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| Go read Trillium! |
This is the final issue of Jeff Lemire's amazing mini series. While the past 7 issues felt like they took their time developing a mood and atmosphere, this issue rushes to a climax and a conclusion. While that's not a bad thing, I found that I actually enjoyed wading my way through the delightful weirdness of Trillium's world(s). Maybe I just didn't want this to end. Even if the climax wasn't spectacular, it was definitely satisfying. The real highlight this issue, though, was the art. Now, Lemire has done creative artistry in previous issues with panels and whole pages flipping upside down. Some past issues, from a technical standpoint, did that better and were more astounding. But overall the art in this was amazing. There are several panels, even several 2-page spreads, that I want framed and hanging on my wall. Overall Trillium was a great experience and proof that Vertigo can still produce some great comics.
Speaking of amazing art that I want on my wall, holy crap check out that cover by Jenny Frison! The story is also good, too! Gail Simone's writing is kind of hit or miss for me (but if you want a good time on the internet, follow Simone on twitter! That sounded dirtier than it is). Some stuff she writes just doesn't grab me, but I like her enough that I'm willing to give her new stuff a try. Her run on Red Sonja has so far been really fun and enjoyable, and this issue continues that trend. Here, Sonja is running around with a cook she liberated/captured and trying to capture an animal wrangler of sorts. Simone tends to have a bit of a twisted sense of humor and it really works well in Red Sonja. Yes, Red Sonja can be a very funny book. But dang it, I just find it enjoyable to read and sometimes that should be enough.
Mark Millar's new title continues with the elderly hero, Duke McQueen, visited by a young alien. The alien begs Duke to return to his planet and save it once more, like he did 40 Earth-years ago. I said before that Millar, known for controversial violence in his comics, can be great at the quiet moments. He continues that here. While the first issue was rather somber, this issue reignites some childhood joy as Duke familiarizes himself with flying a spaceship again and getting excited for going off on another adventure. This may be the best Millar comic I have read in quite a while.
This actually released a few weeks ago, but my local comic book shop did not have it in stock that week. I had pretty much given up on it, but I randomly checked yesterday and, lo and behold, the recent back issue section contained a handful of copies of this issue! I'm not sure how long I'll continue to read this comic. It's interesting, but I don't know if it's quite enough to add it to my regular reading. But I'm giving it a try. This book is about mercenaries with a submarine in the South Pacific during the 1930s. It has a very Indiana Jones feel to the time period and characters, which is probably why I even bothered to pick up issue 2. The art threw me off at first, but I'm starting to appreciate it quite a bit. It reminds me of a cross between the old Max Fleischer Superman cartoons and the art style of Archer, believe it or not.
So that's what I got this week. Not too much, so let's go on to last week's reading pile!
I get this book solely because Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics writes it. This is more of an all-ages book, meaning it's usually safe for kids to read. Think of it as having like a PG rating if it was a movie. However, this does deal with some pretty heavy themes. The bulk of this issue consists of our protaganists in an ethical debate about whether or not they should destroy the spaceship that is currently attacking them. If they don't, then they will die and and the evil empire gets its hands on the Midas weapon. If they do, thousands of innocents on the enemy ship will die, but our heroes will live and hopefully save many more people by using the weapon against the empire. When does the greater good become acceptable? Like I said, pretty deep issues for kids. But it does have a talking dinosaur on a spaceship!
140 years after the original Star Wars trilogy, the descendant of Han Solo is a mercenary with a bounty on her head. Some things never change. The Legacy era is fun because it builds on the mythology of the original movies but then goes into crazy places. The first Legacy series followed a descendant of Luke Skywalker and ran for 50 issues. Sadly, this series won't last as long with the Star Wars license moving from Dark Horse to Marvel next year. But Dark Horse has done some clever and fun things with Star Wars, and Legacy is a solid example of that.
I don't know if I like Umbral. Maybe I'm just lost in the story. This issue was better than the last few, so I guess it has that going for it. This time the story takes time for exposition and explains some of the history and mythology of the Umbral universe. This made the series a lot easier for me to understand and enjoy. The next issue wraps up the first story arc and then the series goes on a break for a few months before returning with a new arc. I will finish out this storyline but I'm not sure I will be back when Umbral returns. While I am still intrigued by this fantasy story, I may just wait and read it as story arcs are collected in trades.
Why aren't you reading this already?
Crazy stuff happens. That is pretty much the synopsis of this issue. Actually the majority of it is the climactic battle of a war going on inside J. Robert Oppenheimer's head between his multiple personalities. It's weird, it's crazy, it's clever, and it's something you would probably never see in any other medium.
This is a "flashback" issue, meaning it's meant to look like it was written and drawn in the 1950s. So the style is very different from most comics today, and it satirizes that. This one-and-done storyline follows Hitler as he recovers a time machine (because he has become so adept at foiling time travelers who, upon building a time machine, decide the first thing they will do is go back in time and kill Hitler) and goes into the future that is the 1950s to kill Nick Fury. But Deadpool is also there and he helps Fury stop Hitler once and for all. Does this sound absurd to you, yet rather interesting? Then I recommend you check out Deadpool. This current series is topnotch.
Another Gail Simone written comic. Issue one was, for me, a decided letdown. But I loved the game so much that I'm sticking with the comic. This issue is much better. It's certainly not on par with Red Sonja, but they are completely different beasts. It feels, and I certainly hope this is true, that Simone is leading up to something and everything will snap into place and flow beautifully like it does with Red Sonja. So far though, it hasn't yet reached that level of amazing. But as it was a definite improvement over last issue, I will probably stick with it. For now.
Okay, I admit it, I have yet to finish Neil Gaiman's original Sandman run. I am ashamed and it probably explains why I don't quite understand everything that's going on in the issue. But it is still great writing and unbelievably gorgeous art by J.H. Williams III. Plus, there's that whole scene where multiple aspects of Morpheus debate proper pronoun use when attempting to refer to themselves/himself. Sadly, delays will be the biggest obstacle in enjoying this miniseries. This issue was scheduled to come out in December, I believe. Then it got pushed back to February and was finally released in March. Issue 3 is scheduled for late April but reportedly won't appear until sometime in July. With that information, one may want to just wait until the whole series comes out and is collected in a trade.
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