| #7 | 6/29/05 | #4 |
(Click title to go directly to the review)
X-MEN: KITTY PRYDE - SHADOW & FLAME # 1
THE LOSERS #25
PLANETARY #23
YOUNG AVENGERS #5
THE OMAC PROJECT #3
ALBION # 1
RUNAWAYS Vol. 2 #5
Indie Jones presents ZOMBIE TALES #1
CHEAP SHOTS!
X-MEN: KITTY PRYDE - SHADOW & FLAME # 1
Written by Akira Yoshida
Art by Paul Smith
Published by Marvel
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
X-MEN: KITTY PRYDE - SHADOW & FLAME # 1 is the first non-7 SEVEN SOLDIERS book this year to completely knock me out! I can give this issue, and hopefully this series, a 100% unreserved recommendation!
No "a minor problem I had was..." No "the story/art was great but the story/art was lacking..." No "I guess what they did was okay here but it bears no resemblance to the way these characters have ever been used before..."
Writer Akira Yoshida and artist Paul Smith have done everything right! Tight plotting! A perfect pace! Surprises! Humor! Engaging characters! Snappy dialogue! Clear, beautiful visuals that tell the story! And like Dan Slott, they've proven that you can have a full, flawless knowledge of past stories and continuity in the modern Marvel Universe.
Mr. Yoshida has written THOR: SON O' ASGARD and a slew of X-MEN stuff for Marvel, none of which I've read. But if it's all as well done as this issue, he's one of the rare new writers who has made me want to go back and pick up all his older work.
And Paul Smith... if Mr. Smith hasn't been designated an X-MEN VISIONARY, he should be. When he first appeared on the UNCANNY X-MEN just after Claremont's second Brood saga, my first reaction was that John Byrne had returned, toned down some his growing idiosyncrasies, and was good again. But Mr. Smith's work wasn't really Byrnian, the way Erik Larsen's was, for example. It was all his own. While not photorealistic, it has a wonderful lack of exaggeration. Generally, serenity in comic book art equals pretension and boredom inducement, but Mr. Smith's work simply shows you in unquestionable terms what the characters are doing and how they feel. Each panel makes its' own impression, but for all the subtlety in the art, when the action flows, you feel the impact.
Mr. Smith's work was sort of overshadowed by a subsequent series of artists who would become late 80s superstars, which is a true shame because his storytelling is superior to some of the later artists. In a true move from the school of Johnny Depp career management, Mr. Smith dropped X-MEN to work on DR. STRANGE, one of his favorite characters. How cool is that?
X-Man Kitty Pryde (what’s with no code names? Kitty Pryde? Emma Frost? Jean Grey?) has received an invitation to come to Japan. She's supposed to bring her pet dragon Lockheed, who isn't really a dragon but an alien who befriended Kitty on Broodworld. Lockheed sort of first appeared in a fairy tale that Kitty told Illyana Rasputin before Illyana was prematurely aged by demons. While Kitty was held prisoner by Emma Frost, Lockheed accompanied the X-Men and the rest of Marvel's big at the time characters to a world created by cosmic menace the Beyonder in the 1980s SECRET WAR. There, Lockheed cast his luv spell on a female dragon-like creature. At the end of SECRET WAR, the X-Men, Lockheed and the girl dragon were zapped back to Earth, over the nation of Japan. The dragon chick was transformed to Godzilla size, giving Chris Claremont and artist John Romita Jr. a chance to do a very sloppy monster story.
In addition to that story, this story ties into a wretched mini-series of a bygone era by Claremont and artist Al Milgrom. It was supposed to be the second ever WOLVERINE mini-series, a follow up to the one masterfully drawn by Frank Miller. But you know Claremont. It became a WOLVERINE & KITTY PRYDE mini, which meant it was really a Kitty Pryde mini and Claremont's only as good as his artist. Let's say that Mr. Milgrom was okay but you knew it wasn't Frank Miller at the drawing board. Somehow, one of Wolverine's ninja enemies reduced Kitty to infancy, turned her into a ninja and had her attack Wolverine. Yeah, it was as bad as it sounds.
Somehow, all of those old elements have become charmed in Yoshida and Smith's story, though. We've got Kitty befriended by and at odds with a quirky Japanese secret service agent; Lockheed disguised as a Siamese cat; dragon-napping ninjas, Wolverine's e-mail address, some karate chopping, and a killer ninja who can phase. Yep, that meets everything on the checklist.
This is why, every now and then, we should take a look at a comic we normally wouldn't touch if we lost a bet. I avoid the hell out of anything X-MEN. I've always found Kitty Pryde to be one of Marvel's most annoying characters simply because Claremont forced her up our colons when she first appeared, turning UNCANNY into what someone, maybe John Byrne or maybe me, termed "Kitty Pryde Comics." Yet, Kitty is a good character and has been portrayed well when she's not waved in our faces.
I'm on board for at least another issue, maybe the whole thing if it's all this good.
THE LOSERS #25
Writer: Andy Diggle
Penciller: Jock
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo
Reviewed by Humphrey Lee
Anymore I can't help to wonder why this comic book series isn't being made into a TV series or a movie. With big action blockbusters like MR. & MRS. SMITH still bringing in obscene amounts of cash at the box office, and a show like "24" being one of the most heavily viewed and most critically praised shows out there, why isn't THE LOSERS, a comic that has everything those things has and more, not getting more attention? Every issue, time and again, has more intense action than even the biggest of Blockbuster movies. Oh, and you want espionage too? Well hell boy, you just hit the jackpot with this little gem of a book. What we've got here is a book with more conspiracies than a season of THE X-FILES.
