Now that HeroesCon is behind us (at least for a few months, anyway), we wanted to increase the amount of good ole COMICS coverage here at the blog. With that in mind, presenting the first in a new series of "Minute Reviews"--little snapshots of books you should (or in some cases, maybe shouldn't) be reading! We'll all take our cracks at it, but I'll go first:BATMAN #678
If you bailed out on Grant Morrison during the first story line, come back--quickly-- this is one fun book--a real page turner. It doesn’t feel like a cross-over gimmick. It feels like a very exciting story that should have been told YEARS ago.
Astonishing X-Men #25
Typical Warren Ellis excitement, but it is going to take me some time to get used to Simon Bianchi's busy dark artwork after the open vistas of Mr. Cassaday.
Fables #74
--what? Your not reading it?? Stop what you are doing and go buy a trade or two--skip the first one. It is as addictive as caffeine and sweet as a Frappichino.
House of Mystery #3
-- very cool premise--half continuing story/half anthology--where is it leading? Beats me, but I am certainly planning on sticking around for the ride.
Legion of Superheroes #43
--Yuck! I've always loved the Legion because--like Star Trek TNG-- it had a vision of the future that provided optimism for a happily ever after for humanity. Now, the book is a parody of corporate America with Lightning Lad as the besieged CEO--or is it Lightning Lad as the Editor-In-Chief of Marvel? Jim Shooter, you bitter, bitter man. It was fun for a few issues, but now the joke is old. The Legion as a corporation without a support staff?? I can suspend my disbelief enough to accept Matter-Eater Lad, but not a superhero group without an accountant.
8 comments:
I know I shouldn't speak ill of people but man is it just me or does Jim Shooter still look like Frankenstein? That is one scary looking dude!
Why skip the first Fables trade? I've seen this advice before, but I don't get it. The series hooked me right from the beginning, so I'd say start at the beginning.
Mark-- maybe I am being overly critical, but I have to confess, the murder mystery plot left me with the feeling that Willingham had this great concept and was using crappy old devices to execute. i was pleasantly surprised to find I was wrong and he was just using the age old cliche to get the world established. It certainly worked, but if the second story line-- Anumal farm had not been so good, I may not have continued. But I am splitting hairs. Fables and Jack of Fables are good old fashioned-- what is going to happen next-- books that I hope continue for as long as there is interest. no shark jumping here!
and Dan--I would love to tell you the story about the time Jim Shooter started to yell at me at the ChicagoCon because I asked 9asked--politely) why he cancelled Master of Kung Fu. I think he was having a bad day.
I have to say, I agree with not skipping the first Fables trade. It is obviously a "world-establishing" story, but it drew me in right away, too. And I enjoy a good murder mystery from time to time.
And while I've enjoyed Mark Buckingham's artwork since his time on Spider-Man in the early 2000s, I always did wonder why the artist for that first story arc vanished without a trace.
Not to stir it up, but I think you can skip Fables entirely and be alright. The plot ideas are AWESOME--if you were to synopsize each collection in about 300 words, they would sound great. But the actual writing is so overdone it's painful to read. Too many words--the great downfall of many almost-good comics. Each time I read Fables--the "Good Prince" storyline is a great example, I'm at once impressed with the cool plot and depressed by the actual lame comics.
Different strokes, as usual. I just read "The Good Prince" and absolutely loved it. Great idea, great execution. For me Fables started out strong and has only gotten better over time. There aren't many ongoing titles I would make that claim for.
I also just read "The Good Prince," and it had me pulled in from cover to cover.
I think the point we're all trying to make is that Dusty's full of it. Haw!
Dang it!
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