ARCHIE #1: Archie #666 ended the long run on this classic comic character, his friends and the town of Riverdale. Now the comic has been reborn with a new direction courtesy of Mark Waid and Fiona Staples.It’s truly a modern day Archie Andrews. He goes to Riverdale High and tells us about Betty Cooper: the All-American girl who can fix a car and still be sweet and innocent. Reggie is still the suave bad boy and Jughead is now a master of manipulation; no longer tempted by bribes of food. Most of the issue is built around their break-up in what is known as the “Lipstick Incident”. The gang tries desperately to put them back together at the Homecoming Dance but Jughead throws a monkey wrench into their plans. In the process, Archie ends up filling in as guitar player in the band at the dance and that may be the jump-start their relationship needs to be rekindled. Oh yeah: Lodge Industries and a certain girl are waiting in the next issue. This is a great jumping on point of a book that also includes Archie’s first appearance from PEP #22 back in 1941. I have never been a fan of the humor of Archie and the gang but, with this book, the Archie horror themed books and the forthcoming JUGHEAD series by Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson, it’s a good time to get on the bandwagon.
BARB WIRE #1: Back in the day, some two decades ago, Chris Warner created a character named Barb Wire. She was part of the Comics Greatest World that included such titles as AGENTS OF LAW, CATALYST, GHOST, KING TIGER(getting a new series in August), DIVISION 13, HERO ZERO, MOTORHEAD, X and others. She also was the star of a film disaster starring Pamela Anderson. She was a bar owner and bounty hunter. Surprisingly, the new Barb Wire is also a bounty hunter who also runs a nightclub that is slowly being swallowed by bills. In the first issue, we see her blind brother tending bar, meet the supporting cast and watch as The Hammerhead gets trashed by an all out brawl involving Wyvern Stormblud. The story is totally cartoon fodder, but in a good, guilty pleasure way. The art by Patrick Olliffe is dynamite and possibly some of the best of his long career and hearkens back to his work on THE UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN. This is not a title that will change the world; just make it a fun place to hang for a bit!
NEGATIVE SPACE #1: A very overweight and ugly man named Guy is a depressed writer who desperately tries to write his suicide note. Meanwhile, at the Kindred Corporation, a team tries everything they can to break this man and make him take his life, because he is messing up the order of things by living. See, there are monsters that feed on negative emotions and the corporation is responsible for creating those emotions to keep the monsters away. That is the basic premise in this new series from Ryan K. Lindsay and Owen Gieni. And it truly is as weird as it sounds. The art is quirky, the story is complex and it is far away from the standard superhero in tights tales! This is a weird little treat you should really put into your pull list.
THE SPIRIT #1: He’s back…well, sort of. Will Eisner’s legendary hero The Spirit, has made his way from DC Comics to Dynamite and the result is having Matt Wagner and Dan Schkade take their shot at him. “Who killed The Spirit” not only retells the origin of our hero, but also lets us know that Denny Colt has been missing for two years now, much to the dismay of Central City and Ellen Dolan. With our hero out of the picture, Sammy Strunk and Ebony White take the lead in the issue, as they set about to find out what happened to their friend. The issue builds slowly but it feels like it wants to be a success. There have been some major players who have handled this legend, including Paul Smith and Darwyn Cooke. I believe Wagner, whose MAGE is still one of my favorite comics of the last 20 years, has the chops to do that. I look forward to the next issue and beyond!
STRANGE FRUIT #1: Mark Waid and J. G. Jones, who also handles the art, combine their talents to bring us this tremendous first issue of a four issue mini-series. Set in Mississippi in 1927, it presents us with prejudice and more in a tale that brings a strange visitor to Earth with powers far beyond mortal men. The strange visitor is a large black man and seems to be the perfect foil for the KKK. This book is a beautiful piece of art with a great heart inside of it. It is a perfect fit for the recent news reports and issues with the Confederate flag, complete with a last page reveal that is so timely that it is scary. Boom Studios has done a great job with the production and the tale is amazing! I wish this was a weekly, so I could get to the end. But then, I also with it wasn’t a limited series so I could just wallow in Jones’ art.
THE TOMORROWS #1: In the near future, all forms of art are illegal and will result in death. The Atlus Corporation is run by a guy named Hughes and The Tomorrows and their supercomputer Warhol find the never-ending battle. This has the makings of an interesting series from Curt Pires and Jason Copland. The characterization is a little weak and Copeland’s art is on the very quirky side. It almost feels like were in the middle of a Pop Art painting. But that will change next issue, as each issue is done by a different artist. This book also feels like a superteam searching for a true revolution to fight; sort of like the Fantastic Four wanting to take down a regime run by Paste Pot Pete. It’s not the perfect comic book, but it is a little something different. I wouldn’t automatically add it to your pull list, but pick it up if you have some extra coin to spare.
WE STAND ON GUARD #1: It’s 2112 and the White House has been bombed, leading to Ottawa also being bombed, possibly because Canada burned down the White House in the War of 1812. In the process, Amber’s parents are killed and her dying father instructs her brother to never leave her side. Next, we jump to 2124 where Amber is trying to survive in the Northwest Territories when she comes across American battledroids and the Canadian resistance forces. The droid gets defeated and the characters are all introduced to each other. Unfortunately a monstrous battledroid arrives and it takes ingenuity and teamwork to bring it down. But Booth gets killed by the droid’s pilot and an argument ensues as to who should execute him. Amber does that without blinking, earning her place in the Two-Four.
Welcome to the future courtesy of Brian K. Vaughan and Steve Skroce. This is a powerful combination of creators. On one hand, you have Vaughan, who has given us such killer books as Y THE LAST MAN and SAGA, not to mention his writing for UNDER THE DOME and LOST. And you couple that with Skroce, who has illustrated X-MAN and CABLE, but has also done storyboards for all three MATRIX films. The art is tremendous and I LOVE Vaughan’s story. The weakest part to date is characterization, but how tough is that to do for seven characters in one issue. To that end, Booth’s death is there, but doesn’t leave a scar on the reader. And just where is Amber’s brother in all of this? Bottom line: pick this one up!
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