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The Pull List
(Click title to go directly to the review)
ESSENTIAL AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL. 7
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO CAPTAIN CARROT? #1
X-FACTOR #1
SEASON OF THE WITCH #0-2
SECRET WAR #5
DMX #2
GLX-MAS SPECIAL #1/PUNISHER SILENT NIGHT #1
Big Eyes for the Cape Guy presents ARK ANGELS V.1
Big Eyes for the Cape Guy presents ARCANA Vol.1 TPB
Big Eyes for the Cape Guy presents HIKARU NO GO Vols. 1-5
Indie Jones presents…
CHEAP SHOTS!

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ESSENTIAL AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL. 7

Written by Gerry Conway, Len Wein, Archie Goodwin, Bill Mantlo
Art by Ross Andru, Sal Buscema, Gil Kane
Published by Marvel
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik

The best word to describe the storytelling in these 22 issues of ASM, two issues of GIANT-SIZE SPIDER-MAN and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL # 10 is tight. Tight in many ways. Tight as in cool, tough, awesome, bitchin', rockin', baad and groovy. And tight as in perfectly precise.

These stories come from a nearly forgotten era, although they immediately follow the death of Gwen Stacey (a character forgotten or never known by many Spider-fans). Gerry Conway? Ross Andru? This writer-artist team had a long run of ASM, at the time when it was Marvel's flagship. Sure, Marvel always said THE FANTASTIC FOUR was their flagship, but the FF has still not attained the recognition level of Spidey or the X-MEN. Long runs on ASM were important for cohesion, for vision. Because Spidey was known outside comic book circles, ASM had to be good.

Andru, co-creator of THE METAL MEN for DC, seemed to combine the styles of two of the best and better known Spidey artists: John Romita Sr. and Gil Kane. Like Mr. Romita, his characters and settings had a sense of reality to them. They looked like real people in real places. Mr. Andru paid attention to detail. Like Mr. Kane, his Spidey and his versions of Spidey's foes had a fluid, airborne sense of power. They moved and lived within those still panels. And in the one way Mr. Andru's work was superior to that of Mr. Kane, he never drew from that angle where you could see up the character's noses.

Ross Andru was a Spidey innovator in that he increasingly placed our hero in dizzier and more precarious positions within the panel. As with most pre-1990 comics, you're going to see a lot more panels per issue here. The arrangement of the panels isn't a wild or unique as I remembered from reading some of the originals, but Spidey's positions and moves reflect a slightly idealized human able to spin and flip and hang like only a superhuman could. I've also noticed that Mr. Andru uses sort of a tilted camera technique to often give us that sense of vertigo while our hero defies gravity and anatomy.

In the opening story, Mr. Andru's art evokes both George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD and Walter Hill's THE WARRIORS, as Peter Parker moves to Far Rockaway (put on some Ramones and sing along Rock-rock-Rockaway Beach) to room with Flash Thompson. Pete didn't have anywhere else to stay, what with his last roommate turning into a super-villain and blowing up the apartment (be glad your roommate is just an asshole!). It looks a little 70s noir. FRENCH CONNECTION. THE SEVEN UPS. THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1-2-3. We've got the WARRIORS nightmare, night time urban desolation, with DAWN’s dangerous, mindless (here mind-controlled) masses. Horror was the order of the day at Marvel, and this was a very creepy story for a mainstream, superhero comic. The realism of the art made everything scarier.

Writer Gerry Conway at first seemed dedicated to following a formula in each issue, although not in each story. He's writing an embattled Spider-Man, a Peter Parker still mourning his murdered love. Pete's on the edge of sanity and any number of maniacs, lead by the Jackal, are ready to give him a solid push. He's unsure of how he feels about Mary Jane Watson, although things become clear, especially in the aftermath of the Jackal/clone saga. Yes, that's right. Clone saga. Spider clones have always been a bold move and sometimes comic books need bold moves. The results are great here.

And let's put it this way, we've been told that Gwen put out for the Goblin. That's another bold move. I haven't read the results and won't comment on them here. Gwen didn't put out for the Jackal, which nearly got Spider-Man killed about a dozen times. (Gwen's clone was probably programmed to put out for the Jackal but that's none of our damned bidnesses!).

When Mr. Conway left the book, writer Len Wein took over. The great thing about Mr. Wein's work (as it was on BATMAN) is that he was intimately acquainted with the work of the previous writer. He knew his classic Spidey, but as editor, he also realized that we kids didn't, and he riffed first and foremost off Gerry Conway's work. Highlights include Doc Ock vs. Hammerhead round two, and the fate of the Spider-Mobile.

Forget eras. Forget time. Forget evolution. Classic storytelling, in words and pictures, can't be defined that way. Simply put, if you like Spider-Man, like good stories and art, this is a book for you.

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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO CAPT. CARROT? #1

Writer: Giraffe Johns
Artists: Scottie Shaw!
Publisher: Wombat Communications
Reviewer: Prof. Challigator

It sure took long enough, but Wombat has finally brought back the great Capt. Carrot and his esteemed Zoo Crew. However, in doing so they have followed through on Dan Piggio's threat to "darken Capt. Carrot too." This 4-page murder mystery is unfortunately "to be continued," so I'll have to pick up the next issue to see how Giraffe Johns and Scottie Shaw! resolve this whodunit.

Picking up some time after the end of the trend-setting CAPT. CARROT AND THE OZ-WONDERLAND WAR mini-series, this new story starts with the badly beaten corpse of Zoo Crew member, Little Cheese, lying in a puddle in the alleyways of Gnu York City. Through exposition and news television news reports, we learn what has happened in the interim between the conclusion of the mini-series and this story. Of course, I'm still waiting to find out how THE INFERIOR FIVE made it back to Earth-12 from the Zoo Crew's Earth-C in the pulse-pounding cliffhanger ending of the mini-series. But I digress…

It looks like Little Cheese publicly took off his mask, revealing his secret identity to the world. He resigned from the Zoo Crew and set on a course as a high-profile defense attorney. His actions spurred President Mallard Fillmore to pursue forcing the other members of the Zoo Crew to reveal their true identities. Yankee Poodle, secretly the world-famous gossip and entertainment reporter Rova Barrett, was outed by Fillmore's administration. Fastback sped off to parts unknown while Pig-Iron and Rubber Duck became vigilantes working outside the law. Alley-Kat-Abra revealed her identity and retired from the super-hero life to go back on-stage performing her magic act. But poor Capt. Carrot. He suffered the worst of fates. He found love in his new partner and fiancée', Carrie Carrot, but one day arch-villain, Armordillo, attacked and fed the love of Cap's life to Frogzilla - in front of a school bus full of puppies!!!

Apparently, Cap killed Armordillo in trying to bring him to justice. This brought an arrest and trial for Cap who pleaded self-defense and never revealed his true identity to the court. Little Cheese took on the defense of Cap and prevailed. Cap immediately disappeared.

It has been years since those events and Yankee Poodle, convicted and sent to the pound for an alleged assassination attempt on President Fillmore, is an escaped fugitive joined up with Pig-Iron and Rubber Duck. The three have vowed to bring Little Cheese's killer to justice. Bad gnus though. The only clue around Little Cheese's body are some tell-tale carrot crumbs. And as all good Capt. Carrot fans will recall, comic book artist R. Rodney Rabbit just has to consume some of his super-powered carrots to become the powerful Capt. Carrot - and there is one carrot noticeably missing from Rodney's stash.

When the scene cuts to Rodney, we find him depressed and living in squalor surrounded by cigarettes, booze, and stale take-out. When confronted in his home by the mysterious new super-hero American Eagle, Rodney declares Capt. Carrot dead. But American Eagle will have none of that and demands that Rodney change into Capt. Carrot and give him some answers about the murder of Little Cheese.

You know? You take the Prof's favorite current writer, Giraffe Johns, and team him up with one of his all-time favorite cartoonists, Scottie Shaw!, set the story on Earth-C and you have comic book magic. In four pages, all the characters (except Fastback - uh-oh!!!!) are reintroduced, a mystery is set up, and an exciting new character appears. Not to mention Fox (of FOX AND CROW fame) gets some attention as the television news anchor. Been a long time for ol' Fox. Good to see him looking like he hasn't aged a day (though he dresses nicer now).

What Giraffe and Scottie did with this story is show that the concept of Capt. Carrot is definitely versatile enough to tell any type of story within the twisted pun-ridden parody world in which he exists, so long as the writer treats it with respect. In fact, this deadly serious turn of events carries a deeper pathos and emotionalism simply because the characters were originally conceived in a world of blissful naiveté. However, as the darkness that pervades Supersquirrel's world spills over into Wombat's continuity, the Zoo Crew rises to the occasion to prove that they are a concept well worth exploring in this new renaissance of quality comic book storytelling. As I think through the events of these hard-hitting four pages, I'm reminded that Dan Piggio mentioned that the Crash has been an integral part of all major changes throughout Wombat's history. Which makes me glom onto the fact that Earth-C's Crash analog, Fastback, never appeared in this story. With his speed, Fastback could've easily slipped into Rodney's apartment and stolen one of the super-powered carrots to frame Rodney. Hmmm. But then again, maybe Carrie Carrot did not actually "die" when Frogzilla ate her and she's gone all "Red Robin" on Cap, killing Little Cheese and framing Cap. Like all good mysteries, I'm hooked and can't wait to see how it resolves. One thing's for sure, Prof. Challigator is demanding that Dan Piggio push through a line of Capt. Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew action figures from Wombat Direct, complete with a two-pack of American Eagle and Little Cheese's corpse.

Oh yeah, and squeezed in between these four pages is a DC Comics' Teen Titans story (TEEN TITANS#30), written by some guy named Geoff Johns and drawn by some guy named Tony Daniel that brings back Blue Devil's sidekick, Kid Devil, and introduces the villainous zombie Titans West (Omen, Phantasm, Crystal, Aquagirl, Hawk and Dove) led by the new Brother Blood. It's pretty good too - but not as good as the lead story.

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X-FACTOR #1

Writer: Peter David
Penciler: Ryan Sook
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewed by Humphrey Lee

So this is the second time Peter David has tackled an X-FACTOR book, and it really is nothing like the first. So right off the bat, if you're expecting anything like the old days of government sanctioned teams of mutants and whatnot then you're in for a surprise (but I assume by now you're really not expecting any of that). Now, if you are expecting more "street-level" type book, stemming along the lines of the MADROX mini that PAD did recently, then you're in the right place. And what a glorious place it is.

This book has two major lead-ins, the aforementioned MADROX mini that set the stage for the X-FACTOR detective agency, and the event that has pretty much set the stage for everything going on in the current Marvel Universe, the HOUSE OF M. Since we last left off our new group of miscreants a lot has happened: The business has grown due to an influx of capital coming from a very unique source (and a hilarious one at that), we've got a couple new members in the sonic-screaming Siryn (who is also sporting some new power variations), and apparently Monet St. Croix (M from Generation X) as well (though she's not to be found in this ish despite the cover appearance), oh, and there's that whole "mutants everywhere have lost their powers" thing going on.

And that last plotline is what really drives the narration of this book. One time X-Force member Rictor is one of the mutants stricken down powerwise after the events of HOM. This is such a huge loss for this character it has caused him to scale a building and contemplate jumping off. It's there that Madrox decides to send in one of his more emotionally upbeat duplicates to try and talk him down. And I know that all this seems like a stretch from the outside, but that's where the brilliance of this book comes in. Peter David takes a character that has little appeal and backstory, and inside this issue and his explanation as to why Rictor would consider this comes up with something that makes the character very special (and now tragic) because of these new circumstances. If you never cared about Rictor before, or hell, didn't even know who he was, now you have a little insight into the mindset of the guy and can't help but come to see why this would become an option to him. That leaves it all to Madrox to explain to Rictor that's it not so bad, to give him (and the readers) insight on just how things that I mentioned above have developed in the book and yadda yadda. Oh, and it also sets up one of the most unexpected cliffhangers I've seen in a long long time. I saw that coming never.

So there you go. This is the new breed of X-FACTOR. It's got your normal Peter David sense of humor, it's still got some superhero smashing, but not on the same level as back when they were working for ol' Uncle Sam. The main point of this book is taking B and C level characters you might not have any knowledge about and turning them into something more than that, and making them by far more entertaining. And for those of you who did have prior knowledge of these guys, well then you'll just be happy to see them really well written now won't you?

Fun. That's the real x-factor that's been missing from so many comics these days.

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SEASON OF THE WITCH, ISSUES 0-2

Written by: Jai Nitz
Penciled by: Kevin Sharpe
Published by: Image Comics
Reviewed by: superhero

SEASON OF THE WITCH’s issues number zero and one were good enough that I actually bought issue number two with my own money. See, sometimes a creator will e-mail one of us @$$holes and ask us to review their book or books and send us a comp copy to peruse. Most of the time it’s a one shot deal. I’ll get a book, like it well enough, but not enough to actually add it to my pull list at the shop.

That wasn’t the case with SEASON OF THE WITCH. With SEASON OF THE WITCH I actually got a book I enjoyed enough to pick up at the shop with my own dough and that’s saying something. Don’t get me wrong. SEASON OF THE WITCH isn’t going to blow the doors off the comic book reading world but it is an all around good read and in a comic market where so much out there just reeks of sameness SEASON OF THE WITCH is an interesting diversion from the norm.

I remember seeing SEASON OF THE WITCH issue number 0 on the stands. It had this skimpily armor clad heroine on the cover blowing a bubble with her bubble gum. To me it instantly looked like a Witchblade rip-off but I picked it up anyway and looked through it as the artist actually looked like he knew what he was doing. As soon as I picked it up I put it back down again. Issue zero was only twelve pages of story and the rest of the book was made up of character sketches. Plus the book was a Sword & Sorcery book which is a genre I was never really crazy about in comic books. Heck, even when I was a teen-ager and everyone else was playing DUNGEONS & DRAGONS I was more interested in rolling dice with VILLAINS & VIGILANTES or at least the MARVEL SUPER HEROES RPG. Sword & Sorcery in comics was never a genre that I was particularly crazy about unless you were talking about Buscema’s Conan or Thorne’s Red Sonja. CrossGen seemed to have some interesting S & S stuff but it never caught on with me as the stories never seemed all that compelling to me.

So SEASON OF THE WITCH had some stuff going against it from the get-go with me. But when I read the preview copies that were sent to me my ideas about the book changed.

Issue number zero is sort of a SEASON OF THE WITCH primer. It presents a story that obviously takes place later in the lead character’s history in which she’s obviously mastered her abilities and become a skilled warrior in the fantasy setting of Asamando which is where SOTW takes place. Apparently orcs have been assaulting human travelers and slaughtering them without mercy so of course it’s up to our heroine to solve the problem. Obviously she comes across a band of orcs and confronts them in the typical hero meets villain scenario but the writing of the piece made the encounter a lot less ordinary than it could have been. The writer of the book intersperses the opening of the book with an interesting narrative involving how the lead character’s grandfather used to hunt when she was little. It’s a good enough piece of writing that it gets you right into the feel of what’s happening and sets up what’s about to come which ends up being a wholesale orc slaughter. Actually, that’s the part of the book that disturbed me and intrigued me at the same time. It’s not the fact that the main character hates orcs and wants to kill them for what they’ve done to humans. It’s the fact that at the end of the story the lead character actually finds a den of helpless orc females and babies and murders them all in cold blood. As a matter of fact most of her attitude towards orcs in general comes across as pretty much blind racism or, er, species-ism as it were. There was a bit at the tail end of the story where I actually felt that the heroine was actually in the wrong. I mean, the way the panels where rendered where she comes across the orc den absolutely made me sympathize for the little orc babies that were about to be killed for no other reason than actually being orcs. It kind of left a bad taste in my mouth because the orcs are presented as being sentient, intelligent creatures and not just bloodthirsty animals. But in the end it’s what made the book stand out for me. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely don’t want to read a book about a close minded warrior who just slaughters babies and mommies for her own satisfaction but it did give her character a bit of moral ambiguity which, to me, is what made her interesting. Oftentimes heroes are just so black and white with NO grey areas in between and this little character “quirk” (if you can call it that) actually made her more interesting to me and made me want to read more of the book. So the teaser issue did its job and did it admirably. I wanted to read more.

With issues one and two, SEASON OF THE WITCH goes back to the very beginning of the story. We are introduced to the lead character, Jessica, and her miserable life. She’s terrible in school, miserable at home and apparently has only one real friend to speak of who bores her to death. What was interesting to me is that I actually didn’t feel sorry for the lead character. I don’t know if this was the creator’s intention but, to me at least, it seemed that Jessica’s misery was a bit self-imposed. Actually, she came across as a bit of a bitch who was only interested in just how miserable she could be. I didn’t have any sympathy for her, but again, that’s what I ended up liking about her. She wasn’t just a poor little Cinderella clone. To a certain extent I actually ended up being more interested in her because she wasn’t perfect.

Eventually Jessica is dragged out of her so-called life into the fairy-world of Asamando by a sorcerer who claims that she is a Spell Sword, a champion who can free the land from their oppressive king. For the most part this is where the book enters the typical hero-trained-by-their-elder territory that so many other stories have tread before. But what’s atypical is that Jessica handles it all a lot less gracefully than other heroes have in the past. All she does is piss and moan about how hard everything is and events in her new fantasy home become almost an exact replay of events from when she was miserable on Earth. Jessica even goes so far to actually complain about her new breast size as one of the after effects of being brought to fairy-land is that you now will have your ideal body type. All of this illustrates that Jessica is not your typical fantasy/super-hero. She’s whiny and complaining and slightly egotistical. She’s actually fleshed out. Hell, she may not be the most likeable character I’ve ever read but at least she seems more real than most of the comic characters out there. The problem then is how do you avoid the inevitable Anakin Skywalker syndrome that could set in with a book like this? Meaning, if your lead character is a whiny brat then how can you actually get your audience to sympathize with them? Well, one of the tools the writer is able to use is making the stuff that Jessica hates doing pretty much the same stuff everyone else would hate doing. The writer sort of evokes a KARATE KID style montage which allows the reader to possibly identify with the heroine’s gripes as the last thing the reader themselves would want to do is sew their own clothes, move rocks in a wagon, or be stuck doing laundry without some of today’s modern conveniences. What does become problematic, however, is the fact that once Jessica does acquire her powers and her ego begins to match her power level how can you avoid making your lead into someone completely unlikable like the aforementioned Mr. Skywalker? By issue number two Jessica’s still a bit of a pain in the ass but it is only the second issue of the series and the character obviously still has some room to grow. If the creators of SEASON OF THE WITCH want readers to stick around they’d be well advised to have the character learn a few hard life lessons to put her in her place a bit. By the end of issue two it seems as if this may be what’s being set up so I’m not expecting to end up completely loathing Jessica as much as I did George Lucas’s crybaby Jedi but as I said it’s time for her to mature a bit. It’s only so long that you can read about someone who’s as shallow as Jessica seems to be coming across.

The art in SEASON OF THE WITCH is actually very, very good. While issue number zero is black and white with a couple of different inkers, issues number one and two seem to have been put together with heavy pencil work and computer coloring fleshing out the look of the book. I actually liked both of the artistic approaches taken to the book as the black and white issue was very crisply illustrated and the pencil lines of the next two gave the book’s appearance a smoothness that added to the fantasy feel of the book. Honestly, the creators of the book would have had a winning look for their comic with either approach as the artist is good enough that his style looks great either way. My only complaint about the art is that there does seem to be an over reliance in the colored books on using Photoshop effects to fill in the backgrounds instead of actually drawing stuff in. It actually became much more evident with issue number two as the second issue actually appears a bit rushed compared to the work in both issues numbers zero and one. Hopefully the artist will have enough time to fully flesh out the third issue, as I was really impressed with his style and the second issue’s shortcomings left me a little cold, but even with its rushed feel I could see that the artist has some real talent.

SEASON OF THE WITCH isn’t exactly a perfect book but it is a really good one. With time the creators may be able to work out some of the kinks and make SEASON a very solid fantasy read. The art goes a long way toward making it worth picking up and if the art team can avoid taking shortcuts like they did in issue two this could be one of the better looking independent books on the stands. Yes, there are some pacing and character issues but the creative team of SOTW seems to have a LOT of potential and I, for one, hope that the book is given enough time to grow into what could possibly be a fan favorite. Of course the $3.50 price tag doesn’t help its fight any and I’m hesitant to recommend that anyone pay that much for a single comic book but if your shop gives you a discount like mine does this book is worth a look.

Now if someone could just explain to me why female fantasy figures wear armor that completely exposes their chest and stomach area. I mean, I understand the need for cheesecake but there’s gotta be a way to make a female fantasy character sexy and believable without having to have her goods exposed for all the world to see. Hell, if the creator of ARTESIA can do it I’m sure other creators can too…

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SECRET WAR #5 (of 5)

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Gabriele Dell’Otto
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Vroom and Dave: Secret Reviewers

Review of issue one
Review of issue two
Review of issue three
Review of issue four

VROOM: Holy shit, it's over?

Really?

All five issues are out? Wow, and it only took 22 months. Although I guess I shouldn't complain, we only got one issue of Spider-Man/Black Cat in that same time. But I digress; the matter at hand is the finale to SECRET WAR. So what happens?

What happens is a Deus Ex Machina, then a whole issue of exposition. The same as HOUSE OF M and AVENGERS FINALE, in other words. We have Angelina Jolie wave her hand and make all the bad guys go away, then Nick Fury explains the whole plot to us, and you know what? I still have no goddamn idea what the point was! There was some terrific stuff to be found early on; the whole idea of the various tech-based villains being involved in some conspiracy was a damn good one, but all we got was some megalomaniac villain, a whole lotta buildup, and no real payoff.

DAVE: And let me tell ya, as megalomaniac villains go, Lucia von Bardas is no Dr. Doom. Not even a Count Nefaria.

The Owl may be cooler.

And yet this is the character (SPOILERS A’COMIN’) whose villainy we’re supposed to believe led to Nick Fury being deposed as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.?! Like hell. She’s just another example of Bendis’s hubris. He’s outed Daredevil, given Wolverine his memories, killed off a scad of Avengers while dissolving the team, and now come up with an awful contrivance to be give Nick Fury the boot. Not that I expect the booting to stick, but as just another instance of Bendis making his mark, it’s wearisome.

But maybe not as wearisome as the fact that this is another “heroes fail” story. Bendis does a lot of these stories, sometimes in titles where bad times feel appropriate (DAREDEVIL), sometimes in titles where it makes the heroes look like total chumps (NEW AVENGERS). This one’s the latter, with the likes of Captain America, Wolverine, and Spider-Man all being duped by Nick Fury, and more gallingly, by Bendis’s pet character, Angelina-Jolie-From-HACKERS. It’s almost as if Bendis has contempt for the characters on a subconscious level. He at least shows them to be competent in action scenes, but the rest of the time they come across as easily manipulable dupes. Are ineffective heroes just the new paradigm? Bendis is hardly the only one making a mint off the concept.

VROOM: That and the concept of heroes in conflict with each other. You’ve heard what the event coming out of this next summer is called, right? MARVEL CIVIL WAR. Is it any wonder that the only titles I still give a shit about are the ones that aren’t involved in some multi-part, shake the pillars of heaven “event” that’s going to be the biggest thing to happen to this universe until six months after it ends when we get another “event” that shakes the pillars of heaven!!!

…

…

Sorry about that.

I should say that I wasn’t all that pissed off about Fury going underground as much as the fact that that’s pretty much all that happened here. Anyone who’s read NEW AVENGERS or THE PULSE can infer what happens. I know that’s due to delays, but I’d still like to have seen something more happen than just an anticlimactic resolution to an attack from a cheap bad guy, then seeing Nick Fury slink into the shadows. Don’t get me wrong; having Fury go rogue is a great idea, one that works. I know, because I’ve seen it told by other writers. All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again.

As to Bendis and ineffectual heroes, I’m planning to address that later. But first, what’s your final appraisal of the work Dell’Otto brought to the book? I must admit that seeing Wolverine rip the shit out of Fury was wicked cool.

DAVE: Or might’ve been if Wolverine shouting, “You don’t mess with my head!!! You don’t mess with my head!!!” hadn’t reminded me of Wolvie’s infamously awful “Stop raping me!” line from THE PULSE.

