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[Am downloading the Lady Gaga CD - Fame Monster, which I got for Christmas, while writing this. Also got Doctor Horrible -from kidbro. (It amuses me no end that the only Joss Whedon DVD's that my family has gotten me are Dr. Horrible and Firefly, and years ago, Toy Story on VHS. Buffy and Angel - I had to buy for myself, or someone else gave them to me. I enjoyed Doc Horrible and Firefly - but I'm not in love with them - ie. not fannish. That said, I probably would have bought them eventually...so am rather glad they saved me the trouble.)Joss Whedon fan? Me? Nah. I just happen to have read and or seen just about everything he's done (and I mean everything - including stuff most fans have never heard of), and bought quite a few of it. But I'm don't consider myself a "fan". Honest. Well, maybe an incredibly critical one? Also am a bit brain dead after first day back at work - and a bitterly cold one at that. So cold, it took a full hour for my legs to stop tingling after I arrived home and I'd worn wool slacks today.]
Every week, Rocketship, the neighborhood comic store, lists their picks of the week. Usually these are the comics that intrigue the comic geek owners, and are customer/critical fav's. Haven't seen the Buffy comics or the Angel one's for that matter make the picks, at all. Until this week - when Willow made it. Had a nice chat with the gal behind the desk - yep a comic store with female clerks. A rarity that. Usually it's a beer belly guy with a beard, who looks like he hasn't left his basement or the store for that matter in the last decade, and often wearing a stained t-shirt. This time, it was a twenty-something gal with short black hair.
After Willingham, and the mess that was Retreat, I ventured into the Willow comic: Goddesses and Monsters with a touch of trepidation and extreemly low expectations. Was pleasantly surprised. Granted Karl Moline is not my favorite artist, but I prefer him to Denham, Stephen Mooney, and Georges Jeanty. He draws lips really oddly, everyone looks like they've eaten lemons. But, at least the characters have expressions, you can tell them apart, and are recognizable - without looking like they've been reproduced from a photograph. Plus the framing is easier to follow and less jarring. I've come to the conclusion that Willow may be the easiest character to draw or at least differentiate. The red hair, green eyes (although I think Hannigan's may actually be brown?), and the funky clothes...help a great deal. That said, Moline does a lovely Willow. I also liked several of his panels quite a bit. And Joan Chen's cover should please Willow/Aluwyn shippers everywhere. It is like all of Chen's covers, a work of art. I keep wishing she could do the comics, but it would take forever.
The story is not overly complicated - it's basically what Willow was doing when Angel called Giles for help way back in Angel S5, Hole in the World. Remember? Giles told Angel that Willow was not available, somewhere in the astral plain or so Kennedy had said. It is also the story of how Willow met Saga Vasuki (the snake woman or trickester, the Goddess of the subconscious, of the lies we tell ourselves to stay sane, of chao and fun - ie. Willow's Spike. We all need a Spike. Makes life more interesting.) In Jungian thought - the snake eating its own tale or chasing its tale is the subconscious self - the part we repress or suppress.
( spoilers galore - review of the Willow one-shot )
Art: B+
Story: A
Overall: A-
Every week, Rocketship, the neighborhood comic store, lists their picks of the week. Usually these are the comics that intrigue the comic geek owners, and are customer/critical fav's. Haven't seen the Buffy comics or the Angel one's for that matter make the picks, at all. Until this week - when Willow made it. Had a nice chat with the gal behind the desk - yep a comic store with female clerks. A rarity that. Usually it's a beer belly guy with a beard, who looks like he hasn't left his basement or the store for that matter in the last decade, and often wearing a stained t-shirt. This time, it was a twenty-something gal with short black hair.
After Willingham, and the mess that was Retreat, I ventured into the Willow comic: Goddesses and Monsters with a touch of trepidation and extreemly low expectations. Was pleasantly surprised. Granted Karl Moline is not my favorite artist, but I prefer him to Denham, Stephen Mooney, and Georges Jeanty. He draws lips really oddly, everyone looks like they've eaten lemons. But, at least the characters have expressions, you can tell them apart, and are recognizable - without looking like they've been reproduced from a photograph. Plus the framing is easier to follow and less jarring. I've come to the conclusion that Willow may be the easiest character to draw or at least differentiate. The red hair, green eyes (although I think Hannigan's may actually be brown?), and the funky clothes...help a great deal. That said, Moline does a lovely Willow. I also liked several of his panels quite a bit. And Joan Chen's cover should please Willow/Aluwyn shippers everywhere. It is like all of Chen's covers, a work of art. I keep wishing she could do the comics, but it would take forever.
The story is not overly complicated - it's basically what Willow was doing when Angel called Giles for help way back in Angel S5, Hole in the World. Remember? Giles told Angel that Willow was not available, somewhere in the astral plain or so Kennedy had said. It is also the story of how Willow met Saga Vasuki (the snake woman or trickester, the Goddess of the subconscious, of the lies we tell ourselves to stay sane, of chao and fun - ie. Willow's Spike. We all need a Spike. Makes life more interesting.) In Jungian thought - the snake eating its own tale or chasing its tale is the subconscious self - the part we repress or suppress.
( spoilers galore - review of the Willow one-shot )
Art: B+
Story: A
Overall: A-