The latest issue of Zeb Wells’ Spider-Man team-up book sees Spider-Man pairing off with Captain America–because, well, they’re both Avengers and that’s kind of the point of this book. Also, both characters have movies coming out in the next few months.
At the beginning of the issue, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hawkeye, and Spider-Woman are in Avengers Mansion reading a reprint of an old comic strip in the Daily Bugle. The comic strip, it turns out, was drawn by a pre-super soldier serum Captain America, who, as it turns out, wasn’t just scrawny and weak–he was an art school kid. The Avengers are all joking around about the comic having “liberty bonds” in every sentence (Hey, it was World War II, you know?) and Cap himself walks in right as Spider-Man sticks his foot in his mouth.
Captain America tells the Avengers that they’re going to round up the rest of the Serpent Society, who were causing trouble in the last issue of Avenging Spider-Man (and who also caused trouble this week in Avengers vs. X-Men #0, because they are omnipresent or something).
Anyways, realizing that both he and Captain America were nerds, Spider-Man calls dibs on teaming with Captain America and then annoys him with his trademark banter. Ultimately, the two have a bonding experience later in the issue, which I guess is different from when they were pretty close friends during Spider-Man’s time living in Avengers Tower prior to 2006’s “Civil War” story. Back then (during Straczynski’s “The Other” storyline in Amazing Spider-Man), they were sparring partners and Captain America taught Spider-Man how to catch a bullet with his bare hands instead of just dodging it, because Captain America can do that, too. For the record, neither of them ever really spend much time catching bullets with their bare hands, but that’s beside the point.
Wells does a great job here of furthering the idea that Spider-Man can’t help but be a pain in the ass to his fellow heroes, as has been the case since he first became a member of the Avengers. Unlike other writers who handle Spider-Man in an Avengers setting, though, Spider-Man isn’t just written as a wise-cracking idiot here. As much as he annoys the others, you an see that they acknowledge what he contributes to the team and that there’s a certain level of respect for him–although in the case of characters like Wolverine and Captain America, their respect has long been established). That Wells also manages to add something more to the Captain America mythos with the art school comic strip is icing on the cake.
The art in this issue strikes a nice balance between realistic and traditional, and I wouldn’t mind seeing Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, and Sunny Gho on more books. My only real complaint here would be that Spider-Man seems to have gotten a bit shorter, only coming up to Captain America’s shoulder in one panel (Spider-Woman, by comparison, appears just a few inches shorter than Cap on the same page). It just kind of makes Spider-Man look like a little kid by comparison, when he’s actually around his mid-20s–not to mention it makes me wonder just how short Wolverine is supposed to be, since he’s shorter than Spider-Man.
Regardless, Avenging Spider-Man continues to be fun and, so far, offers a lot of easy jumping-on points for new readers who might be uncomfortable just diving right into the character’s flagship book.
Uncanny X-Force #23
Writer: Rick Remender
Art: Greg Tocchini, with color art by Dean White and Greg Tocchini
X-Force’s Otherworld adventure concludes with a bit of a twist in this week’s Uncanny X-Force #23.
As you may recall, Captain Britain (Psylocke’s brother) and the Captain Britain Corps abducted Fantomex and Psylocke, taking them back to the mythical realm of Otherworld. By my calculations, Otherworld is home to all British people in the Marvel Universe–or something.
Anyways, the Captain Britain Corps intended to put Fantomex on trial for killing the child reincarnation of Apocalypse (way back in Uncanny X-Force‘s first story arc). Before the Corps could wipe Fantomex from existence, Psylocke–who is also Lady Britain when she’s in Otherworld–escaped with him. Unbeknownst to either of them, Wolverine, Deadpool, and Nightcrawler (the one from the Age of Apocalypse timeline) had come to Otherworld to rescue them before getting pulled into stopping a siege on the Tower Omniverse.
The Tower Omniverse is a tower in Otherworld with doors to all realities in the Marvel multiverse, and a character known only as the “Goat Monk” wanted to spread his dark magic across all of existence. Oh, and a former barrister and Weapon Plus experiment known as the Skinless Man, or Weapon III, showed up to exact a personal vendetta against Fantomex, who is also Weapon XIII. He ended up skinning Fantomex’s head.
If it sounds like the plot of this story was a little bit cluttered, well, it kind of was. There’s a lot to take in here, and a lot going on at one time. This issue stays pretty much that way. Wolverine and Deadpool attempt to kill the Goat Monk, Psylocke and Fantomex overcome the Skinless Man, and Captain Britain is forced to make a difficult decision following a big reveal on who exactly the Goat Monk is.
Despite having all of this happen in about 20 pages of story (I’m not counting ad pages in that page count), Rick Remender does still manage to throw in some good character moments. We see the attraction between Fantomex and Psylocke teased a little bit more, Psylocke coming to grips with the fact that the right decision is not always the easiest one, and Age of Apocalypse Nightcrawler’s rough exterior cracking to reveal some of the deceased mainstream Nightcrawler that longtime readers are familiar with. Additionally, Remender continues to provide some of the best Deadpool banter not written by Daniel Way.
This hasn’t been a perfect storyline by any means, but it has its moments. Maybe I just need to read the whole thing over again in one sitting, or maybe it carried on an issue too long, but it felt as though it jumped around a bit from time to time. I will say that the sort of undefined–perhaps even sometimes hazy–look that the art has works very well to convey the story’s setting, although it is somewhat inconsistently detailed. Some panels look roughly sketched, while others show a great deal more detail.
The Otherworld adventure has been a nice breather following the “Dark Angel Saga,” but it feels like it falls a little short of the rest of the series. With that in mind, I’m really looking forward to the next issue, featuring Age of Apocalypse Iceman, and the upcoming “Final Execution” storyline.
Mike DeVivo here for Comic Vault . ComicVault was fortunate enough to be invited to the Studio space of Menton3 , Kasra Ghanbari , and Ben Templesmith . We talked about how the artists first met, MONOCYTE issue 3 , the genesis of the story, Brotherhood, and dick and dick jokes. We also were allowed to take pictures of their studio to share with all of you which can be seen at the end of the interview!
ComicVault: Menton3 Can you tell me how you and Ben met and started operating out of this space together?
Menton3: There was a company called Comics Pipeline that represented both of us. They had a dinner and we were both at the dinner and we were just texting awful things to each other the entire time because we wanted to talk.
Kasra Ghanbari: Which Menton lost
Ben Templesmith: I called him the Amish Terminator I think.
Menton3: Kasra and I had the studio space before we met Ben and it ended up being really organic actually. We asked him if he would work on a cover for MONOCYTE and he agreed to do it which was an honor. I spent several years deciding whether or not I wanted to get into comics and then I saw Ben’s work and saw that you can thrive in this industry. He’s a wonderful artist and its amazing to see Ben do work .
CV: That cover is great , there are tons of layers to it .
Ben Templesmith: When you have a very dense story with tons of visuals its very easy to come up with something . The original painting is in the hallway actually.
CV: Ben can you tell me a bit about the short story you did in issue 2?
Ben Templesmith: We all talked about it and I had this humorous idea for the story which they liked. It marked my first two published comic pages in a very long time . Kind of my first come back.
CV: You also have Choker still though correct?
Ben Templesmith: Yes but there hasn’t been a new issue out in over a year….but the new issue is now finished and you can tell everyone its coming out shortly so spread the word. Fell I’m not sure about but I’m hoping it comes back soon. I actually started doing artwork again because of Menton3.
CV: So that brought you back into wanting to do comics again?
Ben Templesmith: Yeah I was dealing with some personal things , and you can’t create when you’re not happy. I wasn’t really sure whether I was going to come back to the States. Menton3 invited me out to stay with him for a few weeks during the summer and I decided Chicago seems to like me and I like Chicago. Menton3 makes me feel creative…and I don’t just mean in the bedroom.
CV: I definitely get a sense that you guys have a constant underlying sense of humor amongst each other. That and you all seem to enjoy the occasional Dick and Fart joke.
Kasra Ghanbari: It’s a lot of Dick and Dick jokes basically
Ben Templesmith: It has to be told that we have a thing in the studio that when Menton farts he lets people know. However I recommended that when we fart now we have to name them after movie titles .
Menton3: I think the best one Ben had was “There will be Blood”
Kasra Ghanbari: When he farts for me its “The Unforgiven”
CV: “A Thin Red Line”
Menton3: “Single White Female”
Kasra Ghanbari: “Wild Blue Yonder”
Ben Templesmith: “Jackie Brown” You can see now why I brought it up.
Menton3: Obviously there is a lot of camaraderiebetween us
CV: So how did the idea about MONOCYTE come about?
Menton3: I got a commission to do a superhero character that I really loved as a kid. So before I did this commission I wanted to go back and read the books again to get excited about doing this piece and they were terrible. I realized I had placed all these projections on this character as a child that weren’t there. So I began writing all of those projections I had on paper and also with the idea behind it of what would be a cool superhero to me right now. Which lead to the basic concept of MONOCYTE. Kasra is my art rep and also my best friend and I started talking to him about the project. Kasra started to legitimately poke holes in the story and ask legitimate questions. So between the two of us over six months we created this world. Then we decided that we wanted the entry point to be at a time of great change.We literally have hundreds of years of story before this and after that we have planned as well.
CV: I noticed in issue 3 GROD opens the book up by quoting psalms . It seems like he’s using religion now to gain followers. How does that affect the belief system of the Olignostics?
Kasra Ghanbari: In a way he was resurrecting one of the old methodologies the Olignostics used to rise to power to begin with.Those ideologies borrow heavily from Catholicism and when the time came to resurrect his race he naturally went back to those ways.
Menton3: Grod finally has the power that he so wanted and now he’s verbally masturbating using these Catholic Ideologies . I’m not speaking for Ben or Kasra , but I have major issues with the Catholic Church. If your Catholic I don’t have a problem with you.What ever you believe is right for you and that’s fine. If I walked down the street in a Nazi Uniform people would be upset for a real justifiable reason. If a Priest walks down the street in their uniform people are happy. Can you tell me though of another organization responsible for more genocide , torture, rape and pillaging than the Catholic Church? Yet no one holds them accountable because they are closer to god than us.To me that’s Hubris at such an extreme level that its not even fathomable. We have million dollar churches being built while people are starving. Writing,making Music,creating for me is about internalizing my anger and getting it down on paper. So MONOCYTE for me was the manifestation of that kind of anger. The Catholics are represented to me by the Olignostics and their mouths are these white anuses represented by the collars of Catholic Priests.
CV: Explain to me the creative process that goes into making an issue of MONOCYTE
Ben Templesmith: Before they say anything I’ve observed them doing this and its insane. They put hours into this and it’s some of the most complex intense stuff I’ve ever seen.It shows in how good their work is.
Menton3: Kasra and I make these characters real in our heads. For instance The Shepperd was supposed to be a much smaller character originally but after Kasra and I started talking about her it became much larger. I put these characters into my head and have them talk to each other and then the story flows from there. There isn’t anything in a MONOCYTE book that isn’t meant to be there. Kasra and I debate everything before it goes on the page. Kasra injects a ton of realism that I couldn’t have come up with. I know way too much about Alchemy and The Occult and Kasra is very into Biotech. So the Olignostics are based on a lot of info Kasra had and the Antedeluvians are based on things I’m familiar with. So then we write a loose script and put it on note cards . Then I do the artwork. After that we sit down at the computer with what Kasra’s written and argue for 4 days straight in a great way and that’s how the book is made.
CV: How do you view the overall progression of MONOCYTE from issue 1 to 4?
Kasra: Issue one was an introduction to the world. Issue two was the destruction of The Olignostics. Issue three was the attempt to destroy the Antedeluvian power source, and issue four was Resoultion. Though issue three has bled into four. It’s still not determined yet how we are going to end issue four. We just got a hard cover approved by IDW which will have 50-60 extra pages and will have a story in there along with a bunch of extras. There may be multiple endings and a whisper as to what may happen next in this world.
Menton3: It became really important to us in issue 3 to start talking about who Monocyte was . We weren’t going to give him a back story at first but it became really important to do it and I feel really confident about it.
CV: Issue three is great ! So Augustus is now the character of Monocyte. Can you share a little bit about that sequence where we meet Augustus for the first time?
Menton3: Those pages are actually taken from a self published book I did called Ars Memoria . That was book 1 of 16 and MONOCYTE is a part of that story. Monocyte is a product of what he really wanted to be , but based in a society that tells you legitimately that you don’t have a choice when you do . We can look around and say people shouldn’t starve and pedophilia is bad but were not doing much about it. One of our whole things with MONOCYTE was how would you have it be. Like if you walked up to an everyday person on the street and said “would you like Immortality”that person would most likely say fuck yes. Well what happens when that person is Brittany Spears and you have to deal with that pop music for the rest of your life. So we wanted to explore to what end does this go to . How bad can things get? After that can there be a resolution.
