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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John Carter: A Princess of Mars #1 of 5 – Review

By: Roger Langridge (writer), Filipe Andrade (artist), Sunny Cho (colors), Sana Amanat (editor), Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator)

The Story: John Carter is the captive of the green men of Mars and must learn their language.

Some Comments Before the Review: I am a long-time Barsoom fan. I discovered John Carter through Marvel’s excellent 1977 series, which led me to Burroughs’ novels and to novel-reading in general. For this reason, I am also reading and reviewing Dynamite’s excellent “Warlord of Mars”, “Dejah Thoris” and “Fall of Barsoom.” Literature is often described as a dialogue, where one creative vision responds, positively or negatively, to another. I’m approaching Marvel’s all-ages “Princess of Mars” as a part of that ongoing conversation.

The Review: The most striking creative choice in this issue is, hands down, the art style. Andrade’s style is so different, in its approach to perspective, exaggeration, anatomy, and polished roughness, that at no point can the other parts of the book be disentangled from it. Andrade’s art is, without reference to positive or negative, fascinating. I found myself questioning both the artist’s motives for creative choices, as well as the editor’s for having chosen such a style. John Carter is an exaggerated, cartoony figure that reminded me equally of the angularity of some of the stringy physiognomies of Heavy Metal’s European works, mixed with Disney’s Hercules. Dejah Thoris is not the incomparable daughter of Helium in her awesome beauty, but something closer to an art nouveau 1920s flapper in faux-futuristic wear. Tars Tarkas appeared (and sounded) priestly and sage rather than fearsome, and the Tharks overall borrowed an insectoid flavor for their hands and posture. I was unsure if this was a strikingly creative character-design choice or whether this was a further exploration of the exaggeration of posture and anatomy for style’s sake. And I think this nailed down for me the central artistic tension I felt. I’ve read unreliable narrators. I now feel I’ve seen an unreliable artist, who makes me question or distrust what I’ve seen. This is not the same charm as a beautifully drawn figure or action sequence, but it is an element of fascination nonetheless and a volley in the stylistic conversation of how Carter has been depicted before.

Warlord of Mars #9 – Review

By: Arvid Nelson (writer), Lui Antonio (illustrator), Adriano Lucas (colors), Joseph Rybandt (editor), Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator)

The Story: John Carter has become the Warlord of Mars, by uniting the Tharks of Barsoom under Tars Tarkas, the new Jeddak, and he’s leading them against the forces of Zodanga, to stop the wedding of Dejah Thoris, the woman he loves, to the Prince of Zodanga.

The Review: This is the fast-paced conclusion to Dynamite’s adaptation of Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars. The events come tumbling, with some cool, satisfying moments. The first I loved was the mass of dour-faced Thark warriors revealed on page three. Furthermore, I think that Antonio has really captured the awesome engine-of-destruction power of the Tharks, more accurately than other renditions (I’m thinking principally of Marvel’s 28-issue, 3-annual run in the late 1970s and the Whelan covers for the 1980s series of Ballantine books). Burroughs was always clear that a charging Thark warrior was a near-unstoppable force. Antonio had his Tars Tarkas dismembering six Zodangan warriors at a time, and didn’t stint on showing them at their full fourteen-foot heights, with the appropriate muscles. And Antonio’s work on Dejah Thoris remains near-flawless and pin-up worthy, which is not gratuitous, as it fits perfectly with Burroughs’ descriptions of Barsoom’s equivalent of Helen of Troy. He also drew some interesting character into Kantos Kan where Nelson had given him a nice little command role. And of course, Antonio’s airship battle was awesome, as were the last few, sad pages. This is not to say that every panel was perfect, but Antonio is gradually climbing up my scale of favorite artists and certainly justifies being among my top choices to pencil Barsoom.

Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris #6 – Review

By: Arvid Nelson (writer), Carlos Rafael (artist), Carlos Lopez (colors), Joseph Rybandt (editor), Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator)

The Story: The Pirate Queen of Mars, Part 1 of 5: Water has ceased to flow from the south polar pumping stations to the newly united twin cities of Greater and Lesser Helium. This is a big deal, but the Jeddak and his son must deal with the destruction left by the Colossus of Mars. So Dejah Thoris, the Princess, leads a mission to the south pole to get the water flowing again.

What’s Good: The best pieces of this book were the introduction of the pirate queen, and her mysterious moon people. One of the exciting things in Burroughs’ Mars series was the strange alien races to be found there: green, red, yellow, white, black, plus others that were less humanoid. This new race to play in Barsoomian affairs felt totally like a tip of the iceberg, because I don’t remember it being part of the official canon (although, I only read the 10th and 11th books once, so maybe my memory fails me). I loved the strangeness and the strange steam-punky dress of the saboteur and the whole mysterious concept of pirates from Phobos or Deimos. I already know that Phobos and Deimos are tiny moons with, at best, microgravity, but I’m totally open for a steampunk revisioning of their role. Burrough did it with Jupiter, Mars and Venus, right? In terms of plotting and story, Nelson gave this first issue of the Pirate Queen of Mars arc a good launch, with plenty of mystery, intrigue and adventure. And, it turns out that Dejah Thoris got to keep some of the cool kit she got in the last five issues (those wings and that twin-bladed sword). This is good, because the extra kit will give some flexibility to where the stories can go and what Dejah can do (as if there wasn’t enough scope for adventure with flying warships).

Artwise, our trusty pair of Carloses delivered the goods. There was a lot of Barsoomian design to be done in this issue. For example, on the splash page, Rafael is doing a closer view on the Heliumite architecture than we’ve recently seen, and at the same time, he’s designing the sabateur’s clothing (an odd thing for Barsoom) and it comes off very successfully with a steampunk/pulp flavor. And on the old school feel, I loved how they switched on the power at the pumping station – in retrospect, it makes total sense, but I was expecting Martian super-science, so I was pleasantly surprised. And except for a some stiff moments, the characters were dynamic and the action and momentum of the panels drove forward on subtle postural choices (check out the saboteur leaping for the trailing anchor rope).

Thor: Heaven and Earth #4 – Review

By: Paul Jenkins (writer), Lan Medina (artist), Chris Sotomayer (colorist), Charlie Beckerman & Jake Thomas (assistant editors)

The Story: A Welsh Prince steals the wife of a Viking. The Vikings sail over to settle accounts. The Welsh, getting kicked around, call for help, by offering beautiful damsels for their dragon to eat. The dragon accepts the payment and mows down the Vikings, who call for help of their own: the Norse gods.

What’s Good: You’ll recall in my review of Thor: Heaven and Earth #3, that I’d been blown away by Jenkins’ powerful writing. This issue is no different. Once again, it is a stand-alone issue that is entirely focused on what makes Thor different. In this case, Jenkins focuses on the fact that Thor is part of an ancient pantheon of gods, who once had worshippers who could call them for help, worshippers who had enemies in a pagan cosmology. The second thing that’s cool about Jenkins’ story is that there is a strong moral element. The challenge in lending a moral argument to a tale of the past is that very often, to meet the moral needs of modern readers, an anachronistic ethic is inserted into a past it doesn’t belong to, making the story feel inauthentic. Jenkins gets around this by making the original crime (wife-kidnapping) something that will offend the morals of both modern readers and vikings. Clever and effective. The third cool thing about Jenkins’ story is the frame of the narrative. This is a story being told. There is a listener and a teller, and instead of being just a literary device, Jenkins makes the frame part of the story by having one of them change. So, there’s character change in the story, and character change in the framing story. Quite well constructed and satisfying.

On the art, I was quite pleased. I noticed the camera angle technique right on the first page: starting above the train, then in the train on the teller and the listener, and the close-ups on each of them. Big to small. Distant to intimate. I also liked the detailing of the expressions and the work on making average characters part of a heroic story. And on heroism and action, it was competently done, and I felt it really came alive when the Aesir and the dragon came on the scene. That just goes to show that superheroes and monsters are still the natural fauna of comic books.

Warlord of Mars: Fall of Barsoom #2 – Review

By: Robert Place Napton (writer), Roberto Castro (artist), Alex Guimaraes (colors), Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator), Joseph Rybandt (editor)

The Story: On the Barsoom of 100,000 years ago, the scientist Tak Nan Lee from Korad races against time to find a way to replenish Mars’ atmosphere before there is nothing left. And he learns something of the strength of the red woman he has rescued. In the meantime, the Horzian general leads troops against the savage and powerful green hordes.

The Review: You know how sometimes in sales, you have a product that sells itself? I feel a bit that way about Dynamite’s new tale about ancient Barsoom. Dynamite is cracking open a mythos whose every nook I thought I’d explored long ago. Napton is injecting a healthy does of alien steampunk into a high-stakes tale of global extinction with epic battles that feel nearly Tolkeinian is scope, filled with a broad set of characters who are all definitely self-interested, with smatterings of altruism and humanity. The dialogue was pretty good, although I found a bit of flab in the beginning pages. One thing I usually trash a writer for is heavy exposition in the dialogue, but Napton was cautious with this and made the dialogue sound close to natural while giving the reader necessary information about the vast canvas he was painting on.

