The Peripheries of Anarchy

Anarchism, Music, Nature, Home Brew, Vinyl, Foraging, Photography, Rats, Comics, Ukulele. All photos #Bodsphotos are my own.

[bodandrage]

Black Magick #1 - Review

Writer: Greg Rucka Artist: Nicola Scott Colour Assists: Chiara Arena Letterer: Jodi Wynne

The Blurb: The hammer falls this Halloween! From New York Times bestselling and Eisner Award-winning writer GREG RUCKA (LAZARUS, Stumptown, Gotham Central) and superstar artist NICOLA SCOTT (Birds of Prey, Secret Six, Earth 2)! Detective Rowan Black works robbery/homicide for the Portsmouth PD, but her greatest mystery is the truth about herself...both who she has been, and who she will become. Yet there are others in Rowan's world with very long memories, and the power that one person holds, another will always covet. PLUS, each issue also features an all-new work of original fiction by GREG RUCKA! A new gothic-noir ongoing series about legacy, destiny, redemption...and the price of magic.

The Review: Under the less than inspiring cover design (Sorry Eric Trautmann) of Black Magick #1 is a mystical crime thriller with a shed load of potential and a killer creative team. I read the preview pages and picked up issue one to try as with Greg Rucka doing the writing and Nicola Scott on art it would be hard to go wrong.

I wasn’t disappointed, this was clearly the set up issue and I get the feeling that issue one was just good so that the following issues can be great. Dialogue was of the usual Rucka high standard, more so that the recently reviewed Shattered Empire you could tell the creative team had put time into creating well rounded characters with depth and clearly defined personalities and styles. I’m looking forward to getting to know the characters, particularly Rowan, the protagonist more as the story progresses. This is yes another example of Greg Rucka writing excelent, deep, leading ladies in his stories. The story didn’t massively grip me that much at first, to be fair, but the Journal entries, notes and family tree diagrams very much did, I love it when comic creators add different stuff like that, it makes you feel more involved with the story.

For me though the art was where this book really shone. I’ve not had the pleasure of seeing Nicola Scott’s work before, but now I’m going to seek it out. The Brown monochrome for the majority of the artwork allowed the occasional use of colour to achieve its intended dramatic effect. The use of shading to create contours in the characters faces added excellent depth and texture. Nicola Scott’s Art and Chiara Arena’s added colouring together has created some of the best art around.

So in short, story wise, I’m waiting for issue 2 before making a decision on this. But this is worth buying just for the art. You make make the mistake of browsing past this comic. Try it, issue 1 is out now. @blackmagiccomic

[bodandrage]

Star Wars: Shattered Empire #1-4 - Review

Writer - Greg Rucka Art - Marco Checchetto, Angel Unzueta, Emilio Laiso Colours - Andres Mossa Letterer - Joe Carmanga

Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars Shattered Empire, must be the longest comic book name ever. This four issue mini series was supposed to partly fill the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. However it mainly fills it will un-needed fluff. Much of issue one wasted time going over old ground and the remaining three issues we generally too slow to get anywhere significant. I was left after the fourth and final issue not sure if I needed more or wishing I hadn’t bothered. So did I enjoy it? Not really. Is it needed? Not unless you are a Star Wars fan. Was is a good comic? Yes I suppose it was. I enjoyed the new characters and the use of old ones and dialogue was decent and kept the story moving forwards. I also like the premise of the story, that Emperor Palpatine was able to orchestrate a fight back against the rebels from beyond the grave. There were some good events, the stand out even for me being the main character, Shara Bey, Princess Leia and The Queen of Naboo taking on a star destroyer and a squadron of Tie-fighters by themselves. (Although they still get rescued by a man!). Art was patchy in places, although generally decent it may have been a case of too many cooks with the art on some issues being done by two or even three people. The clash of styles was telling in places and they often sat uncomfortably together. Princess Leia stood our as fitting poorly with an attempt to match her to the films (and I suppose the other Leia comics) not working and reminding me of playing Golden Eye on the N64 where picture of the people from the film had been messily laid over the heads of the computer models. But on the whole, the art work was of a good standard, Andres Mossa’s colours were really nice, really helping with tone, texture, lighting and perspective, and no doubt glossing over some iffy art work in places. So the verdict. If you LOVE Star Wars then buy this. If you only like it, you are not missing anything much. I’m interested to know how some of the questions and events raised in this story get dealt with in the upcoming film, but you really wont miss anything by not reading this.

[hushcomics]

Review Scale:

The mythical A+: Classic comic book material. Belongs next to your copy of The Notebookand The Joy of Cooking.

A: Would definitely recommend to all comic book readers. Even more so to fans of the genre or characters

B: Enjoyable read. Fans of the genre or characters will especially like.

C: Non-essential read. Can be enjoyable for fans of the genre or characters, but likely for only one or two events in the books.

D: Unenjoyable book. Read at your own risk. Might find satisfaction if major flaws are overlooked.

F: Please don’t buy this book. Donate your money to a local comic book writer’s workshop instead to inspire future generations to write something better than this trash.

Pick of the Week:

Secret Wars: Agents of Atlas #1 – A Writer: Tom Taylor Artist: Steve Pugh

Wow. I really didn’t expect this to be as good as it was. I picked it up mainly because I remembered how Agents of Atlas was a quirky throwback to pulp spy and hero teams. Instead, we have what is easily one of the top five best one-shots of Secret Wars, and it makes me wish the whole thing was like that. This issue makes me realize that Agents of Atlas has Grant Morrison’s name all over it (and in fact, wrote an amazing limited series for Marvel Boy, a member of this iteration of Atlas). But it was fun and dense and as quirky as I could have wanted, and the art was clear, expressive, and colorful. – Montgomery

Other Reviews: 

DC/Vertigo Comics:

Justice League #45 – A Writer: Geoff Johns Artist: Francis Manapul Colorists: Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato

If you’ve read the last issue of Justice League, then like me, you have no idea what the hell is going on. After a huge plot twist last issue, things have gotten even zanier. The New Gods are not just random weirdos with fancy names; they are the Justice League! The way I interpreted it is that the band just broke up, and there are four new solo albums on the way. I’ve never seen anything like this happen before, and I’m stoked to find out what comes next. I’m glad DC did the right thing here and didn’t spread this book to the far corners of the other DC titles – that would be a clusterf*ck. Instead, Geoff Johns is just doing his thing, and I keep reading because of it. – Sherif

Bizzaro #5 – A- Writer: Heath Corson Artist: Gustavo Duarte

This penultimate issue of Bizarro is filled with lots of story and leaves us wondering exactly what could happen in the last issue. But in the mean time, we get a great X-Files reference with good ol’ Chicken Soup (What Bizarro calls “Mulder” of just the male agent). This issue also sees Colin the Chupacabra leave the group and a betrayal of Bizarro’s worst friend Jimmy actually anger Bizarro so much Jimmy becomes Bizarro’s best friend and may be the end of the team. Heath Corson does a great job with this story and really made me care for all the character along the way and made up a rather good team with Bizarro, Colin, Jimmy and Chastity Hex. It makes me really want this as an ongoing series and not just one more issue. Even if this last issue next month sees the last of Bizarro, this creative team did just about everything I would want from a Bizarro series and more and just as much as Corson’s writing is brilliant and fun, Gustavo Duarte’s art completes this series as one I will display proudly on my comic book shelf. – Jacob

Gotham Academy #11 – B+

Writers: Becky Cloonan & Brenden Fletcher Artists: Karl Kerschl with Msassyk and Mingjue Helen Chen

