Reviews (2602)
I spend a considerable amount of time these days trying to think like a 9-year-old. This is because I have a 9-year-old tromping around my house, and it’s a very good thing to try to predict what fascinating, new mischief he might be planning. Actually achieving some precognition in this matter, though, is difficult when the target changes their mind so abruptly.
Rebirth of the Gangster is a noir comic book series about the children of a group of criminals, specifically, how they relate to their parents’ history and how they interact with that legacy themselves.
The premise behind Caitlin Kittredge (writer) and Steven Sanders’ Throwaways is interesting. The title refers to someone involved in the world of espionage, slang that basically means you’re a dispensable assassin meant to die along with your target(s).
When a soul weeps, it does so with blood.
Rick Remender and Sean Murphy are ramping things up yet again in their tense dystopia. Mr. Flak is dead, but it doesn't spell the end of the trouble that dear Debbie is in for. Dear, sweet, mad Davey is still in the picture and now without the thin leash of authority on him...
Star Trek turns 50 this year, and though pop culture primarily recognizes Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and the rest of the Enterprise crew as the progenitors of the long-running franchise, that’s not where it all began. Star Trek had a very troubled path to television, frequently relying on special interest from influential people like Lucille Ball to get on (and stay on) the air. Some of this was money, some concern that creator Gene Roddenberry’s vision was too intellectual, and some a result of Roddenberry’s own habits. Star Trek is relatively rare in that NBC gave it not one shot at a pilot, but two; the second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” features Kirk, Spock, and many of the other characters even the most casual Trek viewer would recognize, in addition to many of the series’ tropes. Before that episode, though, there was the first, rejected pilot, “The Cage,” adapted in this issue by John Byrne in the photo-comic style he’s built up over the course of New Visions.
Is this conundrum still going on?! No. I’m not talking about the conundrum we call Donald Trump. That is a conundrum I don’t think any of us will ever figure out.
Mister X is a strange and wonderful blend of noir and retro-futurism. Beginning with a story of architecture gone wrong, it takes us on a bizarre journey that can be a bit confusing at times, but is always entertaining.
Not all who wander are lost.
When I saw this listing from Dark Horse, I had to go for it. It was described as a “Retro flying adventure in the spirit of Hayao Miyazaki.” Now, my love for Miyazaki is very high, so I had to know if it was true. Following a young woman dealing with the loss of her grandfather and the mystery he left behind, Wandering Island is truly a stunning work of art that is a must read. Slow-burn storytelling in a sleepy island chain off of Japan satisfies a rustic adventure that hearkens back to tales that one would make up on lazy summer days, where adventure could be sparked by any innocuous beginning.
I’m one of the few people who has a soft spot for the Prometheus movie, despite its obvious flaws. I loved it for its ambition, its earnest attempt at creating a new myth. I was even more in love with last year’s Prometheus: Fire and Stone. It fleshed out ideas in a most terrifying way. The first issue of Prometheus: Life and Death was a bit underwhelming. I’m not sure if it was a lack of pacing or tone, or simply because it seemed to exist simply to get characters from A to B so the story could continue. I really don’t think spending an entire issue on that without character development was worth it. Now, most of this issue acclimates us to the world our colonial marines find themselves stuck on.
