VELVET
VOL. 2: THE SECRET LIVES OF DEAD MEN (Image,
First Printing, May, 2015;
Softcover)
Collects
Velvet
#6-10
(cover dates July, 2014- April, 2015)
Writer:
Ed Brubaker
Artist:
Steve Epting
Colorist:
Elizabeth Breitweiser
Take
some Dramamine before beginning to read this book, as the numbers of
twists and turns may make you ill. Velvet Templeton is or is not
nuts, is or is not innocent, and is or is not close to nailing this
shut, depending on which twist you're at. Beautifully written, drawn,
and colored, I recommend this to everyone. Good stuff that proves
that not all modern comics suck...just the vast majority of them.
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 4.25 out of 5.
The
OCD zone-
Image
makes nice books.
Paper
stock: Beautiful thick matte coated stock.
Binding:
Perfect bound trade paperback.
Cardstock
cover notes:
Thick waxlike lamination.
REVIVAL
VOL. 5: GATHERING OF WATERS (Image,
First Printing, May, 2015;
Softcover)
Collects
Revival
#24-29 (cover dates October, 2014- April, 2015)
Writer:
Tim Seeley
Artist:
Mike Norton
Colorist:
Mark Englert
Talk
talk talk development. Talk talk talk event. Talk talk talk about the
development and then talk talk talk about the event. This “Rural
Noir” usually satisfies me but this time it served to only annoy
me. Modern comics rely on a “cinematic”, dialogue driven method
of writing. I prefer older comics because the third party captions
gave it a more literary feel. Modern comics all try to mimic modern
day television or movies, which I mostly dislike. Comic books are, to
me, the ultimate form of expression because they can combine the
emotional weight of text with the impact of images. Leaning too far
in either direction robs the medium of it's true potential. I get why
modern comic books are written this way. You are dealing with people
who can't look up from their phones to cross the street since
attention spans are at an all time low. The worst part of all of this
is that they make a lot of nothing happen over a lot of pages to pad
out a trade paperback. The energy and spontaneity that I crave is
absent from this title.
I've
given this title two or so years of my life, and I am done. It is
good but not good enough to hold my interest without any resolution.
Development after development occur, and there has yet to be a
definite arc resolution. Some folks may like this kind of thing but
we haven't even hit a plateau yet. One of two things can happen.
Either the suspense will build and the payoff will bowl you over, or
the expectations for a huge payoff are going to be heaped so high
that it can do nothing but disappoint. Either way, I won't be finding
out.
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 3 out of 5.
The
OCD zone-
Image
makes nice books.
Paper
stock: Coated stock with a slight sheen.
Binding:
Perfect bound trade paperback.
Cardstock
cover notes:
Matte coating, very resistant to scuffing.
