Review: X-MEN # 8 is for Science!

With each passing issue of Gerry Duggan’s X-Men, it becomes more clear that he has a plan for these characters. He’s been showcasing each team member in standalone stories that highlight what each player brings to the X-Men. This issue, we get some focus on Synch. Duggan is joined by Javier Pina on pencils, Marte Gracia on colors, and Clayton Cowles on letters for this week’s book.

WRITING

Let’s be realistic here, MODOK is a silly villain. Having said that, Gerry Duggan does give him a sinister plan and shows us how ruthless he can be as an antagonist. MODOK taints the water supply on a cruise ship. This in turn makes the passengers become maniacal killers who attack anyone they see. Duggan does a terrific job of giving us both the diabolical side of MODOK and the silly side. As MODOK’S plan is playing out, Duggan has him eating from the ship’s buffet while people get killed. Duggan also has him yell “For Science” as he kicks a helpless woman.

Team building is something that Duggan has been doing since his first issue. Synch has been attempting to reconnect with Wolverine since their time in the Vault together. Duggan pairs them both up as they search the cruise ship for MODOK. The pair talk about their experiences from a life that Wolverine doesn’t remember. This conversation affects Synch in a way that he simply can’t describe to her. Duggan uses this chat to build a bond on another blossoming relationship. The pairing of Synch and Cyclops is becoming a great bromance in this title. Duggan has had Synch confide in the X-Men’s leader for certain things, and the trend continues this issue.

ART

Javier Pina is filling in for regular artist Pepe Larraz, and he does an amazing job. Pina starts off the issue with a giant page of MODOK. This is a perfectly shaded image that has closeups of microscopic organisms. Pina had the tough task of making ordinary cruise ship goers look dangerous and crazy. Pina does this by giving them longer faces and beady eyes, and it works well. The mind controlled patrons are fierce as they wield weapons with their distorted faces. I can’t honestly say if you’ll see a funnier panel in a comic this year than MODOK eating from the buffet on a cruise ship. Pina draws this panel perfectly. MODOK is hovering over the mashed potatoes as he adds them to his plate with hot dogs. The absurdity of the panel, while MODOK is mid-evil-plan mind you, has to crack a smile as you read the issue.

Marte Gracia’s colors are as great as usual. The dark backgrounds and skies at the beginning of the issue set the tone for the chaos the X-Men are about to walk into. The pink light emitting from MODOK’S head is a constant attention draw on each page. One of the best colored sequences in the book comes when Cyclops enters MODOK’S mind. Gracia uses a lighter color palette for these panels to differentiate from reality. The softer colors work as a good change of pace from Gracia’s normal vibrant style.

The letters by Clayton Cowles are very important for this issue. Since we have a lot of action, like Captain Krakoa punching MODOK, we need a large “SKRABOOM.” When mind controlled guests attack Wolverine and Synch, one yells “DIE DIE DIE.” The letters are large and red to emphasize the tone. These are the little touches that Cowles puts into his work that separate him from others.

CONCLUSION

X-Men #8 is a great addition to Gerry Duggan’s story for the mutants. This team continues to grow and gel with each passing issue. The writing is strong and gives readers a little bit of everything in regards to character moments. X-Men #8 is an issue that delivers the goods on all fronts.

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Review: A Symbiote on Its Own in CARNAGE FOREVER #1

Hank Essman

Carnage turns 30 this year. There’s even a little logo to remind you on the cover, the killer proudly jumping in front of the number 30. Back in 1992, when Carnage debuted, the Green Goblin had been around for only 28 years. Weird to think about. For a villain many fans associate with trying to usurp classic villains using a more in-your-face attitude, the character’s lasted for a solid half of Spider-Man’s existence. But then you open Carnage Forever and by the second paragraph, the intro’s already dropping terms like “extrembiote.” Maybe that’s why it doesn’t feel like it’s been thirty years. Carnage is forever, and the 90’s never truly left.

WRITING

Formatted as an anthology, Carnage Forever #1 features one main story, an eight-page teaser for his upcoming solo series, and a fun one-page newspaper strip gag. The lengthiest story, written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, positions Carnage as a malicious influence on a creepy little girl named Elsie. Her habit of hanging around the burned remains of Cletus Kasady’s old orphanage brings her into contact with the monster, while a local vagrant named Jerry starts to notice her odd behavior.

And yes, monster is the best word for Carnage at the moment, since the symbiote is currently wandering around without a human host. So this isn’t Carnage (the combination of Cletus Kasady and the Carnage symbiote), nor is it Carnage (Cletus Kasady acting through the Grendel Symbiote), this is an issue about Carnage (the Carnage Symbiote acting independent of Cletus Kasady). Got it? Okay.

