Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Monsterpocalypse #1



This comic is about a month old, because I was going to wait and review the whole three-issue mini-series at once. What changed my mind was taking a look at issue #2 a couple of weeks ago and remembering that they're charging $3.99 per issue. I'm drawing a line around what I'll spend for a stapled comic (as opposed to one that's got a spine and goes on my bookshelf) and, except for the occasional one-shot super-duper-sized special, that line is $3. As Marvel and DC sneak their monthly series up into the $4/issue range, I'm becoming hard-nosed about what I'll pay for.

IDW and some other smaller publishers have been charging $4 per issue for a while now and I haven't minded it because it was rare compared to the rest of my monthly pile o' comics. But now with Marvel and DC getting up there, I'm just not willing to pay that much anymore. Especially when the more economic book collections are always right around the corner.



So, I'll check out the collected Monsterpocalypse book when it comes out, but instead of waiting that long to talk about it here, I thought a few, quick words about first impressions might be in order.

Generally speaking, I like the first issue. It's different enough from what Jason and I are doing with Kill All Monsters that I'm not concerned about comparisons. Writer Stephan Nilson's giant mechs are crew-driven as opposed to the single-pilot mechs in KAM. You wouldn't think that would be a huge difference, but Nilson is really focusing on the crew of one particular mech whereas Jason and I are telling the story of three different pilots, meaning that we get to see more giant robots more often.



I'm not implying that more robots are inherently better though. "Better" comes down to the story you're telling and Nilson's off to a great start with his. The crew of the giant mech named Sky Sentinel is getting a new commander now that their former one's been promoted to a sleeker, more prestigious mech called Defender X. There's plently of robot vs. monster action, but the real story is about the crew's dealing with its disappointment as the members fight amongst themselves and with their new commander. It's an interesting approach and I'm counting on being able to watch the dysfunctional team pull together. I'm a sucker for that kind of story.

I'm just going to have to wait a while to read the rest of it.

Three out of five detachable robot fists.

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