Another week, another stack of comics from the shop. 

Although smaller than some weeks, it's quality not quantity that counts, and there have been some  superb comics this week.

My first recommendation is Postal Deliverance from Top Cow. I've been following this series from issue 1 and it has been getting better month after month. The short break between the original Postal series and this follow up has given Bryan Hill and Raffaele Ienco a chance to work on their ideas. And it shows, especially in this issue, as this is some of their best work. My review can be found via this here link.

​Coffin Bound #2 from Image Comics is outstanding. There's not much I can add to my review (here) so I'm not going to try.  But if I was you, I'd be out there, hunting down a copy before they've all been snatched up.

My third review is for Pandemica #1 from IDW Publishing. I found this a much more intriguing comic than I was expecting. Not perfect, and in places over written, but a good start with a fresh approach to an end-of-the-world story. Review link....here. 
  
My final review link is for Trees: Three Fates. I love Warren Ellis' work and the Trees series has been magnificent so I'm really looking forward to it's return. Hopefully my local comic shop remembered to order it for me ...
Spoiler warning!
They didn't.  So I will have to wait until I can source a copy but here's a review from one of my colleagues over at MonkeysFightingRobots 

I made few change to my Pull List today. I've ordered a number, but not all, of the new X-Men comics that are coming out. There's no way I can afford to buy them all but there are a few I really want to read. The X-Men title itself, because Hickman!, but also Marauders because one of the lead characters is Kitty Pryde who also happens to be one of my favourite X-Men characters. Plus pirates and the Hellfire Club! What's not to love.  

I've also cancelled a few comics. Firstly Deaths Head. I know it's only a limited series but I haven't finished reading issue 2 so I don't see the point in buying 2 more comics I'm not going to read. I do enjoy the character but I think that this new version is trying just a little be too hard to be 'cool'. It's appeal probably lies with a younger audience and I hope it proves popular so that the character can feature more in future comics. This current series is just not for me.

I've also cancelled Supergirl. Again. I try so hard to keep up with Supergirl, she is a character I really enjoy, one of the few from DC, but they seem to have trouble maintaining a high quality of story for her ongoing title. The last issue, number 33, was dreadful. It was like the ending of several other comics thrown together with very little attempt to link it all together. No care was taken with the narrative and the artwork was very inconsistent.  Following on from the lacklustre crossover story from the last few months, it just seemed to be the right time to cancel it. Again. 

I'll give it a few months or wait for a new creative team and then give it another go.

Welcome to my first, weekly (hopefully) comic book round up.

This will mostly consist of links to reviews I have written, with the occasional link to other comic book news I have found interesting. I may even comment on the links. Let you know what I think about what's at the other end.

This week has been a fairly quite week from a personal review point of view.

The last issue of the first arc of Descendent came out from AfterShock comics. I have  enjoyed this comic overall. Some of the artwork was a little underwhelming at first but Evgeniy Bornyakov had found his stride by this last issue. And Stephanie Phillips has written an intriguing story. Anyway, check out my review for issue five here I promise no spoilers!

This week also saw the return of the mega-team of creators, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Emma Rios, Jordie Bellaire and Clayton Cowles, with the start of the this Pretty Deadly volume. Issue one of The Rat is an exceptionally beautiful comic. I say a lot more on my review (here) but to sum it up: it's awesome. I can't recommend it enough.

I also recommend House of X issue 4. The whole House of X/Powers of X story has been amazing (if a little costly but they are definitely worth the money) and I can't get enough Jonathan Hickman in my reading. The world that Hickman is building with the X-Men is outstanding and the most recent issue is jaw droppingly shocking, which is difficult to do in mainstream superhero comics. It is a testament to Hickman and Larraz's talent's that they can make such an all encompassing comic feel very personal: the stakes are high for every single character. Issue four of House of X is reviewed here (but not by me so I can't be held responsible for any spoilers).

​If you've not got a copy yet, try to pick up Tommy Gun Wizards.  It's not the best comic out this year but it's damned near close.

Finally for this week, a none review related link. A small group of comic critics/editors have launched a new publishing house called Fieldmouse press. Their intention is to focus on comics, critique, community, and collaboration and their first venture will be a web site, due to be launched early next year.

The Secretary and Treasurer Alex Hoffman had this to say (from the official press release):
 “Our goal is to provide a space for readers, artists, and the general public to explore the comic arts in the many forms they come in. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, our goal is to serve this community that we love and do something we think hasn’t been possible before now. And as a nonprofit organization, we can take chances that other publishers haven’t.”

It definitely  sounds interesting and I am going to be keeping my eye on it.

The full press release can be found on their website  here .

I will finish this week with the stunning cover to Pretty Deadly The Rat issue 1. Be sure to pick it up. This is what it looks like:

The key to a good drama is great characters. Without the later you can’t really have the former. To demonstrate this in the simplest of terms compare the Bumblebee movie to the previous Transformers movies.

One has engaging, rounded personalities who grow as characters from the first act to the last. Their many facets shape the narrative and move the plot forward. Without their distinct reactions and individual takes on the situations presented to them the movie would have plodded, emotionless from scene to scene.

