mysteriousmre's Reviews (1.22k)

It's a "junk food" book, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. There's a lot of fun, over the top action sequences and memorable set pieces, but that's about it. Rogues Reloaded doesn't spend much time dwelling on who The Rogues are as characters, expecting you to rely on previous stories from the New52 era or fill in the gaps by placing them into stereotypical roles like the cold hearted leader, the newbie, the wild pyro, etc.

And that's just half the book. The rest is filled with mini-arcs tying up loose ends from previous stories. I think the one featuring Kid Flash has some good things going for it, but for new readers I think their mileage is going to vary significantly. If you're looking for a good introduction to The Rogues, or a character driven Flash story, I wouldn't start here. Rogues Reloaded is fine, but it's mostly all flash and no substance (ba-dum-tish).

The antagonist isn't terribly interesting, but the dynamic between Damian Wayne (Robin) and John Kent (Superboy) is what makes this book work so well. Tomasi has been writing Damian for years and knows how to bring out the best in him, and John's an incredibly likeable kid. They exemplify the best (and worst) qualities of their parents and the kids' relationship to each other mirrors their fathers' in a lot of ways. They're great contrasts to one another and their conversations and jabs at each other are super fun to read. The art is great too. This is some of my favorite work from Jorge Jimenez. If you're looking for a DC comic appropriate for young readers (I'd say maybe 12 and up?), I'd strongly suggest checking this book out.

This is a really solid first chapter. I was nervous about how this book would turn out. Not nervous anymore. Now I just want the next issue.

I've been disappointed lately by some of the art books I've read lately because they either didn't have enough text or they had too much. I think The Art of Coco strikes a great balance, without detracting from the main reason you should pick up this book: the concept art. There's a large variety of mediums here with, sketches, digital paintings, storyboards, and clay sculptures.

There's a few sections of text dedicated to different crew members talking about how meaningful it was for them to work on the movie, but I thought those sections all sounded pretty genuine. The rest of the text was not wasted at all, listing some of the different artists, art periods, and locales that helped shape the movie and how the cultural history/traditions helped inform certain creative decisions.

There's enough art in here that artistic folk will be more than satisfied, and enough text that someone who doesn't have much of an art background will find something to enjoy. I really enjoyed this book and I'd recommend it to any fan of the movie interested in learning more about the film.

Just buy the first issue digitally. It's cheaper and is the main reason why anyone reads Gotham by Gaslight (The second issue has a different artist and isn't as fun as the first).

The first issue is a quick read at just 50 pages and doesn't have as much Batman as I expected it to (he's Bruce Wayne for most of the story). This interpretation of Jack the Ripper also feels very different from the historical figure, but hey, it's Batman vs Jack the Ripper, what'd you expect? It's a fun premise and a decent little mystery that can be finished in an afternoon. The art is really great too. Mike Mignola's art is very gritty and uses a lot of harsh shadows. It's perfect for a story like this in Victorian era Gotham. Not the greatest Elseworlds story I've read from DC, but still pretty fun.

A pretty harmless read, but not terribly interesting. Lots of melodrama, lots of stereotypes, and lots of very obvious foreshadowing. To give it some credit, it is the first gothic novel, so if you're interested in the history of the genre I would recommend Otranto. It's roughly 80-90 pages and can easily be found online for free. Aside from that though, i don't have any reason to revisit this book again.

The Mega Man comic series reminds me a lot of Batman: The Animated Series. It's framed in a way that's appealing to younger audiences, but tackles some serious themes and subject matter that older audiences can enjoy.

This first volume is decent. Just decent. Ian Flynn is a great writer, and I really enjoy his interpretation of these characters, but he's trying to adapt the plot of Mega Man 1 in just 4 issues and do a brand new character arc every issue, and that's really not enough space to do these ideas any justice. For example, during one point of the story Rock (Mega Man) is dealing with the fact that he is essentially attacking/killing his own kind, and he tries to cope with that by compartmentalizing all of his emotions. His family (Roll and Dr. Light) help him process those emotions by reminding him that, unlike his opponents, he's fighting because he values life and wants to defend it, instead of extinguish it. A really cool concept for a character arc, but because of its length it gets only 22 pages dedicated to it, and in context of the story starts and finishes in less than a day. It's still a decent read, everyone has a distinct tone and personality, but it's not as good as it could be.

The art though is flat out gorgeous. I don't remember ever seeing Patrick "Spaz" Spaziante work on a comic's interior art, but he's just as great at interiors as he is his on cover art! The panel composition is solid and the characters emote really well too. It's always awesome to see Matt Herms on colors. I first saw his work on Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Universe books and I swear, everything this guy works on looks great. The colors are vibrant and helps add a lot of depth to the art.

If you're a fan of classic Mega Man games, pick this up. Despite its shortcomings it's a great adaptation of Mega Man 1 and I think you'll have a lot of fun. If you're new to the series though I'd recommend jumping on with Mega Man Vol. 3. The art isn't as great as it is in this volume, but the story is far more focused and makes better use of the space it has.