THE NEW 52 FCBD ONE SHOT

During the recent Free Comic Book Day, one of the key books to be lucky enough to get you hands on was DC’s NEW 52 FCBD offering. The 16 page story, while short and to the point, sets in place many things about the NEW 52 and gives us a taste of what is in store in the future.

The tale, written by Geoff Johns, begins at a time when “man first discovered magic”.  Standing in front of seven “wizards” are the “Trinity of Sin”: billed as the “greatest transgressors mankind has ever known”. The first is sentenced to walk the earth as a stranger to man because of his greed. Silver pieces are tossed at him. Before he's sentenced, he says: "Forgive me has he would!" This would make him Judas Iscariot. Thus we witness the birth of the Phantom Stranger. The second man defies the wizards and claims the whole world will fear his name. The wizards remove his face and his name. He will forever question his identity. Thus we have the birth o0f The Question.

Lastly is a certain hooded woman who we have seen in countless DC titles(specifically ALL the first issues of the NEW 52 titles). This is Pandora. She is now forced to spent eternity being told she is evil because she opened the box. Did I also mention that the condemned are standing on a big lightning bolt? Sound familiar. This is the Circle of Eternity-the seven “wizards” who make up the power of Shazam. Does this make this the new version of the Rock of Eternity?

This first four page mini-story is illustrated by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado and looks fantastic, as I have come to expect from Reis and Prado.

The next two page segment is by Johns and Keith Rocafort and it takes place inside the Red Room in Detroit. the Red Room is the largest research facility for the extraterrestrial and unexplained. Thomas Stone’s team is in a panic as someone or something is trying to connect with the Red Room. Then they discover an alternate universe and our first glimpses of Earth 2’s heroes, including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Green Lantern and Flash(this is the Apokolips War being seen). And let’s not forget Pandora who is watching it all.

This is a nice little piece that introduces the Earth 2 heroes and ties Pandora to both worlds.

The third segment is a five page one by Johns and Gene Ha. This time we find ourselves in Washington, D.C. at A.R.G.U.S. where we learn that someone is breaking into the Black Room. Inside, Colonel Steve Trevor and his team discover Pandora who, besides marveling at the collection of artifacts(among other things, the seven spells of Shazam and the spear of Destiny) takes her box(yeah…that box). She escapes with the box while Trevor orders that someone get in touch with Doctor Mist, John Constantine and Black Orchid. What’s inside the box? What looks like a gold skull with three red eyes. She declares that she now knows what she is dealing with and doesn’t care if it “means and end to the Justice League.”

This segment proceeds to tie A.R.G.U.S. into the picture, getting them ready for a more active role in the NEW 52 Universe. After all, although set five years in the past, we will see many of these characters in the newly announced TEAM 7 book(which will feature Trevor, Dinah Lance, Amanda Waller, John Lynch, Alex Fairchild Cole Cash and Slade Wilson).

The final segment, one page plus a four page battle foldout, is all Johns and Jim Lee. Set in “the near future”, Batman, with the glowing skull strapped around him, is being chased down by a mystery Green Lantern(could it be John Stewart?). The Lantern declares that Batman and the League lied. “This war is your fault." This leads to a four page spread with the League and then some including Element Woman, Hawkman, Captain Marvel and more. Trinity War is coming next year.

So go hunt this down on Ebay or your local comic shop. Ebay prices have it as low as four bucks and as high as twelve bucks as of now. This is going to be a key book somewhere down the road.

BEFORE WATCHMEN: The first issues of this first batch

So the big news months ago was that DC  was doing a series of mini-series set before the legendary WATCHMEN comic called, oddly enough, BEFORE WATCHMEN. There was much excitement and also gnashing of teeth from comic fans who saw this as both a good thing and also ultimate heresy Alan Moore even went as far as telling fans that if they read these books that he never wanted them to read anything he wrote ever again. Sorry Alan: I guess that means me! Anyway, the first issues of the first five mini-series are out and here’s what I have to say:

MINUTEMEN #1: The story is set in 1939, told in flashback by Hollis Mason: the original Nite Owl. We meet all the major players. Hooded Justice wears a hood(duh and is pretty intensive in how violet he is in dealing out that justice). Sally Jupiter has her own photographer and everything she does is played to publicity.  Eddie Blake was all attitude and violent tendencies. Byron Lewis, Mothman, had to find courage in the bottler or worse before every flight. Dollar Bill was a publicity stunt created by a bank to cash in on the superhero craze. Ursula Zandt, A.K.A. The Silhouette was a dedicated lesbian crime fighter who fought for the unfortunate and kept her sexuality hidden. And lastly, Nelson Gardner was Captain metropolis and the man responsible for bringing the team together.

It’s a total Darwyn Cooke production. So, if you like his style of art and the care he put into projects like NEW FRONTIER and THE SPIRIT, you will absolutely LOVE this book.  If you find his work too quirky, you won’t even get to the beauty of his writing. Cooke is a perfect person to be working on a BEFORE WATCHMEN series as he totally respects the characters.

