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Tellos: Sons & Moons by Todd Dezago, Carlo Barberi, Eric Wolfe-Hansen, and Thor Badendyck, 2002, Image Comics The Tellos series is a few years old. Tellos is one of my favorite fantasy stories. It started with a limited series, which ran for around a dozen issues. That series has just about the best ending I've ever seen for a comic story. Seriously, it wraps things up in such a unique and moving way, just thinking about it gives me the warm fuzzies and makes me want to pull the comics out of their storage box and read them again. Anyway, after that series was done the creators, Todd Dezago and Mike Wieringo, moved on to other things. There have been 3 oversize comics since then in the Tellos line, though. Each one has a number of short stories that expand on the Tellos mythos. Sons and Moons is the third of these. It contains three stories written by Todd Dezago. The first shows how Hawke and Serra first met. The second shows more background on Hawke and how he came to have his unique abilities. The third details the rise of the evil being Sur-Azal. In my opinion, both as an amateur comics critic and as a fan of the series, is that the stories in this book aren't that great. I don't care for Carlo Barberi's art style very much. It would probably fit a more cartoony story, but I didn't like how he drew the characters; they didn't seem right to me. The other two stories have different artists, and they work better. Thor's art isn't the best, but when you realize that he's paralyzed and paints with a brush in his teeth, it's pretty darn good. If you're a Tellos fan then you, naturally, have to get this. Even though the stories aren't that great, they do give you some more information on the characters, especially Hawke, and it's fun to see them in action again. If you're new to Tellos, though, you should get the first trade paperback collection (Reluctant Heroes) and get started the right way. |
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Tales of Tellos issues 1-3, by Todd Dezago and various artists, Image Comics Back when Tellos was in its regular run, the comic was being published in Europe. Due to European comics having a larger page count than American comics, the European publishers needed some "extras" to fill the pages in the monthly comic. So, Todd Dezago, the writer of Tellos, hooked up with a number of different European artists to do a number of "side stories" and other one-shots set within the many worlds of Tellos, but not directly related to the main storyline. For many years, these stories could only be read in Europe, but now they are being collected in the Tales of Tellos line and published in the US for the first time. I am a big Tellos fan, so I am definitely enjoying seeing the old crew again. However, the short nature of the stories here doesn't work for me very well. With the brief nature of these tales, you can't get very deep. Ah, well, I think that part of the reason for publishing these suckers is to get some new blood interested in the Tellos stories so that they track down the graphic novels. Which isn't a bad idea, if you haven't read the original story, but it's just not too big of an issue for me. Maybe I'm just having a bad day, but in the end all these stories do is leave me wanting new Tellos, not these short tales. But if you're a fan, you have to have these books. |
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Tomb Raider Saga of the Medusa Mask by Dan Jurgens, Andy Park, Jonathan Sibal, and Jonathan Smith, 2000, Top Cow Productions / Image Comics Saga of the Medusa Mask is the first story arc in the Tomb Raider comic series, collected in a handy TPB. For those of you who have been living on Mars, this comic is based on the Tomb Raider video games, and Lara Croft is the main character in both the games and the comics. I have never played the video games, so I can't say how faithful the comics are to the games. I see them as a stand-alone product, and simply enjoy them for the stories and the art. Especially the art. Andy Park is one of the best artists I have ever seen. His pencil work is absolutely astounding. I had heard some good buzz about his work before I ever encountered it, and I can honestly say that the buzz didn't do it justice. But enough gushing. The story here is serviceable enough, and it's good to know that it was just as entertaining the second time around as it was the first. As you probably figured out by the title, Ms. Croft is hired to uncover the Medusa Mask, an ancient relic of great power. She ends up on a wild chase around the world where she makes old friends new again, and discoveries a new enemy in the process. There's a pretty good plot twist in here. Half the world probably saw it coming, but I didn't. The ending seemed a little rushed, but there was probably a hard editorial limit saying the story had to end at issue 4, so they did the best they could, I guess. One neat feature of the TPB is that it contains all of the various covers from the monthly booklets, so you get even more great art to look at. Considering the $10 price, I can highly recommend this book to everyone old enough to handle the subject matter. |
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Tomb Raider Mystic Artifacts by Dan Jurgens, Andy Park, Jonathan Sibal, and Jonathan Smith, 2001, Top Cow Productions / Image Comics This is the second Tomb Raider TPB. It contains issues 5 through 10 of the monthly comic series. The great art is back, but the writing leaves something to be desired. Maybe I just want an Indiana Jones comic book instead, but the two stories in this book didn't do it for me. The first story sends our heroine through some time rift to fight against Morgan Le Fay, of Arthurian fame. Oh, and the time rift sent them to pre-historic times with cave men and dinosaurs. Pretty lame. The second story is better, but it involves some super-secret, super-powerful world-wide organization and a stone that lets people see the future. Naturally, the secret dudes want the stone and chase Lara Croft all over the world to get it. There's good gunfights and stuff, but it seems forced. Why can't Lara just go after buried treasures and stuff? Why do we need time travel and illuminati-style organizations? Were all the good ideas already taken? One redeeming quality of this TPB is that it contains the art from ALL the covers to the comics included in the book, including limited edition alternate covers. That is a really nice trick, and something that other publishers should do. |
