Comics, A.W. section
Jan. 16th, 2005 10:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
avramSome recent comics purchases:
Love Fights vol 2 by Andi Watson
Oni Press, $14.95
I believe this finishes off the series; it’s issues #7-12. This is an adorable romance comic set in a superheros setting. The romantic leads are both ordinary people, but their lives revolve around superheroes: Jack draws a comic based on the adventures of The Flamer, and Nora is a feature writer for a gossip magazine about superheroes. Complications: The Flamer is embroiled in a paternity suit, which may damage his reputation and therefore his profitability; Jack’s cat (who has superpowers) is trying to break up Jack’s and Nora’s romance. Investigating these conundra eventually involves this world’s equivalent of the Crisis on Infinite Earths in a way not even Grant Morrison ever used.
Watson’s been pushing his artwork in simpler directions over his whole career. For Love Fights he’s come up with a vaguely Art Deco look, given a tinge of Socialist Realism by the grainy dry brush (or possibly china marker). It works well. For all the simplicity, the characters are distinct, and the layouts are well-designed.
Dirty Pair: Run From the Future, by Adam Warren
Dark Horse, $14.95
Adam Warren is one of the best of the American manga-style artists, having taken the basic manga style and applied American pacing, layout, and inking, and then kept on experimenting. He’s also a clever, funny writer. His issues of Gen-13 were the only ones I thought worth reading, and his treatment of the Dirty Pair hooks me in even though I don’t care much for the original series.
The Dirty pair are a couple of sexy troubleshooters working for an interstellar (or maybe just interplanetary) government agency, and they have a reputation for leaving a trail of massive mayhem and destruction in their wake. In this book they’ve been assigned to round up a bunch of criminals who’ve taken refuge on a neutral space station where their government lacks jurisdiction. The local authorities have secretly given them 100 minutes worth of visa during which they have to arrest fifty outlaws. And keep the collateral damage to a minimum.
Warren delivers an impressive amount of science-fictional sensawunda, and does an impressive job of inclueing while keeping this fast-paced story moving. The visuals are great too. The various criminals all have interesting and non-generic character designs, sometimes very funny ones. (My favorite was the sentient orca gangbanger with full-body tattoos, including “love” and “hate” on its flippers, though I also liked the explosive chihuahuas.)
Love Fights vol 2 by Andi Watson
Oni Press, $14.95
I believe this finishes off the series; it’s issues #7-12. This is an adorable romance comic set in a superheros setting. The romantic leads are both ordinary people, but their lives revolve around superheroes: Jack draws a comic based on the adventures of The Flamer, and Nora is a feature writer for a gossip magazine about superheroes. Complications: The Flamer is embroiled in a paternity suit, which may damage his reputation and therefore his profitability; Jack’s cat (who has superpowers) is trying to break up Jack’s and Nora’s romance. Investigating these conundra eventually involves this world’s equivalent of the Crisis on Infinite Earths in a way not even Grant Morrison ever used.
Watson’s been pushing his artwork in simpler directions over his whole career. For Love Fights he’s come up with a vaguely Art Deco look, given a tinge of Socialist Realism by the grainy dry brush (or possibly china marker). It works well. For all the simplicity, the characters are distinct, and the layouts are well-designed.
Dirty Pair: Run From the Future, by Adam Warren
Dark Horse, $14.95
Adam Warren is one of the best of the American manga-style artists, having taken the basic manga style and applied American pacing, layout, and inking, and then kept on experimenting. He’s also a clever, funny writer. His issues of Gen-13 were the only ones I thought worth reading, and his treatment of the Dirty Pair hooks me in even though I don’t care much for the original series.
The Dirty pair are a couple of sexy troubleshooters working for an interstellar (or maybe just interplanetary) government agency, and they have a reputation for leaving a trail of massive mayhem and destruction in their wake. In this book they’ve been assigned to round up a bunch of criminals who’ve taken refuge on a neutral space station where their government lacks jurisdiction. The local authorities have secretly given them 100 minutes worth of visa during which they have to arrest fifty outlaws. And keep the collateral damage to a minimum.
Warren delivers an impressive amount of science-fictional sensawunda, and does an impressive job of inclueing while keeping this fast-paced story moving. The visuals are great too. The various criminals all have interesting and non-generic character designs, sometimes very funny ones. (My favorite was the sentient orca gangbanger with full-body tattoos, including “love” and “hate” on its flippers, though I also liked the explosive chihuahuas.)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-17 06:57 am (UTC)