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[thefourthman]

Preemptive redding. (I'll double-check and make sure I caught your review)

Review the free comic from last week.

And Jonah Hex is the pick for next week.

preemptive? wow, I think I like Punchy better than you!

[Rockman]

Victorian Squid (this week)
Stephen Day
Jude Terror
GLX
Punchy
BlueStreak
guitarsmashley
starlord
John Snow
Sweet James Jones
thewhinyman
Daringd
Amoebas
SilverPhoenix
Eli Katz
Twig
AMS
Mammon, Fool Breaker
Comic_Doctor
Zero
Kerny
Royal Nonesuch
Here's the updated list as of today. If you're name's in red, review something from the last month. If your name is in bold, do it by Tuesday or you're out.

Also, new rule: If you want your score to count, actually write a paragraph about the comic in question. A paragraph in the RG can be described as four sentences containing a subject, verb and object. Looking through the last couple of months, we've had far too many "I liked this book. I give it a 7". It's one thing if you're in a hurry that week and want to get your score in, it's another to do it to count as an actual rule. I'm guilty of this too, but it needs to stop.

If you are having actual difficulties getting the LCS, please send me a PM with your address and I will shoot you a copy of my book. I live a half-mile away from a well-stocked LCS who believes its a fireable offense to run out of books, especially on Wednesdays.

Did I miss anything, Squid or John? The tyranncy is officially started.

Edited because I forgot a week.

Usually I write quick reviews when I have nothing positive to say about a book. I'll try and change that in the future.

[Victorian Squid]

preemptive? wow, I think I like Punchy better than you!

The Tyranny is working!

[BlueStreak]

Usually I write quick reviews when I have nothing positive to say about a book. I'll try and change that in the future.

Typically, your reviews are pretty good. I wouldn't worry too heavily about it.

Once again, it's because we're all doing the "This comic was okay. 6" thing too much. It's the only way.

[guitarsmashley]

preemptive? wow, I think I like Punchy better than you!

whoa whoa whoa. Lets not say anything we can't take back.

[Punchy]

My review will be this afternoon, I got caught up with other stuff yesterday.

[Punchy]

THUNDER Agents #8 - 'Cold-Blooded Old Times' and 'The Warlord Returns' - Spencer, Panosian, Grell and Dragotta

Story - Over the course of only 8 issues, Nick Spencer's THUNDER Agents has not only become one of my favourite DC comics of the last few years, but one of my favourite books in general. It is this book, not Morning Glories or Forgetless or Jimmy Olsen which really made me a fan of Mister Spencer, and each issue has become a highlight of my month.

This issue was no exception, THUNDER Agents is a book that just flows, the dialogue is wonderful, the tone is spot on, and every scene works. I particularly love the strange, almost parodying tone the book takes towards super-spies, certain scenes remind me of a slightly more serious Venture Bros, and that is high praise indeed. This issue, like the previous instalment is set in three time-periods, the present, where Colleen is tracking down her mother, the villainous Iron Maiden, 28 years in the past, where Colleen is just a baby and her parents have been detained by the THUNDER Agents, and even further in the past, where her father, the original Dynamo is still a part of the THUNDER Agents, and fighting against her mother.

Spencer does a good job of filling out the back-story of not just Colleen but of the THUNDER organisation as a whole, and wisely, it's not all spelled out at once, he lets the facts come out naturally, none of these flashbacks are info-dumps, they are very strong scenes in their own right, the dialogue in the interrogation scenes are very high-quality, nearing Bendis at his best levels.

One of the best things about this story is the silver-age sequences, where Spencer tells a story of the classic THUNDER Agents team in a very old-fashioned style. Doing scenes like this can be hard, as sometimes the writer lurches too close to just out right mockery of the cliches and gimmicks of silver-age superhero comics, you don't want your THUNDER Agents book interrupted by MAD Magazine. These read like proper homages, with a real love for the era's style. I haven't read silver-age pastiches as accurate since Alan Moore's supreme.

Overall, this was another gem of an issue, there was action, there was fun dialogue, and there were revelations. My only concern about the book at this point is that we're 8 issues in, and from the solicitations the book isn't continuing past the DC revamp, and really, not much has actually happened in the comic, this second arc has not even featured any of the fascinating new characters introduced in the first one, like Toby/Menthor or No-Man. I realise that the tone of this book is not plot-first, but rather character, but it would be a shame for the book to end with so much background detail set up but nothing ever happening in the foreground. That said, Spencer has suggested the book will be continuing in some form, so my fears may be groundless.

Regardless, this was a great issue, of a truly great series, if you've gotten into Spencer but discounted this book because it's DC, you need to check this out, it's unlike any other comic DC is publishing, and in a line that's become increasingly formulaic, we need to cherish these kinds of comics.

Art - Much like the book has 3 time-periods, it also has 3 artists, each doing one time. I was initially annoyed that CAFU was absent for this issue, as his artwork on the series has been fantastic, but Dan Panosian was a decent fill-in, especially as his scenes were the least interesting to me. Industry legend Mike Grell was great in the 70s scenes, as that time was really when he got off the ground, and his pencils really did take you back in time. I'm glad he's back doing mainstream work like this and an upcoming point one issue of Herc for Marvel. The silver-age art was from Nick Dragotta and it was, like Spencer's writing, a perfect fit for such a story, reminding you of such legends as Kirby and Infantino and of course Wally Wood. One of the strengths of this book has been the variety of artists featured, ranging from George Perez to Howard Chaykin to Ryan Sook, and this issue continued that. Each issue gives you something new art-wise.

Best Line - 'Maybe these two could play together sometime, I mean, if your kid can keep from screaming or throwing up when she sees Paige's face. It ain't pretty, you know?'

9/10

[Eli Katz]

Yeah. I apologize to the group for being a shitty tyrant and letting things get to this. I want to start doing front page articles again too once we get out of this negative rut we've been in (which looks to be this week).

Real tyranny would involve ejecting all those who, after two weeks, have not reviewed All Nighter #1. Seriously. It was a free comic book, posted online, available to all. It doesn't get any easier than that. If you can't be bothered to read something free and easy, I don't see why you should be in the group.

[Punchy]

Real tyranny would involve ejecting all those who, after two weeks, have not reviewed All Nighter #1. Seriously. It was a free comic book, posted online, available to all. It doesn't get any easier than that. If you can't be bothered to read something free and easy, I don't see why you should be in the group.

I don't have the internet.

[Eli Katz]

I don't have the internet.

That's the kind of logic that flourishes in tyrannies. Bluestreak should really worry about you usurping power.

[Punchy]

That's the kind of logic that flourishes in tyrannies. Bluestreak should really worry about you usurping power.

I would, but I'm too lazy.

[BlueStreak]

I would, but I'm too lazy.

And this is why my tyrancy will never be usurped.

[Eli Katz]

I would, but I'm too lazy.

That's what all usurpers say as they plot their coups.

[thefourthman]

whoa whoa whoa. Lets not say anything we can't take back.

This is the interwebs, everything you say can't be taken back, bender has already saved it for future use against you, regardless of any editing you may do now or in the future.

Stupid fucking robot. I like him less than Punchy as well.

[thefourthman]

That's what all usurpers say as they plot their coups.

dude, i have been plotting the coup of all coups since Yoni ran the group then.