Avengelyne #2 – Review

By: Rob Liefeld and Mark Poulton (story), Mark Poulton (script), Owen Gieni (art and color)

The Story: Devil in the Flesh, Part 2 of 3: Avengelyne, in her new body, faces the Red Dragon, a mortal enemy, wearing her old body. The knife-wielding lunatic Torment strikes again, while a friend returns, packing Jesus Fire.

What’s Good: Gieni on art chores was once again a pleasure to watch. His stylized characters were full of small bits of personality in the detail, like Tegan’s nose piercing and striped socks in the snow, or the fine detail on Heaven’s tattoos, or the uneven grin of Torment. Likewise, the soft backgrounds in the setting, especially the snow, had an ethereal feel. And the plentiful action sequences were clear and dynamic. Passover descending, while a bit overly postured, was an impressive sight. Kudos to the artwork.

Thor: Heaven and Earth #3 – Review

By: Paul Jenkins (writer), Pascal Alixe (artist), Sotocolor (colorist), Charlie Beckerman (editor)

The Story: Thor fulfills a promise to reconcile the existence of the Viking gods to a faith-stricken Catholic priest.

What’s Good: I had checked out this issue totally on a lark, and was blown away by the story. It’s been a while since I’ve led the “what’s good” part of a review with the writer, but Paul Jenkins delivered a perfectly written story with cosmic and personal depth. What made it perfect for me? First of all, this story gets to what Thor is about: a major god from a pagan pantheon intervening directly in a Judeo-Christian-Muslim, largely secularized world. Thor’s 50-year run in comics has required readers to deliberately suppress or ignore questions about which religion is true. Doctor Strange had much the same problem, and Marvel largely sorted these out in Marvel Premiere in the early 1970s. Jenkins didn’t duck this problem; he made it the core of his story and he pulled it off without being trite, facile or dishonest.

X-Men #16 – Review

By: Victor Gischler (writer), Jorge Molina (artist), Guru EFX (colors), Jordan D. White (assistant editor), Daniel Ketchum (associate editor)

The Story: A very old flame sends a distress signal to Cyclops and Magneto. It is delivered by FF, who are now sporting their new Dr. Doom look.

What Good: I was a fan of the art. Although I am usually allergic to the Rob Liefeld-esque posturing of heroes (see Cyclops, Wolverine and Thing at various moments), they looked good. Cyclops was an imposing leader and everyone looked heroic. The action sequences had a bit of an anime feel to them with the sort of frozen still-shot with bits of motion blurred beyond recognition. The fastball special was a good example, and it worked. On draftsmanship, I had no complaints. The figures, background and tech were clean and detailed, and the faces, while often expressionless (except for Franklin), were attractive. I really enjoyed the sequence in the submarine, and the double splash page with the staples was awesome in opening up a panoramic scope.

X-Men: Schism #3 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Daniel Acuña (artist), Jordan D. White (assistant editor), Daniel Ketchum (associate editor)

The Story: A trap is set for the X-Men at the Museum of Mutant History. We learn more (and are impressed by) the capabilities of the Hellfire Club’s junior division. Cyclops wears a jetpack and Wolverine steals a car.

What’s Good: Daniel Acuña’s art is very stylized, but if you like his style, then this issue is for you. I found myself comparing the art favorably to his work on the Eternals. His shots are moody, so much so, that I almost found the tone on the first page to be oppressively so. This is a good thing though, because this is the middle of a 5-issue arc, so if things aren’t bad now in tone and mood, something is wrong. The darkness on the edges and background of the art also contributed to a feeling that I didn’t have all the information, and that the characters were without options. And knowing the way Schism is going to have to go, this is again excellent art chores to propel the theme and taste of the story. Acuña’s mini Hellfire Club was creepy, far more so than the other artists in the series have done and the weird background in their meeting felt almost Steranko-ish in flavor. And, most importantly, the action, in this donnybrook of an issue, was clear and dynamic. Check out the energy Acuña puts into Magneto walking towards his target with hellfire goons flying all around him.

On writing, Aaron brings his trademark grittiness to a story of continuing bigotry and persecution. He did this with snappy banter, generally tight dialogue filled with real personality (none moreso than the pint-sized Hellfire people, underlining once again Aaron’s comfort with writing those characters that a twisted and off-kilter). I’d also like to give an A for effort on how the Hellfire Club took out Magneto. I’ve thought before about how a magnetar could be used in a story, and this certainly is a creative way. It’s not plausible to shoot a collapsed star out the barrel of a gun, but it is creative. Shooting face-sucking, power-draining aliens out of T-shirt guns looked almost logical by comparison.

