Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Is it Worth Ten Grand? A Roundabout Review


The Long of it:

I am trying to keep an open mind. I want to be able to try new things. I want to be captured and enthralled within the time it takes to read approximately 22 pages. I never picked up the Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman when it first came out because I wasn't into Zombies nor did I like black and white comic books. I never picked up Morning Glories either. This time I didn't have the Zombie black and white comic excuse either.  It was because I was biased against Image. I remembered how much they let me down in the nineties.

DC rebooted and I wanted to try many different titles but I chose two and am now at three. Marvel began their Marvel Now program, which as they say is not a reboot, but a perfect opportunity for New Readers. Marvel captures the majority of my comic book budget.  Image’s Whilce Portacio’s work on Non-Humans gave me the opportunity to purchase a digital comic book. Although this book is in print, this was the title I decided to purchase only digitally. Being that it was touted as a limited series I was only in it for four issues.

It didn't help that Comixology.com has sales every Monday. Other than certain Marvel issues being .99 they also occasionally have the same price for a three day sales event; allowing me to finally try issue #1 of Morning Glories, then issues two, but decided I would stop at issue three.

After purchasing all twenty five issues I figured I would stop and wait for the rest to be sold digitally and for .99. I figure I would have to wait until issue 50. Image surprised me by publishing issue 26 for only $1 and its digital counterpart for the sale price of one cent less. They conspired against me because how can you not pick two formats on a brand new comic book for the cost of a cup of coffee. Twenty seven was back at full price, and now Morning Glories is one of my monthly books to purchase.

 With more of an open mind East of West was picked up on the date of its release. Currently, issue three is waiting to be read, but Ten Grand captured me. I picked issue one up and looked through it. I put it back. There was enough for me today and Wizard World Philadelphia just had their convention this first weekend of June and garnished a good amount of my funds. I checked to make sure I had all the books I wanted, and the book called out to me again. The original reason I picked up the book because the title itself, the way it was written looked like it read Neil Gaiman. Maybe it was an omen.

I looked at the book again, this time issue two and the art by Ben Templesmith reminds me of Bill Sienkiewicz, an artist I hated when he first took over the New Mutants. Since I have aged, I have grown and learned to truly appreciate what a grand scope of an artist he is. The thought of not giving Bill a chance all those years ago and only buying it because of the Story Chris Claremont weaved, could I do no less for this tale from J. Michael Straczynski. Ironically enough, cover B of Ten Grand is from Bill Sienkiewicz, and what was even better at the end of issue one; there is a notation by Tom Mandrake for a future book called SideKick. At the end of issue two I get to see the original artwork I fell in love with splashed on the pages of my favorite hobby again.

I couldn't wait to get home. I read one other book first and made my way into Ten Grand. I was on the second issue before I knew it and began to conspire what to write. I sent out a picture on Instagram immediately to tell anyone paying attention that issue one and two are worth picking up. The scope of the story feels like the waves of the ocean as it flows up the beach; knowing the vastness beyond with the glimmer of the sunrise over the open sea are just pieces of what’s to come.

 OK Image, you have my attention, what are you going to do with it?

The short of it: WOW!!!

 Thanks for Reading

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