Comic Book Reviews – Alternative Mindz

Review:Grimm Fairy Tales: Alice In Wonderland #2

February 5, 2012Rob Leave a Comment

Wonderland created by Raven Gregory, Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco Written By Raven Gregory Pencils by Robert Gill colors by Jason Embury
Letters by Jim Campbell Edited by Ralph Tedesco

Okay we’ve all seen Grimm’s Fairy Tales titles on the shelf at the comic shop, the cover art tends to be very adult which always led me to believe that this book was fairy tale porn (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). I’ll admit that being the father of a five year old daughter this probably wasn’t going to be a book she’d see me buy. Now that I’m reviewing comics there are some that land in front of me that I probably wouldn’t have picked up otherwise, good thing or I would’ve missed out on this book.

True every woman in the book is overly endowed and scantily clad but let’s move past that for a moment and focus on the story. Alice in Wonderland is a very old book, written in 1865 by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carrol, (though I believe this comic is based on the 1872 novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There) it’s the story of the girl Alice who falls down a rabbit hole and has adventures with anthropomorphic creatures. It has been covered, parodied, retold, and re-imagined by countless authors, directors, artists and in countless mediums. So why would you read this one?

It’s pretty damn scary and really well done! Alice has just escaped from the clutches of The Jabberwocky, who is wonderfully freaky looking, and is continuing her journey through wonderland. But wonderland isn’t an easy place to travel, she immediately falls afoul of some of it’s denizens and is forced to fight for her life! In the meantime we see that there are forces at work trying to guide Alice’s journey, though the reasons have yet to be revealed!

All in all this book has strong characters which are beautifully, frighteningly, rendered. While the takes on the characters aren’t totally new, we’ve seen evil in wonderland before, they do have their own horrible twists. Two of my favorite Wonderlandians (that is SO totally a word!) in this version are The White Rabbit with his sick little red eyes and mottled fur and a very very sick evil looking Cheshire Cat.

My only knock has to be Alice’s outfit, it just doesn’t seem necessary to be wearing what amounts to the “Sexy Alice” costume you see every Halloween at Party City. As I read the issue I kept trying to figure out why she was wearing so little? Was there a costume orgy like thing going on where she found the rabbit hole? Does the Jabberwocky have some kinky wardrobe closet he was making her dress from? Maybe issue one explains it… Yea maybe I’ll go back and read issue one. Just for the sake of research of course….

Follow Chuck on Twitter @Chuck_Suffel and hit up his site at http://chucksuffel.wordpress.com/

Preview! Ice Age Iced In (kaboom!)

January 31, 2012Rob Leave a Comment

By Chuck Suffel

From kaboom! studios:

“Everyone’s favorite sub-zero heroes are back you won’t want to miss this. ICE AGE: ICED IN reunites prehistoric friends Manny the wooly mammoth, Sid the sloth, Diego the smilodon, Scrat the “saber-toothed” squirrel, and the rest of your Paleolithic pals in one big unforgettable icecapade. Venture out into the wild and pick up the only comic that gives you a license to chill!”

If you read this site you’re familiar with my quest for interesting all ages comics. I’ve brought my daughter up on Tiny Titans, Scooby Doo, as well as Mark Mariano’s HappLoo (more on that in a later post) and she’s thoroughly enjoyed all of it. This month I may have found something new to add to her collection.

I loved the Ice Age movies, it’s hard to believe the first came out around ten years ago (2002), when I saw this title in my Boom! previews I knew I had to have a look. The book looks great, the transition from moving to non moving imagery was done perfectly. The panels flow well and they were even able to tell the usual Scrat parallel story seamlessly. The characters work well in this medium and their mannerisms and voices are true to the films.

The only complaint I had was that the story was a too short, too simple. We read comics every month that pack drama and fun into 32 pages, this was written down to kids. What made these characters great in three separate movies was more than just Manny and Diego busting Sid’s chops or Sid acting like a lovable idiot, it was the challenges they faced and how their friendships grew. That was what made them interesting and lovable.

