Return of the Skyrocket

Its a short one today, kids.  Its Friday, May 4, 2012, its the missus's birthday, and this is The Side.  That's right.  My wife was born on Star Wars Day.  That's how we roll.


Yeah, only had one comic waiting for me this week.  Things are still pretty nuts here, with the return of the mssus being under a week away, and Darren's untimely passing..    Let's get to it.

COMIX!!!

THE SKYROCKET #4 hit the stands a bit unexpectedly.  Was not expecting it, but I'm glad that Mike Federali and Os Petroli got this baby on out.  Samantha Robbins AKA The Skyrocket starts out a new adventure when Agent Evans needs her assistance in a hostage situation involving hi-tech crooks.  Pretty straight forward stuff, but a very pleasant ride.  We get fun villains for Sam to fight.  We also get a bit of a twist at the end.  The writing is good.  Federali shines in the little moments, like the early seen with Sam in her lab.  He does a good job of making Sam likable and engaging without falling into the trap of having a female lead who is just an over-developed bosom in spandex.  Petroli plays off of this and does a great job of making her attractive without resorting to cheap cheesecake shots.  This book continues to improve.  Its paced well.  The art continues to get cleaner.  I do like that we see Evans in the field wearing tactical gear as opposed to his suit.  There are a few things that didn't really work for me, like the Sam/Mari throwdown, but that's mainly me coming from a fight background and I'm too much of a stickler sometimes as far as fight scenes.  These are only small misgivings, and even with them, I'm still really enjoying the comic and am definitely on board waiting for issue #5.

MUSIC!!!

Well, since we're having a Federali love fest today...





That's a wrap for me.  See you guys Sunday with a certain movie review.  May the Fourth be with you.

Falling back to comics!

I AM RESTED! Its Sunday, November 6, 2011, I fell back, and this is The Side! I love this weekend. I get a whole extra hour to sleep. It used to be fun when I work at the bar and was telling everyone it was time to go. There'd always be at least one person who would try to say we'd be open an extra hour. The clocks actually roll back at 2AM (that's the facts, Jack!) and that was when the bar closes. One woman looked at me aghast and told me she had a whole limo of people coming. Too damn bad.

I never liked that annoying broad anyhow.

COMIX!!

USAGI YOJIMBO #141 tops us off this week. This is a very significant issue because its the 200th issue of comic Stan Sakai has done. That puts him in a very elite spot that he shares only with Dave Sim with his work on CEREBUS. And the great this is, the book is just as enjoyable after all this time. The back cover features all 200 covers of the comics and is really neat stuff. On to the book itself, its a fun read. This issue is a stand alone but it touches back to the "Murder at the inn" story that wrapped up last issue. The bandit in that story kept talking about his brother and how tough and terrible he was. Seems the brother has taken over a town with his gang. There's also a neat bit here in that a sculpture in this town had a dream that the town would be rid of the bandits if he sculpted 200 little statues, called Jizo. By the end of the book the sculptor is asked if he would continue to make the Jizo since he completed 200, and he said he would as long as his hands let him. Here's to that.

THE GOON #36 pits The Goon and Frankie up against one of their toughest opponents yet: The Queen of Burlesque! The drinkin', smokin', strippin' machine! Roxi Dlite! Dlite is a real life burlesque performer and here she is guest starring. This was a hoot and a half. Ridiculous sex. Ridiculous violence. A bunch of laugh out loud moments. Its a goof caper story with a stolen knick knack. Eric Powell always knocks it out of the park. Its hard to give much detail because every time you turn the page, two things smack you right in the face: its wall-to-wall nuts, and its a really great comic.

The boys from Primal Paper are back with THE BAKU #1. Mike Fererali (THE SKYROCKET) teams up with Drew Moss for this one. This is flat out the best book Primal Paper has put out yet. Yes, I do have a soft spot for these because I know most of them. Yes, I do know Mike and Drew. I like Mike and Drew. Its hard to give a review on something from people you like especially when its not the best thing ever. Fortunately, I have no problems here. Mike's writing is his sharpest yet. Drew is probably one of the best artists you haven't heard of. This book is great. Its a supernatural western. The main character, Baku, reminds me a lot of Jaeger Ayers, from Carla Speed McNeil's FINDER. Baku isn't knock off though and has plenty of his own quirks. The first issue gives us a great introduction to the character and the world without reading like an instruction manual. Its fun and weird and I'm really looking forward to seeing more of this series.

We'll wrap things up with an early review of 41 #4 which will be available this week. This is also from Primal Paper, and I did say that THE BAKU was the best book they've put out so far. This comic is one hell of a follow up. This is the best issue yet. It wraps up the ongoing story in brutal fashion. I'm reminded a bit of the anime feature X in which we have all these character pop up and is obvious that they all have their own stories and are interesting, but with what they're up against you know they don't have much of a chance. Still, if Bill and his crew are going down, they're going down swinging and with lots of company. The production on this comic has gone way up since issue 3. The book looks great. The writing by Bob Frantz is tight. There's still a couple of holes here and there that I have questions about, but they don't hold up the story at all. Its a last stand story for this arc's last issue, and it goes out in style. Great work.

MUSIC!!

That's right! I'm posting a song by a violinist! Because I'm classy, and tasteful, and shit.



That's a wrap for me. Hm, with all my extra rest, does that mean I don't need to brew an coffee?

MADNESS!

See y'all Wednesday.

The Goon will never be lonely

HACK! Its Friday, July 1, 2011, I'm under attack from killer mucus, and this is The Side. I'm still sick, and honestly not feeling much better, but I wanted to get this weeks reviews out because the book were really good this week. I've been flip flopping back and forth all week before doses of DayQuil and NyQuil because I honestly don't have time to just be sick. Hopefully with the long weekend I'll have a chance to rest a bit.

COMIX!!!

Its about damn time THE GOON #34 came out. Eric Powell has been really busy lately churning out content, so its not like he's been slacking, but I've missed this book so much. After an all-to-brief prelude of pounding the crap out of sparkly vampires, the kids at the McGreg Home for Illegitimate, Wayward, and Possibly Homicidal Youths have a problem with the new girl. She's a Tween and, therefore, the devil. Can the Goon save kids even though he's liquored up to the gills? This comic is an out and out blast. If you've never picked this book up before you're in for a treat. Its flat out hilarious, and doesn't apologize for being just venomous in its humor. Rarely do I get a complete laugh out loud and confuse the missus moment in a comic but this one delivered repeatedly. Buy this book. Drop what you're doing and go buy it right now.

BATMAN INCORPORATED #7 takes us out west for a visit with Man-of-Bats and his son Raven. We get to see how things are with a "Batman on a budget". Gang activity on the reservation turns out to be much more as Man-of-Bats is targeted by Leviathan. There's a lot in this issue about the plight of Indians in this country, but it doesn't come across as too heavy handed. It illustrates what these characters have to deal with on a regular basis. This was a really good issue with a few twists and turns in it that made it very enjoyable. I expected the story to take one direction, but Morrison didn't take the easy, clichéd route. Chris Burnham continues to impress on the art. Great issue.

DETECTIVE COMICS #878 wraps up the "Hungry City" storyline. Snyder did some really great thematic stuff here, while still delivering a good story. It deals a lot with our expectations of people and our gut instincts about them. The plot line with return of James Gordon plays heavy here. There's been so many questions hanging in the air about this guy and we get a lot of them answered here. Great use of the story involving Tony Zucco's daughter in that. Snyder is showing himself as an excellent storyteller here. He's also got an incredible handle on Dick Greyson as Batman. Very good stuff.

THE WALKING DEAD #86 is still dealing with the aftermath of the "No Way Out" storyline. This isn't a bad thing as people who have read this comic for a while know that this isn't a rushed book. Kirkman knows how to take his time. This is great as it builds a lot of suspense and interest in the characters. This has always been a character driven book. Yes there is a little shirmish with some roamers, but we're led to worry more about Carl's fate, how Rick is handling it, and what may or may not be going on with him and Andrea. There's nothing there suggesting there's an affair going on or even building. These are two characters in this story that are still around from the first group, so they've got a lot of history. It could be a healthy amount of respect and friendship between the two. We'll see. Very compelling reading and that's what I've come to expect from this series.

ELEPHANTMEN: MAN AND ELEPHANTMAN #1 was on the flip side of THE WALKING DEAD this week, so you got two comics for the price of one. This comic has been around for a while but this is my first time checking it out. Its very solid sci-fi, with a detective story sitting in the middle of it. Our main character, Hip Flask, gets taste of what its like to be a human. By the end of it he's not sure if being a human is a good or a bad thing. I'm a little curious about this series, but that curiousity is a tad morbid. Its obvious that human women are romantically involved with some of the Elephantmen which is just really weird, and a bit kinky. So I can't say that I'm "in" as far as this book goes, because while I am curious about this world the storyline isn't what drew me in. I'm a bit on the fence, and might have to buy issue 2 before I really get on board here.

MUSIC!!

Federali over at Kings has a new video out. Check it!!



That's all for me today. I'll hopefully see you guys on Sunday with my thoughts on Google+. See y'all then. I hope.

The Skyrocket takes off

I got my hands on The Skyrocket #1 last week from Paper Tiger Comics. This is the first book out from PTC and they made a strong start of it. Mike Federali weaves a tale about a bad girl gone good and the book is illustrated by Os Petroli. The book is in the super hero genre but definitely has an indy feel to it. It's black and white and very utilitarian in its visual storytelling. Petroli seems to be finding his way with things, but his work is solid and I'm sure he'll do nothing but improve as he continues. Federali turns in a good story and good dialogue.

The Skyrocket is Samantha Robbins, a science adventure gal who has turned over a new leaf after her father passed away. The book tries not to hit us over the head with exposition, which is hard for a new title. There's plenty of questions that need answered, but the reader isn't hindered by them. We don't need to know how Sam can fly, we just need to know that she can. The character design is refreshing. Sam is an attractive young woman who doesn't flaunt it. She's realistically proportioned. Her costume features neither a battle thong nor a boob hole and is in fact well designed and functional. She's even got a robot companion to talk with, and thank goodness, because Watson the robot is fun and this way the reader is spared massive internal dialogue which is just completely overdone in many titles.

Sam is trying to get back into the good graces of the law but has a pesky criminal record which a certain Agent Evans uses to get Sam to go on a mission for him. We get a few twists and turns, and a fair amount of action. It sets in a few effective plot hooks to get us to want to see issue two sooner than later.

I like this book. I deal a lot with second generation adventurers in my own work so this speaks to me quite a bit. It's got a bit of charm to it. That's going to carry it a ways as Federali and Petroli find their feet with this work. I'll be waiting for issue two to see where this takes me.