Xtianhardy

March 13, 2013 8:39 pm Best issue of the series thus far. The art isn't the best, even among the Valiant books, but the story is excellent and really reached a climax here. Serious consequences for the characters and huge repercussions for the Valiant Universe at large. I can't wait for the Harbinger Wars to begin!

March 7, 2013 12:14 pm Heavy Metal has really gone downhill over the years. They're no longer "The World's Greatest ADULT Illustrated Fantasy Magazine" and have watered down their output considerably to try and appeal to teenagers. That said, if you're interested in the kind of comics that would appear in Heavy Metal, I'd really suggested checking out what Humanoids have been publishing since they restarted their North American publishing. They've been reprinting all of Jodorowsky's stuff, which was heavily censored when it was originally published during the DC/Humanoids agreement in the early 2000s. If you haven't read Metabarons or Technopriests in any other form than the DC reprints, I highly suggest checking out the lavishly produced Humanoids reprints because you were missing out on a lot.

March 7, 2013 12:10 pm Agreed. The art was great, but the story was bland as hell. The premise of "Superheros have sexual problems/fetishes" has already been done to death. The sex scene was relatively well done, but I've read better erotic/pornographic comics than this and better deconstructions of superhero sexuality. If hype, back matter, and interviews on CBR are what you need to make your book interesting, you've failed as a storyteller.

March 5, 2013 4:26 pm Historical and cultural context counts as well. Some people simply don't like things that aren't congruent with current art and writing styles, or who don't appreciate comics written outside their cultural frame of reference. It's not so much that things get old and out of date, as much as you sometimes need to understand the context in which they were drawn/written to appreciate them, and some people can't or won't bother to appreciate that. I'm not saying at all that was your experience reading Animal Man, but I definitely felt somewhat out of the loop in the initial part of the run because I have no experience with Crisis on Infinite Earths, so all of the post-Crisis stuff in Animal Man was over my head.

March 5, 2013 3:49 pm Man USPUNX that is a really, really tough question. The Incal connects to The Metabarons and The Technopriests, so some would consider it the "most important" book in the Jodoverse, but is it the best? Personally, I don't think it is. The Incal is a great book with so many crazy ideas that American mainstream comics still haven't ripped off yet (but you'll be surprised by how many ideas they have stolen from Jodorowsky). That said, the pace of the story never lets up and the characters have very little depth beyond what they symbolize. Personally, my favorite Jodorowsky series, and one of my favorite series of all time, is The Metabarons, which tells the multi-generational story of a family of ultimate warriors. It combines most of Jodorowsky's common themes and outlandish, unpredictable ideas, but the characters of the story are what make the story unforgettable. It's like a Greek Tragedy combined with space opera. Also, Juan Gimenez's art is absolutely stunning and its worth paying the extra money to get the limited edition Ultimate Collection version of the book just to see all the effort and detail that Gimenez put into it. I guess to make things simpler to help you choose, here's a question: Which movie do you prefer? A) The Fifth Element B) Dune If you picked Dune, read The Metabarons. If you picked The Fifth Element, read The Incal.

March 5, 2013 2:35 pm Yeah that's a fair point. And I agree about them being on the tipping point. Here's hoping that Harbinger Wars is going to make everyone in the industry stand up and take notice of how awesome this relaunch has been.

March 5, 2013 2:19 pm I love The Incal, although it is not my favorite of Jodorowsky's comics (that would be The Metabarons). The Incal never takes the time to slow down and explain what is going on, who the characters are, and why they are doing what they are doing (or it does so, but just barely). All that greater information can be found in the other books set within the Jodoverse. The Metabarons explains the long history of the caste of the Metabarons, The Technopriests explains who they are and why they are the central figure of evil in the Jodoverse, and Before the Incal gives a much more in-depth look at John DiFool's backstory and really makes him into a much more sympathetic and compelling character. Side note: Megalex takes place in the Jodoverse as well, but just barely. It doesn't connect to any of the plot threads in The Incal like the other works I mentioned do. As a huge, huge lover of the Jodoverse, I appreciate that you admitted part of what you don't get about The Incal is the cultural context of it being originally published in French, but if you liked The Incal I would highly recommend reading The Metabarons and then if you enjoy that, look for the other Jodoverse comics.

March 4, 2013 3:24 pm "Now if only iFanboy would show it some love and make a Valiant book pick of the week or review an issue on the podcast instead of complain about the latest Marvel/DC book they still shell out cash for month in and month out" I get that the iFanboy guys love Marvel/DC/Image and the occasional Dark Horse book, but they've said very little about the Valiant relaunch, other than the Faith-focused issue of Harbinger. For me, the return of Valiant was the single most exciting thing to happen in comics in 2012, and it's only getting better this year. Plus, there is SO MUCH to talk about when it comes to some of the new books (especially Harbinger , but Bloodshot and X-O Manowar have also been thought-provoking reads in their own right). The iFanboys don't really have any responsibility to talk about comics other than the ones they're currently reading and enjoying, but I've started to tune out when they go back to the old well of "how great was this issue of Hawkeye/Saga/Fury MAX." I know those books are great. I don't need to hear about it every month. No offense guys. TL;DR: Bring on the H.A.R.D. Corps! I can't wait for Harbinger Wars to start.

January 16, 2013 10:41 pm Great review. Thanks for taking the time to put Capullo's excellent art into perspective. The man is a master. I would love to see him do something creator-owned where he could let his cartooning abilities run wild. My only caveat is that for this particular issue, I prefered the look of Jock's art in the side-story.

January 16, 2013 12:52 am Yes! Finally we get another issue focusing on The Will!