arts / 8

  

Comic Corner:
Two Is better than one!

» ‘Hawkeye Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon’ review

Brittney MacDonald
Life & Style Editor

M lifeandstyle
@theotherpress.ca

O0000

arrative-wise, Hawkeye:

My Life as a Weapon isa
revelation. This book is funny,
compelling, and thoroughly
engaging. I loved the characters
and the entire mood of
the graphic novel, which is
somewhere between dark
comedy and unexpected drama.
The only thing that threw me
off was the art style, which I
think is too simplistic for the
complexity of the plot.

Clint Barton, a.k.a.

 

: Hawkeye, is a hero for hire who
: is soon recruited by SHIELD

: to retrieve a package for the

: organization. Unfortunately

: for him, the job is a little more

: difficult than SHIELD made it

: out to be. Combine Barton’s big
: mouth with a whole bucketful

: of assassins and thugs and you

: have a recipe for disaster.

But if you think one

: Hawkeye is good, then what

: about two? Despite all the

: espionage and running from
: gangsters, Barton still finds

: time to team up with former

: Young Avenger, Kate Bishop,
: otherwise known as Hawkeye
: version 2.0 (the female one).

As I said, I can’t fault the

: narrative. I found it thoroughly
: entertaining, and there aren't

hawKeye

Photo by stimulatedboredom.com

: many holes or issues I can point
: out. Soa big kudos goes out

: to writer Matt Fraction for his

: amazingly well-thought-out

: and hilarious plot. Too bad that
: level of awesomeness didn't find
: its way to the art as well.

I would not be exaggerating

: by saying that I hate the art in

: this book. The duo responsible

: is David Aja and Javier Pulido,

: whose combined effort comes

: off looking like something from
: an airline safety pamphlet. The

: anatomy is blocky, even with

: the female characters, and there
: isno shading to speak of. Not

: impressive at all!

Put simply, even with all

: the issues with the art, I would
: still recommend this book for
> any superhero fans out there.

 

Sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs

» ‘American Sniper’ movie review

Steven Cayer
Senior Columnist

OOOO —

here are three kinds of

people in the new war
movie American Sniper: sheep,
who are the victims in the

crossfire of war; wolves, who are : 8\
: surviving the effects of war.

the warlords and enforcers who
torture everyone who helps US
soldiers; and sheepdogs, who
nobly protect the sheep from
the wolves.

This movie shines a
revealing light on Texan

: cowboy-turned-Navy SEAL

: Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper),
: the most lethal sniper in US

: history, who enlists when the
: Twin Towers fall. Before he

: goes to war, he meets a woman
in a bar named Taya (Sienna
: Miller). They get married, then

being with his family, and

Cooper delivers yet

: another subtle but amazing

: performance as the protagonist.
: His character’s only reason

: for going to war is to protect

: his fellow soldiers—nothing

: religious or political about it.

: Director Clint Eastwood did

: a good job not glorifying war

: as other directors have done.

: He made us feel bad for the

: foreign civilians who try to

: help the Americans. Every

: shot Kyle takes is a gruelling
: he leaves for his first tour. What :

: follows is a gritty journey of a

: man who's trying to balance

: protecting his fellow soldiers,

choice. When soldiers started

: calling him the Legend as a

: nickname, he hated it because
: he was carrying the weight of

: his decisions around wherever
: he went.

American Sniper isa

: visceral, tough experience to
: sit through, but it’s still an

: extremely important movie

: that’s one of my favourites of
the year.

EVs

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Kind of

Photo by Columbia Records

Kind of the best Jazz for

Dummies’ record imaginable
» ‘Kind of Blue’ album review

Alex Stanton
Staff Writer

OOOO

I: 1959, jazz was king
and Miles Davis had just

recorded his magnum opus
Kind of Blue with his now
legendary quartet. While
Davis and his contemporaries
were releasing records by the
truckload, you would never
catch any “cats” complaining
about the lack of soul in

talent of jazz musicians asa
whole.

Hard bop and modal jazz
experienced a renaissance
from the mid-’5os to the mid-
60s, and if you ask most jazz
aficionados where a good
place to start is, you should
be royally shocked if they
namedrop any album but
Kind of Blue. The Miles Davis
Quartet, which included
full-blown rock stars such
as saxophone players Julian
“Cannonball” Adderley and
John Coltrane, was what one
could call a 1950s supergroup.

“So What,’ track one on
Kind of Blue, is likely their
signature song. After a short
piano intro and the iconic
bass line begins, the two-note
horn stinger is like the door
to the left side of your brain
being kicked open. On this
track, along with the rest of
the album, the band leaps

providing his famous take
on the trumpet. He makes
every single note count, as
do Cannonball and Coltrane.
Two of the best players ever,
it almost sounds like they’re

battling across both earphones : yecommend this album

: because you've likely already
: heard it. The rest of you can
: stop looking—this is jazz.

for saxophone supremacy.
Track two, “Freddie

Freeloader,’ sounds a bit

similar to the previous track,

: but the melody is still very

: groovy, the musicianship still
: impressive, and Coltrane once
: again absolutely kills it with

: his tenor solos.

Track three of five, smack

: dab in the middle, is “Blue

: in Green.” It’s certainly the

: anomaly of the record, with

: Coltrane and Adderley taking
: a backseat while Bill Evans

: supports Davis’ subtle soloing
: with a wistful piano melody.

: This one is more about the

: space between the notes than
: the notes themselves, and is,
songwriting or questioning the : for the record, my personal
: favourite.

“All Blues” is exactly as

: advertised: pure 12-bar blues

: with fantastic musicians

: soloing over a cute jazz

: melody. It’s nothing incredibly
: exciting, but for the many of

: you who listen to music for the
: musicianship, you really can’t
go wrong.

Forty minutes later, Davis

: finishes on a bittersweet note
: with the balled “Flamenco

: Sketches.” It’s not as slow as

: “Blue in Green,” but it’s a fair
: bit more sorrowful. Coltrane
: comes back from his two-

: song-long smoke break and

: gets the final say on this

: legendary record with one of
: the finest tenor solos of the

: decade. There isn’t a single
note wasted. Not one.

Although, I suppose the

: same thing could be said for

: Kind of Blue as a whole. It isn’t
: my favourite jazz album, but
from mode to mode with Davis : | could write all day and still

: not get the point across that

: this album is game changing.

: It popularized a new technique
: for jazz improvisation and
changed the genre.

If youre into jazz, I can’t