Straight Forward Reviews: Princeless Girls Who Rock shorts

On this edition of Straight Forward Reviews I'll be taking a look at the collection of Princeless short stories focusing on other awesome women in the Princeless world, hence the title "Girls Who Rock". Well, let's get on with it shall we?

Review by Jeremias de Leon

Stories

Each story is illustrated by someone different. Each one of course, is a different story, but I feel the need to point out that they're different because they're not only with different people in different situations but they each have very different themes. One is about racism, one is about sacrifice, and so on. 

Each story is brilliantly paced. Each story makes use of every panel in the page to full effect to either explain or show actions without feeling rushed. 

Also, even though these characters are one shot characters in a larger world that you may or may not see again they feel pretty fleshed out for how short their time in the spotlight is. The second and last shorts main characters don't get a background explanation but through their actions and the reactions of the people around them you get the feeling you already know at least some of who they are and what they're about. 

Art

With the different artists on each short story you of course get different moods, tones, and different atmospheres even. With the stories being about different themes and characters this of course seems to be a smart thing to do. But it isn't just about them having different styles, the styles need to mesh well with what's being told. Fortunately that's handled beautifully. The first story having a story that's a serious and real one but with comedy cartoon antics has solid line art and vibrant colors. There's a story dealing with the forest and is very fantastic in nature so it has an art style that has a "wispy" look to it with the brush strokes and colors. Like it's something ethereal. Another story has simple line-art but the story being heavily about backstory it works and it still has everybody's design just as they're supposed to be. It could even be said the designs of the characters in that story are at their most essential components. 

In a much shorter amount of words, each of the different art styles are excellent because they work with the story they're telling beautifully.

Verdict

This collection of short stories is fantastic. Sometimes with short stories set in a larger world you feel as if they add nothing to the mythos or background of the world or characters. But this collection does add a lot and it does it beautifully. I didn't want to spoil these stories so I intentionally left a lot out of what the stories entail, especially since they're not very long. But I can say that each one is completely unique from each other and all add something. One adds to the world and ties in a little with the main characters, one shows how the world treats some like outcasts, and the other goes into the ritual of a group of people that showed up before in the main story. That's all I'll say describing them. They're all done so well that the rest should be found out by reading them. I'll give the Girls Who Rock collection of shorts a 9.5 out of 10.

Straight Forward Reviews: Princeless Vol. 2 issue 4

We're back with another Straight Forward Review and this time we're looking at the Princeless series. A series I've been on since the beginning. It's always been good but does this issue keep up the quality? Does it lag or might it even surpass the previous issues?

Review by Jeremias de Leon

Story

We get a nice intro from Angelica explaining her family including Adrienne and how she got her curses. Then it gets right into the action with Adrienne and Bedelia trying to come up with a plan to deal with Angelica's guardian.

There's great dialog that happens while they're trying to frantically defeat the guardian and we get to see some nice character progression with Angelica and Adrienne. Adrienne proves herself in this issue, maybe not the way she wanted to but she did. Angelica ends up doing things she probably didn't think she would do. Sorry about being vague about it but I dont' want to spoil things.

Art

Emily Martin definitely comes into her own in this issue. It's still definitely Princeless but you can see that she definitely gives everything her own unique flair. The characters look like they are stylized but also have proportions that are more realistic. Thinking mainly of the size of their head compared to the rest of the body.

It's also just really fun to look at, seeing the action in this issue with Angelica's guardian it all looks like the angles were well thought out and the movement of characters makes it feel like watching a cartoon. Which is great.

Verdict

This gets a 10 out of 10. Here's why it deserves one, first you get a quick and fun recap so if you don't know what's going on from reading the previous issues (you should anyway) you're good to go. Second, the character progression in this issue is nice as it's not only Adrienne who learns and grows bur her sister Angelica too. Third, everything comes together in this issue. Smart writing, nice action, character progression and a proper set up stage for the story that looks like things are only going to be picking up from here. Not only that but it looks like Adrienne is shaping up to a real hero by what she does and is starting to realize it with the help of her friends. So it looks like even though the obstacles might be getting tougher she'll be becoming more capable to meet those obstacles.

Comic News: Gail Simone BACK on BATGIRL!

Yes. You read that right. Just mere days ago, we reported of Gail Simone being fired. And that her contract with DC was up.  After that, Gail had announced on her twitter that she was doing something ... for DC ... after considerable fan out cry, social media mobbing and more. Gail had been offered to do stuff with other companies but stayed with DC.

  After that announcement, fans began to speculate what Gail was going to do. It was rumored when she left Firestorm that she was going to do a teen team book . ... which got fans thinking that she would be doing the upcoming spin-off title featuring Raven, Blue Beetle and more. Well, our answer came yesterday int ea form of a twitter.

Here’s a thing. Gail Simone is the new Batgirl writer.

Also. NOT A HOAX.

   Gail Simone could now be considered the Queen of Comics. She got a successful Kickstarter with former Secret Six artist Jim Califiore. She was a driving force as to why people flock to read the new Batgirl series, even after the backlash of it not being Stephanie Brown.  Let's face it. Most fans cannot see anyone else write Batgirl than her. And fans  won. Dc over turned the editors decision and have Ray Fawkes only do 2 fill in issues. Gail returns with issue #19. So, for all the fans of the internet ... here is what we think of Gail simone back on Batgirl:

Comic News: Marvel NOW Gets Femme Fatales in FEARLESS DEFENDERS

 As revealed today after a week of teasing from Marvel, Cullen Bunn will be joined by artist Will Sliney to be the creative force behind the new, all female Fearless Defenders. The new book will feature Valkyrie and Misty Knight as leads as Val picks up her mission to create a new Valkyrior ... but for Midgard (Earth), not Asgard, as assigned by the All-Mother at the end of The Fearless maxi-series.

   Fearless Defenders will start with the unlikely duo of Valkyrie coming together with martial arts expert and former Hero For Hire Misty Knight. The two coming from very different worlds will form the core of the new team, according to writer Cullen Bunn in his interview on Marvel.com from Ben Morse.

Cullen Bunn stated to Marvel.com:

There will definitely be other characters joining the team. In the end, the Valkyrior will consist of eight team members. But this is not a book where we see the entire team, fully formed, on a splash page in the first issue. Rather, a big part of the story will be seeing the team come together logically. We’ll take our time getting there, but some characters will be fairly well known, some will be lesser cult favorites, and some will be introduced for the first time in this book.

In the meantime, though, there will be many guest stars appearing in the series.

In the end, this is Valkyrie’s dream team, and her vision sets the tone for the entire story—making it come true, seeing it sometimes fail, and learning to adapt when changes need to be made

More on Marvel.com: http://marvel.com/news/story/19674/marvel_now_qa_fearless_defenders#ixzz2BfIgpkt1

   There will be 8 Valkyrior in all but not all of them will come right away as the journey to form this team will be one of the driving forces of the book as it starts. Val and Mistry will also be treated with a semi-rotating cast of characters as they work on forming this new team. No other team members have been announced yet but here are some of the most likely suspects to either join or at least appear in this all new , all female incarnation of the Defenders:

Black Cat - She was a recent Defender and her luck powers and attitude would make a great fit for this team. Plus, she's already worked with Misty before in a short lived incarnation of Heroes For Hire that started during Civil War.


Red She-Hulk: She may be in BIG trouble but she was also a recent Defender. She's got strength and brains, like her ex-hubby Bruce. And she has a very big appetite for adventure. Plus, a Hulk on a team may be the best idea.

Clea - Once a student and even lover of Stephen Strange, Clea is a powerful sorceress that may .. . or may not be a key member in this incarnation of the Defenders.

Satana - Fresh from her stint with the Thunderbolts, if they don't have Clea, she'd make a great member. She 'd also bring a lot of trouble to the team: being the Daughter of Satan and all.

Dani Moonstar - She's the most obvious answer. Plus the most interesting. She's been a Valkyrie before. She's worked with Brunhilde several times in the past. With New Mutants now over, Dani does not have a place to call home. She's a former SHIELD Agent. A great marks man. Powers or not, Dani's a great tracker and leader and could really turn into the 3rd piece of this new Defenders (with Val as the body and Misty as the Brains)

Fearless Defenders #1, written by Cullen Bunn and art by Will Sliney will debut this February.