Neuman, Jason & Hudson, Dave – The M.I.E.A #1 & 2

December 4, 2010

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The M.I.E.A. #1 & 2

One thing is for sure about Jason and his comics: he certainly gives you your money’s worth. This is a collection of the first two issues of his Multiverse Incursion Enforcement Agency (in case you can’t see it on the cover), and it’s exactly what it sounds like.  Groups of heroes travel to different universes to stop potential threats.  This gives Jason (and Dave, who is the penciller while Jason does everything else) plenty of opportunity to get creative, as these teams of three heroes can be pulled from any universe ever thought of.  The first issue deals with a team that is sent to fight… oh, let’s be honest, it’s Godzilla.  It has a different name here, but that’s pretty much what it is.  The three of them fight it and quickly realize that they’re outmatched, but eventually pull together to exploit the creature’s obvious weakness.  Or they’re all brutally killed; I don’t want to spoil anything.  The second issue is a bit more complicated, as a completely different team sets out to find a group of raiders that also has the ability to travel between universes and is stealing vital supplies.  A Benny Hill-ish chase follows (except there are no women in bikinis) where we get to see a good number of other universes before finally wrapping things up.  It’s a great idea and the sky is the limit for what he can do with it.  The only potential problem I see is that the reader will never have the chance to get invested in any of these team members, although he is starting to develop the people on the cover who are actually commanding all these missions.  I’m sure that if this goes on into the double digits my other concern will go away, as they’ll probably start re-using the occasional hero.  Either way, these are a couple of issues that manage to be fun and exciting without veering over into being stupid, which is no mean feat.  Keep it up you guys, I want to see what happens next.  This isn’t listed on his website yet, but if the first issue was $3 then this collection must be $5, right?  It makes sense anyway…

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Posted by Kevin

Neuman, Jason – Cyril in the False Lands

April 24, 2010

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Cyril in the False Lands

It always makes me happy to discover someone who has a ready-made graphic novel just sitting out there, unpublished.  Of course, if also makes me happy when I found out about somebody when they do their very first comic and it’s amazing.  I guess I’m trying to say that I like comics, which is obvious by my running my website, which makes this whole intro pointless.  That, as they say, is why they pay me the big bucks.  The point is that Jason has a whole pile of minis of the adventures of Cyril and, judging from the quality of this issue, should think about putting them all together and putting them out there, if financially possible.  This is the continuing story of Cyril, who is a dead young boy wandering around the afterlife, trying to figure out what is happening to him and what is going on.  That’s the impression I get anyway; it’s clear that a lot has gone on before this issue.  Here’s the recap of the previous issue, you can know as much as I do: “Cyril came across a group of sperm ghosts that refused to believe that he wasn’t one of them.  After being chased by the sperm, the Ghost King came to Cyril’s rescue and gives Cyril vague hints about his hidden destiny.”  He does kind of look like a sperm ghost, doesn’t he?  Anyway, in this issue Cyril comes across the memories of a man with a dead family (or are they his memories?), almost gets eaten by a creature with an enticing diamond antennae, and is eventually arrested for “impersonating the dark master”.  While in prison he meets a professor who specializes in all the life forms that come to that land, and begins to learn a bit more about himself before he’s taken away to meet the dark master.  I won’t ruin the ending confrontation just in case you are able to find a copy of this (it came out in 2003 and I don’t see this specifically on his website), but it, along with the rest of the comic, did make me want to see what happens next.  And before this issue, which makes this a success.  I love how there are no panels, just full page spreads, as it really contributes to the feeling that he’s lost in an overwhelming world.  The art seems simple enough, but there’s a wide range of odd characters floating around, most seemingly with their own tasks and motivations.  It’s worth checking out if you can find it, if not there are other chapters in this story on his website.  No price, but due to the thickness I’ll guess $3.  Yes, I’m guessing the price of a mini based on heft…

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Posted by Kevin

Neuman, Jason – The 80’s #1

April 24, 2010

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The 80’s #1

Full disclosure time: I got this through the recent Poopsheet sale for a couple of bucks.  The fact that this was listed at $8 is astounding to me, and wouldn’t be something that I would ever pick up for that reason alone.  It does have something like 80 pages (no, I’m not going to count), so it gets points for size, but $8 for a black and white mini with a color cover?  Why, back in my day comics only cost $.02 and the world was a better place etc.  And from here on out I ignore that cover price and focus on the comic.  Are you old enough to remember the 80’s?  I mean really old enough to remember them, like if you were born in the mid 70’s, not just someone who has watched all the nostalgia specials on VH1?  Then you’re bound to find several things to amuse you in this issue.  There are three stories, all done by different artists, all written by Jason.  First up is Disappearances (art by Erik Arreaga), which makes a whole lot less sense when you read the rest of the comic.  A young man with a gun and undefined powers heads down to the sewer to check into some pizza boy disappearances.  He’s attacked by a group of grotesque monsters, and this is the only story in the mini that didn’t heavily feature characters from the 80’s, unless I’m just not aware of the connection… unless they’re C.H.U.D.’s, as that idea just came to me and I never did see that movie.  Next up is The Spirit (art by Michael Mena), as our hero with the mysterious powers (even to him) runs across Michael Jackson in 1983 and finds out that he is, in fact, a zombie.  Part-time, at least.  And also a werewolf, at least briefly.  It was a little confusing, but it did have a great ending and a cameo appearance by the A-Team.  Finally there’s The Summer of ’85 (art by Dave Hudson), which makes up the bulk of the comic.  It’s a sprawling saga involving the Doc from Back to the Future (teaching our hero about his mysterious powers), the Misfits Of Science (if I’m remembering my 80’s correctly, as it’s not like there’s a glossary or anything), Teen Wolf, the giant dog thing from the Never-Ending Story, and even an army of Gremlins.  The angry kind, not the adorable mogwai variety.  All kinds of mayhem in this one, and it’s quite possible that I should have at least left one of those groups out to add to the surprise.  Oh well, there were still a couple of things I couldn’t identify, maybe you’ll have better luck.  I liked how the stories all took place in different years (the powers of this man are to last only until the end of the 80’s) and how they all referenced older events, as it’s an excellent way to build up a story like this.  He’ll have to reduce the price for future issues a bit, but there’s a lot to like about this one, although possibly less if you weren’t cognizant for the 80’s.  Still worth a look though, along with his other series on this page.  $8

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Posted by Kevin