The pick of the litter: Jason Aaron and Fabian Nicieza
The pick of the litter: Jason Aaron and Fabian Nicieza
By the Ace of Knaves
Yes folks, its time again to sing the praise for two of the best comics writers in the business. First up: Jason Aaron. Now Ive been giving him nothing but straight As for the past months (Ghost rider, Get mystique) and still the man manages to surprise me by getting even better. I am of course talking about his DC one shot Jokers asylum: Penguin. If ever the TPB greatest penguin stories ever told makes it to press, this one has to head the bill (no pun intended). I wasnt very enthusiastic about the first one shot (Joker by Nelson and Sanchez). But this Penguin story has everything. Its been since John Ostranders Penguin triumphant that such a landmark Penguin story was issued. An absolute must read that proves that Aaron doesnt just have the knack for thrill-a minute supernatural ghost rider stuff, but also for deep characterisation and pathos.
Whats that youre saying? Hes also doing Black Panther? Aaaaaw! I hate Black Panther! Really! Please Jason, dont make me buy Black Panther Hes the most useless drab and uninteresting marvel blacksploitation character around (no, wait, its a draw with Luke Cage: Power Man). If I ever get my hands on the fool who got Storm stuck with him! It was only supposed to be a marvel team-up one shot! They shouldnt count for continuity! Think of all the Sub-Mariner / Doctor Doom team-ups. Theyre not married! Why couldnt she get a nice interesting guy like Forge or Wolverine. Or are mixed race marriages not done in the oh so tolerant left wing comics industry? Dont get me started on the black panther and luke cage. Ill take Jim Rhodes and Lucas Bishop or even the Falcon over them any day!
Lets talk about Fabian Nicieza now, that will cheer me up. Good old dependable Fabian Nicieza. I was heartbroken when Deadpool/Cable was cancelled (thats right, DEADPOOL/cable), but I was even more amazed that marvel had let it run for so long. Get the TPBs folks, because its roaring stuff! So naturally Im dreading the upcoming Daniel Way Deadpool. I didnt really like his take on the character in Wolverine Origins, but maybe thats because Steve Dillons art was again way off the mark. I find Niciezas Deadpool to be definitive, but if he isnt available, Id like to advise for Jesse Blaze Snider. His Deadpool short in Marvel Comics presents 10 had me feeling: I cant believe its not Nicieza. But Nicieza is more than Deadpool
Anyone out there who ever wanted to see a Catwoman-Batgirl fight in a nudist society? In the nude?
YEEEEEHAW! And Fabian Nicieza is just the man to write it in Batman confidential 18. And did I mention the art is by Kevin Maguire? DOUBLE YEEEEHAW! Thank you Fabian and Kevin! Might I make a suggestion? Deadpool Vs Battlepope by Fabian Nicieza and Robert Kirkman! Go on, you know you want to!
Midprice-editie van deze prachtige liefdesverklaring aan de literatuur.
Walter Moers ontvoert de lezer naar het betoverde rijk van de literatuur, waar lezen een avontuur is, waar boeken hun lezers niet alleen op een spannende manier vermaken en aan het lachen brengen, maar ook tot waanzin drijven of zelfs ombrengen.
De stad van de dromende boeken is een avonturenroman met de vaart van een thriller, een horrorverhaal vol romantisch uitvergrote creaturen en een bijzonder leuke parodie op de wereldliteratuur. Tenminste, als je om grappen over Goethe en Shakespeare kunt lachen. Of net niet.
Rumo lijkt nog het meest op een hondje met hoorntjes. Zolang hij als jonkie op de boerenhoeve van de Verrenzandse dwergen verblijft, wordt hij door iedereen vertroeteld. Maar de cyclopen doen een inval en voeren alle bewoners in een zak af naar een grot in de Duivelsrotsen. Daar groeit Rumo op en leert hij praten, waarna hij samen met de haaimade Smeik hun ontsnapping beraamt. Vervolgens voert de zilveren draad die hij met zijn innerlijke oog waarneemt hem naar de stad Wolperting, waar hij naar school gaat, vrienden maakt en de mooie Wolpertingse Rala leert kennen. Bij wijze van liefdesgeschenk wil hij een kistje voor haar vervaardigen van hout uit het beruchte Nurnenwoud, maar terwijl Rumo het bos in trekt, worden al zijn Wolpertingse vrienden tot slaaf gemaakt van Gaunab, de krankzinnige dwergkoning. Rumo en de zijnen moeten alles op alles zetten om Gaunab te verslaan, een strijd die tot een hoogtepunt komt in het Theater van de Schone Doden, en die maar één winnaar kent
Rumo & de wonderen in het donker is een fantastische ontwikkelingsroman, een heldenepos en een liefdesgeschiedenis, geschreven in een onderkoelde stijl en met fi jnzinnige humor.
The Improving X-men: Is there hope for mutant kind?
Comic comments on Sodacomics Blog By "The Ace of Knaves".
The Improving X-men:
Is there hope for mutant kind?
By "The Ace of Knaves"
Yes folks, it's time for a situation update. Is "Uncanny X-men" still
crap? Yup, but the franchise is showing more improvement. X-men legacy
is becoming intriguing (Mr. Sinister and a boy Xavier cannot be anything
but intriguing). And "Get Mystique" was a smashing Wolverine storyline
(NOOO! Don't take Jason Aaron away!!!!). Also hopeful was the inspired
"free comic book day" X-men issue by Carey and Land. You
could argue that it was a rip-off of classic issue #143 (1980), but it
had the same feeling of Claremont's X-men and that has been missing
for a LOOOOONG time. Keep it up lads! Even the much lamented (by me
at least) "Wolverine: Origins" has finally made some sense after 25 issues.
Congratulations. What a convoluted development! (Though I can't say I'm
enthusiastic about Way tackling Deadpool in the upcoming series ).
Still the pick of the mutant litter has to be X-force, now featuring
the return of Archangel. That's right: ARCH-angel. And Kyle and Yost actually
manage to use this re-metamorphosis in a scientifically sound way to tie
up some loose ends of the implausible return of Angels original wings
and his "healing blood", by creatively tying everything to the "blood
of Apocalypse" storyline (seems obvious now really). It's not retconning,
it's actually using continuity to clear up a past mess, and that's probably
a first for Marvel. Kyle and Yost: 10 points!
Yeah, eindelijk nog eens een leuke Terminator gezien. Toen de eerste film uitkwam in 1984 was ik nog net geen 10 jaar. Pas enkele jaren later op tv gezien. Ik stam nog uit de tijd dat er nog niet in elk gezin de Video-speler standaard deel uitmaakte van een huishouden. Den 2 was ook zekers ok, maar den 3 ben / heb ik nog niet gezien. Wou eerlijk gezegd geen bejaarde Schwarzenegger zien. Zoveel lovende kritiek heb ik toen ook niet gehoord.
En dan komen ze met een tv-serie. Waarom me dat wel prikkelde ...?? Heeft het iets te maken met de staking in Hollywood of gebrek aan iets anders. Ben blij dat ik het in ieder geval wel heb gedaan.
Momenteel houden ze een summer-break en volgt episode 10 ergens in september. Misschien dat ik den 3 toch eens een kans geef.
Trust No One Certainly no machine but maybe you can trust ...
Every once in a while you find yourself reading a comic book that really
blows your socks off. Recently, countdown 6-5 had this effect on me (even
though what followed was nothing but I disappointment). I hadn't figured
on getting an even bigger thrill out of a back-issue of Batman 520
(Jul. 95), Written by Doug Moench and drawn by Eduardo Barreto.
Just to situate the issue in Batman chronology: Bruce had just returned
to being Batman after Dick Grayson had replaced him for a short while
following Knightsend, but Gotham hadn't been hit with the plague yet.
Regular artist on the series was Kelley Jones and to be honest
I wasn't very impressed with his art. Letter columns from the time emphasise
that it was but a small portion of the fans who would agree with me in
this, but that aside, I still find fault with it. His "costumes" were
perfect, and his mega-long eared Batman is an inspired rendition of the
most gothic and dark batman, just falling short of parody, so no complaints
there, but his "uncostumed" characters look ridiculous. Fortunately he
has evolved since then, because his current art on "Batman: Gotham
after midnight" still has the great gothic feel, but at least now
he's also able to produce a recognisable Alfred (Instead of the bald moustachioed
Walter Matthau that he used to draw instead)
So I guess that the switch for issue 520 to Barreto was part of the charm
as this issue focuses heavily on supporting cast officer Harvey Bullock,
and I cannot imagine Kelley Jones at the time rendering it so beautifully.
And the art really is beautiful, not just in the drawing, but also in
the page lay-out. Moench and Barreto manage to get the pace of the story
and of the panels just right, so that when the unexpected and shocking
climax comes, it just blows you away. I don't think I've ever seen the
murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne illustrated in such a gripping way as
the similar murder in this issue, which gets blended into the story in
a perfect reminder of why Gotham need the Batman. If you can find it as
a back-issue, buy it, because it really is the medium at its best,
combing all elements of story and art to maximum effect.
Classic stuff!
Which reminds me, looking at the date of this issue, it was also around
this period that printing switched from classic "newspaper paper" to the
glossy kind. I really miss the old paper. Sure, the colours are much fresher
with the modern printing, but old back-issues still have that real comics
smell and feel. Especially the smells, which to me bring back all the
excitement of the comics stand in the newspaper story (by the way: Are
the Dutch translated versions still being printed on this paper? Because
they used to be even when the American ones had switched to glossy).
Marvel's still got it!
