Unknown #1 (of 4) — Writer: Mark Waid; Art: Minck Oosterveer
No superhero tropes for this comic — it’s a Sherlock-Holmesish thriller, if Holmes was a modern woman with amazing deductive abilities who solves crime as a freelance investigator, and has only six months to live because of some tumor. This reminds me of Potter’s Field, in that it has “potential TV pilot” written all over it; in this first issue, we watch her hire a hunky guy as her Watson — rather too conveniently, but the dialogue’s snappy, and assuming that this mini-series resolves the whole “imminent death” thing, it’s a weekly-episode setup that could be appealing to some studio exec. Waid’s good enough to give the readers some glimmers of caring about these people, even in this first issue, but it all seems a trifle too calculated.
Captain Britain and MI13 #13 — Writer: Paul Cornell; Pencilers: Ardian Syaf with Leonard Kirk; Inkers: Craig Yeung with Jay Leisten
Dracula’s vampire hordes invade Great Britain. This book is getting a lot of critical buzz, but its sales numbers are very low, so grab a copy while you can. It’s pulpy fun, and I admire Cornell’s willingness to come up with concepts like having Quincy Harker’s skull serve as a mystic denial-of-entry to England for vamps — and then, as in last issue, just casually throwing the idea away by having Drac smash it into a million pieces a few pages later. That’s value for your money, and if you’re attracted to tales of bloodsuckers or the British (insert your own Thatcher joke here), it’s worth a try.
House of Mystery #13 — Writers: Matthew Sturges, Bill Willingham, Chris Roberson; Artists: Ralph Reese, Eric Powell, Neal Adams (with Josh Adams), Sergio Aragones
A catch-of-breath issue with almost nothing on the main characters, but three horror stories instead, much like the original HOM. Worth mentioning because of the artists — Reese is an old pro, Powell is currently hot, and any new work by Adams (whether his son’s doing part of it or not) is welcome; the Aragones is a one-page splash that harkens back to his Plop! days.
Wolverine #73 — Writer: Jason Aaron, Daniel Way; Art: Adam Kubert, Tommy Lee Edwards
No, you didn’t miss #72 — Millar’s “Old Man Logan” wasn’t quite done, so apparently Marvel wanted an issue to sell to movie fans, and they decided to skip the number and come back to it later. The Aaron/Kubert offering is a good display of their talents; although it uses a gimmick that Savage Dragon did just a few months ago, it’s a good here’s-what-his-life-is-like intro to Wolvie for those new movie-inspired readers. The second story is typical Way, much more serious than his Deadpool stuff and with interesting art by Edwards.
Zorro #13 — Writer: Matt Wagner; Artist: Cezar Razek
Noteworthy because Wagner’s doing the writing — fans of his Mage, Madame Xanadu, Grendel, etc. might want to check out his smooth storytelling and evident pleasure at chronicling Don Diego’s swashbuckling adventures in Old California.
Escape #1 (of 6) — Writer: Ivan Brabdon; Pencils: Marco Rudy; Inker: Mick Gray
Take a writer and artist few readers have ever heard to do a six-part mini-series involving Nemesis, the obscure spy guy, and a few similar characters in a Prisoner-inspired where-am-I deal, and label it as a Final Crisis spinoff even though there’s no actual connection to that series? Sure, why not? This only makes sense if it’s some kind of corporate Springtime For Hitler thing where DC wants to lose money, and is shooting for books with sales below 10,000 copies an issue. If that’s so, then Dan Didio’s clever plan should pay off nicely here.
Trinity #50 — Writer: Kurt Busiek; Pencils: Mark Bagley; Inks: Art Thibert
Just a mention that, with two issues to go, this has gotten suitably cosmic; I’m gonna have to sit down and read the whole sprawling thing some time soon, and see how it hangs together; it’s been off most people’s radars, but my suspicion is that it’ll actually prove to be successful, at least from a satisfying-storytelling perspective.
