#IReadsYou Review: THE MAGIC ORDER 2 #2

THE MAGIC ORDER 2 #2 (OF 6)
IMAGE COMICS/Netflix

STORY: Mark Millar
ART: Stuart Immonen
COLORS: Sunny Gho
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: Stuart Immonen
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Stuart Immonen; Gene Ha
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2021)

Rated M / Mature

The Magic Order created by Mark Millar at Netflix

The Magic Order was a six-issue comic book miniseries written by Mark Millar and drawn by Olivier Coipel.  Published in 2018-19, The Magic Order focused on the sorcerers, magicians, and wizards that protect humanity from darkness and from monsters of impossible sizes.

A second six-issue miniseries, The Magic Order 2, has arrived.  It is written by Mark Millar; drawn by Stuart Immonen; colored by Sunny Gho; and lettered by Clem Robins.  The new series focuses on a magical turf war between The Magic Order and a group of Eastern European warlocks whose ancestors the Order once banished.

As The Magic Order 2 #2 opens, the wizard Francis King returns from an addiction center … just in time, as the Order needs all the members it can summon.  The Moonstones, Cordelia and Regan, and their cousin, Kevin Mitchell, have discovered that a piece of the Stone of Thoth has been taken.  A talisman from ancient Egypt that summon anything from space, time, and beyond, the Stone of Thoth has been guarded by Kevin's chapter of the Order.  It was divided into four pieces and hidden, and now, an unknown enemy is searching out the pieces.

Five hundred years after The Magic Order made all the monsters disappear, they are mysteriously reappearing.  And the dark forces that are magic's underbelly are emerging.

THE LOWDOWN:  I've been saying this for a few years.  The Magic Order is my favorite Mark Millar written, creator-owned comic book.  When it debuted three years ago, the series gave us a thrilling introduction to a new world and new universe of magic, magical beings, and magical conspiracies.  The Magic Order is really like a blend of Harry Potter with a Martin Scorsese mob film.

To read and enjoy and understand The Magic Order 2, one does not have to have read the original series.  Mark Millar throws readers right into a riveting and alluring conspiracy, and his script for The Magic Order 2 #2 recalls the riveting thrills of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and the alluring conspiracy of Watchmen.  One of the things that made these comic books so great was that reading them was like experiencing something that had never been seen in the mainstream American comic books that had come before them.

Becoming a Netflix executive did not stop Mark Millar from being one of the very best comic book writers in the English language.  He has given The Magic Order 2 #2 to us as a warning, just in case we thought that he might have slipped.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Mark Millar and of The Magic Order will want to read The Magic Order 2.

A+

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


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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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Review: THE WILD STORM: Michael Cray #1

THE WILD STORM: MICHAEL CRAY #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Warren Ellis
WRITER: Bryan Hill
PENCILS: N. Steven Harris
INKS: Dexter Vines
COLORS: Steve Buccellato
LETTERS: Simon Bowland
COVER: Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz with Steve Buccellato
VARIANT COVER: Gene Ha
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2017)

Rated “T+”

Michael Cray created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi

“Michael Cray – Chapter One”

Started by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi, WildStorm Productions was one of the founding studios of Image Comics.  The WildStorm Universe was the fictional shared universe of comic books published by WildStorm and debuted in WildC.A.T.s #1 (cover dated: August 1992).

Jim Lee sold WildStorm Productions and his intellectual properties to DC Comics in 1999, and eventually the WildStorm Universe was folded into the DC Universe (DCU) proper.  It can be argued that the most interesting and perhaps, most influential comic books to come out of the WildStorm Universe came after that sale.  Those books were written by Warren Ellis (StormWatch, The Authority and Planetary).  Ellis is currently relaunching the characters, concepts, story lines, etc. of the Wildstorm Universe in his comic book, The Wild Storm, with artist Jon Davis-Hunt.

The first solo spin off series in the relaunch of “The Wild Storm” is The Wild Storm: Michael Cray.  It is written by Bryan Hill with Warren Ellis contributing story.  The series is drawn by N. Steven Harris (pencils) and Dexter Vines (inks); colored by Steve Buccellato; and lettered by Simon Bowland.  Michael Cray also known as the professional assassin, Deathblow, first appeared in the comic book, Darker Image #1 (cover dated: March 1993).

Michael Cray seeks revenge against International Operations (I.O.) for the death sentence with which its has basically trapped him.  The Wild Storm: Michael Cray #1 finds Cray with an offer of help.  Christine Trelane will give him support, resources, medical aid, and a home, but she has targets that she want Cray to take out.  It starts with that sociopath Silicon Valley billionaire, Oliver Queen.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first issue of The Wild Storm: Michael Cray.  One reason is that in terms of story pacing and in graphical style, Michael Cray is like The Wild Storm comic book.  Writer Bryan Hill writes a script that allows the story to breathe, which in turns allows the reader to enjoy the surprises and shocks and the edginess the script delivers.  Just the Oliver Queen segments are quite enjoyable and enjoyably tart.

N. Steven Harris' compositions and the sharp inking Dexter Vines lays on them are similar to Jon Davis-Hunt's clean drawing style in The Wild Storm.  Harris and Vines deliver good storytelling while graphically tying their work to Ellis and Davis-Hunt's flagship title.  I like The Wild Storm: Michael Cray #1 and will be back for more.

