Milos + Milo

Where the borders between freak, geek and art blur to pixelate. A self-portrait.
Read more!

Review: Casanova #9

CASANOVA #9


Writer: Matt Fraction

Artist: Fabio Moon

Image Comics


'When is Casanova Quinn?'



That's the question-du-jour, as my favourite spy-adventure returns after a hiatus-- but the protagonist gets left behind... somewhen! Big sister Zephyr Quinn takes center-stage, as twin brother Fabio Moon takes over for Gabriel Ba who has moved to the big leagues with Dark Horse's UMBRELLA ACADEMY (review coming soon), and moody midnight beach blue replacing the mouldy green as the monochromatic colouring tone of choice.

What really interests us this issue though is Sasa Lisi, the sexy new cast member, the super-diva from th future with the wardrobe to die for and the optional extra four arms and vintage spaceman helmet. Love her! On the Y chromosome side, new hottie man-candy, jet-set terrorist and potentially crazy love machine Kubark Benday isn't as sexy as advertised, looking like 007 by way of Dragonball, trumping Wolverine on a bad hair day. Thankfully he packs enough witty to make up for coiffure-terrible.

What else goes on? Zephyr shoots people in her PJs, Valomilk has a famous flowing centre, Kubark Benday is gonna get some, Sasa Lisi gets the Nth degree, Kaito robo-geek has sex with a robot inside a giant robot, Daddy Quinn suffers from over-exposition and Zephyr meets the new boss who's the same as the old boss.

Phew! All this in 16 blue pages with 5 pages of behind the scenes commentary and extras, and under 2 bucks. You're insane for not buying this already!

Grade: 8/10

Read more!

Indy Capsule Reviews 27.09.2007

This week in review:

• Fallen Angel #20
• Madman Adventure Comics #4
• Fables #65
• The Programme #3

FALLEN ANGEL #20

Write: Peter David
Artist: Dennis Calero
IDW publishing

The Fallen Angel's son, Jude, stars in this done-in-one exploration of the 5 stages of grief, trying to come to terms with his new role/curse as Bete Noire's magistrate. Bar fights, runaway nuns and seduction of the clergy.
Jude still hasn't grown on me as a character, although this issue is a step in the right direction. Peter David's exploration of the five stages doesn't break from the expected, even falling in the common misconception of what the Bargaining stage really refers to; it's commonly shown as literal bargaining with a third-outside party to alleviate the pain, while in reality it most commonly refers to a person bargaining with themselves: 'if I do this one thing today, it will help ease the pain'. Still better than the sum of FALLEN SON: CAPTAIN AMERICA.




Grade: 6/10



MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #4

Writer/Artist: Mike Allred
Colorist: Laura Allred
Image Comics

Mike Allred's return to the character who made him famous continues on an odd pace and with a novel spiritualist adventure bent. Madman's done with the soul searching, he's back to reality-- but a moment too late! His loved ones have already shot his body into space for burial - packed tight with his robot cloned body, AstroMan, for company -huzzuh! While Astroman races on low fuel to earth for help, Madman has a close encounter of the third type with a space hottie from a planet of multi-colour tuffy and gets tangled up in a vag-mouthed dendromorphic seer.

Does the story make much sense? Not at this point. Since the start of the new volume, with the first recap issue, Allred has been pushing Frank onto a larger path of destiny, trying to fit everything that's come before into a grander scheme (something that doesn't easily suit the character), while at the same time amping the weirdness with each stop of his Odd-yssey. As jarring as the plot is, the art has never looked better. This is the most beautifully drawn and coloured book on the stands, but I do miss the nonsensical adventures just for the sake of fun which littered the original run of the title. Some things are better left simple and fun without an overall purpose and direction.

