ROBERT KIRKMAN WEEK: OBLIVION SONG #25

Released on July 8th, 2020

    Last July, when The Walking Dead ended, it also kind of felt like Robert Kirkman's career was ending. That was the book that made him famous, that spawned a hugely popular TV show, that everyone talked about. And since he ended his other long running book, Invincible, a year earlier, it kind of seemed like maybe his legendary status in the comic book world would fade. I probably only thought that because it reminded me of Garth Ennis, who was never really the same after he ended his most famous book, Preacher. Sure, Garth Ennis still writes comic books. Sure, his book, The Boys, ran for a long time and was somewhat popular. But nothing he ever wrote since Preacher was ever as good. And I kind of thought that might happen with Kirkman, that he put everything he had into The Walking Dead and it was his masterpiece and he'd never even make anything half as good again. It's early, but I bet I'm right. He's never going to write anything as great, as popular, as awesome as The Walking Dead. Oblivion Song is one of his newer books. Yesterday the big, double-size, #25 came out. When it started, I thought it was fantastic. The story was intriguing, it had potential, it felt fresh. Twenty-five issues later, it unfortunately hasn't turned into anything all that great. The basic premise is that there's another dimension with aliens. An event occurred in Philly years ago where a bunch of U.S. citizens inadvertently got zapped into the other dimension. A hero, Nathan, came up with technology that could send him to this other dimension to save those folks and bring them back. So now, twenty-five issues later, there's some people still in the other dimension and the aliens are threatening to come to earth and take over. This issue takes place three years later from #24, when Nathan got stuck in the other dimension. Now he's slowly making friends with a few of the aliens while trying to make something to get him home. And there's also a "growth" that's killing that other dimension. Whew. That's a lot of fucking story. One major problem with the book is that the art isn't very good. It's not terrible, it's just very sloppy looking. So sloppy looking that during action sequences it's hard to tell what's going on. Lorenzo de Felici does the art and Annalisa Leoni does the colors. The colors are vibrant and awesome. Annalisa also pencils the backup story, and her art is great, although probably too cartoony for this type of book (Lumberjanes should hire her). There's also a Science Dog story in the book drawn by Cory Walker that's awful. While Oblivion Song at least holds my interest, it's not as exciting as, say, The Walking Dead. Maybe when the aliens invade earth and there's a huge battle spread across fifty issues I'll change my tune. But this book is not going to be as great as The Walking Dead. And neither will Fire Power, which is better, but still too much of an Iron Fist rip-off to take very serious. The one takeaway I do have is that while Kirkman might not write another popular epic, he at least can still entertain. His books are fun, usually enjoyable. I suppose that's saying something. **1/2

ROBERT KIRKMAN WEEK: OUTCAST #45

Released on May 20th, 2020

     The Walking Dead was such a huge hit on TV that Hollywood decided to adapt everything Robert Kirkman was doing. I think every book he's done has been greenlit or is currently in development. Outcast was quickly made into a TV show shortly after the comic book came out. It only lasted 2 seasons on Cinemax and didn't make much of an impact and has now pretty much been forgotten. The reason is probably that it wasn't a very good comic book to begin with and thus it wasn't a very good show. The premise is basically that it's about demonic possession...or, at least, it seemed to be until this current, final arc. The book is ending with #48, and these last few issues are dealing with The Great Merge, whatever the fuck that is. We learned in this arc that it's not demonic possession or any kind of God vs. Satan plot...the evil that's been infecting people is actually from another planet or another dimension. There's also a good light/being thing that can infect people. Okay. This issue, #45, ends with one of the evil people infected saying, "The time for The Great Merge...has come." So maybe #46 is better. For whatever reason, this book has never entirely worked. I guess I can't say that I hate it or it sucks because I've read all 45 issues of it. It's semi-interesting. I think I've just always been waiting for it to break out of it's shell and become something super entertaining and awesome. Also...maybe scary? Has it ever been scary or frightening? Maybe a little. Artist Paul Azaceta is actually the perfect choice for this book and he has done a good job drawing the evil possessed folk and creating a dark, oft-putting mood. By this issue, there's a group of the good guys that have been camping at a farm. But this was all a ruse by the evil guys to get them all together. Perhaps a huge battle will take place next issue. This has always been Robert Kirkman's black sheep book it seems. Nobody talks about it and I don't think it sells very well. Once it's over it'll probably be forgotten like the TV show. *1/2
     

