Buffy Season Eight #24, Angel #19
My final paper is finished and so I have some time before the actual exams to bring you some more reviews and news. So let’s get right to it with a review of the latest Buffy and Angel issues.
Buffy’s season eight is still going strong with issue #24. This time the story focuses on Faith, who we last saw early on in the series. She is still with Giles and together they are looking for young slayers in order to train them. When they hear of a slayer sanctuary, they decide to visit an meet one of the few remaining members of the Watchers’ Council Duncan Fillworthe (allthough he seems familiar, he was never introduced to the Buffyverse before). It is said that a group of slayers are hiding out in Hanselstadt, a small town in the mountains and they are at a stalemate with the vampires. What Giles and Faith don’t know however is that nothing is as it seems and the real reason why the vampires won’t attack the town lies hidden under a wall of silence. That’s all I can say here without giving away too much. All in all the issue had the right feel. Faith was spot on, sporting a few typical one-liners, we all love so much (for example when she helps a slayer the girl cries out: “You’re her… You’re BUFFY!!!”, and Faith replies, “She’s calling me names, G.” Classic!) and the action is not too over the top. #24 was a good one, but I am starting to miss the main storyline about Twilight and his goons. The strongest point of the issue however is the way it establishes Giles and Faith as the new slayer-watcher dreamteam. Writer Jim Krueger and artist Cliff Richards also seem to be such a team, so I would love to see more of them.
Story 8, Art 8, Re-read 7, Overall Rating 8
Let’s move on to Angel #19, a series that has turned from a strong challenging comic book to a real train wreck in only 2 issues. First off all, I have to say that I can’t get used to Dave Ross’ Art. The characters don’t look like their human counterparts and the rest of it looks like it’s from an early 90s X-men comic and is overall just bad in my opinion (just look at panel 4 of the uploaded pictures. Angel looks like a dumb brute… horrible). The story of the issue is not even worth mentioning, as it only focuses of Angel and his new “ally” Desdemona, a shapeshifter who can turn into a leopard. The thing that bugs me most is however how callous Kate Lockley has been reintroduced to the continuity. Angel and her were not exactly friends when they parted ways and now she is back, immediately on his team and does the whole “my friend is a vampire and I’m fine with it” routine. I really hope that the team on Angel will soon change direction or I will probably lose interest.
Story 4, Art 3, Re-read 3, Overall Rating 3
Overworked
For those of you who have been wondering, why there haven’t been any reviews, nor news on this page, I have an announcement to make. My final paper is due in a few weeks and so I have to focus all my time on this work in order to pass the first part of my exams. This means that there will not be much going on here on this page, but I hope to be back for good around the end of April. So please be patient and I hope you stay tuned!
Action Comics #1 sells for Super price
Here is the proof that collecting comics can make you rich. The New York Daily News reports that this Sunday the first issue of Action Comics was sold in an Internet auction for 317,200$. The importance of this particularly comic book lies in the fact that it features the first appearance of Superman the Man of Steel and his alter ego Clark Kent. Only aroud 100 copies of this issue are still in existence, so check your attick and hope your grandfather was a collector too. Source
Buffy Season Eight #23, Angel #18
I won’t make any excuses for the late post, saying that exams are keeping me busy should be enough. So let’s get to the review of Buffy and Angel’s latest comic books.
Once again (sigh) we get a single issue story in Buffy’s issue #23 and this time our hero slayer gets backup from Andrew, former criminal mastermind and now a watcher for the Council. This means tons of nerd- and geek-speak for the readers and the chance to see Buffy herself have moment of geek weakness. Story wise, Buffy and Angel have to fight an obscure rogue slayer (I think she is mentioned in issue #11) that has gone bad and has taken over an island in Italy as a base of operations. There is not much happening in the issue and I have to say, had it not been for the funny nerd references this issue would have been abysmal. Once again an issue of minor quality, and I’m sadly starting to lose interest in the series. Also check out this other review: click!
Story 5, Art 6, Re-read 4, Overall Rating 5
Much of the same can be said about the last issue of Angel. Since the vampire with a soul has returned L.A. from he has been struggling with his new found celebrity. This first “Aftermath” issue features a new creative team namely artist, Dave Ross and writer Kelley Armstrong and they are doing a decent job, although I think that the art sometimes suffers from Ross’ attempt to capture the former actors’ likeness which makes the characters look stale and undynamic. Concerning the reintroduction of Kate I have to say that I’m still not sure what I should think of this. She had been gone way to long and on a really bad note so that her sudden reappearance is questionable, not to comment on her immediate chumminess with our lead hero. Hopefully the series will soon be back to the initial dense storytelling and maybe Armstrong will get the tone of the story right next time.
Story 6, Art 6, Re-read 5, Overall Rating 6
Watchmen – Movie Review
Yesterday the day I had waited for had finally come. Watchmen hit theaters this week and with this one of the most anticipated superhero movies of the year was released. Could it live up to the expectations? Would all the hype be justified? Well these questions can be answered with a small and simple word: YES!