Grade: 7/10



FABLES #65

Writer: Bill Willingham
Artist: Mark Buckingham
Vertigo

It's been taking more and more of an effort to sit down and crack this book open every month. When did Fables turn into Days of Our Fairy Lives? The current storyline has been dragging on way too long, feeling like an ongoing soap opera. Don't get me wrong, when I do manage to start reading, it's still engrossing and drop dead beautiful (deservedly Eisner-winning), but it doesn't have a central story in each issue to pull the reader in, instead offering the next part of the several ongoing plotlines.

The Frog Prince keeps marching with his army of Dead Fables, finally reaching his deserted Kingdom (Willingham's done wonders turning Ambrose into a true hero and convincing both the other characters and the reader of his valour and right to lead). In Fabletown central, everyone spends their days watching the Prince's exploits (told you it's like daytime soap over here). Frau Totenkinder reveals her true motivations and the nature of the coming conflict. Bigby trains more soldiers. The Snow Queen obsesses over beans. Prince Charming learns a foreign language. Khan schemes. Bluebeard still doesn't have any clothes on (roooowr)

Grade: 7/10



PROGRAMME #3

Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: C.P. Smith
colorist: Jonny Rench
Wildstorm

Superman Max is still on the run after his awakening. So who you gonna call to stop the big bad Russian super-terror? Well, turns out, neither of the super-people are unique, as neither side of the Cold War stopped at one when producing superman weapons. Now the Spirit of Lenin has already reached his Communist Superwoman: Pravda, while the American agents race to retrieve the secret location of their number two from a retired child-molesting piece of trash.

Milligan is in his best form here, providing a sharp and fast-moving story, with C.P Smith providing adequate (if sometimes confusing) art, but which is raised to drool-worthy heights thanks to Jonny Rench's pallette which simply make the book. Get this guy a raise and an Eisner nomination please.

Grade: 8/10

Read more!

Light a candle - Stop Child Pornography

Take a minute of your time to help spread the word, post this on your blog and email it to your friends:

The innocent victims of Internet child abuse cannot speak for themselves.

But you can.

With your help, we can eradicate this evil trade.

We do not need your money. We need you to light a candle of support. The more candles we light, the more powerful our voice becomes.

This petition will be used to encourage governments, politicians, financial institutions, payment organisations, Internet service providers, technology companies and law enforcement agencies to eradicate the commercial viability of online child abuse. They have the power to work together. You have the power to get them to take action.

Please light your candle at lightamillioncandles.com or send an email of support to light@lightamillioncandles.com. Together, we can destroy the commercial viability of Internet child abuse sites that are destroying the lives of innocent children. Kindly forward this email to your friends, relatives and work colleagues so that they can light a candle too.

Candles now lit =

2,267,751

Read more!

X-Men #203 Advance review

X-MEN #203

Writer: Mike Carey

Artist: Humberto Ramos

Marvel Comics

Mike Carey's action blockbuster 'Blinded by the Light' concludes -- with a buddy movie action sequence?

Yup, it's time for some Sam+Bobby action!

[recommended soundtrack for this issue and this review: You've Got a Friend in Me - Randy Newman, Toy Story soundtrack. Go ahead and scroll down to start the Youtube video]

The X-Men are reeling from the shock of the combined attack from Exodus' Acolytes, Sinister's Marauders and Mystique's turncoat X-Men (Gambit, Malice-Sentinel, Sunfire and Lady Mastermind). Sinister has sought out to destroy and incapacitate any and all access to future knowledge, including New X-Men's Blindfold, Cable and finally the Books of Destiny.

Kitty and Colossus are left in a shattered institute with the New X-Men trying to revive a comatose Blindfold, the Astonishing X-Men are shattered from the attack at Mystique's place and Carey's team-- oh, wait, there's nothing really left of Carey's team!

Rogue is comatose
Cable is dead (yeahhhh)
Sabretooth is dead (uh-huh)
Lady M, Sentinel and Mystique have defected

Now it's up to the two remaining X-Men, Iceman and Cannonball to escape the combined forces of the X-Men's two greatest villains and retrieve the hidden Diaries. Mike Carey loves us.

