End League, Feather, Felon

I am so far behind on writing.  I’ve been keeping up with the reading, but not so much the reviewing.  

End League 1-4

Another Justice League analog, this time mashed up with Mark Millar’s Wanted, where the bad guys have all but wiped out the good guys.  It’s fine, but nothing particularly special. I stopped buying pretty quickly, probably from a combination of the generic characters and artist switch from Mat Broome to new ongoing artist Eric Canete halfway through the fourth issue.  Not bad enough to cut, but not good enough to spend more time talking about it.

Regret buying?  No

Would buy again?  No

Would read again?  Yes

Rating: Fine

Feather 1-5

A beautifully told and rendered story by Steve Uy.  This started out as his final project for art school, and he went on to publish it at Image with colors and new pages.  

Uy’s created a wonderfully realized fantasy set in the far future of Earth where dragons and other sentient races are now roaming the world.  The story centers around two childhood friends, one an aspiring dragonslayer (Sehven), the other a dragon (Leeka). It’s a little weird that they’re both so accepting of the inherent conflict of interests, but the zen manner in which they live with those truths fits in with the idyllic sense of tranquility with which Uy fills this comic.  

The first two issues are all about setting up the relationships - Sehven and Leeka, Sehven with his brother Clip, Leeka with her mother and grandfather.  Some of the sweet art:

I like how he does dragon wings

Love that the stairs are carved into the tree.

Great body language on the swings.

In an attempt to placate Sehven and satisfy his desire to slay a dragon, Leeka conspires with her mother to set up a faux hunt, with the mother pretending to die at Sehven’s hand.  Unfortunately, the oblivious Sehven kills Leeka’s mother for real. Leeka murders Clip in an eye-for-an-eye trade that the two friends are surprising okay with. They reach a level of acceptance that’s both shocking and hauntingly lovely.

Leeka’s grandfather faces off with Sehven in one final battle for vengeance that results in both of their deaths, leaving Leeka the sole survivor of this tragedy that started from an act of friendship.  A peaceful coda adds some measure of a happy ending to the whole affair, and Uy leaves us with an unconventional, unique, and wholly unexpected tale.

The only weaknesses come from Uy’s struggle to draw coherent action sequences.  All of the battles are confusingly drawn with an overabundance of Photoshop effects, poor storytelling, and incomprehensible panels.

No idea what's going on, especially in the bottom half of the page.

It’s only a minor knock given how strong everything else is.  It’s a shame he hasn’t done much more comic work outside of this.

Regret buying?  No

Would buy again?  Yes

Would read again?  Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Felon 1-4

A quick little series by Greg Rucka with art by Matthew Clark.  The protagonist Cassiday is released from prison, and immediately goes looking for the money she feels she’s owed from her former crew.  She quickly defies the expectations I had at the beginning of the story - Cassiday has no reservations about killing anyone who stands in her way, and goes about it with an emotionless efficiency that’s terrifying and breathtaking to watch.  

Rucka’s clearly playing with the stereotypes people (or at least this straight middle aged guy) have with beautiful women.  Cassiday isn’t a wronged girl who needs help to get what she wants, nor is she a femme fatale who uses her wiles to lull her male companions into a false sense of security.  She flat out barges into situations, takes what she needs, and leaves behind a trail of death. She’s like the Punisher, but without the morals. It’s a rare thing to see in comics, and it’s entertaining to read when written by someone with the skills of Rucka.

Clark’s art is practically identical to Tom Raney’s Stormwatch style, which means that it’s good.

Clark.

Raney.  The faces are so similar between the two.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty good