Secret #1 – Review

By: Jonathan Hickman (writer), Ryan Bodenheim (artist), Michael Garland (colors) & Rus Wooton (letters)

The Story: Conspiracies, secrets, duplicity and some good, old-fashioned torture.

Review: [SPOILER WARNING] This issue does precisely what a #1 issue needs to do: Compel you to buy the second issue!  That’s no small challenge in this comic market where despite pathetic sales (Avengers is selling under 60K issues/month), there is still a lot of product being produced.  Comics are expensive and you don’t find any of the hardcore fans (with large pull lists) that aren’t looking to reduce the number of comics they read.  That makes it a tall order for a new #1. It has to either demand that a fan adds marginal money/time to their monthly comics budget OR drop some other title.  It’s Darwinian out there and I think Hickman has a potential winner!

The thing that pushes this comic into the “compelling” category is its hard edge.  There’s nothing niftier about the conspiracies, motives and basic subject matter of this issue than a comic like Thief of Thieves #1.  Both comic stories deal with theft and double crosses and both feature quality art, yet Secret should remain on more pull lists that ToT because of this hard edge.  ToT is soft; Secret is hard.

Hickman wisely starts the action with a big hook: man held captive in his own home by mystery assailant.  Who is this guy?  What does he want?  And most importantly, what is he going to do with the pliers?  BOOM!  Right there, the hook is set because the assailant is compelling.  The reader wants to know what could this poor man could know that requires the use of pliers!

The assailant looms over the entire first issue.  Later, when we learn that the tortured man has only kinda complied with his orders, you kinda flip out.  You want to shake the dude and say, “Do you want THAT MAN to come back?  Or come visit your daughter at college?  My god man!  Just do what he says!”  It’s hard to get that gut-level, emotional reaction in a comic book, but Hickman nailed it here.  He has us hooked for the period of time required to tell the first bit of the story in a way that he wouldn’t if he hadn’t used the pliers.  Take away the pliers as a figurative representation of the limits the comic will go to and this comic goes into the “waiting for the trade” or (in this digital age) the “I’ll come back if people say it’s awesome” pile.

Quick Hit Reviews – Week of March 30, 2011

What a strong week for comics!  Almost everything last week was at least “pretty good” and that makes us happy at WCBR.  Even though we’ll do out duty and tell you when a comic SUCKS, we don’t take any pleasure in doing so and it’s a LOT more fun to talk about what was good.  However, even though we review a TON of books in-full, there are always a few stragglers that get lost in the shuffle.  Thus, the Quick Hit Reviews….

Scarlet #5 – I can see people having two very different sets of thoughts on this title.  If you’re a police officer or otherwise a general believer of the benevolence of the government, you’re going to really hate this comic.  On the other hand, if you’re a more of a free will, distrust of the “man” type of person I can’t see how this doesn’t scratch a Libertarian itch.  I’m in the latter camp and just love Scarlet.  This issue represents the ending of the first story arc that has seen the titular Scarlet go from meting out some justice against dirty cops, to being the sudden leader of a political movements.  All of a sudden she’s Che Guevara, but she isn’t sure that’s what she wants to be OR if she even can be the leader her “people” want.  Meanwhile we are also introduced to some possibly sympathetic heroes within the power structure and that’s good too.  I know some people decry Alex Maleev’s art as “tracing”, but I don’t care.  Even if he is tracing (and he swears he isn’t in interviews), I like the way he’s using it.  He’s just creating art differently than more traditional artists and it is hard to argue with the stylish results.  Grade: A-   — Dean Stell

