Here are this week’s InvestComics reviews from Robert McLelland and Sebastian Piccione.
THE HOMELAND DIRECTIVE
TOP SHELF BOOKS
Writer: Robert Venditti
Artist: Mike Huddleston
Letters: Sean Konot
REVIEWER: Sebastian Piccione
If you like conspiracy theories and/or Investigative Procedural Dramas, then this is your book. Robert Venditti has once again written an intelligent and highly elaborate story that has more layers than bureaucracies have red tape. Venditti really weaves an absorbing tale. I mean, let’s face it, Government Conspiracy stories aren’t new, so the trick to these kinds of stories is to keep them fresh and original. THE HOMELAND DIRECTIVE does exactly that. It reads like a good movie, or cable TV series. You’re introduced the various players (and there’s a LOT of ‘em) and their individual tales, and watch as they all converge, with our heroine, Dr. Laura Reagan at the center of it all.
And talk about an original twist…as far as ways to spread a contagion across the unsuspecting U.S…I won’t give away too much, but let’s just say that Venditti came up with a method that will take down as many Americans as it can in as little time as possible. Very clever.
Huddleston’s artwork is a character in and of itself, with his style and coloring changing depending on which characters are involved in a given scene, what’s going on, and where it’s all going down. It adds to the feel of the whole book, hell, it adds several feels. His varied techniques give it a multitude of “feels”, ranging from Noir, and Indy film/comic, to seventies pop culture. The assorted styles blend seamlessly though, and add to the flow of the story.
Venditti and Huddleston have created a gripping and edge-of-your seat political thriller.
5 out of 5 Stars.
PEANUTS: HAPPINESS IS A WARM BLANKET, CHARLIE BROWN!
Kaboom!/BOOM! Studios
Created by: Charles M. Schulz
Written by: Stephan Pastis and Craig Schulz
Pencils: Bob Scott & Vicki Scott
Inks: Ron Zorman
Colors: Brian Miller, Hi-Fi Colour Design
REVIEWER: Sebastian Piccione
When I was a kid, maybe 6, my grandmother gave me a hardcover that collected the early years of Charles M. Schulz’s beloved PEANUTS strip. I remember being confused that it wasn’t just called “Snoopy”, but other than that I was enraptured, just drawn into Schulz’s wise beyond their years kids. HAPPINESS IS A WARM BLANKET, CHARLIE BROWN brought that all back.
Adapted from the Animated Special, this reads, looks, and feels so much like watching the specials that I even had Vince Guaraldi’s “Linus and Lucy” playing in my head the entire time. I mean, to be fair, there really aren’t a lot of ways one can screw up with PEANUTS, so it’s not like anyone was thinking “Uh-oh, this could go either way!”
We knew Kaboom! would have a hit on it’s on its hands, and clearly they do. A great book to help kick of the new Kaboom! line. Read it and remember what it’s like to be a kid. Better yet, read with an actual kid, and share the laughs.
5 out of 5 stars.
Farscape: D’Argo’s Quest
Boom! Studios
Writer: Keith R.A. Decandido
Artist: Caleb Cleveland
Colorists: Caleb Cleveland and Renato Faccini
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Editor: Ian Brill
Reviewer: Robert McClelland
First, I have to say that reading this tale about everyone’s favorite Luxan was a treat for me! I think that Keith Decandido did an excellent job capturing both D’Argo and Raxil pretty well! Between the issues with the Police and Raxil’s habits, it’s amazing D’Argo even managed to keep from going crazy! Mr. Cleveland does an excellent job on the art here! And this just wouldn’t be a Farscape adventure without some sort of a double cross! But in the end, our favorite Luxan grows up a bit. It make ya wonder how he managed to stay sane with Raxil around after all is said and done though! Again, I just want to give Kudos to Keith R.A. DeCandido, Caleb Cleveland, and Renato Faccini for capturing the characters very well in both Dialogue and Art! And to you my good readers, get out and get this awesome trade! You won’t regret it!
5 out of 5 Stars!
Uncle Scrooge #402
Kaboom!
Art and Story: Carl Barks
Editor: Christopher Burns
Cover: Marco Rota
Reviewer: Robert McClelland
Coming on down the road with the 70th Anniversary of Walt Disney Comics, puts us on a classic path of Adventure and History! This time with Uncle Scrooge trying to find the Philosopher’s Stone, going from one country to another, by flight or by boat. Uncle Scrooge, Donald, and the boys have themselves one heck of a time! Even teaching readers a thing or two about History! So for you, the readers out there, you get a double dose of great fun and history! What more could you ask for!?
And it seems someone else is on the trail for the Stone! But is he aware of what could happen once the Stone is found? Is Uncle Scrooge even aware? Find out in this fun filled issue folks! History learning, great dialogue, and some great art all in one book!
5 out of 5 Gold Stars
Chip N’ Dale Rescue Rangers #5
Kaboom!
