Click the image to go to the podcast page for episode 14.
Showing posts with label human target. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human target. Show all posts
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Human Target #14,15,16
The Second Coming
By Peter Milligan and Cliff Chiang
Part One: In the Name of the Father
Due to the complex way in which the story unfolds it helps to read this issue more than once. It unfolds at a choppy pace and is fairly character heavy.
Part Two: The Temptation of Christopher Chance
As much as I am enjoying some of the twists in this tale of the Human Target they are also tough to accept at times. It is tough to believe that none of the people he is dealing with can see through his disguise, including the father of the man (Paul James) he is pretending to be. Are there no faults in his disguise? The mask he's wearing can't be that good, can it? Even if he looks just like Paul James how is it possible that he also sounds just like him? In some ways it would be even easier to accept all this if he was a superhero.
Part Three: Pieces of Lead
This 3-parter is a bit of a hot mess. The pieces are all there but in the end they don't fit together. The characters don't seem real. It just all seems very trite, as if Milligan hasn't put enough time or effort into the story.
Cover Images: Human Target #14, 15, 16
Human Target was published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics.
By Peter Milligan and Cliff Chiang
Part One: In the Name of the Father
Due to the complex way in which the story unfolds it helps to read this issue more than once. It unfolds at a choppy pace and is fairly character heavy.
Part Two: The Temptation of Christopher Chance
As much as I am enjoying some of the twists in this tale of the Human Target they are also tough to accept at times. It is tough to believe that none of the people he is dealing with can see through his disguise, including the father of the man (Paul James) he is pretending to be. Are there no faults in his disguise? The mask he's wearing can't be that good, can it? Even if he looks just like Paul James how is it possible that he also sounds just like him? In some ways it would be even easier to accept all this if he was a superhero.
Part Three: Pieces of Lead
This 3-parter is a bit of a hot mess. The pieces are all there but in the end they don't fit together. The characters don't seem real. It just all seems very trite, as if Milligan hasn't put enough time or effort into the story.
Cover Images: Human Target #14, 15, 16
Human Target was published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Human Target #13
Crossing the Border
Part Two: Hey, Jude
By Peter Milligan and Javier Pulido
What's most moving about the way in which the second (and final) part of Crossing the Border opens is not what I thought it would be. I didn't imagine that Mary's devotion to her cause (helping poor Mexicans enter the United States illegally) would make my throat feel tight. That's probably because she kept her thoughts to herself for the most part in the previous issue. It wasn't clear then how much she was willing to give of herself.
The unfortunate thing about arcs like this one is how short they are. The creative team takes short cuts in order to tell the story. Quite often things aren't fully explained and, in the case of this story, are left unresolved. It really needed another issue or so of pictures and text to make the ending work better and seem less choppy. That's another way of saying I think this story falls short of being great. Worth my time and I love the way the words and pictured meshed, but just too short to convey the full emotional intensity of what is implied.
Cover Image: Human Target #13
Human Target was published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics.
Part Two: Hey, Jude
By Peter Milligan and Javier Pulido
What's most moving about the way in which the second (and final) part of Crossing the Border opens is not what I thought it would be. I didn't imagine that Mary's devotion to her cause (helping poor Mexicans enter the United States illegally) would make my throat feel tight. That's probably because she kept her thoughts to herself for the most part in the previous issue. It wasn't clear then how much she was willing to give of herself.
The unfortunate thing about arcs like this one is how short they are. The creative team takes short cuts in order to tell the story. Quite often things aren't fully explained and, in the case of this story, are left unresolved. It really needed another issue or so of pictures and text to make the ending work better and seem less choppy. That's another way of saying I think this story falls short of being great. Worth my time and I love the way the words and pictured meshed, but just too short to convey the full emotional intensity of what is implied.
Cover Image: Human Target #13
Human Target was published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Human Target #12
Crossing the Border
Part One: Suffer the Children
By Peter Milligan and Javier Pulido
Past lives seems to be a recurring theme in the Human Target. Episodes often open with flashbacks to 10 or more years before the present. This episode opens with a flashback, which introduces one of the two threads in this arc. How it relates to the other thread is not difficult to figure out and is made clear at the end of the issue.