Captain America #616 – Well, here’s a comic that’ll earn your $4.99, with a main feature and no less than five back-ups.  Better still, for the most part, it’s all pretty good stuff and there are absolutely no reprints or picture galleries to bulk out the package.  This meaty package is all story content and that immediately earns it some points.  The main feature, written by Brubaker and featuring Bucky in a nasty Russian prison, is really dark stuff and a surprising component to an anniversary issue.  That said, if anything, it functions as an effective teaser for what’s to come.  Dark and nasty as it is, it lets Brubaker shine, somehow melding gritty prison drama with giant killer bear deathmatches.  It’s desperate, dire stuff but also a lot of fun and it brings the hard-hitting drama and excitement back to Bucky after a couple of fairly ho-hum arcs.  I hope the actual Gulag story arc keeps this up.  With five back-up features, you know you’re going to get a mixed bag, but Cap #616 actually delivers the goods for the most part.  While the stories by Kyle Higgins/Alec Siegel and Mike Benson/Paul Grist are fairly forgettable, they have the decency to at least look good.  Meanwhile, the Howard Chaykin and Frank Tieri/Paul Azeceta stories are rock solid, really effectively ruminating upon, and making use of, the sense of “history” that is such a big part of who and what Captain America is.  The real barn-burner, however, is the masterpiece delivered by Cullen Bunn and Jason LaTour.  Tremendous artwork and writing deliver a story that not only focuses upon the importance of Captain America, but does so in a manner that relates it to contemporary times and issues in a manner that doesn’t feel preachy or forced.  Bunn and LaTour paint a picture of a troubled modern America that needs a Captain America more than ever.  And it still finds room for AIM spider robots.  It’s the kind of story that has me very intrigued regarding Bunn’s future Marvel work.  Grade: B+   — Alex Evans

Quick-hit Reviews – Week of Jan. 12, 2011

Our pull lists are all a little too long to give a full review to every comic we read in a given week.  So, here are a few quick thoughts on a few issues that were slipping through the cracks…

Captain America: Man Out of Time #3  – I’ve like this series from the start, but this issue–a single scene from this issue, actually–catapulted it from “great” to “truly excellent.” I speak of course of the scene where Tony Stark leads the newly unfrozen Steve Rogers through the Smithsonian, and catches him up on sixty years worth of American history. Not only was it a treat–and some wonderful chary racterization–to watch Steve’s reactions, it really is neat to hear such a quick and well-written rundown of our accomplishments and advancements. Sure, you could interpret it as a little corny, and you might even question Tony’s wisdom in hitting Steve with all of that information at once, but in this case, cool trumps logic. If I was more paranoid–and if I didn’t love Tony Stark as much as I do–I MIGHT even go so far as to suggest the trip was specifically engineered by Tony and the President to make “sure” that Steve “knew too much” to safely send back to his own time. Whatever the truth though, between the museum scene, Steve’s interview with the President, and his heartbreaking and admirable dedication to Bucky, this story is a winner from beginning to end. Best origin story update in a long time.  Grade: A — SoldierHawk

Deadpool #31 – Way continues to deliver with this surprisingly short, and surprisingly entertaining, storyline. Deadpool plays off the vampires (both good and bad) extremely well; their grave and super-serious nature make them natural and very effective straight men for Deadpool’s antics. This issue, as well as the one before it, really show off some of the best that the character has to offer: great one liners, plenty of exciting (and creative) action, and just enough fourth-wall breaking and goofy humor to let you know that everything should be taken with a grain of salt. This makes the ending of this issue either very effective or very jarring depending on how you feel about a sudden and rather unexpected injection of pathos into your ‘Pool book. Personally I found the mood whiplash to be a little much, and felt that it took away from an otherwise successful outing for Way. (If you want to see endbook ‘Pool-pathos done right, may I suggest seeking out Deadpool Team-Up #886, one of the best Deadpool yarns I’ve read in some time.)  Grade: B (Although that absolutely beautiful Twilight parody very nearly pushes it into B+ territory).  — SoldierHawk

