Meanwhile...

I wonder why publishers don't pursue married writer/artist teams with the same last name more aggressively? Just look at the space on the spine it saves! Since writer Kathryn Immonen and artist Stuart Immonen have the same last name, AdHouse only had to put one name on the spine of the book!

That book is, of course, Russian Olive To Red King, which probably features the best writing or drawing from either of the pair, and is their least commercial and most challenging work to date. I find even the name challenging, as I keep referring to it alternately as Black Olive to Russian King, Red Olive to Russian King, Black Olive to Red King and its proper title.

I reviewed it for Las Vegas Weekly this past week, and you can read my short review of the book here.

I also reviewed Lion Forge Comics/IDW Publishing's collection of Joelle Sellner, Chynna Clugston Flores and Tim Fish's Saved By The Bell collection for Robot 6 this week. I found the finished work pretty disappointing, but do keep in mind that the disappointment was of the purest sort: I was really looking forward to a comic book based on one of my favorite live-action TV shows of all time, by one of my favorite artists of all time (Clugston Flores).

One of the many mind-boggling things about it, for me personally anyway, was just how un-sexy it was. There's the bikini car wash scene above.

Here's a few panels featuring Kelly and Lisa in their underwear:

I know it's a kids comic and based on a TV show for kids (even if all the kids who watched it are now in their thirties and forties), but I remember that show being rather sexually charged (although I watched it from about ages 14-17, when everything was rather sexually charged), and while I can't speak for Fish, who drew the above panels of the oddly flat and trapezoidal butts, I know Clugston Flores is a great drawer of sexy teenage girls.

Well, here's hoping that Lion Forge does a Saved By The Bell: Remix miniseries at some point, giving talented, wildly-imaginative creators the chance to produce a Saved By The Bell comic that is as bonkers and stylized as their Miami Vice: Remix comic...

You can read my review of Saved By The Bell Vol. 1 here.

Finally, I reviewed Cyborg #1 for Good Comics For Kids. It was alright, but it was just alright, which isn't really much better than being bad in today's super-crowded field. Cyborg is a character that, like a lot of those created to be–or primarily thought of as–team players, was rendered uncrecognizable by the New 52-boot, which divorced him (and characters like him) from everything noteworthy, likable (or just plain him) about him. Sure, Cyborg got "promoted" to the Justice League from the Titans, but that would have meant more if he had worked his way up there after years with the Titans, you know? (Actually, James Robinson similarly promoted Cyborg to the League during his short, troubled run...but Cyborg and a handful of other new recruits disappeared from the line-up after only an issue or three).

I'm not crazy about the new, new, new, new redesign, either. I liked the previous one, with the C/gear emblem on the chest, better than this one. Please note that the above image does not feature the current Cyborg design, but I went ahead and used it here anyway, because that's my favorite image of Cyborg that has appeared on a DC Comic since the New 52-boot. Or maybe ever; I don't know.

You can read my review of Cyborg #1 here.