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 Caliber #1, Daredevil Blood Of The Tarantula, DC Universe Zero, Glamourpuss #1, Hercules #1, Thor Ages Of Thunder, Wildguard Insider #1 and Witchblade Devi #1.

Nick Budd Read and Thought:

Witchblade/Devi #1
Writer: Ron Marz
Artist: Eric Basaldua
Company: Top Cow/ Virgin Comics

As superhero crossovers go, Witchblade/Devi is about as cookie cutter and as predictable as you can get. I think there’s real possibility to a crossover between these characters, as they are interesting and have in the past, at least with Witchblade, spawned some good stories. The problem is, that good story is nowhere to be found. What is is the typical Superhero A comes to Superhero B’s city, a misunderstanding occurs, and then a fight between them ensues while the real villain of the story plots and schemes in a typical “I’m EVIL” fashion. Basaldua’s art is slightly above what you’d expect from any Top Cow book, but the boobs and the muscles and the hot babes are all still prominent enough that it distracts from what story there is. What I will say about it though is that the actual composition of his action scenes is well done, and there is a fair level of detail to be found in his backgrounds and. All in all, not a great start and only die-hard Witchblade and Devi fans need apply.

Wildguard Insider #1 of 3
Writer/Artist: Todd Nauck
Company: Image Comics

This one was a little strange. I’ve never read the original issues of the series, but the concept of it all, the whole American Idol for superheroes, is a strong story idea that has many possibilities for humor. However, this issue just didn’t reach that level. Sure, the concept is still there, giving readers a look at what happens next after the team has been assembled, but the actual construction of it all feels a bit wonky, as there are several two or three page stories, walls of text that explains each character and their powers, and the first 22 of the 57 strips from the online comic. Most of the problem though comes with the simple fact that if you haven’t read the stuff previous to this one, you might feel a bit left out on some of the jokes and the more continuity based storylines. Still, one of the best aspects of this book is Nauck’s art, which is energetic and fun, something that’s absolutely perfect for superheroes. All in all, I really wanted to like this one but because of the way it’s contents are presented, I’d be a little wary of it.

Dave Farabee Read and Thought:

Glamourpuss #1
Writer/Artist: Dave Sim
Company: Aardvark-Vanaheim Inc.

I’ll be damned if I can figure out the audience for this book, but…well…I enjoyed it! It opens with a few candid pages in which Dave Sim acknowledges the nebulousness of the premise but does make clear a partial intent: to explore the world of photorealist comic artists like Al Williamson and Alex Raymond by, well…tracing their art and tracing models from magazines in their style. As bizarrely self-indulgent as that sounds, it leads into a history lesson on photorealists and their techniques that I found as approachable as Scott McCloud’s historical anecdotes on the medium. In some ways the book almost doesn’t feel like a comic, the sequential elements being up to the reader to mentally coerce as the panels are all simply Sim’s tracings with his meandering narrative captions intermingled or plopped into word balloons as though the models were “saying” them. It’s weird, but Sim fully acknowledges it, and I find that it mostly works. Certainly his drawings are stunning, though it’s interesting to see him critique them or talk about problems he had with particular elements. The big question for anyone aware of Sim’s controversial world views is: does he go nuts here? Well, no, not really, but those sequences that acidically spoof the vacuous thoughts of fashion models sure do suggest his war against feminism. Those instances put me off a bit, but the rest of the book is fun, informative, and beautifully drawn. If you’re in the market for something different, give ‘er a look.

DC Universe Zero
Writers: Grant Morrison & Geoff Johns
Artists: George Perez, Doug Mahnke, Tony Daniel, Ivan Reis, Aaron Lopresti, Philip Tan, Ed Benes, Carlos Pacheco & J.G. Jones
Company: DC Comics

I think I was supposed to’ve done more homework to enjoy what I just read. And nothing’s more fun than homework, right? Oy. Structured like Marvel’s recent Civil War: The Initiative #1, DC Universe Zero is a series of vignettes, most just three pages long, each meant to lead the reader to buy some series or another. How, I have no idea. There are incestuous, interminable references to all of DC’s previous Crises; there’s a Green Lantern vignette so obtuse that only regular readers will have some notion of what it all means; the Spectre does…something; Grant Morrison tries too hard to sell his obscure villain, Libra; there’s more obscure ominousness in Wonder Woman’s snippet; and the concluding page is apparently supposed to be some momentous shocker, but I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. The closest the book comes to being involving is the Batman vignette, staged as a nod to The Killing Joke with the Joker offering up portents of Batman’s doom in a face-to-face meeting at Arkham. All told, though, DC Zero’s an incoherent splatter, the equivalent of watching a half dozen movie trailers that are all weak. It’s not just disappointing in and of itself, but downright depressing as the keynote of things to come at DC - a keynote that tells me they haven’t listened to a single word from their critics; that they’re content to cater to only the die-hards with little interest in drawing in a new audience. At this point I can only wish DC luck - they’re gonna need it.

Dan Grendell Read and Thought:

Caliber #1 (of 5)
Writer: Sam Sarkar
Artist: Garrie Gastonny
Company: Radical Comics

This was pretty damn cool. A re-interpretation of the Arthurian myth set in Old West Oregon, the Merlin figure is a half French, half Indian shaman; the Arthur is an American Army officer whose scruples put him between local Indians and a mob; and Excalibur is an enchanted gun with mysterious power. Sarkar does a great job of establishing mood, creating a feel for his characters, and making you care about them right away, and I’m already curious to see what will happen next. Gastonny has a rich, very realistic style that draws you in quite firmly, and he is aided quite a bit by some spectacular colors by Alexander Alexandrov and Svetlin Velinov. This first issue is priced at a dollar, and it’s well worth that to check this new publisher and series out. Give it a look.

Hercules #1 (of 5)
Writer: Steve Moore
Artist: Admira Wijaya
Company: Radical Comics

Now this is the Hercules of legend. This guy doesn’t screw around- he’s the son of a God, cursed by a Goddess, and his entourage is made up of similar ne’er-do-wells. In this story, Hercules and his band of, well, thugs, have traveled to Thrace to hire out as mercenaries. Things don’t quite go as planned, insults fly, and men and women alike fall at their hand. Of course, there’s more going on than meets the eye, and Hecules is in for a surprise. Moore tells an epic tale that feels like it came straight from the mouth of a Greek orator, and Wijaya’s realistic style really brings the impact of the brutality home. The final panel in particular was arresting, due in no small part to the coloring work of Sunny Gho and Skan Srisuwan. This issue is also priced at a dollar, and I encourage you to check it out. I was quite impressed.

Randy Lander Read and Thought:

Daredevil Blood of The Tarantula
Writers: Ed Brubaker & Ande Parks
Artist: Chris Samnee
Company: Marvel Comics

This is a follow-up of sorts to the previous Daredevil Tarantula series, but it’s perfectly accessible to those who haven’t read the first one. And like the first one, it’s a great read, similar to the vibe that Brubaker has going on in Daredevil (yep, that means it’s a bit dour) but with an interesting cultural flavor based on its Argentinian expat vigilante protagonist The Black Tarantula. More like an old school pulp hero than a superhero, Black Tarantula fits nicely in the Marvel milieu alongside violent vigilantes with difficult pasts like Moon Knight, and I liked the moral quandary of Daredevil trying to decide whether Tarantula was his problem or not. Samnee’s artwork is impressive as well, right in line with Michael Lark’s work on Daredevil. Basically, if you’re digging Brubaker’s Daredevil, you’ll like this, even though it’s really a pulp noir story featuring a different character with Daredevil only there as a guest star.

Thor Ages of Thunder
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artists: Patrick Zircher, Khari Evans & Victor Olazaba
Company: Marvel Comics

Thor Ages of Thunder is definitely worth the time of even casual Thor fans. Fraction tells two linked tales here, re-envisioning Asgardian myth in Marvel Comics terms the way it was done by master of the character Walt Simonson. Fraction’s Thor is a bit more of a laconic badass, a guy who doesn’t make grand speeches but just puts his hammer through a frost giant’s skull and gets on with it, and I have to admit, I kind of enjoyed this take on the character. Ages of Thunder is also a great argument for how excellent color work can elevate good artwork to greatness. Both Zircher and Evans have done impressive work elsewhere, but the color work of June Chung and Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic elevates their work the same way that Dave Stewart raised the level of Cary Nord’s game on Conan. In fact, the look here is similar, although the art styles are recognizably different. Zircher’s got a Romita Jr./McNiven blend going on, whereas Evans and Olazaba turn in work reminiscent of Brandon Peterson’s Crossgen work. At any rate, it’s gorgeous, and when mixed with well-told tales of Norse badassery, that makes it one of the best Thor comics I’ve read in many a year.