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Human Defense Corps issue 1, by Ty Templeton, Clement Sauve Jr., and Juan Vlasco, 2003, DC Comics This comic has one of the best covers I have seen in a long time. In fact, the cool cover is the only reason I bought this book. Lucky for me, it was really fun to read. The story revolves around a special US military unit that is formed to deal with alien invaders. This actually makes sense with the DC comics universe, as the superheroes are always fighting with aliens or monsters or somesuch. It's not like the US government would just ignore such a thing; putting together a special military unit is logical. This issue's story revolves around one person who signs up for the Human Defense Corps and is one of the few survivors of its first mission. The story is pretty cool, but it is also pretty melancholy, as it really doesn't matter what kind of technology you've got if you don't know what you're fighting against. Most of the guys can't even figure out what to do and they get their butts kicked. But it's still a cool book, and I'm definitely gonna get the rest of the series. |
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Hopeless Savages, by Jen Van Meter, Christine Norrie, and Chynna Clugston-Major, Oni Press Now this book was a real treat. The story is about a punk rock family, the Hopeless-Savages. They have that name because the dad is Dirk Hopeless, and their mother is Nikki Savage, so their kids have the last name 'Hopeless-Savage.' Very clever, I think. Anyway, there are two elements to the story. First, Dirk and Nikki get kidnapped, and their kids have to find them and rescue them. Second, the eldest son, Rat, has rebelled against the family, as some teenagers are wont to do. However, since he comes from a family of punkers, he rebels by becoming totally normal! This is hilarious and totally what you would really expect in that kind of situation. So, the second part of the story is the rest of the siblings tracking down Rat and re-punkifying him. The art here is handled by two very able ladies. Christine Norrie handles all of the 'present day' stuff. Her art is a little inconsistent, but it's good most of the time. I can forgive the few slips in quality, though, as her take on Zero, the youngest daughter, is just so adorably cute I can barely stand it. I just want to give her a great big hug. While Ms. Norrie handles the bulk of the work, all of the 'flashbacks' are drawn by Chynna Clugston-Major, of Blue Monday fame. I've been a big fan of hers for a while, and I can't find anything here to change my opinions of her work. The two ladies' styles are different enough that when the switch happens it can be a little jarring, but after a couple times you get used to it. On top of the art, the writing is top notch. All of the characters are British, so some Brit slang works its way into the story, as well as some Cockney phrases and other stuff that makes things a little unfamiliar, which I appreciated. I also really liked the dialogue between the siblings. The author really captured the love and stresses that close siblings have. Not perfectly, as Rat's transition back to punkdom was a little too clean after having been out of it for 10 years or so, but especially in the flashbacks the dialogue almost sparkles at time. Great stuff. If you're looking for a little different slant on things, and if you can stand Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher being called fascists, then you'll find a lot to like here. |
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Hopeless Savages volume 2, by Jen Van Meter, Bryan Lee O'Malley, and friends, 2004, Oni Press I read the first Hopeless Savages trade collection almost exactly 2 years ago. I had never seen the other volumes in stores until I was seeing my friend Joel back in the DC area last month. I bought them (naturally) and after reading this volume, I think I should have searched harder to find this stuff earlier. In the first volume of Hopeless Savages we were introduced to the most functional punk rock family in history, and there was a cute story about the kids saving the parents from a corrupt record producer. It wasn't anything earth-shattering, but it had good characters was entertaining. This volume focuses on the youngest member of the family, Skank Zero. Zero (not even her family calls her "skank") has boy problems, but not normal boy problems. Yes, jerky guys think that with the name she has, she must be loose, so she gets propositioned a lot, but the story really revolves around the trouble she gets into when she falls for the local gamer geek. Yes, you read that right, she gloms (her word, not mine) for this brilliant nerd. They have the standard misunderstandings, blah, blah, blah, and so on. This would all be fairly regular except for the author's wonderful use of flashbacks to tell the story. These same techniques were used in volume 1, and were in large part what made that story the success it was. The bulk of the first 3 chapters is actually Zero talking to the principals about why something rather bad happened, rather than a straight, linear telling of the story. On top of that, all true flashbacks where people talk about the more distant past are actually illustrated by other artists, so you can visibly tell when you have entered a flashback scene. Christine Norrie, the original volume's artist, is on a lot of these, but my fave Chynna Clugston is also involved. Good stuff. I don't think that this is the proper volume to start with, as it helps to be familiar with the characters already to understand why they do what they do, but this volume is just as good in its own way as the first one was. |
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Here Be Snapdragons, by John Kovalic and Liz Rathke, 2006, Dork Storm Press I'm not completely sure what to make of Snapdragons, as it is basically a children's comic about role-playing games. Such a combo shouldn't work, but Snapdragons kind of does. I say "kind of," because many of the jokes seem to have been written for children, such that the humor is obvious and the plots tend to revolve around the single concept that "creativity is good." I agree with that, but life does revolve around more than just that one concept. Liz Rathke handles the artistic duties, and her style works very well for the whimsical adventures that the children have. That said, it isn't really my thing. I can't even specifically say why, but it just doesn't work for me. It's not bad, but it's not really memorable. What you see on the cover is an excellent example of what the rest of the book is like, sans color. On the writing side of the fence, John Kovalic does a good job of keeping references current. There are references to collectible miniatures games, role-playing games, and video games that help keep it feeling like a gaming comic, even though it really isn't. Overall, not a bad use for my money, and it wasn't a bad change of pace. Based on who the writer was, however, I expected more. |