Earlier I reviewed Empire of the Imagination, one of the more recent biographies of Gary Gygax. Well, David Kushner, the author of Masters of Doom, has co-written a graphic novel Biography of Gygax. I gave it a read, and thought I’d give my thoughts. Read more
This time we travel into the ancient past of the Star Wars universe with Tales of the Jedi. Read more
This time I’m finishing up the run of DC’s The Shadow Comics – at least the ones that I own a copy of, with a story arc that goes back to some of the character’s original pulp roots. Read more
Coming a few months after the first installment of Tales of the Jedi, we get an episodic, more comedic Star Wars comic, focusing on the comic relief of the original trilogy – R2-D2 and C3-P0. Read more
We continue with the launch of the classic EU with Dark Horse Comics first comic outing – Dark Empire I. Read more
A little bit ago I reviewed DC Comics revival of The Shadow, written and drawn by Howard Chaykin. This time I’m taking a look at the follow-up to the first sequel arc to that series.
I’m something of a fan of The Shadow, both in terms of the radio plays, and in terms of the pulp character. The feature film starring Alec Baldwin holds a special place in my heart for how it combines the two very different versions of the character into one with some success. So, when I ended up having to find a new comic shop after my old one (Ancient Wonders in Tualatin – which was also my FLGS) closed, I found myself in need of a new comic shop. When I found my new one (Comics Adventure in Gladstone) I ended up checking out the quarter bins in the back, and finding almost all of Howard Chaykin’s 4-issue The Shadow miniseries – Blood and Judgement. I picked that up, and found the first issue on Comixology. Having read it, it’s time to give my thoughts. Read more
This time we cover the conclusion of Marvel’s original comic run. Read more
Before we return to Star Wars novels, we have one more comic series to take on, one which goes to the furthest reaches of the Star Wars universe – the Tales of the Jedi. Read more
We’re continuing with Marvel’s Star Wars comics with the books published between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Read more
With the conclusion of the Thrawn trilogy, we’re now taking a look at the comic series that came out more or less contemporaneously with that series – Dark Horse Comics’ first outing in the Star Wars universe – Dark Empire. Read more
This time I’m covering the conclusion of Marvel’s initial run on Star Wars:
Issues: 81-107
Writers: Mary Jo Duffy, Ann Nocenti, Roy Richardson, Randy Stradley, Archie Goodwin
Art: Ron Frentz, Sal Buscema, Cynthia Martin, All Williamson
Covers: Bill Sienkiewicz. Read more
This time I’m continuing a look at Marvel’s first run at a Star Wars comic covering the span between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Read more
Continuing with my run-down of the Star Wars Legends continuity, I’m taking a look at the first chunk of Marvel’s initial run on Star Wars, falling between their adaptation of A New Hope to the start of Empire Strikes Back. Yeah, I said I wasn’t going to cover Marvel Star Wars, but I changed my mind. Read more
In time for the release of Captain America: Civil War – I give my thoughts on my top 5 things that were wrong with the Civil War Marvel Comics event, and how they could have been fixed.
Music – “Little Lily Swing” – Tri-Tachyon
This week I’m doing a book review of the graphic novel, Poorcraft, and discuss some of the omissions, and odd inclusions from that book.
Read Poorcraft online at poorcraft.com
Akira (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’m re-watching Akira again, for the first time after having seen the first part of Megazone 23. It’s interesting to compare Megazone 23 Part 1 and Akira. Both came out within 3 years of each other – Megazone 23 in 1985, the year I was born, and Akira in 1988. Both have similar leads – biker punks who get in over their heads with sinister government conspiracies. Both series have hawkish military figures who overthrow the elected government in a coup, and both figures are certainly antagonists. However, it’s interesting to see how in Megazone 23, the military figures are clearly evil, while in Akira, the Colonel’s actions are given a stronger justification.
This is kind of a spoiler for Megazone 23, so don’t read further if you’re worried about having the story spoiled:
Read more
I have a manga review that’s actually topical for Valentine’s Day next week.
Hayate the Combat Butler, Vol. 7 by Kenjiro Hata
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Whenever I’ve had a rough day, and I feel like I can’t remember the last time I laughed, one of the manga or anime I turn to, in order to lighten my spirits is Hayate the Combat Butler. The blend of oddball comedy and reverentially referential humor, along with a willingness to just chip away at that fourth wall blends together well to make an enjoyable comic, and the fact that the characters are incredibly likable really helps to keep me coming back in a way that TV shows like Family Guy, which also relies on referential humor, fails to do. Read more
The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Volume 2 by Eiji Otsuka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery service is a very interesting manga to describe, in terms of being a horror manga that contains elements of the supernatural, but is ultimately bases its horror out of what people do to each other, then it does with the actions of the restless dead – though those elements are there. Read more
(Originally Published on Goodreads)
King of Thorn, Volume 2 by Yuji Iwahara
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This volume is causing the series to risk becoming cluttered, from a plot standpoint. Coming into this volume, the plot had the main driving conflict of “How do these characters, which are almost all infected with a disease that could kill them, survive in this post-apocalyptic world with massive thorny plants that have consumed everything, and freaking dinosaurs?” Read more
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a kind of slow-paced manga. This volume does a lot of world-building with regards to Terran society and Mu society, as well as our two leads views of their respective societies, Jomy Marcus Shin for the Mu, and Keith Anyan for the Terrans. (Cont. below the Cut) Read more
After a long absence, I return with a vlog! This past weekend was Kumoricon, and I went. Here are my thoughts on the con, and the schtuff I picked up.
Like Kenshin, Kokaku and his comrades, bespectacled Ento, ninja manservant Shou, and girly-girl of action (if that makes any sense) Ran refrain from killing at all times, even if by all rights it doesn’t make sense for them to do so. However, like Samurai Champloo, the series is filled with anachronisms. Ran is introduced wearing spike-heeled knee-high leather boots with stockings and garters under her kimono. Kokaku is also introduced to a young kid who invents the Polaroid camera, the squirt-gun (modeled after the Colt M1911A), and aerosol pepper spray. Additionally, Kokaku wears a distinctive tattoo, something that would have been taboo for a historical samurai.
With the various chapters in this volume, they all have a comedic tone. Even when Kokaku is infiltrating a brothel which is drugging the women with opium (and occasionally over-dosing them), and whose owners are responsible for several murders, the tone of the story tries to stay incredibly light. This leads to a cognitive dissonance, particularly when it comes to more serious subject matter. Hopefully later volumes will take things slightly more seriously, but this volume is simply average. It’s not great, not terrible, just average.
So, it’s now time to review the Ultimate Universe’s take on the member of Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery I hate the most. I’m going to say this right now. I hate Carnage. The character is completely unoriginal. He was created to be a darker-and-edgier version of Venom, who was in turn meant to be a darker and edgier version of Spider-Man. The character has essentially no depth. He kills people for no reason. That’s it. He breaks out of where he’s held, kills people until he’s stopped, and wash, rinse, repeat.
Thus, when I picked up this volume, I had my doubts about how they could make this story interesting. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised by how they did succeed. Basically, they managed to pull it off by not directly attaching the character to Venom, but instead to Curt Connors, aka The Lizard. Connors has been, in my opinion, one of the better members of Spider-Man’s supporting cast. This is, for a large part, because he’s a tragic figure. He experiments on himself in an attempt to develop a way for amputees to re-grow limbs, and ends up turning himself into a lizard-man. Everything the character does is meant with the best intentions, as opposed to villainous figures like Doc Ock and the Green Goblin. Read more
