Sunday, August 29, 2004

World Watch Review at 4CR

I just put up a review of Chuck Austen's new series WorldWatch at 4 Color Review. Give her a look!

http://www.4colorreview.com/

Sunday, August 22, 2004

Image Title Round-up

Oh Happy Day! I just got my hands on some sweet new Image stuff, and I have had the time of my life reading this weekend. The following is a round up of both current and new titles I got a look at.

Invincible #14
Robert Kirkman’s jewel is my favorite work of his. The lead character Invicible is as human as they get, and lives up to the Spider-Man credo of great power and great responsibility. Recovering from the death of his father, and his mother’s bitterness, he is left to attend school as well as fight evil. The mess of his life makes for compelling reading.

Forsaken #1
This book gave me chills, it was so cool. Lead character Apollo Delk has obviously been through some bad stuff, and his latest endeavor takes him from the frying pan into the fire. Forsaken is a book that deserves good buzz- it is intense, edgy, and unforgiving.

Superpatriot: War On Terror #1
Kirkman’s writing this book too. Does the dude ever sleep? Superpatriot is an interesting title about a man that is more machine then organic, but who still has heart. Parts of it reminded me of the old Justice League America book, and the General Glory storyline.

Witchblade #78
Ian Edginton and Tony Daniel throw their two cents into the Witchblade well with the return of Tom Judge. I am glad to see some resolution on this character, and am cheering the fact that Ron Marz is coming on the title with issue 80 to restore order.

Sylvia Faust #1
Here is a new title by Jason Henderson and Greg Scott, with a great tale to tell. Sylvia Faust is a creepy, but cool new character, and I love Scott’s art. I especially am thrilled to see Leslie Ann Barkley’s colors give Scott the edge he need with some great colors.

Hawaiian Dick: The Last Resort #1
Danny Byrd is back and in even deeper then last time. This time he is caught between neighboring resorts and the gangs who run them . There is sure to be carnage and mystery galore so strap yourselves in kiddies.

Bad Ideas
See title. They’re not kidding. Funny but extremely satirical. The villain’s name if Pussy Voodoo. Seriously.

Brit: Red, White, Black, & Blue
Written by Kirkman, the man who must never play video games. Brit is a bad ass to the end, and the way Captain America should be written.

Tales From the Bully Pulpit
Holy crap! It’s Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Edison, and they’re here to kick your ass. Throw in a surprise past president, and its mayhem all around. This book is the dark horse winner in my book. I read it three times and it still leaves me speechless.

New Reviews at 4 Color Review

I have two new reviews up at 4 Color Review. They are of Fallen Angel #14 and Noble Causes #1. Give them a look!

http://www.4colorreview.com/

Ultra #1

Ultra #1
Image Comics
Created by the Luna Brothers
$2.95

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Ultra #1 is one of those comics you pick up because there is a sense of familiarity about the cover. The torso shot of an ample female heroine, not too unlike the cover to Supergirl #1 gives the indication that there must be a chick about to kick your ass on the inside. Either that or the chick is wearing lingerie and wants to spank you, but that is another story.

Ultra opens with three attractive women driving home from a night on the town. Dressed in what I would call business casual, most of the story is told from their point of view while riding in a car, with a brief stop on the way. The conversation really reminds me of what my girlfriends and I would talk about, dishing on men and the like, which builds an instant rapport with the characters. While most of the evening is pretty average, a chance stop at a fortune teller gives an ominous sense of what is to come in future issues.

The Luna Brothers have created a compelling look at a different kind of hero. The ladies pictured here are women of privilege, but with a life-saving career that gives them public adulation and star power. Pearl, Liv, and Jen are the kind of girls you would read about in Vogue, wearing the newest Dolce and Gabbana pantsuit. They have a sense of style and the credentials to go along with it. The fact that the entire first issue is told out of uniform but still attracts the readers' interest is a credit to the creative team.

Jonathan Luna is the artist, colorist and letterer along with co-writer with his brother Joshua. I had not previously heard of any work done in the comics industry so bear with me as I say that if this is a freshman effort, it is a brilliant one. I felt instant empathy with the characters and want to know more about them, especially how they interact in their work environment. Ultra is a book I showed to several women comic readers at the shop on Wednesday for this very reason.

