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Snapshots for 7/13/05
There's no way that Don and I can cover all of the material we have for review in full reviews, so these capsule reviews will offer some brief comments on other recent releases.
CONCRETE: THE HUMAN DILEMMA #6
by Paul Chadwick (Dark Horse Comics)
 The finale of Human Dilemma does none of the characters any favors, as it makes Larry Munro look selfish and even stupid, Concrete somewhat passive and emotionless and Maureen awfully melodramatic. Fortunately, what makes the characters look human also makes the book fascinating reading, and the surprising turns of events that result from the birth of Concrete's "baby" and the culmination of Larry's pregnancy storyline come fast and furious. Chadwick really does have the reader on the edge of their seat a few times, wondering about the fate of the characters and what the end results of all the dancing about in this miniseries will be, and he brings things to a satisfying, if kind of depressing, conclusion. The Human Dilemma raised a lot of questions, but Chadwick is smart enough to realize he doesn't have all the answers, and neither should his characters.
FLAMING CARROT COMICS #3
by Bob Burden (Dark Horse Comics)
 If you've heard of Flaming Carrot, chances are you know that Bob Burden's carrot-topped hero is written in a surreal style. Basically, when you step into Burden's world, you're accepting that things work just a little bit differently, and this issue is a very good example of that kind of thing. A sentient hot wing goes on a crime spree, hiding his identity with a hat. A gorgeous (but quite possibly deranged) woman falls into Flaming Carrot's life and takes him with her in hot pursuit of the hot wing. A baby werewolf and a pair of superhero ex-boyfriends are stirred into the mix as well, and what you have is a strange, absurdist comedy that follows what can just barely be called a plot in service of a number of strange gags. Fun, and definitely off the beaten path.
THE GOON #12
by Eric Powell (Dark Horse Comics)
 Speaking of off the beaten path, we have The Goon. There's a similarity between the absurdist streak in Flaming Carrot and The Goon, but where Flaming Carrot draws its inspiration more from the Robert Crumb underground comics school, Powell's The Goon is right out of EC Comics. This issue is a continuation of the previous issue, where Dr. Alloy got switched back to evil, and so he advances on the town with a horde of '50s style robots intent on taking over "for the good of mankind." Cue the Goon battling Alloy's robots (one of which has a set of boxing gloves to engage Goon in a depression-era style boxing match) as Frankie tries to team up with the Spanish-speaking El Hombre Del Lagarto (Alloy's lizard butler) to restore Alloy's more benevolent nature. Throw in Goon lighting a zombie on fire for kicks and Lagarto relating the "what has gone before" in bombastic and mostly inscrutable Spanish, and you've got another funny-bone ticklin', slightly disturbing (but in a good way) issue of The Goon.
GRAVITY #2
by Sean McKeever & Mike Norton (Marvel Comics)
 I thought Gravity started off well, and it continues to impress with Gravity facing the troubles of early publicity, his first major villain and his first major team-up. McKeever is hitting all the bases of classic Spider-Man style superheroics, from secret identity troubles to the difficulties of being a minor league hero in a major league world, but he's keeping these potentially cliche situations fresh by looking at them through a modern lens. Greg covers for going into action not by disappearing on his girl, but by playing tourist who wants to watch the fight. Gravity doesn't really get his butt handed to him so he can learn and come back to win later, but instead wins surprisingly easy and faces the PR consequences of his new identity. And the "heroes misunderstand, fight and then team-up" is taken care of with a great dialogue exchange that starts off with the funny "Good guy or bad guy?" Norton provides clean lined, simple but exciting artwork, and the result is an exciting new superhero in the Marvel Universe that covers all the old school basics as well.
HERO CAMP #2
by Greg Thompson, Robbi Rodriguez & Chad Thomas (Image Comics)
 When it comes to superhero comics these days, a lot of them are missing a sense of fun, which is the primary thing I'm really looking for. Hero Camp has fun to spare, as it's basically all about the interactions of teenagers at camp and all the social activities that implies, with the addition of superpowers and a band of supervillains with a mysterious agenda thrown in for good measure. The characters have unusual and interesting powers and the plotting is unusual in that it features enough action to keep from being boring but really centers around mundane things like trying to decide what to do with a day or talking with your friends about what you want to do when you grow up. In addition, the artwork by Rodriguez and Thomas is fantastic, with a definite Allred vibe to it. It's bright, full of little character details and features exceptional storytelling.
