Showing posts with label Howard Porter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Howard Porter. Show all posts

Sunday, December 2, 2018

Review: THE SHADOW/BATMAN #1

THE SHADOW/BATMAN, VOL. 1, No. 1
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT/DC Comics – @dynamitecomics @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Steve Orlando
ART: Giovanni Timpano
COLORS: Flavio Dispenza
LETTERS: Taylor Esposito
COVER: David Finch with June Chung
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Ethan Van Sciver with Jason Wright (B); Alex Ross (C); Dustin Nguyen (D); Brandon Peterson (E); Bill Sienkiewicz (F); Howard Porter with Hi-Fi (G); Giovanni Timpano with Flavio Dispenza; Howard Porter; Ethan Van Sciver; David Finch with June Chung; Alex Ross; David Finch; Giovanni Timpano; Robert Hack; Anthony Marques and J. Bone with Chris O'Halloran; Cory Smith with Tim Shinn; Cory Smith; Tyler Kirkham with Arif Prianto; Tyler Kirkham
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

Rated “Teen+”

The Shadow created by Walter Gibson; Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger

Shadow/Batman: Part One

The Shadow is a fictional character that began life as a mysterious radio narrator, debuting on July 31, 1930 as the host of the radio program, “Detective Story Hour.”  Street and Smith Publications, publishers of Detective Story Magazine, hired writer Walter B. Gibson to create a character concept that fit The Shadow's name and voice and to also write a story featuring him.  The first issue of The Shadow Magazine went on sale on April 1, 1931.

DC Comics superhero Batman is a worldwide icon.  He first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (cover dated: May 1939).  Batman and his civilian identity, Bruce Wayne, are among the first characters to be inspired by The Shadow and his civilian guise, Lamont Cranston.  The Shadow and Batman would meet for the first time in Batman #273 (cover dated: November 1973).  This year, DC Comics and Dynamite Entertainment, the current publisher with the license to produce comics based on The Shadow, brought the two characters together, first in the six-issue crossover comic book miniseries, Batman The Shadow, from DC Comics.

Now, it is Dynamite's turn and it is offering a second six-issue miniseries, The Shadow/Batman.  It is written by Steve Orlando; drawn by Giovanni Timpano; colored by Flavio Dispenz; and lettered by Taylor Esposito.

The Shadow/Batman: Volume 1 #1 opens with Professor Pyg in New York City causing chaos.  Batman has followed him to NYC to shut him down, but that upsets The Shadow, who believes that Batman should remain in Gotham City and leave the Big Apple to him.

However, these two dark avengers are about to discover that they are facing the “World's Greatest Evil,” and they may be no match for it.  Can the “World's Greatest Mystery” and the “World's Greatest Detective” (and the “world's most independent sidekick”) must put aside their differences and unravel the centuries' old conspiracy of the “Silent Seven.”

I did not read DC Comics' Batman The Shadow, so I wanted to make sure that I did not miss The Shadow/Batman.  I really like how writer Steve Orlando emphasizes dark moods, atmospheres, feelings, and emotions.  There is a deep sense of foreboding, and Orlando makes a convincing case that both The Shadow and Batman are not only vulnerable, but are also in danger of being destroyed.

Artist Giovanni Timpano's moody compositions and colorist Flavio Dispenz's gloomy colors recall the classic shadowy cool and noir sensibilities of The Shadow in his radio glory days.  The Shadow and Batman are in good artistic hands.

8.5 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 for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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


Thursday, August 17, 2017

Review: SCOOBY APOCALYPSE #1

SCOOBY APOCALYPSE No. 1
DC COMICS – @DCComic

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

PLOT/BREAKDOWNS:  Keith Giffen
DIALOGUE: J.M. DeMatteis
ARTIST: Howard Porter
COLORS: Hi-Fi
LETTERS: Nick J. Napolitano; Travis Lanham
COVER: Jim Lee with Alex Sinclair
VARIANT COVERS: Howard Porter with Hi-Fi;Dan Panosian; Neal Adams with Alex Sinclair; Joelle Jones with Nick Filardi; Ben Caldwell
40pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2016)

Rated “T” for “Teen”

“Waiting for the End of the World”

Based on a concept by Jim Lee; Scooby-Doo created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and Iwao Takamoto

Scooby-Doo is a media franchise that began with the animated, Saturday-morning, television series, “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” in 1969, which was produced by American animation studio, Hanna-Barbera Production.  The series featured four teenagers:  Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers and Scooby-Doo, a talking Great Dane-ish dog.  Together, they solved mysteries involving supernatural creatures that usually turned out to be frauds.

