Team 7, Aqua Leung

Team 7 1-4

Issue one is one of my favorite issues of comic books.  It’s a combination of several things: Aron Wiesenfeld art is excellent, and Trevor Scott’s detailed inks take it to a whole other level.  I love how this issue looks.  This comic also came at a time in my life as a comic reader (high school) where the idea of a dream team of Wildstorm characters sharing a military past on an elite special forces unit was supremely cool and exciting.  Chuck Dixon’s script, showcasing these badasses at their very best, totally works for me.  It’s just an A+ effort all around for me.

I had this hanging on my wall in high school

All of Weisenfeld's pinup are pretty sweet.

I mean, look at this!

Great action, great inking...

The rest of the series is a tremendous let down in comparison.  I put most of the blame on John Dickenson and Scott Williams, whose work clearly demonstrates the difference inkers can have on a penciller’s work.

...compared to this not-as-good splash.  Same penciler, different inker.

If only the last three issues lived up to the awesomeness of the first.  Alas.

Regret buying: No 

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pure joy for issue 1, Nice for the rest.

Aqua Leung

I think I bought this graphic novel by Mark Andrew Smith and Paul Maybury when it first came out back in 2008 based on the strength of strong reviews.  Then it sat on my to-read pile until TODAY.  It’s not even that I wanted to read it but never got around to it; Something about the cover, or maybe the first page kept me from wanting to read it for THIRTEEN YEARS.  

That came to an end today when I realized that it was an Image book and would slot in perfectly to the box I just finished.  So does it deserve my decade-long skepticism?

Yeah, it does.  The art’s a mix of Bryan Lee O’Malley and Darren Warren Johnson, which isn’t bad on its own, but it doesn’t really fit the “fantasy under the sea coming of age war epic” this is going for.  Maybury also has some storytelling issues, there are multiple points where I couldn’t tell what was happening on the page.  I also had to keep reminding myself that this was an underwater story, because nothing about the art ever made it look like it was taking place in the ocean; If the dialogue hadn’t told me, I’d have thought that this was set on the surface of an alien planet.

Smith has some storytelling issues of his own.  It’s a rote “boy learns of his true parentage and trains to fulfill the prophecy that will unify his people” adventure with some really big monsters.  Meh.

Well, at least I can finally stop seeing this on top of my pile and feeling vaguely guilty about not reading it.  Cutting.

Regret buying: Yes 

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Team 7/Team X, Think Tank, Tom Strong, Tomorrow Stories

Team X/Team 7 1

An extremely random crossover between Marvel and Image.  Larry Hama writes it like one of his classic GI Joe stories, complete with an overabundance of chatter between all the soldiers.  Team 7 and Team X (Wolverine, Sabretooth, and Maverick) are independently sent to attack the same facility, cross paths, team up, etc.  Nothing about their interactions or the plot scream out, “This was necessary in any way!” Entirely superfluous, easily cut.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine

Think Tank 1-8

I’m always impressed by authors who write characters with genius level intellects.  I don’t mean Reed Richards or Tony Stark, who just need to spout out technobabble and invent cool gadgets.  I’m talking about people who do things that make me wonder, “How in the world did he come up with that? That’s really next level thinking.”  Examples include Alan Moore with Tao in Wildcats and Matt Hawkins here with David Loren.  

Sure, David’s very purpose is to spout out technobabble and invent cool gadgets, but there’s a whole other tier of thinking that he brings to his planning.  It makes for a really fun read, and by the end of the eight issues, I was still eager for more. The rest of the trades are in the mail.

I like how Hawkins cites all of his research at the end of each issue.  His science is extrapolated from existing tech, and adds to the quality of the story.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Tom Strong 1-4

Tomorrow Stories 1-2

Meh.  Written around the same time as Supreme: The Return, Tom Strong continues Alan Moore’s predilection for Silver Age style stories.  But unlike his work on Supreme, these aren’t exaggerated enough to be entertaining.  (Comics from back then haven’t aged well for me, and I don’t find them nearly as interesting as Moore apparently does.)  The art by Chris Sprouse is great, but that’s not enough.

Tomorrow Stories is even blander.  Of the four stories that comprise this anthology series, three are outright duds.  Only Jack B Quick is humorous, but even his precocious gee-willikers narration rapidly wears thin.  Cut them all.

Regret buying: No (Yes for Tomorrow Stories)

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine (Boring for Tomorrow Stories)  Cutting all of them.