On The Shelf This Week – 03.29.06
ON THE SHELF THIS WEEK
by Craig Reade
DARK HORSE
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Usagi Yojimbo #92, $2.99. By Stan Sakai. If all comics were as well-structured as Usagi Yojimbo, we would really have little to complain about. Sakai has the amazing ability to tell long story with multiple arcs so intertwined that time actually feels like it is moving. With your standard big-name book, you get maybe 2 six issue arcs a year, and it just feels like time for the character is dragging on. In Usagi, when an old character pops up again, it really does feel like the ronin is encountering an old friend (or enemy) after a long time. Sakai really is a master of this medium. 24 Pages.
DC COMICS
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Action Comics #837, $2.50. Written by Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek, Art by Pete Woods. The opening Superman crossover and the first story post OYL continues here. So far so good on this story, it is still a bit disappointing that DC decided to lead off OYL with another big crossover. This has kept a lot of non-Superman readers from trying either of these titles. No one wants to commit to two issues for four months when they just want to try something out! 32 Pages.
Batman Legends Of The Dark Knight #202, $2.50. Written by Christos N. Gage, Art by Ron Wagner and Bill Reinhold. The second part of a three part story where Batman must work to clear his father from being pegged as the notorious “Gotham Ripper.” This has the potential for a pretty decent detective story, something you don’t really get a lot of in Batman anymore. Usually it is all beating thugs for info. 32 Pages.
Batman Journey Into Knight #8 (Of 12), $2.50. Written by Andrew Helfer, Art by Tan Eng Huat. Buy did the buzz drop off on this one, or what? An good book to get if you are into the art, but there are probably better Batman stories out there. 32 pages.
Green Lantern #10, $2.99. Written by Geoff Johns, Art by Ivan Reis and Marc Campos. Ten issues and “One Year Later,” the glow of Rebirth has definitely faded away. It seems like we are now facing the inevitable problem – what was the reason, beyond the “cool” factor of a resurrection, to bring Hal Jordan back? Outside of a couple obvious and pretty run-of-the-mill character specific encounters relating to his return, Hal hasn’t been involved in any stories that couldn’t be centered around a different Green Lantern. And the fact that it is Hal sure hasn’t made the story more interesting. Heck – Kyle and Guy’s adventures since Hal’s return have been far more interesting to some. 32 Pages.
Nightwing Mobbed Up TPB, $12.99. Written by Devin Grayson, Art by Phil Hester, Cliff Chiang and Ande Parks. This was a decent arc, but considering the huge impact Grayson has made in her outstanding run on this book, it would have been nicer to see her go out with a bit more of a bang. This was a good arc, though it did seem a little drawn out at times. Still – it will read much better in the collected format, which is what we have here. Collects Nightwing #107-111. 128 Pages.
Teen Titans Go #29, $2.25. Written by J. Torres, Art by Mike Norton and Lary Stucker. The news finally released by Cartoon Network regarding the future of this series is superficially exciting, but leaves a lot to be desired in the long term. We can expect a Teen Titans animated movie in the near future, which is the good news. The bad news is that there seems to be no plans in the immediate future for a new season of the program. Very bad news indeed. 32 Pages.
Warlord #2, $2.99. Written by Bruce Jones, Art by Bart Sears. As you might expect, fans are somewhat divided on this new Warlord. While it really isn’t too different from the original, it is supposed to be an all new version of the character. It is only natural then than readers would be divided about the book. 32 Pages.
Vertigo
Hellblazer Lady Constantine TPB, $9.99. Written by Andy Diggle, Art by Goran Sudzuka. This trade collects the four issue “Lady Constantine” mini. It is set in the 18th century, where an ancestor of the modern-day Constantine dabbles in some sorcery of her own. Could be a good pick-up for displaced Losers fans looking for a dose of Diggle. 96 Pages.
Lucifer #72, $2.75. Written by Mike Carey; Art by Peter Gross and Aaron Alexovich. The final part of the two part Evensong arc, then Lucifer will bow out with three more issues, each seemingly stand-alone. It looks like Carey has a very polished series end coming up, and it is refreshing to see a series go out like this, rather than an explosive six issue arc where you can only hope all the lose ends are tied up amongst all the chaos. It’s a good bet Lucifer fans will be pleased with this ending. 32 Pages.
MARVEL COMICS
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Books Of Doom #5 (Of 6), $2.99. Written by Ed Brubaker, Art by Pablo Rivera. This series has been a pretty nice treat for fans of Doom who will no doubt be excited about this issue – the beginning of Doom’s revolt and his bid for control of Latveria. This series should wrap up nicely. 32 Pages.
Captain America 65th Anniversary Special, $3.99. Written by Ed Brubaker, Art by Eric Wight. Maybe 65 is an odd numbered anniversary to make much fuss over, but so long as the story is good, who cares right? This seems to be basically an annual in which Brubaker will tell a story that spans Captain America’s entire history. A must-read for fans of his current run, and possibly a good lead-in for new readers. 48 Pages.
Essential Nova Vol 1 TPB, $16.99. Written by Marv Wolfman and Len Wein, Art by John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Carmine Infantino, Gene Colan, and Ross Andru. Seriously – if I didn’t already have all of these issues, I’d by buying this for myself! With Nova making a bit of a comeback as a part of the Annihilation event, it would be a disservice not to give Nova his own essential collection. This book will be a good read. Collects Nova #1-25, Amazing Spider-Man #171, and Marvel Two-in-One Annual #3. 512 Pages.
Fantastic Four #536, $2.99. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, Art by Mike McKone. Really, not much needs to be said about this issue. Spoilers are distasteful, but there is no point in subtlety when the cover is a flaming image of Mjolinar about to be lifted from the ground. He had to come back sometime… 32 Pages.
Infinity War TPB, $29.99. Written by Jim Starlin, Art by Ron Lim, Tom Raney, Angel Medina, and Shawn McManus. Speaking of 90s comic style, here we have a collection of the 1992 follow-up to the Infinity Gauntlet. And like most things from the 90s, this series had its share of fans and detractors. So if you enjoy the cosmic Marvel U, and want to give this a shot, it collects Infinity War #1-6, Marvel Comics Presents #108-111, and Warlock and the Infinity Watch #7-10. Pretty packed for the price. 392 Pages.
Iron Man #6, $2.99. Written by Warren Ellis, Art by Adi Granov. Well now, look at this – Iron Man! When they say that this is the pulse-pounding conclusion you’ve been waiting for, they do mean waiting! Hopefully it ends up being worth it. 32 Pages.
Marvel Romance Redux Guys & Doll, $2.99. Written by Jimmy Palmiotti, Jeff Parker, and John Lustig, Art by John Buscema, Don Heck, John Romita, and Gene Colon. This could be a fun little issue – basically they took the art from some old comics and rewrote the dialogue with some humorous romance stories. Good for a laugh – the same things we have seen on the internet courtesy of Photoshop for many years now. 32 Pages.
New Avengers Illuminati Special, $3.99. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Alex Maleev. Another lead-in to Civil War, and judging by the title, this group of well known figures in the Marvel Universe is supposed to represent the real power behind the super-human community. Newest twist on the old Illuminati conspiracy theory I have seen yet. You should pick up this one shot if you are interested in the lead-in to Civil War. 48 Pages.
Nick Fury Howling Commandos #6, $2.99. Written by Keith Giffen, Art by Derec Donovan. So is this sucker a mini or an ongoing? It took a big blow all the way back in the first issue with some really rough art and story. Though the former has been addressed somewhat, the latter remains an issue. If this isn’t a mini, it might not be much longer for this world. 32 Pages.
Sentry #7 (Of 8), $2.99. Written by Paul Jenkins, Art by John Romita, Jr. The whole spectrum of Marvel style for this decade could possibly be wrapped up in this series – whether you like it or not. The decompressed storytelling, JRJR art, this mini just screams “Aughts” just like Liefeld screams 90s. The question is – do you like it? Fans seem to be divided on that point. It is interesting to check it out just for that debate alone. Was this a good decade for comics in terms of style? 32 Pages.
Spider-Man & Arana Special, $3.99. Written by Tania Del Rio, Art by Jonboy Meyers. Seething Arana fans can rest a little easier – the end is here for Arana. Granted, the end of a series is rarely ever a good thing, but as fans of Negation War will tell you, having an actual end to the story is way better than just having it stop in the middle. Maybe not as satisfying as one could hope, but even so – an ending is an ending. Thankfully they are at least giving us that. 48 Pages.
Thing #5, $2.99. Written by Dan Slott, Art by Andrea Di Vito. It seems that we have come to a point that I will buy any title Marvel decides to assign Dan Slott to. Has he had a flop for Marvel yet? If he did, I didn’t read it. It takes a special kind of writer to put together a respectable Arcade story these days, and Slott hit a homerun with his Arcade arc. Thing is another must-read title for Marvel. 32 Pages.
Ultimate Spider-Man #92, $2.50. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Mark Bagley. It was curious that Ultimate Deadpool would debut here, and not in Ultimate X-Men. At least the X-Men get a guest appearance here! In a way, hooking up Spider-man and Kitty Pride was a clever way to allow Bendis to write an Ultimate X-Men story on occasion, if you think about it. 32 Pages.
Untold Tales Of The New Universe Psi-Force, $2.99. Written by Tony Bedard, Art by Russell Braun. Another New Universe nostalgia issue here – this one, of course, Psi-Force. Haven’t heard much in the way of complaints from new Universe fans, and that can only be considered a good thing. Hopefully this is living up to everyone’s expectations. 32 Pages.
Uncanny X-Men #471, $2.50. Written by Chris Claremont, Art by Billy Tan. Some people are accusing Claremont of being repetitive with this story, which features the Shiar our to kill Rachel. Even if you grant him some leeway there, overall Exiles fans have cause to be sweating his eventual start on that book. Hopefully all the man needs is a change of pace. 32 Pages.
X-Men Colossus Bloodline TPB, $13.99. Written by David Hine, Art by Jorge Lucas. The return of Colossus avoided a lot of criticism from fans simply because it was Joss Whedon holding the pen, but it never did sit right with me. Colossus had what I would term a good death – it fit the spirit of his character, it was a rash decision that ended up serving the greater good, and it was a self sacrifice that no one would have asked him to make, but it ended up being one that mutants everywhere would be eternally grateful for. But bringing him back cheapened all that. It is sad, but the trigger was pulled, so someone had to do something with it. Enter Hine and Lucas with this mini, which brings Colossus back to Russia to find out who has been killing off his family. A decent read if you are a fan of the character. 120 Pages.
X-Men Deadly Genesis #5 (Of 6), $3.50. Written by Ed Brubaker, Art by Trevor Hairsine. Penultimate! I knew that word wasn’t gone forever! This issue is a little late, but for a change, it seems to be worth the wait. This is the most I have heard fans buzz about an X-Men comic in a long time based on its own merits, not for the writing team or some sensational storyline. Real, honest-to-goodness story enjoyment – it is nice to see. If Brubaker’s plate wasn’t already practically overflowing, the success of this series would almost demand that he be put on an X-Men title pronto. Oh wait… they did. Hopefully his work on Uncanny won’t take away from the quality of Daredevil or Captain America. And hopefully he will have a little more freedom from the editorial staff that seems to have hampered his predecessors! 32 Pages.
X-Statix Presents Dead Girl #3 (Of 5), $2.99. Written by Peter Milligan, Art by Nick Dragotta. This series has turned into pretty much a Dr. Strange/ Dead Girl team-up, which is fine. It is satisfying the long-suffering X-Statix fans who are happy to see their book back in one form or another. I am jealous – what I wouldn’t give for a Slingers Present Prodigy mini. This issue is the hump- hopefully it finishes up as well as it started! 32 Pages.
X-Men Dark Phoenix Saga TPB New Printing, $24.99. Written by Chris Claremont, Art by John Byrne. With the X-Men movie about to come out, this collection was bound to make a comeback. This was probably Claremont’s crowning achievement as an X-Men writer, and is pretty well a must-read if you call yourself a fan of the X-Men. If you haven’t read it, you need to pick this up. 200 Pages.
Craig’s Pick of the Week
Blue Beetle #1, $2.99, DC Comics. Written by Keith Giffen and John Rogers, Art and Cover by Cully Hamner. This is one of the more anticipated new titles to come out post-Crisis. The fact that it is so anticipated is a tribute to how well DC handled the death of Ted Kord. Not only was there very little in the way of angry reaction to his death (which makes sense, considering how perfectly it was handled), but it also managed to stir up enough interest in the Blue Beetle to potentially make this a hit. It really goes to show that even in death, if you treat your characters right, the fans will show their appreciation. 32 Pages.
NOTE: Opinions here may not reflect those of X-World Comics LLC or it’s staff and are solely the opinions of the writer.
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March 27, 2006
The Gamer’s Quagmire #16: Plunging Into Oblivion
The Gamer’s Quagmire: 16th Edition
- Jamison DeLorenzo
In the interests of beating a dead horse I decided that this was a good week to go back and dig up some thoughts on games that I’ve played within the past couple of years. As it turns out there are a ton of good thoughts about an RPG from the XBox generation of gaming. After some polishing and some much needed multiplayer Battefront this weekend this became the frontrunner for the topic du jour. Also, with the new Elder Scrolls game now out and available for gaming consumption I thought writing about the last RPG that I would deem as epic was a good idea. Based on everything I have read and seen to date Elder Scrolls Oblivion has the feel of a game that should be enjoyed by everyone. Still, I will reserve judgment until playing it.
As it turns out after whistling through Star Wars Battlefront II (well, not actually whistling- it’s almost impossible to maintain a high level of respect from your fellow squad members while sounding like a reject from auditions for the Seven Dwarves) I had this overpowering urge to play some more Star Wars games. Watching a couple of the movies added to the urge. Shopping for the games themselves for a friend added to the urge. The fact that this was supposed to be one of the topics during my historic games week added to the urge. My will power only goes so far.
So last night I sat down and started up Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for the 10th time. This game now has had the most replay value of any other role playing game I have ever owned, borrowed, or rented. Considering the number of times I have gone through an Ogre Battle, Final Fantasy, Buldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and other classics this was a momentous occasion. Well, of course this point wasn’t realized until about two minutes ago so the game just kept on being played. It had all the historic significance of the Iraqi Constitution being ratified (if there’s a reason this never made it to Page 1 in major papers I’d like to know it).
How can one play through the same game so many times- aside from not having a life? Honestly this was a day that I never thought would come. I berate online games due to repetitious tasks this would seem to be a highly hypocritical action. Here’s something that you need to know about repetitive tasks: if they are fun, if they bring joy, if there is some benefit to them, then they will keep being done. All of these weights are subjective (although I would argue that photosynthesis is a repetitive task that everyone should be able to reap the benefits of). For many reasons this game is now definitely RPG I have played the most, and after some debating, meditating, performing exorcisms and mediating ritual sacrifices of various insects it has become clear that Knights of the Old Republic is also the best RPG I have ever played.
How does one jump to such a bold conclusion? Well, once you start down the path of ritualistic sacrifice you start to get used to it. After a while it becomes a normal custom that you feel appeases the gods rather than angers them. Oh, wait. Hmm. I’ve said too much.
All kidding aside I came to the conclusion that KoToR is the best RPG for me because of what I value in games in this genre. This game had more to live up to than others for the simple reason that I hold adaptations of already created universes, especially the Star Wars universe, to higher standards. People who adopt and contribute to universes should not twist the integrity of something they are borrowing for the sake of the story they want to tell. It is a lot easier to create your own universe to fit a story and quite another to interpret somebody else’s. Is the Star Wars universe and all of its previously told stories perfect and without flaws? I would have to be in complete denial to try and say that this was so, but that is never a reason to make it worse.
