Incredible Hulk #1 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Marc Silvestri & Michael Broussard (pencils), Joe Weems, Rick Basaldua & Sal Regla (inks), Sunny Gho (colors), Ed Dukeshire (letters), Jake Thomas (assistant editor) & Mark Paniccia (editor)

The Story: Can the Hulk get some peace and quiet?

Five Things: 

1.  Hulk and Banner split up.  The dual nature of the Hulk does make him interesting, but I personally think that these stories where Hulk and Banner are physically separated causes too many “How do they do that?” problems for me to have much fun with the story.  I mean, where does the actual matter that composes the second body come from?  How does the separation work?  Does Hulk vomit Banner or something?  I know I should just roll with it and enjoy the story (and I largely DO), but it is a little bothersome.

2. Energetic art.  It doesn’t really matter who draws the Hulk as long as they can make him energetic and powerful and this team is up to the task.  In the panels where Hulk needs to look fast and powerful, he looks….well….fast and powerful.  They also do an nice job on the quieter scenes where Hulk is contemplating his seclusion.  It could be a minor art red flag that on this #1 issue we have a person credited as “penciling assist” and three inkers.  That’s the kind of thing you usually see on the last issue of an arc where the primary penciller can’t quite make it to the finish line on time.  BUT, it doesn’t affect the quality of art, so it’s just worth a raised eyebrow for now.

3. Sunny Gho does a great job coloring.  One of my favorite comic art performances recently was the duo of Kenneth Rocafort and Sunny Gho on Velocity.  At the time, I gave most of the credit to Rocafort and while I still really enjoy his art, seeing Gho’s performance in this issue makes me realize what an important part of Velocity Gho was as well.  If you’re familiar with Silvestri’s art, you know that it isn’t clean art….he’s got a LOT of lines and shading going on in a page.  Gho’s art matching this complexity as the coloring is just as intricate as the linework.  It almost looks like watercolors.  Beautiful!

San Diego Comic-Con: Part 1 – Intro and Art

As you may have gathered from all the SDCC related messages on WCBR’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, I was lucky enough to attend all four days of the San Diego Comic-Con. It takes place yearly right in my backyard, but this was my first time attending (and it was only my second convention ever–the first being ECCC ’11 earlier this year.

Overall Impressions: “Overwhelming” is the first adjective that comes to mind. Unlike ECCC, which–although quite large–maintains a very relaxed and genial atmosphere, SDCC felt extremely impersonal (with some exceptions, which we’ll talk about) and quite difficult to navigate both physically and cognitively. Was it fun? Absolutely! But it was also extraordinarily draining in a way that ECCC was not. ECCC was pure recreation and joy for me; SDCC made me work for the fun.

PREVIEW – The Darkness II (FCBD)

2K Games, Top Cow Productions, Inc., and the Free Comic Book Day Committee announced today that they have teamed up to produce The Darkness II: Confession, an exclusive comic tie-in for The Darkness™ II video game, for Free Comic Book Day. The 32-page, full-color comic will be a prequel to 2K Games’ upcoming video game, The Darkness II. Produced by Top Cow’s lead artists and writers in partnership with 2K Games, The Darkness II: Confession will be distributed by Diamond Comic Distributors to thousands of independent comic book stores worldwide on May 7, 2011.

The Darkness II: Confession introduces comic fans, video game fans, and new readers to Jackie Estacado, the bearer of The Darkness, an ancient primal force which acts a blessing and a curse for its bearer, allowing him access to an otherworldly dimension and control over the demons that dwell there. The Darkness II: Confession takes readers from Jackie’s origins in the first video game, through his rise to power, and the events leading up to The Darkness II.

Artifacts #4 – Review

By Ron Marz (writer), Michael Broussard (pencils), Chris Johnson (background assist), Rick Basaldua, Joe Wee,s. Jason Gorder and Sal Regla (inks), Sunny Gho and Felix Serrano (colors) and Troy Peteri (letters)

The Story: Events are happening quickly now that (nearly) all the Artifact Bearers have chosen sides. All that remains is the discovery and recruitment of the unknown Thirteenth Bearer, on whom the outcome of the fast-approaching final confrontation hinges.

What’s Good: Marz and company continue to deliver the goods as the slow-burn buildup of Artifacts gets set to explode in the second act. This is not a big, flashy issue, however–its beauty (and meat) lies in smaller character moments and confrontations (Magdalena coming face to face with Tom Judge was easily the highlight for me), and that works very well indeed. Although the looming fear of Armageddon still hangs over every word and action, its nice to see the characters interacting on a more personal level, and doing something besides fret about the fate of creation. It was a much-needed break, and very well handled. It also goes to show the tenuous nature of the alliances on both sides (although our heroes do seem to be in a slightly worse spot than the villains on that count.)

All the discussion about the Thirteenth Artifact Bearer has me very, very curious as well. Fan speculation right now is leaning towards the notion that Sara’s daughter Hope is the Thirteenth Artifact…but not only would that be a little TOO clichéd and convenient (I hope) for what Marz seems to have in mind, it also seems to be, if not disproved, at least made far less likely by the fact that the villains do currently posses her. If Hope does turn out to be the Thirteenth Artifact itself (or something similarly important), it’s going to make the villains look awfully, awfully stupid. Like I said though, I don’t think that’s the direction this is heading…. at least I hope it isn’t.

Also: art is still outstanding. Feel free to cut and paste the gushing from my previous reviews here. Broussard and company are continuing to knock this thing out of the park.

Artifacts #3 – Review

By Ron Marz (writer), Michael Broussard (pencils), Facundo Percio, Stjepan Sejic, Paolo Pantalena, Sheldon Mitchell and Nelson Blake II (additional pencils), Rick Basaldua, Joe Weems, Sal Regla (inks), Sunny Gho and IFS (colors), Troy Peteri (letters)

The Story: The prolog is over, and the two sides of the great battle are starting to take shape as both Aphrodite and Tom Judge start recruiting. Sara finds herself caught in the middle of this great war to come, when all she wants is to get her daughter back.

What’s Good: It’s redundant to say it at this point—and I have a feeling this redundancy will continue through all 13 issues of Artifacts–but Marz and Broussard continue to put out a fantastic product. Broussard (and company’s) pencils are beautiful and evocative, and Marz’s writing is dynamic and immensely satisfying. Marz’s expertise is well documented at this point, but special kudos need to go to the penciling team who not only helped things get back on track in terms of release dates, they do a fantastic job not of copying Broussard’s style exactly, but creating extremely complementary styles that mesh well and create an excellent story and a very visually appealing product.

This is a particularly important issue, in that it ends the setup for the Artifacts event, and begins the action that will drive the story forward. This is a delicate transition, because rather than focusing on the singular emotional event of Hope’s abduction, or reviewing the motivations of a few characters, the series must now shift into dealing with huge, globally-scaled events and dozens of characters. This issue makes a good start, even throwing in one final review of the 12 known Artifacts and their bearers, but it does remain to be seen how such an all-encompassing event will unfold in subsequent issues.

Artifacts #2 – Review

By Ron Marz (writer), Michael Broussard (pencils), Rick Basaldua, Joe Weems and Sal Regla (inks), Sunny Gho of IFS (colors) and Troy Peteri (letters)

The Story: The bearers of the thirteen Artifacts begin to take their place and forage alliances as Armageddon approaches. In the meantime, two bearers in particular—Sara Pezzini, wielder of the Witchblade and Jackie Estacado who contains the Darkness—must deal with an additional, and very personal, crisis: their daughter has been kidnapped.

What’s Good: What a fantastic story Ron Marz is building here. Well written, perfectly paced, and new-reader friendly without insulting the intelligence and knowledge of people who have been following the Top Cow Universe for some time. This is what a major comic book event should look like. I don’t need a bunch of crossovers, I don’t need every single huge big-name character in the company worked into the first issue, and I don’t need the entire plot spelled out for me. Especially in issue two of a 13-issue event, all you need to do is hook me with good storytelling, and give me a general sketch of where you’re going with the event. This is exactly what Marz delivers. He doesn’t flood us with information, but he doesn’t hold back and play coy either. It is very, very effective, and falls squarely within my own personal Goldilocks Zone.

Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1

By Matt Fraction (Writer), Marc Silvestri (Pencils), Michael Broussard, Eric Basaldua, Tyler Kirkham, & Sheldon Mitchell (Pencil Assists), Joe Weems w/ Marco Galli, Eric Basaldua, Rick Basaldua, Jason Gorder, Jay Leisten, Sal Regla, Jon Sibal, and Ryan Winn (Inks), and Frank D’Armata (Colors)

The Story: A riot breaks out as the March for Humanity (led by Simon Trask and his Humanity Now! coalition) reaches San Francisco’s mutant population. The confrontation sparks a wave of violence between mutants and humans that spreads throughout the streets of San Francisco and other nearby cities. With chaos reigning, Norman Osborn sends his Avengers in to restore some order by any means necessary. There is also another plan at work, something far more sinister…

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: The best thing about the first chapter of Utopia is its strong ending. It’s genuinely surprising and it brings to mind a number of interesting possibilities. What’s disappointing though, is how long it feels like it takes to get the ending that makes the Utopia one-shot worth reading.

While Matt Fraction does a very nice job of ramping up the tension in San Francisco and establishing a sense of scale to the mutant/ human conflict, too much of Utopia #1 feels like fluff. What Fraction establishes in over thirty pages could have easily been taken care of with less than twenty-five. Now, with that said, just because it’s padding, doesn’t mean it’s bad.

Fraction does a lot of great things with the various characters he is allowed to play with. Fluff or not, there’s no denying how well written Utopia is. The scene between Cyclops and Toad is absolutely fantastic, as is the short Hawkeye/ Bullseye appearance. The page showing how others are reacting to the San Francisco mess is also very effective in a “short, but sweet” way.

What bothers me about Fraction’s story is that it makes Cyclops look rather foolish early on. The March for Humanity had apparently been marching hundreds of miles for quite sometime before reaching San Francisco. I find it hard to believe that a character like Cyclops (or any other “X” leader) would not be on top of things regarding how to deal with Trask’s march. Yeah, I know, that complaint is a bit of a nitpick in the larger scheme of things, but after all the character rehab Cyclops has gone through…

By now you’ve probably noticed that I have yet to mention Utopia’s artwork. There’s a reason for that. You know that phrase “Too many cooks in the kitchen?” Yeah… The artwork in Utopia #1 brings that phrase to mind quite often.

Now I’ll leave the “Top Cow” style stuff for you to decide on (expect subtle scenes to look anything but subtle…poses aplenty). What I will discuss, however, is the fact that the first issue of Utopia has visuals that are, when taken as a whole, quite disappointing. For every great looking scene, there is one that serves as a terrible reminder that the art team is made up of fourteen different people. Simply put, Utopia #1 is wildly inconsistent– visually. At least the whole thing has a cohesive look to it though. It really could have been so much worse considering how many people had a hand in creating the artwork.

Conclusion: The Utopia crossover shows a lot of promise, but it takes a while to understand why. If you can deal with the occasionally rough visuals and the sense that things have been stretched out a bit, you’ll find a lot to like about the Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia one-shot.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny

The Darkness #77 – Review

By Phil Hester (Writer), Michael Broussard (Pencils), Ryan Winn (Inks), and Arif Prianto (Colors)

The Story: Jackie fights the lady with the red ribbon’s guardian and comes to learn the secret of the curse… and of his break with the Darkness.

What’s Good: The battle between Jackie and the sand guardian feels adequately epic thanks to the exciting, dynamic visuals and the dialogue that flows along with the action. In addition, it’s nice to see what (initially) seems like a throwaway battle used as a springboard for getting the series back to doing what it does best. While I don’t want to spoil anything, let’s just say that it’s good to see Phil Hester move the story away from the Sovereign and back towards the Darkness. I wish I could say more about the issue, but the best stuff is saved for the end (in other words, spoiler territory).

