Wednesday Number Ones 11/29/07
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 Archibald Saves Christmas #1, Dan Dare #1, Dock Walloper #1, Gargoyles Bad Guys #1, Marvel Atlas #1, Mercenaries #1, and Zombie Simon Garth #1
Nick Budd Read and Thought:
Mercenaries #1
Writer: Brian Reed
Artist: Edgar Salazar
Company: Dynamite Entertainment
Comic books that are based on video games are a tough lot, if you ask me. Outside of the occasional moment or two, they don’t register as much of anything and very rarely do they ever produce something that transcends its source material and becomes its own thing. With Mercenaries, it seems as if the tradition of average storytelling continues. Brian Reed, one of the guys who is behind the story in the upcoming game Mercenaries 2, offers up a bland little one note wonder that stars a group of guns for hire who will do anything for anyone as long as the money is good. This time out, their mission is to retrieve vital information from a Chinese military installation. Oddly enough, things don’t go as smoothly as they thought and the mission takes a couple of wrong turns. Nothing about the story stands out and Reed’s dialogue feels like Bendis-light, which at times feels a little wonky. The one thing that does stand out though is the art, which is on par with much of what’s been done in the current G.I. Joe books. Salazar’s pencils are quite good and his action is very fluid and realized. Overall though, this one was weak and outside of fans of the games, there isn’t enough here to make you want to come back for more.
Dave Farabee Read and Thought:
Dock Walloper #1
Writer: Ed Burns & Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Siju Thomas
Company: Virgin Comics
Kind of an interesting read here. Writer/director Ed Burns makes no bones about the fact that the Dock Walloper comic is essentially a stage in developing a feature film he hopes to direct. But for all that that makes me wary, the craft on the thing is actually pretty good. Credit goes to co-writer/scripter Jimmy Palmiotti, longtime comics pro and the guy behind the very lively depiction of the book’s Prohibition-era New York. Gangster stories are old hat, of course, but with the right colorful dialogue, everything old can be new again. What threw me a bit was the book’s unsure tone. The story follows two out-of-work pals of flexible morals - one a brawler with a freakishly large hand and super-strength, the other a bespectacled black man with…well, nothing unusual about him. There are several more larger-than-life elements scattered throughout, from a zombie-ish resurrection to a Dick Tracy-style villain, but they’re an odd mix with the book’s general gangster-realism. There are even one or two moments of slapsticky comedy, seemingly out of nowhere. Definitely feels like the tone needs more internal consistency, but for the moment-to-moment writing and Siju Thomas’s strong art, I’d still suggest giving this a look if you’ve got a mob jones.
Dan Dare #1
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Gary Erskine
Company: Virgin Comics
From what I’ve gathered, the original Dan Dare was something like the British Buck Rogers, created in the 50s and around in one incarnation or another ever since. Publisher Virgin Comics is clearly aiming at a more progressive take in bringing in Garth Ennis to revive the series; think “Battlestar Galactica makeover.” I don’t have any point of comparison between Ennis’s take and the original, but I will say this first issue seems deliberately paced to stifle anything approaching a space opera vibe. It feels more like Ennis’s war stories, where good-hearted soldiers put their lives on the line while their bureaucratic bosses are shown to be heartless douchebags. And it all feels a little old hat if you know Ennis. There’s the usual conversational approach, the usual pervasive cynicism, the usual “one good man.” He even breaks out the American/Chinese mutual destruction he’s used before in Punisher: The End. On the other hand, I can’t say enough good things about Gary Erskine’s meticulously detailed art. I just wish it was in service to a more lively story.
Dan Grendell Read and Thought:
Marvel Atlas #1 (of 2)
Writers: Michael Hoskin, Anthony Flamini, Eric J. Moreels, and Stuart Vandal
Cartographer: Eliot R. Brown
Company: Marvel Comics
I wasn’t sure what to expect from a book like this. Would it be a bunch of maps, or more of an in-depth listing, or what? Where would the focus lie? I was pleasantly surprised to find the book laid out in OHOTMU fashion, with each nation being given its own entry. A map giving the nation’s location on the globe kicks each entry off, and is followed by a dizzying array of facts, both mundane (such as population and capital city) and strange (such as extraterrestrial relations and domestic superhumans). This issue covers Europe and Asia, and includes countries invented by Marvel and ones that exist in the real world. The compilers have been extremely thorough with the invented nations, even including Slorenia, a nation whose entire population was killed and which is populated only by the murderous Bloodwraith. They were less so with real countries, including Spain but not Portugal, for example, and Sweden and Norway but not Finland. There’s spot art throughout the book and very cool Eliot R. Brown maps of places like Muir Isle, Mount Wundagore, Doomstadt, and Olympia, but I would have liked to see more close up maps of the nations themselves. Even so, this is a great book for fact junkies like myself, and will provide hours of entertaining reading.
