Full review posted to comixtreme.com.
Story: 3/5
Art: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Filed under: cxPulp.com, INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS, Tales of the TMNT (Mirage) | Tagged: Comic Reviews, cxPulp.com, Dan Berger, Eric Talbot, Jim Lawson, Michael Dooney, Mirage, Mirage Publishing, Ninja Turtles, Steve Lavigne, Tales of the TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT | Leave a comment »
Full review posted to comixtreme.com.
Story: 3/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
Filed under: cxPulp.com, INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS, Tales of the TMNT (Mirage) | Tagged: All Tomorrow's Yesterdays, C.O.W.Boys, C.O.W.Boys of Moo Mesa, Comic Reviews, Cowboys of Moo Mesa, cxPulp.com, Dan Berger, Dario Brizuela, Donatello, Eric Talbot, Fernando Leon Gonzalez, Leonardo, Michael Dooney, Michelangelo, Mirage, Mirage Publishing, Moo Mesa, Ninja Turtles, Peter Laird, Raphael, Ryan Brown, Steve Murphy, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tales of the TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT | Leave a comment »
Full review posted to comixtreme.com.
Story: 3/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 3/5
Filed under: cxPulp.com, Tales of the TMNT (Mirage) | Tagged: Comic Reviews, Dan Berger, Eric Talbot, Jim Lawson, Madhattan Maulitia, Michael Dooney, Mirage, Ninja Turtles, Peter Laird, Purple Dragon Gang, Purple Dragons, Steve Lavigne, Tales of the TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT | Leave a comment »
Writer: Rich Johnston
Illustrator/Letterer: Simon Rohrmuller
Cover Colors: Matthew Vega
Publisher: Brian Kirsten
Published By: Brain Scan Studios
I wasn’t sure what to expect of this going in, but found a rather amusing spoof of Watchmen–the second such spoof I’ve picked up in the last few weeks. Unlike Whatmen?! though, this one was more to my liking with less of the Family Guy flavor of spoof.
This take on Watchmen follows the spoof-versions of the characters as they deal with events unfolding as related to Watchmen being released as a movie despite the troubles between the author and the publisher of a lot of his work.
There are a number of fun sight-gags (I especially liked this take on the visual/reasoning of the Dr. Manhatten character’s appearance) “borrowed” from the source material. On the whole, the art works really well and I have nothing that jumped out as complaint-worthy to me.
The story was more engaging than in Whatmen?! and worked a lot better for me. While this is a take on Watchmen, it also has its own story to tell, issue to be brought to attention. Other than the writer’s weekly rumour/gossip column, I don’t believe I’ve read anything he’s written as far as actual comics go–having read this, I now plan to seek out some of his other work.
This issue felt rather thin, and so when I flipped through, I counted 23 story pages and 1 page of mid-story material. Normally I’d consider that unacceptable for a $3.99 book…however, having the pages in the 9-panel-grid made each page feel like it had loads more content than the average mainstream (DC/Marvel) comic and thus feels like a far better value despite the price. Additionally, I was rather disappointed that we only had that one page–I found myself reading it, and would have read another couple pages in its vein if they’d been included.
All in all, if you enjoy Watchmen, and know much of anything about the history of the DC/Alan Moore goings-on, this ought to be a fun issue for you…and certainly comes off as smarter than other spoofs I’ve seen.
Story: 8/10
Art: 8/10
Whole: 8/10
Filed under: Comic Reviews 2009, Watchmensch (Brain Scan Studios) | Tagged: Brain Scan Studios, Brian Kirsten, Comic Reviews, Lying in the Gutters, Matthew Vega, Rich Johnston, Simon Rohrmuller, Watchmen, Watchmensch | Leave a comment »
Full review posted to comixtreme.com.
Filed under: Comic Reviews 2009, cxPulp.com, INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS, Tales of the TMNT (Mirage) | Tagged: April O'Neil, Casey Jones, Comic Reviews, Dan Berger, Eric Talbot, Hun, Michael Dooney, Mirage, Mirage Publishing, Mirage Studios, Ninja Turtles, Paul Harmon, Peter Laird, Steve Lavigne, Tales of the TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT, Tristan Jones | Leave a comment »
Whatmen?!
