Directed by Noboru Ishiguro
Featuring Voices by Katsuyuki Konishi, Daisuke Kishio and Takashi Kondo

Galaxy under constant military threat seeks one brave, apathetic main character to inspire long talks of rebellion.

The Series

The galactic Valdana Empire rules over planets and planets with the iron fist of the Tytania military family. The powerful, generational-old clan spreads fear and tyranny across the stars that even the emperor fears to speak out against. But then the young space admiral Fan Hyurlick hands Tytania its first defeat in a battle no one expected him to win, including his own country. Now Fan is on the run as the cracks in Tytania’s armor grow more and more in the face of a restless galaxy.

This collection is the first half of the series, starting with Tytania’s defeat and following the ensuing ripple effect. Tytania, it seems, hasn’t been making too many friends as it plowed through space fleets and conquered worlds for the empire.

The premise sounds like a good revolt in the making, but everything is so slow. Much of these episodes are characters just sitting and talking. The main five Tytanian leaders often gather alone to talk about how glorious Tytania is and how they should protect and enforce their persuasion to random dissenters. All while the main character Fan evades detection and runs into new allies on the run who also like to talk the audience’s heads off.

For as big of a space battle opera as this show wishes to be, it has too little sense of scale. Tytania is a supposedly large army, but so few are ever focused on. The same with the dissenting forces. Only about five or six characters on any side ever get screen time, so when dozens and dozens of cheap CGI ships appear for a space battle, they seem lifeless because all the characters are safe on the flag ships. There’s no audience impact when ships get destroyed because there’s no audience connection with characters they never see.

Plus it’s all too far in between. Only four major battles actually happen in the collection, and two of them are in the last two episodes.

Everything ultimately feels uneventful as very little seems to be getting done to progress the story of rebellion. Side stories with fairly benign characters take up entire episodes that accomplish no real character growth or plot development. The main character Fan is almost entirely indifferent to the events around him. The characters who do get up in arms against Tytania are ineffective at best. It’s all a boring experience that becomes a chore to watch. The story isn’t inherently bad. It’s just drawn out and improperly focused so that it loses any interest to captivate viewers long enough to finish one disc, let alone go out and buy the second half.

4/10

The Video

The series is in anamorphic 16:9 widescreen. The colors are bright and vibrant (almost too much on some characters). The animation is pretty stiff though, and the CGI for the spaceships looks pretty cheap (especially when exploding).

5/10

The Audio

Only Japanese 2.0 audio. With all the talking in this series, it really could use an English dub. Otherwise, you’re going to have to stay glued to the screen just to follow the conversation. The soundtrack is fairly average and forgettable.

4.5/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

The two-disc collection comes in a standard DVD case. The art on the cover and on the discs is well drawn, and the general jacket design itself is fine. The extras are the basic trailers, DVD credits and clean opening and ending animations. Nothing special there.

4.5/10

Tytania is a drudge to get through. Lot of dialog to pay attention to even when nothing happens. Despite its pedigree of the director of the original Macross series and the author of the Legend of the Galactic Heroes novels, this collection is completely passable.

Overall (Not an Average) 4.5/10

The Review
The Series 4/10
The Video 5/10
The Audio 4.5/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 4.5/10
Overall (Not an Average) 4.5/10

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Alex Maleev

Scarlet is as mad as hell, and she’s not going to take this anymore in this Bendis-Maleev creator-owned endeavor.

The Story

Scarlet has opened her eyes. She sees the scum and filth of the Earth. Corruption in the police, crime committed out in the open, people generally being dicks. Yet no one does anything… until she does.

Scarlet (probably has something to do with her red hair) is a young woman with a fairly normal life until an incredibly crappy event forces her to realize that the world is broken with corruption, greed and apathy. So she just goes to town beating the crap out of people she comes across not being particularly nice to their fellow man.

The first striking thing about the story is Scarlet talking to the audience. With rectangular dialog bubbles, Scarlet looks straight out of the panel and converses with you, the reader. All while the actual story goes on at the same time. Think Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Here, it’s a well-used technique to help the reader identify with the character and hear her story straight from herself. That’s an important aspect for such a character-centric book. Especially when the character starts out killing a cop. Kind of good to get her side of the story.

Throw in a neat montage to help show off Scarlet’s average life, and you can see Bendis playing around with his storytelling techniques. And it’s paying off with a refreshing and entertaining read.

Beyond the creative storytelling though, this issue looks like The Punisher as a cute redhead. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s not anything particularly new or worthwhile enough to dedicate to a hold box. Bendis promises the title will enlarge with scope as Scarlet creates a sort of domino-effect movement that expands to a federal and even global level. However, that isn’t too apparent from this first issue. Hopefully signs of that growth will occur soon. With Bendis pulling out some techniques out of his hat, this is a fun book to read, but those tricks won’t hold up for long if the story doesn’t progress beyond simple street-level vigilantism.

I like how Bendis tells the story, but the story itself needs a bit more development.

8/10

The Art

Alex Maleev rejoins Bendis and brings his high-quality art from Daredevil and Spider-Woman. His gritty, lifelike detailing conveys the dark reality Scarlett is dealing with. The expressions are full of emotions that vary widely with even subtle changes in similar panels. Everyone looks like regular people, even down to the baggy clothes Scarlet and her fellow inner-city college friends wear. This is the kind of realism I think Maleev does best in, free from the impossibly spectacular heroics in typical Marvel comics.

The coloring does a good job separating the past and present, with the present scenes in a mostly blue tint, and past in yellow. The one main constant is Scarlet’s vividly red hair. The coloring in general is a great match for the art, together making a great fit for the story.

9.5/10

In addition to the comic itself, the back of the book contains a few extras. Bendis introduces contact info (including an old school AOL email address), an interview he did with IGN, alternate covers and even some scripting with art. It also has a relatively cheap price (this Icon Comics title is a whole four cents cheaper than Marvel’s main $3.99 price point) while still keeping the ads few. It’s a good read and a good start. Let’s hope it keeps building up.

9/10

The Review
Story 8/10
Art 9.5/10
Overall (Not an Average) 9/10

Directed by Tatsou Sato
Featuring Voices by Kana Ueda and Yuki Matsuoka

How much do you think overnight shipping from the afterlife costs?

The Series

In the world of Shigofumi, the dead are allowed one final right – to send a message to the living. This message is called a shigofumi (“shigo” – afterlife, “fumi” –letter). It can be a good bye or a confession, good or bad, but it will always be true as the dead do not lie.

The series follows the other-worldly mail carrier Fumika as she delivers the final words of the departed to their living recipients. The first half of this 13-episode series contains pretty stand-alone deliveries that uncover mysteries about those who dies and how they impact the living. The premises of these deaths and their ripple effects are intriguing. It’s a natural curiosity to want to know what the dead could tell us. A dark side is slowly revealed in the process of the episodes within either the living or the dead, with the revelation usually bringing redemption. The reactions of the recipients range from frustration to catharsis, all being both entertaining and relatable to feelings anyone who has lost a loved one might feel.

The second half, starting on disc two, slows down to focus more on the mystery of Fumika herself and how she went from being a living girl to being FedEx from hell. As with the previous murder mysteries, this is shown to be more sinister and complex than the other characters imagine. However, focus soon shifts from the source of the darkness into a less interesting teen drama with the main and now-continuing side characters. While still maintaining the complex nature of why the situation is how it is and how it affects others that the first half has in each of the series, the latter half gets bogged down with its multi-episode structure.

Add to that a short epilogue in end credits of episode 12 (also titled “Shigofumi”) that doesn’t provide a fulfilling conclusion, followed by a bonus episode that is equally unsatisfying, and you have a series that really loses its steam towards the end. With that aside though, it’s still an interesting watch and a short enough series to give a try, at least with the first disc.

7/10

The Video

The animation is presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen. The animation moves well and keeps from staying static for any annoyingly noticeable periods of time. The character designs are average.

6/10

The Audio

There’s only a Japanese 2.0 audio track. The voices are fine. Sentai Filmworks spoiled me with Golgo 13 and its dub. I miss not having to read all the time. It is also about $10 cheaper, so you get what you pay for.

My one gripe with the soundtrack is that the opening song – “Kotodama” by ALI PROJECT – sounds just like the group’s same work from Code Geass. Learn some variety.

