X-files/30 Days of Night #1

(No Spoilers)
X-files and 30 Days of Night. When I first heard of this crossover it made me think, ‘why not?’ Why hadn’t this been done before? Well, I guess it was a matter of timing. X-files ended its run in May 2002 and the first 30 Days of Night mini-series came out later that year. X-files had lost a lot of steams towards the end so I guess doing a crossover with it at the time didn’t make much sense. But with the 2008 movie “X-files: I Want to Believe” and the comic series Wildstorm published that same year, X-files has had some exposure once again.

Sparta U.S.A. #5

(Possible SPOILERS)
If this series had started out the way this issue did, I might be enjoying it more. In fact, I feel like I’m reading a completely different comic now.

The one thing that’s frustrated me the whole way through this series is that Lapham has spent so much time setting up mysteries, he’s waited too long for the pay-offs. Even knowing he only had 6 issues to tell the story, he kept the mystery of Sparta going for more than half the mini-series. We don’t have all our answers in this issue, but it was definitely a much more exciting issue than any of the previous.

Garrison #3

(No Spoilers)
Garrison is undoubtedly Wildstorm’s summer blockbuster. I can’t say I’m blow away by the story by any means but Francavilla’s art and visual storytelling are keeping this comic more fun for me.
This comic is really banking on the mystery surrounding the title character. But fortunately, we do get some answers to his origins even though it’s only partial. Without Francavilla’s art, I’m not sure if I’d be enjoying this comic as much. He draws some incredible action scenes! One thing I really appreciate about his action is that the fights aren’t cookie-cutter. So far, every fight Francavilla has illustrated is unique from the last. It’s as if he was the fight choreographer in a movie and he was doing his best to keep each fight interesting. So far, I think he’s succeeded.

A god Somewhere

(SPOILERS, this one was too hard to write without them) I went back and forth whether or not to pick this up when I first saw it announced. The only exposure I ever had to writer John Arcudi was his run on Gen 13 Volume 1, and I just thought it was ok. The premise was intriguing but it wasn’t something I hadn’t read in other forms before. All of this coupled with the fact it was an original graphic novel with a $24.99 cover price, made me very hesitant to invest in it. I’m happy to say it was well worth the risk.