Review: X #5

X continues, but in the aftermath of the last story arch this issue just doesn’t cut it.  It’s not bad exactly, but I’ve liked this series and yet this issue wasn’t quite up to par.  I’ll give you the good and the bad, after the jump.

I like that X is back, but this was not the way to come back.  We just concluded a story arch from X #0 to X #4, where X #0 set things up by introducing the main character and presenting the readers with the situation: X is bringing down the corrupt and has one more on his list, Berkshire.  Hunting and killing Berkshire is the focus of the next four issues.

In this issue, X explains to Leigh that he’s sure someone will undoubtedly step up to fill the void left by Berkshire and that he wasn’t to be ready when that happens.  And we are promptly presented with a trio of enemies who want to do just that.  But unlike in X #0, there doesn’t seem to be a set up for a longer plot here.  It feels very much like the first 10 minutes of the first episode of season 2 of most TV shows: catching up on what the characters have been doing since the season one finale.  But if we take a “season” to be 5 issues, this is like having 4 episodes of nothing but the boring intermediate events before the new season actually starts doing episodes.

It wasn’t a complete loss, because we get some interesting character development: what’s X and Leigh’s partnership like now and a little hint that X might not be healing well from his fight with Berkshire, mentally or physically.  But I don’t see how these tidbits couldn’t have been worked into a larger story.

Now, I believe there are a couple other series which pause after each story arch for what is effectively a one-shot, and perhaps we just haven’t gotten far enough into this series to see that the same pattern will apply here.  As a one-shot this comic works well, and in fact if you want to get into this series, but you don’t want to go buy the first five issues, this is not a bad place to enter.  It’s also possible that the events of this comic are tightly linked to the events to come, and Swierczynski is just playing it’s connection close to his chest.  I just don’t know yet.

I really only recommend this issue if you are new to X and want a good place to come in.  Nothing cool or seemingly important happens here and if you’re already a fan, you might as well just wait for the next issue.  As always, X #5 is just $2.99, and the series has been good so it’s a great place to enter.

Matthew Bryant, aka Baker Street Holmes, is a writer and editor for the Red Shirt Crew.  He would like to apologize for the tardiness of this review, but he was making a transatlantic transition.  If you want to follow him on Twitter you can find him at @BStreetHolmes, or you can email him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: Station to Station

This comic is a one shot (though it ends with “The end?” which brings that status into question) which first appeared in Dark Horse Presents 19-21.  I caught the tail end of this series when I read Dark Horse Presents #21 for the first Dark Horse review I had ever done for the Red Shirt Crew, but with more review experience and the entire story collected together I believe I may have over sold the series in my previous review.

Station to Station has a nice Sci-Fi feel, and that hasn’t changed.  Collapsing realities, particle beams, dinosaurs, giant extradimentional tentacle slugs, mind control.  A little bit of everything.  The art, by Gabriel Hardman, is great too. Just, the story…

Here’s the problem here: this feels like a movie trailer with the last 5 minutes of the movie tagged on to make an attempt to wrap up the story.  We get a lot of scenes that could be expanded and lengthened to build suspense and make the conclusion feel like something the protagonist had to actually work for, but instead we just tiny snippets of stuff that suggests there should be more going on.  It’s like taking a movie like The Avengers and asking some to take excepts from the movie and make a single episode of a 20 minute television program.

Then of course there is no background, at least not about the main character.  We do get a background scene of what was happening just before the events of the comic’s beginning which cause the transdimensional rift, but nothing about the character.  We don’t know anything about him and have no reason to give a crap about him.

Occasionally writers and/or artists will see and read our reviews, so if you’re reading this Corinna Bechko, here’s my suggestion, rather than continuing  from here: we’ve seen the trailer, give us the movie.  I say 6 comics: Start with the flash back scene, expanded to a full issue.  Introduce us to Tim and Luis and the other scientists as characters and as people, and end with the explosion that destroys Treasure Island.  From there we get an issue with the same opening point as this one, with the media announcement, but don’t let Luis find Tim until the start of the third issue.

Make their trek across the island in that issue more dangerous, culminating with their return to the lab.  In the forth issue, Tim finds out the state of the other scientists and he and Luis make their plans.  Five culminates with the second explosion.  Six is the aftermath.  Each comic could have a flashback for even just a page or two that gives us some insight into Tim’s past, or the process of building the machine.

I don’t recommend this comic at all, not even sort of worth the $2.99.  The idea is there, but the execution was lacking severely.

Matthew Byrant, a.k.a. Baker Street Holmes, is an editor and writer for the Red Shirt Crew and would completely forgive Bechko if she has a real Pterodactyl he can ride.  That would be a local maximum of awesome.  To follow him on Twitter, check out @BStreetHolmes, or you e-mail him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: The Massive #15

This is a very interesting issue of The Massive.  This is the first time, at least that comes to memory, that I am left thinking “I really want to know what happens next!”  As always, I’ll avoid spoilers, but I’ll try to offer enough titillating tidbits to give you an idea of just how fascinating I found this issue.

Let’s take a moment to talk about Georg.  We see glimpses of Georg and Mag’s joint history which I thought really added to Georg’s character.  Previously we just knew he was member of the Russian mob (or similar) and that few people trusted him aboard the Kaptital.  In fact, he’s been absent since the first issue I reviewed up until now, so there really hasn’t been much of  chance to get to know him.  There is no guarantee that we will ever see him again, but now that I know him a little better, I want to see him come back in later, especially given the events of this comic and the social backlash that would have aboard the Kapital.

Then there is Mary.  It always comes back to Mary.  But for once, I’m not going to complain that she’s little miss infallible and so on, as I have before.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like she gets injured or fails to accomplish a task or something.  She still is a Mary Sue.  But her actions in this issue suggest that there is a plot reason for her being so capable, rather than the Brian Wood just showing blunt favoritism and a lack of grip on reality.

I don’t want to dwell too much on the art, mostly because it is Garry Brown, and I have mentioned before, numerous times, how I consider him the artist of The Massive, even if there have been 6 thus far.  His work is just always so crisp and gorgeous and perfectly befitting of the series.  I do want to take a moment and express my excitement that even though this issue ends another 3 issue mini-series, Wood is not changing artists again, and Brown will be back for the next story arch!

I definitely recommend this issue, at the very least to see Mary be awesome in a good way.  $3.50 is a good deal and this series has been great overall, so anyone who is interested in a great ongoing series, this is a terrific choice.

Matthew Bryant, a.k.a. Baker Street Holmes, is an editor and writer for the red Shirt Crew and thinks Mary might be a lao or at least a Mamba.  But maybe that’s just his Voodoo priest roleplaying character getting a little too deep in his head.  You can follow him on Twitter at @BStreetHolmes or email him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: Dark Horse Presents #27

This month’s Dark Horse Presents was a nice change in a couple ways.  Juice Squeezers was much more interesting than expected, Alabaster: Boxcar Tales continues to look up, and surprise of surprises I even enjoyed City of Roses.  Not that it’s all flowers and unicorns, as there are still some I wasn’t a huge fan of, but things are definitely looking up overall.

Chapter 2 of Juice Squeezers: Squish  is soooo much better than the chapter from the last issue.  Not only do we get some action which almost makes you forget that the last issue was almost entirely kids standing around chatting in a school, but we get a nice twist at the end that actually makes me want to know where this goes from here.  After the first chapter I couldn’t have cared less about the story, now I kind of want to know what happens.  I can only hope that this level of engagement continues in chapter 3.

Chapter 2 of Nosferatu Wars is just as great and gorgeous as the first chapter was.  We see more of how the vampires of this story fit into the black plague era setting and the main characters, Moria and Tarquin, continue to show a surprising level of humanity, contrary to many vampires set in this time period.  Still can’t get over how amazing this art is.  I love it.

Founding Father’s Funnies was one of the weaker comics in this issue.  It’s subtitled “Alexander Hamilton in Mr. Unpopularity” and is basically all about how Hamilton liked the British and this was unpopular amongst post revolution American politicians.  It’s political, it’s not funny, it feels like an attempt at making reading a biography interesting to kids, but it’s just not engaging.  Perhaps there’s just a bunch of historical humor that as a math oriented individual I don’t get.  But I was not a fan of this comic.

Mr. Monster: Dark Stearn was a commentary on the often ignored ramifications of a superhero’s actions.  The destruction and the risk to bystanders is called into question.  This is of course, not a new concept for a comic to approach, but I love that it takes the commentary into an emotional and ethical crisis for the hero and in trying to solve this cognitive dissonance, he creates his own worst enemy.  A classic story, done well.  My hat off to Janet and Michael T. Gilbert.

Chapter 4 of Trekker: The Train to Avalon Bay reminds me of that set of scenes 40 minutes into a tv show where things are going wrong, but you can feel the resolution coming.  Ron Randall continues to keep her away from the Mary Sue that she was in the second chapter and I’m growing quite grateful that that seems to be looking more and more like a fluke.

Chapter 8 of Crime Does Not Pay: City of Roses is the first time since this comic rejoined the Dark Horse Presents that I’ve actually liked it, seen much of a plot at all, and felt like I knew what was going on.  I attribute this on the addition of narration.  I appreciate it Phil Stanford.  Thanks.

Chapter 8 of Alabaster: Boxcar Tales is also improved this time, expanding (considerably) on the little red riding hood theme briefly presented in the last issue.  Unfortunately, it’s kind of late since it seems this story arch is now concluded, but still, at least it helps the whole thing fit together better.

Chapter 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Love vs. Life is okay.  I only say “okay” because it starts off very strong and then there is a Deus ex Machine moment that just makes the conclusion simple and anticlimactic.  I won’t spoil it, but it’s not a particularly well written conclusion, almost like Jane Espenson went “Ops!  Gotta finish now!” and crammed an ending in there.

Chapter 3 of Underground is really interesting.  I very much enjoyed the conclusion, bringing us back to the unusual chapel where this story has been a parable.  I loved the setting, and this conclusion is fabulous.  Anyone else out there who is a fan they close by announcing an Underground graphic novel!  Very exciting to see what Andrew Vachss has prepared for that!

Lastly, we have Hunter Quiad: The Only Thing We Have to Fear… which is an epic adventure reminding me deeply of some of the insane stories that come out of table top roleplaying games.  Hunter Quaid engages a one man frontal assault on a Nazi stronghold, armed with only his fists and a yeti pelt coat from a yeti he killed with his bare fists, to save President F. Roosevelt.  If I have not wet your appetite for this comic with that description, I don’t even know why you’re reading comic reviews.

Generally speaking, I like Dark Horse Presents because its wide variety makes it rare that the issue is a complete dud.  This one had fewer problems than usual and I am so relieved that some of the weaker comic seem to be shaping up, that I’m going to give it a massive recommendation.  Go buy it, it is worth significantly more than the $7.99 they are asking for.

Matthew Bryant, a.k.a. Baker Street Holmes, is a writer and editor for the Red Shirt Crew.  He does in fact wear a hat while writing these articles and whenever he does podcasts for the site.  If you want to follow him on Twitter you can find him at @BStreetHolmes or e-mail him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin #5

This is the issue that I’ve been waiting for since this series started: Darth Vader vs. the Assassin.  Because if you saw the massacre the assassin pulled off in the first issue, you’ve been exited to see this fight since they revealed the room full of dead soldiers.  Better yet, this issue isn’t just about the fight, but gives a nice, tidy close to this story arch.  Read more after the jump.

I’ve comment in a couple of my previous reviews of this series that I was seeing a side of Darth Vader that I didn’t feel like I saw in the movies: a stead hand, an diplomatic approach and so on, contrasted with a picture I’ve always held in my head of a cold hearted warrior obsessed with power.  The Vader I thought I knew is back.  And I’m loving it.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the more well rounded view of his character, but this just feels like what I want from a Darth Vader-centric comic.  We even get the “join the dark side” speech.

Even with that side playing a bigger part, we get some of the cunning and cleverness that helps make him a more fleshed out character as he wraps up loose ends.  Some monologuing from the emperor (which for once I didn’t feel was too long winded for the pace) and all in all, I have to say I’m pleased with how this story ends.

The art is spectacular, as it has been.  I have less to say about the art really, because this is one of the things that has been consistently good about this series.  I marveled in my first review at how the style and feel of Star Wars fit despite the introduction of characters and even races that were entirely new.  Major props to the entire art team, Ivan Fernandez in particular as the penciller and earlier .

When I first started reviewing this, I was less than excited about this series.  I was worried that I wouldn’t really be so interested because of course the assassin must fail in his task for the continuity to be maintained.  In the end, I found myself really liking the series, but this issue was without a doubt the best of the five issues.  After all of this, I finally recommend this series with enthusiasm.  If you’ve been following the series thus far, without a doubt go get this issue, especially for $3.50.  If you haven’t, go find the old issues to re-read.  There is a collection coming out, but it’s $7.50 more than buying the issues independently.  Not worth it just for the convenience.

Matthew Bryant, a.k.a. Baker Street Holmes, is a writer and editor for the Red Shirt Crew and so glad for this blog for giving him something to do when he can’t possibly work on his thesis anymore.  He’s excited to be almost done with that, and is looking forward to returning to the States.  You can follow him on Twitter at @BStreetHolmes or e-mail him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: Breath of Bones: A Tale of the Golem #3

A fantastic conclusion to a superb series.  A Tale of the Golem has been a fantastic read from issue #1 and really wish it weren’t the end already.  Alas, at least it was good while it lasted.

I want to begin by apologizing for a criticism in my previous article.  In that article I complained about the fact that the first two covers were violent combat scenes and the golem never saw combat in either issue.  But this issue had quite a bit of combat, and yet has a very tranquil cover.  Seeing this juxtaposition and contrast now, I actually rather like the discordant covers.  It’s almost like a story in itself.  War, war, but in the end: peace.

As far as the story itself and the art, I can only reiterate the points I’ve made before: it is an amazing story, with beautiful art.  I continue to be amazed at how much Dave Watcher can do with greyscale.  In just a few issues, Steve Niles and Matt Santoro give you a connection to the central characters that far exceeds just sympathizing with them as would be victims of WWII era Germany.  And here, even the completely silent character of the golem is humanized in his caring for a young boy, supposedly learned from a grandfather who put his very life into its creation.  He is captures the little boy’s heart and touches something deep within him, even with this being the only comic in which the golem acts, and even then not for the whole thing.

I also very much like the idea presented that the golem is not a war machine.  It is not there to kill, though it is capable of it.  It is a creature born of necessity and intended solely for defending those in need.  After it’s initial skirmish, the golem doesn’t pursue the fleeing Germans.  It’s not aggressive.  This keeps it from being a monster and more of a living wall.

If you haven’t been reading this series, I can only assume it’s because you don’t have the money lying around or you didn’t know it existed.  Well, if it’s the second case, now you do know, and you should definitely go buy it for $3.99 and pick up issues #1 and #2 as well.

Matthew Bryant, aka Baker Street Holmes will never summon a golem in a roleplaying game with the same mentality again.  Partially becases he’s never played a character that could do that in the first place…  If you want to follow him on Twitter, you can at @BStreetHolmes or you could just e-mail him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: X #4

I’ve commented recently that the X series has been moving seemingly further and further from their gruesome origins back in X #0.  Let’s just say they make up for it in this issue.  While I love a comic with plot, I had missed the more violent scenes that were so definitive to this comic and I am glad to have those make a come back.

This is by far my favorite cover from the series to date.  great action show, shows off the size difference between the two characters we can clearly tell will clash in this comic.  And one of the first pictures of Berkshire that give him an air of intimidation and power rather than just deformed.  Bravo Dave Wilkins.

While I love the fight scene, and I will get to talking about how epic that is in a moment, I want to express how pleased I was with Leigh.  Before, when there has been danger, she runs or let’s X take care of it.  Now, will X locked in a fight for his life, she takes matters into her own hands.  She shows a little bit of the bad-ass that she has started to grow into, and I like “Leigh the bad-ass” about a million times more than “Leigh the random blogger girl”.  Definitely a step up.

