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Green Hornet (2010) #3
Forget everything nice I said about Smith’s pacing. This issue is a fast, empty read (no pun intended). Smith introduces a narration here–it’s close third person, inside Britt Jr.’s head. The issue also features the death of Britt Sr., so I can just start calling Britt Jr. Britt. It’s a bold move for a movie–undoubtedly… 📖
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Green Hornet (2010) #2
Smith’s Green Hornet script is based on his unproduced screenplay and it shows this issue. Not in a bad way–Smith comes up with an amazing action sequence with a female Kato in an evening gown using her heels both as weapons and as hooks–but it’s nothing special for a comic book. The issue actually has… 📖
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Green Hornet (2010) #1
I’m guessing, from Smith’s use of pop culture references, it’s going to be a future story. Because in the past, he’s got Indiana Jones references and a white guy calling his hat “pimp.” So the present day stuff must be in the future. Or maybe the editor just doesn’t care. Does Dynamite even have editors?… 📖
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Fantastic Four: True Story (2008) #4
And it’s a happy ending for everyone not looking at Domingues’s art. Seriously, it’s really bad. But the final issue has a lot of charm–even if the ending is too short and Cornell wastes the cast of The Wind and the Willows. Having Toad run around with Johnny Storm seems somehow perfect and Cornell only… 📖
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Fantastic Four: True Story (2008) #3
The third issue has some very weak moments–oh, the Austen characters are from Sense and Sensibility–but it ends with the Fantastic Four all dead, shot by firing squad. Along with the little kid from Sense and Sensibility. So Cornell gets some respect for shooting a little kid. Even if it’s not shown on panel (Domingues… 📖
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Fantastic Four: True Story (2008) #2
Well, if it weren’t for Domingues, Cornell might really have something this issue. Cornell tasks Domingues with drawing various literary figures and he comes up with something out of a “Scooby Doo” cartoon. The artwork here does not cut it–Marvel should be embarrassed. Domingues’s style is unfinished (they should have given him an experienced inker… 📖
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Fantastic Four: True Story (2008) #1
I really wanted to love Fantastic Four: True Story, but Cornell just isn’t able to make it precious enough. The concept is somewhat complex–Sue is suffering from melancholy and discovers it has to do with not wanting to read fiction. It turns out the whole world is suffering from a similar melancholy (a major problem… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents (1986) #78
Yolen and Vess have an absolutely fantastic fairy tale story here. It’s not technically a fairy tale (it’s layered, a nursemaid tells the story to a child, who it directly concerns) but it’s just wonderful. Vess’s art here is superior–he’s able to convey action, antiquity and fear. There’s one moment where it confuses, then it… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents (1986) #77
Oh, I finally get it. Paleolove means love in the Paleolithic era. To pay Davis a complement (my first?), he’s never tried so deliberately to tug on the heartstrings until now so I never really gave the title a thought. What amazes me is the artwork. He hasn’t gotten any better with figures since his… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents (1986) #76
Madwoman sort of whimpers off to its end. Jordorowsky tries to do way too much–he introduces two new characters and kind of changes up the point of the story. He also introduces the possibility its all about getting a drug princess out of jail. It doesn’t even have a solid ending, instead making a joke… 📖
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Green Hornet 5 (June 2010)
It’s interesting Smith made the villains the Japanese, which makes the comic seem dated… even if it takes place in the future. Smith’s never made the time period work. This issue is–except the villain reveal–an all action issue. It shows off the Black Beauty’s technology (for those unaware, the Black Beauty is the Green Hornet’s… 📖
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Green Hornet 4 (May 2010)
Smith sure does have his way of prolonging things. This issue opens with the reveal of the Hornet Cave (or whatever they call it) from last issue. Then there’s some flashback while Kato’s describing the history of the Green Hornet to Britt–in other words, the first issue’s prologue is a total waste of pages since… 📖
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Green Hornet 3 (April 2010)
Forget everything nice I said about Smith’s pacing. This issue is a fast, empty read (no pun intended). Smith introduces a narration here–it’s close third person, inside Britt Jr.’s head. The issue also features the death of Britt Sr., so I can just start calling Britt Jr. Britt. It’s a bold move for a movie–undoubtedly… 📖
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Green Hornet 2 (March 2010)
Smith’s Green Hornet script is based on his unproduced screenplay and it shows this issue. Not in a bad way–Smith comes up with an amazing action sequence with a female Kato in an evening gown using her heels both as weapons and as hooks–but it’s nothing special for a comic book. The issue actually has… 📖
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Green Hornet 1 (March 2010)