Heroes for Hire #2 – Although I was a little foggy on the exact connection between the bad-guys in this issue and those in issue #1 (even though the story indicates they are clearly related), I really enjoyed this issue.  The current comics sales market isn’t supporting any B-list character(s) in a stand-alone, ongoing series.  Marvel seems to finally be getting that, but it looks like Heroes for Hire could be a great place to get the B-listers in an ensemble fashion.  After seeing Falcon, Moon Knight, Black Widow & Elektra last month, this time we get Silver Sable and Ghost Rider.  I’ll be happy to keep this on my pull list just to get to see these B-listers in bite-sized quantities.  The story is fun too, but that’s no surprise coming from Abnett and Lanning.  Walker is an underrated artist (I think) too.  Grade: B — Dean Stell

Halcyon #3 – We finally start to learn why the world has no more crime and villainy in this third issue.  The exact mechanism is a little surprising (and gory), but I don’t think it was unexpected to see that something abnormal was afoot.  I think this issue benefited from reducing the cast of characters to the Batman-analog and his Wonder Woman-esq girlfriend.  It just made the story flow better.  The only thing that holds this issue back (for me) is the art.  It is probably just a personal preference because I’ve heard a lot of people who I respect GUSH about the art, but it just doesn’t work for me.  Grade: B- — Dean Stell

John Byrne’s Next Men #2 – Major improvement from the last issue.  I found the #1 issue to be very cluttered from a story-telling standpoint and wasn’t that enthused by the art either.  I still don’t know or have any attachment to the characters, but the premise that they are scattered in the time stream is fun enough.  Well….”fun” might not be the right word given the nasty situations that present themselves, but I’m interested in the story now.  Having settings like the Civil War and WWII allow Byrne to stretch his legs a little bit.  I actually enjoyed this art way more than the most superhero stuff in issue #1.  I don’t think this is staying on my pull list, but if I hear good things I may pick up the first trade.  Grade: B- (with a bullet) — Dean Stell

 

Halcyon #2 – Review

By: Marc Guggenheim & Tara Butters (writers), Ryan Bodenheim (art), Mark Englert (colors), Dave Sharpe (letters) & Aubrey Sitterson (editor)

The Story: The heroes of Earth continue to adjust to a world without crime.

What’s Good: The premise is interesting: What happens if there is no more crime?  What do the heroes do?  In this well written comic we start to see that the heroes are going to varied responses.  For example, the superfast dude is stressed to within an inch of his life because he (and he alone) is fast enough to get to the scene of natural disasters as they happen whereas the woman who is the Superman-analog knows she isn’t fast enough to do that stuff…and is really kinda enjoying relaxing.  They’re all different, and some will be not so noble.

The writing craft of this comic is really top notch.  It is well paced and the story is told in a way that makes it clear that the creators know what the story is going to be .  We’ve all read comics where you get a sense that the creators have a general sense of what will happen, but not a firm outline.  Not the case here and that is something I generally find to be true of writing teams since the mere act of collaboration requires more detailed planning.

We also don’t often get to say something nice about lettering, but Dave Sharpe is showing why lettering can matter as he does some neat things in this issue.  There is one character who is named Null and he doesn’t speak with typical word balloons, he speaks with black background/white text dialog boxes.  It may not seem like much, but it adds to this Null’s character without the writers having to write anything about him.

Finally, let’s cheer for the second issue coming out promptly.  I think a lot of “indy” comics lose momentum with bad release schedules.  My biggest complaint with issue #1 was that it didn’t give much intro, but that is kinda washed away now because issue #2 came out quickly.

Halcyon #1 – Review

By: Marc Guggenheim & Tara Butters (writers), Ryan Bodenheim (artist), Mark Englert (colors), Dave Sharpe (letters) & Aubrey Sitterson (editor)

The Story: Guggenheim & Butters begin to explore what happens when the heroes “win”.

What’s Good: There are a couple of common questions in superhero questions, such as, “Why doesn’t Batman just kill those villains since they just bust out of Arkham and cause mayhem again?” or “Are heroes causing crime by being an attractive nuisance for criminals?”  Halcyon seems to be touching on a tangent to those types of questions: What would the heroes do if there was no more crime?  Would they decide to settle down or would some of them prove to be such adrenalin junkies that they would find a way to create some crime to fight?

