Reviews & News!

Coming off the excitement of The New Comic Experiment I picked up 3 new comics last week, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Which ones, you ask?

The Last Fantastic Four Story
by Stan Lee with Art by John Romita Jr.

Stan Lee and John Romita Jr.? You can’t go wrong! Well, unless you’re a disgruntled fanboy. Being probably too involved with comic book message boards, I’m always fascinated with the things people say. Be it a recent thread about great Science Fiction movies where it was stated that Stanley Kubrik’s 2001: A Space Oddesy and Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner and Alien are “vastly overrated” while Joss Whedon’s Firefly and Serenity are new genre classics.

But, I digress.

Getting back to Stan Lee, who instead of being thought of as the reason Marvel Comics exists today, is thought of as a washed up hack who doesn’t “get it”. Strangely this goes back to the Decompression Argument. If you don’t write like Bendis or Ellis you suck. But, I digress…again.

The Last Fantastic Four story wasn’t the greatest FF story ever told, but it was an extremely fun ride that I enjoyed the hell out of. Give Stan’s story outline to one of today’s writers and you’ve got a 12-issue storyline that I would’ve dropped 1 and maybe 2 issues in. Lee gets to the point. Introduce the threat, action and resolution. That’s what I want out of a mainstream book about a bunch of guys jumping around in tights. Simplistic, yes… but not every story arc needs to be the “event that changes the character forever”. As usual, JRJR’s art was fantastic. I don’t recall ever seeing his version of the Silver Surfer and that coupled with Stan’s dialogue on one of his favorite creations was great to see.

One major downfall of this book was the cover price. $4.99! 5 bucks for a comic book? Seriously? All right, there were extra pages…32 maybe? I didn’t count, but at some point these prices have to stop. 5 bucks is way too much. And hold the cardstock cover. Who cares? Anyhow, pick this one up if you can or if you don’t want to drop the Lincoln, pick it up in a dollar bin. Well worth it.

ACTION COMICS #855
written by Geoff Johns & Richard Donner with Art by Eric Powell

Anyone semi-regular on this blog knows that I’m a whore for Eric Powell’s The Goon. The book is one of my favorite comic books of all-time and Powell is one of the best artists in the biz. So getting Powell to draw an arc of Superman featuring Bizzarro is a no-brainer.

As you might imagine, Powell draws a perfect Bizzarro and his Superman has a very nice classic feel to it. The book got right down to business and with plenty of story AND action. Johns and Donner also mixed a really nice 2-page flashback about Supes younger days that was pretty touching.

After I finished this one I realized that I’m now reading 2 Superman books simultaneously. I’ve always been a Marvel Zombie, but there’s something about a good Superman book that brings out the fanboy in me. I haven’t gotten that feeling from a Marvel book in a while and it’s a shame.

Mice Templar #1

Story by Bryan J.L. Glass & Michael Avon Oeming
written by Bryan J.L. Glass with art by Michael Avon Oeming

I’m a huge fan of Oeming’s art and he surely didn’t disappoint here. The work is detailed and filling every single panel. You can tell he really feels strongly about the book just by the amount of work he’s putting into it. So that alone makes this one worth checking out. The story, on the other hand, was tougher for me to get into. It’s well thought out and you can tell there’ll be much more added as Glass & Oeming move along, but for some reason it felt rushed to me. Maybe there were too many characters introduced all at once or maybe I wasn’t sure which mouse was who, but I found myself getting a bit lost now and then. Nothing that would make me drop the book, but I’m hoping it’ll be made clearer later on in the story. Nevertheless, I’ll pick up issue 2. If you’re looking for something new to try, Mice Templar might be it.

So there ya go. Three reviews of new comic books…that’s a rarity around here. I’ve been busy reviewing old stuff so much lately I forgot they actually release new ones.

In LazyComix news I recently recorded an interview with the guys over at Comic Geek Speak along with Pixelstrips head honcho Kevil Volo. Check it out next week. I believe it will be released on Monday. I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks for reading,
Randy

Reviews, Plugs and Mini-Mini-comics

Been a while since my last post but I have been working on stuff to get up here on the ol’ LazyBlog. I’ve been on a real kick of reading old stuff that I lettered and attempted to get through a few trades. One I almost finished and the other I just wound up flipping through after reading like 10 pages or so. The first was Peter David and Lee Weeks’ Incredible Hulk “Tempest Fugit”. The story was fun when Hulk was smashing, but meh when he was plain’ ol’ Bruce. The art by Lee Weeks was just amazing though, man that guy is good. I don’t believe he’s on a regular monthly book right now and I have no idea why. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the ugly green type lettering in the Hulk-in- Bruce’s-mind sequences were not my doing. They were done by production at the request of the editor. If the need for a special balloon was wanted I’d surely have done one a bit more exciting than making the type process green. But why ask the letterer do that when you’ve got a production office full of disgruntled underpaid workers to do it instead?

The book I couldn’t get through was a Black Panther trade by Christopher Priest. The wise cracks by an annoying sidekick through the first issue of the trade were just awful jokes shoehorned in strange places that just took your right out of the story. It also jumped around like crazy through a number of flashbacks and other story threads all of which bored the hell out of me. I’d tell you what volume it was but I don’t care and you shouldn’t either. Ugh.


A co-worker of mine found a couple of tiny Marvel comics somewhere around the office and gave them to me. I’d never seen anything like them and they sure are neat. A tiny bit bigger than a business card but with nice glossy cardstock covers and full-color interiors. As you can see I got a copy of Ultimate Spider-Man #1 and The Incredible Hulk #34 which kicked off Bruce Jones’ famously boring 47 issue run. I remember getting issues of that run in my comp bundles back when I worked in the bullpen and I’d quickly flip through to see if he’d really gone another issue without the Hulk showing up. It was quite an amazing feat, really. I actually reread issue 34 and was reminded how good an issue it was. Amazing art by John Romita Jr. (no surprise there) and a nice throwback to the Hulk TV show with Bruce on the run from whatever havoc his green alter ego left in its wake. But boy did that storyline just run out of steam quicker than Posh Spice in a pie-eating contest. What a shame.

I borrowed the first 2 issues of World War Hulk from a friend and I’m happy to see that Pack is really “Packing” (bad pun) tons of action into the story. Again with top notch penciling by Romita Jr., who is bar-none the best superhero comic artist in the biz, the story just flies by with Hulk smashing every single hero he can get his green mitts on. I’m waiting for Betty to show up at the end to calm the Big Guy down but that answer seems almost too obvious. It’ll be fun to see how it all comes together.

Oh, and Erik Powell finally finished his yearlong hiatus on The Goon. Issue 19 just hit shelves this week, so go pick it up. I’m been pimping that book like crazy since I started this blog.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned, Randall is almost ready to come back.
--Randy

All Star Superman

When All Star Superman came out, I had my doubts. Morrison is one of those writers that is just hit or miss with me. He starts off strong and just fades away before the finish line. So going into All Star there was some trepidation mixed with hope. Hope that there would be a Superman comic that I would actually love to read. With the release of the 7 issue I’m forced to gush over this book. Maybe it’s because my beloved “The Goon” (Eric Powell) is on a hiatus but I actually read All Star 2 times in a row in one sitting. Issue 7 is a 2-Part Bizzarro storyline with an amazing cliffhanger backing up a fun, action packed storyline that made me laugh-out-loud and just enjoy a good old-fashioned superhero story starring the original superhero. It’s worth mentioning that this 2-part storyline is as long a “storyline” as you’ll find in this series. If memory serves me right, this is the first multiple part storyline of the book. Check out Morrison’s 1 page, 4-panel, 8-word retelling of Supes origin. There’s no “Decompressed” storytelling going on here.


I can’t recommend this book enough. Even if you’re one of those readers who isn’t a huge fan of Grant Morrison the incredible art by Frank Quitely is worth the cover price. (The colors by Jamie Grant are amazing by the way.) The hardcover of the first 6 issues just came out so you can grab the whole run in one trip to the shop.

So I hope you enjoyed my gushing.

Gent signing off.

--Randy

p.s. Go read Randall over at Pixelstrips.

Reviews of Old Stuff

So 2 weeks down at the new job and only 2 blogs to match. Gotta get more into the swing of this thing and figure out a way to post more consistently. Even so, I wish I had some reviews of new comics to make but this week was an uneventful trip to the comic shop. Instead I’ve got a handful of old comics that I picked up at the NYComicCon.

The 2nd Annual New York Comic Con was pretty good. Much, much bigger than last year and from what I hear it was a more organized event. While there I picked up a few comics out of the dollar bin. “Dollar bin”, god-forbid they have a 50-cent bin. You’d think they’d sell more that way. I mean, I’m assuming this is all left over stuff. I know I would’ve picked up a lot more back issues at 50 cents.

Anyway I picked up the first 3 (of 4) issues of Evan Dorkin and Dean Haspiel’s-- The Thing: Night Falls on Yancy Street. Dorkin and Haspiel really had a grasp on what made Ben Grimm The Thing. They also clearly have love for the great Lee/Kirby FF of the 60’s and of 70’s Marvel books. I absolutely loved it and I wish they had that issue 4. Guess I’ll have to track it down. I don’t think this is collected anywhere, unless they packed it into the back of an FF trade somewhere. If anyone knows, shoot me a message.

I also picked up a random issue of “Web of Spider-Man”. (Issue 30) I remember that I had the issue back when I was a kid but after reading it (and not finishing it) I can’t figure out what made me remember it. It dealt with a character called “The Rose” and a new Hobgoblin. It was really convoluted and spent more time telling stuff that happened in other issues of whatever Spidey books they were putting out back then than it did telling its own story.


I also picked up Spider-Man’s Tangled Web #15 with a story by Paul Pope. Pope’s art is so good I’ll basically buy anything he does. I don’t know why this series was cancelled but the premise of the book was something I wish Marvel would try again. Self contained Spidey stories by established creators who primarily work in the “Indy” world. Bendis did this as well with Ultimate Marvel Team-Up. Maybe they’ll get back to this someday but I doubt it. Reading that Spidey story made me realize that I haven’t read an ongoing Spider-Book in a few years now. I’m still on my fanboy soapbox with Amazing Spidey. As long as JMS is on that book I won’t read it. I had hopes for Friendly Neighborhood with David and Weiringo but they kicked that off with that “The Other” storyline and followed that up with the Iron Spidey thing. And I’m not even sure what the other Spider-Book is. I will be picking up Ultimate Spider-Man when Stuart Immonen takes over. I’ve read the Bendis/Bagley version off-and-on but I grew tired of Bagley’s art after a while. I just can’t get into his work. Immonen, on the other hand, is an artist whose work I really enjoy. I lettered his stuff on Thor a few years ago and his style has really changed since then. I read a few issues of Nextwave and while his work was great I wasn’t a fan of Warren Ellis’ writing. I’m definitely looking forward to Immonen’s Spidey work, though. It’ll be nice to read some Spidey again.



Speaking of Warren Ellis I read his and Adi Granov’s Iron Man: Extremis trade last week. I lettered this storyline but didn’t read a word of it while I did. The book was chronically late and up against a deadline plus there were a few chunks of 20 plus balloon pages that would’ve taken me longer to read then letter, so it was nice to read it without really knowing what was going on. I’ve never read any of Ellis’ big stories like Transmetropolitan or Planetary and as I said earlier I didn’t love Nextwave or his Ultimate Galactus stuff so my expectations weren’t high. I gotta say though, I really enjoyed this story. Without spoiling it the story deals with a new version of the super soldier serum that was ingested by a terrorist hell bent on destroying the future. Ellis really jumped Iron man and the armor into the next generation making the armor more than just a wearable weapon. While there were some chatty parts they didn’t bother me much and there was plenty of action to make up for it. Really, the one thing about the book I didn’t love was the painted art by Adi Granov. While it was quite nice in places, the endless barrage of Tom Cruise reference got really old fast. This stuff is becoming more and more prevalent with Marvel books lately with guys like Bryan Hitch and the king of photo reference (or light boxing) Greg Land. I don’t know what’s up with it but man it annoys the crap out of me. It’s “Photo Reference” not “Photo Replication”. Nevertheless, check out the trade.

So there are a few comic reviews for ya. Maybe I’ll find some new books this Wednesday.

Stay tuned,
Gent

Back With Plugs

So after my first week away from lettering and at a “real job” for the first time in 4 years, I’m finally able to post.

First thing I wanna do is plug the aforementioned “Ballpoint Fiends” blog. It’s an art collective of some great artists I’ve been lucky enough to meet via Fanboy Radio. Jim Lujan (The Dog Hostage), Jeff Elden (Middle Child) and Justin Stewart (Popped Culture) are a bunch of guys who are out there making comix they want to make. I’m proud to be a part of it… the possibilities are endless and we’re like in the embryo stage at this point so stay tuned. In the meantime head on over and check out Jeff’s first “Fiendish Act” comic. We’ll all be doing one while we try to figure out what we’re really going to do on the site. While you’re there, check out the rest of the guy’s sites for some kick-ass web comix.

In other news, my new job is located right next to Jim Hanley’s Universe, probably the best comic shop in NYC. While on a lunch break I went down and picked up a few comics. First was Jacob Chabot’s “The Mighty Skullboy Army”. I mentioned it a few posts back and man this comic is awesome… Laugh-Out-Loud-Funny and just so well done. Please do yourself a favor and check it out. It’s only 10 bucks. I can’t recommend it enough.

I’ve seriously been considering dropping mainstream superhero comics, but my love of the genre keeps pulling me back in. Unfortunately my 2 purchases didn’t do much to rekindle my interest. I’ll start with the good first.

The Brave and the Bold #1 by Kurt Busiek and George Perez.
I’m a fan of Perez’s work; he’s old school and just really looks like he loves what he’s doing. Busiek’s work is also something I’ve enjoyed when I’ve read it, but nothing has really stuck with me. I picked this one up because it seemed like a DC book I could jump on board with and enjoy without having to understand every corner of the tangled mess that is DC continuity. It was a pleasant surprise when that turned out to be true. I also have always wanted to read some Green Lantern stories, but again, I have no idea where to start. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book, but I doubt I’ll pick-up the next issue. The story didn’t really grab me and Supergirl is the next team-up. I’m not a huge fan of female versions of preexisting male heroes, so I’ll skip it. If you’re into DC books pick it up, at least you’ll get some Perez artwork.

New Avengers #27 by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Yu.
I read and enjoyed the initial storyline of Bendis’ Avengers Disassembled followed by New Avengers. I think I stuck around for about 12 issues. I forget why I dropped it, but being that I wanted to read something and this was the first part of a new storyline, I picked it up. So, where do I start? You usually can’t go wrong with a Bendis book. The dialogue is always solid and the storyline is always well thought-out. Yu isn’t an artist whose work I seek-out, but I usually don’t mind it. Until this issue. It was so bad; it took me completely out of the story. Yu draws a pretty picture, but his storytelling really left something to be desired here. I should preface this by saying it could be in Bendis’ script, but this is stuff that should be done by the artist, regardless of the writer’s notes.

The fight choreography wasn’t choreographed. Characters changes positions in mid-flight from panel to panel, backgrounds didn’t match up, among others. At one point Elektra’s Sais just appeared in her hands in the last panel of a 6-panel page. Throw in some horrible ad placement completely screwing up a double-page spread reveal. Not to mention some really bad balloon placement that my fiancée said: “Looks like a pigeon pooped on the page.” I lettered comic for 7 years and I had no idea what order to read the balloons in. Placement I’m sure I would’ve been asked to fix, why it wasn’t in this case... who knows. It’s a shame because the book has potential to be a fun ride, but I just can’t get behind a book with elements that were so poorly done, especially with top-tier talent on a flagship title. Guess it’s back to the drawing board with my seemingly never-ending search for a superhero book I can look forward to picking up every month.

Thanks for reading folks and stay tuned, 5 pages of Randall Chapter 2 are inked and lettered.

--Randy

Mighty Skullboy Army

Former Marvel Bullpen co-worker and friend Jacob Chabot releases one of the funniest comics you'll ever read.... The Mighty Skullboy Army.
It's so much fun to see how this strip evolved, I used to sleep in the cubicle next to Jacob's and I remember seeing the first version of Skullboy done in ballpoint pen on a piece of typewriter paper... it was just a germ of an idea then, but now it's evolved into an incredible comic that I can absolutely guarantee you'll love. It's one of those strips that is perfect for boy and girls of all-ages, comic readers and non-comic readers alike. Don't be surprised of you see more of Skullboy in the future.

So head on out to your LCS and pick it up... you won't be disappointed. (Or pick it up here at Amazon.com)

--Randy

LazyComix on The Goat!

Just a quick update to plug a few places that are kind enough to promote my work…

You probably already know about Pixelstrips and you might’ve heard of the new ComicSpace site…which is like MySpace only for comic artists. Only instead of digging around that mess for comic artists now they’re all in one handy spot. They just introduced comic hosting and since then the site has really blown up. The only problem I see is that the potential for your web comic to get lost there is really high.

Anyway my West-Coast Home boy Jim Lujan co-created a great site called The Velvet Goat with Justin Stewart. I met both of these cats via Fanboy Radio and was really happy when Jim asked me to be a part of The Goat. There’s an old NYComix up there now, but I’ve got a horror/sci-fi comic that I’m going to get up there eventually. So go check out The Goat, it’s full of great comics by some kick-ass artists.

Thanks for reading!
--Randy

Pixelstrips and Reviews

Yesterday marked Randall’s debut on Pixelstrips. Back when I was doing NYComix on there I had to upload each page individually every Wednesday. But now the uploading process has been improved allowing you to upload as many pages as you want and to assign the corresponding date in which the new page replaces the old. It’s a neat feature that takes a bit of the stress out of hitting that weekly deadline. Fortunately I’m just reposting the pages from Randall Month, so I’ve got a real nice cushion as I work on the next chapter. Although I am inserting a new page in previously published stuff, just to give it a better flow. There’s a bunch of stuff I’d love to tweak but I’m afraid that if I go down that road I might wind up redrawing panels, etc. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’m really feeling the need to finish this story. I’ve got to get it out of my system so I can move onto new things. When the time is right, I’ll go back to it… but it won’t be for a while.

I’ve got 3 pages of the next sequence penciled and it’s shaping up. The story continues to evolve and go places I didn’t expect but I’ve more comfortable with the outcome now than I was during Randall Month. When I usually work I write a full-script and then thumbnail the pages, etc. This time around I’m jotting down what happens in each sequence and thumb nailing it out that way. The dialogue is coming last. Kinda like the Stan Lee “Marvel Method” but only with one artist.

So feel free to check out the pages over at Pixelstrips… Let's see if we can't bump our pal Randall into the Top Five...

In other news I made it out to the comic shop last night and walked out with one monthly and a looooooong awaited trade paperback.

So here are some quick reviews.

All Star Superman #6 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
I can’t believe I’m still reading this book 6 issues in. I find Morrison’s writing always hooks me early on and then by the end I’ve completely lost interest as the story just turns into an esoteric train wreck. It happened with New X-Men as the end of that turned into something that to this day I still can’t even begin to figure out. I’ve read message board threads full of hardcore X-Fans who still can’t decipher what happened with that storyline years later.

Superman hasn’t done that yet and I really hope it never does. Issue 6 even had Krypto in it and I still liked it. I don’t know the back-story of what is essentially a dog-version of Superman but I always giggled at the presence of a super powered canine, but hey, it worked here. Quietly’s art is always solid and the Digital Inks and Colors by Jamie Grant are beautiful. They complement the pencils as opposed to overpowering them, like a lot of colors are doing these days. So I’m still on board with this book… let’s hope it stays that way.

Batman Year 100 by Paul Pope
I picked up the first issue of this back when it was originally released and loved it so much I decided to wait for the trade so I could get the whole story in one shebang. One thing I can’t figure out is why DC waits so long to release trades. Why not get the things out right after the monthlies wrap up and the book is still fresh on people’s minds? Waiting for months and months only allows people to forget about it and move on to something else.

Anyway Paul Pope’s art and writing is just fantastic in this book. His art particularly stands out as just flat-out gorgeous. The more I look at it the more I think that his version of Batman is my favorite and that includes Frank Miller. There’s a real neat little sketch extra in the back with Pope’s thoughts on why he designed Bats the way he did. Big clunky combat boots with laces. Sleeves that don’t quite reach his gloves and a mask that is a cross between an old-fashioned football helmet and a Mexican wresting mask. His inks are beautiful and his use of blacks while allowing a brush stroke to look like a brush stoke is a breath of fresh air in a time when light-boxed, magazine referenced and over rendered art is slowly taking over.

