Sojourn

Sojourn 19-26, 28, 29, 31-34

Sojourn ended abruptly with issue 34 with the closure of Crossgen Studios, but I’m not exactly heartbroken that I won’t see how Arwyn’s quest ends.  Some final observations about this series:

Hey look, it's Catwoman.

Or is it Kitiara from Dragonlance?

Larry Elmore rules.

Jealous Arwyn is stupid, out of character, and completely unnecessary.

The generic damsel in distress romance novel cover shot here is nauseating.  

Since when has Arwyn ever not been able to take care of herself?

 Ian Edginton replaces Ron Marz with issue 25, and I do like the “mutual respect between enemies” bit, but the quality of the story doesn’t measurably improve over the course of his tenure.  

A nice moment between foes.

To be honest with myself, there are still aspects of Greg Land’s art that I just can’t quit.  

But that's the problem with Land's art. It's all posed. Everything feels staged like a magazine photoshoot, there's nothing natural about his characters. I don’t dislike Sojourn.  And I can imagine a time where I’ll want to flip through this again.  It just won’t be for a very very long time.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine

Sojourn, Spencer and Locke

Another new comic:

Spencer and Locke 2 4

The final showdown between Beetle Bailey and Calvin & Hobbes.  Locke’s Spencer delusion (if that’s what you choose to call it) finally takes over in irreparable fashion, and Locke kills Beetle in a fit of rage while visualizing Spencer as the murderer.  The series ends in John Romita fashion, and I’m pretty sure that I’ll be walking away from the title as well. This was kinda fun, but I don’t need to spend any more money on it if there’s a third volume.  

The classic that spawned a thousand homages.

Sojourn 13-18

I don’t mind Greg Land’s photo reference so much as his inability to maintain a consistent hair style on Arwyn.  It’s so very distracting. Storywise, Ron Marz is...fine. As nice as I still find that art, I’m finding it harder and harder to justify keeping this second-rate fantasy title in my collection.  I’m halfway through the series, let’s see how it closes out.  

Okay, it's not just the hair.  Something about that face is thoroughly disconcerting.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine

Sojourn, Swing

One of this week’s new comics:

Swing Vol. 2

The second volume is as excellent as the first.  Matt Hawkins continues the story of a couple exploring the swinging world in a thoughtful, respectful, playful, and sexy manner.  The art by Yishan Li and Linda Sejic is beautiful and hot. The Sunstone/Sugar/Swing universe is one that I’m always happy to return to.  

Sojourn 1-12

Ron Marz writes as standard of a fantasy story as you can imagine - The hero seeks revenge on the big bad for killing her family.  She’s joined by a wise-cracking sidekick and her dog. A mysterious sage directs her to collect five quest items that will allow her to kill the bad guy.  

I bought this back in 2002 for the Greg Land art, of course.  I wouldn’t have made the same decision today. His Arwyn is still gorgeous, but the blatant photo referencing is always a bit disconcerting.  And there isn’t enough to the story to make me want to read it again. But at the end of it all, it’s still too pretty to cut from my list.    

Land's goal for this image was to draw something "that wasn't too over-the-top."  Okay...

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck for the first trade, Fine for the second