Review: Catalyst Comix #2

Sometimes, reboots of continuity can come up with something worth paying attention to. I really liked the first issue of this series, a relaunch of the Comic’s Greatest World imprint, and Catalyst Comix #2 (written by Joe Casey, illustrated by Dan McDaid, Ulises Farinas, and Paul Maybury) continues that trend.

With three different artists, I’d expect the art in this comic to be a little scattered or schizophrenic. They don’t all use the same art style across all the stories, but they’re all similar enough that it’s not jarring to go from one to another. They’re also all well suited to the story that they’re telling, which keeps the transitions smoother than they might be otherwise.

As I said in the previous review, these issues have multiple stories in them. Oddly, these all seem to be mostly serving the purpose of setting something up for the future, which is really strange for a second issue. They’re still the laid out the same, with Frank Wells taking the “A story”. To make the review easier, I’m going to look at the stories individually:

First off is Frank Wells. His story goes in a really weird direction, setting up… something. I’m not sure what they’re trying to set up, but it has me intrigued, so it’s really done its job. They manage to keep up a lot of the same tone from the previous issue. There’s a lot of the crazy, over the top narration, but it isn’t entirely the same. It’s possibly turning the tone down a bit from the overly ridiculous first issue, but that was what I loved about that issue. It’s not a problem quite yet, but I hope it stays at this level of ridiculous instead of toning it down as the series goes on.

Then we get to Grace and her story. I really don’t get what they’re doing, since it seems like there’s so much nothing happening. They’ve spent the last two issues trying to set something up without any sort of payoff. That could be done well, but there’s so little personality to everything that’s going on that I just want them to get to some actual story sometime soon. I’m somewhat dreading this becoming the A story, though that could be the point that they actually start doing the story properly, whatever that story ends up being once the endless setup has ended.

Then we have Agents of Change, which I prefer to call Wolfhunter and Elvis Warmaker because those are amazing names. This story succeeds at doing the same thing that Grace’s story was trying for, spending a lot of time trying to set up for an upcoming story. This one succeeds because there’s a lot of personality in the characters to carry it forward even though there’s a pretty thin plot. That doesn’t mean that there’s no plot, and what is there has some interesting, if a little cliché, potential. I don’t want to say more at risk of spoiling things, but they really open the door to a lot of possible directions to take the plot.

Again, I’m definitely going to recommend this issue. Even though most of the stories are doing more setup work than anything else, they’re still a lot of fun and promise some interesting stories in the future. I’m still not sure about Grace and her stories, but the other stories more than make up for its flaws, so unless you have something else you absolutely need $2.99 for, buy this comic.

Zac Kandell (known mostly on the internet as Mischlings) still makes the association between the title of this comic and an old Sega Genesis game. If you find what he says interesting, follow him on Twitter at @Mischlings for more, shorter thoughts.

Review: Captain Midnight #1

When I reviewed the #0 issue of this series, I was really looking for future potential. It’s the way I read and watch anything serialized – the beginning is usually rocky due to the creators trying to get a feel for the tone and the characters that they’re working with, so I’m really looking more for the promise than its current quality. Captain Midnight #1 (written by Joshua Williamson, illustrated by Fernando Dagnino is starting to lose me, but I’m willing to stick it out for a little while longer since I really want it to work.

Before we start, yes, I realize that Captain Midnight is a character that started in a radio series in the late ’30s. I didn’t know that going in to the #0 issue, so my reference to it seemingly being inspired by Captain America is completely backwards, but I know this now. I do think it’s helpful to look at this version on its own merits, so I’ll be mostly ignoring the previous incarnations for the sake of these reviews. That said, my biggest issue is that I’m not entirely sure what Captain Midnight’s character is. It feels like they’re relying on some shorthand to make him essentially “Captain America with Tony Stark’s brain”, but those archetypes don’t help me understand him past those surface details. I understand why people would respect him given his backstory, but what about him makes people really care? When the main character, the guy with his name on the book, is a complete cipher, it’s hard for me to connect with the character and the series. I still have hope for it, but when even the flashbacks don’t add much to his character, I’m a little worried that they’re going into this without a well-developed main character.

He’s also part of a weird dynamic that might make more sense if Midnight was better defined. Fury Shark is set up as the main antagonist to Captain Midnight, and they’re both set up as geniuses with a specialty in weapons. This is where I’m getting the Tony Stark vibe, as Midnight is seen disassembling and upgrading a modern fighter jet, despite being displaced from the 1940s. This could be a really good contrast between the two, something that was hinted at but not executed properly in Iron Man 2 (I’m trying not to constantly reference other superhero properties, but it’s kind of difficult not to), so if they could better develop Midnight and Fury Shark (I have to say, I love that name, though not quite as much as Wolfhunter and Elvis Warmaker), it’s a dynamic that could really make for some interesting stories.

I don’t have all that much to say about the art. There’s almost nothing different about it from the previous issue, so anything I could say here would just be a rehash of the previous. It doesn’t have the same visual sense of humor that the previous one, so it’s even a bit of a step back from the previous issue, but there’s really nothing new to comment on, though I really wish I had more to say here.

Overall, I’m a little back and forth on recommending this issue. I have hope that this series is going to get better, but the fact is that it still hasn’t really found its feet yet. I’m not going to recommend it based on this issue alone, but if the concept gets your attention, then it might be worth picking up. Otherwise, you might want to save your $2.99 until it becomes clearer if the comic is going to realize its full potential.

Zac Kandell (known mostly on the internet as Mischlings) is a staff writer for Red Shirt Crew, and has an odd difficulty coming up with anything to say in the end text for issues in this series. If you find what he says interesting, follow him on Twitter at @Mischlings for more thoughts occasionally.

Review: Angel & Faith #24

Despite my disillusionment with most of the Buffy comics (check out my review of the most recent Buffy comic if you want more detail), Angel & Faith somehow manages to break through all of that. Whenever I get a new issue, I have a combination of nervousness and excitement over what I’m about to read. I’m not nervous because I’m afraid that the same thing will happen to this as happened to the Buffy comics, but because I’m legitimately invested in the characters and am afraid of that fact that I know some of them are going to be killed. When reading this, I really want them to prevent the end of the world because I want this universe to continue to exist. All of that is there to lead into Angel & Faith #24 (written by Christos Gage, illustrated by Rebekah Isaacs), where the end of the world seems imminent, and things are somehow getting even worse.

Until now, this series has had a very steady pattern. Each arc was 4 issues, with a fifth issue being a one-shot story. I was expecting for this issue to wrap up this storyline and the next to start dealing with the fallout, which is also the way that Season Eight ended, but it doesn’t. Instead, this story arc is continuing into the next and final issue, allowing for more character development in places you might not expect. In fact, most of the focus is on characters whose names aren’t in the title, which goes a long way towards making me care about the world not ending.

Most of this issue involves the characters trying to track down and control the magic orb that started causing mayhem and destruction at the end of the last issue. It’s not a single-minded hunt for the orb, however. Instead, the characters take on tasks that are more fit to their skill sets, reminding me of how The Avengers handled having different characters of very different abilities. This makes much more sense than everyone trying to do the same thing and that’s even pointed out by a couple characters, who decide on their own to take a slightly different tactic to deal with this dilemma.

A big part of the character development is that I never would’ve expected how much I like Giles’s great aunts, but those two characters are great and even manage to steal the show in this issue. They’ve been used mostly as the comic relief so far, but they’ve been given some more serious development, which they’ve gotten quite a bit of in this arc. They’re probably the best of the characters who have been introduced in the comics so far (they were created for a spinoff that never happened, so I can’t say that they were created for the comic), which admittedly isn’t that stiff of a competition, but I actually like them and enjoy that they have some greater depth than just being vain comic relief.

