Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Girls Complete Collection Deluxe Hardcover Review

Girls
Image Comics
Oversized Hardcover
624 pages
$99.99 (2007)
$49.99 (2011) Complete TPB
$14.99 (2005) 1: Conception TPB
$14.99 (2006) 2: Emergence TPB
$14.99 (2006) 3: Survival TPB
$14.99 (2007) 4: Extinction TPB
ISBN 9781582408262

Contributors: Jonathan Luna and Joshua Luna

Reprints: Girls #1-24 (of 24)

Synopsis: Ethan Daniels is trapped in a small town.  He works at the Teenie Weenie Mart, his ex-girlfriend is hooking up with the town cop, and his life is about to change.  He nearly runs down a beautiful, naked girl on his way home one night after publicly humiliating himself at the one, local bar (where his ex bartends, sheesh).  The girl seems dazed and he brings her home in order to help her.  Can he resist the temptation of this beautiful girl even though she is willing enough?  Hardly. 

Here kitty, kitty, kitty!  Good kitty!
This girl is not what she seems and soon there is a catastrophe of bizarrely epic proportions endangering the entire community of Pennystown.  More girls appear and escalating danger comes with them.  Something of questionable appearance is found in a cornfield and people go missing.  The mystery deepens as both the men and women of the town become each others' only hope and worst enemies. 

Can the people of Pennystown survive the coming of the girls?  Which side are you on?

Pros: Simple and clean art, good colors, good writing and especially dialogue, absolutely beautiful hardcover collection w/slipcase, tons of extras, it's for mature audiences - lots of naked girls running around and plenty of swearing, great characterization and interactions, some funny moments and interesting action (not that kind of action, pervert!)

Cons: Simplistic and a bit shallow (i.e. stereotypical), some minor plot holes, not compelling for repeat readings, the nudity is very subdued and not in-your-face enough, art is subtle not flashy, drags on at times with heavy dialogue

Mike Tells It Straight: What's not to like about a collection of naked girls?  Not much as it turns out.  The Luna brothers have become well known for creating good content (Spider-Woman: Origin, The Sword, Ultra) and Girls was a great read.  Each issue had a cliffhanger/reveal which kept the pace exciting.  I was expecting a lot more sci-fi, but the story really focused on the character interactions (which were damn funny most of the time).  
That looks kinda fun

I heartily recommend this story if you're looking for somethng outside of the superhero genre and enjoy a television show like Lost.  The only major drawback to this edition is the price.  It's expensive and while the art looked great in the larger format, it wasn't really necessary.  The extras were nice, but I'm not planning to read it again anytime soon. 

The individual trade paperbacks  or the recent softcover complete collection are way more affordable and I suggest picking those up instead of the deluxe hardcover - unless you prefer the way it looks on your shelf next to your editions of Ultra and The Sword.  Whatever your preference, check it out and I'm definitely planning to track down more work by the Lunas. 

TO BUY and Recommendations:
   

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