I'm still catching up after Halloween plans delayed my reviewing. Here's a couple to keep the ball rolling. (And I still need a new title for these posts.)
Chaos War #1
- Written by Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
- Pencils by Khoi Pham
- Cover by Ed McGuinness
Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente's tale of Hercules and Amadeus Cho gets a full-fledged event as a closing arc. This first issue is what you'd expect, I guess: lots of getting everyone up to speed, but little real action — just enough to have something of interest for the next issue. The Chaos King makes his first move, killing Nightmare, and Herc gathers Earth's heroes to face the threat. I like how Hercules has to get used to his new, amazingly high power level, and his smack-down of the elder gods for sitting around doing nothing while the Chaos King threatens to end all of existence. And Amadeus has some really good, but really brief, interactions with Iron Man. Unfortunately, other than that, there's not much here besides pep-talks. Also, something feels off about the art, but I can't place my finger on it. I like it, but it doesn't seem like it's always the right style for this book. (There are a few scenes, like the opening sequence, where it's just about perfect, though.)
The backup tells a short tale of what was happening to Hercules in the pocket universe in which he was trapped between the ends of Assault on New Olympus and Prince of Power. I liked this better, even though Reilly Brown's art looks a little rushed and isn't up to the excellent standard of his earlier Hercules work. It's a simple story of Hercules dealing with his situation (both being stuck here and being forcefully replaced — and told he's no longer needed — by Athena) and finding a purpose for going on. It's nothing really deep, but it's not fluff, either. Interestingly, this 8-page backup had about as much character work — and action — as the entire main story.
Overall, this was a decent start to the Chaos War event. Some of it was probably more useful to someone who's only started reading Hercules' tale with this issue — and it really helps to have read the Sacred Invasion arc — but it's not so much that this issue is pointless. There's a lot of talk and set-up, but it's the opening issue of an event, so I'm looking for the action to start ramping up with the next two issues.
The Example
- Written by Tom Taylor
- Art by Colin Wilson & Justin Randall
This short (the story is 11 pages, and there are a few pages of sketches and commentary by the creators), $1.95 book is an adaptation of a play by Tom Taylor, who also wrote the script for this comic. It definitely has the feel of a play. The story involves two strangers waiting for a late (and getting later) train, passing the time with small talk. Someone, apparently fed up with waiting, leaves but forgets his briefcase. What follows is a study of our paranoia with terrorism, and how something as innocuous as a forgotten briefcase can quickly become the most sinister of plots in our minds — regardless of what logic and the facts at hand tell us.
The comic is written and paced well. There's a lot of dialogue, obviously — there's little else to work with in a play — but it never seems excessive. And, even though there's no action whatsoever, they manage to keep it visually interesting, especially with something I didn't even consciously notice until it was pointed out in the commentaries. Each page (except for the first and last) is divided into nine panels, with the center panel always being a shot of the briefcase. On each page, it's drawn very slightly larger as a visual representation of how it's growing in the minds of the characters. I noticed the building tension, but didn't at first realize how it was being augmented with the briefcase panels. It's an excellent job of visual storytelling, and it really makes the comic.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. The solicit made me think it could be anywhere from trite and shallow to poignant and reflective. This falls on the latter end of that spectrum, and I'm glad I picked it up. You may have trouble finding this now (it came out September 22, and I don't know how many shops stocked it in the first place), but it's going to be re-released as part of a collection called Brief Cases. The publisher (Gestalt Publishing) is Australian, and this collection will be comprised of short works by (mostly) Aussies. If the rest of the stories are as good as this one, it'll be a good book to look for.
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