Colorists: Serge LaPointe & Msassyk Colors

It was our ragtag teams biggest adventure yet! The big city… Gotham City! Maps created a masterful plan to get info on Olive’s mom. Red Robin made an appearance, and some fun was poked at DC for the amount of Robins they have. It was a rare meta appearance, but a welcome one. I was thoroughly entertained while reading this issue; there was laughter at Maps, exhilaration at the plan, and awe at the art. Gotham was portrayed so well, it almost felt as if I was watching a live-action cartoon instead of reading a comic. Gotham Academy never disappoints with the art. – Adrian

Titans Hunt #1 – B Writer: Dan Abnett

Artists: Paulo Siqueira & Geraldo Borges

This book has piqued my interest, but be warned… this book is not for Teens. Notice that they aren’t Teen Titans (albeit, they aren’t teens anymore), but the “Titans” part might make you think it is a good buy for a teenager. Nay. Anyhow, considering there is a large cast of characters and none of them are in the same physical place, I really liked how they told many different stories. Some characters are more familiar than others, like Dick Grayson and Roy Harper. Learning about the characters I don’t know too much about will be a good time, and I enjoyed this book enough that I feel it will be my avenue to find out more. – Adrian

Wonder Woman #45 – F Writer: Meredith Finch Artist: David Finch

This is me reading Wonder Woman after Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang left. – Sherif

IDW Publishing:

Transformers #46 – B+ Writer: John Barber Artist: Sara Pitre-Durdcher

It’s pretty cool to see that they have a woman doing the art. She’s damn good too. I’m a little bummed that Earth is still a central element in this book’s plot, especially when there are so many other cool things happening: a surreptitious return of the Decepticons; Prime seeking the Lightbearers (semi-divine angel-like robots); Cosmos perhaps joining up with Soundwave; Jazz trapped in an acidic… egg? There’s cool stuff and Earth, speaking as someone who lives here, is stupid. I’d rather see robots. I mean, I see humans everyday and I’m rarely impressed. – Montgomery

Back to the Future #1 – D Writer: Bob Gale Artist: Brent Schoonover

If you want to remake the magic so badly, go to Goodwill, get a VCR player, and buy the first two movies. Better yet, go buy a ridiculous BTTF hat, or a $20 Pepsi Perfect. When does this rebranding madness end? A few days ago (10/21) was a huge milestone in nerd culture. We finally caught up to the future time in Back to the Future. Instead of letting that day gracefully pass in honor, it’s been exploited to shit, and the result is shitty comic books like this. This is a whore of a book, and an easy way for “the man” to collect on your money. Ut’s not the worst thing ever, but it even smells desperate. – Sherif

Image Comics:

Tokyo Ghost #2 – C Writer: Rick Remender Artist: Sean Murphy

After only two issues, the in-your-face social commentary is beginning to wear on me. It’s almost too much of a caricature to be enjoyable. Oh, and the floppy wiener. Really? The part of the story I enjoyed the most was the background story of Debbie and Teddy, and how she lost him to being plugged in. I wonder if that’s a metaphor for the missing million (called hikikomori) in Japan. It’s a beautiful book, and the concept is very intriguing, so I will continue reading. – Sherif

Second Opinion (B+): I like this book, but something about its pacing and construction makes me feel a little claustrophobic and panicky. – Montgomery

Marvel/Icon Comics:

Journey to Star Wars The Force Awakens: Shattered Dimension #4 – A Writer: Greg Rucka Artist: Marco Checchetto

As this series ends, we get a huge look into how these characters new and old will connect for The Force Awakens even if some may not even be present. We end this series with Shara Bey having to accompany Luke to a secret base of the Emperor to retrieve a secret possession had stolen and kept for years. We get a lot of action and an explanation at exactly why Poe Dameron may be so closely connected to everyone in the new film. Greg Rucka did an excellent job with the story for this issue and the series as a whole and gave us a great, albeit short look at some things to expect from the new film while also making sure to keep things ground in the past six films leading up to Episode VII. Marco Checchetto’s art is what really sold me on the book. It is insanely detailed to the point even the back of an alien head is gorgeous and deserves to be a print sold everywhere. I look forward to the future stories leading to the new film and can only hope this creative team keeps on working on Star Wars books. – Jacob

