Beasts of Burden #1 (of 4) — Writer: Evan Dorkin; Art: Jill Thompson
Burden Hill is a quiet, storybook town that keeps experiencing brushes with supernatural evil. Its residents are clueless about this… but their pets aren’t. Beasts of Burden is about the group of dogs (and occasional cat) who defend it. Given that premise, you’d think this book would be a cutesy mess, but check out those credits: Evan Dorkin, the creator of Milk and Cheese, doesn’t do cutesy: he does clever, funny, strange and sometimes chilling. Jill Thompson, the creator of Scary Godmother, does evocative painted art that moves easily between gently humorous, action-packed and genuinely menacing. Together, they’re magic. Don’t believe me? Ask the pros: the first story with these characters, an 8-pager in 2003, won Thompson an Eisner for her painted art. The second story, a 12-pager in 2004, won an Eisner for both of them for best short story of the year. Here, we’ve got 23 pages, and they’re wonderful: wise about how animals actually look and act, and at the same time able to deliver a tightly-plotted, spooky fantasy adventure. Show this book to any animal lover you know, especially those spouses, significant others or kids (over, say, 10: this is at least PG-rated, for some mildly violent images and language) who don’t show any interest in your comics, and you’ll turn them around. Guaranteed.
Dominic Fortune #2 (of 4) — Writer/Artist: Howard Chaykin
Nobody does the 1930s like Chaykin: the clothes, the hair, the whole sparkling milieu. This gritty, globetrotting swashbuckler is mostly set in Hollywood, as its hero-for-hire deals with an assignment to babysit three rambunctious film stars, while fighting off a shadowy Nazi threat. Since it’s a Max title, there’s all the normal nudity, lingerie, sexual situations and language, all delivered with Chaykin’s signature flourishes: cooly professional art, knowing cynicism and tightly-choreagraphed action. Sure, there’s a sense of the familiar about it (yes, Fortune is an exact clone of Reuben Flagg, Cody Starbuck and every other Chaykin hero, and the women are the same plucky gals and femmes fatales as always), but when it all goes down this smoothly only a putz could complain — and Chaykin’s world has no patience for people like that.
Batman and Robin #4 — Writer: Grant Morrison; Penciller: Philip Tan; Inker: Jonathan Glapion
Brave and the Bold #27 — Writer: J. Michael Straczynski; Art: Jesus Saiz
In B & R, Tan has the unenviable task of following Frank Quitely, and, yes, his art looks murky and disorganized in comparison; the facial expressions, especially, suffer, since Quitely’s so good at telegraphing inner emotion with just a few lines, and Tan… well, isn’t. Still, the Morrison story rolls right along, equal parts grim and rollicking, and continues to prove worth reading.
The B & B is Straczynski’s first effort for that title, and, after too many padded, boring five- and six-part written-for-the-trade arcs, it’s refreshing to get his well-crafted, done-in-one tale of Batman teaming up with Robby Reed and his H.E.R.O dial (it’s the teen Robby, too, meaning that the events of the Hero series from a few years’ back have been retconned away). There’s clear, attractive art, a story with an actual plot and theme, and pretty much a textbook example of how to do a team-up story in 22 pages and make it work.
Ultimate Armor Wars #1 (of 4) — Writer: Warren Ellis; Penciller: Steve Kurth; Inks: Jeff Huet
Ellis playing with the post-Ultimatum Tony Stark, trying to retrieve some technology from a waterlogged Manhattan and dealing with corporate spies, like The Ghost, who’ve managed to steal his tech. Will he get it back? Between the boozing, the romancing and the engineering, probably; there’s nothing new here, but it’s comforting to watch a story like this when it’s developed and told well, and Kurth and Huet do a good job with the both the machinery and the women, both essentials in a good Iron Man tale (the latter is a little too wide-eyed J. Scott Campbellesque, but she’s a typical tough-and-competent Ellis character, so it balances out).
Captain America Reborn #3 (of 5) — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Pencils: Bryan Hitch; Inks: Butch Guice
Heating up, and improving from what was an already-decent start. There’s less of just the time-jumping by Cap, and more attempts to fix it himself as he gets a handle on what’s happening (there are also a number of widescreen, Neal Adams-y panels involving the Kree-Skrull War, and they showcase Hitch’s considerable artistic chops). Add that to a lot of present-day action, with lots of heroes actually acting like it; mix in the villains being villain-y, and at the halfway point this is shaping up to be one of those rare “event” series that might live up to its hype.
Amazing Spider-Man #605 — Writers: Fred van Lente and Brian Reed; Art: Javier Pulido; Luke Ross and Rick Magyar; Yanick Paquette and Mark Farmer
OK, here’s what I don’t get: this is a $3.99 book, right? Anti-Venom and Marvel Zombies are, too, and they came out this week and provided 22 pages of story and nothing else. Moon Knight was $3.99, and gave us 22 pages new plus a full reprint of the first issue of its ’80s version. Now here, in Spidey, for that same $3.99 we get 47 pages of an all-new story, with no reprints or fill in. So, should we feel ripped-off about Zombies and Anti-Venom, which offered half the content for the same price? Should we be pathetically grateful for this “extra” pages in this Spidey book? Should we shun the former two, and buy lots of this one, so that Marvel concludes that 47 pages for $3.99 is the new price point? Yeesh: the House of Ideas has been playing with formats like this for the last six months, and if you’re a fan and are confused, just think about your local retailers who have to order these things….
Citizen Rex #3 (of 6) — Writer/Artists: Mario and Gilbert Hernandez
Three issues in, I have no idea what’s happening in this story, and in fact have given up trying to actually read it; I just look at the panels, with their cool design and combinations of retro and weird characters and their hallucinogenic, nightmare imagery, and, like listening to a song half-heard on a distant radio station, make up my own words around it.
Stuff I read and liked enough to buy, but don’t have much to say about, so read previous reviews in the archives if you’re interested:
X-Men: Legacy Annual 31 — Writer: Mike Carey; Art: Daniel Acuna
Blackest Night #3 (of 8) — Writer: Geoff Johns; Penciller: Ivan Reis; Inks: Oclair Albert with Joe Prado
The Sword #19 — Writers/Artist: The Luna Brothers
Invincible Iron Man #18 — Writer: Matt Fraction; Art: Salvador Larocca
Fables #88 — Writer: Bill Willingham; Penciller: Mark Buckingham; Inkers: Steve Leialoha and Andrew Pepoy
Wednesday Comics #11 (of 12) — Creators: Various
Phil Mateer
