Deadman Wonderland: The Big Go-Back

I read Deadman Wonderland, Vol. 10

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.  Follow me on Twitter and Tumblr or at Grumble.  Support me on Patreon.

2015 Harvey Award Winners Announced; Dark Horse, Fiona Staples Lead the Pack

The Harvey Awards recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art.  The Harvey Awards are named in honor of the late comic book creator, editor, and publisher, Harvey Kurtzman, one of the industry's most innovative talents.  Nominations for the Harvey Awards are selected exclusively by creators - those who write, draw, ink, letter, color, design, edit, or are otherwise involved in a creative capacity in the comics field. They are the only industry awards both nominated and selected by the full body of comic book professionals.

The 2015 Harvey Awards were presented, Saturday, September 26, 2015 in Baltimore, MD, in conjunction with the 2015 Baltimore Comic-Con (September 25-27, 2015).  This is the tenth year for the Harvey Awards in Baltimore, MD.

The 2015 Harvey Awards winners:

BEST LETTERER
Jack Morelli, AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE, Archie Comic Publications

BEST COLORIST
Dave Stewart, HELLBOY IN HELL, Dark Horse Comics

BEST SYNDICATED STRIP or PANEL
DICK TRACY, Joe Staton and Mike Curtis, Tribune Media Services

BEST ONLINE COMICS WORK
THE PRIVATE EYE, Brian K. Vaughan, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente, panelsyndicate.com

BEST AMERICAN EDITION of FOREIGN MATERIAL
BLACKSAD: AMARILLO, Dark Horse

BEST INKER
Danny Miki, BATMAN, DC Comics

BEST NEW SERIES
SOUTHERN BASTARDS, Image Comics

MOST PROMISING NEW TALENT
Chad Lambert, "KILL ME" FROM DARK HORSE PRESENTS, Dark Horse Comics

SPECIAL AWARD FOR HUMOR IN COMICS
Chip Zdarsky, SEX CRIMINALS, Image Comics

BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC PUBLICATION FOR YOUNGER READERS
LUMBERJANES, BOOM! Box (BOOM! Studios)

BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED
MOUSE GUARD: BALDWIN THE BRAVE AND OTHER TALES HC, Archaia/BOOM!

BEST ANTHOLOGY
DARK HORSE PRESENTS, Dark Horse Comics

BEST DOMESTIC REPRINT PROJECT
STERANKO NICK FURY AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. ARTIST'S EDITION, IDW

BEST COVER ARTIST
Fiona Staples, SAGA, Image Comics

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL, or JOURNALISTIC PRESENTATION
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE ULTIMATE VISUAL HISTORY, Andrew Farago, Insight Editions

SPECIAL AWARD for EXCELLENCE IN PRESENTATION
LITTLE NEMO: DREAM ANOTHER DREAM, Andrew Carl, Josh O'Neill, and Chris Stevens, Locust Moon Press

BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM ORIGINAL
JIM HENSON'S THE MUSICAL MONSTERS OF TURKEY HOLLOW, Archaia/BOOM! Studios

BEST CONTINUING OR LIMITED SERIES
SAGA, Image Comics

BEST WRITER
Mark Waid, DAREDEVIL, Marvel Comics

BEST ARTIST
Fiona Staples, SAGA, Image Comics

BEST CARTOONIST
Terry Moore, RACHEL RISING, Abstract Studios

BEST SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY
"Breaking Out", DARK HORSE PRESENTS #35, Dark Horse Comics

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

So Cute it Hurts: A Peculiar Reaction to Girls

I read So Cute It Hurts!!, Vol. 1

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.  Follow me on Twitter and Tumblr or at Grumble.  Support me on Patreon.

Review: ALL-STAR SECTION 8 #1

ALL STAR SECTION 8 #1 (OF 6)
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Garth Ennis
ART: John McCrea
COLORS: John Kalisz
LETTERS: Pat Brosseau
COVER: Amanda Conner with Paul Mounts
VARIANT COVER: John McCrea with Hi-Fi
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (August 2015)

Rated “T+” for “Teen Plus”

“I Often Wonder What the Vinters Buy”

One of the miniseries to come out of DC Comics' “DCYou” initiative is All Star Section 8.  This series focuses on a band of misfits that is called the “greatest superheroes of all time,” at least by the leader.  Apparently, this group was last seen in DC's 1990s action-crime series, Hitman.   All Star Section 8 is written by Garth Ennis and drawn by John McCrea, the creative team behind Hitman.  John Kalisz colors and Pat Brosseau letters All Star Section 8.

