X-Men: Messiah Complex #1 — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Penciler: Marc Sylvestri; Inkers: Joe Weems with Marco Galli
Some really powerful mutant baby gets born — the first since the “No more mutants” thing — and the X-Men go looking for it, only to find that the Marauders and the Purifiers got there first. Now, they have to track it down, in one of those 13-part crossovers that’s going to wind through X-Men, Uncanny, New X-Men, and X-Factor. I mean, OK, whee, and it’s not like Brubaker/Sylvestri is a bad team for this first chapter, but look: Marvel’s charging $3.99 for this, an extra buck, and yet it’s only got 23 pages of story, pretty much the same as the $2.99 books (the rest is pin-up/info pages that basically function as ads for the rest of their mutant comics). Why? Because they can, apparently. Call me old-fashioned, but if someone’s going to screw me that blatantly I’d at least like dinner, or, you know, a movie or something too.
Jack of Fables #16 — Writers: Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges; Artist: Andrew Robinson
For Hallowe’en, a deal-with-the-devil(s) story, as we see how Jack became Jack O’ Lantern. The art’s good at communicating both the humor and the menace of each encounter, the arch folk-tale tone is amusing (especially when the Vertigo version of Lucifer appears), the ending is both logical and chilling, and there’s a great cover; you can’t ask for more than that.
New Gods #2 ( of 8 ) — Writer/Penciller: Jim Starlin; Inks: Matt Banning
Starlin really hits his stride with this issue. Obviously, he’s done this kind of story before (in fact, while reading it I kept imagining it as a Marvel book, with Darkseid as Thanos, Superman as Captain Marvel, Orion as Drax the Destroyer, etc.), but if you want cosmic philosophizing and epic sweep, leavened with humor and lots of Kirby-style punching, he’s your guy; compared to all the other Countdown tie-ins, this is a breath of fresh air straight from the Source.
Batman #670 — Writer: Grant Morrison; Penciller: Tony Daniel; Inker: Jonathan Glapion
Morrison doing the resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul (now, there’s a surprise), with Damien thrown into the mix. Only the first installment (it’s labeled a “prelude,”) so it’s not the brain-fizzing spectacle you might expect, but it zips right along and hits the right notes, so let’s give it time. (By the way, the second episode is the backup in this week’s Robin Annual, not by Morrison but with Jason Pearson art, so go find it while you can.)
Crossing Midnight #12 — Writer: Mike Carey; Artist: Eric Nguyen
Here’s a puzzle: this is a good book, blending Japanese mythology with modern-day adventure, with young brother and sister protagonists who are smart, complicated and brave, by a writer who’s been around a long time and should have a big fan base, especially with Vertigo fans (just for Lucifer alone, which was, seriously, one of the top serial fantasy comics of this decade). The art isn’t bad, either — and yet, this comic sells fewer than 6,000 copies per issue in the direct market. Are people waiting for the trade? Has it just disappeared beneath the bulk of Countdown and Hulk books and all the other crossovers? Discuss amongst yourselves — but buy a copy while you’re doing it, because it would be a shame if this book disappeared.
Kyle Baker’s Special Forces #1 — Writer/Artist: Kyle Baker
This is covering some of the same ground as Our Army @Love, but it’s set in the present instead of the near-future, and the tone is less snarky and more serious (there’s satire, but you get the feeling Baker cares about his main characters, while to Veitch they’re just puppets to manipulate). Even more than Veitch, though, Baker is sui generis: there’s no one like him, and any book he produces is worth buying, just to study his approaches to composition, problem-solving and overall storytelling.
Action #858 — Writer: Geoff Johns; Penciller: Gary Frank; Inker: Jon Sibal
Johns loses Richard Donner, but gains Gary Franks, which presumably means this will be coming out more on time (and in order), and with nice solid superhero art. Clark gets a distress signal from the Legion of Super-Heroes, which leads to more attempts to explain his connection to them while scrubbing the continuity of any mention of the word “Superboy,” and takes a trip into the future that results in an “Oh, crap” small panel followed by an even bigger “Oh, crap” last-page splash that’s guarenteed to bring readers back for next issue.
Biff-Bam-Pow #1 — Creators: Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer
All-ages comedy/adventure/science fiction from the creators of, respectively, Milk and Cheese and Action Girl. Why do you need to know anything else?
Phil Mateer
