Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Review.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is many things, first and foremost if these is a fantastic film that will delight comic book fans and regular moviegoers alike. More interestingly, though, is that it addresses some of the main concerns people may have had about the future of the Marvel Cinematic universe.

Firstly, it can’t be easy making a comic book movie. If you stray too far from the source material then you risk alienating fans of the comic, adhere too closely and that same audience will never be surprised. The identity of the titular Winter Soldier isn’t going to be a huge revelation to most people watching the latest Marvel movie and, fortunately, that really doesn’t matter. This film is not about him, it’s about Captain America and the modern world he’s found himself a part of. It’s about questioning the battles he finds himself fighting and which side he’s really on. It’s about whether a World War II era soldier, super or otherwise, has a place in the current day battlefield. And there’s also a cybernetically enhanced assassin with a penchant for eye makeup and face masks who may or may not be related to his past. The story involves so many threads, familiar, new and different, that no one is going to be hurt by how familiar they are, or aren’t, with the source material.

Then there’s the concern that over time this single Marvel universe would feel far too homogenised to be consistently entertaining without simply being more of the same. Viewed on its own this is still very much a comic book movie, but it’s also a techno-paranoia fueled espionage thriller. Yes, this is the same universe that brought us the bright coloured alien invasion in Avengers or the mythological fantasy of Thor: Dark world, but it’s rooted in a darker, more believable reality. In comic book terms, they’re all Marvel creations, but different artists and writers have a great deal of latitude in presenting a story to their audience.

And this is different to the films that have come before (and a literal world apart from the sci-fi comedy of the incoming Guardians of the Galaxy). People have complained that Cap’s new muted uniform is a far stretch from his original Stars and Stripes outing and it quickly becomes apparent that this is to fit the darker missions SHIELD is sending him on. It’s a theme that pops up in comic books frequently and not only does it represent the tonal shift in storytelling, but it also allows for that triumphant third act hurrah after the hero realises that things simply aren’t the way they’re supposed to be.

That hero is brought to life once more by Chris Evans who is clearly more comfortable than ever in this role. Cap has been allowed to grow as he lives in this modern world but he retains the basic nature of who he was pre-freeze. Samuel L Jackson, too, proves himself more comfortable than ever as Nick Fury who finally receives enough screen time to flesh out the character a little more. Scarlett Johansson return to Black Widow’s skin tight stealth suit doesn’t seem to have been as successful though. The story lends itself to discovering so much more about her character but much of her performance for the first half of the movie’s run time seems to fall flat. It’s only a relative drop, but given the development of her character in Avengers it seems a shame that she’s handled so differently when she has more of an on-screen presence. New hero on the block, Falcon, is brought on board with only the slightest hint of contrivance and is realised in fantastic comic book glory when Anthony Mackie finally suits-up. Robert Redford as his high powered, morally ambiguous spy leader is everything you could want from the role which is almost detrimental to the suspense factor since nothing he does will come as a surprise to anyone who’s seen a Robert Redford film before.

As mentioned before, the Winter Soldier may be in the film’s title, but this is not his film. In good comic book form this is essentially volume one in his story arc with much left unresolved. As a stand-alone experience that may be frustrating to some but it’s much better than comic book movies of old where one or more villains would be allowed a single movie’s run time to cover their origin, crime spree and sudden death. It’s nice that Loki isn’t the only persistent antagonist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now too.

A masked assassin with a robut arm is not the only thing that stops this being a straight espionage thriller; this is very much a blockbuster movie. From the high action opening that demonstrates what puts the super in Captain America’s soldier to the epic final showdown(s) it’s evident that Disney have made sure most of this film’s budget ends up on screen. It doesn’t try to compete with Avengers in terms of special effects spectacle but it doesn’t have to, it’s not that kind of movie, but there are too many holy-crap moments to consider this anything but a visual feast.

