What I Read: The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans

The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans by Chris Claremont (writer), Walt Simonson (penciler), Terry Austin (inker), and Tom Orzechowski

This DC/Marvel single-issue crossover event is not classic, more of a rarity: the one and only time that these two teams crossed paths. The story is pretty standard fare for the era it was created in.

Visually it is still very appealing. One striking thing about the art is how Terry Austin's inks wax and wane. At times it is very apparent he is inking and the panels look much more like something out of the pages of his run with John Byrne on Uncanny X-Men; in other places Walt Simonson's distinctive style comes through much more clearly.

Walt Simonson spoke about this book on Comic Geek Speak Episode 814: Meet the Simonsons. An audience member asked him about the crossover event around the 40:45 mark and Walt's response lasted about 8 minutes.

For a plot summary and more information visit the Wikipedia page devoted to The Uncanny X-Men and New Teen Titans.

What I Read - The Mice Templar Vol. 1: The Prophecy #3

#3 In the Beginning... - Karic and Pilot flee Karic's hometown. Pilot aims to train Karic. Meanwhile another Templar is on their trail.

The story continues to unfold. Karic has dreams that help to explain some more of the world he lives in and its past. Pilot starts to teach him how to be a Templar.

This is a slowly evolving story, with a lot of exposition. The first chapter focused on the present and gave the story a point of departure from which it launched in the second chapter. The third chapter focused on the past, started painting the bigger, broader picture.

I get the impression that not everything is at it seems or has been presented. Karic and Pilot are being pusued by an unnamed mouse, presumably another Templar. The text implies that this is a rogue Templar, at least at first it does, but later there is a hint that maybe it isn't. I'm starting to wonder if Pilot isn't the one that Karic should be wary of.

The Mice Templar by Brian J.L. Glass, Michael Avon Oeming, and Will Quintana

What I Read - Sleeper: Season Two #10

#10 Good Offenses - This chapter was much more plot heavy than most in this series. Usually things happen with out much in the way of clear connection to the overarching story. This time around I can see the plot getting moved forward by more than just inches

Not only has Miss Misery betrayed Cole to Tao but he knows it too. I wonder if this isn't a bit of misdirection on Brubaker's part. Could it be part of a scheme that Cole and Misery planned out in advance? It doesn't feel like it but there may be some twist that I just can't forsee.

I am nonplussed by how Cole's relationship with Lynch seems to have improved. As with Miss Misery's betrayal I am hoping that there is more to this development than what I am seeing. I can't think of anything more boring than the story ending with Cole coming in from the cold and back to the fold. I want to believe that Brubaker has a more interesting and/or twisted end in mind than that.

The artwork is cartoony but not knocking my socks off. I may have commented on this before but it feels as if there is a lack of consistency in Philips work, from chapter to chapter. Even the way he draws characters like Cole and Misery seems to shift. There could be a method, a story-related reason behind the shifts in style but I can't see it.

Sleeper: Season Two by Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips

What I Read - The Mice Templar Vol. 1: The Prophecy #2

#2: The Calling - This chapter flowed quickly, like the first one, but unlike the previous one it wasn't weighed down with exposition. It was all action. Michael Avon Oeming's art was gorgeous. Will Quintana's colors were stunning. I dunno if they were holding back last chapter or if there was a conscious reason for taking things and slowly as they did.

The story seems to be shaping up to be a standard quest type story with Karic as the hero in training.

The Mice Templar by Brian J.L. Glass, Michael Avon Oeming, and Will Quintana

What I Read - Sleeper: Season Two #9

#9 Deja Vu All Over Again - Call me skeptical but until I've finished this book I'm unwilling to take what I just read at face value. Even though it looks as though Miss Misery just betrayed Carver, I'm not buying it. Her actions in the previous chapter say more to me than her words. I can accept that she may have betrayed him for her own reasons, but at the moment it is being painted as if she did it out of a sense of duty to Tao. Ed Brubaker is too good a writer and Miss Misery is too egotistical for it to be that cut and dried.

The last couple chapters have on the surface been the least mind-fucky chapters so far in Season Two. I'm starting to wonder and (to a degree) hope that Brubaker is doing this on purpose; just to lull the reader into a false of security. That way, when the next twist in the tale surfaces, it will be that much more shocking. The only thing more shocking would be if there are no more twists in the tale.

The visuals are back to where I remember them being in Season One: cartoony. I'm not expert enough to tell how Philips' cartoony art in this season differs from the cartoony art in this season. My untrained eye says that they resemble one more that either one remembles the majority of the art in early chapters of this season. I'm glad the cartoony art is back but now I'm wondering why there was a temporary change in the look. Was Philips just experimenting or was there a method to the madness, a hidden message concealed in the shift?

Sleeper: Season Two by Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips

What I Read - The Mice Templar Vol. 1: The Prophecy #1

#1 The Dark Lands - So far I'm not wildly impressed. There's a lot of exposition in the first chapter; too much in my opinion. In general I think the story flows a little too quickly, I do like the way the chapter ends, with Karic becoming the more serious one and Leito the more playful one, which is a reversal of the roles they played through out the chapter up to that point.

I some had trouble keeping track of all the characters. There aren't that many of them but they are all mice and to my eyes they all looked fairly similar, at first. I got about halfway through the chapter before I had to go back and reread what I had just read (a couple times) before I was able to more easily identify all of the names, faces and personalities.

What drew me to this series is Michael Avon Oeming's artwork. I love the look of it. The coloring by Will Quintana only intensifies the job Oeming did penciling the story. So far no complaints here.

The Mice Templar by Brian J.L. Glass, Michael Avon Oeming, and Will Quintana

What I Read: Jack of Hearts #1-4

Jack of Hearts by Bill Mantlo (writer) and George Freeman (artist)

After rereading this 4-issue limited series for the first time in the past 20-25 years I can see why I liked it so much. The story has the kinds of characters and elements that I liked to see in sci-fi/fantasy stories back then. The hero is both reluctant and willing to sacrifice his life. He is taken from a world he knows but hates to one that is very different and to which he has a connection previously unknown to him. I can also see the story's flaws, now, but they weren't numerous or significant enough to interfere with my ability to enjoy the story for what it is.

Despite the poor shape my issues are in I think George Freeman's art is gorgeous. I'm a little surprised that I liked the look of the book back then. It is a little more expressive than what I remember liking at the time. Its a shame that this has never been reprinted in a collected format.

Links: covers