Outstanding - Recommended read.   Above Average - Worth a read.   Average - Could be better, could be worse.   Below Average - Time and money better spent elsewhere.   Paper Shredder Material - My Eyes! My Eyes!

January 2008

Black Diamond No. 6 (Ait/PlanetLar) - $2.95 Larry Young - Writer; Jon Proctor - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison I had some seriously high hopes for this mini-series. When I read the initial solication, I really though it was going to be something special. And after the first issue, I thought it held a lot of promise. But now after holding the final issue in my hands and reading through it I can only say ... "Are you f'cking kidding me? I spent money and time reading this series for this????" Here is the best way I can describe this series. Think of it like a movie. A movie that starts off with some promise but then sort of meanders along for a while without a whole lot of purpose. And then suddenly the director realizes that he has shot about 75 minutes of this 90 minute movie and he’s got to wrap it up. Except the story hasn’t exactly moved forward to any signficant degree and there isn’t enough time left to really give it any meaning in the wrap up. So you just have a slapped together ending that doesn’t establish a damned thing other than to put The End on the final page. I liken it to watching a kid play with their toys. They start out and there might seem to be some sort of actual method (plot) to their madness ... but then they’re just all over the place. They go from point A to point G to point C to point M to point J to point R and then they drop the toys and wander off to play with something else. 0 stars. Seriously.

Teen Titans No. 55 (DC) - $2.99 Sean McKeever - Writer; Jaml Igle - Pencils; Ruy Jose and Jimmy Palmiotti - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison I’ve never really been much of a Titans fan. I think a big part of it is that I’ve never really cared for Robin. I think the first Titans book I ever bought was actually a one-shot cross-over between the X-Men and the Titans (which I believe may have been drawn by Walt Simonson). It wasn’t too long after that I found myself bitten by a comic bug that had me buying titles from just about all the notable publishers at the time (the successor of Timely/Atlas, DC, Comico, Eternity, Dark Horse, Mirage, and others). I don’t want to say it was an obsession, but I was definitely buying a lot of stuff, and quite a bit of it really wasn’t all that great looking back. Just to give an example, I have never really been a Superman fan. He has just never appealed to me. And yet, I found myself buying two (or maybe it was all three) of his titles. Part of it had to do with the fact that John Byrne had jumped over to DC and was working on one or two of the Superman books at the time, so I had a natural curiosity because I was a big fan of his work. Even so, I still look back on it to this day and wonder ‘why the hell was I buying those??’. Anyway, at the same time I started buying New Titans. By that point Robin had become Nightwing and the Wolfman/Perez run was over. A couple of things influenced me to pick up the title. For one, I was reading a title at the time (that I thoroughly enjoyed) called Vigilante that had spun out of the Titans. Because there was a bit of a relationship between the title character and Robin/Nightwing, I ended up picking up a Titans trade called The Judas Contract (which was part of the Wolfman/Perez run). It was an excellent story (it is basically the Terra arc, if you’re familiar with that) and it pretty much enticed me to start picking up the monthly Titans title. Well, that eventually grew into my reading New Titans and the spin-off Team Titans (which was actually pretty crappy, truth be told). And then some time after that I actually walked away from comics for a year or two. Annnnnnnnnnnyway, that was kind of a longwinded non-explanation of why I’ve never been much of a Titans fan, though it didn’t exactly convey. Just trust me. The Titans have never held that great of appeal to me. I skipped the most recent relaunch by Geoff Johns and haven’t been a regular reader up to this point (I will admit to having purchased the first two trades to give to my 10 year old (at the time) nephew as a Christmas gift a year ago because he was a fan of the Teen Titans cartoon ... but after I read through them, I realized I couldn’t give them to him because they were a lot more violent and bloody than I had thought they would be ... so they’ve been sitting on my shelf for over a year ... and will continue to do so for at least a couple more years until I feel like he is old enough for them to be appropriate). But now that I’ve cleaned several titles off my buy list, I’m auditioning books to fill those holes. I decided to give Teen Titans a shot (even though I still don’t care much for the character Robin) because it is written by Sean McKeever, and I’ve been thoroughly impressed with his past work (on Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane for one). And having read this issue (which was touted as a bit of a jumping on point), I have to say the jury is still out. I find some of the characters intriguing, but I also have to say most of them don’t have a lot of appeal to me either. I’m going to give it a couple more issues though. I think there is some promise in the title. It is going to have some competition in a few months however as DC is launching another Titans title, this one featuring most of the original members (so basically it will be an adult Titans team while this book will be the, appropriately enough, teen Titans team). Fact you may or may not find interesting - Dan Didio is editing Teen Titans. He apparently decided he wanted to take a more hands-on approach with a title and decided to go with this one.

Fell No. 9 (Image) - $1.99 Warren Ellis - Writer; Ben Templesmith - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison This title really comes out too infrequently. More sadly, there are a lot of people bitching and moaning about bad magic (though it probably won’t ultimately change their buying habits) that would be better served reading a title of this quality. They’ll never even give it a glance though because it doesn’t have a big M in the top left hand corner. In this particular issue, Richard Fell is called in to an apparent hostage situation. There is more than meets the eye [there is that bloody Transformers jingle again] with the situation however. Ellis’ story makes a statement on medical care and the bureacracy involved. The final page was really quite good. WHY AREN’T MORE PEOPLE READING THIS TITLE????? It is only $1.99 an issue. And it doesn't even require a monthly commitment. Others have seen the light. It was my Favorite New Comics Series in 2006. It was my Favorite Independent Series in 2006. It was my second Favorite Independent Series in 2007 (behind Casanova). What more can I say about it????

Northlanders No. 2 (DC/Vertigo) - $2.99 Brian Wood - Writer; Davide Gianfelice - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison I thought the solicitation for this series was interesting, but I was going to skip it anyway. When the first issue finally arrived, I gave it a quick thumb-through and picked it up. There have been enough other Vertigo books that have more than sold me to provide enough latitude for me to give a new title the benefit of the doubt. I wasn’t completely sold on the first issue, but it held my interest enough that I was compelled to pick up the second issue when I saw it on the stands. I’m still on the fence after this second issue. It is good, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t know if I really WANT to follow this series. It has plenty of sex and violence thus far (and what else would you expect from a Viking series). I’m just not sure this is exactly what I’m looking for in terms of a new title to follow. I’ve recently dropped Red Sonja (which had been good, but they started to push too far into more extreme fantasy elements) and am about to drop Conan (which has been exceptionally good, but they are about to restart with a new number one and I’ve started to lose some interest in the book overall, so it is a good jumping off point for me). This is similar enough in genre that I’m really hesistant to make it a regular part of my reading list.

The Vinyl Underground No. 4 (DC/Vertigo) - $2.99 Si Spencer - Writer; Simon Gane - Pencils; Cameron Stewart - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison In this fast-paced, ultra-cool ongoing crime-noir series, an unlikely quartet of occult detectives secretly solve crimes — from DJ crack bars in Camden to the elegant, high-society ballrooms that make up modern London. The Vinyl Underground is led by Morrison Shepherd, a D-list celebrity darling, soul DJ, and son of an ex-footballer. Fresh out of prison and off a nasty coke habit, Morrison is joined by a fellow ex-con named Perv, whose seizures give him clues to crimes long before the cops, and Leah, a gorgeous morgue assistant who leads a double life online and represents the brawn of the team. Hey, it is another one of those quality Vertigo titles. Much like Northlanders, this is another title that I thought was somewhat interesting when reading the initial solicitation but was going to skip anyway. I thumbed-through the first issue when it came out and bought it. And was pretty much hooked from there. This one had to be added to my reading list, no question. It demanded it (it might as well have held a gun to my head). It is that good. I’m not going to tell you to run out and buy it. I already did that with Fell and to be fair, I can only do that with one new title a month. You really should check it out though. You’re missing out on something good.

The Long Count No. 1 (Archaia Studios Press) - $3.50 Jason Blair - Writer; Leanne Buckley - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison I ordered this one based on the solicitation. Here is the ‘pitch’: Though their home was founded on the traditions of the Maya, the denizens of Colombiana don’t much believe in the long count: the end of the Mayan calendar, the end of the world. They claim it’s mythology, superstition. And even the warnings of the great dragon Quetzalcoatl have not changed their minds. Twenty-three-year-old Carmen Sandoval is about to be burdened with a terrible and righteous task: to travel to the center of Colombiana and bring a close to all Creation, to rebuild the world in the image of the one destined to destroy it. I don’t remember if there was any preview art included (at the very least the cover was there, and it was drawn by the series artist). New titles (especially those from unknown creators) are always hit or miss. Unfortunately this one is a miss. The story just wasn’t all that clear. The art, while not bad, didn’t do a good enough job of telling the story. There were a few too many instances where I couldn’t exactly tell what was happening.

Madam Mirage No. 4 (Top Cow) - $2.99 Paul Dini - Writer; Kenneth Rocafort - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison The best part of this title, hands down, is the art. I really like Rocafort’s style (the coloring from Imaginary Friends Studios certainly adds to the final product as well). Paul Dini’s story is decent, if not especially original. Madam Mirage takes the fight to her enemy and bests his agents one by one. After running the gauntlet and coming face-to-face with her target, she tells him the whole thing was an audition and she wants to join him. That particular part of the story is the weakest part. Coyle has to know it isn’t a serious offer. Any villain worth their salt knows it is merely a ruse. Yet, Coyle probably has no choice other than to accept her offer because he knows he can’t beat her at the moment. His best bet will be to give her what she wants, bide his time, and try to find an opportunity to take her down. Yet, he has to know that she is expecting exactly that. It is almost a lose-lose proposition. His only chance is to be more clever than her. And he’s probably got the ego to think he can pull that off. He wouldn’t be a master-criminal otherwise.

December 2007

Kami-Kaze Volume 6 (Tokyopop) - $9.99 Satoshi Shiki - Writer/Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison Series Synopsis: Imprisoned for a thousand years, eighty-eight fabled beasts seek resurrection from their world so that they can unleash their wrath upon present-day Japan. And a band of young warriors would love nothing more than to let loose these beasts so that they can feast upon the human world. The only thing preventing civilization’s annihilation is the Girl of Water, who is lost in the human world--without any memory of who she is! As the elemental warriors continue their search for her, they cross paths with another of their kind: Ishigami, the Man of Earth. However, Ishigami is one who wants to stop the dreaded resurrection ... Kami-Kaze is a seven volume series that essentially revolves around several clans who are vying against each other in an attempt to gain domination over their opposing clans. I was fairly well impressed with the first volume after reading it. The story was interesting and the art was also quite good. However, subsequent volumes have not been quite as appealing. Part of the problem is that each new volume appears every four months. In-between that time, I’ve had a tendency to forget exactly what is going on with the series. In addition, because of the time lag, I’ve also had problems remembering the characters and the clans they represent. The characters all have a distinctive appearance (so that isn’t the problem), but there are so many different characters with different motives that I forget who is who and what they are trying to do between books. It makes for a difficult read when I pick up a new volume because I’m trying to remember who all the players are and who is working together and where things left off in the previous volume. By about the fourth volume, I was seriously beginning to question whether I wanted to continue with the series. But once I discovered there were only going to be seven volumes in total, I decided I was already committed enough that I would see it through. That brings me to the sixth volume. This one hit on all the right cylinders. Nearly all of the characters finally came together in preparation for the final battle. Getting to see everyone grouped together in that manner allowed me to sort out who everyone was and what their role in the story was, and it gave me a better idea of what exactly had been happening prior to that (which up to this point had been confusing since I could never keep straight who everyone actually was). My confusion in all this (in terms of how I’m presenting it here) sounds a lot worse than it was. It was really the four months between books that was killing me. I have a feeling if I actually sat down and read through the entire series in one sitting (or over the course of a couple of days) that it would all make perfect sense and be a thoroughly enjoyable tale. I’m very tempted to do just that once I get the seventh volume (sometime in February of 2008). I’ll give this particular volume 3 1/2 stars and the series overall (to this point) 3 stars. It might end up higher if/when I re-read it all again in one big batch.

Berserk Volume 1, 2, and 3 (Dark Horse) - $13.95 Kentaru Miura - Writer/Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison Series Synopsis: Guts, the Black Swordsman, is a feared warrior spoken of only in whispers. Bearer of a gigantic sword, an iron hand, and the scars of countless battles and tortures, his flesh is also indelibly marked with The Brand, an unholy symbol that draws the forces of darkness to him and dooms him as their sacrifice. But Guts won’t take his fate lying down; he’ll cut a crimson swath of carnage through the ranks of the damned - and anyone else foolish enough to oppose him! Accompanied by Puck the Elf, more an annoyance than a companion, Guts relentlessly follows a dark, bloodstained path that leads only to death...or vengeance. I’ve run across the series before but was never interested enough to pick it up. The art wasn’t overly appealing to me for one (it isn’t bad, but it isn’t a style I’m exceptionally fond of) and the back cover propaganda never really sold me. Plus, I find the main character’s name (Guts) to be annoyingly bad (it sort of reminds me of another manga called Bastard! that features a protagonist with the laughably bad name of Dark Schneider). Another MZS member gave the series such high marks however that I decided to give it a shot (plus she presented the plot/story in a manner that made it seem more interesting than what I had previously been ‘pitched’). I bought the first three volumes (it is actually quite a lengthy series as I believe the volumes currently number into the twenties, and there may be even more that are forthcoming) figuring that would give me a good sampling of the series to help form my opinion of it. After reading the first volume, I was regretting having purchased the other two. I read the next two though, seeing as how they were paid for and there was always a chance my opinion might change. I thought the art was actually pretty decent. It was a little better than I had thought it was from my previous thumb-throughs. There are still a few rough areas, but I would imagine the artist improves as the series moves forward (a good example of this is Kosuke Fujishima’s series Oh My Goddess – the first few volumes were drawn fairly well, but his art continued to improve with each volume and now his work on the series is just absolutely amazing to behold). The story isn’t half bad either. There is certainly a good deal of promise in the direction the story appears to be going. But the thing that stops me dead in my tracks with this series is the protagonist. He leaves me cold. He has essentially no redeeming qualities. He displays little or no compassion. As a writer, you have to give me something to like or appreciate about the guy, or something to at least identify with. There is really none of that here. The guy is cold-blooded, and not in a ‘cool’ way either. He flat out doesn’t seem to give a crap about anybody else. And while his past may give reason for such an attitude (haven’t really seen enough of that to know for certain or not, but I’m guessing that is probably where Miura will be going with the story), it doesn’t excuse it (especially three volumes into a series --- if you want to go that route, you need to at least establish it by the first volume so that as a reader I can see there is a path to redemption that will be forthcoming). I will admit that at the end of the third volume there was a hint of possible compassion from Guts. He looked like he might actually be bothered by the way the situation with his battle played out and the impact it had on a young girl who lost her father. But it is brief and there is no guarantee that it will carry over in any significant manner to the next volume. And as I said earlier, the third volume is far too late to be introducing that aspect into a character who up until that point had shown nothing but a complete lack of sympathy for anyone or anything else – in short, he has been a complete ass with no real likeable characteristics. So I’m three volumes and done on this series.

Scott Pilgrim [Gets It Together] Volume 4 (Oni Press) - $11.95 Bryan Lee O'Malley - Writer/Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison Series Synopsis: [The series is about 23-year-old Canadian Scott Pilgrim, a slacker, hero, wannabe-rockstar, who lives in Toronto and plays bass in the band “Sex Bob-omb.” He falls in love with American delivery girl Ramona V. Flowers, but must defeat her seven “evil ex’s” to date her.] A couple months have passed since we last caught up with our intrepid hero, but what can change in a few short months? Well, not much has... Scott’s still living with his roommate Wallace Wells. He’s still playing in a mediocre rock band named Sex Bob-omb. And most importantly, he’s still dating the lovely Ramona Flowers while working his way through the gaggle of superpowered, superstylish, superevil ex-boyfriends determined to take him down. But something *is* different. Don’t look now, but Scott Pilgrim may actually be getting it together. And it’s a good thing, too, because Scott is about to confront Ramona’s most intimidating ex yet! Scott Pilgrim is probably the most fun you can have with a ‘comic book’. It is pretty evident when reading it that Bryan Lee O’Malley is having a blast with it. Not the same sort of crazy way that Matt Fraction is having with Casanova. It is a different crazy, but a crazy fun way none-the-less. On the surface, Scott Pilgrim doesn’t seem like the sort of book I should like. Most people would probably look at me and then look at a volume of Scott Pilgrim and say ‘no way, no way does this appeal to Hutch’. But that is just because they don’t get my ‘crazy’. And that is what is in there. Scott Pilgrim is a really tough series to explain. It is part comic book story, part video game, part f’cked up B level movie. You’re probably all scratching your head at that, and for good reason. Because it doesn’t really give an adequate picture. The comic book story part should be obvious. When I say video game, I’m talking about the weird little elements scattered throughout. Like power-ups. The character might run across something in the course of the story that gives him a power up. Or like in this (the 4th) volume, when Scott heads into the bathroom to relieve himself and a pee meter shows up and it goes down from one panel to the next. Just crazy funny stuff like that. When I say f’cked up B level movie, I’m referring to all the other crazy stuff that goes on, like slipping through dimensional doors and purses with infinite space inside them and angry fathers who are secret ninjas and goofy stuff like that. I let a friend of mine, who has a somewhat similar sense of humor to mine, borrow the first three volumes. He isn’t into comics at all (he did like the old EC horror comics as a kid because he thought they were kind of goofy). And he loved them. It is just one of those series that grabs you like that. You’re probably either going to completely love it or hate it with all your being. I’ll say it again. Scott Pilgrim is probably the most fun you can have with a comic book. 5 f’cking zombies.

