I see my account still exists, even though I registered years ago and never posted. So, first post.
I picked up two comics and one manga this week: a 25-cent Clockwork Girl introductory issue; this week's Detective Comics; and Mushishi vol 2. I'll give a run-down on the two comics; the manga I haven't gotten to yet.
Clockwork Girl
This is the sort of comic I'd like to see more of: a comic for kids that isn't a media tie-in. It's really just a teaser, with a few pages of story and then some "DVD extra" type material such as character sketches, backstory on the development of the series, and a textless mini called "Electric Boys Hate Clockwork Girls." But for 25 cents, you can't really go wrong, and I enjoyed it enough that I may even put down some hard-earned cash for a full-length issue when it comes out.
That being said, there was a stylistic tick that threw me when I first noticed it -- the panel layout on the first several pages was identical, divided into three panels. It gave it a very "storyboard" feel, with the panels vaguely verging into standard cinematic aspect ratios.
Detective Comics #mumblety-mumble
I don't know the issue number offhand.
I picked this title up because John (Xombi) Rozum told me he was writing it. I'd sent him fan mail a couple of days ago, and he wrote back to let me know that he had a two-issue arc in Detective coming out this week. Intrigued, I picked it up, unsure of what to expect.
I wasn't 100% satisfied, but I am intrigued by the thought of a Scarecrow relying on his grasp of psychology rather than "fear gas" to manipulate people. It feels strange for me to say this in this era of decompression, but I think I would have liked this story to have a bit more room to develop -- I found some of the shifts in POV to be too abrupt, and the story would have benefited from the opportunity to explore just how Scarecrow was getting into people's heads. I did like the bits Rozum used to suggest it ("Mr. Zsasz has started cutting himself, and not to keep track of his victims" and the Arkham inmate -- Killer Croc? -- telling Batman "If you catch him, don't bring him back here.") but I would have liked a bit more show to go on with the (admittedly skillfully done) tell.
Also, I wasn't a big fan of the art, but it certainly didn't stand out as bad, either.
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So that's my week in review. Oddly, it makes two weeks in a row of buying Batbooks (I'm one of those who really thought #666 was ace) after not buying any for... well, the last one I remember buying was the one with the guy who died while dressed up as Batman for sexual purposes. |
