Reviews by Grant for 11/20/2014
- Details
- Published on Thursday, November 20 2014 14:57
- Written by Grant Robinson
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 10 Issue #9
Published by Dark Horse
Written by Christos Cage
Art By Rebekah Isaacs
Wow! Season 10 of Buffy! That makes me so happy. My back story with Buffy goes all the way back to Season one. I watched it with my Mom. It was something we bonded over and we both loved it. We watched every season week after week (remember when we used to do that with TV shows, waiting week after week?!). I even continued on in the comics with season eight. Got about half way through and sadly, it got dropped from my pull list. Not that it was bad, just not as good as other books. From time to time I still drop in on the Buffyverse to check all is well and this was one of those times. And, yep, it still rocks!
Various quality writers have taken over the mantle and this time round its Christos Cage. Man does he have a feel for Buffy. If you were a fan of the show, you will totally be down with this series. I may not be filled in on whats happened since I dropped off but that didn't stop me diving back into this story. Buffy, Spike, Willow, Giles and Andrew are the characters with special mentions to Warren And Tara. This made jumping in really easy to do. When it comes to Buffy, its all about the characters and in particular, the language. Originally a teen action drama, Christos still gives me that feeling of teen angst whilst having healthy doses of action scenes. Some clever references to the X-Men and a cool use of an iphone, show that the Scooby Gang isn't completely grown up yet.
The flow of the plot is reminiscent of the TV series, Buffy in trouble, We aren't sure exactly what the villain is doing, call Giles for a history lesson, fight the monster, stop the villain, fun happy friend time at the end. Classic Buffy. And It doesn't get any better than that.
The art is great. The constant struggle with licensed properties is the ability to balance the original actor likeness and the desire to move on from the actor. Rebekah seems to have the balance right. Her backgrounds are a little bland but that puts the emphasis back on the characters and language. I'm sure she had fun throwing in the pop culture references too.
So what started as a look back down memory lane has got me interested enough buy the next issue. I would point out also, the next issue looks like it could be an even better jumping on point for new readers. Well done to the editors and kudos to Whedon if he is still involved, this is a brilliant way to never let a great series die.
Buffy Season 10 # 9 gets 4 out of 5
Winter World Issue 4.
Published by IDW
Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Butch Guice
My question to you is, was there always this many "end of the world" comics or did The Walking Dead blow open the barn door?
Don't get me wrong. I love a good survivalist story. There are some great ones out there. Crossed from Garth Ennis comes to mind.
This time its Chuck Dixon's turn at it. I always liked Chuck. He was a fine writer on various Bat-Books many moons ago. Sadly, his stamp on those series has been relegated to "filler" by most comic enthusiasts.
Even sadder, is that's how I see this new series from him.
So we have our two protagonists, Scully and Wynn. The end of the world has happened resulting in a barren, ice filled world and they have made their way north after escaping cannibals. They find a fishing village that still has vegetation so hope is on the horizon. Wynn is taken in by the village and adored, Scully, not so much.
This issue picks up with Scully breaking out of his imprisonment and going to rescue Wynn who has been giving the "honor" of bringing respite to the village by being offered as a sacrifice. This is all fine and normal ground for a horror/apocalypse tale and I wold have been happy to go along. Unfortunately if you insist on using old ground you need to make up for it with tension and a scary villain. None here sadly. I cared a little but not enough for the characters and I had no insight into the villagers lives as to why they are doing what they choose to do. The monster that Wynn is sacrificed could have been more intriguing if some history on it had been given too.
The art however is great. It really gives the feeling of a horror story, very 30 Days Of Night, whilst still being clear and distinguishable between places and characters. Although set in an Ice Word, Butch hasn't taken the lazy option with backgrounds, showing immense detail and really gives the big moments the push they need. Sadly, script has let down his art so we never really get drawn in as much as we need. I hope to see Butch on some other books in the future.
If you dig this genre you may find it more interesting than I did but if you only have a casual interest, look elsewhere for your scares and tales of desperate survival.
Winter World #4 gets 2.5 out of 5.