SILK SPECTRE #1: Set in the turbulent Sixties, it’s the tale of the Laurie Juspeczyk, daughter of the original Silk Spectre. She has to live in her mother’s sometimes offensive shadow, complete with Mom trying to train her to be the second Silk Spectre. She has to endure the taunts and teases of some of her classmates and eventually takes out her frustrations on one of them. Frustrated by it all, she and her boyfriend Greg jump into a multi colored mini-van and head off to San Francisco.

Again, it’s that Darwyn Cooke guy turning in  a beautiful respectful story. this time, he has Amanda Conner handling the art duties and she knocks it out of the park, like she always does. A great read and a great LOOKING read at that. Next issue, the road trip continues.

COMEDIAN #1: It’s the early 1960’s and Eddie Blake is hanging out at the Compound with the Kennedys. He’s playing football with the President of the United States and having private conversations with the First Lady. She basically puts the bug in his ear that results in the death of Marilyn Monroe. He also gets an assignment to help take down Moloch The Mystic. But it all goes bad quickly as President Kennedy is assonated. It’s November 22^nd, 1963 and everything the hero and the villain knew has changed.

If you have read anything I have reviewed in the past twelve months, you know how much I like Brian Azzarello as a writer. He has turned the industry on its’ ear with 100 BULLETS and his work on the current WONDER WOMAN. He writes gritty noir fiction and emotionally interesting characters. Now you let J. G. Jones illustrate that and you’ve got a heart felt winner.

NITE OWL #1-It’s 1962 and Daniel Dreiberg lives with his dysfunctional parents. Well, at least his father is. Dan worships Hollis Mason-the Nite Owl. Going as far as finding his secret hideout, breaking in and arranging a meeting. Soon, Dan’s abusive father dies of a heart attack and Dan begins his training as Mason’s eventual successor. Two years after Mason retires and the world is in darkness. Nite Owl teams up with another superhero Rorschach and they have their initial meeting of what will eventually become The Watchmen. 

The story is okay and J. Michael Straczynski does just fine telling a neat little origin. What takes this book to new heights is the team of Andy and Joe Kubert. That, in and of itself, is the reason you should buy this book.

OZYMANDIAS #1: It’s 1985 and Adrian Veidt is telling us his origin story. It begins with his parents arriving in New York in 1939. Adrian is born and is a tortured and tormented genius who joins a Dojo to protect himself. He graduates high school at the age of 14 and by the time he is 17 he is taking post-graduate courses at Harvard. That’s when he learns his parents have died in a traffic accident and Adrian’s world changes. Richer than he can imagine, he tours Turkey, does Hashish and bathes in the beauty of the antiquities there. He returns home, meeting and beginning a relationship with a troubled woman named Miranda. She dies of a drug overdose and Veidt transforms into Ozymandias.

The big bad villain of THE WATCHMEN has a back story that now makes you sympathetic to him. This is truly a well-written tale from comics legend Len Wein and some absolutely beautiful artwork from Jae Lee.  

And, as a bonus, each issue of these mini series has two pages from Len Wein and John Higgin’s (yeah…he was the colorist on the original WATCHMEN series) pirate drama THE CURSE OF THE CRIMSON CORSAIR. This is the story we have all wanted to see as it is inspired by the Tales of the Black Freighter story-within-a-story from the original series. And it appears this is the story Len Wein has always wanted to write. Great moody stuff.

So, in conclusion, Alan Moore needs to lighten up. While he and Dave Gibbons told the story they wanted to, this series of series do not insult me and I don’t see this as a truly money making venture. Look at the creators involved. They are all here because of the chance to pay their respects to some classic characters.

BATMAN INCORPORATED

As part of the second wave of DC’s NEW 52, the company released BATMAN INCORPORATED.  Now you may have heard this title before and that is because, pre NEW 52, Grant Morrison wove a wonderful tale that followed the continuity he put forth with Batman & Son (BATMAN #655 and 656), The Black Glove (BATMAN #667-669), R.I.P. (BATMAN #676-681, 701-702), FINAL CRISIS, BATMAN AND ROBIN #1-16, THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #1-6 and BATMAN: THE RETURN INC. Batman, finally free from being thrown into the past during FINAL CRISIS, decides to franchise the mantle of the Bat into a worldwide organization. Involved in the group were such heroes as Knight and Squire, El Gaucho, Batwoman, Nightrunner, Black Bat(former Batgirl Cassandra Cain) and Batwing…all illustrating the worldwide need for superhero vigilantes. The series ran for five issues, plus a one shot called LEVIATHAN STRIKES. Grant Morrison has sworn to ;pick up the story from where he left off.

