Wednesday Number Ones 3/28/07
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 Guy Ritchie’s Game Keeper #1, Texas Strangers #1, Unique #1 of 3, Virulents One-Shot, and Wonder Woman #6.
Wednesday Number Ones will be posted midday in the future due to a comics shipping change. This is a change outside of our control, but we will continue to strive for the timeliest response to the week’s jumping-on points possible without sacrificing quality.
Nick Budd Read and Thought:
Guy Ritchie’s Game Keeper #1
Writer: Andy Diggle
Artist: Mukesh Singh
Company: Virgin Comics
With books such as these, ones that headline a famous director as its creator, it’s hard not to think of them without putting them into movie terms. With Game Keeper, this first issue feels exactly like the first fifteen minutes of an action flick. There’s a brief introduction to the main character, in this book Brock (a sort of man of the wilderness and land meets dark, brooding badass Ala Leon from The Professional), a few minor characters, a small mystery hook and then proceeds directly onto the bloody action. Not bad by any means and as setups go, Andy Diggle’s simplicity to it all is a rather refreshing take. My only complaint is that I was expecting a bit more of Guy Ritchie to shine through, especially with a few oddball characters here and there but it’s early in the game and maybe that’ll come later. As for the art side of things Mukesh Singh’s work is jaw-dropping in every respect. It’s a brilliant mixture of Tony Harris meets Niko Henrichon, all harsh lines and brilliant colors that specifically serve the story, making it one that’s much more interesting. All in all, a book that’s worth checking out
Dave Farabee Read and Thought:
Virulents (one shot)
Writer: Shamik Dasgupta
Artist: Dean Ruben Hyrapiet
Publisher: Virgin Comics
The somewhat novel premise of the graphic novella Virulents has a squad of American and Indian soldiers encountering vampire-esque monsters on the Pakistani-Afghani border shortly after 9/11. In practice, though it’s just one more “soldiers versus monsters” outing. Seen Aliens or Dog Soldiers? Then you’ve seen it done better. Virulents flirts with some racially charged moments, dabbles with Indian mythology, but never truly takes the reader any place new or memorable. Passable but highly skippable.
Dan Grendell Read and Thought:
Texas Strangers #1
Writers: Antony Johnston and Dan Evans III
Artist: Mario Boon
Publisher: Image Comics
It’s always nice to see a new all-ages title hit the market, especially when its a fun one like this. Texas Strangers mixes the Wild West with fantasy, taking place in a Free Texas surrounded by a U.S. that never went further west than about Kansas, a French Louisiana and Florida, an Aztec and Orc Mexico, and native Elves. With magic a reality and weird things around every corner, the Texas Rangers (better known as the Texas Strangers) keep order. On a quest to return a magic knife, brother and sister Wyatt and Madara travel to Texas, only to run afoul first of troublemakers and then of the Strangers themselves. Fun and action-packed, the story here is interesting but the real standouts are the setting and Boon’s artwork. His cartoony style is kinetic and animated, and just plain fun to look at. A promising new arrival.
Randy Lander Read and Thought:
Unique #1 of 3
Writer: Dean Motter
Artist: Dennis Calero
Publisher: Platinum Studios
As a premise, Unique really doesn’t live up to its name. We’ve seen conspiracy, alternate worlds and such before. But the way Motter and Calero put it together, this particular take on a paranoid conspiracy thriller with sci-fi overtones is pretty interesting reading. The story unfolds slowly enough to draw the reader in, but quickly enough that I wasn’t bored before they gave us some of the answers, and Calero’s artwork, while not perfect, is at times quite impressive, with nice likenesses and use of shadow. Unfortunately, at times it gets so murky in dark color and shadow that it’s hard to tell what’s going on, and so the transitions could use work, but in terms of creating mood and character, it’s where it needs to be. Not a great comic by any means, but a good one that will probably make a pretty decent flick if Unique goes the usual Platinum Studios route of movie development.