Fortunately the writing matches the action with the script both supplying the tension while not scrimping on the occasional moment of humour. Again, this is not Joss Whedon’s typical sarcastic tone, but that doesn’t stop it from being clever and occasionally witty. It comes back to that same universe, different interpretation aspect that’s easy to get away with in comic form, but could risk incongruence in a live action situation where actors as well as their characters are common elements. Speaking of the story, another concern put to rest by having a single universe is the fear that nothing change, that each movie must tie things up nicely so that future films, or the ongoing Agents of SHIELD, are adversely affected. After the events of this movie nothing can be the same again, and it will be fun to see how that’s going to work out.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is an amazing experience that reinforces the foundations of Marvel’s cinematic vision while simultaneously turning everything on it’s head. It gets five salutes and you get a reminder to sit through to the end. It’s standard form for Marvel movies to have end credit sequences and this one has two of them.

Images courtesy of marvel.com
 

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #1: Review

Generally speaking, comics based on television shows are tough to get right. There are a few little niggles that always seem to be there; the characters (regardless of licenses) look nothing like the actors, they never grow or develop beyond the confines of the show (admittedly a necessity where the show may be ongoing or the comic is set at a specific historical point) and if a character says something once on screen that becomes popular with fans, then it often become so overused to the point of catchphrase in comic form. ‘There are exceptions, though, most of which seem to come from Our Lord and King, Joss Whedon. So after the relative success of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer can Dark Horse comics do it again with Firefly?

You know Firefly, of course, it’s the most popular show on television that was handled badly by broadcasters in America and had already been cancelled before the rest of the world could import their DVD box sets. There’s nothing more to be gained on arguing exactly how badly handled this show was, suffice it to say that there is a huge fanbase considering all it has to go from for continuity are thirteen episodes and a movie.

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The art is stunning, the actors' likeness, though, it a little more inconsistent.

And now we have Serenity: Leaves on the Wind. A six part mini-series that has fans excited. This isn't the first time Dark Horse Books have published books based on this property; Whedons Joss and Zack have both worked on titles before which are all worth looking out for and are considered to be Firefly canon… but whether it’s timing, the talent involved or something else entirely, Leaves on the Wind is something people are getting excited about.

Issue one is set nine months after Serenity. We know the events of that movie have changed things in the ‘verse though how those changes will affect the surviving crew members is unknown. It would seem, though, that their days of going by relatively unnoticed have come to an end. Everyone is asking the same question. Where is Serenity?

As a continuation of the series, the first issue does a fantastic job of not only reminding us of previous events, but it also points out how much was left unresolved after the credits of Serenity rolled. The Reaver revelation was less an explosive finale and more Mal lighting the fuse. Zack Whedon takes his time showing us the impact of those actions on every scale and expertly manages to fit a lot of exposition into these 27 pages without once feeling rushed. In fact the pacing feels perfect with panels that know when to flood the reader with dialog and when to let them, and the characters, have a quiet moment to let events sink in.

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For a series that's so well known for the perfectly written dialog it's easy to forget how perfect the characters were in silence. This book captures those moments perfectly.

When characters do speak, their words not only fit the universe, but also the characters we know and love. They maintain the spark without relying on lines that have become literal clichés (13 episode, 13 billion firefly t-shirts, there’s bound to be some repetition) and for the most part it is easy to feel like you’re watching an episode of the show. In fact they almost go too far in trying to not rely on well-known speech patterns; there’s no cussing in Mandarin, and not a single, “shiny” is exclaimed.

When the characters aren't speaking the artwork on display expresses just as much as the words. Characters are perfectly expressive with every emotion, subtle or otherwise, on display. It’s such a shame, then, that the artist doesn't have the actors’ likenesses down with more consistency. The first time we’re reintroduced to the crew the reader should be thinking something more affectionate than, ‘is that supposed to be River or Kaylee?’ It has to be difficult drawing so many panels where likeness is important, there’s a reason comic book characters tend to have distinctive visual cues after all, but when the rest of the art is so wonderful it’s a shame when you’re seeing Simon and Mal talking, for example, and it’s not quite clear which one you’re looking at. And the rest of the art really is beautiful. You can tell that this was drawn and colored with affection for the source material. Every panel is filled with life and details that would be missing from lesser titles. City views are full of billboards and people going about their lives, if there are two people talking in a scene, there could be ten others in the background adding thematic weight to proceedings. It’s a “no corners cut” approach that makes this feel like a high quality production even and it’s more than enough to make it worthwhile re-reading the whole issue over and over to catch the more subtle little touches.

