Weekend Trade: RED , Zomnibus

Two trades I read was Warren Ellis' RED and IDW's collective ZOMNIBUS which includes three zombie stories.

1. RED(wildstorm) by Warren Ellis , art by Cully Hamner                                                                            

    PLOT: retired CIA agent/assassin Paul Moses just wants to live his golden years in peace but unfortunately he knows too much. The new head of the CIA wants to take zero chance of any of their secrets getting out so he orders Moses to be eliminated. Unaware they only re-activated and awoken the most dangerous CIA agent ever in service who doesnt appreciate the government betrayal.

  Me: This was straight to the point , balls to the walls violence and fun. It wont challenge you in any capacity , this is a leave your brain at the door , kick your feet up and enjoy kind of read. Its unfortunately really short and goes by incredibly fast. I get the feeling this was a story Warren Ellis wrote in 10 minutes while taking a dump and the majority audience being dummies that we are , ate it up! and now its a blockbuster movie.


Verdict: BORROW. The price point effects my verdict. Its a $15-18 book and I cant recommend this , they fill up the majority of the pages with "extras" but when it comes to comics and books , we dont want DVD like extras we just want story content , which this lacks. Its still a goofy fun read , and well worth borrowing if you can get your hands on it but I wouldnt make it a top priority either.

****BONUS****
RED prequel comics

Its a 4 issue prequel comic series for the movies , one for each major character.

Bruce Willis: Very good , it carries along routinely but finished very strong leaving you intrigrued and educated about the movie character

Morgan Freeman: Not the impact ending Willis' story had but still engaging.

Helen Mirren: Easily the most empathetic of the four. Victoria is probably the most humane of the four but you can see where the heart turns to stone.

John Malkovich: Mad , crazy ,

Verdict: Again , its a borrow. They are $4 a piece which means this will be a $20 trade probably , I cant recommend this either , the price point cant be ignored. Despite being enjoyable reads , the standards for value has to remain high otherwise we will continue to get "passable" material for $4+ mini series.

                                                                                                                                                                   

2. ZOMNIBUS

  Zomnibus is a collective trade of three IDW zombie tales

1. Zombies ! Feast by Shane Mcarthy and Chris Bolton , art:

 plot: A prison bus carrying the country's most 8 of the country's most dangerous criminals has engine problems. With two guards and a federal marshall guarding the convicts , they run into some more "problems" and the chaos ensues....

me: I had a blast with this. Its zombie formulaic but it doesnt mean it still doesnt work. From the first page you will guess and wonder whom are the main prototagonists that you will latch on to and it becomes a game of survivor , who will be the last ones standing. A fantastic appetizer in this full course zombie meal...

2. Eclipse of the Dead by El Torres , art : Yair Herrera

plot: a mysterious plague hits the city of Los Angelas and the world and survivors are rounded up at LA Coliseum. It is here a makeshift social structure is developed amongst the survivors but when the parameter is breached by the zombie hordes , everything changes for out odd ball cast of survivors.

me: I would say this is the weakest of the three stories it still was worth the read. I liked the variety in the characters and the bottom line is it was balls to the walls fun. There were heros and villians within this mayhem of dead flesh , and of course lots of zombie slaying. I found this to be another solid appetizer for the main course ahead...

3. Zombies vs Robots by Chris Ryall , art: Ashley Wood

plot: three scientist fucking around with a portal time machine they built leads to a world survived by zombies and robots. 1 human baby still exist and the robots following their core programming must aide her survival. Eventually this stories takes us to a third party ... Amazons! there's actually a teaser to a fourth to leave you craving more but we never actually see it through...

me: First and foremost , I love the sketch book , mono tone coloured look of comics. Im not saying I wish all comics would look like this but sometimes it compliments a story perfectly. It works here , Ashley Wood's pencilling is hypnotic and alluring. I had a great time with the story , a decent rollercoaster ride. Just when I thought i had it figured out , shit hits the fan , just when I think this is FUBAR it settles into a routine zombie tale.. but it all comes together in the end.


FINAL VERDICT: BUY. Individually I might say borrow for 1 or 2 of the titles but for the price? $16-17 on Amazon for this lovely collection is superb value. There's some pin up art in the back from Wood , .. that is cherry on top of the already awesome cake you bought.

New Comic Book Day : 10/13/10

Slow day: Hack Slash Muder Messiah but I still havent got my goddamn My First Maniac #4!!!! , Warlord of Mars #1 , Superior #1

1. Superior #1 (icon) by Mark Millar art: Leinil Yu

   Kick Ass's Mark Millar kicks off a new series on the eve of the release of Kick Ass 2 , a new Icon series titled 'Superior'.

  plot/premise: A lonely kid with multiple sclerosis gets visited  by a mysterious talking space monkey during the night and gets granted one magical wish...

  me: It was typical Millar , straight to the point delievered with purpose. I was hooked the moment I realized the opening sequence was from a movie that the kid was watching and this was going in a different direction I anticipated.

  verdict: Pick of the week in a weak week , but this would've stood out in a good week too. Its Mark Millar , there's a handful of writers that bat 1.000 and Millar is one of them.

2. Hack Slash Murder Messiah (image) by Tim Seeley

   We are getting ever so close to the new on going series , this annual and one more next month and then we get to Cassie Hack full time!

  This is apparently the unreleased issues #33 and #34 of the IDP series.I havent caught up completely so I feel my review is incomplete. That said this was a fantastic balls to the walls issue tracking back and forth between two story arcs 15 years apart that are connected hand in hand. Once you figure out where Seeley is going you are hooked and glued to this. Perfect halloween comic.

Verdict: Hack Slash has to shit the bed pretty bad for me not to enjoy , this was fantastic.. a $6 price tag for a double sized issue was a little steep but it was a enjoyable book.

3. Warlord of Mars #1 (dynamite) by Arvid Nelson art: S. Sadowski , A.Lucas , cover: Alex Ross

   Another reboot project from Dynamite. They like taking old classic series and pumping life back into it , this was a buck debut issue so I thought I give'er a go.

   the plot:
story 1:  end of the civil war , confederate captain John Carter is now without an army and job with the South defeated. Looking for work , Carter sets out for gold in the southwest where he runs into some Union soldiers and Carter's story ensues...

story 2: On mars , a native green martian warrior Tars Tarkas  rescues his kind from the clutches of the White Apes ...

  me: Sadly the comic was as brief as my plot summary. Two short stories to introduce the characters , story and lore of WoM. Not enough comic to do this , both stories fell increidbly short , the cover of the comic is completely misleading caz John Carter is nowhere near to getting to Mars.I appreciate the buck price tag but I would've been happier with a $4 price tag and a double sized 48 page debut issue. (on a side note I wonder if Dynamite and IDW will follow Marvel and DC with the 2.99 flat rate)

  All that said , Im not giving up nor dropping this , Im just saying there wasnt enough and thats a good thing. Sadowski's art is very solid , the action sequences were smooth , character designs were good considering he's rebooting established identities. Same with the writing , all in all its a solid debut.

  verdict: lots of promise , Im definitely curious to see how #2 goes but Im not exactly waiting on the edge of my seat for this.

Prices for 2011

DC and Marvel have announced they are lowering all prices to their titles to 2.99 ... thank goodness. I was just saying that all summer wishing Marvel and DC would just make all their titles 2.99 caz I think $1per 10 pages is a fair price.

I imagine IDW and other publishers will follow suite caz you dont want to be the most expensive comic on the rack.

This is great , brings back the old days of a flat rate across for all books now.. I would like to see ALL comics sold 2.99.. enough of 3.50 and 4.00 comics.

New Comic Book Day : 10/6/10

An awesome day except I still didnt get my Hack Slash #4!!!!

today's pull: Secret Six #26 , I Zombie #6 , Whispers in the Wall #3 , Baltimore Plague Ships #3 , Neonomicon #2 , SHIELD #4

1. Baltimore Plague Ships #3/5(darkhorse) by

  This series has been up and down for me , Ill finish the series caz I have to now but Im not sure if I would recommend this as a trade at this point.

2. Neonomicon #2/4(avatar) by Alan Moore , art: Jacen Burrows

   This is a NC-17 rated comic. There's sex , gay sex , rape and more sex and nudity.

 This issue kicks up a notch in the intensity and overall plot and as mentioned graphic tone. I felt the supernatural aspect was taking away from the story , I dont think they needed the Cthlulu in this.. it was a crazy issue.

3. I Zombie #6(vertigo) by

 The origin story of Were-Terrier , a nice quick little story thats still laying the foundation to this new series. It indeed looks like this will be a Scooby Doo-esq style of comic , but we're still aways from getting there.

4. Whispers in the Walls #3/6(humanoids) by David Munoz , art: Tirsol

  They shrinked the print to save money I guess , whatever helps complete the distribution of this book.

This picks up where it left off , we discover much more whom is behind this all and whats actually going on. We also see whom the mysterious figure whom killed Sarah's family was and further more.

This is a great take on the whole monsters and vampire lore story. 

I strongly recommend the trade when it comes out.

