Archive for the ‘Nick Spencer’ Category

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #7 Review

Posted: May 21, 2011 in CAFU, Comic Book Review, DC Comics, Nick Spencer, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
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Written By: Nick Spencer

Penciled By: Cafu, Mike Grell, Nick Dragotta

Inked By: Bit

Coloring By: Santiago Arcas, Val Staples, Lee Loughridge

Lettering By: Patrick Brosseau

Edited By: Will Moss

Cover By: Fiona Staples

The Plot

A red headed woman is enjoying a nice time at home with her baby, listening to her favorite tunes on the radio.  And in the awesome “Kill Bill” style, we learn that this woman is no mere stay-at-home-mom.  Hold onto your asses everyone because you’re about to dive head first into a flashback sequence that will keep you gripping for more

My Awe Inspiring Opinion

When one states they are going to kill their mother, it’s usually rhetorical right?  In issue #7 of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents we are given a fantastic history lesson consisting of very little dialog and a lot of amazing artistic representations the Golden and silver age of comics, presenting two separate storylines that connect in strange ways.

The team has been established, which means a new disaster needs to occur so the agents can have something to do right?  Typically, comics go straight into the drama and action cold turkey, But #7 started us off nice and slow with a flashback sequence that knocked my socks off.  Spencer decided to give readers some time to lean about the villain before pumping through the upcoming story arc involving Iron Maiden and Dynamo.  For someone who knows nothing about the Tower Comic’s original series, it’s nice to have something to go off of and not “learn as I go.”

The book is separated into two sections, a main one presenting many mysteries and questions that will no doubt be answered within the next five issues, and a secondary one to help understand the relationship and sexual tension Iron Maiden and Dynamo secretly shared.  Both segments are fantastic and fun.  I can only assume that the main sequence is from a 60’s vantage point while the secondary storyline comes from an 80’s influence…and I ate them both up!

The main 60’s sequence presents a very sketched out look, paying homage to the classic “pin-up girl gone bad” motif and the stereotypical plastered smile that seems to plague the women of that era.  And while I love this segment to death, the shorter 80‘s segment blew me away both artistically and story wise.  Mike Grell and Val Staples perfectly execute that Flash Gordon, space age look, giving the women the those sharp eyebrows and luscious lips, and the men carrying all the burden of grit and rough-edged manlihood.  To top it all off, Nick Spencer shows he’s no stranger to corny and hilarious dialog and made me chuckle more than once.  I’m certainly excited to see what issue #8 brings us next month!

Nick Spencer, while it doesn’t show so much in this issue with the lack of dialog, writes out a magically wonderful tribute to vintage comics and how it influences the modern-age.  This issue has certainly got me excite for the upcoming issues of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in the next few months.

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

There are those who get frustrated by a comic that decreases the level of dialog for the sake of having great art.  Personally I don’t mind it provided that the art is stellar, which it is.  The fact that Colleen gets no more than two pages worth of stage times didn’t bother me as more will develop in the coming issues.  But no doubt, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents has become one of my favorite comic book series, right after Secret Six.

10 out of 10 stars

+ 2 incentive points.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #6 Review

Posted: April 16, 2011 in Bit, CAFU, Comic Book Review, DC Comics, Nick Spencer, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
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Written By: Nick Spencer

Artist: CAFU

Inker: Bit

Colorist: Santiago Arcas

Cover Artist: John Cassaday & Alex Sinclair

Letterer: Patrick Brosseau

Editor: Wil Moss

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

Half a year has passed us by since T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents first hit the comic book stands in its revitalized form.  So far, the title has been perfect, leaving so much room for expansion and in depth story telling that doesn’t typically appear to this degree in modern comics.

Within the title name itself, this title screams back to a time when comics had corny names and hokey dialogue.  This, in turn, calls for juxtaposing what the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents were versus what they are becoming now.  Spencer is giving us a much more solid grounding of story development to plant our feet on, feeling more secure and confident in the believability of this title’s premise.  We were hit pretty hard with issues 1 – 5, now we face #6 in a much slower and angst filled stillness…which is a perfect way to end the first arc and begin the new one.

Spencer is diving right into the consequences for becoming an agent wit no delay – where intense physical pain is expected, and a disconnection to the outside world and those you love is a normal way of life.  Not only that, but we see a much more realistic representation of what superheroes would feel if, in fact, they were real.  The happiness within the agents has disappeared, almost as if it were never there to begin with, and the hard truth about the choices they made in their past come back to haunt them.  Despite their glorious victory as a team over Spider, each character is still in their own secluded, individual dull drums and haven’t connected as a group yet.  Too often do new super teams develop friendships and bonds faster than they should.  Spencer brings three troubled men together on one team to show that it isn’t as easy as it looks to become a part of and find your place within a new organization.

