Wednesday Number Ones 06/06/07
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 Daredevil: Battlin’ Jack Murdock #1 of 4, Death And The Man Who Would Not Die #1 of 4, Drafted Preview, Fear Agent Last Goodbye #1 of 4, New Warriors #1, Simpsons Summer Shindig #1, Starship Troopers Ongoing #1, Strange Embrace #1 of 8, and Uncanny X-men #487.
Nick Budd Read and Thought:
Uncanny X-Men #487
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Salvador Larroca
Company: Marvel Comics
There’s no denying that Ed Brubaker is a superior writer of comics. If we were to think in baseball terms for a second, it wouldn’t be out of the box to say that he’d have a batting average that’s relatively close to that unattainable .400 that leaguers strive for, as he tends to knock complex and satisfying stories out of the park on a regular basis. That said, the law of averages had to kick in and catch up to him at some point. And while the story in Uncanny X-Men is a fairly straightforward tale of the Morlocks scheming and moving back into the spotlight, not to mention the reappearance of a certain Queen of Wakanda, there’s a distinct feeling of deja vu that plagues the story and proves to be quite distracting. With Brubaker, you don’t go in expecting something resembling a rehash of old X-Men stories, you expect to find something a little different and exciting, or at the very least more interesting than the 12 issues that came before this one, which this wasn’t. All in all, the book’s readable but it’s served with a sizable side of Meh that’s disappointing.
Death And The Man Who Would Not Die
Writer: James Patrick
Artist: SE7ENHEDD
Company: Silent Devil Productions
Oh no! It’s a Western comic! Yup, and it’s a dark one at that, with the blood and gore and hangings that are always so prevalent within the genre. The only addition this go around is that this one also stars Death himself. To some, that might sound as if the idea box had been cranked to eleven or maybe even a bit cheesy, but for what it’s worth, there’s no cheese to be found and the end result of Death And The Man Who Would Not Die is more than you would expect. The main gist of the book is easily summed up by the actual title itself, as Death (a real entity that stalks the lands of the Old West) has been robbed by a bastard of a man that now, for one reason or another, can’t die. It’s a concept that has some leg to it and doesn’t feel as overplayed as one might expect. That liveliness of story is paired with the very stylistic art of SE7ENHEDD, who’s artistic fashion feels like a blending of Ben Templesmith and Gabrielle Del Otto, and you have an outing that if you’re in the mood for a book of the Old West, is as solid as you can get. Worth a peek.
Dave Farabee Read and Thought:
Starship Troopers #1 (ongoing)
Writer: Tony Lee
Artist: Chris Dibari
Company: Markosia Press
I’ve peeked in on a few of Markosia’s Starship Troopers books, and this one…well, it’s pretty much like all the rest: lots of exposition that seems almost verbatim from Heinlein’s book and the movie, many a tip of the hat to favorite lines (”C’mon, you apes!”), and art that ranges from solid to pretty dodgy. Problem is, the comics can’t remotely match their source materials. They don’t have the smarts, heart, and constant conceptualization of Heinlein’s novel, and lack the adrenaline, attractive cast, and manic, bizarro satire of Paul Verhoeven’s movie. It’s a shame, because a smart, sci-fi war comic could be a pretty cool thing, so one hopes this is just the first issue doldrums. What this series really needs is Garth Ennis.
New Warriors #1
Writer: Kevin Grevioux
Artist: Juan Vlasco
Company: Marvel Comics
It’s nice to read a Marvel title that’s got a sense of energy and rebellion in the jackbooted, post-Civil War era. This first issue follows a young waitress named Sofia, a former superhero who lost her powers but misses the life. She’s being targeted for recruitment by a mysterious pack of heroes who seem to be the newer, more rebellious incarnation of Civil War’s accidental instigators - The New Warriors. I enjoyed it, but a few of the key scenes presume you have some knowledge of Sofia’s New Mutants past, so I felt a little out of the loop there. And one key emotional scene even relies on said knowledge. Sofia’s personality carries the issue, though, and for those who enjoyed the schisms Civil War wrought, you’ll probably enjoy seeing a team that’s definitely out to stick it to Iron Man and the Registration Act. Paco Medina’s art is buoyant, but surprisingly for an artist from the Humberto Ramos school, he seems to be reigning in the cartooniness. There’s definitely a sudden influx of J. Scott Campbell influence, and even a little of the realism of Carlos Pacheco. All told, the issue’s not quite the grabber Young Avengers #1 was, but worth a look.
Dan Grendell Read and Thought:
Strange Embrace #1 of 8
Creator: David Hine
Company: Image Comics
I knew David Hine could write cool comics. District X, Son of M, and Silent War have all shown me that. What I didn’t know was that he’s also an artist with a cool, funky style. In fact, he got his start as an inker. Combine Hine’s ability to write off-kilter stories with his sharp, jagged art and you have one cool book. The story here is of a teenage boy who delivers food every week to a creepy house filled with disturbing African statues, and the telepath he meets on the street who collects stories. This issue is mostly mood and set-up, getting you ready for what’s to come (and there’s every indication that what will follow will be both cool and disturbing), but what story is told here is done with style and imagination. Hine is someone to watch, and I expect this series to just get better.
The Simpsons Summer Shindig #1
Writers: Chris Yambar, Harry Trainor, and Tony Digerolamo
Artists: Phil Ortiz, Mike DeCarlo, Jason Ho, Mike Rote, Marcos Asprec, Howard Shum, and Joey Nilges
Company: Bongo Comics
What to say about Bongo’s Simpsons line? It’s the Simpsons, all right. There’s some fun gags, some not so funny stuff, and Bart running wild. This special is all about summer, so summer stuff happens- a trip to the fair, a trip to the beach, summer school, and an attempt to keep cool. The art all looks like the television show, so there’s nothing new there. If you are a big Simpsons fan, you will probably like this; if not, skip it.
Randy Lander Read and Thought:
Daredevil: Battlin’ Jack Murdock #1 of 4
Writers: Carmine Di Giandomenico & Zeb Wells
Artist: Carmine Di Giandomenico
Company: Marvel Comics
I’m a little boggled at the notion that someone decided this story needed telling. Really, if you know Daredevil, you know all you need to know about Jack Murdock, and every detail added, whether it’s by Frank Miller or Brian Bendis or whoever, is usually just a weakening of Stan Lee’s iconic washed-up boxer who can’t take a dive because of what it would mean to his son. The more you explore the idea, the less powerful it seems, and that’s true here as well. That said, while I don’t see the particular need for the story, as a comic, it’s a reasonably solid production. Di Giandomenico’s exaggerated, cel shaded artwork is a surprisingly good fit for the gritty story that he and Wells cook up, and they do a good job of selling Jack Murdock as a likable, even charismatic, guy despite the stereotypical washed-up bum characterization at his core. And there are things here that haven’t been seen before, such as Jack’s first meeting with his son and a little more detail on the relationship between Matt Murdock’s nun mother and boxer father. It’s just that none of this detail really strengthens Daredevil’s backstory, and without the Daredevil connection, this story is little more than a Rocky also-ran.
Drafted Preview
Writer: Mark Powers
Artist: Chris Lie
Company: Devil’s Due
This is one of those increasingly prevalent “preview” issues, 99 cents for 16 pages of story that is mostly the kind of thing you’d get as a free trailer if the story were being told in TV or movie media. That said, while this type of format more often than not disappoints, the Drafted Preview offers up a very engaging teaser that starts to set up the mood of the upcoming story, and maybe a few of the characters, more than the plot. Powers presents an effective, believable look at how mysterious phenomena might upset the political balance, and Chris Lie delivers solid, emotionally effective artwork while promising much more with impressive black and white sketches of the aliens and technology in the back. At this point, it’s little more than a tasty appetizer, but to stretch the metaphor a bit further, it has my mouth watering for the main course, coming up in September.
Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye #1 of 4
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Tony Moore & Ande Parks
Company: Dark Horse Comics
This is actually a relaunch of Fear Agent, the Image comic that has moved to Dark Horse, but whether you’ve never read the book before or you’re coming at this with a dozen of the previous issues under your belt doesn’t make much difference; either way, it’s a damn fine read. Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye starts at the beginning, as Heath Huston, a Texan husband and father, sees half his family wiped out by a sudden alien invasion, and suddenly he’s smack dab in the middle of the biggest war story ever told. Remender, Moore and company really sell the utter chaos and fear of an alien invasion of Earth, and they do so in a way that is action-packed and fun, despite the carnage going on. This is science-fiction warfare when everybody doesn’t yet know the rules, and the aliens look strange and insurmountable and humanity is just doing its best to regroup in the face of an enemy it probably didn’t even believe in a few hours ago. Tony Moore, ably assisted by Parks and Lee Loughridge on colors, presents a rough-edged mixture of strange alien and alien war machine designs and recognizable people, places and semi trucks, and really sells the dichotomy between good ol’ boy protagonist and horrid thing from another world antagonists. The result is an action-packed read with strong characterization that makes you care about more than just where the next laser gun zap is coming from, and as much as I liked Fear Agent, I think Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye is even stronger.
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i haven’t read any of brubakers x-men but i’d like to say that i think the problem with the x-men is that essentially every story that gets published is a rehashing of something claremont has already did. even the better x-stories like millars ult. x-men or whedons astonishing have lots of elements of claremonts classic run. with the exception of morrisons work and possibly the age of apocalypse crossover. i love the x-men but like many fans i think that love is more for the characters and less for what the stories are about. thats just my opinion on the x-universe.
sad though that salvador larroca has yet to be involved with an x-men book that is receving a majority of good reviews. he’s a good artist and has done lots of x-men comics but nothing of note. at least to my knowledge.
06 Jun 2007 at 3:39 pm
QuoteI’m also a little mystified as to why Marvel would green-light a Jack Murdock mini. Is there even a small fraction of Daredevil fans clamoring for this? What was the pitch meeting like? “He’s like Uncle Ben, but without the catchy power and responsibility saying.”
06 Jun 2007 at 3:58 pm
QuoteEven Grant Morrison more or less rehashed a lot of stuff from the classic Claremont stories, albeit peppered with his interesting concepts and twists.
I’ve tried to read X-Men books over the last few years and they’re just not entertaining to me, despite writers whose work I generally like, i.e., Ed Brubaker, Mike Carey, Peter Milligan, etc. Maybe there just aren’t any more stories to tell with these particular characters?
06 Jun 2007 at 5:18 pm
QuoteI afraid I to disagree with you a bit Nick, when it comes to his Marvel stuff; I just think you guys way overrate Brubaker. His X-men work has left me cold. I’ve been sorta bored after the first arc on Daredevil, the European story was bland to me, and this latest arc definitly has that been there before feel to me, so that déjà vu is not just in the X-Men, least not for me. And as to Captain America, well I personally never cared for bringing back Bucky, nor for his characterization of Cap, and then he goes and kills him, which is just as well as he seems to like the other characters better anyway, and we all know he’ll be back someday.
The guy has good craft, he knows how to tell a story, especially noir, but not everything is noir, nor should it be, and he seems to bring that to every book, which to me, if you’re not writing true to the character, then you’re not really reaching me as a reader. Oh well to each his own, I don’t mean to harp I just get perplexed when he gets all this love, so much so that you sorta apologize for giving him a bad review, when in my book he’s been earning them for some time now.
06 Jun 2007 at 5:21 pm
QuoteLike many people I was all about the X-Men as a kid in the 80s. Obsessed and all that. Nowadays, I like Morrison’s run and the first half of Whedon’s, but my feeling on the X-Men is that if you’re complaining that the new writers are rehashing Claremont, you’re 100% correct, but then you also might not be the target audience for the book anymore. Marvel is so averse to change with those books (is there seriously another Mutant Massacre this fall?) that it leads me to believe that in the 80s they found the audience they wanted (early-teen, semi-new readers) and they don’t wish to alter or expand that audience. Your choices are: tap into your inner early-teen when you read it, which we all often do with comics to some extent, and forget that it’s all been done….or move on to something else. You can’t really knock the X-formula though, it’s arguably been the most successful in all of comics, and they understandably ain’t changing it.
But speaking of Morrison’s X-Run, is it true that Beak is a member of the New Warriors? That’s kind of cool. I may need to check it out.
