Comic Special: Wonder Woman Diana Makes An Impact With Her "FIRST IMPRESSION"

Released today, in honor of SDCC it seems, director & writer Leo Kei Angelos released this short Wonder Woman film. Featuring Doug Jones of Hellboy fame, we have actress Hailey Bright playing Diana (scans the costume except for a trademark head piece) going on her first date.

She and her date get attacked by a group of thugs lead by Doug Jones and for some reason, they are hired to capture Diana's phone. The screenplay was written by Angelos & George H. Ruiz. Take a Look.

First Impressions: AnimeSols

Anime Sols Logo

Hey guys, it's been awhile since I've posted something that wasn't Crunching the Numbers. This isn't going to be much different, but I wanted to make this post in response to recent news; last night, the site for Anime Sols finally went up! 

Wait, what's Anime Sols you ask? Well, if you've been following ANNCast and Anime World Order, both podcasts recently did interviews with Sam Pinansky, who's sort of the face of this project. I recommend listening to those podcasts for more info if you haven't yet, but in laymen's terms, Anime Sols is a combination Crunchyroll/Kickstarter site. So how does this work? Well, a bunch of anime studios basically partnered up, formed a website that streams a few of their shows, and each show has an option on the side where you can pledge money for an American DVD release. Each show has their own goal, averaging at about 16,000 to 19,000 dollars each to get a show licensed on DVD. Watching the shows is completely free, but if you like owning your anime on physical media and there are shows you'd love to own, you have the option of putting your money where your mouth is.

So what are the shows available on Anime Sols? Currently there are 8 series available (1 of which is a remake of another title on the list): Black Jack TV, Tobikage (better known as Ninja Robots to English viewers), Yatterman, Blue Blink, New Yatterman, Tekkaman, Creamy Mami, and a series of Tezuka movies that were aired for 24 Hour Television, which was a special charity program that was started in 1978. It's not much, but there are some good old-school selections that were never released on DVD in North America. Similar to Crunching the Numbers, I've decided to talk about each of these shows and what my thoughts on them are, as despite the age of these shows, they're new to me and probably new to many anime fans. This is going to be more casual than Crunching the Numbers, and I'll stick to talking about the first episodes only. If you have the time, I recommend checking them all out, and potentially putting some money forward for the shows you like.

Recently I've been watching Osamu Dezaki's Black Jack OVAs (I may or may not do a blog post on them in the near future). They're high quality mature works, taking classic Black Jack stories and presenting them with a darker realstic edge and a flair for drama that only Dezaki can acheive. So you can understand that transitioning from the OVAs to the more cartoony 2004 TV series would be a bit jarring for me. That's not to say Black Jack TV is bad, it just carries a lot less weight than the OVAs.

If for some reason you've never heard of Black Jack, he's the master surgeon who was created back in the 70's by manga god Osamu Tezuka. The stories were mostly told in formulaic one-chapter stories: someone has a disease that conventional doctors can't cure, so they go to the unlicensed doctor Black Jack, who normally charges a high price but can fix pretty much anything. There's normally some social commentary or moral buried in each story. Black Jack himself is an interesting figure; from his scarred face and cape to his mysterious motives, he's an unconventional but likable protagonist.

So how does this version of Black Jack hold up based on my first impression? Eh, it's okay. For 2004 it looks kind of cheap, with big offenders like the poor CG houses in the opening and the bold outlines on the character models. The plot of episode 1 (there's an episode zero that I didn't watch but is available on the site), involves a needle getting lost in a patient and then disappearing. Not the most compelling Black Jack story, but given the strength of the source material and involvement of Tezuka Production, later episodes of the show might be better. Tezuka fans might get a kick out of seeing Sharaku as a character in the show. For those who don't know, Sharaku is the main character of The Three-Eyed One, yet another Tezuka manga. I don't know if this Sharaku has a third eye, but the bandage on his head suggests he might. Or maybe it's a tease.

I know Tezuka and Black Jack fans will definitely check this show out, but for the Black Jack newbs, I recommend checking out the OVAs or the manga first. There's nothing wrong with this version, but if you want to be wowed, this is not the one to start with.

LOVE SURVIVOR! LOVE SURVIVOR! Okay, before you read this, check out the opening song for this show. You will thank me later.

Now that you're done having your ears pleasured, how is Tobikage? Well, it's certainly an 80's super robot show! In the future, Mars has become a colony for Earth. Like some sort of Space Australia, criminals are sent there to do hard labor. The son of one of these criminals, Joe Maya, has just turned 16 and must now become a soldier or a hard laborer. Or that would be a case if a mysterious army piloting ninja robots didn't decide to invade on his birthday. Luckily Joe finds his own giant robot, which can transform into a lion with laser cannons.

The set-up actually reminded me of the recent anime Valvrave, proving that this plot has pretty much been used forever, though this show is somehow not as ridiculous as Valvrave beyond the cheese-tastic opening. Joe's your rebellious young hero; even before the ninja robots show up, he's resisting the police and doesn't want to join the army, because despite soldiers having it better than laborers, he doesn't want to take orders from them. He's a flawed but ultimately sort of likable guy. There's some good if standard old-school mecha action as well, though seeing giant robots with spears take out tanks and jets armed with laser cannons with ease is a bit ridiculous. Not much else to say other than if you like this kind of set-up and transforming robots, you'll probably dig Tobikage.

& 

I'm putting both Yattermans in the same boat as they're not all that different from each other. There's some slight character tweaking for the heroes in New Yatterman and there's some more meta-humor, but both shows start out pretty much the same way. Gan is a mechanical genius and son of a toymaker. With the help of his girlfriend Ai, he completes his father dog mecha, the Yatterwan. Using Yatterwan and toy gadgets, Gan and Ai become Yatterman and Yatterman-2 and fight the villainous and comedic Doronbo Gang!

This is pure Saturday morning cartoon flavor, and right off the bat you'll know if you like this or not. Funnily enough, in anime culture the Doronbo Gang is the most popular aspect of the Yatterman franchise. The three villains were the prototype for later bumbling kid's villains, primarily Team Rocket in the Pokemon anime. Most of the show's humor revolves around them screwing up, puns, and fart jokes. As juvenile as the humor is, it's never annoying and always tongue-in-cheek. When the Doronbo Gang first shows up, they don't just explain who they are to the viewers, they SING about who they are. Now that's how to do exposition. The plotting is extremely simplistic; the Doronbo Gang wants to collect Skull Stones (or Skull Rings in New Yatterman) for their mysterious never-seen boss so they can become extremely wealthy, and it's up to Yatterman to stop them every week. It's as basic as Saturday morning cartoon superhero fare goes, but the show's saving grace is the silly humor and the Doronbo Gang.

I could definitely see myself watching each show once a day. It's a fun diversion that doesn't take itself too seriously, and the tropes it employs, while super common now, were new at the time, and it's fun seeing how they were implemented back in the day. But which version should you watch? Well, both are pretty similar, and I can't pick one as a superior version. What I do know is that the original series gets away with some more... risque jokes than the newer version, but New Yatterman employs some bizarre meta-jokes and parodies of real-life people like George Washington and supposedly Barack Obama, so pick your favorite version knowing that.

Before Sailor Moon, magical girls didn't often fight anyone. They would more often use their magic to make their lives easier or more fun, and at it's heart, that's what Creamy Mami does, but it sticks out by being super-creative. A young girl named Yuu gets magic from aliens for one year. Said-aliens come down in a flying ark with two talking cats who act as mentors to Yuu (cats mentoring magical girls? Never happens!). She uses her magic to become an older idol named Creamy Mami and win over her crush. Oh, and she gets to fight aliens as well.

Now this isn't an action show technically, and the focus is still on Yuu using her magic to become a pop idol, but it's easy to see why this is considered one of the classic magical girl anime. There's a sequence in the first episode in which Yuu experiences the memories of the aliens, and in those memories she slays a dragon. The whole scene looks like it was taken from a fantasy epic, and if we get more scenes like that, I'd definitely buy this show. The appeal of a young girl becoming an adult makes perfect sense for a show aimed at young girls, providing them with the fun fantasy of becoming a successful pop star with magical powers.

Magical girl fans should definitely check this show out, and for people curious enough to explore the roots of magical girl shows, this would be a good place to start out. The creative imagery and sense of wonderment were definitely enough to get me interested.

