Nate Charles Comic Reviews

With its first issue, Loose Ends puts the wheels in motion for an interesting tale that, on the surface, has elements of Shakespearean tragedy. However I'm not so sure that is the sort of story that Latour and company have in store for us. I, for one, am very excited to find out where we're were going and will enjoy the ride. Whether Sonny and company will is another thing entirely.

Should you read The Old Guard? If you're a fan of Greg Rucka's previous work, chances are that you are already. If not, then you most certainly should be. Readers should also pick upthis book if they'reinterested by historical fiction, heavy action, or solidly written characters. It's all present here and then some. Personally, I can't wait to see what future issues have to offer.

So far, thisis a fun read in the basest sense. However, this first offering failed to be a particularly engaging one. With the initial set up out of the way, I hope the creative team will rely less on homages and begin coveringnew ground. If not, I'm afraid this series is in danger of losing reader interest by being mired in nostalgia. Hopefully this will lead to an exciting new story-line. If not,I'm worried thatwe'll merely be reliving the greatest hits of both franchises while swapping different characters. I hope I'm wrong.

I don't think I've ever seen a style of artwork that was quite so complimentary to a story as what Jason Latour has been providing for this series. Southern Bastards art as a whole is edgy and raw. The characters are downright ugly, as they should be.

I think my biggest complaint with The Few is how much story was actually presented over its page count for the price tag it carries. However, this sort of decompression has become fairly commonplace in comics over the past decade, so it's not going to particularly dissuade me from coming back for issue two. If you're looking a gritty science-fiction thriller, I think you'd be doing yourself a favor by at least checking it out.

If you're a fan of the Spirit, you certainly should be checking out The Corpse Makers. In fact, you should be reading this book if you're a fan of mystery and noir media in general. What Francesca Francavilla is crafting here is shaping up to really be something special and out of the norm for a character some may consider a "super hero." With the set up out of the way, this issue has left me hungry for answers that I hope we'll receive in issue three.

Should you read WWE's latest foray into comics? If you regularly watch WWE programming, the answer is a resounding yes. For me, it is a key piece tosaving one of their current story-lines. However, what does that say for WWE when a piece of tie-in merchandise is needed to properly tell their stories? With any luck, perhaps wrestling itself can learn from such story telling and grow creatively. Until then, at least we'll get some great comics out of it.