Archive for September, 2009
September 28, 2009 | Trades
The Walking Dead Vol. 10: What We Become
Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn
Image Comics
$14.99 US (Paperback)
**** (out of five)
A life filled with horrors seems to finally be taking its toll on Rick Grimes.
After seeing countless friends devoured by the flesh-craving zombies that now virtually rule their world and witnessing the death of his wife and baby daughter at the hands of some savage survivors, Rick is barely holding it together. Only the instinct to protect his young son, Carl, is keeping him from completely losing his marbles — though he does spends his nights talking on a disconnected phone to his dead spouse, so there may not be too many left in the bag.
In this 10th paperback collection of The Walking Dead, writer extraordinaire Robert Kirkman, expertly aided as always by the perfectly creepy art of Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn, examines just how severe the damage to Rick and his fellow survivors is after all this time in this nightmarish world.
Oh, and there’s also a suicide attempt, the return of familiar face and the introduction of a terrifying and deadly new phenemenon: The herd.
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September 27, 2009 | News
The 2009 Joe Shuster Award winners were announced on Saturday night at the University of Toronto’s Innis Town Hall. The Canadian comic book creator honours went to:
Artist
* David Finch – Ultimatum #1-2 (Marvel Comics)
Cartoonist
* Dave Sim – Glamourpuss #1-4, Judenhaas (Aardvark-Vanaheim)
Colourist
* François Lapierre - “Gédéon et la bête du lac” Contes et légendes du Québec (Glénat Québec), Magasin général 4 (Casterman)
Writer
* Mariko Tamaki - Emiko Superstar (DC/Minx), Skim (Groundwood Books)
Cover
* Niko Henrichon – Hostile Tome 1 (Dupuis)
Webcomics
* Cameron Stewart – Sin Titulo
Publisher
* Les 400 Coups/Mécanique Générale
Comics for Kids
* Kean Soo, Jellaby Book 1 (Hyperion)
Gene Day Award for Canadian Self-Publishers
* Jesse Jacobs for Blue Winter, Shapes in the Snow.
The Harry Kremer Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Retailer
* Legends Comics and Books (Victoria, British Columbia)
Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame
* George Menendez Rae (1906-1992)
* Réal Godbout (1951-)
* Ken Steacy (1955-)
* Diana Schutz (1955-)
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September 21, 2009 | Trades
Invincible Vol. 11: Happy Days
Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Jason Howard, Cliff Rathburn
Image Comics
$16.99 US (Paperback)
**** (out of five)
Mark Grayson’s got it pretty good right now.
The teen hero known as Invincible is getting lots of hot, sweating loving from fellow hero, Atom Eve; his little brother, Oliver, is quickly learning the heroic ropes as Kid Omni-Man; and he might even have found a way to move out of his mom's house.
Of course all this is simply the calm before the storm.
There’s plenty of action in this 11th trade paperback collection of Invincible, including an enjoyable crossover with the Astounding Wolf-Man, but Happy Days is packed with foreboding.
Star writer Robert Kirkman, partnered with awesome artists Ryan Ottley and Cliff Rathburn (and one issue by Wolf-Man regular Jason Howard), mixes the great teen melodrama, humour and action that is a trademark of this series with lots of little teases of what’s to come.
The alien sequids, which travelled back with Mark and his fellow heroes from Mars a few years ago, are still out there.
Someone’s been dispatching little camera drones — that explore when you try to catch them — to watch Mark and Oliver’s house.
And what’s up with those weird-looking Invicible dopplegangers?
Happy Days also includes one of the most powerful Invincible stories ever published featuring a quasi-villain obsessed with revenge against the hero who pays a terrible price his efforts.
As always, bonus material is a lot of fun with sketches and original page art featuring lively commentary by Kirkman and Ottley, further endearing the faithful who’ve come to love one is without a doubt one of the very best comics of the decade.
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September 14, 2009 | Trades
Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns
Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Mike McKone, Shane Davis
DC Comics
$27.99/$24.99 US (Hardcover)
**** 1/2 (out of five)
The indomitable will of the Green Lantern Corps. was nearly broken during its galaxy-spanning war with the fear-mongering Sinestro Corps.
Now, in the wake of the fierce conflict between the two power ring-wielding tribes, a new power rises to test that will even more.
The rage-fueled Red Lantern Corps splash onto the scene like an open jugular and they’ve got their sights set on the greatest GL of all: Earth’s Hal Jordan.
All-star writer Geoff Johns and artists Ivan Reis, Mike McKone and Shane Davis ramp up the tension toward this fall’s mega-crossover series, Blackest Night, as Jordan and his fellow corpsmen transport Sinestro from their base on Oa back to his homeworld of Korugar to be executed for his many crimes.
The inevitable attack from the villain’s yellow ringed warriors arrives right on schedule, but neither side is ready for the appearance of the ferocious crimson corps, containing more than a few familiar faces.
Fewer still are prepared for the arrival of another ring-wielder from a fourth colour of the emotional spectrum — one that also wants a piece of Jordan.
Johns run on Green Lantern, especially when paired with Reis, has been nothing short of spectacular and all signs point to Blackest Night being another in his long run of classics that have helped define the DC Universe in the 21st century.
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September 7, 2009 | Trades
The Goon Vol. 7: A Place of Heartache and Grief
Eric Powell
Dark Horse Books
$15.95 US (Paperback)
*** 1/2 (out of five)
The Zombie Priest and his hordes of undead have been a real pain the butt for the Goon over the years.
The Nameless Man, as he’s also sometimes called, has spent decades making life on Lonely Street a living hell — and now someone’s going to give him the same treatment.
The first collected-edition of Eric Powell’s The Goon since the mesmerizing original graphic novel Chinatown and Other Stories in late 2007 (the unofficial volume 6 in this series in case you're wondering) continues the masterful balance between the truly horrific and the absurdly humourous.
While the comeuppance of the Zombie Priest and the introduction of a couple of big-time new villains bring the heavy, the tussle between the Goon — the thuggish 1930s mobster with a heart of gold — and a “colossal transvestite” and the battling chimp with a golf club duct taped to its head and broken bottles duct taped to his hands definitely deliver the laughs.
As always, Powell’s incredible painted art dazzles throughout in an effort fully worth of the 2008 Eisner Awards it won.
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