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05.17.05 by Dindrane @ 11:30 pm  When you read as much manga as I do, it's not often that a new title makes you salivate, much less weep with despair when you realize another volume won't be out for another two months. Basara is such a title. An apocalypse in the early 21st century turned the world into a vast desert, and Japan is now ruled by the bloodthirsty sons of a tyrant king. Hope still lives for the downtrodden people, however: a rebel chieftain has sired twins, and the prophet Nagi declares one of them, assumed to be the male Tatara, to be the "Child of Destiny." Upon Tatara's death at the hands of the Red King, Tatara's sister takes up his name, his legend, and his gender to prove that she is the real Child of Destiny. But can just plain Sarasa, who was never trained to lead, really pretend to be her brother, usher in a new age, and topple an empire? Part science-fiction, part romance, part mystery, and all adventure, Basara is the title to woo any manga fan. If you enjoy manga, but especially if you think manga and comics are for kids, then for all that's holy, give this one a try. Just remember, Needcoffee.com bears no responsibility for any legal fees incurred when you start sending threatening letters to the Viz translators to get them to hurry up. (Vol. 11's out, so catch up...and then wait, because then there's sixteen to go.) Categorized as: Comics and Reviews
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05.16.05 by Widge @ 4:05 pm  Here there be monsters. Where there be monsters? All over the place. But the reason you don't run into them just walking down the street is because of the Middleman. He deals with the beasties so you don't have to. Viper has released preview info for their upcoming title and you can get the entire skinnee here. It looks like it's going to be a hoot and a half, if you ask us. Categorized as: Comics
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05.11.05 by Widge @ 2:10 am 
Written by Brian K. Vaughan Published by Wildstorm/DC Comics (U.S.); Titan Books (U.K.) My Advice: Read it monthly. Mitchell Hundred was a civil engineer in the Big Apple, just a regular guy like anybody else. Then something bizarre happens, and next thing he knows he's gained the ability to talk to machines. He does what anybody in such a position would do: he becomes a real-life super hero, complete with crazy outfit. He does a lot of good, yes, but he feels like he can do more. So he runs for mayor of New York City...and wins. Thus begins Mitchell's story of his term in office, and there's no telling what kind of ending we're headed for...only that it's probably not too happy. Vaughan manages to prove with this series that Y: The Last Man (at least the first few story arcs) were not a fluke. He can take a seemingly simple idea (What if all the guys in the world dropped dead but one, what if a superhero decided to become mayor of New York) and wring it out thoroughly, taking it in directions you never considered. As a result, what could have been a pervert suit book in lesser hands becomes a fascinating drama filled with political intrigue, wheels within wheels, and...oh, yeah, by the way our lead guy's a meta.  Also commendable is how this book becomes one of the first to deal with 9/11 in a smart way. This is probably simply because it's not at Marvel, but also because it's handled without hoopla and is fairly straightforward. The blurb on the back of the book plays it up more than the book itself, so that's refreshing. Again, we're not at Marvel. Hundred's also a compelling protagonist because he's got the streak in him that we seldom see anymore in comics: he's just an average guy who's trying to do the right thing. And it's wild that in the story arc we have here, he's not only facing somebody offing snow plow drivers in his city, but Hundred is also having to deal with a controversial painting dealing with racism. What a villain, eh? Tony Harris' artwork is even smoother than what I saw of his Starman work. He's got the kind of facial expressions and detail you expect from somebody like Kevin Maguire, and a sampling of the photos Harris used for reference are included in the back, a nice addition. There's also a cast of characters giving credit to the main models. Nice. Basically the art is crisp and there's no doubt as to what you're looking at on the page. The book is good. I'm hoping it stays sharp and doesn't waver like Y has seemed to do recently, but the book's good enough in this arc so I can tell you to pick the damn thing up and then grab the individual issues as they hit. It's one of the few books on stands these days worth selling out the coin for. Order Ex Machina Vol. 1: The First Hundred Days from Amazon! (US) (UK) (CAN) Categorized as: Comics and Reviews
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04.08.05 by Widge @ 4:03 pm  When we first heard about this project, we couldn't decide if the folks behind it were brilliant or cracked. Or both. But in an industry where Blue Beetle's getting shot in the head and spending four issues uselessly flogging the Avengers into quitting are both considered genius moves, we'll give anything new the benefit of the doubt. Thus, coming out on Mr. T's birthday (5/21) is Mr. T #1 from AP Comics which promises to have the 80s icon delivering massive beatdowns to the deserving. Neil Edwards is providing the artwork, and Chris Bunting, who our readers across the pond will know from writing Action Man and The Lexian Chronicles, is scribing this. For more info and a glimpse of the art, check it out here. We'll advise of the cracked/brilliant factor as soon as we know more. Categorized as: Comics
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07.18.04 by Widge @ 2:00 am  Identity Crisis #2 from DC. Brad Meltzer (Writer); Rags Morales (Penciller); Michael Baia (Inker); Alex Sinclair (Colorist); Kenny Lopez (Letterer). What do you do when it's not shocking enough to have a much-beloved female character--who happens to be pregnant--get brutally murdered in your first issue? Why, have more brutality and wanton violence happen to the same character in a flashback in this issue. The first issue's events worked well enough in context, but this time DC has really gone too far. Throwing subtlety out the window, they make certain you know what happened (because it takes place over a page and a half), and then turn the perp into a raving, drooling loonbag afterwards who enjoys reliving and sharing the experience. There's a time and place to have gritty, morally ambivalent heroes--this is not it. Especially when there's no "mature readers" tag on the cover. And especially now that we know one character to have been an assault survivor all this time and the rest of the heroes that we've grown up reading to be more fallible than is necessary to tell a story. It's unbelievable that DC has sunk even lower than Marvel when it comes to shock-for-shock's-sake writing. Actually, it's really not--what with Nightwing having potentially nonconsensual sex in his title and DC touting a six-issue JLA story arc that shows the heroes failing in each issue. The fanboys are already lining up to talk about this issue: how it's impressive and deep and I bet they'd throw the word "gravitas" around if they could only spell it. But frankly, they're wrong. This isn't deep, dramatic storytelling. It's reprehensible. And sadly, it will sell like hotcakes. Categorized as: Comics
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