Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Vertigo Title Review (R.I.P.)

I definitely intend to eventually complete the series in trades, Des. I think there's enough similar appeal to those great Brullips comics that you and I love that you'll like 100 Bullets as well. But it's no copycat. It's its own thing and has its own contemporary style, as opposed to Brullips' kinda throwback vibe present in all of their stuff (if you know what I mean).

I posted earlier that I enjoyed the first issue of Saucer Country. I was even more impressed by issue #2. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is an incredibly original concept with some intelligent writing.

I've been enjoying Saucer Country because it doesn't smell of a typical comic involving an alien invasion, and we're still left to wonder if there really are aliens or if it's just psychosis.

Ya know what? I just read issue #1, and I think I may be in for at least the first arc! We have an interesting lead, a promising supporting cast and a premise which looks to be unpredictable. It kind of has an X-Files-type appeal to it except that we are the Scullys instead of the Mulders, if that makes any sense. I mean, we kind of see more in the first issue to be skeptical when what we saw on the X-Files tended to make us more believers.

I will say that there probably IS more going on here than just the obvious explanation of the characters being whack-jobs. I tend to believe, though, that the explanation is something LESS than full-scale alien invasion.

Like I said, I pretty much dug the issue, and if Jerry says it gets even better with number 2, that bodes very well!

P.S. I also liked the art. Maybe it wasn't anything that will light the internet ablaze, but it told the story well and made me relate to the characters. What more could you want?

I forgot to look for New Deadwardians when I returned to the CBS this past week. Hopefully, the one copy left was/still is there. My odds are decent since the feebs at the shop seem stuck on crap (imo) like AvX.

Re: Scalped #57

Damn! With only 3 more issues remaining, Scalped is just KILLING it! Honestly, it's shaping up to be, imo, potentially the very best Vertigo series EVER! And if you're the best Vertigo ever, well, there's a damn good argument that you might just be the best comic series ever!!!

Issue 57 is the second part of the very last 5-part arc of Scalped. Trying to be as spoiler-free as possible, I'll just say that the previous arc ended with a climactic moment that's been set up since the series began. Issue 56 picks up on the story several months later. starting there and picking up heavily in the current issue, the dominos from all the remaining plot danglers start to fall in unexpected and dramatic fashion.

Honestly, even as a second part of a final story, 57 is just an absolute masterpiece in its execution! Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera have grown together so much over their 5 years together on this book that it's just ridiculous how outstanding they are as storytellers. This issue has a series of suspenseful, tense scenes that just build and intertwine so perfectly. In the end you just feel the claustrophobia that some of the characters are feeling as a noose tightens around one's neck, another struggles with ending things on their own terms and another seeks fulfillment of their own twisted mission. Then, everything turns on its head and we head toward showdowns that we've seen coming but are left breathless waiting to see their outcomes.

I think you could read this issue cold, without ever having read anything of it prior and still get what's going on and potentially be able to really, really enjoy it, regardless. I think that even though Guera's art has a level of gritty-ugly stylization to it, that any fan of the medium who sees it can appreciate it and be entranced by it.

I can't say enough about Aaron & Guera's artistic collaboraters either. Colorist Guilia Brusco and letterer Sal Cipriano complement the story so perfectly. No flashy distractions from the story. They just aid and abet in such a way as to make the story as effective as possible.

If there is a moral to this issue, it is that the things you've done in the past will always return to bite you in the ass. That's true of a lot of fiction and, indeed, of other issues of this very comic, but is just true to the Nth degree here as master storytellers head down the homestretch toward a finale they've been building toward from the beginning.

Scalped is quite simply one of the best books ever produced, and it's great to see it ending on its own terms as relatively few are able to do. I will miss it like nobody's business, but I know I can always revisit it like an one would old veteran scarred by battle but whose tales never fail to fascinate.

I just can't recommend Scalped with enough superlatives to do it justice! Even though I say this and know that it is not everyone's cup of tea, I just want you guys to know how passionate I am about it. If you like tough, gritty, high-quality shows like The Sopranos or [u]The Shield[/i], well, just imagine something on 2 dimensions and four colors that could go toe-to-toe with those guys and possibly deliver a knockout punch! If there's any justice, some network like HBO or AMC will take a long, hard look at this book and adapt it for television in a manner that respects the source material.

Fifty seven down...three to go, Prairie Rose Indian Reservation. Hoka hey!

Scalped is awesome ... I'm in denial about it ending. The last and this final story arc have been two of my favorites so far.

I can't wait to pick up where I left off on the trades--I may wait til the finale to read them in one big push.

Even without reading the last several story arcs, I can agree Scalped ranks among the best comic book series of all time. It has every element needed to qualify it for a master piece.

Going one step further, I'd say its one of the best noir stories of all time. Not noir in the oft-misused sense of 'black & white' or 'crime', but real noir; where characters fight against forces beyond their control to escape what's coming to them but simply cannot. And usually, as Lardy says, it's something they deserve.

The comparison to the Shield is very apt. I consider the Shield the best crime / cop / modern noir show of all time (and whoever is 2nd is a far distant 2nd). Scalped captures that same gritty, realistic, tragic, noir sensibility.

Sucks that it's ending...but man, how great that we get to see the proper end? I can't wait to read it!

Lardy recommending Scalped to me is one of the great recommendations EVER for me. It helped reinvigorate me for comics in general, and stop putting up with the mediocrity that is so in abundance. I can't thank you enough big guy!

Saucer Country has really stalled out and it's a shame, because it started out great. The last two issues have been an extended info dump on the history of UFOs (combining "real" stuff with things Cornell is adding to the world of the book). But it's literally been two full issues of NOTHING happening and just having two different lecturers describing alien encounters from first the mythological aspect, and then the physical aspect. It's great to see Cornell is so invested in his subject matter, but there's no indication as to what data is relevant and what isn't, and in the meantime he's inadvertanlty killed all momentum and interest. maybe it will read better collected, but a two month break in a story that's barely starting is perplexing to say the least.

Just a few comments about the finale of Scalped

Could it have ended any other way? I thought maybe 4 issues back that the series was dragging but .. then Aaron crammed so much in (it could've gone a couple issues more in some ways) ... that this really feels like an ending! As much as I'd love to see them again, I think this story is finished.

and it didn't end exactly how I thought it would.

Every character is still the same but, different.

Punk Rock Jesus #1 was AWESOME! Writer/artist Sean Murphy (who previously drew Joe the Barbarian and American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest shows he is more than capable of doing double-duty in the debut of this Vertigo mini!

The story concerns the cloning of none other than Jesus Christ via DNA recovered from the Shroud of Turin for the focus of a new reality show. Sounds wild, right? This first issue sets up the concept very well as we see the media frenzy build up around a virgin mother chosen by the producers of the reality show to bear the cloned child. We get a well-rounded idea of the religious ramifications, see the dirty corporate dealings and meet various members of the cast in 32 story-packed pages. It ends with the birth of the child, along with an unexpected consequence.

The art here is presented in black and white, a kind of rarity in the main Vertigo line. I think it serves Murphy's art very well as his incredibly detailed linework is on full display and doesn't really need any bells or whistles to make it pop. His art tells the story well, is packed with detail and his faces and body language are very expressive.

Offhand, I'd say this is the best new Vertigo project since American Vampire and Scalped if this issue is any indication. Too bad its only a mini-series! Murphy is as talented a writer as he is an artist from what is on display here!

^ Oh, by the way....PRJ is 32 ad-free pages of story per issue at only $2.99! I thought this was just for the first issue, but it's the same EVERY issue! PRJ and Morning Glories over at Image give ya the most bang for yer buck!

I read PRJ #2 last night. Still very excellent!

This issue spotlighted Gwen, the young mother of the supposedly cloned Jesus and how hard the simultaneous isolation and lack of privacy is getting to her. All the while, the producers of the reality TV show are manipulating her into turning to alcohol and other ways to make the show more enjoyable to the viewers.

At the same time we learn more about another of the series' major characters, bodyguard/head of the show's security detail Thomas McKael. He has a bloody past with the Irish Republican Army and is starting to see protecting Gwen and little Chris as his chance to atone.

