Hey everybody, @CR editor-type-person Gregory Scott here.
Look out! The @$$holes are comin' at ya! with this week's reviews! Gnrahh!
- It's a week of first issues! ULTRA #1! JSA: STRANGE ADVENTURES #1! OJO #1! SHE-HULK #...uh...MANHUNTER #1!
- Does Buzz Maverik finally give Alan Moore the critical drubbing he so richly deserves? Of course not! Watch Buzz kiss Moore's unkempt hippie @$$ with his review of TERRA OBSCURA VOL. 2 #1!
- Dave Farabee pours on some sweet talk of his own for Kurt Busiek's ASTRO CITY SPECIAL #1! It's like if Barry White reviewed a comic book!
- And of course, we've also got the nexus of your short attention span with our short attention span known as Cheap Shots!
@$$holes Comic Reviews: The comic column that reaches in, palms your face, and shakes you within an inch of your life. Mostly as a metaphor.
(Click title to go directly to the review)
TERRA OBSCURA VOL. 2 #1
ASTRO CITY SPECIAL #1
SHE-HULK #6
DEICIDE #1: PATH OF THE DEAD
ULTRA #1
OJO #1
JSA: STRANGE ADVENTURES #1
DEEP SLEEPER (Omnibus Edition)
MANHUNTER #1
Cheap Shots!
TERRA OBSCURA VOL. 2 #1
Written by Peter Hogan
Co-Plotted by Alan Moore
Art by Yanick Paquette
Published by America's Best Comics/Wildstorm/DC
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
Somewhere along the line, I stopped reviewing Alan Moore-related comics. What's the point? They're all great. We should read them because they are fun and smart. Because it's Alan Moore, the best and coolest artists will be aboard. Even if it's someone collaborating with Moore, that collaborator will be incredibly gifted in their own right.
TERRA OBSCURA VOL. 2 #1 confirms everything I've just said.
While I missed the first TERRA OBSCURA series, I caught the first T.O. story in TOM STRONG. Terra Obscura is a planet that lies a great distance from Earth in the ABC Universe. It's strongest hero, Tom Strange, is a doppleganger of Doc Savage-like hero Tom Strong, except that Strange's powers are closer to Superman's. When a cosmic menace either obliterated or imprisoned all of Terra Obscura's (super)science heroes, Tom Strange ran across the universe to seek help from Tom Strong and the Strong Family (having met Strong in one of his planet hopping adventures).
The Terra Obscura heroes came across as characters from a lost comic line. Think the Charleton or Dell or Fawcett or Gold Key or Atlas heroes. Superheroes from a defunct comic publisher of the past. Like most everything Moore has done with his ABC imprint, it was fun! Moore has often stated that he regrets the influence that his darker works such as THE WATCHMEN and THE KILLING JOKE have had and still have on comics. The ABC line seems like his way of telling people to get over it.
The cover of this issue looks like an old anthology issue. It promises us Tom Strange and a Sheena, Queen of the Jungle-type heroine standing over the body of a supervillain. The character is Princess Pantha, and she only looks like Sheena in the opening flashback. For the rest of the story, artist Yanick Paquette draws her as sleek, sexy and sophisticated in a backless evening dress. She's the kind of girlfriend superheroes ought to have. She's dating Strange now, but like most superhero dates, it ends with a mission rather than sex.
Other heroes you will meet or revisit: The Terror, sort of a cross between Batman and Superman but now reduced to being a sentient computer program. The Fighting Yank and Ms. Masque: Blonde babe superheroines who are apparently a couple. Tim, Ms. Masque's ex-boyfriend who apparently swings both ways himself. A villain called The Clock, who would fit in well with Batman's fifties rogues gallery.
Strange things are happening on Terra Obscura. A deceased 1950's rocker is giving a concert. Tom Strange's '50s era Strangemobile has materialized. And a spaceship belonging to missing hero Captain Future has returned.
I don't need to say any more. I didn't even have to say this because you should know: it's an Alan Moore comic and you should be reading it.
ASTRO CITY SPECIAL #1
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Brent Anderson
Publisher: DC Comics/Wildstorm
Reviewed by Dave "Cormorant" Farabee
There's a helluva lot to recommend about this latest ASTRO CITY one-shot, so am I gonna look like a tool if I zero in on the hilariously old-school name of a killer robot – "Retri-B.U.T.I.O.N." - as the element that most amused me?
Ah well, it's on the table. Deal with!
Of course ASTRO CITY's greatest strength lies in its use of the superhero genre in service to very human, allegorically rich tales, but before we get around to the lofty stuff, the Retri-B.U.T.I.O.N. robot reminds me that Kurt Busiek's due a special salute for his ability to conjure up bygone eras of superhero history. Analogs, homages, and tributes are a dime-a-dozen in comics these days, but Kurt's the guy who still pulls 'em off with wit and credibility enough to impress even the most jaded superhero fan.
There's the flashback to the villainous Red Dahlia and her theft of the Antarean Kaleidojewel!
There's the replicating Radium Ants!
There's the Ogliarchons and their dying sun!
The issue, titled "Old Times" features a spotlight on Astro City's Silver Age as recalled by an old-timer hero coming out of retirement for an emergency situation only he can handle. He's a widower living on the outskirts of Astro City and he passes the time gardening, but – ah! - back in the '50s and 60's he was a fast-flying champion named Supersonic who tackled the kind of wild menaces that real-world creators like Mort Weisinger, Gardner Fox and Julius Schwartz cooked up in the era. I'm talkin' Radium Ants-level weirdness, folks, and in flashbacks we see Supersonic countering these oddballs with an imagination to match their strangeness. He uses the Antarean Kaleidojewel to fragment himself into enough heroes to win the day and tricks the Ogliarchons into a giant scavenger hunt to give him time to subvert them; he finds clever and unexpected uses of his powers; he out-thinks his foes. Sure his tactics might seem hokey today, but they were the idealistic standard in the Silver Age of comics.
The problem is that Supersonic can't pull off these stunts like he used to, and with Astro City's major heroes all on call elsewhere, he's the only one left to stop Retri-B.U.T.I.O.N. With the emotionally poignancy we've come to expect from Kurt Busiek, our aging hero struggles and fails to conjure up the resourcefulness of his heyday. Is he just older or is it the times that've changed? Whatever the case, the fight turns modern-age brutal in the blink of an eye, Busiek inviting the reader to wonder whether the modern-age adherence to realism has robbed superheroes of their imaginative potency; whether it's even possible for them to achieve a victory on the idealized levels they used to.
Supersonic can be seen as a symbol of the Silver Age, and just as the audience for those types of stories has faded, we see that his believers from the old days have grown old, even died off. Lots of room for analysis here, and I can see the story either being interpreted as recognition that sometimes the old ways simply become outdated...or as a harsh indictment of the new ways.
As with every ASTRO CITY script – very tight work from Busiek, lots of memorable moments. There's wit, as when Supersonic suggests Samaritan handle the threat because he's "good at robots." And because the story has its roots in a simpler time with simpler dialogue, Busiek gets the full weight out of Supersonic's decidedly non-Silver Age sentiments when we see him in modern times ("Oh sweet Jesus – I'm actually doing this."). I think my favorite bit of writing, though, was Supersonic's narrative reflection on not being able to have children and on the death of his wife – this juxtaposed with him being buried beneath flaming wreckage by the robot he's fighting. If you can't see the Death-of-the-Silver-Age allegory inherent in that scene, your Herman Melville Fan Club card is officially revoked!
Meanwhile, on the visuals, we have ASTRO CITY's other stalwart, Brent Anderson. His realistic art seems a touch rawer and sketchier than usual this time out, but I suppose that fits the action-centric story. Anderson's still a consummate pro, serving up with conviction all the 50's superhero flashbacks as easily as he showcases the exhaustion and hopelessness on Supersonic's face in the modern scenes. He also delivers one of the series' most energetic and grueling fight scenes to date, transitioning to dynamic, Neal Adams-style panels and splash pages from the conservative vertical and horizontal panels that form the conversational bookend scenes. This might seem standard layout theory, but I'm finding energetic action sequences to be an increasingly lost art, so I'm awarding some bonus points.
I think an interesting companion piece to "Old Times" would be an ASTRO CITY story that takes a metacontextual look at the stories told by those modern superhero authors who do embrace imagination – Ellis, Morrison, Millar – albeit in a generally more adult context than the Silver Age. I want to say that something of that was addressed in the ASTRO CITY where Samaritan and Winged Victory went on a date, with their methods reflecting a pure heroism and a more politicized heroism, respectively, but...
Well, I guess I should go re-read that issue, huh? ASTRO CITY's pretty damn great for that.
SHE-HULK # 6
Written by Dan Slott
Art by Paul Pelletier
Published by Marvel
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
Confessions of a Former Marvel Zombie #5150: ...and another thing I hated about DC was that they had so many superheroines who were based on male characters. Yer Batgirls and Supergirls and Hawkgirls and Mary Marvels. Marvel had women with their own powers. Even the Wasp wasn't called Ant Girl. Not that I cared about feminism as a seventh grader. It was just another thing that kept Marvel from looking as dumb as DC.