This issue is the conclusion to an arc entitled "Anti-heist." The drive behind this chapter in the LOSERS story involves their main protagonists, a corrupt figure in the government known only as Max and a former teammate turned traitor named Roque, make a bid for a shipment of very large sum of weapons-grade plutonium being shipped by tanker. Using Max's vast connections and resources, Roque is in charge of snagging the payload and eliminating the evidence. And of course it's up to our merry band of misfits to put down their former friend and try to take the elusive Max down a notch. The result of all of this is yet another arc filled with lots of gunfights, lots of big explosions and jaw-dropping action sequences which, as always, do a great job of showing just how skilled, and lucky, our heroes are, and it makes you wonder just how big the whole overlying story is, given the kinds of "favors" Max keeps calling in to take down our Losers.
And amidst all the bullets and blood writer Andy Diggle makes sure to throw in some character development too. Last issue ended up with a sequence involving the apparent death of one of the Losers, the "brains" of the group and resident joker, Jensen. As the rest of our band make their abrupt get away we see minor conflicts and tensions start to bloom and subside as they each respond in their own way towards the loss of their friend. But when it comes down to it, they are soldiers, and they do what any soldier does when they lose a comrade: get the job done first and mourn later. And Roque does all he can to show off just how big a bastard he can be, but also what a little weasel he's become since turning to the dark side. And in the end of it all, we see exactly why the name Losers fits this team perfectly, because even after all they do and the kind of stunts they manage to pull of and survive through, it seems all for naught as Max always seems to get what he wants and what the group worked so hard to deny him.
I know this whole review has been nothing but one giant love-fest for this book, but I think it warrants it. There's just so much this book does right; great action, great dialogue, a very colorful cast of characters, a deep overall story, and it's all depicted by some of the most unique and stylish art out there today by the artist named Jock. If you are not buying this comic then you're just what its title implies.
PLANETARY #23
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: John Cassaday
Publisher: Wildstorm
Reviewer: Prof. Challenger
How long has this series been going now? 7 years or something like that? Had it come out monthly, it would, I guess be numbering around the 80s by now, but instead here comes issue 23. Okay, yes, it's a slow-moving series. Still, in my book, PLANETARY is one of the finest series ever published. What makes it so good is a unique combination of elements that might otherwise not be so good apart from each other.
In a lot of ways, PLANETARY is reminiscent of Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Universe characters and stories. The basic conceit of the Wold Newton Universe is that a strange meteorite crashed way back when and irradiated the local townsfolk who then gave birth to many of the great figures of popular fiction back around the late 19th century and on into the modern era. From Farmer's perspective, this theory connects characters like Doc Savage, The Avenger, The Shadow, Tarzan, Capt. Nemo, and all those other precursors to the modern super-heroes because they have a common genesis point in the Wold Newton meteorite. However, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Farmer introduced a new wrinkle into the mix. In his books, A FEAST UNKNOWN, THE LORD OF THE TRESS, and THE MAD GOBLIN, Farmer weaved stories around twisted pastiches of Doc Savage and Tarzan who were locked in a struggle against a worldwide organization of immortals who controlled and manipulated in great conspiratorial fashion the entire globe. Doc Caliban and Lord Grandrith were the "real" people upon whom the fictionalized pulp adventures of Savage and Tarzan were based – and presumably all those other great adventurers and detectives had "real" inspirations within the continuity of the Caliban stories. The villainous organization was known as The Nine, and the series of stories was never completed leaving the reader to assume the secret battle continues even today.
The parallels between PLANETARY and Farmer's Caliban/Grandrith books are unavoidable, but PLANETARY stepped out into its own very early on. Much of the fun of reading both Farmer's Caliban books and PLANETARY is trying to figure out which previously seen character each pastiche is an analog for. In PLANETARY, just for a couple of examples, the Doc Savage pastiche is Doc Brass and the Tarzan pastiche is actually a combination of Tarzan and Ka-Zar. Ka-Zar, was named Kevin Plunder in his pulp and comic adventures, but in PLANETARY the character is named Kevin Sack – "sack" being a synonym for "plunder" – and he has the black hair and origin more similar to Tarzan. Furthering the Tarzan parallel, the Kevin Sack story involved a secret city with a beautiful love of Sack's that bore a more than passing similarity to La of Opar.
PLANETARY delivers pastiches of comics characters, pulp adventurers, radio serial heroes, and even movie monsters. During the run of the series, there've been nods to Godzilla and Monster Island, Japanese cinema, Angels, Dr. Strange, Capt. Marvel, Thor, and last month the Lone Ranger and Green Hornet (both of whom originated on the radio) family line. Basically, the issue by issue structure is that of an anthology, but one where the anthological stories are each individual puzzle pieces to a grander tapestry involving the search for and defeat of The Four (PLANETARY's evil Fantastic Four analogs). For those who have not already read the series before, the set up involves a planetwide super-secret organization that keeps the people on this planet safe from the dangerously alien and/or supernatural forces out there trying to destroy us all. This is the PLANETARY organization. The character focus is on a trinity of characters: Jakita, Drums, and Elijah Snow. Elijah, with a "freezing" power, is one of a number of "century babies" who were born at the moment of the century turn from the 19th to the 20th century. These century babies all appear to be near immortal and super-empowered in some way. This is where much of the anthology structure comes in – the telling of stories involving many of these people with special abilities who have become explorers, adventurers, crimefighters, and even villains. Jakita is this beautiful woman with super-strength and super-speed who wears a leather X-Men-movie-style outfit. Drums is an information expert and it is his story that is the focus of PLANETARY #23.
