| #28 | 11/24/04 | #3 |
BURP! Well, pardon me. Hey folks, Ambush Bug here with another episode of AICN COMICS. Hope you all had a great Turkey Day. We sure did. The @$$holes are still recovering from this year’s all you can eat chow-down at @-Hole HQ. Vroom Socko supplied the mashed taters, Buzz Maverik wowed us all with his special rum-soaked dressing, and I think (hope?) that was a turkey that Sleazy G cooked. But fear not. Between hangovers and bouts of heartburn, the Holes found the time to bang out some more reviews for your reading pleasure. So scroll down and take a look at what we have in this week’s pull, while I bust out some asprin and tums for the guys.
(Click title to go directly to the review)
JUDGE DREDD: JUDGEMENT DAY TPB
SUPREME POWER #13
GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH #2
FRANK IRONWINE #1
DISTRICT X #7
HUMAN TARGET: FINAL CUT TPB
BATGIRL #58
CHEAP SHOTS!
JUDGE DREDD: JUDGMENT DAY (TPB)
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artists: Peter Doherty, Carlos Ezquerra, Chris Halls, Dean Ormoston, & Anthony Williams
Publisher: DC Comics/2000 AD
Reviewed by Dave Farabee
“Of all the protagonists headlining foreign comics, from Tintin to LONE WOLF & CUB’s Ogami to Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese, Judge Dredd is perhaps the most attuned to American superhero sensibilities - iconic visuals, heavy on the action, and lots of bad, bad dudes getting their asses stomped in the name of justice.”
It’s probably boorish of me to use that quote. It’s from my own review of THE BATMAN/JUDGE DREDD FILES a few months ago, but I think it cuts to the heart of why DC’s partnership with Dredd publisher 2000 A.D. is something that American superhero readers might take an interest in. I know I had a good bit of fun watching Bats and Dredd butt heads, then team up to kick the crap out of the bad guys, and I had even more fun with Dark Horse’s recent collection, JUDGE DREDD VERSUS ALIENS. First time I’ve ever read a good Aliens comic crossover…well…ever!
So those were my warm-up reviews. A little testing of the waters before the DC/2000 A.D. venture really kicked in with reprints of non-crossover Dredd material, the first of which hit just recently. Titled JUDGE DREDD: JUDGEMENT DAY, it’s got no less than Vertigo’s second favorite son, Garth Ennis, on the writing credits, and a plot involving a massive zombie invasion of Earth. DC’s approach to reprinting decades of Judge Dredd material is pretty smart: skip a massive chronological project and just stick to “best of” collections. With Ennis, trigger-happy fascist cops and zombies for a first outing, what could possibly go wrong?
Err…
Bad news, gang.
The empty-headedness that was kind of endearing as part of the Judge Dredd crossover comics turns out to be just as prevalent in this purebred trade paperback reprinting 21 serials from 2000 A.D. MAGAZINE. Somehow I was expecting more, something at least on par with the better American superhero outings, but JUDGMENT DAY is just kind of…stupid.
Simple premise: Dredd and a host of trainees are investigating the disappearance of a group of miners in “The Scorched Earth” – the nuclear-ravaged wasteland of Dredd’s future – when a legion of zombies numbering in the tens of millions rises up. The zombies begin to march on Mega-City One, the foremost megalopolis of Dredd’s world, even as zombies likewise rise up the world over and descend on all of Earth’s cities. And really, that’s about it.
It’s all a big Alamo-style last stand in which Dredd and all the head Judges stage massive defenses against a hopeless cause, maybe comparable to an Avengers versus Thanos epic, but without a strong story to back it or anything approaching a clever follow-through. Ennis’s usual black humor is on display, of course, though it feels decidedly toothless and PG-13 in Dredd’s world of swear words like “Drokk” or “Holy Grud!” Even the trademark Ennis ultra-violence runs a bit flat. At one point Dredd’s been buried beneath some rubble and just as a zombie’s about to bite his arm, Dredd pops up, says, “Don’t forget the appetizer,” and shoots its head off.
That’s Hollywood shit. Where’s the creative black humor, man?
The culprit behind the zombie uprising turns out to be a standard soliloquy-spouting villain whose back-story is practically dashed off. I guess there’s a wry humor to be found in his hastily-told, five-page origin: persecuted school kid in the future takes up necromancy, expands his powers on meeting an old demon foe of Dredd’s, and travels back in time to commit planetary genocide during Dredd’s more primitive and defenseless era. Seems a spoof on canned villain origins, but is that worth your fifteen bucks? Will you appreciate the attempts at epic drama when billions die and cities are nuked when the villain’s got such a silly origin and spends his vignettes quipping with undead minions?
Maybe I’m just not Brit enough. I recognize the absurdist humor of the super-zombies at the end singing zombie lyrics to the tune of Louis Prima’s “I Wanna Be Like You” as they fight Dredd and his pals…I just don’t find it funny. Maybe you will.
What small depth there is to be found in this volume is standard Ennis “war story” stuff. There’s an old enemy from the future, a bounty hunter, who Dredd’s forced to team up with – very manly - and there’s many a last stand as valiant Judges from around the world sacrifice their lives in blazes of glory. It’s all very weightless, though. I almost had a sense that, unlike most American superhero books now written for a 20-something-and-up audience, Judge Dredd’s adventures target the thirteen-year-old audience we once had. Nothing wrong with that, of course. I mean, as a kid I probably would’ve eaten this stuff up. Dopey violence drawn in a sort of HEAVY METAL style, no thinking required? Very much the oeuvre of teenage metalheads.
Art? Passable but unremarkable. Each six-to-ten-page chapter is drawn by a different artist, all of ‘em working some angle on the Brit-macho style of big guns, thick necks, and gleamingly airbrushed technology, but I think I was spoiled by the Judge Dredd crossover books. Simon Bisley seems to be the top dog when it comes to painting Brit-macho, and the Bisley-type artists in JUDGMENT DAY can’t quite measure up to him. Likewise, the more linear artists can’t match the detail and world-building qualities of Henry Flint from JUDGE DREDD VERSUS ALIENS. Even the incidental artistic dictates of a trade made up from 21 serialized chapters were an annoyance, said chapters each beginning with either a splash-page or half-page splash. It’s like having a sudden, arbitrary BIG MOMENT about every ten pages.
Bugger.
I wasn’t expect a lot of depth from a JUDGE DREDD comic, but I did expect something just a touch deeper or cleverer than I got in his team-ups with Batman and his fights with those pesky Aliens…and it didn’t happen. Strike one for authentic Dredd. Better luck next time, mate.
SUPREME POWER #13
Writer: J. Michael Straczzynski
Pencils: Gary Frank
Inks: John Sibal
Publisher: Marvel MAX
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
There aren’t too many Marvel books that I get excited about any more. The company that once housed some of my most favorite characters in comics have shafted their own bread and butter (the long-time fans and the characters themselves) while trying to cash in on big name (and even bigger ego-ed) creators who half-@$$ it in most of the time and attempt to make a quick buck from the mindless Marvel Zombies with over-hyped events that promise much, but never pay off in the end. Lately, my negative reviews of Marvel have been pared down. It’s not because I’ve changed my mind about the sheer shittiness in the way Marvel has been handling their characters. I’ve simply fought back the urge to continue to buy comics that I have bought forever and walked away from them. There are a few books that I still follow from the Rundown Shed of Ideas. These books are exceptions to the rule in my book and exemplify that there are a few diamonds in that pile of coal. SHE-HULK, RUNAWAYS, MADROX; these comics break what has become the norm at Marvel. They aren’t paced for trade. They aren’t afraid to show action or adventure or *gasp* super-heroes in costumes doing things heroic. They don’t fill page after page with useless chatter, building up to another issue of the same thing. I like these books because they tell good, fun stories and don’t follow what seems to be the Marvel mandate these days. SUPREME POWER is another book that breaks the mold and stands out as one of the best books Marvel has to offer.
It’s funny, though. You would think that out of all of Marvel’s books, I would be frustrated the most with SUPREME POWER. The plot definitely hasn’t been racing along. It’s taken thirteen issues for this group of heroes to actually work together. Writer J. Michael Straczynski has taken his time developing what has become an intricate plot involving aliens, racial relations, morality, heroism, villainy, and all types of cool weirdness. Throughout this series, JMS has deconstructed what it means to be a hero by showing us various fully developed aspects of the iconic heroes we have grown up with. JMS has patterned his cast after the Squadron Supreme which itself was patterned after DC’s icons of the JLA. In issue #13, JMS brings together three of these characters for the first time.
But the reason why I like SUPREME POWER, despite the fact that it has taken this long for the team to come together, is the fact that this book is not paced for trade. The pacing is cinematic, true, but it feels more like an episodic version of a television series than something stretched out paper thin to fill a trade and the pockets of Marvel. The overall plot moves along from one issue to the next, but every issue has a beginning that introduces the struggle of the issue, a middle that deals with it, and an end that teases you to come back for more next month. That’s what all good comics should have. In this issue, Hyperion and Nighthawk meet and talk about a serial killer that may have paranormal abilities. A plan is formulated and by the end of the issue, Nighthawk, Hyperion, and the Blur have tracked the killer down. I didn’t put this book down feeling like I read the first chapter and have to wait three issues for something relevant to happen. In SUPREME POWER, something important and exciting happens in every issue. Each issue is meaty; stuffed with cool character interactions, intense action, and intelligent twists and turns. Finishing an issue of SUPREME POWER is the comic book equivalent of Thanksgiving. Afterwards, you feel full, content, and ready to zone out in front of the TV for a nap.
Artist Gary Frank has worked quite a bit with writer JMS. His work on MIDNIGHT NATION stood out as some of the most emotive and powerful art I’ve ever read. His work melds seamlessly with JMS’ writing. This is a classic creative team, one made even more powerful by John SIbal’s strong inks. Frank and Sibal are illustrating along the classic, old-school tradition with clean lines and strong panels. Gary Frank may have surpassed such artists as Kevin McGuire and Steve Dillon as the best facial expression artist in comics. His work on this book is as strong as it gets. Just click on that cover image above and check out how beautiful that image is.
JMS is telling a wide-spanning story here, but he doesn’t meander through the storyline aimlessly, dedicating issues to nothing but filler. JMS makes every issue count. If you miss one, you’ve definitely missed something important. Don’t miss SUPREME POWER. The story is not the most approachable if you haven’t been reading the series from the beginning, but pick up an issue if you haven’t yet. If you like what you’re reading, go back and pick up the trades. This comic is worth the effort of seeking out those back issues to experience this epic from the start. If Marvel published more comics like this one, they’d still have me as a dedicated Marvel Zombie.
GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH #2
Geoff Johns: Writer
Ethan Van Sciver: Artist
DC Comics: Publisher
Vroom Socko: Honest and Fearless
There are two kinds of “Event” comics out there these days. The first is the Shake-Up storyline, where characters have what is known as a really bad day. Supporting characters are usually killed, destruction runs rampant, and Things Will Never Be The Same. (At least, until a new creative team comes on the book and Things Return To Their Former Glory.) This “Event” can be seen in such stories as Our Worlds At War, Onslaught, and every third X-Men arc.
Then there’s the “Event” typified by this book, the Back To Basics story that strips away years of awkward, exploitive, hype-ridden, and just plain bad writing. A story driven by inner demons and redemption rather than sound and fury symbolizing nothing. A story that reminds us all just why these people are heroes in the first place. Oh yeah, this is the good stuff.
But what’s really great about this book is that it’s living up to its name. This isn’t Hal Jordan: Reborn, after all. Everyone who’s been in the Green Lantern Corps is receiving the same treatment as Hal. John Stewart is starting to show some of that anti-authority attitude that was seen in his initial appearance. Guy’s body has rejected those stupid as all hell alien powers. And Kyle, well he may just be the strongest GL the Corps has ever seen.
You see, something is corrupting the rings of the remaining Green Lanterns, something that is driving them to madness. The only person with a power ring that hasn’t been affected yet is Kyle, who is refusing to use his ring out of fear that it too will make him unstable. That Kyle is somewhat protected because he is lacking one of the basic traits of the Corps is one of the most delicious ironies this story has to offer.
And then there’s Hal, the center of this story. But he’s not the central character, not really. Excluding one flashback early in this issue, neither of the two books out so far has been written from Hal’s point of view. Rather, it’s everyone else’s perception of Hal, from Guy and John to Green Arrow and Batman, which has been the primary focus. But with Hal now actively fighting the influence of the Spectre, along with the ominous and oft repeated line “Parallax is coming” leads one to believe that this will be changing in the next issue. For the start at least, it’s been a refreshing change of pace.
It’s a given that Geoff Johns is killing on this book. He’s Geoff Johns, after all. But Ethan Van Sciver is doing work here that’s beyond amazing. There’s this one small panel of Hal and The Spectre arguing that floored me. Then there are the two splash pages near the end. The final page is slick as all hell, but it’s the full-page image of Guy in all his glory that had me waking up the neighbors with screams of “Fuck YEAH!” That page… I want to own the original of that page. It can only be described as glorious.
Now THIS is an event!
FRANK IRONWINE #1
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Carla Speed McNeil
Publisher: Avatar Press
Reviewed by Dave Farabee
Warren Ellis doesn’t like shows like CSI.
