Series Opinions

[Mr. Palmer]

I've received such great opinions on this board (and a BIG thank you to everyone who has helped) that I need to go the well, once again.

I'd like to know the feedback on the following titles:

American Freak: A Tale of the Un-Men
Battleaxes
Brave Old World
Cruel And Unusual
4 Horsemen

Any responses most appreciated! :)

[DubipR]

I only read Cruel and Unusual.
I bought it mainly for Delano's scripting and John McCrea's artwork. It was a wierd and twisted look at reality TV. Granted back when the series came out it was creepy, but now with all the reality TV shows making bank, its got a lot to say about our society....that we're effed as a whole.

Fun read. Dark and Twisted.

[FanboyStranger]

I haven't read American Freak, but I can comment on the rest of them:

Cruel and Unusual was a letdown. It was concieved as an over-the-top social satire, and it succeeds at really being over-the-top. Not much nuance or sophisticated political argumment there. It was probably the only book I didn't enjoy McCrea's art on, as well.

Battleaxes was just plain weak. Typical barbarian story with women in the lead instead of men, with more violence because it was Veritgo. Terry LaBan's Mutuk Wolfsbreath, Hard Boiled Shaman was a much better effort than this, but I think I'm the only one around here that holds that opinion.

Brave Old World was a letdown, as well, but better than the first two I mentioned. It was a really cool premise, but I've heard that it was sheared from a 12 issue series to a 4 issue series, so everything that had been planned was truncated or removed. Rivoche's covers are very nice, though. You have to expect more from Bill Messner-Loebs combined with Guy Davis and Phil Hester.

4 Horsemen was probably the series I enjoyed the most, but mostly for the art of Essac Ribac. The central story with the pop star bringing about the end of the world is ho-hum, but the Horsemen chatting with the party guests is a lot of fun.

I'd have to say, all in all, that these were some of the worst books that Vertigo has put out, but they're not so bad as to be unreadable.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Save your money and get 'The Unseen Hand'.
Great adventure/humour/bizarre story with a Dr. Strangelove take on the WTO and capitalism in devestated European countries.
Also has incest, psychadelic drugs, a led zepplin cover band playing in a war zone, drunk Russians with nukes, a modern day rasputin with a dead siamese twin who talks to him and the kept alive body of anastasia.
The more serious the effects of World Trade on the story, the crazier the surrounds get.
It's comepletly underrated and totally brilliant.

[DubipR]

Save your money and get 'The Unseen Hand'.
Great adventure/humour/bizarre story with a Dr. Strangelove take on the WTO and capitalism in devestated European countries.
Also has incest, psychadelic drugs, a led zepplin cover band playing in a war zone, drunk Russians with nukes, a modern day rasputin with a dead siamese twin who talks to him and the kept alive body of anastasia.
The more serious the effects of World Trade on the story, the crazier the surrounds get.
It's comepletly underrated and totally brilliant.

Seconded. Great mini that was. Terry LeBan did a brilliant job. It was the Trust before the Trust came to fruition from Azz.
I'll also push Girl, the other Vertigo Verite mini from Peter Milligan and Duncan Fergredo. Extremely dark English humor.

[Mr. Palmer]

This feedback is great! And very much appreciated. :)

Btw: What exactly is the Vertigo Verite label? What, if anything, separates it from "regular" Vertigo?

[DubipR]

This feedback is great! And very much appreciated. :)

Btw: What exactly is the Vertigo Verite label? What, if anything, separates it from "regular" Vertigo?

Vertigo Verite was nothing special, you don't need to worrry about it. Basically think of it like a Criterion Collection of Vertigo...ala cinema verite. Just a name, nothing else. Still the stories are just fun and entertaining.

Another suggestion, Hell Eternal by Jaime Delano and Sean Phillips. One shot that came out. 3 British college students lives collide and go to hell. Internet dating, white supremacy, guns, blooodshed, and 3 lives unravel before your eyes. Grim story by the original Hellblazer writer and as always dynamic artwork by Sean Phillips.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

This feedback is great! And very much appreciated. :)

Btw: What exactly is the Vertigo Verite label? What, if anything, separates it from "regular" Vertigo?

I believe 'Verite' was books set in the 'real' world.
Which is odd as most of them were just as messed up and crazy as every other vertigo book.

I think it may have come out just at the end of the time when all vertigo books had to involve magic or the supernatural, so they made up a label.

[MWGallaher]

Little known secret about The Unseen Hand: although the fact was never advertised, this miniseries was based on a DC property from the Silver Age, "Jason's Quest", which ran in Showcase. Surprisingly, it's a lot more faithful to its source material than many "Vertigo-izations" of moribund DC Universe concepts. Although the kinship to JQ went unacknowledged, the change of the lead character's name from "Jason" to "Mike" is probably a tip of the hat to JQ creator Mike Sekowsky.