The Uncanny Inhumans #1 – A Writer: Charles Soule Artists: Jay Lesiten (pencils), Steve McNiven (inks)

I am surprised at how good these Marvel relaunch titles are so far. So much more interesting than the bland-as-snow-in-a-snowstorm New 52 launch. Uncanny has that adjective attached solely, as far as I can tell right now, because Beast is working with them. There are two plots: Black Bolt with two of his friends — Reader and his dog Forey, and Inhumans mainstay Triton — are trying to track down Black Bolt’s son against the wishes of Kang the Conqueror; meanwhile Medusa in a very-much-Morrison-inspired-style is performing global rescue operations scooping up all the humans-turned-Inhuman and taking them home. Also she’s banging Johnny Storm. Inhumans and mutants have been my two favorite Marvel groups for probably the past 20 years, and it’s interesting to me they would hate each other as is very much implied (well, stated) by Beast. It’s also interesting because it hints at the animosity that often exists between repressed groups, though I’m unaware of any stated tension between people on the LGBTQ spectrum (mutants) and refugees (Inhumans). Oh, and th@ art tho. – Montgomery

Karnak #1 – A Writer: Warren Ellis Artist: Gerardo Zaffino

Sometimes when Warren Ellis writes for Marvel, he gets way too caught up in being Joss Whedon, and tries to make every single one of his characters the king of the empire of snark instead of doing the thing that makes him Warren Ellis. Maybe that’s a function of working for Marvel: Marvel seems to think that witty dialogue can be an easy stand-in for character development. But th@ Karnak tho. He managed to avoid the curse. Karnak has left the Inhumans and lives in the Tower of Wisdom contemplating the meaningless of bricks, and what he and bricks have in common, namely that the universe doesn’t care about any of them. I love that Ellis and Morrison both seem to be tapping into that good old fashioned True Detective-born philosophical nihilism – which really means that it’s the book’s responsibility to teach Karnak the error of his ways. I’ve always loved the Karnak type (see also: Spock, Agent Cohle, Silver Surfer): the person who puts the value of knowledge above all else no matter how terrifying the conclusion. And, apart from a weak ending (which, if not for this, this book would have been an A+) Ellis nails it. The book has a sort of existential bleakness that is oddly comforting. – Montgomery

Invincible Iron Man #2 – B+ Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Artist: David Marquez Colorist: Justin Ponsor

Another short issue of Brian Michael Bendis’ new Iron Man series wraps up, and it was full of solid art, intrigue, and gut-busting snarky comments. The only character in the Marvel U that can out-snark Tony Stark is Doom, and his time in panel is great entertainment. The AI he programmed in his suit, Friday, is also made for maximum sass. It’s a really fun issue, even if you aren’t a huge Iron Man fan. However, with Doom and Madame Masque up to Doom knows what, this will be an interesting ride. – Sherif

Second Opinion (A) – I am so invested in this series. I love Friday’s “To-do List” that let’s us know what happened and what is happening. I love the clean lines and colors. I love the very “Tony Stark” way of doing things. And Madame Masque is a freaking bad-ass. LOVE! – Adrian

The Amazing Spider-Man #2 – B Writer: Dan Slott Artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli

This series continues on with the funny. Peter Parker may not be that hometown hero anymore, but he can still make some pretty good quips, and that’s why we love Spider-Man, isn’t it? The fact that he is a CEO now is a little hard for me to wrap my mind around, especially because the tech he made doesn’t seem to be for good, per se. But who am I to judge? I do think this issue did a better job of creating a storyline, and I am very interested in getting to know the Zodiac even better. – Adrian