LITTLE STAR #2
by Andi Watson (Oni Press)
 Little Star hasn't been at all what I expected. While it is the story of a man and woman with a child, the child rearing aspect of the whole thing is almost incidental scenery, and the story is instead focused on the general changes at that time in your life, when you're considering what size house you need, what you're going to do for a job, how you're going to take care of the child monetarily as much as anything else. It's almost about child-rearing in the abstract in some ways, except that Watson is also crafting a very specific story of Simon as he adjusts to fatherhood. It's a little too specifically focused on Simon for my tastes, as I'd rather be seeing his daughter and his wife as more fully realized characters rather than just supporting cast in Simon's story, but the story is also very much the kind of thing Watson has done well in the pages of Breakfast After Noon, Slow News Day and Love Fights, that being an examination of the struggles of daily life and relationships and the many little challenges we all face everday that wouldn't feel like challenges to anyone without our life. As I said, Little Star isn't what I expected, and perhaps, honestly, not what I would have wanted given the general premise, but it is still an exceptionally well-done comic in Watson's usual style.
THE PACT #3
by Phil Hester, Carlos Rodriguez & Lluc Banos (Image Comics)
 Given my appreciation for (OK, borderline stalkerish love of) Hester's writing, I was anxious to read his take on the four-writer miniseries The Pact, and I have to admit that the end result, while solid, is disappointing when compared to the rest of Hester's work. The nature of Quantum Girl's existence makes the story a little bit too predictable, and while Hester wrings some emotional resonance out of the forgotten hero cliche, it's still a story that has been told before and is easy to see coming from page one. There's also a distinct lack of visual flair from Rodriguez and Banos, as Quantum Girl and The Reaver are both strikingly dull visuals, and that's especially deadly for The Reaver, whose "destroyer of worlds" rep really requires him to look scarier and more memorable than he does. Like the first issue of The Pact, this is a story that feels like little more than a retread of superhero stories past, despite a couple of interesting moments that occasionally hint at Hester's usual level of writing.
SERENITY #1
by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews & Will Conrad (Dark Horse Comics)
 My love of Firefly eclipses even the great appreciation I have for Whedon's creations Angel and Buffy, so keep in mind when reading this review that I am a dyed-in-the-wool "browncoat" (albeit one who doesn't really follow specific Firefly/Serenity messageboards and such). I've seen the Serenity movie already (non-spoiler review, I loved it), I'm currently re-watching Firefly on a semi-weekly basis with a group of friends and I'm very much in the mood for a good Serenity story. Serenity (the comic) is indeed a very good Serenity story, at least right off the bat. Matthews has the patter of the Firefly cast down just perfect, and the use of chinese characters in the lettering does a pretty good job of capturing the sprinkling of Chinese cursing that was such a great flavor element in Firefly. There's also some pretty strong action, courtesy of Will Conrad, and overall this reads like a lost episode of Firefly, bridging the end of the series and the beginning of the movie. It's as good as you could ask for, and makes me hope for more Serenity comics in the future (beyond just the two that will finish out this miniseries).
USAGI YOJIMBO #84
by Stan Sakai (Dark Horse Comics)
 "The Treasure of the Mother of Mountains" is shaping up to be another entertaining epic from Sakai. Usagi's timely intervention in Tomoe's plight results in a very memorable action sequence wherein the two heroic samurai battle against an overwhelming force of brigands, and while Sakai's two main protagonists learn the secret of these bandits, Tomoe faces a threat from another quarter, the scheming Lord Horikawa (whom I love to hate). Sakai blends courtly politics with samurai action very effectively, and the strength of his art can be seen in the cleanly executed fight scenes or the impressive crowd scenes at the mines, as well as his ability to convey the cruelty and danger of Noriko to the innocents enslaved by her. In addition to the broad strokes, Sakai also gives the reader some key memorable moments, such as the humorous "dirty ronin" exchange between Tomoe and Usagi, the very believable honeyed words of Horikawa and the cold malice possessed by Noriko. Usagi Yojimbo possesses all of the qualities required to make a must-read comic, and it's perhaps more impressive that Sakai has been making this book a must-read for as long as he has, with no signs of slowing down.
Email Randy Lander comments about these reviews. |
