The graphic novels loved by children and adults alike
Aug 15th, 2011, 4:17 pm
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Title: The Elvis Presley Experience (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Herbert Shapiro, Patrick McCray and Jay Allen Sanford (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: classicpopicons (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review:
    Elvis Presley’s life story will be published in graphic novel form by Bluewater Productions on April 5.

    In its 148 pages, “The Elvis Presley Experience” brings together the six Elvis issues of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Comics series, first published by Revolutionary Comics in the early 1990s. This was one of the best selling bio-graphic comics of the 1990s and the individual issues have been out of print for over a decade.

    “The Elvis Presley Experience” features art by some well known names in the comic and genre industry, including a future Marvel and DC star Aaron Sowd (Wolverine, Hawkman, Nightwing). The story was co-scripted by Jay Allen Sanford and Patrick McCray. Artist Azim (Logan’s Run: Last Day) provides fresh cover art.

    President of Bluewater Productions, Darren Davis, said:
    “Any series concerning rock and roll can’t be complete without Elvis, and this issue covers all the ‘Elvis’: the naïve Mississippi-born up-and-comer, the dangerous Elvis that made girls swoon in the fifties, the Hollywood Elvis of the ’60s and Elvis as the Vegas staple in the ’70s.”

    This is the latest in a series of reissues of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Comics series. Previous titles feature The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Joan Jett and the Runaways, and Hard Rock Heroes

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More info:
    Written by Herbert Shapiro, Patrick McCray and Jay Allen Sanford
    Artwork by Aaron Sowd, Jim McWeeney, Joe Paradise, Mike Sagara, Bill Jankowski, Adam McDaniel, Greg Fox and Heather Dawn
    Cover by Azim
    Published by Bluewater Productions

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Aug 15th, 2011, 4:17 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:32 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 15th, 2011, 4:27 pm
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Title: A Nightmare on Elm Street (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Chuck Dixon (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Jason R. Korsiak (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review:
    Freddy Krueger has not fared well in the comic book world. In the late 1980's made an attempt, which only lasted 2 issues. Innovation took over around 1991 with the release of 'Freddy's Dead,' but the same problems kept arising. For one thing, no artist seemed to faithfully capture Krueger's appearance, nor did they manage to render the art in any sort of truly dynamic way. The issues were all generally episodic, like reruns of Freddy's Nightmares, in which Freddy does not speak in his normal style, or do much of anything particularly spectacular.

    Avatar Press took a swipe at the beloved demon of sleep until WildStorm's stint, collected here. The graphic novel features two story arcs, 'Freddy's War' and 'Demon of Sleep.' While having larger stories are an improvement--as it attempts to capture a more cinematic feel--the stories are very rushed, with little character development. While the artwork is in color, and Freddy more dynamic, he never looks really like Robert Englund, except for frames in which the penciler clearly used photographic reference.

    Each series had potential, but the writers clearly never grasped what made Freddy's films enjoyable. They were populated with interesting characters with unique flaws that Freddy could exploit in creative ways. The comics are mainly gorefests, with Freddy doing very little to use his dream powers. So disappointing, when one considers how limitless the artform of comic books is. The second arc does push the style further, but not by much.

    While enjoyable light reads, a truly amazing Nightmare on Elm Street comic book has yet to arrive, and I hope that if WildStorm continues they flesh out the arcs better. If you can find this for a good price and are a die hard Freddy fan, you will enjoy it. Nothing particularly grabbing, however, for the casual comic reader.

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More info:
    Kevin West, Bob Almond artist
    Chuck Dixon writer
    Wes Abbott letterer
    Bob Almond, Tony Aviña colorist
    Kristy Quinn, Ben Abernathy editor
    Ben Oliver, Tony Harris, Tim Bradstreet, Jim Clark, JD Mettler, Grant Goleash, Tony Harris, Jim Clark cover
    Published by Wildstorm, 2006

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Aug 15th, 2011, 4:27 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:32 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 15th, 2011, 10:26 pm
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Title: Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Eoin Colfer (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: the Bookbag (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review:
    It seems strange that all the regular novels featuring Artemis Fowl disguise his actual looks from us, and yet here is the character's creator collaborating on the graphic novel of the first book in the series. With the great intelligence of Fowl at large it is understandable that no-one knows what he looks like, with his technological nous and Butler's bulk to protect him from hidden CCTV and whatnot.

    And now we do know what he looks like, what is the result? Well, a bit of an unattractive sight it has to be said. The funny shape of his head certainly does not coincide with many twelve year olds I know (and I work on behalf of thousands of them a year so I do know of them), and although not exactly Manga-style distorted, comes across as a bit like a cheap Thunderbirds baddy, with odd haircut, deep-set eye and harsh eyebrows. Yegads, he'll grow up into Jimmy Carr. Now there's a worry.

    As for the novel side of the graphic novel, this of course is the initial story in the cycle, the one that introduced us all to the fairy-world's police, especially Holly the field operator, Root the commander, and Foaly the techno-minded centaur. There's also Mulch Diggums, the flatulent dwarf criminal that likes to get down and dirty when there's gold (or a reprieve) at the end of it.

    Artemis, with absent father and seemingly insane mother, tries to translate the sacred texts of the fairy world, and use that knowledge to capture their technology, and attain a great big pile of gold at the same time. Things aren't of course quite so easy.

    On his side is Butler, and I did like his look - the great hulking minder dwarfing Artemis and a contact while driving them round Saigon City. Other characters do not come across quite as well - a lot of the time Butler's sister and Holly are hidden by glasses and other headgear. Foaly doesn't get many long-shots for a good look, a troll as a minor character has a major problem with scale, and for some reason goblins look like the Sea Devils from the old-school Doctor Who.

