Day: August 4, 2014

The Mice Templar Volume III: A Midwinter Night’s Dream 5 (September 2011)

The Mice Templar Volume III: A Midwinter Night's Dream #5

Glass is even more expansive in terms of subplots this issue. There’s more with Pilot training his new protege, there’s the whole movement of Templars believing in Karic’s holy status (for lack of a better description), there’s how that movement is playing out in the capital and how the rats and weasels are getting on without the king. There’s even stuff with the Templar priests and a possible insurrection in their future.

It’s both a busy issue and not. Santos occasionally gets to do a huge, graphically violent page or two; these pages cause a shock and a reset. They relieve the narrative tension just long enough for the reader to process the next big plot point.

In many ways, Glass is just doing the most grandiose bridging issue he can conceive. If it ever doesn’t seem big enough, he adds more to it.

The result’s overwhelming while still compelling.

B 

CREDITS

A Legend Begins; writer, Bryan J.L. Glass; artist, Victor Santos; colorist, Veronica Gandini; letterer, James H. Glass; editor, Judy Glass; publisher, Image Comics.

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Ordinary 3 (August 2014)

Ordinary #3

After reading the first issue of Ordinary, I was worried somehow Williams would cop out in the finish. Actually, I thought he would cop out in the second issue. Instead, he cops out in the finale of the series. It’s not a one hundred percent cop out, but it’s in the high eighties. Williams gets a high B in coping out.

The comic starts just fine, however, which makes it all the more irritating. Regular guy Michael is still saving his kid, there are some fantastic visuals and some very humorous play off them in Williams’s plotting. It’s going just fine. Until the governments show up to fight over Michael and D’Israeli starts checking out as far as detail.

His composition is weak too. He has too many characters to track and so he just rushes through. The comic might survive it, if it just weren’t for Williams’s writing deficiencies.

C 

CREDITS

Writer, Rob Williams; artist, D’Israeli; editor, Steve White; publisher, Titan Comics.

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The Fury of Firestorm, The Nuclear Man 17 (October 1983)

The Fury of Firestorm, The Nuclear Man #17

As many problems as Broderick has been having on the art lately, it’s nothing compared to George Tuska, who does the first half of the issue. Maybe it’s Rodriguez’s who’s lazy because there’s no excuse for Tuska’s part of the issue. Inept is the word for it.

The issue, however, is something of a return to form for Conway. Terrible art and all, it has great plotting and action. There’s the human stuff with Ronnie and his family problems, which sends him off as Firestorm to mull it over with Martin. Unfortunately, the bad guys have turned one of Firestorm’s love interests into Firehawk, sort of a female version.

There’s a really well-paced fight sequence, something Broderick and Rodriguez should have nailed, but don’t. Conway’s progression of the scene–with Firestorm saving civilians and finally having enough and overreacting to get the job done–it’s wonderful comics writing.

Shame about the art.

B 

CREDITS

On Wings of Fire!; writer, Gerry Conway; pencillers, Pat Broderick and George Tuska; inker, Rodin Rodriguez; colorist, Carl Gafford; letterer, Adam Kubert; editors, Nicola Cuti and Conway; publisher, DC Comics.

1

Five Weapons 10 (July 2014)

Five Weapons #10

Way to go out on a bummer… the issue ends with Robinson informing the reader he or she has just read a truncated, rushed ending to the comic (instead of it going to issue fifteen).

There’s clearly something off about the issue–it’s too rushed, with the leaders of the Five Weapons clubs fighting these five psionics who want to take of the school. Luckily Enrique is there to save the day; Robinson hints a little at how he would have done it in the full narrative, not the shortened one, but there’s still enough charm to get it through.

Actually, a regular issue and an incompetent feeling might have been a better way to go, because this issue of Five Weapons loses a lot of the texture. Robinson doesn’t get to do his standard plotting and the comic just feels weird.

Though Joon the Loon has an amazing fight scene.

B- 

CREDITS

Tyler’s Revenge, Part Five; writer, artist and letterer, Jimmie Robinson; colorist, Paul Little; editor, Laura Tavishati; publisher, Image Comics.

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