Wednesday Number Ones 2/21/07
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 Brave And The Bold #1, Gearhead #1, Ex Machina Inside The Machine One Shot, Legion Of Monsters Werewolf By Night One Shot, Spider-man Family #1, and Witchblade Takeru Manga #1.
Nick Budd Read and Thought:
Spider-Man Family #1
Writers: Sean McKeever & Fred Van Lente
Artists: Terrell Bobbett & Federica Manfredi
Company: Marvel Comics
Anxious for the release of the new Spider-Man 3 movie? Well, this issue of Spider-Man Family, a mish-mash of all things Spider-Man, should sate your appetite for at very least a few hours. It’s possible that the overall enjoyment won’t be as prolonged as it could have been, as some of the stories presented here are forgettable. Fear not though, this mixed bag of new and reprinted stories isn’t all bad. In fact, the gem of the bunch, a tale that pits Black Cat against Hellcat, is probably worth the heavy price of the book all on its own. Beyond that, McKeever’s tale is standard Black Costume action, the reprints feature the classic villains Sandman and Green Goblin and the Japanese interpretation of the book, Spider-Man J happens to be downright odd. In the end though, what should have been a really cool idea (new stories for Spider-Man written by a truck load of people) has been boiled down to what is essentially cross promotion for the impending movie. Fun at times but entirely skipable if you’re not a die-hard Spider-Man fan.
Dave Farabee Read and Thought:
Gearhead #1
Writer: Dennis Hopeless
Artist: Kevin Mellon
Company: Arcana Studio
Weird book. Starts out showcasing a tough, street racer chick in a part grungy, part sanitized future recovering from a World War III scenario. Racer girl’s a badass, knows it, and can’t utter a single profanity-laden line without reminding us of it. Maybe we’re supposed to just like her ’cause she wears a tight tank top with lots of cleavage, but there sure doesn’t seem to be any other reason. Where the book really made me go “hunh?” was when it revealed that the big war was caused by a superhero clash. And if the sudden jolt of superhero backstory into a grim future wasn’t weird enough, it turns out our lead’s father was a superhero - and now his legacy is bringing her a world of trouble. Bizarre, and not in a good way. The slightly above average art and coloring aren’t enough to make it worth picking up.
Dan Grendell Read and Thought:
Legion of Monsters: Werewolf by Night
Writers: Mike Carey and Skottie Young
Artists: Greg Land, Jay Leisten, and Skottie Young
Company: Marvel Comics
This is actually two separate stories, a Werewolf by Night short by Carey, Land and Leisten and a Monster of Frankenstein tale by Skottie Young. Both are ostensibly about denying what you are, though the Carey story focuses on the negative aspects of that and the freedom that comes with truly accepting yourself while Young looks more philosophically at the supression of our darker side, and what can go wrong when those more evil aspects of our psyche are called forth. Young’s art is excellently moody and fitting to the story he tells, with a grittiness that adds its own layer of depth and color choices that deepen the emotional content. Land’s more photorealistic style lends itself fairly well to the more human parts of Carey’s story, but tends to falter at the werewolf bits. Even so, the effect is striking, and this is a good example of Marvel horror done well.
Randy Lander Read and Thought:
Ex Machina: Inside the Machine
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Tony Harris
Company: Wildstorm
An unusual book, Inside the Machine is essentially a standalone comic made up of the “extras” section of a trade paperback. Cover designs with notes from Tony Harris, script-to-pencils-to-inks-to-finished layouts of pages, some photo reference demonstrations and gushing thank yous from Harris and Brian Vaughan make up a decent but ultimately somewhat unsatisfying read. This would make a great bonus for a trade, but I’m not sure it’s worth three dollars on its own, and I’m honestly a little puzzled as to why it was published in this format.