    I would guess with some conviction this was created on a computer, and it's not just the colouring that suggests that. Several panels are repeated, with a slight move sideways - not in parallax, which would involve a full redrawing, and with elements slightly shifted. This results in one very poor picture - I assume it's Butler giving Artemis a reassuring pat on the shoulder but it's very badly done.

    The rigid panelling - sometimes one large picture, but often six or nine easily scanned pictures per page - does not help in this regard. There should be more made of Haven City than a one-shot, for example. As a graphic novel the colouring, FX and voice-overs are nicely used and positioned, but the fighting is a little underplayed, and there are many lost opportunities to step back and give us bigger images, with more detail. Also to the book's visual detriment is the small page format - this is not a full-size graphic.

    Yet I don't want to come down too heavily on the artists - on the whole they did a decent, coherent job of illustrating the entire adventure, and in this format the book has plusses too. There are many instances as far as my raddled memory can discern of the book taking a different emphasis on events than the original novel, and to my delight the biological detail of Diggum's excreta becomes one funny panel with punch-line spoken through gritted teeth.

    I read a lot of graphic novels as light, putdownable entertainment, and hardly ever would give any five stars. This serves as a very good companion to the original novel, but it should be noted I would rate that more highly. And anyway, as the cover quote from the press reminds us, the whole series reads like one rip-snorting comic strip adventure, and so it doesn't take Artemis's intelligence to question the need for a graphic novel version after all.

    This is actually pretty good as it goes, despite my being really picky with the visuals. I enjoyed the story all over again, and it served as a reminder of the origins of the saga, with humour mostly intact. If the design was influenced by Eoin Colfer then it serves as a great look-in upon the world he has created, but I maintain this does not replace a book that did not need replacing anyway.

    I would recommend it to fans of the stories, as it offers someone else's visualisation of the whole thing, but for newcomers there should only be one way to start - with the highly-recommended original Artemis Fowl book. Fans of sequential art chancing on this review would have to be aware this is of simplified design for the younger audience, and while very nicely detailed on the whole, is not the prettiest BD on the shelves.

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More info:
    Author adapted by Andrew Donkin from book by Eoin Colfer
    Art by Giovanni Rigano
    Color by Paolo Lamanna
    Letterer by Chris Dickey
    Publisher: Hyperion Book CH, Paperback.

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Aug 15th, 2011, 10:26 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:31 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 16th, 2011, 2:16 pm
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Title: The Territory (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Jamie Delano (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Miles Fielder (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review:
    DARK SCI-FI - Mysteriously marooned in an unnamed ocean, a man named Ishmael is rescued by pirates and sold into slavery. His past is a blank. Equipped only with courage, a talent for action heroics and the inspiration of a half-remembered love, he must flirt with the sinister tentacles of Hydracorp to win his freedom. The Territory is a land of wonder and fear; hidden in its dark heart, a haunting truth that Ishmael is driven to discover. But there are no maps to The Territory. Those who would explore it must draw their own.

    Repackaged as a hardback on the back of V for Vendetta and the forthcoming Kickback, this flight of fantasy (originally published as a four-part series in 1999) was artist David Lloyd’s first collaboration with writer Jamie Delano since their celebrated 1995 Hellblazer story, The Horrorist. Like that latter title, The Territory is a nightmare tale in which reality and fantasy is inexplicably intertwined as a man suffering from amnesia wakes up in a retro-futuristic world ruled by a tentacled terror known as The Gorgon.

    In narrative and visual terms it’s a stylish mix and match of early 20th century fantasy fictions such as David Lindsay’s A Voyage to Arcturus and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter, Warlord of Mars, with a bit of Raymond Chandler thrown in. The dénouement is an all too familiar cop out and the storytelling doesn’t quite strike the right note of irony, but it’s entertaining escapism nonetheless

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More info:
    Writer: Jamie Delano
    Artist: David Lloyd

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Aug 16th, 2011, 2:16 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:31 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 16th, 2011, 5:49 pm
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Title: Wildcats Street Smart (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Scott Lobdell and Joe Casey (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: J (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review:
    After Image cancelled the first series of Wildcats with issue #50 and Wildstorm studios was sold to rival giant DC, the Wildcats received a second series which began running in 1999. "Street Smart" collects the first six issues of what would eventually be a twenty-eight issue series.

    Writer Scott Lobdell (with Joe Casey co-plotting) and artist Travis Charest were brought in and tasked with giving the series a new direction.

    What Lobdell decides to do is take the characters into a more 'real-world' type of scenario. There isn't a lot of 'superhero-ing' going on within these pages. Sure, there are still some Daemonite-based shenanigans, and Spartan still occasionally takes to the air and fires blasts of energy, but mainly what we see are guns, hand to hand combat, arms dealing...more of a black-ops than superhero vein.

    Lobdell gives Grifter and Spartan the most page time. Zealot and Emp are around, but they (Zealot especially) aren't too large of factors. Voodoo and Maul (now living together in Florida) have issue #2 dedicated to them and Lobdell begins a storyline with the two that is definitely going somewhere but, it's the only time we see anything of it in these six issues. This is unfortunate as it is probably the most interesting and fresh story element in the collection.

    The main plotline of the trade concerns a new villain, Kenyan, who has gotten his hands on the Haikyatu Armory, an arsenal of weapons that the Kherubims brought with them when they originally came to Earth. Emp, with Spartan in tow, recruits Grifter and French arms dealer Noir into helping him track down Kenyan. Other threads float in and out, but that's the nuts and bolts of it.

    Lobdell's issues careen in quality, often quite massively. The first two issues are excellent, while 3, 4, and 5 decline in quality with each passing issue. The final issue of the trade is definitely the worst, being, literally, one massive chase scene that adds nothing to the overall story and dumps the idea of having any sort of resolution to the arc. Likewise, the dialogue is very hit or miss. Sometimes it is funny and spot-on, while at other times it seems very amateurish.

    I suppose the overall problem with the writing is that it's essentially all set-up. Lobdell seems to have some idea for a greater plan here, but as he leaves the series with issue #7, very few of the elements introduced here ever conclude in a satisfactory way.

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    The art in the book is a wildly different story.

    A little more than half the trade is handled by Travis Charest (to be exact, he does all of issues #1, and #2, about 70% of #3, 50% of #4, and 30% of #6). His art is, simply, STUNNING. It looks amazing. Charest has grown astoundingly since his early days on the first series of Wildcats. If you compare the two, well, it's an absolutely incredible evolution. It's pretty much alone worth the price of the book. With the amount of detail and precision shown in Charest's work here, it's no wonder that it takes him forever to finish anything.

    Issue #5 is handled by Bryan Hitch, who would later go on to find fame with his runs on 'The Authority' and 'The Ultimates'. His single issue contribution to the book looks good.

    Overall, the collection is surprisingly effective at rebooting the Wildcats. Though the story quickly devolves in quality throughout these six issues, it's entertaining enough to not feel like a waste while the artwork more than effectively takes up any slack.

    While not great, it's better than it should be.

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More info:
    Written by Scott Lobdell and Joe Casey
    Artwork by Travis Charet and Richard Friends

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Aug 16th, 2011, 5:49 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:31 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 16th, 2011, 8:09 pm
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Title: Walk-In (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Jeff Parker (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Dave Baxter (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review: Dave Stewart?s Walk-In #1
    Whatever else may be said about it, Dave Stewart, Jeff Parker and Ashish Padlekar have produced a book that can emphatically be claimed thus: one damn fine comic.

    First off, I’d like to say that the cover for Walk-In #1 really, really made me not want to buy this book. It isn’t that the art was poor (it’s highly stylized, and some might claim such style as bogus, though I personally dug the artist’s – Celia Calle’s – system of stroke), but rather the depiction of a hyper-anatomy bearing woman in downtrodden, tough-girl clothing as the cover’s centerpiece made me unavoidably assume that the interiors would be centered around just such adolescent drivel. Still, the pickings this week were light, and Virgin, as a company, hadn’t honestly let me down as of yet, at least not in any egregious way, and so I bought it. And I read it. And I loved it.

    The book is centered in Stewart’s real-life experiences as a young man doing stage shows as "Memory Man" and – during this time of his life – suffering from odd moments of memory loss himself. From this small smidgen of reality, Stewart and Interman auteur Jeff Parker cobbled together a truly outrageous and complex outline for what should hopefully go down as one of the best works of speculative, graphic fiction since Alan Moore last put pen to comic book paper. The main character of Walk-In is one Ian Doormouse (I know – ick, but we’ll let this Pynchonian embarrassment pass), who suffers from blackout spells in which he awakens in entirely new vistas, having to continually rebuild his life over and again. As such rigorous upheaval continues unabated, Ian no longer even tries to settle but rather lives a vagrant life of lonesome strip-club loiterer (for the free salty snacks, naked women, and lack of questions). Where issue #1 begins, Ian awakens in Moscow, and enters the first strip dive he comes to, and here – due to a series of odd actions, finds himself a (non-stripping) performer dubbed "The Dream Catcher," the man who can reach into your dreams and unveil them for the audience entire.

    What else? Well…Ian’s life and experiences with sleepwalking, dreams, and waking visions very slowly and intriguingly accelerate, and herein lies the beginnings of a tale that blends the very best of British fiction, from Gaiman to Moore to Morrison, there’s a little bit of them all in Walk-In’s fantastical tale of a man out of place and out of touch with…well…everything.

    The greatest draw of this book is adamantly Parker’s script, which is just about the clearest and most genuine storytelling I’ve seen a comic book manage since the original Top Ten series. There’s a bit of a European flavor to the execution and the setting (an oddly archaic, gentlemen’s club slash strip club inside of Moscow, filled with Russian gentlemen gangsters as well as French and German and British oddities), but there’s none of the awkward translation issues that usually come part in parcel with otherwise fantastical, foreign, illustrated treasures.

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    Parker’s Ian is a candidly open narrator, whose voice and character shine through the abstract qualities of the plot to call the reader into his world and – before the first issue is even past its halfway point – had me hoping I’d never have to leave. (When was the last time a single, sole, first issue managed to do this?) Equally, Parker’s execution of the mundane-yet-notable, itinerant life of Ian is masterful, edging the borders of such an unusual but otherwise not terribly extraordinary story with small inklings of a greater genre-indebted epic soon to come. In short, Walk-In, in the capable hands of Parker, looks to be taking the slow and steadily expanding path towards its culmination, and yet there’s nothing here that suffers from the great "decompression" of modern-day comics; rather, Walk-In #1 holds more honest story within its modest twenty-three pages than any other piece of graphic literature I’ve handled in recent memory.

