7 Brothers #1 (Virgin Comics) Have I mentioned that Garth Ennis and John McCrea’s Hitman is my favorite ongoing comic book series of all time? Well, it is. It featured a hitman named Ringo, who, despite being named after another Hong Kong director, looked and acted an awful lot like the Chow Yun Fat characters in John Woo’s movies. Ennis is a huge Woo fan, and I would have plunked down my $2.99 just to help Ennis realize what must be a professional dream of his. This new series is “created” by Woo, and written by Ennis, allowing the two to work together. Like all of Virgin’s books, it’s a bit of a slow start, but a much quicker one than the other three I’ve read. Seven men from around the world are summoned by a mysterious woman and offerened 100K for a mysterious mission. She knows a lot about these men, including the fact that at least six of them have what we’d call superpowers, powers exhibited by the seven heroes of an old Chinese legend. Artist Jeevan Kang kicks all sorts of ass, particularly on the opening scenes describing a story of 15th century China, and the cover by Yoshitaka Amano is killer, though I have no idea what it’s of or what it has to do with the book.
52 #24 (DC Comics) This is probably the best issue of the series since the first one, because it truly lives up to the promise of the beginning of the series—this isn’t simply the stories of a few characters, but the story of an entire fictional universe. In this issue, the “regulars” we follow include Black Adam, Isis and Ralph Dibny, but we also check in with the new JLA, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Atom Smasher and Amanda Waller, and, counting headshots and statues, we see a vast array of DC characters referenced in this issue. It’s by far the best-looking of the series, thanks to Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning on art chores, and one of the funniest, thanks to Ambush Bug and Firestorm II’s interaction with the rest of their League (Okay, so they’re disbanded—I say give us an issue or arc of JLA:Classified featuring ‘em anyway). The back-up origin of Booster Gold, written by Waid and drawn by Dan Jurgens, looks nice but is horribly confused—in addition to not telling any of his story past the point he landed in the “present’ some 20 years ago (our time), it also makes it sound like he’s still alive. What gives?
The Authority #1 (DC/WildStorm) I worry that Grant Morrison, one of the very best comics writers working today, may be spreading himself a tad too thin, and suffering the fate that befell Brian Michael Bendis when that bald-headed, popular writer went from writing two books a month to two million—the books just aren't as strong as you’d expect. The Authority, once the biggest, brashest, most action-packed widescreen book on the shelves (a designation since assumed by The Ultimates, which is written by a former Authority scribe and drawn by a former Authority artist), crawls out of the gate. Together with Gene Ha, who seems to be working a new style here (check it out—no borders on the panels, either), Morrison presents us with a real world story that seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the Authority, at least until the second-and-third-to-last pages, when we see what exactly it is that’s going on. I don’t think I’ve ever said this about a Morrison book before, but I’m going to now: If you haven’t picked up this issue yet, don’t—wait for the trade. The cover, also by Ha and in a more familiar style, is pretty awful-looking, but that may simply be because it’s only one section of a larger picture that the covers will connect to reveal. At least, I hope that’s what it is.
Birds of Prey #99 (DC) The Birds reach a turning point, the biggest in their entire history (going back to when they were simply starring in one-shots and mini-series) as, Black Canary resigns to spend more time mothering her new adoptee Sin. I’m not exactly sure how the title will continue from here, as the Barbara Gordon/Black Canary relationship has been the heart of the book for so long, and even the addition of the Huntress has yet to gel completely (Let alone the even more recent addition of Lady Blackhawk and Gypsy who, wait, is she even on the team anymore, or has she just been invisible the last few issues?) It’s a monumental moment for the title, but Simone plays it as something of an afterthought, and steams ahead with a few other plots, including Babs’ dealing with her superpowered would-be successor and Huntress’ confrontation with a Turkish gunrunner. No idea how this jibes with Justice League of America, where Canary will apparently be joining a new team, or the Cassandra Cain developments, as Babs references her repeatedly, but in a pretty confused manner. Confidential to DC: Please never let Jerry Ordway draw Barbara Gordon again, even if it is just a cover.
Blade #2 (Marvel) I applaud writer marc Guggenheim for trying to jam so damn much story into each issue, but I got totally lost at the beginning. From page four on, though, I was good to go, and follow Blade from his battle with vampire clowns (the bit with the rubber nose is priceless) to a confrontation with Victor Von Doom in Latervia to the past, where he must save Dr. Doom’s mother from vampires. Chaykin’s art is nicely done, though he gets a bit lazy in a few panels of Doom sitting (Um, where’d that left leg go, exactly?), and as neat as that integration of black lace into the art was the first ten times I saw it, I think he can go ahead and stop using it now.
Conan #33 (Dark Horse) The chaos that accompanied Kurt Busiek’s departure from the title as it’s main writer—fill-in writers, fill-in artists, a hop-scotching timeline—is finally over, as new writer Timothy Truman (also the very best Conan artist!) officially takes the reigns, joining regular artist Cary Nord for a special over-sized issue. When things get too hot in Zamora, Conan and Jiara head for the hills literally, where the Cimmerian must deal with a pack of wild dogs, a pack of wild hill-people, a pack of bandits and the downside of traveling with a woman (Was that a sexist remark? Sorry, there’s just something about a hero as manly as Conan that breeds sexism). Truman calls on much of the history that Busiek (and, obviously, Howard) have built in the title thus far here, as we check in with a lot of players. Nord is as sharp as ever, and you gotta love Tony Harris’ cover, featuring a man who looks very surprised to have just been cut in half. And Conan did it over his shoulder, no less? Very impressive.
Hellstorm: Son of Satan #1 (Marvel/Max) Nice to see Marvel trying something else on their Max mature-readers imprint, but how come DC’s mature readers imprint means maturely-written stories for mature readers, while Marvel’s means more violence? They don’t even capitalize on the ability to have the characters swear like sailors or show nudity, as a well-placed hand covers the nipple on the only bare breast within. For a mature book, it’s not as sophisticated as any of Vertigo’s offerings, or as exploitive of Max’s only real successes to date, The Punisher and, to a lesser extent, the since-cancelled Alias. Ah well, beggars can’t be choosers. Fiction writer Alexander Irvine writes a story about S.O.S. traveling to post-Katrina New Orleans, where the story of Isis, Set and Osiris seems to be being re-enacted. What does that have to do with Satan, let alone his son? No idea yet. This is a five-issue miniseries, after all. The pencils, by Russ Braun, are fine, but Hellstorm isn’t much of a presence or a unique-looking character. Arthur Suydam’s cover image of Daimon isn’t any improvement either; he simply looks like Conan auditioning for a Creed video. All in all, I think I prefer the crazy-ass original design for the character.
The Last Christmas #4 (Image Comics) Well it’s about time! Santa finally gets his shit together, packs his sleigh full of elves wielding red-and-white striped weapons, plus our narrator Gary the Snowman, and flies south to kick marauders and zombies. Dig the Santa suit-up scene, and the death by gingerbread man one.
The Lone Ranger #2 (Dynamite Entertainment) A few months back, if someone told me that a comic book about That Masked Man with the friend named Tonto and the horse named Silver would be one of the my favorite new comics, I would have laughed in his or her face. But man, Dynamite’s Lone Ranger relaunch has been just incredible. The art, inside and out (by John Cassaday and Sergio Cariello) is stellar, and Brett Matthews’ story is incredibly compelling. Dark, gritty and violent in that post-Unforgiven way, this “Year One”-style origin has the feel of an epic destiny being fulfilled, one step at a time. I guess that’s only naturally, given how over-told this character’s fictional career has been, and how under-told his origin story has been.
Omega Men #1 (DC) I know little of the Omega Men, just what I gleaned from the excellent Adam Strange: Planet Heist and the Rann-Thanagar War series. But I thought I’d give their first issue a try anyway, in part because Henry Flint’s very, very British art gives the book the imprimatur of a 2000 A.D.-style sci-fi adventure, and in part because Tigorr is such a goofy character, made goofier still by the size of that cigar on the cover. Wow. Inside, I was admittedly pretty lost—The Darkstars are a religious group rather than a police force now? That’s a Tamaranean, like Starfire and Blackfire? The Spider Guild’s still around? What’s that Guardian talking about now?—but it seems like the Omega Men have been set up for some sort of crime which has L.E.G.I.O.N. and some interesting new recruits ready to hand them their asses. There’s also some kind of Infinity Gem nonsense going on. I don’t know, but I think I’ll give it one more issue—I do want to see Flint draw the big fight that should kick off next issue.
Runaways #21 (Marvel) Best. Runaways. Cover. Ever. Confidential to Mike Norton: That shirt the old man is wearing as a young man in the photo of he and his late wife taking decades ago? I don’t think they were selling those off the rack back when he had black hair and good posture.
Union Jack #2 (Marvel) Fight, fight, fight! Then more fighting! Then another fight! Followed by fighting! Plus, fighting! All this fighting, plus pumpkin bombs and flying cars—what else do you want from a comic book?
WildCats #1 (DC/WildStorm) And here’s that other book that had me worrying for the state of Grant Morrison. When the hottest writer in comics teams up with the hottest artist in comics (Jim Lee, returning to characters he created), the industry rightly sits up and takes notice. But what exactly are we looking at here? I was more than a little lost and underwhelmed at various portions of this issue. It may be my limited exposure to the ‘Cats (who are no longer C.A.T.s?), having only experienced them in the Morrison-written JLA crossover, during the Alan Moore run on the title and in sundry crossovers and spin-offs. But then, that’s the point of a relaunch and a brand-new nuber one isn’t it? To provide easy entry for the new readers you’ll be undoubtedly picking up? The scenes with the Grifter were fine, and the big picture look at a world gone crazy with superpeople made sense, but the smaller picture eluded and confused me (And why was that sex scene in infrared, exactly? Was their a voyeur with heat vision goggles in the closet?). Lee’s draftsmanship is fine here, but the designs are all off-putting. Maybe I’ve grown use to see him working on classic characters like Batman, Superman and their families and villains, but there were some really, really repulsive costumes and character designs in this book.
X-Factor #12 (Marvel) The Tryps are finally all explained, and it’s a pretty novel explanation, but if only there was a way to deal with the character and Singularity Investigations’ raison d etre that didn’t involve time-travel. Time travel and X comics never really work out all that well, do they? Layla Miller continues to have the best superpower in the Marvel Universe.
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