PGHHEAD’S 2022 COMIC ODYSSEY, PART 30
In 2021 I set a goal to post reviews here for 1,000 comics, and finished the year at 1,008 reviews. It was a stretch - - not to read that many comics, because I actually read quite a bit more. The challenge is to find and take the time to write a fair review of what I read - - but I made it. I’m up for a new year, and a new challenge. My goal for 2022 is to read and document 1,200 comics. That’s an average of 100 books per month, easy enough to check and update. Wish me luck!
# GOAL FOR July 31, 2022 . . . 700 comics documented
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 703 comics documented
#672 S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 by Mark Waid and Carlos Pacheco (Marvel, February 2015) Mark Waid’s story brought back fond memories of some of the better moments of the television series. I like the way he treats the characters of Phil Coulson’s team and how they interact.
This is a big spotlight issue on leader Coulson, and Waid does him right. He’s a intuitive leader who seems to know the right moves to make, but it’s not all mind games. Waid shows Coulson from early age through higher education as a note-taker, studiously studying the Marvel heroes and noting their strengths and weaknesses. So, when the Bifrost Bridge collapses and Heimdall and other Asgardians crash to earth, he know exactly who to call to prevent a powerful sword from falling into the wrong hands. A fun read. Well-paced. Good art. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
S.H.I.E.L.D. establishes the S.T.A.K.E. Division to help defend the world from supernatural threats. An LMD of Dum Dum Dugan is the leader, and the team includes Hit Monkey, Teen Abomination, Manphibian, Vampire By Night, Orrgo, Man-Thing, and a Zombie Jasper Sitwell.
They put down an outbreak aboard the S.S. Chaney in the Atlantic Ocean, where crew members have mysteriously turned into monsters. They succeed but kind of flub their first mission, which was supposed to be a recovery effort. There’s a running gag with zombie Sitwell always pointing his weapon at the wrong targets. The art is eye-appealing. Silly bit of fun, though. THREE STARS.
The tiny robotic androids (Gremlin-sized) escape from a government facility and find their way into a family's home on Christmas Eve. The family dog is the first to catch onto their presence, followed by the young children and lastly, the parents (of course). Meanwhile the little robots disarm every mechanical/electronic/tech device in the home and start building their own robotic defenders for the day when the government learns of their location (which they do).
The ending is satisfactory, but kind of a cliff-hanger perhaps leading into a second volume sometime in the future. I found the book to be very cute and heart-warming in the initial issues, but my interest level dropped off as it moved forward. For much younger readers (of which I am not). THREE STARS.
I was first introduced to Dagnino via his art work on Titan's BLADE RUNNER series. Here he both writes and illustrates in grey tones an original story that owes a debt to both BLADE RUNNER, THE MATRIX and other films of a similar nature. If one reads any science-fiction, this story of an android becoming self-aware and trying to discover, release and understand their underlying humanity is a familiar one.
Yuki a.k.a. Scrappy is a "Smart Girl", an android servant/bodyguard/security/sex toy for her owner, tech giant Hiro Tonazzi. She begins to malfunction, and Hiro impatiently replaces her with a newer model, intending to discard and destroy Yuki. She takes a stand against the abuse and escapes to be hunted by her creators. Anti-android sentiment is running throughout the city, but while the protests are featured the story never focuses on the reasons why.
Sometimes some very excellent illustrators decide to write as well, taking complete control over their work. While it has worked exceedingly well for some (Timothy Truman and John Byrne come to mind) -- some artists should just stick to what they do best. This story is all over the place and hard to follow, just as THE MATRIX film series became bogged down in it's own pseudo-science premise.
Like a below average B-movie that you keep watching and hoping it will eventually get better, I slogged through this graphic novel (equivalent to approximately ten individual comics) hoping it would start to make sense - - which it did but only a little bit. Murky and confusing, and not entertaining. But the art was excellent. THREE STARS.
Issue #1 is an amazing standalone tale that introduces Joseph Coates, the 70-year old sheriff of the desert-like and small-town area of Ambrose County, Texas. Coates has some amusing idiosyncrasies to go along with the casual neighborly way he handles his job. He's feeling his years, and begins to doubt his abilities to continue doing his job properly. A great introductory issue.
Things really kick off in the remaining five issues of the first story arc, as Randy Terrill returns to Ambrose County after his brother dies, where he learns in a conversation with Sheriff Coates that a murder investigation is underway. Randy's sordid past comes back to haunt him, and he decides to stay and investigate on his own, a dangerous path that brings back past memories and regrets and puts him on a downward spiral.
The text commentary by writer Chris Condon really nails the meaning of several of these scenes, kind of symbolic and poetic at the same time. Makes you wonder if the main character of this book is Coates, Randy, or the state of Texas itself. It's that Texas blood, quite the influence. I believe Sheriff Coates returns for Volume Two, so that may be the answer. FIVE STARS.
A moody, atmospheric chiller with a noir feel. A serial killer in 1949 evades detection until homicide detective Drake Harper uncovers a vital clue and pursues it, despite a broken marriage, a nervous breakdown, and doubts about his own self-worth.
The art and colors are engaging and different enough to hold the readers attention while the story builds suspense and dread as it moves along. David Hollenbach's art style reminds me of early Ben Templesmith, featuring similar strengths and weaknesses. Among the moments of brilliance are panels too murky and sketchy to leave a clear impression of what's actually occurring on the page.
There's a small flub in the interior pages which pulled me right out of the story. However, it's minor enough that I was able to resume reading and still enjoy the story. There's a scene with a neon sign in a bar window that says "Lite Beer" along with the familiar Miller logo. Problem is that brew was not introduced to market until 1972. FOUR STARS.
The first issue is absolutely brilliant and very funny. In the back content, Russell explains "so I wanted to write a futuristic dystopia that was intentionally about something happening to people right now, but set is such a way that people who were not experiencing it, maybe even its perpetrators, would identify with the victims. Writing, when done right, is an exercise in forced empathy . . . so I started writing a story about robots as a metaphor for toxic masculinity."
A noble goal, and I do believe he pulled it off (at least in the early issues). In NOT ALL ROBOTS humans are forced to live in fear of the robots in their lives, who have all the jobs and all the money. In this world, robots are the sole source of support for human families. Russell's work is also a keen and humorous look at consumerism, corporate greed, haves and have nots, the one percent with all the money and power, profits before safety, marketing schemes, and so much more.
Mike Deodato Jr's art style is well suited to the storyline. Maybe it's the futuristic robotic themes but his illustrations seem just a little different to me here, and recall the best works of Wally Wood for EC Comics science-fiction stories.
Issues #2 and #3 maintain the atmosphere, humorous bent, and satiric symbolism established in the first issue. However, somewhere within Issue 4 the jokes begin to disappear and the story turns a bit more serious. Issue 5 reads like a survival story out of THE WALKING DEAD. Just substitute robots and vicious gangs for the zombies and vicious gangs from that series. The change in tone was enough to pull me out of the story and change this rating from Five Stars To Four Stars. FOUR STARS.
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