Another Tezuka offering, this was the last show Osamu Tezuka would directly be involved with before his death in 1989. In the same way Creamy Mami enticed young girls with its creativity, I could definitely see this as being the boy equivalent in some respects. Kakeru has a dream of an evil emperor named Gros attacking him on the train, but Gros is just a fictional character in the books that Kakeru's father writes, or so he thought. It turns out Gros is real, and he sends his henchmen out to kidnap Kakeru's father so he can no longer tell the public about the Gros Empire, despite the fact that Kakeru's father had no idea the stories he was writing were real. Luckily for Kakeru, he finds a magical blue pony named Blink who helps the boy chase after his father. Along the way he meets a shady duo of incompetent thieves, a bus driver who can take him to alternate worlds, and fights a flying mechanical mask.

This is pure kid's adventure fantasy at some of its best. All that stuff I listed above happens in the first episode alone, which makes you wonder just else the show has left to offer. If it manages to stay as creative and imaginative as the first episode, this show needs some definite love as we don't get kid's shows like this anymore. There's not much depth to the characters, but they're written competently and have their distinctive personalities. It's not Tezuka's masterpiece, but if this was the last thing he ever worked on, then he went out on a good note.

Another Tatsunoko superhero show, though not nearly as comedic as Yatterman. Well, it is hilariously 70's, from the catchy but dated theme song to the giant blonde afros. Actually, I take it back, it's awesomely 70's in my book. Someone get me the soundtrack for this, it's a great mix of orchestral and groovy beats.

This is going to shock you, but the plot for this is really simple. In the future, pollution is about to kill the planet. Humanity has three years to find a new home before the Earth dies, but to make matters worse, an alien race called the Waldaster decides to invade. Luckily, we have Space Knight Tekkaman to defend us with his mighty space lance and whip.

This is definitely a show I would recommend to someone who likes old-school tokusatsu shows like Kamen Rider, where the fun comes from people in ridiculous costumes beat up bad guys in their own ridiculous costumes and a kicking soundtrack. Lupin III fans will be happy to hear Yasuo Yamada playing the blonde afro dude known as Andro. If that stuff doesn't appeal to you, Tekkaman doesn't have much else to offer. It's a simple 70's superhero cartoon for people who like simple 70's superhero cartoons, and it doesn't have the comedic chops that Yatterman does. Though I'd argue that someone who doesn't like knights blowing robots up in the middle of space while trumpets blare awesome music in the background has an empty soul.

24 Hour TV Specials:

The 24 Hour TV Specials are about 90 minutes each, and there are 3 available on the site: Bander Book, Marine Express, and Fumoon. Due to the length and my limited time, I haven't checked these out yet, but I've heard they're all interesting experimental films from Osamu Tezuka, and having seen a couple of Tezuka's experimental films, I know that means they're special and probably worth watching. I'd like to point out that the films are all split into three separate videos, so if you want to watch all of Bander Book, you have to go to another video every 30 minutes to watch it all. I don't know why the movies were split up like this, but them's the breaks.

Again, these are just first impressions and not full reviews. I recommend checking all of these shows out and seeing which ones tickle your fancy, but I hope I inspired some interest in Anime Sols. While there have been attempts to kickstart anime licenses in the past, none have been done quite like this, and I want to see the project be successful. The site's not complete quite yet, as the FAQ page is empty and the planned articles and forums are empty at the moment, but the site just went up so be patient.

Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger First impressions

First Impressions: Iron Man #1

After months of manga and anime reviews, it seems I've been dragged back into the western world of comics. Special thanks to Frank Rodriguez for giving me a copy to review!


Iron Man #1
Written by Kieron Gillen
Art by Greg Land, Jay Leisten and Guru eFx
Lettering by Joe Caramagna
Published by Marvel Comics



While I do prefer manga to western comics, I still love western comics. Superhero comics were my first comics, having been introduced to them through the Silver Age Spider-Man and Green Lantern comics. Now Marvel is trying to introduce new people to their comics with their new "Marvel NOW!" line-up, which is essentially just a renumbering of their books with new costumes and creative teams as opposed to completely restructuring their stories like DC did with the New 52. I haven't read a Marvel comic in over a year, even longer since I've read an Iron Man comic, so did Marvel managed to make me an Iron Man reader? Well, no actually.

