#IReadsYou Review: THE AMBASSADORS #5

THE AMBASSADORS #5 (OF 6)

IMAGE COMICS/Netflix

STORY: Mark Millar

ART: Matteo Buffagni

COLORS: Michele Assarasakorn

LETTERS: Clem Robins

EDITORIAL: Sarah Unwin

COVER: Matteo Buffagni

VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Leinil Francis Yu

28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (May 2023)

Rated M / Mature

The Ambassadors created by Mark Millar at Netflix

The Ambassadors is a comic book miniseries written and created by Mark Millar.  The series focuses on the six people out of eight billion humans who will receive super-powers.  Each person will become a member of  the international rescue squad, The Ambassadors.  Each issue of The Ambassadors will be drawn by a different superstar comic book artist.  The fifth issue is drawn by Matteo Buffagni; colored by Michele Assarasakorn; and lettered by Clem Robins.

The Ambassadors focuses on the efforts of Doctor Choon-He Chung.  The technology of her company, Chung Solutions (the world leader in bio-engineering and artificial intelligence), built her a new body.  Now, she wants to share super-powers with the world.  From her “Base-Control” which is in Antarctica, Choon-He is building “The Ambassadors.”

The Ambassadors #5 opens in Siberia.  There, we meet "Codename Australia."  He is Bob Taylor.  Six weeks ago, he was a 72-year-old man whose body was failing him.  Now, he is the superhero who is Australia's “Ambassador.”  Once upon a time, however, he was a anti-progressive man who specialized in racist and homophobic attacks.  Can Bob change?

Meanwhile, Jin-Sung Chung, Choon-He's former husband, makes his most startling moves in the superhero arena.  Plus, Jamie McPhail returns.  Remember him from the first issue?

THE LOWDOWN:  Thanks to a review copy provided by the Mark Millar division of Netflix, I have been able to read the first five issues of The Ambassadors.  This is a treat for which I have been awaiting since the announcement of the series last year.

Writer Mark Millar does penultimate issues (the second-to-last issue) of miniseries quite well, and The Ambassadors #5 promises a hell of sixth and final issue of the first arc of this franchise.  Meanwhile, Millar and artist Matteo Buffagni make sure that this fifth issue is an excellent read all on its own, and it is.  The Ambassadors #5 is a nice follow-up to the surprising fourth issue because (at least for me) it offers an old man as a superhero.  This fifth issue, with many surprises on its own, keeps the series undeniable and unmatched.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Mark Millar and of big concept superhero comic books will want to read The Ambassadors.

A+

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

https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/

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#IReadsYou Review: BIG GAME #2

BIG GAME #2 (OF 5)

IMAGE COMICS/Netflix

STORY: Mark Millar

ART: Pepe Larraz

COLORS: Giovanna Niro

LETTERS: Clem Robins

EDITOR: Sarah Unwin

COVER: Pepe Larraz with Giovanna Niro

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Leinil Yu with Sunny Gho; Pepe Larraz

28pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (August 2023)

Rated M / Mature

Big Game is a new five-issue comic book event miniseries from writer Mark Millar and artist Pepe Larraz.  Big Game is a crossover event series that pulls together all the franchises that are part of Millar's company/imprint, “Millarworld.”  That includes Kick-Ass, Kingsman, Nemesis, and The Magic Order, to name a few.  Colorist Giovanna Niro and letterer Clem Robins complete the series' creative team.

Big Game is a sequel to the first Millarworld comic book miniseries, Wanted (2003-04).  The stars of that series, The Fraternity, the super-villains that secretly rule the world, defeated their superhero adversaries in 1986.  Now, this entity is concerned about the reemergence of superheroes, so it unleashes it new superhero killer, Nemesis (from Nemesis: Reloaded), on a hero assassination spree.

As Big Game #2 opens, Edison Crane (Prodigy) and Bobbie Griffin meet the Chrononauts, Corbin Quinn and Danny Reilly.  Crane, the world's smartest man, wants the duo to take him and Griffin back in time to 1986 for proof of that what Griffin says is true.  Superheroes did exist in the past.

Meanwhile, Doctor Choon-He Chung (The Ambassadors) and her international rescue squad, The Ambassadors, search for a missing Ambassador.  Plus, two early Millarworld favorites are forced together on new comics day.

THE LOWDOWN:  I have been receiving PDF review copies of Netflix/Millarworld's comic book titles since late 2021.  Big Game #2 is the latest.

Some of Millarworld's most popular comic book franchises and series have been adapted into Hollywood feature films.  They are Wanted (2008), Kick-Ass (2010), Kick-Ass 2 (2013), Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), and The King's Man (2021).  These movies are so disparate that you, dear readers, would be surprised to know that their source material originates from a shared universe.

As a longtime Millarworld fan, it is both terrifying and thrilling to read Big Game, especially because Nemesis is on the prowl and is killing some of my favorite Millarworld good guys and anti-heroes.  Writer Mark Millar is having himself quite a bit of fun by tearing things apart, but the smart Millarworld readers (Is there any other kind?) know that Mark has shocks and surprises in store for us.  Plus, :nothing is really what it appears at first” is a truism in every one of Millar's comic book series.

Pepe Larraz's art is similar to the work of Bryan Hitch, a specialist in event comic books, and Larraz's storytelling style certainly suggests that this is truly a BIG event.  He is also good at creating an air of menace, suggested in the faces of the characters and in the overall narrative.  Giovanna Niro's colors serve this “dark universe” quite well, and Clem Robins' lettering is uniquely fashioned to amplify the soundtrack of Millar's scripts.

Big Game #1 had me curious to see what was next.  After reading that first issue, I almost guaranteed that the second issue of Big Game would blow the doorway to your imagination off its hinges, dear readers.  My hinges gave out.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Mark Millar and especially of his Millarworld titles will want to read Big Game.

A+

10 out of 10

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

You can buy the BIG GAME VOL. 1 trade paperback at AMAZON.

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#IReadsYou Review: STAR WARS: Crimson Reign #1

STAR WARS: CRIMSON REIGN #1 (OF 5)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

STORY: Charles Soule
ART: Steven Cummings
COLORS: Guru-eFX
LETTERS: VC's Travis Lanham
EDITOR: Mark Paniccia
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida a.k.a. C.B. Cebulski
COVER: Leinil Francis Yu with Sunny Gho
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Steve Cummings with Guru-eFX; Ario Anindito with Edgar Delgado; Clayton Crain; Valerio Giangiordano with Arif Prianto; David Lopez; Rahzzah; Khoi Pahm with Lee Loughridge
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (February 2022)

Rated T

Part 1: “The Orphans”

Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters was a Marvel Comics Star Wars publishing event that was comprised of 34 individual comic books, published from May to October 2021.  The series imagines a series of events that occur between the time bounty hunter, Boba Fett, collects Han Solo frozen in carbonite in 1980s The Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back) and his appearance in 1983's Return of the Jedi (Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi).

Coming out of War of the Bounty Hunters is the comic book miniseries, Star Wars: Crimson Reign.  It is written by Charles Soule; drawn by Steven Cummings; colored by Guru-eFX; and lettered by Travis Lanham.  According to Marvel, Crimson Reign is the second installment of a trilogy that will reshape the history of the Star Wars Galaxy during the “Age of Rebellion.”

