Comic Quickies: New Sagas and Projects

Saga #1: Well, I've been eagerly waiting for this comic since it was announced way back in July at San Diego Comic Con.  Seems like ages ago.  Well, I'm happy to say that Saga appears to have been very much worth the wait.  As far as first issues go, this one is about as good as they come.  Vaughan does a fantastic job of introducing the characters, setting up the story, all while building and developing the universe in which the story takes place...oh, and it's an exciting action packed first issue too.

In the opening pages of Saga we get a rather intimate view of young woman, Alana who is giving birth to her first child in a mechanic's shop, while her husband, Marko lends a hand.  Both Marko and Alana are human-like aliens, and as it turns out, of different races; Races which happen to be at war with one another...a war that is spanning the galaxy.

Alana is from a planet called Landfall, the largest in the galaxy, while Marko is from Wreath, the one and only satellite moon of Landfall.  Apparently, familiarity breeds contempt.  Since destruction of one would send the other spinning out of orbit, each side has outsourced the war to other planets, and now the entire galaxy finds itself embroiled in the conflict.

Aside from Marko and Alana, it looks like there's a few other players that will be big parts of the overall story.  The art here is pretty great too.  It's all handled nicely by Fiona Staples who seems to be just the right fit for this epic galaxy spanning story.  She's called upon to draw a wide variety of people, creatures and settings here, and it all looks wonderful.  I'm excited to see more from Staples.


Saga scores points on many fronts, not the least of which is the cost/value front.  You get 44 pages of comic here for $2.99!  Probably the most bang for your buck.  Also, Vaughan and  Staples earn lots of cool points from me for depicting a brown woman breast feeding on the cover of their first issue.  That might sound like a silly thing, but by and large the comics world is a sexist and racist place, and I was happy to see a comic that makes a clear statement that it will not continue to perpetuate a shitty trend.  I'm very excited to see where this one leads.

Manhattan Projects #1: This one ain't gonna win any awards for cool cover art, but it's what's inside that counts right?  Manhattan Projects is another comic from Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra, the creative team that brought us The Red Wing.  I wasn't super impressed with The Red Wing, especially on the art front as I felt that Pitarra was pretty inconsistent through the course of the 4 issue series. But the writing wasn't so hot either.  So really, I didn't have a ton of momentum coming into this title, aside from the fact that Hickman's ideas always sound so damn cool and I usually want to read and see if he delivers.

The concept here is sort of a what if situation where Hickman asks, what if the Manhattan Project, which produced the first atomic bomb, was instead the Manhattan Projects a place for all kinds of weird and wild science experiments and creations to flourish?  *Sigh* I'm such a sucker for mad science.

This first issue focuses on Robert Oppenheimer's first day on the job as he is hired by some dude from the war department that appears to be a cross between Sargent Slaughter and The Great Santini.  A tour of the facilities follows and Hickman mixes in Oppenheimer's and his twin brother's back-story, while the Japanese send a troop of robots through a portal and attack the science facilities.

It makes for an interesting and exciting first issue, but I'm still a bit skeptical.  Pitarra's art still suffers from inconsistency, there's some stuff that looks good, some not so good, and some that looks down-right poor.  (Like the time the guy from the War Deparment's head looks like an unshelled peanut with eyes, ears, nose and mouth.) Consider me firmly on the fence.

Peter Panzerfaust #2: I've been eagerly awaiting this issue too, because I was so pleasantly surprised by the opening issue.  The second issue didn't let me down either.

Peter, and his plucky band of orphan boys manage to waylay some Nazis, steal their guns, knock 'em senseless, steal some intelligence, and plan a rescue mission for some captured Brits.  Not bad for a bunch of teens with no military training.

Wiebe delivers a thrilling and action packed issue once again and continues his red-hot streak of great comic writing.  Jenkins' art is a great accompaniment too.  He evokes the war-torn, occupied France look and feel very well.

My only gripe is that aside from Peter, I have a hard time keeping the other boys straight.  I think I know for sure who Felix is (cold hearted bastard in a short sleeved shirt and sweater-vest) but the other dudes are a blur of names and similar looking faces and outfits. There is one with a white dude 'fro, but I can't parcel out his name yet...I suppose I could just refresh my memory by going back to the first issue, but I'm lazy.  I'm fucked if these kids change clothes.

My laziness aside, this is a fun and entertaining comic that appears to be building towards cool things.  Bring on some more!

Blue Estate #10: One of my favorite comics reaches double digits this month and to commemorate, Viktor Kalvachev and co. deliver what is quite possibly the most hilarious issue of Blue Estate yet.  I was happily entertained by the real estate deal turned creepy/weird sex scene starring the Beckhams Peckhams which had a cameo appearance from none other than the Hoff.

They also mix in some funny stoners, get a racehorse high, and deliver some funny sexual repartee between starlet Rachel Maddox and my favorite character, Tony Luciano.  On top of all that, they also build the plot up to a nice boiling point that will likely erupt next issue.

With this tenth issue, it really seems like the creative minds behind Blue Estate have hit stride and are feeling very comfortable with the story.  This comic has a pretty complex plot with lots of ins and outs, but it has been masterfully delivered and the ride is a lot of fun.  I know I've said this before, but I highly recommend Blue Estate.

Comic Quickies: Some Endings

Captain Swing #4 of 4:  Well, it's about fucking time!  I've been waiting for this series to conclude for quite a while now.  Not only was it about a five month wait between issue #3 and #4, but I recall buying Captain Swing #1 as my very first floppy issue purchased as an adult a little over a year and a half ago.  Yeah, that's a long time to wait for four issues.

Ellis did manage to wrap things up pretty well here, but the story definitely suffered for the long wait between issues.  For my money, the third issue was the best in the series.


Captain Swing is definitely worth a read in graphic novel format when it comes out, particularly if you're into pirates, Victorian era electro-steampunky shenanigans, good writing and solid art.

The Red Wing #4 of 4:  Unlike Captain Swing, The Red Wing came out in nice rapid-fire release style, sticking to the monthly schedule.  Unfortunately, that didn't do me a lot of good, because even with the typical gaps between installments, I still had a hard time following the story and remembering what exactly was going on.

For that reason, I would advise enjoying this tale of futuristic time-travel and intergalactic war in one sitting.  Despite my sieve-like memory, I did still enjoy this.  Have I mentioned I enjoy time-travel stories?

My one gripe for this title is Nick Pitarra's art.  I started out really liking it, but by the fourth issue, I was a bit tired of it. There wasn't much variety in the content from issue to issue, and I definitely got sick of the whole "draw every little part and piece of  some object" shtick. (Look to the cover for an example of this technique).

I'll definitely have to give this whole deal another read sometime in the future to get the full effect.

Witch Doctor #4 of 4: Winning the award for pure, crazy fun is Witch Doctor.  It's no mystery that I can't get enough of weird, crazy monsters, and Witch Doctor has been doing a real good job of providing me with my fix.

This is a title by two new creators, Brandon Seifert and Lukas Ketner, and they've each gotten better at their respective jobs with each issue.  Siefert's writing has gotten sharper with each consecutive issue, and Ketner's art seems to improve with each panel.  Each creator seems to be on a nice skyward trajectory, and I can't wait to see what they have in store next.

Though this is the end of this Witch Doctor mini-series, there is more to come soon.  There'll be a nice little Witch Doctor one-shot coming in time for the Holidays, and another mini-series coming early next year.  Hopefully they'll be able to keep the ball rolling on this fantastically weird, funny, disgusting, and exciting title.

Read and enjoy!

The Vault #3 of 3:  The whole time I was reading this final issue of The Vault, I kept thinking to myself how it was set up, and felt very much like a movie; with three distinct acts, the first which set up the situation, the second which saw everything go haywire, and the third where everything comes together.  Then I heard that The Vault had been already been optioned for film production.  Well, surprise, surprise!

I'm not sure how I feel about comics that are basically story-boards for a movie. I'm not sure that was writer's and artist's goal with The Vault, but the fact that I thought the comics had a movie script-like feel to them, then found out it was indeed going to become a movie is a pretty good indicator that ulterior motives were afoot.