I would even go as far as to say if this is going to be someones introduction to these characters, don’t do it. Watch the movies, any of them, first then come back to this. If this were an ongoing series I could forgive the simpleness of this issue and hope for character and story depth later on but this isn’t being presented that way. So my resulting opinion has to be good book, could’ve been much better, wish there were going to be more but if this is being put out to test the waters? They severely underestimated the intelligence and depth of their audience.

Will my daughter read this title? Let me put it this way, she’ll be at the comic shop on February 1st, I’ll point it out. She likes it we’ll buy it, there’s no good reason not to. I just wish it were better, I wish it was one of those books I couldn’t wait to hand her.

ICE AGE: ICED IN
Written by Caleb Monroe
Drawn by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb
SC, 32pgs, FC, SRP: $3.99
COVER: Liam Sharp
ISBN: 9781608862528
Diamond Code: OCT110938

Follow Chuck on Twitter @Chuck_Suffel

VALEN THE OUTCAST #3 in stores Wed Feb 1st! (Boom! Studios)

January 31, 2012Rob Leave a Comment

By Chuck Suffel

VALEN THE OUTCAST #3 (COVER A)
Written by Michael Alan Nelson (@roquesdoodle)
Drawn by Matteo Scalera
Cover (A) Liam Sharp
SC, 32pgs, FC, SRP: $3.99
Diamond Code: NOV110826

In a recent review I was lamenting an issue number 4 of a book that had so much plot exposition there was nothing else to the book and after I finished it I still didn’t feel like I had a grasp of what was going on.

Well that’s not a problem here! Valen The Outcast is definitely plot heavy fantasy with all the weird unpronounceable names we’ve all come to expect but it’s done right. The story was really easy to get into and follow. I’d never even heard of this title before this issue and when I finished number 4 I felt I knew the characters, the world and how it worked. Not only that but I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

From Boom!:
“The King is dead — long live the DEAD KING! King Valen Brand was a just ruler and a great warrior until he was killed in battle by the necromancer Korrus Null and resurrected as one of the walking dead. Now he’s considered an abomination in his own realm, an outcast with only one purpose: to restore his lost soul… Valen has slaughtered his former allies, assembled a ragtag band of renegades and smugglers, and cut a path through his war-torn kingdom as a dozen armies vie for his old throne. But when Korrus Null’s right-hand man finally catches up with him, will Valen fall back under the Necromancer’s wicked control? From the mind of fan-favorite creator Michael Alan Nelson (28 DAYS LATER, ROBERT E. HOWARD’S HAWKS OF OUTREMER) and DEADPOOL artist Matteo Scalera comes OUTCAST, a visceral new ongoing series that’s perfect for fans of Game of Thrones and Conan!

Sounds good right? It really is! The writing is very smooth, character interactions work well and the plot moves nicely. It’s fun to read a book that knows what it wants to be. As for the art, I loved Scalera’s work in Knights of the W.T.F. and while this is a different style his detailed beautiful drawings coupled with Archie Van Buren’s (Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero) inks are just wonderful.

Here’s Matteo Scalera’s cover:

As it says above in the blurb from Boom!, Valen Brand was king, and a good one. First killed and now resurrected he’s on a quest to restore his soul, and his kingdom. The ragtag “team” described above, at this point, consists of a hill-girl and a brigand. Both are solid well nuanced characters and I hope they both stick around a while. I don’t want to spoil the story so I’ll just say it’s a forest chase with all manner of dangers, some from the forest and some from the evil that’s hot on Valen’s tail.

Here’s twos page from the preview just to give you an idea of the art:

Pick up this title or at least check it out at your local shop, it’s a well done addition to the sword and sorcery genre. And check out the links below for the artists’ and writers’ sites, they’ve got some more pages from this and other issues posted!

Micheal Alan Nelson’s blog mansmachinery.blogspot.com

Matteo Scalera’s blog matteoscalera.blogspot.com

Follow Chuck on Twitter @Chuck_Suffel

Winter Soldier #1 Spoiler Free Review

January 31, 2012Rob Leave a Comment

by Charles Suffel

Well tovarich (can tovarich be plural?) my secret contact has supplied me with the upcoming Winter Soldier comic and let me tell you it looks good! As evidenced here in the preview pages posted by Marvel.

First thought when I saw it was: hmm… ok looks good but what can they really do to fix all the silly Bucky is Cap was The Winter Soldier stuff they pulled? I guess time will tell.

