Quick Comic Reviews - Castle: Richard Castle's Storm Season

Castle: Richard Castle's Storm Season - What a lengthy title, yeesh! I have to admit that these Richard Castle comic "adaptations" really haven't blown me away. There's nothing really bad about this book (although a couple page layouts could have been improved) but as a fan of the show, I just have high hopes for it and it's not coming anywhere close. And when you're releasing a hardcover comic like this, I also get my hopes up for something a bit better. Again, they aren't bad stories, but it's just okay stories with okay (or maybe slightly better than that) execution. I probably won't be picking up any more unfortunately.

Quick Comic Reviews - The Sixth Gun Volume 4

It's getting harder and harder to review the books that are consistently good so I might need to figure something out there. But here goes the Sixth Gun Volume 4.

The Sixth Gun Volume 4 -- I'm going to have to go back through my blog to see what it was that made me decide to try out this series. It doesn't seem like something I would seek out but it's been a great series so far. Volume 4 continues that trend of solid writing and artwork. There were two things that popped up for me though. First, the silent chapter. I get that it was connected to having one of the characters temporarily lose their hearing and it made sense for parts that were told from their perspective (more or less) but it also felt weird as the whole chapter wasn't from her perspective. But I guess that's an artistic choice they made, so kudos to them for trying, it just didn't work 100% for me. And sometimes I wonder if we could have a short story, a chapter or two, that wasn't so focused on the six guns. Have them go somewhere where nobody has heard of the guns and they have to do something that's not directly related to them. I don't know, I just wouldn't mind a bit of a tangent story of some sort. But that might just be me and right now the series is at such a high pace with everything going on that inserting such a story may break the narrative so I'm probably wrong to want this. But overall, a great volume. Looking forward to volume 5 now.

Digital Comics Revisited... Again

I've been trying to stay away from the whole "future of comics" discussion lately, I'm just rather tired of it. But I decided to watch Mark Waid's talk on "Reinventing Comics and Graphic Novels for Digital" (found on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPikusZm2As ) to see what he had to say. I won't go into it in too much detail. I will say that I admire what he is trying to do with Thrillbent. One way or another, digital is here to stay so talking about what can be done (storytelling wise as well as money wise) instead of just ignoring it (or going in blindly) makes sense.

But in terms of the storytelling, here's where I have some issues. I wouldn't call them serious issues, they may only apply to me, but I've found some of the storytelling tricks/techniques to really not work for me. One in particular that I've grown a dislike for is when you keep the page/panels almost the same when the reader goes to the next "page", only changing little things (an expression, a gesture, some dialogue, or whatever else). And sometimes it doesn't work for me when even big things change. To put it simply, when this is done I feel like I'm doing one of those "spot the 8 differences between these pictures" games. I stop focussing on what exactly is happening and focus on going back and forth trying to spot the differences. I can't seem to help it. And even when I do spot the differences, I keep looking through every background detail to see if there's something I'm missing. It completely takes me out of the story.

So maybe it's just me but I actually prefer it when the visual hits me in the face with what I need to know instead of appearing to play games with me. So if the changes are significant enough, it's less of an issue for me, but as I said there's still something in me that isn't sure. It sort of reminds me of scenes where we see two characters fighting only to have one character stab the other with a dagger that seems to appear out of the blue. I wonder where it came from and have to go back two pages to see that the character picked it up while other stuff was catching my eye. Or, other times, I can only guess the character had it hidden somewhere as its origin is never quite revealed. In my mind, unless you really want to keep it from the reader, make it clear. Slide in a quick panel showing the character's hand snatching the dagger or pulling it from their pocket. This is different than the other scenario where two characters are fighting and one retreats only to reveal to the reader later that they pick pocketed the thing they were fighting over. Basically, the scenario where you really want to surprise the reader. But think carefully over which you want to do. Surprising the reader with the dagger may work in some situations but you should really think about whether that makes sense for the story you want to tell. And  if you're thinking "Ha! I'll outsmart my readers by hiding these things from them" then you might want to rethink your approach. This isn't really what's happening in the video, just something I was thinking of about visual storytelling.

But there are tricks that Mr Waid shows that do work for me (some better than others and some I feel could use some tweaking). I think the piranha page works to some level. I think the page where two people are talking in the kitchen while the flashback panel between them has some merit but I wouldn't have minded some change in the talking characters (raising a glass to their mouths from time to time, actually moving away from filling the pot at the sink, etc).

In the end, it's an interesting talk. But of course, I almost always find comic talk interesting. :)

Quick Comic Reviews - Atomic Robo: Flying She-Devils of the Pacific

I know it's been a little while since I posted a review. I've been reading "The Cartoon History of the Universe" Volumes 1-7 and it's taking me a while to get through. But I took a break from that to read the latest Atomic Robo volume so...

Atomic Robo Volume 7 -- It's getting rather difficult to review this series (among others) because I don't want to just keep saying "This series is awesome!" But really, this is series IS awesome. So I'll have to try to find a negative. Well, I wasn't really a big fan of Robo's reaction to the She-Devils in the beginning. He seemed a bit too "You're all women???"-y. But I guess this is 1951 Robo and it's not like he's always been the most progressive character (not that he's horrible, he's just not perfect). Plus, it is a group of female pirates flying around the Pacific in jetpacks so the whole thing is probably somewhat unnerving.

I know there were other complaints about this volume. Some of it was about the change in art style and I think some of it was about something else entirely. Clearly, I didn't bother reading too much of that stuff but as for the art style, I don't get it. I probably wouldn't have noticed had I not read about it, I don't often notice those changes unless there's something clearly wrong with the new style. Part of that may be due to reading the trades, it's been a while since I've read Robo drawn by Wegener. But this story read well and the characters had unique looks so I was happy with the art. But I probably would have been happy with the old style as well so who knows. And as for the writing, great as usual.

So, in the end, this series is awesome!

Quick Comic Reviews - The Defenders Volume 2

Ottawa Comiccon is shaping up to be better than last year, at least in terms of the guests being invited (in my opinion of course). I'm definitely looking forward to it. But as for the review...

The Defenders Volume 2 -- I really enjoy the way Matt Fraction writes the characters in this series. He makes them all very interesting to me. My problem though is that I find when comics start going on about universal threats with Celestials, time/universe travelling, and god machines my eyes just seem to start to glaze over. And I found that this series fell into the usual "tie it up in a nice little bow so we never have to think about this again" that these sorts of events often fall into. It felt like quite a bit of a letdown for me. I'm sure if I could get past my own issues with this sort of story it might be really good, but I can't so I was pretty let down with this volume. Maybe a good series to read if you're really into Dr Strange or, to a lesser degree, Iron Fist but not something I'd really recommend to too many people. And it's too bad given how well the characters themselves read.

Quick Comic Reviews -- Fables Volume 18: Cubs in Toyland

Still fighting off this cold but I seem to be getting a little better each day. Hope I didn't just jinx it.

Fables Volume 18: Cubs in Toyland - I still had the disappointment of Werewolves of the Heartland in my head going into this volume. Fortunately, this volume is so much better. It's a better story and much better told than Werewolves. It's definitely not a cheery tale but if you've been reading Fables then you'll know to expect stories like this. While some series are letting me down as they get up around the 100 issue mark, Fables seems to just keep being great (for the most part). Definitely still recommend picking this series up if you aren't already.

Quick Comic Reviews - Wonder Woman Volume 2

Still battling that cold but it seems to be getting better. Hope I didn't jinx it by saying that...

Wonder Woman Volume 2: Guts -- I have to say that I wasn't as pleased with this volume as I was the first one. I thought it was a solid story but just didn't work for me as well as the first six issues did. Some parts read a little weird or choppy (not sure if it was the dialogue or the art or a combination that was the issue). I do like that they kept the mythological angle as a big part of this story, it had me looking a few things up as it's been a while since I've looked at that stuff. So having said all that, I think it's still a very solid series from the DC 52 relaunch but I don't think it's enough to hold my interest beyond these first two volumes.