(But they don't advertise it so much )
By "The Ace of Knaves"
It's a very weird thing: Marvel Comics still publish great comics, but
for the past few years their promotional activities have tended to focus
on the not quite so good stuff. While marvel was hyping the in my view
disappointing and uninspired "Civil War" and "World War Hulk" they were
doing absolutely great stuff on the other end of the galaxy. Literally
on the other end of the galaxy, because Annihilation and Annihilation
Conquest did an absolutely smashing job of creating a viable storyline
for Marvel's Cosmic Cast.
These guys were often featured as overkill baddies or guest stars, but
they really work best when they're all thrown together. Who cares if you're
cosmically powered if the other characters in the series also are? This
nicely balances out the characters and prevents them being just "all powerfull"
but allows the story to be more about the Person than about the Power.
Other really good stuff produced by Marvel includes Ghost Rider, the Twelve
and "Avengers: Initiative". Hardly the most famous characters in the Marvel
universe. And it's still continuing; you can go for the "Infiltration"
deal, but I would tip you to ignore some of the infiltration spin-offs
and pick up a "Nova" or "Guardians of the galaxy" instead. They feature
some really great work by Dan Abnett (who writes awesome SciFi novels
too!). In my opinion "Guardians of the galaxy #1" is a serious contender
for best comic of the year. Really! Check it out!
However the pick of the litter has to be "Invincible Iron Man #1". After
having tried for a few years to damage Tony Stark (Civil War was a PR
nightmare!) and make Iron Man a tarnished hero they've finally turned
around. Using the momentum of the equally excellent movie, they finally
present Iron Man in a way that we haven't seen since the early eighties.
There's hints of "demon in a bottle" "armor wars" and all the great Iron
man tales from in between. And it features probably the best quote of
the year: " cotton and spandex.
Three for $9.99. Got 'em at target. 'L-A-M-B-O-R-G-H-I-N-I.' " (You'll
have to read it to get it).
Sterling stuff! This series looks like it's going to have everything that's
been missing from the "director of shield", so as a long time Iron Man
fan, I can only say that I think I'm in love!
Het is eindelijk zover, mijn eerste bescheiden mini-EXPO
loopt van 24 mei tot 21 juni te Mechelen.
Wat is er te zien?
Pentekenigen, schilderijen en originele strippagina's.
Waar precies?
Stripwinkel de Stripkever, Bruul 79, Mechelen (kleinwinkelcentrum). Boven de
stripwinkel is er een ruimte beschikbaar voorjong strip en ander
talent.
Wie heeft daar nog geexposeerd? Brecht Evens en Randall C., Simon
Spryut en meer van dat geweldig volk.
Iedereen is welkom op de vernisage,
23 mei en die start om 20.00u. EXCLUSIEFAANBOD: De nieuwste strip van mezelf
is te koop op de vernisage en je krijgt er een gratis poster bij. Ook de
receptiedrank wordt gratis aangeboden. Gratis alkohol en mooie tekeningen, een
combinatie die niet te missen is.
"Faces" and "Going sane": two great
Legends of the Dark Knight coming in TPB.
By "The Ace of Knaves"
I was quite happy to see the announcement of "Faces" and "Going sane"
in TPB, as these are two excellent story arcs from "Legends of the Dark
Knight" which I just recently read as back-issue comics. "Faces" (by Matt
Wagner) was published originally is issues 28-30 (march to may 1992) and
contains a solid Two-face story. I can't really find myself in the "army
of deformed super-powerful slaves" blurb used in the promotion of the
TPB, as the to me the story seems to be more about the balance between
interior beauty and exterior deformity (and vice versa) rather than about
any "super-powers". Not every deformed body has a deformed soul and not
every beautiful body has the soul to match. Quite ironic that Two-face
has to learn this lesson in this arc. The art by Willie Schubert is absolutely
spot-on for this theme. If you liked Tod Browning's movie "Freaks", you're
going to love "Faces". I know I did.
"Going Sane" (by De Matteis) appeared in LOTDK65-68 (nov 1994-feb 1995)
and features a quite tragic story about how Batman and the Joker are doomed
to each other. I don't want to give away too much, but I do want to say
that it contains some heart-breaking scenes when the Joker's fragile recovering
sanity is once again broken. In fact at this point in the story the roles
seem to reverse: whereas normally you'd be angry at the Joker for disturbing
Batman's peace, here Batman seems to come close near the villainous part
as he (probably involuntary) draws the Joker back into their eternal dance
of death and insanity.
I can only hope that this heralds the appearance of more LOTDK TPB's,
as there are some other marvellous story arcs from this period really
deserving the treatment, such as "Prey" (LOTDK 11-15) featuring the always
wonderfully unstable Hugo Strange.
We're
on "well deserved" holiday from 05-05 untill 13-05. The
shop stays open for orders, but they will be shipped starting from
16-05. There could be delay on posting the preorders for May, so
please forgive me ; )
Please
Note:
Deadline
for this month's previews is closing on monday 22u.
