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 Cable #1, Dark Tower: The Long Road Home #1 of 5, DC Special Raven #1, Dead Space #1, Justice League The New Frontier Special One Shot, Logan #1, New Dynamix #1, Sisterhood #1, Terry Moore’s Echo #1, and Young Liars #1.

Nick Budd Read and Thought:

Dark Tower: The Long Road Home #1 of 5
Writers: Peter David & Robin Furth
Artist: Jae Lee
Company: Marvel Comics

First things first, if you’re already a die-hard fan of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series and have read Marvel’s initial seven issue series, then you’re more than likely going to want to pick this book up. If you’re not or didn’t, getting into the story provided here may prove a tad difficult, as it essentially picks up right where the last one left off and deals with many of the same characters. Barring that, the book itself is a fairly strong offering, especially on the writing front. David and Furth continue to impress with their continuation of young Roland Deschain and the merry members of his Ka-Tet’s battle against the forces of evil. It’s action packed, creepy and feels perfectly instep with King’s books. What’s more interesting, and probably the biggest draw for returning fans of the series, is that most of what happens in The Long Road Home is new material. As for Jae Lee’s art, it’s not as strong as it has been. There is some good design work going on, characters that exude coolness like there’s no tomorrow, but the backgrounds are extremely limited, making it sometimes seem that the characters are just floating on the page. Not perfect by any means but it’s still nice to see the book’s characters and stories expanded upon.

Young Liars #1
Writer/Artist: David Lapham
Company: Vertigo

Let me preface this review by saying that my knowledge of David Lapham’s books is rather limited. Really, the only one that I know for sure that I’ve read is the more recent Terror Inc. mini, which was okay but not great. I’m told that Stray Bullets is something that I should read, which after reading the first issue of Young Liars, I can easily see. Still, YL doesn’t exactly start off with much of a bang. It’s quirky and darkly funny, sort of like a Coen Brothers or Danny Devito film, but it seems to be missing something in its depiction of life on the wild side in New York City. What that something is, I can’t quite pin down though. The book’s strongest point happens to be Lapham’s ability to create characters that are actually enjoyable to read. Danny Noonan and Sadie Dawkins, the main characters of the book, are human and interesting and have true voices that resonate perfectly. Lapham’s art is also strong, helped out by the luscious colors of Lee Loughride. His New York City is definitely alive and full of character, and actually does feel real. That’s something that’s rare to see. All in all, despite starting slow, I’ll be checking back it next issue to see what happens next.

Dave Farabee Read and Thought:

Justice League: The New Frontier Special #1
Writer: Darwyn Cooke
Artist: Darwyn Cooke, J. Bone & David Bullock
Publisher: DC Comics

Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier series was easily one of the most inspired DC stories of the last decade, beautifully drawn and steeped in Cold War cool. That said, I had a few issues with the series’ tonal dissonance, and the New Frontier Special strikes me similarly. Kicking off with a sly intro to the reader from Rip Hunter, the issue’s composed of three stories and some swanky back-up pages spotlighting the making of the New Frontier animated movie. The first story’s a lost chapter from New Frontier revealing what led to the staged fight between Batman and Superman. I was disappointed that, while Cooke seems to want to champion Superman, in the end this still comes off as the umpteenth story where Batman kicks Superman’s ass. Next comes a definite winner: a lighthearted but cool team-up between Robin and Kid Flash to foil some saboteurs masquerading as a hot rod gang. Lastly, a maybe-too-goofy tale of Wonder Woman trying to spread a little women’s lib with Black Canary along for the ride. It goes without saying that this is a must-have for anyone who owns The New Frontier or digs Cooke’s art, but keep the expectations modest.

Echo #1
Writer/Artist:Terry Moore
Publisher: Abstract Studio

This is Terry Moore’s immediate follow-up to the breakout indie hit Strangers in Paradise, and as first issue’s go it’s pretty “meh.” A good half of the book is spent on an action sequence with a flying mech suit and jet fighters putting it through its paces, and unfortunately it doesn’t play to Moore’s strengths. I’m reminded that his artwork, which always shines on character work, can come off as surprisingly amateurish when it comes to backgrounds and depicting hi-tech stuff (like jets). It also feels like he needs to incorporate more spotted black areas to give the artwork depth and avoid pages that are just seas of white. After the action sequence we move to a California national park where we see the literal fallout of the testing and finally get to some character stuff, though not a lot of it - this is very much a set-up issue. A likeable park ranger butts heads with some military types and a woman (presumably the lead character) encounters remnants of the technology testing sure to change her world. Mostly it felt like Luna Brothers territory, though it felt like Moore wasn’t offering up near the hook they do in their first issues. Hopefully subsequent issues will play out better.

Dan Grendell Read and Thought:

The New Dynamix #1 (of 5)
Writer:Allen Warner
Artist: JJ Kirby
Publisher: Wildstorm/DC

Apparently, Wildstorm has decided that one way to generate more interest in their universe is to bring back older characters. That’s a legitimate idea. Unfortunately, the ones they bring back aren’t exactly winners (I suppose if they were, they would be in an existing series). The story here is that of the hundreds of super-powered beings in the WSU, there are only some 59 known to be active anymore. New hero Love Rocket (yeah, I laughed too, but whatever) spends her time between saving lives trying to find the missing or hiding SPBs, teaming with SWord (last seen in the mid-90s, I think, during the Fire From Heaven crossover). She’s old friends with Omni, who calls himself Black Halo now (because black heroes need the word black in their name, I guess), and he and his roommate Gramalkin come out of retirement to fight the good fight again. Kirby’s art was a bit cartoonish for my tastes here, but his backgrounds look very good, and his faces are strong. Warner’s writing is decent, but the story just didn’t grab my interest and I didn’t find the characters engaging. For a floundering universe, this seems like an odd publishing choice.

The Sisterhood #1 (of 3)
Writers:Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski
Artist: Wellington Alves
Publisher: Archaia Studios Press

This could have been a Top Cow book. It feels like a weird fit at Archaia. The premise is that there is an order of warrior nuns, excommunicated from the Catholic church for their actions, who travel the Earth and use magic to exorcise demons. Said demons are drawn into the exorcist and trapped, to be destroyed if their captor dies a natural death and set free if she dies a violent one. When one of the Order’s hidden sanctuaries is attacked and a group of retired exorcists murdered, Sister Eden Parish is sent to hunt down the killers and find out why. She’s a bad-ass sword-wielding, gun-toting hottie nun with an attitude. Golden and Snigoski have a fairly interesting premise, but I just can’t bring myself to care about an idea as trite as sexy nuns with guns. Alves turns in his usual strong artwork, including a panel of a room full of nuns in a cafeteria eating that must have sucked to draw. This isn’t a bad book at all; it just wasn’t exactly good, either.

Randy Lander Read and Thought:

Cable #1
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist: Ariel Olivetti
Company: Marvel Comics

I’ve never been a huge Cable fan, but his new role in the post-Messiah Complex X-Men, as a soldier on the run protecting a baby who will grow up to be the savior of the mutant race, is a good one. It feels like it’s drawing on Terminator and Lone Wolf and Cub, good inspirations both, and Swierczynski’s crime novel writing chops serve him well in writing up a memorable action sequence of Cable taking on three would-be muggers in this issue. We’re also deep into Cable’s head, so that we see more than just the laconic badass exterior, which is key to making him a sympathetic character. And the antagonist, revealed at the close of the issue, is a perfect choice. All told, it’s a promising first issue. There are just a couple minor worrisome elements. One is that the pacing is kind of slow, and so a few key elements of the premise (like why a post-apocalyptic future is a better place to be on the run than a modern world that has milk, diapers and other necessities easily accessible) are left out, and while the action sequences are good, the issue is actually a bit slight in terms of actual plot and character development. The other is that Ariel Olivetti, while not a bad artist, seems a weird fit for Swierczynski’s gritty take on the character. Olivetti’s work is over-exaggerated and air-brushed pretty, particularly his over-muscled and bulky Cable and adversary, and it’s kind of like what might happen if you had Ed McGuinness drawing 100 Bullets. Sure, the art looks nice, but it doesn’t really seem to fit the tone.

DC Special: Raven #1 of 5
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artists: Damion Scott & Robert Campanella
Company: DC Comics

I should probably start this review by revealing that I never liked Raven. I didn’t hate her like I did Jericho (seriously, that guy’s best moment was when Deathstroke shoved a sword through his chest), but I never really liked the character, who was angsty and emo before emo had been coined as a term. So this mini had an uphill battle with me from the start, but the book that the creators delivered isn’t likely to win over Raven fans any more than it’s going to convert non-fans like myself. Scott’s artwork can work in some contexts, but here, especially with Sigmund Torre’s oppressively heavy colors, it’s mostly a jumble, a brightly colored mess of cartoony expressions and exaggerations in a book that wants to be dark and moody. The art completely undercuts the tone that Wolfman is going for, which is one problem. The other is that Wolfman’s story doesn’t have much to offer, either. Raven isn’t really given much of a personality beyond her dull angst about her dark side (which we’ve been seeing for roughly 20 years), the high school stuff is likewise pretty rote and the big reveal of a DC artifact being used by a misguided scientist doesn’t have the requisite “oh, cool” or even “oh, crap” power that Wolfman clearly thought it did. Just a boring, misguided, ugly-looking first issue all around.

Dead Space #1 of 6
Writer: Antony Johnston
Artist: Ben Templesmith
Company: Image Comics

I feel confident in saying that if you’ve liked anything Johnston or Templesmith have done in the past, you’re going to dig Dead Space. Combining Johnston’s gift for interesting characters and creepy building suspense and Templesmith’s moody artwork to create a story of an alien artifact discovered on a remote space mining colony, and the religious strife that erupts as result, makes for a creepy little tale. There’s a great ensemble cast of characters, a thoroughly engaging version of a pop-cult religion with the “Marker-Heads” and a lot of terrific moments that effectively build the suspense and the sense of isolation and danger on the station. We don’t get a lot of really good sci-fi horror in comics - in fact, I can’t think of any off the top of my head - but Dead Space is a very promising sci-fi horror story.

Logan #1 of 3
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Eduardo Risso
Company: Marvel Comics

I still can’t quite bring myself to care about Wolverine. I just don’t have any interest left in the character. But if I did, this is the version I’d want to read. Vaughan’s story of a Logan in World War II-era Japan, encountering an American P.O.W. and a Japanese native, is a well-paced, character-based tale, and Risso really knocks it out of the park in terms of art. The sense of place is exceptional, whether it’s a P.O.W. camp, a forest, an isolated bridge or a small home by a field, and Dean White’s colors are beautiful, enhancing Risso’s art perhaps even better than Trish Mulvihill, the expert colorist on 100 Bullets. Vaughan’s characterization abilities come through as clear as ever, especially in the rough-hewn American P.O.W. Lieutenant Warren but also with his work on the brawler/soldier side of Wolverine.