06 Jun 2007 at 6:48 pm
QuoteI hear you gray punkin I LIKED the Winter solder story untill they finished the plot and he still existed. My own theroy is that no matter what anybody says CAPTIAN America was TOTALLY sidetracked by Civl war! Cap was barely in his own comic during Civil war then he (HEH) DIES and goes on hold till Fallen son ends? I just don’t think he signed on for that
06 Jun 2007 at 6:51 pm
QuoteYeah. At least the current writers aren’t being forced to ape Chris Claremont’s writing style (though Brubaker does sometimes homage it) anymore. The X-line’s overall resistance to change is kind of funny, since Claremont changed the status quo all the time during his original run.
Same here, I quite enjoy Beak
07 Jun 2007 at 12:53 am
QuoteI loved the original ‘Death Comes to Dillinger’. I grabbed a copy of ‘Death and the Man . . . ‘, but haven’t read it yet. I really dig the semi-abstract art.
Oh, and I know I’m a little late on this one, but I really dug Gutsville #1 from last week. It was sooo bizarre and the weird patois of the characters made it rather difficult to follow at points, but I’ll definitely be checking out issue number 2. Of course, I’m a sucker for Biblical parables gone horribly awry. Who knew ‘Jonah and the Whale’ could be so demented?
07 Jun 2007 at 6:56 am
QuoteSee, I had thought a story about Jack Murdock would have been interesting. I’d really want to read a story about how a big, tough bruiser like Murdock wound up with a nun, you know? I kind of pictured the story being something like she came along with a priest from the church (who liked going to see the fights) and it kind of went from there.
That said, it could have also been a great story within Daredevil. I thought it might have been kind of neat to have Matt be forced into a boxing match with the Absorbing Man (one on one, no powers, etc). Kind of a sins of the father kind of story, you know? And through it, maybe Matt’s mother tells the story of how her and Jack met?
It was just kind of an idea I had for a story.
07 Jun 2007 at 9:58 am
QuoteRead New Warriors and enjoyed it, thought it was a decent read, liked the fight the power vibe, and both “big” reveals made me smile, though I did read New Mutants for a couple years so I’m familiar with the character(s). Sofia did seem a lot more flirty than I remembered her being in the New Mutants, but I just chalked it up loosing her powers changing her some.
Wasn’t blown away by the book but it has me hooked enough to keep reading for a while at least. I liked the art but then I much prefer my artwork “realistic” over cartoony.
07 Jun 2007 at 9:50 pm
QuoteCan’t wait to read Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye, I should get it with my monthly shipment next week. I hope the move to Dark Horse eliminates the lateness problem that has plagued this book. The long waits between issues has me forgetting whats going on.
Maybe the new ongoing mini format will be a good fit for this book.
08 Jun 2007 at 12:48 am
QuoteStrange Embrace was released back in the day to much acclaim, but is being republished now in issues with color
09 Jun 2007 at 7:07 am
QuoteI agree with you Gray. Bru said in interviews that DD was supposed to be swashbuckling, but his take felt noir to me what with the prison drama, femme fatale and double-crossing. Ditto Cap. But for me it’s also been about Bru’s pacing. I checked out Cap after hearing all the great reviews and was annoyed when I discovered the first trade wasn’t really a complete story at all - by the end it felt really, really stretched out. I was burnt again when his first DD arc turned out to be a year long as well. Fortunately he deigned to announce the length of his first Uncanny arc and I had learnt my lesson so I avoided it. Criminal, on the other hand, I’m loving.
10 Jun 2007 at 6:24 am
QuoteI think the issues with X-Men might be a readership thing… I mean, I love ‘em… I’ve been reading X-Men since I was 3 (no seriously, I learned to read off them - and I’m clever). And when you read the same book for that long, sure it has moments of repetition, times that are good, times that are bad, but it all comes down to what you like and what you love… me, I love my X-Men… bit underwhelmed by Bru’s stuff so far, though I thought the last 4 parts of the Shi’ar thing were wicked cool, I just hope Storm can be saved from her horrid portrayl in BP. Carey’s stuff has been amazing, oddly, Astonishing is the only one I can’t read as it feels like the X-book for non-X-book readers… I mean is Emma good or bad? I read a 75 issue mini-series about that called Generation X - it feels the least fresh to me.
I’ve got high hopes for Bru as the story moves forward…
12 Jun 2007 at 2:03 pm
Quote