Review: Lando Mini-Series

This is a review of the mini-series 'Lando' by Marvel. As such it contains spoilers of the series.

The short version: Lando sucks.

The long version: Lando sucks a lot.

The slightly longer version:

We start in bed with a woman. Marvel feel the need to point out how suave and better with women than I am Lando is in every series apparently (see Shattered Empire which I helpfully reviewed here... you're welcome.).

We are told that the woman is in fact some big governor of an Imperial world and Lando (that old dog) is trying to steal some artifact from her. She doesn't appreciate this. Why don't you just use your smooth moves on her Lando?

That's exactly what he does. She pulls a gun and he's all like "Netflix and chill, bae."

Next up, after stealing all her nice stuff, we meet Lobot, the rather silent type from The Empire Strikes Back who helps Lando run Cloud City on Bespin. It's actually nice to see a bit more of this character and the series is as much about him as it is about Lando.

Lando gets cornered by [insert generic crime boss] and is told he owes him money but, as luck would have it, the crime boss has one lined up nice and easy like. By easy I mean go and rewatch Firefly to see how the easy jobs usually end up. On an unrelated by more pleasant note, I'm currently taking part in an awesome Firefly RPG run by my good friend Dave, see the first write up here.

At the end of the issue they successfully acquire the ship and we pan out to see that it belongs to none other than Emperor Palpatine himself. Oh what a wonderful twist which no one was expecting. But wait, there's more! Issue two to be precise, the cover of which looks like Lando is scratching Lobot's belly...

Here the Emperor takes some action to get his ship back and that's about it up until the last page where Lobot opens one of the doors in the ship and gets stabbed by the Emperor's Royal Guard. If you're unfamiliar with the Emperor's Royal Guard then you can see glimpses of them in Return of the Jedi or catch them in their pinnacle series: Crimson Empire. 

We're on to issue #3. They kill the Royal Guards.

We're on to issue #4. The Sith artifacts on the ship drive everyone a little insane and the Emperor's Bounty Hunter catches up to Lando and the ship. Lo and behold, it's a woman who Lando knows...

Issue #5 moves with sluggish predictability. The only actual gap that was plugged by Marvel in this story is how Lobot ends up not being able to speak or be human any more. His implants have taken over his mind since he wasn't able to fend them off since he was stabbed. 

That's it.

Don't you wish you'd read the short version now?

Star Wars Shattered Empire #2

Issue #2 Variant Cover I picked up on release day

What a blast that issue was to read. A-Wings, Y-Wings, Imperial AT-ATs attacking a civilian city and Leia visiting a familiar place, this issue had a lot of bang for your buck and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So before I talk about the story there is one little tidbit I spotted in this issue which could be something or could be nothing.

Lieutenant Shara Bey has been flying non-stop since the Battle for Endor and her commanding officer is concerned. At one point he asks her:

"When did you last hear from Kes? Or your boy?"

"I talked to my father and Poe last week but...Kes [ ]"

So hold on, her son's name is Poe? And the new character just released for the X-Wing Miniatures Game is Poe also? Something tells me it's not an overly common name in that far-far-away galaxy. 

The Poe Dameron card for the X-Wing Miniatures Game

We're reading the story about Poe Dameron's parents!

In fact I should have spotted it in the first issue when Green Four addresses her lover as Sargent Dameron!

The story itself revolves around the fact that Green Four has been flying too many combat missions since Endor so she gets assigned transport duties for Princess Leie to visit Naboo. While on Naboo the eerily familiar event of planet-wide communications blackout occurs, only this time it's not a droid army in orbit, it's the Imperial Navy!

Issue #2 was a blast. It's an impressive book so far, looking forward to the rest of it.

PS: Keep an eye on how they deal with the AT-AT problem...

Mirror's Edge Exordium

I talk about the 1st issue of Mirror's Edge Exordium from Dark Horse.

I am a lucky guy. Let me tell you why. An innocuous box arrived at my door this morning which, once opened, revealed a selection of new comic books and a nerdy t-shirt. Turns out my good friend R0ot had gotten me signed up to the most excellent Comic Block subscription as a birthday present. It's given me a chance to read some books I would never normally pick up myself including today's one. Mirror's Edge Exordium is the prequel to the upcoming game Mirror's Edge Catalyst (released in Spring of next year).

Exordium is penned by Christopher Emgard who is actually one of the creative staff at Dice and is behind the direction of the story of Mirror's Edge on the games side ensuring a very cohesive story for fans of the game and comic alike. The artwork is by storyboard illustrator for Dice, Mattias Haggstrom, and illustrator Robert Sammelin, who use sharp detailing for the characters and embracing cityscapes for the environments, clearly it draws heavily from game design but it transfers to the canvass brilliantly.

The comic itself is very well written and a big shout out also should go to the colouring, muted tones throughout through which the detailing in character's faces is even more pronounced. If games had facial expressions like these characters I would have had a lot less griping about the upcoming Halo game...

The story itself is set in a dystopian cityscape where 'runners' rebel against the powers that be, often finding work acting as industrial intermediaries in a time when moving resources with a governing body ever-vigilant can be difficult.

I enjoyed reading it thoroughly and didn't find it difficult in the slightest to buy into the characters and the storyline even though I've never played the game. Having the game staff create the comic seems like a typical gimmick to promote a new game but in this case they've produced something very readable and aesthetically very well developed.

Thanks again to R0ot :-)
Please visit his Facebook/Twitch pages and give him some love.

-J

Darth Vader

I discuss Marvel's Darth Vader run.


I've been reading Marvel's Darth Vader since it first came out as part of Marvel's onslaught on the Star Wars Universe, culminating recently in the latest series, Shattered Empire, on final approach to Abrams Airport in December.

As has been their purview this year Marvel's plan is apparently to fill in every gap ever left in the original trilogy (keep an eye out for my Lando review coming soon, Star Wars and Shattered Empire). Vader does this but with some decent writing on the part of Kieron Gillen (The Wicked + The Divine and the upcoming Invincible Iron-Man title) and grim, dusty colouring art (Adi Granov).

Love this Variant cover for issue #1 by Mike Del Mundo.

For me Gillen doesn't capture Vader properly though. Inevitably when Vader speaks I have his voice in my head (no not Dave Prowse's voice thank the maker...) and some of the lines just don't suit what I feel Vader would actually say. In some cases he even talks too much whereas I see Vader as a 'doer' not a 'talker'. The only extended talking he does in the original trilogy before taking on Skywalker in RotJ is on Bespin when he's telling his son that he was his real father! Almost every other line is an order barked at every poor soul he meets or an argument defending his place in the ruthless Galactic Empire.

This is how I picture Vader as a key player in the Galactic Civil War: Decisive, Ruthless, Aggressive and Authoritative. He displays all of those characteristics in the Darth Vader comics but sometimes sparingly and rarely cohesively.

On to the story itself. We're coming up on issue #10 now and it has progressed nicely. A force-sensitive pilot (some jerk called Luke Starkiller or something) has blown up the Death Star orbiting Yavin 4. The Emperor is less than happy about this and blames Vader for everything (literally everything, he even left the immersion on apparently) and expects attonement. Vader takes this as a hint to do whatever the hell he wants including going behind the Emperor's back and hiring all kinds of very untrustworthy types in his quest for the Rebel pilot.

There are some absolutely brilliant bits of imagery and writing in the series, including colouring that is well-suited to lightsaber battles and that classic Vader ruthlessness I mentioned. At one point he skips the force choke and just actually chokes someone, scaring the living piss out of them.

I'll continue reading the series but how far past issue #10 I go depends on the direction the story starts to take I'm afraid. While I am a huge Star Wars fan there are just too many good titles out there right now to spend too long holding your breath for a book to come good if it's not doing it for you already.

