Saturday, April 17, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
A Few Decent Mini-Series
After two blogs dealing with different titles I like, I've decided to do a third. However, this time I will be focusing on mini-series rather than ongoing titles. Some of these books have either just started or are half way over. Either way, each of the issues are still available if anyone is interested in picking them up.
1) The Great Ten
A few years ago, during DC's foray into a weekly maxi-series, a coalition of writers introduced a new super-team based on China, the Great Ten, complete with a base in the Great Wall of China. Like many other titles before it (most notably the DC Earth Annuals from several years ago), the characters only recieved a passing glance in the dozen or so appearances they were allowed in the 52-issue maxi-series. Sure, we had the makings of a good team-book, but beyond their names, pure speculation as to their actual powers, and a few minor character traits, the Great Ten was still a largely undeveloped property. Beyond a few later appearances in the ongoing Checkmate series, the Great Ten was largely absent after 52 ended. Here we had nearly a dozen new characters that were introduced in a successful maxi-series and nothing was done to capture any interest that customers might have. Few titles have attempted to showcase a team based in a country outside the United States, and in most of those cases (such as Justice League Europe), the team has a large membership of US-based superheroes. With Great Ten, the entire membership is composed of new Chinese super-heroes that have theoretically been around for years, but simply haven't appeared due to few DC stories being set in China. Fortunately, now that DC comics has decided to get back to the Great Ten, they've chosen a writer with a good talent for writing a large cast of characters. Tony Bedard first caught my eye with his excellent Negation series, and he currently showcases his abilities with the large cast of DC's cosmic team REBELS, which i've previously written about. Where other writers would choose to write a team book where only one or two characters get the spotlight, Tony is writing an eight issue maxi-series where each issue focuses on a different character. It's almost like a Secret Origins: The Great Ten mini-series, with a secondary plot set in the modern day. Now, don't think this means that Bedard ignores the present-day conflict (with Chinese gods returning to get rid of the Communist Government). I simply think the origin story is far more interesting, and Bedard uses the tapestry of DC Universe history to help him shape the backgrounds of these ignored superheroes. Issue 5 just came out and it features the most interesting member of the Great Ten, August-General-In-Iron, who uses the teachings of Sun Tzu in his dealings with the threats that China faces. The General is a good example of how Bedard uses the history of China along with the history of the DC Universe in writing his story. I recommend Great ten if you like China, international super-heroes, or Tony Bedard. Even if you don't like any of the three, you should still give it a try.
2) Captain Swing and the Electric Pirates of Cindery Island
It's hard to write about this mini-series because the first issue just came out last week, but Warren Ellis wrote a good first chapter that has me hooked for the entire series. For Avatar Comics, Warren Ellis has already written good historical fiction with his Crecy graphic novel and science fiction with Ignition City, so now he combines the two to write an ambitious series set in London of the 1830s, complete with a few historical footnotes so you can get an idea what the world was like at the time. So far the title has dealt with an English constable investigating strange murders by 'Spring-Heeled Jack' that are tied to a strange 'airshop' while coming into conflict with a rival law enforcement group.
4) Astro City: The Dark Age
Astro City isn't so much a mini-series as it is a series of mini-series, that deals with many popular comic book archetypes with a fresh spin on an old concept. the location Astro City is the base of operations for dozens of super-powered beings drawn from a variety of genres. The current run consists of four mini-series (for a total of sixteen issues) set during the darkest period of Astro City's history. Kurt Buseik, one of the best super-hero writers in history, tells a story spanning generations, accompanied by Brent Anderson on the interiors and the legendary Alex Ross as the cover artist. While you may feel lost by trying a maxi-series that is almost over, I would be surprised if you didn't get hooked by the fascinating world after only reading a single story. If you've enjoyed Buseik's previous work on Marvels or Avengers, Astro City is him at his best.
4) Cinderella: From Fablestown With Love
Fables is one of my favorite comic books. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good story to read, even if they usually stick to super-hero comics. I can't get enough of it and have to read the new issue as soon as I unpack it from the weekly shipment. Therefore, it's no surprise that I love the latest Fables-related book, Cinderella, which showcases the fairy tale princess turned secret agent on her latest adventure. Bill Willingham originally introduced Cinderella almost as an after thought in the first volume, but by the second year, he showed that he had a clear vision for the character. While Cinderella allows others to thing she is a simple socialite, she simply uses this as a cover to allow her to undertake top secret missions for the Fabletown Sheriff. Rookie Fables writer Chris Roberson crafts a tale set after the Homelands War with Cinderella teaming up with a fellow fairy tale agent to stop the unrestricted flow of magical artifacts into the mundane (mundy) world. The illustrations are provided by the talented Shawn McManus and cover artist Chrissie Zullo, a young artist that rivals popular Fables cover guy James Jean. All together, this team is putting out a quality Fables story that keeps up with the regular Fables title in quality, something the hit-or-miss spinoff Jack of Fables has often failed to do. Hopefully once this mini-series wraps up we'll see more Cinderella stories by this creative team, as Cindy's adventures could certainly justify an ongoing series.
That's it for now. I hope some of you will consider trying some of these titles.
1) The Great Ten
A few years ago, during DC's foray into a weekly maxi-series, a coalition of writers introduced a new super-team based on China, the Great Ten, complete with a base in the Great Wall of China. Like many other titles before it (most notably the DC Earth Annuals from several years ago), the characters only recieved a passing glance in the dozen or so appearances they were allowed in the 52-issue maxi-series. Sure, we had the makings of a good team-book, but beyond their names, pure speculation as to their actual powers, and a few minor character traits, the Great Ten was still a largely undeveloped property. Beyond a few later appearances in the ongoing Checkmate series, the Great Ten was largely absent after 52 ended. Here we had nearly a dozen new characters that were introduced in a successful maxi-series and nothing was done to capture any interest that customers might have. Few titles have attempted to showcase a team based in a country outside the United States, and in most of those cases (such as Justice League Europe), the team has a large membership of US-based superheroes. With Great Ten, the entire membership is composed of new Chinese super-heroes that have theoretically been around for years, but simply haven't appeared due to few DC stories being set in China. Fortunately, now that DC comics has decided to get back to the Great Ten, they've chosen a writer with a good talent for writing a large cast of characters. Tony Bedard first caught my eye with his excellent Negation series, and he currently showcases his abilities with the large cast of DC's cosmic team REBELS, which i've previously written about. Where other writers would choose to write a team book where only one or two characters get the spotlight, Tony is writing an eight issue maxi-series where each issue focuses on a different character. It's almost like a Secret Origins: The Great Ten mini-series, with a secondary plot set in the modern day. Now, don't think this means that Bedard ignores the present-day conflict (with Chinese gods returning to get rid of the Communist Government). I simply think the origin story is far more interesting, and Bedard uses the tapestry of DC Universe history to help him shape the backgrounds of these ignored superheroes. Issue 5 just came out and it features the most interesting member of the Great Ten, August-General-In-Iron, who uses the teachings of Sun Tzu in his dealings with the threats that China faces. The General is a good example of how Bedard uses the history of China along with the history of the DC Universe in writing his story. I recommend Great ten if you like China, international super-heroes, or Tony Bedard. Even if you don't like any of the three, you should still give it a try.
