Everyone loves a Cinderella story in Hollywood: when a bunch of audacious amateurs make a movie on a shoestring budget and it catches on with the movie-watching public. George Romero, Sam Raimi, and Kevin Smith were able to tap into the zeitgeist and used their glorified home movies to propel them to great success in the world of cinema.
Ninjas vs. Zombies doesn’t quite have that same je ne sais quoi that Night of the Living Dead, Clerks, and Evil Dead had, but it comes oh so close.
Admit it. This would look awesome on the side of someone's van.
Like many comic-book geeks, I have a touch of gamer in me. Unlike many tabletop gamers, I never had much interest in D&D, or fantasy in general. If I was going to pretend to be something I wasn’t, I would much rather be a superhero, a Jedi, or a samurai than an elf or a wizard. So why would I pick up a copy of Dungeons and Dragons #0?
First off, IDW puts a lot of care into their licensed properties. The first Doctor Who miniseries was written by one of the writers of the relaunched TV show. The G.I. Joe titles are guided by the creator of the Joe mythology, Larry Hama, and attract top flight talent like Max Brooks. With the exception of the excellent Kill Shakespeare (expect a review once the first collected edition comes out), IDW’s best comics are based on popular brands.
Second, the core D&D title is going to be written by JohnRogers. If the name sounds familiar to comics fans, it’s because he co-wrote the most recent Blue Beetle series (and co created the character of Jaime Reyes). TV viewers may know him as the co-creator and show-runner of Leverage, one of the most entertaining shows on TV right now. Even old-school Dungeon Masters might recognize him as a contributor to The Manual of the Planes. Oh, and he co-wrote the first Transformers movie, but nobody’s perfect.
Finally, it was only a dollar. I’m always willing to gamble a dollar on something.
Show of hands: Next year, do you think Wonder Woman will be dressed like this...?
Let’s get the elephant out of the room right now: I loathe the new costume. Call me a rigid traditionalist if you must, but if DC is going to update an admittedly impractical and anachronistic costume, they should replace it with something less bland and more modern. I can just imagine Tim Gunn seeing it for the first time: “Biker jackets and black tights? Is it 1994 again already?”
Now that we’re past the publicity stunt, let’s talk about the issue itself. Like Superman #700 from a few weeks ago, this comic consists of short stories and pin-ups, begins with a story by the outgoing writer, and ends with a prologue of J. Michael Stracyznski’s upcoming story arc. Expect a few spoilers, and maybe some more whining about the costume after the break…
What Has Come Before: A hideously scarred bounty hunter roams the Wild West and kills outlaws in a manner that is usually ironic, always gruesome, and often awesome.
I am a recent convert to Jonah Hex. I absolutely love what Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti are doing with this title. Nearly every issue is a self-contained story (with an occasional two or three parter). The rotation of artists forces the writers to tell stories that play to the strengths of that month’s artist, which helps to keep the title from feeling stale. And each issue is full of action, violence, and some wonderfully twisted humor.
Since DC is expecting an influx of new readers due to the upcoming movie (and this review, of course), they commissioned Palmiotti and Gray to write an original graphic novel that touches on the past of this mysterious gunslinger. To draw this book, they hired Tony DeZuniga, who co-created Hex back in the 70s. The result is something truly special.
What has come before: Six years worth of comics that had the name Avengers on the cover, but bore no resemblance to the 40 years of Avengers comics that came before those.
Deserved or not, I’ve given Brian Bendis a fair amount of grief for his Marvel output in the last few years. Sure, Siege may have been underwhelming, but at least it tied off some of Marvel’s more annoying plot points (Goodbye Lex Luthor-lite, aka Norman Osborn), and freed us all from any more comics starring the Sentry (for now). I say the end justifies the means, especially if that end is Avengers #1.
This is the Avengers comic I have been waiting six years for. It features a team of A-list heroes fighting epic battles against the biggest threats to the Marvel Universe (Welcome back, Kang; how I’ve missed you). It is new reader friendly, with plenty of bits for longtime fans to chew on (the spread on pages 4-5 are a shout out to both Avengers fans AND Bendis fans). And the art. Oh my God, the art.
John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson are arguably the highest profile art team at Marvel. By placing them on this title, Marvel appears to have committed to making Avengers their flagship title. And they definitely brought their “A” game. Romita draws as if he was possessed by the ghost of Jack Kirby himself, creating highly stylized work that still tells a clear story. And Janson (Romita’s longtime inker) makes it all “pop”. Throw in Dean White’s bold primary color palette (eye-catching without being garish) and the end result is a comic that feels like the comics I remember falling in love with.
So the slate is clean, Bendis. I’m back in. Don’t abuse my trust.
He wasn't actually here for WonderCon; he wandered in off the street. The homeless problem in SF is staggering...
WonderCon is the middle child of the Comic-Con family. If San Diego is the overachieving oldest child, and APE is the free-spirited art school student, WonderCon is the slacker that is perfectly happy just doing its own thing. And I, for one, prefer it that way.
For one, I was pleasantly surprised that most of the panels were actually comics-related. Sure, I saw a panel about Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and got to see the Series 5 premiere of Doctor Who (which was exceptional), but almost all other panels had comics as their primary focus.
Plus, unlike Comic-Con, I was only unable to get into one of the panels I wanted to see. People may have complained about how crowded it was on Saturday, but it was a leisurely stroll compared to the lightest day of Comic-Con foot traffic. And San Francisco was not ground to a halt in the wake of WonderCon, although I do feel a small amount of power knowing that my people and I control an entire city for a week.
What has come before:
“Rocketed to Earth from a dying planet, he was born with powers far beyond those of mortal man. Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Able to bend steel with his bare hands and change the course of mighty rivers. Who, disguised as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, fights a never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.”
That’s all you really need to know to enjoy this one-shot, containing a handful of short stories by various writers and artists that I have never heard of. Most of the stories are “man on the street” stories where the average person crosses paths with the Man of Steel. Others feature flashbacks to Clark’s childhood, or Clark taking care of Lois while she’s home sick. It’s certainly not action-packed, but the stories are mostly poignant, often touching, and sometimes very funny. Plus, it gives some fresh, upcoming voices in the industry a chance to play with the shiniest toy in the DC toybox.
They can run, but they can't hide from the Fox News legal team...
What has come before: Doesn’t matter. It’s all gone now.
In this book, writer/artist Bob Fingerman imagines a nuclear holocaust where he and his wife, Michele are among the few survivors. As they wander the irradiated wasteland that was once New York City, they run into many of the character archetypes that you would expect in a post-apocalyptic setting: mutants, zombies, cannibals and demagogues. What makes this story different from most dystopian tales is that the Apocalypse is played for laughs. And more often than not, it succeeds as a comedy.
Refreshingly, Fingerman avoids turning himself and Michele into Mary Sues. He depicts himself as a bit of a jerk from page one, but is somewhat redeemed in the reader’s eyes by his unwavering love for Michele. The more impressive trick may be how he keeps from filtering Michele through love’s lens and depicts her as a three-dimensional character with positive qualities as well as flaws.
This book is being marketed as a political satire, but I feel that this may be the story’s weak point. My political beliefs are close to Fingerman’s; I have no love for Bill O’Reilly or the Westboro Baptist Church. That said, the story seems to drag when caricatures of these… um, caricatures are attacked. Also, with O’Reilly becoming more irrelevant by the day, taking shots at him only serves to date the work. Besides, the protagonists and the original characters are far more interesting.
All snark aside: This cover is absolutely gorgeous.
What has come before: technically nothing, since this is a prequel.
The folks at Top Cow have been doing a lot to try to lure new readers and lapsed fans back into the fold. They have been tying up dangling subplots in their comics in preparation for fans jumping (back) on board. They have been offering trade paperbacks at the introductory price of $9.99.Finally, they have been releasing the occasional one-shot like this one, a tale of one of the previous bearers of the Darkness in the late 19th century.
There’s a very mild spoiler in this review, so let’s meet up again after the break. (more…)
Film Review: Ninjas vs. Zombies
