After a week or two hiatus of the Lowdown, here is…

New Frontiers 

here’s the lowdown…

• The Challengers are on Earth 3 taking on the Crime syndicate… no wait, the Crime  Society
• The Challengers are about to get their tails handed to them when the Jokester (Earth 3’s hero version of the Joker) jumps in and even the odds
• After Bob determines that Ray Palmer is no longer on Earth 3, the Challengers teleport out
• Monarch shows up and offers the chance for the Society revenge and to be part of his multi-verse conquest
•  Holly sends a letter to Selina dealing with what’s been going on in the Athenian Women shelters… it seems like the letter is intercepted
• Mr. Myxlplyx is ripped out of the fifth dimension by an unknown force (my bet is on Monarch)
• Eclipso finally gets Mary Marvel alone and promises her to be the mentor she needs
• Part of Eclipso’s seduction involved Mary turning three guards to stone
• Una and Karate Kid finally find Buddy Blank
• Cadmus labs starts to analyze Jimmy Olsen, and the experiment gets out of control as Jimmy’s body stretches and bloats out
• The Monitors turn their full attention to the Challengers and decide they must be stopped at all cost
• Origin of the Joker

So 21 issues down and 31 left to go… roughly… which means at $2.99 a cover that’s about $93 for the rest of the Countdown story.  This is a tough pill for me to swallow given I’m only really interested in some of the Countdown players (Mr. Didio - please either kill Jimmy Olsen or never mention him again… either would be wonderful).  Given the level of talent attached to the Countdown book (Dini, Waid, McKeever, Giffen just to name a few), every week Countdown should be blowing every fanboy and girl out of their seats… and the bottom line is… it’s not.

Truth be told, I can’t blame Dan Didio or Bob Wayne (VP - Sales) for being good business people.  DC sold a weekly comic that for the most part was really ground breaking (52), they followed it up with Countdown, which parts of are very good and other parts are nothing more than filler.  And we, the fan-populace have bought it.   Out and out, we bought it.  I had the pleasure of meeting both Mr. Wayne and Mr. Didio at Wizard World Chicago this year and listening into the DC Nation panel.  It was made very clear that the whole DC family loves a good story / book but financially speaking if we keep buying it… DC will keep making weekly comics from here until the Final Crisis, Final Edition… or something like that, as long as it is financially reasonable for them to do so.

Before I make my requests, I want to applaud DC for several things in the last couple years.  First, giving a great central story scaffolding that does impact all of the DC universe (Identity Crisis, 52, Infinite Crisis, Countdown, Final Crisis, etc.), it is a great thing to have all the stories pointed in the same direction and not having one story arc undo what happen six months earlier (granted I have heard some fans complaining about “undoing” Crisis on Infinite Earths… but that was a while ago).  And then DC did what nobody (even some of the creators, according to their own blogs) thought they could do, every issue of 52 and Countdown so far has been on time, while keeping the majority of the other DC books in order also (thank you Ms. Jones).  And then very recently, I think it was a great idea coming up with the 52 / Countdown spin-off books (The Four Horsemen, Countdown to Adventure, Countdown to Mystery, The Crime Bible, etc.), so I can follow what characters and stories I want to follow and catch up with the other less exciting story-lines online or in Wizard.   Let it be known, that I think DC is doing a great deal right,  I’m a DC-ite… but I just wish there was more substance to Countdown, which is the central story-line weekly book.

So, in short (I know, too late) this is a request of the DC family of creators… please don’t feed us crap-and-filler sandwiches just because we are hungry and have money in our pockets.  And a request to the world of fanboys and girls out there, we need to start watching where our precious pesos go and be careful what we buy on a whim… the comic companies will sell what we are buying and what we buy determines future projects… case in point: Zombie Civil War ring a bell?

