Graphic Novel Review: THE 'NAM Vol. 1

The late ‘80s were dominated by superhero comics. All other genres were pushed aside to make way for the latest Spider-Man or Batman title or the latest debut of an all new Marvel or DC character but war comics were seen as something that was dead and buried. Then in ’86 Marvel debuted what was thought to be an oddity and a gamble with the very real and very gritty title The ‘Nam, which depicted events during the Vietnam war in a very realistic manner from the grunts point of view. Although not an instant success, The ‘Nam became one of the most ground breaking titles of the ‘80s. This first volume collects the first 10 issues of the series.

When the title was originally released, I didn’t catch on to it until the issue 8 or 9 and I was hooked immediately. It was unlike any other title I had ever read. Trying to pick up back issues was extremely hard as they became immediate collector’s items but Marvel (the company that released the title) was smart enough to reprint back issues in the form of The ‘Nam Magazine (covers of which are included at the end of the graphic novel). This graphic novel is a reprint of an earlier version just rebound and recolored (the original graphic novel covers are also included). This is a very handsomely presented collection of one of the greatest war comics.

Reading the series in sequential order is a revelation as the stories were designed to be in real time and there be a month of time that goes in between each story (the release date of each issue) so reading the series in which it was meant gives you a whole different perspective on the events and characters of the series especially when very well liked main characters are killed off at a moment’s notice (similar to that of the real war). People coming to the title for the very first time will benefit from this and those (like me) who haven’t read the series since it was originally released will be given a new perspective on one of the greatest of all war comics.
 

Graphic Novel Review: WEREWOLF BY NIGHT: IN THE BLOOD

Marvel has re-envisioned one of their earliest characters Werewolf By Night for a new age and they do an excellent job of it in the new series WEREWOLF BY NIGHT: IN THE BLOOD, which finds Jack Russell, a man cursed into a werewolf when the moon is full, trying to live a normal life despite his wolf-like tendencies. When the story begins Jack is awaiting a newborn child with his girlfriend Cassie. He secretly steals away for the three days in which he wolf’s out to lock himself up in an impenetrable cage so that he doesn’t hurt anyone.

After the latest full moon, Jack returns home to find Cassie dead and his child ripped from her womb. Fearing that his wolf personae may have been the cause he flees just as the police arrive to see him with his dead wife. With nowhere to run Jack hides away in obscurity until he learns a cabal of secret agents are after him and may be able to help him. Now Jack must unravel the mystery of the death of his wife while also unlocking the secrets of his past which will shape his future.

Written by Duane Swierczynski with artwork by Mico Suayan, IN THE BLOOD is a violent and horrifying story as can only happen in Marvel’s MAX line of comics. Fans of horror comics will love how the werewolves are updated Marvel style as Suayan’s art is lush and made even more relentless by Ian Hannin’s colors.

This could have been a fairly routine story and series but together Swierczynski, Suayan, and Hannin create one of the highlights of the MAX comics line. This is work that will put the Werewolf By Night character back into the minds and hearts of horror fans everywhere.

As an added bonus, included in this graphic novel are reprints of Tomb of Dracula #18 and the original Werewolf By Night #15 which is the character’s first encounter with Marvel’s version of Dracula.

 

Graphic Novel Review: MARVEL ZOMBIES 3

MARVEL ZOMBIES 3

The zombies of the Marvel Universe are back again but this time they have found a way into our universe and plan to take over in a very big way. I’ve written about all the previous instalments of the series, but it is here in the new story MARVEL ZOMBIES 3 that the story starts to take a new turn. Under the guidance of new writer Fred Van Lente and artist Kev Walker a small band of zombified super heroes lead by zombie-Deadpool have invaded the swamps of Citrusville, Florida prompting the military unit known as A.R.M.O.R. to send Machine Man and Jocasta to the zombies alternate home world to find a cure for the zombie plague so that the “real” Marvel Universe does not become infected by the zombie plague.

That’s generally what this new story is about. If you’ve read the previous stories in the saga you’ll know that these series have lots of violence and lots of blood. It is a zombie story after all, but unlike previous instalments more story is spent on the Machine Man story as he is a borderline drunk robot who wants nothing to do with humanity. There is lots of great action as Machine Man tears through the zombies as if they were nothing, but there in lies one of the problems of this story – Machine Man is indestructable and thus becomes an odd choice as the main character of the story. The more interesting aspect of the story revolves around Doctor Mobius (the Living Vampire) who is held captive at A.R.M.O.R. by his zombie doppleganger, who wants to secretly infect the Marvel Universe with the plague.

Much of the Zombie-Marvel Heroes carnage is absent from this story although Zombie Deadpool, Kingpin, Mobius, and Captain America, do have their moments to shine. This story just comes off lite considering everything that came before it. This and the fact that this story is just a bridging story for the next story in the series makes this a less interesting instalment on the whole, but it’s fun and crazy and good zombie-fun which should keep anyone entertained.
Although this series was lite I am looking forward to the next series as it reunites the Midnight Suns characters which haven’t been seen in quite some time and were hinted at early in this series with a guest appearance by Man-Thing (one of the Marvel Universe’s most under used characters in my opinion). This is a graphic novel that fans of the series will like but not altogether love.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE a Waste of Time

Let me first say that growing up in the '80s & '90s I read a lot of comics one of which was The X-Men from Marvel so I'd like to think I know a lot about the characters. I know that sometime at the end of the '90s and '00s Marvel's brains were scrambled and they decided to re-boot their comics (most of which from what I've heard was a disaster but some did stick).

I love comic book films of which BLADE, SPIDER-MAN, SPIDER-MAN 2, HELLBOY & HELLBOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY are among the best recent examples. If you notice none of the X-Men films are included on this list and that is for good reason as none of the films are all that good (although I do consider X2: X-MEN UNITED the best). The only reason why any of the films suceeded is because of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Ian McKellen as Magneto because the screenplays are pedestrian at best with no sense of what the X-Men truly were, which was a team of mutants who banded together in order to combat majot atrocities to their kind as well as humankind. Now the theme is present in all three films but the word "team" is lacking in all except the 2nd film (hince why I think it is the best). The first film is nothing more then a film about Wolverine and Rogue who just so happen to meet the X-Men (since no one in the team is given nearly as much screen time as Wolverine & Rogue nor as much of a story/plot). The 2nd film managed to have plenty of great subplots amongst the great action set pieces and actually tried to be a good and well rounded film and Wolverine didn't hog all the screen time (although Cyclops the leader of the X-Men is still under used). The 3rd film was a total mess as old characters from the first two films are killed or completely discarded to make room for all the new characters who were just on hand as popcorn eye candy. It was one big action film mess withy no redeemable qualities.

The same can be said of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE which rewrites X-Men lore to suit whatever the filmmakers thought would be "cooler" in a story that's so uninspired that I almost fell asleep in the theatre. Fleshing out events already alluded to in X2 this new film tries to explain the origins of Wolverine which is the least interesting story to try and tell. With so much history to pull from with the Wolverine character the filmmakers decided to go with a story that pretty much told itself it the previous film. Let's not even mention the complete overhaul done on the Sabretooth character and the complete misuse of the Gambit character (another one of the X-Men's most popular characters who bares has a comeo in this film). The film comes off as nothing more than a marketing ploe to get butts in the seats with lots of things that go "boom" and "pow" and I for one never bought it.

The film is an uninspired mess of which I'm shocked that Jackman didn't have more input into (especially since they plan on making a trilogy of these films). I don't recommend this film to any one unless you ust love Jackman or just can't wait to see the film on video.

Graphic Novel Review: MARVEL ZOMBIES: DEAD DAYS

GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: MARVEL ZOMBIES: DEAD DAYS

The Marvel Universe has jumped on the band wagon in terms of how much our culture and times have made the zombie genre of horror a pop phenomena from the plethora of films (i.e. SHAUN OF THE DEAD, ZOMBIE DIARIES, 28 DAYS LATER, etc.) to animation (i.e. DEAD SPACE and RESIDENT EVIL: DEGENERATION) and now to comics (i.e. THE WALKING DEAD, WAKE THE DEAD, THE EVIL DEAD, and countless others, but it is Marvel’s alternate universe that has been over run by a zombie plague that has captured readers from all kinds.

I’ve never caught any of the Marvel Zombies series in their initial run waiting instead for the collected graphic novel. The first Marvel Zombies series was the first thing I’d read from Marvel comics in over twelve years (I hadn’t given up on the medium only become more immersed in Manga and what publishers IDW and Dark Horse where releasing) and boy did I pick the right time to come back. That first series made me an instant fan and I read the subsequent graphic novels MARVEL ZOMBIES 2 and ARMY OF DARKNESS VS. MARVEL ZOMBIES both of which made me want to know more about how this whole phenomena started. MARVEL ZOMBIES: DEAD DAYS is the collection of all the appearances of the Marvel Zombies leading up to the first MARVEL ZOMBIES stories including the prequel MARVEL ZOMBIES: DEAD DAYS (from which the collection gets it name).

In addition to the prequel DEAD DAYS this massive graphic novel collects the first story about the Marvel Zombies “Crossover” from ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #21-23, the continuation of the story ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #30-32 called “Frightful,” and the last part of this early trilogy “Good Eatin’” from BLACK PANTHER #28-30. That’s 10 big issues of Marvel Zombie goodness in one collected graphic novel. Old school Marvel readers (such as myself) may not care for the Ultimate line of Marvel titles seeing as though they are a retelling of the Marvel Universe for the newer generation. Although this was my very first experience with the Ultimate titles I wasn’t too put back as even though the Fantastic Four are a much different team now then when I was growing up the “characters” were true to whole they’ve always been which is a great testament to writer Mark Miller who wrote both “Crossover” and “Frightful.” In my opinion the story “Good Eatin’” felt like a third part in a trilogy which is big action but little story but since this story was in BLACK PANTHER this is to be expected. This can also be said of the prequel story “Dead Days,” which also works in parts but not as a whole which I presume is because writer Robert Kirkman only had the one issue to tell the story instead of several issues.

The artwork from all four stories is top notch (from pencilers Sean Phillips, Greg Land, Mitch Breitweiser, and Francis Portela) and the original covers are provided in the back of the book for those curious fans (such as myself) who wanted to know what painter Arthur Suydam concocted next. The graphic novel as a whole is a great addition to any collector’s bookshelf with stories that you will reread time and time again (I know I will).

PUNISHER: WAR ZONE is Bloody Good Fun!

Of all the Marvel Comics comic book characters history and the film industry has been the most unkind to The Punisher. The anti-hero one-man killing machine with no superhuman powers or abilities is the least flashy when compared to Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, or even Blade, so why make a third film based on the character? Simply put, because third times a charm and PUNISHER: WAR ZONE actual tries to finally get the character right after the previous missteps.

It’s fair to say that 1989’s Dolph Lundgren fiasco wanted nothing to do with the character from the comic other then call Lundgren’s character Frank Castle and the 2004 Thomas Jane version, while retailing the signature costume, wanted to play up Castle’s strategic prowess rather then his vengeful one. The 2004 version was light on violence, which cannot be said of the all-new re-imagined Ray Stevenson Frank Castle. Stevenson’s Castle (whom does take a few liberties with the costume) is the perfect embodiment of Marvel’s anti-hero.

The Punisher is a one-man killing machine out to rid the city of all criminal elements. When he accidental kills an undercover police office he wonders if it is time to hang up the hat and move on, but when a mob thug Billy Russoti (Dominic West), whom he thought he killed returns from the dead looking for a little payback (and his stolen money) all bets are off. The vain Russoti with his disfigured façade now goes by the name of Jigsaw and with the help of his mental patient brother Loony Bin Jim (Doug Hutchinson) they plan to put the city aflame and get what belongs to them even if they have to kill the Punisher to get it.

One of the faults of the previous two films is the lack or willingness to faithfully go the distance from the source material especially in terms of villains and violenc, which this film does not disappoint. West’s interpretation of Jigsaw is down right spot on and the violence and carnage is more then all of the other Marvel comics-based films combined. It’s a shame that this film has so much baggage that came before it as I’m sure that audiences would appreciate the journey it took to finally bring the “real” character to the big screen. This version is by no means a perfect film as at times it borders on camp and the use of a child as a way to bring sympathy to Castle’s more sensitive side is far from original. I’m sure that the film will find its audience once the naysayers give it a chance when in comes to DVD.