Kapow Comic-Con 2012

On Saturday 19th May my pal Simon and I travelled up to London for Kapow 2012, our first ever comic convention. And it was amazing. This post is a little review of the day and includes all the books I got signed as well as all the extra books I bought whilst there. I spent way too much money but it was worth it. A truly epic day. So here's a look at some of the goodies I came home with.

The first book of mine I got signed was by Frank Quitely, whose queue was pretty large but not insurmountable. I was in the line before about 45-50 minutes I reckon, which was nothing in comparison to Mark Millar's queue. Simon was waiting for at least a good hour and a half for Millar's signature; I took one look at that line and ran away. I figured getting Quitely's autograph would be a lot easier than Millar's, which turned out to be true. Frank was a really nice guy and signed my first volume of Batman & Robin on the cover and inside as well. The only thing I regret about this signing is the fact I didn't take my Absolute All Star Superman with me because I would have loved Frank to have signed that, but it was too damn heavy (not to mention precious) to lug around Kapow all day. After getting the signature in the bag I left Simon in the Millar queue for a little longer and decided to shop around a while. That's when I bought these:

Diamond Distribution had a small stall and were selling hardbacks and paperbacks for just £5. I had to ask to make sure, such was my level of disbelief. £5 for a hardback!? I'd had all three volumes of Spider-Man: Brand New Day on my Amazon wishlist for a while so I couldn't believe my luck when I saw these. Each volume was £5 each and in hardback too (I'm a sucker for hardbacks). £15 for all three books, which worked out being less than just one of the books on their own RRP. After Simon had given up on getting Millar he came and joined me at the Diamond stall and picked up a couple of cheap hardbacks for himself.

With a bag full of heavy hardbacks weighing us down, Simon and I moved on and attacked the wealth of long boxes Kapow had to offer. There were loads of shops and Ebay stores who had stalls at the show and they were selling off hundreds of old back issues. I've recently been on a bit of a Spider-Man binge of late so I was looking to add some old yet inexpensive issues of Amazing Spider-Man to my collection. These two jumped out at me (any thing Daredevil related is getting bought by me these days) and didn't cost too much so I grabbed them quickly.

It was when I found the "All Comics for £1" boxes that all hell broke loose. I got issues 58-67 of Bendis and Maleev's Dardevil run (above) for £10 total. Each comic was only a £1 so I just kept adding them up; I think I bought six in a row, then a couple more, then I thought "Hey, why not just two more?". I ended up with ten delightful issues of my favourite Marvel character and then called it a day on the single issues.

By now we'd browsed the convention for some time and each of us had bought a fair few books so we decided to turn our attention to the writer and artist signings once more. 

Both Simon and I both had a few books to get signed by Andy Diggle, whose queue was pretty reasonable. He was really nice and signed two of the first Daredevil issues I ever bought. I love that Daredevil #506 cover on the right, beautifully done by Paulo Rivera; Diggle's signature looks pretty good there too.

We decided to take a little break, get some food and a sitdown for a bit before hitting the shopfloor again. There was plenty more still to buy:

I spotted this (above) and bought it instantly. It's volume 2 of Brian Azzarello and Jim Lee's Superman: For Tomorrow. I bought and read the first volume years and years ago, before I was seriously into comics and I really enjoyed it. I've been trying to get my hands on the second volume for a while now but its been out of print for some time. I've heard volume 2 isn't very good and Azzarello goes a bit off track but I didn't care, Lee's artwork is worth the price of admission alone. I was so surprised to see this at Kapow that this was one of my favourite purchases of the day. 

Civil War: Spider-Man was one of the books I spotted right at the start of the show but held off of buying straight away because I didn't want to spend all my money just yet (I wanted to browse a bit more). But I had to come back and get this and I'm so glad I did. This book is almost an omnibus because its roughly the correct size (contains over 20 issues). It's out of print now too and goes for £30+ on Ebay and even more than that on Amazon, so to get it for £23 was a bargain in my eyes. It's a beautiful edition and I can't wait to read it.

By 4 o'clock in the afternoon, both of us were beginning to tire. We'd been up since 5.30am and had travelled quite a bit. But it was around this time we noticed that the queues for Scott Snyder and Joe Quesada had considerably shrunk in length. So much so that we joined on the end of Snyder's line and were meeting the man himself within 25 minutes.

