| #12 | 7/19/06 | #5 |
(Click title to go directly to the review)
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #0
MARVEL ADVENTURES: THE AVENGERS #1-3
UNCLE SAM AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS #1
GHOST RIDER: ROAD TO DAMNATION HC TPB
Big Eyes For the Cape Guy presents USAGI YOJIMBO V. 20: GLIMPSES OF DEATH
Indie Jones presents EMILY EDISON TPB
Indie Jones presents HYPER-ACTIVES #3
Indie Jones presents…
CHEAP SHOTS!
Tales From the Crevice: It Came From the 90’s FROM HELL
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #0
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Artists: "All-Star Cast of Artists”
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Prof. Challenger
You know? I harbor a real mad-on at Brad Meltzer.
He's obviously an excellent and accomplished author, but that doesn't always translate into an aptitude for comic book writing. My first exposure to his comic book work was the first issue of IDENTITY CRISIS, which I thought was the best written comic I had read that year - an outstanding examination of the mind of the third-stringer superhero in a world inhabited by demigods. And I pimped the thing to anyone who would listen.
Then issue two hit the stands.
In the span of two issues, the guy went from "Wow!" to "Ugh!" That second issue reeked of massive out-of-character words and actions from well-established characters and, regardless of the spin Dan Didio puts on it publicly, the worst of prurient shock value with an on-panel rape in a comic sporting Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman on the cover. And the ramifications from that short-sighted editorial self-indulgence are continuing to limp towards redemption as other writers keep making efforts to sweep up the shit with nothing but a sieve. Nothing pisses me off about a writer as much as when they build up my expectations and then don't live up to those expectations.
So…when I heap praises on JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #0, know all that in the forefront of my mind is my past experience with IDENTITY CRISIS and an uneasiness about how much I can trust Meltzer to continue this most positive approach in the next and following issues.
As opposed to the disjointed artistic stylings of the last issue of INFINITE CRISIS, this comic boasts a whopping 23 different artists and never once felt disjointed! It can be done. Now, what made it work so well was - well, besides the fact that every artist gave their "A" game, was the format that Meltzer chose to tell this prologue for his new series. Flip-flopping back and forth through time to give the readers glimpses into the JLA's past, present, and future he accomplishes everything a reader, and DC, could hope for in a "Zero Issue." He established quite clearly who and what the Justice League is. He acknowledged the rich history of the Justice League. He teased the reader with previews of stories that may or may not be told in the future. Chief among the teases was the discovery of a "second Earth" vibrating at different speed than their Earth. Say what? And in a nod to the SUPER FRIENDS' "Hall of Justice," this newest incarnation of the JLA will be meeting in "The Hall."
From my perspective, the best thing that Meltzer has done is embrace the Silver Age relationships of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman but filtered through the deeper and more complicated characterization style of modern comic book writing. On the first page, Meltzer establishes once again the camaraderie between Superman and Batman that really hasn't been seen as a part of continuity since probably 1980. But even then, Meltzer adds that extra level of intensity and contemplation to Batman that developed well after the original JLA series began.
Meltzer also wisely pushes Wonder Woman to the forefront of the DC Universe by once again reestablishing her as being in on the founding of the Justice League of America. She's there when they fought those aliens that turned our heroes into trees. And now, both Superman and Batman have called her into the Batcave to establish the Justice League.
Besides the loss of Earth-2, the deepest loss to the DC Universe after the CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS was the destruction of the relationship between these three characters. Superman and Batman suddenly were not friends and never had been. Wonder Woman suddenly disappeared retroactively from continuity and was a heroine who did not even appear for the first time until after the CRISIS. The retroactive destruction of the friendship between these three headline characters, I think, just filtered down through the entire line pushing towards a progressive deconstructionism that culminated in INFINITE CRISIS. At this point, I'm first to stand up and give props to Meltzer for recognizing this and using his "political capital" to get DC Editorial to go along with his plan. This is a really good first step to fixing the past and moving forward with a clearer vision of these characters.
Within the modern context, Meltzer nails the characters here. Even when he's jumping around through different periods of time, he is consistent with the characterizations of each respective time period even if he is approaching it from a perspective perhaps unthinkable at the time of the originals. For Meltzer, the JLA is really about these three characters. They are the consistency. They are the glue that holds the team together. I was afraid he was going to go all "Illuminati" on us with this series, presenting this "Trinity" as some secret tribunal pulling puppet strings throughout the DC Universe. Color me happy right now that it looks like, instead, the three recognize the need for a group that can tackle the threats that are truly too big for a single hero to handle - even Superman.
DC is keeping the final lineup of Meltzer's JLA close to the vest, so that when the last page follows a grand DC tradition of tossing out a bunch of photos of heroes to choose from, our three founders' choices will not be known until issue one.
In an interview, Meltzer said his JLA will be an "all ages" accessible book. Glad to hear it. Keep up the promise of this prologue and his JLA series could become one of the definitive JLA runs.
MARVEL ADVENTURES: THE AVENGERS #1-3
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artists: Manuel Garcia and Scott Koblish
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Dan Grendell
"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!"
"If assemble mean smash... then Hulk assemble!"
I sat down to read MA: AVENGERS because a friend recommended it to me, and, honestly, because I figured if it was for kids it wouldn't be all talky and crappy like NEW AVENGERS. After just one issue, I had to have more. It was like I was mainlining fun. Kids get Avengers comics like this, and we get whole issues of NEW AVENGERS where the Avengers barely appear? Man, there ain't no justice. Well, screw that. I'm taking this comic for the adults, kiddies, cuz we NEED a good Avengers, and you can't stop me. Oh, stop crying. You can still read it.
The team is a bit weird. You have icons like Cap and Iron Man, but then you get guys like the Hulk. Okay, he was an original Avenger. Giant-Girl? She's a Young Avenger, so that sorta works. Wolverine and Spider-Man? New Avengers, so sure. Storm? Wait, what? Okay, I'm guessing she's just in there because she's black and popular, but it really doesn't make any sense. You know what, though? It works. The team actually works. Wolverine is the subdued, likes-to-scrap-but-not-a-jerk guy I prefer him as, so he fits fine as long as Cap and Storm keep him in line. Hulk is smart-Banner-dumb-Hulk-who-trusts-his-friends, so he works. And this isn't angst-filled Spidey, it's fun Spidey.
The comic doesn't spend six issues explaining why they are the Avengers - it doesn't spend six issues doing ANYTHING. Welcome back to one issue story land. Smell that? That's the sweet air of compressed storytelling. Issue one, Ultron robots go wild and get taken down. Issue two, the Leader and the Abomination take on the Hulk and get taken down. Issue three, Baron Zemo kidnaps Captain America and gets taken down. All with fun banter, clever power use, everyone staying in character, classic moments of friendship, the whole shebang. THIS is the Avengers I've been missing. I don't know where Jeff Parker came from, but he deserves a medal.
Garcia and Koblish draw some mighty fine lines along the way, too - their art is another major factor in the success of the comic. There isn't anything new or amazing about their styles - it is just quality art, done well, and that is exactly what a book like this needs. Iconic superheroics, done beautifully. The anatomy is correct, the movements fluid, the hits powerful, postures right. Nothing fancy, just all the basics done well, and that's harder than it sounds.
MA: AVENGERS has gone basically unnoticed, next to NEW AVENGERS, and that's a damn shame. This is some classic, old-school superheroin'.
UNCLE SAM & THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS #1
Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Grey
Artist: Daniel Acuna
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
I really hate it that I have to give a freakin' mile-long recap of events that happened more than a year ago every time I review a DC Comic these days. A while back, I really admired DC for having an interconnected universe. Events that happened resonated and crossed over into other books with ease, but each comic had its own identity--its own story. It was nice to know that these amazing characters shared the same universe and things happening in one book would not be quickly forgotten once creative teams switch or the big event dies down. But lately, DC has been so interconnected that I can see why people who haven't been following DC's ongoing 2-plus year crossover would get a bad taste in their mouths when asked to take a look at a new DC book. Nowadays, these stories are so interconnected that if Aquaman lets loose a smattering of fart bubbles in the South Pacific, it's addressed in ACTION COMICS where Superman smells it and makes the gas face whilst jettisoning over Metropolis.
But *sigh* if a recap is in order, let the recapping begin.
UNCLE SAM & THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS is a series sprung from the recent BRAVE NEW WORLD ONE SHOT and is a direct result of the slaughter of the former Freedom Fighters in the first issue of INFINITE CRISIS. In that issue, ol' Sam and Co. were handed their @$$es by the Society. And although I felt that the former team were handled kind of poorly (and @$$handedly quickly for that matter) in that issue, I was excited in hopes that this all-too-brief spotlight would somehow pave the way for readers to rediscover how cool the Freedom Fighters really are.
The INFINITE CRISIS spinoff THE BATTLE FOR BLUDHAVEN was the next time an incarnation of the Freedom Fighters showed up. They were working for one of those S.H.I.E.L.D.-like secret government organizations, this time called S.H.A.D.E. It stands for something, but I really don't care. It was nice to see these characters reintroduced in this miniseries. Some of them had new designs. Some were new characters entirely. But THE BATTLE FOR BLUDHAVEN miniseries seemed overcrowded to me (with its cast of Freedom Fighters, Teen Titans, Green lanterns, Atomic Knights, the Nuclear Family, Monolith, and Captain Atom) and a perplexing way to introduce a new team of heroes. Tidbits and details about the Freedom Fighters were peppered about and they had some of the coolest moments of the series, but no real resolution came to pass in the end, kind of making it a pointless endeavor
So here we are three paragraphs into this review, and we still haven't talked about the actual first issue of UNCLE SAM & THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS. It actually wasn't a bad one. The book starts out with a nice helping of thrills with two interconnected action scenes happening simultaneously. Firebrand crashes a presidential rally, while the Freedom Fighters take out a family of mobsters. Soon, we are treated to a series of vignettes focusing on three of the members of the team: The Ray, Dollman, and Phantom Lady. And I have to say that these three vignettes are the reasons I am going to return to this title for issue two. Each character is well thought out and not only has a unique power and look, but a fully fleshed out character.
