Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: David Aja
Company: Marvel Comics

Four months ago, I was extremely angry with Ed Brubaker (Captain America/Gotham Central). Why? Because he had done the unthinkable, he’d killed Foggy Nelson, or as I like to call him “Guts Nelson”. Being a long time Daredevil fan and enjoying the awkward humor that Foggy brought to the always dark and depressing landscape of blind lawyer Matt Murdock’s life, I was a bit aghast at such an action. How someone could throw such a monkey wrench into the whole Daredevil history was beyond me. Luckily, it was a fake-out, a fake-out which worked on me completely, though I did, at the time, hold out hope that it was all just a dream.
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Writers/Artists: Gabriel Hernandez, Greg Ruth and Scott Morse
Company: Scholastic Graphix

I never read any of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books for pre-teens, but I was managing a Toys ‘R’ Us back when every kid did. I figured the books for formulaic, disposable fare, even if it was nice to see kids reading anything, so I approached Scholastic’s new series of Goosebumps comic adaptations with a touch of skepticism. Sure, I expected them to look good, with cartoonists like Greg Ruth (Freaks of the Heartland) and Scott Morse (Spaghetti Western) onboard, but I hardly expected the horror fan in me to find anything worthwhile.

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What is a “Hot Pants” pick? Quite simply, it’s a book that all four reviewers on this site believe is worthy of your time. It may or may not be one of our favorite books, but it’s that rare breed of comic that struck all four of us, with our different tastes, as a good read. Marvel Adventures: The Avengers is our first “Hot Pants” pick.

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Wednesday Number Ones will be a weekly feature here at Comic Pants. We will be taking the books that are premiering a first issue from that week and giving a quick opinion on them. From time to time we may also include more than issue number ones in this feature. If a noteworthy one-shot or the first issue of a new story arc is released, we may talk about it in this feature.

This week we will cover Soulfire: Chaos Reign #1, Forgotten Realms: The Crystal Shard #1, Eberron: Eye of the Wolf, Heroes for Hire #1, Nightwolf: The Price #1, Batman and the Mad Monk #1, Justice League of America #1, and Force 51 #1.

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Writer: Antony Johnston
Artist: Christopher Mitten
Company: Oni Press

The post-apocalyptic wasteland may not be a great place to live… but it’s a rich place for stories, and Antony Johnston and Christopher Mitten have come up with an interesting new twist on the ruined Earth genre in their new ongoing series Wasteland. Johnston’s plot and characters may seem comfortably familiar, with a ruined but recovering civilization reminiscent of our own, a stranger from the desert and a series of dangerous mutants from the wastes, but look a little deeper and you’ll start to see the layers of the book. Psychic abilities, several religious beliefs and different interpretations of the “Big Wet” that caused the disaster, all Continue Reading »

Writers: Andrew Cosby & Johanna Stokes
Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Company: BOOM! Studios

Zombies! We don’t need your stinkin’ zombies! Or maybe we, as a society, really do need them.

I once thought that this zombie sub-genre that has become so popular would eventually end up being a passing phase, that it would hit its apex and come crashing back down to earth with a heavy thud. It’s come and gone before over the years and I reckoned it would follow the same pattern. So far, that hasn’t been the case.

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Writer: Jeff Parker
Pencils: Manuel Garcia
Company: Marvel Comics

Avengers Assemble!

A month ago I didn’t even know this title existed. A friend of mine suggested that I check it out, so I did. Marvel Adventures: The Avengers is not a kiddie comic; it’s a comic that is kiddie safe. An adult can read the book without feeling like they’re reading a children’s book. In fact, it’s the best Avengers book currently being published, and I will be referring to it as The Avengers from here on out.

If you want to read comics with your kid (or kids) or you just yearn for the days Continue Reading »

Writer: Bruce Jones
Pencils: John Watkiss
Company: Vertigo

Deadman is really one of those characters that can either hit or miss with audiences. For me, Boston Brand (the original Deadman) is someone that I looked forward to seeing again. His appearances in Neil Gaiman’s Books of Magic and in Teddy Kristiansen’s issue of Solo made me respect the character for his ability to add some levity to story lines laden with grim and grit. Still, writers have missed the mark with Deadman over the various mini-series he has starred in, especially when they have localized the character amongst the super-hero population. It makes sense that the book found a home at Vertigo, out Continue Reading »

Writers: Ken Lillie-Paetz, Dan Wickline & Paul Benjamin
Artists: Chris Moreno, Mark Dos Santos, Fernando Granea & Steve Sprayson
Company: Silent Devil Productions

The full, extra-long title for this book is Monkey In A Wagon vs. Lemur On A Big Wheel: Crisis With Infinite Critters. That’s a long title for such a simple concept. You see, Monkey vs. Lemur (as I’ve decided I’m going to abbreviate it) is really nothing more than a simple humor title. Except, of course, that in comics, simple humor titles may be the hardest thing to write successfully. Crisis With Infinite Critters (that’s another possible abbreviation) passes the Lander humor test, which is that it makes me laugh out loud at least once. Several times, actually, as the eternal struggle between a monkey in a Continue Reading »

Writer: Murphy
Artist: Mike Hawthorne
Company: Image Comics

I flipped through this book out of a random curiosity rather than any previous interest in the title. When I saw the great interior art, by Hawthorne (Queen & Country Vol. 6:Operation Dandelion, Machine Teen) I decided to give it a read. I’m two issues into the three issue story, and I still have no idea what is going on, but I’m enjoying it anyways. If you ever wondered what White Out by Greg Rucka would have been like if Rucka had been eating psychotropic mushrooms while he was writing it, check out Umbra. It is a mildly tripped out murder mystery with a bizarre twist taking place in Iceland, 1999, Continue Reading »