Punisher #11 — Writer: Rick Remender; Art: Tony Moore
The plot sounds like it belongs in a parody book like Strange Tales: Frank Castle, having been chopped into spare parts by the bad guys, has his various limbs and vital organs gathered by Morbius and sewn back together (complete with big stitches and funky Frankenstein neck bolts), and is recruited by him and the rest of the Legion of Monsters (Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, the Living Mummy) to be their military strategist as they battle a Japanese horde of samurai monster-killers. Ooh-kayyy… Moore, who’s been partnered with Remender on Fear Agent for the last few years (and was the original artist on Walking Dead), is obviously having a lot of fun, and you have to give everyone credit for thinking outside the box (way, way outside), and not just dishing up the standard Punisher-vs.-the-Mob stuff we’re all used to. I suspect this experiment’s success will depend on its length: six issues and out, and we’re good; it’ll make a quirky trade book, and, since we’re dealing with the supernatural, getting Frank back to normal will be easy. More than six issues, and everyone’s going to start looking at their watches, tapping their feet, and wondering what’s taking the book so long to get its status back to quo.
Dr. Horrible #1 (of 1) — Writer: Zack Whedon; Art: Joelle Jones
This is, of course, based on the web phenomenon Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Zack Whedon being Joss’s younger brother, and it’s something of a Horrible origin. The twist with him, of course, is that as a smart scientist (but a bad guy) picked upon by muscle-bound oafs who think with their fists (but are good guys), he’s a nerd poster boy, a lot closer to most comics fans than the “hero.” Yes, it’s a one-joke premise, but a compelling one, at least in small doses. Zach doesn’t have the crackling pop-culture dialog skills of his brother, but he knows how to craft a story, and Jones (who’s done a few Oni graphic novels, and has an appealing slightly-mangfied style and a nice, open touch with page composition) manages to suggest Neil Patrick Harris without trying to draw him too realistically or exactly; the result is a comic that will please fans of the character, and maybe even draw in a few new ones.
Adventure Comics #4 — Writers: Geoff Johns and Sterling Gates; Penciller: Jerry Ordway; Inks: Bob Wiacek; (LSH story) — Writers: Geoff Johns and Michael Shoemaker; Art: Clayton Henry
The main story is a Blackest Night crossover, but it focuses, not on Connor, but on the other Superboy: the Earth-prime one. Lots of fun, surprisingly, since Johns uses the character’s comic-fan, real-world milieu to good effect (he reads about himself in DC comics, and is depressed that everyone on the Internet discussion boards hates him as a character and wants him dead). Ordway and Wiacek offer very solid art, and Johns walks a skillful tightrope between story and meta-story. In the LSH backup, we get Mysa as the Black Witch on Sorcerer’s World; if you’re enough of a Legion fan to know what that means, you should probably get this comic.
Black Knight #1 (of 1) — Writer: Tom Defalco; Pencils: Ron Frenz; Inks: Sal Buscema
Marvel’s Arthurian character, in an origin story. Very old-school Marvel; Defalco has always taken Stan Lee as his muse, and his simple but rock-solid stories of heroism and adventure with this art team are what have kept Spider-Girl going all these years. Here, they’re in full swashbuckling mode, with lines like “Do not despair! I shall find a way to save thee — or perish in the attempt!” and “Ne’er have I beheld such courage!” If you complain that comics aren’t what they used to be, or that they don’t make enough G-rated adventure books for younger readers any more, you’ll find this book well worth your time.
Victorian Undead #1 — Writer: Ian Edginton; Art: Davide Fabbri
Just what the title implies: Sherlock Holmes vs. zombies. Pretty boring, at least so far — it’s mostly set-up, and Fabbri’s art is OK at Victorian architecture and fashion, but isn’t over-the-top enough to make the few gory parts pop or sizzle. Too, Edginton is a lot like his fellow British-Isles writer, Peter Milligan: very brainy, and sophisticated in his scripts, but often lacking in humanity; it’s hard to care about his characters, because they never seem more like pieces on a chessboard. Cool cover, but otherwise this is for compulsive Holmes or zombie fans only.
The Brave and the Bold #29 — Writer: J. Michael Straczynski; Art: Jesus Saiz
Guest-starring Brother Power, the Geek, which gives Straczynski a chance to bemoan how things aren’t as groovy as they used to be. Well, no, it’s not quite that bad: having Batman narrate the story keeps the hippie philosophizing down considerably, and the ending is a reasonably-poetic rebuke to people who make snarky comments about Brother Power, the Geek (like this one). If you buy it, cue up Elvis Costello’s “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding?” and you’ll have a good read. Still, I’m not sure that, when DC hired JMS away from his high-profile Marvel runs on Spider-Man and Thor, they expected a series of undeniably well-crafted, but very quiet and small-scale stories like he’s been offering so far on this title.
Phil Mateer
