#IReadsYou review: HOME SICK PILOTS #2

HOME SICK PILOTS #2
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Dan Watters
ART: Caspar Wijngaard
COLORS: Caspar Wijngaard
LETTERS: Aditya Bidikar
DESIGN: Tom Muller
COVER: Caspar Wijngaard
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Christian Ward
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S.(January 2021)

Rated “M/Mature”

Home Sick Pilots created by Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard

Home Sick Pilots is a new comic book series created by writer Dan Watters and artist Caspar Wijngaard, the creative team of the comic book, Limbo.  Home Sick Pilots apparently focuses on a group of teens and a haunted house with an evil mind of its own.  Letterer Aditya Bidikar and designer Tom Muller complete the series' creative team.

Home Sick Pilots opens in Santa Manos, California, July 18, 1994.  A haunted house known as “the old James house” walks across California, and inside is Ami, the lead singer of the high school punk band, “Home Sick Pilots.”  Ami has been missing for weeks, so how did she get in the old James house?  It has ghosts, so what do those ghosts want?  And can Ami's band mates, Buzz and Rip, find her?

Home Sick Pilots #2 opens in Santa Manos, September 1993.  It is Ami's first week there, and she meets Buzz and Rip.  After some goofy confrontation, a band is born.  Moving forward to June 3, 1994:  Buzz and Rip are locked out of the old James house.  Ami is still inside, as are the remains of the members of a rival band, Nuclear Bastards.  The boys look for help, but run into a recent adversary.

Elsewhere (or another time), Ami has new powers and is trying to help the old James house recover its lost ghosts, also known as the horrors that were taken from the old house.  She has found one (or been led to it), a lucky horseshoe.  And despite appearances, the current owner really wants to get rid of the thing, but...

THE LOWDOWN:  After reading the first issue of Home Sick Pilots, I wanted to be careful and not provide spoilers from that debut issue in my review.  After reading this second issue, I think I might be getting close to being able to provide you, dear readers, with an overview of an issue without spoiling … too much.  But I want you to read this new series, so the ends justify the means...

Home Sick Pilots #1 showed that the series had potential, and Home Sick Pilots #2 starts the delivering on that potential.  I found Home Sick Pilots #1 to be a tad bit stronger than other recent debut series from Image Comics, including Rick Remender's The Scumbag and Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw's Crossover.  The second issue is making me think that Home Sick Pilots is the strongest series debut from Image since Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander's Killadelphia debuted in late 2019.

Caspar Wijngaard's art and colors for Home Sick Pilots #2 are both haunting and alluring, as was the case with the first issue.  The graphical storytelling is weird and freaky.  It has a crazy vibe that mixes Steve Ditko's surreal storytelling in Doctor Strange with the craziness of Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben's weirdest of weird illustrations of Alan Moore's creepiest Swamp Thing stories.

Dan Watters is putting out some imaginative and inventive stuff with this series.  I say stuff because sometimes I wonder if I'm supposed to smoke Home Sick Pilots … for medicinal purposes, of course.  Watters presents some strange and troubling scenes; the entire horseshoe sequence feels uncomfortable, but with some truth to it.  Home Sick Pilots is so fresh and so different that it might really be a dangerous ghost story.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of offbeat and imaginative supernatural comic books will want to fly with the Home Sick Pilots.

9 out of 10

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


https://twitter.com/DanPGWatters
https://twitter.com/Casparnova
https://twitter.com/adityab
https://twitter.com/hellomuller
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: SURFACING #5

SURFACING #5
APPROBATION COMICS

STORY: B. Alex Thompson – @ApproBAT
ART: Ricardo Mendez
COLORS: Alivón Ortiz
LETTERS: Krugos
EDITOR: Denise Thompson
MISC. ART: Gleidson Ribeiro
COVER: Gleidson Ribeiro, Maxx Marshall, and Victor Maya
32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (2019)

Rated: “M” for Mature

“The Stone and the Shell” Part 1 of 2

Surfacing is a comic book franchise created by B. Alex Thompson and published by Approbation Comics.  The four-issue miniseries, Surfacing: Depth Perceptions, focuses on a series of encounters, sometimes violent, between humans and mermaid-like creatures.  The eponymous Surfacing is an anthology series in which each issue offers a story in which a mermaid finds herself trapped in the world of humans.  Besides Thompson, artist Ricardo Mendez; colorist Alivon Ortiz; and letterer Krugos, currently comprise Surfacing's creative team.

Surfacing #5 opens two million years ago, on a Savannah, likely somewhere in eastern Africa.  There, a tribe of Homo erectus/ergaster resides.  Kon is a member of the tribe.  He is exceptionally good at making tools and at fishing, but in a tribe of fierce hunters, Kon's talents are seen as weaknesses.  Kon's brother, Nog, is a great hunter.

After Nog coerces him into going on a hunt, Kon is injured.  Kon goes to a nearby beach, where he submerges the bottom half of his body in the cool waters.  This leads to an encounter with a beautiful young woman.  She calls herself “Int,” and she is of the “water folk.”  Meeting Int will change Kon's life, but what will it do to his relationship his own people?

THE LOWDOWN:  As much as I enjoyed the miniseries, Surfacing: Depth Perceptions, I find myself really enjoying Surfacing, which showcases some of writer B. Alex Thompson's most imaginative writing.  Surfacing #5 offers a big shift from the usual Surfacing tales.

Thompson fanciful imagining of the eastern Africa (likely modern day Kenya) during the Early Pleistocene offers a different kind of character, while emphasizing familiar family conflict and romantic discovery.  Thompson makes every page of this story intriguing; it is as if there is always at least one thing on each page that makes me curious and want to know more.

Artist Ricardo Mendez has proved to be a perfect collaborator for Thompson in this writer-artist team.  Mendez creates a beautiful prehistoric pastoral world that is as interesting as the main story.  Speaking of which, Mendez deftly tells this first chapter of “The Stone and the Shell” via his figure drawings of the characters, which give the story a sense of naturalism.  Alivon Ortiz's muted colors allow the emotions of the characters to stand out in the story.  Krugos' lettering and sound effects are also muted, but is “pitch-perfect” for this chapter's emphasis on a budding romance.

I highly recommend Surfacing #5 and the series as a whole.  Surfacing is like nothing else you will find in mainstream, alternative, or indie comics.  It is something new and different like Neil Gaiman's The Sandman was when it debuted.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of fantasy comic books published by DC Comics' late imprint, Vertigo, will want to read Surfacing.

A+

10 out of 10

[This issue includes a three-page bonus section that reprints pages of Gleidson Ribeiro's pencil art for an earlier version of this series and this story.]

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


https://twitter.com/ApproBAT
www.ApprobationComics.com
www.AlexThompsonWriter.com


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Movie Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. THE FATAL FIVE

Justice League vs. the Fatal Five (2019)

Running time:  77 minutes (1 hour, 17 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence, some bloody images, language and partial nudity
DIRECTOR:  Sam Liu
WRITERS:  Jim Krieg, Eric Carrasco, and Alan Burnett; from a story by Eric Carrasco (based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Sam Liu and Amy McKenna
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and Bruce Timm
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSERS:  Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion, and Lolita Ritmanis
ANIMATION STUDIO:  DR Movie

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/FANTASY

Starring:  (voices) Elyes Gabel, Diane Guerro, Kevin Conroy, Susan Eisenberg, George Newbern, Daniela Bobadilla, Kevin Michael Richardson, Noel Fisher, Peter Jessop, Tom Kenny, Matthew Yang King, Sumalee Montano, Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, Tara Strong, and Bruce Timm

Justice League vs. the Fatal Five is a 2019 straight-to-video animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation and director Sam Lui.  It is the thirty-fourth film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series.  The film is based on the classic DC Comics superhero team, the Justice League.  The story pits the Justice League and an amnesiac hero against a powerful group of villains from the future.

Justice League vs. the Fatal Five opens in the 31st century.  There, three members of the villainous “Fatal Five”:  Mano (Philip Anthony-Rodriguez), Tharok (Peter Jessop), and The Persuader (Matthew Yang King) attack the Legion of Super-Heroes' headquarters in order to steal the Legion's time sphere.  Legionnaires Star Boy (Elyes Bagel), Saturn Girl (Tara Strong), and Brainiac 5 (Noel Fisher) try to stop them, but fail.  Just as the villains activate the sphere, Star Boy leaps at sphere and is taken back into the 21st century with it.

