Mini-Series / TPB evaluation thread

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 3:21 pm

I finished a couple of mini-series that had some issues sitting around over the weekend & decided to start a thread to evaluate & recommend storylines that are either complete in a mini or available as a Trade paperback (TPB) or hardcover.

Evaluations as follows:

Green - Wonderful! I'd recommend others read this.

Orange - This was OK, but not really something I'd recommend. Not bad, but didn't work for me. Someone else might love this, though.

Red - I would not buy/read this again, given the option. NOT recommended.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 3:27 pm

Sweets (Image) - When I picked up #1 of this series written & drawn by Kody Chamberlain, I loved it. It's a mystery set in New Orleans with a detective on the trail of a serial killer. The art was great. Not standard comic book stuff, very moody & fits the story really nicely. However, as I got to the end of the series, the wrap up just didn't resonate with me. It wasn't bad, per se, it just didn't leave me with a "Wow! Loved it!" feeling.

Spontaneous (Oni) - This was another story, about a mystery involving spontaneous human combustion, where the resolution of the mystery totally failed to click with me. Great story up until the mystery was revealed. I'm not sure what would have had me high-fiving Joe Harris, but it was NOT the ending I got. The art by Brett Weldele was superb, though.

abysslord · Post by **abysslord** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 3:58 pm

Echoes (Minotaur (Image)) - I can't say enough about how much I liked this series.

"Brian Cohn is a diagnosed schizophrenic leading a simple, uncomplicated life in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. He's expecting his first child with his wife. When he goes to visit his estranged Alzheimer's afflicted father on his deathbed, the dying old man confesses to being a serial killer. Now Brian is faced with discovering a horrifying new side to his father and left wondering if we ever really escape familial legacies."

It's 5 issues, each issue keeps making you want to read more. It's black and white, which I think adds to the story and so does the art. If anyone has perceptions that comics are for kids or are only superheroes, this is a great book to give them because this is on par with any hollywood horror film I've seen, and I hope it gets translated into one. I should say the horror is purely psychological, not gore. Very creepy book.

Halcyon (Image) - The premise is great: What do the superheroes do if all crime stops? I think overall the story was good, and it left you satisfied albeit a touch confused. I think a little more development or characterization would have helped the resolution. But at the end I was satisfied and I enjoyed reading it a lot. If you like the premise, you should check it out.

The Light (Image) - I liked the premise: Something happens and anyone looking into the light burns out and dies ... or something like that. The art style was definitely more on the gritty side, but that actually kind of went with the story. But that's the problem, there really IS no story. I can sum up the entire 5 issue series in one sentence ... literally. Nothing happens. I wouldn't recommend it, and apparently no one is looking for it because my set will not sell on Ebay, even for like $5 all NM.

Last Mortal (Minotaur (Image)) - Guy tries to kill himself after a botched crime, finds out he can't die. I actually liked this but it was nothing special, and the art .... well it was weird. Sometimes it looked great, other times not. This series gets the "Wow great cover ... whoa, inside is totally different" award. Maybe check out the first issue to see if it's your thing.

The Mission (Image) - I loved this series, and not sure if another volume is coming or not. It's basically the movie "Frailty" in that an angel is telling this guy to kill 'person X' because he's bad. Is the angel real? Who is good/bad? What happens if he doesn't kill 'person x'? That's what this is about and the art fits the simple story. Very quick read and I liked it a lot, hoping for more.

Red Wing (Image) - Maybe I just couldn't remember everything between issues but I didn't really get this series. I think the premise of ships traveling through time while fighting was kind of cool, but it didn't go anywhere and the story wasn't very exciting ... it was just your basic time travel story after that. I was bored and only got #4 to complete the set.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 4:28 pm

abysslord wrote: Red Wing (Image) - Maybe I just couldn't remember everything between issues but I didn't really get this series. I think the premise of ships traveling through time while fighting was kind of cool, but it didn't go anywhere and the story wasn't very exciting ... it was just your basic time travel story after that. I was bored and only got #4 to complete the set.

Red Wing (Image) - In a differing opinion, I loved Red Wing. Pitarra's art really hit me the right way, it seemed a great compliment to the story. The time-travel story didn't seem basic to me, it felt like a cool concept that made me think hard about what was going on in every issue to keep things straight. Sometimes a story like that bugs me, but here I relished it. The sub-thread of fathers & sons that nicely tied together in the end was very cool also.

Nothing cut-and-dried here. From this 2 person sample, you can love it or hate it (like anything). And I'm guessing others will find it "just OK".

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 4:30 pm

abysslord wrote:Echoes (Minotaur (Image)) - I can't say enough about how much I liked this series.

I'll echo the green for this series. I thought Echoes was great. The HC is very spiffy if you missed the comics issues. The thing I liked most about this was it was exploring some pretty dark stuff but did it in a way that was compelling to read (and the tonal art by Ekedal meshed perfectly with the story).

