X-O Manowar #22 Review

X-O Manowar hit a slump during the Unity event, simply because it felt a little unnecessary. The main Unity title was telling most of the story, with X-O filling in blanks in between the next issue. Thankfully the crossover between the two titles is now over, and while this series is nowhere near as good as it once was, there has definitely been a boost in quality which gives me good feelings for what comes next.

X-O Manowar sees Aric reunited with his Manowar armour and freed from jail after the events of Unity. As an added bonus, the US Government has even secured a nice plot in Western Nebraska for Aric and his Visigoths to settle down in. But, as expected, the government isn't doing all of this for nothing. By settling in the USA and accepting Nebraska as his new home-place, Aric has unwittingly put himself in the pocket of the US government. While this new development doesn't do anything ground-breaking in this issue, it should prove interesting in issues to come with moral issues and real-world conflicts bound to play a part somewhere down the line.

Artist Cary Nord ends leaves the book with this arc, however the artwork he produced does not leave the same impact as his work on the opening issues of this series. Due to a different colourist, and what feels like a slight change in style from Nord himself, the art in this arc of the series is nowhere near as good as his previous work. The colouring isn't as defined. The faces aren't as realistic - it's disappointing work from a very capable artist.

Read More

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #2 Review

I don't need to tell you how much people love Firefly. The short-lived TV show has a huge following of 'browncoats' and I count myself in their numbers. I finished the TV show, and its film spin-off Serenity fairly recently and found myself completely obsessed with getting my next Firefly fix. Naturally, I was excited to see this six-part comic series continuing the story of the beloved crew of Serenity. However, after a promising first issue I have to say I'm disappointed with the second issue of this series. To my fellow Firefly fans I say this: Please don't hate me for this review.

The second issue of "Leaves on the Wind" continues the story of Captain Mal Reynolds and the crew of Serenity on the run from the alliance, and trying desperately to help Zoe who is still struggling after the difficult birth she went through last issue. This story is not the problem, it has potential to show everything that is great and strong about these characters. However, I feel like that potential is not being fulfilled due to some weak scripting from Zack Whedon.

While Whedon's script does capture the basic voices of each crew member, there's something lacking in their interactions. In the TV show, the interactions were witty at times and when jokes were not appropriate you could still feel how close-knit all the characters were. Here though, that sense of closeness has been lost somehow. It feels like the characters we know and love have had 80% of their personalities removed, leaving just their simplest traits to be seen here.
Additionally, the issue just doesn't flow well. Scenes change quite jarringly with no elegance whatsoever in the transitions to each one. It feels like I'm watching events unfold that have little to do with each other simply because everything happens so quickly. It leaves little room for any memorable moments, and makes me think that perhaps this story would have been better off in a different format, or at least a series larger than six issues.

Additionally, I had some real problems with the art in this issue from Georges Jeanty. While in the first issue I had some doubts, overall the art was passable. Here though it has really degraded. Many characters faces change throughout the issue on a scale from "quite a resemblance to the actor" to "who the hell is that even meant to be?" with the latter half of the scale the most frequently used. Even if Jeanty could get a better grasp on the cast's faces, the art is still coming across as relatively unremarkable and I feel a more capable artist could have really helped this series.

Read More

The Wake #6 Review

It feels like it's been a long time since the last instalment of The Wake, but the Vertigo series from Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy finally returns this week with the first issue of "Part 2" of Snyder's epic story. I'm happy to say it is a resounding success. This issue has the daunting task of setting up not just a whole new cast of characters, but also a whole new time period and civilisation and yet somehow it pulls it off. The Wake continues to be some of Snyder's strongest work, and the beautiful art from Murphy doesn't hurt either.

As I said in the intro, The Wake #6 picks up 200 years after the events of the last issue. The savage water-dwelling creatures who terrified the crew of an underground oil rig in "Part One" of this story, have now taken the Earth for themselves with the remaining humans simply learning to live around them. Snyder introduces us to a future that it is immediately clear he has put thought into, establishing such aspects as territories made up of what land remains above sea-level and the people who rule them. As rulers so often are, these people don't seem to be particularly friendly and by the end of this issue we get a clear picture that they will cause a significant amount of bother for our main character Leeward.

Leeward was a character we saw glimpses of in previous issues, but get our first real introduction to the character here. She's your standard future bad-ass punk girl, but adapted to suit Snyder's dystopian future. This means that while she's not yet wildly different from character's we have seen before, she does have an element of uniqueness - and a super-cool dolphin who in his short panel-time has already made a lasting impression on me. Seriously, the dolphin is genuinely cool.

The artwork from Sean Murphy continues to shine in this series as well. His artwork is clear, and his character designs each very different eliminating the problem I get with some books where it is unclear who is talking or present in a scene. Additionally, the fight scenes really stand-out in this issue. It's easy for fight scenes to look disappointingly motionless and static in a comic-book, but here the scenes really flowed and I felt as if I could see the weight of Leeward's punches and kicks which made the fight scenes far more entertaining than if they were done under a less capable artist.

Read More

The Bunker #1 Review

Joshua Hale Fialkov's The Bunker debuted on Comixology some time ago to much acclaim, and despite being a fan of the writer I simply couldn't pick it up as I have no way of buying digital comics. Enter ONI Press, who have very kindly presented a print version of the book for people in my situation. So now the real question is, was it worth the wait? Definitely. The Bunker #1 is the start of a very interesting, if slightly confusing, story and I'm very much looking forward to seeing how it develops.

The Bunker follows the story of a group of college students who, when attempting to bury a time capsule, come across an underground bunker filled with information that their future selves have left for them. You see, this isn't just any group of students - this group will go on to wipe out most of the people on the planet. This concept is a very clever indeed, and while it takes some time to wrap your head around, is explained well for the most part by writer Joshua Hale Fialkov, and captured expertly by artist Joe Infurnari. His art style adds a real sense of darkness to the story due mainly to the beautiful colouring which gives the book a shadowy, painted style that looks great.
Although at times I did have problems figuring out which characters were speaking and which were in the scene, these moments were few and far between, and the many breathtaking panels Infurnari brings to life more than make up for these panels.

Speaking of characters, Fialkov's character work shines in this issue. His group of five main characters each have a very different voice, and very different backgrounds. And it is these backgrounds that make it so interesting to see how each character reacts to their respective warning. The stand-out character for me was Billy whose story looks to be the most interesting, with hints being laid throughout the book that disaster is waiting for him in the next few issues.

The only real flaw, I can think of from this issue is that sometimes the story lost me. The book flashes forward, particularly near the end, and then flashes back and I had a hard time figuring out what some scenes meant, and what had happened. However, I'm sure these scenes will be elaborated on more in future issues, and may also benefit from a second read-through.

Read More

Geek Girl #0 Review

Geek Girl #0 is one of creator Sam Johnson's latest offerings in the indie comic world. With this new book he brings us a whole new character in the form of Ruby Kaye and her adventures as the titular Geek Girl. This issue covers a lot of ground laying some solid foundations for the character, telling us her origin, and leaving us with a teaser of bigger things to come.

I've reviewed a fair amount of indie comics both here and on other sites, and Geek Girl is one of the most impressive for sure. What sets Geek Girl apart from its competitors is the nice visual style created by artist Sally S-Thompson, and the lettering team of Jaymes Reed and Kris Johnson. The art has a charming style to it, and the lettering looks professional giving the whole comic a quality feel.

However, a comic is nothing but a feast for the eyes if the story is no good. Thankfully, Sam Johnson has crafted a fun origin story for this new hero, even if it isn't quite perfect. This jumping-on issue sees not only the gift of these powers being given to Ruby, but also the immediate fall out involving her disloyal friends - creating some great commentary on the somewhat self-obsessed generation we have created. There are some genuinely fun one-liners in Johnson's script which made me chuckle more than once, and by the end you start to feel a definite connection to the character he has created here.

But, as I said above, this story isn't perfect. While the script had some great moments, I felt strange about the general lack of surprise coming from the central characters about Ruby's incredible new powers. If it were me who had just gained powers, or even one of my close friends, I would be freaking out! Here though, most of the characters seemed highly unimpressed with the whole situation, and those who were excited were more excited about the costume than the powers themselves. This didn't ruin the comic by any stretch of the imagination, but did seem a little bizarre.

Read More

Shadows of the Fallen: Alter Atom #1 Review

Shadows of the Fallen: Alter Atom #1 sees the debut of not only Meddling Media's third hero, but also their third writer in Kyle Colquhoun. The issue serves mainly as an origin story of the titular character, but also sets up new elements in Meddling Media's universe - most notably the the corrupt, experimental company Sol Sage. This is another solid issue in Meddling Media's line-up that you should definitely read, however it isn't their best offering and I still feel they have room to improve.

The story is a classic origin tale of a hero getting his powers, and experiencing some form of defeat that aspires him to be the best hero he can be. It's nothing the world hasn't seen before, but that doesn't keep it from being entertaining. What also helps keep this issue interesting is the character of Alter Atom (also known as Louis), has a lot of potential to grow, especially after the events of the final pages. He's one of the most interesting characters Meddling Media has put forward yet, and his connections to the company Sol Sage could also create some serious problems going forward which I look forward to reading about.

However, aside from Louis some of the other characters did seem a little cliché. There was the evil head scientist who is intent on nothing but testing out his experiments on people. The assistant who tries not to show it, but secretly knows what they're doing is wrong; these are characters we've seen before in numerous settings. That's not to say they can't be great characters once they have been developed more, after all, this is only the first issue in this series. However, at this point these characters do feel a little bland.