Though honestly, committing fully to being a goopy blood monster isn’t a bad development for the character. The niche that Carnage has found over the years revolves around riffing on a number of different horror movies and tropes. He was introduced during the post-Silence of the Lambs serial killer fiction boom, after all. Since then, he’s taken over a small rural town, called upon a Lovecraftian god, orchestrated a body-snatching political conspiracy, and in this story, played the role of an Exorcist style dark influence. He’s not a character you come to expecting a complex inner life. And making him a full shapeshifting monster adds to his flexibility. He’s a character whose raison d’��tre is chaos, so it pays to play him a bit fast and loose.

Which is a long way of saying that the main story is a simple, fun horror story, but one that sticks to what the character’s good at. Meanwhile, Ram V’s writing on the teaser offers a short look at where the character’s headed. Not to give too much away, but the symbiote’s on a journey to find out the limits of its own power. Which may involve other people’s powers. Guess the Venom symbiote somehow copying Spider-Man’s powers all those years ago might be getting a payoff.

ART

Edgar Salazar’s work on the Elsie story stands out for all its filthy concrete, peeling wallpaper, and puddles of rainwater. The streets are empty, the sun is harsh, and the centerpiece of the story is a burned orphanage. Which Elsie only hangs around because it smells better than her normal house. Rachelle Rosenberg’s colors add to the washed-out, bleak feeling, turning vibrant during the attack of the titular blood monster near the end.

As for Salvador Larroca’s work on the teaser story, the biggest strengths lie in how he draws Carnage and the guest-starring Hydro-man. He draws Carnage as a creature made entirely of veins and muscle-fiber, who can form himself whole after dropping from a sprinkler. So when he fights a man made of water, it turns into two human-shaped piles smashing against each other. Rain Beredo’s colors start with blues and greys, but the story becomes more and more soaked in moody red over 8 short pages. VC’s Joe Sabino keeps his lettering clear and precise in contrast to the characters whose mouths they come from, unstable inside and out.

Ty Templeton’s one-pager has a fun riff on Family Circus, Dennis the Menace, and the daily Jumble puzzle. His art is bouncy and fun, and closes the issue on a pleasant note. No one said killer aliens had to be all doom-and-gloom.

VERDICT

Carnage Forever is a fairly fun time, though a bit slight. It acts more as an appetizer, a way to show fans both old and new where the character’s headed. Though it’s certainly a promising direction. Fingers crossed that Ram V and Francesco Manna can keep up the momentum, come March.

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Review: STEP BY BLOODY STEP #1 – A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words

Zac Owens

Image Comics’ Step By Bloody Step #1 isn’t your typical comic. That becomes pretty clear the moment you realize that this script has no dialogue or captions. But, Step By Bloody Step also kind of is your typical comic. It doesn’t treat storytelling differently just because it has no words. It takes on the same objectives as any story, it just does so with images. Writer Si Spurrier, artist Matias Bergara, and colorist Matheus Lopes do as much world building and character development in Step By Bloody Step #1 as in any other comic on the shelves. How do they do it without the help of words? Now, that’s the real question.

About Step By Bloody Step #1 (from Image Comics):

An armored giant and a helpless child. Together they cross an astonishing world brimming with beasts, bandits, and—deadliest by far—civilizations… If they stop walking, the earth itself forces them onwards. WHY? The child can’t ask. She and her guardian have no language, no memory, nothing—except each other.

Story

Spurrier’s scripting for this issue is fantastically paced. It’s no coincidence that the title of this story has the words “step by step” in it. That’s exactly how Spurrier approaches his script. We see every little, relevant moment, from picking flowers to dismembering monsters, laid out in a shot-by-shot progression. When Spurrier transitions into a montage, or makes any big leaps in the passing of time, he does so on an entirely new page. That way, we’re never confused as to what is happening or what led us to each new image. At times, the story feels quite mysterious. We see the fantastical landscape these two characters are traversing actually respond to them in magical ways. And the interactions between characters feel meaningful, though we don’t know what it is they’re communicating to each other. Spurrier makes everything so physical in this script that despite the mystery – which Spurrier excitedly dishes out in heavy doses – we have a general sense of what’s going on, and a specific sense of what we want to know more about.