So, for starters the good people at BioWare put together a story that takes place in the realm of the Jedi long before the stories in the movies came to pass. So you know I am not going to be shy about divulging story spoilers here because if you have not played the game by now, quite honestly, you have no excuses. There are several games that need to be played within a certain amount of time if you are ever going to play them. Considering what the top selling games have been over the past two years there are very few that I would ever consider to be worthy of being played before KoToR- especially if you value role playing games.
The story of the game is well written for multiple reasons. The biggest reason is that right away you are sucked into the action before you are given the chance to explore and gather information about the world you are in. You wake up on a ship in the midst of being attacked and boarded. After you manage to escape you start your search for a powerful Jedi that survived the assault but was captured on a nearby planet. It is not until you get to the planet that you are allowed to interact with other NPC’s to get a feel of what is around you. Sure, the battle to start the game is not that difficult (when are they ever?), but you are not really given an opportunity to explore anything other than the basic elements of the game.
Once the story gets going the different characters you meet can only draw you in more. You want to learn more about them, interact with them, see how the handle themselves in battle, and see how they react to the choices you make during the course of the game. A battle droid that you eventually meet up with, HK-47, is high-quality comic relief. There are plenty of RPG’s that you want to complete for the sake of completing them. Knights of the Old Republic makes you want to complete the game because you cannot help but get somewhat emotionally invested in seeing them develop and succeed (or in one character’s case, suffer a painful death). A role playing game having compelling characters is key to it being a success. It doesn’t matter if you strongly like or dislike a character- if you feel strongly enough about it one way or another you will make the time to see the story through to its completion.
The story that encompasses the characters almost flawlessly. Different characters provide more value to you on some planets than others- whether it be their skill set or their own plot lines that you must seek out. For instance you gain a lot more out of bringing Zaalbar to Kashyyk than if you simply leave him on the ship. Not bringing Mission into the desert of Tatooine would be a huge mistake. Even Carth has some interesting story to him if you bring him to Korriban (for an added bonus bring HK-47 there as well). Is this an easy to thing to find the first time through the game? Of course not, but the more you interact with your party members the more you can find out about them. Even the two characters you have in your party interact with each other in different ways. It wasn’t until the second time through the game that I started to figure a lot of these things out. This is why the replay value of this game is so high. There always seems to be a little more story for you to find every time through the game. What’s more, if you wonder what would happen if you put a character in a certain situation and spend time to go back and make it happen odds are you will enjoy the results. Being creative playing an evil character yiels some very wonderful fruit in this game.
The power of the story in the game comes full circle once you realize you can take the light path or the dark path in the game. If you would like a translation to this- either you can be the nice helpful Jedi or the mercilessly evil Sith. Both are fun to play and the dialog accommodates both choices. Some parts of the game you can only unlock in character taking the light or dark path. This makes you want to play through the game twice or maybe more if you have an impulse control problem as I do. Role playing games should always provide the player to take multiple paths through it. You should be allowed to visit areas of the game at different times and have an impact on its outcome. You should be able to complete missions in different ways and have that effect the overall outcome.
You guessed it- affecting how the story ends is a big thing for me. It is not that tough to find an RPG that only has one particular ending. I always enjoy RPG’s that allow me to decide more about the character than the game designer. Games like Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, Dragon Warrior, etc. almost always make you take the high road. Games like Ogre Battle, Ultima, Fable, Chrono Cross, and others allow you to play your character however you want. Signing pacts with the devil, burning down villages, murdering farmers are all activities that can be fun to do in the video game world so why not let the dark side of many players have a little fun? If I want to talk farmers into murdering each other then let me do it. If I want to talk a guardian into killing his dependent in the name of a life debt then let me do it. If corporate officers need to be force choked or butchered in order to make them give me proper respect then let me do it. Sometimes it’s worth being as evil as you can just to see if you can locate the trigger for your subconscious that makes you think about how evil you are being. And yes, thankfully I was able to locate mine.
Playing goody two-shoes characters all the time forces games like GTA and Manhunt (isn’t it amazing how one development company can illustrate this point on its own?) to be huge successes. If more games like these existed then they would not be such huge hits. Before you start believing that I revel in playing evil characters (we may be a little late for that and that’s fine- just let me make my point here) I do prefer taking the high road because you usually get better weapons, more friends, a better ending, and the girl. The dark side usually gets you more money, stronger abilities, and cooler looking equipment. Both seem to be an unwritten rule with games that let you play either side. The prime example of this in Knights of the Old Republic is the uber robe you get at the end. The dark robes are crisp and definitely have an aura of evil about them. The light robes, while they do resemble Obi-Wan’s robes from Revenge of the Sith, make your character look like a giant glow-worm. How is Malak or anyone else supposed to take anything you say seriously?
The dialog along with the voice acting is top-notch. Voice acting done poorly can definitely destroy a game even if the script is solid. Both the voice acting and the script in this game are as close to excellent as you will see (or maybe I just have incredibly low standards). One of the mini-bosses, Davik, couldn’t have sound more disinterested if he were reading the script at the ice capades. There were a couple spelling errors in the dialog too (with my personal favorite being phonemes over phenomes as it lays the groundwork for a few E.T. jokes). Other than that I felt myself getting sucked into the universe laid out before me because the story was intriguing and the voice acting brought out the emotion that I believed to be embedded in the script.
The graphics and sound quality are also top-notch. The graphics are the most the X-Box can handle and you are able to tweak your PC settings to get relatively good looking graphics so there is absolutely no way I can complain about them. There is one scene where you see Malak’s face without his mouthpiece. Considering he has no mouth it’s a little disturbing to see him talk. It’s entirely possible this was an homage to the scene in The Empire Strikes Back where you saw Vader without his helmet, but I’m willing to bet it was simply a miss. Thankfully no officer was stupid enough to tell him he forgot to put his face on. The movies in the game give the game a nice cinematic quality as well. The sounds match the tried and true effects from other Star Wars games. The new musical scores, while nowhere near the level of John Williams, do a decent job at building emotion in their accompanying scenes.
Even the puzzles and side games are a lot of fun. I could not believe my eyes when I started noticing problems in the game that were covered in collegiate courses. Two examples of this are the prisoner’s dilemma and the Towers of Hanoi. There are plenty of other puzzles but that’s enough to start. These additions to a game shows that games can be a learning tool even if you do not realize it. And for those obsessed with card games there is one here too called Pazaak. It is not quite Triple Triad but it is does get you credits- and that is always a good thing.
Is this game perfect? No, and it does suffer from some flaws that exist in most role playing games. You do get to choice to be good or evil but you should be allowed to go further. Fable gives you the option of simply killing everyone in a village, and that’s a start. A lot of RPG’s let you kill unimportant characters simply because it’s an option they built in for you. However it’s still impossible to kill the almighty shopkeepers. There are a couple you can threaten but you can never kill them or take any of their stuff. Somehow the game design is okay with you murdering Wookiees and putting them into slavery but you better leave that weapons dealer alone!
Something else to think about are the chests, footlockers, bins, etc. that you have access to. Treasure chests are not uncommon in fantasy realms but we should be past being allowed to open all of them. Again, you cannot rob or attack the shopkeeper but if there’s a stray chest don’t be shy about looting that one item upgrade and credits stored inside. There are some bins that get you in trouble for opening them but not every bin has a similar trigger. My favorite instance of this is a mechanic hunched over a speeder that he’s repairing with a toolbox behind him. You can open it and take the parts from it and not get caught or even be awarded dark side points. This reminds me too much of the scene in The Last Crusade where Indiana and his dad steal that German guy’s car right when he’s about to put a hub cap on it. It looks funny and people laugh but in the end the good guys are stealing from a farmer.
