Annihilator 1 (September 2014)

Annihilator #1 A Hollywood screenwriter discovers his creation has sort of come to life and he also has a brain tumor. The writer, not the creation.

Grant Morrison has clearly seen Barton Fink and a bunch of other movies. What originality does he bring to the idea in Annihilator? Getting artist Frazer Irving to do a lot of sex scenes? Umm… Oh, Morrison's seen Lord of Illusions too, I think.

Would Annihilator be better if it were Grant Morrison's movie reviews, with Irving illustrating? Probably. Morrison gives Irving L.A. or some other planet to draw. Irving's got a spared back style–he doesn't seem to want to work too hard on this one–and occasionally his figures remind of Corben. So the comic's interesting looking, even if none of the visuals are particularly impressive.

The Fountain. Lots of it reminds of The Fountain too.

Why read a knockoff when you can watch the original?

CREDITS

Writer, Grant Morrison; artist, Frazer Irving; letterer, Jared K. Fletcher; editors, Greg Tumbarello and Bob Schreck; publisher, Legendary Comics.

The Mystic Hands of Dr. Strange 1 (May 2010)

This issue is an homage to Marvel’s old black and white magazines, though at the regular, modern comic size. And, with the exception of including a text story (I don’t care who wrote it, why’s it there?), the issue is a complete success.

The feature story, from Kieron Gillen and Frazer Irving, is set in the late seventies and deals with contemporary social issues. It’s a “place in the world” superhero story for Dr. Strange, even though he’s not exactly a superhero. Gillen’s writing is strong and Irving draws a scary Mephisto. With it, the issue’s off to an excellent start.

The next story, from Peter Milligan and Frank Brunner, is also good. Brunner’s artwork lends itself, on a whole, better to the form than Irving’s does. Milligan writes fine dialogue.

Ted McKeever’s action story is really a moody introspective addiction piece.

It’s all great. But why the text story?

CREDITS

The Cure; writer, Kieron Gillen; artist, Frazer Irving. Melancholia; writer, Peter Milligan; artist, Frank Brunner. So This Is How It Feels…; writer and artist, Ted McKeever. Duel In The Dark Dimension; writer, Mike Carey; artist, Marcos Martin. Letterer, Joe Caramagna; editors, John Barber and Jody Leheup; publisher, Marvel Comics.