This issue only begins to establish the world of Halcyon.  The writers take us through introductions to the main heroes.  This series of vignettes is nicely done as each character gets a box with their name and power.  More comics need to use this technique because it is nice to know what these peoples’ names are.  The heroes are all pretty recognizable archetypes from our Marvel/DC comics, so one wonders if this is a bit of misdirection such that we will be surprised when the “Captain America dude” does something that the Marvel Cap never would.  We’ll see.  But, as the stories unfold, the heroes come to the realization that all crime is coming to a stop.  Not just super-powered crime, but also muggings, et al. Of course, this may or may not be scheme by the one super villain we meet in this issue.  It is an enticing concept and it’ll be interesting to see where it goes.

The art works.  It is serviceable and tells the story written by the writers without trying to show off and free lance.  It isn’t without its flaws (an odd looking characters here and there, sparse backgrounds), but it perfectly fine for the story.

Lettering is one of those thankless tasks where it is usually only noticeable when it is done poorly, so we try to offer praise whenever possible.  In this case Dave Shapre uses a really neat font for a scene in Pakistan that makes it 100% clear these folks are speaking a foreign language without resorting to: “<Drop your gun!!>”*       * – Translated from the original Farsi

A Red Mass For Mars #3 – Review

By Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Ryan Bodenheim (Artist), and Marty Shelley (Color Assists)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I look forward to diving back into Jonathan Hickman’s take on Superman as a concept. It’s been far too long since an issue of A Red Mass for Mars has hit stores…

The Story: Most of the third chapter of A Red Mass for Mars is spent explaining why Mars is the way that he is…and why human society just doesn’t work for him. There’s also violence…lots of violence…

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: A Red Mass for Mars #3 capitalizes on nearly everything that makes the series stand out from the somewhat crowded Superman analogue genre. While the core of A.R.M.F.M. is classic science fiction, it’s the brutal super(anti-)hero (just wait till you see him fight) that’s mixed into it that keeps Jonathan Hickman’s story feeling fresh. The exploration of Mars’ past gives a weight and feeling of epic history to the Mars character that makes him a bit more compelling than someone like the Plutonian from Mark Waid’s Irredeemable.

As you’ve probably guessed, the third issue of A Red Mass For Mars is quite impressive on a technical level. The visuals by Ryan Bodenheim and Marty Shelley do a lot of the storytelling, as a result, they prove to be surprisingly memorable. Bodenheim’s clean, detailed style is complimented by a unique use of color that gives Hickman’s series a very distinct look that’s well suited to the tone of the story being told. While I wish there was a bit more variety to the color choices (to divide scene breaks maybe?), I’m quite happy with how everything looks.

Now just because the story is mostly driven by the visuals, that doesn’t mean that Jonathan Hickman takes a break on the sidelines. Though I do wish there was a bit more text, Hickman tosses a number of great lines into A Red Mass for Mars #3. His writing style, which is defined by big ideas, cynical commentary, and effective character work, is perfect for Mars and the universe that he is a part of.

My only real complaint is that the penultimate chapter of Red Mass for Mars makes me think that the series just doesn’t feel quite as special as some of the stuff that Hickman has done in the past. It’s very good, but it’s missing that “something” that makes a story linger in the mind forever. I think it’s like that because there are more “standard” ideas in Red Mass than Hickman normally works with. Just think about, for example, The Nightly News or Transhuman…The Nightly News instantly felt like something groundbreaking and truly was. As for Transhuman, it successfully brought the “mockumentary” style to the comic page in a way that felt so natural that you couldn’t help but wonder why no one had tried it before.