Movie conspiracies or not, this was still a pretty fun comic to read.  My biggest complaint was that the evil beastie wasn't that cool looking.  I never felt like it made much of an impression as a thing to be feared.  Decent stuff here, but nothing that brings anything new to the table.  A decent read, but not one I consider must-read comics.

Comic Quickies: Big Names

Rachel Rising #1: I was so excited when I saw the solicits for Rachel Rising.  I've never read a thing by Terry Moore, but I've heard lots of good things about his work on Strangers in Paradise and Echo and I had a good feeling about this comic as soon as I laid eyes on some of Moore's interior art.

The comic begins with nine wordless, art filled pages which take place in the woods with a mysterious woman watching on from a distance as another woman literally digs herself out of a shallow dirt grave.

The buried woman is the title character, Rachel Beck, who can't remember what the hell happened to her last night. As the reader, we are as clueless as Rachel, and can only search for clues in the art, and try to make meaning out of the small things she discovers.  The first issue offers up a scant amount of information: a strangely bruised neck, three missing days since she last remembers a thing....and there's something wrong with her eyes.

Not a lot to go on, but I was completely sucked in by this comic.  Moore's art, which completely carries the story for the first few pages is lush and gorgeous.  The mystery element of what the hell happened hooked me, and there are a lot of things that happen or are seen in through the course of the issue that left me with some seriously burning questions.  Like: who the fuck was that lady watching Rachel dig herself out of a shallow grave?

Awesome stuff, and easily the best comic I've read all month.

Gotham Noir One-Shot: Before I even flipped open the cover, this comic had all the hallmarks of greatness: A Gotham City/Batman story set in the 40's featuring Jim Gordon as a down on his luck P.I., a noir-style crime story, and the creative team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, which has been a money combo for me in the past.

Unfortunately, this comic failed to impress me.  I was pretty underwhelmed by the story, I found that I couldn't make myself care about what was going on.  It was sort of interesting to see how Brubaker placed classic Batman characters like Catwoman, and the Joker into the mid-century narrative, but the whole time I sort of felt like I was reading a What If? type story, that was lacking in authenticity.

I can't say that this was a bad comic, it just didn't strike me as the quality I've come to expect from Brubaker and Phillips.  It's so sad when things don't live up to expectations.

The Red Wing #2: This four issue mini-series started out incredibly well, and I had high hopes that the second issue would live up to the quality of the first.

It did...for the most part.  In terms of writing, the story took a much appreciated leap forward. This issue developed characters, delivered some important back story, moved the plot along nicely, and delivered a sweet twist at the end.  All in all, an epic win for any piece of writing.  Hickman is clearly a top-level writer working at the peak of his game.  So, yeah, in that regard, this was a great issue.

The art was a slightly different story.  Nick Pitarra was a complete unknown prior to this comic, and then he came out the gates strong with a brilliant looking first issue.  The dude set the bar pretty damn high for himself, and I felt like he didn't quite nail it on this issue.  Though most of the time Pitarra did manage to recapture the artistic glory of the first issue, there were a few times the art looked flat to me.  There also weren't any mind-blowing art sequences here like there were in the first issue.  That might sound pretty nit-picky but I guess I just have damn high expectations from the previous issue.

My petty complaints aside, this is still a great comic, and one that I'm very much looking forward to reading for the next couple months.

Sweet Tooth #24: This comic gets continual mentions here on the Comic Quickies feature because Jeff Lemire continues to not only write an amazingly captivating and emotionally gripping story, but he also continuously experiments and push the boundaries of his art.

In this issue, for the first time ever, Lemire handled some of the coloring duties.  Why? Especially when he's got Eisner Award winning colorist Jose Villarrubia on colors?  Well, it worked out perfectly on this issue as Lemire's colored pages matched up with a particular character's journey between the worlds of the living and the dead.  Lemire used watercolors, and they gave a very creepy, other-worldly feel to the pages he worked on.  Obviously, the other-worldly feel was perfect for a story that took place on err...other worlds.

This isn't the first time Lemire has tried some new things artistically with Sweet Tooth.  He's done a story-book style issue, and even an issue where three different guest artists tell the back story of three different characters.   Each time, the unique approach has made for a great comic reading experience.  This isn't the end of the art experimenting either...Matt Kindt is a guest artist for three straight issues coming out in the very near future.