Wednesday Number Ones is a weekly feature here at Comic Pants. We take the books that are premiering a first issue from that week and give 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 Athena Voltaire: Flight of the Falcon #1 of 4, Snakes on a Plane #1 of 2, Mythos: Hulk #1, CSI: Dying in the Gutters #1 of 5, Battlestar Galactica #1, and The Trials of Shazam #1 of 12
Dave Farabee Read and Thought:
Mythos: Hulk #1 (Marvel Comics): I like the basic concept of the Mythos series - retelling the origins of classic Marvel heroes, incorporating all the “best bits” from various media - but even more than the hit-or-miss X-Men entry before it, Hulk’s origin falls flat. It’s not overtly bad (though you might wonder at some of the changes - why make Rick Jones a gamma base intern?), but like Ang Lee’s movie, you just keep waiting for any of it to be interesting. Best thing about the book is the Edward Hopper-esque art by Paolo Rivera, a surprisingly non-commercial choice.
CSI: Dying in the Gutters #1 of 5 (IDW Publishing): Comic gossip columnist Rich Johnston’s been whacked at a comic convention! CSI team to investigate! Suspects to be culled from a slew of comic creators! I had a hoot with the opening chapter to this mini, penned by comic writer/columnist Steven Grant and chock full of sly comic biz altercations and red herrings. Can’t say how CSI fans’ll take to it - never watched the show - but definitely a fun read if you’re a follower of industry doings, creator message boards, etc.
David Martindale Read and Thought:
Battlestar Galactica #1 (Dynamite Entertainment): I’m a pretty big fan of the new Sci-Fi Channel show, but I couldn’t get into this book. The art is downright painful. It’s almost impossible to read any expression from the charcters’ faces, or follow exactly what is happening in each panel. The story is trying desprately to emulate the feel of the television show, but it fails to do so. Maybe Greg Pak should not have tried to emulate the feel of the show but rather write a story with its own vibe. I don’t think it falls short due to a lack of ability on Pak’s part. Battlestar Galactica just doesn’t adapt well to comics.
The Trials of Shazam #1 of 12 (DC Comics): Judd Winick manages to include several fight scenes in a single issue without managing to make it exciting in any way. Not to mention, the vast majority of the book is full of caption boxes of Captain Marvel/Billy talking to himself. Howard Porter’s art is pretty enough, but it just seems out of place in this book. If you’re a big fan of Captian Marvel, you might want to check this book out if only to follow the major changes to the character that will be occurring in this title. If you aren’t that big of a Captain Marvel fan, it’s probably safe to stay away.
Nick Budd Read and Thought:
Snakes On a Plane #1 of 2 (Wildstorm): Honestly, why make this into a comic? The movie, which I’m sure is a total B rated film is quickly downgraded into a C or even a D rated comic book. There is no point to it and both the art and story feel forced and poorly plotted. Even the action scenes, something that Chuck Dixon is known for are mediocre at best. I guess if you were into the movie, then you might want to check it out. If not, then slither away from Snakes On a Muther@*%$!#* Plane and count yourself lucky.
Randy Lander Read and Thought:
Athena Voltaire: Flight of the Falcon #1 of 4 (APE Entertainment): This pulp-style book is heavy on the action and drawn in a beautiful style that recalls the work of photo-realistic guys like Greg Land and Mike Perkins. The storytelling is a bit choppy, revealing the book’s origins as an online strip, but there are tons of interesting elements. A nice blend of Nazis, mysticism, the Hollow Earth, dogfights in biplanes, pirates, gunfights and exotic locales with a spunky, sexy lead heroine who might be the match Indiana Jones never knew he had.
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Re: The Trials of Shazam #1
I rather enjoyed the issue. Not only has Howard Porter reinvented himself as an artist, but Winick provides a clear, new direction for Captain Marvel. No longer is he a Superman clone. His mission and methods are completely different now.
30 Aug 2006 at 9:16 am
QuoteI agree that the “clear, new direction” is a good way to go. I even think the ideas are good ideas. I just didn’t enjoy their presentation in the issue.
Yeah, Porter’s art is really nice, and I would love to see more of it in a different setting.
I didn’t hate the book at all. I was merely luke warm on it. It can be hard to get all my feelings about a book across in such a small amount of text, but with practice, I’m sure I’ll get better at it.
Thanks for your comments and active participation!
30 Aug 2006 at 10:40 am
QuoteI’m always leery of saddling simple characters like Captain Marvel with “directions”. To a large extent, I think you either get his inherent goodness and silliness or you don’t, and any new direction is destined to last only as long as a particular writer is pushing it. Of course, I’m one of those guys who thinks Captain Marvel should never have been wed with the DC Universe. He and Superman DO undercut each other and, given that Captain Marvel was created as a more light-hearted hero, I find him a particularly awkward fit when DC tries to serious things up. I know folks love Kingdom Come, fer inst, but for me, it was the height of misunderstanding Captain Marvel’s character to embroil him in such weighty matters. Dude’s got a talking tiger for a pal. Put him in a setting where that WORKS.
