Showing posts with label Jeff Lemire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff Lemire. Show all posts

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Two Years (ish) of DC Comics’ New 52

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Someone asked me on Twitter if I was still reading comics (they pointed out I hadn’t posted many reviews of them lately). I have been, but because I’ve been reading them in big chunks, interspersed with work reading, as well as both fiction and (future-work-related) non-fiction books, I’ve been letting the comics reviews slide a fair bit. There is another reason, of course: not all of the comics have been single storylines, or complete storylines, which makes reviewing them really tricky. Once you get to around issue #10, anything you write about the story is likely to throw out spoilers. This, I think, is maybe a weakness of reading and reviewing comics on a weekly basis – and is really why I stopped doing that almost a year ago (that and financial considerations). Regardless, my insatiable need to read All The Things With Words means I have been reading a good number of comics via ComiXology’s app on my iPad. With the exception of the frankly phenomenal Hawkeye, I do not buy any issues full-price. I just can’t afford to. So, as and when things go on sale or are discounted (either one or two months after release), I’ve been collecting issues to read in bursts.

That being said, the number of series I’ve been reading has also been steadily culled. I usually give each series a single “volume” – that is, what would appear in a collected, printed trade hardcover or paperback. It’s been a useful way of separating storylines, as well as providing a “book’s worth” to review. (Ahem, if I bothered to review them, that is…)

So which of DC’s New 52 have I kept reading? Which ones will stay? And which will have to go, and why? Below is a brief run-down (by no means exhaustive) of the titles I’ve been reading, collected by theme/larger series…

[I may add to this, over time, as I remember other titles I’ve tried, or just think of something else I’d like to add.]

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Superman Art by Jeff Lemire

Really love this pair of panels. Don’t think they really need an explanation for why…

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Thursday, October 04, 2012

O.M.A.C. Vol.1 – “Omactivate!” (DC Comics)

OMAC-Vol-01-OmactivateWriter: Dan Didio, Keith Giffen & Jeff Lemire (co-writer #5) | Artist: Keith Giffen & Scott Kolins (#6 assists) | Inks: Scott Koblish | Colours: Hi-Fi

Kevin Kho has become an unwilling participant in a war between Checkmate and Brother Eye as he is transformed into the One Machine Army Corp known only as O.M.A.C.!

This is just a quick review of this book. I originally picked this up because I remember Ranting Dragon reviewing a few of the issues favourably, so when I saw that O.M.A.C. would be appearing in Justice League International (another series I’m about to try), and found the collection at the Strand for a very nice price, I thought I’d give it a try. I’m glad I did, but I’m also sad to say that the series didn’t really do it for me like I’d hoped it would.

Collects: Issues #1-8 (Complete Series)

Sunday, May 13, 2012

“Animal Man, Vol.1: The Hunt” (DC)

AnimalMan-Vol.01 (New52)An intriguing, twisted, and bizarre series.

Writer: Jeff Lemire | Artist: Travel Foreman, John Paul Leon ("Tights") & Steve Pugh | Inks: Jeff Huet & Dan Green | Colours: Lovern Kindzierski

In these tales from issues #1-6 of the new series, Buddy Baker has gone from “super” man to family man – but is he strong enough to hold his family together when Maxine, his young daughter, starts to manifest her own dangerous powers? As these new abilities continue to terrify Buddy and his wife Ellen, things take a turn for the worse as Buddy and Maxine begin a journey into the heart of The Red.

This series received a rather unprecedented amount of praise, when it was first coming out. I wasn't able to find a copy of issue one in stores for a long time and, coupled with my only being newly returned to comics, this just seemed a little too weird for me. Nevertheless, when this collection was finally released, I decided I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Given what I now know about comics, I can see why this was popular. However, I’m not sure it was really for me, despite some very cool things about it…