Free Comic Book Day, but a little bit late (part 2)

 

A few days later than planned, but I finally finished reading the second half of the comics I acquired from this year's Free Comic Book Day.

Now, I had planned to write for Friday. However, real life kind of put a delay in this and so, while a whole extra weekend late, I finally finished the final five comics.

And much like with the first half, my thoughts on these ones were just as varied.

1. Spider-Man/Venom #1 - A two stories in one freebie, this issue saw lead ins to stories for both Spidey and Venom, the former facing an old for and the latter facing a new one (presumably). The Spidey half didn't take for me as, while the art looked great and the story seemed interesting, the character of Spidey was just downright unlikable. I don't think this is Zeb Wells' fault, its just simply my opinion of the character.

The Venom side had more temptation though. While this character also struggles to captivate me, the reveal of a new foe, one who might be older than even Venom has me genuinely intrigued, not least due to the presentation. The art on this one is my main draw, with Cafu's style imbue a lot of Stefan Casselli from Secret Warriors in my head. There was also a preview of the the new Ultimate Universe event but, out of the three, this issue has me considering this Venom arc in some form.

2. Clark & Lex and Fann Club: Batman Squad - Another two in one issue, and this one felt very much chalk and cheese. The first story, an all-ages tale about the first meeting of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, was an intriguing opener for what will apparently be a full graphic novel. Coupled with the rather unique style of artwork which I really liked (and don't think I've seen anything like it before), this eleven (ish) page taster has me tempted to check it out.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the Fann Club: Batman Squad preview. Sadly, I just didn't like this, for very little of it seemed to tickle my fancy. The main character, while no doubt written in a way to appeal to much younger readers, really grated on me as I found it a chore to get through. The artwork, meanwhile, was cutesy and very much in keeping with the tone, but again just didn't resonate with me. In the end, this freebie was once again 1 for 2 in titles I found interesting. 

3. Spidey & Friends #1 - An adorable comic following the adventures of Peter Parker, Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy in their Spider personal, this free issue is an adorable kiddy comic in the vein of itty bitty Hellboy.

There's nothing inherently wrong with this read, with three short stories charting the characters' adventures, and the art is nice enough. However, I know that this isn't meant for me and there is little included (as cute as it was) which sways me from that thinking.

4. The Umbrella Academy/The Witcher - a split issue focusing firstly on the Umbrella Academy which seemed more of a Prelude for an upcoming series as we followed a previously unknown character focus on a strange anomoly. This was followed by the eponymous White Wolf as he attempted to cure an affliction befalling a town.

The Umbrella Academy story did little to convert me to the series (despite the Netflix show having hooked me) as the story wasvery confusing, leaving me with no idea what was going on. The Witcher, however, did a much better job as the story was easier to follow and the art was a nice style to match the world. In the end, thiscwas another case of one story taking my fancy while the other not.

5. Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story - A Prelude (or maybe more accurately the opening to the graphic novel proper), this issue saw a young Lois Lane set off on her journey to become the world's greatest, pullitzer prize winning journalist.

I have to confess, I don't think this concept was designed for me, a nearly 40 year old man, and it certainly started off that way. However, the further I progressed, the style and tone, accompanied by a Rosie Alexander style of art, seemed to connect to me more and more. This seems like an interesting coming of age tale and one that I might check out at some point in the future.

And so, that's now all the free comics read. Once again, as with the comics in part 1, I found the quality to be so so, with some good but also some which were not my thing.

Still, there was still some which piqued my interest and I do plan/hope to check out at some point in the future.

In the meantime though, I can get back to the comics on my pull list.

Free Comic Book Day, but a little bit late (part 1)

Free Comic Book Day was a couple of weeks ago. However, while I normally make an effort, life and having two children who don't seem to like comics (oh, the horror) left me feeling a little lax in travelling to my LCS.

Fortunately, the dumpster fire that was once Comixology (a.k.a. Amazon Comics ... is that their name?) did offer up a generous handful for an equally small price.

I myself was able to pick up 11 of them. Unfortunately, what with finishing off Resonant last week, I was only able to start reading them this week and, given the demands on my time these days, I could only read half of them at that.

So, the six I was able to read this week:

1. Marvel's Voices #1 - I liked the concept of this although, sadly, the stories didn't really grab me. I've always felt that what the big two is missing is an anthology series to a. Let people get a taste of characters and b. Let new talent show off their skills.

I was a little saddened that credits didn't come with the stories, although the end page credits at least gave credit when true. I also liked the recommendation/advertising pages at the end, giving those who liked it a direction to progress. Overall, what a free comic should be, if only the tales included were more my thing.

2. Dawn of DC: Knight Terrors - A Prelude (hopefully) of the upcoming Joshua Williamson mini-event, I must confess that I'm surprisingly intrigued. Watching Robin receive warning of some upcoming evil, with a couple of twists and turns on the way, has me unexpectedly tempted to pick up the series.

Of course, this is helped by the rather haunting art style which is not only helping make the story unsettling but has me wanting to see more. Now, the revelation of multiple 2-issue minis has me put off a little (i remember Convergence) and given its size, the majority of this issue is artwork. However, it was free and it did its job; it has me considering getting the series proper.

3. Star Trek: Prelude to Day of Blood - A Prelude of the upcoming War of Blood crossover, I was a little unsure about this, especially after my recent dropping of the main Trek series. However, I thought this free issue was a mixed bag as the Prelude intrigued me a little, although not enough to reconsider my decision.

That said, this read was made up by the second story which focused on the crew from the Lower Decks cartoon. I really enjoyed the 'back up' story, which seems to perfectly translate both the spirit and the look from the screen to the page. In fact, so enjoyable was it that it makes me tempted on the Lower Decks trade advertised in the final pages.

4. Avengers/X-Men #1 - I've never been one to gravitate towards Avengers comics, but this free issue certainly has me rethinking it. This prelude(?) sees an attack against the Mutant Nation and US Capital almost simultaneously in a sort of Sum of All Fears like vibe to set up the new team.

This entry I really liked, probably due to the conspiracy thriller vibe of it, as well as the Joe Mad-esque art. The back up of a new Hickman series doesn't do it for me but this freebie really has me contemplating this new Duggan run (even if it includes Deadpool).

5. Star Wars: The High Republic/Avatar: The Last Airbender - A two for the price of one issue (ironic, given it was free), this issue was another which didn't do it for me. I think I've been spoiled by Marvel when it comes to Star Wars content as the High Republic was difficult to follow. With little context regarding its story and the art feeling a bit cluttered, this did nothing to entice me to check this out on the regular.

The same goes for Avatar. Despite having been a bit ahead of the wave when it came to the last Airbender, this issue didn't nothing to make me want to consider it. This story felt very young and both the story and the art were both very nice and quaint. However, after the slog that High Republic felt like, I get the feeling that Avatar was too little, too late to improve my mood and make it worth my time in the long run.

6. Dawn of DC Primer Special Edition #1 - A prelude (of sorts) to the entire 'Dawn of DC' line as Amanda Waller acted all anti-Nick Fury in order to save the world. I have to confess, I found this mini story quite compelling.

The art, on the other hand, I wasn't a great fan of. There was nothing wrong with it, but it just seemed a bit rough for my taste. However, just the story we were given, as well as the apparent death of a character I don't much care for, certainly has me tempted to pick up some DC books.

Well, so far, so .... so. I've got to admit, while I know these are all free and you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, I had kind of hoped for a little more ... 'impressiveness' to this collection. Unfortunately, the majority certainly struggled to convince me to read any of these titles on a more regular basis, although there was some promise here and there.

That said, I still have another five FCBD comics to read next week. So, maybe one (or two) of those will be more of a winner.

Re-reading Resonant

Recently, I set myself two goals which I wanted to focus on when it came to reading comics.

1. I wanted to get back to a place where I'm writing ... 'something' at least once a week.

2. I wanted to try and re-read everything in my collection.

Over this past week I figured I'd try and put the effort in to reach both goals by re-reading Resonant.

Resonant from Vault Comics and created by David Andry, Alejandro Aragon and Skylar Patridge, is a 10 issue post-apocalyptic story about a family living in solitude in a woodland cabin during the midst of a world ravaged by the waves, a form of psychological attack which causes people to to unleash their darkest and most violent impulses. However, when the medical supplies for his youngest child get dangerously low, Father Paxton is forced to leave his three children, Bec, Ty and Stef, in order to acquire more. But when Paxton is taken, he must do all he must to get back to them while his children defend their home from others who are doing whatever is takes to survive this nightmare world.

Now, it's been quite a while since I last read this series, having found the series back when the first issue came out and finishing it off some time later. However, it wasn't until this past Christmas that I finally achieved my goal of having the entire series in trade form. Thus, as a result, it easily picqued my attention with its being dropped at the top of my pile when I decided what to read.

I must admit, of all of the things I could have read in the last seven (plus) days, I'm not entirely sure I could have picked many better.

Resonant remains, all these years later, an utterly captivating and truly poignant story about a family trying to come back together within an almost hellish landscape. I'm pretty confident in my belief that age has not done this series any harm, in fact making the core concept of family a much stronger pull now that I have kids instead of the babies I had back when this series first came out.

This time round, it's the dynamic of the family which really draws me in. Paxton, who I recall the first time round being one of the greatest characters I've ever read, seemingly remains this tremendous source of good in a bad world who you just can't help but route for.

However, on this readthrough, I better noticed the strength of the kids. This time round I see that Bec is bad-ass character whose strength of will rivals that of her father as she (literally) fights various monsters in the name of protecting the family.

Ty is a little more conflicting here as he seems to slide into the 'rebellious teenager' position, but, I have to admit, Andry never seems to lose focus in writing him and maintains a character who while chaffing under his family never comes across as spoilt or unlikable that I would have expected of him.

There is little to say about Stef who is, essentially the series' macguffin, but he certainly brings a benefit to the story as he imbues a youthful levity which helps remind his siblings what they are all fighting for.

Beyond the main quartet though, what really hooks me into this series is the world which Andry had created around them. Introduced to the various factions along with the leads, it's these main groups of people whom the family interacts with which deeply intrigues me. This 'Post-wave' world has me thinking a lot on not only the aspect of waves but also those who are seemingly 'immune'. Andry seems to have created various characters based on a diverse set of cures. From natural immunity to both a swerve towards faith and and opposite move towards willing feeling what the waves bring up, the ideas behind these various 'people' has me more intrigued to learn how the waves are/were created as well as their connections to people in general.

Meanwhile, the art for this series once again floors me. Alejandro Aragon and Skylar Patridge (whom each get a trade a piece) have styles which perfectly compliment each other and give the story a real chaotic beauty. This is no better shown than when the waves hit, as their styles seem to devolve into a real assault of colour and rough lines. Of course, not only does this give the idea that the mindset within the waves is brutal and violent, but it certainly makes you more appreciate when the characters are in calmer waters. Of course, this is not always the case even when the waves aren't happening and the action scenes are just outstanding as they really show every detail when Paxton and Bec fight for their families.

I won't lie, by the end, I did feel that this series was missing something: An explanation as to how Bec lost her leg? (I'm kind of hoping it is was wave related) The story behind Paxton's Zen-like martial arts skills? How Maw seemingly is immune to the waves? As well as Miki's statement about a wave within Paxton (to be honest, everything about how the waves, Congregation and Spiral work would do me)? Wow! Do I wish there was a prequel.

I'll be honest, whether there was a prequel or not, I wish there was a sequel. While the end felt a little tacked on there at the last minute (like there was too much material to squeeze into that final issue), the final few pages offered up some really inticing hints at a hopeful future, as well as some lingering plot threads, which I'd love to see some resolution to.

That said, maybe it's that ending which isn't tied up in a bow which makes it all the more impactful a series? The promise of a better future could be a greater ending as it keeps your imagination running with it.

Oh well, when all is said and done, whether we ended up getting more or not, the fact remains that we were gifted 10 great issues of this phenomenal series ...

... And I'm really glad to have it on my shelves to read again.