He doesn’t like that crime stories have become about clinical computations based on forensic evidence – “Fractioning farts with lasers” he calls it in his amusing and compelling afterward to FRANK IRONWINE. He longs for the days of fictional detectives like Columbo, for the emotional connection such investigators made with suspects and victims, for detectives who plied their trade by knowing history and human behavior over science. In fact, I’d almost recommend FRANK IRONWINE just for Ellis’s meandering thoughts on crime fiction in this afterward, but the story that came out of his musings ain’t half bad either…
FRANK IRONWINE is a done-in-one story that’s part of four one-shots he’s producing for Avatar Press under a somewhat peculiar conceit: What, he wonders, might comics be like today if the superhero genre had never emerged and comics were all modernist iterations on the pulps that dominated at the dawn of the comic medium in the ‘30s? I mention the high concept because maybe it’ll come out more ambitiously in the other one-shots, but alas, there’s nothing wildly innovative about FRANK IRONWINE other than the fact that it’s a damn solid, character-driven detective story. I guess I was expecting something a little flashier, a little more radical in its imagining of pulp evolution, but Ellis seems to just be mapping modern sensibilities onto a classic formula.
Quite nicely, I might add.
At first glance, the craggy, aging Detective Frank Ironwine is very much your typical Ellis character: hard drinker…irascible…smoker. So it’s a predictable, almost cartoonish start as he’s fished out of the dumpster he’s passed out in by the female detective just assigned to him. Carla Speed McNeil’s art kept me going, though. I’m really starting to love her line quality and textured images (preview art near the bottom of this page), more refined here than I’ve seen in either QUEEN & COUNTRY or her challenging series, FINDER…though it instantly made me want to revisit those runs. Her work reminds me for all the world of the dense, moody aesthetic quality of Harold Gray’s art on old LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE strips – absolutely a compliment, as connoisseurs of classic comic strips will know, and a cool (if surely unintentional) visual tie to the retro origins for this story.
Beyond the art and the premise…not a lot to analyze about FRANK IRONWINE other than to say it’s a satisfying read. Frank’s knife-sharp and cagey at the crime scene, which is fun to watch, and Ellis surprised me by portraying him as very warm during an interrogation sequence with a female murder suspect. Frank’s partner is ready to give the lady the third degree, but Frank nearly bites her head off for undermining the sympathy he knows the suspect needs in order to draw her out.
Frank: Did you learn police work from fucking television?
Partner: You hug suspects?
Frank: If that’s what it takes. You hug them, you hold their hands, you touch their faces, you kiss them if that’s what it takes.
(continuing) Anybody, anybody walking into an interrogation room is scared. I don’t care what they say, how they handle themselves -- they’re scared of something. …In that room you take that fear away.
It’s a smart little story with some neat detective work, some twists and turns, and a funny, expertly-paced little chase sequence at the end. Has a bit of bite, too, just in case you were worried Ellis had gone soft with the huggy stuff.
A good one-shot. Worth your money. And I’d read another Frank Ironwine story one day, ‘long as Carla Speed McNeil is the one who draws it.
DISTRICT X #7
Writer: David Hine
Penciler: Lan Medina
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Sleazy G
There are a lot of mutant books out there. I mean, a lot of mutant books. In fact, I checked Marvel’s website, and there are over 20 issues a month, what with ongoing titles, miniseries and crossovers. With that many titles out there set in the same corner of the Marvel Universe, it’s hard to know what to buy. A lot of these titles crash and burn pretty early, and a lot of them kinda…well…stink. It’s always a struggle to know what series are worth picking up and which are best left untouched—often quite literally. Lord knows what ill effects might result from actually picking up an issue of a MAGGOT or STACY-X miniseries. Every now and again, though, a really good title comes along and gets lost in the shuffle. Such was the case with MYSTIQUE, which is ending in a few months after a far-too-short two-year run. It’s also the case with David Hine’s DISTRICT X, an overlooked but solid title that started earlier this year.
A lot of people originally dismissed this book as Marvel’s answer to the fantastic GOTHAM CENTRAL series over at DC, and I have to admit I was almost one of them. That may have been the initial inspiration here, but the two books have very little in common and DISTRICT X is doing a fine job of staking out its own territory in the Marvel U. The concept here is that there’s section of New York which has become a sort of slum for mutant castoffs. Mutations aren’t always particularly useful or convenient or appealing. As nature tries different things and tests for efficacy, a lot of clunkers are generated. Messy, ugly, stinky, useless clunkers. These aren’t necessarily people who can blend into normal society or ask Charles Xavier for a hand with things, so they all just sort of settle into the same general area and try to scrape by. Meanwhile, Bishop—one of those X-Men who I don’t know much about cuz he turned up on the scene at a time when I couldn’t have cared less about the huge influx of lame new mutants—is now a special agent who’s been assigned to serve as a liaison between the mutant community and the regular old homo sapiens who serve as NYC’s finest.
The first story arc in this series, which ran from issues 1-6, did a great job of establishing a large supporting cast of characters and fleshing out the world the series is set in. In truth, Bishop is probably a supporting character more than anything else, but that’s a good thing. Bishop is there essentially to provide the only tie the series has to the overall X-iverse, but that’s not a detriment to the series by any means. It allows the book to firmly establish its own tone, attitude and direction instead of being hamstrung by decades of confusing continuity. It gives Hine the leeway he needs to really develop the concepts he’s trying to put forward in this series.
There are a lot of characters in this series which are visually off-putting or have disturbing mutant abilities. They’re used here, though, to great affect: Hine uses these images to evoke a visceral response on the reader’s part—to make us say “oh, jeez, that’s really gross.” Then he ends up giving those same characters such real, everyday problems that he humanizes them, making us realize we were hasty to judge them so quickly, because in the end they’re just like us in a lot more ways than they’re not. This is really part of the message that’s always been at the heart of the mutant titles, but it’s one that’s easy to forget when so many of the characters in the X-line are meant to look “cool” or “badass” or “hot”. Sure, the artists may come up with great character designs, but let’s face it—not all mutants are gonna turn out eye-catching and charismatic. So what happens to the ones that aren’t? The ones that are lucky to come out looking average at best? It’s a smart way to bring the contradiction to the forefront. Sure, it’s been done before—but it’s usually a situation where we’re introduced to one unappealing mutant surrounded by our favorite X-Men, the ugly duckling hangs out for a few issues (a year, tops) and then it’s back to status quo. What Hine does here is establish a situation where those weird, freaky, ugly mutants are the status quo, and “normal” people stand out. It’s a way to really look long and hard at the aspects of the mutant universe that usually get short shrift and use it to explore the most basic questions about human nature.
That first arc introduced us to everything from street-level dealers to organized crime bosses running nightclubs to local families barely scraping by to a cop named Izzy Ortega who’s in a mixed marriage—his wife has an unfortunate mutation that keeps them from being able to sleep together at night. Izzy’s partner is forced by a mutant to shoot a couple of innocents, and when he’s removed from duty Izzy gets partnered up with Bishop. From there the story went several directions at once, including tracking a drug that gets mutants high but devastates humans who use it and meeting an incredibly powerful mutant named Absolom Mercator, who goes by the much simpler handle of “Mr. M”. Several different threads were introduced, crossed paths and were all brought together by the end of that first arc. After reading a lot of comics over the last several years, though, I’ve found that’s not enough. Too many ideas can lead to a messy, complicated story that never really feels like it’s going anywhere. In DISTRICT X, however, that sort of problem doesn’t come up. Hine manages to juggle the different storylines rather well. By the end of the first arc a lot of questions and situations were resolved satisfactorily, but that doesn’t mean the characters all went away. Hine leaves enough ideas seeded around Mutant Town to insure there are story ideas available for years to come, which is the right way to do something like this. There’s a lot of room for organic growth and expansion without ever straying too far from the initial concept or characters.
The latest issue, #7, is the start of a new arc, entitled “Underground”. It opens on a couple of kids from the previous arc attempting to earn a little extra cash from their father’s unfortunate mutation, introduces us to a revolting sewer-dweller and catches us up on the difficulties in Ortega’s personal life all in the first third of the issue. From there we meet an artist who sees visions of the future, find out what one of the local teen junkies and his blueskinned jerkoff dealer are up to, and find the enigmatic Mr. M in a great deal of trouble—as well as discovering he may or may not have yet another mutant ability in his arsenal. That’s a lot to have going on in a single issue, but everything is orchestrated exceptionally well by Hine.
For a relatively new writer, Hine is showing a lot of skill and an impressive array of ideas. Titles like this, which take place on the periphery and focus more on the second and third string characters, are becoming more and more interesting to me. It allows for a more in-depth examination of the characters, the world they live in, and the issues they face, and that’s the kind of thing that holds my attention long-term. If you’re somebody who’s been looking for a different take on Marvel’s mutants, or somebody who’s more drawn to crime drama, or somebody who’s more interested in characterization than soap-opera histrionics, this may be something worth checking out. With this being the first part of another arc, it’s also the ideal jumping-on point. Give DISTRICT X a shot, and if you like what you see for the next issue or two you can track down the first arc and get more of the back-story. I think there’s enough substance here, enough new ideas, to keep the title rolling for a while if it can build up support. It’s also convinced me that David Hine will be a writer to watch in the next few years.
HUMAN TARGET: FINAL CUT (TPB)
Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: Javier Pulido
Publisher: Vertigo/DC Comics
Reviewed by Dave Farabee
Holy shit, it’s round two of the HUMAN TARGET extravaganza!
Which is to say, this is the second installment of a series of reviews I’m writing to see whether Peter Milligan’s HUMAN TARGET trades are must-reads in the Vertigo tradition of FABLES and Y: THE LAST MAN or whether they’re merely…pretty dang cool. A week or two back we looked at the trade collection of the miniseries that paved the way for the current monthly, but before we get around to the monthly, there’s HUMAN TARGET: FINAL CUT. This was an original graphic novel from a few years back, and while it references events in the first mini, if you were to pick it up on its own, you’d probably figure things out just fine.
To recap: Christopher Chance is “The Human Target,” a master of disguise who impersonates folks caught up in trouble in order to draw out the ne’er-do-wells endangering them. The disguise thing’s only part of the package, though. Chance’s most formidable talent is his ability to rapidly psychoanalyze his subjects such that he truly “becomes” them when the role begins – oftentimes at the risk of serious psychological damage to himself. That’s why he drinks a lot. That’s why he lets himself get wrapped up in ennui when he abandons roles. That’s why he feels his own life is just a shell to fill with the experiences of others.
It’s kind of like John Woo’s FACE/OFF – but with more subtlety, less schlock, and a Raymond Chandler-esque attachment to labyrinthine stories and L.A. as a sun-drenched vice den.
FINAL CUT, as the title suggests, is a foray into Hollywood crime. Hollywood being such a visually-themed place and concept, let’s hit the art this time before getting into all the twisty plot stuff. Javier Pulido’s the penciller, and Javier’s an artist who does both the minimalist thing and the ultra-minimalist thing. I’m more of a fan of the former, and happily that’s the angle he’s working. As per Milligan’s script, he provides crisp, cinematic storytelling that’s all about the business of moving the story forward, no splashy showing off. Milligan’s M.O. follows the tradition of WATCHMEN, the idea being that panels are dense and meant to first and foremost entice the reader into the story. As such, Pulido’s Toth-like characters never leap off the page with action, instead pulling the reader in subtly and deeply. Backed by the painted colors of Dave Stewart, perhaps the finest colorist in the biz, Pulido depicts an L.A. that’s hyper-defined by spare art and splashes of perfect color. It’s minimalist work, but every detail and prop that is depicted is so perfectly chosen that the setting is as concrete as anything, say, Bryan Hitch might produce – only livelier for Pulido’s brisk linework.
Now every Human Target story is a twisty little minx, FINAL CUT no exception, but at its core is Christopher Chance impersonating a failed scriptwriter running an extortion racket on a slew of celebrities. In the action-packed opening, Chance is in the guise of one of the celebs, a pudgy older actor, and it’s in that role that he seemingly kills the extortionist. Ah, but it turns out the extortionist was simultaneously running a kidnapping scam on a Hollywood couple…and last the couple knew, the man still had their son held somewhere. Can Chance divine enough from investigating the extortionist to impersonate him believably, fool his cronies and girlfriend, and find the missing son who may or may not already be dead?
That’s the bare bones of the story, but there’s so much more. The twisty psychological stuff begins with Chance, a very human character, falling in love with the wife of the couple he’s helping. That he’s called on to impersonate her husband on a few occasions definitely keeps things…morally gray…and then there’s the matter of Chance starting to identify with the extortionist/kidnapper’s motives as he delves into his life. Definitely a scary turn of events.
One of the most exciting moments in the story has Chance rooting around in the guy’s apartment when suddenly the phone rings – it’s the guy’s girlfriend, and she doesn’t know he’s dead. Chance listens to the man’s voice for the first time as the answering machine picks up, notes the regional accent and decides, among other things, that the guy didn’t like his voice, and then seconds later has to put his insta-psych profile to the test by answering as the extortionist. It’s the first of many nail-biting moments as Milligan takes the age-old impersonation plot hook and runs with it like a madman.
What separates Milligan’s HUMAN TARGET stories from conventional mysteries is the empathy shown for all the players, heroes and scumbags alike. Each believes himself to be the hero of his own story, and given that many of them will be doppelganged by Chance, we get a surprisingly intimate look at how they see themselves and those they’re closest to. There’s the detective with the angle on going Hollywood with his experiences, the beaten-down hooker girlfriend of the extortionist, the pudgy actor from the opening who wants Chance to impersonate him again for the action roles he’s getting, and of course, the Hollywood couple Chance is helping – they seem impossibly caring and ideal; they live the life he wishes he could.
And with his skills, maybe he can.
My only mild disappointment with FINAL CUT is the ending, somewhat hurried and forced in its exposition. Still, a happy read. Loved the L.A. atmosphere, alternately oily and impossibly gorgeous, clearly researched with passion by Milligan, Pulido and Stewart. And the pop psychology…damned if I know whether there’s any merit to it, but building an action story around ongoing, radical identity shifts is so novel that I’m totally drawn to the premise.
Next week we hit the first collection of the ongoing series, HUMAN TARGET: STRIKE ZONES.
BATGIRL #58
Writer: Anderson Gabrych
Pencils: Ale Garza
Inks: Jesse Delperdang
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
For me, BATGIRL suffers from AZRAEL syndrome. I’m sure a lot of you out there can relate to this. AZRAEL was one of those series that often tied in with the Bat-Universe. When the Bat-books would have a crossover event, it usually bled over into AZRAEL. This happened once or twice a year, so I just kept buying the book long after I stopped enjoying it. It was torturous. It was insane, but every time a new issue of AZRAEL came out, I picked the damn thing up because I knew that next month it would tie in with a Bat-book again. When things got tough and money got tight, AZRAEL was always at the top of my list to be dropped. Well, AZRAEL is long gone, thank god, but BATGIRL has taken its place on my chopping block. I thoroughly enjoyed the first twenty-odd issues of the series. Kelley Puckett wrote some of the most kinetic, action-driven stories I have read in years. Artist Damion Scott filled every panel with this swooping, pouncing, little teenage powder keg who spoke very little, but made up for it with the amount of @$$ she kicked. The book centered on a character that learned to communicate through action and the lack of dialog was welcome in this word-balloon addled state comics suffer from these days.
So like AZRAEL before it, I stuck with BATGIRL after Puckett and Scott left. I quickly grew dissatisfied with their replacements and just as I was about to drop it…(of course)…it had the inevitable crossover with the Bat-books during the “War Games” event. I’d like to think that lately, I have matured a bit as a comic book reader. I’m trying to wean myself from buying comics I do not enjoy. I told myself that after “War Games” was over and done with, I’d walk away from BATGIRL and never look back. Well, since I’m reviewing BATGIRL #58, it doesn’t look like I’ve matured that much.
The thing is, though, I actually liked this issue quite a bit. It is another crossover story with ROBIN. The story involves both Robin and Batgirl becoming Bludhaven’s new protectors in Nightwing’s absence. After IDENTITY CRISIS and “War Games,” Robin has lost quite a few friends and relatives. Seeking distance and some time on his own, Robin heads to the ‘Haven. Batman sends Batgirl to look out for Robin, but also states that Robin can help Batgirl learn how to be a normal teenager. Batgirl and Robin are thus assigned to help each other. Robin is trying his hardest not to become dark and brooding, despite the fact that he lost one potential girlfriend, his real girlfriend, and his father in such a short span of time. And so far he’s succeeding at preventing himself from slipping into the darkness. On the flip side, Batgirl is trying to pull herself out of the darkness and Robin’s light-hearted nature is guiding her on her path. I like this new dynamic duo and wish that the two books would meld together permanently for a while and develop this relationship in more than just this one story arc. I don’t know if the characters are going to co-star in each others books more often now, but I really enjoyed their interactions in this issue and I think this relationship is ripe with story potential.
Writer Anderson Gabrych proved himself as a writer to watch in the pages of GOTHAM KNIGHTS. He tells stories in an action-oriented style, much like Puckett’s earlier issue of the series. Batgirl the character is quite interesting and the concept of a hero who uses movement as a language is a fresh one. At the same time, there is an innocence about Batgirl in this issue and Gabrych handles this aspect of the character with skill too. Batgirl is trying hard to fit in and wants to learn to communicate in words rather than movement. There is an especially tender moment in this issue where Batgirl spends an entire page trying to figure out the first line of the book A TALE OF TWO CITIES. It is heartbreaking to see this little girl trying to be normal, spending an entire night trying to decipher one sentence of a book. Gabrych really makes you feel for this character in that scene and that’s something I haven’t felt for tis character ever.
