Rodney Barnes (1)Critiques

This Lando miniseries is a lighthearted, flashy, and fun romp but sadly, not a very memorable one. The plot? Lando teams up with oppressed slaves in an Imperial droid junkyard in order to win some credits to get some his enemies off his back. Barnes writes a pretty spot-on impression of Donald Glover’s Lando (which I enjoyed), and some of the action bits are inventive – but overall, this is a forgettable tie-in series.

I think the writing is sharp, and this volume really delves into New Orleans history (from Transatlantic enslavement to voodoo origins to Hurricane Katrina, etc).

I think there’s a way to include African-American/Black American history or themes without it reveling in trauma, and I think Quincredible gets it. The only nitpick is villain introductions are often rushed in this series. But I like dependable, bright-eyed Quinton, and I’m ready for another volume.

And Ms Adeliade and that white wolf were stylin’!

while it's unbelievably dumb that Brittany is going out with a dude named Big Baby (hope that's a nickname), love that Quinton's mama lets him know she doesn't owe him anything or automatically her affections for being a "nice guy."

While I’m personally drained from the real-world parallels/social commentary (black communities being underfunded/sabotaged, police brutality, protestors getting whooped as if they’re criminals, unsafe neighborhoods, etc), it works very well here. I feel for Quin. His desire to be accepted and have friends, his frustrations about learning the hero business all by himself, and his questioning his morality/who’s really the bad guy are all so good. Dr. Davis' motivation makes sense too. No one is black or white here. maybe the villain was a little cartoony tho

If superheroes really existed, I could see some asking if they would be another form of cops. The unrest from so much systematic stuff just bubbling over…I just really enjoyed reading this.

Also, I love the cast of New Orleans superheroes. Glow, Noble, and so on seem so cool. I would like to read stories from their perspective as well.
4.5

Here Rodney Barnes has given us a pretty solid story. There are some themes that didn’t quite pan out, and the romance angle between Jimmy Jr and Jose felt unearned and tacked on. But overall, I really enjoyed reading it. And though the primary storyline is wrapped up here, the ending easily sets us up for a sequel. I for one am very much looking forward to sinking my teeth into another volume of Killadelphia in the future!

Full review at Beyond the Veil (https://gobeyondtheveil.co.uk/comics/killadelphia-review).

Charles Soule's Lando book was a fantastic take on the character. He distinguished Lando as a master hustler because he's a bad guy who thinks he's good (as opposed to Han Solo who's a good guy who thinks he's bad).
This book is not that. Lando is a punchline, even to himself. A major disappointment given the great roadmap Soule provided for quite possibly the most interesting of the original trilogy characters.
L3's inclusion is nice, but you really wonder how much better this could have been with a more thoughtful approach to Lando's moral ambiguity.

Spring 2020 (March Live Read):

And now with correct time period read.

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And now we switch which actor the art looks like. || Hello. We are back to clearer, smarter, sharper pretty arts. || Canto Bight shout out. || You're so pretty, Falcon. Yes, you are. || Resistance bot!!! || I'm here for Lando posturing any time he opens his mouth and Elthree LOUD SIGHING about each one.

If anyone played Lando, this is a goldmine for gorgeous art and posturing.

My boyfriend got this for me for Valentines day. Perfect read since he knows how much I like vampires. Great solid plot all around with the perfect gritty artwork to match. I will be picking up volume 2 to see how it ends.

Solid comic-book-hero book, set in New Orleans with Black hero. Loved the ties to history and sacred land, and the nod to voodoo. Quin is a believeable teen hero, with both teen issues and superhero issues. Good stuff.

Advanced Reader's Copy provided by Oni Press.

I had a bit of a bad moment when I realized this takes place in the Catalyst Prime universe, but I think as long as Quincredible stays away from the whole Evil McEvilness Corp preoccupying Nova, Kino, etc. and continues to focus on community challenges and family dynamics, it'll be all right.

***why a maybe***
LOOK AT THAT COVER COME ON WHY WOULDN'T I?!

But based on reviews it has a few things I actively avoid reading about. At this point in my life I can't handle it. It feels somewhat dumb to admit that but hey we all deal with stuff in our own way, right?

I'm a huge sucker for the 'getting your posts and now you have to hide them' trope. Even if it's done poorly and everyone who says that that bugs them but still think Superman is the bestest thang since sliced bread... Well. Also I read somewhere a comparison to Static Shock. I grew up with the cartoon. Like DC had him and Cyborg. And Marvel had Storm. Those characters were Gods in our household. And Spider-Man for some reason.

What I mean to say is every comparison with Static Shock is a plus in my book. He was such a sarcastic shit in my memory. I don't know if that's true but if the main character even is like 10% the same, I suspect I will enjoy him.

Dear Future-Me,

Hurry up will you?

Greetings,

Past-Me

It's a shame when characters I like end up in poorly written stories. While the first volume started well but fell apart in the closing chapters, this one is weak from start to finish.

Quinton West is a cool nerd with invulnerability and awesome parents. His adventures are set in a shared superhero universe but the story provides hardly any toeholds to help a casual reader understand it beyond there was some sort of crisis with meteorite impacts and aliens. Lots of heroes pop up briefly without even any attempt to name them. The villain is a one-dimensional racist land developer who wants to build a casino on sacred land during disaster recovery following the latest crisis. Somehow he has the firepower at his disposal to hold off multiple super-powered persons. Good vs. evil. Fight, fight, fight. Done.

There is a desire to tie this all in with slavery and Vodoun, but it's executed awkwardly and haphazardly and ends up being nothing I haven't seen done better or equally poorly elsewhere.

I was lucky to receive an eARC of "Quincredible Vol. 2: The Hero Within" thanks to the publisher - Oni Press - and NetGalley. Regardless, I would like to emphasize that, while I received the eARC, this is my honest opinion regarding the graphic novel.

I must state beforehand that I am not familiar with the first Volume of Quincredible. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the story of the second volume and perceived it as comprehensible.

To summarize, when meteors fell to Earth, Quinton West was gifted with the power of invulnerability. Seeing others take up hero identities, Quinton decided to help his city of New Orleans in his way. Using his smarts, creativity, and a bit of training from his mentor Glow, Quinton is on his way to becoming Quincredible, hero of New Orleans! But even superheroes must do homework, and Quinton's newest assignment is to learn the history of New Orleans and Voodoo.

First of all, the characters' characterization impacted me, as Quinton West and his family and friends are round characters and, thus, relatable to the reader. Furthermore, because of the round characterization of the characters, I perceive this series as a great representation of African Americans within the genre of graphic novels. I am confident that Quinton can positively impact young black readers, making me happy, and counts as a big plus.

Secondly, I enjoyed the story of the second volume of Quincredible due to its uniqueness. I have not read a graphic novel volume that provides the reader with various perspectives on one storyline. Each character in the volume impacts the storyline and provides another perspective on themes, such as community, family, and history.

Lastly, the art style stood out to me and flashed me! The story of Quincredible is told through colorful, dynamic, and detailed illustrations, which add even more to this already great graphic novel. Selina Espiritu's illustrations are excellent and remind me of the classic American graphic novel.
In conclusion, Rodney Barnes, Kelly Fitzpatrick, Selina Espiritu are providing us with a beautiful story. I would recommend this graphic novel to YA and Sci-Fi fans and comic fans in general, as a light read with great characters and storyline.

** Disclaimer **
This review is based on my personal opinion and written with no intention to offend anyone!

I didn't know what to expect when I started reading Killadelphia, Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander's new comic. I had been a fan of Barnes' work on the second season of American Gods so I was eager to take a dive into some of his other work. Killadelphia looked really interesting because I love a good vampire story and it seemed like Barnes had a unique take on the genre - and boy did he ever. Killadelphia might just be the best comic I've read all year. It's this perfect blend of absurd-yet-scary horror and gritty, grounded, realistic drama. In many ways, it feels old fashioned and reminiscent of film noir, but in other ways it feels startlingly modern and poignant.

At first glance, Killadelphia might seem like a pretty standard mystery. In the wake of his father's death, Jimmy returns to his hometown and ends up trying to solve one of his father's unsolved cases. Of course, that investigation leads him down a slippery slope that ends in vampires. As often happens in stories of this ilk, Barnes uses this simple setup as a way of easing the reader into the story. He starts us with the story of Jimmy's fractured relationship with his father and we immediately understand why he'd be compelled to continue one of his dad's old cases. And because we understand that, we're invested in Jimmy on a personal level and are completely willing to follow him into these dark and weird corners. It's really effective and it's nice to have moments to get to know the main characters of something like this before you really put them through the ringer. And it's a rare thing to see in most mainstream comics, so I'm really glad Barnes spent the time to establish the world of Killadelphia and ground us in character drama before thrusting us into the supernatural.