A
8 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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I Reads You Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE #7

JUSTICE LEAGUE #7
DC COMICS – @DCComics

WRITER: Geoff Johns
PENCILS: Gene Ha
COLORS: Art Lyon
LETTERS: Patrick Brosseau
COVER: Jim Lee and Scott Williams, with Alex Sinclair
VARIANT COVER: Gary Frank with Brad Anderson
40pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

Rated “T” for Teen

“The Villain’s Journey” Prologue

Why am I just reviewing the seventh issue Justice League now? This month will see the eleventh issue published since #7 first appeared. Well, the reason is a compilation of excuses: infrequent trips to a not-near-enough local comic book shop (LCS), finances, time, acquisition, etc. You might add that I was reluctant to read an issue of The New 52 Justice League that Jim Lee did not draw. That’s a shame because this issue’s artist, Gene Ha, delivers some nice looking pages.

Justice League #7 opens in present day Baltimore, Maryland. An army biological warfare specialist named Dr. Samuel Street was exposed to the “Spore” virus. Now, Street is a villain called “Spore,” and he creates “Seeds,” which are mindless flesh-eating creatures that he can control telepathically. Plus, Street/Spore is holding his ex-wife hostage. Enter the Justice League: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Cyborg.

This story has a second focus, Colonel Steve Trevor. Wonder Woman’s would-be lover, Trevor is head of A.R.G.U.S. – Advanced Research Group Uniting Super Humans. A.R.G.U.S. is both a support group for the Justice League and an intermediary between the League and the U.S. government. Now, Trevor faces a Congressional debriefing, and these members of Congress want answers.

I think this issue stands out because of the focus on Steve Trevor. Writer Geoff Johns gives us the same action and squabbling that he has written into the Justice League since the series’ re-launched back in 2011. Johns gets personal with Trevor, showing both the man of action and the man who is a good boss and a lovesick puppy. Gene Ha is the right artist for Trevor’s story, and he certainly does some good action scenes for the League. Still, Ha’s subtle touch in drawing faces better serves this character focus on Steve Trevor.

Justice League #7 has a back-up feature. Once again, DC Comics is trying to do something with Shazam-Captain Marvel. This time with Johns and artist Gary Frank, and perhaps I can say that maybe it works a little better than the previous efforts over the last 30 years. But in the long term, dark Captain Marvel just won’t work. There is something inherent in the character that suggests light-hearted fantasy. DC and its writers just don’t seem to have the imagination, with a few exceptions, to do anything really interesting with this character.

B+

[Justice League currently includes a Shazam back-up story by Geoff Johns (writer), Gary Frank (artist), Brad Anderson (colors), and Nick J. Napolitano (letters).]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Leroy Douresseaux on ROCKETEER ADVENTURES #2

ROCKETEER ADVENTURES #2
IDW PUBLISHING

WRITERS: Mark Waid, Darwyn Cooke, Lowell Francis
ARTISTS: Chris Weston, Darwyn Cooke, Gene Ha
COLORS: Dave Stewart
LETTERS: Chris Mowry, Darwyn Cooke
PIN-UP: Geof Darrow with Dave Stewart
COVER: Alex Ross (alternate cover by Dave Stevens with Laura Martin)
32pp, Color, $3.99

Long live The Rocketeer!

The Rocketeer is a superhero created by the late writer/illustrator Dave Stevens that first appeared in 1982. The character’s style and the mode of his adventures are also an homage to the Saturday matinee heroes of the 1930s and 1940s and to adventure movie serials like Republic Picture’s King of the Rocket Men. The Rocketeer’s exploits are mainly set in Los Angeles in and after the year 1938. The Rocketeer made it onto the big screen in a 1991 film from Walt Disney Pictures.

The Rocketeer is Cliff Secord, a stunt pilot who discovers a mysterious jet pack that allows him to fly. Secord’s girlfriend, Bettie Page, is based upon real life, 1950s pin-up and fetish model, Bettie Page.

The Rocketeer has made infrequent comic book appearances in several publications from several publishers. The Rocketeer’s first comic book appearances were in 1982, as backup features in Starslayer, a comic book series by Mike Grell from the now-defunct Pacific Comics. Two more installments of The Rocketeer appeared in Pacific's anthology comic book, Pacific Presents.

The character appeared at Eclipse Comics in Rocketeer Special Edition and in a single-volume graphic novel entitled, The Rocketeer, which concluded the story begun in Starslayer. The character appeared in Rocketeer Adventure Magazine from the now-defunct Comico Comics and also finally at Dark Horse Comics

The Rocketeer returns in Rocketeer Adventures, a new anthology series from IDW Publishing. Edited by Scott Dunbier, Rocketeer Adventures features Rocketeer short stories (about 7 or 8 pages in length) from some of the premiere creators in comic books. Rocketeer Adventures #2 has stories by the teams of Mark Waid and Chris Weston and also Lowell Francis and Gene Ha, with a short story by Darwyn Cooke and a centerfold pin-up from artist Geof Darrow and colorist supreme, Dave Stewart.

I must say that, at a cover price of $3.99, Rocketeer Adventures is a bargain. The art is exceptional, even if most of the stories are, for the most part, mere trifles, though entertaining. Anytime we get to see Dave Stewart’s magnificent comic book coloring, we are in for a treat.

Mark Waid and Chris Weston’s “It Ain’t the Fall that Kills Ya…” features some gorgeous Dave Stevens-inspired art from the talented Weston, a master of composition and a superb draftsman. For Waid’s part, the story is either ironic or is simply unintentionally hypocritical. Lowell Francis and Gene Ha’s “TKO” is clever-lite, a play of mixing an aerial battle with a boxing match. Ha’s execution in the graphical storytelling of “TKO” is skillful. As for the Geof Darrow pin-up – YAWN – been there, seen that.

Leave it to genius Darwyn Cooke to offer this issue’s best story, a slam-bang piece, entitled “Betty Saves the Day.” It is only seven-pages long, but it reads like a great stand-alone, 22-page comic book. An Eisner Award nomination (at least) for best short story is a must.

A-