Chronographer #1 – Review

By: Erica J. Helfin (story), Edson Alves, Fabio Pio, Carlos Paul (art)

The Story: This is one feeling of déjà vu you can live without.

The Review: You have to admire the indie creators—and by that, I don’t mean the big names experimenting and stretching their legs on established publishers like Vertigo, Image, or Dark Horse.  I’m talking about the folks trying to hone their craft on the far fringes of the comics world, beyond IDW, Archie, Valiant, Dynamite, or Aspen.  It takes guts to put yourself out there without a major publisher covering your back, hoping someone will catch on to your style.

So on the one hand, I give a lot of credit to Helfin for making it as far as to an actual product; most people give up and go back to clerking at an accounting firm or whatever monotonous job they wanted to escape from.  On the other hand, it’s a sign of Helfin’s inexperience (and lack of rigorous market/editorial scrutiny) that she starts off her project with a rather pontificating little speech:

Masquerade #4 – Review

By Phil Hester (writer), Carlos Paul, Manny Clark, Jean Dias (artist), Debora Carita (colorist)

The Story: The story opens with flashbacks of Masquerade’s past to bring us up to speed. We rewind first to Masquerade in the psychological fugue in the Urn, and watch as her force of will and personality keep her together for decades until she drops out into the real world. Her disorientation lands her in trouble in Tokyo, but also leads to the discovery of new abilities. But the new world is no more of a home for her than the past. A friend gives her some advice on how to bridge her present self with the past and she goes on a quest to find out how to do that.

What’s Good: This is a character study book. Diana Adams, the Masquerade, is someone who has always had trouble defining herself and her place in the world. Now that she has been lost for decades of captivity in the Urn, she has more of a need to do so than ever. This need propels the story and keeps the pages turning.

The writing chores by Hester are well done. A psychological journey is a different sort of story that needs different tools. A classic example of the psychological journey is almost the entire first Doctor Strange series. Hester pulls off something equally effective here, but for a different kind of character. The number of text boxes needed for this story might have dragged the momentum in other hand, but in fact, they work well here. Hester’s eloquence makes them a rich read.

The art does some heavy lifting too. The grittiness of the Tokyo scene is very effective, as are the lighting and shadow effects throughout. And some of the faces are very expressively done.

What’s Not So Good: Only two criticisms should be leveled at this book. Firstly, this is a complex story arc that has to close by the end of the issue, but this book felt a little disjointed. Parts of Masquerade’s story have to do with her childhood, others with her origin, yet others with the Urn and then those since her emergence in the present and her current search. It took some work on the reader’s part to keep those different time periods separate. Secondly, some of the art was inconsistent. Some of the faces and poses were well done, but sometimes the faces were a little rushed while the poses were stiff or awkward. In all, these were not major problems, but they weren’t minor either.

Conclusion: Masquerade #4 was a solid character study to top off this arc. There were some storytelling problems that made it more a bit of a tough go in some spots, but it was still worth it.

Grade: C+

-DS Arsenault

Project Superpowers #2 – Review

By Jim Krueger (story), Alex Ross (art direction, Carlos Paul (art), Debora Carita (colors)

I’ve been digging Project Superpowers until now. This issue just falls victim to trying to do too much at once. So far, Jim Krueger has balanced this story perfectly, introducing us to an ensemble cast one at a time. With issue #2, we’re shown too many characters who don’t get enough screen time. To make matters worse, they’re scattered all over the globe which is now giving me the impression that this’ll be one of those, “let’s travel the world and find our old buddies” stories. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but given the context of the first two issues (plus issue #0), I thought this series would be anything but.

I’ll admit I was really confused by this story in general. Krueger quick cuts all throughout the issue making it hard to figure out what’s happening. All I know is there’s some major buttkicking taking place all over but the reasons aren’t explained. And poor Bruce Carter (AKA the Fighting Yank). It seems like everyone manhandles him at every opportunity. I get the point – he’s pissed a lot of people off – but the slapping around of him is getting almost comical (which it shouldn’t). I also don’t like how anticlimactic the scene is on Dynamic Man’s rooftop. We have this big fight going on and then Green Lama grows some plants and whisps them away?! Ugh.

I’m hoping this series rights itself back on course. It doesn’t hurt much when you start a series from issue #1 and it’s a crappy book. But when you start a series off as spectacularly as this one did and hit a rock with the storyline, well, it’s a complete downer. Carlos Paul and Alex Ross deliver the goods on art, once again – no complaints there. But this story needs a fixing. (Grade: D+)

– J. Montes

Project Superpowers #1 – Review

By Alex Ross (plot, art direction), Jim Krueger (writer), Carlos Paul (art), Debora Carita (colors)

Project Superpowers #0 was one of those books that came out of left field and surprised me. It was full of old Golden Age characters, a fantastic plot, and excellent art. Plus, is was only $1.00. If you haven’t picked up issue #0, I highly suggest hitting up your local comic store immediately. It’s such a treat.

With the foundation for the series laid down, issue #1 wastes no time getting the reader involved in the Fighting Yank’s quest. With his age catching up to him, Yank searches out the Green Lama in hopes of getting assistance with the Urn of Pandora’s retrieval. When he finds him, he’s surprised to see that he’s not aged in the 50 years they’ve been apart. Green Lama gives a sound explanation for this youthfulness and the two head to New York.

In New York, Dynamic Man sits atop a high skyscraper, admiring his handiwork. Clearly deluded, he claims credit for the progressions of society. When Fighting Yank and Green Lama come to visit, they pompously ridicules them, secretly knowing why they’ve arrived. He gives them them exactly what they seek, plus a little more than they bargained for. The only thing that bothered me is how the Black Terror, freed from his prison, seems a little more cheesy than seriously upset.

Krueger is careful not to introduce too many characters at once this issue. Because of this, we really get a grasp on what drives Dynamic Man and Green Lama. We’re also given a small dossier at the end of the issue giving us a little character history. Carlos Paul, working off of Alex Ross’ breakdowns produces some excellent. While this issue’s story is no where near as “epic” as last issue, it’s entertaining, nonetheless. I’m not *dying* to read the next issue, but I am satisfied with what I got out of this one. (Grade: B-)

– J. Montes