The other has explosions and two dimensional characters inhabiting a plot that moves emotionless from scene to scene.
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The point is that for an audience to care about the drama, whatever form that it may take, they have to be invested in the lives of the characters. The Walking Dead comic became the success it is not by rehashing endless violent zombie attacks but by making the reader fall in love with, or incessantly hate, the characters struggling to survive the harsh world Robert Kirkman had created.
In much the same way, Ted Anderson and Nuno Plati have concentrated the focus of their creation, Orphan Age published by AfterShock Comics, around the characters and not the world they inhabit. Over the first five issues the creators have slowly introduced the readers to the central three characters and built up a rapport between reader and cast.

​One of the ways that they have managed this is to use isolating character panels to highlight reactions or illustrate thought processes. In issue five the story revolves around a siege of Albany, a peaceful township which the protagonists have been heading for since issue 1. As soon as the siege begins all eyes turn to Lindy, as Mayor of the town, to offer guidance and leadership. Issue 5 is about Lindy’s character; who she is and her purpose in the new world.

Throughout the issue Plati keeps the characters very isolated in their space, even in town meetings and crowd scenes. He achieves this by framing single characters in the panels for the majority of the page. There is an establishing shot of the crowd to open the scene and then, as the conversations start, each character inhabits their own panel, with the background removed and replaced with dark shades of blue/grey.

In some instances, Plati even breaks up the character close ups with an additional gutter. This creates an emphasis on the moment and gives the reader the impression that the character is in deep thought. The moment is unnaturally stretched indicating a longer period of time.
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See, for example, the end of page two (Fig 1) where Lindy is informed that The Church must have been planning their attack “for a while.” She does not speak and Plati has chosen a close up of her face staring down. The image is split in half by a white gutter, extending the moment of contemplation as if the words that have just been spoken are sinking in. The reader is given the instant despondent reaction from Lindy, however the break line indicates that she is taking time to consider the implications of what she has heard. Plati has created a significant pause at the end of the page, left the concept lingering in Lindy and the reader’s minds. 

​As the issue progresses, Anderson and Plati focus their attention on Major Lindy. She becomes the central figure and a keystone for the themes playing out in the comic. Her acceptance of the situation is a reflection on the township as a whole and the choices she makes represent the nature of the people she leads.
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In one scene Lindy discusses the difference between Albany and The Church with Daniel (Fig 2). The conversation happens so that Anderson can show the reader Lindy’s thought process and how she is working through the problem at hand. Plati helps to illustrate this fact by isolating her within the panels, as before, and this time zooming right into her face. The image in the final panel on page seven is split in half with Lindys facial features taking up half of the space. The word balloon hovers in the blank space beside her face. The speech itself is a thought process where Lindy seems to be talking herself into defeat. The image reflects the forced imprisonment of the Mayor and by extension the town of Albany.

​This metaphor is continued later in the issue with Lindy again being a representation of the town. After speaking with Princess about what they expect out of life, Princess makes Lindy realise her role in the town. There is a single cut away panel, where Plati leaves the confines of the building and shows the reader an image of Lindy from the outside, looking through a window (Fig 3).

Firstly, this image reinforces the notion that the characters are trapped within the town. There are several frames around Lindy starting with the white gutters followed by a bleached plaster wall and finally on to window frame. Lindy, like Albany, is trapped in her present location and also, following on from the conversation in the previous panels, trapped within her destiny. She will stay and defend the town, it is all she can do.
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There is also an element of hope in this single panel. Whereas all the other panels on the page, and across a large proportion of the comic, are shrouded in shadows and surrounded by dark backgrounds, this panel of Lindy has a strong light shining across the wall. The wooden slats and plaster wall are bright in comparison to the room beyond the window. The creators are emphasising Lindy’s moment of realisation, like a light bulb flashing above her head. But it also represents hope for her, and the town. They are currently in a dark place but it is possible to reach the light.

​There are several more moments like this in this issue and even more spread across the series as a whole. In issue five, Anderson, Plati, colorist Joao Lemos and letterer Marshall Dillon are able to illustrate a situation involving a town of people using the experiences of just a few. By concentrating on building up the character of Lindy, the wider implications of the siege and the effects on the people around her are examined without the need for a large cast and sweeping scenes of panic, anger or fear. Lindy becomes a voice for the town both literally as the Mayor and figuratively as a representation of the people on mass.

By concentrating on the characters Anderson and Co hook the reader in, make them attached to the comic on an emotional level but are also able to tell a much larger story through personal experiences. In essence they give their story a ‘face’, a journalistic method of getting people interested in a news story. Without characters like Lindy, or Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead and Hazel in Saga, the comic would lose focus and as a result the readers interest. There are only so many explosions or mindless zombie attacks you can throw at people before they become disinterested in them.

Volume One of Orphan Age Published by AfterShock Comics is due for release early next year.

A new look with some new posts and even a new part of the blog.

All of this is on the way. In fact the new part of the Blog is already here.

Select Conceptual Comic from the top row and get an insight into the visual art that I have been working on, all comic book influenced of course.

I have some new posts lined up for the next few weeks and, of course, you can still read all of my reviews over on Monkeysfigthingrobots.co 

Keep popping back if you're interested in anything that I'm doing.

​Thanks for reading!!