Full review posted to cxPulp.com.
Story: 3.5/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5
Filed under: cxPulp.com, Hypernaturals (Boom! Studios), INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS | Tagged: Andres Guinaldo, Andy Lanning, Boom!, Boom! Studios, Clone 21, Clone 45, Comic Reviews, cxPulp, Dafna Pleban, Dan Abnett, Ed Dukeshire, Francesco Mattina, Hypernaturals, Stephen Downer, Sublime, Thinkwell, Tom Derenick | Leave a comment »
Full review posted to cxPulp.com.
Story: 4/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5
Filed under: cxPulp.com, Higher Earth (Boom! Studios), INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS | Tagged: Andrea Dotta, Boom!, Boom! Studios, Comic Reviews, cxPulp, Dafna Pleban, Ed Dukeshire, Frazer Irving, Higher Earth, Joe Eisma, Mirka Andolfo, Mitch Breitweiser, Queen, Sam Humphries, Studio Parlapa | Leave a comment »
The Rest of the Stack is my general mini-review coverage of new comics for any given week. It’s in addition to (or in place of) full-size individual reviews. It’s far less formal, and more off-the-top-of-my head thoughts on the given comics than it is detailed reviews.
THE HYPERNATURALS #3
I’m continuing to get drawn in, and the odd vocabulary elements are feeling a bit more normal. I’m liking the flashbacks that are fleshing out the present, and beginning to get a sense of the continuity that’s been built from the start of this series. You know something’s being done right when I’m interested in going back to re-read the issues so far just to appreciate the world that’s been built in such a short span of time. The story is engaging and the characters are easy enough to identify with. The art continues on a high note as well. Though I saw this issue’s end coming a couple pages early that ramped up the tension which made the cliffhanger both that much more appreciable and a bit anticlimactic, as if it ended a panel or two too soon.
BLOODSHOT #3
Three issues in, and I’m quite enjoying this series. Having figured out the art style for the flashbacks vs. the present, I quite enjoy the shifts, as we follow Bloodshot on his quest to find out the truth about his past. While he seeks his past, Project Rising Spirit is determined to remove him from the field permanently. The story kinda sucked me in on this issue; as said, recognizing flashbacks made this a much more enjoyable read and didn’t seem disruptive at all. I like both visual styles as presented here. As I keep saying, I’m enjoying this new take on a “classic” character; even knowing this isn’t the original “version” doesn’t bother me. Sort of a cross between Marvel’s Ultimate Comics line and DC‘s New 52, with the best of both worlds. Definitely looking forward to the next issue.
ARCHER AND ARMSTRONG #2
The cover to this issue puts me in mind of a cover from the early issues of the Wolverine relaunch back in ’03 or so, where we see grumpy Wolverine on the ground, a line of bullet-holes across the wall–and him; and just looking at it, you know someone’s in for a world o’ hurt. Here, we get a look at the two title characters and a scene that kinda plays on the state of things, and (at least to me) comes off as rather amusing. Archer with a crossbow, pondering the Armstrong, who he’s shot umpteen times but calmly (cheerfully, even!) drinking a beer. With his parents’ reality revealed, Archer breaks from them and decides to join Armstrong, and the two begin their quest for the parts of The Boon that are scattered throughout the world. Of course, it wouldn’t be a quest if it was easy, and things sure don’t start easy for the pair. I really like this new take on the characters–it’s fresher and somehow seems a bit more realistic than the classic. I also like that the title characters don’t spend the entire first arc or two against each other–I’m far more interested in how they handle things as a “team,” with such drastically different backgrounds, personality, and abilities. The story keeps me interested, and I like the art–and the character designs. This Armstrong looks younger–and more presentable–than the classic, and somehow, that brings more of a sense of “fun” to the title, amidst the darker, more serious elements.
TMNT MICRO-SERIES #8: FUGITOID
This issue introduces us to the Fugitoid–an alien scientist in a robot body. This issue as a whole is “the origin issue” for the Fugitoid, detailing the robot as well as Dr. Honeycutt, and the motivations that led to the Fugitoid’s situation. While the essense of the original origin is present, details have obviously been changed–and it works really well for me. The art’s pretty solid, and pulls off the “alien, yet similar to Earth” vibe. The story itself is good, though I found out after reading this that the issue spoils something from the next issue of the main TMNT title–though I didn’t feel like there was anything particularly revelatory, and actually thought this played off stuff we’ve already seen. We get a glimpse of an entire culture that works far better for me than their use in the classic cartoon–taking a campy, goofy concept and making it a valid, reasonable element for the current continuity. The issue ends with no ad for a next issue, and I’m unsure if there will be any more–the first collected volume was 4 issues, and this is the 8th–making another complete 4-issue volume. I hope these continue; as I’ve indicated before–I’d gladly keep buying this companion series to the main title, with different creative teams and spotlight characters.
