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: 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: Special Missions #1 – Review

By: Chuck Dixon (writer), Paul Gulacy (pencils), Aburtov & Grafikslava (colors), Shawn Lee (letters)

The Story: Now that most of the Joes are out in the open, someone still has to do the dirty, secret missions.

Review: This issue was a bit of a disappointment.  The sorrow starts with the art.  This just isn’t good enough.  I was really excited when I saw that Paul Gulacy would be drawing this series.  Gulacy isn’t my favorite artist, but there’s no question that he is highly competent; the man has had an almost 40 year history in comic art and has drawn just about everything.  This issue is NOT one of his higher points.  I’m really not sure what happened with the art in this issue.  There are panels here and there that look like classic Gulacy, but there are also a LOT of rough images.  I wonder if IDW just didn’t pay him much and he drew it in a hurry?  I’ve heard rumors about what IDW pays their artists (~$40/page) and it’s really cheap….certainly not something a person could pay the rent with.  I also noted that Gulacy is only credited as a “penciller” and that no inker is credited.  If these are rough pencils (perhaps done in a hurry) where all the “inking” was added via Photoshop contrast adjustments and the spot blacks and shading by the colorists, that would explain a lot of the rough looking faces and inconsistency of the comic.  Ultimately, all these potential excuses don’t matter: Gulacy’s name is listed and the comic costs $3.99.

Dark Horse Presents #1 – Review

By: Paul Chadwick, Howard Chaykin, Jesus Alburto, Ken Bruzenak, Neal Adams, Moose, Carla Speed McNeil, Jenn Manley Lee, Bill Mudron, Michael T. Gilbert, Frank Miller, Richard Corben, Clem Robins, Randy Stadley, Paul Gulacy, Michael Bartolo, Michael Heisler, David Chelsea, John Schork (assistant editor), Scott Allie, Rachel Edidin, Sierra Hahn & Diana Schultz (editors)

The Story: A great name in anthology comics comes back with pretty hot list of creators (see above) tossing a few pages each at the effort.

Anthologies: When I read an anthology, I am looking for something very specific: I just want one electric story that grabs me and makes me want to see more material from that creator NOW.  Other than that, I’m just looking for few nice stories, some nice art, etc.  And, I really don’t care that much if a few of the stories suck.  Just turn the page!  I think you score anthologies based on the high points, rather than the average of all the stories combined.

What’s Good: We have a winner!  In a comic that has a lot of pretty strong efforts from some creators who know a thing or two about creating comics, the best short-story is that of Michael T. Gilbert as he gives us a story of his character, Mr. Monster, fighting with a giant tree-alien calling himself Oooak (get it?).  This story has a very retro vibe both in terms of the language and the art, but it is just zany fun as Mr. Monster tries one thing after another to kill Oooak before he finally resorts to throwing a jar of “Acme Termites” at the bad guy.  This is the awesome sauce that made the whole comic worth buying.

There were a few other nice little stories in here too.  Paul Chadwick contributes a very nice story of his character Concrete.  I don’t even know the last time we got a new Concrete story, but this is some vintage stuff as we get to see the protagonist’s humanity filtered through this character that couldn’t look more different if he tried.  Neal Adams also tosses in a teaser for a new concept he has called Blood.  We get a singular image of the anti-hero Blood, but the rest of the story is recounted via a torture scene as some bad guys sweat the details out of one of Blood’s buddies.  It’s a very original way to lay out a story and Adams is on his A-game with the art too.

I’d absolutely like to see more of those three stories either in future editions of DHP or on their own.

What’s Not So Good: Considering the teaser on the cover for “Frank Miller’s Xerxes!”, it might be nice to have gotten more than 4 splash pages of art/story.  What we see is good, but it was a little disappointing when the name “Frank Miller” was one of the large attractions for the issue.  As if to compensate for the lack of story, we are treated to an interview with Mr. Miller.  I don’t know about you, but I have less than zero interest in reading an interview in my comic book.  For one thing, I pretty much don’t read interviews about upcoming projects; I’ll just look at the work when you get it done, thank you.  For another, in the year 2011, there are a bajillion places to find interviews online without having a few pages of a $7.99 comic devoted to them.

Time Bomb #2 – Advance Review

By: Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray (creators & writers), Paul Gulacy (art), Rain Beredo (colors) & John J. Hill (letters)

The Story: A group of four secret agents is sent from the future into the past to stop the construction of a weapon that will kill the human race.

What’s Good: I loved issue #1 of this series and the story in this issue switches from the sci-fi elements (secret Nazi weapons and time travel) to a good old fashioned WWII espionage story as our group of four agents (I guess that’s what I’d call them) end up getting sent back to the latter parts of WWII to stop the creation of the Omega Weapon (that kills humanity in 2012).  I was impressed at how easily Palmiotti and Gray shifted from a pure sci-fi story in issue #1 to a more Inglorious Basterds story for issue #2 where our small group of 4 is isolated and without backup while on their secret mission.  If you liked Inglorious Basterds or recent comics like 7 Psychopaths, you’ll probably get a kick out of this issue.  There is lots of Nazi killing.

As a middle arc, this issue also has a purpose: to get all the pieces in place for the finale.  And it does that very well.  I am very eager to see how this plays out in the finale because our heroes have left quite a wake of dead bodies and I’m sure all that screwing with the timeline will have some repercussions in the “present” and we also have the issue of the scientist who created the Time Bomb being missing in the past.  I’m sure he has to turn up somewhere and that should be fun.

Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu Black & White One Shot – Review

By Jonathan Hickman (writer), Kody Chamberlin (artist), Mike Benson (writer), Tomm Coker & C.P. Smith (artists), Charlie Huston (writer), Enrique Romero (artist), Robin Furth (writer), Paul Gulacy (artist)

The Story: The good ol’ days of Marvel’s mighty, black and white grindhouse megazines are given a loving homage in this anthology starring the Master of Kung-Fu.

The Good: Being a shameless fan of grindhouse, kung-fu, and nostalgia, I found it hard not to enjoy this comic.  The design of everything from the expertly lettered cover, black and white pages, and hilarious faux advertisement on the back cover were all wonderful choices that really gave this the look and feel of those oversized magazines Marvel used to publish in the 70s. It’s also very refreshing to come across a comic that is so shamelessly committed to having a good time. Of the four stories comprising this retro-themed anthology, Hickman’s story “The Annual Race to Benefit Various And Sundry Evil Organizations And Also The Homeless. Now With Beer And Hot Dogs” (and yes, I swear to God that is the name of the story) is by far the most ridiculously entertaining one.  Granted, Shang-Chi plays second fiddle to none other than Deadpool, but what the hell, when Hickman includes a fully functional gameboard within his plot I’m willing to overlook paltry details like the absence of the main freaking character.  The other stories here were much more conventional, but every bit as satisfying.  Of those, I thought the story by Huston and Romero best captured the look and feel of the old Gulacy Shang-Chi stories, and the prose story by Furth and Gulacy was an unexpected delight.  This was a vastly different book than anything Marvel’s currently doing, and I was very pleased with the finished product.

The Not So Good: Although I quite enjoyed the retro design of this book, I can’t say that it’s going to appeal to everyone.  This comic utterly lacks the melodrama, spandex, and face-punching antics of the typical superhero comic, and that alone is bound to drive away tons of readers.  Benson’s story was an admirable effort, but didn’t quite resonate with me in the way I wanted it to.  The use of Chinese(?) characters in the dialogue balloons become quickly tiresome, and for me anyway didn’t add anything to the overall reading experience.  However, that being said, if Marvel should ever choose to do more Shang-Chi stories, I hope they’ll bring Tomm Coker on board, as his gritty, Sienkiewicz-styled art perfectly complimented this kind of story.

Conclusion: I was honestly surprised with how much I liked this book, and would love to see Marvel use this format more often to dust off some of their forgotten heroes.  Can’t go wrong with 48 pages of kung-fu goodness.

Grade:  B

-Tony Rakittke

True Believers #5 – Review

By Carey Bates (Writer), Paul Gulacy (Pencils & Inks), and Rain Beredo (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: If the True Believers mini-series is testing the waters for a new ongoing title, then so far it has done a pretty good job of selling the team. The odd characters are unique, the artwork is impressive, and the twisting storyline has been quite engaging. Here’s to hoping that the fifth chapter can wrap up the various plot threads well enough to bring everything to a satisfying conclusion.

The Story: The true nature of the S.H.I.E.L.D. project known as “Anathema” is revealed as the True Believers try to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of Max Trent. With all leads pointing to S.H.I.E.L.D. commander Mariah Hill, the team kidnaps her for information. Obviously, Tony Stark is none too happy about that!

What’s Good: For all the twists featured throughout the mini-series, True Believers #5 manages to bring everything together for a satisfying conclusion. And since the “Anathema” project proves to be much more interesting than I had originally thought, the True Believers successfully manage to leave a mark on the Marvel Universe. I sincerely hope the characters are used again sometime in the future, as the successes of the mini-series proves they have the potential to carve out a nice little niche for themselves.

What’s Not So Good: Despite the fact that the story finishes in a satisfying manner, I couldn’t help but be annoyed by the large amount of exposition used to iron out the plot. There is a LOT of dialogue in the book and almost all of it is used to explain one thing or another. In other words, it feels like the story relies on an information dump instead of a natural path to get to the conclusion. Another thing worth noting is how out of date the story feels when all is finally revealed. Had the series come out awhile back, I believe it would have had a much greater impact on the overall scheme of things.

Conclusion: Satisfying, yet still disappointing, True Believers #5 ultimately leaves me confused concerning the editorial decisions regarding the release of the mini-series as a whole.

Grade: C

-Kyle Posluszny

True Believers #4 – Review

By Cary Bates (Writer), Paul Gulacy (Pencils and Inks), and Rain Beredo (Colors)

The Story: Payback lies unconscious after being caught in an explosion, so the rest of the True Believers spring into action. As Battalus and Red Zone pick up on the trail of a bio-weapon that Payback’s father had been working on, Payback remembers the events that made her choose the two men on her team.

What’s Good? True Believers succeeds because it feels truly unique when compared to all the other Marvel books out there. It has a compelling cast, appropriately moody artwork, and an edgy and surprise-filled storyline that simply couldn’t be used with any of the more established characters within the Marvel universe. Also, the stories about how Battalus and Red Zone joined the True Believers are almost worth the price of admission alone. They are quite entertaining and darkly humorous.

What’s Not So Good? With only one chapter left to go in this limited series, I have a feeling the conclusion may wind up being less than satisfying. There are many pieces of the puzzle that still need to fall in place and it is hard to tell whether all the threads will end up coming together well. Also worth mentioning is that the twist-filled plot leads me to believe this story will be a bit more satisfying when read as a trade.

Conclusion: I recommend this one for those looking for something a bit different from a Marvel book. That said, be sure to track down the previous three issues before checking out chapter four. The story is a bit dense and needs to be read from the start.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

True Believers #1 – Review

By Cary Bates (Writer), Paul Gulacy (Artist), and Rain Beredo (Colorist)

Mr. Gulacy, you’ve been drawing comics for three decades now, and it’s time you learned something every other artist learns in high school: the eyes are in the middle of the head. The middle! Not two-thirds or three-quarters of the way up. I know you’re one of the classic old-school artists, Paul, but I swear sometimes the people you draw look like microcephalic mutants.

Sorry. I just had to get that off my chest.

Anyway, True Believers is a new super-team miniseries from Marvel. The team consists of Payback (personal forcefield and energy projection), Battalus (Iron  Man/Boba Fett ripoff), Headtrip (an empath of some sort), and Red Zone (whose superpower, apparently, is to appear in only a single panel this issue). Now, the last thing the universe needs at this point is another superhero team. The “hook” of the True Believers is that in addition to being vigilantes, they are also bloggers, dedicated to exposing hypocrisy and corporate corruption.

Honestly. That’s the big hook. And the contents of the book aren’t much better. In the first half, the Believers break up a doped-up, bikini-clad sex slave mud wrestling operation. Honestly. All that, and yet somehow Bates and Gulacy manage to make it neither sexy nor funny. The second half of the book is mostly exposition about the members of the team, which may or may not be reliable, since the SHIELD agent making the report is Payback herself, in her secret identity.

I would write off True Believers completely, except for the last two pages, in which Payback reveals the next hypocrite she intends to expose. This last scene is as fresh and unexpected as the rest of the book is derivative and uninspired. It’s a bit of a spoiler to reveal, but I figure this is the whole reason anyone will buy the book: the last page is a single panel featuring what appears to be a mug shot of Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, being booked for a DUI.

I’ve got to hear the story behind that one. (Grade: C)

– Andrew C. Murphy