CV: Towards the end of issue 3 Monocyte is outside of the Gate of the Antedeluvians . Moses is waiting for him and creates the Avatar of Life to take on Monocyte . I get a sense that Moses and the Antedeluvians are better suited to end Monocytes life.
Menton3: I’m definitely making a joke about Moses because it never says how he dies in the Bible. Moses isn’t dumb and realizes that the one thing that Monocyte wants in Entropy.Moses knows Monocyte has an issue with life and if death can have a manifestation so can Life. When we get into the Iconography of life we started talking about flowers and trees. In this world though where nothing has died for so long I wanted to examine what The Avatar of life would look like.Some people haven’t picked up on it but that creepy thing that talks to Augustus in the middle of issue 3 is actually the bird skull which also has talked to him through the entire book. At the end of the issue that Skull gets knocked off of his head by the character Light and we were hoping you’d be shocked that there was a person underneath that.
Kasra: The thing is Monocyte has always been human. What you see is his armor being knocked off of his body. Menton3 designed that armor to represent ego .
Menton3: Vices and Virtues , Vices have always been represented by elaborate clothing and Virtues are always naked and bare. I wanted to initially show Monocyte as ego. So I covered him in Bone Armor. When he does get hit by Light there is a part of him that remembers he’s human and that becomes the virtue. He’s starting to remember who he once was.
CV: In the short stories too it seems like the slaves are starting to remember who they are as well.
Kasra: What Monocyte essentially has done is liberated the humans. So when the conduit was destroyed it freed the slaves. However there is a price to pay for that. In the first short story the slaves now have to reclaim their sense of consciousness and self in order to become a collective. As a collective they realize they have power and rise up against their common enemy.In the other story in issue three we see one of the slaves drawing an Alchemical symbol for sulfur which looks similar to a flower. That’s like a spark in the memories of the other humans who see that image. From there they reconstruct themselves and become proactive humans again working in concert with each other with love for one another.
Menton3: As a whole Kasra and I really believe in Brotherhood. We really believe that if everyone was just nicer to each other things could be better . So our story has always been about the humans. We got a lot of flack originally because people were like where are the humans . We wanted to be true to the story but we have to tell this story in this way so that it doesn’t become cheesy and worthless in the process.
CV: So can you tell me a bit about the Hardcover Edition that you revealed is coming out?
Kasra Ghanbari: Its going to be solicited in May and out by July. Its going to be 9 X 13 format and 224 pages. With about 60 pages for us to play with. Obviously some other artists and creators will elaborate on the world as well as an additional story by Menton3 and I.There will be added sketches and sculptures , fan art, lots of fun stuff.
CV: Could you share with me some of your personal influences?
Menton3: Top for me is William Shakespeare . I don’t think there’s anything in the human condition you cannot find in Hamlet. Another one is an artist by the name of Hieronymus Bosch . Looking at his paintings changed me as a person. Of course there are contemporary people like Ben Templesmith, Ashley Wood, Matthew Bone, Bill Sienkiewicz.
Kasra Ghanbari: Yeah Sienkiewicz , George Pratt, Dave McKean. Outside of that Lars Von Trier as a film maker. What it really comes down to is people who show us how they see the world and that they see the world in a compelling way.
CV: Anything you want to tease to us about issue four?
Menton3: Well issue four starts out with Monocyte getting his ass kicked and he continues to get beat down throughout the issue . It will be interesting to see how Monocyte deals with the thing he fears the most.
CV: On that note guys thanks so much for your time!
Below are pictures that I was allowed to take of the studio . You will notice original artwork from the pages of MONOCYTE all around. Enjoy!
Wolverine #303
Writer: Jason Aaron
Art: Billy Tan, Steve Sanders, and Paco Diaz [Art]; Matt Miller, Sotocolors, Jim Charalampidis, and Rachelle Rosenberg [Color]
Wolverine’s return to Japan has not been without incident. As a matter of fact, the trail of carnage could probably stretch across at least one of the nation’s islands.
Azuma Goda, head of one of the many branches of Hand ninja (Seriously, the Kingpin and Norman Osborn both have their own small armies of these guys), has masterminded a plan to eliminate the Yakuza and sparked a gang war in the process. Goda is also behind the yet-to-be-explained resurrection of Wolverine’s arch-nemesis Sabretooth and has also enlisted the help of Mystique.
