Vertigo Quarterly: Magenta #1 – Review

By: Too many to list—or even to review. Just check out the issue.

The Story: You’ll be tickled pink by what you read.

The Review: I enjoyed the last quarterly just fine, but I couldn’t help being a little dismayed by the $7.99 price point. That’s a lot of money for a bunch of shorts, not all of which are gems. On the flipside, none of them sucked or anything, and for what is basically a collection of pieces by mostly unknown writers and artists, that’s pretty remarkable. You might say that what you’re really paying for is the dreams of some talented creators, for whom this might be an opening to a big break.

That just leaves the puzzle of the color themes for each quarterly. Cyan produced such a jumble of different pieces that it didn’t really seem to be much of a unifying theme at all. Magenta looks to be a very different story. There’s still plenty of variety in the stories generated in this issue, but certain patterns emerge, ones that just might have something to do with our psychological perception of magenta itself.

Haunt #28 – Review

By: Joe Casey & Todd McFarlane (writers), Kyle Strahm, Nathan Fox & McFarlane (art), Brad Simpson (colors) & Comicraft (letters)

The Story: The Brothers Kilgore are squabbling again.

Review: Well, this is awkward.  When looking at my comics for this week, I saw Haunt and realized I hadn’t reviewed this series since Haunt #24 back in July.  I always think it is a little sad when an ongoing comic series drifts below the radar like that.  “We” comic fans always say that we want these long runs of comics, but if that’s true “we” should probably at least bother to review and discuss a long(er) running independent series, right?  Thus I decided to review this issue and now I kinda wish that I hadn’t.

This wasn’t a very good issue.  It starts with an art change after only a few pages where Nathan Fox gives way to Kyle Strahm.  These two guys are not remotely similar in terms of style.  Simply put, I love Nathan Fox.  His style is pretty wild – and occasionally too wild – but it is also angular and sharply defined and that works well for Haunt.  The main Haunt character has these ectoplasmic projections from his body that are always stabbing enemies and we need those projections to look like something sharp.  Strahm’s work – in contrast – is also chaotic, but in a softer and mushier kind of way.  It just doesn’t work quite as well.

Blue Estate #12 – Quick Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox & Peter Nguyen (art), Kalvachev (art direction, colors, cover)

The Story: The first story arc of Blue Estate comes to an end: who will die and who makes it out alive?

Review: Boy, did I screw this up in my “Top Picks” of the week column.  Because Blue Estate had been away for awhile, I just mentally assumed that we were kicking off “Season 2” when in actuality we were ending the first story.

Haunt #24 – Review

By: Joe Casey (writer), Nathan Fox (art), Ivan Plascencia (colors), Comicraft (letters)

The Story: The Kilgore brothers finish their fight in the Saint Matthew Church.

A few things: 1). What just happened? – I know that delays are part of comics, but it does harm the story if you’re a single issue reader and there are such gaps between issues.  As I sat down to write this review, I realized that much of what happened in this issue was a blur from a “story” standpoint.  Then I checked to see when I’d reviewed Haunt #23 and saw that it was back in mid-April.  That’s almost 3 months on a story arc (that was a big departure from the Kirkman/Capullo Haunt)…..probably not a great idea.  At this point, it’s just down to seeing events and reacting to them and any deeper meaning has been lost.  The Kilgore brothers fought some flame demon in the church where Daniel used to work.  I think that Daniel always assumed that this was the Catholic church, but it was actually something much more sinister.  And they have a new hippie/samurai buddy named Tubman.  And….they beat the flame demon, but the Haunt got somehow mixed up with the demon (?).

Haunt #23 – Review

By: Joe Casey (writer), Nathan Fox (artist), Ivan Plascencia (colors), Comicraft (letters)

The Story: You thought that the guy in Haunt was a Catholic priest???

Review [with SPOILERS]:  How funny was that?  When this comic debuted, everyone made fun of how the protagonist in Haunt was a cigarette-smoking, prostitute-visiting Catholic priest.  It just seemed a little too cliche, ya know?  Daniel Kilgore’s priestly ways ended up not having much to do with the story of Haunt as that story element was rapidly dropped, but that story element had some effect on this title having a hard time finding it’s feet as there was a lot of message board chatter about how “dumb” the priest angle was.