Art

There’s a stunning versatility to Bergara’s page layouts. No one page looks anything like the others. Bergara tailor makes every image to match each story beat in the script. We get big panels that seem to stretch on forever that get interrupted by smaller panels of a character squinting their eyes or looking on in shock. Often, panels overlap one another in a chaotic jumble. The violence Bergara depicts feels disruptive to the tranquility he’s brought out on each page. You can feel the panic the characters are experiencing. And so much of this script works because of the style of Bergara’s art. His characters are so expressive and full of life. You barely notice that we don’t have the words to know what they’re thinking or saying, because you can read it on their faces so clearly. Even in the context of Bergara’s beautifully detailed scenes, his characters stand out dramatically. You’ll feel all the fear, happiness, sadness, and anger that’s painted across every face.

Coloring

Thanks to Lopes, you will find yourself completely lost in every scene. The way Lopes colors each landscape makes every panel an immersive experience. In the first few pages, the stunning dark blues mix together with light grays to make you feel the intensity of the cold winter night. You can feel the difference in the red heat of someone’s anger and the terrifying yellow brilliance of a raging fire. Some settings are painted almost entirely in brown, letting the poverty of the civilization sink in as you see that nothing grows there, while others are covered in a playful pink. But every scene’s coloring fades away when Lopes has an emotion to show. The lush green of a scene disappears when a character feels fear, resulting in a mustard colored background. The same scene warms to a light red as his fear turns to fury. Lopes makes every landscape beautiful, but – more importantly – he makes sure that every emotional beat stands out distinctly.

Step By Bloody Step from Image Comics is gorgeous and moving. This creative team has done mountains of worldbuilding without uttering a single word. Frankly, it’s the kind of storytelling you have to see to believe. Pick up Step By Bloody Step #1, out from Image Comics now, at a comic shop near you!

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Review: Riding Out Of A Nightmare In GHOST RIDER #1

Justin Munday

From writer Benjamin Percy (Wolverine, X-Force) and artist Cory Smith (Conan The Barbarian) comes the hellfire-scorched return of the classic Spirit of Vengeance in Ghost Rider #1. With colors by Bryan Valenza and letters from Travis Lanham, this opening chapter sees the return of Johnny Blaze as he sorts out what has happened to his life – and tries to ward of demons new and old. With a tense, wild script and absolutely kick-ass artwork, this return to a the classic Rider is off to an outstanding start.

“Johnny Blaze has the perfect life: a wife and two kids, a job at an auto repair shop and a small-town community that supports him… But Johnny isn’t doing well. He has nightmares of monsters when he sleeps. And he sees bloody visions when he’s awake. This life is beginning to feel like a prison. And there’s a spirit in him that’s begging to break out!”

Writing & Plot

Benjamin Percy sets the Spirit of Vengeance back to square one in Ghost Rider #1. We return back to the perspective of Marvel’s original Ghost Rider with Johnny Blaze. We find our old hot-headed friend living in a quiet, peaceful All-American town. However, there’s something clearly wrong. He’s suffering from hallucinations and grotesque visions, as well as gaps in his memory. Clearly our old rider has been out of the game for awhile, and Percy takes his time to show us why.

This opening chapter is admittedly a bit of a slow burn (no pun intended). This works really well, though. This being a 40-page issue, Percy get more room to re-introduce Blaze and dig into his current predicament. There’s a constant uneasiness throughout the issue, making this feel much more like a horror comic than we usually ever get out of a Marvel book. In fact, it’s a bit hard to believe this is a Marvel comic at all. This issue really reminded me of the old 90’s Hellstrom comic written by Warren Ellis. As cool as the Robbie Reyes and Cosmic Ghost Rider material is, it’s been a long time since we’ve gotten a properly hellfire and blood-singed Ghost Rider comic. Percy gives this comic the tense pacing of a horror/thriller with its extra page length, while still keeping it a tongue-in-cheek enough to feel like an over-the-top Ghost Rider joint. This is a stellarly written opening issue, and I’m psyched for the rest of this series.

Art Direction

Of course, a Ghost Rider comic won’t be worth a damn if it has good writing but shoddy art. Fortunately Cory Smith is on hand to deliver a fantastic looking experience for Ghost Rider #1. His distinct linework, insane monster designs, and sharp horror directing make this a superbly fun comic to read. Smith’s animations and details are top notch, very much up there with many of the other moderns greats currently working in the ‘big 2.’ The real treat of this comic though are his fleshy demonic drawings. The monsters that Blaze hallucinates are writing, sticky masses of flesh that pule and bleed over every panel they appear in. They’re like witnessing a Cronenberg film, if the film was on fire the whole time. Smith’s panel direction is relatively subtle and plain-looking in terms of his blocking. However, it’s how he frames the horror moments that make his work stick out here. We constantly follow Blaze’s eyes as he witnesses horrors only he can see, and they appear on the page as bleeding, disgusting panels contrasted with everything else. It’s simple yet effective placement that, along with how great his work here is in general, solidifies this comic’s reading experience.