ROBERT KIRKMAN WEEK: FIRE POWER #1

Released on July 1st, 2020

     Sadly, Robert Kirkman Week is becoming two weeks long. But don't blame me, blame the 4th of July. Either way, today was Tuesday, July 7th, which meant that DC comics released their new books today. Thankfully I just read digitally now, as who the fuck wants to go to the comic book store on Tuesday and Wednesday? Granted, usually DC books wouldn't sell out or anything so you could just go on Wednesday. But they do sell out sometimes. I thought that this pandemic would maybe try to strengthen comic book stores when they begin to open up but it seems like it hasn't. Supposedly comic book stores in Canada are all pissed off because the shipping costs for DC books now are super high. Diamond used to ship the books to a warehouse in Canada first to save stores from having to pay to ship the books all the way from the U.S. Eh. I still marvel that comic book stores exist or even make a profit. I also heard that Diamond was the reason that comic books stopped being sold in supermarkets, book stores, pharmacies, etc., because their only clients are comic book stores and Diamond used to be the only comic book distributor in town. Maybe things will change eventually for the better when the dust settles...as the pandemic is actually at it's worst right now, this second, in the U.S. It's gotten a lot better here in the Philly area and in New York, but now it's getting really bad in Florida and Texas and Arizona. So while we here in the Philly suburbs have comic book stores open, who the hell knows what's going on in other states. DC had a ton of new books out today, so it seems like the comic book schedule is back to normal at least. For now. We're still getting a lot of books that were supposed to come out months ago finally being released. Fire Power #1 was supposed to come out on Free Comic Book Day, which was the first Saturday in May. While it didn't come out then it still has to be considered the best Free Comic Book Day comic book to ever be released. Usually the books that are free are lame preview books or something. I do remember Savage Dragon releasing a full, free, regular issue on FCBD years ago...but Fire Power #1 beats that since it's the free first issue of a new book by the hottest comic book creator today, Robert Kirkman. I suppose it's beside the point that it's a complete and utter rip-off of Iron Fist. Which, as we noted yesterday, is a copy of some comic book character from the 30's. In this free, first issue, we find the kung-fu hero in suburbia having a barbecue with family and friends. He has apparently given up his kung-fu hero status, and his wife and kids are oblivious about his past. But a fellow, ninja warrior that trained with him has returned to ask him to return. The hero declines. Honestly, this book is a pretty poor #1 issue...but only if you didn't read the graphic novel prelude. The big idea behind the book is that we'll slowly start getting tidbits about why he gave up on his kung-fu life and why his love interest died and of course he'll return to being a superhero and his wife and kids will find out everything. Which is compelling. Even mediocre Robert Kirkman books are usually at least entertaining. They're also super easy to read, as he never uses a lot of words in his books. He also has a knack for delivering a good climax/ending to his issues to keep you interested in next month's installment. And I adore all of his book's letters pages. So Fire Power is so far a winner. It certainly helps that artist Chris Samnee is drawing it. And Matt Wilson is doing a hell of a job coloring it. While this particular issue wasn't as good as the epic graphic novel prelude, it was free. Quit bitching. **1/2

ROBERT KIRKMAN WEEK: FIRE POWER VOL. 1: PRELUDE

Released on July 1st, 2020

   Maybe Robert Kirkman is just bored...but in the last two years he's been trying all sorts of new things in the comic book world. He surprise released his book Die!Die!Die!, he surprise ended The Walking Dead with a 70 page, regular priced issue, and now he's introducing his new book, Fire Power, with a one-two punch of a graphic novel and Free Comic Book Day issue. Kirkman mentions in the post script of FCBD Fire Power that his original idea was to have a 70 page first issue for no good reason. His script for the first issue ballooned into a 154 page script so he decided to release that first issue as a graphic novel. Originally the graphic novel prelude was supposed to come out on the first Wednesday of May followed by the Free Comic Book Day issue on that first Saturday in May. Well the pandemic squashed those plans so we just got both of those books last week on July 1st. I'm not entirely sure why Kirkman decided to bombard us with so much content at the beginning. Normally I'd say that's a good idea to get press and buzz for something...but Kirkman is the most popular, well-known comic book writer out there these days...he doesn't really need the press. So I'm thinking he's just bored (and I'm kind of surprised he hasn't just fled the comic book realm for Hollywood by now). Fire Power is great, though, and probably the most entertaining of the new books he's created since Invincible and The Walking Dead. The huge problem is that there's a reason it's super entertaining: it's a complete rip-off of Marvel's Iron Fist. It's not even really a somewhat similar book...it's literally the same book. It's kind of like if I wrote a book called Bat Person where a superhero dressed up like a bat and was rich and had a butler and faced a villain that told riddles. I'm not entirely sure why Marvel can't sue him. I guess because Kirkman is rich and has influence at Image are the reasons he can get away with it. Or maybe Iron Fist copied something when that character was introduced. Maybe? Should I look it up? I just did and Iron Fist is a copy. Amazing-Man was a superhero in books published in the 30's and 40's. He was an orphan raised by monks in Tibet and trained to have super powers. Okay...so I guess Kirkman is just copying from everyone then. Which doesn't exactly make it better. He can't come up with an original idea? Considering his two most famous books are just a zombie book and a Superman book...no, I guess not. Anyway, in this Fire Power graphic novel...a half Chinese, half American dude is climbing through the snow in the Himalayas to find a mystical city in the clouds where a monk dude trains people to do kung-fu. The guy trains and eventually learns to lost art of being able to throw fire balls with his fists. Yes, it sounds fucking stupid but it's actually a super fun and super enjoyable book. I read the whole 154 page book in one sitting. It helps that Chris Samnee is drawing it, so it looks fantastic and exactly like a comic book should (more cartoon-esque than realistic). At the end of this graphic novel, we cut to fifteen years later when the hero has given up on his kung-fu life and is married with kids and living in the suburbs. But there's a ninja watching him from the trees! Uh oh! And that's the book. I loved it...so I guess I can't complain that it's a copycat. ***

