Review Group #449: Roche Limit #1

The review group has been around since the old talk@ days at Newsrama.  Now it resides at The Outhouse.  The premise is simple, a group of comic geeks and nerds review the same book.

Last week the pick was Roche Limit #1:

The following is an excerpt of my review for this week, the full text can be found here.

Roche Limit #1 Written by Michael MoreciArt by Vic MalhotraColors by Jordan BoydPublished by Image Comics 

There is a difference between a tired cliche and nodding to a book’s influences. Sure, there may not be any more original thought, but you can certainly be creative in the way you package those thoughts. From a glance at the front cover of Roche Limit #1; it is clear that this book wears its influences with pride. That is a Hickmanesque cover if there ever was one. More than any other book I have read, this book directly owes a debt to the way Hickman tells his independent stories. In design and with the computer readout spread of the layout of the colony in which the comic is set, Hickman’s revolutionary style watches over the progression.

Feel free to join in the fun.  

Roche Limit #1 came out Sept 24 and can be bought at your local comic shop or at Comiology.

Review Group Pick 10/1/14: Men of Wrath #1

Angus H had the pick and I think he picked a good book to cover, we'll find out on Wednesday.  (Will post link to the thread then)

Men of Wrath #1

Published: October 01, 2014
Writer: Jason Aaron
Cover Artist: Ron Garney 

Ever since Great Grandfather Isom killed a man over some sheep, a black cloud has hung over the Rath family. Now, over a century later, Ira Rath, the coldest hitman ever to walk on Alabama soil, has taken a job that will decide the fate of his cursed family once and for all. Writer Jason Aaron (Southern Bastards, Scalped) and artist Ron Garney (Weapon X, Thor: God of Thunder) team up once again, to bring you the story of a Southern family, whose only heirloom is violence.

Join in the fun on Wednesday at The Outhouse.

Find this book at your local comic shop or at Comixology.

COMIC HYPE: FICTION SQUAD starts Wednesday

I have to admit, I haven't read Fairy Quest, but this book still intrigues me.  First of all, I dig the concept.  "Humpty Dumpty as a Whodunit?"  Yeah, sign me up.  This will be my introduction to the Fablewood landscape and I hope I dig it as much as I think I will.  Then I will have to check out where it all started.

Fiction Squad #1 is scheduled for release on October 1, 2014.  Buy it at your local comic shop or at Comixology.

I will be reviewing this book this week at The Outhouse.

Milligan's The Names is not out to make one for itself...

Hello old friends,

I'm back.  "Sorry I left you without a dope beat to step to..."

Apologies accepted?  Good, on to business...

The Names #1The High Window Part 1Written by Peter MilliganArt by Leandro FernandezColors by Cris PeterPublished by Vertigo

I've kind of always though of Milligan as the poor man's Morrison. It always seemed like he was following that cat around on books. Things like Greek Street and Shade: The Changing Man struck me as the kind of drug dream books people seem to think Morrison is only capable of these days. There are bright spots, Human Target is an amazing book.

The Names kind of feels like a Dan Brown thriller set on Wall Street. In fact, that's exactly what it is. Mysterious death uncovers a larger conspiracy (however, Milligan makes the mistake of showing us that the mysterious death, isn't so mysterious. In fact, this book would have probably faired better if it had started on page 4.), the wife knows something is wrong, messages are given, cryptic clues and the conspiracy starts to reveal itself. It feels by the numbers, which is fine if you are wanting to read a Dan Brown book, I just expected more from Milligan. At least the writing is a bit better.

The art is a big old mixed bag. 

Read the rest of the review at The Outhouse.  If you disagree, feel free to chime in with the group.

The Names #1 is available now at your local comic book shop or Comixology.  Issue #2 is scheduled for release October 1, 2014.

A note

To my faithful readers.
I have been ill for several weeks. This has set me back on almost everything. I apologize for getting this started and then letting it lay fallow, expect it to return at a less break neck pace in the following days. First up is the end of the series on McCloud.

From the Reading Pile - Little Nothings: The Prisoner Syndrome

Little Nothings, Vol. 2: The Prisoner Syndrome
By Lewis Trondheim

Trondheim describes the prisoner’s syndrome as

It’s when someone’s locked up and isn’t doing anything. By Not doing anything, he gets more and more tired and has less and less desire to do anything.

Fearing this phenomena, he decides to do more festivals around the world.

The Prisoner Syndrome is like A Moveable Feast. It is very stream of consciousness oriented and almost diary like. When Trondheim notices something about a place that interests him or has a clever idea, he jots a cartoon of it down.

As a result, there is no narrative here. It is like a hip version of Family Circus. There is an overall theme going on about his life, but there isn’t necessarily any causal connection between pages. The elapsed time and location vary wildly.

It is an amusing book. Probably best read like a joke book, a little at a time. It is funny in places and heart wrenching in others.

A Reading Pile Special: Understanding Comics Day Five

Understanding Comics: Chapter Four - Time Frames
By Scott McCloud

In this chapter, our intrepid author talks about time and how it is utilized and conceptualized in comics.

It is a whole lot of theory. To be honest there is nothing super revelatory in this one. To anyone who has read comics for as long as I have, this is old hack.

It is interesting to see that the lingering moody panel is relatively new to western comics. As was his discussion on how the box of a panel can change time completely - its shape, size, content, and lines can be powerful indicators. The rest is all conceptual talk about composition. It is extremely important to anyone who may want to create comics in the future, but not very interesting for talking philosophically. It is hopefully just a breather after the beast that was Chapter Three.