Star Wars: Crimson Reign #1 opens in the halls of the group known as “Crimson Dawn.”  Qi'ra of Corellia is now the group's leader.  She has taken on the killers, liars, and thieves that make up this group and has given them a purpose.

Qi'ra has gathered a diverse group:  “The Knights of Ren,” “Chanath Cha and the Orphans,” Deathstick, Ochi of Bestoon, Margo and Trinia, and the Archivist to carry out of her plans, which is to destroy the Sith in order to free the galaxy.  Her main targets, of course, are Emperor Palpatine a.k.a. “Darth Sidious” and his apprentice, Darth Vader.  Qi'ra begins her mission by sending her allies against the galaxy's criminal syndicates, but has doom for herself and her group already been foretold?

THE LOWDOWN:  I have enjoyed the vast majority of the Charles Soule's Star Wars comic book work that I have read.  I have enjoyed Steven Cummings art since I was first exposed to it in some OEL (original English language) manga from Tokyopop, including Pantheon High (2007), Star Trek: The Manga (2007), and CSI: Intern at Your Own Risk (2009).

However, Star Wars: Crimson Reign #1 isn't the kind of first issue that will inspire me to go out of my way to read the rest of the series.  It is professionally written, professionally drawn, professionally colored, and professionally lettered.  This isn't a bad comic book.  I simply have little interest in Qi'ra's conspiracy, which is contrived past the point of being credible.  I find it hard to believe that not one syndicate leader would notice that the troubles begin shortly after Qi'ra and her ilk begin meeting with the syndicates.  Does it take two issues for even one of them to figure this out?

Lucasfilm and Marvel seem determined to retcon the fuck out of the original Star Wars trilogy and the imaginary timeline surrounding it – known as the “Age of Rebellion.”  That is their prerogative, but it is mine to choose to read it.  I choose not to.  I have never been that curious about “what happened” between the films, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983).  But if that is your thing, Crimson Reign is not only a miniseries, but it is an event that will take place in various issues across Marvel's line of Star Wars comic books.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Marvel's Star Wars comic books may want to try Star Wars: Crimson Reign.

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

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


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#IReadsYou Review: HEROES REBORN #1

HEROES REBORN #1 (OF 7)
MARVEL COMICS

STORY: Jason Aaron
PENCILS: Ed McGuiness
INKS: Mark Morales
COLORS: Matthew Wilson
LETTERS: VC's Cory Petit
EDITOR: Tom Brevoort
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida a.k.a. C.B. Cebulski
COVER: Leinil Francis Yu with Sunny Gho
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Carlos Pacheco and Rafael Ponteriz with Nolan Woodard; Ed McGuiness with Matthew Wilson; George Perez and Al Vey with Morry Hollowell; Iban Coello with Espen Grundetjern; Jeffrey Veregge; John Tyler Christopher; Joshua Cassara with Dean White; Mark Bagley and John Dell with Romulo Fajardo, Jr.; Stanley “Artgerm” Lau
48pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (July 2021)

Rated “T+”

“Whatever Happened to Earth's Mightiest Heroes?”

Heroes Reborn was a Marvel Comics summer event series and crossover publishing initiative.  It was comprised of the seven-issue comic book miniseries, Heroes Reborn, and eleven tie-in comic books.  The entire thing was scheduled to be published over seven weeks, from May 5, 2021 to June 23, 2021.

Heroes Reborn is set on an Earth in which the Avengers – Earth's Mightiest Heroes – were never formed, and Blade the Vampire Hunter seems to be the only person who remembers that the world should be different – that it has been “reborn.”  The Heroes Reborn miniseries was written by Jason Aaron; drawn by Ed McGuiness (pencils) and Mark Morales (inks); colored by Matthew Wilson; and lettered by Matthew Wilson.

Heroes Reborn #1 (“Whatever Happened to Earth's Mightiest Heroes?”) opens in East Los Angeles.  That is where Blade is looking for answers.  Two weeks earlier, he woke up covered in blood in a flophouse of London's East End.  The first thing he did was try to contact Avengers Mountain, but it was not there.

Blade discovers that he has awakened in a world that is both familiar and wildly different.  In this world the Avengers never existed.  The Squadron Supreme of America has always been “Earth's mightiest heroes.”  They are Hyperion, Nighthawk, Power Princess, Doctor Spectrum, and Blur.

Phil Coulson is currently the President of the United States.  Blade reaches out to the Avengers teammates that he can find, but to no avail.  And the Squadron's Nighthawk does not like the “truth” with which Blade has confronted him.  Now, Blade must travel to the arctic and find the one man – the one legendary hero – who can fix this wrong Earth.

THE LOWDOWN:  First, I must be honest with you, dear readers.  With but a few exceptions, I hate big Marvel and DC Comics crossover events.  They are generally a mess – the closest thing to a cacophony of actual sound and fury signifying nothing that comic books can get.

Heroes Reborn #1 is one of the exceptions.  It is actually a really good first issue; the rest of the miniseries and all the tie-in issues are a mixed bag.  Only the first issue is entirely the work of Aaron and McGuiness, who is essentially the back-up artist on issues #2 to #7.  Jason Aaron is the writer on the lead stories in those issues, each of which focuses on a member of the Squadron Supreme and/or their activities.

I assume that many readers already know that the Squadron Supreme is Marvel's pastiche version of DC Comics Justice League of America.  I don't think that the team has ever been known as the “Squadron Supreme of America,” so it is funny that this is the group's name in Heroes Reborn.

The Heroes Reborn miniseries and its tie-ins are basically an overview of a world in which the Squadron and not the Avengers protects Earth.  Some of the changes are quite intriguing, such as the fact that the Squadron is more like DC Comics/Wildstorm Production's The Authority than the Avengers.  Some changes are not as good, but could be upon further development.  By the end of the one-shot that wraps up this event, Heroes Return #1, I did want to see more of the Heroes Reborn world, even with my reservations.

The series was published a year ago, so I don't believe I should worry about spoilers.  The Squadron replaced the Avengers in a plot hatched by Marvel's satanic villain, Mephisto, using the “Pandemonium Cube” (Cosmic Cube), with Phil Coulson as his wickedly evil and ambitious lackey and front man.

All that said:  I really liked Heroes Reborn #1.  Jason Aaron offers an especially intriguing first issue script with flourishes on conspiracy and mystery.  Ed McGuiness' manages to be both stylish and excellent in his storytelling; Mark Morales' sharp inks bring out McGuiness' sparkling design.  Matthew Wilson's color, as always, are gorgeous.  Letterer Cory Petit is also one of those “of course his work is good” guys, and he is indeed good here.

In general, I like Heroes Reborn, and I feel comfortable recommending it to fans of Marvel event series and to fans of the Squadron Supreme.  I didn't get as much Blade in this series as I would have liked, but sometimes, I have to take what I can get.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Marvel event series will want to try Heroes Reborn.

B+
★★★½ out of 4 stars

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


https://twitter.com/Marvel
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The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: THE ETERNALS #1

THE ETERNALS #1 (2021)
MARVEL COMICS

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Kieron Gillen
ART: Esad Ribić
COLORS: Matthew Wilson
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
EDITOR: Darren Shan
COVER ARTIST: Esad Ribic
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Jen Bartel; Russell Dauterman with Matthew Wilson; Arthur Adams with Jason Keith; Alan Davis with Nolan Woodard; Mike Del Mundo; Inhyuk Lee; Peach Momoko; Jenny Frison; Rian Gonzales; Greg Land with Frank D'armata; Leinil Franics Yu with Sunny Gho; Otto Schmidt; Takeshi Okazaki with Edgar Delgado; Khary Randolph with Emilio Lopez
[The following artists are not credited as variant cover artists in the comic book, but Diamond Comics Distributors is offering issues with their cover art for sale: Alex Ross; Mahmud Asrar; Dave Johnson; Frank Cho; Jeff Johnson; J. Scott Campbell; Todd Nauck; Dan Panosian; Joe Quesada; Ron Lim; Walter Simonson; Superlog; Skottie Young]
32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (Jan. 6, 2021)

The Eternals created by Jack Kirby

“Only Death is Eternal,” Part 1

The Eternals are a race of humanoids in the Marvel Comics universe.  They were created by legendary writer-artist and comics creator, Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The Eternals #1 (cover dated: July 1976).  The Eternals are described as an offshoot of the evolutionary process that created sentient life on Earth.  They were created by the immensely powerful alien race, the Celestials, along with the Eternals' destructive counterparts, the Deviants.

The Eternals first comic book series ran for 19 issues from 1976 to 1977, with issue #19 having a January 1978 cover date.  In addition to Jack Kirby's original series, there have been miniseries starring The Eternals in 1985-86, 2006-07, and 2008-09.  In the 2018-launched Avengers comic book series (written by Jason Aaron), the Eternals discovered that their creators, the Celestials, preferred humans over them, which lead to the mass suicide and death of the Eternals (as seen in the Avengers story arc, “The Final Host”).

Now, the Eternals return in a new comic book series.  The Eternals (2021) is written by Kieron Gillen; drawn by Esad Ribić; colored by Matthew Wilson; and lettered by Clayton Cowles.  In the new series, the Eternals face something new to them – change.

The Eternals #1 opens in “the Exclusion,” one of a system of sub-dimensional threads in “The Machine” (apparently the Earth-side system by which the Eternals teleport).  The Machine also narrates the story, which opens with the resurrection of Ikaris, the last Eternal to die.  However, the “Eternal Prime,” Zuras, has a surprise for the ever-direct Ikaris.  Ikaris must awaken and take charge of Sprite, the murderous prankster Eternal.

Arriving in New York, Ikaris and Sprite meet Iron Man.  Then, it is time to do their job, protect humans from “the Deviants,” especially those that become monsters.  While the mismatched duo is away, however, new death in a familiar guise comes for the Eternals.

THE LOWDOWN:  I recently read the original The Eternals #1, from 1976, which was written and drawn by series creator Jack Kirby.  I did this in preparation for the new series and for the (eventually) upcoming film, The Eternals, from Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Studios.

First, let me speak to the beauty of The Eternals 2021.  I first discovered artist Esad Ribic when he drew the final two issues of the X-Men miniseries, X-Men: Children of the Atom (1999-2000), that was begun by writer Joe Casey and artist Steve Rude.  I was not crazy about Ribic's art in that series, but it was clear to me that this artist had huge potential as a comic book illustrator.

I must say that he has developed way beyond what I expected.  Here, Ribic's beautiful illustrations and Matthew Wilson's supernatural coloring combine to create gorgeous art that recalls the work of the late master, Moebius.  The graphical storytelling reads and feels like superhero comics as real science fiction comics.

Kieron Gillen's story is intriguing and the script is straightforward and clean.  His dialogue and The Machine's exposition made it easy for me to follow the story, setting, and plot/concept.  Gillen is going to make me spend some money on this comic book series.  So, if you don't want to spend more money on comics, dear readers, avoid The Eternals #1 2021.  If you are just looking for a really good first issue, spend it on this one … which has a killer last story page.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of the Eternals and of good Marvel comic books will want The Eternals 2021.

9 out of 10

[This comic book includes a one-page tribute to former Marvel Comics publisher, Mike Hobson, who died in November 2020.]

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


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#IReadsYou Review: THE SECRET SERVICE #1

THE SECRET SERVICE #1
MARVEL COMICS/Icon – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Mark Millar and Matthew Vaughn
WRITER: Mark Millar – @mrmarkmillar
ARTIST: Dave Gibbons
COLORS: Angus McKie
COVER: Dave Gibbons
VARIANT COVERS: Leinil Francis Yu with Sunny Gho
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (June 2012)

Mature Content

The Secret Service created by Mark Miller, Dave Gibbons, and Matthew Vaughn

The Secret Service was a six issue comic book miniseries written by Mark Millar; drawn by Dave Gibbons; and colored by Angus McKie.  The series was created by Millar, Gibbons, and writer/director/ producer Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) and was published in 2012 by Icon, a pseudo-creator owned imprint of Marvel Comics.  Vaughn directed a film loosely adapted from this comic book and entitled Kingsman: The Secret Service.  [The Secret Service has since been re-branded as Kingsman: The Secret Service to tie-in closer to the film.]

The Secret Service is apparently inspired by “classic” James Bond films and the spy thriller genre in general.  [I must note, dear readers, that I consider the James Bond films from Dr. No to A View to a Kill to be the “classic Bond films.”]  The story focuses on a super-spy and his young and wayward nephew whom he recruits into “the secret service.”

The Secret Service #1 opens in Zermatt, Switzerland where we find Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame in the clutches of mysterious, “middle-Eastern” types.  Later, in Peckham, South London, Gary “Eggsy” London is dealing with another awful night of home life with his mother, Sharon, and her English-white trash husband, Darren, and his rowdy pals.  So Gary decides to have a night of bad behavior with his own pals, but that will land him in trouble.  Once again, it's Gary's Uncle Jack to the rescue, but Jack London is secretly an MI6 agent, and he is ready to redirect his troubled nephew.

I saw Kingsman: The Secret Service on DVD not long after its home media release.  I thought some of it was really good, but most of it was mediocre slash OK.  I got a kick out of Samuel L. Jackson, Sofia Boutella, (that sexy-M.F.) Mark Strong, and Michael Caine (cause there is never enough Michael Caine).  I liked Taron Egerton, but he does not totally sell me on the idea of him being an action hero.  I put up with Colin Firth's character because he is played by Colin Firth.  Did I mention Mark Strong?

Reading The Secret Service comic book for the first time, what surprises me is how matter-of-fact the first issue seems.  It is unassuming and so lacks glamour (unlike the film) that after a few pages I thought The Secret Service was going to be a disaster.  However, I soon picked up on the steady pace, solemn pace.  There is something real and earthy about the interaction between Jack London and his sister, Sharon.  Reading it, I felt like I was eavesdropping on some real-world, old sibling melodrama.

