Graphic Novel Reviews

Essential Fantastic Four Vol 4 reprints issues # 64 - 83, and Annuals 5 and 6, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

I don't think the stories in Vol 4 quite reach the heights of the classics from Vol 3, but this is very good work that continued to both introduce major Marvel characters still in vogue today and to continue to explore the team's character.

High points of this run included introductions to the Kree Sentry, Ronan the Accuser, Him (AKA Warlock), PsyhcoMan, and the return of Doctor Doom, the Inhumans and Galactus and the Silver Surfer.

From what I have read, Jack Kirby was very unhappy at this time (both with Stan Lee and with Marvel) and was perhaps not bringing forth his best concepts, saving them for other use (i.e, in what became DC's Fourth World saga). However, the work is still very strong.

For big FF fans, I recommend instead the Marvel Masterworks FF series, which is in color and is printed on better paper. However, these Essential FF volumes are an economical (less than 1/5 the price per story) and reasonable way to become familiar with and enjoy this classic work; the Kirby art does not suffer as much as that of some other artists by the black and white reproduction.

Definitely worth a read, and a lot of fun.

reviewed by DaveH

Alex Sheikman's art is twisted and beautiful to behold. Futuristic and retro at the same time, Robotika is dark and moody with stylized violence and cool character designs.

reviewed by dan

A young man shares his memories of his grandfather's sideshow and the "Punch and Judy" man, and the strange and frightening things that happened there.

Another collaboration between Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, two very talented men whose styles suit one another wonderfully. McKean provides some amazing looking scenes, especially the photo realistic puppetry of the Punch and Judy show; and Gaiman provides the kind of darkly magical story of youth and memory that he does so very well. A very good story that improves upon multiple readings.

reviewed by jdp

More full-color fun with Krazy Kat, Ignatz Mouse & Offissa Pupp.

Few things are as mystifyingly simple and unfathomably complex as George Herriman's Krazy Kat. You hear the premise – a bizarre, borderline nonsensical love/hate triangle between a genderless Kat, a brick-hurling mouse and a law-enforcer dog, where being brained can be a sign of affection and being jailed can be a game – and the appeal might not be instantly evident. But to read this feature is to love it, Herriman’s endless permutations of this simple concept never failing to entertain. The backgrounds, beautiful and deceptively simple, shift from panel to panel, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that permeates the feature; while the characters each speak in their own unique dialect, lending the experience an indescribable charm. A true classic, as much fun as watching someone get hit in the head with a brick can be... and apparently that's a lot.

reviewed by jdp

Another great story of hard times in Frank Miller's film noir Sin City milieu. Unlike prior serialized efforts, this 128 pager was published as one story without serializing.

Dwight and Miho are working together to take revenge. It's all about families of various kinds and natures and their motivations.

Sin City remains one of my favorite graphic works out there. The plotting and dialogue are crisp and the mostly black and white art perfect for the work's atmosphere.

The exact nature of the Sin City stories vary, and they'are all worth reading.

reviewed by DaveH

A group of superheroes arrive on a world where none exist.

A short graphic novel by Larry Young and Brandon McKinney, this starts out with some promise and quickly devolves into a total waste of time. McKinney’s work is pretty good and Young’s attempts at poking fun at the ridiculousness of superheroes is amusing for the first third of the book, but after that it just falls apart. Nothing the book tries to say hasn’t been said better elsewhere, and since Young actively avoids developing an actual plotline to couch this in there’s just no reason to bother with it.

reviewed by jdp

After the excellent "Hard Time", Azzarello mostly fails to get a good Constantine story going, and ends up putting him in a story with f@&*ed-up rednecks, and wraps up the arc with a poor homage to Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery".

reviewed by rone

Opportunists and bounty hunters come out of the woodwork looking for the Lone Wolf and Cub.

The thing about a series this good and this long is that I’m running out of things to say about it. With basically all of Japan now after them, father and son find themselves up against some of their most overwhelming odds, facing down entire armies in their quest. This results in some of the series most bloody and chaotic action sequences, Ogami Itto wading through fields of slaughter, an untouchable demon of death. In contrast, this volume also gives us some glimpses of a more vulnerable Itto than we’ve yet seen. The sight of Ogami Itto, weeping over the body of an old friend he has just been forced to slay, crouched in the middle of a field strewn with the corpses of his enemies, is an exceptionally powerful image. A fantastic series all around.

reviewed by jdp

Now this is my kind of book! Filled from cover to cover with Fantastic Contraptions by incredible artists. It's a gizmo-lover's dream tome.

reviewed by dan

A conspiracy to overthrow the Shogunate and reinstate the Emperor, centered around the mythic sword Grasscutter, draws in Usagi and many of his old friends.

Sakai takes on his most epic single storyline to date, with mixed results. For this story Sakai has to juggle a number of characters and plotlines that must happen concurrently and then intersect at key moments. That’s a hard thing to do, but Sakai manages things generally well. That said, the tale does feel like it’s a little bit too long, dragging in one or two places on the way to a conclusion that’s really just another beginning… that’s not a bad thing, but after a story this long I wanted some feeling of resolution, even just temporary resolution, to wrap it all up, and this didn’t quite manage that to my satisfaction. Still a good story, just not a flawless one.

reviewed by jdp