Review: Aquaman: Kingdom Lost

   

Review:

"Kingdom Lost"

"Aquaman Unleashed"

This book promised much but was ultimately a disappointment.

Reprinting issues #32-39 from the 6th Aquaman ongoing series (2003), this book drops us into the midst of the ongoing Sub Diego storyline. It has been a brilliant plot development for the DC Universe and Aquaman in particular, and it is a pleasure to revisit some of its characters and constraints.

It promised so much: Aquaman reuniting with Mera; the return of arch-foe Black Manta, this time as a genetically-engineered water-breather; tensions in Aquaman's soul between his former kingdom of Atlantis and his new home of Sub Diego; the destruction of Atlantis; an overlap with the larger OMAC DC continuity.

But ultimately John Arcudi's story tries to pack too much into these chapters, and it sinks under its own weight.

As one crisis after another batters Aquaman, he dispatches each in turn surprisingly and disappointingly quickly. Return of Black Manta? a wet firecracker that fails to explode, eve as Aquaman apparently condones killing him. Destruction of Atlantis? For reasons unexplained, the Spectre descends and wreaks vengeance and swift destruction on that city, then is gone. Some refugee tensions among the survivors, but little else in what had the potential to be a character-shaking development.

From crisis to crisis, Aquaman's emotional depth is little more than tidepools, ranging from anger to arrogance. His reunion with Mera, the loss of his son, his grievous wounds from OMAC, all fall flat emotionally. The closest to any sort of emotional or personal interaction with the events and their consequences are a handful of sepia-toned memories in the final chapter.

Sometimes the artists can save a poor story, alas that does not happen here. Leonard Kirk and Andy Clarke do a respectable job, especially with the gauntness of Mera during her illness. And the Spectre is well-done in his few panels, looking the part of a cosmic, inscrutable force. But what really stands out artistically is the brief work of Patrick Gleason, whose layouts in the first chapter are stunningly creative, and whose covers for most of these collected issues pack such punch.

Ultimately, however, this story fails to deliver on its great promise. 2 capes out of 5.

Description:

Concluding the classic Sub Diego storyline, acclaimed writer John Arcudi (B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth) and artists Leonard Kirk (SUPERGIRL) and Andy Clarke (DETECTIVE COMICS) tell the tragic story of the fall of Atlantis as the Infinite Crisis is unleashed upon the DC Universe!

Aquaman, once King of Atlantis, has abandoned his throne and now serves as protector of Sub Diego. But while the ocean has gained thousands of new inhabitants, it has lost one—Mera, Aquaman’s estranged wife, who has been cursed to live on land and breathe only air.

But when Aquaman’s friends and family seek to cure Mera of the curse, it sets off a tragic chain reaction that leads to the destruction of Atlantis...and the death of many whom Aquaman holds dear.

In the midst of his grief, Sub Diego is attacked by Aquaman’s greatest enemies, including the deadly Black Manta! And now that the King of the Seven Seas has lost his kingdom, Black Manta is about to see what happens when Aquaman is truly unleashed...with all the fury of the sea at his command!

Collects: AQUAMAN #32-39
Authors: John Arcudi
Artists: Patrick Gleason, Leonard Kirk and Andy Clarke
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: Aug. 1 2017
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN-10: 1401271294
ISBN-13: 978-1401271299
Language: English
Pages: 200 pages

Review Y: The Last Man Vol 2: Cycles

 

Review:

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Y: The Last Man's debut, I'm reviewing the original 10 TPB collections. Find the other reviews here: Unmanned, Cycles, One Small Step, Safeword, Ring of Truth, Girl on Girl, Paper Dolls, Kimono Dragons, Motherland, Whys and Wherefores.

After the taut, fraught, tightly-paced blend of drama and horror of the first volume, this second volume of Y: The Last Man feels a little calmer, more pastoral in comparison.