By the end, I wanted to read more.  I'll see the new movie, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, but I hope the new comic book, Kingsman: The Red Diamond, is more like this comic book.

A
8 out of 10

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

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

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#IReadsYou Review: DARTH VADER ANNUAL #1

DARTH VADER ANNUAL No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon. Visit the "Star Wars Central" review page here.]

STORY: Kieron Gillen
PENCILS: Leinil Yu
INKS: Gerry Alanguilan
COLORS: Jason Keith
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
COVER: Leinil Yu
44pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (February 2016)

Rated T

Annual

Marvel Comics recently released the first two “Annual” editions of its flagship Star Wars comic book titles, Star Wars and Darth Vader.  Although Marvel published three Star Wars Annuals for its original Star Wars series (1977 to 1986), this is the first Darth Vader Annual, and it is written by Kieron Gillen, who writes the ongoing Darth Vader series.  This inaugural annual features arts by Leinil Yu (pencils) and Gerry Alanguilan (inks); colors by Jason Keith; and letters by Joe Caramagna.

Darth Vader Annual #1 finds Darth Vader traveling to the planet, Shu-torun.  It is a Mid-Rim world known for producing valuable ore needed by the Empire for its ceaseless building projects.  The planet is ruled by the King who must also manage the dukes (“Ore-Dukes”), each one ruling over a domain that mines the precious ore so important to the Empire.

Of late, Shu-torun has failed to meet the delivery quotas set by the Emperor, so he has sent Lord Vader to reinforce the cooperation of the King and the Ore-Dukes.  There is, however, some game afoot.  The King has sent his third child, his daughter Trios, to meet Lord Vader, and perhaps to stall him.  Rebellion is reportedly brewing on Shu-torun, but against whom?  Plus, the malevolent droid duo, 0-0-0 (Triple Zero) and BT-1 (BeeTee One), have fun on their own.

I flipped through Darth Vader Annual #1 about two weeks before I got around to reading it.  Honestly, I put off reading it because it did not look appealing.  I was wrong – so wrong.  Writer Kieron Gillen offers a simple, straight-forward story, but it depicts Vader as the fearsome, bad-ass villain Star Wars fans want him to be.  That's all; this story is just Vader being Vader.

Gillen and Jason Aaron (who writes Star Wars) are proving to be the among the best Star Wars comic book writers ever, and at the rate they are going, I will likely think of them as the best if they can give us a few years of the same high quality at which they are already performing.  Gillen adds to the Star Wars universe, offering another world and another society, without altering anything.  It is nothing groundbreaking, but it enriches the ground that has already been broken.

Leinil Yu and Gerry Alanguilan's art stylistically resembles the work of P. Craig Russell, but the storytelling recalls Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon, which I am sure is one of the works that influenced George Lucas' creation of Star Wars.  This touch of Flash Gordon makes Darth Vader Annual #1 seem like classic space opera, with a touch of interplanetary romantic courtly intrigue.

This is the perfect one-off story for a comic book “Annual” special.  Here's to many more.

A-

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.

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#IReadsYou Review: BLACK PANTHER and the Agents of Wakanda #1

BLACK PANTHER AND THE AGENTS OF WAKANDA No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Jim Zub
ART: Lan Medina
COLORS: Marcio Menyz
LETTERS: VC's Joe Sabino
MISC ART: Leinil Francis Yu with Sunny Gho
COVER: Jorge Molina
EDITOR: Wil Moss
VARIANT COVERS: John Buscema with Dave McCaig; Inhyuk Lee; Leinil Francis Yu with Sunny Gho; Yoon Lee
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (November 2019)

Rated “T”

Black Panther created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

“Eye of the Storm” Part 1 of 2

It makes sense that Marvel Comics would publish more than one Black Panther comic book series.  After all, the 2018 Black Panther film was a worldwide box office smash and won three Academy Awards, as well as receiving a best picture Oscar nomination (the first film based on a comic book to do so).  The release of that film spurred a reportedly big jump in sales of Black Panther comic books and trade paperback collections, to say nothing of the merchandise sales that left some retailers sold-out or short of supply.

The latest Black Panther ongoing comic book series is Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda.  It is both a Black Panther title and an Avengers-related series, spinning off from Jason Aaron's run on Avengers.  Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda is written by Jim Zub, drawn by Lan Medina; colored by Marcio Menyz, and lettered by Joe Sabino.

Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda #1 finds Janet Van Dyne/The Wasp and Colonel John Jameson III/The Man-Wolf in Miami fighting the “Scavengers.”  This group of tech-thieves is in Miami to find a lost cache of experimental S.H.I.E.L.D. weaponry.  Soon, however, Okoye, the tactical head of the “Dora Milaje” and director of “the Agents of Wakanda,” is leading her teammates to a meeting with their boss, Black Panther.

T'Challa, the current Chairman of the Avengers and the King of Wakanda, has located an example of the kind of situation for which the Agents of Wakanda was created – gathering intelligence and dealing with immediate hazards the Avengers cannot.  Pawhuska, Oklahoma, U.S. is experiencing some kind of demon invasion.  Can Black Panther, The Wasp, Okoye, and Fat Cobra (the immortal weapon and kung-fu champion) stop this invasion... or even discover the power behind it?

Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda writer, Jim Zub, described this comic book as “[Jack] Kirby-fueled Mission: Impossible in the Marvel Universe” to Marvel.com.  He said the team is “a strike force of misfits and monsters tasked with defending humanity.”  The Agents of Wakanda aren't the first superhero group to take on the “weirdness” in the “weird corners” of its comic book universe.  There is also DC Comics The New Terrifics.

The Truth is that everything about a superhero comic book universe is weird, so comic book writers who claim that there is a particularly “weirder” segment ripe for storytelling better bring it.  Jim Zub, a good comic book writer who has produced some comic books that I have enjoyed, does not bring it.  In Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda #1  Zub's dialogue is bland, and he makes the characters, some of Marvel's best, seem somewhat run-of-the-mill.

Lan Medina's art is really good... in a few places, and is storytelling is... professional.  Marcio Menyz's coloring is really good, and the color effects caught my attention.  Joe Sabino's lettering is also professional and maybe... a bit perfunctory.  But practically nothing in this first issue is exciting.

If Jim Zub can give Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda the spark he gave his former Image Comics series, Wayward, then, this could be an exceptional superhero comic book.  Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda #1 doesn't seem like the introduction to something that will be exceptional.

5 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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#IReadsYou Review: X-MEN #1 (2019)

X-MEN No. 1 (2019)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Jonathan Hickman
PENCILS: Leinil Francis Yu
INKS: Gerry Alanguilan
COLORS: Sunny Gho
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
EDITOR: Jordan D. White
EiC: Akria Yoshida a.k.a. “C.B. Cebulski”
COVER: Leinil Francis Yu with Sunny Gho
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Mark Bagley and John Dell with Israel Silva; Mark Brooks; Tom Muller; Whilce Portacio with Chris Sotomayor; Leinil Francis Yu; Chris Bachalo with Edgar Delgado; Artgerm; Marco Checchetto; Russell Dauterman
44pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (December 2019)

Rated T+

The X-Men created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

“Pax Krakoa”

The X-Men are a Marvel Comics superhero team and franchise created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Jack Kirby.  In The X-Men #1 (cover dated: September 1963), readers were introduced to a professor and team-leader and his students who had unique powers and abilities because they were “mutants.”  The leader was Professor Charles Xavier a/k/a “Professor X.”  His students were Scott Summers (Cyclops), Jean Grey (Marvel Girl), Warren Worthington III (Angel), Henry “Hank” McCoy (Beast), and Bobby Drake (Iceman).