    The art by Ashish Padlekar is also a treat – similar in visual to Parker’s own artwork in Interman, Padlekar skirts the border of cartoonist and illustrator, granting the world of Ian Doormouse the proper depth of humor, warmth, and life that the comic desperately needed in order to succeed in its ambitions. The characters and settings are instantly identifiable in nearly iconic ways, while being (in truth) far more detailed than the average comic book page, which allows the book a poetic sense of appearing timeless and placeless, though not unrecognizable (much as all of Ian’s life). Padlekar’s technique is indelibly strong, and more than works the necessary magic of bringing Walk-In’s heady abstract qualities into a solidified and understandable template.

    Honestly, Walk-In is a majestically massive surprise for me – I hated the cover, and therefore thought little of the project when it was announced and the promotional ads appeared bearing said cover; also, while I enjoyed Interman (and haven’t, as of yet, checked out Agents of Atlas), Parker’s recent What If? special (the Avengers Disassembled one) was just about the worst What If? I’d ever read (its plot was so muddly and trammeled over it was nearly opaque, and the places where it was readable, it wasn’t even believable!). So you can imagine how skeptical I was when venturing into a book whose basic content I thought wouldn’t interest me, and whose writer I figured had lost his touch (or at least was currently snafu-ing all over). Now imagine how many hallelujahs I shouted to my ceiling when I closed the back cover and discovered that Walk-In was the best damn debut and the best damn inaugural issue to a comic I’d read in years. I’m excited about this book. If you read it, I guarantee that you will be too.

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More info:
    Dave Steward creator
    Ashish Padlekar artist
    Celia Calle cover
    Jeff Parker writer
    Nilesh S. Mahadik letterer
    Sheetal Tanji Patil colorist

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Aug 16th, 2011, 8:09 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:31 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 17th, 2011, 5:49 pm
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Title: Enigma (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Peter Milligan (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: grovel (Review 1) and Babytoxie (Review 2)(Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review:
    Review 1 - If you're looking for a puzzling graphic novel, Enigma is a good place to start. Unfortunately it's not a mystery in the classic sense, more a question of untangling a knotty mixture of fantasy meets reality. In Enigma we see a comic book literally springing to life, bringing a set of cheesey super-characters into a real world setting. The job of finding out what's going on is left down to the two main protagonists: the writer of the original comic and a telephone engineer fan.

    Enigma It's a surreal journey of the imagination but it underachieves. The implausibility of the scenario is weakly justified by piling up more and more fantasy, not so much unraveling the mystery as weighing it down with bricks and sinking it in a muddy pond. That the plot has collapsed in on itself by the end was no great surprise - it left us with a post-modern but slightly unsatisfactory after taste. The only redeeming factor is that Milligan has been brave enough to include a sub-plot love story that lies outside the conventional (at least for its time), though by the end even this feels a little like it has been cynically thrown into the mix to add spice.

    Fegredo's scratchy style is unusual but somehow fitting, happily handling scenes featuring both anatomically implausible characters and subtle human emotion. Van Valkenburgh's colouring adds to this, enhancing the grittiness without compromising Fegredo's lines.

    But it isn't enough to lift the story out of the doldrums. The plot, despite its twists and turns, lacks anything for the reader to engage with. There are moments of comedy and philosophy, but they're drowned out by the detached absurdity of the situations. And if we had known how let down we were going to feel by the ending, we wouldn't have started reading in the first place.

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    Review 2 - Enigma #1 - I attempted to read Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo's ENIGMA series back in 1993 and gave up about halfway through it, seeing it as an indulgent mess that would leave me with no explanations as to what was going on. When the trade was released in 1995, I read the whole thing and was annoyed that a story with so many angles would seemingly just boil down to an issue of the main character's sexuality. Forward to 2007: I pick up the trade during a rebirth of my interest in Vertigo books, read it in one day, and am amazed. I finally got it. Yes, ENIGMA does place a heavy emphasis on sexual preference, but it's so much more.

    Michael Smith's routine life is shattered by the arrival of the Enigma, a superhero from his childhood. Battling such bizarre foes as the Head, the Truth, Envelope Girl, and the Interior League (my personal favorites, like something from Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol), it is apparent to Michael that the lines between fantasy and reality are blurring, and clues lead him to believe that he is somehow responsible. Michael tracks down the comic's creator, Titus Bird, and the two of them work to reveal the Enigma's identity and how he came to be. In turn, the Enigma helps Michael to discover quite a number of things about himself, but ultimately, this is a story postulating how four-color superheroes could exist in the "real world". Let's face it... if real people had superpowers, they likely wouldn't dress in garish costumes and speak in purple prose, so how could this happen? Your answer is here.

    Milligan's story is excellent, now that I finally got my head around it (gee, it only took me 14 years). There's not one boring bit in the entire book, and the narration is excellent, providing just the right amount of "gotcha" at the conclusion. Fegredo's art is spectacular, as always, with every person and object carefully rendered. A perfect team for a perfect book!

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More info:
    Writer: Peter Milligan
    Art by Duncan Fegredo and Sherilyn Van Valkenburgh

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Aug 17th, 2011, 5:49 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:31 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 17th, 2011, 11:12 pm
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Title: Cyclops (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Matz (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: manfromdc (Review 1) Things I Like (Review 2) (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review:
    Review 1 - Cyclops #1 - Let me be the first to tell you that I tend to stay with the big two when it comes to my comic book consumption. That said, I have been known to go outside the lines and pick up an indy title or two, Supergod by Warren Ellis was the latest.

    With that in mind what attracts me to a book is more the story or plot and then the artwork but with Cyclops #1 the reader gets the best of both worlds. First is the story. It takes place in the future where war is privatized by corporations. The soldiers are all equipped with a mini camera in their helmets, which gives us the title of the book, Cyclops. We meet Douglas Pistoia, unemployed and in serious need of work, who is hired by a private military contracting firm, Multicorps Security. He’s quickly trained and deployed to the Turkey Iraq border where fighting is fierce.

