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Category Archives: Underrated

Underrated: Animosity Volume One: The Wake

Posted on May 21, 2022 by Alex K Cossa

This is a column that focuses on something or some things from the comic book sphere of influence that may not get the credit and recognition it deserves. Whether that’s a list of comic book movies, ongoing comics, or a set of stories featuring a certain character. The columns may take the form of a bullet pointed list, or a slightly longer thinkpiece – there’s really no formula for this other than whether the things being covered are Underrated in some way. This week: Animosity Volume One: The Wake.

I’ve had this trade sat in my digital to-read pile for quite some time, and this week I finally got around to reading it. I could give you my take on the central premise, but it sounds so much better straight from the horses mouth (because I basically reworded this the first time I wrote the opening):

“One day, for no reason, the Animals woke up. They started thinking. They started talking. They started taking REVENGE. Collecting the first four issues of the best-selling series, plus the special one-shot issue ANIMOSITY: THE RISE.

The world is plunged into chaos as the newly-intelligent Animals fight humanity, and simply fight each other, for their own life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. In the midst of the turmoil is Jesse, an 11-year-old girl, and her dog, Sandor, who is devoted to her and her protection. One year after the incident, Jesse and Sandor begin a cross-country journey to find Jesse’s half-brother, Adam, who is living in San Francisco.”

To be honest I actually went into this series knowing only the bare minimum about it, so when the animals woke up I was actually taken aback by the entire thing. I know. The entire premise of the comic caught me off guard when it happened on the opening few pages of the story. It makes me laugh a little, too.

Centering around Jesse and her beloved dog Sandor’s relationship, and his overwhelming desire to protect her because she loves him. He’s one of the few animals not to hate humanity, and others who are still somewhat fond of humans are typically those who weren’t abused or mistreated in any way – and sadly, humans have done far too much of that in our time on this planet. Marguerrite Bennett‘s script is remarkable; she touches on the bigger impact of animals gaining sentience and the political and economical ramifications of this often in passing but with enough detail to answer some of the questions you’ll be having regarding food sources, population control… there’s a lot to set up in this trade, and for the most part the four issues of the main series collected here succeed in doing that.

There is a time jump that some may find jarring, but as with any time jumps it will give us something to flash back to in subsequent trades and issues.

Artistically, Rafael De La Torre and Rob Schwager deliver. Their animals are able to convey the requisite emotions and atmospheric design needed to pull you from page to gorgeous page. Animosity‘s first volume is remarkably solid and enjoyable – and well worth checking out.

Join us next week where there will doubtless be another movie, series, comic or comic related thing discussed that is, for whatever reason, Underrated.

Underrated: The Highest House

Posted on May 14, 2022 by Alex K Cossa

I had picked this book up prior to going on vacation to read on the plane at the suggestion of my LCS, but never actually got around to reading the book while I was away. Thankfully, I found I had the time this week and decided to sit down and start reading the book in between devouring Andrej Sapkowski’s The Witcher novels.

I don’t say this lightly, but The Highest House is one of those books you give to people who don’t like comics, or don’t read comics, to show them what the medium can do. Its impact isn’t only felt in the story, but rather that you don’t need to be aware of decades of tropes and nuances to get the most from the book. This is just a really moving and powerful story about change and overcoming the shit life throws at you in order to rise above and become the best version of yourself.

Written by Mike Carey and illustrated by Peter Gross, the trade paperback set me back $30 Canadian, and is worth each and every penny that I paid for it. Without revealing too much about the story, this won’t be the longest column, but I want you to go in blind – just like I did.

Because this book is worth it.

I usually end this column with a recommendation to check out the book or series or movie in question, but I genuinely can’t recommend this graphic novel to you highly enough If you don’t grab this with both hands when you see then you’ll miss an Underrated gem.

Join us next week when we look at something else that is, for whatever reason, Underrated.

Underrated: Ivar, Timewalker

Posted on April 30, 2022 by Alex K Cossa

We’re going back to early 2018 to revisit an old column this week, because I recently reread the book and forgot just how much I liked it.

My comic shop recently got the deluxe hardcover edition of Valiant’s Ivar, Timewalker in on a special order for yours truly, which collects the entire twelve issue run in one place for $40. You can also pick up the series in three softcover trade paperbacks, if you’re so inclined, but I’ve become partial to the oversized hardcovers (especially because of the bonus material in the back, but then I love that stuff). I had already read the final four issues of the series long before I started reading the hardcover, which some would think would be foolish, but when you’re reading a book about time travel then it suddenly becomes less foolish.

In order to give you a bit of context, you’ll find the preview text for the series below.

“At this very moment in Geneva, Switzerland, history is being made. A thousand meters underground inside the Large Hadron Collider, researcher Neela Sethi is about to discover time travel – and jeopardize her life in the process. But she doesn’t know that yet. Ten minutes from now, every deadbeat chrononaut, wannabe conqueror, and misguided protector of the timestream will be banging down her door. Good thing that the legendary Ivar, Timewalker, got there first…right? Now it’s down to history’s most jaded, most tempestuous time traveler to stop the worst of everything that is, was, and will be…before time runs out!“

The series was written by Fred Van Lente, who was joined by Pere Perez, Francis Portella and Clayton Henry with Robert Gill, the first issue being released in January 2015, with the final issue coming in December of that year. The twelve issue series is one of the more underrated offerings from Valiant Entertainment, as many people don’t tend to think about Ivar, Timewalker when talking about the great comics to have come from this publisher – myself included.

As a story about time travel, Ivar, Timewalker is a series that rewards multiple readings – indeed, you could reasonably start at the beginning of any of the three arcs within the series, though this is admittedly more difficult to do with the deluxe edition than the single issues or the trades. Van Lente put together a story that will leave you with as many questions as it will provide answers with an intelligent script that effortlessly blends a heartbreaking story of loss, hope and determination with a sly wit that will have you laughing out loud more often than you would expect in a series that, technically, isn’t a comedy.

Time travel, and effects travelers can have on history are touched on, and often provide some interesting flashes to a story that at its heart is a tale of two incredibly different people; Ivar himself, and Neela Sethi – the scientist who will invent time travel. For as fantastical as the scenery is in this series (and thanks to the artists, it truly is phenomenal), the true draw is the relationship between the two leads.

And that relationship is why you need to read this wonderful story at least twice. I didn’t realize how good this book was when I first read it, and I dare say it’ll only get better with time. Pardon the pun.

Time travel has never been so wonderful.

Join us next week where there will doubtless be another movie, series, comic or comic related thing discussed that is, for whatever reason, Underrated.

Underrated: The Wolverine

Posted on April 23, 2022 by Alex K Cossa

A little while ago on Underrated, I took a look at one of the most reviled movies in the X-Men Franchise, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This week I wanted to take a look at the sequel to that movie because, ending aside, I think it’s a pretty good movie – no, really, take that cyborg thing out of the equation, and I’d give the movie a sold 8.5 or so out of 10. Obviously the cyborg drops the rating some, but I still really enjoyed the movie. And yes, I did see the movie recently.

The funny thing about The Wolverine, at least for me, is that I only recently realized that people weren’t quite as fond of it as I was. Whether that’s because I was so desperate for a great Wolverine movie that I overlooked a lot of the flaws when I first saw it, or that I just simply enjoyed it more than the folks who had a bone to pick with the film. Obviously, I watched this after having seen Logan, which was exactly the Wolverine movie that I, and many others, have always wanted. Does The Wolverine still hold up after the sequel, or is it really as average as people have been saying?

I genuinely don’t think it is, so allow me to give you a few reasons why.

The Opening Sequence
In this case I’m talking about the entire sequence set in the Canadian wilderness. Hugh Jackman pulls off the broken former hero role incredibly well, and much like the prequel I could have happily watched an entire movie centered around a broken Logan on the outskirts of society. Wait.
It’s a great homage to Wolverine’s first solo series
Look I know that the ending is butchered almost entirely by the mechanized Silver Samurai, but once you get beyond that The Wolverine is a brilliant homage and reinterpretation of the Claremont/Miller series from the 80’s with an updated twist. The hallmarks of the series are there, albeit in a slightly modified form in most cases, as the movie does its level best to pay tribute to that classic four issue miniseries.
The choreography
With this movie having a softer rating than its sequel, you’d be forgiven for wanting more of the brutality from that movie to show up in The Wolverine, but considering the rating I think the choreography of the fight scenes is done very well – yes, a lot is left to your imagination regarding the results of said action, but this is still a movie about a violent mutant and you do get a sense of that… even if it is done in a PG13 way.
The story
Despite struggling at the final hurdle, the movie’s plot is actually better than a lot of popcorn action flicks. It’s certainly no Logan but it’s a better overall product than both of its immediate prequels.

Yes, the movie has its problems, especially with how it fits (or used to fit depending on who you’re talking to) into the X-Men movie franchise, and how it treats certain characters, but when you look at it as a standalone movie that follows one character after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand… it’s actually pretty good; like I said, I’ve always enjoyed this movie, and that’s why it’s the subject of this week’s Underrated. Plus, without this movie then we’d never have had James Mangold back for the sequel

Underrated: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Posted on April 16, 2022 by Alex K Cossa

This week on Underrated, I wanted to take a look at one of the most reviled movies in the X-Men Franchise, not because I’m going to convince you it’s secretly a great movie that has been unfairly shat on for nearly ten years, but because I want to highlight some of the things that it actually did right. Do they out weight the bad to redeem the movie? Personally, I think so. Although X-Men Origins: Wolverine will never be thought of as a shining example of the character in cinema, and nor should it be, it isn’t the catastrophic mess that we remember it being.

Before you start raging at me (and you’re more than welcome to do so on twitter @karcossa) ask yourself when was the last time you saw this movie? I watched it on the 21st of March this year with the intention of tearing it to pieces in an article, but I actually kind of enjoyed it, so I wrote this instead [note, this article was written on March 23rd, so the movie was quite fresh in my mind]. So before you fire up those angry fingers, give the movie a quick watch and remember I’m not claiming it’s great, just that it isn’t bad.

The Opening Sequence
Honestly, you give me a movie with Wolverine and Sabretooth fighting their way through history based on this opening credit montage and I will throw my money at you. This is a prime example of a movie blowing it’s load too early, if you’ll pardon the expression. We get one of the best opening sequences in the franchise before one of the worst movies. No wonder it got flattened by fans.
Liev Schreiber And Hugh Jackman
Say what you want about the script, plot choices, and pointless cameos, but I will not hear a bad word said about either Schreiber or Jackman’s performances in this movie. It remains a great tragedy that we only got one movie with Liev Schreiber playing Sabretooth opposite Hugh Jackman, and that it was this one. Having watched the movie recently, the two men are almost able to save the movie with their acting chops alone – without them it wouldn’t be worth watching past the title sequence.
Most Action Sequences
Strangely enough, the action sequences in the movie are actually pretty good; Logan and Creed fighting in the bar is awesome, and even the final battle is pretty entertaining (despite the character mutilation of Deadpool). The only downside to the sequence where Team X attacks a compound is that the individual use of the soldier’s abilities makes little sense as a tactical strike, but as a showcase of the individual powers at play it’s pretty good. As is the helicopter fight – right up until the cliched walking away from the explosion end point.
The One Liners
X-Men Origins: Wolverine isn’t a comedy, but there’s quite a few one liners that will at the very least elicit a chuckle from you. Plus, you can also laugh at the so-bad-it’s-good moments.
Wolverine Uses All His Powers
Funnily enough, one of the things this movie gets right is how many other abilities Logan has. At different points in the movie you see him use his enhanced senses of smell, vision and hearing to locate Creed, Zero and Kayla. You don’t see him using his other powers as often as you do his healing and claws (for obvious reasons, I’m sure).

Yes, the movie has its problems, especially with how it fits (or used to fit depending on who you’re talking to) into the X-Men movie franchise, or how it treats certain characters, but if you look at it as a standalone movie that just happens to feature Wolverine… it’s actually not that bad; truth be told, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and that’s why it’s the subject of this week’s Underrated.

Underrated

Underrated: Vengeance Of The Moon Knight: Shock And Awe

Posted on April 9, 2022 by Alex K Cossa

This week: the multi-part crossover event Vengeance Of The Moon Knight: Shock And Awe.

