we-play-games

Just thinking about this, and the Christ on a bike strip from 1996 could have been much better. The crucifix on his back here shouldn’t be inverted for example.

A [very] little something from 1996.

…about Grant Morrison:

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Grant_Morrison

Kick-Ass 2: it’s like Kick-Ass, but with a 2 at the end.

I find it hard to allow myself to like Mark Millar, even though he’s Scottish (likes what I am). I’m not always convinced he has us comic readers best interests in mind, just how much money he can make and if he can get a film deal out of it.
I might be wrong.
I’m also not entirely sure what his beef is with Grant Morrison, but considering he has a series with Dave Gibbons started and one with Frank Quitely lined up, he must be doing something right.

Anyway, Kick-Ass 2: to get into the mood, I reread the original series and I have to grudgingly admit, it’s quite entertaining. More so than the film. Although it was nice to see Hit-Girl in the flesh (from a violence point of view, nothing dodgy).
First thing about Kick-Ass 2 is that John Romita JR isn’t actually pencilling, just doing layouts, and it shows. The art simply isn’t as as good as the first series,  I’m also not sure about the colouring, but that’s less of an issue.

Story-wise, it simply does what Mr Millar promised: takes it to the next level. Sure there’s still plenty of swearing and the old utra-violence, but at least they spare you the details of the rape scene. It’s a shame about the dog though.
How gratuitous is it all?
Quite; although to be honest, if you’re not expecting that, then you shouldn’t be reading it.

All in all then, not as good as the first series, but still quite enjoyable.
I’ve already added the upcoming Hit-Girls series to my pull-list.

Man of Muscle Mystery

I read Doom Patrol back in the day, so I also picked up Flex Mentallo when originally published. It’s nice to see this reprinted and apparently recoloured. I read somewhere that people preferred the original colouring, but I’d need to go back and check as the book looked fine to me.

The story is pretty good, a little mental and psychedelic, but it’s supposed to be. I think it all makes sense in the end. Sort of.

Frank Quitely’s art is quite special though, and even if you don’t like Morrison’s slightly more head-mincing writing, it’s worth reading for the pictures alone.

Lovely.

I’ve been enjoying the new Justice League, and normally I like Gene Ha’s art, so what went wrong here?

Not sure if Ha decided to use a different art style to normal (or what he used in Action Comics issue 3 recently), but it’s a mess in this comics.
It could all be down to “guest colorist” Art Lyon as it looks like a right half-arsed Photoshop job.

The story was entertaining, but what a way to be let down by DC’s flagship title.

Dug out of few “recent” comics to reread and quite fancied Batman: Knight of Vengeance.

Sometimes I like Brian Azzarello’s writing, other times not so much, and I approached this as more of an “Elseworlds” Batman story, rather than the Flashpoint tie-in it was. I think this was the only Flashpoint related story I read, as I had been previously let down by Darkest Night and Brightest Day, which both dragged on way too long and frankly, were boring.
I’m glad I did as it was a nice take on the Batman, with Bruce Wayne dying in Crime Alley instead of his parents.

With no Bruce Wayne to avenge his parents death and kick arse in Gotham, it fell to his father Thomas to rid the streets of criminal scum. Quite permanently as it happens, he seems prepared to kill where required. Batman wouldn’t be Batman if he killed, but Thomas wasn’t like his son, and his mother?

Eduardo Rizzo’s art was good: dark and grim, fitting the tone of the story. Lots of Shadows, which is a requirement for a Batman comic, although the black on the Killer Croc splash seemed a bit off. Just a minor issue that didn’t detract from the over all appearance.

I don’t know how much you would appreciate this comic if you aren’t reasonably well versed in Batman already, given that most of the main characters are in there, but aren’t quite what you would expect, and that’s where a lot of the character comes from.

Most enjoyable.

Just finished Powers Volume 4: Supergroup.

I didn’t read Powers when it was first published, so decided to pick up the Icon (Marvel) reprints when they started publishing them last year. Bendis is a Marvel ‘ho now, so he’s moved it from Image to there, just at the time everyone appears to be moving to Image.
I’m not Brian Michael Bendis’ biggest fan, any time I’ve tried to read his stuff (like Avengers), Marvel try to screw me by expecting me to buy loads of “event” tie-ins and the likes and I just don’t like that.
Oeming’s art is nice though.

Why was Volume 4 any good? Well, it’s not a great deal better than the earlier releases, but I found the dialogue and characters to be a little more considered this time; although I must confess to still being unsure of Deena Pilgrim . The plot is nothing particularly new (we all know the American government is dodgy, especially when it comes to superheroes), but the fall-out from the events was satisfyingly satisfying.

Not bad…