Wasteland #1

Jul 2006 | Oni Press

Writing: Antony Johnston
Art: Christopher Mitten
Letters: Christopher Mitten

Some Kind of Stranger

The world is a wasteland with people struggling to survive. When Michael visits the small town of Providence, he trouble follows in his wake. The town is ruined and the people must move on to Newbegin.

Anything that remotely resembles a post apocalyptic landscape will always get my attention and this had nice cover art, too.

I’m not sure what I expected from this book, other than mediocrity. It’s difficult for me to be excited for things when so many fail to deliver. This one, however, looks very promising. I’m not entirely drawn in, though. It’s just curiosity driving me forward. I want to know more about these sand dwellers and Michael’s gift. I’m also very interested in those Sunners and this odd religion of theirs.

There’s also a story that talks about the state of the world and theories of what happened. It’s a nice background builder and has really pumped my curiosity of the world. I’m really looking forward to reading more.

Blue Monday – Thieves Like Us – #1

Dec 2008 – Oni Press

Writing: Chynna Clugston
Art: Chynna Clugston
Letters: Douglas E. Sherwood

I’ve always loved Chynna’s work, Blue Monday especially. So you can imagine my excitement when I noticed this at my LCS.

And like the previous work, we get more of the same here. In this story, spring is in the air and love is all around Bleu who is having quite the effect on the animals of Chappy Zoological Gardens. Her current crisis is trying to get a guy to like her and you’ll never guess what her new plan is by the end of it.

Again. It’s Blue Monday. New Blue Monday. Our beloved characters back again for a 5 issue run. That almost doesn’t seem enough. I can only hope that there will be more for the future, as this is a series that’s just as much soul food as it is a comfort food.

I love the relationships and interactions between the characters. It’s so natural you’d almost swear you knew some of them in school. The problems, the good times, everything is familiar and fun and written expertly. And we also have those clean, dark lines. I’m in love with the thick, clean, black lines. There’s just something… warm and nice about them.

You don’t necessarily need to have any previous experience with the series to enjoy this, but if you are new to it, I’d recommend starting with The Kids Are All Right. If you did read this, you’d probably end up getting it anyway, so why not just get it over with.

Really, I don’t have much else to say about this other than I’m so glad it exists and I can’t wait for the next issue.

Jumper Jumpscars – #1

Jan 2008 – Oni Press

Story: Nunzio Defilippis | Christina Weir
Illustration: Brian Hurtt
Colour: Jared M. Jones
Lettering: Douglas E Sherwood

What a great read. Now I haven’t seen the movie, nor had I any desire, mostly because I dislike Hayden Christensen.

This series is the prequel to the movie and does a good job setting up the conflict. The story is from the view of the Paladin’s and we follow a young Paladin on her mission and see the morality behind their actions. Jumpers are viewed as so dangerous, they must be killed as soon as they’re found. So we mostly talking about killing kids, here, as this issue states that a suspect being 15 is really old for a Jumper. We’re taken down the first steps of this Paladin’s job and see how viewing them as the people they are is a big mistake.

The storytelling is rather exceptional, considering. The flow is good, and it really draws you into the dark setting. And as a first issue, I’m very interested to see what follows.

And of course the art plays a big role in this. The dirty, brown pallet adds to the bleakness of the setting and when vibrancy is used, it has a more profound effect, adding warmth.

I’m impressed. Not incredibly so, but I expected this comic to be crap and it turned out to be a nice surprise.