Titan Books

Fans of Quinlan Vos and Aayla Secura will be quite pleased, Mace Windu fans will be not be. Quinlan has no memory, except for AWOL Aayla. As he attempts to both remember who he is and collect Aayla he finds himself drifting in and out of the shadows. He is neither 'light' nor 'dark' but what he requires to accomplish his goals. The role that attachment plays is worked very well into the story.

I think Star Wars Twilight is one of the best comics I have ever read. It introduces for the first time two very popular Jedi, Quinlan Vos and Aayla Secura. Quinlan Vos lost his memory and with a Devaronian named Villie he must find his padawan Aayla Secura. I really enjoyed Twilight and if you want to know more read Darkness also by John Ostrander.

Definitely do read this volume if you are a fiend for Star Wars comics or can manage to come across a copy for cheap. Otherwise, I think for most readers you could easily do without this book. Yes, the artwork is slightly above average and certainly easy on the eyes but aside from introducing the Jedi - Quinlan Vos to the series, the story is average at best and offers little in terms of further fleshing out the Star Wars universe.

Another excellent graphic novel by John Ostrander. Twilight introduces the Jedi Quinlan Vos, his Padawan Aayla Secura, and Villie the Devaronian. (fans of Villie might want to read The Devaronian Version, or Star Wars #40 and 41) Twilight begins with Quinlan Vos on Nar Shaddaa. He finds that he has no idea who he is and what he's doing there. He then meets Villie and goes on to his homeworld, Kiffu, I think it's called. From there, he goes looking for answers about what happend to him and his Padawan, Aayla Secura. A great story with lots of twists and turns along the way. Of course, the end is slightly outdated what with Mace Windu's lightsaber being blue, but it dosen't detract from the plots value at all. Another good side to Twilight is Villie and his rather dark humor. The first bad thing about this book is the binding, but I'm not sure if all are this way. After reading it once (gently), it showed some wear. Also, the art was above-average. Vos looked like he does in Clone Wars vol. 4 (I use this as a reference due to its fantastic artwork, of not just Vos, but everybody). And at times, Mace Windu looks a lot taller than he really was in the films. Still, a very good start to the story of Quinlan Vos. Hopefully upcoming graphic novels about him will be this good.

Twilight is simply one of the best Star Wars comics out there, and for damn good reason. Which is what you'd better have for passing over this.

The quality of art is not just excellent, it's outstanding. This is as close to three-dimensional material as there was at the time it came out---and there's more comics by the artistry team that's just as comparable. Colours are sharp, tone vibrant, texture and shadowing detailed. Illustrator Duursema shows what comics are supposed to one, and it's the cynical frog who decides to hop past her future SW works.

Dialogue is slick, Villie the Devaronian slicker still. The shifty dealer's quixotic manner of speech takes some getting used to, about as long as why he never stops grinning. Ostrander is quite adept at scripting his work and ensuring readers have just enough info; the short bio when visiting the Kiffu and Ryloth systems are particularly helpful for those unfamiliar with such locales or just to refresh memories.

Quinlin Vos takes the spotlight, a Jedi that cameos briefly in the previous comic Emissaries to Malastare. And waking up inside a burning room on the lawless environs of Nar Shardda with goons gunning for your hide, you know you have the premise of a hand-slap plot that's just too good to put down. Vos must regain his memory while partnering with a two-timing Devaronian that can be trusted as far as his sorry carcass can be thrown. The search to work out what in tarnation happened to him is only the beginning, a quest that will lead him to a sinister narcotic operation, corrupt politicians and his own apprentice, that blue-skinned Twi'lek you saw in AOTC Aayla Secura.

The very characters are creative and nothing generic. Vos looks North American native Indian, a unique appearance previously unseen in SW comics; inspired from the brief snapshot you see of him in Phantom Menace, when Selbulba threatens Binks. His Guardian heritege lets him pull psychic images off objects, quite handy for detective use. Villie is not your typical rogue either, though he gets a bit indignant when you question his loyalty. "Of course you can trust Villie. Is money involved, isn't it?"

Read those energy spiders in the Jedi Search novel? Well, see them here, as long with guest star appearances from Bib Fortuna, Mace Windu and of course Sidious himself. You also get an assortment of aliens unseen before along with the familiar.

All comics from the Ostrander-Duursema team are aptly titled: Twilight's double meaning reflects Vos's skirting the dark side as he attempts to reeducate his understanding of the Force, and the illicit business conducted on Ryloth's narrow twilight surface, where night and day exist together from a world's slow rotation.

Overall, Twilight is one of the best you can get, with better yet still to come from this pair.

I loved this book! it had all the right themes and tones of a great Batman story. The monsters plus the Mob is awesome and thrilling. This is truly a great cobination. The only element in the story I didn't care for so much was Bruce's love interest, with the exception of her father.

For those who follow Batman continuity and appreciate Batman's early historical villains from 1940 and that period, then this story is a great read. Wagner has a brilliant command of Batman continuity and weaves a tale consistent with Batman Year One, etc. The story is young Batman's first encounter with the more exotic of Gotham's villains, Dr Hugo Strange. Batman is forced to deal with much more than your garden variety street thug; the sci-fi villainy of the pulp era arrives for our intrepid dark knight. Along the way, Bruce Wayne deals with a modern version of his old 1939 love interest and damsel in distress, Julie Madison. Gotham's mob element (from Year One and Long Halloween) also play a role in the story.

This story doesn't try to be Alan Moore's Watchmen. It's a just fun modern canon-laden nod to Batman's 1930's/1940's early pulp adventures (though no knowledge of Batman canon is required to enjoy the story). I think Wagner succeeds in his goal. Wagner really understands Batman and Bruce as characters.

Also, I love Wagner's art in this story. Some may not. But Wagner's art is, perhaps coincidentally, similar to Batman The Animated Series.

I loved it. It was a great story which reflected my ideal depiction of Batman, not only as one who is dedicated to fighting human crime and battling his infamous Rogue's Gallery of Supervillians, but a detective who ends up tangling with supernatural or preternatural forces as well. It harkens back to the Batman comic's early days, where he dealt with such villians as the Monster Men and others regularly. I have always been a fan of the stories in which Batman battles the Supernatural, as much as the tales in which he fights so called "normal" criminals, as these tales fully realize the Gothic atmoshpere of the entire series. These stories force Batman, who despite his fearsome costume (which he chose to induce terror in superstitious criminals),and by nature who is a man of logic and science, to confront and accept the reality of things that are beyond his realm of understanding.

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"Batman and the Monster Men" isn't bad. In fact, it's probably pretty good if you enjoy seeing the Dark Knight going against super-powerful adversaries. Personally, I prefer to have him go up against clever but non-super foes such as Joker, Penguin or a criminal scientist, or even a villain with offbeat and somewhat limited powers such as Bane or Matt Hagen's version of Clayface. I'm a longtime Batman fan, so I can enjoy just about anything featuring him; but I've read better, and probably won't re-read this one too often.

Batman and the Monster Men takes place roughly one year into Batman's career. It's a retro story placing an older storyline into current continuity and has Batman dealing with the mafia as usual, but for the first time faces a much greater challenge he's never dealt with before.

At this point in his career, Batman believes he is on the brink of putting an end to organized crime in Gotham once he puts an end to the much talked about, but never seen, Carmine Falcone's operations. In addition to the Dark Knight, our main cast of characters includes Professor Hugo Strange, Sal Maroni, Jim Gordon, Julie Madison (Bruce Wayne's love interest), and her father Norman Madison.

What initially brought this novel to my attention was Matt Wagner. I had read Trinity and enjoyed his thoughtful insights on the characters as well as his beautiful artwork. Some have criticized Wagner's illustrations as being too simple, but he captures the characters' facial expressions and mood so vividly, you don't even need to read the text to know what they're thinking about. And speaking of dialogue, the characters have some great lines in addition to solid character development through their inner thoughts. Typically, I'm used to just reading stories told from one character's perspective, but in Monster Men, we get to know each of the previous characters listed personally through their thoughts, which was a unique way of narrating. There were a few times in Trinity where I wasn't sure if Wagner quite had Batman's character down, but here he nails his personality exactly how he should be portrayed. Dark, moody, secretive and most importantly, determined.

I won't give away too much of the main plot, but basically going into this, expect things to get mysterious and action packed about halfway through. Once the action starts, it doesn't slow down. I must say, this is one of the more violent Batman stories I've read in a while, up there with DKR. Let's just say the monster men have a taste for human flesh. It was also nice to be able to see Sal Maroni in a starring villain role, considering he is later notorious for creating Two-Face, but I never really knew much about his past up until now.

If this novel has any faults they're minor. Bruce's girlfriend, Julie, wasn't the most fascinating love interest he's ever had. At times she seemed like she wasn't very necessary to the overall plot and was only used when it was convenient. She often would talk playfully in legal terms just to remind us she was a going through law school and that got a bit irritating after awhile, but I wouldn't have necessarily written her out. Her father Norman plays a more important role and goes through the most character development out of any other. I would have liked to see Gordon used a little bit more, but this wasn't his story, and the times he is focused on are well written. I always enjoy reading stories of Batman and Gordon early in their careers and their controversial "partnership" taking form.

Wagner also remembers the little details, such as the creation of the bat-mobile and Alfred's suggestion to put fins on it to make it more bat-like. Putting Vicky Vale's name on the newspaper article featuring the Red Hood on the first page. Setting up Maroni's vendetta against Harvey Dent. The line after Gordon asks "Are you joking?" to which Batman responds, "I'm no joker". It's the small stuff that makes it feel that much more like a Batman novel and not just a generic story you could stick any other random DC hero in and have it feel the same. It's always a pleasure reading something like this when you can sense the author truly gets it and makes it his own. Don't pass this one up.

One reviewer claims this is not a Batman tale like the first two, but instead a vampire tale using Batman as a device (my paraphrase). His point is well taken and understandable, but ultimately, I disagree. Batman is brought back from the grave. The Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Penguin, and Two-Face are the villains at center stage and Gordon is disparate and needs the Batman.

Batman fights against his nature where he can, buy giving into the bloodlust where he can - essentially, Gordon and Alfred and other "decent" citizens are safe (so much so he tells him to stay back because he can hear his pulse) but the evildoers, Batman uses his lust as a pre-text to drink their blood.

In the end, Batman compartmentalizes his morality and knows it is wrong. So when Jim Gordon, before the rocks form an explosion fall on him, prays for God's mercy on their souls, the Batman has no doubt Jim and Alfred deserve and will receive that mercy; however, he doubts he will. He is full of sin, blackened.

This ending alone can stir debate and discussion. Does Batman receive mercy, after all, isn't his end a form of repentance? This third installment richly weaves a narrative with the two previous books. This is a Batman story and is a great graphic novel trilogy.

The main character of this piece was a vampire in a Batman suit, not a vampire Batman. By that, I mean the author never got inside Batman's head the way the first two installments in the trilogy do.
I understand that he is supposed to have been driven insane by the blood thirst, but what "remained" was not recognizably a characterization of Batman. You could take this story, replace Batman with one of the generic European aristocrat vampires from bad horror stories and the final product would essentially remain unchanged.
The ending was especially egregious. He "suicides" by voluntarily walking into the sunlight just as the female vampire from the first volume did. There is no real reason he couldn't have done that at any point in the story from volume 2 on. All the over-the-top slaughter of familiar characters in the third volume was completely gratuitous. In terms of the Batman character as he has long since been established, destroying himself before he became a murderous beast would have been completely in character and believable. By showing him do it, they establish that he could do it. By not having him do it until after the slaughter, they lost what could have been a moving ending to the trilogy.

...I make my way over to the graphic novels, and low and behold I find part 3 in the Batman/ Vampire trilogy! Of corse, I have not read the first 2 books but I picked this one up since it was in paperback and all the other copies I found were in hardcover...being the avid Batman Graphic Novel reader I am, I expected Batman to cure himself from being a vampire (that's all I had heard. That he became a vampire, and knowing my folklore, there is a cure to gaining your humnaity back). No such luck. :(
Batman is dead, I'll tell you that much. For you Batfans like me who expect him to always survive in the end, give up hope now, because he's already dead at the beginning of this book.
Boy, and another thing, if your like me, you'll have a sick feeling after reading this book. But that's because you see practicaly every famous Batman character hacked and slashed beyond reconition. And trust me, it's not all that great to see your favorite childhood characters treated that way. No sir. :(
But all in, this everything I didn't expect it to be, and that's why it's a good read. It's dark, it keeps true to Vampire folklore and the art is great! I just love Kelly Jone's art, it's so gothic!
You must pick this book up! It is a damn fine Batman novel. And if you don't like Batman, pick it up anyways because it's also a damn fine Vampire novel.
But word to wise, read the 1st 2 books beforehand... oh... and bring a barf bag.

Este es un muy buen libro que completa la trilogia de vampiros (Red Rain y Bloodstorm siendo los otros dos), el arte es continuo con los libros anteriores y el relato excelente. Personalmente creo que Red Rain cuenta la mejor historia, Bloodstorm (mi favorito) entra de lleno en el mundo del detective y Crimson Mist da un buen termino a la serie. No considero cinco estrellas ya que me hubiera gustado ver a un Batman un poco mas humano en Crimson Mist, y quizas una historia un poco menos apresurada.

Don't get me wrong, Batman as a vampire is the most compelling concept I've come across in comic-land. The first two books were so cool and intense that years later I still read it with eyes intent on the page. I can't say for others, but for me it speaks of the heart's deep inner urges, longings, appetites, and pent-up rage and regrets. Bloodstorm was, for me, the penultimate description of the human condition. Only Christie Golden's book, "Vampire of the Mists," can touch what the creators have done in this trilogy.

Having said that, I must admit that the third installment here carries two basic flaws:

First of all, it loses touch with what makes Batman a living, pulsing character. I can't speak for others, but I can't identify with an unleashed, hell-bent-for-slaughter-and-mayhem Batman pushed past an insanity even the Joker never had. This Batman kills without compunction, guilt, recrimination, or reserve. He's ten times worse than any criminal he savages, and he's SCARY in ways that Batman never was meant to be, even in Elseworlds!

Second and more importantly for me, he looks U-G-L-Y ...with a capital UGH! I don't WANT to look at an animated rotting dessicated corpse of a once-Batman-turned savage killer running about tearing out necks and cutting off heads! I can only handle so much gore, and the creators gave more to spare here!

Call me silly, but one of the reasons I loved the first two installments is that Batman looked so COOL as a vampire! All shadows and cape and fangs ...he was creepy, but in a COOL way. He was all that Batman pretended to be... for real! But this Batman is just an ugly, insane monster.

Aside from all that, it was still a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. The end of Bloodstorm left me hanging, sad, and wanting more. Crimson Mist left me with a feeling of closure, as Batman dissolves into dust, leaving his cape behind to find that peace that he so longingly searched for.

Despite the co-billing, this is predominately a Huntress story. While there is a mystery element to it, it is more of a character study than a detective yarn; who she is and how she came to be. We learn of her family history and early tragedy, on through to adulthood and her transformation into the Huntress. We get a glimpse of her frustrations in her dealings with Batman and he with her. His part in this play is purposely reduced in order to let Huntress take center stage, and while this decision is understandable, it unfortunately becomes the major weakness of the story. Why reduce the roles of Batman and also Nightwing, who has a history with her, if only to replace them with the bland and boring character, the Question. The story drags at times because of this and doesn't fully recover. Overall an entertaining and in depth read about the demons and passions that have driven this woman into becoming the person that she is today.

This book needs more recognition. This is as good as Loeb and Sale's Batman books (The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Haunted Knight, buy these!). However, this isn't REALLY a Batman book, he's a minor supporting character.

Huntress is front and center here. We get a great crime story and her origin story too. Rucka's writing has a great forward motion to it, you want to keep reading. The artwork is nice too, a classic style, not overly stylized or cartoon-y.

This is great background material for future Huntress appearances in the DC Universe. Check out the latest Birds of Prey TPB "Sensei and Student" - the best BoP book so far, Gail Simone has rescued that title. Also check out the Nightwing/Huntress book - this book got a lot of bad press because the two main characters sleep together. Who cares?!? It's still a great book.

Back to this book...
My one complaint is the presence of The Question, a pretty dull character. Rucka did his best to make something of him.

Still, a fun/gritty/character-driven/action-packed read. BUY IT!!!

Writer Greg Rucka scores a direct hit with the exceptional BATMAN/HUNTRESS: CRY FOR BLOOD. Actually, this is not a Batman story, as he only makes occasional appearances to help further the plot. This tale puts Helena Bertinelli, the Huntress, front and center, recounting her origin as she seeks out the killer of a family member, with assistance provided by the Question, Nightwing, Robin, and a thankfully in-continuity Richard Dragon. An important fact about Helena's family is that they are also "Family" - this plays a big part in her pursuit of the killer as she comes upon harsh revelations about other members as well as herself. Rick Burchett, illustrator of Batman Adventures, provides superb artwork that is strongly influenced by the DC animated style while incorporating a more detailed finish. This is THE book to learn about the post-Crisis Huntress and learning her connections to other characters in the DC Universe. I had no real understanding of this versioin of the character, but CRY FOR BLOOD fixed that and provided an excellent story to boot.

This is not a batman book. Although there is batman in the story. This is not a super-hero book. Although there are many super-heros (robin III, nightwing, oracle, Question?).

This is the crime story. Period. Art is not top-notch but not hurt the story either. And writing of "Greg Rucka" really really shine here. Before this, I haven't read Greg Rucka before. But after this, I am looking out for his other works.

This TPB is rather thin and I wish it was thicker with more stories thrown in. Anyway, the story will keep you on the edge from start to finish. This book can be read as stand alone if you don't know anything about Gotham City, batman or huntress. But if you know, it is added bonus. It is past No-Man's Land in Gotham City timeline and Huntress is trying to leave her one night stand with Night Wing behind.

Well, the story is not profound. But it will sure make you hook just like good crime stories. If you like 100 Bullets kinda crime stories and God Father like movies, this TPB is for you.

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Batman is a classic hero, one of the best.

Huntress is an anti-hero, also one of the best.

And Greg Rucka...well, he's the best. The best writer working in mainstream comics, that is, as well as a damn fine writer of suspense fiction. I've always loved Batman and the Huntress, but Rucka was the reason I picked this up.

It's a tale of realistic gangsters, not supervillains. It has in-depth characters with complex motivations and emotions. It also has one of the best little-known DC heroes, The Question, a man with no face who walks the mean streets looking for answers to...well, to everything, always ready with a bit of kung fu when needed.

