Aaron WilliamsCritiques

A half-decent story with pretty terrible art.

Two of my favorites in the comic book world teamed up to write this. I'm used to reading humorous material from Aaron Williams, and he did a nice job mixing it into the horror story. I expect Fiona Staples to deliver the goods artistically, and she did not disappoint.
It was hard to keep track of all the characters initially-I recommend reading it all in one sitting. I wish there were sequels.

More good stuff from Aaron Williams-this was lots of fun!

Love this graphic novel series. The scenes with Zodon had me laughing out loud. Very clever and fun.

I love these graphic novels. The comics are just packed with wit, unique characters and interesting plots. The continuing story of Tyler as Moon Shadow, and how he's become a hero to the kids with superpowers, is wonderful. "Agent" Cecil is becoming one of my favorites too. Fabulous series!

Great graphic novel series. I especially enjoyed the Rainmaker storyline in this one.

not great, Bob!! but the art was great, albeit gross because elder gods, etc.

North 40 is a graphic novel compilation of a self contained series of the same name, published by Wildstorm Productions, an imprint of DC comics. I completely missed these on their original release in 2009-2010. The creative team was writer Aaron Williams, art Fiona Staples and letters Rob Leigh. List price is $17.99 for a 144 page book, but Amazon discounts to $12.99, eligible for free shipping if you order > $25 worth of stuff (may I suggest adding The Courtyard by Alan Moore and Only the End of the World Again by Neil Gaiman as a nice Lovecraftian combination package?). In all respects it is a handsome production.

Welcome to the incredibly tedious town of Lufton. Our story begins with Robert and Dyan, a couple of misfits, reading from a book from the restricted section of the library at Vidette U (of course, not too restricted or we could never kick start the plot, right?). Unfortunately for everyone concerned, even the simple act of reading the text allows a tentacled thing to manifest and spread its influence across the entire county. We then meet some other principle characters: Sherriff Morgan, Wyatt, Amanda, Luanne. Suddenly everyone is overwhelmed by some sort of noxious miasma and about this time absolute mayhem grips the community as everyone awakens from unsettling dreams at 6:33 AM the next morning. Some residents of Conover County have transformed into horrible hybrids of humanity and monstrous things, and busy themselves devouring or dismembering anyone they encounter. Of course any semblance of a plot is just that; what follows is a series of very loosely linked vignettes, where horror piles on top of horror. We more or less follow the adventures of our protagonists. Wyatt, an outsider with a loser for a father escapes several close calls, Amanda meets a witch who puts her on the path of destiny to save the world, Sherriff Morgan proves remarkably resolute and Luanne has some sort of second sight. A big dance is planned at the high school and whoever shows up probably won’t like what’s on the menu. Dyan periodically shows up trying to induce further carnage while Robert was just a harmless geek and his been exerting his influence to stop Cthulhu’s aura from spreading beyond the borders of the county. It turns out all of our new friends have an important part to play, trying to prevent Cthulhu from rising again. The witch and the sheriff know each other from way back, and each chooses a protégé to help out (Amanda and Wyatt). If it sounds a bit confused, it’s because it is.

I really liked this book but don’t expect a very tight plot like Fall of Cthulhu from Boom Studios. Mostly the story is an excuse for some pretty ghoulish goings on, each no more than a page or two. What makes it a really terrific read is the snappy dialogue, which was quite fun, and the outstanding art by Fiona Staples. Everything is amazingly attractive to look at. I can’t really choose a favorite panel but the image of Cthulhu and the baby with bulldog ant pincers were both quite effective. Eventually the world is somewhat saved but Dyan and Robert are still in the aether, working at cross purposes, and the door is open for potential sequels. North 40 is entertaining Cthulhu mythos eye candy, just about perfect if you don’t tax your brain too much by thinking about it very hard.

A fun collection of strips from the webcomic: "Full Frontal Nerdity". If you like comics and role-playing games, it's a must.

Aaron Williams has been setting up the ET storyline in PS238 for quite sometime, and the bulk of the payoff is here in the fifth volume, "Extraterrestrial Credit". Collecting issues 22-27, half the volume (25-27) is that storyline payoff, with assorted other sequences making up the first 3 issues.

The payoff doesn't work quite as well as it should (perhaps too many characters in too short a space to give them all something useful to do( but they're not bad issues, and the aftermath in issue 27 manages a remarkable level of drama and a great, slightly creepy tone. The first 3 issues are great as well; Williams seems to work best when handling a couple of different storylines, just not so many he has to split back and forth constantly. The first 3 issues are a good example of this.

Williams continues his character development, of course, and still has plotlines to work with after the long-running ET one is wrapped up. He's been doing this for a while now and it would be easy to fall into routine, but "Extraterrestrial Credit" shows PS238 is still worth following.

Aaron Williams continues the compilations of his PS238 comic series with "Not Another Learning Experience" (consisting of issues 16-21, but no small bonus comics in this volume). It's a somewhat idiosyncratic compilation - it finishes the storyline at the end of the last volume, juggles a number of short storylines and time-travel tie ins, and starts a new, several-issue storyline that forms the next volume.

In fact, he's juggling a little too much here - issue 18, for example, essentially introduces two new characters while handling parts of two storylines from other issues and adding capstones to another two. While Williams can handle a lot at once - it can even work better that way, as it did in "No Child Left Behind" - this volume does end up weaker than the last as a result.

Which isn't to say Williams has lost his touch - he hasn't; the comic remains funny and the character developments in the large cast keep moving, even if the plot crowds them both out once in a while. If you started the series, keep with it.½

"No Child Left Behind" continues Aaron Williams' PS238 series about superhero kids at a boarding school with the collected issues 11-15. The book is also where the series picks up a little - there's less time spent on character introductions, and heavier use of interlocking plot threads; 12 & 13 fit together (along with later issues), as do 14 & 15 (which ends on a cliffhanger, leading into the next volume).

It's a welcome change; most notably, Williams ratchets up the tension when he needs to without trying to compress things into single issues. He also adds some nice touches where scenes from earlier issues foreshadow or (in the case of time travel) match scenes in the longer storylines, allowing the backstory to add weight and humor without being required reading. The little touches make the world itself more convincing, too.

The longer buildup also gives space for more of the humor in the tenser storylines - while the necessity of playing some things seriously does reduce the space for jokes, the multi-issue arcs feel more expansive. As a result, they lose less than the single-issue serious arcs. Aaron Williams has used part of the series to build up to the issues compiled in "No Child Left Behind"; he uses the payoff well, and without losing the comedy.½

"To The Cafeteria ... FOR JUSTICE!" is the second of the PS238 collections (here, issues 6-10 and assorted shorts); it's a humor series about a boarding school for superhero children. Author/Artist Aaron Williams is still doing a bit of character introduction - particularly in the shorts - and assorted single-shot issues; but there's also the first of the comics that will tie into a larger plot arc.

He also gets much better use out of Tyler Marlocke - a kid without superpowers placed in the school by overbearing parents - and his straight-man routine than in the first volume. (The best of the volume is probably "Night School", the start of Tyler's training with the Batman-like Revenant.) Williams also starts to work in more dramatic storylines, bringing in Harold and the old Rainmaker program, which will be dealt with more in future volumes as the first of the multi-part storylines.

The higher drama/tension of the "Project Rainmaker" comic works well, but lacks a lot of the humor of the other issues; still, the quality of these issues is an improvement over the last volume overall, with introductions out of the way for a lot of the cast and Williams starting to use the concept a little better.

"With Liberty and Recess For All" is the first collection of PS238 comics by Aaron Williams. PS238 is a humor comic about a group of kids with superpowers (and one without) attending a boarding school for these "metahumans". It's a great idea, and Williams uses it well.

A number of the kids are rather obvious nods to existing superheroes (Superman, The Green Lantern, The Hulk, Sandman, etc) and I'm sure there's several I haven't noticed. Volume 1 has issues 0-5; after the basic introduction of the idea in "#0" (a series of shorter pamphlets), the first 3 issues are largely character introductions. This isn't to say they're not good - #4 and #5 are actually a bit weaker as issues.

Still, all of it is funny, and it doesn't actually lean heavily on superhero parody - much of the humor has other targets. Williams hasn't tapped into his longer storylines yet, so the drama and tension are a little lacking. The humor is plenty to carry it, however; PS238 is well worth reading, and you may as well start at the beginning.½

This final collection contains the Nodwick Comic Books 31 - 36.
In this hilarious showdown Nodwick and his employers have to face Baphumaal to prevent his taking control of the entire universe, however, there are a couple of subplots to be dealt with first.
Even if you're not familiar with all of Nodwick's adventures you'll still enjoy this very much. There are too many funny lines and scenes to count and there's even a guest appearance of Frodo and Harry Potter :).

More ps238 goodness! Time travel, the return of the Rainmaker, hilarity, hijinx, and super powered homework (mayhem) galore! Seriously, what are you waiting for READ PS238!

Williams again picks up where volume one left off. So many reasons for a reader to love this book, from the trials of the non-"powered" student, the villianous Zodon and his "V" chip, to the innovatve takes on "standard" super hero powers putting such a spin as to create a sense of newness and wonder that is missing from most gaphic novels today. You are doing yourself a disservice if you haven't read ps238 yet!

ps238 is such an excellent, pure, simple, entertaining, creative, funny, poignant, and impressive creation that it has been copied by many (including twice by Disney) and loved by just about everyone who gives it a try! Honestly, if you like graphic novels, super heroes, school yard nostalgia, humor, or just excellent characterization and stories, do yourself a favor and get a hold of this book!

Elementry school can be rough. Add superpowers to the mix, and it can be downright difficult. This comic series explores the lives of budding superheros and the staff of veterens who are helping them learn to fly, lift heavy objects, multiply and divide, share their toys, and save the world.