Tag Archives: art

The Saturday Comics: Introducing Red Hot!

28 Sep

September 28, 2015

cropped-sat-com-logo.jpg

red hot 1 2

ISSUE 1
Mike Luoma
Rhys ap Gwyn

ISSUE 2
Mike Luoma
Juan Carlos Quattordio
Bettina Fertitta

How do you prove you’re a hero?

That’s the question the new Red Hot is out to answer in Introducing Red Hot. He’s a third generation hero, just starting out, and eager to prove he’s worthy of his legacy. As you might imagine, things do not go smoothly, and a simple bank robbery has far-reaching, and deadly, consequences.

The story is fast-paced and in this age of stories that take five issues to tell what should be wrapped up in five pages, that’s refreshing. The fast pace does not sacrifice either plot or character development. I’m going to keep this review spoiler free, but you will be introduced to not only Red Hot, but the super-group The Team and various members, including Leader One, Mister Velocity, and Mind Man. In a field dominated by The Avengers and the Justice League, it would be easy to simply write a Superman analog, a Batman-type, and a Captain America stand-in to round out the cast, but each character has a distinct personality, and none are designed to look like obvious knock-offs. Effort has gone into making these characters distinct.

Mike Luoma writes the book and his dialogue shows an ear for realism. The art favors dynamic layouts and bold colors, and that just adds to the fun. The artists change from the first to second issue, and while the art is clearly different, both have a similar style, keeping Red Hot consistent from issue to issue.

The bottom line is that these are fun comics. They are serious and dramatic, but handled in such a way that you know you are in a comic book universe. So many other, hugely-selling comics strive for “realism” and lose the magic of the comic book medium. This one embraces it.

I’m ready for issue three.

Mike Luoma has written more than just Introducing Red Hot. If you like this, check out his other works. You can get Introducing Red Hot in digital or print, plus Tales of The Team, Vatican Assassin, and lots of others at Indy Planet just by clicking here: http://www.indyplanet.com/front/brand/Glow-in-the-DarkRadioComics/

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Here’s Why I Won’t See The New Fantastic Four Movie

28 Jul

July 28, 2015

LNMH FF

I already have ridiculously low expectations for the new Fantastic Four movie. The odds are against it. There have already been three lousy FF films, why should this be any better? And that’s pretty sad for me because the Fantastic Four is- hands down- my favorite Marvel title. I own every issue of the series on CD ROM. I have collections, collections, and more FF collections on my book shelves. The Thing is my favorite comic book character, beating out this blog’s perennial favorite superhero subject, Superman. But despite having seen superhero films about groups I barely pay any attention to (Guardians of the Galaxy) I will not see this film.

Why?

Because the Thing has no pants.

This is no joke on the expression “the Emperor has no clothes,” Ben Grimm is literally pantsless and naked in the movie.

FF Thing 2

I am not going to go into some geek explanation of how he’s not really made of rocks, his skin is tough and thick and rocklike so he has every biological attachment he should. I’m not going to even ask how he goes to the bathroom. No, my one and only problem is how stupid it looks.

FF Thing

If the filmmakers are going to make such a basic, dumb decision, and have their main character walk around like that, apparently neutered, then who knows what other stupid decisions they made.

Even in Watchmen, when Dr. Manhattan walked around naked, he was biologically correct.

This is a family blog!

This is a family blog!

So make any jokes you like about how Ben Grimm has been shortchanged, or how there’s no Giant-Sized Man-Thing here. I am not going to spend money to see what other stupid decisions they made.

Sheesh. All they had to do was give him a pair of shorts.

It's enough to make Jack Kirby cry.

It’s enough to make Jack Kirby cry.

.

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