One other item that this and many other RPG’s suffer from is how your actions affect the world. Somehow the communication of these events never seems to propagate down the proper channels. If you want to do something sinister and not have your party members find out about it simply send them back to the ship, murder that unsuspecting person, and then call your party back. There is no need to panic because nobody will question the cause of the person slumped on the ground with a lightsaber wound in their chest. Of course other people may find out about it… regardless of whether anyone’s there to see it or not. I love it when game designers implement a game where you have the freedom to do what you want and we are still early in the process of seeing these games in action, but we should be allowing NPC’s to have the reactions that you would expect and have have your options for actions be less confined. Yes- Baldur’s Gate and Fable are games that do this better than others but we still have a long way to go.
By now you should be getting an idea of all the different reasons why I keep coming back to Knights of the Old Republic. It really is the best RPG I have played to date, and if you like RPG’s and have not played this yet you need to set some time aside to enjoy this game. You do not have to go through the game several times to get the full enjoyment out of it, but if you are big on replay value this is a definite keeper.
This article is written and copyrighted by Jamison DeLorenzo and all thoughts are solely his and do not necessarily represent anyone else’s including anyone else at this site. This is a weekly article which deals with anything and almost everything gaming. Feel free to post comments or e-mail. Thanks for reading.
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March 20, 2006
The Gamer’s Quagmire #15: The Oracle of Critics
The Gamer’s Quagmire: 15th Edition
- Jamison DeLorenzo
Am I simply an advertising tool of the video game industry? Is anyone that simply writes or reviews games? It is a question that I have to ask myself sometimes. Often when some topic, act, or person is so deplorable we choose to ignore it completely in order to prevent lending any credence to it. In what has become an annual tradition, usually when there’s a lull in the release cycle, we have writers making comments about how reviewers are nothing more than tools of the industry.
This is a hard jab because it takes the work of reviewers that are paid by companies to make positive reviews and casts blame over everyone. One of the reasons I stopped doing video game reviews was because the officially recognized reviewers were not allowed to make negative comments about games as it was considered libel. Okay, there was also the part of not having enough money to review most of the games that came out every year. It’s sickening that you can sue someone for writing negative comments about games. When did we permit makeshift insurance for greedy companies so they could get away with producing absolute garbage?
I’d like to say this was all a huge tangent but this is part of the overall point. When reviewers want to say everything possible about a game but are not allowed to do so the consumers will never get an accurate description of games. If that were the case games like Devil May Cry 2 and The Hulk would have never made it to market. Returning games that suck doesn’t necessarily bother everybody, but there are cases where games are so bad that consumers should feel like they were completely ripped off. I’m not suggesting that we hold video game producers to the same standards as pacemaker producers but every industry does have a bottom rung of quality and there are games that definitely fall under it.
Believe it or not there are game store employees that understand what playing an awful game is like. If you go to a store that is managed by gamers as opposed to employees you understand the difference. The good employees understand the pain of forking over cash for a bad game. I used to be afraid to talk to people in stores about games because I had this vision in my head of the employees just wanting to make sales. Once you have a 2 hour conversation with an employee about The Sims (part of me wants to be ashamed for admitting this, but sharing it does have a different purpose) when purchasing a completely unrelated game you gain a different perspective on the matter. What I am trying to say here is that there should be no shame involved in telling someone that you considered lighting the case on fire with a blow torch, smashing it with a 20 pound sledge, or shredding it with a table saw but instead chose to return it. If reviewers were more honest with what they wrote these things would never happen.
Although it’s fun sometimes to say these things just to see how the person responds. If they start to act they’re personally offended and can take it then they are someone you can trust.
Preventing people from writing bad reviews through legislation is not the only avenue available. As was the case with Driver 3, perhaps one of the worst games ever sold, reviewers were given money to write positive reviews for the game. It even took reviewers 3 years to start admitting that Madden games simply weren’t progressing and that competing titles were better (yes, sometimes I make stretches in order to take pot shots at EA but it is worth it). What scares me is that we have no way of knowing how often this happens? Almost assuredly Driver 3 is not an isolated case, but when reviewers are paid to write favorable reviews by the game producers this supports exactly what I fear.
Being someone who is not paid anything to play games or conjure opinions (I really want to make an RPG joke here, but trying to make it a non-cryptic joke is too much right now.. just ask the undead) on them it is easy to be an idealist. If my sole job was to write reviews it could be entirely possible that my livelihood could depend on writing nice things about games with the quality level of Apex. As someone who just plays games right now I could tell you that this would sicken me to the point of inventing a new disorder, maybe something like reviewing-induced bullhemia. By the way, can we have a pill for that too? This is the primary agent that drove me away from writing reviews professionally. I liked writing the reviews the way I write columns now and didn’t want to have to change or answer to anyone (if you’ll permit another bad joke- scouts almost always gave good moral compasses).
When you write reviews for a living you always have someone answer to. Imagine playing a game you absolutely hate but work for a company that funded the game’s development as a parent company. There is a major conflict here. You almost have to force readers to read in between the lines with your numbers and your words. A 7 of 10 means the game really stinks. The controls are complex but workable means the game is impossible to control. The graphics possibly needing more polishing means that the visuals are hideous. Only software engineers and cryptographists should deal in code. When I originally wrote about Apex I said that it was a game that showed promise and in the end caused me to snap it with my bare hands that was a literal translation. I wanted you to envision the pain and aggravation involved that caused me to take that course of action. What is Game Informer, IGN, XBox Magazine, or any other professional reviewer going to tell you?
Critics criticizing reviewers, who are in a sense critics themselves, is an interesting read. It reminds me of how Internal Affairs interacts with the regular police force. Reviewers aren’t doing their jobs the way critics feel they should so every once in a while we have this blurb about how reviewers are nothing more than advertisers. I love smashing critics’ opinions to shreds but only doing so when I have my own opinions to share. Taking pot shots was a collegiate activity. I’m much more sophisticated now (which is a nice way of saying I’m even more cynical). Reading these articles enflames me a little because I feel like I’m being attacked also.
Some people have this thought process that the only opinion they can truly trust is their own. There are lots of interesting ways to look at this, particularly with PC security, but there are good reviewers who write because they want their opinions as a fan of gaming to be believed, trusted, and enjoyed. Maybe the only reviewers you can trust are the ones who write them for free because they’re not paid for writing them. Again, this is why I started writing these columns in the first place. I never viewed myself as the oracle of video game knowledge. Like any good critic I know how to spot lies and deceit and as long as I feel that companies are trying to rip people off I’m going to continue to write the way I do.
What’s more is that this will continue to remain true if you think I’m a shill or not. The most important thing to know about critics is that no matter how many different opinions fly around the only one that matters when you pick a game is your own.
This article is written and copyrighted by Jamison DeLorenzo and all thoughts are solely his and do not necessarily represent anyone else’s including anyone else at this site. This is a weekly article which deals with anything and almost everything gaming. Feel free to post comments or e-mail. Thanks for reading.
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March 15, 2006
On The Shelf This Week – 03.15.06
ON THE SHELF THIS WEEK
by Craig Reade
DARK HORSE
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Conan Book Of Thoth #1 (Of 4), $4.99. Written by Kurt Busiek and Len Wein, Art by Kelley Jones. Perhaps one of the saddest exclusives ever signed, Kurt Busiek has signed on with DC Comics. Naturally, this means that his time on Conan is coming to an end. At the very least he will get to leave his mark on Thoth-amon in this origin story. This is a huge blow for Conan – hopefully it will be able to survive the transition. 48 Pages.
Perhapanauts #4 (Of 4), $2.99. Written by Todd Dezago, Art by Craig Rousseau. I haven’t checked out this title, and I am starting to regret it. And not just because of the number of “OMG, you aren’t reading the Perhapanauts?” I have gotten. Well, that is part of it. The other part is that no one seems to be saying anything bad about this book. And that is important. Every title has a group of people singing its praises. But if someone hates it, you know that those people are more likely to say so. I wonder if Dark Horse is planning to put this out as a trade… 32 Pages.
DC COMICS
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100 Bullets #70, $2.75. Written by Brian Azzarello, Art by Eduardo Risso. Is this title floundering? Hard to say, but probably not. It is true that it is nearly impossible for a new reader to jump aboard now without reading the trades from the beginning. Ask any avid 100 Bullets reader, though, and they will tell you that is exactly the way to do it. It isn’t easy to sustain an ongoing like this forever, but the end is in site, so this isn’t an issue. If you are curious about this book, it might be a good idea to pick up the first trade instead of this issue. 32 Pages.
Batman Legends Of The Dark Knight #201, $2.50. Written by Christos N. Gage, Art by Ron Wagner and Bill Reinhold. Boy, that’s a sweet looking cover, isn’t it? It has been really great that Legends has returned to its roots. This title was always best when it focused on non-current Batman stories. Sometimes you just want a Batman story without the muck of the ongoing drama in the DCU, and this is perfect for that. Hope this title sticks around. 32 Pages.
Batman Year One Hundred #2 (Of 4), $5.99. By Paul Pope. What is it with Pope and the Prestige format? Thus far, this series has gotten good reviews. And the idea is a really, really good one. But the price – so many people have been turned on by the solicit, only to take a breath and slowly back away after seeing the price. It makes sense – the format is more expensive, but why not release it as a graphic novel? $5.99 for a comic and a half is a really tough sell for a lot of people. Even when the story is a good one. This one would have done big business as a traditional-format comic mini. 48 Pages.
Birds Of Prey #92, $2.50. Written by Gail Simone, Art by Paulo Siqueira and Robin Riggs. One Year Later for the Birds, and a new team member! Who is it? They are doing a pretty good job keeping this under wraps, to their credit. Looking forward to another run by Gail Simone uninterrupted by Crisis hubbub. It is time to get back to normal! 32 Pages.
DMZ #5, $2.99. Written by Brian Wood, Art by Wood and Riccardo Burchielli. It seems pretty clear that Wood has another winner on his hands here. Which is could be bad news for those fans who liked him as an indie writer – he might not be for much longer! DMZ has been off to a solid start, and has been a pretty imaginative take on what life would be like if the US was torn apart by war in this day and age. Worth checking out. 32 Pages.
Elfquest The Discovery #2 (Of 4), $3.99. Written by Wendy and Richard Pini, Art by Wendy Pini. At least they are announcing this is bimonthly, though if I were an Elfquest fan, the wait would be driving me nuts. Suppose it is enough to just have a new Elfquest book, huh? 40 Pages.
Green Arrow #60, $2.50. Written by Judd Winick, Art and Cover by Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens. The Honorable Ollie Queen? You know it. This one kind of got out early, but one of the mystery questions Didio layed out pre-Crisis is answered. Green Arrow is the one to become mayor of his city. You know what? I like it! As a matter of personal preference, archer heroes have never been my thing. Once upon a time they were great, but the gimmick seems a little played out. As hotheaded as Ollie is with his political ideologies, it make sense that he would want to go this road. It is a logical and interesting step for his character to take. Might be a good month to give this book a try. 32 Pages.
Infinite Crisis Secret Files, $5.99. Written by Marv Wolfman, Art by Dan Jurgens with Jerry Ordway and Marc Campos. A story-oriented Secret Files, this one focusing on the four “survivors” of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Earth-2 Superman and Lois Lane, Earth-Prime Superboy, and Earth-3 Alex Luthor. This sets out to answer what happened to them between the time they left for their paradise, and their emergence in Infinite Crisis. This could answer a lot of questions about Alex Luthor’s motivations. Should be a good read. 64 Pages.
JLA Classified #18, $2.99. Written by Gail Simone, Art by José Luis García López and Klaus Janson. So you wonder who that big glowy guy who nuked Bludhaven was? Well, here is a good chance to see him in action. Simone is doing a good job on this arc, as we all expected she would. This title should more than fill the gap for anyone who really misses the JLA. 32 Pages.
Nightwing #118, $2.50. Written by Bruce Jones, Art by Joe Dodd and Bit. Bad news? No more Devin Grayson. The good news is that they aren’t assigning some hack to take over for Devin Grayson. Bruce Jones has some huge shoes to fill. This title has had an outstanding 117 issue run, based in large part on the work of Grayson and Chuck Dixon. He does seem to be up to the task, but it is always a nervous thing when a new writer comes on a fantastic book. Hopefully he will do the book justice. 32 Pages.
Red Sonja/Claw Devils Hands #1 (Of 4), $2.99. Written by John Layman, Art by Andy Smith. A crossover with Dynamic Entertainment, and actually a logical one. Though it might make more sense to have a Conan/Claw crossover, but that might be hard to work out. Should be a good buy for anyone who is a fan of this genre. 32 Pages.
Scooby Doo #106, $2.25. Written by Alex Simmons and Scott Peterson, Art by Robert Pope, Scott McRae, Joe Staton and Jeff Albrecht. Fred just doesn’t look right without the ascot, you know? I know, he and Daphne are supposed to be fashion conscious, but still. Usual fare this month, as always – great for the younger readers. 32 Pages.
Superman #650, $2.50. Written by Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek, Art by Pete Woods. This issue is the first OYL Superman issue, and the first part of an eight part crossover with Action Comics called “Up, Up, and Away!” While this might be the beginning of a great run for the Big Blue Books, a crossover at this point is a really bad idea. You are starting to see it mentioned all over the place now – crossover fatigue. For so long we have been getting hammered with major event minis, maxis, and crossovers. One Year Later is supposed to be time for a fresh start. Speaking as someone who doesn’t regularly read a Superman book, this is a time that I would be open to the possibility of picking one up. A good story concept with a good team – a Superman book could potentially get a new reader! But the fact that I would have to commit to TWO Superman books a month for 4 months just to sample the story doesn’t appeal to me. And since I won’t be nearly as open to new things 4 months from now, the timing of this crossover kills just about any chance I have of picking up a Superman book regularly this year. This was not the time for a crossover. 32 Pages.
Teen Titans Annual #1, $4.99. Written by Geoff Johns and Marv Wolfman, Art by Paco Medina and Juan Vlasco. Hey there, Marv Wolfman again! Sweet! And on Teen Titans? Double! Looks like this story is going to shift the focus to Superboy and Wonder Girl – a relationship that could use a little exploration. Of course, it shouldn’t be that smooth, it wouldn’t be a comic book if it was just all lovey-dovey the whole issue. 48 Pages.
V For Vendetta TPB, $19.99. Written by Alan Moore, Art by David Lloyd. Movie is coming out this Friday – so why not re-release the trade? There is some cause for excitement, but as a movie-goer, I am a little nervous. When the selling point of the movie isn’t how it is based on a great graphic novel, rather how it is made by the “talent” behind the Matrix Trilogy: that is cause for concern. And the Matrix, for all its popularity, really survived off its own hype. And with hindsight being 20/20, the audience is really starting to see the Matrix for what it was: an average to above average popcorn flick followed by two abysmal sequels. I would feel much better if the push was about Moore’s outstanding story, not the Wachowski brothers’ mediocre and over-hyped work. Still – can’t really judge until I see it. Just hope it won’t end up being a disappointment. 280 Pages.
IMAGE COMICS
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Tomb Raider Cover Gallery, $2.99. By Michael Turner, Marc Silvestri, Adam Hughes and others. Title says it all – a collection of all of the Tomb Raider covers of the past ten years. This is basically a pin-up gallery, one to get for the art fans out there.
