Reviews

Planetary, Volume 2: The Fourth Man by Warren Ellis, John Cassaday

ostrava's review against another edition

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5.0

OK... It's admittedly far weirder than I was anticipating. And more... "unpredictable" too. At this point I expect about anything to happen I guess.

mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition

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3.0

Came back to this after putting it down for awhile. And without looking, didn't remember it at all.

Sure this is cool. And it is intentionally unoriginal. But it's also obscure and confusing. I find it helpful when books have a plot and they somewhat follow it. This series has vignettes lifted from other books - James Bond, The Hulk, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Superman, John Constantine, Indiana Jones - it is kind of annoying. But always cool.

The color of the art jumps out at you, vibrant but usually not garish.

It'd be nice if this made sense enough to care.

nkives's review against another edition

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4.0

Finally getting back to the book club reading.

It took me 12 issues to finally get into this series. The first 11 just seemed like random stories, and for the most part they were until issues 12 tied them all together.

akrajkow87's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

inferiorwit's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

bdesmond's review against another edition

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4.0

I had started to wonder if this comic would be an overarching story or if it would be mostly one-off short stories; I had hoped for the former. It turns out it is a little of both, or can seem to be the latter and then be revealed afterward to be the former. Sort of like Sandman, and that's some pretty damn good company to keep.

What started as a three-star volume presented my favorite issue of the comic yet in Issue Ten, "Magic & Loss". Truly excellent issue. I reread it again after finishing the volume in full. The volume ended with a bang as well, as Elijah Snow's past rushes up to bite him and the murky waters surrounding him begin to clear.

I also find myself really appreciating the covers of each issue. Each one is unique and it's pretty damn cool. Looking forward to seeing where the back half of the story goes in Volumes 3 and 4.

sobolevnrm's review against another edition

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4.0

This was much better than vol. 1 -- great characters and plot while still maintaining that over-the-top tone of the series. Also had the fun references to older comics and inside jokes.

erissa_lestrange's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

hngisreading's review against another edition

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3.0

Volume 2 is more of the same, with further plot twists & surprises thrown in to keep it interesting. I hope the overarching plot kicks into gear in the next volume instead of jumping from story to story. I get that this is part of the narrative, but it can sometimes feel a bit disjointed. Ellis clearly has a whole treasure trove of scifi ideas in his head, but I want depth instead of breadth. You know?

crowyhead's review against another edition

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5.0

Oh man, this is getting really good! I love Elijah Snow, and the part where John Constantine (in a slightly different guise) shows up is kind of brilliant. John Cassaday's art is really well done, too -- he tells the story without distracting the reader with silly stylized stuff.