eh-eh-eh-eh-X-MEN!

I'm so glad I bought the rise of the dark phoenix book, it really was a good look into all the underlying storytelling that's going on in todays marvel saga. I've got to say though, I think I definitely would have enjoyed the pacing of the story a lot more if I was reading it issue by issue. The fact that it's all compiled into one book I think takes away from a lot of the experience that the writers intended. (Im of course referring to a ton of flashbacks throughout the book) Oh well, but who am I to complain? How else am I going to come across an affordable read of this renowned superhero saga in my lifetime? The characters are incredibly well developed. I didn't even think I would like a character such as colossus but he, and along with nearly every other individual, are suddenly so much more compelling to me. I have a feeling it's because that their is a narrative going on three levels describing each character: the caption box, the thought bubble, and the speech bubble. Each is used to capture the exact emotion and expression that each character goes through. At first I thought it seemed like a dated old superhero fodder with how much description was needed, but it really helps to flesh these guys out when you think about it. But yeah... I had to stop at the end of the required reading... just when things were getting good.

A success story was downright hilarious. I had actually never taken a look at it's artwork compare to other EC titles, and I was pretty impressed. The ink was handled in an incredibly stark and intuitive way, using lighting to enhance the mood and drama to it's peak. I really liked how the people were drawn too for some reason, sometime the gesture was what really creeped me out, like when the artist was hunched over his victim. And what comic artist could not love that detail put into those zombies. Also, it had a great juxtaposition of complementing text and image! This was a fantastic little read, and hopefully my future career will not follow suite.

Oh god Batman never brought me so close to tears as the crime ally story did. I've seen the first splash page for that story without color and I gotta say I wish I could see the rest. The color doesn't do it much justice, but the inking in that story is incredible. This was a story that really captured Bruce's character rather than batman, which is something that doesn't happen to often being that Bruce Wayne is a very minor character in comparison to his alter ego. It made me feel much more connected to the individual, and showed a side to batman that isn't seen all too often. I mean really, When's the last time you've seen the guy smile with content?!

Given my time parameters, the most I got out of Sabre was all of Don McGregor's intro to the book. Goddamn that man was passionate about his profession. All I can really get from it is a huge swell of inspiration. I could tell the guy went through a hell of a lot of blood and sweat just to get his stories out into the public like he intended them to be. He seems like a guy who wasn't going to cut any corners. No matter what people thought of his work, he knew what was the right thing to do for his stories. As for the comic, I got about five pages in and had to start working on my paper. But the character sabre; definitely equals a Dirty Harry and Jimmy Hendrix combination. Awesome.