2) Captain Swing and the Electric Pirates of Cindery Island
It's hard to write about this mini-series because the first issue just came out last week, but Warren Ellis wrote a good first chapter that has me hooked for the entire series. For Avatar Comics, Warren Ellis has already written good historical fiction with his Crecy graphic novel and science fiction with Ignition City, so now he combines the two to write an ambitious series set in London of the 1830s, complete with a few historical footnotes so you can get an idea what the world was like at the time. So far the title has dealt with an English constable investigating strange murders by 'Spring-Heeled Jack' that are tied to a strange 'airshop' while coming into conflict with a rival law enforcement group.
4) Astro City: The Dark Age
Astro City isn't so much a mini-series as it is a series of mini-series, that deals with many popular comic book archetypes with a fresh spin on an old concept. the location Astro City is the base of operations for dozens of super-powered beings drawn from a variety of genres. The current run consists of four mini-series (for a total of sixteen issues) set during the darkest period of Astro City's history. Kurt Buseik, one of the best super-hero writers in history, tells a story spanning generations, accompanied by Brent Anderson on the interiors and the legendary Alex Ross as the cover artist. While you may feel lost by trying a maxi-series that is almost over, I would be surprised if you didn't get hooked by the fascinating world after only reading a single story. If you've enjoyed Buseik's previous work on Marvels or Avengers, Astro City is him at his best.
4) Cinderella: From Fablestown With Love
Fables is one of my favorite comic books. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good story to read, even if they usually stick to super-hero comics. I can't get enough of it and have to read the new issue as soon as I unpack it from the weekly shipment. Therefore, it's no surprise that I love the latest Fables-related book, Cinderella, which showcases the fairy tale princess turned secret agent on her latest adventure. Bill Willingham originally introduced Cinderella almost as an after thought in the first volume, but by the second year, he showed that he had a clear vision for the character. While Cinderella allows others to thing she is a simple socialite, she simply uses this as a cover to allow her to undertake top secret missions for the Fabletown Sheriff. Rookie Fables writer Chris Roberson crafts a tale set after the Homelands War with Cinderella teaming up with a fellow fairy tale agent to stop the unrestricted flow of magical artifacts into the mundane (mundy) world. The illustrations are provided by the talented Shawn McManus and cover artist Chrissie Zullo, a young artist that rivals popular Fables cover guy James Jean. All together, this team is putting out a quality Fables story that keeps up with the regular Fables title in quality, something the hit-or-miss spinoff Jack of Fables has often failed to do. Hopefully once this mini-series wraps up we'll see more Cinderella stories by this creative team, as Cindy's adventures could certainly justify an ongoing series.
That's it for now. I hope some of you will consider trying some of these titles.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Five of My Favorite Underrated Books, Part 2
In comic books, you tend to find a lot of characters that stand out from the rest. Many of these characters will rise above the others, characters like Batman, Spider-Man, or Wolverine, enjoying great success and enormous popularity. However, just as many will be true outcasts and largely ignored by comic readers because for some reason they don't appeal to a larger audience. Fortunately, in the right hands, these characters can find new life and carve a niche in the marketplace. I'm going to cover five books that I enjoy and rely on characters (with one notable exception) that are hardly A-list or B-list. If anything, most of the characters could be described as E-List at best, at least until recently when their current creative teams took over.
1) Agents of Atlas
The roots of Agents of Atlas date back to the post-WWII late 1940s/early 1950s when Timely Comics (publishers of Captain America and Human Torch to name a few) cut back on its super-hero line in order to pursue other growing genres, such as horror, romance, and western comics. By the early 50s, Timely's name changed to Atlas Comics. Some of the new characters introduced during this period included Venus (the Roman Goddess of Love), Jimmy Woo (a federal agent assigned to defeat the villainous Yellow Claw), and Marvel Boy (a early predecessor of the Marvel Comics character Quasar). After Atlas transitioned to Marvel Comics, most of the characters lapsed into obscurity aside from a few appearances once or twice a decade. In the late 1970s, a story in What If paid homage to the Atlas characters by showing what might have been if a team of Avengers had been active during the 1950s. The team was also mentioned in the Avengers Forever mini-series of the late 1990s when Kurt Buseik made mention of every 'potential' Avengers team across all realities. Flash forward to about three years, and a new writer stepped up to take a chance on one of the most unlikely Avengers teams of all-time. Redubbed 'Agents of Atlas', Jeff Parker has weaved together not just a story in the present day, but also filled in an intriguing timeline starting with the group's debut in the 1950s. The current adventures usually have some historical conotation complete with flashbacks to earlier Atlas adventures. The group started by getting introduced in their own 8 issue mini-series and later graduated to an ongoing series after Secret Invasion. Now they are teaming up with the X-Men and Avengers in individual minis before getting a second ongoing series in a couple of months. The team is unusual, but they are worthy of attention. Including the three I mentioned, the team also includes the robot M-11, the scientist trapped in a gorilla's body Gorilla Man, and Namor's cousin Namora. Several other characters fill in the supporting cast.
2) Azrael
Like the Agents of Atlas, the roots of Azrael date back several years. The original Azrael was the assassin for the Order of St. Dumas, a secret holy order with mysterious plans (how many of those does DC have?), and introduced in a popular Batman mini-series written by veteran writer Dennis O'Neil and drawn by rising star Joe Quesada. The character was forced into the mainstream when he was chosen to replace Bruce Wayne as Batman for about a year. After that, he graduated to his own ongoing series written by creator Dennis O'Neil and drawn by a variety of decent artists. Speaking as someone who read all 100 issues of Azrael, I don't know how the series was allowed to last so long. I imagine most of the reason was because of Dennis O'Neil's influence, because I doubt the sales or fanbase were overwhelming. I feel the stories suffered from a stagnation in the writing. O'neil was well past his prime and his later stories tended to be contrived, nonsensical, or just plain boring. What's worse is that there seemed to be a moratorium on Azrael appearing in any other books, including other bat-titles (with very few exceptions). The title was thankfully put out of its misery, but the damage to the character was too immense. No writer seemed interested in touching the character for a ten-fot pole. Thankfully, a writer eventually saw promise in the idea of a holy assassin. During the Battle for the Cowl storyline, Fabian Nicienza weaved a story of a former police officer being forced to take on the mantle of Azrael as a result of his own personal demons while mixing current and past Bat-continuity, such as the Order of St. Dumas and the League of Assassins. As before, the character graduated to an ongoing series where each month the new Azrael, Michael Lane, finds himself confronted with strong moral, political, or religious issues and solves them in interesting 9and often lethal) ways. So far, each issue has been satisfying. It's nice to get a full story in each issue, and not feeling forced to read the previous or next issue.
3) Guardians of the Galaxy
Up until the late 1990s, Marvel Comics did a good job of promoting their 'cosmic' characters. People like Quasar and Silver Surfer had ongoing titles supplemented by endless mini-series and one-shots. Sadly, with marvel's bankruptcy, many of the cosmic books were cut back with Silver Surfer being the last title to fall. After that, the various space characters were relegated to minor supporting parts with few stories dealing with the multitude of alien races that had been introduced up until then. Even the popular Shi'ar and Skrull races only showed up every few years, and rarely in a features role. Fortunately, a few years ago, Keith Giffen masterminded a crossover that changed all that. The mini-series Annihilation, spotlighted several notable space characters (Ronan the Accuser and Nova to name a few) in the wake of a Negative Zone invasion by the Fantastic Four foe Annihilus (where the event got it's name). The epic story was on par with the space battles of Star Wars, with dozens of characters playing a part. The sequel to Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest, was helmed by the immensely-talented partnership Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (who are no strangers to large casts, as their run on Legion of Super-Heroes will prove). This story brought in a new foe, with Avengers baddie Ultron joining forces with the Phalanx to assimilate all biological life in the universe. The stars of this story were a small team led by Star-lord (an obscure Marvel character who had a minor part in the first Annihilation) who made up just one of the groups battling Ultron's forces. His team included a ramshackle crew of alien misfits such as Groom (a giant tree with a very high opinion of himself), Bug (a former member of the 1980s Micronauts), and Rocket Raccoon (a sentient raccoon with incredible commando skills). By some miracle, most of the team survived the defeat of Ultron. These characters formed the core of a new ongoing series once more helmed by Abnett and Lanning. The Guardians of the Galaxy were reborn for the first time (with the name itself being a reference to a long-running series from the 90s about a team of survivors in an alternate 31st Century). So far the stories keep getting better as the size of the team continues to grow, adding cosmic staples such as Adam Warlock, Moondragon, and Drax the Destroyer. Even Earth-based misfits like Jack Flag, a former sidekick of Captain America, joined the team after a trip to the Negative Zone (in a story that makes perfect sense if you read it).
4) Secret Six
The Secret Six was originally a spinoff of the Infinite Crisis event, a group of villians that chose not to join the larger Secret Society of Super-Villains and found themselves targets for their former allies. The team started as a variant of the old Suicide Squad, where members who couldn't cut it found themselves with an early retirement and replaced with a more effective teammate. After a battle with the Society, the Six went underground. Some of their members even rejoined the Suicide Squad only to be abandoned on a desolate alien planet during the Salvation Run mini-series, eventually escaping with several other super-villains. Now, the team is still a group of rogue villains, somewhat like a villainous A-team if anything with no clear purpose but to keep eachother safe. The current team includes notable bat-foes Deadshot and Bane, Scandal (the daughter of Vandal Savage), and Catman (a character humiliated during Brad Meltzer's Green Arrow run and redeemed in the Villains United mini). Gail Simone has helmed the series through all the minis and cureent ongoing, and she has a good feel for the mix of old and new characters in need of a new home. Her recent collaboration with john Ostrander (the incredible writer of the original Suicide Squad) was even better, as Ostrander brought his own group of misfits to play with the Six.
5) The Blade of the Immortal
Unlike the other books, Blade of the Immortal was not a concept, character, or group given a new perspective. The series was created by Hiroaki Samura who was continued writing and drawing since the early 1990s. Fortunately, the title character does fit the misfit theme I've used for this article. Blade of the Immortal is an amazing manga about a disgraced swordsman cursed to live forever. He makes a deal with a wise woman to have the curse removed in exchange for killing a thousand wicked men, seemingly absolving himself of the murders he committed earlier. This concept is only a minor part of the larger story. Manji, the lead, is a skilled fighter and morally dubious man who arms himself with several intriguing and deadly weapons. He likes to enjoy himself, but often finds himself chastised by his side-kick, Rin. Rin is a young woman whose parents were killed by members of the rogue sword-school the Itto-Ryo, who draw members from all types of fighting styles and walks of life. This provides Manji with a good variety of swordsmen to fight throughout the series, while showcasing many of the fighting styles of Japan. A second group, the Mugai-Ryo, even works with Manji to eliminate the Itto-Ryo on the orders of the Shogunate. Still, not all Itto-ryo are necessarily evil, and the Mugai-Ryo are hardly angels, showing that there are plenty of grey areas for the characters ot inhabit. Other characters and groups come and go, insuring that there are always new and interesting characters to meet throughout the series, each with their own agendas. Aside from the characters themselves, the setting has a life of it's own. Blade of the Immortal sometimes reads like a movie done by Akira Kurosawa, as Samura pays close attention to the culture and styles of the time. While the series is no longer published in monthly-issue format, it is currently being released in manga-trade format, with a new one every six months.
