Wednesday Number Ones 3/14/07
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 BPRD: Garden Of Souls #1 of 6, Buffy The Vampire Slayer #1, Civil War The Confession #1, Grifter & Midnighter #1 of 6, and Hack/Slash Vs Chucky #1 of 4.
Nick Budd Read and Thought:
Civil War: The Confession #1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Publisher: Marvel Comics
If I were a robot (and who’s to say I’m not), after reading this book I’d want to tear out my optic servos and bang my robot head against a wall until my life fluid was emptied. I’d do this not because the art was bad, because as it is, this is some of the strongest stuff from Alex Maleev that I’ve seen. Not necessarily my cup of tea, but it was pleasing to the eye, especially the pages colored by Jose Villarrubia. They compliment each other so well and should work on more things more often. No, I wouldn’t tear out my optic servos and basically kill myself because the art was bad, the culprit for that was the wavering and poorly constructed story. This is indeed a confession, two small stories featuring Tony Stark and Steve Rogers and the reasons why there was a Civil War. Many of the reasons and arguments made sense, the most being a Mark Twain passage that is quoted, but even though Bendis is for the most part restrained, the Bendis that I always fear leaks in every once awhile and throws in a comment that takes you out of the flow of the story. If you’ve enjoyed Civil War up to this point, then this will be a book to buy. If you haven’t, avoid it and save your own robot brain.
Dave Farabee Read and Thought:
Hack/Slash vs. Chucky (One-Shot)
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Matt Merhoff
Publisher: Devil’s Due Publishing
Continuing the tradition of post-modern, Scream-style horror-with-a-wink, we have the latest entertaining Hack/Slash one-shot. For the newbies: imagine Faith from Buffy hunting filmdom’s unstoppable killers like Jason, Freddy, and Michael Myers. That’s Cassie Hack’s world, and this time out she’s up against her first “licensed” bad guy, the stabby little doll, Chucky. And even teaming up with him for a sort of twisted take on the Riggs/Murtaugh’s buddy cop formula. As ever, it’s far from high art, but writer Seeley always makes it fun and always cares enough about his leads to elevate his stories above the usual slasher fixation on body counts. Not bad.
Dan Grendell Read and Thought:
BPRD: Garden of Souls #1 of 6
Writers: Mike Mignola and John Arcudi
Artist: Guy Davis
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
I’m always glad to see a new BPRD mini-series, and it looks like this one is going to focus on Abe and Daimio. There’s been some investigation into Abe’s past in previous series, and this issue opens that mystery up even further with a strange package and an odd scene from the past involving a mummy. Meanwhile, Daimio is getting some strange treatment and starts seeing things, and Liz tries to deal with what has gone on in her life. A good foundation for a new story, and as usual Guy Davis does a fantastic job on art, handling both the freaky stuff and the emotional work well, ably assisted by Dave Stewart’s colors. Another interesting tale in the making, I think.
Randy Lander Read and Thought:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: Georges Jeanty & Andy Owens
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Skeptical is too kind a word for my expectations on Buffy #1, despite all the hype. Astonishing X-Men bored me, and I was lukewarm on much of Buffy season six and seven, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1 is a good deal of fun. I’d underestimated how much I missed Whedon writing these characters, especially Xander, who is more fun in these pages than he has been since the pre-Anya days. The vibe is Buffy as paramilitary superhero, which is a weird upscaling of her world, but it does make a certain amount of sense given where things left off with the series finale. And Jeanty’s artwork is solidly done, as fitting to Whedon’s work as Karl Moline’s work on Fray. Bottom line, if you were a Buffy fan, you’re probably going to dig the hell out of this, if even a skeptic like me had this much fun with it.
D3 (David Martindale) Read and Thought:
Grifter & Midnighter #1 of 6
Writer: Chuck Dixon
Artist: Ryan Benjamin
Publisher: Wildstorm
What happens when you take two of what are supposed to be the most ass-kickingest characters of the entire Wildstorm Universe and put them together in a book by Chuck Dixon? My guess would have been an over the top action book. Unfortunately, it’s pretty light on the action and way too heavy on the angst and whining. Seriously, most of the issue focuses on these two characters whining about their lot in life. There is a bit of a mystery set up in the first issue, and Dixon does a decent job of creating intrigue for his audience, but the whining detracts from it all. The art is, at times, scratchy and out of proportion in the Top Cow style that is so popular these days. There are, however, a few things that signal some hope for the art in future issues. Benjamin’s characters are quite expressive, and if the title gets a bit more action-oriented soon, the artist’s abilities will be showcased a bit better. Benjamin’s ability to make the action both exciting and easy to follow is quite strong. All in all, not an impressive or terrible offering. If you have a personal love for the two protagonists, you may want to check it.