Conclusion: A Red Mass for Mars #3 is a good comic all around. The artwork looks great, the action scenes kick ass, and Hickman’s Superman Mars is a character well-worth reading about.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

Red Mass For Mars #1 (of 4) – Review

Jonathan Hickman, (Writer and Colors) Ryan Bodenheim, (Art), and Marty Shelley (Color Assists)

Jonathan Hickman is, in my opinion, one of the best writers in the industry. I was blown away by The Nightly News, am completely hooked on Transhuman, and can’t wait for the conclusion to Pax Romana. It goes without saying that I come into the Red Mass For Mars mini-series with extremely high expectations. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Hickman and artist Ryan Bodenheim did not let me down.

In Red Mass For Mars, Earth is on its last legs after being completely decimated by climate change, disease, rebelling technology, and pretty much any manner of natural disaster imaginable. Little did those on Earth know that a greater threat would emerge, the alien race known as the Hun-Du. That was years ago and humans on Earth have had time to rebuild, but the Hun-Du are making their way back towards Earth, decimating anything in their path. A mysterious man and the world’s most brilliant scientist must assemble a team of powers to combat the threat and preserve this rebuilt Earth. If you are familiar with Hickman, then you know that this seemingly familiar tale is anything but. If you have any interest in science fiction or even superheroes, this is one story you don’t want to miss.

The writing in Red Mass For Mars is dense and there is a lot of it, but don’t let that deter you. As is usual with Hickman, he has a lot to say, but it never gets in the way of the storytelling. It almost feels like reading a chapter of a good book as opposed to a comic, but in no way is that a negative thing. It means that Hickman packs a lot into this first issue, but it all feels necessary and complimentary to the story being told. Some may find that it takes a bit to get used to this style, as it is rare to see a comic offer this much to absorb at once, but it is well worth the effort. Jonathan Hickman is an incredibly gifted individual, but you have to want to be drawn into his world. He writes Red Mass For Mars as an intriguing mix of science fiction, satire, and philosophy so be aware that this is anything but a light read.

The artwork by Ryan Bodenheim is absolutely fantastic and it is complemented by equally impressive, incredibly unique color work. Bodenheim’s work truly gives this book the feel of a science fiction epic. He makes the reader feel the scope of the disaster faced by billions in the opening pages and creates a sense of wonder with his vision of The Black City. The color work by Hickman and Shelley gives everything a surreal quality, making everything feel as though it is being seen through a dreamlike filter. This is one nice looking book all around.

While this may not be a book for everything due to its dense nature, I found Red Mass For Mars to be an exceptionally engaging read. If you feel up to the task, make sure to check this one out. (Grade: A)

-Kyle Posluszny

A Second Opinion

I have many of Jonathan Hickman’s works on my book shelf and comic boxes. The problem is I’ve never had time to read any of them. Red Mass For Mars is my first experience with Hickman and the design elements used in this book are all too familiar. Hickman loves his vector graphics and while he’s not doing any of the art in this book (just the coloring), his design presence is carried throughout by Ryan Bodenheim. Personally, I’m not a big fan of these modern design elements. People seem to oogle over them, but when I see them in Hickman’s books the only word that comes to mind is pretentiousness. Any graphic designer will tell you that these elements are used everywhere from Target ads to shoe commercials, having become overused and tired. And that’s pretty much the way I feel when I look at his books.

As for the compositions themselves, they are quite good and the splashes of color used throughout to portray the starry sky is striking. It’s really too early for me to say this story is good or bad, because all it  does is leave an impression; we’re introduced to the characters, the plot devices, and the reluctant hero who wants to deny humanity a chance to survive. It’s all very intriguing and it definitely has my attention, but I think because of the dense nature of the story it would be best read as a trade than a monthly series.

Fans of Hickman will no doubt flock to this book without any reservations, but for casual readers, I say pick this first issue up and see if it’s your cup of tea. Me? I was a bit let down when the book introduced the superhero. I wanted something pure science fiction and I almost got that. And “almost” isn’t enough to make me want to buy issue #2. I’ll wait for the trade. (Grade: B-)