Post by jugglingman on May 25, 2008 16:59:12 GMT -4
This review assumes you have at least a passing familiarity with the Huntress character. If you don't a quick Wikipedia search should bring you up to snuff. I should also add that I approach reviews from a different angle. I'm not an avid collector and I don't stay abreast of continuity, I just like stories.
Grades
Excellent - Pure excellence, can't be missed.
Great - Better than most but not mind-blowing.
Fine - It doesn't suck.
Poor - A book with problems. You'll be thankful if you miss it.
Crap - Use it as toilet paper.
If you like crime noir you'll like this. This mini explores the roots and origins of Helena Bertinelli, daughter of a notorious mob boss.
The character of Helena is well fleshed out with nothing yawn inducing. The story moves along. Not break-neck pace but nice and steady. The final scene may appear jarring at first but when taken in context makes lots of sense. In fact, each re-read of this issue reveals how well calculated everything is. With this book, author Ivory Madison makes her comics debut. And what a debut it is! Her mastery of the written word is nothing short of impressive (some of the captions are actually poems!) Madison is CEO of Redroom.com, a consultant for IBM, Microsoft and the Gap not to mention that she is also an accomplished musician. This woman is a powerhouse and it comes through in her writing. A perfect fit to write a strong female character. If you have read any of the press for this project you know that Madison is very open about her personal politics regarding feminism. Even before the series ever was published some comics fans decided to boycott her because of her convictions. Her views on this issue has polarized the comics reading community. Most are positive about it but a vocal minority have decried Ivory's work as preachy and heavy-handed. Here is my take on it.
Personally I like my characters to have an opinion regardless of if I agree. The danger is that the character can become a mouthpiece for the author. Madison rides the razor's edge with grace, imo. The reason for Helena's convictions are clearly defined and believable. Her father was abusive. From there it's not that big of a stretch for Helena to have anti-male sentiment. To me, Ivory does not write Helena as a feminist but more as a woman who, as a result of having an abusive father has decided to make it a point to be a strong woman. Mix that with some father/male issues and you've got an interesting if perhaps unpopular world view. I see this as a good thing. Look at Tony Stark. He's got views that don't sit well with everyone. You could argue he's a jerk. That's what's great about him. Conflict and tension make for interesting characters and stories. It's intriguing that no one is mentioning another social issue that Ivory is addressing in this book, domestic abuse. Had we not known about Madison being a radical feminist we may not have noticed the insertion of that issue so much if she had mentioned in the interview that she worked at an abused women shelter. We'll never know but... I think the "feminist" thing will be rather interesting when Batman rears his head in this story.
I'm on-board for sure. My wife read it and she felt strongly enough about it to want to discuss it with me. She liked the layers of metaphors and says it reminded her of certain trends in Canadian literature where the female leads are dark and brooding. I agree, it is a layered book. There are many subtle interlocking elements. Attention is paid to detail. For instance when Helena is out in the wilderness with her friend who gets attacked by a wild boar. After rescuing the friend a panel shows Helena carrying the boar's head as the walk away and continue their banter. This small detail reveals something very deep and disturbing about the character. These subtleties are everywhere throughout the book.
The pencils are great also. I find some of the close-up poses a tad awkward but I think that's Richards finding his groove with the character and it's really a minor point. He makes great use of dramatic angles that prove he wasn't lying when he said he researched film noir for this project. Another thing that strikes me is that in the same interview, when asked about this Huntress he stated that "She has no sex appeal". I fail to understand what he means by this because Helena is very attractive in the book. Luscious flowing raven hair. Tall, toned body. Olive skin. Facial features that are very feminine yet strong. The way Helena emotes is also convincingly intense.
I'll add a final word on the coloring. It is incredibly beautiful! It emphasizes the weight on Helena's mind so well! The flashbacks tinted in a brown-grey are so effective without calling attention to itself. Gorgeous! I love the tint of purple used on Bertinelli's vest. So smooth and velvety. I usually like high contrast colors but the palette is so well balanced and, I know I'm saying this a lot but, subtle! I'm definitely a convert to this coloring technique.