Before I travelled to Kapow I'd set Snyder and Quesada's signatures as the two I wanted the most. I am a huge fan of Snyder and had taken my Batman books to get signed by him and I had some of my Daredevil stuff to be signed by Quesada too. Typically they had the longest queues of the day, being the star names of the show, so people had begun queueing for them an hour and a half before they were even supposed to arrive at their signing tables, which was insane. Simon and I both figured there was no way we'd get our books signed by either of them and resigned ourselves to that fact. So you can imagine our joy when we saw the lines were barely ten people long with just under an hour left to go. Snyder and Quesada were scheduled to sign until 5 pm so we had plenty of time left to get our books signed. As you can see from above I got my Batman: Black Mirror signed by Scott (oh yeah, I got it signed by Jock earlier in the day too, who was a top bloke) as well as my Batman #1 and Batman: Gates of Gotham paperback as well (both not pictured), which I bought on the day (another book I had been wanting for a long time but looks like its out of print already). Snyder turned out to be the nicest guy in the building. Despite obviously being rushed because of the huge line of people he had faced all afternoon, he took the time to ask my name and say thanks for buying and supporting the books. Its little moments like that that made it worth going.

After meeting Snyder and getting our books signed (Simon got his copy of Batman #1 signed and the first volume of American Vampire in hardback) I noticed Quesada's queue had been whittled down to only a few people so I immediately joined on the end. In less than 10 minutes I met Marvel's Chief Creative Officer and shook his hand before he signed my Daredevil books, pictured below:

The book on the left is my hardback edition of Daredevil: Guardian Devil that I review back in March. 

By now we were just about ready to head home, but there was one more moment of fun to be had. Sean Phillips, the British artist responsible for Criminal, Sleeper and Incognito, had been sandwiched between Quesada and Snyder since 3pm and his queue was non-existent by 4.45pm. Whilst I'd been queueing and meeting Quesada, Simon had taken advantage of Phillips's rapidly decreasing line and had gotten his beautiful copy of Fatale #1 signed, which included a cheeky sketch inside. Seeing this I decided to spend my last bit of money on a Criminal paperback to make the most of Phillips being there:

I bought Criminal Volume 6, The Last of the Innocent, since the only copies of the first volume Coward I could find had already been pre-signed or were in pretty rough condition. Since Volume 6 is a stand alone book and not really part of the rest of the series I had no problem buying the final volume before I'd read the previous five. Phillips couldn't have been nicer when I met him. We had a chat about his original artwork he had on display at his table, as well as the different colourists he's worked with (I asked him about his preferences since his original black and white work is so amazing.) Phillips was even nice enough to spent a couple of minutes and draw me an awesome sketch:

And that was that. It was past 5pm and we had to get going if we were to get home in time. It was such an incredible day and everybody we met was so insanely nice to talk to. Whether it was the creators at their tables signing or random people we met in the queues, everyone was really friendly and it really helped make the day a great one. I reckon Simon and I will go again next year, it was that much fun.

Thanks for reading.

New Comics - 25th April 2012

Four books this week. Wasting no time, lets get to them:

Superman #8

Issue 7 of Superman saw the new creators Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens get off to an impressive start but unfortunately Superman #8 couldn't keep up the pace and felt slightly flat overall. To put it bluntly, this was a mediocre comic at best and failed to satisfy across the board. What's more disappointing is the fact issue 8 could not sustain and carry on the good vibes from Superman #7. What went wrong?

Well Giffen and Jurgens wrapped things up, which is good, but they did it in an unsatisfactory way. Superman has a bad dream, finds out Helspont was trying to control his mind with a face-sucking creature, they fight, Helspont disappears and that's it, story over. As I reached the half way point in this book the words started to roll over me and I had pretty much made up my mind by then. Helspont went on and on explaining why he was there and why he needed Superman blah blah blah. I'd given up caring by then because Helspont's diatribe felt like it was never going to end. It quickly became a boring read, simple as that. The art wasn't much better either. Jurgens, with Jesus Merino finishing his pencils, was inconsistent throughout. Superman's face seemed to change repeatedly and it all felt a bit of mess overall.

I'm seriously thinking about removing Superman from my monthly pull-list. I'm getting really tired of dishing out money for sub-par comics and if Superman all of a sudden becomes the hot book in the comics world, well then I can just pick it up in trade. I might give it one more issue to redeem itself, but at the moment one of my favourite superheroes in the DC universe is on a very tight leash.

Rating: 2/5

Supercrooks #2

I picked up the first issue of Supercrooks two weeks ago for two reasons. 1) Mark Millar is the writer, and I won't go so far to say I'm a fan but I have enjoyed a lot of his work (Superman: Red Son, Kick-Ass, Civil War) and 2) Leinil Yu is on art duties and I will admit to being a big fan of his (Superman: Birthright, Superior). Issue 1 was great and I really like the concept of following the villains instead of the heroes for once. Millar succeeds in making us feel for these criminals and help us understand why they live a life of crime instead of leading normal lives.

Issue 2 continues where the debut issue left off, as ex-con Johnny Bolt resumes his pursuit of putting together his old team for one last big job to help their old mentor who's fallen into a lot of trouble of late. Millar excels as a writer when he isn't being restricted by the strict rules Marvel and DC have concerning their characters, especially the sort of language those characters can use. In Millarworld, where the creator has the freedom to do exactly what he wants, these characters come to life in a somewhat more realistic manner than they would in a Big Two book. For the tone that this book is trying to set, having the characters talk to each other like real human beings is an absolute necessity and Supercrooks benefits from it enormously. Combine this with Yu's flawless art style and you've got a pretty good book in your hands. Yu is at the top of his game here - his distinctive style flourishes throughout.

Overall this is a fun book and I'm really enjoying the direction Millar and Yu are taking this. Keep it up good sirs.

Rating: 4/5

Daredevil #11

Daredevil #11 featured the final part in the three issue mini-event "The Omega Effect" and concluded the story that began in Avenging Spider-Man #6 and Punisher #10. Unfortunately this really didn't live up to my expectations at all and ended in a really unsatisfactory fashion.

The first two parts to the Omega Effect were fantastic. Mark Waid and Greg Rucka's electric script was terrific in Avenging Spidey and Punisher so my hopes were high for the final part, plus it was all going to be wrapped in up in my favourite book featuring my favourite character. What could go wrong? After finishing this issue, it turns out we are exactly where we started before the Omega Effect began. Seriously, exactly. Nothing has changed, especially not for Daredevil and Spider-Man. Only the Punisher's world has been altered slightly. Daredevil had the mega hard-drive with all the data on the big baddies at the start of this crossover and he finished with it too. This was such an underwhelming ending, the Omega Effect might as well not have happened. Its a real shame too because this crossover got off to such a fantastic start. Now it all feels like a complete waste of time. What a letdown.

It's even more disappointing because Marco Checchetto's beautiful artwork has essentially gone to waste. His stunning work on Avenging Spider-Man #6 and The Punisher #10 featured some of the best representations of those characters I've seen in a long time, and his work in Daredevil #11 is equally impressive. How unfortunate then that the story doesn't matter at all.

Daredevil #11 is still a top book as far as production goes. The art absolutely sings and the script is witty like you'd expect from Waid. But the overall story and its failure to move the story along really brings this book down a  notch, significantly. I'm amazed Conor at iFanboy gave this the Pick of the Week. Maybe he gave it based on the overall quality of the three issues collected in this mini-event, which is fair enough I suppose. But for me this failed to deliver and was really disappointing in the end. Bring on Daredevil #12 next Wednesday when Waid's mission for DD gets back on track.

Rating: 3/5

Aquaman #8

Solid stuff yet again from Mr Johns and Mr Reis who are keeping Aquaman at those high levels they've established for the character ever since issue 1. It's been exciting to delve into Arthur's past over the last two issues, seeing what he was like before he became Aquaman. From what we've seen so far, he wasn't always so interested in being a hero - in fact there's a flashback in issue 8 where Aquaman refused to rescue innocent civilians in an attempt to keep up with the villain he was chasing. It took the rest of his group (the Others) to change his mind and get Arthur to help out, which he did begrudgingly. Aquaman's a bit of badass deep down we discover. There's also some tension between him and his wife Mera, who's been completely left in the dark concerning her husband's history with the Others, particularly the feisty (and scantily clad) Y'Wara. This rather funny moment occurred:

All in all Johns and Reis's Aquaman is as entertaining as ever and its great we're getting to find out more about his life before he became the superhero we know now. Top stuff.

Rating: 4/5 Pick of the Week

Thanks for reading!

'Wolverine: Enemy of the State' Review

Recently I've been trying my hardest to embrace the X-Men a bit more. They have always intrigued me but I've always held off for some reason. Sure, I liked the movies and I used to watch the cartoon on Saturday mornings as well. The majority of the characters are excellent but there's always been something I can't quite put my finger on to explain why I don't really like the X-Men as much as I probably should.

But I've tried to rectify that as of late. I bought and consumed Joss Whedon and John Cassasday's first volume of Astonishing X-Men in one sitting, such was the excellent quality of that book. Let's consider that as dipping my toe into the water: it was a start. However, the one guy from the X-Men that's always appealed to me most has probably been that little Canadian killing machine, Wolverine. I quickly looked up some reviews of his best stories focused squarely on him and a few jumped out at me as potential starting points. Frank Miller and Chris Claremont's tale of Logan in Japan definitely piqued my interest, as did a few others like Origin and Weapon X. But two titles in particular jumped out at me, both written by fellow Brit Mark Millar: Wolverine: Enemy of the State and Wolverine: Old Man Logan. So why did I go for Enemy of the State? It was the easier of the two to buy at the time, plus it was cheaper and I could get it right there and then instead of waiting for it in the post. In hindsight, Enemy of the State is probably not the best Wolverine book to read if you're just starting out with the character. But that wasn't a problem for me because despite having never read any of his books before, I already knew pretty much all there is to know about Logan. So even though Enemy of the State was my first Wolverine solo adventure, I didn't feel lost at any stage because his history has been talked about and discussed a lot in other books and especially the X-Men movies.

Before reading Enemy of the State, I already knew that this was going to be a book that didn't involve much character development. Thanks to reading some reviews before hand, I knew that Enemy of the State was going to be an action packed ride through the Marvel universe, where Logan faces off against friend and foe alike. Why is Wolverine trying to kill his friends you ask? Well I don't want to spoil too much of the story for you but lets just say that Logan gets a few of his wires crossed in that brain of his, thanks to some intervention from Hydra and the Hand. Thankfully, Millar's story delivers the goods because this involves one brutal, blood splattering fight after another. A word of warning to the squeamish: Wolverine gets violent in Enemy of the State, and he gets violent a lot. When Logan unleashes those claws of his there are consequences, involving the amputation of many enemy limbs. To make these fights that little bit more interesting, Millar gets Wolverine to face off against the best the Marvel Universe has, ranging from Elektra and Daredevil to the Fantastic Four. Even Captain America gets involved. At times Enemy of the State feels like a movie and I expect Millar probably had that in mind when he penned the original script. If you love action in your comics then look no further because Wolverine is at his brutal best here. I'll admit it's quite a spectacle.

Are there any cons to having so much action and so little plot? Well yes, there is. The fight scenes are expertly crafted by one of my favourite artists and Marvel legend John Romita Jr but even his expansive artwork can't make up for the distinct lack of story. I think it's finally dawned on me that I need a little bit more from my comics than non-stop action. I certainly understand the appeal and action-orientated comics definitely have a huge following, but nowadays I prefer a smart story over pages and pages of fight scenes and explosions. An example of this can be seen in DC's Justice League, which is full of beautiful Jim Lee splash pages but unfortunately lacks the dynamic plot to accompany them. This isn't really a knock on the writer because I really enjoy Mark Millar's work, and Enemy of the State is an entertaining comic book, no doubt about it. But in hindsight I probably shouldn't have opted for the one Wolverine book the majority of reviewers called "action-packed". However, I knew this going in to Enemy of the State, so what exactly did I expect? Now I realise and appreciate that a book focused solely on the fighting rather than the plot probably isn't going to sway me to call that book 'great', and that it'll more than likely settle for being simply 'good'. Wolverine: Enemy of the State is the latter. It would still make a good Wolverine film though...

Are there any more problems? Unfortunately, and it breaks my heart to admit it, but Romita Jr's pencils on Enemy of the State are not his best. I don't think it's entirely his fault though, because I think legendary inker Klaus Janson and Paul Mounts on colours need to share some of the blame. The problem is, and it happens quite often with such action-orientated books, with all that chaos happening on the page some of the details get lost amongst the blood, fire and explosions. Romita Jr's pencils suffer as a result; it feels like there's no space sometimes and some of his work gets very messy when Wolverine is thrashing around with multiple bad guys (especially when he's fighting ninjas). Now add to that Janson's distinctive thick lines and Mounts's dark colours, and the overall look of the book suffers. There is still some great work in here and Romita Jr excels when he's given splash pages. But overall Enemy of the State doesn't reach the levels of Romita Jr I am used to, and doesn't compare with his brilliant work on Daredevil: The Man Without Fear and J. Michael Straczynski's Amazing Spider-Man run.

Despite my negativity this is still a fun book and well worth checking out. Wolverine fans will love it but I think, for me, there are other books out there featuring the crazy Canuck that will suit me better. I'm sure this isn't the last I've seen of Logan...

Amongst The Panels rating: 3/5

Thanks for reading.