Science fiction 37 - World Comic Book Review

The Autumnlands Volume 1: Tooth and Claw (review)

October 21, 2016February 9, 2016 by DG Stewart

The Autumnlands Volume 1: Tooth and Claw (review)
Writer: Kurt Busiek
(Image Comics, July 2015)

Talking animals as the protagonists for adventures for children have a long tradition. In the twentieth century, this manifested sometimes as the printed extension of cartoons (Disney’s Mickey Mouse, and the Looney Tunes characters of Warner Bros), or as serialized comic strips (Snoopy, Calvin and Hobbes) which have usually been read as collected works. Talking animals are an absurdity and accordingly the adventures of such characters tend to be comedic (thus, “comic” books).

Alone Against the Rebellion

October 21, 2016November 23, 2015 by Neil Raymundo

Star Wars: Vader Down #1 [review]
Marvel Comics, November 2015
Writer: Jason Aaron
Review by Neil Raymundo, 23 November 2015

With “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” premiere, it is not surprising that tie-ins are sprouting like mushrooms on just about any medium available to its license holder. And while Star Wars comic books were being churned out regularly these past few years, the six-issue mini-series “Vader Down” is notable for a couple of reasons.

First is that the story is set after the events of “Star Wars: A New Hope” (the first movie) and before “The Empire Strikes Back” (the second movie), which means “Vader Down” does not have much leeway with regard to the direction of the story. The timeskip between the two movies should provide ample room for a new story in terms of chronology, but the existence of both movies restricts what “Vader Down” could do in terms of character progression and continuity.

Omega Men #1 [review]: the laziest of writing and editing

October 21, 2016July 10, 2015 by DG Stewart

One assumes that DC Comics have revitalised the concept of the obscure 1980s team of aliens, first appearing in 1981 as The Omega Men, because of the success of Marvel Entertainment’s film featuring an equally obscure group of aliens, Guardians of the Galaxy.

When the concept was first published as its own title in 1983, in the days of letters pages, a reader wrote and asked why the team’s leader was called “Primus”, when alien team leaders were unlikely to have names alluding to their “primacy” by use of a word with a Graeco-Latin root, and more ludicrously, why a tiger-esque alien was called “Tigorr”.

The editor responded by noting in words to the effect that an unintelligible character names would render the characters inaccessible to readers.