D3 (David Martindale) Read and Thought:
Wonder Woman #6
Writer: Jodi Picoult
Artist: Drew Johnson
Publisher: DC Comics
Now that Allen Heinberg Terry Dodson have both left the title, Wonder Woman gets a fresh creative team and story arc. The question is, how well can this team follow what should have been the beginning of a new era, but what was merely an abortive debacle. The answer is, not well. Despite a very decent one shot last time around, the title continues to roll downhill. The dialogue is cheesy and wooden, and there are even moments that defy all logic. One specific disaster involving a roller coaster seems to have no cause whatsoever. No villain appears to cause a break in the rails; there is no explanation of poor maintenance; not even a random meteor from the sky. A roller coaster rail just spontaneously falls from the sky. Not only that but suddenly Wonder Woman, former ambassador of Themyscira, doesn’t understand the concept of credit cards, turnstyles, or gas pumps. A new concept for the character is well and good, but it is very hard indeed to accept such a change from the politically savy character we saw just a couple of arcs ago when Ruck a was penning. This sort of change absolutely requires an explanation, if even a weak one. The pencils are adequate but inconsistent, but the colorist seems to be quite good. I fear this may be the beginning of just one more failed revamp attempt.
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That’s really too bad about Wonder Woman. The one-shot was pretty good last month, and I was hoping Picoult would have a great take on the character and that the book would finally near Rucka quality again. Of course, as soon as I heard she’d never heard of the character before they offered her the book, those hopes were a little dashed, so I’m not too surprised….
28 Mar 2007 at 9:01 am
QuoteWonder Woman has been a HUGE disappointment. I never really followed WW but picked it up when Rucka took over. I was anxious for the re-launch b/c I enjoyed Heinberg’s Young Avengers. Sadly, the inconsistent shipping and lame story turned me off (ok, how smart can the Department of Metahuman Affairs be when they can’t recognize that the former WW is working for them? Just too unbelievable, even for a comic book). I have dropped the book as of #5 and don’t even care how the end of Heiberg’s story wraps up, if it ever will. It’s a shame to read that the new team is not off to a great start either because I really wanted to support the character. This relaunch has been almost a big of a boondogle as ASBM&R.
28 Mar 2007 at 9:50 am
QuoteWow thanks for the good words! i hope your readers like the book. We are trying to give everyone “Smething new and fun” that they are always clamoring for. Plus our Civil War makes more sense. B^)
28 Mar 2007 at 10:28 am
QuoteWonder Woman sucks? Crap. I have Piccoult’s first 5 issues pre-ordered. In my head it was my way of telling DC to get it together cause people want to read WW. I didn’t really think about it actually sucking.
Has Virgin announced their collection plans yet? I haven’t really disliked any of their books, I just think they’re fit for trade and only bought 2-3 issues of each.
Remember when that dude hammered the werewolf’s hand in the mail slot in Dog Soldiers? That was funny.
28 Mar 2007 at 11:08 am
QuoteFor those disappointed in Wonder Woman’s inability to hit a good creative stride, watch for our new podcast coming later this week. We cover DC’s trinity - Supes, Batman, and Wonder Woman - and how to make them cool/relevant/top-selling again.
And I actually don’t remember that scene from Dog Soldiers, but I only saw it once. Need to catch it again, maybe next time we’re veering close to Halloween.
28 Mar 2007 at 11:15 am
QuoteI dunno, I found Wonder Woman to be fairly decent- it was actually told from WW’s POV instead of, you know, some author’s male Mary Sue reacting to WW. Of course, the idea that WW, having been off the grid for a year plus in Man’s World, living a “normal” life, cannot understand stuff like gas pumps or turnstiles is ludicrous, but if no one was going to tell Widdle Brad to make sense, they certainly aren’t going to tell Picoult.
28 Mar 2007 at 2:06 pm
QuoteActually, they’ve done a pretty good job, in a way - they got some top talent working on the core Batman and Superman books. Wonder Woman had a top creative team, as well. Of course, each book has had its issues with lateness/fill-ins, but at least they brought in some of the big guns, popularity-wise.
28 Mar 2007 at 2:56 pm
QuoteThat’s true but for the most part all the creative teams that have been assigned to the “Trinity” have been misfiring. Only All Star Superman has reached any level of excellence. Looking forward to that podcast!
28 Mar 2007 at 3:20 pm
QuoteThe comic book reviewed here today that’s piqued my interest is “Texas Strangers.” I’ll give that a try.
I’ve already given up on “Wonder Woman.” She’s a character I want to like, and I give the book a chance every time there’s a new creative team or direction, but I’ve been burned too many times to count.
And I don’t care about “big guns” who can’t get their damned work done on time, which is why I no longer read “
AstonishingX-Men,” to name one.28 Mar 2007 at 4:44 pm
QuoteDexter, did you read Planetary?
28 Mar 2007 at 6:01 pm
QuoteClark Kent: *ahem*
*readjusts his glasses*
“Widdle Brad” as in Brad Meltzer? Anyway, I know Jodi Picoult’s a newcomer to comics (and I don’t mean that in a condescending way) so maybe the editors didn’t want to be too picky. But like you guys have said, Wonder Woman’s spent enough time in Man’s World to know what credit cards, gas pumps, etc. are. Also, she’s had a secret identity before, right? Or was that just pre-Crisis?
28 Mar 2007 at 8:01 pm
QuoteI’m not saying that drastic changes can’t be made to Wonder Woman. If making her a bit lost in Man’s World makes her more interesting, then great; please write her that way. My beef is that she has been shown to be definitively savvy for quite some time now, and to make such a drastic change requires some sort of explanation. I’m not even saying the explanation has to be good… seriously, commit two panels to blaming it on Superboy and move on… well maybe a better explanation than that.
28 Mar 2007 at 11:45 pm
QuoteTomas Says:
March 28th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Sadly, the inconsistent shipping and lame story turned me off (ok, how smart can the Department of Metahuman Affairs be when they can’t recognize that the former WW is working for them? Just too unbelievable, even for a comic book).
Clark Kent: *ahem*
*readjusts his glasses*
- I think the Clark Kent/Superman disguise is lame too. I don’t read Superman. Same as Green Arrow or any other character with weak disguises, unlike Spider-Man. Oh, wait…
29 Mar 2007 at 8:41 am
QuoteI didn’t have so much of an issue with the running credit card, gas pump, turnstile bit as others did; as a Justice Leaguer, God on Earth, high-ranking world official, she probably hasn’t dealt with many of these things (remember Bush the elder marveling at UPC scanners? I’m sure Dubya hasn’t pumped his own gas since the ’70s, if ever). But everything else was either dull, ham-handed or both. The roller coaster bit discussed above is a pointless excuse to put Diana in costume in the opening pages. And…Circe? Again? That’s your reveal? Really?
The fixation with “name” writers is getting ridiculous. Be happy when you find a Christos Gage and leave the Bilsons to Hollywood.
I like Johnson’s art, though. I liked his stuff from Rucka’s run, and really appreciate how he renders WW as a lithe athlete as opposed to a Cheesecake pin-up. It’s pretty clear he’s working from a script by someone who has never written a comics script before, too, and I think he does what he can with it.
29 Mar 2007 at 9:09 am
QuoteI read the first two TPBs and liked them; I’ll read the rest eventually.
I can only take Warren Ellis’s work in small doses.
29 Mar 2007 at 9:14 am
QuoteHa!
29 Mar 2007 at 10:43 am
QuoteWhy is it the Big 2’s biggest properties: Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, always need fixing?
Are the companies really constantly doing things wrong, or just not the way we’d like? (And I admit the books that feaure those characters are generally…well…not to my tastes)
29 Mar 2007 at 12:07 pm
QuoteAfter being disappointed by Seven Brothers & Ramayan Reborn, I gotta say for a 1st issue Game Keeper was great, very enjoyable.
The artwork was truly incredible.
Highly rated, I look forward to the rest.
29 Mar 2007 at 1:31 pm
QuoteWell, I think it’s a combination of things:
1) Because these are the big properties, expectations are they sell big. And the fact is, big sales usually come when there’s something new. New direction, new creative team, new character in the costume, etc.
2) These are also older properties, meaning a lot of stories have been done with them, so it takes a lot more to keep them fresh.
3) These are some of the hardest characters to write and get right. Tilt too far towards exotic and new, and the character doesn’t feel right. Tilt too far toward familiar and consistent, and the character is boring.
So the state of these characters always needs “fixing,” but that’s more of a tribute to their longevity and importance as characters than any inherent flaw in the companies, the characters or the fans who demand more of them.
29 Mar 2007 at 6:06 pm
Quote