 |
Powers: roleplay, by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, 2001, Image Comics This is the second Powers trade paperback collection. If you don't know, the Powers stories revolve around two homicide detectives in a city where superheroes and supervillains battle it out on a daily basis. Our heroes specialize in cases involving these superpeople. This gives it a "NYPD Blue meets the Justice League of America" subtext that is very interesting. Even if you're like me and don't care for superhero stuff, Powers is interesting because it's really a crime drama, with the superhero stuff as a twist on the formula. The best thing about Powers is the dialogue between characters. It's written like a film script, and it "reads" like a film. That's a rather unique approach in my limited experience, and it always makes for an entertaining read. The dialogue was great in the first collection (Who Killed Retro Girl?), and that tradition continues into this book, which focuses on some college kids who like to dress up like their favorite superheros and play live-action role-playing games where they pretend to fight evil and stuff. It's all fun and games until some of the players end up dead. Our detectives only get called in because the beat cops saw the kids in superhero costumes and figured they must be actual dead superheros. The story itself isn't fantastic, but what's really impressive here is that, even though this book includes the contents of four monthly comic booklets, I couldn't tell that. The story just totally flowed from one section to the next with no break. Normally comic booklets will end with some kind of obvious cliff-hangar to keep you waiting until next month to see what happens (TV programs do this a lot, too), but I couldn't tell where those were in this book. I actually killed this whole thing in one sitting, which is also rare for me. The only thing I really don't like about this book is the art. Mr. Oeming has a somewhat minimalist style that, while fitting fine with the overall theme, just really doesn't do much for me. It's a little too sparse, and I like more detail, especially background detail, which I don't get here. Oh, well. Bottom line, if you like great dialogue and like detective stories, you would likely enjoy the Powers stories. I'm definitely gonna pick up the next trade paperback. |
 |
Powers volume 3, by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, Image Comics For the most part, Powers is a great series. A cop drama involving superheros; it makes you wonder why nobody thought of it sooner. The writing is really tight, too. The interplay between the characters has always been good, and the whole is really believable. Well, as believable as anything can be involving superheros why fly around in tights. The problem I have with Powers is that it can be a little too gritty at times, especially in the sexual area. Most of it is just talk, but in this book that line gets crossed, as you actually get to see one of the superheros have sex with a woman. It's not super graphic, but almost nothing is left to the imagination. As much as I like the stories here, I can't support that with my money, so this is the last Powers book that I'll be buying. I'm actually a little surprised now that stores put these books in reach of kids. The language was always real salty, but, wow. It's just a little too much, this time. |
 |
PVP issue 1, by Scott Kurtz, 2003, Image Comics I have been a fan of the comic strip PVP for a number of years now. I got the comics that were published under the Dork Storm Press imprint, and now the boys and girls of Player Vs. Player magazine have moved to Image. With the move to Image, Scott Kurtz is using a different format, a landscape format. The old comic books had original stories in the front of each one, and then some of the daily strips from the website were reprinted in the back. I don't notice any new comics in this book, other than the gag strips inside the front cover and on the back cover. As usual with web comics, it is great seeing them in print; I don't care how great your monitor is, it doesn't compare to the clarity of printed paper. The comics in this issue deal with Brent and Francis playing nerf wars, the staff trying to get rid of a mouse in the office, and Skull the troll playing a football video game. It doesn't look that great, I'll admit, but it's how it all gets pulled off that is the great thing here. Scott Kurtz has honed his comic timing over the years and has become very good at his craft. If you don't believe, visit the site and check out the early stuff; scary. So, I liked this book. I thought it was a little short, but nobody makes long comic books these days, so I'll take what I can get. |
 |
PVP issue 4, by Scott Kurtz, 2003, Image Comics In this issue of PVP, Scott Kurtz re-imagines the introduction of Marcy into the strip. Marcy is a teenage girl who is a top-notch first-person shooter player, and she becomes Francis' chief rival and love interest. I remember when Marcy first entered the online strip, and, while some of the strips in this issue I remember from the online version, many are new. Additionally, the ones I remember have been at least partially redrawn, as Marcy has gone through some evolutions in design over the years, and the Marcy present here is the current version. I find books like this interesting because it takes things that you already know (i.e., how Francis and Marcy met) and puts it in a little different light. One of the things I find interesting is that even though many of the strips in this book are brand new, everything is still done in the four-panel, newspaper-strip style. I'm not sure why this is done, considering that the book format gives Mr. Kurtz a great opportunity to try some longer-form approaches. I know that he is used to daily four-panel strips on his website, but it would be good to see him branch out and try some new ideas that would be allowed by the comic booklet format. All that said, I did really enjoy this book. I imagine that at some point this kind of humor will get old, but it hasn't yet. |
 |
PvP issues 7, by Scott Kurtz, Image Comics Ah, good old PvP. When everything else I read disappoints me somehow, PvP can still make me laugh. Yes, the comic relies heavily on re-printing comics from the website, but who cares? A good story and funny characters are enjoyable anytime. In this issue, we re-visit the whole "Francis inappropriately touches Jade" episode which made Jade go off and start her own competing magazine. There are some extra strips added to flesh out the storyline a little more for the print version, but it is still the same story. Funny stuff, man, funny stuff. We also get the Star Wars: Galaxies strips, as well as when Cole's arch-nemesis buys his old Atari collection. Just all around clean fun, though it helps if you are a gamer to get some of the more subtle jokes about specific games. Still, this is one of the funniest books out there, so don't pass it up. |
 |
PVP issue 32, by Scott Kurtz, 2007, Image Comics I haven't written about PVP in over two years, but the series is still going strong. A while back they switched printing formats so the books are now printed like normal, rather than being bound on the narrow side. Scott Kurtz's art style hasn't really changed any over the last couple years, but his storytelling skills have improved. For example, the story in this issue revolves around Shecky, a cousin of Skull's, who arrives in town to mootch off of Skull for a while as he hides from his bookie. The character could have been used for a few minor gags, but Mr. Kurtz uses him to really draw out new aspects of Skull's personality. The important part, however, is that none of this violates what we already know about Skull. Hey, even Max develops some as the story progresses, and he always seemed like a one-dimensional caricature who just existed to annoy Cole. I should also point that this issue has a totally awesome cover. It has nothing to do with the story in the issue, but it is a great cover. |
 |
PS238 issue 4, by Aaron Williams, 2003, Dork Storm Press Aaron Williams is the creative force behind the comic Nodwick, a long-running feature in Dragon magazine, and a damn funny book in its own right. While Nodwick is about making fun of the fantasy role-playing genre, PS238 is about superheros. More precisely, it is about superhero children. See, PS238 is actually a school for "meta-prodigies," or children with superpowers. In this issue, the schoolkids go on a field trip. To the moon. Hey, when you're a superhero, why settle with going to the zoo, eh? I have to admit that there wasn't a whole lot to this story in regards to the main plot, but there are a lot of little side jokes that made this booklet a very funny read. The way Mr. Williams mixes superheros with fifth-graders is hilarious. For example, the main good guy is Captain Clarinet, a wonderful Superman/band nerd hybrid. Then there's the kid with the magic glove, the girl with x-ray eyes, and the normal kid who acts as foil to everyone else. Oh, and the young supervillian in training, complete with his own robotic hovering super chair and a brain the size of France (or so he thinks). There are also adults, too, not all of which have superpowers themselves. Like the fellow running the school, whose only superpower is the ability to outthink everybody else around him. Not a bad skill to have when dealing with young super-beings, eh? Anyway, the book was definitely entertaining for the price, but it didn't totally blow me away. Still, having something to laugh at from time to time is a good thing. |
 |
Portent issue 1, by Peter Bergting, 2006, Image Comics This one is kind of weird. It concerns a guy who is wandering through the lands of the dead for no apparent reason. Some spirits try to kill him (because they hate living people, I guess?), and then he ends up at a castle where a girl says he is the "chosen one." He's all "whatever, I'm outta here." Then the bad guys outside all get blown up. Yay, that's the story! OK, so maybe it's not that bad, but I wasn't really impressed by this book. How about actually bringing in the plot, Mr. Bergting? Yes, there is lots of hinting about a dark fate, and the mandatory cute sidekick/potential love interest is introduced, but I can't figure out why I should care about all of it. Image sure has been hyping this book, but I don't know why. |
 |
Ptolus issue 6, by JMonte Cook, Eduardo Pansica, and Ale Starling, 2007, Dabel Brothers/Marvel Comics Here ends the first story in the weakest of the Dabel Brothers books that started coming out last year. Where most of the Dabel Brothers books are comic re-tellings of existing novels, this was an original story revolving around characters created by Monte Cook (designer of Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition), and sit in the RPG setting he devised. The main character is Sheva Callister, a mercenary, who has her sword stolen and her friend sent to another dimension by an enemy. So, Sheva does the "woman scorned" thing, rounds up some friends, and heads out to kick some butt. Much craziness ensued (fighting a lich, fighting a hell hound thing, getting involved in a battle between wizards, etc.). In the final issue, the basic story gets resolved. She gets her sword back, she gets her friend back, and she makes a new "ally" of sorts with one of the fore-mentioned mages. So, all is well that ends well. However, with only six issues, Sheva is the only character that gets any character development, and that is minimal. There are a good dozen other characters that get no real development at all. This might be intentional, as perhaps they want you to drop $80 on the Ptolus RPG campaign setting to learn all about these different people. I am not going to do that, however. Therefore, I have to say that this series was disappointing. |