When this arc started, I felt it was a bit repetitive of the previous story arcs, but it really turned around in this and the previous volume. I thinkWhen this arc started, I felt it was a bit repetitive of the previous story arcs, but it really turned around in this and the previous volume. I think Cutter started out menacing, and then became a bit silly in this book, but that's a minor gripe. I liked the visual echo of young Erica with Gabi.
If I have one complaint, it's that Werther Dell’Edera's art (which is generally excellent) is hard to read in action scenes, sometimes even downright confusing.
Writing stories about immortals is hard, because.. well, they're immortal, so the stakes sort of drop away. And what tends to happen then is that authWriting stories about immortals is hard, because.. well, they're immortal, so the stakes sort of drop away. And what tends to happen then is that authors don't write stories that actually deal with the immortals as characters themselves, but they write stories surrounding the immortals. The immortal as tool, as weapon. And that's what happens here. Twice.
The first story is very violent, and silly. Nothing surprising happens. The only thing we learn about BRZRKRman himself is that he's a bit dim.
The second story fares better. It's basically about how BRZRKRman is a nuclear weapon. Use him, everyone loses. And also, he's a bit dim.
You'd think being immortal gives you a special kind of wisdom, some unique view on the human condition. Not in these stories, and not in the main series. And that's a bit dim.
There's an excellent indie ARPG called Ghostlore, which you really should give a try, it's a lot of fun.
This book is unrelated to the game, it's just There's an excellent indie ARPG called Ghostlore, which you really should give a try, it's a lot of fun.
This book is unrelated to the game, it's just another of the thousands of books Cullen Bunn is currently writing, and wouldn't you know it, it's a horror title.
It's hard to say much about it, Bunn tends to either start bad or quickly collapse in later issues. This isn't a bad start, so I'm giving Bunn the benefit of the doubt.
I like how some of the ghosts are portrayed, although I can't stop seeing the preacher dad as Chris Pine....more
Lots of quick exposition dumping for the sequel - you've had twelve (12!) issues, with horrible slow pacing, and you couldn't have seeded these plot pLots of quick exposition dumping for the sequel - you've had twelve (12!) issues, with horrible slow pacing, and you couldn't have seeded these plot points better..?
So did Reeves sort of lightning-rape lady scientist last issue?
The whole issue feels derivative, clichés stacked on top of clichés.
The Rilke quote at the end, on a solemn black background, made me actually laugh out loud.
This last volume feels very derivative, full of cliched storytelling. Suddenly we get an antagonist, that So this went out like a wet fart, didn't it.
This last volume feels very derivative, full of cliched storytelling. Suddenly we get an antagonist, that is barely revealed before they're conquered OR ARE THEY??? Obvious sequel is obvious.
This whole book is obvious sequel is obvious. Get ready for a lot of new elements to get introduced, most of them either there to create a quick ending, or as set-up for that obvious sequel (Franken-B, holy crap, ridiculous..).
The whole series felt like a slog, with not a lot happening, The Slowest Story Ever Told. Just terrible pacing. To have had twelve (12!) issues to tell your story, and still dump all these new elements in the last issue, is just.. bewildering. This whole series could've been told in four, maybe five issues? Five bucks an issue, so $60 total for this thing..? They saw us coming.
I'll leave you with this thought: imagine trying to sell this 12-issue run without the backing of Keanu Reeves. Yeah, that's not happening.
A terrible sequel to the film, it completely misunderstands what actually made the film tick.
28 Days Later works so well because it's very British, itA terrible sequel to the film, it completely misunderstands what actually made the film tick.
28 Days Later works so well because it's very British, it's quite realistic in tone, very gritty and character moments and decisions are kept small. For example, after finding out what has happened, Jim wants to see what has happened to his parents - this is a very realistic and moving idea, it tells us something about Jim, and above all, it isn't flashy. It isn't something you'd normally see in a zombie movie. And that's why it works.
Michael Alan Nelson decides to go the more American, flashy route, with a lot of cliched storytelling. Characters keep saying subtext out loud. Characters make uncharacteristically stupid decisions to move the story along.
There is no horror here. There is some ruthless killing of characters, but it never gets under your skin. The pacing is terrible, throughout each volume. The stories for each volume invariably are too big for a four-issue arc, so you get this stunted storytelling with weird, rushed endings.
Selena could've been an interesting character, but she quickly devolves into the cliche of an Angry Black Woman, reacting to everything in anger first. This is not the intelligent survivor from the film.
For some reason, Nelson keeps it a secret why Selena accompanies the wet fish journalist in the first place. She has just escaped the hellhole that is the infected UK, and now she wants to go back in - and get this, she has to travel from the top of Scotland dooooooown to London. She needs a pretty strong incentive to do that, right? (Spoiler: she hasn't got 0ne.) So you're reading six volumes wondering why she even is doing all of this.
To top it all off, of course there's a forced love story, because: flashy American movie writing.
Also, if you don't have a firm grasp of UK colloquialisms, just... leave it. I kept thinking of the Adam Buxton character Famous Guy doing a UK accent.
OF COURSE Selena falls in love Pclaulnt, the ridiculously bad journalist (who has supposedly won a Pulitzer!!! lol), because that's one cliche that wasn't mined yet.
"Thank you for making life worth living again."
HA HA oh god
So we find out that Selena had to kill her own husband because he got bitten, and she wants to bury him with all the terrible jewelry he has given her.. THAT'S why she went on this trip? TWO months after she barely got out of the place? That is not NEARLY a strong enough incentive to do any of this!
(We also get an origin story for her machete, which: no. Not everything has to have an origin story.)
And then they go to Paris and she leaves her machete there, sticking out of the ground in a park, with lots of people around, because that's something you'd do with a large, dangerous weapon like that.
Why is everything so overwritten? Why does everyone keep saying subtext out loud?
And here things really go to shit. Firstly, the art is now actively bad. Characters' faces change every few panels, most of the time looking like someAnd here things really go to shit. Firstly, the art is now actively bad. Characters' faces change every few panels, most of the time looking like someone scrunched up the paper.
Secondly, the writing, which wasn't stellar to begin with, really takes a nosedive.
Captain Terminator, who has been following Selena, and who has had zero (0) character development, has super powers, because he can take out a squad of US Marines that have rifles trained on him.
Everyone who has half a braincell has already guessed why Cap T has it out for Selena, although I expected there to be another layer, him being family of the related character.
And then we get the last few pages, which are excruciatingly bad. Again, pacing! It feels as if the writer forgot how many pages were left in this arc (again, wrong story for the amount of issues!), went "oh shit!" and "uhhh, this'll do!".
Why the ID tag thing. Why would Cappy Term want to pick them up. Why do so many people think this shit ending is at all satisfying?
How can you take something like 28 Days Later and write such boring stories with it?
Why are the characters moving through cities at all? That's where How can you take something like 28 Days Later and write such boring stories with it?
Why are the characters moving through cities at all? That's where you have the biggest chance to encounter infected, that's where most dead bodies will be, and dead bodies mean vermin and disease. You should be barely able to move through the city in a car (although the comic doesn't seem to think so.)
(We still have the thing where we don't know why Selena is even on this journey.. guess it's something to do with her husband..? Why keep that secret from the reader?)
Had a hearty laugh at the writer suddenly remembering that Paul aka Clint is a journalist. Oh shit, better make some notes..!
So here we get the first chance for some real horror, the cage Selena gets put in. And here we also hit the terrible pacing 0f this comic. Her standing in that cage, her starting to hallucinate the people she has lost up til now: this should've been a whole issue. But no, we get a couple of pages, it doesn't work, it's just another thing that happens to our protagonists, and the only thing they can do is react to it, never having any real agency. (Also, why is her hallucination basically a dream? Why aren't her hallucinations mixed with the real situation?)
The story arcs are too short for the stories the author is trying to tell, so the pacing tends to be really off, and the stories feel rushed.