1) Agents of Atlas
The roots of Agents of Atlas date back to the post-WWII late 1940s/early 1950s when Timely Comics (publishers of Captain America and Human Torch to name a few) cut back on its super-hero line in order to pursue other growing genres, such as horror, romance, and western comics. By the early 50s, Timely's name changed to Atlas Comics. Some of the new characters introduced during this period included Venus (the Roman Goddess of Love), Jimmy Woo (a federal agent assigned to defeat the villainous Yellow Claw), and Marvel Boy (a early predecessor of the Marvel Comics character Quasar). After Atlas transitioned to Marvel Comics, most of the characters lapsed into obscurity aside from a few appearances once or twice a decade. In the late 1970s, a story in What If paid homage to the Atlas characters by showing what might have been if a team of Avengers had been active during the 1950s. The team was also mentioned in the Avengers Forever mini-series of the late 1990s when Kurt Buseik made mention of every 'potential' Avengers team across all realities. Flash forward to about three years, and a new writer stepped up to take a chance on one of the most unlikely Avengers teams of all-time. Redubbed 'Agents of Atlas', Jeff Parker has weaved together not just a story in the present day, but also filled in an intriguing timeline starting with the group's debut in the 1950s. The current adventures usually have some historical conotation complete with flashbacks to earlier Atlas adventures. The group started by getting introduced in their own 8 issue mini-series and later graduated to an ongoing series after Secret Invasion. Now they are teaming up with the X-Men and Avengers in individual minis before getting a second ongoing series in a couple of months. The team is unusual, but they are worthy of attention. Including the three I mentioned, the team also includes the robot M-11, the scientist trapped in a gorilla's body Gorilla Man, and Namor's cousin Namora. Several other characters fill in the supporting cast.2) Azrael
Like the Agents of Atlas, the roots of Azrael date back several years. The original Azrael was the assassin for the Order of St. Dumas, a secret holy order with mysterious plans (how many of those does DC have?), and introduced in a popular Batman mini-series written by veteran writer Dennis O'Neil and drawn by rising star Joe Quesada. The character was forced into the mainstream when he was chosen to replace Bruce Wayne as Batman for about a year. After that, he graduated to his own ongoing series written by creator Dennis O'Neil and drawn by a variety of decent artists. Speaking as someone who read all 100 issues of Azrael, I don't know how the series was allowed to last so long. I imagine most of the reason was because of Dennis O'Neil's influence, because I doubt the sales or fanbase were overwhelming. I feel the stories suffered from a stagnation in the writing. O'neil was well past his prime and his later stories tended to be contrived, nonsensical, or just plain boring. What's worse is that there seemed to be a moratorium on Azrael appearing in any other books, including other bat-titles (with very few exceptions). The title was thankfully put out of its misery, but the damage to the character was too immense. No writer seemed interested in touching the character for a ten-fot pole. Thankfully, a writer eventually saw promise in the idea of a holy assassin. During the Battle for the Cowl storyline, Fabian Nicienza weaved a story of a former police officer being forced to take on the mantle of Azrael as a result of his own personal demons while mixing current and past Bat-continuity, such as the Order of St. Dumas and the League of Assassins. As before, the character graduated to an ongoing series where each month the new Azrael, Michael Lane, finds himself confronted with strong moral, political, or religious issues and solves them in interesting 9and often lethal) ways. So far, each issue has been satisfying. It's nice to get a full story in each issue, and not feeling forced to read the previous or next issue.3) Guardians of the Galaxy
Up until the late 1990s, Marvel Comics did a good job of promoting their 'cosmic' characters. People like Quasar and Silver Surfer had ongoing titles supplemented by endless mini-series and one-shots. Sadly, with marvel's bankruptcy, many of the cosmic books were cut back with Silver Surfer being the last title to fall. After that, the various space characters were relegated to minor supporting parts with few stories dealing with the multitude of alien races that had been introduced up until then. Even the popular Shi'ar and Skrull races only showed up every few years, and rarely in a features role. Fortunately, a few years ago, Keith Giffen masterminded a crossover that changed all that. The mini-series Annihilation, spotlighted several notable space characters (Ronan the Accuser and Nova to name a few) in the wake of a Negative Zone invasion by the Fantastic Four foe Annihilus (where the event got it's name). The epic story was on par with the space battles of Star Wars, with dozens of characters playing a part. The sequel to Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest, was helmed by the immensely-talented partnership Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (who are no strangers to large casts, as their run on Legion of Super-Heroes will prove). This story brought in a new foe, with Avengers baddie Ultron joining forces with the Phalanx to assimilate all biological life in the universe. The stars of this story were a small team led by Star-lord (an obscure Marvel character who had a minor part in the first Annihilation) who made up just one of the groups battling Ultron's forces. His team included a ramshackle crew of alien misfits such as Groom (a giant tree with a very high opinion of himself), Bug (a former member of the 1980s Micronauts), and Rocket Raccoon (a sentient raccoon with incredible commando skills). By some miracle, most of the team survived the defeat of Ultron. These characters formed the core of a new ongoing series once more helmed by Abnett and Lanning. The Guardians of the Galaxy were reborn for the first time (with the name itself being a reference to a long-running series from the 90s about a team of survivors in an alternate 31st Century). So far the stories keep getting better as the size of the team continues to grow, adding cosmic staples such as Adam Warlock, Moondragon, and Drax the Destroyer. Even Earth-based misfits like Jack Flag, a former sidekick of Captain America, joined the team after a trip to the Negative Zone (in a story that makes perfect sense if you read it).4) Secret Six
The Secret Six was originally a spinoff of the Infinite Crisis event, a group of villians that chose not to join the larger Secret Society of Super-Villains and found themselves targets for their former allies. The team started as a variant of the old Suicide Squad, where members who couldn't cut it found themselves with an early retirement and replaced with a more effective teammate. After a battle with the Society, the Six went underground. Some of their members even rejoined the Suicide Squad only to be abandoned on a desolate alien planet during the Salvation Run mini-series, eventually escaping with several other super-villains. Now, the team is still a group of rogue villains, somewhat like a villainous A-team if anything with no clear purpose but to keep eachother safe. The current team includes notable bat-foes Deadshot and Bane, Scandal (the daughter of Vandal Savage), and Catman (a character humiliated during Brad Meltzer's Green Arrow run and redeemed in the Villains United mini). Gail Simone has helmed the series through all the minis and cureent ongoing, and she has a good feel for the mix of old and new characters in need of a new home. Her recent collaboration with john Ostrander (the incredible writer of the original Suicide Squad) was even better, as Ostrander brought his own group of misfits to play with the Six.5) The Blade of the Immortal
Unlike the other books, Blade of the Immortal was not a concept, character, or group given a new perspective. The series was created by Hiroaki Samura who was continued writing and drawing since the early 1990s. Fortunately, the title character does fit the misfit theme I've used for this article. Blade of the Immortal is an amazing manga about a disgraced swordsman cursed to live forever. He makes a deal with a wise woman to have the curse removed in exchange for killing a thousand wicked men, seemingly absolving himself of the murders he committed earlier. This concept is only a minor part of the larger story. Manji, the lead, is a skilled fighter and morally dubious man who arms himself with several intriguing and deadly weapons. He likes to enjoy himself, but often finds himself chastised by his side-kick, Rin. Rin is a young woman whose parents were killed by members of the rogue sword-school the Itto-Ryo, who draw members from all types of fighting styles and walks of life. This provides Manji with a good variety of swordsmen to fight throughout the series, while showcasing many of the fighting styles of Japan. A second group, the Mugai-Ryo, even works with Manji to eliminate the Itto-Ryo on the orders of the Shogunate. Still, not all Itto-ryo are necessarily evil, and the Mugai-Ryo are hardly angels, showing that there are plenty of grey areas for the characters ot inhabit. Other characters and groups come and go, insuring that there are always new and interesting characters to meet throughout the series, each with their own agendas. Aside from the characters themselves, the setting has a life of it's own. Blade of the Immortal sometimes reads like a movie done by Akira Kurosawa, as Samura pays close attention to the culture and styles of the time. While the series is no longer published in monthly-issue format, it is currently being released in manga-trade format, with a new one every six months.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Radical Comics: A Rising Star
For almost the last two years, I've been following Radical Comics, a new comic book publisher as it's forged a niche for itself in the independent comics market. Their style is characterized by taking established genres or myths and providing a new perspective to them. The majority of thier publishing covers various science fiction and fantasy titles illustrated by some of the best new artists in the industry. Almost every issue features a painted style appropriate to the story, though this does come with drawbacks.
