X-Men: Die by the Sword #1 — Writer: Chris Claremont; Penciler: Juan Santacruz; Inker: Raul Fernandez
Excalibur and the Exiles versus James Jaspers and the Fury, with Saturnyne and the alternate-universe Captain Britains thrown into the mix. Be still, my beating heart; if I were to construct a parody of a Claremont story, with all his stock characters, situations and dialogue twitches, this would be close to it. There’s one poignant scene, where Nocturne talks about how hard it is to recover from a stroke, and echoes the writer’s own recent medical problems, but that’s not enough to redeem, or recommend, this issue.
Batman Confidential #10 — Writer: Michael Green; Penciller: Denys Cowan; Inker: John Floyd
Continuing the origin of the Joker, and continuing to be pointless, aggressively stupid, and carelessly drawn. Think of the worst of the Legends of the Dark Knight arcs, and this one is right down there with it.
Sorrow #2 (of 4) — Writers: Rick Remender and Seth Peck; Art: Francesco Francavilla
One of a batch of horror comics this week; you can tell it’s getting close to Hallowe’en. Kieron Dwyer contributes a sexy, compelling cover, and the black-and-white interior art’s clean and clear. The script, which could have been a cliche-ridden 20-somethings-stranded-in-spooky-little-town gorefest, instead goes off in interesting directions, and avoids making its characters idiots (it doesn’t treat the readers like idiots, either). If I were more of a fan of this kind of thing, I’d be buying this book.
The Deadlander #1 (of 4) — Writer/Artist: Kevin Ferrara
Here, we have old-West horror, and the attraction is the art; it’s reminiscent of early Berni Wrightson, with its lush inks and EC influences. Unfortunately, the story is amateurish — characters don’t talk anything like real people, and have to act illogically to make the plot lurch forward. It sure is pretty, though, and shows a ton of potential; paired with the right writer (say, Joe R. Lansdale, who was able to make this genre work so well in the Vertigo Jonah Hex books), Ferrara could be a star.
Clockwork Girl #1 — Writers: Sean O’Reilly and Kevin Hanna; Art: Grant Bond and Kevin Hanna
Yet another book with great art and so-so story; it looks like the storyboard for a Pixar or Disney cartoon, and has a dreamlike, vaguely steampunk setting, but boy, does it need an editor: A caption on the first page has transposed words that screw it up, the use of commas in the dialogue is just… weird, and you’d think with two writers, one of them would know the difference between “your” and “you’re.” Sorry, guys, but I can’t help being an English teacher — that kind of crap pulls me right out of the story, and makes me question the care that went into all the other aspects of the book, too.
Simon Dark #1 — Writer: Steve Niles; Artist: Scott Hampton
More horror, this time from DC, and more good art from Hampton; the first-page splash of a burnt-out cathedral on a hillside reminded me of Richard Corben. Niles is never less than professional in his storytelling, and he’s good at thinking cinematically, but he also tends to use stock characters — the female medical examiner who even looks like Jorja Fox, the shadowy, powerful businessmen with occult leanings, etc. Setting the book in Gotham City has potential, and the title “hero” is kept mysterious enough to be interesting, but there’s not quite enough oomph here to make me keep this book.
Green Arrow and Black Canary #1 — Writer: Judd Winick; Art: Cliff Chiang
If you read the Wedding Special, guess what? Green Arrow’s not actually dead. What a surprise, eh? Too bad it takes this whole issue to confirm what we all already knew (the only suspense is in who kidnapped him, and the worst part of that revelation is that it means this book will be tied closely into Countdown, not exactly a strong selling point for me). Chiang’s art is nice to look at — he uses a solid black line that comes off as very clear and old-school superheroic — and, as always with Winick, there are some good bits (the Dr. Midnite/Batman autopsy, with Batman in a medical apron revving up a chainsaw, is priceless), but I just can’t see this comic going anywhere interesting.
Phil Mateer
