Paul Dini's Zatanna

I really thought that, with the birth  of my second son that my comic reading volume would take a serious down turn as I'd be spending all my time raising him and his brother.

However, for the first two weeks of his life, my newborn was quite considerate to keep me up almost all night. This 'chore' I was able to turn to my advantage as it gave me the opportunity to read through Zatanna.

Zatanna: The Paul Dini
Collection.

The Paul Dini collection of Zatanna was a title I spotted during a massive DC sale on Comixology last year and it's truly stunning Adam Hughes cover, along with a serious discount, convinced me on the spot to pick it up.

It's just a shame it's taken me this long to read it. Fortunately, as the old adage states; good things come to those who wait.

I guess therapists really are
different things to different
people.

For those not in the know about this series, it is a 16 issue (and 1 double-sized special) series which follows the Mistress of Magic as she juggles maintaining her successful career as a stage magician with her responsibilities as a Sorceress and the Justice League's first line of mystical defence. Paul Dini, along with a host of other big name art and writing talents, produces a series containing multiple short arcs and one shots, which are interconnected by a single overlying plot as Zee attempts to defeat the machinations of the deadly Brother Night.

Cliff Chiang's art really was
the standout of the series for
me, as this splash page proves.

Now, I enjoyed this series quite a bit. It was a fun read with practically the entire run focusing on Zatanna herself and everything about her that I never really knew and which made her great. I thought Dini and Co. did great work here as they portrayed the Mistress of Magic as very much an independent, working lady in a similar vein to Slott's She-Hulk (or at least as she appeared in the first issue). Meanwhile, Zatanna's supporting cast were equally fun additions as I felt that they were well-rounded (for the most part) personalities and helped sell the idea of Zee living a normal life better than if it were other superheroes.

Dustin Nyugen's work in the
special's back up really works
sell the horror-esque story.

Meanwhile, on the art side, I completely adored the covers this series had, specifically Stephane Roux's covers as well as Adam Hughes cover which was used to front the collection. Then there was Cliff Chiang's art on during a three issue arc involving puppets, which I thought was totally fitting for the story and character, and Dustin Nyugen's art which came up in a back up feature in the opening special, which I thought had a real Halloween vibe about it but still looked eerily beautiful.

Fighting villains with regular
tricks, this shot has to be the
perfect visual to explain the run.

Of course, while I did enjoy reading this series, I still struggled to find Zatanna really great. This comes from the fact that nothing really stood out within the issues, With only a couple of stories really seeming memorable to me. Meanwhile, Dini's opening introduction gave me the impression of a Hawkeye-esque series focusing more on Zatanna's regular life. However, while this did happen to an extent, it wasn't as prevalent as that intro had me believe.

That said, it was still a fun read a dim glad I checked it out as it gave a previously unknown appreciation for the character.

And, who knows, maybe if I read it when not sleep deprived then I might find it infinitely better than this read through.

Comic Reading: March 2019

March was something of a long month for me as it felt look it never stopped.

Throughout the course of this month I saw my second child come into the world, his older brother's room created from nothing, sleep deprivation and a house which looks like a bomb hit.

I also had no new pull list comics until the end of the month, reading and writing about a whole host of trades and single issues I had on my to read pile and another six titles which I reviewed through Pipedream Comics.

As such, this month's round up-esque post is a little different. As you'll see when you get further down, while I'm still going to talk about the comics on my pull list which I picked up, I'm also going to give a brief, but more personal, view on those comics I reviewed for pipedream.

(I'll also link each statement to the review so you can see how the professional does it!)

So, this could be a long one, so let's get started.

The Pull List:

My first read from my pull list was Lazarus Risen #1, which is only down to it's release a week prior to the others. This new issue returned to where the prior series had left off, with Forever's tenuous alliance with Johanna still intact as they continued to avert disaster for their family during the war.

Lazazrus: Risen #1
Reborn to my standards!!

