4.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome Sauce, April 26, 2011
This review is from: Astounding Wolf-Man Volume 4 (Paperback)
I can say a lot about how this book is awesome. The art is amazing, writing is just as good if not better. Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard pulled no punches in the finale of Wolf-Man. Though this is the last of Wolf-Man for quite a while it was fun for as long as it lasted. Also for what happens at the end, look into Guarding the Globe TPB.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
'twas a super dinosaur - not a silver bullet - that doomed the Wolf-Man, February 28, 2011
This review is from: Astounding Wolf-Man Volume 4 (Paperback)
If you're framed for murder... and forced to go on the run... If you're reviled by the public, regarded as a homicidal no-goodnik... All you have to do to regain the favor of the masses is save their judgmental hides from a monster attack. THE ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN Vol. 4 collects issue #19-25 and puts the kibosh on Gary Hampton's starring in his own ongoing series. He can bloody thank the fact that co-creators Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard have young children and so feel the need to produce work that is kid-accessible. Look for their joint effort SUPER DINOSAUR sometime in April 2011. For now, though, let's finish putting that last nail in the Wolf-Man's coffin.
The quick backstory: Billionaire CEO and family man Gary Hampton got bit by a werewolf and so took on the curse. But instead of terrorizing the landscape or whatnot, Gary donned a costume and became the superhero lycanthrope known as the Astounding Wolf-Man, with the vampire Zechariah as his mentor. Except that Zechariah was nursing dark plans of his own which included the vicious murder of the Wolf-Man's wife. Gary is blamed for this crime and is forced to flee, with his teenaged daughter Chloe spitting bile and vowing vengeance on her father. For the longest time now, Gary Hampton has been on the run.
These final seven issues present closure for several long-dangling plot threads. Kirkman resolves the Wolf-Man's fugitive status and his death feud with Zechariah, and we learn just what in heck the mighty, mighty Elder Brood werewolf has in store for our Wolf-man. Oh, there's a reason he bit him in the first place. Meanwhile, Kirkman continues to guest star other characters from his Invincible universe, and this really helps to cement the Wolf-Man in that continuity, makes him more relevant, really. My favorite supporting characters are Mecha-Maid (and her holographic daughter) and Gary's daughter, Chloe. Now that she's mended fences with her dad, the now vampired-up Chloe insists on accompanying her dad on city night patrols. Dad, by the way, is back in the public's good graces, having just saved Manhattan from the menacing leviathan known as... Gorgg. Yes, the three "g"s in Gorgg make it extra scary. One more "g" and probably even Stephen King would've dropped a load in his skivvies.
What is the ominous Gathering? Can Mecha-Maid's teammates, the now bloodsucking Actioneers, be reverted to humans? And to what depths of duplicity will Mecha-Maid stoop to achieve this? Who is that mysterious Gray Wolf working for the Global Defense Agency? Will Gary Hampton survive to the end of his own comic book? How many throats will get torn out in these seven non-kid-accessible issues? (hint: more than one throat)
It's not as elegant a concept as THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, but Kirkman and Howard's THE ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN still boasts a classic horror monster doing his bit for justice, and that's still a neat swerve. I've loved most every moment of it. Robert Kirkman is one of my favorite comic book scribes and, except for HAUNT, has never disappointed me. I like that he doesn't shy away from shocking the audience. I also like the unexpected beats he takes for his characters. One example is the Face's reaction as he's dug up, his epic schemes all dashed to bits. Jason Howard's art has evolved and improved from his days when he had a day job and had to draw this comic book in his spare time (it helped that ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN began on a bi-monthly schedule). But he draws some of the most badasss werewolves around. The final page of issue #25 is awesome and leaves a definite opening should Kirkman ever decide to revisit this cast of characters. Anyway, with this series ending, it looks like Mecha-Maid will be making her way into the INVINCIBLE title. And that is cool.
One nitpick: So what the hell was the point of Damien Darkblood, demon detective?
This trade also features an 18-paged sketchbook with comments from Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
An exhilarating conclusion, January 26, 2011
This review is from: Astounding Wolf-Man Volume 4 (Paperback)
Robert Kirkman debuted The Astounding Wolf-Man back in 2008 with brash new artist Jason Howard and although the series got off to a rocky start, the climactic final volume of this thrilling werewolf-superhero saga delivers not only a shattering conclusion to the story, but also comes to fix many of the flaws that plagued the first three trade paperbacks of the series.
Volume 4 begins like a big-budget superhero movie sequel with a cinematically larger-than-life supervillain fight, then eases into a relaxed juxtaposition different from what the series is used to, yet that sense of "something is going to happen" still hangs over the characters and when everything eventually does go to hell, the book becomes nearly impossible to put down. Kirkman has really pulled out all the stops here to make this volume as serious and dark as possible, and it makes the story so much better to follow despite some aspects of it still being grounded in comic unreality. Howard's artwork has really grown since the first issue but still maintains its energetic vibe and it's really fun to behold the action-packed set-pieces from his hand-drawn choreography as well as his full-page art stretches that masterfully execute the cinematic nature of the volume. While I have to say this is the best trade paperback of the series, at some points it does feel like it's progressing too fast for its own good and some of the emotional impacts the events of this trade are meant to evoke from the reader become watered down as a result.
Stunningly exhilarating and just plain awesome, Volume 4 delivers an epic conclusion to an amazing series, and I look forward to reading Kirkman and Howard's next project, "Super Dinosaur."
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