Artists Ale Garza and Jesse Delperdang make some nice panels here. The fight scenes between Shrike, Robin, and Batgirl are especially effective and show the flow from one action to the next with ease. Their Batgirl is deadly and quick. Like a sleek panther, she dances from one panel to the next in poses that exude confidence and power. There’s a page where Shrike throws a shuriken, Batgirl catches it in mid air, and throws it back at him. This sequence may be a hard one to pull off, but these artists communicate the action very well. Communicating action is important for this character because that’s what Batgirl is all about. This artist team is up to the task to do this.
So for the time being, BATGIRL is safe from my chopping block. This issue impressed me and if the creative team can keep up this level of action and characterization, I’ll stick around this title for a while longer. This issue is a good jumping on point for those who are unfamiliar with the character and want to see what this mysterious all-action, no-nonsense Bat-chick is all about.
THUNDERBOLTS #2 - Those of you who like to see your heroes sit in a chair for an entire issue while the focus is on someone vomiting lines ripped straight from a Z-grade gangster flick will not like this book. This is as old school as it gets, folks. Fabian Nicieza and Kurt Busiek are writing comics the way they used to be: filled with action, characters that act according to continuity, and fun. Issue #2 pits the newly reformed Thunderbolts against another set of goofy villains who don’t even get to shout out their names before the T-bolts hand them their @$$es. This isn’t the strongest read on the shelves, nor is it ground-breaking material, but it is refreshing in that it isn’t grim or deconstructive, and it isn’t laughing at the genre and the fans. THUNDERBOLTS shies away from the norm and tells a straight up super hero story with pride and I’ve gotta support that. - Bug
THE LOSERS #18 - If there's a more consistently enthralling, action packed comic than this, I'll eat my hat. This penultimate chapter of the Losers final mission for the CIA has it all. There's some fucked up character moments with Cougar, some background on the elusive Max, and some sick action courtesy of that bastard Roque. Throw in one hell of a cliffhanger of the "We know they're gonna get out of this, but how the shit are they gonna get out of this?" variety, and you've got yourselves a party. Between this and Adam Strange, Andy Diggle is the best damn writer out there who's never written for Marvel. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing. - Vroom
MU #1 - This is a very pretty but otherwise bad comic. Produced by Devil’s Due, it’s based on a Korean online fantasy game in the tradition of EVERQUEST and WORLDS OF WARCRAFT. Having occasionally dabbled in such stuff, you’d think it’d be right up my alley, but alas, its ultra-lush, manga-themed, painted art is wasted on a clichéd story made up of all the usual fantasy hooks – prophecies, elves, warring kingdoms, etc. The writer elevates the occasional moment with mildly interesting dialogue, but by and large, nothing to see here. Online RPG’ers will be better off seeking out Devin Grayson’s EVERQUEST one-shot from a few years ago or her similarly themed Vertigo mini, USER. –Dave
EVERYMAN: BE THE PEOPLE VOL 1 - I usually shy away from politics when I talk about comics. To me, there are many other aspects of the medium that I find more entertaining. But books like EX MACHINA and this one are intriguing enough for me to look past that. EVERYMAN takes place in a “fictional” world where Republicans and Democrats are too busy trying to discredit one another that the American people are forgotten. This book depicts the rise of a third party for the people. Now, before you start rolling your eyes at the Nader-ness of it all, give this book a shot. Writers The Brothers Goldman fill this book with slick dialog and an enthralling story that is competently communicated by artist Joe Bucco. I couldn’t put this political fable down and it left me with a feeling of hope. It may be too late for this year’s election, but EVERYMAN inspired me to think that maybe someday the right people will rise to power get things right. Check out the website and see if you’re equally inspired. - Bug
ADAM STRANGE #3 (of 8) - DC’s jet-packing master of the spaceways continues his investigation into the disappearance of a solar system(!) in this issue, but gets a little sidetracked when he’s captured by the militaristic Thanagarians, aka Hawkmen. Lots of great space opera, lots of action, and the Goth Thanagarian babe commanding the ship that snares Strange is a memorable femme fatale. The quality worth singling out this time, though, is the ultra-modern art of Pascal Ferry. Accompanied by the electric colors of Dave McCaig, his art finally brings comic book space opera out of the ‘50s/’60s era of crosshatched planets and endless Kirby/Wally Wood knock-offs and into a form that can compete with the glam of Hollywood. Ferry’s Thanagarian ship design is as modern and stylish as the very best STAR TREK ships (though nice to see the classic Hawk symbol retained), his computer and tech designs are ultra-forward thinking and visually sexy, and his depiction of Thanagar is the most imaginative since Tim Truman’s HAWKWORLD. Not just a great adventure comic, but a visual tour de force. –Dave
