Somebody’s First Comic Book: Neil Gaiman’s Teknophage #10

Wondering what Somebody’s First Comic Book is all about? The explanation is on this page!

TITLE: The Day God Came From the Machine

CREDITS:

Writer: Paul Jenkins
Pencils: Al Davison
Inks: Al Davison
Colors: Ian McKie
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Ed Polgardy
Cover Art: Bryan Talbot & Angus McKie
Publisher: Tekno-Comix

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: “Neil Gaiman’s Teknophage.” None of these words mean anything to me. Maybe if it was “Neil Diamond’s” or something, I dunno. Still, it looks like there’s a giant lizard, so how bad could it be.

IMPRESSIONS: Well… there’s a giant lizard, all right, but that’s about as much of this issue that I comprehend. We’re in a skyscraper in the middle of the jungle, surrounded by birds, bugs, and flying machines. Inside, the lizard – whose name is “Henry Phage” and who wears a snazzy red jacket, throws a bunch of people into a giant vat of green goop. And they turn into a blue thing.

It’s all… it’s kind of… what the hell is it?

Okay, I get that the people Phage sacrifices turn into this blue amalgam entity that kinda-sorta takes vengeance on him, but so what? I have no idea where we are, who these people are, why he’s killing them or why there’s a giant lizard wearing a snazzy red jacket in the first place. Quite frankly, this book is completely absurd, and the only reason it doesn’t rank lower is because I at least follow a little of the internal consistency. There’s a clear cause and effect here, but there’s no context to allow any of it to make sense. I know this issue the tenth issue – says so right on the cover there – but couldn’t they have included some sort of note to let people know what was going on? I’m utterly lost.

GRADE: D

DC Universe Presents #2

October 31, 2011

Title: Twenty Questions Part Two

Writer: Paul Jenkins
Art: Bernard Chang
Colorist: Blond
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Cover Artist: Ryan Sook
Editor: Will Moss
Publisher: DC Comics

With no more answers about why he’s been chosen for his afterlife mission or why the parameters seem to have changed recently, Deadman tries to force the Goddess Roma to play her hand. It’s not as easy as all that, though, and he soon finds himself back on Earth seeking clues in the one place he has left… a club that caters to the occult set. Without an invitation to the Moonstone Club, though, he’ll have to resort to drastic means. Paul Jenkins’ rejiggering of the Deadman concept is proceeding really nicely here. I like his take on the character very much. It’s in keeping with everything we already knew about him, while still leaving plenty of room to try something new. The Moonstone club and its various inhabitants is a very cool concept, one that works with Deadman very well. The continuing questions about Deadman’s true nature are also intriguing While we haven’t really learned anything new yet, it’s easy to believe that by the time this story arc reaches its conclusion, the life (such as it is) of Boston Brand is going to be different than it is right now. Bernard Chang does good work here, with some nice “acting” on the characters Boston possesses. The subtlety of the facial expressions and body language really make it clear it’s the same person in multiple bodies, even if we didn’t have the crutch of the energy-aura to point it out for us. Very nice issue two.

Rating: 8/10

World War Hulk: Frontline #1

June 26, 2007

Quick Rating: Average
Rating: T+

Ben Urich and Sally Floyd need a big scoop for their paper. Will the Hulk’s world war do the trick?

Writer: Paul Jenkins
Art: Ramon Bachs
Colors: Matt Milla
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Bill Rosemann
Cover Art: John Watson
Publisher: Marvel Comics

It’s been a few months since Ben Urich and Sally Floyd launched their new alternative newspaper, and they’re struggling… until a mysterious benefactor gives them the funds to stay afloat. Now all they need is a story to make their mark. Then, on cue, the Hulk arrives on Earth with an ultimatum.

The big problem with this book is that the writer is trying to do too much in one comic. There are no less than five separate storylines going on at once. You start out with a newsroom drama about a struggling paper. You throw in a mystery about who would give them the money – anonymously – to help the newspaper succeed. Then the Hulk arrives and the story shifts to being about how a reporter will cover such an event. Then we have two additional, connected stories that seem totally out-of-place, a story about an envoy from the Hulk’s Warbound attempting to establish diplomatic relations with the city of New York (the city, mind you, that they just invaded), which is further compounded by a murder mystery. And unlike the previous Frontline miniseries, this isn’t divided up among various stories in a single issue, this is all ostensibly in one story.