Even though this story was published over six years ago in 2004 the topic of people crossing the border separating the US from Mexico is still very relevant in 2010. It's an issue which has not gone away.
The most poignant image in the story occurs halfway though the issue just after the second coyote hands young Maria Centeno over to the third coyote, who is supposed to get her to her mother. The coyotes do nothing to discourage her or make her doubt that she will soon be reunited with her mother. The fate of the first coyote, on the other hand, makes it fairly clear that her guides have other things in mind for her.
The last image of Maria could be of any young girl or boy. All that is visible is her hand pressed up against the window of the third coyote's truck. The fingers are spread. Although it is probably meant to be a wave goodbye to the second coyote, it (coupled with the reassurance by the third coyote that she will soon see her mother) made me sad.
Cover Image: Human Target #12
Human Target was published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics.
Part One: Suffer the Children
By Peter Milligan and Javier Pulido
Past lives seems to be a recurring theme in the Human Target. Episodes often open with flashbacks to 10 or more years before the present. This episode opens with a flashback, which introduces one of the two threads in this arc. How it relates to the other thread is not difficult to figure out and is made clear at the end of the issue.
Even though this story was published over six years ago in 2004 the topic of people crossing the border separating the US from Mexico is still very relevant in 2010. It's an issue which has not gone away.
The most poignant image in the story occurs halfway though the issue just after the second coyote hands young Maria Centeno over to the third coyote, who is supposed to get her to her mother. The coyotes do nothing to discourage her or make her doubt that she will soon be reunited with her mother. The fate of the first coyote, on the other hand, makes it fairly clear that her guides have other things in mind for her.
The last image of Maria could be of any young girl or boy. All that is visible is her hand pressed up against the window of the third coyote's truck. The fingers are spread. Although it is probably meant to be a wave goodbye to the second coyote, it (coupled with the reassurance by the third coyote that she will soon see her mother) made me sad.
Cover Image: Human Target #12
Human Target was published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics.
Monday, November 29, 2010
What I Read: Human Target #11
Games of Chance
By Peter Milligan and Javier Pulido
First issue I've read of Human Target in a few years. I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew this was a one-shot, not part of a multi-issue story. I didn't expect Christopher's relationship with Mary to get the spotlight.
My memory maybe sketchy but from what I recall about this series the usual balance between Chistopher's work and personal life seems to be flipped in this issue. Normally his personal life takes a back seat to his profession. Peeks are provided at what he is thinking, feeling but that's all, usually.
This time around his work plays second fiddle. There's plenty of it but it comes and goes in short bursts as Chrisopher spends time with Mary and wonders what she is hiding from him.
Cover Image: Human Target #11
Human Target was published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics.
By Peter Milligan and Javier Pulido
First issue I've read of Human Target in a few years. I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew this was a one-shot, not part of a multi-issue story. I didn't expect Christopher's relationship with Mary to get the spotlight.
My memory maybe sketchy but from what I recall about this series the usual balance between Chistopher's work and personal life seems to be flipped in this issue. Normally his personal life takes a back seat to his profession. Peeks are provided at what he is thinking, feeling but that's all, usually.
This time around his work plays second fiddle. There's plenty of it but it comes and goes in short bursts as Chrisopher spends time with Mary and wonders what she is hiding from him.
Cover Image: Human Target #11
Human Target was published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Comic Book Notes (LJ) Jan 2005
01/03/05
I haven't been reading a whole lot lately. I've been kinda busy with other stuff. I finished off Ranma 1/2 Book 4 and Hana-Kimi Book 1, over a week ago. I'm winding down on Rex Mundi Book 1 and Scion Book 3.
Marmalade Boy Book 4 - I just started it. I'm not even halfway through the first chapter, which is kinda long. It opens with Miki and her best friend, Meiko, spying on Miki's step-brother, Yuu. He has been spending a lot of time with another good-looking guy, Satoshi. Naturally, everyone at school starts suspecting that they are gay, including Miki who doesn't want to believe it because she has a crush on Yuu.