Randy Lander Read and Thought:
Gargoyles: Bad Guys #1
Writer: Greg Weisman
Artist: Karine Charlebois
Company: Slave Labor Graphics
My fondness for Gargoyles extends to “yeah, I saw a couple episodes, it was kind of okay,” so I can’t tell you whether or not the villains in this spinoff are important Gargoyles villains or also-ran third-raters. Based only on the story here, I’d guess the latter. It’s a strange book, as it reads a lot like Tick-style parody, but I can’t quite tell if we’re meant to be reading it straight. It’s not quite funny enough to work as parody, and it’s painfully familiar for standard superhero stuff. The artwork by Charlebois is adequate but not much more, aiming for the simplicity and clean-line style of the animated look but instead looking more like a first-time artist who hasn’t learned to add a lot of detail or storytelling style, and the decision to go black and white doesn’t really help anybody. Basically, this looks like a perfectly decent, yet dull and familiar, little mini-comic. Which would be fine if it weren’t a tie-in to a licensed animated property, by which standards it looks shockingly amateurish.
The Zombie: Simon Garth #1 of 4
Writer/Artist: Kyle Hotz
Dialogue Assist: Eric Powell
Company: Marvel/MAX
The previous Marvel MAX Zombie series started off strong and rapidly lost my interest, and this is a sequel… of sorts. Honestly, it’s approachable even if you didn’t read the previous series, but that doesn’t mean it’s particularly engaging on its own. Hotz’s story is a whirlwind of sketchy characters and more or less pointless mayhem, and there’s nothing in this build-up to zombies running wild story that we haven’t seen in literally dozens of other zombie tales on film and in comics. While the story is unspectacular, though, the artwork is as beautiful as you’d expect, crazy detailed and gory stuff that calls to mind influences as diverse as Bernie Wrightson, Kelley Jones and even a touch of Art Adams. Hotz also does a really good job of making sure the names of each character are shown, either in dialogue or on unobtrusive visuals like the cop’s name badge, but unfortunately knowing their names isn’t enough characterization to make them interesting, and this winds up being a pretty, but kind of empty, read.
David Martindale Read and Thought:
Archibald Saves Christmas
Writer: Dwight L. Macpherson
Artist: Grant Bond
Publisher: Image Comics/Shadowline
The Shadowline imprint seems to be a near guarantee of mediocrity or worse, and this title is no exception to the rule. Very little about it even makes sense, from the murder mystery’s reveal all the way to the title of the book itself. Not only does the identity of the killer come completely out of left field, with no ties to any clues or foreshadowing, but Archibald does not save Christmas in any fashion whatsoever. The entire concept behind the book seems to rest on making cartoon characters drink, swear, and murder. Merely writing a story based on irreverence, Macpherson fails to bring anything worthwhile to Archibald Saves Christmas. To top it all of, the choice to use black and white with splashes of red for blood feels incredibly sensationalist and derivative. Grant Bond’s cartooning style has a small bit of promise to it, but in no way does it prevent this book from being one of the worst books from a major publisher that I have read in quite some time.
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Man, it’s a pretty suck week in number 1s…
29 Nov 2007 at 3:44 pm
QuoteI don’t like getting off track here on the subject of #1’s, but I was wondering if someone could help me with my latest passion, collecting comic book based movies. I now have in my collection the x-men & spider-man trilogies, daredevil, elektra, hulk, both fantastic four’s, 300, all the superman’s & all the batman’s. What else has been released, including independent comics? Any help would be appreciated.
Regards
29 Nov 2007 at 5:16 pm
QuotePunisher (Both the Dolph Lundgren and Tom Jane ones), Hellboy, Swamp Thing (not sure if it’s ever been released on DVD), Ghost Rider, V for Vendetta, Judge Dredd, Road to Perdition…I’m sure there are others but I’m blanking at the moment. Hope that helps ya.
29 Nov 2007 at 6:20 pm
QuoteI’m wanting to pick up Dan Dare. I’m English so I feel compelled.
Anyway, for the randomly off topic movie guy…. check these out:
From Hell
A History of Violence
Road to Perdition
Ghost World
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The Punisher (both versions)
29 Nov 2007 at 6:25 pm
Quoteboy this is a super depressing list. I completely understand that you have to react to what is there and that it is important to do so honestly, however including some recommendations as well would be nice.
29 Nov 2007 at 7:17 pm
QuoteMarvel should totally invent a new cosmic character, called “Ohotmu”, who is kind of the cosmic librarian/historian of the universe.
29 Nov 2007 at 7:51 pm
QuoteOK, I am so behind Ohatmu and the Cosmic Library. As long as his design looks like something Kirby did.
I can imagine him getting together for poker nights with the Watcher and the Monitor (the original, not all 52 new ones…).
And did no one mention Sin City in the lists above? Or Constantine? And though I cringe to mention it, what about Howard the Duck?
29 Nov 2007 at 8:16 pm
QuoteSorry, Colin. You know what they say: “Some weeks you get the bear, some weeks the bear gets you.”
And some weeks, the bear is a shit-ton of weak first issues.
29 Nov 2007 at 8:29 pm
Quotefor the comic book movie man. google and wikipedia shall never fail! kinda some surprises on there too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_English-language_comics
29 Nov 2007 at 8:45 pm
QuoteI love that idea. It seems like the sort of thing Dan Slott would come up with.
29 Nov 2007 at 9:38 pm
QuoteGruenwald gave one of the Watchers the name Otmu in a Quasar book….that close enough? All he needs now is for someone to call him.
“Oh, Otmu…”
29 Nov 2007 at 9:56 pm
QuoteThanks Nick, John W & the Parttime for your help. The Wikepedia list is really awesome. I don’t think I can get every one of those though, too many, but I’ll try.
30 Nov 2007 at 12:15 am
QuoteI don’t see how Show ▼
makes “the identity of the killer come completely out of left field, with no ties to any clues or foreshadowing,” despite the last page putting even that into question. Please explain.
Considering Archibald is threatened with eviction if he doesn’t pay his rent by Christmas Eve, and by signing the contract with the movie studio he can pay his rent, I’d say that saves Christmas “in some fashion” (at least for him).
As for, “the choice to use black and white with splashes of red for blood feels incredibly sensationalist and derivative,” given the dearth of black, white and red comics, aside from a few Sin City and Grendel stories (not bad company), I don’t think this makes a case for calling it “derivative”, especially given Grant Bond’s vastly different, almost 3-dimensional, art style.
In fact, I can’t think of another comic that proves the art in ASC is “derivative” in general. If you can, please do, since I’d probably enjoy that too.
As for ASC being “sensationalist”, what else should a reader expect with a cover showing Santa just before he’s stabbed with a broken liquor bottle? If you said it was exploitive, in the way a grindhouse film is “exploitation cinema”, that would make more sense to me.
Perhaps if a superhero swooped in to save Santa at the last minute, you would have enjoyed ASC more.
For an “alternative point of view”, visit http://kryptographik.ning.com/
30 Nov 2007 at 6:56 am
QuoteJust so you know, I haven’t read the book, so I can’t argue the specifics, and certainly I don’t have a problem with someone challenging a review, but…
This assumption that “if you didn’t like a comic I liked, it must be because you only read superheroes” is one of the biggest strawmen arguments you can put forth, and kinda kills your own credibility, at least for me.
30 Nov 2007 at 1:36 pm
QuoteMeh, to be perfectly honest, I just don’t care enough to defend my review. I’m glad that you got some enjoyment our of a book that I was unable to enjoy.
30 Nov 2007 at 2:25 pm
QuoteI never said “if you didn’t like a comic I liked, it must be because you only read superheroes.” Fabricating a straw man to discredit me says more about you than it does me.
Had I said “the hero” instead of “a superhero”, would you assume that I meant, “if you didn’t like a comic I liked, it must be because you only read heroes”?
Arguably, there are no “heroes” in ASC, so while you could have responded that way, my stating “the hero” wouldn’t have made sense.
This still doesn’t discredit the fact that there was a full page foreshadowing (almost telegraphing) the killer’s reveal, or my other comments.
30 Nov 2007 at 5:52 pm
QuoteGlad I wasn’t the only one bored by the first “Dan Dare” issue. Good art, yawner of a story … sigh!
30 Nov 2007 at 6:07 pm
QuoteIt’s odd that you don’t care enough to defend your position that this book is, in your opinion, “one of the worst books from a major publisher that (you’ve) read in some time.”
Perhaps it wasn’t really that bad.
30 Nov 2007 at 6:08 pm
QuotePerhaps I don’t have the time, energy, or inclination to get embroiled in an internet argument.
We’ve heard my opinion, and we’ve heard your opinion. Can we move on? Or does this have to go on until somebody “wins” the argument? If so, let me know where I can mail your gold star just so we can be done with this.
30 Nov 2007 at 7:18 pm
QuoteNo. But that’s not what you said. What you said was “Perhaps if a superhero swooped in to save Santa at the last minute, you would have enjoyed ASC more.”
What I took away from that (quite reasonably, I think) is that you were saying you thought D3’s reason for not liking the book was that there weren’t any superheroes in it. The “he didn’t like this alternative book, he must only read superhero comics” is a common enough swipe on the Internet that I jumped to that conclusion. My apologies.
Your clarification leads me to believe that this was wrong, and that you instead meant something more general about there not being a traditional hero in the story. Of course, you’re still ascribing motives to someone based on uninformed supposition, but clearly it wasn’t meant as the low-blow insult I took it as.
And for the record, I wasn’t trying to “discredit” you. You just happened to hit one of my particular hot buttons by accident, and I responded. As I said, I can’t really respond to your other points… I haven’t read the book. I’m not even jumping in to defend another writer on the site in particular, I was more aiming to make the point that just because someone didn’t like a comic doesn’t mean they only read superheroes.
A point which, clearly, didn’t need to be made. And now I’ve spent three paragraphs explaining a position that is ultimately rendered more or less moot. Moving on, I suppose…
30 Nov 2007 at 7:39 pm
QuoteNot going to really argue with a reviewer here, just wanted to offer my take on Archibald Saves Christmas. I read it last night and have to say that it was one of the best books I have read in a long time!
The art was “dead on the money”! Bond delivers on this one HUGE!!
The art is perfect for the story! Bond is someone ANY writer would LOVE to work with on a project!
As far as the writing, it is an immensely well crafted story! I think the ending has a subtle hammer to it that if you aren’t careful, you will miss it.
The dialogue is “hands down” some of the best dialogue I have read in a book in a long while! As a writer, I focus on this when I read a book.
MacPherson delivers HUGE here! I think it’s his best work to date.
I strongly reccomend people to try this book!
03 Dec 2007 at 9:45 am
QuoteRead Gargoyles Bad Guys, and it’s hard to argue with you. But to the show’s rabid fans - myself and my wife and her closest friends included - it’s something we have longed to finally see. Yes, the villains are third-stringers, except perhaps for Dingo. And yes, the art is by a newbie - a fan made good, in fact. But we don’t care. Problem is, this makes the typical DC comic seem new reader friendly.
As for the quality, this isn’t really a Disney comic. This is Greg Weisman having convinced Disney to let him play with the property on the cheap. I personally don’t mind. Greg is one of my all time favorite comic book writers - the script very much in the style of his run on Captain Atom. And it it’s a little clumsy, I will take that and take seeing this long planned spinoff. (This was the first of many spinoff ideas Greg created, and the one that was closest to fruition in his Disney days.)
03 Dec 2007 at 6:49 pm
QuoteNEWS!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Susan Koller, Publicity Director
PH: (937) 388-0088
FX: (937) 388-0089
E-mail: info@checkerbpg.com
The wait is over!
New books being shipped from Checker Book Publishing Group
Dayton, Ohio- Checker Book Publishing Group is excited to announce that some of our great new titles from our highly anticipated fall 2007 lineup began being shipped by Diamond Comic Distributors the week of October15th. The shipment contained of the following titles:
Dream of the Rarebit Fiend: The Saturdays JUN073373
This oversized volume collects in a softcover edition for the first time McCay’s groundbreaking Saturday strips from March 1904-October 1911. These were wild, imaginative fantasy strips, with no recurring characters, which featured the protagonists having a dream caused by eating “rarebit”. Each cartoon is a self-contained and ended as the dreamer awoke from his or her nightmare. Checker’s new softcover edition of Dream of the Rarebit Fiend makes this collection available to the book trade and collectors since the very limited edition hardcover edition was released only to comic book stores, and just as quickly sold out, in 2006.
