Comic Review: Invincible Volume 6

    Every time I pick up a trade of this book, I think ‘witch one of my favorite characters is going to die this time?’  It’s stressful.  Still, it means I’ve emotionally invested in the series and its cast, and that’s not true of a lot of comics.  And now I know how I’m going to feel when he eventually kills off one of my very favorite characters.  Because I thought he did.  I stared at the panel where it appeared said character was snuffed out and felt resigned sadness.  Like, ‘I knew this was coming, and here it is.’  But then it wasn’t.  I’m sure it’ll be coming for real later.  And the death of another long time core character does appear to be permanent.

    There’s a lot of guest characters in this volume, not just Guardians of the Globe, but other Image personalities.  The whole pantheon has to be called up to face another world threatening foe.  And dang.  Not only is the threat ramped up, but the violence is beastly.  And every time it seems like there’s going to be a pause, it steps up another notch.  So many people get punched to pieces.  It’s horrifying.  I like that these people with super powers do super damage.  You always see Superman punching a normal person and they fall back a little.  A guy who punches planets out of orbit and a human just falls over and looks dazed?  When Invincible isn’t holding back, the turns people he punches into puddles of lumpy red oatmeal.  In the middle of the volume, there is an extended story about Omni-Man and Allen the Alien.  This strange relationship has been evolving for a long time, and has reached a pretty crazy, but awesome place.  Omni-Man sleeping on Allen’s couch must be about the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.  Whatever it’s building to should be plenty cool.  A few new characters, possible villains and allies make appearances.  Universa, Dinosaurus, Space Racer, Conquest.  Cool.

    Of the things I’ve read from him so far, this is Kirkman’s best work.  And the series remains fun, grim, exciting, and cool.  Ryan Ottley’s art improves by the issue, and his love of drawing excruciating gore is impressive and sick.  This volume also includes guest artwork from series co-creator and original artist Cory Walker.  And as always, the back end of the book is loaded with sketches and commentary.

    If you’re any kind of superhero fan, and you’re not reading this series, you’re doing yourself a disservice.  It’s got action, cool characters, humor, romance, grand plotting, twists and turns, and a consistent vision.  This has what Marvel and DC are so sadly missing.  Read it.

Invincible Ultimate Collection: Volume 6
Author: Robert Kirkman
Artists: Ryan Ottley & Cory Walker
Publisher: Image Comics
ISBN: 978-1-60706-360-5

-Matt

Comic Review: Invincible Volume 5

    What is it I keep saying?  Oh, yeah.  Invincible is the best super hero comic on the market.  That’s right.  And the more I read, the more I think that’s true.  This fifth volume in the Ultimate Collection sees some major changes in Mark’s life.  A falling out with a trusted friend, deepening romance, trouble with his brother, and oh, man, the Mauler Twins.  The Mauler Twins!!!…So much blood.  So much gore.  And like previous volumes, there’s plenty of foreground story, with hints of longer running threads woven in through the background.  What’s all this with Titan?  Something has been building with that guy for a long time.  What’s his deal?  He seems like a pretty good dude, for an underworld boss.  Why’s everybody messing with him?

    The problem I keep running into with this series isn’t actually a problem really.  It’s that feeling you don’t get when reading Marvel or DC.  It’s that feeling that nobody is safe, and things won’t be back to normal in an issue or two.  I’m pretty sure my favorite villains are dead.  Like dead, dead.  Not, gonna show up in another couple issues dead.  There have been a couple cases of characters that seemed dead coming back, but those are uncommon and connected to specific characters (not all that shocking when a guy called The Immortal turns out to be harder to keep dead than normal).  But while I don’t see Invincible himself getting killed, it’s not out of the question.  And pretty much anyone else could go at any time.  This volume carried me through issue 59.  The monthly issues just passed 100.  I want Invincible and his lady to be happy.  But I’m guessing if I were reading issues hitting the newsstands today, I’d be seeing horror and sadness.  I can’t wait, but I also dread it.  Unlike so many ongoing series, the unified voice brought by Kirkman being the continuous writer has kept it more real.  If this came out of Marvel or DC, it would have had six or eight different writers, each one wanting to kill off or resurrect their own pet characters, and each trying to take the series off in different directions, while never straying too far from the studio mandated status quo.  Kirkman has the freedom to shape the story and make things count.  So, again, I fear for the life of every character I like.  And I have good reason to think those fears are justified.

    The sideline story with The Astounding Wolf-man felt a bit shameless pluggy.  But whatever.  However, the Allan the Alien interlude was amazing.  Are they building up to the greatest comicbook character team-up ever?  If what it looks like actually comes to pass, I’ll have to put a little ‘power of 2’ sign next to my statement that this is the best superhero comic on the market.  (Also, keep an eye out for a cameo from Doctor Venture and Brock Samson, as well as another awesome dig on Aquaman).  So, if you like the idea of superheroes, like the style of the Silver Age, but want something a bit more meaty, a bit more emotionally impacting, try Invincible.  This feels like all the potential of the Marvel Universe, without the status quo mandates demanded by their market position.  I believe I cautioned readers about this before, but do remember it’s not an ‘all ages’ title.  There is violence, and when that violence happens, it’s not pretty.  In fact, it’s some of the nastiest, bloodiest, freakiest violence I’ve seen in a comicbook (Oliver punched that dude’s jawbone out the back of his head!).  But for the adult reader, this is top shelf material.

Invincible Ultimate Collection Volume 5
Author: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Ryan Ottley, etc.
Publisher: Image
ISBN: 978-1-60706-116-8

-Matt

Comic Reviews: The Walking Dead 1&2

Volume 1

15 years ago, zombies were the black sheep of the horror world.  You typically had to raid the video rental shelves for Italian movies from the 70s to see anything you hadn’t already seen a dozen times.  The list of really good subgenre films could be counted on two hands, and that was including some fringe titles like Dead Heat.  Fast forward to today, and frankly, the walking dead are kind of played out.  Too many movies, too many comics, too many TV shows.  More important, too many bad ones.  Still, when it first hit the stands, The Walking Dead was a breath of fresh…well, it was welcome.  The series was everything this zombie starved fan was hungry for.  Like the author, I had always wanted to follow the characters (those few who might survive) after the credits began to roll.  What happened to those folks on the helicopter at the end of Dawn of the Dead?  What was up with that island in Day of the Dead?  What happened to New York City after Zombie?  What would have happened to the badass reporter in Nightmare City (among other names) if he wasn’t hooked up with that idiot woman who kept complaining that everyone deserved it?  Would he have found more explosive TVs to throw?  Well, that’s what this comic was created to explore; the ‘and then…?’ factor.  Awesome.

Re-reading the first trade all these years later, I totally see what I saw in it at that time, though to tell the truth, it’s not that great.  That said, the ending is awesome, and from what I understand, that amazing moment is totally botched in the TV series, which is too bad.  It’s a defining moment in the comic, and should have been in the show as well.  It’s also weird reading it, and remembering all these characters I know won’t make it very far.  I forgot about that couple and their kids.  I forgot one dude even had a kid (shows how long she makes it).  I know there’s a lot of nasty death on its way.  Unlike many later story arcs, much of the death in this one is caused by the undead.  What makes the comic work is what makes the best zombie movies work, the drama of people in a horrible situation.  Zombies are like a natural disaster.  They don’t have a plan, they don’t have a goal, they’re not evil, they don’t want to hurt you.  They just feed on whatever is in front of them, moving without thought for self or for the future.  It is this relentless, mindless danger that makes them far more spirit crushing than many classic monsters and villains.  You can kill a dozen, a hundred, but there are always more, always coming, always lurking, like living under constant threat of bombing.  You just never know when or where, only that eventually, they will strike.

The first arc is not amazing.  Heck, the opening feels familiar for good reason, it’s been done several times (Day of the Triffids and 28 Days Later to point out two).  Heck, I even used it for an abandoned zombie novel I’d written back in the mid 90s (at the time, I was totally lifting it from the Triffids film).  And several of the relationships are pretty standard, with expected twists.  But, by the end, you start to get a sense of the left field attacks Kirkman will wage on you as the series continues; setting you up, making you feel comfortable, then kicking you in the nuts.  I’m not sure if I’m going to be reading the rest of the series (up to what, volume 18 so far?) after this or not.  But I’m tempted, even though I’m honestly kind of done with zombies for a while.

The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone By
Author: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Tony Moore
Publisher: Image
ISBN: 978-1-58240-358-8

Volume 2

Starting with a not too surprising revelation, the story picks up with the aftermath of the disastrous attack on the camp.  Our survivors must move away from Atlanta if they are to avoid the city’s roving hoards.  They meet up with new folk, run afoul of a dumbass with a gun, and find sanctuary…maybe.  The harshness of survival and the fragility of life are forefront.  And we’re still at the point in the series where the zombies seem like the real enemy.  There are hints of the human ugliness to come, but on the smallest of scales so far.  And we see the first real cracks in Rick’s armor, which author Kirkman will spend the rest of the series (as far as I’ve read) systematically destroying.  The relationships that form are interesting, as people try so hard to get a little happiness and human connection.

I’m getting a little of that feeling I had when first reading this series all those years ago, before zombies were so overplayed in books, comics, and movies.  This really is the series I dreamed of in the 90s, when I was consuming every zombie thing I could get my hands on (what little there was).  This is the kind of thing I wanted to do in a roleplaying game, when I still regularly played.  The ongoing story of survival in a world gone so horribly wrong.  And by volume 2, it feels like Kirkman is getting a better handle on things, on how the story will go and how the characters will interact.  Plus, there’s that last couple of pages, that set up the multi-volume arc that is about to begin.  That’s when the real horror, the human horror will become more obvious, when the zombies become what they’re best at being, the quiet, menacing threat that lurks in the shadows.  And when the real villains of the series step forward.

The Walking Dead: Volume 2: Miles Behind Us
Author: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Charlie Adlard
Publisher: Image
ISBN: 978-1-58240-413-4

-Matt

Brad's Week in Dork! (2/10/13-2/16/13)

Early in the week I got a sweet care package from the good folks over at the Warner Archive containing a handful of Jim Brown not-so-classics (Tick Tick Tick, Kenner, The Split, & The Slams) and the plan was to pound through them for Black History Month.  But my movie marathon has just not taken shape.  I consumed two of 'em and watched a couple other flicks, but this week was mostly about comic books.  The pleasure of the week had to be the third issue of Hellboy in Hell - the return of Mignola has proven to be grand indeed.  And the turd of the week goes to The Walking Dead's mid season return - what a stinker!

The Walking Dead - "The Suicide King":  This show has been defined by its peaks and valleys, and the final product tends to infuriate more often than it exhilarates.  Personal Beef #1:  After a rather intense cliffhanger conclusion (two months ago!) in which Merle & Daryl are forced into pit fighter combat, Rick & the gang suddenly appear and immediately free them from their death match.  Beef #2:  The faceless inhabitants of Woodbury loose their hateful, cagefight loving minds and inexplicably choose an inevitable demise in a zombie horde than chillax in the temporarily invaded compound.  And the guards don't want them to leave!?!?!  F that.  I say let this Marvel comics mob with their wishy washy dullard brains jump merrily into the rotting mouths of the undead, and be done with their simple asses.  Beef #3:  The last five minutes.  I won't spoil the absurdity here, but to say that it weakens Rick's character is an understatement that just doesn't fully capture my colossal annoyance.  It's a god damn travesty.  And where can this horrendous turn of events lead?  Nowhere good, I think.  My hope for this show is dwindling.  Especially when I have the brilliance of the source material right there on the shelf in front of me.

Tick...Tick...Tick...:  "If you're gonna kill me go ahead and get it over with, I'm just sorry it's not a man doin it." Jim Brown is the newly elected Sheriff of a rural southern town, the first black man to ever hold the position. Matching the righteous tone of the picture is an overbearing & extremely dated theme song that bonks you over the head every time something potentially heinous might occur. Jim Brown walks into a honky tonk - Theme Song! Jim Brown arrests a white man - Theme Song! Jim Brown faces off an angry mob - Theme Song! It's a bit much. And the film really doesn't feel like Jim Brown's movie the way it should. His Sheriff is so concerned with walking the line that he can't bear to break into violence. He's reserved. He's quiet. He does the right thing. I don't want that. George Kennedy, as his predecessor, is the brute of the film. He's allowed to show rage. And once he sides with Brown cuz "the law is the law" he gets to unleash some serious police brutality, barking and bashing on the racist assholes of the community. Tick...Tick...Tick is a solid enough film surrounding the powder keg of the human rights movement, but somehow a trashier B Movie flick like Roger Corman's The Intruder feels more honest. Tick...Tick...Tick is a message movie, and as is, it feels a little bit like a lie.

The Sour Lemon Score by Richard Stark:  After the lighthearted impracticality of The Black Ice Score, this twelfth Parker novel is a return to angry form for the series.  After a bank heist goes wrong and Parker's friends lie dead on the ground, our favorite professional thief trolls the East Coast hunting for George Uhl, the man who betrayed the score with the pull of a trigger.  But like most Parker novels, the man who seems the most problematic is not the real threat - enter psycho thug Matt Rosenstein.  With the introduction of his lady Claire, and some rather frivolous entries, it's nice to see Stark return to the unpleasant darkness of Parker's world and even more enjoyable to read the rage masked by Parker's professionalism.  This is the grit where Parker belongs.  Swift.  Logical.  Brutal.  And somewhat sad.  The Sour Lemon Score doesn't rank as high as The Hunter or The Outfit, but it does belong somewhere near the top of the middle.  I'm really looking forward to the next round of novels - I hear the build to Butcher's Moon is violent and severe.

All New X-Men #7:  The Young Cyclops wanders into the bank where The Old Cyclops stashes his cash and discoveries a sad note from the past...I mean, his future.  I freaking love this book.  Writer Brian Michael Bendis is taking what could potentially be a silly plot and rocking the time travel concept for all its worth; reminding this reader of the X-Men's self-righteous history while elevating the melodrama.  Plus, Wolverine's frustrated contempt towards young Cyke is hilarious and kinda heartwarming.  I don't like to see Mysteque setting her claws into the young X-Man and I really don't want him to become the dark figure that this seres will undoubtedly produce.

Iron Man #6:  Yes, I'm still reading this miserable book.  I guess I'm curious to see how Gillen takes ol' Shellhead to outer space and the internet banter surrounding Tony Stark's secret origin seems exciting enough.  But the sixth issue is just garbage.  Stark discovers a purple alien lady, and taking inspiration from Captain Kirk attempts to bed her.  Unfortunately, Stark sports a mustache and the purple woman vomits upon its discovery.  Uh huh, this is the type of wit we're forced to face month in and month out with this sophomoric nonsense.  There is some blather about the Phoenix Force, but I just can't get past the 'stache puker comedy.  Last month I said I wouldn't buy this issue and I make that promise again this week...but you know me, I'm gonna fold again.  I just really want to enjoy an Iron Man book.  Same could be said for Captain America.

Daredevil - End of Days #5:  Ben Urich has a chat with The Punisher while he rots behind bars, but as Ed Brubaker proved in his Bendis followup, Frank Castle is just as deadly in handcuffs as he is out of  them.  This issue also posits the resurrection of Matt Murdoch, in body and spandex.  Still, it does feel like it's meandering a bit, and I'm starting to get the sense that it can't possibly put a button on Bendis' epic run.  Which is a bummer - for this return to ultimately prove perfunctory would somewhat sully a perfect run of Daredevil comics.

Thunderbolts #4:  As I feared, this issue takes a bit of the punch from last issue's killer final page, but I'm still enjoying General Ross' assault on Katya Jaya.  And like with the book above, Frank Castle is the all star.  Super Heroes have nothing on a man willing to strap a land mine to his chest and play bear hug.  And Deadpool gets to enjoy his giggles.  What I'm really looking forward to is an Elektra/Punisher team-up - or will it just be a straight up killfest?

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #20:  Miles Morales faces off against his first true Spider-Man villain when the Venom symbiote shows up on his doorstep looking to consume Miles' father for a case of mistaken identity.  Is it Eddie Brock under the goo?  Is Venom just out for Spidey blood or is there a deeper purpose?  Not sure yet, but I'm looking forward to some super hero smackdown and I've got my fingers crossed that Jessica Drew is gonna appear for some much needed backup.

Winter Soldier #15:  After Ed Brubaker's disappointing exit, writer Jason Latour picks up the reins and delivers a merry little book.  Not much time is spent on the Black Widow memory wipe fallout (that seems to be happening a lot right now in the Marvel universe) as Bucky jumps right into another evil Hydra plot (there seems to be a lot of those too).  But where the narrative feels a little too familiar, the tone of the adventure is frothy fun and that is definitely refreshing.  Artist Nic Klein has a punchy pulp style and I love his half split Hydra goons sprouting Lovecraftian tentacles.  And who does't love a POV shot as Night of the Hunter brass knuckles come flying at you?  Still waiting to see if the story actually captivates, but it's a fun book and that's something Brubaker's Cap stories weren't...at least in the last two out of his eight year run.  I hate to write that - I'm team Brubaker - but it's bloody true.

Hellboy in Hell #3:  I read a lot of Mike Mignola interviews building up to the release of last year's Hellboy in Hell.  In most of them he stated how he was currently interested in telling short, little stories set in the underworld.  And he also stated that the first three issues of Hellboy in Hell would put the final button on Hellboy's Beast of the Apocalypse problem.  I just could not believe that.  For twenty years, Hellboy has been struggling to shed his apocalyptic crown - how could three simple issues wrap up all that brooding angst?  Well, damn.  Mignola has done just that.  Hellboy's certainly not free and clear from his doom & gloom and he's still stuck down under, but it does appear that the 666 mantel has been shed.  And it's all done in a logical and satisfying manner.  I'm shocked and stoked.  Plus, this issue also sees the introduction of HB's siblings, a look at his father's present state, Leviathan, and the Prince of Darkness himself.  Easily one of my most favorite single issues from the series.

Kenner:  Jim Brown plays an American sailor searching the Karma confused streets of Bombay for the man who murdered his partner.  As he bumps into some awkwardly Westernized interpretations of hinduism he also stumbles upon a young boy searching for his American father.  The two form an antagonistic friendship that's tested even further when the boy's mother inexplicably falls for Jim Brown.  I wish I could report a lost classic, but Kenner is dullsville at best and painfully boring at worst.  I will say that there is one surprising twist that got me to sit up and take notice, but by the time the train barrels through the screenplay it's far too late for me to care about a surprise death.

Skyfall:  The blu ray is truly stunning, and I stand by my previous statements that this is the most beautiful looking James Bond film to date.  The climactic Straw Dogs siege on the moors, the high rise Shanghai assassination, the hotel room shave - this is movie art ready for the frames on your walls.  And Javier Bardem's teasing psychopath is the most fun we've had with a Bond villain since the days of Sean Connery and Goldfinger.  Sure, the pacing seems a little clunky  as we jump from one interrogation to the next, but I love all the banter, and the homefront assault adds a nice change of p(L)ace for the typically international intrigue.

I Come In Peace (aka Dark Angel):  "Fuck You Space Man!"  I haven't seen this film in nearly twenty years, but thanks to the miracle of On Demand I was able to bask in its bizarro beauty one more time.  Dolph Lundgren is a street wise detective investigating the villainous White Boys gang, and when he's not distracted by his eclectic art collection he's spewing pithy one-liners.  After his partner is executed he's saddled with Brian Benben's spit shined G-Man and the buddy cop pair quickly find themselves involved in an intergalactic drug war...wait, what?  Yeah.  So one giant mulleted space alien comes to our planet to harvest drugs from our brains, while another giant mulleted space alien comes to our planet to kick that one's ass.  Yeah, ok.  That's bonkers.  But AWESOME!  I Come In Peace is an incomprehensible mess, but it's also loaded with endless explosions and gratuitous intergalactic murder - can't beat that, right?  Made at the tail end of the 1980s, the film desperately wants to ape some of that Walter Hill 48 Hours charisma and in their own way Benben & Lundgren succeed through sheer oddity.

Justified - "Foot Chase":  So far, this episode is one of the season's highlights.  In attempt to beat Walton Goggins to the punch - the punch being the footless Gerald McRaney (another Deadwood alum as well as the better half of Simon & Simon) - Timothy Olyphant and Jim Beaver have themselves a federal/local law team-up.  Olyphant's not sure he can trust Beaver given his seedy history with Goggins, but the two eventually form a jabbing repartee that brought great smiles to this Bullock/Ellsworth fan.  McRaney appears not to be the mysterious Drew Thompson, but I wouldn't count those chickens before they roost and I'm hoping that McRaney still has a large role to play for this season - whether he's one-legged or not.

The Walking Dead - Book One:  Friday night was the 9th meeting of the Ultimate Justice League of Extraordinary Book Club and we finally convinced enough folks to dive into Robert Kirkman's zombie opus.  I was really looking forward to revisiting this series, especially given my seemingly unsurmountable hatred of the last tv episode, and I'm thinking I'll plow my way through the rest of the big hardcovers.  Taking that into account, I was a little surprised at my lackluster enthusiasm for the first two arcs in this series.  Kirkman doesn't quite have a handle on these characters just yet, and even though all of his comics are bogged down with expository dialogue, this book is practically bursting at the seams with blah blah blah.  For the first story, I was really only moved by the Jim character - the idea that this quiet mechanic has suffered so much and the moment when he unleashes his rage it results in his quiet death.  Very sad.  But where as the television show seems to drone on and on with some of these themes, this first book rushes through them.  Hershel's farm is but a drop in the bucket, just when some serious philosophizing begins the barn doors are opened and the walkers burst out.  I remember falling head over heels with this book during the first trade, but as my memory reworks itself I'm thinking my love truly doesn't set in till they get to the prison.  So on to hardcover number 2.  For the most part, the group enjoyed this book but only a couple folks seemed interested in pursuing further issues.  Curious.  But ya know what?  Invincible is easily the superior saga and no one in the group got that except Matt & myself.

Batman #17:  Scott Snyder's supposedly epic Death of the Family arc comes to a close and I find myself a little disappointed.  That being said, I thought this issue pulled off a lot more drama than I was expecting given my lukewarm response to previous issues, and Greg Capullo's art continues to amaze with its ghastly beauty.  What's under the dinner dome?  The answer is nasty and genuinely surprising...even if five pages later status quo veil is dropped.  But when you compare this tale to other Snyder vehicles like The Court of Owls or The Black Mirror, it really offers nothing new to the Bat mythos.  Joker is a crazy bastard.  Batman won't kill him.  The never ending stalemate continues.  I'm happy Snyder got this character out of his system, and I'm hoping he can move on to some new territory.  More original characters, less sandbox whimsy.

Fatale #13:  "She'd known for a long time there was more than one layer to the sky."  I have yet to be disappointed by Fatale.  Jumping hundreds of years into the past, we get a glimpse at a creature very similar to Josephine and the witchfinder cult so desperate to carve her up.  There are a few clues as to the mystical origin at the center of this noir story, but these clues offer more mindbending questions than answers.  This issue still has that 40s dread, but artist Sean Phillips is really getting his Hammer Horror freak on here and I can perfectly imagine Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee walking around inside these panels.  As much as I enjoyed last month's stand alone issue, #13 is even better.  Cannot wait for The Wild West excursion next month.

Uncanny X-Men #1:  I'm pretty sure that I would have enjoyed this book if not for artist Chris Bachalo.  I've never been a fan; his style seems to be a muddy bastardization of manga and I just can't grasp how his characters bend & wobble all over the page.  Writer Brian Michael Bendis attempts to explore the dirty revolution of this current Cyclops dictator, and the mole revealed on the final page is definitely intriguing.  But Uncanny X-Men lacks the joy of its sister book All New X-Men, and if Bachalo is on  for the long haul than I'm not sure I can handle his squishy interpretation.  As with several other Marvel Now books, I'll give it six months before making my final decision.

Powers - Bureau #1:  Half the time I love Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man, Daredevil, All New X-Men) and the other half of the time I find him completely and utterly frustrating (New Avengers, Avengers, Mighty Avengers), and Powers is the very personification of this annoyance.  There are books in this series that I find absolutely breathtaking (Supergroup, The Sellouts, Forever) but then there are stories that refuse to continue the earth shattering events of previous books.  Take this new relaunch for example.  In the last book the world seemed to have been completely devastated a la BPRD Hell On Earth, but now we see that it was just a localized event and the federal government is back to the business of enforcing Powers laws.  Just another crime of the week.  Dammit.  Let's get back to Walker's crazy ass Conan The Barbarian past.  Once you hit the Forever arc there should be no turning back, but Bendis seems to refuse forward momentum.  So very frustrating.

Fantastic Four #4:  My favorite issue from Matt Fraction's run so far.  Not as good as FF or Hawkeye, but I appreciated the time shifting structure of this story.  Reed is writing an apology note of sorts to Sue, explaining his POV at the time of their first meeting and how it parallels their current planetary adventure.  He's basically using a lot of words to say he's sorry for hiding their cellular disease.  But I don't think Sue's going to just role over with hugs & kisses.  Fraction seems to be amping up the family melodrama and I'm a sucker for that stuff as much as I am the inter-dimensional science-fiction.  Basically Fraction is showing us what the essential Marvel book looks like and you should all be on board.  Excelsior!

Archer & Armstrong #7:  Another solid issue, but not big shocks or awes.  Archer, Armstrong, and The Eternal Warrior all seem to be on the same side at this point despite some passive aggressive banter and some not so passive death threats.  If I had any complaint at all it would be this new Geomancer character.  She's sassy and kooky and I want none of that.  Hopefully she's just a storytelling device and not a new addition to the team.

Rome - Season 2:  "I have the same sickness."  And you thought the stabbing murder of Julius Caesar was rough?  The second season of Rome kicks off with our two favorite Centurions descending even further down their personal hells and they leave a massive trail of bloody corpses in their wake.  Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen a murder as brutal or hateful as the one found in the second to last episode of this season - now, that is how you choke somebody to death.  Granted the rise & fall of Marc Antony (and that Cleopatra slut) is a little less glamorous than the mighty Caesar's savage execution, but actors Kevin McKidd & Ray Stevenson are a perfect set of badasses to follow, even if they are the most pathetic and deplorable set of friends.  And I'd rank their bromance right up there with Denny Crane & Alan Shore.  That's love, baby.

--Brad

Comic Review: Invincible Volume 4

    Man, this series just keeps getting better.  Mark has been having a rough time of it.  School isn’t going well, his girlfriend is drifting away, his dad is probably dead (and that may be a good thing), he keeps getting sent into space, and ultra-powerful forces keep threatening to kill him or the ones he loves.  And maybe I’m just reading into things, but I think Mark is starting to crack, to show more signs of his father’s side than just the super powers.  I think he’s building to a rage explosion, but I’ll have to wait for further volumes to find out.

    I was very happy to see Allen the Alien get some more time in this issue.  I have a feeling he’ll be playing a bigger part in the days to come.  Something crazy is going on with him, and he’s learning some deeper truths about the organization he works for.  Whatever is going on out in space is clearly building to something, with the Viltrumites and…other things.  There’s also that pesky Martian parasite thing.  And it will take key members of the Guardians of the Glob working together to stop their invasion.  And those idiots of the Lizard League are up to no good.  And what about Mark’s new brother and his cute tutor?  Trouble ahead, no doubt.

    Each volume makes me feel more and more bad for Atom Eve.  She may have tremendous power (seriously, her superpowers are amazing), but she just can’t catch a break on the relationship side of things.  It seems like every time she shows up, she gets emotionally traumatized.  Brutal.  One of these days, she’ll find love.  I have a bad feeling it might be with Invincible, and I have a bad feeling Invincible’s loved ones aren’t going to have a good time of it.

Octoboss!...(?)

    I feel like Ryan Ottley’s art has improved over the volumes.  He’s got a good handle on all the characters and along with Kirkman’s scripts seems to be reaching out creatively and exploring new ground, be that with people and environments, or with panel design.  And as always, there’s quite a bit of art in the back of the book, showing different takes on images, con sketches, etc.  Now I kind of want to get an Ottley sketch.

Invincible Ultimate Collection Volume 4
Author: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Ryan Ottley (with coloring by Bill Crabtree)
Publisher: Image Comics
ISBN: 978-1-58240-989-4

-Matt

Brad's Week In Dork! (11/18/12-11/24/12)

In just over a week I read 97 issues of Robert Kirkman's Invincible.  I did very little else.  It was a feast.  And one of the best I've ever partaken in.  The first two Ultimate Collection hardcovers are a lot of fun. Marvelesque super hero comics with a little taste of brutality.  But with Volumes 3-7, Invincible becomes something more akin to an epic poem.  Think Beowulf with a few more dudes in spandex...and a lot more Grendels getting torn to shreds.  Absolutely painful melodrama, something I really wish could occur in Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man.  If you've been reading Kirkman's Walking Dead, but skipping Invincible than you're missing out on the better book.  Sorry folks, but that's the truth.

The Black Hole:  This is a boring movie.  Birthed from the same era of live action Disney that brought us the cult of Tron.  But, dang, it's a real snoozefest...with a crazy cast that includes a whole bunch of actors I love: Robert Forster, Ernest Borgnine, Anthony Perkins, Yvette Mimeux, and Maximillian Schell.  It's got crazy robot gunslingers, goofy R2-D2 wannabes, and the Heart of Darkness personified in a beautifully 80s swirling Black Hole effect.  None of that matters though, cuz the screenplay is lifeless.  A real missed opportunity.

Tron - Legacy:  I dig the original film (definitely more than Black Hole), but I don't drink from the digital Kool-Aid.  I do, however, love to get drunk of the bio-digital jazz of the sequel.  Not sure when Jeff Bridges' architect transformed into The Dude, but that groovy psychedelic philosophy feels like an appropriate addition to this family friendly cyberpunk.  Garret Hedlund is a serviceable son and Olivia Wilde a fine program, but it's director Joseph Kosinski's fanboy infatuation of the universe that's truly infectious.  Too bad the world didn't seem to respond to this world with the same enthusiasm cuz I would have been perfectly happy with a new trilogy.  If for no other reason than to see Cillian Murphy's villainous offspring go off on the hippy dippy Flynn family.

