Comic Quickies:

Mystery Society TPB: I read this one a few weeks back, and have just barely enough thoughts about it to give it a review.  Granted, not enough thoughts for a full review, but enough to warrant an appearance here on Comic Quickies.

Mystery Society is another item from my comics club haul, and another title that I likely would have passed over otherwise.  This one follows a rich husband and wife team who pull off clandestine operations in the name of good for all mankind. When we meet said couple, the dude, Nick Hammond, is on a mission in Area 51 attempting to recruit some new agents for their organization. What you get is a bunch of ninja/James Bond style action, and some semi-exciting thrills.  This one reminded me of Umbrella Academy and a little bit of Planetary, but in the cheap knock-off sort of way.  Not really a good thing.

The interesting tid-bit here is that it features art by one of my new favorite comic artists, Fiona Staples, who has been killing it on Saga lately.  Her art here is from about two years ago, and while her work in Mystery Society is quite good, I will definitely say that she has experienced improvement.

Overall, this was entertaining, but not overly impressive.

Godzilla Half-Century War #1 of 5: Buying this comic was a no-brainer.  It was written and drawn by James Stokoe, a guy that blew me away with his work on Orc Stain.  Apparently, Stokoe is a huge Godzilla fan, and getting to make a Godzilla comic is basically a dream come true for the guy.

Well, all that shows because this is one incredibly entertaining and engaging first issue.  It starts with Godzilla majorly fucking shit up in Tokyo as one tank commander, Ota Murakami, attempts to deal a bit of damage to the beast while saving the lives of innocent civilians.  Along with his tank operator, Kentaro, the two become the only effective means of limiting the damage and death that Godzilla lays down.

Sure, it's kinda a standard way of starting out a Godzilla comic, but Stokoe does a great job of introducing the primary characters and delivering some absolutely awesome Godzilla action.  Most importantly, the action is great, and as I've come to expect from Stokoe, the art is absolutely fantastic.  Moving forward, this looks to be a really great mini-series, and I'll be eagerly anticipating each of these issues.

Blue Estate #12: Sure it's been a while between issues, but I'm always willing to wait for an issue of Blue Estate simply because it is always awesome, and easily one of my favorite reads of the week.

This 12th issue wraps up "Season One", or what is basically the first major story line of the series. All the story threads that have been building and building over the past eleven issues pay off here, and the conclusion is pretty damn entertaining.  There's a great combination of shocking and hilarious moments that play out in this issue, and I'm glad that Kalvachev was able to pull it all together for an awesome finale.

Blue Estate is definitely one of my favorite comic series, and it's one that I highly recommend.  Each issue has been a great blend of hilarity, action, and wild plot development.  This comic is definitely one that will keep the reader on his or her toes and leave you wanting more.  I'm not totally positive that there are more issues of Blue Estate planned after this, but my fingers are crossed that there will be more of this amazing comic to come in the very near future.  As far as crime comics go, or any kind of comic for that matter, this is one of the best.

Batman #12: Well, we've reached the one-year mark with all these new DC titles, and after starting out reading seven of the new fifty-two comics, I've whittled that list down to a paltry two titles.  One of those that's still left kicking after all this time is Batman.

Truth be told, Batman has been just barely hanging in there as I've been a bit bored with the whole "Court of the Owls" story line.  Give me some classic bat-villains damn it!  The Owl business was a bit too trumped up for my tastes. That being said, this 12th issue was quite good...probably because there was no sign of any Owl garbage, and the art was done by Becky Cloonan, who totally rocked it.

What this issue did have was a sort of back to the roots approach that was told through the point of view of Harper Row, a Gotham City electrician who is intent on helping the Batman do his crime fighting thing in her own little way.  Harper essentially figures out how Batman controls the CCTV cameras throughout the city while he is doing his thing, and tries to do the Caped Crusader a solid by bolstering his system.  Her plan, though filled with good intentions, backfires with nearly deadly consequences.

