Image Comics poll week 4 - Cry Havoc & Prophet: Earth War both launch!

[Ragdoll]

Just read Outcast. The TV show can't come fast enough. This series finally stopped feeling slow after the first arc, and each issue feels like something major happens or is revealed.

Any thoughts as to why? I would agree but it's rare for me to be less than enthusiastic about the series. I thought the over-violent opening hurt it and while the rest of the issue was a big improvement (and boy was it great to see so many long-absent cast members), but it was pretty clearly just table-setting for the next arc.

Hickman is at his best when he adds comedy to his stories. This tried to use horror elements to disguise the fact that it was all set-up but it just didn't do it for me. The issue didn't stink or anything, but it was nowhere near enough to get a vote, especially on a busy week. Also, the dialogue usually feels intelligent, but this time it just felt like he was milking his thesaurus for all it was worth.

[Agent John Bishop]

Hickman is at his best when he adds comedy to his stories. This tried to use horror elements to disguise the fact that it was all set-up but it just didn't do it for me. The issue didn't stink or anything, but it was nowhere near enough to get a vote, especially on a busy week. Also, the dialogue usually feels intelligent, but this time it just felt like he was milking his thesaurus for all it was worth.

I would say actually, and I know this is not his reputation, that he's at his best when he's writing character-work (which to be fair often coincided with comedy). The strongest material this issue felt like Death having to humble himself to tell the witches not to leave him. But basically I think you nailed it, the issue felt forced. Still one of the best comics out there, but this was a mediocre entry (especially after how good the last few have been).

[Joker]

I thought it was good, but mostly I just wanted to see what came next for everyone. I guess that's bad? I'd say that's a god issue, personally.

[Doughy Man!]

Revival was superb, though it ends rather abruptly. But East of West knocked me out. It was basically just a set-up issue. but Hickman makes it substantive. The dialog is cutting and smart, it had a nice horrifying edge to it, and how nice to get to touch base with characters we've not seen in a while. Not mediocre in any way shape or form. It gets my enthusiastic vote.

[InformationGeek]

Just posting my reviews here for the Image comics I reviewed:

Cry Havoc #1: 8.0
Deadly Class #18: 7.5


Question for all of those who read Deadly Class! Do you guys and girls feel that Marcus is the weakest part of the book? I mean, in comparison to everyone else in the comic, he's not very interesting, constantly makes things worse, feels like he regresses as a character, and rarely admits to his fault and blames it on other people. He's so annoying and not compelling, especially against every other character in this damn book. He's, for the lack of a better word, the Scrappy of this comic!

[cc008]

Deadly Class and Southern Bastards for me. Both were excellent... on par with their own standards. Went with Southern Bastards though.

Question for all of those who read Deadly Class! Do you guys and girls feel that Marcus is the weakest part of the book? I mean, in comparison to everyone else in the comic, he's not very interesting, constantly makes things worse, feels like he regresses as a character, and rarely admits to his fault and blames it on other people. He's so annoying and not compelling, especially against every other character in this damn book. He's, for the lack of a better word, the Scrappy of this comic!

He's a teenager. So much angst. And then it's exaggerated for the book so your feelings about him are understandable. His finger pointing does get annoying sometimes, I agree.

[Ragdoll]

He's a teenager. So much angst. And then it's exaggerated for the book so your feelings about him are understandable. His finger pointing does get annoying sometimes, I agree.

Yeah, he's a total D-bag, but unfortunately, he;s also a lot like myself at that age. Especially the drug binging and alienating friends part lol. If he manages to survive this arc, hopefully he gets his stuff together afterwards. He's kinda like the kid in Kingsman, going through his sloppy, rebellious assassin phase. I bet he'll pull it together in the final act just like the Kingsman kid did.

[TotalSnorefest]

Guys and gals, Prophet is really good this week! Surprisingly accessible too, like Agent John Bishop mentioned. By now I've basically forgotten everything that happened earlier, but if you just go in and accept that Prophet's never really explained itself anyway, you're good. Not as high-concept yet as it was in the early days of this reboot, but hoping they'll crank on the crazydrive even more soon!

He's kinda like the kid in Kingsman, going through his sloppy, rebellious assassin phase. I bet he'll pull it together in the final act just like the Kingsman kid did.

Let's just hope the inevitable film adaptation doesn't follow the exact same formula and ruin itself in the final few seconds.

[Agent John Bishop]

Guys and gals, Prophet is really good this week! Surprisingly accessible too, like Agent John Bishop mentioned. By now I've basically forgotten everything that happened earlier, but if you just go in and accept that Prophet's never really explained itself anyway, you're good. Not as high-concept yet as it was in the early days of this reboot, but hoping they'll crank on the crazydrive even more soon!

Nailed it! I couldn't put my finger on what was missing, but it was the high-concept nuttiness. This first issue felt contained, but that actually is probably a good thing since things had gotten so crazy (albeit in a good way) at the end of the last run. I really loved this issue though. The discussing between Old Man Prophet and the one with the tail hit all of the right emotional beats.

[Joker]

I thought it was fine, but I'm not getting all the high praise.

[Agent John Bishop]

I thought it was fine, but I'm not getting all the high praise.

I can't speak for everyone else, but a lot of what made it special to me was how it played off of what came before. It started drawing its emotional threads together in a way that was subtle and powerful. I also will always love Graham's narration. I guess to put it simply, the fact that it had such a light touch despite its huge scope was what made it special to me.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

New stuff: 2 series debut, Cry Havoc promises a mash-up of Jarhead and Pan's Labyrinth (unusual combo?). Spurrier & Kelly are joined by a small army of colourists for this one, I guess to differentiate timelines?

Partly. It's also there to show off what they feel is an undervalued contribution to comics.

And further on the subject of the book, the annotations at the back really rather enhanced it.

[Joker]

I can't speak for everyone else, but a lot of what made it special to me was how it played off of what came before. It started drawing its emotional threads together in a way that was subtle and powerful. I also will always love Graham's narration. I guess to put it simply, the fact that it had such a light touch despite its huge scope was what made it special to me.

I get that, and I thought it was good. I just didn't get the "amazing" comments. I thought it was a pretty standard, if slower issue of Prophet.

[Maxpower00044]

Read: Southern Bastards, Deadly Class, Black Magick, EoW, Outcast, Jupiter's Circle, and Ody-C. While I did enjoy all of them on varying levels, it's impossible to not pick Southern Bastards on the week it comes out (even when EoW is in the mix). SB gets my vote for another stellar issue.

[Spyffy]

This week I picked up Black Magick, Cry Havoc, Monstress and Saga. All four were good reads and had something about them to enjoy but my vote goes to Cry Havoc a great first issue and the story telling technique of telling the beginning, middle and end at the same time was surprisingly easy to follow and served to make it feel fresh and engaging. After just one issue I feel more invested in the character than I do after the majority of #1's I've read.