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Review: ‘Missile Mouse: The Star Crusher’

  • Uncategorized
  • January 7, 2010

Missile Mouse #1: The Star Crusher
By Jake Parker
Scholastic Graphix, 172 pages, $10.99

Introduced in the [[[Flight]]] anthology, M[[[Missile Mouse]]] is the plucky secret agent for the Galactic Security Agency, described as a “risk taker and a rule breaker”. Clad in his yellow and red flight suit, he performs missions that seem to earn him a broad reputation across the galaxy, which is odd considering he’s well, a secret agent.

Jake Parker, an animator for Blue Sky Studios, takes his resident rodent and produces his first graphic novel, [[[The Star Crusher]]], already billed as a series with a second volume due in January 2011. The question, though, is what is new and different here? Plucky, rule-breaking solo adventurer? Seen it before. In hot water with his blustery boss? Ditto. Thwarted time and again by his arch rival? Yep.

The brisk read pretty much is comfortable junk food, quickly consumed and easily forgotten. What is new – some of the science behind the MacGuffin — is not enough nor are the flashbacks which attempt to show us why Missile Mouse is the risk taker he is.

Instead, we get an anthropomorphized spaceworthy Indiana Jones or Buck Rogers adventure with not enough fresh thinking to the characters, story or storytelling to be worth the time and effort. For example, we’re told there’s a hidden asset at work for the villain but by then, it’s clear who it is given the small number of characters introduced so there’s zero suspense.

Parker’s storytelling is fine as are his character designs and use of color, which makes sense given his background. What he needed to do more of, especially given the page count, is show us more of how his universe works, the societal structure and why the need the GSA and why does the GSA need a rogue like Missile Mouse.

His page construction is interesting, with lots of smaller panels per page along with bigger ones, varied enough to be visually arresting. Parker should also have come up with a better cue for readers to know when Missile Mouse was experiencing a flashback. His lettering should be sharper and more distinct for a science fiction strip, paling in comparison with the vibrant use of color.   

An inauspicious debut story, Missile Mouse is certainly not mighty, atomic or marvelous enough to be enduring like his predecessors.

Not a dream! Not a hoax! Not 1959! Archie and… Valerie?

  • News
  • January 6, 2010

Sweet Christmas. Daaaamn.

A few thoughts:

  • Archie, you already can’t choose between Betty and Veronica.
  • The first person to say anything about Archie chasing strange pussy gets punched in the neck.
  • I don’t envy Archie Comics the amount of bigoted hate mail they’re going to get from a certain segment of the populace. And I applaud them for doing it. There are some people that deserve to be pissed off.
  • On the other hand, maybe they’re hoping to increase sales because they’ll be bought for bonfires.
  • This could be a very interesting story. Not to be confused with Stories, the 70’s one hit wonder best know for the song “Brother Louie”, which applies very well here. In fact, all you have to do is change Louie to Archie and see how little things have changed in 35 years:

She was black as the night

Archie was whiter than white

Danger, danger when you taste brown sugar

Archie fell in love overnight



Nothing bad, it was good

Archie had the best girl he could

When he took her home

To meet his mama and papa

Archie knew just where he stood



Archie Archie Archie, Archie
Archie Archie Archie, Arch-I
Archie Archie Archie, Archie
Archie Archie you’re gonna cry



There he stood in the night

Knowing what’s wrong from what’s right

He took her home to meet his mama and papa

Man, he had a terrible fright



Archie nearly caused a scene

Wishin’ it was a dream

Ain’t no diff’rence if you’re black or white

Brothers, you know what I mean


Archie Archie Archie, Archie
Archie Archie Archie, Arch-I
Archie Archie Archie, Archie

Archie Archie you’re gonna cry

PR after the jump.

(more…)

On sale today: ‘Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden’ #4!

  • News
  • January 6, 2010

For those who came in
late: Jon Sable has been
hired by a businessman to deliver both a rare, valuable diamond and a beautiful
yet troublesome woman from Africa to New York City. He’s done that, he’s back
home, and he’s reconnected with old friends and flames.

Last issue, Jon
attended Prinsloo’s party for the Maguffin Diamond and, wouldn’t you know it,
everyone’s favorite thief Maggie the Cat was hanging out. While Jon and Maggie
were back at her hotel getting … you know, reacquainted … someone stole the rock.

Compelled to return
to the scene of the crime, Jon is ambushed on his way to keep his date at the
annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony… and things promise to go much worse for him.

Mike Grell on story and art, John Workman on letters, yours truly on colors and Mike Gold waving a baton.

On sale today: ‘GrimJack: The Manx Cat’ #6!

  • News
  • January 6, 2010

GrimJack is in a race to
save Blacjac and Bob from the Manx Cat. The problem is… everyone who falls
asleep becomes an unwilling Night Terrorist in the Manx Cat’s army! Bullets,
blood, bikes, bombastic babes… and the St. John Knives! What more can you want
in a stunning conclusion? Creators John Ostrander and Timothy Truman on script
and art.

kyle-rayner-death-2098757

Comic MMIX Year-End Picks: Favorites (and not-so-favorites) of 2009, part 1

  • News
  • January 6, 2010

Now that 2009 is officially over, we can do a year in review. This is by no means a definitive list of “the best of the year” as we’d never come to a consensus, just think of it as our varied and individual take on what stuck out in the minds of everybody here at the Mix. After all, as the song says, it’s a mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up world. Onward!

kyle-rayner-death-2098757Shortest Death of the Year: Kyle Rayner. Green Lantern Corps #42/43 (DC)

For those who know me well, I was offered quick condolences when I picked up Peter Tomasi’s Green Lantern Corps
#42. Kyle Rayner, my personal favorite ‘Super Hero’ was given a
decidedly trite death; sacrificing himself with an exploding Alpha
Lantern Core in order to blow up a smattering of not-so-easy-to-kill
black lanterns and their Nekron inspired construct. Gaping plot hole be
damned! Sure Mr. Rayner was one of two honor guardsmen, who we’d
‘assume’ knew how to wield the emerald light with a little flair, might
figure that the ring could make a nice bubble to contain the
aforementioned big-bada-boom, and NOT include himself… But it was far
sappier dramatic
for Kyle to tell Natu (his current, non-refrigerator-bound-beau) and
Guy (his best-buddy-with-a-bygone-bowlcut) that he ‘wuved them. And
guess what? Not twenty pages later, Kyle was resurrected by Star
Sapphire Miri Riam, who showed us yet another unknown power from the
crystal spewing pink ring club. It seems that ‘True Love’ allows a Star
Sapphire to combine hearts, and save a dead lover. I guess Miri wished
she could have done that when he husband died, a few issues ago.
Whoopsie! –Marc Alan Fishman

Most overlooked of the year: Final Crisis Aftermath: Run (DC)

It’s easy to hate event books–especially one as polarizing as Final Crisis–but it’s hard to deny that sometimes damn fine things come out of them. Zero Hour gave us James Robinson’s Starman, Secret Wars gave us Spider-Man’s black costume (even if it was retroactive), and now Final Crisis has given us Run, a tale of the Human Flame, the most unrepentant bastard in the DC Universe, on the run from the Justice League following the death of the Martian Manhunter. It’s funny, it’s fast-moving, and it’s smart as a whip, thanks in equal measure to Matt Sturges’ (Blue Beetle, JSA All-Stars) script and the perennially underrated pencils of Freddie E. Williams II (Robin). Besides, it has the Condiment King. Who can say no to the Condiment King? –Matthew Weinberger

Favorite dialogue of the year: from Irredeemable #5 (BOOM!), written by Mark Waid, when the winged Gilgamos meets the black super-hero Volt:

“I know you! You’re Black V—“
“That’s the other guy.”
“From Philadelphia?”
“That’s the other other guy. Look, I am solidly aware that an electromagnetic African-American super is a total cliché. My apologies. I didn’t order this power off the menu, I swear.”

