The Weekly Round-Up #81 With DMZ, All Nighter, DHP, Fables & The Mission

Columns, Top Story

The Best Comic of the Week:

DMZ #66

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Riccardo Burchielli

It’s been a while since we’ve seen what’s going on with Zee, the character who has more or less functioned as the conscience of this series since we, and main character Matty Roth, first met her back at the beginning of Matty’s time in the DMZ.

Since splitting with Matty, Zee has been living with Martel, the girl Matty rescued from Trustwell, the Halliburton stand-in that was one of the plagues the people in he DMZ have had to endure.  As this issue opens, Martel leaves, and Zee finds herself examining her stubborn persistence in the city.  It’s true that she comes from New York, and so can’t go home, but still she struggles with the notion of abandoning her medical work, and leaving the city to its fate.

While she goes through this conversation with herself, the reader is treated to a number of flashbacks to different moments over the last five years as she revisits her relationship with Matty.  I like that DMZ has run in real time, covering such a long stretch of time in the life of the city and its inhabitants.  There is only one arc left before this series ends, and so it’s fitting that Brian Wood take a moment to look in on one of the most important characters in the book.

Before finishing here, I want to comment on how wonderful John Paul Leon’s covers have been for this book, since he took over from Wood.  This issue’s cover is among the best he’s done.

Other Notable Comics:

All Nighter #1

by David Hahn

I picked this up on the strength of David Hahn’s name, and found it to be just about exactly what I expected.  All Nighter fits in the college kid slacker genre of indie comics, alongside books like Wet Moon, New York Four, and Forgetless, among others.

The series starts Kit, a girl about to enter art school who is living on her own (with friends) for the first time, and is looking to dump her long-time on again off again boyfriend Dwayne.  They hang out at a diner locally known as the All Nighter, and Dwayne convinces her to help him on a break-in job, which is something they used to do frequently.

Most of the issue is spent introducing us to Kit, her best friend Sally-O, her family, and other roommate.  Hahn sets up a few plot elements that will provide direction going forward, such as introducing a potential roommate, and having Kit refer a few times to how she is responsible for her mother’s death.  This book is interesting, and Hahn’s artwork is always nice to look at, but there’s not much about it that makes it stand out yet.  I’m curious enough to stick around though, and I hope it does more to differentiate itself moving forward.

Dark Horse Presents #2

Written by Paul Chadwick, Robert Love, David Walker, Neal Adams, Carla Speed McNeil, Howard Chaykin, Michael T. Gilbert, Patrick Alexander, Chuck Brown, Richard Corben, and David Chelsea

Art by Paul Chadwick, Robert Love, Neal Adams, Carla Speed McNeil, Howard Chaykin, Michael T. Gilbert, Patrick Alexander, Sanford Greene, Richard Corben, and David Chelsea

It’s pretty difficult to look at an anthology like DHP, which has no unifying theme, as a single, whole entity.  It’s easier to break it down into its components and review them individually.  I will say that I still wish there was more originality to the book – as much as I love things like Concrete and stories by Richard Corben, I’d like to read the next big thing even more.

Concrete – I’m always happy to read a new Concrete story, although I thought this one was kind of strange, with its hinting that the aliens that made Concrete could be returning, and Maureen’s explorations of the roots of religion.  I think it should have been a bit longer, but mostly that’s because I’d much prefer a new Concrete mini-series.

Number 13 – This appears to be a pretty cool post-apocalyptic story about a young kid who is a cyborg or bioweapon or something, and the three-eyed girl he rescues from an ogre.  There’s not much more than establishment going on here, but it’s pretty interesting.

Blood – I’m not sure why Neal Adams thinks that he should be writing without some help.  This story shifts from what looked like a crime-fighting thing to a combination of The Secret History and I Am Legion, but not as good.  Just wordy.  Adams’s terrific art does not make up for the story.

Finder – The Finder stories in this series so far are becoming favourites of mine.  It’s the first I’ve read of McNeil’s series (I do have the Voice graphic novel in my to-read pile), so while I’m not sure of the context, I am finding it amusing to explore her world through the eyes of a courier.

Marked Man – This is still not doing it for me (mostly because of Chaykin’s art, which is better here than his recent New Avengers work), but I found the second chapter of this ‘career criminal as family man’ story to be better than the first.

Mr. Monster – I find this kind of thing unreadable, and therefore did not read it.  I’m still impressed with myself for making it through the first chapter…

The Wraith – This is also not really kind of thing – I guess it’s cute, but it doesn’t fit with the rest of the stuff in this book.

Rotten Apple – Now this is a new entry that has some promise.  Brown and Greene are building an interesting world populated by rival zombie gangs, religious orders, and cartoon animal mercenaries.  I think that this would have benefited from more space to build the setting, but I like Greene’s art and am curious to see where the story goes.

Murky World: The Treasure – Richard Corben stories don’t have to make a lot of sense, because they are always so well-drawn.  This chapter has our hero get tricked by the women he helped last time, and we meet a gigantic monstrous cabbie.  This is good stuff.

Snow Angel – In the first issue, I found this story to be pretty charming, but this chapter is just kind of cute.  I can see getting tired of Snow Angel – a girl who gains powers when she lies in the snow.

Fables #106

Written by Bill Willingham
Art by Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha

It’s hard to tell, reading this issue, which concludes the ‘Super Team’ arc, and finishes off the long-running plot line revolving around Mr. Dark, if Willingham had written himself into a corner, or had always intended to end it thus.  You see, in the first few pages of the book, Mr. North decides to attack Dark, and already has made plans to box him again, with the help of Frau Totenkinder and her new husband.

It seems like a pretty quick and easy ending for a storyline that has taken a couple of years to tell, and in a lot of ways, it feels like a cop out.  This is mitigated by some excellent character work immediately afterward, as Willingham checks in on a number of the book’s more prominent cast members, and drops a few hints that whatever is going to happen next, is going to involve Rose Red in a pretty big way.

This issue is an example of how cutting two story pages has hurt a few DC comics; specifically, it’s hard to imagine that something as momentous as what happened in this issue would take place without getting the reaction of Gepetto, who does not appear in this issue.

The Mission #5

Written by Jon Heober and Erich Hoeber
Art by Werther Dell’Edera

I really haven’t seen this series get much love on the internet, and that’s a huge mistake, as The Mission is continuing to evolve into one of the most interesting comics that I read every month.  Basically, this successful business and family man named Paul has been recruited into a mysterious war between the forces of good and evil by a man named Gabriel.

So far, Paul has killed a couple of people, stolen an ancient artifact, and had to lie to his wife and employers repeatedly.  Now, having lost the artifact he stole last issue, having been threatened with divorce from his wife and the loss of his job, Paul decides to stop following Gabriel’s instructions.  What he doesn’t know, however, is that there will be serious consequences to his decision for both himself and his children.

I like the way the Hoeber’s write the scene in the doctor’s office where Paul learns just what will happen if he doesn’t continue with his mission.  His arrogance at knowing his fate disappears completely once his children enter the equation.  Dell’Edera draws the scene wonderfully.

The Mission really has my interest right now.  We know so little about the nature of the war that Paul has become involved in, and why he was chosen.  I appreciate that we have been seeing things from his perspective alone, and look forward to having more revealed as the series continues.  If you are looking for a new, intelligent and taut thriller, you should give this series a try.

Quick Takes:

Batman: Gates of Gotham #2 – With this issue, I think that Gates of Gotham is eclipsing Snyder’s Detective Comics as the second-best Bat-book right now (sorry, but you can’t expect to beat out Grant Morrison), as a whole bunch of the Bat-family try to understand the bomber’s plot and its connection to Gotham’s oldest cities.  Clearly writers Snyder and Higgins were influenced by Erik Larson’s wonderful book The Devil in the White City, as they devote chunks of the comic to architecture and engineering.  Even the inclusion of Hush can’t ruin this comic.  Reading this, though, I am sad that DC feels the need to return Dick to his Nightwing persona when they relaunch in September – having him as one of two Batmen is just more interesting.

Captain America #619 – I guess this is the last issue of Captain America, as Fear Itself and the movie-mandated relaunch with a new number one have invalidated what was working so well with this comic, as we find Steve Rogers forced to return to his familiar costume and shield, and we have Bucky’s character arc, which as been so fascinating, cut short.  Art wise, this continues to be one of my favourite comics, with the interesting mix of Guice and Samnee, with assistance from Gaudiano and Breitweiser.  I really wish Guice was staying on the new title, instead of Steve McNiven taking over (and, I’m guessing falling way off schedule by #3).

Iron Man 2.0 #6 – The decision to include War Machine in what is really an Immortal Weapons Fear Itself tie-in still strikes me as incredibly odd, and the choice of Ariel Olivetti as artist for this type of story is even odder.  Still, Spencer’s able to keep the story together, even if it is only the prologue and epilogue pages by Carmine Di Giandomenico and Matt Wilson that are pretty.

New Mutants #26 – While I like the idea of the New Mutant team tracking down unfinished X-business, I wish that the first arc wouldn’t have to involve a character as uninteresting and ridiculous as the Sugar Man, especially since a very story arc is happening in Uncanny X-Force right now.  I enjoyed the Steve Rogers cameo, but found Fernandez’s artwork to look very rushed throughout this issue.

