Chris Bachalo

I'm including up to issue 70 in this review. Honestly, I hated a lot of this comic but there was some really good parts. I wish this comic was less about Shade and more about Kathy and really... just more about Lenny. There is some interesting stuff that goes down, some really righteous abstract art. Really though my love for this series just boils down to having a crush on Lenny. I could write something more insightful like the whole queerbaiting, and the (somewhat problematic) gender show more shifting, it not being able to pass the bechdel test and the abusive men... even within the plot nothing is really resolved and the ending is just a cop out. Oh well, Lenny ♡ show less

With The Witching Hour, I jump from the classic DC horror titles of the 1970s to their modern revivals. Beyond the presence of the title and some witches, this bears no relation to the classic The Witching Hour!; Mildred, Mordred, and Cynthia do not put in an appearance. This is a different group of witches, with a different modus operandi, migrating through the world to both sate their own desires and help those in need of it.

It's a complex tale, with flashbacks nestled within flashbacks, show more out-of-order storytelling, and seemingly unconnected plots. In a way, it feels like what James Robinson's WitchCraft aspired to be and failed at-- a magical tale of mystery and revenge, of the immortal entering mortal affairs. The dialogue is great, full of obscurities and digressions, rarely on point, mysterious in the way that people both real and unreal often are.

What makes it all worth it is Chris Bachalo's amazing art; there's some gorgeous stuff here, and I'm not just talking about how he draws women. I don't know who's responsible for the use of dots in key scenes, but it really works. Add to that Grant Goleash's judicious use of color, and you have a visual feast. It would be easy to get lost in the world of The Witching Hour, but Bachalo keeps you anchored all the way through. In all honesty, this book has very little to do with the classic Witching Hour! and nothing to do with The Sandman, but my time spent decoding it was well spent indeed.

The Houses of Mystery and Secrets: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence » show less

About halfway through this book, I was prepared to give it just three stars. The storytelling format was annoying as hell. The book is structured so that the Avengers are being "interviewed" for a book about the events of Fear Itself. So there are a lot of pages covered with small panels with the face of an Avenger saying a line or two of dialog. It jumps back and forth among the various heroes. The interviews are intercut with full page spreads showing the battles or events being talked show more about by the heroes. Having to read a long chain of single sentence boxes was a bit tedious. However, it quickly became clear that the incidents they are sharing is of their fellow heroes being especially brave - and worthy of being called Avengers.

No one questions Steve Rogers' or Thor's heroism and bravery. And each of the Avengers reaffirms that. Then they go on to explain why each of the rest of them is also brave and true, despite a shady past or prior transgressions. And each of those examples is what made this book a must-read that was even better than the main event. The Red Hulk, Spiderwoman, Mockingbird...they all get a chance to shine while saving the day during Fear Itself. Steve Rogers takes Victoria Hand, Agent 13 and Maria Hill on a mission that turns out to be a trap - that they fight their way out of. All of these were great stories, with superb action sequences. However, the best was definitely saved for last.

The book concludes with Squirrel Girl - I know, a ridiculous character who somehow works great in this instance - fighting her way across the mayhem of New York to get to Avengers Mansion and watch the baby Cage while her parents fight the big fight. And when the mansion comes under attack, it is Daredevil who saves the day in a story that very nearly had me cheering out loud. The ending alone was worth five stars.

Overall, though I still hate the format, this book does a lot to expand on the overall Fear Itself event by telling some exciting stories of how the heroes fought the spreading chaos. Highly recommended. show less

Oh, look! Another X-Men story that involves time travel. How original...

This started off as a really strong read with the problem of how to deal with the Omega Mutant and how Cyclops decides he wants to handle the situation. However, from there the book more or less falls apart. Bendis clearly has no idea anymore how to deal with the larger-than-life situations he puts his characters in, so jumps yet again to his deus ex machina, time travel, to fix the problem and it's not even handled all show more that well here.

Bachalo's art is not very consistent in the issues he handles, and I hate to say it, but I'm not impressed with Anka's art at all on the issue's he handles. Overall, not one of the books in a series that has definitely had its ups and downs. show less