Here is my review for The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - The Way Station #2 (isn't that an insanely long title?). It's my first review to get published as a myIGN review on the weekly roundup of new releases :)
The second issue of the Way Station arc is yet another solid entry in the Dark Tower series. This issue deals mostly with Jake Chambers and his life before Roland finds him at the Way Station. Fans of the novel “The Gunslinger” will notice that while the story is essentially the same, little details have been brought in from “The Wastelands.” These slight changes from the novel shouldn’t upset any hardcore fans and only service to make the transition from novel to comic book.
Campbell and Isanove continue to do excellent artwork for the series. The reader rarely gets a full view of anyone’s face. Everyone is drenched in shadows, which only leaves glimpses of Roland’s pain, Jake’s confusion and The Man In Black’s evilness. This approach works very well in the New York scene. They were able to keep their stark, moody approach to the desert scenes and apply it to a much more vibrant, urban setting, thus unifying the book stylistically.
This issue is extremely text heavy as it deals with Jake retelling how he came to be at the Way Station though it hardly feels like a long read. With a great story, the introduction of a new character and great artwork to boot, this issue will satisfy any fan of the Dark Tower series.
I am currently still trying to catch up on some of the series in DC's New 52. I've caught up to a lot of them so far (most are in issue 4 but this month, the #5's are out). So far, I've been incredibly surprised by a few of the series.
As pretty much everyone who has written on the subject has said, Animal Man and Swamp Thing are two of the best series being written right now. I mean, just check out this cover from Animal Man #5
I was also very surprised by I, Vampire. The covers of this series makes it look like some terrible Twilight rip off. But once I opened up and read the issues, the dark story and incredible art make up for the horrible cover art.
Here are some of the books I have read this week while trying to catch up for Wednesday. (By the way, my pull list is getting way out of control)
Superboy #4
I don't know why I was so drawn to the Superboy books. Every review has been lukewarm (justifiably so) and I was never drawn to this character in the first place. But I enjoyed the Teen Titans cartoon on CN enough to be interested in the Teen Titans series. Once I heard that Superboy will have a tie-in with that series, I think that drew me in. It didn't hurt that the cover for Issue 1 was beautiful.
Unfortunately, the books aren't amazing. That doesn't mean, though, that I'm not enjoying them. I particularly liked this issue due to the bewilderment Superboy feels towards religion and faith. The fact that none of it makes sense to him is something I can definitely relate to. I also loved the display of grinch-itude. Throwing a group of carolers and setting the Rockefeller Plaza christmas tree on fire is pretty admirable in my book. Also, while extremely heavy-handed, we got some great quotes like "Faith is never an answer. It's just a restatement of a question," and "...Somehow a dead tree suddenly represents the doorway to eternal life? It doesn't make sense. Why can't a tree be just a tree?"
The artwork continues to be richly colored with beautiful hues of blues and reds. It's nothing out of the ordinary and is slightly generic but it services the story well. It was nice to see something other than the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. labs and Silva and Lean did a good job at portraying NYC during Christmastime.
Overall, a decent issue that seems to be setting some better character development up. I have no problem with slow burner stories - unfortunately, until now, there has been no development - just melodrama. Hopefully with the Teen Titans tie-in and Superboy finally coming to grips with who he is, this series will improve.
7.5/10
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 (of 6)
I only picked this up because I thought it would be cool to check out some more limited run series by DC. I never read the last volume of THUNDER Agents (I'm not typing all those .'s each time - fuck that) but I thoroughly enjoyed this issue. I don't feel like I know the characters well enough though. There are parts where characters that seem like main people in the story are killed or kidnapped. The cliffhanger also assumes you know who the villain is. Since I have issue 2 on hand, I will just keep reading and hopefully things will be cleared up in the second issue.
For now, I liked the development of Toby and Colleen. The idea behind the free-will controlling helmet with a conscious is pretty interesting and am looking forward to how it is used in the next five issues. The artwork is definitely worth noting in this issue as well. The style looks a bit older but looks pretty great compared to the cover. I was actually dreading reading this book solely on how cheesy the cover looked but the artwork inside the book was much better.
6.5/10
More to come pretty much everyday until I am completely caught up with all the series on my pull-list!
Hey, so, remember that time when I said I would write more and that more posts were coming this week? Well, that was almost three months ago. Fuck man, I've been busy.
Just to prove to you how busy I have been, here's what I've been up to for the past three months.
- Sacrificing my social life and not going out to bars. I tell people it's because I need to save money. The real reason? Skyrim, obviously.
- Took a trip home to North Carolina! It was good to see people from NC. There are tons of friends that I miss - boys who look like girls and girls with bigger dicks than most guys I know. Although, honestly, it was hard being away from Skyrim. So hard, I convinced my little brother to get his Xbox 360 fixed and bought him Skyrim for it...and didn't let him play it.
- Working. But only to afford my expensive video game and comics addiction.
- Trying really hard to not get laid. I know what you're thinking and I will say it for you. The guys are all over me. And for the most part this is true. It's been a really great work out throwing them all off of me. I'm too cheap to afford a gym membership so this is the only kind of work out I can get. If I had to choose between toned arms and good, meaningless sex...I'm gonna go with a bag of chips.
- Making a complete fool out of myself. Not only have I made countless rape and domestic abuse jokes at work only to see horror in the face of my co-workers, I just recently accidentally attempted to steal $40 worth of comics from my LCS (Local Comic Shop...get with it). I also tell new guys I meet that I hate gay people which somehow isn't working in my favor.
As you can see, a lot has happened. And 90% of what has happened, has done so in a fictional world called Skyrim. I'm pretty much done with it (for now) and have shifted my attention elsewhere. I have reignited my love for comics and am balls deep into this affair. I'm going to try and do a weekly round-up of comic reviews and recommendations.
I will leave you with this funny anecdote about my attempt to get into The Mercury (a members only goth/industrial club here in Seattle).
The Scene: The Mercury. The Crime: Blue denim.
It seemed innocent enough. I was meeting up with my friends Ryan and Kamil at the Unicorn. It was Friday and I needed to have some drinks with the gurlz, as one does. I am dressed in just some normal jeans and a black button down and my leather jacket. But then - a crisis started to brew.
My friend and co-worker, Shaun, texted me and asked if I wanted to meet him at the Mercury. Fortunately, he is a member there a I had been wanting to check it out for quite some time. I was like "FUCK YEAH BRO." There was only one problem - a very strict dress code. I was like oh well these jeans are dark and everything else is black - I should be fine. I was anything but.
The second we get in the door, the door man (I'M NOT APOLOGIZING TO A DOOR MAN. HE'S A DOOR MAN*) shines a flashlight on my jeans and gives me that smug "I-can't-believe-you're-wearing-blue-denim" face. He tells me I won't be able to come in. But then, his face lights up. I quote, verbatim: "I'm not saying this as the doorman but as a member. You can totally take your pants off and check them at the coat check. And no one should give you shit and if they do, you can send them to me. If not, the Crypt might still be open." There are really no words to explain how I felt. Not only am I not going to go buy a pair of pants to go into a club I'm already at, but my legs are whiter than my jeans ever will be. Shaun suggested I just take my button down off and tie it around my waist after removing my pants. I'm almost drunk enough to do it but instead, we head to Grimm's and then to Amante's where I eat my feelings to ensure that I will never want to take my pants off in public.
*Cheers to anyone who got my Bridezillas reference
