FIRST IMPRESSIONS


Co-Editor-in-Chief Jon Ellis pulls Reviews Editor Alex B's butt out of the fire by producing the ENTIRE First Impressions column this week! Woo Hoo! Go, Jon!


ALAN MOORE: PORTRAIT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMAN
Written and Illustrated by VARIOUS
Edited by 'smoky man' and Gary Spencer Millidge
Book design and production by Gary Spencer Millidge
Cover photograph by Piet Corr
Introduction by Terry Gilliam
Abiogenesis Press
$ 14.99

Within just a few days of picking this puppy up it become a very well read copy, and it'll take me a little longer still to get through it all as this beauty clocks in at 352 pages. For those of you who didn't know, this book is a tribute volume of art, comic strips, anecdotes, essays and more dedicated to one of comicdoms greatest creators as he ascends to his 50th year. Edited by smoky man, creator of Ultrazine.org and Gary Spencer Millidge, creator of STRANGEHAVEN. This is an essential for fans of Alan Moore's work, and if you're not a fan, you're missing out... more then you'll ever know. Some particular contributions which stuck out to me were those of Neil Gaiman, Antony Johnston, Angus McKie, Dylan Horrocks, Metaphrog, Tito Faraci & Pasquale Frisenda, Howard Cruse, James A. Owen, Shannon Wheeler, Bill Sienkiewicz, Matt Kindt, and more. Just a reminder, 100 % of all publisher's net profits and all creators' royalties from proceeds of this book are to be donated to charities in aid of Alzheimer's disease.

CLICK HERE for a preview of the book, including artwork, contributors list and excerpts.[JE]



AUTOMATIC KAFKA # 9
Writer: Joe Casey
Artist: Ashley Wood
Wildstorm: Eye Of The Storm
$2.95

Not a first issue, but rather a quiet conclusion to an experimental series starring the creators themselves side by side with their creation. Quite oddly, the end came following a big push for the series from the online community. Starting with our own Ed Mathews and spreading throughout the internet. This was a good series and those who got it, Got It, and those who couldn't get it... Well, why the hell not?

I stick by my original First Impressions review from when the first issue premiered, and recommend checking out Dan Coyle's recent Critical Essay reviewing the first seven issues of the series and Ed Mathews Interview with writer Joe Casey.[JE]

POWERS # 31
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming
Image Comics
$ 2.95

The start of a brand new story arc, and a new direction for this series after the world-altering conclusion of the preceding storyline. To kick off this new arc is an entire issue of primordial ape-like men fucking and fighting, fighting and fucking... and that's it. No. Really.

Leave it to Bendis to create an issue like this that will actually lead to a big payoff, of course now that it's been done it'll be hard not to refer to this arc as the 'monkey-fuck' storyline. [JE]

NEW X-MEN # 142
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Chris Bachalo
Marvel
$ 2.25

Assault On Weapon Plus part one of four. Cyclops, Wolverine and Fantomex go in search of answers to Logan's past and the Weapon X program, but before that - they drink themselves stupid in the Hellfire Club. The art by Chris Bachalo is gorgeous. It's Bachalo doing what Bachalo does best, clean lines, thick blacks and outlines, plenty of close ups and lots of room for colourist Chris Chuckry to do his thing. >From Frank Quitely to Phil Jimenez, and now with Bachalo, Chuckry has done an exemplary job and has helped greatly to the overall impression of this book as a complete, high quality package. This was a slick first-rate issue overall, and the cast of characters alone will make this a storyline worth checking out. Add Morrison's chic take and the title becomes an essential read. [JE]

TOKYO STORM WARNING # 1
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: James Raiz
Cliffhanger
$ 2.95

My first impression with this book is that it seems to reflect the sort of big action feel Warren had going with Bryan Hitch, but without the aid of Laura DePuy's lovely colours. In this case they're very flat and tend to hurt the book more then help it. The artist of the series, James Raiz has the ability to adapt his style from crime noir to a shiny video game like art and with TSW he seems to take a medium of the two. The story itself is pretty much all it seems, there's big robots and big monsters and they fight. There are hints to hidden themes but the story really just seems like a B-Movie and I really hope the whole thing doesn't turn out to be the product of a child's imagination or some equally mundane twist at the end. [JE]

WOLVERINE # 1
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: Darick Robertson
Marvel
$ 2.25

This was actually a pretty good story but you could have easily replaced Wolverine with just about any hard-boiled style character and it would have worked just the same. This issue kicks off the start of a mystery/journey for Wolverine, which is sure to turn very bloody by the end of the arc. As for Wolverine himself, I really dislike the grizzly hunched over little hairy man in a wife beater look they're working. The mean, fight hungry, brooding loner style they've been working here and there lately just seems to strip away all the honour and coolness that has been built into the character over the years. I wasn't picking up the title previous to the revival, and it's doubtful I'll be picking it up past this issue. [JE]

STARTLING STORIES: THE THING - NIGHT FALLS ON YANCY STREET # 1 of 4
Writer: Evan Dorkin
Artist: Dean Haspiel
Colours: Matt Madden
Marvel
$ 3.50

"I was a human being once. Benjamin Jacob Grimm, born and raised in Yancy Street. You had to fight to live in Yancy, and fight even harder to leave. I fought hard enough to get into college, become a test pilot, and shoot for the stars. Only the stars shot back."

That's the opening to this issue and the cleverness and quips of Evan Dorkin's words just carries throughout the rest of the issue. What's important to know about the Thing, in the sense of stories like the classic 'This Man, This Monster' is that he's not only angry about his curse of a rocky exterior, but that he's also afraid. Despite the sadness, Dorkin is able to bring forth a little bit of happiness. When all things seem their worse, the Thing runs into and befriends a young woman who's more then what she seems. The art by Haspiel [with apt colours by Madden] is superbly emotive, as is clear in the first few pages alone. There's a bit of moodiness, a bit of mystery, and I expect good things in the issues to come. [JE]

FIRST IMPRESSIONS runs just about every other week at PopImage.com. All artwork copyright it's respective owners and creators, used for purposes of review.


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