It's not that the comic is bad. Merely competent might be a better term, at least as far as the story goes. Tony Stark is very much like his movie counterpart in this: he's a millionaire playboy with a high-tech company who feels responsible for keeping superpowered weapons out of dangerous hands. He spends the first two pages expositing his views on life, how he questions reality and wants to make a better future. Now if only he would shut up, because every time the scene focuses on Tony, he's narrating the events playing on the panel or explaining stuff to people that they should already know. Some of it is necessary for the new readers, but it came across as overdoing it.

The story itself is pretty standard. Someone is creating superpowered beings known as Extremis with the purpose of selling them as guardians, ala Skynet, but obviously there's something dubious going on, made all the more obvious by one of the Extremis killing someone in their first appearance. It's up to Tony to stop Extremis. It's an old Iron Man plot that's been used countless times in both the comics and movies, and it feels too familiar with not enough new material to freshen it up. Again, it's not bad, but I doubt it would impress a new reader enough that they'd want to buy the next issue of this storyline. Add in Tony's unnecessary chatter and the book almost becomes a grind to read despite being short.

As mentioned before, the characters of Marvel are going through some redesigns, and Tony's no exception. One neat addition to the story is that Tony now has a liquid metal that can reshape itself into the Iron Man armor. One of the fun parts of the Iron Man movies was seeing Tony come up with new ways to store and deploy his armor, and Marvel clearly wanted to capture that fun for the first issue. The armor itself actually doesn't look much different from his regular armor with the big exception of replacing the red paint with black. Personally, I prefer the red and gold to the black and gold, but since Tony constantly changes the way his armor looks its not out of character for him. Still, I question the color change when the red and gold is more iconic and would probably be more appealing to new readers.

However, the armor is the best-looking character in this. The comic tries to go for realistic-looking characters, but the effect comes across as stiff. The expressions of the characters are very limited; for example, Tony can't seem to stop smiling as if his face was stuck like that. Characters often have no eyes either, so the dreaded "Youngblood's Disease" as dubbed by Linkara of Atop the Fourth Wall strikes again. It's kind of an ugly book. I'm not all familiar with Greg Land's art, but I definitely think he's better at drawing robots than people if this book is anything to go on.

Stiff and merely competent really sums up this first issue. It's not bad, but not good enough to really grab any interest. If you're a big Iron Man and not sick of this kind of story, you might enjoy it, otherwise I'd say it's safe to skip it.

Impressions : new Lone Ranger

Thanks to Brian Clendening of LaidBackComics for letting me know about the trailer being out. (Shows how how connected I am to current events...) You can watch the trailer here

Article by Jeremias de Leon

For those too young and never watched the show 

Directed by Gore Verbinski, and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, The Lone Ranger stars Armie Hammer as John Reid/The Lone Ranger and Johnny Depp as Tonto. The trailer starts off with some talk about how the train and how it has changed traveling. The narration in the trailer sets the mood that this is more serious in tone than the original tv series and then we see some western staples like a train robbery, guns, and horses. We also see a tough looking Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer.

So what did I think of the trailer? It certainly seems to veer away from the mood and tone of the original, while it's only a trailer and trailers can lie I don't really see why The Lone Ranger needs to be gritty. I do understand for a modern movie it can't be a cut, copy and past of the t.v series but it can still be retooled while being more lighthearted. Actually, I did read in an article on E! Online that there will be comedy, but the trailer sure didn't focus on any of it.

That isn't to say I'm not intrigued by the movie though, for one Native Americans like Tonto are portrayed with much more respect and less stereotypically and the action looks like it's going to be great, and pretty intense. Plus I believe Gore Verbinski won't do a bad job directing as he can direct a film that has comedy and action blends.

The trailer has me interested in the movie and the action scenes look great but as of right now I'm not excited for it. Honestly it is a good trailer edited really well and does a good job of building hype, just some things about don't really scream The Lone Ranger so much as "action western movie". I wanted to see more things in it that really let you know that this movie is about The Lone Ranger and not any other cowboy.

Plus I didn't get to hear "hi ho silver away" and I was waiting the whole trailer to hear that. T_T 

Want to suggest what I review or write about? Or just want to know my quick thoughts on things? Follow me on twitter @ikariradio

Listen to my podcast The Ikaricast on iTunes as well.

First Impressions: Anime of Summer 2012

Summer is usually a dry season for TV animation. There are barely any new cartoons in the west, and anime doesn't fare much better. Oh sure, there are plenty of "new" anime out this summer and streaming legally on sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation, but the basic rule of thumb for summer anime is that the majority of them are nothing to write home about. Summers are usually filler seasons to give the anime studios more time to work on the big autumn anime. 

So is there anything worth watching this season? Actually, yes. Sure, there's still some crap, and I'll talk about that crap in this First Impressions list, but I've already found several anime worth following this season. If none of these are your cup of tea, there are some anime from last season that are still airing such as Space Brothers and Polar Bear Cafe, which I recommend watching. With that said, let's dig into the new!

So, I Can’t Play H

There are two good things about this show: the animation and how open the protagonist is about his sexuality… to an extent. Here’s the problem with many ecchi anime; too often is the male protagonist afraid to show any interest in girls or is berated for it. I Can’t Play H says “fuck it, our protagonist is a perv, deal with it”, and it’s almost refreshing in a way. However, it goes a little too far with it, forgetting that while adolescent interest in sex is healthy, there’s such a thing as too much interest.

So the plot of So I Can’t Play H centers around this guy who’s a shameless pervert, openly talking about girl’s boobs in public. His one female friend is okay with this, but naturally everyone else is weirded out by it. He meets a red haired girl after school one day and thinks she’s in love with him, which is quickly disproven when she stabs him with a broken sword. Oh, but don’t worry, it was just a ritual that combined their souls, so he’s okay. She’s actually a Grim Reaper, but she needs the energy of humans to use her powers, so she forms a contract with the main character. His soul is actually below average for a human, but he’s able to power her up with his immense perverted energy.

The idea is quite frankly dumb and it’s an excuse to put the main character into perverted situations for the pleasure of the audience. The main character’s open sexuality is refreshing at first, but later on he basically acts like a sexual predator, even at one point intentionally putting his face in the main heroine’s crotch against her will. If you’re watching this Crunchyroll and hope to see some boobs, you’ll be sorely disappointed because they’re covered with gigantic black and white censor bars. There’s nothing else going for this show, so I suggest skipping it.

Sword Art Online

Remember when virtual reality was all the rage back in the 90’s, and then we all gave up on it when the Virtual Boy was released? Well, apparently Sword Art Online didn’t get the memo, because virtual reality has become a thing in the year 2022, and it’s being used for a new MMO called Sword Art Online. It’s a typical fantasy RPG, but everyone wants to play it because it’s virtual reality. Kirito, our main character, was a beta tester for the game and one of the best players in the game. He’s going to need those skills, because now everyone’s trapped in the game by its insane gamemaster, and no one can leave the game until they beat the 100^th level or die. Oh, and if you die in the game, you die in real life. Sounds like fun!

The story is very similar to .hack, but unlike .hack it’s actually entertaining. The first episode is mostly set-up, explaining the basics of the game and showing Kirito as a character who has issues working with others. The second episode also does this, but it gives the audience some cool characters and kick-ass action. This anime has some of the best fight scenes of the season so far, and it’ll probably end up being the best action anime of the season. I have to complain about the ending of the second episode, however. Kirito acts like an asshole out of nowhere, supposedly defend his fellow beta testers, who have stupidly been called out as cheaters, but it’s still a jarring moment. Character drama is not this show’s strong suit, but it’s still young and the action is great.

Binbogami ga!

I… don’t have much to say about this one. I definitely watched it, but it’s a blur of nonsense. Ichiko Sakura is this perfect girl that everyone at high school worships. Why is she such a Mary Sue? Because she’s actually sucking up the happiness energy of everyone around her.  The gods are not happy about this and send Momiji, the god of misfortune, to absorb her power and restore balance to the world. What follows is a half hour of complete nonsense. Not once did I laugh at this. It’s as if this show was trying to absorb the happiness of others. Skip this and watch something that’s actually funny, like Humanity Has Declined.

Humanity Has Declined

Well, I wasn’t expecting this. When I originally heard about this show, I thought it’d be a cute story about humans coexisting with faeries. What I got was a black comedy featuring suicidal bread, undead chickens trying to conquer the world, and a future dominated by Boy’s Love manga. I LOVE THIS SHOW!

To sum it up, humanity has gone through an apocalypse, and faeries, ten-inch-tall people with permanent smiles and serious sweet teeth, have emerged as a dominant race. Our main character, a girl known as the Mediator, works as a UN liaison between the humans and faeries. Oddly enough, despite the focus on the faeries in the promotional material, the show ends up focusing more on the return of modern conveniences to a dying world and maliciously using it to satirize our modern world. It’s a weird contrast with the cute-looking world and faeries, and it’s quite frankly hilarious. It’s a show that needs to be seen to believe. Some might be turned off by the weirdness, but if you give it a shot, you’ll realize it’s genius. Go watch this now.

Natsuyuki Rendezvous

Hazuki is in love with Rokka the flower shop owner, but he’s unable to admit his feelings for her. He takes a part-time job at her flower shop to be closer to her. He’s ready to give up when he meets her husband, but then he learns that her husband has died years ago. Yep, her husband is a ghost and only Hazuki can see him.

This is the only serious romance anime this season, and it’s a ghost story on top of that. It’s a sweet story that will probably make you cry, but it has some fun moments with Shimao the dead husband. It’s rare to see a ghost cockblock someone, but it happens in this show. If you’re looking for a good romance show to follow, this should do nicely.

Campione!

This show confuses me. Oh, it’s not the story is confusing, it’s confusing because it’s the kind of show I normally dislike, and yet so far I like it. It’s yet another harem comedy, focusing on a high school student who slays a god.

Our godslayer, Godou, at first acts like every typical harem lead. He’s very generic with few discerning traits, and he’s forced into the plot against his will. However, by the end of the first episode, when he gets a little magic, he instantly mans up and takes down a god that threatens to destroy Italy.

I’ll be honest here, this is not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. There are some pacing issues in the first episode, some silly fanservice, and stock harem characters like the tsundere who claims to want nothing to do with the main character. It gets better in the second episode, where some of the harem tropes are still present, but more focus is put on the magic and mythology of the world, and while still unwilling, Godou actually trains and accepts his new powers and the responsibility that comes with them. The show could lose its charm soon, but for now, it’s my guilty pleasure anime of the season.

Utakoi

Now here’s a niche title for you. Very few Westerners know about the Hyakunin Isshu, an old compilation of Japanese poems, but those who watched the amazing Chihayafuru last year will know what it is. It was the basis for the karuta card game in Chihayafuru. Fans of Chihayafuru may want to check out Utakoi based on that alone, but the show offers something for fans of poetry and history.

Each episode focuses on the history behind each poem in the Hyakunin Isshu, telling the stories of the poets who wrote them. The majority of poems were romantic, so expect plenty of romantic episodes. The stories are tied together by the narrator, Teika, who compiled the poems in the first place. He gives the audience a history lesson each episode to introduce and end the one-shot stories.  History buffs will get a kick out of this, and since the poets are so goddamn horny, the romance fans might as well.

Kokoro Connect

5 high school friends who are unable to get along with other clubs form their own club, which has no real focus. One day, they randomly start switching bodies. Hilarity supposedly ensues.

Bodyswapping comedy has been done before, and Kokoro Connect hasn’t done much new with it. There’s an element of mystery in the first episode since the characters have no idea what’s causing the random bodyswapping, but most of the mystery outright killed in the next episode by a new character who explains it. The characters are basic archetypes with few unique qualities. The show hints that their new predicament will lead them to opening up about their lives, but unless the show does something to make them interesting fast, it’ll be too late for me to care. I’m giving this show one more episode to impress me, but unless you’re willing to watch bland characters trapped in other bland characters’ bodies, I can’t recommend this.

Every show on this list can be found on Crunchyroll, with the exception of Binbogami, but why would you want to watch that?

First Impressions: Saga #1

Saga (2012) #1

Written by Brian K. Vaughan

Art by Fiona Staples

Published by Image Comics

Review by Eric McLeod

In an industry ruled by comic book properties that have lasted for decades, it’s always good to see a new comic with no connection to any previously established continuity. Brian K. Vaughan, creator of original comics such as Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina, has done it again with his new fantasy comic series Saga.

Summary:

In a galaxy full of people with wings, horns, and sometimes TVs for heads, a war rages on between a planet named Landfall and its moon Wreath. Two soldiers, Alana and Marko, desert their respective sides to get married and give birth to a daughter. Now everyone wants them dead. Being a parent is hard, but it’s certainly made no easier when the entire galaxy is after you.