Our main characters - Yorick, the titular last man on Earth; his pet monkey Ampersand; the severe and lethal Agent 355; and geneticist Dr. Allison Mann - embark on a classic quest. Their goal is to travel from Boston to California, to find hope for a cure in Dr. Mann's second lab.

Much of this volume takes place in small-town Ohio, a peaceful rural setting that feels far removed from the chaos, anarchy, death, and endless reminders of the recent gendercide we met in the urban centers of New York, Washington, Baltimore and Boston in the first volume.

But all is not as peaceful as it seems. The women of this small town are hiding some terrible secrets. And our heroes must stay here longer than expected while 355 recovers from injuries sustained while trying to rescue Yorick (yet again!). Which gives time for their pursuers, including the Amazons with Yorick's hate-filled sister Hero on their frontlines, to track them down and close in.

Brian K. Vaughan's story continues to be imaginative and absorbing. He blends a beautiful mix of humor, tenderness, drama, physical danger and conflict. It all culminates in an explosive confrontation between Yorick and Hero. Will she kill him in cold blood, as her Amazons demand? Can our escape-artist dodge an arrow? Will he put a bullet in his sister's head? Which sibling did Dad like best, anyway?

The art team of Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan Jr do some wonderful things with varying panel sizes and layouts, although overall the visuals feel a bit flatter than in volume 1. Maybe it is a deliberate choice, to better evoke the rural and small-town setting, but the art does not hold the eye and the interest quite as readily as did their earlier work.

The superb teaser on the final page - men! still alive, on the international space station! - means we can't wait to get volume 3!

Overall 4 capes out of 5.

Read all 10 reviews of Y: The Last Man here: Volume 1 Unmanned; Volume 2 Cycles; Volume 3 One Small Step; Volume 4 Safeword; Volume 5 Ring of Truth; Volume 6 Girl on Girl; Volume 7 Paper Dolls; Volume 8 Kimono Dragons; Volume 9 Motherland; Volume 10 Whys and Wherefores.

Description:

In 2002, the world changes forever. Every man, every boy, every mammal with a Y chromosome everywhere on Earth suddenly collapses and dies. With the loss of nearly half the planet’s population, the gears of society grind to a halt, and a world of women are left to pick up the pieces and try to keep civilization from collapsing entirely.

The “gendercide,” however, is not absolutely complete. For some unknown reason, one young man named Yorick Brown and his pet male monkey, Ampersand, are spared. Overnight, this anonymous twentysomething becomes the most important person on the planet—the key, it is hoped, to unlocking the secret of the mysterious sex-specific plague.

For Yorick himself, the most important person on the planet has been agonizingly out of reach. But now, after three long years and 10,000 arduous miles, the last man is closing in on the truth about his lost fiancée—and the shocking facts behind his own survival.

Collects: Y: The Last Man #6-10
Authors: Brian K. Vaughan
Artists: Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan
Published By: Vertigo
Published When: Sept. 1 2003
Parental Rating: Mature
ISBN-10: 1401200761
ISBN-13: 978-1401200763
Language: English
Pages: 128 pages

Review Y: The Last Man volume 1: Unmanned

   

Review:

It has been 20 years since publication started on the Brian K. Vaughan series "Y: The Last Man". It was a stunning and masterful series, one of the most engrossing and absorbing comics-based ongoing series I have ever read.

In honor of the 20th anniversary, let's reread the series and do reviews of the original 10 graphic novels in the coming weeks. The series originally ran in monthly format, and every few months a TPB collection would also be released, holding 6 or so issues. Other collections have since been released, usually with more pages and collecting more issues, all the way up to a complete-set omnibus. But since the story arcs matched so well with the original collections, those are the ones we will review.

Starting with Y: The Last Man volume 1, Unmanned. This collection includes the first five issues of the series. This is the debut introducing the main and secondary characters and setting the tone for the whole series. Revisiting it 20 years later, it is still every bit as stunning as I remember. And in this era of Covid and Trumpism, the themes resonate in a new and interesting way compared to 2002.

Yorick Brown, our titular Last Man, is an unimpressive representative of the male gender, when we first meet him. He is more interested in magic, and especially in being an escape-artist, than in holding down a regular job. He is in love with Beth, his girlfriend who is currently halfway around the world in Australia, and the long-distance relationship has some strains in it.

His mother, a congresswoman in Washington DC and his sister Hero also make appearances, setting up all the important women in his pre-plague life.

Once the plague wipes out every male on the planet, other women come into his life, ones who will play major roles in future issues. The well-trained and lethal Agent 355 of the shadowy Culper Ring; Dr Alison Mann who is about to give birth to her own clone; Colonel Tse'elon, a hard-nosed member of the Israeli military.

Each of these women intersects with the story soon enough, but in the first chapter their introduction is handled almost as "slice-of-life" sequences, giving us glimpses into a variety of ways that the sudden death of all males on Earth affects politics, military, medical care and more.

The brilliant pacing of the first chapter draws us in. We know something very bad is coming - it's in the title of the series and in the very first panel. But then we jump back in time and inch forward. One scene takes place 29 minutes ago, the next in another part of the world, with other women and men, 24 minutes ago, and so on. It's a master-class in building tension and anticipation.

The rest of the chapters of this collection ease up on the edge-of-the-seat tension of the opening chapter, but they are every bit as gripping. They offer the first tastes of the imaginative takes on what modern American life would look like if all males suddenly died.

How will the hundreds of millions of corpses be collected and disposed of? Meet the garbage-truck-driving woman who briefly captures Yorick. 

What will political leadership look like? Nearly two decades before a woman was elected Vice President, Agent 355 must find and protect the highest-ranking surviving member of the government, while the wives of elected but now deceased congressmen make a move for power. Leading to one of the funniest lines in the book, wherever you stand on the political spectrum: "But who the hell is shooting at us, mom? Terrorists?" "Worse... Republicans."

And we meet the Amazons, a violent anti-men group who celebrate the gendercide.

The tension and pace may slow in these chapters but the unfolding of the plot remains spot-on. By the end of "Unmanned" all the key pieces are in place. Yorick, Agent 355 and Dr. Mann have teamed up to work together, even if their goal is not clear yet. Hero has joined the Amazons. Rumors of a sole surviving male are circulating, drawing attention of foreign militaries.

It's a gripping and exciting first volume in its own right, and sets us up for an incredible ride in the issues to come.

This book still holds up incredibly well, 20 years on. I give it an enthusiastic 5 capes.

Read all 10 reviews of Y: The Last Man here: Volume 1 Unmanned; Volume 2 Cycles; Volume 3 One Small Step; Volume 4 Safeword; Volume 5 Ring of Truth; Volume 6 Girl on Girl; Volume 7 Paper Dolls; Volume 8 Kimono Dragons; Volume 9 Motherland; Volume 10 Whys and Wherefores.

Description:

Y: THE LAST MAN, winner of three Eisner Awards and one of the most critically acclaimed, best-selling comic books series of the last decade, is that rare example of a page-turner that is at once humorous, socially relevant and endlessly surprising.

Written by Brian K. Vaughan (LOST, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD, EX MACHINA) and with art by Pia Guerra, this is the saga of Yorick Brown—the only human survivor of a planet-wide plague that instantly kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome. Accompanied by a mysterious government agent, a brilliant young geneticist and his pet monkey, Ampersand, Yorick travels the world in search of his lost love and the answer to why he's the last man on earth.

Collects: Y THE LAST MAN #1-5
Authors: Brian K. Vaughan
Artists: Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan
Published By: Vertigo 
Published When: Jan. 2 2003
Parental Rating: Mature
ISBN-10: 1563899809
ISBN-13: 978-1563899805
Language: English
Pages: 128 pages

Review: Arkham Manor, a Batman graphic novel TPB collection

 

Review:

"Stately Wayne Manor" is  how the narrator of the 1960s Batman TV series unerringly refers to the home of Bruce Wayne. It is not so stately in this 6-issue limited series, collected into the Arkham Manor TPB.

No, the manor in this story is dark, foreboding, filled with insanity and imprisonment, and haunted by a series of grisly murders. As Bruce Wayne, Batman may know all the secrets of the manor, but now that it is an asylum for his enemies, he will need to go under cover to solve this mystery.

Gerry Duggan's story is brisk and crisp, with a surprisingly long denouement dealing with the consequences in the characters' lives after the murderer is stopped. Some plot points are brisk to the point of too fast: from appropriation of the manor to opening the asylum, scarcely any time passes - record time for this construction crew! And Batman's decision to go undercover as convicted inmate Jack Shaw also seems to take shockingly little reflection - were other options available? None that were given any space in the narrative.

I especially enjoyed Duggan's handling of Mr. Freeze. In order to preserve his cover story, Batman / Jack Shaw allows Freeze to escape, but he has no desire to flee into the larger world. He merely contents himself with making snow angels and igloos on the manor grounds, and pelting the Batmobile with snowballs.

Shawn Crystal's art is dramatic, intense and highly stylized. His images portray the dark corners of a creepy old manor, and his facial expressions go over the top to carry the emotional punch of the situations. His human figures suffer from excessively long limbs in some panels, mimicking the distortion of a very wide-angled lens. A not-inappropriate choice given the setting of this tale.

In all, this is an absorbing page-turner of a story, intense and explosive. I give it 3.5 capes out of 5.

Description:

Arkham Asylum, the legendary home for the criminally insane, now lies in ruins. Gotham City needs a replacement to hold Batman’s most dangerous foes - and only one building fits the bill:

Wayne Manor.

With his family fortune depleted, Bruce Wayne goes underground - literally - as his ancestral home is transformed into a new prison for his archenemies. From his fortified Batcave below its foundations, the Dark Knight watches as evil moves in above him.

But watching alone won’t stop the killings that begin almost immediately in “Arkham Manor.” To find the predator responsible, Batman must become an inmate himself.

Now the World’s Greatest Detective begins the most dangerous undercover mission of his life, working with - and against - the resident doctors, guards, and ghoulish supervillains to crack the case. Can he catch the killer and restore order to the chaos? Or will the insanity of Arkham Manor claim the mind of its latest patient?

Writer Gerry Duggan and artist Shawn Crystal launch an unprecedented new chapter in the History of the Bat with ARKHAM MANOR, exploring the dark heart of the Dark Knight’s world like never before! Collects issues #1-6.

Collects: Arkham Manor #1-6
Authors: Gerry Duggan
Artists: Shawn Crystal
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: July 28 2015
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN-10: 1401254586
ISBN-13: 978-1401254582
Language: English
Pages: 144 pages

Review: Batman - Tales of the Man-Bat

 

Review:

While he gets the headline, Batman is a minor character in this collection, barely appearing at all until the final couple chapters and the big climax.

This trade paperback brings together two complete limited-series runs of the Man-Bat: the 3-issue 1996 run and the 5-issue 2006 one. It also includes an add-in from Showcase '94 #11, which is from the same creative team as the 1996 series, and sets up that limited-run series.

As befits such a feral, wild, mutated animal creature, the entire book leans heavily toward the Horror genre. The 1996 series, in particular, uses some of the visual and narrative tropes of the horror comics so popular in an earlier era. Chuck Dixon's Man-Bat does not speak, and acts largely on animal instincts. As a result, the storytelling happens through secondary characters or else the narrator's voice, with boxes of text decorating several panels throughout.

Graphical narrative is more powerful when one can show rather than tell, and unfortunately in this 3-issue tale the telling is needed as the showing becomes lost in Flint Henry's distorted and unattractive images. The deformities, coarse and lumpy shapes, wet and twisted facial expressions fit this into the larger horror realm, but are very unpleasant to look at and obscure some of the visual cues to the tale.

