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harpier

Name: Shannon

Bio: uncommoncomics.blogspot.com


Reviews

It’s a rescue mission into a dimensional anomaly. Five people, including the CEO of a company recently under SEC investigation,…

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How do you write an abstraction as a character and still keep it an abstraction? I have no idea, but…

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*Some middling spoilers* If gambling could be a philosophy for life, which I suppose it can be and has been…

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harpier's Recent Comments
August 30, 2013 2:06 pm Yeah, so I wasn't paying much attention when I dropped down the scores. The 3 was for story; 4 for art. Impressive of you to actually call me out on my mistake. I certainly wouldn't bump a score for effort, but I think I find the ideas more interesting than you do. Here's to hoping that once some of the sci-fi ideas settle in a bit, there will be less clunky exposition.
August 14, 2013 2:50 am So, I sympathize with your intentions of transparency here, but I found your review absolutely impenetrable to someone not closely familiar with a pretty extended Marvel universe. I'm going to assume that the comic also is impenetrable to anyone who can't really follow the review? Yes, maybe? I've enjoyed most of what little Hickman I've read—very fond of *FF*, am still ecstatic about *East of West*, not happy with the few *New Avengers* issues I've forced myself through—and I still have no barometer for *Infinity*. Help a newbie out!
August 5, 2013 2:10 pm EXACTLY! I would assume that "shelf porn" would refer to the video collection sitting on my bookshelf next to Kafka, Stoppard, and Harry Potter.
August 5, 2013 2:07 pm Well, I've always utilized the term "shelf candy," which is also sticky and potentially gross and equally metaphorical, and it is certainly not exclusive to action figures, comics, and geek memorabilia (as any casual perusal through magazine racks dedicated entirely to interior decoration and home design can attest). More importantly, I want to draw attention to your exclusively male perspective on porn. Apparently you must have a penis to watch porn and collect action figures, though admittedly a woman (having read many home decorating magazines and watched a lot of HGTV) would not organize them in rows like a superhero phalanx judging her work productivity. And there would probably be throw pillows.
June 7, 2013 10:16 am I know. I've been hearing these grumblings as well, and they confuse me. It's not just that I disagree—because obviously I do—it's that I genuinely cannot understand what they're talking about. So far, it seems like Hickman has included enough plot points in each issue to sustain two or sometimes three, if he were trying to slow it down. East of West is moving at least twice as fast as most superhero comics, including Hickman's own, that just try to disguise mediocre action sequences as plot development. The complaints about the world-building—specifically that Hickman's not explaining everything and some of it still doesn't make sense—I can at least understand. I prefer a series to make me work for it, and I'm perfectly happy to go a long time not understanding everything as long as the writer seems to. I, for instance, was a little disappointed that Hickman's already told me that Death's companions are witches, though at least I don't yet understand entirely what that means.
May 6, 2013 1:54 pm CORRECTION: Frazer Irving is the cover artist. Interior art by Jorge Coelho.
May 2, 2013 11:16 pm So, it came to me in the shower, and I can't believe I didn't notice it before what with the bowling hat and early-century wardrobe. Yaaba IS Kafka. Kafka is a superhero? Only in Dial H. Love it!
May 1, 2013 10:28 pm He's part of Boy Chimney's Team House from way back in #3 or #4! They took on Rake Dragon. And I love his floral drapes.
April 16, 2013 2:06 pm *Pacific Rim* is EXACTLY as if Guillermo del Toro made a *Transformers* movie, and that's a great thing. I have no particular fondness for the plot summary I've read; it's very give-or-take. But del Toro has never let me down. He's never made a bad movie, and he has a knack for taking crazy things and making them insanely good. I'm on board. I suspect we're all about to find out just how bad the Transformer movies actually are by getting a glimpse of how good they could have been. As for the others, I'm looking forward to *Into Darkness*, though I suspect my worry is significantly less because I'm not a great Star Trek fan, though I greatly enjoyed the first of the reboots. Similarly, I'm interested to see what Snyder does with Superman, but I won't be crushed if it's disappointing. I'll wait for initial critical reviews to decide where my money goes outside of that.
April 5, 2013 11:22 am I've generally found the series rewards its readers with answers, but the growing Dial mythology has multiplied the questions considerably. This is the first time I've honestly felt confused and unpleasantly disoriented. It's my favorite of DC titles, and I will be sad when it is inevitably cancelled. I hope Miéville gets the chance to complete his story without being too rushed, but my faith in DC editorial is very thin. As for the crossover (@kolejorg), I like the idea of dialing a known hero; it had to happen some time with Miéville's revamped Dial, and I wish that integrating into DC's larger vision would attract new readers, but I don't want that to be at the expense of the comic's quality. I'm not opposed to crossovers on principle, I just think they're almost always poorly executed.