Stephen Speck is a bon vivant and art critc at the beginning of All Star Section 8 #1 (“I Often Wonder What the Vinters Buy”).  But alcohol reveals the truth; Stephen is befuddled hero, Sixpack, leader of the all-star team known as “Section Eight.”  Speck is desperate to rebuild Section Eight in order to face a deadly threat. He gathers old friends:  Bueno Excellente, Baytor and the seemingly reborn Dogwelder, and adds new members:  The Grapplah, Guts, and Powertool.  Still, Sixpack needs an eighth member.  Along comes the Dark Knight.

I read Hitman for about two years back in the 1990s, and I don't remember Section Eight.  I can't say I am interested in getting to know them, now.  I like Garth Ennis, but I think Hitman is the only comic book by the Ennis-McCrea team that I actually liked.  Most of the time, their mix of explicit violence and gritty, gross, grunge does nothing for me.

I don't get Ennis-McCrea's brand of humor, although I did find the Batman bits here to be funny.  However, I like Ennis enough to try another issue of All Star Section 8.

C

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Review: LOVE STAGE!! Volume 2

LOVE STAGE!!, VOL. 2
SUBLIME MANGA– @SuBLimeManga / (Asuka Comics CLDX)

STORY: Eiki Eiki
ART: Taishi Zaou
TRANSLATION: Adrienne Beck
LETTERS: Wally
EDITOR: Jennifer LeBlanc
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7992-4; paperback (July 2015); Rated “M” for “Mature”
192pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Written by Eiki Eiki and drawn by Taishi Zaou, Love Stage!! is a boys' love manga.  Boys' love (or BL) manga depicts amorous situations between male romantic leads.  Love Stage!! focuses on college student, Izumi Sena, an average, but cute guy from a family of celebrities.  He becomes romantically entangled with Ryoma Ichijo, one of Japan's most popular young male celebrities.

When Love Stage!!, Vol. 2 (Chapter 6 to 10) opens, Izumi runs into Ryoma, although he had been avoiding the popular young star ever since their misguided moments of foreplay play.  And they keep running into each other.  Ryoma is finding it harder and harder to deny himself; he totally has the hots for him, but this is also true love...

Meanwhile, Izumi, an unrepentant otaku (fanboy), wants to be a mangaka (a creator of manga).  He has no time for romance, and he certainly does not want to love another guy.  Izumi is focusing all his efforts on being a published manga creator.  Rei Sagara, who manages the Sena family's celebrity endeavors, wants to make Izumi an idol.  Sagara makes a deal with Izumi regarding his future, and when things go bad, Izumi runs not to Sagara, but into the arms of Ryoma?!

[This volume includes two bonus chapters.]

The Love Stage!! manga is a delightful romantic comedy.  Its sense of humor is thoroughly well-developed, which helps sell the romance.  When comedy is working, love has such an easier time blooming.

Love Stage!! Volume 2 reveals Ryoma to be a true romantic.  Yeah, he wants to do some X-rated things to Izumi, which he does; believe me when I say that Love Stage!! earns its “Mature” rating.  Still, readers buy the notion that what Ryoma wants is real love.  Ryoma's feelings and Izumi's oblivious uke routine create a push-pull rhythm that helps to keep the narrative tight; there is virtually no extraneous or filler material here.  Real funny, really sexy, and true love: this is a excellent series.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Bryan Hitch
PENCILS: Bryan Hitch
INKS: Daniel Henriques with Wade von Grawbadger and Andrew Currie
COLORS: Alex Sinclair with Jeromy Cox
LETTERS: Chris Eliopoulos
COVER: Bryan Hitch with Alex Sinclair
VARIANT COVERS: Bryan Hitch with Alex Sinclair; Howard Porter with Hi-Fi (Joker 75th Anniversary Cover)
56pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (August 2015)

Rated “T” for “Teen”

“Power and Glory”

The Justice League is DC Comics' ultimate superhero team.  Conceived by Gardner Fox, the team first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #28 (cover dated: March 1960).  The Justice League received its own comic book series, Justice League of America (cover dated: October 1960), which is the name by which the team was known for decades.  The name “Justice League” was emphasized as a comic book title beginning with the debut of Justice League #1 (cover dated: May 1987).

