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Mek issue 1, by Warren Ellis, Steve Rolston, and Al Gordon, 2002, Homage Comics This was an impulse purchase while I was looking over the new arrivals at the comics store. I had no prior knowledge about the series, but the cover attracted my attention, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. It has a very interesting story, set sometime in the future. The current fad of the time is to augment your body with mechanical parts, or "mek." There is legal mek, and there is illegal mek, military-grade stuff and other black market items. The story, so far at least, centers around Sarissa Leon, a woman who moved away from her home city a few years ago to go to Washington, DC and lobby for the freedom to add mek to your body without government restriction. She is now back in town because one of her friends is dead and she wants to know why. This issue did a good job of setting up the situation, and it just starts tipping over the first domino in what looks to be a long chain of events. I'm not really big on the art here; it's perfectly serviceable and does the job, but it's not a standout in my mind. The story, however, is very interesting to me. I remember a conversation in one of my inforation systems classes in college 10 years ago about the pros and cons of "becoming a cyborg" and adding machinery to your body. There the idea was to add stuff to your body to let you do tasks better, where in this comic the focus is on cosmetic enhancements, but the concept is still the same. Would you do it? Should you do it? Should the government keep you from doing it? Very interesting stuff, and I bet that within the next 10 years this will actually become a real issue. I doubt reality will play out like this comic, but I'm really intrigued by the story and plan on picking up this title every month. |
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Mek issue 3, by Warren Ellis, Steve Rolston, and Al Gordon, 2003, Homage Comics For whatever reason, even though I had reserved this series, I never got the final issue held for me at my local comic shop. I had to track down an issue at a comic book show, so that's why I'm a few months late in reading this issue. It's the wrap-up to a three-issue story dealing with the idea of people adding mechanical augmentations to their bodies and the culture that springs up around it. It's a very interesting concept, and I liked the series overall, but I really didn't expect things to end like they did. The first two issues were mainly talking, as the main character, Sarissa Leon, looks into the death of an old boyfriend. We get introduced to the main players, and we get to see the scene, and how some of these cybernetic enhancements are used. This last issue, however, turns dark, as Ms. Leon begins to exact her vengeance. This one's not for the kids folks; some people get greased, and it ain't pretty. It turns out that Sarissa isn't back in town to find out what happened to her old beau, she's out for blood, and she whacks a bunch of people in the process of tracking down the guy she considers responsible for everything. It's interesting how the story ended up, because at first I was feeling for Sarissa. Her old boyfriend was murdered, and she's trying to figure out what happened, and nobody's helping her. She's got my sympathy. Then she turns psycho and kicks ass all over the place, killing and maiming some people who really didn't deserve it at all. Very interesting; Ms. Leon's got a very strong dark side, it turns out. Mek was short, but a good series. I like the concept, I just wish the ending was less overtly violent. |
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Megatokyo volume 1 by Fred Gallagher and Rodney Caston, 2002, I.C. Entertainment In case you aren't aware, Megatokyo is a webcomic that I have been following almost since its inception. The artist and main story writer, Fred Gallagher, is heavily manga-influenced, but since I read so much manga I can't say I have a problem with this. In fact, I really love a lot of his art, and his character designs are very good, too. This book is the first printed collection of the comic series. As a fan of the comic I love this book. It's really great to get all the early comics in a format that allows me to quickly read them in order. The story actually makes more sense this way. Or, rather, as much sense as can be made of them, as many of the early strips are one off gag comics with only minimal plot tying them together. Things do start to get more cohesive near the end of the book, though, and it's neat to see how things come together. And if that wasn't enough, the artist/author puts a lot of little notes and stuff in there to add some extra context to some of the strips, which is much appreciated. There's even some "Shirt Guy Dom" strips, which is pretty funny. I tend to hate SGD days in the webcomic, but I can appreciate the demented humor in the book, as it's not a poor substitute for an actual Megatokyo comic. If you like manga-influenced American work then I can heartily recommend Megatokyo to you. If you absolutely have manga-influenced work then you should steer clear. If you're in the middle and really don't care, check this book out, as it definitely stands well on its own. |
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Megatokyo volume 2, by Fred Gallagher and Rodney Caston, Dark Horse Comics For the second volume of Megatokyo, we see a move to a new publisher and a more traditional binding and presentation than for the first volume. Where the first book collected all of the beginning comics of the series, back from when the idea was one-off gags, this book contains the first two real chapters of the overall story. We start with Piro having finally lucked into a day job that may allow him and Largo to get enough money to get home, and in this volume we get to see him luck into a place to live, as well as the introduction of Miho, a main character who is Largo's main nemesis, at least in Largo's twisted mind. For people not experienced with the story from the webcomic, I'm not really sure if this book would sell them on the comic or not. In many ways this book proves that the format change witnessed during "chapter 0" really pays off, as most of the comics do flow together very well when read sequentially in a book. Of course, for people like me that read the webcomic weekly the bonus in getting the books is all the extra stuff included in the back. The only completely new element here is a text story (you know, like in regular books) that attempts to flesh out the 'Endgames' gameworld that crops up from time to time in the main storyline. The story is, uh, OK. Stick to comics, Fred. Overall, this is one for the fans. Newbies may find a lot to like here, but you mileage may vary quite a bit. |
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Mythstalkers issue 1, by Douglass Barre, JIRO, and Robert Chong, 2003, Image Comics I only picked this book off the rack because I liked the premise; Victorian adventurers investigating strange happenings around the glove. I like Arthur Conan Doyle and Jules Verne stories with the same premise, and I am always interested in how modern writers deal with the theme. This issue introduces the members of the Cryptozoological Society, the group investigating strange happenings in the world. They are being shadowed by the British government for reasons that aren't entirely clear, but the government lackeys are incompetent buffoons, so getting around them isn't a big problem. Not only do our heroes tangle with government agents, but they also try to capture a troll in Finland. Pretty good storytelling overall, and the little joke about comic collectors is very funny. The art in the book is OK. Sometimes it is really good, and sometimes it isn't. The main thing I look for in comic art is consistency, and I don't get that here, unfortunately. It's mainly in details, like the colors and borders of Mrs. Chatterton's dress. I swear it changes every frame. Some of this is the fault of the colorist, not the penciller, but it shouldn't happen. I also didn't understand the whole train switching thing at all, but whatever. The comic was pretty enjoyable overall, and I'm looking forward to future issues. |
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Mythstalkers issue 3, by Douglass Barre and JIRO, 2003, Image Comics This issue of Mythstalkers finds our intrepid heroes on an uncharted island somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea as the prisoners of a hungry cyclops. Fortunately, he's stupid, and is handily defeated by a funny logic game of the "Who's on first?" variety. It was written in an amusing fashion. Poor cyclops. After that, our heroes hitch a ride on a ghost ship, make a bargain with said ghosts, and finally catch themselves the minotaur they were looking for in the first place, only to find out that he has friends! Friends who, shall we say, aren't happy. I continue to enjoy JIRO's art in this series, though I still have the same issues I have mentioned before with his inconsistency. Still, I can see a little bit of improvement in that department, so hopefully things will get even better in the next few months. The writing also continues to impress. The use of ancient mythology, rather than dreaming up things from the author's own imagination, gives an accessability to this series than some other "let's chase down weird things!" stories I have read have been sorely lacking. This is one of the hidden gems in comics today, and I highly recommend taking the time to track down and read this fine series. |
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Mythstalkers issue 7, by Douglass Barre, JIRO, and Robert Chong, Image Comics How the mighty have fallen! When this series first started I really looked forward to each new issue. It was so different from everything else I was reading that it was a real treat to get each issue and dive into its fantasy-Victorian world with faeries and other mythical creatures. Alas, the last few issues have seen a steady downward regression of quality, to the point where with the latest issue it was barely readable. There were three different stories going on at the same time. First, two of the characters are looking for a baby trapped in faerie land. Second, two of the characters are trying to get one of said characters' soul back from some thugs that stole it. Lastly, one of the characters is trying to keep a faerie princess from killing him. Every couple pages the action shifts to another group, and it is very jarring and hard to follow. The lack of color in the recent issues means that some of the characters are hard to distinguish. Because all of the men wear suits of one kind or another, it can be difficult without color cues to keep them all straight. Third, the dialogue balloons are so poorly used in this issue that I often got confused and read things out of order. Even though this is a standard American comic book, where we read left to right, some of the word balloons read right to left. Frustrating! If the next issue isn't noticeably better, I'm going to drop this series and spend my money on something that actually cares about quality. |
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Mythography issues 1-8, edited by Michael Cohen and Scott Davis, 1996 - 1997, Bardic Press I discovered this series about 5 years ago, when I pulled issue one out of a dollar bin at a local comic book show. It was quite interesting, being a compilation of Fantasy short stories, sone stand-alone, and some serial. The series was out of print by that time, though, so I kept my eyes open but didn't find any more issues. Then, later, I picked up the remaining seven issues from Mile High Comics, but I didn't get around to reading all of them until a couple weeks ago. The contents of these books are a mixed bag. Some of the stories are great, and some are quite weird. Some are very kid-friendly, and some are definitely not (like the one story where a character cuts off his testicles. You don't see anything, but holy cow). The art is also a mixed bag. Some stories are quite exquisite, and some are more amateur in appearance. If you like heroic fantasy, though, you will likely find enough here to keep you reading. The stories here cover a much wider definition of "fantasy" than just your traditional "swords and sorcery" style, though. For example, Carla Speed McNeil (of Finder fame) has stories here that feature a young prostitute-in-training that are definitely fantasy, but don't really fit any standard conventions. An open mind is helpful. The only downside to this series is that it ended after 8 issues, and a couple of the serial stories were still ongoing. Alas, such is the fate of many small press stories. |
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Magician Apprentice issues 1-4, by Raymond Feist, Michael Avon Oeming, Bryan Glass, and Brett Booth, 2006, Dabel Brothers/Marvel Comics I really don't know the background behind Dabel Brothers Productions, but they started putting out comics a few months ago in tandem with Marvel. Whether they are a Marvel division, or just using Marvel as a distributor, or whatever the situation is, this is definitely a group to watch. They specialize in taking existing literary fiction works and turning them into comics. This is a long-overdue idea in the current market, and if they can keep doing as good as job as they have been, they have a bright future ahead of them. That said, this may be an original story. It is set in the same world as Feist's Krondor novels, though it involves people from another nation. Our hero, the apprentice the series is named after, is Pug, an orphan who has been pretty much kicked around his whole life. He ends up being apprenticed to his Lord's magician, partly because he has latent talent, but also partly because nobody else wanted him for another purpose. The first four issues cover the beginning of Pug's magical training, his first experience with the princess (of course), and an encounter with a mysterious ship that washed ashore on their lands, but seems to be from another dimension altogether. As I would expect from such an experienced creative team, the pacing is excellent and the story looks to be very good. After lots of not-so-good experiences with recent fantasy comics, this looks to be one that won't let me down. Good characters, good art, and a good story, this one is worth every penny. |
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Magician Apprentice issue 11, by Raymond E. Feist, Bryan J. L. Glass, and Ryan Stegman, 2007, Marvel Comics This series continues to be one of the best I get every month. A comic adaptation of an old Raymond Feist fantasy story, the characters are good, the world is interesting, and the actual adaptation to comic form doesn't detract anything from the story. I'd say I have come to expect this from Dabel Brothers books, but this issue is lacking the "DB" label, and now just says "Marvel." According to the clerk at my local comic shop, Dabel and Marvel had a falling out of some kind, so I guess these books are all Marvel books from here on out? I'm not sure, but the actual creative team appears to be the same, so hopefully things won't deteriorate in the coming months. By this issue, the story has evolved into a two-parter. The Baron and his surviving people (including Pug the apprentice from the title) are journeying to see the King and let him know about the pending invasion from another dimension. There is lots of politics involved here, and they haven't even met the King yet. The other story involves Tomas and his dwarven friend, as they have tried to escape a wraith, ran into a dragon, got the dragon's treasure, and will now spend the winter in the dwarven lands. Just taking this issue by itself doesn't make much sense, of course, but the overall story is developing nicely and this has been a really good series. Even the change in artist a few issues back hasn't derailed it. I didn't like Ryan Stegman's work at first, but it has grown on me and I am used to it now and it doesn't bother me at all. It was just such a change from the original work, which was awesome. Anyway, good book, good series, you should read it. |