Weekly Comic Reviews for May 5th, 2010

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #35 -- First off, thanks to some websites putting up a teaser image for issue #36 without hiding it behind spoiler notices the end of this issue was ruined. So thanks again for spoiling something in this series (though not as big as the Twilight reveal). *sigh* I've been tempted to stop reviewing this series because I really haven't been enjoying it but I do have to say, as a single issue this one felt a bit better than the last few. We finally get people actually trying to explain things instead of just speaking cryptically for 2 straight issues. And stuff actually happens. But I'm still not enjoying the story and the end just makes this feel more and more like fan-fiction. I'm actually happy that there's only 5 more issues to go and I just hope it gets turned around somehow.

Goats Webcomic

Jonathan Rosenberg has announced his 13 year old webcomic Goats will be going on hiatus until he figures out what he's going to do next. To be honest I've never read this webcomic but wow, 13 years is damn impressive. I find it sad every time a webcomic has to come to an untimely end because the creators just weren't able to find a source of continuous income, especially when it's clear that the creators have put as much effort into it as Jonathan has.

And I think Jon does bring up a good point, webcomics focusing on long running storylines often are harder to keep going financially. People looking through webcomics have so much to look at and they want that instant gratification instead of having to read through hundreds of pages to understand what's going on. And merchandise based on your comic (like t-shirts, prints, etc) may not do as well against the cute zombie kitten or whatever other novelty the next webcomic has. Not to mention that it will take quite a bit of your time and focus off your comic, always trying to keep in mind "How can I sell this on a t-shirt" while you're coming up with your next few pages.

I don't have any answers to this. Obviously we can't financially support every person who wants to make webcomics/comics for a living, and some really aren't good enough that they should be supported. But it would be nice if there was a slightly easier way for creators (writers in particular) to make a living without their webcomic taking a back seat to the t-shirts, prints, and whatever other merchandise they're currently relying on to make a living.

I guess I should just be happy that I have my full time job and wish Jon and all those other webcomic artists trying to make a living at it the best of luck.

A Couple of Fan Art Sketches

I've been wanting to do up some fan art for a while now but just haven't had the time. So I decided to cheat and double up the sketches. All characters are owned by their respective creators and were used without their permission.
First up we have Smash from the "Smash" webcomic by Chris and Kyle Bolton and the Araknid Kid from "The Araknid Kid" by Josh Alves (though Josh is currently working on Heropotamus at the moment).
And next we have Billy Butterman from Andy Belanger's Bottle of Awesome (hence the bottle) and Sam (as the Peanut Butter Genie, hence the peanut butter jar) from Caanan's Celadore (Caanan is current working on Max Overacts).

A Couple Quick Reviews

Going through my Free Comic Book Day pick ups (including the freebies and the ones I bought)...

WE3 -- I think you know where this story is going right from the start for the most part. The question does remain as to exactly how it will end though. And it does do a good job of going through the story. I'm not always a fan of Quitely's artwork but I enjoyed it for the most part here. I'd say it's worth checking out but it didn't really blow me away or anything.

Atomic Robo volume 1 and Free Comic Book Day issue -- I read a couple of the older Atomic Robo Free Comic Book Day comics on my iPhone and it seemed like a fun read. Sort of a less intellectual/spiritual Hellboy in my opinion. Both the free comic and the first volume were enjoyable with witty dialogue and nice artwork. I'm still on the fence as to whether I'll be picking up any more, perhaps if I need a book to put me over the $39 limit for free shipping on Amazon one of them may find their way into my order.

Mouse Guard Free Comic Book Day issue -- I've read elsewhere about how this book didn't really fit for kids which was a bit of an issue as it came with some Fraggle Rock stories. I do sort of agree, the narrative story telling was more for the older readers. I think it was great for older readers, it recapped the stories we've seen and led in to the stories to come, but coming with Fraggle Rock and being about little mice I think parents may have been a little surprised by it. Still, I enjoyed it.

Stuff of Legend -- I don't know if we really got to see much of where this story is going. We get a few character moments but nothing that gave me a real sense of "Oh, here's where the story is going in this chapter", at least nothing that really stuck with me. I'm still looking forward to this series continuing, I guess I was just hoping for more from this book. And that's probably unfair in some ways.

So that's it. Anyone else find anything of interest to them on Free Comic Book Day? How did the event go down in your area?

A Quick Free Comic Book Day Follow Up

Back home from Free Comic Book Day. Just wanted to touch on something Caanan said in the comments section of my previous post. I understand stores are losing money on giving away these free comics, and I understand how frustrated they should be when people are coming in to grab stacks of the free comics never to be seen again (and not even thanking the store for the comics) so limiting the comics is understandable. Putting a limit of "You have to spend $10 to get one free book, $20 for two..." seems like it may be going too far. And really, if you want to bring in new readers to your store that's probably not the way to do it. You're almost guaranteeing that they won't be back.

Of the three shops I went to two of them were saying one copy of each book per customer which I felt was generous. One (the store I usually go to) did keep some of the free comics (the non-gold ones) behind their counter though and you had to ask for them. He said he did this because in previous years people came in grabbing every book they could but they really had no interest in all of them, they were just grabbing what they could. Limiting it to people who knew about them and asked for them seemed to limit that. I saw that first hand when I went to the other store, they had all their books out for grabbing and when I asked the owner about some of the non-gold books (Atomic Robo for instance) he said that they disappeared early. He bought a lot of them but not as much as the cheaper gold books and with everyone just grabbing everything they could they disappeared quickly.

The crowds were also very different. The local store was quiet as expected. Their advertising for the event consisted of two 8x10 pieces of pink paper in their windows with "Free Comic Book Day" in small print. The second (my usual shop) was also fairly quiet when I went in but the manager said he was getting steady business. It had a couple families in there shopping and it was cute to see the kids expressing interest in some comics. The third store was a mad house. They had a lot of people in costumes having their photos taken and there were a lot of families with a lot of kids in the free comic book area of the store (the front part). There were also a fair amount of people browsing the comics (further back in the store).

In the end, I ended up buying Atomic Robo volume 1 and We3. And of the free comics I got the Mouse Guard, Stuff of Legend, and Atomic Robo (which I ended up finding in the closest/quiet store).

Free Comic Book Day

In case you didn't know or forgot, tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day. Details can be found here. I'll be dropping by my local shops to see what's going on. I'll be honest, I'm hoping to grab two free books in particular (the Mouse Guard one and the Stuff of Legend one) and since I feel bad just grabbing the books for free I'll probably find a graphic novel or two to buy. I feel a little mixed on grabbing the free comics. I know it's mostly to get new readers in to the stores and buying these books but I really want to read those two in particular.

There are three participating stores that I can get to with some ease (one is very easy, the other two are a bit of a trek) and I'm generally disappointed with two of them when it comes to Free Comic Book Day. Perhaps I just see what some stores do online with people coming in to sign or draw sketches and I should just be happy these stores are taking part but on the other hand I just get disappointed that they aren't really putting much effort in to getting more people into their stores.

The first is very close by and in a mall. I don't really get along with the owner so perhaps I'm biased but in the past he has limited his orders to the gold books for the most part but does order quite a few. He puts the comics on the counter inside his store and sometimes puts up the small sign in his window amongst all the sports memorabilia put up there. He then grumbles that he has so many left over. He's in a freakin' mall in a pretty high traffic area. Put the comics out front or at least the advertising of it in a prominent area where kids and parents can't miss it. He also has a lot of space out front of his store (in the mall) where he could be doing so much. People in costumes or something to advertise it. But comics don't seem to be a concern for him, they're his steady income but most of his store is sports memorabilia now.

The second is the store I normally shop at. It's out of my way but at least it's a comic store, as opposed to the first. They don't do very much either. Though maybe that's not fair. They'll have more prominent posters in their windows, they'll order more variety than the first store, and they'll usually put some of their toys and graphic novels on sale. But it doesn't really feel like an overly friendly or exciting place to go to. I find they rely on their core customers.

The third goes the extra mile. To start, I've been hearing advertisements on the radio for their two locations. They'll have people in costume like the Star Wars guys, maybe a couple other models in Supergirl/Wonder Woman costumes, and their staff usually dress up. And they have plenty of staff on hand which is nice. Their store is actually more open with space for these people to hang out and get pictures with the kids. The odd time they've had people (comic writers or B-movie directors) come in. I've also seen sales on their stuff for the day. It's open, it's friendly, and there's some excitement about shopping there. The only thing I might suggest is having some local comic artists (even if they aren't professional) doing free sketches for the kids or something.

I'll probably drop by all three shops, just to see what's going on this year. But I think the third store will win out again in my opinion even if it does cost them a bit in the short term (giving out more free comics than the others, though perhaps their increase in sales for that day compensates for it, I don't know). I hope more store owners go this route, actually putting the effort out there to attract customers by making comic buying a positive experience.

Weekly Comic Reviews for April 28th, 2010

Before I get in to the reviews I just want to mention a new webcomic coming out by the name of Max Overacts. It's by Caanan who also did Celadore on Zuda comics. I had the pleasure of meeting Caanan in person at last year's Fan Expo Canada and got a great Hulk sketch from him. He's a great guy with a lot of talent and the cartoon is off to a strong start so go check it out.

Now on to the reviews, they'll be short though, I promise.

