With just Matt and myself reviewing this week and a fleet of top notch books confronting us, we were left with the unenviable task of reviewing a ton of great comics. Or enviable, depending on how into comics you are (we are really into them, unsurprisingly).
So before we dive in to the reviews, here’s a look at our rating system:
0: Uwe Boll will direct the adaptation of this comic
0.1 – 1: Burn upon touching
1- 1.9: Abysmal
2.0 – 2.9: Art. Writing. Editing. All bad.
3.0 – 3.9: You’d be a masochist to pick this up.
4.0 – 4.9: “I’ll give it another month…but that was not good.”
5.0 – 5.9: “Really? The Watcher? In the face? I guess it was fun.”
6.0 – 6.9: “Hmm. That was decent.”
7.0 – 7.9: Well made but a few problems
8.0 – 8.9: Nearly flawless
9.0 – 9.9: Outstanding
10: Perfection. Issue of the year contender
This week my reviews include Wolverine: Weapon X #16, Fables #97, Sweets #2, and DV8: Gods and Monsters #5. I know, it isn’t shocking at all that my books include ones written by Jason Aaron, Bill Willingham and Brian Wood, especially considering just how phenomenal they are. Big ups to Kody Chamberlain for making it on to that vaunted list.
Now let’s get on the show – click through the jump!
Wolverine: Weapon X #16
Written by: Jason Aaron
Illustrated by: Davide Gianfelice
With Jason Aaron’s Wolverine: Weapon X going away to be replaced by Jason Aaron’s Wolverine (why is this happening again?), we’re given one last issue to wrap up this superb series, a series that has done a phenomenal job at giving us a look at Wolverine as a three dimensional character that feels real in himself and in his relationships with others. What better way to do that than a one-shot that explores Wolverine and his relationship with his recently deceased best friend Nightcrawler?
This issue does a brilliant job at acting as both an exploration of their relationship and as a coda to Nighcrawler as a character. When you look at them, the two characters are opposites in many ways, and Aaron highlights that often. Wolverine is a man who has dealt with tragedy longer than almost every other X-Men has been alive and has nothing but contempt for any god who may exist. Nightcrawler is man who looks like a devil but who exhibits undying faith in god and those around him. That they became friends throughout their years is sometimes surprising, especially when Wolverine berates Nightcrawler’s faith in the first flashback of this issue. It is that undying faith and belief in the fact that Logan is a good person at his core that fused these two, and Aaron shows us all of that through a series of emotional and powerful flashbacks layered around a central narrative of Logan fulfilling Kurt’s final wish.
It’s an emotional journey, and one that Logan is cognizant of the point: when Kurt’s last wish for Logan is to deliver a $20,000 Grand Piano to a Church on top of a mountain in Venezuela (one with no landing strip nor roads), he knows that Kurt wants him to think of his everlasting soul and their time together. Weaving the trials and tribulations of that journey and various times in their combined history together develops they pay off at the end, and it ends up being a heartfelt and beautiful moment for Logan as a person.
Instead of series artist Ron Garney on this issue, Italian artist Davide Gianfelice (Northlanders) takes the reins for this issue because of his more restrained and moody style. His art is a strong fit, giving readers the extent of the emotional weight and physical exhaustion Logan takes on throughout the story. The last page is particularly strong, not only acting as a fitting finale to the issue but the series as a whole.
Major props to Garney though, as he delivered one of my favorite images of this year with his cover to this issue. There is something about this image that just explains the relationship between these two characters, and when I look at it I feel the loss of Nightcrawler as well.
Continued belowI’m sad to see this series go, even with it effectively coming back very soon in a new format. I really loved how this series seemed to fit in the continuity of everything else while standing on its own two legs. Throughout, it wasn’t just an entertaining series but an exciting and fresh take on a character who so many mishandle. This issue was a wonderful conclusion to it and a nice swan song for Kurt Wagner as a character.
Final Verdict: 9.2 – Buy
Fables #97
Written by: Bill Willingham
Illustrated by: Mark Buckingham
Some have lamented Bill Willingham’s Fables recently, stating that there has been a bit of a creative downturn on the book and that it isn’t what it once was. To those readers out there, I say read it and weep. In this issue Willingham does what he does best – focus on the characters and the story will follow. The recent “Rose Red” arc has been every bit as good as the ones that recently preceded it, and this issue continues to reinvigorate the flames of the once passionate character.
This arc has mostly been told in flashback, giving readers the back story between Rose Red and Snow White and how Red eventually stole Snow’s beloved Prince Charming from her. While my mind races trying to fit this story in with the one told from Willingham’s 1001 Nights of Snowfall, it still works very well. This arc to some has been unnecessary filler, but to me it is paramount to the series – Rose Red was once one of the leaders of the Fables, and since Boy Blue’s death she has been a wreck. With Gepetto creating a covert uprising with Stinky (I MEAN BROCK BLUEHEART!) and Ozma, Rose Red’s return (along with her faithful sidekick Clara) is just what the doctor ordered.
The character arc feels natural, and Willingham has always been one willing to sacrifice fan approval for what is right for the story. I thank him for that every time I read the book.
Mark Buckingham, or Bucky as I refer to him, is always a gem. His work in this issue is exquisite and highlights the way he excels at developing a storybook feel to this comic. He’s been one of the consistent greats in comics for years and years now, and it’s nice to see his work again after the two month break (let’s try to focus and get one inker though).
Fables continues to be a standout book, as Willingham continues to develop his characters in exciting ways nearly 100 issues into his run. While there is one thing that bothers me in the book (the reveal of who Rose has been talking to the whole time – it has been in the guise of a Pig’s Head and her mother so far – is only shared with Rose, not the reader), it isn’t enough to offset what is another stellar work from Willingham and Buckingham.