Empowered Volume 2 (Dark Horse) - $14.95 Adam Warren - Writer/Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison Series Synopsis: Empowered returns for further misadventures, as a distress-prone girl wonder struggling with life on the superheroic C-list! Clad - or unclad, as fate would too often have it - in her embarrassingly revealing and maddeningly unreliable supersuit, she fights a neverending battle against overly sensitive supervillains, irrationally envious superheroines, and her own body-image issues! Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Thugboy, plays with fire when he foolhardily attempts to compliment his profoundly insecure sweetheart on the awe-inspiring power of her... well, booty. And her often-inebriated gal-pal, Ninjette, pursues a drunken and ultimately disastrous mission to acquire Empowered some respect - by force if necessary! All this, plus crossword-obsessed goons, speech-impaired superbeasts, “Ninjas Gone Wild,” and even a few self-help hints from nigh-omnipotent cosmic overlords! You know, the usual. I have to admit, I very, very much enjoyed the first volume of Empowered, but this particular installment didn’t really do much for me. It wasn’t bad by any means, but there wasn’t really much in the way of ‘new’. It was kind of the same old thing as the last volume. We really didn’t learn anything new about the characters. We definitely didn’t get to see enough of the ‘Demonwulf’ (who was clearly the star of the previous volume). There are some funny moments, but not as many as in the first volume (maybe that has to do with the fact there wasn’t much ground broken in this one, so it was essentially a case of being the same jokes we’ve already seen in abundance). A third volume is slated for early 2008 and it appears that it will prominently feature Ninjette for at least one of the story vignettes, so I’m optimistic about that at least. Hopefully the rest of the volume will recapture some of the spirit of the first one and will also give us a more significant helping of the Demonwulf (and Thugboy as well).

Bride of the Water Volume 1 (Dark Horse) - $9.95 Mi-Kyung Yun - Writer/Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison Series Synopsis: When Soah’s impoverished, desperate village decides to sacrifice her to the Water God Habaek to end a long drought, they believe that drowning one beautiful girl will save their entire community and bring much-needed rain. Not only is Soah surprised to be rescued by the Water God-instead of killed-she never imagined she’d be a welcomed guest in Habaek’s magical kingdom, where an exciting new life awaits her! Most surprising, however, is the Water God himself . . . and how very different he is from the monster Soah imagined. I was somewhat intrigued by this particular book when I first read the solicitation several months ago, but I decided not to order it. I was hoping my local comic shop would get a shelf copy so I could give it a look through and then determine whether I wanted to actually pick it up or not. I was happy to see they did indeed order a copy so I grabbed it off the shelf, thumbed through it, and decided I liked the art more than enough to purchase it and hope the story would be of the same quality. Fortunately enough, it was. The art is exceptional (you can see some preview pages on the Dark Horse web-site if you’re so inclined --- I won’t give a URL but you can find it easily enough). The first couple of pages are in color and the rest is black and white. The color pages are especially good and makes me wish the rest of the book could be in color, but of course that would increase the production time as well as the cost, so it is probably best it remain as is. The story is quite appealing and the various characters are individually intriguing. The Water God, Habaek, is an interesting case. Initially he appears to be an uncompassionate and self-centered jerk, but we quickly learn there is a lot more to him than what appears on the surface. Going back to my comments on the series Berserk, wherein I noted the protagonist Guts lack compassion and displayed no real redeeming qualities over the course of three volumes (with only a hint of possible humanity at the end of the third volume), Bride of the Water God takes a similar approach with Habaek’s own displays (or lack thereof) early on, but quickly shifts tracks to show the reader there is a path of redemption to be had and clearly provides the reader with something to find likeable about the character – something to look forward to and root for in terms of the development of the story as it applies to Habaek. That was the element that was missing for me in Berserk and ultimately why I decided not to continue with that particular series. The presence of that element in Bride of the Water God has me excited about this story and very much looking forward to the next volume.

November 2007

Black Summer No. 0 - 3 (Avatar Press) - $2.99 Waren Ellis - Writer; Juan Jose Ryp - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison Synopsis: The story open with John Horus, former member of the ‘disbanded’ supergroup the Seven Guns, killing the President of the United States for what he terms to be criminal actions (including electoral fraud and leading the nation into an unnecessary war to further the interests of oil conglomerates --- gee, sound familiar?). This action shatters the drunken solitude of Tom Noir, another former member of the Seven Guns who lost a leg in an explosion that took the life of his lover (also a member of The Seven Guns). Tom finds himself a target of the government (as are the other former members) due to Horus’ actions. Tom is of no mind to fight back as any motivation for living was lost along with his leg and the death of his lover. However, when Tom discovers there was more to the explosion that shattered his life, he finds a reason to fight back. He seeks out the remaining members of the Seven Guns in order to stop John Horus and keep the government from destroying them. Three issues into this seven issue mini-series (four if you count the zero issue, which would actually then make it an eight issue mini-series) and I’m thoroughly enjoying this tale Warren Ellis has crafted. I wasn’t actually planning on picking up the series when I bought those copies of the zero issue, but after reading it, I realized I had a strong desire to see how the whole thing played out. Chalk one up to Warren and Avatar for selling me on the series through that introductory issue. Warren wastes no time kicking the story into gear (which really, with only seven issues -- eight counting the zero issue -- to tell the story, he can’t afford to waste any pages) and keeping it surging forward at high speed. He does an excellent job laying down the back story through dialogue between characters while also fleshing out all of the major players involved at the same time. The last page of each issue leaves me craving the next installment of the story that much more. I want to know more about these characters and I want to see how it all ends. The art by Juan Jose Ryp is quite good as well. I’m not a huge fan of his work because his style is somewhat similar to the European style with lots of little detail lines (Geoff Darrow is an artist who comes immediately to mind when I see Ryp’s work), but it is more than adequate here. Another thing I appreciate about this particular series is that each issue is only $2.99 (typically Avatar’s titles go for $3.50 or even $3.99 in some cases).

Neozoic No. 1 (Red 5 Comics) - $2.95 Paul Ens - Writer; J. Korim - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison Synopsis: Eighty million years into the Earth’s Cretaceous period, a comet destined to strike the northern continent was redirected by less than a single degree. The huge rock instead collided with the moon, saving the oblivious dinosaur kingdom from their extinction and dooming the emerging mammals to a harsh co-existence with the huge reptiles. Some sixty-five million years later, humans live alongside the dinosaurs, trying to stay one step ahead of the larger carnivores while carving out their own civilization. Only the first issue has been published thus far (it is a bi-monthly series and the first issue hit stores in October) but I very much like what I’ve seen. It is your typical debut issue where most of the intergral characters are introduced to the reader and the key plot elements for the first story arc are put in place. What I am expecially pleased with is the art by J. Korim. It has a Disney feel to it, and in fact, the composition of the panels are such that you can almost feel like you’re watching an animated feature. I don’t know if Korim has actually done any work with Disney or if his style is just heavily influenced by their productions, but regardless, it is very appealing. The only negative I’ve found with Korim’s work here is that his female facial features tend to look the same (making it a little difficult to recognize who is who in certain instances). That is a very minor qualm however. I’m quite thrilled with this title and am very much looking forward to future issues.

The Vinyl Underground No. 1 (DC/Vertigo) - $2.99 Si Spencer - Writer; Simon Gane - Pencils; Cameron Stewart - Inks Reviewed by S. Hutchison Synopsis: Morrison Shepherd and his ragtag group of friends use their unique talents to clandestinely aid police in solving crimes. I picked up this comic on a whim. I recall reading the solicitation for the first issue and not being impressed enough by the ‘pitch’ to add it to my pull list at my local comic shop. Subsequent solicitations enticed me a bit more however, and when I saw the first issue on the shelf several weeks back, I decided to give it a quick flip through and like enough of what I saw to make the purchase. Upon reading it a few days later, I was moved to add the series to my pull list. The series has a sort of quirky feel to it, in some small respects similar to another favorite title of mine - Casanova. The main characters are quite an odd lot, but they are also a very intriguing bunch. Morrison has a quiet kind of cool about him. Spencer only barely scratches the surface here with Perv, but he seems like a character with a good deal of promise. Leah is just an interesting case altogether - spoiled bitch forensic scientist porn icon (that about covers all the bases). We’ve really only seen the tip of the iceburg with these characters (but what more do you expect from a single issue), but it has certainly whetted my appetite such that I want to get to know more about them.

October 2007

The Immortal Iron Fist Annual No. 1 (Marvel) - $2.99 Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker - Writers; Dan Brereton, Howard Chaykin, and Kevic Djurdjevic - Artists Reviewed by S. Hutchison Currently in the monthly Immortal Iron Fist series, Daniel Rand is representing K’un-Lun in a tournament against the champions of the six other capital cities of Heaven. This Annual occurs between issues 9 and 10. Prior to Daniel Rand taking the mantle of the Iron Fist, a man named Orson Randall held that distinction. Now Daniel must learn some of the secrets of Orson’s past in order to survive against his opponents. Howard Chaykin illustrated the ‘real time’ portion of this issue. Dan Brereton provided the cover and two flashback sequences from Orson’s past. Kevic Djurdjevic illustrated the final flashback sequence. I’m very much a fan of Brereton’s work, so I would have picked up this Annual even if I wasn’t already reading the monthly series. His work in this issue is definitely not a disappointment. I was also rather impressed with the work of Kevic Jurdjevic. Both Brereton and Djurdjevic employ a painted style, though they are quite different.

Justice League of America Wedding Special (DC) - $3.99 Dwayne McDuffie - Writer; Mike McKone - Pencils; Andy Lanning - Inkss Reviewed by S. Hutchison The ‘wedding’ referred to in Wedding Special is that of Dinah Lance and Oliver Queen (Black Canary and Green Arrow for the DC-impaired among you). However, to call this particular issue a ‘wedding special’ is really a joke. Frankly, it has almost nothing to do with the wedding in question. It is essentially a typical Justice League of America story that includes a few pages covering Oliver’s bachelor party and Dinah’s bachelorette party. The rest of the issue focuses on Lex Luthor and his new Legion of Doom. So let’s count the ‘wedding’ pages, shall we? I count seven pages that occur at the bachelor party (though one of those pages is a discussion between Hal Jordan and John Stewart regarding sharing League duties and also a division of GL work - it really has nothing at all to do with the wedding and/or the bachelor party aside from the fact that their conversation occurs at Oliver’s party) and one page for Dinah’s bachelorette party. So that gives a total of seven, possibly eight, pages altogether. This out of a 38 page story. So essentially somewhere around 18 to 21 percent of the story can be considered to be related to the wedding. Everything else revolves around Luthor and his new organization. And the story itself isn’t self-contained. On the last page we find – To be continued in Justice League of America no. 13. Yes, that’s right. It doesn’t continue in the Green Arrow and Black Canary Wedding Special. It continues directly into a regular issue of Justice League of America. Why? Because it isn’t actually a Wedding Special as advertised. It is just another issue of Justice League of America falsely represented as something else. To say I feel ripped off is an understatement. This comic should have been the 13th issue of Justice League of America and not a so-called ‘special’.