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Looking at The Confession preview, and looking at lines like “They want their daddy and that’s that. I guess they’ll have to LEARN to love me”- hey, Bendis, you’re selling 200K a MONTH with New Avengers, why are you that bugged with the fans who don’t like it?
Unless you know you’re fucking up.
14 Mar 2007 at 9:05 am
QuoteHm, that sounds like a recent line in New Avengers #27, where Ronin/Echo/Maya says in her email: “All those idiots think I’m Matt Murdoch, Nick Fury, or Steve Rogers…” I never thought those playfully mean letters in Powers would turn into such a reality.
So, Nick…would you say your robot brain needs beer after reading this issue?
14 Mar 2007 at 9:56 am
QuoteThe consumption of beer, or any alcoholic beverage for that matter, always pleases my robot brain. It is delicious, nutritious and always makes the story in the comic that more enjoyable. Still, I would be lying if I said that there was enough beer in the world to properly twist my robot brain into liking The Confession.
14 Mar 2007 at 10:00 am
QuoteExcept that Avengers #27 could clearly be read as metatextual, but in Confessions? It’s much more of a stretch. And if this were to be interpreted as Bendis saying, “you’ll learn to love me”, then it’s couched in oddly apologetic tones (you know, the whole explanation that Tony Stark gives about it’s his fault that Shield, “wants it’s daddy back”).
Taking issue with that line of dialogue in Confessions seems more like searching for reasons to get upset.
14 Mar 2007 at 10:05 am
QuoteHey, don’t look at me - I haven’t read the issue, and I’m not sure if I plan to. I know most of you would probably advise against it, but I do love Maleev’s art (face it Randy: he’s better than Lark
), and the preview pages I’ve seen are gorgeous (and also had a silly dialogue about Tony and Doom being transported back).
And Nick - I know those grumpy old men like Randy give you crap about it, but….long live Nextwave!
14 Mar 2007 at 11:01 am
QuoteArch: You’re probably right, but New Avengers and most of Bendis other related Avengers work is so contentless it feels like the meta is all that’s worth exploring.
NextWave was a great Marvel comic. Which is rather ironic, given who wrote it.
14 Mar 2007 at 11:38 am
Quotethe use of the of the word “Daddy” seems to pretty loaded from Benidis Read “Fans want their Daddy’s comics becuse their too imature to see how wonderful it is that the Avengers reads like GILMORE GIRLS.”
bEING fair though I think it’s editoral mandate to use Tony Stark to make swipes at readers that make no sense within the story in FF Tony talks about “People say REED’S changed becuse he’s pro reg.” Fine but the point of civil war was the people ARE pro Reg
14 Mar 2007 at 11:45 am
QuoteI’ll be picking up The Confession because I’m a completist and a sucker but I have long maintained (ever since he appeared in Alias) that Bendis should not be allowed to put words in Captain America’s mouth. His “witty” banter works well with some characters and is tolerable in others but Captain America doesn’t stammer and he doesn’t repeat himself and that seems to be the only way Bendis knows how to write people.
I think Bendis is a talented guy but he’s got a limited range and the Avengers and Captain America don’t fit in with his talents. Marvel should keep him on the crime stuff that he’s good at or Spiderman where witty banter is expected.
14 Mar 2007 at 11:51 am
QuoteLander, I’m pleased to read your words on Buffy. I don’t know what I would have expected if I hadn’t read the DarkHorse preview. So now I think my expectations are aligned with reality. I’m excited. Booyah.
Anyone read Wonder Woman #5? One-shot from a fill-in team? It’s got me curious.
14 Mar 2007 at 12:30 pm
QuoteWell, the irony is, The Iron Man half of the Confession that I bitched about is actually quite good; it’s the Captain America half that, surprise, spins out of control (and is mainly there to boost the IM half).
Thunderbolts was shockingly good. Ghost Rider was badass. “Oh… so it was the other guy with a flamin’ head?”
14 Mar 2007 at 12:50 pm
QuoteWhy do they keep showing pictures of Cap’s indestructible shield and it had bullet holes and dents in?
14 Mar 2007 at 12:54 pm
QuoteYup, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I’ve been digging Will Pfeiffer’s work on Catwoman, and he really came through with this issue, which deals with the invisible effects of Wonder Woman’s actions on people she has never even met. Specifically, the inspiration she has been to battered women.
14 Mar 2007 at 2:02 pm
QuoteRandy, your assessment of the Buffy comic was on the mark. I shared your doubts about the comic and your dislike of the last two seasons, and I will add that I do have my doubts about how Joss will some of the adversaries here. But this was tons of fun, and Joss seems to remember that his shows are usually like that even when very serious. This was a great start.
14 Mar 2007 at 2:50 pm
QuoteGrendell: Trina Robbins, Butch Guice, and Colleen Doran once did a Wonder Woman OGN about that. The Once and Future Story, I believe it was called.
14 Mar 2007 at 3:56 pm
QuoteDan Coyle, I do respect your opinion a lot actually - I get a sense that most of the time you have a clue what you’re talking about. Which is why I’m so baffled that you like Dan Way’s stuff. I’ve given him a chance at a ton of his Marvel work, from Venom to Hulk to Sabretooth to Bullseye to Wolverine to Ghost Rider, and I don’t see the appeal. I didn’t like Way even before it was cool to not like him. So I gotta ask you, as a fan with his head on right, what’s the appeal?
14 Mar 2007 at 4:07 pm
QuoteYeah, i dug it too. I’m not usually a fan of Pfeiffer’s work, but this issue was pretty good. I especially liked the art. It’s plain to see that the artist is trying to emulate Dodson, but I actually prefer the more cartoonish and animated style the new artists brings to the book. It almost made my top 5 this week.
14 Mar 2007 at 4:57 pm
Quotei’m glad Thunderbolts is good (I have extra dough so i’m trying it)
I Mean I have my problems with Norman Osborne being alive but since that’s been true for a decade or more at least he’s the GOBLIN! I hated him being mister “I sit behind a desk therefore heroes fear me”
14 Mar 2007 at 5:08 pm
QuoteI’ll have to track that down, Dan. I’m kind of a Wonder Woman fan, but I missed that one, and with that creative team, I suspect it’s good.
14 Mar 2007 at 6:19 pm
QuoteIf you mean better at making stiff art with no action.
14 Mar 2007 at 7:53 pm
QuoteUm… you might not want to try Thunderbolts after all.
It is “Sitting Behind Desk” Norman Osborne, rather than Green Goblin Osborne. Although we were all talking, and we thought it’d be great if he always wore his costume in his current setting, and all of his underlings just had to ignore that he was always dressed up in his crazy supervillain suit.
14 Mar 2007 at 7:56 pm
QuoteYou know, I’m all for the idea of Norman Osborne always wearing the costume in his current setting, Randy. That would be damn funny. What would be even better would be that he was still wearing his suave suit, looking all bad to the bone but he’d also be wearing his mask. Comedy goldmine if you ask me.
Did you say Spider-Man?
14 Mar 2007 at 8:05 pm
Quotewell I HOPe goes off his meds and meets Dick Channey
Dick “Come in Noman bang up job you’re doing
Norm “THANK YOU SIR
Dick “Oh now call me Dick
Norm (more Goblin like) “TO YOUR FACE SIR?
dICK You’re sweating do you fee ok
Norm “Good enough to have sex with you and toss you a off birdge sir!
DICK “are YOU THeating me?
Norm “HAVENS NO i’m trying to bring the spark to our love!
Dick “Getout getout getout!!
Norm “I WILL leave now Dick but you have earn the WRAITH OF THE GREEN GOBLIN!” (JUMPS OUT WINDOW forgeting he does’nt have the glider.
Dick “Poor bastard I TOLD them Sabertooth was better”
14 Mar 2007 at 8:39 pm
Quote*laughs* that’d be such a Warris Ellen move; I’m surprised he didn’t go for it. Then again, maybe that’s more of a Nextwave idea :p
14 Mar 2007 at 11:43 pm
QuoteConsidering Osborn’s behavior at the end of the last issue, I wouldn’t be surprised if he started wearing his mask at meetings, and we were treated to Moonstone plotting to oust him by driving him more and more crazy.
Kiel: Way, when he’s good, tells some fun stories. His frame of refrence for storytelling seems less attuned to comics than it does film and TV, which I like. Yes, his pacing is agonizingly slow, but usually there’s a decent payoff that makes me smile.