Deadlands: Death Was Silent – One-Shot – Advanced Review

Death Was Silent By: Ron Marz (writer and editor), Bart Sears (artist), Michael Atiyeh (colors)

Backup Dime Novel “Prey” By: C. Edward Sellner (writer and colorist), Alejandro Aragon (artist)

The Story: Lead (Death Was Silent): A bounty hunter with an odd way of talking drifts into town on a rainy night and he isn’t here for the company.

Backup (Prey): Billy the Kid’s latest installment in the weird western world of the Deadlands.

What’s Good: Ron Marz delivers a high concept weird western. Why high concept? Four words: weird western black ops. Marz makes good use of the conventions of the weird western genre, which are themselves built of the classic tropes of the western and dark fantasy genres. The western excels at the outsider bringing law to a town on the frontier, where he is friendless, outgunned, disrespected and despised. The tone was set perfectly in the opening sequence as our hero rides into town under sheets of rain, when a kid comes up to him and says, “Hey mister, you kill that guy?” This nods to the western genre and misdirects at the same time. Beautiful. And the dialogue throughout is terse and tight with tension.

Bart Sears and Michael Atiyeh on art were excellent. I’d last seen Sears’ work on Justice League International and some Crossgen titles. Here, it is totally different, more subdued and gritty, less self-aware. It reminds me a bit of the European styles used in their western comics. It does not try to be beautiful, because its subjects certainly are not. This fits the gross, dirty and corrupt town of this story. Sears’ action sequences are cool and I was sold on the art right in the opening sequence and the ride into town under the rain.

X-Men #15.1 – Review

By: Victor Gischler (writer), Will Conrad (art), Brian Reber (color)

The Story: The X-Men go to a small town in the southern US to help out a shaman who is going to get rid of some demons. Not all goes according to plan, but a curvier Ghost Rider than the last shows up for an assist.

What’s Good: I don’t recall having seen the Conrad/Reber art combo before, but I liked it. Ghost Riderette riding in was a visual treat, and the opening sequence with Dani was beautifully detailed. The static poses seemed competent (although mildly artificial), but the action sequences, from the arrival of the demons onward, worked much better. Some artists make it hard to figure out what’s going on when the do the action sequence zoom-ins, but Conrad kept his panels clean and filled with momentum. Writing-wise, this was a quick, simple story with some dialogue gems and clever trash talk that had me laughing.

What’s Not So Good: While this is a complete little story in a single book, I don’t feel that it was a particularly powerful story. The biggest thing holding this book back was that no one grew or developed (other than Ghost Rider’s target and (a) he’s not a key cast member and (b) you could argue he already felt bad). This sapped meaning from the story, and I would go further and say this issue had no emotional heart. The X-Men are on a mission to help people they have no real investment in (not even Dani, despite the family connection…she shows no emotions in the book, only a bit of trivial irony) and in the end, they walk away unchanged. Even the commercial addition of Ghost Rider (I would think that this was an embedded marketing attempt to boost sales on the new Ghost Rider series) didn’t generate any genuine interactions or conflict. I small measure of how the story didn’t hold me was that I was more excited about two adds in the book: Marvel’s Princess of Mars series and the cover for X-Men #16 featuring Doctor Doom and the X-Men.

Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris #5 – Review

By: Arvid Nelson (writer), Carlos Rafael (illustrations), Carlos Lopez (colors), Joseph Rybandt (editor), Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator)

The Story: The Colossus of Mars, Part 5: The Jeddak of Yorn, safely embedded in the Colossus, is making thoat meat out of the navies of Greater and Lesser Helium. Dejah Thoris and Valian have a plan, but they don’t know if it will work.

What’s Good: The conclusion of the Colossus of Mars arc is cover-to-cover action as this story races to its climax. Other than the idea that Dejah, her father and her grandfather cannot die, we know nothing about what’s going to happen, but we’ve got a lot of plot threads, revelations and questions to see to. Will Valian’s vacuum-tube-filled steampunk device work against the Colossus? How will the navies of Helium survive, especially with the clever, welcome and logical twist that Nelson adds, courtesy of Zodanga, tying this storyline into the Warlord of Mars series? The character work in the climax is very good, as, by now, Nelson has fleshed out each of the major characters. Their actions, and ends, fit perfectly. The Jeddak of Yorn’s advisor has a fate, as does Dejah and as does Valian. Each is rewarded according to who they are and even Valian achieves a kind of bumbling honor.

Artwise, team Carlos was once again awesome. The Colossus standing thigh-deep in urban wreckage was full of pulpy goodness, with the thinning colossus reminding me of some 1950s matinee monsters, while the destroyed Martian cityline was strongly flavored by 1920s visions of what future advanced societies might look like. The heroics were good, with figures like Dejah Thoris and her family propelling the story with dynamic postures, while Valian and the Yorn advisor had more closed and stationary body language. The advanced tech fighting the Colossus looked beautiful and my take-away image for the whole issue was the Colossus blowing fire at the swarming navies.

Severed #1 – Advanced Review

By: Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft (writers), Attila Futaki (artist)

The Story: An old man receives a letter that sends the story backward to an innocent, menacing time forty years earlier, a time before he lost his arm.

The Review: Snyder, Tuft and Futaki were in complete control of this story. From panel one, I was hooked by the authenticity and gravity of the story. The first hook was visual, with a modern house of the 50s and an older couple watching TV. The architecture and expressions of boredom were evocative and fascinating in their still normalcy before the storm. The dialogue did its work too, cleanly and economically establishing staid, worn domesticity and a bit of unexpected jadedness. Then back to visually again, when the grandson comes running in, I was struck with the old man’s slouch and the lean of his neck. It was so unexpectedly lifelike, that it stopped me for more than a bit.

Warlord of Mars #8 – Review

By: Arvid Nelson (writers), Lui Antonio (art), Adriano Lucas (colors), Joseph Rybandt (editor), Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator)

The Story: The incomparable Dejah Thoris is the prisoner of the Jed of Zodanga, and a marriage is in the works. All that stands between John Carter and saving the love of his life is the entire Zodangan army and navy, with nary a friend in sight.

What’s Good: Warlord of Mars #8 is sword and planet adventure is modernized pulp tradition. Our highly intelligent, honor-bound hero is in big problems, navigating the strange world of Barsoom and trying to win his love, Dejah Thoris. I’ve read Princess of Mars many times, but Antonio and Lucas have worked wonders to bring what, until now, has only been possible to be seen in our imaginations. And it’s not that Marvel didn’t do a great job in its 1977-1980 series at bringing Barsoom to life, but the Marvel artists like Gil Kane, Sal Buscema and Pablo Marcos emphasized the dusty age of Mars, rather than the science that was so advanced as to appear magical. Antonio and Lucas make Barsoom hyper-advanced and deadly savage in a way that no other visualizations (even the Whelan covers on the novels in the 1980s) have done.

On the writing, Nelson makes the action tense and the emotions powerful. When Carter swears to kill the Zodangan Jed so that Dejah does not need to wed him, he’s truly hurt, and so are we, by her response. And in the tradition of the best and most sympathetic of characters, he doesn’t spend a whole lot of time anguishing over what to do. Carter is the best of the old pulp heroes, in whom thought and action are one. *Carter is going to solve this and win Dejah Thoris.* And we love him for it, because it’s the kind of response we wish we were capable of.

The Vault #1 – Advanced Review

By: Sam Sarkar (script), Garrie Gastonny (art), Sakti Yuwoko (colors)

The Story: A team of explorers is excavating an underwater wreck that is reputed to hold a whole swack of swag. But there’s some weird stuff going on. Like, how the heck did the people who put the treasure there get that far into the ocean? And why do some of the finds have strange symbols? And why do the tunnels on the ocean floor match the layouts in the great pyramids?

What’s Good: Right off the bat, the art is just beautiful. There’s no way to miss it. From the double-splash page war in heaven to the exquisite faces to the watery shine of light under the waves, everything is attractive and eye-catching in its detail. The clothing looks like Gastonny spent hours on wrinkles and folds and pockets. The boat is very lived in, the technology is realistic and the squid is awesomely lifelike and menacing. The expressions are subtle, but evocative, matching the understated tones and emotions of the situations. I could go on and on about the artwork, but I think the point is made: Gastonny + Yuwoko = Great!

On the writing, Sarkar’s scope is ambitious. There’s some seriously deep-sea, deep-history mystery at play, and Sarkar suggests that far more is at stake than just whether these guys make back the money they invested in this excavation. He’s also ambitious with the execution. I mean, this book is *dense*. There are easily as many words in this book as you would find in any three or four average comics. But not for a second does the dialogue (which does most of the expository work) get artificial or dull. The characters have conflicts and they dispute each other’s ideas and some are new to working together so Sarkar has set things up for us to listen to all this and learn. Fun ride.

What’s Not So Good: I really had no complaints about this book.

Conclusion: What a gem of a book! I can totally recommend The Vault. Get it now. They will only be three issues.

Grade: B+

-DS Arsenault

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X-Men #15 – Review

By: Christopher Yost (writer), Paco Medina and Dalibor Talajic (pencillers), Dalibor Talajic, Juan Vlasco (inkers), Marte Gracia (colorist)

The Story: First To Last, Conclusion: The past and present encounters with the Evolutionaries converge on Cyclops and his choices, past and present. At stake… the survival of humanity.

What’s Good: I continue to be delighted with the artwork, and the stylistic differences between past and present. The less heroic, and even anti-heroic, tone and physiques in the past really give a sense of how far the X-Men, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and by extension, the Marvel Universe, have come. Magneto is wider, less sleek, and less in command of himself and the world, due in large part to Talajic’s unique pencil and in work. Cyclops is similarly a shadow of the impressive leader he will be in the future. In the present, modern heroism is shown in its full glory with tight action, exciting layouts and swift action.

Avengelyne #1 – Advanced Review

By: Rob Liefeld and Mark Poulton (story), Mark Poulton (script), Owen Gieni (art and colors)

The Story – Devil in the Flesh, Part 1 of 3: A psycho is stalking New York and we get to watch him work. A pornstar/stripper named Heaven Starr with a reputation for heavy drug use has a sudden loss of memory and is tossed out of the club she is working. She can’t remember anything and on the way home, more than just New York muggers are waiting for her.

What’s Good: Visually, Gieni gave this book a strong opening. The snowflakes falling on New York soften and whiten a land that needs cleansing, perfectly setting the metaphorical tone for the book. His characters are stylized and exaggerated (check out Torment in his orange sweater-vest), but attractive and expressive. Fear, confusion, artificial and genuine smiles, and anger clearly tell the story while action sequences effectively move the story forward. The dialogue was, at times interesting and unexpected, like when the muggers go after Heaven.

X-Men: Schism #1 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Carlos Pacheco (penciller), Cam Smith (inker), Frank D’Armata (colorist)

The Story: Cyclops, as leader of the world’s mutants, goes to an arms control conference, bringing Wolverine as his security. Midway through Cyclops’ speech advocating peace and disarmament (in this case, not for nukes, but for sentinels), a telepathic mutant comes in and creates an international incident, making governments all over the world mobilize their anti-mutant weapons.

The Review: First of all, this was a thick issue. $4.99 thick. There’s a lot of story here, and Aaron starts it off close and personal, hinting at some of the struggles that are going to divide Logan and Scott by the end of this series. The conflict will be something that will bring the reader closer to Wolverine, while respecting Cyclops more, a brain versus heart sort of split. This will be a conflict of men not only making different choices, but making them based on different values. Cyclops is thinking the long game with a Messianic resolve to see his people through this, while Wolverine cares about the people having to suffer through the wandering in the desert. I love that it’s not going to be a superficial conflict. And Aaron is making it more flinch-worthy for the reader by reminding us how much water has passed under the bridge with these two standing back to back against the world, going so far as to show a glimpse of their early relationship. (And a no-prize goes to readers who remember that their relationship was really rocky until Uncanny X-Men #126, when Cyclops cleaned Wolverine’s clock without trying, to snap him out of a self-destructive mood.) By now, years later, they are close to brotherhood. This is a beautiful setup for lots of drama! And the addition of Kade Kilgore was great, but I won’t say any more for fear of spoiling.

Artwise, I was delighted with everything Pacheco drew, except Wolverine. Wolverine seemed to shape change from a short, muscular guy, to a block-like thing, to a miniature version of Guido from X-Factor (all this on pages 2 and 3!). His shifting proportions didn’t stop throughout the book, but strangely enough, everything else was awesome. Iceman on the beach was classic, with his little cushion of fog, while Cyclops and the conference were first rate and suggestive of Scott’s greatness. The cameo by the leader of Iran (sorry, I can’t spell his name without Wikipedia) was a beautifully-done artistic touch, right down to the open collar. The faces throughout were evocative and I have to take my hat off to D’Armata’s color work during the attack on the conference especially, but elsewhere, he chose some interesting dominant colors for backgrounds that signaled the grimness of the mood through encroaching shadows.

X-Men #14 – Review

By: Christopher Yost (writer), Paco Medina, Dalibor Talajic (pencillers), Dalibor Talajic, Juan Vlasco (inkers), Marte Gracia and Wil Quintana (colorists)

The Story: “First to Last, Part 4” opens up more of the past of the Evolutionaries (2.7M years ago) and of the original X-Men in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants era. And in the present, for good measure, the X-Men are getting their tails kicked.

What’s Good: We’re in high second act here. The action and the revelations are hitting quickly. Yost is doing one of the more difficult things in serial storytelling, which is to successfully pull off a big retcon by stitching new events and plots into the old X-Men tapestry without tearing or unbalancing anything. Some places this has been done well have been Deadly Genesis and Uncanny X-Men First Class (see WCBR’s coverage). As things are going, I would certainly put “First to Last” up there with those well-done retcons. The revelations coming from two time periods is pretty cool. I’m wondering if we’re going to see the Eternals as part of this and what made Phaestus set in motion this genocide tool. Yost makes the present more tense with things really going downhill (“We need Cyclops!” and “Cyclops, what did you do?”). What other hidden sins (on top of creating the X-Force death squad) does Cyclops have in his closet?

Artwise, I was very pleased. The juxtaposition of Medina’s and Talajic’s styles for the time periods was awesome and both the Evolutionaries and Magento in the past and present were artistic scene-stealers. Medina and Talajic imbued both with such restrained menace and danger that I kept waiting for the shoe to drop. And the poses and expressions of Magento and the Brotherhood in the past were excellent. I’m a full-on fan of the artwork.

Elric: The Balance Lost #1 – Review

By: Chris Roberson (writer), Francesco Biagnini (artist), Stephen Downer (colorist), Shannon Watters (assistant editor), Matt Gagnon (editor), Michael Moorcock (creator)

The Story: Eric, a game designer, dreams he’s an albino sorceror prince called Elric, travelling through worlds overrun by chaos. At the same time, on another world, Hawkmoon, a retired warrior, finds out that an ancient enemy may be returning. Simultaneously, Corum, last prince of the Vadhagh, returns home to find a deathless companion in a tight spot. A war is brewing between war and chaos and Eric is at the center of it.

What’s Good: This series is for Elric fans, but also of Moorcock’s not-as-famous-but-still-quite-awesome other creations such as Prince Corum. Roberson captures the feel of Elric and even Corum (who, in my mind, is a more subtle character, and tougher to encapsulate). Roberson is ably assisted by Biagnini who has tough shoes to fill, as this is not the first time that Moorcock’s genius has been brought to comics. Many artists have tried to depict Moorcock’s spooky, eerie, unstable multiverse, most notably P. Craig Russell, but Biagnini brings the chaotic madness to life in not only to the plane where Elric is trapped (check out some of the monstrosities and the dismemberments), but the Corum’s supposedly normal homecoming, where the horror is not in the monsters, but in the behavior of the decrepit humans.

I think that Roberson launched issue #1 with momentum, as we have the mystery of the connectedness of Corum, Elric, Hawkmoon and Eric to unravel and each of these four is facing an impending disaster. The dialogue is tight, and changes style for each character: cynical and tense for Eric, noble and understated for Corum, bitterly self-aware for Elric, warmly familial for Hawkmoon and rabidly fascist for Garrison Bow (Eric’s brother). And while we don’t have all the information we want, Roberson delivers what we need, so our questions will pull us back for issue #2.

All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #1

By: Paul Jenkins (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), Bill Rosemann & Alejandro Arbona (editors)

The Story: This story is split between the events of December 1944, in German territory, and modern-day USA. The characters in 1944 are a squad of superhero soldiers led by Captain America, and in the present, a 93-year-old man and his granddaughter.

The Review: Jenkins offered some fine writing in this first issue of an 8-issue limited series. I was dropped right into the confusion of a running WWII battle, nuanced with gritty, low-powered, wartime superheroing. I think Jenkins did a better-than-fair job of catching some of the peculiar word choices of the time, which helped the art create a feeling of authenticity. And while it would have made the read easier if he’d provided slightly more text on the dramatis personae, I accepted that if his goal was to create in the reader a sense of the chaos of a pitched urban battle, one way to contribute to that is to give the reader less information. I enjoyed the modern setting less, partly because we shift from action and a sequence of micro-cliff-hangers to a sedate character piece. Now, the change in focus isn’t a problem in, but that I felt Jenkins didn’t succeed so much in the establishment of authenticity. The focus on wartime comic books in the beginning seemed to be a bit too meta-fictional for me, and the dialogue felt less honest as the level of exposition-through-dialogue increased. That being said, I think the scenes were effective in connecting the WWII era to the present.

The Incredible Hulks #631 – Review

By: Greg Pak (writer), Paul Pelletier (penciller), Danny Miki (inker), Morry Hollowell with Jesús Aburtou (colorists), Jake Thomas (assistant editor), Mark Paniccia (editor)

The Story: Heart of the Monster, Part Two: OK. AIM scientist party-crashes on Red She-Hulk/Tyrannus lovefest to turn fountain of youth into a wishing well. Some dumb wishes get made, bringing back to life a cool half-dozen of the Hulk’s foes, plus some random monsters and additional sub-wishes, and some more sub-wishes….

What’s Good: I started buying Hulk again because I was interested in seeing what Pak had been doing with it for a while, but more importantly, because of Pelletier’s art. Pelletier, Miki and the colorists really have a good thing going on. The art is detailed and textured, no matter who or what Pelletier is looking at. Fin Fang Foom has deep, shadowed ridges and the monster teeth are cracked and irregular. Rick Jones’ face (such as it is) is expressive and the weapons are shiny and new-looking. Wendigo and Bi-Beast figured heavily in this issue and the art team depicted them in lavish rage, while Umar (I didn’t even realize she was a Hulk foe!) and Amadeus have more subtle characterizations of their moods. And of course, the Hulk was big and blocky and green and all muscle, slapping it down with all comers and creatively outsmarting (in his limited way) the dumbest of his enemies. All in all, a visually satisfying issue.

On the writing, Pak’s tongue-in-cheek tone, mixing enemy and friend in quick-moving banter, while stirring in deadly danger, made for a fun ride. The wishing well and the complexity of the wishing structure that Cho figures out was intriguing, fitting cheek-by-jowl with funnny, Hulkish cunning involving Wendigo’s tail. I liked all the characters involved, even the villains, and no one seemed to be taking any great pains to take themselves too seriously, which was my signal to take it easy. Why did I like them? Well, they all wanted something that was obvious and important to them. The Hulk is heart-broken. She-Hulk, Cho and Rick are his buddy musketeers and Betty is his lost love. Poignant. Painful. Heart-warming. At the same time, on the villains’ side, we have some villains, who, at every turn, have seen their efforts stymied by this gamma-irradiated monstrosity. Of course they want a bit of payback, or to rebuild what they lost. What reader can’t buy into that? Pak has taken some very bizarre people (I’m talking about all of them), and made them sympathetic with some very clear, simple desires and obstacles.

Mystery Men #2 – Review

By: David Liss (writer), Patrick Zircher (artist), Andy Troy (colorist), John Denning and Rachel Pinnelas (assistant editors)

The Story: The Operative and the Revenant must learn to play nice to start making headway on the investigation of the death of Alice Starr. And Alice’s sister, who happens to have built a jetpack, also wants a piece of the action.

What’s Good: I’m loving Zircher and Troy on the art chores. The period costumes feel authentic (check out the leather flying gear, the cut of the police clothing and the Operative’s suit and fedora) as do the sets (like the police bar). And while the layout choices are, for the most part, pretty standard, I did enjoy Zircher’s ease at switching viewing angles within a scene for dramatic effect (check out the harbor opening page). At the same time, I did enjoy the variation in the number of panels per page to manage the pacing of the story. Zircher picks a whole lot of panels to space out conversation and make a car ride look more tense, while later taking broader panels to slow down a conflict between the General and the Operative that in real life would have been a tense few seconds. His technique of having background in some of the shots and using solid, undetailed colors in other panels for effect was also cool.

X-Men #13 – Review

By: Christopher Yost (writer), Dalibor Talajic, Paco Medina (artists), Dalibor Talajic, Juan Vlasco (inkers), Marte Gracia, Wil Quintana (colors)

The Story: First To Last, Part 3: The evolutionaries continue to attack and we see, through emerging memories, the origin of the evolutionaries. At the same time, their last visit is further illuminated, while their fight to take out Cyclops continues.

What’s Good: This issue had several eye-opening (or popping, depending on how unjaded you are) reveals that were quite cool. Our no-spoiler policy keeps me from enthusing, but I’m definitely going to reread this issue, not because I missed something, but because the implications are thick enough to reward another look. I got the impression that Yost was having fun with his characters in this issue, which colored the overall feel. Old Ice Man, Wolverine, Old and New Cyclops, and Old Beast all showed their little personality quirks and the sum is so much more than a patchwork of familiar reactions. There’s a soap operatic social web of friendships, tensions, conflicts and overt and hidden respects that has been a trademark of Marvel since Spiderman was created, and brought to a much higher levels by such X-masters as Claremont. Yost is drawing on that wealth to create sitcom-esque joisting, double meanings or clever ambiguities. Although I loved the original X-Men moments in this issue, my favourite scene was where all the young mutants are “keeping” Cyclops safe and he flatly says “I’ll give you one more minute, then I’m leaving.” In response, Rockslide asks, “You think you can take all of us?” and Cyclops just answers “Yes. You’ll be first.” You can totally sympathize with this adolescent powerhouse being intimidated by a leader whose position is becoming increasingly legendary. And the reader shares Rockslide’s awe when you think ‘Yeah, Cyclops can be knocked unconscious with the leg of my dining room table, but shit…what trick has this strategic genius got that he’s not even a little scared of Rockslide and half a dozen other mutants?’