Pick of the Week: “Star Wars: Shattered Empire” by Greg Rucka, Marco Checchetto, and others

by Nik! on November 15, 2015 at 12:02 pm
Posted In: Blog

I’ve been really impressed with Marvel’s recent line of “Star Wars” books. Licensed comics are usually more miss than hit for me, but Marvel, in corporate synergy with parent company Disney, has been taking great care in producing these new books. Hell, even the “Chewbacca” miniseries has been surprisingly good. But, of all the books, “Star Wars: Shattered Empire” is so far my favorite (full disclaimer: I’ve only read the first two issues of this four-part miniseries).

“Shattered Empire” is great for a number of reasons. Most obviously, it’s great because it’s the official continuation of the original trilogy that covers some of the space between “Return of the Jedi” and the forthcoming “The Force Awakens”. Also, the book is considered canon, so it’s giving us an eagerly anticipated glimpse of what the future holds for the new “Star Wars” films. But, most importantly, the book is well crafted by writer Greg Rucka, artist Marco Checchetto, and others.

I was curious as to how Rucka would approach this story, as Rucka is a very grounded writer — unsurprisingly, Rucka provides a very grounded story where the victory over the empire at the end of “Return of the Jedi” was not a clean-cut victory and there are still battles to be fought against the empire. Checchetto compliments Rucka’s story with gritty realism, as much realism as can go into a sci-fantasy story at least. The books are a nice package and, even with guest/fill-in artists, the books read well and feel whole (as opposed to jarring or disjointed as usually happens when multiple artists are involved). And, despite being a grounded, gritty, almost war-like story, “Shattered Empire” definitely feels like “Star Wars”.

Overall, Marvel has been producing some great “Star Wars” books, with “Shattered Empire” being the creme de la creme.

(P.S. I’m one of the few fanboys who actually liked “Star Wars: Episode IV: The Phantom Menace”, and I almost squealed like a schoolgirl when Rucka brought Naboo into the story — I’m glad that the prequels, however good or bad they may be, are being acknowledged and not just swept under the rug.)

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Pick of the Week: “Batman & Robin Eternal” #1 by James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, and Tony Daniel

by Nik! on November 8, 2015 at 1:19 pm
Posted In: Blog

One of the things that I love most about comic books is that as a whole comic books are a publishing freight train moving full-steam ahead towards an unknown future while leaving a wake of continuity behind (occasionally, this freight train will double-back on itself and end up going in a slightly different direction (reboots), but in general the train just keeps on moving on). Comics are great because they offer a snapshot of the time and era that they were created, the location of the train at a certain moment if you will. I love reading old comics to see how my favorite characters became who they are now and I love reading current comics to see how my favorite creators move these characters forward.

I bring all of this up because the new “Batman & Robin Eternal” weekly maxi-series seems like it’ll be a great snapshot of the current DC Snyder-led Batman universe that’ll also pay great reverence to what’s come before. I’ve only read the first issue, but the book, focusing on the Robins, quickly re-establishes who the various Robins are (sans Damien) and where they’re at now in the wake of Bruce Wayne’s Batman “death”. The first issue is heavy on character and character relationships and sets up an intriguing mystery that I’m guessing will be the focus of the series. As the follow-up to the great 52-weekly “Batman Eternal” maxi-series, “Batman & Robin Eternal” has big shoes to fill, but under the guidance of “Batman Eternal”‘s head writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV “Batman & Robin Eternal” should do just fine. But either way, whether “Batman & Robin Eternal” turns out to be good or bad, it’ll nevertheless be an interesting milestone on the comic book freight train’s path. (But, judging by the first issue, the series should be really really good.)

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Pick of the Week: “ODY-C” #6 and 7 by Matt Fraction and Christian Ward

by Nik! on November 2, 2015 at 2:18 pm
Posted In: Blog

“ODY-C” is a psychedelic, gender-bending, mash-up retelling of Homer’s Greek myths (and other myths) by writer Matt Fraction and artist Christian Ward that takes full advantage of the comic book medium to tell stories that I can’t imagine could be told in any other medium. I’ll admit, “ODY-C” is sometimes difficult reading and I’m not always sure that I understand what’s going on, but the book is always a fun read and extremely pretty to look at. Issues six and seven, about, among other things, the story of a freed sex slave, are particularly good. The story about the sex slave is a gut punch of emotion, sweet yet brutal, tender yet hideous, and full of pathos that makes me want to give the sex slave and the creators a hug.

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Pick of the Week: “Mercury Heat” by Kieron Gillen, Omar Francia, and Nahuel Lopez

by Nik! on October 24, 2015 at 1:15 pm
Posted In: Blog

“Mercury Heat” is a new series from Avatar Press written by Kieron Gillen with art by Omar Francia and Nahuel Lopez. So far I’ve only read the first four issues, which doesn’t even comprise the first arc, but I’ve been loving every panel.

The premise is the colonization of Mercury and the “Wild West”-ness of it all, with the story centering on a police officer investigating a suspicious death with ties to the Mercurian mob. It’s noir plus hard sci-fi with a somber futuristic view where everyday people are just struggling to survive day by day, with the closest comparisons for me being “Blade Runner” with a dash of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”.

What makes this book great for me is that Gillen is able to weave a murder mystery tale with great characterization and world-building. It really seems like Gillen has this whole fascinating, hard-boiled, lived-in, future world(s) built up in his head and is only slowly revealing it to us the audience piece by piece.

This book is scratching my hard sci-fi, Phillip K. Dick-loving itch, and I can’t wait to read more.

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Pick of the Week: “S.H.I.E.L.D.” #10 by Mark Waid and Evan “Doc” Shaner

by Nik! on October 19, 2015 at 4:24 pm
Posted In: Blog

This is my second Howard the Duck-related pick in recent weeks (the other being the Secret Wars-related “Howard the Human” one-shot), which is kinda weird since Howard the Duck has an ongoing series right now that I don’t even pick up (only because it’s out of my budget).

Writer Mark Waid’s “S.H.I.E.L.D.”, a series of done-in-one issues teaming S.H.I.E.L.D. up with a different guest star every issue, has been pretty solid. The series allows Waid to take the audience on a tour of the modern Marvel universe with a different artist each issue. It’s basically a great Marvel anthology series under the pen of a comics legend.

I’ve previously highlighted issue 4 of “S.H.I.E.L.D.” here, but for my money issue 10 is even better. In this issue, S.H.I.E.L.D. conscripts Howard the Duck into service for a funny, touching, heartwarming, and ultimately charming little story. This issue is a well done character study of Howard the Duck with great, clean, expressive line art by Evan “Doc” Shaner. It makes me wonder if I’m missing out on not picking up Howard’s ongoing series.

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