Kooky Comics Super Great Panel: "Extinction"

Sometimes in comics you just get a really gorgeous panel, here's one of them.


I'm referring to the last panel, the look conveyed on Vader's impliable armored visage is marvelous. The lighting in the previous panels were beautiful too. But the use of shadow in that expression is priceless. Here's a link to a closeup of the panel in question.

You can also find it in the Trade Paperback, Star Wars Tales: Volume One. It's the first story, called "Extinction". So, get to that!

Kooky Comics: It was the 80's

Yesterday I bought a copy of Fantastic Four #265. I was excited, it's a good little issue, with a great cover, and it's the introduction of She-Hulk as a member of the Fantastic Four. And it was in John Byrne's run, so all told a nice issue to have.

Then reading it I was reminded of the great un-ironic nature of the advertising.



Fancy stuff. You should see the ad for "Joust" on the inside front cover. Classic.

Covers: Green Arrow Black Canary #19

I really don't like this cover. For multiple reasons, actually. But mainly for Black Canary's cleavage. My point: Black Canary doesn't have exposed cleavage. Not just in this book, but ever. Now, I'm not railing against boobs, far from it, but I'd like an at least marginally accurate depiction of a favorite character of mine on her own book. Fuck me, but isn't that a reasonable expectation?

Kooky Comics Critique: Power Girl #1

I previously expressed my love for Power Girl (and not just her cleavage), and now that we've got us a Bona Fide Power Girl solo series, maybe we can get a monthly review going.

Now, this isn't a groundbreaking series. It's not Watchmen, it's not Maus, it's not Bone. It's a Superhero book, and a damn fucking good one. One issue in, the best way to describe the serie(s) is as "fun".

If you've read any other reviews you've already gotten that, sure. Whatever. But it's true. This is a plain fun comic. It is an absolute joy to read. Adding to that (or perhaps the reason) is the fantastic art from Amanda Carter, but more on that in a minute.

The issue opens with a page paying a quick nod to our hero's Kryptonian heritage. Cut to the actual issue, and we get a "fresh start" for Power Girl, she moves to New York, takes up her old identity of "Karen Starr", reopens her company, and generally is awesome. At this point we don't know if she's still in the JSA (I'd imagine so, but still), which may or may not be important. Amidst a pretty cool robot fight, we have flashbacks to Power Girls reemergence as Karen Starr.

It's in these pages that we see the character unfold. The action is action, her alternate life spells out her personality for now. Amid her interactions with new employees and crackpot scientists, there is the air of a real person. She's smart, friendly, and beautiful, but she's not afraid to kick some ass when she needs to. Power Girl has that fiery personality the plain Supergirl lacks. She's fun, but she don't take no shit.

The issue reveals Ultra-Humanite as this arc's baddie. As of one issue, his motives for conflict are unclear, so I can't go into too much detail on narrative. He's an old Superman bad guy, but we've been promised by the writers that we'll be seeing original villians in the future. Here's hoping they're good...

What I can say about the writing is that is presents an adequate level of comic narrative. It's not the greatest thing you'll ever read. It's not that kind of book. What it is is fun. I said it before, but there is some nifty dialogue in here. Just enough to elicit that occasional smirk. Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray give Power Girl the right voice, which is a huge boon in the male-centric Comic writing world.

And Amanda Conner's art, oh the art! Maybe I'll elaborate in further reviews, but it is really something else. This is her first long-term gig on an ongoing series, so I'm really hoping this will be the look for the forseeable run. She is absolutely the right artist for the job, however, and after this I don't want to see anybody else draw Power Girl again. The real treat for me was the facial expressions, which I'll try to have some examples of for the next installment.

I'll end this with Adam Hughes excellent varient cover for the issue. Again, really captures the fun tone that I hope will define the series.

tl;dr: Buy this book. $2.99 at your local comic shop!

Soundtracks That Sound The Same

I really like Howard Shore, but he pissed me off with his soundtrack to Dogma, The late 90's Kevin Smith picture. The climax to the film, in front of the church with the angelic massacre, has virtually the same score as The Lord of The Rings.

I know LotR came later, but its inclusion in this movie cheesed me to no end. I mean, really. It's not like he's as bad as John Williams (who does this all the fucking time, and from whom I've come to expect this), but I expected better of Howard Shore.

A pox on Howard Shore.