Of course, amidst all of the darkness and disparity, Spencer knows how to pay tribute to the title’s campy stage in life to bring us a new bad guy…the Iron Maiden!  (Where are Bill and Ted’s and their air guitars when you need them?)  She seems to be more of the classic Anti-hero; preying on the men who disrespect women and use them as bags of sexual meat to consume on a daily basis, if not more.  I’m looking forward to seeing how Spencer fleshes this character out more.

Cafu and Bit take their usual quality and boost it up even more with amazing colors and top notch sketching abilities.  What sticks out to me the most is the dark and gothic nature of the book; with its shadows and low lite rooms which help to inspire tense and invigorating scenes which will have you begging for more.

In fact, I would say it’s the art which brings the story forward the most as Spencer spends little time with the dialogue between characters to allow for a more visually amplified book.

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion 

Everyone should honestly be picking up this title.  If money is a concern, drop one of your multiple Batman or Superman titles from your pull list and add T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents to the mix…you won’t be disappointed.

9 out of 10

Jimmy Olsen One-Shot Review

Posted: April 5, 2011 in Amanda Conner, Comic Book Review, DC Comics, Jimmy Olsen, Nick Spencer, RB Silva, Superboy, Supergirl, Superman, Uncategorized
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Written By: Nick Spencer

Artist: RB Silva with Amilcar Pinna

Inker: Dym & Rob Lean with Pinna

Colorist: Dave McCaig

Cover Artist: Amanda Conner

Letterer: Rob Leigh

Editor: Will Moss

My Awe-Inspiring Opinion

Who would have ever thought that Jimmy Olsen would go from being one of the biggest geeks in comic book history…to STILL being one of the biggest geeks in comic book history…but seem cool at the same time?

The Pickle Olsen Gets Himself in…

The Jimmy Olsen One-Shot comes to us at a time when Superman is taking is his afternoon stroll across America…which obviously means everything evil and demented will be thrown at Metropolis, leaving only Jimmy Olsen to clean up the mess.  But not before his girlfriend, Chloe dumps him for playing the hot new video game release of Superman: The Video Game!  (Queue epic music please!)

What follows is a series of catastrophic events which stick Jimmy in the line of fire that put both himself, the city of Metropolis, and the world in danger!  But these Earth shattering and angst driven catastrophes are more than just random occurrences with no meaning.  While not on purpose, everything Jimmy encounters all lead to an important truth about himself and the one he cares about the most.

And When All Is Said And Done…

Jimmy Olsen has grown so much within the comedic realm of comic books, but here in his own One-Shot we see a new development occur in his character.  The humor remains strong and predominant, but Jimmy (after all these years) truly is becoming a character with a lot of depth.

In a way, Spencer sends us on a journey of Olsen’s strongest and most intense fantasies in a series of tales; becoming a genie with all sorts of power, saving the world from an alien invasion, outsmarting an alien race of party-animals, overcoming his own desire to be like his idol Superman, and constantly battling his seedy arch nemesis, Catcher Block!….er, I mean Sebastien Mallory! But at the center of all this was his real-life conscious, Chloe.  Certainly his brains and cunning help him to overcome the trials and tribulations, but his true test lie with his friend and former lover.

It was a delight to see Jimmy grow in this degree.  Sure, he acted like a typical guy, trying to prove himself by pumping his three chests hairs out for the world (and Sebastien Mallory) to see, but we see by the books end that none of it really mattered if Chloe wasn’t apart of his life.  And it is in this end we see, while the two never officially get back together, real love at work.

But let’s skip all the sentimental, lovey duvey crap ok!  Let’s instead take another look at the incredibly awesome scene of Jimmy Olsen in the Superman costume, shouting his battle cry…

Click To Enlarge

Triumphant?  Yes, I know it is.  The humor in this book is nothing short perfection.  Jimmy’s clever ways of fixing these sticky situations in the absence of an all-powerful Superman is a comedic opportunity Nick Spencer capitalized on and didn’t disappoint. With incredible writing like this, why can’t DC give the young photographer back his own title?  It would quickly rise in popularity in the same degree that Power Girl did.

Speaking of which, isn’t that cover by Amanda Conner simply amazing?  In fact, the entire book was an artistic masterpiece with RB Silva and Dym helming the pencil and Crayola.  What a taxing process it must be to pump out 69 pages of art, never wavering on the quality and purpose behind each panel.  The facial expressions and body language of each character complimented Spencer’s writing perfectly.  Although, I wonder why Chloe continually gave me the jolting “horse eye.”  (just thumb through the pages and stop to look at Chloe’s face…you’ll see what I mean.)

My Majestically Climactic Conclusion

I completely agree with the comment made by AOL’s Comics Alliance plastered at the top of the cover, this is one of the top 10 comics of the year.  (2011, not 2010…geez!)  It was serious enough to feel enticing, but funny enough to keep me  smiling.  You’ll even get a Superman history lesson in the process!

10 out of 10 stars

Plus 1 incentive point