Comments | pxr5: second part of updates

pxr5

second part of updates

Dec 22, 2005 15:01

Ok, so I'm bad about things.

cosmicdolphin posted the list of books we recently purchased during his obscene discount (45%) week in his journal here. I have since read:
( Mage: The Hero Discovered )

Comments 5

dnereverri December 23 2005, 05:12:38 UTC

The Matt Wagner Mage comics are just fun. This is a beautiful bound hardcover edition, and as I was missing several of the smaller collected issues, we figured this one was worthwhile. I've now read the story cover to cover, and I still feel like I'm missing more. To be fair, I've not read all of the subsequent two comic series that go along with this one, so perhaps there is more detail, but foo. I wanted more depth to Mirth and the Fisher King (different from Matchstick? or was that cat Mirth?), dang it. and some conception of WTF the grackleflints/umbra sprite really were. Oh well. I was amused to note that Kevin was a total Mary Sue for the author/artist.

You'll probably be disappointed. Mage: The Hero Defined was written 10-12 years after the first series, and actually takes place about that much later than the first series; we never really find out what Kevin was doing in the meantime, and in fact, apart from Kevin, it's pretty much a new cast of characters. It's also grimmer than the first volume, imho, and not as much fun ( ... )

pxr5 December 23 2005, 13:14:49 UTC

Hrm. I've seen only a few ish for the hero defined, but somehow, I suspect that you'll be correct in that. The Hero Denied is still vaportext?!?! foo. Bad Wagner, no biscuit.

So what did you think? Is Kevin the Fisher King? Was the cat mirth?

It also occurs to me that Matt Wagner/Kevin Matchstick would look good in a Leonard and Larry comic. ...but I'm twisted that way.

I've got one of the Sandman Mystery Theatre collecteds, and will have to go back and reread it.

What else has he done?

dnereverri December 24 2005, 05:24:36 UTC

The Hero Denied is still vaportext?!?! foo. Bad Wagner, no biscuit.

Yeah, 's'pretty annoying.

So what did you think? Is Kevin the Fisher King? Was the cat mirth?

It's been too long since I read The Hero Denied... I have a vague memory of deciding that Mirth is the Fisher King (no legs, after all), but I don't remember if I was right.

What else has he done?

He's done a lot of other things for DC, most of which are pretty good if you like DC... Otherwise, enh. His best work for them was Sandman Mystery Theatre, where he basically got to build completely from scratch, and Trinity, where he was allowed to toss out the canon chronology and play directly with the Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman mythology. Trying to stay within established continuity holds him down a lot.

I'm only aware of two completely original works of his, Mage and Grendel. The first three volumes of Grendel -- Devil by the Deed, Devil's Legacy, and Devil Inside -- are worth checking out. DL is probably the best of the three, but you'll miss a lot of it if you ( ... )

hawklord2112 December 23 2005, 06:59:53 UTC

i thought the mage books were great. i jumped in with the middle set, then got halfawy through collecting the first set, then my local comic shop just stopped getting them and atarted refusing to take orders.

they're closed, now.

pxr5 December 23 2005, 13:15:18 UTC

Time to hit one of the Internet comic shops for your fix, then. ;-)