Friday, April 26, 2013

Great Whites, Gouges and Gewgaws

I was a triple threat  this week with three posts going up on the same day, two on Comics Bulletin and one on Read Comic Books. When it rains it pours.
 
The Massive demands to be read in singles. Go with whatever nautical metaphor feels appropriate -- 'full speed ahead,' 'anchors away,' 'shake a leg' -- for this masterpiece in the making. Wood invests such stakes in this comic, there's urgency with this title that most comic books can't, don't and won't ever muster. The Massive #11 also has sharks in it, Great Whites and the 'bad fish' of all 'bad fish,' Megalodon.   I'm not convinced Wood's use of 'Meg' works, but I'm the wrong guy to ask, I saw Jaws: The Revenge, in the theatre.
 
Kill Shakespeare: Tide of Blood #3 arrived right on time to celebrate the anniversary of Shakespeare's, birth, next year is the big 450 (!) and death, 397 years since Bill S. shuffled off this mortal coil. I admit I am probably too close to review Kill Shakespeare with any kind of cool journalistic detachment. Personal bias or not, believe me when I tell you, this is a great comic. Belanger, McCreery and Del Col are telling a phenomenal story in a creative and surprising way in which the script and the art strengthen and reinforce each other it's a wonder of storytelling.
 
'New Ideas, Old Mutants' generated enough buzz that the good Canadians at Read Comic Books asked me to write a 'Long box' column for them. My first effort is the Rocket Raccoon limited series from 1985. In another 16 months or so parents everywhere are going to be awash in more Rocket Raccoon whimsy and Groot gewgaws than you can shake a marketing campaign at. These four issues are so oddball in proportion and so out there in every conceivable way it's hard to believe a mad scientist type didn't come up with it -- and believe me, Bill Mantlo was mad in all the best ways. His story is tragic, but his legacy will live on in Rocket.

Review: The Massive #11,
Review: Rocket Raccoon

1 comment:

  1. Another post already?! Yes! I dig the feast or famine paradigm so long as it's a feast.

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