Reviews
In association with
www.brokenfrontier.com
The Twelve #1
Column by Bart Croonenborghs, 2008.
Falling into a trap by the SS in Nazi Germany, twelve superheroes
are frozen to become lab animals, to be dissected at the hands
of German scientists. But the World War ends in defeat for
Hitler and twelve heroes remain trapped in their frozen states
until they are recovered in the morally gray world of the
21st century.
The Twelve is told from the perspective of the Phantom Reporter,
one of the heroes without power except for true grit and determination.
It is a tried and tested method for telling a story and it
is one Straczynski relies on a lot. The first person narration
lets us glimpse inside the heroes world and the way they
relate to each other. It all stays very descriptive though
and beyond some general characterizations, we learn nothing
much about any of these characters, the backstory takes precedence.
Hopefully this will change into a more character driven storyline
because that seems to be where the real story could lay. However
this is a first issue and things need to be put in place before
we can start the real story of this twelve issue miniseries.
Continue to the full review at
Broken Frontier.
Doomed
to be cancelled ??
Scalped - Vertigo
Broken Frontier presents the nominees for our fourth annual
Broken Frontier Awards, compiled by the entire BF staff and
honoring the cream of the crop in the comics industry throughout
2007. The award winners will be announced soon.
The BF awards are split up into two main categories: the
Creator Awards, honoring the top creators, and the Paper Screen
Gems, the awards for the best projects released over the course
of the year.
Sodacomics Selection:
Creator Awards:
- Ed Brubaker (Captain America, Criminal, Daredevil, Iron
Fist, Uncanny X-Men)
- Geoff Johns (Action Comics, Green Lantern, Justice Society
of America)
- Dan Slott (Avengers: The Initiative, She-Hulk)
- Brian K. Vaughan (Doctor Strange: The Oath, Ex Machina,
Runaways, Y: The Last Man)
- Adrian Tomine (Shortcomings)
- Steve Epting (Captain America)
- Duncan Fegredo (Hellboy: Darkness Calls)
Paper Screen Gem Awards:
- The Irredeemable Ant Man (Marvel)
- Fables (DC/Vertigo)
- The Walking Dead (Image)
- 100 Bullets (DC/Vertigo)
- Black Summer (Avatar)
- Punisher Max (Marvel)
- Scalped (DC/Vertigo)
- Captain America (Marvel)
- Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite (Dark Horse)
Continue to the full review at
Broken Frontier.
The Boys #14
by Tonya Crawford, 2008.
What, really, can be said about The Boys? The title continues
on its well laid out path of violence, sex, and political
corruption. There are more than a few funny bits here such
as Vass superhero name and the way Ennis uses the character
to turn the comic book staple of sexualizing female characters
on its head but Enniss tale is still violent, gritty and
cynical. One redeeming factor is that readers once again get
to see Hughie as probably the most balanced member of the
team. He is not violent for its own sake and takes no pleasure
in being a figure of terror. With the political complexity
of this entire story arc, however, unless you have been reading
this from the start then you will likely find yourself completely
lost.
The art by Darick Robertson is also of the comic book realism
style, which renders some of the more violent scenes
well
violent. He obviously, however, has a ball depicting all of
the different characters with their vast range of faces, body
types, and characteristics.
The humor here ranges from dark to sophomoric, the tone is
bitterly cynical, and "justice" depends on your point of view
and level of violence. While The Boys has its place and its
voice in the comic medium it is an acquired taste. For those
who like their heroes on the anti-heroic side and for those
who enjoy humor that has a bit of a knife thrust to it then
there will be something here for them.
Continue to the full review at
Broken Frontier.
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