Serenity: Leaves on the wind starts with a near perfect issue, giving us a fitting continuation to a beloved sci-fi series. It’s not the new series fans want, but it’s good enough to feel like more of what we love. Firefly is definitely in good hands. It gets 5 cunning hats that let you know you’re not afraid of anything, and issue two can’t get here soon enough... just please don't kill anyone off!

Serenity: Leaves on the wind is published by Dark Horse Books and will be available January 29th 2014.

Harley Quinn #1: Review

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Harley Quinn as a character. After her first introduction in Batman: The Animated Series she became so popular with fans that she made the transition into comic book continuity seamlessly, and she could do this because she was so well realised. Of course she was beautiful but she was also strong, intelligent (when she wasn’t trying to hide it), funny and took an optimistic outlook that bordered on the extreme. Sure, she was a little bat-shit-crazy but she had a tragic element that resonated with a lot of us; she was in love with someone who was incapable of loving her back. Literally. That guy’s a narcissistic sociopath.

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The comic style is carried over through more than just the talking beaver - even the art has a safe but fun sense of humour.

Then there was THAT episode where she teamed up with Poison Ivy.

The problem with her these days, though, is that DC just doesn’t have a clue what to do with her. Suicide Squad gave her a couple of ok moments but somewhere along the line it was decided that she couldn’t be sexy unless she was half naked all the time and while I liked one moment of terrified humanity during Death of the Family all it really did was prove to us that a character born of a Saturday morning cartoon doesn’t work particularly well with a Joker that would casually remove his own face. So after breaking up the second most dysfunctional romantic relationship in comic history (After going back and reading The Killing Joke I realise that the top title goes to Batman and Joker) Harley Quinn is striking out on her own and I really hoped DC wouldn’t muck this up.

Harley Quinn #1 is a reskinned Deadpool without the healing factor. I was going to step easily around that revelation, but there really is no sugar coating it. After the enjoyable fourth wall shattering zero issue where she goes through different artists to try and work out her new look we find out that she’s been left an old apartment building from a deceased former patient and she sets out to make a new life for herself.

If that sounds like the tenuous premise for a sitcom spin-off then the rest of the issue will feel like a pilot episode for that same sitcom spin-off. Given how DC can often seem overly serious that is actually a good thing, even if it does feel like a cross between Deadpool and The Golden Palace (ask your parents).

And yes, that feeling that someone read a little too much Deadpool sticks throughout the book, everything from the jokes to her talking beaver feel ripped straight from those pages and while it does seem to be taking the character in a different direction it’s a preference to the road she was on previously. The artwork too is certainly on the more cartoony side but for the most part it does look very nice indeed. Occasionally faces will look a little too much like caricatures (or worse look like they’ve been heavily photo-referenced to the point of looking like other people) but it doesn’t break thematically from the story that’s being told.

Tara Strong's Harley Quinn has been doing the rounds in recent productions... now it seems Tara Strong is doing the rounds literally in Harley's new book.

Fortunately it’s not a bad story either. Yes, it suffers from trying to cram too much exposition into the pages but it’s one of those pilot episode conceits that will hopefully leave up the rest of the series to pace itself with so much already established… unfortunately there IS a lot established. She has a new home, new financial concerns, two new jobs, a team of cookie-cutter supporting characters and even a bounty on her head; with so many threads the future could see them either woven deftly into an engaging read, or else unravel into a roller derby style bloody mess. But it’s certainly worth giving a read.

I give it 4 talking beavers which are optimistically telling me to read the next issue... and also to burn things.

Clown Fatale #1: Review

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Released: 13th November 2013

“Sexy female clowns are mistaken for contract killers and abandon their shabby traveling circus for a world of violence and cruelty—with clown makeup.”

Sometimes the publisher’s description is the best place to start and in this case they’ve done a pretty decent job of summing up Victor Gischler’s Clown Fatale; a grindhouse movie-style comic that wears its influences proudly. This issue starts with a group of sexy clowns…

OK I don’t know WHY they’re clowns. They could have been strippers, though I guess that would have been a little too on the (red honking) nose. I guess given the genre they have to have some sort of hook and this probably seemed as good an excuse as any to have them unhappy and undressed. As long as you can keep Stephen King's Pennywise out of your mind, you'll be fine.

This issue starts with a group of sexy clowns not having a particularly good day working in the circus. There’s a little exposition in the form of narrative introductions to the main characters but for the most part this story starts off in high gear and doesn’t really let up; the entire first issue is designed to set them up as assassins and very little more. Fortunately the writing is enjoyable to read and any bad dialogue feels like an added touch of Exploitation movie authenticity rather than a lack of quality. This faithful adherence to genre tropes extends to the characters too as there doesn’t seem to be a single likeable person in this world. It’s something that’s par for the course for the style they’re going for but it says something when the main characters are so immoral that their first target has to attempt rape before the book can justify killing him. It does make me wonder how things will play out in future issues.

The artwork, like the writing, matches the tone they’re going for perfectly. It’s not as clean or finished as some of the larger titles but it’s not supposed to be. Each of the main characters seems to be designed to tick off some fetish or other and I’m sure anyone reading it will find they have a favourite in the group. No I’m not telling you who mine is. There’s also a fair bit of nudity here and if it feels gratuitous then, frankly, it’s supposed to. Maybe that’s where the beauty of the clown theme can be found; clowns are funny or scary but they should never be scary, and in putting them in stripper outfits (or less) it’s the reader’s own comfort that’s being exploited?

If there's a take-home sentiment of this review, then it's this; Clown Fatale is a perfect example of what it sets out to be, it just never attempts to be anything more.

And I’m alright with that. Clown Fatal is a fun read that delivers on every promise and I'm sure Quentin Tarantino is already bidding on the movie rights. In his honour I give this four naked Uma Therman's feet out of five.

Star Trek: Khan: Review

Published by: IDW

Released: October 16th 2013

Why do Klingons go from smooth foreheads to bumpy foreheads? Why did Han Solo use the parsec as a unit of time? Why didn't the eagles simply fly the ring to Mount Doom?

Why does the Into Darkness Khan look nothing Ricardo Montalban?

Being a genre fan can be hard sometimes. Creators are only human, after all, and sometimes inconsistencies and mistakes can be introduced which simply don't have a logical explanation.. Occasionally the answers are provided through official canonical explanations such as the genetically engineered Klingons in season four of Enterprise, more frequently the fans take it upon themselves to create their own solutions through fan fiction and forum discussions (tv.tropes has a wonderful page dedicated to just this). And then there are the times where answers are offered through officially licensed but not-entirely cannon spinoffs. Star Trek: Khan falls into the latter category. Although it doesn't seem like this to begin with. To begin with, we have a legal trial.

“My name is Khan and I reject the authority of this court.”

Interesting opening, it's just a shame that in the next couple of panels the federation's top lawyer defers to Captain Kirk for the opening argument. And what does he do? He basically uses the opportunity to say ask why Khan doesn't look like an older gentleman with skin like rich Corinthian leather.

Khan answers and we quickly realise that the legal trial is a poorly implemented setup for a flashback to the 1970s and a young Noonian Singh.

The rest of the issue takes place in flashbacks and something tells me that the rest of the series will likely follow the same pattern of court trial introduction to justify licensing the actors' likenesses before jumping back into Khan's backstory. The problem with using Khan himself is the narrator is that he starts off from a perspective that he couldn't have been present for. That's not the only continuity flaw either since the entire concept of eugenics seems to get dismissed on page in favour of genetic manipulation. Given that this takes place before the time travel that caused Abram's Star Trek universe to break off from the older timelines it's an odd choice to change such a fundamental part of established history. Since this is part of a miniseries it's hard to say now whether this is going to be part of a larger storyline but I'd be disappointed if it was allowed to slip without further mention.

The writing is a mixed bag; before the flashbacks begin it feels forced and improbable with the characters feeling like they're just shoehorned into a situation to service a plot device. Once we make the jump, however, things improve greatly. Things move along quickly and while every single plot point is telegraphed pages ahead it is interesting enough to want to see how the rest of the tale unfolds.

The art throughout is generally good but it just feels rushed. For the most part there are no backgrounds behind characters making everything feel flat, and there are never fewer than five panels on a page which not only makes the pacing seem hurried, but doesn't allow the artist any opportunity to wow the reader with a dramatic moment.

So it's not perfect and it falls prey to many of the problems that face licensed comics... but it's not bad either. Sure the setup is preposterous but if you can overlook that then you can start on an interesting journey that will hopefully give a little more depth to the Abram-verse interpretation of an iconic villain. Of course, if we could overlook things like that we wouldn't need to have continuity-wank in the first place. Three warp core breaches which may be retconned to four if they can fix the apparent plot holes.

Superior Spider-Man #17: Review.

Published by: Marvel 

Released September 4th 2013

Spider-Man v Spider-man in a new story pitting The superior against the (eternally) 2099 – who will be victorious? Or more likely, how long before they stop fighting each other and team up against a common enemy?

Previously on Superior Spider-Man: This issue sets up a nice new storyline, but Doc. Ock is still in the driving seat and the GPS is set to super-villain territory. The Hobgoblin, having had his secret identity broadcast to the world courtesy of our friendly neighbourhood super-hero, has been taken in by a new gang of Green Goblins who have found a way to fly under the spider-radar.

First things first: there are two Spider-men on the front cover so naturally they are not going to meet until the last shocking pages so stop getting your hopes up now and lets enjoy the ride – a ride that starts with 2099 Spider-Man fighting WWI fighter planes and a slightly bewildered looking T-Rex. Well that's all I need to keep my interest and if I had a Marvel drinking game I'm starting to think 'take a shot when Spider-Man fights a T-Rex' would be part of it.

We soon find out that time has been broken by the Age of Ultron storyline, and 2099's big bad, Tyler Stone, seems to be the target of some sort of attack. Since the Spider-Man of this time is his genetic offspring, he's going to have to go back to 1985 (2013) and make sure his parents kiss at the enchantment under the sea dance (people stop mucking with time). Switch to 2013 and Peter Parker is playing softball.

I never did learn the difference between softball and baseball, I would assume that the former uses softer balls... I've had a baseball thrown at me, I fully endorse this change.

It's an Otto Octavious moment here, with a nice inner monolog that lets us know how much he

relishes in the fact that the pot-bellied nerd he used to be is now a young athlete with his girl watching from the stands. It's a wonderfully written scene that not only gives a little insight into the character, but also seems to resonate with the wish-fulfilment themes of superhero comics in general.

The time-travelling intro goes mostly ignored for most of the remaining pages– the villain of the piece is introduced as ex-Horizon employee Tiberius Stone (any relation?) who seems to be whistle-blowing on Max Modell to the federal government. Time travel isn't the only thing we're  forgetting as Spider-Man looks to have throttled back on his return to super-villain decent some with nary a foot soldier or spider-bot to be seen in the whole issue. It's a 'new storyline' change in pace, but while it is a little jarring it would have been difficult to keep up the momentum without forcing a conclusion of some sort before they're ready. While I wouldn't call this the perfect jumping on point for Superior Spider-Man (we're only 17 issues in, I very much recommend going back to the start) it does mean someone could start now and not feel completely out of their depth.

It is worth noting that this is very much a number one issue; Slott  takes his time introducing the pieces and getting them into their starting positions for the rest of the run. The writing is excellent, as has been the case with most of Superior Spider-Man to date, and the pace is perfectly timed to make it feel like a lot more happens than actually does. The exposition-heavy dialogue and thought bubbles at the start are perhaps a little heavy handed, but it is necessary to get everyone caught up.

The series in general has been very good at not focussing on the action pieces, even letting background characters have a little development, and that doesn't change here. The bookend fight scenes are well done, but the development between them is just as interesting. One head-scratching moment, though, was a single frame appearance of Normie Osborn. This is a character I hadn't heard of from my teen years with comics so I had to look up what was happening with him these days and why he was a little... littler than I was expecting. It turns out not much has happened actually, so I'm curious where we're going with it.

