Good King Leonardo has declared
that its Eclectic Comic Books Week once again in Bongo Congo, so let's
review a wide-ranging variety of comic book titles and see what our eclectic
batch is all about:
Thor:
God Of Thunder #1
Publisher:
Marvel Comics
Jason
Aaron: Writer
Esad
Ribic: Art
Dean
White: Colors
One of the more popular and
critically-acclaimed new issue comic titles out at the moment from Marvel
Comics is Thor: God Of Thunder. As with a few titles reviewed in our last
column, I decided to double-back from this title's current issue #7
to issue #1 in order to get a solid feel for this Thor interpretation from
its kick-off issue. All of this series's monthly issues are available on
the That's Entertainmnet new issues shelves. The comic book is scripted
by Jason Aaron with art by Esad Ribic and colors by Dean White.
The issue #1 story is entitled
"A World Without Gods" and is the first part of a wider five-issue
storyline entitled "The God Butcher."
The tale accurately reflects the multi-issue story title, as
some unrevealed omnipotent power is very capably slaughtering mythological
Gods. The plot alternates between three storythreads, as in three
separate timeperiods Thor comes-up against the mysterious assailant. In
893 A.D., our hero is based in Iceland and encounters the dead body of a Native
American shaman god. In the present day, Thor assists an alien race on
their homeplanet and stumbles across the bloodied carnage that used to be
the Asgard-like home of the alien's own supposedly immortal gods.
And in a brief but climactic far future setting of Asgard, an aged
and solitary Thor prepares to do lone battle against a seemingly endless
demon horde controlled by the unseen god butcher.
Its clear why this new
Thor series is so popular among readers, as at least four story elements
succeed in propelling this title to the very top of the
most-recommended reading list. First-off is the creative team's
structuring of three story settings; its a very fresh approach to alternate,
yet connect three very different historical Thor timeperiods in one issue's
story segment, and in the hands of this creative team it succeeds as top-notch
entertainment. Secondly, the story premise itself is fresh and
intriguing. There's something just plain fascinating about the
Marvel storyverse gods being reduced to mere weak mortals by their version of
an unseen serial killer, and the drama of it all as Thor inches closer to
eventually encountering the evil one himself makes for great reading.
The third outstanding element of
this issue is the creative team's success in portraying Thor's varied
personalities in each historical period, each as a reflection of his age
at the time. In the 893 A.D. timeframe, he's young, brash and
semi-comically wacky. In the present-day alien world segment, he's
the familiar Thor of most Marvel titles and in the far-future setting he's
come full circle, actually becoming his father Odin in looks, personality and
behavior. Its a fresh and enjoyable character interpretation of this
standard A-list Marvel hero and its not to be missed. And our fourth
strong story element is the artwork itself. Artist Esad Ribic and
colorist Dean White present a lush and detailed visual style that resembles
moreso formal portrait and scenery painting than standard comic book fare, with
a beautiful layer of shadowing that wordlessly and effectively heralds the
growing danger and terror of the approaching god butcher.
So all-in-all, a positive thumbs-up
review recommendation is very well-deserved for this fantastic new addition to
the wide world of Thor comic books. And if you like this issue as much as
I do, there are already those follow-up story segments out on
the That's Entertainment new issues shelves available for your non-stop
reading enjoyment!
Threshold
#4
Publisher:
D.C. Comics
Keith
Giffen: Writer
Phil
Winslade & Tom Raney: Art
Chris
Sotomayor & Andrew Dalhouse: Colors
DC Comics is currently up to issue
#4 of Threshold, one of the new titles emerging from The New 52 event
series. Threshold occupies an insterstellar science fiction niche within
the current DC storyverse. The series features a range of characters
apparently forced to compete against their will in an intergalactic reality
t.v. show as they struggle to stay alive against alien bounty hunters. A
key character in this title is disgraced Green Lantern Jediah Caul, who's been
stripped of both his powers and his Green Lantern as part of the game.
There's also a back-up story in each issue starring Larfleeze , the Orange
Lantern. Threshold is scripted by veteran DC writer Keith Giffen with art
by Phil Winslade & Tom Raney, and colors by Chris Sotomayor and Andrew
Dalhouse.
The issue #4 story segment is
entitled "Small Wonder," and presents two alternating story
threads. In the main sub-plot, Jediah Caul plans and executes an attempt
to steal back his missing Green Lantern from a slug-like alien collector who
obtained the power source from the controllers of the reality t.v. show.
Along the way, he interacts with the bumbling Rabbit-like character K'Rot and
reluctantly teams-up with him in the attempt. A less-detailed secondary
sub-plot features DC universe bad guy Brainiac going about his usual business
of shrinking and bottling alien cities. Both storylines come together in
a dramatic bridge to next month's issue, as in mid-struggle for the Green
Lantern, all of our main characters are caught in Brainiac's shrink ray and
bottled-up along with the alien city in which they're playing-out their game.
I'm giving this comic book a mixed
review, albeit with an average-quality thumbs-up positive recommendation.
On the plus side, veteran writer Keith Giffen hits two big home runs here,
first by providing a plot that's chock-full of his unique, humor-laced dialogue
and secondly by presenting a very fresh and enjoyable sci-fi based story
concept with just a hint of the usual DC superhero universe blended into this
fictional reality. The art is also excellent and worth noting for both
quality and choice of visual style.
On the downside, this comic book
desperately needs an up-front narrative summary that quickly and simply briefs
new readers such as myself with the concept of this sci-fi reality show
battle-to-the-death plotline. While I enjoyed the action and story
details of issue #4, there's no reference at all to the bigger multi-issue
plotline here, just well-constructed scenes of characters who scheme and
fight among themselves. I needed to research DC marketing sources just to
learn about the reality t.v. show concept of this series. It's a
disservice to readers when a comic book gives no inkling throughout an
entire issue of just what the heck the characters are involved in as a
plot. I can't think of another comic book that I've ever read which kept
me in the dark as much as Threshold #4 about what the series is about, which
can't bode well for building a devoted fan base for this new series.
So in sum, while there's some
really intriguing and fun stuff going on in issue #4 of Threshold, this series
is dragged-down to merely average quality by the frustrating vagueness and lack
of enlightenment regarding the overall story concept. As a final review
comment, the secondary tale starring Larfleeze, the Orange Lantern is much more
kitchsy and wacky humor-oriented and works very well to balance the confusion
of the main story. So my review advice is to give this comic a shot if
you're willing to backtrack to the first three issues in order to gain a clear
understanding of the multi-issue story concept.
Five
Weapons #1
Publisher:
Image Comics
Jimmie
Robinson: Writer and Artist
Paul
Little: Colors
Image Comics is currently
publishing a 5-issue limited series entitled "Five Weapons."
The series follows the experiences of grade school kids at "The School Of
Five Weapons," a secret private academy where the children of secret
assassins are educated in both standard school subjects and the
weaponry-handling ways of their ninja/hitman/assassin parents. The series
is scripted and drawn by creator Jimmie Robinson with colors by Paul Little.
Issue #1 centers on main
character Tyler Shainline on his first day as the new kid in the
academy. We quickly learn that the school is organized into five
"weaponry clubs," called Knives, Staves, Archery, Exotic Weapons and
Guns. As Tyler gets to know the ropes and rules of this assassin training
Academy, the storyline introduces various school members as Tyler's potential
allies and/or foes. These include the mysterious Principal O, the
equally mysterious School Nurse, the weird faculty members who head each of the
five weapons clubs and the hot-tempered Jade, Tyler's fellow student
and president of the Knife Club.
The plot portrays Tyler as using a
Sherlock Holmes-style of analysis and deduction to verbally weave his way
in-and-out of sticky situations, as even his slightest action or
decision triggers some ritual or unexpected reaction from students and
faculty in this rigid and extremely regimented society of little future
assassins. By issue's end, the story segment peaks in a dramatic double
reveal: we learn that Tyler is actually using an assumed identity for
a false background and he challenges Jade to a knife confrontation for the
presidency of the Knife Club.
This comic book series is a highly
entertaining mix of familiar and new school-oriented fiction themes. On
the familiar side, we have a private academy set-up similar to Hogwarts in the
Harry Potter books, with the weaponry clubs serving in the role of the Hogwarts
founders schools. On the fresh and creative side, we have a young school
for assassins with some very fun and humorous characters driving the
story. Creator Jimmie Robinson does a top-notch job of presenting some
very unique student and faculty personalities within the short space of one
comic book issue.
The overall result of this series
is a very enjoyable mash-up of light humor, compelling mystery,
action-adventure and grade school angst that's a fun read for young and older
readers, alike. I was particularly impressed with the unexpected reveal
of Tyler as a stand-in for the real Tyler Shainline. Without being a
detail spoiler, there's a very intriguing plot reveal of what's happening
in the Shainline family of assassins that's led to Tyler volunteering for this
risky cover, which should add even more interesting plot possibilities for the
remaining four issues of this title.
So a definite and very positive
thumbs-up review recommendation to check-out this well-crafted, unique and
just-plain-interesting youth adventure series from Image Comics and creator
Jimmie Robinson.
Bravest
Warriors #7
Publisher:
Kaboom! Comics
Pendleton
Ward: Creator
Joey
Comeau: Writer
Mike
Holmes: Art
Lisa
Moore: Colors
BOOM! Comics's Kaboom! division of
children's comics is currently up to issue #7 of its Bravest Warriors
title. For the uninitiated, the comic book is based on the award-winning
animated web series created by Pendleton Ward. The storyverse is set in
the year 3085 and follows the adventures of a group of teenaged heroes-for-hire
as they have outer space adventures, helping aliens and their worlds by using
the power of their emotions. The comic book is scripted by Joey Comeau
with art by Mike Holmes and colors by Lisa Moore.
Issue #7 is the latest installment
of a multi-issue story arc in which the kids deal with conflict at the Miss
Teen Multiverse Pageant. It seems that some outer space bad guy has
placed the kidnapped brains of contestants in giant killer robots, who then
alternate in behavior between rampaging death machines and insecure teen beauty
pageant contestants. Most of the plotline consists of the Bravest
Warriors team of Beth, Danny, Chris, Wallow and Plum trading quips with each
other and with the giant robots as they try to resolve the situation. By
issue's end, the robot's massive insecurities threaten to turn them toward self-mutilation,
thus setting-up next month's story segment in which our heroes ironically have
to try and restore the robot's self-esteem to keep them from
harming themselves.
This is a fun and fresh youth-oriented
science fiction title that has a lot going for it. The humor dominates in
a light and positive way, without things getting too sarcastic or snarky.
There's a nice mix of one-liners and quips alternating between jokes for kids
and sly remarks that older readers would find very entertaining. I particularly
liked the unique idea of including a brief but effective one-liner narrator
quip at the bottom of each story page. It adds a comic commentary element
to the story that reminds me of the comic barbs throughout the old Mystery
Science Theatre 3000 television series.
I really expected this
title to be geared toward a young child's level of storytelling and as such was
delighted to discover a level of sophisticated humor, strong storytelling and
uniquely entertaining artwork that actually elevates Bravest Warriors to the
top of the quality humor comic book titles list, on a par with such titles
as Atomic Robo. If you're already a Bravest Warriors fan, then you're
most likely saying "I told you so!" right about now. But if
you're a Bravest Warriors newbie reader like me, then by all means latch onto
this gem of a comic book title that offers fun and funny outer space
adventuring for readers of all ages.
Contest Winner Announcement!!!
Our latest contest challenged you
to correctly answer the following riddle: If A equals Boston, B equals New York
and C equals Philadelphia, then what major American cities does D, E and F
equal? Our fellow reviewer Dave LeBlanc was the first to correctly answer
that each letter corresponds to the Federal Reserve Branch code on U.S. dollar
bills, with each letter standing for the city in which that particular Federal
Reserve Dranch is located. Thus, D equals Cleveland, E equals Richmond
and F equals Atlanta. As Dave is only eligible for No-Prize
Awards, our contest winner is (drumroll, please...) Gregory
Goding. While Gregory didn't get all three cities right, he came closest
to the correct answer from among our entries. Congratulations to Gregory
on winning our first prize $10.00 gift certificate to That's Entertainment!
New Contest Challenge!!!
The Bongo Congo Panel Of Contest
Judges offers-up a Massachusetts trivia question for this week's
contest. Your challenge is to e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com no later than Wednesday,
May 22 with the correct answer to the following question: what do the
four Massachusetts towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott have in
common that will always keep them linked-together in Massachusetts
history? As always, in the event of multiple correct entries, our contest
winner will be selected via a roll of the dice from among the correct
entries. Please note that our first prize $10.00 gift certificate to
That's Entertainment is redeemable for regular retail merchandise or in-store,
ongoing specials. only.
That's all for now, so have two
great Boston Bruins NHL Play-offs watching (Go, Bruins!) and comic book reading
weeks and see you again on Friday, May 24 Here In Bongo Congo!
