My word. I knew this would be good, but I had no idea it would be this wonderful. I really really loved the Hawkman/Hawkgirl story. I realized as I was reading it that this may be the first time I've ever said that about a Hawk-Duo story. I like that they didn't even meet up with the "civilized" part of humanity, nor did they go out of the way to praise the tribal people.
Angel & the Ape was a surprise. I'm sure I knew it would be in there from when I first read the solicits, but I wasn't expecting this at all. Loved the lighthearted nature of this story, and I'm particularly happy that we'll get the continuation of this one throughout the series.
Spit was so sad.
This book is just full of awesome. It reminds me a lot of those Solo issues, but this one will go on for five more issues. A true legend lost--cranking out incredible comics to the very end.
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I loved the first issue too, and will wholeheartedly support this mini-series for whatever awards it is eligible for in 2013.
But, and I really hate to ask this, were all six issues completed before Kubert was taken from us?
I'm so glad to hear this is terrific -- I've been looking forward to it since it was announced.
It looks like my LCS will be getting this week's comics on Monday, but it might be a little longer before I can get there to pick mine up. But this will be top of the stack when I do.
It truly is fantastic, Rob. The Hawk-People story was amazing. My favorite thing about it is that it is told from the perspective of two aliens who are visiting this "other planet", and no knowledge is understood that Earthlings would know. Brilliant. So much maturity to this storytelling.
HAWKMAN: This is what the post-Crisis Hawkman should have been. It’s kinda/sorta a retelling of Brave & Bold #34, but the story goes in an entirely different direction. This is the kind of comic I’d like to see more of: a simple (but not simplistic), well-told story with solid underlying themes.
ANGEL & the APE (by Brian Buniak): I am largely unfamiliar with Angel and the Ape and wholly unfamiliar with Brian Buniak, but Kubert chose well including this feature. Buniak’s art is chock-full of details, and reminds me a bit of Howard Simpson’s.
SPIT: This story of a young boy aboard a whaling vessel, rendered in un-inked pencils by Kubert, only hints at what’s to come, but already I’m hooked.
U.S.S. STEVENS (by Sam Glanzman): Highly personal WWII stories.
When I first heard about this series, I was indifferent to the non-Kubert stories, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. As editor, Kubert puts his own stamp on the humor and war stories as much as Harvey Kurtzman did with Mad or Two-Fisted Tales. Best book of the week, hands down.
I read this just the other day, and I thought it was pretty great. I had never heard of Brian Buniak, but I thought his Angel & the Ape story was pretty good.
I expected Sam Glanzman's story to be great, and I thought it was too. Joe Kubert wasn't bad either. ;)
Wow, I was really blown away by this. I'd expected the Kubert stories to be knockouts, and they didn't disappoint, and I'd heard great things about Glanzman, and his U.S.S. Stevens story was heart-wrenching. But Brian Buniak's Angel and the Ape story caught me totally by surprise. I loved every page!
He did something funny in pretty much every panel of that story. Can't wait for more. After this Joe Kubert series is over, I think I'm going to want more Angel and the Ape.
Rob Staeger said: