The Fantastic 4 issue 60/489, by Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo, and Karl Kessel, 2002 , Marvel Comics

Anyway, this thing was surprisingly good. It's sort of a reinvention of the Fantastic Four, as the plot revolves around Mr. Fantastic, the team's leader, hiring an ad agency to update their image for the modern age. So, this marketing guy gets to live with the Four for a week, to try to come up with ways to keep the group's popularity up. This was a really neat twist, and made for a novel comic experience, at least for me. The ending's really neat, too, but I won't spoil it for you. At this price, you can buy your own copy. Even though I liked this comic a lot, I doubt I'll get any more in the series. I could always surprise myself, though.

Full Metal Panic! mission 1, by Shouji Gatou and Retsu Tateo, 2001, Kadakowa Shoten Publishing and Newtype USA

The story itself is very odd. The art is very nice, and the two main characters have a lot of personality. In short, here's the situation: Kaname Chidori is a high school student. She is somewhat hyper, has nice hair, and is the class vice president. Sosuke Sagara goes to the same high school, but is very different from Kaname. He is an exchange student from somewhere inside a warzone, so he is very jumpy and takes everything as a grave threat. The story involves the interplay between these two characters. In short, Sosuke seemingly overreacts to every situation as he tries to protect Kaname from all harm, which drives Kaname insane.

In this story, Kaname gets so fed up with Sosuke's antics that she forbids him to even be in her sight. Right after this, Kaname ends up getting assaulted by some guys, and right before they start "having fun" with her, Sosuke shows up and shoots them all with rubber bullets. The story ends with Kaname giving Sosuke a special lunch and telling him that it's OK if he is in her sight that day. I think Kaname suffers from violent mood swings. I also get the impression that there's a lot going on here that we're not aware of yet. Since it comes bundled in a magazine that I subscribe to, I'm sure I'll be reading more of it in the future.

Full Metal Panic! volume 1, by Shouji Gatou and Retsu Tateo, 2003, ADV Manga

For the most part the stories here are variations on the central theme of "Sosuke is over-zealous in protecting Kaname from non-existent threats that sometimes really are threats." For example, someone will hand Kaname something that she dropped, and Sosuke thinks it's a bomb or something so he attacks the nice person. However, sometimes Sosuke rescues Kaname from a gang trying to molest her or attack her in some way. Also, this book contains some stories that provide a small view into the larger events going on with Sosuke's organization, Mithril, and the last story in this book brings into play two new Mithril members.

ADV Films (another part of the ADV family) is releasing the Full Metal Panic! anime, of which I have the first volume. The stories seem similar, with this book covering the first 3 episodes of the anime. There are events included here that aren't in the anime, and the manga seems to be focusing on the humorous aspects of the story, while the anime swings between being silly and being serious. If you like the anime you will probably like the manga. If you haven't seen the anime then you may like the manga; it is pretty silly and horribly unrealistic, but it IS funny. If that's what really matters to you, then go for it.

Full Metal Panic volume 3, by Shouji Gatou and Retsu Tateo, ADV Manga

After that we have Tessa, Sosuke's commanding officer, going undercover as an exchange student at his and Kaname's school, so that Tessa can gather more information about Kaname. Kaname sees Tessa go into Sosuke's apartment and gets horribly jealous (not realizing that Sosuke's apartment is actually a special operations command center), and then Tessa has to smoothe things out. After that Sosuke and Kaname go to the zoo, and then they and some classmates go to the beach. Wheee. Sorry, folks, but that's not enough to make me feel like my $10 was well spent. So, I'll probably drop this series unless I can find future volumes on sale or something.

For*Eternity issues 1-4, by Rod Espinosa, 1997-1998, Antarctic Press

It's a very interesting series. It's all black & white, which is fine for me, but some American comics readers abhor B&W books, so consider yourself warned. Outside of that the art is pretty good. Rod Espinosa's more current stuff looks better, naturally, but I've seen some of his earlier stuff and it looks a lot worse. The art is very readable, and works well for the story.

Ah, yes, the story. In the first issue we are introduced to Hazelle (see cover to issue 1) and her companion Michi. They are "Ayeokin," some sort of immortal being. They are searching for something; we as the readers don't know what it is until the end of the series, but time is of the essence because there is another group, led by Rhizza, another ayeokin, who are after the same thing. The story probably wouldn't be very interesting if that's all there was, but there are many other groups that weave in and out of the story, one of the largest being the GDF, a para-military unit that is part of the UN. There's also some groups of super-heroes that play a part in the story, though to be honest their main role is to be mocked, as they get their asses handed to them by some Marine snipers. I think they're just there so the author can make fun of the superhero genre of comics.

For the most part I liked this series, but there were some things that really didn't make much sense. For example, in the second issue we get to meet Biyonne, another ayeokin. She goes to LA to rescue Hazelle, but on her way she pays a visit to the headquarters of some group that had humiliated her in the past. The problem with this is that it comes totally out of left field, and then goes right back to left field. I really has nothing to do with the overall story of this series at all, and really didn't fit. There's a couple things like that throughout the series, and it makes me wonder if this series is part of a larger canon of work that I am unaware of. Maybe it makes sense to somebody, but it didnt' to me. Outside of that, though, it's a really fun series that I recommend trying out if you come across an issue somewhere.

Finder, Sin-Eater volume 1, by Carla Speed McNeil, 1999, Lightspeed Press

This is the only book I bought at SPX on a dare. I had walked by this table around 2PM. I recognized the artist's name from her Mystery Date comics that had run in the Mythography anthologies, so I stopped at the table and talked to the guy for a little while. He could tell I wasn't going to buy anything, so he gave me a free copy of issue 32 of Finder and told me to read it at lunch. If I liked it, then I needed to come back and buy the first TPB. Free comics are something I can't turn down, so I took him up on his offer. Wouldn't you know it, I found the comic very intriguing (even though I didn't understand anything that was going on), so I returned later in the day and bought this book.

I liked this book, though I can't really say why. I can't even really say that anything happened, storywise, either. The reader is constantly bombarded with new information, whether it is now material about the setting (a huge, domed city somewhere in what may be the future, but you don't know for sure), new characters, or memories of said characters (there are a number of flashback sequences). There is a good sense of wonder and discovery prevalent here, as you are constantly seeing new things and discovering new little tidbits about the setting and the characters. At the end, though, I'm not sure that anything really happened.

If I had to guess, I would say that the book is really about Jaeger, a "finder" (whatever that is) that seems to just wander through life. He has some standard stops, but other than that he is your basic drifter, though he seems to have some interesting abilities that let him survive things others couldn't. I'm not really sure the book is about him, though. I have a feeling that the setting is the real star here, not any one of the inhabitants. At the end of the day, though, I'm just not sure. I'm also not sure if I'll be picking up any more of the TPBs, but if I saw one in a store and the price was right, I probably would.

One final note: there's some "adult" humor in here, so don't let the kids read this book, okay?

Finder volume 2, by Carla Speed McNeil, 2000, Lightspeed Press

This book continues the story from the first volume, which revolves around Jaeger, a highly complex character who is both a Finder (a type of scout or ranger), as well as a Sin-Eater for his old tribe (someone who takes the punishment for the actions of another). Jaeger is involved with a family from one of the tribes that lives in the city in which the story takes place. On the plus side, all of the characters are well-developed and interesting in their own right. On the down side, a lot of the story is flashback and constantly jumping perspective, which sometimes makes it hard to follow. In fact, sometimes I couldn't tell what was going on or how the characters got from one place to the next; things just happen, and there isn't a full explanation of it.

So, this isn't a book for everybody. I'm also not convinced that it is a book for me, as it is hard to follow and more than a little weird. Still, I like the artist's style, so I enjoy looking at the pictures. I just wish that her storytelling style was tighter and didn't ramble all over the place.

Fractured Kisses issues 1 and 2, edited by Gina Biggs, 2001 & 2002, Moonation Comics

The first issue contains two stories: "Pasokon" by Gina Biggs and "Shopping for a Kiss" by Robin Sobolewski. I found "Pasokon" to be very touching and sad, and it ended about the only way it could. It isn't a "happy" ending, but I found it very well done and was impressed by the story. The art was serviceable, but not at the same quality level. "Shopping" was also pretty good, though this story was more in the traditional "boy meets girl, they fall in love, the end" mode. The art here is pretty good for an amateur work, though it could stand some improvement. Overall, the first issue was a good starting point for the series.

The second issue, which includes four stories for the same price, is actually a pretty good deal. Or, I should say, it is a good deal if you like the stories. Ms. Biggs and Ms. Sobolewski have stories in this issue, but the first two stories are by newcomers. "Junction4" is, I must admit, total crap. The art is under-developed (perspective is often way off), and the "man" in this story is the most effeminate thing I have ever seen in my life. Gah! I couldn't handle it. "Seek," by Grace Ho, is a surprisingly touching story that is hampered by a short page count; it felt rushed, and Ms. Ho could definitely stand to learn how to letter her own work, but the underlying skills of a good storyteller are evident, so hopefully she will improve with practice. "If the Jacket Fits" continues the story from "Shopping" in the first issue, and this story is really cute. It was a lot of fun to read. At the end we get "Deck the Halls," a Christmas story from Gina Biggs using characters from a previous work of hers. This story is also pretty cute, though I imagine that if I knew the characters it would be more enjoyable. The art here is the best in the series so far, so combine that with a good story and you've got a winner. I think these books come out about once a year, and you can get the first three issues from the publisher. If you have an interest in this kind of thing, check it out.

Fractured Kisses issues 3 & 4, edited by Gina Biggs, 2003 & 2004, Moonation / Strawberry Comics

Anyway, these issues include a number of stories. Issue 3 includes a stand-alone story by Gina about two high school kids that find love, as well as the conclusion to Robin Sobolewski's story about Kouichi and Eriko. They are almost torn about, but they find love at last! Not that I was worried, or anything. Also included is a silly story with great art about some Polynesian tribal folks who find love. The art here is good, and the story was interesting because nobody actually spoke. That made it feel like an old-style story. The last story was a folk tale about a giant who also found love in the end, just not where he was looking for it.

Issue 4 is darker. Robin and Gina both start up new series, which have dark overtones of death (though Robin's story has comedic edges to it). I particulary like the character design for Arisu in Gina's story; she looks fantastic and has like the best hair ever, though Gina can't seem to get her legs right. The final story is by newcomer Ann Fujita, and has the sappy, everyone-finds-true-love-in-the-end-except-for-the-jerk-who-rejects-the-girl-initially kind of plot that I expect in my Fractured Kisses books.

The books are a pretty good value at $4 for 64 pages, though with an annual anthology I would think that getting a larger book, maybe 96 pages with a $6 or $7 price tag would work better. Gina, you make me wait so long between books! I want more!

Fade From Blue volume 1, by Myatt Murphy and Scott Dalrymple, 2003, Second 2 Some Studios

My main problem with it is that it just doesn't really go anywhere. Iya and She-sa have man problems, Christa has different kind of man problems, and Marit has ice in her veins. So, everyone goes about their lives, doing whatever it is they do (have job problems, write articles, go to a clinic, work on muder cases, whatever), and then the book ends. No closure of any kind, no payoff, nothing. Yes, some of the back story about the father develops, but I can't say that it developed enough to make me want to read any more in this series. Overall, this book was pretty disappointing.