The Guild #2 -- So we get to see a bit more of how the Knights of Good came together and just where Cyd's real life relationship is going (we know where it's going to end up in the long run but there may be a twist or two on how we get there). Solidly written, good dialogue, nice art that tells the story effectively (in both the game and real world), and an all around good issue.

Hulked Out Heroes #2 (of 2) -- I really shouldn't have picked up this series. I knew I shouldn't but I did. I guess there may be a chuckle or two in there as the world gets re-worked but it's rather pointless. So not a bad book I guess but I just wish the Fall of the Hulks/World War Hulks stuff would go somewhere instead of spinning its wheels on this type of story. If you're looking for some silly Deadpool fun then you might enjoy this, I just regretted buying it as I'm not looking for that.

A Few Links

Scott McCloud recently tweeted about a post on his site with an interesting video discussing Kick Ass. I was initially turned off by the blanket statements of comics being this or that (especially the negative "this and that"'s) but I thought it was also an interesting conversation in the end and I think several people made some good points. Do comics live up to their potential? I'd say no and I'd say no medium ever truly does or there wouldn't ever be any room for growth. And I'd also say if you limit yourself to reading a few popular books and writing off all comics as being like them then you're missing out on so much of the great work that is being done to explore that potential of comics. But I do appreciate people having a real conversation about comics.

The whole thing about "geeks inheriting the Earth" also raises a few issues for me that maybe I'll talk about later.

But I really want to point out the great comic he links to at the bottom and Luke Person's blog. I suspect I'll be spending quite a bit of time in the near future going through his archive of material.

Weekly Comic Reviews for April 21st, 2010

Two books to review this week, Elephantmen #25 and Fall of the Hulks: The Savage She-Hulks #2.

Elephantmen #25 -- I understood that they brought in a lot of artists to celebrate their 25th issue but I was initially a little disappointed that the story was being told with splash pages. With that, it relied heavily on the narration. I think they pulled it off in the end and it was enjoyable but it also felt a little gimmicky, though I was also having flashbacks to the death of Superman so that might be why I'm saying that. It really did work better than I'm probably making it sound but I think if you were looking for the best way to tell this story it wouldn't be like this even if most of it was flashbacks to stuff we've already seen or known. Still a recommended pick up, it may serve well as a starting issue for some readers, and I still recommend this series to everyone.

Fall of the Hulks: The Savage She-Hulks #2 -- I think this issue felt a little stretched out for the story it contained. Perhaps we could have cut one or two of She-Hulk's flashbacks or Lyra's. Or just moved it along instead of having the two of them sitting around for the first half of the book. And when the action started we had a change in artist and I felt the first half was the stronger artistically. Having said that, the issue does move the story along giving us some information to what's going on and what some of the characters may be thinking. So I'm still looking forward to the final issue of this series despite my disappointment with the overall Fall of the Hulks storyline. Not really a highly recommended book for me but a good one nonetheless.

Another Positive I Forgot To Mention

I forgot to point out this video of Tim Gunn discussing Superhero Costumes courtesy of Project Rooftop (which I highly recommend following).

Now For Some Positives:

And since my last post was so negative, here are a few positive things of note (mostly comic). Warning, some of this is very old news but it's stuff I've been meaning to mention.

- Heropotamus, a webcomic by Josh Alves, continues to move along very well.

- Pre-order the print edition of Karl Kerschl's webcomic The Abominable Charles Christopher and get some bonuses. I've already pre-ordered the Master Edition which comes with a sketch. I'm not sure which character I'm hoping for with the sketch. Obviously Charles Christopher makes sense but there are lot of characters I like from this webcomic, the crazy bird for one.

- The deadline for the Harvey Award nominations is tomorrow and Valerie d'Orazio's Memoirs of an Occasional Superheroine is eligible. Not being a comics professional, I can't take part but I do have my favourites.

- Caanan posted some of his character designs for a superhero themed Zuda entry over on his blog. An incredibly talented artist with great character designs, I hope he gets a new ongoing comic soon.

- Stan Lee is coming to Fan Expo Canada, I'm really excited about this and I'm already hoping for an autograph (probably my Hulk Omnibus) and a photo. Yes, I do go for that sort of thing. Not for everyone but come on, it's Stan Lee. Of course I'm also looking forward to mingling with a few artists in artist alley again (though I expect to come out pretty empty handed on the sketches) and taking in a few more of the sketching duels.

- And despite my earlier comments about Montreal, considering the total overhaul of the team last summer they did pull it together enough to make the playoffs so even if they should lose the next game in Washington the season was not a complete bust and they did play hard. So congrats on that.

A Few Pet Peeves

Just wanted to rant for a bit, feel free to ignore. Here's a list of current pet peeves:

- A person starting a webcomic when they have 4 others that just stopped updating suddenly. I know some webcomic creators have to stop when paying jobs come up or what not but if you're starting a webcomic and you already have a bunch that you've already started with no resolution don't expect me to want to read this one because I'm not going to want to read something that's probably not going to finish when you lose interest in it. And if you are looking for a job, it's not a good sign if you can't see things through and at least give your story a proper ending instead of just giving up.

- Constantly asking for people to "retweet" on twitter. Seriously, most people on Twitter know how it works or learn rather quickly. You don't need to add "Please RT" to every one of your messages. Fine, if you are really trying to promote something (your webcomic, some charity thing, an amber alert, whatever) then maybe once in a while ask for a bit of help promoting it but if you say something to me and then add a "please RT" then you're just trying to boost your own friggin' ego hoping for more followers or whatever so please stop. And if it's part of everyone one of your messages then I'm just going to ignore you. Come to think of it, I have a few Twitter issues, perhaps I should make that a post on its own.

- Spammers. This one speaks for itself.

- People on the bus who refuse to move back to make room for more people getting on. If you're getting off at the next stop I can understand wanting to stay close to a door but try to allow others to get by. And if you aren't getting off soon then MOVE BACK!

- The Montreal Canadiens. You really have to make some changes for next year because the team you've got just ain't working. No size up front, inconsistent play, stupid penalties, turtling and then falling apart for the last 10 minutes, etc, etc. It's getting old. As a Habs fan I ask that you please fix this ASAP.

- Maple Leaf fans who gloat about Montreal losing in the first round of the playoffs. So where are the Leafs? Oh but they'll get a good first round pick right? Oh yeah, you traded that away already. And those who now deny being Leafs fans are worse, pick a team and stick with it.

Weekly Comic Reviews for April 16th, 2010

Only one review this week and it'll be a short one.

Hulked Out Heroes #1 (of 2) -- I should not have picked this book up and I knew it. I really did try to keep an open mind and there's nothing really badly done about this book, it's just that I have no interest in the story or the characters. I had hope that something in here would make me feel better about the World War Hulks but there really wasn't. I understand why some people are enjoying it, but it's just not for me. So with that, I think it would be unfair for me to really go in to any more detail.

And for the time being I'll be moderating comments to this blog. I really hate spammers and I don't want their posts making it on here. Though the spam software yesterday was hitting some very old posts that nobody would actually be looking at anyways. :)

Spamming

Due to a recent spamming of this blog I've changed the commenting settings temporarily.

Some quick iPhone thoughts

A couple weeks back I decided to enter in to the new age and get an iPhone. I figured that the monthly rate wasn't much more than what I was paying for my cell phone which didn't have any of the bells and whistles (didn't even have a camera or adjustable sound levels, yes, it was a piece of crap). So what was the first thing I did? Searched for games. But after that, it was comic time. I decided to try out two apps, the Marvel app and Comixology. Yeah, pretty much the same thing I know. But different content. And yes I realize that with the iPad out (in the US at least) I'm already behind in the tech.

I had read through some of Darkness/Pitt #1 on a friend's iPhone a while back. This time I went with Spider-Man #546 on the Marvel app and Box13 (all the chapters) on the Comixology one. I won't go in to a review of them, this is just about the reading experience for me.

Overall I found that they really tried to make the reading experience as good as they could and it was okay. But with the Spider-Man issue and especially the Darkness/Pitt (which had so much detail from Dale Keown in such large panels) I felt the experience just wasn't as good. It was clear that the book was meant to be read as a full page and I don't think anything the iPhone can do could make up for that. I don't think I'd mind reading a few books like this but for the books I really want to experience in all their wonder (Fables, Elephantmen, Invincible, etc) I just can't see myself reading them this way. Box13 on the other hand was made with the iPhone in mind (as far as I know at least) so the panels fit nicer, you didn't have to turn the iPhone back and forth (vertical/horizontal) as often (I know some readers don't mind, I think anything that takes me out of the reading experience is not good), and as it went on it seemed it started to take more and more advantage of being on the iPhone.

So for me, I can take reading some originally print comics (ie. comics that were made for print and then transferred to the iPhone) on the iPhone, where I just want to see what happens basically. But comics made specifically for the iPhone I find easier to read on the device. But here's the thing, does anyone really care? A lot of people seem to have already made up their minds that they want their comics on the iPhone and discount any difference in reading them on their as compared to the print versions (and for some people this is quite likely true, I have learned over and over again that I often have a far too critical eye when I'm reading a comic). Other have already decided that print is the only option for them. And really, who am I to try to convince them otherwise. They like what they like.

