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 99 #1, Abyss #1, Cory Doctorows Futuristic Tales Here And Now #1, Death Of The New Gods #1, Lazarus #1 of 3, Looking For Group #1, Marvel Zombies 2 #1, Ray Harryhausen Presents Sinbad Rogue Of Mars #1, Suburban Glamour and Sword #1.

Nick Budd Read and Thought:

Suburban Glamour #1
Writer/Artist: Jamie McKelvie
Company: Image Comics

First off, this book, done by one of the creators from the at times too hard to comprehend book Phonogram, offers a nice little dose of escapism that proves to be more fun than I thought possible. Suburban Glamour is a simple story, not overdone to any degree, that has some slick art that executes the story perfectly. As for the main crux of the story, that would hinge on the answer to a single question: What would you do if one day during your hum-drum, very boring existence, you were visited by your childhood imaginary friends and were told that something big was about to happen that would make life distinctively interesting? Surely, if this happened to you, you would question your own sanity, but what if you weren’t insane? That’s what happens to young Astrid, a teenager who’s only want in life is to escape the small town that she happens to live in. McKelive’s script is very approachable one, simple but certainly not dull. He weaves a nice picture and true accounting of what teenage life is like these days, but electrifies it with a hint of magic and danger that can only be done in a comic. All in all, this is a book that’s certainly worth sitting up and taking notice of.

Lazarus #1
Writers: Juan Ferreyra & Diego Cortes
Artist: Juan Ferreyra
Company: Image Comics

Not nearly as strong as it could have been. That’s what it boils down to really, as Lazarus feels like just another comic book that we’ve already seen come and go a hundred times. This time out we have a main character named James Trout, who like the title of the book eludes to, can’t die. He doesn’t know how this is possible, and even who he really is, and is barely introduced before the action of the book starts. Normally, I’d have no problem with that but the action is too cliched and the big bad, a genetics company, is just blah and uninteresting. The only saving grace was the art, which was nice. Ferreyra’s take on the undead and his faces and anatomy in general are all solid. Really though, Lazarus just doesn’t have much to offer.

Dave Farabee Read and Thought:

The 99 #1
Writer: Naif Al-Mutawa & Fabian Nicieza
Artist: John McCrea with Jason Dennis
Company: Teshkeel Comics

Reminding me of nothing so much as a Middle Eastern-tinged X-Men (or maybe Doom Patrol), The 99 opens with a solid, if undistinguished, first issue. The heroes of this world are just starting to appear, the conceit being that they’re drawing power from 99 mystical stones dating back to ancient Baghdad. A benevolent professorial type has gathered the first three (with more obviously to come), and he’s the Professor Xavier/Niles Caulder/Mohinder Suresh of the group. Given the somewhat exotic premise, it was disappointing to hear standard Marvel/DC jargon about “parahumans” being thrown in there, along with glimpses of costumes and more of the usual stuff to come. If you’re going to have Middle Eastern superheroes (or at least a Middle Eastern catalyst for their powers; one guy’s from St. Louis), why not really play that up? Why go so conventional? That said, as a conventional superhero set-up issue, The 99 isn’t bad. The characters are likeable, everyone gets to show of their powers a bit, and the art, while not McCrea’s strongest, is vibrant and tells the story well. I noticed some Bronze Age exposition creeping in, which grated my adult sensibilities, but would probably play just fine to a younger audience. I think if The 99 plays to that crowd - certainly underserved in general by the current market - the book has potential.

Sinbad: Rogue of Mars
Writer: Greg Thompson
Artist: Jeff “Chamba” Cruz
Company: Bluewater Comics

Sinbad: Rogue of Mars pretty much jumps into the action with no explanation of how Sinbad ended up on the red planet. On one level, I admire the audacity. Sinbad’s a prisoner being forced to battle in an alien gladiator arena, and that’s a standard enough action/adventure trope that it shouldn’t need much explaining. On the other hand, I missed a sense of context, a sense that Sinbad was truly out of his territory. Yeah, you see aliens, but practically speaking, they’re just fellow prisoners and cruel overseers. Sinbad getting to Mars actually seems like a story with more potential to me, but no biggie. The real hook here is the art, a lush, animation-influenced style that calls to mind both Disney and, occasionally, the exaggerations of the cult animated series Aeon Flux. It’s a good fit for Sinbad, marked by imaginatively designed characters, bold uses of perspective, and particularly expressive faces. On a more critical note, a few action sequences had some choppy storytelling and the coloring on the somewhat sparse backgrounds was a touch muddy. The net effect, though, is quite nice and easily the book’s greatest draw. I enjoyed the story, though, including Sinbad’s faith in Allah and the fact that the prophecy that anticipates him is apparently the creation of the bad guys, just to give their slaves enough hope to keep going. Pretty good work.

