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The
Pull-Box:
ShotgunReviews.com's Ongoing Comics Column
010.29.02
Intro by Troy Brownfield; Reviews by Matt McConnel and Jamie
Tarquini
Greetings,
as Stan Lee would say, culture lovers! We're trying a slightly
different approach for the Pull-Box this time out, echoing
what we've done lately with the Bento Box. Here are three
reviews provided by our anime guru, Matt McConnel, and the
immortal pmpknface himself, Jamie Tarquini.
Marionette
Generation
by Haruhiko Mikimoto
Rating: 
More info: www.viz.com
Review by Matt McConnel
Marionette Generation is an odd mix of genres. On the one
hand, it is a stock high school/early adult love story drama.
On the other, it is a fantastic (that is a description, not
a qualification) drama involving other worldly spirits. The
major failing of the manga is that it never seems to decide
between the two; while the integration can be smooth, the
jarring reality that these two ideas are being forced together
is nevertheless detrimental.
The strengths
are very apparent from the outset. The art is very good, but
then what would you expect from the person who designed Maccross.
While sometimes the panel transition can be a little less
than distinct, the flow is generally logical, and fairly easy
to follow. Unfortunately, Mikimoto has the tendency to over
dramatize a scene and this often takes precedent rather than
a clear picture. I suppose this is just his style, but on
the other hand, it can get kind of annoying.
The weakness
is not necessarily the story; it is more the waffling that
the story takes. On the one hand, there is our love challenged
hero, and on the other his mystically animated doll. The hero
is an illustrator who is having all sorts of romantic entanglements,
not least of whom is his future step-sister. This is TECHNICALY
not a problem, but hilarity must ensue with sexual tension
out in front waving the baton to the marching band. The doll
is Cabbage Patch-like and this little smidgen of weirdness
really doesn't cause issue until we find out exactly why the
doll is 'alive'. Ghost and spirits begin to cause mischief,
going so far as to pull some of the characters into a computer
role playing game. Both sides of this equation are equally
strong, and together they do reach an odd sort of symbiosis,
but it is a Dr. Morou sort of symbiosis at that.
There
really isn't much more one can say about Marionette Generation.
It is well done, engaging, and yet irksome at the same time.
The X-Files meets Gilmore Girls just does not work for me,
but obviously worked for someone. The key here is to appreciate
the beauty that even if it does not wholly succeed, it does
not fail, and in fact does very well for itself.
Marvel
Visionaries: STERANKO
Writers: Jim Steranko, Stan Lee, and Arnold Drake
Penciller: Jim Steranko
Inkers: Jim Steranko, Joe Sinnott, Tom Palmer, John Tartaglione
Color Restoration: Digital Chameleon
Letters: Herb Cooper, Sam Rosen, Art Simek,
Cover: Jim Steranko
Rating:
More info
on Jim Steranko: http://www.prevue.net/
Prevue Online Magazine
Review by Jamie Tarquini
Any fan
of comics who knows the history of the genre knows the name
Jim Steranko. Easily one of the top five most influential
comic creators of all time, what Steranko brought to the medium
can only be called monumental. The bulk of his most famous
work has already been reprinted in such volumes as "Nick Fury,
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." (which contains the Fury stories from
"Strange Tales" 151-168) and "Nick Fury: Who is Scorpio?"
(containing the "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." stories
he is responsible for), but his Marvel portfolio was still
incomplete.
Finally
Marvel has mined the archives for the last remaining works
that Steranko has published through them (minus his contributions
to FOOM Magazine, that he created). Appropriately part of
the Marvel Visionaries line and collected for the first time
between two covers are the following: "X-Men" #'s 50-51, his
classic work on "Captain America" #'s 110, 111, 113, the lead
in story to "Tower of Shadows" #1, the rare "Our Love Story"
#5, and thirteen random covers that are worth the $14.99 price
alone.
Without
even analyzing the comics themselves this trade is already
a great buy. You get 7 comics that are hard to find (in any
grade) and another dozen covers on top of that. Average that
out and it's less than the median $2.25 you are paying for
a book nowadays, and I'll personally guarantee that these
are already classics. Still not sold? How about if you added
up all of the near mint values for all the material offered
here it's almost $950! I will concede that you could get all
of these for less than that, but they won't hold up nearly
as nice compared to the colors and page quality of this book.
The trade
itself is put together very well. It clocks in bigger than
it looks with 128 pages, although it is missing an introduction
(something that Marvel has severely been lacking in lately,
but that's another story). All of the pages are printed on
slick, glossy paper that make the reworked colors shine against
the pristine white pages. I can't stand when companies skimp
out on reprinting the covers by shrinking them down or trying
to put more than one on a page - but there was no skimping
here. The covers for the stories printed here are full-page
shots with slightly smaller depictions of books in the cover
gallery that doesn't hinder the reader's enjoyment. I wish
they could have gotten Steranko to do a new cover for this
book or at least use the only cover (that I can think of)
that they forgot to put in here, "Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D."
