Book Review #44: WildC.A.T.S / X-Men

WildC.A.T.S / X-Men (1997)

 The Golden Age 

Story: Scott Lobdell

Art: Travis Charest 

 Colors: Wildstorm FX

Letters: Richard Starkings & Dave Lanphear

This mini series was a big deal when it was first announced way back in the day. A crossover between Image and Marvel was something most of us fans wanted to see but were never really sure it would ever happen. So when the day came that this was going to be a reality, I personally could not have been happier to see it happen. The mini series of 4 issues was broken into 4 seperate time periods. The Golden Age takes place during WWII, featuring Logan/Wolverine from the X-Men and Zealot from WildCATS. The issue itself is a cross between Indiana Jones and Aliens with a hint of Film Noire thrown in. 

The story itself is okay, nothing to really get excited about. The selling point for this debut issue is of course the amazing art by Travis Charest. This came out a long time ago and Travis has gone on to do other things regarding his art. But to me, this is where Travis peaked artistically, This was the culmination of all his hard work with awesome characters to leave the reader with the best thing he has ever done. Just absolutely stunning artwork that hanging the comic book on a wall in a museum is not out of the question. The art alone makes up for the by-the-books-story.

The Silver Age

Story: Scott Lobdell

Pencils: Jim Lee

Inks: Scott Williams and Sal Regla

Colors: Joe Chiodo & Martin Jiminez

Letters: Richard Starkings & Dave Lanphear

In Part 2 of this mini series, Jim Lee takes over on art duties. The story revolves around primarily Grifter from WildCATs and Jean Grey, aka Marvel Girl from X-Men. There are cameos from Cyclops, Beast, Iceman and Archangel as well as Nick Fury, Pike, Sinister and Zealot. The story is kind of run of the mill. Something you have read countless times before, or something close to it.

As before, the story was not the selling point here. It was Jim Lee's pencils. Back in the day I thought this issue was one of the best he had drawn. But today, although still a pleasure to look at, has some rough spots because by comparison to the work he is putting out now, you really can see how much Jim's style and evolved and improved over the years. I have to point out that back when this came out, even poor Jim had the misfortune of having to follow Travis' issue, which still applies today.

The Modern Age 

Story: James Robinson

Pencils: Adam Hughes

Inks: Mark Farmer

Colors: Joe Chiodo & Martin Jiminez

Letters: Richard Starkings & Dave Lanphear

Story-wise, I think The Modern Age is the best of the 4 and art-wise, Adam Hughes gave Travis a run for his money.  This issue has all the classic stuff that you normally get from him; namely, hot babes and heroic Superheroes. Adam is one of the best at what he does and his inclusion in this series elevates it to a whole other level. As for the story, I do think it's my favorite of the 4 because it doesn't rely on the standard cliched type of dialogue most associated with team books like this series. It's not corny is what I'm getting at. With the first 2 issues really being nothing more than a tease, we finally get all the WildCATs and X-Men on the same playing field to fight along side each other against a common enemy.

The Dark Age 

Story: Warren Ellis

Pencils: Mat Broome

Inks: Stan Parsons

Colors: Wendy Fouts & Wildstorm FX

Letters: Richard Starkings & Dave Lanphear

Additional Pencils by Brett Booth

Now I remember why I have not bothered to read this since the day this hit the stands. The Dark Age was absolutely atrocious in every way imaginable. First thing first. Why the hell did they have Mat Broome doing the art chores here? Why would you follow up the holy trinity of Comic Book Gods (Travis Charest, Jim Lee and Adam Hughes) with someone that had no name recognition whatsoever? I mean this guy never was a fan favorite. He never was flavor of the week superstar. He was working out of Wildstorm Studios and was employed by Jim at the time so he lucked into the gig. My guess is that Jim couldn't find anyone else to do the issue. Back before this came out, I was hoping that J. Scott Campbell would do the issue. He was definitely a fan favorite and someone that could realistically follow the other superstar artist and hold his own.

As for the story, it is garbage. And the dialogue is a joke as well and makes no sense half the time with no flow at all. What a waste. If you ever decide to pick this series up, stick with the first 3 and skip Part 4.  I'm not going to even go into the details of who and what the story is about. Not worth it.

Overall Rating: 3 Stars out of 5 (Blame the 4th Issue for dragging down a pretty good book)

Review by Chiprocks1

Book Review #32: All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder

All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder (2005)

Written by Frank Miller

Pencils by Jim Lee

Inks by Scott Williams

Colors by Alex Sinclair

There is a lot of derision when it comes to All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder for a couple of reasons. Most people either hate this or love it. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. The reason why most hate it is that Frank Miller, for whatever reason chose to make Batman nothing short of a Blood thirsty, psychopath, hellbent on inflicting as much pain as possible against his enemies. But the thing that rubbed most people the wrong way is that he seemed to be getting off on all the carnage he was dishing out.

This goes against everything that Batman/Bruce Wayne stands for. It's so completely out of character. Now, usually something like this where a character starts acting against the norm can be attributed to brainwashing, alien infection or any other influences brought on by one of many Batman Villains. But here, it's him and him alone acting of his own volition.

The other thing that tends to bring comic book fans to a boil is that the book just....ends. There is no resolution to the story. After 9 issues, it just stops. Even though it has been announced that the book itself will be morphing into another title called Dark Knight: Boy Wonder for 6 Issues to wrap up the story, it's still a shitty way to treat fans that were following the exploits of Batman.

As for the story itself, it's an origin tale about Dick Greyson, the original "Boy-Wonder" who becomes Robin. Although a lot is said about how Batman is completely off his rocker here and in the way he treats Greyson almost to the point of abuse, I can still find some things about it interesting enough to not completely throw this one away. I just look at it as one of those weird anomalies and chalk it up to a different take on the characters that you would never get elsewhere.

Having said all that, the only saving grace really for the book is of course Jim Lee's stunning artwork. The work he put out for this one is of the highest standard that meets and at times eclipses that of his work on Batman: Hush. Just astonishing to look at.

I can only recommend the book for Jim's art and not much else.

Rating: 3 Stars out of 5

Review by Chiprocks1

Book Review #31: Batman: Hush

 Batman: Hush (2002)

Story and Words by Jeph Loeb

Pencils by Jim Lee

Inks by Scott Williams

Colors by Alex Sinclair

Letters by Richard Starkings

Hush had a lot of things going for it from Jeph Loeb doing the words to mega-superstar Jim Lee on pencils and his trusty sidekick inker extraordinaire Scott Williams and the amazing colors of Alex Sinclair. With all these elements in place, did Hush live up to the hype?

A resounding yes. The first thing you will obviously take notice of when opening the book is of course Jim's amazing art. The guy just continues to top himself with each and every book he does. And he does not disappoint one bit in this book at all. If you are coming into this book for the first time having never seen anything he has done before, you will definitely come away as a fan.

What about the story? Any good? Very good. It was actually much better than I thought it would be. You're in for a treat if your a fan of DC Comics as pretty much the entire gallery of characters make an appearance at some point here, from Catwoman to Superman to the Joker just to name a few. Hell, you get not one, not two, but three Robins here. You will just have to read the book to find out how it all ties in together. 

I absolutely recommend this book for anyone that is a fan of amazing art or in need of a pretty solid story with lots of well-known characters. Also, be on the look out for a new Hardcover Edition of Hush with just Jim's pencils inside. That's right. No Inks and no colors. I can't wait to pick this one up next month (July, 2011).

Rating: 5 Stars out of 5

Review by Chiprocks1