Writer: Ian Brill
Artists: Leonel Castellani and Ricardo Garcia
Colorist: Jake Myler
Letterer: Jason Arthur
Editor: Christopher Meyer
Reviewer: Robert McClelland
Looks like it’s time for a new story arc in the lives of the Rescue Rangers! And you can bet these guys need a little R and R after their last adventure! But it seems that isn’t gonna be happening just yet! From plenty of reading material to attacks by a new group, our favorite little heroes are left with little time to rest! ANd if that’s not enough, some no good money grubbers are thrown into the mix! Ian Brill does a superb job with the writing on this. As does Castellani and Garcia on the Artistic side of things.
And it’s a hope of mine these guys never fail to give as good as they can! But the questions after reading this will be on your minds. Who are these new trouble makers? And what kind of trouble will our Heroes have to deal with now? Find out with this sweet series!
5 out of 5 Stars!
IRREDEEMABLE #24
BOOM! Studios
Writer: Mark Waid
Art: Peter Krause and Diego Barreto
Colors: Andrew Dalhouse
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
REVIEWER: Sebastian Piccione
The 24th issue of Irredeemable bounces between Tony’s plight on an alien prison for the criminally insane, and the Q-Bit/Modeus team-up to find out what the Vespan’s have done with Tony. Waid continues to keep things fresh in this world where no one is flawless. While you don’t excuse Tony for any of the horros he’s done, you do see what drove him there. He will never be the hero he was, but you can still see the anti-hero in him, doing some kind of good, in a usually very bad way. Now, with the help of a mysterious stranger, who CLEARLY has an agenda all his own–Waid excels at having multiple layers of plot-lines, but keeping things clear and easy to follow—Tony is going to break out this new captivity, even if it kills him…which it just might.
Also we get a further look into the loving side of Modeus, and the darker side of Q-bit. Modeus gets emotional over the loss of his nemesis, while Q-Bit gets all no-nonsesne threatening over the Vespan’s use of his technology.
IRREDEEMABLE continues to be at the top of my reading pile each month.
4 out of 5 stars.
NONPLAYER #1
IMAGE COMICS
Everything: Nate Simpson
REVIEWER: Sebastian Piccione
NONPLAYER is stunningly, breathtakingly, gorgeous. I’m talking Geoff Darrow meets Charles Vess and Milo Manara while playing FINAL FANTASY versus WORLD OF WARCRAFT gorgeous. It’s just a beautiful book. But, you know what else? It’s also a great read. Dana play a total immersion video game. A LOT. But, at a moment that should have been victory, her quarry, an NPC or NONPLAYER Character simply disappears. While Dana and her fellow gamer think little of it, clearly there’s more to this than they suspect. Meanwhile, Dana is late for work in the real world. A “post-incident” world, where tech gets better and better, but everything else crumbles and decays around people who don’t care, because they spend all day in immersed in their tech. heck, they even have LifeSkin’s which allow them to change the appearance of the real world around them. Everything is still there, but you can see it however you’d like, fantasy themed, period piece, you name it.
Simpson has CLEARLY put a lot of time and thought into this, and it shows. The attention to detail, both story wise and artistically, is phenomenal. All the talk, the internet hype, the sold-out-in-stores, this one’s for real folks. Check this out.
5 out of 5 stars.
SAVAGE DRAGON #170
IMAGE COMICS
Written & Drawn by: Erik Larsen
Letters: Tom Orzechowski
Colors: Nikos Koutsis and Mike Toris
REVIEWER: Sebastian Piccione
Erik Larsen is awesome. There, I said it. He doesn’t just SAY that in his creator owned comic anything can happen, but in his creator owned comic…anything DOES happen. Savage Dragon is dead, Malcolm Dragon and Angel are the new dynamic duo of Chicago. Enter MIGHTY MAN, Larsen’s answer to Captain Marvel (the cool SHAZAM one). Now, when Larsen first introduced the character, he mixed up the usual archetype by having the magical alter ego of MIGHTY MAN passed down to a nurse, Anne Stevens. So, whenever Nurse Stevens would cross her wrists SHE would become a super powered HE. Well, in this issue, the mantle is passed on again…I’m not saying to whom, this isn’t spoiler-ville, but lemme just say, it’s a clever, fresh, and terrifying concept FILLED with story potential.
Speaking of story-potential, there’s an interesting little twist at the end, as well.
SAVAGE DRAGON is always a great read, and continues to be one of the most underrated and overlooked comics in the superhero genre. Do yourself a favor, and check it out.
4 out of 5 Stars.
THE DRESDEN FILES: FOOL MOON #1
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
Writer: Jim Butcher & Mark Powers
Art by: Chase Conley
Colors: Mohan
Letters: Bill Tortolini
REVIEWER: Sebastian Piccione
I LOVED the sci-fi (this was pre-Syfy) Channel’s DRESDEN FILES show, and that got me into the novels. Now, while I prefer Simon R. Green’s John Taylor/Nightside books, I do really enjoy me some Dresden. So, it was with that mixed sense of hope/dread that one can only experience when reading a comic adapted from something you really like in another medium, that I approached this book.
Unlike so many other similar adaptations that have so disappointed me, including a few from DYNAMITE (I’m lookin’ at YOU Mercy Thompson) I was so very happy with this book.
I don’t know if author Jim Butcher is working WITH Mark Powers on this, of if Powers is adapting it from Butcher’s novel, but whatever the formula is, it’s working. The pacing, the dialogue, the very atomspher of the book is pure Dresden, and I love it. Now, this is in no small part due to the art of Chase Conley. In fact, I like Conley’s interiors better than Brett Booth’s cover. Conely’s art has more character.
A good comic, off to a great start.
4 out of 5 stars.
SUPERSTAR: AS SEEN ON TV TPB
IDW
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Penciler: Stuart Immonen
Inker: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colors: Jeromy Cox
Letters: Jason Levine
REVIEWER: Sebastian Piccione
I loved this book when it was first released in Prestige Format from Image, in 2001, and I love it now, in hardcover from IDW, 10 years later. It’s nice to see something that holds up so well to one’s own mental pedestal placement, you know? And the various extras, a never completed story I never saw, another story I don’t remember seeing, and a whole slew of character designs, just add up to make this my hands down favorite of the week.
Cody Bridges, SUPERSTAR, flies around with a big star on his chest, followed by a little cam-bot that films him. You see, SUPERSTAR gets his powers from his fans. When I tried to explain this to the guys at FAMOUS FACES & FUNNIES, my LCS, they said…so he’s like a cross between Booster Gold and Tinker Bell, alluding to the former’s costume and fame seeking, and the latter’s need for people to believe in her so she could live.
I pouted for a minute, but…it’s really a pretty good analogy, with the exceptions that Cody is the exact OPPOSITE of a fame seeker, and he gets his powers not literally from his fans “belief’ in him, but from donations of their energy.
Now, while Superstar faces some classic villains, from Robo Sapiens and Cetacean, to Space Baby and Fortress, the REAL battle is more personal. Cody likes being a hero, but hates the schmoozing and has ZERO desire to cash in on it (so much for the Booster Gold theory). Cody’s father, Clay, on the other hand…is all about helping son save the world, and making a buck in the process. Throughout the story, we see the Bridges’ butting heads over ethics and marketing. This is a great book that works today just as well as it did a decade ago. In fact, if I hadn’t told you, you’d never have known. Busiek and Immonen have created a timeless and original look at the modern superhero.
6 out of 5 Stars. Yeah, I’m in charge of reviews, I can do that.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS #5
IDW
Writer: John Rogers
Artist: Andrea Di Vito
Colorist: Aburtov and Gaphikslava
Letters: Chris Mowry and Shawn Lee
REVIEWER: Sebastian Piccione
The defiling of Ancient Dwarven cities with enslaved fire-elemental-powered forges seems popular in D&D these days. It happened in GAUNTLGRYM, the latest R.A. Salvatore Drizzt novel, and it happens here in the D&D comic. Not that this is anything like the aforementioned novel, and is no way derivative thereof, but you gotta admit, seeing the defiling of two such cities in one lifetime is two more times than one would imagine.
Coincidences aside, this continues to be a really good comic. This issue focuses a bit more on one of the elements that I both enjoy and cringe over about this series. Not only has Rogers done a great job of writing a book that FEELS like playing a session of D&D, he’s captured it TOO well. Anyone who has ever played D&D has been it at least one (more like one hundred) campaigns in which the players creat characters with personalities that seem solely designed to be at odds with their fellow players. Bree Three-hands is such a character. The thief who plays up the THIEF title and plays down the ROGUE title. A rogue may mesh well with a group, and just be an orthodox kind of less proficient fighter, with strong skill in finding traps and ruins exploration…like a medieval Indiana Jones. Others are just thieves. In it for themselves and their loot. Bree is the latter kind.
Still, it’s that kind of genuine character concept, donse so well I just want to find the person playing her and slap him when the DM isn’t looking, that just brings you into the book.
Have I gone full dork on this review, or what?
Anyway, D&D is a great book and a lot of fun.
4 out of 5 stars.
ABYSS: FAMILY ISSUES #2
RED 5 COMICS
Writer: Kevin Rubio
Art: Alfonso Ruiz
Colors: Gary Henderson
Letters: Troy Peteri
REVIEWER: Sebastian Piccione
I loved the first series of ABYSS, the story of the son of a super villain who becomes a hero, and I was THRILLED when I saw this new series in Previews. While it hasn’t been quite on the same level as the original, it’s still a lot of fun. Quirky and part bona fide hero comic, part satire, ABYSS is just a fun comic. And come on this is the same Red 5 Comics that puts out ATOMIC ROBO and you KNOW you love that, right? It’s got a similar feel to Todd Nauck’s WILDGUARD. It’s fun but not so far into funny that it ceases to be a superhero comic, you know? The art even has a Nauckian feel (yup, just made that word up. Feel free to use it. Nauckian), though it gets a bit rough in places.
Having dealt with the “Daddy is a supervillain” side of life in the first mini, now Abyss is discovering who is mother is, and finding out that superHEROing is in his blood, too. Even if MR. MAGIC< leader of the SUPER SIX thinks that Abyss will turn out just like daddy. And when a comic has Rorschach-like character with a splatter pattern mask, who goes by Pollack? C’mon, you KNOW I’m in!
Good book, good fun.
4 out of 5 Stars.