I saw one of the other reviews compare this to "The Long Halloween." Frankly, I think TLH is radically overrated, and a hodgepodge of vignettes with mostly no actual connection. It also lacks humanity, by which I mean it doesn't present any characters in a way that makes you really care what happens to them. Interesting, yes. Great, uh-uh.

This book is far better than "The Long Halloween." But hey, it's Greg Rucka. And as good as Jeph Loeb is, he's not on Rucka's level, not yet.

This nutso leader type certainly provided a worthy opponent for The Batman.

He sees how far you actually would have to go to actually break The Batman, whether torture, drugs, or whatever, along with some clever PR and spin.

The Cult, a miniseries by writer Jim Starlin and artists Berni Wrightson and Bill Gray came out fast on the heals of Miller's "the Dark Knight Returns"" and "Batman: Year One" and tries to capture the psychological tale of Batman, but this time, the fear is placed in Batman as he is captured by the cult leader, Deacon Blackfire. While dressed as a Christian cleric, Deacon Blackfire is anything but - instead, he is a one eyed king leading the down trodden and drugged ones (under, for lack of a better word - his "charm") to wreak havoc on Gotham. Well, my review is a bit simplistic, but the focus is not so much a statement about cults, even though this is an underlying theme, but about Batman's 1. Ordeal, 2. Capture, 3. Escape, 4. Combat (revenge/justice).

This is a great story, and the faults are minimal. The coloring fits this story and Batman's anguished face is ever present as he fights the mind control that he is under. Robin has a strong and thoughtful role for once. The Dynamic Dual go to war against the cult, and every second is worth it.

Deacon Blackfire is a cult leader who has his eyes set on Gotham City. Over the course of several years, Blackfire "recruits" homeless drifters into his organization. After starving them and repeatedly drilling the message that he is their salvation into their heads, Blackfire gains a following that is capable of overthrowing Gotham City.

The interesting side note is that Batman is captured when he tries to save a potential kidnap victim. Deacon Blackfire nearly succeeds in recruiting him to "The Cult." As Batman is struggling to break free from the grip of his captors, the city is struggling with how it should deal with the potential threat of Blackfire.

Some welcome Blackfire, others are weary. However, the Deacon emerges as one of Gotham's greatest threats. Can Batman get it together and save the city?

I think "The Cult" is different from "No Man's Land" even though one probably influenced the other. In "The Cult," there is one large army approaching Gotham. In "No Man's Land," Gotham is divided into feudal territories and the Dark Ages are revisited. "The Cult" offers a unique storyline that is very relevant in the light of recent events, including Jim Jones and Heaven's Gate. I recommend it.

The Cult simply involves a story about Batman the disintergration of Gotham City, Bruce "Batman" Wayne's hometown. After a charismatic cult leader comes into town and influences the homeless people to take over the city. And Batman putting a stop to him.


Essentially what this book is, is a condensed precursor to the five volume No Man's Land series which was published in the late 90's.

I really enjoyed this book a lot it is interesting and engaging. And shows Batman to be a formidable warrior without turning him into a quasi ominipotent god. Jim Starlin is one of my two favorite Bat writers. In that he has always managed to capture all sides of Batman. By making him a 'man', a three dimensional human being. He's shrewd, formidable but still compassionate.

I loved this story so much that I attended a convention, just to make sure Jim Starlin would sign it.

This is a must for any true Batman afficianados.

The very late `80s was a time of big changes for Batman. Not only was the caped crusader's image and tone forever altered by Tim Burton's Batman movie, but he lost his sidekick Jason Todd (aka Robin) in a particularly grisly way. Before taking on Robin's demise, Jim Starlin wrote a 4-issue prestige format miniseries titled BATMAN: THE CULT, which took some narrative cues from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and paved the way for other chaotic tales set in Gotham City, such as Contagion and No Man's Land.

Starlin's story, while full of drama and action, is a bit too over-the-top for even this accepting comic fan to stomach, and it is perhaps the weirdest of the weird Batman stories. I've read all kinds of Batman tales, from golden age craziness to Elseworlds, but this one takes the cake. The Reverend Deacon Blackfire (don't laugh) is purging Gotham of its criminal element once and for all by rallying the homeless to his cause, drugging and brainwashing them, and getting them riled up to murder all the criminals, plus the politicians and police who would dare to get in the way. Batman is captured by Blackfire's goons, given the drug/brainwash treatment, and serves as a rank-and-file goon himself. And even then, with the situation getting so dire that Gotham City becomes first a war zone, and then a disaster area, the media is ambivalent to the situation, and regular citizens seem to feel that the Rev is doing a great job! Errr... yeah. Anyway, Batman must battle both the Rev's minions and his own brainwashing, which is affecting him with instability and paralyzing hallucinations. But that's okay, because who should arrive to pick up the caped crusader's slack and get him back in the action, but Jason Todd! That's right, the Robin that fans deemed worthless and had Jim Starlin later kill off in A Death in the Family is, in THE CULT, a hardcore fighter who saves the mostly-worthless Batman's tail numerous times. It really impressed me, to the point that I seriously wondered why any true fan would have wanted the kid dead.

Bernie Wrightson's pencils provide just the right atmosphere for this kind of story. If you've ever seen his work for Stephen King's The Stand, you know that Wrightson is the perfect artist to depict not only a ruined Gotham City, but a Batman fighting to stay sane. Unfortunately, Wrightson's pencils are almost completely obscured by Bill Wray's sloppy coloring. Muted watercolors with no contrast, and spattered backgrounds that make no sense... it's certainly in the running for the worst coloring job ever in a comic book. DC definitely needs to release a re-colored printing of this trade paperback, and to heck with Wray if he gets his feelings hurt. Sure, it's a dark story, but that's no reason to ruin Wrightson's detailed work.

So, it squeaks by with three out of five stars, but a recolored version of BATMAN: THE CULT would rate a solid 4, at least.

Lots of trademark Ollie Queen cynicism, lots of action, but not quite up to Kevin Smith's earlier volume. Not quite as R-rated, either, which is good for the younger fans. Green Arrow's always a lot of fun!

Resurrecting Green Arrow from the dead in volume 1: Quiver, writer Kevin Smith follows up on the superhero's role in volume 2: Sounds of Violence as Star City guardian and a struggling father.

Collecting Green Arrow #'s 11-15 (with a foreword by artist Phil Hester, a gorgeous cover gallery and three pages of sketches), this book is barer than last book, and anyone looking for the DC Universe here would be disappointed, because here we see less Green Arrow: superhero, and more Oliver Queen: father.

If you enjoyed the characters in volume 1, then you'll definitely enjoy this book. The dialogue as always remains strong; the characters come through shining, but the plot is much weaker. To be sure, Dinah and Ollie go on a date to talk about their relationship - with hilarious ramifications; liberal Green Arrow talks to conservative Hawkman - with an inevitable fight; Oliver deals with a potential sidekick - with good humor, but the book ends very softly and doesn't resolve the enigmatic super-villain Onomatopoeia.

If you enjoy Green Arrow as a character along with his supporting cast, you certainly won't be disappointed, but if you're looking for the same strong plot you saw in volume 1, you'll probably regret your purchase.

Hawkman: "You know, Oliver -- the ancient Egyptians had a word for people like you."
Green Arrow: "Oh, yeah? What's that?"
Hawkman: "'Schmuck.'"

GREEN ARROW: SOUNDS OF VIOLENCE is the second trade paperback reprinting issues from the Emerald Archer's new monthly series, and it's definitely worth getting. True, this one, at 128 pages, is much shorter than the preceding Green Arrow: Quiver (Book 1) collection as this one only compiles 5 issues (#11-15). But what it lacks in quantity it makes up in quality. Film director turned comic book scribe Kevin Smith finishes up his Green Arrow run in this volume, and even though the very capable Brad Meltzer would take over for him, things would never be quite as good.

These issues, much like in QUIVER, focus on Green Arrow's settling back into his superhero niche in Star City and renewing relationships with his family, friends, and colleagues. So, yes, the reader treads in emotional undercurrents here and sees plenty of character development. The first issue here ("Ultimate Speedy") centers on Mia, the teenaged girl Ollie's taken into his home (see Green Arrow: Quiver (Book 1)). Mia wants to be the next Speedy, but Ollie has deep reservations. The second issue ("Feast and Fowl") is my favorite and is very funny, highlighted by Ollie's date with Dinah and Ollie's run-ins with the ultra-conservative Hawkman (who's also a recently returned-from-the-dead). This little storyline carries over into the next issue, and, honestly, it's almost worth this TPB's cover price just to watch Ollie and Hawkman trade insults. Then there's Dinah, in a gloriously indecent state, to break it all up (thanks for nothing, Mr. Terrific!).

But things take a somber turn once "The Sound of Violence" story arc really gets going. Smith bolsters Ollie's Rogue Gallery by introducing a great new supervillain, Onomatopoeia, a possibly super-powered serial killer targeting costumed crimefighters. This crazy's shtick is verbalizing sound effects, but this gimmick doesn't take away from how lethal this guy is. Before it's all over, he puts a serious hurting on someone very close to Green Arrow. Yet another sad thing about Smith's departure is that the 411 on Onomatopoeia's been put on the backburner. Maybe, someday...

The team of Phil Hester (SWAMP THING, CLERKS: THE LOST SCENE) and Ande Parks continue to churn out some of the most stylized and fantastic artwork in the field. Cannot get over how great Green Arrow looks. And Kevin Smith, before he jetted, did some serious inroads in re-establishing Green Arrow as a relevant character in the DC universe. This collection also has the added candy of Phil Hester's 3 paged introduction, as well as reprints of the original covers and an artist gallery, including Hester and Ande's tiny rendition of Kevin Smith as the Emerald Archer. Dare I say it, GREEN ARROW: SOUNDS OF VIOLENCE hits the *ahem* bullseye (so sorry).

When Kevin Smith resurrected Oliver Queen in the preceding "Quiver" story, he told one of the best DC stories I have ever read. In ten issues, he brought Ollie back to the land of the living, introduced a new supporting character, brought back a few old ones, and created a new status quo for Ollie. Now, in this slim second volume, he explores this new status quo a bit on his way out the door.

The stories contained here focus on Ollie's new ward, Mia Dearden, his reconnection with his former lover Black Canary, and addresses what the status of his son Connor is to be in the new world order. In the first case, Mia harbours dreams of being the new Speedy, and fantasizes about donning her costume (and other things). Ollie, however, is not interested in taking on another partner like he did with Roy, and, in a quite touching scene, gives a meta-explanation for the earlier Silver Age sidekicks, and why the new age of comics simply seem too dangerous for them. Mia does eventually become Speedy some thirty issues later, under the pen of writer Judd Winick, which may or may not have been Smith's idea when he introduced the character. In the romantic department, the minefield of the Green Arrow/Black Canary relationship is addressed, and Smith finds time for another fight with Hawkman, recalling their Silver Age service on the JLA. Smith writes Canary quite well, although he indulges his love of oral sex humour a few too many times for my liking (although there's a quite hysterical sequence where BC is nude and artist Phil Hester does gymnastics to preserve her modesty).

Finally, in the major story of this trade, Smith introduces a new villain, and hints that Connor/Green Arrow II may be killed off as unnecessary now that Green Arrow is back. Smith's new villain is intriguing, but this story is left unfinished, and, as yet, Smith has not returned to complete it, leaving him an unsatisfactory mystery.

This is a rather disjointed end to Smith's short but brilliant run, but it is well worth getting. It is certainly superior to anything later penned by Judd Winick in his more than fifty issues on the title.

Fantastic villain idea in this one. Slaughtering football icons is hilarious, too. I wonder if Smith is a fan of one of the opposing teams of the D level hero he has Onomatoepeia bump off in this trade. Definitely a nice original psychopath he has come up with, with some pretty serious consequences for the Arrow family.

This is the second collcetion of the Invisibles - and it helps to have read the first a couple of times, as the story and dimensions twist and turn even more in this second outing of Jack Frost, King Mob and the rest of the crew.

As you can judge from the cover - there is a darker undertone in this volume, death in his various incarnations plays a more central role as we are given a broader glimpse into the world of the Invisibles.

Does contain some strong passages, as this is not a mainstream comic book with caped heroes - but a dark tale in the spirit of Alan Moore (Watchmen and V for Vendetta)

...it begins with some one shots, some of them incredibly realistic and humane, and continues into Lord Fanny origin, which is Castaneda meets Morrison. The trade is coherent and not so psychodelic like rest of series is.

If you like this, get Say You Want A Revolution

The Invisibles hits an early peak with this collection, which features issues 9-16 of the series' first volume. It kicks off in slightly arbitrary fashion with 23: Things Fall Apart, which surely would have been more comfortable nestling up at the end of Say You Want A Revolution as a coda to the Arcadia story-arc reprinted there.

Still, beginnings as endings is a recurring theme throughout the series so it's just possible that the editors in charge of the Invisibles' release in graphic novel format are less incompetant and insane than the books' slapdash release schedule would seem to indicate.

Even this early in the title's run Grant Morrison is already going out of his way to shade our perception of the story and its protagonists, sowing seeds that will only grow to full bloom a year or more down the road. This can be seen first in the characters' varying reactions to the bloodbath of the opening issue, but it's telling that Morrison is willing to take (almost) an entire issue away from his main characters to continue the process, resulting in one of the best, most innovative stories of the entire series - the elegant, borderline-heartbreaking Best Man Fall.

From that high (or possibly low) we're immediately picked up and pitched straight into another. The She-Man arc is an example of that rarest of comic-book beasts - a back-story that actually serves to make the character involved more interesting. It helps of course that the character in question is the dazzling Lord Fanny ("I'm an international freedom fighter AND a photogenic witch, darling. I'm the most glamerous creature you'll ever meet!") and helps even more that the immensely talented Jill Thompson is on pencilling duty, but the net result is a story of initiation that's both brutal and - no pun intended - magical. Oh, and for good measure it concludes with the biggest, sheerest cliffhanger of the series so far, one that'll have any sane person scrabbling to get hold of Entropy In The UK, the collection that concludes Volume 1.

Throw in the always-fun Jim Crow making his scholck-horror debut, Jack/Dane trying (and mostly failing) to come to terms with his new place in the world, and a couple of absolutely belting covers and all in all you've got what is, despite strong competition, probably my favourite Invisibles graphic novel.

Plus it's got the best title of anything, ever. This isn't even open for debate.

A few years ago I read a bunch of Invisibles books, but somehow always missed this one. I might have stayed away because of the femme cover/title, and the inside art is all over the place quality-wise.

I'm wishing that I had picked it up sooner, though, because the storylines here are among the best in the series, and maybe in comicdom. One story I loved: yuppies at a pharmaceutical company distribute a crack that kills the bodies of users and leaves them as empty vessels for the yuppies to "joy ride." Another: the back story of Lord Fanny and her psychosexual "spirit quest" to become a transsexual witch.

For those who haven't been exposed to The Invisibles, you need to check this series out. I find it more twisted, more compelling, and more fringe than any of the other series I've read, including Transmetropolitan and Preacher. In fact, this is light-years beyond anything published in drab-text "Literature."

Book 2 of the Invisibles picks right up from Book 1's cliffhanger ending: Dane, one of his fingers chopped off by the sadistic (and demonic) Orlando, has taken flight, and the Invisibles have to find him. Unfortunately, heavily-armed "Myrmidons" have surrounded them, and what follows is the first all-out action scene since the very beginning of Book 1.

After this, things slow down a little, as creator/writer Grant Morrison "opens up" the world of the Invisibles. Even though we still don't know much about our main characters (King Mob, Boy, Ragged Robin, Lord Fanny), Morrison introduces new people to the fold, and we see how the exploits of the Invisibles affect the rest of the world.

First we are introduced to one of the more monstrous creatures ever witnessed in mass media entertainment, something that just might be the next king of England. Then we meet Jim Crow, an Invisible witch doctor who's both a world-famous rapper and a host for sacrifice-hungry voodoo spirits. And finally we are given one of the best single-issue stories in the series, "Best Man Fall," which, despite its seeming insignificance to the larger story, possesses more heart and emotion than any other in the series' history. A nonlinear narrative, this story shows how the "other side" works, and for once we see how our "heroes" (King Mob in particular) could just as easily be seen as "the bad guys." This is a great story, and worth the price of Book 2 alone.

The book closes out with a story arc that revolves around transvestite shaman Lord Fanny, in which we see his/her initiation as a young boy into the world of the supernatural. At the same time, the forces of darkness close in on the Invisibles in the present, and the two storylines merge into a narrative that defies the laws of the time/space continuum.

This arc is the first glimmerings of Morrison's grander scheme with the series; whereas before the Invisibles worked on an us-versus-them mentality, now we slowly begin to see that there are larger ideas at play. The volume ends with a story showing where Jack went, after his escape in the book's opening story, and finalizes his character arc from defiant loner to full-fledged Invisible.

The artwork is again split among various artists, with my favorite being Chris Weston in the Jim Crow story (Weston later became the regular artist, after Phil Jimenez's run on the title). Jill Thompson turns in the first story, capping off her run that began in Book 1, and she returns with the Lord Fanny arc, with a few one-off artists filling in on the other stories. Again, the artwork is nowhere near the level of Morrison's writing, but it's not terrible. In fact, the art takes second place to the writing in the Invisibles, because this isn't "just" a comic book: the Invisibles is subversive literature of the highest order.

Just a teenage gang story, but Gibbons makes it look good, in a Hollywood way. e.g. all the teenagers looks like they are 26. This is partly the conflict about being a big enough loser to be in a gang to start with, as though that is cool, and how far you will go when you are such as loser, as far as crime goes, drugs, violence, murder.

Gibbons must have written The Originals as an homage or possibly a prank on the movie Quadraphenia. The story is practically identical and every now and then recognizable characters from the movie pop up in the background. Set in the future, scooters are replaced by hoverbikes. Gibbons goes strangely deeper- among other things he plays out a subtle race relations drama between the two protagonists, an Arian man and a black man, both vying for a spot in a futuristic version of the Mods- a homogeneous British gang that thrived on scooters, fashion and pills. The panels are black and white too, highlighting the ridiculous naivete of these British gangs, for whom guns were practically nonexistent and gangs "rumbled". This book has such a foreign, naive and innocent perspective, that violence and fashion and all the coolness of mod culture is replaced with an intense awkwardness that is Gibbons' trademark. All the characters are much older than the teens in the movie. These Mods are in their late 20's early 30's, and they are living out a teenage fantasy from 60s Britain- in a future world. ??? Nobody I've read seems to understand his real intentions for writing this book. See Quadraphenia if you want to see a cool mod movie - read The Originals after, and see if you can figure out Gibbons' very weird mind.

This very well plotted and very well drawn black-and-white graphic novel is about a couple of young wannabe punks in a retro-futuristic Britain where Hovers are like motorcycles with antigrav plates instead of wheels, where a huge protective dome over a reservoir also provides an enormous recreation area, where the Originals and the Dirt are violently rival gangs not unlike the Mods and the Rockers of the early 1960s. Lel and his black buddy, Bok, make it into the gang and are introduced to drugs as well as the lifestyle they yearn for -- until an encounter with the Dirt gets out of hand. The characterization is quite good, the dialogue is believable, and there's actually a Beginning, a Middle, and an End -- unlike so many graphic novels.

While this is a decent graphic novel, it offers so much that The Who album (and subsequent film) QUADROPHENIA already covered that it felt redundant.

This is a decent book, but only because of the striking B&W art work and great layout. For some reason it is set in the future (complete with hoverbikes, apparently the only advance the future has brought us), but the setting makes no difference to what is a predictible story with a simplistic moral ending. As a coming of age story, you see the outcome of the story from the beginning, and Gibbon doesn't offer any twists or turns to liven up the story line. If it were not for the "hook" of mods in the future, there would be no reason to pick this up.

That said, the art is amazing, and the layout makes an other wise dull story worth reading. Skip the hardcover and pick it up in paperback if you like his earlier work or are interested in mod culture.

Will Eisner's "The Spirit" is one of the classic works of the Golden Age of Comics, famed for the legendary artist's use of interesting angles, inventive plots, and a vast array of classy and dangerous women for the main character to deal with. The hero himself, a blue-hatted fellow who wears a domino mask as a token nod to superhero conventions, was mainly a vehicle for telling these stories, as opposed to a really exceptional character in his own right. This made the act of reviving "The Spirit" somewhat more challenging than it might have otherwise been, since it isn't mainly a matter of getting a grasp of the character's detailed personality; to resurrect this property, you need to resurrect a style of storytelling. The Spirit is a nondescript figure whose success or failure depends on how clever the stories he appears in are.

Darwyn Cooke, as a writer and artist, is one of the clear choices to have a go at reviving the Spirit, being perhaps the preeminent retro-ist in the current comics world. His "DC: New Frontier", which I personally found ot be more then a bit overrated, is regarded as a classic, and his art style borrows much from the Golden/early Silver Age art look. He is a well-known advocate for a light-hearted approach to stories, which suits the Spirit well. This strong colletion contains seven stories by Cooke: six issues of the regular title, and the "Batman/The Spirit" specia that he collaborated on with Jeph Loeb. The main series mixes standalone detective plots with an ongoing mystery that is just getting going at this volume's end. Briefly, the stories are:

#1, "Ice Ginger Coffee", introducing us to the Spirit's wrold, and reassuring audiences that Cooke can do silly puns on female characters' names just like Eisner (the titular reporter, 'Ginger Coffee').

#2, introducing the roguish and likeable Hussein Hussein, and revamping the classic Eisner femme fatale P'Gell. Cooke supplies her with a sympathetic backstory in order to explain her black-widowing ways, which you can debate the merits of.

#3, wherin Cooke revisits the origin of the Spirit for this series, telling it from different points of view, encompassing virtually every character involved. This is probably the most effectiv dramatic piece of the lot.

#4, with the return of Hussein Hussein and the updating of another of the Spirit's gals, Silk Satin, now a tough CIA agent out to prove she isn't an affirmative action case. We also get the return of the Octopus, the Spirit's Blofeld-esque arch-foe whose face is never seen.

#5, an oddball semi-satire of the consumer food industry that also contains some of the more violent moments in the series so far.

#6, probably the weakest story of the lot, about a group of musicians who get dyed blue by a meteorite. The Spirit himself is mainly an observer here.

Finally, there is the "Batman/The Spirit" special, which is almost entirely about two groups of villains teaming up, as well as the interactions between Police Commissioners Gordon and Dolan. This makes a lot of sense, since the supporting cast in "The Spirit" was always the life of the party. The result is a great deal of fun, and Cooke draws some very nice Bat-villains, in particular adding Harley and Ivy to his list of femme fatales.

Overall, Cooke is to be commended for his quality reimagining of Eisner's work; he expertly smoothes over the great embarassment of the classic stories (Ebony White), and touches up other characters in ways that make them a bit modern without losing their classic charm.

I must, however, join in with another reviewer here in noting the poor design of the dust jacket on this hardcover; in particular, the pieces that help define the "s" in Spirit seem destined to become bent or rip off.

No one can do the Spirit like Will Eisner and this book tries to hard to be an up to date version but, it falls short.

Will Eisner's original "Spirit" stories are kind of a cult-favorite thing -- they had a very peculiar rhythm and offbeat sense of humor to them and they were also lighthearted parodies of the superhero and detective genres, so they don't necessarily appeal to everyone. But they are also brilliant, funny, richly detailed and deservedly legendary.

Author-illustrator Darwyn Cooke has done an absolutely ingenius job of capturing the kooky charm and sensual feel of the original "Spirit" stories, while at the same time modernizing them and streamlining the action in ways that are quite satisfying. Fans of the old series will be pleased, as will any open-minded, intelligent comicbook fan. And if this delightful set of slam-bang, pure fun adventure tales also gets new readers to go back and check out the old Eisner stories, more power to 'em! It would be great if Cooke would continue the series, 'cause he's definitely got a feel for it, and opportunities like this don't come around too often. I read a lot of graphic novels and then pass them on to others -- this one, however, is a keeper. Highly recommended. (ReadThatAgain book reviews)

Darwyn Cooke's telent continues to entertain in this fresh take on The Spirit. His artwork is absolutely beautiful with the help of J. Bone's inks and Dave Stewarts colors which never cease to shine. Hopefully this art team sticks together on every project from now on.

OK, so now that you know how good it looks, how about the stories? Cooke proves to be as adept at telling a good story as he is at penciling it. The first couple stories are decent and worthy of The Spirit in the 21st century. The first one that really took off was the retelling of The Spirit's origin. There's another great story about Spirit meeting up with Silk Satin, a female special agent who can match wits and brawn with The Spirit. My all time favorite story in here was Almost Blue, where The Spirit has most of the story told to him as a flashback. This tale harkens back to the old Will Eisner stuff where Spirit doesn't even play that big of a role in it, and its just a great story all its own.

The last story, and the one I was most looking forward to was The Spirit/Batman one shot where Commishioners Dolan and Gordan recall the story about the first meeting of Spirit and Batman. This story is co-plotted with Jeph Loeb, who we all know is one of the best Batman modern Batman writers out there. However, I was slightly dissapointed with this one. It's basically just a big Spirit/Batman rogues gallery team up, where the artwork is more interesting than the actual story. One critism I read of Hush, was it felt like Loeb wrote in every Bat villain just to give Jim Lee an opportuity to draw them, which was a fair assesment. It seemed like a similar situation here, except done in a much shorter amount of time. Either way, it wasn't terrible, just too much all at once and not much of a mystery.

The biggest improvement Cooke makes over the Eisner's original is completely revamping Spirit's sidekick, Ebony, who no longer talk like a southern slave and is a much more appropriate modern take on him. Much praise on a job well done, hopefully Cooke will continue giving us many more Spirit adventures to come.

I am very familiar with French comics and found it refreshing to read a US comic like the Spirit. I knew the Spirit from the past and it was very good to see some new stuff.

The stories were very enjoyable & added well to the Star Wars saga.

These are interesting tales, I especially liked the first one, but I wasn't all that impressed by the book overall. I suppose it's worth reading, but get a library copy. The pretty pictures are just that, they're pretty...uh except some are slightly crazy and not that astetically pleasing.

Overall, a decent read but is it worth the money...errr probably not.

The greatest concept artists at Lucas Film LTD make the best Starwars comic book ever.

If you don't read comics you should at least read this.

See the creation of Grievious, the return of Darth Maul, and briliant concept illustration.

Buy this book!

This tpb has exceptional artwork. The stories contained therein can mostly be considered 'non-canon', but that doesn't make it any less an enjoyable read. You may also be interested in seeing the creation of General Grievous visually here.

Being a Star Wars geek, when I read about how Visionaries is a bunch of side stories filling in the gaps before and after Episode III, I knew I had to get it. The only picture I saw of it was Darth Maul with his new mechanical lower body and longer horns. It looked a little goofy, and I couldn't take him seriously this way, but I still gave it a shot. Sure enough, the book is pretty cool. The majority of the comics are well done, and the diversity of the artwork is all over the place. Even casual fans are bound to find something in this book that they'll like. Be it seeing Darth Maulester make a come-back, a certain General in non-Droid form, or a showcase of Palpatine's power once he fully embodies the dark side. But there are some pretty poor pieces that I felt should've been left out. If this book was a series of contest winners for adding more to the Star Wars universe, they'd be the runners up for the consolation prize. They were just that bad.

Seeing as how this is a collection of comic shorts, there isn't much I can tell you about without giving away how some of them end. But at the same time, this is another reason I took off a star- some of the stories are too short. A great example is the first one: Old Wounds, where Darth Maul comes back to take care of Obi-Wan. It's all of 12 pages, and the fight doesn't even last that long. While it was nice to bring the guy back, it's almost a tease. Here was pretty much the best fighter in the Star Wars films, and he goes down fairly fast. That isn't really ruining the story for you. We all know Obi-Wan lives to make it to Episode IV. And he seems almost too old in this comic, dispite just being 3 years after Episode III. But enough with the gripes, the other comics are:

-The Artist of Naboo
-Wat Tambor and the Quest for the Sacred Eye of the Albind Cyclops
-Sithisis
-Entrenched
-The Fourth Precept
-Prototypes
-Imperial Recruitment
-Deep Forest
-Celestia Galactica
-The Eyes of Revolution

Actually, Imperial Recruitment is just two one-page drawings of recruitment ads for the Imperial army with two vixens posing- one in a TIE Fighter flight suit. The Artist of Naboo is about an artist who paints things he has visions about. One of these, is Padme. Eventually, he meets her, and makes a life changing decision regarding her. This comic is done in a beautiful painting style. It's detailed, yet very messy. Having no real knowledge of the types of paints out there, this is either in oil or water colors...or both. Wat Tambor is just plain stupid, and I don't want to waste time remembering what it's about. I mean, just the name alone gives you the idea that it'd fit in better in a Science Mysteries comic or something from the 60s. Sithisis, however, is awesome. There is no text or dialogue to be found, and it revolves around Palpatine using his destructive powers all over the galaxy. I especially like how they drew Yoda for this- he reminded me of Oro from Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. There's a sketchy style about this one. Entrenched throws us on Hoth during Episode V when the Rebels are holding their own against the AT-AT walkers while others evacuate. It's mostly about one soldier who's narrating what's going on to his mom. I have no idea what The Fourth Precept is about, but it's done in a beautiful style, but more modern. Think back to the covers of WitchBlade or something, and that's how the quality is on each page. This one is very short, but it's understandable with how much time must've went into the drawings. If you've seen the Clone Wars animated series, then Prototypes is for you. The unstoppable bounty hunter, Durge, is here...but before he became the mindless killer we see in the cartoon. This has a rough, 70's noir look to it. Deep Forest is an all-out Wookiee fight as they protect their planet from different forces. I don't really like the style of drawing in this one- too many colors don't match, and aren't within the lines of what they represent. Go ahead and tell me, "it's not like there are rules to art", but this one didn't look good to me. Celestia Galactica is a bunch of different one-page art pieces of different things. I particularily liked the Rancors attacking an Imperial base. These would make for great creative writing pieces for geeky teachers out there. Finally, The Eyes of Revolution gives us a General who is the last hope for a planet. But, his ship doesn't make it to its destined location, and he nearly dies. Count Dooku is there to recover him, and the general is in turn, transformed into General Grievous. This one has fantastic art, and will quench the thirst of those who wished for him to seem less clumsy in the movie, and more like the one-man army we saw in the Clone Wars animated series.

Whew. After typing this up, it seems like there's a lot more, but the book's just 132 pages. Some of which aren't even comics. Dispite some mistakes like Wat Tambor, I'd say this is worth a purchase. Or if all else fails, just read the whole thing at the book store. It's worth it. I do wish the price was a bit less though.