Haunt #10 – Review

By: Robert Kirkman (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Jonathan Glapion & Todd McFarlane (inks), FCO Plascencia (colors) & Comicraft (letters)

The Story: Will Agent Kilgore/Haunt be able to escape from the bad guys and what the heck were the bad guys doing with Dr. Shillinger’s research anyway?

What’s Good: This is another quite good issue of Haunt.  It is a bit more of a transitional issue as we move from one story line to another, so it is not a “Holy crap!  Did you see that?” kind of issue.  But it still has a lot of good stuff in it: torture, fights, secret agents, double agents, cloned mutant soldiers, a weird set of ghostly red eyes on a pillar and a classic cliffhanger ending….

But rather than spoil the goodies in this issue, it might be more fun to directly take on something that’ll cause some people to groan.  In this issue, Daniel Kilgore (the living half of Haunt) decides to become roommates with an attractive female co-worker.  The no fun, cynical “fans” were already down on this whole series because of perceived similarities between Haunt and Spider-Man, so they surely read that and think, “Great!  Now he’s got a hot female roommate just like Peter Parker does.  Can’t these guys do anything original?”

Well, there is a flip side to that argument.  For one thing, there really aren’t a lot of “original” ideas in fiction.  Amazing Spider-Man isn’t the first fictional situation with a man and woman roommates living through romantic tension (Three’s Company, anyone?).  But what we can be assured of is that Kirkman and Capullo will take that romantically charged roommate situation and do a LOT more with it than can happen in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man where Peter Parker and roommate got drunk, slept together, but later ret conned that they weren’t really drinking alcohol because that’s not what superheroes do.  If Daniel Kilgore and his roommate get together, there won’t be a ret conning in a few issues and some of the action might actually happen on the page.  

And,  that is the beauty of a creator-driven series like Haunt.  The creators can take it where they please and make it as edgy as they want.  So yes, Haunt does bear some similarities to Spider-Man and other mainstream heroes, but Haunt will deal with those situations in ways that you would not see in a Marvel/DC comic. Actually, there is probably a decent business to be made in simply adapting Big 2 superhero plots and taking the action all the way to 10 (when Marvel/DC have to stop around 7 for decency’s sake).

Once again, Capullo and the inkers are doing awesome work on this series.  You can really see their passion for the craft in their detail.  They could probably get away with drawing 5 or so drops of blood on Daniel’s face while he’s being tortured.  Just by doing that, the reader would get the picture: He is bleeding.  But they drew 30+ drops of blood and each one of those droplets has to be penciled, inked, shaded and colored.  And there is something like this on almost every page.  Everything has just tons of gritty detail.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

DS’ Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Warlord of Mars #1 – The first issue of an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic series (and first book) launched with an impressive start, capturing the tone and visuals of a hero for all times. DC offered some strong books this week, but Warlord of Mars stuck in my head and has me waiting for the next issue impatiently.

Most Anticipated: Batman: Batman and Robin #15 – The end of the Batman Must Die arc! Dr. Hurt and Pyg! And we’re steps away from Bruce Wayne’s return! And, you’ve got Morrison on writing and Frazer on art! You can’t lose!

Other Top Picks: Brightest Day #12, Power Girl #17 (guest starring Batman), Green Lantern Corps #53

Least Anticipated: Chaos War #2 – I called issue #1 a conceptual train wreck, but it looks like ridiculing regular Marvel icons for cheap (and futile) laughs wasn’t enough. It looks like they’re set to drag Galactus and Hellstorm, two of the most carefully nuanced bad-ass characters in the Marvel Universe, into the live audience laugh track that we saw in issue one. I feel the frustrating impotence of Sideshow Bob in jail, watching Vanessa Redgrave on Fox. I need one of those Charlie Brown storm cloud icons to finish off this paragraph right. No way Marvel is getting my money for this one.

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Irredeemable #18 – In a week that had many very solid offerings, this was the only book that flirted with “great”.  This comic is almost a throwback to the old days when stuff actually happened in a comic over a 2-3 issue span instead of this “decompressed storytelling” we get now days.  In this issue, Mark Waid again jiggles things around to keep this comic a LOT more than just “superman gone bad”.

Most Anticipated: The Walking Dead #78 – Kirkman has begun to build this series towards some very big events around issue #80 (if online teasers from Image are to be believed).  Still, I hardly expect him to play it safe, so we’re going to again get some splendid storytelling and characterization along with building tension.  I can’t wait….

Other Top Picks: Haunt #10, Morning Glories #3, Hulk #26, Kick Ass 2 #1, Soldier Zero #1

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Invincible Iron Man #33 -This week really was all about Matt Fraction.  Between this and Thor, it’s a tough call, but I’ll go with Iron Man based on its great storytelling, strong character dynamic, and sudden introduction of an unknown team traitor.  This was polished, refined work and a clear showing of why this is one of the best superhero books on the stands.

Most Anticipated: Morning Glories #3 -After two issues, I love Morning Glories.  Every time I see it’s on my stack for the week, I get excited.  The characters are great and the story always leaves me wanting more.  This one’s a sure thing.

Other Picks: The Walking Dead #78, Batman & Robin #15, Fables #99, DMZ #58, Brightest Day #12, Daredevil #511