SECRET WARS #1

The big summer event books are here. DC has Convergence, which I haven't read yet but heard is awful (the Superman and The Question tie-ins have gotten good reviews). Marvel started their 8 part Secret Wars this week with a $4.99 debut with writing by Jonathan Hickman and 32 pages of Esad Ribic art. It should be said that the last time Hickman did a big event book for Marvel it was also meant for the hardcore fans who knew the entire, convoluted back story from multiple previous issues. That book, Infinity, was atrocious. Marvel hasn't learned their lesson. I might have read a few of the 33 issues of The New Avengers and 44 issues of The Avengers that set up Secret Wars. But, apparently, not enough to have any idea what's going on now. Which begs the question: does Marvel want new readers or not? All I know is from what I've read on various comic book websites. So I do know that the Ultimate universe and the Marvel universe are combining. You really wouldn't know that if you only picked up and read Secret Wars #1. And how or why the two universes are combining is still a mystery to me. All I know is that in this issue a bunch of characters talk while things blow up in front of them. I will say that the art by Ribic is glorious. He's one of Marvel's best artists. And we still have 7 more issues to go. It could get better or more coherent. Don't hold your breath. *1/2 (out of ****)

IMAGE REVIEWS

I went to the comic book store today and bought six new books, all published by Image Comics. And they weren't old...they all came out today. I even passed up on another Image book I'll probably eventually read online, Jupiter's Children. I didn't buy any DC books because it was the first week of their "Convergence" two-month initiative...meaning it's two months of fill-in books (I did leaf through Convergence #1 and the art was bad and it looked like a mess...plus it was $4.99). I didn't buy any Marvel books either, although I will read Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #12, Howard the Duck #2, and Ant-Man #4 eventually online ($3.99 for twenty pages of art is just a little too much in my opinion). So it's crazy, right? How good Image is these days? I guess you can thank The Walking Dead. And they keep their prices low and quality high (their books all usually have great letters pages, have more than twenty pages, and are less than $3.99). I think even Marvel and DC realize they have a shrinking fan base. Both "Convergence" and Marvel's "Secret Wars" this summer are bringing forth a plethora of new mini-series leading to new #1's of most of their books along with new titles (both events are, oddly, about parallel-universes combining to form one ultimate universe with every character ever). The other companies can try all they want, but Image is king these days. Here are some short reviews of a few of their current titles:

DESCENDER #2: How many books does Jeff Lemire write? Like a hundred? He's probably more famous for his art (Sweet Tooth was cool), but he did write a nice Green Arrow arc and this new Image book has a great premise. In some future galaxy, giant robots show up out of nowhere and lay waste to a bunch of planets. Then they disappear. The only clue is that they contain similar programming to a robot boy model. The catch? There's only one of these robot boy models left and he's all alone on a far-away mining colony. And it just happens that a group of anti-robot bounty hunters have arrived on the mining colony to capture him. Great premise (even though a robot boy sent to a human family has been done before in A.I.). The first issue was, so far, the best issue of any comic this year. This second issue isn't half as good. It doesn't reveal anymore of the mystery and thus isn't as compelling. The water-color art by Dustin Nguyen is very cool and very unique, though. Definitely curious to see where this goes. **1/2 (out of ****)

BIRTHRIGHT #6: This one also has an intriguing premise. A young boy in our world falls through a portal that transports him to a Lord of the Rings type world where he grows up to be a warrior fighting an evil sorcerer. There's more. He comes back to our world all grown up but time here hasn't passed...so he's grown up but his family is the same. He also comes back possessed by an evil spirit. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. This issue is not the best, though, and so far the book hasn't reached its potential. In this issue we finally get to see the evil sorcerer dude, a bear is killed, and both worlds look to be merging soon. It's a cool, wild romp but this issue is all set-up and needed more. **

RAT QUEENS #10: The first few issues of this book were insanely good. It's dropped off a bit. One reason is the change in art. The old artist (Roc Upchurch) was a better fit for the comedy aspect of this book. Upchurch was arrested for hitting his ex-wife and so they threw him off the book and brought in Stjepan Sejic, who's work in awesome. Sejic is a little too standard for the silly stuff to entirely work, though, so it might take a few more issues to regain steam. This issue is the big finale of an arc involving demons in the sky that look like Chtuhlo. It's a bit of a quick finish. The flashback opener is awkward. And it's not as funny ha-ha as the other, better issues. **

THE LEGACY OF LUTHER STRODE #1: This, the third mini-series in the Luther Strode universe, is already the best. The reason, so far, anyway, is the art. Tradd Moore made his big break on this book way back when then went to Marvel to work on Ghost Rider and do covers for Secret Avengers. Perhaps working with a talented, professional staff at Marvel helped because his art in this book is insane. It's by far the most gorgeous art I've seen this year. The story, as thin as it is, has Strode, a muscled, super-human hero, and his girl escaping from cops, hiding out, then returning to take on two super-human villains. It's all action and blood and guts and it's wild, albeit nothing entirely fresh. The art is the star, though, and we get forty pages of it for $3.99. ***1/2

NAILBITER #11: Joshua Williamson also writes Birthright and Ghosted, but right now Nailbiter is his best book. The premise is that a town in the Pacific Northwest has spawned a ton of serial killers...so what's their secret? Two F.B.I. agents head up their and get their money's worth. This is a mystery but also a horror/suspense tale with murder and surprises and twists. There's catacombs below a cemetery and creepy, black-masked dudes lurking in the woods and a torture chamber. It's crazy, entertaining stuff. This issue is one of the best, too, with a lot of storylines reaching their boiling points and a great last panel. The only problem is that there are way too many unrevealed questions and one awkward page of art, but this is definitely one of Image's best books right now. ***1/2

BATMAN ETERNAL #52

If you enjoy getting some new every week then I'm sure you loved Batman Eternal. It was a weekly book that just ended its year-long run. But with this quick fix came problems. There was never going to be one writer or artist. There was always going to be strands you didn't enjoy. And it was never going to be even half as good as Snyder and Capullo's current Batman run, which is awesome. I read all fifty-two issues. This means it wasn't awful. While a lot of it was crap, the main storyline was a good one. Police Commissioner Jim Gordon was framed and imprisoned. A new, evil, anti-Batman guy took over. An unknown menace, who turned out to be Bruce Wayne's brother, Lincoln March, orchestrated complete chaos in Gotham. The rest was hit-or-miss. Hush showed up. Batman's butler, Alfred, had a daughter that showed up. Some villains broke out of Blackgate. There was a weird supernatural story below the sewers that baffled me. In this finale we got a showdown between Batman and his brother (and this last issue, at $3.99 for 38 pages, is a steal). The art in this series was all over the map but at least we got a cool Jae Lee cover for this issue. The writing was also sub par, thanks mostly to the fact that only the B-team was involved. For what it was, though, it was high-entertainment week to week. It never got truly dull. Some of the storylines moved to other books (Arkham set-up shop at Wayne Manor, Catwoman took over as the mafia boss). You probably had to love Batman to enjoy this, but, really, who doesn't? Issue #52 *** The whole series **1/2 (out of ****)

MEN OF WRATH #1-5

It's a little strange that this book flew under the radar (the final issue, #5, just came out last week). Writer Jason Aaron is pretty popular name in comics (he currently writes Thor, Star Wars, and Southern Bastards). Artist Ron Garney isn't a top name but he did work with Aaron on Wolverine. I guess you have to blame Marvel's Icon imprint, an extremely sorry, throwaway imprint if there ever was one. Maybe they didn't promote it enough? The only books published by Icon these days seem to be Bendis' books, Powers and The United States of Murder, Inc. The reason Icon was created was so Marvel writers/artists could publish their own books without going to another company like Image. It didn't fucking work! Jason Aaron's Southern Bastards is at Image. Hickman, Fraction, and Remender all have multiple Image books...so I'm not sure what the point of Icon is. Either way, Men of Wrath is good enough that it's too bad it got buried and forgotten so easily. It's not as good as Southern Bastards but it's certainly similar. The premise is basically there's this regular Joe who ends up in a heap of trouble. A group of evil dudes send a hit man to kill this regular Joe and the hit man happens to be...his father. Yep. Issue #1 and #5 are just okay, but towards the end of #2 and throughout #3 and #4 the book gets action packed and suspenseful and extremely wild. It's heavy on the violence, very brutal and very nihilistic. It's guys and guns and revenge. Typical, right? But Aaron is a king at this type of story. It's not a masterpiece or anything (Garney's artwork is a bit sloppier than usual) but good enough that it's a little sad it got lost in the shuffle. **1/2 (out of ****)

NEW MARVEL #1's

WOLVERINES #1

I suppose Marvel saw and liked the sales that DC had for their weekly series started last year, Batman Eternal. So Marvel starts their own weekly series about...well...what is it about? Wolverine is dead (or, at least, encased in adamantium and presumed dead). The new Weapon-X project created a few new super-dudes that inhabit this book along with a few other heroes and villains like Sabretooth and Mystique and Lady Deathstrike. So far I'm not really sure where this book is going or what it's ultimately going to be about. I guess it would've helped if I had read the mini-series that linked this book to last Fall's Death of Wolverine series. Either way, the characters head to the destroyed lab where Wolverine's body is. There's some fisticuffs. I'm confused. Usually writer Charles Soule and artist Nick Bradshaw deliver the goods. But this book is just a mess (it doesn't help that pages 17 and 18 are randomly drawn by someone else). If Marvel wants anyone to pony up four bucks every week for twenty-pages it's gonna have to be fucking awesome. * (out of ****)

 ANT MAN #1

A new Ant Man movie is coming out this summer starring Paul Rudd so here's the new series (Marvel Studios seems to be getting desperate finding new franchises, no?). At least they got red-hot writer Nick Spencer to work his magic (the humorous, amusing tone is very similar to his The Superior Foes of Spider-Man book that recently wrapped up). I have no idea who Ant Man is...but after reading this I realize why he's not Batman famous. He can shrink to the size of an ant. That's it. Yes. That's all folks. But the book is very funny, very fun. It's light, easy, entertaining. The story so far as Scott Lang, aka Ant Man, trying to get a job and be a good dad to his daughter. He skips out on a bodyguard job for Tony Stark so he can move to Miami. It's simplistic but a treat. ***

STAR WARS #1

 They got their best writer to write it, so at least Marvel did something right when they got the Star Wars comic book rights back. Artist John Cassaday does a hell of a job here. Han Solo looks like Harrison Ford, etc. The book looks great and the plot and dialogue are spot-on. The story is entertaining and the climax is nice...but this book is the definition of fan fiction and that's a problem. It just feels like a cheap copy of the original Star Wars films. They also can't change the storyline so it's a little muted in that sense (Darth Vader isn't going to kill Leia or anything as an example). If you want same-old, same-old then I suppose you'll enjoy this. But Jason Aaron is a beast that is best when set loose (see Southern Bastards, Scalped, or Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine). He's restrained here, and it shows. **1/2

Best Comic Book of 2014: BATMAN

 There were a ton of good books that came out in 2014. Image Comics had a hell of a year. Saga, Nailbiter, Umbral, The Fade Out, Birthright, Sex Criminals, Southern Bastards, The Walking Dead, Invincible, Stray Bullets: Killers, Wytches, Starlight, and Shutter were all great. Crazy that one independent company could put out so many awesome books. Marvel had Ms. Marvel, The United States of Murder, Inc. and The Superior Foes of Spider-Man which were good. Lumberjanes and The Woods from BOOM! Studios were both terrific. The Bunker from Oni Press was strange, wild, and compelling. And DC had The Wake which was entertaining and bizarre. But the best book of the year was Batman (by writer Scott Snyder and artists Greg Capullo, Danny Miki, and FCO Plascencia). The first half of the year the book was set in the past during "Zero Year" when Batman battled Dr. Death and The Riddler. The second half of the year Batman faced off against The Joker. Super-hero stories are, obviously, pretty pedestrian these days. But when they're done right they're a sight to behold. Snyder and co. presented what we all want to see in comic book: big set-pieces, major arcs, villains trying to take over the world, gorgeous art, cliff-hangers, drama, interesting characters, and thrill-ride action. This book had it all. It was always the book I looked forward to reading the most and was always the one book I couldn't put down. Month after month it surprised and entertained and was exactly the super-hero book we all wanted and needed. It was the book of the year.

Best Issue of 2014: THE UNITED STATES OF MURDER, INC. #1

There were a lot of reasons why this issue stood out. First off it was forty pages for $3.99, a steal in this new era of $3.99 20 page books. Second, it was awesome. Michael Avon Oeming was born to draw gangsters and crime. His art has never looked better. And the story by Bendis is one hell of an idea. What if the mob won? What if they've taken over a big chunk of America and rule while the politicians and cops stay outside their zone? On top of that, there's a killer reveal at the end. Everything just clicked. The book was engrossing and entertaining and dark and wild and interesting and dramatic. How every first issue should be; delivering the goods then making you wishing you could read #2 asap.