Archives
Off the Beaten Path

I love America! Yeah I said it, so maybe we're in a war most don't agree with, our President basically told the U.N. "to fuck off", most other countries hate us, and our economy is getting hammered day to day while our esteemed Government officials and their friends are getting rich, what's there not to love? In case you haven't guessed, this is my 'American Column' all about the red, white and blue, and chalk full of politics, propaganda, scandals, deception, free speech, protests and sacrifice, everything that makes this county great! Go get a cold glass of 'shut the hell up' to quote Happy Gilmore and as always, enjoy.

Title-American Virgin

Publisher-Vertigo
Script-Steven T. Seagle
Artist-Becky Cloonan
Format- Monthly
Shipping- Good
Age- 16& Up

The Basics- Adam Chamberlin is your run of the mill, god fearing college student/best selling author, who just happens to be the figurehead of a religious movement with a strong, almost cult like devotion to virginity. Think Pat Buchanan, or Oral Roberts, then give them the body of Brad Pitt and the face of Johnny Depp, throw in all the charisma of a rock star and you have a pretty good picture. This kid is bringing the gospel to the youth of today, his message, "Save yourself for marriage!" Yeah, easy for him to say….In this first issue we meet the cast of characters I believe will be making regular appearances; first off is his mother, a very controlling, manipulative woman with her own agenda, most likely not a very god-fearing one at that, her sidekick, who happens to come off as a money hungry TV evangelist, Adam's brother, who is the opposite of Adam in every sense and Adam's fiancé. With a title like American Virgin and the obvious religious overtones, you may be thinking why would I like this (unless however you are a devout religious person, in which you would love the outlying premise) - you would like this because God has a master plan! Something life changing happens to young Adam, to make him rethink his last 21 years…and maybe make up for some lost fun in the process.

The Art- Very simple lines and hard shapes, not very detailed in character design or background design, the basics are covered here. Less is more in this case, the simplicity in design adds to the dimensions of each character, think about old westerns, the bad guy was in black with a constant scowl on his face and the good guy was always in white, with a friendly albeit hard worn, smile. The same is true here, the simple character design tells us who is pretty, ugly, sexy, devious, controlling, and shifty! The coloring is basic as well, not a lot of mid tone's, solid coloring and shades provide atmosphere.

The Verdict- The jabs, both veiled and obvious at the religious movement we've come to know from television and radio are witty and clever, the cast of characters is entertaining and the outcome is worth waiting for…long live the virgins. Whether virgin or sinner, this is good readin!

Title-American Way

Publisher- Wildstorm
Script- John Ridley
Artist- Georges Jeanty
Format- Monthly (8 issues)
Shipping- Good
Age- 14& UP

The Basics- Wesley Catham is John and Bobby Kennedy's newest recruit in their ever widening campaign to make America a better place. Wesley's job…well that's complicated. He's an ad man, a marketing guy...you know a salesman. What would a marketing person be needed to do in the U.S. Government? Market our superhero's of course, oh and the staged fights and attacks that our superhero's deal with on a regular basis. He is faced with the job of keeping the public infatuated with America's heroes while not divulging the secrets of their true intentions, and lack of real battles. Good ole' propaganda to control the masses, reminds me of a Karl Marx quote…This book covers many areas through this unique idea, many of the days issues (this book is set in 1961) are dealt with head-on, like racism, woman's suffrage, the Cuban Missile crisis and the race to space. The humor in the situations which arise from such a farce is great - an example would be when Wes asks about one of the super villains and they tell him he's a Chinese guy who just happened to fit the costume that day, so now it's his full time job while he goes to college. Classic, classic I tell you.

The Art- The art is solid, not much to say really, it does the job, I like the 60's era comic feel of it.

The Verdict- Grab some grape soda, a slice of apple pie and turn on the record player while you read this soon-to-be classic story.

Title-Ex Machina

Publisher-Wildstorm
Script- Brian K. Vaughan
Artist- Tony Harris
Format- Monthly
Shipping- Good
Age- 14 & up

The Basics- Yes, yes, I'm late, late and even later than usual on this book. The reviews have been streaming in since this book hit the shops, all of them good, great even. Why has it taken me so long to review it? The answer is, I just began collecting and reading it. My bad, I really missed the boat on this one. Mitchell Hundred is an ex superhero who can communicate with machines. All machines, I'm talking from computers and cars to shotguns, if it's got parts, he can communicate with it. Not long after developing these powers, he decides to unmask and run for Mayor of NYC, not an easy task for a superhero who was luke warm in the public eye at best; if not for the tragedy of 9/11 and his heroics on said day, Mitchell would just be a civilian. The book intersperses scenes from his hero days with his day-to-day life as mayor, cleverly linking the battles and politics. His job as mayor is harder and more dangerous than anything he ever faced as a hero as he says on more than one occasion. The storylines are intriguing and action packed, the dialogue is hilarious and the characters are well developed. What more could you ask for?

The Art- I love the art, the colors are very subdues as if they were intentionally dulled down. The characters are well drawn with loads of detail, and the backgrounds and background characters are filled with enough imagery to keep you entertained for a good hour after you've finished the story - be sure to pay close attention to the facial and hand gestures of the other people in the panels.

The Verdict- If you haven't jumped on the wagon just yet, now's a good time, the story arc's are concise and the flashbacks fill-in most of the blanks - political intrigue, sex, violence and dark humor…we've got a winner!

