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Age of Apocalypse Revisited: Gambit and the X-Ternals #2

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Walt

aoa_revisited_logo

gambitandthexternals002Where No eXternal Has Gone Before!

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Penciler: Tony Daniel
Inkers: Conrad, Milgrom, Christian
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Colorist: Marie Javins
Separations: Digital Chameleon
Cover: Tony Daniel
Editor: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: April 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

Picking up immediately on the heels of the previous issue, our point of view is back with Gambit and his group, as they suddenly find themselves farther from home than they ever could have imagined being…and facing what they come to learn is the Shi’Ar Imperial Guard. The encounter is not encouraging, and Gambit has the group retreat. Rictor–who tagged along in their cross-galaxy space-hop–goes with the Imperial Guard. While he meets with a certain brutality interacting with the Guard, Gambit and co. meet a local who brings them up to speed on the situation they’ve found themselves in on this alien world. Rictor soon leads the Guard back to the X-Ternals, and the fight again does not go well, but this time the group is rescued by another group–calling themselves the Starjammers…who explain the danger facing all existence.

The art in this issue seems somehow "off" on this read-through…I’m sure it’s not all that different from the first issue, but as has plagued many of the #2s, there’s something to not being the opening chapter, nor penultimate or final chapter that leaves me a bit dissatisfied with the issue and more negatively critical of stuff that wouldn’t otherwise bother me. On the whole, the art works, the characters are familiar and mostly distinct…though just paging through the issue there’s a strange sort of blend to the visuals that–at least just for this issue–seems "off" to me.

The story itself is good, though a bit fast-paced and feeling quite a bit the opposite of "decompressed." This issue’s events could easily (by contemporary standards) be stretched to at least 2-3 issues–as we meet the Imperial Guard, see a fight and retreat, meet another new character and get exposition, see Rictor interrogated, another fight, meet another group, get further exposition, and finally a declaration to end the issue. That a lot is packed into the issue is good, and feels like a lot is going on, keeping things moving forward and giving a bit of that sense of hecticness the characters must be feeling, trying to find their bearings in this screwy new setting they’re thrust into.

With the Age of Apocalypse story exploring a number of different facets of the X-Universe, this series gets to do the "cosmic" side of things. It’s not entirely to my liking, nor is it necessarily a disliking. Though I’ve read some of the stuff with "X-Men in Space" I’m not really used to THESE X-characters "in space" so that throws me off a bit.

All in all, the issue’s rather average; neither landing as something crummy and distasteful nor anything of great significance or notice. It simply is what it is. We have plenty of action and story advancement and are moved into the heart of things away from the simple "premise" of this mini as spun out from X-Men: Alpha.

And like many other issues in the Age of Apocalypse stuff, I find this current re-reading to be almost new as it’s been so long since the last time I read through the entire story that I’ve forgotten details even if I’ve retained broad strokes.

Filed under: 2015 posts, The '90s Revisited, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Star Wars (2015) #2 [Review]

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Walt

starwars(2015)002Skywalker Strikes (part II)

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: John Cassaday
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover Artists: Cassaday & Martin
Assistant Editor: Charles Beacham
Editor: Jordan D. White
Executive Editors: C.B. Cebulski & Mike Marts
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: April 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

On the surface, I’m not at all impressed with this issue. This is a #2, so it’s not the first issue, it’s not MY first issue, nor my first-issue-since-I’m-not-sure-when, and it reminds me that it’s just one chapter in an inevitable graphic novel/collected edition (I’m 99% certain it’ll get a shiny hardcover edition–possibly oversized if not a “premiere” edition).

On the surface, there’s not really a lot covered in this issue: Luke fights Vader; Han and Leia stomp around in a Walker; C-3PO is captured by the scavengers dismantling the Falcon; Though Han and Luke proved to be more of a threat than expected, Vader rallies and vows to personally deal with Luke.

The issue is mostly action, with a lot of little details to the fighting and such, to where if I tried to do a more detailed recap, I might as well write a “novelization” of the issue. The story itself is solid, with enough to the interactions to recognize the characters and get a feeling of authenticity that I definitely appreciate, feeling like this is truly stuff that (could have) happened between the films. Along with that authenticity, there’s an element of knowledge of stuff that comes later, sort of wink-and-a-nod toward stuff we as readers are assumed to know (but if one doesn’t “know” nothing is actually lost).

Visually, this is a strong issue…I definitely like Cassaday‘s work, though I can’t imagine getting more than one arc with it, for now (see above about the graphic novel). Still, taken in and of itself I like the art and have no real complaint…I flew through the issue without trouble being able to tell what was going on, and simply enjoyed the experience without anything in the art tripping me up.

But this isn’t the first issue, a first issue–it’s very much a second issue. While the opening page recap is good and reminds me of key stuff from the first issue, and I like the style, it’s also of necessity a bit briefer than I’d prefer. Having read the first issue, it works well; but trying to consider the recap and then this issue’s contents by themselves, the brief recap doesn’t quite work for me.

My lack of being impressed comes primarily from this not being a standalone issue as well as being able to “see” how it’ll fit quite well into a collected volume as part of a longer, continuous reading experience. Additionally, I can’t imagine many in this day and age actively seeking this issue and reading it without the context of the first issue.

That aside, the quality feels consistent from the first, though I don’t have that issue handy for comparison. If you enjoyed the first issue, and don’t mind (functionally) getting the graphic novel in 6 or so chunks, this is well worth getting. If  you missed the first issue and don’t already have an interest in seeking that out, I’d suggest waiting for the collected volume or such. With this being a $3.99 comic, I definitely do not recommend seeking out #2 as a one-shot/standalone thing.

Filed under: 2015 posts, 2015 Reviews, MARVEL, STAR WARS | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Age of Apocalypse Revisited: Astonishing X-Men #2

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Walt

aoa_revisited_logo

astonishingxmen002No Exit

Writer: Scott Lobdell
Penciler: Joe Madureira
Inkers: Dan Green & Tim Townsend
Color Art: Steve Buccellato & Digital Chameleon
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover: Joe Madureira, Tim Townsend
Editor: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: April 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

Rogue’s team finds themselves in the remnants of Chicago about to be trampled by its fleeing human population. Sunfire lashes out, determining that he MUST take the fight to Holocaust…but Rogue winds up stopping him, keeping her team together to help the humans here, now…not fly off half-cocked to be slaughtered. Meanwhile, Bishop finds Magneto sitting quietly alone while his young charges race around the globe, and chastises him…before realizing he is functionally saying goodbye to the infant son whose very existence will be sacrificed by "remaking" the world to what it should have been. Further meanwhile, Sabretooth enlists Blinks help to take the fight to Holocaust, eluding Rogue where Sunfire did not…and battling the monstrous son of Apocalypse…a battle that goes roughly as he planned, but not before sending Wild Child away with valuable information to survive the encounter.

Re-reading the Age of Apocalypse epic issue-by-issue in single-issue format for the first time in nearly two decades has been a true delight, taking me back at once to my all-time favorite X-Men story, period…as well as a nostalgic, simpler time when I found the X-Men comics to BE fun and enjoyable and a real treat to read…a time before the Internet and daily spoilers and the Next Big Event being hyped hardly halfway into the Current Big Event…when the Current Big Event mattered, was huge, was all-encompassing, was…THERE.

This issue embodies all that. We have favorite characters–Rogue, Magneto, this version of Sabretooth, Blink, Bishop…we have the latest chapter of an epic adventure, the last adventure, the One That Will Change Everything…as we witness the twilight of the Age of Apocalypse, the last-ditch effort of all those involved to make a difference in this darker world. And while the darkness and death is by no means a fun thing, a fun setting…the story itself, reading this…is.

Madureira’s art works really well for me with this issue…the entirety of the issue just looks very good, affirms my (perhaps altered-by-recently-re-read-issues) memory of how much I loved the look of the book at the time as I quite enjoy it here. The characters are all familiar, successfully distinct where I’d expect and any similarities or indistinctness is minimal and only noticed by looking back through for such things and never took me out of the "reading experience."

The writing–the story–simply "is" for me. And that’s a good thing. I read the issue, and was sucked in and maintained page after page, knowing I’ve read this, vague memories creeping up and ever so slightly reminding me that something happens to this character, or that character actually does survive, etc. But by and large the "details" have been forgotten and so are read here anew as a fresh story that is quite enjoyable. This issue fits the ongoing narrative of the epic, gives a number of characters some significant facetime, and unfolds details that add further depth to them…from Rogue’s reluctance to use her powers on a teammate or see any of ’em throw their lives away; to Magneto struggling with the reality he knows versus the knowledge that everything he’s known for two decades can be (MUST be) somehow undone; to Sabretooth and what he means to Blink as well as seeking to atone for his past.

The reading of this issue "kicks off" Month #2 for me in this journeying back through the Age of Apocalypse…and leaves me extremely eager–moreso than I’ve been so far–to get through the entirety, wishing I had the time to just sit and devour the saga…and yet all the more curious (just for myself) at what the overall experience will be and how my own reading is impacted by taking the time between the reading of each issue to write these reviews, forcing myself to think and self-analyze, at least–on what I’ve read.

Filed under: The '90s Revisited, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Age of Apocalypse Revisited: Gambit and the X-Ternals #1

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Walt

aoa_revisited_logo

gambitandthexternals001Some of Us Looking to the Stars

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Penciler: Tony Daniel
Inker: Kevin Conrad
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Colorist: Marie Javins
Cover: Tony Daniel
Editor: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: March 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

This was twenty years ago, real-time. Gambit was ‘only’ introduced about 4-5 years prior to this issue’s original release, and there have been several “ongoing” Gambit books in the interim, so it’s no longer a ‘special’ thing that Gambit’s headlining a series. Nor is the character the same sort of “mystery” he once was.

But for the time, this was the character leading a ragtag group of rebels, having himself split off from the X-Men due–in large part–to “losing” Rogue to Magneto.

We meet Jubilee running from an Infinite before they’re intercepted by Guido. The two are joined by Sunspot and the momentary battle is over. On returning home they’re met by the most dangerous man they know–Magneto. Who is there with Gambit…and the team’s led to their new mission. After a fight in the Morlock tunnels they’re made aware of the wider universe…and with the unleashed power of Lila Cheney, the team is sent to the other side of the galaxy, after the M’Kraan crystal. Magneto–on Earth–realizes just how fragile all his machinations truly are.

I find myself less impressed in this issue with Daniel‘s art. It’s not bad by any means…but it’s not as good as I’d expect presently on name alone. Then again…this is from two decades ago. There’s a certain style to the linework that registers this firmly in my mind as a ’90s comic without even having to see the cover, indicia, or anything else officially dating it. There’s certainly plenty of comic art out there far less appealing to me, but by and large this issue does not thrill me visually.

Story-wise this is much of what I’d want in a first issue, particularly the sort this actually is. This is coming out of the events of X-Men: Alpha which has set “everything” in motion for this epic Age of Apocalypse ‘event’ and itself introduces us to “new” characters beyond Magneto and Gambit, and their role in things. We’re introduced to the mission itself and the means by which the characters are able to have any chance of cosmic reach in a ruined world…and we’re given the wonder of just what they’ve gotten themselves into: events that we’ll see play out in coming issues.

I’m more enamored with the “idea” of this book than the execution…yet, on the whole I enjoyed this. But then, I’m quite enjoying the entirety of my re-reading of these Age of Apocalypse issues, and this definitely rides that wave a bit. I don’t know that I find this issue singularly important in a stand-alone sense, but it works in the grander scheme of the present X-Universe these are taking place in and given I do not recall details…I’m definitely interested in revisiting this group of characters and their Shi’Ar adventure.

Filed under: The '90s Revisited, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Star Wars (2015) #1 [Review]

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Walt

starwars(2015)001Skywalker Strikes

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: John Cassaday
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover Artists: Cassaday & Martin
Assistant Editor: Charles Beacham
Editor: Jordan D. White
Executive Editors: C.B. Cebulski & Mike Marts
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: March 2015
Cover Price: $4.99

I truly was not going to buy this. I don’t like that the license was–in my eyes–“taken” from Dark Horse, and envisioned this being like the “taking” of the various Disney-based books from Boom! Studios. But Marvel‘s immediately gotten into things rather than letting the license(s) languish, so here we are.

Another factor is the cover price–$4.99 is way, Way, WAY too much for a single regular issue of a comic. Where I’d intended to boycott this on principle, it occurred to me that it might just be an extra-sized debut issue…so I asked, and the store owner looked it up, and a later issue is solicited at $3.99, so I decided to step off that particular “moral high ground” and check this out.

It’s been several years since I’ve read a Star Wars comic. I’ve bought ’em here and there through the years, usually one-shots or full mini-series after the fact; though I dabbled for a few months back in 2005 with a couple series post-Revenge of the Sith. 

This has a completely different feel to me. I don’t know what it is–perhaps the Marvel branding, perhaps the hype; maybe something subconscious with the art and associating Cassaday with Astonishing X-Men and/or Aaron with Wolverine.

The art–by Cassaday–is quite good. I dig the way the characters have a good likeness of my memory of the actors’ portrayals. Yet, while the likenesses are obvious, they don’t feel gratuitously so to me. The characters are thus quite recognizable without feeling stylized or like effort was put into making them more comic-book-like than likeness-based. 

The story itself is solid enough; I know there was time between the films, so there’s room to play with and insert new story content that fits continuity without detracting from the films, so I can accept this. At the least, whether this is being pushed as “canon” or not, I can very readily accept it at face-value on the premise of being set between films; Canon or Extended Universe or New Extended Universe or whatever label might be appropriate.

The classic characters are here; the primaries. The issue opens on Han with a disguised Luke and Leia infiltrating a weapons factory as negotiators. The negotiator they’re to meet with, though, proves to be far more dangerous and certainly no lackey to simply be fooled…resulting in deadly combat and plenty of action throughout.

The issue FELT thick and heavy; though I was discouraged to find a SEVERAL-page “preview” of the upcoming Darth Vader title or one of the other related Star Wars books), this issue itself still manages to carry 30 story pages. If 20 pages are $3.99, then technically this could’ve been a $5.99 book for that page rate; but it’s “only” $4.99, so that makes the price point SLIGHTLY more “tolerable.” We also have a page of credits, as well as a very effective OPENING sequence of pages.

I say effective because I actually sighed and rolled my eyes at the first page and that classic line

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….

I thought to myself: Really? Had to go back to that again, huh?

Then I turned the page, and I swear I heard the opening strains of the familiar, classic John Williams score…and found myself smiling.

A fact that certainly lent itself to enjoying the issue overall.

I’m not convinced this issue is worth that $4.99 any more than any standard comic is worth $3.99. But the issue made me smile, I enjoyed reading it, I MIGHT actually try subsequent issues and/or the other titles…I’ll give this round of Marvel‘s take a chance. Issue by issue.

If you’re a die-hard fan of Star Wars, I expect you’ll enjoy this; if you’re thoroughly invested in what’s come before (besides the films) you may be disinclined to enjoy this. Either way…this felt to me like something special in spite of resisting the hype (and for BEING so hyped).

On a buy/borrow/pass rating scale…this definitely gets a “borrow,” and something closer to a “buy.”

Filed under: MARVEL, STAR WARS, Star Wars (2015) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Age of Apocalypse Revisited: Astonishing X-Men #1

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Walt

aoa_revisited_logo

astonishingxmen001Once More With Feeling

Writer: Scott Lobdell
Penciler: Joe Madureira
Inkers: Dan Green, Tim Townsend
Letters: chris Eliopoulos
Colors: Steve Buccellato
Separations: Digital Chameleon
Cover: Joe Madureira, Tim Townsend
Editing: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: March 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

This is another “iconic cover” to me, with Magneto front ‘n center and the rest of his group of X-Men there as well–Blink, Sabretooth with Wildchild, Morph, Sunfire, Rogue, Banshee, Iceman, and Storm. The AoA Magneto is probably my all-time favorite version of the character, and I quite like Rogue with the cape. This is also my favorite Sabretooth design.

While Magneto ponders how to proceed in light of what he’s learned from Bishop (see X-Men: Alpha), Blink and Sunfire return via one of her portals, barely escaping one of Apocalypse’s minions. The X-Men are “victorious,” and Sunfire reveals that Apocalypse not only lied but has sent his son Holocaust to personally carry out a new round of cullings. Meanwhile, Apocalypse is briefed, that it’s only a matter of time until the X-Men are located. Gambit gets a few moments with Rogue to catch up before he takes off with his X-Ternals. Nightcrawler converses with Magneto about the implications of Bishop’s presence. Morph adds a bright spot to things as Rogue readies her team to leave, and Bishop has a moment with Quicksilver over what he’s set in motion.

While this is a first issue, it’s clearly part of something larger. For one thing, it draws heavily from the introductory stuff in X-Men: Alpha–from Bishop and his presence, to Magneto having set other stuff in motion. However, I’m a bit surprised at Nightcrawler’s presence here, having thought he actually took off immediately on Magneto’s order to go find Destiny. Even having so recently re-read Alpha, I can’t recall for sure what Blink was up to, so the fact she and Sunfire were off and about is a slight surprise to me, at least in their discovering the resumation of the cullings being either off-panel or in another issue I’ve not gotten back to yet.

Somehow through the years, I’ve gotten it into my head that I was not particularly a fan of Madureira‘s work…but by and large I really enjoyed his work in this issue. As mentioned regarding the cover, I particularly enjoyed the character designs on Magneto, Rogue, and Sabretooth here. Blink also looks quite distinct, familiar, and “normal” to me. The visuals brought back a definite sense of nostalgia here–as I expect most (if not all) of these Age of Apocalypse issues are going to do.

I don’t recall much in the way of thoughts I had back in the day beyond the cover still standing out to me. I noticed on this read-through that Rogue has a collar much like Magneto’s holding her cape in place, and it’s interesting re-adjusting to the notion of a romance between the two. She’s certainly a rather young mother figure to Magneto’s relative age…and yet, that works quite well for me here. Events in my personal life as I’ve aged myself make Gambit’s situation a lot more understandable and identifiable for me…where the character wasn’t nearly so sympathetic 20 years ago.

Though this has the aforementioned feeling of being something larger, it also feels like a solid first issue, introducing the reader to the basic situation at hand and identifying the main characters. References are made to the larger story, accompanied by the Lost Art Of The Footnote directing readers to consider Amazing X-Men, X-Calibre, and Generation Next in an offhanded way that doesn’t require it but shamelessly “plugs” those series. This issue is clearly moving pieces around the board a bit and starting to situated stuff, while bridging the events of X-Men: Alpha and the series that make up the Age of Apocalypse saga itself.

Filed under: The '90s Revisited, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The ’90s Revisited: Uncanny X-Men #321

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Walt

90srevisited

uncannyxmen321Auld Lang Syne

Plot: Scott Lobdell
Dialogue: Mark Waid
Penciler: Ron Garney
Inkers: Townsend, Green & Ruinstien
Colors: Steve Buccellato
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: February 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

Though–like other issues of this story–this issue’s cover doesn’t stand out too much to me, it’s definitely familiar seeing it…and the orange background also reminds me of a couple of key Superman comics of the ’90s as well. Before I even started actually reading the issue, the first page had the credits, and while looking to those, I spotted a small notice: "X-Fans! With This issue You MUST Read Cable #20!"

Given my current reading project–the entirety of Legion Quest–as well as already owning the issues involved and their being quarter-bin fodder and all that, I’m not even phased at a notice inside an issue being my first "official" notification of something being a "key" tie-in (as opposed to the cover blurb listing Legion Quest Part X of 4). Spring something like that on me in a contemporary $4 Marvel comic and I’d be quite put-off. Here, however, I love it! Not yet having moved on to Cable #20, I believe this was where we saw stuff–in this issue–from the time-lost X-Men point of view, while in Cable we get much more detail of his involvement and see things from HIS point of view.

This issue gives what feels to me like a much larger chunk of time spent with Xavier and Erik (Magneto) in the past, when their friendship was fresh and good, before anything had gone sour on them.

The two hang out in a bar, and wind up in a fight with some sailors when Xavier refuses to allow someone to get away with mocking a crippled beggar. He and Erik wind up fighting back to back, emerging quite victorious. In the present, the X-Men (and Cable) wait for the Shi’ar to finish cobbling together a device that will allow Jean, Cable, and Xavier to collectively reach back in time to the X-Men there and set them on their mission. Meanwhile, in the past the X-Men have taken on jobs while seeking to piece together their memories and purpose for being where they are. At the same time, the mysterious young man in the hospital–Legion–awakens and finds his mother. Cable’s psychic projection of sorts makes it to the past and encounters Bishop, while Legion’s woken and stirs trouble.

It seems there’s not an entirely stable creative team on this book at this time, as Garney is the third artist in as many issues. Yet, the visuals largely hold to a "house style" such that I honestly don’t believe I’d’ve really noticed withOUT paying attention to the credits. This is a good thing, as the characters all retain their familiar looks and nothing really seems out of place. I firmly enjoyed reading, and nothing about the art took me out of the story or distracted me–this being a definite success in terms of what I look for in art in any given comic.

The story itself is good, and I REALLY enjoyed the interaction with Xavier and Magneto. I can’t imagine these issues were not integral to why I so enjoy the notion of their friendship and the depth of characterization it provides. There’s one scene that I’m not 100% sure how to interpret—apparently Xavier and Gabby—that works in one way, but is EXTREMELY disturbing taken another. I’d like to think I’m just overthinking on that.

I’d been reading Uncanny X-Men regularly for over a year and X-Men sporadically in that time, as well as watching the Fox Kids animated series–all of which I believe converged in terms of showing the two men as old friends gone different directions, and greatly informed my views on–and interpretation of–the characters.

I feel like I could enjoy a bunch of issues just of Xavier and Eric interacting; slice-of-life sort of stuff. I’ve read plenty of stories of the two as foes, and of the X-Men, etc. so I know where they wind up; seeing more of their meeting and early interactions would flesh that out more.

As I reflect on this, it also puts me in mind of the recent 2011 and 2014 X-Men films involving the younger versions of Xavier and Magneto, and I have to wonder how much these issues may have influenced those; generic as the concept can be.

This is the penultimate chapter of Legion Quest proper…but there are still two more issues to go, with Cable #20 being an important tie-in, and then the final chapter in X-Men #41.

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

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.”

Filed under: Image, Velvet | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The ’90s Revisited: Parallax: Emerald Night #1

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Walt

parallaxemeraldnight001Emerald Night

Writer: Ron Marz
Penciller: Mike McKone
Inker: Mark McKenna
Colorist: John Kalisz
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Associate Editor: Eddie Berganza
Editor: Kevin Dooley
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.95
Cover Date: November 1996

I missed Final Night when it originally crossed the DC Universe. (Of course, that was an easy enough thing to do, as back then an event even of this magnitude seemed to be contained to a single month rather than spread out across half a year or more!)

I came across this issue in a random box of comics I got for $5. I knew it had ’90s stuff in it; my interest was piqued by some Onslaught (Marvel/X-Men) issues and a couple issues of Wizard magazine on top of the stack. This was one of the brightest “gems” of the entire box, though, once I actually dug through…well over 100 issues and yet I found myself leaving everything else partially sorted and began reading this, just because of what it was!

Kyle Rayner finds Hal Jordan–Parallax–and explains that Earth really needs him…the hero that he WAS, anyway. A sun-eater has darkened Earth’s sun, which means if it’s not reignited…well, that’ll be the end of the world, within days. Jordan wallows in indecision given his checkered recent-past, and winds up visiting several figures from his past in order to seek internal “guidance” on making a monumental decision. As we see him interact with Guy Gardner, John Stewart, an old mechanic ally and finally Carol Ferris, we see the influence they’ve had on him, and Jordan–Parallax–makes his decision.

Story-wise, this issue is rather cliche. The Hal Jordan I knew and have had thrust upon me for the last decade or so certainly wouldn’t have had this hesitation…yet, this was a much different character, and was Parallax at the time, which we’ve come to know means he was possessed and thus not entirely himself anyway. That doesn’t remove the cliche, but makes it bearable as a piece of the past, filling in a small gap in my experiential knowledge of this character. Yet, this is a Ron Marz issue, and it’s nice to see the way he handled the Kyle/Hal stuff, and the rest of the Hal stuff…what I recognize retroactively to be making the best of a bad situation.

Visually, I liked the look of this overall–I rather enjoy McKone‘s work–yet it didn’t seem quite as refined as I expected, and something was a bit “off,” keeping this from being as much a visual enjoyment as I expected for the name on the cover.

Still, as something that I functionally paid maybe 4 or 5 cents for, this was very much a worthwhile read, worth my time and I’m glad to have read this. The primary drawback is that now I want to find my other Final Night issues to reread that core story, and I’m re-interested in tracking down the actual Green Lantern issue(s) that tied in, as all these years later I’ve still never read those in any form!

Filed under: The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Infinity #1 [Review]

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Walt

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Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Penciler: Jim Cheung
Inkers: Mark Morales with John Livesay, David Meikis and Jim Cheung
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Letterers: Chris Eliopoulos with Joe Caramagna
Cover: Adam Kubert & Laura Martin
Assistant Editor: Jake Thomas
Editors: Tom Brevoort with Lauren Sankovitch
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99

I wasn’t going to buy this issue. I physically picked it up from the shelf last Wednesday, and then put it back. It’s a $4.99 issue, which is $1 more than “usual” for most Marvel fare these days (though to its credit it’s a thicker than usual issue, even factoring out full-page “chapter headings”). But Thanos’ face is featured prominently on the cover (it IS the cover image, really!), and darned if I’m not a fan of classic Marvel Cosmic Thanos stuff! So despite other online chatter, I decided to go ahead and buy this Friday after all, in the interest of giving it a fair chance.

On the whole, I’d have to say that it was a passively neutral read for me. I did not particularly enjoy it…but I did not actively dislike it the way I’d somewhat expected to.

We see a world apparently destroyed by Avengers…then move to Titan, to a creature whose existence seems to be solely its mission–Thanos’ bidding. With the success of one mission, it is now sent to Earth after other secrets. Various events unfold–Space Knights face an unwinnable situation, SWORD and Captain America and Hawkeye bust a group of Skrulls hiding out, and we see the current status quo of the Inhumans and their King, Blackbolt. The spy creature delivers a message, and we get a hint of Thanos’ plan.

After not enjoying SHIELD #1 a few years ago, not being able to “get into” his early Fantastic Four issues, and being completely turned off to his Marvel Now Avengers and New Avengers launches, I’ve pretty much decided Hickman‘s work in general just is not for me. As such, his name attached to Infinity was a big red flag…one that somewhat holds true even now, having read this issue.

Despite Thanos’ face on the cover, he may as well not even actually appear in the issue for the near-zero on-panel time he gets. For that alone I’m disappointed with the issue. Additionally, there are plenty of characters that I’m not familiar with that I get the feeling I “should” be to truly “appreciate” this issue/story.

Visually I definitely enjoyed the art overall…I’m not a huge fan of some of the costumes (specifically Captain America and Hawkeye) but they look about as good as I can expect here, leaving me only to dislike the costumes themselves rather than the depiction. As for the many characters I’m not familiar with, I suppose the visuals don’t do them any disservice…they look how they do, and I’m cool with that.

The title Infinity–and featuring Thanos’ face on the first issue and other marketing as well as the Free Comic Book Day issue–seem clearly chosen to draw association with past Thanos-centric stories like The Infinity Gauntlet or Infinity Abyss. As such, the comparison is there, and as a first issue, this does not do for me here what those did in their respective stories. Plus, about 10 pages of this issue are what we were given in that FCBD issue, so that wasn’t even a prologue so much as “just” some random scene over 3 months before the arrival of #1.

While I imagine things will pull together and make sense by the end of the six individual issues of this “main story”/mini…as a single issue, Infinity #1 leaves me let-down. If I come across positive enough reviews of the later issues and/or tie-ins, I’ll likely be interest in a collected volume of the entire story; but as it stands, I don’t plan on picking up any of the subsequent single issues for this event/story.

Filed under: Infinity, Infinity (Event), MARVEL, Marvel Now! | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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