Kidnapping Shin, the new Silver Samurai and boyfriend of Wolverine’s adopted daughter Amiko, Goda lured Logan and his former ninja girlfriend Yukio to the cave of the Mind Ninja. Here, Logan was caught in hallucinations and forced to resort to his baser animal instincts, slaughtering the ninja and being tricked into a compromising situation by Mystique. Meanwhile, Goda was able to coerce the new Silver Samurai into working for the hand.
As issue #303 opens, Wolverine is taking out the remainder of Goda’s ninjas in some Tokyo back alley and Mystique is ensuring that Shin eliminates the remainder of the Yakuza bosses. Goda explains his endgame to Sabretooth, which involves faking his death to become “invisible” in the ninjutsu sense, because the deadliest villains are those you never see.
Unfortunately, Goda underestimates Sabretooth–a mistake that quickly spirals into the arc’s conclusion.
As the second-to-last issue in Jason Aaron’s nearly-flawless run on Wolverine, this story continues to pack in the ultra-violence and kung fu b-movie homages of the previous three issues while reestablishing Sabretooth as the greatest threat to Logan. Aaron also seems to be leaving a lot of leeway to his successor, Cullen Bunn–particularly as it pertains to Wolverine’s current girlfriend Melina Garner, who was introduced at the beginning of Aaron’s run.
The art in this issue is once again done by a large team of artists, but it remains mostly unnoticeable between chapters with the exception of the art in the opening pages having a somewhat more visceral, gritty feel than the rest of the issue.
Overall, “Back In Japan” is a fun ride. I feel like I need to give the entire story another read-through to get the full picture, as two to three weeks between issues can do a lot to impact your ability to appreciate a story of this scope, but this story succeeds just for managing to pack in a little something for every Wolverine fan.
Deadpool #52
Writer: Daniel Way
Art: Ale Garza [Penciler], Sean Parsons [Inker], Dommo Sanchez Amara [Colorist]
In his ongoing efforts to die permanently by flushing out the holder of a serum that can negate his healing factor, Deadpool staged a fake turf war between the Kingpin and Tombstone. In the process, he’s brought Hydra Bob, his teammates on X-Force, and Wolverine’s estranged son Daken into play, as well.
Unbeknownst to Wade, however, Kingpin and Tombstone were never fooled, and the other pawns in his insane game of chess are catching on to the fact that something is amiss.
In Deadpool #52, we see Wade continuing to keep this game going as he instigates Daken and leads X-Force into a suicide raid on the Kingpin’s headquarters, where Wilson Fisk and Typhoid Mary have kidnapped Hydra Bob and are torturing him for information. The most impressive thing about the “Dead” story arc so far is that Daniel Way has managed to play these characters off of each other in a believable way, all while depicting them as accurately as any other writer has. That takes a bit of skill when dealing with this many characters in a single book.
This issue ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Will Deadpool get his wish? Was a certain other character depowered by the serum, as well? Is there really a commercial parachute capable of handling the Kingpin’s weight? [The answers are “I don’t know,” “That’s even harder to say,” and “Yeah, probably”–in that order. Thank me later, kids!]
If you’re a fan of this series, or even just a casual reader, this isn’t a story to sleep on. Be sure to pick up the previous two issues, too, if you haven’t already.
Amazing Spider-Man #682
Writer: Dan Slott
Art: Stefano Caselli, Frank Martin Jr. [Colors]
On the verge of death, Dr. Otto Octavius has initiated his final diabolical plan. Using a towering structure that rises from his base beneath the sea (Where do these guys get the funding and materials for these things?), he has positioned an array of satellites in Earth’s orbit to create an “Octavian lens” that will…stop global warming?
After threatening to burn the half of the world currently facing the sun (and giving Chicago a sweet cameo), Octavius pulls a 180 and tells everyone via satellite feed that he is merely showing them the Earth they are leaving to their great-grandchildren and actually intends to preserve the planet as his final act. It would seem noble enough, if the other five villains rounding out the latest incarnation of the Sinister Six (Sandman, Mysterio, Electro, Rhino, and the Chameleon) weren’t smirking behind him.
Though many of New York’s citizens (and even a few Avengers) are buying the idea that perhaps Doc Ock might have good intentions for a change, Peter Parker–who has spent the last several months preparing new gadgets for just such an occasion in his lab at Horizon–isn’t convinced.
Meanwhile, New York’s Mayor, J. Jonah Jameson, has vowed to shut down Horizon Labs at any and all cost following the peril his astronaut son was in onboard the company’s space station in Amazing Spider-Man #680 and 681, setting up a subplot that could potentially complicate Peter Parker’s life again and expanding Jameson’s personal crusade against Spider-Man to include Horizon founder Max Modell.
Overall, this is a great first issue to Dan Slott’s much-hyped “Ends of the Earth” saga. Not only do we see yet another cool new suit that Peter has designed to help him as Spider-Man, but Slott establishes a sense that the technology Pete developed has been put to practical, “real-world” use in the Marvel Universe. This, of course, keeps in tradition with the idea that the book is just as much about Peter Parker as it is about his alter ego.
Furthermore, Stefano Caselli’s art feels as briskly paced as the story without sacrificing detail. The opening pages, with Spider-Man stealing a few tricks out of an old enemy’s bag, are especially fun.
If the rest of this arc is this good, “Spider-Island” will have tough competition for “Best Spider-Man Event of the Last Decade.”
Scott Snyder opens up this issue with an homage to Batman Year One. We see Bruce sitting in front of a statue of his father as a Bat comes crashing through his window .He uses that as his sign of what he will become . That’s how the scene was left. Scott Snyder however uses this moment to draw more subtext into his story. He shows us the short path that bat traveled after Wayne Manor. Very shortly after leaving the Manor the bat gets attacked and eaten in a brutal display of power by an Owl. These scenes drawn by Greg Capullo and narrated by Snyder are a perfect way to build tension and dread into Bruce’s already bleak situation. It once again proves that Snyder is a master at creating new story threads using old elements from a characters past which strengthens the title characters history in the process.
Batman finds help from an unlikely teen which provides some levity from an otherwise shocking and dark issue. Batman finds his way back to Wayne Manor using the underground sewage tunnels . Alfred sees Bruce and helps him into the Bat Cave . Bruce not knowing that Alfred had found the corpse of Talon shows considerable fear at first site of the character. It’s a sad moment showing us just how much Batman has went through that he would back pedal in fear at the site of his dead enemy. Instead of resting Bruce opts to inspect the body to try to find clues about what he’s dealing with.
Batman has seen better days
Enter Dick Grayson aka Nightwing. If Dick has served anything in this series its been that he’s the one who hasn’t been afraid to call things what they are to Bruce.When he comes down to see Bruce he immediately see’s Bruce is in a bad place. After Dick asks Bruce what hes hiding from him Bruce finally explains what hes found out. Batman has found out how and why Talon was able to come back to life . Using an alloy called Electrum that was put into his tooth at an early age it caused his cells to reproduce at an accelerated rate . This is how the bodies are being reanimated as well as how he survived the Fall in issue two. However Batman also reveals to dick that this Talon’s name is William Cobb and that hes Dick’s Great Grandfather. A angered Dick starts arguing with Bruce , telling him that the reason he hid this from him was to protect himself from feeling emotions. Bruce’s response? He backhands Dick knocking out a tooth in the process. That tooth ends up also having Electrum in it in the shape of an owl . Finally Batman tells Dick that he was supposed to be this eras Talon and he found out that Haley’s Circus has gathered Gotham’s best young talents for The Court of Owls throughout the years. Batman saved Dick from that fate when he adopted Dick after the Death of his parents. Again its a nice way to pay respects for cannon while adding new layers to an already rich story.
Greg Capullo again shows us that he’s becoming stronger and stronger as a story-teller in his own right. He manages to add dramatic touches to every scene he draws . Whether it’s the many facial expressions he captures on Bruce even while wearing his costume or the anger and sadness on the faces Dick and Alfred he forces you to become emotionally invested in every panel. I especially love the scene where he Backhands Nightwing and then the next panel is him picking up that single tooth. Because of Scott’s ability to set the build up to that scene in his writing he allows Greg to finish it out through his Artwork. The two of them may be the best collaborators working in comics at the moment.
The last pages show the Court of Owl’s unleashing a whole army of Talon’s on Gotham . They want to reclaim Gotham City and Dine on Batman’s bones in the process. Whats going to unfold on this next arc has me excited to no end. It’s Batman and his extended Bat Family against the Court of Owls . Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo continue to tell an exciting and emotional story that is sure to go down as one of Bruce’s best in recent memory. Simply put go read this book.