But, in case the cover didn’t give it away, this issue isn’t really about Leigh.  No duh, right?  X and Berkshire have a pretty impressive fight, but I warn you now this fight is pretty ugly though I mean it in the best possible way.  That being said, if you are squeamish you do not want to read this issue.  As Berkshire commented in previous issues, his new porcine skin dampens his ability to feel pain.  The effect being that by the time their fight is even half over, X has left him looking a bit like a pinata at the end of a birthday party.

This issue wraps up the story arch and prepares us for the next story, beginning in September.  Overall, I’ve really enjoyed this series and am looking forward to seeing what comes next.  I have had times in this series when I have been concerned about pacing, but that was partially informed by knowing there were many more issues coming and unaware that some of those issues included future story arcs.  If you have been following this series since issue #0 or issue #1, definitely go read this issue, it’s amazing, in my opinion the best thus far.  If not, it still stands pretty well on it’s own, if you’re interested in paying $2.99 for the final battle scene, but you might want to just start reading with issue #5 in September.

Matthew Bryant, aka Baker Street Holmes, is an editor for the Red Shirt Crew and though he’s not a big fan of blood and gore type movies, loves it in a comic.  Probably because he thinks of gore in movies as just to be gross, but in comics it’s ‘gritty’.  If you love piña coladas and getting caught in the rain, you should follow him on Twitter at @BStreetHolmes or e-mail him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

AoaRD #9: Ghost Stories

Postponed for a week to make room for a back log of comic reviews, Baker Street Holmes returns with another adventure in the life of journeyman blacksmith, Urbal gro-Dushnikh, an Orc in skyrim who just wants to be left alone.

Flashback     Part 1     Part 2     Part 3     Part 4     Part 5     Part 6     Part 7     Part 8

1st of Heartfire, 201

Arrived early afternoon in Solitude, in time for a beheading.  Poor fool is apparently responsible for Ulfric’s escape after he killed the the late King Torygg.  I care not for the politics of Nords, but for how it effects my business, and Torygg’s death was very good for the blacksmiths of Skyrim.  Still, it is good to see that somewhere in Skyrim the humans still know what a proper punishment was.  This man opened a gate and lost his head.  You may recall, journal, that not long ago I was sent to prison, framed for nearly a dozen murders, escaped from prison and they let me live free as though nothing had ever happened.

My pleasure at learning that there is a functioning judicial system left in the land of men was shattered by a very loud Meeko.  Damn dog doesn’t seem to like being in a city too much.  Finally took him to the bard’s college and left him on their doorstep.  He sings about as well as some of the bards I’ve seen, maybe they’ll like him.

We were able to get good prices from the blacksmith and general store.  Blacksmith’s apprentice was an idiot, but I guess I’m not really there to trade with him.  Still, I might remember that for when I’m looking for a job…

We’re sleeping at The Winking Skeever tonight.  In the morning, we head south for to pick up some lost cargo belonging to Lisbet from Arnleif and Sons in Markarth and then we’ll make one last trip back.

Urbal gro-Dushnikh
________________________________________________________________

2nd of Heartfire, 201

Only a small forsworn camp around the stolen supplies today.  At this point, it was a little matter for Uthgerd and I at this point.  The four saber cats, six wolves, two mud crabs and a bear that we fought to get there made the Forsworn camp look like a Saturalia party.

Regardless they had some good supplies which will make for good trading back in Markarth.  Stopping for the night at this little inn called Old Hrolden we’ll be off in the morning.

     ***     

The innkeeper’s scream woke me not long after I meant to be up.  It seems there is ghost in the inn.  I figured it was just a story the inn keeper told to entice customers, and yet, there it is, sitting by the fire.

Draugr I can stab.  Vampires can be beheaded.  Skeletons: smashed.  Ghosts… ghosts creep me out.  Probably not sleeping any more tonight.

Urbal gro-Dushnikh

Review: The Last of Us: American Dream #4

Our tie in comic for the recent hit game The Last of Us comes to an end.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this comic series despite its brevity, and thought this issue ended the series on wonderful high note.  I have not gotten a chance to play the game yet, so perhaps what surprised me in the events of this issue will not be a surprise to those who have played, but I enjoyed it at least.

I want to comment on the the cover art for this issue.  I don’t usually make a note of it, but I thought this was a particularly well done.  The Last of Us celebrates the blending of the natural and the man made in much of its aesthetics.  This cover brings those sides together beautifully with the combination of crumbling walls and wild plant growth.  Ellie and Riley are cornered by a person with a gun (which from the end of the previous issue we can assume is a firefly), with Ellie raising a pistol in what seems to be self-defense.  But the part I really love of this cover is the graffiti behind Ellie, which ironically reads “The Fireflies will save us”.  Maybe you, dear reader, are not as impressed with the cleverness of this as I am, but I am none the less.  Props to Julian Totino Tedesco.

In this issue we meet Marlene, a leader of the fireflies who claims to be a friend of Ellie’s late mother.  Do you know how to make a good twist in a story?  Bring it out of the blue like a previously unmentioned mother.  Despite the way Hicks and Druckmann have brought this turn of events seemly out of nowhere, the story seems to have been building to it all along.  It doesn’t feel like an unnatural or forced plot point, and though we had no reason to expect this, it almost feels like we should have.

I have seen gameplay footage and heard reviews from people who have played the game.  I’ve reviewed the art book for the game.  The setup and the amount of potential follow up that the game could make on the events of this series, and in particular this issue, is by far the greatest had thus far to want to get this game.  Seriously, check it out, $3.99.  I will reiterate what I said in my review of the first issue; don’t buy the compilation.  It might seem nice that they are going to put all four issues into one book for you, but they want you to pay them a dollar (on top of the cost of the four comics) to do it.  Just dumb.

Matthew Bryant, aka Baker Street Holmes, is an editor for the Red Shirt Crew and an avid fan of not wasting money on stupid “undeals”.  There is a supermarket near him that sells fruit cups for £1.25 or 3 for £2.  He never buys 2.  If you want to follow him on Twitter you can find him at @BStreetHolmes or you can email him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: Massive #14

We return to the crew of the Kapital were we last left off: idle in the waters outside a sunken New York City, surrounded by the remnants of the US navy and lurking somewhere beneath them, a stolen Russian nuclear sub.  So, “tense” just about sums up the situation.  Not one of my favorite issues, but far from the worst.

Who’s that on the cover?  Ryan?  Who’s Ryan?  Oh right!  The American girl!  Maybe it’s just my terrible memory, but I genuinely forgot she was on the crew until she made a brief, minor appearance in the last issue.  Last time did more than appear in the background of shots or really even do anything for that matter was, if I recall, issue #9.  Five issues may not seem like a long time, but that was five months ago, in consistent reader time.  In this issue she is suddenly very important and saves everybody’s lives.  Go figure.

We finally see Georg again, too.  He stole a sub in Issue #9.  I don’t think we’ve even heard the name Georg since then.  Now we’re in the middle of a three issue story arc (or maybe it will end up being even longer?) where apparently the members of the Kapital have suddenly remembered that this is not a good thing.  This issue seems to be about all the characters who haven’t been the focus of any story in a while.  Except Lars.  I still don’t know anything about Lars.  I think he steers the Kapital?

I also think they made a major mistake in the ordering of the last few pages.  The comic ends with banal chatter about ship speed and navigation.  The last line on the previous page is “All is not well on this ship.  Pick your side.”  Much better ending.  Any reason these pages couldn’t be swapped?  No.

There is a couple of great, ominous flashbacks from Mag that hint at a dark side to Georg, but no specifics are given.  It gives so much promise for the next issue.  I feel like I may have given the wrong impression with my previous paragraphs.  I don’t want it to give the impression that Ryan or Georg taking the focus is a bad thing, just that it’s unusual.  Honestly, I found this issue very interesting, just a little different from the norm for this series.

I recommend this comic to anyone interested in this series, but if you are just looking for a solo comic, this one doesn’t stand on it’s own.  Too much in this issue relates to overall plot stuff for a newcomer to follow along, but you could probably jump in with issue #13 and be fine.  Anyways, it’s just $3.50, as The Massive tends to be.  Check it out if you’ve been reading along!

Matthew Bryant, aka Baker Street Holmes, is an editor for the Red Shirt Crew and did not realize that it gets this hot in England.  Damn.  Also, might be his computer… You can find him on twitter at @BakerStreetHolmes or email him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.