X-Files Season 10 #8 – Review

By: Joe Harris (writer), Michael Walsh (art), Jordie Bellaire (colors), Robbin Robbins (letters)

The Story: An old source of Mulder’s reappears to point him toward a new conspiracy.

Review (with SPOILERS): This issue sings because of the return of Michael Walsh to art duties.  When Walsh is doing the art, The X-Files, Season 10 reminds me of a good high school reunion: all the people that you wanted to see are there, none of the bad people and everyone kind acts and looks the way you expect them too.  This whole series is nothing but a nostalgia trip for people who enjoyed the TV series, so it means everything that Walsh is so expertly able to peg the characters.

Much of this issue is about Mulder’s second informant on the TV series: X.  I’ll save you the wikipedia and remind you that Mulder’s original source (Deep Throat) was murdered at the end of Season 1.  In Season 2, we met the mysterious X who gave Mulder a lot of tips over his time on the series, but never seemed quite as friendly as Deep Throat.  Perhaps it was just that Deep Throat had an avuncular air to him??  Regardless, X was a minor character on the X-Files from 1994-1997….and that was a long, long time ago.  But, when you first see X in this issue, you brain goes, “Oh yeah…..it’s that guy from 21 Jump Street who also played Fox Mulder’s informant on the X-Files.”  Walsh’s depiction is so perfect.

X-Files Season 10 #4 – Review

By: Joe Harris & Chris Carter (story), Joe Harris (writer), Michael Walsh (art), Jordie Bellaire (colors) and Robbie Robbins (letters)

The Story: Mulder finally tracks down a kidnapped Scully.

Review (with minor SPOILERS): This series has still got it’s mojo.  What I loved so much about the first issue was how it felt like a natural continuation of the TV series.  Not only did the story kinda make sense as the next phase for these characters, but I actually heard the actors’ voices in my head as a I read the comic.

That “hearing the actors’ voices” thing continues strongly in this issue.  Right from the opening scene, we see Mulder and Scully running around, calling out each other’s names: “SCULLY!” and “Mulder–?”  I mean, how many times did we hear THAT during the course of the series?  Even the way the dialog is written enhances the feeling of nostalgia.  Mulder was always just yelling, “SCULLY!”….there was never anything questioning when he did it.  Scully, on the other hand, always sounded a little unsure when she called out, “Mulder–?”  It’s so smart for the comic to smack us in the face with that heavy dose of nostalgia in the opening pages because it almost calibrates our brains to believe that this IS the X-Files…..not some licensed property…..but the REAL X-Files.  So, afterwards, all of the character’s dialog sounds just like you have the actual actors reading the comic to you.  I love it.

The X-Files #1 – Review

By: Joe Harris & Chris Carter (story), Harris (script), Michael Walsh (art), Jordie Bellaire (colors) and Robbie Robbins (letters)

The Story: Mulder and Scully are back to investigate weird things.

Review: This issue was a really pleasant surprise.  The saying, “You can’t go home again” is often true.  Anyone who has ever rewatched a beloved old TV series or reread some old comics knows this feeling.  Our enjoyment of stories can be very linked to a time and place in our lives, making it hard to go back.

I was a huge X-Files fan.  It was a series that ran during a pivotal time in my life.  The first season ran during my senior year of college (and had nothing but time on my hands) and the finale ran after I’d finished graduate school, gotten married and secured respectable employment (when I had to pick and choose my TV watching).  My wife-to-be learned very early on that Sunday evenings were not to be trifled with.

Hollows #1 – Review

By: Chris Ryall (writer), Sam Kieth (art) & Robbie Robbins (letters)

The Story: A post-apocalyptic world illustrated by Sam Kieth!

Quick review: I guess the story for this series is an interesting twist on the post-apocalyptic genre, but the real attraction is the Sam Kieth art.  There’s simply nobody else who illustrates a comic quite like Kieth.  Heck, you don’t even see many artists trying to ape his style.  The world is full of mediocre Jim Lee-clones (DC?) and more than a few bad Alex Ross clones, but nobody is trying to do what Kieth does.  Weird.  Not being an artist myself, I can only assume that Kieth defies copying for some reason.

GI Joe #11 – Review

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

The Story: As the Cobra Command crossover comes to a close, Cobra has just about cleared out the country of Nanzhao.

A Few Things: 

1. Entertaining ideas, but… – This has been an entertaining and creative storyline, but it’s just too damn long.  I really don’t understand this fixation that publishers/writers/editors have on making stories longer.  When Cobra Command finishes, it’ll be NINE issues long.  I don’t see any good reason this couldn’t be 6 issues and still have accomplished the same things.  Let’s move onto what is next!  I guess when it comes down to it, I like the ideas presented in this story (and issue), but the execution is lacking a little bit.  Lots of the scenes are too long by a few panels.  As an example, there surely there was some drama in Scarlet’s decision to shoot down a nuclear armed Cobra drone, but that decision shouldn’t take a full two pages.  Comics aren’t supposed to read like a novel.  Keep it snappy!

2. Cobra will be in an interesting place when this is over. – I’ve really enjoyed IDW’s view of Cobra as it emerges from the shadows.  When this arc ends, they’ll have basically destroyed a sovereign country just to remove a competitor in the global drug trade.  Scary huh?  When you get down to it, this was all a big battle between two rival drug gangs; just like Marlo versus the Barksdales in The Wire…except that Cobra has nuclear weapons.

Mystery Society #5 – Review

by: Steve Niles (writer), Fiona Staples (art & colors), Robbie Robbins (letters) & Bob Schreck (editor)

The Story: The Mystery Society clears Nick Mystery’s name and retrieves Edgar Allen Poe’s skull.
What’s Good: Really good final issue and really good ending to a fun series.  I would really encourage everyone to give this comic a try if you like something that has a bit of a BPRD or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vibe, but is completely continuity free.  In this final issue, the gang’s leader (Nick Mystery – billionaire scoundrel with a good heart) has been imprisoned by US Army and it is up to the rest of the gang, now the they’re procured Edgar Allen Poe’s skull, to save him.  The gang is made up of Anastasia (Nick’s wife), Secret Skull (a real life ghoul), Jules Verne’s brain (controlling a humanoid battle suit of sorts) and the Atomic Twins (two ~10 year old girls with teleportation abilities). Everything in the series is just a bit whacky (but never silly) way and in the end, they save Nick, triumph over the Pugsley-esq villain and get to use Mr. Poe’s skull for a neat ceremony.  Very fun.

Harlan Ellison’s Phoenix Without Ashes #1 – Review

By: Harlan Ellison (writer), Alan Robinson (art), Kote Carvajal (colors) & Robbie Robbins (letters)

The Story: Something weird is going on in this comic adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s long out-of-print novel Phoenix without Ashes.  A young man named Devon finds himself getting crossways with the Puritanical leaders of his community except this isn’t the 1600’s, it is set in 2785!

What’s Good: I enjoyed the basic concept for this comic book: small town is shut off from the outside world, set in the future but has a 1600’s Puritanical leadership and the leaders seem to be taking orders from a funny computer.  That’s all cool stuff and I actually didn’t realize that this was adapted from a novel of the same name until after I read it.  Ordinarily I don’t enjoy comic adaptations of novels.  Call me closed minded, but prose works should be enjoyed in the theater of the mind.  But, in doing my crack research for this review (i.e. searching on Amazon) it appears that Phoenix without Ashes is sooooo out of print that you cannot even buy it from the Amazon.  So, I’ll give it a pass on being a relatively novel story.

The characters in this story are pretty incidental (more below) because the primary hook for this tale is the series of questions that the story begs: Why is a city 700 years in the future being run by Puritans?  Why are they taking orders from a computer?  Do the leaders have an ulterior motive?  Why does this city seem to be inside of a sphere?  The list goes on and on.  In a lot of ways, this is similar to the recent Wildstorm series, Sparta USA.  But, whereas Sparta never hooked me and I dropped it after one issue, I’ll keep getting Phoenix to learn the answers to the mysteries.

From an art standpoint, I’ll say this is “competent”.  I can’t give it bigger praise than that, but it certainly doesn’t stink.

Kill Shakespeare #1 – Review

By Connor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (writers), Andy Belanger (art), Ian Herring (colors) and Robbie Robbins (letters)

The Story: Prince Hamlet of Denmark finds himself pulled off a ship and into a magical portal (created by Macbeth’s witches) that transports him into another realm. After nearly drowning at sea, he is found and rescued by a lord who introduces himself as Richard the Third. Although he seems reasonable enough to begin with, we soon learn that Richard has brought Hamlet into his world for a specific purpose: recruiting the young prince to steal the quill—and power source—of a great “wizard” named William Shakespeare.

The Good: Watching a writer pull classic characters like Hamlet and Richard III off the shelf to play with is like watching someone trying to juggle fine china: it’s exciting when it works, but even the slightest mistake can cause one hell of a mess. Stray too far from the classic, revered source material and the writer loses all connection to it. Stick too close, and they become a mere parrot of greatness. So as much as I adore the concept of this book (and believe me, as an English-majoring literature nerd it makes me very happy indeed) I would not want to be the one tasked to write it.

Fortunately, McCreery and Del Col handle themselves quite well in this first issue, and give the series a solid place to progress from. Both major characters introduced here are fairly recognizable, and nothing about them seems terribly out of place—Hamlet is as gloomy and father-obsessed as ever, and Richard is still two-faced and conniving. (I love the fact that it is Richard engineering this whole ‘killing Shakespeare’ plot; after the Weird sisters showed up I was convinced we’d be meeting Macbeth, but no, it turns out they’re working with Richard instead. Perfect.) There are a few details that seem off—Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern being true and loyal friends, for example—but they make me more curious than upset. The authors don’t seem sloppy or unaware of the source material, so I can only conjecture that changing a small (but significant) detail like that will have relevance in the future.

Spike: After The Fall #2 – Review

By: Brian Lynch (writer), Franco Urru (art), Art Lyon, Tom Smith (colors), Robbie Robbins (letters)

While Spike remains the highlight of the book (rightfully so), this series isn’t without its problems. The book in many ways requires you to both watch Angel and have read the post-television comics. So while this is probably great for people who have, it’s going to be a tough sell for the “have nots”.

In true Angel form, the dialogue and character relationships remain consistent with the show, so that’s definitely on Brian Lynch’s side. And while Spike is a very engaging character as is the post-television world of Angel, the trouble is how much you need to know about both to get what’s going on. We learn in Angel: After The Fall that Illyria is losing control over her body and is now switching back and forth between herself and Fred. I’m not saying there needs to be a huge recap but making the assumption that the readers of this comic will have read the others and watched the show is a mistake.

My complaints remain the same for Franco Urru’s artwork. The backgrounds still lack detail as do the characters. Even though his close-ups look nice, he rarely uses them because there’s so much action. The extreme close-up of Spike in vampire-mode is probably the best example of this. There aren’t many more details here than any other panel, but Urru really makes them count. The last panel is my favorite, I can’t imagine a worse situation for a protector than being chained up in a room with the zombified bodies of their flock.

Though prior experience with Spike and his world are a plus, issue two is better than issue one. Lynch does a good job of keeping things interesting with great little moments, even though it can be confusing at times. I just wish we could get a flashback or something to bridge the gap between the show and the comic for those of us who haven’t been following it. (Grade: B-)

– Ben Berger

Spike: After The Fall #1 – Review

By Brian Lynch (writer), Franco Urru (art), Art Lyon, Tom Smith (colors), Robbie Robbins (letters)

The problem with Joss Whedon’s properties being continued in comics is that he can’t write all of them. The result is like Coke Zero… almost, but not quite. Spike was one of the most popular characters on Angel and Buffy so it’s no surprise that his story has been continued. I just wish we could get a better setup of his world.

Brian Lynch’s writing of Spike is on point with Whedon’s. Most of the dialogue comes from Spike, and he feels just as cynical as always. Unfortunately, the people he’s protecting are so annoying it’s unclear if they’re just around to annoy him. If you were living in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles would you venture out into the wasteland without a champion to protect you? Me either. My biggest criticism, however, is the lack of setup. If I hadn’t seen the finale of Angel I would’ve been totally lost. Even still, there’s a lot of unanswered questions: Why is LA still in ruins? Is it a global epidemic? I don’t need a lot, but a flashback or two would go a long way in making this book more accessible.

Franco Urru’s artwork is inconsistent and the “effects” are heightened by Art Lyon’s coloring. With the exception of Spike, every character blends into the buildings, which blend into the sky. It all looks very muddy. This gives a good, albeit standard post-apocalyptic feel, so I understand the heavy use of reds and earth tones. I know part of it is because Spike needs to move around at dusk or later to avoid direct sunlight, but there’s gotta be a better way. That being said, there are a few good panels of the devastation, which give a great sense of loneliness; Spike’s group may be the last human survivors in LA.

Spike: After The Fall may turn out to be very good. Maybe Lynch is a slow starter, and we’ve yet to really see where this is going. I’m finding it tough though, and I watched the show! So I can only imagine how it would be for a newcomer. One thing’s for sure: without some clarity as to what’s going on this series is in danger of losing readership. (Grade C+)

– Ben Berger