Now a lot of the issues I have with reading comics on the iPhone can be fixed by going to an iPad but you still have some differences between print/digital. I can't remember who tweeted it but one comic writer mentioned the iPad helping those writers who couldn't time their big reveals to even page numbers. So friends have been assuming I'll be going with an iPad. The truth is I won't. At least that's the plan. Currently my life is mostly sitting at work (with several computers including a laptop) or sitting at home (most often with my laptop and cintiq with my TV on) or on the bus (with my iPhone). I recognize that for some people there's a gap between their laptop and cell/smart phones but for me, I just don't see it at the moment. And so I just can't justify spending the money on something I'll use only occasionally to read comics. That's not to discount the iPad, I think it's a great step forward and I'm somewhat jealous of those who have one or will be getting it. I just don't see myself owning one.

Anyway, that's just some ramblings I wanted to get out of my head. There's more but I doubt very many people have read this far. :) And yeah, I am still wondering if Longbox Digital or something else can fill some of my comic reading via the laptop instead of the iPhone. But reading comics on the iPhone did seem a little nicer than when I've read on my laptop.

And as a warning, with my weekly comics purchasing at such a low I'll probably be posting more of these ramblings from time to time.

Weekly Comic Reviews for April 7th, 2010 -- SPOILERS

Two reviews this week and be warned, I did not like either of them, at all...

World War Hulks #1 (of 1) -- I knew going in to this book that it wouldn't feature Banner or the Hulk or even the Red Hulk (who I hate so I don't know if that would have been better) so I was a little reluctant to pick it up to begin with. I should have skipped it. It felt like a weak book that didn't really build up the story going in to World War Hulks. I didn't feel like it progressed any of the stories (other than maybe the Dead/Hulk-pool one) or gave me any useful information on the characters. The Red She-Hulk one seemed especially annoying as it's hard to feel for a character you don't even know. Die hard Hulk fans (of which I used to be) may get something out of it but I'd say skip it.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #34 -- The much talked about issue due to the somewhat graphic content. The Buffy/Angel stuff felt like softcore fanfic and the conversation between Giles et al just felt non-Buffy-ish. I can't believe that between Angel, Giles, and Willow they've spread this babbling on for what, an issue and a half now? And for what reason? Giles has a history of rambling a bit but normally we get Xander or Willow there to break it down moments later. This feels like the characters are just dragging it out to torture the reader (or give people looking for the Buffy/Angel hookup more time). Personally, I was really disappointed with this issue and feel the story really isn't coming together yet. I still hope it does but I'm not as optimistic as I was. And it's too bad as I felt Meltzer had a better start than some of the other writers who've worked on this series.

So yeah, a rather disappointing week for me. Perhaps I should have picked up the SHIELD book or the Thor and the Warriors Four, both of which I've heard good things about. I know the SHIELD book was sold out at my comic store, not sure about the Thor book but I didn't notice it.

More reviews -- Planetary

So I finished reading Planetary (re-reading volumes 1 through 3 and then reading volume 4). I have to say to start that it's a beautiful series to read. The entire art team starting with Cassaday really does a great job. The writing is a bit mixed for me. Some parts of the story I love, other parts don't necessarily do it for me. But really, that's to be expected. On the one hand, there was some really interested parts to it but on the other, I'm not always a big fan of this sort of story where so much is based on other comic characters and stories. I find I get distracted looking to see who each of the characters or stories are different versions of, whether it's the FF, the Hulk, Galactus, or whoever else, and I get taken out of the story. This happened with this series for me, possibly less so on the second reading though. I think it's a series I may recommend to some but I wasn't really blown away by it (other than some really spectacular artwork at times).

Weekly Comic Reviews for March 31st, 2010

Yet again, only one book to review this week. Despite my dislike of one-shots I decided to pick up the She-Hulk Sensational after seeing that it had a story featuring Stan Lee written by Peter David. Sooo....

She-Hulk Sensational #1 (of 1) -- The first story (the above mentioned Peter David portion) was just fun. You had the classic breaking of the fourth wall, special appearances by Spidey and Dan Slott, and artwork that I felt fit the mood of the story. Peter David can tell a fun story and it works here. The second story felt a little more like filler. It wasn't really an anniversary story so much and felt a little awkward right from the point where they had to tell you where the story fit in relation to Secret Invasion. But having said that, it wasn't a bad story and it was well done. And besides, we already had Peter David's "anniversary story", did we need another one? I guess not. Then there was a John Byrne issue that to be honest, I haven't read yet. I didn't read the series back then and I'm not sure I'm interested in a single issue plucked out of it (though I'm hoping this is a stand alone issue). Overall, it was an enjoyable issue especially given my usual dislike for the one-shots. Not overwhelmingly good but I think fans of She-Hulk will enjoy it.

I picked up volume 4 of Planetary as well but I think I'll go back to re-read the first three volumes before reading it. Hopefully I get some time over the weekend to do that.

Happy Easter everyone!

Weekly Comic Reviews for March 24th, 2010

Just the one book this week.

The Guild #1 -- I was a little worried going in to this book because I wasn't sure what to expect. I find it can be very hit or miss when a celebrity writer does their first comic. Sometimes their inexperience with the medium really shows, at least for me. That was not the case here. There were quite a few scenes that were done very well, that took advantage or at least were written for the comic format. The art was effective, it fit the story with the different styles working well between the "real word" and the game world. I think I may have been looking for a bit more of a distinction between the two (not really sure what, maybe different borders or a more contrast colour palette) but it was effective as is. The story had a good mix of highs and lows to keep the reader feeling for Cyd and wanting to see what comes next (even if we know things won't end well in some respects). Definitely a must read for fans of the show, and I'd say it's good enough to stand as an intro for those who haven't watched the show.

More Comic Reviews

I think Jimmy Corrigan is going to take me a little while longer to read than most books. There's a lot to take in there. So last night I took a break from it and read Astounding Wolf-Man volume 3 and Irredeemable volume 2. The Irredeemable review will contain SPOILERS, though I'll try to keep them to a minimum.

Astounding Wolf-Man volume 3 -- I started this series because I'm really enjoying Invincible but there's just something missing here. I just can't get in to the story as easily or really connect with the characters like I can with Invincible. This isn't that I'm using Invincible as the measuring stick for what I'll read, it's just that overall I can't really get into this series that much. It's interesting and enjoyable enough I suppose but it's not really something where I'm eager for the next volume. In fact, if the series wasn't ending with issue 25 I'd probably have stopped picking it up but now I'm a little curious to see how it finishes off. It's still a good comic and probably worth checking out, I just don't think it makes my reading list.

Irredeemable volume 2 -- I enjoyed the first volume more than I expected to. This one had me hooked up until the Plutonian's tipping point was revealed. There was such a build up to the story and you really saw the Plutonian's mental state getting pushed to the edge but then the scene with Samsara popped in and it just felt a little off. I know it was everything else going on and the Samsara thing was just the straw that broke the camel's back but without a build up of the relationship between the two of them or even just Samsara that straw felt extra weak. It was disappointing given everything else that's going on in his life. The scenes with the Plutonian talking to the people through the TVs, radios, etc was pretty scary though. This book does a great job of really giving you a sense of fear and horror, and that may be why the Samsara stuff just felt a bit off. I'm interested in volume 3 and still recommend checking this book out (at least for the first volume, don't write it off too early) but we'll see where it goes from there.

Weekly Comic Reviews for March 17th, 2010 -- SPOILERS

Again, just one book this week. Be warned though, the review may contain spoilers for the Fall of the Hulks.

Incredible Hulk #608 -- Not reading the other Hulk book kind of hurt here with the events taking place at the same time but I refuse to pick that book up. It wasn't a total wash though, this book was still easy enough to follow (ie. the Red Hulk failed). And the set up for the upcoming "Hulked Out Heroes" wasn't as bad as I was expecting. This issue had a nice number of twists and turns, and flowed nicely. Every aspect of the art, from the pencils to the colours, was really well done. I really would love to see Pelletier become the regular Hulk artist. The story is still not blowing me away but it looks like it's going somewhere interesting.

I guess that's all I have to say on that. Next up on my reading list is Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth.

LongBox Digitial Public Beta

LongBox Digital went "Public Beta" yesterday so I immediately downloaded it to my new macbook pro. Rich Johnston over on Bleeding Cool has a good rundown of his initial use of the application, much of it applies to my first use but I figured I'd comment on it a bit more here.

After creating my account I went to check out ordering and reading a book. It all seems easy enough though there is not much there to begin with (I understand why and hope more will be coming soon) so I decided to give the Darkness a try. I didn't really want to experiment much with the viewer, I'm not really the kind to play around much with software, so I just found settings that seemed to work enough for me (which didn't take too long) and started reading. The reading experience wasn't bad though there were a few times where it was obvious the page layouts were either designed for a long page or just not all that good (and these may have been highlighted more by reading it here). But in a way, I'm not really expecting a perfect reading experience here, just something good enough that I can give some comics a quick read to see if I'm interested in picking up the series in TPB or to catch up on some one-shots that I usually think are over-priced for the content they deliver.

So my initial experience hasn't turned me off and I'm really looking forward to updates (both to the software and the books available).

Weekly Comic Reviews for March 10th, 2010

Let's just get right to it shall we...