What will I move on to? The millions of new Marvel titles coming out this October/November as part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event starting: Invincible Iron-Man, Spider-Man 2099 (my personal favourite), Silk, Chewbacca, Extraordinary X-Men, Spider-Woman, and the rest.

Spider-Man 2099

I discuss the recent run of Spider-Man 2099 from Marvel.

Back since I can remember first getting my cousin's hand-me-down's of old Spider-Man 2099 comics I have completely loved the character and the setting. For me it felt a lot more like a 2000AD comic spliced with Marvel characters. For those who haven't experienced the 2099 setting before, it was something that Marvel did in the early 1990's where they selected some characters from their modern arcs and set them in the year 2099. The characters were Spider-Man, Punisher, Hulk, the X-Men and a heap more with Spider-Man probably being the most successful with the longest run.

In 2099 Spider-Man is actually Miguel O'Hara who, trying to replicated Spider-Man of the 20th century's strength, accidentally has his DNA rewritten with a spider's genetics. The results are awesome as written by Peter David and Rick Leonardi. I won't go into the old series any further and get back to the 21st century now.

In the Superior Spider-Man title a series of unfortunate events leads Miguel O'Hara (Spider-Man 2099) to travel back in time to original Spider-Man's time (remember that this Spider-Man was actually Doctor Octopus...) and gets stuck there working for the company that would turn into the mega evil corporation in his time. After this Spidey 2099 gets his own title with Peter David back at the helm and writing better than ever bringing his brand of intelligent hero to the modern era.

The art work is by Irish artist Will Sliney who's work is dynamic and well-suited to the character. The upside-down aerial acrobatics are particularly awesome! Interested parties should get down to Big Bang Comics in Dundrum, Dublin to meet Will and get your shiny new copy of Spider-Man 2099 #1 signed by him on October 14th.

I've been reading Spider-Man 2099 up until the events of Spider-Verse unfold. I didn't enjoy Spider-Verse at all really so I've left that one alone and will rejoin our beloved web-slinger when the new series kicks off in a couple of weeks.


-J

Big Damn Heroes: Firefly RPG

Intro to the Firefly RPG I'm taking part in and a write-up.

So thanks to my good friend Dave I'll be taking part in a regular Firefly RPG. It's been a while since I RP'ed and I've been itching to get my dice on for a while now. Dave is a veteran GM but chose one of the available adventures so as to avoid the maintenance of adventure-writing (a friend of mine just wrote an 80,000 word D&D 5th Ed. adventure and it's only four sessions long.).

The crew already comprised of a Captain, Pilot, Engineer, Medic, Socialite, Fighter-type so I went for a middle man with lots of average traits to act as Executive Officer (or first mate, or Number 1 if you're Jean Luc Picard).

I also have my backstory; I'm an Alliance deserter. Before I deserted I was involved in infiltrating a cartel and acted as bodyguard for a powerful planetary governor who had friends in the cartel. He owed the cartel a lot of money and they wanted to escort him on his luxury yacht to keep lots of eyes on him. While docked at a space station my character Dante Lachlann orchestrates the theft of the ship and runs away with it.

Knowing he can't find an immediate buyer since he can't afford protection yet, he stows the ship on a remote moon using the shuttle to get back to Ezra where he meets the Captain of the Osprey, a Firefly-class ship running trade around the border worlds. Not exactly a get-rich-quick scheme but a good place to lay low for a while, my character changes his name to Massimo Maxim and the crew take to calling him 'Mass'.

So now the cartel are looking for him; the planetary governor is looking for him; and the Alliance is looking for him.

Just another day in the 'verse.

=========================================

The bar was a lot quieter with the rest of the crew gone. Patrons at the other tables now felt a new wave of confidence in 'dealing' with the uncouth character at the bar should he act out of turn. His loud entrance and all the hand-waving fèihuà was just for show, he had no interest in any of these people approaching him for pleasant conversation and he was sure his inept captain couldn't pull a decent job if it hit him in the face so why do all the work just to split the shares.

