I do not usually review from photocopied pages. I will read a work sent to me in that format, but generally, if it is a color work and there is no color, I feel like I am missing something, if it is a poor copy it is hard to be fair, because you really cannot reveal much about the story, and due to the reproduction it is hard to get a feel for the product as it will be on the stands. So I regret that there have been some people who might feel ignored by me who’ve sent photocopied pages. I read everything I am sent, I simply do not have an angle into reviewing an incomplete work.
A Look at ROBOTIKA and HATTER M from the LOOKING GLASS WARS and more
HATTER M: LOOKING GLASS WARS
Writer: Frank Beddor
Artist: Ben Templesmith
IMAGE Comics
The Hatter is a dark character, armed with weapons, ominously wearing a top hat and a woeful look. The Hatter aka Madigan is in Paris France searching for Alyss, lost princess of wonderland. He is a literary character come alive in the pages of a comic depicting a supposed real world Paris France but the conceit of the story is never about the seeming juxtapositions of a literary figure becoming “alive” in another world, yet since we are reading it there is yet another level of separation and irony. There are mad amounts of humor here, followed by a deep mystery and intrigue. Madigan hunts, gets lost in the distractions of Paris, and ends up losing his “damn hat”. The writing here is compelling, but more clever than anything else, and I did not find it as enjoyable in word as I did in picture. Some of that is the writer, but of course, when there is a mystery, the reader almost always needs to distance himself to attempt to understand the story laid out before him. I think the writing was fine, and I am still thinking about the turns the story took. The art on the other hand was quite brilliant. I definitely think that Ben Templesmith proves here that he is among the few artists in today’s comic industry who can evoke mood, with color, line and character. I did not find myself feeling as though I was entering 1858 Paris, but I did find myself being very impressed by the work done, the beauty of it, and the effectiveness of the story telling. This is a book I would buy, and be happy with. It is not a must buy, but clearly worth it for the art alone.
ROBITKA
Alex Sheikman
ASP Comics
This preview came in black and white with a personal note from Alex Sheikman explaining the work the colorist is doing and how it adds to the piece. As a first issue the book does not perform all the needed steps that I consider to be successful, as, it is an incomplete work, and does not altogether compel the reader to READ the next issue. But I will. Because the page layout, construction, design, and quality is far greater than most comics I have read, and they were mostly in color. Here the rich black fields of ink are utilized so well that the eye is never forced to look, it is drawn to look because of sensual allure of the beauty of the page. I am a fan of the art here so much that the story of a warrior, mystic arts, enemies, clockworks, and strange happenings is less important than the page itself. Is that wrong? No. The story is fine. But when the art is so good that the story and words are a distraction I cannot wait to read the story as a whole, with color, with each volume at hand. This is an easy must buy for fans of art.
BLACKHEART IRREGULARS
Neil Hendrick and Ulises Carpintero
BLUE KING STUDIOS
A team of operatives in Iraq work to prevent terrorist actions while they themselves try to unleash similar actions versus their opponents. Unlike the promotional literature that this is to inspire critical consideration of Islamicist terror, this is more a critical assessment of assholish behavior. After all, if I cause horrible pain in response to your causing horrible pain, who is wrong? They use all sorts of deception and methods to defeat the enemy, but we barely get a look into the heart of either side. If you are a supporter of the war in Iraq this is not well done enough to evoke much of a thrill or action packed ride. If you oppose the war your likely response will be sigh, ho hum, wonder why I read this. I am in between both camps politically, as I disagree with the reasons for going but think the result might well show that it was right to do. For me this title did nothing. I am sorry, fans of the series can burn me in effigy. I read it twice and came away with nothing.
UNIT PRIMES vol. 1 Graphic Novel
Chris Dreier, Jacob Paplham, Federico Zumel
AFTER BURN COMICS $11.95 ITEM # ABC2050
In deep space there is an eater of planets. It causes doom and destruction across galaxies and nothing has been able to stop it. But in addition to just stopping the unstoppable, ask the question, why does it exist? Are there more of them? Does stopping this one mean an end to the threat, or is it just the beginning? A ship of four intrepid space travelers seeks to stop the threat, and in the process, first contact means making allies, and helping others. When crisis approaches do you give up, or fight back? The entire of the story here is straightforward, but if you were to read this as a equal opposite of SIGIL from CrossGen you’d almost certainly enjoy it more. I enjoyed the story, and liked the art. And from preview pages I think that the package is nice to look at. I suspect that if it were in color (which it is not) I’d like it more. But for 12 dollars you get a lot of story for your dollar.
CALLING ALL READERS
Either upon message board or to me through e-mail please let me know who you think was the best writer, artist and writer/artist of 2005 and what work deserves the credit for the best of 2005. This is not a contest per se, as I do not have a great stack of give away material or special art pages or signed comics, I simply want to gain a feel for your picks of 2005. I think it is always important to know what others think because there is no way a person can afford to read all the titles that have come out, or works from even one of the big 6 of Dark Horse, DC, DDP, IDW, IMAGE & MARVEL. When sending your list, if you can, tell me what you thought were the best comics vis a vis publisher. Finally when you send an e-mail please send a mailing address so that I might place all the names in a pool and pick one for something fun. Thank you.
