Meta 4 #1 – Review

By: Ted McKeever (writing, art, lettering)

The Story: It’s hard to say…something about an amnesiac astronaut staggering around in his space-suit while running into hookers, pimps and a muscle woman in a Santa Claus suit in a public restroom.

What’s Good: It’s right there in the title…the word “meta”.  It also says right on the cover “A 5-issue allegorical series in Black and White”.  So, if you bought this because it had a spaceman on the cover and you thought he would be fighting aliens and there would be ray-guns…you can’t complain too much.

If you like comics that are different, this might be something for you.  Nothing is shoveled in front of you on a silver platter in this issue.  You’ve gotta work for it.  But, how can you not at least enjoy a little bit a fight between a crazy guy in a space-suit, a large pimp and Santa Claus in this bathroom in what appears to be a town that was abandoned after a 1940’s nuclear bomb test?

I guess my point is that even if you are confused as hell, I want to know where they are?  Why is there a huge muscle woman in the Santa suit?  If it is a nuclear test site, why is Santa there?  And, why are prostitutes and pimps in a place where there aren’t likely to be many customers?  Why is this guy staggering around in a space suit?  When does this take place?

This whole story is told with a very minimal amount of dialog.  In some places, McKeever goes for mere symbols in place of actual text to indicate what the character is saying or emoting.  It’s all very clever.  The art is very simple and straightforward, black and white line work.  It works very well for this subject matter.

First Impressions 6/09/10

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Ever wanted to try a new comic, but you weren’t sure what out there was worth your hard-earned dough?  Well, we’re here to help!  We read as many new #1 issues from the past week of releases we could afford and looked for the gems of the pack.  All so that you don’t have to!

Avengers Academy #1
By Christos Gage & Mike Mckone
Price: $3.99

Brief thoughts: The last of the new Avengers line released this month is far from a slam-dunk, but shows an ample amount of potential.  Readers looking for a replacement to the Avengers – The Initiative will be disappointed, as the tone and logistics of this title are very different.  This first issue actually reads a lot more like Geoff Johns’ Teen Titans reboot of years past, which isn’t helped by both books having Mike Mckone on art chores.  It’s nice to see some familiar Avengers faces placed in a new role as teachers, but the teenage cadets carrying the weight of the spotlight aren’t immediately appealing.  There is enough promise there to give the reader hope that this might change with future stories, though.  There’s some supplemental material in the back of the issue, as well, though it hardly makes the four bucks worth it.  All in all, a decent premiere issue of a series that could go either way.

Verdict: Give it a shot.

Buzzard #1
By Eric Powell & Kyle Hotz
Price: $3.50

Brief Thoughts: This miniseries, apparently spinning out of the creator Eric Powell’s more famous creation, The Goon, is a mixed bag.  The plot is a little light, as we basically are taken for a trip through mysterious realms alongside the ghostly protagonist.  He typically sticks to himself, until he decides to get involved, which seems more like a plot necessity than a character-influenced decision.  The ending is sudden, almost random.  While the story is weak, the art is amazing.  Powell’s linework and colors blend in such a way as to make every page seem as if they were faded into view before you.  The character designs and layouts are superb.  I might not buy another story written by the creator, but I’d certainly pick up anything with his artwork inside.  This issue also contains a 6-page back-up concerning Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities.  It’s forgettable and even the pencils by Kyle Hotz are uninteresting.  Though 27 pages of story for $3.50 is not bad at all, there’s not a lot of story within those 27 pages.

Verdict: Save your dough.

Dream Logic #1

By David Mack
Price: $5.99

Brief Thoughts: In my experience, people either enjoy David Mack’s art or they don’t.  There’s never any middle ground, any “Well, he’s all right.”  People love him or hate him.  I, for one, love him.  The way he manipulates text and makes it part of the image, the skill with which he mixes media to create something much more than the sum of its parts.  His artwork is that special kind of optical high that inspires you to think outside the box more often with your own work.  I’m ranting about this because if you do like David Mack, then this comic is definitely worth the six bucks you’re going to drop on it.  It’s about 50 pages of artwork, paintings, behind the scenes commentary, retrospective and sequential storytelling.  If you’re not a fan, then skip it.  It’s an art book disguised as comic book.  You’ll purchase it, be annoyed that you did, and then curse me out even though I warned you.  And frankly, I like to give people as few reasons to curse me out as possible.

Verdict: Give it a shot.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

DS’ Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Thanos Imperative #1 – Brightest Day #3 and and Thanos Imperative #1 tussled for a while in my brain for the number one spot, but the Champion of Death edged out DC’s newest cosmic chapter. Thanos the scene-stealer (which is a lot to say, considering he has to share the book with Drax and Rocket Raccoon) remains true to Starlin’s vision as one of the most frightening, sociopathic, genocidal, multi-dimensional villains in any universe.

Most Anticipated: Batman #700 – Grant Morrison is taking the wheel with a raft of great artists. The big price tag is softened by the big page count. Morrison has done some excellent Batman work (I know there are detractors because his vision of Batman is outside-the-box), and I look forward to seeing where he takes this.

Other Top Picks: Batgirl #11, Daredevil #507, Uncanny X-Men #525

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Sweet Tooth #10 -Whenever an issue of a comic makes me want to write an academic essay on it, that pretty much guarantees it “pick of the week” status.  When that essay would be about the conflict between humanity and science, this is doubly the case.

Most Anticipated: Captain America #606 -Holy crap, it’s Baron freaking Zemo!  YES!  YES!  YES!

Other Picks: SHIELD #2, Daredevil #507, Invincible Iron Man #27, The Unwritten #14, Secret Six #22, Punishermax #8

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Irredeemable #14 – Even with a shipping snafu that caused me to miss getting a load of my books, I have no problems giving Irredeemable #14 some love.  After spinning its wheels for a few months to create a jumping on point for new readers, the story that I love really got back into gear in a major way.  This has become so much more than a “superman gone bad” story.

Most Anticipated: SHIELD #2 – This week is really stacked with books that I’m looking forward to, but after that stellar first issue how could I really pick any other book?  Seriously, if you’ve ever complained that comics don’t create enough new stuff and aren’t going to read this… you’re missing out because this feels more like an indy-comic that is just playing in the Marvel Universe.

Other picks: Batman #700, Hack Slash: My First Maniac #1, Meta 4 #1, Uncanny X-Men #525, Daredevil #507