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!

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.

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.

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),