That's it,

Anthony Dominguez
www.anthonydominguez.com
myspace.com/anthonydominguez

March 20, 2006

See what Anthony has to say about Wizard World (and check out some of the nifty pictures he took for the photo journal). Wizard World LA Central

March 6, 2006

Welcome back…fitting words this week. I call this column “Will they ever Come Back! Or Shan, Shane, come back Shane!” This week’s titles have seen a short run (in one case- a single issue), created quite a buzz, and then disappeared…all the while publishing press releases saying they would be back! Will they? Won’t they? If I knew the answer, I would be playing poker instead of writing this column right now. Alas, onto those the world may have forgotten.

Title- Dream Police

Publisher- Icon
Script-J. Michael Straczynski
Artist- Mike Deodato
Format- refer to the above paragraph
Shipping- ahem…
Age- 14 & up

The Basics- Think film Noir, Dragnet, and Nightmare on Elm Street, then throw in some good old Maltese Falcon and you may come close to what this book is about. Joe Thursday (remember the Dragnet reference now?) is the main character. He along with his partner Frank Stanford are detectives on the Dream Police squad, their job is to keep the place safe - when I say ‘place’ I mean the dreamscape, the place we all go for any number of hours each day or night depending on your inclination. Friday and Stanford patrol the dreamscape for everything from erotic dreams in a church to a child with dream control, who uses his control over his nightmare to ruin everyone else’s dreams. The writing is clever, inventive and the story is very imaginative. It’s what is expected from Straczynski, given his run on that other major book he took almost 3 years to finish…I guess this is normal.

The Art- Deodato does a great job of capturing the film Noir aspect, the gritty detective story feel, while throwing in the occasional dinosaur. The opening page is fantastic, the city as seen for a distance, almost surreal, not quite a dream not quite real, it’s inspiring. The details and characters are hard, and gritty, very “Play it again Sam”ish (Casablanca Reference, because no dream is complete without Humphrey Bogart). The coloring works very well with the storyline and the pencils, dark and brooding, never quite enough light to uncover every answer.

The Verdict- A great premise, a great opening story…now what? (Note: there has been conflicting information about this title, this book has been called a one shot, and an ongoing series, you decide)

Title- Small Gods

Publisher- Image
Script-Jason Rand
Artist- Juan E. Ferreyra
Format- refer to the above paragraph
Shipping- ahem…
Age- 14 & up

The Basics- Where do I start, if the Dream Police was an original idea for a story, then what level is Small Gods on? Here we have a story involving psychic powers, all forms of psychic powers. This 12 issue run is broken into separate story arcs that tie together through different circumstances and chance meetings; much of the story takes place in the same town. Each story arc introduces us to a new player, whether this person is a pawn, good or evil is up to the reader to decide. We meet a police detective, a criminal, an assassin, and a myriad of other interesting characters, each with something to hide, or a need only they can understand.

The Art- Normally I am not a fan of black and white, Guncandy being a recent exception, however Small Gods is in a class of its own. The detail in each character is expressed so fully, that color would only serve to disrupt the flow of each story. The shading and grey tones provide as much to the story as the actual dialogue. White is used so cleverly throughout this book, it is almost a character.

The Verdict- I loved this book and looked forward to each and every month, at the end of each story arc, I was amazed at how the little threads began to form an interesting labyrinth. Be sure to pick up the Graphic Novels. (Note: Image cancelled the series, with the caveat that they would allow the writers to pen a satisfactory ending, and if need be, allow them to put out a graphic novel with a complete ending. The team behind the book is said to be looking into moving it to a new publisher. Time will tell.)

Title- Albion

Publisher- Wildstorm
Script-Alan Moore
Artist- Shane Oakley
Format- refer to the above paragraph
Shipping- ahem…
Age- 14 & up

The Basics- Alan Moore, Alan Moore, what more needs to be said? A whole heck of a lot in this case; first up, he is not actually the writer, just the plotter, what does this mean you ask? It means he laid out the story idea, oversees the development (maybe) and collects a check for using his name. Do I sound a little bitter? I should, this was hyped as a great Alan Moore story, bringing to life England’s finest hero’s, yeah right, in actuality it is a convoluted mishmash of half stories. The main characters are Danny and Penny, two very different people after the same question…where the hero’s in their favorite comic books real. Said hero’s being England’s finest hero’s and greatest saviors, are they real, and if they are, then are the villains they battled day in and day out real as well? What happened to all of them, and why does no one remember? Mystery lurks around every corner, confusion at every turn (not sure if it is meant to be confusing or the writing is just sub par, I’ ll tell you if the conclusion is ever published) and occasionally a coherent clue.

The Art- I’m really tired, the art doesn’t really matter, and does anyone really pick up an Alan Moore book for the art? I dare say not, they pick it up for the story and this one is no different - monkeys could have drawn it and no one would have cared. In this case a talented individual did the illustration and still I don’t care.

The Verdict- We are at issue 3 of 6 in this utterly confusing story; I will buy the next 3 issues if they ever come out, on principal alone. I’m not a quitter! Take this information and draw your own conclusion to my verdict. (Note: Recently news spread that issue 4 was due in March, we will see, and the final issues where due out on schedule following it…)

That's it,

Anthony Dominguez
www.anthonydominguez.com
myspace.com/anthonydominguez