    The artwork is clean and Luc Jacamon has a great ability to render real world looking future landscapes and tech.

    What makes this book a solid read is the parallels to our own current world and the many similar problems we all are facing now. Matz has successfully managed to create a realistic story using the exact same difficulties that we can read about in today’s news. My only criticism is that the pacing was a bit choppy at points but that could be due to the translation, since was originally a French comic.

    Cyclops #1 was a good clean start to this limited series and definitely piqued my interested as to see the progression of the story. Anyone interested in sci fi with a realistic touch should check this one out.

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    Review 2 - Cyclops #5 - I was disappointed to learn that Luc Jacamon had left this title. I loved Jacamon's work on The Killer Image and the first half of Cyclops, and while Gaël de Meyere is a more than capable replacement, the book doesn't feel the same without Jacamon. De Meyere does his best to maintain a consistent look to the visuals, but can't quite pull off the way shadows fall across his scenes with the same degree of realism and depth that has always stood out in Jacamon's comics.

    Story-wise, it's nice to back into things. I had almost forgotten about this title (this issue was supposed to come out in May), but that's not unusual with Archaia comics. Reality TV star and soldier Douglas Pistoia finally gets the evidence he's been looking for - proof that his employers had manipulated him and lied about what he'd done back at the start of the series. The question now is what to do with this knowledge.

    This is a solid science fiction series which makes some interesting commentary on how we've viewed America's recent wars and military actions. I hope that Archaia doesn't take too long in pumping out the last three issues...

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More info:
    Written by Matz
    Art by Gaël de Meyere

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Aug 17th, 2011, 11:12 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:31 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 18th, 2011, 6:03 am
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Title: Omega Paradox (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Ian Ng (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Jim Johnson (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review:
    Sparacio describes Omega Paradox as “Star Wars meets Alien meets Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and goes on to describe the comic as “a group of five individuals who are trying to track down an ancient alien artifact before it gets into the wrong hands. It’s set out in space; it’s got a lot of different alien types, and some fresh young faces. It’s a totally new universe. There’s a very nasty, alien-type force. And (there’s) a very high tech / low-tech approach being taken in telling the story. In the first sequence, there are aliens who are in a traditional-style library, reading books. But there are also computers, holograms, lasers; there’s high-tech stuff incorporated with the low-tech stuff, to have this weird dichotomy.”

    The genesis of the comic is based on an idea that Sparacio fleshed out with series writer and comics-newcomer Ian Ng, who will script the story based on concepts that both developed based on Sparacio’s initial idea. “This is (Ian’s) first comic project,” Sparacio notes. “I’ve known him for six years, and we started talking about (this project) two years ago at San Diego Comic Con. I had a character called Solarra. Basically she’s Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, (but) out in space; a very simplistic idea, but one that I had hoped to turn into something more. We got home; we started talking two or three times a week, and worked out the whole plot outline.”

    With the premise established, how did Sparacio sell the project to Moonstone? “I had worked with (Moonstone Publisher) Joe Gentile on Captain Action, and then Joe had asked me to do some covers for the Phantom / Captain Action two-part crossover. He got me involved in some Honey West and Lady Action stuff; I actually pitched him a storyline for a Honey West / Lady Action crossover. I’m kind of glad that didn’t go anywhere, (because) that led to me creating the Solarra character. I asked Joe (that) if I ever had my own idea for a comic book, would he be interested in publishing it, and he said sure. I like Joe a lot; he’s a good person, he’s a good publisher, he’s been publishing steadily, and he runs a good, tight ship. I felt comfortable pitching my own idea and character to Joe; I thought it was a good fit.”

    With many editors at various publishers still perceiving Sparacio as solely a cover artist, Moonstone was a natural home for Omega Paradox. “I had always wanted to be a sequential artist, but kind of got pigeon-holed doing covers. Joe at Moonstone gave me the shot at doing interior work for Captain Action. I showed Joe, (Captain Action writer) Fabian Nicieza, (licensing agent) Ed Catto, and (product developer) Joe Ahearn some cover work, and they asked me to also send them some interior work (from) Elsinore and Liberty Girl. And two days after I sent my stuff to them, they picked me as the series artist, to do covers and sequentials. So Joe gave me the opportunity to show people what I could do. This is stuff I don’t forget. So when the opportunity came to pitch Omega Paradox, I pitched it to him, and only him.”

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More info:
    Artist: Mark Sparacio
    Author: Ian Ng
    Artist: Kevin Jones
    Author: Gary Phillips
    Cover Artist: Abe Melendez
    Cover Artist: Mark Maddox
    Cover Artist: Mark Sparacio

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Aug 18th, 2011, 6:03 am

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:31 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 18th, 2011, 1:46 pm
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Title: The Red Wing (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Jonathan Hickman (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Kelly Thompson (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review: The Red Wing #1
    There are few ideas in fiction more fascinating to me than time travel. At the same time, I’ve rarely seen it done in a way in which I can both appreciate it and understand it, which are key elements to enjoying a work of fiction. “The Red Wing” #1 handily manages both, and sets a brilliant stage for a fascinating series about one of our most engrossing ideas.

    It’s nice to see Jonathan Hickman stepping outside of superhero comics, not because I don’t want him writing superhero comics, but because I always like to see really talented writers do other things, as well. This feels right. In “Red Wing” #1 we’re introduced to a world in which time travel is a reality, and it’s being used to fight an endless and world-engulfing war. Our protagonists, two young time travel pilots about to head off to training camp, are Valin and Dominic. They are but two of the “sons and daughters of The Red Wing,” whose fathers died in the line of duty, which is to say, time travel mixed with endless deadly war. But as always with time travel, little is certain, and nothing should be taken for granted.