Basically, the story of Drums is that of a child who was born with a very unusual super-power. As the Planetary doctor explains to Elijah, "He's an informational black hole. He sucks up and processes information. Any information. Any diagnostic tool tends to stop working around him." The Four killed Drums' family and stuck him in a lab somewhere with an explosive brace attached to his neck and a bunch of similarly neck braced kids. He and the other kids were supposed to be setting up controls that would allow The Four to control the flow of information on the fledgling Internet. Planetary raised Drums, who was called "Little Drummer Boy" by his captors because of his obsessive need to tap drumsticks while working, and now he works for Planetary to try and bring down The Four.
Ellis writes this series with heavy visual direction. The dialogue and exposition is kept to a minimum and he lets Cassaday tell the story with pictures. Cassaday never ever disappoints. His realistically cinematic style suits Ellis' direction perfectly. The only thing I ever have a problem with is some of the gruesome illustrations that seem a bit gratuitous to me – like the bloody spine being kicked out of a guy by Jakita in this issue. I get the point of it, but I thought it was silly and unnecessary nonetheless. At the same time, I was thoroughly impressed by the tension build up when the neck braces started exploding heads. The clever use of Elijah's power by freezing the pee-stream of an idiot guard was hilarious. Really good stuff.
I don't know if it's possible to pick up PLANETARY at this point in the run and really get into it. But I do know that the series is forever available out there in paperback and hardback collections, so pick up that first collection and see if the series doesn't connect with you. I've yet to be disappointed in an issue. I even liked the Elseworlds story where Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were the trinity of characters leading the Planetary organization. If you've only been a passing reader of PLANETARY, this issue finally has Drums put forth a convincing motivation for Elijah's confusing behavior over the entire run of the series. Might be worth you checking back in to PLANETARY headquarters this month.
YOUNG AVENGERS #5
Writer: Allan Heinberg
Penciler: Jim Cheung
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Sleazy G
When Marvel first announced this book last summer a lot of folks responded with skepticism. People said it sounded like it was too derivative of the whole AVENGERS/NEW AVENGERS thing, or that it was gonna be a lame kiddie book, or that it was a TEEN TITANS rehash, or that TV writers should stay on TV. I’m not gonna lie, I had some of the same concerns. I knew Heinberg was a lifelong fan of comics, and I loved that he dropped references to them into his TV work all the time. I knew he could write convincing teen dialogue, but I was worried he might not know how to write the superheroic stuff. I was worried we’d get a teen sitcom where nothing happened. Honestly, I think my greatest fear was that we’d end up with the Marvel version of YOUNG JUSTICE, with jokes that fell flat and storylines that took too long to go anywhere.
I decided to give the title a shot, though, because I was enjoying the hell out of RUNAWAYS and thought another look at new teen heroes in the Marvel U. could turn out to be a lot of fun. I’m incredibly happy I did, too, because the series has managed to squash every single concern I heard people raise before the run started. Heinberg really did a helluva job coming up with the characters he’s using and developing their backgrounds. I wasn’t a fan of the TRUTH miniseries, but having the black Captain America’s grandson Patriot on the team gives his character a lot to live up to and legitimate ties to Captain America. Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie being Ant Girl is also a great tie to a fallen Marvel character’s legacy. Having an intelligent, well-trained and foxy Avengers fan trip across the group and remind them how much they have to learn is a nice touch, and it’s great that there’s a non-powered member of the team to serve as the reader’s POV character. Having Hulkling be a Skrull is cool because it lends the character a lot of flexibility and gives him a direct—but not always positive—tie to Avengers history. We haven’t heard too much about the Asgardian yet—a Thor stand-in who seems to have some sort of mystical powers—but I’m definitely looking forward to hearing more. And the real capper for this first storyline has been the identity of Iron Lad, who it turns out is actually Kang the Conqueror as a teenaged kid who got picked on a lot.
Heinberg did an impressive job of coming up with a unique group of kids who have solid roots in the Marvel U. and good reasons to be there doing what they’re doing, but he’s still managed to throw in a lot of twists that keep each issue moving. That, I think, is where the strength of this book really lies. This series does a great job of keeping things rolling. The characters may stop and talk about what’s going on, but it’s usually just a brief lull before the next wave hits. We learn about the characters not because they’re standing around telling us about themselves but because events in the book are revealing them to us. We’re learning who is more confident, who is still exploring their powers, and what they want to accomplish. This is all going on while the kids are also dealing with the Avengers wanting to shut them down and Kang the Conqueror trying to take his younger self back home where he belongs. There’s a lot going on, and it’s all tense and exiting. I loved seeing the Vision return this issue as a software program capable of activating from within (and taking form with) Iron Lad’s 30th-century armor, among other cool-as-hell developments. I sometimes feel like splash pages are overused, but the end of this issue ends on a cliffhanger splash page that really gets the job done. The cliffhanger is a doozy, one that packs a lot of emotional punch and is an arresting visual as well.
My initial hesitancy faded within the first few issues of YOUNG AVENGERS. The creators on this book have already proved themselves to be skilled and confident, and they’ve produced an exciting series that works to earn its name. The book shares a certain sensibility with the current TEEN TITANS and JSA series in that it respects the characters and history of the universe the series occurs in while adding to it. There’s nothing else like that in the Marvel Universe right now, which is why it’s well worth picking up a few issues of YOUNG AVENGERS for yourself and checking things out.
