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Review Date: Friday, April 29, 2011
Good King Leonardo has declared that its another eclectic
week here in Bongo Congo, with a wide-ranging variety
of comics to review, from an obscure import title to
the premiere issue of a major new Marvel series event
to a DC one-shot. So let's see how these comic books
stack-up against each other: |
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Cyclops
#4
Publisher: Archaia
Matz: Writer
Luc Jacamon: Art
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Archaia Entertainment is currently
up to issue #4 of a comic book series entitled "Cyclops."
The comic is an English language reprint of a series
originally published in France and Belgium by Casterman.
The series is the product of a writer who goes by
the one-word name Matz, with art by Luc Jacamon. An
inside-the-front-cover narrative explains the story
so far. The setting is the year 2054, in which a hot
war rages between Argentina and Chile. In this brave
new world, a private military corporation named Multicorps
has been hired to fight in the war, using their Cyclops
brigade of soldiers as infantrymen. The spin here
is that the brigade's military experience is broadcast
live to the world as a hit reality television series!
The term "Cyclops" is applied to the brigade due to
the high-tech television camera units mounted within
each soldier's helmet, broadcasting the "show" live
to the television network.
Three sub-plots advance in the current issue #4. In
the main military plot thread, the unit goes "off-script"
when attacked in an ambush, fleeing through a nearby
forest and stumbling across an unknown massacre location.
The second storyline focuses on the soap opera-like
personal life of Cyclops Commanding Officer Doug Pistoia,
who's having an affair behind his wife's back with
Lizbeth, one of the show's executives. And our third
plotline focuses on intrigue, as Doug interacts via
I-phone with investigative journalist Jeremy Fuentes,
as the pair gather evidence to support their mutual
belief that there's a conspiracy behind both the war
and the use of the Cyclops unit, most likely to generate
television ratings.
This obscure comic book title is a fresh new spin
on the concept of the war comic book, creatively blending
the military fiction element with the concept of our
evergrowing world-wide addiction to reality television.
The creative team hits a home run here with the very
realistic and believable details of the mash-up of
the two concepts. One of my favorite elements here
is the play-by-play commentary of the battle scene,
provided back in the t.v. network studio by a retired
military general. But the big kicker here are the
off-duty scenes of the Cyclops soldiers; as they relax
in a nightclub and rank on each other, the conversation
is beamed live onto t.v. screens worldwide. The creative
team alternates these panels with scenes of fan viewers
world-wide enjoying the soldier's friendly arguments
and taking sides, similar to real-world reality television
show fans everywhere rooting for their favorite reality
t.v. stars.
As such, I highly recommend checking-out this very
entertaining and high quality comic book, which succeeds
on three counts: as a military comic, as a conspiracy
thriller tale and as a sharp and very witty commentary
on the continued evolution (or de-evolution, depending
on your opinion!) and dominance of reality television
in our society. As a final review comment, just a
heads-up that there's strong sexual content here regarding
Doug's affair with Lizbeth, so this definitely isn't
a comic book for kids. But its worth checking-out
for appropriately-aged readers for all of the reasons
outlined above.
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Fear
Itself: Book Of The Skull #1 (One-Shot)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Ed Brubaker: Writer
Scot Eaton: Pencils
Mark Morales: Inks
Sunny Gho: Colors
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Marvel Comics has kicked-off its "Fear
Itself" mega-event with a prologue one-shot comic
book entitled "Fear Itself: Book Of The Skull." The
issue is scripted by Ed Brubaker with pencils by Scot
Eaton, inks by Mark Morales and colors by Sunny Gho.
This prologue issue is followed by a core seven issue
mini-series and a wider multi-issue tie-in similar
in format to the Civil War mega-event. The series
focuses on the concept of the Marvel universe superheroes
contending with the God of Fear, a supervillain who
uses each hero's personal fears against them.
The prologue one-shot comic book begins the tale by
alternating between the present-day and World War
II-era Marvel universes. In the current storyline,
bad guys Baron Zemo and Sin, the Red Skull's daughter,
explore a secret underground desert lair in search
of an unnamed super weapon left behind by the Red
Skull. The 1942 storyline is set in Germany and depicts
Cap, Bucky and Namor pursuing the Red Skull as he
seeks via mystical enchantment to obtain a secret
black magic weapon of mass power. The two storylines
converge by issue's end, as its clear that the Red
Skull obtained the weapon, with the means to obtain
it today falling into his daughter Sin's hands. Thus
the basic backstory premise of the upcoming Fear Series
is established for further action and adventure.
