As you may have guessed by now, I don't read all that many new or newish books. I do try to keep up where time and budget allow. This volume was recommended to me, so I thought I'd check it out not knowing a thing about the series. It involves a collection of Dr. Moreauish animals trying to integrate into society, with varying degrees of success. It's a loose collection of stories and themes. There are moments of film noir as well as some pulpish sci-fi - but I must admit that it just didn't hang together for me. The rotating cast of characters, artists and story lines made this collection seem quite chopped up, and it was difficult to maintain the feeling of pathos that I imagine is supposed to flow throughout. Some of the art is quite nice, especially the issue by Tom Scioli who seemed to be channelling Keith Giffen channelling Jack Kirby, but much of it is a lots of flashy posing covering up weak storytelling. The more I read into this book, the less interested I became and I was complete gone by the time the pirate story rolled around. And I love pirates. It's a decent conceit and there are some good elements present, but all in all it doesn't add up. Trade Mark: C+
Friday, August 07, 2009
Trade Marks: Elephantmen - Wounded Animals
As you may have guessed by now, I don't read all that many new or newish books. I do try to keep up where time and budget allow. This volume was recommended to me, so I thought I'd check it out not knowing a thing about the series. It involves a collection of Dr. Moreauish animals trying to integrate into society, with varying degrees of success. It's a loose collection of stories and themes. There are moments of film noir as well as some pulpish sci-fi - but I must admit that it just didn't hang together for me. The rotating cast of characters, artists and story lines made this collection seem quite chopped up, and it was difficult to maintain the feeling of pathos that I imagine is supposed to flow throughout. Some of the art is quite nice, especially the issue by Tom Scioli who seemed to be channelling Keith Giffen channelling Jack Kirby, but much of it is a lots of flashy posing covering up weak storytelling. The more I read into this book, the less interested I became and I was complete gone by the time the pirate story rolled around. And I love pirates. It's a decent conceit and there are some good elements present, but all in all it doesn't add up. Trade Mark: C+
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1 comment:
Have to agree Scott - was buying this in floppies for a while but just got fed up with dazzling style but minimal substance. The biggest attraction was that for the first dozen or so issues they had a backup ala 'Criminal/Incognito' that featured some pretty good articles about old British comic artists like Don Lawrence etc, but once they stopped doing that it took the shine off it a bit!
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