THE OMAC PROJECT #3 (of 6)
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artists: Jesus Saiz (pgs 1-14), Cliff Richards/Bob Wiacek (pgs 15-22)
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Prof. Challenger
OK. I'm enjoying this series, but even in the midst of my enjoyment there are some problems. One thing I do I find strange is that both this series and DAY OF VENGEANCE were unable to go even three issues into this INFINITE CRISIS build-up before the artist tanked out on them and had to have some fill-in work. Always irritated the hell outta me when that would happen in a regular series, but even more so when it happened on a limited series. I mean, if you know you're only committing to a 4 or 6 issue run of a series, can't you put a little extra work on Saturday or something to make sure you finish out the run and have a complete work?
Spinning out of COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS, THE OMAC PROJECT deals with a satellite spy system called BROTHER I, that was created in secret by Batman to monitor the other super-heroes. As we all know now, Batman had his mind messed with by the secret JLA cabal that mindwiped Dr. Light and other villains. As a result of the mind-mess-up, Batman grew increasingly paranoid toward the other heroes as his mind fought against the magical lobotomy performed by Zatanna. It was this paranoia that led to his creation of the Brother I satellite and his database of the personal information about all the other heroes, including secret identities, loved ones, and weaknesses. Now, Checkmate, led by Max Lord, the Black King, has stolen control of the Brother I satellite, Batman's database, and combined it with this OMAC program giving Max the ability to track people worldwide and generate unbeatable OMAC androids to take them out.
Sasha, some old girlfriend of Batman's, works for Max and has betrayed Checkmate to Batman and this issue picks up with three OMACs showing up. Two to grab Sasha and return her to Checkmate HQ so Max can deal with her personally. One to kill Batman. Which it almost does. OMAC, as originally imagined by Jack Kirby, was a One Man Army Corps who fought against evil in the future. In other words, his connection with the Brother Eye satellite meant that he had dispassionate battle info downloaded directly into his mind from Brother Eye but he had the added level of intuition and emotion that would be missing from a purely mechanical being. At this point, the reader is expected to think that these modern-day OMACs are mechanical precursors to the OMAC of the future. That's why it's just as much a surprise to the readers as it is to Batman when one slice of a sword draws blood from the OMAC assigned to eliminate him. There's more going on here than we know yet.
Noticeably, the OMAC utilizes its knowledge of Batman's strengths and weaponry to promptly remove Batman's utility belt and cuff him with his own escape-proof handcuffs. Then he flings Batman out into the lake where Superman can fly onto the scene to save him. What this scene did for me was draw out the probability that these OMACs, as extensions of the Brother I satellite, are by design incapable of killing Batman because Brother I perceives him as his, and therefore their, creator. Otherwise, there's no reason why the OMAC would not have just performed a little wishbone action on Batman and ripped him in two.
The writer, Rucka, spends the rest of the comic dealing with the interactions between our heroes. Wonder Woman's tension-filled encounter with Guy Gardner and Booster Gold is very good at demonstrating the difference between the Giffen-era JLA and the current incarnation. The Giffen-era JLA was a clubhouse-style family of friendships. The current JLA is a team of individuals who may not even particularly like or trust each other. They are a task-oriented squad rather than a group of friends who would just as likely go hang out at Starbucks together one night as they would save the world on another night. The current utilitarian JLA team gets together to accomplish a goal then they all separate to pursue their own private lives. In the end, the big three, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, wind up together – without any of the multitude of other heroes available out there – to hash this problem out. Does anyone else see the utter arrogance of these three in shutting out everyone else and assuming they are the only three who can fix this problem? Worst of all, Batman is the cause of all this nonsense. Even assuming a high-level of arrogance on his part, is it really a good idea to write Batman as so blind to his own fault that he cannot humble himself to even ask for help this time? I would love for someone to start writing Batman as a believable human being again rather than this narcissistic bastard that took his place a few years back.
Anyway, a bit more on the art. These first two issues, Jesus Saiz did a really good job, but something really weird happened to his art in this book before he just plain disappeared and was replaced by Cliff Richards and Bob Wiacek. The first panel on the page right after Superman flies up out of the water carrying Batman. Everybody flip to that page. Now, someone tell me what's going on with Superman's left arm. Not only does it look like the lower left arm was pasted in there – it doesn't look like it fits with the rest of the drawing – but the arm has this oddball looking line on it where it was clearly drawn as if the character was supposed to be wearing gloves or an armband or something. Now, if this was inked by someone other than the penciller himself, this could be explained by a confusing sketchmark that a confused inker might mistakenly interpret as a glove. But, in this case, the penciller is also the inker. He should know what he was drawing – especially considering the fact that this is Superman and Superman's costume's is pretty darn familiar to most people in the world and it ain't got no gloves. Then, I'm looking at Superman's boots and his boots are drawn as BOTH standard single-point boots AND the double-point boots – on the same boot! Anyway, little glitches like that are distracting to me, especially when all it would take is a swipe of liquid paper or a half-second use of the eraser tool in Photoshop to take that out. Furthermore, Superman's boots are colored so that the pointy tops are colored yellow rather than solid red. That's Supergirl, people, not Superman who had the yellow stripe on the top of her boots. Little things like that make me wonder if the current publishers even employ professional proofreaders anymore. I'm guessing not. If they do, maybe they need to hire some new ones. Also, the pages by Richards and Wiacek are fine but the shift in artistic styles is a bit jarring. Kind of reminds me of the time that the NBC soap opera, SANTA BARBARA, switched actors playing the part of Mason Capwell in the middle of an episode. In fact, in the middle of one scene. See, Mason was arguing with someone (probably Julia, but I can't remember), the camera cut away to the other person for her reaction, then cut back to Mason and he was a completely different actor. Jarring. Similar feeling here.
THE OMAC PROJECT, even with its flaws, is an appealing mystery with the OMACs bearing the presence of a Borg-style menace. Back when the original OMAC series was out, there was lots of fan speculation – some of it spilling into the letters pages – over who or what Brother Eye was. I remember a lot of speculation pointed to the 70s JLA satellite headquarters as the source for what would later become Brother Eye. It's a fascinating idea to take that somewhat obscure 70s series and make it an integral part of the current iteration of the DC Universe in such a dramatic way. I'm here for the duration to see where it ends up, but I hope DC takes that extra editorial effort to humanize Batman and make sure that the artistic glitches are kept to a minimum.
ALBION # 1
Plot by Alan Moore
Written by Leah Moore & John Reppion
Art by Shane Oakley
Published by DC / Wildstorm
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
Have you noticed a backlash rising on the message boards against St. Alan? It usually reads along the lines of "SUPREME POWER is cool and WATCHMAN sucks and JMS can beat up Alan Moore in a fight". You can substitute any book for SUPREME POWER and any writer for JMS in the previous sentence but the rest of it is pretty much straight up.
This is following an earlier backlash on Frank Miller because some posters seem to feel that it's impossible to like both Mr. Miller's and Mr. Bendis' work on DAREDEVIL.
With Alan Moore, though, a backlash isn't completely unreasonable these days. There's the retirement that smacks of refusnikism and isn't really a retirement at all because he's still producing comics. That's not a big deal to me. More of a problem is that Moore's name is being used to sell comics that really aren't Alan Moore's work.
John Lennon said, "Don't follow leaders." Taking the Walrus at his word, I started following leaders because if I did what he said, he'd be the leader I was following. But Mr. Ono had a point. I will never understand the breed of fan that goes to the mat to defend their favorite writer, artist, character or publisher. I will never understand the kind of fans that get their identities from being associated with a comic pro. The closest I've come to that kind of fandom is following Alan Moore's work. It has never completely failed me, although many times it has come damned close!
ALBION # 1 is Alan Moore as a brand name. He didn't write the comic, he plotted it. Huge difference. Don't believe me? Look at almost any Silver Age FANTASTIC FOUR. It was mostly plotted by Jack Kirby, but written by Stan Lee. It usually is a great read. Then read a Bronze Age comic written by Kirby. ALBION # 1 has that problem, but in reverse. Reading it twice, I kept saying, "Whut?"
I guess ALBION # 1 has the premise that old time British cartoon strip characters were real but the general, modern population doesn't know it. That's an interesting idea. Somebody like Warren Ellis or, uh, Alan Moore could do something great with that. Getting into an UNBREAKABLE thought mode, if it weren't for the sickness of the crimes which Michael Jackson was acquitted, I've considered posting the idea on some board that he may be the very first real live super-villain. Superheroes don't exist in real life, but we have the closest thing to a member of Batman's rogues gallery up at Neverland Ranch. Bizarre white skin, supposedly from a disease that no other person has that I've ever seen. Purposely misshapen features like something off Bob Kane's pencil. Wealth, now dwindled or dwindling, that has rendered him able to buy muscle for protection and enforcement; and that has kept him from being successfully prosecuted. Remember, the jury never said this hump was innocent. They just said that he wasn't proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If he had been proven guilty, there'd be no denying that he was as twisted, evil, and all out weird as any non-powered super-villain or James Bond megalomaniac.
So ALBION'S conceit that these old time British comic book characters, which we've never heard of before, are real and locked in asylums is a good one. The result is just a mess. Our hero is a comic geek, pursuing back issues the way we used to before the coming of comic shops and E-Bay: in filthy, stinking little crap shops. He spots a comic strip character being arrested and is whisked off by one of those mystery waif girls that pop up in such stories. I can remember not being able to get laid, but even I would have asked any chick a few questions before trotting along after her.
The script is credited to Moore's daughter Leah and John Reppion. I can't figure out why it took two people to write it, but maybe if they would have brought in a third party, it would have been better. Nepotism isn't always a bad thing. Almost any time somebody gets to make a movie, it's because they know someone else in the film industry. That's fine, because if they weren't able to carry it off, they still wouldn't get to make a movie. And they sure as hell wouldn't get a second chance. Just look at the films, I mean film, of say David Lynch's daughter Jennifer.
But in a way, Moore is doing a disservice to his daughter's comic writing career. His name comes first. You're expecting an Alan Moore style book, and this isn't it. It's more like the first draft of a submission to Vertigo or Image. Something that could be decent if reworked.
Simon Oakley's art is good, though. It has a little of the old time EC flavor. It's a little like a cross between the art of some of Alan's frequent collaborators Rick Veitch and cover artist Dave Gibbons. Mr. Oakley especially excels in the black and white JANUS STARK comic that our hero reads in the dusty shop.
RUNAWAYS Vol. 2 #5
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Penciller: Adrian Alphona
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewed by Humphrey Lee
My fellow RUNAWAYS readers, we have been duped.
For the past couple issues we have been pulled along with a new character by the name of Victor Mancha. Apparently, young Victor is the offspring of one of the major villains of the Marvel Universe and will one day rise to be its greatest, as our RUNAWAYS witnessed at the beginning of this new volume via one of their members traveling back in time to warn her teammates before dying herself. Since then, the team has been in search of this forewarned despot in an attempt to find him and hopefully divert him or stop him from becoming what he is supposedly destined to be, at whatever cost. Over those issues we were given glimpses and hints as to who he could be the son of, though Mr. Brian K. Vaughan has deftly shown us multiple possibilities and red herrings. The first name of our potential protagonist alone, Victor, plus some well done hinting via the covers on some previous issues, immediately harkens to one Victor Von Doom, aka Dr. Doom, arguably the most terrifying villain in the entire MU. But alas, over the past couple issues Victor has started displaying some of his powers, mainly those of a magnetic basis, thus shifting focus to other major players such as Magneto. As of last issue though, it seems we finally had some resolution as the book ended with the RUNAWAYS and now captive Victor being contacted by the aforementioned Dr. Doom, saying he had kidnapped Victor's mother and wanted his son back.
