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Monday, February 05, 2007
Monday Night Reviews
Elephantmen #6, by Starkings, Moritat and Ladronn, with David Hine and Rob Steen, published by Image Comics
The emphasis is on Sahara in this issue of the sci-fi series. As per usual, a great deal of background on the character is revealed through deft understatement and careful and deliberate plotting. Sahara is a character that, until this point, we've mostly seen in flashbacks, and her portrayal here, as a rather passive fiance to a figure who has largely been made out to be a villain, is in contrast to the assertive personality we've seen in flashbacks. The difference in portrayal is compelling, as it serves as another example of the subtle characterization that marks this series: more is clearly going on here than is being told on the surface level.
First Moon by Jason McNamara and Tony Talbert, published by AIT/Planet Lar
As a follow-up to the same creative team's Continuity, which I found to be an accomlished and impressive debut work, First Moon doesn't quite live up to my expectations. There is a good story here, about teen angst and connecting with seemingly monstrous parents, with a very clever lycanthropic metaphor, but the transistions between that story and the parallel tale of the fall of the Roanoke colony are awkward and forced. It's an intriguing historical mystery, granted, but the tale doesn't quite fully mesh with the teen werewolf story at the heart of the book. That emotional core is strong, though, as in Continuity, and the art, particularly in the action sequences, has an appealingly frenzied and chaotic quality, as well as very impressive and loose character designs which are strongly emotive, but the disparate story threads never quite gel together satisfactorily.