5. Secret Six #26(dc) by Gail Simone ,

Another balls to the wall , head chopping issue.

6. S.H.I.E.L.D. #4(marvel) by

summary:
My pick of the week: I Zombie #6

My letdown of the week: Baltimore Plague Ships

Weekend Trade: 10/1/10

My LCS had a small sale today , not the greatest deals but it didnt stop me from shopping. Im very ecstatic caz I found a very rare Wonder Woman graphic novel

The Runaways: True Believers(marvel) by Bryan K Vaughan , art: Alphoma                                    

 I've been putting this off for some time and its not the easiest book to find. So I figure lets finish the BK Vaughan run of Runaways.. vol.2 at the least. I love this series. I know it went astray after BKV left but i havent gotten there yet to judge so..

Sweet Tooth v.1 (vertigo) by Jeff Lemire                                                                                                 

 I keep hearing so much about Sweet Tooth. I thought Id check it out. Vertigo just keeps pumping out solid title and title , DC just went through massive cuts including shutting down Wildstorm entirely but Vertigo keeps rockin on.

Unwritten vol.1(vertigo) by Mike Carey , art: Peter Gross                                                                        

 Another title that gets talked about a lot and I wanted to check'er out. Im unfamiliar with both Carey and Gross' work which makes this even more intriguing

Red (wildstorm) by Warren Ellis , art: Cully Hamner                                                                                    

 I bought the prequel comics for the upcoming movie so I thought I read the original and see what the hub bub is about. Looking forward to this , you cant go wrong with a Warren Ellis title.


Wonder Woman the Hiketeia(2nd printing) by Greg Rucka                                                                 

 One of my favourite covers..ever. Which Im really choked now caz I just missed Greg Rucka at our last ComicCon 3 weeks ago. FUUUUUUUU   . This is a very hard and rare book to find. Its out of print for like 7 years so its quite the find when you do find it brand new.

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summary: I have so much eye fucking to do. My eyes are going to fuck and get fucked hard.

New Comic Book Day : 9/29/10

Nice haul today , though Im still waiting for my Hack Slash #4!!! : Widow Warriors #3 , Chew #14 , Stuff of Legend #2 v.2 , Artifacts #2 , Wonder Woman #603 

new title: Machete #0

1. Chew #14(image) by John Layman , art: Robert Guillory

*PICK OF THE WEEK*  I dont need to sell this comic. This is easily one of my favourites right now and could go down as one of my favourites of all time when its all said and done. This issue carries this arc brilliantly to the next and final issue of this story. Chew is one of the best comics going right now.


2. Stuff of Legend #2(3rd world studios)

  Another beautiful comic that nobody knows about. Its either buried for its childish appearance or undiscovered for its indy status. Make no mistake about this , The Stuff of Legend is a must read and a brilliant story. In a day where we get recycled stories in new adaptations and such , this is an original from top to bottom.

  It was 2 1/2 months since the last issue , a long wait , went a little fast , wish it was a little thicker if not for the price but for the wait between issues. The golems are introduced , The Boobeyman sets the pieces for his next scheme to entrap the group , the group encounters more hurdles they have to overcome... its just mind melting awesome.

3. Widow Warriors #3(dynamite) by Pat Lee 

  This was another ok issue that looked great. For the first time I learn that this is indeed only a 4 issue mini series unfortunatly , I was hoping for a on going or longer. More deaths , more shit goes down , it leads up to a big finale.. look at the bloody cover!!! there's a flying decapitated head! and I can tell that it does indeed happen.

 The major issue with this series now that i know its a mini , too short for the amount of characters involved. I still was trying to get to know faces and names and its almost over! This needed to be a longer story , its a good story and had lots of potential for something great.

  Pat Lee's art is solid.

  Ill be finishing the series , I've come this far but Im disappointed that its over next issue. Very disappointed.

4. Artifacts #2(top cow) by Ron Marz

 A reminder this is noob friendly , you can jump on board with this series without having read Witchblade before. I never read Witchblade and I dont feel lost at all. That said , it clealry wold add to the experience if you knew the background of all the characters and would appreciate the subtle moments and things.

 The story is moving along nicely , this issue you will finally get the official layout of the plot for the entire series. So this is rather important issue. We come to realize the fate of Julie and Sarah's daughter whom were spending a day together at the park in #1 when Aphrodites was stalking them. The groundwork is laid out , we are introduced to all the major players , and the official story begins. Again to add to the noob friendly , each issue has some profiles of the major characters.. its well crafted.

  The art is fantastic , even if the story was dipshit moronic , the art is really solid.

