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Comics Round-up: January First Issues
Jan. 23rd, 2014 07:16 pmLegenderry: A Steampunk Adventure (Dynamite) - by Bill Willingham- At 150 issues, Fables will come to an end. It's hard to imagine in the world of reboots by the Big 2 every other year, but Willingham's run takes me back 12 years, and has been a part of my life through so much, and though I am ready to see the end, Bill re-invented and retooled it enough to keep it fresh.
Willingham has a similar (if not as ambitious) project here- bringing together the licensed properties of Dynamite in a steampunk adventure. So that means Vampirella, Green Hornet, Red Sonja, the Million Dollar Man, and the Green Hornet.
Though that's a mix of characters that could clunky real fast, he makes the most of them. Willingham catches the right mood and right tone- light and humorous while also playing a goth angle. I tend to think the Steampunk universe will work in the favor of these characters as well.
I wasn't sure what to think of the art. The cover looks B-rate. It clearly looks more like an Avatar Press title than a Big2 comic, but inside the covers, Sergio Davilla's artwork actually works quite well to tell the story.
Given the concept, I wouldn't normally recommend it outside of fans of the characters (who really aren't advertised at all on the cover) and this certainly is Fables in term of scope, but Willingham has created something that I think will end up being a fun little read.
Minimum Wage (Image) - by Bob Fingerman - well, this certainly makes me feel out. Remember the good ol' 90s when indie comics were a thing. There are indie comics today, but nothing to match the glory days of walking into a store that carried Hate, Eightball, Love and Rockets, Bone, Cererbus, Too Much Coffee Man, Bacchus, Battle Pope and others. Icons like Robert Crumb and Harvey Pekar were getting attention from the mainstream press.
I liked Hate- Pete Bagge's story of Seattle slackers, but Fingerman did it a bit better. It was a bit more sarcastic, a bit more punk, and a bit closer to real life. Where Hate was clever, Wage was clever and funny.
That's been since 1999 when it ended with the protagonist Rob getting married.
Fingerman still has it, as the recent From the Ashes miniseries shows, but is it time to revisit those classic characters of 90s angst.
The cover gives it away that Rob must be divorced. Sure enough, it opens a story for Rob to look for love in the internet age. I hadn't thought about it, but CBR's reviewer got it right when they said that putting Rob in 2002 was the right thing. It means we can see some of what is coming (Rob continues to be an 'adult" graphic artist in an increasingly digital world)
As far as worries, the first issue has some set-up but it's still a funny book, and the relationships still play out like real life. I am looking forward to having wage back and am glad Image chose to do it.
The Twilight Zone (Dynamite) - written by J Michael Straczynski - I've been a fan of the franchise for years, and it makes sense to pair with the publisher most known for licensee properties and the author who seems to have been most involved with it in the last three decades.
Unlike the shortlived NOW comics series, the decision is to do these as three-issue miniseries as opposed to stuffing it all into one issue.
That was a wise choice. JMS goes down some well-traveled territory (it's hard to be original in the TZ after these many years), but credit to him to building a story up and delivering a nice cliffhanger at the end. Francisco Francavilla's cover is excellent, and the clean style of Guiu Vilanova seems the appropriate (if traditional) approach.
I don't envy JMS in that being associated with this particular franchise means a certain ideal, but I felt it lived up. I also realize given the 'novelty' of a book, it seems like a really easy book to drop off my pull list if I am not satisfied. Though i don't know if this arc will have a satisfying end, I am going to stick with it; and stick with the series for awhile.
Willingham has a similar (if not as ambitious) project here- bringing together the licensed properties of Dynamite in a steampunk adventure. So that means Vampirella, Green Hornet, Red Sonja, the Million Dollar Man, and the Green Hornet.
Though that's a mix of characters that could clunky real fast, he makes the most of them. Willingham catches the right mood and right tone- light and humorous while also playing a goth angle. I tend to think the Steampunk universe will work in the favor of these characters as well.
I wasn't sure what to think of the art. The cover looks B-rate. It clearly looks more like an Avatar Press title than a Big2 comic, but inside the covers, Sergio Davilla's artwork actually works quite well to tell the story.
Given the concept, I wouldn't normally recommend it outside of fans of the characters (who really aren't advertised at all on the cover) and this certainly is Fables in term of scope, but Willingham has created something that I think will end up being a fun little read.
Minimum Wage (Image) - by Bob Fingerman - well, this certainly makes me feel out. Remember the good ol' 90s when indie comics were a thing. There are indie comics today, but nothing to match the glory days of walking into a store that carried Hate, Eightball, Love and Rockets, Bone, Cererbus, Too Much Coffee Man, Bacchus, Battle Pope and others. Icons like Robert Crumb and Harvey Pekar were getting attention from the mainstream press.
I liked Hate- Pete Bagge's story of Seattle slackers, but Fingerman did it a bit better. It was a bit more sarcastic, a bit more punk, and a bit closer to real life. Where Hate was clever, Wage was clever and funny.
That's been since 1999 when it ended with the protagonist Rob getting married.
Fingerman still has it, as the recent From the Ashes miniseries shows, but is it time to revisit those classic characters of 90s angst.
The cover gives it away that Rob must be divorced. Sure enough, it opens a story for Rob to look for love in the internet age. I hadn't thought about it, but CBR's reviewer got it right when they said that putting Rob in 2002 was the right thing. It means we can see some of what is coming (Rob continues to be an 'adult" graphic artist in an increasingly digital world)
As far as worries, the first issue has some set-up but it's still a funny book, and the relationships still play out like real life. I am looking forward to having wage back and am glad Image chose to do it.
The Twilight Zone (Dynamite) - written by J Michael Straczynski - I've been a fan of the franchise for years, and it makes sense to pair with the publisher most known for licensee properties and the author who seems to have been most involved with it in the last three decades.
Unlike the shortlived NOW comics series, the decision is to do these as three-issue miniseries as opposed to stuffing it all into one issue.
That was a wise choice. JMS goes down some well-traveled territory (it's hard to be original in the TZ after these many years), but credit to him to building a story up and delivering a nice cliffhanger at the end. Francisco Francavilla's cover is excellent, and the clean style of Guiu Vilanova seems the appropriate (if traditional) approach.
I don't envy JMS in that being associated with this particular franchise means a certain ideal, but I felt it lived up. I also realize given the 'novelty' of a book, it seems like a really easy book to drop off my pull list if I am not satisfied. Though i don't know if this arc will have a satisfying end, I am going to stick with it; and stick with the series for awhile.
