Yes, I've returned. Movies and books I was entertained by during my time away will be discussed later this week, for the record. Beyond that, I'm pleased I was able to make it back the day before snow will arrive. I had been starting to think nature was timing it so poor weather would appear when I needed to travel. Also, I don't find much amusements in comedies these days, but watching friends and family interact with their pets is consistently good fun.
BloodRayne: Revenge of the Butcheress - The Butcheress was one of the bosses from the first BloodRayne game, one of those scientists who loves to torture the people she experiments on, and one who also apparently bathes in the blood of virgins to maintain her youth. I don't remember if that came up in the game, but they mention it in the comic.
I thought she died in the game, but apparently not, and based on this, she and Rayne met prior to that confrontation, the memory of which was blocked by some demonic larvae Rayne was infected with during that first meeting. The death of the Queen said larvae came from not only ressurects dead infected with larvae, it removes the mental block. Why? Not a clue (though there's a good possibility I've forgotten a reason explained in the games, as it's been years since I played either one). There's some fighting before that bit of expostion, then Rayne nearly dies, which triggers the emergence of DarkRayne, some evil alter ego that appears periodically, but hasn't been explained (she seems a lot older than Rayne, for one thing).
The comic is connected to both the games (and takes place somewhere is the 60-odd years between them) since adversaries from both show up. I think the story is limited by that and by being a one-shot. I think it would have helped if we could have seen the Butcheress begin to implement her plan, instead of it being cut short in the developmental stages. Also, I'm not sure it was necessary to have Rayne have blocked memories that lead her there, rather than her usual method of being sent on a mission and running into trouble. It's still an OK story, but those things nagged at me. David Miller handles the art and does a decent job. There's a roughness to the art that works with the horror of the story, though it seems to get progressively rougher as the story progresses, which I'm not sure was necessary.
GrimJack: Manx Cat #6 - Gaunt gets inside BlacJac's compound, finds BlacJac, now under Mannachs control, fights BlacJac, traps Mannachs with the help of Bob the Gatorlizard, returns the Manx Cat to the Sleepless Monks, and tells Bob he can stay at Munden's Bar if he likes.
This has much of what I like about GrimJack as a character. His wry sense of humor, his adaptability in combat, then sense of weight he carries on his shoulders from his past, and how that drives him. Also, the banter between he and BlacJac is always good. It's that ball-busting you get with two longtime friends, where they can say things to each other that wouldn't be tolerated by anyone else.
I don't know what to say about Truman's artwork. It's swell. I thought it was interesting Mannachs was in human form, but didn't have her face wrapped as she did when Gaunt encountered her in the past. His GrimJack looks rough and old, but not too old, not yet.
Guardians of the Galaxy #21 - The book I would have reviewed 2 Wednesdays ago, had the UPS fellow not been extraordinarily late in delivering comics. Moondragon tries to contain the otherworldly creature that took control of a Luminal. Eventually all the commotion leaves her with no choice but to trap it inside her, where she hopes to use her telepathy to calm it to the point she can make it leave and go back through the Fault to its home. Then the Luminals do something stupid. Then the Universal Church of Truth makes their play.
It's a nice issue, though it's a heck of a development with the UCT that makes me think the Guardians were better off when Magus was running the show. My enjoyment is hampered by the fact the story is Moondragon-centric, and I'm not terribly interested in her. I don't have anything against her, but nothing for her either. There are other characters in the title I'd rather see the focus on. Brad Walker's artwork continues to be fine, though I feel he's exaggerating his style more as time goes on. Not a lot all at once, just gradually elongating peoples' faces, making facial expressions more over-the-top. Which may be appropriate for a book about really weird stuff. Maybe I've just grown fond of Wesley Craig's work.
Marvel Boy: The Uranian #1 - It's Agents of Atlas related, Jeff Parker wrote it, so I bought it. This seems like it might be a Year One story for Bob Grayson, as I believe it takes place after he began his superheroic career on Earth, but before he joined Jimmy Woo's original squad.
We see Marvel Boy thwart a disgruntled engineer who developed a Helicarrier looking thing with weather control abilities. For which Marvel Boy is locked up, because people are afraid he might be working with the bad guy, or is maybe a Communist. It's the 1950s, you must recall. Bob leaves and decides to try heroics in New York, where he meets a writer for Timely Comics named Dean who wants to feature him in a comic and gives him the name Marvel Boy. Also, Bob's activities are being observed by the people from Uranus who outfitted him and are hoping he'll be the key to their leaving Uranus.
I like that Parker includes that, as well as Bob's origin in general. He's not assuming that the only people reading this mini-series are those already familiar with the character (hope he's right about that), so best to get them up to speed. We get to see Bob dealing with some basic super-hero stuff, while trying to adjust to living on Earth, and struggling with how to convince people he really is a hero.
That's all fine and dandy, I'm less enamored of Felix Ruiz' art. The faces remind me a little of Keith Giffen or maybe Sean Phillips (at least the way he drew on Joe Casey's Uncanny X-Men), which is admittedly not really to my personal tastes. There's nothing wrong with it, there's no difficulty following the action, but there seems to be an attempt to make it look old-timey. The characters' shadows have these vertical lines, and there are dark blobs at the edges of panels, like an old movie. I'm not sure it adds anything to the story. Maybe they could have tried to replicate the the style of the artists in the two old stories included (the first drawn by Russ Heath, the second by Bill Everett).
Suicide Squad #67 - Is there anyone who ever drew the Bronze Tiger's mask/headgear in such a way it looks like such a thing, as opposed to make him look like some kind of tiger man? Not going by the cover for this issue, or the interior art.
The Six are hired to bust a drug dealer out of Belle Reve, but it's a trap. Waller wants Deadshot back, and has decided she might as well take out the rest of the Six while she's at it, stinking mercs. The Six are getting throughly handled by issue's end, when a bunch of, sigh, Black Lanterns, lead by the Fiddler who died in Villains United, arrive at the prison, to eat hearts I assume. Also, Bane plays disapproving Dad when Liana shows up for a date with Scandal, which makes me not like Bane since Liana's a nice sort. Which is probably the point. He means well, but what does Bane know about romantic relationships?
J. Caliafore is the artist, and does his usual solid job. One minus, the new Squad recruit, Yasemin could stand to have a better outfit, especially if she's going to go hopping over bannisters. One plus, he draws a nicely creepy looking Fiddler zombie in a couple of panels. Oh, and Ragdoll in a suit and bow tie is kind of cute.
If this had been an issue of Secret Six, I'd have enjoyed it more, as it could more acceptably be one-part of a multi-issue story. It's listed as an issue of Suicide Squad, but on a one-time return from the grave, essentially a one-shot, so I'd prefer a one-in-done story. I know those aren't common at DC or Marvel these days, but Ostrander and Simone know how to write a story like that, and still have other plot threads running through to be picked up in Secret Six. Maybe settle all the Black Lantern crap in this comic, then resume the Six/Squad conflict. Or vice versa. For all the beefs I had with BloodRayne: Revenge of the Butcheress, it tried to tell a complete story in one issue, which was nice, since it was a one-shot. Doesn't fill me with confidence for the other returning titles.
That concludes our reviewing programming for the day.
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