They’re employing a kind of crime / spy story vibe, the visuals carry it well…

On to the writing and story, no sorry you’ll get no spoilers here. This cold war style romp teams up Black Widow, Natasha Romanov, and Winter Soldier, James “Bucky” Barnes, on what seems at first to be a chase to locate the rest of the Zephyr program, sleeper agents sent to the US for who knows what nefarious purposes. Will they catch up to whoever has the sleepers? Can they figure out the target or who could be behind waking the sleepers?

The dynamic between Natasha and Bucky has worked in the past and this time is no exception. Their relationship reminds me of what Green Arrow and Black Canary’s would be if they could cut out all the guilt and bickering. Every time DC puts those two together in a book you get like three pages of good story and the rest is all… Sorry for the tangent as I was saying, Natasha and Bucky work well together and they really play up the stealthy spy stuff in this first issue, as well as a little happy adult time. The plot moves smoothly along bringing the reader deeper into what was Bucky’s past as a Soviet agent and starts filling in the blanks right away. I haven’t read Captain America in a while so I don’t know how much was revealed concerning Bucky’s past and only recently did Black Widow get a mini showing some of the stuff she’d done for the Russians so this series definitely hooked me quick. The first issue gives us a good grasp of the what and why of it all and has a great reveal in the last pages.

It’s good to see that they haven’t abandoned Bucky after his stint as Cap and I’m always happy to see Natasha in a series. I have a funny feeling this will be a series I’ll follow for a while, I mean c’mon its Ed Brubaker if he can’t make espionage interesting then who can? Artist Butch Guice has long been a favorite of mine, his work on Ruse (Crossgen) with Mark Waid is still something I reread regularly. This first issue is a little murky at times, though that may have more to do with the fact that the action takes place at night. I’m waiting to see how issue two looks before passing judgement on the art.

This book doesn’t hit stores till February 1st. That’s more than enough time for you all to get down to your local comic shop and pre-order it!

Winter Soldier 1
Format: FC, 32pg., COMIC
Price: $2.99
UPC: 75960606876000111

REVIEW: Sumomomo Momomo

January 28, 2012Rob Leave a Comment

By Jeff Steward

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3OY0H102O_c/TyGvkm87hzI/AAAAAAAAAbk/in2rddmiQGY/s1600/Sumomomo+Momomo.gif

Sumomomo Momomo: The Strongest Bride on Earth

Written by: Shinobu Ohtaka Published by: Yen Press(USA) Young Gangan(JPN) Genre: Martial Arts, Romantic Comedy Volumes: 12

Synopsis: Momoko is the only child of the Kuzuryuu clan, a powerful martial arts family with inhuman strength. But strong as she is, her father fears a woman will never be able to master the skills of the family. Unless Momoko marries and bears a capable heir, the Kuzuryuu line is doomed to weaken and die off! With this mission in mind, Momoko is sent to the rival Inuzuka clan, where she is to marry the son of their mighty leader. But Koushi Inuzuka abandoned the martial arts long ago. Now committed to his legal studies, the last thing Koushi has on his mind is marriage — especially not to the world’s strongest bride!

Review:

So I picked up the first five volumes of Sumomomo Momomo when Borders was closing down having no real idea what the series was about beside marital arts. I like romantic comedies and I like marital arts but somewhere along the line the story just kind of died for me, it felt like a loop for about two volumes. Someone shows up they fight, girl proclaims loves for boy, and boy rejects girls’ advances… Blah blah blah… Luckily it picked back up and the story got interesting but by that time I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. The art work is solid and the characters are well drawn. Fight scenes are cool and have some nice action but nothing is outstanding about them. Sumomomo Momomo is a decent love story and a decent marital arts story and doesn’t bring anything new to the table or do anything to overly impress. OtakuStew.net gives Sumomomo Momomo: The Strongest Bride on Earth…

The whole thing is just kind of average, I was hoping more from the story and even though it’s not a great series I will continue to read it.