Looking at the art in this issue, I finally have the chance to talk about Whistler’s true demon form, which debuted in the previous issue but I didn’t want to talk about for the sake of spoilers. It’s very much what you’d expect for a demonic form, but the face manages to look a lot like Whistler and still have the entire range of emotions that someone would need to show, which he really gets the chance to show throughout this issue. I know that it probably seems like such a little thing, but it adds so much when the Big Bad of the season is humanized. That bit of the art adds more than I can really get across with just words, so you’ll have to just trust me, or take a look at how much Rebekah Isaac’s art has relied on facial expressions in previous issues to do subtle but significant character work.

This probably sounds like I’m not quite excited about this issue as I have been about others in this last arc. That’s not because it’s not good, it just hasn’t had me quite as excited as the previous ones in this final arc. It’s still really good and I recommend it just like all the others in this series, so if you have any interest in this series and $2.99 you don’t absolutely need for something else, buy it. This is your last chance to jump in before the series ends.

Zac Kandell (known mostly on the internet as Mischlings) is saddened by the fact that this series is ending soon, but does have the encouragement that the creative team will continue to work in this universe. If you find what he says interesting, follow him on Twitter at @Mischlings for more, shorter thoughts.

Review: Gamma

It started with Scott Pilgrim, but now it’s become obvious: my generation is old enough that nostalgia about the nineties is starting to be prominent in the popular culture. Sure, it’s still in the early days, but I can only imagine that it will continue for quite a while. Gamma (written by Ulises Farinas and Erick Freitas, illustrated by Ulises Farinas), which I’m finally going to talk about now, is definitely a piece of that rising  trend, and gives me hope that these things will work beyond just the nostalgia factor. Or at the very least, we haven’t gotten to the point where these are made by people who don’t actually know why people loved that material.

Now, I have to to say straight away that my experience with this is going to be somewhat biased. As much as I hate nostalgia, it’s impossible for me to say it has no effect on me, I just try to be aware of it when it happens. I still play Pokemon, in fact, and this comic is basically Pokemon fanfiction. It even has the same tone and theme as some of those stories, and while most people would take that as an insult, I mean it in the best way possible. It feels like something written by a fan that embraces what made it work while also deconstructing the parts that didn’t make any sense.

This doesn’t look like that kind of dark deconstruction though. Instead, it feels very much like a cartoon, which caught me completely off-guard. I had no idea what it was when I started to read it, and that remained so for a little while. The art style goes a long way towards keeping the deconstruction from becoming too overwhelmingly dark, especially with the opening that has the perfect setup for exactly that type of story.

One of the limitations of this is that it’s not particularly deep in the character sense, but they’re here to serve the purposes of the story instead of the other way around. Dusty has a character and story arc that you’ve seen before, but the fact that his story is in this genre is what’s new and different. There also just isn’t enough room in this comic for a really deep exploration of anything beyond the story, but that’s an inherent flaw to such a short medium, but the creators embrace those limitations instead of trying to fight against them.

It’s also really well set up without tipping it’s hand too early. Sure, the cover might give you an idea as to what the story is really about, but it’s several pages in before the story really goes in that direction, but once you go back and reread, even a line at the beginning which sounds like someone blowing things out of proportion in a fit of rage makes perfect sense, and gives you incentive to go back and reread, and something new to discover when you do.

My only real complaint is that it’s so short. That’s not to say that the pacing is bad or that there needs to be more to the story, I just want there to be more. Sure, I don’t need more of Dusty’s story or the story of any of the other characters, but I want to spend more time in this world and with these characters. It was really fun to experience it, and while there’s nothing stopping them from continuing this (as far as I know), it is a one shot and therefore, I’ll assume until shown otherwise that this is where it ends.

I fully recommend this comic. It’s only $2.99, so if anything about the premise or what I’ve said about it interests you, go out and get it right away. Yes, there’s a lot of it that really feels like just nineties nostalgia, but it’s still got a solid, fun little story underneath it. Even though I want to see more of this world, the fact that it’s just a one-shot means that you don’t have to worry about getting hooked into a new series, if that puts you off from buying other comics, you don’t have to worry about that. Just go out and enjoy the ride of reading it.

Zac Kandell (known mostly on the internet as Mischlings) is glad that he’s currently on a streak of reviewing comics that he actually likes. If you find what he says interesting, follow him on Twitter at @Mischlings for more, shorter thoughts.

Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #23

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #23 (written by Andrew Chambliss, illustrated by Georges Jeanty) is the tipping point in this story arc. I’ve been indecisive, not recommending the earlier issues in this final arc because it had yet to tell us if the writers have finally figured things out or if the series continues to spiral out of control. With this issue, I now have the answer to that question, and it’s really not the answer I wanted.

I hate to be so negative, but this issue has brought up huge problems with this last arc that I somehow missed before now. It’s called The Core because it was supposed to be taking things back what carried the show for seven seasons. Buffy and Willow were in every single episode, and Xander only missed one in the entire series. Bringing these characters back, having them all together and putting the focus back on their relationships was supposed to revitalize the comic, going back to basics and making a simpler story without a lot of the baggage that the comics have brought with them.

The thing is, these characters have changed over time. Even setting aside the argument that the writers have ruined the characters in the comics, there’s no question that they’re not who they were before. In fact, it seems that the writers have only brought them back together now because they’re supposed to be, or something like that. They’re trying to force together a dynamic that is simply broken now. These characters don’t really work together, they don’t really fit as a team, and trying to force it is just making things awkward.

That doesn’t have to be a bad thing. They spent almost the entirety of Season Four with the characters all sticking together even though they had no good reason to. For all the flaws that season had, that part of it worked since it felt like the characters were trying to make it work. This feels like the writers trying to force them together when I can barely understand why the characters are even trying so hard anymore.

The worst part of it is that they’re trying to deal with the character conflict and answer why they’re still trying to keep the gang together. Problem is, they’ve written themselves into a corner; there’s not enough time to wrap up the plot and deal with the characters’ problems with each other, especially since they spent the previous issue spinning their wheels. Within a page, they bring up character problems that could carry an issue or maybe even an entire arc, and then resolve it in the cheapest way possible. They could just leave the character work alone, have them work together with gritted teeth because they have to, and deal with the fallout in Season Ten, except they try to force it into the margins here, leaving it unsatisfying and, well, marginalized.

I wish I wasn’t so negative on this. I really want to like this comic since it continues one of my favorite TV series ever, and I hate reading anything that isn’t good. It’s not even so much that this issue is that bad (it’s still better than the Billy arc, which I’ve already eviscerated), but this is when it’s finally obvious to me what’s wrong with this arc. I’ve also finally noticed that they fundamentally broke something in the comic as a whole that they’re trying to glue together instead of making the best they can out of the pieces. I wish I could really focus on the more positive aspects; I don’t want this negativity to reflect badly on Jeanty, who continues to turn in really good art every single book. I also like where they’re going with Simone’s plot to turn back time, having added a great wrinkle to that storyline that I’ve been waiting for since I found out they entertained this idea on the show but never used it. I wish that these things were more prominent and noticeable above everything that doesn’t work here. There’s something good under the surface here, it’s just unfortunate that there’s a surface between us and the good idea, leaving me even more frustrated at the wasted potential.

I hate to say this, but I feel they’ve lost it. I don’t recommend this issue for $2.99. I’m even going to have to retroactively not recommend the previous two issues – I was just waiting to see if they’d found it or lost it, and it’s become pretty obvious to me that they’ve lost it. Go read Angel & Faith instead. I’m just waiting for this season to be over with so they can finish this story and move on to the next, hopefully making changes so that that story turns out better than this one did.

Zac Kandell (known mostly on the internet as Mischlings) is a staff writer here at Red Shirt Crew. If you find what he says interesting, follow him on Twitter at @Mischlings for more, shorter thoughts.

Review: Dream Thief #3

I’ve somehow managed to miss this series so far, but at risk of spoiling my recommendation, go back and read the first two issues of this miniseries (Chase reviewed the first two issues on the blog previously, though I liked it a lot more than he did). Dream Thief #3 (written by Jai Nitz, illustrated by Greg Smallwood) picks up right where the previous issue left off, with John Lincoln finding himself next to yet another dead body, only this time he has no memory of what happened, which is a great premise that should draw anyone’s attention.

