Comic Review: From Hell

Well, this was a horrible story. I honestly don't know what I thought it would be. I guess I had hoped it would have a happier ending than it did, but it's a story about Jack the Ripper, so I made the wrong assumption. The story woven by Alan Moore was a brilliant one that I would believe. A little Wikipedia research showed that there were many Ripper suspects, but me being partial to Free Mason conspiracy theories sees truth in this one if nothing else.
That being said this book was not an enjoyable read and not just because of the subject matter either. Anytime Sir William Gull was on the page the text was going to be mind numbing. He was insane and he had insane out of body experiences that lasted 10 pages at least. The last victim he killed in her home and having the time and privacy to do more to her he would have flashes of teaching in a surgical theater or of strange men calling him a different name. His ramblings were very existential and so so boring. I tried so hard to appreciate what Moore was telling through this character, but it was a little too much to hold my interest. That certainly doesn't make it bad writing it just doesn't make it entertaining writing.
I was surprised though that I found a character that I liked. Inspector Abberline was a very human character to juxtapose with William Gull's transcendent ambitions. He hated Whitechaple, felt out of place with his middle-class wife and wanted to catch this killer. His psuedo-romance with one of the victims was sad and touching at the same time. The parts of the story that focus around him were the parts that actually entertained me because they happened in real time, unlike Gull's out of body experiences.
Though Abberline wasn't the hero of the story-because no one was- you understood and accepted the decisions he made and sympathized with him all the same.
I'm happy to be able to check this book off my list it's made me feel accomplished if nothing else.

Comic Review: The Walking Dead: Days Gone By

Author: Robert Kirkman

Artist: Tony Moore

Published: September 26, 2006

An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe, causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. In a matter of months, society has crumbled: There is no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV. Rick Grimes finds himself one of the few survivors in this terrifying future. A couple months ago he was a small town cop who had never fired a shot and only ever saw one dead body. Separated from his family, he must now sort through all the death and confusion to try and find his wife and son. In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally begin living.

I have this thing I do on Goodreads where I have to look at bad reviews of books. If I'm iffy about a book before I pick it up I'll look at the bad reviews then. If I really liked the book (or didn't like it at all) I'll look at the reviews after to see what other people felt about them and why.

I had bought Days Gone By sometime after the first season of The Walking Dead came on television. I had never been drawn to anything that was zombie related before then, but after the show got a huge follow I was curious about it and watched along. I thought the show was really well done and was curious about the original story. However, since the very beginning of the book and the first episode were mirrors of one another I put it down for the time. I finally came back to it at the beginning to this month thinking enough time had past that I wouldn't be bored with it or find it repetitive. After I finished this volume I consulted Goodreads for a sort of guideline on how I should write this review. I found an odd amount of 'one star' reviews so of course I had to read them, and now I feel like I have to defend this book.I haven't read past the first six issues of this series, and it seems like a lot of the one star reviewers didn't either so I feel like we're on equal ground.
*Reviewer's complaint #1- The plot was too simplistic.
Duh. It's an intro to an ongoing series Kirkman can't throw all the "drama of the show" at you at once. It would be schizophrenic and you feel lost and frustrated. The show had a similar build up in the first few episodes it just threw in more controversial characters at first to draw you in. That's what shows do.
*Reviewer's complaint #2- The art was messy.
I'm a stickler for art especially in a graphic novel and though Tony Moore's style isn't my favorite I think its simple lines and black and white coloring was a good choice. That way it didn't focus on the gore of the actual zombies but on the people around them. I also believe that he purpose left details out of a lot of the faces in the camp because you weren't supposed to be attached to them or even recall their faces much as I'm sure the characters themselves won't remember those faces after a while.
Reviewer's complaint #3- There was no character development.
First, and again this was introducing the main characters in this series. We as readers should probably get to know their thought processes first before they develop so we can see it as it happens.
Second. Did you just forget about Carl? I know he's a child but I would totally consider him as a more developed character by the end of the book. Same goes for Shane. Sure, I will agree that there wasn't much development as far as Rick and Laurie go but again this is part of a series and not a stand alone book so I'm not worried.

Comic Review: Ultimate Captain America

Ultimate Captain America is a 4 issue series written by Jason Aaron with art by Ron Garney. It caught my eye when I was looking for different characters to read to broaden my spectrum in the comic world. I'm reading the Uncanny Avengers (amazing, so far) and I read Avengers vs. X-Men (also, extremely well done) but nothing with Cap on his own. I liked Ultimate Captain America because it was short.

The outline of the story is this- while on a mission in North Korea Captain America runs into Frank Simpson the man they tried to make the Captain America during the Vietnam War. However, Frank went crazy and switched sides. 

The series really tested Captain America's character; Frank believed that America was evil and tried to show Cap the light by telling him all of the horrible things the government had done expressly President Nixon. Even though this was a short series it took me over a month to read. I have always had a hard time stomach torture scenes and vol. 3 is full of them. Despite that and a little bit because of it this was a well done series that really pushed the character of Captain America and really showed how strong his beliefs are. I was really glad to see that they kept Cap's Christian roots and even allowed for a religious discussion in the fourth volume. 

The art in this series complimented the writing well. Everything was clearly defined and the colors were true to form. 

This series overall, was a good look at Captain America and what he stands for.