Flash forward a couple of years and we see a creative change on Haunt, with Joe Kelly and Nathan Fox coming aboard.  They immediately introduced this weird church we saw this weird church storyline introduced.  The weird church seemingly had nothing to do with the previous story as Kirkman and Capullo had mostly used Haunt as a “secret agent”.  Thus, it was a hard to reconcile the mystical aspects of the weird church with the bad guys of the first ~20 issues who were more drug-kingpin/gun-runner types.

Well, now is all makes sense.  The creators never said that Daniel Kilgore was a Catholic priest.  We just kinda assumed “Catholic” when we saw the clerical collar.  But, with a neat twist, we’ve now learned that Danny perhaps thought he was a priest in the Catholic church, but was really working for the weird-church!  Ha!  It makes pre-Haunt Daniel Kilgore even more pathetic: Not only was he screwing hookers, he didn’t even know that HIS church was doing all this secret, apocalyptic stuff.  Clearly, this weird church is going to have something to do with Haunt and the connection with the afterlife.  Perhaps they knew that Daniel was a likely medium for a Haunt-construct and kept him around for that reason?

Blue Estate #10 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, Dave Johnson, Peter Nguyen & Kieran (art) and Kalvachev (art director)

The Story: It’s hard to describe in a single sentence – it’s weird things happening to a bunch of gangsters.

A Few Things:

1.  Art direction is amazing. – Blue Estate breaks the “rules.”  Usually when you see SIX artists credited for a comic, it means the art will be a hot mess.  Why?  With the typical comic, six artists means that Big Name Artist didn’t make his deadlines and the editor brought in a bunch of scrub artists to ship the comic on time.  That is NOT what happens with Blue Estate.  It’s almost like series creator Kalvachev knew it would be hard to get an A-list artist to commit to doing a monthly, creator-owned comic book…. but he figured he could always get several A-listers to draw 2-3 pages a month.  Thus, every month Blue Estate features this eclectic cast of artists, just kinda jamming on a comic.  The effect is great.  It’s almost like an anthology comic (in a way).  I just love the rotating cast of artists because it gives us a chance to see someone like Dave Johnson doing interior pages.  When was the last time Johnson did interior pages?

What keeps it from being a disjointed mess is that Kalvachev (a) surely runs a pretty tight ship from a project management standpoint and (b) knits everything together with the coloring.

2. Story winds around in a fun way. – The story is simply fun.  The essence of the story is: dumb gangsters trying to kill or screw-over each other.  But all the characters are a little too dumb to execute their plans, so they keep ending up in ridiculous situations.  For example, in this issue one character needs to sell a house ASAP to make money (to pay off some gangsters).  The good news is that he has a cash buyer.  The bad news is that he’s been put in charge of also transporting another gangster’s race horse to the race track.  If he doesn’t come up with the money, he’s dead.  If the horse doesn’t get to the track….he’s dead.  So, he goes to get the money and recruits a couple of dreadlocked stoners he meets to drive the horse to the track for him in their VW minibus where they proceed to get the horse STONED.  Surely, next issue he’ll have to explain why the horse was stoned.  What’s wonderful is seeing how many different plot threads are spinning at once.  It’s like watching a guy juggle 10 balls and just when you think it can’t possibly get crazier, he adds a couple more balls to the mix.  It’s insane, but in a good way.

Haunt #20 – Review

By: Joe Casey (writer), Nathan Fox (artist), FCO Plascencia (colors) & Comicraft (letters)

The Story: After the big battle that left his girlfriend dead, Daniel Kilgore finds himself in unfriendly hands.

Three Things: 

1. Very different story vibe than before. – For existing Haunt readers (all ~12,000 of us), this book has a very different look and feel than the last 15 issues.  Before it was more about the peppery dialog from Robert Kirkman and the energetic art from Greg Capullo and it felt more like a superhero story (maybe a superhero with a secret agent twist, but still a superhero-y story).  What we have now is very different.  This story is more rooted in the whacky and fertile mind of Joe Casey as he brings in this weird, church/cult that has abducted Daniel and is interested in learning what “the creature” is, so this issue becomes more of a hard-boiled, gritty, grimy torture/interrogation/escape-from-captivity tale.  I guess when I write that it doesn’t sound very different than the story was before, but trust me, it is.

2. But, maybe that’s a good thing. – While I miss the old Haunt, it surely wasn’t seeing enough eyeballs and it seems from message board chatter that a lot of people are trying this title again for the first time since issue #1.  Now, I am completely perplexed as to why comic fans with a shred of taste were ignoring a Kirkman/Capullo team-up, but it’s good to get eyeballs on this title again.  Also, it is so nice to see a creator-owned title that doesn’t just die once a creator gets plucked away.  The landscape is littered with these 5-10 issue runs that we loved that will never be revisited because Marvel/DC realized how awesome a creator is/was and hired them to write Spider-Man (or draw Batman in this case).  Just on general principal, it’s nice to see Haunt go the way of Spawn, Fathom, etc. where someone is keeping the light on.  Everyone bemoans that we “don’t have any new characters…” Well, Haunt is trying to give us a new character.  Even if every issue of Haunt/Fathom isn’t A-list material, neither is every issue of Invincible Iron Man.

Blue Estate #8 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Nathan Fox, Toby Cypress, Andrew Robinson & Peter Nguyen (art), Kalvachev (cover, colors, design & art coordination)

The Story: Now that Bruce Maddox is dead, the surviving Russian and Italian mafia members are scrambling to connect the pieces.

Five Things: 

1. Art is great. – I’m pretty picky about the art in my comics and I usually hate anything with multiple artists.  BUT, in this case we have FIVE artists on the issue and I’m loving it!  Why does this work when recent cluttered issues like Incredible Hulk #2 and Uncanny X-Men #2 stunk?  Well, for one thing, Viktor Kalvachev has assembled some heavy hitters to work on his comic.  Nathan Fox and Toby Cypress are serious, no-joke talents.  But, what makes it work so nicely is how Kalvachev knits it all together.  He’s clearly gotten a few pages from each artist, but then he colors them in such a way that the book has a very consistent look.  Now, it IS true that some of the characters don’t look exactly the same from page to page.  But, (a) this is a comic that’ll appeal to the art snobs of the world and it’s kinda fun to try to pick out who drew what and (b) someone (Kalvachev, I assume) has made sure that characters have distinct physical features regardless of who draws them.  The end result is a great looking comic, especially those Nathan Fox pages (??) with the police secretary that reminded me of Paul Pope.

2. This is one of the better debut series of 2011. – It’s time for Best of 2011 lists.  And you’re going to see a LOT of “Best new series” lists populated by comics that have released 2-3 issues.  I think that’s bullshit.  Blue Estate is delivering the goods.  Cranking out 8 consecutive “B” or better issues is a MUCH higher accomplishment than giving us 3 “B+/A-“.  It’s a great series: fun, snappy, crime-themed, fun characters, sexy, great art, comes out on time, etc.

3. Fun and entertaining story.  – The story is fun and bouncy.  Never holding still and never retreading old ground.  But, what makes it special for me is how all the characters are caricatures of their “type”.  The bumbling private eye is extra dumpy and goofy.  The Russian thugs all wear track suits.  Lots of big hair.  The Hispanic secretary at the police station who flirts with the lead detective is extra buxom.  And the funniest is the Russian mafia leader.  He’s got a cowboy fetish, so he’s shown watching TV in bed with his mistress he’s wearing a cowboy hat, boots with spurs, while she’s got on a Native American headdress.  But that’s not all, the bed is wagon-themed with big wagon wheels on it and there are gun belts on the floor and suction cup arrows stuck to the walls.  Lots of comics will show a guy with a fetish, but they’d stop at putting him in a cowboy hat– very few will put in the extra bit of creative effort that Blue Estate shows.  It demonstrates that the creators are having a blast and that enthusiasm is contagious to the reader.

Haunt #19 – Review

By: Joe Casey (writer), Nathan Fox (artist), FCO Plascencia (colors), Comicraft (letters) & Jen Cassidy (managing editor)

The Story: A new creative team takes over Haunt because Kirkman and Capullo are busy doing other stuff.

Five Things: 

1. Not really a jumping on point. – I’m a little surprised that this issue wasn’t more of a jumping on point.  Given that we’ve had a delay in publication as the new team got caught up and that a lot of people are probably checking out Haunt for the first time (or first time since #1) some more exposition might have been in order.  The story actually exists in a weird place because even though it isn’t much of a jumping on point, it also didn’t feel at all like a continuation of what has been going on in the series.  It’s more like we’re catching up with these characters a few months later.

