by Matt
By George Khoury and Eric Nolen-Weathington
BOOK OF THE MONTH WINNER!
John Romita Jr. is one of my favorite artists and I was thrilled that he would have his own Modern Master book. These books are absolutely wonderful, they provide fantastic in-depth interviews with a ton of unpublished sketches and art. This volume did not disappoint. It takes you through his whole career and I was surprised to learn a couple of things. Did you know that he was going to quit Marvel after the debacle of Star Brand? Did you know that Jim Lee invited him to be part of Image but he didn't want to leave the Uncanny X-Men and Punisher? Did you know that he felt betrayed by Bob Harras and Kelly Converse because they screwed him out of his second run on Uncanny and almost left comics for good again? If you are a fan of John Romita Jr, I highly recommend getting this book. A+
By Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp
Published by Avatar Press
I'll pick up anything that Ellis pens but some his work with Avatar Press leaves something to be desired. I took a chance on this series because it was so cheap and his last series Black Summer was so awesome. The premise of the book is that back in the 60's, a drug called FX was developed that allowed users to gain super abilities. I really enjoyed this short preview, it gave a fascinating look at how the drug affected the people who took it. There is a sense of wonder and dread in these pages which makes me really look forward to this series. This issue felt real to me, meaning that it was like I was reading a history text instead of a comic. This is what Ellis does best. The art by Black Summer artist Juan Jose Ryp is incredibly detailed and the best I have seen yet of his work. A-
By Various
Published by Dark Horse Comics
I absolutely love what Dark Horse comics have done with this Omnibus line. You get a nice compact book with over 300 pages of full color comics for such a cheap price. Combine that with the fact that I have a fondness with the Dark Horse Heroes line of comics and I have a winner. I will pick up every volume of the Dark Horse Heroes that come out as an Omnibus. This month I am reviewing the first volume of X and I was surprised at how violent and how much I enjoyed it. Basically this is X's one man battle against crime and in Arcadia there is a lot of crime and no one is safe from X. If you cross the line once, he will give you a warning, cross it twice and you have been marked with an 'X' and marked for death. The latter issues were the best of this volume, X battles Lord Alamout where we get some small peaks at who X is behind the mask. The one drawback of this collection is that we only follow the action (and there is a lot of that) but we do not get to know who X is. Apparently there is more to him than just him and his gun and has to be more than human but we don't know it in this volume. I look forward to the next volume of X. This gets a solid B.
Next month I will return with a couple of new reviews. Flash Gordon #1 is on the list and hopefully a few more! I may sneak in a review of X Omnibus Vol 2 or another book that I read that doesn't come from Big 2.
We'll see you in the back of the Previews.
Read more!
9.18.2008
Beyond the Big 2: Preview Review #2
7.23.2008
X-Cover Favourites, the Not-So-Definitive List
by Yassir
I have been reading about everybody’s favourite Band of Mutants for over twenty years. That should tell you that I’m a fan, and also indicate that I’m in my 30s. Whilst ploughing through the hundreds of potential covers for my list, it re-invigorated my love for these characters. Let’s face it: the X-Men, when on their game, absolutely rock. The following is my by-no-means-definitive list of favourite X-covers, in no particular order. 
Uncanny X-Men #138
Cover art: John Byrne
The first of several Byrne covers and, like the others, one of the most iconic covers in comics full stop. Why do I like this cover so much? I guess a lot of it comes from nostalgia (and indeed that can and does apply to the rest of the list). A lot of it also comes from the fact that, along with Walt Simonson, I think Byrne drew the definitive Cyclops - (this is definitely in the past tense – Byrne’s current ‘output’ is rubbish, and that’s me being polite!) – and this cover is a good example of that. I guess all this rambling is just another way of saying I like this cover. I like it a lot.
X-Men #58 (pre-Uncanny)
Cover art: Neal Adams
No I didn’t read this first time round, and actually I didn’t read the Claremont/Byrne issues until the excellent Classic X-Men series, but how cool is this cover? Neal Adams is a comic great and this cover shows why. A lot of people will take this sort of stuff for granted but what Adams was doing then (along with Steranko) was pioneering. I love the composition of the cover and the technique. It doesn’t hurt either that Havok’s original costume remains a personal favourite.
Giant-Size X-Men #1
Cover art: Dave Cockrum
If we are speaking of iconic, then apart from Marvel’s output in the ‘60s and DC’s in the late ‘30s, you aren’t going to get much more iconic than this. I remember buying Classic X-Men #1 (which featured a nifty cover by Art Adams and narrowly missed out on making this list) and when I saw the cover for this (I think it was on the inside front cover) I was blown away by it all. It showed that everything had changed and that this was not mere hyperbole. ‘All New, All Different’ was for once absolutely spot on. It can be argued that I’ve chosen this cover more for its iconic status than its technical merit, and there certainly is a case for that, but again, although this kind of cover is commonplace nowadays, it was wonderfully inventive back then, and the fact that it still has an impact to this day speaks wonders.
Uncanny X-Men #251
Cover art: Marc Silvestri
This was when I was avidly collecting X-Men. Although it coincided with the beginning of Claremont’s decline (I won’t take the blame for that!) there were still a few gems in this period. This issue was one of those, albeit I haven’t re-read it for over ten years so I may be wrong. The cover itself is wonderfully simple but very striking. It is an obvious riff on the crucifixion but to my mind it works. Furthermore, this was when Silvestri was a craftsman rather than a Jim Lee wannabe.
There. I said it. 
Uncanny X-Men #141
Cover art: John Byrne
Another Byrne cover, another iconic cover (there’s more to come). How many times has this cover been copied? How many times have artists paid ‘homage’ to this endearing classic? No, seriously, how many times? I don’t know! This story is rightly considered a classic, but it’s also to blame for the deluge of futuristic X-book storylines leading to the convoluted mess it has now become. Back then though this was like a sharp jolt. The cover for the following issue and the next part in this story is another classic, but I opted for this one. It’s clear that something’s not right here; the cover does what is all so rare nowadays – it makes you pick up the issue because you want to know what it all means.
Uncanny X-Men #207
Cover art: John Romita, Jr.
What an awesome cover.
There really isn’t much more to say except I always preferred Wolvie’s Brown and Tan costume.
Marvel Comics Presents #77
Cover art: Barry Windsor Smith
Why didn’t they stop after this regarding Wolverine’s origin? To my mind this was all we needed to know about his tragic past. Oh well. BWS drew a fantastic Wolverine. My only (slight) gripe was that he drew Wolvie a bit too tall but hey, if it works for Hugh Jackman…
This cover really does capture the feral and bestial nature of my second favourite X-man (Cyke is my favourite). It also captures the loner nature of the character. Great cover.
New X-Men #114
Cover art: Frank Quitely
I know Quitely is not everybody’s cup of tea, but I thought he was a wonderful breath of fresh air. It’s also quite telling that this is the one and only selection from the 21st century. This is not a reflection on the quality of the stories, as I feel they have improved of late, but rather it’s a reflection on the dearth of good comic covers, a malaise not only afflicting the X books but comics as a whole (particularly Marvel). This cover promised something new with its flashy new costumes and its swirling background suggesting a new genesis. The cover definitely delivered. Morrison for all his talents, however, simply revisited Claremont’s stories.
X-Factor #13
Cover art: Walt Simonson
I think I’m the only guy who would select this, but I remember finding this in my local Newsagents and just loving Simonson’s Phoenix. Everything about this cover ticks all the boxes for me: Cyke, the various images of Jean, the X-Factor logo (still one of my favourites), the Phoenix bird ever ominous…Walt Simonson is one of my favourite artists ever and it’s a rare thing when you find a cover of his that isn’t dynamic. This cover is not the exception (cue everybody disagreeing with me – bring it)!!!!!
Uncanny X-Men #135
Cover art: John Byrne
Byrne. Again. At his peak he was the pre-Image poster boy. Admittedly this cover was a homage to Neal Adams’ X-Men cover with the Living Monolith (Did Byrne acknowledge Adams? I can’t see any nod to him on the cover – tsk tsk). To be honest I could have chosen any cover from this issue up to the death of Phoenix issue. I went for this one because this really showed how much the shit had hit the fan.
So there you have it. This was a lot of fun. It brought back a lot of happy childhood memories and it reminded me just why I love the X-men so much.
Read more!
6.10.2008
From Top to Bottom: HULK SMASH ARTISTS!
by Matt
Welcome to the 7th edition of the weekly "From Top to Bottom" column! Every week I will look at something within the comics industry and give you my opinion on what I think is the best and what I think ranks amongst the bottom-feeders.
To me, the Hulk should be a monster, more mean looking than nice and should be more bulky than ripped like a weight lifter. The Hulk gets his strength from the Gamma radiation not really from his muscles. He shouldn't have muscles on muscles for muscles sake, which then are all intertwined with thousands and thousands of veins. He should be large and intimidating, not like a human on roids.
Byrne only drew the Hulk for a short time. (A trend that Byrne seems to have on most of his books.) But he drew a powerful and savage Hulk.
When I think of the Hulk, I think of this classic look drawn perfectly by Herb Trimpe. Trimpe had an amazing run on the Hulk that lasted about seven years. He drew a very simple Hulk, his Hulk was not overly muscular or full of veins. The one thing that I like that Trimpe did was that he managed to make the Hulk look like a monster but he still possessed an innocence behind the monster. Very much like Frankenstein. 
Romita's Hulk is exactly what I think the Hulk should be. His Hulk is not saddled with tons of muscles and veins, his Hulk is large and more importantly displays a ticking time-bomb that just smolders beneath the surface. Even when the Hulk is not angry, the look on his face and his body languages tells a different story. He is ALWAYS angry.
The bottom choices that I made are not due to the artist themselves. All of the artists that I have listed here, regardless if they were in the top or here in the bottom, they are insanely talented and I highly respect them. I just don't think that they were correct artists to portray what I think the Hulk should be. 
Deodato can certainly draw a large, menacing, and very scary Hulk but the Hulk looked unnatural and I was turned off because he was so full of veins. Like I mentioned before, the Hulk is bulky and strong but not so ripped and 'veiny'. 
Frank got the bulkiness correct and he drew a good looking Hulk but that was part of the problem, his Hulk was too good looking. This was due because of the Hulk's character at the time, (the Hulk was merged into the smart Hulk) but he was a little too normal looking. If this piece was done in black and white would we have known it was the Hulk? Or just Superman on roids and without the cape?
He got the monster part right but his Hulk was too simple. His Hulk was not intimidating enough and large enough. While his art was clear and you can see what was happening, it didn't have any zest/anger to it. He did draw one of my favorite Hulk story lines in Countdown.
There has been a lot of fantastic artists that have drawn the Hulk during his series that I am sure most of you will point out to me. What about Keown? Kubert? Perez? Buscema? Well, I have 2 words for you: HULK SMASH!
See ya next week when I bring my Father's Day edition! (I know, I know, I will be a few days late!)
Read more!
Posts