The Astonishing Ant-Man #1 – B-

Writer: Nick Spencer

Artist: Ramon Rosanas

Even though Spencer is still on this series, it feels different from the Ant-Man series that just wrapped up before the reboot. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I hope that changes in the next few issues. Lang is still funny, but this issue seemed more on the serious side. I know part of that is Lang’s relationship with his daughter, which was one of the appeals of the other series. The best part of this issue was the commentary on apps and how people use them. It made us all look like damn fools, which I always enjoy. Here’s to a stronger issue next time! – Adrian

Age of Apocalypse #5 – F Writer: Fabian Nicieza Artist: Ibal Coello

This is the most disappointing resolution to a Secret Wars comic I’ve read yet. Everything about this comic was deeply fulfilling: the very talented Geraldo Sandoval quit interior pencils after maybe the second issue; the story made no goddamn sense at any point; and, in general, everything felt very claustrophobic and small. So, as sort of a recap, Apocalypse wants Douglas Ramsey (Cypher, for anyone who cares. Oh, you don’t? I guess that makes sense) for… reasons. And other people want… things? I’m not even sure. Fast forward to issue 5, and Apocalypse accidentally kills himself (gigantic copout), and his science lackey, Nemesis, wants to murder everyone. Uh, things happen? People die, and then a part of Emma Frost’s brain is put into Jean Grey to reactivate the Phoenix, which doesn’t make any sense. The hope is that Phoenix will take on Doom, but no. She wakes up and deletes all the mutant genes. Just so we’re clear: according to this comic, the way to deal with a maniac despot that puts your people in a ghetto is to appease him. In this case, that means Phoenix makes everyone a regular human, which is disturbing when the X-Men have most often been metaphors for communism, socialism, and the full array of alternative sexuality. So, just ditch your alternative political beliefs and that offensive sexuality you were born with, and you too can be happy living under the thumb of a maniacal god. Oh. And Douglas Ramsay is never any good to anyone… I can’t even believe how terrible this ending was. – Montgomery

Oni Press:

Invader Zim #4 – B Writer: Eric Trueheart Artist: Aaron Alexovich

We have yet another one-shot issue here where we see an Irken engineer make a portal so that the Irken leaders can send anything to any invader at any time, but they have to be careful because this is a one way portal and nothing can be sent back without blowing up half of space. Naturally, the Irken leaders use this technology to play an elaborate prank on Zim by sending him trash and telling him it is an Irken super weapon and he needs to protect it with his life. As Zim prepares for other aliens and evil forces to come steal his weapon and the Irken leaders laugh endlessly about the whole thing, we see Zim have a visitor at his door. This story was definitely a fun one and one that felt very much like a true Invader Zim episode with the same great humor and twistedness we come to expect from Invader Zim. A huge round of applause to Eric Trueheart for his writing here. Aaron Alexovich does a near perfect job with the art, as well, which really brought this all together and made it read and look just like classic Zim. – Jacob

Funniest Panels:

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Panels with the Most Awesomeness:

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That about wraps it up for our reviews this week! Look for next week’s previews coming soon. Any comic books you didn’t see reviewed that you want reviewed? Any grades you didn’t agree on? Let us know in the comments!

All images taken from ComiXology app and the credit for them goes to the respective publishers; thanks to all the publishers for putting out great books.

@TomTaylorMade & @stevepughcom got our Pick of the Week w/ #SecretWarsAgentsOfAtlas! #ComicBookReviews: Review Scale: The mythical A+: Classic comic book material. Belongs next to your copy of 

[bodandrage]

Nice list of bite sized reviews.

[bodandrage]

Paper Girls #1 - Comic Review

Author: Brian K Vaughan Art: Cliff Chiang Colours: Matt Wilson Lettering: Jared K. Fletcher

I didn’t pick this up straight away. A story of pre-teen girls in 80s America doing their paper round did not appeal. But I know Brian K. Vaughan writes really well and am enjoying titles such as We Stand on Guard and Saga. I was also drawn in by the eye catching yellow, black and pink cover. Though the setting is very different to Saga, the opening dream sequence featuring an Astronaut angel with flaming wings and an animal skull face showed that outlandish psychedelia was just under the surface of this seemingly wholesome read. I enjoyed this bumper size issue a great deal, it is very different to Vaughan’s other work but still very Vaughan at the same time. The characterisation and interactions are presented well. We are quickly introduced to the different personalities, their upbringings and their environment in a way many comics struggle to do, or just don’t bother with. I suppose it’s what makes Vaughan such a good writer and encourages the best from the artist he creates comics with.

The art works great, it captures the look of the 80s well, as does the dialogue. The colours are solid, literally, there is a lack of texture and range of hues, but this does not detract from anything. I enjoyed taking time to look over the panels and get a sense of how the characters were feeling and thinking.

This comic seems like it is aimed at young adults but I think any Brian K. Vaughan, Sci-fi, or 80s movie fan will enjoy this book. The whole book is accomplished and the creative team have made something unique to the market right now. The final reveal was not a cliched cliffhanger and left me with a big smile on my face and making a note to get issue two. Give this comic a try.

4 out of 5

[comicgeekreviews]

The Astonishing Ant-Man #1 Review

Writer: Nick Spencer

Artist: Ramon Rosanas

Color Artist: Jordan Boyd

Publisher: Dan Buckley

Price: $3.99

“Scott Lang was a down-on-his-luck, divorced ex-con – until he stole renowned scientist and super hero Hank Pym’s size-altering technology in the hopes of saving his daughter’s life. Through that act of doing wrong for the right reasons, Scott inadvertently learned how to be a hero himself. With Pym’s blessing and his daughter Cassie at his side, he became… The Astonishing Ant-Man! But when a curveball upends Scott’s life, will he continue to be a hero, or will he return to his former life of crime?” 

The book opens up with Scott Lang handling his own business called “Ant-Man Security Solutions”, and also some male dancers(?). Anyway, Ms. Morgenstern, an old but rich former superhero, helped Scott kickstart his business, but she expects some payment after some time (which is the time when the issue was already starting). Now, we see him and his daughter, Cassie, with some rough patches. The issue also introduces an app made by a villain called “Hench”. The app basically uses a bunch of algorithms and numbers stuff to find a suitable villain or “archenemy” to defeat a hero. They do not really explain who created the app and who the dealer was. I guess we’ll find out as we read on through the next issues. 

In addition, the book did a great job of introducing the character and the story arc, which revolves around the Hench app. I enjoyed the introduction of various characters in a brief and concise manner. Questions formed in my mind while I was reading like, “Who created or developed the Hench app?.” The writing and dialogue of the characters were witty and light-hearted. They are definitely going for a fun-to-read comic book. Nevertheless, there were some serious moments in the issue like Cassie being mad at her father for not being there for her. You can really feel for Cassie, and at the same time for Scott as well. I am interested to see how their relationship progresses through the next several issues. Furthermore, I enjoyed the artwork so much! It feels clean and crisp, page by page. The art is simplistic yet detailed, even when showing little-sized Daniel Cross (yeah, he’s in this issue too, I forgot) or Ant-Man. The fight scene at the end pages didn’t go for explosive panels, instead it went for the smooth and precise take. In other words, there wasn’t any clustered mess, which I enjoyed as it was a fresh take for me. 

In the end, this issue is very enjoyable and a must buy if you’re a fan of Scott Lang as Ant-Man, or if you’re not a fan of Ant-Man or Scott Lang, give this book a try! You never know, you might like the character after reading this. This is a remarkable first issue with a great cliffhanger at the last page. I enjoyed reading this and I think you will too! 

