Category: Vertigo

The Wake 5 (December 2013)

289527 20131120094335 largeStarting this issue, I felt a little bad. I only read The Wake to praise Murphy’s art and to mock Snyder’s writing. It’s definitely mock-worthy this time around too, but then he goes and does something even more amazing.

He craps on the story he is telling and then announces he’s going to tell an entirely different story. Apparently one about flying girls. So instead of ripping off The Abyss, Leviathan and whatever other underwater adventures he could… He announces he’s instead going to rip off Waterworld and post-apocalyptic stuff.

Am I spoiling the end of this issue?

No, because this issue–this storyline–isn’t the point. Murphy was just messing around.

It’s the perfect jumping off point too, because it’s clear there’s never going to be anything resembling a good narrative here.

Oh, Contact. He rips Contact off a little here too.

Anyway, crappy writing, great art.

CREDITS

Writer, Scott Snyder; artist, Sean Murphy; colorist, Matt Hollingsworth; letterer, Jared K. Fletcher; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Brother Lono 6 (January 2014)

289533 20131120101852 largeI hate the moments where the writer makes a big revelation his protagonist is actually the biggest badass in the world. At best, they’re hollow, at worst… well, they’re hollow and bad. Except Azzarello pulls it off here. And he pulls it off because of how he’s structured this series so far.

With Lono, Azzarello has done a somewhat gentle structure–the lives of the people in this town, in their particular situations, all brought together. When he reveals the “truth” about Lono, he does it through the characters he’s established. He throws a lot at the good guys this issue and their characters react and develop wondrously. Azzarello writes the heck out of the characters here.

And then there’s Risso’s art. Risso gets to do a huge action sequence after a couple lengthily paced sequences. He does great work.

It’s an outstanding comic; raises my hopes for the series.

CREDITS

¡La Canción de Los Torturados!; writer, Brian Azzarello; artist, Eduardo Risso; colorist, Trish Mulvihill; letterer, Clem Robins; editors, Sara Miller and Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Brother Lono 5 (December 2013)

Lono 5The hard cliffhanger suggests Azzarello is finally getting to the inevitable bloody showdown in Brother Lono. He’s been setting it up, foreshadowing it with corpses mostly; it sort of had to happen, otherwise there wouldn’t be an epical plot line… but it’s also unfortunate.

So far, Brother Lono has been Azzarello and Risso delicately, intricately laying out scenes and connections. Azzarello manages to make it worthwhile in singles, but obviously more connected in the eventual trade. Giving it a big finish won’t undo the good work they’ve done, but it will suggest there’s a limit to how far mainstream comic can go. Of course, if they didn’t have eight issues for Lono, there would have had to be a lot more action.

Most of the stuff this issue’s character work. Azzarello plays the characters off one another–but not necessarily nefariously. Risso does great with those scenes.

Again, good stuff.

CREDITS

¡Los Hijos de la Sangre!; writer, Brian Azzarello; artist, Eduardo Risso; colorist, Trish Mulvihill; letterer, Clem Robins; editors, Sara Miller and Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

1

FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics 5 (January 2014)

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Does anyone remember that series Middleman? It had a female, Hispanic lead cop or something. I wonder if Oliver read it because he sure makes a big deal about how he’s got a female, Hispanic lead cop in this series now.

Oliver and Rodriguez soft boot FBP this issue, mostly in the last few pages. The whole world has changed in the days or weeks since the last issue, not just female Hispanic cops (I wonder if they have such beings in the real world or just in Oliver’s comic books), but also physics insurance and flashbacks.

Maybe if Rodriguez’s art was better, it might be worth sticking around to see what they do with FBP, but the art’s weak. It’s hurried and the colorist is doing a whole lot of shading work.

There are probably other big problems with the issue, but FBP’s not worth talking about anymore.

CREDITS

Things That Have Been; writer, Simon Oliver; artist, Robbi Rodriguez; colorist, Rico Renzi; letterer, Jared K. Fletcher; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

1

Coffin Hill 2 (January 2014)

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I love the way Kittredge uses the narration this issue. The lead girl–Eve (I actually remember her name, not bad)–she goes home to her family’s manor. There’s a lot of good first person narration about her history with her family and so on. Then the narration cuts–as the character thinks of different events–to something relevant for the present action of the issue.

That move is probably more impressive than the rest of the issue, just because it’s sort of standard. Eve meets a guy she used to know who has become the town police chief. She’s a former cop, she starts investigating with him. Actually–while I don’t expected it and I hope not, all of a sudden Coffin Hill seems like a police procedural.

Anyway, its nice art again from Miranda; it’s genuinely creepy when it needs to be.

It isn’t great, but it’s solid.

CREDITS

The Waters and the Wild; writer, Caitlin Kittredge; artist, Inaki Miranda; colorist, Eva De La Cruz; letterer, Travis Lanham; editors, Gregory Lockard and Shelly Bond; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Trillium 4 (January 2014)

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I really hope DC didn’t cancel Trillium. The issue ends with a very final note, but Lemire is playing with time travel and black holes so hopefully it’s not some unannounced cancellation.

It’s a good issue, even if the finish is a little rushed. That rushed feeling again seems like Lemire wanted to get a few things done before he lost the series. Something about how the supporting casts resolve… it feels abbreviated and final.

Lemire gives somewhat equal time to both his future scientist and her past explorer love interest. Lemire never goes for the kiss; he moves around it in intense scenes, which is kind of nice. He also lets them have cultural arguments, also nice.

The art continues to underwhelm and the reveals are never particularly original, but the core relationship Lemire has between his time travelers keeps the book going.

I mean, if it isn’t canceled.

CREDITS

Entropy; writer and artist, Jeff Lemire; colorists, José Villarrubia and Lemire; letterer, Carlos M. Mangual; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

1

Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril 4 (December 2013)

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This issue doesn’t really have enough content to be a full issue, except Hogan has decided he wants to do a couple serious things and they’re going to be worth the cover price.

And they are worth that cover price.

Without spoiling, the first thing has to do with Tom Strong, the character. Hogan makes a quiet, direct statement about what makes this comic different. He sort of drops Tom and Val into the middle of The Road Warrior and finds a different result. Why? Because with Tom Strong, anything is possible.

The second thing has to do with heroism and aging. It also relates back to Tom, who both ages and performs acts of heroism, but they’re ingrained into the character, not often discussed. Hogan figures out a way to talk about them a little.

Hogan is enthralled with writing the character, which really does set the comic apart.

A 

CREDITS

The Cavalier’s Attitude; writer, Peter Hogan; penciller, Chris Sprouse; inker, Karl Story; colorist, Jordie Bellaire; letterer, Todd Klein; editors, Jessica Chen, Kristy Quinn, Ben Abernathy and Shelly Bond; publisher, Vertigo.

0

FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics 4 (December 2013)

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So, if one classifies the first issue as a pilot issue and then two through four as the first story arc, I suppose this issue is all right.

It’s also kind of not, because Oliver wraps up his story arc really quick to reset the comic. He has a chance with the next issue to start over, erasing–but not really–all memory of when the book was called Collider and that word was used a lot in the first issue.

By resetting the ground situation–the continuing reader presumably somewhat familiar with the rules, the cast, the backstory–Oliver gets to conduct the ultimate cop out. He’s no longer responsible for FBP’s problems. The reset button takes care of them.

It’s desperate.

It’s also okay enough. Rodriguez gets to draw the real world, which is a nice change from the lame alternate reality.

I’ll get it a chance.

CREDITS

The Paradigm Shift, Part Four; writer, Simon Oliver; artist, Robbi Rodriguez; colorist, Rico Renzi; letterer, Steve Wands; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Coffin Hill 1 (December 2013)

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Coffin Hill is–while definitely reminiscent of some other comics, book series and movies–its own thing.

Writer Caitlin Kittredge marries some familiar concepts–rookie cop versus serial killer, teenage witches, haunted family–into something relatively fresh. The protagonist, Eve Coffin, is immediately memorable. Her supporting cast is strong. The cast fluctuates as the issue moves from the present back thirteen years. Kittredge’s greatest strength is a little one. She never loses track of Coffin’s partner, who is always in a scene as support and always perfectly so.

Inaki Miranda’s art is fine, but somewhat indistinct. There are emo teenagers, there are regular cops, there’s some blood, there’s some imagery out of Poe. Miranda never does anything new with these elements, but is always strong with them.

Hill ends on a standard haunted house note, but Kittredge earns a lot of goodwill with this first issue. A lot of goodwill.

CREDITS

Forest of the Night; writer, Caitlin Kittredge; artist, Inaki Miranda; colorist, Eva De La Cruz; letterer, Travis Lanham; editors, Gregory Lockard and Shelly Bond; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Trillium 3 (December 2013)

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Lemire doesn’t put off today what he could do tomorrow with this issue. It’s not as much of a wow issue as the previous one and some of his composition choices aren’t the greatest, but it’s a good comic.

It’s an all action issue, with Nika the future girl trying to escape her “friends” to return to the temple where she traveled back in time and met Billy the explorer boy. Lemire gives them both some good scenes, but the future ones are so full of exposition the past ones come across a lot cleaner.

Even though they’re exposition heavy too. Just not overloaded.

There’s the sad moment when the future humans decide to exterminate the indigenous people on the planet. Lemire’s metaphor is a little heavy-handed; the comic overcomes it though.

Trillium has its problems, but Lemire is honest with his protagonists, which helps the issue a lot.

CREDITS

Telemetry; writer and artist, Jeff Lemire; colorists, José Villarrubia and Lemire; letterer, Carlos M. Mangual; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

1

Hinterkind 1 (December 2013)

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I really don’t understand Hinterkind. Is it a spin-off of Fables or is it just highly derivative of a series from the same publisher? Oh, it’s different… it’s not fairy tales. It’s just fairy tale monsters inhabiting a future Earth after some catastrophe sets humanity on the brink. There are animals in the now reclaimed by nature New York City, for example, and little well-read teenage hunters to hunt them.

Is Warner Bros. really this desperate to compete with The Hunger Games? There’s even the girl lead with a male best friend. It’s a pitiful attempt.

Ian Edginton’s script isn’t bad, it’s just unimaginative and one rip-off after another. The bad part is the art. Francesco Trifogli can draw New York City with a bunch of trees everywhere and a settlement in Central Park, but his people are beyond lame.

And the monsters?

Don’t get me started.

CREDITS

Once Upon A Time…, Chapter One; writer, Ian Edginton; artist, Francesco Trifogli; colorist, Cris Peter; letterer, Dezi Sienty; editors, Sara Miller and Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

0

The Wake 4 (November 2013)

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I’m having a hard time believing it but Snyder is actually getting worse. Oh, there are less characters so the dialogue is a little better, but his ideas are dropping even faster in creativity. If it weren’t for Murphy’s style, I’d think The Wake is supposed to be a joke. Some camp-fest to laugh at all the crazy stuff Snyder can rip off from other places.

I did forgot the really, really terrible scene with the lead character lady talking about her son and how she won’t die unless she gets him HDMI cables first. I can’t believe this comic book has an editor. Not one who can read anyway.

There’s a lot of action, none of it particularly good. For a series where Murphy is the only draw, this issue doesn’t utilize him well at all. Snyder’s script is too terribly paced.

The Wake‘s not improving at all.

CREDITS

Writer, Scott Snyder; artist, Sean Murphy; colorist, Matt Hollingsworth; letterer, Jared K. Fletcher; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril 3 (November 2013)

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Hogan continues his leisurely, pleasant pace. Tom Strong might be the one with his name in the title but Hogan’s really having fun doing his Terra Obscura sequel. He introduces the cast from that series again, going through all their changes. He has so much fun with their interplay, the whole plague thing is in the back burner.

There are some action scenes–Val, Tom’s son-in-law, spends the issue getting more and more aggravated, but Hogan’s clearly making him wait. Tom and Val are just explorers on this strange world. A strange world where Hogan and Sprouse have time to make a cute Watchmen reference too.

Anyway, the setting is an Egyptian encampment where two science heroes have become Egyptian gods reincarnated. It sounds weirder than it plays. Hogan and Sprouse do very well with the gradual storytelling.

Peril is so well executed, it doesn’t need forced thrills.