I love the dialogue and how the characters convince themselves (of Yuu and Satoshi's relationship) without concrete evidence to back up their suspicions. Meiko, getting over her own soap-operatic moment in the sun in Book 3, is tickled pink over the possibilities. Miki only makes things worse for herself by eavesdropping on Yuu and Satoshi, and then trying to figure out what they are talking about in a round about sort of way. Anyhow I find it all very amusing.
01/04/05
I just read (on Newsarama)about Will Eisner passing away last night. I've read a few of his graphic novels. I think I have two of them, Fagin the Jew and another older one. Never got around to reading The Spirit.
I've been thinking more about buying some of the DC Archive Editions of this series and other series. I don't want to get them every month, but maybe once every three months I'll pick one up. They usually sell for 35% off (the $50 cover price) at MailOrderComics.
I'd love to pick up some of the Archive Editions that were drawn by Joe Kubert like Enemy Ace, Sgt. Rock, and Adam Strange. I'm primarily interested in Silver Age Archive Editions, but I'd also like to get New Teen Titans by Wolfman, Perez, and Giordano. Watching Teen Titans on TV really makes me wanna go back and read and reread the stories from the late-70's and early 80's.
Well I don't feel quite as bad as I did after reading the obit. Still, it is sad to be without such a prolific and influential talent. At least we still have his stories.
01/06/05
Well, my monthly shipment should be arrive today. I found out yesterday that two trade paperbacks that were scheduled to be included will not be, so I'll only be getting two trade paperbacks instead of four. :(
On time - Batman: The Long Halloween, Queen & Country Vol. 1
Late - Ministry of Space, Love Fights Vol. 2
At this point I'm just glad to be getting a shipment. I haven't had the time to make it to the comic shop lately and I ran out of new comic books a couple weeks ago. I've been living off of trade paperbacks (Rex Mundi Book 1, Scion Vol 3), manga (Marmalade Boy Vol. 4), and back issues (X-Men: The Hidden Years, Marvel: The Lost Generation, Superman & Batman: Generations 3, Route 666, Dreadstar).
S&B:G3 sucks by comparison to the previous two mini-series. Most of the issues are forgettable. Some of the artwork looks incomplete and most of it is very roughly drawn.
M:TLG is much better by comparison to S&B:G3 but that's not saying much. I bought both these series a couple years back and am just getting arounf to reading them. At least I don't feel like I completely wasted my money on them.
01/07/05
* Comic books arrived on time. Batman: The Long Halloween is a long book, longer than I realized, about 350 pages long. I spent about an hour going through the Previews catalog. There wasn't too much that caught my eye that I hadn't already earmarked.
* I hear it on NPR: an interview with Sharad Devarajan, CEO of Gotham Entertainment Group, which has licensed the Marvel Comics characters to be distributed in South Asia. Their first publication is Spider-Man India, featuring Pavitr Prabhakar as Peter Parker.
Link: Fresh Air for Thursday January 6, 2005 (you have to scroll about 2/3 of the way down the page to find the link to the audio of the interview. It is about 20 minutes long.
Trade Paperbacks and Manga
Currently Reading
+ Rex Mundi Book 1: The Guardian of the Temple
+ Scion Book 3: Divided Loyalties
+ Marmalade Boy Book 4
Waiting to be Read
+ Batman: The Long Halloween
+ Queen & Country Book 1: Operation Broken Ground
+ Human Target Book 2: Living in Amerika
+ Kare Kano Book 4
+ Scion Book 4: Sanctuary
+ Marmalade Boy Book 5
+ Marmalade Boy Book 6
Ordered
+ Ministry of Space
+ Love Fights Book 2
+ Maxx Book 3
+ Stray Bullets Book 1
+ Y: The Last Man Book 2
01/08/05
So I went to liberty Comics and splurged today. Well, I spent more than I usually do. I bought X-Men Unlimited # 6 which features a story written and drawn by the crew that used to write and draw Negation: Paul Pelletier, Dave Meikis, and Tony Bedard. It was okay. It was no where near as good as Negation. What was missing of course was Laura Martin's colors. That and a decent story. Anyone could have written this one.