What’s Not So Good: While it’s not a huge distraction, Jackie and the lady with the red ribbon are drawn rather inconsistently. Jackie, in particular, looks like a completely different person at times. Having that irregularity throw you when following the character.

Another complaint I have is that some of the dialogue is a bit too heavy-handed and melodramatic. While it fits the story quite well, it’s still a bit silly from time to time.

Conclusion: The Darkness #77 is just solid all around. The visuals look good, the storytelling is pretty compelling, and the ending is sure to please all fans.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny

The Darkness #76 – Review

By Phil Hester (Writer), Michael Broussard (Pencils), Ryan Winn (Inks), and Benny Fuentes (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I bailed on the third volume of The Darkness following the end of the first story arc. And to be honest, I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it was the different art team or perhaps it was the less than engaging previews I had checked out. Whatever the reason, I decided to jump back on board after the series hit number seventy five and celebrated with a one-shot that offered up a pretty compelling glimpse of a possible future for the Top Cow universe.

The Story: While attempting to walk away from the Sovereign’s orders, Jackie Estacado falls under the spell of a beautiful woman with a red ribbon in her hair. Jackie quickly finds out that there’s more to the woman than meets the eye, and he finds out that there is quite a bit he has yet to learn about the legacy of the Darkness. And it could cost him his life.

What’s Good: For an extremely fast read, The Darkness #76 does quite a few things right. The artwork, though not without flaws, is pretty quite striking at times and does a nice job of visually carrying the story forward when there is little dialogue or narration to help out. The woman’s red ribbon is particularly worthy of note because Michael Broussard and his team do a great job of making it stand out in any panel it’s present in. And the effect helps to create a sense of uneasiness about both the woman and the desperation that drives Jackie toward his destination. As for the writing, Phil Hester effectively adds wrinkles to both the mythology of the Darkness and the character of Estacado. While the conflicted anti-hero is something of a cliché (and has been for some time), Estacado manages to remain compelling regardless of the baggage that the characters of his type tend to carry.

What’s Not So Good: While I didn’t feel ripped off, there is no denying how quick the latest issue of The Darkness ended. Whole pages went by without any dialogue, which really accentuated the inconsistent (sometimes silly) visuals. I mean, Jackie Estacado’s face seemed to change repeatedly throughout the book. At times, his particular case of moody angst seems to give him pouty Angelina Jolie lips. As it turns out, the unintentional hilarity really breaks the somber tone Hester and company seem to be going for.

Conclusion: While the wonky artwork proves at times, distracting, it doesn’t hurt the quality of an otherwise enjoyable comic too much. There is something about the fairly simple story and effective use of color that kept me glued to the pages. It definitely could have been better, but nonetheless, I liked it well enough.

Grade: B-

-Kyle Posluszny

The Darkness #6 – Review

By Phil Hester (Writer), Michael Broussard (Pencils), Ryan Winn (Inks), and Sheldon Mitchell (Colors)

The Story: After embracing the Darkness in order to survive being blown to bits, Jackie Estacado faces off against his child, a being borne of nothing but pure Darkness. It is a battle of revenge-fueled rage versus primal, ancient evil as the Empire arc comes to an explosive conclusion.

What’s Good: Pretty much everything. Jackie Estacado continues to be one of the most compelling comic characters around, and this issue of The Darkness is a prime example of why. For a book that focuses almost entirely on the action, this one has a surprising amount of depth. And as far as action is concerned, it doesn’t get much better than this. The epic battle is visually stunning, full of entertaining banter, and it all resolves in a surprisingly clever fashion.

Phil Hester does a fantastic job laying the groundwork necessary to give this battle some emotional impact, and the payoff hits all the right notes. It plays off everything that makes The Darkness such an entertaining series. The main character is at his best, the artwork is better than ever, and the Darkness (both the power and the nature of it) is given a chance to shine.

