Nicolo’s Reviews > Solo > Status Update

Brendan McCarthy - As close to a fever dream, I got reading comics. Though this may be an anthology series, publishing several standalone short stories, McCarthy ties off everything neatly in the end.

Aragones - The inimitable MAD magazine cartoonist, gets his SOLO spotlight. It only has one Batman story, but the rest of the original stories were gems.
SOLO had a limited run, and not all of my favorite cartoonists made it in. It is a shame Stan Sakai of Usagu Yojimbo fame did not get his own spotlight. However, he gets to letter all of Aragones' stories here. At least the ones that needed dialogue.

Scott - Scott has since evolved his art style from his days on Batgirl, but obliges Batgirl fans by channeling his younger self for a single story and its already better that his old work. His current style requires a larger canvas to be enjoyed better as it evokes the giant murals that appear on walls in an urban setting.

Hampton - His stories are dark ghost stories, whether they be Batmen or haunted cars.

Kristiansen - His work belongs to an art museum. The best stories here are the ones scripted by Neil Gaiman and Steve Seagle.

Allred - There is still a bit of that manic Madman energy from the early days of his work. The artist dives heavily into that 60s mod vibe his work is known for; though nothing groundbreaking, it delivers on that expected Allred hit looks for his works.

Cooke - I delayed reading it, worrying if it would be as good as I expected, but it was useless worrying. It's Darwyn effin' Cooke after all.
It's the best section so far, using Slam Bradley pages to give it a unified feel, as Cooke just flat out brought the thunder and lightning.

Chaykin - His short stories avoided superhero references, except the autobiographical at end, and were stories of the war, romance, and crime genres, long forgotten comic staples that the major publishers avoid these days.

Pope - The Paul Pope contribution to this collection is the best so far. Especially his remake/homage of Jack Kirby's OMAC. I wouldn't mind if this entire collection is comprised of Pope's storytelling.