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 Breathe #1 of 4, Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer #1, Loners #1, Madman Atomic Comics #1, Marvel Illustrated Jungle Book, Mr. Stuffins #1 of 3, Nova #1, Raise the Dead #1, Spider-Man Fantastic Four #1 of 4, Two Guns #1 and Xombie #1.

Nick Budd Read and Thought:

Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer #1
Writers: Nat Jones, Jay Fotos & Joshua Ortega
Artist: Nat Jones
Company: Image Comics

Upon first glance at the cover, not to mention the name, it was obvious that this comic would be extremely METAL, experiance and contain all sorts of violence and bloodshed. In that regard, this outing was sort of disappointing as there were only a few points of metal-ism, mainly a couple of panels that depicted grisly deaths, but there was nowhere near as much as there should have been. In fact, the only thing that doesn’t disappoint was Nat Jones’ artwork, which felt in some ways like a cool riff on Tom Mandrake’s work and is probably, to me at least, the biggest selling point of the book. The story however, was a tad on the boring side as it is a slow build, very much acting as an introduction to a world where seemingly undead monsters have started to run rampant and are killing everything in their sight and there isn’t a soul that can stop them. Or is there? All in all, what makes a good painting does not always make a good comic and Death Dealer definitely tumbles into the skipable category of comics.

Madman Atomic Comics #1
Writer/Artist: Mike Allred
Company: Image Comics

While completely incomprehensible at times and not entirely user friendly to people who haven’t read Madman before, this restart still manages to be a brilliant combo of a book, offering up not only a geuinely entertaining romp into the psyche of all things Madman but supplying some of the best artwork Allred has ever done. Laura Allred also does an awesome job as the book’s colorist, giving the world it’s wacky life through a bright and shiny color palate that is just inherently cool to look at. The story itself is trippy and hard to explain, a sort of what if a superhero just happened to be on acid and was having an existential conversation with an avatar about his past while the entire world around him is going straight to Hell. Sound cool to you? It does to me and I for one am hooked. A great first issue.

Dave Farabee Read and Thought:

Xombi: Reanimated #1
Writer: James Farr
Artist: Nate Lovett
Publisher: Devil’s Due Publishing

I usually make it a policy to avoid the mindless hordes of zombie comics clogging the stands, but I actually got a kick out of this one. With cartoony art reminiscent of the Bruce Timm school, Xombie: Reanimated drops the usual doomed/angsty zombie angle to play out as more of a kick-butt cartoon actioneer. It’s the post-apocalypse, like usual, but the pockets of human civilization are a bit smarter, a bit more teched-out than we tend to see. Problem is a gunslinging, sentient zombie has arisen, and the only person who might have answers is a teenage girl with vague memories of being saved by a sentient zombie as a child. Weird stuff, but cool too and possessed of more of a sense of humor than the usual zombie fare. Honestly, the wild ideas and fast-paced, mission-based storyline reminded me of a video game - in a good way.

Marvel Illustrated: Jungle Book (one-shot)
Writer: Gil Kane & Mary Jo Duffy (adapted from Rudyard Kipling)
Artist: Gil Kane
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Pick this one up. It’s a reprint of a series of mid-70s adaptations of Rudyard Kipling Jungle Book stories that Marvel’s putting out as a sort of prelude to its launch of a new line of comic adaptations of classic lit. It’s been a while since I’ve read the original stories, but these adaptations all struck me as quite faithful, and more importantly they’re illustrated by the legendary Gil Kane. Kane alone is formidable, but I’d wager that his work here is elevated by the unmistakable and assured inking of P. Craig Russell. Russell later did his own Jungle Book adaptations, and this makes a fine companion piece to them (including a quartet of excellent Russell pin-ups). Interestingly, the one-shot ends with a preview of Marvel’s upcoming Last of the Mohicans adaptation, which looks perfectly fine…but also sedate, devoid of the energy and bravura that Kane and Russell bring to the preceding pages. Anyway, it’s a massive comic for a mere $2.99. Jungle Book fans should scoop this up.

Dan Grendell Read and Thought:

The Loners #1 (0f 6)
Writer: C.B. Cebulski
Artist: Karl Moline
Publisher: Marvel Comics

This is an idea from Runaways that deserved more exploration. Teen heroes, who found that maybe having powers wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, and wanted to go back to their old lives. It isn’t that easy, of course, as the thrill of being a hero is quite the draw, so they act as a support group for each other. Some are more committed to the idea than others, and Civil War has made it easier than ever to give up a costume, something Cebulski picks up on and works with. A great mix of character work and action using little-known characters, as the ex-heroes try to figure out just how ‘ex’ they really are. Moline turns in a spectacular looking issue, handling drama and fight scenes with equal flair and energy, ably backed by Christina Strain’s gorgeous colors. A very promising start.

Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #1 (0f 4)
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artists: Mike Wieringo and Wade von Grawbadger
Publisher: Marvel Comics

When the Earth is invaded by aliens, who do you turn to? The Fantastic Four. At least, that’s the Impossible Man’s plan, but he kinda gets sidetracked, and figures Spidey will do… Yeah, not so much. One asspounding later, it’s Spidey and the FF versus an alien invader in a story that isn’t exactly innovative but is a lot of fun. Parker delivers his usual wit and classic take on the beloved icons, and Wieringo clearly has some fun with the Impossible Man. This is pre-Civil War: it’s the classic FF team, Spidey’s in his old uniform, and the only angst is in the ads. An alien invader shows up in the park, the heroes arrive, and onlookers quip that “Oh good! Some weirdos are here, they’ll take care of this!” And they will.

Randy Lander Read and Thought:

Breathe #1
Writer: John Sheridan
Artist: Kit Wallis
Company: Markosia

Breathe is a beautiful looking book, with Kit Wallis serving up art reminiscent of the lush work of Josh Middleton. Unfortunately, it lacks some of the depth of Middleton’s work in terms of background and emotional resonance, and it doesn’t help that Sheridan’s story is somewhat slow going. The first issue presents us a girl who has lost her family and… that’s it. The dialogue isn’t quite strong enough to make us feel that this is anything more than the standard beginning of a standard revenge story, and the hints about a “dragon” aren’t really fleshed out at all. Breathe makes the all too common mistake of assuming readers care enough to wait three or four issues for some answers, rather than leading out strong, and unless your comic book features an instantly engaging hook, that’s just not going to be the case.

Mr. Stuffins #1 of 3
Writers: Andrew Cosby & Johanna Stokes
Artist: Lee Carter
Company: Boom! Studios

Well, that was… odd. That’s to be expected, I know, when the concept is a teddy bear secret agent, but the story is kind of all over the place. Too many characters, not enough exposition and a completely uncertain tone. The bear’s macho guy dialogue provides some moments of genuine amusement, but it’s too little in a book that feels this unfocused. Is it an action book? A spoof? A dark comedy? A character piece about divorce and how it affects kids? I don’t know, and I’m not sure the writers did either. Throw in overly dark coloring by Pablo Quilgotti that overwhelms Carter’s otherwise decent artwork and you’ve got a disappointing first issue that took what could have been a really fun premise and made it clunky and kinda dull.

Raise the Dead #1
Writers: Leah Moore & John Reppion
Artist: Hugo Petrus
Company: Dynamite Entertainment

The world probably didn’t need another zombie book… they’re breeding like, well, like goddamned zombies. But if you’re not zombied out yet, Raise the Dead #1 is actually a pretty classic take on the genre, putting a handful of characters together in an enclosed space and focusing on who they are and how they react to stress, complete with flashbacks to what they were doing before the zombie apocalypse began. With nice color art from Hugo Petrus and Ivan Nunes, believable character moments, solid plotting and a suitably dark sense of humor, this is about as solid a zombie genre piece as you’ll find.

D3 (David Martindale) Read and Thought:

Two Guns #1 of 5
Writer: Steven Grant
Artist: Mat Santolouco
Company: Boom! Studios

Starts out as a fun little heist piece, but then there’s a twist… and another twist! Fun, expressive pencils and bright, vivid colors, for some reason, seem to work well despite the fairly dark and violent subject matter of the book. It could use a little more in the way of background detail, but the lack thereof wasn’t distracting. The writer pulls off some pretty tight plotting despite simultaneously making sure that Two Guns has an atmosphere of intriguing mystery, exciting action, and hard-nosed pulp sensibilities. This first issue is just jam packed with stuff without overwhelming the reader. My only real complaint is that the dialogue feels forced on a couple of occasions. The second twist serves as a great cliffhanger at the end of the issue, and I can’t wait for issue two. Let’s just hope Boom! gets it out in a timely fashion. Solidly recommended.

Nova #1
Writers: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Sean Chen
Company: Marvel Comics

Nick Budd posted an advance review of this a few days ago and liked it. I echo Nick’s praise. This issue goes from one galactic ass kicking to another galactic ass kicking with no more than a few breathes between. This is one the most action packed books I’ve seen in a very long time. This is exactly how to launch a first issue of a cosmic superhero book. There’s enough talking to get the point across, but the book is thankfully free of the pages with 24 talking head panels and the pages with as much dialogue space as art space. Despite being the entire roster of the Nova Corps and answering distress call after distress call without food or sleep, Nova looks like he might even have time to swing by Earth to kick Iron Man’s ass. Great action oriented writing and art. Go buy one for yourself and one for a friend, or Nova will come to your house and kick your ass.