Tag Archives: grimm fairy tales present the jungle book fall of the willd

Strange Comic Trends: Similar Homage From Different Publishers

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homage001Comic companies in the past few years have gotten wise to the collecting aspect of comics in a way which they never had before.  The idea must have come from comic conventions, where publishers made alternate overs available for purchase (or sometimes to give away).  The alternate covers caught on, and it became clear that there was money to be made by those that were willing to invest a little bit in variant covers, as truly some diehard fans would buy them all, as well as it served as a crossover for some others that would otherwise be uninterested in buying a comic at all.  A lot of times these covers had a fairly basic premise, for instance showing characters common to the series in the city where a convention was based.  Equally some covers were left blank for artists to fill in at the conventions.

In the past few years there has been an influx of these new titles, often times with a singular inspiration for an entire month for an entire publisher.  This specifically happens at the big two publishers, as for instance in a somewhat shameless move by Marvel and its head company Disney, they decided to add in a string of variant covers for Tron Legacy right when the movie was being released (Tron Legacy being a Disney movie.)  Other themes have followed since them between the two two companies, as well as occasionally with others, although the theme to note in this case specifically is the one which DC has ongoing at the moment, over its #40 issue of the new 52, and that is to pay homage to well known movie posters.

homage

Tron Spider-Man

Some have been a bit forced, such as the Aquaman cover with Arthur as Free Willy.  Others have been a bit more inspired and required a bit more imagination, as for instance the 2001: A Space Odyssey poster for Green Lantern, which mixes up too famous sci-fi Hals in a space setting.  While the theme is a bit of a stretch at times, what doesn’t fit in exactly is the main cover to this week’s Jungle Book: Fall of the Wild.  As opposed to being a variant cover, it was the main cover and was evidently inspired by the movie poster for Life of Pi.  The cover even kind of fits, as Mowgli has been kidnapped off of her island and has animal companions in tow.  Due to its theme though, it fits almost too well in with DC Comics’ similarly themed month, which could cause some confusion as to what certain people might be purchasing.  Perhaps that confusion was part of the appeal on Zenescope’s part, for fans hoping to collect all the covers and then see another that fits.  More likely though, the decision to use this cover was probably made long ago, and it was just coincidental timing that saw the Life of Pi cover go to press for instance during the same week as the Wonder Woman 300 poster cover.

Review: The Jungle Book Fall of The Wild #4

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fotw004aTo say that this series got complicated after the last issue would be an understatement.  Although the stories have been deep at times of the four children marooned on this island and raised to lead their animal clans, there has always been an unanswered question.  How did the children arrive there?  And where did they come from?  And even maybe where were they supposed to be heading?  The first series focused on the consuming nature of revenge, and the second series focused on more general concepts like loyalty, but the third seems to be tying together two different angles, that peace is a necessity or it will destroy all, but also to answer how this series fits within the bigger universe.  After all this is a “Grimm Fairy Tales Presents …” title, and so far in fourteen issues there has been no sign of Sela or other denizens of Myst.

This issue picks up near where the last left off, with Mowgli abducted by some unknown assailant (seemingly a pirate) who has been playing a role behind the scenes on the island for a while.  While other go to rescue her, the animals of the island continue their fighting, not realizing that it will destroy them all if they cannot band together.  A hasty rescue is conducted for Mowgli (which does not make much sense in an actual timeline), but the heroes and pirates are thrown together.  There are some clever aspects to the characterizations of the characters here, specifically the island humans talking in their animal languages, which was handled well from a technical standpoint as well.

What this issue comes down to though is the launchpad for the final issue.  It is there that readers and fans of these series will finally get a payoff, both what the link to the larger universe entails as well as to see if the residents of the island can find a way to live together peacefully or if violence will consume them all.  As it stands what the series needed was a lead-in to these big reveals and that is what this issue manages in an effective manner.  This is a series where the second to last issue will not be remembered as much as the last, but with this setup it is only for the creative team to bring out the fireworks in the final issue.

Story: Mark L. Miller Art: Michele Bandini
Story: 8.7 Art: 8.7 Overall: 8.7 Recommendation: Buy

 

Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!

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the_uncanny_inhumansWednesdays are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in!

We’re bringing back something we haven’t done for a while, what the team thinks. Our contributors are choosing up to five books each week and why they’re choosing the books.

Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this Wednesday.

Brett

Top Pick: Southern Bastards #8 (Image Comics) – Have you been reading this series? This is the final chapter in the story how the worst football play rose to become “Coach Boss.” The second story arc of the southern crime series has been as amazing as the first, and cements the series as one of the best out there right now.

Lady Killer #4 (Dark Horse) – The series follows a housewife who’s also a contract killer. The last issue shook things up a bunch, so it’ll be interesting to see where things go from there. I’ve been dying to find out what happens next.

No Mercy #1 (Image Comics) – Alex de Campi and Carla Speed Mcneil’s series about privileged US teens having to make their way home after an accident in Central America sounds very different, and very interesting.

Space Riders #1 (Black Mask Studios) – From the galactic core to the outer quadrants, one name strikes terror in the hearts of evil beings everywhere: the Space Riders! Sailing the cosmos in the Skullship Santa Muerte, Capitan Peligro and his fearless crew deal harsh justice to the scum of the galaxy and in trippy visuals. It’s just too awesome to not give a plug.

UFOlogy #1 (BOOM! Studios) – Writer James Tynion IV has been on a role lately, and with this series he’s joined by Noah J. Yuenkel. The series is about a girl who just wanted to be a normal high school student but after being marked by an alien’s touch stumbles upon a mystery. It seems a bit like Tynion’s other BOOM! series The Woods, but that’s so good, I’m ok with it.

 

Edward

Top Pick: Wonder Woman #40 (DC Comics) – The long teased at battle between Diana and Donna is apparently here, and it may or may not be able to save interest in the Finch’s run on this title.

Jungle Book Fall of the Wild #4 (Zenescope) – This has been a fun series that has managed to capture some of the same spark as the original.

Lady Killer #4 (Dark Horse) – This series almost simultaneously lost and found its soul, but after this issue, it looks as though it is headed for a memorable conclusion.

Shahrazad #1 (Aspen Comics/Big Dog Ink) – The Aspen relaunch of BDI titles begins here with this title that was full of potential although low on promise. If it finishes its run will it get the change to realize it?

Uncanny Inhumans #0 (Marvel) – Its just over a month until the Avengers comes out, and Marvel hopes to capitalize on the Inhumans even more. It will be interesting to see what comes from this series.

 

Elana

Top Pick: Elric the Eternal Champion: The Michael Moorecock Library Volume 1 (Titan Comics) –  Moorecock changed science fiction and fantasy writing forever when he began writing tales of Elric of Melniboné for the Science Fantasy magazine in 1961. His stories were sex, drugs and a dark and troubled sorcerer warrior anti-hero before it was a cliche because he was the first to bring all that to the sword and sorcery genre. We are so lucky to have this creative team retelling Elric stories back in print again. Originally these were published in the 80s but they feel really 70s in the best way possible. If you like sword and sorcery books or hold a place in your heart for psychedelic genre comics you need this book.

Adventure Time Graphic Novel “Grables Shmaybles” (BOOM! Studios/KaBOOM!) –  I love Adventure Time. I think its one of the most important new fictional worlds. I don’t like “slice of life, humorous comic strips” and yet, when I started ready Danielle Corsetto’s slice of life humorous comic strip “Girls With Slingshots” (at Alyssa Rosenberg’s recommendation) I was immediately hooked. It was cute and I was desperate to know what would happen next. If Danielle can get me reading completely outside my genre I can’t wait to see what she does in a fictional world that I love.

Gotham Academy Endgame (DC Comics) – This comic gets better and better and I may be falling in love with it. A fun combination of soap-y and mystery. Charming art and lovable kid characters. The feeling is youthful but with enough ties to the Batman world to keep geeks guessing.

Spider-Gwen #1 2nd Printing (Marvel) – I need to catch up on this series and issue 1 is in a new printing. This looks about as Riot Grrl as a Spider-book can get. That’s a good thing.

Uncanny Inhumans #0 (Marvel) – I’ve been a fan of the Inhumans as characters for years, but I admit most of their appeal for me has been the Kirby costumes and visually interesting power sets. I haven’t really read many of their contemporary adventures– they never quite made the list. But with their new status at the center of the Marvel U and with a team this skillful I’m going to give it a go!

 

Review: Grimm Fairy Tales Presents the Jungle Book: Fall of the Wild #2

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fotw02covWhat made the original series in this trilogy so compelling was that it used animals as allegories for the actions of humans.  The humans were of course also there, the four orphans that had grown to adulthood having been raised by the different groups of animals.  This same dynamic was mostly missing in the second series, which while fun was still mostly just an adventure story that was set on Kipling Island.  With this third series, it seems as though some of the deeper allegories of the first series are back.

It of course depends on how much is read into the underlying themes of the story, but at least one theme is clear – war.  it does not focus on war as does many comics by showing some of the heroics therein but rather focuses on war as a destroyer of all, that in war there are no such things as victors, only losers that gained relatively more.  This is an interesting enough theme unto itself, but there are others at play here as well – greed (by way of gluttony), the natural order of the world, and the willingness to die for an ideal.  While there are underlying themes to what is transpiring within, there are also entertaining moments of action.  These are focused at first on the battle between the lions and the elephants, but then this action moves in a completely different direction straight into an unlikely scenario for the cliffhanger ending.  It is there that some warning is due for the quality of this series.  Parts of it seem like the first in the trilogy while other parts seem like the second series and it is still hard to discern exactly which way this series is going.

This issue ends up accomplishing its goals and proves that the creative team deserves some more respect for what they have accomplished before.  After all none of the Jungle Tales series has thus far been a disappointment, or if yes, only in relation to one another.  This issue seems to have the story line on track much more to what the first series was than the second, and despite the somewhat absurd premise for the the third issue, it would seem that the momentum will carry on there as well.

Story: Mark L. Miller Art: Luca Claretti
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy