Blue Estate #10 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, Dave Johnson, Peter Nguyen & Kieran (art) and Kalvachev (art director)

The Story: It’s hard to describe in a single sentence – it’s weird things happening to a bunch of gangsters.

A Few Things:

1.  Art direction is amazing. – Blue Estate breaks the “rules.”  Usually when you see SIX artists credited for a comic, it means the art will be a hot mess.  Why?  With the typical comic, six artists means that Big Name Artist didn’t make his deadlines and the editor brought in a bunch of scrub artists to ship the comic on time.  That is NOT what happens with Blue Estate.  It’s almost like series creator Kalvachev knew it would be hard to get an A-list artist to commit to doing a monthly, creator-owned comic book…. but he figured he could always get several A-listers to draw 2-3 pages a month.  Thus, every month Blue Estate features this eclectic cast of artists, just kinda jamming on a comic.  The effect is great.  It’s almost like an anthology comic (in a way).  I just love the rotating cast of artists because it gives us a chance to see someone like Dave Johnson doing interior pages.  When was the last time Johnson did interior pages?

What keeps it from being a disjointed mess is that Kalvachev (a) surely runs a pretty tight ship from a project management standpoint and (b) knits everything together with the coloring.

2. Story winds around in a fun way. – The story is simply fun.  The essence of the story is: dumb gangsters trying to kill or screw-over each other.  But all the characters are a little too dumb to execute their plans, so they keep ending up in ridiculous situations.  For example, in this issue one character needs to sell a house ASAP to make money (to pay off some gangsters).  The good news is that he has a cash buyer.  The bad news is that he’s been put in charge of also transporting another gangster’s race horse to the race track.  If he doesn’t come up with the money, he’s dead.  If the horse doesn’t get to the track….he’s dead.  So, he goes to get the money and recruits a couple of dreadlocked stoners he meets to drive the horse to the track for him in their VW minibus where they proceed to get the horse STONED.  Surely, next issue he’ll have to explain why the horse was stoned.  What’s wonderful is seeing how many different plot threads are spinning at once.  It’s like watching a guy juggle 10 balls and just when you think it can’t possibly get crazier, he adds a couple more balls to the mix.  It’s insane, but in a good way.

Spaceman #3 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello (writer), Eduardo Risso (art), Trish Mulvihill, Clem Robins (letters), Mark Doyle & Will Dennis (editors), Dave Johnson (cover)

The Story: Now that our titular “spaceman” has rescued the little girl, he has to figure out what to do with her.

Five Things: 

1. The nuspeak is very cleverly done. – The nuspeak adds a LOT of flavor to Spaceman.  Not only is it a subtle way to make it clear on every page that THIS world is not OUR world, but it also leaves a lot to the imagination.  For example, the characters often use the phrase “braining” to mean “thinking”.  But, consider how many synonyms we have for “thinking”: considering, concentrating, speculating, etc.  They all mean roughly the same thing, but not exactly the same thing.  So, when Azzarello uses a word like “braining” he creates a mushy spot for our imagination to work and we get to speculate on what precisely he means.  It’s like in a prose novel where you guess what characters look like or sound like.  Lots of creators feel like they need to show/tell us everything, but comics are always better when they invite the reader to use their imagination to fill in some intentional gaps.

2. Seeing another Spaceman gives it an Elephantmen vibe. – Towards the end of this issue, another Spaceman pops up and he’s clearly taken a very different path in life since whatever “event” changed this world.  Our protagonist is POOR and seeks out a living digging up things from sunken downtown areas.  The other Spaceman seems wealthy and willing to use his genetic advantages to his benefit.  Clearly these two characters have a past and it reminds me a LOT of the dynamics among the central characters in the Elephantmen series (which is outstanding).

3. Things look bleak for our protagonist. – Maybe it’s a little telegraphed, but the protagonist’s plan (Hide the kidnapped girl at your home until it’s “safe”) isn’t going to work well.  But, even though it is telegraphed, our protagonist doesn’t seem that intelligent, so you kinda cringe the whole time as he’s making what is surely a big mistake.  “GAH!  The dimwitted spaceman kidnapped the little girl!  Did he touch her!?!”

Spaceman #2 – Review

By: Brian Azzarello (writer), Eduardo Risso (art), Trish Mulvihill, Clem Robins (letters), Mark Doyle & Will Dennis (editors), Dave Johnson (cover)

The Story: Our titular spaceman get’s tangled up in a kidnapping plot while having semi-explanatory flashbacks to the past.

Five Things: 

1. Story is starting to round into shape. – Last issue spent most of its time establishing the basic atmosphere of this semi-dystopian, quasi-post-apocalyptic future world.  Here we start to really get into the meat of the story as Orson, our central “spaceman”, stumbles upon a little girl who has been kidnapped while picking for junk out on the open ocean.  It looks like there’ll be a bit of an odd-couple vibe: Hulking spaceman who is a societal outcast protecting little girl (who will doubtless be kind to him because children aren’t burdened with society’s baggage).  But, this issue will make any 100 Bullets fan feel right at home as the whole fight on the ocean is gritty and grimy: dude laying there with his guts handing out, talking all tough, gunplay, violence, slang language….  It’s like sci-fi 100 Bullets.