Follow Jeff on Twitter @CrazedOtakuStew

Review: Conan the Barbarian #1

January 28, 2012Rob 1 Comment

By Alex Vazquez

Conan the Barbarian #1brings us Robert E. Howard’s short story, ‘The Queen of the Black Coast’, in highly demanded comic form. To my knowledge, I haven’t read the original, but given how well Dark Horse handled King Conan (another great adaption of an REH story) I feel I am in good hands.

Most of the story in this issue is told in retrospect by the characters and serves as set up for thing to come. Moreover, it manages to be entertaining without any sword fighting or bloodletting (a feat for any Sword n’ Sorcery tale). I attribute this to Wood’s excellent character writing. He presents a young and very charismatic Conan whose rebelliousness is tempered with signs of greatness. I instantly found myself wanting to adventure with this Cimmerian lad.

Becky Cloonan’s art suits this point in Conan life. She draws us a more svelte hero in his early twenties, not the one with the gigantic mirth we have come to know (damn you Frazetta and Arnold).

Dave Stewart’s colors area appropriately morbid, especially in the pages where we glimpse the Black Coast Queen in question (drool). If she doesn’t haunt your dreams then you are no barbarian (I chide, I chide).

If you’ve never read the short story, then you owe it to yourself to pick this series up. Know ye now, O Prince!

Follow Alex on Twitter @Nettomono

Review: Peanuts #1

January 27, 2012Rob 1 Comment

By Robert Greenwood

Story by Vicki Scott, Shane Houghton, Charles M Schulz Art by Vicki Scott, Paige Braddok, Matt Whitlock

Colors by Lisa Moore, Bob Scott, Justin Thompson,Cover by Charles M. Schulz published by Boom

Review:
Growing up with the Peanuts had been something generations of people could collectively say. Then, one day Charles Schulz passed away. It has been a little over a decade ago, and It was a sure bet that the Peanuts went with him. Here we are 2012 and we finally get all new tales of Charlie Brown and the gang.

But,How does the book hold up?

If you thought only Charles Schulz could write for the Peanuts you would be sadly mistaken. But, I’m getting a little ahead of myself. The book isn’t a traditional comic book in the sense of a ” one” cohesive story. The book works more like a anthology, broken up with new short stories and a few classic Peanuts tales by Charles Schulz himself.

The stories not done by Schulz retain all the classic humor and character development we have come to expect from the world of Snoopy and Charlie Brown. There is so much to love about this series that its almost impossible to condense into a few paragraphs. The art work captures the essence of Schulz perfectly, but with a more dynamic perspective we have come to appreciate with modern comics.

It’s still amazes me how seeing Snoopy being used as a blood hound is still funny and classic Peanuts fair. Yet, the use of an almost Will Eisner-esque perspective shots gives new life in the once 2 dimensional world. If you are a fan of the Peanuts or if you have kids, this is a title you need to be collecting ASAP!

Follow Rob on Twittering @AltMindz

Review: Fathom Blue Descent #4

January 26, 2012Rob Leave a Comment

by Charles Suffel

David Schwartz – Story Alex Sanchez & Peter Steigerwald – Art John Starr – Colors Josh Reed – Letters

“Aspen Matthews is a child of two worlds. Born amongst the Blue, an underwater race, she was raised on the surface among humans. As a marine biologist aboard the experimental DMD facility she was awakened to her true heritage. Aspen, along with the help of Cannon Hawke, Protector of the Elite Council of the Blue, foiled a plot by the Blue dissident Killian to destroy both the surface and underwater worlds.

However, uncertainty remained concerning the events leading up to Aspen’s remarkable appearance on the Paradise ocean liner and the obscured truth surrounding her parents below the surface—until now…

Amidst the chaos and dangers within the secret citadel of the Black, Abseloma managed to find and rescue his captive wife Eilah. Now, the weight of the future of an entire civilization threatens to crush his plans for escape, as well as the Black’s powerful leader Rahger, who is still after both of their lives and closing in fast…”

This is the fourth book in Aspen Matthews’ origin story and it really ties up the loose ends well. I’m still not really clear why the people of the Blue, the Black, and the Humans are all enemies but at least I now totally understand how Aspen got to the surface world and why and what happened to her parents.