A- 

CREDITS

The New Egyptian Book of the Dead; writer, Peter Hogan; penciller, Chris Sprouse; inker, Karl Story; colorist, Jordie Bellaire; letterer, Todd Klein; editors, Jessica Chen, Kristy Quinn, Ben Abernathy and Shelly Bond; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Brother Lono 4 (November 2013)

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Azzarello continues what one might call a peculiar approach to Lono. Nothing big happens during the issue; there might be cliffhanger–this issue has a soft one–and there’s a possibly big followup to the previous issue’s cliffhanger at the beginning, but it’s very mild otherwise. It’s horrific, sure. There are drug lords doing terrible things to one another and to regular people (this issue it’s more the hint of terrible things), but it’s almost tranquil.

Azzarello introduces another new character, yet another bad guy, and sort of follows him around for the day. When he gets to town, when he meets with a drug lord, how he spends his evening. It’s all very, very calm.

There’s a texture to Lono, a relaxed pace. It’s hard to anticipate what’s going to happen–though Azzarello does bring in a thing from the first issue–because the events don’t matter.

Good stuff.

CREDITS

!El Monstruo Del Norte!; writer, Brian Azzarello; artist, Eduardo Risso; colorist, Trish Mulvihill; letterer, Clem Robins; editors, Sara Miller and Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Brother Lono 3 (October 2013)

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Brother Lono is tough this time around. It has the first attempt at a issue long subplot, which isn’t a bad thing at all. There are bodies on holy land, which ends up causing trouble for just about everyone.

Sadly, Azzarello doesn’t do a lot to establish the characters based their caricatures. There’s the beautiful young nun with secrets, there’s Brother Lono–I wasn’t clear, in the first issue, he just slept in jail; I thought he just got out–and there’s the priest. Oh, sure, there are other characters–the cop, the bad guys, some more bad guys. But it’s all pretty simple.

And Azzarello doesn’t exactly do anything wrong with those simple characters. Their actions make them a little more complicated, but not really. Lono isn’t somewhat shallow, but Risso’s art and Azzarello’s harshness make it a lot of fun.

The dream sequence is just wasted pages though.

CREDITS

!El Amor de Los Muertos!; writer, Brian Azzarello; artist, Eduardo Risso; colorist, Trish Mulvihill; letterer, Clem Robins; editors, Sara Miller and Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

0

FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics 3 (November 2013)

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While this issue of FBP is definitely better than the last, it’s still not particularly good. Oliver’s writing is better, to be sure, but he’s faking it. He’s complicating things in order to get a whole issue out of the weak story.

For instance, he’s got four plot lines running. First, he’s got the betrayed guy. Then he’s got the betrayer, then there’s their boss, then there’s the newscast. The newscast is interesting because it’s entirely gibberish. The “science” behind FBP seems weaker than it should; Oliver goes out of his way to go on and on with it. It gets worse every sentence.

He’s also got multiple mysteries raised in the single issue, solely to remind the reader to get interested again in all the twists and turns. If Oliver were more competent, the twists might be offensive to a reader. Instead, they’re lame.

Lazy Rodriguez art again too.

CREDITS

The Paradigm Shift, Part Three; writer, Simon Oliver; artist, Robbi Rodriguez; colorist, Rico Renzi; letterer, Steve Wands; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Trillium 2 (November 2013)

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The first issue of Trillium didn’t impress me much. I’m glad I stuck with it for the second. It’s an utterly charming little bit of comics, if Lemire can maintain the emotional quality of the finale… he’ll really have a nice series.

William, the British explorer, and Nika, the future diplomat (or whatever), try to communicate in the Amazon jungle in 1921. She doesn’t know where she is, he doesn’t know where she’s from–he’s actually got a crisis going on–and her universal translator doesn’t work. Lemire does a back and forth where they slowly start to understand each other, complete with some very cute coincidences as far as their impressions of one another.

For over half the comic, Lemire keeps up the back and forth. Then there’s the big communication scene, which he handles beautifully, and then the finale.

I feel bad I dismissed this one so soon.

CREDITS

Binary Systems; writer and artist, Jeff Lemire; colorists, José Villarrubia and Lemire; letterer, Carlos M. Mangual; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

1

FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics 2 (October 2013)

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You know, this “first” issue of FBP feels like the mediocre second episode of a TV series after an awesome pilot episode–the title change (from Collider is due to DC apparently not doing any legal research… they’re too busy suing Siegel and Shuster’s families for damages). The comic’s okay, it’s just nothing special.

The pacing is also way off. He wastes about half the issue on exposition, then gets his two main characters into this incredibly interesting parallel universe bubble and… then the issue stops. Given how he wastes the early pages, he could have done a lot more.

But it’s not just Oliver. Rodriguez seems to be doing a lot less work too. There are a lot of white space backgrounds–to focus on the foreground figures, I’m sure one could argue, but it just feels really lazy. And a second issue isn’t the place to get lazy.

CREDITS

The Paradigm Shift, Part Two; writer, Simon Oliver; artist, Robbi Rodriguez; colorist, Rico Renzi; letterer, Steve Wands; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril 2 (October 2013)

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Whew, it’s a six issue series, not four. I was wondering what the heck Hogan at the end of the issue if he only had four. It’s a good enough issue–Tom and Val get to Terra Obscura, find it decimated by plague (or something) and hang out with a couple of the world’s science heroes–but it’s all just nicely done exposition.

But Hogan’s got six issues so he’s got plenty of time.

Hogan’s got a lot of amusing dialogue and a lot of touching dialogue. He could be foreshadowing big revelations to come later on with the guest stars this issue, he also might just be using them as the best vehicles for the exposition. It never feels forced, which is nice.

There’s also some lovely art from Sprouse and Story. They do plague decimated New York City something special, but the quiet stuff’s great too.

Still Strong.

B+ 

CREDITS

Masks and the Red Death; writer, Peter Hogan; penciller, Chris Sprouse; inker, Karl Story; colorist, Jordie Bellaire; letterer, Todd Klein; editors, Jessica Chen, Kristy Quinn, Ben Abernathy and Shelly Bond; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Brother Lono 2 (September 2013)

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Okay, Azzarello sort of sets up the series here. He’s going split it between Lono, June the new nun and the assistant to the drug lords. I don’t think there’s anything else.

There’s quite a bit about the drug lords, which isn’t particularly interesting. The scenes are all expository. There are no slips of anything deeper or better.

The opening scene with the nun and Lono is really good, then she later talks to the priest. It’s good too. Hopefully Azzarello’s got something good planned for her in this series.

But the Lono stuff is a problem. He runs off to town to drink at the bar–he, the nun and the priest all lie at an orphanage–and Azzarello starts this terrible, first person narration. It’s shockingly bad, especially since nothing else in the issue is as poorly written.

It’s a decent enough issue, just a lot of problems.

CREDITS

!Tu Pasado te Matara!; writer, Brian Azzarello; artist, Eduardo Risso; colorist, Trish Mulvihill; letterer, Clem Robins; editor, Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Brother Lono 1 (August 2013)

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I’m not sure I understand anything in this first issue of Brother Lono except the titular character has been in the town jail for a while and he gets out. He’s on a mission to escort a visiting nun–of course she doesn’t look like a nun–to the parish. I think.

Brian Azzarello fills the rest of the issue with drug cartel guys torturing people for information, threatening priests, implying police corruption. Then there’s this meticulously crafted finale outside the bus station. The bad guys are looking for a DEA agent, Azzarello hasn’t revealed the nun yet and there are like three other guys doing shady things. It’s a beautiful sequence, even if it doesn’t make any sense.

Or maybe it all does and I’m just really tired, but I don’t think it does.

Eduardo Risso’s art is excellent. He gets bloody, but still implies even more.

“Fun” stuff.

CREDITS

!El Hombre Respira!; writer, Brian Azzarello; artist, Eduardo Risso; colorist, Trish Mulvihill; letterer, Clem Robins; editor, Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Trillium 1 (October 2013)

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Trillium might be a lot more innovative if it weren’t for, you know, Stargate.

Jeff Lemire starts out with some really boring sci-fi with a female scientist lead who is trying to stop the spread of a sentient virus. It’s unclear why a thinking disease would eradicate its possible hosts, but it’s an emergency.

She goes to meet with this alien race who have magic flowers to stop the disease. Only she ends up going through the aliens’ star gate to reach Earth in the past.

