Comic Review: Avengers vs. X-Men 0-12 (April to October 2012)

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Language: English

The Writers:

1. Jason Aaron

2. Brian Michael Bendis (winner of 5 Eisner Awards)

3. Ed Brubaker (winner of 4 Eisner Awards)

4. Matt Fraction (winner of 1 Eisner Award)

5. Jonathan Hickman

The Pencillers:

1. John Romita, Jr.

2. Oliver Coipel

3. Adam Kubert

by Rogue

Synopsis:

The Phoenix Force is approaching Earth, and in the events of Avengers: X-Sanction we

learn Hope Summers is its next host. Unfortunately the X-Men and Avengers have very

different ideas on how to handle the situation and it breaks out into a war.

*NOTE: This event closes an arc that started with House of M in 2005 and it launches

Marvel into their Marvel NOW! relaunch initiative.

Review:

Story:

The concept is not particularly original since we’ve already read heroes battling heroes

(Civil War), but AvX does contain some unexpected twists and turns. It should not be read

as a stand alone, it has a poor introduction to the events and characters, and references

past events. I suggest reading the “Dark Phoenix Saga” (The X-Men #129-138), Avengers:

Disassembled (Avengers #500-503), House of M, Messiah Complex, X-Men: Second

Coming, and Avengers:X-Sanction. The event starts out action packed and well written,

but as it reaches the middle it loses focus, it gets boring and drags on forever. If the writers

would have used a couple more issues for the set up and premise of the story instead of

rushing headfirst into the action and conflict, they wouldn’t have had a climax at the 5th

issue and then had to drag out 7 issues of falling action. It’s not a bad story, it simply didn’t

need 12 issues to be told.

Execution:

Some issues were more successful than others. Issues by Brian Michael Bendis (#0, #1,

#8, and #11) were the best executed in my opinion, but sometime after issue #6 it gets

messy. Everything from issue #7 to #10 is the equivalent of a Zack Snyder movie (300,

Watchmen, Man of Steel), loud, lots of explosions, and could be done in one issue. It was

just too much. The most worrying thing was that I could identify which writer wrote which

issue, they had their stamp all over the page making it impossible for the story to flow. One

writer (or two at the most) should have done the script for the entire 12 issues to keep the

event clean and consistent.

Artwork:

Out of the three artists that illustrated AvX, I would have to single out Oliver Coipel as the

most successful, and occasionally John Romita, Jr. They were able to illustrate clean and

concisely a battle between a cast of 78+ characters. Unfortunately Adam Kubert wasn’t as

successful and it shows in his panels, they’re crowded, muddled and inconsistent.

Characterization and Character Development:

For an event called Avengers vs. X-Men, there’s not a whole lot of Avenger action going

on with the exception of Captain America and the Scarlet Witch (who is not exactly an

Avenger at this moment). On the other hand the X-Men are everywhere; Cyclops, Hope

Summers, and a random cast that I still don’t understand why they were chosen.

Personally, the only character who I saw change throughout the event was Cyclops, who

despite not being a favorite of mine, I was glad in the shift in his demeanor after 48+ years.

Issue #11 is my favorite out of the entire event, because it illustrates the relationship

between Cyclops and Xavier that has been strained since the events of X-Men:Deadly

Genesis (I highly recommend this title). Other than that, the characters weren’t nearly as

interesting as they have been in past events.

Conclusion:

This event is not essential for anyone interested in reading Marvel NOW! I appreciated

some aspects of it but it is not at the quality that it should have been. It’s not awful, but it’s

not great either.

TEEN TITANS #1 (2014)

Publisher: DC Comics

Classification: Teen

Language: English

Writer(s): Will Pfeifer 

Penciller: Kenneth Rocafort

Coloring: Dan Brown

Cover Price: $2.99

Page Count:  32

by Samurai Millo

Synopsis:

The following is a description of the comic taken from the official website of DC Comics:

“Red Robin, Wonder Girl, Raven, Bunker and Beast Boy step out of the shadows of the adult heroes of the DC Universe to offer bold, exciting and sometime dangerous ideas on how to protect a world full of super powered teenagers – any one of whom could be the next heroic figure or major villain!”

Review:

This is the second #1 issue of this title since the reboot of the DC Universe in 2011. Whatever motivated the editorial minds to do such a thing is unknown to me and frankly I don’t care. What matters to me is to find to out if whether or not this new first issue meets the expectations of a first issue. In other words, is this a good entry point for new readers? Let’s see.