The name Justice League of America (or “JLA”) returns bigger and badder than ever in the new “DCYou” series,  Justice League of America.  It written and drawn by Bryan Hitch; inked by Daniel Henriques (with Wade von Grawbadger and Andrew Currie); colored by Alex Sinclair (with Jeromy Cox); and lettered by Chris Eliopoulos.

Justice League of America #1 (“Power and Glory”) opens with the destruction of Earth and the death of Superman.  Say what?!  Superman has been summoned to The Infinity Corporation in New York City.  There, he meets Alexis Martin and an arrogant, self-declared genius named Vincent.  They have shocking news about the fate of existence and its connection to Superman.

Meanwhile, something powerful and hungry is spirited from “The Maw,” the super-max prison in Metropolis.  This creature will give Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Batman, and Cyborg all they can handle and more.  Also, Aquaman has a date with a god in Atlantis.

In StormWatch Volume 2 #4, Bryan Hitch and writer Warren Ellis unleashed “widescreen comics” on American superhero comic book readers.  The costumed super-powered people were big.  The action was bigger, and the destruction was massive.  Bryan Hitch, obviously influenced by fellow British comic book artist, Alan Davis, took Davis stylish compositions and lush brushwork and made it heavy.  It was like Davis pumped up on P.E.D.s (performance enhancing drugs).  Ellis's big stories and Hitch's double-X-L art made StormWatch, a dumpster, frivolous Wildstorm comic book, an exciting read and a buzzed-about comic book.  Hitch would later bring widescreen to Marvel's The Ultimates, a re-imagining of the Avengers, written by Mark Millar.

Now, Bryan Hitch brings massive widescreen, as both writer and artist, to the Justice League.  Not only is the graphical storytelling in Justice League of America #1 big; the issue itself has 50 pages of story, which is massive compared to today's anemic 20 and 22-page comic books.  And, in a shared victory for both quantity and quality, Justice League of America #1 is worth the $5.99 cover price.

Hitch offers a story that is worthy of both the Justice League as a team and of its individual members.  “Power and Glory” isn't overly complicated, but it offers action in a epic manner that is similar to “Justice League” (2001-2004) Cartoon Network animated series.

I'm excited about Bryan Hitch's Justice League of America, which he apparently has been working on for more than a year before the series debuted.  Over my time of reading comic books, I have been ambivalent about the Justice League, but both Justice League and Justice League of America comic book series have made me more excited about this franchise than I have ever been.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for September 23, 2015

DC COMICS

JUL150335     ASTRO CITY #27     $3.99
MAY150260     ASTRO CITY CONFESSION HC NEW ED     $24.99
JUL150260     BATGIRL #44     $2.99
JUL150261     BATMAN 66 #27     $2.99
JUL150214     DEATHSTROKE #10     $2.99
JUL150220     FLASH #44     $3.99
MAY150258     FREE COUNTRY A TALE OF THE CHILDRENS CRUSADE HC (MR)     $24.99
JUL150272     GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #9     $2.99
JUL150273     GRAYSON #12     $3.99
JUL150279     HARLEY QUINN & POWER GIRL #4     $3.99
JUL150290     HE MAN THE ETERNITY WAR #10     $2.99
MAY150232     JOKER ENDGAME HC     $29.99
JUL150227     JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #4     $2.99
JUL150291     SCOOBY DOO TEAM UP #12     $2.99
JUL150287     SINESTRO #15     $2.99
JUL150282     WE ARE ROBIN #4     $3.99
JUN150324     Y THE LAST MAN TP BOOK 03 (MR)     $19.99

DC COMICS/DC COLLECTIBLES

APR150331     ARROW TV JOHN DIGGLE AF     $24.95
MAR150330     BATMAN BLACK & WHITE STATUE BY GREG CAPULLO 2ND ED     $79.95
APR150334     FLASH TV CAPTAIN COLD AF     $24.95
MAY150293     SUPERMAN MAN OF STEEL STATUE BY DARWYN COOKE     $79.95