Elephantmen: Armed Forces (Review)

Armed Forces is a collection that includes the sold out graphic novel  War Toys (see: Book of the Month), War Toys: Yvette, & a couple of issues from the ongoing monthly, Elephantmen.  Richard Starkings continues the writing on this masterpiece of Pulp Science Fiction, while artwork is done by some of the greatest artists in the industry today....Moritat, Boo Cook, Ladronn, & Axel Medellin.

Yvette

While I must admit that Saga has taken over as the #1 comic book in my heart, Elephantmen takes a backseat to nothing else being published today.  Completely original, entertaining, with some of the best storytelling and artwork available....it's in a word: Awesome!

The Hardcover editions are breathtakingly gorgeous, with attached ribbon bookmarker, great binding....a very "real book" look and feel.

This volume is a prequel to the other Elephantmen volumes, showing the history and background on our main characters, the war fought in Europe between Central Africa & China, & the European resistance led by it's symbolic leader, Yvette. She is really the star of this volume, as she matures from naive little sister to unstoppable Force of Nature!

Dinosaurs vs. Aliens (Review)

Now this is an interesting concept.....which is definitely doubling as movie pitch for Barry Sonnenfeld (who is the director famous for the "Men in Black" film franchise).  Written by the Iconic Grant Morrison, with artwork done by Mukesh Singh & Liquid Studios.  The Graphic Novel is published by Dynamite Entertainment.

Just when I had given up hope that Grant Morrison could write a simplistic, straightforward, awesomely wonderful comic book like he did "back in the day" (I am referring to his JLA writing)....he writes this great piece of work!  So simple it's daring....so simple it's complex and mind-blowing!  Bravo, Grant Morrison, bravo!

I will be at my local cinema at 10am waiting in the Dinosaurs vs. Aliens line........I may have to leave occasionally (for work and showers), but I will be there on opening day!!!  On to the review...

Book of the Month January 2012

Entering into 2012, I can think of no other book to recommend for a new year than Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of The Universe!  "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it"; a quote of Irish Statesman Edmund Burke, rings true from the beginning of time until now and until humanity ceases to exist.  This book; the first in a 3 volume series, explores history from the Big Bang to Alexander The Great's conquests.....and is the most informative, most entertaining, most easy-to-learn-&-remember  history book I've ever read!! 

Larry Gonick is a Doctor of Math from Harvard University who loved history, so read...and read....and read....and read some more, and put together volumes of history written on a middle-school/high-school level, and drawn in a way that is factual and entertaining at the same time.  With a sense of humor; and sometimes irony, Gonick has provided mankind with what may be one of it's greatest works.....rivaling Plutarch, Josephus, or any other historian that has existed down through the ages.

Elephantmen: Questionable Things (Review)

The fourth volume of the wonderfully awesome Elephantmen series, Questionable Things continues to ask questions....and does answer some as well.  In fact, just about every question that I'd asked since I began reading this series was answered in "Q.T.", including a "hint" at possibly the biggest question of them all (going way back to the ending of Elephantmen: Concrete Jungle, released several years ago), does Sahara really die?

The impressive thing about this volume is the amount of different artists that contributed their work (especially in Issue #25, which had 26 different artists).  The amazing thing that makes it even more impressive is that they didn't lose the tone or feel of the story!  That is a very difficult thing to accomplish when you have so many artists working on the same project (I've seen books with just a couple artists lose the feel and tone  of the story).  Great job by all the artists involved in Questionable Things...and of course, to the mastermind of it all, Richard Starkings.

Book of the Month: December 2011

Imagine a world where a small spacecraft from far, far, away crash lands.....not in Kansas, but rather 12 hours later....in the Ukraine. Raised in the Soviet Union, taught the beliefs of the communist, dedicated to the Proletariat against any and all threats....what would Superman be like? SUPERMAN: RED SON explores and challenges the mythos of comic's greatest icon.  This is one of the best Superman books ever published, a self-contained story that would make a great Christmas gift for the comic book fan in your family!

(from President Eisenhower) "My fellow Americans, it has long been the duty of this great office to make public those developments which may affect our standing as a free and democratic Nation.  I regret to inform you that such a development took place this morning.

The Soviet Authorities today released to the world, secret government pictures of a costumed individual more effective than our hydrogen bomb...an alien Superman committed to communist ideals whose very existence threatens to alter our position as a world superpower forever..."

Serenity: Those Left Behind (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

Those Left Behind was the first in a string of Comic Books based on Joss Whedon's hit TV series Firefly and the subsequent film Serenity. The volume takes place in the time-span between where the cancelled TV series ended and the movie picks up.