Lemire splits between the scientist and the explorer in the past. The past stuff is far better. Lemire writes exaggerated twenties dialogue a lot better than his future dialogue.

The art is gorgeous when Lemire’s not drawing people. He’s rough with all the people; it’s just not interesting. The sketchy, watercolor alien landscapes? Nice.

But Trillium’s a lot of work for nothing.

CREDITS

The Scientist/The Soldier; writer and artist, Jeff Lemire; colorists, José Villarrubia and Lemire; letterer, Carlos M. Mangual; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril 1 (September 2013)

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So Planet of Peril turns out to be a sequel to the Terra Obscura series Hogan’s done. Those are great so I have high hopes for this one. And so far, Hogan doesn’t disappoint.

He has Chris Sprouse and Karl Story on art so it’s good, but he also comes up with this great meta scene where Tom Strong tries to explain why there haven’t been Terra Obscura comics published in the last few years. It’s hard to tell if it’s a one off meta moment or if Hogan’s going to weave it in and out of the entire series.

There’s also the human element–Tesla’s pregnant with some fiery guy’s baby and it’s putting her in danger. Hogan’s doing the Superman pregnancy storyline hinted at in Mallrats apparently.

Hogan gets in a good amount of humor and action, lots of the touching Strong stuff and great opportunities for Sprouse.

B+ 

CREDITS

The Girl in the Bubble; writer, Peter Hogan; penciller, Chris Sprouse; inker, Karl Story; colorist, Jordie Bellaire; letterer, Todd Klein; editors, Kristy Quinn, Ben Abernathy and Shelly Bond; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Collider 1 (September 2013)

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I’m really impressed. I’d never heard of Simon Oliver or Robbie Rodriguez until I looked back to the title page after finishing this first issue of Collider.

They do good work.

The series takes place in a universe where the laws of physics have suffered some kind of damage. The lead is a hotshot agent who fixes the resulting tears. This issue shows a disturbance where an area loses gravity.

So there are these funny moments with people or objects floating, but then the action crisis when the agents are trying to fix it.

Rodriguez handles both beautifully. There’s a real energy with his panels, his transitions between them are fantastic.

Oliver writes excellent dialogue–he’s already nicely established the lead’s friendship with another agent. He’s consistently unpredictable… Until the last two pages, when he has to set up his subplot and then put in a cliffhanger.

Still, it’s great.

CREDITS

The Paradigm Shift, Part One; writer, Simon Oliver; penciller, Robbi Rodriguez; colorist, Rcio Renzi; letterer, Steve Wands; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

0

The Wake 3 (September 2013)

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What a bad comic.

I mean, the art is glorious and it does make The Wake worth reading but the writing is godawful.

Snyder is back with his lame dialogue again. On and on it goes. The stuff with protagonist and her son isn’t even the worst and it’s positively dreadful. The Homeland Security guy is back to his awful catchphrases, which is an unpleasant return to say the least.

This issue reveals one of Snyder’s big problems as a writer. He’s impatient. Instead of showing the reader this deep sea rig in scenes, he does it all in expository dialogue so he can rush to the finish with a bunch of the monsters arriving. A few good scenes would have helped the pace–it reads extremely fast, especially as one wants to get away from Snyder’s dialogue–and worked towards giving the cast personalities.

It’s a terrible comic book.

CREDITS

Writer, Scott Snyder; artist, Sean Murphy; colorist, Matt Hollingsworth; letterer, Jared K. Fletcher; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

0

The Wake 2 (August 2013)

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If “raindrop” is really a term used in folklore studies, how does anyone take folklore studies seriously? It’s out of Michael Crichton.

Except Snyder doesn’t think dinosaurs became birds. He’s real clear on it. Science is clear on the other side of him. It immediately discounts all the pseudo-science in Wake. It and Snyder giving Homeland Security a bio weapons department.

It’s a bit of a talking heads issue. Well, talking heads and hallucinations. Snyder packs it with time killing hallucinations. The Murphy art makes up for it all to a certain point, except when Snyder’s being just too dumb.

One has to wonder of his editors do anything whatsoever. Like read the script to the comic.

There’s some more will the flash forward to the end of the planet Earth. I think we’re supposed to care but I can’t be sure.

At least Snyder’s dialogue is getting better.

