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reickel's review
2.0
Oof, what a disappointing follow-up. The Umbrella Academy story here also appears in the second UA graphic novel, so if you're thinking about checking this out to find that, don't bother.
In reading all of the stories, there are a couple that were fun, and a couple that were interesting. But the majority felt somewhere between needless and mean-spirited. It was almost like the creators were being encouraged to create Edgy-capital-E stories for the sake of it, and they did not resonate, and they were not enjoyable to read. I get it: you don't like furries, or Star Wars fans, or maybe you do like Star Wars fans, but the comic parodying Star Wars was humorless junk--whatever the angle.
Definitely not a collection I'd recommend reading cover-to-cover, even if there are a couple solid stories in here.
In reading all of the stories, there are a couple that were fun, and a couple that were interesting. But the majority felt somewhere between needless and mean-spirited. It was almost like the creators were being encouraged to create Edgy-capital-E stories for the sake of it, and they did not resonate, and they were not enjoyable to read. I get it: you don't like furries, or Star Wars fans, or maybe you do like Star Wars fans, but the comic parodying Star Wars was humorless junk--whatever the angle.
Definitely not a collection I'd recommend reading cover-to-cover, even if there are a couple solid stories in here.
lunchlander's review
2.0
The first volume of MySpace Dark Horse Presents was pretty impressive, but this second volume is more miss than hit. It's bookended by a fairly obnoxious intro by Portland gossip columnist Ann Romano, which is either an inside joke I don't get or someone smugly looking down their nose at the very people who just bought the book she's intro-ing, and a closing essay in which Gerard Way, Evan Dorkin and Zack Whedon talk about superhero comics in a dismissive, somewhat uninformed manner.
Wrapped inside this cookie coating of holier-than-thou snobbery are a fair number of mediocre stories. The art is always impressive, but the stories often seem too short, pointless or just never fail to engage.
There are some notable exceptions. Whedon and Canete's Captain Hammer bit is a fun bit of fluff for those who dug Dr. Horrible. The BPRD, Wondermark and Umbrella Academy tales are as excellent as their source material. The Gabriel Ba/Fabio Moon bit is funny and beautifully drawn. And there are two original standouts, Ilias Kyriazis' "Jared" (a clever, funny riff on the aliens in human bodysuit genre, see also the terrible Eddie Murphy movie Meet Dave for an example of how not to do it) and Francisco Ruiz Velasco's "Legion of Blood: The Messenger," which I hope leads to more of Velasco working on this world in the future.
But a few great stories, even at that level, can't save the book from the "meh"-ness that fills the rest of it. A disappointment after the strength of volume one, although still just barely enough in the good department to rate a place on my bookshelf.
Wrapped inside this cookie coating of holier-than-thou snobbery are a fair number of mediocre stories. The art is always impressive, but the stories often seem too short, pointless or just never fail to engage.
There are some notable exceptions. Whedon and Canete's Captain Hammer bit is a fun bit of fluff for those who dug Dr. Horrible. The BPRD, Wondermark and Umbrella Academy tales are as excellent as their source material. The Gabriel Ba/Fabio Moon bit is funny and beautifully drawn. And there are two original standouts, Ilias Kyriazis' "Jared" (a clever, funny riff on the aliens in human bodysuit genre, see also the terrible Eddie Murphy movie Meet Dave for an example of how not to do it) and Francisco Ruiz Velasco's "Legion of Blood: The Messenger," which I hope leads to more of Velasco working on this world in the future.
But a few great stories, even at that level, can't save the book from the "meh"-ness that fills the rest of it. A disappointment after the strength of volume one, although still just barely enough in the good department to rate a place on my bookshelf.
shane_tiernan's review
3.0
Much like volume 1 this was a mixed batch of good, great, boring and terrible. My biggest disappointment was that I expected to see continuations of some of the better stories from volume one. Some of "stories" where so short that I had assumed they would be continued or else why even start them? But maybe they are continued in future volumes? Anyway, so here we have another batch of stories, some as short as 2 pages and others much longer. Some great art (by Steven Young, Francisco Ruiz Velasco and Mario Guevara), some cool creepy/pulpy/noiry stories (The Creepy Tree and The Trouble with Brains both from Steve Niles), cool Solomon Kane and Conan stories and a funny story called Jared by Ilias Kyriazis.
But the stand out for me was "RANSOM! A Wondermark Tale" by David Malki. I think he basically draws the backgrounds and then pastes old black and white drawings (long in the public domain) over the top. The story is set in an a kind of medieval/old england setting and includes a talking bird (wearing a top hat), an exploding piano, an evil villain (Lord Bonehat) and a canibalistic king. With lines like "Lady, I am tempted to kill you just for the warmth of your entrails." and "Holy crap a talking bird!" this story had me laughing out loud the entire time I was reading it.
But the stand out for me was "RANSOM! A Wondermark Tale" by David Malki. I think he basically draws the backgrounds and then pastes old black and white drawings (long in the public domain) over the top. The story is set in an a kind of medieval/old england setting and includes a talking bird (wearing a top hat), an exploding piano, an evil villain (Lord Bonehat) and a canibalistic king. With lines like "Lady, I am tempted to kill you just for the warmth of your entrails." and "Holy crap a talking bird!" this story had me laughing out loud the entire time I was reading it.
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