In the 21st century, the members of the Justice League:  Superman (George Newbern), Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg), Batman (Kevin Conroy), and Mr. Terrific (Kevin Michael Richardson) are working on getting new members.  Batman is a mentor of sorts to Miss Martian (Daniela Bobadilla), and Wonder Woman is trying to recruit the new Green Lantern of Sector of 2814, Jessica Cruz (Diane Guerro), who is reluctant as she is still suffering from the trauma of a near-death experience.

Soon, the League finds itself in a battle with the trio of Mano, Tharok, and The Persuader, who turn out to be formidable foes.  They have some kind of connection to Star Boy, who has been suffering from memory loss sense he arrived on Earth and is currently a patient in Arkham Asylum.  Whatever these three members of the Fatal Five want, it involves Jessica Cruz, and if she resists their demands, it could lead to mass casualties across the world.

The “DC Animated Universe” (DCAU) is a shared universe of superhero-based animated television series that were produced by Warner Bros. Animation and was based on characters that appeared in DC Comics publications.  The first DCAU TV series was “Batman: The Animated” series, which debuted in September 1992, and the last was “Justice League Unlimited,” which aired its last new episode in May 2006.  Four animated feature films that fit into the DCAU were produced during that original 14-year time period.  Bruce Timm, a writer, producer, character designer, and director of films and animated television series, can be described as the chief architect of the DCAU.  He considers two other animated feature films to be part of the DCAU.  One is 2017's Batman and Harley Quinn, a continuation of the TV series, “Batman: The Animated Series” and its follow up, "The New Batman Adventures" (1997-99).

The other is Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, which is a continuation of the animated TV series, “Justice League (2001-04), and its follow-up, “Justice League Unlimited” (2004-06).  Like “Justice League Unlimited,” Justice League vs. the Fatal Five features a wide array of characters from the universe of DC Comics.  Also, the membership role of the Justice League features characters that don't usually appear as members of the League alongside stalwarts Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman.

Although I have not seen all of its films and TV series, I am a fan of the DCAU, so I was glad that both in the design of the animation and in the spirit of the narrative, Justice League vs. the Fatal Five seems like an extra-long episode of “Justice League Unlimited.”  Having DCAU voice cast regulars, Kevin Conroy (Batman), Susan Eisenberg (Wonder Woman), and George Newbern (Superman), reprise their roles is simply wonderful.  Having one of my favorite writers of animated films, Jim Krieg, work on this this film is a satisfying bonus.

I think Jessica Cruz's story arc and heroic journey make this film such a strong drama.  However, I think Star Boy's story arc is poorly developed; there are times in this film when the character is quite frankly extraneous, which makes his final sacrifice seem hollow in the narrative.  Strangely enough, I really like Elyes Gabel's voice performance as Star Boy.

I like all the voice performances in Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, and, for the most part, the actors make the characters' personalities, conflicts, and conniving seem genuine.  The action sequences are some of the best I've seen in a DC Universe Animated Original Movie.  I highly recommend Justice League vs. the Fatal Five to fans of these movies and especially to fans of the DCAU.  I could have watched another two hours of it.

A

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


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: STATIC #1

STATIC #1
DC COMICS/Milestone Comics

STORY: Dwayne McDuffie and Robert L. Washington, III
PENCILS: John Paul Leon
INKS: Steve Mitchell
COLORS: Noelle C. Giddings
LETTERS: Steve Haynie
EDITOR: Dwayne McDuffie
COVER: Denys Cowan and Jimmy Palmiotti with Noelle C. Giddings
32pp, Color, $2.95 US, $3.95 CAN, 1.20 UK£ (June 1993)

“Trial by Fire” Chapter One: “Burning Sensation”

Introduced in the spring of 1993, Static was one of the early comic book series created by Milestone Media and published through DC Comics.  Milestone Media was a comic book imprint and media company established with the intention presenting more minority characters in American Comics.  Although the Milestone Media stopped producing comics in 1997, Static was reworked as the WB animated series, “Static Shock,” which ran for four seasons from 2000 to 2004.