Then came SPIDER WOMAN. She wasn't even the Jessica Drew Spider Woman or the supervillain Spider Woman. She had a similar costume to Jessica Drew. At least she didn't resemble Spider-Man. That wouldn't happen until Ms. Marvel showed up in a leotard version of Marvel's Captain Marvel costume. Finally, there was She-Hulk. These joined other factors to help me realize that the only difference between Marvel and DC was which bank account my comic dollars entered...
I still have a little trouble with She-Hulk. Like everyone else, I did not read her original comic. And I hated her in Roger Stern's AVENGERS. She was over eager, over the top, completely unbelievable (except for turning green and super strong. That, I could buy no problem).
The character sucked right through THE SECRET WARS, until Marvel put her in John Byrne's FANTASTIC FOUR. Byrne made her into a real character. Interesting, fun, without the overly aggressive, obnoxious qualities that were so glaring in her AVENGERS characterization. Plus, he had that cool issue where a photographer sneaks a topless shot of her and it goes into a skin magazine, only to have the printer screw up the coloring and make her pink instead of green, rendering her unrecognizable. Make your Byrne jokes so we know that you're kind of hip, kind of now, kind of with it, kind of Charlie, but you would have been into Byrne at the time because he was good.
Of course, Bryne did the SHE-HULK "breaking the fourth wall" series which kind of blew except he used cool, old Marvel villains and his art was good.
I figured any SHE-HULK series was worth ignoring but I kept reading about the book in the world's best comic book column, Ain't-It-Cool News' @$$holes Comic Reviews. Those clowns really seemed to like it. They've never steered me wrong yet except that time they recommended Mark Millar's COOKING WITH ULTIMATE HULK one-shot.
The new SHE-HULK is written by ARKHAM ASYLUM: LIVING HELL writer Dan Slott and penciled by Paul Pelletier. Slott knows how to use a comic book universe. He knows that any character can appear anywhere. He knows that a comic world would be significantly different from ours. He has the brains to know this would make for good stories. Slott also has a sense of humor and shares an ability with writers like Alan Moore and Gail Simone to be able to write humor without mocking his source material.
In SHE-HULK # 5-6 (can ya imagine a two-issue story with a beginning, middle and end where things happen and we don't have to wait a year?) lame superteam The New Warriors apprehends Southpaw, a teenage girl with a cybernetic arm. It turns out that she's the granddaughter of the senior partner at She-Hulk's law firm. She's shrunk with Pym particles and placed inside a miniature prison full of supervillains. It's all part of an escape plan by the Mad Thinker. An army of tiny villains escapes onto She-Hulk's body. By the end of issue # 6, She-Hulk has to face an array of cool old villains of varying sizes. Aided by Dr. Henry "Yellowjacket" Pym, who is about to be sued for the danger his Pym particles pose, she must take down the U-Foes, Electro, Tiger Shark, Sandman and the Rhino among others. By now, the Rhino should be used to be shrunk thanks to Deadpool and Gail Simone.
There's humor. There's twists and surprises. There's J. Jonah Jameson's son, former Man-Wolf/Stargod, Colonel John Jameson (who is also a former assistant or something of Captain America's). There's legal action and law office stuff. There's fights. There's a smartly written, wonderfully drawn comic book.
SHE-HULK. It's a WIZARD Book O' The Month. It's an @$$hole favorite. Treat yourself.
DEICIDE #1: PATH OF THE DEAD
Writer: Carlos Portela
Artist: Das Pastoras
Publisher: DC Comics / Humanoids Publishing
Reviewed by Dave "Cormorant" Farabee
NOTE: The following review is a cheap-ass reworking of a review previously run in early 2003 based on the oversized edition straight from Euro-publisher, Humanoids Publishing. Humanoids is releasing material through DC now, though, including DEICIDE, so I think it's worth revisiting. It's also a giddily stupid review, so I hope you enjoy it...again!
A few years back I read an interview with Simon Bisley, the comic artist and painter best known for his work on LOBO, BATMAN/JUDGE DREDD and various HEAVY METAL projects. His art looks like this, so it came as no surprise when, in explaining his style, he said something to the effect of (slight paraphrase here), "I like to draw naked people with big hunks of metal in their hands." This, friends, is an artist unafraid to reveal his twisted id.
And y'know what's scary? I kinda understood what he was getting at. Elitist comic snobs sometimes cluck that superheroes are just male power fantasies for arrested adolescents, and while I offer them a hearty, "Piss off!" in response…the power fantasy element does exist, and sometimes it's pretty entertaining to turn off your brain and just enjoy those stories that unabashedly revel in it. I'm talking the stuff of HEAVY METAL at its most lowbrow, with massively-muscled warriors, disgustingly cool monsters, gore aplenty, and beautiful naked women. I'm talking CONAN. I'm talking Richard Corben's DEN. I'm talking naked people with big hunks of metal in their hands!
Which, in a roundabout way, brings me to DEICIDE. No, the title's not a misspelling of the word "decide" – think instead of such lovely terms for murder as "genocide" and "patricide," then apply that to the murder of deities. Thus we get "deicide" – the killing of gods. DEICIDE is among the first English editions of European material to come from DC's new partnership with Humanoids Publishing, hailing specifically from Spain. Uninterested? That's okay - I was too, at first, as most Euro-fantasy leaves me cold. The level of draftsmanship in European comics blows the rest of the world's comics away, but the stories have always struck me as an odd mixture of pretension and pure schlock. DEICIDE's got the schlock part down, but thankfully it passes on the pretension, leaving readers with an entertaining first chapter in an epic fantasy that doesn't take itself too seriously. And the art will knock you on your ass.
The story concerns a tribal warrior named Agon (gotta love those swords 'n' sorcery names, though no one will ever top YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE!) living in an otherworldly setting that exists at the dawn of his world's civilization. The society of Agon's world might fit somewhere between the late Stone Age and the early years of feudalism, and the villages and clothing have rich, cultural designs that manage to suggest authentic, aboriginal cultures without aping the familiar sources for fantasy settings – ancient Greece, Egypt, Scandinavia, etc. If you've ever played the computer games MYST and RIVEN, or even those ABE'S ODDYSEE console games, then you can imagine what I'm talking about.
Like any good barbarian warrior, Agon is ruled chiefly by his passions, in this case for his lovely bride-to-be, Aldara. Alas for Agon, he drinks some magical lotus nectar, goes on a vision quest, hunts down a monstrous boar for his village, only to return and find that Aldara has been sacrificed! Those bastard priests! Not only did they kill his true love, but they did it for a cruel death god that the village has only recently begun worshipping! Agon vows to defy the god of death and find a way to restore Aldara, and when he learns that the goddess his village formerly worshipped is still alive and even willing to aid him, he's ready to set off on an EPIC QUEST! Sound cheesy? Oh, it is, baby, it is – but in a good way. Much of the dialogue is forgettable, but there's a certain playfulness to it at times that tells me the writer knows exactly how cornball all this stuff is. For instance, when Agon teams up with an ass-kicking lion-man later in the book, and begins to explain the convoluted metaphysics behind restoring his beloved to life, the lion man cuts in, telling Agon, "Okay, okay. No need to go into details." Fun stuff!
The pair go on to battle giant sand worms and stab the crap out of insect-like larva spawned from the body of a dead giant and accidentally kill a virgin they needed to enter the death god's stronghold. And they bond, and get tattoos, and ride around on freaky-looking lizards. The plot? The plot is two warriors kicking ass and taking names! There's some vague subplot suggesting that the lion-man might be a fugitive from his own people, and a cliffhanger ending as Agon enters the demon-infested lands known as the Thousand Mouths of Hell, but really…c'mon…this is a nonsensical fantasy story that exists to provide readers with a fun, R-rated power fantasy and especially to give brilliant artist, Das Pastoras, lots of cool shit to paint. Pastoras' art combines the detail of legendary French artist Moebius with Richard Corben's fascination with the muscular human form. It's amazingly work – as in, George Lucas wishes this guy was working for him. Even with the hokey story, which is pretty palatable with its tongue-in-cheek style, DEICIDE gets a pretty solid recommendation if only for the jaw-dropping artwork.
And there's a good chance all the excess testosterone will put hair on your chest.
ULTRA # 1
Written by Jonathan & Joshua Luna
Art by Jonathan Luna
Published by Image
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
Boy, did I make a mistake here! You guys may think reviewing comics is easy and most of the time it is - so easy in fact I often have no idea what I've written until I read it in this column and piss myself off. But sometimes it is hard.
What should I do when I find a good comic but I know I'm the wrong reviewer for the book? The first time I ran into this was when we started doing this column last month, I believe. It was THE FILTH # 1 written by Grant Morrison. I knew it was good...but I didn't like it. The next time was with the first 100 BULLETS trade written by Brian Azzarello with art by Risso. A great book...that I actually gave away and I never get rid of comics.
The talented Luna Brothers, with their excellent book ULTRA, are in good company anyway. Which is not to say ULTRA is anything like THE FILTH or 100 BULLETS except in quality...and that I am the wrong reviewer.
I was attracted to the book by the brilliantly designed cover, which looks like TIME MAGAZINE. The cover of the next issue will look like MAXIM (I'm not kidding). This is great talent and imagination at work. It sort of reminded me of an old series from Marvel's original Epic line, THE ONE by Rick Veitch. His beautiful covers looked like boxes of Tide detergent and the dollar bill to name a few.
In addition to the cover, the Luna's interior art which includes a fake billboard (If these guys aren't from advertising, they should be hired by a cool firm like McMahon & Tate because they could do some superb campaigns) and a faux ad for Llama Moroccan Blends cigarettes (Is there a Joe Llama? Is this the brand that the character Carl Wheezer, noted llama enthusiast, from THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY NEUTRON BOY GENIUS will smoke when he grows up?) is eye catching and enticing.
What is my problem? I hate the show SEX & THE CITY. Sure, the brunette is fine, but those talking women annoy the hell out of me. But at least they get pooched once in a while. In ULTRA, we have the talking women but no one getting pooched. There's a car crash, but that's about the only non-talking thing that happens.
I get it. The three women we're following on a girls night out (groan!): Pearl, Jen and Kim Catra-, I mean Olivia, are superheroines, although we're never told this. I appreciate the subtlety here. But it's so subtle, it's just three chicks talking. They go to a fortune teller. They wreck the car. They talk too much.
The book ends with a very well done, mock-TIME Ultra interview. The conceit of this series might be that we never see Ultra doing anything heroic, but we get glimpses in the media. The rest of the book is just her being a regular woman. That would be great...but like I said, I don't like SEX IN THE CITY.
If I liked SEX IN THE CITY, I might be the right reviewer for ULTRA. If you like SEX IN THE CITY, and won't miss the actual sex part, then ULTRA may be the book for you!
OJO #1
Sam Kieth: Creator
Oni Press: Publisher
Vroom Socko: Creeped Out
First things first. Sam Kieth is the man.
From THE MAXX to ZERO GIRL to FOUR WOMEN to fucking SANDMAN, Sam Kieth just can't do any wrong. He's the freakiest, coolest, most out there writer/artist active today, and I'll damn sure be buying anything he does. So yeah, I'm a bit biased on this one. Still, even if you've never read anything he's done before, you'll probably get as big a kick out of Kieth's newest work as I did.
Sam Kieth: He's the man.
The first issue of OJO introduces us to Annie, a young girl who lives in a trailer with her sister and grandpa. Her mother recently passed away, and neither her nor her sister is dealing with the loss very well. Annie tries to push her grief aside by taking on a pet; something for her to love and care for now that she no longer has her mother to love and care for her. The problem is her pets never last more than a few hours in her care. There's quite the little collection of homemade gravestones building up under that trailer. But that's before Annie meets Ojo.
A poor, helpless injured animal found hiding underneath Annie's bed, Ojo is quickly taken in by the sweet little girl. She feeds him, gives him a nice cool, dark place to rest, and splints his damaged tentacle. Yes, tentacle. Oh, did I forget to mention that Ojo appears to be the infant spawn of Yog-Sothoth?
Okay, so none of the Old Ones are actually mentioned by name, but there's a definite Lovecraftian vibe going on. Even without the tiny tentacled critter, this is one creepy-ass book. There's just something about the elder sister, the single-wide parked near a drainage pipe, the dead and dying pets that's just plain spooky.
Sam Kieth: He's the man.
This book is something only Sam Kieth could do. You can just tell from this first issue that if given the choice he'd be drawing nothing but dripping, drooling, demonic squids for the rest of his life. He's having fun with this thing, at the expense of my sleep cycle. That final page is fucking sick: a vile mass of teeth and shadow. It's what Venom would look like if only he didn't suck.
So pick this one up if creepy crawling creatures from out of the shadows are your thing. It's one amazingly good book about a girl who's life has become amazingly bad, and you know it's only going to get worse from here. Because Sam Kieth, he's the man.
JSA: STRANGE ADVENTURES
Written by Kevin J. Anderson
Art by Barry Kitson
Inks by Gary Erskine
Colors and Separations by Hi Fi
Published by DC Comics
Reviewed by Gregory Scott
We begin this review by examining the prospect of whether Gilligan had a learning disability.
Sure, Gilligan was a lovable clutz, and not particularly bright (unless he was in a dream sequence as Dr. Jekyll or something); and yet there was something so consistent about his stupidity, clumsiness, and the second-class status afforded to him by the other castaways (you can't tell me that Gilligan elected to ride that bamboo stationary bike for the Howells), that one might wonder if there were a bit of pathology involved. To use the outdated term, perhaps Gilligan was mildly retarded.
On the other hand, what I've just described is doesn't take into account the context of the show. GILLIGAN'S ISLAND was a comedy, often a slapstick comedy, where Gilligan could be consistently incompetent and sometimes even a group pariah, and yet the idea that he was developmentally disabled was never really on the table. In fact, in this context, his faults added to his lovability and at least honorary elevated status within the group. After all, it was Gilligan's Island.
I bring this up because I've never been entirely comfortable with the portrayal of Gilligan's DCU proxy, Johnny Thunder. Johnny Thunder is the young JSA member/mascot, and arguably the most powerful member of the JSA team. With control over the omnipotent genie Thunderbolt, Johnny can make just about anything happen.
And Johnny's a dimwit. Relentlessly. His weak-mindedness is often a occasion for gentle patronizing or rolled eyes from the other members of the JSA.
Unfortunately, Johnny doesn't live on Gilligan's Island, and in the context of the JSA and DCU, it can sometimes seem that Johnny Thunder really is developmentally disabled. Not that this is bad at all; in fact, if it were explicit, it could be considered a great step forward for the cause of tolerance and understanding. On the other hand, it's not explicit; in fact, the intent is obviously light humor. But the conflict of all these issues - between the tone and the context and the reality of the situation - is enough give me pause on some of the occasions I've read the character. And yes, provide fodder for the probably overlong lede to the review that you're reading right now.
Johnny figures into the first third of JSA: STRANGE ADVENTURES, as we read his submission to a pulp magazine, recounting the exploits of the JSA as they battle the monster on the cover of the issue. Backed up by Barry Kitson and Gary Erskine's art, I wasn't quite sure if we were seeing what really happened with the monster, or simply Johnny's version of it; but in any case, it didn't seem so bad to me (in fact, he kinda sounded like Stan Lee). Unfortunately, the publisher at the pulp company disagreed, and assigned another writer to work with Johnny and ghost write his stories for him in what is bound to become the b-plot for this mini-series.
After a JSA meeting where they make Johnny the official JSA historian (!?), the rest of this comic deals with Green Lantern and Starman taking on electric cyborg Nazis and huge destructive bursts of pink energy from a giant killer blimp. And I'm sorry to say that that sounds a bit more fun that it really was; I never got a clear idea of how dangerous the pink lightning was (it killed one guy, yet merely downed another), and thus I never really got the sense of jeopardy for Starman and Lantern that I was supposed to. Plus, the presentation seemed so casual about the jeopardy that was conveyed, like hanging on the girder of a radio tower, I just didn't believe it. Sadly, this disbelief was only reinforced following the explosive climax, with a denouement that was, dare I say, jive-ass. I understand harkening back to style of the Golden Age when the story is set, including taking a lighter approach in general, but I think this was more of an unintentional misfire; a third act that just didn't come together.
Still though, Kitson and Erskine's art was undeniably pretty, and the colors by Hi Fi really popped off the glossy paper that DC seems to be moving into more and more these days. Along with the painted cover, it was definitely a good-looking comic book.
Plus, we got to see the original Starman, which for a costume fan like myself, was a real treat. Starman's outfit is a masterpiece of retrofuture design, with the red and green tights with the star motif, and best of all, the futuristic fin on top of his cowl. Ridiculous? Dear God, yes. But a part of me still likes to believe that this kind of sleek, funky, almost romantic design is what we're all going to look like in the far flung future of the year 2000.
And JSA: STRANGE ADVENTURES provides enough nostalgia kicks like that, and with a genuinely earnest tone, to make the comic moderately diverting; diverting enough to where I'll be back for the next issue.
DEEP SLEEPER (Omnibus Edition)
Writer: Phil Hester
Artist: Mike Huddleston
Publisher: Image Comics
Reviewer: Dave "Cormorant" Farabee
NOTE: Oh my God, it's another cheat review from me! Technically, this is just a reprint of my review of DEEP SLEEPER #1 from when it was coming out through Oni Press earlier this year, but I'm running it again because the series relaunched from Image last week with an omnibus edition reprinting issues one and two, and issue three should be hitting about the same time as this column. Hey, if comics would stop changing publishers, I'd stop re-using old reviews! But, hey, I'll review DEEP SLEEPER #3 next column, so cut me some slack...
You folks probably know Phil Hester as an artist, as the guy who defined the crisp, animated style of the current GREEN ARROW from Kevin Smith's relaunch through to Judd Winick's current run. I love Phil Hester the artist.
Today, though, I give you Phil Hester the writer. It may be a scary concept to a generation of readers blindsided by the crimes against literacy inflicted by Image artists like Liefeld, McFarlane, et al. in the '90s, but roll with it. Phil's already earned his writing chops, most recently on Oni Press's THE COFFIN, and you needn't read more than a few pages of the intelligent, idea-rich DEEP SLEEPER to see that Phil's no poser. In fact, the reality-bending nature of the story might even remind you of another writer named Phil - he of the "K. Dick" surname.
DEEP SLEEPER's lead is a family man named Cole, a struggling African-American writer living in Minnesota. He's been having some creepy dreams with a Lovecraftian veneer – tentacles, polyps, celestial awareness, and a grim, deja vu inevitability. That element is a little conventional, though Hester's strong descriptive prose propels it along with hallucinatory momentum. The point at which I plugged into the book, though, was when Cole works up a short story about a warlord in ancient Mesopotamia attempting to press into service a monastery of monks housing a powerful secret. Not only does Mike Huddleston's art kick all kinds of Shaolin bootie in this sequence, but the story-within-a-story is damn good on its own merits. I was downright disappointed when it ended, assuming Hester cooked it up just to give us a glimpse into Cole's writing style.
Ah, but then DEEP SLEEPER takes a turn for the mysterious. Through curious circumstances Cole finds himself drawn to a self-help seminar conducted by a man bearing the same name as one of the monks in his story. Curiouser and curiouser. Could there really be some kind of metaphysical conspiracy going on or is Cole's mind just succumbing to the pressures of maintaining a decent standard of living for his family? In a week when Brian Bendis writes for Marvel about a secret war being waged in the superhero intelligence community (Gah! My reprint review hits an outdated reference speedbump! Sorry!), Hester does him one better with a secret war staged on whole other planes of reality. Cole appears to be a potential player in this war, his ability to write – to imagine – somehow making him one of the "white hats." But that's an oversimplification. Sinister elements abound on all sides, and the briefly-glimpsed "true forms" of even the white hats are unnerving (though spectacularly drawn).
Hester's more than just a solid writer; he's potentially exceptional. It would be so easy for the celestial themes he's dealing with to fall into convention – so easy - but Hester makes them downright convincing. Drawn in by the sympathetic character of Cole, I found myself all but experiencing his strange visions alongside him.
And to think that I almost passed over this book based on its non-traditional cover. It's the kind of cover that would draw the eye on a prose novel, but is too easy to pass as "one'a them thar freaky comics" amidst all the gaudy, pulp covers of the average wall o' comics. I'm as guilty as the next guy of consciously or subconsciously tuning out non-traditional comics based on a cover glance alone, but thankfully in this case, a friend foisted DEEP SLEEPER on me, and now I'm confidently foisting it on you guys.
If you're interested in conspiracy stories, in the challenges writers face, in things Lovecraftian or surreality in general, in comics that invite an emotional response, or in stories where monks punch Volkswagen-sized rocks in two (now we're talkin' my level) - in any or all of the preceding - then I invite you to take a look at DEEP SLEEPER. This is a surprisingly approachable comic with art that balances the mundane and the mystical with practiced ease.
MANHUNTER #1
Marc Andreyko: Writer
Jesus Saiz: Artist
DC Comics: Publisher
Vroom Socko: Gone Huntin'
Anybody here remember CBS Crime Time After Primetime? It's what the network used to have on after the nightly news before they got their hands on Letterman. There was a different show every night of the week. Tuesdays had the popular vampire cop show FOREVER KNIGHT, before it started to go downhill. (When John Kapelos left, that show really started to suck.) Wednesdays belonged to SCENE OF THE CRIME, an anthology show hosted by the ubiquitous Stephen J. Cannell. And Friday… Friday belonged to DARK JUSTICE.
DARK JUSTICE featured a judge driven to the edge by criminals who were able to find freedom in legal loopholes and technicalities. Taking to the streets, he hunts down crooks that escape justice in his courtroom. Which brings us to MANHUNTER.
MANHUNTER is Dark Justice, only with a female lawyer instead of a male judge. Los Angeles D.A. Kate Spencer, sick of seeing metahumans killing at will and paying no consequences for it, has managed to get her hands on a cache of weapons confiscated from various super villains. She uses them. And she sure as hell lives up to the name of "Manhunter." So yeah, the concept isn't exactly original.
But that doesn't mean this can't be a great book.
Making an engaging story out of a familiar plot is dependent entirely on the execution. So to speak. Marc Andreyko, whose only other work I've read is his collaboration with Brian Michael Bendis on TORSO, has style to spare here. The second half of this issue is atmospheric, taunt, and vicious as fuck. As for that last page… daaaaamn!
Of course, some of that credit's got to go to Jesus Saiz. Like THE LOSERS Jock before him, I've never seen this guy's work before, but he's impressed the hell out of me with only 22 pages. If any of you Talkbackers know about anything else he's done, drop me a line. You mark my words; Jesus Saiz is going to quickly become a name to look out for.
So what if this isn't the freshest of concepts? It's still a good idea with plenty of room to move, especially in the setting of the DC Universe. Although, I must say that Marvel would be smart to jump on the coattails of this book by giving Hannibal King his own book. C'mon, a vampire cop! With John Kapelos as his partner!
What?
Cheap Shots!
HAWKMAN #31 - These second-tier characters will be the death of me. I'm always hoping that that next creator to round the bend will be the one to reinvigorate 'em, and I keep seeing opening volleys with strong potential (Winick on GREEN ARROW, Pfeifer on AQAUMAN, now Palmiotti and Gray on HAWKMAN)...and I keep ending up disappointed. HAWKMAN #31 is the resolution to Palmiotti and Gray's first arc, and in an unfathomable turn of events, it sees these second-tier heroes not proving they were secretly cool all along and we were too stupid to notice...but rather witlessly engaging and essentially losing their battle with the nutso serial killer who's been toying with them for the last few issues. The heroes look stupid, there's the hack-writer death of a supporting character I liked, and in the end this new direction does nothing to turn the Hawks into heroes I want to rally for. - Dave
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #64 - I know I said I was going to drop this book, but I
guess I forgot to tell that to the guys at my shop. Oh well, my same
complaints and compliments are present, only more so. Bendis is a phenominal
talent, but he's retelling no less than FOUR moments of classic Spidey
history in this issue, and that's one lethal misstep. Th' hell with this. -
Vroom Socko
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #63 - On the cover, we see that Lois Lane has seemingly been shot by a sniper. 22 predictable pages later and, yep...she gets shot by a sniper. I sure do like Greg Rucka on QUEEN & COUNTRY, but he has a singular talent for draining all energy when he's on a superhero title. - Dave
X-MACHINA - You know, this is the one title out of the whole "X-Men Reloaded" thing that I don't get. I mean, here's this mutant guy who's mayor of New York, and yet where's Professor X? Where's Storm? Where Wolverine? I heard that Marvel is supposed to be "tightening continuity," but you wouldn't know it here. Just how long does Marvel expect us to keep mindlessly buying this crap? I'm giving it one more issue. - Greg
LOKI #3 (of 4) - Robert Rodi's exploration of the trials of a victorious, conquering Loki officially hits the doldrums with this, its third issue. Sure, the individual scenes are well-written, the art still stunning, and Loki's on the verge of finally executing Thor, but in essence nothing has happened since the first issue. Loki's still strolling around his grounds, still haranguing his immortal prisoners, still stewing in his post-victory ennui. The most notable revelation this issue comes when Loki surmises that Odin took him under his wing knowing he would do evil and knowing this would galvanize his son, Thor, into becoming a hero. In and of itself, an interesting concept, but I have no enthusiasm for seeing the Marvel incarnation of the character - a nobler character than the Odin of legend - tarnished with this bit of retrofitting. Combined with last issue's flashbacks of even the noblest of gods, Balder, being a shit to Loki as a kid, and Rodi's need to make Loki sympathetic is getting dangerously heavy-handed. I sure hope he can pull this together with a strong conclusion next issue – it started off so strong... – Dave
BIRDS OF PREY #72 - Have you ever been reading a comic and come along two or
three issues that didn't quite click, only to have an issue come along that
makes everything work perfectly? This is that issue for the "Between Dark
and Dawn" arc. Once you hit page four, you know that this issue is going to
be one hell of a ride. What seemed like it might be Gail Simone's weakest
storyline has turned into a can't miss summer ride. - Vroom Socko
MAN-THING #2 (of 3) - I promise you, I wouldn't recommend a MAN-THING comic just to make the usual joke about the name – this is actually a damn readable bayou mystery! Check out Buzz Maverik's full review of the first issue from a few months ago for details and a little history of swamp monsters in comics. It's good stuff, and as Buzz notes, since it's written by the same guy who's doing the upcoming film, said movie might just be worth checking out too. Nice, shadowy art by Kyle Hotz of the underrated Marvel MAX title, THE HOOD, and a moodily Lovecraftian mystery. Do not fear the Man-Thing! - Dave