5/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

At last. An actual extra. This collection contains picture dramas, which are essentially trivial audio side stories played with accompanying art. The audio is still in Japanese, but subtitles are shown with the art. There are seven episodes, with the art ranging from decent quality to simple storyboards. They aren’t especially captivating, but they’re a neat (and likely easily produced) effort. Of course, there are also the typical clean openings and endings and the trailers.

The case is a decent-enough standard DVD case, holding the two discs.

7/10

Shigofumi brings up an interesting concept and deals with it well. It loses its way towards the end, but it’s still a decent journey. While a dub would be nice, the extra effort taken to translate the picture drama extras is a nice touch.

Overall (Not an Average) 7/10

The Review
The Series 7/10
The Video 6/10
The Audio 5/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 7/10
Overall (Not an Average) 7/10

Written by Joe Quesada / Jim Shooter and David Michelinie (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21)
Art by Paolo Rivera and Joe Quesada / Paul Ryan (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21)

Three years ago, Marvel attempted to reinvigorate the Spider-Man franchise by drastically changing history – namely removing the over-20-year marriage of Peter and Mary Jane. If that cut your Spidey fandom like a deep wound, here’s some salt.

The Story

Mary Jane pays Peter a visit to clear the air about their break up in order to be friends again. Interspliced in this story are flashbacks to Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, the wedding of Peter and M.J.

Admittedly, I do like the touch of actually going into the original wedding issue to show just what changes Mephisto makes to alter history. It’s a nice effort, showing how specific points were altered, as opposed to brushing it all off saying they never got married.

It’s generally an alright issue, tainted by the opening two pages that ruin the issue (and quite possibly the miniseries). The opening two-page splash repeats the conversation Mary Jane has with Mephisto before everything changes in One More Day. During the deal bargaining to save Aunt May, Mary Jane whispers a secret term before Mephisto presses the retcon button and sets Spider-Man history back two decades.

And just what did she say? (spoilers) “I’ll ask him if you leave him alone.”

That’s it? The big secret we’ve waited for three years? Mephisto gives Peter a chance of happiness (sans M.J.) in exchange for leaving him alone? What kind of deal is that? How is that a secret when that’s exactly what we all saw happen? It doesn’t even make sense for a bargaining request. It puts a damper on the rest of the book, and nothing inside it is good enough to recover. I hope someone comes up with a story where Mephisto uses his hands-off deal to really screw things over, but until then, it seems Mary Jane fans are still screwed over by Quesada.

3/10

The Art

This book has three widely different art styles in it. Quesada himself handles the present-day pencils of the Peter-M.J. conversation. Paolo Rivera does the past storytelling, mixed in with the original Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 work by Paul Ryan. This might end up being an eyesore, especially since the annual tends to use especially brighter colors than the rest of the fairly toned-down issue.

Speaking of colors, it’s amusing to see the coloring errors of a 20-year-old comic mixed in with modern work. Like shirts randomly turning flesh-colored, for example. I’m not saying that should have been touched up and fixed. The original art is a cool novelty factor, and it does drive the point home that changes are actually being made to established canon. But it’s hard enough to get different artists to mix well when they’re working at the same time, let alone two decades apart. Again, cool novelty, but it doesn’t work visually in the mix.

However, to his credit, Rivera does a good job trying to replicate a simple retro look to match the book, and his work is well done. Mary Jane is the hot redhead and black suit Spidey looks great. The colors are dimmer, possibly on purpose to further differentiate from the canonical events of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21.

Quesada’s work is nothing special. Actually, his Peter actually kind of looks like himself in some panels – short hair spiked up and kind of pudgy. This begs the question – why wouldn’t Joe Quesada want to be married to Mary Jane Watson. The guy is crazy.

5.5/10

One Moment in Time will not be the magic fix many Spidey fans will wish for. And those wanting anything close to closure will do well to skip the first two pages. It’s got a neat novelty factor, and Rivera is good, but salt in the wound is still salt in the wound. And if you’re one of the fans who are pro-O.M.D., then this is basically pointless for you anyway.

Overall (Not an Average) 3/10

The Review
Story 3/10
Art 5.5/10
Overall (Not an Average) 3/10

Written by Craig Garrett
Art by Jeff Wilson

One is science, and one is magic. One is a strong, shiny symbol of Union ingenuity, and the other is the everlasting hunger for democracy. One is a Republican, and one is a Democrat, and now they’re teaming up for the first time in our nation’s history.

The Story

This is the tale about an odd couple of historical anomalies. Lincoln survives his infamous April 14, 1865 assassination by having his brain placed inside a robotic body built by an 18-year-old Thomas Edison. Andrew Jackson is cursed to eternally roam the Earth as an undead, thanks to some Native Americans who were probably none too pleased with his “suggested” relocation initiatives. They meet and conflict before quickly teaming up and going on an adventure.

It’s a tried and true buddy cop story (or buddy presidents as the case may be) with two clashing personalities work together to defend the Union. At its basest form, it’s pretty simple and cookie cutter, but it’s the filling that makes this book a lot of fun to read. The unique pairing of these historical figures that everyone who has used American currency should have a passing familiarity of, in a well-known historical setting and just turning it into a fantastic and ridiculous team-up is captivating and entertains the whole way through.

The characters and their dialog play out just over the top enough for a fun read (although it pushes a bit with Lincoln’s zombie-fighting banter). The story takes fun with history, especially with Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth (Lincoln’s now-would-be assassin). As for the main characters themselves, Lincoln and Jackson’s initial contempt for each other is both a good buddy cop relationship and a fun poke at today’s hostile partisan politics. After all, if Robot Lincoln and Zombie Jackson can get along, why can’t Congress?

8/10

The Art

All the interior work is in black and white. The characters are all well detailed and designed, from Lincoln’s wrinkled visage before the robotic body to his worn and scuffed metal body. Jackson looks perfectly decayed, and who could forget about his blood-and-brain-matter-stained uniform? The supporting characters are just as well done.

It’s the backgrounds, or really the lack there of, where the book falls short. They’re bare and blank, often pretty empty. That’s large areas of empty white space on white pages. With the character art lacking almost any shading, they’re all white as well aside from the inked lining. Everything unfortunately blends together for a bland visual experience. I’m not saying black and white isn’t a good way to go (my manga collection tends to back that up), but this needs a bit more work on backgrounds and the small details like shading.

However, in all honesty, I can think of one color tone this would be kind of neat in – sepia.

6/10

Craig and Wilson bring these historical figures into a generic story type, and the result is pretty amusing. The characters all look great, but the rest of the art needs a good bit more tightening up to make this a top-notch book.

7.5/10

The Review
Story 8/10
Art 6/10
Overall (Not an Average) 7.5/10

Written by Andy Diggle
Art by Billy Tan

Look, if Thor says “no good shall come of this,” you should probably listen.

The Story

Daredevil now leads the Hand, the evil group of mystic necromancing ninjas who have plagued him for years. Deciding he’s had enough of simply trying to pick up the legal system’s slack by night, he takes matters into his own hands by turning the Hand into essentially a military force and declaring Hell’s Kitchen (now called “Shadowland”) to be under martial law. Obviously, this doesn’t sit well with some of his superhero colleagues, especially after Bullseye enters the fray.

Shadowland is about the street-level heroes in New York City, the guys with some to no superpowers who typically stick to defending the city streets instead of gallivanting around the world (or galaxy) to save the day. This first issue concentrates mostly on Daredevil and Bullseye, and their fight serves as a launching board for the next four issues (and several tie ins). And it’s a nice and satisfying fight. Daredevil means business, while Bullseye is the psychotic dick we all expect. There’s a little bit of Luke Cage and Iron Fist learning how far Daredevil has gone, which in a way serves as an audience surrogate as we see what happens at the same time.

Matt Murdock has been through a lot these past few years. His identity being outed, a rocky marriage, going to prison, Bullseye murdering over a hundred people in front of him. Him crossing that line from traditional hero to local dictator doesn’t seem that farfetched, and it’s actually nice to occasionally see these typical (to borrow a role playing term) lawful good superheroes challenged in such a way that basically breaks their moral resolve as opposed to steadfast “I’m never going to be bad ever because I’m the good guy.”

This issue starts the story in a dark place, and seeing how everyone deals with Daredevil and his eventual karma catch-up makes checking out the next issue worth it. The variety of reactions, from the very moral Spider-Man to the kill-‘em-all Punisher, are going to be very interesting. Seeing how Kingpin and others manipulate the situation and try to overthrow ol’ hornhead is equally exciting. Good first issue on its own and in making the reader interested in following up.

8.5/10

The Art

Generally well done and detailed. Daredevil’s new black look is a neat design, with razor blades on the forearms while still staying simple. Not like armored Daredevil of the ‘90s. Still, I can’t help but be reminded of Dr. Horrible’s new red costume at the end of Dr. Horrible’s Sing -ALong Blog. Also, if Daredevil is now mostly black, why don’t the red Daredevil-themed Hand ninjas follow in the palette swap?

There are some oddities though. Tiny heads in a couple of examples. Iron Man’s helmet looks way too small for it to have a normal-sized head in there, let alone the massively huge head Tony Stark would need for his brain and ego. And then there are some occasional coloring issues with Iron Fist’s yellow costume parts being green and Luke Cage’s eyes being black. They seem to be implying they’re in low lighting, but the coloring is already dark enough, so the colors just look wrong.

6.5/10

Overall (Not an Average)

It’s nice to have a story that won’t probably massively change the status quo of the entire Marvel Universe…again. Daredevil has reached this point in a natural fashion, and I’m looking forward to how everyone takes it. Good start.

8/10

The Review
Story 8.5/10
Art 6.5/10
Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

Written by Victor Gischler
Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli

Spoilers: Dracula dies…again.

The Story

As a balance to the triumph of good that is The Heroic Age, Marvel uses The Death of Dracula to jumpstart a vampiric antagonistic force. Killing off Dracula is rarely a big deal in itself. Few characters are as resilient and regularly return from the cold clutches of death as the lord of all vampires (just ask Buffy). However, Dracula’s death marks a regime change as Marvel vampires move to the offensive.

The plot itself isn’t too original. Vampires tired of the old regime of hiding in the dark shadow of night and man revolt and take power. Looks like someone watched the Blade movie (and Blade 2 and Blade Trinity). The catch is this is happening within this new Heroic Age (or more so in X-Men books). I never really felt Marvel vampires really meshed well with the rest of the Marvel U, but if there’s a time to try them again, this is probably it.

Unfortunately, the biggest weakness of this otherwise interesting vampiric coup-de-tat in a superheroic world is probably the whole reason it’s happening in the first place. There’s too much vampire crap out right now. In the Twilight-inspired current vampire craze, Death of Dracula and its subsequent repercussions fade into the mass of blood-sucking material in a saturated market.

What Marvel has on its side is a well-developed society in the vampire world. The vampire kind are split up into several different tribes with different physical and behavioral characteristics, from very human-like shy and peaceful farmers to monstrous blue and slimy Atlanteans to late 1880s Russian soldiers. Yet they’re all vampires in the basic traits, such as the weaknesses to stakes and sunlight. I only wish there is more effort to flesh these kinds out, explain more of the differences between these different tribes, either more in the narrative or in a back supplement. Still, that information isn’t necessary to the book, and some of it is pretty obvious (the Atlantean Sect is either from Atlantis or Atlanta). Guess we’ll have to wait for the vampire edition of the Marvel Encyclopedia for more.

The story has potential to start something entertaining and challenging for our heroes, but it’s marred by saturation and a generic start.

6/10

The Art

This book is very clean and detailed. I really enjoy the different character designs for the different vampire clans. Not necessarily the designs themselves but that each clan has its own unique styling, ranging from regular human designs to more monstrous and unique concepts. Some are goofy, but the effort is nice. If only they didn’t have bright, glowing orange eyes all the time.

However, the Dracula family itself could use some style tips. Dracula himself looks ripped out of a Castlevania game with his medieval-ish red suit of armor and cape. Xarus’s belted sholderpads and spiky blond hair look at home in a Final Fantasy game. The worst offender – and oddly most contrasted in the family – has to be Janus, where Camuncoli couldn’t help but rip off Angel (from Buffy, not X-Men, in case you were wondering). At least he’s not Robert Patterson.

7.5/10

It’s a decent story drowning in the current vampire fad, but at least it looks nice.

7/10

The Review
Story 6/10
Art 7.5/10
Overall (Not an Average) 7/10

Directed by Adam Dubin
Starring Lewis Black

Lewis Black takes to the stage with a new, profanity-laden rant against the craziness of today’s society.

The Film

Lewis Black opens his act by asking the audience to lower their expectations, but those fans coming in expecting Black’s trademark angry yelling and finger pointing at the insanity of the world can keep their expectations as high as usual.

Probably best known for his rants in the “Back in Black” segments on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and his role in the college adventure flick Accepted, Black hits the stage at The Fillmore Detroit in Detroit (of course) with a fresh batch of ranting and raving at the ridiculous idiocies of our society. His topics range from aging, alternate fuels, technology, parents, the two-party government and country singer Vince Gill.

Black’s wit is in sync with many of the frustrations the average person has with the world today. Most anyone can relate to issues he highlights, from the endless political cycles seemingly going nowhere to learning more about your parents as you grow up. Some of it is nostalgic, and some of it is depressing to think of, but it’s pretty funny when Black points it out.

The one small problem with the special is the same problem with any stand-up routine that deals with topical events of the day – it starts to feel dated after a while. It’s already a year old, being filmed in August 2009. One joke about Bush leaving office feels so last year. I had thankfully forgotten about Dr. Phil until Black brought him up. I’m really exaggerating these points now, but the point is that in two or three years, this special loses some rewatch value. Who’s going to care about Twitter by 2015 anyway? (I mean, other than me *cough*http://twitter.com/nikoscream*cough*)

However, that minor problem (again, one many stand up specials have) aside, the special is still funny. The basic of Black’s comedy is pent-up frustration at the world, at how common sense makes no sense, and his over-the-top reactions ring true to his audience. It still strikes the right cords and delivers the laughs.

8.5/10

The Video

The whole thing is 16:9 widescreen. It looks fine and clear enough. It’s a stand-up act though, so it’s not like it needs impressively-high quality video.

6/10

The Audio

The DVD offers a nice selection of DTS 5.1 surround and Dolby Digital both 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo. But ultimately, all that matters is hearing the routine, which you can just fine. Again, not impressive, but it gets the job done.

7.5/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

The one-disc special comes in a regular DVD case with cardboard slip cover. Nothing too special or fancy. The insert inside does fold out into a two-sided mini-poster, and that’s a little neat.

The one bonus feature is an hour plus documentary. Titled “Basic Black,” the doc follows the life and times of Lewis Black. Friends, families, colleagues and even television’s Johnny Galecki discuss Lewis coming up into his current comic status and his life on the road touring. The early years of Black’s career are pretty interesting and informative to those like me who mostly know Black from his more recent Comedy Central work. Though I do wish the documentary covered more of his recent work though, such as getting into The Daily Show, especially since those contributions helped garner him the level of celebrity he now has.

The documentary does expend on some of the material in the featured stand-up special, such as the relationship with his parents. You don’t need to have watched the stand-up to understand these bits, but it’s better to watch the feature first to kelp the freshness. Nothing kills a joke faster than explaining it. But after the fact, it’s a great supplement to the special and probably a must watch for any Black fan.

8.5/10

Black is as hilarious as ever and is even cathartic through his profane tirades. Some of the references may date the performance, but those few references shouldn’t hamper it. Time will tell how well it holds up, but for now, it’s worth a rental.

Overall (Not an Average) 8.5/10

The Review
The Series 8.5/10
The Video 6/10
The Audio 7.5/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 8.5/10
Overall (Not an Average) 8.5/10

Directed by Shunji Oga
Featuring Voices by David Wald (English), Hiroshi Tachi (Japanese)

Golgo 13 is the greatest sniper in the world, and this series proves that with every episode. Just don’t stand behind him.

The Series

Golgo 13 follows the strong and silent Duke Togo, the world’s greatest hitman and professional sniper known as the eponymous Golgo 13, as he takes on mission after mission. No target escapes his sights. No problem fazes his stone-like demeanor. No woman is left unsatisfied (and all he does is lie there).

Each episode is a serious and dramatic self-contained story, following Golgo 13 as he takes on a new target, as well as episode-specific characters as they become involved in Golgo 13’s work (employers, targets, investigators, etc.). They are usually the ones who receive the story emphasis, while Golgo 13 acts more as a plot device, only caring about his job, which he always completes with ease. In the process, he usually and inadvertently shows the other characters their true selves and to be careful what they wish for.

Here within lies a small problem. The series is formulaic and episodic with no overarching plot. Every job Golgo 13 is given is completed with no real problem because he’s just that good. With such a repetitive format, no matter how well done each self-contained story is, it can be difficult to hold interest in all thirteen episodes of this collection, let alone the entire 50+ episode series.

Despite that, the jobs Golgo 13 takes on are captivating to watch unfold. Some of the characters he encounters are complex and interesting. Almost all episodes on their own are satisfying in their own right, not requiring any prior watching (great for jumping in on a random episode).  And of course, the perfect man who satisfies every woman he meets is a good match for the male wish-fulfillment James Bond fans.

And just like every good male wish-fulfillment series, Golgo 13 is mature content with violence, murder, sexual scenes and nudity. Keep away from the kiddies.

8.5/10

The Video

The series is 16:9 widescreen standard definition. The video has a little bit of grain on my Tobisha flatscreen. The designs look fine, but the animation has little actual animation. However, it somewhat gets away with the little movement thanks to the slow pacing of each episode.

5/10

The Audio

Decent 2.0 stereo with both Japanese and English audio track (Japanese audio with English subs is the default). One of Sentai Filmworks’ early dubs outside of ADV Films, Golgo 13 is alright. Nothing spectacular, but these aren’t grade-A acting roles. The English (and Japanese) voice casts do a good job with what they have, and their somewhat overacting fits. I do prefer the deeper and gravellier voice of Golgo 13’s own Japanese voice actor, but the English one is fine and isn’t hard to get used to.

Here’s hoping Sentai Filmworks’ other dubs keeps this up.

7.5/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

Standard DVD case with two discs. Standard clean openings/endings and series previews. Nothing special.

Speaking of packaging, just a tip: make sure the review copies you send out don’t have a loose disc.

4.5/10

Golgo 13 is a fun watch. Each episode contains a new and captivating story. The stand-alone nature of the show means you can jump into any episode and not need a commitment. And it’s got a decent dub. The otherwise lackluster collection is worth a watch for any gun-loving, hitman/spy-movie fan.

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

The Review
The Series 8.5/10
The Video 5/10
The Audio 7.5/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 4.5/10
Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

Written by James Robinson (The Comeback), Dan Jurgens (Geometry) and J. Michael Straczynski (The Slap Heard ‘Round the World)
Art by Bernard Chang (The Comeback), Dan Jurgens (Geometry) and Eddy Barrows (The Slap Heard ‘Round the World)

In celebration of reaching the big 700 mark, Superman writers from the past, present and future all contribute to this three-story anthology issue.

The Story

A 700^th issue is a momentous occasion, even for someone who already hit that landmark (Superman in Action Comics #700, 1994). This issue also bridges the transition between creative teams, with James Robinson starting the book with the last story of his run and J. Michael Straczynski wrapping it up with the beginning of his.

Robinson’s “The Comeback” serves as an epilogue to his whole New Krypton saga, romantically reuniting Superman with Lois Lane after their time apart. Aside from a fairly one-sided fight, it’s all about the dramatic mushy alone time between Mr. and Mrs. Kent. Some throwaway lines about events at the end of War of the Supermen might throw people off who didn’t read it, but that’s negligible.

Straczynski’s prologue to his upcoming Grounded arc, titled “The Slap Heard ‘Round the World,” features a detached Superman wandering around the world after the titular slap by a random woman. After trying to gain some perspectives from a couple of colleagues, he starts on his walk around the country that the story arc follows. This story in itself is pretty uneventful and even kind of a downer, with Superman being mopey the whole time. However, it serves as a good launching board for Straczynski’s story of Superman trying to get back to his roots and reinvigorate himself.

The middle story “Geometry” – by Dan “I killed Superman” Jurgens – is really more of a Robin story. Dick Grayson Robin, that is, taking place years ago. It’s a fine story on its own, but it seems out of place. It has nothing to do with the recent Superman stories, and with its Robin focus, it seems more at home in a Superman/Batman anniversary issue than this one.

All together – from the forward-facing potential of “The Slap Heard ‘Round the World,” the mushy mediocre “The Comeback,” and the decent Robin story co-starring Superman “Geometry” – these do a bit better than average, but not by much.

6/10

The Art

All the stories are done by different artists. Bernard Chang draws “The Comeback.” I think there’s a bit too much manga-esque influence for my taste in a Superman book. The eyes are oddly big, particularly as wide as mouths in some panels. The facial features and hairlines occasionally seem off with the head shape and direction too. Otherwise it’s well detailed, sharply inked and colored nicely.

Jurgens pulls double duty with layouts while Norm Rapmund helps finish the drawing. Jurgens brings his same good level of art from his current work on Booster Gold over, to the point that I kept an eye out for any Booster Gold cameos (he’s a time traveler, after all). Sadly, no such luck.

Eddy Barrows shows us what he’ll be doing when he joins Straczynski on the title. He really likes the sunset, using darker tones, shading and an orangish light. The only thing is that Superman looks like he’s about to cry in half of his panels. It’s a bit awkward. Otherwise, I think he’ll do ok on the title.

7/10

Overall

Despite the stories and art, this issue has one crucial flaw. It’s a “Giant-Sized Anniversary Issue” (according to the cover anyway). Where’s the celebration? Where’s the tribute to the character and the history he has made?

These three short stories are fine on their own, but they’re a pretty lackluster way to bring in the 700s. “Geometry” is hardly about Superman anyway, and the other stories would have happened regardless as the epilogue and prologue to their respective arcs. The only extras this book has area look ahead with descriptions of upcoming stories within the Superfamily titles and the same freaking Action Comics #890 preview that’s in every DC comic for the past month.

A certain level of gravitas is missing from this issue, and the stories themselves aren’t strong or important enough to make up for it.

4/10

The Review
Story 6/10
Art 7/10
Overall (Not an Average) 4/10

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Stuart Immonen

Sweet Christmas, Luke Cage! You have your own Avengers team. What are you going to do now?

The Story

Luke Cage is pissed. Especially pissed. And why shouldn’t he be? The Dark Reign is over, Norman Osborn is in jail, Steve Rogers is back, the Super-Human Registration Act is repealed and he is no longer a fugitive from the law. Sucks, right? In the reforming of the Avengers, Cage flat our refuses on the grounds that he’d still be forced to follow government orders, despite the entire team being absolutely voluntary and overseen by Captain America himself.

Luckily, Rogers and Tony Stark know how obstinate Cage is, so they give him the recently-renovated Avengers Mansion and let him form his own Avengers team with whoever he wants and Victoria Hand as their liaison. That’s right, because working with Norman Osborn’s right hand man (that’s right, I went there) is so much better than working for Steve Rogers and the government. Luke Cage really needs to work on his “lesser of two evils.”

This is a very strange book. The more I think about it, the more I think I should be annoyed with it, but I’m not. Cage is being a crybaby about the Avengers, and he’s defeating the point of there being two teams if half of his roster is on the other team. Not everyone has Wolverine’s mutant multitasking power.

Even still, it’s fun to see Cage basically handed the keys to the kingdom and do whatever he wants with his own freaking Avenger team. Who wouldn’t want that? You could put your best friend (Iron Fist) on it, your wife (Jessica Jones) and all your buddies from your old jobs even thought they still have those jobs. I think it will lead to a more laid-back, casual team in contrast to the Avengers proper, even with a lot of the same cast. I just worry that the crossover will lead to the two books concentrating on those characters only on one team, but only time will tell (and it’s not like Spider-Man and Wolverine really need any more attention).

Plus I’m excited to see the team dynamic with Hand thrown into the mix. It could be an interesting redemption story with all these characters who could really go either way in how they feel about her – hating her or all for second chances. The question is – who will go which way?

This first arc is starting off with some serious trouble in the Marvel mystic world, and with the previous book’s involvement with Dr. Strange, the territory actually feels familiar. But now no more hiding or running. Despite Cage’s odd complaints and the over-saturation of some of the roster, the book is off to a good start.

7.5/10

The Art

Stuart Immonen continues from his work towards the end of the book’s first run, so it’s not a jolting change from long-time readers. The art is fine. A bit heavy in black inks, but it’s otherwise ok. It is nice to see Avengers Mansion up and running again.

However, is it just me, or does Luke Cage in this book remind anyone else of Shaquille O’Neal? I didn’t realize it until the last page, which just screams Kazaam. Then I look back and it’s all I see. It’s not a bad thing, but it creeps me out when thinking of Marvel getting around to casting Luke Cage in a movie.

7/10

I completely understand starting New Avengers over. It’s the right move. Even if a lot of the team is the same, this is a new dynamic in a new world. This time, these characters aren’t “new” Avengers. They’re straight up Avengers in their own right. They’ve just been given a new start to do things their own way. They just didn’t have to move to the west coast to do it.

8/10

The Review
Story 7.5/10
Art 7/10
Overall (Not an Average) 7.5/10

Directed by Breck Eisner
Starring Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell

A small-town sheriff and his motley crew get caught up in a military conspiracy about an outbreak that turns people smarter than your average zombie. Does this remake hold water? Yes, but don’t drink it.

The Film

Residents of Ogden Marsh, Iowa slowly turn sick and murderously insane, and the US Military moves in to quell the outbreak. Town sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) finds himself between a rock and a hard place, trying to escape both crazies and soldiers with his wife and town doctor Judy (Radha Mitchell), while he finds out the origin behind the disease and the steps gone to cover it up.

The Crazies is an exciting rollercoaster. From funeral homes to truck stops to schools to car washes and et cetera, these characters are constantly moving. And like a rollercoaster, the film has its ups and downs which pace the scares out really well. The scares are often predictable yet still pop out just right, thanks to a well-paced suspense in the build ups. The timing is well executed to find a balance between the peak of anticipation and the dropping of the guard for when a random crazy shows up.

This is a tale of perseverance when anarchy and order clash. There are the crazies, who aren’t simply zombies like they appear. They are average people who have just snapped, all in different (usually fatally) ways thanks to a terrible disease. It’s a great concept, allowing people to still function with deadly accuracy in specific goals instead of mindlessly hunting for food. Then there’s the military, coming in to overkill the containment in a problem it ultimately created in the first place.

If it sounds like a George A. Romero flick, then guess what. It was, back in 1973. This modern remake of the film of the same name maintains the basic premise of the crazies and the military, but instead of splitting the focus between characters on both sides, director Breck Eisner instead focuses solely on Sheriff Dutton’s fight for survival. It’s the right move in keeping the film fresh as opposed to a carbon copy, and Eisner manages to still add a tiny bit of sympathy to the soldiers anyhow.

It’s not without its flaws though. Sheriff Dutton is obviously overqualified to be this small town’s sheriff. Actor Timothy Olyphant must have picked up some otherwise unexplained stealth and pain management techniques from the greatly inferior Hitman movie. Also, some scenes and characters almost seem like they are going to have a bigger role than what the movie ultimately does with them, particularly with how the mayor is set up.

And as already stated, it’s often predictable, but the film is still a fun ride.

7.5/10

The Video

The film is in anamorphic 2.40:1 widescreen. The colors are fine, from vivid to purposely washed out in the sun. Scenes are lit will enough to always see what’s happening.

7/10

The Audio

Dolby Digital 5.1. Thankfully, no annoying overly loud sound effects for the jump scares. The soundtrack only has two vocal songs – at the opening and then the ending credits. The rest of the background music accents the sound effects and adds to the mood without being especially noticeable. Otherwise unremarkable.

6.5/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

The single disc comes in a standard DVD case with a cardboard slip cover. The slip cover is the same as the DVD case except with a raised image on the cover.

The back has a screenshot of Timothy Olyphant that doesn’t seem to be in the movie, and there are no deleted scenes on the disc, so I don’t really know where it’s from.

Speaking of which, there are a good amount of special features. The commentary only features director Eisner, which is interesting enough for the making of but otherwise isn’t especially entertaining.  The different behind-the-scenes segments – each ranging 5-10 minutes long – give added insight into the making of the film. The George A. Romero documentary is also 10 minutes long, and unfortunately it’s just as light and superficial as one could expect from a 10-minute documentary on such a guy.

Copies of storyboards and the screenplay are neat extras, but they are PDFs only for use on your computer. Sorry you small group of people who actually watch DVDs on televisions. Silly you.

The best extra is hands down the motion comics. They expand on some small yet key characters from their own viewpoints as they deal with the town outbreak. These add character depth and showcase the effect the crazy-making disease has on these regular people. The only downside is that the disc only contains issues one and two of four. Three and four have to be bought and downloaded separately (or wait for the special edition).

7/10

The Crazies is an enjoyable thriller. You can see pretty much everything coming, but it’s still fun to watch it all happen. And once the movie is done, really check out the motion comics. But don’t drink the water.

Overall (Not an Average) 7/10

The Review
The Series 7.5/10
The Video 7/10
The Audio 6.5/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 7/10
Overall (Not an Average) 7/10

Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Art by Miguel Sepulveda

Thanos is back, and he’s not too happy. And when he’s not happy, bad stuff usually happens. Co-starring most of the Marvel cosmic characters and some giant octopi.

The Story

A rift in the universe bursts open as murderous octopi are unleashed upon our cast of cosmic characters. It’s the first wave of an invasion from the “Cancerverse” – a parallel dimension where death is dead and live is never ending. Now the cancer of life must spread out of its overcrowded home into the Marvel Universe, overwhelming the Kree, the Inhumans, the Shi’ar and the Nova Corps. The universe’s greatest hope? Thanos, of course.

The Thanos Imperative is the next step in the concept started in the Realm of Kings one-shot, where the Cancerverse is first discovered by Quasar. Now its invasion time. The Cancerverse forces consist of carnivorous octopi, the Revengers (evil versions of the Avengers), the Cancerverse Quasar and their leader who I won’t flat out spoil. To move into the Marvel Universe, they must kill its Death. That’s where Thanos (with help from the Guardians of the Galaxy) comes in, whom with his unhealthy infatuation with Mistress Death, won’t take too kindly to that.

The action is definitely attention grabbing, with explosions and overwhelming forces completely overtaking the resistance from the Marvel Universe. Major (and familiar) galactic forces battle evil versions of the heroes we know and love (sans evil-indicating goatees).The writer-admitted Cthulhu-esque Cancerverse is a neat concept, having a universe where death is gone and taking comic book characters never staying dead to a whole new level. Abnett and Lanning do this well with the mirror versions of Marvel heroes corrupted by their evil gods and lack of death. Kind of like Marvel Zombies, but better and not done to death multiple times over. If only we could get the Cancerverse versus the Black Lantern Corps. Ultimate life versus death battle.

Plus, I do have to admit, I like having the alternate reality version of a guy who died of cancer be the leader of the Cancerverse.

Speaking of death, wasn’t Thanos dead? Yep. Thanos dies in 2006’s cosmic crossover Annihilation. He doesn’t get to come in a major event, but at least it gets recapped in the epilog issue The Thanos Imperative: Ignition.

Which brings up this issue’s main weakness – it’s not quite a first issue. More like issue 1.5 because the Ignition epilogue issue actually has story that leads into this.

Don’t get me wrong though. I’m all fine with an in medias res beginning, but there seems to be a little bit of context missing. At least a more comprehensive recap page would have helped. However, we do get a nice two-page opening taking place during the Annihilation War from Annihilation, a nice touch showing the event that set the stage for

So despite the inferior art, start with The Thanos Imperative: Ignition issue before jumping into this otherwise good issue one. Or just do some Wiki surfing and you’ll be fine. This is shaping up to be another great epic-level cosmic tale of the Marvel Universe, which tends to get overshadowed by the Earthly super-heroic battles. The concept, plentiful characters and action make it worth checking out.

One possible character inconsistency though for those who actually read Realm of Kings, but maybe that’ll be explained.

8.5/10

The Art

The look isn’t anything impressive. Colors sometime blend in together and look washed out. Shadowing is a bit heavy. Some weird Photoshop effects are done on Thanos in one panel that look really out of place.

