Jeff Butler Comic Reviews

Overall, it's an amusing little book that takes full advantage of the anything-can-happen style of the show and has that currently rare all-ages appeal.

It's cool to see a mixed bag of styles and stories, but for the most part the book was kind of tedious and felt more like a publishing afterthought than creative fun. For a book set in a fantasy world where anything can happen, no story took it any place interesting, and I ended up more engaged by the short preview comic in the back promoting the upcoming Osamu Tezuka inspired toon 'Steven Universe'. There's plenty of great Halloween content out there this year, but this round the 'Adventure Time' comic fell a little short.

It's a strange book but also a unique one, that is well written enough to avoid the ‘look at me' pretentiousness that similar books tend to annoy me with. It's certainly interesting, and at times engaging. I don't know if I could ever recommend it to anyone, but if you see this book at a con and have an experimental attitude check it out. Good weird doesn't come along often enough.

The main story's art by Mike Holmes is great, pulling great character out of the simple designs, while Lisa Moore's colors are warm and inviting. While so many licensed comics feel like writers and artists going through the motions, or even exercising an outright ambivalence to quality, for some reason the ones based on children's cartoons have become an unlikely bastion of excellence, with the 'Adventure Time' comic landing an Eisner win. While 'Bravest Warriors' may not be an unbelievable read, it's well written and illustrated with charisma to spare, and certainly a force for good on the comic shelf.

I'm hoping with ‘Bravest Warriors' increased profile will contribute to more people giving this comic a chance and not assuming that it's a cheap commercial cash in. I can't speak for the rest of the Boom! Line, but their Kaboom! Children's imprint has been putting out some charming content, with ‘Bravest Warriors' being one of the finer examples. Do yourself a favor and get a copy of this comic in the hands of one of your infinite incarnations, your multiverse selves will thank you.

I can't say I understand all of each story's intentions, or, outside of the first story, how they will continue as longer narratives. While interesting as short stories I can't picture how any one of them would work as a full twenty-one pages, as page count is burned pretty quickly without communicating a whole lot. Despite this, it's a quality comic, with art from creators comfortable in their individual style rather than aping a Marvel/DC ideal, and characters that I find at the very least intriguing. Care alone is enough to make me want to go back and read the series from the beginning, and considering my recent case of the Comic Grumps that's a win in my book.

I have to say the Tales of the Crypt influence in the book seems a bit out-of-place, with the Uncle Creepy zinger following the second story taking me out of the moment a bit, but it's a uniformly fine crafted book with the Dark Horse polish I've come to have a significant admiration for. Talent showcase books can be a mixed bag but this is an example of doing it right.

Certainly worth a read if you want another zombie book. And maybe the highest praise I can offer a zombie book is that it might be worth a read even if you don't.

A few small plot wrinkles show up, one in relation to the zombies that both had me nodding my head with approval and realizing that this direction diminishes the point of the book even having zombies as its core gimmick. Still, the cast and world are only just starting to open up in this issue, so if you have a spontaneous craving for a book where Excalibur whacks off heads of the undead, pick up an issue and get started.

These aren't crap stories with great art, they are stories very close to being good but failed in formatting, and only in the case of ‘School Spirit', a confused plot. What I do like is that none of these stories are impossible to recover in the second issue, and I would look forward at least in the case of ‘Ruined' to see where the story goes. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, Fresh Romance is absolutely worth your money. It is a rare indie anthology that looks this flawless from cover to cover. However, specifically writing for this format, the book was mildly bungled. Whether a challenge for the editor or for the individual writers, it's the only roadblock in the way of this book being a standout entry in the modern romance anthology genre.

'Cobra Files' feels like a solid book, and while I can't speak for Joe fans it seems like it takes its source material seriously. While it's far from converting me, it's a relief to pick up an IDW book that feels like someone actually bothered to write it. Not swell to be left with that perception of their catalog, but I'll take an okay book where I see it.

Not being a hardcore Godzilla fan I can't really say whether the book does it's fanservicey duties. Are Godzilla fans interested in a serviceable book about the most familiar characters in the franchise slapping each other in static comic book form? Maybe, and the book is actually good enough to leave that question up in the air. The book does nothing for me as a non-fan but doesn't leave me in angry writhing like the reprehensible 'Robocop: The Last Stand' did. If you're a fan, maybe give it a go.

