Thor: God of Thunder #18 – Review

by Jason Aaron (Writer), Das Pastoras (Artist)

The Story: Dragons are the original party animals. True story.

The Review: This is a rather weird issue to review really. While some issues are impossibly easy to analyze in terms of general appreciation, there are some that simply are very different, demanding a deeper inspection to see if there are some aspects that you might have missed or if you actually like or dislike some of its elements. While something that requires a second reading is not an indicative of general quality or a lack of it, it does leave a certain puzzling sensation that manage to take a hold of your thoughts for a while.

This issue of Thor: God of Thunder had this exact effect on my person. While it certainly has its moments and does feature some particularly unexpected qualities, it also falls a little bit short of the mark in some of its aspects. As a continuation to some of the theme presented in Jason Aaron’s tenure, it’s solid, yet as done-in-one it doesn’t exactly does the best of jobs.

Where it works, it does so splendidly, though. Presenting the tale with the younger Thor from the past as the protagonist, the definitely less wise and more impulsive personality of Thor is on full display here. Pushing forth the lessons that Thor needs to learn as well as the impetuosity and proneness to party and drink around in ways that could be counted as excessive, the writer makes for a tale that manages to hit many different notes in ways that feels right. The relationship between Thor and Skabgagg, the dragon, builds up in ways that feels fun, sad and then tragic in a way that present snippets of what Thor had to live through, showing a lesson that he had to learn that make him very enjoyable to read in this issue.

Jack of Fables #40 – Review

by Matthew Sturges & Bill Willingham (writers), Russ Braun (pencils & inks), Jose Marzan Jr. (inks), Andrew Pepoy (inks & balance), Daniel Vozzo (colors), and Todd Klein (letters)

The Story: Jack Frost battles the sorcerer while Jack Horner discovers his fate and the true nature of his condition.

What’s Good: Since he first appeared, I’ve always found Jack Frost a fairly bland character, a problem that seems to be fairly irresolvable.  That said, this is a surprisingly strong outing for him.  His banter with the sorcerer really is fairly funny at times and did bring me a couple of smiles.  It is fairly enjoyable to see how Frost’s inexperience as a hero also affects his ability to converse mid-battle.  Also, while it may be a little baffling to see Jack Frost as an exponent for modern lingo, his colloquial language also brings the laughs as it clashes with the sorcerer’s by-the-numbers fantasy villain dialogue.

Despite the bevy of inkers, this month is also a strong outing for Russ Braun.  His dragon looks great while retaining a sense of comedy through all, and his depictions of Brak the monster continue to be weirdly adorable.  Braun’s work alone gives the furry beast a lot more character than he otherwise might have.  As always, Braun’s work on his characters’ faces is also a joy.

What’s Not So Good: While this was a stronger issue for Frost, I still left the book feeling Frost to be a bland character incapable of carrying, or frankly deserving, an ongoing series.  He’s still little more than a standard character archetype, and a fairly uninspired one at that.  He’s the young, male hero.  That’s it.  Nowhere is this reflected better than in the internal monologue contained within this issue.  Usually, I love internal monologues as a means of getting to know characters better, yet here, Frost’s narration is a snore.  It’s little more than a paint-by-numbers recounting of the action, which is pretty indicative of the blandness of the character.  Worse still, there are far more of these narrating captions than need be.  Did we really need to have Frost retell the entire arc’s plot, in some detail, at the start of this issue?  It’s unnecessary, and it’s yawn-inducing.

It also doesn’t help that “the Sorcerer” is about as clichéd and uninspired a villain as I’ve ever seen in a comic book.  If that’s the kind of short-term villain Jack Frost’s book is going to be getting, it’s going to be a bad book indeed.  Seriously, the guy doesn’t even have a name.  He’s just “the sorcerer.”  That about sums him up, unfortunately.

Then there’s the scenes involving “Jack Dragon.”  This is nothing short of a complete catastrophe.  In fact, it’s insulting and borders on being a slap to the face of long-time Jack readers in just how poorly the whole thing is wrapped up.  Putting aside how wrong, and dispiriting, it is to remove the character for which the series is named, only to replace him with a much blander protagonist, the manner in which this done is just sloppy.

Jack’s banishment from his own series is abrupt and underwhelming.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen something this anti-climactic in a comic in a very long time.   Sturges apparently thinks removing the character in this manner is humorous, when it’s closer to nauseating and rage-inducing.  Even worse is just how ridiculously convenient and sudden the explanation for Jack’s transformation and consequent doom is.  It’s also unimaginative and lazy in the utmost.