Ramon Bach’s art looks good. He handles the talking head stuff at the beginning just as well as he does the sci-fi/alien encounters in the second half of the book. The problem, as I said, is that there’s simply too much going on here. The book feels like it’s trying to do everything at once, and as a result, it isn’t doing any of it as effectively as it could.

Rating: 5/10

Wolverine: The Origin TPB

July 30, 2005

Wolverine: The Origin TPB (Marvel Comics)
by Paul Jenkins, Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, Adam Kubert & Richard Isanove

Well, after 30-plus years, the comic book fans of America finally have an origin to put to Wolverine. And now, having read the book, I’ve got to approach it with a resounding, “So what?”

Okay — the good stuff first. The artwork by Adam Kubert and Richard Isanove is absolutely wonderful. Kubert’s sense of storytelling is second to none and Isanove’s gorgeous, lush painted-colors process is something I’d love to see more often.

But the story… the STORY… Paul Jenkins, as he has proven with his work on Spider-Man, is a superb writer, so for the life of me I can’t figure out how “Origin” wound up with such a so-so story. It felt like he was playing a “fill in the blank” game when he, Joe Quesada and (then-Marvel President) Bill Jemas put the story together. “Okay, what do we know about Wolverine? He’s Canadian, he calls himself Logan and he’s got a thing for redheads. Can we do anything with that?”

It isn’t a BAD book, but the story doesn’t really have any jarring or eye-popping revelations, no outstanding surprises and no real lasting repercussions for the regular X-Men titles, unless Wolverine were to somehow regain his memory of these events. Even then, I’m not sure how much of a difference that would really make, either in terms of story or characterization. Jemas said Marvel did this book because they wanted to do “The greatest story Marvel’s never told.” I’ve gotta say, if this is indicative of the rest of those “untold tales,” they may as well stay that way.

Rating: 6/10

Stan Lee Meets Silver Surfer #1

December 3, 2006

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Stan Lee Meets Silver Surfer and other stories
Rating: T+

Galactus has a bone to pick with Stan the Man.

Writers: Stan Lee, Paul Jenkins & Jacob Chabot
Pencils: Mike Wieringo, Mark Buckingham, Jacob Shabot, John Buscema
Inks: Sean Parsons, Dan Adkins
Colors: Chris Sotomayor, Pete Pantazis
Letters: Dave Lanphear, Sam Rosen
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Mike Wieringo
Publisher: Marvel Comics

For the most part, I’ve pretty much enjoyed these Stan Lee Meets… specials. The only problem is when they start to get a little self-indulgent, which this one does.

In the main story, written by Stan Lee, Galactus kidnaps the comic book legend to pick a bone with him. Galactus sends Stan on a trip with the Silver Surfer, forcing him to confront what he has afflicted the devourer of worlds with – an overly-verbose herald. It works very well until the very end, where Stan starts to get preachy about – of all things – preaching.

“The Magician,” by Paul Jenkins, is another plainly autobiographical piece. A young boy in England meets the legendary Stan Lee, and Stan starts to critique the child’s comic book, and explain the wonders of the imagination. Like the first story, it works right up until the end, where Jenkins gets self-indulgent about one of his own creations. The artwork by Mark Buckingham is absolutely beautiful, though, and he does a great job of aping the style of the artists that co-created Marvel’s top stars with Stan.

Jacob Chabot supplies us with a very funny two-page story about Stan neglecting to invite the villains to his party, and the book finishes up with a reprint of Silver Surfer (Vol. 1) #14, in which the Surfer battles Spider-Man. Aside from the fact that it’s two Stan creations battling each other and that Stan Lee wrote it, I’m not really sure why this particular issue was chosen. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just an odd choice.

Perhaps its odd to complain about self-indulgent stories in a comic called Stan Lee Meets Silver Surfer, but it’s the truth. It’s only those brief moments that keep this from being a much better comic book.

Rating: 7/10