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 Army Of Darkness Xena: Why Not #1, Power Pack Day One #1, Return of the Gremlins #1, Secret History Authority Jack Hawksmoor #1, Star Trek New Frontier #1, Transhuman #1, and Wolverine First Class #1.

Nick Budd Read and Thought:

Transhuman #1
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: JM Ringuet
Company: Image Comics

Jonathan Hickman, the man behind the books Nightly News and Pax Romana, offers up yet another romp in the form of Transhuman, a book that basically delivers a mockumentary portraying rival companies and their battles in the creation of superhuman genetic engineering. I’ve had a few issues with Hickman’s other books, mainly the dense and copious amounts of dialogue and exposition used that tend to feel like giant walls of text, but with Transhuman, he’s able to reign it in and by doing so, provides a much more entertaining experience. Still, even though the depictions of these money-hungry scientists looking to make a name for themselves is well worth the read, there isn’t a ton of stuff happening in the issue besides people talking. As for the art, Ringuet, someone that I’m not familiar with but reminds me a lot of Riley Rossmo’s work on Proof, does a fair job with the talking heads of the story, which is not always an easy thing to do. All in all, while not a perfect book, there is still much in Transhuman to enjoy.

Power Pack: Day One #1 of 4
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artists: Gurihiru & Colleen Coover
Company: Marvel Comics

Ever wanted to know the super secret origins of the Power Pack? If so, then sit back and get ready because you’ve found the book you’ve been looking for. As for the actual nuts and bolts of the story, the origin of the team is told when Franklin Richards spends the night at the Power house and feels a little left out of everything because he doesn’t have any powers. It’s a simple idea but Van Lente sells it perfectly. Beyond that, this book is a continuation of the Power Pack all ages series and continues to be a well constructed and fun tale that’s chock full of neat character moments and actual funny jokes. The art by Gurihiru is yet another thing that goes in the books pro column, as it’s a beautiful style to look at, mostly because of the expressiveness of the characters and the overall “lightning in a bottle” energy that it has. Coover’s back-up story, sort of like an Animaniac’s one-off that they usually played at the end of one of their cartoons, gives readers a better understanding of the gravity powers of Zero-G while providing several laughs as well. A light book for sure, but one that still was immensely enjoyable to read.

Dave Farabee Read and Thought:

Army of Darkness/Xena #1 of 4
Writer: John Layman
Artists: Miguel Montenegro
Company: Dynamite Entertainment

The title of this mini, “Why not?”, kind of sums it all up. In short, it’s a mash-up between the Bruce-Campbell-headlined Evil Dead movies and the Bruce-Campbell-was-a-frequent-guest-star Xena: Warrior Princess. The series immediately gloms onto the Bruce-synchronicity, and what comes of it is fun, if not particularly inspired. Sometimes licensed comics feel like they’re just built around a list of “greatest hits” moments from shows, so familiar characters do their things and say their catch phrases, but you too often end up wishing the books showed more of the innovation of the source material. Nevertheless, I suspect fans will get a kick out of this. The characters are pretty spot-on from what I remember, the dimension-hopping story fits both licenses, and Miguel Montenegro’s art is particularly exceptional. In short: if you look at the title and think “this might be for me”…it’s for you. If you don’t, it’s not. Simple!

Star Trek: New Frontier #1
Writer: Peter David
Artists: Stephen Thompson
Company: IDW Publishing

Stop with the time travel, Star Trek! For real. It’s beyond out of hand. That said, the first issue of the new series spinning out of Peter David’s popular New Frontier novels is a pretty good read. And the time travel is less the same ol’ same ol’ “must change the past!” than a specific consequence of a hijacking of a new starship powered by engines that warp time instead of space. The Trek “feel” is very right and, though I’ve never read any of David’s Trek novels, I liked what I saw of the cast. On the downside, there’s a definite sense that his book will appeal more to New Frontier readers, as introductions for the somewhat large ensemble come on the fly and many a conversation revolves around some past adventure or another. I found that distancing, but not so much so that I won’t be reading the next issue. I definitely enjoyed Stephen Thompson’s art, some of the best Trek art to date from IDW, with both strong character work and excellent starship designs. I’d says “definite read” for New Frontier fans, “worth a look” for more casual Trekkies.

Dan Grendell Read and Thought:

Return of the Gremlins #1 (of 3)
Writer: Mike Richardson
Artists: Dean Yeagle and Nelson Rhodes
Company: Dark Horse Comics

Now this is some old-school comics fun. Author Roald Dahl wrote a novel about these guys in the early Forties, and Walt Disney adapted the story to comics a few years later. One of those early Disney Gremlins stories is reprinted as a backup in this issue. The basic idea is that RAF planes were under assault by Gremlins during World War II in revenge for cutting down their forests until a pilot promised them a forest all their own after the war. The story picks up in modern times, with the grandson of the pilot, who has inherited his property, planning to sell it and meeting the Gremlins for the first time. Richardson has a good grasp of the feel of the Gremlins material, Yeagle and Rhodes have a very animated, fitting style, and the overall effect feels very much like it belongs. A good all-ages read, for sure.

Randy Lander Read and Thought:

Secret History of The Authority: Hawksmoor #1 of 6
Writer: Mike Costa
Artist: Fiona Staples
Company: DC/Wildstorm

To me The Authority, as a concept, is well past its sell-by date, and the constant attempts to re-invent it tend to have all the charm of exhuming a corpse, dressing it up and trying to pass it off as your date. So my expectations were low for this miniseries, and the opening, a by-now familiar take on the team blasting away at some kind of god-level supervillain, lived down to them. However, once that opening goes away and Costa and Staples delve into the flashback of a pre-Authority Hawksmoor helpin the Golden Gate Bridge battle a giant mecha, the book actually turns interesting again. Costa has a fun take on Hawskmoor’s unique power-set, and Staples’ artwork, while occasionally sketchy, has an unusual style and beautiful color work. This was a bit of a surprise… my interest in these characters has long since faded, but if you’ve still got any love for The Authority, specifically Jack Hawksmoor, this issue is worth a look.

Wolverine: First Class #1
Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Andrea Di Vito
Company: Marvel Comics

Given the X-Men: First Class love around these parts, calling this new book about the early days of the Wolverine/Kitty Pryde team-up “First Class” is setting the bar rather high. Fortunately, Van Lente, Di Vito and the rest clear that bar pretty easily. Van Lente hits some of the highs of the Claremont era X-Men, including a friendly sports game that serves to introduce all the characters and their powers, Wolverine as rough around the edges outsider and Kitty Pryde as the incarnation of the young potential of X-Men of the future. The interaction between Kitty and Wolverine on this first mission, thrown together by Xavier despite Wolverine’s objections, has a good plot device to bring them together, lets Kitty show off her sass without losing the innocent vibe she had early on and lets Wolverine seem dangerous without just being a jerk. And Di Vito, whose work wowed me on The Thing, produces art, along with colorist Laura Villari, that has plenty of detail, great storytelling and a general vibe that resonates in all the right ways with what Roger Cruz is up to over on X-Men: First Class. Basically, if you like X-Men: First Class, you’re going to like this.