Deadly Class #2 – Review

by Rick Remender (Writer), Wes Craig (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Colorist)

The Story: Marcus gets acquainted with life at his new school as he somehow make friends and enemies.

The Review: There is a saying that pretend that all stories have already been told, that everything is a constant reutilization of the same concepts yet with different names and interpretations. While it is a bold statement that can be verified at length in multiple levels of fiction, there is a certainty in saying that many stories and ideas look very similar to each other. With this theory in mind, it comes to the writer to make things fresh and twist things up to make use of an established formula to make it so readers still care about what’s on the page, screen or whichever media is used.

It seems, in many ways, that this is what Rick Remender must had in mind when he created this story. Set in a school that trains assassins, the story focus on Marcus, a young Nicaraguan teen who got a bad start in life. Presenting his story in an overly classical architecture of how school are portrayed in many medias, Remender tries to make it so his concept bring in many comparisons and contrasts for the illusion of normalcy to work in favour of his comic.

It’s a sound approach, yet not one that is really working well in this issue. While there are some neat ideas shown with the classes and their teachers, there isn’t much else working in favour to this storytelling technique. Marcus is still the rebel kid, there is a bully (who is of Russian nationality to boot), there is a fat and nerdy kid and everyone is talking about the new kid in school. There are some tidbits which are interesting, yet for a rather big concepts, Remender does not go far enough to provide enough shock or material for contrast in themes and approach.
Still, despite this, Remender does deserve some credits in the fact that he builds up a whole world, a cast and a setting quite well in the span of a little less than 30 pages. Presenting some clear personalities, cliques and a certain way that the school function, there is a lot of material for development and surprises here that can fuel the series for a while.

Deadly Class #1 – Review

by Rick Remender (Writer), Wes Craig (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Colorist)

The Story: Living on the street kind of sucks, but being put in a rather nebulous situations with killers and cops is somewhat worse.

The Review: It’s been a really bright period of time for Image lately. With a few high-profile creators publishing their work through them, they have gained a reputation for being the place to be for many writers and artists, much to the readers delight. For those who want something new and decidedly different, it’s really a golden age of opportunities as the likes of East of West, Saga, Black Science, Lazarus, Sex Criminals and a multitude of others are still on the shelves for people to enjoy.

It’s with these kind of thoughts that I went on to buy this new series by Fear Agent and Uncanny X-Force writer Rick Remender and one of Guardians of the Galaxy‘s many artist, Wes Craig. With a certain pedigree from both creators, there was definitely something about this that I had to try. However, a nice creative team does not necessarily equate to an interesting book, as there needs to be a message, a direction and certainly a hook for readers to return for the inevitable second issue. How does this first issue manage, though?

As the opening to a series, it’s fairly solid, with a bit of a drag as far as its premise and ideas are concerned. There is a solid amount of action and a general depth to the setting that helps situate the themes and the tone of the story very well, with a certain weird vibe that brings the characters and many of the quirks fairly well on the page. The actual hook is mainly delivered in the final pages, though, so the actual feeling of the series might not actually be representative of what is shown here.

Gears of War #5 – Review

By Joshua Ortega (Writer), Liam Sharp (Artist), and Jonny Rench (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Being a fan of the Xbox 360 series, the Gears of War comics are something of a guilty pleasure for me. The artwork in them effectively captures the gritty violence of the game’s world and action, while the tough-guy dialogue works well enough to keep the books entertaining enough to read. I wish the Gears series had a bit more story and depth, but then again I had a fairly solid idea of what I was getting into when I picked up the first issue.

The Story: Marcus, Jace, Dom, and Barrick find themselves trapped underneath the rubble of the ruined city of Montevado. With the area unstable and crawling with creatures, the separated COGs must find a way out of the dangerous mess. The situation offers up the opportunity for the reader to learn a little more about Jace as well.

What’s Good: To be honest, there isn’t much about Gears #5 that is particularly memorable. The action comes across well and the situation the COGs find themselves in by the end of the issue is appropriately hopeless (and potentially exciting), but beyond that there just isn’t a whole lot worth mentioning. And that’s something of a shame because the creative team puts in some pretty decent work…

What’s Not So Good: The pretty decent work ultimately fails to amount to much. I understand that for the most part, Gears of War is all about mindless action. That said, it wouldn’t hurt to actually advance the storyline once in a while. I mean, I love bloody action as much as the next guy, but it gets tiresome when it seems as though that’s all that is holding the series together. There has to be some driving force moving things along. Unfortunately, I have pretty much stopped caring what that force is at this point. As a result, I just found the penultimate chapter of the first Gears arc to be quite boring.

Conclusion: While I will be sticking around to see how the “Hollow” story concludes thanks to the fairly strong finish of chapter five, I can’t help but be disappointed with things as a whole. The creative team definitely gets the appeal of Gears and successfully translates it to the page, but the whole thing just feels empty without a compelling story. Maybe things will turn around next month, but I will be sure to keep my expectations in check.

Grade:  C-

-Kyle Posluszny

Gears of War #3 – Review

By Joshua Ortega (Writer), Liam Sharp (Art), and Johnny Rench & Carrie Strachan (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Gears of War has been a surprisingly entertaining series so far, even though it’s really a “for fans only” type of thing. While it isn’t breaking any new ground and hasn’t yet done anything essential for the overall Gears storyline, the comic definitely succeeds in translating the gritty violence and machismo of the game to the page. The biggest flaw is the fact that nothing of consequence has happened so far. Furthermore, there doesn’t really seem to be much in the way of plot development. Sure the mindless action has been pretty fun, but it runs the risk of becoming tiresome. Maybe Gears of War #3 will prove to be something of a game-changer and give the series the direction that it has been sorely lacking.

The Story: Jace barely manages to land the plummeting helicopter, and the group of soldiers find themselves a long way from home. During the long walk from the wreckage, Marcus, Dom, and company come across an outpost full of “stranded” people that were unable to reach Jacinto, left struggling to survive in the aftermath of Emergence Day. With the stranded needing protection and the soldiers needing a form of transportation, the two groups come to a mutual agreement. Also, lots of Locusts meet a violent end throughout the issue…as expected.

What’s Good: That Joshua Ortega finally manages to work in some plot development in between all the action and violence. It does wonders for a series that has been incredibly shallow for two issues. With the group now in charge of protecting someone other than themselves, maybe Ortega can actually begin to work in the character depth necessary to put together a story that provides more than just a mindless action fix.

What’s Not So Good: That it is still totally up in the air whether or not the Gears of War comic series will actually connect to the game in any meaningful way. The initial previews said that the series would lead into the plot for Gears 2, but I don’t see any signs of that happening yet. That might wind up being the biggest factor surrounding whether or not I stick with the title to the end.

Conclusion: A step up for the series, Gears of War #3 provides what the comic adaptation has so desperately needed. On the other hand, I am still not sure whether or not early promises are being kept. At least the action delivers and it all looks pretty nice.

Grade:  C+

-Kyle Posluszny