Battle Of The Planets Volume 2 : Blood Red Sky

Rating:
Summary: This is How it's Done
Review: I liked Blood Red Sky. A lot. Firstly, it takes a universe I became enamoured with as a toddler and brings it back to life. Tortosa, Sharrieff, and company have done an outstanding job pulling the Battle of the Planets in a more mature and realistic direction, replacing the one dimensional caricatures of the animated series with highly trained but flawed individuals, each with their own deeper pasts and agendas. The artwork is definitely above average, combining with excellent coloring and layout to give the story an epic, movie-like feel. The characters are all rendered perfectly. Having said that, the action is sometimes hard to follow, jumping around on multi-panelled pages, and fast forwarding unexpectedly. As a comic book/graphic novel, the books feel is such that it never takes itself too seriously, while presenting a complex and intense plot to immerse the reader. This is an excellent journey to take for all Battle of the Planets fans, while giving new readers an engaging work that shows just how good the concept of Battle of the Planets can be, and how it should have been done in the first place.

Rating:
Summary: A
Review: I liked this publication very much, not just because of its high production values, but because it continues and fleshes out a universe that captured my imagination in my toddler days. Tortosa, Sharrieff, and company bring to Battle of the Planets a maturity and realism that was totally lacking in the original animated series. Not only do they eliminate the annoying and incongrous 7-Zark-7, they imbue the main characters with skills and personality that raise them from the status of one dimensional caricatures, to highly trained but flawed people, each with his/her own deeper past. All the favorite and integral characters are here and fully realised-the G-Force team themselves, Zoltar , Chief Anderson, and Colonel Cronus. The art is definitely above average, capturing the look of the characters perfectly, while combining with excellent coloring and layout to give the story an epic, movie-like feel. Having said that, the action is sometimes hard to follow, as it jumps around on multi-panelled pages, and fast forwards unexpectdedly at times. As a comic or graphic novel, the book's feel is perfect, never taking itself too seriously, while having fun with a complex and intense plotline. This is an excellent journey to take for all the Battle of the Planets fans out there, but at the same time provides potential new readers with a glimpse at how good the concept of Battle of the Planets can be, and how it should have been done in the first place.

Rating:
Summary: better than some comics in this series
Review: This graphic novel was part of a spotty comic book adaptation of the classic goofy cartoon. GOOD NEWS: Cool art. I loved the cover art on most of these books. BAD: The characters were often nothing like the cartoon and were often very unlikable and as a monthly comic it was hard for me to keep forking over my cash to read about them. I wanted a new comic based on the old cartoon but with more modern pacing, action, plot, and characters that were more introspective versions of their likable selves from the cartoon. Instead the charm of the old show was often gone, "edgy" stuff was just stuck into things in a poor attempt at achieving modern coolness, and beloved characters had become #!$*s. Not a good start. The comic didn't last. Before it ended the writers managed to fix some of their mistakes to some degree. A number of the issues compiled into this graphic novel are some of the better ones of the series so this might be worth your time and money if you feel the need for a BOTP graphic novel. Just don't expect too much and get it mainly for the art.