Showing posts with label joss whedon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label joss whedon. Show all posts

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Various Single Issues

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #31 by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty.

The latest issue of Buffy gives hope about the future of the series. 2009 was a bad year for the comic as the quality of the stories went way down from the first two years. This issue was very good, the art was good for the most part and the dialogue was funny and interesting. An issue that gives me hope about the future of this series.

Dingo #1 by Michael Alan Nelson and Francesco Biagini.

The comic book owner at the place I buy comics convinced me to read this comic. The comic is great. The comic creates some suspense about the characters, making me want to know about their backstory. This is something that comics I love have in common. They make me want to know something that they don't reveal right away, but at the same time, it feels natural not to reveal it. In other words, I like stories that start in the middle, that is, you start reading as if you knew the characters already and then things start making sense little by little the more you read.
I should point out that I liked the art in the comic and that the issue has an awesome dog as a character. We need more awesome dogs in comic books.

Amazing Spider-Man #617 by Joe Kelly and Max Fiumara.

I liked this issue a lot. The Spider-Man comic keeps delivering great stuff. I like how Joe Kelly treats the Rhino. The Rhino had already had a really good origin story recently in Web of Spider-Man, and now we get a very good "ending" story for the Rhino.
The comic also has a back up story drawn by Javier Pulido. In the back up, we get to see a little bit more of Rhino, explaining how he fell in love. I liked the back story a lot. Well done.
Spider-Man is my favorite superhero and the issues haven't disappointed me in a long time.

Chew #8 by John Layman and Rob Guillory.

Chew is one of my favorite comics now and I get excited every time I get a new issue. It is the first issue I read whenever I get it. Issue 7 wasn't great so I was hoping this would be better. The issue is much better. We have an interesting adventure following Chu on his quest to find Poyo (a cockfighter) and we get a lot of laughs a long the way. The comic has started every issue with a short prologue and in this issue we don't get one but three prologues, another funny bit that gives the comic a world of its own. I like how the comic has a very clear identity, by having this sort of form play and by having unique art, by the hands of Rob Guillory. Guillory draws perfectly for this offbeat, funny comic. His art is instantly recognizable, I love that.
Chew is fantastic.

Irredeemable #10 by Mark Waid and Peter Krause.

I like this series a lot. This issue wasn't as interesting as others, mainly because it departs a lot from understanding Plutonian, however I can see that some things are developing. First we get to see a villain that was hinted at in the last issue and we get to see how powerful and menacing he is. Secondly, we get to see how much the Plutonian cares for Samsara, which is interesting because it seems that the comic might be shifting into going from hate to Plutonian into pity. The key thing about making Plutonian pitiable is how he was defeated recently in such a convincing manner. I don't understand why weakness can make someone more likeable, but I know it has that effect on us and I am glad that the comic seems to explore that.
I am excited about the next issue.

Amazing Spider-Man #618 by Dan Slott and Marcos Martin.

I like this issue a lot. I am always happy to be surprised in an issue and to have the surprise seem plausible (obviously in a superhero comic book, I have to stretch my imagination when considering something plausible). I like that the comic has a very Spidey feel to it and that it can be read without needing previous issues to enjoy. I also love the art. Martin makes the comic very dynamic.
This issue also got me more interested in reading Web of Spider-Man #4, as it will have the origin story for Mysterio who plays a role in this issue.
Amazing Spider-Man is a really good comic and I am glad that I get to enjoy it three times a week.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Various Recent Single Issues

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow by Joss Whedon and Karl Moline.

This one-shot tells us a little bit of what happened to Willow between the end of the TV show and the beginning of the comic book series Season 8. Joss is as always perfect with dialog bringing in a lot of funny moments with his word play and his perfectly timed delivery. The story itself is not that great, but since it is a joy to read with the nice art and the great lines I would have to rank this comic highly. It is the best Buffy comic of the year (not that hard given the bad run on the comic book series).

Incorruptible #1 by Mark Waid and Jean Diaz.