But wait, didn’t we get the explanation for Jack’s transformation already?  All that stuff Gary (and DC’s solicitations) said about it being artist Tony Akins’ doing?  Yeah, apparently that just never happened.

Conclusion: Having been on-board since issue one, I’m sad to say that I’m done with this series.

Grade: D –

-Alex Evans

Broken Trinity: Aftermath – Review

“Paying Debts” – By Ron Marz (Writer), Jorge Lucas (Art), and Felix Serrano (Colors)

“Lessons” – By Bryan Edward Hill (Writer), Tyler Kirkham (Pencils), Sal Regla (Inks), and John Starr (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Broken Trinity, the action-packed event that promised to shake things up the Top Cow universe, proved to be a very solid piece of entertainment. While the storyline ultimately did little more than introduce two new characters and set the stage for an epic fight, the spectacular visuals by Stjepan Sejic made the event worth investing in. In addition, the new characters were interesting enough to be considered worthy additions to the Witchblade/Darkness mythos. I looked forward to seeing more of them. That’s where Broken Trinity: Aftermath comes in…

The Story: “Paying Debts” tells the story of Finn’s rescue of/ reunion with Jackie Estacado (The Darkness). It also sets Finn’s story truly in motion as he talks with Jackie about his newfound power and the information he’s learned. “Lessons” is about Glorianna’s situation following the Broken Trinity battle and what the future may hold for her and her power.

The Good and The Not So Good: As a whole, Broken Trinity: Aftermath works quite well. Short, but sweet, both stories in Aftermath do a nice job of better establishing the characters in charge of the recently introduced ice and fire artifacts. And really, that’s all they need to do. I really look forward to seeing more of the characters in the future (though I’m not sure how much more of Glorianna there is to show…I’ll get to that in a moment). Now, onto the technical stuff…

“Paying Debts” is the more enjoyable read of the two thanks to the way Ron Marz handles Finn. As he did during Broken Trinity, Finn comes across as an extremely likable guy who knows he’s in over his head but is more than willing to make the best of it. Heck, even when killing people as a ice giant, Finn’s personality manages to make an impact. If Finn’s story has a low point, it’s that the visual’s don’t really sync up all that well to the character. While the dark, gritty style works initially, it’s mostly unfit for handling Finn’s ice giant form. With the exception of a striking panel or two, the visuals of the ice giant disappoint.

“Lessons” is told almost entirely through the attractive visuals, but the dialogue that is there proves to be rather compelling in regards to Glorianna’s place in the Top Cow universe. Now as for those visuals…well they mostly involve Glorianna being naked. Before you roll your eyes, the nakedness does fit the story and contributes to one extremely impressive full page shot of her naked body in the center of a giant dragon outline in the melted snow to kick things off. That said, it still comes across as rather gratuitous.

Conclusion: Broken Trinity: Aftermath is a worthy addition to any Top Cow fan’s collection. While the stories included in the one-shot are short, they are each worth a look. Especially considering that Finn and Glorianna may be major players in the universe sooner rather than later.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

Angel: After the Fall #5 – Review

By Joss Whedon (plot), Brian Lynch (plot & script), Franco Urru (art) & Jason Jensen & Art Lyon (colors)

This issue redeems the previous one; every character makes an appearance, and they deal with a battle of epic proportions. Woo!
After Wesley’s disappearance, Lorne realizes he needs to get everybody together for the big fight. Angel is preparing for the battle like he has never seen. What he goes through is very fun, while lots of people gather to watch. The odds of winning are completely against Angel, and it seems as though he’s very unlikely to survive (being human and all). But there’s a lot at stake, and if he succeeds, L.A. belongs to him.

Soon enough, his friends join the battle, making it more interesting and less lob sided. Yes, I know that Angel’s really supposed to fight this one alone, but remember that cheating in hell is supposed to be allowed! The cliffhanger we get is great and awful at the same time, because we have to wait three more issues to find out how this whole thing concludes, and well, that sucks!

IDW plans on releasing another three issue series, retelling the story of what happened “the night of the battle that changed everything”. And while this mini-series may cheat some fans out of a proper story, I’ve got faith that we’ll be very entertained. Regarding the art on the series, Urru’s work either improved or I grew to like it. Either way, I’m very satisfied with how this maxi-series is shaping up. (Grade: A-)

-Daniel Yanez