Now, I had previously been concerned about where this new series would go with the Lazarus story, given it's new format and release schedule and how I (and other readers) might ultimately be screwed. However, after reading this issue, I was glad to see that my fears were unfounded (at least for now). I find it a little contradictory that, after reading this comic, I am feeling both relieved to have Lazarus back while simultaneously feeling like there has been no gap at all. However, that is exactly what I feel as (with help from a terrifically detailed recap page), I don't think I skipped a beat as I read through.

Lark's art was as glorious as ever and Rucka's story was once again addictively compelling, leaving me plenty of questions as to what had exactly has happened between the past issue (two story years prior) and now. I also wondered what happened to Forever's hair as her short cut really confused me to begin with, thinking she was Marisol. Of course it makes sense given that 'Eight' looks set to become more prominent, but it really did throw me for a moment.

However, the thing which really blew me away was the back matter. Lazarus has always been a title consisting of good special features, but with this new bigger format, the creators have gone to the elevens!! The letters pages are still here and now there's additional pages relating to the Lazarus roleplaying game, but the coup de grace for me had to be the prose story 'Your Last Meal on Earth' by Lilah Sturgess. It's been a while since I've read a prose story, focusing more on comics, but this tale was a truly epic read which is continuing to make me wonder if we'll see more about the character, Ginger, in future.

All in all, this one issue has blown out of the water all the concerns I had for this reborn series. It's just a shame I have to wait 3 months for the next issue, that's one hell of a wait!

Next on my pull list (although it felt like an age between the two) was Fantastic Four #8, which saw Doctor Doom begin his plans to harvest the power cosmic from a captured Galactus as the also captured Fantastic Four await his judgement.



Fantastic Four #8. More
of the four is always good.

However, much like with the previous two issues, I found myself to be in two minds about this instalment. Not that I didn't enjoy the issue because I did, especially the art by the team of Kuder, Caselli, Marquez and Brown which had this really gorgeous look to it (bettered by Matt Yackey's colours). I not only loved these visuals (particularly the Thing imprisoned panel, which gave such a cool, moody vibe) but was also surprised to realise there were so many cooks in the kitchen as I did think only Kuder was responsible, so consistent was the art.

Also, the characterisations of the Four, particularly of Reed and (naturally) Ben, started to feel real spot on here as both sounded more like the characters I've been reading all these years.

However, I still struggled to get on board with the plot of this arc due to the same reasons I had for those first two issues; the early use of Doom and Galactus as villains, the return to standard superhero tales for the book and the seeming about turn on Doom's 'hero' journey. Also, this issue felt very reminiscent to me of Waid/Wienigo's Unthinkable arc, although not as epic in comparison to it in my opinion and I struggled to correlate what was going on in my head given Doom's 'altruistic' plan against his plans for the FF. Also, I have found myself wondering why Franklin and Valeria needed to build a Teleporter as you'd think Franklin's power could have got them there.

That said, this issue still has me hooked overall as its good points outweigh my worries about it enough for me to come back (not that I'm likely to go anywhere). However, while it is a good (ish) read, I do wish this Fantastic Four run was as 'fantastic' as I feel it can be.

Last up on my pull list was Detective Comics #1000 which, like Action Comics #1000 last year, saw DC's top talent come together to tell a series of stories about the Dark Knight to celebrate 1000 issues and 80 years.

Detective Comics #1000.
A worthy milestone.

I'm not sure if I expected a lot from this comic after my tremendous enjoyment of Action Comics #1000, but I did find myself struggling to enjoy the opening story, Batman's Longest Case, despite it being by the awesome Batman creative team of Snyder and Capullo. The thing is, I'm not sure why I had such a problem with this story, although it might be down to the fact that it didn't seem like a classic Batman story.

That said, any dread I had thanks to that first story were quickly and easily dispelled by the rest of the issue's content. Now, not all of the stories appealed as I read through, such as the final story Medieval which introduced Arkham Knight from the video game (for some reason) but despite my initial fears a large number of these tales really resonated with me.