James Luceno’s new book, Darth Plagueis, largely re-tells the story of Episode I – The Phantom Menace but from the Sith perspective of Palpatine’s master and then of Palpatine himself. It also adds some very interesting details about the Sith’s ‘Grand Plan’ for destroying the Jedi and how the plan evolves based on opportunities and obstacles encountered by the dark lords. You get a peek into plots which evolve and succeed or fail as the Sith masters probe the defenses of the Jedi.
As the book opens, we see Plagueis (like all good Sith) seizing an opportunity to assassinate his master Darth Tenebrous when they are betrayed during a business dealing. Although Tenebrous doesn’t stick around very long in the book, it’s clear that there is mistrust between Plagueis and Tenebrous and that Tenebrous doubts that Plagueis has the stuff to cut it as the future of the Sith – a common tendency among the Sith masters. Darth Plagueis later finds out just how little faith Tenebrous had in him when he has to dispatch an alternative apprentice Tenebrous had selected – another common tendency of Sith lords.
While the story moves along, another interesting Sith characteristic becomes apparent, the propensity for each Sith lord to regard the ‘Grand Plan’ and their role as Sith in the prism of their own culture or species. For example, Tenebrous is a Bith and focuses on Bith science in combination with the dark side where as Plagueis, a Muun, prefers to work through financial manipulation to seed instability throughout the Galaxy. We see this characteristic repeated when Palpatine comes into the picture with his political acumen.
Probably the most interesting and enriching aspect of this book are the details that it provides to supplement the story in Episode I – The Phantom Menace. We learn how Plagueis and Palpatine manipulate galactic governments and trade rivalries to place Padme Amidala in the throne on Naboo and how they manipulate Sifo-Dyas and Dooku to lay the groundwork for the Clone Wars. Luceno also reveals how Palpatine is discovered by Plagueis and how Palpatine ultimately makes his leap to the dark side. On a side note, Luceno also makes an interesting implication that one’s propensity towards the light or dark side may be inherent rather than the choice it is often presented as. One thing that comes through perfectly though is that Palaptine is a complete sociopath who is unbelievably well-suited for the role he is to play in the downfall of the Jedi.
While some may be done with the Phantom Menace’s storyline, this book does a great job of resuscitating if not completely redeeming that narrative and is well worth the time. As the book concludes with Palpatine’s ascension and Plageuis’ death, I had to wonder if this would have been a better telling of Episode I.
When a writer chooses to open up his new book with the phrase “Am I shitting? It feels Like I’m shitting!” you realize that your reading a book that both creators could care less whether you agree with them or not. They just want to tell an engaging and fun story. Brian K. Vaughn’s new series Saga is exactly that. A fun and engaging story with a cast that you will immediately fall in love with. Vaughn introduces us to Alana who is in the middle of birthing her first-born child while her husband Marko helps with the delivery. It’s a very serious situation , that is amazingly heart warming and hilarious due to Vaughn’s writing skills. His trade mark use of politics and sense of humor are still in tact.
You get a sense of who Saga’s two main characters are immediately , and Vaughn chooses to have their new-born baby be the narrator throughout the entire issue which creates a nice subtext to every scene involving our main characters. Alana and Marko are from two different warring Nations . Alana’s nation Landfall is overseen by Robots inserted as dictators and Marko’s from their closest Satellite and Moon. Vaughn simply states “It was a time of War, isn’t it always” and sets in motion how our two main characters met. Needless to say Alana and Marko meeting one another and getting married has caused both planets to try to find the couple and end their lives before word gets out that they are together.
I have to commend Fiona Staples this issue for taking on all the crazy ideas Brian has and putting them on the page in a visually compelling way. She definitely draws some adult situations. Breastfeeding a child , drawing a Man goat with his guts hanging out after being blown up , and finally two robots having sex only to be interrupted by their Alligator Butler..sure why not. She knows how to frame a scene . Her character designs are also fresh and exciting . She’s just as responsible for you falling in love with our main characters as Brian is .
The issue ends with Marko and Alana on the run in search of a Rocket Ship that will get them off of this planet and somewhere safe that they can raise their baby. Marko and Alana Finally slow down enough to share a sweet moment with one another and then name their child Hazel. Our new-born Narrator Hazel’s last quotes of the issue are “thanks to these two , I get to grow old, not everyone does” over a final page of our couple kissing. It’s a touching and heartbreaking moment that ends a very well written and drawn chapter to Saga. This is long form storytelling in the hands of a man who loves nothing more than to tell these kinds of stories . So I’m telling you all that yes this book is awesome , while its a slow build at the end ,there is enough fun and excitement in this one issue for me to easily tell you that I can’t wait for the next chapter.
