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Showing posts from February, 2012

Every serious comics fan needs to have this collection

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  SAMURAI’S BLOOD VOLUME 1 TP  (Image Comics/Benaroya Publishing)  194 pages. $14.99. Release date : February 29, 2012.  Story: Owen Wiseman.  Art: Nam Kim.  Matthew Dalton & Jessica Kholinne.   Covers by Jo Chen. There are two great reasons to celebrate the Leap Year day of February 29 in 2012. 1) It’s Superman’s official birthday. 2)  It’s the release day for SAMURAI’S BLOOD VOLUME 1 TP !!! - - - a book that belongs on the shelves of all serious comics collectors as well as anyone who wants to possess a damn fine reading experience.  This is a “keeper”, one of those books you are always glad to return to and read a second and third or more times.  Get ready for more accolades as I wholeheartedly endorse this book as one of the finest combinations of text and art working together in recent memory.  I won’t stick my neck out like this on behalf of just any book - - SAMURAI’S BLOOD is very special.  I strongly recommend it to everyone and I do so free of monetary compensatio

Books I Read: Irredeemable & Incorruptible

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I started reading Irredeemable  with issue #1 and liked it, but after a few issues decided to switch to trades. I dutifully bought many volumes of the series and its companion Incorruptible , but never got around to reading them until recently when I realized "Hey, there's about 50 issues of Mark Waid stuff piled up over there that I would probably enjoy." Now, Waid has announced that  both series are ending.  Still, it's an impressive body of work worth exploring. Irredeemable  is the story of the Plutonian, the world's greatest superhero who unfortunately is not emotionally equipped for the job. Yes, Waid starts by exploring some Superman tropes but the series quickly evolves beyond that. The tone is not Silver Age-y at all, proving that Waid is not limited to that bag of tricks. There are some surface similarities to Waid's Empire , but the Plutonian is more damaged and less rational than Empire 's calculating supervillain.  Irredeemable 's   su

DC New 52: S.H.A.D.E. s of mid-‘60’s comics greatness

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  FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E.  #1 – 6  (DC COMICS)  Jeff Lemire, writer. Jeff Lemire & Dan Didio, story #5.   Albert Ponticelli, artist.  Jose Villarrubia, colorist.  Pat Brosseau, letterer # 1-4.  Travis Lanham, letterer #5-6.  J.G. Jones, covers. Great story and great art make for a winning combination.  Of all the NEW 52 titles I have read, this one provides the most pure entertainment.  I believe it may be the “sleeper” title of the new lot, the one that slips past the radar of most readers.  I hope to correct that by drawing more attention to FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E .  so that it is never threatened by cancellation.  What I especially appreciate about this book is that it recalls the type of books I read during my formative comics years in the mid-to-late 1960’s =  THE AVENGERS;  NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.IE.L.D.;  LOST IN SPACE;  CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN;  MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER; BLACKHAWKS   - - - all books that were highly entertaining and fired a young i

Exploring the DC NEW 52: FLASH back

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  THE FLASH #2 – 5  (DC COMICS)  Story by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato.   Art by Francis Manapul.   Colors by Brian Buccellato.  Letters by Sal Cipriano.  THE FLASH was not one of the initial NEW 52 books that I decided to give a three-issue trial.  I picked it up on a whim and was pleasantly surprised by both story and art - - enough that I decided to follow it for a few more issues.  I’m still reading this title.  You can find my review of Issue #1 in the BC Archives for October 3, 2011. I was happy to learn that Barry Allen would be the main character / The Flash.  Issue #1 opened up with an artistic rendering of The Flash’s powers that was both inventive and clever and set up a situation that could weigh heavy on Allen’s conscience as he considers the consequences of his quick thinking and acting. Read on for more observations . . . . . . . Issue #2 continues the entertaining visualizations of The Flash’s speedy powers by Manapul in a 3-page, wide-screen-paneled openin

DC New 52: Equal time for BATWOMAN

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  BATWOMAN #1 – 4  (DC Comics)   J. H. WILLIAMS III, co-writer & artist;  W. HADEN BLACKMAN, co-writer; DAVE STEWART, colors; TODD KLEIN, letters.  It’s great to see Kate Kane/ Batwoman back in a monthly title again, especially with J.H. Williams III  still involved in the highly creative art (with a capital A).  The only thing that could make this even better would be the return of scripter Greg Rucka.  However,  J. H. Williams III and co-writer W. Haden Blackman have done a commendable job with the story so far.  This is also one of the few DC NEW 52 titles that doesn’t appear to have undergone any continuity or character changes and is continuing forward from the points established pre-New 52.  In fact, all of the Bat-titles I’m reading seem to have made the transition intact and without any make-overs. It may seem a little odd to some that I’m writing about BATWOMAN #1-4 when the first story arc ends with Issue #5, which was published in January.  I’m trying to write about

DC NEW 52: Light Reading for Dark Knights

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  BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #1 – 5  (DC COMICS)  Paul Jenkins, writer/co-plotter; David Finch, penciller/co-plotter;  Richard Friend, inker;  Alex Sinclair, colors #1-2;  Jeremy Cox, colors #3-5; Sal Cipriano, letters.   I’m currently reading 4 separate Batman-family titles from The New DC 52:  BATMAN;  BATMAN AND ROBIN;  BATMAN, THE DARK KNIGHT;  and BATWOMAN.  While I enjoy them all - -  the monthly wait for the next installment causes the most anxiety with BATMAN and the least amount of impatience with BATMAN, THE DARK KNIGHT.  I can handle the wait for a new issue of BATMAN, THE DARK KNIGHT the easiest of any book in the quartet. It ranks fourth and last in popularity with me - - but that doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile.   I’m just not treating it as seriously as I do the other books.  While there are signs that writer Jenkins is building towards something (and perhaps holding back a bit until this first storyline concludes) as well as the introduction of some interesting new char