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 5:10 pm

Screamland (Image) - I think this was originally slated to be an ongoing series but got ramped back to just the single story arc (#1 - #5) due to low sales. I really liked this one, about all the old movie monsters being real and now they're old out of work actors making money signing autographs on the convention circuit. The central mystery here is who killed the Invisible Man and what happened to the sex film he had in his possession from the '70s with all the different monsters on it (filmed in secret at a wild party he had hosted). Well done, tongue in cheek story with art to match.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 5:27 pm

Stan Lee's The Traveler (Boom!) - This one started off strong then sort of meandered around a bit in the center. The crossover with the other Stan Lee-iverse books didn't seem like they meshed that good with The Traveler. I was all ready to give this one an "OK" but then Waid pulled out sentimental ending on me in the last 4 pages of #12 that wrapped the whole story up with a bow and made an ending that left me feeling good about the series.

abysslord · Post by **abysslord** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 9:43 pm

BobBretall wrote:Stan Lee's The Traveler (Boom!) - This one started off strong then sort of meandered around a bit in the center. The crossover with the other Stan Lee-iverse books didn't seem like they meshed that good with The Traveler. I was all ready to give this one an "OK" but then Waid pulled out sentimental ending on me in the last 4 pages of #12 that wrapped the whole story up with a bow and made an ending that left me feeling good about the series.

I agree that the book started out strong [first arc was great], 2nd arc was typical Waid .... really got weird there. Last arc, the crossover, was an epic failure for all three Stan Lee titles.

BUT, I didn't get the same reaction at the end of #12 that you did. I felt like Waid kind of tied things up w/o making sense. I was confused and kind of thought "That was it?"

So I'd give all Lee titles at BOOM an orange.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 12:18 pm

abysslord wrote: BUT, I didn't get the same reaction at the end of #12 that you did. I felt like Waid kind of tied things up w/o making sense. I was confused and kind of thought "That was it?"

Maybe I was in a sentimental mood, but it worked for me, given that all the books were pretty much cancelled as of #12.

I'd agree that the crossover was an epic failure, they'd have been better off just skipping it.

spid · Post by **spid** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 1:43 pm

The American Way (Wildstorm) I saw this in a discount bin awhile ago so I figured I would give it a try. The series is set in the 60s, and ask what would happen if heroes existed in real world. The big hook is the government has sponsored a program to produce heroes in an effort to boost public morale. The book exams race relations, politics, and how far would you go to protect a lie.

Georges Jeanty does a great job with the art. I am surprised John Ridley, the writer, has not done more comic book work. I was really surprised with how well this book was put together.

boshuda · Post by **boshuda** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 1:44 pm

Silver Surfer: An All New Beginning
This was a recent mini-series that didn't retell the origin of the Silver Surfer, but instead forced Norrin to relive it. It also allowed him to reflect on how Shalla-Bal must have felt when he left her. It was a fun story that never slowed down, had multiple unexpected twists and turns, and developed the characters really well. The previously (to me) one-dimensional Silver Surfer was fleshed out in a way that has made him a character that I would like to start collecting in the future. The art was beautiful - Norrin's love of being the Surfer was clearly communicated and shared with us. And that splash page (issue 2?) where his feet are melting into his board? Beautiful!

Paul Nolan · Post by **Paul Nolan** » Sat Nov 26, 2011 1:31 pm

Cloak & Dagger: Spider-Island
Okay first I must admit C&D are the only characters I own all series for. That said this is a new high point for the characters. Nick Spencer intertwines the voices of Tandy and Tyrone to perfection and creates a story that really switches thing up. Emma Rios' slight line work is gorgeous as well.

highly recommended.

abysslord · Post by **abysslord** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:02 am

The Sword (Image) - I just finished reading this, it came out a few years ago. I think the first issue, and actually the first handful of issues, are perfect. From there it remains very well done and there is a LOT of story here within 24 issues. The ending is very satisfying except for one small detail that I may have missed, but at least you can know it's worth reading. Some long stories have no payoff at the end and it's a bummer.

I like the art style a lot, especially how the background was blurry often to establish depth.

abysslord · Post by **abysslord** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 10:38 pm

Key of Z (BOOM!) -Pretty cool take on your zombie story. It was like a mix of "The Warriors" and "Walking Dead" with three clans in NY trying to survive. The zombies hardly appeared at all though, so it wouldn't be fair to call this a zombie book.

I thought it was pretty well executed although at one point it jumped around with the narrative and I was confused ... not sure if that was due to reading many books between issues or the writer's fault. Either way, I just reread #1 and 2 and then I was fine. I'd recommend it, especially since 4 issues is a quick read.

J. Farrell · Post by **J. Farrell** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 2:27 pm

abysslord wrote:The Sword (Image) - I just finished reading this, it came out a few years ago. I think the first issue, and actually the first handful of issues, are perfect. From there it remains very well done and there is a LOT of story here within 24 issues. The ending is very satisfying except for one small detail that I may have missed, but at least you can know it's worth reading. Some long stories have no payoff at the end and it's a bummer.

I like the art style a lot, especially how the background was blurry often to establish depth.

Man, I loved this series. Can't wait for Whispers to get a little further along so I can read that. I liked the blur effect too. Luna is fantastic at showing depth, relative size, and speed.

On an aside, since I just read this thread for the first time and I just read The Red Wing a couple of weeks ago, gotta say I'm leaning toward your side with this one too. The art (in places) was decent, but I was actually startled by how poor some of the writing was, and how boring the whole thing was.