Quick GN Reviews

Saint Legend, vol. 1

by Andy Seto

Alien demons threaten humanity, and only the Eight Immortals--former humans with the powers of gods--stand in their way. The art by Seto is great, with exciting action and vibrant colors, and the large format of this collection allows it to shine. The story, alas, is total tosh. It has all the depth of an early Image comic, with super-powered being showing up, posing, and fighting each other. It also reminds me of The First from CrossGen, which also featured mega-powered immortals fighting. It's just that the art is a heck of a lot better.

Rating: 2 (of 5)




Marvel Knights 4, vol. 1: Wolf at the Door

by Roberto Aguire-Sacasa, Steve McNiven & Mark Morales

The underlying plot--the Fantastic Four lose their fortune and have to take jobs like normal people--is entirely ridiculous. But since that was handed down by editorial decree, you can't really blame Aguire-Sacasa for it. Thankfully he makes the best out of a bad situation, and except for that lapse in the plot he writes a very good Fantasic Four, getting their personalities and interactions down well. The art by McNiven & Morales with colorist Morry Hollowell is, well, fantastic. Lots of detail and energetic when it needs to be. This could have been much worse, but the creative team rises to the occasion.

Rating: 3 (of 5)




Egg Story

by J. Marc Schmidt

Sad and joyful, playful and terrifying. Egg Story is the story of Feather & Five Spots, two young eggs who are ripped away from their home soon after being layed. They are gathered together with four other eggs in a carton and purchased by Julie, who stores them in her refrigerator. When Julie leaves on a trip, they escape and try to live their lives as free eggs. It's a sometimes funny and soemtimes touching story about the human condition, with a dollop of eggistential angst. It's a story that has a lot of heart. And eggs. And a ninja.

Rating: 3.5 (of 5)

Christmas Covers - December 14

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version from GCD.



Today's cover is 1961's Sugar and Spike #32. The cover by Sheldon Mayer has the youngsters pondering one of the holiday's essential mysteries.



Just 11 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

Like Printing Money

Rumor has it that Jim Lee & Alex Ross will be doing covers for next summer's Crisis 2 event series.



But if they want the thing to really sell, they'll have Lee do the pencils for the interiors.



Remember how for Crisis on Infinite Earths DC had their biggest creative team at the time, Marv Wolfman & George Perez, doing the honors? Shouldn't Crisis 2 be afforded the same? While DC has a number of good super-hero artists available, no one but Lee can realistically 'open' a summer blockbuster for them.



It would sell like nothing else has in the past decade...

Quick Manga Reviews

Apocalypse Meow, vol. 1

by Motofumi Kobayashi

What a disappointment. In using rabbits, cats and other animals to tell stories of the Vietnam War, Kobayashi seems to be aiming to produce a work on the level of Maus, but he falls quite short of the mark. While the art does a remarkably fine job of presenting the setting and the action, and doesn't look ridiculous at all in integrating the animal characters, the stories are as pointless as the plot from a first person shooter. Bunnies go on a mission, shoot things, get shot at, then come home. The characters are barely one dimensional. While war may seem pointless to those in the trenches, stories about war cannot afford to be without a point.

Rating: 1.5 (of 5)




Ai Yori Aoshi, vol. 1

by Kou Fumizuki

In this young men's romance manga, college student Kaoru is surprised when his chilfriend friend Aoi, now a beautiful young woman, shows up unexpectedly and declares that she's going to marry him. It's a standard sort of male fantasy, as Aoi wishes to serve Kaoru every desire. There's an added complication in that Kaoru has disowned himself as heir to the a powerful merchant family and Aoi's family disapproves of her being with someone who has brought such dishonor on himself. Fumizuki's art is strong, especially the detailed backgrounds, and the storytelling is clear. It's fine for what it is, but there's just something creepy about the fact that the perfect woman is presented as submissive--I suppose that there's something inticing to a young man in the thought that a perfect woman would just show up at the door one day, and that 'true blue love' with with a sexy girl can be had with no effort.

Rating: 2.5 (of 5)




Musashi #9, vol. 1

by Takahashi Miyuki

Musashi is Agent #9 for Ultimate Blue, a secret extra-governmental organization that works behind the scenes to stop terrorists and maintain world order. Although she's only 16-years-old, Musashi is considered to be the most effective of the nine special U.B. operatives. Unfortunately, throughout each of the four stories in this volume Musashi remains a cipher, completely undeveloped as a character. The only thing we know about her personality is that she dresses like a man, and is mistaken for a teenage boy until the very end of the story when her gender is revealed. This could make for an interesting character, but nothing is made of Musashi's ambiguous gender other than the reveal--there's no attempt to explore gender roles or Musashi's identity at all, it's just a quirk of the story. Miyuki's art is generally strong and he draws action well, but his characters tend to lack personality in their drawing as well as in their characterization.

Rating: 2.5 (of 5)

Christmas Covers - December 13

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version from GCD.



Today's cover is 1997's Starman #27. The cover by Tony Harris illustrates James Robinson's story "Christmas Knight."



Just 12 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

Christmas Monkey Covers - December 12

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. In addition, Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB, because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover.



So to celebrate this second Sunday in December, I present you with a Christmas cover featuring a monkey! (Okay, actually a gorilla...) Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version from CBR.



The cover is from 1967's Treasure Chest vol. 23 #8. The cover by an unknown artist features the supposed editor of Treasure Chest, a comic distributed in Roman Catholic schools and churches, getting into the Christmas spirit.



(A big YACB thanks to Scott Shaw!'s Oddball Comics where I came across this wonder of holiday merriment!)



Just 13 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

Christmas Covers - December 11

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version from GCD.



Today's cover is 1979's The Brave and the Bold #148. The cover by Jim Aparo illustrates Bob Haney's story of Batman and Plastic Man beating the true meaning of Christmas into the skulls of mobsters intent on pulling a 'Grinch' on the citizens of Gotham.



Just 14 more 'get-ups' until Santa!