What I Bought 1/23/08

Sorry about the lack of posting yesterday. I just had. . . absolutely nothing to talk about. In other news, I noticed that S-Prime is preparing to square off with the Monarch, which is kind of what I figured might happen, based on the ludicrous ramping up of the Monarch's powers DC's done. Hopefully at least one of them will die. If I'm really lucky, both of them would die, but I'm not that lucky. Moving right along.

Bloodrayne: Automaton - It's a pretty decent cover, but I think they could have put Rayne father back, so that the shadowy figure she's looking at could be a little more prominent. I think it would add to the sense that she's boxed in, and going to have to fight her way out. Also, she needs smaller heels on those boots. I mean, that has to just kill her feet, doesn't it?

So, at this point, the heads of the society that Rayne has worked for these past decades have been taken over by some god-like beings, and the society has basically fallen apart. Rayne and a few others are searching for the Book of the Fifth Sun, which holds an incantation that sealed up the beings centuries ago, before they were released by Valerio, who we met in the Red Blood Run mini-series. Clues point to the book being housed inside a tomb-like building in Prague, and Rayne has to get inside and get the book, while dealing with giant fire salamanders, giant robots, and gas mask wearing ninja monk guys. Just another day in the life of an evil-crushing half-vampire.

OK, so after the art for Red Blood Run drove me away, there were some concerns on my part about how the art would go for this. Concerns mostly allayed. Andre Coelho has a style that reminds me of a combination of the Dodsons and Rafael Albuquerque (artist of Blue Beetle). It's generally clean, expressive, and mostly easily to follow. There was one point I felt Rayne's facial expression didn't quite line up with what her comments were conveying (she seemed angry, but she was staring up with almost surprise), and the action doesn't always flow well from one panel to the next (in one panel a fire salamander appears ready to bite her in half, in the next it appears to have only headbutted her), but on the whole, it was pretty well done. And the brighter coloring was a nice change after the depressing, murky grayness of Red Blood Run.

Considered by itself, this is pretty good. There's a definite goal, there's some interesting character interaction, mostly between members of Rayne's support crew, and of course, lots of Rayne kicking weird mystical butt, which is, of course, why I'm here. There's one thing unclear, and it's something I was curious to see how it would be handled. I didn't get the final issue of the Red Blood Run mini-series. At the end of the second issue, Rayne had received some treatment that had robbed her of her powers. She was just human. This issue takes place sometime after that, and it seems clear she is supernaturally powered again, given she gets smashed through walls without being crippled, and manages to climb a stone building with her bare hands. But no mention is made of how, which is probably because it was handled in the final issue of Red Blood Run, but a little explanation on the recap page (which explained several other things quite well) would have been appreciated. As a continuation of an preexisting plot, this issue is still good, it's just that one little thing nags at me.

The Punisher #54 - Yes, Tim Bradstreet, that's Frank Castle pointing a boomstick at us. What am I supposed to say about that? The shadows over his eyes is a nice touch.

Frank and 'Cuda fight. Frank wins, and now has to decide what to do with his daughter. I am sure his decision will surprise absolutely none of you. There, I just summed up the entire issue.

Of course, that's not the whole story, as Ennis and Parlov have combined for what may be the single most graphically violent issue of Ennis' run on this book yet. Blood is flying everywhere, body parts are being separated from the whole, it's just gory. It's the kind of stuff Ennis hinted at off-panel or in shadow in the Marvel Knights Punisher book (like the guy's head getting swatted off by the polar bear) in full view, in color, front and center. It's enough to make me somewhat uneasy reading it, whereas I usually take Frank's brand of justice in stride (since it's fiction and all).

I suppose the simplest reason why is that Frank knows that for him, the stakes have never been higher (ugh, cliche alert!), and so he really can't take any chances, especially not since Barracuda seems to be the single most dangerous enemy Frank's faced in the MAX run. I can't help but feel sorry for Frank, even though he made the decision and is prepared to live with the consequences of it. He knows himself too well. Despite my unease at the level of violence, I enjoyed the issue, and look forward to seeing what Ennis' final story (as currently solicited) does with Frank.

And that's it. And only one book next week. Either there need to be fewer of these five Wednesday months, or I need a bigger pull list. That second one isn't likely to happen, so clearly it's time to change the calendar. We may need to speed up the Earth's revolution, but that can't too hard.