Radical Comics first blazed onto the scene with their 2008 Free Comic Book Day offering, featuring several pages from the first two books they planned to release later that month. The first two books were Hercules: The Thracian Wars, about a group of former Argonauts training the army of Thrace in new military tactics, and Caliber, a retelling of Arthurian myth in a period similar to the Wild West. Both stories were interesting, and they served as a good initial offering by the new company.
New books were scheduled, each telling a unique story that in a different setting. These titles included Hotwire (a brainchild of Warren Ellis about a Exorcist/Police Detective who worked in a future that looked a little like Blade Runner), Shrapnel ( an epic science fiction tale about a former Marine aiding a Colonial Rebellion against Earth Invaders, with some story similarities to the old anime Venus Wars), Freedom Formula (about a futuristic city where people race in giant mechs instead of cars), and City of Dust (about a future civilization where imagination is illegal). Hotwire was easily my favorite of the four. This batch started to show a problem with Radical's creative teams. The original artist bowed out and was replaced half way through the series. I don't know if this was due to the artist taking other work or getting fired, but it throws off the story a little by having the art change half-way through a mini-series.
Radical has several new series which recently started including FVZA (about the remnants of a federal organization that stemmed the tide of vampire and zombie infection in the United States before being disbanded), Incarnate (a bland Vampire Hunter D-wannabe written by Gene Simmons's son), Last Days of American Crime (which I have not read and thus cannot write anything about), and Hercules: Knives of Kush (a sequel to the Thracian Wars set in Egypt). Two new promising titles were released yesterday, Aladdin: Legacy of the Lost (a dark tale of Arabian myth) and Legends: The Echanted (a horror graphic novel where fairy tale characters Jack and Red Riding Hood are monster hunters in a brutal landscape populated by werewolves, hags, and giants). Both series look like they will be a good addition to the Radical library.
Any of the titles (except for Freedom Formula or Incarnate) are worth a try if you're looking for a non-super-hero book to read. Also, if you just want to wait until May, Radical always uses Free Comic Book Day as a good time to market their future books with a good sample of the art and writing.
Radical Comics first blazed onto the scene with their 2008 Free Comic Book Day offering, featuring several pages from the first two books they planned to release later that month. The first two books were Hercules: The Thracian Wars, about a group of former Argonauts training the army of Thrace in new military tactics, and Caliber, a retelling of Arthurian myth in a period similar to the Wild West. Both stories were interesting, and they served as a good initial offering by the new company.
New books were scheduled, each telling a unique story that in a different setting. These titles included Hotwire (a brainchild of Warren Ellis about a Exorcist/Police Detective who worked in a future that looked a little like Blade Runner), Shrapnel ( an epic science fiction tale about a former Marine aiding a Colonial Rebellion against Earth Invaders, with some story similarities to the old anime Venus Wars), Freedom Formula (about a futuristic city where people race in giant mechs instead of cars), and City of Dust (about a future civilization where imagination is illegal). Hotwire was easily my favorite of the four. This batch started to show a problem with Radical's creative teams. The original artist bowed out and was replaced half way through the series. I don't know if this was due to the artist taking other work or getting fired, but it throws off the story a little by having the art change half-way through a mini-series.
Radical has several new series which recently started including FVZA (about the remnants of a federal organization that stemmed the tide of vampire and zombie infection in the United States before being disbanded), Incarnate (a bland Vampire Hunter D-wannabe written by Gene Simmons's son), Last Days of American Crime (which I have not read and thus cannot write anything about), and Hercules: Knives of Kush (a sequel to the Thracian Wars set in Egypt). Two new promising titles were released yesterday, Aladdin: Legacy of the Lost (a dark tale of Arabian myth) and Legends: The Echanted (a horror graphic novel where fairy tale characters Jack and Red Riding Hood are monster hunters in a brutal landscape populated by werewolves, hags, and giants). Both series look like they will be a good addition to the Radical library.
Any of the titles (except for Freedom Formula or Incarnate) are worth a try if you're looking for a non-super-hero book to read. Also, if you just want to wait until May, Radical always uses Free Comic Book Day as a good time to market their future books with a good sample of the art and writing.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Five of My Favorite Underrated Books
As a comic shop manager, I admit that I read a lot of comics. I have to in order to stay up to date on current comic events so I can answer any questions that customers may have. Unfortunately, it often seems that some of the comics I read are overhyped simply because they are labeled a 'top-tier' book by editors of the major companies. This results in the comic book press (mostly internet and Wizard writers) ignoring other books that could greatly benefit from the added exposure. I would like to cover a few titles that I enjoy, yet I don't feel get their fair share of coverage or fan interest. For the sake of fairness, I'm only going to deal with ongoing titles. Also, these aren't in any particular order.
-Tim Grubbs
1) Star Wars Legacy
I love Star Wars. I have ever since I was little. The entire saga (yes, even the crappy prequels) is epic and uses popular themes and character types to tell stories of a galaxy far far away. Star Wars Legacy forges new territory, farther than any previous Star Wars tale, while avoiding the stale territory that some of the novels stagger into. John Ostrander is an amazing writer who has written star wars tales for several years now. He's the epitome of what Star Wars comic writers should aspire to be. If you've ever read his world for the 'Big Two' (Suicide Squad and Blaze of Glory to name two of my favorites), then you probably know how talented a writer he can be. He can introduce a character, and it feels like they belong in this world. He's created dozens of characters for Star Wars Legacy that help expand the Star Wars universe by leaps and bounds with each issue.
2) Avengers: The Intiative
Starting out as a title dealing with the aftermath of the Marvel Civil War, Avengers the Intiative quickly established itself as the haven for rookie super-heroes in training, with a nice mix of established and brand-spanking new characters. Dan Slott originally wrote the title before handing it off to rising star writer Christos Gage, and the changes to the title are seemless. Both writers know how to make you feel for these characters, young people that have powers and want to use them to serve the public good. Also, the Initiative does give some legitimacy to the post-Civil Wars world as very few titles (save for the short-lived Order series by Matt Franction, a horrible story-line in Iron Man: Director of SHIELD and a better story in Marvel Zombies 3) have attempted to showcase the 50-State Initiative that was so important in the aftermath of Civil War. For a while, it seemed like each issue introduced a new Intiative team with an appropriate membership of new and old characters. I think the only gripe I can have with the book is that it lacks a regular cast. With so many characters to choose from, Slott and Gage seem to jump around, focusing one group one month, and another group another month. This might turn you off if you like following the same characters each month, but I think it helps to show how big the Marvel Universe is that so many normally-ignored characters can get the spotlight every once in a while.
