ViewtifulJC
Banned
Caught up with a bunch of comics I bought just never read yet.
Amazing X-Men #1: Azazel, huh? We're bringing him back? I kinda thought we all looked at each and silently agreed to never mention Chuck Austen's run again. But if you're gonna do it, making him a pirate that invades Heaven to fuck around with his son Nightcrawler is a nice way to go about it. Speaking of Nightcrawler, it sure is fun to see him back and prancing around again, especially because McGuiness' Kurt takes an awful lot of influence from Alan Davis' interpretation from the ol' Excalibur days. Nightcrawler isn't a guy you can hang a series on, but he's a great teammate. The spot monkey in professional wrestling, who does his signature moves and that dance the kids likes, then he gets out of the way for the big boys. I'm looking forward to much swashbuckling and Gutan Tags in the future, and hope Aaron is wise enough to stay away from the religious angst, because that is the exact wrong character to saddle that shit with.
But hey, how about the rest of those X-Men in this amazing X-Men comic, huh? Well, they kinda get the short shrift here, what with Kurt's intro going on into "pretty damn long" category, page real estate wise. The story only has time for their various quirky intros and quickly whisked away. That's all fine and dandy, but it doesn't leave you with a particular strong hook for an ending due to the somewhat sluggish pacing, does it? And I hear this one is suppose to be five issues? They're really gonna drag this one out huh, with all the Heaven/Hell sight gags and McGuiness double page spreads. Note to comic book writers: people don't live forever, so get the fuckin' show on the road.
Astro City #5-6: Am I the only reading this? I feel like I'm the only one reading this. Its Astro City though, its great stuff people. There are Kirby aliens in this one, and they're actually used in some interesting ways outside cannon fodder/hero worship. You should buy it, so we can talk about it and be all "Yeah, that Astro City, good comic, my african-american pal"
Umbral #1: Like I was saying earlier, this kicked ass. Ya know how some fantasy books kinda take awhile to find themselves? Like, everybody loves Sandman, but when you recommend it to new readers you kinda just want to give them Doll's House instead of Preludes cuz its all not-Alan Moore 90s Vertigo meandering and junk? Even the last book this creative team did, Wasteland, kinda took awhile to get good. Yeah, well Umbral is not one of those fantasy books. There's something to be said about innovation being overrated, because while the plot here isn't particularly original, it sure is well-crafted. Mitten and Rauch are doing the world's creepiest catacombs like nobody's business. Shit is real, son.
Lazarus: This is boring. So very, very, very goddamn boring. A tepid mid-budget TV sci-fi drama, where people say "We can't have her getting IDEAS" and doing everything but twirling a mustache and tying her to the fuckin' train tracks, she's so oblivious. The protagonist seems to come from an assembly line of Strong Female Character 101 traits. She's obviously physically powerful, but very pretty and easy on the eyes, but not too pretty as she's in all black and sunglasses and sweaty. She's a total badass, but she's feels real bad about killing people, and despite being trained a Terminator, she's also has that vulnerability, that makes her relatable. Another one of Rucka's lady-killers with a heart, this one's for you girls! Please come buy our comics ladies! My name's Matt Fraction, I'm creating Odyssey but naming it Ody-She, how progressive of me.
I don't know boys and girls, I think I just about done with the talking head comics with the televisually-minded crafting. It's competently done, but very very rote and more than a little cliche. The characters are cardboard cutouts, and its critiques on the upper-class flaccid. Its the comic book equivalent on those mid-day TV shows you see on TNT or USA, the ones you watch when you got nothing else to do, maybe pay attention to it, maybe not.
Pretty Deadly #1: Re-read this to see if I liked it again. I see you, Kelly Sue. Telling your completely different set-up stories inside your set-up stories. Having the main character not show up until the very last page. Being really vague and shit and going out of your way not to explain anything clearly. Writing this way isn't bad, but its just not my style. Its the kind of writing that really wants you to notice how unconvention and whimsical it is, as it prances precariously on the precipice of preciousness(you like that one, right?). You don't have to try so hard Kelly Sue, we like you just the way you are.
But it sure is pretty. Pretty deadly, that is. Rio/Bellaire/Cowles, the whole damn squad. It's just a lovely-ass comic, with its whimsical-but-comprehensible page layouts, those hot pink bullet trails in the desert with the Paul Pope style sound effects drawn in, all its wonderfully interesting lookin' characters. I think I might pick up the trade of this and see if it goes anywhere. Hate to see all that art go to waste.
Amazing X-Men #1: Azazel, huh? We're bringing him back? I kinda thought we all looked at each and silently agreed to never mention Chuck Austen's run again. But if you're gonna do it, making him a pirate that invades Heaven to fuck around with his son Nightcrawler is a nice way to go about it. Speaking of Nightcrawler, it sure is fun to see him back and prancing around again, especially because McGuiness' Kurt takes an awful lot of influence from Alan Davis' interpretation from the ol' Excalibur days. Nightcrawler isn't a guy you can hang a series on, but he's a great teammate. The spot monkey in professional wrestling, who does his signature moves and that dance the kids likes, then he gets out of the way for the big boys. I'm looking forward to much swashbuckling and Gutan Tags in the future, and hope Aaron is wise enough to stay away from the religious angst, because that is the exact wrong character to saddle that shit with.
But hey, how about the rest of those X-Men in this amazing X-Men comic, huh? Well, they kinda get the short shrift here, what with Kurt's intro going on into "pretty damn long" category, page real estate wise. The story only has time for their various quirky intros and quickly whisked away. That's all fine and dandy, but it doesn't leave you with a particular strong hook for an ending due to the somewhat sluggish pacing, does it? And I hear this one is suppose to be five issues? They're really gonna drag this one out huh, with all the Heaven/Hell sight gags and McGuiness double page spreads. Note to comic book writers: people don't live forever, so get the fuckin' show on the road.
Astro City #5-6: Am I the only reading this? I feel like I'm the only one reading this. Its Astro City though, its great stuff people. There are Kirby aliens in this one, and they're actually used in some interesting ways outside cannon fodder/hero worship. You should buy it, so we can talk about it and be all "Yeah, that Astro City, good comic, my african-american pal"
Umbral #1: Like I was saying earlier, this kicked ass. Ya know how some fantasy books kinda take awhile to find themselves? Like, everybody loves Sandman, but when you recommend it to new readers you kinda just want to give them Doll's House instead of Preludes cuz its all not-Alan Moore 90s Vertigo meandering and junk? Even the last book this creative team did, Wasteland, kinda took awhile to get good. Yeah, well Umbral is not one of those fantasy books. There's something to be said about innovation being overrated, because while the plot here isn't particularly original, it sure is well-crafted. Mitten and Rauch are doing the world's creepiest catacombs like nobody's business. Shit is real, son.
Lazarus: This is boring. So very, very, very goddamn boring. A tepid mid-budget TV sci-fi drama, where people say "We can't have her getting IDEAS" and doing everything but twirling a mustache and tying her to the fuckin' train tracks, she's so oblivious. The protagonist seems to come from an assembly line of Strong Female Character 101 traits. She's obviously physically powerful, but very pretty and easy on the eyes, but not too pretty as she's in all black and sunglasses and sweaty. She's a total badass, but she's feels real bad about killing people, and despite being trained a Terminator, she's also has that vulnerability, that makes her relatable. Another one of Rucka's lady-killers with a heart, this one's for you girls! Please come buy our comics ladies! My name's Matt Fraction, I'm creating Odyssey but naming it Ody-She, how progressive of me.
I don't know boys and girls, I think I just about done with the talking head comics with the televisually-minded crafting. It's competently done, but very very rote and more than a little cliche. The characters are cardboard cutouts, and its critiques on the upper-class flaccid. Its the comic book equivalent on those mid-day TV shows you see on TNT or USA, the ones you watch when you got nothing else to do, maybe pay attention to it, maybe not.
Pretty Deadly #1: Re-read this to see if I liked it again. I see you, Kelly Sue. Telling your completely different set-up stories inside your set-up stories. Having the main character not show up until the very last page. Being really vague and shit and going out of your way not to explain anything clearly. Writing this way isn't bad, but its just not my style. Its the kind of writing that really wants you to notice how unconvention and whimsical it is, as it prances precariously on the precipice of preciousness(you like that one, right?). You don't have to try so hard Kelly Sue, we like you just the way you are.
But it sure is pretty. Pretty deadly, that is. Rio/Bellaire/Cowles, the whole damn squad. It's just a lovely-ass comic, with its whimsical-but-comprehensible page layouts, those hot pink bullet trails in the desert with the Paul Pope style sound effects drawn in, all its wonderfully interesting lookin' characters. I think I might pick up the trade of this and see if it goes anywhere. Hate to see all that art go to waste.
