Two more miniseries I'm giving up on.

Albion #2 - Wildstorm (2005)



The first issue of Albion showed promise. I liked the art a lot and I was intrigued by the two main characters. However, the big reveal at the end of the issue left me flat. I got the idea I was supposed to know who the figures were. OK, I recognized the Cyberman but the other two?

Albion #2 knocked down the good will that #1 had built up. The interactions between the two main characters became shrill and the number of references to things I didn't recognize increased dramatically. Also, the frequent cuts to the "Prison of fucked-up wankers" were frustrating. The worst thing about the second issue was the obtuseness of the storytelling. Grant Morrison's stuff is wacked-out and nonsensical but it holds together. Leah Moore and John Rippion are going in so many directions with this that I can't follow whatever threads may be there.

Maybe there'll be an annotated trade.

The covers by Dave Gibbons (see above) are very nice and George Freeman is a spectacular inker but they aren't enough to keep me coming back.


1602 New World - Marvel (2005)



I thought 1602, the first miniseries by Neil Gaiman was just OK.

This sequel makes its predecessor look like Death: The High Cost of Living. New World is a jumbled mess that made me stop caring about characters that Gaiman started off as sympathetic.

The Jiminez interview mentioned in my previous post helped explain the uneven quality of the Donna Troy miniseries. In a similar vein, I have run across a transcript of the meeting between Greg Pak, the writer and Greg Tocchini, the artist, where they came up with the first issue:

Pak: So, the Hulk's in the New World and there are dinosaurs. He's gonna fight 'em!

Tocchini: Right. Dinosaurs.

Pak: I mean a lot of dinosaurs.

Tocchini: Sure, man, I can do that.

Pak: I don't think you follow me. You're not grasping the magnitude of the dinosaurage we're gonna have in this issue. It's gonna be a fuckin' Where's Waldo of dinosaurs. I want herds of 'em in each panel.

Tocchini: Each panel? Even the ones where people are indoors.

Pak: Yes.

Tocchini: Well, all right. You're the writer.

Pak: I like dinosaurs!

Seriously, there are pages and pages of big lizards followed by more pages of lizards. I like dinosaurs but a man can only take so much.

There are a couple of neat moments in this book but not enough to offset the lack of pacing and interesting story. I'm not even going to check out the trade on this one.