Reviews: Top Cow First Look Vol. 1; The Waste Land; Captain America- The First Avenger

TOP COW FIRST LOOK VOL. 1 (Top Cow/ Image, July 2010; Softcover)

Collects Black Vault No. 1, Echoes No. 1, Genius No. 1, Last Mortal No. 1, Mysterious Ways No. 1 and Sunset No. 1

This is one of those $4.99 sampler trade paperbacks that I am such a sucker for. The main difference between this and the Vertigo samplers is that these were all as-yet-unreleased new titles. This is a great idea, as it sucked me in to two of the series for sure when the inevitable collected editions surface. Sunset by Christos Gage (writer), Jorge Lucas (artist) and Felix Serrano (colorist) is really good. It's the tried (or is it tired?) and true scenario of the old guard rising up for one last gasp, and I'm hooked. Echoes promises to be one fucked up read, and I can't wait to read more of it. Genius seems interesting but I won't be going any farther along. This book offers a tremendous entertainment value for a measly $5.00.

THE WASTE LAND (Perennial Library, 1990; Softcover)

Original Graphic Novel

I got this cheap in the graphic novel section of a local used book store, and let me tell you, it was still overpriced. For some strange reason the interior black and white artwork looked decent when I flipped through it in the bookstore. Art can be clever or it can be smart. When it is clever, it is creative and intelligent in a way that can speak to everybody, but intelligent folks can get a little more out of it. When it's smart, it usually when the writer or artist tries too hard to impress folks with his/her knowledge on a subject. The latter is always a chore to experience, and never enjoyable. The Waste Land is the latter.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Score another home run for Marvel Studios. While filled with continuity errors when compared to the source material, this worked extremely well as a movie. I had doubts when they cast Cap at first. The dude who played the Human Torch in those mediocre Fantastic Four movies? Really? It turns out he was believable as ol' Cap. That Agent Smith guy was superb as the Red Skull. I only wish that the Nazis sounded more German, like in the Golden Age Captain America Comics. They talk with lots of Vills and Unds, and I like my Nazis to talk like that. This flick was great overall. Action sequences, CGI, the Easter eggs...everything was wonderful. This has been a great year for the Marvel movies, and The Avengers looks awesome. Oh, and stay until after the credits.