Puffed – The Unauthorized Puffed Movie Adaptation (IDW Publishing; Trade Paperback; B&W)
Creators: John Layman (Writer) and Dave Crossland (Artist)

Synopsis (taken from the book’s back cover): Think your job sucks? Aaron Owens has it worse. He’s the poor chump you make fun of at the amusement park, the guy who’s stuffed into a sweltering funny-animal costume, and abused his entire shift by a legion of snot-nosed brats. Not only that, but he can’t get out of the costume on his own, which makes it exceedingly difficult when he neds to take a bathroom break-or when the psychotic park janitor beats Aaron up and dumps him in “The ‘Hood”.

Review: This trade paperback, which is a compilation of the original three issue mini-series and a one-shot that was originally published through Image Comics, is an out-and-out fun read. Layman does a fine job of turning a possible bad SNL skit about some poor schlub stuck in a funny character suit for a night into a decent comedic story. The story’s pacing is pretty solid, the dialogue is witty and there are some funny scenes as Aaron tries in vain to get out of suit before his bowels explode. If there is one thing that seemed amiss in the story was the prevalent use of traditional stereotypes throughout “The ‘Hood” like the thug life gangstas all blinged out, the local rummy at the end of the bar with the perfect sad story that moves the plot along, or the functioning alcoholic limo driver for the “mystery celebrity” who thinks that Aaron is his hallucination. All that was missing was the hooker with a heart of gold and her macked out, cane strutting, fur jacket wearing pimp. But over the course of the entire book, it doesn’t detract from the story; it just seems more like a crutch.

As for the art, Crossland is in top form with this book. His style looks like a mixture of Indie composition around animation-style thick lines peppered with an underground hip-hop sheen. The book’s layout is very easy on the eyes and the characters look more like funky caricatures than actual people. But what really shines are his detailed backgrounds from the manic/chaotic Storybook Amusement Park down to the graffiti art on a burned out building in “The ‘Hood”. His art not only helps sell the story but it actually raises the book to a new level of goodness. I really can’t praise it enough.

So, to all of you who missed out the first time around, IDW has graciously done you a big favor with this new “Director’s Cut” book. Don’t miss out on one of the funnier books out there right now.

Extras: A couple of extra scenes, a brand new, never published story called “Mo’ Puffed”, a great pin-up gallery featuring artists like Frank Quitely, John Cassaday, Sam Keith, Ashley Wood, Jim Mahfood, Scott Morse plus a host of others and a character sketch section with notes by both of the creators.

You can buy the book review by clicking on the Amazon link below or from the IDW Publishing Store.

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Dennis the Menace began on March 14, 1951 (four months after Ketcham’s friend and colleague Charles Schulz started his own historic comic strip) He went on to become the second most popular cartoon kid in the world – after Charlie Brown, of course. Dennis the Menace first appeared in 16 American newspapers; by the end of 1951, he was appearing in over a hundred. The reason for Dennis’ success is easy to figure out: It was one of the most brilliantly observed and empathetic comic strips about childhood ever drawn. Ketcham captured the mischievousness, rambunctiousness, and anarchy of a kid’s world better than any other cartoonist. The strip appeals to both parents and children -while parents shake their head ruefully at how accurately Ketcham caught the essence of children’s natural zest for mayhem, children identify with Dennis and the chaos that he leaves in his wake – just a hop, skip, and a jump away from their own fantasy of themselves! Ketcham was a cartoonist with a vivacious line that was exquisitely suited to depicting adults and children. His gags were funny, subtle and touching. Ketcham drew Dennis the Menace from 1951 to 1994, when he retired and let his assistant take over the strip. This first volume of Hank Ketcham’s Complete Dennis the Menace publishes every single panel strip from 1951 and 1952 in one handsome and thick hardcover volume resembling a Big Little Book on steroids.

The first volume is already available for pre-order on Amazon, so go ahead and grab yourself a copy.

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First off, I’d like to apologize for not keeping up with my column. It’s inexcusable and I’ll try to make it up to y’all. And I’d like to thank Steve for putting up with my absence without throwing any guilt or grief my way. I’m still working out how many reviews I can feasibly do in a month but my goal is to do four or about one a week. But don’t be surprised if I initially start out with only two a month. Just giving you a forewarning. Now, onto to the Big Show..

Daisy Cutter: The Last Train (Viper; Graphic Novel; B&W with gray hues)
Creator: Kazu Kibuishi

Synopsis: Life is hard for Daisy. Ya see she’s trying to live the quiet life of a store owner in an outpost in the New West town called Middleton. But it just doesn’t seem to hold a candle to her old life as a gunslinging train robber. And to make matters worse, her former partner Tom, the Clyde to her Bonnie, is now the area lawman and enjoys his new job. So as Daisy struggles with this extremely different lifestyle change, a mysterious man with his robot partner approach her with an opportunity for one last job to get away with a ton of cash. Will she take it and go for the cash? Or will she just stick it out as being a bored shop owner? If you guessed the latter, it really wouldn’t make for a very interesting book, now would it?