TMNT COLOR CLASSICS #4
While the turtles are out searching for Splinter, they are ambushed by the Foot, who want revenge for the death of Shredder. While battling the ninjas, the turtles come across a strange building marked with the letters “TCRI”–which they recognize as the same as what was on the canister of goo that mutated them. When they investigate the building further, they find plenty of oddities, including the inhabitants of the building, and an alien device they’ve built that spells major issue for the turtles’ future. The story is fairly simple, and things kinda scoot along quickly. This is still early in the existence of the TMNT, so for me it’s more the ideas that were put forth than actual grace in execution of the story. The art’s solid, and quite a contrast to contemporary takes on the characters. Still, I like it, and it’s really cool to see this colorized in a single-issue format; if I didn’t know it started out black-and-white and had no attention called to it, I’d have a hard time believing this wasn’t a color comic to begin with. Despite the various collected volumes already out, I hope this Color Classics series lasts long enough to re-present the entire Mirage vol. 1 TMNT series…though I wouldn’t entirely mind if it skips a bunch of the middle stuff and just re-presents the “core” Eastman/Laird stuff of the first 11 issues, Micro-Series, Return to New York, and City at War arcs.
Filed under: Archer & Armstrong, Bloodshot, Hypernaturals (Boom! Studios), IDW Publishing, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW), The Rest of the Stack, Valiant | Tagged: Archer, Armstrong, Bloodshot, Boom!, color classics, Fugitoid, Hypernaturals, IDW, Micro Series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT, Valiant | Leave a comment »
Full review posted to cxPulp.com.
Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Filed under: cxPulp.com, Higher Earth (Boom! Studios), INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS | Tagged: Andrew Crossley, Boom!, Boom! Studios, Bryce Carlson, Comic Reviews, cxPulp, Dafna Pleban, Ed Dukeshire, Francesco Biagini, Frazer Irving, Heidi, Higher Earth, Rex, Sam Humphries | Leave a comment »
Back in May, I reviewed the Hypernaturals Free Comic Book Day Edition.
Since then, I ended up deciding to throw in with several Boom! titles (Higher Earth and Extermination as well as this one) and though it lacks the familiarity of a Marvel or DC title, I’m quite enjoying this so far.
So far in this first arc, the Hypernaturals centennial team is feared lost, which means that a couple of retired team members are forced to come out of retirement, joined with a couple of didn’t-quite-make-the-team teens, as they set out to discover what actually happened to the newest team and rescue them if possible.
The first issue sees the “rescue team” come together and set out on their mission, where they get a really big clue as to what they’re up against. The second issue sees the team through their first battle together while flashbacks reveal more about the characters themselves and their motivations.
Story-wise, I’m enjoying this series on the whole. There are a number of characters, and while they are individually recognizable and stand out when I see them, I’m not yet all that invested in them, and character names don’t stick with me beyond actually reading the issues or paging back through FOR names. I like the somewhat super-hero feel to this series mixed with the “cosmic,” which makes a lot of sense since it’s written by Abnett and Lanning. The concepts and world-building have been interesting and make sense in their context, without making the environment overly “fantastic.” This is definitely sci-fi and all, but at its heart the story is familiar and timeless.
Walker, Derenick, and Downer make the whole thing look really good. This series looks like a standard super-hero comic–futuristic machinery, uniforms, the works. Given this is an entirely new series, nothing jumps out at me as being ‘wrong’ and I like the various character designs so far. In some ways, this puts me in mind of something vaguely Fantastic Four-ish with a definite hint of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
I also like the backmatter, as we (at least on the first two issues) have a double-page “interview” with one of the protagonists, allowing some further insight into the characters that just isn’t possible within the pages of the story itself. For what I imagine would be obvious reasons, these remind me a bit of Watchmen.
All in all, this is another new title from Boom! that I was hesitant on initially due simply to the $3.99 price point, but have recently thrown in with as an alternative to Marvel and DC. I’m not thrilled with the price, but it doesn’t bother me so much here as it does from standard Marvel and DC fare. So far, I’d say if you’re interested in stuff by Abnett and Lanning, this would be a great series to check out for something new from them that is not constrained by a corporate sandbox.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Andy Lanning, Boom!, Boom! Studios, Brad Walker, Comic Reviews, Dan Abnett, Francesco Mattina, Hypernaturals, Tom Derenick | Leave a comment »
I started watching Falling Skies last year, and found that I enjoyed it overall. Granted, I “lost track” of it along the way and have yet to finish the first season, but look forward to catching up on both seasons on DVD in the not-to-distant future. I mention that because in a way, I think this title could be (in broad strokes) described as Falling Skies with super-heroes.
We open with a character that fits the Batman archetype, Nox. Human, no powers, self-made and all that; even has the dark uniform and cowl/mask. With him is the Red Reaper, a science-based villain…yet the two are working together. Of course, in a world overrun by aliens that have practically exterminated humanity and are trying to finish the job, the whole “hero vs. villain” thing doesn’t hold up–after all, even the villain bent on ruling the world, accumulating vast financial gain or pretty much any goal that’s roughly sane doesn’t want the world destroyed by a third party.
By the second issue, we have a bit more camaraderie between the two–they’ve survived some alien attacks and had some setbacks. When they find a band of survivors, they’re put to the test. Reaper is quite happy to throw in with the survivors…but Nox can’t get over the fact that he recognizes their leader as a former villainess.
The third issue involves more characters in the story as we continue to learn about this world past and present–what it was like before the invasion and where things sit at present. Particularly memorable is what we learn about Nox and where his motivation may not actually be what it seems to be, which could be trouble for the survivors.
I particularly like the story so far. There’s plenty of the familiar–especially in the flashbacks–with heroes and villains fighting, and even some in-fighting with the heroes. But the post-apocalyptic “present” holds a lot of potential and details a situation that I haven’t seen all that often for an ongoing series. Obviously a post-apocalyptic future setting isn’t new; even forcing a hero to work with his enemy isn’t new. But as the status quo for an ongoing series, I like it, and it actually seems a bit fresh…particularly compared to the standardish fare from DC and Marvel of late that just isn’t doing it for me anymore.
The art’s good, and nicely captures both the past and present settings. I also (once I picked up on it) like the way the “present” is conveyed with full-bleed pages while the flashbacks maintain the blank white borders. The story often compares and contrasts the two time periods, and the art drives it home without the need for captioning to describe which is which or when.
As with Higher Earth, I find myself giving this title a “pass” when it comes to the variant covers and $3.99 price point. While this could easily be just one of a number of titles exploring the after-effects of some temporary-status-quo-changing “event” that ties in with other titles to give a full picture…this is just one title, isolated to itself, telling THE story. That there’s room for so much more makes it feel that much more epic, but as of present, it’s a single title that doesn’t require any other series to “complete” the current/ongoing story. As to the variant covers, I’ve simply requested the “A” cover for consistency, and ignore as best I can the solicits and advertising and such that show other covers.
I look forward to seeing the progression of the relationship between Nox and Red Reaper, as well as what becomes of the survivors. In that regard, I definitely hope that this becomes something comparable to The Walking Dead in that it’s a superhero story, a story of characters interacting, and the aliens trying to exterminate humanity become background in the setting. While I have little hope , really, of any new comic making it even past a full year, I would love to see this last awhile…at least long enough for the creative team to tell their story in full, if this proves a finite series.
Also: My thoughts on Higher Earth #s 1-3 at Fantasy Rantz.
Filed under: Extermination (Boom! Studios) | Tagged: Boom!, Boom! Studios, Comic Reviews, comics, extermination, Jeffrey Edwards, Nox, Red Reaper, Simon Spurrier | 1 Comment »
The Rest of the Stack is my general mini-review coverage of new comics for any given week. It’s in addition to (or in place of) full-size individual reviews. It’s far less formal, and more off-the-top-of-my head thoughts on the given comics than it is detailed reviews.