Invincible Volume 3 Deluxe Hardcover:  Just when Mark's settling into the life of Invincible, his psycho evil father Omni-Man reappears and he's got a whole new world to save.  Can Mark handle the idea that his pa might have had a change of heart?  Well, he doesn't have much time to contemplate as three sentries from the Viltrum Empire arrive to smash some traitor's faces.  And if that super villain asskicking isn't enough, than the dimension hopping Angstrom Levy arrives to torture the Grayson family.  And oh yeah - Science Dog!

Invincible Volume 4 Deluxe Hardcover:  Mark finally goes toe-to-toe with the creator of the Reanimen.  The Sequids puppet master army strikes!  Omni-Man & Allen The Alien discover friendship.  The Viltrums appoint Invincible conqueror of Earth.  A whole lot is going down in the world of the Grayson family, but all this fun & adventure is just going to build to wretched agony.   Volume 4 in the Invincible saga is another brick in the building.  Love it, sure.  But the real good stuff is just around the corner.

Invincible Volume 5 Deluxe Hardcover:  After a savage battle with Doc Seismic, Mark Grayson discovers the dark methods at the disposal of the U.S. Government.  Invincible strikes out against Cecil for employing both the murderous Darkwing and the not-at-all Super Patriotic Reanimen.  Tossing in his yellow duds, striking out on his own, and trying to be a father to the young Oliver - the previous four volumes look pretty tame after the carnage born here.  And it's only going to get worse for poor Mark.  He might finally have relations with Atom Eve, but the little pleasures might not be enough with the return of his arch-nemisis, Angstrom Levy.  War is coming.  And it's gonna be red.

Lincoln:  Here was a shock.  After suffering the weak melodrama of last year's War Horse, I was not expecting much from Steven Spielberg's Abe Lincoln biography.  Especially in a year when ol' Honest Abe slayed vampires amongst the Confederates.  But damn.  This was a great movie.  Why?  It's not a biopic.  Focusing almost exclusively on the month of January 1865, depicting the beastly struggle to pass the 13th Amendment.  This is not a sweeping, directionless biography desperately trying to capture the life of our most iconic President.  And in narrowing the narrative we still get all the epic traits that make Lincoln the symbol we all know and love; it also offers a few extra morsels to ponder.  Lincoln the father.  Lincoln the old man storyteller.  And Daniel Day Lewis is phenomenal.  He steps right off the five dollar bill, gives you that Statue but also the humanity in the voice.  He makes me love this man in a way I've never experienced before.  I want to read Team of Rivals.  I want to read Lincoln's Virtues.  I want to read his speeches.  That's a new desire for me.  Thank you, Steven Spielberg.  And you gotta love the rest of the cast.  Tommy Lee Jones is so wonderfully self-rightous and cantankerous as the morally avenging Thaddeus Stevens.  James Spader is a lovingly delightful rascal as the cunning vote-hunter Bilbo Not Baggins.  And then you've got every other actor under the sun, sporting beards and looking like historical badasses.  Tim Blake Nelson.  Bruce McGill.  John Hawkes.  Jared Harris.  Jackie Earl Haley.  Hal Holbrook.  The list goes on and on.  Lincoln definitely turned out to be one of my personal surprises this Winter season.

Reservoir Dogs:  I've bought every version of this film, from the original VHS release, to the gas can DVD, to the blu ray, and now this completely superfluous but somehow essential Tarantino Box Set version (honestly, I just had to own that Ken Taylor cover art).  But Reservoir Dogs is a monumental film in my geek history.  It represents my second mutation as a film fanatic.  Before Dogs I was Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars, and a little Indiana Jones.  But Reservoir Dogs opened up the world of cinema.  It showed me that a conversation about Like A Virgin & the methodology of tipping could be as exciting as an epic gun battle.  And it also pointed me towards other great films.  From Tarantino I discovered the French New Wave, Spaghetti Westerns (the real stuff, not just Leone), and Hong Kong shoot 'em ups.  I'm pretty sure I would have found all this stuff on my own eventually, but Reservoir Dogs sped the process along.  For that I will always be thankful.  And buy every damn edition of this movie I can.

Captain America #1:  This is probably the Marvel Now book I was both anticipating and dreading the most.  Ed Brubaker's run on Cap might have petered out, but at its height (The Death of Captain America) there was no better super hero book on the stand.  Great War & Espionage stories packed with troubled philosophies and deep seeded emotional turmoil.  So yanking the Captain out of our universe for the JRJR blocky Dimension Z?  That just don't jive with me.  Having now just finished this goofy book, I'm just really unsure if this is what I want out of this character. I'm going to give Rick Remender the first arc, but I really don't want to see one of my favorite comic book characters buried in tired Christ Claremont concepts.