Elephantmen #24 -- It's been a little while since the last issue so it took me a bit before I could really get back into the story and everything that's been going on. The beginning narration, explaining the devices implanted in the Elephantmen was helpful and interesting, I just don't know if that much narration (when combined with the initial radio dialogue) made the first few pages a little too word heavy. I think I could re-read that portion and think it went well one day and feel totally different the next. In the end, it just is. Getting to the point, we have the start of what promises to be an emotional storyline for Hip and Ebony as well as a couple other stories getting massaged a bit. More solid writing, solid artwork (both in appearance and storytelling)... My reviews of this series really are sounding like a broken record at times. :)

100K

At some point on the weekend (while I was dealing with a nasty sickness that you really don't need/want to hear the details of) Divine Leap hit 100,000 page views. I had mentioned it in my author comments on last week's page and for a few days it looked like I jinxed it as my daily page views dropped to below my average but a weekend push put me over.

I've had mixed feelings about this "milestone" but now I think I need to say "screw it" and just embrace it. I've been way too depressed about, well, pretty much most things and I know people are getting tired of it. I know I am. So in that spirit, I will be doing a special "Thank you for the 100K page views" sketch and I'll be taking suggestions for this sketch (either here or on the Divine Leap page or email or however) up until midnight Friday. After it's done (hopefully this weekend) I will post it and then send it out to the person who suggested it if they want it.

Weekly Comic Reviews for March 3rd, 2010

I decided to pick up the first issue of the Fall of the Hulks: Savage She-Hulks series, so two reviews for this week.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #33 -- I thought things were improving with this series, this issue brought me back down again. I will admit, I'm upset with the Twilight reveal and wasn't too happy going in to this issue. And it made the first part drag on as I knew the reveal. Then the second half of the book just seemed to be a lot of confusing dialogue because you can't have the characters just come out and say what's going on can you? There were a few moments that made me smile or felt Buffy-ish but all in all, a fairly disappointing issue for me.

Fall of the Hulks: Savage She-Hulks #1 -- I admit it, I didn't like the idea of Lyra taking on the title of "She-Hulk" but I have been pleasantly surprised. So even though I haven't been impressed with Fall of the Hulks so far I decided to give this series a try. On the one hand, I like the characters and felt the writing was good. On the other hand, for me, it's still tainted by the Fall of the Hulks storyline. I do have to say, the good outweighs the bad for me on this one so I'll be picking up the rest of this series.

The Walking Dead Volume 11

After a few issues with Amazon I finally got volume 11 of the Walking Dead. The revolving door of characters can be a positive (giving new perspective and keeping it from getting stale) and a negative (at least for me in that it's been so long since volume 10 that I can't remember who's who). So it took me a few pages to get back up to speed in this volume. I really enjoy this story for the character moments and their interaction with one another in the face of the horrors around them (zombies and others). On the one hand the story of what was happening with this latest group they come to meet didn't really do much for me. It was definitely horrific but with everything else in this series, I guess I must be desensitized to it. But the levels it pushes the main characters to is extremely emotional and the last few pages really bring it to a head and is really well done by both, writer and artist. Now I just have to wait for the next volume to come out.

Asterios Polyp review

So yes, I continue to pick up books that people seem to be putting high in their "comics of the past year" lists. "Asterios Polyp" was one that seemed to be popping up a lot so I decided to give it a look. Here's my quick review of it.

One of the best books I've read in a while. And I've been reading some good books lately. Yes, I suppose that I may be basing this slightly on the fact that I love the comic medium and this book really illustrates a wide range of things you can do in that medium and I just loved seeing that done with a story I could enjoy. It's really a great story of interesting characters told amazingly well. Normally I don't read books twice or if I do there's a large gap between readings. This one I plan to start reading again this evening just to absorb more of the work and see details in the story and art that I may have missed the first time.

Now I know this book won't work for everyone. Not everyone will enjoy reading a book like this but I absolutely loved it.

So that's it. I may or may not make it to the comic store tonight. I don't think I have any books this week anyways so this may be my one review of the week. But we'll see.

Weekly Comic Reviews for February 17th, 2010 -- May Contain SPOILERS

A whopping one book for me this week, which may be one more than I'll be picking up next week.

The Incredible Hulk #607 -- On the positive side, I am enjoying some of the intellectual dueling between Leader, Modok, Pym, Banner, etc, etc, the dialogue and twists and turns are great there. And the art is absolutely beautiful stuff. But there still seems to be something missing for me. I'm not even picking up all the books of this event (no "Hulk" and no "Red Hulk") and it already feels like it's dragging. This is just the prelude to the whole "War of the Hulks" stuff and I don't think that can come soon enough for me (though from what I've seen of the post-Fall of the Hulks books I'm not so sure what I'll think of the books). As for the She-Hulk second story, that felt painful to me. Having the characters talk in such a way as to avoid saying who she is as well as the Red Hulk (or making really lame excuses for not saying it) turned me right off that one. I'm sticking with the books I'm picking up for now but the Fall of the Hulks is not really winning me over yet and it wouldn't make my recommended reading list.

More Reviews

I polished off two more books while watching some of the Olympics. So let's have some quick reviews shall we...

Blankets -- A beautifully illustrated very touching story. I'd put this one in my highly recommended/possible must-read stack of books. One of the best books I've read in quite a while, and I've been reading some really good books (in my opinion).

The Great Fables Crossover -- I wasn't sure how I felt about the Literals and such, and in a way, I still don't. But I still really enjoyed this story. The characters are all great, the story is interesting, and it's all written and drawn very well. I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed the ending, usually I feel a bit of disappointment but not here. Fables and Jack of Fables continue to be on my recommended reading list.

And that's all I can afford at the moment as it's back to work for me. Currently sitting on top of my "To Be Read" pile: Asterios Polyp.

No Comic Reviews for the February 10th, 2010

I don't think any books came out for me this week and I can't make it down to the store anyways, I haven't left work early enough for me to make the trek downtown in time before the store closes.

So talk amongst yourselves, I'll give you a topic: The Olympics, will you be watching any of it?

Extra Reviews

Two things I did over the weekend were watch the Planet Hulk DVD and read "Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter" by Darwyn Cooke. So why not do a couple quick reviews.

Planet Hulk -- This movie jumps right in to the middle of things which I was a little surprised at but does someone who hasn't read the books really need to know more than "You're a danger, we're sending you off planet, Nuff said"? It does tweak a few things, dropping stuff here and there and picking up a few new things. But in general it does stick nicely to the original storyline. The animation is good, the story is good, and I enjoyed it. Non-Hulk fans may be wondering who this green talking guy is but I liked that they at least left him intelligent. I'd say it's worth checking out.

"Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter" by Darwyn Cooke -- I've really enjoyed some of Darwyn Cooke's other works and I've heard quite a bit of positive feedback on this one so I decided to give it a try. I wasn't disappointed. Cooke really has a lot of talent to adapt his art and storytelling to different genres. The story is interesting with enough twists and turns to keep your interest. I really enjoyed this so I'll most likely be looking to pick up the next volume. It may not be for everyone though, I do have to say that.

And that's it for now. :)

Weekly Comic Reviews for February 3rd, 2010

Well, I had one book come out this week. It doesn't look like I have any for next week but it's all good because some of the TPBs I ordered are starting to come in. So I'll just review those... And maybe a few webcomics or something.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #32 -- Right away I felt this book was written by someone who is more adept at writing for the comics medium. It just felt smoother, more right, and easier to read. As for the story, it felt a bit like a first issue and a slow one at that. Some jokes get dragged out a bit, they introduce us to the new status quo in some ways but also feel a bit long. And there's the Kittty Pryde humour that was a little too in your face in my mind considering it may have missed the mark on a fair amount of the audience. Having said all that, it did feel like a better issue than it has been and I did enjoy it. The art didn't really blow me away and I felt there was a few areas where it could have been better but overall, it told the story effectively. In the end, I think this gives me hope for Meltzer's run on the book.

And on the TPB side of things...
Chew Volume 1 -- A lot of people seemed to be saying how great this series was so I decided to give it a try. When I first heard the general idea I thought it was somewhat interesting but wondered where they'd go with it. I was pleasantly surprised with the direction it took. The series is well written and has a lot of unique ideas to it (and some only "mildly unique", but still good). The book and story flows well and keeps your interest throughout. And the art style definitely fits the book, it has a lot of energy and it tells the story very effectively. So a very solid book and definitely worth some praise. And yet in the end, I don't know if I was completely sold on it. I'm not sure what it was, the writing was good and the art was solid, yet I'm not completely sold on picking up another volume. I may if I'm looking for something to read but I guess in the end, the story just wasn't something I was looking to read, at least at the moment. It's a book I'd recommend reading but I'm not sure if I'll continue or not. If that makes any sense. :)

No Comic Reviews This Week

No comics came in for me this week and I'm still waiting on a few Amazon orders so I have nothing to review at the moment.

I'm also still trying to collect my thoughts on the iPad. I think it's an impressive piece of technology and it has people excited about what they can do with it. But I don't see myself owning one any time soon if at all. I think it may just be one of those things I watch from the sidelines to see where it goes.

DrunkDuck and EZ Prints

So it seems that the DrunkDuck server upgrade (which has resulted in several weekends of semi-downtime, comics viewable but nothing else) is connected to a deal struck between Platinum Studios and EZ Print to connect DrunkDuck (and its users) with EZ Print so they can sell merchandise for their comics more easily.