Story:

What’s most notable about the story is the way it’s told. Throughout the story, a narration in sketchy text will pop up, occasionally explaining the story and even giving hints of the future. The narrator in question is Alana and Marko’s daughter, telling the story in the future. The reader is immediately aware that she will live, but the fates of Alana and Marko are left ambiguous.

The story starts with the birthing, which aside from one awkward line, is handled with much class and shows the closeness of Alana and Marko. Shortly afterwards, they’re forced to run from death, and even by the end of the issue, they keep finding trouble.  I have a feeling the daughter will eventually take over as the protagonist, but I’m happy with Alana and Marko. It’s rare to see a parenting couple as the leads in a comic, and they have been realistically portrayed as such.

There are also the two factions chasing after them, Landfall and Wreath. A bounty hunter known only as The Will is called to hunt them down and bring their child back as proof of their deaths, and he has a pretty sweet talking cat that can detect lies. The villains are looking as interesting as the heroes.

Art:

Brian K. Vaughan is an excellent writer, but Fiona Staples deserves just as much credit for drawing the book. There are your typical animal people, but the major characters are human-looking aside from having horns or wings. The most interesting designs are the TV people, the allies of Landfall. They look completely human aside from having old-fashioned TV sets for heads. Both the humanoid characters and bizarre characters are drawn with accurate proportions and realistic facial expressions (well, the characters with faces at least). There’s a two page spread of a battle that’s simply stunning, if only because of how fantastic the scope is.

There is a sex scene, but for a mature series, it’s pretty tame. There are exposed boobs and penis, but this is far from a porn. A lesser artist would draw more attention to this fact, but the only time exposed breasts are focused on are for breast-feeding.

Final Thoughts:

This is a strong start for what I’m sure will be a long fantasy saga. It says as much in the title, and the title so far does not lie. The world has been built up significantly for a first issue, and considering the sheer size of the galaxy, there’s more world building to be done. I might be jumping the gun here, but this may be the best new comic of the year. I was that gripped by the characters and the world they reside in.

Since I do not give a number rating for stories at the moment, I’ll just give this a strong recommendation for fans of large fantasy settings or strong family themes. I know I’ll be picking up the next two issues as soon as I can. Best of all, each comic is around 30 pages for 2 dollars on Comixology. In an age where Marvel is charging 4 dollars for shorter books, that is a great deal. 

First Impressions: X-O MANOWAR #1

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
X-O MANOWAR (2012) # 1


Written by Robert Venditti
Art by Cary Nord & Stefano Gaudiano
Valiant Comics

Review by Frankie Rodriguez 


INTRODUCTION:

    X-O Manowar was one of the original titles back when Valiant first came out back in the 90s as it went toe to toe with Image Comics for the # 3 comic book company spot. The story of the warrior Aric of Dacia helped fill Valiant with an iconic character that they could build much around. And they did. X-O Manowar had a game. It was one of Valiant's longest running titles.  A man from the past thrown into the present; thanks to aliens and he has advanced, alien armor. And did Valiant made it work. But then, Valiant fell ... not once but twice. So it has returned again. And here is where we pick up at ... a whole new beginning.


FLIPPING THROUGH:

     At the heart of this, we are learning about Aric of Dacia and what happened to him and his people when they were abducted by aliens. Aric, at the time, was fighting alongside his family and the Visgoths against the Romans when Aliens decided to come to Earth and ... well, take some people along.


WRITING:

    With in this first issue, you learn a lot about Aric and at the same time, you learn a little about everything else.  But it is just enough to care. Aric was fighting alongside his family and the Visgoths against the Roman Empire ... and were losing. Yet, you see Aric being proud, stubborn and down right insane as he actually rallies the outnumbered Visgoths into battle. That says a lot about him.

  Aric seems very determined in many of his situations. And I enjoyed Venditti really establishing Aric has this fallible yet heroic character. He knew his father was mortally wounded but would refuse to except that or the despair that would have gone along with it. He set up this one grand setting and then get us another, different yet just as epic setting and did so almost seamlessly.  It worked and worked well. While the other characters in the book seem inconsequential, this is the first issue of a solo book and the hero did shine.


ART:

    I have to give it to Cary Nord. His pencils in this book have never looked better. And I am very familiar with Nord's work, as I followed his work on Mutant X during the late 90s and his work with Daredevil and other titles throughout the decade and a half. Here, Nord's pencils are strong, defined and very gripping. He sets up the characters looks and backgrounds extremely well. Added with Gaudiano's inks, showing us where Aric came from and where he was going felt grand and epic, as a first issue of a solo title should.

  The battle between the Visgoths and Romans were a spectacular to look at if you compared armies. Yet, Nord, Gaudiano and even Moose Baumann's colors really helped set a great tone, grandeur and depth to the book which help sucks readers in. Kudos to this art team cause it works extremely well.


OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

    This was a strong first launch title for Valiant Comics. It gave us a great set up, a complex yet compelling lead character with a well paced opening story. I want to know more about Aric and how he will get the armor. I want to know more about this story and see what else Nord and Gaudiano will show us in terms of settings, armors and characters.   This book made we want more. And while I would have thought the lack of supporting characters might have been a hinderance, it was not. The spotlight was firmly on our hero and his personality and actions were entertaining.

  With all this, I give Valiant's first relaunch title, X-O Manowar # 1, a 5  . .. out of 5. Great job.

FIRST IMPRESSION: LEGION OF CHAMPIONS

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

LEGION OF CHAMPIONS # 1


Written, Art & Creator by Ricky A Whitney


Review by Frankie Rodriguez 



 FLIPPING THROUGH:

      Okay. Legion of Champions very much tries to be a throwback to the classic comics of old; with hero names that were from the 70s and the beginnings of a formation of a team. We meet All American and All Purpose Man (APM) as they take on Ivan Blood, a vampire from the ... I can't believe I am saying this ... the League of Evil Pimps. I am not kidding. This is not a joke. It is real. After they defeat Ivan, he gets help from ... another villain who helps him get away.

     The two heroes decide that things are too much for just the two of them and decide to form their own team, introducing their third member, Afro American. Afterwards, some villains plot their demise and the heroes have to go to Brazil.


ART:

    Dear God ... I want to first apologize is this review is gonna offend anyone cause I can tell you know, it probably will. The Art goes from down right crap to nearly passable within the the 22 pages of story we get. Why do I say that? First, the coloring is way too heavy with the shadows at first. Second, no one looks proportioned to their size from panel to panel till halfway through.  The face work does get better as well as the coloring but for the love of Primus, there are too many shadows at times. I do like that I see the artist getting better but seriously, the art in this get almost passable if not for the color job in the beginning and the inconsistencies. One minute, APM has an A on his mask. The next, he does not. This happens multiple times. Make up your mind.

WRITING:

    Okay. It was a skeleton of what could have been an average start. There was an overt threat. There was a covert threat. The dialogue, at times, was decent ... for the first few pages. Then it went down hill. The moment the words: The League of Evil Pimps. Take that in for a second. . .

   League of  Evil Pimps.  

*stays quiet for another minute*

    LEAGUE OF EVIL PIMPS!!!

     For the love ... why, in the name of the Lords of Cobalt, would you have a team called League of Evil Pimps? WHY? Besides some of the 70s centric names, the book was obviously not edited. There are grammar mistakes galore. Some conversations seem to miss a sentence or just oddly placed. The word bubbles were hand written and oddly placed. It took me a minute to know who was All American and who was APM. The overall story just feels so bad because of all the mistakes and the plot that is just barely holding on. This was painful to read. Just painful.


OVERALL IMPRESSION:

    While I think the artists has potential, I think he should concentrate on art or writing and really EDIT his work. EDIT. He had the choice to type the word box but decided to have most of it hand written. The coloring ... the coloring is bad but gets better towards the end of the book. But man, the damage has been done. This book had a chance to stand out a little more and fell on the ground! It is hard to read. The names are bad. The characters are bad. The names . .. LEAGUE OF EVIL PIMPS ... are horrible. If this was a parody, it would have showed itself as such but it really didn't. This was one of the worst comics I have read in a long time.  This had potential but fell so short. It is like the creator did not care enough about the work to want to make it look better.

 
 I take no pride or pleasure in this but I have to give Legion of Champions a 1 out of 5.


FREAKIN' LEAGUE OF EVIL PIMPS!! WTH!!!