On the positive side this story makes no reference whatsoever to plot points or any event from the previous series, which is good for that fresh start feeling that every first issue deserves. All the main characters are addressed by their superhero names at least once, which is important so the new readers can identify (code-name wise) who’s who more easily. On the negative, this story doesn’t give us any basic backstory on the team members and what their powers are. Back to the positive side, the main story is fast paced and entertaining. It succeeds in showing the Teen Titans as a very well trained and coordinated superhero team, except at the end when one of the members makes a very stupid public relations boo-boo.

Speaking of well-coordinated teams the writer/penciller duo of Will Pfeifer and Kenneth Rocafort made a very positive first impression on me with this issue. The plot didn’t drag on and the dialogue was very enjoyable. Rocafort’s art was its usual brand of awesome. His penciling has been evolving through the years and his recent work in Superman and now in Teen Titans show a pleasing improvement. Curiously I found his style of panel distribution reminiscent of Todd McFarlane’s technique during his days at “Infinity Inc.” during the 1980’s. And between Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 and Teen Titans #1 Rocafort has two first issues under his belt.

So in closing, I advise you to check out Teen Titans #1.

Dave Dwonch Interview!

The Geek Whale team had the amazing opportunity to interview Dave Dwonch creator of Space-Time Condominium, Vamplets and one of the founders of Action Lab Entertainment!

Interview: Josue Acevedo Creator of Life Span, Artist of God Shop and Flaming Pie

By Aliraluna

When did you decide to be a mangaka and how did you start?

A: I think it was when I was around 15 years old.  I’ve been drawing since I was 3, I took a lot of art courses since then too.  I discovered Anime and manga at the age of 10.  But yeah, I started taking a serious approach to it when I turned 15.  I began buying a lot of comic creation books, educational ones, to learn paneling and sequential art.  Then branched out to manga art to catch the differences between both styles and see what I could and could not do.

Can you tell us a little bit about your current and future works?

A:  I’ve been working professionally for writers since 2008, so I decided I wanted to stretch my own story telling muscles again and created LifeSpan.  That manga recollects a lot of lucid dreams I’ve had for years and condenses them in a cohesive story.  I’m also self-publishing it, just to see how far I can get with it; it’s a personal challenge.  The future is uncertain for now.  All I can say is that we’re working hard to publish two stories (God Shop and Flaming Pie) written by a long time friend/editor Alan J. Porter. We’re closer to transform Flaming into a serialized manga sooner, but I can’t give too much detail yet.

You were published by Tokyopop on 2008 along with Alan J. Porter (the writer of God Shop) how was that experience?

A:  It was a fun one, very hard too, a great learning experience.  The editors were easy on me, or maybe they thought my work was good enough hahahahaha.  But not everything was smooth sailing, Tokyopop was dying, they cut one of my editors on the fly and just assigned me a new one that didn’t seem to care that much for the project.  Nonetheless we got to finish it, I got paid and we all lived happily ever after.

  Which is the easiest and hardest part of a drawing to develop?

  A: If we talk about a technical level, proportions are always a tricky part of art.  In the sequential part of things is continuity, making sure that your character looks the same in every panel.  And in context of creation, the background of a character, making him/her interesting for readers.

What helps you to get inspired when you are working?

A: Reading my favorite manga stories is always a great source for inspiration.  Also, listening to great music gets my hype rolling…

  What do you like to do in your free time?

A: Gaming, watching movies, and spending time with my wife J.

Do you have any tips for those future mangaka?

A:  Well, learn a lot of anatomy, real one, you have to learn how a realistic human body works and looks to then make alterations.  Know the rule so you can bend it, practice at least one and two points perspective.  Draw your characters in all possible angles you can challenge yourself to, draw a little more.  Respect the source material, if you’re drawing manga, research it, learn from “how to…” books, read a lot of it and study them.  Manga is not just drawing characters with pointy hair and bloody noses, there’s a lot more to it.  Participate in all contests that you can even if you fail all of them.  You’ll have professionals giving you feedback that will greatly help you grow.  We’re humans and we get depressed easily, just be strong and never stop fighting for what you want.  

Why Tragedy Should Not Be the Norm but the Exception Part 2

By Snow Drift

Many months ago, Dan Didio said “Heroes shouldn't have happy personal lives. They are committed to being that person and committed to defending others at the sacrifice of their own personal interests. […] It’s wonderful that they try to establish personal lives, but it’s equally important that they set them aside. That is our mandate, that is our edict and that is our stand,” emphasizing how people, to truly be heroes, need to have tragedies and sacrifices in their lives. To him, a person cannot care about humanity without them suffering tragedies over and over again. To him, without tragedy, there is no motivation to save. To him, a hero having a happy personal life is a subtraction of their heroic selves. I personally believe him to be incorrect. 

   

I believe that what many readers, since the humble origins of comics, have found so enticing and endearing about comic book superheroes is not simply their fights and superhuman adventures, but the fact that these men and women are symbols of hope. Superman decided to help humanity out of his own will and love for it. Wonder Woman, also known as Princess Diana, saw that Man’s World could still be saved through peace and love. Green Arrow aka Oliver Queen saw that even the most cornered citizens of the world deserved to live in safety. These people loved humanity and its potential so much that they saw their salvation was worth it. It goes beyond the notion of it being simply “the right thing to do”: it’s about how these men and women believe in the goodness of humanity at its core; that every single human, if given the chance and being guided when needed, can become heroes too. Each person deserves to live, to love, to give, and to receive.

   

For love for humanity to manifest itself to such an extent that Barry Allen would sacrifice his life in Crisis on Infinite Earths, for Superman to do the same when fighting Doomsday, for Charles Xavier and his X-Men to fight for the unity of humans and mutants; it all comes down to their own experiences of love. These heroes feeling that they can belong, that they are loved and cherished by people who will always be by their side, who will always smile at them at the end of the day and say “you did good”, is what motivates many of them to keep getting up every day to fight the evils of the universe. Because we must all remember that these characters, be they humans, aliens, spirits, or machines, still feel. They still experience emotions, from happiness to anger to pain; they still experience loss and loneliness, desperation and hopelessness. For them to have the strength and courage to fight incredible odds every day, they need to be reassured that their struggle has a reason to exist. Lois Lane always being there for Clark Kent to keep him grounded and hopeful and full of love; the Amazons of Themyscira nurturing and loving Diana throughout all of her life, Supergirl and Superboy having found a family with the Kents, Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle, being able to find a home where a family awaits him with pride and love, and the Bat Family, from Dick Grayson to Cassandra Cain to Damian Wayne, finding all of the same in Bruce Wayne, who himself found it in Alfred. In a world where everything is in constant tragedy and suffering, is very hard for an individual, one like any of us, to jump in and proclaim at the top of their lungs that they will save everyone until the very end of time. If they do not have a backdrop, an experience of love and compassion in their own lives, then they cannot see the same in the world outside of their own private lives.

Because these heroes are not gods or the Messiah or anything equivalent to those; they are not people who were born with the purest of hearts, chosen by a divine entity to save the universe from the darkness and evil. These are people who were born to have the same probabilities of either having a normal or abnormal life, depending on their future circumstances. None of them are perfect; they have all done their mistakes and erroneous decisions. Some have harbored prejudice where there was none to be deserved, others have not had the ability to be a proper parent, brother, sister, lover, or friend. However, they struggle to do better and we, as readers, witnessing their development and transformations into heroes are what motivate us to keep up with their lives.

Again, is it bad to have heroes whose motivation is based on tragedy and who keep experiencing it multiple times? No, it is not, nor is it bad for someone to have interest in these type of stories. But if every single hero in a comic book universe is made to be tragic from beginning to end, then this fictional plane of existence will drown itself in the darkness and whatever happens in this will affect reality, for fiction does not exist in a vacuum; it has consequences on the lives of the readers.

All in all, there is an incredible importance for these heroes to have a semblance of happiness in their lives. Some of their back-stories might be tragic or maybe their ultimate suffering will come later on in their adulthood, but to have them submerged into absolute darkness takes away what is essential of their beings.

   

Heroes are not named as such for their capes, their poses, or their powers. Their true heroism comes from not only physically saving innocents, but from also inspiring the same to do better; to fight, to run, and to stand again and again every time they fall, for we all have the strength and hope in ourselves to stare at the darkness and say “No. You may push me, you may wound me, but you will never stop me, for I am strong and live by the power of love and hope.” And so does everyone.  

Chicacabra

Review by: Samurai Millo's

Publisher: IDW

Title: "Chicacabra!"

Language: English

Writer: Tom Beland

Penciller: Tom Beland

Inker: Tom Beland

Coloring: Black & White

Letterer: Tom Beland

Editor: Chris Ryall

Cover Price: $17.99

Page Count:  200 pages

Sale Date: June 11, 2014

Plot Synopsis

  The following excerpt was taken from a post at the Comic Book Resources web page. Click here for the original article.

“In Puerto Rico, there is a girl, Isabel Sanchez, who could be like any other girl you see in high school… except for the creature who lives inside of her that's a ruthless killing machine.”

