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 Garth Ennis’ Streets of Glory Preview, Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps #1, Grimm Fairy Tales: Return to Wonderland #1, Robert Kurtzman’s Beneath the Valley of the Rage #1, Sheena #1, Subculture #1, World War Hulk: Frontline #1, World War Hulk: X-Men #1, and X-men First Class Vol. 2 #1.

Nick Budd Read and Thought:

Sheena #1
Writers: Steven E. De Souza & Robert Rodi
Artists: Matt Merhoff & Wes Dzioba
Company: Devils Due Publishing

A fairly competent start to what could be a very satisfying series. Overall, it has a sort of Captain Planet type vibe to it, only in this version the Captain Planet that is called upon to “save” the land of Val Verde is a bikini wearing, jungle savage that is as vicious as they come. The story itself, a civil war meets eco-terrorism riff is fine, done before really, but it’s uniqueness comes from the way the story is told. In that I mean that it’s told in a confusing fashion as there are really two stories going on, one in the present and one which is told in a series of flashbacks that are interspersed throughout the book which tell a family centric story that only bears fruit at its very end. It’s a slight thing and really, despite the confusion that the flip-flopping timeline causes, the character work is above average, the mystical elements that are touched upon are good, and the art, provided by Matt Merhoff and Wes Dziboa, is really quite striking. If you’re looking to stray from the mainstream books this week, Sheena is something to take a look at.

X-Men First Class Vol. 2 #1
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artist: Roger Cruz
Company: Marvel Comics

A very entertaining read. Like the first volume, First Class features what can only be described as done in one untold tales of the original X-Men team. The idea itself is a cool one, and more importantly it was executed flawlessly with suaveness and class. Needless to say, Jeff Parker knocks yet another home run with the first issue of the second volume. His propensity for adding genuine amounts of both smart story telling and classically fun elements into a book sincerely boggles the mind. Then, just for giggles, roll into that already great equation some witty dialogue and some refreshing ideas like having Marvel Girl join the Fantastic Four for a day and fight people like The Awesome Android and The Mad Thinker. It all has a very Claremont-like feel to it, only with more a more modern set of sensibilities, and hearkens back to the age of comics where you didn’t have to have a ginormous crossover event or have a cast of a hundred characters to be good. But not only are the words something to celebrate, Roger Cruz’s artwork is good too. It jumps right off of the page and has an overall energy to it that completes the entire package, making X-Men First Class a must read.

Dave Farabee Read and Thought:

Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Ethan Van Sciver
Company: DC Comics

This reminds me of Marvel’s Annihilation miniseries a bit. Like Annihilation, it takes a major cosmic villain who’s been under the radar for years and amps him up to a never-before-seen threat level. Seems pretty cool, but Sinestro Corps didn’t hold my interest near so much as Annihilation because so much of its build-up is steeped in continuity lore - Parallax, the Cyborg Superman, the Antimatter Universe, Sinestro’s hatred for Kyle Rayner, and more. Not so much so that I think it’s unapproachable, but like so many of DC’s books these days, it seems geared to please the longterm fan over the casual fan who might be enthusiastic for some superhero sci-fi. That said, Geoff Johns does a solid job creating an air of menace. End-time prophecies are discussed, Green Lanterns are killed, and though the heroes get their moments, it’s clear that they’re to be on the ropes when they go up against Sinestro’s answer to the Green Lantern Corps. On the art front, Ethan Van Sciver delivers the detailed renderings he’s well known for. I’m not a huge fan and I didn’t feel the lure of the book in general, but I suspect it’ll go over well with fans of the current Green Lantern books and maybe some of the more casual readers.

Robert Kurtzman’s Beneath the Valley of the Rage #1 of 4
Writer: John Bisson (script) & Robert Kurtzman (story)
Artist: Stephen Thompson
Company: Fangoria Comics

This comic is very honest about what it is. I mean, when a book opens with a man violently defecating all his internal organs, you’ve got a pretty damn clear indication of what to expect. But just to spell it out: Beneath the Valley of the Rage is put out by Fangoria magazine, the gore-aficionado’s horror magazine, and functions as a prequel to an upcoming horror flick. Staged as a clumsy thriller with unintentionally Golden Age-style captions like “As the doctor speaks, Vigo falls into the evil genius’ trap”, it reveals how a Hannibal Lecter-esque sociopath ends up unleashing a mutant virus on humanity. It’s surprisingly well-drawn, passably written, and has some sort of gory or freakish occurance every few pages. Pretty ideal for the Fangoria fan I’d imagine. Everyone else, approach with caution.

