This is apparently based on Kevin Smith’s unused movie script. This means that most of the heavy lifting is done and he just has to polish it for comic book use. This should also mean that it won’t be plagued with scheduling gaps. That’s good because this is the starting point for a whole universe of Green Hornet related comic books from Dynamite Entertainment. And this was a pretty good story and like all good #1s, it makes me want to come back for at least the second issue.

I talk about it a lot more in the next episode of Indie Comic Book Noise.

Tags: dynamite entertainment, green hornet, kevin smith

Like a lot of people, I’m not that fond of the name, but since I don’t judge a book by its cover (Unless the cover says “Anybody Who Buys This Is A Pedophile And An Asshole”, then I would probably think twice about picking it up), I picked it up off the shelf.

It is an anthology, so it was up and down in terms of my likes and dislikes, but overall I liked it:

I liked the intro by Colleen Coover.

I didn’t like ‘Moritat’ by G. Willow Wilson/Ming Doyle/Cris Peter/Kathleen Marinaccio, but that’s because I don’t like comic book stories that heavily utilize musical performances. The artwork was very Paul Pope-ish, though.

I liked the Venus story by Trina Robbins/Stephanie Buscema/Kristyn Ferretti because I think stories about people from the past fitting into current times are usually funny.

I liked the spotlight on Flo Steinberg, who I remembered from What If #11, but had no idea who she really was.

I liked ‘A Brief Rendezvous’ by Valerie d’Orazio/Nikki Cook/Elizabeth Breitweiser/Kristyn Ferretti because it is always nice to see what The Punisher does with his off time.

I didn’t like the She-Hulk pin-up by Sana Takeda because her hand-foot was distracting and I think if a male artist had drawn this particular picture he would have been raked over the coals for it.

I liked ‘Shop Doc’ by Lucy Knisley, I thought it was cute.

I liked the spotlight on Marie Severin. She’s Marie Severin, who wouldn’t?

I skipped over ‘Clockwork Nightmare’ by Robin Furth/Agnes Garbowska/Kristyn Ferretti for the same reason I didn’t like ‘Moritat’, only instead of a musical performance, this seemed like it was poetry.

I liked ‘Head Space’ by Devin Grayson/Emma Rios/Barbara Ciardo/Kathleen Marinaccio. I have always thought she spent too much time exploring relationships between characters rather than the characters themselves and as a result, I haven’t been a big fan of her work. She does the same thing in this story, but it makes sense since it was a story about a relationship. Of course, she makes my favorite X-Man look like a little bitch, but then again, almost all writers make him look like a little bitch.

I know a lot of people will pass on this book because of the “high price tag” and I’m not sure what kind of business it will do in trade, but I don’t feel like I got ripped off and I’m looking forward to the other two issues in the miniseries.

Also, I love the cover by Amanda Conner and Laura Martin.

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Tags: agnes garbowska, amanda conner, barbara ciardo, colleen coover, cris peter, cyclops, devin grayson, elizabeth breitweiser, emma rios, flo steinberg, g. wilson wilson, kathleen marinaccio, kristyn ferretti, laura martin, lucy knisley, marie severin, ming doyle, nikki cook, paul pope, robin furth, sana takeda, she-hulk, stephanie buscema, the punisher, trina robbins, valerie d'orazio, venus

When I started reading this book, I did something I rarely do. I read the inside cover. Normally, the inside cover is reserved for ‘The Story So Far’ and although I usually skip those for books I have every issue of, I was stopped from turning by the fact it was NOT ‘The Story So Far’, but rather an explanation for why issue has been a year and a half late. Recently I have read a couple of other books that were so ungodly late, they have turned me off from buying things from the creators/publishers for a while, if not for good. (Zero Killer and Dead World: Frozen Over for those of you who haven’t been following the blog.) However, I might have been a little more forgiving if they had just explained things. I understand creators/publishers don’t owe me (or any reader) an explanation for lateness, but I (or any reader) don’t owe them our money.

The story itself was every good thing about True Story Swear To God. It was funny and touching and romantic. I will admit to becoming teary eyed during the FOUR pages leading to the kiss at the altar. If you have a single romantic bone in your body, this issue (and the entire series to be honest with you) will move you.

There is a reason why this title gets moved to the top of my reading list every time it comes out, this issue illustrates it perfectly.

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Tags: image comics, tom beland, true story swear to god

Simply put, this book was a joy to read. I had almost forgotten how much I liked these characters. This might not be a good jumping on point (Someone who is jumping on will have to make that determination), but for those who read the original stories, this is either the beginning of a good jumping BACK on point or the beginning of a last hurrah. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with these characters or the Milestone Universe as a whole, but I am going to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Highly recommended.

BTW: It seems like Dwayne McDuffie had a lot more fun writing this issue than his entire Justice League of America run. I could be wrong but that’s how it seemed to me.

Tags: blood syndicate, hardware, holocaust, icon, milestone, milestone forever, rocket, shadow cabinet, static

The Great Ten is probably the most underrated book being put out by the Big Two. I cannot express how much I love this book. I can only hope that it comes out in an Absolute version one day.

Highly recommended.

Tags: great ten, scott mcdaniel, tony bedard

This book just gets better with each issue. I thought I was all zombied-out, but I was wrong. I recently watched the movie ‘28 Weeks Later’ and strongly feel this is a much better worth successor to the original ‘28 Days Later’.

Recommended.

Tags: 28 days later, boom studios

Fukingawesome!

Tags: andy diggle, daredevil, kingpin, lady bullseye, matt hollingsworth, robert de la torre, stephen wacker

This is the first issue of Exiles I have ever read.  Which is great because it’s the first issue of the new Exiles series, so it all works out.  I’ll tell you this right up front: I recommend this book heartily.

It’s no secret that I’m a big Jeff Parker fan.  With this issue he not only gets you up to speed on what this is all about, but you get introduced to the team in a way where no one gets shortchanged.  Salva Espin first popped up on my radar with the Wolverine: First Class series and I think Salva’s linework complements Jeff’s words perfectly.  Anthony Washington’s colors enhance the art and Simon Bowland’s letters are perfect in the sense that they aren’t distracting with balloons and caption boxes placed in unfortunate spots and of course are easy to read.

As stated, this issue is a great jumping on point.  Having no knowledge of the previous volumes, but aware of their existance, at no time did I feel cheated or out of the loop with the title’s history.  The team consists of Polaris (from Earth-8149), Beast (Earth-763), Earth-1119’s Panther (not once referenced as Black Panther), Forge (Earth-2814), Earth-8823’s Witch (sans the Scarlet label), and Blink.  We’re introduced to each member (save Blink) right as they are about to face certain death, plucked from their reality and facing Morph, who gives them a rundown of what the Exiles are designed to do.  Have I mentioned how accessible this issue is?

What I found interesting is that we haven’t been old Panther’s real name yet.  The character doesn’t ‘read’ like the T’Challa we’re used to in the 616 and Beast mentions that he doesn’t sound like the Black Panther from his earth.  Everything else appears to be the same.  Polaris and Witch are half-sisters, Forge is Forge (and married), Beast, while Hank McCoy, looks a little more beastly and seems to have a bit of a violent streak if his introduction is any indication.  Blink, who I know from Age of Apocalypse and the other Exiles series, is the only one without an introduction, but we get brought up to speed fairly quickly.

And the last page?  If I wasn’t coming back for the second issue based on the first twenty-one pages, the last page would have sealed the deal.

Seriously, this is a must have.  I’m delighted to be along for this ride.

Exiles #1 “Deja Vu”
Writer: Jeff Parker
Art: Salva Espin
Colors: Anthony Washington
Letters: Simon Bowland
Cover: Bullock, Irwin, and Washington
Editor: Mark Paniccia
$3.99, 40 pgs

Tags: Dave Bullock, Exiles, Jeff Parker, Salva Espin

The Wind Raider #1 of 3
Ape Entertainment
$3.50 cover price
Created & Written by: Richard Finney and Dean Loftis
Art by: Gabriel Hardman
Colors by: Micah Farritor
Lettering & Design by: David Hedgecock

“When you control the Wind …you control the future.”

In this post-apocalyptic world, where people known as Ki Warriors can bend the winds to their will, a young boy named Joshua finds himself in trouble with a murderous group of bandits. There are hints of a greater darkness and a rising force for good.

