Soul Kiss #1 — Writer: Steven T. Seagle; Art: Marco Cinello
One of Seagle’s patented tough-but-vulnerable female leads (see: House of Secrets) makes a deal with the devil, and angsty things happen. Not bad, actually — the art is subtle and able to handle a couple of different styles effectively, and the coloring (uncredited, so I’m assuming it was Cinello too) manages to enhance the story instead of obscuring it, a seemingly-lost art these days. None of that hides the hoariness of the plot, so for me this didn’t quite make the grade, but it’s worth checking out. Arizona gets a scene or two: first, there’s the intro, which allows as how rural AZ in August is deserted except for (a) crazy redneck rapists and (b) Satan. As if that’s not enough, locals will be amused at the idea that the lead needs to go “interview” to be a “grad student” at Arizona State — and then chickens out because it’s so intimidating (because, you know, ASU is such an ultra-prestigious school, and its grad schools are like, the Harvard of the Southwest to get into…).
Astonishing Tales #1 — Creators: Various
This is an anthology title, a la Marvel Comics Presents, and offers the first chapters of four serials. The first one, a “Punisher and Wolverine walk into a bar in Madripoor” tale, is OK but weakened by the typical problem of eight-pages stories not written by Will Eisner: it barely gets going before the chapter’s over. Two of the other stories fare even worse, since they feature less-than-D-list characters (Iron Man 2020? Really? And Cannonball and Sunfire in Mojoworld? Who thought this was a good idea?), while the last installment is an out-of-continuity Iron Man story. Out of over a dozen creators, I recognized C. B. Cepulski — oh, and Tom Palmer, who inks the Iron Man story and has worked on more comics pages than everyone else here put together. Bottom line: it’s a try-out book with four incomplete stories, and Marvel wants $3.99 for it. And they say there’s a recession on….
Adventure Comics #0 — Writer: Geoff Johns; Artist: Francis Manapul
The new material is a six-page prologue in which Luthor and Brainiac team up, and the blue Guardian chick with black goo dripping from her eyes doodles in her Blackest Night Souvenir Diary. The rest of the issue is, inexplicably, a reprint of the first LSH story from Adventure 247 (by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, for those scoring at home). Yeah, it’s a key story from the original run of the title, but the early-Silver Age tone goes with the modern stuff like ice cream with sushi. It is just a buck, though, so all you Green Lantern fans who’ve been panting for the upcoming zombiefest are going to want it.
Bang! Tango #1 (of 6) — Writer: Joe Kelly; Penciller: Adrian Sibar; Inker: Rodney Ramos
A competition dancer with a shady past agrees to help an old acquaintance who’s being blackmailed; presumably, this will lead to Bad Things Happening. Sibar’s good at drawing the sexy stuff, and Kelly’s script is smoothly professional (and offers at least one huge twist at the end of this first issue), but while this was fun to read I just couldn’t muster much enthusiasm for it; dancing, after all, is one of those activities that’s almost impossible to communicate via the comics page (no music + no movement = who cares?) Readers who can actually stand to watch all those “Best Dancer” TV shows might like this better, though.
I Am Legion: The Dancing Faun #1 (of 6) — Writer: Fabien Nury; Art: John Cassaday
This World War II-era tale of possession has a history: it was first announced as a 64-page Humanoids graphic novel (Je Suis Legion) back in 2004 (the first of a trilogy that never came off), and then it was a comic-size version, and then DC was going to do it, and now DDP has picked it up, presumably to give the creators a chance to finish it. All along, the attraction has been the Cassaday art.
This version offers the first half of the original graphic novel, which means that as a stand-alone comic it offers an unsatisfying story: too much is going on, and too much is left unrevealed (all the parts that would have been revealed in one reading in the second half of the original novel). The art is pretty, but even here there are problems: the muted coloring muddies it up, and the smaller comic page doesn’t make the illustrations pop as much as the larger graphic-novel size would have (all the ads are yet another distraction; the dramatic last page is opposite a Hack/Slash ad page that completely draws attention away from it). Big Cassady fans are probably obligated to get this, but otherwise I’d wait for a better package later.
Black Panther #1 — Writer: Reginald Hudlin; Pencils: Ken Lashley; Inks: Paul Neary
New numbering, but same old Panther, since Hudlin’s still telling the stories — which means, for me, that they’re competent but somehow don’t quite click; the incapacitate-T’Challa ploy seems arbitrary (and against character, since he’s supposed to be the one who always has 87 backup contingencies), and the coy who’s-wearing-the-costume dance echoes the Hulk relaunch (a development which does not, let’s say, fill me with confidence for its outcome).
Dead Irons #1 (of 4) — Writer: James Kuhoric; Artist: Jason Shawn Alexander
A zombie western, confusingly told and with dark, hard-to-comprehend art: oh, and it’s got four variant covers. Not that this should symbolize everything that’s wrong with the comics market right now or anything, but geez: who decided there was a crying need for more of this stuff — and who’s going to buy it?
Phil Mateer