But, of course, everything hits the fan pretty quickly and the comic gets really weird really fast - in the best way possible. In my opinion, all of the best vampire stories have something silly about them. I mean there's just something super melodramatic about vampires; they're dark, brooding, and kind of ridiculous yet somehow still scary. Killadelphia definitely adheres to this trend. I mean, the villain is literally John Adams, who had been a vampire for over two-hundred years, and that's a really silly idea. But it also really works. It's interesting seeing how this American founding father got from where he was in the early 1800s to this melodramatic villain trying to take over the world (including some genuinely funny gags at Hamilton - both the person and the musical). Equally interesting is seeing Adams as the leader of a cult trying to change the fabric of America - by basically upholding the status quo and just changing who's in charge. If that's not an indictment of certain aspects of American politics, I don't know what is. And, somehow, Barnes manages to make all of this feel truly frightening. There's a genuine danger being posed by Adams and you can really feel how important it is for him to be defeated. It's a remarkable feat and it's so much fun to read, even if it is a little silly.

However, once you get past the inherent absurdism of seeing a founding father as a vampire, it's easy to pick up on what Barnes is actually doing with this comic. While revolving around vampires, Killadelphia is less a story about them and more a story about humanity's past and its future. The idea of fractured relationships (particularly between parents and their children) is one frequently touched upon. Jimmy and has father have this palpably real relationship. There is love between them but there is also bitterness. It feels real in an almost painful way. It's one of those deeply relatable things that instantly connects you to a story. Some of my favorite scenes were between the two of them, especially towards the latter half of the comic. I'll always wish comics had more time for moments like these, but I'm so glad Barnes found a way to include them as they're honestly the heart and soul of the comic.

Also important is the idea of freedom. What makes a person free? Is it freedom from poverty, freedom from oppression, freedom to live one's own life? Has American ever been free for everyone or are do those in power always try to control those who lack power? All of these questions give Killadelphia a kind of thematic heft that's often missing from other supernatural fare and these ideas are explored thoroughly in these issues, particularly in scenes between Adams and some of the vampires he commands. While I initially came to the comic for the vampires, I stayed for these meaty ideas because it's in these moments that the comic feels grounded and relatable. None of us can relate to what it's like to be a vampire, but all of us can relate to the very real problems Barnes explores throughout the comic. At the end of the day, Killadelphia is this delightful mix of melodramatic horror and gritty character drama and I loved every page of it.

Every good comic is a combination of great writing and great artwork and Killadelphia is no exception. While Barnes' script is already pretty stellar, Alexander's artwork breathes life into Barnes' world. While the script luxuriates in some of the more fantastic elements, the artwork really leans into the gritty reality of the story. Alexander depicts Philadelphia as this dark, gritty city - almost like something out of a film noir. The whole thing just drips with atmosphere. It's a dark comic, visually and thematically, and Alexander does a lot of work with light and shadows - which feels wholly appropriate given the whole vampire thing. Speaking of the vampires, Alexander walks this really interesting line between depicting them as monsters and depicting them as humans. There are some vampires who still have their humanity, and he takes careful steps to ensure that's depicted, but there are other times where he leans into the more traditionally monstrous side of things. Overall, it's a really beautiful comic and Alexander's artwork elevates the script without detracting or distracting from the story being told. It's some good stuff.

All in all, Killadelphia is a compelling read from start to finish. It's a brilliant mixture of tones, combining traditional vampire melodrama with the grittier tones of familial drama. It aims a magnifying glass both at America's history and at its present, examining our flaws and our potential. It's one of those comics that entertains you while also making you think. The artwork is gorgeous and moody and adds a lot of atmosphere to the story without distracting from what's going on. At the end of the day, I cannot recommend Killadelphia enough. It's one of those comics that everyone will be talking about - and rightfully so. Now's the best time to hop on the train, because a new arc is about to start and you'll want to be there for it.

The first arc of Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander’s Killadelphia ranked among my favorite comics of 2020. It was a breathtaking, gorgeous, layered story that blended absurd-yet-scary horror with gritty, grounded character drama. So, naturally, I was pretty excited to see where the comic would go from there. That first volume ended in a way that opened numerous narrative doors for future stories. And that’s a pretty exciting place for a second arc to find itself. Now, to be fair, Barnes and Alexander certainly take advantage of those numerous avenues—but it comes at the cost of narrative coherence. While the first volume of Killadelphia was something new and exciting, the second volume feels like more of the same—with all of the pros and cons that come with that. The world is explored with more depth, but the narrative is often unfocused, with an ending that’s less of an ending and more of a beginning for another story. There's too much going on and not enough time to explore it with.

Volume 2 of Killadelphia feels less like a story in its own right and more like the setup for a story you’re gonna get in the next arc. Here, Abigail Adams picks up the pieces of her (now fully-dead) husband's plan, deciding to take control of humanity by force, rather than slowly eating away at the outskirts of humanity and living in the shadows. And that’s the gist of it. She has some of her underlings attack prominent Philadelphia people—including the state’s governor and a famous rapper—resulting in Jimmy Sangster investigating the murders. On paper, that makes for a compelling story. And for a while, it is one. But it all kind of falls apart due to a lack of focus. Instead of furthering the main plotline, much of the arc is dedicated to fleshing out the stories of Abigail and her vampire family. This wouldn’t be a problem if those backstories felt more tied into the arc’s main story, especially since a lot of them are very compelling and give Abigail and her vampire family a lot more depth than they previously had. But that’s not really what happens. In one issue, numerous pages are spent developing a character’s backstory who’s almost immediately killed later in the same issue (or at the beginning of the next, I don’t quite remember). Stuff like that makes these diversions feel pointless. Why learn about a character who’s immediately killed off? Now, to be fair, a lot of this is very interesting, so your mileage may vary. It just didn’t work so well for me.

I often complain about comics trying to cram too much story into six issues, resulting in things going unexplored. And that’s definitely something that happens here. There’s a lot of world-building and a lot of character expansion, but it all feels a bit rushed. Jimmy suffers the brunt of this lack of focus, as his arc feels woefully underexplored. He seems to be adjusting to life without his father, even taking over his father’s job. But then, the moment Abigail and her vampires start attacking people, he immediately resurrects his father. And it’s kind of like… why? I mean, the comic does explain this, but it feels like a lot of the previous arc revolved around Jimmy learning to move past his father, so it’s a little underwhelming to see him return to that mindset so quickly. Abigail’s storyline doesn’t fare much better. Abigail’s plan never fully makes sense because the story never really explains what she’s going for. It always exists as a sort of vague “out of anarchy, our new society will rise” kind of thing. And maybe its vagueness is the point, but the comic doesn’t entirely communicate that. Instead, it just feels sort of underdeveloped. And, honestly, given that most of these vampires know of Abigail’s past, the fact that any of them trust her to be acting in their best interests doesn’t quite work for me. This might also be the point, but I still feel like it wasn’t communicated as well as it could’ve been. All of the pieces are there, but they never quite come together for me. In all honesty, if the goal for this arc was to expand upon the various vampires, I wish the comic hadn’t done anything with Jimmy at all. Just cut away from him entirely and really lean into the idea of this being a pause in the action, meant to expand upon the various vampires. But, alas, that’s not what happens.

I think the biggest problem for me is that this is an arc without an ending. This arc ends on the mother of all cliffhangers, without doing anything to bring the story to any kind of a conclusion, and without that ending, all of the pieces don't feel like they properly come together. The sixth issue of this arc feels less like the climax of a story and more like the middle chapter of one. And that’s really frustrating. Had the sixth issue brought the story to a close, it would’ve resulted in an arc that wasn’t quite as good as the first arc, but still enjoyable. Instead, we’ve got something that just feels formless. It’s a lot of (admittedly enjoyable) world-building, the seeds of a plot, and the promise of a satisfying ending. And that’s just… not what I look for in an arc of a comic. It’s the exact reason I don’t read comics as they come out, choosing to wait for arcs to be collected in trade paperback collections so I can read the whole story in one go. For me, a collected volume of an ongoing comic comes with the implicit promise of containing a full story—unless it explicitly tells me that’s not the case (think DC’s Doomsday Clock being split into two volumes). To be fair, this arc ends with the promise of a pretty killer conclusion in the next arc, but that kind of an ending leaves the previous six issues feeling like you'd treaded water for a while. None of this inherently means that volume 2 of Killadelphia is bad. There's a lot here that will please most longtime Killadelphia fans—of which I am one. But on the whole, there were as many things that didn't work for me as there were things that did.

All of that being said, though, there’s still a lot to like about Killadelphia: Burn Baby Burn. Most of what I liked about the first arc is carried over here. The characters are compelling, even if some of them feel a bit underserved. The dialogue is so well-written, razor-sharp, and full of wit. The atmosphere is exactly the same; there’s still that perfect mixture of horror and absurdism. The world-building is excellent and the connection that’s drawn between the oppression of vampires and the oppression these characters felt when they were human is well worth exploring, especially in the context of how easy it is to argue that Abigail is only continuing that oppression. Most enjoyable of all, though, is Jason Shawn Alexander’s artwork. The artwork here remains as gritty and grounded as it was in the first volume, with Alexander continuing to play in a sort of noir nightmare world. The vampires get to be even more horrific this time around, as the violence is more brutal than ever. This is one of those comics that’d be worth reading for the artwork alone, honestly. It’s just really gorgeous work and I continue to appreciate how well Alexander realizes Barnes’s vision.

