Archer & Armstrong, Volume 4 Review

Archer & Armstrong, Volume Four: Sect Civil War. Fred Van Lente, Khari Evans, ChrisCross, and David Baron. 2014. Valiant Entertainment. 112 pages.

Rating: 4/5

I am loving this series. The silliness is off the charts. So many books try to take themselves too seriously, and this one veers in the opposite direction. Some people might not like the goofiness, but I've read enough stuff by Fred Van Lente to know I'll enjoy it.

Archer seemingly turns his back on Armstrong after finding him in bed with his sister. He heads off to Project Rising Spirit for information on his past, which leads him into a full on battle with the Sect. I liked seeing the different groups that make up the Sect, even if some of them aren't in the book very long. The flip side to that is Armstrong's guilt ridden adventures with his brother, Ivar. Their short lived jaunt through time is massively fun. They hit up some historical events, but the best part is the beer stats for Armstrong in each leg of their journey.

Khari Evans and ChrisCross do a bang up job with the art. Their illustrations really embrace the tone of the series. Sit back, drink a beer, and embrace the ridiculousness that is the Sect civil war.

Paper Girls, Volume 2 Review

Paper Girls, Volume Two. Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang. 2016. Image Comics. 128 pages.

Rating: 4/5

Wherein the girls travel to the future...or the present, depending on how you look at it. Either way, the 80s are gone and KJ is missing. Yes there is time travel in this book. It can be a bit convoluted, but it never really comes off as cliché. There are definitely aspects of the story that left me wanting to know more, mostly because the creators haven't revealed certain things yet.

I felt like this volume did more for establishing some rules of the setting than it did for expanding the relationship with the girls. There are some major things that happen involving them, but they still take a back seat to learning about what is going on around them and how that is going to play out down the line. This should really be read immediately after volume one. I waited a few months and I recognized a few times where it referenced the first book and I just didn't remember what exactly happened. I don't think I lost too much, but it might help to make sense of what happens in this volume.

Despite a couple of weird moments, the art is really good. There are some interesting color choices. I think they work because they aren't what the reader would be expecting all the time. Volume two is a fun continuation to the series.

Black Hammer, Volume 1 Review

Black Hammer, Volume One: Secret Origins. Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and Dave Stewart. 2017. Dark Horse Books. 152 pages.

Rating: 4/5

What happens when superheroes are forced into retirement? In this case, they move to a small town and live out their lives on a farm. Of course, things aren't quite that simple for these former heroes.

Lemire's writing is solid. I've read quite a few of his books, and they are consistently fantastic. Here, he explores the some classic superhero concepts with a twist. Their origins and powers are revealed over the course of the volume, and I found my interest in them shifting as each one got an opportunity in the spotlight. Things get pretty strange at times, some of which makes sense at the end of this arc. It certainly piqued my interest in the next part of the tale.

At first, I had mixed feelings on the art. It seemed somewhat simple and tended to be dark. That actually helps set the tone of the book. And when things start to get crazy, it's a nice change from the art at the beginning without sacrificing the style at all.

Ultimate Spider-Man, Volume 6 Review

Ultimate Spider-Man, Volume Six: Venom. Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. 2006. Marvel. 168 pages.

Rating: 4/5

I'm not sure why, but I've always enjoyed Venom stories. The Spider-Man cartoon series from the 90s certainly helps. But this book continues in the Ultimate series trend by taking a familiar element and putting a twist on it.

One thing I've enjoyed about this series is that there is a clear story developing throughout the volumes, while each one can more or less stand on its own. This book introduces us to Peter's father and Venom. It provides a twist on the symbiote's origin that I thought worked really well with the world that has been constructed in the series. This also gives Peter an opportunity to rebound from the problem he had with MJ in volume five.

I know Eddie Brock is supposed to be a jerk, but the creators pushed that aspect too early. He is incapable of shutting up and the first chance he gets he is trying to hook up with a teenage girl. They could have handled that better to make his transformation more meaningful. The other aspects of the story more than make up for it though. It focuses more on Peter and builds up a few supporting characters (Gwen and Doc Connors specifically). The art is more of what I've come to expect from the series.

X-Men: Messiah CompleX Review

X-Men: Messiah CompleX. Ed Brubaker, Mike Carey, Chris Yost, Peter David, Marc Silvestri, Billy Tan, Chris Bachalo, Humberto Ramos, and Scot Eaton. 2008. Marvel. 254 pages.

Rating: 3/5

I haven't kept up with X-Men comics over the year, but I had a basic idea of what was going on leading up to this event. No more mutants until one is born in the Alaskan wilderness. This leads to a scramble as various groups try to track down this new mutant to kill it, control it, or protect it.

This book collects all thirteen issues of the event in one place. There is a one shot and issues from four separate series. This leads to a mixed bag on writing and art because there are different teams for each of the series collected here. I shifted between enjoying the more realistic art style that dominates these stories and the cartoony style that is used to break it up. The shift is welcome, but could throw some people off because it doesn't remain consistent throughout the event.

The story went on way too long though. By the end it felt like things were being rehashed just to keep the story going. Plus, it seemed a bit odd that all these different groups discover the birth of this new mutant immediately and almost simultaneously. There are a few other moments that didn't work for me in a similar way.

That being said, there are some great moments in this book. I came to appreciate some characters much more than I had in the past, particularly Cable and Bishop. This is contrasted by the sheer number of characters involved, most of whom I was at best mildly familiar with because I haven't been keeping up with X-Men stories. Ultimately, I walked away from this feeling like a bunch of it could have been cut to create a much stronger story. I like what it does for mutants in the Marvel universe, especially having seen a little of what results from the birth of Hope.

Old City Blues Vol. 1 Review

Old City Blues, Volume One. Giannis Milonogiannis. 2011. Archaia Entertainment. 120 pages.

Rating: 2/5

Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me. I like the noir-ish tone to the book and having the story set in Athens. It is set in the future and contains some sci-fi elements. The CEO of a robotics company is found dead and this police group investigates.

The detective subgenre can be a lot of fun to read. This one felt boring to me though. The main character didn't grab my attention and I never felt like it mattered what he was doing or what was happening in his world. There is a push to paint this corporation as evil and then nothing really comes of it.

I didn't care for the art much either. The lack of color wasn't a problem, but the illustrations themselves weren't terribly exciting. The story really could have been set anywhere in this future world. It reminded me more of an anime than something set on the European continent.

The Royals: Masters of War Review

The Royals: Masters of War. Rob Williams, Simon Coleby, Gary Erskine, and J.D. Mettler. 2014. Vertigo. 144 pages.

Rating: 3/5

The year is 1940 and all the super powered people in the world are members of the royal bloodlines. These are the families that have ruled nations for centuries. They've managed to hide their secrets until one young man can't take the destruction being rained down on his home.

I dig the concept behind this book. It's cool that the superheroes are restricted to this specific group of people, which gives a sort of legitimacy to their rule. The characters felt bland though. There is the well meaning prince that uses his powers to help the common people, his selfish brother that is more interested in drinking and sex than helping anyone, their sister who is mostly forgettable, and their father who will do anything to protect their family.

Some aspects of this book were great, particularly the attempt by the United States to form a group of superheroes to represent themselves along the real powers of the world. This is contrasted by some things that didn't make sense, like why these English princes would abandon the war in Europe to fight in the Pacific. The thing that really kept me from enjoying this book more is that I felt no connection to any of the main characters and had little interest in their role of historic events.

For the most part, I liked the art. I think it captured the feel of the era and went well with the events portrayed. There is a grittiness that plays well with some of the darker aspects of the book.