Written by: Bruce Brown&Chip Christell Art by: Adam Mrozowski Letters by: E.T. Dollman Published by: Arcana
Clay County is like Tucker and Dale Vs. Aliens (circa 1950). Haven’t seen Tucker & Dale vs Evil? Then think Squidbillies with a dash of King Of The Hill. Basically its tongue in cheek rednecks drinking their way into and out of trouble. In this case it’s while an alien invasion of Earth is happening. The aliens are cruising around in flying saucers and kind of look Kang and Kodos from the Simpsons. They’ve invaded and took over the planet nearly three years ago and are just not getting around to conquering the backwoods podunk Clay County.
The plot synopsis on the back of the book does it more justice than I ever could:
“Now three years after their invasion the merciless aliens have crushed the resistance and annihilated all freedom fighters but one: Sgt. Coleman. Coleman is the Earths last hope, if he can find the mysterious power source known only as SF-92…
Together with the unlikely allies of Clay County citizens Bake, Vern, Hot Dog and Root; Coleman set out to find the SF-92 before the Earths otherworldly overlords do, save mankind, and drink a few cold ones along the way.”
Ok so this is something I probably wouldn’t pick up on my own. Since I scored a review copy I’m glad I gave it a go. It’s a light-hearted romp chock full of redneck colloquialisms, alcohol slapstick and fart jokes. Some of it is actually pretty funny too. “Gawd Dammer!” “Summabitch!” Granted there is a few times I feel it was trying a bit too hard, but some of humor wore me down and actually got me to laugh out loud at it. There’s a running gag where the rednecks never call Sgt. Coleman by his proper name. They call him “Coalmine”, “Kauffman”, “Coldsore”, “Codpiece”, “Cornfield” and so on. It’s starts out as funny, then it gets old, and then they run the gag into ground so much that you can’t help but laugh at it in the end. Frankly I like that kind of commitment. While this is a far-cry from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour and Larry The Cable Guy (that’s a good thing IMO) it definitely has the comedic charm of the Three Stooges and Strange Brew with a redneck slant. Dumb luck and buffoonery with a touch of restraint rule the day here. Oh yeah and one last thing. They battle the aliens with a killer pumpkin chucker, straight from the Mythbusters spin-off series on the Discovery channel. That my friends, is worth the price of admission right there.
Art wise, this is a loose syndicated news paper-style in the vein of Calvin & Hobbes, Rose Rose, Bloom County and Mike Luckovich political comics but with a Johnny Bravo design sense. Eyes always seem to truly define the syndicated style, and the ones in Clay County are either bug-eyed, beady or squinty. Everything seems to have a bit of 1950’s atomic age swing to it, but very loosely. For the most part its colored in a duo-tone digital water-color/airbrush, with the foreground being either olive or blue and the background being the reverse of that (blue or olive). Honestly I think a straight flat duo-tone could have helped enhanced that 50’s style a bit. The digital airbrushing/watercolors were really sloppy in some areas that it was distracting and pulled me out of the story. That’s never a good thing. You know the saying, K.I.S.S. Keep it Simple, Stupid. I also didn’t like a photoshopped cover or the crappy graphics between chapters that look like they crawled out of MS Paint. I guess that’s my main beef of the art. That aside, the interior work services they story in a whimsical way, and adds to hilarity of it all. Mrozowski nailed the expressions of Bake, Hot Dogg and Root and really made them stand out as characters.
This is one of those books that you have to the appreciate dumb humor that’s going on to get in to it. That isn’t to say the book is dumb, or that you have to be dumb to enjoy it. It’s just either you get it or you don’t. I liked it. I thought it was funny. I had a rough couple of days and it brought a smile to my face. At the end of the day that’s what it’s really all about isn’t it? That you enjoyed something you read. You had fun with it and felt good after reading it. Clay County just might be that PG-13 redneck comedy relief that you need. It’s currently available to pre-order in comic shops thought Previews or on pre-order on Amazon.
Story: 7/10 Art: 6.5/10
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The latest issue of Zeb Wells’ Spider-Man team-up book sees Spider-Man pairing off with Captain America–because, well, they’re both Avengers and that’s kind of the point of this book. Also, both characters have movies coming out in the next few months.
