I wonder what the clerk at Forbidden Planet was thinking when I was buying Blankets. This really was not my type of comic. Sure I've been in deep relationships but I did not really enjoy this. It was way too soft. The main character was a pretty big lame. I dont know I just did not really have any sympathy for him. The brother was a good character but he was not nearly cool enough to save me from disliking this comic. I will say it was well put together. The story was uninteresting but the art was pretty cool. Maybe if he focused his drawing talents on a more interesting story I could appreciate it more.

Preacher: With Great Vengeance and Furious Anger

I've only read up to vol. 5 of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's series, Preacher, but i already consider it one of the better comics I have read. What makes it so cool to me is that the heros are also kind of messed up. Jesse reminds me a lot of Wolverine in the sense that he's a killer but he's got morals. Cassidy is the same, but he needs to kill to live.For some reason I read the first two volumes thinking that Cassidy was british. I suppose I should pay better attention. Tulip is a really interesting character as well. I couldn't believe when she got her face shot off. It was also cool how they brought her back. My favorite character is the Saint of Killers for obvious reasons. The one scene at the French monastery where he literally fills a room with bodies was an exercise in absolute bad-assery. I like how sometimes he completely disregards the gutter. I think this is a good way to make everything seem like its supposed to be a single moment. The art is good but not the best I have seen. I would say that it definitely fits the grittyness of the story. Overall I really like the Preacher series and cant wait to finish it.

Y is he the Last Man?

Y the Last man is a pretty entertaining story. However it is not unlike anything that we have seen before. Movies like "Children of Men" and "I am Legend" share a lot in common with Y. As far as my impressions about those stories, I thought "I am Legend" was alright. I really liked Children of Men though. Y does not have the luxury of being a 2 hour movie so it has a lot more chances to piss me off. There are plenty of things not to like about this comic. The most glaring problem is the main character who, at least in the first three books of the series, just walks around acting like  douche bag. Being the last man on Earth you would think that he would have some sort of sense of responsibility but instead he is completely selfish. He is a self righteous smart ass with only his best interests in mind. The way the story is structured is also kind of predictable. Like of course those astronauts  were going to die. Of course the creepy shadow lady was Yorick's mom. I also don't really like the Amazons that are so crazy that they actually chop off their boobs. I feel like this crosses the line in so many ways.  The art work is so so. One problem with the art is that they do not really do a good job of conveying motion. I guess its not a big deal but in some instances i have no idea that they are even moving when they are supposed to be. Some of the other characters like the his two female companions and the monkey are really good and are the driving force of the comic for me. I especially like badass agent 355. I'm probably going to check out the rest of the series when I get a chance.

Not for the Squeamish

I cannot recall a Joker story that is better than Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's, The Killing Joke. It is dark, crazy, smart, and hilarious. Joker is clearly one of the more complex villains in the Batman comics, and this story definitely adds to that. In it the Joker kidnaps and torments Commissioner Gordon in an attempt to drive him insane. He shoots and paralyzes the Commissioner's daughter who up until that point was the original batgirl. He does all of this to show that all it takes is one bad day for a person to snap and go crazy like him. The  Gordon story line runs parallel with the story about the day that caused the Joker to snap and go crazy. Both of these stories are really tragic, but at the end you find out that Joker may have been making his bad day up all along. You never really know if he is lying or not. It is my understanding that the Joker from the Dark Night is based largely off of the one from this comic. There are definitely a lot of similarities in the way that these Jokers speak and in their actions. What I like best about this story is that even after all of the bad things that he has done, in the end you still kind of feel sorry for Joker. As in Alan Moore's other works, the story is told in his signature straight forward panel by panel style. Even the story reminds me a lot of his other works. I feel like the Batman in this story sports the same attitude as the heroes from the Watchmen. He is more of a masked vigilante like Roarschach than an actual Superhero. This is a really good quick read but it leaves a lasting impression. 

Billions of Microscopic Exploding Suns

I remember the first time they killed Superman well over a decade ago. An alien named doomsday crash lands on earth and beats him to death. The comic was pretty graphic. There was one scene where Doomsday punches Supergirl's face off. There are not any scenes like this in the new story of the death of Superman, All-Star Superman, but I still enjoyed it. There is a more peaceful style and approach to All-Star Superman. In the book, written by Grant Morrison, and drawn by Frank Quitely, Superman is not killed by a monster, but by the source of his Superhuman strength, the sun.  Lex Luther tricks Superman into flying too close to the sun, amplifying his powers significantly and poisoning him at the same time. When Superman is told that he has very little time to live, he embarks on a quest to complete 12 tasks to ensure safety in the universe. There are twelve issues in the series.Some of the issues are really emotional while others are kind of ridiculous.Most of them highlight a single task but some issues have none while others have multiple. It is interesting to see how Superman/Clark Kent interacts with all those that he loves that he is never going to see again. The art and story telling are very similar to Quitely and Morrison's other collaboration, We3. Quitely's unique way of framing is really cool looking. Im not really the greatest Superman fan but I have read some really good Superman stories. Red Sun may be my favorite. Kingdom Come is also spectacular. AllStar is not as good as either of these, but it definitely is a classic Superman story.

LONG LIVE THE GREAT TOKYO EMPIRE!!!!

There are many subjects and themes explored in this 2000 page epic by Katsuhiro Otomo, from social to scientific. Overall it is about being a youth in a world where no one cares about you. The two main characters(in a cast of dozens) Kaneda and Tetsuo are barely 16. They start out as friends but fate makes them enemies. Kaneda is the leader of a motorcycle gang in Neo Tokyo. Tetsuo was bullied all of his life and when he gets his incredible power all the rage built up over the years comes out and he turns into a juggernaut powerhouse. He destroys Neo Tokyo, and then winds up becoming a god along with Akira, a recently awoken physic destroyer with the same, if not greater, power as Tetsuo. Early in the story it is revealed that Akira is responsible for Word War 3. He winds up being frozen thousands of feet underground. These two wind up changing the whole universe.

The story teaches a lesson about underestimating the younger generation.Other topics are discussed like failing school systems, drug addiction, and shady government business.  Crazy pill popping motorcycle gangbangers speed through the streets beating the shit out of each other, while government officials in their giant office buildings frantically try to- then fail to, avert disaster. There is hyper violence at every turn. It is a story about killer-psychic kids so there are many head explosions . There are also a lot of gunshots to the head. At least a hand full. A lot of folks get obliterated People get crushed in all kinds of circumstances. People freeze. Some have heart attacks. One dude gets his ran over by a motorcycle. There is a lot of violence and Katsuhiro does like to get graphic with it. He is very skilled at drawing people getting brutally killed. Overall it is a really well drawn comic. There are parts where it is just page after page of the ruined  street of a devastated metropolis. Every bombed out office building and pile of rubble is done with great attention to detail. I think the black and white gives the story a more grimy feel. I great deal of the story in color and it was also pretty cool. Its hard to say which i like better because I feel like the color adds an extra level of gloom and dread because its easier to convey darkness. The anime version of Akira, also done in color, gives you a good impression of what its like.He only gets experimental with the actual placement of his frames a few times throughout the story. Instead, he focuses on a more old school approach with standard placement of his frames. Personally I like this idea because there is so much story to be told that to have a lot of weird framing would be kind of distracting. Or maybe it wouldn't matter at all. I am not exaggerating when I say that Akira Is hands down my most favorite story in any medium of all time. An art piece, whether it be comic, tv, movie, painting, whatever, is more likely going to get me interested if it is wildly insane. Akira is just that

SSSSSTINK BOSS: WE3

I love WE3. If anyone ever said that they didnt like this comic I would take it personally. In just three short issues it does so many things right and almost nothing wrong. The whole style of it is beautiful and is something that comic writers should aspire to achieve. I've rarely seen framing laid out so well and explain so much. The story is heartbreaking but still makes you feel good in the very end. It deals its complex subject matter in as little words as possible and still manages to drive it home. There are too many good parts to count but here are a few that really stuck with me:

1. The Cat aka 2

From an evolutionary standpoint cats are pretty much the perfect creature. With ridiculously amazing senses and physical ability they are perhaps the only animal that nature got right on the first try. Birds used to be dinosaurs, dogs used to be bears, man used to be apes, but cats have always been cats. Now to take an animal that is already damn near perfect and outfit it with a supersuit that would give iron man a run for

 his money is perhaps the coolest thing i've ever heard. 2 is awesome because of what he can do to a helicopter pilots eyes from the trees hundreds of feet below. He also appears to be the smartest and most tactical out of the three.

2. Animal Behavior

People always wonder what animals are thinking, or what animals would say if they could talk. I think this is handled particularly well. The dog is a do-gooder always asking for his master for approval. The cat puts on the facade of an asshole but you can tell that she cares. The rabbit is always trying have sex with everything. Dead-On!

3. The Framing 

I mentioned this before. In many instances death is portrayed in a single moment. This is not the case in WE3. Take for instance the scene where the three are terrorizing the small army sent to destroy them, when the dog aka 1 goes head to head with the humvee. Almost 30 frames are used to just detail the gruesome way in which he dispatches the passengers. The action probably lasted a second or so but we get to see pretty much everything that goes on in that instant from the terrified look in the drivers eyes to the broken glasses that got blasted out of the vehicle.

4. Explosive Poop

A rabbit with the ability to poop bombs?!? UH-OH!