Avengers Movie Review first:  go see it.  A small series of misadventures left us walking into the theater halfway into the previews (so I missed the Dark Knight trailer), and meant we had to sit in the second row — but it was a 3D movie, and it turns out that’s the perfect spot for me; I’m nearsighted in one eye, and farsighted in the other, so 3D effects don’t work well, but when it’s that close they work fine. Even better, Harkins is wise enough to invest in good theater seats with comfortable headrests that lean back easily, so no stiff neck, and the movie engulfed me; the 2.5 hours just whizzed by happily, in a perfect summer movie rush. Who would have thought the Hulk, who’s on screen very little, would get most of the best bits (“Puny god”) ? Halfway through the credits is a scene that reveals the Master Bad Guy, whom long-time Marvel fans will recognize and have to explain to their seatmates; at the very end of the credits, there’s yet another small scene that plays off of an earlier line, silent and quick but note-perfect, and it’s worth staying for (only about a fifth of the theater I was in stayed for that one). The 12-year-old me would be very pleased that the world has progressed to the point where a movie like this can be made, and so believably and enjoyably that the whole world’s going to see it.

Free Comic Book Day Comics

I’ll mostly do the big main-company stuff, some of which is still out there, with a smattering of the smaller-press stuff that you had to brave the FCBD crowds to score….

Avengers: Age of Ultron – Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Pencils: Bryan Hitch;  Inks: Paul Neary

It’s a reprint of Avengers #12.1, but it’s a free 31-page Avengers comic by Bendis, Hitch and Neary, which means it looks and feels great; Spider-Woman tracks an alien artifact to a cave, but runs into some bad guys, and one thing leads to another and before you know it, there’s a big Avengers/Intelligentsia fight, and then there’s Ultron. It’s a set-up for Bendis’s swan song on the Avengers, one he’s been teasing for well over a year now; Marvel’s marketing of this shows they learned some lessons from DC and Darkest Night, which  offered a similar slow, simmering build-up. As a way of goosing interest in an upcoming event, this book does its job very well.

Spider-Man: Season One – Writer: Cullen Bunn;  Pencils: Neil Edwards;  Inks: Karl Kesel

This one only offers 20 pages, reprinted from the graphic novel of the same name and showing Peter getting bit by the spider and starting to discover his powers, with the rest of the pages house ads and hype. It’s fine, but an often-told story, and one that it’s not clear needed to be told again;  in the competition for best modern retelling of the Spidey myth, it doesn’t look like it’s going to make Ultimate Spider-Man worry too much.

The New 52 — Writer: Geoff Johns; Art: Ivan Reis and Joe Prado; Kenneth Rocafort;  Gene Ha; Jim Lee

The first 11 pages, by the first three art teams, are the origin of Pandora, the hooded woman who’s been lurking in the background of most of DC’s books since their relaunch (yes, she’s that Pandora). That’s followed by an intro page from Lee, plus a four-page foldout, hyping the next big JLA event next year, “The Trinity War,” which presumably involves Pandora too, and looks to involve everyone fighting against Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The rest of the comic is two-page previews for four or five of DC’s other upcoming books. That makes it more nakedly commercial than the Marvel books, although a four-page Lee foldout is nothing to sneeze at, especially for free.

DC Nation FCBD Super Sampler/Superman Family Adventures Flip Book

I swear, that’s how it’s listed in the indicia. This “Super Sampler” offers Green Lantern and Young Justice stories for younger readers, based on the TV cartoons; the GL is a 10-pager written by Art Balthazar and Franco, and illustrated by Dario Brizuela, and involves Hal Jordan and the GLC against Myrwhydden, a silver-age era space wizard. The Young Justice is just a 5-page promo of the YJ book, not enough to make an impression — but the flip side of the comic, the Superman Family Adventures, is by Balthazar and Franco in the style of their Tiny Titans; it’s a promo of a new monthly comic by that same team. Imagine the charm of TT, transferred to Superman, complete with Clark, Lois, the Daily Planet, Supergirl, Superboy and Krypto, and you can see why, even at just 5 pages too, this is the most welcome part of the giveaway.

Barnaby and Mr. O’Malley — Creator: Crockett Johnson

Fantagraphics’ FCBD entry touts their new reprint project. Barnaby lasted for ten years as a newspaper strip; the title character is a 5-year-old boy, and Mr. O’Malley is his fairy godfather, a cigar-chomping, amiable W.C. Fields-ish sprite who finds it hard to do much real magic, but knows so many ghosts, elves and other denizens of the fantasy world that he makes a great companion. The strip is a lost classic, and well worth a try; see if the free offer here doesn’t addict you to its quirky and endearing appeal, and make you pick up the expertly-packeged first volume of the book collection this summer.

FCBD: Star Wars/Serenity

The first Dark Horse FCBD entry starts with a Star Wars 10-pager starring Hans and Chewie, with a script by Zach Whedon and art by Davide Fabbri and Christian Della Vecchia; the Serenity tale, also 10 pages, has another script by Whedon (this one executive-produced by his father Joss, the creator of the characters), and art by Fabio Moon. There’s also the first two pages of a (very) short story involving the new teen-girl-fights-monsters fantasy series Alabaster, one that’s concluded in….

FCBD: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine/The Guild

Dark Horse’s second entry offers an 8-page Buffy-in-space story (courtesy of Spike’s alien ship), written by Andrew Chambliss and with art by Georges Jeanty and Dexter Vines; it’s also another flip book, with the other side being an episode of Felicia Day’s gamer-centric The Guild, drawn by Jonathan Case (and, nestled snugly in the middle, are the last two pages of the Alabaster story).  Dark Horse does licensed properties about as well as anybody ever has, and their comics-only stuff always offers well-constructed, imaginative alternatives to the same old superhero genres that Marvel, DC and Image have mined so thoroughly, so these two giveaways are worth picking up just because they’ll expose you to some entertaining books you might otherwise have missed (the whole point of this exercise for publishers, after all).

Yo Gabba Gabba

Oni Press offers four stories based on (obviously) the TV show; comics fans will want this because one’s an 8-pager with art by Michael Allred, and another’s 5 pages from Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer (who’ve also contributed scripts to the show itself).

Dinosaurs Vs. Aliens

This is a high-concept creation from Barry Sonnenfeld, the director of Men in Black, and would be unremarkable except for the fact that he somehow corralled Grant Morrison to write the thing; this FCBD book has seven pages from the graphic novel by Morrison due out this summer, with reasonably cool-looking dino art by Mukesh Singh, padded with a bunch of sketches and Morrison’s script.

My Favorite Martian

This wins the award for weirdest FCBD entry: it’s a reprint of the Dell first issue from 1964, a tie-in to the TV series starring Ray Walston and a very pre-Hulk Bill Bixby; apparently, Hermes is doing this to tout a hardcover volume reprinting the first five issues of the comic’s run. I mean, OK, the art in the first issue is by Dan Spiegel, and a later issue features Russ Manning, but… really? There’s a market for this? For $49.95? Take the free book, which offers 20% of the hardcover, and let’s call it a day.

Earth 2

Worlds’ Finest #1 — Writer: Paul Levitz;  Pencils: George Perez;  Inks: Scott Koblish

These books are inter-related, with Earth 2 best read first; as its name implies, it’s setting up the alternate DC Earth that contains a modern-day version of the Justice Society. The first issue, though, focuses on death instead of birth: it shows a world where the only super-heroes who exist are Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman — plus a Supergirl, and a Robin who’s Batman’s daughter. That turns out not to be enough to hold off an invasion from Apokalips (we see parademons and Steppenwolf, but Darkseid is never mentioned) — at least, not without the ultimate sacrifice from all three heroes, leaving a world without superpowers — until the last page, when recent college grad Jay Garrick gets a visit…. Robinson does a good job with this, hitting all the emotional buttons well (this is much closer to the quality of Shade than that horrible Justice League mini-series from a few years ago) and the Scotts handle the (literally) apocalyptic battles and quiet spots with equal elan.

Even better is Worlds’ Finest, because Levitz and Perez are about the best old-school team DC has to offer. Levitz is a subtle and expert writer (note the apostrophe placement in the title, making “worlds” plural), and this is the tale of the Earth 2 Supergirl and Robin, who end up stranded on the main DC earth after the events in Earth 2 #1, and become Power Girl and the Huntress. Perez, of course, is stellar as always, and there’s the added attraction of Kevin Maguire, who supplies the art for the Earth 2 flashbacks. Pick up both of these books; they’re entertaining and effective, and give a hopeful start to the next wave of DC’s lineup.

Daredevil #12 — Writer: Mark Waid;  Art: Chris Samnee

After the excitement of last issue’s Spidey/Punisher crossover, this is mostly a quieter issue, as Matt Murdock goes on a date with assistant DA Kirsten McDuffie, and tells her a story about how he and Foggy bested a law professor in their college days. The Samnee art is a treat, well-suited to the quiet humor of most of the book; it’s a sign of Waid’s talent as a scripter that he’s been able to lure so many letter-perfect artists to this book.