Dan Grendell Read and Thought:

Cory Doctorow’s Futuristic Tales of the Here and Now #1
Writer: Dara Naraghi
Artist: Esteve Polls
Publisher: IDW

The first of a series of done-in-one tales adapting Cory Doctorow’s short fiction (if you don’t know the name, he’s a blogger, sci-fi author, and co-editor of Boing Boing), this one’s titled Anda’s Game and deals with a teenage girl and her involvement with an all-girl gamer clan. She finds an outlet in an MMORPG a la World of Warcraft or Everquest, kicking ass with a clanmate for pay as a mercenary, until she discovers that the people she’s killing may have a bit more at stake than a night of fun. A thought-provoking story, with great looking visuals by Polls, and the usual high production quality from IDW make this one to check out.

Looking For Group #1
Writer: Ryan Sohmer
Artist: Lar deSouza
Publisher: Blind Ferret Entertainment

Collecting a well-known webcomic based loosely around the World of Warcraft MMORPG, Looking For Group focuses around a Blood Elf hunter, a Tauren warrior, an Undead warlock, and an Orc priestess who travel together causing mayhem and running from the human law. The group dynamic is interesting, as the Blood Elf is determined to be a valiant hero and the other three are bloodthirsty scumbags, especially the warlock. deSouza has a fun, clear cartooning style, and although the jokes are fairly straightforward and obvious, they tend to deliver. Not what I’d call a great humor book, but certainly a decent one.

Randy Lander Read and Thought:

Abyss #1 of 4
Writer: Kevin Rubio
Artist: Lucas Marangon
Company: Red 5 Comics

The creators of Tag and Bink, the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the Star Wars universe, seem like the perfect creative team for a comedic romp featuring the son of a super-villain. And indeed, Abyss #1 features several funny gags, an intriguingly jerky protagonist and some beautiful visuals that perfectly capture the majesty and the absurdity of super-villain life. The downside is, a lot of these gags have been done before, so it feels a touch predictable compared to the Tag & Bink work, and there’s a whole lot of time spent on setup this issue that probably should have been spent getting the story really rolling, especially since the basic nature of the gag could have been clearly laid out in about half the space given over. That said, Marangon’s art is almost worth the price alone, as his characters have the mugging for the “camera” of a well-trained comedic actor and his backgrounds (check out that two-page splash of the lair) are awash with fun details and little gags. And while Rubio’s plot moves slow, his character work is as exceptional as ever. A solid if sluggish first issue that will probably lead to a stronger story in the end.

Marvel Zombies 2 #1 of 5
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Sean Phillips
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Yeah, I know, I thought Marvel Zombies was all played out too… but you know what? This first issue is great. Kirkman has a clever development in the nature of the zombies to create a “Civil War” situation so it’s not just a cheap parody of Marvel’s big event, and his characters are strong enough to make the whole story more than a lightweight goof. It’s got a plot with believable stakes for the interesting characters at hand, and on that structure Kirkman hangs some of the most darkly funny zombie/superhero humor yet. I don’t even want to give away the big ones, but the use of a Marvel cosmic icon made me laugh out loud, the Hulk/Thanos “fight” is great and even Kirkman’s weird love for ’90s morts The Acolytes can’t ruin the fun vibe. Phillips impresses as always, it turns out the guy is at home drawing space adventure and gross zombie action as he is with the violence and strong character work he’s brought to books like Criminal. Not only good, but so good it has me wanting to revisit the original series. There’s life (or unlife) in these zombies yet, at least as long as the original creative team is covering them.

David Martindale Read and Thought:

Death of the New Gods #1 of 8
Writer: Jim Starlin
Artist: Jim Starlin
Publisher: DC Comics

For a book that consists primarily of dialogue and narration, Starlin does an admirable job of keeping up an entertaining story and pace with professionally adequate pencils as well. It’s a pretty decent little introduction to a murder mystery plot. Somebody’s killing off the New Gods, and Starlin has a very broad variety of characters trying to solve the mystery from Jimmy Olsen to Metron to Darkseid. Unfortunately despite everything this book has going for it, it is quite difficult to reconcile the quirky, fun Fourth World with the grisly murder mystery plot that the story revolves around. This could have been a significantly higher quality read if the DC editorial staff wasn’t so hell bent on making every story “dark” and realistic. A good murder mystery can be done in comics without killing the fun, but that’s not the case here.

The Sword #1
Storytellers: Joshua and Jonathan Luna
Publisher: Image Comics

This first issue does a very good job of introducing us to both the primary characters of the story and the basic idea of the book without giving too much away. It does what a first issue should always do; it leaves us wanting more. The writing is fairly strong as the arc builds steadily throughout the issue with a big payoff at the end. Especially with the surprise on the last page. The dialogue is strong giving each character an interesting and unique voice. Dara, the wheelchair bound college girl protagonist, is especially sympathetic. The Lunas do a great job of showing her as a young woman with difficulties arising from her handicap but not a character that the reader feels sorry for or pities. The art is average Luna brothers fare; no better and no worse than they usually deliver. Which is to say it is very strong in the storytelling department and above average in the emotiveness department. The frequent use of computer tricks to show movement and depth of focus can be distracting at times but not so much as to seriously hurt the book. A solid recommendation for most and a strong recommendation for fans of the Luna brothers.