2. Still a LOT we don’t know. – Although this issue starts to tease things, we still don’t know what really happened to the world to make it this way.  The creators give just the right amount of teasing to keep us interested in that part of the plot.  You know how it is: When the creators keep ending scenes one panel too soon?  If they’d just keep the scene going for one panel longer we’d understand everything?  Sometimes that can be frustrating, but these guys are doing it very well.

3. Love Risso’s art! – Honestly, a LOT of the attraction to this series is the art of Eduardo Risso.  It isn’t just the drawing, but the overall sense of graphic design that pervades the issue.  He always seems to pick a wonderful angle to illustrate a scene from and Risso is also a master of directing the reader’s eyes across the page in the order he chooses.  A fun thing I like to do with a Risso comic is use your hands to cover up parts of a panel, but leave the “main” part alone.  It’s really cool how you still get the idea behind the story that way, but it makes you appreciate how well he constructed the panel to make it a richer experience.

Punisher #62 – Review

By Gregg Hurwitz (writer), Laurence Campbell (artist), Lee Loughridge (colors), Cory Petit (letters), Dave Johnson (cover)

After having the Punisher head south of the boarder to investigate a series of brutal murders, the last issue left us off with a very promising tale. However, this story is starting to look like your familiar Punisher story, where that bad guy presented is just screaming to get his face filled with bullets. With this familiar approach, I can’t help but feel that the writing walks the line of brilliance and mediocrity, it’s engaging but nothing new.

Last issue I had two big concerns, the dialogue and the story. Castle’s dialogue is inconsistent, distorting the Frank Castle character, specifically in the scene where he comes off as a knowledgeable detective who knows way too much about kitty litter and drugs. But I guess it’s envitable when you’re going to have three different writers tackling this arc. As for the story, it simply felt too similar to The Slavers.

The art however was more redeeming than the writing, Laurence Campbell does a good job dishing out brutality and the familiar grit we miss seeing when Ennis was still onboard. My favorite panel has Castle seeing his fallen family in the reflection of a mirror, serving as a slick and subtle reminder of why the Punisher is who he is. Campbell also makes excellent choices on when to and when not to show Castle’s face. For a personal, reflective moment we’ll get a quick shot of his face. When it’s time for business, his face is covered in shadow and only the skull on his chest remains. It’s a good move to show the true nature of one of Marvel’s favorite characters.

Ultimately, I think this book is unfocused. The ideas are there, but the execution is lacking. The Punisher feels out of place in his own title. Hurwitz needs to find the middle-ground between his inner monologue for Castle and everything else. As it stands now, The Punisher is trying to be too many things. It’s not that the character can’t be multifaceted, but those facets need to be on the same spectrum. (Grade D+)

-Ben Berger

The Punisher #61 – Review

By Gregg Hurwitz (writer), Laurence Campbell (artist), Lee Loughridge (colors), Cory Petit (letters), Dave Johnson (cover)

Everyone knows how skeptical I am of anyone not Garth Ennis writing Punisher. Sure, it can be done but it rarely is done (though Punisher Little Black Book was good, I’ll admit). I’ve been harping on it for weeks, and now I’ll finally shut-up about it.

Gregg Hurwitz does a good capturing the overall tone and feel of the character. Castle’s inner monologue is really excellent, especially his thoughts on the death of his boy. We know that Castle blames himself for the death of his family, but Hurwitz really makes you feel that pain. Better still, we get to see both sides to Frank Castle. You see the father side, when Frank talks about how still his boy was, and you get The Punisher side describing it how only a hardened soldier could. The problem with the story is so far it feels like it’s been done before. We don’t know exactly what these men are doing with the kidnapped women, but it’s being set up as something similar to Ennis’ The Slavers arc.

Laurence Campbell’s art brings things back to the grittier look of earlier Punisher comics. Using gore sparingly makes it more powerful, and Campbell’s choice to do so is a good one. What’s even better is that a lot is said with very few panels. We know the antagonists are pretty horrible people; one panel shows a beaten girl with her eyes cut out. My favorite part artistically is a great visual tool used instead of going into a lengthy flashback or explanation. Campbell and Hurwitz show us what Castle’s thinking in a single image found in the reflection of The Punisher’s glass of bourbon. It works well and doesn’t waste anyone’s time. One thing I did find confusing was Lee Loughridge’s coloring. There’s a good use of blues, but it’s unclear if it’s trying to establish mood or show flashback.

This is a fun read that should help the Ennis zealots see that the character can move on without him. Some of it feels like it’s been done, but it’s early in the arc and frankly it’s a well done well issue. Hurwitz and Campbell are off to a good start and hopefully this issue is the beginning of something great. (Grade: B-)

-Ben Berger