Incorruptible is about a supervillain that decides to be a superhero. This first issue doesn't really tell us much. It shows how the villains employed by the supervillain are surprised at him helping cops and it shows how the supervillain tries to make a deal with a cop. Not much happens, but the series itself looks like it would be a fun ride, specially if you're reading Irredeemable as it is a companion series (Irredeemable is about a Superman like superhero who becomes a bad guy).

Chew #6 by John Layman and Rob Guillory.

The most recent Chew issue is #7, but Chew #6 is so good it deserves a nice post about it. The issue starts the second arc in the series. It starts great right off the bat with a funny moment at the detective office and it gets better with the bank robbery where Agent Cho thinks he has to eat poop to figure the case (Agent Cho has the power to eat something and get all of its history). Getting Cho's partner back from issue 1 is nice because he seemed to be a funny guy and we are confirmed of that in this issue. Great issue on a fantastic series.

Chew #7 by John Layman and Rob Guillory.

This issue is good but not as good as the series has been. The arc itself seems like its going to be a good one and a cool character was introduced but the issue wasn't as funny as others have been.
The art is top notch as usual. Guillory has been a great breakout in comics. I love his work on Chew. It is a crucial reason of why this series works so well. A fun cartoony style that can show the gore and the gross without making it seem ridiculous or out of place.

Amazing Spider-Man #611 by Joe Kelly and Eric Canete.

Just like Chew #6 is so good it deserves a post even if it is not the most recent issue, Amazing Spider-Man #611 deserves one too because of how funny it is. Joe Kelly manages to make joke after joke work perfectly in this hilarious issue. I highly recommend reading it to anyone.
With respect to the art, the art is almost distracting at first because it is so unusual, but after a while one gets used to it and then one gets to enjoy it because it is so full of energy (just like the jokes).
Fantastic issue. One of the best of the Spidey issues of the year, although for the best of the year I might have to pick something from Fred Van Lente who always knocks it out of the park when writing Spider-Man.

Irredeemable #9 by Mark Waid and Peter Krause.

This series has been one of my favorites of the year. This particular issue is not that great, but it is very interesting. Now that Plutonian is shown to be vulnerable, it is interesting to see how this affects the psyche of Charybdis, as his ego might be growing a bit too much.

The Last Days of American Crime #1 by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini.

Radical Comics has been a really cool new publisher that tries different things and this is an issue where that is exemplified. The issue is 64 pages instead of the standard 22 pages and it is only $4.99 (the standard is $2.99 but some even charge $3.99 for 22 pages).
Forgetting about the good price, I'd like to point out that the art is really beautiful and that the story is interesting. I am looking forward to the next two issues.

Daytripper #1 by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Ba (they co-wrote story and art).

This might be my favorite single issue of the year. The cover is great, the art is great and the story is great.
The story concerns an obituary writer on his 32nd birthday. On the day of his birthday, his father gets an award. But the story tells you a lot of information in very subtle ways, either through the art or by indirect dialog. You can only guess it is his birthday, it is never said out loud. You can only guess it is his 32nd birthday (32 is the title of the story). I like how a lot of the story is told by the images and I like how it begins with snippets from obituaries that the main character is writing.
Great issue, I am definitely going to read the series. The question will be to whether read it as the issues come out or wait for the trade.

God Complex #1 by Michael Avon Oeming and John Broglia.

I like the idea of a God living among people. The story has been told before but I wanted to read this comic to see what new idea can be brought to the table. This first issue is not great, but it is good enough to get me to read more of the series. The main character seems to be a bit too powerful to have given up godhood but maybe the powers will fade with time, or maybe the powers won't fade, I'll have to keep reading to find that out. I wouldn't recommend reading this issue.

Deadlocke by Arvid Nelson and Nick Stakal.

This is a one shot comic book. I was surprised that it didn't have any closure in my opinion. I thought there was good potential in the story but that there was not a good ending. Not a comic book I would recommend.

Sugarshock by Joss Whedon and Fábio Moon.

The one-shot is not great because it didn't include the last part of the story, however the whole story is fantastic. It made me laugh a lot. Joss really knows how to deliver the funny stuff and Fábio Moon is able to make the perfect images for this story. I highly recommend reading it. It is possible to read this for free online on MySpace Dark Horse