While everyone has their own comic story tastes and
preferences, I personally have been very disappointed
by the storytelling quality of certain past mega-event
comic series, such as DC's "52." I'm pleased to report
here that this kick-off issue of the "Fear Itself"
event doesn't give me a sense of that problem here,
at all. Writer Ed Brubaker kicks it all off with a
very high quality script, presented in perfect visual
style by the art team. There's a nice, steady blend
of fast action and talking head narrative explanation
that establishes a very solid Marvel universe premise
for this whole concept. Most importantly, the issue
delivers that key requirement of a Prologue issue,
leaving the reader wanting to know much more about
the interesting story events that have been jumpstarted
in this premier story edition.
So an enthusiastic thumbs-up recommendation to enjoy
this comic book both on its own merits as a fun Marvel
Comics read, as well as a successful introduction
to what seems at this point to be a well-crafted concept
for the comics industry's latest mega-event series.
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Jimmy
Olsen #1 (One-Shot)
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Nick Spencer: Writer
RB Silva & Amilcar Pinna: Pencils
Dym & Rob Lean: Inks
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DC Comics has just published an over-sized
one-shot Jimmy Olsen comic book. The book is a reprint
compilation of a multi-issue Jimmy Olsen story arc
that was featured monthly in 2010 as a second story
in issues of Action Comics. AOL's Comics Alliance
rated it one of the top ten best comic book storylines
of 2010. The series is scripted by Nick Spencer with
pencils by RB Silva and Amilcar Pinna, and inks by
Dym and Rob Lean. I had reviewed one of the stories
last year and was interested in reading the entire
story arc for a more comprehensive review.
The story is entitled "Jimmy Olsen's Big Week," and
follows Jimmy day-by-day through seven day's worth
of action and adventure. The plot actually follows
the adventures of Jimmy and his journalist girlfriend
Chloe. Chloe dumps Jimmy at the beginning of the tale,
but the two constantly interact with each other through
a fast-paced tale that involves an invasion of Metropolis
by alien Lindsay Lohan wannabes, Jimmy experiencing
a sorceress-induced alternate "what-if" version of
his life as a Superman-like hero, and finally, Jimmy
and Chloe together foiling a plot by an employee of
Lex Luthor to take over the world. By stories end,
Jimmy and Chloe are beyond all the action and deciding
whether or not to get back together again, the outcome
of which I won't spoil for potential readers.
I enjoyed very much the one segment of this story
arc that I read last year and enjoyed even more reading
the entire story arc as reprinted in this one-shot
comic book. Writer Nick Spencer does a first-rate
job on three counts: first, skillfully combining the
successful Jimmy Olsen formula of presenting him as
half-nerd, half-hero. Secondly, giving us a fun plotline
that moves quickly and entertainingly through a sampling
of typical Jimmy Olsen story situations (alien invasion,
threats from Lex Luthor, girlfriend trouble, etc.).
And third, infusing the story with lots of relevant
humor, from the invasion of the alien Lindsey Lohan
party girl and her clubbing entourage through very
sharp one-liners and dialogue. I also liked the romantic
subplot between Jimmy and Chloe, with a conclusion
that provided a more realistic situation than your
average comic book relationship.
On a final review note, there's also a really funny
brief cameo by Supergirl dropped unexpectedly into
the middle of the storyline, that's in the vein of
writer-artist Amanda Conner's fun style of comic book
humor. So a positive thumbs-up recommendation to not
miss the opportunity to purchase and read this entire
story arc conveniently published within this oversized
one-shot Jimmy Olsen comic book.
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Contest
Winner Announcement!!!
We received several correct entries to our
latest contest, which challenged you to tell us which state
after Alaska is the biggest U.S. state not to serve as home
to a major league baseball team. And our winner via a roll
of the dice is (drumroll, please)...Jeremy Mower, who correctly
identified Montana as lacking an MLB team. Jeremy comments
that while Alaska's lack of population and harsh climate
make it baseball-less, possibly Montana's in the same boat
for being the contiguous 48 states's version of Alaska!
Congratulations to Jeremy for winning the first prize $10.00
gift certificate to That's Entertainment!
New
Contest Announcement!!!
We'll try another comic book-based contest
again in the near future, but in honor of our Red Sox getting
back on their feet with a hot winning streak lately, let's
do another baseball contest this week. So your challenge
is to e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com
with the correct answer to the following question: which
retired switch-hitting Major League Baseball Hall of Famer
completed his career with exactly 50% of his hits coming
as a lefty and exactly 50% coming as a righty? This one
might be a challenge to find, so here's one hint: his total
hits were 3,630, with 1,815 compiled from each side of the
plate.
As always, in the event of multiple correct
entries, our winner of the $10.00 gift certificate to That's
Entertainment will be chosen via a roll of the dice from
among the correct entries.
That's all for now, so have a great early Springtime and
comic book reading week, and see you again next week Here
In Bongo Congo!
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