My first thought was that this seems kind of nice for some people. Users who may not know about setting up a store on other sites similar to EZ Print, who don't know how to go about it and are a little scared or reluctant, may go for EZ Print (if they are convinced it's as easy as they're saying it will be). And users who don't want to set up with EZ Print (for whatever reason, such as the ability to set your own prices/markup which it appears EZ Print will not allow DrunkDuck users to do) will still have the option of linking to other stores/sites on their DrunkDuck comic. And so people may be able to sell a few things to make a bit of money of their hard work.

Though some of the optimism I'm seeing seems a little rushed. When the feature goes online there will most likely be a rush of DrunkDuckers putting up merchandise in the hopes of quick money. If you're not already making money off your comic than this seems really unlikely to me, there just won't be the demand for merchandise from so many of the comics. Sure, you'll probably sell a couple things to friends or the few followers you have and it'll be nice to get a bit of extra money, but I think that will be it.

Obviously, it also depends on your comic. Some comics people enjoy reading but they may not be up for wearing a shirt or buying a coffee mug from it. Other comics, people probably don't read but if they have cute zombie teddy bear ninjas that look cool then you may do okay.

In the end, I like that they're adding the feature. It seems okay and may help some webcomic creators on there. And considering how slow Platinum has been in doing anything with DrunkDuck (other than keeping it running) it's nice to get something from them. But I don't necessarily see it as a game changer.

My Webcomic Sucks... Yet I Keep Going

Okay, I don't know if I should really say it sucks, it's just not that good. When I started it I was naive. I didn't really know what I was doing or just what it takes to make a good comic. But then again, I wasn't looking to make a living off it or become some sort of comicbook superstar. I just wanted to make a comic and I thought I had a decent idea for a story or at least a story I wanted to tell even if I didn't know who I wanted to tell it to. So given my opinion of my work, why do I keep going?

Over the years (yes, "years") I've been working on it I've had ups and downs both in my personal life and in doing the comic. I've learned a lot about making a comic, either through trial and error or through very constructive criticism I've gotten or through reading some really great advice (either online or in various books). I know I still have lots to learn, and I really have to do a better job of applying what I've already learned, but I like to think I've improved. And despite some depressing times, times where nobody seemed to be reading it and yet I was spending so much of my free time doing it, I kept pushing through (other than one break after chapter 1).

So I guess in the end I continue to do webcomics because I have ideas, ideas I think would make for good stories (whether others agree with this remains to be seen). And I want to get better so they get told in a way that does them justice. Why I continue to work on my current webcomic instead of starting over (either on it or on a different story), it mostly comes down to wanting to finish it. I started it believing this was a story I wanted to tell and I still feel that way. I want to see it through to the end despite it's very shakey beginnings (can't stress that enough, I sometimes go back and cringe at some of the art and storytelling). There will be no money for me (I'll definitely be in the minus on this one with the stuff I've bought to do the comic) and I'll never have the readership of a successful webcomic but it will be something I can say I did.

Plus, if I just stop and start over it's just one more step to never being satisfied with my work to the point where I'll never put any of it out. I've always had issues with not being satisfied with my work (which you can probably tell from this post) so if I wait until I'm happy with my own work, it'll never happen.

And so Divine Leap continues. Just wanted to get some of this off my chest.

Weekly Comic Reviews for January 20, 2010

A whopping one book came out for me this week. Though that appears to be one more than next week. And with my usual Zuda reads either ending or taking a break it seems like I'm hitting a lull in comic reading.

Incredible Hulk #606 -- First up, I usually like Paul Pelletier's art but he, and the rest of the art team, really knocked this one out of the park. Absolutely beautiful art while not sacrificing storytelling. In terms of the story, I often seem to have mixed feelings of Pak's work. I like his stories and in the end, I find them satisfying. But in terms of the issues I often feel like I'm playing catch up or missing something as things seem to jump around. Sometimes this can work, but not in every story. As Banner jumps around in this issue I felt that way. In the end there was some cool stuff but some confusing moments. It gets the Fall of the Hulks storyline off to an interesting start. I won't be collecting all of the Fall of the Hulks (at least not the Red Hulk or the Jeph Loeb Hulk series) so we'll see how that goes for me. This book was good though and I'm curious to see where things go.

Weekly Comic Review for January 13th, 2010

Only one book this week...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #31 -- I have to say that this issue was better than some of the previous issues. It flowed a bit better and was a little easier to follow along. Though I did feel the dialogue was a little awkward at times, but maybe that's just Buffy being Buffy (and I just didn't have this problem when I was watching it on TV for some reason... which seems odd, you'd think comic dialogue should be easier). Having said that, this issue still seemed awkward to me. Not necessarily in the storytelling but in the story that was told. It felt more like "Hey, we have to cover a few story elements that we need set up by the next storyline, we'll just fill an issue with them." Not a bad issue, but not really bringing the story out of its funk either.

And as an additional comment, I have to admit that I'm really upset with Dark Horse's handling of Twilight's identity. They keep saying that there's more to the story and promoting the spoiler doesn't ruin anything but I have to disagree. I don't want any of the story spoiled, I want to experience it as it should be (ie. reading it in the comic). Revealing the character's identity outside of the comic just weakens the comic in my mind. And it's not like I went looking for spoilers, they put it out there. To be honest, it felt like a complete slap in the face to someone who's been reading this series for the last 4 years waiting for the reveal. I've said that I'll be stopping with the monthlies once Buffy is done but them doing this made me consider dropping them earlier.

Image's $1 books

In regards to Image selling some first issues for $1, at first I thought it was interesting and saw one or two I might be interested in checking out. But then I thought "You know, I'd rather them just put these first issues online." I'm not going all "environmental" or anything but I really don't need a physical copy of a book that I may or may not be interested in. I could pick it up and recycle it I suppose but there's still an environment cost to that. And reading the first books online is how I got started on Invincible after all (they posted them legally, I didn't steal). I know this promotion is tied in with the Free Comic Day and aims at getting people into the stores so in terms of that aim, putting them online would be the exact opposite but for me, it would work in maybe getting me interested in picking up a new series.

So in the end, I probably won't ask my store to order me any though if I'm having a slow week I may crack and grab one or two from the shelf.

But I know, I'm already going into the store regularly and buying books (at least for the time being) so I'm not really the target audience for this promotion either.

Weekly Comic Review for January 6th, 2010

No new books came out for me. So instead, I'll give a quick blurb about other comics I've been reading lately (in trade paperback).

Jack of Fables volumes 1-6 -- I didn't expect to enjoy this series as much as I enjoy Fables, Jack didn't seem to be one of my top characters from that series. But thanks to a strong supporting cast and some great writing, I really enjoyed it. A lot more than I thought I would. The Pathetic Fallacy and Babe the Blue Ox are two of my favourites. I was surprised that the story starts going into so much of the Fables backstory/universe, I would have expected that to come up more in the main Fables series. I also don't really know how I feel about where that part of the story is going but I guess I'll know more after reading the Great Fables Crossover. In the end though, a great series and another book to add to my trade paperback purchasing.

Logicomix -- I suppose I'm a bit of a math geek. Not a huge math geek but I do have a bit of a background in the field. So the math behind the story did interest me. For non-math geeks, it may be a little daunting. But this book about some of the people behind the math and the people behind this book itself is a compelling character story. I was entirely sucked into their world and the people. It admittedly varies from history in some parts for artistic license type reasons but I'm glad they admit to it and point out some of their "changes". If you have a math history and enjoy comics, buy this book. If you enjoy comics and can look beyond the math, you'll still get an amazing story. Really great work.

New Toys

I guess I should admit that I saved the biggest Christmas gift for myself. I recently received the MacBook Pro and 12" Wacom Cintiq I ordered. I'm also giving Manga Studio 4 a try. Not sure if it'll improve Divine Leap or help me work faster but I've been talking about getting it for a while now and finally decided to treat myself. For the moment though, until I get used to it, I'm still working with my old Graphire4 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.

My End Of The Year Post

I know everyone and their dog are doing the end of year posts whether it's "The year in review" or "Top X comics of the year/decade" but I figured why go against tradition so I might as well join in. I won't be covering the decade or anything, this year was enough for me. It'll be a mix of comics/geek stuff and other things (but mostly comics) so you've been warned.

The year started off not so good for me. Ottawa was still dealing with a bus strike with no end in sight. And considering I don't own a car and am living in the burbs, I wasn't in a happy place. Friends and family stepped up to help with the essentials (work, groceries, etc) but other than that, I was stuck at home for the most part. It was a pretty rough time for me though admittedly, there were a lot of people who had it far worse.

So getting to the comics, this year really continued my transition away from the monthlies. I dropped titles or titles I was reading were dropped. It's got to the point now that after Buffy season 8 ends I will stop buying monthlies and go to trade paperbacks for my two remaining books, the Incredible Hulk and Elephantmen. On the topic of the Hulk, I initially hated the idea of the "new She-Hulk" but the character has grown on me a bit. I'm still not a big fan of her being "She-Hulk" as I'm still a fan of "the She-Hulk" but she's become someone I could follow. I still dislike the "Red Hulk" and Loeb's writing (on the Hulk books at least).

The first highlight in terms of print books was finally reading Sandman. It's a lot to take in but an excellent story. And I'm enjoying Invincible, the Walking Dead, Locke & Key, Fables, Jack of Fables (a recent/Christmas addition), Ex Machina, Umbrella Academy, and Mouse Guard, all in TPB or collected editions. I'm also looking forward to Powers picking up again and the conclusions to Planetary and Scott Pilgrim. So still plenty of reading, just in a different format. And I'll still be picking up the odd mini-series and such in collected forms.