Green Arrow and Black Canary Wedding Special (DC) - $3.99 Judd Winick - Writer; Amanda Conner - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison On the heels of the not-so-special Justice League of America Wedding Special comes the Green Arrow and Black Canary Wedding Special. And surprise, it is actually about the wedding. Who would have thought? Whereas we had a number of pages allotted for Oliver’s bachelor part in the Justice League of America Wedding Special (7 total) and only a single page for Dinah’s bachelorette party, this particular issue gives us two and 1/3 (new) pages inside Dinah’s party and one and 2/3 (rehash) pages leading into Oliver’s party. So essentially, if you read the Justice League of America Wedding Special, you already saw the sequence involving Oliver and the rest of the guys (just from a slightly different POV). Otherwise, we have in this issue a pre-wedding fight between Oliver and Dinah where –     a) Oliver doesn’t like being upstaged by Dinah in a battle     b) Oliver essentially calls Dinah a slut     c) Dinah slaps Oliver     d) They start to rip each others clothes off in a moment of heated passion     e) Dinah decides they shouldn’t have sex until after the marriage (Ollie ends up taking a cold shower) Then there is a big grid page displaying various reactions of friends and teammates when they receive their wedding invitation. Apparently Judd Winick didn’t read the recent Birds of Prey no. 109 where Barbara was attempting to talk Dinah out of marrying Oliver (and neither did the editor) since Barbara’s reaction in these pages is “Oh, good for you baby …” -- EXCEPT -- Mike Carlin is also the editor of Birds of Prey, so he should have KNOWN what Barbara’s reaction to the wedding actually was. As we all know, you can’t have a comic book wedding without party crashers. Deathstroke and a small army of super villains pop in (courtesy of the Warp) after an ‘emergency’ (in the form of a nuclear missile launch) conveniently pulls Superman, Wonder Woman, and the four Green Lanterns in attendance out of the locale. The heroes manage to hold off the villains until the force field that is keeping Superman, Wonder Woman, and the four Green Lanterns from re-entering is disabled, at which point Deathstroke makes a hasty exit while the rest of the villains end up captured. Then there is the obligatory wedding night, complete with Dinah in lingerie, where blood and tears are shed (and while Dinah wore white at her wedding, that last statement doesn’t mean what you might think it means – freaks). [I’ll point out, before someone takes me to task, that the wearing of white has nothing to do with a bride’s virginal state – the color white has been a symbol of celebration since ancient Roman times.] Overall, I thought the story was a bit of a train wreck (though admittedly I am biased since I think the marriage is a mistake). I have to deduct a couple of stars for the opening argument sequence and Barbara’s reaction to the wedding invitation. However, I have to credit it a couple of stars for Amanda Conner’s artwork. I wish she did more regular comic work.

The Mice Templar No. 1 (Image) - $3.99 Bryan J.L. Glass and Michael Avon Oeming - Writer; Michael Avon Oeming - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison The Templar were a legion of defenders who protected the denizens of the dark lands for over ten thousand seasons. A divide formed between the brotherhood and resulted in a war which ultimately destroyed the Templar. The surviving members were rumored to have gone into hiding. The stories of the Templar soon were thought of nothing more than old legends that never actually happened. In the town of Cricket’s Glen, a group of young mice spend their days pretending to be Templar Knights. When a small army of rats invades and torches the town, a former Templar is revealed while a young mouse loses everything he holds dear and finds himself thrust into a role he could have never imagined. I expected this was going to be an excellent series and this first double-sized issue certainly didn’t disappoint. The plot and script was well presented and entertaining. The art was very good and fits the story quite well. I was pumping this series up a few months back and it has definitely lived up to the billing. I hope the rest of you picked it up.

Casanova no. 9 (Image) - $1.99 Matt Fraction - Writer; Fabio Moon - Artists Reviewed by S. Hutchison Casanova is an incredibly difficult series to describe. Imagine the craziest stuff you can think of, then multiple that by ten and double it again. You might be somewhere in the neighborhood of Casanova at that point. Except it wouldn’t be quite as clever as what Matt Fraction has spun. Month in and month out, Casanova is one of my favorites reads. In this particular issue – Casanova Quinn has disappeared. His sister Zephyr is back and working with an outfit called X.S.M. A traveler from the future known as Sasa Lisi has come back in time to help Casanova’s father, Cornelius Quinn (director of an outfit known as E.M.P.I.R.E.), locate Casanova and ensure the survival of the multiquintessence. Oh yes, must not forget that X.S.M. and Zephyr are hired by Newman Xeno (formerly Zephyr’s employer and sometime lover) to kill everyone who knows anything abou the H-Element Project – including Cornelius Quinn.