I am a big fan of the post-apocalyptic genre of storytelling. Sure this book offers somewhat familiar situations to viewers of The Road Warrior and other movies like that. But I have to say I really enjoyed the style of this book. A lot of the story is told in artwork reminiscent of Joe Kubert or Francesco Francavilla, done mostly in brown tones to nicely give off the effect of a harsh desert-dwelling life.

The world of The Wind Raider is a harsh and violent world but this story isn’t terribly graphic in the violence. The book is labeled as suitable for teen and up, and I would agree with that assessment and say 13 and up. This is a great change of pace from the usual capes and tights comics and has enough originality and excitement to interest young and old alike.

There are also backup pages with extensive character history and information about the world they inhabit so you can tell the creative team has worked hard to develop this story.

You can find a trailer on YouTube as well as more information about the book at the website: http://www.thewindraider.com or the publisher website at: http://apecomics.com/

This 48 page first issue hits shelves in January 2009.

- Eric Martin

Tags: ape entertainment, ape entertianment, david hedgecock, dean loftis, francesco francavilla, gabriel hardman, joe kubert, micah farritor, post-apocalyptic, richard finney, the wind raider

[Spoilers in this post]

I finally saw the third X-Men movie, X-Men: The Final Stand. The movie that came out in 2006 and has been playing on FX for the past few months. The movie that most other comic book podcasters and comic book readers have seen already. That movie.

I wanted to not like it because I kept hearing that my favorite X-Man (Cyclops) had a very abbreviated role in the movie before getting killed off. I also heard that there were too many characters and most of them were underdeveloped. I heard that there were too many plots going on at once and it all combined to make a very muddled mess of a movie.

I liked it.

I started watching it on a number of occasions but for some reason never made it past Jean Grey walking down the stairs to meet with Xavier and Magneto. It might have been the crazy botoxy shiny faced way both men looked in that scene, I don’t know. This time, I sat down and just let it go.

The movie reminded me of the Claremont/Smith-Romita-Silvestri run of Uncanny X-Men. Lots of characters, lots of action, a discussion on philosophy and ethics with just the right amount of humor at just the right time.

The plot was pretty familiar for people who have read the Dark Phoenix Saga and Joss Whedon’s run on Astonishing X-Men. A company claims to have the cure for being a mutant, which causes all kinds of havoc in the mutant community. At the same time, the X-Men have to deal with a Jean Grey who has returned from the dead and is not on the side of good.

The effects were excellent. The scene where Jean drops her house made me pause the movie just so that I could say “Now, THAT was cool”. I was mesmerized by the end scenes where she was deconstructing everything in her path. Even without destroying a D’Bari star, you could tell that Dark Phoenix was not someone to mess with.

I think those were my favorite scenes, but I also really liked the relationship between Wolverine and Storm. The first movie was about Wolverine’s relationship with Rogue and the second was his relationship with Jean. In both of those instances, he was a father and a potential lover. In this movie, he and Storm were equals and I liked that.

In comics, I prefer Wolverine the loner, but I also like Wolverine, part of a duo. He had miniserieses with Havok and Kitty Pryde that were both pretty good. The storyline leading to his marriage with Mariko was him and Storm and I thought that was one of the many highlights of the series. In the Morrison run, there were issues with him and Cyclops and him and Jean that were great as well.

In the movies he has to play off of other characters and with Rogue, Cyclops and Jean out of the picture, it makes sense in the continuity of the X-Movieverse that he would gravitate towards Storm. The rest of the characters are too young and he never seemed to trust Xavier.

I wouldn’t go as far to say that this movie was as good as X2, but it was definitely as good as (if not better than) the first movie and I really liked the first movie.

If you haven’t seen it and can get past all of the previous negative press that this movie got, I think that you will enjoy. If you have seen it and didn’t like it, get rid of the mental ties between the movies and the comics and I think that it will surprise you with how good it is and well it fits in with the other two.

Tags: astonishing x-men, charles xavier, chris claremont, cyclops, dark phoenix, grant morrison, havok, jean grey, john romita jr, joss whedon, kitty pryde, magneto, mark silvestri, paul smith, rogue, storm, wolverine, x-men