Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Review: SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #1

SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN No. 1 (2019) – Legacy #236
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Gerry Duggan
ART: Ron Garney
COLORS: Richard Isanove
LETTERS: VC's Travis Lanham
EDITOR: Mark Basso
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida a.k.a. C.B. Cebulski
COVER: Alex Ross
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Kevin Eastman with Tomi Varga; Ron Garney with Richard Isanove; George Perez with Jason Keith; Rahzzah
44pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (April 2019)

Parental Advisory

Conan the Barbarian based on the “Conan” character created by Robert E. Howard

“The Cult of Koga Thun” Part One: “Shipwrecked”

Conan the Cimmerian is a fictional “sword and sorcery” hero created by Robert E. Howard (REH).  Conan first appeared in the pulp fiction magazine, Weird Tales (1932).  Conan lived in Howard's fictional “Hyborian Age” and was a mercenary, outlaw, pirate, thief, warrior, and eventually a king, but because of his tribal origins, some characters that encountered him thought of Conan as a barbarian.

Beginning in 1970 and for three decades, Marvel Comics brought Conan to the world of American comic books with the series, Conan the Barbarian.  Marvel is publishing Conan comic books again and recently began a revival of its black and white Savage Sword of Conan comic magazine as a full-color standard-sized comic book.  Savage Sword of Conan (2019) is written by Gerry Duggan; drawn by Ron Garney; colored by Richard Isanove; and lettered by VC's Travis Lanham.

Savage Sword of Conan #1 (“Shipwrecked”) finds Conan cast adrift on the seas of fate.  Starving, half-drowned, half-dead, and hallucinating, Conan (who is about 20 or so years of age) is picked out of the ocean by the slave ship, “Ouroboros.”  He finds an ally (that he doesn't really need or want) in a fellow slave, Suty.  Together, they will discover that there is more to the captain of the Ouroboros and more to the treasure chest in his cabin than they suspect.

I enjoyed the return of Conan the Barbarian to Marvel Comics, and while that comic book has been good, even very good at times, it has not been great.  Savage Sword of Conan's return to Marvel Comics suggests that Savage Sword of Conan could be THE great Marvel Conan comic book (Era #2).  When I first read the original old, black and white magazine Savage Sword of Conan when I was a teenager, I found it to be superior to the Conan the Barbarian title of that time.

In fact, “Shipwrecked,” the opening chapter of this first story arc, reminds me of the stories I read in the original Savage Sword of Conan.  “Shipwrecked” is probably the best Gerry Duggan story I have read to date.  Duggan offers a violent tale that is as bat-shit crazy as Conan creator, Robert E. Howard's original Conan prose fiction, or it is at least as crazy as Roy Thomas' adaptations of Howard's stories for Conan comic books back in 1970s.  Dear readers, obviously you can tell that I had a blast reading this.

The power and aggression in this story is most evident in artist Ron Garney's illustrations and graphical storytelling.  The storytelling is brawny, and Garney deftly captures the sudden switches in Conan's temper and temperament.  Richard Isanove's shimmering colors emphasize, even heighten the intensity rather that merely color over the art.  Travis Lanham's matter-of-fact lettering seems to pound out the story to the reader, a relentless rhythm, page after page.

Savage Sword of Conan #1 is a success.  I will come back for more because this first issue reminds me of the stories that made me a fan of Conan comic books back in the way back.  I highly recommend this to Conan fans.

9 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Review: William Gibson's ALIEN 3 #1

WILLIAM GIBSON'S ALIEN 3 No. 1
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: William Gibson
SCRIPT: Johnnie Christmas (adaptation)
ART: Johnnie Christmas
COLORS: Tamra Bonvillain
LETTERS: Nate Piekos of Blambot
EDITOR: Daniel Chabon
COVER: Johnnie Christmas with Tamra Bonvillain
VARIANT COVER: Paolo and Joe Rivera
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (November 2018)

The 1979 film, Alien (directed by Ridley Scott), won an Academy Award and was a critical and commercial success.  It's 1986 sequel, Aliens (directed by James Cameron), won two Academy Awards and was a critical and commercial success.  The third film, Alien 3 (1992), was less successful, critically and commercially.

According to contemporary and historical accounts, Alien 3, had a contentious and troubled production.  That started from the beginning and continued into late 1987, when two of Alien 3's producers approached acclaimed science fiction author, William Gibson (Neuromancer), to write the film's screenplay.  Gibson accept the offer and completed a script, but ultimately left the project.  Apparently not much of Gibson's work made the eventually completed Alien 3.

Now, Dark Horse Comics is publishing a comic book adaptation of Gibson's unused screenplay for Alien 3.  The comic book series is entitled William Gibson's Alien 3, and writer-artist Johnnie Christmas (Angel Catbird) is adapting Gibson's script to comics and is drawing the series.  Tamra Bonvillain is the series colorist, and Nate Piekos is series letterer.

William Gibson's Alien 3 #1 opens sometime after the events depicted in the film, Aliens.  The U.S.S. Sulaco enters the territorial space of the Union of Progressive Peoples (U.P.P.).  Aboard this spaceship are Ellen Ripley, Corporal Dwayne Hicks, Rebecca “Newt” Jorden, and Bishop, the damaged android – all four in are in cryonic stasis.

There is also something else aboard the Sulaco, as three U.P.P. military personnel are about to discover.  The U.P.P. forces cannot know that this fifth passenger is quite deadly and is about to unleash chaos between two governmental titans intent on developing the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.

Back in the 1990s, I read a synopsis of William Gibson's Alien 3 screenplay that was published in a British science fiction magazine (possibly Interzone).  At the time, I thought that the synopsis would have made a much better film than the Alien 3 we did get in 1992.

William Gibson's Alien 3 #1 only introduces the milieu of the story, providing what amounts to a first-look at the characters and the settings.  Readers familiar with 20th Century Fox's Alien film franchise understand the threat and menace of the franchise's signature villains, the “Aliens” (a.k.a. “xenomorphs”).  They also understand the conflicts and conspiracies that exist among various human factions in the series.  They know who the heroes are, and, in William Gibson's Alien 3, they have a good idea who will likely be the villains.

Since I have seen most of the films in this franchise numerous times, I know how to read an Alien comic book adaptation, and I have an idea what to expect.  That said, I thoroughly enjoyed all the teasing that William Gibson's Alien 3 #1 does.  I like the relaxed pacing of Christmas' script adaptation, and his clean and minimalist drawing style makes for clear graphical storytelling.

Tamra Bonvillain's colors convey the characters' emotions and suggest conspiracy and secrets with surprising potency.  Bonvillain also makes the action and attack scenes explode off the page.  Nate Piekos' lettering is quiet and quietly effective in hitting story beats.  This first issue is one of those examples of when it is hard not to recognize how effective coloring and lettering is.

I did not know what to expect of William Gibson's Alien 3 #1, but after reading it, I want to read more of this series.  This could turn out to be a really good Alien comic book.

7.5 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 for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

----------------------------


Monday, July 22, 2019

BOOM! Studios from Diamond Distributors for July 24, 2019

BOOM! STUDIOS

MAY191235    BONE PARISH #11 (OF 12)    $3.99
MAY191249    LUMBERJANES #64 CVR A MAIN LEYH    $3.99
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MAR191301    LUMBERJANES TP VOL 12    $14.99
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MAR191291    SONS OF ANARCHY LEGACY ED TP VOL 03    $29.99

Dark Horse Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 24, 2019

DARK HORSE COMICS

MAR190274    ALIENS RESCUE #1 CVR A DE LA TORRE    $3.99
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MAR190278    WILLIAM GIBSON ALIEN 3 HC    $19.99

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 24, 2019

DC COMICS

MAY190374    ACTION COMICS #1013 CARD STOCK VAR ED YOTV THE OFFER    $4.99
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Dynamite Entertainment from Diamond Distributors for July 24, 2019

DYNAMITE

MAR191075    ALTERED CARBON DOWNLOAD BLUES HC SGN ED    $39.99
FEB191103    CRACKDOWN #3 CVR A JAIME    $3.99
MAR191186    JAMES BOND ORIGIN HC VOL 01    $24.99
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IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for July 24, 2019

IDW PUBLISHING

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FEB190694    GO BOTS TP VOL 01    $17.99
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