I really like the art in this book. When it’s dark, it’s still clear enough to see things and not the muddy mess that a lot of other night scenes look like. I also like the highly stylized look it has, with its focus on a lot of bright and varied colors that’s most noticeable in the daytime scenes. For something as dark and deranged as this comic is, the style is not the gritty darkness you’d expect, keeping the tone from falling into complete darkness that borders on self-parody.

As indicated at the end of the last issue, this story isn’t going to just keep repeating the same pattern over and over. This time, John he doesn’t have any memory of what he did when he wakes up next to the dead body, and they have a great explanation for why that happened. It’s not something they did just to make things different, and it does a good job of ensuring it doesn’t contradict the previous rules. It’s done so well and effortlessly that I didn’t notice they added something into the rules of what he can do until after I’d finished reading the issue.

I have to mention it, and I’ll think I surprise people who read my reviews when I say that I actually like all the narrative boxes in this book. I know I complain about them just about always, but they have a real purpose here. It’s a lot like writing a story in first person, and if this story was being told in a novel or short story, this would have to be done from the first person perspective. All sorts of things are happening in John’s head, with all the memories he’s mysteriously inheriting from dead people, and it’s doing a number on his psyche. This story wouldn’t work if it wasn’t told from his perspective, so the narration goes from irritating to integral to the story.

My one concern is that, with this being a miniseries, I’m wondering how they’re going to wrap things up in two more issues. This issue brings in more elements to John killing his girlfriend, Claire, at the beginning of the series, so they’re obviously going to cover more with that story by the time this is done. But how does inheriting the memories of all the dead people contribute? I’m not overly concerned; I’m just wondering how they’re going to be able to tie everything together by the end of this series without making it feel rushed or disconnected.

In short, I definitely recommend this issue, and the previous issues in the series, even in spite of the $3.99 cover price. It’s a bit more than I usually like to pay for a comic, but this is worth it. It’s too bad that it took me this long to start reading this series, but definitely pick it up and start reading it.

Zac Kandell (known mostly on the internet as Mischlings) is kicking himself for not reading this series yet. If you find what he says interesting, follow him on Twitter at @Mischlings for more, shorter thoughts.

Review: Catalyst Comix #1

Modern entertainment is drowning in reinterpretations, remakes, reboots, and any other word you can think of starting with “re”. That’s not inherently bad; sometimes interesting things come out of that. Case in point, Catalyst Comix #1 (written by Joe Casey, illustrated by Dan McDaid, Ulises Farinas, and Paul Maybury) is a reinterpretation of Comics’ Greatest World, a Dark Horse imprint that started in the early 1990s but was later killed by the speculator bust. This isn’t the first of those characters to be revived (X is another character from that imprint), but this is attempting to relaunch a number of those characters in one go. Don’t worry if this confuses you. I didn’t know any of this until after I’d read the comic and did some background research, and that didn’t hurt my enjoyment of the comic at all.

This issue is a little difficult to review since this is not the standard comic format I’m used to. There are three stories here: one full-length and two half-length stories. Towards that end, I’ll look at each story separately.

The first story, featuring Frank Wells aka Titan, is easily my favorite. While one of my pet peeves in comics is constant narration, this pulls it off perfectly. The story is over the top and completely ridiculous, but self-aware enough to metaphorically wink at the camera, letting you know that, yes, they get it, so just sit back and enjoy the ride.

The art is equally over the top. Frank fights Nibiru, a giant monster trying to end the world (this comic takes place on December 21, 2012 — just when you thought that was all behind us), and I love its design because of how little sense it makes. The monster makes little sense, the city around it makes little sense, and yet it somehow manages to feel campy in the fun way instead of in a stupid way. I can’t figure out how, but it finds just the right sweet spot.

The second story lost me a bit. I found myself somewhat bored while reading it. The problem is, while it’s no heavier on exposition than the first story, this doesn’t have the ridiculous atmosphere to carry you through. Here, the narration is just giving us Grace’s backstory. While the art gives some really impressive starscapes, since all this nothing happens in space, it isn’t interesting enough to carry a very lackluster infodump.

