The Terminator: Enemy of My Enemy 4 (July 2014)

It’s all action but it’s all very good action. I kept waiting for Jolley to slow down and explain some things but he never takes his foot off the gas. He’s missing character moments mostly; he’s definitely not going the lovable T–800 route but he’s falling into the Dark Horse Terminator pitfall… the personalities.

The Terminator only has personality because of the actor playing the part. A comic book character Terminator loses a lot when it’s just a static killing machine. Comics are already full of those types.

Then Jolley misses another opportunity for some exposition when the Terminator and his human sidekick find the lab. You know, at the end of the level. They immediately get attacked, which kills the chance for some nice exposition and relationship building.

It’s a fairly decent book. There’s some great Igle artwork; his action scenes are phenomenal. The rest… just not phenomenal

C+

CREDITS

Writer, Dan Jolley; penciller, Jamal Igle; inker, Ray Snyder; colorist, Wes Dzioba; letterer, Nate Piekos; editors, Ian Tucker and Brendan Wright; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

The Terminator: Enemy of My Enemy 3 (May 2014)

Seriously? They team up. A human and a Terminator team up in a Dark Horse comic? Didn’t I read this comic many times as a teenager? I was kind of hoping for something more. Maybe the big problem is the team up comes so late. There’s only one more issue to the series.

Enemy of My Enemy continues to be blandly unimpressive. Jolley’s scripting is competent. His protagonist is annoying but it’s unlikely anyone would be able to make a disgraced CIA agent fighting a Terminator a good character. She’s supposed to be cool, not likable.

Then there’s Igle’s art. He does a great job with it, but there’s nothing to it. There’s a lengthy fight scene and since Igle’s so sturdy in his matter of fact presentation, it’s boring.

The series is getting less and less engaging as it goes on. Then again, The Terminator has rather limited potential.

CREDITS

Writer, Dan Jolley; penciller, Jamal Igle; inker, Ray Snyder; colorist, Wes Dzioba; letterer, Nate Piekos; editors, Ian Tucker and Brendan Wright; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

Bloodhound: Crowbar Medicine 5 (March 2014)

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 something out of the early nineties.

But back to the comic itself, specifically as the last issue of this limited series. It’s kind of like the last Bloodhound ever. Jolley went and did everything he could to depress the reader, but also to close off the character’s existing story lines. Clev hasn’t got anything left. He’s battered to a pulp, he’s out of favor with the FBI boss–which needed more explaining, since he just saved the guy.

It’s a downer. But it also does provide appropriate closure. I just hope it’s not permanent closure.

B+

CREDITS

Writer, Dan Jolley; penciller, Leonard Kirk; inker, Robin Riggs; colorists, Moose Baumann and Wes Dzioba; letterer, Rob Leigh; editors, Ian Tucker and Brendan Wright; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

The Terminator: Enemy of My Enemy 2 (March 2014)

Okay, the structure confuses me. I think the issue opens and then goes back to an early time and stays there but it also seems like maybe it continues the time from the open. I don’t know.

The confusion aside, it’s a fairly decent comic for a Terminator comic. Igle’s pencils are good–he’s got a fantastic sense of action and how to break out those scenes. And enough nostalgia for the eighties to make tone engaging.

Jolley writes more of a movie script than a comic book one. You can just hear the Brad Fiedel Terminator music at times and it’d make a great scene in a movie. In a comic, it makes an okay one.

The problem with the comic is mostly the pacing. Not enough happens in it; Jolley raises some neat questions about the franchise, but there still needs to be some narrative content… Doesn’t there?

B-

CREDITS

Writer, Dan Jolley; penciller, Jamal Igle; inkers, Ray Snyder and Robin Riggs; colorist, Wes Dzioba; letterer, Nate Piekos; editors, Ian Tucker and Brendan Wright; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

The Terminator: Enemy of My Enemy 1 (February 2014)

Dan Jolley and Jamal Igle doing a Terminator series. You know what you get? A decent plot, good characters, some awesome art. The way Jolley and Igle are doing Enemy of My Enemy is very cinematic. Igle does a lot of establishing panels. Part of the book is these guys doing a Terminator book and the reader getting to go along for the ride.

But it’s still a Dark Horse licensed comic. There’s a CIA agent on the run picking up assassination work, she comes across a Terminator, she finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy because, apparently, after the first movie the CIA started investigating.