Written by: Scott Lobdell
Pencils by: Alejandro Figueroa
Inks by: Aldo Giordanelli
Colors & text page design by: Amber Shields
Lettering by: Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s Albert Deschesne
Edited by: Chris Ryall & Scott Dunbier
Publisher: IDW
I wasn’t going to buy this book–I enjoy some parodies/spoofs, but was going to avoid the various Watchmen spoofs. I also tend to avoid IDW because I refuse to pay $4 for a standard-size comic, and care nothing for cardstock covers and high-quality sturdy gloss pages. I just want to read a good story from a comic, and I’ll get a collected volume if I’m interested in a high-quality version that’s not going to sit in a box for years.
But this is a one-shot, and felt thicker than usual, so against better judgment I bought it. If you know the story of Watchmen, you know the basic elements found in this book. We follow along roughly the same story, but at breakneck pace and with a “_________ Movie” twist to numerous elements (including a nice use of Dr. NYC “spoiling” a couple of subplots since there’s not room in a single issue to adapt a 300-page graphic novel).
Given that this IS a spoof, not too much to be said story-wise, except that it hits on some of the main “moments” fans of Watchmen would probably expect to see in any abridgment.
The art is good, and actually does in most places remind me of Gibbons’ work on the source material. The art certainly goes with the story, and I have nothing here to complain about. There are some amusing sight-gags: watch for Spider-Man, and Snoopy clones, among others–when one looks past the “simple” exterior of these gags, there’s further amusement to be had realizing what they stand in for.
All in all, this is a fairly amusing book. I don’t think it’s on the level of being a “must-read!” or anything, but if you’ve an extra $4–and don’t mind spending $4 for 28 pages of visual story and 4 text-pages (all in the general style of Watchmen)–you’ll find yourself with a decent comic if you snag this.
Story: 7.5/10
Art: 7.5/10
Whole: 8/10
Filed under: Comic Reviews 2009, INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS, Uncategorized, Whatmen?! (IDW) | Tagged: Albert Deschesne, Aldo Giordanelli, ALejandro Figueroa, Amber Shields, Chris Ryall, Comic Reviews, Comicraft, Dr. NYC, IDW, Nutsack, parody, Richard Starkings, Scott Dunbier, Scott Lobdell, spoof, Watchmen, Whatmen | 1 Comment »
Full review posted to comixtreme.com.
Filed under: Comic Reviews 2009, cxPulp.com, INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS, Tales of the TMNT (Mirage) | Tagged: 25th Anniversary, Comic Reviews 2008, cxPulp.com, Dan Berger, Eric Talbot, Jim Lawson, Michael Dooney, Mirage, Mirage Comics, Mirage Publishing, Ninja Turtles, Steve Lavigne, Tales of the TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT | Leave a comment »
Full review posted to comixtreme.com.
Filed under: Comic Reviews 2009, cxPulp.com, INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS, Tales of the TMNT (Mirage) | Tagged: Andrew Bonia, Bob LeFevre, Comic Reviews 2008, cxPulp.com, Eric Talbot, Fugitoid, L.Jamal Walton, Michael Dooney, Mirage, Mirage Comics, Mirage Publishing, Mostafa Moussa, Ninja Turtles, Raphael, Steve Lavigne, Tales of the TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT | Leave a comment »
Full review posted to comixtreme.com.
Filed under: Comic Reviews 2009, INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS, Tales of the TMNT (Mirage) | Tagged: Adam Staffaroni, Chad Hurd, Colleen Frakes, Comic Reviews 2008, cxPulp.com, Dan Berger, Eric Talbot, Jim Lawson, Jon-Mikel Gates, Michael Dooney, Mirage, Mirage Publishing, ndrew Arnold, Ninja Turtles, Sam Ellis, Steve Lavigne, Tales of the TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT | Leave a comment »
Filed under: Comic Reviews 2008, cxPulp.com, INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS, Tales of the TMNT (Mirage) | Tagged: Comic Reviews 2008, Dan Berger, Dario Brizuela, Eric Talbot, Fernando Leon Gonzalez, Michael Dooney, Mirage, Mirage Publishing, Ninja Turtles, Peter Laird, Ryan Brown, Steve Lavigne, Steve Murphy, Tales of the TMNT (Mirage), Teenge Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT | Leave a comment »
Comic Reviews by Walt 