The final story introduces Wolfhunter and Elvis Warmaker, which are names I’d say you couldn’t make up, except someone did. This story has less narration, but it makes its presence memorable, including the phrase “orgy of ordinance”, which instantly made my day. Instead, most of it is dialogue between Wolfhunter and Elvis Warmaker (I will repeat those names until it stops being fun, which might be never), which is still fun despite it seeming like the writer is still trying to figure out their voices beyond broad caricatures, and a character named Bert who I really want to call Agent Coulson, trying to bring together Wolfhunter and Elvis Warmaker and get them into the superhero game. I know it sounds pretty standard, and much the same can be said about the art (the only thing that jumped out at me was the “orgy of ordinance” scene), and while not quite as over the top campy fun as the first story, this was a solid story, especially given its shorter length.

Overall, I definitely recommend this book. I had no real idea what to expect, literally only looking because I read all #1 issues, and it blew me away. I’m especially surprised that the book is only $2.99. Dark Horse has a lot of books at that price, but this one, especially given its larger size, seems like one they’d sell for more. I’d recommend it on the strength of the Frank Wells story alone, but I also loved the third story (you can’t go wrong with Wolfhunter and Elvis Warmaker), and the second story… well, I can hope they’ll do something good with the character later. This is definitely a series to keep your eye on for the future.

Zac Kandell (known mostly on the internet as Mischlings) can’t shake the fact that the title of this comic is very reminiscent of the game Comix Zone. If you find what he says interesting, follow him on Twitter at @Mischlings for more, shorter thoughts. In other news, Wolfhunter and Elvis Warmaker. It cannot be said enough.

Review: Angel and Faith #23

It should be no surprise to anyone who reads my reviews that I loved Angel & Faith #23 (written by Christos Gage, illustrated by Rebekah Isaacs). That makes these reviews difficult to write, as it’s difficult to say why I find something to be so good without going into details and spoilers. Whenever I read an issue, I’m so drawn in that it takes multiple reads to really see it with a critical point of view. But I’m nothing if not willing to read until I see the flaws, so here goes.

This issue picks up right where the last left off, starting the apocalyptic battle against Whistler, Pearl, and Nash. While the previous issue was the calm before the storm, this one is pretty much constant action, so if you wanted to see more action in this series, this will deliver on that promise.

Gage promised that two characters would not survive the end of the series. The first of those deaths happens in this issue, though I won’t say who. This is where I have my biggest problem with this issue. It’s very abrupt and a little jarring, which is almost normal for this series. With that quick death, however, there are a lot of questions brought up that aren’t answered or even acknowledged. The lack of answers here does leave it feeling unsatisfying, but at least acknowledging what happened in a future issue would give some closure that’s lacking here. Those events are surrounded by a different character’s internal monologue, and while I understand why it’s here, it doesn’t quite have the impact I was hoping it would.

I was afraid that, with a battle this big and few characters being capable fighters, Faith and Angel would be the only ones in the spotlight in spite of all the battle planning in the previous issue. It doesn’t play out that way at all, and everyone plays a role in the battle without anything feeling forced. Their contributions don’t make it easy, and the situation only seems to get worse as the battle rages on. I’m not entirely sure where they’re taking things from this point. It doesn’t yet feel like they’ve written themselves into a corner, but the situation is pretty dire, and will be difficult to get out of. I trust this team to get it right, though, and not take a cheap or easy way out.

The art continues to be great, though I find it difficult to explain why yet again. The problems I have are the same as before: we’ve seen almost everything before, and the few new designs would be spoilery to talk about in any detail (in general, they’re not overly original, but there’s nothing wrong with them). The only thing I can say, and it’s not specific to this issue, is that I’m starting to see these designs as the characters more than the actors who portrayed them. I know it’s not very specific, but I think it says a lot.