That first series basically gave birth to numerous follow-up Scooby-Doo animated cartoon series that used the original as a pattern to one extent or another.  DC Comics recently launched a Scooby-Doo comic book that takes the characters introduced in “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” but largely reinvents the character relationships, personalities, histories, and their mission.  Entitled Scooby Apocalypse, the new comic book is based on a concept created by Jim Lee.  The comic book is written by Keith Giffen (plot) and J.M. DeMatteis (dialogue); drawn by Howard Porter; colored by Hi-Fi; and lettered by Nick J. Napolitano.

Scooby Apocalypse #1 (“Waiting for the End of the World”) finds Daphne and Fred at “The Blazing Man Festival.”  Daphne is the host of a once-popular television series, “Daphne Blake's Mysterious Mysteries.”  She hopes that an informant that she is supposed to meet at the festival will provide the lead to a story that will return the show to the big time.  Fred, her long-suffering cameraman, thinks that he and Daphne should move on to bigger things.

Nearby is Shaggy, a dog-trainer at a secret facility, and his trainee, Scooby-Doo.  A misunderstanding forces an encounter between Shaggy and Scooby and Fred and Daphne.  Now, both parties are about to hear an amazing story from Dr. Velma Dinkley who works for a secret government program, the Elysium Project.  What she tells them will change their lives.

I would not call myself a Scooby-Doo purist, but I probably am.  I am not crazy about anything that strays too far from “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” (1969-1970) and the follow-up series, “The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries” (1972-1973)  Thus, I am inclined to not like Scooby Apocalypse, and I had planned on not reading it.  However, word that some of the early issues were selling-out in various places piqued my interests.  I picked up some copies at a my local comic shop and turned to eBay for the ones I could not find there.

After reading the first ten pages, I was disgusted and even insulted, as a Scooby-Doo fan.  Then, I found myself intrigued by the goings-on inside the Project Elysium facility, and then, I bought in to this comic book.

I'd be lying if I called it great, but I really want to see where this goes.  I have the first four issues, and I think that will be enough to decide if I want to keep reading.  Honestly, I would recommend this first issue to any adult who is or was a fan of Scooby-Doo, reading it as a lark or out of curiosity.  Considering the creative team behind this, Scooby Apocalypse could be good.  The bonus story, “When Shaggy Met Scooby!” about the first meeting between fiction's greediest boy-and-his-dog combo is a novel spin on the classic animated cartoon comedy duo.

I'll review a future issue, dear reader, and I promise to keep it real, one way or the other.

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


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

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.


Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 30, 2014

MARVEL COMICS

MAY140811     100TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1 GOTG     $3.99
MAY148186     ALL NEW GHOST RIDER #3 2ND PTG MOORE VAR ANMN     $3.99
MAY140838     ALL NEW GHOST RIDER #5     $3.99
MAY148187     ALL NEW X-MEN #27 2ND PTG IMMONEN VAR     $3.99
MAY148188     ALL NEW X-MEN #28 2ND PTG IMMONEN VAR     $3.99
MAY140786     AVENGERS #33 SIN     $3.99
MAY140829     AVENGERS WORLD #10     $3.99
MAY140900     CYCLOPS #3     $3.99
MAY140892     DEADPOOL DRACULAS GAUNTLET #4     $3.99
MAY148175     FIGMENT #2 2ND PTG CHRISTOPHER VAR     $3.99
MAY140852     GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #17     $3.99
FEB140793     HAWKEYE #19     $3.99
MAY140948     HUMAN TORCH BY KESEL AND YOUNG COMP COLL TP     $34.99
MAY140858     IRON MAN SPECIAL #1     $4.99
MAY140851     IRON PATRIOT #5     $3.99
MAY148248     LEGENDARY STAR LORD #1 2ND PTG MCNIVEN VAR ANMN     $3.99
MAY140920     MARVELS GUARDIANS GALAXY ART OF MOVIE SLIPCASE HC     $49.99
MAY140935     MIGHTY AVENGERS TP VOL 02 FAMILY BONDING     $17.99
MAY140923     MMW AMAZING SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 08     $24.99
MAY140826     NEW AVENGERS #21     $3.99
APR140643     ORIGINAL SIN #3.3     $3.99
MAY148249     ROCKET RACCOON #1 2ND PTG YOUNG VAR ANMN     $3.99
MAY140939     RUNAWAYS COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 01     $34.99
MAY140824     SECRET AVENGERS #6     $3.99
MAY140941     SPIDER-MAN COMPLETE ALIEN COSTUME SAGA TP BOOK 01     $44.99
MAY140833     ULTIMATE FF #5     $3.99
MAY140821     UNCANNY AVENGERS #22     $3.99
MAY140794     UNCANNY X-MEN #24 SIN     $3.99
MAY148189     WOLVERINE #9 2ND PTG MCNIVEN VAR     $3.99
MAY140899     X-MEN #17     $3.99
MAY140947     X-MEN MAGNETO TESTAMENT TP NEW PTG     $19.99


Tuesday, July 22, 2014

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 23 2014

DC COMICS

MAY140266     ALL STAR WESTERN #33     $3.99
MAY140186     AQUAMAN #33     $2.99
MAY140230     BATMAN #33 (ZERO YEAR) (NOTE PRICE)     $4.99
MAY140233     BATMAN #33 COMBO PACK (ZERO YEAR) (NOTE PRICE)     $5.99
MAY140354     BATMAN 66 #13     $3.99
MAR148214     BATMAN 75TH ANNIV MASKS BATMAN 1966 (BND OF 25)     PI
MAR148209     BATMAN 75TH ANNIV MASKS BOB KANE (BND OF 25)     PI
MAR148213     BATMAN 75TH ANNIV MASKS DARK KNIGHT (BND OF 25)     PI
MAR148215     BATMAN 75TH ANNIV MASKS NEW 52 (BND OF 25)     PI
MAR148210     BATMAN 75TH ANNIVERSARY CAPE     PI
MAY140238     BATMAN AND ROBIN #33 (ROBIN RISES)     $2.99
MAY140357     BATMAN BEYOND UNIVERSE #12     $3.99
MAR140264     BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE HC VOL 04     $29.99
MAY140228     BATMAN ETERNAL #16     $2.99
MAY140254     CATWOMAN #33     $2.99
MAY140400     DEAD BOY DETECTIVES #7     $2.99
MAY140194     FLASH #33     $2.99
MAY140358     HE MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #15     $2.99
MAY140356     INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR TWO #8     $2.99
MAY140190     JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #33     $3.99
APR140269     JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICAS VIBE TP VOL 01 BREACH (N52)     $16.99
MAY140184     NEW 52 FUTURES END #12 (WEEKLY)     $2.99
MAY140264     RED LANTERNS #33     $2.99
MAY140196     SECRET ORIGINS #4     $4.99
MAY140167     STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES GI ZOMBIE #1     $2.99
MAY140206     SUPERMAN #33     $3.99
MAY140210     SUPERMAN #33 COMBO PACK     $4.99
MAR140258     SUPERMAN ACTION COMICS HC VOL 04 HYBRID (N52)     $24.99
APR140268     SUPERMAN ACTION COMICS TP VOL 03 AT THE END OF DAYS (N52)     $16.99
APR140296     SWAMP THING BY BRIAN K VAUGHAN TP VOL 02 (MR)     $19.99
MAY140198     TRINITY OF SIN PANDORA #13     $2.99
APR140302     UNWRITTEN TP VOL 09 THE UNWRITTEN FABLES (MR)     $14.99
MAY140411     UNWRITTEN VOL 2 APOCALYPSE #7 (MR)     $3.99
MAY140200     WONDER WOMAN #33     $2.99