Quick Comic Reviews - Invincible Volume 17: What's Happening

I've sort of felt something coming on for the last few days and I think today it has revealed itself as a cold with the possibility of becoming a full on "man cold." It's mostly hitting my chest at the moment with a touch of nasal issues. But on that lovely note...

Invincible Volume 17: What's Happening -- Well, I was happy that we got to see what happened with Robot and Monster Girl in that other dimension even if it did seem to interrupt the other stuff going on. There was a fair amount of juggling going on here, jumping between the flashbacks which covered 700 years and the current ongoing invasion as well as some other stuff (like Invincible's condition after what happened in the last volume and Bulletproof's stuff). It worked okay for the most part but there were a few times I had to go back to see if I missed something or how we transitioned from one time/place to another. Maybe that was the cold but I don't think so. But we get a lot of superhero fighting, a lot of character development and emotional moments, and we eventually get back to the volume 16 stuff (but just at the end) so what more could I ask for? In the end, a pretty solid volume of Invincible and I'm eager to see what's in store for volume 18 (which will have issue 100, I hear it's a big one).

Quick Comic Reviews - Werewolves of the Heartland

Making my way through my "to read" pile that grew way too large over the Christmas holidays and continues to grow. I may have to cut myself off from buying any more books until I get it down to a manageable size... Oh, who am I kidding.

Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland -- As a side story I can see why this was put out separate from the regular Fables book. Though, a few issues dedicated to Bigby isn't really unheard of. Story wise, it's an interesting book. It's well written (for the most part) and definitely keeps your attention. But a few things seem a little out of place or just don't tie in quite as well with the rest of the story. It just could have been a bit tighter. And in terms of art, it's solid for the most part but there are a few areas where it's a little inconsistent or just not as clear in terms of storytelling as it could be. I know this will sound cruel but it sort of had the feel of a side series that you don't really put your A-team on. And considering this was a story that got released in hardcover as a special I just thought it could have been a bit more polished. If you're reading Fables already you'll (most likely) want to read this, but you could wait for a softcover at least. If you aren't reading Fables, this probably isn't the book for you.

Messy Layouts

I'm pretty sure there is only one person in the world that can make sense of my initial page layouts and I hope one day to find him/her.

I'm already thinking that this page is going to take quite a while due to several issues like:

• Need to focus on the backgrounds a bit more to establish the scene fully. And the backgrounds are a little more complicated than I usually do and also new to me (have to design more of the house layout to make sense while still working with previous shots I've done, taking the shortcut earlier can really suck sometimes).
• Lots of dialogue with a lot of visuals, always makes things interesting to figure out.
• And by "visuals" I mean the combination of backgrounds, a number of characters, and emotion (facial and body language) all needing to have a presence.

Which reminds me of the time that I was having a "discussion" with a guy on a message board about how long it takes to draw a page. He was arguing every page takes the same amount of time and that anyone who can't match Jack Kirby's output (which he put at 2-3 pages per day) was just lazy. I was trying to take the other side on both counts. Of course, he was a doctor/surgeon, company CEO, and close personal friend of George Perez (it was surprising to see a surgeon and company CEO have so much time to post on every thread in a Heroclix forum, but that's beside the point) so of course I was wrong on all counts. 

Quick Comic Reviews - The Incredible Hulk Volume 2 (2013 edition)

