Scouring out the weekly singles scene … in comics!
Welcome, fellow Issuists! It’s time for another trip to the racks, picking out the best and the worst of those single-issue comics for those of us who still collect them instead of waiting for the trade collections. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
BLADE #2 (Marvel) Okay, I’m done with BLADE. I really wish I wasn’t; Blade is one of the coolest characters in the Marvel universe, but like what they’re doing with Ghost Rider, Marvel just seems intent on destroying any coolness these guys might have by constantly giving the characters nothing to do, and worse, be hampered by worthlessly unimaginative plots that almost seem like a premeditated attempt by the publishers to make you hate the book. In this second issue, Blade goes to Latveria, Dr. Doom sends him back in time to help his mom fight some vampires and then he goes to the airport. That’s the whole story. A few years ago, Marvel’s MAX imprint put out a great “mature” Blade mini-series – why not keep that up? Why not make Marvel’s supernatural superheroes like Blade, Ghost Rider and the like MAX titles? Some balls-out vampire slashing is what this book needs to win this reader back. It’s working for the new HELLSTORM and ZOMBIE series.
ESCAPE OF THE LIVING DEAD: AIRBORNE #2 (Avatar) More like EH-SCAPE OF THE LIVING DEAD! Am I right, guys? Anyone? Well, anyway, the second issue of the latest of Avatar’s LIVING DEAD series is still coming off as a sleazy, near-zombie-less attempt to get hippie orgies in comic form. Since the last issue, the hippies are still in the woods, doing “it” and getting eaten, very … very … slowly, by zombies. I think the problem with this book is that they’re turning what in zombie movies would be a funny subplot about a zombie attack into a whole story and it just doesn’t work. It comes off as filler. I think there’s only one more issue left in this mini, so I’m interested to see how they’ll end a story that has no real story.
EXILES #87 (Marvel) Marvel’s outer-space stories have always bored me. The Starjammers, the Shi’ar Empire, the Guardians of the Galaxy – it all puts me to sleep. And as sacrilegious as this may sound, I can’t stand the acclaimed celestial work of Jack Kirby. Sue me. So when I saw the latest issue of EXILES – one of Marvel’s most consistently entertaining books – was a story of this ilk, I was apprehensive. But even though I find characters like Gladiator and Manta ridiculous, I love the idea of an evil Silver Surfer and a planet-friendly Galactus that gives life to dead worlds. And writer Tony Bedard pulls it off, creating a truly badass Surfer that don’t take no guff from no one. Good stuff.
HELLSTORM: SON OF SATAN #1 (Marvel MAX) I love Marvel’s ’70s supernatural stable and this demonic creation is no exception. Gone is the wacky pentagram outfit, the always present trident and the Quicksilver-meets-Wolverine hairdo. Damian Hellstorm has been recast as a leather-jacketed wanderer, still trying to do good, which is hard when – as the subtitle makes clear – you’re the son of Satan. He finds himself in New Orleans, which, due to Hurricane Katrina, is now the site of the most demonic activity in the world. Demons walk about freely, killing and eating with no regard. Hellstorm dispatches them as he tries to solve a mystery of a baby that turned into a bird. Okay, that sounds a little ridiculous written, but it works. Believe me.
THE LONE RANGER #2 (Dynamite) Holy schnikes! Tonto is a badass! He ain’t no kemosabe sidekick here! I am so excited! Exclamation point! I love this book. Dynamite’s reinvention of The Lone Ranger continues to gather steam as an unconscious Ranger meets a “don’t give me your shit, white man” Tonto for the first time, as well as the origin of the Ranger’s eye-mask. Sure, the actual plot is shaping up to be a basic tale of revenge, but what a tale it’s going to be. Between all the gunfights and gore, this book is giving JONAH HEX a real run for its money, not only in the admittedly small Western genre, but as one of the five best comic books currently being published, period.
ZOMBIE #2 (Marvel MAX) The story of a not-zombie-yet Simon Garth continues, as tempers flare and more and more zombies get into the survivors’ rest-stop sanctuary. We learn a bit more about the zombie outbreak, its effects and how it ties into the back robbery at the beginning of the first issue, but the real start here is Kyle Hotz beautifully graphic visuals. Mixing a real E.C. flair with the look of the ’70s Marvel monster magazine stories, this is exactly how a pulpy horror read should look. –Louis Fowler
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