General Comicbook Talk, Reviews, etc.

[Scott Intellectual Carrot Find all posts View Profile Close Scott]

So I thought instead of running that SWEET TOOTH thread into the ground I'd start a new one. And if it's ok I'll be posting my thoughts and reviews that I originally post on The Collected Editions Marvel Masterwork Board. If this isn't ok feel to delete. I just like you guys here and would like to share with you and get your thoughts on this stuff too. Plus this'll mostly be non-Big 2 stuff and they ain't big on that over there.

Anyways here's that Jodo book:


THE KNIGHTS OF HELIOPOLIS
Written by Alejandro Jodorowsky, Art byJeremy

Jodorowsky's take on THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK if the man was a hermaphrodite who's part of a secret sect of immortals that includes Nostradamus, a talking gorilla, and Imhotep, among others. They need the man/woman in the iron mask to help them stop Napoleon who's also immortal from taking over the world. That's the first half anyways.

Lot's of death, rape, babies suckling on dog teats, sword fights, pyramids, midgets, vision quests, secrets and oh so many twists and turns! I liked this a lot. A lot more than I thought I would. Definitely made me uncomfortable in more than a few spots, even among Jodorowsky's works it gets pretty nutty. Eventually they even rope Jack the Ripper into the proceedings and somehow it all feels fresh and works. If you're new to Jodorowsky's work I wouldn't start here. Start with Metabarons or Technopriests or The Incal. This is Jodo having fun with his bag of tricks and it's great watching him take the piss out Napoleon and the French. The New Agey stuff is mostly kept to a minimum.

The artwork by Jeremy (who did the book BARRACUDA by Cinebook) is breathtakingly stunning. The tale spans decades and looking at the art it's unbelievable that it didn't take centuries to produce. The art and the story are so good they are both constantly fighting for your attention. The hardcover book itself collects all four of the original Euro albums (232 pages total). Titan publishes this under their Statix Press imprint. They reproduce the four covers from the Euro albums in the back but there's no other extras. There's also a page listing all the other Statix Press books which look like most of Titan's Euro offerings. The problem is a lot of these are OOP. I hate when publishers do this, "check out our other books" that are no longer available. They know what's in print, why do this? But I digress, the book is great. Go get it! Or get Jodo's other books then get this!

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

It's totally ok Scott, if you wrote it, then post whatever you like.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Also I will chime in on this later today when work finishes, because I've read a ton of stuff over the last couple of days.

[Scott Intellectual Carrot Find all posts View Profile Close Scott]

It's totally ok Scott, if you wrote it, then post whatever you like.

Great, thanks, Ian! Gary posts there too so it might be a little déjí  vu.

[Newt Cox Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Newt Cox]

Read Ex-Mutants #2 last night,this is the B/W series with Ron Lim on the art.

Not bad. I had read various other issues of the Ex Mutant series,they went thru what 4 or 5 publishers?

Got a huge stack of bought and never read tpbs,Hardcovers and OGNS. But been trying to shrink my unread book pile,so comics outside of single issues have been placed on the back burner.

[Scott Intellectual Carrot Find all posts View Profile Close Scott]

Read Ex-Mutants #2 last night,this is the B/W series with Ron Lim on the art.

Not bad. I had read various other issues of the Ex Mutant series,they went thru what 4 or 5 publishers?

Got a huge stack of bought and never read tpbs,Hardcovers and OGNS. But been trying to shrink my unread book pile,so comics outside of single issues have been placed on the back burner.

There was an EX-MUTANTS Sega Genesis game too. I liked it but never read any of the comics.

Along with the new Jodo book I dug out what few Star Wars comics I still have based on a conversation somewhere else. I have the two DARK EMPIRES and the Boba Fett and Jabba the Hutt comics from around the same time.

Well, I read those Boba Fett and Jabba comics again, probably the first time in 20 years or more. Both series are a lot of fun. The Boba Fett comics with art by Cam Kennedy look fantastic. He really puts his all into it. The story is really besides the point, they're just fun tales of action and adventure. The third issue TWIN ENGINES OF DESTRUCTION is a huge step down art-wise, Cam Kennedy having since walked away. The story is just as good as the first two issues, IMO, just generic bounty hunting tales. The first two are pretty comedic and feature a bunch of various Hutts, they make a nice companion piece to the Hutt comics. The third issue has him hunting an impersonator of himself.

The Jabba the Hutt comics written by Jim Woodring remain a true joy. They are pretty silly but I think that's the best approach for this character. A giant space slug gangster isn't serious business, it's best to embrace the absurdity. There's a touch of Doctor Doom and Marv Wolfman Dracula here. Jabba is such a joyous @sshole to behold. The art by Art Wetherell is at first pretty ho-hum but it suits it fine and the various depictions of Jabba leave me cracking up.

The stories themselves are one-off sticky situation adventures or dilemmas where Hutt has to take advantage or be taken advantage of. I think the thing I liked best about these Hutt and Boba comics was they didn't need to connect everything. The galaxy was a bigger place before the prequels. I wish there was three hundred issues of this series.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Fuck I just hit back and lost my post.

Let's try this again.

Here's some current stuff that I'm picking up on a regular basis.

Space Riders: Vortex Of Darkness from Black Mask Comics. Issue #3 just came out last month and I think there's one more to go. Alexis Ziritt's artwork is killer, it's like a heavy metal stoner album cover come to life and it's trippy as fuck. His use of color is fantastic and this one is just pretty bonkers. The story is fun but the art is what sells this one for me. There's an earlier 4 issue mini-series just called Space Riders that is great too. Toy Boy did a variant cover for one issue. Anyway, Alexis Ziritt's art is nuts but I love it.

