I'm Reading

Alien Legion: Uncivil War (@ComicsTitan)

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 05:46:00 +0000

I'm a big fan of the Alien Legion franchise, created by Carl Potts (with Alan Zelenetz and Frank Cirocco).

I've been wanting the franchise to come back in a big way for a looong time, and even had some minor insider knowledge that it was incoming (which made it harder to wait, to be honest).

Now it's here, and I'm happy.

Sure, Carl Potts is a draw for me with the series by himself, and he's giving the book inks ("& soul"). But then you add Chuck Dixon for the story, Larry Stroman for pencils, Thomas Mason for colors, and Gabriela Houston for for lettering (it reads like an Alien Legion book), and I get a book that feels current, and comfortable and homey, a la the original run in Marvel's Epic Comics imprint.

The first ish is set up, and without giving anything away, the pace I feel is intentional to lead up to the last two pages.

Sarigar? Check. And while I'd like to see more of him, what is there is that encapsulation of leader and tactician. Though I'm looking forward to badd-assery in future issues.

Jugger Grimrod? Yeppers. He may have been busted down from Captain, but he's still the non-coddling boots-on-the-ground leader new recruits with a minimal life expectancy deserve.

I'm really looking forward to more from the team and the series. And while people might be quick to dismiss Titan Comics as a boutique imprint, I think recent transmedia success with Snowpiercer isn't a fluke.

Get to it, ya damn bospors!

Uncanny Avengers (@Marvel)

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:10:00 +0000

I'm really digging Uncanny Avengers, the in-Marvel Universe attempt to bridge the Avengers and X-Men teams (and therefore humans and mutants) to the larger fictional public.

The two factions have had a rough few years - Largely culminating in the Avengers Versus X-Men crossover arc that reset all the positive PR and goodwill mutants had built over the years.

It's a solid book, and bridges deep mythic concepts, universe-wide stakes, and the internal group dynamics and relational muddiness of bringing several former teammates and enemies together and trying to make it work, while balancing idealism with the unavoidable practical veneer work, politics, and public relational messiness.

Writer Rick Remender is doing a stellar job, with my only criticism being a few of the setups and dialogs feel a little artificial as he moves decades-long relationships in slightly different directions. But you'd have to have read all of his Marvel work in the past few years to see that pattern, and to be fair, even then it's arguable that that's what's happening.

Art-wise, whether it's John Cassaday early in the series or Daniel Acuña later, this is stellar stuff to look at.

It's a gritty, thematically rough title - Definitely not your Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes younger-reader-friendly. That makes it great, though, as Marvel serves a more mature, core fan audience (though it's not Marvel MAX mature).

Very much a recommended read, and I'm liking the stuff Remender is setting up in the first 6-8 issues that probably won't see fruition for 6-8 more. I like costs, the "not-clean win", and the long games in storytelling.

Red Skull: Incarnate

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:11:00 +0000

I finally finished Red Skull: Incarnate, Greg Pak's origin tale of the boy Johann Schmidt, before he became the maniacal Red Skull.

The fifth issue is really the pay off, where I got to see the depth of scheming and depravity that heralds the adult Skull's persona, as written by people like Ed Brubaker.

Overall, there series left me a bit wanting. It feels like there should have been more to the final arc, and the promised bibliography per issue materialized.

That said, Pak does a great writing job, Mirko Colak and Matthew Wilson's art services the story well, and David Aja's covers are absolutely stunning (even if they are missing the swastikas that should have adorned each issue).

Moon Knight

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Sun, 15 May 2011 06:09:00 +0000

The best thing about the new Moon Knight series from Brian Michael Bendis?

Could be the Alex Maleev Captain America. Ish.

Or maybe it's the irony of putting one time West Coast Avenger Moonie back in LA.

Maybe it's the introduction of what is possibly an ongoing conceit of self-referential parody of Hollywood Biz.

It's probably the twist take on the titular character's psychosis. Eses.

Gonna keep reading.

Captain America: Reborn

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:29:00 +0000

Just finished Captain America: Reborn number 4 of the time - tripping - we - may - get - Steve - Rogers - Captain - America - back mini-series (though I've been great with Barnes as Cap; the writing is that good).

It's been a wicked slow build to number 4, but now I'm on board. Ready for the mighty conclusion in no. 5, but suspect / and am worried it'll be a long-tail kickoff, a la the "Dark Reign" shenanigans.

But, hey, it's Ed Brubaker -- he had me at "hello".

(Oh, and Guice (Jackson? Butch? Mheh.) and Bryan Hitch rock, too; though I'm least crazy about the art in this particular ish, for some reason.)

Killing Monsters

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:01:00 +0000

As a dad and pop-culture contributor, media violence and how it affects our kids is an important topic to me.

People who know me know I'm a big fan of pop-culture -- comic books, anime, action movies, and video games -- in some cases, I directly contribute to getting these things made. These same people also know I'm very protective of what my kids see and do -- which for me means not being over-protective of what they don't see, which could be doing them an equivalent (or in some cases, deeper) damage.

This may sound odd, but in his book, author Gerard Jones makes a very even-handed argument for age- and context-appropriate exposure to make-believe conflict and violence, and how demonizing and purging it from your home can have the opposite of the intended effect of "protecting your kids".

In an increasingly (and increasingly damaging) pseudo-politically correct world, kids are becoming shadows of what they should be as their personalities are beaten into any given institution's version of compliance, they're chastised for genuine (and appropriate) feelings of adventure, aggression, sexuality, or any of a myriad of facets that make them a "whole person".

I recommend this book as a wake-up opportunity for folks to rethink their views on media violence.

(And I recommend you ignore a lot of the editorial summaries of the book on Amazon -- at least at the time of this writing -- as they oversimplify the direction and intent of the book.)

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:07:00 +0000

The world is an ugly place, and there is no stronger influence on a little girl than her daddy. That is a horrifying and important charge.

I treat it seriously.

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know is a scary and important book. Scary, because the statistics of what happens to "one-in-four", "one-in-three", and one-half" of all girls is sobering. Important, because it hammers home what dad's can do -- emotionally, physically, and spiritually to fight for their daughters, in hopes of avoiding them becoming statistics.

I say, "In hopes of", because the reality is the world is a broken place, and sadly, bad things happen. But part of this book is about equipping your daughters to be resilient, and (perhaps unintentionally), nods toward preparing dads being resilient, too.

The author (Dr. Meg Meeker, MD) is a female pediatrician, and has tremendous insight, experience, and heart for girls and women. I was a bit leery of a woman talking about parenting for males, but she roots it firmly in what she knew as a young daughter, knows as an adult daughter, a parent of daughters, and a practicing pediatrician well-versed in her clients and the research on the issues. I felt she was a bit off a couple of times, because she's not herself a father of daughters (obviously), so she's not "living it" like her target audience is -- but nothing that detracted from the book or its points.

Having finished the book, I'm now passing it around to other dads of daughters. We sign our names and our daughters' names, as an ongoing log and legacy of dads fighting for our girls.

A lot

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:50:00 +0000

So, I went to spin through the last few years of my "reading reviews" blogs, and find the last 1.5 years missing. Missing!

Sucks hardcore. And the borkedness doesn't stop there. While blogger.com says my last post was in February of 2009 (still too far in the past), it only shows posts through June -- of 2008.

There are not enough expletives in the world to explain how I'm feeling.

But that's why you don't rely on a blog as a record of history -- 'cause they'll delete your history.

[Blankety blank blank blank ...]

Reading Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:51:00 +0000

Reading Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2. Dear Marvel, Please stop selling me reprint titles I've already bought as "backup stories".

Captain America

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:26:00 +0000

Reading Captain America #601 - vampires, courtesy of Gene Colan.

Astonishing X-Men

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:28:00 +0000

I'm reading Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men. This is how you put together a comic - despite the uneven art (what up, Cassaday?)

Goodbye, Katchen - I miss you already.

Secret Invasion

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 20:02:00 +0000

I'm reading Secret Invasion #3. Rocking universe twisting. Is someone keeping a Marvel U body count?

Makes for a long read, thanks to Leinil Yu - gotta catch all the Skrull/hero variants.

Avengers/Invaders

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:53:00 +0000

I'm reading Avengers/Invaders #2. The concept's ok, but it just doesn't resonate with the rest of what's going on in the Marvel U.

Can't quite put my finger on it.

I do dig the retroactive Bucky / Winter Soldier character consistency, though.

Hulk: Raging Thunder

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:09:00 +0000

I'm reading Hulk: Raging Thunder. Seriously, who green-lit this as a concept?

The New Avengers

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:00:00 +0000

I'm reading The New Avengers #41. I'm liking Billy Tan's art -- particularly his splash pages. I do miss Lenil Yu, though...

Star Wars: Legacy

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:05:00 +0000

Issues 23 and 24. Now we're getting more Star Wars-ish!

Thor: Ages of Thunder

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Wed, 07 May 2008 04:58:00 +0000

I'm reading Thor: Ages of Thunder. It's not Straczynski, but I still like Fraction. And this is a different style for him.

Captain Marvel #5

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 04:32:00 +0000

The sentiment for this series works for me; the underpinnings do not.

Captain America: The Chosen

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 14:41:00 +0000

I just finished reading Captain America: The Chosen, #6. I'm more OK with it than I was. They definitely finished the series appropriate to the spirit of the character.

Captain America

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:38:00 +0000

Disliking - strongly disliking - the new suit, but totally digging Captain America #34.Brubaker and Epting are top-tier.

The Amazing Spider-Man

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 04:41:00 +0000

The Amazing Spider-Man #545 finishes out the "One More Day" arc.

Too easy to give spoilers, but it was good, _and_ I'm not happy.

X-Men: Dark Messiah

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 21:44:00 +0000

I'm weeks behind in my comic book reading.

Among the things I read today was the X-Men: Dark Messiah one-shot / lead-in to the most recent X-book crossover.

I was going to wait and catch this later in trade format, but Ed Brubaker continues to amaze me (why do I not automatically read everything he writes?). It feels kinda "Mutant Massacre"-ish, which is maybe my previous favorite X-arc.

I may have to re-add the X-books to my pull list. This is dangerous; things go on my pull list, but they never come off ...

Punisher War Journal

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 04:48:00 +0000

Punisher War Journal #13 has Cory Walker art. I like Cory Walker art.

I'm just not sure I like it with Punisher War Journal.

I am stoked at what looks like an upcoming Matt Fraction rendition of an
old school super hero tale.

The New Avengers

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 04:31:00 +0000

The New Avengers #36 has some good moments (particularly the pillow talk
between Mr. And Mrs. Luke Cage).

But, hey, World War Hulk is over, so we don't need the filler stories
anymore.

The last splash page does have me excited, though.

Halo: Uprising

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Creighton) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 06:29:00 +0000

Halo: Uprising #2 finally freaking came out.

It's OK and all, but should have been back to back to back, just before
Halo 3.

I'm wondering who at Marvel has messed up scheduling commitments for Halo,
World War Hulk, One More Day, etc.