But, as history has shown in this book, not everything is as it seems.
Quite frankly, the TRUE reveal as to who Victor's "father" is in this issue is just one I didn't see coming at all. Vaughan, as always, has done a tremendous job of leading his readers right to where he wants to, someplace in between a total feeling of knowing where everything is leading, and a total feeling of not knowing what the hell is going on. And, as always again, when we find out just exactly what is going on here there's just a total sense of awe, as it's brilliantly executed and it's a solution that there really was never any way of you knowing the truth, but it's do so well that it's totally believable and you don't feel gypped in any sense.
This issue also serves very well towards developing a side plotline involving a group of former teenage superheroes known as Excelsior. This is a group that has been brought together via a mysterious benefactor, and who’s purpose is to try and talk to and help out aspiring teenage heroes, or dissuade them, as it's a road these team members have gone down before. The mystery here now is exactly who this benefactor who funds the team is. Is he a new potential enemy hoping to destroy our Runaways in a pre-emptive strike against them? Or is it some one who really wants to help our aspiring heroes become truly great? But possibly the biggest mystery of it all is just is he getting all the info and tech that he is providing the Excelsior members with.
And lastly the character development and dialogue are at an all time high with this issue as well. The Runaways have been feeling pretty confident of themselves over the past couple issues as they've made good progress in taking down super-powered baddies. But now they're facing a whole new level of bad guy and their lack of experience and trepidation are showing. If they are to become the next generation of "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" then they've got a long way to go... if they live through all of this, that is. The very last panel of this book shows our resident couple on the team, Gertrude and Chase, standing alone in front of Victor's revealed father and knowing they have no chance of survival. Holding hands and staring down the inevitable Chase simply says, "I know, baby. I loved you too."
Simple, yet powerful. That is exactly what this book is. Read it and Love it.
ZOMBIE TALES #1
Written by Andrew Cosby, Mike Nelson, John Rogers, Johanna Stokes, Mark Waid, & Keith Giffen
Art by Keith Giffen, Joe Abraham, Andy Kuhn, J.K. Woodward, Carlos Magno, and Ron Lim
Published by Boom! Studios
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
On a recent episode of Ebert & Roeper, the guys reviewed the movie LAND OF THE DEAD and proclaimed that “Zombies just aren’t that scary.” Well, I disagree. If you look at zombies literally, they’re just bags of meat and bones shambling around in a daze wanting to consume everything in their path. Kind of like hippies but they smell better. At the surface, these guys aren’t very frightening. But what if that zombie is your neighbor who you’ve said “Hi.” to every day for the last ten years. Or your mother. Or your lover. That’s some pretty terrifying stuff. I’m kind of surprised at this attitude towards zombie entertainment from Ebert and Siskel’s replacement. When written well, zombies can be allegories for a lot of things that frighten us. First and foremost, these guys are walking, moaning representations of our own mortality. This is what we become when we die. Zombie stories are usually a bunch of people fighting off the inevitable – death. And what’s scarier than the inevitable fact that someday we are all going to die and rot away?
The creators behind the recent BOOM relaunch of ZOMBIE TALES know how to make the walking dead scary, that’s for sure. In this anthology series, creators – classic and new – tell us personal tales from a world where the dead have risen.
Each of the six short stories are excellently paced and crafted. My favorite of the bunch is a twisted little tale called “Daddy Smells Funny.” John Rogers and Andy Kuhn create a story told from the perspective of a child experiencing the first days of a zombie holocaust. This story offers a fresh look at an old concept and would have made for an amazing TWILIGHT ZONE episode.
Johanna Stokes tells a heartbreaking story of survival guilt that is beautifully painted by JK Woodward in “For Pete’s Sake.” Wizened creators such as Keith Giffen and Mark Waid offer their own warped takes on the zombie menace with tales told from the perspective of both zombie and human alike.
Another thing that makes this issue shine is art by two of my all time favorite artists. These days Keith Giffen gets more praise for his writing than his art, but his quirky artwork is what first brought my attention to the creator. In “I, Zombie”, Giffen gives shape to Andrew Cosby’s story of a semi-intelligent zombie. It’s been too long since I’ve seen Giffen’s artwork and I hope to see more of it in future issues of this series.
And finally in the last story, Ron “Where the Hell You Been At?” Lim draws “Dead Meat” a short by Keith Giffen. Lim was one of my favorite artists back in the day. His stint on SILVER SURFER helped forge my love of comics. Seeing him draw zombies is an added bonus.
ZOMBIE TALES is a quality read. It’s got scares, laughs, thrills, and humanity. All of the things a good piece of zombie fiction should have. Zombie comics seem to be the new big thing at the moment, and ZOMBIE TALES is a worthy addition to that genre.
Remember, if you have an Indie book you’d like one of the @$$holes to take a look at, click on your favorite reviewer’s link and drop us an email.
Remember, if you have an Indie book you’d like one of the @$$holes to take a look at, click on your favorite reviewer’s link and drop us an email.
FANTASTIC FOUR #528
So Marvel’s got this FF movie coming out, and for all its wonky casting choices, de-Latverianizing of Dr. Doom, and inevitable public comparisons to THE INCREDIBLES…the movie has folks kind of hyped for it. It looks fun and I think it’s going to do surprisingly well, maybe even shockingly well. And kids are gonna dig it. And they might even want to read an FF comic after they’ve seen it! So what sort of FF comic did Marvel put out as their showpiece on the cusp of this landmark event?A gabfest issue. I shit you not, J. Michael Straczynski has done what few FF writers can do and sucked every ounce of action out of the entire issue. In its stead, a density of word balloons only Chris Claremont could beat. Yes, when little Billy buys this latest issue, imagine his excitement as Sue gets grilled by a child protective services rep! As the newly wealthy Thing stands in front of a mirror and ruminates on public perception! As Reed discusses a bunch of cosmic ray techno-babble with a fellow scientist!
I guess I’m just saying…a cameo by fucking Paste Pot Pete would be more exciting. - Dave
FLASH #223
If there is one word that can describe this current story, it is ESCALATION! Issue after issue, writer Geoff Johns kicks the threat level up a notch. The action happens so fast in this book, that if you miss a panel (the graphic storytelling version of a blink) you’ll be sure to miss something. The Rogues are tearing each other apart in the streets of Central City and the Flash is in the middle of it all trying to stop them. Virtually every Flash villain you can think of has made an appearance as the stakes keep rising. Rogues die. Some turn good. Others turn bad. There’s betrayal and rage and Gorilla Grodd is still trying to eat brains! All of this is proudly wrapped in the brightly colored spandex of superhero-dom. Johns embraces what most writers today seem afraid or ashamed of. This is a brightly colored all-out battle and as each issue proceeds, I keep asking myself how much further into chaos can Johns push this story. And with each cliffhanger ending, Johns proves to me that he can. Last issue, just as Captain Cold smashed the Top into little tiny ice cubes, Professor Zoom crashes into the fray. This issue’s cliffhanger features the return of a villain you’d never think you’d see on a mode of transportation that we all thought was long lost. The fastest comic out there is still the best. Wait for trade, buy the single issues, just don’t miss this story arc. Bug
BILLY THE KID’S OLD TIMEY ODDITIES #3 (of 4)
One issue from completion and I still don’t quite know what to make of this series. I guess the concept – Billy the Kid and a band of circus freaks versus Dr. Frankenstein and his creations – kind of sells itself, but it’s not nearly the surrealist good time you might expect. Billy’s an asshole, the nice circus freaks keep having horrible things happen to ‘em, and an EC tone of leering grimness prevails throughout. More specifically, this issue sees a captured Billy failing to deter Doc Frankenstein from his attentions on the freaks. Billy cuts loose with a string of gay jokes, but Frankenstein gets the last laugh by beheading one freak, torturing another, and locking claustrophobe Billy in a trunk. Next issue, presumably, comes Billy’s Clint Eastwood-style payback. I’ve enjoyed Kyle Hotz’s Berni Wrightson-inspired art throughout, but for a book with such a silly premise, there’s not much fun at all to be found here. - Dave
SOLO #5 featuring Darwyn Cooke
This latest installment of this talent spotlighting series is far and away the best of them all. I have been very impressed by the feature artists, and sometimes writer/artists that have been the focus of these books so far, particularly the Paul Pope issue, but Cooke here knocks this one out of the park. He covers the spectrum so to say with short stories dealing with everything from terrorism, to a story about what inspired our maestro here to do what he does, and also one of the most intense BATMAN short stories I've ever read. Between each short we also get interludes involving one of my favorite characters, and apparently one of Cooke's, Slam Bradley. The art is always excellent with Cooke's wonderful blend of an early Silver Age book with more "cartoonish" looking figures, but the heavy detail you'd expect from one of the modern industry's top artists. Some of the stories might be a little overly quirky, but they all entertain to a degree and look gorgeous. This is the prime example of what this series could be and solidifies Cooke to me as one of the biggest talents in all of comics today. - Humphrey
THE SURROGATES #1 (of 5)
Tired of Warren Ellis hogging all the sci-fi themes in comics? You might want to give this series a look. Presented by Top Shelf Productions, it’s a murder mystery based around the development of a new technology in the near future: “surrogates”, which are robotic humanoids that citizens can virtually inhabit from the comfort of their own homes. SURROGATES delves into the potential of such technology to completely alter racial perceptions, sexual identity, beauty standards, and even crime. Strong concepts, but marred slightly by the familiar murder mystery entry point and, at least as of the first issue, a seeming reluctance to really push boundaries (a cop is actually shocked that a female surrogate is being operated by a guy? Come on.) The art’s moody and filtered through an L.A. smog, but it’s a touch too “Ben Templesmith” for my tastes (rich atmosphere, minimal contextual backgrounds). Best part of the book: the smartly written text pages in the back, providing a faux-history of surrogates and their impact on society. - Dave
WONDER WOMAN #217
I found the ending of this story arc to be a bit abrupt, but entertaining nonetheless. Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, and Ferdinand the Minotaur go on a quest into the Underworld to retrieve the kidnapped Hermes. A trifacta of dethroned and angry gods, the god of War, and an army of the undead stand in our heroes way. I enjoy the way Rucka has woven Diana’s story firmly around Greek Mythology. The modern take on classic myths are fascinating (I guess it kind of has the same appeal that the ULTIMATE U has for those who read stories of the original characters). Although this title is still often paced for trade, lately Rucka’s single issues haven’t left me with that not-yet-full feeling after my eyes devour the issue. Issue 217 has action, a lot of great moments where the characters shine, and an emotional ending which distinguishes Diana as a compassionate hero that stands above the others in the DCU. - Bug
NAT TURNER #1
Talk about your hardcore pitch-lines! Here’s how cartoonist Kyle Baker himself describes his self-published miniseries NAT TURNER, based on the life of the slave made famous/infamous for the violent uprising he led: “It’s like GLORY, except if Morgan Freeman got hanged and skinned at the end.”Jesus!