Static #1 (“Burning Sensation”) opens in the Sadler neighborhood of the city of Dakota, specifically in a teen hangout called Akkad’s Arcade.  Frieda Goren, a high school girl, arrives at the hangout to meet a friend when she suddenly encounters representatives of someone else who wants to meet her.  Known as the “5 Alarm Crew,” these ruffians are practically kidnapping Frieda to take her to their leader, someone named “Hotstreak,” whether she wants an audience with him or not.

By the second page (a splash page), our hero, Static, makes his first appearance, and six and half pages of witty banter and an electric light show later, it’s clear that this new superhero, the first African-American solo teen superhero, is a winner even if his own book doesn’t last over the long haul (which sadly it didn’t).  Static’s powers clearly have something to do with electricity, and his personality is equally stimulating  After he dispatches the 5 Alarm Crew, Static offers to take Frieda home, an indication that she is not just a damsel in distress plot device which allows writers Dwayne McDuffie and Robert L. Washington to introduce their hero.

After reluctantly leaving Frieda, who was standoffish with him although he saved her, Static finds a secluded alley where he returns to his civilian persona, a black teenager named Virgil Ovid Hawkins.  Virgil’s thoughts are still on Frieda, further indication of her importance.  Virgil returns home (apparently a brownstone similar to the family home on “The Cosby Show”) so McDuffie and Washington can reveal Static’s private life and family.  We meet Virgil’s mother and his sister, Sharon, with whom he, of course, spars, as li’l sis has some issue with Virgil hangin’ with white girl.  Virgil races upstairs just in time to answer the phone call from Frieda, who tells him about her adventures at Akkad’s.  The scene closes as the conversation evolves into the usual teen concerns.

The next morning, a breakfast conversation with his mother reveals that Virgil does indeed have a father, who works odd hours at a hospital.  (The African-American father was virtually extinct in pop culture at the time this comic was published, and remains on the endangered species list as of this writing.)

When the story moves to the hallways of the school Virgil attends, Ernest Hemingway High School, McDuffie and Washington introduce Virgil’s pals.  One of them, Richard Stone, would later be revealed as gay, but even now there seems to be some latent tension regarding Richard’s perceived sexual orientation.

Besides Frieda, Virgil’s most interesting friend is Larry, who has something of a thuggish vibe.  Later, while in class, the 5 Alarm Crew returns, and this time they manage to snatch Frieda.  This comes totally out of left field: Larry apparently offers to draw a concealed firearm to put a stop to the 5 Alarm boys, but Virgil has already slipped away to don his super suit.

Meanwhile, in a playground at a local elementary school, Static meets the 5 Alarm Crew’s master, Hotstreak, and here, McDuffie and Washington offer the biggest surprise and delight, which they’ve been saving for the very end of the first issue.  Hotstreak kicks Static’s butt all over the yard, and Static apparently has some kind of psychological block that prohibits him from going whole hog on Hotstreak, who is nevertheless a capable super badass.  And Frieda removes Static’s mask, revealing Virgil to her…

Overall, Static #1 is an impressive first issue.  To begin with, the art team of John Paul Leon on pencils and Steve Mitchell on inks creates a lovely style that has a jazzy vibe.  Although the coloring is modest, the art feels young, hip, and most important urban.  Visually, Leon and Mitchell construct an urban landscape by designing backgrounds and sets out of simple shapes and forms and get the same effect as artists that create urban environments by using heavy inking or intricate detail in drawing the sets.  Best of all, Leon and Mitchell capture the cast’s diversity; this is true melting pot and not something that looks like a Norman Rockwell painting of a Rotary Club meeting.

I have nothing but praise for McDuffie and Washington.  Static is a witty teen superhero, a sassy, brash kid bouncing off walls.  Read it, and recognize the fun of those early Spider-Man comic books.  But Static has an edge.  It’s in the rhythm of the authentic urban language – referencing hip hop without trying to replicate it (unlike the horrid “hip” dialogue in the original Gen13 comics).  Underlying it all is the feeling of life on the streets of Dakota being, at the very least, a little dangerous.  Reading this, I thought that some of these characters have to be ready to kill or be killed – anytime and anywhere.

It’s on.

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

https://twitter.com/DakotaUniverse
http://milestone.media/
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The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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