Bryan Valenza’s colors bring the perfect vibrancy and fire to Smith’s pencils. The hunky-dory colors of the small town Blaze now lives in is sharply juxtaposed against the flesh, blood, and brimstone that flashes into the comic. It’s stunning, high-fidelity work that fits into Marvel’s overall visual style. Finally, Travis Lanham provides great, classically legible lettering that blends into the reading experience. This is a visually excellent comic worthy of the return of the classic Spirit of Vengeance.

Verdict

Ghost Rider #1 is a tense, heavy metal return to Marvel’s original Rider. Benjamin Percy’s script is carefully paced, coming across like a sequence of nightmares before exploding into the story we may expect – but will still be totally hooked into. The visuals from Cory Smith and Bryan Valenza are sharp, well-directed, and sometimes bats#!t insane. This will be a must-read for Ghost Rider fans both new and old, so be sure to grab a copy when it hits shelves on February 23rd!

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Review: A Little Bit of Backstory in THE HUMAN TARGET #5

Zac Owens

I’m a bit of a stickler for subtext. If you’ve read any of my articles before – on the off chance that you’ve noticed my name in the byline – then you’ll know it’s my own personal soapbox. If you can’t fit the information naturally into the story, well, chances are the reader doesn’t need to know it. I’ve seen fantastic ideas lost in a sea of overexplaining. And I’ve seen mediocre premises turn into compelling narratives because the writer played it close to the vest. But, on very rare occasion, I’ve come across a script with mountains of exposition that just works. DC Comics’ The Human Target #5 is one such script. Writer Tom King, artist Greg Smallwood, and letterer Clayton Cowles give us a tour of Christopher Chance’s life. And somehow, they trick us into learning a metric ton about the character, while enjoying every second of it.

Writing

Maybe part of what makes King’s script work so well is that it’s a little scattered. We bounce between the thought lives of different characters, often confusing one person’s memories for someone else’s. He wants us to feel a little lost. The characters certainly do. Yet, on a second read, the intertwining threads are clear, even when they seamlessly transition back and forth. But King also sets up a frame story for this issue. He gives us a reason for Chance to be telling us so much about how he came to be the Human Target. We’re not learning what drives Chance simply because the script dictates that we do. We’re told about Chance’s history in a story where he’s learning how to keep his past hidden. This issue doesn’t feel like it’s full of flashbacks. Every line, every memory, is fully relevant to what Chance is going through right now.

That, of course, is talking about King’s work on this issue in rather broad strokes. He didn’t force feed us information, he found brilliant and creative ways to subtly get his ideas across. But the specificities of each scene are also brilliant. In some of Chance’s memories, the captions feel rehearsed. He’s waxing poetic about the moments that defined him. These are the thoughts he returns to, the ones he refines on each revisit. But in Chance’s childhood memories, the captions are run-on sentences that feel like they’re all coming out in one breath. It reads just like a six-year-old who’s so thrilled to tell you about his day. King can write in the voice of a haunted hitman, a desperate father, a gentle goddess, a misunderstood alien, or an excited child. Reading it all and getting swept away with the story, it’s hard not to write with the tone of an excited child, myself.

Art

Smallwood’s art is somehow crisp, clean, and smooth, while maintaining a joyful messiness around the edges. While the forms he creates are proportionate and neat, the details of the work have little squiggled quirks to them. You can see each individual pencil line. Some look hurriedly scribbled along the side of someone’s face, others jut out slightly past the outlines that are supposed to contain them. Even Smallwood’s colors don’t fit inside the lines. The measured linework of a gun is colored in by a grey shape with moderately wobbly edges, which create a simpler outline than Smallwood’s pencils. All these “mistakes,” however, are undoubtedly deliberate. Smallwood achieves two things with this: First, he makes the art feel relaxed. You can picture Smallwood doodling all of it, only half paying attention while he downs a glass of bourbon in true Human Target style, instead of slaving over the page with a ruler and compass. (With the quality of his work, I’m pretty sure he does plenty of slaving, with a flourish here and there to make it all look effortless.) Secondly, he makes you intently aware of the form of his work. You find yourself noticing every line made by his pencil and marveling at the intricacies of his brushstrokes.