3) Secret Warriors
As Avengers the Intiative spun off out of Civil Wars, Secret Warriors is a spin-off of Secret Invasion. Created by Brian Michael Bendis, Marvel made the right call in handing the title off to Jonathan Hickman. WHile I have no love for Bendis (in fact, customers who know me might even say I have a passionate hatred for the man's writing), I absolutely love Jonathan Hickman's style. His pilot season one-shot, the Core, is just one example of how much fun he can have with a simply 22 page story. He created the basis for a mini-Science Fiction universe using a standard size comic book that left me wanting more. The Marvel Espionage book Secret Warriors keeps him a little more grounded, but it doesn't limit his creative juices. Bendis established the Secret Warriors as a team put together of the descendents of past superhumans, some good, some evil. Nick Fury put them together because no one else had their eye on them. Hickman quickly established that there were around 20 potential recruits that Fury had to choose from in one of the 'files' in the back of the first issue. Other files covered the locations of Fury's secret bases (introduced in Civil War) and the heirarchy of SHIELD and it's rival Hydra. Later issues have similar files that expand the world. The book just wrapped its first year of publication, and it's poised to introduce two new teams of 'Secret Warriors', increasing the excitement I already feel when I read the series.
4) R.E.B.E.L.S.
Back in the 90s, Keith Giffen introduced a series called L.E.G.I.O.N. (yes it stands for something), which showed the ancestors of the 30th century Legion of Super-Heroes. You had everything a Legion fan could want, a Coluan (Vril Dox), a Durlan (called 'The Durlan' and later revealed to be Legion Financier R.J.Brande and father of Chameleon Boy), and dozen others that paralled the future Legion membership. Now, don't mistake this as a carbon copy of the 30th century Legion. In fact, despite Vril Dox's tight control, his team mates often despised him and hated some of the duplicitous acts he committed. Still, LEGION was a force for law and order in a lawless universe. After all, the Green Lanterns can't be everywhere. Eventually all good things must come to an end, with Vril Dox going on the run from LEGION with a new group of R.E.B.E.L.S. (and yet, it also stands for something) composed of several of his original team. That series lasted a little over a year before ending, and the LEGION remained in limbo for almost a decade afterwards. LEGIOn made a resurgence a few years ago during the Rann Thanagar War (and the preceeding Adam Strange mini), along with a wretched Omega Men mini-series a year after that. Now, Vril Dox and his team are back in an ongoing title of their own, with Vril recruiting a variety of aliens to help him depose the new leader of LEGION, a re-invisioned Starro the Conqueror. Tony Bedard (a writer I've enjoyed ever since his book the Negation for Crossgen Comics) has crafted a masterful tale that incorporates just about every previous LEGION story, embracing the past rather than ignoring it. This attention to history and his large knowledge of various DC space characters has given him a limitless cast of characters to use in his story. The cover above roughly covers a third of Dox's current team, but the large number of characters is not distracting, with each member given something to do. I can't wait to see what happens next in each issue as the exitement continues to build each month. Even the recent Blackest Night tie-in, where Vril Dox was bestowed with a yellow lantern ring, was handled well and didn't detract from the main storyline.
5) Chew
Tony Chu is a detective with an interesting ability. He has a form of edibile psychometry, meaning that he can read the memories of anything that he eats. This led to him embracing a vegetarian lifestyle (as meat would give him the rather violent death echoes of the animals that were slaughtered for his food). By the end of the first issue, he realizes that he can use his ability to investigate crimes. Eating a piece of human flesh or a single drop of blood would tell him the identity of a victim or the duplicitous acts of a criminal. The series is humorous, dark, and engaging. Tony Chu is a good everyman who seems thrown into one distressing situation after another, all while working in his new position as an FDA agent investigating black market Chicken smuggling. Oh, that's right. I forgot one of the most interesting aspects of the series. In the fictional history of Chew, the bird flu epidimic led to jarring legislation that banned all poultry from the United States, as well as most of the free world. Other meat products suffer similar bans. Now, individuals who need a chicken fix are required to go through illegal methods to acquire a once common food product. So the next time you pick up a ten piece bucket of chicken from KFC, just remember that you could be living in the world of Chew where you could be arrested and thrown in jail for a couple years just for being in possession of contraband poultry. If any of this sounds interesting, then check out Chew.
-Tim Grubbs
1) Star Wars Legacy
I love Star Wars. I have ever since I was little. The entire saga (yes, even the crappy prequels) is epic and uses popular themes and character types to tell stories of a galaxy far far away. Star Wars Legacy forges new territory, farther than any previous Star Wars tale, while avoiding the stale territory that some of the novels stagger into. John Ostrander is an amazing writer who has written star wars tales for several years now. He's the epitome of what Star Wars comic writers should aspire to be. If you've ever read his world for the 'Big Two' (Suicide Squad and Blaze of Glory to name two of my favorites), then you probably know how talented a writer he can be. He can introduce a character, and it feels like they belong in this world. He's created dozens of characters for Star Wars Legacy that help expand the Star Wars universe by leaps and bounds with each issue.
2) Avengers: The Intiative
Starting out as a title dealing with the aftermath of the Marvel Civil War, Avengers the Intiative quickly established itself as the haven for rookie super-heroes in training, with a nice mix of established and brand-spanking new characters. Dan Slott originally wrote the title before handing it off to rising star writer Christos Gage, and the changes to the title are seemless. Both writers know how to make you feel for these characters, young people that have powers and want to use them to serve the public good. Also, the Initiative does give some legitimacy to the post-Civil Wars world as very few titles (save for the short-lived Order series by Matt Franction, a horrible story-line in Iron Man: Director of SHIELD and a better story in Marvel Zombies 3) have attempted to showcase the 50-State Initiative that was so important in the aftermath of Civil War. For a while, it seemed like each issue introduced a new Intiative team with an appropriate membership of new and old characters. I think the only gripe I can have with the book is that it lacks a regular cast. With so many characters to choose from, Slott and Gage seem to jump around, focusing one group one month, and another group another month. This might turn you off if you like following the same characters each month, but I think it helps to show how big the Marvel Universe is that so many normally-ignored characters can get the spotlight every once in a while.