Punisher Vs. Bullseye, Bullseye: Greatest Hits, the first two Venom trades, The “Heartbreaker” story in Tangled Web, the current Ghost Rider run (with the exception of issue #7, with its confusing death of Johnny explanation), the pre-Rucka Wolverine stories and the House of M tie-in, those are all good stuff.
The current Wolverine story is just bad, as if someone handed Way a stack of Hama’s incomprehensible run on the original book and he thought, “Well, I can do better than that!” and then he promptly face planted.
Daken, with his whole “Mohawkerine” look is just comical. Wolverine being a willing and able goon for the US government in his past, and besides that, a cruel motherfucker, is a neat idea but toothless since there’s no firm political ideology behind it. To do what Wolverine does in the first arc, which resulted in the death of likely hundreds of Vietnamese during the war, requires a more concrete reason than “Uncle Sam said so.” At least if your story is going to have any kind of impact. I think it would be far more interesting to play Logan like the Bob Barnes character in Syriana, than have him chasing Daken all over the world.
15 Mar 2007 at 10:40 am
QuoteI should have been clearer i’m not real anti-desk (everybody should have one!) What I don’t like is NORMAN (Or luthor or Kingpin giving the ‘For all your power you cant touch me speech. The fact that he reports to someone takes the sting out of that.
That said i’m suprised the artist has’nt insisted on more Goblin. Maybe it’s just me but except for doc ock I LOVE the look of all those old Spider-mam villians
15 Mar 2007 at 11:04 am
QuoteWell, perhaps Deodato doesn’t want to be reminded of “Sins Past”, where he drew Osborn’s son in the Gray Goblin costume.
I’m still waiting for an answer from someone, ANYONE, on why that story exists.
15 Mar 2007 at 11:19 am
QuoteBuffy. I see it’s on all your Top 5 lists. Wh00t! 24 pages. Serenity and Runaways references. I really dug the Jeanty cover too (I took it over the Jo Chen cover). I felt good when I closed the back cover.
Wonder Woman. First panel of Diana Prince and her breasts looked almost like c cups. Later panels they looked more like superhero boobs, however. Not a single ass shot. Well, the one that’s about 2mm wide on the cover of a newspaper someone’s holding.. but otherwise not a single panel where you see her backside. I probably wouldn’t normally notice this, except for the recent overuse of the angle.. in Avengers Initiative, Mighty Avengers and Wonder Woman #4. GOod on the artist.
15 Mar 2007 at 11:31 am
Quoteoh it’s a bad story all right but I know WHY Sins past exists Gwen had the kids and the last mintute JQ said “Peter PARKER? Kids outside wedlock? NO NO NO”‘
15 Mar 2007 at 11:36 am
QuoteI’m sure some of you can probably correct me, but I can’t think of a single long-running comic character with more completely ignored plot points than Spider-Man.
Peter and MJ’s baby
Ben Reilly
Norman and Gwen’s kids
The new powers introduced in ‘the Other’
These are all *huge* developments, but rarely/never mentioned after their initial story arc.
The Clone Saga produced lots of ‘let’s never speak of it again’ moments, but with Strznskszysy’s run, they’re cast aside almost immediately.
Speaking of, who is following Strazzinskeee on Amazing?
15 Mar 2007 at 1:45 pm
QuoteLarry Hamas Wolverine run war a lot of fun. The end was terrible, granted, crossover´ed to death, but on the whole it was miles ahead than the following stuff. I can remember a lot of those issues but not one of the revolving writer´s which followed
15 Mar 2007 at 4:57 pm
QuoteIn order for Good to exist, Evil must exist. Hence “Sins Past.”
15 Mar 2007 at 10:16 pm
QuoteAnyone read Authority #2? What the heck happened to Gene Ha’s art? There was so many.. uh.. bad panels. I don’t know if it was the fault of pencils or color, but when I paged through it I had to double check that Ha was still the artist.
16 Mar 2007 at 12:59 pm
QuoteYeah, it wasn’t his strongest stuff. I loved the first issue but found this one dull and uninteresting, bogged down with some really poorly constructed dialogue and some very hit and miss art. Don’t know what happened exactly but it probably didn’t help that it’s taken six months for the issue to come out. It wasn’t worth the wait.
16 Mar 2007 at 1:49 pm
QuoteConfessions is not bad but it did’nt feel right Marvel REALLY feel right Marvel wants Cap to be THE good guy. Iron man never says “you know hero you DID recuit the Punisher!
17 Mar 2007 at 4:45 pm
Quote