In that tale, Man-bat returns to civilization, drawn by a sense of love and loss, overpowering ever so slightly his baser animal instincts. He comes looking for is beloved wife Francine, and gets embroiled in a series of killings perpetrated by a winged predator. Can he survive the police hunters and save Francine from the real killer?

The second series uses darker colors but artist Mike Huddleston employs a more fluid pencil style, making for a more visually pleasant read. Man-Bat has a voice in this story, at least when in the human form of Dr. Kirk Langstrom. But in Jekyll/Hyde fashion he keeps transforming and killing. Batman, however, doubts that he is responsible for all of the deaths attributed to Mat-Bat. How are the villainous Hush and Murmur involved in spreading fear, and for what purposes?

Batman makes himself shockingly vulnerable in his attempts to communicate with Dr. Langstrom, and nearly loses his head for his trouble.

Overall this is a mildly interesting collection of two complete series that turn a violent, feral villain into an antihero. The tales are middling and the art unappealing, making this a historical curiosity and little more. 1.5 capes out of 5.

Description:

Dr. Kirk Langstrom is a genius zoologist attempting to find a cure for deafness by giving humans a bat's sonar sense. By testing his serum on himself he discovers a horrible side effect, turning him into the classic super-villain: Man-Bat!

More feral than ever, the mutated Kirk Langstrom has only one consuming wish--to see his estranged family again. But as a series of brutal murders committed by a winged creature terrorize Gotham's high-rises, S.W.A.T. teams mobilize throughout the city to take down Man-Bat. Gotham's skyline becomes a war zone as the night erupts in a blitzkrieg of bullets, wings and screams, bringing the tortured, increasingly less human Man-Bat into savage conflict with a horrifying new villain, the Roc. But behind the Roc's rampage lie secrets to chill even the blood of Man-Bat...secrets that could cost Langstrom's wife, Francine, her very life.

Collects: SHOWCASE '94 #11, MAN-BAT #1-3 (1996), MAN-BAT #1-5 (2006)
Authors: Chuck Dixon, Bruce Jones
Artists: Flint Henry, Mike Huddleston
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: March 27 2018
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN-10: 9781401275419
ISBN-13: 978-1401275419
Language: English
Pages: 216 pages

Review: Doctor Strange Vol. 3: Blood in the Aether

 

Description:
In the aftermath of THE LAST DAYS OF MAGIC, journey back to the first days of Doctor Strange! How did Stephen Strange become the Sorcerer Supreme — and how has he lost it all? In the present, Strange is on the brink of death, his magic nearly depleted. Sensing the Master of the Mystic Arts is at his weakest, his greatest foes will return from the shadows, ready to strike — starting with one of his oldest rivals, Baron Mordo! But as a parade of bad guys line up to take their shot, one of Strange's newest enemies may be the deadliest of all. During ORIGINAL SIN, one of the slain Watcher's eyes fell into the hands of the Orb — and with that immense power, he has set his sights on Doctor Strange!

Collects: Doctor Strange (2015) #11-16
Authors: Jason Aaron
Artists: Chris Bachalo , Kevin Nowlan, Leonardo Romero
Published By: Marvel
Published When: March 7 2017
Parental Rating: Teen

Review:

In celebration of this weekend's release of the newest Marvel Universe feature film, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", I'm revisiting Doctor Strange graphic novels.

See here for my review of the graphic novel tie-in to the first Doctor Strange film.

If the feature film owes some of its stylings to the works and influence of H.P. Lovecraft, this collection, and really the whole fourth volume of Doctor Strange comics, layers in elements from the organic side of H.R. Giger, with a dash of Neil Gaiman's Sandman. All overlaid with a heavy dose of humor.

This collection, "Blood in the Aether", shows the aftermath of THE LAST DAYS OF MAGIC storyline. The magic is largely gone from this realm, and Stephen Strange finds himself battling with enchanted weapons, intelligence and physical stamina instead of spells and mysticism.

And battle he must. In a hellish week, Strange faces a procession of some of his greatest enemies. Baron Mordo. Misery. Nightmare. Satana. The Orb. Dormammu. Wave after wave of barely-survived battles leaves Doctor Strange tumbling from one confrontation to another, each opponent claiming the right to be the one to finally kill the Sorcerer Supreme.

Jason Aaron's story clips along at a break-neck pace, making this collection impossible to put down. Definitely a case where the after-publication collection beats the waiting that came with the original monthly publication schedule of the comics. The momentum of this story reads much better end to end than separated by weeks-long intermissions.

Kevin Nowlan and Leonardo Romero handle the art of issue #11, which has a much cleaner, more concise style than the rest of the book. They then yield to Chris Bachalo and an army of ten other pencillers and inkers who assist with #12-16. In these chapters, which tell the "Blood in the Aether" story proper, facial features are coarser with stronger expressions, especially in the eyes, and the monstrous entities are more gruesome, twisted and disgusting. They invest so much time and effort into the little details - the spines and protrusions on the creatures, even the tread pattern of Doctor Strange's Doc Marten footwear.

Especially enjoyable are the chapters with Nightmare and the at times hilarious dream in which Strange is trapped, and Satana with her how-does-everything-stay-in-place red latex outfit and demonic bacon.

As I have said in other reviews, I was never much of a Doctor Strange fan. But the movies and the 2015 comic series from which this collection comes have taken the character and revealed the fun side. Give this collection 4 capes out of 5 for its creative use of limited power, and for showing Doctor Strange doing, as he says more than once in these pages, "what I was born to do."

ISBN-10: 9781302902995
ISBN-13: 978-1302902995
Language: English
Pages: 136 pages

Review: Moon Knight Omnibus Vol. 1

 

Description:

Discover the many faces of the Moon Knight! Mercenary. Werewolf hunter. Millionaire playboy. Cab driver. Super hero? Moon Knight is many things to many people, and he has the multiple personalities to match! Follow Marc Spector, the earthly Fist of Khonshu, as he battles to find his place in the Marvel Universe — and builds the strangest rogues’ gallery in all of comics. Prepare yourself for the deadly Bushmaster! Arsenal, the one-man army! Stained Glass Scarlet, the nun with a crossbow! And more! Featuring iconic stories by Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz!

Collects: Werewolf by Night (1972) 32-33; Marvel Spotlight (1971) 28-29; Defenders (1972) 47-50; Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) 22-23; Marvel Two-in-One (1974) 52; Moon Knight (1980) 1-20; Marvel Team-Up Annual (1976) 4; Amazing Spider-Man (1963) 220; material from Defenders (1972) 51; Hulk Magazine (1978) 11-15, 17-18, 20; Marvel Preview (1975) 21
Authors: Various
Artists: Various
Published By: Marvel
Published When: April 12 2022
Parental Rating: Teen

Review:

The Moon Knight Omnibus (volume 1) is a handsome, hefty, hardcover. A fitting tome for the longtime fanatic, or the new devotee who wants to fill in Moon Knight's history in one single place.

The dust jacket has a more contemporary cover image of Moon Knight than any of the stories inside, which all date from the earliest years of Moon Knight's history in the early 1970s and 80s. It was an era of different art sensibilities and publishing rules, where curses were more likely to call someone "you son of a pig!" (as in Moon Knight (1980) #1). Even in these horror-influenced stories, the code of the era resulted in different approaches.

The recently completed Moon Knight TV series dug deeply into the multiple personalities of this character. In these stories we see the emergence over time of this modern interpretation of Moon Knight.

Elements of it are present from the very beginning, in Werewolf By Night and Marvel Spotlight. But the presentation leaned more toward a man assuming other roles, like a good actor or a spy might, rather than expressions of internal personalities sometimes in conflict.

The collection includes lots of Moon Knight appearances in backup features, as the character struggled to find his place in the Marvel universe and, more importantly, in its publishing schedule. These stories are quick-hits, squeezing plot, character development, conflict and often some measure of resolution into a precious few pages.

Then at last, in 1980, came Moon Knight's standalone series. The Omnibus includes an astounding amount of these issues, reprinting the first 20 issues of that character-defining series here. These are stories that firmly etched Moon Knight into his rightful place in the Marvel universe.

The dark side of this character comes through in these collected tales as well, even if the color and art sensibilities of the time were brighter and more vivid. In the first issue of the 1980 ongoing series, for example, Moon Knight can barely be restrained from pummeling Bushman to death, while on another page the wives of recently murdered men are forced to dance for their killers. These and other thematic elements of horror stories appear throughout the series.

There is so much here that I am reluctant to even begin discussing any individual story arc or issue or artist or author. Certainly the big ones are here, including legendary creators Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz, who set the baseline for Moon Knight for decades to come. Their contributions to this character and his circle of friends and enemies earned them a mention on the cover of the Omnibus itself.

If the TV series has piqued your interest in this character, or if you are a longtime fan, this collection is worthy of your attention and dollars.

If you lean more to the modern styles of graphical storytelling, as represented on the cover of this collection, and find the earlier eras less compelling, this collection may not be for you.

Overall I give it 3.5 capes

ISBN-10: 1302933809
ISBN-13: 978-1302933807
Language: English
Pages: 1016 pages

Review: Girl Genius Volume 3: Agatha Heterodyne & The Monster Engine

 

Description:

The collection begins as Agatha finds a new ally in Krosp the Cat (a genetic experiment with a smattering of Napoleon's brain cells) and becomes better acquainted with Gilgamesh, the Baron's son ― who gently breaks the news that Agatha has the spark for Mad Science. Othar Tryggvassen escapes the Baron's lab as the Monster Engine is activated by a revenant, and pandemonium ensues on the city-sized airship as Agatha and Gil battle the awakened behemoth. Adam and Lilith arrive in time to make crucial explanations about Agatha's identity and attempt her rescue, but are devastated by the Baron's forces, and Agatha and Krosp must make their dramatic escape alone.

Collects: NA
Authors: Phil & Kaja Foglio
Artists: Phil Foglio (Artist), Mark McNabb (Artist), Laurie E. Smith
Published By: Studio Foglio
Published When: Dec 3 2013
Parental Rating: Teen for the occasional gory dismemberment

Review:

See my reviews of Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Another amazing installment in this series! With a talking Napoleon-wanna-be cat, voracious slaver wasps, and a veritable explosion of clanks, this is the wildest and fastest-paced volume to date. It has adventure, excitement, peril, romance, and more, all overlaid by a wonderfully wry and zany sense of humor.

With Agatha coming to terms with her inner Spark, her inventiveness kicks into high gear and she turns out countless cranks, countless in part because she makes them self-replicating. Gil proposes to her, though his motives are mostly to annoy his father. A revenant triggers the Hive Engine leading to hordes of Slaver Wasps overrunning Castle Wulfenbach.

A talking cat seeks to protect and save Agatha. Gil seeks to protect her. Othar Tryggvassen seeks to rescue her. Her "parents" reappear with the same intention, to rescue her. All her fellow students too. But this girl genius needs no saving. She can take care of herself, with her courage and intelligence.

The Foglios deftly weave past, present and future into this breakneck-speed narrative. After all the talking exposition of volume two, this one is non-stop action, with just enough teasing of future events to ensure we'll be eagerly awaiting the next volume!

Phil Foglio's art is not afraid to fill the frame with emotion-filled closeups, and Mark McNabb's colors bring the whole steampunk-inspired world vividly to life.

As the curtain falls on this chapter of the adventure, with Agatha sailing into the sunset with only her talking-cat companion, she promises "Let's go cause some trouble." It feels like a pause for a commercial break rather than an ending, for our glimpses into the future have shown us some of the ruckus to come.

Cover to cover this is an utter delight to read and re-read. It is endlessly witty, filled with gorgeous visuals and a gripping story set in a richly imagined world. 5 Capes out of 5, and now I must find the next volumes

ISBN-10: 1890856320
ISBN-13: 978-1890856328
Language: English
Pages: 128 pages

Review: Ultron Unbound graphic novel collection

 

Description:

Earth's mightiest heroes face their deadliest foe once again! More powerful than ever before, the mechanical menace has declared himself...the ultimate Ultron! And he's upgraded his elimination target from merely mankind - to all life on Earth. But Ultron doesn't intend to inherit the world alone. Which of the West Coast Avengers women will he take as the basis for his metallic mate, known as War Toy? As the Whackos regroup after a blistering assault, Ultron finds that the path of true love doesn't run smooth, even for ruthless robots. Brace yourself for a lovers' tiff for the ages!

Collects: Avengers West Coast #89-91, Annual #8; Vision (1994) #1-4
Authors: Roy Thomas (Annual), Roy & Dann Thomas (Avengers West Coast), Bob Harras (Vision)
Artists: David Ross (Avengers West Coast), Manny Clark (Vision), Various (Annual)
Published By: Marvel
Published When: April 28 2015
Parental Rating: Teen

Review:

This book is an engrossing blast from the mid-1990s. It brings together a three-issue tale from Avengers West Coast, a related multi-chapter Annual, and the complete 4-issue 1994 limited series starring The Vision.

The common thread tying these stories into a coherent collection is one particular incarnation of Ultron. This time, the sentient android is bent on eliminating not only humanity but all organic life on earth. To help him in his destructive quest, he creates a female counterpart, with the chauvinistic and even misogynistic name "War Toy"

It is so gratifying, therefore, to see War Toy insist on her own name, Alkhema, and even more, to coin a pet nickname "Ulty" for her lover/partner, one which he despises. Their banter is often a humorous highlight.

Their troubles in relationship paradise are mirrored by the tensions within the Avengers West Coast. They can barely concentrate on fighting Ultron and Alkhema due to the distractions of their own marital fractures. Hawkeye and Mockingbird are on the outs. Wanda the Scarlet Witch has not only lost her Vision lover but her hex powers as well.

The three-parter from the main AWC series is lots of fun. Unfortunately the rematch in the Annual suffers from trying to stretch a thin plot over too many pages, and the introduction of The Raptor is uninspiring. Plus, the decision to change the art team for every chapter of the annual just adds to the sense that this story needed some major rework before publication.

The second half of this collection offers us the 1994 4-issue mini-series Vision, a long-overdue solo feature for our beloved android. Dreams are eating away at Vision, and it turns out they have already affected Ultron far worse. Someone or something is using dreams to infect the sentient androids and take control. Is there enough mutual trust between human. alien and android to bring the villain to light and stop them?

The series is a mixed-bag. On the one hand, who can resist seeing Ultron reduced to a drunken New Orleans bar-hopper with a southern drawl and a thirst for whiskey? Or the fascinating film noir stylings of Vision as hard-boiled private investigator? Some truly delightful and unique twists in this tale! On the other hand, it suffers from over-long exposition, a frequent ailment of comics of the 80s and early 90s; but with the larger square word balloons for our robotic actors, the talky parts come to dominate the pictures in too many panels.

Still, prior to the Wanda Vision tv show, this mini-series was a high point in the history of The Vision, and this tale is worth the effort for that reason alone.

This collection is rated Teen, which seems excessively high to me. Certainly the comic-book level of violence and peril are more PG-13 level. There are some more mature themes, in terms of grown-up relationships and marriages in trouble, but nothing that merits so high a rating as Teen.

Overall I score this 3 capes out of 5.

ISBN-10: 0785192697
ISBN-13: 978-0785192695
Language: English
Pages: 224 pages