Deadpool #2:  There are some serious chuckles here.  A zombie Teddy Roosevelt storms into the Brooklyn Zoo and starts blasting for Trophies.  S.H.I.E.L.D sends in Deadpool to take down the mad Prez and his mighty big stick.  As you know, I've never been a Deadpool fan.  And I don't think I'm going to start.  Posehn & Duggan are writing a very jokey-jokey book and it wins a good batch of chuckles but I'm mostly just left scratching my head.  That being said, Tony Moore's art is kick ass for sure and I'll stick on for the first six issues.

Indestructible Hulk #1:  Thanks to Daredevil and The Rocketeer - Cargo of Doom, Mark Waid is enjoying a new wave of enthusiasm from the comic book community.  The idea of him bringing a whole heap of fun to the jolly green Mister Hyde is quite appealing, but it's too early to tell what this book is going to become.  Bruce Banner pretty much forces the Hulk upon S.H.I.E.L.D and it looks like we're going to get a lot of strange bedfellows kinda drama (comedy?).  Leinel Yu is not my favorite artist on the planet but no body can draw green rage quite like him.  Hulking Out has never looked so good.  But Banner & the other puny humans?  Kinda ugly.

Red Dawn:  Oh man.  This was all kinds of useless bad.  I'm not the uber fan of the original, but I can appreciate its Commie paranoia and machine gun fetishizing as much as the next John Milius fan.  But the remake is an anemic adaptation that completely lacks the balls to be badass.  Filmed well before Thor or The Hunger Games, you can still sense a good amount of charm in both Chris Hemsworth & Josh Hutcherson.  And I've always had a hope for doomed Wonder Woman Adriene Palecki.  But the PG-13 action is just a bunch of play, and nearly all the action is hidden within montage.  A sadsack cash-in.

Invincible Volume 6 Deluxe Hardcover:  This might be one of the most brutal collection of comics ever assembled.  Everything leading up to this volume has been kiddie play.  Invincible's apparent pummeling of Angstrom Levy only created a meaner, tougher, smarter monster.  The super villain reaches across countless dimensions, gather an army of evil Mirror versions of Mark Grayson - and then he unleashes them upon our poor, unsuspecting Earth.  The devastation they cause is world changing.  But the war of the infinite Invisibles is just the beginning.  Before he can even catch a breath, the Viltrum nightmare known as Conquest.

The resulting battle is some of the toughest panels I've ever experienced in a comics.  Not just the beautifully splashy red but the tragic realization that Mark is just not ready to deal with the impending Viltrum takeover.  And neither is the U.S. Government.  It's time to look towards the Cosmos; a little help from troubled Pa Omni-Man & Allen the Alien.  And then there's the Sequid uprising on Earth.  BWA HUH?!?!?  Seriously, just one of these events would be enough story for at least a year at Marvel or DC, but Robert Kirkman is throwing one brutal blow after the other.  He's constantly punishing his characters, but they keep rising to the challenge.

Invincible Volume 7 Deluxe Hardcover:  Ok.  Remember how a few paragraphs ago I said that Volume 6 was some of the most brutal comics in the industry...yeah, that's still true, but Volume 7 is even worse.  Mark & Oliver leave Earth and joins the Coalition of Planets.  The Viltrumite War is here.  You've got Allen the Alien, Omni-Man, Tech-Jacket, Battle Beast.  Some of the toughest dudes in the universe and they're still no match for a handful of Viltrum scum.  And the five issue battle makes the bloody beatdown at the hands of Conquest look like foreplay.  I mean, I think the horror found within Ryan Ottley's art is ten times more horrifying than the goriest panels of The Walking Dead.  Limbs get plucked.  Jaws ripped from their hinges.  Super Hero bodies just absolutely pulverized.  And when the war comes to an end - or stalemate, Invincible has to encounter the devilish Dinosaurus.  Could this scary ass Dr Jekyll/Incredible Hulk creation be an even bigger threat than those Viltrumite doomsayers? The build to issue #100 begins here.

Invincible Tradepaperback Volume 16 - Family Ties:  Mark attempts to talk his way into the heart and brain of Dinosaurus, and an partnership seems to have been reached.  Meanwhile in space, Allen the Alien & Oliver race to deliver the death of all mankind in the form of a Viltrum killing toxin.  Sixteen trade paperbacks into the series, and Mark Grayson finally has to prove his understanding of "Right & Wrong" to his baby brother and the newfound leader of the Coalition of Planets.  Basically, this is the book that shows off why mankind is so dang special.  Of course, there's more cost for Invincible.

Invincible #91-97:  Never been a big fan of powerloss stories, but don't worry, Kirkman knows not to dwell on it too long.  That being said, Bulletproof has to strap on the suit to help Atom Eve with the Invincible, Inc side business.  But Bulletproof might not be the most level headed guy...at the very least he doesn't know how to handle his parents.  Most of these issues deal with what went down between Robot & Monster Girl in the Flaxxan dimension.  It's fairly interesting, but it's also not my favorite stuff in this series.  I really just want to get onto the Dinosaurus madness and the upcoming "Death of Everyone" story arc that's climaxing with issue #100.  I'm kinda scared that Kirkman is going to deliver on the story title.  Will Mark Grayson be around for issue 101?  Hope so.

--Brad