World War Hulk #4 (Marvel - Pak / Romita Jr.) - Bash, Boom, Bang! That’s the sound of the Hulk taking on a demon empowered Dr. Strange. The bad news is, it’s just not enough to take down an amped up Hulk. The battle itself is thing of beauty in it’s destructive force. We once again see why John Romita Jr. is a legend in his own time. Matthew Peterson of MajorSoilers.com writes “Greg Pak is writing a tale with an energy that makes every scene feel like that moment where the roller-coaster drops out from under you and your stomach suddenly leaps into your neck,” and I could not agree more. His are the best Hulk stories since the Mr. Fixit days. I’m hoping that Marvel keeps him around after all the WWH things end.

I do have to voice some disappointment in this story in that it follows the Marvel formula of 4 issues of set up, 1 issue of big battle, then 1-year of outcome. In WWH #4 we see the Hulk cross a line that, frankly, I don’t buy. In all the crossovers, Marvel has been setting up that the Hulk still has compassion and will not kill. I guess that’s all shot out the window now. Consistency is good Marvel!!!

The issue closes with the obvious lead-in to Hulk vs. Sentry (really?)

Grade: B+

Star Lord #3 (Marvel -  Giffen / Green II) - Okay, so I know that these books have been out for a few weeks and Star Lord #4 shipped this week, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to give my 2 cents. Bottom line is that I very much enjoy the Star Lord book. It’s basically the Dirty Dozen in space (and if you don’t know what that is GET THEE TO A VIDEO STORE). It’s a rag-tag group of intergalactic prisoners sent on a suicide mission for the Kree.

This issue opens up with out heroes involved in a battle and never lets up from there. Giffen does a great job and mixing action and meaningful dialog. Never did I feel there was a slow part in the book, and much like The Dirty Dozen, main characters die. The art is much like I said last time. There are moments of greatness, but I didn’t feel that the overall look of the book was anything new.

Grade: B+

Wraith #3 (Marvel - Grillo-Marxuac / Hotz) - Wraith is the new anti-hero that Marvel has introduced during the Conquest cross-over. In the last issue we got the full story of who/what Wraith is and why he’s less than happy. This issue, Wraith communicates with his dead father (we hope in his head) who tells him to continue his fight against the Phalanx (tech organic alien conquerors). Fight Wraith does, and he brings an ally. The whole “enemy of my enemy” story applies then let the Super-Skrull have a go at the Phalanx.

There are a few big reveals that I will not give away, but trust me, it’s big.

Grade: B

Army of Darkness: From the Ashes #1 (Dynamite - Kuhoric / Blanco / Nunes) - The adventure and the battle continues for everyone’s favorite S-mart employee Ash. Coming straight out of the fun and somewhat odd war in the Marvel Zombie Universe he makes it back to his Earth (or so he thinks), where his evil doppleganger has taken over and is almost clinically depressed because it was so easy with the Chosen One out of the way. Of all of the comic spinoffs of AOD, this one is closed to a direct sequel to the movie. The art and story flow with ease… this Dynamite team does a great job of channeling Bruce Campbell.

Grade: B+

The Book of Legion - Ultimate Print (Legion Press - Mojica / Helkowski / Thom / Kruse) - For those of you who have seen Legion Press around the convention circuit know that the first edition of The Book of Legion has been out for a while now… and perhaps have already picked up that first edition, you need to be aware this is not simply a re-print but a whole new vision for this horror anthology. No offense to the team that put together the first book, but it doesn’t hold a candle in content or design to the Ultimate print that comes out of the current head of Legion Press. This volume contained three stories and is one of the darkest books I have read in a long time. This is not a light-hearted book by any stretch of the imagination. My favorite story in the book was called “The Battle”. This mixed a great narration, good explosive art (without being over the top) with an Exorcist twist of an ending.

The Book of Legion will take you on a hardcore horror trip that will leave you feeling a bit disturbed, but instead of relying on the traditional gore or sexy models (not slamming either of those things), it focuses on storytelling. This is a great example for other “hardcore horror” books out there. That being said, The Book of Legion may be too intense for some lighter comic fans and is not for everyone, but perfect for those that take their horror seriously.

Grade: A (for the committed horror fan)

Maintenance (Oni - Massey / Rodriguez) - Maintenance is the story of two regular joes, Doug and Manny who just happen to be the maintenance workers at Terrormax Inc. Terrormax is the corporate think tank for mad scientists bent on world domination. Doug and Manny spend their days fixing blown up machinery, cleaning up toxic chemicals, shining up doomsday machines and just in general trying to stay out of trouble. Like every blue collar worker (at least fictional ones), it seems like their immediate supervisor Mr. Dorothy is out to get them at every turn… but then again, when you take the genetically engineered Shark-Man out drinking and mess up a long-term experiment perhaps some paranoia is expected. Maintenance has a well-paced story that is integrated with both fantastically dry humor and giggle-out-loud sight gags. Without a doubt - worth your time and money.

Grade: A-

The Misadventures of Clark and Jefferson #1 (Ape - Carvajal / Borstel) - This Summer at Wizard World Chicago when I heard the basic premise of the book “Cowboys and aliens”, I thought this is going to go one of two ways… really good or really south ;).  I am happy to share that Clark and Jefferson does not travel the stereotype path while staying in familiar places for the western genre fan… from character sketches (the near-sighted deputy who can’t shoot straight) to the dialogue / character interactions (not all the supporting characters love our sheriff protagonist) to the plot devices (hiding in the bottom of a outhouse pit to not be seen by the alien beasts).  While the art doesn’t scream incredible, there’s nothing distraction about it either.  The plot is action packed, character driven and speckled with a enough dry humor to keep the reader involved.  Clark and Jefferson is something to keep your eye on

Grade: A-

Awakenings #2 (Archaia - Tapalansky / Eckman-Lawn / Mauer) - In this month’s shipping list, my guess is that you would find no less than two dozen books from mid-range to large publishing companies that might use the word “zombie” in their plot summary. Very few on this list could be as suspenseful as Awakening is. Awakening is a full-fledged mystery story that is being unraveled by ex-cop Derreck Peters… we as the reader come on Derreck’s journey as a has-been law enforcement agent through trying to stop what seem like random killing to what maybe a full blown zombie infection. This reads like a great CSI meets X-files story. As a rule, I am not a fan of painted sketchy art, but in Awakening it does nothing but add to the storytelling of Derreck questioning himself and the situation as it explodes around him. If you are looking for an intelligent, well-written, scary mystery that proves that a good horror story does not have to revolve around the selling points of blood and gore… you must check out Awakening.

Grade: A

Star Wars; Knights of the Old Republic

(Writer: John Jackson Miller/ Artist: Brian Ching, Dustin Weaver, Harvey Tolibao)

I got the chance to meet the writer of Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR), John Jackson Miller, at Wizard World 2000 and at the end of our conversation he gave us KOTOR Vol 1 and 2. It’s a great story that is just a bit sweeter when it’s compiled. The KOTOR universe is set approximately 3,963 years before the Battle of Yavin, which is an area of Star Wars lore that is wide open for creative story telling, where as the times between The Phantom Menace and Timothy Zahn novels are so set in stone it’s hard for new stories to be told.

The Wikipedia synopsis of KOTOR reads: Zayne Carrick, a young Padawan training at the Jedi Academy on Taris is given one last chance at capturing a notorious Snvinnian smuggler known as Marn “Gryph” Hierogryph which will allow him to be promoted to Jedi Knight at the academy graduation ceremony the very same day. After numerous hurdles along the way, Zayne manages to capture Gryph, but is late to the graduation ceremony. Upon arriving back at the academy, Zayne is horrified to find the Jedi Masters, his included, standing over the slain corpses of his fellow Padawans. Instinctively, he flees from the scene with Gryph and the two are soon framed for the murder of the Padawans. With no other option, Zayne must now learn the ins and outs of being an outlaw, with Gryph as his mentor, hoping to stay alive long enough to clear his name and discover the reason why the Jedi Masters murdered his friends at the academy.

The story itself is very creative and reads very well. Zayne Carrick is the world’s unluckiest Padawan, but his skills are still pretty good. The luck of The Force is with him. This makes him a blast to follow and the reactions of the rest of his party are pretty priceless. The story really heats up in Vol. 2 when the Mandelorians attack. If you don’t know, the Madelorian War is like the WWII of the Star Wars universe. This is where we really get to see Zayne grow into a leader and we also see that even the worst Jedi is a force to be reckoned with.

The art goes from very solid to downright impressive. Unlike some of the other comics I’ve read lately, the art is very much a part of the story instead of just being the ‘comic” part of the comic book.

KOTOR is not just on par with the all the other Star Wars comics, but raises the bar a few notches. I can’t wait to read Star Wars: Legacy to see if it can keep up with.

Grade: A

• Starting with issue #22, industry legend and Hulk mythos architect Peter David takes over the title… While Dan Slott will be missed at Shulky’s side, he is continuing his fantastic run on The Initiative
• The Anthology Popgun vol 1 is due out in November from Image comics. This one shot graphic novel will be 400+ page and include over 100 creators (Larson, Allred, Kuhn to name a few) telling new stories using new and established characters. This is a fresh situation for the fanboy who is tired of having to spend $2.99 to check out a new writer / artist or character.
• Ultimate Origins (Bendis) coming soon explaining how all of the Marvel Ultimate titles are connected from WWII to the future of the Ultimates
• In November Kurt Busiek starts The Third Kryptonian storyline throughout the Superman books… bringing in a new villain and more revamping of Krypton’s past
• speaking of such… Kevin J. Anderson’s new book The Last Days of Krypton, giving a cannon set History (backed by DC) of Jor-El seems a must for sci-fi, Superman or Anderson fans.
• World War Hulk ends with WWH:Aftersmash with new spin-offs for the Warbound, the Renegades,Tom Foster and Damage Control
• If you just didn’t get enough of Civil War (yea right)… Mark Millar’s Civil War Sketch Book is coming in November… this offer behind the scenes additions, deleted scenes and never before seen sketches and material dealing with Civil War
• Spider-man’s One more day storyline will come to a head in Amazing #545, resetting some of the Peter’s story and his relationship to M.J. and it continues to be played out in the one-shot Brand New Day
• Jimmy Olsen starts… wait, who cares about Jimmy Olsen
  
• Captain Marvel returns in his own mini… straight out of his warden job during Civil War
• A Venom Virus attacks Manhattan in an upcoming story arc in Mighty Avengers, starting with issue #7
• spiraling out of the Endangered Species arc, the first mutant born in a post-House of M Marvel Earth puts all of mutantkind in a desperate race in the Messiah Complex storyline, which follows all of the X-books from October thru January
• DC’s Countdown officially changes it’s name to Countdown to Final Crisis (have fun in your comic databases… reverse order and a name change… yea)

Paolo Parente’s Rust #1 & 2 (Image - Parente / Mink /  Zampbonin / Fabbri) - Rust was a much different book than I thought it would be.  The art and layout of the book are the highlights of the book in standout uniqueness.  The characters are beautifully done and the action is crisp and clear while keeping the very “European” coloring of the book.  The non-traditionsl layout of the pages make it a very easy read to the eyes.   The panel boxes which normally have hard edged lines have a much softer transparent approach in Rust allowing action, conversation and plot to simply flow across the page (sometimes literally).  Even with it’s great artistic layout, it doesn’t save the “sci-fi original movie” plot line.  The story boils down to an alternate history story where Nazis found an alien ship pre-WWII, thus having more advanced weapon technology… thus forcing the allied forces to up their game and through reverse engineering, spying and perhaps their own alien have their own advanced weapon technologies.  Through the course of this two issue series we see gorillas with battle armor, zombie soldiers and some very NC-17 moments involving are main female character and her Nazi counterpart.  Taking into account the great art and putting the plot holes aside, the two issues still read very quickly at $3.99 each. Great to look at, not much to read… but perhaps beautifully drawn Nazi women is your thing.

Grade: C+

John Romita Jr and Joe Quesada on ESPN’s Monday Night Football! 

Spider-Man & Minor League Baseball Team Up On ESPN! 

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