27 #2 – Advance Review

By: Charles Soule (writer), Renzo Podesta (art), Shawn DePasquale (letters) & Kristen Simon (editor)

The Story: Having regained (briefly) the use of his hand via a demonic ceremony performed by a nude mad scientist, a guitarist tries to figure out what has happened to him.

What’s Good: The weirdness just keeps rolling for this title.  I tend to get almost everything new that Image puts out, but I honestly had a few reservations about this title when pre-ordering it because it seemed like it might be about music and bands.  There are people who are into bands and live music, but that isn’t me.  So, I was gleefully surprised with the first issue of 27.  There was no angst, no heroin addicted girlfriend, no struggles to pay the rent and book the next gig (BORING), it just ripped into a scene were a mad scientist is sacrificing cats to give a guitarist his hands back.  I LOVE that kind of weirdness because it leaves you no idea what will happen next.  For a new(er) comic writer, Charles Soule is having no trouble figuring out how to pace a comic book.  He’s a really talented writer.

I don’t want to spoil too much (this being an advance review), but the story moves forward on several fronts.  For one thing, Garland gets more information about what supernatural thing may have happened to him and how the magic works.  The concept plays completely on numerology and is very neat.  It also illustrates some of my words to live by: Don’t EVER just start randomly pushing buttons!!!  We also see Garland try to get some professional help (from an unusual source) and reconnect with his old manager.  Surprise!  She’s an attractive woman.

Oh yeah…There is another complete “WTF?” moment in the middle of this issue that involves a dead pigeon and a parking deck.

27 #1 – Review

By: Charles Soule (writer), Renzo Podesta (art), Shawn DePasquale (letters) & Kristen Simon (editor)

The Story: A young guitarist makes a Faustian bargain to get his playing ability back.

What’s Good: This is a very original comic book that has lot “WTF?” moments.  To put things in context, the biggest thing that I demand from my non-Marvel/DC comic books is that they be something different.  I want to see creators tossing off their corporate shackles and doing the equivalent of running naked in the hallway by giving us something new and unique with the artform of comics.  27 really scratches that “different” itch pretty well.

The story is pretty cool.  We meet a young guitarist who has recently made it BIG.  He gets a taste of fame and fortune, but mostly…he just likes to play.  So, it is cruel when in the first couple of pages he is struck down by some kind of carpal tunnel syndrome and it becomes painful for him to pick up a guitar.  [SPOILERS] Desperate, he visits a whole manner healers before going through a procedure in this creepy, dark basement lab with a Brad Douriff-type scientist that is just full of “WTF?” moments.  Literally, each panel has you saying…..”What the hell is going on with that talking rat all of a sudden?  WTF?”  And you know there is going to be a steep price to be paid for getting his ability to play back.  He is successful and the solution is whacky as hell.  By the end of the issue, you are left with many more questions than answers (in a good way).

The presentation of the comic is in Image’s Golden sized format and the art really works for this type of dark, Faustian tale.  Podesta’s art doesn’t really remind me of anyone else.  It is very dark, muted, basic and really sells the emotional story notes that the creators are going for.  Sometimes I like elaborate backgrounds, but Podesta is showing us what we need to see to advance the story.  Aside from the intentional WTF moments, I never was confused by the storytelling.

Morning Glories #4 – Advance Review

By: Nick Spencer (writer), Joe Eisma (art), Alex Sollazzo (colors), Johnny Lowe (letters) & Kristen Simon (editor)

The Story: The some of the Morning Glories kids band together in an attempt to bust one of their own out of the evil nurse’s office.

What’s Good: If you liked Lost, you would love Morning Glories.  This issue is relatively calm by MG standards.  That means there are only 3-4 weird little mysterious bits floating around.  So, on top of the oddities we’ve seen over the first 3 issues, we’re well into double digits for those counting the weird things.  It seems unfair to keep comparing this comic series to Lost, but someone really could have a website devoted to the mysteries of the MG academy.

Weirdness aside, this issue is much more contained and focuses on a single story: Rescuing one of the young ladies from the wicked nurse’s office where bad things are going down.  As the kids concoct their scheme, we get to see the most character development we’ve seen yet in MG.  Spencer writes teenage dialog really well, but the absolute star of this series so far is the boy who could probably be a real sociopath if events broke just right.  It is obvious that Spencer really enjoys writing him and the kid is just such a deliciously questionable character.

Oh, and there is a major plot-twist at the end of the issue that I didn’t see coming at all.  This plot twist holds great potential for furthering the story and increasing the dynamic tension among the MG students.

Eisma’s art continues to be a strong point for this series.  This is the kind of series that can be overlooked from an artistic standpoint because there are no double-splash pages of Red Hulk punching The Watcher in the face.  It is just page after page of nice character illustration, always with complete backgrounds.  A huge round of applause should also go to Sollazzo for his colors and lighting.  These characters are very contoured and Sollazzo is nicely shading clothes and faces.  And, you always know where the light source is in the panel (a lost art with some inkers and colorists).

Cowboy Ninja Viking #10 – Review

By: AJ Lieberman (writer), Riley Rossmo (art & colors), Clayton Cowles (letters) & Kristen Simon (editor)

The Story: The conflict between the two groups of triplets comes to a head as volume 1 of this very original series wraps.

What’s Good: This comic has all the elements that have made Cowboy Ninja Viking a fun and unique addition to the pull list for the last year.  When CNV started, the triple-personality concept was so novel and entertaining that it was almost hard to critique it objectively.  Now that the novelty has worn off, we can appreciate it for the interesting story-telling device that it is.  It basically has allowed a comic with a pretty limited cast to feel much bigger than it really is as Lieberman can use (or not) the various personalities to achieve whatever goals he has for the story.  The range of personalities is so complete that he has a pretty full toolbox of character elements.

Issue #10 also marks a pause-point for CNV as the creators are moving on to other projects for awhile.  But, they do a nice job of wrapping up the plot that had gotten a little confusing in the past few issues AND they leave us with a couple of very enticing plot-twists that will make it a real shame if the hiatus becomes permanent.  I pretty much want issue #11 next month!

Rossmo’s art is perfect for this series.  It is frenzied and kind of has a life of its own.  I particularly like how he knows which parts of the page need more detail.  Many panels feature people without much in the way of a face and this serves to direct your eyes to other parts of the panel where he really wants you to look OR to simply take in the whole scene rather than focusing on the individual faces.  But, he also masterfully shows pretty complex emotion on the faces of his characters when it is called for.