X-Files: Season 10 #6 – Review

By: Joe Harris (writer), Elena Casagrande & Silvia Califano (art), Arianna Florean with Valentina Cuomo (colors) and Neil Uyetake & Tom B. Long (letters)

The Story: Return of Flukeman.

The Review (with SPOILERS): This was a new story arc for The X-Files, Season 10 and it represents a big test to see how well the series can maintain fan interest with a non-mythology storyline.  If you were a fan of the X-Files TV program, you remember that the stories fell into two categories.  The program was best known for it’s continuing government conspiracy/alien invasion story, but – since it was the 1990s – they still had to make ~25 episodes for a full season.  So, Agents Mulder and Scully were just as often investigating other forms of weirdness as they were dealing with the Cigarette Smoking Man and getting information from The Lone Gunmen.  These standalone episodes are usually referred to as “Monster of the Week”.

The ironic thing about the TV program is that the alien mythology story eventually fell apart like wet toilet paper at the end of the show’s run.  So, the story for which the show was best known ended up being the least rewatchable; it was fun while the story was ongoing, but the final resolution wasn’t all that satisfying.  For you younger folks, the best comparison would be Lost.

GI Joe #6 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (writer), Jamal Igle (pencils), Juan Castro (inks), Joana LaFuente (colors) and Neil Uyetake (letters)

The Story: Cover Girl’s past is revealed as she learns more about her kinda-boyfriend, Duke.

Review (with little SPOILERS): Wow….what a difference competent art makes!  The art has been very unsteady since the main GI Joe title renumbered a few months ago with Fred Van Lente as the writer.  It’s hard to really appreciate “the story” when you’re noticing funny looking panels and weirdly distorted faces.  But, replace the former art team with someone like Jamal Igle and you get the best issue of the series so far.  IDW really needs to decide on a direction for these Joe titles artistically because the books will never be more than mediocre until their hire seriously skilled artists (like Igle).

What’s great is that there isn’t anything flashy about Igle’s art.  He’s just pumping along and illustrating the story so that people can understand what is going on.  Perhaps more importantly, he isn’t making any glaring mistakes that pull us out of the story.  I sometimes think that being an artist is more about the mistakes you avoid than the spectacular pages you generate…and since the spectacular pages you generate depend on external factors (like the flow of the story, what characters are involved, etc.) it is much easier to just avoid the mistakes.  It’s kinda like being a goalkeeper in soccer: You have full control over avoiding the moronic mistakes, but you depend on other circumstances to be in position to make the spectacular saves.

GI Joe: Special Missions #4 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Paul Gulacy (art), Aburtov & Grafikslava and Romulo Fajardo, Jr. (colors) and Neil Uyetake (letters)

The Story: Crush Depth concludes….will anyone get to take the sunken Cobra money?

Review: This is not good.  As I was reading this comic, I tried to think of reasons could be so poor.  But, rather than dive into excuse-making for creators, let’s talk about why this issue (and series so far) have been a total waste.

The story is highly-problematic.  Whereas the main GI Joe title and Cobra Files are doing some very subtle, intricate storytelling that appears to be heading somewhere, this “Crush Depth” story has gone nowhere–literally.  In issue one, we learned about how Baroness had a plan to reclaim some money that was on a sunken Cobra ship.  Scarlet and her special team of Joes set off to interdict her and “tag” the money so they could monitor Cobra’s activites.  We’ve had some danger and fighting along the way, but the end result is that the money was sunk back to the bottom of the ocean.

GI Joe: Cobra Files #2 – Review

By: Mike Costa (writer), Antonio Fuso (pencils), Emilio Lecce (inks), Arianna Florean (colors) & Neil Uyetake (letters)

The Story: GI Joe interrogates the former Cobra Commander’s son.

Review: Even if this issue was a couple weeks late, it is still showing why Cobra Files is the best of the GI Joe titles.  What really sets Cobra Files apart is that it isn’t trying to thrive on fan-service.  All the other Joe comics have some amount of characters referencing the past or or gadgetry having to look like 1980s toys or overt sexiness of the characters, but not Cobra Files.  If the creators wanted to, they could totally go down that path.  I mean, they have Lady Jaye on the team and we know from past GI Joe comic experiences that Lady Jaye can be drawn with an enormous, heaving bosoms–but not here.  In fact, in Cobra Files you can’t really even tell that Lady Jaye has bosoms; she’s just another soldier with her own particular expertise.

GI Joe: Special Missions #3 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Paul Gulacy (art), Aburtov & Grafikslava (colors) and Neil Uyetake (letters)

The Story: Scarlet tries to thwart a Cobra salvage operation.

Review: This is a pretty mediocre comic.  If you’re a big-time GI Joe fan and just want to keep connected to the storyline, I guess this will do, but it’s hard to imagine this issue winning anyone over to the cause of GI Joe comics.

The story is pretty mundane and routine: Cobra is trying to salvage a bunch of money from the wreck of one of their ships; Scarlet and a team of Joes is trying to stop them.  Most of the actual fighting happened last issue and this issue treats us to little more than Scarlet watching Cobra escape.  The storytelling choices in this issue leave a lot to be desired.  For example, at one point in the issue Scarlet and Mainframe have a mini-cliffhanger of “We’re not alone in this water filled room…”  Turn the page and they get attacked by a shark–and that’s kinda cool.  Who doesn’t enjoy a shark-attack?

GI Joe #1 – Review

By: Fred Van Lente (writer), Steve Kurth (pencils), Allen Martinez (inks), Joana Lafuente (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters) and John Barber (editor)

The Story: The Joes are no longer a secret organization, but they still have to fight Cobra.

A Few Things: 1). A fresh start. – I really want GI Joe comics to be good.  I’m the perfect age to know that everyone likes Star Wars, but the cool kids were into GI Joe and Transformers and their triumvirate of toys/cartoons/comics.  Unfortunately, the modern day GI Joe comics haven’t been all that awesome.  They usually have a decent story, but suffer from a $3.99 price tag, overly long story arcs, crossovers and some really mediocre art.

But, there’s always reason for optimism when GI Joe restarts.  That’s especially true when they bring in a new writer like Fred Van Lente.  Unlike the previous writer (Chuck Dixon), I know that Van Lente isn’t up to his armpits in military knowledge.  But, Van Lente is a very good writer and is willing to do his research (see Action Philosophers and Comic Book Comics).  IDW also brought in Steve Kurth to do pencils.  While Kurth isn’t at the top of my art list, he’s better than a lot of the folks IDW has hired for Joe books recently.  Optimism reigns supreme!

Cobra #10 – Review

By: Mike Costa (writer), Alex Cal (breakdowns), Beni Lobel (finishes), J. Brown (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters), Carlos Guzman (assistant editor) & John Barber (editor)

The Story: As the new Cobra Commander takes over a SE Asian nation, his lieutenants begin to scheme against him.

A Few Things: 

1. The Cobra characters are so much more interesting. – Honestly, I’d rather this comic didn’t show what the Joes are doing… ever.  Let me summarize what the Joes are doing in case anyone wants to skip it: “We have to stop Cobra.”  We need a little pre-emptive strike action from the Joes, otherwise they’re just reactionary.  On the flip side, the Cobra main characters all ooze charisma.  Each is unique and has his/her own strengths, flaws and goals.  They’re so much more three-dimensional than the Joes.  Maybe villains are just more interesting than heroes?  Maybe Mike Costa is a better writer?  Am I the only one who sees this?

2. Scheming is good! – Well…you didn’t really think that all the main Cobra guys would just say, “Cool!  We have a new commander.  Let’s blindly follow him!”  So, it isn’t a huge surprise that everyone is scheming against Krake.  Here we’ve got all kinds of weird little alliances forming among the Cobra lieutenants and that’s cool because you know that those alliances won’t last a second longer than necessary.  Plus, the scheming gets Baroness into the action (in a towel no less) and that’s always positive.  And….it won’t surprise anyone if Krake has been a step ahead of his minions all along.

