Review: KICK-ASS #1

KICK-ASS No. 1 (2018)
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Mark Millar
PENCILS: John Romita, Jr.
INKS: Peter Steigerwald with Megan Madrigal
COLORS: Peter Steigerwald
LETTERS: John Workman
COVER: John Romita, Jr.
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Olivier Coipel with Sunny Gho; Frank Quitely
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2018)

Rated M/Mature

Kick-Ass created by Mark Miller and John Romita, Jr.

Kick-Ass is a comic book series created by writer Mark Millar and artist John Romita Jr.  It began as an eight-issue miniseries published by Marvel Comics under the company's Icon imprint, starting in February 2008 and concluding in February 2010.

Kick-Ass is the story of Dave Lizewski, a teenager who sets out to become a real life superhero.  Dave's actions are publicized on the Internet and inspire other people to put on costumes and play hero.  Dave gets caught up in the activities of two costumed, ruthless vigilantes, an exceptionally talented fighter/killer, Hit-Girl, and her father, Big Daddy.  Father and daughter are on a mission to take down the gangster. John Genovese.

Kick-Ass became a comic book franchise with three follow-up miniseries, the seven-issue Kick-Ass 2 (October 2010 – March 2012),  the five-issue Hit Girl (June 2012 – February 2013), and the eight-issue Kick-Ass 3 (July 2013 to October 2014).  The Kick-Ass comic books yielded two movies, Kick-Ass (2010) and Kick-Ass 2 (2013).

Last year, Mark Millar announced that the Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl comic books were going to be revived in a new series of miniseries slash ongoing series.  The first new six-issue miniseries, entitled Kick-Ass, is written by Mark Millar; drawn by John Romita, Jr. (pencils) and Peter Steigerwald (digital inks); colored by Steigerwald; and lettered by John Workman.

Kick-Ass #1 introduces Staff Sergeant Patience Lee, a combat veteran in the Afghanistan part of the “(Global) War on Terror.”  When she returns to civilian life in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as a wife and mother, Patience discovers that her husband has left her and the children.  Short on money and have to put her dreams on hold, SSG Lee decides that it is time to get paid.  So she puts on a familiar costume...

Because the original Kick-Ass miniseries kept selling out, I originally read the story in its first hardcover collection.  I loved it.  Kick-Ass is so gloriously deranged, and it seems like the ultimate encapsulation of writer Mark Millar's oeuvre, at least to that point in time.

Kick-Ass 2018 is quieter.  It also seems like more of a study of the post-Barack Obama America, with its resentful white middle class, its seething white working class, and its newly invigorated white supremacy slash white nationalist culture.  It is an America in which the balance between the haves and have-nots is completely out of whack because the haves not only want more, they also want it all.  They want it all and will have it all by any means necessary – legal, illegal, or otherwise.  In this America, even black people are turning into the very people and turning to the very systems they have traditionally lambasted – most of which revolves around violence.

John Romita, Jr.'s illustrations, compositions, and graphical storytelling are as powerful as it ever is when put to use for an intense story.  Let's be honest; drawing “real” superhero comic books are mostly a waste of JRJr's time, but Kick-Ass brings out the power, heft, and meatiness of his storytelling.  Here, Romita's art is served by a really good colorist, Peter Steigerwald, and John Workman is one of the few comic book lettering heavyweights capable of placing his fonts inside the Romita, Jr. graphics package.

So Kick-Ass is back, as strong as ever.

8.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: HIT-GIRL #1

HIT-GIRL No. 1 (2018)
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Mark Millar
ART: Ricardo Lopez Ortiz
COLORS: Sunny Gho
LETTERS: Melina Mikulic
COVER: Amy Reeder
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Kim Jung Gi with Sunny Gho; Rafael Albuquerque; John Romita, Jr. with Dean White; Rob Doyle
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2018)

Rated M/Mature

Hit-Girl created by Mark Miller and John Romita, Jr.

Hit-Girl is a comic book vigilante character created by Mark Miller and John Romita, Jr.  She first appeared in the comic book series, Kick-Ass (2008) and is Mindy McCready, a 'tween girl trained from an early age by her late father to be a costumed superhero and assassin.

Hit-Girl appeared in all three initial Kick-Ass comic book miniseries and also appeared in her own five-issue miniseries, Hit-Girl (2012, Marvel Comics/Icon).  Mark Millar announced last year that he was bringing Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl back in new miniseries.  The new Hit-Girl is written by Millar, drawn by Ricardo Lopez Ortiz; colored by Sunny Gho; and lettered by Melina Mikulic.

Hit-Girl #1 opens in Palmire, Columbia, South America.  We meet hit man Fabio Mendoza a.k.a. “Mano.”  A member of “Perros de Guerra,” the notorious gang, Mano is on his way to prison where he will begin serving 10 life sentences.  But Hit-Girl has what she thinks is a better deal for Mano.  She is still trying to find a new Kick-Ass to replace the retired original, but has Hit-Girl chosen the right, right-hand-man replacement?

I am not crazy about the cover art for Hit-Girl #1, drawn by Amy Reeder.  I really dislike the interior art by Ricardo Lopez Ortiz; my imagination does not want to read it.  And it pales in comparison to the art of Hit-Girl's originator, John Romita, Jr.  Millar's story does have some intriguing bits in this first issue... or maybe I'm just reaching.

But I love Hit-Girl, so I will make the best of this comic book.  You never know what surprises Mark Millar will pull out of his writer's hat, and Ortiz's art might grow on me.  And again, maybe I'm reaching...

5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: EMPRESS #7

EMPRESS No. 7
MARVEL COMICS/Icon – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Mark Millar – @mrmarkmillar
PENCILS: Stuart Immonen
INKS: Wade von Grawbadger
COLORS: Ive Svorcina and Sunny Gho
LETTERS: Peter Doherty
COVER: Stuart Immonen and Wade von Grawbadger with Dave McCaig
VARIANT COVERS: Stuart Immonen; Stuart Immonen with Dave McCaig
44pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (January 2017)

Rated T+

Empress created by Mark Millar and Stuart Immonen

Empress is a comic book miniseries from celebrity comic book creator, Mark Millar, and popular comic book artist, Stuart Immonen.  The series focuses on the wife of a ruthless galactic conqueror who escapes her husband with their three children and a loyal bodyguard.  Empress is written by Millar, drawn by Immonen (pencils) and Wade von Grawbadger (inks); colored by Ive Svorcina with Sunny Gho; and lettered by Peter Doherty.

Empress is set 65 million years ago and tells the story of Earth's first rulers.  This is a civilization lost in history, a time when people lived in gleaming cities at the same time dinosaurs still existed.  King Morax is the merciless ruler who executes his citizens with impunity.

His wife, Queen Emporia, has seen enough of her husband's monstrous ways.  She plots to take her three children:  a brash teenage daughter, Aine; a bookish 'tween son, Adam; and an infant son, Puck.  Loyal Captain Dane Havelock will pilot their escape ship, but even his skills may not be enough to keep them from the reach of King Morax.  They are eventually joined by the diminutive Tor and “Ship,” a floating, spherical machine that can teleport itself and its compatriots anywhere in the galaxy.

As Empress #7 opens, Emporia and company think they are safe, but Aine decides to take matters into her own hands.  Now, King Morax has arrived and is offering his quarry a chance to fight to the death.  But ultimately, he may be the one surprised.

In press interviews to promote Empress, Mark Millar said that he wanted to do a sci-fi comic book that was fun.  Well, Empress is fun, and I had a blast reading it.  This final issue is filled with happy surprises, some of it a bit to good to be true, but the golly-gee-whiz space opera of Empress demands that you suspend disbelief

Colorists Ive Svorcina and Sunny Gho turn Stuart Immonen and Wade von Grawbadger's compositions into space opera eye candy.  It is all prettier than I expected.  Usually I have to find a copy of The Adventures of Nikki Harris the Cybermation Witch or some old B.E.M. comics from Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez when I want to have so sparkly, old-fashioned sci-fi fun.  Now, I have Empress, too.

I am glad to hear that there will be two more Empress miniseries.  Hopefully, they will be produced by Millar and Immonen and not some surrogates.

A-

http://www.millarworld.tv/

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Leroy Douresseaux Reviews: CLiNT #12

CLiNT #12
TITAN MAGAZINES

WRITERS: Mark Millar, Frankie Boyle, Nathan Edmondson, and Mark Sable
PENCILS: John Romita, Jr., Mike Dowling, Tonci Zonjic, Leinil Yu, and Paul Azaceta
INKS: Tom Palmer, Mike Dowling, Tonci Zonjic, Gerry Alanguilan, and Paul Azaceta
COLORS: Dean White, Jamie Grant and Jim Devlin, Sunny Gho, and Matt Wilson
LETTERS: Chris Eliopolous, Clayton Cowles, and Thomas Maur
98pp, Color, $6.99 U.S., £4.25 UK

In 1987, a young Mark Millar wrote to comic book artist (and sometime writer) Dave Gibbons, who was ascendant with the attention of the legendary comic book series, Watchmen. In his letter, Millar suggested that he and Gibbons collaborate, and Gibbons was gracious in his reply. Both letters are reprinted in CLiNT #12 as part of an interview of both men as they tease their upcoming project, “The Secret Service.”

CLiNT is a comics and comics culture magazine edited by superstar comic book writer Mark Millar and published by Titan Magazines. Every issue of CLiNT contains actual comics and interviews related to comics, as well as the occasional piece on movies and pop culture. It is a newsstand British comic or “boys comic” magazine in the tradition of 2000AD (among others) that serializes multiple comics. However, most of the comics in CLiNT have been published in comic book form prior to their CLiNT appearance.

CLiNT #12 comes with some big news from the publisher. The magazine will now be released in the United States at the same time as it is in the United Kingdom, in this instance, November 23rd in the U.S. and November 24th in the U.K.

As with previous issues, CLiNT #12 includes a chapter of Millar and John Romita, Jr.’s Kick-Ass 2 (Chapter 12). It is deranged as ever, but Millar manages to create a poignant moment or two, basically by dropping some consequence-of-actions on the characters. The second Millar offering is Chapter 7 of Superior, which is penciled by Leinil Yu. It is a superhero fantasy drama/comedy about a crippled boy who gets to be the comic book superhero he loves. It is strange and is darker in tone than its brightly colored art would suggest.

Thanks to a summary page, I have a better idea of what is going on in Rex Royd from stand-up comic and writer Frankie Boyle. But it still seems to me like a masala of Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, and Brian Bendis post-modern superhero ideas. There is also the conclusion of writer Nathan Edmondson and artist Tonci Zonjic’s Who is Jake Ellis?, which was recently published as a comic book miniseries by Image Comics. I read it and had no idea what was going on because I had not read the earlier issues. I like Zonjic’s art, though.

My favorite comic in this issue is Graveyard of Empires from writer Mark Sable and artist Paul Azaceta, which is being published as a miniseries by Image Comics. A war comic, Graveyard of Empires is set in Afghanistan at a small American base, F.A.C. Alamo, and focuses on the servicemen, their boredom, fear, and pastimes. It’s very good, and reminds me of the Oscar-winning film, The Hurt Locker. I don’t know how I will feel about it later because it is apparently a zombie comic, although zombies don’t appear in this installment.

The issue ends with a “Badass Cinema” article by Vern (http://www.outlawvern.com/) gives readers an overview of “Arthouse Badass.”

A-

http://www.clintmag.com/

The New 52 Review: THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN #1

"Can't keep a good birdman down"

THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Tony S. Daniel
ARTIST: Philip Tan
COLORS: Sunny Gho
LETTERS: Travis Lanham
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S.

Hawkman is a superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Dennis Neville. He first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (cover date January 1940), published by All-American Publications, which would eventually merge with the company that would become DC Comics.

There have been several incarnations of the character, but the original Hawkman was the alter ego of Carter Hall. Each version of Hawkman wears artificial wings that are attached to a harness made from the special Nth metal that allows flight. With the re-launch of DC Comics’ superhero line, “The New 52,” Carter Hall and Hawkman return in a new series.

The Savage Hawkman #1 (Hawkman Rising”) opens with noted cryptologist Carter Hall determined to get rid of his Hawkman identity – with fiery results. Meanwhile, his employer, Professor Ziegler, has made another stunning discovery beneath the waters off the Bermuda coast. The Professor and his team have found more than just another alien ship; they’ve also found Morphicius.

Writer Tony S. Daniel, who is doing wonders with the re-launched Detective Comics, gives Hawkman a clean start and perhaps, a clean break from the past. A new reader could figure out what’s going on and maybe even start to be interested in Hawkman. There should be more here, in terms of story; as usual, this is like a tease in the writing-for-the-trade method of comic book publishing. Still, what is here is intriguing.

Philip Tan’s art is nice, but the star here is the coloring by Sunny Gho. Gho’s work is like a color version of ink wash. This reminds me of some of the comic art that appeared in Warren Publishing’s horror comics. The Savage Hawkman, at least at this point, has the look of a horror comic book and having a unique look is what a Hawkman comic book needs.

B

September 28th
AQUAMAN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/aquaman-1.html
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/batman-dark-knight-1.html
BLACKHAWKS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/blackhawks-1.html
FLASH #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/flash-1.html
GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/green-lantern-new-guardians-1.html
I VAMPIRE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-vampire-1.html
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/justice-league-dark-1.html
SUPERMAN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/superman-1.html
TEEN TITANS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/teen-titans-1.html
VOODOO #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/voodoo-1.html

The New 52 Review: VOODOO #1

"...the Voodoo she do...:

VOODOO #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Ron Marz
ART: Sami Basri
COLORS: Jessica Kholinne
LETTERS: Jared K. Fletcher
COVER: Sami Basri and Sunny Gho
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S.

Voodoo is a female superhero character created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi. She first appeared in WildC.A.T.s #1 (cover date August 1992), which was published by Image Comics. Voodoo is an alien Daemonite; she lives as Priscilla Kitaen. An exotic dancer, she uses telepathy and shapeshifting to gain information on human and metahumans.

With the re-launch of DC Comics’ superhero line, “The New 52,” Voodoo headlines her own self-titled comic book series. As Voodoo #1 (“Keeping Secrets”) opens, Voodoo is shaking her ass and working hard on a stripper pole at the Voodoo Lounge in New Orleans. Not only are horny men watching her, but also two special agents. One of them, Tyler Evans, decides to make a move on Voodoo, but she makes a bigger move on him.

The always reliable comic book scribe, Ron Marz, delivers on Voodoo #1. If I remember correctly, this is not the first time the character has had a solo series or miniseries, but Marz takes just 22 pages to maker her more interesting than she ever was as a Wildstorm pinup girl. Plus, Marz builds this story on a slow simmer until he finishes with a darn good explosive ending.

Marz’s clever script is turned into dazzling comic book art and graphic storytelling by Sami Basri (pencils/inks) and Jessica Kholinne (colors). Basri’s smooth line work shapes and forms tight compositions that offer superb figure drawing and simple but evocative backgrounds. Kholinne’s coloring gives depth and texture to the art, anchoring Basri’s slick line to the story and giving everything weight and substance.

I want another dance from Voodoo.

A-

September 28th
AQUAMAN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/aquaman-1.html
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/batman-dark-knight-1.html
BLACKHAWKS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/blackhawks-1.html
FLASH #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/flash-1.html
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/justice-league-dark-1.html