Skybound

Weekly Pull Review 1/7/15

Anyone have any suggestions for a DC title I should give a try? I’ve got Vertigo stuff, but I don’t have anything main-universe DC.

ODY-C #2- Image

Slightly less action packed than the first issue, Matt Fraction and Christian Ward still hit it out of the park with this one. This issue focuses more heavily on Zeus and Poseidon, and really plays up the spiteful, vicious, petty, and dangerous facet of the Greek gods, which largely gets ignored in modern takes on Greek mythology. While Zeus and Poseidon are plotting Odyssea’s downfall, the captain and her crew have arrived at the planet of the Lotophages (The Lotus Eaters), which is a colossal hedonistic park-like planet, with the world-sized, delirious, drug-addled, near-comatose body of Promethene, creator of the third gender sebex, chained to it. This book is insane in all the right ways. Also, it’s written in dactylic hexameter. Matt Fraction is shouldering his way in among the great comic book writers, and Christian Ward is tossing down the gauntlet to all challengers with his gorgeous visuals. If ODY-C keeps being this awesome, I’m going to start being as excited for issues of it as I am for issues of Saga.

Birthright #4- Image

The newest title from Robert Kirkman’s Skybound studio, it once again proves that the Walking Dead creator is absolutely right in chaining up comic book creators up in the basement and depriving them of food and water until they produce art is the way to go. (Kirkman isn’t actually on the production team for this one). Birthright is great, though. Essentially, it’s a what-if title that riffs off the classic C.S. Lewis/ Susan Cooper story, involving children being taken into magical worlds for grand adventures, but it goes a step farther, to explore what happens when the child gets back. (The story archetype goes much farther back, of course- the fairy changelings of European folklore, the fairy rings, etc.) A young boy, Mikey, is stolen into a fantasy world to become a chosen hero. One year later, his family has collapsed. His parents are divorcing, his dad is suspected of murdering Mikey, his older brother is getting in fights at school, the whole thing has become a media circus. Then an enormous behemoth of a man, covered in armor and carrying dozens of medieval weapons shows up in town. (Surprise, surprise, it’s Mikey). Issue #4 opens with Mikey, his dad, and his brother on the run from the cops, and, well… spoilers. Check this one out.

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Weekly Pull Review 12/17/14

Hey, look, it’s my 100th post! I actually meant to do that this weekend, for a rather bigger article, but… eh.

Ms Marvel #10- Marvel

Finally. It took forever for this one to come out. Ms Marvel has been consistently good so far, if a little slow at times. They’re really pushing the action forwards, though, with the conclusion of this arc approaching next issue. Lockjaw has really solidified the cast in this comic- he’s a great character, but one that can be very easily misused. (*Cough* Pet Avengers *Cough*). Kamala Khan is rapidly turning into one of my favorite characters in the Marvel universe, and she’s really starting to find her footing and self-confidence, as well as a very sarcastic, cynical sense of humor that just clicks for her character. The art remains awesomely quirky, which makes me really happy. Marvel has really loosened up on their cookie cutter art direction lately, with this book, Hawkeye, and a few others. It’s not to say they even remotely approach Image’s diversity, but they’re moving in that direction.

The Sandman: Overture #4- Vertigo

Yes, it’s THAT Sandman. And no, it’s not a Before Watchmen-style cash-in, it’s actually written by Neil Gaiman. It’s a 6-part miniseries, set before Dream’s imprisonment that began the whole series back in the day. The publishing schedule has been very, very slow, but I’m not complaining very much about the months between each issue, since the art is absolutely top notch, and you can really see how much Gaiman’s writing has matured. Also, you get to see the father of the Endless! How cool is that? Seriously, if you’re a fan of Sandman at all, you need to be reading this.

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