REVIEW: Double Review

Since Madman did a double review a couple of weeks ago, I thought I would follow suit and review two, too.
Made you say, “Tutu.”

Sacred Creatures #2
Written by Pablo Raimondi & Klaus Janson

Art by Pablo Raimondi
Colors by Chris Chuckry
Letters by Tom Orzechowski
Review by Art Bee

Sacred Creatures is just about as incredible as comics come. The first issue was double-sized and did a remarkable job setting the stage for a great story. I am going to do my best to present this spoiler free.

The story is set in New York City and centers on a group of long-lived individuals with the ability to plant suggestions into people’s minds by touching them. These first two issues focus on the events these ancient puppeteers have instigated in the life of Josh, an unemployed father-to-be. Josh is forced to commit murder by this group’s suggestions. The thing I love the most about this story is the reader is just as lost and has just as many questions as Josh. Raimondi and Janson have woven an intense web of mystery, and the beautiful part is how interesting the story is. During both issues I was sitting forward and entranced.          

The art for this series is precise but fuzzy at the same time. This has to be completely deliberate since the style clearly matches the story and its dark and mysterious plot. The artwork and colors are the cement that keeps the story grounded. The dialog does a great job telling the story, but this artwork is what sells it.

Sacred Creatures is so well thought-out and designed. As questions are answered more are developed while the story stays strong to the plot and does not lack in suspense at all. Who are these ancient living beings? Why are they manipulating people? What is their goal? Are they human? Is Paul going to make it out alive? These are just a few of the questions rumbling around in my head. This year seems to be the year for great mystery comics.

First Strike #1
Written by Mairghread Scot & Druid A. Rodriguez
Art by Max Dunbar
Colors by Ander Zarate
Letters by Tom B. Long
Review by Art Bee

DC’s and Marvel’s bad creative endeavors have infected others and the CDC needs to be notified. IDW has now launched a massive crossover event called First Strike featuring G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., Transformers, Rom, and Micronauts. Normally I would have just ignored a comic book like this if it wasn’t for the fact that it features three of my five favorite childhood cartoons.

My expectation was this comic was going to be like almost all major crossover events…diluted plot, and underdeveloped character action. If you ask any chef how to make a dish taste better, they will not tell you to just add more ingredients. They will tell you to switch ingredients out. The same principle applies to stories; more characters does not mean better plot. If you want a race car to go faster, you upgrade parts instead of adding more engines.

Reading this comic book made my back hurt. There was too much happening and it was going nowhere fast. In addition, all of the characters left me bewildered. Even the sorry attempts at clever humor made the story even more cumbersome to handle.

The artwork made me think there were two separate artists working on the lines, because some of the panels were clear and gorgeous while others were bland. My first thought was Dunbar may have been trying to make his deadline and got rushed, but looking back through the issue the Transformers are consistently better drawn than the rest of the characters. Maybe the he is not as good at drawing people. It’s possible.

The best feature of the First Strike #1 is definitely the colors. The color choices and shading are done so very well even on the poorly drawn panels. Atta boy, Zarate!

This series will not make my pull list. I really don’t understand why publishers are trying so hard to cram so much into a comic book. These mega-events are usually not what they intend and I am, quite frankly, sick of seeing and hearing about them. I miss the days of actual crossovers, where a character makes a cameo into another title.