And of course, the coloring isn’t just there to make this issue look relaxed and effortless. Smallwood uses the colors to show us how Chance feels about the many memories rattling around inside his head. We start in the present day in a Mexican restaurant. The mingled pink and red of the scene is more than just mood lighting. It soon becomes a color coding for danger. As alarm bells go off in Chance’s head, we return to this scene again and again. And later, we see Chance reliving a trauma. The colors are nearly identical to his memory of lying next to someone in bed. Perhaps Smallwood is telling us that Chance’s haunted past is never far away. Even in his moments of bliss, he remembers the horrors that have defined him.

Lettering

Cowles’ edgeless word balloons add to the easygoing tone of this whole series. They’re blobs of white, mixing into the rest of the scene like they’re part of the furniture. There’s rarely much reason to notice them. They tell the story in smooth lines that trace your eye across every page. Again, it’s all effortless. But the times you do notice the lettering, it’s magic. We see a character react to someone hurting him. His reaction is “GNNNNN.” The letters are italicized and they jostle together in an uneven line. It’s his pain, even his arousal, at being touched. The next page, we see Chance make a similar noise: “NNNNN.” The “G” is missing, but everything else remains the same. He’s in pain, but it’s the kind of thing he can handle. It’s even the kind of thing that gets him going. Three panels later and Chance is screaming in full force.

The letters strain against the bonds of their word balloon, only keeping a thin layer of white intact around them. We’ve never seen anything remotely like this from Chance. We may move back to the usual cadence of the story – smooth lines and the occasional dirty secret whispered in small font – but we don’t forget that we just saw Chance reach his limit. In restraining himself for four issues, Cowles has made a moment stick out spectacularly. Normally, a lettering quirk like that would be par for the course in comics. It would happen a half a dozen times in an issue and the effect would be lost. But this is the first time we’re seeing an affect like this, and it feels huge. We feel like we’re seeing behind the many masks of Christopher Chance, all because he let out a little scream.

I’ve called The Human Target comic book magic before. Every issue makes me want to say it again. The Human Target #5 is also a rare breed in storytelling. This creative team has stuffed this issue to the brim with exposition and information about our main character. In the hands of plenty of other creators, this issue could feel heavy-handed and overdone. But The Human Target #5 teases out every new revelation with subtlety and finesse. Yes, this is a fantastic comic book issue. But it’s also a textbook example of how to communicate exposition in all the right ways. Don’t miss this stunning new issue, out from DC Comics February 22nd at a comic shop near you!

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COMICS STUDIES: Running into the Barriers of Modern Comics

Darryll Robson

February 20, 2022

Avengers Comics — "Every Issue of the Avengers" by blprnt_van

Every so often, Marvel likes to play around with the Spider-Man format. This usually involves altering Peter Parker in some way so that they can portray a ‘new’ Spider-man with a different personality. In the past poor Parker has been mutated so that he grew additional arms to more closely resemble a spider; infected with a parasitic alien goo that brought out his darker side; had cosmic powers bestowed upon him; and been possessed (for want of a better word) by the spirit of one of his arch enemies, Doc Ock.

In the most recent comics, a man named Wulf has injected Parker with a drug called A-Plus. Under normal circumstances this would temporarily improve the victims performance before ultimately sapping their intelligence but with Parker it reacts differently due to his radioactive blood. The outcome is Savage Spider-Man, a new primal beast of a character who has just been given his own monthly comic of the same name. Issue 1 is out now and it is a difficult comic for new readers to engage with.

Savage Spider-Man #1 Credit: Marvel Comics

There is a problem with ‘mainstream’ comics. And by mainstream, we are of course talking about the two big publishers, Marvel and DC, and their superhero output. The fact that these two publishers are accepted as the face of mainstream comics is a far greater issue with the branding of Comics in general terms because the superhero genre has held sway for so long that it is still seen as being the primary driving force behind the comic industry. This allows people to attack the industry as a whole if the superhero titles aren’t successful. However, just because no-body cares about the most recent Superman comic (although sales for the recent Tom Taylor and John Timm’s Superman: Son of Kal-El appear to be just fine) that does not mean that the Industry is failing. The Comic Industry is a massive beast that covers a range of genres and diverse audiences, and the estimated global worth in 2020 was $3.87 billion.

However, back to the misadventures of Peter Parker. There is a belief in mainstream comics that all readers are the same and that they indulge themselves in the vast universes that Marvel and DC put out. You may be a Marvelite or the DC equivalent but whichever publisher you follow, you will read a number of different titles and know what’s happening with the majority of the characters within that universe. In fact, judging from recent releases, it’s almost imperative that this is the case because the comics are so wrapped up in each other’s stories that even issue 1s of a series rely heavily on background knowledge. The superhero genre has become a collection of metacomics that are, as described by Douglas Wolk in his book Reading Comics, ‘mostly about where their plots and characters are positioned in the matrices of the big superhero narratives.’ This approach makes it very difficult to attract new readers because the publishers have erected a barricade built from decades of stories and comics. The unfortunate side effect is that, no matter how good the scripting and art is, the comic can only be measured against other titles and judged primarily on this shared narrative.

One of my favorite runs from recent years was the epic opus by Jonathan Hickman on Avengers (starting in 2012). His story was meticulously planned from start to finish with a superb collection of artists visualizing his vision. There were, however, moments where I became partially distanced from the story and these usually occurred when characters that I have previously followed in comics, but not for a number of years, would act against my understanding of their personality. Spider-Man is the most obvious because at that point in time he was the arrogant and blunt Doc Ock version of the character. Imagine picking up an Avengers comic today, for the first time, and being faced with the Savage Spider-Man with no explanation or elaboration? Comics used to use Editors Notes on a page to help out new readers with quick, often witty, explanations and references to relevant comics that would fill in the gaps. This worked two-fold as it not only provided an element of explanation but also advertised comics that readers might want to pick up. Helpful and commercial but for the most part absent from modern comics.

While discussing the 1980s comic industry, this statement from Benjamin Woo sums up the current superhero comics beautifully: ‘ comics were not only sequestered from the media choices readily available to most people but also increasingly incomprehensible to anyone uninitiated into the culture of fandom.’* Basically, you have to read all of the superhero comics to understand the superhero comics you are reading. Instead the publishers could, fairly easily, tell readers about other titles that compliment the comics they are reading, whether this is other comics in the series, a different comic series, or any number of media spin offs. This, in turn can work the other way, with adverts for a range of comics before a movie, or in game adverts on X-Box or PlayStation tie-ins.

It used to be the case that comics readers got into the hobby through other people. Either parents handing down their old floppies or last month’s issues were shared around the schoolyard between friends. But this segue into Comics has changed over recent years. As comics, especially the superhero genre, have become more of a multimedia product, people are discovering comics through other formats and this makes it harder and harder to cater to all levels of fans. Those who have engrossed themselves in the MCU and related television series and then come to a comic shop may find it difficult to find anything new that they can engage with because none of it ties in with the characterizations they will be familiar with. I came into superhero comics cold and at a time when it was still considered best practice to treat each issue as if it was somebody’s first.

That idiom is no longer the case for most Marvel and DC comics. Instead the publishers have embraced Wolk’s metacomic as standard, further creating a ‘them and us’ situation which is damaging to superhero comics as a whole. As a form of entertainment it has become extremely elitist at the very time it should be opening up to embrace the wider popularity of the form. A cross media strategy could fix the problem. There are adverts for the movies and games in the comics so why not the other way around? We know when the new Spider-Man film is due to be released, even if we don’t even see any trailers because it’s there in the comics we love. How many people who see the film knows when (or even where) to get the comics from? This approach is more important for non-superhero comics because, quite often, people aren’t aware that the movie is based on a comic. A pre-movie advert with a hint as to where to shop could make a massive difference to the sales of the comic, which is beneficial to everyone involved.

Spider-Man in Avengers (2012) #6 Credit: Marvel Comics

There is a difference between commitment to character and self imposed barricading of narrative, making it impossible for those on the outside to get in. Superhero comics need to make themselves more accessible. Whether that involves simply adding a ‘previously in’ page or integrating the current status into the story itself from issue to issue, or even Editor’s Notes, as previously mentioned. And we need to rethink our discussions on what Comics are so that the obsession with superheroes does not automatically become the default setting when talking about the state of the industry. If superhero comics wish to remain on the fringes of the medium, despite the massive popularity of the genre elsewhere, then the discussion about Comics needs to be refocused on the rest of the industry so that the medium can reach as many people as possible. You just need to take this article as an example of the problem. I was considering Comics Culture and the majority of this is about superheroes and the Big Two publishers, which itself is a loaded term. It’s such a difficult cliché to break away from but one that is necessary in order to successfully discuss Comics Culture and not just superhero stories. The industry survived because of the growth of superhero comics and now it is growing even further, beyond this single genre. By celebrating all comics and the media off-shoots, everybody wins, even Marvel and DC.