Jungle Girl no. 1 (Dynamite) - $2.99 Frank Cho - Plot; Doug Murray - Script; Adriano Batista - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison I really had no intention of picking up this title. However, when I saw the first issue on the stands and thumbed through it, I decided to give it a shot. I’m on the outs with Red Sonja at the moment and figured I could fill that void with a similarly scantily-clad blonde. In all seriousness, I am planning on dropping Red Sonja from my reading list. I thoroughly enjoyed the series the first couple of years, but after the recent direct face-off against Kulan Gath, the book was taken in a new direction that I don’t particularly care for. New races were introduced (lion-men, fish-men, other half-man half-animal breeds) and the book has taken on a stronger fantasy element. I enjoy the fantasy genre as much as the next person, but it isn’t what I was looking for in Red Sonja and I’ve just found it to be too much of a departure from the typical barbarian-style fare. Jungle Girl is basically the ideall Frank Cho concept. It combines the things he enjoys and does best. Dinosaurs and (warrior) women. In fact, it would be the perfect Frank Cho project except for one thing - he isn’t actually drawing it (or writing it for that matter --- he is just handling the plots). That doesn’t actually turn out to be a bad thing however. The reason I decided to take a chance and purchase this first issue is the art by Adriano Batista. While he isn’t Frank Cho, his artistic skills are certainly up to the task. As far as the story goes, this first issue doesn’t really establish a whole lot. It hits the ground running but leaves the reader with a lot of questions. Who is Jana the Jungle Girl and how did she get there. And where is there? And what are the people she rescues doing there? Lots of questions that will need to be answered in future issues.

July 2007

Welcome to Tranquility No. 7 (DC/Wildstorm) - $2.99 Gail Simone - Writer; Neil Googe, Stephen Monar, Dan Davis - Artists Reviewed by S. Hutchison Last issue finished up the first story arc as Mister Articulate's killer and other secrets were revealed. We learn a little more about Sheriff Tommy, see the arrival of the Gen 13 kids, find out what lies behind the Emoticon's mask, and are introduced to some brand new villany. In the back-up story we see a tale from the past as Pink Bunny faces off against Hellkitten in a fight where only one will walk away. Welcome to Tranquility is the best monthly comic that 'no one seems to notice' on the market today. Not to get all promotional on you, but if you pick up only one new regular title this month ... it should be Welcome to Tranquility.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer No. 4 (Dark Horse) - $2.99 Joss Whedon - Writer; Georges Jeanty and Andy Owens - Artists Reviewed by S. Hutchison In this issue, Buffy and the rest of the slayers prepare for the assault against Amy and ... the skinless guy (whoever he is) and their unknown allies in an attempt to rescue Willow. I was a little bit disappointed with the ending to this story arc. The first three issues were quite good as Joss Whedon re-established the playing field. Though I didn't necessarily care for how the whole of this particular issue played out, I did very much like the last two pages. Definitely an interesting new status quo. The covers to the first four issues of this series, illustrated by Jo Chen, have been excellent. It is too bad the interiors were not also done by Chen because the story art was not nearly as impressive.

Hawkgirl No. 65 (DC) - $2.99 Walt Simonson - Writer; Renato Arlem - Artists Reviewed by S. Hutchison Hath-Set kidnaps Kendra Saunders (Hawkgirl) and smuggles her in a sarcophagus to Egypt with the plan to use her to resurrect Chay-ara to be his future queen. Hawkman tracks Hath-Set to Egypt intent on avenging Kendra (who he believes to be dead). Kendra has managed to escape the sarcophagus however and faces off against Hath-Set while Hawkman battles his undead sons. This one has a little bit of everything. Undead (mummy) warriors. A sarcophagus. Egyptian history. A three-thousand-year-old (mummy) Egyptian priest quoting a Scottish poet.

Mystic Arcana Magik (Marvel) - $2.99 Louis Simonson and Savid Sexton - Writers; Steve Scott, Kris Justice, and Eric Nguyen - Artists Reviewed by S. Hutchison The Mystic Arcana 'event' is intended to do for magic in the Marvel Universe what the Annihilation 'event' did for the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe. This one-shot contains a past tale featuring the New Mutant's Magik (written by Louise Simonson) and a backup tale that is really the backbone of the Mystic Arcana event (written by David Sexton). The Magik tale occurs during the proceedings of New Mutants no. 32 when Illyana and Dani were trapped in the time stream and temporarily stranded in ancient Egypt. The events portrayed in this story establish a totem that is then used as the object of interest in the second story. That backup story features Ian McNee, a mystic who previously challenged Doctor Strange for the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme and lost, on a quest given to him by Oshtur. Although I knew going in that the Magik story was going to be an untold-tale from Illyana's past, I was hoping there might be something that would tie into a potential reincarnation in the present day. Unfortunately, that was not the case. It was a self-contained story that has no relevance to any future Illyana incarnations. I was quite pleased with the backup story however. It was very engaging and the art by Eric Nguyen was really good.

The Black Diamond No. 1 (AIT/Planet Lar) - $2.95 Larry Young - Writer; Jon Proctor - Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison The Black Diamond is an elevated 8-lane transcontinental highway built in a post 9/11 world. The highway has no laws. Drivers can go as fast as they want and do just about whatever they want. The Black Diamond exists to draw lawlessness away from neighborhoods and keep the violence away from law-abiding, risk adverse citizens. In this first issue (of a six issue mini-series), Doctor Don (Laughlin), a dentist, has his first morning appointment interrupted by the arrival of R.J., his brother-in-law. R.J. is a police officer and he is bearing bad news. Don's wife, Kate, has been kidnapped in Baltimore. The Feds want to clean up the BLack Diamon, but those plans are not sitting well with those who control it. They've kidnapped Kate because her father originally build the Black Diamon and they want to use her as a bargaining chip. R.J. tells Don it is up to him to get Kate because the Army (which is doing the actual 'clean up' on the Black Diamond) considers the kidnapping a problem for the local authorities. Don has to drive cross-country on the Black Diamond to get to Baltimore while R.J. uses his connections to find out exactly where Kate is being held. Larry Young has come up with an interesting premise for this mini-series. The first issue is a little slow as Larry sets up the tale for the reader. I expect it will pick up considerably throughout the rest of the issues. The art by Jon Proctor is pretty good as well. He has a very interesting style. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this series.

Empowered TPB (Dark Horse) - $14.95 Adam Warren - Writer/Artist Reviewed by S. Hutchison Not only is costumed crimefighter 'Empowered' saddled with a less-than-ideal superhero name, but she wears a skintight and cruelly revealing 'supersuit' that only magnifies her body-image insecurities. Worse yet, the suit's unreliable powers are prone to failure, repeatedly leaving her in appallingly distressing situations ... and giver her a shameful reputation as the lamest 'cape' in the masks-and-tights business. Nonetheless, she pluckily braves the ordeals of her bottom-rung superheroic life with the help of her 'thugalicious' boyfriend (and former Witless Minion) and her hard-drinking ninja girlfriend, not to mention the annoying presence of the villainous caged Demonwolf watching DVDs from atop her coffee table. This is a very entertaining collection of vignettes in graphic novel form. The primary characters are all quite likeable and interesting in their own unique way, and there is humor on many levels throughout the book. My favorite sequences typically involved the Demonwolf character because his interactions with the other characters were generally hilarious. Empowered is a great project that I highly recommend.

April 2007

Welcome to Tranquility No. 1 - 4 (Wildstorm/DC) - $2.99 Simone - Writer; Googe - Art Reviewed by K. Rasmussen Tranquility: Where old super-heroes go to retire. What a cool, but strange town to live in. A town populated by the comic book heroes who fought the Nazis and protected us during the Cold War. They try to enjoy retirement, but that is not always so easy when they still have their superpowers. The main character (so far) is Sheriff Lindo. She has to give a TV-reporter and her cameraman a tour of life in Tranquility. As she shows the TV-crew around, we get to meet some of the inhabitants of the town. Halfway through the tour (and towards the end of issue 1) one of the old heroes gets killed. From that point on the book reads as a detective story. The story, written by Gail Simone, is solid and interesting. There is a nice combination of action, drama and humor. Neil Googe's art takes some getting used to. The quality of the art is good, but Googe switches between many different styles. On example is that flashbacks to the heroes' younger days are drawn differently from the rest of the story. Once you get used to it, you will like it. Welcome to Tranquility can become one of the successes of 2007.

Walk In No. 1 - 3 (Virgin Comics) - $2.99 Parker - Writer; Padlekar - Art Reviewed by K. Rasmussen The main character is a young man called Ian who travels from town to town, barely making a living. And something always goes wrong. He blacks out and wakes up in a new town with gaps in his memories. We meet up with Ian just as he arrives in Moscow and gets a job with a dream-reading act at a club called Deja Vu. He has abilities he does not understand. He can actually see people's dreams, fears and aura. But the strangest part is that he sometimes has strange visions of a futuristic and alien world. The art by Ashish Padlekar is okay. It is a bit rough and lacks details, but it suits the story. The colors are soft and pale, but they to go well with the story. The story (idea by Dave Stewart, script by Jeff Parker) starts off well. It quickly gets interesting, and the way Ian's abilities develop makes you want to keep reading. That is, until halfway through issue 3. From that point on something goes very wrong with the story. Weird does not even start to describe it. I think maybe Stewart's and Parker's imagination went a little overboard here. The conclusion must be that I liked the first two issues of Walk In, but I did not get issue 3 at all. Whether you will like this book or not depends on how weird you like your comic books. And in case you are wondering: Yes, Dave Stewart is the Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics.

New X-Men No. 33 - 36 (Marvel) - $2.99 Kyle & Yost - Writers; Medina - Pencils; Vlasco - Inks Reviewed by K. Rasmussen I used to be a huge fan of the X-Men. I bought every book with an "X" in the title. But those days are long gone. Over the last few years, I have dropped every X-book except Ultimate X-Men. Lately though, I have tried to pick up a few random X-books to see if any of them could restore my love for the X-Men. New X-Men is the latest book I have tried. The story arc "Mercury Falling" (issue 33-36) is like a modern version of the constant battle between Wolverine and the Weapon X project. The enemy in this story is the Facility, where X-23 (Laura) was created. Mercenaries from the Facility attack Mercury and X-23, apparently in order to recapture their lost creation. As it turns out, they are actually after Mercury (-not a really big surprise considering the name of the story arc). X-23 then gets a chance to prove her friendship to her new teammates by going after the Facility. This book reminds me of a combination of the New Mutants and X-Force from the late 1990s. The students are young and still under training and strict control at the Xavier Institute, but at the same time rebellious and a force worth reckoning with. New X-Men is much better than I expected. The story (in these issues at least) was exciting and well written. Craig Kyle and Chris Yost have done a good job of putting these characters together and making them believable as a team. The art by Paco Medina is also very nice. I will not be racing down to my local comic shop to order the next issues of this title, but I can definitely recommend New X-Men if you are looking for a decent X-book to add to your shopping list.

newuniversal No. 1 - 3 (Marvel) - $2.99 Ellis - Writer; Larocca - Art Reviewed by K. Rasmussen The White Event hits earth on March 2, 2006. For most people it is just a strange bright white light in the sky. For a handful of individuals, life changes in a flash. John Tensen, Kenneth Connell, Izanami Randal and Jennifer Swann suddenly find themselves as more than they were. They have powers and abilities beyond those of any other humans. But this is not the first time something like this has happened on earth. Archaeologist Leonard Carson has just discovered an ancient "lost city". The city was rumored to have been ages ahead of its time and to have been protected by the powerful Starr the Slayer. Warren Ellis and Salvador Larroca have joined forces to give Marvel a whole new universe to play with. The story looks very interesting so far. The story by Ellis just keeps getting more and more exciting. The art by Larroca is better than I expected. I have known him to be a good artist, but he has never been one of my favorites. But his work on newuniversal has been great so far. I especially like the way the characters' powers manifest themselves. Part of that success can also be credited to Jason Keith's coloring. I am already hooked on newuniversal, and I predict that this title will be one of the success stories of 2007. Run and buy it today!