What’s Not So Good: For as much as I enjoy Phil Hester’s writing, it comes across as a bit melodramatic or pretentious from time to time. His style works to great effect for the most part, but every once in a while a phrase will pop up that elicits a roll of the eyes. It is as if he is trying too hard to add weight to the story.

Conclusion: The Darkness #6 is easily one of the strongest issues of the long-running series. It is sure to please fans and action-junkies alike. Highly recommended in every way.

Grade: A-

-Kyle Posluszny

The Darkness #5 – Capsule Review

By Phil Hester (Writer), Michael Broussard (Pencils), Ryan Winn (Inks), and Sheldon Mitchell (Colors)

I am generally not a fan of shock-value, but the latest issue of the Darkness shows how it can be correctly delivered in service to a compelling story. All things come to a head this month as Jackie and his “team” come face to face with the Darkness born (and Darkness carrying) Elle. Telling anything more about the story would spoil things so let me just say that this one left me shocked, awed, and ready for more. For an action-horror story, things really don’t get a whole lot better than this.

Phil Hester, along with Michael Broussard and his art team continue to completely reinvent an idea that, quite frankly, was getting a bit stale. The new direction for Jackie and the new uses for the Darkness concept elevate a fairly basic storyline into something much more exciting than it has any right to be. If you aren’t reading the Darkness, you should be. (Grade: B+)

-Kyle Posluszny

The Darkness #4 – Review

By Phil Hester (Writer), Michael Broussard (Pencils), Ryan Winn (Inks), and Matt Milla (Colors)

Since the third volume of The Darkness began earlier this year, I have been consistently entertained by Jackie Estacado and his rule over the people of Sierra Munoz thanks to the production of a Darkness spawned drug. Phil Hester has done some nice work crafting a story that feels familiar, yet original. The art team, lead by Michael Broussard, continues to craft some impressive visuals to help tell the story. While not the deepest book on the stands, The Darkness is always a solid, visually impressive, action-packed comic.

With this latest issue, Jackie Estacado finds his link to his Darkness powers fading because a woman he created purely out of the Darkness has been manipulated by a backstabbing scientist to harness it for his own uses. With his powers close to useless, Jackie is shot and falls right into the hands of the very rebels that have been seeking to overthrow his reign. It is in this situation he finds out more about the nature of the Darkness and his sense of revenge kicks in. As he says “My partner f—ed me and when I get f—ed, I f— back.” I’ll levae the rest of the story for you to discover, but needless to say, the stage is set quite nicely. Yes, I know it sounds a bit confusing, but the recap will catch you up if you haven’t been on board since the first issue. This is a good read all around and the ending ratchets up the stakes to a whole new level. If you are fan, or looking for something new, you can’t go wrong with this issue.

Phil Hester’s writing is entertaining as always and he does a great job making Jackie a guy worth rooting for (even though he is far from heroic). The monologues throughout the book, while occasionally a bit over-dramatic, give an interesting glimpse into Jackie’s head and the dialogue. They’re plentiful, while never feeling excessive. The interactions between Jackie and the attractive rebel, Marisol Yanez, have a charm to them and, while it is nothing you haven’t seen before, it adds a bit to both characters. Hester, while occasionally writing some wonky dialogue, always manages to make this book a dark and fun read.

Broussard and the art team, as usual, make The Darkness one of the better looking books on the stands. There are a couple of really impressive scenes in this issue almost worth the cover price, especially a Darkness induced hallucination in which Jackie speaks to a Darkness created wolf-hawk hybrid thing. There are some inconsistencies with faces from time to time and Estacado has some awfully pouty lips in a few scenes, but as a whole I couldn’t be much happier. The colors jump off the page and the use of shadow and darkness creates just the right mood for the book. Broussard’s work may not appeal to you if you aren’t into the Marc Silvestri style, but I think it fits perfectly.

The Darkness scores again with another entertaining issue as Hester and Broussard continue their run on one of the more under appreciated series out there. Give this book a look, you’ll be glad you did. (Grade: B)

-Kyle Posluszny