Incredible Hulk Vol 2 by Jason Aaron and a host of artists -- I haven't been a huge fan of Jason Aaron's run on the Hulk. The first volume was a miss for me for the most part. The story of Doom separating the Hulk and Banner just seemed weak and silly to me and Banner's personality switch after (the idea seeming to be that he's an insane madman without the Hulk) just didn't work for me. He's been split from the Hulk before and despite being a bit of a jerk he wasn't like this (though perhaps it was how Doom split them this time that made the difference). And the art in the first volume was a bit of a mess. I'm only saying this because this volume continues this story so I didn't have high hopes. I will say the art is better, or at least more consistent in this volume (the artists tend to at least be able to complete a whole issue before someone else takes over). There were a few parts where the story seemed jumpy, I'm not sure if that was the writing or the art just not telling the story. But once I was able to put all that behind me the story did have its moments. There was a decent amount of humour and seriousness mixed in. The Doombots (whether it was Bruce blasting them away or their doubts about Doom himself) were fun to read. And Banner's comment about Doom using a chainsaw to cut his head open was a bit on the nose for me. So it was a more enjoyable read than I expected. And it had a very solid ending. Of course, with all the Marvel NOW stuff being thrown around I already knew how this situation was going to play out. I need to figure out some way to filter the comic news.

So in the end, it was a somewhat interesting run on the Hulk. I guess I have to give them props for trying. But it definitely wasn't my favourite. I'm eager to give Mark Waid's run a go though (before too much of it gets spoiled for me).

Quick Comic Reviews - Angel and Faith Volume 2: Daddy Issues

Angel and Faith Volume 2: Daddy Issues -- This series seems to work a lot more for me than the Buffy season 9 series. Overall, there's a direction, a purpose for the story and the characters that just connects with me a lot more than the Buffy series. But enough of the comparisons. On its own I'd say this series is pretty good. Not overwhelming but it has its moments. There are the usual character moments, the banter between Angel and Faith (and others), and a good flow to the story. The art isn't spectacular but it's pretty solid. Though I think there were a few times where some visual clues could have been a bit better. There were a few times where I had to flip back and search back through panels to find things I missed and that took me out of the reading a bit. But it wasn't a huge deal. While I think I'm done with the Buffy series, there's a good chance I'll be sticking with this one to see where it goes.

Quick Comic Reviews - Scalped Volume 10: Trail's End

Scalped Volume 10: Trail's End -- Scalped has been an amazing series and it really ends with a bang (several in fact). Okay, bad pun. It ends really well. Aaron and Guera are on top of their game here. This series has had plenty of twists and turns, complex characters who have really grown in different ways over the 10 volumes, and some extremely tense moments. This volume has all that thrown in to a tight package. I'm so glad I decided to try out this series, it has been great from start to end. Give it a year or two and I'm definitely going to have to do a Scalped re-read.

Quick Comic Review - Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me

"Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me" by Harvey Pekar and JT Waldman -- I was a little late to Harvey Pekar's work but I quickly fell in love with his American Splendor once I checked it out. Some of his other work hasn't connected quite as well with me but it's usually an interesting read. This book was very interesting to me. The subject matter is obviously a very delicate matter with a lot of complexity to it but Harvey boils it down to how he sees things. He's an avid reader and definitely knows more than many on the subject but perhaps not as much as we all should. But it's how sees things and that's what Harvey Pekar is all about. It's not meant to be a complete history, it's just his views. So perhaps you could argue some points but what I find interesting is that the negative reviews of this book tend to fall right in with what Harvey describes in his book. Just speaking his mind is met with so much hostility. But I'll avoid going in to a rant on that. If you want to look into the history and everything else, go elsewhere but be prepared for doing a lot of research. And be prepared to have to go through much misinformation for some very grey answers, not everything is black and white. But if you're interested in actually listening to Harvey Pekar's view then read this book. And I think it's worth at least listening to him with an open mind.

And as for JT Waldman, his art is sensational in this book. The varying styles, the details, the layouts, and the flow are all really well done.

Then there's the epilogue written by Harvey's wife, Joyce Brabner. It's a very touching piece that does tie in with the book in its own way. The day Harvey Pekar left us was truly a very sad day for comics.

Quick Comic Review - Prophet Volume 1

I didn't really do my homework when buying volume 1 of Prophet, I didn't even know it was continuing the old Prophet series from Image. I just saw it on a some of the "best of 2012" lists.