Without talking too much about content I can honestly say, that it is one of the most respectful and true adaptations of a graphic novel I have ever seen. Zack Synder follows the comic books page by page, which gives the viewer many 1:1 snapshots which immediately bring the exact panel from the book to mind. There was a lot of discussion about some of the scenes from the comic book that were initially deemed to be to strong for a film (the rape scene comes to mind). But the director managed to leave everything in and as a big fan of the original I can say that this really surprised me (in a good way). There were no: “Awww why the hell did they change this” moments and even the slight change in the ending (and it really isn’t as big of a change as some people had thought in the weeks leading up to the movie) works perfectly. It is also for that reason that it is not a typical superhero movie, which tend to be all about the action and less about the characters as such. All of the important character developing parts where left in and as such, there are no leaps forward in time which would distort the experience, just so that the movie would be shorter. I must say that I’m looking forward to the BluRay / DVD release to see if they really include the real ending.
While watching the movie you will see so many Easter eggs, little details and allusions to scenes that had to be left out (although there are not many) that you will probably have tears in your eyes (at least if you are a real fan). The actors were perfect for the roles, especially Nite Owl II and Rorschach, and the musical choice was just pure genius. Special effects wise there are no complaints and the slow motion effects really make it feel like you are reading an action sequence panel by panel. That is in my opinion the strongest point of the film: it feels like a comic book the whole time you watch it. I’m still not sure if I would call it the best superhero movie ever made, but it is definitely up there. In my opinion, everybody who like good storytelling should see it. Alan Moore could be proud (although we all know he won’t be). And as for the comic book fans out there: what are you waiting for? Go see it already!!!
Watchmen at the Internet Movie Database
Watchmen at Rotten Tomatoes
The Suicide Squad is coming to the big screen
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. is planning to make a movie out of the DC comic franchise The Suicide Squad. It will interesting to see, which installment of the team they will choose, as a lot of different villains have been a member at some point or another. Let’s cross our fingers for Deadshot!
Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury
Good news everyone! Samuel L. Jackson has just signed a nine movie deal with Marvel Entertainment, garanteeing his return as Nick Fury for future movies. A few weeks ago negotiations were apparently going slow, but it is nice to hear that he will be back to lead the Avengers. More infos here.
A Veidt Music Network Special
Watchmen is only weeks away from hitting theaters worldwide but their viral marketing campaign is still going strong.
Check out the newest video, reminiscent of 80s MTV shows
Nice outfit Dr. Manhattan, indeed.
Angel – After the Fall #17
“This is the end. My only friend, the end.“
Well at least it’s the end of the “After the Fall” series. Issue #17 ties up the loose ends of L.A.’s return to reality. A month has passed since Angel and his friends defied the odds and turned back time in order to save L.A. from hell on earth. So we see Angel managing with his new found celebrity, see a return (although only briefly) of Lorne and even the rivalry between Spike and Angel seems to have cooled down a bit. Of course this would not be an Angel story if we were not reminded of his apparent destiny (the one where he is supposed to bring upon the destruction of mankind) and see him deal with his guilt about what has transpired the last few weeks. Art wise nothing really changes in the series, which is at times a bit disappointing. I’m looking forward to the next few issues and hope they will provide a nice setup for a seventh season of the Angel storyline.
Looking back at season six I can honestly say, that I enjoyed the ride. At first I was a bit alienated by the extreme change the creative team made (what with throwing L.A. into hell), but the finale was worth it. The season also demonstrated, that nobody ever really disappears in Whedon’s universes as we saw a return of many “dead” characters. The only negative point I can really make (and this goes for Buffy as well) is that the dialog sometimes is too screenplay like. It is often hard to follow as the necessary facial impressions are missing to convey additional meaning. All in all it was an enjoyable read and I will definetly read the issues again, if I ever watch the show all through again (just to see how it reads in close proximity to the series).
Remember that Angel continues with the “Aftermath” series, which will be out on February 25th.
Story 7, Art 6, Re-read 6, Overall Rating 6.5
Buffy Season Eight #22
Here we are again, issue 22 has just been released and I took a quick look for you. Last month we saw a return of Buffy’s long time adversary Harmony (although she is more of a wannabe bad gal) and if you remember I was not at all pleased with the result. Issue 22 attempts to continue the main storyline, but we are still in filler territory.
Story wise, Satsu is visited in Japan by Willow’s ex Kennedy, who is supposed to evaluate Satsu’s performance as a new slayer cell leader. The Japanese slayer is still stricken by her short love affair with Buffy and Kennedy makes it abundantly clear, that she should forget about the vampire killer from Sunnydale. In other words, the writers seem to want to prevent the assumption that Buffy might have turned gay with a big neon NO! sign. Kennedy’s visit to the Asian country is however not without incident, as they are attacked by a small fury kitty doll (yes I know how it sounds), which turns out to be a part of a swarm like creature called Swell, which attempts to infest the human hosts it comes in contact with and in order to control them. The slayers are of course not overwhelmed by this threat and they manage to prevent a major outbreak. Harmony once again uses the destruction of the doll shipment to criminalize the slayer movement in the media.
So the issue has it all: Japan, a giant monster constituted of several minor cute kitty dolls (reminiscent of the Power Rangers type creatures), slayers kicking ass and the mention of lesbianism. Oh, and there’s a submarine too. Still the story was not much more satisfying than last months and I still think the latest issues took the funny premise of the show into a silly direction. Please return to the previous setting before you alienate more of the readers.
Story 6, Art 7, Re-read 5, Overall Rating 6
Comic(s) Relief 