This past summer (2019), writer Jonathan Hickman revamped, rebooted, and re-imagined the X-Men comic book franchise via a pair of six-issue comic book miniseries, House of X and Powers of X (pronounced “Powers of Ten”).  October welcomed “Dawn of X,” the launch of six new X-Men titles, although all except one bore titles that have been previously used.  The new series were Excalibur, Fallen Angels, Marauders, New Mutants, X-Force, and the subject of this review, X-Men.

X-Men 2019 is written by Jonathan Hickman; drawn by Leinil Franics Yu (pencils) and the recently-deceased Gerry Alanguilan (inks); colored by Sunny Gho, and lettered by Clayton Cowles.  The series will apparently focus on Cyclops and his hand-picked team of mutant powerhouses who will stand between the mutants' sacred land (the island of Krakoa) and the threat of the human world.

X-Men #1 (Pax Krakoa) finds the X-Men engaged in a mop-up operation, destroying the last stronghold of Orchis, the organization that was attempting to build a more powerful generation of the mutant-hunting robots, the Sentinels.  Cyclops, Storm, Magneto, and Polaris find little real resistance from the minions of Orchis.  However, they do find a “posthuman” and a large group of mutant children in need of rescuing... and in need of a home.

So it's back to Krakoa, the living island and mutant nation-state.  Many are still adjusting to this new home and the new state of mutant affairs.  Meanwhile, their enemies are not going quietly into the night, nor is their evil science.

For the first two decades of its existence, the X-Men comic book series (later titled Uncanny X-Men) had an intimate feel to it.  The series basically focused on a small band of heroes and adventures who (1) had few allies and (2) fought “evil mutants” in order to protect the larger world of humanity.  Even when the team line-ups changed or when a second group of “New Mutants” entered the picture, the X-Men comics felt like an intimate affair with its tales of the mutant-us against the world.

From the mid-1980s on, Marvel Comics published an increasing number of X-Men and X-Men related ongoing series, finite series, graphic novels, and assorted one-off publications.  Then, the hit film, X-Men (2000), presented the X-Men's home and base, “Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters” (Xavier Institute for Higher Learning), as an actual school, packed with minor children who were mutants.  Marvel Comics followed suit, and suddenly Professor Charles Xavier a.k.a. Professor X's mansion went from half a dozen or so inhabitants to housing untold dozens of students, in addition to members of the X-Men who were suddenly being depicted as teachers and counselors.

So during the past two decades of X-Men comic books, the X-Men titles have stopped being superhero comic books and have become mutant soap opera, dystopian, science fiction, serial dramas.  That would not be a problem except there are too many characters, too many plots, and too many comic books.  No matter how many Spider-Man, Superman, or Batman comic books there are, those titles still focus only on Spider-Man, Superman, or Batman.  There is still an intimacy between the reader and a single character.  Too many Avengers or Justice League comic books become redundant, like an over-supply of superhero characters.  That's the problem with the X-Men... still... even after the latest spiffy, new reboot.

Jonathan Hickman's House of X and Powers of X were finite series with a purpose, a goal, and (more or less) an endgame.  Each series had a beginning, a middle, and an end – even during the moments when that was presented in a non-linear fashion.  Both of these comic books were wonderful, satisfying, complete reads.

But we seem to be back to the status quo that was not supposed to be, at least, post-Hickman revolution.  X-Men 2019 is the start of a wave of new X-Men titles, “Dawn of X,” soon to be followed by more waves.  Well, maybe Hickman will continue to surprise us and later issues of X-Men 2019 won't feel like padded story the way this X-Men #1 does.  One can hope, even a former X-Men fan like myself.  But I have a feeling that sales on the “Dawn of X” titles will have plummeted so much by the end of 2020 that Marvel Comics will already be planning the next relaunch.

5.5 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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#IReadsYou Review: UNCANNY X-MEN #1 (2019)

UNCANNY X-MEN #1 (2019) – Legacy #620
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Ed Brisson, Matthew Rosenberg, and Kelly Thompson
ART: Mahmud Asrar; Mirko Colak; Ibraim Roberson
PENCILS: Mark Bagley
INKS: Andrew Hennessy
COLORS: Rachelle Rosenberg
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
COVER: Leinil Francis Yu with Edgar Delgado
EDITOR: Jordan White with Darren Shan
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: David Finch with Frank D'Armata; Jim Cheung with Justin Ponsor; Scott Williams with Ryan Kinnaird; Carlos Pacheco and Rafael Fonteriz with Edgar Delgado; Joe Quesada with Richard Isanove; Rob Liefeld with Romulo Fajardo, Jr.; Dave Cockrum with Jason; Dave Cockrum
72pp, Color, $7.99 U.S. (January 2019)

Rated T+

X-Men created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

“Disassembled” Part 1; “What Tomorrow Brings” Parts One – “A Bishop Story”; Part Two – “A Jean Grey Story”; Part Three – “An Armor & Angle Story”; Epilogue

There is no point in trying to count the number of times that Marvel Comics has relaunched, reinvigorated, or quasi-rebooted its X-Men comic book franchise since 2001's New X-Men.  This week we got the third(?) Uncanny X-Men relaunch.

Uncanny X-Men 2019 is written by the team of Ed Brisson, Matthew Rosenberg, and Kelly Thompson.  The artists and art teams will rotate, as the first nine issues of this new series will be published weekly.  The artists for this first issue are Mahmud Asrar (pencils-inks); Mirko Colak (pencils-inks); Ibraim Roberson (pencils-inks); and the team of Mark Bagley (pencils) and Andrew Hennessy (inks).  Rachelle Rosenberg colors and Joe Caramanga letters this first issue.

Uncanny X-Men #1 begins with the main story, “Disassembled” Part 1.  The story opens with Jean Grey having a dream about an invasion of multiple copies of Multiple Man, each one demanding the whereabouts of Kitty Pryde.  Meanwhile, Kitty is among the members of the X-Men who are suddenly disappearing.  Who is behind this mystery?  In a series of back-up stories, Bishop, Jean Grey & Storm, and Armor & Anole take on a foe capable of possessing people in the days leading up to the events depicted in the main story.

20th Century Fox's X-Men film franchise has had some spectacular successes and some failures since the franchise's first film, 2000's X-Men.  In that time, X-Men comic books have been mostly hit and miss.  There have been some interesting, even good series; All New X-Men, New X-Men, and X-Men: The Hidden Years come to mind.  However, the “golden age” of X-Men comic books was over by the mid-1980s, and the various owners of Marvel Comics have ruined the franchise by turning it into a cash cow that has vomited money.  A deluge of X-Men and X-Men-related ongoing series, miniseries, one-shots, specials, graphic novels, and reprint and archival publications in various formats, etc. were money makers.  The quality of these comic books varied wildly.  Some were good.  Some were mediocre.  Some were plain awful.

