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 Escape of the Living Dead: Airborne #1, X-Men: First Class #1 of 8, G.I. Joe: Special Missions Tokyo, Union Jack #1 of 4, Wetworks#1, Blade #1, Night of the Living Dead: Back From the Grave, Se7en: Gluttony, Dwight T. Albatross’s The Goon Noir #1 of 3, and Krypto The Superdog #1
Dave Farabee Read and Thought:
Night of the Living Dead: Back From the Grave (Avatar Press): This isn’t so much a full issue as an eight page vignette and a series of pin-ups meant as lead-in to the upcoming Night of the Living Dead: The Beginning miniseries. The mini’s to be a prequel to the classic George Romero flick that launched the modern zombie genre, but I doubt you’ll miss much if you don’t read this lead in. Where Romero’s zombie concepts have always been slyly intelligent, this feels more like a slasher flick as a trio of campers are dispatched by, presumably, the first wave of zombies to rise on that fateful night. Decent dialogue, I’ll grant, and the pin-ups are suitably gory if you’re one of those Fangoria types, but at $2.99, this one’s for hardcore zombie-lovers only.
Se7en: Gluttony (Zenoscope Entertainment): David Fincher’s Se7en is about as self-contained a movie as you can get, but writer Raven Gregory does a surprisingly solid job of cooking up a prequel comic. Each issue’s to focus on one of the movie’s sin-based killings - in this case, gluttony - and as someone who wasn’t keen on how the movie depersonalized the victims in favor of fetishizing their grisly deaths, I was actually interested in the sympathetic backstory provided for the gluttony victim. The scattered scenes that try to get into the killer’s head are less successful (and somewhat self-defeating given his John Doe moniker), but fans of the movie may find something to enjoy here.
Krypto The Superdog #1 (DC Comics): I’ve never watched the Krypto cartoon, but the comic based on it is about what I’d expect: decent fun for the younger set. Think Scooby Doo and other Hanna-Barbera productions - that is, talking animal cartoons genuinely for the kids, with not a whole lot of wit likely to appeal to adults. Which is fine. Encouraged, even. The cartooning is good, the stories upbeat and fairly charming, and I like the addition of Streaky the Supercat and Ace the Bathound as supporting players.
David Martindale Read and Thought:
Escape of the Living Dead: Airborne #1 (Avatar Press): This book has 1 afro, 1 lesbian kiss, 2 full frontal bush shots, and 9 boobs. If you are looking for anything more from this book, you will be disappointed.
G.I. Joe: Special Missions Tokyo (Devil’s Due): The book has a marginally nonsensical plot. All the dialogue is completely wooden and lacks any believability at all. Not only that, but it is very wordy for a supposedly action oriented book with, and I quote the cover, “non-stop action!”
Blade #1 (Marvel Comics): How can we sell a Blade comic? Let’s do a painted looking cover of Wesley Snipes fighting Vampire-Spiderman! How do we get people to stop reading it right away? Let’s make Vampire-Spiderman go away with with no real explanation right in the beginning of the book just like we introduced him, and we can tell a boring origin story in segments throughout the book with no real ties to the main story of the book! Oh, the art needs to be bad too!
Nick Budd Read and Thought:
X-Men: First Class #1 of 8 (Marvel Comics): If the regular X-Men books happened to be members of the Budweiser label, then X-Men First Class would have to be a cool bottle of Bud Light. And that’s not a bad thing, trust me. Taking the X-Men back to their beginnings, Jeff Parker (Marvel Adventures the Avengers) knocks another one out of the park, creating a campy but fun, single issue story that had me grinning from ear to ear. The best thing about it? The fact that the entire issue is told through Iceman as he writes a letter to his folks back home. The bad? The art, which was a bit on the hectic side and was occasionally hard to follow. Still, X-Men fans should get a kick out of it.
Dwight T. Albatross’s The Goon Noir #1 of 3 (Dark Horse Comics): Despite the long title and the hefty list of writers and artists, any die-hard Goon fan needs to pick this book up. A mish-mash of zany one shots that range from the demented (little kids killing zombies with kittens) to the absolutely hilarious (Goon as Yogi Bear!). Plus, in pure Noir style, it’s completely done in black and white and looks gorgeous. With no fault that I can see, Goon Noir is a black comedy riot that anyone with a need to see some senseless zombie killing should take a gander at.
Randy Lander Read and Thought:
Wetworks #1 (Wildstorm): Everything I would have expected from a Mike Carey/Whilce Portacio collaboration, which means a somewhat slow-moving and inscrutable first issue. The concept of a black ops team fighting the supernatural is so good, it’s kind of a shame that this reads like a watered-down mixture of Blade and Stargate SG-1. Carey tries to do too much and introduce too many characters, and Portacio’s unclear artwork doesn’t do the script any favors. Not an auspicious start to Worldstorm.