Notes

*Taken from Comics Studies: A Guidebook Edited by Charles Hatfield and Burt Barty

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Review: Out All Night In LITTLE MONSTERS #1

Justin Munday

The creative team behind the acclaimed Ascender and Descender comics, writer Jeff Lemire and artist Dustin Nguyen now turn to a world of half-pint vampire vagabonds in Little Monsters #1. This quiet and intriguing first issue teases a storied and monster-filled apocalypse with mountains of potential. With a thoughtfully visual-focused script and stunning atmospheric visuals, this is a brilliant start to this new horror series from a a pair of absolute pros.

“They are the last children on Earth…who also happen to be vampires. For longer than they can remember, these child vampires have lived a life of eternal wonder amongst the ruins of humanity. But shocking events fracture the group and set them on a path of discovery that will shatter their innocence forever.”

Writing & Plot

I can’t help but feel that Jeff Lemire’s status as a cartoonist, as well as his mastery of plotting comics as a whole, is what makes this visually-focused script so effective in Little Monsters #1. In terms of plotting, this opening issue tells us almost nothing. Instead, Lemire lets Nguyen’s visuals guide us as we meet the cast of vampire kids and they introduce us to their world via their dialogue. There isn’t any clue yet as to how the world came to this post-apocalyptic state, nor where these kids came from. This is totally fine. The best kind of worldbuilding and plotting in my mind is the one you just jump into the middle of and experience with no exposition to guide you.

Lemire gives us time with each character alone, getting to know their personalities, hobbies, and tendencies before putting them all together. This is where the dialogue really shines. There isn’t much speech, but when there is, it’s unique and highlights each of these individual vamp-kids’ behaviors remarkably. One is an edgy loner, one is more melancholy, one is a budding romantic, and a couple more are just a couple of doofuses. This is great character work within the comics medium. This comic brings an intimacy with its cast that we don’t often get, and along with how Lemire is teasing this world, I’m immensely excited to see where this story ends up.

Art Direction

It’s easy to tell when an artist and writer have collaborated extensively before. Dustin Nguyen channel’s Little Monsters #1’s unique, lonely atmosphere with sharply detailed pencils, murky inks, and intimate direction. The Ascender artist brings his signature visual touch to the desolate post-apocalyptic urban environment our cast of monsters resides in. Nguyen’s digitized black and white colors with thick pencils and heavy inks casts a pallor of loneliness across the whole book. Lemire’s scant dialogue allows Nguyen to focus more on the visual storytelling aspect of the comic. His panels range from sweeping scans of an abandoned city to intimate moments with each child. Here, we get their personalities in their unique faces and acts. They each have their own range of facial expressions that make them unique and set their personalities apart. Nguyen is a master of environmental and subtle character art, and we get to see that on display in spades with this opening chapter. Steve Wands, who also worked on Lemire’s Mazebook, provides the lettering with a personal, hand-drawn feel. Every aspect of this book’s visual design feels personally crafted in a manner that is rare in the medium.

Verdict

Little Monsters #1 is a fascinating start to this new series from Lemire and Nguyen. Lemire’s script is minimalist in its dialogue and narration, allowing for Nguyen to make the most out of the medium with his unique, atmospheric brand of visual storytelling. This is one of the most compelling opening issues of the year so far, so be sure to grab a copy when it hits shelves on March 9th!

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Review: THE HARBINGER #5 — Habits Are Hard To Break

Jake Palermo

valiant entertainment exclusive preview harbinger

The Harbinger #5 from Valiant Entertainment comes to comic stores on February 23. In this new arc, readers will get the chance to empathize with the title character going through some personal troubles.

Background

Peter Stanchek is back from the dead as the Harbinger. Along with him is the Renegade, the embodiment of all of Peter’s rage and trauma. With the Renegade’s actions causing trouble for other psychics, the Harbinger is trying to set a better example.

The Harbinger #5 On Routine

Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing’s writing shows a keen understanding of Peter Stanchek’s self-destructive character flaws. While the Harbinger embodies Stanchek’s more positive traits, like his fight against oppression, he shares his past self’s compartmentalization troubles. The physically absent Renegade, meanwhile, shows Stanchek’s toxic influence of empowering premature psiots before they’re ready. It’s a compelling depiction of someone struggling with mental illness and creating more problems for themselves.

Order In Inner Chaos

Robbi Rodriguez illustrates The Harbinger #5 with some cleverly made panels. A number of pages show orderly grids that bely a sense of tension taking place between characters. This is probably best shown in the gridded pages where Harbinger speaks to another character. Throughout their conversation, the tension builds up and breaks off in an empty panel before the Harbinger flies off. The coloring by Rico Renzi certainly helps give the dynamics more character, especially in one particular monochromatic panel. It gives the impression of trying to hide troubles from someone else.

Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou gives probably one of the most creative depictions of telepathy through lettering. Going through these pieces of torn out note captions, it feels like Harbinger is scrolling through social media feeds. It makes him feel a little more relatable in how he tries to block out personal drama by listening to other people’s stories.

The Harbinger #5 Hooks You Into A New Arc

The Harbinger #5 sets up a rather enthralling new arc with a challenge. With artwork that continues to best communicate how the title character expresses himself, it’ll be interesting going forward.

And check out our exclusive preview of THE HARBINGER #5 here on MFR!

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Marvel Comics Exclusive Preview: SILVER SURFER REBIRTH #2

Anthony Composto - EIC

February 17, 2022

marvel comics exclusive preview silver surfer rebirth

SILVER SURFER REBIRTH #2 (OF 5) hits your local comic book store February 23rd, but thanks to Marvel Comics, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive five-page preview for you.

About the issue:
A MIGHTY MARVEL TEAM-UP?! NOT LIKELY…

Someone has stolen the Reality Gem and is restructuring the universe to their whims…and it’s NOT Thanos! Now, the Silver Surfer must do the unthinkable and team up with his worst foe to save all of existence. If only they could just stop trying to kill each other…

The issue is by writer Ron Marz and artist Ron Lim, with inks by Don Ho, colors by Israel Silva, and letters by Joe Sabino.

Check out the SILVER SURFER REBIRTH #2 preview below (double-page spreads broken up further down):

What’s your favorite Silver Surfer story? Sound off in the comments!

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Review: MARRY ME Shines Thanks To Chemistry Between Its Leads

Eric Trigg

Marry Me is the most recent romantic comedy that offers a fun feel-good experience. Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson’s chemistry keeps the film charming and lighthearted. The film tackles stardom and a surprisingly engaging look at two people falling in love. If you are a fan of the rom-com genre then Marry Me will be enjoyable from start to finish, but it’s also more of the same.

This is the most fun I’ve had with this type of film in recent memory, so it was refreshing to see two talented performers carry the film’s narrative. Marry Me is a film that seeks to warm your heart and it succeeds. Its simple premise will hit a soft spot for many that decide to watch, it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and Lopez’s vocals remain delightfully soothing. Marry Me is directed by Kat Coiro and follows pop superstar, Kat Valdez (Lopez), who marries a stranger, Charlie Gilbert (Wilson), after her fiance’s affair is revealed during her ceremony.

Kat and Charlie come from completely different backgrounds, yet share so much in common when they spend time together. Their moments of bonding speak to how celebrities are just like “regular people” underneath all the fame and constant attention. Charlie has failed at marriage before, so his sudden attachment to Kat seems like a way for him to cope and prove he isn’t a failure at love. However, as the narrative progresses, both characters seem genuinely invested in each other.

What began as a publicity stunt to retain Kat’s image and one up her ex-fiance becomes a new chance at love for Charlie and Kat. Admittedly, Charlie seems more invested in Kat at first, but the affection becomes mutual over time. Marry Me lets you grow interested in these characters resolving their sources of pain, lifting each other, and then taking another chance at love. Lopez is captivating as Kat Valdez, a stylish but kind-hearted popstar that falls for a math teacher who just wants to be a good father to his daughter.

Both actors manage to portray a vulnerable side so well that it adds weight to Charlie and Kat’s growing relationship. The film briefly addresses the pressure stars can have from social media, which speaks to today’s current trends involving many celebrities. Kat’s sudden acceptance of a proposal on live television probably wouldn’t have happened if her image wasn’t in jeopardy due to the affair. The film also includes beautiful new additions to Lopez’s discography that adds emotional weight to her character’s road to love.

Marry Me just doesn’t offer anything new to the genre, which isn’t a major problem when considering the chemistry Lopez and Wilson share on-screen. It’s going to end how you think it does, but the fun and moments of laughter along the way make it worth a watch. There are some great set designs featured throughout, and Kat’s wardrobe is impressive as well. If I had to watch one romantic comedy over and over again, it definitely would be Marry Me.

Marry Me is a lighthearted good time that anyone can enjoy, but couples will probably find this more appealing, or anyone who can relate to Charlie and Kat’s unique situations. Having watched the movie twice, I can say that this is one of my favorite characters from Lopez. Kat Valdez is a likable character that audiences can root for and will want to see her find her true happiness. Marry Me is the perfect movie to release around Valentine’s Day and it will warm the hearts of everyone. Romantic comedies aren’t usually this fun for me, but this film was a welcoming exception.

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