At the suggestion of my comic guy Andy I picked up this title and I can honestly say that I am glad that I did. With the Vampire craze infiltrating every ounce of our culture these days you're probably thinking, not another vampire story. I promise you, you're wrong. I mean, you've got the King of horror stories himself Mr. Stephen King as one of the writers. As a fan, I would argue that that should be enough to get you to read this. But you do have to take in the fact that the other writer Scott Snyder is relatively unkown. Well let me tell you, he does a fantastic job with words himself. And while they're storytelling techniques are different they come together to create a well thought out and executed story. The artwork in this book is fantastic as well. Rafael Albuquerue does a tremendous job with the art that is executed in a painterly fashion that may call to some people's minds the stylings of Francis Manapul.
The story is split in two parts. The first part, written by Scott Snyder takes place in the Hollywood district in 1925. We meet aspiring actress Pearl Jones who is in for the ride of her life, especially after meeting Skinner Sweet. In the second story we follow Skinner's road to meeting Pearl. What these writers are doing is exploring the notions of vampire evolution as well as the eternal battle between the old and the young.
This is was decent, but definitely not the best. John Winchester has been an ass, we've already established this. Sam gets kidnapped and Dean's been drugged by a chick. It helps that I know how this will all turn out, but even still I feel this week's issue was meant to be a set up for what I hope will be a big finale.
This issue was great on so many levels. I love that even in these new walls the old gang is still pretty much sticking together. And by sticking together I mean, being suspicious of these weird people who are either stupid beyond reason or on the verge of a psychotic meltdown. It should be interesting to see how the old man handles his son having a thing for Andrea, who he happened to hit on earlier. Which, to add, was completely disgusting seeing as he must be nearing 60 and she's at most 25. Michonne hanging up her sword was a great scene filled with emotion. And who doesn't love Carl, filled with nothing but disdain towards these people.
Who knew this gang of detective mutants could be so elusive? Definitely not Bastion, who has obviously severely underestimated this gang of mutants. This isn't really important to the main title, but seeing as they are mutants I think it's a great little tie in. Darwin is pretty damn awesome the way his body can adapt without even being conscious of the action. Longshot is amazing. I can honestly say I loved when he slicked into the head of one of the soldiers. It's good to see Layla Miller back in action. She's played a pretty big role leading up to this point. Can't wait to see what Bastion can stir up for them next time.
X-Men: Legacy #236 ****All hell is about to break loose. Bastion has effectively crippled and trapped the X-Men in his complex sphere. Not only are they out of teleporters, they have no aerial transportation, and did I mention they were trapped in a sphere? The Science Guild, accompanied by a surprising group of guests, is trapped on the outside desparately trying to come up with a solution to get rid of the sphere. While on the inside Hope has decided that the only option she had was to fight. Ever the leader, Scott's got multiple strategies and contingencies to deal with, but how can he handle the very real threat that's come through the portal? I thought that this was was a great issue that opened up the battle on multiple fronts. We've got the Science Guild, we've got the gang in San Francisco, we've got another gang on the Island, and we've got the gang going after the central sphere. The issue perfectly set up the final battle.
And of course my DC reviews can now be reached at: http://comicattack.net/2010/05/coir5191/
I managed to dig out the last copy of American Vampire #1 that my shop had, and I'm going to pick up the next two this week. I really don't get Manapul at all from the art, but I did like it a lot. I've really gotten on the Indie train lately.
ReplyDeleteAs of 11:15 this morning, your CA review wasn't up yet.
And as of 11:30 it is, so nevermind.
ReplyDeleteSupernatural wasn't as fun this issue as the previous ones. Still, I liked it, and the ending was a great cliffhanger.
ReplyDeleteThe Walking Dead is always, always good. I also love that the old gang is still sticking together, and are planning and scheming together. I never wanted them to go into the place to begin with, but when they did I just kept hoping that they'd keep alert. I'm glad that they're staying on their toes.