Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred #1 – Review

By: David Hine (story/writer), Shaky Kane (story/art), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (lettering) and JG Roshell (design)

The Story: Not exactly sure, but we get an origin for the Shield of Justice character.

Four Things: 

1. Just glad to have Bulletproof Coffin back! – The first 6-issue run of Bulletproof Coffin that ended in January 2011 was so much fun.  It was such a loving, campy homage to pre-comics code comic books that also layered in an interesting commentary on creator rights.  We readers get lots of great mini-series from Image, but it’s kinda rare to see a second act because the creators often move on to other projects.  For example: We’ll probably never see another issue of Cowboy Ninja Viking.  So, anytime the creators of a beloved creator-owned miniseries come back for an encore, we should cheer because you know they’re not getting rich doing this stuff.

2. Love how the flat colors pop. – I talk a LOT in reviews about wanting more flat, primary colors in comics.  Bulletproof Coffin is a great example of what I’m talking about.  These pages are just alive.  For anyone who doubts me, take a nicely colored Marvel comic (say, Fantastic Four colored by the reliable Paul Mounts) and open it up and do the same thing with Bulletproof Coffin.  Now walk to the other side of the room and see which comic can still catch your eye.  Flat colors just have a power to them that can never be matched by this highlighted crap.

3. Not really sure what it’s about yet. – I really struggled about what to write in “The Story” section up above because it isn’t at all clear what is going on (yet).  We DO get an origin for the Shield of Justice vigilante character that we met in the first miniseries, but how this relates to the opening scene of a naked man tunneling under a graveyard and coming up in the middle of other Bulletproof Coffin characters is beyond me.  Surely there is some meta-commentary going on here; I just don’t recognize it yet.

Marineman #3 – Review

By: Ian Churchill (writer/art/colors), Alex Sollazzo (colors), Richard Starkings, Jimmy Betancourt & JG Roshell (lettering & design)

The Story: Marineman’s origin and the Big-Bad are both revealed.

What’s Good: Beautiful comic.  The coloring, art and design of this issue are top-notch and are like nothing else on my pretty long pull list.  If you’re into art and the visual aspect of comic books, you’re going to want to check this series out.  The first thing that lunges out at you about this issue is how well the colors and lighting capture being underwater.  Light is very different underwater because you do still have direct light from the sun, but there is also this incredible diffraction of light and the art team just nails that look.  A few of the underwater panels are just GORGEOUS!  Even the panels on dry land maintain a marine feel by coloring the panel borders appropriately (e.g. yellow on a beach to remind us of sand).

As for the story itself, there are some positive things too.  In this issue we learn a little about the origin of Steve Ocean.  Not surprisingly, he is a bit of a man of mystery and I have a feeling that his origin and the Big-Bad guy will have some kind of connection.  Learning who Steve is and the loss of his mother are important aspects of this story.

Marineman #2 – Review

By: Ian Churchill (writer, art, colors), Alex Sollazzo (colors), Richard Starkings, Jimmy Betancourt & JG Roshell (lettering & design)

The Story: A big revelation about Steve Ocean (a.k.a. Marineman)!  Surprise…he isn’t just a dude who likes the water.

What’s Good:  Everything that was great about issue #1 is still present here.  The biggest thing that grabs you is that this is such a happy story.  It does get into some more serious topics in this issue, but it does not lose the fact that this comic is essentially a big SMILE.  It is very hard not to really like Steve Ocean.  He reminds me of those people you meet in your life who are successful, intelligent AND good looking who cause you to think, “Ugh…. I’ll bet this guy is gonna be a real prick.” and then you meet them and it turns out that they are a world-class nice guy on top of that: friendly, kind to friends, self-depreciating, etc.  Steve is a very admirable character who doesn’t have an obvious character flaw.

[SPOILER Warning] The big reveal in this issue is that Steve isn’t exactly a standard-issue human being.  We learn this during a scene where he saves his best friend’s life from certain drowning and shark attack.  The first issue was very technically sound on its diving terminology and lingo, so at first I was surprised that Churchill didn’t have Steve and his friend start to buddy breathe (Steve had no tank/regulator when he went in after his friend) or at least have the friend whip out a pony bottle.  I was actually kinda disappointed to see this lack of realism as we were reading.  Then as the duo are ascending to the surface, Steve is making his buddy go slow to avoid the bends and I was wondering, “Huh?  How long has the friend been down and how deep?  Why would he need to decompress?  And how long has Steve been in the water?  Is he holding his breath?”  As you can probably guess, Steve has a power having to do with surviving in the water and had to reveal his big secret to save his buddy.

The art is what sets the tone for this title.  Sometimes it is fun to imagine what a title would look like if it were drawn differently.  For example, if Jock drew this comic, it would be gritty and have a very different flavor, but the look of this book is what makes this comic book such a smile.  Steve just looks huge and heroic, the water is that brilliant blueish/green that you only see when you’re diving in some topical paradise on a gorgeous day when there is a calypso band playing back at the bar and the fruity drinks are chilling for you.  It is just beautiful.  I also need to learn more about what exactly the Comicraft guys are doing when they are credited for “design”.  They got a similar credit for Bulletproof Coffin and that was another book that was very visually unique.

Bulletproof Coffin #6 – Review

By: David Hine (story/script), Shaky Kane (story/art), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (letters) & JG Roshell (production)

The Story: Bulletproof Coffin comes to an end.  Will Steven find The Creators and save the world?  Or will the sinister G-Men thwart him?

What’s Good: What an awesome comic!  This series started out with an interesting concept: Steve Norman is a Voids Contractor who cleans out the homes of the recently deceased; who’s also a comic collector.  In doing his job one day, he comes across a pile of Golden Nugget comics (that are a clear spoof of the pre-comics code era) and gets sucked into the world of the Golden Nugget comics as the Coffin Fly.  The story’s main thrust was that Steve had to find “The Creators” and get them to write a new ending to the story so that the entire Earth wouldn’t be plunged into a zombie apocalypse.

Hine and Kane really bring this series home in a strong and self-aware way.  That was a huge relief because many interesting creator-owned comics start with a neat concept, but don’t wrap up very well.  That’s not a knock on creator-owned comics, but more the fact that they’re trying to tell a complete story and endings are hard.  Marvel/DC don’t have the same problem because they are not trying to tell the ending to Batman/Captain America.

This ending was just awesome as the weirdness very quickly takes a back seat when Steve finds The Creators .  What is hilarious is that they are the actual creators of this comic book, so we get to see comic book versions of all the folks listed in the credits above.  Hine and Kane turn out to be grizzled old guys who pack heat while they write comics.  Kane spends most of the issue with a cigarettes dangling from his lip while threatening to shoot Steve.  But just as Steve is prevailing on them to save the world, the G-Men show up.  But they actually turn out to be corporate lawyers from Big 2 comics who are there to buy out Hine and Kane so that they can make a movie featuring bastardized versions their characters.

So, what stated as a weird spoof of the pre-comics code era, ends-up being a satire on the topic of creator-owned comics and creators who “sell out”.  I love it.

Marineman #1 – Review

By: Ian Churchill (writer, art & colors), Nicolas Chapuis (colors), Richard Starkings, Jimmy Betancourt & JG Roshell (letters & design)

The Story: We are introduced to Steve Ocean a.k.a., Marineman.

What’s Good: What a bright shiny and upbeat comic book this was!  This story is virtually all introduction, but the main character (Steve Ocean) and his supporting cast are all such nice, light-hearted and enjoyable characters that the lack of a story or purpose for the issue is almost moot.  Comicdom is soooooo full of gritty, grimy tales that sometimes you need a refreshing palate cleanser and there just aren’t enough comics that can was that grim off and make you feel clean again.  Marineman looks like it could be that kind of comic.

The basic story is simple enough as we meet Steve Ocean.  If you’re in your 30’s or 40’s and were into science shows as a kid, you probably remember when Jacques Cousteau was a TV star.  Talk about a simpler time… Can you imagine a marine biologist/diver/explorer being a celebrity nowadays?  Steve Ocean is Cousteau in terms of star-power, but younger, buffer and American.  He also seems to be a relentlessly nice guy.