Kevin Smith's Manufacture for Use, The Legend of Knute Brody by Paul Dini and the Batman's Design by Warren Ellis were incredibly enjoyable stories (The latter of which I absolutely adored Becky Cloonan's terrific art) which I thought really sold/displayed certain aspects of the character perfectly. Also, I loved seeing Matches Malone return in who knows how long.

After those, the stories dropped in my estimations with a couple of tales not really grabbing me. Of course, that's not to say they weren't good as both also offered some cool insights into Batman's personality while Epting's art on Return to Crime Alley is hauntingly beautiful. Unfortunately, as I said, that, along with Heretic, I Know and the Last Crime in Gotham, while visually pretty and well written stories, just didn't appear to be my bag and were largely forgettable to me.

Fortunately, the two penultimate tales were far more interesting to me as they focused on the Bat-Family dynamic and Batman's relationship with them. Of these, I particularly liked The Precedent, which focused on Bruce Wayne's inner debate over accepting original Robin Dick Grayson. What I enjoyed about this story was how it not only focused on the minutiae of Robin's origin, but also focused on what a lot of fans always wondered; why does Batman put a kid in harm's way? Because of that, it was interesting to see Batman not have the answer for a change as well as his always great father/son dynamic with Alfred.

Meanwhile, Batman's Greatest Case continued the thread from the Precedent with the Dark Knight bringing together all of his partners, sidekicks and disciples for a special event. Now, not only did I love Daniels and Jones' art on this story but I also adored how King was able to show the not often seen sentimentalism that Batman must obviously feel for all those members of his 'family'.

Overall, the stories within this issue were equal numbers hit and miss in my mind but, nonetheless, I found reading Detective #1000 as a whole to be quite a fun passing of the time. I'm not sure it was as good as Action #1000 but it was certainly good enough to make me realise that DC know how to make a good milestone comic.

And so, with my Pull list done, next come the Pipedream reviews.

The Reviews:

Heads #1 was the first title of the month (whose review was released anyway) and I have to confessed that it intrigued me some. I enjoy crime stories and novels, but I never seem to come across all that many in comics (and I know the Brubaker/Phillips comics are but I just haven't gotten around to them). With this comic though, I really liked the style, which as I think back really helped sell that noir look on the title, and enjoyed the potential this opener's story seemed to hint at. As such, I do need to check out the next issue and see if it continues the way I hope it to.

I don't know what I was expecting when I read The Eelman Chronicles Volume 1. I recall that when I opened to the first page that I found myself uncertain if this was really my thing, the art looked a bit too 'unpolished' than what I was used to. However, this comic was hilarious, with that art actually helping sell me on it rather than push me away. I mentioned in my review how this was a labour of love and, I think, that's what sold me as a I read it because love and affection for 'the Eelman' could not have been warmer or more complimentary. If a second volume comes out, I'm looking forward to it with a much more open mind frame.

Ken Reynolds and Sam Bentley's Cognition #4 continues a series which is definitely one of my most enjoyable in small press, if my reviews of #0 & 1, #2 and #3 are anything to go by. Thankfully, this fourth instalment shows little in way of changing that opinion. With this issue I thought that there was far more action than story compared to the earlier issues and, once again, a couple of panels seemed to have the foreground and background merge, which I'm seeing as a common problem with each issue. However, it doesn't change how much I enjoy it, as the characters are awesome and keep me more than invested. I'm hoping for a trade now five issues are out, as I'll be happily investing my coin there.

When it came to reading The Robot War #1, while I gave it a good review (because, technically, it deserved one), I found myself in two minds about what I thought of this issue overall. The thing about it which put me off was just how crass the dialogue was as I read through it. My issue here was that, while I have no problem with swearing or crude language in order to maintain a realistic world, I felt that this title had all of that in abundance, taking me out of the world a little. Despite that, I have to admit that it was a gorgeous comic and I'm really intrigued about where the story will go in the next issues.