Prophet Volume 1 - I can see why some people are loving this book. It's hardcore science fiction with some interesting ideas and some very different art (that seems to fit the book for the most part). But I can also see why it doesn't work for others. The ideas are kind of weird and not always easy to follow. And the art isn't really for everyone. In the end, I fall somewhere in the middle. I appreciate the work that went into it and I can see the positives. But, although I could see the positives it's not a series that really works for me. So, it might be worth taking a look at for some people but I won't be continuing with this series.

New Comics Reviews - December 26th, 2012

I went to the comic shop for Hip Flask: Ouroborous but I have to admit that I also got caught up in all the Spidey talk and decided to give Amazing Spider-Man #700 and Avenging Spider-Man #15.1. And here are my thoughts.

Hip Flask #4: Ouroborous -- This one was a long time coming, re-reading the first 3 issues probably wouldn't have been a bad idea especially given that this issue explains a lot of what happened/what's going on. It has a lot of story crammed into it and sometimes it's a little difficult to keep things straight. Even the characters themselves have a bit of a hard time with it, but you'd have to read it for yourself to see what I'm talking about. In the end, it's a finely written story with some great art and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it all comes to an end in the last issue. I just hope the last issue doesn't take quite as long as this one.

Amazing Spider-Man #700 -- I'm going to try to concentrate on reviewing this comic as objectively as I can. Most people know what happens in this issue (the news spread rather quickly yesterday) and I don't really want to get bogged down in the usual fanboy love/hate thing. So putting aside my feelings about the outcome I think the story was well executed. It was written well for the most part and the art was nice. It was frustrating how obvious the whole "Otto in Spidey's body" thing seemed, especially in his dialogue. You wanted to shout "Come on people, he doesn't even sound like Spidey!" But I think that's part of the experience for the reader. We know what's happening and maybe we even hear Peter's dialogue in Otto's voice (given his word choice) but would any of the characters really think much of it? Probably not. So, I felt it was a solid issue. Was it worthy of Peter Parker's final hurrah? In that way I'd say no. But then again, people are already taking bets as to how long this status quo will last.

Avenging Spider-Man #15.1 -- This epilogue to Amazing Spider-Man felt just like that, a short epilogue that really didn't feel like a full issue on its own. I'd say it was "okay" but seemed so long and drawn out while not really giving us much story. We only caught snippets of why he's building goggles into his mask but I saw nothing about the claws in his toes. But those things seemed random and thrown in just because. I almost wish they had included some flashbacks, having Otto seeing previous Spider-Man battles in his new memories and explaining his reasoning behind the "upgrades". Even the battle with his old battle bots could have included something, but at least that part did focus on Otto's changing attitude/view towards Parker.

So, having read these two Spidey issues where does that leave things for me? One thing I can say is that having seen just a bit of the new Otto/Spider-Man it's not a character I want to read about. Right now, he's not a hero. He "killed" Peter Parker to take his place and is lying to everyone (which results in a kiss with Mary Jane that many people are focusing on). Watching him try to grow to become a hero is of no interest to me because I don't want to see him become a hero. I just want him to go away. Him being there is just a reminder of what he did to get that position and what he's continuing to do. But then again, I wasn't reading Spider-Man to begin with so no big loss there.

Quick Comic Review - The Walking Dead Volume 17

Don't worry, once the holidays are over I will be slowing down on these quite review posts. But for now...

The Walking Dead Volume 17 - The entire time I was reading this volume I was thinking that this series has run its course for me. The series started off with an interesting premise but at this point, I just don't want to read about the latest psychotic sicko that Rick and his group have to deal with. I'll admit that it ended at such a point where I was interested to see what was going to happen next (being vague to avoid spoilers) but I'm not sure I really want to spend the time/money finding out. At this point, I'd say I'm done with this comic (though I will read the Road to Woodbury novel) and I'll just stick to the TV show (for now).

Quick Comic Review - Fairest Volume 1: Wide Awake

It always feels like forever between volumes of Fables. Fortunately, there are often other Fables books to fill some of that gap. This time it's...