Witchblade Takeru Manga #1
Writer: Yasuko Kobayashi
Artist: Kazasa Sumita
Company: Image Comics/Top Cow
Just when you thought Witchblade couldn’t get any more creepy and demeaning to women, along comes Witchblade Manga to show you you’re wrong. The missing ingredients? Panty shots, implied tentacle rape, an even bigger focus on tits and ass, and oh yeah, if you could go ahead and make the girl a buxom teenage cliche, that’d be great. Combining the worst stereotypes that the unfamiliar wrongly associate with all manga along with the justified reputation that the Witchblade property has gotten for T&A, Witchblade Takeru Manga knows its audience and goes for it unapologetically. And in so doing, it creeps me the hell out.
D3(David Martindale) Read and Thought:
The Brave and the Bold #1
Storytellers: Mark Waid & George Perez
Company: DC Comics
A very solid opener for DC’s new team up book. The book hits the ground running with a compelling murder mystery and some great action. Not just action, but well thought out action. Perez and Waid come up with creative and interesting ways for heroes to defeat the villains rather than merely throwing a few dozen batarangs and green energy blasts. Perez provides art that gets the job done in an exemplary fashion without going over the top and distracting from the rest of the issue. The book feels like a joint effort that is much more than the mere sum of its parts. Definitely recommended; pick it up.
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Good week for comics. Local #8 was a nice, surprisingly upbeat story, DMZ #16 continues the suicide bomber/Trustwell tale with a nice bit of paranoia, The Spirit #3 is the origin issue and was fantastic, Invincible’s on an upswing, 52 #42 had some really good Ralph Dibny stuff and Darick Robertson art, Marvel Adventures Avengers had a neat premise and one of my favorite Avengers guest-starring, Brave and the Bold was pretty good, Wasteland had cool Carla Speed McNeil art… really good week.
21 Feb 2007 at 12:51 pm
QuoteThe Spirit origin issue? That’s exciting for people like me with no historical perspective. I don’t know nothing… Yeah.. I suppose I shouldn’t post until I actually get and read my books. Ah well.
21 Feb 2007 at 1:11 pm
QuoteGood to have a quality week. Last week was kind of lame in terms of new releases, I thought. Is the SPIRIT origin story consistent with the Eisner stuff? Or is it “new” for a new era of fans? Thanks again to Pantsers for BONE recommendation. As predicted, it is my daughter’s favorite thing in the world, so far (true, for a 7 year old that changes day to day, but…). Great, funny read with very nice art and the colored stuff looks great (can’t see going back to b/w on them, even though they looked nice as well). Good off-week purchases, easily.
21 Feb 2007 at 1:25 pm
QuoteIt’s pretty much consistent. There are some minor tweaks, but nothing that changes anything of Eisner’s really, just extrapolations and little additions for story flow.
22 Feb 2007 at 4:34 pm
QuoteI’m surprised you guys (D3 & Randy) had such a positive reaction to The Brave and the Bold #1. If ever there was a target audience for this book, it’s me. I love the team-up titles of yesteryear, and I’m a major Perez fan. My reaction to this first issue was only lukewarm, though I’m still looking forward to future issues.
22 Feb 2007 at 6:31 pm
QuoteHell, even I liked Brave and the Bold, and you guys all know how I feel about Waid in recent years.
22 Feb 2007 at 11:28 pm
QuoteIt was nice just seeing George Perex draw a straight-up superhero comic, wasn’t it? If I’m not mistaken, it’s been a while. He might’ve done some bits and pieces for Infinite Crisis, but the last time he did several issues in a row on a superhero book was…JLA/Avengers?
Anyway, count me as another fan of Brave and the Bold. What I dug is that it was such a solid book. Not great, just incredibly solid and well-crafted, which to me feels a lot more appealing than a story trying to make its mark or “change everything forever.” Very fun opening mystery, too, and I loved Hal’s reckless gambling (with pursuant winning streak).
Only gripe: I had a hard time figuring out what was happening when GL tagged the energy monster with the big Batcave penny. The penny didn’t read as such immediately, I couldn’t tell how exactly it was hitting the monster, and worst of all, the colorist drew the green energy around it so faintly that I didn’t even recognize that GL was the source of it initially. Too bad, ’cause it was really the big moment of the battle.
