Portfolio: April

April:
Masters of the Universe

Anyone that knows me well must have known that this was coming.  Masters of the Universe is firmly entrenched in the "dream job" category for me, and always will be.  Hell, even before they were making Masters of the Universe comics again it was a dream job for me.  I wanted to be the one to resurrect the franchise.  At this point, I'll take a backup story, an online exclusive, hell, I'll take a variant cover, anything to live out my childhood dream of getting paid to draw He-Man kick some ass.

Comic Review: Masters of the Universe The Origin of Hordak #1

                It was a light week this week, so I’ve decided to review the newest spinoff from the Masters of the Universe franchise at DC.  This latest attempt to cash in on the successful relaunch of the licensed property brought to you by Keith Giffen on story (with Brian Keene) and pencils.  This is a one shot issue that explores the origin of Hordak, the leader of the evil horde and the current agitator over in the Masters of the Universe regular series.  Now is this a legitimate comic or just a cash grab?  That’s the $2.99 question.

Cover:

                The cover by Keith Giffen actually has something to do with the story and is not just a stock image of Hordak, though it would have been well within the right of Giffen to do it on a number one issue.  For that I give him extra credit.  The artwork is akin to a very rough Jack Kirby, similar to Erik Larsen but not quite as good in my opinion.  The coloring by Hi-Fi is decent, but I would think that Hordak’s “powers” would cast a little more light onto everything around it.  The coloring does follow a bit more of an “old school” type pattern (very flat with little to no definition added) so it actually coincides with the line art nicely in that respect.

                The main problem with the coloring is that everything starts to blend together, especially since they decided to color the sky an orange-yellow color and that just happens to be right behind a bunch of warm colors.  Nothing really pops.  Even Hordak’s “powers” tend to blend a little because everything has a very washed-out feeling to it.

5/10 – A serviceable cover, but not great.  It does the job, and shows a bit of narrative but could be better.  It looks rushed.

Story:

                The story is touted as the origin of Hordak, but when we see him, he is already Hordak.  Has he always looked like this?  Part of me thinks not because the big reveal in the story is that Hordak and Zodac are brothers.  Zodac looks human, at least as far as Masters of the Universe standards are concerned and yet Hordak is some kind of bat/vampire creature.  Something must have happened at some point and yet what we get in terms of an origin is that Hordak is Zodac’s brother.  How did Hordak come to join the horde?  Is Horde Prime still around?  What caused the transformation and how does he consume souls?  That’s the kind of stuff you would assume that an origin story would answer, not prattle on for twenty pages about nothing.  The biggest kick in the crotch comes from  the end, where Hordak looks like he’s all powerful and ready to take over the universe and it says to check out the regular comic for more involving Hordak.  I just spent $2.99 on an ad for the regular comic book.  Awesome.  There isn’t much more to say, this was a blatant cash-grab.

0/10 – You can’t expect me to give you a high mark when there was no real origin story within the pages, just a build up to try and get me to buy the regular series.  I’d say “for shame DC Comics” but you obviously don’t care about comic fans, so I won’t waste my breath.

Art:

                Giffen’s art is not terrible.  I do kind of enjoy how Kirby-esque it is, especially for a story that is supposedly an origin (and even tells you it takes place one million years before the birth of He-Man).  Having the art feel old-school just makes it feel almost like the comic should have come out in the 70’s. 

                That being said, the art is very inconsistent.  The characters looked markedly different from one panel to the next and it can get jarring at times, pulling you completely out of what little story there is to be pulled into. 

2/10 – I wasn’t impressed.  The little Batman silhouette on the second to last page may have been an inside joke by Giffen, but it just illuminates the point that this is a corporate comic released for no other reason than to make more money.

Overall:  1/10 - This may be the shortest review I’ve ever written but I can’t think of a more appropriate comic to throw the towel in on.

Comic Review - He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #2

                First of all, do not confuse this with the earlier review I did for He-Man comics from DC.  That was a limited series that apparently sold so well (it’s hard to imagine why) that it was turned into a regular series, now on its second issue.  Let’s see if this one is any better than the previous one (with pretty much the same creative team).

Cover:

                While I’m not a huge fan of the character redesigns, I like the cover itself.  This whole grim and gritty thing just doesn’t work for me on this particular title, and the character designs are a big part of that.  The cover by Howard Porter works very well as the villains definitely look imposing as they are crushing the titular hero.  However, the characters that are crushing the hero are Skeletor’s minions…that are nowhere to be found in the issue at all, so that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in terms of relating to the interiors. They are partnered with Adora, who is part of the Horde (Hordak’s gang) so that makes even less sense as to why this pairing would happen.  I kind of understand that the rest of the Horde has yet to be revealed and you may not want to do that on a cover, but stranger things have happened.   That being said, with what Porter is given , he does a great job of making it dynamic as well as highlighting Adora, who is the villain but will probably become the star of the book when she switches to She-Ra.  How does he do this you ask?  Look at the strategic placement of the swords held by He-Man, Adora and Tri-Clops.  I didn’t catch it at first but it is absolutely there.  The coloring is a little too muted, and doesn’t do much to pop, but it’s definitely better than many I have seen. 

6/10 – Good, not great but faaaaar better than the cover for the previous issue two.  I would like to see this as a print as I have a feeling that once the logos and corporate bullshit is removed and we can see all of the characters it will be even more impressive.

Story:

                 I have not been a fan of Keith Giffen’s treatment of these characters from the get-go.  The story in the limited series was creative and interesting enough to at least cause me to consider (along with my loyalty to the character) picking up this series.  However he seems to be repeating that story here, just with a different villain and showing us more of the setup.  Heroes are outmanned and outmuscled by their opponents and after getting beaten down, they must fight back.  That’s it.  The only difference between the two is that he had to give the characters amnesia in the limited series so that he could find a reason to reintroduce them all.  He doesn’t have to do that here so instead we get to see the conflict from the beginning.  Let me guess the next story arc, villains attack and overtake the heroes who in turn have to band together to mount a resistance.  Nailed it.

                Not only do we get a recycled plot, we are subjected to characters that are not themselves.  If Giffen was to write Superman and he didn’t sound like Superman, DC would throw a fit (especially with the movie coming out), but he can write Teela as a dumbass bitch and it’s okay?  She has always been written as a strong-willed take no prisoners kind of character, which is what always put her at odds with Adam who when he wasn’t He-Man was a slack-ass act before you think kind of guy.  When she goes on a tirade in this issue about how she wishes that anyone but Mekaneck would have escaped the city massacre because his powers aren’t “useful” it reeks of either Giffen not understanding the characters or he is using Teela as a mouthpiece to make fun of the property itself (something he also does when He-Man says that Hordak and people from another dimension are silly, to which King Randor states that a lot of things on Eternia are silly too).  I understand what he could be doing in both instances, Teela could be knocking Mekaneck down so that he can swoop in and save the day later in the arc, and Randor could be telling the audience that just because things seem silly doesn’t make them not real.  The problem is that the delivery is way off, particularly with the fact that the “old” Teela would be thinking of ways to utilize Mekaneck, not belittle him; plus Giffen has done so much to bastardize this property up to this point that it’s hard to take this as anything but a mocking tone. 

1/10 – The story would be fine if I didn’t just see the same damn thing in the last mini-series.  The voices of the characters are all wrong as well.  They deserve so much better than that.

Art:

                The art by Pop Mahn is actually pretty good (and is a huge step up from where it was at the beginning of the limited series.  I think the fact that the hair is not inked but is just colored with an outline that is the same color as the hair (it’s hard to describe, but take a look at it and you’ll see what I mean) is silly.  I’m not sure what it really brings to the table and if it is just a “style” thing, then it’s a style I find unimpressive.  The female characters look a little too skinny, unnaturally so and it doesn’t make sense how they can generate much power with such slight frames.  The sequence where Teela is grabbed and hurled off the roof is so unbelievable that I’m surprised it made it past the editor (ok, not really surprised) as it looks like Adora flicks her wrist and sends Teela hurtling off the rooftop.  

This sequence.  Also a great example of silly hair.

Was this poor storytelling on the part of the writer or the artist?  I have no idea, but it was probably the same guy that decided to have He-Man falling off a roof and then not show him landing, just already landed and picking himself up.  

Seriously, he goes from diving off a rooftop...to this.

An opportunity was missed to create an impact panel that could really show off He-Man’s power as he hurtled into the villains below, but what do I know, people actually pay you guys to create this stuff.

Oh hey, there's Battle Cat, not that He-Man notices.

It sounds like Randor may have thought his crown was a helmet, and upon testing that theory became a little brain damaged.  I can't say enough about how poorly these characters are written.

7/10 – More good but not great work.  Every piece of art I see pertaining to He-Man now just makes me miss Emiliano Santalucia’s work even more.

Overall:  4/10 – It could be good if they treated the title with the reverence that it deserved instead of as another cash grab.  Hey DC, leave licensed comics to the people that care about them.  

Comic Review: Masters of the Universe Origin of He-Man #1

            This comic week was actually quite small, which is nice considering the fact that next week will be substantial with the new Think Tank as well as a cavalcade of Transformers titles (so look for that promised Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye review next week).  It was therefore a good week to catch up with everyone’s favorite Eternian, He-Man, as he had two titles come out from DC Comics this month.  The mini-series concluded with a thud after it failed to really get off the ground at all in the first six issues.  The ending did set up the upcoming regular series (debuting in April if I remember correctly) pretty nicely, but if it wasn’t for my allegiance to the property itself, I wouldn’t even bat an eye at the comic, and wouldn’t expect it to last another 12-18 issues if the quality stays the same. 

            On a nicer note, Deathmatch #2 came out this week and it adds another layer to the mystery surrounding why the heroes and villains are captured and why they are being forced to kill one another.  It is by far one of the best and most complete comics on the shelves right now and is some of the best work that I have read from writer Paul Jenkins in recent memory (and that’s saying a lot considering his pedigree).  So while I am not reviewing #2 this week, I am declaring Deathmatch the winner, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns out to be one of the best comics of the year (so far, it has the crown).

            Anyway, back to the reason we are here.  With the release of Masters of the Universe Origin of He-Man #1, we are set to take a peek into what transformed Prince Adam into He-Man.  While DC has basically raped the franchise with their printed comics (I haven’t read the digital ones so I can’t really comment on those), they do have a chance to redeem themselves with a quality origin tale.  Let’s see how they do.

Cover:

            I like this cover by Ben Oliver.  I like the simplicity of it and the fact that it really highlights the nature of He-Man himself.  As much as Prince Adam doesn’t want to be defined by his sword, that’s exactly what He-Man is all about.  Adam doesn’t become He-Man until he takes out the sword and says the incantation.  The sword is the conduit and it is what transforms the man into the myth.  That’s one thing that I always loved about He-Man growing up, the mythological quality of it all.  The larger than life characters are a huge part of the story, but everything is basically centered around a guy and his sword.  This cover illustrates that perfectly, and having the cover be completely white aside from that image ensures that the focus is on that imagery and nothing else.    I am not even bothered too much by the fact that the sword is straight up and down because the image reflected in the sword is slightly tilted.  Oliver did a great job of making everything on this cover work together to create the best possible image.

9/10 – Good stuff.  The He-Man redemption project at DC is starting out well.

Story:

            I spoke too soon.  What this story by Joshua Hale Fialkov basically boils down to is that Prince Adam became He-Man because the Sorceress told him to.  That’s it.  This could have literally been done in one page.  Sure, we see a battle between Adam and Skeletor, a very one sided battle as Adam is quite the pussy at this point, but it’s not very compelling or interesting.  It’s just Skeletor looking for the power sword.  Adam gets crushed by rocks (apparently, as we never actually see this happening but when he wakes up from his Sorceress dreamtime he is covered in rubble), which I find it hard to believe he could survive through without being He-Man, but whatever.  The Sorceress then appears to him and tells him that he is He-Man and that he needs to grab the power sword (which conveniently lands next to him as he is crushed by rocks).  The sword then awakens the power of Greyskull in him and he emerges from the rubble to fight Skeletor.

            Okay.  Here’s the issue with that.  I realize that in the He-Man universe, there is a certain suspension of belief in terms of the Adam/He-Man transformation.  They look exactly the same, I get it.  How Skeletor and his henchmen, not to mention the people that are around both He-Man and Adam all the time don’t get it I will never understand.  At least Clark Kent wears glasses!  Skeletor (apparently) actually buries Adam under the rubble.  There is no one else in the room.  No one at all.  Then all of a sudden He-Man emerges from where Adam fell and Skeletor doesn’t seem the least bit skeptical.  I get it, it’s hard to say “how did you get there, where’s Adam” when you are fighting for your life against a sword-wielding Barbarian, but come on.  Eventually Skeletor loses (like he always does) and he would have time to digest what happened.  At that point, don’t you think logic would prevail?  Or is that the He-Man mythology now, that everyone knows from the beginning?  I realize that in the mini-series they know, but I thought that was because Adam was basically outed as He-Man when Skeletor took over. 

I don’t know, I am still trying to wrap my head around the whole Skeletor is He-Man’s uncle thing.  It just adds an unnecessary wrinkle to the whole mythology.  What purpose does it serve?  Skeletor thinking he got slighted as ruler of Eternia?  Guess what, Skeletor is an asshole, he doesn’t need a concrete reason to want to take over Eternia, and even if he did, you could come up with a better one that doesn’t require rewriting the mythology. 

1/10 – At least it was only $2.99, considering the fact that the bulk of the story was one or two pages in length with the rest being filler.  It’s official, the He-Man redemption project failed.  Thanks DC, first you take away Superman’s underpants and now you rewrote Masters of the Universe.  Thank you for ass-raping my childhood with a salad fork.

Art:

            The art by Ben Oliver is good.  The problem is what makes the art good probably has more to do with the colorists Jose Villarrubia and Kathryn Layno than it does Oliver.  Let me get this out of the way, Villaurrubia is a master, one of the best colorists working in the business today.  His partnership with Jae Lee has produced some of the best work of both of their careers and I was not surprised that a beautifully “painted” comic like this was his handiwork. 

            Because of the masterful job by Villarrubia and Layno, it is hard to judge the artwork by Oliver.  Where does his contributions end and that of the colorist begin? How much did they improve what he put down?  Therefore the best judge of Oliver’s work is the pages themselves in terms of their layout, composition and storytelling.  This is where Oliver loses me.  Each page looks like he sat down with a checklist of panel types and just tried to fit them in. Closeup – Check.  Extreme Closeup – Check.  Longshot – Check.  Mediumshot – Check.  Silhouette – Check.  And the silhouettes, good lord.  He does a decent job with them, but when there are eleven pages with silhouettes in a twenty page comic, that is either someone that is using the technique as a crutch, or just doesn’t want to draw an actual picture. 

            I don’t even want to get into the layout that DC comics made them adhere to that made sure there was an ad for one of their crappy capes comics pretty much every other page.  Talk about breaking up the flow of the story.  Damn.  This is one area that Image and independent comics have always and will always blow the big two away in.

This is the first page of the comic, and from the get-go you are asking "what the hell?"  Both He-Man (as Adam) and Skeletor are reaching for the sword at the same time, He-Man comes up with it, and yet Skeletor (who put Adam under that rubble in the first place) asks "who are you?" on the next page.  Give me a break. 

This page makes no sense because there is no context.  When does this happen?  What does this lead to?  Most of the book is a flashback except for maybe four pages (this being one of them) but while the present-day pages bookend the comic, this one gets thrown in the middle.  Poor story and editing.  The colors are pretty though.

Even though this page lacks any and all backgrounds, I still like it.  However if Skeletor can just toss Adam around like a ragdoll, you would think that the stone pillar falling on him would have done more damage.  

This is basically the only page this comic needs (minus the unnecessary silhouette).  Adam: "Why me?" Sorceress: "Because I said so."  There you have it, the entire origin of He-Man according to this comic.

5/10 – That’s five points for the coloring.  It’s hard to take the comic or Oliver too seriously when each page almost looks like an art school assignment to try and fit in the various kinds of panels.  I expected more, especially after that great cover.

Overall: 3/10 – A good cover is spoiled by terrible interiors.  Great coloring on the artwork cannot save a bad, boring story that is best suited for a two to three page backup and not a headliner.  I love silhouettes and when there are enough for me to stand up and take notice, then there are too many.  In short, don’t bother with DCs treatment of this property unless you are a die-hard He-Man fan and don’t mind having your childhood squashed on a monthly basis.  

Comic Review - Master's of the Universe #2

I have yet to review two issues of the same book, much less two consecutive issues, however, because the first issue came out July 1, and here we are on September 13, enough time has passed to warrant a fresh look (in my mind anyway, if you don’t agree then so be it). 

Cover:

            Ok, the fact that the cover actually pertains to the story is a bonus.  I like the traditional purple/orange color palette as well, and He-Man is drawn pretty well.  The problem here (and throughout the comic itself in general) is Trap Jaw.  If you grew up with the cartoon, and especially the action figures, in the ‘80s, there is a good chance that Trap Jaw was one of your favorites, as he was mine.  Here, he is presented as the leader of a nomadic tribe that captures He-Man/Adam.  Just the fact that on the cover Trap Jaw is depicted wearing a robe of some kind takes away from the general bad-assery of the character.  Trap Jaw is a tough guy that lost his jaw and had it replaced by a mechanical one.  He also has a right arm that can transform into various weapons/implements such as a gun or pincers.  Bad character designs aside, the strange way that the color from Trap Jaw dissipates over He-Man’s charging form could probably have been handled better.

5/10 – It’s an ok cover composition with decent coloring, but the actual drawing on everything but He-Man is not my cup of tea.

Story:

            The premise is great, and it provides a way for us to get introduced to the characters, especially for the audience that has yet to be exposed.  However it is written by someone that admitted (in an interview with CBR I believe, Google it if it interests you) that he wrote the character treatments before ever seeing an episode of the classic cartoon.  While it did not really show through too much in the first issue, this issue is a harsh reminder of that fact.  There is only one instance in this whole issue that comes across as an improvement on the existing characters.

Skeletor is pretty badass here.  Now if only Trap Jaw didn't look like some kind of robotic simpleton this would be a decent page

The rest of the time, the characters that we grew up with are relative caricatures of their former selves.  I will admit that the MV Creations series from the early 2000’s was a bit too campy and felt like it was taken a little too much from the cartoon, but at least it had the heart and soul of Masters of the Universe.  This is just a pale imitation.  I think that the most egregious story twist, aside from the terrible dialogue, is that He-Man is now Skeletor’s nephew.  Did I miss something over the last thirty years?  Is this something that was mentioned?  I know that Teela is the Sorceress’s daughter, but this whole “everyone is related” thing is ridiculous. 

            He-Man does some pretty stupid thing himself, such as ask the mysterious guys with the creepy red eyes for a drink of water.  Really?  I know Adam in the cartoon played dumb to throw people off his trail, but I think this iteration really is dumb. 

            The whole redesign of Trap Jaw is terrible too.  The fact that his hand now changes into stuff based on some kind of glowing dragon bug thing makes absolutely no sense and it is never actually touched upon aside from a one-panel drawing of the bug crawling out of his arm?  Huh?  This is what took two and a half months to produce?

2/10 – The only reason it’s at two instead of one is that page that makes Skeletor look like a badass.  Other than that, it’s a pretty terrible book.

Art:

            This book took two and a half months to publish and the original creative team of Robinson and Tan had to be assisted by Keith Giffen (writing) and Howard Porter (pencils).  Unfortunately the extra time and the extra sets of hands do nothing to help this book in terms of the content.  Porter’s pencils are not good as his proportions tend to go out of whack very easily and his panel and page layouts are way more confusing than they need to be.  While Tan’s page layouts are clearer and his anatomy at least a little more consistent, his character designs and storytelling are suspect.

So apparently Skeletor likes fruit and using the Darth Vadar "force choke".  Do you hear that sound?  It's the sound of my childhood weeping.

What just happened here?  Did he turn some random woman to stone?  Can he do that?  Why are his proportions so out of whack?  Does that happen when he turns people to stone?

This is the extent of explanation you get for Trap Jaw's shape-shifting arm.  Yup, that is no explanation at all. 

And....Teela's derp-face.  If that doesn't sum up this abortion of a comic book I don't know what does.

2/10 – What was Santalucia doing that they couldn’t get him to help out?  Anyone that worked on the MV Creations titles would have been a huge upgrade.  I know that this is not one of the New 52, DC, but fuck, put some thought into who you hire for projects that are based on longstanding licensed properties.

2/10 – Here’s what I want you to do; take your hand, ball it up into a fist, and punch yourself right in the face.  That’s about as much fun as this comic was to read.  Seriously, the best part of this comic was the double page Joe Kubert Memorium.

Pull List

Pull List

            Anyone that is a regular at a comic shop has what is known as a “pull list.”  This is basically just a subscription to individual books that the store owner or employees “pull” for them and set aside each week.  Even if that individual does not have a set pull list with the comic shop itself, they probably have a mental one that they go to whenever a new comic Wednesday comes around to make sure that they are getting to read their favorite series or creator. 

I currently have a mental pull list that is divided between monthly comic books (affectionately referred to in the business as floppies) and trade paperbacks.  When I was younger, especially when I was going to school at the Kubert school, my pull list was dominated by superheroes.  I had quite a bit of disposable income and there was a good chance that I was going to spend a substantial amount of it on comic books and related paraphernalia.  The majority of those superheroes resided in the Marvel Universe, with the exception being a few Batman issues here and there.  I eventually started to scale back my comic book buying when the quality of the stories and art did not match the investment (around the time I graduated the Kubert school in 2005).  Slowly I have started to get back into it more and more.  My pull list that basically consisted of Invincible trades and anything that Richard Moore produced grew into a fairly substantial yet rewarding group that is dominated much more by different, non-superhero fare (after a brief dalliance in the “New 52” that ended with a confirmation of my feelings on DC Comics and superhero comics in general).

            For those that would like to check out what I am reading, here is a list and short explanation as to why I read what I read.

Comics:

Think Tank- A new addition to the list.  All you need to know about why this is now a mainstay on my list can be found here.

Punk Rock Jesus- Also a new addition.  You can check out the review and a good explanation as to why you should give it a shot as well here.

KISS- I have always been a fan of not only KISS music, but also their comics.  You can check out my review of the first issue here.  It is not for everyone, but the story is decent and the art is some of the best on a KISS series since Angel Medina.

Masters of the Universe- The only true DC book that I am reading (or probably will read for that matter).  This is more for nostalgia’s sake than anything but it is not too terrible of a read if you want to get away from the superhero books.  Find the review to issue one here.

Mega Man- I have been a Mega Man fan since I was young, and I have passed that love for the blue bomber on to my son.  This book is for him as much as me, but it is a good read nonetheless, even if I am not too keen on Manga-styled art.

Trades/Graphic Novels:

Atomic Robo- This may be one of the most well written comics I have seen in a long time.  Nik and I have gone back and forth recently as to how well the weird science mixes with real life because of how the characters (especially Robo) react to it.  The art is superb as well.  I love the simple, open illustrations.  Plus, two words: Doctor Dinosaur! 

Berona’s War- The writing is a little rough at times, but the art is beautiful.  If you mix Saving Private Ryan with a Disney cartoon, you would get Berona’s War.  Highly recommended as an art book if nothing else.  Plus, as a fairly inexpensive hardcover offering, you can’t go wrong.

Invincible- I’ve been on the Invincible bandwagon since I picked up the first trade on a whim.  This is the best superhero book on the market and one of the most consistently good books of the last decade.  Plus, the sketches and process stuff in the back of the trades with commentary by creators Kirkman and Ottley are a phenomenal addition.

The Goon- This is a new addition as well.  After reading issue 40 a few weeks ago (the review can be found here) I knew that I had to get caught up quickly.  I am not all the way through the trades, but The Goon is a superb comic created by one of the best in the business in Eric Powell.

Mass Effect- I’ve long been a fan of the games, and the comics do a great job of expanding on the story and adding to the mythology of the Mass Effect universe.  The art is great considering the amount of different alien species and technology that makes up the universe itself.

Wizard of Oz series- The only Marvel comic I have or will purchase now has nothing to do with superheroes at all.  To be honest, I pick this up for the gorgeous Skottie Young art.  Eric Shanower’s story sticks very close to the original Oz books and the stories themselves have just not aged well (the initial book The Wizard of Oz is decent but I think that is only because of familiarity).  This is no knock on Shanower as he does the best he can with what he is given, but what seemed cute or even groundbreaking upon its initial release seems a little stale now.  Another book that can be purchased as an art book and nothing else and would still be as valuable.

Ghostbusters- Another book picked up on a whim that I could not put down.  Reading this series feels like watching a third movie, it is written so well and so spot on in terms of the individual voices to each of the already well established characters.  Why they have not approached this creative team to write the third Ghostbusters movie I have no idea.  The art is super cartoony but it is a style that I love and that fits with the subject matter very well. 

Elephantmen- I was late to this party as well but this series is incredible.  There are little gripes here and there about the art (coloring is often too dark) and the story can be a tad confusing at times (especially in the collections as they don’t always completely follow the numerical order of the issues themselves), but the overall series is awesome (and I’m a sucker for anthropomorphic animal series done well).  The best thing is the hardcover collections are jam-packed full of additional content.  Seriously, 2/3 of the collection is sketches and cover illustrations.  A beautiful addition to any collection.

Chew- I also came late to Chew, but I think I should get a pass on that as I converted Nik and his wife to the fold.  The art is consistently great and the stories are always well done.  Even reading them as trades, the recaps of Tony Chu’s cibopath powers never get old which is a testament to Layman’s ability to keep everything fresh.  My favorite part of the series is the additional stuff that you can find hidden in the background, be it pictures hanging on walls or messages written on a note on the fridge.  It’s like a where’s Waldo of hilarious extras.  You can tell Layman and Guillory have a lot of fun with this title.  Plus: Poyo!

            So what’s on your pull lists?  Anything I should be reading that I’m not?  Anything that I am reading that you think is garbage?  Try and convince me either way, I am always open for a good comic discussion!