On the art side of things Alex Piccirillo puts some more good work forward, with some panels genuinely really impressing me. Piccirillo seems to work best with facial expressions and body language which are always very clear, something that can be hard to get right with some artists in the industry constantly putting the same facial expression on everyone's faces.
Where Piccirillo's art occasionally falters is when he has to draw full body shots. Sometimes arms and legs can look misshapen or disproportionate, which is something to be improved upon in the future. But, overall I'd say this is another nice-looking web comic with the issues not quite frequent enough to be a big problem.

Read More

Shadows of the Fallen: Super Knight #1 Review

Shadows of the Fallen: Super Knight #1 is the second offering from the newly created web-comic creators at Meddling Media. Now while I liked their first issue, I found it a bit overwhelming. There was so much being covered in such a short time that I wondered if I'd be able to keep up with this series going forward, or if I'd ever be able to truly immerse myself in this new universe? Well, if this issue is anything to go by then my fears are unfounded. Super Knight #1 is an enjoyable read and definitely worth checking out.

Where the last issue was clearly more of a catch-up issue than anything else (these comics are a continuation of two novels), this issue sees a story that was much easier to follow, as well as one that I am genuinely interested in seeing develop.

The story revolves around the titular "Super Knight" AKA Alex Piccirillo, who just so happens to be the brother of last issue's protagonist, Thrasher. But where Thrasher is currently locked up in jail with few positive prospects on the horizon, brother Alex is fighting crime on the streets on his behalf as Super Knight. This opening issue sees SK going up against villain, Crimson Thrasher, who is selling illegal guns that have been stolen straight off the assembly line.

The story isn't the most original you will find in the world of comics, but it certainly was a fun read. It was well paced and well written - although there were a few cheesy pieces of dialogue - and to top it off it looked great too. I said in my review of the first issue that there were places where the art looked odd. Nothing really major, but just a limb out of place every now and then that was hard to miss. This issue though I read start to finish without picking up on anything. Now I'm not saying the art is absolutely flawless, however I would say it's an improvement and still quite impressive for a small web-comic.

However, the story still isn't perfect. While I found the comic easy to follow, it would still be nice to get a deeper insight into some characters featured - mainly the villains. Why is Crimson Thrasher out to get Super Knight so much? Why is he a bad guy in the first place? What motivates him to be a villain as opposed to a hero like SK? These questions aren't necessary to enjoy the story, but it would be nice to have an extra insight into this character.

The same could be said for Crimson Thrasher's partner Jackal who looks like an interesting character, and deserves a proper introduction.

Read More

Shadows of the Fallen: Thrasher #1 Review

Comics are expensive, there's no denying it. It may well be the reason why the industry has had to pull such drastic moves in order to gain customers over the last couple of years - in these tough economical times most people don't have time for comics and the people who do can't afford them.

That's where web comics come in.

Tough times are headed in this new web-comic...

I haven't been a huge follower of web comics over the years, with the only one I've read being the great, but very brief chapters of The Escapist. But after being requested to read this new series from new, independent developer Meddling Media, I thought why not. You can't beat free comics after all.

Shadows of the Fallen: Thrasher #1 is the first comic from Meddling Media and the first part in what seems like a huge story that looks to be taking place in many different MM series'. Now I'll be honest, at first I didn't really know what to make of Thrasher #1. After my first read-through I still wasn't sure I had a good idea of who the key players were or what was happening. Then however, I read through a second time, and began to realise just how much potential this story has.

The story revolves around Tony Piccirillo who wrote a book that became hugely successful, but at the same time got him involved in some dangerous conspiracies. After he prevented his research into alien biotech being stolen by a shady government group he got on the radar of the CIA and began carrying out missions for them.

Now I won't go into any more detail on the plot - partly because that would go into spoiler territory, and partly because I'm still not sure how much I understand it myself. Don't get me wrong, after multiple re-reads I do have an idea of what's going on now, but there are still some blank spots for me. Some of the characters are mentioned but given no background, some presumably huge moments in the story are brushed over in a panel. This doesn't in anyway make the book bad, it just meant that for me, it took a while to get my head round it. 

Part of this is undoubtedly because this comic is a continuation of not one, but two novels from the founder of MM. The comic does try to recap the events of those books, but there's still no denying that you may understand these events more had you have read those. 

Overall though I feel I'm being too negative about this story. I did mean what I said above - there's a lot of potential here. With many heroes soon to be let out of the gates at MM, along with a seemingly apocalyptic threat on the horizon, I am genuinely looking forward to the next instalment in this series. I would prefer a little more clarity in some plot points, but right now that isn't enough to stop the story from bursting with potential greatness. 

Plus, you have to give the writer some credit for coming up with some original characters, and an original story in a world dominated by the same old superheroes.

Considering that many web-comics often have very low budgets, I think Thrasher's art does admirably. There are many really nice looking scenes, and textures and Thrasher does look pretty cool. However, there are some art issues in some places with a couple of panels showing limbs that look a little misplaced. That aside though, I do think the art does a good job at trying to recreate the blockbuster look often seen in modern Marvel and DC comics.

Read More