–Howard Margolin

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What will the future of magazines on tablets look like?

  • News
  • January 5, 2010

Everybody’s waiting for the tablet computer to see what it could do to the comics industry. Thanks to Time and Sports Illustrated, we have a potential preview:

Boy, wouldn’t it be great if DC Comics were published by Time Warner?

No?

Wouldn’t it be nice to think that DC was thinking about this stuff, at least?

More in this New York Times article.

Review: ‘Hellblazer: Pandemonium’

  • Uncategorized
  • January 5, 2010

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Pandemonium
By Jamie Delano & Jock
Vertigo, 128 pages, $24.99

Although crated buy Alan Moore in the pages of [[[Swamp Thing]]], Jamie Delano was the first writer to tackle the punk rocker turned occultist on his own. He wrote the first year or so of the [[[Hellblazer]]] series which helped create the gravity that pulled several titles from the DC Universe into what is now Vertigo. To celebrate the character’s 25th anniversary, Delano has returned for a lengthy graphic novel, a long overdue achievement. With the rise of the format, Constantine lends himself to lengthier explorations of the darker corners of Earth and the black, fiery realms beyond our ken.

Delano slips easily back into writing the beloved bastard as he tricks the authorities, flips the underworld the bird, and once more risks his life to keep ancient evil at bay. This time, though, the British writer intertwines a Sumerian threat with the Iraqi conflict making this more topical than the usual stories (the last time Constantine dealt with current events, it was during Garth Ennis’ Irish issues).

With the wonderful artist Jock at his side, Delano begins the story in London where Constantine encounters a Muslim woman just before things go boom and he suddenly finds himself essentially blackmailed into helping the British military deal with the occult threat. With a fresh pack of Silk Cuts in his pocket, he goes to Hell, once more, and enters a high stakes poker game with a handful of demons in order to keep the ancient threat at bay.

Being a Hellblazer tale, you might imagine John Constantine has an ace up his sleeve and of course the ending keeps the world safe and allows him to have a final word or two for those who have tried to make him their pawn.  The page count allows more than the usual Constantine antics and commentary but what’s particularly nice is the evolving relationship with Aseera, the woman who caught his attention just before things began going downhill. Her beliefs and insights make for a nice counterpoint to John’s usual cynicism.

Delano and Jock don’t waste a panel and keep the story moving quite nicely. The review copy provided by Vertigo was in black and white but knowing the artist’s style, this will really sing in full color, more than justifying the price.

This is a strong, riveting tale and we can only hope the rest of Constantine’s anniversary celebration is equally as compelling.

The Point Radio: David Tennant On Matt Smith

We close the door on DOCTOR WHO, for awhile anyway. But first, now former Doctor DAVID TENNANT weighs in on his favorite moments and the new guy. Meanwhile, at the Box Office THE DARK KNIGHT gets trounced by those ‘blue guys’.

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‘Bleach: The Diamond Dust Rebellion’: The Trials of Toushiro and Why I Watch

  • News
  • January 4, 2010

Being a Philosopher, I see Philosophy everywhere and talk
about it all the time. But sometimes I am surprised by where I find it and in
what abundance. And rarely do I find in one body of work ideals that cover Aristotle’s
thoughts on friendship and justice (Nicomachean
Ethics), Confucius’ ideas of Right Association (Great Learning), Kant’s Deontological Ethics (law, duty, rules) of
the Categorical Imperative (universal laws without exceptions), and the Rule
Utilitarianism perpetuated by Sidgwick (merciful exceptions in extraordinary
circumstances) and embedded in our seminal national documents via Jefferson and
his cohorts, and even Plato’s The Republic.
Plus there are the metaphysical ideas such as how does memory define and/or
reveal us (a la Locke, Hume —
respectively) and how do the dead live on? Amazingly enough, it’s all in this cartoon
universe.

The Japanese franchise that is Bleach is vast: 40+ volumes of manga, 2 character books (Souls translated, Vibe not), one art book (All
Colour But the Black), 249+ episodes of anime, 2 OVAs, 3 movies, 4 rock
musicals and 2 Live Bankai shows, many
soundtrack and character CDs, 3+ video games for the Nintendo DS and Sony Wii,
and more merchandise than you can shake a Zanpakutou
at. And it is now a bonafide phenomenon in the US, as well, with 167 dubbed
episodes aired and 109 episodes, up to the first half of season 4: The Bounts,
released in deluxe DVD boxed sets, thanks to the folks at Cartoon Network and
Funimation, with 29 volumes of Tite Kubo’s (story and art) manga in English
from Viz Media and Shonen Jump where
it is serialized and translated, and 2 of the 3 movies now out on DVD here in
the States.

On a holiday break from new episodes since Thanksgiving
between seasons 8 and 9, CN gave the US premiere of the 2nd movie: The Diamond Dust Rebellion (2007) on Adult
Swim on 12/5, and the 2-disc DVD with subbed and dubbed versions and some cute
little extras (including original trailers, behind-the-scenes, and an English
version of the Japanese movie premiere program booklet) was released in
September here in the States. It has not had any screenings in US theatres,
unlike the 1st movie, Memories
of Nobody (2006), which had special NY screenings of the dubbed and subbed
versions 6/11-12/08. The 3rd movie, Fade to Black, I Call Your Name, which premiered in Japan last
December, is not yet available legally in the States, dubbed, subbed, or
otherwise. The story told in DDR takes place after episode 167. The various
anime writers’ attention to detail and continuities in this vast and ever-expanding
universe is amazing. You will see tiny important details from this movie’s
story played out in later episodes that involve these characters. The Soul
Society is a busy place, full of conflict, most of the time being caused by
choices from its past coming back to haunt it.

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Review: ‘The Chill’

The Chill
By Jason Starr & Mick Bertilorenzi
Vertigo Crime, 188 pages, $19.99

Poor Arlana Flaherty. Raised by her brutal father Cormac, her mother dead; she was ill-prepared for what happened when she finally chose to giver her virginity to a local boy in County Clare the summer of 1967. As they climaxed, the teen died, the first victim of something known as [[[The Chill]]] and her life was never the same.

In the latest offering in the Vertigo Crime line of hardcover graphic novels, up and coming crime author Jason Starr has been paired with Tuscany-based Mick Bertilorenzi to produce The Chill, a story of ancient Celtic magicks and family legacy.

Starr is a newcomer to graphic novels but paces his story well, rarely exceeding four panels a page and giving his artist plenty of room for emotion and detail. The story may begin in Ireland but quickly migrates to America, from Boston to New York as the Flaherty’s seduce and kill, surviving on the unleashed energies from the sexual act.

Their trail of bodies comes to the attention of Boston detective Martin Cleary who trails them to New York and here’s where Starr lets the reader down. Cleary is desperate as he tries to convince his brothers in blue that ancient spells are involved along with invisible culprits but his disgraced career haunts him. Cleary comes across as an unoriginal figure, someone we’ve seen in similar stories and dilutes the sympathy we should be feeling for him.

Similarly, we’re given no real insight in Cormac and how he has lived with the ancient curse plaguing his family. Instead, he curses and smacks his daughter around and while their enduring relationship should be a centerpiece to the tale, it’s given far too little attention, robbing the story of an emotional core. Ariana comes across as unwilling victim or eager accomplice depending upon the moment but we never really come to know her.

Starr also makes certain the NYPD officers dealing with Cleary are the stereotypical underbelly of those sworn to serve and protect. The one exception, because there has to be just one man to believe Cleary (it must be in the rule book) is Detective Pavano, the only sympathetic figure in the entire story.

His strength is weaving in the old Celtic legends regarding Druids and curses and showing how the Irish culture continues to hold on to these beliefs.

Bertilorenzi’s artwork uses the small book format well and in shades of gray brings ancient Ireland and the streets of Manhattan to vibrant life. His character designs are distinctive and he makes Starr’s people as interesting to view as to read their dialogue. Together, they produce a good, not great, bit of crime fiction.

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