Secret Avengers #14 – Guest writer (or temporary new writer?) Nick Spencer is using this series’s Fear Itself crossovers to delve into some of the characters that make up this team.  Where that was a disaster for last month’s Beast-centred issue, this time around, shining the spotlight on Valkyrie works much better.  She leads a group of soldiers into battle with Sin’s army (apparently they are moving up the coast from Washington towards New York), and we also learn her origin through a flashback.  Spencer tells the story through the perspective of two soldiers in love, with the effect being that the characters feel more solid, and for the first time (aside from Journey into Mystery), Fear Itself feels like it has some emotional weight behind it.

Thunderbolts #159 – I can’t imagine any reason why Marvel would feel the need to pick this issue to get the double-sized, $5 treatment, although at the same time, the issue is very good, as we are given four stories set during the aftermath of Juggernaut’s Fear Itself-induced rampage at the Raft.  The main story, by regular writer Jeff Parker and sometime artist Declan Shalvey, chronicles the efforts of the two Thunderbolts teams to stop escapees and rescue casualties.  The back-up stories do more of the same, and are drawn by Valentine DeLandro, Eric Canete, and Matthew Southworth.  It’s decent stuff.

X-Men Legacy #251 – Mike Carey continues to do a perfectly decent job on this title, as Legion tracks down two more of his escaped personalities, and finally, no one talks much about the Age of X world.  I wonder if this title, or the adjectiveless X-Men will continue after Schism and the splitting of the team into two books.  From what I’ve read, it’s going to make the other X-Men titles more redundant than they already are.

Comics I Would Have Bought if They Weren’t $4:

John Byrne’s Next Men #7

Mighty Thor #3

Planet of the Apes #3

Wolverine #11

Bargain Comics:

Batgirl #21 – I continue picking up this comic in the expectation that I will eventually see why my Nexus colleagues love it so much, but I continue to be a little disappointed.  This is a good comic, but that’s about all it is.

Deadpool Max #8 – This series continues to be a lot of fun, as Bob is at the mercy of the Crescent Moon Knights, and we learn his history with his fellow agent (Cable’s handler).  Kyle Baker’s art looks fantastic here.

Wolverine #7 & 8 – These two issues finish off the lengthy Logan in Hell/Logan possessed by demons story that started this current re-numbering.  It’s good stuff, but it’s in the character interactions at the end that Aaron’s writing really shines.  I always like seeing Acuna’s art on more straight-forward superhero books too.  If you read these comics as a sample of what Jason Aaron writing the X-Men is going to be like, they show promise.

The Week in Graphic Novels:

Chicanos Vol. 1

Written by Carlos Trillo
Art by Eduardo Risso

Over the last couple of months, I’ve amassed a number of graphic novels by the team of the recently deceased Carlos Trillo and collaborator Eduardo Risso.  I’ve been buying these books on the strength of Risso’s unconventional art, but haven’t read anything by this team beyond the first chapter of their Vampire Boy (the nice new Dark Horse edition of which is on my ‘to-read’ pile).

Anyway, Chicanos is an interesting project.  It was clearly serialized in short installments when it was first published in Europe, as each story is pretty short.  For whatever reason, when designing this trade paperback, the people at IDW decided to place the various short stories that make up the book in a continuous stream of pages, with the effect that it’s sometimes confusing to read the book in prolonged sittings.

Chicanos stars AY Jalisco, a short, pencil-legged, over-endowed Latina private detective operating in what I assume is New York.  Poor Jalisco is pretty bumbling and clueless a lot of the time, as she stumbles from case to case or problem to problem.  She doesn’t have many friends or clients, and spends too much time stuck in her own head.  None of this stops her from going up against mobsters time and again.

It’s interesting to see how this European comic portrays Jalisco and the people that make up her mostly-Latino neighbourhood.  To begin with, I don’t think many poor New Yorkers have bidets in their bathroom, but Jalisco does (minor point, but it really stood out as being strange).  Also, it’s hard to believe that there has been a period in the last twenty years where anti-Chicano sentiment and prejudice has been as virulent as it is shown here.  This book implies that Latinos live under Jim Crow-like conditions, where they can’t even enter the front door of hotels, let alone hail a cab (that one being more believable).

Still, Chicanos is a frequently funny and engaging comic.  Risso’s art is always brilliant, if never beautiful.  It’s interesting to look at his pre-100 Bullets work and see how his style has developed and been refined.  I will be looking for Volume 2 of this title, and am glad that the two books are connected, but are not exactly continuations of each other.

Album of the Week:

Blue Sky Black Death – Third Party

Get in touch and share your thoughts on what I've written: jfulton@insidepulse.com