#1, but I guess beggars can't be choosers. Captain America
always was his favorite hero anyway, so I guess that counts
for something.
I haven't
talked about the stories contained in this tome too much yet
because most of you may have already heard of or read them
at some point in time. Steranko's "Captain America" issues
are quite possibly the best Cap stories ever, and that is
a lot of competition he's up against. Often you may have read
about Rick Jones getting trained by Cap, well this is where
it happens. If you like what John Ney Reiber and John Cassaday
are currently doing on the title, read what it was like the
first time it was done. Cap fans also recently voted his cover
to "Captain America" #111 as the best "Captain America" cover
of all time.
Recently
I've been thinking of finding a copy of "X-men" #50 for the
cover alone, an amazing shot of Polaris surrounded by the
team and an aura of magnetic energy, without even knowing
the surreal power and beauty of what lies inside - let alone
the significance of the issue to any X-fan. If you never thought
you would be into either a romance or horror genre book either,
the last two stories here just might change your mind.
The only
reason one should not own this book is if you already have
the material in your collection. Of course, knowing the value
of what those comics bring might make you want to grab this
as a reading copy anyway. Even if you have purchased the "Essential
Captain America Volume 2 that contains the Steranko issues,
they don't come across nearly as astounding there as they
do in color.
If you
are new to collecting comics and want a book that contains
some of the classics and shows you where some of the inspiration
comes from that drives your favorite creators today than look
no further. Welcome to the world of Jim Steranko, a true comics
visionary.
Here is
an inventory of the covers listed in the Cover Gallery:
X-Men #49
Incredible Hulk, Special #1
Supernatural Thrillers #1 & 2
Fantastic Four #130 & 131
Creatures on the Loose #21 & 22
Nick Fury and his Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 & 2
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Vol. 2) #1 (this one a wrap-around
cover too!)
Tex Dawson, Gun Slinger #1
Western Gunfighters #14
The
Green Reefer #1
Writers: Yoshua Cortinas and Joshua Boulet
Pencils, Inks, Colors: Joshua Boulet
Read issue #1 online at: http://www.thereefer.com
Rating:
Review by Jamie Tarquini
I'm not
too into the underground, independent world of comics too
much but that will never prevent me from trying out new books.
You never know what you will stumble onto if you don't try
anything new, right? My latest jaunt into to the realm of
self-made comics brought me to "The Green Reefer." While it
certainly won't be winning any awards for originality or realism,
it is an entertaining read if nothing else.
The story
is centered on our two heroes, The Green Reefer and his pal
Six, who live in D-town and fight crime (when they feel like
it) along with the help of the two beautiful twins, Food and
Sex. When the twins discover a plot by Team Heroines for Evil
(or Team H.O.E) to destroy the entire male race, it's The
Green Reefer to the rescue! After dealing with the evil man-haters,
the blazing duo begin to enact a plan that will rid the world
of crime forever so they can sit on their asses and play PS2
without being bothered. The plan - getting the entire world
baked.
The humor
is the strongest point of the book, and is certainly not for
the kiddies, but isn't bad. At times it was a little too straightforward,
but the Batman spoof cracked me up. Since I'm a huge superhero
fan I can usually appreciate an attempt at comic-satire. With
the space station for finding crime, the comic woman builds,
and your typical superhero team in spandex this comic leaves
very few rocks unturned in the spoof department.
If you
have enjoyed any appearances of Jay and Silent Bob in Kevin
Smith's movies or the "Bluntman and Chronic" comic than you
would enjoy this book. There is a lot of raw humor and poking
fun of celebrities that we always enjoy. The main problem
is that it almost seems too similar to "Bluntman and Chronic"
only not as well done. There are jokes about lesbians, oral
sex, and things based around the fact that these guys are
just plain dumb (well they are drunk and baked all the time)
- and does any of this sound familiar?
Most of
the time what turns me off to underground comics is the to
the poor quality black and white art, but this was pretty
well rendered. The colors are bright, and the characters were
developed in a way that suits the tone of this book. I liked
the subtle sound effects and the use of bright colors too.
The backgrounds could use some work. They were minimal except
for wide establishing shots, and I didn't much care for the
photo backgrounds in the Home Depot scene either.
If you
enjoy this type of humor, or just have some time to kill at
work, give "The Green Reefer" a read. Just remember to keep
an open mind, and look out for the boss over your shoulder
Troy
Brownfield is the Editor-in-Chief of Shotgun Reviews. Email
Troy at psikotyk@aol.com
Matt McConnel, anime master, can be reached here.
Jamie Tarquini hopes that he can be Captain America when
he grows up; thus, he does not inhale. Visit his website at
http://www.pmpknface.com
or drop him an email at: pmpknface@hotmail.com
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