Wednesday Number Ones 3/12/08
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 Avengers Fairy Tales #1, Gamekeeper Series 2 #1, Last Defenders #1, Lone Ranger And Tonto #1, Pogrom #1, Screamland #1, and Serenity Better Days #1.
Nick Budd Read and Thought:
The Lone Ranger and Tonto #1
Writer: Brett Matthews & John Abrams
Artist: Mario Guevara
Company: Dynamite Entertainment
While I haven’t checked in on the Lone Ranger series in awhile, I remember the first issue of the series being a surprisingly solid, nicely updated version of the core material. Lone Ranger and Tonto, a one shot that focuses on the grisly murders of a family on their way to a better life, is just as solid. The story, one that’s a tad dark, is reminiscent of many stories we’ve seen in other Western themed books and movies, but the straightforwardness of it and the overall way it’s handled, is refreshing. Brett Matthews obviously understands what makes the character of Lone Ranger tick, and conveys the heroism that he is supposed to embody perfectly. Guevara’s art however, is a little shaky. The sketchy qualities that his work has makes the action very eye appealing and fluid, but there are a few times when the proportions of his anatomy feel a bit out of control. Also, the coloring style that’s used seems to be hiding some of the better portions of his artwork. All in all, if you’ve been digging the series so far or are just in the mood for a good Western story, you should enjoy this one shot.
Dave Farabee Read and Thought:
Screamland #1 of 5
Writer: Harold Sipe
Artist: Hector Casanova
Company: Image Comics
Screamland is a spoof of Hollywood washout culture with the hook being that the washouts are the classic Universal Monsters - Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein, etc. If you watch Entourage , imagine Frankenstein going the way of Johnny Drama and you’ve got the first issue. And I found it to be…okay. Honestly, the concept seems pretty one-note to me and with Frankenstein coming off as an unlikeable boozer, I needed the script or the art to really carry this thing. The art’s actually pretty good, with a nice gestural quality and suitably gloomy watercoloring over it. The writing’s hit and miss though, generally too predictable and not quite funny enough to sell the novelty of the thing.
Serenity: Better Days #1 of 3
Writers: Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews
Artist: Will Conrad
Company: Dark Horse Comics
It’s safe to say that if you liked the previous Serenity miniseries, you’ll like this one. I’m not quite sure where it fits in continuity, but it’s definitely pre- the movie, so don’t expect any further developments for Kaylee/Simon and Mal/Inara. On the plus side, the whole crew’s still alive! I have to confess I was slightly disappointed that the story opened like the previous mini with a heist and a chase, but Whedon and Matthews throw in some fun twists and by the time we get to the character bits in the latter half I was pretty happy to be revisiting the ol’ band of scoundrels. As with the previous Serenity mini, a key draw is that the scripting for all your favorite characters is by and large spot on - even laugh-out-loud on occasion. Will Conrad’s art is once again a fine fit, as detailed as the best Star Wars comics and sporting strong likenesses of the cast, so it’s a visual winner too. All that plus a cliffhanger with lots of story opportunities means the Firefly property is still managing to thrive - even five years after cancellation.
Dan Grendell Read and Thought:
Avengers Fairy Tales #1 of 4
Writer: C. B. Cebulski
Artist: Joao Lemos
Company: Marvel Comics
The Fairy Tales minis, where various Marvel characters are placed in roles in familiar children’s tales, have been somewhat hit or miss for me, but this first Avengers issue was great. Placing Wanda as Wendy in Peter Pan, with Cap as Peter, the ’70s Avengers as the Lost Boys and Klaw as Hook, it’s a look at the effects of time on adults and children. Full of wonder and charm, the book reads a bit like a women’s empowerment story and a bit like a swashbuckling adventure. Lemos does a brilliant job on the art, with a style that has a very European feel, and Christina Strain shines on the colors, brining Lemos’ curves and minimalist lines to life. Overall, the effect is spectacular, and really drives the book. I was a bit annoyed to see Pietro essentially dissappear about a third of the way through, but that’s a minor issue. This is well worth checking out.
Game Keeper Series 2 #1
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artists: Ron Randall and Ron Chan
Company: Virgin Comics
I quite liked the first Game Keeper mini. That one was written by Andy Diggle, and had a pretty intense action movie feel to it. This one, by Jeff Parker, looks to be just as good, but with more of an espionage tone. Cool with me- both guys are top-notch writing talents, but it’s no surprise that they approach a scenario a bit differently. In this one, badass Brock isn’t getting revenge for the killing of the man he was living with. Instead, he’s watching over his daughter and wife as they try to bring the secret of cold fusion to the masses, the secret his friend was killed for. Most of this issue is devoted to setting up the opposition, a mercenary group dedicated to high-reward thefts, kidnappings, and assassinations. Smart and deadly, it’s gonna be an explosion when they meet Brock. Randall and Chan manage to make what’s essentially a lot of people talking for much of the issue interesting, and what action there is looks strong as well. I’m looking forward to more of this.
Randy Lander Read and Thought:
Last Defenders #1 of 6
Writers: Joe Casey & Keith Giffen
Artists: Jim Muniz & Cam Smith
Company: Marvel
If The Order is the best case scenario of what the 50-State Initiative could provide in terms of new superhero team comics, Last Defenders actually might be the worst. Actually, that might be too harsh, as Last Defenders isn’t a bad comic, it’s just a thoroughly mediocre one. The team put together here makes no sense, and attempting to frame it as Tony Stark putting together an inept team as some sort of high school level revenge just makes him look douche-y and the rest of the team look like idiots for falling into it. Casey and Giffen have both written smart, subversive and funny superhero comics, but Last Defenders has none of that. It’s obviously trying to be quirky and funny, but instead it’s mostly annoying, with Colossus coming off as naive and out of character (not to mention out of step with the current X-Men status quo, established less than a month ago) and Blazing Skull serving as the kind of “comic relief” so grating that you wish he’d get shot in the face. Diehard fans of these characters are going to be annoyed by their bland characterization and the cookie cutter plots, and I can’t imagine anyone who isn’t a diehard fan of one of these characters even bothering to pick the book up.
Pogrom #1 of 7
Writer: Matthew Tomao
Artist: Josh Medors
Company: Devil’s Due
Pogrom is, as best as I can tell, a story of the seven deadly sins taking human form and attempting to wipe out a Vatican-ruled Europe somewhere in the 2050s, and some kind of supenatural force opposing them. I say as best as I can tell because while Tomao has some interesting ideas here, they’re buried underneath layers of unclear art and storytelling, not to mention some of the most over-written purple prose I’ve ever seen, and by about the midway point I’d long since stopped caring. By the time I reached the end, I was mostly glad that it was over. Medors has done some solid art in the past on work with Steve Niles, but his storytelling here is awful… I think that the story was setting up seven different villains early on, but it looked for all the world like it was just setting up one. It’s damn near impossible to tell anyone apart, and actually impossible to find anyone to root for. If you’re a big fan of Spawn, but wish it could be just a little more incomprehensible, Pogrom might be up your alley.
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So- Serenity is worthy picking up then? I’ve been frightened by the series- it just doesn’t seem quite right compared with Firefly in the solicits, and I have yet to figure out why.
All the characters were in character, I assume, with Joss at the wheel?
12 Mar 2008 at 5:11 pm
QuoteI’m a huge Firefly/Serenity fan. I found the last miniseries to be so-so, but I’m so happy to have anything from this property that I’d pick up this series even if the middle 9 pages were nothing but wordless headshots of the main characters.
12 Mar 2008 at 5:35 pm
QuoteLike the Buffy comic, the action feels a bit “bigger” than the TV show - the whole unlimited budget of comics thing. And while that should be a draw, it’s also a bit of a barrier to get past because we’re just not used to the characters getting in high-speed chases on futuristic freeways (and so forth).
Definitely so. I meant to comment on that in the review, in fact, but somehow it didn’t make it in, so thanks for asking and reminding me. Don’t mind me if I sneak back and edit in a word or two about it, because it’s fairly key to the allure…
12 Mar 2008 at 5:38 pm
QuoteNOTE changed my name so anybody else who wants to be “Rob CAN
My friends WHAT is it about the name “DEFENDERS” that makes writters go all bwhahaha? The first series was a strange mix of characters doing stange things but I don’t remember a lot of overt comedy
12 Mar 2008 at 8:43 pm
QuoteSerenity was very good. Dave’s review is pretty much spot-on, as it does have a bit of repetitiveness going on in terms of plot, but the character stuff is great, and the action is fun to watch.
The best thing, though, is the letter column, which reveals that Whedon and Ron Glass are working on a Sheperd Book comic. Since I felt that Book never really got his due, and I really wanted to learn more about him, this sounds great to me.
12 Mar 2008 at 8:58 pm
QuoteSo Dan, would you say that Avengers Fairy Tales is like Lost Girls without the pedophilia?
12 Mar 2008 at 9:01 pm
Quote12 Mar 2008 at 9:38 pm
QuoteRock. ON!
I didn’t read the letters, so that’s news to me. Damn good news.
Book was so awesome that one of the underlying criticisms I’ve always had of Serenity was his fate.
12 Mar 2008 at 10:40 pm
QuoteY’know, you people are going to have to create your own damn .sig files instead of getting Dan to say wacky things for you.
12 Mar 2008 at 10:44 pm
QuoteBring more bling!
12 Mar 2008 at 10:58 pm
QuoteSad to hear about the Defenders. I like Casey and Giffen and the characters. I will see how this progresses though, because I was only planning on getting it in trade anyway.
13 Mar 2008 at 1:59 am
QuoteOK- a Book mini, with Glass also writing? That’s just cool. Thanks for allaying my fears about the comic- it shall be gotten on my next trip in!
13 Mar 2008 at 5:40 am
QuoteGameKeeper series 1 was good, eh? I did get the first ish and meant to follow up on reviews and look into getting the collection. So, you guys wanna do the work for me and do a Virigin Comics review? They got a dozen trades out by now, right? I feel like I should be getting that Gaydos art on “Snake Woman”. And I like the art on a lot of the books, actually (I picked up “Shadow Hunter” yesterday, that art is WOW). Kinda would like more information on the storytelling tho. And I haven’t been following, so I don’t know how they are numbering/ ordering their books.. cause Snake Woman seems to have appeared with a subtitle.. Ramadayan got “reloaded”. And they are doing series 2 for most of their books now. I suppose I should expect a Hellboy like structure from them? Which I am very much ok with, just want to know what to expect.
I’m a sucker for Whedon, but I am going to wait for trade on the new Serenity book.
13 Mar 2008 at 8:03 am
QuoteA Shepherd Book tale? It’s about time.
13 Mar 2008 at 9:27 am
QuoteWow, Randy, I think you’re almost painfully right on about the new Defenders comic. Casey and Giffen should be able to each do better than this in their sleep. I don’t know what it is about the title, but no one’s been able to do anything right with any incarnation of the Defenders since, like, 1978 or so (my own humble opinion) — even Giffen’s last outing, with former JLI pals DeMatteis and Maguire, came off as forced and mediocre and pretty unfunny. I agree with everything you said here about the set-up (pretty nonsensical), the plot (*random-ness!!*: the Brothers Grimm are doing what, and why? Krang is here for some reason doing what…? Yandroth…huh?), and the, uh, “characterization” (Nighthawk and She-Hulk don’t fare too badly, but Colossus is not the guy fresh off the ASTONISHING run, and the Blazing Skull is just awful — not funny, not interesting, not even really all that believable as a person!). I even thought the art was kind of lame (all the male cast members look like they’ve been sitting on the couch with Peg Bundy and eating bon-bons for a few months — why are they all so thick through the middle?). I absolutely loved DEFENDERS as a kid in the 70’s, but for me, this was as un-Defenders-y as the Bendis-penned Avengers stuff is un-Avengers-y. I quit all Bendis Avengers material after “Disassembled,” and while this wasn’t as bad as that, I have to still add it to the reject pile. Keith Giffen, this makes me sad…
13 Mar 2008 at 9:35 am
Quoteand the, uh, “characterization” (Nighthawk and She-Hulk don’t fare too badly, but Colossus is not the guy fresh off the ASTONISHING run, and the Blazing Skull is just awful — not funny, not interesting, not even really all that believable as a person!).
In the Blazing Skull’s defense, he’s not really a person, he’s a flaming skeleton.
It sure seems like a $#!tty week for number ones.
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“Buffy, it’s like prison sex without the rape.” - Dan Grendell.
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13 Mar 2008 at 1:22 pm
Quotein fairness blazing Skull was not around for 63 years and was then drafted into “new invaders That would sour ANYBODY on anything
13 Mar 2008 at 3:34 pm
QuoteI tried all of Virgin’s stuff as it launched, but most of it just didn’t click with me. Sadhu was quite good at first, but I just lost interest after awhile. Snakewoman was pretty but just kind of empty.The various books about the Hindu gods were interesting but very tough to slog through. Of all the launches, Gamekeeper was easily my favorite.
13 Mar 2008 at 3:49 pm
QuoteI thought the Serenity book was spot on. It helps that Whedon was involved as you can clearly hear the actors saying those lines. I think the opening, while not unlike the first one was, at times, not unlike the series. They were often running from someone to somewhere. As for when it is, it looks to be right after the show and well before the first mini-series since all cast members are on board.
Color me sad about Defenders. I liked the Giffen/Dematties version of it recently but I am whore for their stuff. This new one tried to do it but I agree, it all seemed too random with the character selections and pushy with attempts at humor that, as someone pointed out already, should be effortless for either of these writers. Maybe they just aren’t a good team. Or, more likely, Burning Skull was right when he said that this Order and Initiative stuff is getting old. I kind of liked where the subplot seemed to be hinting at, namely an Anti-Defenders or something. Oh well.
13 Mar 2008 at 6:16 pm
QuoteWe’re just trying to help Dan get more quotes on the back of trades or in Previews. Nothing draws in readers like the mention of prison sex.
13 Mar 2008 at 8:12 pm
Quote