Scan barcode
A review by crookedtreehouse
Lobster Johnson Volume 1: The Iron Prometheus by Mike Mignola
3.0
In the 1960s, Marvel comics was widely known to have artists draw stories based on an outline, and then have Stan Lee comic in and write the dialog and narrative boxes to finish up the comics. It made for a particular style of comics that most modern readers might call "stilted". But it was a historically important style that helped propel the industry into something else. I don't believe this method is often employed in the 21st century, as it's much easier for an artist to draw action from a story than a writer to create a story just from the action.
This volume of Lobster Johnson Feels Like it was written art first, story second.
[a:Jason Armstrong|86190|Jason Armstrong|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s art is five star here. I was barely through the first chapter of this volume when I realized the story wasn't going to be good. But the art was so incredible, I kept flipping back through the book, and not just because it was hard to keep track of what's going on.
I read this pretty soon after reading Mignola's [b:Rise of the Black Flame|31386642|Rise of the Black Flame|Mike Mignola|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474761235s/31386642.jpg|52076477], which is mind-numbingly slow. This, by contrast, reads like the world's most well-drawn and colored flipbook. There is no breathing room in this story. I love when a story like this leaves you breathless, as though you'd just run through an obstacle course full of monsters. Sadly, this felt like the breathlessness of finding yourself floating in space when the last thing you can remember is looking for cereal at the supermarket.
As an art book, this is an A+ Must Purchase collection. As a story, it's completely forgettable.
I would recommend this for die-hard Mignola fans, Hellboy completists, people who care more about art than story, and people who like Nazi villains to show up in stories for no discernable reason other than they must gain control of a magical amulet/suit/helmet/etc.
This volume of Lobster Johnson Feels Like it was written art first, story second.
[a:Jason Armstrong|86190|Jason Armstrong|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s art is five star here. I was barely through the first chapter of this volume when I realized the story wasn't going to be good. But the art was so incredible, I kept flipping back through the book, and not just because it was hard to keep track of what's going on.
I read this pretty soon after reading Mignola's [b:Rise of the Black Flame|31386642|Rise of the Black Flame|Mike Mignola|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474761235s/31386642.jpg|52076477], which is mind-numbingly slow. This, by contrast, reads like the world's most well-drawn and colored flipbook. There is no breathing room in this story. I love when a story like this leaves you breathless, as though you'd just run through an obstacle course full of monsters. Sadly, this felt like the breathlessness of finding yourself floating in space when the last thing you can remember is looking for cereal at the supermarket.
As an art book, this is an A+ Must Purchase collection. As a story, it's completely forgettable.
I would recommend this for die-hard Mignola fans, Hellboy completists, people who care more about art than story, and people who like Nazi villains to show up in stories for no discernable reason other than they must gain control of a magical amulet/suit/helmet/etc.