Final Verdict: 8.8 – Buy
Sweets #2
Written and Illustrated by: Kody Chamberlain
From the first time I heard of it, I had wanted to pick up Kody Chamberlain’s Sweets. I’m not really sure what it was, as I didn’t really even know what the book was about, but there was something very alluring about Chamberlain’s DIY spirit and passion for making this book. So I had to grab it, and grab it I did. With the first issue, I found it to be a bit of a mixed bag. I really liked the art, but there were characters appearances shifted a little from scene to scene – there was a certain lack of visual consistency. On the writing side, I greatly enjoyed the story and the characters, but I found that scenes had problems connecting from time to time.
Overall, I liked it, but I had reservations.
The second issue saw improvement in my mind, but some of those reservations still exist.
With this issue, the serial killer that is running rampant in New Orleans earns his nickname thanks to a former cop named Shelly (who happens to be a confidante of main character Curt), and we start getting a little more focused on what Sweets is doing and our cop heroes Curt and Jeff are up to in their attempts to track him down.
Continued belowTwo of my favorite things that Chamberlain has done, from a writing standpoint, is developing his lead character and creating a very strong procedural cop atmosphere that feels fresh. Curt, our lead, is a troubled but brilliant man. We know that his daughter recently died, that he’s going through a divorce, and that he has a surprisingly close relationship with a madam/CI named Gabrielle that will likely be developed in the future, but we also know that his reputation is one of being the flat out best detective in New Orleans. He’s a very intriguing character, and one that makes you genuinely care about him.
I really love Chamberlain’s usage of the city as well, sort of making New Orleans a character unto itself. The atmosphere he creates is sordid, entrepreneurial, and exciting, and it bolsters the tension of the storyline very well.
My only problem in the book, from a writing standpoint, is that there seems to be narrative leaps in the book that holds this book back from being a truly smooth read. There was one sequence (“The Drive”) that completely lost me, while another one (“Hunch,” or at least the first part) seemed to take a jump in the narrative that threw me off. Still, Hunch did tie into one of the finest moments of this issue, as Curt examines the scene of the most recent murder only to find a camera in the smoke detector installed by Gabrielle. This moment was the finale of the issue, and it was a strong way to leave the book.
Chamberlain’s art is very diverse and powerful, altering his style to best fit various different types of scenes. I especially liked in the first two issues when he gives us the sequences with the put-upon kids – the way he illustrates with just blue and green as his color palette was a risky but sharp decision by him, and I really like how he coats scenes that aren’t part of the central narrative in a different hue to indicate that. It’s an ingenious way to handle those differences.
One thing that I didn’t like was the visual inconsistency on some looks, namely the aforementioned Shelly who seems to change his weight and ethnicity rather effortlessly. This is a small complaint on a book that is overall a good looking book.
I think this second iss
ue has improved on the first issue, and that this book is definitely worth a buy if you’re interested in trying something a little bit different on for size. Chamberlain is an up-and-comer assuredly, and I am very pleased to say that his writing is on par (if not better) than his art so far – even though he is traditionally an artist. Check it out folks – this type of book is the type that deserves our support.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Buy
DV8: Gods and Monsters #5
Written by: Brian Wood
Illustrated by: Rebekah Isaacs
I’ve been greatly enjoying this series throughout, particularly from an artistic standpoint, but for some reason I feel like this issue took a bit of a leap. This series so far has been Brian Wood positioning each member of the DV8 team on this new planet that they’ve been dropped on and then aligning them with a different faction of the natives . This issue finally takes a look at the last two team members – Sublime and Evo – and gets us that much closer to when the shit really hits the fan.
Sublime (Rachel Goldman) and Evo (Michael Heller) are superb choices by Wood to pair up, mostly because they are opposites in many ways. Wood exemplifies this throughout, developing Sublime as another God-like figure to the natives with her ability to switch her density from mist-like intangibility all the way to diamond hard skin (and she just looks like a golden goddess). Meanwhile, Evo is quickly thrown to the lower spectrum of the caste system because of his powers, which allow him to evolve into a dog like form (or as Copycat shares, de-volves). Essentially, the rich get richer and those that are less “special” get to be the local entertainment.
Continued belowWood handles these characters with expert precision, as Sublime is all bravado and power mongering while Evo is a beaten down dog with a massive chip on his shoulder (as Copycat points out, his overactive sense of smell makes him sick of them because they “all smell like death.”). I find it very interesting that these two characters fill the same positions on Earth as they do on this planet of unknown origin – location doesn’t matter, all that matters is the position they fill in the grand scheme of things. It’s a curious development, but something that quickly inspires Evo to make a move on Sublime and get the heck out of dodge.
So far in this series, my favorite aspect has been the art. While the writing took a leap in this issue, the art just stayed at the same old level of “fantastic” as it has throughout. Rebekah Isaacs was a new name to me with this series, but she has been killing it throughout. Her visuals have a very cinematic feel, and the way she designs scenes doesn’t just have a logical sense to them but also the emotional weight and power necessary to push them over the top. One page in particular showed all of this, and that was the page in which Copycat explained Evo’s powers – the paneling and design work makes the whole page come to life, and it’s one of the better simple pages I’ve seen in some time.
I always have to mention it, but Fiona Staples has quickly become one of my favorite cover artists in the business with this book. This cover is particularly great, not only giving us a visually pleasing cover (I love her usage of the white background here) but also clearly displaying what type of life we can expect for Sublime and Evo inside these pages. She is a master at storytelling with a cover, and I am eager to see what her next job on interiors will be because I love her work.
DV8: Gods and Monsters continues to be a book that was unexpected in its existence (I never really expected to see DV8 again) but superb in its execution. With its top notch set of creators, I never expected anything less, and I can’t wait to see what happens as we speed forward towards the conclusion.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy
