Have to give this week’s Cover Of The Week to Chris Burnham’s Batman Inc. Leviathan Strikes #1 – though it’d look a lot better without so much crap splashed all over it:
Although for “holiday spirit” I have to give it to this wonderful Daredevil #7 from Paolo Manuel Rivera:
Tags: comic covers, comics!, Cover Of The Week
I’ve got some new CBR Reviews up!
Also, I was thinking this week about the CBR rating system and what it means to me and I was curious what some of you that read CBR reviews regularly think of the rating system there – what does 4 stars, etc., mean to you?
For me it’s a bit like this:
5 stars = the best comics – i.e. an excellent/great comic (but not necessarily 100% perfect – I know Greg Burgas reserves his 10 stars – which would be a 5 star equivalent – for something absolutely perfect, but I’m not sure I even believe in 100% perfect, so I don’t hold out my 5 stars for that)
4 stars = a very good comic
3 stars = a good comic
2 stars = a not good comic (for any number of reasons including mediocrity)
1 star = a bad comic
0 star = the worst comic (also a rating I have never given…yet)
Of course, CBR lets us use 1/2 stars – thank the gods! – so I use those to flesh out a bit more nuance – like 2.5 means it’s almost good, but not quite. 3.5 means it’s almost very good, but not quite.
Does this align with how you guys read those ratings?
A quick accounting of my reviews shows that of 120 reviews I have given five, 5-star reviews and only a single 1-star review (no zero star reviews). I have a lot of 4.5 stars, but I chalk that up mostly to me being stingy with my 5 stars (also, I deliberately try to review books I believe I’ll like, so that’s working towards more positive reviews than negative as well). On the whole I feel good about the ratings I’ve given, though I think my pattern, from a cursory look is to give books a half star extra than they sometimes deserve. If I went back and re-evaluated all my ratings, I think they would mostly stay in tact, with a fair percentage being edged down half a star if push came to shove. It’s all very interesting to me…but I catch myself wondering if other reviewers think this much about something like this.
“Opening directly into the action, but rife with humor and even a well constructed origin story, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, with stunning visuals from Jamal Igle, strike a perfect tone for this young energetic hero in DC’s new limited series “The Ray.” In this first issue, Lucien Gates — a lifeguard accidentally shot with a solar energy “sun gun” and turned into a superher — explains how he became a superhero, introduces us to his life (including friends, family, and girlfriend) all while saving the world from gigantic telepathic jellyfish. We also get a peek at the big bad for the series, who is unfortunately not nearly as compelling as Lucien…”
“Though technically quite proficient, there’s a mechanical quality to this issue of “Ultimate X-Men” that results in something decidedly uninspired and conservative. Given some of the bold ideas put forth in this series (namely that the government created mutants) I expected (and hoped) for much more at this point in the series…”
“Nancy Butler and Janet K. Lee deliver another beautifully drawn, smartly executed adaptation of a Jane Austen novel with “Northanger Abbey”. Nancy Butler has over the last three years proven to be extremely adept in adapting these tales for Marvel — first with “Pride & Prejudice” (art by Hugo Petrus) in 2009, followed by “Sense & Sensibility” in 2010 (art by Sonny Liew), followed by “Emma” (also with Lee) in 2011, and now “Northanger Abbey” in 2011/2012. Butler has known what she was doing with these lovely stories since her very first attempt, and it’s clear with “Northanger Abbey” she’s not missed a beat…”
As always, likes and retweets are much appreciated and you can read all of my CBR Reviews thus far, here.
Tags: comics!
Still no panel of the week since my scanner remains dead to the world, but I can still offer up some Cover of the Week choices.
Of course it’s a Batwoman week…so are you surprised to see Batwoman #4 by J.H. Williams III here? No, you certainly are not. Gorgeous.
Also strong this week is Julian Totino Todesco’s Northanger Abbey #2. All of his covers are looking lovely but this one, thanks to those birds is my favorite. I love how they glow white and draw the eye. They also create a great graphic shape. Really wonderful stuff.
Tags: comic covers, comics!, Cover Of The Week
I bitch and moan (fairly regularly) during Drunk Cover Solicits about being tired of “split face” covers where a comic character’s face is split down the middle. I think I even said recently that I was officially over those kind of covers.
Well, sometimes it’s damn good to be wrong. Check out this dynamic completely badass Ross Campbell Glory #24 cover (which is issue #2 since its “re-start”). “Split face” and all, it’s awesome.
Love this David Yardin piece for X-Factor #228. Beautiful and haunting and very unique for mainstream superhero comics.
Tags: comic covers, comics!, Cover Of The Week
Much delayed, I loved this variant Defenders #1 cover from 12/1/11, but I can’t find the artist. Anyone know? It’s awesome.
Update: Arg. The paint fumes really ARE getting to me. This came out 12/7/11…I’m all mixed up since I did the advance review of this…that said, I’m too tired and busy and paint fume-y to change it all. So in the world of 1979 Semi-Finalist…this stands.
No 3 Chicks Review Comics this week unfortunately due to personal reasons, but I believe we’ll be back next week with a new episode. I didn’t have time to get a She Has No Head! up in its place unfortunately but there will be one or two more posts for She Has No Head! before the end of the year, so keep an eye out! But if you missed out on last week’s epic female positive gift list…get on over there!
Also, my scanner crapped out, so Panel of the Week is on temporary hiatus. I will be putting up a couple Cover of the Week options though shortly for your enjoyment.
In the meantime here are two CBR Reviews from last week’s book. Gotta be honest, didn’t love either of these, so read at your own risk!
““X-Factor” is a book that I like, in part because it tends to feel unlike a lot of the other X-titles. This issue, however, feels more like the other X-titles and less like “X-Factor.” As a result, it’s not that great. “X-Factor” #228 picks up immediately after Jamie Madrox has been killed by Bloodbath while in the form of one of Madrox’s formerly dead dupes. The team tries to kill Bloodbath (without much success) until Layla works her magic and successfully exorcises him from Jamie’s body. Layla tries to bring Jamie back to life as she did with Guido earlier this year, but to no avail…”
“The idea of reading a comic book
about a bunch of scientists completely intrigues me. I don’t know what I hoped to find inside, but this wasn’t it. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with this book; the writing and art are all acceptable. But if you’re looking for more than “acceptable,” I’m not sure it’s here. “X-Club” #1 focuses on the X-Men’s science team (Dr. Nemesis, Kavita Rao, Madison Jeffries, and Danger) at the ceremonial (and also literal) opening of earth’s first “space elevator.” Magneto is on hand to raise a massive space station into space, and it’s a space station with a tether to the earth, which I guess is the elevator (apparently I am not as smart as any of these scientists)…”
As always, likes and retweets are awesome, and you can read all my CBR reviews thus far here.
Woo!
So I told you guys I would check back in and let you know when I hit “the end” and last night, that very good thing happened.
It happened a good 10,000 words later than I wanted it to happen, but it happened notheless.
Final word count for this FINISHED draft is 119,431.
I’m going to need a week or two to clean it up, correct inconsistencies, and do some general “prettying up”…but otherwise it’s going out to my writing group and a handful of wonderful betas in the next couple weeks. Thanks again to all of you that were so supportive while I powered through this thing in a month. It was awesome…though I admit I am CRAZY EXHAUSTED with the mental capacity of a box of hair.
As a fun experiment, I decided to pull together a collage of all the images I posted over the last month that I drew some inspiration from for the book. In the end, it’s only 29 images because one was throwing everything off and seemed redundant anyway, so I deleted it. Anyway…here it is. Hopefully any of you interested will get the opportunity to read this book someday…thanks again!
Tags: novels
Been so busy…didn’t get these reviews from last week up. So I thought I’d give you guys this week’s advance review, plus last week’s that I missed. Still more reviews coming this week – X-Factor #228 and X-Club #1…keep an eye out!
“You can tell from the story title for “Defenders” #1 – “Breaker of Worlds, Part 1: I Hate Myself And Want To Die” that Matt Fraction intends to have a good time with his readers, and indeed he does. The book has an enthusiasm and energy that is evident from page one, even when it’s being all grim and world ending…”
“Mike Carey has thought more intensely about Rogue’s powers than any other two creators working in comics. I feel confident in saying this because Carey constantly surprises me with the ways in which he has used her powers throughout his run. “X-Men Legacy” #259 continues that tradition. What could have been a mundane filler issue about which way Rogue will choose to go post-Schism, suddenly becomes quite interesting in Carey’s hands…”
“Angel and Faith” continues to impress as it features two big stars of the Buffyverse that are far more interesting when paired together. The result is a smart book that’s being executed very wel. Issue #4 brings to a close the first arc of “Angel and Faith,” and it’s a satisfying ending that leaves plenty to still be mined of the book’s original mission, i.e. Angel’s intention to bring Giles back to life. Angel and Faith, having found the Mohra blood that could well make that happen, discover a horrible secret to the blood now that the world is absent magic…”
As always, likes and retweets are awesome, and you can read all my CBR reviews thus far here.
A new She Has No Head! is up and it’s my Third Annual Awesome Women In Comics Holiday Gift List…head on over and see what 2011 gifts you should be giving…or asking for!