Stan Silver AKA the Ray , who, after some research, I've come to find is an all new character and no relation to past Ray incarnations. He's a showoff with the power to become a living being of light and, despite the fact that he seems pretty gloomy, he seems to have the world at his feet. This is probably the least fleshed out character of the trio introduced so far, so I don't have any real thoughts on the character other than the fact that his costume design is very Alex Ross/KINGDOM COME-ish. And that ain't necessarily a bad thing. No shadow faces or Michael Jackson jackets on this Ray, he's more of a walking spotlight than anything else with cool goggled bug eyes and a helmet with a tail fin.
Lester Colt AKA Dollman has a line of action figures named after him and is a highly honored military soldier. He seems to be one of those tormented characters, a man with a big heart trapped in a tiny body. I think I liked this character most of all, not because of his uninspired SMALL SOLDIERS-like costume, but because the details of his life (specifically that of longing for a female scientist who makes his tiny weaponry) are so tragic and the character seems to be a truly good person just following orders and on the cusp of questioning those orders.
Finally, Stormy Knight is the newest hottie to don a Phantom Lady costume. Gone is the dental floss costume of old, but that doesn't mean that the sweet hotness has left the building. Phantom Lady has always been one of the hotter female characters in comics, and the costume design of this incarnation continues that trend. Although I loathe the real-life character, Stormy Knight is Paris Hilton if she was George Bush's daughter. She's the daughter of a Presidential hopeful who drinks and parties way too much and occasionally, in between hangovers, puts on a costume to fight evil. This party girl super hero is kind of welcome among the squeaky cleaners that represent most of the other DC heroine contingent.
We don't really get much insight on the last member of the Freedom Fighters team, the Human Bomb, other than the fact that his name is Andy Franklin (who is not Damage as I first suspected) and his teammates fear him because he has a tendency to blow shit up. I love the new (and old, for that matter) design of the Human Bomb and look forward to finding out more about the character underneath that radiation suit.
I think what appeals to me the most about these characters is the potential they have for some powerful political stories. With the Freedom Fighters representing conservative subjects such as the military (Dollman), nuclear arms (Human Bomb), and excess (Phantom Lady and the Ray), seemingly on a crash course with characters with a more liberal bent (the protesting Firebrand and his mentor, the government-challenging Uncle Sam), them's the makings for a pretty interesting political allegory.
Writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey are responsible for the continuously great JONAH HEX. They've proven themselves to be capable in the action department and handle the opening action sequence with skill, but tackling politics is often a tougher thing to do. Hopefully, they won't come off as preachy in this series, leaning either to the left or the right, and marring what really could be an interesting concept about a team of heroes representing aspects of both parties working together for a common goal towards a greater good. This is one of those instances where I'm rooting for a book to take the high road, but if they fail to deliver, expect a follow-up review down the line slamming the book for a missed opportunity.
So far, though, I'm hooked on this book because I like the characters introduced (or reintroduced). The images are slick and Daniel Acuna does a great job of making this book look distinct from others on the racks from its propaganda-like cover design to the light ink work and high tonal qualities of his panels--all of which are highlighted by Javi Montes' vivid yet, soothing colors.
This is an issue that visually leaps off of the shelves and catches the eye. It was the distinct look of the characters that attracted me to the FREEDOM FIGHTERS many years ago. They just seemed like this really cool looking group of heroes. I didn't think about what they represented or what kind of political agenda they stood for. But now, I've grown up and come to expect a bit more. This is an eight issue series and I plan on sticking with it to see how it develops. Issue one introduces us to some key players and gets the ball rolling by establishing a bad guy within and a coming of a hero. Uncle Sam doesn't really appear. He's more of a presence. The Freedom Fighters are assigned to bring him in, Firebrand is speaking for him, and Father Time (the series' villain) wants him destroyed. The hastened taste of this series in BRAVE NEW WORLD didn't really do it justice. Those of you interested in political espionage thriller type stories with a super hero flavor may be interested. It's not as sophisticated as CHECKMATE (DC's other espionage book), but it has some potentially good plot threads spun in this first issue. Compared to the rest of the stuff spawned from BRAVE NEW WORLD, this is definitely the property I am the most interested in. Maybe it's the creative costumes. Maybe it's the detailed characterization. Or maybe it's the potential this comic may have that intrigues me about this miniseries. Either way, my interest is piqued and I'll be sticking around to see if the rest of this series is as good as the first issue.
GHOST RIDER: ROAD TO DAMNATION HC TPB
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Clayton Crain
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Baytor
Garth Ennis doesn’t get Ghost Rider.
I don’t say this as some spurned fanboy who’s upset that someone has come along and made changes to a childhood favorite. Apart from a few issues of Johnny Blaze’s early 90s GHOST RIDER spin-off, I have almost no knowledge of the character and I don’t view this as any sort of tragedy. I would welcome any change that made the character the slightest bit interesting to me, because I’m selfish that way.
No, when I say Ennis doesn’t get Ghost Rider, I mean on a fundamental level. He doesn’t understand who his lead character is and has constructed a plot that doesn’t force him to figure it out. All you need to know about Johnny Blaze in this story is that he isn’t terribly bright and that he’s a bit stupid, too. This is underscored in the first chapter in which his name and origin are discussed in the most condescending manner by a couple of angels. Granted, Johnny Blaze’s origin is pretty clichéd, reading like “The Gift Of The Magi” with a fatal motorcycle accident, but there are any number of ways a writer could play up the humanity of Blaze’s ill-fated sacrifice. Instead of playing the character as a bit of a lovable loser (see HITMAN, A MAN CALLED KEV, and numerous other stories to see Ennis’ affinity for such characters), he looks upon him with total contempt and the entire story suffers for it.
This is a Garth Ennis super-hero piss-take, which is a shame, because he’s demonstrated in the past a certain affection for occult-based characters with his brief run on THE DEMON. You can tell his heart isn’t in it and he just recycles a bunch of gags from other, better stories, and doesn’t do anything particularly novel with his hatred of the costumed crowd. As disrespectful as his Punisher/Spider-Man “team-up” was, it at least had a bit of mad brilliance about it and was enjoyed by a lot of die-hard super-hero fans. With this story, I would imagine only the most casual of Ennis readers would be impressed by his antics, and any serious Ghost Rider fan will be aghast.
The big problem is that there is not a single character that grounds this story; you neither like nor hate anyone enough to care. Ennis’ knack for characterization is all but lost here. Ghost Rider is an idiot; the two angels that break him out of hell are only covering their ass; Heaven’s emissary is little more than The Saint Of Killers from PREACHER, only without a personality; and the wheelchair bound Gustav is too over-the-top e-vile to rise above the level of joke. There are some bright spots, such as Hoss, Hell’s bounty hunter who has a certain Earthy charm and is a decent sort of bloke, for a demon; Father Adam, an assassin turned preacher whose plight is not without a certain tragedy; and Gustav’s spunky secretary, who at least maintains a mildly sarcastic presence throughout the proceedings. But in the end, you don’t really care about any of them and even though the whole of creation is on the line, it’s little more than a beautifully drawn series of action sequences.
And beautifully drawn it is. While Clayton Crain’s faces have a certain wonkiness about them, you care not one whit because the vivid flames are practically roasting your fingers. It’s just a stunning book to behold, and he’s does a great job with the action sequences, too. It’s just a shame that Garth Ennis didn’t bring his A-game.
USAGI YOJIMBO V. 20: GLIMPSES OF DEATH
Creator: Stan Sakai
Publisher: Dark Horse
Reviewer: Dan Grendell
Stan Sakai is a god among men.
For more than 20 years now, Stan Sakai has been producing tales of the rabbit samurai Usagi Yojimbo. Not once has the quality dipped. Every time one of these new collections of his stories is released, I get excited. Every single time. That is a serious indication of just how good USAGI YOJIMBO is - not only do I continue to buy it, but it continues to excite me, year after year. And this latest collection is certainly no exception.
I've often wondered what, exactly, it is about USAGI YOJIMBO that makes it so appealing. A large part of it is the humanity of the characters and the incredibly interesting ways Sakai uses the setting of (basically) feudal Japan. But is there something more, something connected perhaps to the fact that the characters are all anthropomorphic animals? Nothing is ever made of this, beyond the fact that you can sometimes (but not always) expect a character to exhibit some thematic qualities of that animal - the characters all act just like human beings in a human world. Perhaps it is that we readers are conditioned since childhood to find anthropomorphic animals more interesting than their normal human counterparts, by cartoons and theme parks, and so even in a world where nothing is made of the fact that the characters are such, it touches us subconsciously?
Regardless, Sakai's talent for storytelling with both his art and writing are well known and in full force here in his twentieth volume of Usagi stories. Don't let that scare you, by the way - each volume of USAGI YOJIMBO is just as approachable and readable as any other to new readers, something else that has always amazed me. In this volume, we get stories about ghosts, a dead man's package delivery, a lonely old woman, a bullied inventor, a Robin Hood-like thief, a revenge debt, and more. Each is told in Sakai's style of straightforward dialogue, drawn with the simple but beautiful lines that are his trademark. A wonderful addition to a classic saga, I'm already looking forward to the next one.
If you've never read any USAGI YOJIMBO, you owe it to yourself to check some out. Try this volume - it's as good a place to start as any.