3. What’s in the briefcase? -I got a huge Pulp Fiction/briefcase vibe as we saw the Cobras geeking out over whatever image Major Bludd has on his iPad.  Tomax especially had a great look.  What could Krake have done on a hidden camera that is so horrible that he might lose his leadership position?  Is it an old YouTube video he made when he was 15 where he professed his deep love for Snake Eyes?

Snake Eyes #10 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Alex Cal (breakdowns), Beni Lobel (finishes), J. Brown (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters), Carlos Guzman (assistant editor) and John Barber (editor)

The Story: As Cobra is taking over the small country, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow are going to have some business together.

Review: I honestly wasn’t planning to review this issue.  Last week I reviewed GI Joe #10 and was a little hard on the art by Axel Cal.  I knew that he was also doing the art on this issue and since here at WCBR we “sign up” for comics to review early in the week, I didn’t want to review something that I knew probably would be negative on.  See…..I’m not a total creep. 🙂

But, you know what, this issue was a lot better and I felt that Alex deserved a bit of a pat on the back after I was hard on him last week.  There are some artistic changes on this issue….  Namely, Cal has an inker on this issue.  But, the effect is that suddenly this comic is perfectly fine from an art standpoint.  It isn’t a comic that I want to be buried with me (or anything like that), but this will do just fine.  I can see the action now!  That is such a huge thing in a comic like Snake Eyes… I want to be able to tell how characters get into the positions they are in and how they threw that punch or kick.

It’s also worth mentioning that GI Joe comics are hard to draw.  For one thing, you’ve got to get all of the equipment correct.  Not only does that mean drawing accurate firearms which most comic artists barely bother with, but you also have to get all the GI Joe toys correct and make them look real.    That’s not easy.  Even the characters look like a pain in the butt to draw: Snake Eyes has that funky visor with six lines (and fanboys will complain if there are 5 lines), and pouches and kneepads.  These characters are harder to draw than typical superheroes which are mostly nudes with costumes colored onto them.

Cobra #9 – Review

By: Mike Costa (writer), Alex Cal (artist), J. Brown (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters), Carlos Guzman (assistant editor) & John Barber (editor)

The Story: Cobra has taken over a SE Asian country.  The Joes want to stop them and the new Cobra Commander’s lieutenants are fighting amongst themselves.

Three Things:

1. The story is really kinda rocking. – There’s a LOT to enjoy about the “story” aspect of this comic and the overall Cobra Command story-arc.  For one thing, we readers don’t know what to expect at all.  That is so rare in comics.  Not only is IDW’s GI Joe universe pretty new (~40 issues) since they completely rebooted it a few years ago, but to say that the naming of a new Cobra Commander ushered in a new status quo would be a huge understatement.  In comics, “classic” villains become less frightful the better we get to know them.  Sure, some writers are still able to pull a rabbit out of the hat and make Joker scary, but having a villain who is still 90% unknown is WAY more effective.  I love that we have no real idea what the new Cobra Commander is up to; he clearly has a plan, but he isn’t sharing it with us yet.  And, all the other classic Cobras like Baroness, Destro, Major Bludd, etc. are new enough that we don’t really know what to expect from them either.

2. Shame about the art. – I’ve been mostly complementary about the job that Alex Cal has done of the last few GI Joe issues he’s drawn, but this was a big step back.  Large chunks of the comic are still solidly “competent”, but there are a few other places where the sequential storytelling just falls apart.  Basically, if the panel consists of a head or a person talking, the art is fine.  But if there is action, there are problems.  One arises during a big Snake Eyes and Agent Helix fight where I couldn’t tell what the hell happened because a few panels were unclear.  IDW has been putting some inexperienced artists on these Joe titles and I think they’d be better served by going back to a 8-panel grid as the basic storytelling tool.  Gotta walk before you can run!

Snake Eyes #9 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Alex Cal (artist), J. Brown (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters), Carlos Guzman (assistant editor) & John Barber (editor)

The Story: Cobra has taken command of a piss-ant country.  Snake Eyes & his team go in to cause them trouble.

Four Things: 

1. Pretty simple & linear story. – This is kind of a weird issue.  The main thrust is about Snake Eyes taking out a bunch of Cobras.  His team is there with him, but he does the killing himself.  And, there’s nothing wrong with that.  The action scenes have some imagination to them and are pretty well-drawn, so if you like watching a cool ninja dude who is equally adept with guns as he is with swords, then you’ll have fun with this.  But, there isn’t a lot of meat on the bone.

2. Just barely tied into Cobra Command crossover. – This Snake Eyes series is so close to being a stand-alone.  Ya know, read GI Joe and Cobra for the “main” story, but the real Joe fanatics will want to read Snake Eyes too just to see him killing things on the periphery of the “main” story.  But, there are just enough little niblets of the “main” story in here that you’d be ill-served to miss this issue and just read the other two GI Joe series.  That’s really a mixed bag for me because most people will get sick of seeing Snake Eyes stabbing stuff and it’d be nice for that to be optional.  But, if IDW is going to include this as a numbered part of the Cobra Command Crossover (it is Part 2), then it better tie into the main story (and it does).  OR give Snake Eyes a more important mission than killing random Cobras!

Snake-Eyes #8 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Casey Maloney (pencils), Juan Castro & Chris Dreier (inks), Simon Gough & Romulo Fajardo, Jr. (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters) & Carlos Guzman & John Barber (editors)

The Story: Snake-Eyes and Duke try to find a cure for a Cobra engineered bioweapon.

Four Things:

1. Generally been enjoying GI Joe comics recently. – I don’t know how this happened.  I read some of the old Marvel GI Joe series when I was a kid and had enjoyed the GI Joe/Cobra series from IDW featuring Chuckles as a spy within Cobra.  But, something clicked in me that I needed to read this Cobra Civil War series a few weeks ago and via the beauty of digital comics I was able to mainline the whole story in a week or so.  And, it’s a really good and strong story.  There’s one big caveat with the books that I’ll get into below, but the storyline behind the GI Joe books is pretty hot.

2. Snake Eyes busting the place up. – This story is pretty basic: Cobra has released a bioweapon and Duke has also been infected.  So, Snake Eyes and Duke go charging into the Cobra lab facility to find the cure.  Duke has some kind of armored hazmat suit that’s kinda cool.  And they fight all kinds of Cobra troops with Snake Eyes being all bad ass, and that’ definitely cool.  There really isn’t a whole lot of subtlety to a comic like this and there are plot holes galore (what happens to the Vipers if they shoot Duke’s suit and the virus spills out?), but it is exciting to read.  Duke is in really bad shape and IDW has demonstrated that they’re not afraid of death.  A LOT of GI Joe’s have been killed recently and a few “named” Cobra guys too.  So, this issue isn’t something you can read thinking, “Oh sure…..Duke will be fine in the end because it can’t end any other way.”  That threat of DEATH adds some weight to these scenes of Snake Eyes fighting all these Hasbro-toy-line inspired Cobra bad guys.

That Hellbound Train #1 – Review

By: Robert Bloch (original story), Joe R. Lansdale & John L. Lansdale (comic adaptation), Dave Wachter (art), Alfredo Rodriguez (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters) & Bobby Curnow (edits)

The Story: A young orphan makes an Faustian bargain.

What’s Good: The art is great!  In fact, it was the promise of sequential art from Dave Wachter that caused me to buy the comic since I generally don’t read many comic adaptations or licensed properties.  If you aren’t familiar with Wachter’s art, you should really check out The Guns of Shadow Valley web comic.  For those unfamiliar with Wachter’s style, his style reminds me of a looser Bernie Wrightson (at least to my untrained eye) and I love artists who use brushes because I think the art (generally) looks more alive.  Wachter’s story telling aspect of the art is very spot on, each scene opens with great establishing panels.  Those establishing panels are so important because they’re what make it clear that a the boy and his father are walking in a trainyard at night and not in some other random location.  Another thing helping this issue is that the color art is also very well done and is in a quasi-flat style that works with Wachter’s inking and there are none of those offensive highlights that you find in mainstream superhero comics.

Doc Macabre #2 – Review

By: Steve Niles (writer), Bernie Wrightson (art), Tom Smith (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters) & Tom Waltz (editor)

The Story: Young Doc Macabre ties to deal with a ghostly uprising.

What’s Good: Lookie who the artist is: Bernie Wrightson.  He is legitimately one of the real masters of the comic art form to come along in the last 50 years.  If you haven’t heard of him, take a second on Google Images and then come back to this review.

So, if the name “Wrightson” is enough to make me instantly grab a book off the shelf, is there a story in here good enough to justify having an artist of his caliber around?  It turns out there is.  Steve Niles has written a fun story where a precociously gifted young man with an angelic face has chosen to turn his talents into being a kind of Ghostbuster.  He invents all sorts of weird things and then hires himself out to take care of ghosts and zombies.  Only he is really inexperienced and seems to still have some of that teenage immortality that causes him to get in a little over his heard at times.  It has some horror themes, but isn’t a scary or gory tale.

But, I think a lot of this writing is Niles, lobbing meatballs for Wrightson to smash out of the park: “Here, draw a NAKED GHOST!  And then draw Doc Macabre in a funky science suit!”

Returning to the art, one of the reasons I like to review comics is to share the things that I love with other people and I love Mr. Wrightson’s art.  His storytelling and sense of how to frame a scene are just impeccable.  He has a glorious sense of how to shade objects to convey contours or shininess.  And the detail… Absolutely awesome. While his panel-to-panel work is really something, there are a few splash images in here (such as one that shows the Doc messing with a new invention) that’ll just knock your socks off.  It is just so nice to see an artist submitting finished linework for the colorist to work with because a lot of modern artists leave a lot of the heavily lifting in terms of contours and shading.

Kill Shakespeare #2 – Review

By Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art), Ian Herring (colors) and Neil Uyetake (letters)

The Story: Richard fights to keep control of Macbeth’s forces while Hamlet uses his newfound powers as the Shadow King of prophesy to lead Richard’s army closer to Shakespeare. Although they encounter some unexpected opposition, Hamlet manages to escape and continue his mission led by his new confidante and best friend: the honest, honest Iago.

What’s Good: I’m going to let you in on a little secret. You know how comic book geeks (myself naturally included) can talk for hours about “who would win in a fight?” Well, Shakespeare geeks (myself included again) do much the same thing; I remember one particular instance in which an upper division literature class I was a part of nearly came to blows over the issue of whether Richard III or Iago from Othello was the greatest villain/manipulator. (Iago is the correct answer, for those keeping score at home.) I say this so you understand that I’m in a doubly unique position to love and appreciate this book: both as a comic book fan who loves a great story, and as a Shakespeare fan for whom this concept is the literary equivalent of watching the Avengers come together for the first time. In other words, this book was almost literally made for me.

You’ll recall that I gave issue #1 a less than glowing review, and expressed some reservations about the quality of the writing. Thankfully, nearly all of the problems that seemed to be present in the first issue are absent from this one; the characters and their motivations are much more clear, the plot is more focused, and the action (and blood) has much more narrative weight. Also, in addition to simply being better characterized as a whole, these characters feel much more like the ones Shakespeare wrote than they did in the first issue. This is very gratifying to see, and makes the whole book much more enjoyable. After all, what good is it to tell a story about Shakespeare’s characters run amok if they don’t act at least a little bit like the characters they’re supposed to be?

Ghostbusters: The Other Side #2 – Review

By Keith Champagne (writer), Tom Nguyen (pencils), Drew Geraci (inks), Moose Baumann (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters), Nick Runge (cover)

The Story: After their death, the Ghostbusters, like all good people, expected to go to Heaven. Unfortunately for them, the Ghost Mafia had different plans, and following their murder the boys ended up in Purgatory. The Mob also picked who stays and who crosses over, so Peter, Ray, Egon and Winston better get comfortable. Further complicating things, the Mob put a hit out on our heroes. Things have never looked worse for the GB’s. Unless they can escape purgatory, it’s gonna be one LONG eternity.

What’s Good: Ray’s enthusiasm. Like in the movies, his enthusiasm walks that line of endearing and annoying. Granted, being so excited for being in purgatory seems like a bit much, but I see where he’s coming from scientifically.

What’s Not So Good: As interesting as the plot is, it’s missing that little something extra to make it Ghostbusters. Honestly, things have gotten so bad so quickly it’s hard to see any way out. Yes, you’re supposed to stack the odds against your protagonists, but not so much so where a plausible solution seems out of reach. How will they escape purgatory and re-animate their bullet-riddled bodies? More importantly, how will they do it and not instantly die again because of the aforementioned bullet-holes? Given the universe the story takes place in, it’s possible to accomplish all that, but I’m not holding my breath.

Conclusion: While it remains an interesting read, The Other Side does little to argue that it’s just using the license. There’s nothing that really adds to the Ghostbusters story. There are many departures from the source material and none of them are for the better. And while no particular fault stands out enough to make the book “suck,” we as Ghostbusters fans should want, and deserve better.

Grade: C

-Ben Berger

The Transformers: All Hail Megatron #1 – Review

By: Shane McCarthy (writer), Guido Guidi (art), Kris Carter (colors), Neil Uyetake, Chris Mowry (letters), Klaus Scherwinski, Trevor Hutchison (covers)

I’ll say it again; IDW’s run on Transformers has been hit or miss. All Hail Megatron has a lot of potential to be a hit, and if the creative team can keep it up through issue #2, I’ll be more convinced. The basic setup is that Megatron is running the show on Earth. There are no Autobots, and we of course aren’t equipped to fight off The Decepticons. How these events play out will be key as to whether or not the series is successful (in my mind).

One of the things I like best about the comic is Megatron, himself. Megatron is a bad dude, and we get to see this a number of ways. We see him take out a skyscraper with one shot of his arm cannon, we see his followers terrified of failing him, and we see him sweep away Earth’s defenses with an insane amount of ease. Shane McCarthy does a great job of setting up the next several issues with minimal dialogue. The reason for The Autobots absence is hinted at, but not totally explained which is a good choice for issue one. I’m also thankful that we don’t get a lengthy tear-filled monologue as to why Prime is down. It’s a powerful moment that resonates better without any potentially cheesy dialogue.

Not since Pat Lee and Brad Mick have The Transformers looked so detailed in their G1 forms. Guido Guidi does an excellent job of showing the devastation the ‘Cons unleash while making everyone stand out from the wreckage. Megatron walking through the fire while laughing is my favorite shot, very Terminator-esque, very cool. I love the various covers to the comic as well. Trevor Hutchison’s feel like political propaganda posters, though I hope the story doesn’t go that route. Klaus Scherwinski’s covers have more of menace to them, especially the one with Megatron holding Prime’s head. The different covers peak my interest for different reasons and all are strong in presentation.

All Hail Megatron #1 is an excellent pilot and does everything a good first issue should. It sets up the world quickly and efficiently while leaving you wanting more. How does Megatron seize complete control of the planet? How did he take out Prime? Why haven’t The Autobots attempted to save us? I want to know, and if you read this comic, so will you. (Grade: B)

– Ben Berger