Scouring out the weekly singles scene … in comics!
SIMON DARK #1 (DC) Steve Niles is currently a one-man horror-comics powerhouse, and he’s bringing his terrifying sensibilities back to DC with the creation of Simon Dark, billed as “Gotham City’s Other Protector”. And while it’s too soon to see how it stacks up against Batman, this debut is quite a doozy.
Visually striking, Simon Dark wears a long purple coat and has a stitched-together mask, wandering the streets saving innocents and begging for money for food. He’s a homeless hero who seems to have a darker past than is let on, leaping from building to building with a garrote wire. I have a feeling that Dark just might be DC’s next big breakout hit. Niles’ writing is as crisp as ever, with beautifully haunting pencils by Scott Hampton. This is one to watch.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE CHOSEN #1-2 (Marvel) Cap is dead. We all know that by now. Or is he? That’s the maddening question behind THE CHOSEN, a six-part miniseries written by FIRST BLOOD author David Morrell. He has an incredible talent for capturing the realistic grittiness of war, and this is no exception. We’re plopped in the middle of the Iraq War, with a young soldier constantly cheating death and saving his colleagues, mostly with the help of a Captain America who only he can see. Meanwhile, somewhere, Cap lies on a table, dying.
Besides the whole continuity issue, is this Marvel’s way of setting up this young soldier as the next Captain America? His valor sure has the makings of one, and if Marvel does indeed intend to keep the All-American Avenger dead, this would be the best way to do it.
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #544 / FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #24 (Marvel) Promising to be a story that will shake the very foundations of the Spider-Man mythos, the “One More Day” storyline better get a-cracking, because we’re at part four and all we’ve gotten is two issues of Peter Parker swinging about, whining and crying. He has every right to: Aunt May has been on the verge of death after an assassination attempt (never mind that she’s 90).
No longer an Avenger and branded an outlaw for not complying with the Superhero Registration Act, Spidey tries to call in favors from all his friends to save his life, including Dr. Strange. Help comes in the form of the Avengers’ butler Jarvis, but is it too late? Do you really care? I’m not sure I do. Sorry, but just kill off May, divorce that whiny shrew Mary Jane and make Peter that insecure loner that we all could love and identify with. All this introspective BS has got to stop ASAP.
HOWARD THE DUCK #1 (Marvel) How can you not like a book that opens up with a poker game featuring Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, The Thing and the Monster of Frankenstein? It’s suitably wacky and it just gets crazier from there, with inner-city hunters trying to kill and mount the taxi-driving waterfowl, with comical results. I have no idea where this is going, but fans of She-Hulk will love this book. Let’s hope writer Ty Templeton will be able to carry the humor the way that book does, and not venture into panel after panel of forced whimsy.
NEW LINE CINEMA’S HOUSE OF HORROR #1 (WildStorm) Holy shit, WildStorm! Can you please make up your damn minds what you want to do with your New Line characters? Is it too much to ask for a simple ongoing title of some sort? We’ve had various arcs and, as of late, a couple of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE one-shots and the two-part FRIDAY THE 13TH: HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION, and now we’ve got the first issue (if it actually is that) of an anthology series.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved this and would die to see a monthly New Line anthology series. Just please, WildStorm, give me some sort of regular schedule! Some sort of continuity in your publishing! The anthology format really suits the New Line trio; the stories here almost work better than the standalone arcs, with short little ditties about a chainsaw salesman who visits the Hewitt household and Freddy dealing with some wannabes. Please, please, please, WildStorm, pick a format and stick with it. Even better, pick this format.
CAPTAIN CARROT AND THE FINAL ARK! #1 (DC) Hmmm … okay. So DC brings the Multiverse back and that means Captain Carrot is back. I am kind of speechless. It’s a COUNTDOWN tie-in (somehow) and wants so badly to be a parody of the current harshening of DC’s characters – Alley-Kat-Abra murdered her ward Little Cheese – but it’s still pretty lame. It’s really not even ironically funny. Animal-based puns abound, so if that’s something that’ll make you giggle, here’s your new favorite book. For everyone else, why couldn’t DC resurrect a truly funny long lost character, like Ambush Bug?
ACTION COMICS #855-856 (DC) Back on track, we finally get another story arc from Richard Donner and Geoff Johns, with art from THE GOON’s Eric Powell, this time taking on Bizarro. And man, like Bizarro’s skin, does it rock! Aside from the fact that Powell’s art was just made for a Bizarro story, no writer in recent history has quite the hold on what Superman is and does better than Donner.
His take on Bizarro World is refreshingly classic, while not inane, turning Bizarro into a frighteningly dark imbecile who will do anything to prove himself better than his Kryptonian clone. Part two not only features a Bizarro Doomsday, but a final-panel appearance from the Bizarro JLA. I absolutely cannot wait to read part three! Note to DC: Please keep Donner as a writer! Pay him whatever he wants! He’s made Superman relevant again!
GENE SIMMONS’ DOMINATRIX #1-2 (IDW) So I loved Simmons’ first foray into publishing, HOUSE OF HORRORS. I wasn’t so sure that I’d like his next character, Dominique Stern, the super-powered dominatrix of the title. I am not normally a fan of books that feature some big-boobed, leather-clad chick jumping around, being put in various sexualized positions like a third-rate Milo Manara story. I was actually afraid that we were going to have another STRIPPERELLA on our hands.
But damned if it isn’t goofy enough to work! Dominique isn’t some unlikable cardboard dominating bitch. She’s actually a sweet girl put into a silly enough predicament when she accidentally takes some pill which give her powers, causing bad people to come after her, forcing her to use her dominatrix skills and Amazonian built-in defense. It’s Wonder Woman meets the films of Just Jaeckin. With the exception of a few forced panels of completely unrealistic girl talk (writers, please ask a woman for help when writing dialogue like this), there’s no pain here, only complete pleasure. Keep it up, Simmons!
And please, don’t forget to pick up these perennial SERIOUS ISSUES faves:
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #12 (Marvel) It’s a very moving entry into the WORLD WAR HULK storyline, with The Punisher helping rescue those “undesirables” left behind by S.H.I.E.L.D. in the mass evac of New York. This issue really shows the human side of Frank and why he’s so important in the Marvel U: While all the other costumed freaks are off fighting their personal wars, The Punisher is always there to protect the people.
JONAH HEX #24 (DC) Jonah Hex teams with Bat Lash (!) to help find the kidnapped host of El Diablo (!). Jonah Hex, you did it again, you magnificent bastard!
ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #7 (DC) If you’re not reading this Frank Miller/Jim Lee rewrite of the Batman story, you’re an idiot who should stay far away from comic books. Miller’s comically dark reinvention of the Dark Knight is a must-read that always shocks and surprises. In other words, it’s everything we’ve come to know and love from Miller.
WORLD WAR HULK #4/INCREDIBLE HULK #110/WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE #4-5 (Marvel) So it’s been revealed that no matter how angry Hulk is, his human side will never let him kill anyone on purpose. But it sure as hell won’t stop him from pitting superheroes together in a fight to death, and destroying every ounce of property in his wake! Fed up, they’ve called in the supposedly most powerful hero in the Marvel U, the Sentry…
TERROR INC. #2 (Marvel MAX) When we last left our putrefying hero, he was dumped in a vat of acid. There’s simply no way he can reform his skully presence now, right? Thanks to a dead frog, he does. And then things get really crazy. I am loving the hell out of this offbeat, hyper-gory comic that seems to be getting little to no press. –Louis Fowler
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Louis, it’s good to have you back with such a full report. Lordy, I wish I had the funds to buy everything you recommend, but you remain the best guide I know to the frequently daunting world of contemporary mainstream comics.
Hear hear on the return of Ambush Bug. I spent many a year tracking down his early appearances in DC COMICS PRESENTS, and it was totally worth it. Another great, funny character in the same vein: The Heckler.
Totally agree on the New Line anthology. The stories were really good and I love the format. Sadly, I think this was a one-shot and I’d be surprised to see a new issue soon.
Louis – SERIOUS ISSUES rules! Keep them coming. I don’t read that many comics these days, but your column makes me wish I did.