All in all, I feel like Killadelphia is a title that might be best read as a monthly thing, ignoring the confines of various arcs. As an ongoing storyline, these issues are compelling enough. There’s a lot of cool stuff set up here with the promise of a cracking conclusion to come. But as a self-contained arc, this is a bit disappointing. It’s all set up with no payoff and that’s not really what I look for from a graphic novel collecting an arc of a comic. Reading it this way feels like you've read half a story, whereas reading it monthly probably doesn't result in such a strong feeling. It's more akin to watching a TV show that's gone on a hiatus, where you expect these kinds of cliffhangers. Still, if you’re a fan of Killadelphia, you’re gonna find a lot about this to like. It remains one of the most daring and creative comics being published right now, and I’m very excited to see where it goes in its third arc, given all that happens at the end of this one. Plus, this volume includes a backup story called “Elysium Gardens,” which is all about a group of werewolves and tackles many of the same themes as the main Killadelphia title. It looks like “Elysium Gardens” will directly tie in with Killadelphia sometime in the future, so that should be pretty exciting too. Overall, if you’re a fan of Killadelphia, you’re gonna read this title anyway. And if you’re not, I don’t think this will change your mind, but I think you should still give the series a try as the third arc looks to be an exciting one.

I did like the main character Quin. Also, artwork is vibrant and good. The plot isn’t something that will blow your mind off. It does cover some important social issues but still needs a bit of improvement in some of the aspects of the plot such as the dealings with the villain and the conclusion.

Overall, a decent comic, hoping for something more in Volume 2.

Thank You to NetGalley and Oni Press for this ARC!

My review of this book can be found on my Youtube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/EjJYlndOwss

Enjoy!

It's my first time dipping my toe into this new superhero shared universe from Lion Forge. This title is from the second wave of releases, so there are a lot of established heroes running around that I have never heard of before, but the focus is on Quinton West, a high school freshman who has discovered that he has what he considers the totally useless power of invulnerability.

There's a strong Spider-Man vibe (both Peter and Miles) as Quin explores his power, keeps it secret from his loving parents, deals with bullies, and crushes on a classmate. I started liking the intelligent and introverted Quin a lot as he navigated all this, which is good because the book sort of falls apart in the last two chapters with the introduction of a boss character out of nowhere, complete with battle suit and secret headquarters. A sloppily constructed final confrontation is almost laughable but won't keep me from picking up the next volume.

Kristiss is a woman from a planet, Kulgroon, taken over by the Empire. Her people turned into slave labor to work on droids all day. She is hunting down Lando Calrissian to bring guns onto the planet and to her people in order to enact a revolution and get her people off the planet and somewhere safe. Lando isn't really interested at first until she promises to pay off an old "acquaintance" who is now hunting him down thanks to her.

Elthree, Lando, and Kristiss split up once they reach the planet. Elthree, being a droid goes inside the building and blends in with the other droids and looks for ways to help from the inside. Kristiss gets caught by the Empire and Lando could leave without selling her the weapons but its easier to sell her the weapons than to find another buyer so he stays to rescue her. Lando gets caught up in some trouble of his own in the Wastelands of Kulgroon by a race of people who live there.

This is a great comic and the witty banter between Elthree and Lando really make it so. The two of them going back and forth are so funny they make the book so worth reading. Lando, of course, is worth reading about on his own. The art is excellent and the storyline is amazing. This is a wonderful book and I give it five out of five stars.

Quinton West is a genius and living in New Orleans. He's a high-school sophomore and after THE EVENT he is gifted with invulnerability and he has to decide what he's going to do with that power. He's always wanted to be a superhero but the reality isn't quite that much fun.

It's fun and full of a variety of people and a good mix of realism and fantasy.

Borrowed from Dublin City Libraries.

don't you love it when supposedly pansexual male characters talk about loving women but don't mention loving any other gender even when they easily could ("women, credits and games of chance are the pillars of life" - could have easily been "pretty people" or anything similar but ok)

anyway, the art style was great and I actually love Lando and L3 but I'm salty about this

A fun read. After a strange meteor shower, Quinn is invulnerable and can’t be hurt. He thinks it’s a lousy superpower at first. Then he meets Glow, who also has a meteor-given superpower and she encourages him to do something to help his community.

I like Quin and how relatable he is, and I like how his parents are a part of the story too. The rest of the diverse cast of superheroes is great too – like Quin, many of them are just trying to figure things out as they go. The villain in this case was a bit forgettable but hopefully in future volumes that can be improved on.

I appreciate how the comic was optimistic and hopeful, and has a great young superhero for our times.