Their stories converge as Thomas helps Gwen leave the compound where the show has her isolated to find out what happened to her parents. Unfortunately, they find that out in the world where both are two of the most famous people in the world, they face great danger from zealots and fans alike.

Can't emphasize enough what a terrific artist Sean Murphy is and how gorgeous his lines look in this black and white format! Now, showing incredible writing skill to go with it, PRJ looks to be perhaps the sleeper of the year, even amid such a dearth of exciting launches that have characterized 2012 in comics!

So I took your advice and grabbed Punk Rock Jesus #1, and like so often in the past, you definitely didn't let me down! Wow, what a totally fantastic, phenomena opening! As you said, one of the best debut issues EVER for a comic! Already I'm feeling this will be a great fit in the pantheon of Vertigo greats.

Sean Murphy is a force to be reckoned with. His art is intense and gritty, and his writing is super heavy in plot, non-stop in characterization and when it's all combined there isn't one wasted moment or panel. To say I'm impressed is an understatement. And I agree, the black and white format adds a little something extra by letting his finished pencils shine unhindered.

The story itself is pretty brilliant at first glance but when you get into the first issue you quickly see its more than just a good premise. There are some serious questions being asked, and the characters react in some realistic and even scary ways.

The twist near the close of #1 is one I saw coming because I'm kind of immersed in "Jesus Conspiracy" lore (even though I'm Catholic). But it definitely opens up some major possibilities of how it may play out.

I'm gonna grab #2 & #3, and get it on my pull for the rest. Major kudos to Lardy for BRRing (=Buying, Reviewing and Recommending--new Gymlls term!).

We won't hold it against you, Cobie... although your preacher might...

BaDUMbum *ksssssshhh!!!*

Sorry...

Seriously now-- based on the recs here, PRJ gets a look-see when the first trade shows up for my DCBS preorders.

More evidence that Vertigo may not be long for this world. Karen Berger is leaving.

This is truly the end of an era.

Vertigo is dead.

I hate this NuCokeDC

<--- wonders where the next great book like Y the Last Man will come from.

Hang in there Image.

Image, Dark Horse and company have been the heirs of Vertigo anyway these last couple of years.

Wherever Berger turns up, that's where some real excitement will be.

Berger has had a remarkable career with Vertigo and DC. She says she is ready for a change, and after 30 years who can blame her. Nelson's words were kind and true. This is the first I'm hearing of Time Warp and the Sandman mini. Looking forward to both. Best to Karen.

I'm cutting Unwritten from the pull list. I'd thought about cutting it during the Moby Dick story and got the same feeling now. It just seems to go on and on, then things pick up and get interesting... I don't know. I think the last issue with all the killing just got me fed up. Death doesn't sell comics to this reader.

I am trailing off on Unwritten as well ... I get random issues now ... whcih dosn't really work since the story is so complicated.

I think they should've ended it when he found the whale ... had a face off with the murderer guy ...

I'm not even sure what the book could be about with those plot lines finished.

I just read Unwritten vol.6, TT and the War of Words. While I liked it, especially the chapters from the 1/2 issues, I too was wondering "So where else is there for the story to go?" I saw that vol. 7 will be in next month's solicits and plan on ordering it, but all of the launching story points have been addressed-- Leviathan, Pullman and the Cabal as we know it, Tom growing into his power-- I'll have to see the next trrade and decide from there what I'm doing with the title. Is there an endgame for the series?

Yeah, the ending to the 6th trade (which Peebs summarizes) seemed like a natural ending to the series, and it was pretty damn fantastic. I was pretty surprised when another issue came out!

I'm kind of left scratching my head wondering how the series continues. But I'll prob stick it out longer because I enjoyed those issues so much that I can't help but have faith there is more good to come.

Saucer Country ended with a thud this week. After what was a promising penultimate issue with a great cliffhanger and intimations that we'd actually get to the bottom of stuff, instead we get more questions. Even worse, we have a character actually complain that there are more questions than answers. No kidding.

I'm fine with leaving some of it out there for the rumored second "season" at Image or elsewhere, but Cornell should have given us some reveal of importance, because otherwise it's like we've been spinning our wheels for the past year and a half.