Final take on Dell’Otto? Solid. I get a slightly schlocky “Luis Royo” vibe from his work airbrushy work, but his storytelling’s good, his characters nicely designed, and to bring it all back to our review of the first issue…he still draws a mean S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. Honestly, beyond a basic disinterest in the style he presents, I chalk up most of my complaints about his work here (weak action scenes, repeated panels) to Bendis’s quirks. Doesn’t mitigate ‘em, but it means the fault doesn’t lie with him.

Clearly the guy’s got chops and a future in the biz, but for me, he’ll probably only ever be interesting as a cover artist. For instance, I like his take on The Man Called Nova for this upcoming cover.

VROOM: That is a magnificent cover! I don’t know that I’d buy another mini by Dell’Otto, but if he does an original hardcover or graphic novel I’ll snatch it up in a heartbeat. As to Bendis and his quirks…

With the completion of this series, Bendis is at a real crossroads as a storyteller. He can either expand as a writer, finding new themes to work with, or he can keep on going the way he has his entire career. Bendis’ philosophical approach to writing is relatively simple, “If it ain’t broke, break it!” That’s served him well on many the title, books like DAREDEVIL (the breaking of Matt Murdock), TORSO (the breaking of Elliot Ness), and FORTUNE & GLORY (Hollywood breaks Bendis). But it seems the more players he involves and the bigger the stage gets, the more the story falls apart for me. (See not only this story, but also DISSASSEMBLED, where he breaks the Avengers, and HOUSE OF M, where he breaks the entire mutant population.)

This is why some of his best work, on such titles as JINX, POWERS, and ALIAS, features characters that come pre-broken. This helps move the action into a rebuilding stage, one that’s a helluva lot more fun than the breaking point. POWERS has the best feel for this, as it has two main players. Look at recent issues; while Walker is being rebuilt, Pilgrim is breaking down. That’s Bendis at his best. But on the opposite level there’s the character of Jessica Jones. Why do you think Bendis stopped ALIAS, or why he’s leaving THE PULSE? It’s because Jessica is no longer broken; she’s become a whole person, and Bendis doesn’t know what to do with her. That’s a missed opportunity, in my book.

I’m not saying this to be nasty, or to rile people up. I’m saying it because Bendis is phenomenally talented and the world’s biggest mensch, and I don’t want to see him go down a road where he falls victim to his own excess. Some of my favorite storytellers have gone down that road, and it pains me every time. Comics creators like Frank Miller, (huge badasses in stories favoring style over substance) and Chris Claremont (psychic women in bondage situations), along with people like Chevy Chase (pratfalls and general stupidity), and Gene Roddenberry (AI computers with a God complex). Nobody wants to see Bendis turn into a joke, least of all me. But if he doesn’t shake up his style and try something new, I can easily see it happening.

DAVE: All those interrogation scenes don’t help.

And I think we’ve outright reached the level of self-parody. Hell, we’ve even got Bendis dropping self-referential in-jokes in his stories (“Chaos magic” winks, jabs at Spidey for his constant unmaskings, etc.)! From my point of view, though, there’s no one thing Bendis can do take his writing to the “next level”. I think his massive exposure over the last several years has in fact revealed weaknesses and excesses endemic to his writing style – critical weaknesses like poor plot structure, gaping plot holes, and characters who speak with Bendis’s voice instead of their own. There are a few things he does extremely well and he’ll always be readable, but more and more I wonder if his work will stand the test of time beyond mere readability. Sales-wise, it’s a no-brainer that he’s riding a tide, but I look at his work on NEW AVENGERS, HOUSE OF M, and now SECRET WAR, and it’s hard for me to imagine people looking back on these stories as a great era for Marvel.

Time’ll tell, won’t it?

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DMZ #2

Writer: Brian Wood
Penciler: Riccardo Burchielli
Publisher: Vertigo/DC Comics
Reviewed by Humphrey Lee

So the first issue of DMZ introduced us to young Matthew Roth and showed how he is now stranded in the middle of the war zone formerly known as Manhattan. Now this is where Wood takes the time to go ahead and spew some sort of liberal bias as we turn this book into some giant Red State vs Blue State "ha-ha we're right, you're wrong" BS, right?

Wrong.

This is where we see the pain of war, the horror it brings. This is how innocent bystanders get caught in the crossfire and their lives are shattered by something that they had no part in starting. This is how they stand back up on their own two feet and start surviving everyday life just like before. This is how they live their lives.

This is the story of those that are forgotten when bombs start dropping and the blame and finger-pointing begins.

Issue number two of DMZ is a tour of the "leftovers" of Manhattan. Mattie Roth was supposed to cover the story of the century as war waged within the United States. Instead he was left stranded and was actually the ignorant cause of more suffering on the behalf of the people still in the demilitarized zone. Now that he's stuck here he starts to learn just how the "other half" lives as his savior from last issue, a young woman known as Zee, becomes his tour guide through the war zone. We see how those stuck here live their every day lives. What do they do for food and water? Where do they congregate now that the local Starbucks has become nothing but rubble? How do they keep their minds off what's going on around them and keep moving forward? And what about those that aren't so lucky to still be moving around, at least not with the use of both legs to do so?

And yes, all that I have said, and everything this book is trying to say is a bit on the heavy handed side. That comes with the territory on this kind of subject material. But it's an important story and it's one that is very well written and very dynamically drawn. I dare say this is one of those comics that you simply cannot miss and will go down as one of the best and most important stories told in comic form.

But that would be getting over-dramatic...

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GLX-MAS SPECIAL #1

Writer: Dan Slott
Artists: Matt Haley, Georges Jeanty, Drew Geraci, Ty Templeton, Paul Grist, Mike Kazaleh, Mike Wieringo, and Karl Kesel

PUNISHER: SILENT NIGHT #1

Writer: Andy Diggle
Artist: Kyle Hotz
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Ambush Bug

True holiday cheer is pretty hard to come by these days. I’m probably not the only one who watched the Charlie Brown Christmas Special and thought to myself, “If this thing were put out today, there’s no way it would be green-lighted.” Which is sad really. True appreciation for something as special as the holidays is getting rarer and rarer. These days, the holidays are something to make fun of, something to thumb your nose at, something to shun or overlook or berate or deem uncool. All of this rancor may be due to the fact that today’s holiday wishes are often drowned out by real life suckitude. Like many people this holiday season, I’m a little short on the bucks. The gift giving at the Ambush Bug Holiday Hootenanny isn’t going to be as plentiful as it has been in years past. And that bothers me. I want to make this a memorable holiday season, but I can’t help but be a bit down in the dumps that the problems of life have invaded what was once a sacred season about dreams and wishes and good deeds. I guess that’s what happens when you grow up.

Being a comic book reader, I cherish the times when I was a kid laying on my belly in the family room and reading the four colored adventures of my favorite heroes. It was a time when the fantastical was believable and things like comics and the holidays made my imagination soar. So when I walked into my local comics shop in my holiday slump and saw not one, but two holiday comics written by two of my favorite comic book writers, the optimist in me cast aside those real life problems in hopes that my love of the holidays and comics would once again be resuscitated.

What I can say is that these are two decently written comics.

By this time, after a GREAT LAKES AVENGERS miniseries, writer Dan Slott is pretty comfortable with this cast of misfit characters. Slott is one of the funniest writers in comics today and he really shows those comic chops in the GLX-MAS SPECIAL #1. I especially loved the short tale pitting Deathurge against Squirrel Girl’s pet, Tippy-Toe. Madcap mayhem occurs as Deathurge must kill his squirrelly nemesis before midnight, but the unkillable Mr. Immortal keeps setting off his traps. Even Doorman’s story where he visits his strict father for the holidays walks the line of comedy and drama, giving this issue a little depth. And tidbits like the Flatman cut out figure with an infinite number of articulation points brought a smirk to my face. It was a fun read throughout.

Andy Diggle has proven himself to be a versatile and always exciting writer over at DC. PUNISHER: SILENT NIGHT #1 was his first crack at writing for Marvel. Although not up to the par of the superior LOSERS series and ADAM STRANGE miniseries, Diggle churns out a semi-entertaining tale of a Punisher sting set against the backdrop of Christmas Eve at an orphanage where a mob boss is hiding out. I appreciate Diggle’s restraint in not going the “let’s make the mob villains all goofy and ape Ennis’ tired old style” route that Daniel Way recently used in the PUNISHER VS BULLSEYE miniseries. I enjoyed the way Diggle showed the Punisher planning this operation and mapping out every contingency to utterly destroy his prey. Although not on par with the adrenaline rush I received after reading a single issue of ADAM STRANGE or LOSERS, this story kept moving at a steady pace and as always, Frank gets his guy in the end.

What I can’t say is that I was filled with holiday cheer after reading these two Christmas specials.

I don’t know about you, but suicides, multiple deaths, attempted murder of animals, dismemberment, and even more death doesn’t exactly fill me with holiday cheer. And that’s just in the GLX-MAS SPECIAL. I don’t even want to mention the fact that the Punisher uses orphans to build deathtraps for mobsters. Or the fact that the Punisher beats up Santa Claus in front of a group of children in one scene, then dresses up a dead mob boss as Santa and leaves him in plain view in the middle of the front yard for all of the orphans to wake up to on Christmas morning. Yeah, Christmas cheer wasn’t plentiful in either of these books, and to me, that’s pretty disappointing. I understand the GLA and the Punisher aren’t two properties that scream wholesomeness and good will when they come to mind. But one would think that with the talent behind both books, they might be able to squeeze in something more meaningful. Although these two books were somewhat entertaining, it was the vapid, soulless and yes, snarky cruel form of entertainment that permeates a lot of comics these days. Sure, the wholesomeness from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “The Charlie Brown Christmas Special” may be too saccharine for today’s jaded, apathetic audience filled, but there’s something about those stories that made them classics. Too bad the creators behind these books didn’t shoot for that level of worthwhile storytelling this holiday season instead of the lowest common denominator stuff we have here.

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ARK ANGELS V.1

Creator: Sang-Sun Park
Publisher: Tokyopop
Reviewer: Dan G.

I had two expectations when I began reading this manga, one of which ended up confusing the hell out of me, and one of which ended up false. (Technically, this is a Korean comic, so it's a manwha, not a manga, but whatever - comics is comics. And yes, I'm aware of how controversial that statement is, and I don't care.) The first was that it would be about three young girls - all sisters - as the back cover copy proclaims. It is, but throughout the book one sister pretends to be a boy for some 'mysterious reason' that is never explained and seems to be a source of anxiety for the other two. This deception is very poorly depicted, and it took me four readings to understand what was actually going on. I'm not sure if the translation or writing was at fault there.

The second was that it would be somewhat goth and drawn in an ethereal fashion, like the creator's THE TAROT CAFE series. In fact, the art style is interestingly different from that series, much more frenetic and exciting. The gothic influence remains, but combines with a bubbly energy and some more cartoony stuff to give the book a totally different feel. It took me a while to get used to it, but by the end of the volume I liked that odd combination of goth bishonen and shojo cartoon. It certainly gives the book a distinct style.

The premise of the manga is that the environmental damage humans have done to Earth is affecting parallel dimensions as well, and representatives of those dimensions have gathered to do something to put a stop to it to save their own realms. Shem, Hamu, and Japheth are Noah's children from one of these dimensions, and they travel the Earth from their base in a high school putting animals from endangered species in their magical Ark. They see the souls of the critters, not just the bodies, so each rescue is a magical adventure, and each one turns back the Environmental Disaster clock by one minute. Secretly opposing them is the Lord, another dimensional representative who feels humans deserve no more chances and should be wiped out before they poison all the dimensions.

The stories in this volume were definitely over the top, but fun, too: rescuing a mother fruit bat who has gone senile, a stuck-up crane who won't go until she gets hooked up with a boyfriend, and trying to adjust to a new school while pretending to be a boy - there certainly wasn't any point where I felt the story was dragging. A fun new series from an established talent.

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ARCANA Vol.1 TPB

Writer/Artist: So-Young Lee
Publisher: Tokyopop
Reviewed by Dave Farabee

I think I’ve had the bug for swords and sorcery ever since my parents accidentally took me to see the quite R-rated EXCALIBUR when I was about eight. It instilled in me an abiding geek love for all things elvish, dwarvish, King Arthurish, and hell, even KRULL-ish. Turns out most of its crap - you probably knew that – but I’m always on the lookout for the unique stuff that stands out from the crowd. Our spotlight of the day, ARCANA, doesn’t seem likely to join the upper echelon, but for sheer style I’ve got to give it its due.