A wonderful introduction by Nathan Fillion....which inspires hero worship for the Castle TV series' star.....is followed by strait-up action and gunslinging! A great way to start, delving right into our beloved motley crew of Serenity's day-to-day life on the fringe planets.  Always looking to misbehave, (sometimes through no fault of their own) Mal, Zoe, & Jayne need rescuin', which comes in the form of Shepherd Book.

Elephantmen: Dangerous Liaisons (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

If you are not already aware, Elephantmen is the best comic book being published today! Period.  I know fans of other books may argue, and I myself do have some favorite characters that would rank higher....but in issue after issue the Writing is brilliant, the Artwork is breathtaking, the Lettering is top-of-the-industry, and the Inking is perfect for the look and feel of this series....EVERY SINGLE ISSUE, EVERY BOOK!!!  When you purchase the volumes you just want to set them on your bookshelf and admire them for hours! Then invite your friends to come look (but DON'T TOUCH!) as well.  I can not recommend this title enough, IT IS the best overall title being published today! Period.

Green Lantern: Brightest Day (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

Geoff Johns strikes gold once again with Brightest Day.  This volume is worth reading just for Larfreeze & Dexstarr alone. The "leaders" of the various Lantern Corps converge upon Earth in search of the missing Light-Spectrum Entities.  The interactions between Hal Jordan, Carol Ferris, Sinestro, Atrocitus, Larfreeze, Saint Walker, and the mysterious Indigo-1 are explosive, intense, & sometimes humorous.  Doug Mahnke's artwork is perfect, especially the appearance of ____, who is angry!!

Justice League of America by Brad Meltzer (Review)

Brad Meltzer is a great writer, both in the Comic Book Industry and in Fiction Novels. He offers a great blend of emotions with action and plots that bring out the best and worst in his characters and captures your imagination. The only criticism from me about Meltzer's writing is he doesn't write enough.....we haven't seen his work in comics since he left the Justice League of America at issue #12. I would love to see him come back and work on some more JLA, or Flash, Superman/Batman, etc.....really, I'd buy whatever he decided he wanted to write.....the following are his three volumes of the Justice League of America.

Blackest Night (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

The mega-event of comics in 2010, Blackest Night shocked the world and has changed the DC Universe forever! There has always been the green light of willpower, channeled into rings and distributed to those with the ability to overcome great fear by the Guardians of the Universe. These individuals who received rings are known as the Green Lantern Corps, and are the police force of the Universe.

But none of the Green Lantern Corps were aware that other colors in the light spectrum were capable of doing the same as their green light of willpower.....until Sinestro; the long-time nemesis of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, discovered Parallax and became the leader of the Sinestro Corps, whose yellow light of fear sought to maintain order in the universe. (see: Green Lantern by Geoff Johns review for details on the Sinestro Corps war and other volumes leading up to Blackest Night...)

Now there are eight corps of the light spectrum.....Green (willpower), Yellow (fear), Blue (hope), Red (rage), Violet (love), Orange (avarice), Purple (compassion), and Black (death). As the different Lantern Corps fight one another over which light is more powerful and pure, the Black Lanterns move secretly....watching, waiting, for the most opportune time to rid the universe of light altogether!

Elephantmen: Fatal Diseases (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

Fatal Diseases is the 2nd volume of the Elephantmen monthly series. Richard Starkings continues his genius writing skills with the help of such current greats as Jeph Loeb, & Kurt Busiek. The great artwork of Moritat is complimented by other great artists such as Ian Churchill, Boo Cook, Tim Sale, & Ladronn. My original review of Fatal Diseases was more a vague exposition on the greatness of the series and hero-worship of Richard Starkings...lol. This review is far more in depth.

The volume starts off as we meet Trench; the one-eyed zebra-human hybrid, as he and other law enforcement officers seek to put a stop to Serengheti's underground & illegal activities. Hip Flask & Ebony Hide are there as well, and we hear Trench's favorite expression for the first time...."Blood & Sand".....which he yells at Hip & Ebony as they discuss the women in their lives while bullets fly around them. Trench gives Ebony a gun to help in the firefight, which brings flashbacks to Ebony as we learn how Trench lost his eye. We also see "Joe" for the last time (you'll recall him from the first couple of pages of Volume 1: Wounded Animals),

Elephantmen: Wounded Animals (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome!

The Elephantmen monthly comic book series is the best in the industry today! Richard Starkings's creation stands in a class of it's own....and is definitely the best creator-owned comic, period. As much publicity as Kick-Ass (the Marc Millar owned title) has received in the last couple of years, it did not have the characters or plot to be an ongoing series like the Elephantmen. My previous review of Wounded Animals was a vague overview, this review is more in-depth.

This first volume of the Elephantmen series introduces us to the main characters and the overall theme and plot of the series....Hip Flask, Ebony Hide, Obadiah Horn, Sahara, Miki, & Savannah. Starkings' great strength as a writer is his ability to take seemingly unconnected events and short stories and weave them together into long, winding masterpieces.

