Thursday, July 29, 2021

Comics Review: Conan, Forge, ERB, and Tigers! Oh My! Part 3

Part 2



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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