1st Impression: BLOODSHOT # 0 Review

BLOODSHOT # 0
Written by Matt Kindt
Art by Chrisscross & Moose Baumann
Valiant Comics

FLIPPING THROUGH:

                We get the origin of Bloodshot and find out that … well, there has been more than one Bloodshot throughout the decades.  We get a look behind the man who created the current Bloodshot through art and narrative of the scientist’s journal. As we find out, the current Bloodshot is created from a minority (never quite clear if it is a just a Black Man or Hispanic for the current Bloodshot) as we learn of the secrets of the nanites as well.

ART:
                WOW. I have followed Chrisscross for 2 decades now (Since his work on Blood Syndicate) and this was some of his best work to date. Chrisscross really has a dynamic, polished style that is full of detail, interesting angles and inventive panel work (many of the pages have blood spattered in the background) There are some very brutal, graphic scenes but Chrisscross handles it with style. The panel work, again, was AMAZING.  Shots from under head. Shots from overhead.  Chrisscross pulled out all the stops in this one. There where side shot panels. There were close ups. Chrisscross has a great fair of the cinematic on display this issue as we see Bloodshot from all angles, which really just added to the story. Great composition of anatomy and the extra details added … from the background to the exposed organs … were a real treat as well.

                Baumann’s colors shined here. With some vivid imagery, Baumann out did himself with make sure Chrisscross’s pencils and inks really stood out. There was this wonderful vibrancy in this issue with this work that I did not see in other issues. It really caught my eye. A masterfully rendered issue by this art team.  I only wish they were staying.

WRITING:
                So, Duane Swierczynski is out. Now, we have a one shot written by upcoming Unity writer, Matt Kindt. And what we get is a masterful issue. This one #0 issue covers a lot of lore with Bloodshot; answering some questions we were dying to know as well as giving us whole new questions to ask. Kindt ads to Project: Rising Spirit’s history with having Bloodshot be around for decades. And there was a constant evolution to the character.
                As such, Kindt really does answer a lot of questions in a very organic way. The dialogue used felt very natural and the narrative, using the journal to help the story along, was very authentic and heart felt. Kindt allowing the story to unfold through pictures in one way while telling a different story with the narrative worked extremely well for the issue.  Kindt throws a lot of interesting surprises this issue … including the origin of the current Bloodshot …which fits with the continuity established by Swierczynski while adding his own spin on it. (ie. Slight spoiler: the current Bloodshot was made from a minority male: Black , Hispanic, etc.  …) A masterful issue that makes me look forward to more. But alas, Matt Kindt is not writing Bloodshot permanently.  Still, an exceptional showing for this #0 issue.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

                Easily, my favorite #0 of all the Valiant Titles. This gave us origins, surprises, great dialogue, talked about learning to be human with dynamic art that really did something different and held your attention. Kindt writes a smart script and lets his art team tell its own story as well … tying it all together in a strong package. Chrisscross and Baumann form a FORMIABLE art team that I truly wish was staying together after this issue. LOVED this issue.

RATING:
                Violence, heart, questions of soul and humanity, mixed with some of the best art I have seen this year … I give Bloodshot # 0 a perfect 10 … out of 10.

1st Impression: FATHOM - THE ELITE SAGA # 4

FATHOM: THE ELITE SAGA #4
Written by JT Krul, David Wohl & Vince Hernandez
Art by V. Ken Marion, Mark Roslan & Kyle Ritter
Aspen Comics

FLIPPING THROUGH:

                This issue opens with a face to face between Aspen, “Cannon” and Kiani, who is narrating for the first few pages about her past with him. We find out that Cannon was used to be a host to a being named Taras. After that, we get some action. It seems that “Cannon” wants the baby for a different purpose all together.

                And then we get some action as Aspen and Kiani try to get Cannon only to meet up with the  violet grunts that we saw since # 1.  The grunts by Cannon time to leave with the baby but eventually, Aspen and Kiani free themselves.

