CBD 4/13/09

Mini-reviews- The Unwritten, Umbrella Academy, Echo, Jack Staff, Green Lantern, Human Torch Comics

Human Torch Comics #1 (Snyder, Wegener, Pattison) - This is from last week, but the Wegener reaction didn't happen until this week. I am sure you understand what that is, that's the reaction where you go... Holy crap! Scott Wegener did the art for this!? Here... have my money! Fortunately for me, the story is great as well as the art, and Ronda Pattison's colors of course. I am not a particular fan of the old Human Torch, but this story is very well done. It touches on everything it needs to, hitting all the right beats as it were. We see his humanity and heroism, his android, other-ness, Human Torch as celebrity and monster and ultimately hero again. Ultimately ending up with a date with someone who accepts him as he is. The second half of this book is a reprint of what I guess is the first appearance of Toro from 1940. The book is 4 bucks, but It's a nice buy if you like this sort of thing.

Green Lantern #40 - This is what it is. I am liking it enough to keep getting it, but with this issue I have no specific points to recommend it on other that it will hopefully some day result in the blackest night event. The art looks great, and the writing isn't bad or anything, I just am not sure that it accomplished anything really important.

Jack Staff #20 - Pretty great stuff. If you haven't given Jack Staff a read yet, I recommend you pick up the first trade. It's well written and distinctively drawn. It's funny and... clever as well. In this issue the focus is on a very X-Men like group of young people in a very Xavier like School.

Echo #12 - Every issue I say it is great, and every issue I say I wish it were longer. This one is particularly good in my opinion. There is one page that stands out as probably my favorite in the series based solely on Julie's facial expressions. We also get some advancement with Pam (Julie's sister), Ivy is closer than ever to our 'heroes', and Julie is sporting more of the 'suit' than before.

The Umbrella Academy: Dallas #6 - I really liked this series. I think this issue was great. I had read a review saying it was a weak ending, but I thought it worked really well. I thought that the twists in this were interesting, I didn't see it coming, really. I love the characters enough, that as long as something is going on with them I am happy. I hope we get more of this from this team.

The Unwritten #1 (Mike Carey, Peter Gross) - I like Mike Carey as a writer. I enjoyed Confessions of a Blabbermouth, and really like what I have read of Lucifer so far (I have a lot of the trades but have not read them all yet. I love this title. The Unwritten focuses on a reality where Literary geography matters, where just maybe literary characters can step out of their literary world and into ours. The main character Tom is the son of a writer who achieved even greater success with a series than JK Rowling did with Harry Potter. Tom spends his days finding work that pays him for exactly that fact. His father disappeared, or abandoned him, depending on who is telling the story, and he is still bitter about the fact that he himself doesn't exist as much as the character named for him does. One day, everything changes. A reporter suggests he is not who he says he is. Evidence supports the idea that Tom was never really born, so who is he? The uproar that this causes is almost as out of control as the uproar that occurrs when it is suggested that Tom IS the character from the book, that perhaps TOM is a messiah of sorts. It is an excellent premise. The book suggests that our reality may just be stories built upon stories. It is well written, the art is great, and this issue is ONE DOLLAR!!! It just can't get better than that. I am excited about continuing to read this.