I’m guessing, from Smith’s use of pop culture references, it’s going to be a future story. Because in the past, he’s got Indiana Jones references and a white guy calling his hat “pimp.” So the present day stuff must be in the future. Or maybe the editor just doesn’t care. Does Dynamite even have editors?… 📖
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Fantastic Four: True Story 4 (January 2009)
And it’s a happy ending for everyone not looking at Domingues’s art. Seriously, it’s really bad. But the final issue has a lot of charm–even if the ending is too short and Cornell wastes the cast of The Wind and the Willows. Having Toad run around with Johnny Storm seems somehow perfect and Cornell only… 📖
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Fantastic Four: True Story 3 (November 2008)
The third issue has some very weak moments–oh, the Austen characters are from Sense and Sensibility–but it ends with the Fantastic Four all dead, shot by firing squad. Along with the little kid from Sense and Sensibility. So Cornell gets some respect for shooting a little kid. Even if it’s not shown on panel (Domingues… 📖
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Fantastic Four: True Story 2 (October 2008)
Well, if it weren’t for Domingues, Cornell might really have something this issue. Cornell tasks Domingues with drawing various literary figures and he comes up with something out of a “Scooby Doo” cartoon. The artwork here does not cut it–Marvel should be embarrassed. Domingues’s style is unfinished (they should have given him an experienced inker… 📖
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Fantastic Four: True Story 1 (September 2008)
I really wanted to love Fantastic Four: True Story, but Cornell just isn’t able to make it precious enough. The concept is somewhat complex–Sue is suffering from melancholy and discovers it has to do with not wanting to read fiction. It turns out the whole world is suffering from a similar melancholy (a major problem… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents 78 (October 1993)
Yolen and Vess have an absolutely fantastic fairy tale story here. It’s not technically a fairy tale (it’s layered, a nursemaid tells the story to a child, who it directly concerns) but it’s just wonderful. Vess’s art here is superior–he’s able to convey action, antiquity and fear. There’s one moment where it confuses, then it… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents 77 (August 1993)
Oh, I finally get it. Paleolove means love in the Paleolithic era. To pay Davis a complement (my first?), he’s never tried so deliberately to tug on the heartstrings until now so I never really gave the title a thought. What amazes me is the artwork. He hasn’t gotten any better with figures since his… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents 76 (August 1993)
Madwoman sort of whimpers off to its end. Jordorowsky tries to do way too much–he introduces two new characters and kind of changes up the point of the story. He also introduces the possibility its all about getting a drug princess out of jail. It doesn’t even have a solid ending, instead making a joke… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents (1986) #75
Another mediocre issue. DeLint and Vess’s Savoy story, about a woman masquerading as a highway robber to confirm her man’s fidelity, ought to be a lot better. Vess has some great panels, but he occasionally will have some indiscernible action sequences. With DeLint writing a “ballad,” he doesn’t exactly make things clear. Once the narrative… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents 75 (July 1993)
Another mediocre issue. DeLint and Vess’s Savoy story, about a woman masquerading as a highway robber to confirm her man’s fidelity, ought to be a lot better. Vess has some great panels, but he occasionally will have some indiscernible action sequences. With DeLint writing a “ballad,” he doesn’t exactly make things clear. Once the narrative… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents (1986) #74
I think Madwoman would read better as a single narrative, instead of sectioned off into installments. Jordorowsky makes a major plot addition this installment–the protagonist hallucinates his younger self as an advisor when it comes to being inappropriate with one of his students–and it just changes the tone completely from the last entry. The content… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents (1986) #73
The Madwoman is growing on me. Moebius’s artwork is solid throughout, maybe not the best thing for a talking heads story, but Jordorowsky keeps getting better. The story–and the reason for the title to include Madwoman–is becoming more and more clear. It’s no longer a boring academia story, it’s now a quirky academia story. I’m… 📖
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The Immortal Iron Fist (2007) #27
Swierczynski’s Iron Fist goes out with a whimper. He mimics Fraction’s last issue on the title. I’m not sure Swierczynski should have gotten to close, since he was just following Brubaker and Fraction–not to say his writing wasn’t occasionally quite good, it was just never original. Foreman goes back to inking himself (I think) and… 📖
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The Immortal Iron Fist (2007) #26
Oh, come on. I think Foreman’s the bigger problem, but Swierczynski really does completely fail when it comes to a good conclusion. He has a dramatic cliffhanger, but it’s a confusing one (one the previous page implies is unlikely). But worse, he fails to deal with K’un-L’un. He changes the status quo again and abandons… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents 74 (June 1993)