Truth, Justin, and the American Way, $2.99. Written by Scott Kurtz and Aaron Williams, Art by Guiseppe Ferrario. There is tribute, and there is plain-old uncreative plot-stealing. Which is this? Naturally some of the more hard core PvP/Kurtz fans are behind this project 100%, but I am skeptical. Reading this solicit is like reading a plot synopsis for the Greatest American Hero. Even the costume looks identical to Ralph’s costume. Of course, that is where the “tribute” gets brought up, but how far can you go with tribute before it becomes a flagrant rip-off? They say it is supposed to have elements of that, the Bionic Man, and Buck Rogers, but none of those are coming out in the previews, only the Greatest American Hero. It isn’t “taking cues” from a “bunch” of 80s shows. It IS The Greatest American Hero. Maybe the issue will be outstanding, and this hesitancy will have been totally off-base. But considering how original Kurtz’s PvP work has been, when looking for him to branch out, most people probably would have preferred to see something a little more original out of him. Here’s to hoping all of my fears are unfounded on this one. 32 Pages.
MARVEL COMICS
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Drax The Destroyer Earth Fall TPB, $10.99. Written by Keith Giffen, Art by Mitch Breitweiser. And some really good timing on this release! Drax will be a big part of the Annihilation event, so why not check out the mini that just came out? Giffen did a pretty good job on it, and managed to generate some interest in a character that not many people cared too much about. A good way to get familiar with the character before Annihilation starts up. 96 Pages.
Four #28, $2.99. Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Art by Mizuki Sakakibara. See, this is a perfect example of marketing gone wrong. We all know that when you advertise something, you stretch the truth a bit. You want to sell comics, so you hype something up a little more, just to give it a little edge. But there is marketing hype, and then there is this. Why would you take a book you already cancelled as of issue #30, and then bill #28 as a “Great Jumping on Point” for new readers? Naturally, one might say “This was written before Four was cancelled. But you can always rewrite a solicit, so that isn’t an excuse. It’s the internet for crying out loud, Marvel’s site should be the source for the most up-to-date info! Imagine the thoughts of a reader who figures “Why not?” and buys #28, only to have the book canned two issues later on them. Maybe not a huge issue on its own, perhaps. But it is an example of a larger issue I think. 32 Pages.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6, $2.99. Written by Peter David, Art by Mike Weiringo. So Peter has to fight a Luchador named El Muerto (oooh, “Death” – scary!)? How is that supposed to generate excitement just following the largely dull “The Other” crossover? I guess it is back to business as usual, which is normally a good thing. But with the claws (stingers, whatever), and the hideous costume, you would think that Marvel would be pushing to give something more to otherwise disgruntled Spider-fans. 32 Pages.
Fury Peacemaker #2 (Of 6), $3.50. Written by Garth Ennis, Art by Darick Robertson. You know, for something that had all the appearances of another Marvel “me too” (in response to the return of Sgt. Rock), this has started off pretty good. Of course, put Ennis on a MAX book writing a protagonist with a gun and he will make it work. And this kind of story IS tailor made for Darick Robertson’s art. In all, a decent read. Not too late to give this one a shot. 32 Pages.
Generation M #5 (Of 5), $2.99. Written by Paul Jenkins, Art by Ramon Bachs. The end of what has been an overall solid mini. Funny how the generally lackluster House of M event could spawn such interesting stories! If you missed it, do look out for the trade. It should be a good collection to read. 32 Pages.
New Mangaverse #3 (Of 5), $2.99. Written by C.B. Cebulski, Art by Tommy Ohtsuka and Guru-EFX. Clearly there is some fan following for this series, but you still have to scratch your head a bit. Nothing is wrong with manga, but you would think that Marvel would be able to come up with some original Manga books without having to totally distort their characters to make the series work. In any case, this series is proving to be an ok action read, decent for fans of manga, but if you are looking to ease into the genre, there might be better things out there for you to try. 32 Pages.
Punisher Vs Bullseye #5 (Of 5), $2.99. Written by Daniel Way, Art by Steve Dillon. This should be a decent wrap-up to what has been an otherwise solid action mini. Clearly this might be a bit late for the new reader, but you can bet this will be collected as a trade in short order. One to look out for if you missed the series. 32 Pages.
Runaways #14, $2.99. Written by Brian K. Vaughan, Art by Adrian Alphona. So the Pride is back… kind of. Another group has taken up the mantle that the “rents” of the Runaways once held. This is the start of what should be a major arc for the title, and this issue should be a good one for a newer reader in particular. One of Marvel’s better titles. 32 Pages.
Spider-Girl Presents Juggernaut Jr. Vol 1 Secrets & Digest TPB, $7.99. Written by Tom DeFalco, Art by Rom Lim. 144 Pages.
Spider-Woman Origin #4 (Of 5), $2.99. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Brian Reed, Art by Jonathan and Joshua Luna. Hate to say it, but I am finding that I am not enjoying the Luna Brothers so much on this book as I did on Ultra and Girls. I like the look, but a lot of what the critics are saying about the faces does make some sense. Even so, this mini is turning out to be a pretty decent read, and is doing a lot to help smooth out some of the character’s historical inconsistencies. It is a series that fans of Spider-Woman, particularly those who are reading New Avengers, should be reading. 32 Pages.
Ultimate Extinction #3 (Of 5), $2.99. Written by Warren Ellis, Art by Brandon Peterson. Man, those wings really do look weird on the Surfer, don’t they? This is supposed to be the Ultimate Universe, though, you had to expect that things would be different. And beyond that, the whole idea of an alien with a flying surfboard is a little silly in its own right. Things seem to be picking up, which is good since one of the biggest complaints about this event, stemming all the way back to Ultimate Nightmare, was that it was moving along too slow. Just two issues left after this one – the climax should hopefully be explosive. 32 Pages.
Ultimate X-Men #68, $2.50. Written by Robert Kirkman, Art by Tom Raney. Man, Kirkman really has been a breath of fresh air on this book. This Date Night arc is off to a great start, and about the highest praise I can give this book right now is that I can’t wait to see what happens next. So far this is much better than any of the other core X-titles in the 616 Universe right now. 32 Pages.
Ultimate X-Men Ultimate Collection Vol 1 TPB, $24.99. Written by Mark Millar and Geoff Johns, Art by Adam Kubert, Andy Kubert, Tom Raney, Thomas Derenick and Aaron Lopresti. A great collection at a great price, collecting Ultimate X-Men #1-12 and #1/2. Ultimate X-Men kind of lost its way for a little while, but it had a solid start and these first dozen issues were excellent. A great buy if you haven’t yet read this run. 336 Pages.
Untold Tales Of The New Universe Justice, $2.99. Written by Peter David, Art by Carmine Di Giandomenico. The twentieth anniversary of the Marvel 25th Anniversary effort to create a “New Universe” has arrived. Should be a great buy for fans of the old New Universe, especially those who weren’t too happy with the stories that followed The Pitt one-shot. 32 Pages.
Craig’s Pick of the Week
Annihilation Prologue, $3.99, Marvel. Written by Keith Giffen, Art by Scott Kolins and Ariel Olivetti. Well, at the very least, this is one New Warrior we know to be safe in the wake of Civil War – Nova. This series might not appeal so much to those who don’t enjoy the cosmic level characters so much, but there is something different about this one. A major Marvel event that they are heavily promoting, and the Silver Surfer is the most well-known character in the whole thing. In short – no Fantastic Four, no new Avengers, no Spider-People or X-Men… and it is still a big deal! That is kind of refreshing. I am not on board for all of the minis, but I will definitely check out the main event, and the Nova mini. 48 Pages (no ads).
NOTE: Opinions here may not reflect those of X-World Comics LLC or it’s staff and are solely the opinions of the writer.