Or something. It’s a standard Dark Horse licensed trope–there was something hidden plot at the time of the movie; it’s finally revealed here. It’s not too bad as Jolley keeps it contained, but it’s still present.

And the book’s better than it.

B-

CREDITS

Writer, Dan Jolley; penciller, Jamal Igle; inker, Ray Snyder; colorist, Moose Baumann; letterer, Nate Piekos; editors, Aaron Walker, Ian Tucker and Brendan Wright; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

Bloodhound: Crowbar Medicine 4 (February 2014)

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 one?

So Kirk and Riggs aren’t as good as they were. There are some great details though still–Clev’s scar has always been memorable. And they’re still really good at action scenes. There’s a big supervillain fight at the end of the issue. Very cool.

As for Jolley… what’s there to say? He knocks it out of the park. He has a fast issue–Saffron comforting Clev and Clev talking her into going after the bad guys. Some brainstorming (still same setting, I think). Then action and cliffhanger.

It’s a fabulous comic book.

A-

CREDITS

Writer, Dan Jolley; penciller, Leonard Kirk; inker, Robin Riggs; colorist, Moose Baumann; letterer, Rob Leigh; editors, Ian Tucker and Brendan Wright; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

Bloodhound: Crowbar Medicine 3 (December 2013)

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 have this issue is a boyfriend who comes to town. Not sure I knew she had a boyfriend. Jolley doesn’t do great with that scene–they’re just breaking up–but he follows it with a great scene between Clev and his teenage “niece” regarding her dating. It’s a scene with a nice unexpected twist.

But the big thing this issue is the cliffhanger. Regular people are all getting their superhero chips and the unavoidable outcomes start occurring. Only Jolley finds a way to mix humor and tragedy into a long sequence. Very good writing here.

B+

CREDITS

Writer, Dan Jolley; penciller, Leonard Kirk; inker, Robin Riggs; colorist, Moose Baumann; letterer, Rob Leigh; editors, Ian Tucker and Brendan Wright; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

Bloodhound: Crowbar Medicine 2 (November 2013)

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 they get into the man hunt for the doctor giving away superpowers. There’s a nice scene with Clev arguing with an Army major; Jolley does a great job making all of it digestible. He even works in some more of Bloodhound’s post-DC setting.

While the issue is excellently written, the actual story progression comes mostly at the end. There’s a super spy involved, then one of the people who gets superpowers. It’s a perfect fit of plots. Jolley’s structure is outstanding.

Is the evil doctor supposed to look like Obama?

CREDITS

Writer, Dan Jolley; penciller, Leonard Kirk; inker, Robin Riggs; colorist, Moose Baumann; letterer, Rob Leigh; editors, Aaron Walker, Ian Tucker and Brendan Wright; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

Bloodhound: Crowbar Medicine 1 (October 2013)

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 the original, only with curse words and without thinking Superman might drop by.

In other words, Jolley and company have loosed Bloodhound in a setting without constraint. Even though it looks like a mainstream superhero book, Jolley can get away with a lot of huge moves. His cliffhanger for the issue–where Crowbar Medicine is going, it seems–is outstanding. It’s a perfect little hook for the next issue and the series.

There are a lot of gun control metaphors in here. They’re sometimes too obvious, but it’s an insignificant complaint.

Bloodhound’s awesome.

CREDITS

Writer, Dan Jolley; penciller, Leonard Kirk; inker, Robin Riggs; colorist, Moose Baumann; letterer, Rob Leigh; editors, Aaron Walker, Ian Tucker and Brendan Wright; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

Bloodhound 10 (June 2005)

231785 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 subplot had the series continued though.

The issue’s a little investigation, a lot of talking and a lot of fighting. It’s a strange mix and definitely gives Bloodhound that TV procedural feel again. Agent Bell does the talking, Clevenger does the fighting. Together they’re… well, together they’re Agent Bell and Clevenger, but you get the idea. It’s fun to read the two of them together. Jolley doesn’t force romantic chemistry, though he does acknowledge that expectation of him.

Bloodhound is awesome. It’s very unfortunate Jolley, Kirk and Riggs didn’t get to make more.

CREDITS

Ashes to Ashes; writer, Dan Jolley; penciller, Leonard Kirk; inker, Robin Riggs; colorist, Moose Baumann; letterer, Rob Leigh; editor, Ivan Cohen; publisher, DC Comics.