Personally, I think that without a radical rethinking of the X-Men concept, the best we can hope for is that maybe each new iteration of a flagship X-Men comic book, Uncanny X-Men or the recent X-Men: Blue and X-Men: Gold, can yield at least a year's worth of good comic books.  Gold and Blue barely did that.

I like that Uncanny X-Men 2019 will be weekly for its first nine issues.  I wish that Marvel and DC Comics published more weekly titles.  Rather than have a bunch of crappy Justice League titles, have one that is published weekly and features rotating casts and creative teams.  If Uncanny X-Men's writing team can maintain this first issue's sense of mystery and keep offering cliffhangers like the ones in this issue, then, this will be a fun run of nine issues.

So I have some hope, but, without going into spoilers, nothing in Uncanny X-Men #1 2019 suggests that this comic book will approach the first quarter-century of X-Men publications, which offered quite a few stories that went on to become classics.  But there is enough here to suggest that this could be a solid title.  I want to be surprised and delighted.

7 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and  syndication rights and fees.

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Review: SAVAGE AVENGERS #1

SAVAGE AVENGERS No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Gerry Duggan
ART: Mike Deodato, Jr.
COLORS: Frank Martin
LETTERS: VC's Travis Lanham
EDITOR: Tom Brevoort
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida a.k.a. “C.B. Cebulski”
COVER: David Finch with Frank D'Armata
VARIANT COVERS: Simone Bianchi with Simone Peruzzi; Mike Deodato, Jr. with Frank Martin; Moebius; Skottie Young; Leinil Francis Yu with Romulo Fajardo, Jr.
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (July 2019)

Rated “Parental Advisory”

Avengers created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Chapter One: “Once Upon a Time in the City of Sickles”

The Avengers are Marvel Comics' premiere team of superheroes.  Known as “Earth's Mightiest Heroes,” the team made its debut in The Avengers #1 (cover dated:  September 1963) and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Conan the Cimmerian is a “sword and sorcery” character 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.  In 1970, Marvel Comics brought Conan to the world of comic books with the series, Conan the Barbarian.

Conan the Barbarian teams-up with Wolverine, The Punisher, Venom, Elektra and Doctor Voodoo to give the Avengers a savage spin in the new comic book series, Savage Avengers.  This ongoing title is written by Gerry Duggan; drawn by Mike Deodato, Jr.; colored by Frank Martin; and lettered by Travis Lanham.  The premise of this team-up is that these heroes, anti-heroes, and villains must work together to put an end to the machinations of the evil wizards of Conan’s world who have start trading spells with The Hand, the infamous ninja organization.

Savage Avengers #1 (“Once Upon a Time in the City of Sickles”) opens with a famous opera singer who is kidnapped and spirited away to The Savage Land, specifically the “City of Sickles.”  There a menacing man known as the “Cult Leader” kills the opera singer and throws his body into a giant bowl.  This bowl is filled with the bloody and broken corpses of some of mankind's best artists, thinkers, and warriors.  But more is needed if this cult is going to summon a brutal dark god, “Jhoatun Lau, the Marrow God,” who resides on a mysterious planet beyond Pluto.

Meanwhile, Conan, looking for priceless jewel now in the Savage Land, runs into Wolverine.  Suddenly, two of the fiercest, most vicious, and most brutal warriors of two worlds will fight, apparently to the death.  Meanwhile, Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher makes a discovery that will summon his dark side.

I was interested in Savage Avengers when I read the first announcement about it, but I was not interested enough to read it right away.  I recently came upon a copy of Savage Avengers #1, and, after putting it off, decided to read it.  Wow, I must say I enjoyed it.  Most of this issue depicts a brutal, hack-and-slash, stab-and-stab-again battle between Conan and Wolverine.  Still, writer Gerry Duggan offers a dark and interesting scenario – a giant bowl containing a pool of blood and ofal – and a scary-sounding dark god.

As usual Mike Deodato, Jr. presents beautiful art.  His art is an illustrated symphony of sharp line work and precision crosshatching.  Deodato's graphical storytelling suggests classic horror comics, and Frank Martin's colors are the perfect accompaniment to Deodato's night music art.  Deodato and Martin's depiction of Jhoatun Lau makes the geek in me holler, Awesome!

Letter Travis Lanham also plays music, the ebb and flow offering different levels of intensity.  Lanham goes from intense and loud (Conan vs. Wolverine) to menacing intensity (the cult).  I'm shocked by how much I like Savage Avengers #1, but I am looking for more issues.

8 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 syndication rights and fees.

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Review: CAPTAIN AMERICA #1

CAPTAIN AMERICA No. 1 (Legacy #705)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review ws originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Ta-Nehisi Coates
PENCILS: Leinil Francis Yu
INKS: Gerry Alanguilan
COLORS: Sunny Gho
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
COVER: Alex Ross
VARIANT COVERS: Adam Hughes; Joe Jusko; David Mack; Jim Sternako; Frank Miller with Edgar Delgado; Leinil Francis Yu; Paul Renaud; Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; Marko Djurdjevic; Ron Garney with Matt Milla; Mike Zeck with Richard Isanove; John Cassaday with Laura Martin
40pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (September 2018)

Rated “T+”

Captain America created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby

“Winter in America” Part 1

Captain America is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.  Captain America was Steve Rogers, a frail young man who reached the peak of human perfection via the experimental “super soldier” serum.

He first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (cover dated:  March 1941), which was published by Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics.  After Captain America Comics was canceled in 1949, there was a revival of the series from 1953 to 1954.  Captain America fully returned to modern comic books in The Avengers #4 (cover dated: March 1964).

Steve Rogers/Captain America embarks on a new beginning again with a relaunch of his title series.  The new Captain America comic book series is written by Ta-Nehisi Coates; drawn by Leinil Francis Yu (pencils) and Gerry Alanguilan (inks); colored by Sunny Gho; and lettered by Joe Caramagna.  In the new series, Captain America faces an existential crises as he wrestles with how people view and perceive him in the wake of the Hydra Captain America impostor that briefly took over the world as an authoritarian dictator.

Captain America #1 opens in the Sayan Mountains of Russia months earlier.  There, something new is emerging from the ashes of Hydra.  In the present day, Captain America and the Winter Solider battle a small army of men who resemble Cap's old adversary, Nuke.  They are killing civilians in a mass shooting event in and around the National Mall in Washington D.C.  As Captain America battles to save lives and stop these killers, he will also have to face another harsh reality.  No one really trusts him anymore... even the people who should know him best.

I would not call Captain America #1 2018 a great comic book, but it is the best written Captain America comic book that I have read in ages.  Ta-Nehisi Coates cleverly uses the battle at the National Mall's aftermath to depict not so much Captain America in crisis, but the Sentinel of Liberty as man at odds with the people, places, and nation he has sworn to protect and to defend.  It makes for great reading, because we known this is the true Captain America, but the dramatic tension brought by the distrust of Cap from the other characters makes for some good reading.

Leinil Francis Yu has been a skilled graphical storyteller for over two decades, but his drawing style has taken an ugly turn the last several years – as far as I am concerned.  He is better here, and Sunny Gho's evocative colors strengthen how the narrative conveys its ideas and heightens the drama.  Letterer Joe Caramagna creates a steady sense of rhythm that paces the narrative flow for both the action scenes and for the character scenes that confront Captain America.

I think Ta-Nehisi Coates will make me a regular Captain America reader for the first time in ages.  I think this is the beginning of a good age for Captain America.

8 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 or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: STAR WARS: Vader - Dark Visions #1

STAR WARS: VADER – DARK VISIONS No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum
ART: Paolo Villanelli
COLORS: Arif Prianto
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
EDITOR: Mark Paniccia
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida a.k.a. C.B. Cebulski
COVER: Greg Smallwood
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Giuseppe Camuncoli & Elia Bonetti; Leinil Franics Yu with Romulo Fajardo, Jr.
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (May 2019)

Rated T

“Part 1 of 5

Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions is a new five-issue, Star Wars comic book miniseries from Marvel Comics.  The series presents characters who view the Star Wars universe's ultimate villain, Darth Vader, in ways that are different from how most familiar Star Wars characters view the Sith Lord.  Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions is written by Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum.  The art team for the first issue is comprised of illustrator Paolo Villanelli; colorist Arif Prianto; and letterer Joe Caramagna.

Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions #1 opens on a lush green, but devastated world where we meet a young native boy.  The boy, who also narrates this story, refers to his world as “Cianap.”  His people live underground, but enjoy a brief time above ground, a time called “the Slumber.”  While enjoying the current season of the Slumber, our narrator witnesses a fireball that explodes above Cianap's atmosphere.  This conflagration is the result of a fierce battle above the planet between forces of the Galactic Empire and of the Rebel Alliance.

One of the participants in the battle is Darth Vader, whose TIE fighter is damaged, forcing him to crash land on Cianap.  When Vader emerges from his fighter, to the boy, he looks like a “Black Knight.”  To the boy, this Black Knight may be the one to save his world from the god called “Ender.”

Fans of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, especially the Star Wars novels, remember the series of novels now known as the “Thrawn trilogy.”  In the second novel of the three, Dark Force Rising (1992), Princess Leia visits the planet, Honoghr, where the denizens of the world view Darth Vader as a savior (a matter which turns out to be a bit more complicated).  When I first read the novel, I became intrigued by the idea of people and sentient beings who viewed Vader as some kind of hero or savior, especially people that did not directly serve or work for the Empire.  In the years since, I have waited for someone to take that idea present in Dark Force Rising and expand on it.

In this standalone story that is Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions #1, the writer Dennis Hallum (who previously wrote under the pen name, “Dennis Hopeless”) offers a nice tale that satisfies may craving for Vader-as-hero.  Hallum's story has a fairy tale quality, and it strips Darth Vader of the complexities that surround the character and focuses on his power and on the striking nature of his black costume-suit and physicality.  At thirty pages in length, this story, which is more like a campfire tale, is a nice Star Wars tale, a desert for readers who are used to the main Star Wars narratives, which often seem like the storytelling equivalent of a elaborate, dark, and heavy 12-course meal.

Artist Paolo Villanelli's illustrations for Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions #1 have an eye-catching quality and remind me of the work of Bryan Hitch.  Villanelli's storytelling here is stirring and always seems to be striving forward, carrying the reader just as the boy-narrator is dragged along by the circumstances of an epic battle.  Colorist Arif Prianto offers a muted palette that still manages to make the story crackle, and, as usual, Joe Caramagna delivers lettering that makes the story bigger.

I hope the rest of Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions is like this really nice first issue.  I heartily recommend it to Star Wars comic book readers.  And it gives me what I want – characters who have a view askew of Darth Vader.

8 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 syndication rights and fees.

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Review: RETURN OF WOLVERINE #1

RETURN OF WOLVERINE No. 1 (OF 5)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Charles Soule
PENCILS: Steve McNiven
INKS: Jay Leisten
COLORS: Laura Martin
LETTERS: VC's Joe Sabino
EDITORS: Mark Paniccia and Jordan D. White
COVER:  Steve McNiven and Jay Leisten with Laura Martin
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: John Cassaday with Laura Martin; Steve McNiven and Jay Leisten with Laura Martin; Todd Nauck with Rachelle Rosenberg; Leinil Francis Yu with Sunny Gho
40pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (November 2018)

Parental advisory

Chapter One: “Hell”

Four years ago, Marvel Comics published Death of Wolverine.  Written by Charles Soule and drawn by Steven McNiven (pencils) and Jay Leisten (inks), the four-issue miniseries saw Wolverine a.k.a. Logan die as a result of injuries and loosing his supernatural healing factor that was a result of him being a mutant.  The most famous version of the Wolverine character:  the one who has been a member of the mutant X-Men and the one that made his first full appearance in The Incredible Hulk #181 (after having appeared in the last panel of #180), was dead.

Now after a year of Marvel teasing, Wolverine/Logan is returning in the five-issue comic book miniseries, Return of Wolverine.   The Death of Wolverine creative team of Soule, McNiven, and Leisten return for this resurrection event.  Laura Martin on colors and Joe Sabino on letters complete the creative team.

Return of Wolverine #1 (“Hell”) opens.  Wolverine awakens.  We know who he is, but he does not know who he is.  He is in some unknown location.  There is a saber-tooth tiger and a mammoth in cages near him.  A grievously wounded man tells Wolverine that he should be dead.  A woman who wants Wolverine to find her son tells him that he is a hero.  They both want Wolverine to find some organization called “Soteira” and a woman named “Persephone.”  They both want him to kill and destroy the woman and her organization respectively.  Still unsure of who is he or what happened or is happening, Wolverine figures, why not.  What else does he have to do?

Legendary comic book writer, Alan Moore, had a lot to say about DC Comics' announcement that it would produce prequel and sequel comic books based upon his and artist Dave Gibbons' also legendary, 12-issue comic book series, Watchmen.  As Moore has long disputed the contracts and rights issues between him and DC over Watchmen, he refused to participate in the eventual multi-comic book project, Before Watchmen (2012).

Moore described the comic book creators who signed on for the prequels as alternately “possibly halfway decent writers and artists” and people who don't even deserve the title of “creators.”  That irked some comics folks; I seem to remember Marvel Comics writer Jason Aaron being particularly miffed.  I think that Moore's comments can be accurately levied against quite a few comic book creators, past and present.

However, I think that it is not so much that comic book writers and artists are halfway decent; rather it is that they often produce halfway decent comic books, even when they are working on what is supposedly important, event comic books.

Return of Wolverine #1 is halfway decent.  I would say that the majority of the comic books written by Charles Soule that I have read I have really liked.  I halfway like Return of Wolverine #1, but not for the story, which. is halfway decent...   No., this is a poorly written comic book.  It is beneath a writer as highly-paid and as respected as Charles Soule is.  I hope future issues are better.