Review

   I bought this book with the pre- conceived idea that I was going to read a very fun, very light adventure story about a girl turns into a Chupacabra, I was dead wrong. This is not your run of the mill fantasy tale, no way. This is so much more.

   This is the story of Isabel Sanchez, a girl who has lost a lot and also gains a lot; of Uncle Tony, a man who, no matter how hard it may be, must be the rock from which Isabel must hold on; of Angel Muñoz, a young man whose own personal journey crosses paths with Isabel’s. This is a story about the human condition set in today’s frantic society. This is a story about the loss of things that are most precious to us and the pain that comes with that, about how easy it is to destroy someone else’s dreams and how hard it is to achieve forgiveness and redemption on account of such transgression. The Chicacabra is the gravy of that big juicy steak of a story.

   After putting together this tale, Tom Beland has evolved and moved to the next level in that continuous journey that is the process of artistic growth. He has grown and evolved both as a cartoonist and as a storyteller by getting out of his comfort zone and giving us a story that is written and drawn in a very clear, very direct style in order to bring us not only the dynamic and heart wrenching journey of Isabel Sanchez and her Chicacabra but also giving us a most lucid portrayal of today’s Puertorrican youth with all their hopes and dreams together with all their fears and frustrations.

   When you read Chicacabra you will find action and adventure, laugh and tears, triumph and tragedy, you will get it all and you will be left wanting more. Buy this book, you won’t regret it.

Why Tragedy Should Not Be the Norm, but the Exception Part 1

By Snow Drift 

Ah, tragedy. You’re misery, you’re pain, but gosh darn it aren’t you so luring. From Oedipus Rex to Romeo and Juliet to Batman, you follow us all around the world, across all of time, giving us an infinitude of stories where men and women suffer and die. And sometimes we love it so much. 

Tragedy has always been a literary aspect for thousands of years that have helped create drama and compelling and memorable characters. And sometimes, within our hearts of hearts, we love to see this side of characters. It’s interesting, one has to admit, to witness the growth of a man or woman from their fall into the metaphorical darkness of misery and despair to their stand as beacons of light for humanity, both in the fictional universe and the real one.
  
However, ever since the birth of what can be called the Dark Age of comics (what many believe began with the death of Gwen Stacy, but that is still being debated), but especially with the explosion that was the DC Comics company-wide reboot, the New 52, almost every single superhero, no matter who they are and where they come from, have a massive pile of tragedy thrust into their lives, with an added dose of the oh so famous “grim and gritty”. Superman’s adoptive parents are now dead; Barry Allen’s, the Flash’s, mother was murdered by one of his enemies and his father was erroneously condemned to life in prison because of it; Hal Jordan’s, the Green Lantern’s, father was killed in a plane crash; Bruce Wayne has had two Robins actually die, including his son; the Amazons are now men-and-baby killing warriors; Buddy Baker’s, Animal Man’s, son has been killed and so on and so forth. 

On and on and on do we see this new tendency to infiltrate tragedy into the lives of our heroes over at DC Comics. Is it bad to do this? Not necessarily, since many heroes may have different motivations for their actions and decisions to fight as vigilantes. Batman and the Punisher are classical examples of men motivated by tragedy, along with Peter Parker with his Uncle Ben, Cassandra Cain with experiencing what it feels like to kill another human, and Helena Bertinelli, the Huntress, with the massacre of her family, these last being based on the old DC Universe. It’s fascinating to see how these characters attempt to right the wrongs of these tragedies and avoid the same events from happening to others who do not deserve it. To see them fight and struggle for these beliefs is enriching in itself. However, among these characters and many others, there is another tendency that follows them around, along with the memories of their tragedies: their happiness, especially the one coming from their loved ones.

Bruce Wayne could have ended up hating the world that he lived in. He could have witnessed the crimes, the injustice, and the corruption of the police and justice system and determined to himself that society was a lost cause; that it did not deserve, or was unable to reach, a future of happiness and peace. But he didn't, because within the tragedy of the murder of his parents, he had the opportunity to witness love and comfort from Alfred Pennyworth, hope in the police from Commissioner James Gordon, joy and innocence against all odds from Dick Grayson back when he was Robin, and so on. He saw all of that and understood that life, and the world, was made up of more than just hate and misery: it had love, it had happiness, and it had justice. 

