Val's Comic Book Notes: What I'm Reading!

Well, I really developed quite a stack of unread comics again. They really pile up! This past Wednesday, we spent a whopping $40 on comics. That's a lot of comics. To be fair, that particular shipping week is the biggest for us -- so other weeks, we may spend like $7.

I haven't been picking up any Peter David comics in a while, and I'm not sure why that is. I think consistently great writers like David are taken for granted, I really do. "Yeah, another well-written issue by David. What else ya got?" This week I read two: X-Factor #40 & She-Hulk #38.
X-Factor #40 was stunning. Haven't been following this book in a good long while, but plan to do some catching up. Artist Valentine DeLandro is *almost* there as an artist to watch for; I'd give him six more months & he's going to be another Mike McKone. Unfortunately, I have been remiss in following the adventures of the emerald giantess, and look what happens! Cancellation city. She-Hulk #38 is a great story about friendship. Jennifer is called on the carpet about her relationship with Skrull Jazinda, and Jazinda (almost) makes a startling confession. Steve Scott is another penciller to look out for. And does Peter David, figuring he has nothing to lose at this point, break that fourth wall? Perhaps...


Seriously, where does Marvel find these artists? These are like artists I've never heard of, each one ready (or almost ready) to take on a headline book themselves. Is it the portfolio reviews? Consider the work of Rodney Buchemi on The Incredible Hercules #126. This guy is ready for anything -- Avengers, a sprawling high-profile graphic novel, anything. This issue of Incredible Herc also boasts an adorable Amadeus Cho back-up story illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa that explores what happened to that puppy Kirby.


I'll be perfectly honest with you -- I'm not a big Bendis Avengers person. That said, I've been following Dark Avengers, and have recently read The New Avengers #50. This latest issue of New Avengers goes back to Avengers storytelling basics, at least in my opinion. The double-sized cover, pitting the New Avengers against the Dark Avengers, pretty much says it all. The scope is HUGE. Massive fighting. A classic ruse is set up -- and then a strartling turnaround! Did I say massive fighting? The structure reminds me of classic Avengers, and I appreciate that.

Also: though Lenil Yu is obviously a very talented artist, New Avengers #50's main art team, Billy Tan & Matt Banning, makes the book far more readable to me. I guess that goes back to the "Big Avengers" storytelling thing. Lenil Yu's art was too personal. I needed more splash. That said, there is a big lineup of guest-artists in this ish, everyone from Yu, Alex Maleev, Michael Gaydos, and Greg Horn. Horn, of course, illustrates the Ms. Marvel segment. So he is the "iconic" Ms. Marvel artist, then?


Nova is an oddball title for me -- at least, in the sense, that I would never think to read it. But the BF loves it. And the special cover was by one of my favorite artists, Juan Doe, so I decided to give the latest issue a try. Nova #22 is as big an homage to (and perhaps critique of) the Green Lantern Corps as you will ever see in a Marvel Comic. The basic plot -- "Nova Corps" members are being recruited all over the universe. But is that voice the new Nova-ites are hearing in their heads good...or the opposite of good? Well, Richard Rider calls bullshit on the whole thing, so that gives you some idea as to what's going to happen next. Nova #22's writers, Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, are fellow members of the Peter David tribe of consistently good comic scribes who don't get a big enough spotlight on them. If Abnett & Lanning are writing your sci-fi comic book, you will at least know it's going to deliver.


My main quibble with Thunderbolts #129 is the sight of President Obama talking with Norman Osborn. Okay, we've established in this issue that Obama is taking a "critical thinking" approach to Osborn. Osborn puts down SHIELD, and Obama reminds him that the organization has done many fine deeds. But here's my problem: NORMAN OSBORN IS A PSYCHOPATH!!!!! He's a psychopath. He has a shitty record. Yeah, I know he is a philanthropist. But it's like if Bill Gates did all these wonderful things for humanity but also shot two prostitutes in the head in 1997. Then again, sometimes this world is so screwed up, I can almost see the media trying to gloss over a crime like that if the person was powerful enough. And this new Thunderbolts team is led by one of my BF's favorite superheroines: the Yelena Belova Black Widow.

Oh, and there is more comics I've read...and am reading...will catch up with you w/more notes soon!

Monster Mash

Monster-Size Hulk is a tribute to the "giant"-sized Marvel monster comic book of the 1970s (who can forget "Giant-Sized Man-Thing"?), complete with multiple stories and even an all-text Dracula tale penned by Peter David. Of course, the Giant-Sized editions of the 1970s were around 50 cents...but in this day and age $3.99 for double-sized issue of original material (albeit some which are...gasp...only words) is not bad.

The main story features the Hulk vs. Frankenstein slugfest we have all been waiting for (have those two ever fought before?). This is no flat-topped generic Frankenstein's monster but the one with the funky mohair vest and hippie hair from the short-lived Marvel monster comic. Of course, though the two monsters duke it out, they eventually realize they have more in common than differences. The end of the story seems to set up Frankenstein's Monster for further adventures in the Marvel universe; consult the comic itself for details. Perhaps he can join the Avengers.

The other stories feature a Hulk/Werewolf By Night tale done in the moody black & whites of the old Marvel magazines, a cute two-page gag featuring Googam, and the aforementioned Peter David text piece. The part in the Werewolf By Night story where Bruce Banner suspects Jack Russell's possession of a human-sized cage to be some sort of "illegal and weird" pastime takes us out of the nostalgia-era mindset a little bit, but for the most part these stories are pretty timeless.


Superman & Batman Vs. Vampires & Werewolves has a rather utilitarian title that will no doubt keep in in backlist for some time to come. The story is about...Superman & Batman Vs. vampires & werewolves.

The moody illustrations of Tom Mandrake channel Gene Colan as ordinary mortals morph into dark creatures and Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman gape at the horror of it all. The first issue seems very much a throwback to an earlier time -- perhaps hearkening a bit to the monster comics of the Seventies, but also to the DC comics in general of that time period. I kept hallucinating and thinking the artist was Jim Aparo.

Oh Yes, There Will Be Reviews...

What's up for this round:
X-Force #4: "No, Rahne, what are you--AGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!"
The Goon #25: "Happiness Is For Pussies"
Coptopus #1: "Nemesquid is part mollusk part machine. He's the perfect synthesis of technology and squid..."


The books that have called "X-Force" have been such a strange damned lot. I guess the philosophy with the title has always been: "this is more than just an X-Men book! this is an X-Men book plus plus plus!"


The latest incarnation, written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, is like a horror movie within an X-Men context, with plenty of blood and chopping. The premise -- what if you put the most slicey mutants together on one team -- almost sounds like something out of an earlier, more gimmick-laden era. What prevents the execution of said concept from being somewhat on the ludicrous side is the surreality of Clayton Crain's painted art.

Spoilers.


The way they brought back Archangel seems a little too pat, but it doesn't seem like what really matters. What really matters is that Warren Worthington is back with the slicey things. I always thought he was far more interesting -- and heck, marketable -- as Archangel than the plain old vanilla version. The BF vigorously disagrees with me, but there you go.


One of my first X-Men figures was that Toy Biz Archangel with the two little bulls**t "missiles" (which are like the first thing you lose, like within a week of purchase); it was awesome.



The Goon #25 continues a story arc in which the title character is out to avenge the death of a friend, and heads towards the showdown with the famed Labrazio. This arc has revisited so many plot points since the series began, that I almost feel like writer/artist Eric Powell is trying to wrap this book up and give the famed bruiser a rest. Here's hoping that, like Goon on the outskirts of town, he decides to drive back and continue the battle.


In some ways I've always felt like The Goon is a more accessible version of the Hellboy universe, at least to me; less Lovecraft, and more stinky sewer. God bless The Goon's stinky sewers, and all the horribly mutated things they find in there. I still feel lucky that I can get a monthly book with this consistent level of quality and artistic merit.


Coptopus #1, by Brian Rubin and Collin David, features an octopus that is a cop, and if this isn't a concept begging for its own T-shirt, I don't know what is. The book is a Jhonen Vasquez-esque take on Lethal Weapon, with a trenchcoat-wearing cephalopod teamed up with a clueless human detective. Alas, while this book might seem like the perfect opportunity to engage in some tentacle porn, there is none to be found.

My advice to creators Rubin and David: get this property over to Adult Swim.

If you would like to purchase a copy of Coptopus #1, please head over to Rubin's site and inquire.

Indie Comics Spotlight: Road Trip!

Summer for many of us involves travel and vacation plans. Marion Vitus's "No In-Between" and Sarah Glidden's "How To Understand Israel In 60 Days Or Less" are two autobiographical mini-comics about protagonists abroad -- and feature an unique perspective on their destinations that only the artists could provide.

Communication gap in Marion Vitus's "No In-Between"

In "No In-Between," the main character ends her relationship and her job in one fell swoop, deciding to take a chance on life by backpacking across Europe. A brief romance in Italy with a native proves both to be exhilarating and disillusioning. But, with every setback she bounces back and develops a self-confidence and zest of life that was lacking in her pre-trip life circa the first issue.

"No In-Between" is also fascinating to look at as a document of how one comic book artist searched for and settled into her own style of illustration, the fun but cartoony art of the first issue evolving into a far more painterly and expressionistic mode by issue 6.

Sarah Glidden gets questioned by airport security
about her Bat Mitzvah in
"How To Understand Israel In 60 Days Or Less"

"How To Understand Israel In 60 Days Or Less" revolves around Sarah's trip to Israel as part of a "birthright" program that provides young Jews with an all-expenses paid trip to the country. While she is obviously excited to travel to Israel, she is also acutely aware of the spectre of conflict that shadows the region.

The comic provides us with a fascinating insight on the the entire process of traveling to Israel -- from the check-in at the El Al terminal where forgetting your Hebrew name might mean getting flagged for a search, to the "Golan Magic Visitors Center." The simple art style (reminiscent of Kevin Huizenga) and mostly nine-panel grid layout gives artist Glidden a controlled area within which to sort out her conflicting thoughts on the region.

Both Marion Vitus and Sarah Glidden are talented artists and storytellers who make the most out of a DIY comic printing budget -- both women packaging their comics in ingenious and visually-appealing ways.

You can read "No In-Between" online here, and purchase it at the Comics Bakery booth at finer comic book conventions.

You can read previews and purchase copies of "How To Understand Israel In 60 Days Or Less" here.

The Gospel According To Tony Pony

I'm currently reading The Gospel According To Peanuts by Robert L. Short. Short makes the point that the Christian Church has made a grave error in its stark, in-your-face, at times accusatory manner. It's like hitting somebody over the head with a hammer. He looks instead to Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, which contains many Christian messages but presents them in a radically palatable (subliminal?) way.

Now granted, The Gospel According To Peanuts was written in the early 1960s. But, I think the idea still holds true to an extent.

I really like Jamie Cosley's work because he does much what Schulz did. In works like the classic More Than Sparrows and his latest comic Nobody Likes Tony Pony, Cosley's primary mission is not to preach, but to entertain. But, just as his faith is a part of his life, it's part of the world he puts down on paper as well.

Nobody Likes Tony Pony is made up of a series of one-page comic strips surrounding a dysfunctional office dynamic along the lines of The Office and Dilbert. Tony Pony is, to an extent, a bit of a boob -- he's shat upon by birds, accidentally farts in his customer's faces, and is in generally a mediocre salesman. But, much like Charlie Brown, he tries to be a good person.

Tony also tries to be a good Christian, but Cosley carefully examines his motives and shines a spotlight when they're less than 100% sincere or smart. Cosley keeps Tony honest. When Tony piously reads a Bible verse about being "saved" from riches, his wife resignedly asks if he will not be getting his commission check this week. And when he reads with tears in his eyes to his son a story about a preacher rejecting a Batman toy as an false idol, his son says, "If he tried to take my Batman, I'd kick him in his nuggets!"

Nobody Likes Tony Pony is a one-shot available online for $2.50.

Comics Are Expensive: Invincible Iron Man #1

Comics Are Expensive is brought to you by noted Expertologist Chris Lamb

I wasn’t going to buy comics this week. Really. There’s still books from NYCC to talk about, after all, and I’m still very, very poor. But I pick up a copy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for a friend, see, and well...

I managed to get out for under ten dollars, though, so I suppose that’s something. Next week I should be back to picking up new things again, which will satisfy the maddening itch that inevitably takes over the back of my brain every Wednesday. In the meantime, it’s a bit of a short one this week, with just the one book to talk about. I’ll try to be back to my usual level of verbosity next time. Potential spoilers lurk ahead, as usual.

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN

Writer: Matt Fraction

Artist: Salvador Larroca

Opening up Invincible Iron Man on the walk through Madison Square Park back to work, a realization hit me: this is the first Iron Man comic I’ve ever bought. Oh, I’ve read plenty of them – friends have tossed me runs of “Demon in a Bottle” and “The Armor Wars” over the years, both of which were great. I’ve just never felt moved to pick up any of the character’s solo stories myself. To be honest, I probably would have left this on the shelf if not for the helpful confluence of three things: enjoying the hell out of the Iron Man movie last week, my girlfriend mentioning she’d like to read some of the comics if I had any, and Matt Fraction’s name on the cover.


The Iron Man movie succeeded on a number of levels – its cast was excellent, the story was remarkably tight, getting through the obligatory origin and first villain fight with hardly any fat, and the pacing ensured even the quieter bits never slowed things down too much. It was the sort of movie-going experience that left me wanting more the moment the house lights came up, creating a near-desperate need for something as clever and fun as the movie to maintain the happy momentum I was buzzing with all through dinner afterwards and on the way home. I’d never considered myself a big Iron Man fan (at least, not outside the old Avengers arcade game), but for a version of the character more like Downey Jr’s take and less That-Guy-Getting-Deservedly-Punched-In-She-Hulk-This Month, I was wholeheartedly ready to sign up.


Which makes Invincible Iron Man just about the perfect thing to find on the shelves the Wednesday after seeing the movie. The history of comics trying to align themselves with versions of the characters seen in their movies is one of botched attempts and missed opportunities, with companies either hijacking the long-term plans and storylines of their creative teams in the name of potential new readers or going the other way and completely ignoring the chance to appeal to them. Marvel deserve a lot of credit then for hitting upon a solution that works better than any in recent memory – rather than toss out all the continuity of the last few years that has positioned Tony Stark as arguably the most important character in the Marvel Universe, launch a new series that streamlines it all, presenting the character as both superhero and director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and written to feel more like the character so many came out of the theater in love with.

The result is the best take on Tony Stark I’ve seen in years – he’s funny, arrogant (but deservedly so), brilliant to a fault, and so completely convinced that what he’s doing at any given moment is the right thing that it’s hard to doubt him. The weight of what the character has been through in the last few years seems less apparent here, and while it’s just the first issue I can’t help but feel that it won’t be showing up any time soon. It’s part of why Invincible Iron Man is such a good idea – if you want to see Stark continue to wrestle with the aftermath of the Civil War or fight Skrulls or whatever, there’s the other on-going Iron Man title (and much of the rest of Marvel’s output, frankly). Invincible Iron Man looks to be (and with any luck, will turn out to be) an event-free zone. It’s the solo adventures of Iron Man doing what he does best – finding problems and applying his big brain to solving them.



The first problem of the series appears in the form of Ezekiel Stane, son of the late Obidiah and genius mass-murdering psycho. Whatever his plan is, it’s clear he’s been working on it for a while – Ezekiel’s body has been modified to take advantage of its excess energy in rather nasty ways, and he’s been creating human bombs out of what looks all too much like Iron Man tech. He’s clearly being positioned as a younger, faster counter to Stark’s entrenched ways of doing things, and the inevitable confrontation is all but guaranteed to end in a mess. Ezekiel is a smart choice for an opening villain, tying not only into the villain from the movie but also echoing the theme of the son overcoming the father from both the comics and the screen. You’re an old-school Iron Man fan? Great, here’s something for you. Your only exposure to the character is two hours in a dark room with Robert Downey, Jr? Then hey, here’s something for you, too.


As mentioned earlier, Matt Fraction’s involvement was another draw for picking up the book, and he doesn’t disappoint. Fraction’s grasp of the characters is immediate and extremely satisfying, from the back and forth between Tony and Pepper in the elevator to Tony’s inability to stop thinking of new things to add to the suit even when being shot at and beyond. I can’t say how much of it rings true with the how the characters have been written recently, but honestly, I don’t really care. It’s smart, it’s believable, and most importantly, it’s exactly what I wanted. While Larroca’s art varies from beautiful in places to a bit muddy in others, it’s nice to see him producing work again that’s not photo-referenced to the point of distraction. Between the two of them, this arc stands to be something truly lovely, and I really can’t wait to see it continue.

Perhaps most important of all, though, is this is the first Marvel comic in a while that I’ve immediately wanted to start pushing on people. While no movie is going to send a million people into the shops like Burton’s first Batman did, Marvel’s approach to creating a friendly point of entry here has produced a book that can be handed off to pretty much anybody without an afternoon spent explaining why the character here isn’t like what they saw on the screen. And maybe that’s the way to hook those interested in more of the character but put off by the years and years of continuity: put out a version of the character that can be easily passed from comics readers to their uninitiated friends that’s both easy to get in to and doesn’t throw the current status quo into utter disarray. If Invincible Iron Man can continue with the same strength and grace it’s opening with, then comics may have found the recipe for the perfect gateway drug.

BUY STATUS: Very much in for the foreseeable future. I was still a bit bummed over Brubaker and Fraction leaving Iron Fist, but this could very well take its place as my favorite Marvel book.

And that’s it for this week. Again, apologies for the extremely short installment, and for the every-other-week nature of the column recently – the day job making videogames is taking up more and more of my time and energy as things get busier, so I’m afraid it might be the norm for a while. Thanks for your (and Val’s) patience with me, and with any luck things should eventually return to normal. In the meantime, if there’s anything I should be reading or talking about, drop a suggestion in the comments thread or via email to chrislamb@gmail.com. See you next time.

Val Reviews The Movie "Iron Man"

Reenactment of key scene in "Iron Man"

"Batman Begins" may be more "arty," "Spider-Man" might have been more of a built-in "instant" blockbuster, but I think "Iron Man" is one of the best superhero films ever made.

This couldn't have been possible without the bravura performance of Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say that if it wasn't for him and the other top actors in the supporting roles, certain elements in "Iron Man" could have been downright painful to watch. The nondescript but heavily "coded" terrorist bad guys who look like they stepped out of a 1989 direct-to-video action-adventure film. The whole Tin Man "if I only had a heart" extended metaphor. Pepper Potts in a throwback Miss Moneypenny super-secretary capacity. The evil industrialist bad guy who dons super-armor (Green Goblin, anyone?)

But, Downey Jr.'s performance is so intense and so sincere that it outshines all of the cliches and weaknesses in the plot. He is electrifying, and you can't take your eyes off of him when he is on screen. He owns this movie.

Also, the special effects, which are a combination of live-action & CGI, are seamless. Seeing Iron Man fly through the air at sonic speed, he seems completely real & tangible. And when the helmet closes over Tony Stark's head, the personality of the human within the armor doesn't go away. He doesn't become a cartoon.

"Iron Man" is to superhero movies what the recent "Casino Royale" was to James Bond movies. It's a good movie first. It has its fan-service moments, but they are deftly woven into the narrative. "Batman Begins" was also like this, but had a certain ponderousness that "Iron Man" lacks. "Iron Man" is pure adrenalin, pure action.

Spoilers
A special note should be made about the last bit of footage after the credits. I don't want to completely spoil it, but let's just say that a massive fanboy orgasm rippled through the mostly-empty theater as a certain character appeared on the screen. The ultimate (or is that Ultimate?) in fan-service, to be sure. But my skin had goosepimples. 'Cause I'm a bit of a nerd. But thanks to movies like "Iron Man," what was once considered "nerdy" is now mainstream summer blockbuster material.

What did you think of "Iron Man"?

Comics Are Expensive: THE DAMNED #1, SCARLET TRACES

Noted Expertologist Chris Lamb begs you not to attempt these complex reviewing maneuvers at home. You must be a fully licensed expertologist to do so.

I wasn’t ready for Comic Con. I realize that now. Not enough money, not enough sleep beforehand or during, and not nearly enough booze on hand to deal with the sensory overload (though the overpriced food court selling little bottles of wine certainly helped). What I did have was, in hindsight, less of plan and more of a vague notion that would be torn from me faster than a bit of plywood from a storefront in a hurricane: unless it was something I couldn’t find anywhere else, I wasn’t going to buy any comics.

I know, okay? I know. Before the con, and even up to standing in the corral waiting for the doors to open Saturday, it sounded like a great idea. The (ha ha) thinking behind this was something like Hey, I live in New York, where there is a fairly healthy number of comic shops. Instead of blowing my comics budget for the next several weeks on things I can probably get another time, why not pick up stuff I can’t get anywhere else? Like original art for the apartment, Chaotic starter sets (it’sforworkiswear), and funnel cake? A bit optimistic, sure, but as goals go not necessarily a bad one.

You can probably see where this is going. Within minutes of the doors opening I’d already picked up two books from Tokypop and was eyeing the Dark Horse tables for more than their giant yellow bags. While there were panels to keep me away from all the shiny things on Saturday, all bets were off Sunday, with the show floor swallowing me up and spitting me out with a bag full of treasure and a considerably lighter wallet. It’s hard to be disappointed in myself – really, could it have ended any other way?

So the bad news is that, between the art and books and everything, I can’t really afford new comics for the next couple of weeks or so. The good news, however, is that I have enough new things to easily fill the gap between now and then. It helps a little to think this was my master plan all along, but self-deluding only goes so far with bank statements.

Potential spoilers ahead, as always. Here there be plot points.

THE DAMNED #1

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Brian Hurtt

When the first limited series of The Damned appeared on my radar last year, it wasn’t until the very end – I started reading one issue before the end, which was helpful in terms of not having to deal with the monthly wait between installments but a little disappointing in that there wasn’t going to be a regular flow of it. It was the sort of book that grabbed me immediately, blending a number of my favorite things – noir, stories that drop you into the middle of things, the supernatural, and the nagging feeling of reading a Tom Waits song – into a nicely twisting story backed by some very lovely artwork. By the time I’d put down the first issue, I was already putting together a mental list of people who very much needed to read it.

For those of you other there who haven’t had the book forcibly shoved on them by me, the short version: The Damned is the story of Eddie, a guy floating somewhere between “two-bit hood” and “lowlife” with an interesting twist – he can’t stay dead. Oh, he can die easily enough, and does so on a regular basis, but all it takes is something alive touching him to bring him back (at the cost of whoever did the touching, naturally). Eddie’s world is a nasty one, made up of a nameless town during the prohibition era where the underworld isn’t just a fancy word for the criminal element. Demons live amongst us, controlling organized crime and never letting the cowering populous forget who’s boss. Over the course of the original series, Eddie found himself stuck between a rock and a number of hard places, including a war between demon gangs, the strange gray place he visits every time he dies, and an ultimate power play that would have seen the demons replaced with something possibly worse. When last we saw him, he was running a club under one of the most powerful families around and looking to finally enjoy life a little.

Not that any of it was meant to last, of course. Before catching up with how Eddie’s been, though, the new issue first flashbacks to introduce us to his family, hinting at a much happier time of his life and the dark dealings between his father and a particularly nasty bunch of demons. It’s a nice moment, setting up not only an issue dealing more with Eddie’s estranged brother than Eddie himself but establishing that the whole thing with the demons running things behind the scenes has gone on for a good long while. It’s a simple but effective scene, building nicely on top of what we saw of how the world works in the first series. Only in a world abandoned by god and given over to the monsters could a guy like Eddie be the hero, and this briefest of looks at what he grew up with provides just enough fodder for your imagination to have you sympathizing with him by the end.

The rest of the book deals with Eddie reconnecting with his aforementioned brother Morgan as part of a frankly insane plan involving what might be the current location of their dead mother’s soul. There’s some serious history between the two (which will no doubt be delved deeper into over the next two issues), including a connection between the curse keeping Eddie alive and the strange tattoos covering most of Morgan’s skin. Perhaps even better than the requisite weirdness, though, is how well their scenes are written – Bunn establishes their relationship so quickly and firmly that everything past the first few panels of their meeting in a bar is just gravy. Their troubled relationship might not offer anything that hasn’t been seen before, but the skill with which its fleshed out packs more grace and subtlety than I’ve seen a comic manage for quite some time. It also provides a welcome change in perspective on the ordinarily cool and collected Eddie, which is always fun.

While any one who read the original series will feel right at home, things may be a bit rougher on new readers. With only three issues for the story there’s not a lot of time for playing catch up, and the weight of some scenes will most likely be lost without the context of the original series. That said, the broad strokes of what got us here are present throughout the issue, providing just enough detail to fill in new readers (and whet their appetites for the convenient trade of the original series, a mere $14.95 from Oni) without ruining the good bits, of which there are plenty. The Damned was a fantastic work, creating a world both eerily familiar and strangely horrifying at the same time. While it might only be three issues, “Prodigal Sons” appears to be picking up where it left off without missing a beat.

BUY STATUS: In for the duration, and secretly hoping this shortened series means we’ll be getting another one before the year’s out. The Damned is pure fun through and through.

SCARLET TRACES

Writer: Ian Edginton
Artist: D’Israeli

Scarlet Traces is the sort of thing that makes me wonder if I have some sort of deep-rooted psychological trouble that’s caused me to blank out at any time during the last few years, as it’s the only real way to explain how I haven’t heard of it before seeing it at the Dark Horse booth. An unofficial sequel to War of the Worlds, dealing not only with what England did with all the Martian technology lying around at the end of the invasion but her plans for an offensive against the red planet? Clearly some sort of Durden-esque double life is the only way to explain how I could have missed a book so clearly written just for me. I suppose spending my lost time looking like Brad Pitt and sleeping with Helen Bonham Carter makes up for it, though. Maybe.

As touched on above, Scarlet Traces takes place in a post-Martian invasion England, a land transformed by the salvaged technology of the would-be conquerors into a steampunk (minus the steam) slice of the future where cars walk on insect legs, homes are warmed by modified versions of the deadly heat ray, and the country has isolated itself from the rest of the world, resentful over their lack of help during the war and hording all the treasure for themselves. It’s a cold place, for all its advancements, feeling very much like a child pretending to be an adult. While London rejoices in her Martian makeover, one doesn’t have to look too far to see the bad that came along with the good of the country’s great leap forward. More and more factories in the rural areas are becoming automated, with families so desperate for work that anything – including an ad looking for young women to work as housemaids in the big city – is worth jumping on if it means putting food on the table.

The central mystery of the book is built around one such want ad, pulling war veterans Robert Autumn and Archie Currie out of semi-retirement in the name of tracking down Currie’s seemingly missing niece. The plot naturally thickens along the way, with the trail to the lost girl becoming littered with buildings blown up to hide evidence, thugs packing pocket heat rays, and a homeless Sergeant finding and his pet dog finding emaciated bodies along the muddy banks of the Thames. All of this leads somewhat inevitably to a larger conspiracy, and while its revelation towards the end isn’t exactly a surprise, the scope and potential of the plan make it more than worth the wait.

Which is both a good and bad thing. In building up to the story’s turning point, Edginton and D’Israeli seem almost restless with their more mundane detective story, eager to just get through it and finally embrace the more fantastic elements. It doesn’t hurt things too much – the larger story of Autumn and Currie getting closer and closer to the madness lurking behind England’s brave new world is still a good read, but compared to the twists and turns things take from the start of chapter four on it can’t help but come off lacking. It’s a slow boil beginning that’s just ever so slightly off to such a minor degree that you might not even notice till you’ve finished the entire thing. Not a huge thing, but as I’m running out of ways to say “it’s really, really good” I thought I might gripe a bit to inflate my word count.

And it is really, really good. D’Israelli’s art is completely on throughout, creating machines and buildings both incredible to look at and slightly horrifying to consider. Edginton’s script drives home at every turn how little people have changed despite their wonderful new toys, creating a cast of characters ranging from tragically noble to the sort of disgusting that only comes with being sure you’re doing the right thing. Scarlet Traces is a thrill to read, a genuine new world built on the remains of the old and just the sort of thing comics were built for. For all the comics I read, few of them manage to stay with me after the fact. Yet even now, days after gobbling it up after getting home from NYCC, I keep getting distracted imagining the clatter of a traffic jam made of six-legged cars on cobblestone streets. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

BUY STATUS: Sorely tempted to throw sense to the wind (yet again) and grab the second volume immediately, but remaining strong. First thing on the list once I’m back in a cash-having way, though.

So far, so good. Next week will see more Con purchases, and maybe the week after that, but don’t let that stop you from recommending anything coming out in the meantime via the comments or an email to chrislamb@gmail.com. I’ll be keeping a list of what I’m missing at the shops for when I can pick things up again, and may even be checking it twice. See you then.

Comics Are Expensive: ECHO #1-2, RESURRECTION #1-4, CRIMINAL 2 #1-2,

"Comics Are Expensive" is written by famed Expertologist Chris Lamb.


And back. Sorry about last week – a combination of absolutely no time for anything outside of work and the rather disheartening nature of last week’s intended subject matter conspired against me to result in a lack of column. But now I am returned to you, brimming with wisdom to be shared and a stack of books potentially worth your consideration. It’s like Christmas in April, only if instead of giving you presents Santa just sort of rambled about them for a while and left it up to you whether to spend money on them or not. So maybe not at all like Christmas, then.

Still, new comics. Onwards.

ECHO #1 & 2

Writer & Artist: Terry Moore

Ah, Terry Moore. Much like Jeff Smith, Moore’s creator-owned Strangers in Paradise was an important book to me growing up. Unlike Bone, however, which remained the only comic I read for years after getting fed up with Marvel and DC of the time, SiP was more instrumental in helping defining my tastes and tolerances – specifically, my tolerances for contrived, meandering storytelling pulling in everything from the mafia to deadly gangs of female assassins to keep it's “will they or won’t they” hook dangling for as long as possible. While the first three trades of the series still stand up fairly well, everything past that sees the characters stuck in arrested development, making the same decisions and giving in to the same waffling till the very end, when everybody not named David magically gets a happy ending before the curtain comes down. Moore deserves a lot of credit for his work on SiP, but the extreme jump of the rails the series took and never recovered from should also serve as a cautionary tale to all would-be writers about the importance of not being afraid to kill your darlings.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s move on to Echo, his newest self-published book. While only two issues in, the series is already off on a stronger foot than SiP plot-wise, largely because it has one. While the early days of Katchoo and Francine involved a lot of Moore trying to figure out what he wanted to do with them, Echo’s Julie appears to moving in a definite direction, complete with a proper major even to push her in it. While taking pictures in the Californian desert, a lady in a special metal suit and wearing a jet pack explodes several thousand feet over her head. The resulting debris rains down on her, polka-dotting her and her truck with drops liquid metal that refuse to come off. Upon getting home, a larger piece of metal found in her truck bed causes all the dots to merge into one, creating a sort of breast plate with a weird logo in the center that tingles when threatened and shocks jerk doctors. All in all, there are worse freak accidents.

Along the way, we get bits and pieces of Julie’s life, such as it is. She lives alone in a cabin with her dog and a stack of unpaid bills. Old divorce papers decorate her kitchen table, and she’s still wearing both her engagement and wedding rings despite the regular messages from her ex telling her it’s time to move on. She has family in Seattle she never sees, and all signs point to her being pretty much withdrawn from the world at large and quite probably a good chunk of reality. I’m curious to see what such a character does with a suit capable of what we saw it doing before its previous owner was all atomized, particularly as both its owners and the military are moving to get it back. Issue #2 ends with a standard issue Moore Tough-As-Nails-But-With-A-Sensitive-Side Girl showing up to do just that, setting up a meeting that probably isn’t going to go well for at least one of them.

There’s a lot of potential here. Terry Moore has obviously grown as a writer both over the course of SiP and since then, and his art is as strong as ever. I’ve always admired his ear for dialogue, whether its coming out in melodramatic monologues or as a funny exchange between characters, and despite Julie’s isolation there’s still a nice portion of that across these two issues. Still, I don’t think I’ll be quite comfortable with the series until a few more issues in, once it’s a bit clearer if Moore has learned the difference between telling a story and talking to himself. It’s an interesting premise, and one ripe to be spun in a number of different directions, so here’s hoping.

BUY STATUS: #3 should decide whether I keep following this one by issues or wait for the trade. In the meantime, it’s worth picking up at least the first one to see if Moore’s new slow boil of a story piques your interest.

RESURRECTION #1-4

Writer: Marc Guggenheim

Artist: David Dumeer

As premises go, I can’t think one seemingly built to dive deep into the heart of my raccoon-like brain and win it over that tops the one behind Resurrection - suppose aliens had spent the last ten years hammering our planet into utter ruin, wiping out large chunks of the population in the process and driving the few straggling survivors underground, and suddenly, as of this morning, they’re all gone. What happens next?

“Next” is the bit Guggenheim and Dumeer hope to answer with the series, hopping around between different groups of survivors while sprinkling flashbacks of life amongst the aliens throughout as both a tease for the huge story that happened just before issue #1 and a handy way of providing us with looks at our characters before they got where they are now. It’s a nice device, and a perfect fit for this sort of story (see also the incredibly fun novel World War Z by Max Brooks for more fiction from a post disaster, “where do we go from here?” perspective), providing the wider view this sort of story requires. While all the current characters are in America (and for the most part, the same part of America), there’s promise for things to expand outward as things move along. If done right, this is the sort of idea the creators could spend stories out of for ages.

Of course, that’s also the big unknown here – are Guggenheim and Dumeer up to the task? While off to a good start, these first four issues are running largely on the strength of the premise – the characters introduced so far are more the sum of their actions rather than people with any real depth, producing reactions to events without any known motivation behind them. The most fleshed out so far is probably rich super genius Norman Tulley, and he’s spent most of the time since being introduced aboard a crashed alien ship with some sort of techno virus burrowing into his head. Dumeer’s art starts nice and solid but gets shakier with each issue, going from a great scene between some poor experimented bastard and survivor Sara on the road at the start to a genuinely couple of bits with the current president where your best hope of telling one person from another is trying to tell their remarkably similar haircuts apart. There’s every chance these are just growing pains, and with a few more issues under their belts the creators will find their track and stick with it. Time will tell.

I’m hoping for great things from Resurrection, if only because the idea behind it is so different from pretty much anything else comics are doing at the moment (or for the last several moments) that I want the rest to measure up. Despite my grumblings above its largely very good work, already showing how much thought has been put into how the world tries to pick itself up before the first issue was put together. If Guggenheim and Dumeer can prove capable of realizing even most of the potential inherent in their wonderful idea, then they just might have something truly special on their hands.

BUY STATUS: I’m in for the next few issues at the very least. This first story arc should be enough to get a feel for where the rest of the story goes after, so we’ll see then. Thanks for the recommendation, Mike.

CRIMINAL VOL. 2 #1-2

Writer: Ed Brubaker

Artist: Sean Phillips

Because it just isn’t a Comics Are Expensive without a Brubaker book, y’know? Despite having already talked about the start of the latest Criminal series ever-so-briefly a while back, the new issue out this week left me wanting to look at the thing a little harder. Brubaker and Phillips have always worked well together – their run on Wildstorm’s Sleeper a few universe reboots back is still one of my favorite filters for looking at superheroes, and the first couple of stories to come out of Criminal showed it to be one of the few comics around to understand the difference between crime fiction and proper Noir. Talking about the first few issues of the new series also created a nice little theme for the week, feeding into my feeding neatly into my twisted sense of OCD. So bonus points there.

The funny thing about Noir is that, by its very nature, you pretty much already know how the story ends. Noir at its most basic principles is about putting somebody up against a corrupt system, giving them a reason to fight it, and then watching that system break them down into little pieces and swallow them whole. Criminal understands this with every panel of every page, presenting a nameless town full of thieves, murderers, thugs, addicts, and all other sorts of human wreckage just teetering on the brink. Sooner or later one of them starts looking for a way up or out from their current situation, and that flash of ambition, that little bit of hope is all it takes for the city to turn on them. It took me a while to realize it, but there are no “regular” people in Criminal - they’re background, trimming, as much a part of the story as an unassuming crate or trash can. Less even, as those are the sorts of objects characters often find themselves getting beaten with. It’s not a book about regular people, but one about all the rest who couldn’t quite cut it.

The second volume of the series is already off to a much different start than the “Coward” and “Lawless” storylines preceding it. Not only does it delve into the city’s sordid past, taking place in the rise of the second generation of organized crime to run things, it appears to be leaping between different characters instead of sticking with a single protagonist like before. While the first issue introduced us to Jake Brown, boxer and childhood friend of Sebastian Hyde, current boss of the Hyde family, this week’s installment follows Teeg Lawless, Vietnam Vet, generally awful human being, and father to a character we met last time around. While both stories complement each other, filling in details around the other, each can stand alone as its own creature, every bit as powerful and occasionally heartbreaking even without the extra background.

It’s a great approach I’d love to see go a bit farther with the current arc, making each issue a jumping on point to an otherwise dense and twisting narrative. At this point its far too early to see where thing are going – while the other series weren’t fast-paced by any means, a lot of thought and time is being introduced to setting the stage and putting the characters in places. Like I said before, though, being a Noir, there’s only so many ways it can end. Like the best Noir pieces, though, Criminal is every bit as much (if not more so) about the trip as it is the destination.

What else? Each issue has a bit of back matter at the end, featuring a piece by Brubaker and a discussion of older Noir films and stories by a fellow crime writer. Often very good and at the very least informative, the two here are an appreciation of David Goodis’ The Burglar by Duane Swierczynski (who’s doing all superhero books at the moment, but is already a successful crime novelist) and a look at some of the better cops (and at least one criminal) to come out of the genre by Scalped’s own Jason Aaron. The pieces add to Criminal’s overall feeling of being a love letter to crime fiction and Noir, a book that so enjoys what it is that its creators’ thrill over getting to tell these stories spills out of every issue. For a book where the end is often inevitable from the first page, it’s hard to think of a comic that offers more twists and turns on the way there.

BUY STATUS: Hopelessly addicted, I’m afraid, though finally talking about the thing has made me realize I foolishly don’t have the first two trades. Something to fix with tomorrow’s paycheck, then.

