Black Lightning #1 (of 6) — Writer: Jen Van Meter; Artist: Cully Hamner
How not to launch a superhero revival: fill your first issue with lots of boring grownups talking and doing other boring things, with lots of little panels and murky, generic art, and exactly nothing involving, you know, actual cool heroes in cool costumes using their cool powers. Yes, this kind of slow build might work in a trade, but as an initial comic offering this is disastrous: any kid (and most adults) attracted by the cover is going to feel ripped off, and won’t be coming back for later issues.
Hexed #1 — Writer: Michael Alan Nelson; Art: Emma Rios
Boom is giving this series about a magical mercenary a big publicity push, but it’s mostly refried bits of other products: a put-upon first-person female narrator like Anita Blake, with echoes of the pop-cultural references of Buffy and the witchcraft of Charmed. It’s competent — Nelson knows to start this first issue with a caper, and segue into the real story from there (instead of the slow-moving, boring origin of Black Lightning), and the misdirection bit with the corpse (she’s going to do what with it?) was clever. The art is clear enough, and uses a slightly-mangafied style that’s appealing, but I just don’t know that there’s enough here to make this book stand out in today’s crowded, competitive market.
Marvel Zombies 3 #4 (of 4) — Writer: Fred Van Lente; Artist: Kev Walker
Only worth noting because of the conclusion, which promises that Marvel Zombies 4 will feature the resurrection of the supernatural supergroup you’ve all been clamoring for: the Midnight Sons. Yes, it’s come to this: crappy, hacked-out ’90s series are now nostalgiac enough to justify the comeback treatment, as the 12-year-old fans who thrilled to them have grown up and entered the comics industry (the fourth generation to do so), in a perfect illustration of the law of diminishing returns. “Marvel Zombies,” indeed — the company should change its logo to a snake swallowing its own tail.
Haunted Tank #2 (of 5) — Writer: Frank Marraffino; Artist: Henry Flint
This reminds me, oddly enough, of the Rawhide Kid mini-series of a few years ago, in the way it’s taken an established-but-obscure character and completely rewired him, creating a partly-comic adult’s version of a kids’ concept. It earns its “mature readers” label with more uses of the n-word than any comic in memory, but actually has a couple of valid points to make too; outraged traditionalists won’t like it, but newer readers might. Now, if only it were drawn by John Severin….
Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion #3 (of 6) — Writer/Artist: Billy Tucci
I always feel like I should appreciate Tucci’s work, but I just can’t connect to him: I find his storytelling confusing. Yes, the art looks good, but there’s a dyslexic disconnect in the narrative that scrambles up the events and makes the plot impossible to hold in my head; individual scenes are OK, but the overall story just crumbles into sand. It happened when I tried to read Shi, and it happens here too — I can acknowledge that there’s quality there, but I’m tone deaf to whatever music it’s making.
Punisher #1 — Writer: Rick Remender; Artist: Jerome Opena
Yet another relaunch, and at least Remender is smart enough not to try to out-Ennis Ennis. Instead, this one takes the tack of placing the character firmly in the Marvel Universe: it starts with him trying to assassinate Norman Osborne, and then when the Sentry intervenes it becomes a running… well, not “battle”; more of a long attempt to retreat. Opena gets off a couple of nice panels, and if you’re a Punisher fan it’s all perfectly OK, but if you aren’t it won’t turn you into one, either. It’s more interesting as a sign of how Marvel might work their new $3.99 books: the standard 22-page main story, but also a 13-page “Punisher Saga” summary of Frank’s comic history, plus a bibliography and a letters page, plus a six-page Agents of Atlas preview. None of that would have cost a lot to add, but it makes a heftier, more satisfying package for the extra money.
Terror Titans # 4 (of 6) — Writer: Sean McKeever; Penciller: Joe Bennett; Inker: Jack Jadson
Static’s on the cover, but only shows up in the first six pages of the book, as one of the “Dark Side Club” gladiators. You’d think that with all the fighting, seducing, betrayals, throat-slitting and general bad-guyness going on here, this book would be interesting, but there are so many characters (none of them particularly well-known), and so much backstory, that it’s hard to concentrate enough to figure out what’s going on — and the generic art doesn’t help; everyone looks the same when out of costume. Any Static fans who actually pick this up will be more confused than anything else.
Phil Mateer
