Fire and Brimstone #2 — Writer/Artist: Richard Moore
Moore first made a splash a few years ago with Far West, a Western set in a world with magic, elves, etc., and most recently has been known for Boneyard, a series involving a schlep who inherits a small-town graveyard inhabited by an Addams-family like collection of misfit monsters. Boneyard, especially, has always showed a lot of heart, both in the art and the story, and the trades are worth checking out. This new series? Not so much; it’s a step backwards, a by-the-books team-up of two women, an angel and a demon, who bounty-hunt demonic bad guys. You’d think that would be exciting, but there’s just no spark to it — after two issues, it seems like he’s just going through the motions, and considering how much I’ve liked his earlier work, that’s a disappointment.
Four Eyes #1 — Writer: Joe Kelly; Artist: Max Fiumara
I’m tempted to say that I liked this better when it was called Arrowsmith, and Kurt Busiek was doing it, but that’s not quite fair — both involve an early-20th century America where dragons exist, but Busiek’s was a WWI story, very Robert A. Heinlein, and Kelly’s is a Depression-era tale with a much younger protagonist, pitched to a much smaller scale (at least so far). The Fiumara art is interesting — the little-boy lead is just off-model enough to be intriguing, and the dragon splashes can bring the spectacle — but somehow the book doesn’t quite click into place with this first issue, although it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on (and, if you’re a fan of dragons, you’ll want it).
DC Universe: Decisions #2 (of 4) — Writers: Judd Winick and Bill Willingham; Artist: Howard Porter
DC offering an election-year story, as some of the various heroes, both in their costumed and civilian identities, break an unwritten rule and start endorsing presidential candidates. Eh. It looks like it’s setting up DC-Universe events down the road, and the trouble is that it reads like one of those imposed-from-above editorial edicts that require everyone to act out of character (stupidly so, in some cases) to make it work (*cough* Max Lord *cough* Infinite Crisis *cough*). Pass.
Mike Raicht’s Creature Feature #1 — Writers: C. B. Cebulski, Chris Yost, Andy Schmidt, Brian Smith; Art: Shawn Turnbull, Jon Reed, Joe Lalich, Brian Smith
A horror anthology, 48 pages of black-and-white stories whose conceit is that they’re all the kind of B-movie tales you’d have seen at a drive-in back in the ’70s. This, cleverly, is meant to explain why none of them make a lick of sense. Unfortunately, while there are a couple of cheap jolts here, the art is semi-pro at best, and $4.50 seems like ‘way too much to ask for it; the point of those cheesy drive-ins, after all, was that they were less expensive than regular movies. I can’t imagine why any comics fan leafing through it on the racks would actually decide to buy this comic….
City of Dust #1 (of 5) — Writer: Steve Niles; Art: Zid
… compared to a book like this, which is also 48 pages, but full color on better paper, and only $3.99. Mind you, it’s only Niles doing a Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 knock-off, and the art, while polished and able to deliver a few good panels, is in that shadowy, murkily-colored hard-to-see style that so many books seem to be adopting recently (What’s up with that, anyway? Is it something about the printing process? Is it a sneaky way to get out of drawing backgrounds? Is it a misguided attempt to emulate film-noir noir lighting? Geez, it’s annoying…), so I’m not actually recommending that you buy it, but it at least looks like a better deal to a cash-strapped comics fan.
Sub-Mariner: The Depths #2 (of 5) — Writer: Peter Milligan; Art: Esad Ribic
More of the murky art, this time in a research sub far under the sea. We’re also 40% of the way through the story, and have yet to actually see Namor, since Milligan’s focusing on his usual psychological argle-bargle — the main character, a skeptical scientist, refuses to believe that Subby exists (how that’s even possible, in a Marvel Universe where Atlantis has actually invaded the surface world at least five times since WW II, is left unexplained, apparently because that would interfere with, you know, the tense atmospheric argle-bargle). Readers upset at the bait-and-switch plot are urged to send those emails and letters to Marvel itself, instead of taking out any frustrations on their local comic store.
Top 10: Season Two #1 — Script and Layouts: Zander and Kevin Cannon; Pencils and Inks: Gene Ha
If this were a brand-new series by this creative team, we’d probably see at as a competent, midlevel book, smooth but nothing special. Unfortunately, it’s not new; it’s a sequel to the well-regarded original run by Alan Moore — and, even with Ha still on the art, following Alan Moore is a thankless and usually-futile task. The characters look the same, but their spark is gone; I’ll bet that, after a few issues, this will be selling under 10,000 copies in the direct market.