CREDITS

Writer, Scott Snyder; artist, Sean Murphy; colorist, Matt Hollingsworth; letterer, Jared K. Fletcher; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

0

The Wake 1 (July 2013)

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So if Michael Bay is his generation’s version of Tony Scott, Scott Snyder is trying really hard to be his generations version of early Brian Michael Bendis. The cuteness in the dialogue is hilariously bad. If it weren’t for Sean Murphy’s art, one might think The Wake is supposed to be a comedy.

I could actually sit and write about the dialogue devices Snyder uses to be cute, but I won’t bother. Being cute is a small problem compared to the rest of the dialogue. He can’t write honest dialogue. He’s not just writing bad expository dialogue, he’s writing weak dialogue without any sense of his characters. Maybe his editors told him everyone has to sound different so he picked some phrases and cadences to repeat.

But there’s the art. Murphy gets to do fake super-science, general ocean life and Waterworld. Every panel, even with dumb dialogue, is glorious.

CREDITS

Writer, Scott Snyder; artist, Sean Murphy; colorist, Matt Hollingsworth; letterer, Jared K. Fletcher; editors, Sara Miller and Mark Doyle; publisher, Vertigo.

0

Swamp Thing 171 (October 1996)

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Millar hits a home run with the final issue.

He ties up all sorts of things, the little things he’s done throughout his run, the bigger things no one ever could have done without his arc. He rewards the faithful reader, with more than a few nods to memorable events in long ago issues.

The reason it works is because of Millar’s narration. He writes Alec as he changes from powerful elemental to ultimate elemental to whatever comes next. There are little tricks he does–putting some scientific terminology into the narration, letting thoughts pass without ever coming to the fore–but he accomplishes something wonderful.

Hester, DeMulder and colorist Tatjana Wood (who’s been on the book from the start) really come through here too. Millar’s got to write the unimaginable, but they have to illustrate it.

The narrative’s miraculously plotted for the reader, but never feels compromised.

It’s magnificent.

CREDITS

Trial by Fire, The End; writer, Mark Millar; penciller, Phil Hester; inker, Kim DeMulder; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, Richard Starkings; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, Vertigo.

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Swamp Thing 170 (September 1996)

16140

Poor Chester and Liz, they only get a page together. But Millar does give Chester just about the only joke in the entire issue.

It’s Alec–turned into a human Alec Holland again–versus the Word. The Word is the embodiment of God’s power (they call him the Voice here, probably as not to alienate any readers). But there’s a lot with Woodrue and all the experimenting his plans on doing to Tefè. She’s seven, it turns out, which means Millar did play a whole lot with the internal timeline logic.

Then there’s some stuff with Abby and Constantine, who are always interesting together. Millar does well with their scene, which is rather important because it’s unclear how honest Alec’s being in his scene.

There’s quite a bit about Tefè’s new origin. It’s Millar’s biggest change. He works hard to sell it and… for the most part, achieves that goal.

CREDITS

Trial by Fire, Part Five: Apocalypse Now; writer, Mark Millar; penciller, Phil Hester; inker, Kim DeMulder; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, Richard Starkings; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, Vertigo.

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Swamp Thing 169 (August 1996)

16139

It’s the big Constantine issue. Oddly, Millar hasn’t really given his own new characters much to do. Instead he relies on the classics to wrap up the comic. It’s appropriate and all, but one might think a writer would be selfish. If Millar’s writing this finale dispassionately, he’s a master faker.

Besides some subterfuge on Constantine’s part, there’s absolutely no action this issue. It’s all talking heads, whether Constantine and Alec or Abby discovering what’s become of Tefé. The Abby scenes with Tefé are better than most of Constantine and Alec’s sequence, though the finish for that one is superior.

Millar has a great cliffhanger for the issue too. The conversation between Alec and Constantine never really references their past relationship (Millar flashes back to a different point in Constantine’s career) but just has the gravity of two people who’ve known each other for a long time.

As expected, excellent.

CREDITS

Trial by Fire, Part Four: The Judas Tree; writer, Mark Millar; penciller, Phil Hester; inker, Kim DeMulder; colorist, Tatjana Wood; letterer, Richard Starkings; editor, Stuart Moore; publisher, Vertigo.

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