Ziritt's also working on a current series called Night Hunters from Floating World Comics that is equally great. Its deals with the advent of the police state and immigration and how it all ties together in a dystopian and very militant future. His art is a bit more restrained here mostly in his use of color but it's still great.

I Breathed A Body from Aftershock Comics. This one deals with influencer culture on social media and youtube and stuff like that, as well as the evil shit that multi-billion dollar corporations can get away with because the have the money to do it. It feels Cronenberg-inspired at times but if is very much its own thing. The art is really strong on this and the story genuinely disturbing at times. I bought the first issue on a whim and have bought the other 3 issues that have come out since. I think there's only one more to go before it wraps up.

Shadow Doctor from Aftershock Comics. One I mentioned in the other thread. It's a really interesting biographical comic about a black doctor who can't get work out of med school due to the state of American at the time he graduates. Through some interesting circumstances he winds up working for none other than Al Capone. It's based on the true story of the writer's grandfather. Nice artwork that suits the mood of the story and the period where it is set, and just some really strong storytelling overall. I didn't think issue 3 was as strong as the first 2 BUT what happens in 3 has to happen for the story to continue to it slides and I'm sure it will lead to bigger things to come.

Department Of Truth from Image Comics. James Tynion IV is my favorite of the mainstream writers these days. His work on Batman has been pretty solid and I really like Something Is Killing The Children as well but Department Of Truth is by far his best work in my opinion, probably because I'm fascinated with conspiracy theories, how they happen, the effects that they have on people and the damage that they can do and this very definitely deals in that. It's dark and disturbing, often times bleakly comic and in my mind, a very clever, unique and fascinating storyline.

The Recount from Scout Comics. The POTUS is killed and those who helped him get into power find their lives in danger. It's somewhat topical but doesn't go so far into the real world that you wouldn't enjoy it as a good work of fiction if your political viewers are right of my own. It's only 3 issues in so far and I have no idea where it's going to go but it's tense and really nicely drawn by Gabriel Nunez.

Daredevil from Marvel Comics. A mainstream pick but Chip Zdarsky's writing on this series really makes it a lot more interesting than most superhero stories. I really like the way that he's weaving Murdock's Catholicism into the story and working the morality angle of all of that, while also showing Murdock as a very flawed man who thinks, or at least tries to fool himself into believing, that he's doing the right thing. The art is all over the place during this run as there have been a few different artists on it over the 2 years or so it's been running. I came late to the party and am missing a handful of issues but really like it quite a bit.

Rorschach from DC Comics/Black Label. More of a follow up to the Watchmen TV series than the comic in a lot of ways. Tom King's writing is solid and I honestly have no fucking clue where he's going to take all of this. He works Steve Ditko's biography into this and some other unexpected and genuinely odd elements into the story. It is not at all what I expected from the series and I think to get the most out of it I'm going to have to re-read the entire thing once the last issue comes out. There are a lot of layers to this and I'm sure I've missed quite a bit with the 1 month gap between books that I wouldn't miss with a binge.

More later.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Oh and Scott, a lot of the Star Wars comics are really fun. Not deep, but entertaining.

[Scott Intellectual Carrot Find all posts View Profile Close Scott]

Oh and Scott, a lot of the Star Wars comics are really fun. Not deep, but entertaining.

I think I read all of them up until the time Episode 1 came out. Most of the prose novels too. After Star Wars died for me I got rid of everything except the small handful I have left, and a couple MAD Magazine Star Wars Specials that a re really great. I do really still love these Jabba comics though. I'd love to hear Woodring's thoughts on creating them.

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

Scott, I'd love to see more of those Jabba panels. So rad.

[Scott Intellectual Carrot Find all posts View Profile Close Scott]

Scott, I'd love to see more of those Jabba panels. So rad.

Jabba is the best. I'll see what I can do.

[Scott Intellectual Carrot Find all posts View Profile Close Scott]

I Breathed A Body from Aftershock Comics. This one deals with influencer culture on social media and youtube and stuff like that, as well as the evil shit that multi-billion dollar corporations can get away with because the have the money to do it. It feels Cronenberg-inspired at times but if is very much its own thing. The art is really strong on this and the story genuinely disturbing at times. I bought the first issue on a whim and have bought the other 3 issues that have come out since. I think there's only one more to go before it wraps up.

I just read about this one on another site. It looks neat, I love the title. I haven't read any Aftershock or Black Mask comics yet. I need to get on that.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Infidel from Image Comics. This is another one that I really enjoyed, though I feel that it starts a lot stronger than it finishes. It's about a Muslim woman who marries a plain old white dude of no specific religious background. Husband has lost his first wife and had a daughter with her who is still quite young, but the daughter and her new stepmother bond quite nicely. Her new mother-in-law, however, is hesitant about welcoming a Muslim into the family, not just because of 9/11, but because the building the live in was bombed by a man of Arabic descent. Anyway, in amongst all of human drama is a genuinely eerie supernatural element where our female leads starts seeing what I guess are basically ghosts. It ties into the building's history and her own paranoia about certain things and as the story plays out, she essentially starts to crack and it all goes down hill for pretty much everyone involved.

It's smart and though provoking, never preachy at all. Pornsak Pichetshote, who edited Swamp Thing for a while writes it well and Aaron Campbell's art is strong.

https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/infidel

[Scott Intellectual Carrot Find all posts View Profile Close Scott]

I've been eyeing INFIDEL for a while. Nice to read some feedback on it.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

I've been eyeing INFIDEL for a while. Nice to read some feedback on it.

I pulled the first issue out of the $1 bin out of curiosity and tracked down the rest within a week or two later because I really wanted to see where it went. It's only 5 issues so it isn't a huge commitment or anything.