Interview: JA Comics Creators of the Little Reaper in Love

By Aliraluna

1. How did you both come up with the idea of creating this unique comic and why?

It started as a final project in college. The assignment was to bind a collection of poems or whatever we wanted; it just had to be more than a few pages. We decided to work together in something different and made a coloring book featuring our Little Reaper. The Little Reaper himself was product of random doodling by Ariana. It was one of those moments were an artist imagines this whole world around a single character. Later on, we spoke about starting a web-comic and after brainstorming a bunch of ideas, we realized that we had the perfect characters and settings all along! And that’s how it came to be.

2. Tell us a bit about both of you.

Both of us were born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. Ariana resides in Carolina, while Jessica lives in San Juan. We graduated from the University of Puerto Rico in Carolina with a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Arts. In our free time we like to work on original art in various mediums (original characters, fun settings, cute situations, etc.)

Ariana Reyes

DOB: August 4 1989

Zodiac sign: Leo

On her free time she browses the Internet for new web-comics to read. Her favorite comic of all time is Bill Waterson’s “Calvin and Hobbes”.  She also enjoys reading Graphic Design blogs and watching series and horror films on Netflix.

Jessica Rosado

DOB: October 2 1989

Zodiac sign: Libra

On the little free time she has, she enjoys canvas painting and watching TV series like The Walking Dead (mega fan!). Her favorite web-comic is “Loading Artist”.

3. What are your current and future works, if any?

For now we’re focusing on The Little Reaper in Love. We’re planning on releasing a graphic novel, which is still in the planning stage. There’s also talk of a mini-comic book series about stray “sato” dogs in Puerto Rico.

4. Talk about Little Reaper in Love and your favorite character.

The Little Reaper in Love is about a group of ghouls and creatures that live in a Municipal Cemetery. Our resident, Reaper, is in love with a ghost –which frightens him, if you can believe it- and decides to turn her into a Reaper as well. The web-comic focuses on the many dates and situations that the Lil’ Reaper has to go through to impress The Girlfriend, bringing along his loyal friend the Zombie and “battling” The Vampyr for The Girlfriend’s affection.

Jessica’s favorite character is The Zombie because even though he doesn’t speak, his actions speak for him. He’s the Renaissance man around the Municipal Cemetery, which means, he does everything.

Ariana’s favorite character is The Little Reaper ‘cause he acts so tough but he’s very caring and naïve.

5. How was your experience in Puerto Rico Comic Con?

Simply epic! It was our first convention and we’re already planning for next year. We’re still dreaming about that weekend like it was yesterday. As aspiring web-comic artists, it was an amazing event to get exposure, meet other talented artists, make business contacts, and of course, talk face-to-face with our readers or like we affectionately like to call them: “Residents of the Municipal Cemetery”.

6. Last words (write anything you would like to say to your current and future followers).

We want to thank everyone for the support! We started back in August 2013 and since then it has been a humbling experience; from meeting and learning from other artists to participating in festivals and conventions. Keep reading The Little Reaper in Love, there are more surprises to come, and to those who haven’t read it yet or are planning to: We welcome you to the Municipal Cemetery!

Comic Review: Little Reaper in Love

By: Aliraluna

 Authors: JA Comics!

     Welcome to the Municipal Cemetery! The residents of which will be the characters of small, lovely stories. Meet Lil’ Reaper, whose girlfriend can become a girl on Halloween but afterward turns back into a ghost and the only way to revert that is by kissing her… but Lil’ Reaper is afraid of ghosts! The first issue starts when Lil’ Reaper takes his girlfriend on a date to the best restaurant and to a cavern that he carved but she didn’t uttered a single word! What could it be? But worse than that is when a new resident arrives and likes to hang out at his place: Vampyr. Vampyr is a Goth kid who is trying to steal Lil’Reaper’s girlfriend and because of that both of them decide to compete against each other to see who wins- who do you think will be the winner?

My thoughts:

    I have to say that my favorite episodes are: ‘Moon tanning your way to fabulous’ and ‘Full Moon’ but also the one called ‘Let’s get in Shape’. The first one because I can’t simply stop laughing when I saw Lil’ Reaper using a small bikini and the reaction Zombie had- which Lil’ Reaper thought was a compliment; but even funnier was when he started to walk away and you can see the thong (so cute). The second one, because they are both trying to lift weights but Zombie’s little arms just stayed glued to the weights and you can see the cute form of the bones and his reactions is like: “what did you think would happen?” I also liked a lot the little details like the cavern Lil’ Reaper made which had a heart-shape and how he was looking for a formula to look like a human. It’s a really wonderful and cute comic and I can’t wait to read more from these lovely characters, and I would really LOVE to see this in the future as small videos because that introduction video in their website was really good.

Website:

http://jacomics.com/