secret Invasion (though remember their significance to some X-Men stuff in the later-’90s/early-2000s). THe Kree and Shi’ar I most associate with Operation: Galactic Storm, which is one of the earlier “major stories” I was familiar with when my grandfather and uncle collected it as it came out.

Considering this rather “busy” image, this page works pretty well for me, and reminds me how much I’ve missed some of the “classic” cosmic Marvel stuff.

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Filed under: Marvel Series IV Revisited, The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Marvel Universe Series IV Revisited, Part 13

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Walt

This is EASILY my favorite “page” of the entire set. Between the comics and the animated series, I’m quite familiar with all nine of these characters.

It’s kind of amazing to consider how far they’ve all come in the past 20 years; through multiple solo titles and mini-series, and their various developments in the “main” X-Men titles.

Storm’s card is probably the only one I’m not particularly thrilled with here; all the others look quite good to me individually as well as put together for the single image. Archangel benefits the most, I think, from the larger whole of the cards put together…and Magneto’s card looks fantastic even taken by itself…that energy burst blocks out most of the context of the image for his part, making it work especially well taken on its own. Wolverine’s also works well, with the bottom border being the main thing really indicating it’s even part of a larger image.

Because of the X-Men cartoon, I know I would have been quite aware of these characters from that alone, and with these costumes. I may not have been as familiar with Archangel at the time, though even he had appeared in a couple episodes of the cartoon by the time this card set was out.

While the X-Men “posing” doesn’t make much sense with Magneto (then an arch-nemesis) powered-up behind them doesn’t make much sense, on the whole I would absolutely QUITE enjoy having a poster of this image.

Perhaps it’s that I like these characters, at this time so much, but I think this is also some of my favorite artwork in this entire set, as well as the page makeup on its own.

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Classic Collection Leonardo – Out of His Shell

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Walt

While it seems lately I have waaaaay too many figures that have remained in their packaging (I need to work on a shelving system to display ’em), the Classic Collection Leonardo is one that I almost immediately opened up (He’s currently on display at work above my cube).

classic_leo_01

One of the first things I noticed–and the MAJOR disappointment–is the shoulder joints on mine are STUCK, and do NOT move up and down–though they look like they’re supposed to. So the arms are stuck being held outward at a rather awkward pose, rather than being able to have them down closer to the character’s sides. I felt like I was going to break the arms off trying to get either joint to move, before giving up and settling (for now).

classic_leo_04

I do like the stand the figure comes with, as well as the hands’ ability to actually grip the swords. Not the best grip ever, but satisfactory, especially in the face of the shoulder-joints’ issue.

classic_leo_05

I like the coloring and shaping of the figure overall. While not a huge fan of the mask’s rigidity on some of the figures, the shaping on this figure is much more to my liking. This image also shows that shoulder-joint: it’ll swivel, but won’t actually move up/down.

classic_leo_02

I like the detail on the scabbards, though I don’t remember the character ever having the blue strap in the cartoon. It works well enough with the general color scheme here, though, emphasizing that this is indeed Leonardo. The scabbards are one piece, but “plug in” to the shell, and the piece is easily removed, though thankfully doesn’t seem QUITE “fall-out” easy to remove.

The shoulder issue really limits the playability and posability of the figure; I very quickly lost interest in playing with posing due to that, as the character is quite limited with arms stuck straight out perpendicular! I intend to “research” the issue before I’ll buy any more of these–if it’s a common issue, I probably will hold off. If it’s just a glitch on the figure I got, I might try to work it loose and see what I can do with it from there.

all_leonardos

While–again–I’m not a fan of variants on the figure within the same “line,” here are the “main” Leonardo figures from four different lines.

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Letter 44 #1 [Review]

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Walt

letter44001Written by: Charles Soule
Illustrated by: Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque
Colored by: Guy Major
Lettered by: Shawn DePasquale
Edited by: Jill Beaton
Designed by: Jason Storey
Published by: Oni Press
Cover Price: $1.00

I have a “standing order” at my comic shop: in addition to my “regular” pull-list titles, pretty much anything priced at $1 or less (single-issues) also get pulled. Whether it’s “just” a reprint like the IDW Hundred-Penny Press books, or the Image Firsts or DC What’s Next or a genuine premiere or special issue.

So along with my usual stuff, got a handful of $1 issues today…including this Letter 44 #1. Looking at the cover, and it being from Oni Press (where I stick with DC, Marvel, Image, IDW, Dark Horse, and Valiant, typically) means this almost certainly would not have come to my attention, except that $1 price point.

Only once home and having already read my Valiants for the week, did I look with any interest at the $1 issues…and noticed Soule‘s name on this…a name that came to my attention during DC‘s Villains Month. So I figured this’d be a good issue to “start with”…and it pulled me in.

There’s a new president, who–upon taking office–learns that there’s a LOT going on that renders Earth-bound politics pointless except as a cover for actually preparing the country–if not the world–for potential disaster. Not one day into his presidency, this new president begins to see the tip of the proverbial iceberg as his life–and the way he sees the world around him–is irrevocably changed. The title itself comes from the letter–left from the 43rd president to the incoming 44th–letting him in on the Big Secret..

This very concept plays very well with thoughts I’ve (personally) had in the past, reconciling reality with “comic book reality.” Namely, that while we read about all these huge world-wide/universal threats in (primarily super-hero) comics, since the world has NOT been destroyed and the universe has NOT (that we know of) ended, there’s untold potential of what’s gone on to maintain that. For lack of better phrasing and explanation…this comic immediately fits into what is probably the core “conspiracy theory” I’ll buy into (conceptually, if not the specific situation).

In short…the story grabbed me, kept me reading, anticipating the final page reveal, and I’m very interested to learn what comes next. I was actually so impressed by this issue that–for something I hadn’t even known about seven hours ago–I emailed the comic shop to request it for my pulls, to make sure I don’t miss out on the next issue.

Visually, I’m not blown away by the art, but I’m by no means let down…as this is something I’d not heard of and had no frame of reference for, and is a new property, I have nothing to compare it to, so it just simply looks like it looks; it’s about humans, and they look human, if slightly stylistic and they’re obviously drawings (as opposed to some ultra-realistic/photographic-looking paintings or such, a la Alex Ross).

In short…this surprise issue does what any great #1 issue should do: introduced me to characters and concept, the premise of the series…gave me questions, built anticipation, reveals something of what’s hinted at throughout…and leaves me interested in continuing with the story. Not because it’s some cheesey cliffhanger but because I’m genuinely curious at further development of the characters and the world they live in. It also lets one clearly know the reasoning for the title itself…in this series’ case, the letter left for the new president that changes his perception of the world.

For only $1…I definitely recommend checking this out, if you like non-superhero stories, or want a change of pace. Worst case, you’re out 1/4 of the cost of another full-size issue; best case, you find a new title to follow, having experienced an issue itself and not just some hype.

Filed under: INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS, Letter 44 (Oni Press) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Marvel Universe Series IV Revisited, Part 12

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Walt

This has to be one of my least-favorite pages of this series. I’m also not all that familiar with most of the characters. Deathwatch, Lilith, Heart Attack, Basilisk, Darkhold Redeemers I don’t even recall ever reading. I’m aware of the Nightstalkers from the Midnight Sons Unlimited stuff or whatever that crossover/event was.

I’m loosely familiar with Blaze and Ghost Rider; knowing that Blaze WAS Ghost Rider before Danny Ketch. I’m also a bit familiar with Morbius, though have probably seen more of him in the ’90s Spider-Man animated series than comics.

While this image is fairly dark and generic, I think seeing the cards together digitally is the first I ever really recognized the flaming skull in the background.

Most of these characters seem firmly rooted in the ’90s, and I can’t think of any I’ve actually seen lately outside of knowing Morbius had a short-lived Marvel Now series.

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