Post by shaxper on Sept 9, 2014 18:55:57 GMT -5
Note: This thread was initially begun at the old Classic Comics board and has been reposted here. Responses posted prior to the switch-over are reproduced here as embedded images.
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Overview: Several years after concluding their highly successful run on Master of Kung Fu, Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy reunited to create a new limited series without the constraints of traditional publishing deadlines. The first four issues, originally conceived of as a single graphic novel, was then followed by a second limited series. The concept entails a crack espionage team functioning on the fringes of a massive intergalactic empire, ordered to take on missions that fulfill their all encompassing government's needs. The characterizations don't come across as well as they should, the pacing is off, the explanations and surprise revelations come a little too hard and fast, and the art has a moody '70s feel in the first volume, but the second series works out most of its kinks and comes off as a truly beautiful, thoughtful, and fun sci-fi romp.
Worthwhile To Read?: The first series doesn't really wow me until its final issue (remember that it was written to be read as a graphic novel, all in one sitting), but the second series is A LOT of fun throughout.
Key Issues/Highlights?: Six from Sirius #4 will blow you away, and the entire second volume is great fun.
Worth Re-Reading?: Probably all of it, though I'd be sure to read the first volume all in one sitting. It doesn't read well in installments.
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(And now my original comments in beginning this thread...)
It should be no secret by this point that my enjoyment of Doug Moench's works is beginning to border on obsession. Ever since reading/reviewing his first Batman/Detective Comics run, I've been seeking out more and more of his work, from Planet of the Apes, to Electric Warrior, and even Weirdworld, Thor, and his early horror stories for Warren and (later) Marvel.
And yet I'm at a disadvantage in doing this brief reviews thread because it was the much anticipated reunion of Doug Moench and artist Paul Gulacy, best known from their legendary run together on Master of Kung Fu -- a run I've yet to read. It's ridiculous to be such a fan of Moench and to have neither read his MoKF nor Moon Knight. I'll be starting the former later this year and getting to the latter...eventually, but for now, I'm reading this limited stretch of two 4-issue limited series while also missing some of the context, so help me along if you will.
This thread should take a week or so to do, and then it's on to finishing Byrne's run on Superman, and then the much anticipated Metamorphosis Odyssey. Simonson's Thor will follow, and then expect my reviews of Master of Kung Fu to begin in early Spring, along with a returned emphasis on the Batman thread.
I'll begin by saying that, though Doug Moench is one of my favorite comic book writers of all time (sometimes my absolute favorite, depending on the day), he doesn't write perfection. His work is often both brilliant and messy -- positively connecting on all levels to the point that you're in comic book ecstasy one issue, and absurdly misfiring on all engines in the next. I imagine Moench as a creator who writes best as 2am, when the filters in one's mind come apart, and what comes through has an equal chance of being brilliant or nonsensical, so you just write it down and hope it's genius when you look at it again the next morning. He once explained in a preface to Weirdworld that he wrote most of his horror stories for Marvel in a single week of late nights. That stretch contained some of his most inspired work.
So I keep my expectations for this series both grounded and incredibly high. I've never read Moench at his absolute best (MoKF, by most accounts) and this was his follow-up.
I expect mess; I expect less than perfection, and I hope to be blown away.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Overview: Several years after concluding their highly successful run on Master of Kung Fu, Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy reunited to create a new limited series without the constraints of traditional publishing deadlines. The first four issues, originally conceived of as a single graphic novel, was then followed by a second limited series. The concept entails a crack espionage team functioning on the fringes of a massive intergalactic empire, ordered to take on missions that fulfill their all encompassing government's needs. The characterizations don't come across as well as they should, the pacing is off, the explanations and surprise revelations come a little too hard and fast, and the art has a moody '70s feel in the first volume, but the second series works out most of its kinks and comes off as a truly beautiful, thoughtful, and fun sci-fi romp.
Worthwhile To Read?: The first series doesn't really wow me until its final issue (remember that it was written to be read as a graphic novel, all in one sitting), but the second series is A LOT of fun throughout.
Key Issues/Highlights?: Six from Sirius #4 will blow you away, and the entire second volume is great fun.
Worth Re-Reading?: Probably all of it, though I'd be sure to read the first volume all in one sitting. It doesn't read well in installments.
---------------------------
(And now my original comments in beginning this thread...)
It should be no secret by this point that my enjoyment of Doug Moench's works is beginning to border on obsession. Ever since reading/reviewing his first Batman/Detective Comics run, I've been seeking out more and more of his work, from Planet of the Apes, to Electric Warrior, and even Weirdworld, Thor, and his early horror stories for Warren and (later) Marvel.
And yet I'm at a disadvantage in doing this brief reviews thread because it was the much anticipated reunion of Doug Moench and artist Paul Gulacy, best known from their legendary run together on Master of Kung Fu -- a run I've yet to read. It's ridiculous to be such a fan of Moench and to have neither read his MoKF nor Moon Knight. I'll be starting the former later this year and getting to the latter...eventually, but for now, I'm reading this limited stretch of two 4-issue limited series while also missing some of the context, so help me along if you will.
This thread should take a week or so to do, and then it's on to finishing Byrne's run on Superman, and then the much anticipated Metamorphosis Odyssey. Simonson's Thor will follow, and then expect my reviews of Master of Kung Fu to begin in early Spring, along with a returned emphasis on the Batman thread.
I'll begin by saying that, though Doug Moench is one of my favorite comic book writers of all time (sometimes my absolute favorite, depending on the day), he doesn't write perfection. His work is often both brilliant and messy -- positively connecting on all levels to the point that you're in comic book ecstasy one issue, and absurdly misfiring on all engines in the next. I imagine Moench as a creator who writes best as 2am, when the filters in one's mind come apart, and what comes through has an equal chance of being brilliant or nonsensical, so you just write it down and hope it's genius when you look at it again the next morning. He once explained in a preface to Weirdworld that he wrote most of his horror stories for Marvel in a single week of late nights. That stretch contained some of his most inspired work.
So I keep my expectations for this series both grounded and incredibly high. I've never read Moench at his absolute best (MoKF, by most accounts) and this was his follow-up.
I expect mess; I expect less than perfection, and I hope to be blown away.
