Heartthrobs, Light Brigade, Little Endless Storybook

Heartthrobs 2-4

I picked up the rest of the miniseries after liking the stories in the first issue.  And after reading them, I’m pretty sure I’ve now bought these issues for the second time.  I remember some of these stories, and must have cut them for poor quality.

The second issue does very little for me.  Brian Azzarello and Tim Bradstreet’s murder mystery includes a mild twist at the end, but not enough to merit the pages spent on it.  Jericho by Doselle Young and Tony Salmons tells a completely uninteresting story about a stripper and the customer she refuses to let into her heart.  At least Ilya’s story about the man who’s addicted to screwing stone is moderately amusing, with equally entertaining art by Frank Quitely. But it’s far too slight to justify the cost of the book.  

The third issue quickly finds itself down 0-2 in the count with flat out bad segments by Simon Revelstroke and Marguerite van Cook.  At this point, I’ve completely written off the first issue as a fluke, and written off this purchase as money ill-spent. (For a second time.)  

Peter Milligan and Eduardo Risso prevent the strikeout with a solid base hit, presenting the quirky romance between a young literature researcher and a long dead poet.  The resolution of their “breakup” made me smile with its cleverness.

The final issue also starts with two absolute clunkers.  The final story isn’t that good either, but I do like how Danijel Zezelj visualizes an online chat room as if it were a physical space.  It’s a clever conceit by Steve Gerber, but the story itself is as basic an dull as its two predecessors.

I wish that past me had thought of some way to warn present me that I only had the first issue for a reason.  Could have saved me some money. But if to serve no other purpose than to prevent this from happening a third time, I’m keeping these around.

Regret buying? Yes

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Didn’t suck

Light Brigade 1-4

I usually appreciate genre fusion in most of my entertainment media.  It can lead to some really cool outcomes - Cop procedural + Superheroes = Top Ten.  Jane Austen + Undead = Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. But mixing historical war comics with angels is not something towards which I am naturally inclined.  There’s a gravitas and respect that soldiers, even fictional ones, deserve, and tossing in something outlandish that can potentially trivialize their struggle is off-putting to me.  Which isn’t to say it can’t be done. I like how Darwyn Cooke handled it in New Frontier. He respected the Losers, even as they were fighting dinosaurs on a lost island.

Any excuse to show Cooke art.

I would not have believed that a platoon of American WWII soldiers fighting fallen angels was tonally possible.  But Peter Tomasi and Peter Snejbjerg tell a gripping story while hitting all of the best tropes - A ragged band of veteran soldiers, each with just enough personality to make their interactions interesting.  Each with just enough personality to make their inevitable sacrifices in service of the mission sting. The battles are gripping, tension-filled affairs, and the supernatural elements fit in far more smoothly than I could have imagined.  

I like how after all of the insanity with the undead hordes, sword of God, and original Cross, Tomasi ends the story with the delivery of the group’s final letters to their families.  The humanity of the soldiers remains the most important aspect of the story, and it’s a sign of the respect that I referred to earlier. A very fine job by the creative team.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Little Endless Storybook

Jill Thompson is so very good at drawing this incarnation of The Endless.  What started out as a throwaway page in Sandman’s Brief Lives story arc spawned multiple spinoff issues.  Unfortunately, I’m not really sure who this book is meant for.  If it’s meant for adult fans of Sandman, the story is far too simplistic to provide much entertainment value, even with the delightful art.  And I don’t see how kids will appreciate the appearance of the seven Endless. It’s a problem that doesn’t have a satisfying answer.

I particularly like the way Thompson paints Delirium's hair

The whole lil' family

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine