Revolutionary War: Death’s Head II #1 – Review

by Andy Lanning, Alan Cowsill (Writers), Nick Roche (Artist), Veronica Gandini (Colorist)

The Story: It might sound wise not to betray and piss off a time-travelling freelance peacekeeping agent, yes?

The Review: There has been a certain re-emergence of Death’s Head in the Marvel universe. Thanks to the work of Kieron Gillen in making him a part of his S.W.O.R.D. and Iron Man runs, the vocal and somewhat polite robot made quite an impact in terms of general appreciation. With the Revolutionary War storyline going on, the opportunity to present his history as well as updating him is definitely present, yet can Andy Lanning and Alan Cowsill actually do as nice a job as Gillen when it comes to the freelance peacekeeping agent?

For the most part, the tale does represent a good lot of what is fun with the many versions of the character, with the three different interpretations being reintroduced in this issue. It is by no mean a perfect issue, with some problems plaguing it in some important areas, yet it succeeds in the most fundamental of aspects: fun.

The best thing about this issue is the characterization, with a fast-paced and hilarious attention to the speeches, declarations and actions of both protagonists. Both Death’s Head and Death’s Head II are similar, yet different in important aspects, showing who’s the actual upgrade and how they differ despite their resemblance in terms of approach and quirks. Their interactions, throughout the issue, goes from begrudging respect, comedy and rather neat action which sells that there is definitely room for both in the Marvel universe.

Revolutionary War Alpha #1 – Review

by Andy Lanning, Alan Cowsill (Writers), Rich Elson (Artist), Antonio Fabela (Colorist)

The Story: Pete Wisdom and Captain Britain needs to gather the crew back as trouble arrive in the UK with Mys-Tech rearing its ugly head back.

The Review: Marvel has a rather large library of characters. Mutants, magic users, cosmic beings, street-level heroes, monsters, oddities and many more are but a selection of the kind of characters one can see when reading one of their books. While the very same is true for the Distinguished Competition as well, the new 52 reboot kind of crushed this large selection for them in unfortunate ways.

We all have some characters we especially like for various reasons. Nostalgia, a certain cool factor, a presentation or a concept that resonates with what we generally like to read and many others can indicate why we like some characters more than others. One of those character, for me, is Captain Britain. A man that tries to protect the whole omniverse with other people from various universes with the same power sets and similar codenames? Now that’s cool.

My general appreciation of the character made me go out and buy this comic, which was sweetened by the fact it incorporates other elements like Pete Wisdom and writer Andy Lanning, a part of the DnA duo that gave us many excellent cosmic stories. Teamed with Alan Cowsill to revive old UK characters and reintegrate them in the larger Marvel universe and its continuity, this book certainly has potential to be particularly fun.

Justice League #26 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (story), Ivan Reis (pencils), Joe Prado, Eber Ferreira, Rob Hunter, Andy Lanning (inks), Rod Reis, Tomev Morey, Tony Avina (colors)

The Story: Grid tries to learn more about his new friends.

The Review: The past couple issues did a fairly good job splitting time between fleshing out the backstories of the Syndicate and budging the Forever Evil story forward.  This issue is a lot heavier on the backstory, but then again, it’s covering quite a few more Syndicate members.  Even on a parallel Earth, if you aren’t a Batman or Superman analogue, you’re not important enough to merit a whole issue to yourself.

That said, the jumble of characters makes the issue feel even more packed, if anything, and while the origins of Grid, Power Ring, Johnny Quick, Atomica, and Deathstorm don’t really have much of the complexity that Ultraman and Owlman’s did, there are things worth noticing.  Besides, it’s hard not to enjoy seeing the twists on familiar characters play out.

Ghosts #1 – Review

By: Way too many to list—check out the review.

The Story: Proton packs won’t work against these ghosts—not even if you merge streams.

The Review: Early in my reviewing career, I covered an intermittent anthology series called The Gathering (which has no relation to the card game that somehow survived my prepubescent years).  At the time, I felt most of its offbeat features were raw and unpolished, on both the story and art sides.  Vertigo’s Ghosts takes up pretty much the same format, only with established talents on board, resulting in a much more impressive book.  Get ready; this one’s a doozy.

Secret Service #4 – Review

By: Mark Millar (writer), Dave Gibbons (art), Matthew Vaughn (co-plotter), Andy Lanning (inks), Angus McKie (colorist)

The Story: After some setbacks, a young spy-in-training gets taken under his uncle’s wing.

Quick Review: This was a pretty sharp issue.  It is well-paced, has an enjoyable story and a sharp sense of humor.  Getting art from Dave Gibbons isn’t hurting things either as the whole product looks very nice.

If I have a complaint about the issue and series its that we are still watching this young spy-to-be working his way through training.  We’ve been on this story for a few issues now.  To recap, the basic story of Secret Service is that England’s #1 spy (James Bond, without the use of that trademarked name) who brings his lowbrow nephew into the spy agency as a way to “save” him: he saw the teen growing up in a lousy environment, with lousy alcoholic divorced parents and decided to get him “out of there” before he turned into another useless street punk.  It’s much the same thing as when at-risk kids in the U.S. join the military.  Thus far, we’ve seen that the kid is highly capable at the physical tasks, but lacking the spit and polish to be a truly successful spy.  Even though we’ve kinda been stuck in training mode for a few issues, the final challenge they come up with for the kid and his resolution are so cool that I didn’t really mind that much.  It’s almost like Millar had this one more “awesome” scenario to convey and since it’s his book, he was able to tell it.  It was also very cool watching the kid get fashion tips from his uncle.  Hopefully some of the comic fans reading the issue will pick up a tip or two…..

Aquaman #12 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (story), Ivan Reis (pencils), Joe Prado, Oclair Albert, Andy Lanning (inks), Rod Reis (colors)

The Story: Welcome to the only comic where you can see trident-on-scepter action.

The Review: Part of the premise of this series from the very beginning has been the idea that Aquaman belongs as much in the public eye as his fellow Leaguers.  Yet even though he’s (mostly) exorcised the ridicule attached to his character, he still hasn’t quite made the case that he’s just as big an icon as any of the Big Five of the DCU.  Maybe he doesn’t have to.  At the end of the day, all that matters is whether you care enough about him to follow his journey.

And against all odds, you do.  Had this series merely been about him earning his name as a hero, you probably wouldn’t get quite as invested.  But the heart of his story—and it’s possible even Johns didn’t see this coming—is his growth from a closed-off man of the sea to someone who feels attachment and, yes, love.  This depth of feeling usually gets reserved to Superman, but Aquaman deals with his emotions very differently than the big Boy Scout.

Fairest #6 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (story), Phil Jimenez (pencils), Andy Lanning & Andrew Pepoy (inks), Andrew Dalhouse (colors)

The Story: It doesn’t take a genius to realize this Briar Rose can make you bleed.

The Review: A lot of what Fables is about has been taking the childish notions of the original fairy tales and holding them up to the light of current understanding.  We remain endlessly fascinated by these characters because they have all the means and knowledge to operate by modern standards, yet they’re still restricted, even frustrated, by their own essential natures, which were often crafted from superstition, ignorance, and wishful thinking.

Is it any wonder then that Briar Rose finds herself constantly disappointed by her failure to find true love, despite supposedly blessed with a magical guarantee of it?  Of course, she discovers along with her fairy godmothers that the definition of love, even true love, is a whole lot broader than any of them could have expected.  Panghammer’s ridiculous metaphors (“Waking you with true love’s kiss just means someone got the cake recipe right and successfully baked a very lovely, incredibly tasty cake.”) aside, Briar learns the kind of love she wants has to be earned.

Aquaman #11 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (story), Ivan Reis (pencils), Joe Prado, Jonathan Glapion, Andy Lanning (inks), Rod Reis (colors)

The Story: Friends don’t let other friends pursue blind quests of vengeance alone.

The Review: Even though in terms of the pure quality of his work, he doesn’t seem to be working at the superhumanly consistent level he once did writing Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, and Green Lantern simultaneously, there’s no sign Johns is any less popular or beloved than ever.  Frankly, I don’t think that widespread admiration will ever go away because Johns offers what so few other writers do in comics these days: unadulterated warmth.

Reading a Johns story, no matter how grim the events that happen in between front and back covers, frequently feels like curling up in an oversized armchair with a cup of hot cocoa.  At the heart of his work is always, well, heart.  No one has written themes of family, whether by blood or by spirit, with so much genuine care, and certainly no one writes the archetypical Hero—with capital letters, mind you—with so much conviction in the righteous might of goodness.

The Secret Service #3 – Review

By: Mark Millar (writer), Dave Gibbons (art), Matthew Vaughn (co-plotter), Andy Lanning (inks), Angus McKie (colors)

The Story: The nephew of England’s best secret agent goes through his training to become a super spy.

Review: This is a very solid issue.  It isn’t something you’ll be telling your grandchildren about someday, but it isn’t one of those comics that you read and think, “Why am I buying this crap?” either.

Mark Millar does series with an eye towards movies.  You’ll hear a lot of fans peeing all over that concept, but I’ve never heard a good rationale for why that is inherently bad.  Of course…none of us likes to read a failed screenplay that was turned into a comic.  That’s just insulting.  But Millar’s comics (like Secret Service) are really entertaining screenplays turned into comics.  Fun stories are fun stories.

It does seem that Millar has two types of stories though.  He has the vulgar, over-the-top comics that will need a LOT of editing on the way to becoming a film (Kick-Ass, Wanted, Nemesis) and then he has his series that play it pretty darn straight and even gives the series a lot of heart (Superior which could totally be a Stephen Spielberg movie).  Secret Service is more of the latter.  There are a few moments where Millar might toss in something a touch vulgar, but it’s just make sure you’re paying attention.

Fairest #5 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (story), Phil Jimenez & Steve Sadowski (pencils), Andy Lanning & Andrew Pepoy (inks), Andrew Dalhouse (colors)

The Story: Ladies, you are two bikinis and some mud away from a showdown of a lifetime.

The Review: We’re all still nerds here, right?  Does anyone know Mugen, that thing on YouTube where people would pit characters from various games and shows and see who would come out on top?  There’s nothing scientific to these things; it’s just a bunch of geeks playing out the most random speculations (“Wolverine versus Paine, Berserker Dressphere, from Final Fantasy X-II—who would win?”) to absolutely no point whatsoever.  Pure nerdery for its own sake.

If you get a big kick out of this issue, certainly far more than you did from any issue prior, it most likely has everything to do with seeing the Snow Queen face off against the great faerie Hadeon.  It definitely has that flavor of fantasy fulfillment—something which Fables does a lot, come to think of it.  It is never not enjoyable/hilarious watching two figures from fairy tale classics get all Rambo on each other.

Aquaman #10 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (story), Ivan Reis (pencils), Joe Prado & Andy Lanning (inks), Rod Reis (colors)

The Story: This ain’t Shakespeare, but it has a vengeful cycle of sons killing fathers anyway.

The Review: This intro is a bit too short a medium to get into the whole “nature versus nurture” debate, so I’ll just rely on a pithy cliché to get my point across: the more things change…  To make things fair, I’ll use myself as example.  Even though I like to think I’ve grown up some inmye twenty-odd years, every now and then I’ll catch myself with a habit from childhood—or worse, my teenage years—I thought long gone that makes me wonder if I’ve changed at all.

Aquaman begs the same questions.  Compared to the shaggy-haired youth with major anger issues we’ve seen from flashbacks, Arthur’s slicked hairdo and cool under media mockery shows a pretty big evolution in his character.  But the moment he sees Manta, it’s as if he’s never changed from that vengeful, shirtless kid he used to be (especially when he actually rips off his shirt in mid-battle).  He abandons all teamwork, shrugging off the concerns of Ya’wara and Prisoner of War, completely fixed on his own objectives, nothing else.

Fairest #4 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (story), Phil Jimenez & Steve Sadowski (pencils), Andy Lanning & Andrew Pepoy (inks), Andrew Dalhouse (colors)

The Story: A fairy tale who loves fairy tales.  A bit incestuous if you ask me.

The Review: Since Willingham is at bottom a talented writer with a lot of vision, I’m willing to believe he intended all along for Lumi the Snow Queen to assert herself as the central figure of this story.  But to me it feels more like one of those slow evolutions in the story itself, where Willingham found something that was really working—because honestly, much of this series so far has not—and let it grow.

This issue’s opening scene highlights just how diminished Ali Baba and Briar Rose’s presences have become, with Ali acting more like a featured distraction and Rose physically absent altogether.  Ali’s not even much interesting as a distraction either; most of his dialogue involves a lot of decidedly un-princelike whining, which does nothing for his already minimal personality.  Otherwise, you might be more interested that between the two women he kissed in the debut, it may not be Rose he’s meant to end up with (according to Jonah’s thus far reliable prognosis).

Journey into Mystery #638 – Review

by Kieron Gillen, Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Carmine Di Giandomenico (art), Chris Sotomayor (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: As they run wild, we learn that everything we thought we knew about the history of the Disir is wrong.

The Review:  While Journey into Mystery is one of favourite books, I’ll admit that I’ve not been too high on Exiled as of yet.  However, after the genius twist at the end of last week’s issue of New Mutants, things are definitely coming together with this issue.  As the Disir cause mayhem, it seems that the prior issues were only awkward because it was Gillen and DnA getting the pieces in place so that we could get to the story that is told this month.

This issue’s big reveal is, basically, that everything we thought we knew about the Disir is wrong.  Frankly, I love it when writers pull things like this, particularly given that Gillen created the Disir anyway.  The best part is that this sudden reveal about the Disir’s true history makes them far more sympathetic, which completes a slow-burn effort Gillen has been working towards throughout his run; since his run on Thor, the Disir have gradually become more sympathetic and this reveal is all of that reaching its fruition.  It’s a lot more tragic and it makes a lot more sense than a bunch of women randomly deciding to take up cannibalism in a cave.  It’s a great story by Gillen that serves to truly flesh out the Disir, putting the reader in the odd position of feeling a bit bad for the monsters as they rage around and tear the city up.

Quite honestly, that flashback tale/retelling carries the issue and it alone makes this by far the best issue of Exiled thus far.  There are other things to like, however.  Dani Moonstar really shines this month as the souped-up Valkyrie action hero, courtesy of Hela.  The last page is also a pretty bold move by Gillen and DnA, bringing back a very, very powerful character who is suddenly extremely relevant to this story.

Aquaman #9 – Review

By: Geoff Johns (story), Ivan Reis (pencils), Joe Prado, Oclair Albert, Andy Lanning (inks), Rod Reis (colors)

The Story: All those years of PTSD therapy, undone by one super-villain attack.

The Review: As I read through this issue, it struck me that I haven’t been giving Johns enough credit for what he’s been doing on the title.  In many ways, Johns has had to reintroduce Aquaman like a brand-new hero, giving him a fresh mythos for a new generation of readers.  At the same time, Johns has not only been preserving the essentials of Aquaman’s lore, he’s been portraying Aquaman as a hero who comes with a rich history already attached.

The Others represent this strange mixture of new and old in Aquaman’s current continuity.  Though I still think it an unusual choice for Johns to spend so much time establishing a whole other set of characters when his star still has a long way to go in the development department, he’s been doing a remarkably good job at it.  The opening with Prisoner-Of-War shows Johns’ writing at its best: largely stripped at dialogue, yet incredibly informative and emotionally stirring.  I will happily accept any number of Others if Johns can write them all like this.

Fairest #3 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (story), Phil Jiminez (pencils), Andy Lanning & Mark Farmer (inks), Andrew Dalhouse (colors)

The Story: You’re never too old—or tyrannical—for a good story.

The Review: Three months into this series’ run, it’s still not clear what role it’s meant to serve in the grand scheme of the Fables universe.  Though ostensibly a showcase for the most attractive individuals fairy tales have to offer, this doesn’t seem quite enough to support an entire ongoing.  As a supplement to Fables proper, it hasn’t quite established how closely it intends to tie in with the events of its sister title.  In short, you really don’t know what to make of this book.

The first couple issues definitely gave you no help in figuring any of this out.  The plot has largely meandered, switching suddenly from Ali Baba’s hustling adventures to a random retelling of Sleeping Beauty.  We haven’t really gotten to know any of our protagonists to like them very much—assuming they’re likable in the first place (I’m looking at you, Panghammer).  And although the return of the Snow Queen, one of the major Fables villains, suggests bigger stakes than what we’ve seen, we’ve gotten little sense of danger or tension.

Journey into Mystery #637 – Review

by Kieron Gillen, Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Carmine di Giandomenico (art), Andy Troy (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: So what did Sigurd’s spell do?  Not that much…it just turned all the Asgardian gods into humans.

The Review:  What an utterly bizarre issue. Of course, that’s rather the point.  Through Sigurd’s spell, Gillen and DnA effectively turn the world topsy turvy and the surreal, dream-like atmosphere that results is certainly part of this issue’s appeal.  Also, there is a certain joy the writers take in finding appropriate human roles for the depowered gods (who seemingly have forgotten their godliness).  Loki is an avid pen-and-paper role player, always a player in the game of his devising.  Volstagg is a baker who eats all of his own products (except the healthy stuff).  Sif teaches an MMA class.  For the most part, it all makes sense, and seeing what role each god occupies is rather amusing.

A big problem, however, is the dialogue.  Gillen and DnA elect to have the gods speak colloquial English (though their dialogue still has that Asgardian lettering) to reflect their human status.  This is great in theory, but not so good in practice, as it means that the Asgardians no longer sound like themselves at all.  For instance, Thor’s talking like an average joe takes something away from the essence of the character.  I see where the writers were coming from, but in execution, it falls flat, as the characters, in losing their distinctive voices, essentially become entirely different people.

Worse still, while JIM rarely falls flat when it comes to humour, Loki’s narration just didn’t work for me here.  Gillen has the issue narrated as though it were a game of D&D in which Loki is the player character.  It feels strained and forced and ultimately distracts, showing far too much artifice on Gillen’s part.

Exiled #1 – Review

By: Kieron Gillen, Dan Abnett, & Andy Lanning (writers), Carmine di Giandomenico (art), Andy Troy (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story:  After a mysterious hero from ages past dons his suit of armour, the Disir break loose from their enslavement in hell.

The Review:  I confess that I’m not at all a New Mutants reader and, as such, wasn’t particularly thrilled at the announcement of this crossover.  However, as a huge Journey into Mystery fan, I’m happy to say that a lot of the charm of that series remains in this issue.  In fact, you could argue that this is more a JIM storyline than a New Mutants one, as Thor and the Asgardians run amok, the Disir are the baddies, and Hela arrives on Earth.  Really, it actually made the New Mutants more palatable to me.  They felt somewhat disoriented and confused, suddenly thrown into a high fantasy, Journey into Mystery story, having to play outside their usual realm/genre.  Their presence is so dissonant, that it actually ends up being kind of cool.

As he had throughout JIM, Loki continues to light up every page on which he appears.  Even in this issue, which has much less Loki than your average issue of JIM, Gillen’s wit nonetheless crackles.  Loki’s playing a telephone game of sorts in relaying the bad news regarding the Disir was entertainingly scripted and Gillen continues to amuse with Loki’s eager adoption of contemporary slang.

Fairest #2 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (writer), Phil Jiminez (penciller), Andy Lanning (inker), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)

The Story: Sleeping Beauty, you say “We’ll have to snuggle” like it’s a bad thing.

The Review: When you have a successful series, it’s natural to start thinking of spin-off opportunities.  After all, more of a good thing is always a good thing, right?  In mainstream comics, all you need is that one big hit or a character gets some sudden, widespread attention, and before you know it, you suddenly have four Deadpool titles on the stands.  Only afterwards does anybody consider whether there’s even enough material to spread that thin.

No one can deny that Fables easily ranks among Vertigo’s most popular and successful titles.  And as I’ve mentioned any number of times, the series has plenty of characters and stories to draw upon.  In theory, a second ongoing series from the property sounds like a very good idea, particularly since Jack of Fables was such a hit on its own right.

I’m just not so sure one featuring the many princesses and princes of legend has quite the same zing to it.  Jack Horner has such a complicated, twisted personality and history that Willingham can pretty much write him forever and never run out of new things to discover.  Our “fairest” folk, on the other hand, are pretty well-known to begin with and while they’ve revealed edgier sides to themselves in Fables, they make better ensemble characters than protagonists.

Like her fellow princesses, Briar Rose is more than just a pretty face, but so far she seems like an amalgamation of all the traits her peers possess: a little toughness (“I can run you into the ground on my worst day!”), a little sassiness (“Don’t get fresh.”), and a little thoughtfulness (“…if we don’t do more to get warm it won’t matter if she’s the one who gets us.  We’ll be just as dead.”).  In other words, she doesn’t feel flat as a character, but she’s just not all that striking in any way.  Her co-lead, Ali Baba, isn’t much more personable, but he proves surprisingly sensitive here.  To Rose: “[You’re] not my property.  I don’t treat women that way, nor anyone else for that matter.”  Despite this, neither he nor Rose can manage more than a rather tired, begrudging chemistry,

Fairest #1 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (writer), Phil Jiminez (penciller), Andy Lanning (inker), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)

The Story: Hustlin’ ain’t an easy biz, even for the Prince of Thieves.

The Review: I’ve said this at least once, that Fables just has so much going on at any one time, with so many different characters in all manner of places, that it just doesn’t seem like one title can contain them all.  This series is no stranger to spin-offs, what with Jack of Fables being a successful ongoing in its own right, as well as the highly popular Cinderella minis.  A showcase title of all the non-principal Fables, however, has been long past due.

Now, taking Fairest on its face—judging by its cover, if you will—it’d be a stretch to predict whether this series will serve as that showcase.  Not that there’s anything wrong with a title of featuring all the lovely ladies (and gentlemen) from the Fables canon; as a lover of the original Kingdom Hearts, I can’t help feeling fascinated with the idea of seeing all these good-looking people, stars in their original incarnations, learn to live in peace and humility with each other.

Over time, it seems most of the Fable princesses and princes have grown enough to shrug off the cloak of their nobility.  A good thing, too; if Ali Baba, who bears only an ironic form of princeship, is any indication, the pride and self-concern of these people in their raw personalities would have been unbearable as a group.  Actually, even one on his own might not be the most tolerable person to hang around with, either.  Ali may redeem himself in part by his chops for swordsmanship and sneaking around, but such outright greed isn’t exactly a compelling quality for a protagonist—especially nowadays, when money is such a touchy issue in real life.

Another reason why this issue doesn’t quite capture your heart is the storytelling here is more straightforward than nearly everything Willingham’s ever done on Fables.  In fact, you can’t help noticing it evokes an almost Shrekish tone, mixed with a bit of Princess Bride, from its emphasis on pure action-adventure with plenty of hit-or-miss comedy thrown in.  By now, the fantasy spoof is a genre all its own, so you won’t be blown away seeing yet another series with fairy tale characters anachronistically making smart remarks using modern-day American lingo (Jonah the bottle imp: “If magic were moolah, a genie would be Bill Gates, or George Soros, where I’d be just some poor wage-slave two months behind on the car payment.”).

DC Universe Presents #6 – Review

By: Dan Didio (writer), Jerry Ordway (penciller), Ray McCarthy, Andy Lanning, Marlo Alquiza (inkers), Tony Avina (colorist)

The Story: We may be stranded on a freezing mountainside, but no one had better eat me!

The Review: If I have to explain my fondness for the Challengers of the Unknown, I think I can pretty much poach much of what I said about the Blackhawks last month.  Not only do I admire the concept of a group of people using their natural, baseline human abilities to overcome great obstacles, I also love the Challengers’ emphasis on exploration and curiosity.  It’s that same thirst to see the universe’s possibilities that makes me prefer Star Trek over Star Wars.

Unfortunately, it can’t be said that’s the feeling you get out of this series, or, at least, this specific issue.  Instead of focusing on the “challenging” aspect of the team, Didio chooses to emphasize their “borrowed time” premise, making them more sober and grim than the Challengers I loved in Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier.  You have to give credit to Didio for his enthusiasm, though, since in one issue he takes the crew to Nanda Parbat, then has them escape a living mountain.

Actually, the issue would be pretty good times in the hands of someone with greater writing chops, to be frank.  My only real experience with Didio as writer goes all the way back to his Metal Men feature in Wednesday Comics.  There, I found him again enthusiastic, clearly in love with his own ideas, but a very generic executor of words.  That’s pretty much the case here, especially with the dialogue, which sports every cliché you can imagine from a melodrama: “This is some sort of nightmare!”  “Stop this, please!”  “For the love of God…don’t do this!”  “This is all my fault!”  And not one, but two, “Noooo!”

Resurrection Man #5 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Fernando Blanco (artist), Santi Arcas (colorist)

The Story: Don’t think of it as dying, Mitch—think of it as God asking you out on a date.

The Review: It’s been hard to take Resurrection Man seriously, both as a character and as a hero.  A lot of it has to do with his very conception.  I’ve said this before, but the idea of a hero who seemingly can’t die takes out half the tension of the story, and the fact that Mitch has no memory of who he is and thus no connections which can be threatened means another huge chunk of tension is lost as well.

And if most of the tension is gone, all you have left is a bunch of things happening without any feeling of investment in them.  I don’t know about you, but that’s how I feel about almost every plotline running through this series.  The stuff about Heaven and Hell fighting over Mitch’s soul has become so redundant, and with so little point, that you almost wish either one will finally get it in their grasp so as to introduce a little bit of conflict into the story.

The use of the Transhuman and Body Doubles also feels bland and empty.  The Body Doubles have added little to the title except for a little exposition and a lot of cheesecake, and the Transhuman, aside from a couple interesting beats, has offered even less.  This issue sees them doing almost nothing at all, and with Mitch out of the picture, they seem at a loss of what to do with themselves, other than futilely attacking Suriel (for revenge, I suppose?).

When I say Mitch is out of the picture, I mean he’s no longer active in the present story.  Obviously, with a title like Resurrection Man, it’d be a major misnomer if he actually managed to die for good in the fifth issue, so have no fear—he comes back.  And that’s exactly what I mean about the lack of tension.  When last issue ended with Suriel pouting that she might have killed him permanently this time, you knew that couldn’t possibly be true, so the fact Mitch comes back this time is no surprise at all.

Resurrection Man #4 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Fernando Dagnino (artist), Santi Arcas (colorist)

The Story: You know, he’s just as sick and tired of dying as you are of killing him.

The Review: The biggest problem with this series so far has been its relentless repetition.  Each issue has featured Mitch’s death and subsequent resurrection, a slice of cheesecake and violence from the Body Doubles, and some supernatural mumbo-jumbo from celestial forces either above or below.  This has made the title feel rote and predictable, a death mark for any ongoing series.

In a lot of ways, this issue continues to fill that tiresome mold, which needs to change, pronto.  Every scene features at least a couple characters mentioning points that DnA have already well established, whether it’s the Body Doubles on their resilience (“We’re posthuman.  Waaay beyond your crude cybernetic junk.  Waaaaay beyond.”) or Suriel on Mitch’s prized soul (“…so frighteningly overdue, so staggeringly mortgaged, the note has been passed up to the most extreme collection agency of all.”).

But this time around, we also get a few redeeming reveals that give the plot a bit of a kick.  The most important is Bonnie implying that Mitch and the Body Doubles were once possibly on the same side: “…I used to respect you.  For your work, and everything.”  And when Suriel later reveals that the Doubles work as “enforcers for one of the darkest sectors of America’s military-industrial complexes,” you can see how it connects to Mitch’s past military work, as recalled by Mr. Roth in #2.

Speaking of whom, another major twist in the story comes when Mr. Roth—or the Transhuman, as he’d prefer to be known—divulges the fact that his fancy-pants suit runs on his own life-force and that he’s actually “nineteen years old!”  While it’s not clear how DnA plan to incorporate this rather weird turn of events into the story, but at least it ensures the Transhuman will remain a fixture of this title for a while, until his aging problem gets resolved, one way or another.

Resurrection Man #3 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Fernando Dagnino (artist), Santi Arcas (colorist)

The Story: What did your mother tell you about making deals with intangible, formless entities?

The Review: Here’s a theory about gimmicks: use them judiciously, and they can be an entertaining plot device (Zatanna’s backwards talk, or Dial H for Hero); let them fly without check and now you’ve got a one-note plot that seems repetitive and thin as a result.  At a certain point, readers catch on to the idea, the formula becomes too familiar, and then all the tension that makes a story worthwhile goes out the window.

That’s not quite happening here yet, but this title gets right on the verge of it.  When you have Mitch coming back to life twice in rapid succession, it just emphasizes how much suspense you lose when you have a character who can’t die.  To fill that vacuum, DnA offer instead a roulette wheel of powers our hero can rise again with, but since the ability he ends up with seems pretty random, you don’t get much satisfying speculation out of that either.

Then there are our antagonists, the Body Doubles, who have their own formidable resilience.  Essentially, the action consists of people duking it out passionately, but with no real reason to do so since none of them have any fear of permanent harm.  When Carmen gets a broken jaw, or Bonnie blown through a wall by a sonic wail, or Mitch shot with armor-piercing rounds, you know none of it matters, so you simply move on, unmoved.

