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IanG wrote:Batman Odyssey #1 (of 12?) (DC) - I'm torn on this one because I do still love Neal Adams art but the writing is oh so bad. I don't normally read much in the DCU but I do like Batman. Stylistically this looked liked it stepped out of the late 80's or early 90's. This issue is an example of why good writing is so important to a good comic. Maybe it's supposed to be just wacky fun like watching the old Batman TV show. I don't know.

I had #2 on order before I pulled the plug on this.....SO bad....

Batman: "Go to the next car or I will BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT!"

How does DC let this book get published? DO they do ZERO editing?

BobBretall wrote:I had #2 on order before I pulled the plug on this.....SO bad....

Batman: "Go to the next car or I will BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT!"

How does DC let this book get published? DO they do ZERO editing?

I know, is that even a Batman book any more? I think the DC editors are giving Neal free reign unless he tried to do something R-rated.

Did anyone else feel that the coloring was a bit off? It was kind of washed out and not adding anything to the artwork.

I'll be suprised if this really goes the full 12 issues, there was a lot of them left on the shelf at my local LCS. Probably will be a lot in the 50 cent bin in about 3-6 months.

IanG wrote: I'll be suprised if this really goes the full 12 issues, there was a lot of them left on the shelf at my local LCS. Probably will be a lot in the 50 cent bin in about 3-6 months.

I'd definitely pick up the balance of the series from a 50-cent bin (if only to look at the art), but no way I buy this at cover price.

Neonomicon #1 (of 4) (Avatar) - This is definitely in the dark and twisted side of Alan Moore's stories. He's still got some good stories in him. According to an interview on Wired, he did this mini-series to pay a tax bill. Also this is a very "Avatar" type book, as in there's some violent and disturbing images. I know that reads like it's from CARA, but I thought I should.

The One #1 (GG Studios) - I'm normally an easy sell on Sword & Sorcery books, it's a genre I really enjoy, and the art in this one is above average too, but what was really distracting in this issue is the SEVERE over-use of crazy fantasy-world naming for everyone/everyplace/everything (and this coming from a guy who plays D&D).

At it's most basic it the story of a heroic swordswoman (Faras) who wears a very revealing bikini-line outfit in the best fantasy-cheesecake tradition. She's framed for a crime she didn't commit to serve the ends of some political machinations I didn't fully understand, and is off on a journey of redemption.

Examples:

Characters: Galanos, Valab, Faras, Gramros, Darfje

Caption: "Dhooreth Lake's shores, Derinon Kingdom, a few days after Valab's edict"

Dialogue: "Do you think the new Adron's interference could pose a problem, my lady? Gramros always played a key role in the Adron counter-offenses."
"After all, the Adros are nothing but simple heathen Mendorim....."

Anyway, I'm sure this will be just fine with some folks, it was a bit much for me.

BobBretall wrote: Dialogue: "Do you think the new Adron's interference could pose a problem, my lady? Gramros always played a key role in the Adron counter-offenses."
"After all, the Adros are nothing but simple heathen Mendorim....."

Anyway, I'm sure this will be just fine with some folks, it was a bit much for me.

If you read Fables or Jack of Fables, this kind of reminded me of the Literal character Fantasy. She of the El'Drafarii Mo'davi Clan, who wield the precious Ae'gipthian Blorgenstones of P'tumpth, and whose hair is of gossamer weavestrands forged from the faerie-pfolk of Numfkul P'toompch and whose...ah, to hell with it!

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for this one.

torchsong wrote:

BobBretall wrote: Dialogue: "Do you think the new Adron's interference could pose a problem, my lady? Gramros always played a key role in the Adron counter-offenses."
"After all, the Adros are nothing but simple heathen Mendorim....."

Anyway, I'm sure this will be just fine with some folks, it was a bit much for me.

If you read Fables or Jack of Fables, this kind of reminded me of the Literal character Fantasy. She of the El'Drafarii Mo'davi Clan, who wield the precious Ae'gipthian Blorgenstones of P'tumpth, and whose hair is of gossamer weavestrands forged from the faerie-pfolk of Numfkul P'toompch and whose...ah, to hell with it!

EXACTLY! Thanks for reminding me of that, that is exactly the "fantasy genre convention" that Willingham/Sturges were mocking.

Anyway, "The One" is not bad, just not for me.

Murderland #1 - Not sure what I just read so I am going to mark this yellow in hopes that next issue will clear this up for me.

Nancy in Hell #1 from Image Comics was a pretty cool comic with Nancy going to Hell and trying to figure out how she got there and survive.

Route des Maisons Rouges #1 (GG Studios) - Nice cheesecake book, the story focus on a competition between a variety of "themed" bordellos, the one doing the least business being shut down. Not high art, I think this one goes in the same "guilty pleasure" pile as Tarot.

Mediterranea #1 (GG Studios) - I liked this one. Fantasy setting & lots of "crazy fantasy names" like in The One, but they didn't seem to bug me here. I really like the art style in this book, which carried this issue, as the setup was pretty thin (this could have used some more pages to set things up). In any event, I'm sticking around for this one.

Phoenix Without Ashes #1 (IDW) - Very cool setup for a sci-fi story, not a hook I've seen before. Essentially "amish in space", with a bit of the "evil elders are using the beliefs of the masses to further their own ends".

The Last Phantom #1 (Dynamite) - Decent story setup, not original by any stretch, we've seen this kind of thing a number of times before, but the Phantom is being given some solid motivation to go on an (bleep)-kicking vengeance spree.

The Boys: Highland Laddie #1 (Dynamite) - If you like "The Boys", you'll like this.

X-Women #1 (Marvel) - First time in English (this was originally a B&W album in Italian) this has a fairly weak story by Claremont but is a "must buy" to see the art of Milo Manara on the female X-Men (in color!)

Batman Beyond #1 (DC) - Solid book, one of the better bat-titles on the stands right now. Too bad it's only a mini. This is a must read for fans of the cartoon series. There's not much background & you may be a bit lost if you've never seen the cartoon.

Read a pile of #1s......

Dracula: The Company of Monsters #1 (Boom!) - Dracula only appears in flashbacks in the 1st issue, but this is shaping up to be a completely new take on the Dracula character, so I'll stick around for another issue or 2. Story/idea is by Kurt Busiek but written by Daryl Gregory. Good story. Art by Scott Godlewski who previously did Codebreakers.
Only downer for me was of the 2 covers (Dan Brereton & one that was not to my liking) DCBS chose to send me the "not to my liking" one.

Guarding the Globe #1 (Image) - Decent 1st issue setting up the new team. Brit is the leader and I've always liked him, it's good to see him back in action with Kirkman writing. Now if Kirkman can just keep to some semblance of a schedule on the book we'll be OK.

Darkness: The Four Horsemen #1 (Top Cow) - Accessible book, even for someone like me with very little background in the character "The Darkness". Mostly setup here, but some good action moments, and strong enough to get me to commit to the whole mini.

Scourge #1 (Aspen) - I read the #0 issue that I got in San Diego, and that seems to have been a snippet of story that takes place somewhere between the panels in #2. This issue takes a step back and gives us something of the "origin" of the "scourge", which seems to be a mystical plague that turns people into monsters, and it's loose in New York! I'm on board for this, good storytelling & good action.

Namor: The First Mutant #1 (Marvel) This issue feels like the second issue of a story arc I did not read. I know what is going on with the X-men so I am not lost completely, but this issue really does not stand on its own. The biggest issue I had was it felt more like the first issue of a secondary mini-series instead of the first issue of a new ongoing series. The art is fine, but the story is not all that meaty. They do throw in an 8 page backup to catch you up with Namor as a character.

Now that I think of it I am not sure there was one caption that let you know what was going on in Namor's head.

I was planing on picking this series up in trade. The first issue proved that was a wise decision.

spid wrote:Namor: The First Mutant #1 (Marvel) This issue feels like the second issue of a story arc I did not read.

That's exactly what it was, a follow-on to what's going on in X-Men.

This title is NOT standalone, and should be read only by people getting the new X-Men series.

BobBretall wrote:Read a pile of #1s......

Dracula: The Company of Monsters #1 (Boom!) - Dracula only appears in flashbacks in the 1st issue, but this is shaping up to be a completely new take on the Dracula character, so I'll stick around for another issue or 2. Story/idea is by Kurt Busiek but written by Daryl Gregory. Good story. Art by Scott Godlewski who previously did Codebreakers.
Only downer for me was of the 2 covers (Dan Brereton & one that was not to my liking) DCBS chose to send me the "not to my liking" one.

Darkness: The Four Horsemen #1 (Top Cow) - Accessible book, even for someone like me with very little background in the character "The Darkness". Mostly setup here, but some good action moments, and strong enough to get me to commit to the whole mini.

Totally agree with your assessment on these two books above.



Namor The First Mutant #1 - I am loving the X-men books right now involving the Vampires. I really enjoy the core book and the Gambit/Storm and Blade One Shots. This was the weakest of the bunch for me but I am still on board.

I can't remember if I posted anything about Scarlet #1 but I really liked it. The breaking of the 4th wall was fun and the story was quite interesting. #2 was an even better issue so needless to say I'm in!!