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Columnist Thunder Mod
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Denver Area, between Asgard and Krypton
Posts: 21,364
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wktf's and Sam Wilson's (with some help from Kdawg and jdh!) Reviews 10/19/06
Wktf’s Reviews
No comics reviews from me this week. My poor wife had some pretty major abdominal surgery a couple of days ago and I’ve been home with her making sure she doesn’t push herself and rests up enough so she can recover properly. I’d planned to review Blade, Wolverine and the second installment of The Lone Ranger but, needless to say, I didn’t make it into the lcs yet this week. Thank you, once again, to Kdawg for picking up the Wolverine reigns but also for jumping in to contribute my writing partner’s review of WildCATS and adding Catwoman to the mix. I do have a review of the first Walking Dead trade for our Halloween trade review and thanks also, once again, to StatueForum’s jdh.goodgrief for his contribution to our spooky Halloween trade theme. My pick of the week, sight unseen and just based on the first issue, is Lone Ranger #2 but, damn, Wolverine has consistently been one of the best reads in comics since the whole Civil War thing began.
Sam Wilson’s Reviews
Not a bad week this week, the highlights being the relaunch of two much loved but never steady DC/Wildstorm titles The Authority and WildCATs. DC also has a strong showing from the ladies this week with new issues of Catwoman (love those Adam Hughes Covers) and Birds of Prey. Marvel packs a good punch this week as well, there is the second issue the new Blade series (yay Howard Chaykin), Ms. Marvel, Wolverine, Union Jack (yay) and Ultimate Fantastic Four. Also be sure to check out my bros jdh.goodgrief’s Garth Ennis’s Ghost Rider review and Kdawg’s Catwoman review and his thoughts on the new WildCAT’s book. Word. My pick of the week this week is Queen and Country (HA! Didn’t see that coming, did you), and that being said on to the reviews…
The Authority #1
DC/Wildstorm
Written by: Grant Morrison
Drawn by: Gene Ha
Alternate Cover by: Art Adams
The Authority spun directly out of Warren Ellis and Tom Raney’s “Stormwatch” series. The founding members of the Authority, Jenny Sparks (the spirit of the 21’st century and had complete control of electricity), Shen (a winged woman with claws, Jack Hawksmore (a human altered by alien races to be the ultimate “urban dweller”), Apollo (a gay Superman) and the Midnighter (a gay Batman), the Dr. (the drug addled “Shaman of the Earth” and the Engineer (a woman with nanotechnology for blood) were all once part of the covert wing of Stormwatch, Stormwatch Black. Once Stormwatch disbanded and most of its members were killed, the “Black” group split off and decided to go into business for themselves, taking a “Justice Lords/Watchmen/Squadron Supreme” stance with the world they declared themselves the world’s policemen and started writing wrongs on a grandiose scale. At one point they even Jack Hawksmore even declared himself President of the United States. The Authority did what they did with extreme violence and little regard for anyone else, and under such writers as Mark Millar and Warren Ellis it was a wild ride. Anyone who reads comics has no doubt in their mind that Ultimate Marvel’s “The Ultimates” series directly spun out of the “Authority” (hell, it even had the same initial creative team, Mark Millar and Brian Hitch). The thing is, “The Watchmen” and “Squadron Supreme” were both finite series, “The Authority” wasn’t and after awhile the story got old. Now its 2006 and Wildstorm is relaunching all of its big guns, and decided to put Grant Morrison on “The Authority”. How did it go?
In the first new issue of “The Authority” not a heck of a whole lot happens. Some divers go to investigate the sinking of a Dutch Submarine, apparently it hit something “huge” and uncharted. When the crew gets there and checks it out they see some of the sailors have had their heads twisted clean off. Turns out the “Authority’s” shift-ship “The Carrier” has left “the bleed” (the space between dimensions the ship dwelled in) and crash landed in Earth’s oceans. Huh, Whoda thought?
I’m not familiar with Gene Ha, but hit art is nice, and this comic has to be the least dialogue filled Morrison-penned comic in the history of existence, but what can I say, I’m in. The set up thus far, fairly tense, I can’t wait until the next issue.
WildCATs: Worldstorm #1
DC/Wildstorm
Written by: Grant Morrison
Drawn by: Jim Lee
Way back in 1992 Jim and a bunch of other guys turned the comic world on it’s head when they split from their perspective publishers and formed their own publishing group, Image comics, which featured creator-owned properties for the hottest creators in the industry (at that time). Jim Lee’s book was called WildCATS (Covert Action Teams). It was a bout a thousand year or two wars between two alien races. There was this android guy Spartan, a stripper/half alien hottie named Voodoo, the Amazon/ninja like warrior Zealot, Grifter (the dangerous former special ops weapon master), Warblade (the alien guy with really long and sharp claws and Maul (super huge Hulk-like guy). The had adventurous and stuff but really, the only real reason to buy this book was for the super-cool Jim Lee art, who was white hot after making his mark on “Punisher War Journal” and “X-men”. Anyway, the title went through some changes, at one point Alan Moore came on and gave some depth to the book, the book was also cancelled and rebooted a couple of times, once having the team center around the omniscient HALO corporation and go in “Authority” type directions, but that didn’t last to long either. I really haven’t kept up with WildCATs too much since the Alan Moore issues, but now I’m back to see what Jim Lee and Morrison can do with the book this time around…
“WildCATs” issue one starts in the future of the Wildstorm U that started back in 1992. HALO is still a super corporation and Spartan is the richest man in the world, and he invites his old girl “Voodoo” up for a quick lay and to invite her to reform the team (yeah, really). Kaizen Gamora is about to be cloned, Grifter is a drunk in Mexico still ready to kick ass and Zealot if off in space. All this, and we keep seeing a message that the “Worldstorm” event is going to happen sometime soon. Huh.
I have no idea what is going on in this book, I have a feeling that all this old continuity is going to be wiped out the team will start anew (which I thought was going to happen anyway). This is definitely an odd way to go about it, but Jim Lee’s art is pretty as usual I guess, and Morrison, well, he’s doing aiight but if things don’t clear up soon, I’m gonna place this book in the same category as Morrison’s X-men, totally messed. Word…
(Reviewer transition coming up…wait for it…wait for it…Here we go! Some words on this very same title from StatueForum’s Kdawg59!)
When I talked to my boy Sammy this week and he primed me for possible reviews in Joe's absence this week, we talked about what was even going to be available to get our hot little hands on. Wildcats was supposed to be on the stands and marking the triumphant return of Jim Lee. It's a no brainer to pick up anything that Jim pencils and his work on Punisher War Journal before he truly had found his fame, was some of his best art in his amazing career. Wildcats was his creator owned concept he left the X-Men for... When Jim left his own title so did I... That may seem harsh but I feel like I never had enough Jim Lee time on these characters to make them monthly staples like the X-Men or Spider-Man. No real connection with them other than the beautiful renderings of one of the greats.
Well Jim Lee has come out from his mushroom in recent years and has returned to pencil glory. It was only a matter of time before he came back to his creator owned book Wildcats.
What did the Dawg think of issue 1? Well Grant Morrison sure knows how to pull you in with mystery and explain the details later storytelling. He's currently doing it over on Batman for DC. He tends to start you off smack in the middle and fills you in after you are hooked. There's something much more mature about this series already than the first time around, maybe not but I really liked it. Maybe I was just excited to see more Lee art, maybe I have fond memories of when Image Comics first exploded onto the scene... I can't pin it down yet but Morrison and Lee are making a genuine run at brining back the original Wildstorm super team... I am hoping this time around I can grow more attached to these characters. It may be easier to do now that Morrison is taking my mind along for the ride at the same pace that Lee does my eyes... Much like Sam mentioned about the Gen 13 relaunch... The storytelling is far better than it was the last time Lee was on this title.
Good book in the making right here... Welcome home Jim...
Union Jack #2 (of 4)
Marvel
Written by: Christios Gage
Penciler: Mike Perkins
Cover by: Mike Perkins
Marvel Comic’s current Union Jack is the third person to carry that mantle (the first two belonging to the Montgomery family), a working class son of a shipbuilder who goes by the name of Joseph Chapman. Like the other Union Jacks, Brian Montgomery dons a bullet-resistant costume and carries a silver-edged dagger to deal with the supernatural, and a Welby .455 pistol. Union Jack is a member of the Knights of Pendragon and the modern day incarnation of the Invaders, and recently has been seen in pages of Captain America, working for MI 5 helping cap prevent terrorist attacks in Britain. He is also partnering with Spitfire, one of his teammates from the New Invaders and his former girlfriend. Today Union Jack is still fighting terrorist who wish Britain ill will, and leads a ragtag group of international heroes/secret agents in his battle against tyranny. Siding with Jack against evil are Sabra, the Israeli super-agent remade for 2006, a new Arabian Knight and one of my favorite (and one of the hottest) Marvel C list characters, Nick Fury’s old girl friend the Countess Valentina Allegro DeFontaine, aka Val (representing SHIELD). Their first mission: stop RAID (the new AIM) from wrecking havoc on London. Oh yeah, it’s on…
Issue one starts out typically, the team is assembled, some members don’t really get along (Zarba and the Arabian Knight, shocking I know) but then jumps right into it. First on the teams list of RAID agents to take out, Zaran and Machete, who are sometime buddies of Batroc the Leaper (and all of them are sometime D list foes of Captain America). Even though Marvel is parading around a gaggle of C and D list characters, this book really clicks. The action from the get go is clichéd but fairly cool. It’s great to see some classic characters kicking ass (Val gets to do her Chow Yun Fat impersonation). Issue two builds on issue one with an all issue ass whuppin. Union Jack shows what he is made of, the Contessa drops the hammer and Sarba is bad. Word.
My complaint of the not-so-British dialogue is gone, Gage seems to have tightened up the reigns. He does an excellent job of keep characters who could be easily stereotyped real and fairly cool. This book is definitely remaining on my pull listed for the duration of the series, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone, especially those with some old school love in their hearts.
Kdawg59’s Reviews
Wolverine #47
Marvel Comics
Written by: Marc Guggenheim
Illustrated by: Humberto Ramos
When we left Wolverine last month he had been quite involved in his own little corner of this Marvel Comics event called "Civil War"...
He had tracked down the villain Nitro, fought Atlanteans, fought the head Atlantean and secret society illuminati member Namor, been to Atlantis in an Iron Man suit, and found out the real villain behind this "Civil War"...
Turns out Nitro never had the power to blow up Stamford like he did... something had to be boosting that power... Enter MGH... Mutant growth hormone... steroids for those with super powers. Nitro had to be getting this from somewhere. It turns out that through Wolverine's investigation and hunt for Nitro, another layer was revealed to this not so cut and dried story about Wolvie hunting down bad guy.
It turns out that the current CEO (Walter Declun)of the reconstruction company called Damage Control has been doing everything within his influence to increase the devastation caused by superhuman activity. Including supplying Nitro with MGH which amped his powers enough to kill hundreds and therefore kick the registration act for super humans in high gear. The more property destruction cause the more money that Declun and Damage control get. War profiteering... plain and simple.
Wolverine sets about taking down Declun and damage control on piece at a time and this includes a raid that leaves him taking a saw blade to his throat on the last page of issue 46....
You didn't think that would put Wolvie down though did you? He is the best there is at what he does and Guggenheim and Ramos delivers us another fantastic comic of Wolverine doing just that. Taking down Declun and Damage control certainly doesn't prove to be an easy task for Logan though as his actions lead him into combat with a far more powerful opponent and fellow Avenger... The Sentry, to the hellicarrier that houses SHIELD director Maria Hill, and lastly to one of the best written bits of dialogue I have ever read between Wolverine and Maria Hill..
Finally Wolverine gets in front of Declun and gets another chance to be "the best there is at what he does". It's almost unexpected how this battle ends... not unexpected because you think that wolverine won't mop the floor with Declun, but more unexpected that it ends so very brutal... Kudos to Guggenheim and Ramos for making Wolverine a man who will fight for his concept of right and wrong and deal with the poor souls who get in his vengeful path.
Enemy of the State was a great story arc... but IMO this Guggenheim guy writes Wolverine better than he has been written since the days that Claremont was considered KING! I truly mean that...
I applaud this Wolverine... This is the Wolverine that I have often missed the past 10-15 years... There's no struggle between the man and the animal. This is Wolverine's decades of battle worn savvy and tactical prowess shining through and he slashes through those in his way...
I don't know if it is me or something else... but Civil War seems to be bringing out some of the best stories the "House of Ideas" has had in years...
Catwoman #60
DC Comics
Written by: Will Pfeifer
Drawn by: David Lopez
Catwoman has been pretty good since the "On year later" thing that DC has going on. We have seen Selina Kyle is now the Mother of a baby girl. We have seen the mantle of Catwoman handed over to someone else. We have seen Slam Bradley devolved into a stumbling drunk. We have seen the villain Film Freak take a extreme interest in Catwoman's life, and lastly we have seen obsessive Detective Lenahan hot on the trail of Selina in hopes of bringing her to justice for what he believes is the murder of the Black Mask. All in all it's been a busy year for Ms. Kyle...
We left off with the New Catwoman captured and being interrogated by detective Lenahan. The detective is coming on strong trying to get Holly to crack and give up the real Catwoman so he can continue his obsessive mission to take Selina down. Selina gets word that her protégé has been apprehended and stuffs her new mom baby fat into the leather suit once again and infiltrates the Police Dept doing what she does best... Being sexy and sneaky.
Meanwhile Film Freak who was recently driven even more insane from a mind wipe courtesy of another foxy DC chica... Zatana, has infiltrated Star Labs and has stolen a giant ape to let loose on the city. (Hmmm what film could he be paying homage to here? I wonder)... The ape arrives in time to draw out almost all of the East end's law enforcement and thus giving Selina apt time to steal her protégé right out from under the cops noses. Of course in process Selina decides to save the giant ape from the cops and itself.
Like I said... Catwoman has been a good read since I started picking it up again. Selina doesn't have a very deep rogue's gallery compared to Batman and the Film Freak is teetering on kinda lame... I can see Selina beating the tar out of his next issue and ending this nonsense but for now this is what we get and it has been good. That couple with the dead sexy Adam Hughes covers and you really can't go wrong. Is Catwoman the best book out there right now? No... it's not, but it has been solid for a long time now...
Spooky Halloween Themed TPB Reviews
Thanks, again, to jdh.goodgreif for this terrific review.
Jess Harold’s Review
Ghost Rider: Road to Damnation
Marvel Comics
Written by: Garth Ennis
Drawn by: Clayton Crain
Johnny Blaze, Ghost Rider - a character I’d love to love. He ticks a lot of boxes for me, as a classic character from before my birth with a great visual and a cool retro costume. Not only that, he was in my Marvel Super Heroes playing card set, ‘nuff said. Only trouble is, no-one took the trouble to publish his comics during my lifetime. Sure Ghost Rider was big news in the dark era of the early 1990s, but not the real one. Some young pretender, with a much less cool name, and a dreadful costume cluttered with pointless spikes and chains (high fashion in the Image era). And let’s just forget the dreadful Hammer Lane mini-series that failed to rev Ghostie’s engine back to life a few years back. The statue was a must purchase for my classic Marvel silver and bronze age collection, but in truth I must have only read 10 issues featuring the real Ghost Rider in my entire life. Well, now Hollywood has come a’calling, Nicolas Cage finally gets to play a superhero, and Marvel need Johnny Blaze back front and centre. To test the waters for the new ongoing series, Garth Ennis and Clayton Crain delivered this tale, in which Blaze tries to escape his own personal hell. Which, unlucky for him, just so happens to be everyone’s Hell. Ennis brings elements of his work on Preacher and Hellblazer to bear on a complex struggle between angels, demons, and our titular hero, who straddles the fine line between them – no easy task, even for a stunt rider. Overall, he delivers an enjoyable tale with a reasonable degree of humour, although sometimes it feels a touch like a watered-down Preacher story. With more time taken over the script, and maybe with Dillon riding pillion instead of Crain, this could have been even better. Not to say that Crain lets the book down, though. Although I was skeptical about his digital art ahead of time, there’s no denying he delivers impressive flame effects. He excels at the high-octane fight scenes (and there are plenty on offer), but also demonstrates a surprisingly strong range of expressions at times (though here, in particular, the Preacheresque script still makes you wish for Dillon). His storytelling is generally fine, especially for such detailed work, with only a couple of panels where a second look may be required to follow exactly what is going on. The best yardstick for this series is whether it convinces readers to try a Ghost Rider ongoing – and for me, it got me to the door, and left me with enough of a feelgood factor to give the new run an extended trial. So far, such talents as Daniel Way, Mark Texeira and Javier Saltares are falling short of ‘Road to Damnation’, which goes to show how good a job Ennis and Crain did rubbing Ghostie down and setting him up for his big return. Finally, this comic reader got a decent story to go with fond feelings of nostalgia, and a dog-eared old playing card.
Wktf's Review
The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye
Image Comics
Written by: Robert Kirkman
Drawn by: Tony Moore
As I’ve noted before, I’m a big horror fan. My tastes run toward the classic kinds of horror and monster stories and movies: vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein monsters, and mummies. But I also loves me a good zombie film, my favorites being George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” and “Night of the Living Dead.” Man! What creepy movies! Zombies have been a recent trend in comics, too, with the Marvel Zombies making a big splash just this past year. But a few years before that, maybe even the reason Marvel attempted their zombie move, Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead hit the stands to rave critical and fan reviews, not to mention strong sales. That said, I never picked it up and, if not for the strong recommendation of some comics fans, plus one person’s generously mailing a copy of the volume 1 trade (collecting the first six issues) to my house, I might never have picked it up. And that would have been my significant loss. This book was one hell of a ride!
As our story begins, Kentucky police officer Rick Grimes and his partner Shane are in the middle of a highway shootout that results in a hole being blasted through Rick’s body. A month long coma ensues out of which Rick wakes to find himself, seemingly, alone in the hospital. No one is around. When he leaves his bed and starts looking around he realizes, inexplicably, that hell has descended on Earth. Shambling, staggering, decomposing, flesh eating zombies now roam the deserted streets and Grimes finds himself in a minute-by-minute battle for his life. Nearly all human life is gone. Nearly. With the help of a small boy and his father, Rick manages to get his bearings and heads to Atlanta where he believes his wife and son have gone. It turns out that the government had urged people to congregate in big cities where they believed it’d be safer. The result? Massive food pantries for the living dead. Atlanta has become a crazed chaos of zombie overpopulation. Fortunately for the despairing Rick, he finds a human encampment outside of Atlanta where, miraculously, his wife and son are staying. But, despite the camaraderie and community he finds there, his problems really only worsen from that point on as Rick and his family get reacquainted and the group of humans interact with each other. The very end of this trade, involving no zombies at all, is one of the single most shocking scenes in the book.
In his introduction, Kirkman insists this is NOT a horror comic. Rather, it’s an ongoing story about the human condition, to discover what people are capable of doing over the long haul when facing incredible, impossible odds. Well, first of all, there are zombies around every corner and surprising you when you least expect it. For a black and white comic, the gore is extreme and the killings are brutal. So, yeah, this IS a horror comic and, most definitely, Kirkman knows this. But, beyond that, he’s absolutely right. You could even say this is a zombie tale that’s actually not about the zombies. It’s a riveting story of the human condition. Think “The Island of Dr. Moreau” or maybe even “The Fugitive,” stories of ordinary people whose worlds are completely turned upside down, the reality they once knew is completely gone, and they must run like hell and adapt in order to save their own lives.
Kirkman is pretty well known to me as the author of Battle Pope, The Invincibles and various Marvel titles like the now defunct Marvel Team-Up and the new Irredeemable Ant-Man. With The Walking Dead he’s set out to create a story of human endurance and perseverance and has promised to be in it for the long term. It’s Tony Moore who’s the new discovery for me. His artwork is fantastic and fits this story perfectly. He captures the harsh, bleak surroundings as well as the full spectrum of emotion on his characters’ faces. His backgrounds and settings are gorgeous while, at the same time, horrifying. Looking at the covers of the next few trade volumes I see Moore is replaced by Charlie Adlard. But, for this volume, Kirkman and Moore rightly deserve all the praise they’ve garnered for kicking off this innovative and captivating seat-of-your-pants series.
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but unfortunetly, he was the reason why some of the issues were late so he left and Adlard came on.