Dan Grendell Read and Thought:

World War Hulk: X-Men #1 of 3
Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Andrea DiVito
Company: Marvel Comics

The misunderstanding is a common superhero trope. Two heroes (or teams) meet, one tries to talk, the other won’t listen, and they fight. Eventually, they get tired, or decide to have a sandwich, or whatever, and things get smoothed over. The Hulk may have been involved in more of these misunderstandings than any other character, but for once he’s the one doing the talking, and the New X-Men are the ones acting violently. Hulk just wants to ask Xavier a simple question- when it came down to deciding to shoot him into space, what would Xavier’s vote have been? Great action, drama, and a real human side to World War Hulk made this an enjoyable read. Christos Gage continues to please, and Andrea DiVito performs strongly on art chores, switching from strong action to slower-paced stuff with ease.

Randy Lander Read and Thought:

Garth Ennis’ Streets of Glory Preview
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Mike Wolfer
Company: Avatar Press

It’s probably not entirely fair to judge a new series based on an 8-page preview story, but then again, Avatar is asking $2 for that, a brief text piece on westerns by Ennis and a preview of the covers for #1, so it’s probably not entirely unfair either. And here’s the deal: Much as I like westerns, much as I like Garth Ennis, much as I wanted to like Streets of Glory, this is what you call a pretty weak opener. Wolfer’s art is extremely unclear, such that the action sequence that makes up the majority of the story lacks any sort of context, and Ennis doesn’t do much in his eight pages (one of which he wastes on a diner framing sequence for no readily apparent reason) to show the story as containing anything either unique or so archetypally correct as to make this must reading. Hell, the cover has more atmosphere and promise than the eight pages presented here. More than likely, this will be worth revisiting when the first full issue is out and Ennis has a bit more room to work with, but if you’re intrigued by the book, I wouldn’t really recommend checking out the preview, it can only harm your interest. I know it just about killed mine.

Subculture #1
Writer: Kevin Freeman
Artist: Stan Yan
Company: APE Entertainment

The comic about fandom is not really a new thing. Dork Tower, Knights of the Dinner Table, 3 Geeks and numerous others have mined the territory for humorous effect. Subculture, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to take this into account, and so it serves up the same tired, overplayed jokes about geek culture that anyone reading comics has either endured or, more likely, made at someone else’s expense. There’s nothing wrong with a little self-loathing, but when all the jokes are about 10 years old, it’s not really funny, it’s just kind of sad. Freeman’s script is packed with every cliche, including having a romance brewing between two characters who are just enough outside the geek culture so that they can safely poke fun at it. Yan’s cartooning is solid, similar to the work of Rich Koslowski with some especially good use of exaggeration and disciplined storytelling, but I can’t tell if his comic timing is flawed or if there’s just nothing funny to work with. At any rate, a variety of geek cliches and a central romance that feels completely contrived make for a comic that is, while relatively inoffensive, pretty dull.

D3 (David Martindale) Read and Thought:

Worl War Hulk Frontline #1 of 6
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Artist: Ramon Bachs
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Well the Nascar and MySpace references are missing, but it’s still the same boring comic. There are daring tales of of investigative journalists breaking the stories nobody wants broken, and there are stories of people running a newspaper. This is the latter. The pencils and coloring are equally unexciting. not only is the book boring, but Jenkins decides it’s an appropriate place to use racial slurs. The only real item of interest is the possibility of a homicide investigation being handled by a teaming of a NYPD officer and an alien. If Brubaker, Rucka, or Hine were writing the book, the homicide investigation might even give me faith for the book, but at this point, I recommend skipping this one.

Grimm Fairy Tales: Return to Wonderland
Writer: Raven Gregory
Artist: Rich Bonk
Publisher: Zenescope

There’s nothing quite like selling sex and violence all wrapped up in the same package. If sales of popular music and movies are any indicator, it’s absolute guarantee of success. The concept of a snarky teen girl visiting Wonderland of Alice in Wonderland sounds fun, but it needs somebody that can write fun dialogue at the very least. A writer in the vein of Whedon or Vaughan could give the idea legs. Unfortunately, the title doesn’t deliver. The art isn’t fundamentally bad, but it does lack any real storytelling ability. Each panel looks like a pinup leading into the next pinup. It’s almost as if each panel was considered in isolation from the rest of the book. Feel free to walk past this one.