Union Jack #1 of 4 (Marvel): A must-read for fans of Ed Brubaker’s Captain America, with a clever updating of foreign heroes Sabra and Arabian Knight, some terrific action and drop-dead gorgeous artwork by Mike Perkins. Throw in a nice use of Batroc the Leaper and his allies Machete and Zaran, and you’ve got a book that should please old-school and new-school Cap fans alike. There’s a full review by Nick Budd HERE.
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To Dave F: I’ve watched a lot of KRYPTO cartoons with my son. They are fun. Fun villains: the Joker’s pet hyenas, Luthor’s pet iquana, Catwoman’s rotweill—cat Isis.
To Dave M. — Those were fun reviews. I dig the tone and they communicated perfectly.
20 Sep 2006 at 10:06 am
QuoteBlade - Man, what a disappointment. I mean, expectations were low, because there hasn’t been a good Blade comic, well… ever, I think. But Chaykin’s work looks sloppy, without any personality, and Guggenheim’s story, obviously meant to be ludicrously over-the-top and fun, is just ludicrous. Is Blade just a concept that works on TV and movies, but not in comics, or is Marvel just completely inept at picking a creative team for a comic?
I was also let down by X-Men: First Class. Heard a rumor that this was originally a Marvel Adventures title that got “promoted,” and if so, that makes a lot of sense. The continuity is off, the “letter to my parents” device has been used before (with Iceman, I think!) and Cruz’s art is passable, but not much more. If it were Marvel Adventures, I don’t think it would have bothered me as much, but as a supposed look back at the characters, it didn’t work for me. After Agents of Atlas and Marvel Adventures Avengers, this was a bit of a letdown from Jeff Parker.
Speaking of Marvel Adventures Avengers, this week’s issue was also a big letdown, as the new writer and artist turn it into the predictable, kinda bland kiddy fare I was expecting from the start. It’s not *awful*, by any means, but I think I might want to retract my Hot Pants pick, or at least restrict it only to Jeff Parker and Manuel Garcia’s work on the book.
Loved Dwight T. Albatross’s The Goon Noir, though. Look for a full review on that one from me on the site soon. I also recommend everyone check out Conan #32 (fantastic installment of “Born on the Battlefield”) and Shadowpact #5 (the team returns to find everybody thinks they’re dead) this week.
20 Sep 2006 at 10:09 am
QuoteThe Goon is an absolutely classic funny book. I can’t think of a story I’ve read yet that has disappointed me.
20 Sep 2006 at 10:15 am
QuoteI’ll agree with Randy that X-Men First Class’ art was not great, maybe just beyond the realm of passable. The story, however, I found enoyable even if the Iceman writing home to his foks riff has been used before (I can’t recall that every happening). It may have worked better as a Marvel Adventures book, I can see that, but the lightness that Jeff Parker brings to the stories he tells is something that I can’t seem to get enough of.
Also, don’t miss this weeks Shadowpact. Insanely cool and the book itself is fast becoming another favorite of mine.
20 Sep 2006 at 12:53 pm
QuoteX-Men First Class was odd for me. It was done with very recently done with ‘Mythos’ and with ‘the Hidden Years’. I enjoyed the art and Iceman’s commentary, but yes, that was done rather recently as well, as you mentioned. I believe it was an X-Men Unlimited from about a year ago. That one too ended with Iceman not sending the letter he just wrote.
What confused me was Iceman’s X-Box reference. Why mention a 5 year old console? Of course comic-time is malleable, but isn’t the X-Box a little too current to be featured in an early-years flashback? I know I’m nitpicking, but it only muddies the waters if this is supposed to be the story of the 1st class.
21 Sep 2006 at 12:37 pm
QuoteOh, and the Night of the Living Dead preview was a waste of money (not to mention mindless gore that seemed completely removed from Romero’s universe). If it’s a preview with a few pin-ups and only a few pages of story, should it really be priced at $2.99?
I’m not exactly a penny-pincher, but was this even noted on the cover??
21 Sep 2006 at 12:39 pm
QuoteHonestly, I was a bit thrown by the X-Box reference as well, Murphy. I still enjoyed it overall but I think I’m going to go the route of “Selective Continuity” here and toss it in with the Marvel Adventures books. When you do that, the story works so much better and the little stuff like the X-Box, the costumes and a few other things aren’t even an issue.
21 Sep 2006 at 1:17 pm
QuoteHey Jason, glad you came by the site!
As for the X-Box… this is one of those things that annoys me about flashback miniseries. Joe Casey’s Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes had the same problem, updating all of the references to the ’80s. It’s the sliding timeline thing… they can’t just do period pieces, because these characters can’t be 50 years older, so everything becomes “10 years ago” or whatever, and the references are dated… but not too dated. It weirds me out and usually kicks me out of the story, but I’m not sure what the answer is, other than to make as few real-world references as possible… which hurts the credibility of the characters’ world.