The Offspring #1 & 2 was next up and, again, this was a tough one to justify what I said, although the more subjective reasonings are a little vaguer. As I had stated in my review, this series' two entries really felt like a mash up of multiple genres, from crime to horror to superheroes. However, this isn't a flaw with the series as I enjoy all of those and, as such, this series came across as just fine. Unfortunately, just fine was about all I could say about the Offspring as, while I enjoyed it as I read it, I don't think it's a comic for me and isn't necessarily a title I'd probably go back to under my own steam.

And so, I finished my reviews of the month with Songs for the Dead Volume 1, which admittedly had been sitting in my to read pile for most of 2019 thus far as I worked my way towards it. With this comic, I had a lot of anticipation for it, expecting it to be akin to Porcelain or it's two sequel books; Bone China and Ivory Tower. Unfortunately, I fear that I held it to too high a standard as Songs for the Dead just didn't sing to me (pun intended) like I hoped it would. This is a great shame really as, once again, the story and art were of high quality (probably more so than any review I've done this month). However, it was ultimately a tale which didn't appeal to me prior to it's cliffhanger (which does have me tempted to return).

And so, there you have it!! After three Pull list comics and 6 reviewed comics, (a rather long) March round up is done!

Sadly (or fortunately), this size of round up won't be a common feature for a couple of months for, as I head into April, my second born's recent arrival will undoubtedly take up much of my time.

However, I was glad that took the time to give a small shout out to those reviewed books here and offer a more personal note or two on how I found them.

Hopefully, I haven't put too many people off of at least checking them out because they are still great books (as my reviews will attest).

Star Trek: Harlan Ellison's The City on the Edge of Forever.

As I move into the period of the year where my primary method of going to work changes from Bus to Bike, I look back and see that most (if not all) of the print comics I've wanted to read and talk about I've done just that.

 

Star Trek: Harlan Ellison's
City on the Edge of Forever.

On the other hand, the number of unread comics on my Comixology account is rather numerous, to an extent that for two nights before I started here I struggled to decide what to read.

 

Star Trek: Harlan Ellison's City on the Edge of Forever was a trade which I think I picked up for free (or at least incredibly cheap) when Comixology had it on sale. Due mainly to its cover, it's a comic I've been tempted to read many a time since, although I've always found some excuse not to.

Well, I seem to have finally run out of excuses!

 

City on the Edge of Forever is (as the cover maintains) an adaptation of the first series Star Trek episode of the same name. However, unlike that episode, this trade follows the original script by writer Harlan Ellison before it was amended to what was seen on the screens. Therefore, unlike chasing through time a maddened Dr McCoy, this story saw a Kirk and Spock attempt to follow a rogue Starfleet officer as his escape through time causes major disturbances for all that they know.
 



 The prime example of the
trippy use of art.

Now, I've been a big fan of Star Trek for a long time, having watched all subsequent series from TNG to Discovery. However, I've always struggled to be invested in the original series (most likely due to my inability to be invested in older shows and movies due to their dated visuals. A bit snobby of me I know). Therefore, I am unsure what of this comic compelled me to give it a look (beyond its apparent cost).

 

Fortunately, I'm glad that I was able to push past my 'bias' and give this comic series the chance it deserved because City on the Edge of Forever is one immensely enjoyable, engrossing and (surprisingly) thought provoking title. One which was certainly helped as I opened the first page and realised that the team behind the ever enjoyable Mirror Broken of the Tipton Brothers and J.K. Woodward were responsible for giving me this story life.

 

I absolutely love Woodward's
use of Monochrome here.

I think the thing I loved about this story was the catalyst behind the overall adventure, with the rogue officer Beckwith being immediately portrayed as a rather nefarious, shifty type. It's very rare to see this kind of character in Star Trek, given its rather Utopian ideals. However, while 'con men' like Harry Mudd and Quark are shown to exist, I always liked the idea of Voyager's Tom Paris, who from the outset always felt like a Del Boy esque character, using Starfleet as a means to get ahead (albeit that character was not really like that, even if his character traits hinted it). It's always been a case that crooks would use the cover of military enrolment to avoid arrest/enrich themselves and so seeing the inclusion of Beckwith as such an individual gives (in my opinion) a deeper, not so clear cut facet of the Star Trek universe.

Beyond that, there seems to be little included that wasn't part of the original episode, but I do love how faithfully the Tipton's recreated the feel of the episode and the emotional upheaval it generated while also giving it greater depth and a more intriguing overall plot.

Honestly, I could go on and
on about J.K. Woodward's art.

As with Mirror Brokwn though, my greatest enjoyment of City on the Edge of Forever came from J.K. Woodward's art. The more I've come to see of Woodward's artwork, the more I've come to love it and rate him as one of my favourite artists in comics. There is no exception as Woodward faithfully recreates the characters and the feel of the show, but also ramping  the sci-finess and trippier elements, such as one Starfleet officers journey through 'drug' use. However, the thing I truly loved here more than anything was the switch between colour and black and white art, the latter of which seemed to be used to portray not only flashbacks but, at the end, the ghosts from the story that haunt Kirk.

After reading this trade, I actually watched the episode in question (much like with Mirror Broken) and came to realise that, just maybe, I had given TOS short shrift and not enough credit as it was a phenomenally poignant episode. In fact, I thought this episode excelled in its depiction of Edith Keeler and her impact on Kirk a lot more than the comic seemed to.

Of course, I guess that's the joy of multiple mediums, it allows us to see the same story from different perspectives.

City on the Edge of Forever was an incredibly enjoyable read from start to finish and I'm glad I gave it a shot and didn't dismiss it out of hand. However, if it deserves praise for anything it's that, in reading it, I may have realised my own short-sightedness in how I initially 'dismissed' (for want of a better word) the Original Star Trek series. Now, while it may look date dated compared to, say, Discovery, it still offers intensely compelling stories.

And that's something I'm going to need to make more effort to rectify.

Avengers A.I.

So, as I write this, my wife is only a few days off of her due date for our second born. This means that Avengers A.I. will be the last full series that I will get to on my bus trips to and from work each day.

 

Much like Avengers Undercover, Avengers A.I. is one of those lucky finds in my Local Comic Shops second hand bin, bought along with a volume of Marvel 2-in-1. However, unlike Avengers Undercover, this series had little forethought in its purchase as I saw both volumes in the bin and kind of needed them in order to reach the £30 mark and fill out my loyalty card (which got me a £10 discount, so these two volumes actually only cost me a fiver). Therefore, this series was very much an impulse purchase.

 

Avengers A.I. Vols 1 & 2

Avengers A.I. takes place after the Age of Ultron event (from the comics, not the movie). With Artificial Intelligence on the rise in the wake of Ultron's defeat, SHIELD agent Monica Chang and Hank Pym must bring together a group of cybernetic Avengers consisting of the Vision, Victor Mancha, a Doombot and the mysterious Alexis to combat these technological menaces that the regular Avengers aren't equipped to deal with.

 

At least, that's what the premise is implied to be before opening to the front page, although I have to confess it felt less like they were brought together and more kind of bumped into each other as the story progress.

 

Anyway, I have to admit that in the wake of reading the Vision (for the second time) recently, I did find my interest piqued in the series and how it would portray those included given where they will eventually end up.

 

However, I think the recent reading of so many really awesome and enjoyable comics in the last few months really hit this series hard as, despite my best efforts, I really struggled of find Avengers A.I. at all compelling or overly interesting and just couldn't get invested. On an overall viewpoint, it was an ok read, not terrible but not exactly great either.

 

Which is a shame because there was a lot of ideas that Sam Humphries has included here that I did enjoy when brought up and would have like to see more of. Chief among these had to be the focus on Vision's isolation during the first volume as it was cool to remember that while he is a hero in the real world, he isn't necessarily viewed as equal to his fellow Avengers. As such, I would have enjoyed to see more focus on this, with Vision backing and forth between perceived hero/villain as he tried to play both sides.

 

Equally, the revelation of Hank Pym being bipolar I enjoyed and found very interesting when it was focused on. His description of his symptoms and how they hinder him really struck a chord with me as it felt like he was describing me during those scenes. Beyond that, I did feel that Pym felt off, although I couldn't put my finger on how. However, it occurs to me that this new wrinkle in his personality may have been the reason for that.

 

Beyond those, however, the main story itself felt rather generic, even if it wasn't and the characters themselves just didn't appeal to me as I read through it. The only exception to this was Doombot, who was perfectly written as Doom and his use for comedic effect here was spot on (if anyone wants to bring him back then by all means).

 

Meanwhile, Andre Lima Araujo (both volumes) and Valerio Schiti (volume 1 only) do have some wicked art on this series, which made me think of Jamie McKelvie's work on his Young Avengers run. It's this art that maybe gave the series more positives than the story, as things like the Gascheck app's physical appearance was wonderfully different, was was the Vision/Dmitrios video game battle. These visuals were so different and really sold me on the idea that the A.I.'s within the diamond weren't constrained by anything (even standardly human appearance).

 

In the end, however, there was nothing inherently wrong with this series, but it was just 'meh' of a read to me. Maybe a lot of my recent reads have increased my expectations on what a comic series should be but, whatever that is, I didn't find it to be this.

 

But, hey, they can't all be winners. At least I tried something new.

Kristo

So, this is a blog post which is late. Very, VERY late.

 

In February 2015, I attended the first (and my first) True Believers Comic Festival, where I met an abundance of new and established creators who I had never before met.

 

One of these creators was writer Sam Roads, who (at the time) was holding a table to sell his (if memory serves correctly) two graphic novels: Silicon Hearts, which I (stupidly) passed on as I was already reading Alex + Ada which I considered similar, and Kristo, which I considered to be the more intriguing of the two. (He's since also released Cryowulf which I've never heard of, but have read that it's rather good.)

 

Kristo by Sam Roads and Aleksandr
Sheikman. If this cover doesn't make
you intrigued, I don't know what will.

This is because Kristo is (if the name hadn't given it away) an unique adaptation of the Count of Monte Cristo. Set in Revolutionary Russia, Kristo tells the story of World War 1 veteran Captain Isaak Solzhenitsyn, who's after war plans of a happy life with his new wife and unborn child are dashed when his best friend, his father-in-law and sister conspire to frame Isaak for Treason, using his death as a means to excel themselves within the new Soviet Union. However, Isaak is not killed but imprisoned, until the Second World War brings him the opportunity to become Major Kristo and begin his plan for revenge against those who wronged him.

Now, I can't really say why it's taken me over five years to actually read this comic. All I can attribute it to is bad luck as day after day and week after week other titles have ended up on my desk which have happened to obscure it from my sight and memory. However, after reading it late last week, I do wish I'd made more of an effort with it.

 

That is because, I found Kristo to be rather enjoyable as Sam Roads writes a revamp of Alexander Dumas' classic novel which is so completely refreshing and different in terms of it's locale and characters but still feels quintessentially like the original story. I've never read the novel myself (it's on my list) but I have seen the movie (which is somewhat blasphemous in my opinion) and it's one which I have always enjoyed both as a concept and story specifically. Therefore, despite it's numerous changes, Roads and Sheikman were able to maintain the basic footprints while creating a completely different path (weird analogy but let me go with it).

Not only that though but I also liked who the creators included a nice, fun Easter egg on the final page of the book as well as their historical notes on some of the major influences of the time, speaking volumes to their attention to detail in my opinion. Meanwhile, while I did think that Aleksandr Sheikman's art looked a little rough as I opened to the first page, I realised as I delved further in that it's grim and gritty visual style really worked well with the tone of the book, as well as my perception of Revolution and War on the Russian Front.

As I come to the end of this post, I think back and wonder 'is the reason it took so long to read Kristo because I didn't really feel it/find it worthy of reading? If that was the case, then I think it's safe to say that I was wrong. I really enjoyed Kristo and, if there is any major complaint I had, I do wish it had been longer than it turned out to be as it was an really compelling story.

Hopefully, it teaches me not to put off reading things in future.