PAPER ROCKETSHIPS, INK-DARK MOONS: Comics reviews.<\/strong><\/p>\n In which we see how little comic books have in common with one another! Medium is not genre. But if you\u2019re reading this post, you probably already know that.<\/p>\n Junji Ito, Uzumaki <\/em>vols. 2 and 3.<\/strong> Here\u2019s my rave review of Uzumaki <\/em>vol. 1<\/a>, the killer-spiral comic. Here\u2019s Bruce Baugh\u2019s take on the series<\/a>. I\u2019m less positive about the later two volumes than he is; I didn\u2019t think the story wrapped up well. The ending seemed to me to go on too long and reach too hard for a \u201ccosmic\u201d feel. Also, the creepiest images\u2013the ones that linger like the impress of clammy fingers on the back of your neck\u2013are in the first volume.<\/p>\n However, 2 and 3 do offer some effective chills (what happens to the man-snails really got to me), and these comics are cheap enough that if you liked vol. 1 you should check \u2019em out. Volume 1 really is fantastic; brrrrr<\/em>.<\/p>\n Alan Moore and Oscar Zarate, A Small Killing<\/em>.<\/strong> A sad, creepy, utterly distinctive book. I initially checked this one out because of the advertising theme: An ad designer en route to Moscow to sell cola shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union stops off in his home country, England, and becomes convinced that a small boy is stalking him and intends to kill him. The story is part horror\/thriller (of the \u201cquiet chills\u201d genre), part broken homecoming, part commentary on advertising, identity, and wilfully abandoning one\u2019s conscience.<\/p>\n The story is really powerful, and Moore\u2019s writing is evocative without going into that overblown PoetrySpeak that so many people think conveys pathos. The ending does suffer from the same problem on a personal, emotional level that V for Vendetta <\/a><\/em>suffered from on a political or philosophical level. I don\u2019t think Moore convinces us of his more hopeful overtones; the ambiguities and darker layers are much more believable. He sells yesterday better than tomorrow. <\/p>\n But the art. Clownish colors, carnival-looking people (like the carnival from Something Wicked This Way Comes<\/em>\u2026), artificial without being difficult to follow. The pictures heightened the unhappy mystery of the writing, while also adding an element of humor that the book needed. Just really fine stuff.<\/p>\n You should read this.<\/p>\n Mark Millar, various artists, and the Marvel Hive Mind, Ultimate X-Men <\/em>vols. 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6.<\/strong> There\u2019s so much wrong with these comics. Huge stupid plot holes\u2026 interchangeable female characters (quick, without referring to their powers, love interests, or backstory\u2013just personality<\/em>\u2013tell me what differentiates Jean and Storm)\u2026 a world that falls apart in your hands if you examine it too closely.<\/p>\n But I was reading these during downtime at the preg ctr when the other counselor asked me what I was reading: \u201cYou\u2019re grinning from ear to ear!\u201d<\/p>\n Ult. X-Men<\/em> is so\u2013much\u2013fun. Dumb, dumb fun. I ordinarily am not a big fan of comics that are mostly stuff exploding, but for whatever reason this one really kills me. I don\u2019t care that it often stops making sense. I just like the pedal-to-the-metal, 90 mph in a school zone feel. I like the high stakes (um, OK, as high as you\u2019re liable to get in an X-book anyway) and the interchangeable wisecracking comic relief. The series starts with a bang\u2013huge not-quite-as-stupid-looking-as-usual Sentinels tracking down and killing mutants everywhere\u2013and basically keeps yelling the whole way through. This is the McDonalds french fries of comics\u2026 and I love <\/em>McDonalds french fries.<\/p>\n I did notice one vaguely substantive thing, in between all the flashbangery: This title doesn\u2019t feel nearly as much like a series about leadership <\/a>as, e.g., New X-Men<\/em>. I think that\u2019s because the power and authority imbalances between Xavier and his students are too great\u2013we all know <\/em>who the leader is, so there\u2019s no real point in exploring the issue. Fortunately, the book does a good job of hitting the \u201care the X-Men traitors to their kind?\u201d theme, and I am even more obsessed with treason and betrayal <\/a>than I am with leadership, so I\u2019m satisfied.<\/p>\n Mmmm, french fries.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PAPER ROCKETSHIPS, INK-DARK MOONS: Comics reviews. In which we see how little comic books have in common with one another! Medium is not genre. But if you\u2019re reading this post, you probably already know that. Junji Ito, Uzumaki vols. 2 and 3. Here\u2019s my rave review of Uzumaki vol. 1, the killer-spiral comic. Here\u2019s Bruce […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1071,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n