The Stop Button
blogging by Andrew Wickliffe
Category: Bloodhound
-
I guess the sidekick hero’s name should have been a hint. It’s a good issue. Real violent, real mean at times. Jolley even manages to get past the sidekick hero being really, really convenient. And he’s got a silly outfit. Even if it makes sense in the context of his powers, it’s silly. Looks like…
-
Here’s what the problem is with the art on Crowbar Medicine–I remember the original series’s art. Bloodhound isn’t an easy book to forget. It was a crazy attempt from DC and it had amazing art. It’s like if you had Hulk Hogan as an emotionally complex ass-kicker. How do you forget a book like that…
-
Crowbar Medicine continues to have its art problems. Neither Kirk nor Riggs seems willing to put in a lot of detail. This issue they hit over fifty percent on that lack of detail, especially in medium shots and further back. There are some times when Agent Bell doesn’t even have a face. What she does…
-
Kirk and Riggs rush a few too many panels this issue. Not so many the art isn’t good overall, but there’s a definite–and unfortunate–hurried feel to the comic. And, since there’s no fast paced action scene until the end, the rushed feeling doesn’t fit. Most of the issue is Clev and Bell’s investigation story–or how…
-
Bloodhound is definitely back and it might be better than ever. Having Leonard Kirk and Robin Riggs on the art, which has nothing to do with Dan Jolley’s excellent way of plotting the issue–especially as the return of characters DC had been keeping on cold storage–the art brings it all together. It still feels like…
-
Thank goodness, Kirk is back for this issue, which is unfortunately the last one. Jolley wraps up a little–he got the Agent Bell backstory into the issue unexpectedly–but only what he absolutely has to resolve. Zeiss shows up sparingly and Jolley barely spends any time on him. One can see where Jolley might’ve taken that…
-
Jolley skips ahead a little, giving Clevenger practically a superhero outfit–a special Kevlar shirt, I think–and a little more freedom. Jolley uses Clev’s ex-girlfriend to reveal the information. It’s a nice little device, since it develops Clev a little. Agent Bell gets the most character development in the issue; more of a past revelation, but…
-
Kirk tries out a different style for this issue’s extended flashback. I get it’s supposed to be folksy–the flashback takes place on a farm–but it lacks personality. It’s one of those awful farm stories; it’s effective too. Jolley makes the reader remember it and calls it back later. There’s very little mystery to this issue.…
-
Putting Clevenger back in prison proves a good choice for Jolley. He plots it to put Clev out of his comfort zone, which creates some drama on its own, then Jolley amps it up with a good soft cliffhanger. Meanwhile, the FBI agent has some character development scenes and then her own subplot after she…
-
Jolley writes Firestorm better in this comic than he does in his own title. Maybe because the Bloodhound stuff just runs off. It’s actually a rather successful crossover issue between two books without any reason to crossover. It doesn’t hurt Kirk and Riggs easily toggle between realistic action violence and superhero stuff. Or how Jolley…
-
It’s the conclusion to the first arc–and an astoundingly bloody one–but also the origin issue. Jolley’s able to work in some background information on Clev, which probably provides the issue with most of its dialogue. Otherwise, it’s Clev and the bad guy beating the crap out of each other. It’s a vicious fight, lots of…
-
For lack of a better phrase, one could call this issue the “eureka” issue. Clev and his partner–Agent Bell–do their investigating and realize what they need to realize. Jolley’s able to make it even more dramatic since Clev is a muscle bound grotesque and just having him talk to people makes for a scene. Jolley…
-
I like a lot of this issue. Jolley opens it well, the middle part is good, most of the ending is good. He goes out on a joke, which doesn’t work, but there’s some great stuff just before the finish. In other words, Bloodhound is a good book. Jolley puts it all together quite nicely,…
-
Bloodhound takes a while to get bloody. It has to get bloody–most of the issue takes place during a prison riot with the lead characters trying to survive to the exit. When the issue starts, however, it generally feels like a regular DC comic. I mean, Leonard Kirk and Robin Riggs’s artwork is–while utterly fabulous–definitely…
The Stop Button 