                Meanwhile, Killian seems to question himself and that what if Anya ran away from him with their baby in order to save her.

                Major revelations are revealed behind “Cannon’s” plans and the baby as we get ready for the final face off.


ART:

                The art for this issue was top notch from start to finish. Marion’s panel work is beyond impressive and downright heavenly to look at this issue. The use of the 3 major player’s face with panels on the side for the first 3 pages is an old trick in comic but not usually done in odd numbers. Marion makes it work very well this issue.

                 Marion and Roslan create gloriously gripping backgrounds and kinetic action with their smooth pencils and crisp inks. This issue was definitely some of their best work yet. All the characters were distinct with very different faces, bodies and displayed emotion well. The flow of the book artistically was really gripping and kept you glued. Ritter’s colors dazzle to make Marion and Roslan’s work even that much better with great use of sharper colors when needed and decent use of shades.

                This book continues to be an artistic masterpiece.

WRITING:

                What Krul, Wohl and Hernandez have done in this issue has set the bar. The stakes were high and only made higher. The enemy very personal to the people involved. The characters showing different emotions throughout the issue were both relatable and right on point when it came to the plot of the story. That fact that Killian is showing regret did not seem to come out of nowhere; it felt very real. This is writing. This is excellent work.

                The dialogue was right on point.  Krul scripts a great issue alongside all the action that happens. The pacing was perfect. And with the reveal at the end of what Cannon is and what he wants to do … it only will make readers that much more excited.  Comic book writing at it’s best.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

                Stellar Writing. Outstanding Art. Comics at it’s best.

RATING:

                I give Fathom: The Elite Saga # 4 … a 10 out of 10.

Laid Back Comics: Green Lantern #20

Turn back the clock nine years ago, you walk into a comic shop and see an issue with a pretty simple title, Green Lantern: Rebirth.  A story that brings Hal Jordan back to life and takes center stage again for the Green Lantern mythos, the writer of this Book Geoff Johns has taken his first steps to revamping not only the character of Hal Jordan but everything we knew about Green Lantern. Now with the latest issue out, it comes to a close an end, not with a whimper but a bang.

John pulls few punches as this issue not only wraps up his run on the series but also on the Story-line “Wrath of the First Lantern”,  a long story arc that brought all of the Lantern books facing off with a reality changing villain. It showed some highs and lows as the story progressed but ended hitting every beat a conclusion like this should. This brought in a lot of the elements that Johns has added over the years, the different Crops adding on, Nekkron of Blackest Night appearing as well as the entity Parallax which was the first item Johns added to the Green Lantern books which is safe to say a perfect note to end on.

The issue in of itself wasn't a perfect issue sadly; the story did seem to move at a break neck pace with one event happening right after the other leaving some holes that really needed to be filled. Some could say that mirrors the last few stories of Green Lantern and if you title your head it works in a almost madding way. In a way that your mind trying to point out some of the flaws but once you finish the book you can’t help feel like you have enjoy yourself in some way. It also goes on to say that this isn't really an end, characters are set to go on different ventures throughout the galaxy. This is only a chapter in the stories of them and it left with more excitement to see where they might lead. 

The one small down sided to it though may be that while certain items were removed from the book, some things were added back in which feel like trying to re-shift the book backwards instead of forwards. While I feel this time was something that was the right thing to do, it does seem to retread ground we have seen once before and limits possible futures.

The Art Team on this was just amazing, and I do mean TEAM, yes Doug Manke has been the main penciller here, he is added by Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Mac Deering, Mark Irwun, Wade Von Grawbader, Tom Nguyen, Not to metion Patrick Gleason, Cully Hamner, Arron Kuder, Jerry Ordway, and Ivan Reis. On I am not done yet as there was also Ethan Van Sciver, Alec Sinclair, And Tony Avina.

Not done just yet as we continue with the Colorist Alex Sinclair and Tony Avina, and last by very not the least Dave Sharpe as the letter for the issue. It might seem like a long way to pad out a review to add every single name that seemed to work on the book, but they all deserved it and deserve to be mentioned and not passed over as, the artist and left at that. If I could add applause to a column I would.

In the end this was a enjoyable end to a long running work Geoff Johns has been working on, going out with a bang has never been so appropriate here. Here is hoping for the same for those talented people coming on the books now.

OVERALL: 9.0 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening Writes for Broken Infinite, follow him on Twitter @BAClend

Charismagic (Vol 2) # 2 Review

CHARISMAGIC  (Vol 2.) # 2
Written by Vince Hernandez
Art by Vincenzo Cucca, Mark Roslan & Emilio Lopez
Aspen Comics


FLIPPING THROUGH:

            This issue picks up with Hector and Alle inside the San Marina Nuclear Power plant to use its power to summon a powerful magical beast … a lion known as Torgan. Torgan is tasked by Hector, Alle and Serke to search for 2 very different things.

            Meanwhile, with all the chaos in the world, Sudana and Sparkles split up from Hank and Kenny, who must looking for something mystical … in a graveyard. Sudana and Sparkles end up in an old theater with …GIANT SPIDERS!!! 

            A surprise alliance is spoke of and as Kenny  and Hank talk about how magic makes Hank different from a normal human … we end with them getting a horrifying face to face with Torgan.


ART:

            Cucca and Roslan deliver their A game again in this issue. The backgrounds were detailed and distinctive. Sudana was beautiful and looked powerful. Alle looks even more threatening then she did last issue. Emotion is convey superbly though Cucca’s & Roslan’s art. Things that are magical are majestic while the mudane looks good but just that … mundane.

            This issue amped up the kinds of people and things we see and Cucca and Roslan deliever it with class and style. Clean lines. Great detail without being overly detailed. Lopez’s colors seal the deal with beautiful vivid colors when needed. Lopez obviously knew this issue had a darker tone and a sense of ominous as his colors really puts that on display, going for slightly darker shades but not being too dark.

             A really strong showing that will captivate your eyes through many panels throughout the issue. Well done by the artistic team. 

 

WRITING:

            Hernandez loves what he does in this book and you can tell. Quiet moments are impactful and don’t feel forced. There is a lot of humanity this issue that make you think about the nature of magic compared to the nature of regular humans. It was also great from Hernandez to touch on that throughout the issue without being overly preachy or over doing it through Hector, Hank and Kenny.

            The main plot itself is gripping and interesting. With Serke, Alle and Hector making their moves against Earth, Sudana, Hank and company are doing all they can to fight back the invading demons. And while the plot has been done to death, Hernandez breathes new life into it with how the characters are going about their actions and the sheer variety of characters we see.

            We see Haven this issue which was a surprise to me to be a fairy. A male fairy at that. Not something you see all the time. And the dialogue feels very real, especially the conversations Hank and Kenny have this issue about how Hank feels about having magic. There was a great authenticity to the exchanges. 

            The overall pacing was great. Alle is turning into one grade A bitch of a villainess while we see Hector still wanting to keep his humanity, making him even more compelling. Hernandez lays down enough ground work this issue to allow for so many things to come. And the cliffhanger was perfect. Really great job by Hernandez.


OVERALL IMPRESSION:

             Great art. Strong, believable and consistent writing. Entertaining exchanges. Great assortment of characters. Wonderous beings amist the mundane and blending that well. A great issue all around.


RATING:

            I give Charismagic (Vol 2.) # 2 a 9 out of 10. Really great issue. Get it when it comes out June 5^th … or if you are at Phoenix Comic Con, this weekend from the guys over at Aspen. 

Archer and Armstrong issue 9 review

Hello and welcome to Broken Infinite's comic reviews. We're back with a new issue of Archer and Armstrong. We've been blown away by the previous issues. Does this hold up?