Written and drawn by female creator So-Young Lee, best known for her gothic romance MODEL, ARCANA’s standout feature at even the barest glance is its art. Decorative, filled with costumes inspired by Middle Eastern and Art Noveau styles, and populated by Lee’s trademark lanky, androgynous characters, it certainly defies the visual conventions of the genre. And it’s very appealing. The heroine, 15-year-old orphan Inez, is a gangly tomboy of a girl – long neck, thin arms, wispy fingers even – and it’s just a nice change of pace from muscle-bound warriors and knights decked out in full plate. In fact, a “skinny” aesthetic pervades the whole book. You’d think it might be off-putting, but it’s not the glammed-up thinness you might see on a Michael Turner-drawn babe. I’d liken it more to the works of famed Viennese artist Gustav Klimt in that it pervades the whole of the work, not just the objects of lust. The skinny aesthetic’s echoed, too, by an emphasis on thin, vertical designs, from the columns of palaces to tall stained glass windows.

The story kicks off with a familiar fantasy motif: the arrival of a magical winter. From Wilde’s THE SELFISH GIANT to Lewis’s THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE to George R.R. Martin’s recent GAME OF THRONES series, fantasy writers do love to dump the snow on their characters. In ARCANA, it’s a winter that only comes once every hundred years, and the people of the land are generally freaking out over it. And rightly so – they’ve never seen snow before, and oh yeah, it seems the winter’s brought with it the return to the land of demons. And Inez has an early encounter with them. Traveling to the city with her grandfather (an aged Obi-Wan type who’s hinted to’ve been a hero in his younger days) and pet dog (one of those cool shaggy collies), she pauses to exercise her magical ability to talk to animals with a flock of sheep. It gets creepy, though, when the sheep reveal that they’re terrified…that one among their number is very different.

At which point one of the sheep explodes gorily apart into a giant demon.

If that’s not an early indicator of the book’s lingering darkness, I don’t know what is, though Inez does end up rescued by a mysterious, androgynously beautiful hero. She’ll encounter him again when she visits the Emperor’s palace with her grandfather. Events there are a touch vague and shadowy, but her grandfather’s clearly got sway with the Emperor – a cruelly handsome man not unlike Inez’s demon-whomping benefactor, Yulan. Tomboyish Inez ends up butting heads with both Yulan and the Emperor as she bristles under their attitudes and the stuffy conventions of the palace. There’s no real hint at budding romance between any of these characters, though. In fact, there’s a fairly disturbing scene where the Emperor demands Inez show off her powers by speaking to a bird he’s kept starved for three days - a bird he ends up killing.

Is he just a bastard, or is it possible he’s hardening her heart intentionally for the trials to come? And trials are to come. In a somewhat unsatisfying forwarding of the plot, Inez is rather suddenly given a quest by her grandfather and the Emperor. She’s to use her animal-speaking abilities to lure a dragon to fend off the demons, and weirdly there’s no questioning of the whys and wherefores of this development – it’s just accepted with a sort of dreamy resolve that felt forced to me.

But it’s the angsty asides likely to make this compelling to those looking for a romantic fantasy steeped in darkness. The aforementioned scenes with the demon-sheep and the killing of the bird come to mind, as does the otherworldly, elfin race who drinks tears and the strange, sad fate of Inez’s dog. Mysteries abound too (Why the magical winter? What’s its connection to the demons? Why can Inez talk to animals and what, precisely, is her magical destiny? Why is Inez’s kindly grandfather so chummy with the sleazy Emperor? Who are the two men tracking Inez?), so many in fact that there was a certain frustration at the ambiguity of the thing. But for the dark, ethereal tone, and definitely for the art, I expect to follow up on the next few volumes as ARCANA presumably moves out of set-up mode and into more episodic questing. The feel of the thing is just so unique that it’s got my attention.

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HIKARU NO GO Vols. 1-5

Writer: Yumi Hotta
Artist: Takeshi Obata
Publisher: Viz
Reviewer: Dan G.

I've long had a mild interest in the Japanese game of Go. (For those of you not in the know, Go is an ancient game of placing stones to take territory - not unlike chess, it is easy to learn but very difficult to master.) I even own a cheap board, though I've never actually used it to play and I don't really know how. I figured that was okay, and I'd continue happily ignorant for likely the rest of my days and Go would just go on the long list of interests I've never followed up on. Then I started reading HIKARU NO GO.

The story's a pretty standard one for manga: young person tries his best to improve his skills at something and become a 'master', with a few twists here and there. Sixth-grader Hikaru Shindo finds an old Go board in his grandfather's attic and plans to sell it - but it turns out this board is haunted by the spirit of ancient Go master Fujiwara-no-Sai, unable to find peace until he plays the 'Divine Move'. Sai's spirit makes a new home for itself in Hikaru's mind, and a Go odyssey begins, with Hikaru playing games at Sai's mental direction and beating everyone he meets, even getting a rival. Eventually, Hikaru decides to learn to play himself, and forms a club at school - but his old opponents are confused by his sudden lack of skill. Meanwhile, Sai plays online to get his fix. Developing rapidly, Hikaru is soon able to take the test for insei - youth pro - with just his own abilities. Okay, so the plot isn't inspired. It's strong enough to hold up.

It isn't really the plot of HIKARU NO GO that draws me to it anyway - and make no mistake, I really enjoy this manga - it's Hotta's ability to interweave Go games and puzzles into the story and make them exciting. I get more into those games than I do most hero-villain punch-outs or shootouts in action comics. Because Hikaru has been learning the game in the story, so have I, and I feel a kinship when he plays a stone, even when Sai tells him there's a better place. I've learned along with Hikaru, and it makes the manga engaging. They even keep Yukari Umezawa, a professional Go player, around to be sure all of the Go stuff is accurate, so the stuff I've learned is the real thing.

Obata's art draws you into the story as well. His ability with facial expressions and hand movements during stone placement really make it seem like the game is being played right in front of you. Angles are chosen well to evoke motion and a feel of the stones hitting the board. You can almost hear the 'klak' of a strongly-placed stone. He also does a great job with character design, making it easy to tell the characters apart - something that can be a problem in many manga I've read. The art isn't particularly ground-breaking, but it is very solid, and does its job extremely well.

There's a surprising amount of action in these five volumes, but it takes a form I didn't expect. Who knew reading about a board game could be exciting? Maybe someday I'll actually play the game for myself.

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WAR OF THE WORLDS: SECOND WAVE #1
BOOM! Studios

I just recently rented the Spielberg/Cruise summer blockbuster version of WAR OF THE WORLDS on DVD and found it to be pretty entertaining. Many thought the ending was a bit schmaltzy, but I found it true to Spielbergian form; big effects, well staged action sequences, all tied together with an overly saccharinated bow. Not a day after I watched the flick, I found an advance copy of BOOM! Studios graphic novel sequel to the movie, WAR OF THE WORLDS: SECOND WAVE #1 in my box of goodies. This issue was equally entertaining. The first issue recaps the events from the film not from a family who survives the alien invasion, but from one who doesn’t. After the giant tripods fall in the first flick is where this story really begins. This issue sets up the tension nicely and introduces us to a character that is sure to cause trouble for the aliens once they start rampaging again. How, I’m not sure yet, considering in this issue our hero doesn’t know the difference between a flat head and a Phillips screwdriver, but the story unfolds in a way that captured my interest and the art was fully capable of rendering the mass destruction the tripods caused. This looks to be a promising series. It’s available now to order in this month’s Previews, so nab it while you can. - Ambush Bug

OPTIC NERVE #10

Writer/Artist: Adrian Tomine
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Reviewed by Dave Farabee

I’ve never read an issue of the highly respected slice-of-lifer, OPTIC NERVE, and I figured to remedy that by peeking in on the latest issue at random. To the book’s credit, I found it eminently approachable without reading a single word of the synopsis on the inside cover, and as I’d suspected from all the praise its received over the years, the craftsmanship was impeccable.

But I also had to chuckle. If you had to come up with the ultimate cliché image of the indie comic, what do you think you’d come up with? Maybe some navel-gazing twenty/thirtysomethings bitching about their sex lives at a coffee shop? Well, that’s precisely what we get in the first few pages of OPTIC NERVE, and as unfair as it might be to laugh and groan at a comic for breaking out the same angsty tropes we let Hollywood get away with all the time…man, I just hadda.

Gen X’ers. Coffee shop. Lame sex lives. Only black turtlenecks could’ve made the thing any “indier!”

But writer/artist Adrian Tomine doesn’t need me to take the piss out of his characters – he does it throughout the issue, almost obsessively even. Consider the performance art sequence that opens the book. Our lead, 30-year-old Ben Tanaka, is attending a performance art piece headlined by the cute new girl he’s hired at the movie theater he manages. Her name’s Autumn. “This is a new piece,” Autumn tells the audience. “It’s entitled ‘Fallujah’.” The performance itself involves a rock band, naked people posing awkwardly, and a series of screeching drum/guitar sound effects that suggest a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Tomine’s art, which seems generally better suited to low-key conversations than action, is particularly static during the performance – as if to emphasize its awkwardness.

Quite realistically, Ben’s all compliments despite the disgusted look that crosses his face initially, the reader easily seeing through his hopes to get closer to the vapid but earnest Autumn:

Autumn: Well, we’re taking the physicality of modern dance and the improvisation of free jazz and infusing it with a punk sensibility.

Ben: Wow. Yeah.

Ben ends up saying the right things to get a hug, and Tomine gives him a minimalist smile – his approach is working…at least kinda/sorta. I was somewhat surprised to find that the scene actually struck me as condescending to earnest artist-types. It’s not like its any big secret that there’re plenty of artsy fartsy kids out there talking themselves into the notion that what they’ve got to say is important, but Tomine’s staging almost speaks to an old-timer griping that that lousy rock ‘n’ roll is “just noise.” It’s an interesting counterpoint to the worldview of, say, Paul Pope, who infused his aspiring artist with romantic nobility in his recent 100%, but the treatment felt a touch too clichéd. I’ve heard Tomine spoken of as a distinctly Gen X cartoonist, but I wonder if he has much sympathy for his own generation.

In the coffee house scene, Ben discusses his shaky romantic prospects with his lesbian best friend, Alice. She’s much more personally and sexually aggressive than he and needles him for his slow-burn approach.

Alice: If you hang out with her one more time and don’t make a move, be prepared to be banished to “neutered Asian friend” territory forever!”

Ben (with mock melodrama): “Never! I shall never return to that horrible land again!”

There’s some terrific dialogue throughout the sequence, and it carries over into Ben’s lackadaisical phone call to his ex. She’s moving on to a promising internship, his latent bitterness (and jealousy) steers the conversation into an argument and…well, I can’t say it’s a novel scene, but it certainly rings with truth. In fact, everything about the issue speaks to keen observations of human nature. If there’s a pattern to the issue, it’s this: Ben tries to get closer to a girl, stumbles awkwardly, and talks about it with Alice, who busts his chops. There’s a fair amount of non-politically-correct humor throughout – some of it, like the aside about “white girl envy,” being pretty damn hilarious – but in a way the humor’s as awkward as Ben’s almost-kisses and out-of-placeness at parties. It’s his defense mechanism from facing up to his insecurities, and funny or not, it just contributes to the image of him as a hapless schlub. And Tomine’s not afraid to make him a selfish ass at times, so he’s got that going for him too. Even when he does hook up with a girl in the latter half of the story, the follow-through is expectedly abortive.

What I take from this issue, which for all its status quo meanderings does end on a cliffhanger suggesting a shake-up in Ben’s life, is that OPTIC NERVE is a quite approachable series about the kind of freaks and geeks you probably know or have been at one time or another. And there’s no discounting its clean-line style, sure to appeal to fans of Dan Clowes, the Hernandez Brothers, and Cameron Stewart. The staging is pretty close to perfect and there’s never an unclear moment. OPTIC NERVE’s downside for me, though, is characterized by that opening performance art sequence: what first appears to be a clinical detachment in chronicling the lives of its Gen X players eventually comes across as condescending cynicism. Sure, you can infer an implicit sympathy for the struggling characters, but scene after scene spotlights their frailty, awkwardness, and selfishness, with nary a moment of warmth or camaraderie to balance it out. The overriding vibe is pretty bleak, consistently more interested in failure than success.

Me,