I was actually going to write about a totally different book for today’s column, but when I was recording a podcast yesterday, I spend the best part of an hour and a half playing with a Moon Knight figure from Marvel Legends, which then led me to checking what Moon Knight books I owned. Not many, if I’m honest. My options were either this, the sequel or Midnight Son because I don’t have the Warren Ellis run in trade and I was too lazy to dig through my comic boxes to find it (even if I know exactly where it is).

This is the same image on the trade’s cover, and
I didn’t realize it wasn’t until it was already uploaded…

So, Vengeance Of The Moon Knight: Shock And Awe was the book that I ended up grabbing.

I remember really enjoying it the first time I read the series, ten or eleven issues set right at the end of the Dark Reign era of Marvel Comics which found Norman Osborn as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the “official” Avengers being made up of a group of villains in disguise (Bullseye as Hawkeye, Mac Gargan’s Venom as Spider-Man, Daken as Wolverine and a few others I can’t remember off the top of my head). This sits in the background of this story, with Moon Knight’s antics being set to a backdrop of billboards and advertisements for the ~~villains~~ heroes. The real conflict in the book comes, as with so many great stories featuring Moon Knight, from whether he can control his dissociative identity disorder or if his bloodlust will rear it’s ugly head once again.

The book opens with Jake Lockley in control as Moon Knight, gently letting his comrades and friends know that Marc Spector is gone. Moon Knight’s reputation for excessive violence in his vigilante activities is played to great effect in this book – both by the supporting characters being surprised that there’s no blood on his white costume, and be his constant refusal to maim and kill, which adds to his internal struggle as the primary antagonist shows up in the book.

You don’t need to have read a lot of Moon Knight comics in the past to enjoy this book, nor its subtle dig at Batman’s willingness to use excessive force when facing off against multiple criminals, because this is a self contained story about a man looking for redemption on the biggest stage possible for his previous actions.

This isn’t one of the defining runs in Moon Knight’s history, but it is a lot of fun – and that’s why it’s a great candidate for today’s Underrated column. Check it out if you ever get a chance.

Join us next week when we look at something else that is, for whatever reason, Underrated.

Underrated: The Sixth Gun

Posted on April 2, 2022 by Alex K Cossa

Published by Oni Press, The Sixth Gun was written by Cullen Bunn and features art by Brian Hurtt. This week we’re looking at the first 11 issues collected in the hardcover (which would have been two trade paperbacks from what I.m understanding). I picked up the hardcover used for just under $20

So what’s the story about?

During the darkest days of the Civil War, wicked cutthroats came into possession of six pistols of otherworldly power. In time the Sixth Gun, the most dangerous of the weapons, vanished. When the gun surfaces in the hands of an innocent girl, dark forces reawaken. Vile men thought long dead set their sights on retrieving the gun and killing the girl. Only Drake Sinclair, a gunfighter with a shadowy past, stands in their way. But the guns have a power… and a destiny… more terrifying than anyone imagines.

Before we get into the meat of the comic, physically this hardcover is a beast. It’s big enough that it won’t fit into an Ikea Kallax shelf unless you tip it on the side, which should give you an idea (assuming you know the size of those shelves). I went on a pretty strong Western kick over the last year or two, in no small part because of the videogame Red Dead Redemption II, and so I found myself quite excited when I found the first eleven issues of the series in one giant hardcover. Admittedly, I’ll probably continue the series in softcover – not because of the cost of the hardcover, but the size. It’s half an inch too big for my shelves, but that size does make it so much easier to enjoy the art work compared to a regular size comic or trade paperback.

And man, the artwork is good. Brian Hurtt illustrates and colours the first five issues, and is joined by colourist Bill Crabtree for the following six chapters of a fairly fast paced western story with supernatural elements. It’s a story that is perfect for comic book form. I’ve honestly no idea how hard this book is to find because I picked it up in a used store that just happened to have it for $20 (based on the ever reliable Amazon pricing, this was a great price), but if you can find either the trades, the hardcover, or even the floppy issues from your comic shop, then this is a fantastic read.

Unless the comics industry ceases any and all publication look for a future installment of Underrated to cover more comics that aren’t cracking the top 100. Eventually.

Underrated: Green Valley

Posted on March 26, 2022 by Alex K Cossa

Did you read this book yet? Allow us to remind you why you should with a rerun of a column from 2019.

Published by Image, Green Valley was written by Max Landis and features art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, inks by Cliff Rathburn and colours by Jean Francois Beaulieu. The wonderful hardcover collection in my hands collects nine issues and will set you back $29.99 (I paid for this out of my own pocket, and happily so, even though I probably had access to the single issue review copies).

So what’s the story about?

The knights of Kelodia are the finest in the land, but they’ve never faced a POWER like the one that resides in the Green Valley. Now they’re about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime—to stop a wizard and slay his dragons—but there’s no such thing as magic or dragons…is there?

You may have noticed by reading this column that I tend to enjoy stories set in and around medieval times, even though I don’t tend to read that many comics set in that era (or at least I didn’t until this year). So when my LCS suggested I pick this up (it was on the counter and the owner told me I’d like it) I did so without question because sometimes I don’t want to read superhero comics.

One of the first things I noticed was that the hardcover itself just feels utterly wonderful in your hands. The above image is of the hardcover, with the comic art inset slightly into the gold and green cover of the book itself in an effect that really doesn’t translate as well in the image as it does in person, but it does give you a hint about the nature of the story, which aside from the cover and text on the back I entered utterly blindly – and I fell in love.

Green Valley is the kind of book that you will want to read in a single sitting – it grabs you right from the start as you’re introduced to the legendary Knights of Kelodia (all four of them) as they face down a barbarian horde in a brilliant sequence that’s full of dry humour, a genuine feeling camaraderie from the knights and tense knightly masculinity all wrapped up in some beautiful visuals that are some of the nicest pure-comic pages I’ve seen in quite some time. Were I reviewing this here, I’d be giving this at least 9’s across the board and telling you to buy this without question – the story and art genuinely took me by surprise and had me forget that I really should be doing a bunch of other stuff for the hour or so I sat enraptured in this story.

Without spoiling anything, it’s tough to explain why I loved this story, but that won’t stop me from trying. Green Valley is a very intelligently written book, with dialogue that is, at times, so sharp you could loose a finger. There are moments that span the gamut of human emotion for the characters, and will have you laughing out loud and pumping your fist as the story goes on – just as you’ll feel gut-punched at certain other moment. Max Landis has written one hell of a story that deserves a very special place on your shelf.

Now excuse me while I go reread it (no, I’m not saying that for effect – I’m actually going to reread it now).

Unless the comics industry ceases any and all publication look for a future installment of Underrated to cover more comics that aren’t cracking the top 100.

Underrated: Descender Volume One: Tin Stars

Posted on March 19, 2022 by Alex K Cossa

I picked up the first volume of Descender the other day because of a recommendation from the owner, and seeing as how she’s never really steered me wrong before and that it was written by Jeff Lemire I figured I’d give it a try. So what’s the series about?

The synopsis reads;

“Young Robot boy TIM-21 and his companions struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet. Written by award-winning creator, Jeff Lemire, Descender is a rip-roaring and heart-felt cosmic odyssey. Lemire pits humanity against machine, and world against world, to create a sprawling epic. Created by Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, Trillium) and Dustin Nguyen’s (Little Gotham) critically acclaimed, bestselling new science fiction series!”

I won’t lie to you, friends, if it hadn’t been my my LCS’ recommendation I would never have read the first volume in this series – and that would have been quite a shame. Y’see even though I frequently say that science fiction stories aren’t usually my cup of tea, the more I seem to read the more I seem to enjoy, so either I’m lying or I never really read any good science fiction before form that opinion – either way that’s not the point right now.

Upon opening the first six issue volume of Descender – which you can find for $10 at your LCS – you’ll find an art style that won’t appeal to everyone right away (if you’ve read Little Gotham you’ll know what I mean), but allow yourself a couple of pages and you’ll begin to notice that the art style works incredibly well with the story. Indeed the art and the story mirror each other in that just as you notice that there’s a lot more to Dustin Nguyen‘s art than you’ll initially pick up on in those first few pages, you’ll also begin to realize that Lemire’s plot goes a lot deeper than you’d first expect.

Like all good fantasy and science fiction stories, Descender (or at least the first volume) will have you thinking about the world around you, and how you react to it, without explicitly telling you what Lemire was thinking about when he was writing the series, lending the work a timeless quality.

Honestly, I’m shocked that I don’t hear more people talking about this series; I’d say it’s one of the best things that Jeff Lemire has written but when the man is as prolific as he is with top notch comics, you’ll forgive me for not giving in to full blown hyperbole. What the first volume of Descender is, however, is simply fantastic.

That’s all for this week folks. Join us next week when we talk about something else that falls under the Underrated banner in the comic book world.

Underrated: A Handful of Indie Comics On The Racks Right Now

Posted on March 12, 2022 by Alex K Cossa

I was trying to think of a subject for this week’s Underrated, and realized that as I haven’t been reading as many trades lately, I didn’t have a huge sampling to choose from (the one book I do have picked out for the column, I haven’t had a chance to actually read yet). But there have been a lot of indie comics I’ve been reading lately that I’ve been really enjoying – only in most cases the series isn’t over yet. So, I decided why not just look at those books as they are right now? Maybe you’ll find something in there that you’ll quite enjoy. Or maybe not.

By The Horns (Scout) Okay, so technically the first volume is complete, but the trade is hitting soon, and that’s all the excuse I need to include this here. Markisan Naso, Jason Muhr and Andrei Tabacaru aren’t one of the more well known creative teams in comics, but they’re certainly one of the best. By The Horns is a story set in a lusciously vibrant fantasy world with technology not unlike what you’d see in the Star Wars franchise. It’s a beautifully illustrated and written series that should be on every person’s pull list. Volume two picks up in April, which is within a month (possibly).

Wrong Earth: Trapped In Teen Town (Ahoy) The best way to describe the premise of Wrong Earth is that the Batman from the 1960’s TV show (Dragonfly Man) switched places with Ben Affleck’s version of Batman (the Dragonfly); one, an idealistic man with gadgets not unlike the Bat-Shark Repellant, and the other, a vigilante who’s far more violent (and deadly) in his approach. In the main story, the two men have exchanged places, but this standalone story sees the Dragonfly and his sidekicks being dragged into what essentially amounts to an Archie comic. It’s fantastic, and the first in a series of similar concepts written by guest writers (Trapped In Teen Town was penned by Gail Simone). Highly worth reading if you’re at all a fan of the Wrong Earth universe.

Shadowman (Valiant) Valiant have had some ups and downs this year, but the unequalled high point for the publisher was this book from Cullen Bunn and Jon Davis Hunt. In what is probably my favourite take on the character, we’ve had four issues that are essentially stand alone comics with an overarching theme, all of which have been building to The Deadside War which kicked off in the fifth issue. It remains one of the highest points that the publisher has reached in nearly two years.

Good Boy (Source Point Press) Think about the first John Wick movie. What if the wannabe gangsters at the beginning killed John Wick and not his dog? What if, in this world, there are anthromorphic animals, and what if John’s dog was just as deadly as him? Welcome to Good Boy, and it is every bit as amazing as you’re thinking.

Knighted (AWA Studios) I can’t really describe this any better than the official blurb… “Bob Ryder is a hapless bureaucrat whose bad luck streak comes to a crescendo when he accidentally kills the city’s masked vigilante, The Knight. Oops. Now, Bob is forced to take on the mantle of the legendary hero before the city descends into chaos. Good thing he’s got The Knight’s former butler/assistant to show him the ropes.” This is a comic set within the world of The Resistance, but you don’t need to have read that series to enjoy this (in fact, four issues in, it only clicked for me when I went to check out the blurb, so there you go).

Once And Future (Boom) It’s almost cheating to include this given the buzz that surrounds the comic on a consistent basis, but here we are. Once And Future brings fairytales, myths and legends from Europe into a more modern setting. The series has been consistently brilliant with the stakes escalating in an organic and believable way – there’s no out of the blue or unexpected twist when it comes to villains, but rather a genuine progression from where the series has progressed from the first issue to the current. Keiran Gillen, Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain have never produced any less than a good comic book month after month.

Join us next week where there will doubtless be another movie, series, comic or comic related thing discussed that is, for whatever reason, Underrated.

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