    Hickman hits every note he needs to here, pulling us in nicely to Valin and Dominic’s individual journeys while easily setting the larger stage, no easy task when you’re juggling past, present, and future. Nick Pitarra’s art recalls a slightly cleaner and neater Frank Quitely, and I mean that in the best way (to both of them). His work feels grounded and real, solid, and satisfying. It’s painstakingly detailed, but the execution feels fluid and wholly uncomplicated. Rachelle Rosenberg’s colors are a fine match for Pitarra’s work. The palette is soft and slightly muted, never competing or overwhelming the art and finding a nice subtle balance that pops just when it needs to.

    By far my favorite aspect of this book is Hickman and Pitarra’s ability to come together and create a world that I don’t doubt for an instant. Their world building is flawless and recalls ever so slightly everything from “Star Wars” (the good ones) to “Torchwood,” in the best possible ways. They only have time in a single issue to give us a sketch of this new world, giving us enough originality that it feels endlessly interesting. There are also enough familiar touchstones that Hickman and Pitarra can use a sort of shorthand and not spend endless amounts of time delving into frustrating back-story. Hickman jumps us right in and the story flows effortlessly from there, despite the jumps in time. The story ends on a not unexpected, but highly satisfying note, delivered sublimely by Pitarra’s visuals.

    “The Red Wing” #1 is a brilliant start to what looks to be a fascinating series. It’s one of the best books I’ve read in months, in part because while it delivers a lot of satisfaction within this single issue, it promises so much more for the future.

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More info:
    Story by Jonathan Hickman
    Art by Nick Pitarra
    Colors by Rachelle Rosenberg
    Cover by Nick Pitarra
    Publisher Image Comics

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Aug 18th, 2011, 1:46 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:31 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 18th, 2011, 4:16 pm
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Title: The Stuff of Legend (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Mike Raicht and Brian Smith (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Matthew Meylikhov (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review: Stuff of Legend v3 #1
    Continuing the saga of the New York Times-bestselling graphic novel! Following the shocking revelations of The Stuff of Legend Volume 2: The Jungle, Jester embarks on a solo quest that will take him to the farthest corners of the Dark. High seas adventure awaits!

    Stuff of Legend v2 ended on a wonderful Empire Strikes Back-esque note. Hop past the cut to see what's in store for our animal toy friends next when this new volume starts next Wednesday.

    As a note, no spoilers for this issue are discussed, but spoilers for the last two volumes are. Keep that in mind if you haven't caught up yet (and it should be noted that this isn't exactly a clean jumping on point, either).

    The world of Stuff of Legend is made up of pure wonder; there is no lighter way to put it and no better way to start a review than with that note. Mixing in elements of Toy Story as well as Saving Private Ryan and a hint of Lord of the Rings, the first two volumes of Stuff of Legend have been the stuff of wonder (and I'm not just saying that to try and write a pull-quote - this book is just great).

    It's with that in mind that the eagerly anticipated third of volume starts, with the fellowship of stuffed animals in ruins and most of the characters off doing their own thing. We're given a quick spot of world building before focusing on the eponymous Jester and his newfound friendship with the Mayor, as the Jester sets off on his own adventure. The curious thing about this particular issue is the new character introduced; assumedly if you've been following the Stuff of Legend for it's two volumes, you'll have grown quite accustomed to the format of the book - that is to say, we follow our characters on their quest, see the people they see, and don't stray too far from that. This issue introduces a new character and element, one that is more than welcome as it adds a brand new twist to the mix that is sure to have an interesting pay-off down the line. Suffice it to say, as the world expands, so does the mystery of the Dark and all of the things that it hides, and as readers who have assumedly had toys as children, this new element offers up an assumed twist that will assuredly have a chaotic fallout. (Possible spoiler alert: The new character introduced is a second Jester, which would seem to apply that the boy owned two Jester toys, the two of which could have been "related" and one of which was definitely lost - which could leave the first and more violent Jester seen in the beginning of the issue a bit unhinged, and even vengeful - but only time will tell.)

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    Despite being "The Jester's Tale", though, the book does give ample time for our other lost heroes. With volume 2 ending with Max's betrayal and the others leaving, the book sees Max trying to make ammends without actually showing Max. It's an interesting way to persue the idea; obviously Max was full of regret for the events that took place, but what makes the execution in this issue so interesting is that we never actually see Max, only hear from him. It helps the reader to connect with the ostracization of the character in a unique way, and spending the rest of the book with a former villain as a sidekick kicks those emotions into overdrive. Raicht and Smith aren't pulling any punches with this story, and now that we are officially in the Dark and have crossed the line between a light-hearted toy romp into a violent world of death and betrayal, the book only becomes that much more exciting to follow along with.

    Suffice it to say, volume 3's first issue is definitely a hit. It's a little bit slow in patches, but it is greatly enhanced upon a second read. You would imagine that, for a story that has a fairly easy to grasp premise, that the story would be streamlined to specific themes and ideas, but the guys behind the book never cease to pull a trick out of a hat at the last second to enhance the intrigue. The new character is certainly a clever enigma and the ending sequence is spectacular and rather unexpected. Just when you think you've acclimated to the world, something new presents itself, and all does not look well for our hero. It's certainly exciting to guess what happens next.

