![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Invincible 25/26
Dude.
I mean ... Duuuuuude!
Seriously, I have no words. Kirkman has been dropping hints that he'd be heading this way ever since issue 16, when The Big BeatDown took place, but he's been leaving the impression that it would be around, say, issue 50 when he started dealing with those family issues. Having them appear in issue 25 was a serious shock.
And the last panel of issue 26! Greatgoshamighty! (I so don't want to think about what the characters had to do to make that happen. Not even a little. Although I think we'll be forced to.) (And Mark will be forced to, which will be appalling.)
It's pretty clear that the next issue will be about talking Mark into doing something about the situation that's been raised by that panel. Mark's mother will not be well pleased, I suspect.
Grounded.
Interesting that two series with the same basic premise appeared at nearly the same time; both Grounded and Hero Camp deal with the question posed by having nonsuperpowered children of superhero types. Hero Camp played the concept for pure slapstick comedy, whereas Grounded seems to be taking the concept seriously. Grounded is actually a much more interesting story, but then, it would have to be to sustain that idea as a serious concept.
Unfortunately, as it turns out, I caught the reprint of issue 1, which would be fine, except that issue 2 is out of print, or at least out of stock throughout the city. So at this stage, I'm going to have to wait for the trade to see what happens.
Dammit.
Revelations 1/2
An apparent murder in the Vatican. Not, in and of itself, a new concept to literature generally, except perhaps to comics specifically. The twist, so far as it's been revealed to the reader, seems to be a version of, "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio..."
The investigator is a hard drinking, hard smoking Brit, disillusioned by things that happened or that he saw when he was still in the Church. He's been called to investigate by his friend, who is still a priest. Why he is investigating -- why an outside investigator is needed --- I leave for the reader to discover. It is a very well written story, even if the characters are somewhat stock types; they have enough depth and are well rounded enough that they move past that fairly quickly.
The art style is ... different. The characters are very very cartoonic -- very large heads, beady black eyes, somewhat big hands -- but at the same time, they get detailing and texture that you generally never see with an art style that broad. And the covers are gorgeous, done to look like mosaic tiles; they must take eons to draw.
Jack Cross 1/2
Another Warren Ellis title. Jack Cross, the main character could best be described as functioning but insane. He does a job for the government -- he's... kind of an enforcer and kind of an investigator and kind of a hitman -- and does it very well, but it costs him so very much. (The page in issue 2 where you see exactly how he copes with what he has to do is ... difficult.) It looks like it's going to be a very interesting story as it goes on (as well as very very gory), and given DC's approach to trades on their main line titles ("...trades? oooh, what an interesting concept! We'll have to do the first one when we hit issue 40 or so!"), it's well worth picking up as loose issues.
It's a good thing that the name "Warren Ellis" counts for something in terms of sales, though. Once again, I have to ask: why isn't this title on Vertigo? For good or ill, people simply do not expect non-DC Universe titles on the DC label these days. Reportedly, DC is trying to change that -- that's part of the reason behind the logo change -- but if they're trying to do that, then DC needs to do with the DC label what they've done with the Wildstorm label: break it into DC Universe and DC Signature lines, with a logo that tells you which line you're looking at.
Dude.
I mean ... Duuuuuude!
Seriously, I have no words. Kirkman has been dropping hints that he'd be heading this way ever since issue 16, when The Big BeatDown took place, but he's been leaving the impression that it would be around, say, issue 50 when he started dealing with those family issues. Having them appear in issue 25 was a serious shock.
And the last panel of issue 26! Greatgoshamighty! (I so don't want to think about what the characters had to do to make that happen. Not even a little. Although I think we'll be forced to.) (And Mark will be forced to, which will be appalling.)
It's pretty clear that the next issue will be about talking Mark into doing something about the situation that's been raised by that panel. Mark's mother will not be well pleased, I suspect.
Grounded.
Interesting that two series with the same basic premise appeared at nearly the same time; both Grounded and Hero Camp deal with the question posed by having nonsuperpowered children of superhero types. Hero Camp played the concept for pure slapstick comedy, whereas Grounded seems to be taking the concept seriously. Grounded is actually a much more interesting story, but then, it would have to be to sustain that idea as a serious concept.
Unfortunately, as it turns out, I caught the reprint of issue 1, which would be fine, except that issue 2 is out of print, or at least out of stock throughout the city. So at this stage, I'm going to have to wait for the trade to see what happens.
Dammit.
Revelations 1/2
An apparent murder in the Vatican. Not, in and of itself, a new concept to literature generally, except perhaps to comics specifically. The twist, so far as it's been revealed to the reader, seems to be a version of, "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio..."
The investigator is a hard drinking, hard smoking Brit, disillusioned by things that happened or that he saw when he was still in the Church. He's been called to investigate by his friend, who is still a priest. Why he is investigating -- why an outside investigator is needed --- I leave for the reader to discover. It is a very well written story, even if the characters are somewhat stock types; they have enough depth and are well rounded enough that they move past that fairly quickly.
The art style is ... different. The characters are very very cartoonic -- very large heads, beady black eyes, somewhat big hands -- but at the same time, they get detailing and texture that you generally never see with an art style that broad. And the covers are gorgeous, done to look like mosaic tiles; they must take eons to draw.
Jack Cross 1/2
Another Warren Ellis title. Jack Cross, the main character could best be described as functioning but insane. He does a job for the government -- he's... kind of an enforcer and kind of an investigator and kind of a hitman -- and does it very well, but it costs him so very much. (The page in issue 2 where you see exactly how he copes with what he has to do is ... difficult.) It looks like it's going to be a very interesting story as it goes on (as well as very very gory), and given DC's approach to trades on their main line titles ("...trades? oooh, what an interesting concept! We'll have to do the first one when we hit issue 40 or so!"), it's well worth picking up as loose issues.
It's a good thing that the name "Warren Ellis" counts for something in terms of sales, though. Once again, I have to ask: why isn't this title on Vertigo? For good or ill, people simply do not expect non-DC Universe titles on the DC label these days. Reportedly, DC is trying to change that -- that's part of the reason behind the logo change -- but if they're trying to do that, then DC needs to do with the DC label what they've done with the Wildstorm label: break it into DC Universe and DC Signature lines, with a logo that tells you which line you're looking at.