Mike Perkins

WARNING — This review contains spoilers for the ENTIRE series of comics and the original novel. When I review comics, I list only the first issue and count a completed comic series as one book.

I had a horrible bout of insomnia last night, so I managed to finish almost all the books.

This was an outstanding comic book. I've read The Stand so many times that I can quote parts of it. I first read it in high school in 1978. In fact, I still have my first edition copy (“T39” is printed on show more page 823 and everything) — It's very well worn. So, the numerous re-reads are spread out over many years.

This comic was very faithful to the original story and added bits and pieces to the story that I'd not thought about for some time. Trashcan Man always seemed like such a huge part of the original book, but as I read the comic, I realized that he wasn't. He was deus ex machina from the beginning.

I completely forgot about Nick's eye.

I am not normally a fan of American comics. In general, I find the illustrations over the top and distracting. I really dislike super-hero comics. Some comics have surprised me though. The Walking Dead is one of them. This one was another. I loved the way that the artists drew Nadine and her progression. The illustrations of her post-Free Zone are particularly good, especially her final act. I also liked Frannie's portrayal. Good stuff. show less

Mike Carey is an excellent writer--easily one of the most talented names in the comics industry. He's most lauded for his dense, philosophical work in the Lucifer series (a spin-off of Gaiman's Sandman that's woefully underappreciated next to its source material) and the more recent the Unwritten, both of which deal heavily with the nature / meaning / impact of storytelling (and arguably put his peers-in-reputation to shame).

Unfortunately, he's also not afraid to knowingly write dreck for a show more paycheck. His Petrefax miniseries--another Sandman spin-off--, Faker, his early superhero work: There's little room in-between. He's either at the top of his form, or writing lifeless cliches, where every word just follows a checklist of bad writing tropes. (Or writing a couple ~adorable~ YA stories for, presumably, his daughter.)

Spellbinders bottoms out his repertoire of paycheck stories. It was part of Marvel's short-lived "Marvel Next" line of stories targeting teen audiences in 2005, and bears no relevance to any greater Marvel storyline, with no character or plot crossover that may interest particular fans. It takes most of its structure, dialogue and action scenes from bad teen slasher films like I Know What You Did Last Summer or weak, early episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer--only 8 years late to the party. There's nothing more to it: Angry, sassy teenagers insult one another, overdose on meaningless fantasy word vomit, or will explosions at one another by pushing air around with their hands.

It's embarrassing.

The artwork is also quite bad. Like the storytelling, it feels years late to the party, and is most comparable to the overly sexualized superhero artwork that defined much of the '90s. show less

This story arc is very powerful, just as engaging and just as earth-shaking in its events as was the Civil War arc which preceded it. What I like best about this collection (and its sequel collection, as well) is the way that it takes time to explore the impact that Steve Rogers had on those around him, and the central place that he held in the Marvel Universe. Can anyone else even fill the role of Captain America, living up to the symbol as Rogers did? His death left a void in the center of show more Marvel's world, and this unpacks the implications of that loss beautifully. Undoubtedly some of Brubaker's best work. show less

In the lead up to the Annihilation: Conquest crossover event we get a mix of the kinds of silly, overly serious nonsense reserved for younger readers willing to buy into comic machismo but you also get issues of Starlord. I'll admit, I'm only reading these in anticipation of the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie but to that effect the Starlord issues are highly entertaining. Much of their pull comes from having a set of eclectic characters trying to work together in not so obvious ways. show more The fact that one of them doesn't work out so well just goes to show how dedicated the writers are to character driven action despite the greater plot being more or less contrived. So I guess I recommend this collection but only for the Starlord limited series. show less