Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon #2
And Ron and I took a trip to Coas Used Bookstore nearby.
Actually, we went there first as I recall. We also went by the Rad Retrocade afterward. Ron
wanted to check out the arcade games there.
Unfortunately, neither of us were hungry. I’d like to try the food there sometime. Not to mention they had the big UFC match on a TV over the bar, which I
wouldn’t have minded staying for, not to mention the very attractive
bartender. There was also really
good-looking waitress working the outside tables at the pub next to Zia Comics. We were outside eating the ice cream that
they sell at the comic book store. I’m
really writing all of this in no particular order.
I have the first volume of this series. This second volume seemed familiar. If I owned this before, I don’t know why I
got rid of it and kept the first one, since they’re both about the same in
quality. And that quality is good.
The story in these two volumes isn’t an adaption of the
movie, but rather the backstory of how Shu
Lien and Li Mu Bai met. It’s just good Hong Kong cinema
storytelling. The artwork is really
good, and sometimes great, but it is flopped from its original presentation. Sometimes that brings up balancing flaws in
the artwork. It’s a recommend for the
quality of the material.
These are slightly bigger than a digest, but not very
thick. They were expensive when they
came out in the early 2000’s. They’d
still be pricey now for what they are. I
remember the Hong Kong publisher, Tony
Wong’s Jademan Comics, trying to publish color comics in the US in the
early 90’s. They were sort of
piggybacking on Japanese manga coming over, but the two really aren’t the same
thing. These HK comics are mostly
martial arts and Chinese mythology driven, but formatted more like American
comics and read like superhero comics. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
definitely has a more universal appeal thanks to the great movie.
Crossgen
Forge #3
This is an earlier trade paperback in the series than the
first one I reviewed. Obviously, I
should have bought this first, since I had a choice between the two. I thought the other one looked better, but I
did not make a good discernment there.
This one is better altogether.
The stories make a little better sense here being closer to their
beginnings. This is important, since
most of these titles are kind of high concept.
The artwork is generally better here as well.
Meridian 19 & 20
This fantasy title was the only one pretty well along in
issues. It starts with a disaster in #19
and then turns into a major battle in #20.
There’s also a crossover with another Crossgen character from another title in #20. It’s a bit random, but it serves a point of
sorts for the heroine.
My main complaint would be the overwhelming amount of internal
monologue by the heroine. This isn’t
unfamiliar territory for a girl’s story, but the copious captions don’t sound
like a girl . . . even though the issues were written by a woman. Regardless, the Steve McNiven artwork is a winner.
I wouldn’t mind having more issues of this comic.
Negation #3
There’s just one issue, but a lot happens in this sci-fi
superhero adventure. The group escapes
their destroyed planet and are picked up by new allies and discover that
they’ve been brought here from different universes. There’s good action and good artwork here.
The Path #1
At last, a starting issue.
This story sets the stage for a samurai drama. The story by Ron Marz is like a
Japanese costume drama. The artwork by Bart Sears is very good and like a Japanese comic. “Like.” It’s a Western simulation of a Japanese comic
and story. That’s not necessarily a bad
thing for an American audience, but given that the setting isn’t supposed to be
earth, it might have been better if it had diverged more from the source
setting. That would have allowed this
story avoid a comparison as a Western knock off.
Crux #6, #7, #8
This Eternals-esqe
has a really weak, strange premise. It’s
all built on a mystery. Stories like
this are predicated on dragging out the mystery. By the time it is inevitably solved, you’ll
have to bring up new mysteries or hope you have developed worthwhile characters
and followup stories. There’s plenty of
action and the issues are more comprehensible than the other volume I’d
read. The artwork and writing are
good. So the best I can say is that I
guess you can make sh*t shine.
Sojourn #4, #5, #6
Greg
Land’s artwork is beautiful.
I don’t care if he’s using photo references; he’s using them well. The Ron
Marz fantasy story is fine, but badly decompressed. I’m pretty sure these three issues, with a
bunch of backstory, could have been done in one issue. On the other hand, I’d hate to cramp Land’s
style by giving him a more compressed canvas.
I have a Sojourn trade
paperback. It all works pretty well in
that format.
Saurians Unnatural Selection #1
This story was a thrown-in. It’s the first of a two-part
mini-series. This is a spinoff of Sigil, a Crossgen comic I’ve never
seen. I generally hate stories like this
where it flips the protagonists. The
Saurians are the bad guys in Sigil,
lizardmen fighting the humans. The best
I’ll say is that is well done for what it is.
I wish I’d bought this one first so that I might have enjoyed the next volume more or, at least, been less disappointed. If I’d gotten this new, it was $10. That was a good deal, even if you didn’t like or understand all the titles. It was certainly worthwhile at a discount.
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