Comparisons to Negation: The way the four women in this story interacted did remind me kind of the way the main female characters in Negation interacted. Emma White would obviously be Evinlea. Kitty Pryde would be Corrin. I guess Storm would be Shassa, but the correlation isn't as strong. That leaves Sage to be Iress.
I also bought...
+ Teen Titans # 19 - final issue in the Titans of Tomorrow story
+ She Hulk # 9 - the art is by Paul Pelletier and I've heard good things about this series
+ Phoenix Book 2: Future - a year after I bought the first volume in this series I finally got the second one. Written and drawn by the godfather of manga, Osamu Tezuka. I really enjoyed the first book. Not short, but the first book was very good so I have high hopes for this one.
01/09/05
She-Hulk # 9 - Very amusing. Jen trying to learn to control her new strength. Hercules being sued (by a supervillain) for being too aggressively heroic. Very amusing, the whole thing was very tongue in cheek. I may just have to pick up the next issue. It didn't hurt that Paul Pelletier did the pencils.
01/11/05
Teen Titans # 19 - Good but not great. Not good enough to convince me to continue buying this series. I have yet to be truly impressed or satisfied with Geoff Johns writing. I tried JSA for a while and didn't care for it, now I tried Teen Titans and was equally un-wowed. I did enjoy the whole Titans of Tomorrow story. It wasn't bad, but I get the impression that it was the time travel elements and not the writing that worked for me.
Human Target Book 2 - Chapter one of this book (six of the series) is one of those stories that I thinks works a little better if you know the ending in advance. The story was plodding along and I wasn't that impressed with it until I saw the twist in the tale. Then it hit pretty hard. This chapter is a self-contained story. The Human Target is hired to impersonate a priest who is being theatened by a local heavy. Christopher Chance (The Human Target) isn't a religious man, but after spending some time in the role of the priest he finds himself starting to sense that maybe there are things he should believe in. Then he encouters the heavy, and finds out why he has been trying to 'off' the priest: he was molested by the priest when he was a boy. Maybe I should have seen in coming. The story is set in Boston. Anyhow that casts the story in a very different light. I won't give any more of the story away, but I did like how it ends. Still I think there should have been some foreshadowing as to the true motivations of the heavy and the true nature of the priest.
01/19/05
Midori no Hibi is no longer available at SnoopyCool. There ain't much available anymore at SnoopyCool, but from what I understand the anime of Midori no Hibi is going to be released in March, by ADV. I haven't heard anyword on when the manga will be available.I managed to download te first two-and-a-half books before the SnoopyCool went down in December.
No Fallen Angel in April, according to DC. The next and probably last issue, # 20, will come out in May.
Last issue of Adam Strange comes out in March. I wonder how long we'll have to wait for the trade of that?
I'm still not going to order the individual issues of Identity Crisis. Even though DC is rereleasing all of them in March. I'm waiting for the trade, even if I have to wait until 2006. There are plenty of other things to read in the meanwhile.
Human Target is ending with # 21. The second trade collects up through # 10. I guess that means that there will be two more trade collections, hopefully.
Iron Ghost from Image looks good. Written by Ron Marz, it looks like a riff on The Shadow. It is a mini and only runs six issues. I'll probably wait for the trade.
Trade-wise, this month I decided to pre-order the second trade of The Losers (DC/Vertigo), Hysteria Book 2 (Oni Press; written and drawn by Mike Hawthorne), and the DC Archive Edition of Enemy Ace.
OK, that's enough for now. Time to read some more comic books.
I haven't been reading a whole lot lately. I've been kinda busy with other stuff. I finished off Ranma 1/2 Book 4 and Hana-Kimi Book 1, over a week ago. I'm winding down on Rex Mundi Book 1 and Scion Book 3.
Marmalade Boy Book 4 - I just started it. I'm not even halfway through the first chapter, which is kinda long. It opens with Miki and her best friend, Meiko, spying on Miki's step-brother, Yuu. He has been spending a lot of time with another good-looking guy, Satoshi. Naturally, everyone at school starts suspecting that they are gay, including Miki who doesn't want to believe it because she has a crush on Yuu.
I love the dialogue and how the characters convince themselves (of Yuu and Satoshi's relationship) without concrete evidence to back up their suspicions. Meiko, getting over her own soap-operatic moment in the sun in Book 3, is tickled pink over the possibilities. Miki only makes things worse for herself by eavesdropping on Yuu and Satoshi, and then trying to figure out what they are talking about in a round about sort of way. Anyhow I find it all very amusing.
01/04/05
I just read (on Newsarama)about Will Eisner passing away last night. I've read a few of his graphic novels. I think I have two of them, Fagin the Jew and another older one. Never got around to reading The Spirit.
I've been thinking more about buying some of the DC Archive Editions of this series and other series. I don't want to get them every month, but maybe once every three months I'll pick one up. They usually sell for 35% off (the $50 cover price) at MailOrderComics.
I'd love to pick up some of the Archive Editions that were drawn by Joe Kubert like Enemy Ace, Sgt. Rock, and Adam Strange. I'm primarily interested in Silver Age Archive Editions, but I'd also like to get New Teen Titans by Wolfman, Perez, and Giordano. Watching Teen Titans on TV really makes me wanna go back and read and reread the stories from the late-70's and early 80's.
Well I don't feel quite as bad as I did after reading the obit. Still, it is sad to be without such a prolific and influential talent. At least we still have his stories.
01/06/05
Well, my monthly shipment should be arrive today. I found out yesterday that two trade paperbacks that were scheduled to be included will not be, so I'll only be getting two trade paperbacks instead of four. :(
On time - Batman: The Long Halloween, Queen & Country Vol. 1
Late - Ministry of Space, Love Fights Vol. 2
At this point I'm just glad to be getting a shipment. I haven't had the time to make it to the comic shop lately and I ran out of new comic books a couple weeks ago. I've been living off of trade paperbacks (Rex Mundi Book 1, Scion Vol 3), manga (Marmalade Boy Vol. 4), and back issues (X-Men: The Hidden Years, Marvel: The Lost Generation, Superman & Batman: Generations 3, Route 666, Dreadstar).
S&B:G3 sucks by comparison to the previous two mini-series. Most of the issues are forgettable. Some of the artwork looks incomplete and most of it is very roughly drawn.
M:TLG is much better by comparison to S&B:G3 but that's not saying much. I bought both these series a couple years back and am just getting arounf to reading them. At least I don't feel like I completely wasted my money on them.
01/07/05
* Comic books arrived on time. Batman: The Long Halloween is a long book, longer than I realized, about 350 pages long. I spent about an hour going through the Previews catalog. There wasn't too much that caught my eye that I hadn't already earmarked.
* I hear it on NPR: an interview with Sharad Devarajan, CEO of Gotham Entertainment Group, which has licensed the Marvel Comics characters to be distributed in South Asia. Their first publication is Spider-Man India, featuring Pavitr Prabhakar as Peter Parker.
Link: Fresh Air for Thursday January 6, 2005 (you have to scroll about 2/3 of the way down the page to find the link to the audio of the interview. It is about 20 minutes long.
Trade Paperbacks and Manga
Currently Reading
+ Rex Mundi Book 1: The Guardian of the Temple
+ Scion Book 3: Divided Loyalties
+ Marmalade Boy Book 4
Waiting to be Read
+ Batman: The Long Halloween
+ Queen & Country Book 1: Operation Broken Ground
+ Human Target Book 2: Living in Amerika
+ Kare Kano Book 4
+ Scion Book 4: Sanctuary
+ Marmalade Boy Book 5
+ Marmalade Boy Book 6
Ordered
+ Ministry of Space
+ Love Fights Book 2
+ Maxx Book 3
+ Stray Bullets Book 1
+ Y: The Last Man Book 2
01/08/05
So I went to liberty Comics and splurged today. Well, I spent more than I usually do. I bought X-Men Unlimited # 6 which features a story written and drawn by the crew that used to write and draw Negation: Paul Pelletier, Dave Meikis, and Tony Bedard. It was okay. It was no where near as good as Negation. What was missing of course was Laura Martin's colors. That and a decent story. Anyone could have written this one.
Comparisons to Negation: The way the four women in this story interacted did remind me kind of the way the main female characters in Negation interacted. Emma White would obviously be Evinlea. Kitty Pryde would be Corrin. I guess Storm would be Shassa, but the correlation isn't as strong. That leaves Sage to be Iress.
I also bought...
+ Teen Titans # 19 - final issue in the Titans of Tomorrow story
+ She Hulk # 9 - the art is by Paul Pelletier and I've heard good things about this series
+ Phoenix Book 2: Future - a year after I bought the first volume in this series I finally got the second one. Written and drawn by the godfather of manga, Osamu Tezuka. I really enjoyed the first book. Not short, but the first book was very good so I have high hopes for this one.
01/09/05
She-Hulk # 9 - Very amusing. Jen trying to learn to control her new strength. Hercules being sued (by a supervillain) for being too aggressively heroic. Very amusing, the whole thing was very tongue in cheek. I may just have to pick up the next issue. It didn't hurt that Paul Pelletier did the pencils.
01/11/05
Teen Titans # 19 - Good but not great. Not good enough to convince me to continue buying this series. I have yet to be truly impressed or satisfied with Geoff Johns writing. I tried JSA for a while and didn't care for it, now I tried Teen Titans and was equally un-wowed. I did enjoy the whole Titans of Tomorrow story. It wasn't bad, but I get the impression that it was the time travel elements and not the writing that worked for me.
Human Target Book 2 - Chapter one of this book (six of the series) is one of those stories that I thinks works a little better if you know the ending in advance. The story was plodding along and I wasn't that impressed with it until I saw the twist in the tale. Then it hit pretty hard. This chapter is a self-contained story. The Human Target is hired to impersonate a priest who is being theatened by a local heavy. Christopher Chance (The Human Target) isn't a religious man, but after spending some time in the role of the priest he finds himself starting to sense that maybe there are things he should believe in. Then he encouters the heavy, and finds out why he has been trying to 'off' the priest: he was molested by the priest when he was a boy. Maybe I should have seen in coming. The story is set in Boston. Anyhow that casts the story in a very different light. I won't give any more of the story away, but I did like how it ends. Still I think there should have been some foreshadowing as to the true motivations of the heavy and the true nature of the priest.
01/19/05
Midori no Hibi is no longer available at SnoopyCool. There ain't much available anymore at SnoopyCool, but from what I understand the anime of Midori no Hibi is going to be released in March, by ADV. I haven't heard anyword on when the manga will be available.I managed to download te first two-and-a-half books before the SnoopyCool went down in December.
No Fallen Angel in April, according to DC. The next and probably last issue, # 20, will come out in May.
Last issue of Adam Strange comes out in March. I wonder how long we'll have to wait for the trade of that?
I'm still not going to order the individual issues of Identity Crisis. Even though DC is rereleasing all of them in March. I'm waiting for the trade, even if I have to wait until 2006. There are plenty of other things to read in the meanwhile.
Human Target is ending with # 21. The second trade collects up through # 10. I guess that means that there will be two more trade collections, hopefully.
Iron Ghost from Image looks good. Written by Ron Marz, it looks like a riff on The Shadow. It is a mini and only runs six issues. I'll probably wait for the trade.
Trade-wise, this month I decided to pre-order the second trade of The Losers (DC/Vertigo), Hysteria Book 2 (Oni Press; written and drawn by Mike Hawthorne), and the DC Archive Edition of Enemy Ace.
OK, that's enough for now. Time to read some more comic books.
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