Thanks to penciled preview pages in the back of the book, we get to see Sepulveda’s excellent work before inks and colors touch it. The sharp and detailed pencils are softened and dulled under the inking and coloring, bringing the art down a notch. It’s not bad. A lot of the good character and action art still shines through, but it’s just not as clean as it could be.

I’m not sure if it’s good attention to detail or just a bit too much, but I did see a bit more of Thanos’ drool than I probably ever need to.

7/10

As an added bonus, this issue contains a small interview with writers Abnett and Lanning in the back of the book, as well as the aforementioned penciled previews. Abnett and Lanning have been directing Marvel’s cosmic tales for the last few years, and the interview shows that they know what they’re doing.

Overall though, it’s still a pretty good book. It’s just not the book you start with in this miniseries.

8/10

The Review
Story 8.5/10
Art 7/10
Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Doug Braithwaite

The Siege is over, and it’s time for Thor and friends to assess the damage, clean up the ruins and take out the trash.

The Story

The war is over. The bad guys are gone, but Asgard lies in ruins. After a two-page recap of Siege #4, we find the Asgardians sorting through the rubble of their former home.

This issue wraps up more than simply an event tie-in arc. Thor’s exile from Asgard, Kendra dealing with loss and retaliation and the resolution of the Thor clone Ragnarok, it all come to a head in this issue. I’m happy to say those points are all well resolved

I enjoyed this issue thoroughly. This run on Thor, ever since J. Michael Straczynski revived the character, has excelled at focusing and humanizing these characters often portrayed as generic gods of myth. Writer Kieron Gillen does a great job showing the solemn sorrow these characters have for the loss of their home and then transitioning that to the desire to rebuild and make what was great once great again (insert “We are Nashville” reference here).

And simply for overdue pleasure, the Thor/Ragnarok fight is especially satisfying. Ever since the clone (also known as “Clor”) hit the scenes in Civil War back in 2006, we readers just waited and waited for this fight to happen. Now it does, and it’s as fulfilling as one would hope. Thor finally confronts Ragnarok and brings down the hammer (ba-dum-bum) just as the imposter deserves. It’s just the kind of satisfaction I wanted out of the Thor/Sentry fight in Siege #4, which itself was actually anticlimactic.

It’s not perfect though. There is some awkwardly worded dialog. Finding the right voice for these characters can be hard, but it doesn’t seem Gillen is quite there yet.  At least there aren’t any “thees” and “thous.” Still, that’s minor and doesn’t really hamper how enjoyable this issue is.

9/10

The Art

This very detailed and drawn look appropriately fits these mythic characters and settings. Unlike a traditional super hero comic with bright and vibrant colors and more simplified character designs, artist Doug Braithwaite and co-colorists Andy Troy and Paul Mounts bring an attention to detail and more pastel and earthy coloring to give this book’s look a more epic feel.

The characters themselves are shown to emote really well, thanks to the attention to their facial movements and eyes in particular. Balder’s sorrowful expression in the beginning of the book alone conveys the loss of the Asgardians’ home.

Speaking of which, Asgard is truly in ruins, as it shows in the nicely drawn out rubble and broken buildings, although still partially hidden by a bit too many dust clouds.

The highlight though is of course the Thor/Ragnarok fight. The action is energetic and powerful, watching these god-level combatants go at it. Ragnarok continual battle damage reveals more and more a Terminator-esque interior, right down to the glowing red eye. Of course, Thor is no John Conner, and a god-modded Terminator

9.5/10

Thor #6 10 is a fun read, and anyone following our Asgardian heroes gets a satisfying closing of this latest chapter in their tale.

But did anyone else see a June 2008 ad for Skaar: Son of Hulk? Kind of dropping the ball by putting in a two-year-old ad, aren’t we Marvel advertising department?

9.5/10

The Review
Story 9/10
Art 9.5/10
Overall (Not an Average) 9.5/10

Directed by Shinji Takamatsu
Featuring Voices of Tomokazu Sugita, Rie Kugimiya and Daisuke Sakaguchi

Feudal Japan meets space aliens and a sci-fi setting in this action comedy, but is it as interesting as it sounds?

The Series

In mid-1800s Japan, aliens invade and thrust the world into a strange mix of feudal Japan and sci-fi future. Swords, which for some reason aliens with highly-advanced technology have a problem with, are now banned. Now, former samurai Gintoki Sakata works odd jobs with odd companions to scrape together what little cash they can while dealing with mobsters, feudal police forces and corrupt alien governments, all to buy the next issue of Shonen Jump and sweets.

Gintama is an action comedy series. It heavily relies on the tropes and clichés of the shonen genre (action/comedy anime and manga for teen males) for parodies and jabs. The main characters get into fights with mobs and government and random other people, usually devolving into slapstick humor before the main character Gin wins because he’s just that good. Formulaic and not really suspenseful.

It’s also a highly referential comedy, often bringing up fellow shonen series, particularly those from the manga anthology Weekly Shonen Jump (where the Gintama manga is originally published). The series also references Japanese pop culture, celebrities and history. If you know anything about any of this, you’ll get the jokes, but even still they’re not all funny.

Otherwise, it’s still a workable show, but it’s not a particularly interesting one. This collection contains the first thirteen episodes. Aside from the two-parter beginning to introduce all the characters, the episodes are stand-alone, episodic stories lacking anything interesting to grab hold of. The main character Gin tries to be the skilled but lazy bum with a mysterious past, but it doesn’t really go anywhere with these episodes. The other characters are even less captivating, not doing much outside each episode’s formula of finding a client and screwing up until the case is solved. There’s nothing to care about here.

This series is built for those genre fans to revel in the comedy of the clichés, not for anyone else. Fans of shows like Bleach, One Piece and Rurouni Kenshin will probably enjoy some of the humor, but these first episodes are pretty passable.

5/10

The Video

The show is in 4×3 fullscreen. The animation is simple and average. The art is mediocre. Not good or bad. It just is.

5/10

The Audio

Japanese 2.0 stereo audio only. The sound comes out clearly enough. The soundtrack isn’t spectacular, but the opening song is kind of catchy (“Pray” by Tommy heavenly6).

6/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

These first 13 episodes are spread across two discs within a single DVD case. The case has some average character art on the jacket against a mostly red and white background. The disc art, however, has much nicer character art with a softer, more drawn look.

Special features include the usual clean opening and ending, trailers and DVD credits. Nothing really special here.

5.5/10

This 201-episode series starts off pretty unspectacularly unless you get a kick out of the references and parodies. If so, good, but you’re not going to get anything from the quality of the collection itself. If not, there’s nothing else really for you.

Overall (Not an Average) 5/10

The Review
The Series 5/10
The Video 5/10
The Audio 6/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 5.5/10
Overall (Not an Average) 5/10

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by John Romita Jr.

When the Avengers are together again and Marvel 616 is as it should be, Kang the Conqueror shows up, a fight happens and now the Avengers have to save the future from their own children. Seems like everything is back to business.

The Story

Steve Rogers approaches several heroes at the Siege after party, recruiting them for various Avengers teams, without saying who is on what team. If the teams weren’t already publicized and on the covers of their respective books already, this would be neat and suspenseful.

But anyway, we have a team, so let’s look at the line up. Thor, Iron Man and Cap (even Bucky Cap) are givens. With Clint Barton back in the Hawkeye duds, he makes sense. Spidey is a good fit, and let’s face it, this IS a Bendis and Romita Jr. book, so what would you expect? Spider-Woman would probably fit better in the Secret Avenger team given her espionage background and probable public image damage from Secret Invasion. Wolverine…could we not have him in three books a week just once? If you really need a mutant on the main, public Avengers team, why not put Beast on that team?

With that said, the team dynamic is working well. Bendis has the newly-formed team mingle and get to know one another, leading to an awkwardly humorous meeting of Thor and Bucky Cap and a spirited debate between Steve and Tony. Bendis is good with his dialog, and it shows here.

As for the story, Kang the Conqueror shows up and starts the Avengers on a quest to figure out how the future is messed up and what their children have to do with it. It feels very Avengery, going off on an adventure in a far-off land (or time) with the fate of the future hanging in the balance. The large scope, classic villain and sense of adventure with the world’s mightiest heroes feel very true to form. It feels like THE Avengers again.

Bringing in the Next Avengers from the animated movie of the same name is a ballsy move on Bendis’ part, but the fact that they’re in there is intriguing and makes me want to learn why in the upcoming issues. It’s got to be better than the movie.

This classic-feeling story with this mostly interesting team is off to a good start, and I’m looking forward to the rest of this story.

8.5/10

The Art

John Romita Jr. does his thing as usual, and it’s what you’d expect. I like his blocky style, and he does a good job on detailing. Facial hair and lining come out nicely. Clothing and armor look as soft, wrinkly, flat or shiny as they should. The coloring is a good match as well.

However, there are some weird quality dips, especially with some female faces. It seems like perhaps the inking or the original penciling went a little too bold on some detail lining. When Spider-Woman and the girl Hawkeye smile, it looks like they’re sucking in their cheeks to show off their jaw structure. Kind of creepy.

It’s not outstanding work by Romita Jr. and company, but it holds up.

7/10

It’s nice to see the Avengers back to the basics, not dealing with drama of super hero politics as they have been for the last few years. I do with this book started back with #504, picking up the numbering scheme where Avengers Disassembled left off, or at least have both the new and old numbering schemes, to show that this is really the return of the Avengers. I’m sure that’ll come later though. Got to make #600 a big deal after all.

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

The Review
Story 8.5/10
Art 7/10
Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Chris Sprouse

Bruce Wayne fighting cavemen, and the future hangs in the balance. With guest appearances and cameos. What’s there not to enjoy?

The Story

Bruce Wayne has been hurled to the dawn of mankind. Even when disoriented and half naked, in any era, he is still Bruce Wayne – the Batman – and there’s always work to be done. This time, it involves fighting cavemen, and that’s before crap goes down.

I really like this issue. Maybe it’s just the idea of Bruce Wayne fighting cavemen, but this is fun. It’s the start of a gauntlet that will pit Bruce Wayne against struggle after struggle, against cavemen, pilgrims, pirates, cowboys and so on as he tries to fight his way home.

This is how the first issue should be – introduce the basic premise that is interesting on its own, add in a teaser for good measure and have a low barrier of entry for new readers. It’s self-contained and so far doesn’t require knowledge of the current Bat books or that convoluted mess Final Crisis where he actually “dies.”

Instead, this book is enjoyably simple and straightforward. Bruce Wayne is fighting his way though time on instinct alone (and maybe a utility belt), which is a fun idea in itself. It helps that the cause of his time-traveling misadventures isn’t completely random and out of place like a certain other super hero who made his big comeback from the dead earlier this year.

Then with one single page, we get the hint of a whole other layer of urgency and intrigue to the plot. We learn that there is more at stake than just Bruce Wayne returning to the present, but we’re not told how and why. We learn as the story progresses. It’s a great teaser that hooks readers on for the next issue if they weren’t already.

And of course the guest villain in this issue makes perfect sense. Where Bruce gets that sword in the last page, not so much. But I don’t care. I’m genuinely excited to see the next issue and how Grant Morrison brings back the Dark Knight to modern day.

9/10

The Art

The setting is dark and barren. The terrain is rocky and the sky is red. Everyone is given an appropriately rugged look for this caveman setting. Hard, muscular, hairy. Bruce really needs a shave.

This book looks as it should. It depicts the characters and setting in an appropriate fashion and gets the job done.

This era’s Bat suit is particularly fitting. A prehistoric giant bat, killed and skinned, serves as one of the more intimidating capes and cowls in Batman’s collection. This is what Batman would probably look like in this world (except for the utility belt and tight pants). The bat’s face and figure are well detailed, from the wrinkly nose, tall ears, fur, wings and teeth clamped down on Bruce Wayne’s head. It’s the kind of get up that can really put some fear into a superstitious and cowardly lot.

Although giving the Boy character a painted-on domino mask… is it truly impossible for any young boy around Batman to not become Robin? That may be a bit much, but otherwise the art is decently above average without being jaw-droppingly awesome.

7/10

This first issue is off to a great start in bringing back Bruce Wayne to the 21st century. It’s an exciting beginning to what will hopefully stay an enjoyable ride back to the future, even if there is no DeLorean involved.

Overall (Not an Average) 9/10

The Review
Story 9/10
Art 7/10
Overall (Not an Average) 9/10

Written by Frederic L’Homme
Art by Arnaud Boudoiron

Yes, this is a Marvel Comic. No, this is not about the X-Man. Yes, there are giant robots (kinda). Yes, there are boobs.

The Story

In the future, humanity will utilize bio-mechanical suits called Husks to engulf and replace the human body. Sarah – a junkie, a child prodigy and a cop – is part of a unit that pilots Husks for law enforcement. An incident at Arnold, the corporation that creates the Husks, leads the BMRI police force on a search for a new “brain hacker.”  Sarah’s questioning of Arnold’s true motivations are overshadowed by her ever-growing addiction to her Husk and her distain for her own body and life.

Husk is a collaboration between Marvel and French comic publisher Soleil, in that Marvel is importing it (and a few other titles already made by Soleil) to the States.  The book is listed as a “Marvel Limited Series” and does not take place in any Marvel universe, so don’t expect any Siege or Second Coming discussions in the background.

This book tries to be very cerebral, and I think it pulls it off. It explores addiction with Sarah’s drug usage, including the Husks she uses to escape from herself and feel more simple and primitive feelings. The book also deals with some “ghost in the machine” concepts by showing Sarah discard the use of her natural body and higher brain functions (machine) to satisfy her base emotions and instincts (ghost) through the Husk. There’s also a pervasion of technology and privacy shown here too. The characters are mostly vehicles to explore these concepts, but they do the job and manage to still hold an interested connection from the reader (except maybe the pig which is just odd).

The biomecha Husk concept is intriguing, how they are cultivated into being and manipulated by a pilot inside and a co-pilot off site. The extent of their organic nature and how they really work is just touched upon in this book, adding a bit of mystery I’m looking forward to in the next issues.

Beware to plan some time though. This is a long issue compared to your average comic book. It is 48 pages and really wordy. Very dense words, scattered with philosophical and techno rambling. It really tries to earn that $5.99 price tag with content, which I’m not sure it fully does.

Anyone familiar with Japanese anime film director Mamoru Oshii will instantly see familiar territory. At first glance, Husk seems like a mix-mash of Ghost in the Shell (the philosophical exploration of the mind, body and technology) and Patlabor (the pervasive use of mecha and corporation in society). And then there’s the dense dialog. If you’ve seen any of Oshii’s works, you may be interested in Husk for it similarities, or you may not because you have basically seen this story already.

Still, it’s only issue one of three. There are still two books for L’Homme to spin this into something truly unique. If he doesn’t, it’s still intriguing and entertaining. Maybe not $5.99 entertaining, but it’ll all likely be trade paperback entertaining.

7/10

The Art

The designs in this book are all well done. Everything is well detailed and clean. Boudoiron definitely took his time to do this.

The Husk designs are not your usual mecha designs, with a fairly plain base skin and blank white head. These biomecha can be outfitted for whatever tasks they need, including (for some reason) simple yet oversized street clothes for a strike mission. Seeing semi-giant robots (they’re only 2-3 times taller than a person) wear clothes is odd, but it works given their biological nature. Their organic look and damaged appearances. They’re essentially small yet muscular, faceless Evangelions (for those familiar with Neon Genesis Evangelion). They’re still unique enough visually to stand apart and look neat.

The characters are all realistic, with excellent detail to bone structure and shading. Sarah is drawn really tiny and young. She’s seemingly of legal age but looks twelve, which definitely makes sense of her hatred of her own body.

My only problem with the art is the dialog boxes design choice. Following all the dialog can be disorientating to those of us used to rectangle boxes solely used for narration and inner monolog. Here, they all pretty much look the same, with inner monolog differentiated with simply an inner pinkish fill. With so many boxes with several lines of dialog (several being said by characters off panel) scattered on the pages, it can be tough to follow.

Oh, and boobs. Remember that “Mature Content” warning? Yeah, that’s no joke.

8/10

Husk is an intriguing title, unique from the standard superhero fare Marvel puts out. The futuristic mecha usage and conceptual exploration make this a book worth checking out, and the art is nice to look at while grinding through the text. Still, $5.99 is costly for any single issue, so maybe wait for the whole thing in trade.

8/10

The Review
Story 7/10
Art 8/10
Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

Directed by Mike Marshall
Starring Akemi, Albertine, Cherry, GoGo, India, Kokeshi, Loretta, Maia, Manko, Mnislahi, Nic, Sawa, Shenni, Tiffany, Toy, Venla and Yuki.

That’s right more Suicide Girls! These scantly clade and tatted young women are on vacation and we’re along for the ride.

The Movie

Several different European Suicide Girls take a trip in an Italian villa, enjoying the sun, pools, partying and photo shoots. Then they go home. The end.

Suicide Girls: Italian Villa is simply a string of interviews and photo shoots of several different Suicide Girls models from a variety of European countries. If you don’t know what the Suicide Girls organization is, it’s a bunch of goth, punk and indie girls posing for softcore pin-up photos. Think if Playboy girls were less busty and covered with tattoos and piercings.

The format is all the same. A girl at a time is the focus of an interview portion, talking about what brought her to Suicide Girls and the villa. The interview is interspliced with footage of their vacationing activities they describe and clips of other girls. Then there’s a photo shoot of that focused girl, maybe some more dialog, and then it’s off to the next girl. Rinse and repeat. Probably rinse very thoroughly, as this may get somewhat dirty by the end.

But that’s it. That’s the whole film. All the girls do is lounge around, go into town, drink, party and pose. That’s fine for photos, but for an hour and a half, there needs to be more to keep my attention.

I might be more enthusiastic if I found the girls more attractive. Not that I have anything against tattoos, piercings or odd hair colorings. Those are fine. It’s just that a lot of them are just really skinny, “visible rib cage” skinny.

This is presented as the second Suicide Girls DVD, and I’m not surprised. At this point, the Suicide Girls team didn’t seem to understand that there should be more fulfilling content to differentiate the film. There’s nothing here to warrant buying this DVD as opposed to looking at the photos on the Suicide Girls web site.

2/10

The Video

The film is presented in 4×3 fullscreen. I would complain about that if I thought having that wider view would add more to this production. It wouldn’t.

Some shots of the film are done in a grainy filter for an old home-movie look. It gives the film a simple summer vacation feel, which is basically what it is. At least it’s a decent effect though.

4/10

The Audio

Simple Stereo. Some of the girls were difficult to understand, especially the narrator. Some of that are the accents, but it’s also just not the clearest of recordings.

The DVD makes a point to say it is featuring music from several performers, some of which are Suicide Girls in the film. Some of the music is even character-specific for the different girls. Almost all of it is forgettable background music.

3/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

The one disc comes in a thin cardboard case kept close with only a small paper slip band.  The case itself is kind of neat, covered with pictures of the girls laid out like a scrapbook. The cardboard case would typically seem cheap, but it’s decently done and works well for a low-budget release like this.

The back of the box lists English and Spanish subtitles in the DVD’s stats, but then it goes on to list them as special features. At this point in DVDs, subtitles are about as special a feature as the 4×3 fullscreen.

Otherwise, the special features are music videos by a couple of the girls and movie trailers, including two for two other Suicide Girls movies. Oddly enough, only one of those is unrated and shows nudity, as if the other one has to worry about minors watching it.

Two of the three music videos are forgettable, but one – Tying Tiffany’s Honey Doll – earns this release some official geek cred. The video portrays the lead singer green screened in with a bunch of action figures and Barbie dolls, with a band consisting of Ultraman on keys, the Thing on drums and Luke Skywalker on guitar. Throw in some obscure giant robots (Why can’t Go Nagai catch on here like he did in Italy?), and color me impressed.

6/10

Is it sad that I’m more impressed by that one geeky music video than I am with the entire release? Yes, and that’s why this is overall a lackluster release not worth whatever it costs.

Overall (Not an Average) 3/10

The Review
The Series 2/10
The Video 4/10
The Audio 3/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 6/10
Overall (Not an Average) 3/10

Written and Art by Brendan McCarthy

Spider-Man Fever? The name alone should get your attention. The question is does the story within these pages merit the attention beyond the name?

The Story

Spider-Man finds himself caught up in a web of magic when an ancient spider creature is accidently freed by Dr. Strange and tracks down our friendly neighborhood web-slinger.

This enjoyable (and maybe hallucinogenic) ride shows the bad Parker luck getting Spidey caught up in yet another adventure bigger than himself and the world he typically occupies. Even with saying that, it doesn’t feel out-of-place for Spider-Man to be caught up in this mystical escapade.

That said, there are some logical leaps this story tries to take.  Dr. Strange, the world’s most powerful mystic, just randomly sets off a magical booby trap? Careless indeed. Then it’s very “convenient” that Spider-Man just happens to get attacked nearby and then – in a mystical stupor – finds his way into Dr. Strange’s bathroom. Also, this issue highlights one of Spidey’s little-known weaknesses – insecticide, which may or may not have been magically boosted. These are elements that may make sense with some magical explanation but as of yet do not have one. Right now, they’re more like short cuts.

The story also features a bad stereotypical thuggish black guy with bad dialog who is not too pleased that the cops are heading to his apartment because of a Spidey fight. Perhaps a product of the retro feel of the story, the character ultimately serves two roles: 1) the typical citizen peanut gallery criticizing everything, and 2) a simple distraction so McCarthy can explain Spider-Man looking one way when he should be the other. The character does provide some levity in the story, but I wish it was handled better.

Spider-Man: Fever is a Marvel Knights title, meaning that it’s outside proper canon (unless Marvel ever chooses to retcon it in as we all know they might randomly do). For those of you with a moratorium on proper 616 (the number designation for the main Marvel universe) Spidey stories after One More Day (including some CineGeek contributors), this is a good title to check out.

Because this is not a typical canon story though, I can’t help but wonder if Spider-Man’s magical background will come into play. J Michael Straczynski spent a good deal of his Amazing Spider-Man run mixing a mystical element into the whole “bitten by a radioactive spider” origin. That’s been largely ignored since the Crisis-esque event of One More Day, but here would be the place to bring it back up. Spidey’s connection to the spider totem does not appear in this issue though, so we’ll have to wait and see for issues two and three.

It’s an intriguing story, and I’m excited to see where it goes, but this first issue is not without fault.

7/10

The Art

Spider-Man time traveled back to the Silver Age, and it’s a real trip. This issue’s high point is McCarthy’s artwork, heavily inspired by Steve Ditko in the 1960s. It’s a Spider-Man/Dr. Strange tale, and there’s no better place to pay tribute to Ditko than in a work starring two of the most famous characters he helped create.

Starting with Spider-Man, McCarthy strays from the modern design with a tone, muscular form and wide white eyes. Just like Steve Ditko’s original Spider-Man from Amazing Fantasy #15 and the early issues of Amazing Spider-Man, McCarthy’s Spidey features a lanky and more organic body, heavy shading on the blues, less refined webbing patterns, the webbed under arm and even the thinner white eye lenses with thick black outlines.

Drawing from Ditko’s work with Dr. Strange, McCarthy utilizes very psychedelic worlds and effects. Magic usage appears in showers of multicolored sparks and stars and ultraviolet lightning. Warped perspectives and color-shifting skies and backgrounds make even the “real” world look otherworldly. Going into other dimensions is a surreal and abstract experience surely familiar to both old-school Dr. Strange readers and certain substance abusers (maybe some crossover in there).

And then there are even the little touches, like the retro excessive and exaggerated use of sound effects, stylized and overlapping panels to fit bizarre dimensions and dreamy states and even a blur effect for the Vulture rushing in.

The few marks against the art are simple mistakes from Spidey’s web pattern missing a line here and oddly connected there.

This work is fun to look at. It’s obvious someone loves the ‘60s, and that’s just fine.

9/10

This is a fun tale for both Spidey and Dr. Strange, despite Dr. Strange not even getting title billing. It’s got some issues, but not enough to really detract from the book. If the other two issues in the miniseries continue and improve on this one, it’ll definitely be worthwhile.

The Review
Story 7/10
Art 9/10
Overall (Not an Average) 8.5/10