Reviews : Quitely, Judge Dredd, DC, etc.

Judge Dredd : the Pit - Joel Buxton has really got me into the whole Dredd universe and I'm happy to be here. I thoroughly enjoyed the Pit, it's quite the epic Dredd story I was looking for. Dredd is a stone cold badass and the character has an aura all to himself. It's no wonder Judge Dredd has so often crossed over with Batman, while personalities are quite different both are married to nothing but their mission for justice. My only complaint for the Pit is the lack of consistency in artists. It's a valid excuse to say most 2000ad books are collected shorts from 2000ad magazine or Judge Dredd Magazine leading to quite the variety of artists but it can be hard to follow who's who in the story. I guess that's all I had to say about the Pit, it's big, it's epic, go check it out. PRETTYGOODShimura - I have a new favorite character and his name is Judge-Inspector Shimura. He's part Judge Dredd, part Wolverine, part Ninja Gaiden.

I picked up this collection for the Frank Quitely art and it did not disappoint. Shimura was Quitely's first work with 2000ad and it blows my mind how amazing he was so early in his career. Quitely has art chores on the first story and another towards the end featuring Shimura's protege Inspector-Judge Inaba. Written by Robbie Morrison, this collection has many short stories with an assortment of artists. The biggest problem I had with the book is that Shimura didn't spend as much time as I would have liked in his Inspector-Judge costume before going on the lam. While there were a few stories that I didn't care for, overall, the Quitely art combined with the Simon Fraser and Colin McNeil drawn stories make me feel like I got my money's worth. I'll be looking for more Shimura. GREAT

DC Universe Legacy #8 - I'm pretty out of touch with the DC and Marvel universes so I'm not sure where or what this book is supposed to be. I wanted it because of the 8 pages New Gods story with art by Quitely. Thanks to Joel for finding it & picking up a copy for me. You're the man, Buxton!

So, 75% of the book is a recap of the Superman Returns saga and how that leads into Hal Jordan going nuts and killing Green Lantern Corps. I'm not gonna lie, as shitty and cheesy as the writing by Lein Wein is, this book really rejunvenated my love for those stories. I was in grade 5 when Superman died, so it was a pretty big deal. Now I find myself doodling the Cyborg Superman, Eradicator, Superboy (90's earrings with Fonzie jacket version), Steel, and even mullet Superman with the lame black costume.

The New Gods story? I'm not really sure what's goin' on & I don't really care. Quitely draws a mean Darkseid and Orion so I'm happy to have this book. GREAT

Warm Up Sketch : Shimura (3)

Warm Up Sketch : Shimura (2)

Warm Up Sketch : Shimura (1)

I've just recently read Shimura, published by 2000ad, written by Robbie Morrison, art by Frank Quitely (the reason I bought it), Colin MacNeil, & a few others. Next week, I'm gonna review a few comics I've recently read so I'll save the review of the book for then. For now, I'm trying to get a feel and look of my favorite new character, Shimura. There's 2 looks he has in the book, one as an officer and one as a rogue, rebel. Both looks are great. Right now I will be posting some B&W sketches but eventually I want to do a colored illustration of Judge-Inspector Shimura and maybe his female partner Judge-Inspector Inaba.