Preview pages.
EMILY EDISON TPB
Writer: David Hopkins
Artist: Brock Rizy
Publisher: Viper Comics
Reviewer: Prof. Challenger
What if Veronica Mars had super-powers because her mother was really from another dimension where people have super-powers? And what if her Mom and Dad got an ugly divorce and Dad got primary custody but her evil Grandpa, Vigo, from the other dimension wanted to destroy Earth so that his little granddaughter would move back "home" with her Mom and her snobby little half-sister, Koo?
Well, that's pretty much the abstract for EMILY EDISON. Emily Edison is the actual spunky little super-powered teenager mentioned above. Take that stab to the heart that every kid from a divorced home feels and the tension from two feuding parental sides and magnify it through the hormones of a big-mouthed super-powered teenaged girl, and you have a recipe for entertaining comics. If you are a fan of wise-cracking, smart-ass teenaged girls who kick robot butt and still manage to get into pillow fight tussles while flying in the sky, then this is the book for you. There's a lot to like about Emily Edison. She's cute, but not in that sexy kind of cute, which is good since she's underage. She may be able to fly and have super-strength, but even she can't stay awake through a boring day at school or ask a boy to the dance.
The artwork is subversively charming. It's a little POWERPUFF GIRLS smooshed with SAMURAI JACK and a little of Mike Mignola going on. Brock Rizy tells a story in pictures very nicely and consistently. He gives this series a real TV cartoon feel to it that I just loved. One of the running gags through the whole thing is Brock including himself into the story. At the point where he shows up as Emily's substitute Neurology Professor (because the previous Professor had been eaten by a monster in the previous chapter), I was laughing out loud. Funny stuff.
One of the old standbys in comics is that the hero always needs to have an arch-villain. But I don't remember ever seeing the hero's Grandpa serve that function by sending things like killer robots to try and take over the Earth so that Emily will come live with him. Sicko.
David Hopkins fills this comic book with snappy dialogue and funny bits that had me giggling throughout. It's a thoroughly charming series of four stories that each stand alone but also fit together to tell a larger arc of reconciliation between Emily's estranged family members. This comic has a sweet spirit to it that is missing from so many current comic books, yet it is thoroughly modern in its style and presentation. Once again, Viper has a winner.
HYPER-ACTIVES #3
Writer: Darin Wagner
Artists: Clint Hilinski
Publisher: Alias Comics
Reviewer: Prof. Challenger
This is the cover to issue #1.Back when I reviewed the first issue of HYPER-ACTIVES, I noted that the comic book kind of embraces the 90s IMAGE-style of comic book super-heroes - all with a good-natured wink and a nod. But, there were some flaws in the story-telling that I made note of, primarily moving too fast with the first issue. Now, here we are on the third issue and it's the best one yet. This book may not be billing itself as a satire, but I'm here to say that one thing is clear by the end of this issue - this series is a full-on satire of super-hero and comicbook fan self-indulgence. And it's hilarious.
As the issue begins, our eponymous super team is en route to the latest Superhero Convention (any chance this issue was planned from the start to be released right around the kickoff to the new comic convention season?). While there, we watch the Hyper-Actives interacting with a gazillion other obnoxious, self-absorbed, spandex and leather-clad super-heroes and a bunch of gawking fans. One of which mysteriously named Darin has this snicker-inducing encounter with one of the heroes -
SUPER-HERO: Greetings pedestrian! You wish me to sign this latest example of my adventures-in-print?Now that's funny right there! How many times have all of us been around some numbskull @$$-brain comic fan who's irritating the hell out of a pro with that kind of nonsense? Obviously, writer Darin Wagner's been to a few comic conventions in his time, and even made himself the butt of the joke in his own comic. Self-indulgent? Sure. Funny? You bet.
DARIN: Actually, I was hoping to get an autograph from your Golden Age self, Major.
SUPER-HERO: Oh? And why is that?
DARIN: Because your old stuff was better. Who redesigned you, anyway?
Part of the fun of reading this issue is scouring Cling Hilinski's panels "Where's Waldo" style to see how many popular Marvel, DC, and Image characters he's parodying. Some of them are probably a little too close to make the copyright owners happy, but the fact that these are parody's gives the guys a good bit of rope to play with here. Especially when we get that super-powered catfight between Reactor Girl and well….blond-haired super-chick dressed in blue tights and red cape. I came away with a thought: "Hey! I think DC ought to think about adding red gloves to Supergirl's costume." Or the barely clothed obligatory hot chick from competitor team "Blood Force" bitching it up with Hyper-Actives' own Scandal. I'm still giggling over the explanation of the differences between "The Z People" and "The Ultimate Z People." Har!
There is a specific conflict that the Hyper-Actives encounter - the unfortunately named "Ultimato," the Nazi super weapon. That's a good, fun battle, but the point of this comic is all the character bits between the players at the convention and the truckload of throwaway gags throughout the entire comic.
HYPER-ACTIVES #3 is a funny and sharp comic that makes me look forward to more good stuff like this from the creative team.
ZOMBIE HIGHWAY #1
Digital Webbing
With all the zombie books out there today, a zombie comic has to have something special to stand out. ZOMBIE HIGHWAY does this in spades. I was lucky enough to get ahold of not only the first issue of the most recent ZOMBIE HIGHWAY series, but also the first trade and an issue of DIGITAL WEBBING PRESENTS which features stories with these same characters and tells the story from the beginning. First and foremost, I have to give this series credit for adding the exclamation "What the SHIT!?!?!?!" to my library of often-used phrases. There's something about this odd mismatch of expletives that really hit my funny bone. But that's not the reason you should pick up this series (although it's one of them). ZOMBIE HIGHWAY puts the fun back into the zombie genre. Too many of today's zombie books are filled with doom and gloom. They tackle the theme of death seriously. ZOMBIE HIGHWAY surely doesn't. This book is more of an action filled romp of a zombie book than deadpan gloomy takes like WALKING DEAD and DEADWORLD. The four stars of this book are making the best of the zombie apocalypse. They're four bagmen, assigned to pick up the Necronomicon, but one of them decides he needs some easy reading whilst dumping and...well...bring on the zombie apocalypse. Now our four heroes have the book and have zombies, demons, and madmen after them for it. It's just four idiots, bounding through masses of zombies, demon incantations, and knife wielding psycho-daddies with undead offspring. The trade features an awesomely choreographed fight (very Jackie Chan-like in execution) as one of the bagmen, Kuji, fights psycho dad by using a pair of handguns as defense against psycho dad's blades. Not a shot is fired, but an odd type of swordfight ensues and it's surprisingly easy to follow--a true accomplishment by artist Roberto Viacava. ZOMBIE HIGHWAY is a thrill-ride of a zombie book and a refreshing take on an already overcrowded zombie genre. - Ambush Bug
CONTINUITY OGN
AiT/Planet Lar
This is one creepy book. I don't know if it's the black and white format (B&W books always convey the creepiness better than color in my opinion...I think it has to do with leaving it up to the reader's imagination to add hues and colors). Or maybe it's the all-too real futuristic society depicted in the pages. Or maybe it's the sad and gaunt look of the "hero" of this book. I'm not sure, but an overwhelming sense of dread and horror filled me as I read this story. This book is disturbing and harsh...in a good way! Focusing on a young girl who believes that when she dreams, those dreams become reality when she wakes up, makes the reader feel the anxiety and torment this power has on the main character. What starts out as a school-girl fantasy of a beautiful night with the school stud she's crushing on, ends up a whacked out nightmare involving homeless revolutionaries fighting a government police force that enforce a society that has become reliant on pills to stay awake, beautiful, and powerful. This story really does hit you on many levels. It holds a warped but not too distorted mirror to today's society and hot topics like the homeless, the pharmaceutical industry, law enforcement, teen pregnancy, and the steady decline of social interactions in the world. It's Orwellian in scope, but the fact that the main character is a drugged up and possibly delusional pregnant teen grounds this tragedy with an all too recognizable anchor. The inclusion of a character named Sleazy E (could it be a relative of our own @$$hole reviewer and G4 Golden Boy Sleazy G?) was chuckle inducing to say the least. By Jason McNamara and Tony Yalbert, CONTINUITY is a book that is not easily forgotten. - Ambush Bug
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.
CHECKMATE #4
DC Comics
Alrighty! Now we're moving a bit! I've been waiting for this book to show me all the potential I saw in the pitch for it and the creative crew involved, and now that we've had a few issues to flesh out the cast and premise I can officially give this comic my endorsement. At first I was kind of scared because I was expecting big things and yet the first issues didn't blow me away. It felt too much like I was coming in on the middle of a spy thriller movie and couldn't tell who's who and what's what. But now the plots are streamlining and I'm feeling the characters and their roles more. And this book has been pushing a great level of intrigue. Between the politics involved behind Checkmate's international sanctioning, the renewed threat of Kobra, the creation of rogue meta-humans, the fractioning off of the respective black and white "houses" of Checkmate, and Amanda Waller being just a bitch and hard ass in general, this is some great stuff. I think it's going to be a treat to watch all of these plot threads develop with plenty of twists and turns to keep the suspense going. And with the impending return of the Suicide Squad, I'm really glad I kept on this book. I'd highly endorse giving it a shot in trade whenever the first volume happens to appear. - Humphrey Lee
CONAN #30
Dark Horse Comics
I have to admit I’m worried about this title now that Kurt Busiek is leaving. Busiek did such a fine job of adapting Conan’s original tales with painstaking accuracy, incorporating logical bridges between the gaps in the original stories and detailing Robert E. Howard’s words elegantly and honorably. For the last two issues, writer Mike Mignola has filled in on the writing chores as Conan enters a temple guarded by toads and other slimy creatures in search of a treasure. Inside, he finds something much more horrifying. With Busiek on this title, this was always a writer’s book—a book that twisted phrases and words in ways only one that was extremely skilled with writing could do. With this pair of issues (issues #29 and 30) you can tell that this is not a story from a writer, but of an artist. For the first time in an issue of CONAN, it was the visuals and not the words that took me aback and inspired awe. There are some truly jaw-droppingly good panels in this issue by Cary Nord. Nord has always been with this title, but it wasn’t until this issue that his work stood out as so creative and original. I’m sure Mignola had a lot to do with the conception of these panels being that they resemble a lot of his own work on HELLBOY, but Nord retains his unique style throughout. This is a different CONAN tale in the sense that it’s the art and the visuals and not the story that are the true standouts. It’s a noticeable difference. Not a bad one. But definitely noticeable. - Bug
CABLE & DEADPOOL #30
Marvel Comics
Y'know what's kinda sad? And no, it's not that scene in Bambi where his mother gets shot (I kinda chuckle at that actually), but what's sad is that right here in CABLE & DEADPOOL, a typically entertaining "funny book", I think I found a better explanation and fleshing out of the motivations of the main parties involved in the CIVIL WAR mega-event then I did in the actual issue of CIVIL WAR that came out this past week. Cable's debate with Captain America in this issue gives the whole event a new perspective. Cable brings up the future of the world not only now because of registration, but what the whole idea of it can degenerate into even decades down the road now that the superheroes are on a sort of government leash. It's a very solid argument and definitely anchors the event more down in the political realm now that the main book has seemingly anchored itself to the "superheroes beat each other down" realm. Oh, and this issue Deadpool fights the Great Lakes Champions and Daredevil. Hilarity ensues. This was a particularly stellar issue by a somewhat glanced over title. - Humphrey
BATWOMAN...I mean, 52 - WEEK 11
DC Comics
When you have the public on alert in regards to your upcoming high-profile "lipstick lesbian" debut, you're going to have to dedicate the whole issue to her. And though that was pretty much the case here with 75% of the main story pre-empted for Batwoman, 52 is billed as an ensemble book. As a non-bandwagon-jumping reader, I felt a little cheated. Though we get a tad more "Ralph Dibny and the Clone's Cultists" and the barest exploration into Intergang and the scientist kidnappers, I needs my variety. Where's my Black Adam and Booster Gold and no-color-specified space-lost heroes and... ok, I can do without Steel. What I received was more pose-striking than an '80's Madonna video. At least the book addresses its own preposterous posturing; check out the basketball player on page 6. I definitely missed my conspiracy fix by losing out to flexible-gal. There is some good news as the snooze-tastic "History of the DCU" is over, revealing that there's another SPOILER XtXiXmXeXlXiXnXeX SPOILER. Expect two more pages added to future storylines, sacrificing the remaining two to potentially riveting Mark Waid-written DC Character origins--emphasis on “potentially”. C'mon Waid, I'm pulling for you. I have fond memories of THE CRUCIBLE. - Squashua
RUNAWAYS #18
Marvel Comics
A Runaway dies, we get a new Runaway on the team, and another Runaway, uh, runs away. Basically the shit has done hit the fan. I can honestly say the death at hand wasn't really surprising, though it makes things complicated when you hold it up to events that have occurred in this volume of this series earlier. But it really is probably the death that would/will have the most impact on the story, as the end of this issue alludes to. Things are going to get very tricky from here on out as our stray Runaway is definitely going to be on a very dangerous personal mission. This was another very well done issue by Vaughan and Alphona and was very emotionally draining as the team is about as put through the wringer as they could be. It should be very interesting to see how the kids recover from all this and just exactly where Vaughan is going with the cliffhanger he left us on this time. - Humphrey
AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #43
THE FLASH: FASTEST MAN ALIVE #2
DC Comics
I try to stay away from the “this rulez” v. “that sucked” style of reviewing. I like to think that my arguments for or against a book tend to be pretty detailed and well supported, but…man…
Man…these two titles suck! They don’t even suck, really. They’re just so bland that they evoke not one emotion from me. Aquaman isn’t the Aquaman that we grew up with. He’s an angst-ridden kid who looks like Aquaman and has Aquaman’s powers. The Flash isn’t the Flash we grew up with. He’s an angst-ridden Impulse who looks like the Flash and has the Flash’s powers. Both spend a bunch of time kvetching about how they’ll never be able to live up to the legacy or that they don’t want to follow in their predecessor’s footsteps. Both do it with as much excitement as one gets while reading the instructions on a tube of toothpaste. I think the idea that the mantle of the Flash is like a torch passed from one runner to the next is a good one. I understand that writer Kurt Busiek is trying something new with Aquaman, a character who has floundered in creativity and sales for longer than I can remember. I also understand that not every reboot can be a hit and that these two attempts at something new were worth a shot, but somewhere between concept and execution, all the energy was sapped. The pluses: Butch Guice’s artwork on AQUAMAN is gritty and cool, although I don’t really like the goofy way he draws King Shark. And I like the idea that Bart Allen is now the new Flash, continuing with the legacy vibe. The execution, though, just plain sucks, any way you slice it. I love the characters, but I can’t wait for the next reboot of these characters because this time around has failed on almost all counts. - Bug
It Came From The 90’s
By Vroom Socko
If ever there was a comic that exemplified the sheer quality of comic storytelling in the 1990’s, this week’s selection is it. Published initially in the short lived Taboo, then by the late, great Kitchen Sink Press and Top Shelf, the book created by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell that we mere mortals call FROM HELL is a shining case against the detractors of 90’s comics. Hell, it’s one of the best comics ever printed, no matter what decade.
By Vroom Socko
Before I go any further, I have to make mention of the movie. Fuck the movie. It treats this story like a “whodunit,” when what makes the story as told by Moore so fascinating is the fact that it’s a “whydunit.” And that why it is so much more fascinating than anything you find in watching a stoned Johnny Depp chasing Jack The Ripper around London.
Moore has done his homework here. The annotations in the book’s appendix that detail his research are just as fascinating to read as the fiction he creates around it--and what a fiction it is. The themes that fill Moore’s earlier work (conspiracy, madness, and the idea of one man changing his entire world) come head to head with his more recent fascinations with mysticism, magic and the nature of reality. His William Gull is more than just a murderer with an agenda, but a sort of wizard using blood sacrifice and ritual to safeguard the past while ushering in the future.
Yes, the identity of the Ripper is known here from the outset, with Moore using his annotations to make a decent case for this being the actual identity of the killer who stalked Whitechapel in the fall of 1888. (Of course, he admits in the final section that it’s impossible to prove any of this, and that for all he knows, the Ripper might have been Walter Sickert, Lord Salisbury, the Elephant Man, or the Dread Lord Xenu.) What matters to Moore more than any name guessing or theorizing are the ideas of time and location that the Ripper story can serve to illustrate. The whole notion of a royal conspiracy or the investigation led by Inspector Abberline are not nearly as important to the story as the short section involving Gull and his friend James Hinton discussing the architecture of Nicolas Hawksmoor and the nature of time.
That brief section resonates throughout the whole of FROM HELL. The concluding section and the visions that Gull has during the final murder are the most elaborate narratively, and striking visually, but the moments that tend to stick with me come much earlier. The first is the opening to chapter two, which begins on black with dialogue that appears prominently later in the chapter, leading to the reveal of a young Gull riding a barge through a tunnel alongside his father. It’s the simplest of things, but these three pages have Moore and Campbell proving that it’s deceptively simple.
The second moment is the whole of chapter four, where Gull and his driver/accomplice Netly tour the streets of London. Much mystic significance is made of the major landmarks and sights they visit, with another particular emphasis on the work of Hawksmoor. This particular section also holds value to me for an external reason. The very first inter-@$$hole email (that I’m aware of) was a debate/discussion of this chapter between the ever esteemed Dave F and myself back in January of 2000. When I think of the start of this little madhouse, I think of this book.
This is not to say that the rest of the book has no similar hold over me. The final killing is, thanks to Eddie Campbell, one of the most horrific things I’ve seen in any comic book, ever. Somehow they’re even more frightening than the real thing. I’ve seen the photograph taken of the remains of Mary Kelly, and it’s truly a disturbing sight. But it’s even more shocking here, if for no other reason Campbell has placed this gruesomeness into a context that not only features the mutilation taking place, but the face of the victim alive. That the events shown here are based on highly researched fact makes them all the viler. Do not eat while reading this book.
This grimness makes it easier to see why Moore’s later work (TOM STRONG, TOP TEN, etc.) have had an air of whimsy and joy to them. If you’d spent years thinking about the Ripper murders, you’d want to kick back and have fun too. This is not to say that those books aren’t important; I think they are. But FROM HELL might be Moore’s most important work. It illustrates just how Springheel Jack managed to change the world; how we perceive it, and how we interact with it. It makes an almost psychic link between that place and time and the years and events that followed. Public fascination with these murders certainly hasn’t abated in nearly a hundred and twenty years. But then, Buzz is the mystic expert around here, not me. I’ll leave it to him in the Talkbacks to explain the significance of the Whitechapel murders commencing at the same time as the conception of Adolf Hitler.
This book, much like the events it details, is a product of its time. That time is the 90’s, and you won’t believe just how good comics actually were back then.
Note: If you absolutely must watch a movie version, I suggest you track down the BBC version called, cleverly enough, JACK THE RIPPER. It stars Michael Caine as Abberline, with supporting performances by Jane Seymour and Armand Assante. Also, for more factual information, Casebook.org is the web authority on all things Jack.
QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION
What is the most disturbing moment you’ve seen in a comic?
What is the most disturbing moment you’ve seen in a comic?