[hopeful125]

Comic Review: Wytches, Vol. 1 by Scott Snyder

Comic Review: Wytches, Vol. 1 by Scott Snyder

Wytches, Vol 1. by Scott Snyder Published by Image Comics on October 8, 2014 Genres: Adult, Graphic, Horror, Supernatural Pages: 144 Format: Paperback Source: Library 2/5 Stars Everything you thought you knew about witches is wrong. They are much darker, and they are much more horrifying. Wytches takes the mythology of witches to a far creepier, bone-chilling place than readers have dared venture…

View On WordPress

[kovacspistol]

“If you want be free, you have to be brave.”

- Evan Greer

(via

kovacspistol

)

[dangerous-jelly]

Tru facts

[bodandrage]

Also, Lame things aren’t stupid. It’s okay to be lame. Using both “Gay” and “Lame” in a derogatory way is not okay.

[weloveshortvideos]

[bodandrage]

Upcoming Comic Reviews

Over the next few days I will post up reviews for:

Lando (full arc)

Shattered Empire (full arc)

Dr. Strange #1

Tokyo Ghost #2

Karnak #1

Strange Fruit #2

Paper Girls #1

Keep up to date at http://bodandrage.tumblr.com/tagged/allcomicsarebeautiful

[bodandrage]

Clandestino #1 - Review

Writer, Artist, Letterer - Amancay Nahuelpan

The Spiel: The country of Tairona became a no man's land after the military coup. Guerrillas were formed across the lands, and rebels unified against the dictator to resist the regime. The hopes of many lay on Clandestino, who barely escaped from the military attacks as a child, and was then recruited by the rebel forces, to later lead the revolution against the dictator. An all-new miniseries by Amancay Nahuelpan (Young Terrorists, Boy-1, Robocop).

The Verdict: I just got done with reading this and liked it a lot. I liked it even more when I realised Amancay has been developing this solo project over the past seven years. I love the idea that issue one was written six years ago and over the next six months I will not only be treated to a developing comic story but a developing Author and Artist as practice, time, development and life experience all have their effect on the final outcome. It seem worth getting the other issues just for that!

Story wise there is a big scene to set over a long time period and as a result there is little character development, but for now that’s okay. I liked the way Amancay brings this fictional period in time to life with news paper articles, news broadcasts and propaganda posters making you feel you are immersed in the history of Tairona. Art wise, although maybe less accomplished that later work such as Young Terrorists, I do really enjoy the style. 70′s South America is soundly portrayed, movement is done well and I feel I can read into the characters personalities by looking at their faces. I’m a big fan of the use of a basic colour palette for this story, especially with the use of simple green hues in the forest scene. The comic benefits from a less is more approach and who can blame Amancay for keeping things simple with this solo project. It works great.

Added this to my S/O and looking forward to the development of both the story and the author over the coming issues.

4 out of 5

@iamclandestino

[dimension20official]

The Back To the Future Cast Has Aged Way Better Than Expected

To be fair, their lives have been less stressful, since they didn’t have to deal with nearly banging their moms and constantly getting manure dumped on them.

[bodandrage]

Guardians of the Galaxy #1 – Review

Writer: Brian Bendis Artist: Velerio Schiti Colours: Richard Isanove Letterer: Cory Petit

The Spiel: “THE RACCOON'S IN CHARGE!Peter Quill has abandoned the Guardians and his role as Star-Lord to be Emperor of the Spartax. Rocket didn't wait a single minute to take the reins and become team leader of Drax, Venom, Groot, Kitty Pryde (A.K.A. Star-Lady ?!?!) and new Guardian BEN GRIMM, the everloving THING!” - Comicbook Round Up

The Pros:

I don't like super hero comics and this comic went a long way to altering that. I picked this one up on a whim as I liked the look of the cover, even though it featured Thing from The Fantastic Four, which are my least favourite superhero films.

The dialogue is funny and engaging, I laughed out loud a number of times at the characters interactions.

The whole comic is well thought out and the attention to detail, such at the little quips in the narration boxes take this up a level.