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Tomb Raider Arabian Nights, by Fiona Avery and Billy Tan, Top Cow/Image For years I have had a soft spot for comics that feature fully-painted panels (as opposed to the standard pencils/inks/coloring format). I have always appreciated Christopher Moeller's works because of this. There is just an extra layer of depth to painting that you can't match with pencils and inks. The downside to this is that it takes quite a bit longer to paint every panel, but oftentimes the end result is worth the wait. For years I have also had a soft spot for tales of the Arabian Nights. I read a translation of many of the original stories while in college, and those old Persian legends have interested me ever since. Because of this, when I saw this comic on the shelves in a local comic shop, I had to buy it. No matter that it costs twice as much as a standard book does these days; it is almost twice as long, so that makes up for it. No matter that I don't really care for the Tomb Raider comics these days. It's painted! It's Arabian Nights! It must be mine! Luckily, the story isn't completely stupid. Briefly, Lara Croft gets sucked into a magic lamp and stuck in a demon's endless stories. She and her newfound companions must find some way to escape the demon, which leads them on a wild chase through a mythical arabia in search of the way home. The art carries the story well, and is almost uniformly wonderful to look at. I especially like the destruction of the snake goddess; that part is cool. Even with the high price, I am satisfied with this book. A little more exploration of the Ali character would have been nice, but we were dealing with less than 50 pages, so I guess something had to be cut. Ah, well. A pretty good book, overall. |
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Thor - Son of Asgard issues 1 and 2, by Akira Yoshida, Greg Tocchini, and Jay Lesiten, Marvel Comics It isn't very often that a Marvel book will attract me, but for the last couple months I have been checking this series out. The fact that the recent issues have been using Jo Chen covers have probably had a lot to do with that, but the overall story has been interesting enough that I decided to start picking up the first few issues that I missed. Rather than focusing on the Thor superhero character, this series focuses on the Thor of Norse mythology. This Thor, while the son of a god, is very much a teenager who is trying to figure out his place in the world. Akira Yoshida's scripts are pretty good, and the interplay among the characters, while somewhat predictable at times, is still well written and scripted appropriately. The pencils, drawn by Greg Tocchini, aren't perfect, but the overall visual look seems to fit the story well enough. It doesn't explain Sif's ridiculous outfit, but I guess I should know that all women warriors wear skimpy outfits so they can defeat their enemies by waving the feminine wiles at them. Of course, how could I have forgotten? The first two issues deal with Thor and his two best friends getting in trouble with Thor's brother, Loki (the trickster god), and getting sent on a quest to find a bunch of rare stuff for Odin. Very standard and generic, overall, but it makes a nice change from the other stuff I have been reading lately. All told, this is a good series, though it has some room for improvement. |
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Thor - Son of Asgard The Warriors Teen by Akira Yoshida, Greg Tocchini, and Jay Lesiten, Marvel Comics This book collects the first six issues of the Thor - Son of Asgard series of monthly booklets. The great thing about this book is that it has a list price of $7.99, which makes it cost less than half the cover price of the monthly booklets contained herein. The not-so-great thing about this book is that it is in a smaller form-factor than most Marvel trades. This means that all of the art is smaller, but it is a trade-off I will make for the cheaper price. The story arc in this book involves Thor and two of his friends, Sif and Balder, being sent on a quest to find some rare relics so that Odin can make a new weapon. Our heroes travel from place to place, fighting off strange creatures and conquering their foes while building their teamwork and strengthening the bonds of friendship. And then some bad stuff happens, and one of the characters almost dies, but this book is aimed towards a younger audience, so the character pulls through (like there was ever any doubt). I wrote about the first two issues earlier, and I can't really find anything new to say about the art, but I can say that this first story arc, while doing a decent job of introducing the characters and the world they live in, isn't all that interesting. Rather average, really. The second story arc, which just recently concluded (issues 7 - 12 of the monthly series), is much better, and had a very interesting story with lots of character development. So, knowing that things get better from here, I can heartily recommend this book, especially at the low list price. Not the finest comics package out there, but an excellent bargain. |
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Truth, Justin, and the American Way issue 2, by Scott Kurtz, Aaron Williams, and Giuseppe Ferrario, 2006, Image Comics This book just might be the best thing going in comics right now. The story revolves around the standard all-American loser, who ends up accidentally donning an alien combat suit. Now he is hunted by the Soviets, the FBI, and his fiance, who is going to kill him if he screws up their wedding. This issue revolves around Justin's bachelor party, and Justin's idiocy plus the powers the alien suit gives equals crazy hijinks. While the plot isn't bad, there are two things that take it into the realm of greatness. First, the entire book is done up in the style of a 1980s TV sitcom. In fact, the artist often draws scenes using backgrounds stolen straight from '80s TV shows. This gives the story a very authentic feel. Second, the writing and the pacing of the action is top notch. Everything flows very well, and the art and the writing play off of each other and the entire thing is elevated to the next level. If you hate '80s TV programs then you may not enjoy this book, but everyone else should go out and pick this series up right away. |