2. Very different vibe from a story standpoint. – The first 18 issues of Haunt were action/espionage with a supernatural twist.  This issue was something very different.  It had much more of a supernatural vibe to the story starting with an odd opening sequence in a “church” involving some kind of secret cult.  I had NO idea what was going on here.  And, then even when we do catch up with the brothers Kilgore, the comic didn’t have that hardedge that I’d previously enjoyed.

3. VERY different art. – This was a very interesting book for me from an art standpoint.  I LOVE Greg Capullo (the previous artist) and am so tickled that he’s not become this “overnight success” at DC (after doing awesome work for ~20 years).  Even though I also love Nathan Fox, I did wonder how Haunt would feel because they’re pretty different artists.  The art on this issue is really strong.  I like the layouts and I like the heavier line that Fox uses.  I like how he gives the colorist ample opportunity to shine (which FCO does!).  The only thing nagging at me is that I wanted the fight scenes to have Capullo-style crispness.  I like to know what is going on in a fight.  Show me the punches and the choreography!  Capullo had that in spades.  Fox isn’t so much that type of artist. He’s more into showing you a big pile of frenzy where you may not be able to tell exactly what is going on and I’m not sure I like it in Haunt.

Blue Estate #4 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script) & Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox & Paul Maybury (art)

The Story: Russian gangsters, B-list movie stars and double crosses….

What’s Good: Part of what makes Blue Estate fun is that it has such a different air about it than your typical crime story.  Usually when you say the words “Russian gangster” you think you’re going to get something very gritty (like the movie Eastern Promises or the OGN Luna Park).  But Blue Estate is fun and hip.  There is a particularly graphic scene in this issue where a guy gets ground into dog food (literally) and even though it is gross, you never look away.  You’re more inspired to laugh, “Oh!  Ha ha!  He got ground up into dog food!  Look!  There’s even a little doggie drawn on the side of the can!  Ha ha!”

We need more fresh concepts in comics, and while comics like Criminal are certainly enjoyable as hell…it’s nice to be able to laugh when reading a crime story too and Blue Estate is providing that.

The art is incredibly important to Blue Estate because the art is really selling the light-hearted and hip air about the story.  Going back to the Criminal comparison, you could probably give this script to Sean Phillips and actually get an issue of Criminal with all the noir and grit that Criminal promises.  So, it is a real artistic achievement that this issue and series have the fun, bouncy air that they do.  All of the characters are drawn in a slightly cartoony style that allows the artist to over-emphasize things to better sell a scene.  It is also really impressive how well integrated the multiple artists are.  With the exception of the final two pages, it is really hard to tell which parts Toby Cypress did and which parts were drawn by Nathan Fox.

Creepy Comics #6 – Review

By: Joe R. Lansdale, Christopher A. Taylor, Alice Henderson, Dan Braun, Craig Haffnet, Archie Goodwin (writers), Nathan Fox, Jason Shawn Alexander, Kevin Ferrara, Garry Brown, Neal Adams (artists), Nate Piekos (letters) & Shawna Gore (editor)

The Story: Another issue of the reborn horror anthology from Dark Horse.

What’s Good: If you’re not getting Creepy, you’re doing comics wrong.  This issue nails the formula again by giving us 5 short-stories of horror goodness with excellent black-and-white art.

With anthologies, the overall grade is mostly related to (a) how good the “good” stories were and (b) how sucky were the “bad” stories.  The weakest of this issue’s stories (“Mine”) was still pretty cool and had great art and the high points (“Commedia Del Morte” & “Fair Exchange”) were really awesome.  Perhaps Dark Horse shouldn’t get full credit for Full Exchange by Archie Goodwin and Neal Adams since this is reprint material from the original 1960’s Creepy Magazine, but Commedia Del Morte was a real tour de force.  After reading Commedia Del Morte, you’ll see clowns as both scarier and more heroic than you ever did before.

Another thing that is precious about Creepy is that no one is trying to launch a new creator-owned series off any of these tales.  Even though I generally enjoy anthologies like Dark Horse Presents or Strange Tales from Vertigo, you know that those stories are usually pitches for ongoing series OR they are pitches that no one liked quite enough to turn into an ongoing series.  That’s never a problem with Creepy, there are just outstanding short stories with a definite ending.  Even when the concept is cool, the story has an ending.  Someone could easily turn the concept for Commedia Del Morte into a miniseries, but I strongly doubt we’ll ever see that.  Even though I enjoy continuity based superheroes as much as anyone, there is something special and powerful about these Creepy stories’ ephemeral nature.  And, these stories are basically timeless.  Go read the 60’s Creepys if you doubt me and compare how fresh they seem compared to Batman of that same era.

Blue Estate #3 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox & Robert Valley (art)

The Story: As the mob and detective thriller unfolds, a couple of college jocks get pulled into a situation that’s a little too large for them.

What’s Good: Creator-owned comics are always at a bit of a disadvantage to Big 2 superhero comics in a way that I rarely hear anyone talk about: It’s pretty easy to forget what is going on with the story.  You’re never that lost in a Wolverine comic (has claws, stabs people) or Batman comic (stalks the night, keeps young boys around), but with a brand new creator-owned comic, when you lose the tread you don’t have much to prop you back up.  And when you are lost, one of two things happens: You will toss the book down in disgust OR you will be entertained anyway and inspired to go back and re-read the last couple issues.

I very much had the latter experience with Blue Estate #3.  In the opening scene when these two college football players are about to get worked over by some mob guys, I honestly couldn’t remember what was going on.  BUT…the story telling (both script and art) was strong enough that you cold tell all you needed to know about the characters: college football players who think they’re tough but are suddenly in WAY over their head, mob boss is nutso and kinda bumbling, henchmen think their boss is kinda a buffoon, but will do what he says.  Later on there is a second scene where again you again have this effect with a senior cop (hardboiled, smokes, exudes confidence) and his son (fat, bumbling, embarrassment to his dad).

And that is what makes this a good comic.  It is overcoming some deficits (that I’ll talk about below) with very strong storytelling.  Some of it is the scripting, but a lot of credit needs to go to the gaggle of artists who work on this title.  These are all strong artists in their own right, but usually when you see four artists in the credits it equals “Hot Mess”.  What makes this work is that even though you can tell which artists work on which pages, the overall look and feel of the comic is remarkably consistent.  The whole thing is really strong and stylish and makes you want more.  And, by choosing to work in a more cartoony style, they are able to pull off this storytelling.  This comic would not work nearly as well with an Alex Ross style because you could not communicate the needed personality attributes.

Blue Estate #1 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox & Robert Valley (art), Kalvachev (colors, direction & design) & Philo Northrup (contributing editor)

The Story: Detective noir with a few clever twists to keep it fresh.

What’s Good: If you like the noirish detective genre you’re going to like this just fine.  And, if you like detective stories with a few novel, slightly campy twists, your’re going to like this more.  And if you like clever, stylish art you’ll probably like this a lot.

The story has all the things that you need for a good detective/crime story.  There is a sexy redhead who may or may not be the victim, there’s a private detective and there’s an organized crime angle.  What makes it fresh are the interesting little twists that are tossed in, such as a motion picture star who seems a LOT like Stephen Seagal who, after becoming washed up as a film star, ends up being an enforcer for the Russian mob (not to mention some very odd and unclear shower action between the film star & another mob enforcer).  And, the detective isn’t cool or hard-boiled. He’s basically Jonah Hill: fat, bumbling and questionable in competence.  This first issue is all set up, but the creative team as some neat elements to work with as the issue wraps up and you are definitely left wanting to know more.

Invincible Iron Man #500 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Salvador Larroca, Frank D’Armata, Nathan Fox, Javier Rodriguez, Carmine Di Giandomenico, & Matthew Wilson (art & colors), Kano (art), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Tony enlists the aid of former employee Peter Parker to help remember, and stop, a weapon he forgot he invented.  Meanwhile, we also get a glimpse of the hell that that device creates.

What’s Good: Usually when I say that a comic feels all over the place, that’s a bad thing.  With Invincible Iron Man #500, it’s quite the opposite.  In the space of this giant-sized issue, Matt Fraction delivers a massive and expansive story where he essentially touches upon everything he sees creatively in the Iron Man franchise.  In one story, Fraction manages to squeeze in a taste of every type of story he sees possible for the character.  You have the high-tech near future stuff, you have Stark’s personal guilt and claiming of responsibility, you have techno-terrorists, you have the good old-fashioned superhero story in a team-up with Spider-Man, and, most fascinatingly, you have a far future dystopian story.

Let’s start with that last bit, because it’s guaranteed to be what grabs your attention with this issue.  Pulling in a bevy of European artists and Heavy Metal veteran Nathan Fox, Fraction basically manages to cram a European-styled sci-fi tale into this book that is all kinds of awesome.  In both art and tone, this really gives off a Heavy Metal/2000 AD vibe that is just so contrary to what Invincible Iron Man, or Marvel for that matter, is usually about.  It’s dirty, desperate, and undeniably thrilling.  More than that though, it provides the perfect counter-point to what goes on in the rest of the issue.

And that’s the beauty of this book really: how Fraction manages to eloquently, and meaningfully, link two utterly disparate halves.  We get a superhero tale much in the vein of Fraction’s usual Iron Man stuff combined with a futuristic Heavy Metal comic, where events in the former tale bear heavily on the latter.  What happens in the present affects what happens in the future and seeing two such different stories bounce off one another is an absolute joy.  As is often the case with Invincible Iron Man, Fraction shows both his skill and intelligence as a writer.  Thrills and twists abound, yes, but the fact that two such different things can co-exist and co-depend so elegantly is astounding.  More than that though: both sides of the story are hugely entertaining and impressive in both action and dialogue, regardless of how different they might be.

All told, this is a celebration of what Matt Fraction sees in Iron Man, giving us a glimpse into the creative depth Fraction possesses for the franchise while also making clear the writer’s love and dedication to the character and his world.  In that sense, it’s a wonderful, wonderful book.

X-Men: Second Coming – Review

Writers: Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Matt Fraction, Zeb Wells, and Mike Carey

Pencillers: David Finch, Terry Dodson, Ibraim Roberson, Greg Land, and Mike Choi with Stuart Immonen, Lan Medina, Nathan Fox, and Esad Ribic.

And so here it is: the last installment of the “Messiah Trilogy” or Messianic X Cycle (Say it. Make it catch on!). We’ve been through Endangered Species, Messiah Complex and Messiah War. Now it’s time for Second Coming, the event that concludes three years of X-Men stories. It’s been some of the darkest times in X-Men history. They’ve exiled themselves to an island nation after Norman Osborne and the Dark Avengers attacked them in San Francisco (Read Utopia for that), which then caused Magneto to return—with his powers back—and pledge allegiance to Cyclops. The Black Queen raised an army of dead mutants to attack their new home (Necrosha). In the meantime, Cyclops has been sending his own wet works team out to kill every threat to mutant kind, and they kill plenty. And Cable is off the future raising Hope, the mutant messiah, in a wasteland of a timeline literally blown to pieces by Bishop.  But X-Force has killed pretty much all except for their first target: Bastion, the robot-made-man-then-decapitated-and-later-made-cyborg-by-attaching-the-head-onto-a-Nimrod-sentinel-from-the-future. You know, one of those. And Cable has stranded Bishop in a future so distant that the sun is about to consume the Earth. It’s time for Hope to go back to the present and join the X-Men.

Now, that creative team. Well…it’s not the magic we had in Messiah Complex, nor is it the uniqueness we had in Messiah War. Kyle and Yost basically own this series. Pretty much every majorly important thing that happens in Second Coming happens in their issues.  Still, Mike Carey and Zeb Wells are both fantastic too. In fact, Zeb Well’s is surprisingly good as he was the one writer everyone expected to fall short. Unfortunately, it’s Matt Fraction’s writing that sticks out like an ugly chick in a swimsuit catalog. It’s not always bad, but it’s hard to believe that Fraction read a single issue of Cable or X-Force before writing Hope. When Wells, Kyle, Yost, and Carey are writing, the character is consistent. Yet Fraction writers her (and I’ve said this before) like a bipolar Pixie. His transitions are awful. At the end of the first act, Colossus is freaking out about Illyana being sent to limbo but shuts up when he sees Kurt’s dead body.  Fraction begins act two with Colossus smiling and suggesting a vampire movie to Kittie as she’s confined to her ghost chamber. What the hell? Everyone who was in the field are still standing around Kurt, he’s scared to death that his sister is dead too, and for some reason he takes the time to rent Twilight for his ghost girlfriend? And the thing is…that’ not even the only inconsistent part. Let’s move to the transition between act 2 and 3. In the end of Act 2, Beast gives an update of the wounded, including the fact that “Iceman has third degree energy burns over 25% of his body.” That sounds relative serious and a good reason why Iceman should be out of the game, right? Apparently not because we see Iceman without a scratch taking down a Nimrod with Psylocke and Fantomex. At this point, the other writers seem to have said “F it. Fraction ignored his injuries, we’ll use Iceman too.” What made Messiah Complex and Messiah War awesome was the proof that the writers were working together. In Second Coming we get four writers who do and one who ignores his peers. Having said that, the times Fraction is good, he’s really good. When Nightcrawler learns about X-Force in the second chapter was very well written as was the very last segment of the crossover, which we’ll get into later since it’s the end, but Fraction makes up for a lot of his bad writing there. Nightcrawler’s funeral…. not so much. But back to the writers who really brought their best to the plate. Carey is unsurprising. His last full issue of Cypher taking down the Nimrods is superb (in its writing…we’ll talk about art next). He writes every character perfectly. Even when he’s thrown a new one like Hope, it’s like he sat down, read every issue of Cable took a deep breath and said “yeah, I see what Swierczynksi’s doing with her. She’s not just young female Cable, but she is her father’s daughter nonetheless” and then wrote her. Prodigy describes Hope as the “voodoo doll for the whole mutant race.” Carey is basically the voodoo doll of every X-writer, and yet, like Hope, still has his own kind of power. Wells gives the best line of foreshadowing ever. When Hope and Dani are fighting, Dani says “I’m not the person you want to be putting your hands on.” The fact that Hope powering mutants by touch doesn’t happen until after Second Coming, and only for newly powered mutants, makes this line pretty awesome when returning to the crossover. But his best writing is in the first chapter of the last issue (confusing, I know) when he writers from Professor X’s point of view after Hope destroys Bastion and simply wants to curl up next to what is left of her father, and then when she wakes up and talks to Magneto for a little bit. We get the two seniors of the X-Men and both written so wonderfully. And Kyle and Yost? Well, seriously, their last X-Force issue when Hope comes into power is just fantastic, but it’s also their little beats along the way. For instance, at the end of act two, as Cyclops is about to send Cable and X-Force on a suicide mission. Wolverine blames Hope for what happened to Kurt,  but instead of telling Cable to hurry up and move out, he tells him to “get on with it.” “Get on with it” basically telling Cable to go to Hope, tell her he loves her, and goodbye. They (Cable and Wolverine) both know they’re going to die. Not even Wolverine can be callous towards a daughter about to lose her father, even if she doesn’t know it. And it prepares the reader. Why would Wolverine think it important to make sure Cable does this? Because a few pages later, Cyclops admits to having sent them all to die.

Onto art…sadly, the crossover falters a lot in this department. The only main artists that fit here are Ibraim Roberson and Mike Choi (all the “with” artists do no harm). And while Terry Dodson’s art isn’t bad in any way, it just doesn’t match the story. It’s jarring. His art would be great for a fun Spider-Man story, but for the story about the X-Men making their honest-to-god last stand? It’s just not serious enough. But at least Dodson’s art has quality. Because the fact they not only included Greg Land and his pornographic style, but paired him with one of the best writers of the series is just a sin. A comic book sin. His style doesn’t match, and his art is just bad. Every woman looks exactly the same. At one point it really looks like he just drew the same female boy twice but gave one a gun to indicate which was Hope and which was Rogue. And let’s not forget the most awful double page spread ever where he cuts out Hope’s legs but gracefully leaves her vagina. But we’ve heard every Greg Land complaint a thousand times before, so let’s just move on. You know who really should have been the artists here? Well, everyone from Messiah Complex would have worked, but instead, I would have loved to see Ariel Olivetti and Clayton Crain. Pairing them with Choi and Roberson would have given that “this is it” feeling to the entire story. And I really would have loved to see Olivetti’s Nimrods. That would have been awesome. Oh well.

DMZ #56 – Review

by Brian Wood (writer), Nathan Fox (art), Jeromy Cox (colors), and Jared K. Fletcher (letters)

The Story: Wilson faces the destruction Chinatown and is faced with a hard choice.

What’s Good: Wilson has long been a favourite character of mine in Brian Wood’s DMZ, and I doubt that I’m the only one.  The character is a perfect balance of unassuming and intimidating.  Thus, the fact that this is a one-shot centered on Wilson already puts this issue in my good books.

Certainly, this is a strong outing for Wood.  The tone is brooding and heavy, while also fatigued and worn out.  There’s a constant sense of Wilson’s burden, as the story has a crushing, unrelenting sort of weight and pressure to it.  Some might say that this issue is slow-moving or ponderous, or that not enough happens, but I’m inclined to say that that’s the point.  It creates a despairing atmosphere of doom and “heavy lies the crown,” which is far more effective than a running gunfight could ever be.

The plot, centered around Wilson’s precarious position in the war’s current state, is also solid and it’s refreshing to see a one-shot like this be so in line with the series’ current continuity.  The hard choice Wilson is faced with is a great touch by Wood; it painfully defines Wilson’s position in Chinatown, not just for us, but for the character himself.  Essentially, he is forced to choose between the actual responsibilities that his leadership position entails and the pride and ego that not only arises because of that position, but are fundamental parts of it.  It’s a crushing, though elegant, conflict of doing what a leader should do versus being what a leader should be, and the extent to which these two things are the same, yet different.  Suffice it to say, the climax of this all is touching, powerful, and, as is suited for Wilson, both grandiose and resigned.

New Mutants #14 – Review

by Zeb Wells (writer), Ibrahim Roberson, Lan Medina, and Nathan Fox (artists)

The Story: Professor X recruits his crackpot son, Legion, to aid the X-Men against the unrelenting Nimrod attack on San Francisco.  Can we say ‘desperate measures’?  Cyclops rallies the troops on Utopia while Hope mans up big time and the mutants start suffering injuries and some red shirt casualties (again).  Meanwhile, in the future, X-Force continues their suicide mission and ends up face to face with, not one, but two huge Master Mold sentinels.  You want hopeless, we’ve got hopeless.

What’s Good: I’ve commented before about how difficult it is to review every chapter of this crossover when they’re all so (for the most part) damn good.  So, let’s just cut the crap and do this checklist style, shall we?

Breakneck pacing and dire straits?  Check.

Hardcore action scenes where one or more X-Men get their ass kicked?  Check.

Spot-on characterization for all your X-Favorites? Check.

Cyclops gives a rallying speech that you’ve heard a million times already but still find yourself getting amped up by?  Check.

One or two twists or turns in the plot?  Check.

A kick-ass cliffhanger that makes you say to yourself, “Hell yeah,”?  Checkity-check.

See, that saved us some time, didn’t it?  Oh, and I enjoyed the artistic decision to use such an offbeat artist as Nathan Fox to portray the Legion-mindscape scenes.  It was a welcome visual trick to the storytelling.

DMZ Volume 4: Friendly Fire (TPB) – Review

By Brian Wood (writer), Riccardo Burchielli, Nathan Fox, Viktor Kalvachev, Kristian Donaldson (art), Jeremy Cox (colors)

To sum things up, Friendly Fire is Brian Wood’s version of Rashomon. We have a horrific event taking place where hundreds of silent protestors in the DMZ are killed in a bloody massacre by US forces. And while it’s hard to tell who instigated the hostilities, there’s no way to deny the loss of life. It’s a PR nightmare for the United States, who intends to hold a tribunal against the soldiers caught in this mess. Because of his experience within the DMZ, Matty is tapped to investigate and report his own separate findings.

Most of this book follows Matty as he interviews a handful of soldiers, survivors, and even top brass regarding the events of the now infamous “Day 204”. With so many contradictory reports, it’s hard for him to draw his own conclusions. Eventually, he realizes that there’s no real winner to this outcome. The people within the DMZ want their own version of justice. If the soldiers involved are put to death, does it really quench the thirst for justice? Will it really change the outcome?

The questions (and answers) posed by Brian Wood are ones to be pondered. Reflecting many current events happening in the middle east, it’s hard not to distinguish the parallels this story draws. As much as I hate using the “social commentary” term, that’s exactly what this book is about, and it does it so well. The scary thing is, if continued down our current economic path, it’s very easy to see this country falling into the same trappings of the country portrayed in this book. Do yourself a favor and pick this trade up. It’s not the best DMZ story, but it’s one of the most profound. (Grade: A-)

– J. Montes