Archive for June, 2006
Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness
Bryan Lee O’Malley
Oni Press
$11.95 US (Paperback)
**** (out of five)
Scott Pilgrim is stuck between a rock and his ex-girlfriend.
To win the heart of the lovely Ramona Flowers, Scott must do battle with her seven evil ex-boyfriends. Having bested the first couple in the previous two volumes of this series, Scott now must face No. 3: Todd Ingram — who just happens to be dating Scott’s ex-girlfriend, Envy Adams.
With the wit and charm readers of this series have grown accustomed to, The Infinite Sadness takes Scott on a roller-coaster ride over the ups and downs of his relationship with Envy, his pending battle (don’t worry, it’s not too bloody) with Todd and his blossoming bond with Ramona.
Halifax’s Bryan Lee O’Malley, who won the 2006 Joe Shuster Award for outstanding cartoonist for last year’s second volume of Scott Pilgrim, does a wonderful job balancing humour, emotion and action in The Infinite Sadness. And the hilarious final battle, set in Toronto’s Honest Ed’s is a moment anyone who’s been there will truly appreciate.
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June 5, 2006 | Trades
Loveless: A Kin Of Homecoming
Brian Azzarello, Marcello Frusin
Vertigo/DC Comics
$13.50/$9.99 US (Paperback)
*** 1/2 (out of five)
Brian Azzarello has established himself as a crime-noir master.
So when the writer of the acclaimed series 100 Bullets told me two years ago he was planning on doing a Western comic, I’ll admit it was a bit hard to imagine.
Three words into the first page of Loveless and it all becomes very clear — Azzarello is ideal for the filthy, blood-soaked, foul-mouthed Old West.
Hitting the dusty trail along with his former Hellblazer art partner Marcelo Frusin, Azzarello trots us into the town of Blackwater and introduces us to Wes Cutter, returning from serving hard time in a Union prison camp after the Civil War.
But as Cutter and his mysterious partner begin making life hell for the occupying Union troops, who’ve taken his home and land, his true intentions slowly comes to light and it leaves little doubt Blackwater will burn before this series is done.
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June 5, 2006 | Trades
Hellboy: Strange Places
Mike Mignola
Dark Horse Books
$17.95 US (Paperback)
*** 1/2 (out of five)
The term “waiting for the trade” is common among comic book readers.
It means, instead of picking up single issues on a monthly basis, waiting for a single collected edition. But waiting for the trade does have its drawbacks and exceptions.
One of those is definitely Hellboy.
You see creator Mike Mignola was a pretty busy guy for a couple of years (something about a massively successful feature film) and his artistic endeavours suffered as a result. So the last Mignola written and illustrated collection prior to Strange Places arrived in stores in February 2002.
Luckily this collection of a pair of two-part miniseries is worth the wait.
Featuring a trip under the sea that would make Disney’s Little Mermaid crack open her crabby little friend and eat him and a tumultuous and gory trip through the history of the world, Strange Places truly lives up to its name.
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June 5, 2006 | Trades
Gotham Central: Unresolved Targets
Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano
DC Comics
$19.99/$14.99 US (Paperback)
*** 1/2 (out of five)
The mayor of Gotham City is dead.
Someone put a bullet through his head during an early morning meeting with Police Commissioner Michael Akins — and three weeks before Christmas no less.
Just as the detectives of Gotham Central — DC Comics’ answer to Law & Order, Homicide: Life On The Street or CSI — hit the streets, there’s another shooting and the city’s coroner loses her hand.
The game’s afoot and in Gotham that can only mean some costumed psychopath is sending a message to The Batman — in this case, The Joker. But GCPD aren’t going to sit on their hands and wait for the Dark Knight to save the day and the spiraling paranoia over who’s going to get shot next threatens to turn the city into a the town that Christmas forgot.
Co-writers Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker, along with artists Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano, give readers another outstanding collection of one of the most underrated series in comics.
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June 5, 2006 | Comics
Hank Ketcham’s Complete Dennis The Menace: 1953-1954
Fantagraphics Books
$24.95 US (Hardcover)
*** 1/2 (out of five)
I’m living with Dennis The Menace.
For that matter, so is almost every parent to a two- or three-year-old.
This second chronological volume of Dennis The Menace strips shows two things very clearly:
1. Kids have been, and will likely continue to be, little menaces no matter what generation they’re from.
2. The late Hank Ketcham was both an insightful observer of children’s behaviour and a master cartoonist, whose rich and vibrant black-and-white strips are still a standard that the greatest need hold themselves to even 50+ years later.
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June 5, 2006 | Comics
Wonder Woman #1
Allan Heinberg, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson
DC Comics
$4/$2.99 US
**** (out of five)
She’s got the tiara, the golden lasso and the snug corset — but who is Wonder Woman?
The identity of DC’s golden girl has been one of the greatest post-Infinite Crisis mysteries (although anyone who’s been following along knows there’s only a couple of likely candidates).
Short of spoiling the surprise, here’s the breakdown on issue #1 of this hot new series: Written by The OC’s Allan Heinberg and illustrated by Terry and Rachel Dodson, things start off with a bang as several of Wonder Woman’s old enemies — including The Cheetah and Giganta — take hostages in an effort to draw Diana out into the open (she’s been missing for one year, since the end of Infinite Crisis #7).
But what bullet-bouncing-bracelet-bearing heroine will rise to meet their challenge?
This issue kicks off a series that will no doubt be packed with twists and turns, sexy art and, believe me, some real surprises.
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June 5, 2006 | Comics
Secret Six #1 (of 6)
Gail Simone, Brad Walker, Jimmy Palmiotti
DC Comics
$4/$2.99 US
**** (out of five)
Payback’s a bitch.
The members of the Secret Six — Catman, Deadshot, Scandal, Ragdoll and Blockbuster (several previous members were killed off leaving the Six with just five) made some real enemies in the Secret Society of Super-Villains during the Villains United miniseries.
Now, as they try to unwind after a successful mission together in North Korea, those enemies close in for the kill.
Will the Six be reduced to even lesser numbers?
Writer Gail Simone, along with artists Brad Walker and Jimmy Palmiotti, picks up right where this team left off without missing a beat. The same great character development, mixed with high-speed action abounds in this can’t-miss series.
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June 5, 2006 | Comics
Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre #1 (of 3)
DC Comics
$4/$2.99 US
*** 1/2 (out of five)
The Spectre’s got a new host — and it’s a familiar face.
Det. Crispus Allen met his demise in Gotham Central, but proving you just can’t keep a good man down, he’s back in the form of the Spectre.
This series follows the ghostly Allen as he takes one year to ponder the offer of joining with the spirit of divine justice, to provide humanity, if you will.
As he sees his family suffer through his death, the police’s failure to catch his killer (a fellow officer) and learns the identity of Gotham’s greatest defender, Allen realizes what he must do and accepts.
The result is an all-new Spectre and a miniseries that’s definitely worth picking up.
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June 5, 2006 | Comics
52 Week 5
DC Comics
$3.50/$2.50 US
*** 1/2 (out of five)
Hawkgirl is 25-feet tall, Green Lantern’s only got one eye (and it’s not his) and Cyborg and Firestorm have been fused together in a very unpleasant way.
Welcome to Week 5 of DC’s 52.
As readers finally find out the fate of the heroes who were lost in space at the end of Infinite Crisis #7, the answers are shocking. Who’s dead? Who’s still missing?
And just who or what is… 52?
DC’s hot new weekly series just gets better and better — I dare you to miss just one!
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June 5, 2006 | Comics
Liberty Meadows #37
Frank Cho
Image Comics
$3.50/$2.99 US
**** (out of five)
Do my eyes deceive me? Can it really be…? My goodness, it really is a new issue of Liberty Meadows!
After a two-year hiatus while creator Frank Cho did a few other things (like become a dad for the second time and put together some awesome comics for Marvel), this classic strip series returns in style.
As our hero, Frank Mellish, wallows in depression following his discovery that the lovely Brandy (with whom he is deeply in love) has gotten engaged to Roger, he is visited by a an ominous spirit with an important message.
Meanwhile, the animal antics at Liberty Meadows continue as Dean (the pig) gets a little carried away plucking his nostril hairs and does some major damage and Ralph (the bear) takes on the gorgeous Jen in Death Race 2006.
Not to get too Marvel on you, but welcome back, Frank. Let’s not wait another year for issue #38, shall we?
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