Review by Jeremias de Leon

Story

Armstrong is in a bind. It seems Archer has gone off the deep end and is attacking his friends. Again, it would seem that way. But the truth is he is under control of something and thanks to this it looks like the Null is going to have it's way and destroy the entire universe. The writing this issue is fantastic. The plot itself is not overly complex where if you missed even one issue you'll be left wondering what's going on but the characters are written extremely well. From their interactions to the growth and change they undergo and that is apparent at the end of the issue the story and writing is fantastic. For ending a story arc it definitely amps everything up and has every character have their moment to shine, which is awesome. There's also a big hint at the end of this book as to what will happen in the next issue and the next story arc. So again, great work here with the writing.

Art

Looking back on the most recent previous reviews the art seemed to not wow me as much, but this issue really stepped it up. What's stands out the most is how well action is drawn. The characters look fluid in every movement they do and the panels look as they should. Like they were photographed or frozen in the middle of performing an action. Character expressions like in previous issues are still a strong point as well. As each time a character made a specific significant expression on their face like say terror it was conveyed so well that you wouldn't need to even read anything to know what they're thinking.

Verdict

I honestly do enjoy this series. To a point where I gave it my only perfect score for two issues. Recent issues were enjoyable but I didn't feel as strongly as I did earlier in the series. But for this issue and for the end of this particular arc, the writing and the art combined in such an awesome way that this issue reminds you again that this is truly an awesome series and for that it gets a 10 out of 10 

Laid Back Comics: Age of Ultron #1

It took a little bit longer than we all first thought, and I am sure longer than Marvel wanted it to start with, but Age of Ultron has finally made it to print after first getting teased back in 2012 on Free Comic Book Day and also in Avengers #12.1. What was a bit of a mystery to the story of the book and how this would connect into the Marvel Universe in another major shakeup event or would possible be a standalone possible story line like Age of Apocalypse back in the day? It turns out that it is more the former while also adding a little bit of the latter to this mix. Before the issue hit the stands there wasn't very much to know about the story other than a simple premises that Ultron Won. And if you get that the first issue of the series just goes straight into this world without really stopping to let you in on the when and how that happened.

One of the things to take away from this first issue is just how lucid it is, Bendis is often criticized for being able to only write a book of talking heads issue in and issue out. Here though he seems to show he can add in straight forward action from page to page. Without disheveled Hawkeye running into a building to rescues a teammate and friend in Spider-Man, Which version of Spider-Man classic Pete or newer Octo-Pete is yet to be determined. With Hitch able to draw out the action in such wonderful ways. Hitches art also lends well to the environment around the city given off the destroyed world and mixed with the techno metropolis that is replacing some of it around.

In an odd twist though while the setup lay out, and action of the book makes for the book to be an enjoyable read, the fact I wouldn't mind some back story to how and why this happened would be a bit refreshing as well. So far a lot of information about this world is in the dark, if issue one is just the hook to the series one can hope some questions will be answered in the upcoming ones as well.

There is also a lot of choices in the art work as well, She-Hulks extremely short hair, Tony’s Tron look, 

Wolverines as well. The body scanning to see if they are 'clean'. All of this might leave a reader more than a little confused on what is going on and what suppose to be going on. 

This might all just point to this to this alternate time line story that is being built and might just be one and done items for this time line. The biggest problem is this newest event could all be too much too soon.  From so short of time since Avenger’s vs. X-Men, to the Marvel NOW launches, one could easily get overwhelmed by such a massive event going on right now. But, that could be all for nothing though, if this just alternate time, once it is done it might just be something to look back on much like Age of apocalypse. All in all it is a good read with just a few blank spots that needed to be explored as the series continues.

OVERALL 7.0 out of 10

Bryan "BAC" Clendening writes for Broken Infinite as a comic reviewer. You can follow him on Twitter @BAClend