Master Keaton: The Pied Piper of Hamelin

I read Master Keaton, Vol. 4

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

Review: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD: Furiosa #1

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD: FURIOSA #1
DC COMICS/Vertigo – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: George Miller
SCRIPT: Nico Lathouris and Mark Sexton
ART: Mark Sexton; Tristan Jones; Szymon Kudranski
COLORS: Michael Spicer
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: Tommy Lee Edwards
40pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (August 2015)

Suggested for mature readers

In 1979, an Australian science fiction film, entitled Mad Max, introduced audiences to the character, Max Rockatansky (played by a young Mel Gibson).  Mad Max is set in a dystopian future that takes place “a few years from now,” and finds the roads of Australia plagued by motorcycle gangs and other high-speed drivers.  Trying to keep the roads safe are the police officers of the MFP – Main Force Patrol – who pursue reckless road criminals.  After his family and partner are destroyed by a motorcycle gang, Max becomes “Mad Max,” seeking revenge against the gang.

Mad Max yielded two sequels.  The first was 1981's Mad Max 2, which was known as The Road Warrior when it was originally released in the United States in 1982.  The second sequel was Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, which featured legendary singer, Tina Turner, as the villain.

All three films were directed by George Miller, who spent the better part of the last two decades trying to revive the Mad Max film franchise.  Warner Bros. Pictures finally gave the go-ahead, and a fourth film, Mad Max: Fury Road, debuted earlier this year and starred Thomas Hardy as Mad Max.

DC Comics' Vertigo imprint has been publishing a series of Mad Max: Fury Road comic books that are prequels to the film.  These comic books are produced by George Miller and Nico Lathouris (who co-wrote Fury Road), and Mark Sexton (the lead storyboard artist on Fury Road).

On the recommendation of Mad Max super-fan, Erik Larsen (my VIZ Media PR rep), I recently obtained a copy of Mad Max: Fury Road: Furiosa #1.  This one-shot comic book is written by George Miller (story) and Nico Lathouris and Mark Sexton (script).  Furiosa is drawn by Mark Sexton; Tristan Jones; and Szymon Kudranski, with colors by Michael Spicer and letters by Clem Robins.  Tommy Lee Edwards provides the cover art.

Mad Max: Fury Road: Furiosa #1 opens in the vault, an edifice where the warlord Immortan Joe keeps five young women prisoner.  They are “The Five Wives,” his “Breeders,” whom he plans to use to sire healthy male heirs.  Joe believes these heirs will be future warlords, who will help repopulate the world in his image.

Joe introduces two women into the wives' living environment.  To guard against depression and mental ills, Joe gives his wives a teacher, Miss Giddy, a woman who will provide the wives with an education via books and music.  To protect them, Joe assigns one of his lieutenants, a mysterious woman named Imperator Furiosa, who moves in to live with the girls.  Things will never ever be the same.

Mad Max: Fury Road: Furiosa #1 really does not have a plot, so much as it is a prologue to the main event, which is, of course, the film, Mad Max: Fury Road (which I have not seen as of this writing).  For the most part, this comic book is frustratingly reticent about giving up Imperator Furiosa's past.  However, the story does convey, in a quiet way, Furiosa's growing discontent with the way things are under Immortan Joe.

The overall design layout of this story is excellent.  From the beginning, the design and layout of each page serves to convey the sense that some big change is simmering and that when it comes, it will be sudden and explosive.  As for the drawing styles, Tristan Jones and Szymon Kudranski encapsulate the idea of a slave pit of the post-apocalyptic, especially with the aid of Michael Spicer's colors.

Mad Max: Fury Road: Furiosa #1 has made it that I can't wait for my next trip to a comic book shop to pick up the other Mad Max: Fury Road prequel comics.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

Review: JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: Part 1 - Phantom Blood Volume 3

JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: PART 1 – PHANTOM BLOOD, VOL. 3
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Hirohiko Araki
TRANSLATION: Evan Galloway
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7881-1; hardcover (August 2015); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
348pp, B&W with some color, $19.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN, £12.99 U.K.

VIZ Media's presentation of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the Phantom Blood arc, comes to an end with the third volume.  The legendary Shonen Jump manga series, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, is available in English for the first time.  VIZ Media is publishing the manga as a series of deluxe edition graphic novels with color pages and new cover art.

Created by Hirohiko Araki, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a multi-generational tale that centers on the heroic Joestar family and their never-ending battle against evil.  JoJo's Bizarre Adventure begins with the “Phantom Blood” arc.  It is the story of two brothers; one who is ambitious, but is also cruel and evil, and the other who is dignified and strives to be a just man.

Dio Brando has used the evil “Stone Mask” to turn people into flesh-eating zombies and also to resurrect great warriors of the past as monstrous fighters.  As JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 – Phantom Blood, Vol. 3 (Chapters 28 to 44) opens,  Jonathan “JoJo” Joestar takes on two of those reanimated fighters, Tarkus and the Dark Knight Blueford.  JoJo will transform one of them, but the other will prove to be a determined killer who will take the life of one of Jojo's friends.

Then, JoJo and his companions travel to the village of one of their company, the boy named Poco.  Dio is in the village, making it his base of operations, where he has already transformed dozens of villagers into hungry zombies.  Is Poco's sisters one of those creatures?  This is the final battle between JoJo and Dio, but that battle will span continents.

I was vaguely familiar with the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga, which was first published in 1986 in Weekly Shonen Jump.  Now, I know why.  This manga cannot help but have a reputation.  The story's contents are the kind that turn into word-of-mouth praise.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 – Phantom Blood, Volume 3 is the final collection of the Phantom Blood story arc.  For the most part, probably 300 pages of the narrative depict fight scenes.  Creator Hirohiko Araki composes the fights with big, meaty compositions that portray the human body as a stand of pulsating and twisting muscle.  His drawing style looks like the art of American comic book legends, Jack Kirby and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, and mangaka Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro squeezed into a Frankenstein anatomy for sculptors.

This finale earns the word “blood” and is shocking in so many ways.  For me, the most shocking is the scene where a woman devours her infant. Yeah...  JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is for the adventurous manga reader, and I have to admit that I am ready for more.  Fans of weird shonen manga will want to try the Shonen Jump Advanced series, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 – Phantom Blood.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

Review: UNCLE SCROOGE #1

UNCLE SCROOGE #1
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Rodolfo Cimino; Alberto Savini; Romano Scarpa and Luca Boschi
PENCILS: Romano Scarpa; Andrea Freccero
INKS: Giorgio Cavazzano; Andrea Freccero; Sandro Del Conte
COLORS: Digikore Studios; Disney Italia with David Gerstein; Disney Italia with Digikore Studios
LETTERS: Tom B. Long
TRANSLATION: Jonathan H. Gray; David Gerstein
DIALOGUE: Jonathan H. Gray; David Gerstein; Joe Torcivia
COVER: Giorgio Cavazzano
VARIANT COVERS: Derek Charm (subscription cover); Andrew Pepoy (RI cover); Giorgio Cavazzano (RE cover)
48pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (April 2015)

Scrooge McDuck is the maternal uncle of Walt Disney's Donald Duck and the grand-uncle of Donald's three nephews:  Huey, Dewey, and Louie.  Scrooge is the wealthiest person in the world (of Disney characters and stories), but he is quite thrifty, although for a long time, he could be described as a miser.  Scrooge McDuck was created by legendary comic book writer-artist, Carl Barks (who was named a “Disney Legend”), and he first appeared in Four Color #178 (Dell Comics).  Four Color Comics was a classic comic book series in which many Disney characters appeared.

Scrooge McDuck received his own comic book title, Uncle Scrooge (stylized as Uncle $crooge).  The first issue of Uncle Scrooge was Four Color #386 (cover dated: March 1952).  During a period of just over seven decades, several publishers and imprints have published Uncle Scrooge, including Gold Key Comics, Gladstone Publishing, and Disney Comics (now defunct), among others.

The latest American publisher to take on the license to publish comics featuring Walt Disney characters is IDW Publishing.  The publisher's Disney's comics will apparently reprint “classic stories” and offer new stories.  In April of this year, IDW started off its Disney publishing initiative with Uncle Scrooge #1, which is Uncle Scrooge #405, using a legacy numbering system that includes all the issue of the Uncle Scrooge comic book published in the past by various publishers.

Uncle Scrooge #1 reprints three stories, which I assume were first published in Europe, likely Italy, going by the names of the writers and artists.  Two are full-length stories, and a third is a single-page comic.  In “Gigabeagle: King of the Robot Robbers,” Scrooge McDuck frets because it has been several months since he has heard from the Beagle Boys.

The Beagle Boys are the criminal gang that is constantly launching plots and schemes to rob Scrooge of his money.  When he doesn't hear from them for a long period of time, Scrooge worries that they are plotting a particularly devious (and potentially successful) plan to get his money.  Donald Duck and Huey, Dewey, and Louie take their Uncle Scrooge on a camping outing so that he can relax and forget about The Beagle Boys.  Then, Donald sees what can only be an apparition, a giant Beagle Boy...

In “Stinker, Tailor, Scrooge and Sly,” Uncle Scrooge is beset by a thief who keeps breaking into his home to steal Scrooge's trademark red frock coat.  After one of the theft attempts ends with the coat damaged, Scrooge visits “La Belle Brigitta,” a sewing boutique owned by Brigitta MacBridge, who has a mad crush on Scrooge.  However, Brigitta has a new minority business partner, Jubal Pomp, and they have plans for Scrooge, even as the thief continues to stalk the now-damaged frock coat.

I bought IDW's Uncle Scrooge #1 for two reasons.  It was a first issue, and it was a first issue of a comic book series (Uncle Scrooge) that I once read on a regular basis (even religiously) for about a decade.  I did not expect much from it.  I still like comics featuring classic Disney characters, but not enough to read them as much as I did in my younger days.  I was a bit miffed that this first issue did not even include a reprint of a Carl Barks story – Barks, the man who created Scrooge McDuck!

Well, it didn't matter.  The two main stories in Uncle Scrooge #1 are quite entertaining.  Romano Scarpa, the artist for both stories, recalls Carl Barks with his lively, energetic compositions.  If comics are composed of a series of static drawings, there is nothing in any panel that Scarpa draws for these two stories that seems static.  There is sense of movement; characters are moving with zip and arguing with zest.  These are stories of action and imagination.

Uncle Scrooge #1 is the kind of return that bodes well for IDW's foray into Disney comics.  I enjoyed Uncle Scrooge #1 so much that I will take a look at other IDW Walt Disney comic books.

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.

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DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for October 28, 2015

DC COMICS

AUG150205     ALL STAR SECTION 8 #5     $2.99
AUG150177     AQUAMAN #45     $3.99
AUG150285     ART OPS #1 (MR)     $3.99
AUG150227     BATGIRL #45     $2.99
AUG150231     BATMAN 66 #28     $2.99
JUL150309     BATMAN ADVENTURES TP VOL 03     $16.99
AUG150159     BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #4     $2.99
JUL150304     BATMAN WAR GAMES TP VOL 01     $34.99
JUL150299     CONVERGENCE INFINITE CRISIS TP BOOK 01     $19.99
JUL150301     CONVERGENCE INFINITE CRISIS TP BOOK 02     $19.99
AUG150184     CYBORG #4     $2.99
AUG150181     DEATHSTROKE #11     $2.99
JUN150300     DEATHSTROKE BOOK AND MASK SET     $29.99
JUN150322     FABLES DELUXE EDITION HC VOL 11 (MR)     $29.99
JUL150340     FABLES THE WOLF AMONG US TP VOL 01 (MR)     $19.99
AUG150190     FLASH #45     $3.99
AUG150239     GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #10     $2.99
AUG150243     GRAYSON #13     $3.99
AUG150253     HE MAN THE ETERNITY WAR #11     $2.99
AUG150266     INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR THREE HC VOL 01     $22.99
JUL150315     INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR TWO TP VOL 02     $16.99
AUG150196     JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #5     $2.99
AUG150168     JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR BATMAN #1     $3.99
AUG150200     NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #13     $2.99
AUG150203     PREZ #5     $2.99
AUG150246     ROBIN SON OF BATMAN #5     $3.99
AUG150290     SANDMAN OVERTURE #6 SPECIAL EDITION (MR)     $4.99
AUG150251     SINESTRO #16     $2.99
AUG150221     SUPERMAN #45     $3.99
AUG150293     VERTIGO QUARTERLY SFX #3     $7.99
AUG150245     WE ARE ROBIN #5     $3.99

DC COMICS/DC COLLECTIBLES
JUN150334     BATMAN ANIMATED NBA ROBIN AF     $24.95
JUN150341     BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT NIGHTWING AF     $24.95
MAR150331     BATMAN BLACK & WHITE STATUE BY LEE BERMEJO 2ND ED     $79.95
MAR150325     DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS BATWOMAN STATUE     $124.95

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for October 28, 2015

MARVEL COMICS

AUG150715     ANGELA QUEEN OF HEL #1     $3.99
AUG150903     AVENGERS TIME RUNS OUT TP VOL 02     $19.99
MAY150819     AVENGERS ULTRON FOREVER TP     $16.99
AUG150802     CAPTAIN AMERICA SAM WILSON #2     $3.99
AUG150862     CHEWBACCA #2     $3.99
AUG150690     DEADPOOL VS THANOS #4     $3.99
AUG150910     GUARDIANS OF GALAXY BY JIM VALENTINO TP VOL 03     $34.99
AUG150907     GUARDIANS TEAM-UP TP VOL 01 GUARDIANS ASSEMBLE     $16.99
AUG150845     GUIDEBOOK MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIV MARVELS IRON MAN     $3.99
AUG150676     HOUSE OF M #4 SWA     $3.99
AUG150776     HOWLING COMMANDOS OF SHIELD #1     $3.99
AUG150869     KANAN #7     $3.99
AUG150794     NEW AVENGERS #2     $3.99
AUG150900     NOVA TP VOL 06 HOMECOMING     $16.99
MAY150648     SECRET WARS OFFICIAL GUIDE OF MARVEL MULTIVERSE #1 SWA     $4.99
AUG150909     SILK TP VOL 00 LIFE AND TIMES OF CINDY MOON     $19.99
AUG150818     SPIDER-MAN 2099 #2     $3.99
AUG150821     UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #1     $3.99
AUG150775     WHAT IF INFINITY DARK REIGN #1     $3.99
AUG150668     WHERE MONSTERS DWELL #5 SWA     $3.99

IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for October 28, 2015

IDW PUBLISHING

AUG150461     DRAGONLANCE CLASSICS TP VOL 02     $29.99
AUG150431     EMPIRE TP UPRISING     $17.99
AUG150456     GHOSTS AND GIRLS OF FICTION HOUSE HC     $29.99
AUG150459     RAMPAGE JACKSON STREET SOLDIER TP VOL 01     $17.99
AUG150387     SHRINKING MAN #4     $3.99
AUG150399     SKYLANDERS SUPERCHARGERS #1     $3.99
AUG152379     STAR WARS MICRO COMIC COLLECTORS PACK     PI
AUG150340     TMNT ONGOING #51     $3.99
AUG150365     TRANSFORMERS REDEMPTION     $7.99
AUG150421     WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES #724     $3.99
AUG150410     WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES 75TH ANN SPECIAL     $5.99
AUG150411     WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES 75TH ANN SPECIAL SUBCRIPTION VA     $5.99
DEC140570     WINTERWORLD TP BOOK 01 MECHANICS SONG     $9.99