    The visual aspect of the book and it's uniqueness are what truly help to make this such a stand-out among shelves, though. Charles Paul Wilson III is an incredibly underrated artist who brings this world to life in incredible fashion. In terms of visuals, the whole book is an actualization of the pure imagination that we've all had as children when playing with our toys, realized in full force to become a form of reality for the characters. It's incredibly apparent on the first page alone, illustrating a fantastic battle sequence between five warring ships. The other characters in the book, all of whom are toys brought to life, are done in a unique and timely way that really help to give the book a World War II era-esque feel. The colors and design for the whole endeavor done by Jon Conklin and Michael DeVito are also perfect, giving the book a dark and aged feel that helps the books tone feel more actualized.

    The Stuff of Legend's third volume starts off with a bang and trails off with a great to be continued in the end. The book has slowly and steadily been growing in quality (that started from a high point anyway) since the first volume, and has grown into a wonderful comic series that perhaps defines "hidden gem" in the indie world right now. If you haven't already hopped on the Stuff of Legend bandwagon, you're only doing yourself a disservice. In a comic boo kworld where fans are constantly fighting against changes, it's nice to be reminded that there are books out there that are free to do their own thing, and that kick a great deal of ass doing just that.

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More info:
    Written by Mike Raicht and Brian Smith
    Illustrated by Charles Paul Wilson III

Publisher:
    Image

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Aug 18th, 2011, 4:16 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:31 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 18th, 2011, 7:30 pm
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Title: 24 Hour Comics People - A Comics Anthology (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Several (Read the review)
Review source: Swapmeet (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review:
    As the unwitting organizer of the last two Denver 24 Hour Comic Image Challenges, and participant or host of more Denver 24 Hour Comic Challenges than anyone else, I guess there's no person more "quantified" to be writing this introduction than me. Even before the advent of the First Annual International 24 Hour Comic Day in 2004, I invited an intrepid group of local cartoonists to my house for the 24 Hour Minicomic Challenge. For those of you who are not familiar with what this challenge entails, the traditional rules are that you are to write, pencil, and ink a complete 24 page comic book in 24 hours. In the first two years of the event, of the thousands of participant stories worldwide, we've seen five of the Denver challengers published in the About Comics' "24 Hour Comic Day Highlights" and "All-Stars" series including contributors to this book, Clara Harbour, John Peters, and myself. Even one who Scott McCloud would describe as a "noble failure" (one who did not complete 24 pages in 24 consecutive hours or who took longer than 24 consecutive hours to complete their 24 page story) was honored from our group -- T. Motley, whose parody of Neil Gaiman's noble failure, entitled "The Gaiman Variation" in the Eisner-nominated "2005 24 Hour Comics Day Highlights" book made publication. In any event, I've been proud to be a part of what I biasedly consider the most talented group of comic creators to participate in this event -- a group I see getting more and more talented each year, not to mention larger. I don't mean "larger" in girth (although we have seen some of our challengers grow up before our eyes), I mean in number. This event has certainly taken on a life of its own, growing from 11 participants in 2004 to 14 in 2005 and 26 in 2006.

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    This year for logistic reasons, we had to cap participants to 32, although we had 45 folks interested with very little advertising or PR. What can I say? We're a victim of our own success. Well, and we also have been fortunate enough for the local media coverage through the years which has brought so much of the local talent to our event. Sadly, last year, About Comics discontinued publication of their anthology series, and many of the Denver challengers were disappointed. So, in my second year's efforts of organizing the Denver challenge, I was bound and determined to collect the finished stories from our local challenge into an anthology. Well, we convened this year's on event Saturday, October 20, 2007 at noon to Sunday, October 21st at noon at our host sponsor, Enchanted Grounds in Highlands Ranch. With the help of our generous sponsors and volunteers, I'm gratified to see this collected book of successful story challenges and some awesome "noble failures" from our event. I'm proud to say that I'm not disappointed -- I see our Denver challengers have elevated their game once again. 608 page b&w digest, color square bound cover, mature

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More info:
    none

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Aug 18th, 2011, 7:30 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:31 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 18th, 2011, 8:37 pm
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Title: Blue Estate (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev and Andrew Osborne (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Robert Tacopina (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review: Blue Estate #5
    It is really actually rather tedious to try and review Blue Estate, as it's a title that is so tough to pin down to one specific genre. The best suitable description I could think of is this: part crime drama, part action, part humor that's supported by a cast of characters that aren't afraid to laugh and act a fool. Yet, those descriptors are a major part of an overwhelming infusion of charm that permeates from every page of this title from Image Comics.

    Issue 5, "The Money Shot" is scripted by Andrew Osborne from an original story by Viktor Kalvachev and Koste Yanev. If you've been following the series to this point in time you may have an indication as to just what the hell is going on, but if this is your indoctrination into Blue Estate you're probably fucked. But that isn't a negative on the issue -- after all, if you were to pick up (enter established Marvel or DC comic here) with no prior reading experience, you would be in the same boat.

    There are a plethora of subplots running through this issue of Blue Estate and they are all equally appealing and often difficult to get a grasp of initially. Perhaps the complexities of the script may prohibit some readers from further enjoyment but I found that they only served to enhance the desire for more. The overall desire to get the full scoop had me on a hunt to try and track down the previous four issues in order to try and develop a cohesive understanding of this remarkably addictive world. I just accomplished that last week and I am sure the local shops in my area look at their phones in fear when they see my caller info, but I digress.

    The heart and soul of Blue Estate are the characters and the risks that the writers take with them. This kind of shit ain't going down in other books, I promise that. Deadbeats, miscreants, assholes -- Blue Estate has them all and you take a liking to each and every one of them. They are ridiculous and over the top at times which makes them all the more appealing since you are permitted to actually laugh at some of the circumstances that unfold. It could be Tony Luciano receiving particular "favors" from a "lady" named Sudoku or Billy Ducharme going ape shit on some lawn gnomes that set you off but it is all delivered with believability and doesn't once ever feel forced.

    The art in Blue Estate is the love child of Sean Philips (Criminal) and Gabriel Bá (Casanova). It is beautiful in and of itself and lends itself perfectly to the tone and mood of the world of Blue Estate. This is a team of artists who are pouring their hearts and souls into this serial and it is abundantly apparent.

    It's official; I love Blue Estate! I can't wait until Wednesday when I leave that hell-hole of a real job, head to my local comic book shop and grab my issue of Blue Estate #5 and go home to relive the glory of "The Money Shot!" It's titles like this that have broken my strictly superhero regimen of comics reading!

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More info:
    Writers: Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, Andrew Osborne
    Artists: Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, Paul Maybury, Marley Zarcone

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Aug 18th, 2011, 8:37 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Aug 18th, 2011, 9:31 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 18th, 2011, 11:13 pm
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Title: Star Wars: Knight Errant — Deluge (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): John Jackson Miller (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Poet Mase (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review: Star Wars: Knight Errant—Deluge #1
    Kerra Holt returns to Aquilaris in John Jackson Miller's new series only to find that nobody wants to be rescued from either the Sith or the planet's new attackers. Deluge #1 cultivates a nice Star Wars feel with strong artwork, but it is only adequate in terms of script construction. Luckily, the ambiance is enjoyable enough to ride through this introductory episode's rocky launch.

    Miller sets up a quality adventure for the series, but many of the more interesting portions of this issue are quickly swept off of the stage. The Hutt Stormdriver is a relatively new take on Star Wars superweapons (at least more so than the atrocious Darksaber); however, it's a bit frustrating that we only get a taste of its potential before the book moves on. Similarly, the Flood offers a different facet of the Star Wars world that bears potential, but, despite its possible symbolism of real-world apathy, it is merely introduced and forgotten. Although everything needed to start the series' momentum is present, it is laid out rather inelegantly for the reader.

    Ivan Rodriguez returns after his work on the final two issues of Knight Errant: Aflame to create the artwork for Deluge. Rodriguez uses his interesting combination of detail and abstraction to chronicle the latest attack on Aquilaris, and the result is appealing. Rodriguez' work is especially effective when he is depicting the waterfront and starships that appear in the book.

    I'm not sold on this series yet, but there's enough here to justify my attention for at least one or two more issues.

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More info:
    Writer: John Jackson Miller
    Artist: Ivan Rodriguez
    Colorist: Michael Atiyeh
    Cover Artist: Joe Quinones

Publisher:
    Image

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Aug 18th, 2011, 11:13 pm

Post rewarded by Ojay on Sep 19th, 2011, 1:16 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!
Aug 19th, 2011, 8:47 am
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Title: Twilight (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Howard Chaykin (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: J. Shurin (Don't click it, read the review here... ;) )

Review: Twilight-Book I of III
    Twilight is a three issue, prestige-format mini-series by Howard "American Flagg" Chaykin and illustrated (with fantastic cover art) by Jose Luise Garcia-Lopez.

    Published in the early 1990s, it is ostensibly a retelling of the old 1950's-style 'space adventure' comics, but a knowledge of those dusty old heroes isn't essential to understanding or appreciating the series. (In fact, if you're just looking for a clever 'pulp' retelling, stick to Alan Moore's "Tom Strong").

    Set in the distant future, humanity has explored the stars and made contact with an alien race who possess the secret of immortality (and who look suspiciously like chickens). Back 'home', animals and robots have been forcibly evolved into sentient slave races, on the edge of revolt. Over the course of the three books of Twilight, centuries are spanned, gods are born (and destroyed), intergalactic crusades begin (and end) and, generally speaking, it all goes berserk.

    The story is told from the point of view of Homer Glint, a Karl Rove/Alastair Campbell style spin-guru for the rich and powerful. Although he detests most of his clients (at best, having a love-hate relationship with them), he still eagerly helps them chart their various paths to fame and splendor.

    The first book - dedicated almost solely to the introduction of the sixteen-odd 'main' characters, seems like a perplexing collection of unrelated scenes. Yet, somehow, by the close of the final volume, you wind up understanding and appreciating every one of the massive ensemble cast, a testament both to Chaykin's writing and Garcia-Lopez's ability to draw incredibly expressive characters.

    The overall feel - perhaps because of the manic and epic pace - is much like a classic British comic. The closest comparison would be Alan Moore's "Halo Jones" - a fragmented epic journey detailing the entire future of humanity in strangely-framed comic book form. Garcia-Lopez's art only helps this comparison. Although a color book (which you wouldn't suspect from the cover), the focus is always on the characters - almost entirely on their faces. He also aptly avoids the square-jawed supermen of the convention. (Strangely, the future of the super-man is surprisingly similar to the semi-transvestite film performance of Darius in 300. Disconcerting, and oddly effective).

    Certainly not to be read in a hurry, or whilst intoxicated, Twilight is a surprisingly good artifact from the early 1990's.

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More info:
    Howard Chaykin writer
    Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez penciler, inker, cover
    Ken Bruzenak letterer, cover
    Steve Oliff colorist, cover
    Kevin Dooley, Andrew "Andy" Helfer editor
    Published by DC Comics, 1990-1991.

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Aug 19th, 2011, 8:47 am

Post rewarded by Ojay on Sep 19th, 2011, 1:16 pm.
Nice reviewed! 5 WRZ$ reward. Thanks Zach!