Way Old Comics Reviews
Mar. 29th, 2016 05:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23Because this is what I always do, but I am way late.
Huck by Mark Millar (Image)- So at this point, Millar is best known for making outrageous comics turned movies like Secret Service (Kingsman), Kick-a**, and Wanted. But the second thing he is known for (and how I got into him many moons ago) is her Superman stories, and make no mistake, Huck is a Superman story.
Millar makes no bones about it, and in the world of comics, remaking the same tropes is par for the course. Millar seems to be a bit of a workhouse that it often seems he is telling so many stories of the four-issue variety that it is hard to keep up. That said, I will put in a good word for Huck.
It is Superman as Jethro Bodine or Superman as Forest gump, a bit of a small town idiot savant who wants to help everyone in a very child-like way, which leads to a lot of things that are obvious- bad guys and the 'if you can do some much to help, can you do this for us" woodwork.
Millar does a good job of developing the story (though I try to only review first issues, I am now four issues in and am very happy with it. Also the movie tie in covers have been awesome.
![Image result for huck brothers millar]()
New Romancer - Peter Milligan (DC/ Vertigo)- Milligan is one of that original "new wave" of British comic writers that started with Alan Moore and included Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, and Jamie Delano, and was quickly followed by a second wave which gave us Warren Ellis and Garth Ennis.
I have been hot and cold on Milligan- loving some of his work and not others. The last time I really was paying attention to him was X-Force (later X-Statix) for Marvel, and that has been a decade ago now. (Milligan didn't completely disappear, but outside of a run on Hellblazer has generally not been in the spotlight).
This book is part of an umpteenth Vertigo "relaunch" which tries to get the imprint back to it's footing of it's 90s glory days. Of course, what they are trying to accomplish is something Image comics has actually been doing the last few years (though Image has been frustratingly inconsistent in terms of promotion and publishing), while Vertigo seems to just try and rehash/re-introduce the titles that have worked (American Vampire, Astro City, Lucifer).
In any case, New romancer feels that way, in part because of Milligan, but partially because it is indebted to Britpop. in fact, though I don't think Match.com came into existence until the late 90s, even the plot feels like it's from the 90s - Lexy works for an online dating site and through computer code, brings Lord Byron back to life in 2016.
Brett Parson who has worked on Tank Girl seems appropriate as an artist. New Romancer sort of works and sort of doesn't. It's clunky at times, while Milligan does have some ideas that others might not have arrived yet. I think the expectation is that it could be a classic Vertigo title, but I don't know if that style exists today, and if it does (like Image's Theyre Not Like Us with its Richey Edwards quotes and characters named Syd, Wire and Blurgirl), it should have evolved. So a mixed review on this one.
![Image result for new romancer milligan]()
Have I mentioned these? I thought I did, but don't seem to find any evidence....
Dark Knight 3:The Master Race (written by Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello)- Insomuch as the Big Two seem to prefer retreading through what once worked before instead of finding something new, we now have DK3- the second sequel to the famous and important Dark Knight Returns. It's been 30 years since that masterwork and 15 years since DK2.
DK2 is universally reviled, and I have had conversation with friends who have the same reaction i have "Surely, it is not as bad as I remember" though I am told it is.
Hedging their bets, DC has paired Miller with 100 Bullets creator Azzarello. One suspects Azzarello is doing the heavy lifting and Miller is overseeing. DK3 certainly feels like an Azzarello work- dark and dense. I am not particularly a fan of Azzarello, though I understand why people like him.
While I ostensibly only review first issues, DK3 is obviously past that now. I give it mostly positive reviews. Like 100 Bullets, i think it tries a bit too hard to be gritty when it is a matter of style over substance. That said, high marks to the team for making it really hit the Dark Knight feel. This might be Andy Kubert's artwork to credit more than anything, but I think it is fair to say the writing does as well. in which case, we don't need a DK3, but since DC wants to cash in and it's going to get made, it seems a fair enough addition to the canon. The other thing is that Scott Snyder has told so many great stories on his Batman run which is probably four years or more, that anyone is going to have do something great to get noticed.
So not essential, but nice
Jupiters Legacy Vol 2 - by Mark Millar (Image)- The "Jupiter" stories seem like the less essential Mark Millar books, but given what he has done with these characters, they are obviously important to him. I called my first taste of Jupiter's Legacy as 'comics go James Ellroy", but have herad others compare it to Mad Men, which 6+ issues on may seem more appropriate.
This arc relaunches this particular story for new jumpers on. Again, I usually focus on the first issues, but this issue gives us the bad guys kidnapping Vice President Hubert H Humphrey, and hanging out with Kerouac and Burroughs along the way. This is a book that people who hate Millar would probably really hate. But at the same time, it's pretty fun to throw in all of those cultural references, and though Millar will probably always get heat for mimicking Grant Morrison, Morrison was rarely as accessible and fun.
Huck by Mark Millar (Image)- So at this point, Millar is best known for making outrageous comics turned movies like Secret Service (Kingsman), Kick-a**, and Wanted. But the second thing he is known for (and how I got into him many moons ago) is her Superman stories, and make no mistake, Huck is a Superman story.
Millar makes no bones about it, and in the world of comics, remaking the same tropes is par for the course. Millar seems to be a bit of a workhouse that it often seems he is telling so many stories of the four-issue variety that it is hard to keep up. That said, I will put in a good word for Huck.
It is Superman as Jethro Bodine or Superman as Forest gump, a bit of a small town idiot savant who wants to help everyone in a very child-like way, which leads to a lot of things that are obvious- bad guys and the 'if you can do some much to help, can you do this for us" woodwork.
Millar does a good job of developing the story (though I try to only review first issues, I am now four issues in and am very happy with it. Also the movie tie in covers have been awesome.
New Romancer - Peter Milligan (DC/ Vertigo)- Milligan is one of that original "new wave" of British comic writers that started with Alan Moore and included Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, and Jamie Delano, and was quickly followed by a second wave which gave us Warren Ellis and Garth Ennis.
I have been hot and cold on Milligan- loving some of his work and not others. The last time I really was paying attention to him was X-Force (later X-Statix) for Marvel, and that has been a decade ago now. (Milligan didn't completely disappear, but outside of a run on Hellblazer has generally not been in the spotlight).
This book is part of an umpteenth Vertigo "relaunch" which tries to get the imprint back to it's footing of it's 90s glory days. Of course, what they are trying to accomplish is something Image comics has actually been doing the last few years (though Image has been frustratingly inconsistent in terms of promotion and publishing), while Vertigo seems to just try and rehash/re-introduce the titles that have worked (American Vampire, Astro City, Lucifer).
In any case, New romancer feels that way, in part because of Milligan, but partially because it is indebted to Britpop. in fact, though I don't think Match.com came into existence until the late 90s, even the plot feels like it's from the 90s - Lexy works for an online dating site and through computer code, brings Lord Byron back to life in 2016.
Brett Parson who has worked on Tank Girl seems appropriate as an artist. New Romancer sort of works and sort of doesn't. It's clunky at times, while Milligan does have some ideas that others might not have arrived yet. I think the expectation is that it could be a classic Vertigo title, but I don't know if that style exists today, and if it does (like Image's Theyre Not Like Us with its Richey Edwards quotes and characters named Syd, Wire and Blurgirl), it should have evolved. So a mixed review on this one.
Have I mentioned these? I thought I did, but don't seem to find any evidence....
Dark Knight 3:The Master Race (written by Frank Miller and Brian Azzarello)- Insomuch as the Big Two seem to prefer retreading through what once worked before instead of finding something new, we now have DK3- the second sequel to the famous and important Dark Knight Returns. It's been 30 years since that masterwork and 15 years since DK2.
DK2 is universally reviled, and I have had conversation with friends who have the same reaction i have "Surely, it is not as bad as I remember" though I am told it is.
Hedging their bets, DC has paired Miller with 100 Bullets creator Azzarello. One suspects Azzarello is doing the heavy lifting and Miller is overseeing. DK3 certainly feels like an Azzarello work- dark and dense. I am not particularly a fan of Azzarello, though I understand why people like him.
While I ostensibly only review first issues, DK3 is obviously past that now. I give it mostly positive reviews. Like 100 Bullets, i think it tries a bit too hard to be gritty when it is a matter of style over substance. That said, high marks to the team for making it really hit the Dark Knight feel. This might be Andy Kubert's artwork to credit more than anything, but I think it is fair to say the writing does as well. in which case, we don't need a DK3, but since DC wants to cash in and it's going to get made, it seems a fair enough addition to the canon. The other thing is that Scott Snyder has told so many great stories on his Batman run which is probably four years or more, that anyone is going to have do something great to get noticed.
So not essential, but nice
Jupiters Legacy Vol 2 - by Mark Millar (Image)- The "Jupiter" stories seem like the less essential Mark Millar books, but given what he has done with these characters, they are obviously important to him. I called my first taste of Jupiter's Legacy as 'comics go James Ellroy", but have herad others compare it to Mad Men, which 6+ issues on may seem more appropriate.
This arc relaunches this particular story for new jumpers on. Again, I usually focus on the first issues, but this issue gives us the bad guys kidnapping Vice President Hubert H Humphrey, and hanging out with Kerouac and Burroughs along the way. This is a book that people who hate Millar would probably really hate. But at the same time, it's pretty fun to throw in all of those cultural references, and though Millar will probably always get heat for mimicking Grant Morrison, Morrison was rarely as accessible and fun.
