Quick Comic Review -- March: Book One

I expected an emotional story but I didn't expect such a high quality comic book. The storytelling is great and it makes effective use of the medium. At times I felt like I've seen some of the story before (especially after just watching the movie: The Butler) but this time it's about a guy who actually lived it and that makes me feel a bit more connected in this instance. This book falls into my "recommended reading" pile but not really my "must read" pile. Definitely worth checking out.

Quick Comic Reviews - Invincible Universe Volume 2

I didn't have a lot of hope for this spin off series, I wasn't sure there was enough there in terms of story or characters to carry a separate book from Invincible. But I have to admit that I have been pleasantly surprised. The characters are all quite unique individuals and the stories are very good. I find the art is getting more solid as the series goes on. It's an entertaining book that I recommend checking out, whether you're an Invincible fan or not.

Quick Comic Reviews - Fairest Volume 3: The Return of the Maharaja

As nice as it was to see the return of a certain Fables character, it struck me as a bit odd that it occurred in the Fairest series, which I thought was created to tell more stories of the female Fables. He does share the story with Nalayani so there's that. I would say this is an okay Fables book. It's a good enough story and told in an engaging way while I felt the art wasn't exactly the strongest (panels and the panel to panel transfers not really telling the story effectively or certain panels not really seeming to match the dialogue as well as it could) but it was okay. Overall, it's probably a must read for Fables fans but not really a stand out book that I'd recommend to non-fans.

Quick Comic Reviews - Pretty Deadly Volume 1

I've been meaning to read this one for a while but my "to be read" pile just keeps growing it seems. I had heard mixed reviews going in but I tried to put them out of my mind while reading it.

In terms of writing, the story has some originality to it but also touches on some things that seem to be becoming more common (mostly centering around "Death"). Not a bad thing necessarily, I just wasn't completely blown away by the overall ideas. It is put together well with some great imagery (the butterfly and the bunny, for example). As for the art, it's not for everyone. It has a different, possibly 'messy', look to it. And while some panels are beautiful to look at or have energy popping off the page, some details just don't seem to clear (at least to me). So when the book is written such that a panel is supposed to show a quick glimpse to the reader and the reader can't figure out what exactly it is that they're looking at (at least not at first glance) it can take the reader out of the story slightly. I felt it got better as it went along, or maybe I was just getting used to it.

I'll probably pick up the second volume to see where it goes from here but I'm not sold on the series just yet. So on my rating scale (which I still haven't really come up with) this one falls between "take it or leave it" to "possibly recommend to certain readers if they are looking for something else to read."

Quick Comic Reviews - Miracleman Book One

First up, I have to say that the almost 60 pages of bonus material seemed a bit much. I do like a bit of bonus material in my comics (covers to the issues, original art, etc) but I don't feel it should be one-third of the book.

Anyways, getting to the content of the book. It's difficult to review Miracleman without thinking about the stories behind it. As well, there's the timing of the original publication, there really was nothing like it at the time but now it's been copied over several times. And anyone new to the story may see Miracleman as the copy.

However, this volume only gives a glimpse of the story that "The Original Writer" (as he is listed in the credits) is building and that's too bad. It's just not enough to really get going and to new readers, that's too bad. Having read the series in its (unfinished) entirety, that gives the full picture. And perhaps new readers should wait for a bit more to be built up.

I recommend reading Miracleman, it's an incredibly well crafted story, but maybe just not yet.

Quick Comic Reviews: Indestructible Hulk Volume 4

I had somewhat high hopes for Mark Waid's run on the Hulk but so far, I've felt it just hasn't got there yet. I'm not saying it's bad, I just feel it could be better. This volume is better. Still not blown away with it but I enjoyed this volume more than the previous ones and I'm back to being interested where it goes from here. I was disappointed in the art though. Again, none of the artists are bad, some really excel in the Hulk rampaging, it's the inconsistency of it. What is it with the Hulk books having two or three artists per issue? In the end, I can't really put this on my "recommended reading" list, it's more of a "possible checkout if you're interested" sort of thing.