March 7, 2012
Fairest #1
Though I always enjoyed Bill Willingham’s surprise smash-hit Fables (by far Vertigo’s most financially successful property in many, many years), I never really looked forward to it. For me, the series peaked with its fourth trade, “March of the Wooden Soldiers“, which was the perfect combination of soapy plotting and military fantasy for which the series had always (in my opinion) been aiming. It remained solid for years after that, but with so many excellent books coming out, and such an enormous back-catalog to catch up on, I fell behind. But I always noticed its spin-offs, from the winning Cinderella books to the occasionally enjoyable Jack of Fables, and I was interested when I saw the new spin-0ff, Fairest, on the shelves. With a gorgeous Adam Hughes cover, pencils by the immensely respected Phil Jimenez, not to mention Willingham writing in his element, it seemed like a must-read.
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Comic Books, Comic Reviews, Vertigo | Tagged: Bill Willingham, Fairest, Phil Jimenez, Vertigo | 
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Posted by Cal C.
October 13, 2011
The Unexpected #1, cover by Rafael Grampa
A few months back, I reviewed another anthology of short stories by Vertigo: Strange Adventures. And while I found the book to be something of a failure, it had nothing to do with the format, but with the stories. Only Peter Milligan and Sylvain Savoia’s “Partners” was a truly great short story, while most other creators seemed to be grappling with some difficulty in telling a coherent story using such a small page count. I’m happy to say, The Unexpected #1 has solved that problem thoroughly, introducing a series of fun, memorable short stories from a variety of star creators.
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Posted by Cal C.
June 12, 2011
The Unwritten #5, “How the Whale Became”
Mike Carey broke in a big way with Lucifer, his spin-off from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman – a spin-off that managed to build into one of the most satisfying fantasies in the medium, turning an already well-drawn character into one of comics’ best. Afterwards, he crafted and contributed to a few fascinating Vertigo books – including one that I firmly believe deserves more discussion, Crossing Midnight – and some noble failures, but none took off the way Lucifer had… and he was busy becoming one of Marvel’s superstars, as well as a successful novelist. His big creator-owned-comics success story would have to wait.
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1 Comment | Comic Books, One Shot, read/RANT Columns, Vertigo | Tagged: How the Whale Became, Mike Carey, Peter Gross, The Unwritten, Vertigo | Permalink
Posted by Cal C.
June 4, 2011
I read 24 comics in May, and these were the best.
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Leave a Comment » | Captain America, Image, Marvel, Top Ten "Fill in the Blank", Vertigo | Tagged: Alessandro Vitti, American Vampire, Butcher Baker, Captain America, Chris Samnee, David Lapham, Deadpool, Deadpool MAX, Image Comics, Joe Casey, Jonathan Hickman, Kyle Baker, Marvel Comics, Mike Huddleston, Rafael Albuquerque, Roger Langridge, Scott Snyder, Secret Warriors, Thor, Vertigo | Permalink
Posted by brucecastle
March 5, 2011
I read 20 comics in February, and these were the best.
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3 Comments | Icon, Marvel, Top Ten "Fill in the Blank", Vertigo, X-Men | Tagged: American Vampire, Astonishing X-Men, Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis, Casanova, Casanova: Gula, Danijel Zezelj, Darkhorse Comics, David Lapham, Deadpool, Deadpool MAX, Fabio Moon, Hellboy, Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead, Icon, Kaare Andrews, Kyle Baker, Marvel Comics, Matt Fraction, Mike Mignola, Scott Hampton, Scott Snyder, Vertigo, Warren Ellis, X-Men | Permalink
Posted by brucecastle
February 10, 2011
Bill Willingham’s Fables had a lot of break-out characters, but few were as fascinating as the book’s take on Cinderella. Care-free bon-vivant by day, fairy tale princess Cinderella was Fabletown’s sexiest super spy by night. Last year, Cinderella got her own miniseries, Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love, a book that was successful enough to warrant a follow-up from the same creative team. I was excited for From Fabletown With Love – there aren’t many good spy books on the shelves, and there are even fewer with a strong female protagonist – but it came at a time when I simply couldn’t afford comics on a monthly basis. Cinderella is an interesting character, and one well-suited to carrying her own very distinct book, so I was eager to give her a shot when I discovered a second mini was forthcoming.
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Leave a Comment » | Comic Books, Comic Reviews | Tagged: Chris Roberson, Cinderella: Fables are Forever, Fables, Shawn McManus, Vertigo | Permalink
Posted by Cal C.
January 4, 2011
I’m actually getting this thing out on time? It’s a Kwanzaa miracle! This is my list for the top ten stories of 2010! Woo hoo! Now, before we get to all the fun of me voicing my opinions and you disagreeing with them, I have to get a few rules out of the way.
1. These are the top ten stories/arcs/whatever. Not comic in general, not trade, but best stories (What can I say, I’m trying to be somewhat unique).
2. These are stories that ended in 2010. They could begin at any time, but as long as they concluded in 2010, they’re eligible.
3. I tried to keep the list as diverse and reader-friendly as possible. I love certain writers, but it would be boring if it was three Morrison books, two Ennis books, etc. So, a writer/artist will only appear once on the list. I tried to spread the love evenly. You will see Marvel, DC, and even Indies on this list.
Wow, with all those rules, how did I come up with a great top ten? Well, I hope I did. Anyway, let’s begin the fun!
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5 Comments | Batman, DC, Icon, Indies, Marvel, Spider-Man, Top Ten "Fill in the Blank", Vertigo, X-Men | Tagged: Alessandro Vitti, American Vampire, Astonishing X-Men, Astonishing X-Men: Exogenetic, Avatar Press, Batman, Batman and Robin, Brendan McCarthy, Brian Wood, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Cameron Stewart, Casanova, Chris Burnham, Cliff Chiang, Crossed, Daniel Clowes, Daren White, Darwyn Cooke, DC Comics, Drawn and Quarterly, Eddie Campbell, Fluorescent Black, Frazer Irving, Gabriel Ba, Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Greendale, Heavy Metal, Icon, IDW, Jacen Burrows, Jason Aaron, Jonathan Hickman, Joshua Dysart, Leandro Fernandez, Marvel Comics, Matt Fraction, MF Wilson, Nathan Fox, Northlanders, Oni Press, Parker: The Outfit, Phil Jimenez, R.M. Guera, Rafael Albuquerque, Rafael Grampá, Scalped, Scott Pilgrim, Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour, Scott Snyder, Secret Warriors, Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Fever, Stefano Caselli, The Playwright, Top Shelf, Vertigo, Warren Ellis, Wilson, X-Men | Permalink
Posted by brucecastle
January 2, 2011
I read 19 comics in December, and these were the best.
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Leave a Comment » | Batman, Comic Reviews, DC, Marvel, Top Ten "Fill in the Blank", Vertigo, X-Men | Tagged: Alessandro Vitti, American Vampire, Astonishing X-Men, Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis, Batman, Batman Inc., Cully Hamner, DC Comics, Grant Morrison, Jonathan Hickman, Kaare Andrews, Marvel Comics, Rafael Albuquerque, Red, Red: Eyes Only, Scott Snyder, Secret Warriors, Vertigo, Warren Ellis, Wildstorm, X-Men, Yanick Paquette | Permalink
Posted by brucecastle
December 17, 2010
When I initially reviewed The Unwritten #1, I said that “Carey and Gross bring a compelling first issue to a series with a great deal of promise,” and then questioned whether the series could live up to such a fantastic opener. Twenty issues in, I think it’s safe to say that the promise has been fulfilled and then some; in fact, it’s probably fair to say that The Unwritten has spent the last two years becoming not just the best Vertigo comic going on today and not just the best fantasy comic on the shelves, but consistently one of the best comics currently being published, period.
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Leave a Comment » | Comic Books, Comic Reviews, DC, Vertigo | Tagged: Mike Carey, Peter Gross, The Unwritten, Vertigo, Vince Locke | Permalink
Posted by Cal C.