Action Comics #9 — Writer: Grant Morrison; Art: Gene Ha

A one-shot tale of the Superman of Earth-23, who’s… well, not exactly Barack Obama, but an African-American who’s also President of the US, so the comparisons are inevitable. Morrison eschews most of the obvious political commentary, though, and instead concentrates on world-building, showing how this character got where he is, and making us care about him and his supporting cast. It’s a nice change-of-pace issue, without the multi-episode complications of the regular book (although, Morrison being Morrison, I’m sure these characters will show up as part of some uber-plot somewhere down the road…).

Skeleton Key #1 (of 1) — Creator: Andi Watson

Schoolgirl Tamsin and her companion, the fox spirit Kitsune, have the magical key of the title, which opens doors to different worlds and eras; they’re lost and trying to find the right path home, and have various adventures along the way. This comic reprints three of their recent stories, from Dark Horse Presents #5-7, involving a graveyard dance troupe, a hotel haunted by a ghost, and an infinite museum. Imaginative and charming, these are wonderful little tales, and if you missed these because you were too cheap to drop $8 an issue on the DHP anthology (although that book is totally worth it, too), then spend the $3.50 to get them here.

Fury #1 (of 6) — Writer: Garth Ennis;  Art: Goran Parlov

The team responsible for the best and longest run in Punisher history returns for a Nick Fury mini-series, as the old warrior dictates his memoirs. This issue is set in Indo-China in 1954, and has all the political intrigue, grizzled war veterans, femme fatales and cynical maneuvering you could want; it’s like Terry and the Pirates, but with more swearing and all the innosence bleached out, and as with all of the best Ennis, it’s a lot of nasty fun.

Avengers Vs. X-Men #3 — Writer: Ed Brubaker;  Pencils: John Romita, Jr.;  Inks: Scott Hanna

Everybody’s trying to track down Hope, and Wolverine has a polite disagreement with the Avengers — not because he wants to sympathize with the X-Men, but because he wants to solve the Phoenix problem in a way neither team wants. Brubaker’s scripting somehow makes it work better than in the first two issues (the puppet strings over the characters, as they all do what the plot requires of them, are much less visible here), and the Romita Jr. art, as always, makes it all go down easy.

Garfield #1 — Writer: Mark Evanier;  Art: Gary Barker

Worth noting because comics that are kid-friendly and smart are rare, and because Evanier, who’s been the director of the Garfield cartoons since… well, forever, is the perfect choice to add sly comics-related satire, and get all the characters’ voices and personalities just right. Barker has been an assistant on the Garfield newspaper strip for a long time, too, and probably draws the fat cat and his supporting cast better than Jim Davies at this point, so this is a perfect package, whether you’re a fan yourself or want to buy something cool for a younger reader you know.

Stuff I bought but don’t have anything new to say about, so go look up earlier reviews in the archives if you’re interested:

Amazing Spider-Man #685 — Writer: Dan Slott;  Pencils: Humberto Ramos; Inks: Victor Olazaba

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #10 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: David Marquez

Defenders #6 — Writer: Matt Fraction;  Art: Victor Ibanez;  Finishes: Tom Palmer and Terry Pallot

Invincible Iron Man #516 — Writer: Matt Fraction;  Art: Salvador Larroca

The Boys #66 — Writer: Garth Ennis;  Art: Russ Braun

Popeye

Snarked #7 — Writer/Artist: Roger Langridge

Back in the ’70s, when I was first discovering America’s long, rich history of newspaper comics, E. C. Segar’s Thimble Theater, the strip that birthed Popeye in 1928, was one of my first encounters, and it was a revelation: tough, funny, adventurous and told with a sureness of line and vision that puts it in the top ten of everybody’s best-of lists. This new comic doesn’t reach that peak, but it comes closer than anyone else has since Segar’s death in 1938: Ozella gets the scruffiness of the characters right, and while he can’t quite match Segar’s fluidity, he handles both slapstick and suspense with equal skill (and gets bonus points for doing his own lettering, and nailing it, to add a retro charm to the words). Speaking of words, the bigger strength here is Langridge, an inspired choice for writer: he knows his history (Popeye’s first words here echo those of his first appearance in Segar’s strip, and the next panel name-checks Bill Blackbeard, the comics historian who wrote the introduction to that first book reprinting the one-eyed sailor’s adventures that I bought 40 years ago), and he gets everybody’s dialogue just right; he even duplicates Segar’s habit of breaking the speech into a series of small, self-contained balloons. Langridge also publishes his own series, Snarked, the charming Lewis Carroll-inspired adventure that owes something to Segar in its combination of comedy and adventure, and that’s out this week, too, but I’ve sung its praises before; if you’re going to try one new book this week, make it Popeye — just a look at that cover, and the careful way it pays tribute to Action Comics #1 while still being quintessentially Popeye (and, in addition, managing to get the colors and the logo exactly right), should be enough to seal the deal.

The Goon #39 — Writer/Artist: Eric Powell

Speaking of good covers… this one promises exactly what the book delivers: a takedown of mainstream superhero comics. OK, as a topic of parody that’s easy pickin’s, and a little ’90s to boot, but then so are superhero comics right now, in their endless crossover events and attempts to goose sales, and Powell is just the guy to cheerfully, and scatologically, eviscerate them.

AVX: Vs. #1 (of 6) — Creators: Jason Aaron/Adam Kubert and Kathryn Immonen/Stuart Immonen/Wade von Grawbadger

Uncanny X-Men #11 — Writer: Kieron Gillen;  Art: Greg Land;  Inks: Jay Leisten

New Avengers #25 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Mike Deodato and Will Conrad

Speaking of crossovers… here we have three Avengers vs. X-Men books. AVX: Vs. confused me at first, because I thought it was a reprint of the actual Avengers Vs. X-Men #1 (the logo makes it look like they did it on purpose to increase sales; if so, it backfired, because I almost didn’t pick this up at all). This is new material, though, and it’s actually a lot of fun: its purpose is to present two expanded fights per issue, ones the “real” story doesn’t have space to show; as the first page tells us, “This book is about AWESOME BRAWLING! You want PLOT? LOOK ELSEWHERE, CHUM. You want a KNOCK-DOWN, DRAG-OUT WHUPPIN’? WE GOT YOU COVERED.” The joke is that the creative teams are actually better than that — the Magneto/Iron Man fight in the first half is all action, but it’s not mindless; Aaron and Kubert make it clever and sympathetic to both sides. The Namor/Thing battle, while not as clever (and suffering from a “win” that doesn’t even last beyond the final panel), has the Immonens providing enough good dialogue and cool undersea art to zip it along nicely. If you’re enough of a fan to be following the main series, you’ll definitely want this too.

Of the other two tie-ins, Uncanny X-Men is the most connected to the main story. Gillen seems to be trying mightily to avoid the mistake of Civil War (for that story to work, the main heroes on the “government” side, Tony Stark and Reed Richards, had to act like complete buttheads, and then Marvel had to spend years fixing them, especially Stark) by showing Cyclops’ position as inevitable, given his responsibilities to his people — although when the Sub-Mariner spends the first few pages admiring your negotiating technique, you know you’ve left diplomacy far behind. At the same time, there’s a big Red Hulk/Colossus-as-Juggernaut fight, so the AVX: Vs readers have something to enjoy, too.

There’s no fight at all in New Avengers — instead, we get a lot of backstory connecting Iron Fist’s ancient city, K’un Lun, to the Phoenix Force and its propensity for red-headed females as avatars. This would be boring except for the intriguing connections it suggests, especially given the intricate, cool-looking art by Deodato — and if you’re tired of all the punching in the other two crossovers, it offers a good palate cleanser.

Daredevil #11 — Writer: Mark Waid;  Art: Marco Checchetto

The conclusion to the three-part connected story between this book, Spider-Man and the Punisher. Kind of annoying, in that at the end the status remains quo, but it’s fun to see the interaction between the three main characters, given their long histories with each other, and Waid delivers a good story as always. The art isn’t quite as good as it’s been, but the letters page says that Chris Samnee’s coming on board next issue, and that Paolo Rivera’s coming back, too, so there’s plenty of reason to continue buying this comic.

Super Crooks #2 (of 4) — Writer: Mark Millar;  Art: Leinil Yu

This looks like it’s evolving into a caper story — Ocean’s Eleven with super-powers — which is fine by me; Millar’s clever enough to make something like that work, although his propensity for cynical shock endings might screw it up, and with only two issues to go the gimmicks can’t be that elaborate. Yu’s turned into a good match for Millar’s style — see Superior — and the advantage of only two issues left is that it’s easy for readers to commit and see what happens, so I’m still on board.

Moon Knight #12 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Alex Maleev

The end of the book, and of Bendis and Maleev’s attempt to make MK popular — the multiple-personality hook kept me around, as did the gritty LA locale and the power imbalance between the hero and the main villain, but apparently not enough readers agreed. In retrospect, this will probably be most remembered for its death of a minor Avengers character and for its maguffin: the head of an Ultron, which looks like it’s helped to lay the seeds for Bendis’s Age of Ultron, his swan song for his run on the Avengers, coming… next year? With AVX in full swing, no one wants to hear about future events right now, but stay tuned….

Stuff I bought but don’t have anything new to say about, so read earlier reviews in the archives if you want to know why it’s good:

Mighty Thor #13 — Writer: Matt Fraction;  Art: Pepe Larraz

All Star Western #8 — Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray;  Art: Moritat

Aquaman #8 — Writer: Geoff Johns;  Pencils: Ivan Reis; Inks: Joe Prado and Reis

Captain America #10 — Writer: Ed Brubaker;  Pencils: Alan Davis;  Inks: Mark Farmer

Spaceman #6 (of 9) — Writer: Brain Azzarello;  Eduardo Risso

Captain Confederacy

Published by Steeldragon Press, this came out in 1986, and was part of the black-and-white explosion of the mid-’80s — appropriate, since, as the title should make clear, it’s an alternate-earth book about a world where the South never lost the Civil War, and the Confederacy still exists. The title character’s part of “Project Hero,” a pr-driven effort to create a white media hero to keep the “colored” agitators in their place. The art, by Vince Stone, is semi-professional at best, but the script, by Will Shetterly, manages to avoid most of the obvious potholes in the concept, and offers a couple of intriguing characters to whet the reader’s interest (Shetterly’s still around, and has had a modest career as an sf novelist, although he never returned to comics; I have no idea what happened to Stone). The comic published 12 issues, a decent run for an indy title, and in 1991 managed a four-issue mini-series at Marvel’s Epic Comics line, so its profile’s a bit higher than most of its peer books from this period.

Captain Harlock

Harlock is a noble space pirate, a Japanese manga/anime character who’s been around since the ’50s. He was created by the manga master Leija Matsumoto, but these comics aren’t translations; they’re new stories, written by Robert Gibson and drawn mostly by Ben Dunn, who’s managed a long career with his simplified, slightly-Americanized Japanese style (he’s probably best known for Ninja High School, although superhero fans may remember him as the creative force behind the first Marvel Mangaverse books, in 2002). Captain Harlock was published by Eternity Comics  starting in 1989, and lasted until 1992 — according to Wikipedia, it ended, not because of sales, but because it turned out Eternity didn’t have the rights to it (the guy they’d purchased them from turned out to be an impostor, who’d then disappeared into the Japanese night). The comics are interesting as examples of the second Great Manga Wave in the US, prompted by the success of the Robotech cartoons on TV (the first wave was in the ’60s, prompted by Astro Boy and Speed Racer, but that’s a subject for another post…).

Captain Victory

This is the most well-known of the indy “Captain” books, because it’s by the most well-known creator: King Kirby himself, who, always on the cutting edge of comics publishing, saw the possibilities in Pacific Comics and its early-’80s push to create a non-Big Two comics market; lending his name and prestige to the fledgling company helped to establish them as major players. This is energetic space opera, typical Kirby in the way it shows an American small town coping with “Galactic Rangers,” who arrive to protect it (and Earth) from an invasion of “Insectons,” a hive-like race bent on colonizing the planet. There’s lots of action, musings about the role of the soldier, and inappropriately bold-faced type; although the book wasn’t a huge hit when it appeared, it’s aged well, and is definitely worth a look today, especially with the issues available at a buck each.

Cheval Noir

This is a Dark Horse anthology from 1989 through 1993, very Heavy Metal-ish; it ran for 48 issues, and they’re 68 black-and-white pages by a slew of fantasy and sf-related European and American artists, existing together in happy collaboration (look at the first issue: an ultra-sexy Dave Stephens cover, a frontispiece and spot illos by Geoff Darrow, interior stories by Phillipe Druilett (“Lone Sloan”) and Tardi (“Adele”), plus “Angel Fusion,” a manga work by Hiroyuki Kato and Keisuke Goto, and a few other stories too). The emphasis is on beautiful linework, and any connoisseur of comics art can pick up an issue at random and be impressed: here, there’s a Moebius story; over there, something by Brian Bolland… or Michael Kaluta… or John Bolton… or Kelley Jones… or Mike Mignola… or… well, there’s a lot to occupy your eyeballs, most of it stuff you’ve never seen before, and all a treat.

Concrete

This is Paul Chadwick’s creation, a former speechwriter named Ron Lithgow who gets captured by aliens and has his brain transplanted into a 1200-pound stone body. He escapes them and survives; the good news is that he has extraordinary sight and stamina, while the bad news is that he’s trapped in a massive body with almost no sensation. Given the pulpy origin, the stories are surprisingly human and smart, with a lot of philosophical musing and an interesting and attractive supporting cast. Early appearances of the character were in Dark Horse Presents in the late ’80s; in 1987 he got his own book, won a slew of Eisner awards, and has appeared in occasional mini-series ever since, the most recent being The Human Dilemma, in 2005. The awards are well-deserved, and the comics are a revelation, with both art and script working together seamlessly to tell compelling, carefully-constructed stories that refuse to accept easy plot twists or resolutions. Check these out; they’re exactly the kind of cheap-thrill hidden gems that the cover-price racks are meant to provide.

Cosmic Guard

Typical Jim Starlin cosmic stuff (as if the title didn’t already reveal that), about an orphan kid who gets fantastic mystical powers and is pulled into an intergalactic war. Starlin’s an old hand at this space-opera stuff, and the polished art and script offer a professional, if familiar, ride.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

These are from IDW, and mostly from the show’s heyday in the early and mid-2000s; the high point is the Dying in the Gutters mini-series, wherein there’s a murder at a Los Vegas comic book convention. The hook is that all the characters are actual comic pros (the victim is online rumor-monger Rich Johnston, of Bleeding Cool News, and the prime suspect at first is Joe Quesada, although Ed Brubaker, Peter David, the Kubert brothers, Greg Rucka and others all make appearances). The art’s just OK, but the story’s clever, and the photo covers involving the show’s cast are perfect for fans of the series.

The Crow

James O’Barr’s Goth-flavored revenge fantasy, from 1989, probably would have slipped quietly into obscurity, except that it got optioned as a movie, and Bruce Lee’s son Brandon died in an accident during filming in 1993. Ala Heath Ledger, that gave the film enough publicity to make it a cult hit, and the comic managed a number of mini-series (and a ten-issue Image ongoing series) throughout the ’90s. The ones with O’Barr scripts have an interesting, morosely poetic vision, and the Wild Justice mini-series has art by Charlie Adlard, of Walking Dead fame; otherwise, one’s pretty much like the other, but if you wore out a lot of black eyeliners during high school, these are worth a nostalgiac look.

Critters

A funny-animal anthology from Fantagraphics that lasted for 50 issues in the mid-to-late ’80s. As with Cheval Noir, there’s a lot of unexpected pleasure here — chief among them a number of Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo stories in the early issues, but there’s also work by Sam Kieth, Scott Shaw!, Freddie Milton, and others; the high point is probably issue #23, which has an Alan Moore story and a Flexi-disc with music from his band on it (of course, you need an actual record player to be able to hear it…).

Criminal Macabre

This series features Cal McDonald, a Steve Niles creation who’s a hard-boiled occult detective, and he’s been around in various mini-series for about ten years now (he’s currently being serialized in Dark Horse Presents, and just had a one-shot published, too). The early issues have art by Ben Templesmith, and later artists include Kelley Jones, so there’s almost always interesting art to go with the note-perfect scripts.

That’s it for this week, but a final note: these books will only be on the discount racks for a week, until Friday, May 4, because the store will be putting out Free Comic Book Day books on those racks on Saturday the 5th. The “C” stuff will be back the week after that, though, so if you don’t get a chance to look them over in the next few days, just be patient.

America’s Got Powers

Ross is the former British talk-show host who’s a big comics geek, and has dabbled in writing them before (Turf, about Prohibition-era vampires, came out a year or two ago). Here, he’s snagged Bryan Hitch as artist, which helps his cause considerably. The comic itself is nakedly commercial: it’s a mashup of J. Michael Straczynski’s  Rising Stars (radiation from a mysterious meteor causes a bunch of kids whose mothers are exposed to it to be born with super-powers), America’s Got Talent (there’s a reality show wherein the kids compete, and the winners get to be on a JLA-like super-team) and The Hunger Games (the show is manipulated by evil government and political types, who make it deadly because they’d prefer the kids with powers all either die or get used for their own nefarious purposes). Tommy, the viewpoint character, is the only kid exposed who apparently didn’t get any powers. Apparently….  Anyway, all of this is the occasion for both media social satire and arena-style super-powered combat and adventure, and at 36 pages for $2.99 it’s a bargain: the Hitch art is expansive, detailed and cool to look at,and there’s a buzz of snarky energy that runs through the book, making it a fun, solid read that ought to become a hit.

Alabaster: Wolves #1 (of 5) — Writer: Caitlin R. Kiernan;  Art: Steve Lieber

The Secret Service #1 (of 7) — Writer: Mark Millar;  Art: Dave Gibbons

Two other first issues of limited series this week: Alabaster is about an albino girl who’s a monster-killer, prompted by an angel of vengeance to seek out and put down vampires, werewolves and the like. Here, she encounters another girl at a South Carolina bus stop; they talk and, eventually, fight, since the girl turns out to be more than she seems. There’s a riddle contest first, and both the script and the art deliver a Southern Gothic folk-tale flavor that’s both spooky and compelling.

Secret Service is standard Millar, about an aimless British teen whose uncle recruits him into a super-espionage agency. It’s just what you’d expect from Millar (the opening sequence, involving a kidnapped Mark Hamill and a botched James Bondian rescue, especially so).  While the main plot doesn’t move forward much in this first issue, the big attraction is the Gibbons art, and it’s as precise, clear and well-constructed as always; the scenes of the teen, trapped in his British lower-class life, are especially good.

Fantastic Four #605 — Writer: Jonathan Hickman;  Art: Ron Garney

Secret #1 — Writer: Jonathan Hickman;  Art: Ryan Bodenheim

Two from Hickman: the FF is a one-shot tale of Reed and his father time-traveling into the future to observe the long history of the FF (long as in the next 4000 years), but it really turns out to be about the Reed/Ben relationship, and it’s quiet, imaginative and just about perfect. Secret is one of his new creator-owned books for Image, and it begins a twisty, complicated and high-stakes game of industrial spying and global power and intrigue. The art is just OK — it’s got some nice panel layouts, but suffers from having most of its characters look too much alike (they’re all middle-aged, upper-class businessmen in suits) — but the story itself is right up Hickman’s alley, and looks like it’ll provide a lot of nasty fun.

Saga #2 — Writer: Brian K. Vaughan;  Art: Fiona Staples

This second issue continues its sf/fantasy tale about two Romeo-and-Juliet lovers and their baby girl, whom everyone in the galaxy wants for some shadowy reason — which means they’re moving from planet to planet, dodging bounty hunters and the like. Vaughan makes their bickering-but-loving relationship both attracrtive and realistic, and Staples continues to develop imaginative alien creatures and tender parental moments with equal ease; between Secrets, America’s Got Powers, Prophet, Supreme, and this (not to mention older titles like Chew and Walking Dead), Image is making a big creative splash this year, and if you aren’t looking at any of their books, you’re missing out on some of the best comics on the stands.

Journey Into Mystery #636 — Writer: Kieron Gillen;  Art: Richard Elson

The Mighty Thor #12.1 — Writer: Matt Fraction;  Pencils: Barry Kitson;  Inks: Kitson and Jay Leisten

These books are linked because they’re both mostly about the retro-teened Loki, who continues to be one of the best and most complicated characters in the Marvel Universe.  JIM is really Loki’s book, and Gillen, who has a real knack for combining humor, angst and myth, is never boring (as a plot point, he provides a double-page centerfold D&D-type board game here that’s an unexpected delight). For his “.1″ issue of Mighty Thor, Fraction looks into the childhood history of Thor and his Asgardian half-brother, via a long conversation between Volstagg and Sif; you’d think that would be boring, but not so; it turns out Kitson gets a lot to do, not the least of which involves the story of how Volstagg became so voluminous. Add in the way Loki’s motivations are left unresolved (is he a hero now? The same old villain? Something in between?), and you can see why he’s such a far cry from the generic, Shakespearean-dialogued bad guy created by Lee and Kirby all those years ago.

Conan the Barbarian #3 — Writer: Brian Wood;  Art: Becky Cloonan

There’s not much to note here, except a recommendation to buy: Conan, and its story of his meeting with Belit, the pirate queen, and their hot-and-heavy relationship continues to benefit from Cloonan’s unusual-but-somehow-perfect art, and even someone who’s read a couple of hundred Conan comics (like me) finds it hard to resist.

Avenging Spider-Man #6 — Writers: Greg Rucka and Mark Waid;  Art: Marco Checchetto

Fans of the current Daredevil or Punisher series should get this, since it’s by the writers of those two books, and is the first part of a three-comic crossover. DD fans know that Matt Murdock has possession of an unstable-molecule data disk with incriminating information on all the bad-guy shadow organizations of the Marvel universe — Hydra, AIM, etc. — and that they’ve been teaming up against him to get it back, without much success. That’s the starting point for this story, and with those two writers involved, it promises to be a gritty, witty and brainy ride.

Crossed: Badlands #3 — Writer: Garth Ennis;  Art: Jacen Burrows

The end of Ennis’s arc on this ongoing series about a world overrun by psychotic… well, not zombies, but close enough. Just as downbeat as you’d expect, with the reader-centric attraction of all zombie apocalypse tales: what would you do in similar circumstances? Would you survive, or end up fodder for the other side?

Avengers: Assemble #2 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Pencils: Mark Bagley;  Inks: Danny Miki

New Avengers #24 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Mike Deodato, Jr. and Will Conrad

Two Avengers books by Bendis: Assemble has the team fighting a reformed Zodiac, who think they’re the good guys (although they’re pretty clearly getting suckered), and are chasing after a bunch of standard Marvel mega-powerful maguffins (there’s an Ultimate Nullifier involved in this issue, so there’s probably Cosmic Cubes and similar hardware close behind). Bagley and Bendis are a smooth team, after all those years on Ultimate Spider-Man, so both the action and the exposition click along smoothly and entertainingly. So too for New Avengers, where the Deodato art is similarly expressive and fun to watch. This is billed as an Avengers Vs. X-Men crossover, although it works a lot like those Avengers issues of the “Siege” and other crossover stories, not covering the main action but filling in the spaces between big battles; here, it’s a lot of Jessica and Luke Cage discussing what to do about their baby, since living with it at Avengers Mansion has turned into an increasingly hazardous idea. Should Jessica leave? Will Luke come with her? Will fate keep these two crazy kids together, or apart? It’s pretty sudsy soap opera, but with characters that Bendis has written (and, in Jessica’s case, created) over a lot of years, so it has more emotional impact than you might expect.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #8 — Writers: Andrew Chambliss and Scott Allie;  Pencils: Cliff Richards;  Inks: Andy Owen

Winter Soldier #4 — Writer: Ed Brubaker;  Pencils: Butch Guice;  Inks: Stefano Gaudiano, Guice and Brian Thies

Uncanny X-Men #10 — Writer: Kieron Gillen;  Pencils: Calos Pacheco and Paco Diaz;  Inks: Cam Smith

Shade #7 — Writer: James Robinson;  Art: Javier Pulido

All four of these books are under the “not much to say that I haven’t said before, but I bought ‘em and liked ‘em” category. BTVS builds on its shocker from last issue (Buffy’s a robot? But with her brain?); Winter Soldier has typical smooth Brubaker/Guice action involving Bucky, the Black Widow, Soviet sleeper agents, Dr. Doom, the Red Ghost, a rogue Doombot and probably a few more pieces I’ve forgotten — you’d think it would be confusing, but instead it’s suspenseful fun; Uncanny X-Men has nice-looking art and Gillen, although it suffers from one of those the-bad-guy’s-so-powerful-he-can-do-anything plots; finally, Shade wraps up its current story-within-the-story featuring Shade’s daughter, and while it also suffers from a too-powerful character (Shade himself, who resolves things all too easily once he decides to lend a hand), the art is so nice-looking, and the dialogue and narrative so engaging, that it’s easy to forgive it.

Daredevil

Frank Miller, whether writing or drawing or both, is a hard act to follow, but we’re picking up this week right after the “Born Again” story arc in DD #227-233. Issue #234 is a fill-in written by Mark Gruenwald that introduces the D-list villain Madcap, which is no big deal — but the artist is Steve Ditko, so it’s worth a look. Ditko does the breakdowns for #235, too, featuring Mr. Hyde as the bad guy, but the better news is in #236, because that one features the art of Barry Windsor-Smith, and guest-stars the Black Widow; it’s written by Ann Nocenti, who returns as regular scripter with #238, drawn by Sal Buscema and featuring a DD/Sabretooth battle that ties into the then-current “Mutant Massacre” X-crossover. Nocenti then settles in for a long, interesting run: she’s got a keen sense of character, and an offbeat rhythm to her plots and themes that’s a little off-putting at first, but grows on you as you get used to it. There are musical artists for a while at first — Todd McFarlane on #241 the most notable, but a Keith Giffen job on #247 is interesting, too, as is a two-part Wolverine crossover in the next two issues with art by Rick Leonardi and the great inker Al Williamson. Things really settle in with #250, though, and the introduction of John Romita, Jr. as regular penciller — especially since Williamson stays on as inker.

They and Nocenti end up making a good team — their knack at drawing regular guys, cool-looking mobsters and sexy women serves them well over the first few issues, as Typhoid Mary, the schizo-pyrokinetic hit woman, gets introduced in #254 and becomes the Kingpin’s enforcer in one personality, and a love interest for DD in another. Her battles with Our Hero continue all the way through issue #266, with a Punisher guest-shot in #257 (and a skippable fill-in in #258), a climactic fight in #261 which sees a badly-beaten DD left unconscious under a bridge, and an “Inferno” crossover that sees DD battling demons in New York City from issue #262-266 (there’s another Ditko fill-in to interrupt things in #264), and which ends with a Christmas issue in #266 that sees DD and Mephisto having a drink together in a New York bar. Great, addictive stuff, and Nocenti apparently likes the occult stories that emphasize the latter part of DD’s name, because in #270 she introduces Mephisto’s son, Blackheart (which sees Romita Jr. getting to draw Spider-Man as a guest star), and in issues #278-282 offers a long story guest-starring the Inhumans and Black Bolt’s son that also features Blackheart, Mephisto, and a trip through hell that’s resolved by a Silver Surfer appearance at the end; all of this is by Romita Jr. and Williamson (except for the fill-ins), and is quite a bit of weird fun.

Romita Jr. leaves with #282, though, and things begin to flatten out, although Nocenti sticks around for one more offbeat arc, as she chronicles a disoriented Matt Murdock ending up back in New York City from hell, suffering from amnesia and getting work as a boxer in a gym (no one, including him, realizes that he’s blind), and somehow, eventually, fighting a Bullseye who’s been donning the Daredevil costume — which means that Matt’s in Bullseye’s regular outfit. The art here is mostly Lee Weeks (although Greg Capullo does #286), while Kieron Dwyer pencils the last two issues of the story, ending in #290. Nocenti’s gone, too, with issue #291, and new writer D.G. Chichester comes aboard with issue #292. Thus begins a new, very ’90s-ish era of DD, one that goes by smoothly but with very little staying power: there are Punisher and Spider-Man crossovers, and lots of different artists, and nothing that sticks in the memory. The next item of note occurs a few years later, in issue #319, when Marvel, through Chichester and artist Scott McDaniel, tries to duplicate the “Born Again” buzz by deconstructing DD, causing him lots of problems and, eventually, giving him a brand-new costume, in the “Fall From Grace” arc. Issue #319 is hot for a while, but the story itself is pedestrian and tired, and by issue #331 Chichester and McDaniels are gone, replaced by Gregory Wright and Tom Grindberg, people that you need at least a master’s degree in comcis history to have ever heard of (this seems to happen a lot in ’90s Marvel books, all the “name” artists having, at that point, run off to form Image Comics). Chichester is back from #239-242, but writing under “Alan Smithee,” the pseudonym famously used by Hollywood screenwriters when they want to disown a script after it’s been butchered by others; you can draw your own conclusions about that. There’s a welcome hiccup of quality in #343, thanks to a Warren Ellis script, and DD gets his familiar red costume back in #345 (to no one’s surprise); J.M. DeMatteis does the writing chores for a while, but there’s little to remark on until Karl Kesel takes over story-writing chores with #353, and brings at least some interesting characterization back to the book, helped along by artist Cary Nord (and, in issues #363, 366-368 and 370, old DD hand Gene Colan). Kelly leaves with #375, and the first volume of Daredevil follows a few issues later, with #380, cover-dated October, 1998.

Not to worry, though, since volume 2 begins the next month, with a big splash supplied by then-rookie writer (but already hot geek-centric director) Kevin Smith, whose first eight-issue arc, with art by Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti, was hot then, and still hard to find in the original issues even today. David Mack writes issues #9-11, still with art by Quesada and Palmiotti, which introduces Echo to the Marvel Universe (although she just “died” over in Moon Knight).  Brian Michael Bendis contributes his first DD story in issues #16-19, while Mack puts down the word processor and picks up the art chores; by issue #26, Bendis is back, and the art is handled by Alex Mallev, a collaboration that will become one of the longer-running and more influential ones in DD history (it’s both startling and a little sad to realize that it began over ten years ago). By issue #32, the team has shaken up the book by revealing Matt Murdock’s secret identity to the public, a move that echoes through the title even today; from there through the end of their tenure, with issue #80, it’s one well-drawn and interesting five-issue arc after another, as Daredevil remains one of the most consistently-entertaining and unpredictable books on the stands, culminating with Murdock’s eventual arrest and imprisonment in Rykers (where the Kingpin and many other bad guys lurk), awaiting his trial on federal charges because of the many laws he broke while walking the tightrope between his lawyer and costumed identities.

Fortunately, while Bendis and Maleev have left, the new team consists of hardboiled-fiction master Ed Brubaker, Micheal Lark and Stefano Gaudiano, and they pick up the challenge left by Bendis with aplomb, beginning yet another long quality run on the title, all the way through issue #119 of volume #2, and its renumbering back to volume one with DD’s 500th issue after that — a little over 40 issues in all.

The next year on the title, #s 501-512, can’t live up to the quality of its predecessors — writer Andy Diggle isn’t bad, but he’s saddled with yet another tear-DD-down assignment culminating in the unfortunate and stupid “Shadowland” crossover — but the good news is that the title’s rebirth last year, with issue #1 of volume 3, has been one of the better books on the stands, thanks to Mark Waid’s scripts and very nice-looking art by Paulo and Joe Rivera and Marcos Martin. As ever, Matt Murdock’s swashbuckling alter ego has found it easy to shrug off a few bad stories, and come out ahead with a decent and sympathetic creative team — between the Lee-Thomas-Conway/Colan years, the Miller era, and the Nocenti/Romita Jr. run (let alone the more-recent Smith/Quesada arc, followed by the Bendis/Maleev and Brubaker/Lark/Gaudiano runs), he’s had a lot better luck with creative teams than almost any other Marvel hero.

Avengers Vs. X-Men

Bendis provides a Scarlet Witch story wherein Wanda (a) fights M.O.D.O.K., (b) talks to Carol Danvers, who convinces her to go to Avengers Mansion, and (c) actually goes to said mansion, wherein she meets the Vision (it’s a good idea to read Avengers #24.1 before this book, if you’re wondering what the Vision is doing there and why he acts the way he does), and things don’t go well. The Cho art is fun to look at, in its mildly cheesecakey way, and the story is typical Bendis; it’s there to establish Wanda as outcast from the Avengers, and does its job, although there’s a mildly cringe-inducing “even androids can cry” moment at the end.

The Aaron story focuses on Hope Summers, as she (a) fights the Serpent Squad and (b) has a discussion with Scott and Emma about the Phoenix Force, and how it’s coming to Earth to get her. Same Cho art; Aaron does his job at establishing Hope as a badass, and also someone apprehensive about her future — there isn’t the nice turn of phrases in the dialogue that Bendis provides, but then again there aren’t any crying robots either, so it probably evens out. Nothing AvsX-y actually happens, but the pieces get moved into place, and as a taste of Marvel’s big summer event, this accomplishes its goal If they really wanted to promote that series, Marvel should have made this $2.99 instead of $3.99, but let’s not get started on their insane pricing policies right now — we have a lot of other books to review. For example:

The New Deadwardians #1 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Dan Abnett; Art: I.N.J. Culbard

Vampires and zombies in Victorian England; what else do you want to know? Abnett’s story sets things up efficiently and establishes its quietly-mannered detective main character well enough, and Culbard’s art offers a clean, clear, fine-lined style that reminds me of Javier Pulido; that’s enough to bring me back for the second issue.

Hawken #3 — Writers: Benjamin and Timothy Truman; Art: Timothy Truman

Fans of Truman’s Scout or Jonah Hex should seek out this indy title; it has that same blend of late-1800s Wild West setting and Clint Eastwood hardcases, seasoned with just enough mysticism and fantasy to make things interesting. It’s drawn in his usual gritty Western style and written by his son; $3.99 for a black-and-white book would be pushing it, except that the lush art looks so good that way that the lack of color isn’t a problem.

All-Star Western #7 — Writers: Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti;  Art: Moritat

Speaking of Westerns… Jonah and company are in New Orleans, not Gotham, this issue, to track down a killer — except that Jonah gets sidetracked into an Ultimate Fighter/gladiator arena kind of deal, and fights the inevitable Great Big Guy, after which the also-inevitable tiny ass-kicking girl appears. Moritat makes it all look really good; this is one of those books that’s always near the top of every critic’s “New 52″ lists, and if you haven’t tried it yet this first part of a new story is a great place to start.

Spaceman #5 (of 9) — Writer: Brian Azzarello;  Art: Eduardo Risso

Events continue apace, as the noble-but-flawed main character continues to try to do the right thing, surrounded by others out for the main chance instead. With the series at its halfway point,  you’re either buying this already or you’re not, but it’s keeping my interest; I like how the nine-issue format is going to force the creative team to end the thing before it gets too drawn-out (100 Bullets, I’m talking to you); although I still have some doubts about their ability to deliver a satisfying ending, but am more than willing to stick around and see.

Unwritten #35.5 — Writer: Mike Carey and Peter Gross;  Art: Gabriel Hernandex Walta

Carey’s been adding a lot of these “.5″ issues, wherein we don’t see the main characters, but get side stories and filled-in details about the Unwritten world instead. This one introduces a deus ex machina that can pop up conveniently later in the series when a rescue is needed; otherwise, it’s a story about a little guy who gets caught up in vast events, the kind of tale that Carey and Gross do very well.

The Mighty Thor #12 — Writer: Matt Fraction;  Breakdowns: Giuseppe Camuncoli;  Finishes: Klaus Janson

Finishing up the title’s second big story arc, as the title character returns and things are put right. The best part is Loki, who narrates and, both here and in his own book,  Journey Into Mystery, continues to be the most intriguing part of the New Asgardia: simultaneously the smartest, the most naive, the sneakiest and the most conflicted godling in the room.

Snarked #6 — Creator: Roger Langridge

If you liked Langridge’s Muppets (or his writing on the charming but short-lived Thor, The Mighty Avenger), you’ll like this cheerful, adventurous romp about a young princess and her brother searching for their lost father, accompanied (and pursued) by various Lewis Carroll characters like the Walrus, the Carpenter, etc. Langridge just uses those names as jumping-off points for his own kid-friendly (but sometimes dangerous) fantasy world, and this issue, like the others before it, shows why he’s a creator worth following.

Daredevil #10 — Writer: Mark Waid;  Pencils: Paolo Rivera;  Inks: Joe Rivera

The second of a two-parter with the Mole Man, so get #9 first, and have fun with Matt’s complicated-but-fascinating life, one that’s redeemed whenever he gets to put on his costume and swashbuckle around town. Most of this issue takes place underground, which cuts down on the swashbuckling, but there’s the Rivera brothers’ art (look at that cover!) the fine coloring by Javier Rodriguez, and, as always, Waids’s clever, compassionate scripts. I just finished sorting out back issues of DD this week, and this new incarnation of the title is a certified hit: we’re just about sold out of the first eight issues, as everyone slowly discovers its charms, and they’re hard to find everywhere. See what the excitement’s about now, while this team is still going strong; there’s no sense on missing out on any more of it.

New Avengers #23 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Mike Deodato and Will Conrad

Avengers #24.1 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Brandon Peterson

Moon Knight #11 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Alex Maleev

More Bendis stuff, as if his chapter on AvsX wasn’t high-profile enough. The New Avengers wraps up that title’s part of the Norman Osborn continuity, as the Dark Avengers get wrapped, bagged, tagged and filed away until next time. Avengers is a Vision return (the current “I’m done repairing myself since She-Hulk ripped me into little pieces” one), and offers some setup on the Vision/Scarlet Witch relationship that leads into AvsX #0. Moon Knight is, I think, the penultimate chapter of Bendis and Maleev’s run on that title, and is mostly a fight with Madame Masque over the head of Ultron (yeah, it sounds stupid to me, too, but it’s likely setting up Bendis’s last big Avengers story with that adamantium bad guy, so you’ll probably want to check it out for that, if not for the pretty-looking Maleev art and the typically-fun Bendis character bits).

Daredevil

Daredevil’s first issue appears cover-dated April, 1964, and from the start he has two hooks: the swashbuckling, fearless adventurer implied by the title, and the fact that he’s blind. There had been blind heroes before — DC’s Dr. Midnite, for instance — but they were usually cheats of some kind (Midnite had special lenses that not only let him see fine, but let him see in total darkness). Daredevil really can’t see at all: in the origin, a young Matt Murdock saves a boy from being run over by a delivery truck, but a radioactive canister in the truck hits him in the forehead, blinding him. Of course, there’s compensation: the radioactivity somehow enhances his other senses, giving him dog-like hearing, enhanced smell and touch, and a “radar sense” that lets him perceive movement in a 360-degree radius around him. However, it’s not sight: he can sense outlines, but he can’t see color; he can “read” a headline by running his fingers along a newspaper, but if that paper’s held up in front of his face he can’t sense any letters or words.

Early issues establish the setting and supporting cast: Murdock is a lawyer, a partner in a firm with his old friend Franklin “Foggy” Nelson, with their secretary, Karen Page, playing the potential love interest. DD has the advantage of top-level creators from the start: the first issue is by Stan Lee and Bill Everett, with Wally Wood and John Romita also providing art for the first year and a half. Then, with issue #20, Daredevil’s classic artist, Gene Colan, arrives; with a few rests, he’ll provide the visuals for the blind attorney and his friends for the next seven years, through issue #100. I’ve sung Colan’s praises before, so I’ll be brief here: suffice it to say that his eloquent expressions, moody style, and imaginative layouts make DD one of the best-looking books on the stands.

Lee apparently likes the title, too, since he stays on as writer through issue #49 (March, 1969); with #50, Roy Thomas comes on board, accompanied by a very young (and still developing) Barry Smith, who stays for three issues, after which Colan comes back. Thomas remains until issue #69, and is replaced by Gerry Conway, who sticks around until issue #98; he’s replaced by Steve Gerber, and after Colan’s farewell in issue #100 the art falls to Rich Buckler and Syd Shores before Don Heck takes over with issue #103; he stays through issue #106 and is replaced by Bob Brown. Gerber and Brown stay through issue #117 (although Colan supplies the art in #s 110, 112 and 116), and then Tony Isabella scripts over Brown’s pencils from issue #119-123. Len Wein scripts issue #124 (with Colan art), but the next issue is by Marv Wolfman and Brown, and that team remains through issue #135, a run that’s most notable for its introduction of the villainous marksman Bullseye in issues #131-132. Wolfman continues after that, with art by John Buscema in 136 and 1367, John Byrne in 138, and Sal Buscema in 139 and 140; with #141, Jim Shooter arrives as scripter, with Gil Kane on the art: as it turns out, that’s a high-quality team, and after a few issues by others they return in #146-148, featuring a memorable battle with Bullseye. Shooter’s gone after #151, and Roger McKenzie replaces him; he has the good fortune to get Gene Colan art in 153 and 154, followed by Frank Robbins in #s 155 and 156, and Colan again in #157. That’s all overshadowed by the arrival of a brand-new artist in the next issue, #158: Frank Miller.

Miller’s tenure starts slowly, as he finishes up a McKenzie Death-Stalker story in his first issue, but by #s 160 and 161 (with the Black Widow and Bullseye), he’s starting to attract attention.  Issue #162 is a fill-in (by Steve Ditko, of all people), but Miller’s back the next issue (with a Hulk guest-appearance), and by #165′s Dr. Octopus issue he’s being credited as co-plotter; by #168, he’s both scripter and artist, as he debuts the mysterious ninja and old Matt Murdock love interest Elektra. For the next year, Daredevil is the hottest book in comics, as Miller combines Elektra, the Kingpin, Bullseye and the shadowy ninja group The Hand into a sprawling story that climaxes with Elektra’s death at the hands of Bullseye in issue #181. That’s followed by a classic Punisher crossover in #183 and 184, and then Miller scales back on the art chores, providing layouts for inker Klaus Janson to finish starting with issue #185.  The next few issues provide a run-up to the resurrection of Elektra in #190; that’s followed by Miller’s finale as both writer and full artist in #191, where Daredevil plays Russian roulette in a hospital room with a paralyzed Bullseye.

Things quiet down considerably after that: Janson takes over the art chores in #192, while Alan Brennert has the unenviable task of following the massive fan favorite Miller as writer. He’s only there for one issue, though, as Larry Hama writes #193, and new “permanent” scripter Denny O’Neil comes aboard with issue #194. Janson leaves with issue #195, and by the time William Johnson accepts the art chores with #196, even a guest appearance by the then-hot Wolverine can’t create any buzz for DD. O’Neil’s run isn’t bad — he’s too professional a writer for that — but it doesn’t stand out, either; there’s a long subplot involving Micah Synn, a savage from a lost tribe who ends up in New York as both an enforcer and the toast of high society, that has a clever denouement, but otherwise it’s the next “good artist” appearance that sparkles: a David Mazzucchelli art job on #206. There’s a Harlan Ellison script involving a death-trapped house in #208, also with Mazzucchelli, who then ends up sticking around through issue #217; best of all, Miller returns to script the one-shot #219, over John Buscema art, in which an out-of-costume Murdock plays a mysterious stranger who ends up trying to redeem a corrupt small town, with mixed results; it’s a fascinating precurser to some of the same themes Miller would return to in Sin City.

After more O’Neil/Mazzucchelli work in issues #220-223 and 225, Miller returns as writer with #226, and he and Mazzucchelli embark on the “Born Again” arc; it starts in #227, as the long-forgotten Karen Page, now a junkie and porn actress (Miller, as ever, isn’t afraid to drag his characters into the gutter) reveals DD’s secret identity for a fix. This leads to a fall-and-redemption story featuring the Kingpin as villain that eventually reunites and rehabilitates both Murdock and Page (not to mention Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich), and ends up in #233 with Captain America, the Avengers, and the psychotic, physically-enhanced super-soldier Nuke; it doesn’t have quite the pizzazz of Miller’s earlier run, but it’s both deeper and richer in theme, and holds up remarkably well today, over 25 years later.

… and that’s a good place to stop for this week; check out many of these issues from around #183 and up out on the discount racks (including some of the Miller ones) for just 99 cents, and tune in two weeks from now for the scoop on DD’s more recent books.

Saga

Vaughan’s last extended series was Y: The Last Man, so he’s got a reputation to uphold, and this debut issue does so nicely: it’s a fantasy/Star Wars/Romeo and Juliet mashup, with all the sprawl its name implies — but this first issue focuses very tightly on just two characters, and the third one they produce. It’s very well done, and Staples brings enormous talent to the drawing: she’s just the kind of artist I admire, able to work with small human expressions and double-page city-destroying splashes (with giant turtles added!) equally well. Get in on the ground floor with this book: it’s part of a current Image renaissance (with, say, Prophet), and it deserves to become a hit and have a long life; you’ll want to brag that you were one of the perceptive ones there from the beginning.

Conan #2 — Writer: Brian Wood;  Art: Becky Cloonan

Yet another book this week with an indy-honed, skillful writer and a female artist who can draw emotion and action equally well, in a style like no one else’s: what are the odds? I’ll bet there will be fans who won’t like this book — Cloonan’s Conan won’t be… Conany enough for them — but they won’t be looking hard enough: this is a great version of the character, as compelling in its own way as Barry Smith’s, and the long Belit story is the perfect showcase for her and Wood’s talents; as with Saga, get in on the ground floor of this ride, before the books sell out and you have to wait months for a trade version.

Fantastic Four #604 — Writer: Jonathan Hickman;  Pencils: Steve Epting;  Inks: Rick Magyar with Steve Epting

This wraps up a number of plotlines from… geez, over three years of Hickman’s work on this title and FF, so even if you haven’t been keeping track it’s worth a look: it’s very cosmic, in the classic FF mode, combining Celestials and time-travellers and massive power outlays, but, as the best FF stories do, it all boils down to family and loyalty in the end. I haven’t been as huge a fan of Hickman’s work on this book as some others — I’ve found a lot of his plotting too open-ended and scattered — but I have to admit that he stuck the landing on this one just right.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #7 — Writer: Andrew Chambliss;  Pencils: Georges Jeanty;  Inks: Karl Story

Buffy and Spike interact, as our heroine continues to deal with the aftermath of the death of magic from Season Eight, plus more personal crises that loom just as large — including a twist ending that is both completely unexpected and typical for this series. Even without Whedon providing a script (but still listed as “executive producer”), the comic continues to be reliably entertaining, especially to fans of the show — who should buy the book just because they’ll appreciate the quiet but striking Phil Noto cover so much.

Crossed: Badlands #1 — Writer: Garth Ennis;  Art: Jacen Burrows

The original creative team returns for the first arc of this now-ongoing series about a not-quite-zombie apocalypse.  It’s nice to see Burrows’s steady, clear art again (its simple lines somehow give the graphic horror more impact), and of course Ennis is welcome, and yet this doesn’t feel much more than average — Ennis is so known for his over-the-top violence and weird humor, especially in this title, that it’s hard for him to startle or engage readers at this point; watching a hefty Scottish woman wearing nothing but a belt of human heads split open her two companions’ faces with an axe, and then get crushed by a log in a stream and strangled by a boot through her mouth, is just business as usual. When some depressingly existential musings by the narrator character are the only things that stick after reading a comic like this, you know the law of increasing expectations is haunting it even more than its monstrous title characters.

Avengers: Assemble #1 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Pencils: Mark Bagley;  Inks: Danny Miki

Avengers #24 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Daniel Acuna

Powers #9 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Michael Avon Oeming

Three by Bendis: the new ongoing Avengers is, of course, a book for potential fans of the movie, and he and Bagley provide a suitable introduction, requiring little prior knowledge of continuity. Scorpio is kind of a boring opponent, frankly, and $3.99 for 21 pages of story (plus that Avengers vs X-Men preview that you’ve already seen, since it’s in every other freakin’ book this month) is pushing it, but the creative team has such an easy rapport that it all goes down smoothly enough.  The “regular” Avengers is the climax of a months-long Norman Osborn plot, and, after all the build-up, seems to end too quickly and easily, with a overload-the-system trick that’s been used many times before (and, hey, what about New Avengers? Shouldn’t it have come out before this book?); it, too, is made better by Bendis’s light touch with dialogue, and ability to juggle dozens of characters and big secret-society conspiracies at once. The better comic is the simpler Powers, which just focuses on its three weary cops and their attempts to deal with both standard procedural police-department red tape and cosmic problems like somebody killing god-level superheroes; it’s Bendis’s longest ongoing title, a clear labor of love, and, while this is the middle chapter in an ongoing story, he and Oeming make their affection for its characters and their intertwined lives so obvious that readers can’t help but be swept along.

Wolverine and the X-Men #7 — Writer: Jason Aaron;  Pencils: Nick Bradshaw;  Inks: Walden Wong, Norman Lee and Nick Bradshaw

Journey Into Mystery #635 — Writer: Kieron Gillen;  Art: Richard Elson

Shade #6 (of 12) — Writer: James Robinson;  Art: Javier Pulido

These three titles are linked only because they’re the least cookie-cutter, and therefore the best, of the week’s superhero titles. Wolverine and the X-Men was always going to be a hit, but it’s been an unexpected delight because Aaron has shown such a flair for both humor and interwoven continuity in chronicling the lives of all these characters: between Wolverine and Quentin Quire trying to scam an intergalactic casino, Kitty dealing with a nano-Brood infection that mimics pregnancy (plus a Fantastic Voyage-like attempt to cure her), and the ongoing troubles of Broo, the intellectual mutate from that savage race, there’s enough action, fun and angst, all in just the right amounts, to please any reader. Journey Into Mystery is Kieron Gillen continuing his seemingly-impossible task of making Loki into a sympathetic, complicated and clever protagonist, and doing it with an intriguing supporting cast, suitable villains (Nightmare, in the current story),  lots of sympathetic characterization, and very good writing. We just covered Shade a few weeks ago; suffice it to say that the art and coloring still make this one of the most striking books on the stands, and Robinson continues to redeem his work on that awful JLA mini-series by showing just how subtly good his writing can be when he’s working with material that’s more suitable to his talents.

DC Comics Presents

This title was mostly an ’80s phenomenon, running from July 1978 through September, 1986 (its last issue was #97, so DC didn’t even let it hit the magic #100, although a nine-year run is good under any circumstances). Like most team-up titles, it’s a hit-or-miss proposition, depending on the guest stars and the creative teams, but there are some collectors’ items lurking in its pages, and it’s fun to check out all the obscure combinations of characters and unexpected talent (Jim Starlin? Keith Giffen? Alan Moore?).

Although most of the issues are stand-alone stories, with some of the sameness that implies (there’s only so much time to introduce the guest star and the villain, set up the situation, and then resolve the plot), the first two issues of DCCP are a two-part Superman/Flash race, written by Marty Pasko and drawn by the underrated Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, who did ’70s and ’80s Superman better than anyone this side of Curt Swan. It’s a typical cheat on the story — neither character “wins” — but the art is sure pretty to look at. Garcia-Lopez continues on issue 3 (Adam Strange) and 4 (the Metal Men), giving way to a nice retro-looking story by Murphy Anderson in #5 (inking himself, too, on an Aquaman story), with a Paul Levitz/Curt Swan Green Lantern team-up in #6 that continues through a Red Tornado story in #7 (with Dick Dillin on the art over Levitz’s script), followed by a well-done Steve Englehart/Murphy Anderson Swamp Thing tale in #8, a mediocre Pasko/Joe Staton Wonder Woman team-up in #9 (although Staton’s clean-lined art is always worth a look), and an unusual Cary Bates/Staton WWII-era Sgt. Rock encounter in #10.

Yes, this is mostly going to be laundry list of guest-stars and creators; that’s the nature of the title, so shut up, keep an eye out for characters and creators you like, and let’s press on: Bates and Staton present Hawkman in issue #11, while Steve Englehart and Rich Buckler offer Mr. Miracle in issue #12, followed by a Levitz/Dillin Legion of Super-Heroes story in #13 (Levitz is an old hand at those characters, although Dillin seems a tad out of place) that continues into a Superman/Superboy team-up in #14. Bates and Staton offer the Atom in #15, while Denny O’Neil and Staton cover Black Lightning in #16, with Firestorm in #17 (by Garcia-Lopez and regular Firestorm writer Gerry Conway), while Conway and Dillin offer Zatanna in #18 (in her late-Bronze-Age JLA pants suit and ponytail instead of the fishnets, sadly). Issue #19 has an O’Neil/Staton Batgirl story, while an O’Neil/Garcia-Lopex Green Arrow tale graces #20.

Issue #21′s got a Conway/Staton Elongated Man, while #22 goes for the obscure Captain Comet, by Mike W. Barr and Dillin; O’Neil and Staton offer Dr. Fate in #23, with Len Wein and Garcia-Lopez on Deadman in #24 (Garcia-Lopez, whose art is a good match for other Deadman artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo, does a good job on the character there), and Levitz and Dillin on the Phantom Stranger in #25; that issue starts an expanded page count, after a price increase from 40 to 50 cents, and starts an eight-page back-up series featuring “Whatever Happened To…?,” where readers get brought up to date on little-used characters; #25′s features Hourman. Number 26 is even bigger; it’s got a Marv Wolfman Green Lantern tale drawn by Jim Starlin, which is reason enough to give it a look, plus Sargon the Sorcerer in the “Whatever Happened To…? slot, but, as all true DC fans know, its real claim to fame is an insert offering the first appearance of the ’80s version of the New Teen Titans, by Wolfman and George Perez; that’s enough to make it the most collectable of the DCCP run (Overstreet has it at $75 in NM condition). Number 27 has a Len Wein/Starlin Martian Manhunter tale that’s notable for its villain: Mongul the Merciless, one of those Starlin Thanos/Darkseid types, while #28 continues the story with the same team on a Supergirl appearance, and #29 offers the Spectre, still on the same storyline. Issue #30 settles down after those pyrotechnics, with a more normal Conway/Swan job featuring the Black Canary (for those of you keeping track, the “Whatever Happened To…” features were Congorilla in #27, Johnny Thunder in #28 (with Gil Kane art!), Dr. Mid-Nite in #29 and the Golden Age Atom in #30).

Issue #31 is a Conway/Garcia-Lopez Robin story (with Robotman featured in “WHT…?”); #32 is Roy Thomas and Kurt Schaffebberger on Wonder Woman (Mark Merlin and Prince Ra-Man, who was a mystic and not a brand of noodle, are in the back-up); #33 is Thomas and Rich Buckler on the first of a two-part Captain Marvel team-up (he’s just called “Shazam!” on the cover, thanks to legal issues with Marvel’s own Captain Marvel), and the ’50s sf character Star Hawkins in the “WHT…?” slot; #34 is the same team on the same story, except that now the team-up is “The Shazam Family”; that takes up the full 25 pages, so there’s no backup. Number 35 is a Pasko/Swan Man-Bat (but there’s a Gil Kane Rex the Wonder Dog back-up to make older fans happy; Alan, I’m talking to you…); #36 is another full-length cosmic Jim Starlin story, with Starman, while #38 is Starlin and Hawkgirl (Rip Hunter fills the back-up slot), #38 is a Pasko/Don Heck Flash story (the Crimson Avenger is in “WHT…?”), #39 is a Pasko/Staton Plastic Man (Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter in the back-up), and #40 is a Conway/Irv Novick Metamorpho story, with Air Wave in the back.

Issue #41 is a change of pace, as the guest star is a bad guy: The Joker, naturally, by Pasko and Garcia-Lopez, with another insert comic added — this one involving the then-new relaunch of Wonder Woman, by Thomas and Gene Colan. Issue #42 is a Levitz/Novick Unknown Soldier story, with the Golden-Age Starman in the back-up; #43 is a full-length Levitz/Swan LSH-vs.-Mongul story. Issue #44 is a Bob Rozakis/E. Nelson Bridwell/Novick “Dial ‘H’ for Hero” tale, while #45 is a Conway/Buckler Firestorm and #46 is a Bridwell/Alex Saviuk Global Guardians team-up. Issue #47 is the other high-priced issue next to #26, and by far the rarer; it features He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, by Paul Kupperberg and Swan, and while Overstreet has it at a mere $20, NM copies go for closer to $75 online (in clearing out the backstock for this post, I came across just one copy, in NM, and it’s available for $75 too…). Number 48 has a Dan Mishkin/Gary Cohn/Novick Aquaman story (with the back-ups returning  with a Black Pirate tale), with a Thomas/Buckler Shazam! story in #49, and a Mishkin/Cohn/Swan Superman/Clark Kent team-up in #50 that’s every bit the Silver Ageish stunt that you might expect.

Issue #51 is a Mishkin/Saviuk Atom story (plus an insert with the Masters of the Universe that, oddly, adds nothing to the book’s value); #52 is Kupperberg and Keith Giffen on the Doom Patrol (the Giffen art is a definite attraction). Issue #53 is a Mishkin/Swan House of Mystery Hallow’een story, while #54 features art by Phoenix’s own Don Newton on a Kupperberg-scripted Green Arrow tale. Number 55 is Rozakis and Saviuk on Air Wave (the creative team and the guest pretty much define a mediocre issue of this title), with Kupperberg and Swan on Power Girl in #56, Mishkin/Cohn/Saviuk on the Atomic Knights in #57, a Barr/Swan Robin (and the Elongated Man) story in #58, and a treat in #59: old LSH hands Keith Giffen and Paul Levitz on a snarky Legion of Substitute Heroes tale.

The 60s are evenly divided between average and “hey, that’s kind of cool” efforts: there’s a Cary Burkett/Novick Guardians of the Galaxy story in #60, a Wein/George Perez/Pablo Marcos Omac story in #61 (that one’s pretty good…), a Rozakis/Mishkin/Novick Freedom Fighters in #62, a Mishkin/Cohn/Saviuk Amethyst in #63, a Mark Evanier/Saviuk Kamandi in #64, a very nice-looking Gray Morrow-drawn Madame Xanadu story in #65 (over an average Kupperberg script), an also-nice Len Wein/Joe Kubert Demon story in #66, a Wein/Bridwell Santa Claus story (!) with pencils by Curt Swan and inks by Murphy Anderson in #67, a Conway/Swan/Anderson Vixen story in #68, and an Evanier/Novick Blackhawk story in #69.

For the 70s, there’s a Kupperberg/Saviuk Metal Men in #70, a Bridwell/Swan Bizarro in #71, a Kupperberg/Saviuk Phantom Stranger/Joker in #72, a Cary Bates/Carmine Infantino Flash story in #73 (a tie-in to the interminable “Trial of the Flash” then going on in the Scarlet Speedster’s own title), a Rozakis/Mishkin/Saviuk Hawkman in #74, a Kupperberg/Tom Mandrake Arion in #75, a Mishkin/Cohn/Ed Berreto Wonder Woman in #76, a Wolfman/Swan “Forgotten Heroes” in #77 (teaming up then-obscure characters like the pre-Grant Morrison Animal Man, Rip Hunter, Cave Carson, Dolphin and others) which leads into the “Forgotten Villians” story in #78 (the Enchantress being, trust me,  the only one of those that you’ve ever heard of), and ending with another Superman/Clark Kent team-up in #79 by Kupperberg and Swan (this one enlivened by Al Williamson inks).

For the 80s, we have: a Kupperberg/Swan LSH in #80, a Robert Loren Fleming/Keith Giffen Ambush Bug tale in #81 (one of the high points of the whole DCCP run, if you like their very particular brand of off-beat meta-humor), a Bates/Klaus Janson Adam Strange in #82, a Barr/Novick Batman and the Outsiders in #83, and a very unusual team-up in #84: the Challengers of the Unknown, partly drawn by Jack Kirby (in what was probably his last work for DC), and finished by Alex Toth. That’s so weird that it’s worth a look, but the next issue offers maybe the best single issue of all: an Alan Moore/Rick Veitch/Al Williamson Swamp Thing story in #85 that you’ve probably read (DC’s reprinted it a bunch of times) but is definitely worth the buck off the discount racks if you haven’t. Then, #86 is a Kupperberg/Rich Hoberg Supergirl story that ties in to Crisis on Infinite Earths, while #87 is a similar story involving Superman and the Crisis version of Superboy (that one’s by Elliot Maggin and Swan, and was sought after a few years ago when Infinite Crisis made that Superboy into a universe-punching bad guy). Number 88 is another interesting team: Steve Englehart and Keith Giffen on the Creeper, while #89 is a Rozakis/Saviuk Omega Men story.

Still with us? Almost done… there’s a Kupperberg/Denys Cowan Firestorm/Captain Atom story in #90, a Craig Boldman/Swan Captain Comet in #91, a Kupperberg/Swan Vigilante in #92, a Kupperberg/Saviuk “Elastic Four” in #93 (that’s four stretchable characters: Jimmy “Elastic Lad” Olsen, Plastic Man, Elongated Man, and the obscure villain Malleable Man), a Crisis aftermath tale involving Lady Quark, Harbinger and Pariah in #94 by Barbara Randall and Bob Greenberger, with art by Tom Mandrake, a Tony Isabella/Richard Howell Hawkman in #95, a Mishkin/Cohn/Staton Blue Devil in #96, and (ta-dah!) a Steve Gerber/Rick Veitch Phantom Zone criminals story in #97.

Whew! As always, many of these issues are available on the discount racks, almost all of them for $1; the ones that aren’t are available as regular back issues (we have all 97 issues in stock), so if any of these descriptions have quickened your collector’s pulse, now’s the time to seek them out.