February 28, 2014

     Dave's Unspoilt Capsules and Awards
     Intermittent Picks and Pans of Comics and Related Media

Standard Disclaimers: Please set appropriate followups.  Recommendation does
not factor in price.  Not all books will have arrived in your area this week.
An archive can be found on my homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants 
                 Back in the job search again, sigh.

     Items of Note (strongly recommended or otherwise worthy): Action
Presidents #1.

     In this installment: Justice League: War, Action Presidents #1,
Transformers: More than Meets the Eye vol 1-2, Serenity: Leaves on the Wind
#1, Astro City #9, Revolutionary War: Death's Head II


"Other Media" Capsules:

     Things that are comics-related but not necessarily comics (i.e.
comics-based movies like Iron Man or Hulk), or that aren't going to be
available via comic shops (like comic pack-ins with DVDs) will go in this
section when I have any to mention.  They may not be as timely as comic
reviews, especially if I decide to review novels that take me a week or two
(or ten) to get around to.

     Justice League: War - I'm told this is a fairly faithful adaptation of a
story from the comics, but I never bothered to read the original.  As a
standalone piece, this is a decent enough movie, although when it comes to
"Apokolips invades Earth" stories it's hard to beat the Superman: the
Animated Series version.  And this doesn't even bat in the same league as
that.  It has some cute bits, but the overall story is weaker and Darkseid is
treated like a video game end boss.  Mildly recommended.

     I did buy the Target-exclusive Justice League Adventures: Trapped in
Time DVD in February, but haven't gotten around to watching it yet.


Digital Content:

     Unless I find a really compelling reason to do so, I won't be turning
this into a webcomic review column.  Rather, stuff in this section will be
full books available for reading online or for download, usually for pay.  I
will often be reading these things on my iPod if it's at all possible.

     Action Presidents #1 (Washington): SLG - This actually came out a few
months ago, but I was hoping to find a hardcopy before buying it digitally.
Turns out the series won't be put out individually, though, just trade
collections, so after the free Jefferson story went up for President's Day I
picked up this installment.  Van Lente and Dunleavy do a very good job here
of both demolishing the usual hagiography of our first President while also
showing that the story's more interesting than the National Legend anyway.
Strongly recommended.  $1.99 at ComiXology.


Trades:

     Trade paperbacks, collections, graphic novels, pocket manga, whatever.
If it's bigger than a "floppy" it goes here.

     Transformers More Than Meets The Eye vol 1 and 2: IDW - Having read
enough bits and pieces via the pack-in comics in the Generations toy line, I
stuck the collected editions in my Amazon wishlist and started using them to
pad out orders to the free shipping level (although in the last week of
February the ComiXology edition of vol 1 went on sale for $3.99, so I
probably would've snagged that if I hadn't gotten the hardcopy already).  
     Volume 1 includes the "Death of Optimus Prime" one-shot, which is in
turn a sort of epilogue for the previous Big Event in IDW's Transformers
universe.  Enough is presented that I didn't feel particularly lost, and the
new status quo is set up fairly clearly (to the extent it's possible, since
lack of clarity for the characters is part of the new status quo).  Oh, and
Optimus Prime isn't so much dead as giving up being a Prime, returning to his
old Orion Pax name and pulling a "Captain America as Nomad" deal.
     But this isn't really his story (he's off in the other main title after
this).  MtMtE follows the crew of the Lost Light, a bunch of disaffected or
idealistic or plain foulup Autobots (and non-Autobots) who choose to follow
Rodimus in search of the Knights of Cybertron.  In feel it's much like the
spacefaring stories of season 3 of the original cartoon, with lots of strange
new worlds and a rotating subset of a large cast, but updated for an audience
they know is college aged or older.  A good mix of horror and humor, angst
and whimsy.
     Both volumes are recommended.  Price varies depending on where you get
them and in what format, but $20 is the MSRP.


Floppies:

     No, I don't have any particular disdain for the monthlies, but they
*are* floppy, yes?  

     As usual, there's stuff that came out in the month that I don't have
yet, because I don't visit the comic shop weekly anymore.  Also, Diamond
totally lost the box containing MLP #16.  (They did finally cough up some
Gold Digger, but only the issues I bought online and reviewed the past few
months.  I still bought the hardcopies so as to not leave the store with
unsellable product.)

     Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #1: Dark Horse - This isn't the first
official Firefly comic from Dark Horse, but it *is* the first one set after
the events of the movie.  As is fairly cliche for a sequel, the happy ending
is partially undone, but it makes sense to have worked out that way, and the
small bits of happiness aren't snatched away from the crew, just their Big
Victory.  Zack Whedon goes to the "quotable catchphrase" well a little too
often in trying to write the characters, but artist Georges Jeanty usually
avoids the licensed comic pitfall of "good facial likeness at the expense of
storytelling because every face is traced from a photo".  Once in a while,
you can tell there's photoref, but usually Jeanty lets the composition
determine the expression, not the availability of reference material.  Mildly
recommended, hopefully it picks up once Zack finds his own voice.  $3.50

     Astro City #9: DC/Vertigo - Not much to say, really.  This is a very
"middle" issue, reinforcing themes already present without actually resolving
anything yet.  Mildly recommended.  $3.99

     Revolutionary War: Death's Head II: Marvel - Part of a big crossover
about which I care not a whit, but featuring all three versions of Death's
Head.  Lanning (without Abnett) does a pretty good job of writing his own
characters (DHII, Tuck, Dr. Necker) as well as the original DH.  He even
finds a way to integrate the ill-fated Death's Head drones from a few years
ago.  Along the way, Lanning sneaks in what appears to be a subtle retcon to
remove Transformers and Doctor Who from the personal timeline of Death's Head
(a human-scale original DH mentions having just gotten a new body after a
recent encounter with Iron Man, where he was last seen as a giant).  Because
this is the middle of a crossover, there's no resolution to speak of, and the
next part of the crossover doesn't even involve DH (I checked, it's also
rubbish, avoid it).  But this isn't really about advancing that storyline
anyway: it's really done like the old Secret Origins comics from DC (yes, my
peers, books from the 80s are old, as are we).  An excuse to provide
infodumps and establish character.  And in that, it does a good job and feeds
a little nostalgia.  Heck, Secret Origins comics also tended to include
retcons, so this issue fits the pattern there too.  Recommended.  $3.99

     Dave Van Domelen, "Hrm.  That's me?  Bio-organic?  Droopy horns?  NO
CAPE?!  You're right -- I REALLY do need saving!" - Death's Head I, to Tuck,
about Death's Head II - Revolutionary War: Death's Head II

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