Black Widow- Deadly Origin #01 (by Paul Cornell, Tom Raney, and John Paul Leon)
I'm not sure who this book is meant for really and I can't say I am interested in this at all.
The story takes several jumps through places and times including her origin and while the book starts off with Black Widow in a Mini Space Shuttle playing a game of spy one upmanship unfortunately we then get five pages of wordless grunting and pointless fighting.
Then we get to the main plot where a man who is apparently like a father to her named Ivan is on the run because of something called the “icepick protocol” and from there we get somewhat random flashbacks about Natasha's early childhood and for some reason Wolverine makes a cameo appearance (boy that guy sure did get around) and then back to the present.
To be perfectly honest this story bored the hell out of me maybe if you are a big fan of spy type stuff this would interest you and we also have no clue what the icepick protocol is or what it's about and the flashbacks are kind of dull and don't tell us much except Natasha was a killer at an early age.
The art in the present by Tom Raney doesn't really work well especially since all his females have chubby faces it doesn't really fit how Widow is supposed to look which I think should be strong and fierce and determined with high cheekbones, his storytelling isn't all that great either.
The Flashbacks by John Paul Leon are nice and atmospheric and has some interesting layouts that look Steranko-esque.
I can't say if I will continue reading this but right now I can say I don't have much interest, I would advise most people to read something else unless youre a hardcore fan of the original Black Widow or you love Spy books no matter
pariah
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Valkyrie
I was really looking forward to seeing this movie the other night but ultimately i was very disappointed in it.
The actors don't seem quite passionate enough for something as life and death as this(overthrowing Hitler)
Not to mention that noone even attempts a German accent and most of the actors besides Tom have British accents which is really jarring.
There is no mention of the atrocities that the SS and Hitler are performing on Jews or exactly what exactly they plan to do once they get rid of Hitler.
If this was supposed to be some sort of comeback vehicle for Tom Cruise..... well then i'm curious why he and his people didn't invest more effort into making this movie more authentic and passionate?
since after all this would have been a great oscar bait if it was more successfull.
The actors don't seem quite passionate enough for something as life and death as this(overthrowing Hitler)
Not to mention that noone even attempts a German accent and most of the actors besides Tom have British accents which is really jarring.
There is no mention of the atrocities that the SS and Hitler are performing on Jews or exactly what exactly they plan to do once they get rid of Hitler.
If this was supposed to be some sort of comeback vehicle for Tom Cruise..... well then i'm curious why he and his people didn't invest more effort into making this movie more authentic and passionate?
since after all this would have been a great oscar bait if it was more successfull.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Deathlok the Demolisher #1 (1of a seven issue limited series)
Apparently this book is reviving the Marvel Knights imprint (which has seemingly been dead for quite a while,)although from the writing here with it's glorious use of violence and long string of obnoxiously edited curse words they might as well put it out in the Max imprint. of course one even wonders why Marvel and DC are always trying to revive long dormant characters but I guess they should be rewarded for at least trying even if most of the time the results are null and void, which is pretty much what we seem to be getting here.
Granted I know next to nothing about Deathlok except he was a african american half cyborg and possible soldier of some sorts and his book was considered edgy for it's time and that's just going from memory..
Anyways all those idea's have been apparently thrown out the window for some reason at least for the time being what we get is a mix and match of sci fi tropes all thrown into together in something that doesn't seem anything at all original so basically what we have here is Starship troopers meets Rollerball meets Running Man which basically amounts to a parody of extreme sports commentators over a a bunch of hard ass military goons pretending to be jocks.
The first big mistake is the pacing which doesn't even get to the action until page 15 where the book is already half-way over and the second is the extremely obnoxious extreme sports commentators who don't offer any real insight into the players or what's going on in the book at all just check out this exact quote from one of the commentators “that can only mean one thing the house of pain is open for business” “ amateurs need not apply” “we got the big dogs in the ring tonight and one of them ain't going home with a bone” And then they insult one of the former players turned commentators who was handicapped from a field explosion .
Apparently all this is supposed to be some sort of dark comedy but the dialogue is way too in your face to ever be funny so i'm not sure who exactly this book is supposed to be marketed towards.
Lan Medina's art is really lovely in the beginning and has lots of nice detail and a level of almost painterly realism, but then when the action starts the action seems stiff and the blood red colors blur a lot of the energy and detail out of the pencils. Sadly Deathlok himself doesn't even appear in this issue at all so maybe the next issue will pick up on the action and leave the commentators behind.
Apparently this book is reviving the Marvel Knights imprint (which has seemingly been dead for quite a while,)although from the writing here with it's glorious use of violence and long string of obnoxiously edited curse words they might as well put it out in the Max imprint. of course one even wonders why Marvel and DC are always trying to revive long dormant characters but I guess they should be rewarded for at least trying even if most of the time the results are null and void, which is pretty much what we seem to be getting here.
Granted I know next to nothing about Deathlok except he was a african american half cyborg and possible soldier of some sorts and his book was considered edgy for it's time and that's just going from memory..
Anyways all those idea's have been apparently thrown out the window for some reason at least for the time being what we get is a mix and match of sci fi tropes all thrown into together in something that doesn't seem anything at all original so basically what we have here is Starship troopers meets Rollerball meets Running Man which basically amounts to a parody of extreme sports commentators over a a bunch of hard ass military goons pretending to be jocks.
The first big mistake is the pacing which doesn't even get to the action until page 15 where the book is already half-way over and the second is the extremely obnoxious extreme sports commentators who don't offer any real insight into the players or what's going on in the book at all just check out this exact quote from one of the commentators “that can only mean one thing the house of pain is open for business” “ amateurs need not apply” “we got the big dogs in the ring tonight and one of them ain't going home with a bone” And then they insult one of the former players turned commentators who was handicapped from a field explosion .
Apparently all this is supposed to be some sort of dark comedy but the dialogue is way too in your face to ever be funny so i'm not sure who exactly this book is supposed to be marketed towards.
Lan Medina's art is really lovely in the beginning and has lots of nice detail and a level of almost painterly realism, but then when the action starts the action seems stiff and the blood red colors blur a lot of the energy and detail out of the pencils. Sadly Deathlok himself doesn't even appear in this issue at all so maybe the next issue will pick up on the action and leave the commentators behind.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Secret Six #15
Secret Six 15
Deadshot is having issues ! he keeps seeing dead people and he wants to kill everyone he sees and he doesn't like to not be in control so will he kill everyone or will he reform and become a priest?
In this story Deadshot meets up with one of his old friends Reverend Richard Craemer at a downtown Gotham Cafe and he tells the Rev that he has been having uncontrollable homicidal feelings. they catch up on what Floyd has been doing lately then he takes the Reverend to his old house and tells him how he had to “evict” some gang members from his old abandoned house and told them to spread the word that it's his. We also get a nice short flashback of Deadshots origin where he meets Bruce and Batman for the first time.
John is not someone I'm overly familiar with, I know he has been working a lot on the Dark Horse Star Wars Republic series and did a lot with the Suicide Squad in the late 80's including reinvented Barbara Gordon as a computer hacker named Oracle. So I wasn't sure what I was expecting completely it seems a lot of older generation writers from the 80's have really lost there touch lately , but it seems his skills probably never atrophied like a lot of other writers.
Either way it's hard to not be impressed with this issue it's dark and pretty grim at times, but not to the point of parody. Deadshot has always seemed very contradictory about who he decides to kill or not kill on any given issue while even characters like Wolverine who have killed they usually are a little more repentant about it and Deadshot only cares about this sudden impulse cause he can't control it and that bothers him, but he does not care about the moral implications even when he is discussing things with a Reverend the only problem with this story is how suddenly Batman mysteriously disappears in the middle of the story.
J. Calafiore is on pencils and although it doesn't look anything like his regular work the storytelling is very good even in the shadows.
To sum it up Great issue if you have been liking Secret Six so far I seriously doubt you could be disappointed by this at all.
Deadshot is having issues ! he keeps seeing dead people and he wants to kill everyone he sees and he doesn't like to not be in control so will he kill everyone or will he reform and become a priest?
In this story Deadshot meets up with one of his old friends Reverend Richard Craemer at a downtown Gotham Cafe and he tells the Rev that he has been having uncontrollable homicidal feelings. they catch up on what Floyd has been doing lately then he takes the Reverend to his old house and tells him how he had to “evict” some gang members from his old abandoned house and told them to spread the word that it's his. We also get a nice short flashback of Deadshots origin where he meets Bruce and Batman for the first time.
