I Reads Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. Happy Mother's Day, Mama.

Vampire Knight: Origin Metal Jacket

I read Vampire Knight, Vol. 18

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, and you can follow me on Twitter or even contribute to my Indiegogo campaign.

I Reads You Review: DEAD BOY DETECTIVES #1

DEAD BOY DETECTIVES #1
DC COMICS/Vertigo – @DCComics  @vertigo_comics

STORY: Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham
SCRIPT: Toby Litt
PENCILS: Mark Buckingham
INKS: Gary Erskine
COLORS: Lee Loughridge
LETTERS: Todd Klein
EDITOR: Shelly Bond
COVER: Mark Buckingham
VARIANT COVER: Cliff Chiang
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (February 2014)

Rated “T” for Teen

“Schoolboy Terrors” The New Girl, Part 1 of 4

Dead Boy Detectives created by Neil Gaiman and artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III

In preparation for Vertigo Comics’ new ongoing series, Dead Boy Detectives, I read The Sandman Presents: The Deadboy Detectives.  This 2001 miniseries was written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Bryan Talbot (pencils) and Steve Leialoha (inks), with colors by Daniel Vozzo.  I loved it because this miniseries is the kind of comic book that is the reason I keep reading comic books.

I am not as enamored with the new series, Dead Boy Detectives, which launched a few months ago.  A production of the creative team of Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham, the first issue of Dead Boy Detectives is not quite tepid, but it certainly lacks the sparkling wit and dazzling imagination of The Sandman Presents: The Deadboy Detectives #1.

For those that don’t know, “The Dead Boy Detectives” are Edwin Paine and Charles Rowland.  The two characters first appeared in The Sandman #25 (cover dated: April, 1991) and were created by writer Neil Gaiman and artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III.  Paine was murdered at his British boarding school, Saint Hilarion’s, in 1916, and spent 75 years in Hell.  He escaped in 1991 and returned to Hilarion’s, where he met Rowland (during the events depicted in The Sandman story arc, Seasons of Mist).  Rowland died during this time, but refused to accompany Death, preferring the prospect of future adventures with Paine.  The two ghosts spent a decade haunting places, preparing to become “first-rate detectives.”

As Dead Boy Detectives #1 begins, Edwin and Charles are observing the spectacle that is British performance artist, Maddy Surname.  With her rock star husband, Seth Von Hoverkraft, Maddy plans to steal Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, “Sunflowers,” from the British National Gallery.  They will replace Van Gogh’s masterpiece with another painting that Maddy will steal before the Van Gogh theft.  Maddy and Seth’s daughter, Crystal Palace, seems an unwilling participant in the performance.

However, some others decide that they also want play in this game, and it has a great affect on Crystal Palace.  Now, Crystal makes a decision that will have the Dead Boy Detectives shadowing her to a familiar place.

With Brubaker’s layered story and radiant characters and Bryan Talbot and Steve Leialoha’s textured and detailed art, The Sandman Presents: The Deadboy Detectives was a dazzling fantasy, graphic novella.  Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham offer something with potential, but, at this point, it seems like little more than a story with its style lifted from Daniel Clowes’ Ghost World.

I must say that I do like the art by Buckingham (pencils), Gary Erskine (inks), and Lee Loughridge (colors).  Beyond that, I guess I’ll just have to keep reading.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Grumble 2 Indiegogo Campaign - One Month In

A month to go. Praying...

Hunter x Hunter: Crushing Defeat

I read Hunter x Hunter, Vol. 32


I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, and you can follow me on Twitter and/or contribute to my Indiegogo campaign.

Review: HASS #1

HASS #1
APPROBATION COMICS

WRITER/CREATOR: Bart A. Thompson – @ApproBAT
ARTIST: Federico Santagati
COLORS: Russell Vincent Yu
LETTERS: Bart A. Thompson
EDITOR: John P. Ward
32pp, Color, $9.99 U.S. (2013)

Debuting last year, Hass is the latest comic book series from prolific comic book creator, writer, and publisher, Bart A. Thompson.  Published through Approbation Comics, Hass has earned two 2014 Glyph Comics Award nominations (“Best Cover” and “Best Writer”).  I think Hass also deserved a 2014 Eisner Award nomination, at least for best new series, which did not happen.

Hass #1 introduces Joshua “Josh” Jones.  Josh is an entering freshman at a college “deep in the heart of Texas.”  First day on campus, Josh falls in love with fellow student, Maggie Stewart.  Josh has to work hard to get Maggie to give him a chance at romance.  He will have to work even harder to confront the racism and the violence that his courtship of Maggie ignites.

The back cover copy of Hass #1 describes the series as a story that is William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet meets American History X (the 1998 film).  I think such a comparison works for cover copy, but Hass is more than a combo plate of other fiction.  It is simply a powerful, contemporary drama – a rarity in American comics.

Bart A. Thompson (Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies) offers what is some of his best writing; in fact, I’m sure that it is the best that I have read.  The dialogue is evocative, complex, rich, and tricky.  Josh is shallow, or more correctly, he puts up so many different fronts, like a rainbow of shallow personas, that he offers something for everyone.  He is hiding something and is trying to protect himself.  Thompson makes you want to delve into this guy and uncover his secrets.  It is the same with Maggie Stewart; she puts up a storm front that is a wall to keep people from seeing that she is trying to manage difficult personal problems alone, when she really needs help.

Late in this first issue, another character admits to thinking that Josh is trying to be something that he is not, and that surprised me.  When I went back and followed the clues, I could see why that character would think that of Josh.  Hass also has an excellent ending, one that will guarantee that readers will want to come back.

A

www.ApprobationComics.com
www.AlexThompsonWriter.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for May 7, 2014

DC COMICS

FEB140250 ALL STAR WESTERN TP VOL 04 GOLD STANDARD (N52) $16.99
MAR140180 AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS #2 $2.99
MAR140284 ASTRO CITY #12 $3.99
MAR140208 BATMAN ETERNAL #5 $2.99
JAN140342 BATMAN HC VOL 04 ZERO YEAR SECRET CITY (N52) $24.99
FEB140195 BATMAN SUPERMAN #10 $3.99
FEB140197 BATMAN SUPERMAN #10 COMBO PACK $4.99
FEB140248 BATMAN TP VOL 03 DEATH OF THE FAMILY (N52) $16.99
MAR140228 BATWING #31 $2.99
MAR140215 DETECTIVE COMICS #31 $3.99
MAR140217 DETECTIVE COMICS #31 COMBO PACK $4.99
MAR140191 EARTH 2 #23 $2.99
MAR140286 FAIREST #26 (MR) $2.99
FEB140325 GODZILLA HC $19.99
MAR140186 GREEN ARROW #31 $2.99
MAR140231 GREEN LANTERN #31 (UPRISING) $2.99
MAR140233 GREEN LANTERN #31 COMBO PACK (UPRISING) $3.99
MAR140288 HINTERKIND #7 (MR) $2.99
MAR140187 JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 #6 $2.99
MAR140240 MOVEMENT #12 $2.99
MAR140164 NEW 52 FUTURES END #1 $2.99
FEB140293 SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING TP BOOK 06 (MR) $19.99
MAR140278 SCOOBY DOO TEAM UP #4 $2.99
MAR140241 SWAMP THING #31 $2.99
FEB140235 TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #3 $4.99
MAR140190 TRINITY OF SIN THE PHANTOM STRANGER #19 $2.99
MAR140249 VAMPIRE DIARIES #5 $3.99
FEB140296 WAKE #8 (MR) $2.99
FEB140266 WATCHMEN TP INTERNATIONAL EDITION NEW ED $19.99
FEB140265 WATCHMEN TP NEW ED $19.99
FEB140261 WORLD OF WARCRAFT DARK RIDERS TP $16.99