3) Secret Warriors
As Avengers the Intiative spun off out of Civil Wars, Secret Warriors is a spin-off of Secret Invasion. Created by Brian Michael Bendis, Marvel made the right call in handing the title off to Jonathan Hickman. WHile I have no love for Bendis (in fact, customers who know me might even say I have a passionate hatred for the man's writing), I absolutely love Jonathan Hickman's style. His pilot season one-shot, the Core, is just one example of how much fun he can have with a simply 22 page story. He created the basis for a mini-Science Fiction universe using a standard size comic book that left me wanting more. The Marvel Espionage book Secret Warriors keeps him a little more grounded, but it doesn't limit his creative juices. Bendis established the Secret Warriors as a team put together of the descendents of past superhumans, some good, some evil. Nick Fury put them together because no one else had their eye on them. Hickman quickly established that there were around 20 potential recruits that Fury had to choose from in one of the 'files' in the back of the first issue. Other files covered the locations of Fury's secret bases (introduced in Civil War) and the heirarchy of SHIELD and it's rival Hydra. Later issues have similar files that expand the world. The book just wrapped its first year of publication, and it's poised to introduce two new teams of 'Secret Warriors', increasing the excitement I already feel when I read the series.
4) R.E.B.E.L.S.
Back in the 90s, Keith Giffen introduced a series called L.E.G.I.O.N. (yes it stands for something), which showed the ancestors of the 30th century Legion of Super-Heroes. You had everything a Legion fan could want, a Coluan (Vril Dox), a Durlan (called 'The Durlan' and later revealed to be Legion Financier R.J.Brande and father of Chameleon Boy), and dozen others that paralled the future Legion membership. Now, don't mistake this as a carbon copy of the 30th century Legion. In fact, despite Vril Dox's tight control, his team mates often despised him and hated some of the duplicitous acts he committed. Still, LEGION was a force for law and order in a lawless universe. After all, the Green Lanterns can't be everywhere. Eventually all good things must come to an end, with Vril Dox going on the run from LEGION with a new group of R.E.B.E.L.S. (and yet, it also stands for something) composed of several of his original team. That series lasted a little over a year before ending, and the LEGION remained in limbo for almost a decade afterwards. LEGIOn made a resurgence a few years ago during the Rann Thanagar War (and the preceeding Adam Strange mini), along with a wretched Omega Men mini-series a year after that. Now, Vril Dox and his team are back in an ongoing title of their own, with Vril recruiting a variety of aliens to help him depose the new leader of LEGION, a re-invisioned Starro the Conqueror. Tony Bedard (a writer I've enjoyed ever since his book the Negation for Crossgen Comics) has crafted a masterful tale that incorporates just about every previous LEGION story, embracing the past rather than ignoring it. This attention to history and his large knowledge of various DC space characters has given him a limitless cast of characters to use in his story. The cover above roughly covers a third of Dox's current team, but the large number of characters is not distracting, with each member given something to do. I can't wait to see what happens next in each issue as the exitement continues to build each month. Even the recent Blackest Night tie-in, where Vril Dox was bestowed with a yellow lantern ring, was handled well and didn't detract from the main storyline.
5) Chew
Tony Chu is a detective with an interesting ability. He has a form of edibile psychometry, meaning that he can read the memories of anything that he eats. This led to him embracing a vegetarian lifestyle (as meat would give him the rather violent death echoes of the animals that were slaughtered for his food). By the end of the first issue, he realizes that he can use his ability to investigate crimes. Eating a piece of human flesh or a single drop of blood would tell him the identity of a victim or the duplicitous acts of a criminal. The series is humorous, dark, and engaging. Tony Chu is a good everyman who seems thrown into one distressing situation after another, all while working in his new position as an FDA agent investigating black market Chicken smuggling. Oh, that's right. I forgot one of the most interesting aspects of the series. In the fictional history of Chew, the bird flu epidimic led to jarring legislation that banned all poultry from the United States, as well as most of the free world. Other meat products suffer similar bans. Now, individuals who need a chicken fix are required to go through illegal methods to acquire a once common food product. So the next time you pick up a ten piece bucket of chicken from KFC, just remember that you could be living in the world of Chew where you could be arrested and thrown in jail for a couple years just for being in possession of contraband poultry. If any of this sounds interesting, then check out Chew.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Top Cow's Pilot Season 2010: Kirkmania
Okay, I've taken the time to read the first two issues of the new Top Cow Pilot Season and wanted to give my two cents on them.
For those who don't know, Pilot Season is an annual program by Top Cow Productions to come out with around 6 one-shots each spotlighting a potential new series. After all of the one-shots are released, fans are allowed to vote on what they'd like to see as new books, with the two top vote-getters becoming ongoing series. This year is the third year that Top Cow has held the promotion.
2007 spotlighted pre-existing top cow characters such as Cycblade (of Cyberforce), Velocity (also from Cyberforce), and Aphrodite IX (an aborted mini-series almost a decade old). I never read them so I couldn't tell you if they were any good or worth reading.
2008 showcased all-new properties (with one lone exception). To name a few (in order of my own personal preference) were Urban Myths (a detective story by Jay Faerber with a background in Greek Mythology, my favorite of the bunch), The Core (A science fiction yarn by Jonathan Hickman with some stylistic similarities to the video game Mass Effect), Twilight Guardian (about a young woman with OCD who envisions herself a local vigilante to cope with her rather mundane life), Lady Pendragon (really just the latest issue of a series that hadn't been published in almost a decade), Alibi (about twins who moonlight as assassins, really just awful), and Genius (a young Latina gang leader who is credited as being the greatest tactician of the 21st century).
The 2009/2010 pilot Season is supposed to be the creative ground for popular writer Robert Kirkman, who I enjoy for his work on Invicible and Walking Dead. So far only two of the titles have been released, but they seem to show a lack of creativity. Don't get me wrong, they are nice little stories, but I feel that Robert Kirkman could be doing a better job. I've read most of what he's written, from Marvel Team-Up to Fantastic Four: Foes, so I'm familiar with his writing, but the first two one-shots, Murderer (about an empath who kills those he thinks are evil people while trying to do good) and Demonic (about a cop bound to a demon who kills others so that he doesn't have to harm his children), are a disservice to his usual style.
I have to wonder if Kirkman only gave a little bit of thought to the tales, which i can understand considering he writes two Image ongoing series, so throwing six extra one-shots into the mix is bound to be a little taxing creatively. I wish Kirkman didn't decide to take on the responsibility of writing all six pilot season one-shots. Part of the joy of the 2009 Pilot Season was that there were six different stories being told by six different creative teams that took time to craft a single story. One writer writing six different stories by six different artists feels like the wrong direction. Perhaps the next three one-shots, Stealth, Stellar, and Hardcore, will be better. I really hope they are.
Perhaps my problem with the issues is simply that I know Kirkman could do better. Who am I to question how he writes a story? If they were by a different writer, I'd probably like them a little more, but because they were written by the visionary creator of the Walking Dead, I hold them to a measuring stick that they can't possibly live up to. Therefore, I will reiterate that the stories were decent. If you come across one, then check it out. And once they are all released, if you really liked one of the stories in particular, then vote for it.
Now to the meat and potatoes of this post. I dare to ask the question, is the Pilot Season a scam?
Top Cow claims that the Pilot Season is designed to introduce new potential titles to the comic book market, and the two titles preferred by fans (through online voting) will become ongoing series. To see if this is true, lets look back at past Pilot Season winners.
In 2007, Velocity and Cyblade were the winners. A brief 4-issue Cyblade series eventually came out, but Velocity never saw the light of day. Fortunately, almost like a light at the end of the tunnel for any long-time Cyberforce fans, a new Velocity series by Ron Marz is currently on tap for later this year. I have no emotional attachment to either character, so I'm not too bothered by a lack of publication for the class of 2007.
In 2008, my personal picks were Urban Myths, The Core, and Twilight Guardian. Unfortunately, only one of those won. The other was the mediocore Genius one-shot. So far, neither has been scheduled for publication by Top Cow, and I have yet to hear anything regarding them.
Now the new Pilot Season is upon us. Will the two 'winners' become ongoings or will they fade into obscurity like the past participants? We'll just have to wait and see. I think if Top Cow is going to come up with this sham of a contest, then they at least owe it to the fans to publish something with the winner characters. Otherwise it's a slap in the face to the readers that bought the original books to try them out.
For those who don't know, Pilot Season is an annual program by Top Cow Productions to come out with around 6 one-shots each spotlighting a potential new series. After all of the one-shots are released, fans are allowed to vote on what they'd like to see as new books, with the two top vote-getters becoming ongoing series. This year is the third year that Top Cow has held the promotion.
2007 spotlighted pre-existing top cow characters such as Cycblade (of Cyberforce), Velocity (also from Cyberforce), and Aphrodite IX (an aborted mini-series almost a decade old). I never read them so I couldn't tell you if they were any good or worth reading.
2008 showcased all-new properties (with one lone exception). To name a few (in order of my own personal preference) were Urban Myths (a detective story by Jay Faerber with a background in Greek Mythology, my favorite of the bunch), The Core (A science fiction yarn by Jonathan Hickman with some stylistic similarities to the video game Mass Effect), Twilight Guardian (about a young woman with OCD who envisions herself a local vigilante to cope with her rather mundane life), Lady Pendragon (really just the latest issue of a series that hadn't been published in almost a decade), Alibi (about twins who moonlight as assassins, really just awful), and Genius (a young Latina gang leader who is credited as being the greatest tactician of the 21st century).
The 2009/2010 pilot Season is supposed to be the creative ground for popular writer Robert Kirkman, who I enjoy for his work on Invicible and Walking Dead. So far only two of the titles have been released, but they seem to show a lack of creativity. Don't get me wrong, they are nice little stories, but I feel that Robert Kirkman could be doing a better job. I've read most of what he's written, from Marvel Team-Up to Fantastic Four: Foes, so I'm familiar with his writing, but the first two one-shots, Murderer (about an empath who kills those he thinks are evil people while trying to do good) and Demonic (about a cop bound to a demon who kills others so that he doesn't have to harm his children), are a disservice to his usual style.
I have to wonder if Kirkman only gave a little bit of thought to the tales, which i can understand considering he writes two Image ongoing series, so throwing six extra one-shots into the mix is bound to be a little taxing creatively. I wish Kirkman didn't decide to take on the responsibility of writing all six pilot season one-shots. Part of the joy of the 2009 Pilot Season was that there were six different stories being told by six different creative teams that took time to craft a single story. One writer writing six different stories by six different artists feels like the wrong direction. Perhaps the next three one-shots, Stealth, Stellar, and Hardcore, will be better. I really hope they are.
Perhaps my problem with the issues is simply that I know Kirkman could do better. Who am I to question how he writes a story? If they were by a different writer, I'd probably like them a little more, but because they were written by the visionary creator of the Walking Dead, I hold them to a measuring stick that they can't possibly live up to. Therefore, I will reiterate that the stories were decent. If you come across one, then check it out. And once they are all released, if you really liked one of the stories in particular, then vote for it.
Now to the meat and potatoes of this post. I dare to ask the question, is the Pilot Season a scam?
Top Cow claims that the Pilot Season is designed to introduce new potential titles to the comic book market, and the two titles preferred by fans (through online voting) will become ongoing series. To see if this is true, lets look back at past Pilot Season winners.
In 2007, Velocity and Cyblade were the winners. A brief 4-issue Cyblade series eventually came out, but Velocity never saw the light of day. Fortunately, almost like a light at the end of the tunnel for any long-time Cyberforce fans, a new Velocity series by Ron Marz is currently on tap for later this year. I have no emotional attachment to either character, so I'm not too bothered by a lack of publication for the class of 2007.
In 2008, my personal picks were Urban Myths, The Core, and Twilight Guardian. Unfortunately, only one of those won. The other was the mediocore Genius one-shot. So far, neither has been scheduled for publication by Top Cow, and I have yet to hear anything regarding them.
Now the new Pilot Season is upon us. Will the two 'winners' become ongoings or will they fade into obscurity like the past participants? We'll just have to wait and see. I think if Top Cow is going to come up with this sham of a contest, then they at least owe it to the fans to publish something with the winner characters. Otherwise it's a slap in the face to the readers that bought the original books to try them out.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Current TOP 10 Reads for the Month
So many books and so little time to read them all, however these are a few books that have been keeping me entertained and excited to read what comes next.
So the following are the 10 series I have enjoyed the most this past month.
(Granted I'm sitting on 2 shorts boxes of unread books right now)
Next Wednesday day is the final issue of Captain America Reborn and I'll be posting a full review of the series.
- Grant (follow me and universe on twitter)
10. Kill Audio
9. Super God
8. Locke & Key
7. Batman: Widening Gyre
6. The Boys
5. Walking Dead
4. Siege
3. (Batwoman) Detective Comics
2. Green Lantern
1. BLACKEST NIGHT
So the following are the 10 series I have enjoyed the most this past month.
(Granted I'm sitting on 2 shorts boxes of unread books right now)
Next Wednesday day is the final issue of Captain America Reborn and I'll be posting a full review of the series.
- Grant (follow me and universe on twitter)
10. Kill Audio
9. Super God
8. Locke & Key
7. Batman: Widening Gyre
6. The Boys
5. Walking Dead
4. Siege
3. (Batwoman) Detective Comics
2. Green Lantern
1. BLACKEST NIGHT
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