About the only time a real sense of peril enters the issue is during Mitch’s rather brief sojourn “in between.”  There, Mitch has no resurrecting body at his disposal, only his immortal soul—which, apparently, can be eaten.  Unfortunately, this precious period of vulnerability gets squandered on a long, rambling monologue full of eye-rolling euphemisms, about how forces “upstairs” and “downstairs” want Mitch for their own because “You keep not dying and it’s causing problems.  Bookkeeping problems.  Columns ain’t balancing.”

None of this, by the way, reveals anything we haven’t already figured out for ourselves or advances any of the storylines at stake: Mitch’s quest for his past; the shadowy people who set the Body Doubles after him in the first place; and not even with the actual running plot thread about Suriel et al’s attempts to capture him.

Resurrection Man #2 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Fernando Dagnino (artist), Santi Arcas (colorist)

The Story: Getting chased by two hot ladies sounds pretty great in theory, and yet…

The Review: We don’t know too much about Mitch Shelley, the Resurrection Man, but in his defense, he doesn’t know too much about himself either.  It’s not the most unusual twist in the world when a comic book character knows more about his superpowers than his own past, but at least you’re never in want for mystery.  That said, the writers must take on the responsibility of keeping you interested if they want to keep you out of the loop.

One way to do that is to create a character who engages you with his personality alone, if not his background.  So far, you can’t say Mitch does much of that.  While not unlikable in any way, he just seems too buttoned-up and straight-laced to get very attached to his character.  At times, he becomes a cipher in his own comic, acting as instrument to deliver or acquire more information for us, but not actually doing much in particular.

The most we get to see of Mitch’s humanness (so to speak) is in the way he deals with Mr. Roth, a co-resident at the residential care home where Mitch’s dad spent his last days.  These scenes play very well, but mostly because Mr. Roth himself has such a lively personality of his own, being old-school bananas: “I was a super-villain.  Professional.  High tech end of the market.  They called me the Transhuman.  Maybe you heard of me?”  Mitch: “Ooo-kay.”

At least we glean a few interesting tidbits about Mitch’s past.  We learn he, like his father, was a scientist.  We know he used to work in corporate research, with ties to the government.  We also know that Mitch might have been something of a cold workaholic (Mr. Roth says, grinning, “You didn’t much give me the time of day, then, I recall.”).  From that we can take a few guesses as to a possible source of Mitch’s powers, but we don’t gain much more than that.

Heroes for Hire #12 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writer), Brad Walker (artist), Andrew Hennessy (inker), Jay David Ramos (colorist)

The Story: Hero, are you for hire? We’ve got a job.

The Review: Heroes for Hire #12 was a nice little single-issue story. We are thrown into the middle of the action in a moody and effective close-up of Misty summoning her contractors. The darkened evening shots filled with action and the switch from character to character gives a sense of a superhero crime-fighting relay, which was an interesting feeling even if some of the setup seemed choreographed in a way that did not match the dialogue. What I mean by that is that many of the heroes for hire were within seconds of the action, in costume and already on the move when Misty asked if they were interested in a job. Maybe I’m missing some in-joke or tagline that Misty uses all the time.

I enjoyed the art. Except for some proportion and perspective issues with Misty’s face, everything else was good. The action was clear and dynamic, the character and setting draftsmanship detailed and the layouts and colors suitable for the kind of rapid-fire story being told. I particularly liked Walker’s rendition of Namor. The Prince of the Sea was imposing and impressive.

Overall, I enjoyed this issue, but it was a bit like eating a rice crispy square. It tasted good, but had little substance. No characters grew or changed, no deep motivations were demonstrated or even alluded to. This was simple, fluffy action for the sake of action, making the characters look cool, and giving them opportunities to attempt some quips (some of which worked).

Conclusion: This is one of the first issues of HfH that I’ve picked up, so maybe there is more substance to the rest of the series and this issue happens to be a light break between heavy arcs. I love the concept of the team, and the characters are intriguing, so there’s a lot of grist for the mill. I just didn’t see the best of the story potential realized here. Pick it up if you love these characters.

Grade: B-

-DS Arsenault

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