As for the art, the book is just beautiful, underwater scenery can be difficult but I think Sanchez & Steigerwald do a great job. I have to admit I’m not a huge fan of this type of fantasy I find it to be too complicated and the dialogue a tad over the top. But even for me, someone with limited experience with this series, this was an enjoyable book.

It hits shelves on Jan 25th, check your local comic shop!

Follow Chuck on Twitter @Chuck_Suffel

Hit up Chuck’s site http://chucksuffel.wordpress.com/

REVIEW: Gantz

January 26, 2012Rob Leave a Comment

By Jeff Steward

Written By: Hiroya Oku Published By: Shueisha (Japan) and Dark Horse Comics (USA) Age Rating: Mature (18+) Genre: Horror, Science Fiction

Synopsis:

Two high school students Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato are trying to save the life of someone who had fallen off the platform in a subway but wind-up getting killed in a horrific accident that leaves them asking a lot of question because even though the where killed somehow they did not die. After mysteriously being saved they are transported from the subway to a small house that is filled with total strangers who have just as many questions as them. Besides the people who are in the room with them there is a strange large black ball in the middle… The ball is called Gantz. After a few tense moments and some introductions’ Gantz starts playing music and we start to find out what is going on. The Gantz ball suddenly opens up to reveal a naked man with a breathing mask inside and racks of weapons protruding out of both sides of the sphere. At the same time text appears on the front of Gantz letting everyone in the room know that their “Lives have ended and now belong to” Gantz. A picture is also displayed on Gantz along with a description of a target that the group has to track down and kill. Gantz starts transporting the group out of the room and they cannot return until their target is eliminated or they end up being killed themselves. And so begins the mystery that is Gantz…

Review:

Gantz is one of the most messed up things I have ever laid my eyes on! The story is very original and highly entertaining. It is very graphic with some serious kill scenes, lots of blood and some nudity. Kei is the main character in the story and he is kind of a pervert with an over active teenage sex drive. He is extremely attracted to the main female in the story mainly because she is the first real live woman he has seen naked and because she has huge breast. When Kei Kishimoto is transported into the room with the rest of the group she is totally naked and Kei Kurono starts kissing her while she is passed out which pretty much sums up what kind of sex crazed kid he is.

Now Masaru Kato on the other hand is a protector of the week and a pretty up standing guy. He and Kei are friends from childhood but lost contact over the years until their fateful encounter at the subway. I like the balance that Kato brings to Kei in the story. The characters are well developed with some decent depth through the first four volumes; the art style is great with fantastic attention to detail. The enemies are not to over the top for a science fiction story which in my opinion is great for some level of believability. I am enjoying the manga so far and I’m really looking forward to getting more volumes to find out how the story ends up. I highly recommend this manga to any fan of the horror sci-fi genre; it is a very enjoyable read. Otakustew.net gives Gantz the manga…

Go To Jeff’s website http://www.otakustew.net/

Follow him on Twitter @CrazedOtakuStew

Review Conan Road of Kings

January 25, 2012Rob Leave a Comment

By Alex Vazquez

This trade collects the first six issues of Conan: Road of Kings. To the delight of many fans, it marks legendary writer Roy Thomas’ return to the Hyborian age. For those of you well versed in said mythos, this story takes place after the events of “Iron Shadow’s in the Moon”.

Mr. Thomas is in top form, masterfully spinning all the tropes one expects from a Conan tale; buxom damsels, hideous beasts, blood-drenched sword-play, foul sorcery, and chamber full of treasure. Throughout this story arc we are treated to Conan the pirate, thief, lover, and waaait for it…barbarian. It’s a satisfying journey that spans the Vilayet Sea, the back alleys of Shadizar, and the gilded city of Aurolla.

Regrettably, I can’t speak as highly about the artwork. While serviceable, it’s a bit too angular, lacking the more realistic style I’ve come to expect from such legendary artists as Frank Frazetta and Barry Smith. An unfair comparison to say the least, but it just suits the tone of the world, I feel.

The colors don’t do much to salvage the visuals either. There isn’t much variation in tone, adding to what I feel is a slightly ‘cartoonish’ look (for lack of a better term). If you don’t mind your barbarians looking like something from Cartoon Network, then you’re in for a solid Conan story that’ll suit your savage tastes.

Follow Alex on Twitter @nettomono