John is not someone I'm overly familiar with, I know he has been working a lot on the Dark Horse Star Wars Republic series and did a lot with the Suicide Squad in the late 80's including reinvented Barbara Gordon as a computer hacker named Oracle. So I wasn't sure what I was expecting completely it seems a lot of older generation writers from the 80's have really lost there touch lately , but it seems his skills probably never atrophied like a lot of other writers.
Either way it's hard to not be impressed with this issue it's dark and pretty grim at times, but not to the point of parody. Deadshot has always seemed very contradictory about who he decides to kill or not kill on any given issue while even characters like Wolverine who have killed they usually are a little more repentant about it and Deadshot only cares about this sudden impulse cause he can't control it and that bothers him, but he does not care about the moral implications even when he is discussing things with a Reverend the only problem with this story is how suddenly Batman mysteriously disappears in the middle of the story.
J. Calafiore is on pencils and although it doesn't look anything like his regular work the storytelling is very good even in the shadows.
To sum it up Great issue if you have been liking Secret Six so far I seriously doubt you could be disappointed by this at all.
Psylocke #1
(script by Christ Yost Art by Harvey Taliboa)
Psylocke is back in a new body and maybe a new mind but she still doesn't know who she really is anymore so she travels to japan with Wolverine in tow
I'm not sure if Psylocke needs a mini series but here we are !
The book seems to be basically about Psylocke trying to find out who she really is deep down inside which is a great hook to reel people in and gives Yost a lot of room to clear up some things with Betsy who is probably the most screwed over X-men .
Although one wishes this would have come out sooner since it ties into her reappearance in Uncanny X-men where of course she switched minds/bodies again ! And frankly the first couple of pages of this comic are a bit of a cluttered almost impossible to read mess It also doesn't help that there is some weird back and forth timeline going on making it hard to place when the opening scene actually happened. and of course it is also nice to see Psylocke and Dazzler has buddy buddies again even if they haven't seen each other in a long time.
I think the best thing about this book is Betsys inner monologue which comes across as intelligent and witty befitting someone who grew up a rich socialite in england with a well healed education.
The art is very reminiscent of Stephen Segovia with long wavy lines everywhere unfortunately some there is too many extreme close ups in the beginning and the actions scenes are extremely cluttered at first but then it starts to come together around page 10
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Fall Out Toy Works
The first issue is created by Pete Wentz (with help from two or three other people)who most people know as the bass player and songwriter for popular Emo band Fall Out Boy and while i don't know any of the other people involved in this i have to say that this is a good first issue especially for those who are fans of the band and more adult oriented anime.
The story is sort of a mash up of Blade Runner (visually at least) and Pinochio and as strange as that sounds it works pretty well .
The plot is basically a guy who makes life like robotic toys but is out of work because his factory closed down and is now being offered to make a life like woman to be a housewife.
It's hard to say who exactly this is geared towards and the plot mash up could be a little more subtle but as someone who doesn't really care for the band either way i was certainly intrigued enough by the set up to check out the next issue.
The story is sort of a mash up of Blade Runner (visually at least) and Pinochio and as strange as that sounds it works pretty well .
The plot is basically a guy who makes life like robotic toys but is out of work because his factory closed down and is now being offered to make a life like woman to be a housewife.
It's hard to say who exactly this is geared towards and the plot mash up could be a little more subtle but as someone who doesn't really care for the band either way i was certainly intrigued enough by the set up to check out the next issue.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
G.I. Joe (IDW)
I must admit i was pretty excited when i learned that IDW was going to reboot the Joe franchise from the previous owner Devil's Due and so far i have not been disappointed and to be honest i have not been a hardcore fan of there comics before but this time they have bought me hook line and sinker.
It's pretty ambitious because they have launched 3 ongoing titles and they have brought Chuck Dixon for the main book who also just recently and controversially left Dc comics and is a somewhat notorious conservative who also happens to love his military jargon almost as much as Warren Ellis loves his sci-fi techno jargon, so it's been a natural fit from day one.
The other books are G.i Joe Origins which features G.I Joe mainstay Larry Hama and G.I. Joe Cobra which is co-written by Christos Gage and Mike Costa.
The main book shows the current timeline where the other two are in the same continuity but in the past.
