The Mighty Reviews 3/4/10

**wktf** · 03-04-2010, 10:51 AM

Sam Wilson’s Reviews

Detective Comics #861
DC Comics
Written by: Greg Rucka
Drawn by: Jock
Cover by: J. H Williams III,
Backup story art by: Cully Hamner

Honestly the last time I read Detective comics was waaaay back when Greg Rucka last wrote it, particularly during the “Bruce Wayne Murderer” storyline. It was the only Bat-title I hadn’t given up on, so I guess it’s not to big of a shock that I’m back on it now. I will admit, for the most part I am cool with most of the post-Batman RIP books so that doesn’t hurt either. Bottom line though, no one can deny Rucka doesn’t have a love for the Bat-verse that shines though on every page he writes, and for those of you who remember “Gotham Central” he has a special affinity for certain characters in that universe, one in particular being Renee Montoya aka the new Question. Being a big fan of the Denny O’neil/Denys Cowan series of course I’m going to scrutinize it a little, but damn if Rucka isn’t doing a great job on that too, paying homage to O’neil and Cowan’s work while making the character his own. Of course there is also the angle that has made a lot of press at one point, the whole lesbian thing, and of that, I just have to say this. Get over it. If you can’t handle alternative lifestyles than don’t read the book. Rucka isn’t making it a focal point, he’s just giving some human qualities to his characters and sexual preference is a human quality. So naysayers or critics, especially the bigoted ones, fu** off. Anyway, off of that soapbox…

Anyway, for those of you who haven’t been reading Detective, Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, is an army brat former West Point cadet who is a bad motherfu**er and the finest in tactical military combat training. Her colonel dad is her support team and her relationship with the the rest of the Bat-crew is tenuous at best, while her relationship with the GCPD may involve some romance (with Maggie Sawyer of the MCU). Anyway, issue 862 is the second in a three-part arc, “Cutter”, drawn by Jock (superstar unconventional artist you may know from the highly underrated series “The Losers”, and the recent Hellblazer OGN “Pandemonium”, both by DC/Vertigo). “Cutter”, is the newest serial killer in Gotham and he likes dismembering young college girls with surgical precision. Both Batman and Batwoman follow separate trails, Batman trying to locate a victim while Batwoman is trying to prevent “Cutter” from finding a new victim. Needless to say both their paths get a little more violent than they had hoped and the conclusion is probably going to be pretty brutal. Meanwhile, Renee Montoya is on a tear, taking apart a criminal organization that was involved in the kidnapping and selling of women into slavery. Eastern European mob types aren’t exactly known for being easy to handle, so Renee enlists the help of Helena Bertenelli, aka the Huntress and then they really start cutting a path, which of course is going to mean some kind of payback from the mob, which comes in the form of an assassin sent to kill them. Said assassin trailed our girls back to their hideout, but they make a deal with him to get info on the Russian mob (?). This of course doesn’t sit well with Tot (you hopefully remember him as the Vic Sage/Denys Cowan/Denny O’Neil Questions “obi wan”) and he bails on their operation. It’s okay though (sort of) because Helena asks Oracle (aka Barbara Gordon) to help them out and soon enough the girls are off to the Ukraine. Of course the slave rings trail doesn’t stop there, and they have to kick ass all the way to a mysterious place called Oolong Island, which isn’t the paradise it seems to be…

I’m down with this book. We still don’t know much about Kate Kane, but Rucka is developing her beautifully. We know a lot about Renee Montoya, and it is great to see her finally getting her props (Rucka is totally channeling O’Neil, fans of the ‘80’s series will pick up on it). Having Jock guest draw for three issues is brilliant. Personally, his style is unlike anything out there right now and I’m a huge fan (I do own the original art to one of his “Losers” covers) Cully Hamner is fantastic as well on the Question. I have no problem giving this book a top recommendation.

Ultimate Comics Avengers #5
Marvel Comics
Written by: Mark Millar
Drawn by: Carlos Pacheo

Ultimatum is now over and the status quo as we now know it has changed in the Ultimate Marvel Universe. Magneto is dead, Dr. Doom (aka Victor Van Dam) is dead, Wolverine is dead (I think), I could go on. The Avengers took some heavy losses, Hank Pym (well, no great loss) is gone but Nick Fury is back. The Earth was tilted on its Axis and New York was hit by a tidal wave, yeah, the Ultimate Marvel U was not left in good shape. Like I said though, Nick Fury is back and he has a plan. I won’t lie, the Ultimate U in general took a turn for the worse the last few years, Ultimates Volume 3 couldn’t hold a candle to the Millar run, Nick Fury being stuck in an alternate universe was kinda cool for a minute but after thinking about it I came to the conclusion that it was just retarded. What once was a fresh take on some classic characters with the best creators kind fell off, but with “Ultimatum” things are looking up and Ultimate Comic Avengers could be the catalyst the “Ultimate” line needs to find its old glory again…

Our story opens up with Nick Fury looking for a job. He finds himself at the Triskelton, LionsSuck...LionsSuck...LionsSuck...LionsSuck...LionsSuck...ing to Hawkeye about the way Carol Danvers is running SHIELD. Hawkeye counters with an offer, Danvers wants Fury to lead a black ops team assigned to hunting down Captain America. What? Yeah, it turns out the Red Skull is still alive. What? Oh yeah, and let’s make it even more f-ed up by revealing that the Red Skull is Captain America’s son, and can totally kick his ass. To make it worse, the government was actually training the Red Skull to be the new Captain America, but when he turned 17 he decided he didn’t like the government so he snapped and started killing people, cut off his own face and became a Nazi (yeah). So the government (SHIELD) needs to retrieve him post haste so their f-up doesn’t become national news. Enter Nick Fury and his black ops team, who need to get to the Red Skull before Steve does to do some damage control. The new team consists of Hawkeye (with the dual pistols), Red Wasp (ex-terrorist/stark tech, not Janet), War Machine (a pretty much amoral version of Jim Rhodes), Black Widow 2 (no idea who she is other than Nick Fury’s ex-girlfriend) and Joeseph Stark (yeah, apparently he’s Tony’s a**hole older brother). The new team chases Cap to Paris, where, well, things don’t go as planned and of course they all get into it and cap is eventually brought down by the Ultimates and a genetically grown nerd Hulk (yes, nerd Hulk). With Cap on ice, the team has to hop to their “real” mission, get the blueprints of the cosmic cube back from AIM, who stole them with the help of Cap jr. aka the Red Skull. By the time our heroes (I use that word loosely) catch up to AIM and the Red Skull though, well, the Skull has the cube and its fully operational and he just ordered all the AIM soldiers with him to eat themselves. Yes, I said eat themselves. It’s okay though, Cap escaped French custody and is en route to most likely kick his son’s ass…

Hell yes, the Ultimates are back and bad-a** just like they are supposed to be. I don’t know why Millar took so much time off the book, but I’m sure as hell glad he’s back and not pulling any punches (we won’t talk about his Fantastic Four for the regular Marvel U, we just won’t). So word, Ultimate fans rejoice, they are freakin’ back…

KDawg’s Reviews

Invincible Iron Man #24
Marvel Comics
Written by: Matt Fraction
Drawn by: Salvador Larroca

This is it. The final chapter of “Stark Disassembled” is here. Of course, this being the age of the Internet as well as savvy comic book geeks aplenty, we all knew that Stark wouldn’t really be trapped in his own mind, trying to reboot himself back into the land of the non-comatose.

Tony’s faithful friends and companions have been doing their best to hide Tony and keep his body safe, while they try to jumpstart his mind. Pepper Potts and Maria Hill have been left to their own devices to fend off a would-be assassin sent to finish Tony off once and for all: Ghost.

Doctor Strange has used his mastery of the mystic arts to travel into Tony’s mind and help guide him to his destination wherever that may be. Tony has been replaying a loop of his past life in a warped way and fighting to make sense of everything enough to unlock himself from his mind.

All the while this is happening, there is thunder rumbling outside, which means that SIEGE has come to this title as well as Tony gears up to probably join the fray next issue.

I will say that this title is pretty awesome. I think that this story could have taken an issue or two less to really tie up, as the time spent inside Tony’s head was a little redundant at times during this arc. I found myself thinking that the best bits were of Doctor Strange, Pepper, Rhodey, and Maria honestly. It goes to show you that having a great supporting cast can sure help a book shine.

I think my nit with this arc is just that it was a tad decompressed. I’m not saying that it was bad, but I think that it took a bit too long to get to the heart of Tony’s situation and resolution. Perhaps it is because we all know that Tony appears in the Avengers and Siege after this arc, so I wanted him fixed and in the suit again. I understand we needed to pace ourselves to get there and we got some great moments for Pepper and Maria in the process, so I can live with it.

By the end of the issue however we do have our hero back and that is no spoiler. Bendis and Fraction have timed this perfectly to work in unison as SIEGE races across the Marvel Universe. What will be interesting to learn as we now have our hero back is how much of his mind and the information, memories therein have been lost since Tony last backed up his brain. The last page of the book gives us a bit of insight as to the state of Tony’s brain. Perhaps Mr. Stark realizes that it is time to be a hero again.

I am always in favor of this book. This book is the one that has actually put Iron Man back on the map as a player fans can get behind. This arc was a means to an end and I am very excited to see the new era that follows now that Iron Man is back.

Wolverine: Weapon X #11
Marvel Comics
Written by: Jason Aaron
Drawn by: Ron Garney

What word could best describe this issue if I were limited on character count?

How about cool? Or maybe I should use the word fun? Or how about excellent?

Yeah I think excellent is the best word to use in description of the issue that Jason Aaron and Ron Garney have laid down for us this month.

In case everyone has been living under a mushroom, Steve Rodgers is back and alive as can be. Believe it or not, there were few heroes that were hit harder by the loss of Steve Rodgers Captain America when he was assassinated “one year” ago that Wolverine. There was a pretty cool arc that was in another Wolverine book “Origins” that showed us how much history Logan and Steve had together, as well as how much respect Logan truly had for the type of man Captain America is/was.

So what do you do when your fellow Avenger and friend return from the dead? Well you party Wolverine style and hit every single pub that you can across the globe via Blackbird and drink to celebrate. Of course even Logan knows enough to be responsible with his newly returned friend and enlists Nightcrawler to be the designated pilot/driver. Everything that you could ever imagine happening within this scenario does. I mean Wolverine and Cap, getting tipsy in bars; with Wolvie’s bad attitude… you know there’s going to be some shenanigans. Even Nightcrawler and Cyclops put a side bet on how many beers it would take before a brawl started.

In the meantime we have some great dialogue between Logan and Steve that make me realize that Jason Aaron should be the only person ever allowed to write Wolvie anymore. The two exchange stories of what has happened in the year that Steve has been gone. Steve tells Logan about how he is very happy that Logan stayed an Avenger and that he was wrong about being hesitant to welcome him on to the team given that he has so much blood on his hands. Logan tells Steve that “some people” were really broken after he was killed (of course meaning himself) and he plays off having any emotions, even though they show through here loud and clear.

It’s honestly a great thing to see in a Wolverine comic… Probably my favorite issue featuring Wolverine since sometime in the 80’s. By the way… there’s a guy penciling the issue that is also amongst my very favorite creators: Ron Garney. Garney drawing Logan and Steve as well as everything else, just feels perfect for this title. I am glad he is back for this arc at least.

So we have all of this characterization happening between the old warhorses, and at the same time a new threat appears. Deathloks… yes that was plural. Deathlok cyborgs are jumping back in time to kill anything that resembles heroes of today, parents of unborn future heroes, as well as babies that will grow up to be heroes. It’s pretty brutal actually and we aren’t sure why it is happening yet, but I am sure that we’ll get there soon enough. There’s not much else to be said about this issue, the creative team, or the characters therein, other than I am beyond pumped for the next issue as Deathloks new mission is to “Kill Captain America”. My pick of the week.

Ask A British Dude! JLM’s Trade Review

Jack Staff Volume 4: Rocky Realities TPB
Published by Image Comics
Written and drawn by: Paul Grist

It’s been some time since Volume 3 of Paul Grist’s unorthodox superhero title hit the stands, but finally all 225 pages of Volume 4 are available to coincide with the a re-launch and re-banding of the irregularly published comic.

For those not in the know, Jack Staff (who is in no way similar to Marvel’s Union Jack), is Britain’s greatest hero. Or, at least he was. Twenty years ago, he disappeared and everyone forgot about him. Since the start of Volume 1, he’s been forced back into the hero game, and not entirely willingly. Additionally, his effectiveness as a superhero is somewhat questionable at best.

For the last three volumes, Jack has faced weird threats from supernatural forces, cosmic entities, military mishaps and plain old supervillains. He’s helped (and sometimes hindered) by some bizarre support such as Becky Burdock (vampire journalist), Tom-Tom, the Robot Man (neither a man, nor a robot) and the mysterious Q branch. At the same time, there’s a slowly developing plot about a major oncoming conflict, which Jack and the others will play a part of.

This volume is no different, and perhaps turns some of the weirdness up a level. The whole thing kicks off in an alternate reality where the characters are all reversed. Then a Reality Agent chimpanzee turns up to sort things out. Oh, and he has his own theme song.

There’s then lots of fun and confusion to be had as more doppelgangers appear, a troubled detective starts to get help from his imaginary childhood friends and the past catches up with a reformed criminal, who doesn’t seem to be trying to hard to go straight. Plus, the big conflict seems to be getting closer ….

Paul Grist continues to follow his usual story telling pattern of sticking with one character for a few pages, leaping to another one, and then back. Plus, Jack Staff is not the main focus of some of the story threads played out. Perhaps this, as well as the fact the Grist is playing about with his own characters in this volume may confuse the uninitiated, so perhaps not an ideal “jumping on” point. This one does require a bit of background knowledge first.
There’s a great sense of humour at work in the characters, plot and dialogue, as well as some nice portentous hints of what’s to come.

The artwork continues to be vibrant and colourful, but sparing at the same time, with characters not always confined in traditional comic book panels (particularly

The Druid, who regularly breaks the fourth wall, and talks directly to the reader).
So, if you want something that is a bit of a break from your regular superheroes, in terms of the artwork, writing and characters as well as being fun and intriguing, then check out Jack Staff. Converts won’t need me to tell them to get this. New initiates would be best starting with the previous volumes, Everything Used to Be Back & White, Soldiers and Echoes of Tomorrow all available at a comic shop near you.

Wktf’s Trade Reviews

And, to complement our British Dude's trade review, something from the Archives of The Mighty Reviewers.

Jack Staff Vol. 1: Everything Used to Be Black and White
Jack Staff Vol. 2: Soldiers
Jack Staff Vol. 3: Echoes of Tomorrow
Image Comics
Written & Drawn by Paul Grist

To start, this review will be a bit of a fly-over of these three volumes. Combined, they equal roughly 640 pages of content and more interwoven storylines than are possible to recount here. But, before I begin I’d like to thank fellow StatueForumite and comic book enthusiast mwf6171 for loaning me his copies of these books. His generosity is exceeded only by his scholarly and gentlemanly disposition (yes, he’s “a scholar and a gentleman”). My only obligation tied to this loan is a review of this material which I’m only too happy to do.

To start, who is Jack Staff? Well, Jack’s known as “Britain’s Greatest Hero!” who first saw twelve issues of black and white print from 2000 to 2003 in Paul Grist’s own Dancing Elephant Press but then was picked up in 2004 and now is published in color by Image Comics. Jack is a lean, muscular and incredibly agile hero who dresses in the British Flag and, frankly, looks a lot like Marvel Comic’s own Union Jack. He seems to have the strength of a normal man; however, there is one scene where he drives his fist through a brick wall so he may well possess some super strength. His primary super power, though, is his ability to move energy which he does in any number of ways, primarily, though, through the wooden staff he keeps as a weapon. There is one cool scene, though, where he grabs a coin that’s been flipped, energizes it much as Marvel’s Gambit does to playing cards, and sends it through a solid wall. Jack also appears to be immortal or else very nearly so. He was a hero during World War II, went mysteriously missing 20 years ago and suddenly and inexplicably reappeared today not having aged a bit. But his roots seem to go back even further as he hints he also lived during the Victorian era.

During World War II he teamed up with a group called The Freedom Fighters, a mix of American and British heroes who obviously owe a debt to Roy Thomas’ Invaders from Marvel Comics. Sgt. States seems to be a super strong Captain America tribute complete with shield, Blazing Glory seems to be a cross between the Human Torch and Spitfire and Tommy Twister appears to be a version of The Whizzer…sort of. In addition, during World War II this group found itself up against a super vampire, reminiscent of Marvel’s Baron Blood, and in volume 3 Kapitan Krieg who seems to be patterned off of Invaders’ nemesis Master Man. But I don’t want to give people the impression Grist’s creation is just one Marvel Comics rip-off after another (but, okay, there is another villain who appears in volume 2 called The Hurricane who certainly seems to be an Incredible Hulk tribute). This work is original, intricately plotted (as noted, above), action packed, fun and absolutely captivating. In fact, there are so many plotlines moving and interweaving at the same time the reader simply can’t help getting completely sucked into Grist’s imagination and brought along for the ride.

The other members of Jack’s modern cast (his stories jump around a lot between the present, the past from 20 years ago, and the past from 60 years ago) add tons of spice to his stories. Particularly engaging is a red headed female reporter named Becky Burdock who also happens to be a vampire, a down stream victim of the vampire The Freedom Fighter fought in WWII. It isn’t until volume 2 that we discover she’s also inadvertently linked to Jack’s disappearance 20 years before from his battle with The Hurricane. There’s also Tom Tom The Robot Man, who bears a resemblance to Iron Man, as well as the members of Q, the Question Mark Crimes unit out to solve crimes too strange and supernatural to be explained, led by the enigmatic Helen Morgan. And The Druid who seems an awful lot like Marvel’s Dr. Strange (or maybe DC’s Dr. Fate).

Anyway, as I’ve said, there are tons of plots and subplots running through each of these books to keep our boy jumping through hoops to the delight and often bafflement of the reader. Grist’s art is a little rough and simplistic (probably intentionally) but also fluid and expressive like the best of Steve Ditko. I’m grateful to have my comic book reading world opened up to Jack Staff (being a super hero and vampire fan I also get the best of both possible worlds here!) and highly recommend picking these books up. I’m afraid you do have to start at the beginning for any of this to make sense, though, so if you have to start somewhere do yourself a favor and get your hands on volume 1. Once you read it, and you may have to read it more than once, you’ll find yourself wanting to pick up the next two as well. But, to close this out, I’m happy to count myself as a new Jack Staff fan!