My lack of previous knowledge of Guardians of The Galaxy comics (I've only watched the film) did not seem to be a problem, even with the changes they have made to previous incarnations of the gang, with new and altered characters introduced and explained adequately.

I enjoyed the art work a lot, the scenes were relatively dynamic and I particularly enjoyed the facial expressions which enhanced the dialogue further. I quickly found myself doing voices in my head and reacting to the emotions portrayed. If that is not the sign of a good comic, I don't know what is.

Colouring was also great, it was vibrant, maybe coming within a hairs breadth of gaudy in places, but I liked it. The stand out for me being the feeling of brightness given of by lighting, lightning and fire which made the art work really pop. The brilliant, stand out two page splash on pages five and six urgently needs to be blown up extra large and putting on my wall.

The Cons:

It's a Marvel Comic and that means the story and art is broken up by picture in six year olds dressed as Iron Man or riding a Spider man scooter. Urgh!

It needed to be longer, the issue felt like the opening two minutes of a film. The opening credits hadn't even finished and it was over with some characters only getting a passing line or two. But I guess if the only negative I can come up with is, I wanted more, and I can't stand super hero comics, then this is a good thing.

Verdict: This is going on my S/O, though in truth, I'm not left impatient for the second issue. It was fun and funny and engaging, but not immersive or enthralling, which I guess is harder to do in comic designed to be read by a younger audience. However what it was, was very entertaining and I'm sure I will enjoy reading the rest of the series.

[bodandrage]

Assassin’s Creed #1 - Review

(I’ve restarted this tumblr and will start using it for reviews of comic books, my new hobby!)

Authors - Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery Art - Neil Edwards and Ivan Nunes

The Spiel: “Gamer by night and passionate millennial bank clerk by day, Charlotte de la Cruz is looking for a new gig despite the who-you-know-not-what-you-know politics of the job search. After a disappointing interview and playing Robin Hood, she’s met by members of an underground group of urban myth, just before her life being threatened by a couple of suits. You know the story from here: Charlotte is tasked with protecting a vital piece of history by synching with her ancestor, throwing her into the middle of a clandestine battle to keep the wrong people from messing with history.“ - comicosity

The pros:

A non-male, non-white protagonist dressed in appropriate clothing for the task at hand. It's 2015 and this is still novel, but it seems like the industry is getting better at this stuff.

Subtle anti-state, pro-feminist dialogue appealed to me such as Charlotte (our protagonist's), Robin Hood activities, and digs at corporate control and misogyny.

The setting of going back to the Salem Witch trails is really exciting and has lots of potential to explore some interesting aspects of life at that time in history.

The Cons:

Apart from the opening old west computer game scene, I found the art, although perfectly good, very static, which is worrying for a story which I presume will get increasingly action packed. Frames which should be filled with movement seemed frozen which was a bit of a let down.

Although I was interested in the themes covered in the dialogue, at this early stage none of the characters really jumped out at me as being particularly interesting and both characters and dialogue lacked much depth, but at this early stage and with a lot to introduce I'm not holding this against it too much.

Characters and themes were introduced without context. For example, Brotherhood member, Kody starts talking about a missing piece of Eden without any explanation of what this is. Also “a member of the brotherhood” suddenly gets referred to as Joseph without a proper introduction. I was left feeling I had missed something and had to double check I'd read everything, then Google what Eden was in the Assassin's creed universe.

The verdict: I added this to my S/O. I'm interested to see how they explore the themes they have touched on so far, such as gender, race and capitalism. As an attempt to convert a computer game into a comic, this had the potential to be truly terrible and it isn't at all. Even if you have not played the games, you will probably enjoy this. Here's to hoping issue two goes in the right direction with what has been set up here.

3.5 of of 5

[johanclicks]

Screaming through the desert

[locotitochilewebeo]

[duckypi]

I can see my house from up here

[ukehunt]

The full lineup of painted cavaquinhos (via Museo Cavaquinho and @hermanvdc).