I did not like #13 as much as I liked #12.
After a very slow but effective start to 'Tiger's Blood' in #12, it felt like you were thrown into a brand new adventure with a completely different pace and intensity, and the characters seemed reinvented as well, including our hero.
The two parts simply felt disjointed. I think the effective buildup in #12 was squandered amongst a sea of pain, blood and violence.
The tragic flashback in the beginning was my favourite part. I feel the violence there stands in stark contrast to the sometimes laughable fighting scenes between The Phantom and Mr. Ortega towards the end.
I am sorry to say that the art was not my cup of tea either, so I am now turning my attention to upcoming issues in the hope of finding something I will enjoy.
Pip
i am pretty new to the forum.
I have read some new moomstone and Even though the stories created from Moonstone are enjoyable, they seems to be relating the adventures of an hybrid of "Batman living in the Jungle", too much rage, darkness and bitterness that would fit in Gotham City but are out of place in the wonderful jungle world imagined by Lee Falk.
Maybe it is just me but even the early portrayal of The phantom in the 1930s are not close to the character featured in Moonstone Phantom.
With this said, i must add that i am getting old and i feel a certain tinge of nostalgia, yearning for the same sense of enjoyment i felt when i read the old Falk/Moore/Mc Coy/Sy Barry Phantom Stories.
Somehow, even the Egmont or the Australian Frew created stories did not spark my interest as much.
I would really think that the art displayed in the Moonstone Phantom would be more appropriate on a character such as Batman.
But then again that is my personnal view.
I do however praise Moonstone to revive the Phantom Character in the the U.S, as it is appropriate since the Phantom was originally created by an american.
a litlle illustrative history of the phantom character :
from Moore :
from Mc Coy :
from Sy Barry :
from moonstone :
oh,dear, it looks nice, which issue is it and which artist ?
oh,dear, it looks nice, which issue is it and which artist ?
It is very nice isnt it??
So whos doing 14 and 15 again??
I thought the first part of this story was very good. Nice pacing and a interesting start. I like the way Mr.Ortega was introduced and I like that the Phantom worked in the shadows. The art for the firsta chapter were ok but the coloring a little too dark for my eyes. Had to put on the glasses for the first time for a while.
The second part had better art in my opinions, but again with too dark colors. I liked the flashback with Marias death and I liked the jumps back and forth in time.
All the fightingscenes were quite tiresome and took to much space. The wisecracking Phantom was unnecessary in my opinion. But on the other hand... this is an american rendering and not a european (which often lacks the humour Lee Falk had).
Overall a promising start. Not the best I have seen from Moonstone so far, but far from the worst too. I am looking forward to upcoming stories from Mr.Bullock. The sneakpeak from #16 looks very promising!
I did not like #13 as much as I liked #12.
The two parts simply felt disjointed.
Pip
Sorry you didn't like it, Pippi. For what it's worth, 12 was originally written as a stand alone story, due to the fact I was originally just doing a fill-in issue to give Ben Raab a breather. When I was told to write issue 13 and takeover from there, I decided to experiment and do #13 as part II to 12.
Going forward, issues 14 & 15 were written from page 1 of 14 straight thru to page 22 of 15 and 17-19 were written the same way, so as to maintain the same feel/style from beginning to end.
oh,dear, it looks nice, which issue is it and which artist ?
It is very nice isnt it??
So whos doing 14 and 15 again??
Carlos Magno (pencils & inks) & Bob Pedroza (colors). It should be in stores in about a month.
I kind of liked the non-linear story telling. That was a big plus for me. The artwork by Carlos Magno (is that his real name or a pseudonym?) was also OK, much better than the previous issue. The story itself was OK, even though 22 pages still feels too short to create a good story.
It's the attention to small details that can make or break a story, and here's where I had problems (again, as with #12). In the flashback scene, we have Manuel & Maria (couple of Spanish and/or Portuguese heritage), muslim freedom fighters (complete with the stereotypical "Infidel!"), and the Phantom, showing himself in broad daylight and
instantly being recognized as the Phantom
and accused of being a government pawn. What the...? The Phantom is a jungle legend; those who have heard of him usually don't believe in him, and here Maria acts as if it's completely normal to see a guy in purple tights fighting out in the streets.
Groan... And again, our friends with the Spanish names (The Ortega brothers) speak portuguese (Mãe do deus!) and I find myself wondering "where are they from?" and "where does this flashback scene take place?", when I
should be bothered by the death of poor Maria. The idea of having an innocent woman die in the cross-fire when the Phantom is battling evildoers was an interesting idea. But it also makes me wonder if this is the event that led the Ortegas (and mainly Manuel) to crime. Manuel seemed like a good, sane and law-abiding man before the explosion. The Phantom apparently has no idea about this, and I would like this to be explored in the future, if Manuel Ortega ever returns.
I found this story to be more interesting to read than #12. Hard to say if I really thought it was
better though...
2 out of 5 points.