Dream of the Rarebit Fiend: The Saturdays Winsor McCay, Writer/Illustrator
$19.95, ISBN –10 1-933160-65-9, ISBN-13 978-1-933160-65-8, 200 pages, full color,
Winsor McCay: Early Works Vol. 9 JUL063019
Winsor McCay’s art shouts from rooftops of the great architecture of modernist America. A triple dose of “Dream of the Rarebit Fiend” Saturdays, weekdays, and a color section. .Also more scathing editorial works and extremely rare illustrations from “Temperance- or Prohibition”
Winsor McCay: Early Works Vol. 9 Winsor McCay, Writer/Illustrator
$19.95, ISBN –10 1-933160-07-1 ISBN-13 978-1-933160-07-8, 200 pages
Scion- Volume 6: Royal Wedding: JAN073489
The great war between the Heron Dynasty and the Raven Dynasty is quelled by the marriage of Ylena, daughter of Heron King Dane, and the malevolent Bron of the Raven Dynasty. This edition includes the issues 34-39 of the original series.
Scion- Volume 6: Royal Wedding Writer, Ron Marz; Illustrator, Jimmy Cheung
$17.95, ISBN-10 1-933160-60-8 ISBN-13 978-1-933160-60-3, 172 pages, full color, glossy paper stock and
Way of The Rat, V 3 : Haunted Zhumar FEB073297
Trapped in Old Mother’s house by an army of evil ghosts, things get bad for Boon and Po Po thanks to arrival of Kung Kung Yi. Who is this powerful spirit and why do the undead fear him? This edition collects issues 13-18 of the original series
Way of The Rat, V 3 : Haunted Zhumar Writer ,Chuck Dixon; Illustrator, Jeff Johnson
$17.95, ISBN -10 1-933160-59-4, ISBN-13 978-1-933160-59-7 172 pages, full color, glossy paper stock
Sigil Vol. 5 Death Match MAR073294
The next galactic graphic novel IS HERE! Humanity’s last hope for survival is a grizzled mercenary. To save us all, Samandahl Rey must face the mighty Suarian Weapon master, but what will Sam be forced to unleash to achieve his victory? This edition collects issues 27-32 of the series.
Sigil Vol. 5 Death Match Writer, Chuck Dixon; Illustrator, Scott Eaton
$17.95, ISBN –10 1-933160-58-6, ISBN-13 978-1-933160-58-0, 172 pages, full color, glossy paper stock
Flash Gordon Volume 1 MAR042360
Attention all Flash Gordon and sci-fi fans! This is your lucky day. Checker is printing this book for the third time. This full color first volume of Alex has already sold thousands and thousands of copies. Because of its popularity, it is extremely hard to keep this title in stock. Due to the fact that the new Flash Gordon smash hit television series on the Sci-Fi Channel will create a whole new generation of Flash Gordon fans, Checker has decided to bring the title back. The reprint copies are going fast, so get yours now.
Flash Gordon Vol. 1 Alex Raymond. Writer/Illustrator
$19.95, ISBN10 0-9741664-3-X ISBN-13 978-0-974166-43-8, 96 pages, color pager
Growingold with BC; A 50 Year Celebration JUN073372
This fall Checker Book Publishing marks the upcoming 50th anniversary of an American cartoon icon: B.C. by Johnny Hart!! We will are proud to present the VERY BEST collection of BC, strips chosen by Johnny Hart prior to his death in April 2007, in a collection which celebrates the half- century love affair America has with the introspective caveman community. Featuring rare and never before published concept art for the strip and a compendium of each individual decade, the GrowinGold With BC: A 50 Year Celebration edition collects the Reuben award winning strip more comprehensively than ever before. Thor, Wiley, Ida and of course BC himself are all here in one hilarious birthday party for one of America’s most enduring comic strips. The collection features special artwork drawn by Johnny Hart for this edition prior to his passing.
Growingold with BC A 50 Year Celebration Johnny Hart. Writer/Illustrator
$19.95, ISBN-13: 978-1-933160-68-9 ISBN-10: 1-933160-68-3, 200 pages, black and white
Checker Book Publishing Group was established in 2000 to bring the absolute best of dormant, unpublished, and under-published serial comics and cartooning back to print. A private concern, Checker compiles complete, durable and affordable cartoon trade books for sale to such comic shops, bookstores and libraries as may require them for resale or public archiving. Checker Book Publishing Group is located in Dayton, Ohio.
For more information concerning this and other Checker titles, feel free to drop by our website at: http://www.checkerbpg.com.
05 Dec 2007 at 11:13 am
Quotefinally someone sees the light!
“Grant Bond’s cartooning style has a small bit of promise to it.”
22 Dec 2007 at 2:48 am
Quote