Ultra #1 is one of the best comics to come out of Image for awhile that doesn't have Robert Kirkman's name on it. The art is unique and interesting, and the story is wonderful. I am interested to learn more about these characters and how the fortune teller's words will affect their lives. If you missed picking up Ultra, grab it and give it a shot, it's worth the read.

Thursday, August 19, 2004

Back From Vegas!

Wow, five days in Vegas takes a lot out of a girl! I just finally am reading last week's comics, and got another big stack from yesterday I need to dig into! I can tell you what I will be doing this weekend- having bliss just reading and relaxing with Jim!

Vegas is a fun city, definitely 24 hours a day fun. We stayed at New York New York, which was quite nice. The first night we went to Coyote Ugly, where I realized that the chicks that work there put me to shame with their expert swearing! Man, between their hardcore dancing and belittling the men there, it damn near looks like a dream job. Those women have abs of steel!

Every night we went out somewhere after full days of meetings, but it was worth it, even with being tired this week. A special highlight was going to the Frontier Casino and making fun of the guys watching bikini bull riding at Gilleys. Too hilarious! Also, breakfast at the Monte Carlo, with four great friends was a hoot.

It is good to be home now, especially to have quality time with the hubby- him I missed! Unfortunately I have been short staffed at work this week, and it has made it tough to blog, or even recover from the booze and full schedule. Thank God tomorrow's Friday!!

Monday, August 09, 2004

Viva Las Vegas

I have only had this blog a couple of weeks and I am already an infrequent poster. There is a legitimate reason to this- my company is traveling to Las Vegas for our 20th Year Anniversary celebration. In preparing for this big event, I have been furiously working on a 287,435 KB power point 20 year photo retrospective. Saturday a friend came over and we taught ourselves how to splice wav files and make them work semi-decently in the presentation. Whew, quite the cool thing to know!

Otherwise, it is prep time for go. My hubby is stuck at home while I am off to many hours of meetings and probably too many cocktails.

Sadly, I won't be home to see my new comics until late Sunday night :-( This is the one down side other then having to leave Jim at home.

Take care!

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

New Stuff Tomorrow!

My hubby and I are back from visiting family, and though it was a wonderful time, are happy to be home. My parents had a nice, relaxed 40th wedding anniversary, and I saw my grandparents, who had celebrated their very important 60th wedding anniversary in May. What a cool deal it is to have been shown the right way to be married, through richer and poorer, sickness and health.

At any rate, tomorrow is new comics day, and it looks to be a high profile one for DC as the Batman 12 cent Adventure is coming out to kick off the big three month Bat title cross over. Forgive me for my lack of excitement, but I HATE it when the Bat titles collide. It makes me have to pick up all the titles, and takes the books I like off track for the duration. Consider Nightwing, who has gone through some heavy duty stuff- all of a sudden his stuff doesn't mean crap, and off he trots to Gotham City. Please!

In other, much cooler news, Swamp Thing #6 hits tomorrow. I love this book and especially enjoy the old school feel on a new twist.

Other stuff I am picking up:

Birds of Prey #71
Detective Comics #797 (tie-in) :-(
DC Comics Presents Superman (Julius Schwartz tribute)
Justice League Elite #2
Darkness #13
Captain America & Black Falcon #6 (for Priest, no other reason) :-(
Exiles #50 (make or break issue for me to continue collecting)
Ultimate Nightmare #1
Ultimate Spider-Man #63
Ultimate X-Men #50
Uncanny X-Men #447
X-Men: The End #1
Queen & Country #26

I have gotten sucked into all the X-titles again, much to my chagrin. I will need to analyze what I like and what I pick up just to keep a run shortly. The thing that sucks is that I have over 340 issues of UncannyX-Men continuity and all the X-Men run, so it is hard to stop, because if things get good again, there is that damn hole!

Enough rambling, I am one tired woman. My company is going to Las Vegas next week to celebrate our 20th Anniversary in business, so it is time to start gearing up. Hubby is stuck at home, but is vowing to see Alien Vs. Predator and have friends over to keep up.

Happy Reading!