On Night of the Living Dead… so in addition to the Brian Pulido rule you instituted for us, should we apply that to Avatar books in general?
21 Sep 2006 at 1:23 pm
QuoteI gotta admit, I was hoping more folks were gonna chime in this week. I’d really like to know what others thought of Blade, Wetworks and Union Jack, especially.
21 Sep 2006 at 1:24 pm
QuoteHA! Indeed, please feel free to punch me in the face next time I try to slide an Avatar comic across the counter. Pepper spray is equally effective. My baser, horror-fan instincts don’t serve me very well at all. I’ve grabbed more terrible horror comics in the last year than I care to mention.
As for the others you mentioned, Randy, I’m soured to Blade. I’ve never liked the movies and rarely find a comic appearance that makes him anything more than a charicature. Throw in a shameless and nonsensical Spidey appearance and I won’t be going near this one.
I’ll chime in on Union Jack tomorrow as I haven’t had the chance to read my copy yet. . .
21 Sep 2006 at 1:38 pm
QuoteI didn’t buy Blade or Wetworks, but I did pick up Union Jack and I enjoyed it, not blown away enjoyed, but it was a good read, well told over all and if it stays this good I’m on board for the run.
I’m a big Batroc fan, so much so that I use him as my avatar on a couple of other boards, and was very happy with his portrayal here. Sabra is one of those little used characters that I’ve always wanted to see more of so it was good too see her here. It was also good to see Val (I’m also a big Nick Fury fan) though she was drawn a lot younger looking than I’m used to, looked more like a girl than a women.
This brings me to the art, which sadly I wasn’t crazy about. Mostly just a preference thing I guess, just not my style, but I also found something stiff about the action scenes and the faces seemed inconsistently drawn at times.
21 Sep 2006 at 2:30 pm
QuoteThe only new book I picked up this week was First Class. I only did because I already had it ordered. I doubt I’ll pick up the next issue. This first issue was good but the artwork did hold me back from fully embracing this so I doubt I’ll pick up issue two.
I mulled over picking up Union Jack but I just kept telling myself no. I already had enough as it is. I got Pride of Baghdad this week so that hurt my wallet a little bit.
I took a peek at Blade and wasn’t compelled to pick it up. I didn’t see a copy of Wetworks available.
I was happy to have a double filling of Conan this week with issue 3 of Songs and issue 32 of the regular title.
21 Sep 2006 at 3:47 pm
QuoteMy issue with the new Blade book (not the biggest one, but my personal issue): it punks out Dracula like a bitch.
Now I know, I know, it’s become de rigueur to reinterpret the old count as something of a relic (Buffy did it pretty well, though I still think it would’ve been cooler to play Drac as a real threat). But here’s the thing - Tomb of Dracula, as written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by Gene Colan, is one of the all-time great horror comics from Marvel or anyone. Ran six or seven years, kept the same creative team throughout, and actually kept Drac himself as the lead character in spite of his innate nastiness. And he was a badass, modelled a bit like Dr. Doom for his nobility, but a much crueler piece of work, not to mention lustier.
For fans of horror comics, it’s a legendary run, not to mention being the series that introduced Blade (albeit as merely a very cool supporting player for the good guy ensemble). And Blade was always out to kill Drac, but Drac as portrayed by Marv Wolfman kicked the crap out of Blade almost every time (not just Blade, but anyone who went up against him physically).
So to see Dracula offed in the first issue of Blade…by a boot-dagger fer Chrissake…and then go on to be mocked by the SHIELD guys for not changing with the times…ugh, it’s beyond the pale. I got no problem with Blade being retconned a bit to be more like Snipes, to be even more of a badass, but you don’t sink one of Marvel’s best villains in the process! This was the guy who nearly vamped up Storm in that kick-ass X-Men annual that Sienkiewicz drew! That pitched Colossus through a tree!!
Give the Lord of the Vampires his due.
25 Sep 2006 at 1:23 am
QuoteYou know, it’s funny, I didn’t even remember that Blade staked ‘ol Drac, and I share your objections to the character being punked out. So it’s not that the idea wouldn’t have made some impact on me.
It’s that, at that point, I was just reading through as fast as I could to see if, at some point, the book would reward me with some cool bit of storytelling or some indication that it was in any way worth the time it took to read.
SPOILER ALERT
It wasn’t.
25 Sep 2006 at 1:52 pm
QuoteI thought I’d give Wetworks a try as I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything else I’ve read by Mike Carey but it was too similar to when the book first appeared, no relatable characters and the feeling that the story will take 6 months to get anywhere.
Cheers for the heads up on where to get hold of the Hood and Scene of the Crime too Randy
27 Sep 2006 at 9:17 am
Quote