Have you read Ultimate Captain America? What do you think?

Happy Friday! Have a good Weekend!

Comic Review: Marvel Classics Pride and Prejudice

This is the second classic novel adaption that I've read in graphic novel form and it really was phenomenal.
Nancy Butler was able to condense the story of Pride and Prejudice without losing any of the good Austen-ness of it. She still showed the tension and evolution between Lizzie and Darcy and still kept the dialogue spot on.
My favorite part of the series was the covers of the five issues. They were designed like a teen girl magazine with tips on the cover.
The only thing that I wasn't ecstatic about was the art. The style didn't do anything for me, but it was well done nonetheless.

The story itself is phenomenal. I tried to read Jane Austen in middle school but wasn't ready for the types of story she presents. I was in my action phase I guess. Now, that I'm older I appreciate the story she weaves about this family and the decisions and follies these young women made and the effects it had on the rest of their family. Talk about endearing characters. The father was my favorite, the mother running a close second even though she's super silly.

Overall, Jane Austen creates a timeless tale and Nancy Butler does her justice and makes it less daunting at the same time.

Comic Review: 1602

As you know by this post I love Neil Gaiman. His novels are awesome and I've read several of them twice. I read The Sandman series last year and I enjoyed it overall, but there were some repeating themes that I got tired of toward the end. I expected some of the same themes in this series, but was pleasantly surprised that he reached outside that scope. 

In this series Neil Gaiman explores a "what if" situation. What if the Marvel universe started 300 years before it did. I went into to this expecting a mirror of the Marvel characters, but what I got was characters with similar qualities but essentially different people.

Nick Fury working for the Queen and having that crazy English loyalty. When Scottish James takes the throne Fury flees out of necessity to save the universe, but nothing less would make him betray England. He struggles with that fact for the rest of the series.

Magneto, the Grand Inquisitor, was my favorite character in the series. It was interesting that he was known for burning mutants at the stake. At first I didn't think it was true to form, but when it was stated that he only burned the ones who were physically identified and hid the passable ones away it was a lot like the modern Magneto. He would do anything for the superiority of the mutant race including sacrificing his own kind.

The way Gaiman incorporated so many characters into this story was artfully done, and the explanation for the storyline was interesting and a little over my head. 

There wasn't much of a main character in the series which was how it should have been, but Gaiman did focus on Dr. Strange more than I was expecting. I don't know anything at all about Dr. Strange so all I can say is I liked the character for the story, but I definitely liked his wife the best. 

My only complaint for this series was the limited exposure (and life) of Jean Grey, it was interesting that Gaiman incorporated the Phoenix aspect in her death she is my favorite X-Men though, so I am biased.

Overall, this was an enjoyable series, an interesting look at an alternate timeline beautifully written and expertly illustrated.

Have you read 1602?

Comic Review: A Study in Scarlet

I've always told myself that I'd read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories, and it hasn't happened yet.

I keep saying to myself "Oh, I'll get to it...after I read this."

Ben and I did listen to some of the stories on audiobook while packing up the apartment.

They seemed to be towards the end of the series.

A Study in Scarlet is the start of Sherlock Holmes series. It introduces Dr. Watson and Holmes.

The mystery deals with poison and Mormons. It was really entertaining but also a little odd (Mormons? Who knew they were so vicious).

This graphic novel was listed as an Illustrated Classic which means it was safe for children. Considering the time period that the story was original written I doubt it needed to be censored for content. 

I liked the graphic novel version it was still text heavy but it was split up enough that it was a fairly quick read. 

I was weary about the art at first-it's very caricature like- but the coloring was very detailed and it all work well together.

I would like to read the others in this series as well.

I also watched the first episode of the first season of the BBC series Sherlock.

A Study in Pink

It was extremely well done and I can see why the fandom is fierce.

So fierce it's a little off putting...

Happy reading!

Comic Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Okay, bear with me here this is my first review of a comic.

And, this is my first Batman Comic that I've read this decade.

That being said I don't think this was a good place for me to start back.

This also contains spoilers.

This comic was published in 1989 right before Warner Brother's came out with their Batman, and they asked that this comic be censored to a point. I think because of this a lot was lost in the story.

I read a review/summary on it after I read it through and it mentioned things like Batman dealing with his sexuality and a cannibalistic scene with Abraham Arkham that I totally missed.

I went back and read it through again and had to stretch my imagination on though scenes.

The artwork was beautiful in the book, but it didn't portray motion well. I don't think Dave Mckean wanted it too he went for an abstract approach I think that it was to focus on the emotional and psychological issues that were supposed to be happening.

However I sort of lost that in the writing. A lot of scenes turned out to be Batman wandering the halls of Arkham Asylum occasionally peeking in to see old rivals and getting his ass kicked by the Croc.

At that point I wondered why he came. He's Batman and he was doing what he was told by the Joker? What? and the only point I saw any psychological struggle was when he remembered his parent's murdered and whispered "Mommy?" Then he just lets all the villains go...

WHAT?

What kind of conclusion was that?

The comic was supposedly exploring a different side of Batman which it did, however it did it weakly.

Arkham's story was better and clearer.

If they had removed the almost random Batman side story I think they could have made it an interesting look in Arkham's history instead it turned into a vague exploration of the Batman that didn't quite go anywhere.