Can't wait for #2! If the whole series is this good, I'll gladly dish out my coins for an on-going with this creative team. Very happy about this indeed! I grade this book as great and rate it 14A for scenes of violence. Huntress: Year One #2 goes on sale May 29th.
Grades
Excellent - Pure excellence, can't be missed.
Great - Better than most but not mind-blowing.
Fine - It doesn't suck.
Poor - A book with problems. You'll be thankful if you miss it.
Crap - Use it as toilet paper.
If you like crime noir you'll like this. This mini explores the roots and origins of Helena Bertinelli, daughter of a notorious mob boss.
The character of Helena is well fleshed out with nothing yawn inducing. The story moves along. Not break-neck pace but nice and steady. The final scene may appear jarring at first but when taken in context makes lots of sense. In fact, each re-read of this issue reveals how well calculated everything is. With this book, author Ivory Madison makes her comics debut. And what a debut it is! Her mastery of the written word is nothing short of impressive (some of the captions are actually poems!) Madison is CEO of Redroom.com, a consultant for IBM, Microsoft and the Gap not to mention that she is also an accomplished musician. This woman is a powerhouse and it comes through in her writing. A perfect fit to write a strong female character. If you have read any of the press for this project you know that Madison is very open about her personal politics regarding feminism. Even before the series ever was published some comics fans decided to boycott her because of her convictions. Her views on this issue has polarized the comics reading community. Most are positive about it but a vocal minority have decried Ivory's work as preachy and heavy-handed. Here is my take on it.
Personally I like my characters to have an opinion regardless of if I agree. The danger is that the character can become a mouthpiece for the author. Madison rides the razor's edge with grace, imo. The reason for Helena's convictions are clearly defined and believable. Her father was abusive. From there it's not that big of a stretch for Helena to have anti-male sentiment. To me, Ivory does not write Helena as a feminist but more as a woman who, as a result of having an abusive father has decided to make it a point to be a strong woman. Mix that with some father/male issues and you've got an interesting if perhaps unpopular world view. I see this as a good thing. Look at Tony Stark. He's got views that don't sit well with everyone. You could argue he's a jerk. That's what's great about him. Conflict and tension make for interesting characters and stories. It's intriguing that no one is mentioning another social issue that Ivory is addressing in this book, domestic abuse. Had we not known about Madison being a radical feminist we may not have noticed the insertion of that issue so much if she had mentioned in the interview that she worked at an abused women shelter. We'll never know but... I think the "feminist" thing will be rather interesting when Batman rears his head in this story.
I'm on-board for sure. My wife read it and she felt strongly enough about it to want to discuss it with me. She liked the layers of metaphors and says it reminded her of certain trends in Canadian literature where the female leads are dark and brooding. I agree, it is a layered book. There are many subtle interlocking elements. Attention is paid to detail. For instance when Helena is out in the wilderness with her friend who gets attacked by a wild boar. After rescuing the friend a panel shows Helena carrying the boar's head as the walk away and continue their banter. This small detail reveals something very deep and disturbing about the character. These subtleties are everywhere throughout the book.
The pencils are great also. I find some of the close-up poses a tad awkward but I think that's Richards finding his groove with the character and it's really a minor point. He makes great use of dramatic angles that prove he wasn't lying when he said he researched film noir for this project. Another thing that strikes me is that in the same interview, when asked about this Huntress he stated that "She has no sex appeal". I fail to understand what he means by this because Helena is very attractive in the book. Luscious flowing raven hair. Tall, toned body. Olive skin. Facial features that are very feminine yet strong. The way Helena emotes is also convincingly intense.
I'll add a final word on the coloring. It is incredibly beautiful! It emphasizes the weight on Helena's mind so well! The flashbacks tinted in a brown-grey are so effective without calling attention to itself. Gorgeous! I love the tint of purple used on Bertinelli's vest. So smooth and velvety. I usually like high contrast colors but the palette is so well balanced and, I know I'm saying this a lot but, subtle! I'm definitely a convert to this coloring technique.
Can't wait for #2! If the whole series is this good, I'll gladly dish out my coins for an on-going with this creative team. Very happy about this indeed! I grade this book as great and rate it 14A for scenes of violence. Huntress: Year One #2 goes on sale May 29th.