Okay, it’s grim material made even less commercial for being historical, but Baker’s a cartoonist’s cartoonist, and his astonishing visuals for the first issue are reason alone to give it a shot. The issue, largely silent in its depiction of the violent capture and enslavement of Nat Turner’s mother, is simply some of the finest black-and-white cartooning of the year year: BEHOLD. Worth a look both for Baker’s art and the challenging subject matter. - Dave
BATMAN #641
I've been pretty rough on Judd Winick here in the past, having bought several issues' worth of his stuff that left me anywhere from unimpressed to displeased. Still, I have to give the guy credit where it's due. I hated Winick's first storyline in BATMAN, which involved the creation of the ridiculous Scarebeast. Since the Return of the Red Hood/Jason Todd to the title, though, he's been doing a really solid job. I'm impressed issue in and issue out with the writing of the Red Hood character and like the approach this new foil for Bruce is taking. He's similar to the Zoom character over in Geoff Johns' FLASH in that the Red Hood claims to be working towards the same goals as Batman while using more severe tactics. Being who he is, though, the Red Hood has a stronger tie to the main character and as a result has an ability to shake Batman in a way a lot of others don't. As unhappy as I am to see Jason Todd return in current continuity, I'm surprised on a monthly basis by how much I like each issue of Winick's run. I just hope he can maintain this level of quality. It's too early to say if he's maturing as a writer or not, but I'm definitely hopeful. - Sleazy
G.I. JOE: AMERICA’S ELITE #1
Even as a big ol’ Joe fan from back in the day, I could never get into the fannish G.I. JOE relaunch from Devil’s Due. They’re giving it another go, though, and as someone who stills gets misty reading the death of Kwinn in the original series, I have just enough nostalgia left for one more go. The verdict? Not bad. Joe Casey’s writing, and the tone’s more in line with the cartoon or a Michael Bay flick than the quasi-military realism of Hama’s heyday I pine for, but I found some stuff to enjoy. The team’s pared down to just eight core members, a fun call-back to the commando unit size of the original crew. The threat – crashing satellites killing thousands – isn’t distinctly Cobra yet, but I’m sure it will be. Destro’s lurking in the background looking to play any and all sides, and he’s still the pimp-daddy of terrorism. Great KILL BILL-esque catfight between Scarlett and an unnamed badgirl protecting a bizarrely obscure ex-Cobra dying of cancer. Richly-colored animation-inspired art from Stefano Casselli. And of course, the soap operatic subplots! My favorite’s the revelation that the Baroness is a captive of the Joes, potentially playing the informant role of Sydney’s mother during ALIAS season two (or Hannibal Lector advising on Buffalo Bill, if you want a broader reference). I dunno. I think I almost had fun with this thing. Faint praise, maybe, but hey, I’m always on the lookout for fun books. Gotta have something to come lighten up the room after reading NAT TURNER. - Dave
SPIDER-MAN/HUMAN TORCH #5 (of 5)
I want to shake Dan Slott’s hand for writing this miniseries. It sold less than ARAÑA, GAMBIT, and “Son of Venom” comic TOXIN, but the failure of fandom to recognize doesn’t for one instant change the fact that this miniseries produced the most authentically “Spider-Man” Spider-Man stories of the last decade. Each standalone story has been a loving and hilarious tribute to Marvel eras of the past, but we finally jump to the present with this last issue to culminate in a historic event: the Human Torch finally learning Spider-Man’s identity. I say “finally” because, as Slott wryly notes in the story, it seems like just about everyone else knows. But Slott takes that lemon of a pattern and makes lemonade. He makes the revelation meaningful, he lays it out with wit during the course of an action-packed story, and he ends with enough heart to leave even the most cynical reader dabbing at his eye to get that bit of sand out. If you’ve forgotten that it’s okay for superhero stories to still be fun, consider SPIDEY/TORCH a cure for your blues! Back issues are cheap and a digest collection’s on its way. - Dave
JUSTICE LEAGUE CLASSIFIED #9
Well, this is it. What may very well be the last issue of the Giffen-era JLI/Super Buddies (ugh!) line-up. With Blue Beetle currently six feet under getting used to the bullet hole through his noggin and Sue Dibney still smoldering in the grave, this will probably be the last time we see this classic line-up of characters together in current continuity. Rumors have it that this oft-uninspired mini-series within a series lost its steam because Giffen, DeMatteis, and MacGuire (look, I spelled it right!) may have been getting a bit bored with the characters. All I know is that issue #7 of this series was the best issue I’ve read this year and the creators still have it in them to tell compelling stories starring these characters when they want to. Issue 8 brought us back to form with the constant bickering and maddening circular dialog that made the first part of this series so hard to get through. This issue is more of the same. Sure there’s some poignancy thrown in towards the end regarding the again-lost Ice character, but the flighty plot outweighs these heavy moments. This was a nostalgia-factor story arc. Those of us who are in love with these characters will probably like this series. Those of you who never really cared for these characters won’t have your minds changed after reading this one. Aside from the truly excellent issue #7, “I can’t believe it’s not the Justice League” left me sadly unimpressed.But I have to give the creators credit for this issue’s homage to Bendis’ murder of Hawkeye. “Not like this!” indeed! - Bug