Which leads me to the webcomics world. I was sorry to see "Celadore" and "Night Owls" come to an end, but at least they weren't like "I Rule the Night" which just stopped. I have picked up a few others along the way to fill the void. "Lily of the Valley" seems to be picking up as it goes and the "Abominable Charles Christopher" for instance may be my favourite webcomic. And I think Andy Belanger's "Bottle of Awesome" has been getting better as it's gone on. But admittedly, I have sort of stuck to webcomics on Zuda and DrunkDuck or followed some of the talent from those sites.

A definite highlight to my year was attending Canada Fan Expo 2009. It was my first big convention and I was a bit overwhelmed but it was definitely a weekend to remember. There were the tv/movie celebrities I got to meet (or just see in person) and there were the comic professionals. Most of the people I met were very friendly. I probably bugged Caanan and Andy Belanger the most by dropping by every once in a while to chat (when they weren't busy) but they were nice enough not to show any annoyance.

So that was a brief look at some of 2009 for me, at least the comic/geek related stuff (I'll leave the more personal rants and such for my friends and family). As for the coming year and the future, here are some of the things I'm looking forward to, either in 2010 or beyond. We have Josh Alves' latest webcomic, Heropotamus. It looks to be off to a good start and I enjoyed his Araknid Kid. There is the Guild comic written by Felicia Day (who took the time to comment on the sketch of Codex I did a while back, which was also a highlight of my year). Of course, there's Canada Fan Expo 2010 which I'm already looking forward to. We have Marvel purchasing Marvelman which I'll be picking up as soon as they get the Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman stuff back into print (I was really excited by that news this year). And personally, I'll be kicking off the final chapter of my webcomic, Divine Leap. And of course, I'm looking forward to more great stuff from the above mentioned books I'm reading.

So I'll just end 2009 by saying thank you to everyone who's stuck around to read this blog, to everyone who took the time to comment, and to anyone who just dropped by. I hope 2009 was good to you and that 2010 will be even better.

Weekly Comic Reviews for December 23, 2009

My last weekly comic reviews post of 2009. I am planning a "2009 Year End" post for next week. I just have to look through the year's posts and see what I want to say. :)

Fall of the Hulks Gamma -- I really want to avoid the spoilers here... Let's start with the art. I have to be honest, I have seen better work from Romita Jr. Some parts just looked rather bad, like he just rushed through it way too quickly. And I can't say for sure where the story is going but all the "surprises" and "twists and turns" of this issue seemed not only forced but also could be seen coming from miles away. I almost didn't expect them to happen because they seemed too obvious but I was wrong. I have an idea where the story is going but again, it seems so obvious that I hope I'm wrong. Overall, not really liking this issue and don't really have high hopes for the storyline at the moment.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow -- I think I could have passed on this issue. First up, it takes place before the series started, so much has happened that it seems like revisiting that time isn't really all that necessary. Unless there's something important which I may have missed. You see a bit more of Willow's character but not really enough for a full comic. And I found the writing and dialogue felt a little off in the beginning, I just found it a little hard to follow. I did think Karl Moline did a good job on the likenesses and the art was pretty solid throughout, though the inks may have been a bit heavy in parts. Overall, a good issue for Buffy fans I suppose but not a great issue in my opinion.

So I end the year on two not-so-positive reviews. I have a few TPBs coming in so perhaps I'll do some reviews of those to end the year on a more positive note. But with that...

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Weekly Comic Reviews for December 16, 2009

Let's get right to it shall we...

Darkness/Pitt #3 (of 3) -- First off, amazing artwork. I don't know if it was my print of the book or not but a few pages seemed a bit washed out where the inks and colours looked a little faded but still, really great. In some panels though the art seemed ... different than the previous issues. Maybe it was just the difference between when issue 1 was done and issue 2 but I don't know. Still, I really do love Dale Keown's work. It was a good conclusion to the story which I'd say was pretty good but really, it felt like just an excuse to get these characters together. And they were great together. Funny and intense. I did enjoy this series. One thing I said to Dale Keown when I met him briefly at Fan Expo Canada was that I almost wished the pages were larger to show off more of the detail of his work (though I don't think I put it that way and I think I just confused him or he thought I just wanted more pages, not too sure, but he was polite about it). Anywho, enough name dropping, I'd say this series is worth checking out.

Elephantmen #23 -- I was a little harsh on the last issue but I thought this one was much better in terms of art and the writing. It did feel a little weird and a bit jumpy as we get closure in some things and some new questions/stories seem to be starting up. I'd say it's a solid issue of what I consider a great series. And I guess that's all I have to say about that. :)

As an added bonus, here's the gift I drew for the DrunkDuck Secret Santa. It was for the user usedbooks who makes the comic Used Books.

Weekly Comic Reviews for December 9th, 2009 -- SPOILERS

I decided to pick up the What if? World War Hulk special so a whopping two books to review. Spoilers abound.

Incredible Hulk #605 -- This was a pretty disappointing issue. I guess it all centers around Skaar feeling it necessary to be the one to kill the creatures from Sakaar but the book seemed to be all over the place. From Moleman's sad little story to Tyranus' appearance, it just seemed like a mix of things that were unnecessary to the story. Perhaps it's due to the fact that this is the calm before the Fall of the Hulks storm or it's just that I don't really care about these characters (including Skaar) all that much. Both Olivetti and Pelletier's art were nice but didn't really fit together over the story. And I felt the fight between Skaar and Tyranus could have been a bit clearer as to what was happening in some panels. Overall, not really a great issue in my opinion.

What if? World War Hulk #1 -- After the disappointment of the Incredible Hulk issue I really hoped this would be a good book. It wasn't. It was really bad. I almost wondered if the creators had even read the World War Hulk series. The Hulk just didn't feel like the "Green Scar" Hulk that was in World War Hulk. And the idea of "what if the heroes had lost" just seemed off because it's not really like they won World War Hulk in the first place. This was more like "what if the heroes really screwed up and killed themselves" and focused on the Skrull/Secret Invasion. The Thor joining WWH story was really bad. So a trainload of people convinced the Hulk to talk it out with Thor? That seemed really weak. Some of the cartoons at the end were pretty funny though. But a very week issue of What if? and not something I'd recommend.

So yeah, not a very good week I felt.

Very late reviews for December 2nd, 2009 (and older)

I was travelling for work last week but I was finally able to pick up my books from last week which included the second issue of "The Stuff of Legend" (my comic shop missed ordering it for me the first time around).

The Stuff of Legend #2 -- I thought that this was advertised as a two issue story but it looks like only chapter 1 is two issues and there's not a lot of closure with the ending of chapter 1. This was a really solid issue though. A lot of emotions at play and unique characters showing their range. And the art is really beautiful and solid storytelling for the most part (a few scenes took me a minute to figure out but weren't too bad). I have seen/heard people comparing this to Toy Story (it is toys coming to life after all) but I think that really does this a disservice, there's so much more to the story and the characters. I'm really looking forward to seeing where the story and characters go so I'm a little disappointed in the length of time between issues (I think the second volume is set to start in the spring 2010, around the same time as the collected version of the first two issues) but at least they're upfront with the schedule. I definitely recommend checking this one out, especially with the Free Comic Book Day book online.

Fall of the Hulk Alpha #1 -- I was on the fence as to whether or not I would be picking this series up but I decided to give it a try, I need some books to review after all. I'll see where it goes and drop it if I need to pick up Loeb's Red Hulk stuff (seriously, even the characters who created him are refering to him as "a Red Hulk" as in "we will create a Red Hulk"?). First up, I love Pelletier's work. I thought the inking here was a little rough but still really impressive art. As for the story, I'm not a huge fan of this trend towards "Look, we have another group of masterminds who have secretly been behind all these events in the Marvel Universe. Isn't that clever?" How many "secret groups" are there and how many have Doom involved? Though I guess that makes sense for Doom. I do have to admit to kinda liking the explanation of this group being behind helping each other out when they get caught or worse, explaining their (and other character's) unexplained freedom and reappearances throughout the years. But in the end I was sort of "meh, it feels like it's been done very recently by the Illuminati and the Cabal." If you're a big Hulk fan and looking forward to Fall of the Hulks this is a pretty important book, but I wasn't really blown away by anything in the story yet. Just have to see where things go I suppose.

Weekly Comic Reviews for November 25th, 2009

Only the one book came out for me this week.

Son of Hulk #17 -- I haven't been a big fan of this series but I was hoping for a good finale. Unfortunately I was left pretty disappointed. I found myself just struggling to make it through the issue as I really didn't care about the characters or what was happening. Every character seemed to be a throw away character. Even one of the "main" characters is listed as "MIA" at the beginning of the book which led me to believe there would be more to her story, there wasn't... So why should I have cared? I really should have stopped collecting this series a while back and I don't recommend it.

I'll be away next week for a conference (work related) so there won't be much happening on here for a little while.

Weekly Comic Reviews for November 18, 2009 -- SPOILERS

Two books to review this week and I'll have to make them short.