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March 8, 2006
On The Shelf In May 2006
ON THE SHELF IN MAY
by Craig Reade
DARK HORSE
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Page 40 – Criminal Macabre: Feat of Clay, $2.99. Written by Steve Niles, Art by Kule Hotz and Michelle Madsen. Cal McDonald fans will be happy to see this issue – the only bad thing being that it is only a one-shot. Feat of Clay pits Cal against a Golem. Might not be as meaty a story as some of the previous minis, but something is better than nothing. If you are a fan of supernatural horror comics, you should check this one out. 32 Pages.
Page 42 – Star Wars: Legacy #0, $.25. Written by John Ostrander, Art by Jan Duursema and Sean Cooke. Another new Star Wars series, this one set 100 years after Return of the Jedi. Seems like Dark Horse has a lot of faith in this one, and this #0 issue should get a lot of people to at least check it out. Hard top pass up a comic for a quarter, no matter what kind of comic it is, you know? Dark Horse has traditionally done very well when they release the quarter issues, thinking back to Conan especially. This one should be no different. 32 Pages.
DABEL BROTHERS PRODUCTIONS
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Page 252 – Orson Scott Card’s: Wyrms #1 (of 6), $2.95. Adapted by Jack Black, Art by Adriano Batista. Another Card novel, another potentially great comic mini. This one I have to admit sounds better than the red Prophet series, not that red Prophet isn’t good, but this one could be much more visually interesting. This is one of my favorite Card novels, but if they were to put out a Worthing Saga-type ongoing (LOTS of material there for fresh stories), I would be one happy comic reader. Another good one upcoming from Dabel. 32 Pages.
DC COMICS
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Page 67 – Superman Returns: The Movie Adaptation, $6.99. Written by Martin Pasko, Art by Matt Haley. This one is being solicited really early (Not due out until July 6th), but that is to be expected. After the stunning success of Batman Begins, especially after some very real jitters from the fans, DC is rightly anxious to get this latest Superman movie out the door. Is DC back in a movie-making groove, or will Superman Returns rank up there with Batman Forever? Well, there are no nipples on the costume, and no DayGlo in site, so there is no reason to be nervous just yet. In addition to the traditional movie adaptation, there will also be a 168 Page trade release which includes the adaptation and stories from The Amazing World of Superman #1, The Adventures of Superman #575, Superman #185, and Action Comics #810. One would guess that these issues have some bearing on the events in the movie. 72 Pages.
Page 73 – Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre #1 (of 3), $2.99. Written by Will Pfiefer, Art by Cliff Chiang. Another Crisis Aftermath mini, this time focusing on the Spectre and his new host, Crispus Allen. Personally, I am a little let down that Bruce Wayne isn’t the new Spectre. Yeah, a long shot, but boy that would have made for a good story! As awesome as Crisis and the Countdown have been, many DC readers are really looking forward to the DCU calming down a bit. There has been so much going on, and so many extra things to buy that wallets are getting light and readers are getting a little worn out. As good as these minis have been, soon is the time to start taking these stories and incorporating them into ongoing titles. 32 Pages.
Page 77- 52 #1 (of 52), $2.50. Written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid; Breakdowns by Keith Giffen; Art by Joe Bennett, Ruy Jose and Jack Jadson; Backup feature by Dan Jurgens and Art Thibert. Infinite Crisis is over, and the whole DCU has been pushed forward one year. But what happened during that year in between? That story is being told in the form of this weekly series. It seems that something happens in Infinite Crisis that leaves the world without Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman for a year. With luck, the OYL books will be a fresh start for all, but this series should provide the continuity to appease longtime readers who want to know how things went from point A to B. This is an ambitious project, but it should be a very rewarding read if DC can maintain consistency and keep the book on time. 32 Pages.
Page 86 – Secret Six #1 (of 6), $2.99. Written by Gail Simone, Art by Brad Walker and Jimmy Palmiotti. Those of you who really liked the Villains United mini will surely want to be on board for this sequel mini. The cover image is a little – artistic, but it does look like the core team from Villains United will be back for this story. This was the best presentation of Catman I’ve seen, well, ever. Hopefully this story will flow all the better without the weight of Infinite Crisis upon it. 32 Pages.
Page 87 - Shadowpact #1, $2.99. By Bill Willingham. Wow – Willingham’s doing the art too? Should be interesting to see, as most readers are only familiar with his writing, having gotten their first exposure to him on Fables. This seems like something of a risk, but it is doubtful that DC would have turned the book over to him if he didn’t have at least a minimum skill level. Still, usually I find that a creator is either a writer or an artist, and very rarely do you find one that is brilliant at both. And considering how good a storyteller he is, seeing him take on the art is a little scary. Still – can’t judge until I see it! Shadowpact is, of course, the team that came together to confront the Spectre in the Day of Vengeance Countdown mini, and it is great to see that DC is putting them in their own ongoing. Any series with Detective Chimp as a lead character is almost an automatic winner in my book. 32 Pages.
Page 96 – Cartoon Network Action Pack #1, $2.25. Written by George Krstic, Robbie Busch and various, Art by Matt Jenkins, Mark Chiarello, and various. Pretty rare that I would mention a Johnny DC title in the monthly, but this one does deserve mention. Another Cartoon Network anthology, like Block Party, but this one focusing on the action characters like Ben 10 and Samurai Jack. Nice to see that though they cancelled the Powerpuff Girls ongoing, they have still filled in that gap. 32 Pages.
Page 105 – Majestic #17, $2.99. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, Art by Neil George. Ah Mejestic, we barely knew ya. This will be the final issue of Majestic, as it makes way for the new Wildstorm coming in the next few months. DC did a great thing by crossing Majestic over into the DCU, and did an excellent job of drawing new readers back to Wildstorm with Majestic on his way back. Trouble is, they just kind of stopped. Like something out of the Marvel third tier, DC launched this book with a bunch of publicity, then let it go off on its own. Especially considering all the Infinite Crisis hype, is it any wonder that this book got a little lost in the shuffle? Majestic has been an outstanding book, and the fact that it isn’t worth rebooting along with the rest of Wildstorm doesn’t make me feel very good about that relaunch. DC might have lost a lot of potential Wildstorm readers here. 32 Pages.
Page 110 – Can’t Get No, $19.99. By Rick Veitch. With 9-11 as the backdrop, this graphic novel follows a businessman on a downward spiral who wakes up on September 11th, after a night of “debauchery” to find that his body is completely covered by a tattoo. This has the feel of a character story, and so naturally the solicit is a bit vague. Something to look at if you are into a more serious graphic novel, though the black and white art might be off-putting to some people. This one is also advance solicited, and should be out in June. 352 Pages.
IMAGE COMICS
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Page 136 – Emissary #1, $3.50. Written by J.R. Rand, Art by Juan E. Ferreyra. Not exactly a new idea, but one that still has a lot of ground to be explored. Exactly how would the real world react to a genuine super-powered person? It isn’t unreasonable to expect that some would worship it. Some would fear it, thinking it s demon or the anti-Christ. Small Gods fans will no doubt recognize the creative team on this book, and should pick it up for that reason alone. Rand and Ferreyra look to be working with Shadowhawk creator Jim Valentino. Cause for concern is the $3.50 cover price here – a few Image titles this month have crept up to that $3.50 mark, including Noble Causes. Unfortunately, comic readers might not be ready for a regular comic over $3. This may hurt sales, hopefully it is just an misguided experiment. 32 Pages.
Page 140 – The Last Christmas #1 (of 6), $2.99. Written by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn, Art by Rick Remember and Hilary Barta. So what would Santa be like in a post-apocalyptic world? Would there still be a Christmas, and what would it look like? In a dark and humorous way, this series sets out to answer just that. This looks like a really funny read. 32 Pages.