I think Madwoman would read better as a single narrative, instead of sectioned off into installments. Jordorowsky makes a major plot addition this installment–the protagonist hallucinates his younger self as an advisor when it comes to being inappropriate with one of his students–and it just changes the tone completely from the last entry. The content… 📖
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The Immortal Iron Fist (2007) #25
As usual, Swierczynski manages to pull the story around after a weak move. Here, he reveals the old impostor to be nothing but a temporary ruse, something to distract Danny (and the reader). Then we get the full story. Then the Immortal Weapons start kicking butt. Swierczynski is best when he utilizes the Immortal Weapons,… 📖
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The Immortal Iron Fist (2007) #24
What a cheat. Swierczynski can write the fill in issues–with the past Iron Fist adventures–just fine. So how does he follow up one of his lamer issues? With a charming fill in issue with Kano art. Genocide aside, it’s delightful. This Iron Fist is a pacifist–whose pacifism eventually costs the lives of millions, so I… 📖
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The Immortal Iron Fist (2007) #23
I think I’ll start with Foreman. He usually does an all right job, but he ends this issue on a terrible full-page panel of the (supposedly) first Iron Fist. He’s got this old guy warped to fit in the panel, his body proportions and perspective a complete mess. It’s terrible finish to the issue because… 📖
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The Immortal Iron Fist (2007) #22
This issue features the second time Swierczynski has taken some leftover Brubaker and Fraction thread and determined everyone knew about it except Danny. The Eighth City? The Thunderer knew about it all the time–he could have told Danny about it, back when Danny told him what he was about to do. This issue Davos shows… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents 73 (May 1993)
The Madwoman is growing on me. Moebius’s artwork is solid throughout, maybe not the best thing for a talking heads story, but Jordorowsky keeps getting better. The story–and the reason for the title to include Madwoman–is becoming more and more clear. It’s no longer a boring academia story, it’s now a quirky academia story. I’m… 📖
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The Immortal Iron Fist 27 (August 2009)
Swierczynski’s Iron Fist goes out with a whimper. He mimics Fraction’s last issue on the title. I’m not sure Swierczynski should have gotten to close, since he was just following Brubaker and Fraction–not to say his writing wasn’t occasionally quite good, it was just never original. Foreman goes back to inking himself (I think) and… 📖
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The Immortal Iron Fist 26 (July 2009)
Oh, come on. I think Foreman’s the bigger problem, but Swierczynski really does completely fail when it comes to a good conclusion. He has a dramatic cliffhanger, but it’s a confusing one (one the previous page implies is unlikely). But worse, he fails to deal with K’un-L’un. He changes the status quo again and abandons… 📖
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The Immortal Iron Fist 25 (June 2009)
As usual, Swierczynski manages to pull the story around after a weak move. Here, he reveals the old impostor to be nothing but a temporary ruse, something to distract Danny (and the reader). Then we get the full story. Then the Immortal Weapons start kicking butt. Swierczynski is best when he utilizes the Immortal Weapons,… 📖
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The Immortal Iron Fist 24 (May 2009)
What a cheat. Swierczynski can write the fill in issues–with the past Iron Fist adventures–just fine. So how does he follow up one of his lamer issues? With a charming fill in issue with Kano art. Genocide aside, it’s delightful. This Iron Fist is a pacifist–whose pacifism eventually costs the lives of millions, so I… 📖
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The Immortal Iron Fist 23 (April 2009)
I think I’ll start with Foreman. He usually does an all right job, but he ends this issue on a terrible full-page panel of the (supposedly) first Iron Fist. He’s got this old guy warped to fit in the panel, his body proportions and perspective a complete mess. It’s terrible finish to the issue because… 📖
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The Immortal Iron Fist 22 (March 2009)
This issue features the second time Swierczynski has taken some leftover Brubaker and Fraction thread and determined everyone knew about it except Danny. The Eighth City? The Thunderer knew about it all the time–he could have told Danny about it, back when Danny told him what he was about to do. This issue Davos shows… 📖
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Dollman (1991, Albert Pyun)
Wow, I’ve never written about an Albert Pyun movie for the Stop Button? I hadn’t realized how lucky I’ve been over the last five years not to see one. Actually, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a Pyun movie as an adult. Dollman went straight to video. Some of it looks like it might… 📖
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Dark Horse Presents (1986) #72
What a disaster. Madwoman is probably the best entry overall and even it’s pretty weak. Moebius is drawing a melodrama–it’s a soap opera and not a visually interesting one. Once the talking heads section passes, there’s some nice design at least. He’s always capable, but it’s sort of pointless. Jordorowsky has one rather excellent scene,… 📖