The look for Superior Spiderman was basically defined by Ryan Stegman's art and he returns here with stunning results. The man even makes a group of people sat in a basement feel dynamic so when either of the Spider-Men suit up for action you know you're in for something special.

To conclude this is a fantastic read that will keep you entertained for several reads as you pick up on some of the more subtle points you may have missed the first time. I doubt it would convert anyone who's against the very concept of Doc Ock in a Peter Parker suit, but for anyone curious where this universe's Spider-Man is right now, there are worse times to dip your toe. I'm giving it five enthusiastic THWIPS before going off to read issue 18.

Sidekick #2: Review

Image Comics

Released September 11th 2013

Image comics have never been afraid of deconstructing the super hero; of taking the tropes we know so well and ask what really would happen if they happened in the real world? With Sidekick they ask the question, “what would happen to Robin if Batman died?”

Previously on Sidekick: The Red Cowl is dead, his sidekick, Flyboy, is left alone and penniless (bankrolling a techy superhero will drain even a billionaire's fortune it seems) in a world that doesn't respect him as a crime-fighter in his own right. Desperate for recognition he even stages a robbery so that he can save the day. And it looks like things are going to get worse.

As this issue opens things are, in fact, worse. Flyboy sits alone lamenting his super metabolism and how it makes it hard to get drunk like a regular guy all while trying to forget his fallen mentor. Naturally this is the moment that the Red Cowl's love interest decides to tell our depressed sidekick that she has some sort of psychic connection to our dead hero and that he may be still alive in some alternate time-line.

Did you just roll your eyes at that? I did too, yes he's going to be alive in an alternate time-line; that's how science fiction has told us multi-universes works since forever... but anyway, lets get back to the plot.

Or rather Plots as there really is rather a lot going on here. You have the hunt for The Red Cowl's assassin, the search for an alternate Red Cowl who doesn't have an exploded head, The desperate attempts to return to the superhero game (resorting to crowd-funding and sidekick auditions) and all important flashbacks to happier crime-fighting days when his mentor was still alive. And through all this you have the continued and tragic descent into depression and depravity. Those flashbacks, by the way are the only things that lighten things up this piece but even they have a golly-gosh-Batman cynicism smeared over them that stops them lifting the mood completely.

And that's a criticism I can't help but hold against the core concept of this story; my own comic reading history and the feeling that perhaps they should be a little more respectful to the source of their inspiration. At one point a character quite sincerely expresses that everyone just assumed there was something sexual between the caped hero and his young sidekick and this just felt like one deconstruction too far. Yes it was consistent with the world that's been created here and yes I picked an odd thing to be offended by in a sea of swearing and eviscerated bodies, but it just made me realise that we have actually seen Robin when Batman died and he did just fine thank-you-very much. I just wish they had a little more affection for the genre they're making fun of.

And yet I can't say that's a bad thing. This is to Batman what A Song of Fire and Ice is to Lord of the Rings. Yes I was offended but this is an offensive book. Maybe there is room for a narative that shines a light on the dark corners of DC that were once covered over by the comic book code. And it is a worthy story that I want to see through a little longer.

The last few pages, where our hero attracts the attention of a vampiric super villain, suggest that there's more to be told here than simply how many rock bottoms you can break through when you're mostly impervious to rocks.

The artwork is actually very good for the most part. It feels much like a pre-New 52 DC with a little less polish. Artist Tom Mandrake does, in fact, have a fair few Batman and Superman titles under his belt and that experience shows here, just without the same amount of time or people thrown at it. The comic never suffers from lacking that coat of gloss though, and if anything it helps with the sense of bleak desperation presented on almost every page; here it works that the shadows are comprised of sharp jagged penstrokes and characters who are a little rough around the edge look a little rough around their edges.

As a whole I can't say that this book is a pleasure to read; it's dark, depressing and filled with people I don't like and situations that seem disrespectful to comics I love. I thoroughly recommend you pick this up.

Because that's the thing; the people aren't always likeable but they are real, and yes it's uncomfortable but so is life and when the shit hits the fan you're going to end up with a room full of aerated shit... and I want to see where it goes. 

All things considered I give this book four Winnebagos in the desert cooking Meth while Malcolm's Dad stands around in his underpants with cancer.