It's hard to pick which one is better right now they all seem to be in the same quality even tho the main book started off a bit slow right now it's kicking into high gear with Destro (pre metal mask) using arachnid like robots to infiltrate the Joe's underground desert base now i'm not sure if this plot has been done before cause it seems so simple it's almost a no brainer and Destro having his two henchpeople to use Xbox controllers to manuever the robots is a absolutely hilarious.
The art by Robert Atkins is really good and has the good sense where he doesn't get in the way of the strong storytelling by over complicating the pencils.
Also using a underground desert base is a real neat idea that i have not seen used a whole lot in any of the comics or the cartoons.
I'm not really sure why he Chuck Dixon feels the need to over emphasize the scottish accents in Destro's castle almost to a Chris Claremont parody but that's a small nitpick.
G.I Joe origins has been more character oriented which is showing how the Joe team came together and it's first mission.
i have to admit it's a bit confusing cause they are using this guy named Chimera who could or could not be the future Cobra Commander
i guess we will see cause honestly i think the Joe's could use another antagonist besides Cobra Commander and the various Cobra allies.
G.I. Joe Cobra features mainly the character of "Chuckles" (whom i don't really know much about)doing undercover work in Eastern Europe seems he is working for some rich dude as a bodyguard type and also having an affair with Jinx who is supposed to be his liason purists might think this book doesn't feel like a G.I. Joe comic but who cares? The thing i really like about this book is Chuckles does not feel like your typical action hero movie or comic book wise he is a slightly annoying smart ass who wears hawaiin shirts and bitches and complains a lot to Hawk which is kind of funny.
But it also feels very much like you are there witnessing this all go down it pulls you straight in and thats a rare thing to find in any comic even if it's one that is completely grounded like this one.
If you have never read a G.I. Joe comic or just wanting to get back in and need to get in on the ground floor this is probably the best oppurtunity yet.
It's pretty ambitious because they have launched 3 ongoing titles and they have brought Chuck Dixon for the main book who also just recently and controversially left Dc comics and is a somewhat notorious conservative who also happens to love his military jargon almost as much as Warren Ellis loves his sci-fi techno jargon, so it's been a natural fit from day one.
The other books are G.i Joe Origins which features G.I Joe mainstay Larry Hama and G.I. Joe Cobra which is co-written by Christos Gage and Mike Costa.
The main book shows the current timeline where the other two are in the same continuity but in the past.
It's hard to pick which one is better right now they all seem to be in the same quality even tho the main book started off a bit slow right now it's kicking into high gear with Destro (pre metal mask) using arachnid like robots to infiltrate the Joe's underground desert base now i'm not sure if this plot has been done before cause it seems so simple it's almost a no brainer and Destro having his two henchpeople to use Xbox controllers to manuever the robots is a absolutely hilarious.
The art by Robert Atkins is really good and has the good sense where he doesn't get in the way of the strong storytelling by over complicating the pencils.
Also using a underground desert base is a real neat idea that i have not seen used a whole lot in any of the comics or the cartoons.
I'm not really sure why he Chuck Dixon feels the need to over emphasize the scottish accents in Destro's castle almost to a Chris Claremont parody but that's a small nitpick.
G.I Joe origins has been more character oriented which is showing how the Joe team came together and it's first mission.
i have to admit it's a bit confusing cause they are using this guy named Chimera who could or could not be the future Cobra Commander
i guess we will see cause honestly i think the Joe's could use another antagonist besides Cobra Commander and the various Cobra allies.
G.I. Joe Cobra features mainly the character of "Chuckles" (whom i don't really know much about)doing undercover work in Eastern Europe seems he is working for some rich dude as a bodyguard type and also having an affair with Jinx who is supposed to be his liason purists might think this book doesn't feel like a G.I. Joe comic but who cares? The thing i really like about this book is Chuckles does not feel like your typical action hero movie or comic book wise he is a slightly annoying smart ass who wears hawaiin shirts and bitches and complains a lot to Hawk which is kind of funny.
But it also feels very much like you are there witnessing this all go down it pulls you straight in and thats a rare thing to find in any comic even if it's one that is completely grounded like this one.
If you have never read a G.I. Joe comic or just wanting to get back in and need to get in on the ground floor this is probably the best oppurtunity yet.
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