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 City of Others #1, Numb, The Secret History: Book One (of Seven) - Genesis, and Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus.

Nick Budd Read and Thought:

Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus
Writers: Christos Gage & Stuart Moore
Artists: Giuseppe Camuncoli & Mike McKone
Publisher: Marvel Comics

As the title of the book suggests, this one shot takes a gander at two of the Heralds of Galactus, Terrax the Tamer and Stardust as they deal with the fallout of Annihilation. Yes, on one hand it’s easy to say that this book feels likes it’s coming a little late to the game, as the main line of this series is over. That said, with the announcement of a sequel (Annihilation Conquest) already in the pipeline and the fact that both stories that appear in this book rise to the same level of quality that the rest of the series has, it’s safe to say that if you’ve been a fan of this story or just happen to be a fan of the cosmic characters at all, this one shouldn’t be missed. By the numbers though, above all these stories should be action heavy, and in that regard, Christos Gage and Giuseppe Camuncoli don’t disappoint. They breathe new life into these characters, not only by giving them cool action sequences that are beautifully drawn (especially by McKone) but by adding depth and underlying character moments that really make the book much more satisfying and interesting. Simply a great read.

Dave Farabee Read and Thought:

Blood Nation #1 of 4
Writer: Rob Moran
Artist: James Devlin
Publisher: Platinum Studios

If you’re someone who gets pumped over movie trailers that begin, “In a WORLD”…Blood Nation just might be the book for you. Described in the trailer-ese the plot demands, Blood Nation’s teaser might go a little something like this: “In a world where ANCIENT VAMPIRES once again walk the earth…America THOUGHT it could halt their rise with a first-strike nuke. America thought WRONG. Now the vampires have taken over Russia…and they’ve got their OWN nukes. They’re ready to launch them…ready to turn the WHOLE EARTH into their feeding grounds under the shelter of a nuclear winter…unless ONE MAN CAN STOP THEM! Meet Ethan Cutter: currently serving 14 consecutive life sentences…” Okay, you get the idea. Some fun notions here and there, and the art’s mediocre-to-solid, but the story’s served up with all the Hollywood clichés and a bare minimum of wit to counterbalance them. In other words, I can see Vin Diesel in the role of Cutter if this ever makes it to film - with both the pros and cons that that entails.

Dan Grendell Read and Thought:

The Secret History: Book One (of Seven) - Genesis
Writer: Jean-Pierre Pecau
Artist: Igor Kordey
Publisher: Archaia Studios Press

Once again, Archaia comes through with a cool new series, intriguing and inventive and beautiful. This time, its a look at the secret history of the world and how events have been affected by a war between four siblings, each granted one of four powerful runestones by their dying shaman during the Neolithic Age. Incredibly powerful singly, used together the runestones could destroy the Earth, as the four learn when they try. From then on, a pact is maintained to keep them apart, until Dyo, who for reasons of his own fears the Israelites, comes head to head with Erlin, who supports them. Secrets behind the Exodus revealed in this action-packed and thrilling first book, and Igor Kordey’s art has never looked so good. A great start to a promising mini-series

Randy Lander Read and Thought:

Numb
Writer/Artist: Joshua Kemble
Publisher: Alternative Comics

Numb is a Xeric Grant winner, which is usually an indication of a certain level of quality for a self-published book. And indeed, Numb has strengths to offer, most notably in the artwork, which has a lush, inky quality and really nice use of blue tones and experimental storytelling devices. Kemble’s art style is hard to describe, but there are elements of everyone from Charles Burns to Adrian Tomine in his work. The story is weaker, a semi-mopey story of a failed relationship and writer’s block that meanders its way to a sudden, full-stop conclusion that doesn’t really hit with any particular impact. Even there, Numb is mostly guilty of treading on familiar territory, and is a solid debut for a promising new artist.

D3(David Martindale) Read and Thought:

City of Others
Story: Steve Niles & Bernie Wrightson
Artist: Bernie Wrightson
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

A creative team with the pedigree of Steve Niles (writer, 30 Days of Night) and Bernie Wrightson (co-creator, Swamp Thing) really should have been able to do better than City of Others. The writing and art both felt pretty rushed. It isn’t necessarily awful, but it does almost feels like they weren’t even trying. The concept is actually quite intriguing; an amoral, cold-blooded killer is caught in the middle of a zombie versus vampire war. Unfortunately, it plays out like any other predictable, C-grade horror book. Unless you’re just a die hard horror fan, you can safely skip it.