Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #110

Fables #81 — Writer: Bill Willingham; Penciller: Mark Buckingham; Inker: Andrew Pepoy The death of Boy Blue — not giving much away, considering the cover (the last by James Jean, who writes a purplish-prose farewell on the inside that demonstrates that he’s much better at pictures than words). Eighty-one issues, and this continues to be a very smooth, very well-constructed and vast tapestry: look at all the subplots here, at how clearly the characters’ actions depend on their pasts, and at how confidently the creative team delivers another installment of their lives, and be glad at how dependably entertaining it’s … Continue reading

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Phil's Reviews: Stuff I Read and Put Back #110

Scalped #25 — Writer: Jason Aaron;  Artist: R. M. Guera I’m a fan of Aaron’s enthusiasm (he has the same what-the-hell, go-for-it plotting and dialog of Matt Fraction), but my problem with this Indian-Casino noir tale is the same one I have with 100 Bullets: the tough-guy facade sometimes slips, and underneath you can see the seams. Here, the plot revolves around a blackjack player who can count cards in his head, but has to be sneaky about it because if he wins too much, casino goons will try to break his legs.  Bullshit: no casino anywhere today would give … Continue reading

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Getting off My Duff #3

Most of you are probably aware that ALL ABOUT BOOKS AND COMICS has been around a long time. To be exact, since 1973! Needless to say, we have accumulated a lot of stock. We are in the process of clearing out some severe overstock from a couple of warehouses, i.e, part of my family room and most of Eddie’s living room! Many of these titles we’re bulking out were not only great sellers in their day, but excellent reads also. Titles like AIRBOY have a great Golden Age (1940’s) appeal, and EX-MUTANTS have, well, that mutated super team flavor we … Continue reading

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Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #109

Bad Dog #1 — Writer: Joe Kelly;  Art: Diego Greco Joe Kelly’s been watching a lot of TV lately — this week’s other book by him, Bang! Tango, reads like a cross between The Sopranos and Dancing With The Stars, and for this one you can just see him sitting eating Cheetoes during Dog, the Bounty Hunter and thinking “What if…?”  So, the “if” is we’ve got two bounty hunters, one a cheerfully profane, Danny Devito-like little guy, and one a… well, not a dog, exactly: a werewolf. Amazingly, it works — the R- (even X-) rated dialog crackles and … Continue reading

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Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #109

Soul Kiss #1 — Writer: Steven T. Seagle;  Art: Marco Cinello One of Seagle’s patented tough-but-vulnerable female leads (see: House of Secrets) makes a deal with the devil, and angsty things happen. Not bad, actually — the art is subtle and able to handle a couple of different styles effectively, and the coloring (uncredited, so I’m assuming it was Cinello too) manages to enhance the story instead of obscuring it, a seemingly-lost art these days. None of that hides the hoariness of the plot, so for me this didn’t quite make the grade, but it’s worth checking out.  Arizona gets … Continue reading

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