Review: This book has a bit of everything. The plot was brisk with some deft touches of humor and understated warmth between Daisy and Tom that I wasn’t really expecting initially. The action was very reminiscent of those old westerns about the retiring gunfighter looking for one last score. There was even the inclusion of the hottest thing in pop culture at the moment, Texas Hold’Em. Plus, the book has a decent explanation of the rules to this new phenomenon (just in case there are people on this earth who still haven’t been exposed it).

While I liked the story, I loved the art. Kibuishi has created a very believable world without coming off as a clone of the Yul Brynner classic “Westworld”. It’s a clean and crisp style of Manga but without using the usual stereotypical devices (like the oversized eyes and the overuse of motion lines). Daisy looked more like a regular woman than in most comic books around. Even the robots do not look like they were rejects from Gundam or Robotech, which is a plus in my book.

Overall, this trade gave me the impression that it was more like an indy book than a Manga one. It was truly engrossing from beginning to end and I hope that there will be future installments of Miss Daisy’s exploits in the New West. Take note; Kazu Kibuishi is truly a creator on the rise, not only in Manga genre but in the comic industry as a whole.

Extras: A great page breakdown (from thumbnails to finished productm the book as well as a cover and pinup gallery.

Price: $10.95

Highly Recommended

Britt Schramm reviews trades and graphic novels at 4CR. He also has a bi-weekly column about comics called Preachin’ From The Longbox at Moviepoopshoot.com

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Shangri-La GN (Image; Graphic Novel; B&W)
Creators: Marc Bryant & Shepherd Hendrix

Corey Stinson is on top of the world. He?s in the biggest rock band around and has all the money that he needs. Then, he gets fired from his band, his girlfriend takes over and the band becomes bigger. Stinson tries to launch a solo career but can?t get anyone to work with him since he burned every bridge on his way to being a big star. He gets a call from his agent telling him that he could fake his death to bring in the big bucks from all of the tributes performed for him and from all of the fans buying up his catalog of CDs. In a drunken haze, Stinson accepts. Later that night, he gets ?buyer remorse? and decides not to go away. But, since he knows too much, a hitman is sent off to put a couple of bullets in Stinson. What happens next is a little bit comedy and a little bit rock and roll but no country. (OK, maybe a little).

Marc Bryant mixes comedy and action with a deft touch. This book is kind of like a bad ?Behind The Music? episode but with John Woo directing. The end does seem a bit rushed but doesn?t detract too much from the telling of the story, which plays out nicely with a quirky twist at the end.

Shepherd Hendrix?s art is very polished. It looks like it?s ChrisCross-influenced but he doesn?t totally ape it. The action scenes are serviceable. He also nails the likenesses of music?s famous historic figures without fully rendering them so that the legal eagles won?t get all wound up about copyright infringement. Fans of 100 Bullets and Queen and Country will enjoy this book

Extras: A couple of pin-ups and a ?unofficial? soundtrack list.

Price: $7.95

Highly Recommended

Britt Schramm reviews trades and graphic novels at 4CR. He also has a bi-weekly column about comics called Preachin’ From The Longbox at Moviepoopshoot.com

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Hench GN (AiT/Planet LAR; Graphic Novel; B&W)
Creators: Adam Beechen & Manny Bello

Mike Fulton is just trying to get by. Working a menial job just doesn?t give him the rush he was used get when he was a college football star before the accident. Now, he?s married, his son is sick and he needs money fast. What does he do? The only thing (other than creating an internet search engine that sports an IPO of $130) is to become a henchman for the local supervillains. As long as he doesn?t get caught, he?s golden. But we all know what happens to henchmen, right?

Beechen does a great job of setting up Fulton?s character by showing his slow descension from responsible, law abiding citizen into one of the faceless minions of expendable working stiffs. But Beechen doesn?t allow Fulton to totally lose himself in the criminal world; stopping him just short of a Mark Millar-style meltdown. Also, the use of a first person narrative works better in this type of book rather than a more traditional third person.

Bello?s art doesn?t have a ultra-polished look (unlike its traditional 4-color world counterpart) and that seems intended as it?s part of the beauty of the book since the style implies how the grimy and sketchy the world of supervillains can be. Bello, as a story teller, is funny and sly as he drops many a homage to other very famous superhero covers with Fulton and his brothers-in-arms as part of the background. The juxtaposition of scrambling criminals running for cover as the superhero arrives is quite funny (I dare you to see them and try not at least knowingly smirk at the redone classics). Fans of Sleeper, Gotham Central, and Powers will really dig this one.

Extras: Eight pages of sketches and unused panels. And the $12.99 price tag is very nice, indeed.

Highly Recommended

Britt Schramm reviews trades and graphic novels at 4CR. He also has a bi-weekly column about comics called Preachin’ From The Longbox at Moviepoopshoot.com

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Firebreather Volume 1 (Image; Trade Paperback; Color)
Creators: Phil Hester & Andy Kuhn

Going into a new high school is hard. You have to deal with stereotypical cliques, try to learn the school?s layout and adjust to new teachers. Whatever nightmares that you had growing up, I?m sure that it can?t be worse than Duncan?s. You see, he?s the spawn of an honest-to-goodness dragon named Belloc. And what?s worse is that Duncan didn?t get his looks from his human mom. That prom night just doesn?t look like it?s gonna be a winner, if you know what I mean.

Phil Hester?s career has been pretty made from his pencil work on titles like The Foot Soldiers, Ultimate Team-Up and Green Arrow, to name a few. But I first got into his writing on a very low-key title called The Wretch (originally printed by Caliber and has been collected by Amaze Ink/Slave Labor Graphics). While The Wretch showed that Hester was relatively raw as a story teller, the book had many fun moments and was always an interesting read.

Firestarter has some of those same qualities but you can definitely see that he has polished up his writing skills. There are no abrupt conclusions or object appearing without explanation. And while the subject of an alienated protagonist has been done to death ever since old Petey got bit by that eight-legged insect, this book never goes down those same tired roads, which is really refreshing.

Andy Kuhn?s art is very appropriate for this book. It?s not too horror-influenced nor is it too cartoony. His style reminds me of the style of the first Invincible artist, Cory Walker but not totally. Actually, this book is a great companion piece to Invincible as it deals with some of the same issues about teenagers who try to get out of their fathers? shadow but in totally different ways. Now that I think of it, it wouldn?t be a bad idea to have them do an in-house crossover series, if I do say so myself.

Extras: A great sketch book, pinup pages and a foreword by Brad Metzler. What more could you ask for?

Highly Recommended

Britt Schramm reviews trades and graphic novels at 4CR. He also has a bi-weekly column about comics called Preachin’ From The Longbox at Moviepoopshoot.com

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Marvel Age: Fantastic Four Volume 1 (Marvel; Digest-Sized Trade; Color)
Creators: Sean McKeever & Various Artists

I was thinking about writing a summary for this book but really, this book is a re-telling of the first four original Lee/Kirby FF issues. You know, origin, Mole Man, Namor, The Sub-Mariner. Good stuff. If you don?t know these stories by now, there?s nothing more that I could write that would make a difference.

That being said, McKeever does the original story line justice. The technology and language may have been updated to the present day but he doesn?t strip the story of the excitement and fun that made them one of the best comics around. The art is basically the hybrid style of American manga which isn?t as bad as it sounds. And the size of the book should help with kids who read those Japanese mangas these days. All said, this book is great introduction into superehero books to any youngster.

Extras: Nothing. And at $6, it?s practically a steal.

Recommended

Britt Schramm reviews trades and graphic novels at 4CR. He also has a bi-weekly column about comics called Preachin’ From The Longbox at Moviepoopshoot.com

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Ryan Woodward?s The Invincible Ed (Dark Horse; Hardcover; Color)
Creator: Ryan Woodward

Think you have it rough? Suppose you?re the geek in high school (I know its tough for ya but go with it) and the class bully is in line to get the greatest powers in the universe to help protect Earth. Only due to bad luck, you accidentally intervene in the transferal process and you get half of them. Now, the bully is pissed and will stop at nothing to get the rest back. You know it?s gonna get ugly.

The book?s narrative is OK but not great as the plot seems to skip around in parts and just doesn?t seem to jell as a complete story. However, the art is what really threw me for a loop. First of all, there an obvious chapter sequence to the book due to extreme changes in art style. The first segment (Issue 1) was done in a Herobear and the Kid animation style, which I thought complimented the story quite nicely. The second one was rendered in a more traditional comic book style; still OK but I missed the first style. The third seemed more like Woodward was trying to do a painted approach but doesn?t quite pull it off which makes this part of the book almost seperate from the rest of the original story. Unfortunately, the last part just slaps the second and third styles together that doesn’t really work either.

I can kinda see where Woodward was going with the changing of art style between issues/chapters as a way to reflect the changes in the main character. But to me, it came off more like he was using this series to demonstrate his different artistic talents for other potential jobs. And that makes the book all the more difficult to read.

Extras: Only two pages of sketches and rough pencil layouts. But you don?t really see many hardcover books with a $13.95 price tag.

Read at your own risk

Britt Schramm reviews trades and graphic novels at 4CR. He also has a bi-weekly column about comics called Preachin’ From The Longbox at Moviepoopshoot.com

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