Page 142 – Negative Burn #1, $5.99. By Various. A monthly anthology? Wow, haven’t seen a real one of these from one of the major publishers in a long time! Looks like Dan Jurgens, Ron Marz, Jonathan Luna, Phil Hester, and others will all be contributing stories to this title – all the reason you need to check it out. There is a severe lack of anthology books on the market today, and maybe if this one does well, we will see more. Definitely one to check out. 64 Pages.
MARVEL COMICS
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Page M10 – Ultimate Spider-Man #95, $2.99. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Mark Bagley. The second USM of the month, this one kicking off the five issue story arc that will lead to issue 100. Though Ultimate Morbius? I don’t know, I was kind of expecting something a little more blockbuster than that. It is only the first issue, so perhaps there is more down the road. Almost have to wonder why they made an Ultimate version anyway, and just didn’t go with an all original vampire type character. 32 Pages.
Page M15 – Last Planet Standing #1 (of 5), $2.99. Written by Tom DeFalco, Art by Pat Olliffe. The plot thickens! Most of you know that Marvel announced that Spider-Girl was to be cancelled once again. This time at issue #100, which actually trimmed back from the previous “safe” number of 106. Marvel’s attitude towards this book has readers universally scratching their head. Powerful female lead? Check. Good sized loyal fanbase? Check. Appeal to the younger female reader? Check again. Connection to a big draw Marvel character? Again, it has that too. Plus, every time Marvel puts the tiniest bit of marketing push behind it, it sells really well. Now there is this – right after canceling the title, they go forward with this mini, and give it a huge push. What gives? Is this an effort to boost sales and save the title? Or is it, like the teaser suggests, the end of a universe, namely the MC2 verse? Maybe drastic measures are needed to make the character more viable. A new creative team, moving May (and J2!) to 616 – but please, don’t get rid of the character all together. There is a reason that it has hung on for 100 issues. Announcing a cancellation to boost sales will only work so many times before the readers give up. Boy who cried wolf, and all. 32 Pages.
Page M29 – Civil War #1 (of 7), $3.99. Written by Mark Millar, Art by Steve McNiven. Has to say, this was the first time in a very long time that I smiled after checking out preview pages of a major Marvel event. Namely – New Warriors! One of the most important ingredients in the major crossover event is the second and third tier characters, and how they interact with the main story. Of course, Millar has a history of killing off my favorite lower tier characters (Hornet!) so as long as this isn’t pointing to any of the New Warriors getting killed, I am all for it. Fingers crossed! Then again, while it was awesome to see the New Warriors pretty much owning the preview pages, and considering Millar’s history with lower tier character deaths, I am extremely worried… 48 Pages.
Page M38 – Fantastic Four – A Death in the Family, $3.99. Written by Karl Kesel, Art by Lee Weeks. The big hype for this one shot is the death of Sue Richards. Of course, the fact that Marvel is being so upfront about it, lends some suspicion as to how real it actually is. If they were going to kill her off, why not do it as part of the whole Civil War thing? No, most likely she will die, but will be alive and well at the end of the issue. Hopefully there is more to this story than that. 64 Pages.
Page M32 – Marvel Team-Up #20, $2.99. Written by Robert Kirkman, Art by Cory Walker. The first in a new five part arc that teams Captain America with a new hero – Freedom Ring. Naturally it is impossible to tell whether this character has any staying power, but if it does, this is an arc you need to get. Kirkman has been doing a really good job on this title, and this arc should be no different. 32 Pages.
Page M41 – Marvel Adventures The Avengers #1, $2.99. Written by Jeff Parker, Art by Manuel Garcia. Kind of an unusual Avengers make-up, but what the heck. It isn’t like the team has any traditional core anymore, you know? This all-ages take on the Avengers includes Captain America, Spider-Man, Storm, Wolverine, Giant-Girl, the Hulk, and Iron Man. Should be about on par with the usual Marvel Adventures fare. Light easy reading that should be free of oppressive continuity. Hopefully this will keep up the quality that the Marvel Adventures line has shown so far. 32 Pages.
Page M45 – Marvel Milestones: Black Panther, Storm, & Ka-Zar, $3.99. For those of you following the Storm/Black Panther wedding story, this might be an issue to get to catch you up on some of the classic encounters. This issue will collect stories from Marvel Team-up #100 (their first meeting), Black Panther #26, and a Golden Age Ka-Zar story from Marvel Mystery Comics #7. Of course, there is nothing new here – strictly reprinted stories, but they are old enough that many of you might not have had the chance to read them. 48 Pages.
Page M46 – Four #30, $2.99. Written by Roberto-Aguirre Sacasa, Art by Clay Mann. Looks like the mystery is solved – this title is indeed coming to an end with this issue. Not sure why they went through the trouble of changing the title from 4 and moving it from the Marvel Knights imprint if it was ending so soon, but far be it from me to guess at Marvel’s motivations. With all the great new Marvel books out these past couple months, perhaps this title fell under the category of fat that needed to be cut… 32 Pages.
Page M69 – Wolverine #42, $2.99. Written by Marc Guggenheim, Art by Humberto Ramos. New creative team for Wolverine this month. Of course, most of the buzz has to do with Ramos taking on the art chores, but the new writer is worth mentioning. Looks like Marvel’s trend of hiring television writers to helm their titles continues with Guggenheim, who has worked on CSI, Law & Order, and The Practice. Is this good for the industry? Tough to say. It seems like they have already run out of names big enough to really draw attention. But is it producing better stories? Jury really is still out on that. 32 Pages.
Page M82 – Haunt of Horror: Edgar Allan Poe #1 (of 3), $3.99. Written by Richard Corben and Rich Margopoulos. A new MAX title! Granted, it is only a mini, but it seems pretty clear they intend to keep the line going. Each issue of this series will feature three adaptations of Poe poems, complete with the full text of the poem itself. Maybe a little artsy for some comic readers, but this will be a treat if done properly. Looking forward to checking this one out. 32 Pages.
Page M94 – Firestar, $7.99. Written by Tom DeFalco, Art by Mary Wilshire. Here is a great idea – classic minis in digest format! Hope to see a lot more of this. This digest collects the 1986 pre-New Warriors four issue mini. I hope this is the first of many digests like this one. Finding back issues or buying $20 trades to get this older content scares a lot of people away, myself included. But $8 – this is definitely worth $8. A great way to reintroduce some old classics. 96 Pages.
Craig’s Top Five of the Month
#5 – Orson Scott Card’s: Wyrms #1 (of 6), $2.95, Dabel Brothers.What can I say? I am a sucker for Card. This story in particular.
#4 – Shadowpact #1, $2.99, DC Comics. It’s all about the monkey. Well, mostly about the monkey…
#3 – Civil War #1 (of 7), $3.99, Marvel. Those preview pages have me interested, I’ll say that much. But if that preview page was the death of the New Warriors – not that is something I am going to be able to forgive. Keeping my fingers crossed.
#2 – Last Planet Standing #1 (of 5), $2.99, Marvel. Quite possibly the very real end of the MC2-verse. If Marvel is serious about canceling Spider-Girl, at least the universe will get a worthy end.
#1 – 52 #1 (of 52), $2.50, DC Comics. Lots of potential here. A year-long weekly is a bit tough on the wallet – this one seems like it will be worth it though.
Craig’s Collection of the Month
Page 293 – Abadazad Book 1: The Road to Inconceivable, $9.99, Hyperion Books. Written by J.M. DeMatteis, Art by Mike Ploog. After a fashion, Stardust Kid did go the way of Abadazad. After a much too long absence, Abadazad is back! Not exactly in a comic format, but at this point the format doesn’t much matter. There are two Abadazad hardcover volumes being put out this month – both at the $9.99 cover price (the second a little longer, at 160 pages!). Finally some resolution to one of the most tragic losses to come out of the CrossGen crumble. Now if we could get some resolution on the Negation War… Both these volumes are must haves. Especially if you have kids! This is definitely something you can enjoy together. 144 Pages.
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