Dr Horrible One Shot -- Good art, decent story, but not a great book. I felt the character's voices were there and it was interesting to see Dr Horrible's start but this book felt a little light on story. Some parts seemed to be dragged out over too many pages/panels and by the end I thought that it could have potentially been reduced to fewer pages and either put online or maybe had the other Dr Horrible online comics included in this print version. If you're a Dr Horrible fan you're probably going to pick it up no matter what anyone says and as a fan, I'd say check it out but don't expect something that great.

Incredible Hulk #604 -- My first thought was "When did Rick take over A-Bomb? And if he has, why hasn't he revealed to everyone who the Red Hulk is?" But I quickly figured it happened in Loeb's Hulk series (or not) and moved on. I do like both artists who work on this book and again, the two artists wasn't really as distracting as I've seen it in the past. The overall story is interesting, we get to see a lot more of Banner's thinking and current personality/state of mind, but parts felt a little quick/convenient/rushed. The Harpy/Marlo thing for instance, where did that come from so suddenly? And it disappeared as quickly as it started. I really want to like this book and I don't think it's bad, but I think the story could be told a bit better.

Weekly Comic Reviews for November 11th, 2009

I got nothing. No books came out for me this week which really isn't too surprising. I'm not really too sure what I'm going to blog about when I switch to TPBs. I don't normally like reviewing those and they are months apart. Perhaps I'll try to post more about other comic news and webcomic stuff.

But if you're really desperate for some reviews I did read "I Kill Giants" and "Stitches: A Memoir" recently. And looking back, I wish I had separated them with a few more light hearted books instead of reading them one after the other.

I found with I Kill Giants that it took a few pages before I felt comfortable reading it. It's a little different visually than what I'm used to but it was the word balloons that I found a little challenging, always looking for the little line that indicated who was saying what. Either I adapted or it got better as the book went on. But overall, an extremely moving and compelling story and the art really fit and told the story well. Definitely worth checking out.

Stitches: A Memoir didn't have the dynamic art and layouts of I Kill Giants but told a very personal story in a more straight forward style. The art was more along the lines of storybook illustrations though it did flow rather well. I think this style worked here and anything more "dynamic" just wouldn't have fit. When I was done reading it I had mixed feelings about some things such as wanting to explore certain parts of the story more but I think David Small says it best in the write ups at the end, this is his story. He could have gone more into his mother's story or his father's but I think he's right not to and just leave it to the reader to think about. It's definitely a touching story that plays on many emotions. I'd say this one is worth checking out as well.

I also finally checked out an episode of "Ink: Alter Egos Exposed" and it was interesting. It was about politics in comics. The downside is that there is so much that could be talked about that you only get snippets in the 30 minutes they boil it down to and so much is missed. But on the other hand, they do talk about some interesting stuff that I hadn't heard about (such as Joe Sacco, a journalist who uses comics to report on what's happening). I really want to see the other 9 episodes they did for this show but then again, I can always stand to listen to people talk comics so that's no surprise.

V -- SPOILERS

Finally got around to watching the first episode of V and was pretty disappointed. I thought the acting was good but that was about it. The story didn't really hook me and it felt like they were trying way too hard with the whole "secret terrorist cell" to be relevant to the real world or something. And I found it extremely predictable. All the plot twists (really, how many do you need to throw into the first episode) were pretty transparent early on. Also, how many worm's eye views do you really need? They really seemed to be pushing the whole "Hey, crazy camera angles, that creates drama right?" thing. I really hope it gets better soon but if this what they thought would hook people as their initial episode I'll probably be dropping this show from my watch list pretty quickly.

Weekly Comic Reviews for November 4th, 2009

At home sick today. Nothing serious, I think it's just a combination of several things.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #30 -- Again, not really too thrilled with this issue. And it's the same things, the storytelling aspect just doesn't seem to be executed well. Sometimes it's confusing what's going on, who's talking, and their is just weird times where I'm trying to figure out if I'm missing something. I'm wondering about Twilight mentioning a god almost killing Buffy and her friends only it's not shown until half way through the next page. Can he see the future or something? Overall I've just found this series to be going downhill recently. I'm still hoping things get turned around but we'll see.

One other thing, once Buffy season 8 is over that'll most likely be it for my weekly comic purchasing. If I do decide to buy season 9 it will be through the TPBs so I'd be down to two monthly books at that point (Incredible Hulk and Elephantmen) and I was thinking of going with TPBs on Elephantmen anyways so that would just leave the Incredible Hulk. So long story short, there's no point and I'll be going all TPBs. Perhaps I'll drop by a store to pick up the odd one-shot (though if companies start selling online through Longbox or something else then I won't even do that) but that's about it.

Weekly Comic Reviews for October 28th, 2009 -- SPOILERS

I know, I'm really late with this review. And even now I have to make it quick.

Son of Hulk #16 -- I said in my last review that we seem to be getting dragged very slowly to the final confrontation (or whatever) with Galactus and here we have yet another issue supposedly building up to that. I'm really not into this series at all any more. Characters that I kinda cared about are dead and they just seem to be throwing random characters with no identities into the mix and killing them off. There really doesn't seem to be a strong pull for me to get into the story. If the next issue wasn't the last I would have dropped this series already.

What I've Been Reading

I'll be heading to my comic shop tomorrow. So until here then, here's a list of some of the stuff (TPBs for the most part) I've read over the last while:

All New Savage She-Hulk Vol 1 -- Yeah, I was ticked about the whole canceling She-Hulk and having this series come out using the She-Hulk name but after reading the She-Hulk bits in Incredible Hulk I decided to give it a try. I actually think it's well done and the character is interesting.

Irredeemable Vol 1 -- Better than I was expecting, really good actually. They're doing a good job of the whole "most powerful hero becoming the most evil person on the planet", an idea I initially kinda didn't think was enough of a hook for me.

Umbrella Academy Dallas -- I actually liked this volume more than the first. Somewhat out there but well done.

Wonderful Wizard of Oz -- Beautiful art and more faithful to the book (than the movie). Worth checking out.

Locke & Key Vol 2 -- Took me a bit to get back into it (had to really remind myself of the characters and where they were left off at the end of Volume 1) but some really interesting stuff going on. Definitely looking forward to volume 3.

Peter & Max -- Great novel and a must read for Fables fans. Non-Fables readers can also enjoy it.

No Comic Reviews Yet

Reviews will be delayed again this week until at least the weekend. Sorry but work is kinda nuts right now.

Yay!

Chapter 2 is done!

Weekly Comic Reviews for October 21st, 2009 -- SPOILERS

A little swamped at work at the moment so have to be quick.

Incredible Hulk #603 -- Not a big fan of two artists drawing one book/story, I often find it jarring. This wasn't too bad but still a little jarring. I don't really know much about Dakken and where he stands with Logan at the moment so some of the story was lost on me a bit. The punchline at the end was pretty funny though. The Lyra story was good in giving us some backstory and setting up the climax. All in all, just a good issue, not great.

Dark Reign List the Hulk (or whatever the title is) -- This one I have mixed feelings on. I was going along with it up until the whole Osborn exposing Banner to gamma radiation and thinking that somehow solves his problem. Yeah, I can see that solving his problem with Banner and maybe if Skaar kills the Hulk then maybe, but bringing back the Hulk shouldn't be something even Osborn does lightly. I guess I'll have to see where it goes. Though with the Hulk branching off into World War Hulks, who knows if that's it for this part of the story. We also get a reprint of an Amazing Spider-Man issue (where Green Goblin and Spidey stumble upon a cave that the Hulk is hiding in). It fits with the main story (as it's referenced) but I'm not really a huge fan of adding reprints to a book, it feels like it's being used as justification for the $3.99 price tag.

Elephantmen #22 -- Wasn't a huge fan of the artwork on this one. We spend a lot of time with a confusing conversation between Vanity and a guy I still don't really remember. And then a few other things happen. I normally love this book and I'm eager to see where everything goes but I just couldn't love this issue. It felt pretty jumbled to me.

Well, that's it for this week.

Another Webcomic of Note

A while back I was pointed towards Transmission X and Raising Hell in particular (a fun Zombie story). I got to meet Andy Belanger at Fan Expo Canada (and probably annoyed the hell out of him by re-visiting him from time to time) as well as some of the other Transmission X guys (all seemed like great guys and they hosted an entertaining Making Webcomics panel). But enough about that.

One of the books on Transmission X, The Abominable Charles Christopher, really stuck out to me as something interesting but I never really got around to reading it until recently. It's an incredible work that is beautifully drawn with an engaging story that has a wide emotional range, going from happy and funny in one setting to sad and serious in the next. I highly recommend checking it out. I've definitely added it to my must read webcomics.

Weekly Comic Reviews for October 7th, 2009 -- May Contain SPOILERS

Only one book this week, which may be one more than I pick up next week.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer #29 -- Perhaps I should hold off reviews on this book until this storyline is over as it seems to have lost me a while back. Though I didn't find this book as bad as some of its predecessors in this storyline, I still wasn't into it. The problems for me continue in terms of the writing and the art. I just don't find it's a well done comic. There are too many times I don't know who's talking (pulling too far back showing only cartoony characters that all look the same with their army gear on, it's annoying to figure out who's saying what). And things just seem to be fumbling along making the story seem stretched out as we wait for a climax. The whole army versus powerless slayers and werewolves is definitely something they couldn't have done in the TV show and perhaps that contributes to this not really feeling like a Buffy story in some ways. Yeah, I'm really not digging this book right now. I hope it comes together after this arc is over and we start looking at the climax of season 8. I think for season 9 I'll be going the TPB route (waiting for reviews before picking it up).

I also picked up a few other books on Amazon, Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Locke and Key vol 2 (which I was disappointed to find had several pages glued together), and the Umbrella Academy: Dallas. I've only read Locke and Key and the Superman one so far so I have some reading to do this weekend.

Kinda nice

The DrunkDuck awards were handed out a while back. No nominations (which were determined by user voting) much less awards (decided by the judge panel I believe) of course but now that they've posted a list of everyone who got a vote in each category I was pleasantly surprised by three categories. Best sci-fi, best action scenes (this one was a big shocker), and friendliest DrunkDucker. I have to admit, it's a pretty good feeling even if it is just one vote in each.

And as for that whole FTC thing

Concerning the FTC thing on bloggers who post reviews, first up I'm Canadian so there's that. Plus, I've only ever been offered three things to review for free (that I can recall) and only took up the offer once. The other two I declined the free version to pay for it, mostly for wanting to support the creators of those projects. And for the one time I did mention being given the book to review so there.

I'm actually surprised that I was offered anything for free but I guess even a blog that's got as few visitors as mine could be a potential place to build up steam for a book.

I'm a Consumer

I recently bought a gaming system and it's surprising me how it's started me along a path of examining my life. The thing is that I've been thinking about buying this system (not sure why but I'd rather not name the system, probably just because I don't think it's relevant) but I've always talked myself out of it. Every time I thought about it there were the voices of those around me who questioned my purchase. There was the "Oh, don't buy that system because this other system is sooo much better" and there was the "so you're falling into the must-buy-the-latest-tech crowd" (despite the fact that this system has been out for a while now) and the "you shouldn't spend this money on yourself but give it to someone who needs it". It all made me question my motives to the point where I wouldn't feel right spending the money, especially on myself. So what pushed me over the edge?

I looked at my life over the last few years. I've been working at this job for 6 years and it pays okay but what have I spent money on? A condo (okay, a big purchase but everyone needs somewhere to live), a decent TV (at least when I bought it 5 years ago and I've paid for cable ever since), and a low end computer (with a low end Wacom Tablet). I don't even own a car (the reasons for which include: I don't like to drive, the bus can get me to most places I need to go, and I never felt right spending the money on it if I didn't need it or even really want it). But that's about it. There was also the comic book thing, but as you can see from my blog I only get a couple issues a week and the odd TPB purchase. But other than that I've always talked about maybe one day buying a Tablet PC to draw on or travelling to a convention or buying a game system but holding off.

There were the charities of course. I give to various charities through work and when friends do the "Run for..." or some other event. Could I give more? Perhaps. Do I give enough? How much is enough? Do I have to give away everything I don't need or until there is a cure? Or is just giving enough to clear my conscience enough? Of course, if friends guilt me enough that amount will change. But all that is a few blog posts on their own.

So the thing was, I wasn't spending money for my own enjoyment (other than the comics and cable TV). I kept holding out, it was almost like I didn't think spending money on myself was worth it. Or maybe it was that I was going to become the "evil commercial consumer" that was part of some sort of evil system that relies on money. Either way I felt I had to put my foot down. Everyone always says life is too short, if buying a game system or going to a convention was going to make me happy and I had the budget for it then why not? Why wasn't I worth spending money on? And as for giving my money to the evil corporations or what not (I'm not talking about the overly exploitive ones, I stay away from those, I just have too many people telling me all corporate entities or even individuals in it for money and such are evil), well if they're providing me with some enjoyment and they aren't hurting/exploiting anyone (which I know can be debatable in many cases) than why shouldn't I pay them for it? It's like artists (singers, comic artists, etc) getting blasted for wanting money for their work and people revolting, why shouldn't they be paid for providing people with some level of enjoyment? If they're improving my life in some way, even if it's just giving me 5 minutes of pleasure while reading a comic or listening to a song (an event that could last forever in my brain) why not compensate them. But again, that's another blog post rant.

And as for it not being the right system, well I strongly felt that it was the right system for me. Sure, each system have their pros and cons, I think it all comes down to getting the system that's right for you. And I feel strongly that this is the system for me and I'm not going to be told I'm wrong because it's not the system for those around me.

So in conclusion, I bought the system. I've spent a few hours on it and am looking forward to more. And I'm trying my best not to feel bad about it. If that makes me part of the evil corporate/capitalist/commercial system or makes me a worse person than I guess I'll have to live with it. But fortunately, with life being short and all that, I won't have to live with it for long... Unless I get reincarnated into something horrible, I guess that would suck. Or if that doesn't fit your religion of choice you can feel free to believe someone or something will judge me and I'll have to deal with that when the time comes.

It's rather scary how much the purchase of a $200 game system makes me ponder isn't it? But now you can see why it took me years to make up my mind. :)

Mondays

Started the week feeling pretty good about myself. Fortunately Monday morning came along and brought me down to Earth.

Weekly Comic Reviews for September 30th, 2009 -- SPOILERS

I know I'm late getting these posted, it's been a pretty hectic week.

Son of Hulk #15 -- Everything points to the Son of Hulk trying to get Galactus' attention for a final showdown but it seems to be taking a while to get there. There seems to be a lot going on that just doesn't feel important to the overall story. Maybe it will be later but for now, I'm just not feeling it. And it's weird, I feel in some ways it's well written, I just don't really care for these three legged people and what's going on with them. I've said in the past I would give the series a few issues to see where it goes, and it's getting close to those "few issues" being done and me dropping this title. I'll probably see it through to issue 17 (to see if the "climactic installment" is worth it).

Runaways #14 -- I've been rather critical of this book the last few issues. This issue seemed somewhat better in some ways but still felt off. It felt like I knew what they were trying to do with this issue but still came across rather messy and confusing. And as the supposed conclusion to the current arc I found it failed. It felt like it resolved none of the story and just started up new questions. Like who is this girl who looks like Gertrude and may have her own raptor but doesn't respond to Gert, an unknowing twin or something? And then there's the cliffhanger with Chase. It felt more like the start of a new story arc was thrown in so we didn't need to finish the previous storyline. I hear the book is being sidelined while they retool it, I'm not sure I'll be back after the retooling. I'll most likely drop it in the monthly format, wait to see what I hear, and maybe pick up the digests/TPBs.

I also picked up High Moon but I don't think I'll be posting another review, I've talked about that book enough and it's just a print version of what you can find on the website. I think they've improved the print version in comparison to Bayou's print version. I still don't think it matches the web version but I find it's an improvement over Bayou's version. But now I have a print version to put on my bookshelf. And it comes just in time for the newest chapter of High Moon to kick off on Zuda.

Weekly Comic Reviews for September 23rd, 2009

I had asked my Twitter followers to recommend 3 additional books for this week but got nothing (yes, that probably sounds really sad). So only 2 reviews this week and due to issues at work they have to be quick.

Darkness/Pitt #2 -- I was slightly underwhelmed by this issue. The artwork is beautiful and there are some pages where I just thought "wow!" but the middle of the book felt a little off in terms of storytelling. We have Pitt giving more backstory to the virus stuff with snapshot after shapshot appearing under the narration. I just felt the backstory could have been introduced and presented a bit better, it didn't seem to flow well this way. And the last few pages felt a little choppy at times as well, as we went back and forth between Pitt/Jackie and the agents following them. But the final scene promises a whopper of a third issue. Still enjoying the series over all but perhaps this issue just fell into the typical middle "lull", trying to move the story from the intro to the climax.

Incredible Hulk #602 -- I have to admit, I don't like this whole "once he gets moving he can't be stopped" superpower of Juggernaut. I always took it as just boasting when Jugs claimed that as I always took his powers to be super strength and invulnerability (making him all but unstoppable). The "can't be stopped" version just seems stupid to me. Having said that, I guess it shows Skaar's ability to adapt and overcome (though I think the same could be done with a foe who is as strong or stronger than Skaar and totally invulnerable). But again, I wasn't blown away by this issue. It felt a little like they are going the same route as Loeb's Red Hulk, trying to show how badass Skaar is by having him beat the "unbeatable" (or at least "unstoppable"). Though at least here we have Banner planning it, though we are left wondering why (as are the Beast and Richards). So overall, it was a good issue and the art was very nice. I just hope there's more to the story in the end than just Skaar beating everyone up for no reason.

So that's it for this week. I also polished off the second TPB of Guardians of the Galaxy. I didn't really know too much about the characters going into the series but the writing is great and you pick up what you need to along the way. I was a little lost at the ending of this volume but I'm sure I'll make sense of it eventually.

Family

Most of my father's side of the family were in town this past weekend for my aunt's wedding. I wondered how long it took before I got the "when are you going to get married/have kids" line or the "when are you going to come for a visit?" guilt trip. Both happened within the first hour of getting together on Friday. In under 30 minutes an aunt was insisting that not only should I travel to New Brunswick immediately for vacation but that I should talk to work about being transferred there (I guess she's been looking into it and saw that some employees who work in the same government institute as me had moved to New Brunswick). And upon seeing my new nephew (born Sept 12th) a second aunt made a beeline across the room to me to ask "so doesn't this make you want to get married and have kids?" I replied "No" and walked away.

At least that was it for the getting married/having kids thing (which was surprising). My other aunt wouldn't let it go and made sure she got my phone number so she could call to check up on how the plans to move to New Brunswick are going.