It’s not been that long since I posted my first “Comic Books Galore”, and I can honestly say that I didn’t think I’d be posting another one any time soon. Happily, though, I was given a golden opportunity to pick up some really cool comics by the living legend, Joss Whedon, and I’m couldn’t help myself - I had to devour it all in nearly one go. Hidden among the Whedon comics are some really awesome Ellis comics, so there’s also something for the people who’re unfamiliar with the term “whedonite”.
When will the next “Comic Books Galore” be published? I haven’t the faintest idea, really. Maybe next week, maybe tomorrow or maybe in a month or two. But most likely next week.
Fray: Vol. 1-8 | Whedon & Moline
This is my first Whedon comic ever, and I’m happy to report that I though it was a really good one. Really, really good one. Its set in the far future of the Buffyverse; a place where all the demons and vampires are things of the past… At least that’s what everyone thinks, and I’m sure you’ll all be very surprised that it’s not the case. The volumes does a very good job of building up the plot and the characters towards a gigantic climax. Joss Whedon damn near perfected this approach to storytelling during his run with BtVS and “Angel”, but it’s always a fun ride no matter how many times you’ve taken it before.
I’m not so sure I loved the art with as much passion as I loved the way the narrative unfolded. The only hitch I could detect in Whedon’s writing was the times he tried to invent “future lingo”, which only ended up killing the natural flow of the comic.
Fell: Vol. 1-8 | Ellis & Templesmith
Richard Fell, a young and up&coming police detective that for some unknown reason gets transferred to “Snowtown”, a real hell-hole of a city where murder and crime is more common than fresh fruit in the stores. Every volume is a stand-alone story, but if you read them in order you do get the satisfaction of watching Snowton slowly corrupt our strong lead character and Ellis does a great job of revealing just enough of his mysterious backstory to keep us interested. The art is fantastic; easily some of the best shit I’ve seen; it’s both disturbing and evocative in a sickly sort of way and it couldn’t blend better with Ellis’ hard boiled prose. The series doesn’t really kick off till you reach volume 5, but from there on out it’s pure comical bliss and I can’t wait for more of this series.
Angel - After the Fall: Vol. 1-4 | Brian Lynch, Urru & Whedon
F*ck me sideways and hand me the crazy pills, please. This was the first comic I’ve read so far that I have no reservations about calling all kinds of awesome, amazing and fantastic in every way. “Angel - After the Fall” naturally picks up the story about the vampire Angel and his gang of miscellaneous characters. Last time we saw the them was in the finale of season 5 where hell was literally marching against them. I won’t divulge anything more than that about the plot of this comic, ’cause that’s one of the most satisfying aspects of reading this comic. I don’t think anyone who hasn’t watched and enjoyed the TV series would appreciate this as much as someone who has done those things. For those guys I have but one message: “Huh? Well, tough shit, man, ’cause you’re not the audience. I am, and I love it to pieces.”
Brian Lynch has in collaboration with Franco Urru managed to capture not just the look, but also the tone and feel of the characters. Illyria’s brilliant. Spike’s dead on. Angel’s just as broody as before. Wesley’s spirit has certainly been maintained, and I even managed to muster some appreciation of Connor. I’m really interested in what they’re making of Charles Gunn. So far he’s not been what I’d expected, but then again, nothing about this comic really has. My plot-foresight hasn’t yet recovered from the bitch-slapping it received from Brian Lynch’s pen.
I am now seriously considering picking up anything that’s been written by a “Lynch”. They’re so damned talented that you can’t really go wrong.
Buffy Season 8: Vol. 1-11| Whedon & Jeanty
This was a mixed experience for me. Whedon’s dialogue is brilliant as ever and I did enjoy meeting up with the characters I’ve spent so much time with. However, while “Buffy Season 8″ never ceases to entertain, it does some times try too hard for the kill. The stories have so far not worked out with the ease that the show pulled them off, though the last story arc seems like it’s got the potential for greater things.
Jeanty’s art isn’t really my poison. Bit too cartoony for me, maybe? And I didn’t think he managed to catch the feel of all the characters, and I especially disliked the way he draws Buffy herself.
I love what they’re doing with Xander and Giles, though. They’re easily the best part of the comic so far for me.
Desolation Jones: Vol. 1-4, “Made in England” | Ellis & J.H. Williams III
Michael Jones is one of the thousands of ex-secret agents that’s sought recluse in their only safe haven; Los Angeles. Jones was a part of a MI6 test called “Desolation”, and it practically ruined his body, made him insane and given him weird optic illusions. Now he has to make a living as a sort of private eye. This first story arc tells the tale of how he tracks down Hitler’s home-made porno video that’s been stolen from a private collection. It also introduces a lot of interesting side characters while giving us some hints at what this dicey “Desolation Test” might be. William’s art is very evocative and effective and the story’s one of the most interesting Ellis efforts I’ve read so far. The series on hiatus for the moment and will be returning later this year.
I for one will be awaiting the next story arc with avid anticipation.
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So thrilled you loved After the Fall and Fray. While I’m somewhat more positive to Season 8 than you are, I agree that it’s so far the weakest of the three.
By the way, Vaughan’s written four of those issues, and Jeanty’s not drawn all of them either, so your crediting is wrong. I’d love to hear what you thought of Vaughan’s arc compared to Joss’, and what you thought of the three one-shots compared to the two arcs. I’d also like to hear if you agree with me that maybe issue 4 of After the Fall, while still good, wasn’t quite as excellent as the three former ones.
Looking forward to see what you think of the two Tales-books. ^^
28. February 2008 @ 04:02 ( Permalink )
I was aware of the crediting-error when I wrote the post. The headline just got so incredibly long that it looked like an entry in an of itself, and that kinda defeats the point. I was also pretty damned tired when I typed this up, so there ’s a lot of stuff that got overlooked which would’ve been included in “normal” reviews.
I thought Vaughan’s arc was a little bit better than Joss’, mainly because it didn’t have as many flash-bangs and deus-ex-machina’s as “The Long Way Home” did. I’m also really fond of Faith and Giles, so all in all I’d rank “No Future for You” a little bit higher. But not much.
The standalone’s are nice as mood pieces. Joss’ standalone where he collaborated with that other artist was actually surprisingly good. Vaughan’s was mixed nuts. I appreciated what he was trying to do with the issue, but I’m not convinced he pulled it off.
Issue 4 of “After the Fall” was maybe a little bit weaker in terms of the sheer number of twists and turns that riddled the first three (in this case “weaker” means “only superbly awesome”). It had some comical elements and Lorne has always been something of an odd-man-out compared to the rest of the bunch, but it sure was fun seeing him again ^^
28. February 2008 @ 06:44 ( Permalink )
Vaughan didn’t have a standalone issue. All three standalones so far (5, 10 and 11) have been written by Whedon.
I’m agreeing on Vaughan’s arc, though I think it was pretty clearly a couple of notches up from Whedon’s funny but overly flashy opening arc. It had a nice, engaging story, it actually developed some characters a little, and it didn’t try to do too much at the same time. However, I feel that issue 11 is as strong, if you take into account that it is obviously far shorter, so I have faith (no pun intended) that Joss will find his way with writing Buffy as a comic book as fully as he did with it as a tv-show.
I feel the fourth one is saddled by feeling too much like an “okay, so what character(s) are we missing to our group now? Lets’ bring’em in!”-issue. Hopefully, the story will actually warrant having all these people involved, because otherwise, issue 2 and especially 4 could’ve been done a little better, if you ask me. Issues 1 and 3 are superbly tight and engaging, but the other two, especially 4, feels at times a little bit too much like “ok, so, let’s go gather up more cast-members, people!” They all do that, of course, but there’s so much else going on in 1 through 3 that it feels less obvious. When the pace slows down for a tad in the fourth one, it suddenly grows more in-your-face-noticable. A feeling not helped with the sudden (albeit cool) appearance of Groo.
Which, on a more meta-plan, I’m happy about, being the loose-ends-hater I am. Now, if they could only bring back Lockley and Nabbit too!
28. February 2008 @ 13:56 ( Permalink )
If you lost faith in Joss Whedon’s abilities at writing comics, Loki, I’m pretty sure the world would promptly implode
Err… Yeah, that’s about all I have to add.
28. February 2008 @ 14:50 ( Permalink )
I’ve never had too great faith in his ability to write comics, to tell the truth. His dialogue is as brilliant there as anywhere else, but his plots fit the tv-format better, judging from what I’ve read of his comics. (Which is almost all of it, barring the recentmost X-men-stuff and Runaways) He sometimes strike gold, as with Fray, but generally, his divine Whedonness has yet to completely win over my absolute trust in his abilities to master the comic book medium. He does it very well, but he doesn’t do it brilliantly, at least not as a rule. TV is something else entirely. If Joss Whedon made a tv-show about a blub of soapy foam slowly eroding on a tabletop while studying the phonebook, I’d watch it with enormous expectations.
I think he’s CAPABLE of brilliant comic books too, though, as he’s sometimes also done. He’s just not quite at the point where it’s his normal M.O. yet.
28. February 2008 @ 14:59 ( Permalink )
Do you know whether “Runaways” is any good? I think you mentioned it once before…
28. February 2008 @ 15:03 ( Permalink )
It’s supposed to be really good. It was originally Vaughan’s book, and when he recently stopped writing it, Whedon took over. Whedon’s finishing up his run on it now, can’t recall who’s next in line, but I think it’s someone big too.
28. February 2008 @ 15:05 ( Permalink )