Reading Zenescope books for their story is like watching softcore porn for the editing. With dozens of TV shows, movies, and comic books all getting in on the adult retelling of fairy-tales even the least creative do more with their material than Zenescope, and the books don't even have the barest kind of trashy fun that the covers suggest. Not unreadable but providing no reason to read it. I'd be more angry about the bait and switch if I had to pay for this issue, but then again if you're still spending money on their Grimm books, you only have yourself to blame.

It's generally crap, but as it's built on a crappy franchise to begin with so it's slightly more than my meager expectations. There's nothing wrong with the haunted house cheesecake premise, but even bad slasher films have to have some sort of personality to be entertaining; that's why you would watch 'Scream 2" or 'Idle Hands' on Halloween but not 'Urban Legends' or the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' remake. No harm, no foul though, since the only people who are likely to buy this comic are the ones who have kept this substandard franchise alive for this long and for the most part it is par for the course.

Again, not so much a Halloween book, and definitely less Halloweeny than last year where it just felt like a goofy excuse to draw horror monsters, which honestly was an attitude I appreciated. Still, this issue actually bothers to have character development and some thread to the main plot, as well as a shocking lack of cheap T&A, so really it's up to your tastes which direction was more successful. If you don't already read Grimm Fairy Tales there isn't anything here worth investing in, but if you are a regular reader, this Special might be necessary for the character development.

It doesn't skimp on the art, it's mildly creatively written, and nothing in this issue is as bad as ‘Symphony in Red‘ from the last issue. Should horror comic fans rush out and demand this one? Not really, but its inoffensive fun that has moments of charm as well as artistic talent backing it up visually. And that's good enough for right now.

Well, it's a book. It exists now. You can buy it if you like. It's not like anybody dies if you do.

While there's no real reason to publish vintage comics this way when big cheap trades are available, the comic contained is a great portal to a different time in comic books and a different time for the world. Like the racial caricature Axis enemies of the 1940"s to the snickering alley rapists of the 1990"s, vintage Judge Dredd captures the dark side of the era, but unlike those examples, instead of sending in heroes to defeat the things we were afraid of, Wagner and Ezquerra made the hero the problem itself. It's something I'd like to see captured in Dredd again, especially since the world is getting weirder and creepier every day, but for now it's worth the trip back in time to this unique piece of pop culture history.

What will happen to Leroy Soulo next? I don't know. He has a gun now, but we don't know if he'll have any reason to use it seeing as there's no obstacles to face so far. He has two big torch things on his back that at first I thought might be swords, but I probably have to buy the companion guide to learn what they are. I think a lot of my feelings about this book are really disappointment. I wanted to like it but the come down from that was hard, a book that's the most unloveable kind of pretentious. I'll leave the job of collecting Soul Points to someone else.

Flabbergasting in the best possible way. It may be far from perfect, but I've never read anything like it, and goddamn if I don't treasure that feeling.

Also, Josh? Raise the price. This one more than earns that extra $1.50.

‘Love Machines' #4 isn't bad, I simply found myself without any strong feelings towards anything in it, a first for the series. However, in no way does Trujillo undershoot his usual ambitions. He continues a tradition of never making me feel as if both stories are written by the same person. By this point in any self-written anthology series, most would have turned self-indulgent and self-congratulatory, but Trujillo continues to write small smart stories that don't try to reach beyond their grasp, but reach none-the-less. Not every issue can be a winner, but with this anthology series they are always worth giving a shot.

In the end this story has little to do with the birth of the 20th century. Celebrity and power are only window dressing on a story of madness, rape, and instinctive murder. It's not a story with a point, no clean narrative with justice, catharsis, and other Hollywood inventions. It's a story about powerful people who thrashed each other's lives or quietly absorbed abuse before eventually aging, fading, and dying in obscurity. The story begins with an American empire and ends with three graves. It's a hollow feeling, leaving you wondering if maybe, despite still telling and retelling these stories, that maybe murder isn't so big after all. Maybe everything ends small.

With these kinds of mash-up crossovers the bare minimum expectation is fanservice, something to appeal to one or preferably both fanbases, but what does 'Mars Attacks Judge Dredd' offer in that regard? It's a Dredd book that's been watered down to plug a crossover in, and the Martians are so far marginalized to the point of irrelevance. I'm not sure who the book was written for, not sure who would buy it, but it's not horribly offensive considering IDW's track record. Lord knows if it doesn't sell they've got plenty of options. Mostly Pony related options.

The issue makes me want to catch up with the series, as I've been out of the loop since ‘Mass Effect: Invasion'. It's a likeable addition to the canon and hopefully a sign of a long and prosperous relationship between Dark Horse and Bioware's stellar franchise.

Please go back to trying to be Frank Miller? For

‘RoboChuck‘ is a likeable comic and seems to have a strong idea of where it is going. While it could have really benefited from a different artist (not to mention a more accurate title), the art isn't a dealbreaker, with a script that is among the better ones I've read recently in a self-published book. If you like supporting independent creators you might want to think about picking up a copy for yourself.

The art is brutally ugly in places, stiff and stagnantly posed during action sequences and cartoonishly manic during casual dialogue. To be somewhat fair to the artist, quite a bit of information is crammed into the six panel grids that make up nearly every page, but for the most part it just feels like rushed hired-gun artwork.

Verdict? A loveless book gets a notch less ugly but remains disastrously written and not worth even flipping through in the comic shop. You'd have a better time just re-watching the infamously terrible 'Robocop 3" movie. When you remake a notorious failure and somehow come out worse, that's when you know you've really fucked up.

Micheal isn't a paticularly successful detective anyway, and perhaps isn't intended to be one, his playing investigator may having more to do with his own steady decline down his father's path. Regardless, I'm happy to tune in, a comic that's not for everyone but is good for quiet nights with a glass of bourbon.

I don't hate this book. It doesn't give me enough to work with to build up to hate. It comes and goes. Tomorrow I'll have forgotten I read it. Except it looks like there's a second issue in the review folder… Shit.

It's a book I'd love to hear a female perspective on, the male story of the second issue probably more than a little biographical in some parts for its writer. While the world of comic culture finds itself embroiled in debate over gender in comics and on the convention floor, here is a comic that is concerned with gender, is sexually aware, and above all, is deeply human. It's unlikely to start any dialogues in the Batman and Deadpool crowd, but it should. I may not know how Fraction plans to make a whole series out of this, but I can't wait to find out and hopefully soon you will too.

I must admit the premise is compelling, and writer Tom Hutchinson makes the script feel slightly elevated above its intentionally popcorn aesthetic; a beautiful immortal traipsing through a multiverse of action adventure genres? With art like this it's quite the pitch. I can't say the Halloween Dress up style is really my cup of tea, but for people wishing someone would get serious about making a late-90′s Adventure Boobs comic, this one might be worth a look.

Ultimately, it's not an unreadable book, and fans of the film might want to keep up with these potentially canon additions to the NuTrek continuity, but the personality deficit paralyzes the fun and prevents it from being much more than merchandise.

I expect this is the comic that had to be gotten out of the way for the more interesting stuff, moving on in future issues to the Eugenics War and presumably Khan's unfreezing and work under Admiral Marcus. Reading the book reminded me somewhat of Dark Horse's 'Clone Wars' series, not in terms of quality but rather telling stories that ultimately would have been better to see on the big screen that what we got. It's a passable book, not worth going out of the way for if you aren't passionate about Nu-Trek, but more interesting than I would have given it credit for.

A mildly entertaining if slight book with a mixed bag of art. Not probably the best place to start reading, but not offensive in any way that would keep the diehard Star Wars fans away.

It's hard to tell how to react to the end without guaranteed knowledge of a continued story; if it doesn't go any further than this works as a lukewarm full-length Tales of the Crypt style story. I can't say that it's ever scary or very clever, but the final pages imply some grisly mysteries that might be worth following up on. At worst it's a convention purchase that doesn't disappoint and knows what a professional publication should look and read like. Keep an eye on T Pub Comics, they might become something pretty cool soon.

It's rare that I put down a work that I really don't like but still find myself hoping that the creative team will make something better. Wijngaard is pretty talented and he seems to share a good creative rapport with Gibson. They are both growing as artists and nobody involved in this shows an absence of ability. If you'd like to see what I mean, read the first issue of Tabatha, but honestly I think it works better as a one-shot with a tantalizing dangling end that lets your imagination fill in the gap rather than what actually follows. My advice, stick with that and wait to see what they do next.

I was also impressed by the writing and art. Every story engaged me, even if some of them had trouble sticking the landing, I still found myself looking forward to finding out what would happen next. Indie horror is really hard to get right, as too many people mistake a sudden dark turn or general unpleasantness for command of the genre, but the stories here find a nice balance. Most of the stories had polished art as well, the opening story with Jerry Decaire's 70's horror inspired art being particularly striking. The quality control is better here than most, so props as well to the organizer of the book. If you are looking to just read a menagerie of indie talent, track a copy down.

Maybe not a lot of other people would be as similarly amused with this lycra throwback, but I found it thoroughly enjoyable. It's weird and lacking self-seriousness but without the bitter tang of self-conscious irony. If you like peering back at different eras of media you might give this one a shot. It may be all style, but if you are like me you won't mind taking the break from substance.

My snark might make it sound like I cruelly enjoyed writing this review. Surprise, I don't like writing bad reviews, even though I do it more often than not. People have this perception that critics get no greater pleasure than shitting on a substandard work. Maybe some do, I don't. I love comics. I love comics most when they reward me for that love, the contract between a medium and its adherents. Doing this however, is a waste of time. If I review a book like this at all (which in my current position at Bastards sort of necessitates) then the lack of merit only leaves me with explaining why this book made me feel worse than I already did. Life is too short to waste more time than you have to with books like this, so do yourself a favor and steer clear of comic companies that you can't even read the logo of.

It's a good idea loaded with old-fashioned clich characters and with a confused mess of a ‘point'. In a strange paradox you'll be able to call the ending early on while at the same time not understanding why it conveys the story's stated theme. I won't spoil it, but even the final line that tries to tack on one last ‘big idea' onto the whole thing comes off as a flat pointless swing at the dramatic that undercuts practically everything the book just tried to sell. This book didn't make me mad. It's inept not irritating, but every beat of the story seems packaged with something that makes it come off as weak, poorly thought out, and weirdly dated. It's another strange paradox. It both could have been so much more and yet really couldn't at the same time.

Perhaps when this story develops further and we get a few steps into the mystery the book will really take hold, but based on this initial issue I can't say I feel very compelled to follow through myself.

Most people who are dedicated fans of the franchise have heard the story of the original cut of the film, an unwatchable badly paced mess until it was re-edited with the help of Lucas's wife Maria to the masterpiece it is today. With 'The Star Wars' we get a glimpse of what could have been, and it's dark, a head-scratching uneven mess that has more in common with the legion of Star Wars rip-offs that directly followed the 1977 premiere like 'Starcrash' and 'Galaxina' than the Adventures of Luke Skywalker. Don't expect to be told a great story if you decide to keep reading; buy it if you love the art or are as fascinated as I am by this time capsule of Lucas history, but you'll probably find what is really being published here is the legacy of the luckiest filmmaker alive.

And alas, it really doesn't have much else going for it. 'The Star Wars' is a professionally rendered experiment and little more, with J.W. Rinzler presumably just making editorial decisions with Lucas's stiff and unlikeable script. From the meaningless kid sidekicks to the more openly hostile tone of the Threepio/Artoo relationship when both of them are capable of speech, it's really amazing that 'Star Wars' ended up the classic it is today. Nobody is worth rooting for, I can't tell who the main villain is supposed to be, and I'm lost as to what the end goal of our heroes is. Boy, is this like the prequels or what? Despite this, it's gorgeous and fascinating from a historical perspective since I've never read the original screenplay the comic is based on, so it's worth buying for the curious enthusiast. For everyone else however? Better off sticking with the movies.

It's too bad that the book is so hard to read visually, because it doesn't have to be. This is a book that deserves some praise for not punishing me with what I expected from the cover; another booze/drug comedy book written by uninspired unfunny juveniles. There's unusual effort here and I appreciate that. Really.

I'll read the second book. I'm not in love, but for what it is it doesn't come across as too terribly desperate and for 42 pages worth of rot and pity, that's something. It's good to get a break every so often from ‘Daredevil Energy Drink Variant's and ‘Gotham' rumors. Maybe we'd all benefit from more of them.

This is definitely among the better indie books I've read recently and if you are looking for a light campy read I could absolutely recommend dropping some cash on it at the con. When you are going to be overtly familiar, it pays to at least do it professionally like these guys do.