By Andrew A. Smith
Tribune Content Agency
March 5, 2020 — In these days of digital everything, it’s rare when we ink-stained wretches receive physical, analog review copies. And when there are nine of them – well, we tend to take notice.
The nine books in question came all at once from Titan Comics, a prolific and eclectic publisher in the UK. They publish comics, collections, collector’s editions and more in both U.S. and UK, featuring a wide variety of IP, both home-grown and contractual.
In this case, we’re looking at nine different books in widely different genres, published across five months.
COLLECTOR’S EDITIONS
- Marvel Avengers: An Insider’s Guide to the Films hardcover (December 2019, 128pp, $26.99)
- Star Trek: Voyager 25th Anniversary Special HC (February 2020, 176pp, $19.99)
- Frozen 2: The Official Movie Special HC (December 2019, 96pp, $19.99)
Marvel Avengers: An Insider’s Guide to the Films is more a cultural history, by way of interviews over time. (Courtesy Titan Comics)
Needless to say, I gravitated to Avengers immediately. But, given the climax of Avengers: Endgame, a reunion with the original Avengers can be bittersweet. I read the book slowly, over the course of a week, knowing it might be the last reunion I have with these characters.
Insider’s Guide isn’t exactly that; it’s more like a compilation of material Titan has published in other formats during the last 10-odd years about Marvel movies. It’s split into four sections — representing the four Avengers films — with the interviews, behind-scenes-photos and concept art Titan published at the time.
So it’s a time machine. What did Chris Hemsworth think of Thor during Marvel's The Avengers? What was James Spader’s approach to Ultron in the second movie? What were the Russo brothers’ goals in Avengers: Infinity War? You get the idea.
The BTS photos and concept art is cool, but the interviews are the meat of the book. They’re usually only a page or so long, but there are a lot of them. They include actors Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Clark Gregg, Tom Hiddleston, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Spader, Paul Bettany, Josh Brolin, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Sean Gunn, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbath, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Chadwick Boseman, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright and Tessa Thompson. (If I have to tell you who those luminaries portray, go to the back of the line.) Directors Joss Whedon, Anthony Russo and Joseph Russo get some love, as well as Marvel Studios co-president Louis D’Esposito, casting director Sarah Finn and Marvel All-Father Kevin Feige.
It was tough to say goodbye, but it was also a nice celebration.
See preview below.
As was the Voyager book. I seemed to enjoy the series more than most, and this book – which, like Avengers, reprints material that came out during the show’s run — gave me the opportunity to re-visit my reactions and opinions of the time. Now I remember why I found the relationship between Jennifer Lien’s Kes and Ethan Phillips’ Neelix so creepy. I smiled at the reminder of Robert Picardo’s acid-tongued holographic doctor. And I ruminated again on the welcome addition of Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine, whose presence allowed the show to explore what it means to be human — an ongoing Trek theme, in all its iterations.
Being over the age of 12, I have less to say about Frozen. Despite my advanced age, though, my rheumy eyes can still see that this book has plenty to interest those who love the movies, including interviews, concept art, movie stills and Easter eggs.
COLLECTIONS
- Doctor Who: Time Out of Mind trade paperback (February 2020, 104pp, $16.99)
- Tank Girl Volume 2: Forever TPB (February 2020, 112pp, $16.99)
- Robotech Remix TPB (April 2020, 112pp, $16.99)
- Bloodborne Volume 4: The Veil Torn Asunder TPB (January 2020, 112pp, $16.99)
See preview below.
I’m a recent convert to the BBC’s Doctor Who, so I am ill-equipped to understand the magnitude of the most recent season finale’s revelations as to the Doctor’s origins. Similarly, I cannot swear to the conceptual fidelity of Titan’s many, many Doctor Who series, although I accept it when I am told that they are indeed accurate.
What I can tell you is that I enjoy the TV Doctor Who for its cheerful cheekiness, quirky characters and witty writing. All of this is replicated seamlessly in Titan’s current Doctor Who comics, and I enjoy them just as well. So I can easily recommend “Time Out of Mind” for Whovians and non-Whovians alike, a TPB which reprints Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Free Comic Book Day 2019 and Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Holiday Special #1-2.
The story by Jody Houser is charming, and while the art by Roberta Intranata isn’t flashy, it’s serviceable enough, and does capture the actors’ faces fairly well.
See preview below.
