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Wayne Markley
by Wayne Markley
With every blog I request tips of books you are reading that I am not as well as you believe I am missing out on. this time around out I am going to evaluation three books that were all suggested to me by visitors of this blog. So very first off let me say, say thanks to you. I always welcome your tips as well as while I checked out more comics than anyone should, there are a number of them I miss out on because of my own prejudices towards the subject matter, gain access to to the material, time or any type of number of reasons. since the point of this blog is to point out books the visitor may have missed out on as well as [are deserving of] your time to checked out (and that is why I seldom have a unfavorable evaluation as I am not trying to tell you what not to read. I do not feel that serves me or you any type of good), however I want to assist broaden the readership of books I have enjoyed as well as believe other people would likewise enjoy. therefore it is such a enjoyment to checked out these books I had overlooked. thanks to you, that has now been corrected. thanks to you, the visitors of this blog.
Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 1 – Vader
I want to provide a huge say thanks to you to Brett A. for telling me exactly how great star Wars: Darth Vader by Kieron Gillen as well as Salvador Larroca is. Brett has spent more time than I might count telling me exactly how excellent this book was as well as exactly how I was missing out on a excellent read. Well, he was right. very first off, this book had two strikes against it before I ever thought about reading it. very first off it was written by Kieron Gillen who, as well as I understand I am in the minority here, is not my preferred writer. As a general rule I discover his work to be convoluted as well as so muddled I just do not enjoy it, even though many people have told me I am wrong on this. Secondly it was star Wars, which is not my preferred genre. once again I understand this is sacrilege, however it has never been my preferred film series or comic books. now right here is where I eat humble pie, as I have been reading the marvel legendary Collections of star Wars reprinting the old Dark equine star Wars comics I discover I have thoroughly enjoyed them. There are currently four different series of legendary Collections focusing on different time periods of the star Wars universe, as well as each as well as every one of these collections has blown me away with exactly how great they are as well as exactly how tight the continuity is. A plus, to me at least, is marvel is reprinting all of the Dark equine star Wars comics in chronological order, not willy nilly as they were when they very first came out. (Dark equine did a ton of star Wars comics over 20 years, as well as the stories were set at the time of the very first movie, then 10,000 years in the future, then 10,000 years prior to the very first movie, etc. So reading these stories in order to me is sooo much more enjoyable.) since of this legendary collections as well as the respect I have for Brett’s opinion, I provided Vader a try, despite my reservations.
Brett told me that Darth Vader was a perfect story of science fiction, politics, personal intrigue as well as star Wars mythology. based on this I checked out the very first two star Wars: Darth Vader trades; Vader (collecting problems 1-6) as well as shadows as well as tricks which collects problems seven with twelve. Both of these books lived as much as Brett’s descriptions as well as exceeded them. Kieron’s storytelling was directly ahead as well as clean with a story that develops towards an ultimate goal that fits well with in what was already established in the prior star Wars stories (Are the original Dark equine star Wars comics still cannon? I have been told both they are as well as aren’t). The characters all act as you would expect, with Darth being inspired by his own wishes as well as goals, which are not necessarily obvious, as well as at times run in opposition to the Emperor. This is the very best work I have checked out by Kieron Gillen as well as makes me believe I requirement to go back as well as re-read his Loki as well as other work as perhaps I misjudged it. as for the art by Salvador Larroca, it is beautiful. It is clean as well as fits the story completely as it mixes a dark spy tone with science fiction aspects (space as well as spaceships) flawlessly. On top of that his landscapes as well as droids are almost as well lovely to explain (and these are droids unlike I have seen anywhere else in star Wars). unfortunately for me I came across this book as well late as it ending with problem 25. According to Gillen this book is ending since it came to a natural final thought as well as not because of the usual culprit,sales. I for one am going to be unfortunate to see it go as well as however I have at least three more trades to look ahead to reading. excellent stuff despite my original prejudices.
Prez: The very first teen President
A long time reader, Jeff W. strongly suggested that I checked out the new Prez series from DC that was a sufferer of the DC rebirth introduce as well as was cancelled. As the full series has not been collected at this point, as well as I believe the story has yet to be completed, I went as well as checked out the original Prez from the 1970s. DC just recently released a collection of all of Prez (the teen male president) stories from his original series by Joe Simon as well as Jerry Grandenetti, including the never (almost) before published problem #5 from Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2. (Cancelled Comic Cavalcade was a super restricted run; 35 copies of two collections of stories DC had done however did not publish because of a contraction in the number of titles they were publishing. It included single problems of Kamandi, Supergirl, Black Lighting, Prez, as well as many others. Fortunately, DC has been slowly issuing collections of these discontinued 70s series as well as including these problems that were previously lost to the typical reader. The Cancelled Comic Cavalcades were done as “ashcans” to for copyright reasons as well as not for the general public. a few of these stories have been printed in other books since then, however by no means all of them). In addition to the original series, included in this collection are Sandman #54 which featured Prez, the Vertigo Visions Prez by Ed Brubaker as well as Eric Shanower (this story alone is worth the cost of the trade) as well as Prez appearances from Dark Knight as well as Multiplicty. The premise behind the series (and it is extremely 1970s) is the youth as young as 18 are provided the right to vote as well as they vote in excellent numbers young teens like themselves into congress as well as then reducing the age of president to 18. since of this Constitutional change, Prez Rickard becomes president at 18, as well as it becomes a tale that extremely show the times of the 1970s. The villain throughout is a mobster called manager Smiley, who’s head was a giant Smiley face, as well as evil politicians, as well as all kind of silly concepts that unfortunately are true today. Prez’s right hand guy as well as head of the FBI is Eagle free who lives in a hidden teepee where Prez sees him for trick meetings. There is a story about an America’s right wing political group that eerily shows today’s political scene. I was hesitant to checked out this collection as I keep in mind these stories as being quite bad, however they are really rather good. These are by no means excellent art or stories by today’s standards, or even that of the 70s to be honest, however there is a appeal to the stories as well as a frightening element in exactly how these stories from 40 years back still sound true today. I was surprised exactly how much exactly how I enjoyed these stories. The Sandman story as well as the Vertigo Visions are both excellent stories as well as more than comprise for any type of deficits that the original five problems may have. As strange as a idea Prez was, the original stories are extremely entertaining as well as the more contemporary stories are excellent re-imaginations of the character. general I enjoyed this book immensely, as well as I am surprised exactly how well this book holds up compared to what I remembered. I am now looking ahead to reading the new Prez that Jeff was so hyped on. I am delighted he suggested Prez (old as well as new) to me as I rediscovered one more lost treasure.
Private Beach
Private beach by David Hahn was a book I liked when it very first came out in the 1990s from slave Labor Graphics. Dover press just released the total book reprinting the very first seven problems as well as 30 pages that have never seen print before. I want to say thanks to an anonymous visitor who e-mailed me as well as directed this collection out as they understood I was a huge fan of the original series. This series was originally a miniseries called fun as well as Perils in the Trudyverse as well as was published by Antarctic Press. It then moved on to slave Labor where it lasted seven problems only to vanish. David went on to work on all kind of material ranging from Bite Club to Batman ’66 satisfies the guy From U.N.C.L.E. I have always been a fan of his clean art as well as storytelling style that is perfect for so many books, that I am always surprised he does refrain from doing more high profile books. I was bummed that personal beach never reached it conclusion, however now I am thrilled as I can lastly checked out the total story. as well as it was worth the wait. As the original title suggests, Trudy Honeyvan’s life is anything however ordinary. As you very first begin reading the stories you may believethis is just a slice of life book, up until the UFOs, the guy in black, as well as the ever curious magic eightball shows up. It is difficult to categorize these stories are they tend to go anywhere the characters seeming to want to. There is a specific stream of mindful to this stories however there is a point behind all of the strange goings on. I cannot not state exactly how delighted I am to lastly see what the ultimate goal was, as well as I must state the pay off truly does work. at times when reading this story it is simple to believe you are lost or Hahn has lost his way, however if you stick with it, the end is well worth the trip. I want to commend Dover publications from bringing back to prints so many excellent lost gems, most with new material, such as this, personal Beach, Sam Glanzman’s U.S.S. Stevens as well as Attu, Terri Woods’ wonderful Wandering star as well as so much more.
Johnny The Homicidal Maniac
A quick side note on last week’s blog about books that women may enjoy. long time retailer, Hank Lattrell of 20th Century books explained the popularity of Johnny the Homicidal Manic with his female customers. I was a bit surprised by this as Johnny was a finest seller for ages over the last twenty years, however I did not recognize that the book still had such a strong complying with among women. I question if the draw is the character of Johnny, the influence of Invader Zim (both have the exact same creator, Jhonen Vasquez), or something else? I do understand Johnny has always offered more from word of mouth than anything slave Labor has been able to do to promote it. I likewise discovered it interesting that Hank states the sales of Johnny are of the single issues, not the compilation. thanks for the update as well as input Hank.
This wraps up this week’s blog. thanks you for reading this blog as well as for your comments as well as suggestions. As you can see, I do checked out whatever that is suggested as well as I commonly land up kicking myself for missing it the very first time out, such just like Vader. Or other times I just do not recognize a creator whose work I enjoyed is back in print, just like personal Beach, as well as when in a while it is just nice to rediscover something that influenced a new piece of work, like with Prez. All three of these books are extremely different however all three are excellent. I would like to understand what you believed of these books or if there are other books I have overlooked. when once again whatever I have written right here is my viewpoint as well as in no method shows the thoughts or opinions of Westfield Comics or their employees. I hope you take time to checked out one of these books as they are all classics. As always,
Thank you.