Neverthless, a fun issue. I’d love for this title to focus on stories like this first one - plot-driven, with minimal ties to DC events or other titles.
23 Feb 2007 at 11:08 am
QuoteSurprisingly, I wasn’t into Local this week. I think it was reminding me faintly of that annoying Gen-Xer flick, Reality Bites, with Megan as Winona Ryder and the face-off between Slacker Dude and Successful Guy. Don’t get me wrong: Local was better, but it still felt trite to me. And too hurried with the resolution, maybe. It didn’t help that the two guys looked a bit alike.
Maybe I just like Megan better when she’s miserable?
Ah well. Not every hit’s a homerun, and Local’s still got a great batting average.
23 Feb 2007 at 11:15 am
QuoteAnd as for the best of the week:
The Spirit #3 - I have a passing familiarity with the Spirit, but I didn’t remember the details of his origin and was very pleased with Cooke’s take. This is probably my favorite DC monthly, and I just hope no one gets turned off by Cooke’s change-over to his more overtly 50s graphic style on the extended flashback sequences. I think what I like best about the Spirit himself is his recklessness. Reminds me a bit of the Rocketeer, of whom I recall creator Dave Stevens saying “he’s his own foil.”
X-Men: First Class #6 - Just a good, fun book, capturing that more adventuresome feel of the X-Men from the 60s and simply updating the idiom. Wish the art were more my speed, but I’m still looking forward to the collection. I just hope it includes the credit page of each issue that has notes jotted down by a different X-Man each time. There’s a lot of fun ideas and character bits in those text blurbs. Much more entertaining than the usual recap page.
Wasteland #7 - I sort of fell off this book a few issues back. After this week’s standalone issue, though, I’m looking forward to giving it another go when it’s collected. McNeil’s a great guest-artist and the story was a nice done-in-one about love in harsh times and post-apocalyptic pacifism. This was my happy surprise of the week.
23 Feb 2007 at 11:50 am
QuoteI kinda regret buying the big one volume edition, because I’ve seen the color stuff, and it’s pretty gorgeous. Ah well…at least it’s not too unwieldy.
Excellent week for comics…Local was pretty different than its previous issues, Cable/Deadpool (which I just started picking it up) was a lot of fun, Marvel Adventures was great (except for Iron Man acting like a total idiot), Spider-man Family was a mixed bag but still a pretty good value, Ultimate Fantastic Four was interesting (which I haven’t tried out in a while) and had some sweet Kolins art, and Spirit #3 was probably my favorite issue so far. I even enjoyed CW#7 more than I thought I would. And these are just the comics I skipped over in my regular monthly pre-order…still haven’t gotten to DMZ, She-Hulk, Punisher: War Journal, or Iron Fist. Great week, overall.
24 Feb 2007 at 12:34 pm
QuoteHonestly, I think you might *not* be the best target audience for Brave and the Bold #1. You’ve already read any number of team-up titles of yesteryear, so any newness that a Green Lantern/Batman title might have is probably lost since you’ve read that kind of thing dozens of times before.
Me, I’ve never read any issues of the original Brave & The Bold, or indeed a lot of the earlier DC stuff. So this was kind of a fresh pairing for me, and I thought Perez’s art was really nice. The old school vibe was also a breath of fresh air, given how tired I am of the culture that dominates much of Marvel and DC’s shared universes of late.
25 Feb 2007 at 1:50 pm
QuoteIM as old school as you can get and Brave and bold Rocked me in a good way
26 Feb 2007 at 2:21 pm
QuoteWell just catching up with my reading from last week, and here it’s almost Wednesday again, add me to the list of those who were taken in be the old school charm of Brave and the Bold, what a fun nostalgic read, here’s to hoping it stays this good, at least for a while. Issue 3 of the Spirit is the first to really sell me on the series, it was always on the plus column for me but I just didn’t share the enthusiasm some here had for it, but this issue has sealed the deal for me, lot of fun.
27 Feb 2007 at 8:54 am
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