Sure, this issue didn't have great over-arching plots and all that, but it was cool to see Batman through the eyes of a regular Gothamite.  Not to mention, the writing and art were much better than usual here too.  My hope is that the whole "Court of the Owls" business is behind us, and moving on Snyder can deliver more compelling Batman stories.

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.

Spotlight on Blue Estate

I wanna take some time and tell you all a little bit about one of my favorite comics of the moment, Blue Estate.  I've mentioned this comic a total of two times here at the blog, which frankly, doesn't do the comic justice.  Not even close.

Most recently, I lauded Blue Estate as a runner up to my favorite comics of the year, calling it "crafty, twisty crime writing at its finest". However, prior to that, Blue Estate garnered only one other mention, waaaaaay back in April when the first issue came out, and the best platitude I could muster back then was "pretty solid".

So how did Blue Estate go from pretty solid to the lofty ranks of a Battle Hymns "best of" runner up award?  Well, surprisingly the recipe for success is quite simple.

Blue Estate has done one crucial thing that has moved me from "pretty solid" to being one of my most favorite comics: it just gets better and better with each subsequent issue.  The first volume, which collects the first four issues is a great read, but personally, I got completely sucked in by the 5th-8th issues. Everything awesome about Blue Estate got more awesome in these issues, and when things get completely ratcheted up like that, I get really excited.

Allow me to highlight some of the awesomeness...

As each issue comes along, I've gotten to know each character a bit better. I discover bits about their past, their motivations, and how they are interconnected with the other characters that populate the series.  In Blue Estate, you get a lot of what at the surface might seem like familiar crime story cliches;  There's a troubled starlet, a Russian mafioso, Italian mobsters, private eyes, detectives, strippers, and so on.  However, these characters are in no way caricatures of things you've seen before.  These characters are becoming increasingly fleshed out, and developed so that, while they have an air of familiarity, these "standbys" of the crime genre are being taken in new and interesting directions.

I know I might be mixing my story telling mediums a bit here, but the best comparison I can make, and probably the highest praise I can heap on, is that the characters in Blue Estate remind me a lot of George R.R. Martin's characters from A Song of Ice and Fire in the sense that there's some I love, some I hate, some that I love to hate, some that are pure entertainment to read, and others who I started out not liking and now like, and vice-versa.  Most importantly, like I do with ASoIaF, when certain characters aren't in a particular issue, I miss them.  With such well crafted characters at the core of the series, I find myself pining away between issues.

Putting my emotions aside for a moment, there is one other key element of awesomeness I want to point out, and that is the plotting.  Simply put, Blue Estate has some of the most insanely intricate plotting I've seen. I'll be the first to admit, I pretty much have no idea where this story is going. But you know what?  That's fine with me because I've developed a lot of faith in the writing of Viktor Kalvachev and Kosta Yanev and the scripting by Andrew Osborne.  As the story progresses there's been conclusions to scenes, and story lines that have knocked my socks off with the way they are concluded not only with crafty writing, but with a sense of humor, and a large degree of style.  The "style" factor is hard to put into words, but it makes its mark in the atmosphere, the dialog, and the art.

Furthermore, the writers have pulled off a fantastic, magician-like performance in terms of keeping things hidden, keeping me guessing, and delivering little clues along the way that deceive, hint and enthrall.  These factors add up, and give me faith that there's great things to come for this series.  There's no doubt that there's some hidden agendas I know nothing about, and I can't wait to see where things go.

I should also add that back in April, when I discussed the first issue, I wasn't completely in love with the rotating art duties.  I've since come to terms with it, and frankly have no problems with it at this point.  I think as I've become accustomed to the story and the characters, the changing art styles feels like second nature at this point, and has become yet another unique and endearing quality of Blue Estate.

I hope some of you give Blue Estate a shot, so we can talk about it here, and give the dudes at the comic shop a rest from my monthly rave-sessions.  The first two volumes are out now (or will be by tomorrow 1/11), so this is a great time to check out an awesome series.

Grade so far (Issues 1-8): A