Patience, he told himself. He'd learn a lot about patience, especially on a mǎtǒng world like this one. He had used his communicator on board the Osprey to arrange a meeting with Wei Wu, his contact on Whitefall. He was to find a booth in the Slaughterhouse Bar and when he was alone Wei Wu would approach him.

"Must be nice having friends in low places, Dante"
"I wouldn't know about having friends Wei and if anyone hears you call me that I'll cut you up worse than a butcher with a xiǎo zhū."
"Now, now Dante. You know I'm always the careful one."
"Sure, so careful you'll be hiding out on this backwater for another decade."
"Remember the deal Dante, I source the buyer for the ship and you get me off this rock."
"You got my papers?"
"Yes, of course I did. What do you need these for anyway, it's just some old building on Bellerophon, what could even be left there after all these years?"
"Something an old man told me just before he died."
"Ah, you were at his side before his death?"
"I pulled the trigger."

=========================================

Star Wars Shattered Empire/We Stand on Guard

The new Star Wars Shattered Empire Force Awakens series and the latest offering of We Stand on Guard.

In general my opinion of 'filling-in-the-gaps' and 'flashback' story arcs, let alone a series where that aspect is the entire premise, has been quite low. Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens might just be the exception. 

The story starts in the maelstrom of battle that takes place over the forest moon in Return of the Jedi. We follow Green Squadron and an A-Wing pilot named Shara (Green Four) as they try and survive Emperor Palpatine's well-laid trap: a fully armed and operational battle station (if you just said that in Ian McDiarmid's voice have an internet cookie).

The abrupt 'ending' in Return of the Jedi was obviously necessary for the cinematic experience but in the context of the Galactic Civil War the destruction of the second Death Star was to Star Wars what Normandy was to World War II; yes it was a huge tide turning event but it was the beginning of the end, not the end itself and all of the real work now had to be done. There was a huge amount of fighting to do after this and that is the path that this series starts down.

The drawing is detailed, muted and epic all in one go and well-suited to space combat. For the recent wave of gamers getting serious about X-Wing Miniatures Game from Fantasy Flight Games this first issue is worth your coinage for sure.

It also includes something that I always played out in the back of my mind: what happened after Luke loaded his dying dad onto that shuttle in the Death Star II hangar bay. Snippet below, full scene in the comic.

We Stand on Guard is a series I spoke of previously. It is written by Brian K. Vaughan (of Lost and Saga fame). My local comic guru in Dublin warned me that the last issue was a bit graphic and he wasn't underselling it either, this issue (#3) is hard to read at times as the writer and artist go into some detail about the true horrors of what it's like to get interrogated in wartime and how much easier it is to break the rules of prisoner treatment than it is to have them enforced.

After reading it, the cover image becomes haunting and iconic for the characters in the series so far.

Both well-written and outside the main-stream, if you haven't tried it yet and you're looking for something to distract you from the impending Marvel revamp, look no further.

Star Wars/Amazing Spider-Man

I discuss the special Obi-Wan Kenobi throwback issue from Star Wars #7 and picking up a sweet variant of Amazing Spider-Man #3.

Star Wars #7

My friendly-local-comic-book-store kindly obliged me in putting aside a variant cover of Star Wars #7. After issue #6's bombshell that Han was married and had a wife issue #7 departs completely from the normal story arc and instead reveals an excerpt from Obi-Wan Kenobi's diary (I wonder if he means old Ben Kenobi...).

Simone Bianchi steps in as the artist to work on this issue with Jason Aaron continuing the writing. Bianchi's signature is all over this issue, using dark shadows to accentuate his character's expressions. Aaron shows glimpses of Luke's life on Tatooine with iconic images from the movies like Luke staring out at the horizon with the two settings suns approaching turned into young Luke sitting on the roof of the old stone building in the same cinematic shot but looking up to the sky dreaming.

Another scene has Luke captured by *insert generic Tatooine gang-member* and has resonance with his father's childhood on the same planet when Luke says he's scared. The same conflict of emotion was evident in young Anakin Skywalker when he runs back to his mother's arms as he's leaving but later when he's asked "Are you afraid?" by Padme he just says he's cold. The parallels between the two young Skywalkers and their lives on Tatooine before leaving the planet behind are revealing and well-portrayed, if only briefly in this issue. Maybe a sign of more young Luke stories in the future of the title? Here's hoping.

Amazing Spider-Man #3 Variant

I also did some impulse shopping in Dublin over the weekend and, while rooting through a big back-collections of comics, found a variant cover I absolutely love. It's the Tim Sale variant cover (1:25) of Amazing Spider-Man #3. For me it really rolls back the years to older Spider-Man covers but with really nice, muted tones and pastel colouring. I think I'll be selling this one rather than keeping it but until then I'll be looking at it and drooling all over the plastic.

-J

Spider-Woman / Old Man Logan / We Stand On Guard

I've just returned to our fair, green and glamorously-wet weather from the States and while I was over there I rediscovered my love for comic books. Having a comic store on every corner and a donut shop right beside them may have helped...

I've picked up too many titles to discuss in one stop, (Deadly Class, Judge Dredd, X-Men '92, etc.) so I'll space them out a little for ease of reading. Many of these I've started reading since I came back too.

Spider-Woman

First up, a title I've never once read before. This one I picked up on a whim since I haven't been all that interested in the many, many, many, many new Spider characters. I'm a bit of a variant cover fiend lately as well and since this was a variant cover of the issue (Kris Anka Design Variant Cover. Limited 1 for 20.) with Spider-Woman's new look it seemed like a bargain for less than 10 euro!

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the pages though, the art is dynamic with lots going on from panel to panel, the writing is typical cliche Marvel but the character herself is a very good addition to the Marvel world. If you followed Matt Fraction's Hawkeye and found Kate Bishop's 'can't-stop-me' attitude exciting then the current Spider-Woman could be right up your spout (see what I did there? spout? spider? ...so alone). In my view she's vying with DC's very successful New 52 Batgirl and provides a great alternative to those who prefer Marvel over DC (Batgirl is really worth checking out if you haven't yet!). As of July, Spider-Woman is up to issue #9.

Different Story, Same Old Character

Juxtaposing the young, energetic female lead I'm also reading Old Man Logan, a Secret Wars title. For me, Secret Wars doesn't hold all that much appeal personally, it just seems like a cheap trick to fit in as many What-If? stories in one fell swoop. This, for me, is the best book your money can buy right now. It sees our heroic Wolverine cast down decades before this story takes place after being tricked into killing his fellow X-Men. 

The cinematics of everything in this series so far; the sky; the scenery; the expressions on Logan's face enhance the story immeasurably. It should come as no surprise that a guy who cites Aaron Sorkin as an influence in creating dialogue that Old Man Logan reads like a motion picture. Not only years now, but decades of misery can be read on Logan's face and after the tragic death of his family at the hands of the Hulk Clan it's come a time again for Logan to do what he does best...

Old Man Logan is different in that the writing and art fit together so perfectly with the story-telling that it doesn't matter what 'Big Story' arc Marvel are trying to architect. This story could stand alone and seems to bridge the gap between Marvel's vision for super heroes and DC's dark story-telling. If, like me, you have been wanting for something to reach back to the glory-days of Barry Windsor-Smith's Weapon X then this is well worth a read.

Blame Canada

I never read Brian K. Vaughan's Saga (stop shouting at me through the internet, it doesn't work.) but after a friend (read enabler/dealer) in my local comic store put aside an issue of We Stand On Guard for me based on what I had previously bought I find myself completely immersed and foaming at the mouth for issue #2 (August 5th). 

The story is great and fast-paced with some grandiose atmospheric art pieces scattered throughout to capture the scale of the task set before our heroes: defending Canada from the invading Americans. It appeals to me in that kind of "the island in Lost could have existed" kind of way too. Everything is just believable enough that you can get on board and get behind the characters. Highly recommend it for something new.

-J