Scouring out the weekly singles scene … in comics!

This week: useless Canadian superheroes! A giant-size Man-Thing! Red Sonja’s carpet matched the drapes! And, yep: Cap … still dead!

SAVAGE TALES #1 (Dynamite) Dynamite Entertainment is on its way to becoming the best comic book company around. Most of their titles are on my “must buy” list, one which now includes the barbaric anthology SAVAGE TALES. Sure, it’s a couple of bucks extra, but with four stories and about 48 pages, it’s a couple of bucks I can spare. Scantily clad Red Sonja is the headliner, strutting about in her silver-coin bikini, drinking and carousing. She teams with a persecuted Wiccan-type and, just before the “To Be Continued” springs up, I think some lesbian action is about to get started. Other, less lesbian-infused stories, but just as good, include Atlantians and some Lovecraft monsters. Sold!

OMEGA FLIGHT #1 (Marvel) In the wake of Civil War, all the unregistered heroes and villains are flocking to Canada. Instead of just kinda blending in and trying to go about unnoticed, a couple of asshole villains make it harder for everyone by destroying some Canadian city, probably Edmonton. The Canadian government, in cahoots with Tony Stark, start up the Avengers of the North – Omega Flight – made up of Sasquatch, USAgent, Beta Ray Bill and a few other B-listers. The team starts to come together in this opening issue, with very little else happening. Just like the real Canada!

FALLEN SON: THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA – WOLVERINE #1 (Marvel) So Captain America is still dead. Still lying on that cold slab, rigor mortis having long set in. The miniseries FALLEN SON is based on the Kübler-Ross grief stages, with issue one set around Wolverine, who is in denial about what’s happened. He has to go take a look at the corpse of Cap himself, even tossing off a quick death threat to Tony Stark on his way out. An amazingly cool concept for a mini and a perfect bridge for readers to deal with the death themselves. I’m guessing the next issue will be “anger.”

MARVEL ZOMBIES VS. ARMY OF DARKNESS #2 (Marvel/Dynamite) I had been waiting for this book impatiently, since it was just a rumor. As readers of this column know, I tout ARMY OF DARKNESS almost everytime and seriously, who doesn’t love MARVEL ZOMBIES? It’s the best mix-up since peanut butter and jelly! One problem, though: I missed issue one. Damn! By the time I got to my comics dealer, they were all out and I am now on some sort of list in case they reprint it. I might be screwed. But luckily, I got issue two, and while I did miss all the gooey goodness of its predecessor, this thankfully holds up on its own, as Ash tries to search for the Necronomicon, convinced that the fact that the Marvel heroes are zombies is all his fault. In one of the funniest team-ups ever, Frank Castle – the Big Pun himself – takes a shining to Ash and it seems as though they might be best friends. If you can find this book, get your hands on it immediately and never let anything tear it away from you ever. You couldn’t want more in a comic.

LEGION OF MONSTERS: MAN-THING #1 (Marvel) Yes! Man-Thing and his swampy demeanor are back, burning up suckers with fear and shit in this latest one-shot from the stellar LEGION OF MONSTERS lineup. In this story, Man-Thing’s head is used as a delicious centerpiece for a group of rich weirdoes, with great art by the always-reliable Klaus Janson. In the backup story, Ted McKeever delivers a Simon Garth: Zombie tale, with ol’ Simon finding himself some good Goth lovin’. These books are fun throwback to the classic Marvel monster tales, and I sincerely hope they make this an ongoing thing beyond the one-shots. Wouldn’t that be great if they brought back the black-and-white Mighty Marvel horror mags of the ’70s? Sigh.

PAINKILLER JANE #0 (Dynamite) A 25 cent tie-in to the new Sci-Fi Channel series based on the action book by Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada, PAINKILLER JANE is about undercover agent Jane Vasko, who – after waking from a coma – finds herself imbued with strange powers, like regeneration and the like. It’s kinda vague, but then again, this is my first time reading the book, so I’m pretty intrigued. And after only having to pay a quarter to try it out, I’m now more inclined to pick up the first issue and give the regular series a try. Smart marketing there. Why don’t more companies offer little tastes to get you hooked?

And please, don’t forget to pick up these perennial SERIOUS ISSUES faves:

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #6 (Marvel) Okay, I think Frank Castle just might be the next Captain America. It’s a fucked-up concept, but one that I’d love to see exploited, especially when up against that Nazi-bastard Hate-Monger!

SHE-HULK #17 (Marvel) Dammit, Shulkie, why you gotta go and fuck Tony Stark? Man, you know that saying about women only liking assholes? She-Hulk is proving it right there.

FRIDAY THE 13th #5 (WildStorm) A girl might be the next Jason? That’s ridiculous! Girls can’t be Jason!

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET #7 (WildStorm) Freddy takes on the Aztec dream demon, to much gut-spillings – an interesting concept not exploited to its fullest.

JONAH HEX #18 (DC) Hex puts that pussy on a pedestal and gets a mouthful of humble pie for his efforts. You really should know better, Hex. –Louis Fowler