This week's comics
Write it down, because today I only bought DC books. They were all Vertigo or Wildstorm books, mind you, but still. I would have bought Astonishing X-Men and Avengers, but I guess they're not coming until next week.
We3 #2 - The series gets even better in its second installment, which is really saying something, considering how much I loved the first chapter. The army has found our cybernetic animal friends, and the proceed to do what they do, which is killing every damn thing in sight. Quitely packs the fight scenes with big splash pages depicting the major actions, along with dozens of tiny panels depicting closeups of the carnage that is being wrought (the neatly-split fingernail is particularly disturbing). Meanwhile, there's dissention in the ranks as 2 (the cat) challenges 1's (the dog) authority, and 3 (the rabbit) makes an unwise decision. Fortunately, a horde of cybernetically-enhanced rats is just the rallying point our heroes need to get them working together again. The art is just spectacular. I love the choice to show the humans' faces as little as possible, with the exception of Roseanne, the animals' only ally. Even the father and son at the end of this issue are heavily backlit to obscure their features. I love this series. I can't believe I have to wait until fucking January for issue #3.
Planetary #21 - Hey, it's my favorite not-monthly-in-the-slightest comic! I'll take what I can get. I'm just glad new issues are coming out at all. This issue, like all the others before, does not fail to disappoint. There doesn't seem to be any specific pastiche here that I recognize, unless it's just Dr. Strange crossed with some of Grant Morrison's trippier experiments. Basically, Snow goes to visit a magician friends of his, and she takes the opportunity to give Snow some perspective on his war against the Four. This issue also gives another hint as to the true nature of the Century Babies, Ellis' primary contribution to the Wildstorm mythos (other that, you know, The Authority). Cassady's art looks a bit sketchier than normal this issue. Looks like even just putting out Planetary as a quarterly is getting to him. This series only has six issues or so to go before in concludes, so I'll savor it while I can.
The Authority: Revolution #1 - Well, here's something I'd never thought I'd see again: an Authority book I was interested in reading. It's fair to say that the original series fizzled before Millar's run ended, and the relaunced Volume 2 didn't seem interesting in the slightest. Now along comes yet another volume, this time penned by Ed Brubaker, and I admit they've got me intrigued. Intrigued enough to buy the first issue, anyway. In the line-wide "Coup D'Etat" crossover, the Authority overthrew a corrupt presidency and took over governing the United States. The first issue sees the various Authority team members trying to deal with bureaucratic red tape and debating whether they should just become benevolent dictators (oooh, pick that!). Meanwhile, some superpeople pop up in Philadelphia and start inciting riots, looking to start a revolution and overthrow the Authority. It's in interesting enough premise, and Brubaker has fun with scenes where the sadistic Midnighter has to sit in meetings and take crap from the Majority Whip. But there's not much else that grabs me. The superpower revolutionaries all seem pretty generic right off the bat, although I'm sure there's more to them than meets the eye. I might be tempted to check out the trade down the line, but I doubt I'll pick up any more single issues. And Dustin Nguyen's artwork is good, but doesn't seem to fit the material. This political stuff seems to call for a much stronger line, you know? Oh, and I haven't read Authority since it became a mature readers book, but let me say it sounds natural for the team to all swear like sailors.
Good week, overall. And Astonishing to look forward to for next week. Woot.
We3 #2 - The series gets even better in its second installment, which is really saying something, considering how much I loved the first chapter. The army has found our cybernetic animal friends, and the proceed to do what they do, which is killing every damn thing in sight. Quitely packs the fight scenes with big splash pages depicting the major actions, along with dozens of tiny panels depicting closeups of the carnage that is being wrought (the neatly-split fingernail is particularly disturbing). Meanwhile, there's dissention in the ranks as 2 (the cat) challenges 1's (the dog) authority, and 3 (the rabbit) makes an unwise decision. Fortunately, a horde of cybernetically-enhanced rats is just the rallying point our heroes need to get them working together again. The art is just spectacular. I love the choice to show the humans' faces as little as possible, with the exception of Roseanne, the animals' only ally. Even the father and son at the end of this issue are heavily backlit to obscure their features. I love this series. I can't believe I have to wait until fucking January for issue #3.
Planetary #21 - Hey, it's my favorite not-monthly-in-the-slightest comic! I'll take what I can get. I'm just glad new issues are coming out at all. This issue, like all the others before, does not fail to disappoint. There doesn't seem to be any specific pastiche here that I recognize, unless it's just Dr. Strange crossed with some of Grant Morrison's trippier experiments. Basically, Snow goes to visit a magician friends of his, and she takes the opportunity to give Snow some perspective on his war against the Four. This issue also gives another hint as to the true nature of the Century Babies, Ellis' primary contribution to the Wildstorm mythos (other that, you know, The Authority). Cassady's art looks a bit sketchier than normal this issue. Looks like even just putting out Planetary as a quarterly is getting to him. This series only has six issues or so to go before in concludes, so I'll savor it while I can.
The Authority: Revolution #1 - Well, here's something I'd never thought I'd see again: an Authority book I was interested in reading. It's fair to say that the original series fizzled before Millar's run ended, and the relaunced Volume 2 didn't seem interesting in the slightest. Now along comes yet another volume, this time penned by Ed Brubaker, and I admit they've got me intrigued. Intrigued enough to buy the first issue, anyway. In the line-wide "Coup D'Etat" crossover, the Authority overthrew a corrupt presidency and took over governing the United States. The first issue sees the various Authority team members trying to deal with bureaucratic red tape and debating whether they should just become benevolent dictators (oooh, pick that!). Meanwhile, some superpeople pop up in Philadelphia and start inciting riots, looking to start a revolution and overthrow the Authority. It's in interesting enough premise, and Brubaker has fun with scenes where the sadistic Midnighter has to sit in meetings and take crap from the Majority Whip. But there's not much else that grabs me. The superpower revolutionaries all seem pretty generic right off the bat, although I'm sure there's more to them than meets the eye. I might be tempted to check out the trade down the line, but I doubt I'll pick up any more single issues. And Dustin Nguyen's artwork is good, but doesn't seem to fit the material. This political stuff seems to call for a much stronger line, you know? Oh, and I haven't read Authority since it became a mature readers book, but let me say it sounds natural for the team to all swear like sailors.
Good week, overall. And Astonishing to look forward to for next week. Woot.
posted by Jeff at 10:01 PM
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