ROBERT KIRKMAN WEEK: NEGAN LIVES!

Released on July 1st, 2020

     I went into a comic book store for the first time in years today. I usually just read them digitally because it's light years easier. But Robert Kirkman decided to help out comic book stores because they've all suffered through this pandemic (the ones around here were closed from the middle of March until the middle of June) so he decided to release a new, free Walking Dead comic. It's kind of a big deal since The Walking Dead ended last July with #193 (which was a surprise at the time...nobody knew it would be the last issue...they even released fake issue cover solicitations for #194 and a few others...and #193 was a triple size book for just $3.99). This new issue, a one-shot titled Negan Lives!, is basically just a book to show what happened to Negan since the last issue he was in was #174. The biggest surprise in this new book is the post-script by Kirkman detailing how originally he had Maggie shoot and kill Negan in #174 but artist Charlie Adlard talked him out of it. Honestly, Maggie killing Negan would have been a better ending for him. But he's back now, for one issue at least. Reading this book kind of just made me sad, though. The Walking Dead was never that great the last few years (it probably reached it's peak with The Governor storyline which ended in #48), but it was still one of the most engrossing books on the stands. Since it came out for ten years, I was used to consistently reading it and being immersed in that world. So reading this new issue just made me sad that it's still not around...especially since Kirkman seemed to keep saying it would continue forever (and the original idea for the book was just that...to showcase not just the zombie apocalypse...but what life would look like years and years after that). In this issue, Negan is milling about alone and depressed when a group shows up and tries to kill him. They fail, but a cute girl in the group ends up liking Negan enough to be saved and the two of them decide to go on a journey to recover his dead wife's remains and bring them back to bury her. And that's it. Kind of pointless, especially considering that we're still left with Negan alive and his future uncertain. Will there be another Negan book in a few years? Who knows? But this book did get me to go to a comic book store for the first time in a long time. I was actually kind of surprised they still had a bunch of copies of this book on the stands (Comic Book Universe, another local store, mentioned on their Facebook page that there probably wasn't enough copies of it to ever make the shelves after giving it to the regulars and subscribers...so I didn't fucking go there). I went to Showcase Comics in Swarthmore. I've been going to that store on and off for probably twenty years. They moved three times to different locations in the Granite Run Mall (I remember buying a cheap, somewhat damaged copy of The Punisher #1 from that first location) and finally when the Mall closed they moved to Swarthmore. The store had a mother with a bunch of her kids running around. And like a typical comic book store, the owner rang me up while talking on the phone (great customer service, idiot...you put the phone down when you have a customer). But I at least got what I went in there for. I got Negan Lives!, which was $4.99, the Fire Power OGN, which was $9.99, and the Free Comic Book Day Fire Power #1 which was, obviously, free. I probably won't be going back to a comic book store for the foreseeable future. Digital is just way too convenient. I'm shocked comic book stores still exist. Those kids in the store today might have been the first kids I've ever seen in a comic book store. It's usually old heads like me...this dying breed. **1/2

ROBERT KIRKMAN WEEK: DIE!DIE!DIE! #10

Released on June 10th, 2020

     It's July 1st...which should mean the only thing people are thinking about is what they're going to do to celebrate the big holiday this weekend. Unfortunately, the virus pandemic that has swept the globe isn't getting any better...at least here in the U.S. Since I wrote the "30 Reviews in 30 Days" feature, things have gotten somewhat better here in Pennsylvania. Last Friday the state went into the Green phase...which meant that barber shops and nail salons could open back up. Restaurants are allowed to have outdoor dining. Comic book stores finally opened back up two weeks ago. Florida and Texas have had a big rise in cases, mostly because their governors are Republicans and idiots and opened up too early. California attempted to reopen most things but had to stop doing that when a surge in cases started. So, quite basically, we're fucked. This virus isn't going away any time soon. A few scientists have said what I think most scientists actually believe: the virus isn't going away and we'll just have to learn to live with it. The death of comic book stores hasn't occurred, as some had thought, though if things get worse and worse then who knows what will happen. The big news in the comic book world was that DC officially broke from the Diamond distributor and two new distributors, Midtown Comics (UCS) and DCBS (Lunar), are shipping DC books now. DC comic books are now on sale on Tuesdays, which means that new comics are now coming out on Tuesday and Wednesday. It's good that comic book shipping isn't a monopoly any more, although the last time this happened, when Marvel left Diamond and started their own shipping company, the comic book industry tanked and Marvel went bankrupt. All of this craziness means that comic book shipping has been pretty haphazard and all over the map since new books started coming back out about a month ago. And so far it isn't really new books that are coming out, but books that would have been released in April that are just delayed. This week actually has no new Marvel books coming out, and DC only has a few digital only releases. Image has a ton of books coming out this week, noticeably three from writer Robert Kirkman. They're not exactly three typical, ho-hum books, either, they're huge fucking releases that merit attention. So why not delve into the mind (and books) of Robert Kirkman for a week? Hell, he's been the biggest writer/creator in comics for the last five years or so at least. And either because he's rich (thanks to his The Walking Dead TV money) or just a good guy, he's actually doing something pretty unique this week. To help comic book stores in this dire time of need, he's publishing a new Walking Dead book and sending it to comic book stores for free (customers have to pay $4.99 for it). The book, Negan Lives!, is a comic book store exclusive, meaning it isn't being published digitally (granted, I assume someone is going to scan it and post it online sooner rather than later). The other books he's writing that are coming out today are the Free Comic Book Day issue of Fire Power #1 and the Fire Power prequel graphic novel, both of which were supposed to come out in early May. Kirkman also has three other monthly books that he writes, so I figured I'd review the latest issues of those and let the world know if his stuff is any good these days. Kirkman was one of the best writers in comic books...about ten years ago. His early issues of The Walking Dead were legend, as was Invincible. Die!Die!Die! is one of his newer books and it's not really entirely his book. He writes it but the ex-producer of The Walking Dead TV show, Scott Gimple, co-plots it. Chris Burnham, who used to draw Batman, Inc. awhile back, is the artist. The book is kind of like Mission: Impossible; a secret, government funded group of assassins/spies help prevent world destruction. The caveat, as the ridiculous title kind of tells you, is that this book is balls-to-the-wall bonkers. It's ridiculous and super bloody and comedic. I guess since I've read all ten issues so far (the book recently returned from a year long hiatus with #9) I kind of like it. Intrigued is probably a more apt description. The book is probably most famous for being a "surprise" release. It came out with only a few days notice and was sent to comic book stores for free. Considering nobody really talks about it online that much, I guess very few people kept reading it after the surprise wore off. The last issue, #9, came out in March, and #8 came out in February 2019, so while reading #10 I have to admit that I was a little lost as to what happened in previous issues. The book started with three identical twins that were also assassins. One is evil. One comes back from the dead in this issue. There's not really much of a plot in this issue besides the dead brother coming back. There's some action but I wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Amusing? Sure. I did laugh at the scene when a mother is showing her daughter the parlor trick of stabbing a knife between your fingers really fast while not cutting them. "Is game," she says to the child. "Hand and eye to work as one. Mostly just looks cool. Is in...all the movies." Should I also mention that the book opens with, for whatever reason, a sequence showing that men are getting pregnant now and so they're all suddenly for abortion? Dick babies. Does that make you laugh? Kind of just embarrassingly stupid. I guess the book just tries to shock for the sake of shock. It doesn't help that the art looks a little rough and rushed. But the book does have one good element; it feels like Kirkman and Burnham are having a total blast making it and it shows. I just kind of wish maybe reading it felt that good. * (out of ****)