Frank's Salad Days - Comics Reviews

How Archie Goodwin turned The Punisher into the most famous Bounty Hunter in scifi history.

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"Deathstroke #4" I haven't really been a Deathstroke reader before this series started. It kind of has me at a disadvantage, each issue seems to be adding more and more backstory from previous titles that I'm just not aware of. Anyway, I still enjoy it. Could have done without the Harley "DC Deadpool" Quinn crossover, doesn't really fit the tone, but I do want to see him whip Batman's ass there from page the last. Team Florea and Morey do some excellent art, with a few occasional weird faces. Still great stuff, and I feel like I'm keeping my hand in at DC while I'm reading it.

The art is pretty damn good, Russell Dauterman and Matthew Wilson can do. My only complaint is that Girl Thor's helmet looks like that Bulletman Dildo head GI Joe from the 70s, it can go. Those frost giants look phenomenal. De-so, but once we whittle down to a Thor Singular I think it will be something else.

"The Dying and the Dead #1" Good lookin'. Ryan Bodenheim and Mike Garland sure can throw down on some mean art. If you're a fan of Jonathan Hickman, you'll recognize the trademark graphic design, the sombre tone, and the 'each sentence could be a tagline' dialogue. Strong stuff, a little weird, lots of mystery for later. More than one underground secret society. If you liked East of West this is your thang. Double-sized. RAW.

Beyond consistency, there is quality, and everything from the paperstock and layouts of the books, the "making of" panels, to the matching of the writing and art teams speak to a cohesion of vision that is simply absent in a market where you can go out this week and buy books side by side on the shelf featuring both a black and a white Captain America, and a live and kicking Wolverine several months past his recent death. "The Valiant" is a tie-in event book that clues you in to the key players from the different titles, threaded through the eyes of the Eternal Warrior and helmed by Matt Kindt and Jeff Lemire. Paolo Rivera with Joe Rivera carry over that Daredevil art vibe which makes the best use of that high quality paper stock. If you're not already a Valiant reader, its worth taking a look to see what you might be missing (also check out the Bleeding Monk #0 if you're trying to figure out if this is for you or not). RAW.

"Spawn" artist Szymon Kudranski has been tweeting photos of Punisher panels over the last few months...  From the captions some of them appear to be young versions of Frank Castle and Kingpin with a ponytail.  Is this the new mystery Garth Ennis project with young Frank in Vietnam, or is this a different project altogether?

"Winterworld #6" I haven't reviewed one of these in a while, for those of you who are unfamiliar, think pulp version of McCarthy's "The Road" in a frozen future. Its Chuck Dixon, and I'll read anything he puts on paper, so I'll be upfront that I'm biased when I tell you this is my kind of book. Scully and Wynn are still searching for the missing MRAP, Skitters and monkeyboy continue their rampage. It all seems to be coming to a head pretty soon.  Reminds me of Walking Dead before that series grew up and became lethally dull.  Grab the first couple issues of this current run, they have a TPB out as well.  Recommended: RAW.

"Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #4" I have no clue what is going on here.

"Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra #1" You give me Mike Costa on GI Joe and I don't give a shit who's team Snake Eyes is on, we all win.  Solid start, ties back in to the criminally under-appreciated "Cobra Files" and the current Joe series lumbering its way onto your LCS shelves. Little bit of minor setup to the premise, with an exposition heavy intro by Destro.  Costa has a descriptive style that gives the book a slight pessimism that defines the modern Joe books in the best of ways.  I feel like I'm missing a little backstory on Destro, but not to the extent I'm missing anything crucial.  You don't read the modern joe, this is a great place to step on board. Art by Paolo Villanelli and Joana Lafuente, fluid with plenty of action. Perfectly suited to this book. The new cover logo is my favorite Joe Logo since the 80s.  Recommended: RAW.

"Elektra #10"  I wonder how this is selling?  Probably not very well, because experimental books never do, but this is fast becoming my Go To in the top 5 books of 2014.  I can't say anything else about Michael Del Mundo and Marco D'Alfonso's art that isn't a cliche, but pulling from the top of the list, you have to see it to understand it. Tell me the childfaced knife-wielding monkeys aren't the most terrifying thing you've seen in comics this January. Storywise the title is a little tigher, a little more dense each issue. W. Haden Blackman goes into Bullseyes mind (literally), more globtrotting, and then back to the beginning for old enemies new again.  Stands alone, yet continues the narrative. This is one of the few plot-driven titles I truly enjoy, the events and characters are so wild and outlandish I'm not sure what personality Elektra even has.  She doesn't really need one, its all about the ride.  Direct counterpoint to the more narratively subdued Black Widow.  Like the art, I can't say enough good things about it.  All I know is 10 years from now you're going to see this run in Hardcover up there with the classics, RAW.

"Twilight Zone: Shadow and Substance #1" Won't go into the story, cause this is the Twilight Zone and the setup and twist is the whole point. Suffice to say, this is exactly the kind of story that you would expect from the old TV series, with that slight extra literary kick that only comics and prose can really pull off. I'm not familiar with Mark Rahner, but his writing is very good. Edu Menna and Thiago Riberio on the art, some of the faces can look a little wooden, but the composition of panel perspectives, especially in conversations, is dynamic and helps with less action oriented stories like this one. Excellent callback to the weird comics of the past. RAW.

"American Sniper"  I was really looking forward to loving this one, but its a rough ride, folks.  Essentially what you have is a family love story intersecting with a modern combat flick, unfortunately both are un-redeemably corny.  Think John Wayne's "The Green Berets" for the 21st century. About 30 minutes in I started to get a little uncomfortable with the bad cliches being loosely tossed around the screen, and at the point where his buddy tells him he's getting engaged on the way to battle and then immediately gets shot, we're getting perilously close to unintentional self-parody. Film is a "Best Of" montage of Emotional War Film tropes.  BTW the absolutely horrendous product placement for Zales diamonds in the dying words of his best friend sum up everything that is wrong with commercializing film productions. I believe the film wanted to be a combination of Blackhawk Down and the Hurt Locker, but as much as it pains me to say it, Eastwood doesn't really have the directing chops to pull off big action set pieces. Look back to  "A Perfect World", "Gran Torino" and "Unforgiven".  Great films, but not a lot of gunplay, its quick and over.  That's because in extended gun battles Clint's choreography is amateur hour: lots of jump cuts, anchored soldier locations, and overhead shots.  The action is about as exciting as Zero Dark Thirty, minus ZDT's dedication to realism. Special effects were unacceptable, with some last generation blood effects, flaming palm trees that clearly have propane torches in them, and the worst pregnant belly prosthesis since Schwarzenegger in "Junior".   Bradley Cooper does a LOT with what the script gives him, he overcomes a few scenes in spite of the script that goes nowhere and doesn't even pay attention to itself.  Yes, the wife does say the words "if you leave, we might not be here when you get back!" so you can check that one off your Overused Bad Dialogue Bingo card, but even worse, the script doesn't even have the courage of its convictions and the next time she shows up she's excited about him coming off his next tour.  One example, there's 20 more to choose from. There's a few decent scenes with an opposing sniper battle, though one of them is almost ruined when Cooper stops in the middle of a massive gunbattle to call his wife on a cellphone and tell her he loves her (jesus...).  With a better second unit director, some decent choreography and effects, and chopping 30 minutes or so of the stateside story, this might not have turned out that bad, but as it is its a disaster.  This is the kind of movie Lone Survivor was a welcome break from.  BOOTY, Not recommended. PS No sane human would ever jokingly point a pistol at his wife, whether its unloaded or not. They especially wouldn't then leave it in a living room full of kids.  I'm not sure what the fuck Clint was going for in that scene, I suspect it was some metaphor for Cooper finally reconciling his war life with his home life, but it came off as jarringly unrealistic, especially after he just finished teaching his kid hunting gun safety. PPS Yes there was a Punisher comic and a bunch of skulls in film, that part was pretty cool. I suspect Marvel asked for the Punisher comic book product placement in exchange for permissions to use the skull logos so prominently.

"SHIELD #2" If you're a high school janitor, that may not reflect poorly on your intelligence (Good Will Hunting did it and he was a genius), but I think it may comment on your life choices. Like what kind of re-re would find a paper bag marked "Pizza Dough" outside by the dumpster and decide that its proper place was the cafeteria kitchen?  That's the kind of story this is folks, definitely not Mark Waid at his most cerebral. The SHIELD comic attempts to address some of the shortcomings of the TV show by cramming more superhero cameos in these first two issues than "Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe".  Its not quite the same team as the TV show; here Coulson plays a savant of superhero lore who always knows exactly who has the right superpower to solve any problem, and the connections to call them in. The rest of the cast is present but decidedly less annoying. I gotta admit, if there's one Marvel character I've hated since age 5 its Mr. Fantastic.  Bad Nick Fury hair, cornier than rooster shit, a name like Liberace's less creative protege, and his super power is silly putty. Couldn't be more annoying, right?  How about you combine him with a 10th grade girl?  Holy shit it's Ms Marvel. Luckily she's only in this for a one shot, because between the stupidity of the plot (yes, the cafeteria workers are even less sanitary than the janitor and served the garbage dough to the students) and the stupidity of every character, by the last page I found myself... stupid.  BOOTY. PS Art by Ramos, Olazaba, and Delgado, in much the same style as Superior Spider-Man.  Still couldn't salvage this mess.

Recommendation: If you've already been through the Telltale title, there's nothing for you to see here (they sprinkle in a few foreshadowing clues like a donkey statue in the woodsman's apartment, but nothing noteworthy). If you haven't played the Telltale title, go do that first, the first episode is free on PC, iphone, or android, and is lightyears beyond this comic. The comic is $4 an issue, for a 5 issue series that's $20 total. The Telltale adventure is first episode free, and $5 an episode for the last four, that's also $20 total. The full interactive adventure is the same price features full cast and music, and lasts about 10 hours. You're getting far more bang for your buck, skip the book.