Welcome to the 11th installment of the new Leave Your Spandex @t the Door! Wednesday is Comic Book Day in the U.S., and LYS@D is here again with this week’s Early Bird Reviews, so you can catch up on what rocks and what flops this week before you head to your local LCS! I’d like to thank Travelling Man Manchester for providing me with the advance look copies for review!
This week’s roll call: Ape Vs Mime, Batman vs libel, mutants versus rubble, Ant-man versus carpet bugs, Kree Vs Skrull and the Silver Surfer versus noone of consequence in the long run”¦ Let’s RUUUUMBLE!
Big Max #1
Mr. Comics
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: James Fry and Andrew Pepoy
Review content: I’ll pick a thread from my She-hulk review two weeks back:
How cool is Dan Slott!
This is Slott’s first creator-owned title and he has graciously provided the Nexus review staff with preview copies. Although usually 1-2 reviewers handle each review copy, the demand for this comic in our ranks was immense, so expect to read a lot about it this week!
The concept is shamelessly “catchy”: a superhero ape! And his chimp sidekick? The character is based shamelessly on a “super” tradition, but at the same time surprisingly original in his spin off the usual. To be blunt, anyone could write Superman as an ape and get a few chuckles off the audience. But Dan Slott breaks the mould. Shamelessly. Everything old is fresh again. From the secret identity of our primate hero, to his Rogues gallery. I don’t want to spoil the many surprises and gags in this issue, but I will just introduce the two villains of the issue: Knock Knock is the walking Riddler analog to the ‘knock knock, who’s there’ joke, with a brilliant representative design by James Fry! He’s only the entrée though, for the big baddie of the issue: the Mime! And as corny as an Ape Vs Mime fight sounds, the mime has the most original power set, worthy of the classier offbeat villains from the 60s.
I have only one grievance with Dan Slott concerning this issue; it’s only one issue! As soon as I finished this, I was pumped up to add the ongoing series to my pull list and tell all my friends. Then, I talk with Dan and he tells me he can’t do publish any more Big Max while he’s under Marvel’s contract. I do believe good things are worth waiting for, so once more with a feeling:
How shamelessly cool is Dan Slott!
Score: A
Batman: Secrets #2
DC
Writer/Artist: Sam Kieth
Review content: Sam Kieth returns on the dark Knight after the much-lauded Scratch mini to give us what is destined to be a classic Batman/Joker series, examining the disturbed relationship between Batman and his archnemesis.
The story does call for the reader to stretch his suspension of disbelief to its limits, as the Joker gets released on good behaviour thanks to his newest female friend n the parole board, and sets off on a mission to frame the Dark Knight accusing him of brutalising his person! The plot takes place in three times: the present, Batman’s childhood with a secret of violence being slowly revisited and the interlude-future-ending with Batman and Joker (on a wheelchair?) sitting next to each other in a pitch dark surrounding discussing their relationship.
The art is the true selling of the series, as Sam Kieth is doing the best work in his career, presenting the new definitive take on the mad cackling Joker.
Score: A
Annihilation: Silver Surfer
Marvel
Writer: Keith Giffen
Artist: Renato Arlem
Review content: Annihillus is out to annihilate the universe or something equally terrifying and invasive. And some meanies from the Negative Zone have a mean on for Galactus’ heralds. Gee, that kinda includes the title character, doesn’t it? Sneaaaky. First they go after Gabriel, the robot herald called Airwalker. Didn’t he once fight the Fantastic four and kick their collective ass? That was my second comic ever, by the way. Now he’s smashed to a pulp by this bunch of second-raters and used as cannon fodder.
All in all, not a very impressive issue, filled with ‘’been there/donethat” fisticuffs in space and force blasts flying around to no effect. The only promise in this series is an hint of a deeper examination of the silver surfe’s psychology; Giffen directly compares Annihillus’ current destructive wrath to Galactus’ lunch breaks on planets, and how the Silver Surfer rationalises his past life and differentiates between the two evils.
Score: D
X-Statix presents: Dead Girl #3
Marvel
Writer: Pete Milligan
Artist: Nick Dragotta and Mike Allred
Review content: Dead girl came out last week but it wasn’t in the advance reviews pile so I had once more missed the chance to talk about this book, that has quickly become my favourite title.
Did you ever have a book like that?
A book that you enjoyed so much, that you were so passionate about, that you couldn’t stop hyping it to your friends, and singing its praises at every opportunity? A book that would have you eagerly waiting the next issue, not because of a raging cliffhanger, but because you know it to be the highlight of your comics-reading month. There hasn’t been a book to claim that position for me in a good few years, but right now, that’s how I feel for Dead Girl. You might have guessed from the barrage of coverage it has received on this website, as I have interviewed almost everyone involved in the project except from the intern getting Milligan’s sandwich tray. Check back to previous weeks’ columns for my talks with writer Pete Milligan, artist Mike Allred and editor Warren Simons. And there’s more to come I’m afraid!
Now on to the story. Dr Strange’s mentor, the Ancient One and his pal the Pitiful One has gathered a posse of Marvel’s meanest and deadest villains (Mysterio, Kraven, Anarchist and”¦ Miss America?) and are trying to break through for good. Dr Strange has travelled to the afterlife to enlist Dead Girl’s help in gathering his own team of dead heroes (including Gwen Stacy, Mockingbird, the Orphan, Moira mcTaggart, the Western Ghost Rider and Ant-Man!) to fight them at their home base!
Pete Milligan has been on the receiving side of a lot of negative criticism the past year for his X-Men work, which (unfortunately) hasn’t been the instant classic many readers were expecting. But through his return here to familiar faces, he proves he is still the best writer in Marvel’s dynamic. Dead Girl is a clever, witty and laugh-out-loud funny satire on comics and the revolving door of death, as the two groups of Marvel’s deadest race to find the Greatest Secret in the Marvel Universe: Why do dead characters come back to life, and why is it always the most popular ones that make it back first?
This issue marks the long-awaited and hyped return of the most beloved Milligan x-force member, Edie Sawyer: U-Go Girl, in a powerful moment. Just like in her death, Edie’s return brought shivers down my spine and a tear in my eye. Thank you for that, mr Milligan. And also for introducing the gayest superhero in comics: the Piano Player!
Although the credits read “penciller: Nick Dragotta” and “inker: Mike Allred”, the art looks more like the result of a breakdowns/finishes procedure. Nick Dragotta has an amazing sense of dynamic perspective and photography in the panel, but his previous work on the title, with the Vivisector story in X-Stati where he had inked himself bears no result to the brilliant art found in these pages. Mike Allred seems to have stepped in here and drawn over Nick Dragotta’s “roughs” with his ink. The result is an unmistakeably Mike Allred linework with a fresh new dynamic and innovative camera angles. I hope this mini isn’t the end of this collaboration.
I wish I was allowed to grade this comic over the scale, but I guess it will just have to be
Score: A
New Excalibur #6
Marvel
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Michael Ryan
Review content: I try to be nice. I try to give Claremont chance and not write him off, like most other fans have. But he’s not helping his case. Am I mean and prejudiced? He’s inaptly named this story “So Why Is It I’m Not DEAD?!” alluding to the big big mystery (you can cut the sarcasm with a palette knife on Paint) of Dazzle’s death and resurrection. That would have been a mildly interesting issue. But Clarmeont will have none of that, so he immediately closes that subplot on the title page and doesn’t speak of it again for the rest of the issue. Claremont is your master now.
He has assembled a very interesting cast on this title, but what situation doe she put them in? First they’re fighting daaark spooky versions of prof x and the original team in leather (how original) and warwolves (his most overused inane creation after the Neo). Then he brings in Austen’s Captain Britain. And now, the team spends a whole issue saving people from rubble. Wheee!
The first half of the book is spent in a split-page mode, leading to big splash the joins the two plots. That means Claremont expects the reader to follow both narratives on each page at the same time. While that would work on any other writer, in this case after I spend 2 minutes reading the once-interesting Tessa monologuing about nothing, I have completely lost the flow of the other concurrent monologue above her.
Do I really need to spell out the score here?
Score: F
Young Avengers #11
Marvel
Writer: Allan Heinberg
Artist: Jimmy Cheung
Review content: Shock! Shock! Shock!
Allan Heinberg has been playing us for fools! This series was originally hyped as the teen versions of the main Avengers (Hulk, Thor, Cap, Antman, Ironman), and accused of blatantly ripping DC’s Teen Titans. Then with the first issue out and that last Kang-eriffic twist, it was evident there’s something askew. These characters had nothing to do with their namesakes, they were unrelated to the Avengers. And once the readers have settled on that carpet, it’s pulled out from under our bums again. This issue reveals just how deeply rooted into Avengers history these characters really are, and how good allan Heinberg is in the game of misdirection. This is a huge pay-off issue for fans of the series, tying together the two major mysteries on the book, and it’s shocks aplenty as Wiccan and Hulkling’s true origins are revealed!
Who could have guessed this would turn out to be an Infinity Inc. rip after all!
Score: B
PRESS RELEASE
AdHouse Books is again pleased to announce…
Bumperboy and the Loud, Loud Mountain
by Debbie Huey
With the success of Bumperboy’s first adventure, Debbie Huey returns with a brand new book titled “Bumperboy and the Loud Loud Mountain.” Join Bumperboy and his best pal Bumperpup as they unravel the mystery of a rather talkative mountain, meet new friends, and discover a new enemy in this brand new ALL-AGES adventure that will keep readers riveted!
What people have said about Bumperboy:
“Bumperboy is a fun, all-ages minicomic I first encountered at the Alternative Press Expo. It has a real innocent feel, but is also engaging with a keen sense of design backing the whole thing up. Highly recommended!” -Dan Shahin, Hijinx Comics
“Bumperboy is a wonderful tale for all ages…Bumperboy was one of my favorite finds at APE this year.” -Adrienne Rappaport, Sequential Tart
“You show me someone who wouldn’t enjoy the adventures of Bumperboy, and I’ll show you someone who needs a good punch in the face!” – Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, Buzzscope
“There’s only one word for this comic: adorable.” – Will Moss, Nashville City Paper
“I found myself smiling the whole way through the book, and I’d be surprised if it was possible to get to the end without doing so. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for whatever Huey does next.” – Greg McElhaton, I-Comics
+++
Bumperboy and the Loud, Loud Mountain
128 one-color pages
5.5″ x 7″
$8.95 US funds
ISBN: 0-9766610-1-2
You can preorder this comic through Diamond’s May Previews catalog, which hits your local comic shop on 4/26/06.
www.adhousebooks.com
Aaaaand that’s a wrap for this week! I’m waiting your comments and feedback through email to Manolis@gmail.com. If you self-publish your own comics or represent an indy comics company, add me to your press release list, and I will run your news in this space every week.
Manolis Vamvounis
a.k.a. Dr. Dooplove