5. Wonder Woman #603(dc)

   Part 3 of the current arc , I must say this was another ho hum issue. I was rather disappointed in the direction it took and the end product. I wasnt thrilled they just cut off the rogue amazon arc and went with WW going into the underworld of Hades , seemed unnecessary. The art wasnt its strongest point to say the least , Wonder Woman didnt look very commanding .. just didnt hit with me in this one.

6. Machete #0(idw)

 Debut issue. Its a prequel story of the legend they call Machete , from the Robert Rodriguez film. Which btw was very entertaining and balls to the walls fun.

The comic however lacks depth and heart , its not much different than the movie but you pick up comics for more detail and its not here.

The bad news: its a $4 comic

The good news : its not your typical #0 of 13 pages .. its a full comic , no different than any other $4 comic

verdict: Its a pass for now , Ill wait and see how #1 does but Im not committing myself to this title yet. I just dont connect to Machete despite enjoying the film a lot.

summary:

New Comic Book Day : 9/22/10

First off my Hack Slash is STILL MIA!!! grrrrrrrr

My pull : Black Widow #6 , Mindfield #3 , Red one shots ( 4 issues)

News: Wildstorm is being shutdown , by coinkydink my first purchase from Wildstorm Publishing is also my last lol (Red prequel series). Ill review Red after I see the movie caz thats when Ill read the prequels or at least read the main title.

1. Black Widow #6(marvel) by Duane Swierczynsky , art: Manuel Garcia

   A new arc and a new era as Liu and Acuna both move on from Black Widow. We now get the writing and pencil stylings of  Swierczynsky and Garcia.

 Garcia's penciling isnt too shabby. A good face smashing should be a pre-resequite for all comic artists.

The Plot: A deceased vice president candidate's son is obsessed in finding his farther's killers , and Black Widow is being framed for the murder along with the mysterious deaths of other prominant politicians. Enemy agent Fatale intercepts the son to possibly assassinate him for info he may pertain to all of this , Black Widow must protect the man whom wants her dead ...  the arc begins...

Me: The story is decent enough , I felt the pacing was good , you start off right into the mix and things pick up furthermore. It was a little silly at times with Black Widow on the hood on the car  , I wont spoil it but lets just say I thought somebody was dropping a coiler on the hood of a moving car. The issue ends with what normally would be a crazy cliffhanger BUT SPOILER COMMENT: I just highly doubt they will kill off the title character 6 issues into her new series... OR WILL THEY?! SPOILER OVER.

Verdict: Its not perfect , its not Black Widows greatest start to a story but its still worth the ticket and its still worth sticking with. This new team of Swierczynsky and Garcia might be onto something here.   A perfect jumping on point for noobs.

Recommend: Yes. Black Widow is a great series so far and looks like it will continue to be. 

2. Mindfield #3(aspen) by JT Krul , art: A.Konat , J. Bolerjack                                                                 

 Mindfield is one of the better comics on the shelves nobody is reading. Its a required taste but its not extreme as a Garth Ennis book , its just the genre: crime , esponiage , terrorist , Telekenesis , FBI ,..etc

 This is the opening page to #3 , its intense and graphic from the get go...

     This is definitely not a jumping on point , you must start from the beginning or else you will be lost. There's a lot going on now , the story is going full bore at this point.

    Im rather loving this comic right now , I love the story and its slowly getting better as we slowly indulge ourselves into each character and the plot. JT Krul is masterfully pulling you in , yet keeping the bait at arms length throughout , you just keep chasing that carrot with mouth watering.We have the main character questioning himself , his new team learning to work together and a new terrorist threat using the same telepathetic powers that is suppose to give them the advantage.

     I really like the mini profile at the end of each issue of the main players , you just feel like youre getting better bang for the buck caz I dont think they include it for the total page count.. or do they?

Verdict: This is a fantastic comic , the arc isnt done yet and I dont know if this is a 4 or 5 issue arc , Im not even sure if this will conclude but it should be on your Trade radar if you're already reading the comics. Im sure this is a on going series , Aspen could have something special on their hands here if this title continues to grow and grow

 Homo Homini Lupus

Men are not gentle creatures who want

to be loved , and who at the most can 

defend themselves if they are attacked

They are the contrary creatures among

whose instinctual endowments is to

be reckoned a powerful share of aggressiveness

to humiliate him , to cause him pain , to 

torture and kill him.

As a result , their neighbour is for them

not only a potential helper or sexual object,

but also someone who tempts them to satisfy 

their aggressiveness on him.

to exploit his capacity for work without

compensation to use him sexually without his

consent to seize his possessions

homo homini lupus: Man is wolf to man

- Sigmund Freud