I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but I give this issue a strong recommendation for the $2.99 cover price despite all the small flaws I kept pointing out. I’d even be willing to pay more for it, for any of the issues in the series, really. Once again, I’ll just ask that any Bufy fans who don’t follow this series check it out, as it really is worth it, and captures the feeling and tone of the show as well as any of the comics have.

Zac Kandell (known mostly on the internet as Mischlings) is dutifully writing this instead of being out on the beach. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, as he tends to not like beaches and sun much in the first place. If you find what he says interesting, follow him on Twitter at @Mischlings for more, shorter thoughts.

Review:Dark Horse Presents #25

Dark Horse Presents!  My favorite time of the month.  Those of you who read these comic reviews regularly, already know that, though.  We’ve got lots of returning stories, two new “Chapter 1’s” and two one shots.  As always with Dark Horse Presents, we’ve got a lot to cover so let’s get going.

Chapter 1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Love vs. Life is a continuation from the season 9 story arc regarding a fairly new slayer named Billy, which our writer Mischlings covered a while back.  It’s a strange story because while it continues the ‘zompires’ story from season 9, the zompires are really just a backdrop for the romance story between Billy and Devon. There is no need for it to be in the Buffyverse, and honestly it sort of detracts from the romance storyline which is clearly the real focus for comic, not the zompires.

The Time Ben Fell in Love is a one shot by Matt Fraction and acts as a cautionary tale against time traveling to talk to yourself.  It’s a deep work, metaphoric and philosophical.  For a one shot, I think this is the way to do it; with a message, not a story (especially in 8 pages).  The art is beautiful, it’s just so smooth and flowing, very much like watercolors in a lot of places, but bolder than watercolors usually are.

Chapter 1 of Underground doesn’t leave a lot to be said.  A story is being told by a man who we know little about in a setting we know less about.  The story told is the actual meat of the comic’s plot, but mostly in this chapter we get the set up: people living underground in some kind of organized gang system based on common interests like videogames, potion making and so on.  I don’t really know what’s going on.  I’m going to reserve my opinion on this series until Chapter 2.

Chapter 3 of Brain Boy is the conclusion to Fred Van Lente‘s series.  But it’s not the end.  In the last chapter, Brain Boy learned he’s not the only super powered person in Albright’s employ, while trying to hunt down a special ops team that attacked the president.  This is a good solid conclusion to the story and even an announcement to return in the Fall with issue #1!  Very pleased with this series as a whole and cannot wait for it’s return.

Chapter 2 of Trekker: Train to Avalon Bay is a little disappointing to be honest.  I was quite impressed with the first chapter in last month’s Dark Horse Presents, but this one took an interesting character and sort of turned her into a Mary Sue.  Problem arises, problem solved by the end of the page.  Boring.  I don’t know if Ron Randall was just trying to fit a bunch into the middle to get to the conclusion faster or what, but it’s not his usual work.

Chapter 3 of King’s Road: The Long Way Home is probably the best chapter I’ve seen in this series.  The first chapter piqued my interest, the second was a little too backstory heavy and slow.  This chapter gives a good balance of action, plot and setting development.  Hopefully it was just a little introduction/settling in that is out of Peter Hogan‘s system now.

Chapter 5 of Crime Does Not Pay: City of Roses is… well, I didn’t understand the last one, but I guess at least this one had a plot?  Honestly, I’m already tired of this series.  This time it was a little romantic tryst, presumably in the same town, but it might as well be a whole different story.  I don’t feel any connection to the characters (admittedly, I missed the first 3 chapters) and while there was a plot this time, still very little happens.

Chapter 3 of Nexus: Into the Past sees our hero Nexus working with Sherlock Holmes to track down the murderer who stole H. G. Well’s time machine.  And that’s before the events of this episode.  Nexus is a little bit of a Gary Sue (male Mary Sue, see above), but unlike in Trekker, he really only has one moment of “well that was far too easy”.  And honestly, he has superpowers.  Superman could have done it, and he’s not overpowered at all.  (In fairness, Superman isn’t always a god.  It depends on the writer.)