Which brings us neatly to the end. Probably no B-sides at Expertologist this week, I’m afraid, as work is even busier than last week. The short version is that Suburban Glamour ended as nicely as it began, Fantastic Four stumbled a good bit with some questionable snow graphics and muddy art, Green Lantern Corps. went back to being interesting and Nova continues to be pretty ace. Recommendations for books to read are always welcome, either via email to chrislamb@gmail.com or in the comments thread. See you next time.

Val Recommends: Jessica Farm

Jessica Farm from Fantagraphics Press is a fun and hallucinatory trip through the psyche or dreamtime of the title character. Along the way she encounters the same types of archetypal characters the hero of any myth or fairytale might -- shadowy boogeymen and tricksters with exceptionally spicy nether regions.


Writer & artist Josh Simmons drew one page of Jessica Farm every month for the last eight years, starting in January of 2000. He plans to then continue the project over the next 42 years, culminating in a single-volume compilation in (wait for it...) 2050.

I thought Jessica Farm was an unique and heartfelt exploration of one woman's inner life. Recommended.

Comics Are Expensive: INCREDIBLE HERCULES #115, FEAR AGENT #19, THE BOY WHO MADE SILENCE #1

"Comics Are Expensive" is by Chris Lamb, licensed Expertologist. Don't try this at home.

Ah, the smell of new comics. As promised (or at least, as suggested might happen), this week saw me grab up a number of new titles I’ve never read before in the interest of seeing what else is out there beyond the tried and true mainstays I pick up each month. Lucky for me, it turned out pretty well – while not everything tried knocked my socks off, I wasn’t disappointed by anything I bought, and now have a couple of new series to start following and a few others to investigate further. It was such a success, in fact, that I think I’ll try it again next week. Pushing my luck? Probably, but then, what else is it for?

THE INCREDIBLE HERCULES #115

Writers: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente

Artist: Khoi Pham

In my defense, I had no way of knowing this was going to be good. World War Hulk had just ended, remember, bringing its overall fun story to a sort of okay conclusion, and the stuff coming next didn’t exactly look promising: a red Hulk by Jeph Loeb of all people in on title, and the continuing adventures of Hercules and Amadeus Cho, boy genius. Hercules was an unknown quality to me – the sum total of my knowledge of the character could be summed up as “Thor with less clothes, no hammer, and Greek. Also, kind of dim.” All in all, I think I can be forgiven for not realizing that him taking over the Hulk’s book while he spends the time from now till the inevitable movie-triggered reset to status quo being unreadable would turn out to be a good thing.

And it is. Despite not having read the last however many issues since the torch passing, the story is remarkably easy to jump into – Cho is continuing his personal vendetta against S.H.I.E.L.D. with Herc in tow, currently following a plan straight out of nu-Battlestar that sees the entire fleet of Helicarriers knocked out of commission (completely with a lovely visual hat-tip in the form of the Behemoth’s design). Of course, it’s going anything but smoothly, with our heroes getting into an argument over how far is too far just as the Avenger Ares and a battery of anti-being-dicked-with missiles courtesy of a very pissed off espionage organization show up on their doorstep. This rather naturally culminates in a fantastic fight scene befitting two immortal guys, with lots of hitting, explosions, and a whole bag of WWH’s glorious sound effects dropped in for good measure. I’m sure there are more practical ways of stopping incoming missiles, but I can’t think of any nearly as fun.

Now don’t get the wrong idea - Incredible Hercules isn’t all hitting, all the time. After a good long while of Cho’s obsession with hurting S.H.I.E.L.D. for their treatment of the Hulk, his time with Herc seems to be paying off in the form of him actually growing up and learning to let go. It’s a nice reminder that, for all his smarts and adventures of late, he’s still a child, an orphan who’s greatest role model is an uncontrollable monster and who’s only friends are a Greek god with an unpleasant past and a wounded coyote puppy. As moments go, it’s a nice bit of balance to the massive fight scene that precedes it, creating a solid and fulfilling read that hits each mark it tries for with room to spare.

It also makes for another reminder of what a weird place the Marvel Universe is to hang out in these days. On one hand, you have books like this and Iron Fist and Nova, great titles taking characters nobody’s really thought about in a while and making them shine. On the other, you have editorially-mandated retcons and a constant stream of massive events threatening to “change everything” just as everything was getting good. A character smoking is such a horror that it can never be shown in a book, but Faustian marriage annulments are not only okay but something to be excited over.

And of course, you have ideas that shouldn’t work, like a big, sorta dumb guy who means well and a smart kid wandering around and getting into trouble becoming must reads while former sure-things like The Ultimates are turned into the comics equivalent of a thalidomide baby. That House of Ideas has felt pretty schizophrenic for the last few years, appearing from the outside as if they’re trying to please everyone – including their own inner fanboys – at once. It’s led to a lot of unfortunate decisions across the board, and caused me to question more than a few times why I bother keeping up with them at all. Of course, every time I start asking, that same process seems to produce an unexpected gem like Incredible Hercules to remind me.

BUY STATUS: Yeah, okay, I’m in. I can only assume the oncoming war mentioned at the end has to do with the Skrulls, and while I can’t help but feel I’m going to get my heart broken, I’ll at least be there for it to happen.

FEAR AGENT #19

Writer: Rick Remender Artist: Jerome Opeña

Well, this was different. The inevitable danger of picking up a handful of new books based on word-of-mouth, an interesting cover, or random whim was leaping into the middle of a series with no idea of what was happening. Fear Agent is very much that series, and this, the third issue in its third story arc, manages to confuse and entertain in equal measures. What do I know? People are in SPACE. They are having ADVENTURES. There are also BAD GUYS. Oh, and something about the Earth probably being destroyed in an intergalactic war against little ball things riding around in person-sized suits and the crazy lady who appears to lead them. Easy enough to follow, right?

There’s not a lot of apparent main character guy Heath Huston this issue – we see him at the start, getting insulted by some aliens riding rather awesome flying fish monsters, and then he pops up again at the end for a heroic rescue. Elsewhere, Mara, who I’m guessing is at least one of Heath’s love interest, is stranded on a dead planet with the last survivors of her scouting party, a guy named Scott and a walking cliché who dies just as I was about to propose a moratorium on Latino characters exclaiming “Santa Maria!” or “Madre Dios!” whenever they’re surprised. Creepy imagery abounds as certain parts of the planet prove to be less dead than originally thought, with art that swings between genuinely lovely and early-90’s Image levels of ink splatters and scratchiness. It’s a fun ride, if suffering from a bit of disjointed writing and art from time to time, and manages to make the decisions made by the characters have an impact on me despite not knowing who they are or where they’re coming from.

And there’s the real question: Do I want to know who these people are? Y’know, I think I do. Remender says in the letters page (which wears thin pretty quick) that Fear Agents is structured like an HBO series – the sort of thing you can’t really jump into the middle of a season and know what’s happening. And I can appreciate that. There’s enough big dumb ideas and mad science here to make me want to know how it all started, so I imagine I’ll pick up the first trade rather than venturing further into unknown territory with the next two issues to see how I feel about the book as a whole. If nothing else, maybe they’ll explain why everybody’s space suits have spurs on them.

BUY STATUS: Hunting down the first trade in the next week or so, and then I’ll let you know.

THE BOY WHO MADE SILENCE #1Writer & Artist: Joshua Hagler

Now this is an odd one: according to the internet, this book originally appeared as the first issue of a twelve-part series in 2007 after creator Joshua Hagler won the Xeric Grant in 2006. So what’s it doing back on the stands here in far-flung 2008, appearing again in single issues rather than a nice trade? I suppose it doesn’t really matter – whatever the reason, it’s another chance for Hagler’s work to get some attention, and I have a lovely first issue of a potentially interesting series to read.

Before getting into the comic’s actual content, it’s worth noting the ad in the back for a gallery show made up of work related to the series. Hagler’s roots as a serious artist (thanks again, internet!) are readily apparent, and it lends his work here a rare beauty in comics – there are any number of panels and full pages from this first issue I would gladly having hanging on my or anybody else’s wall. There’s real power to his art, with scenes capturing not only the isolation main character Nestor’s sudden deafness has foisted upon him but the similar effect it’s having on his mother as the challenges ahead begin to down on her. There’s more to comics than still images, of course, and luckily Hagler comes through again, linking scenes together with an eye for storytelling that shows a lot of promise. The quotes on the back from David Mack and Sam Keith couldn’t be more apt – throw in a Dave McKean and a think you’d have the hat trick of artistic influences nailed. For all their fingerprints, however, you rarely feel as if anything you’re seeing is less than unique.

And the story? There’s not a lot to say right now – this first issue opens with Nestor in the hospital, having been pulled out of the river by a little girl named Esme after accidentally falling in. The story here deals with him waking up to spending the rest of his life deaf, his hearing lost in the accident, and the first steps he takes at becoming reacquainted with the world around him. It’s a thoughtful, sad series of pages, though not completely without hope – while faced with a tremendous amount of growing up that needs to happen very quickly, Nestor seems able to accept and for the most part roll with what has happened to him. It’s around here that the weirdness kicks in – while robbing him of his hearing and ability to speak properly, whatever happened to him in the river left him with something else instead, something that seems to stop the people around them in their tracks and cause them to see the world the way he’s learning to. Which, y’know, is pretty handy.

It’s hard to say where things will go from here, but the groundwork is in place for things to move in a number of interesting directions. As long as Hagler continues to prove he can write as well as he paints, I’m willing to stick around to see what happens next.

BUY STATUS: I could most likely track down back issues from the last time this series graced the stands, but I’d rather watch it play out fresh. Hopefully the next two issues can keep up the level of quality established here.

And so ends the first test flight of the Great New Comics Experiment. I can easily see this becoming a regular thing, as I’m always looking for some outside force to drag me away from my comfort zones. If you have any such potential forces to recommend, leave a note in the comments or drop a line to chrislamb@gmail.com. If you find yourself just dying to know what else I picked up this week, I’ve included the rest as quick paragraph reviews at my personal site Expertologist. They should be up a few minutes after this goes live.

Val's Marathon Of Comic Reviews, Part One

I have this little Ikea table-thingie that I keep all my to-be-reviewed comics in.

Checked out the sucker the other day and was like HOLY S**T! I totally let that back up.

So I'm going to do a marathon of reviews to clean it out. Here is the first off several.


Marvel Zombies 2 #5
A surprisingly disappointing finale that seemed really rushed. An ending that made me want to go, in the words of Zombie Hulk, "Rahhhhhhhhhh!!!" Actually, I can't find where Zombie Hulk actually said that. But if he read this issue that's what he would probably say.





Project Superpowers #1
There is a lot for me to like in this book -- awesome character designs, an absolutely gorgeous color palette, and some intriguing ideas with the "Dynamite Family" concept. However, the plot for this issue inexplicably unravels 1/2 way through, and by the time Black Terror finally makes his appearance, I'm sort of lost.



Papercutter #4
The best story in this anthology by Tugboat Press is the moving "Graveyard" by Sarah Oleksyk, about a young woman's doomed romance with a drug addict. The art is organic and adept at capturing nuances of emotion through facial expression, body language, or even the physical environment. John Porcellino's "Snowstorm" is more of a quiet mood piece, and Vanessa Davis's "Night Moves" aptly captures the sweaty beauty of the bar scene.


Avengers Classic #9
This issue re-tells the first appearance of Wonder Man from Avengers #9 -- and apparently he was a bit of a jackass. The new backup story by Macon Blair and Juan Doe attempts to fill in a gap the original tale left; it felt, probably by virtue of nothing more than its intended purpose, a little like fan-fiction. But artist Doe's art is a stand-out and quite original, with a distinctively animated feel.


The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury #295
We are introduced to the world of Miranda Mercury in media res, as it were; the young space adventurer is at the top of her game. While on one hand this works because it cuts out the oft-cliche and hokey "origin sequence" many first issues have, it also puts the book at a disadvantage because we don't have enough structure built for us to share in the obvious admiration everyone else has for Ms. Mercury. Still, the book is well-intentioned and has a nice, stream-lined style courtesy of Lee Ferguson.


Robin #171
Chris Batista's art is clean, pretty, and Silver Age-sharp, but Chuck Dixon's writing is starting to seem tired; I feel like I've traveled this road before. On the other hand, if I was to judge this as a comic purely written for teens, it's not bad. But, it's just not doing it for this thirtysomething.





The Incredible Hercules #114
More gorgeous art and fast-paced and funny narrative keeps my interest up in this series. I like the flashbacks to The Champions days, and that baby coyote or whatever looked so cute in that one scene (though unfortunately he or she might be dead in it). The "Dark Cho" foreshadowing is cool -- but I think his friendship with Hercules is an essential part of the comic, so I wouldn't want it to be any more than temporarily interrupted.



The Hulk #2
Please tell Jeph Loeb that comics are not TV. The sudden heart-stopping reveals when a character pops out of nowhere works in TV but not in a comic, and they were way too overused in this issue. Still, some intriguing hints are thrown in as to the identity of Red Hulk. Liked issue #1 better.