Fairest Volume 1: Wide Awake - I'm rarely disappointed with Fables, I'd probably rank even the worst Fables volume as "very good". This one is definitely well above that level, it's pretty great. Maybe not the best but great nonetheless. I wasn't sure if this would be essential reading for Fables fans in terms of quality and in terms of the story (needing to know what happens here when reading the regular Fables book) and I'd say definitely yes on both accounts. I do think new readers could even pick up this book but you'll get a lot more out of it having read the main book. The art (pencilled mostly by Phil Jimenez) is wonderful and really matches the Fables world and this story. The last issue dealing with the Beast (not Jimenez) also has a great look to it that fits that story. In the end, it's another great Fables outing.

Quick Comic Review - Chew Volume 6: Space Cakes

Trying to keep to my promise of more comic reviews, here's my first...

Chew Volume 6: Space Cakes -- Looking back at my review of the first volume I wasn't sure then if I'd continue reading this series. I thought it was good but maybe just not for me. I don't know what changed but I'm really enjoying this series and I'm so glad I continued reading. It's got a nice combination of comedy and action with just the right amount of drama. This volume centres mostly around Tony Chu's sister, Toni Chu, with a bit of Poyo thrown in and it's pretty great. Can't wait for volume 7.

2012 Is Almost Over

Well, another year comes to an end and it's been quite the year. It started off with me losing my job of 9 years and that was just the start of the ups and downs. But hey, I was able to finish off volume 1 of the Bluenoser so that's something right? I attended the first "Ottawa Comiccon" and really enjoyed it (was excited to meet Richard Starkings but was disappointed to miss Herb Trimpe). I thought it was well organized and I look forward to seeing how they follow up in 2013. And of course, there was Fan Expo but that's all documented here. Fan Expo will be adding sports cards/memorabilia and athletes to the line up next year which could be interesting to see how that goes. I was a collector (mostly cards) many years ago but now it just doesn't appeal to me. But the more the merrier I suppose. Especially now that they're taking over the North and South buildings.

And while we're talking about 2013, let's get to the comics of 2012 (this will make sense in a minute, I promise). There will be some books I'll be missing in 2013 as they ended in 2012. Books like DMZ, iZombie, and Scalped (which I haven't read yet, it's on my Christmas list). But there are some new (and old but new to me) books that I'll be looking for like Astro City, Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, Saga, the Manhattan Projects, and I'm really looking forward to checking out Mark Waid's "Indestructible Hulk". And, of course, we still have Fables (and "Fairest"), Invincible, Walking Dead, Elephantmen, Powers, Chew, Sweet Tooth (for now), Locke & Key (for now), Atomic Robo, The Sixth Gun, and Mouse Guard among my reading list so I'm looking at having a lot to read next year. Although some of the above may not actually have another book out until 2014. And there will probably be the odd gem that gets added as the year goes on.

So what else did we have in 2012? We had Amazing Spider-Man #700 causing a ruckus (nothing that new for comic geeks). We had the "Fake Geek" stuff come up yet again, but getting that much uglier. We had the Avengers movie (which I feel Joss Whedon delivered on perfectly) and the Dark Knight Rises (I really can't get behind Christopher Nolan's Batman movies, this one was better than I thought it would be but still not really a thumbs up for me). There was "Before Watchmen" comics. More digital vs print/future of comics talk (it's gotten to the point where just thinking about the discussion makes my head hurt) and the usual behind the scenes drama that comic geeks (like me) that have no clue what's really happening (still like me) can't seem to turn away from. So all in all a pretty solid year I'd say.

And where does this leave me in 2013? Well, for one thing I will want to be more active with this blog but maybe with short blurbs/reviews. As much as I like Twitter I think it would be better for me to post some of that here so it doesn't just get lost in all the other tweeting going on. I may even have a few reviews to post before 2012 closes out (but no promises). But what I will be refraining from posting are any thoughts that come to me on the "future of comics" or "print vs digital" or whatever comics controversy comes up. I have several reasons for this which I won't go into, this post is already getting too long as it is. And no, there won't be a future post on it, it's just the way things are going to be around here. And maybe there will be some more posts about the Bluenoser. And on that note, I'll end this post with the current page I'm working on: