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Cliff Chiang

Back Issue Review: Black-Eyed Kids, Lady Mechanika, Warframe, and more!

January 28, 2018 by krisis

Welcome to another week of Back Issue Review! In this post, I share my capsule reviews of comic books I read that were not newly-released this month.

My reading this week was entirely focused on non Big Two comics (that means no Marvel and no DC) and largely on checking out books with women protagonists I hadn’t read before.

This post includes reviews of:

  • Black Cloud (2017) #1-2
  • Black-Eyed Kids (2016) #1-15
  • Bonehead (2018) #1
  • Dread Gods (2017) #1-2
  • God Complex: Dogma (2017) #1-3
  • Interceptor (2016) #1-5
  • Justice League (2016) #22-24
  • Lady Mechankia (2010) #0-2
  • Maxwell’s Demons (2017) #1
  • Morea (2017) Vol. 1
  • Paper Girls (2015) #11-15
    (AKA Volume 3)
  • Reactor (2018) #1
  • The Realm (2017) #1-4
  • Rose (2017) #1-4
  • Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose (2000) #1
  • Void Trip (2017) #1-2
  • Warframe (2017) #1

Unfortunately, most of those weren’t very good, but I did come away with a pair of new favorite titles, plus one I enjoyed but couldn’t commit to because we’re from such different worlds. [Read more…] about Back Issue Review: Black-Eyed Kids, Lady Mechanika, Warframe, and more!

Filed Under: comic books, reviews Tagged With: Aftershock Comics, Back Issue Review, Black Cloud, Black-Eyed Kids, Bonehead, Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Dread Gods, God Complex: Dogma, Guy Major, Image Comics, Interceptor, Jim Balent, Joe Pruett, Justice League, Lady Mechanika, Maxwell's Demons, Meredith Finch, Paper Girls, Reactor, Ron Marz, Rose, Szymon Kudranski, The Realm, Vault Comics, Void Trip, Warframe

Back Issue Review: Maestros, Super Sons, Umbrella Academy, Victor LaValle’s Destroyer, & more

January 21, 2018 by krisis

Welcome to my third pilot post of Back Issue Review, where I give you the run-down on all the not-new comics I read this week. (Did you miss last week’s edition?)

This week I read very little Marvel and DC, instead focusing on a ton of indie comics series that are easy to pick up with no prior comics background. As it turns out, a pair of the most-popular series fell a bit flat with me, while a few more obscure titles totally blew me away. I even found a new favorite comic book to add to my pull list!

Today’s back issue review includes write-ups on:

  • Backways (2017) #1
  • Captain Canuck (2015) #4-5
  • Dept. H (2016) #1-12
  • Eternal Empire (2017) #1-4
  • Gasolina (2017) #1-4
  • Justice League (2016) #20-21
  • Maestros (2017) #1-3
  • Mercury Heat (2015) #1-12 & FCBD
  • Paper Girls (2015) #6-10
  • Super Sons (2017) #1-4
  • The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite (2007) #1-6
  • Victor LaValle’s Destroyer (2017) #1-6

I’ll tell you now that Maestros and Victor LaValle’s Destroyer are two of the best comics I’ve read from 2017 – they both totally blew me away!

Please let me know if you like this this post – I’m still experimenting with this new weekly series, but there’s no guarantee it will be back for more with you reading it.

And now – let’s get to the comics! [Read more…] about Back Issue Review: Maestros, Super Sons, Umbrella Academy, Victor LaValle’s Destroyer, & more

Filed Under: comic books, reviews Tagged With: Aftershock Comics, Avatar Press, Back Issue Review, Backways, Brian K. Vaughan, Captain Canuck, Cliff Chiang, Dark Horse, DC Comics, Dept. H, Dietrich Smith, Eternal Empire, Gabriel Ba, Gasolina, Gerard Way, Image Comics, Joana LaFuente, Jonathan Luna, Kieron Gillen, Maestros, Matt Kindt, Mercury Heat, Paper Girls, Sarah Vaughn, Skybound Entertainment, Steve Skroce, Super Sons, Umbrella Academy, Victor LaValle

The Pull List: Babyteeth, Black Bolt, Captain America, Crosswind, Giant Days, and more!

January 6, 2018 by krisis

What did I read this week that was newly released and wasn’t X-Men?

I’m still a long way off from being caught up to all of present-day Marvel, so I have to choose my battles – reading series that are in the early stages of their Legacy numbering or have few enough issues that I can catch up all the way. A handful of indie series I follow (one only begrudgingly) also dropped this week.

This post covers:

  • Babyteeth (2017) #7
  • Batman (2016) #38
  • Blackbolt (2017) #9
  • Captain America (2017) #697
  • Crosswind (2017) #6
  • Giant Days (2015) #34
  • Guardians of the Galaxy (2017) #150
  • Paper Girls (2015) #19
  • Spider-Man (2016) #236
  • Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles (2018) #1 [Read more…] about The Pull List: Babyteeth, Black Bolt, Captain America, Crosswind, Giant Days, and more!

Filed Under: comic books, reviews Tagged With: Aaron Kuder, Aftershock Comics, Babyteeth, Batman, Boom Studios, Brian Bendis, Brian K. Vaughan, Captain America, Cat Saggs, Chris Samnee, Cliff Chiang, Crosswind, DC Comics, Donny Cates, Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, Gail Simone, Gary Brown, Gerry Duggan, Giant Days, Giula Brusco, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ian Hering, Image Comcis, John Allison, Mark Englert, Mark Waid, Matt Wilson, Paper Girls, Spider-Man, The Pull List, Tom King, Travis Moore

Review: Paper Girls, Vol. 1 by Vaughan & Chiang

June 28, 2016 by krisis

E and I had our first DVD player when we lived in Pine Street, just after I graduated college. I suppose it was in a laptop of hers, because we didn’t have a television and I remember watching movies in bed.

I was excited to reclaim some of the films of my youth long since lost on the beta tapes they were captured on, so between that year and the next I filled them all in. Dark Crystal, The Lost Boys, Labyrinth, and more.

The thing about these nostalgia viewings is that you can re-watch the thing you once loved, but it might not produce the same magic. I was so excited to show E The Lost Boys, labelling it as a sort of proto-Buffy as we settled into bed to watch it, but it was laugh-out-loud lame. Yet, there are still new layers to unravel in Labyrinth.

The 80s produced so much of those wonderful coming of age stories, and I don’t think I’m saying that because I was young at the time. Actually, I was ignorant of most of the stuff like Stand By Me and The Goonies, because at the ripe old age of seven I already felt I was too old for their messages. The Lost Boys, at least, had vampires. Yet, looking back there are so many seminal movies in that Amblin Entertainment model set by E.T. and Goonies that are still referenced today, right down to their feel being aped by films like Super 8.

Paper-Girls-vol-01I’ve never seen Stand By Me or The Goonies. I know, I know – it’s sacrilege. Just now I looked them up on Wikipedia to make sure I wasn’t mistaking them for something else.

It’s odd for me to watch this new generation of media being produced by the folks who came of age with the first set – usually a few years older than me, probably old enough to have seen these films in theatres on their own.

The 80s vibe is unmistakeable, but I don’t know all their influences by heart the way I do things that reference David Bowie or Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Paper Girls, Vol. 2 2.0 stars Amazon Logo

Collects issues #1-5 written by Brian K. Vaughan with line art by Cliff Chiang, color art by Matt Wilson, and letters by Jared K. Fletcher.

Tweet-sized Review: Vaughan and Chiang’s Paper Girls tries for all-girls Goonies but maybe foregrounds too many monsters too soon

CK Says: Skip it (for now)

Paper Girls is the newest Brian K. Vaughan jam to hit its first collection, but I think you’d be better off waiting for a second trade paperback before you start reading.

Vaughan is the master creator of critical hits like Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Marvel’s Runaways, The Private Eye, and the still-running deeply personal space fantasy Saga, which is currently the biggest independent comic after The Walking Dead. Vaughan is joined on this creator-owned Image Comics series by artist Cliff Chiang, directly from his run on DC’s Wonder Woman, and uber-colorist Matt Wilson, from everything.

Paper Girls promised a return to normalcy after the devious Saga, focusing on a group of girls on their 1988 paper route. Of course, Vaughan would never go full-normal on us – these girls would surely tangle with something fantastical. [Read more…] about Review: Paper Girls, Vol. 1 by Vaughan & Chiang

Filed Under: comic books, reviews Tagged With: Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Image Comics, Jared K. Fletcher, Matt Wilson, Paper Girls

DC New 52 Review: Wonder Woman #1

September 24, 2011 by krisis

Wonder Woman has always been my favorite super hero.

I’m not sure how it got that way. I had her Super Friends toy. I had seen the Lynda Carter show in syndication.

The thing I remember most is a library book. I still have it, actually, on my now bookcase of comics. It was a collection of her earliest strips from the 40s. We had checked it out of the library so many times that I was under the impression it was my personal copy. I suppose my mother finally told them I had misplaced it somewhere and paid the fine so I could keep it.

(Don’t judge her too harshly – It wasn’t so easy to track down obscure books back then! Also, we didn’t really have the money for that sort of thing.)

My love of Wonder Woman never expired, but I’ve never loved her comics the same way, aside from a thrilling mid-90s reimagining by William Messner-Loebs and Mike Deodato, Jr. I know I’ve missed a lot of Wonder Woman comics in the interim, and if DC could get their heads out of their asses on reprints maybe I could catch up on them.

The relaunch is the perfect chance to launch Wonder Woman to the heights she belongs – equal to Superman and Batman, the holy trinity of the DC Universe.

Is her new number one issue up to the task?

Wonder Woman #1

Written by Brian Azzarello, art by Cliff Chiang

Rating: 2.5 of 5 – Okay

In a Line: “Failure… what a horrifying end to an endless life.”

#140 Review: Wonder Woman #1 hints at major myth-heavy plot to come, but has sparse script, hardly any WW in it, & angular, inconsistent art. Just okay.

CK Says: Consider it.

Wonder Woman #1 is an interesting comic book, but it’s simply not worthy of the redebut of one of DC’s holy trinity of heroes when we’ve seen absolutely stellar books from her compatriots Superman and Batman over the past two weeks.

Brian Azzarello’s story is slight on script but full of action, both dramatic and in battle. It features a girl marked for death by a Pantheon of forces, a certain horror of growing centaurs out of horses’ necks, Hermes carrying around a Portkey to Wonder Woman, and a rogue son of a god who makes his own oracles from scratch. The elements hint at the possibilty of spectacular plots to come, but this issue is merely moving pieces into play on a chess board.

I had major doubts about Chiang on Wonder Woman. He acquits himself adequately, but I don’t know that he merits all the many unscripted panels he gets here. His figures have a certain plainness to them that’s half DC animated half hieroglyphic, with thin limbs and angular features. A lot of his edges have a rough, unfinished look, which looks great on environments but can be a little off-putting on characters.

What Chiang does get right is Wonder Woman – to a tee. He lets her look Amazonian while still staying svelte, and manages to convey coyness even when she’s standing bare naked in the middle of a room. The handful of panels of Diana in action will get your heart racing – Chiang is much better on action than conversation. It’s a pity she’s not in her own debut a little more, as whenever she is she’s magnetic.

As for the cover, I cannot bring myself to like it. Diana’s figure is too far left looking off the page – it feels like half of an image.

Azzarello might be the writer to pluck Wonder Woman from the rut she has been in for the past year, but it is going to take him a few issues to get there. Buy this first one only if you have the patience to hang in for the next few months.

Filed Under: comic books, reviews Tagged With: Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang, DC, DC New 52, Wonder Woman

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