ExperimenThe story arcs are too short for the stories the author is trying to tell, so the pacing tends to be really off, and the stories feel rushed.
Experiments! That should be creepy, but it never is, because things happen to quickly and there's no time for things to sink in.
Also, what is the CIA trying to achieve here..? Super soldiers? That makes no sense. The RAGE virus removes the conscious parts of the infected, and leaves hate and anger. Replacing the conscious part would just "cure" the virus. There is nothing super about the virus, the infected aren't stronger or quicker because of it.
(Slogged through this with Kadi Virus, these joke names aren't getting any better soon)...more
It's Sabrina the Netflix Witch, with a sprinkling of The Craft. To say this is derivative would be underselling it - nothing faintly surprising or actIt's Sabrina the Netflix Witch, with a sprinkling of The Craft. To say this is derivative would be underselling it - nothing faintly surprising or actually thrilling happens, all the clichés click into place.
The art isn't good or bad, it's just very practical. That said, the coven of supposedly cool witches all look like bland, conventially beautiful dolls, which is at least unintentionally creepy.
An unkindness of a review, I'm afraid.
(Thanks to Boom! for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley)...more
Myers' dad has recently died, and he has inherited his dad's bar. Myers' has also inherited his dad's anxiety disorder, making him short of breath at Myers' dad has recently died, and he has inherited his dad's bar. Myers' has also inherited his dad's anxiety disorder, making him short of breath at inopportune moments. Myers is still learning how to run the bar, and is having problems with the state police of the state he has to cross to buy new booze - it is a dry state, so he isn't allowed to move alcohol through it, but the police used to turn a blind eye to his dad, but not to Myers.
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Then Myers' mother, who he hasn't seen in years, re-enters his life. She has remarried, to some kind of preacher, and they offer to sell him the alcohol he needs for the bar. So far so good, this reads like an interesting slice-of-life story, a contained drama with realistic stakes.
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And then it turns out the preacher husband leads a cult and the story goes to ridiculous places. Maybe it's my age (I'm an ancient 43, no, no really!), but I was so disappointed. I'd much rather have had a straight, heartfelt drama. The whole cult storyline feels a forced (this is what we do in comics), and in the end it's strangely dull.
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It's a shame, because I really like the art, which also seems more suitable for a grounded, real story, than the swerve into genre fiction it struggles to depict in the latter third of the book.
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(Thanks to Boom Studios for providing me with a review copy through NetGalley)...more
Narration in comics is one of the hardest things to pull off successfully, especially when it's basically a character's introspective train of thoughtNarration in comics is one of the hardest things to pull off successfully, especially when it's basically a character's introspective train of thought. It's hard because, in my experience, narration has a hard time actually adding something to a story, instead it tends to overexplain themes, or worse - it's just empty fluff.
So which category does the narration in Strange Skies Over East Berlin fall into? I'm sad to say, most of it feels superfluous. Good narration can work at creating atmosphere, and I get the feeling that's what we are supposed to be going for here, and it doesn't really work. It's a bit budget Le Carré.
One of my favourite genres is cold war fiction (and non-fiction), a genre that seems like it'll all be thinlipped spies going after eachother, all surface mumbling and a bit of action, but which actually has deep troughs of emotion and has a lot to say about the human condition. Which does make me wonder if adding sci-fi in the mix would work.. and here I think it can, if the story was less rushed. Cold war paranoia needs lots of room to breathe, people staring at eachother, trying to divine the other's thoughts.
It all rushes towards a not that interesting finale, where things get blown up, which is a disappointment. I understand the point that is being made, these cold war nutcases can only end up blowing themselves and everyone up - except in real life they didn't, so why not have a different kind of ending here too?
The art is gorgeous, with colouring that looks almost painterly. I would've liked to have seen more of Berlin, if anything.
Overall, the book has a lot of promise, I'm just not sure it entirely lives up to it.
(Kindly received an ARC from Boom! Studios through NetGalley)...more
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