30 Aug 2006 at 10:48 am
QuoteTrials of Shazam #1:
1) Being of Norwegian descent, I take umbrage at the juxtaposition of Nazi castles into my beloved homeland.
2) My entire life, I’ve struggled with the “Wisdom of Solomon” (which was actually pointed out nicely in JLA #1). The ‘in the head’ narrative kind of flows back and forth between 14 year old and 30 year old - which leads me to…
3) Captain Marvel is permanently screwed because Miracleman answered the question of how to deal with the inherent weirdness of the character - making them really two people. I couldn’t see how anyone with the Wisdom of Solomon would ever think it’s a good idea to go back to the shitty life of a 14 year old street walking orphan.
With all that being said, I love the entire Captain Marvel universe. Just the simple fact that Elvis bit his look from Freddy is enough to put them in the comics pantheon. But…..Capt Marvel would have been much better suited to an All-Star relaunch to focus on the more Silver Age-y things that make the character so good and not try to jam him into continuity. Turning him into a character from FFX2 doesn’t work
The sad thing is that they tried SO HARD to get me to buy this. They hit every one of my personal key demographics:
Captain Marvel? CHECK
Zatanna? CHECK!!!!!!
Guy at the end looking like Elric? CHECK
Jason Blood’s white streak in the hair (WTF?)?? CHECK
I’m not looking forward to him redoing the trials of Hercules for 12 issues, especially if they just introduced Hercules into the WW relaunch.
30 Aug 2006 at 12:09 pm
QuoteHaven’t read HULK MYTHOS yet, but I suppose they made Rick Jones a gamma base intern for the sake of …realism… They’re probably saying, “How could a smart ass kid cruise onto a test range in his jalopy.” Different times. How could a farmer discover what was either the remains of an alien craft and crew or a crashed pilot testing the upper limits of parachute jumps? Without the Cold War setting, a lot of my favorite Marvel character’s story falls apart.
30 Aug 2006 at 5:36 pm
QuoteI agree with Dave about “directions”, for Captain Marvel or most characters. Directions are limiting. I think these guys pitch a comic now and they’re a locked into the pitch. All this Robert McKee stuff. Best review I read of SNAKES ON A PLANE said that the snakes must have read STORY by Robert McKee. Whenever I see a comic sticking too closely to a “new direction” that some writer or editior has talked about in WIZARD or on a website, I usually wave bye bye to life and spontaneity. Does your life have a direction? Mine doesn’t. If you look closely at people who say their lives have a direction, it usually seems to match whatever’s happening at the moment, but…they meant to do that. So why should comics have directions, especially if they are supposed to be realistic portrayals of dot eyed orphans who gain godlike powers?
30 Aug 2006 at 5:41 pm
QuoteI think that Trials of Shazam should have been a quirky legal comedy-drama ala Ally McBeal or Boston Legal. Can Shazam get Uncle Dudley out of the charges of public intoxication? Will Mary Marvel avoid indecency charges for flying around in a skirt? And Tawkey Tawney for the prosecution!
31 Aug 2006 at 8:07 pm
QuoteYou know, Randy, as crazy an idea as that is, I think it’s something that could be a hell of a lot of fun. And now I must read something with Tawkey Tawney in it, both you and Dave have peaked my interest for this talking tiger!
01 Sep 2006 at 1:48 am
QuoteNick, I’ll try to remember to bring in some of the old Captain Marvel reprints I’ve got so you can catch Tawny in action. If memory serves, his whole deal was that he was just a tiger who one day decided he wanted to be “civilized”, and so started walking and talking like humans. I mean, I don’t think he was supposed to be a mutant or the subject of some experiment - just a regular tiger who thought it’d be cool to start wearing stylin’ suits and speaking English…so he did!
Definitely speaks to the lighter spirit of Captain Marvel’s Golden Age. They tried to update Tawny’s origin in the sometimes-decent-but-still-overly-serious Power of Shazam comics of the 90s. Gave him a Calvin & Hobbes makeover where he was a stuffed tiger who came to life. According to Wikipedia’s summation:
“The modern-day Tawky Tawny was a stuffed tiger doll who was animated by Lord Satanus to assist the Marvel Family in their battle against Satanus’s sister Blaze. He only appeared as an animate being to Billy, Mary, and later Dudley at first (a la Hobbes in Calvin and Hobbes), but later was made permanently real by the power of Ibis the Invincible.”
So, yeah. Stuffed tiger doll animated by Lord Satanus. Gimme the goofy simplicity of his original origin any day. Here’s a clip:
http://tinyurl.com/zvadj
That is one dapper tiger.
02 Sep 2006 at 2:58 am
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