Meanwhile, I really like Steve McNiven and Jay Leisten's gorgeous artwork and goddess colorist Laura Martin's colors over those beautiful illustrations.  McNiven, Leisten, and Martin art recalls the art of Barry Windsor-Smith on the Wolverine origin story, “Weapon X,” which was originally published in Marvel Comics Presents #72 to 84 (cover dated:  March to September 1991).  Windsor-Smith infrequently produces comic book art; in fact, his last published comic book work may be the five-page section he drew for Wolverine #166 (cover dated:  September 2001).  So McNiven-Leisten-Martin's faux-Barry Windsor-Smith is the reason I will continue to read Return of Wolverine.

Thus, my grade for Return of Wolverine #1 is based on the art.  If it were based only on the story, it would get a failing grade.

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 or site for syndication rights and fees.

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I Reads You Juniors April 2018 - Update #53

Support Leroy on Patreon.

Leroy's Amazon Comics and Graphic Novels Page:

From BleedingCool:  268 comic book creators will be signing on Free Comic Book Day 2018, May 5th, 2018.

From ComicBookBin:  New Johnny Bullet episode #161 in English
From ComicBookBin:  New Johnny Bullet episode #161 in French

From TheMainichi: A lawyer has sued Nippon Telephone and Telegraph (NTT) overs its plan to block sites that link to pirated anime and manga.

From AnimeNewsNetwork:  Kodansha announces five digital-first manga licenses for May 2018.

From BleedingCool:  Alan Davis will contribute art to Captain America #703.

From BleedingCool: "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? is going bi-monthly with issue #93.

From JapanTimes:  Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) will block sites that link to pirated anime or manga.

From Newsarama:  2018 Glyph Award nominees announced.  Winners to be announces May 19th, 2018 at the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention.

From AnimeNewsNetwork:  Dark Horse Licenses Mob Psycho 100 Manga

From BleedingCool:  Brian Michael Bendis is rumored to be curating some times, perhaps a "Flash" comic book written by David F. Walker ("Cyborg).

From ComicBookBin:  New Johnny Bullet episode #160 in English.
From ComicBookBin:  New Johnny Bullet episode #160 in French.

From Vulture:  Jim Starlin, the creator of Marvel Comics' mega-villain, Thanos, hates Marvel Comics.

From AnimeNewNetwork:  The worldwide master of horror comics, Junji Ito, spoke about the anime adaptation of his horror manga during a story signing.

From BleedingCool:  No Matt Fraction. No "Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen" revival... for now.

From ArtNetNews:  Check out the public murals and graffiti that are part of the "Peanuts Global Art Collective."

From Geek:  Japan takes emergency action against anime and manga pirating websites.

From BleedingCool:  Next week in Diamond Previews (May 2018)... Ta-Nehisi Coates and Lienil Francis Yu's "Captain America" and Rob Guillory's "Farmhand."

From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics' July 2018 solicitations from Diamond Distributors.

From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing's July 2018 solicitations from Diamond Distributors.

From ComicBook:  Eiichiro Oda talks about the unprecedented sales of his manga, "One Piece."

From BleedingCool:  BleedingCool talks to Bruce Canwell of The Library of American Comics, which publishes collections of the American newspaper comic strips.

From Forbes:   Inside The Big-Money, 24-Hour World Of Comic Books

From JapanTimes:  The Japanese government wants calls for "emergency measures" to block access to websites that pirate manga and anime.

From CommercialAppeal:  Sheree Renee Thomas organizing Afrofuturism event in Memphis, TN, on Saturday, April 21st.

From ComicBook:  Hiro Mishima ("Fairy Tail") previews his new manga, but the title has not been announced.

From BleedingCool:  Raina Telgemeier's "Drama" makes the American Library Association's "banded books" list again.

From BleedingCool: DC Comics Reveals Solicits for Superman #1 and Action Comics #1001.

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From TheRorschachTest:  A podcast interview of longtime writer about comic books, Augie De Blieck, Jr.

From PipelineComics:  The subject of the above interview, Augie's piece, "The Inevitable Direct Market Implosion."

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From BleedingCool:  President Trump makes an appearance in "Suicide Squad."

From AnimeNewsNetwork:  Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto has apparently announced that his new work will debut at the end of 2018 and will be a long-form series.  Previous speculation is that it is a science fiction manga.

From AnimeNewsNetwork:  The venerable manga, "Detective Conan" (known as "Case Closed"), will get a spinoff.

From Techaeris:  Manga piracy in Japan is hurting the creators of the art form

From io9:  Evan Narcisse tells the truth: "Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez Might Be the Most Under-Appreciated Superhero Artist of All Time."

From BleedingCool:  Here is a preview of Mark Millar and Olivier Coipel's "The Magic Order."

From SyFyWire:  Mark Millar talks to "SyFy Wire" in a video interview.  Millarworld, Netflix, and Marvel vs. DC Movies are some of the topics discussed.

From AnimeNetworkNews:  VIZ Media announces that it will publish another Junji Ito short story collection, "Frankenstein."

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STAN LEE MELODRAMA - From BleedingCool:  Stan Lee sues Jerry Olivarez of "Hands of Respect" for elder abuse.

From YahooMoviesUK:  In an online video, Stan Lee says that he is not a victim of elder abuse.

From ABCActionNews:  Stan Lee's blood was apparently used to sign comic books in Las Vegas.

From BleedingCool:  Fans express concern about Stan Lee after his appearance at Silicon Valley Comic Con.

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From BleedingCool:  Joelle Jones will write and draw an ongoing "Catwoman" comic book series.

From ComicBookBin:  New webcomic Johnny Bullet episode #159 in English
From ComicBookBin:  New webcomic Johnny Bullet episode #159 in French

From BleedingCool:  Marvel's "Fresh Start" will include dual issue numbers and a new trade dress/graphic design.

From CBR:  The Justice League has a new villain, debuting in "Justice League #41."

From BleedingCool:  "All-New Wolverine #33" has a Marvel characters as President of the United States.

From ComicBookBin:  New webcomic Johnny Bullet episode #158 in English.
From ComicBookBin:  New webcomic Johnny Bullet episode #158 in French.

From MangaTokyo:  "Detective Conan" ("Case Closed" in the USA), from creator Gosho Aoyama, is ending its short hiatus and returns in a week.

From Crunchyroll:  The "Hunter x Hunter" manga, from Yoshihiro Togashi, is going on hiatus again.

From JapanNews:  Here is a review of a French graphic novel, "Matsumoto."   He was the cult leader behind the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack.

From BleedingCool:  Comics creators writer letters in support of 1980s-90s comic book creator, Gerard Jones.  Jones recently entered a guilty plea to two felony counts concerning his possession and distribution of child pornography.

From BleedingCool:  Archie Comics co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit celebrates "World Autism Awareness Day with the recent addition to Riverdale, Scarlet.

From ComicBookBin:  New Johnny Bullet episode #157 in English.
From ComicBookBin:  New Johnny Bullet episode #157 in French.

From MarvelNews:  The Fantastic Four returns to comic books in "Fantastic Four #1" this August.