Meanwhile, I expected not to like Forever very much, which collects the new, ongoing Tank Girl #5-8. Don’t get me wrong — I like Tank Girl as a concept and am glad of its existence. But it’s “post-apocalyptic punk” vibe, inventive profanity, casual drug use and anarchic teenage misbehavior is something best savored and enjoyed, like MAD magazine, when one is in the throes of adolescence.
But the new Tank Girl series tricked me by putting the four issues collected here in superhero drag. And frag me if writer Alan Martin and artist Brett Parson don’t do it well, while at the same time exploring some heretofore-unknown backstory for Tank Girl and her friends. I liked it so much, I might go get Tank Girl Volume 1: Action Alley, which apparently lifts from war comics and the future-apocalypse, Mad Max genre.
I’m less enamored of the last two books.
Robotech is a concept that’s been around since I was young enough to enjoy Tank Girl, and possibly even Frozen. But it’s never done much for me. This latest iteration is much the same; the story (by Brendon Fletcher) is about concepts I never cared enough about to explore, and the art (by Elder Demaso) is in the pseudo-manga style many U.S. books are affecting these days to attract a crowd of which I am not a part.
Of course, my tastes are not universal. If you’re a Robotech fan, I imagine this is exactly what you want.
I liked the art in Bloodborne Volume 4: The Veil Torn Asunder, so I probably would have liked the book if I had understood what was going on. See preview below. (Cover art by Jeff Stokely, Courtesy Titan Comics)
I have less to say about the Bloodborne book. Not that it was bad, but because it’s based on a video game I’ve never played, and a run of comics I’ve never read. The entire book (collecting Bloodborne #13-18) is about a character in a Medieval, sword-and-sorcery-type world who is sliding into madness. And he gets there! I think. So that’s good. I guess.
The art is impressive, although I often had no idea what I was looking at. I imagine those who follow the series were blown away, though.
ORIGINALS
- Minions: Paella! (March 2020, 48pp, $6.99)
- Assassins Creed: Bloodstone Book 1 (February 2020, 48pp, $9.99)
I may have convinced all readers to this point that I am a humorless fuddy-duddy. I admit to being a duddy, but I am not now, nor have I ever been, fuddy!
See preview below.
I laughed out loud quite a few times while reading Minions, the first of two original graphic novels about Gru’s henchmen as they travel the world to sample its cuisine. Fresh from the Despicable Me movies and their own spinoff film, the Minions engage in silent, Pink Panther/Road Runner misadventures that invariably left me smiling. It’s worth a second read for all the bits I missed the first time.
Assassin’s Creed: Bloodstone Book 1 is partly set in 1960s Vietnam, a vignette framed by a story in modern times. See the preview below. (Cover art by Ennio Bufi, Courtesy Titan Comics)
Meanwhile, we’re back in video game territory with the Assassin’s Creed OGN, which is just the latest in a long line of Titan stories set in this universe. Fortunately, I am a bit better versed in Assassin’s Creed than I am Bloodborne, thanks to the movie and having actually read some of those earlier Titan efforts. And I enjoyed this one well enough, although I felt it was mostly set-up for Book 2, which isn’t out yet.
The art, by Ennio Bufi, is obviously European, and put me in mind of classic “Modesty Blaise.” I especially enjoyed the scenes in 1963 Vietnam, a setting rarely used in comics.
So there you go: nine reviews of nine books. And that doesn’t begin to cover the breadth of Titan’s output, which includes “Shades of Magic” and “Rivers of London” adaptations; new Sherlock Holmes; Blade Runner; original crime noir, fantasy and science fiction; The Secret Life of Pets and more.
Sometimes it’s overwhelming.
Isn’t that great?
Find Captain Comics by email (capncomics@aol.com), on his website (captaincomics.ning.com), on Facebook (Andrew Alan Smith) or on Twitter (@CaptainComics).
Star Trek: Voyager 25th Anniversary Special preview
Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor Holiday Special #1-2 preview
Tank Girl Volume 2: Forever preview
Robotech Remix #1-4 preview
Bloodborne Volume 4: The Veil, Torn Asunder preview
Minions: Paella! preview
Assassin's Creed: Bloodstone Book 1 preview
Replies
The L.A. Times has been (once again) privately owned since 2018:
https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-patrick-soon-sh...
The TCA i work for now used to be Tribune Media Services. I don’t know if they’re still connected to Chicago Tribune, although a lot of my stories show up there.