Sam and Bobby rule the day here... for a bit. Carey comes up with a convincing battleplan to convince us that the two typeset 'team rookies' (one from the 60s the other from the 90s) can prove their mettle in this tough spot. Ramos manages to stay out of Carey's toes and not confuse the action too much; I wish he would work to his full potential, as the brief flashback on page 3 hints, with the gorgeous crosshatch shadowed style he used to great effect in Dark Horse's REVELATIONS.

What we love: Carey's Emma Frost, with a duty to be cool for her adoring audience. Kitty and Colossus minding the kids (for all AOA Generation Next fans). Emma's clandestine double mindwipe trick to protect the diaries. Bobby being cool, Sam kicking ass. Gambit in the familiar grey zone between the X-Men and the Marauders. And Everyone Hates Mystique!

What we don't love: Lady Mastermind not being the center of the universe! But mostly, the Mystique-Bobby relationship, which Mike has only clued us to, but not really explored yet. Mystique (erm, SPOILERS!!!) spares Bobby's life this issue, telling him he's 'the only X-Man who gets a benefit of a warning'. Presumably, Mystique joined the team and flirted with Bobby to incapacitate him as he's considered their most powerful (Omega) mutant, but in the process felt something for him; something to make her put him above her foster daughter (who she cold-bloodedly shot in the chest - with no benefit of warning) or her birth son Nightcrawler? I hardly see the build-up to something so deep between the two in the title, as the whole romance took place mostly behind the scenes.

While the other four X core titles are busy micromanaging and keeping well out of each other's business, Carey has taken the daunting task of looking at the 'big picture', putting all the separate pieces of the X-Men tapestry puzzle together and making the teams work together. I haven't enjoyed this feeling of X-Men synergy since the days of Scott Lobdell's masterminding the titles (but then, I make a point of saying this in every X-Men review lately).

In the Endangered Species back-up, Beast and Dark Beast conclude their visit in the Guthrie farm. Dark Beast looks at the kids as something less than lab rats, as last segment's cliffhanger attests to, and you bet Beast has something to say about it! Beast versus Dark Beast in the catfight we were all looking forward to!

Grade: 7/10

Read more!

Milligan, Inc: the INFINITY Inc Interview

This week I'm celebrating the 100th LYSAD column over at the Nexus (it certainly took me long enough to get there!), presenting a special interview with my favourite writer: PETER MILLIGAN ,talking about his latest DC project: INFINITY Inc.

Infinity Inc. is one of the most thrilling comics on the market right now, and I'm confident the interview and the preview panels I chose reflect that and get all of you to give the book a go, it's certainly a leap above the usual DC superhero fanfare.

Choice Excerpts:

What is the high concept which sets this title apart from the flock?

Pete Milligan: I was interested in creating what you might call a 'psychological superhero' book. Using a lot of Freudian imagery and ideas about who we are, what makes us tick, and where our problems come from. This opened up an incredibly rich area. Even the' powers' that a lot of the characters display have their roots in the world of the psychological. Most of the characters in this book have behavioral, psychological or mental problems. The trick of course is to trawl this rich ocean of possibilities... without getting drowned in a sea of miserableness. There's a lot of fun in the book, a lot of weird stuff. But there's raw emotion too. That was the crux of the pitch--and it's also what makes this book a bit different from the other teen superhero books out there.

How far have you been allowed to push the envelope in terms of adult content? Are there some things you wanted to do with the title but weren't allowed in terms of keeping the title PG?

Pete: What can I say, It's a PG book. But I think we're probably pushing things as far as they can go, and touching upon some areas that aren't usually approached in these books. That said this isn't a competition to see what I can away with. The limitations of a PG book mean you sometimes have to find creative ways of saying things. Of course the book would be different if it were Vertigo. The same subject matter would probably be handled in a very different way.