Superman/Batman by Jeph Loeb (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

The Superman/Batman series is AWESOME!! How; if you are a fan of either character...or even more if a fan of both, can you not love and collect this great series? I find myself asking that question more and more as I see sales dwindling every month to the point that the "cancellation" whispers have begun....the only answer I can come up with is that Jeph Loeb is no longer writing the series. He IS that good!!

Loeb wrote the first four Volumes of the Superman/Batman series that generally sold around 80,000-100,000 issues per month (compared to the 30,000-40,000 that it is selling now under different writers).....making it one of DC's best sellers. The "out-of-continuity" series was in a universe all it's own, with Loeb as mastermind of this universe, and include the following volumes:

Elephantmen: Fatal Diseases (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

Volume Two of this incredible series isn't quite as great as Volume One, only because the first volume (Wounded Animals) was so great that nothing could possibly equal it! Elephantmen: Fatal Diseases details the continuing, complicated lives of Hip Flask, Ebony Hide, Obadiah Horn, and the rest of the survivors of MAPPO's genetic experiments in Los Angeles, 2259, as a meteor falls in Santa Monica Bay and a new epidemic must be contained! The characters converge in cataclysmic fashion, showing the deeper elements within the Elephantmen's lives.

Elephantmen: Wounded Animals (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

The first seven issues of the Elephantmen on-going series are collected in this deluxe volume. In the year 2224, a mad scientist named Dr. Kazushi Nikken creates giant human-animal hybrids....elephants, rhinos, camels, zebras, crocodiles, etc. After brainwashing them into an army of fearless killers, he sends them off to kill. But the United Nations liberates the elephantmen and integrates them into society.

That's the basis of the series, which offers an original look into racism, xenophobia and globalism.

Elephantmen: War Toys (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

The story of the war to end all wars now in one volume! The prequel to Image's hit series, Elephantmen! Africa and China are at war. The battlefield: Europe, recently devastated by a lethal virus. Enter: MAPPO's soldiers, The Elephantmen. Even in the face of blistering resistance, it seems that nothing can stop MAPPO's advance across France to the North. But as Hip Flask comes face to face with the last vestiges of humanity in the frozen Scandinavian wastes, he discovers that only the dead see the end of warfare.

Hip Flask: Concrete Jungle (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

This volume, The Big Here & The Long Now, is fabulous! I can't over-state the beauty of the story and the artwork!

The story takes place in 2162....They are the survivors of genetic engineering experiments and indoctrination by Doctor Kazushi Nikken and MAPPO, a sinister organization which sought to create superhuman weapons of mass destruction. Now, freed and rehabilitated by the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, the "Unhumans" now live amongst men. Legitimized by the Elephantmen Act, they are nevertheless denied the right to bear arms and must survive on their wits alone... Collecting Hip Flask: Elephantmen and Hip Flask: Mystery City into one handsome volume.

Written by Richard Starkings, with artwork by Casey & Ladronn....this is the second volume in the growing Elephantmen series.

Hip Flask: Unnatural Selection (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

The Elephantmen Series from Image Comics, created & written by Richard Starkings is arguably the best on-going comic series in the industry right now! Hip Flask: Unnatural Selection was the beginning....setting up the future volumes, and showing the futuristic world of Hip Flask, Ebony Hide, & Obadiah Horn...among others.

Batman: Hush Trilogy (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

Hush is the best new villain of The Batman's Rogues in a long time. He's intelligent, diabolical, a master surgeon, and jealous to the point of murder. Plus, He knows who Batman is! This review covers the three Hush Volumes to date....Hush, Hush Returns, & Heart of Hush.

Only Hush receives the "Awesome" grade individually, but as a whole they do deserve the highest acclaim! They were written at different times, and are NOT part of an event (like No Man's Land, Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, or War Games). I included them all so the avid Batman fan can see the whole of Batman's newest and possibly most dangerous enemy....Hush!

Green Lantern by Geoff Johns (Review)

Citizen's Grade: Awesome.

I was never really interested in Green Lantern until Hal Jordan returned in Rebirth. Since then I am a huge GL fan, often left mindboggled by the jaw-dropping storylines and awesome artwork. Geoff Johns is a master storyteller, and his work often builds into mega-events (The Sinestro Corps War, Blackest Night, & Brightest day to name just the Green Lantern events). He has taken the Green Lantern character into never before seen directions (hard to do with Comic Book "Icon" Characters), and I wait with great anticipation for every volume as it becomes available.

Johns has worked with some of the best artists in the industry, my favorite being Ethan Van Sciver who implemented the idea that each Green Lantern's ring energy would manifest itself differently based on their personalities. Other Artists include Carlos Pacheco, Ivan Reis, Daniel Acuna, Patrick Gleason, & Philip Tan.