Whew! 2 o’clock and all is (so far) well!
Manhunter: Trial by Fire, Vol. 2 (DC) [collects #6-14]
w. Marc Andreyko; a. Various
| Writing |  | New reader? |  |
| Art | | Non-comics reader? |  |
I really keep wanting to like Manhunter. The costume is neat, and the concept of a prosecutor “liberating” some villain gadgets from the evidence room to go hunt down bad guys outside the system is not new but has some real possibilities.
Alas, it just keeps on not quite gelling. There are some good bits here — how heroes get involved in the legal system, question of obsession and how far you go to pursue a moral imperative (regardless of the cost to your family), good stuff like that. There’s also some bits that tie in with other folks who’ve held the name “Manhunter” over the years in the DCU. Unfortunately, things just keep wandering around chaotically, and we end up way too much OMAC action at the end.
Regardless, I’ve read worse. 🙂 Just not something I can recommend all that highly.
Neverwhere (DC Vertigo) [collects #1-9]
w. Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey; a. Glenn Fabry
| Writing | | New reader? |  |
| Art | | Non-comics reader? | |
I really, really wanted to like this. I love the novel, and I have a great fondness for the mini-series that inspired it (cheap production and all). But Carey had an utterly thankless job to take a horribly rich tale and cram it back into a comic book, and while he has his fantasy comic creds, he tromps over Gaiman’s magical wonderment with army boots. Folks go through the motions, with little sense of their motivation.
Fabry, in the meantime, tries to reinject some magic by making things much more … baroque and comic booky than need be. He’s unsubtle in his visual bits — Carrabas’s skin is featureless black shadow, Door (and her family) have keyhole tattoos around their eyes … it just doesn’t fit with my mental imagery of things. To my mind, while there is amazing magic in the London Below, it visually should remain grounded in the dank and ancient rot and sewers, and the homeless who make up the tribes there. By going for too much odd detail, it becomes … a comic book.
I certainly can see rereading this for a quick Neverwhere fix — but I’m much rather read the books — or rewatch the DVD set.
(listening to: Korngold, Erich, “Coronation Procession” from Adventures of Robin Hood)
(listening to: Bach, “Prelude in C min, Bwv 999” from Best of Baroque)
(listening to: Shore, Howard, “The Bridge of Khazad Dum” from LOTR1: The Fellowship of the Ring)
(listening to: Copeland, Stewart, “Screaming Lord Cole and The Commanches” from Equalizer & Other Cliffhangers)
(listening to: Goldsmith, Jerry, “The Sarcophagus” from Mummy, The)
(listening to: Gold, Murray, “Opening Theme (Eccleston)” from Doctor Who)