NUKLON: Gerome has severed any ties to his old friends who would remind him of his glory days, and developed narcissistic tendencies. What made you choose to go down this route with the character? And what's up with that hair?

Pete: Simply, it was my take when reading this guy. Some form of twisted narcissism seemed to lurk within Gerome's character--and I was interested in dragging that out, twisting it further, and seeing where it took him. The hair? What's wrong with the hair?

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE

Read more!

Vote for Panel of the Week 23.09.07

Each week I'll be posting the 3-4 most memorable panels from the week and putting them up for a public week-long vote. The winning panels gets posted on the sidebar and earns boasting privileges over lesser panels...

Last week was slow voting-wise, with Ms Marvel losing to She-Hulk despite the odds stacked in her favour 3:1

This week's big ringer is the Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding against stiff competition from the voting's favourite darlings, the Marvel Adventures books! And in a weird twist, all four are male crotch and ass shots with someone pointing towards them! Funky week.

CoolWebPoll

Panel A

Silva' Surfa' wit' the Pizzower Cossizmic - Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #28


Panel B:
Mr. Melty Iron-Pants - Marvel Adventures Avengers #16

Panel C:
--Big Arrow - Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special

Panel D:
Eht Lluf Ytnom - Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special

Read more!

Big Barda T & A but no Face?

Al Barrionuevo is the stellar artist behind the gorgeous MARTIAN MANHUNTER mini-series and last week's tolerable DC COUNTDOWN #32. He has a solid tight style, although the collaboration with 'breakdowns artist' Keith Giffen didn't seem to favour him well.

The question I beg to ask after finishing the (surprisingly) amusing #32 has to do with Big Barda's 'cameo appearance'. I've gone ahead and included scans of all of Big Barda's panels in the issue:



Notice anything funny going on?

Now, is this a case of Keith Giffen having fun with the breakdowns, DC making clandestine plans to change Barda's race or Barrionuevo simply not knowing what Big Barda's face looks like?


Big Barda has often been the subject of overly enthusiastic T&A portrayals, but at least past artists had the decency to also include her face in the panels. ;)
Read more!

Marvel Retread Funnies

Tom Brevoort recounts a book that predated (by 20 odd years!) the recent 'Remixed' Identity Crisis/Civil War mania:

MARVEL RETREAD FUNNIES, remixing the Elektra death issue of Daredevil (#181), written by Mike Carlin and Christopher Priest! The Priest curse must have been in effect from those early days as the book was canned before even getting published!

(Another interesting point from that blog post is how Dazzler #1 sold 400,000 copies! oh dear.... and we thought the early 90s were bad :) )
Read more!

So you think you can dance... in Japan

On a coolness scale 1 to 10, this video goes well into triple digits:



From (what I'm guessing is) a dance contest TV show in Japan, two skirt-clad, ass-hanging-out Japanese men dancing Daft Punk on a red-and-white square tiled floor straight out of a dance console game. But they're good, and the dance routines are frankly inspired, with all the camp and kitschiness you would expect from our muses in the East.

Now I have to start slapping booty and headbutting people on the dance floor!
Read more!

Kevin Smith on Gay Bears

Is it really just a gay thing? Isn't Kevin Smith just adorable to the opposite sex? It's really true if he ever entered a gay bear bar he would have a ton of guys drooling after him (yeah, me included)

btw:

cubs: younger bears.

Guys who like bears: chasers.

Twinks? hairless young slim guys, not really into bears.

Kevin should totally remake Cachorro/Bearcub for an American audience
Read more!

Brand New Day solicitation spoilers

So, how closely have you been looking at the recent Marvel Comics Solicitations, and the Brand New Day covers?

Like, say, the cover to Amazing Spider-Man #546 above.

You know the one. The one where Spider-Man is pulling his MASK down, swinging on rooftops with a CAMERA strapped on his arm, while on the background J. Jonah Jameson is ranting on a billboard about the MASKED MENACE.

And isn't Peter Parker looking all single in those preview pages where he's mending his spider-man costume on his own?

This humble fan's opinion: JMS is ending his run with a huge RESET button, undoing spider-man continuity all the way back to the spider-marriage and beyond. The world forgets who spider-man is, Spider-man forgets who Mary Jane is, Mary Jane forgets who Peter is, but also gets a nifty power set and superhero identity out of the deal (so they can fall in love with each other all over again, not knowing who each other really is! awwwww)
Read more!

Homosexuality in Comics

CBR ran a very interesting set of articles last month, focusing on the portrayal of LGBT characters in comics.

The panel included nine famous creators who are either gay themselves or have been linked to some important LGBT landmarks in comics:

Marc Andreyko (MANHUNTER)
Lillian Diaz-Przbyl (TokyoPop's Yaoi editor)
Devin Grayson (USER for Vertigo)
Terrance Griep (PRISM Comics)
Mark Millar (THE AUTHORITY: the wedding of Midnighter and Apollo)
Allan Heinberg (YOUNG AVENGERS)
Scott Lobdell (ALPHA FLIGHT: Northstar's coming out)
Alan Moore (you know him...)
and Greg Rucka (GOTHAM CENTRAL, 52: Renee Montoya and Batwoman)

Parts I and II introduce the panel in more detail and talk to them individually about their experiences and history in comics and LGBT issues.

Following that Parts III and IV get into the nitty-gritty with as close examination of the major 'gay issues' in comics and the panelists' thoughts on them. Part III talks about the Comics Code, comics viewed as a kids' medium, choice versus genes, and how much LGBT characters tend to be completely defined by their sexuality. Part IV features the panelists' favourite LGBT protrayals in comics, adresses the 'gay retcon' and wraps up with a general address at LGBT elements in comics today.

Read more!

POTTER'S FIELD #1 review

POTTER’S FIELD #1

Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Paul Azacetta

BOOM! STUDIOS


It’s official, Mark Waid has gone Boom!



POTTER’S FIELD is Waid's first book as editor-in-chief (and he chose to write it himself. Huh.). Waid doesn’t set out to reinvent the company wheel with this series, as the old adage still is in effect: ‘if it ain’t broken…’.

Instead, Waid adapts every subtly his writing style to what is expected from a Boom book; PF #1 reads like a captivating TV crime show pilot in comics form: the premise is laid out revealing the show structure of a weekly murder mystery, the protagonist is introduced through third parties, keeping a shroud of mystery around him yet providing enough off-key minutia to keep him interesting to the reader and raise questions, while all the information is spaced out through a smaller-scale opening salvo murder investigation.

Let’s backtrack and look at what the story is about though:

‘Potter’s Field’ is a term used for public burial places for unknown or indigent people. Wikipedia has an interesting article explaining the origins of the name (and including a reference to this comic).

The stories in this book are centered around the Potter’s field on Hart Island, New York. The protagonist is ‘John Doe’, a sunglass-wearing tabula rasa of a hero, carrying a morbid obsession/compulsion to investigate the stories of the other Johns and Janes Doe who are buried in that field, and discover their true names so that he can chisel them on to their numbered grave plates and they can then be properly mourned. Each issue looks to be geared to be the quest to uncover the next number in sequence in the burial ground. J.D.'s ‘crew’ consists of people in key positions (coroners, prison guards, reporters) who support his cause and owe him a debt of gratitude for helping them out when tragedy had struck close to their own lives. Very GLOBAL FREQUENCY meets CSI. The first case is an unidentified (duh) girl, who jumped off a building terrace, carrying only a walkman (remember those?) containing only Top 20 summer hits from ten years ago. What a way to go!

The premise is solid and fertile for a variety of crime and murder stories, probably allowing other writers to come in after Waid’s opening arc and tell their own stories. Much like Boom’s other prominent properties, it’s also a by-the-numbers comics-acting-as-a-pitch for Hollywood and TV execs. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, this is a concept that’s indeed perfect for TV; if it wasn’t for Paul Azacetta with his stunning visuals (very John Paul Leon) and the sneakily evil things he does with panel perspective and camera settings (angling many of his ‘shots’ as reflections on J.D.’s sunglasses lens, or shooting from inside a toilet can at a man’s head sunk inside), I could even hazard to say it’s something better suited for the screen than the paper. Paul is saving the day here, Boom.

Any complaints? At first read, I was ecstatic over this title, the premise and everything, really. The second reading, for the purposes of this review, revealed flaws in the pacing and the execution of the clever crime-of-the-month that were quite jarring; although the first issue carries an original crime mystery, Waid is squandering its potential by cutting it short enough to fit as a self-contained issue, and then even shorter to accommodate all the setup that needs to get out of the way in the pilot issue. The victim’s situation is introduced, J.D. pays two visits to his informants and before you know it he’s already solved the mystery and is sneaking around the culprit’s apartment seeking hard evidence and retribution. There are no false leads to make the route more exciting, no potential suspects, no clues left out for the reader to get in on the detective game (isn’t that a huge part of the fun in crime series and whodunits?); John Doe simply serves us the suspect in a platter and then explains how everything happened with enough glee to make Angela Lansbury jealous (at the same time not providing quite enough convincing arguments about how he came to these deduction, apart from divine intuition).

A secondary complaint pertains to the accuracy of the depictions of this specific Potter's Field, on Hart Island. Since Waid chose this specific burial ground, to take advantage of the New York setting, I expected a higher degree of accuracy compared to the real facts about the place. A cursory Wiki search reveals that the graves in Hart Island are in fact mass graves, with six coffinsfitted in the same hole, without any individual markers. I understand how this different interpretation of the fields caters to the plot machine set up here, so the only real gripe is that the added realism/accuracy would have made it an even better book, though it certainly doesn't detract all that much (it's not like a lot people are likely to know about the inaccuracy unless they're reading us -oops- ;) ).

I’m hooked enough with the creative team and the premise to tune in next month for the next crime mystery and hope for the best! I wonder how many months before the first press release announcing the property has been optioned by HBO? ;)

Grade: 6.5/10


Read more!

Vote for Panel of the Week 10.09.07

Each week I'll be posting the 3-4 most memorable panels from the week and putting them up for a public week-long vote. The winning panels gets posted on the sidebar and earns boasting privileges over lesser panels...

Last week two Teen Titans #50 panels raced to the finish line, with Todd Nauck and Dezago's Impulse panel seizing the win by 4 votes!

This week the Marvel super-heroines take the lead, as Ms Marvel enters the fray with a record--breaking (sic) three panels, accompanied by one more She-Hulk panel. Machine Ma- - Aaron Stack's cameo is doing wonders for the book's readability!

CoolWebPoll

Panel A:

An Avengerette menace-a-trois. And two of them with claws! (Ms MARVEL)

Panel B:

The Three Super-Amigos - A C-list heroes, B-movie, buddy flick (Ms MARVEL)

Panel C:

Painful Weapon IV: A C-list heroes, B-movie, buddy flick sequel (Ms MARVEL)

Panel D:

Oh, no... you didn't! (SHE-HULK)

Read more!

God, will you give me a Sign to go on?

A truly innovative and fun way of bringing God closer to people and their everyday lives.

Godmarks is a donations-based organization which puts out messages like this out in cities, on billboards, on post boxes, in the back of buses and in magazines. The messages are fun, smart, and often controversial, meant to ignite debate and trigger people to think about God.

Apart from the above (my favorite), messages include:

"I miss how you used to talk to me when
you were a kid
- God"

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't hate anyone who's gay
- Jesus"

"Isn't it weird how most people think I'm white?
-God"

Read more!