The Chapel Chronicles is not only a one shot, but a one page comic.  It’s not that impressive, to be honest. Very amusing, just not long enough to really make anything exceptional of itself.  The author/artist is, however, pretty impressive.  Emma T. Capps is only 15 years old, and this comic is from the style of her webcomic of the same name.  So yeah, it’s not a Spawn or a Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it’s still a heck of a lot more than you probably had published when you were 15!

Chapter 3 of Boodhound: Plain Sight completes the story as Clev and Agent Bell set a trap for their invisible killer.  It’s great end to the story, and gets to show Clev in “fight mode” which was less prominent in the last chapter.  There is also a collection of other Bloodhound stories out this week, if you like comics if you like action films, check it out.  If I have the time, I may be reviewing that too?  There will be a link right here, if I do, how about that?

Chapter 2 of Blackout is a bit of a let down, just because the action sequence is over, the novelty of his weird portals has started to wear off and the main focus is on the chapter is saving a woman who has information about this suit he’s using, but they don’t really give enough of a teaser to really get you excited about what she has to say.  But there is a promise of a fight scene in the next chapter, and if we’re lucky we might get some real information too.  This chapter wasn’t great, but if it were the middle third of a 25 page comic, with what happened in the first chapter and what they’ve set up for the third, I think it would come together quite nice.

As always, the good definitely outweighs the bad this month and I would definitely say this is worth the $7.99.  But seriously, I don’t get City of Roses.  If someone understands what’s going on, please comment below and fill me (and other readers) in.  I’m just so bored of it.

Matthew Bryant, aka Baker Street Holmes, is an editor for the Red Shirt Crew and if he could be any fictitious character he’d be his inner self.  His inner self is a wizard-ninja, with his own pirate ship and a brand of timepiece named after him.  You can follow him on Twitter at @BStreetHolmes or you can e-mail him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: The Fall of the House of Usher #2

The Fall of the House of Usher #2 is the last issue of Richard Corben‘s adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story. When I reviewed the previous issue, I said that I’d have to wait for the end to give a final verdict, which I think is fair for a miniseries, especially one this short. Unfortunately, that length works to the detriment of the story, and leaves me wishing it was longer so the story could be told in a satisfying way.

I continue to enjoy the art for the same reasons as before. My main issue is that the odd panel layouts continue, becoming a problem here. There is a fight between a couple of characters, and the odd layouts made it quite difficult to follow. That is my only real issue with the art here, as the rest of it uses its unique style to create the atmosphere that was used to such great effect.

In the previous issue, the narrator character had been relegated to the background, letting the atmosphere created by the art do the job of replacing the narrator. He’s brought back to a prominent role in this issue, and that’s what makes this issue start to fall apart. His narration covers large pieces of the story without letting us see what happens, seemingly in the interest of rushing through the story. Events that should have been set up in the previous issue or played out through a slightly longer arc are quickly set up through narration, though not organically.

I also have issues with the ending, but not because it feels different than the original. Instead, it’s the presence of the narrator. His narration ruins what could be a good ending with an odd attempt at humor that doesn’t work. I hate to say that something so small can ruin a story, but the attempt at humor simply falls flat and leaves a bad taste in my mouth to close out the book.

I have to mention that there are no extras in the back like in the previous issue. This isn’t a dealbreaker, but I’m slightly disappointed, since the previous issue led me to believe that there might be some more extras here to round out the creative process that led to this book.

Sadly, I don’t think that I can recommend this issue for the $3.99 cover price. The story is too rushed to try and fit it in such a short series. I’m also wondering if my original idea about Poe’s stories not working in comics is right – this relies on a lot of narration, one of the defining aspects of his stories, and it just doesn’t work in this medium. I still think that Poe’s stories could be adapted to comics in some way that works, but for all the hope I had, this isn’t that adaptation.

Zac Kandell (known mostly on the internet as Mischlings) thinks he knows better than to have hope, but doesn’t really. He also can’t believe that that log line applies to this review as much as the last. If you find what he says interesting, follow him on Twitter at @Mischlings for more thoughts occasionally.