I can’t recommend this book enough and I can’t wait to get my hands on some more Paul Pope comics. Check out his blog for more cool stuff.

So that’s it, folks! I’m off to lettering…

Thanks for reading!
--Randy

Dean Haspiel's Immortal

One of the best comix being produced today can’t be found at your local comic shop but rather on the web.

A web comix site called Ac-Ti-Vate features amazing indy comix available for free. With most web comics about video games it’s sites like this one that will propel web comics beyond the usual, boring Xbox Live jokes.

Dean Haspiel, one of my all-time favorite comic artists just finished his first storyline called: “Immortal”… a Billy Dogma love story with an epic, noir feel. As I’ve recently found myself leaving my comic shop unfulfilled, it’s great to see alternatives like “Immortal” showing up.

So check it out and look around the Ac-Ti-Vate site for more great comix.

Giant Turkey, Comics and Flicks

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a Lazy Rambling so in between coloring the last 2 pages of Randall I figured I’d drop a few pics and some recommendations.

The ridiculously huge Gentile Family Turkey was in full-effect this year as the Old Mad dead-lifted home a 47.5-pound bird. The pictures don’t do the thing justice. (Beer Bottle for Scale)





















I threw in a couple of NYC pictures as well, one of the Brooklyn Bridge and the other of the Arch in Washington Square Park at night.




















Now for a couple of recommendations:

FLICKS:
Garden State
I’d heard good things about the movie and Ereisa and I finally got around to watching it this past weekend. After being back in Saugerties right after I saw it, the going-back-home-to-your-small-town storyline really worked for me. A few things were a little weird, but all-in-all and enjoyable flick. Check it out on HBO or whatever random cable channels this movie is sure to populate soon.

V For Vendetta
I probably should’ve read the comic first, but I watched this one while working last week and was incredibly under whelmed. As usual with Wachowski Brothers movies, you’ve got fun action sammiched between a long-winded soliloquy and needless story. This flick only reminded me how they completely effed up the last 2 Matrix movies. Wow did they stink and V was only marginally better than those 2 train wrecks. Wait for this one to come on cable… maybe I missed something with this one as I saw it was like #116 all-time on IMDB’s list… sure 116 isn’t super high, but we’re talking All-Time here folks. This thing beat out movies like Platoon, The Deer Hunter, Dog Day Afternoon, The Exorcist and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

COMICS:
The last time I was at the comic shop I hadn’t been there for like 3 weeks and I still didn’t come out with a new book. I would’ve picked up the new American Splendor and Savage Dragon, but they were nowhere to be found. Hopefully next time out.

From Hell
After hearing the great interview FbR did with Alan Moore, I had to pick up a Moore book… I’m still in the process of reading it but wow… Moore writing is on a level all it’s own. Having only read Watchmen before, reading this book has made it a sure thing that I’ll be reading a lot more of his work down the line. Not to mention the beautiful Black and White art by Eddie Campbell. Reading it makes me glad I didn’t watch the supposedly horrible movie they made a few years back… I hear that one is worse than V.

Short little Recommended Section… hopefully more after Randall Month comes to a close. I can’t believe the month flew by like that but I just finished coloring one of the last 2 pages that will close out the first chapter. I’m really happy with the way this last page turned out and I think it’ll really hook people in for the upcoming chapters. More on that to come.

Thanks for reading…
Gent

Wonderlost by C.B. Cebulski

I hardly ever plug stuff I’ve lettered, mainly because stuff I letter doesn’t need help from me… but here’s one that could use a little help via preordering from your local comic shop.

Good friend and Marvel Editor C.B. Cebulski is putting out an autobiographical comic through Image called: Wonderlost.

Being a huge fan of autobio comix and of the Big Cebulski I thought I’d link to a preview that just went up over at Newsarama.com. You can see a nice little 7 page preview I lettered here.

So check it out and ask you comic shop to preorder it… diversity is the spice of life, folks and the more diversity on the comic stands, the better.