AVX: VERSUS #3
Well, this concept has worn totally thin on me. Yeah, yeah…nothing-but-the-fight, no plot, blah blah blah. I don’t mind just a fight, but darnit, put some intelligence to it! And really…”AR” here? I should NOT have to bust out the smartphone (note to writers, editors, publishers: *I* might have a smartphone to have the app, but not everyone will!) just to be able to read half the dialogue! The Colossus/Thing battle’s nothing but punching, basically…big hairy deal who wins. The Black Widow/Magik fight…basically the same. And why would the Widow–in battle with a Russian girl–keep arbitrarily switch between Russian and English? I don’t care if there’s low to no plot…but geez, have some consistency other than “hey, look what we can do if you use an app!” Ugh…this might make me break from the completist mentality and see if I can drop the rest of this series. Absolutely NOT even BEGINNING to approach anything worth $4…this should be one of those supplemental freebies Marvel sends to the comic shops to GIVE out. “Hey, look at this fight! Look at the sweet art! If you want art AND story, pick up the series this is based on!” (4/10)
AVENGERS #27
I don’t know what it was about this issue, but nothing to it really struck me as all that good. And I feel like I’ve missed something outright…I mean, aren’t these characters also involved with the Captain Marvel “resurrection” stuff, too? I don’t mind the art on this issue…there’s one panel in particular that I really like of Thor. But this stuff with Protector or whatever his name is…I just don’t feel at all invested, and so I don’t care about the character (or maybe it’s the other way around). Given this arc ties in with the main series, it also seems rather odd that a week after #5 of AvX ships, we have an issue concluding a story that takes place before #4. BUT…at least we have some notes now to place stuff in the overall timeline. I guess part of what’s soured my mood is thinking about the price of these issues. Yeah, there’s that download code thing, but I don’t have an iPad or a physically roughly-the-size-of-a-comic screened tablet, and if I’m paying to get the physical comic, I’m probably gonna read that, not a digital copy. Shame it’s not a case of buy a physical $3.99 issue, get a free digital copy of “any” new issue. I’d be all for that. Looks like a new story arc with the next issue…maybe that’ll work better? (6/10)
X-MEN: LEGACY #268
Ok…so this is basically a one-shot spotlighting Frenzy. Who until a few days ago I didn’t give a crap about. But having recognized the name, it seems this character actually dates back to the X-Men “relaunch” of 1991 or so…or at least the Fatal Attractions crossover of 1993…unless it’s coincidence that one of the Acoyltes was named Frenzy? Anyway…not a bad issue here, and it’s kinda nice getting a done-in-one story on a character within the context of the overall AvX thing. Story’s good–we get some insight into Frenzy as a character, what she’s been through and come from as well as seeing her making at least the overall attempt to be a better person and all that. The art’s not bad, either. Definitely the best of this week’s AvX issues! (8/10)
UNCANNY X-FORCE #26
I dropped this title a few weeks back, but had to finish out what the LCS had already ordered for me. And now with AvX and half hoping this title would tie in, I find myself still snagging it off the shelf. On the one hand, I don’t care for this idea of Omega Red’s powers being split amongst a group of assassins, but something about this title makes it work. And while I don’t know how long this title will last, even when I want to ignore it or give it up due to the $4 price and not always following the subtleties…it’s one of the better, creative titles I’ve found, and so help me, it keeps me curious over what happens next. Some of that helps from seeing that “Kid Apocalypse” (Genesis) was a development being used in the greater X-universe and not just this title…which lends more to this title actually mattering. I guess I’m taking it a month at a time until I miss an issue and don’t miss the read and simply don’t bother to pick it up…and leaving it off my pull list will be the extent–for now–of my official protest of the price of this title? (7.5/10)
TMNT COLOR CLASSICS #2
I absolutely love these color reprints of the classic TMNT material. I’m not sure if the “micro series” one-shots will be tossed into this series’ numbering or be their own things…I sorta hope this keeps in line with the original series’ numbering, though, to keep stuff straight. Whatever the case…this issue reprints the original TMNT #2 which introduced April O’Neil, the mousers, Baxter Stockman, and showed that the turtles weren’t just themselves a one-shot thing. I like the combination of the original art with the new colors…it’s the best of both worlds. The writing/story is a bit rough, but it was what it was, and picks up by the time we get to one of my favorite arcs in the Leonardo one-shot and issues 10-11. Whether new fan interested in older stories without springing for those huge hardcovers or an old fan looking to pick up single issues at a relative bargain, or whatever…you can’t really go wrong with this series, at least this second issue in. (9/10)
EXTERMINATION #1
Boom‘s got one thing right–the price point. Their recent launch of new titles have wound up in my hands due to a standing order with my LCS for $1.00 and under issues. For $1 (or $.50 or $.25) I’m willing to give stuff a look where even $2 or definitely $3 or $4 would be more than I care to gamble. This takes a Batman-esque character and has him teamed up with one of his old villains as the two try to survive in a post-apocalyptic/alien-invasion world. I have a lot of questions, and it took me about half the issue to make the distinction visually between “present day” and “flashbacks,” but overally I found this issue quite worth the $1…even though it took me an extra week to get around to reading it. I’m curious about where it’ll go…but I’m very hesitant to plan to continue due to the $4 cover price. It’s also a bit of a principle thing for me with the price and the “variant covers are standard issue no matter the issue number” thing, and since it’s not TMNT it does not fall into my conscious exceptions category. If my attention’s grabbed by one of the covers for #2 and it’s a small week, I might give it a continuation to really draw me in for the story. The art’s good, so if $2.99 and pinups-instead-of-variants was standard fare, I’d be far more likely to dive in. (8/10)
Filed under: Avengers, Avengers vs. X-Men (event), AvX: Vs., Extermination (Boom! Studios), IDW Publishing, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW), Uncanny X-Force, X-Men: Legacy | Tagged: avengers, avengers versus x-men, Avx, Boom!, Boom! Studios, Comic Reviews, extermination, IDW, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, Ninja Turtles, TMNT, Uncanny X-Force, versus, x-men, X-Men: Legacy | Leave a comment »
Written by: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Art by: Brad Walker & Tom Derenick
Inks by: Mark Irwin, Tom Derenick
Colors by: Stephen Downer
Letters by: Ed Dukeshire
Editor: Dafna Pleban
Cover by: Francesco Mattina
Published by: Boom Studios
The appeal for me of this issue is exactly what its back cover celebrates: “Abnett & Lanning do Cosmic at BOOM! Studios.”
I’ve enjoyed Abnett & Lanning‘s work on other cosmic stuff from Marvel (what I’ve read so far of the Annihilation stuff and am looking forward to with War/Realm of Kings and so on). So, being a free issue, this caught my attention for their names alone.
Reading the issue itself, I’ve decided that part of their appeal for me came from their work involving characters I already had familiarity with, rather than all-new characters I know nothing about.
The basic bit of this issue is that we’re in the future / in space somewhere, and there’s this super-hero team that’s been around for ages, with a continual change in membership as folks try out for the team. At present, there’s some sort of celebration of the centennial for the team, but an emergency crops up that seems to be well beyond the capabilities of the current team, and may necessitate calling retired/former members of the team back to some kind of active status.
This seems to be largely prologue material–I get the feeling this is a sort of zero-issue, and the first issue will drop the reader right into the action, some of the events being shown “on-screen” in this issue but otherwise being mere exposition for the main series itself.
The story itself isn’t bad, and I kinda like the concept as this truly plays with the idea of legacies; and having a super-hero team for a century with all sorts of people moved through it in that time in varying capacities holds a lot of potential. The art’s not bad, though it’s not overly appealing to me. I had a certain distraction to trying to figure out/follow timing and the new terminology used throughout the issue, so the art wasn’t all that high on my priorities.
This is the sort of issue I tend to most enjoy from Free Comic Book Day: a new series, a new concept, and a relatively full-size issue’s worth of content that introduces the main characters/concept and really sets things up a bit for the debut issue. I’m intrigued, but I’m not sure that it’s enough to get me to pay the presumed $3.99 for this series, though I’d possibly pick it up for just $1 less at $2.99.
If you’re an Abnett and Lanning fan, I’d definitely recommend picking this up, though…especially as THIS issue’s price is quite right.
Rating: 7/10
Filed under: Free Comic Book Day (FCBD), Free Comic Book Day 2012, Hypernaturals (Boom! Studios) | Tagged: Andy Lanning, Boom!, Boom! Studios, Brad Walker, Comic Reviews, cosmic, Dafna Pleban, Dan Abnett, DnA, Ed Dukeshire, FCBD, Francesco Mattina, Free Comic Book Day, Hypernaturals, Mark Irwin, Stephen Downer, Tom Derenick | 1 Comment »
Full review posted to cxPulp.com.
Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
Filed under: cxPulp.com, INDEPENDENT/SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHERS, Uncle Scrooge (Boom! Kids) | Tagged: andrew dalhouse, Boom!, Boom! Studios, Byron Erickson, carl barks, Christopher Burns, Comic Reviews, comics, Daan Jippes, David Gerstein, Don Rosa, Giorgio Cavazzano, Man Who Drew Ducks, McDuck, Obsession, Rudy Salvagnini, scrooge, Scrooge McDuck, Stephanie Gonzaga, Uncle Scrooge | Leave a comment »
Full review posted to cxPulp.com.
Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
Filed under: Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (Boom! Studios), cxPulp.com | Tagged: Amy Mebberson, Boom!, Boom! Studios, Chip, Chip 'n Dale, Christopher Burns, Dale, Disney, Disney Afternoon, Erika Terriquez, Gadget, Ian Brill, Jake Myler, Jason Arthur, Leonel Castellani, magic eye studios, Monterrey Jack, Rescue Rangers, Worldwide Rescue, Zip | Leave a comment »
Comic Reviews by Walt 