To understand where the NEW series goes, I have to flashback to the previous one. Batman sends Catwoman to Japan to enlist Mr. Unknown. Unfortunately he has been killed by Lord Death Man. We later learn that Jiro faked his own death and was given  a three-month probation period to be Tokyo's Batman. So Jiro becomes the NEW Mr. Unknown and Batman sends Lord Death Man into space. Batman then travels to Argentina to recruit El Gaucho Gaucho refuses and he and Batman become involved in a case about missing children. Along the way, they learn of Gaucho's link to the original Batwoman, Kathy Kane. Batman, Batwoman and El Gaucho track down Doctor Dedalus who is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and needs toy finish his work with the help of Leviathan. Unknown to Batman, we learned that the mastermind behind Leviathan's operation is Talia al Ghul.

The new series(by Morrison and Chris Burnham) picks up where the last one left off…except that Batman is five years younger than he was(remember…everyone is five years younger in the NEW 52). But some things have not changed. The first issue mentions Bruce's disappearance and return. It also mentions that Dick Grayson and Damian spent time as Batman and Robin.

The first issue begins one month from now with Bruce and Alfred in the Wayne family graveyard when Gotham City Police arrive to arrest Bruce.. Then we move to present time with Batman and Robin pursuing a goat-masked criminal through a meat processing plant. That leads to more goat-masked criminals appearing. It seems Leviathan has placed a half-billion dollar bounty on Robin’s head. Now remember: Leviathan is Talia and Robin is her son. Soon the battle is won but not before Damien swears off meat and introduces us to Bat Cow. We get to see The Brothers Grimm, but learn we’re down a Grimm as one brother has eaten the other. That’s what you get for messing with Leviathan and off the remaining brother goes.

Meanwhile, The Hood hangs out at Outsiders West. Wait: didn’t some of the characters die in LEVIATHAN STRIKES? Batman and Robin notice a truck with an upside-down star on the truck. The star is known as the demon star or Algol…as in Talia al Ghul.  They also run into a gang of mutants straight out of THE DARK NIGHT RETURNS while Goatboy has a beer(check the mysterious hooded woman in the background…YEAH: Pandora is here too) before trying to take out the Boy Wonder with a sniper shot. Apparently he does, because he has a cell phone picture of Batman weeping holding his son’s dead body.

Issue two begins with Ras Al Ghul courting his future wife Melisande which leads ultimately to Talia’s birth. We get many moments of her growing up, seeing her father being resurrected, learning martial arts, etc. We also get a meeting between her and a fortune teller who is actually her mother, although Ras told her Melisande died in childbirth. We are treated to her first meeting with Batman, throughout their interesting courtship and the birth of their son. Eventually the tale is in present day, where father faces daughter who has the upper hand. She dons her skull mask and she prepares to take down her former lover.

This title looks fantastic and reads like a typical Grant Morrison romp. Chris Burnham’s art is so crisp and it just explodes off the printed page. Morrison has announced he’s done at issue #12, so it should be a satisfying run until then!

CAPTAIN MARVEL 2012

Major Carol Danvers made her debut in MARVEL SUPER HEROES #13 back in 1968. She was an officer in the United States Air Force when she met Dr. Walter Lawson, who we all know was Captain Marvel. She was caught in an explosion of  a Psyche-Magnetron and gained her powers from it, becoming a human-Kree hybrid, From then on, except for a brief stint as Binary, she was known as Ms. Marvel. She was even kidnapped by Immortus’ son Marcus and conceived a version of Marcus. Following the original Captain Marvel’s resurrection and eventual demise during the AVENGERS VS. X-MEN storyline, Carol Danvers assumes the mantle of Captain Marvel. Her new adventures are by Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Dexter Soy.

We start out with her and Captain America fighting the Absorbing Man. Defeating him as a team, they end up back at Avengers Mansion where Cap tries to convince her to change her name to Captain Marvel. Then we get a sparring match between her and Spider-Man. Our heroine takes a break, goes off into space and reminisces about her origin and one of her mentors, test pilot Helen Cobb. She decides to take the name, returns to Earth, and visits her former Woman Magazine editor Tracy Burke. It seems that Burke is suffering with cancer and having a bad time with the Chemotherapy treatments. Burke points out an article in the Daily Bugle regarding Helen Cobb, which leads to another flashback about Danvers meeting Cobb.

The issue ends with Captain Marvel paying her last respects to her mentor(we assume) at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

I am a HUGE fan of the Carol Danvers character. I fell in love with her Ms. Marvel the first time I saw Dave Cockrum illustrate her. I have been with her through good days and bad days. The rape by her own son, her exploits as binary, her drinking binges, etc.

But I won’t be a party to this. I did a little research on who Kelley Sue DeConnick is. First, she is married to Matt Fraction, who I really like as a writer. She helps translate Manga into English. Her works include BLACK CAT, KARE FIRST LOVE, RESCUE, EBEN AND STELLA and others. I have to admit that I have never read any of those titles and after reading this, I probably won’t. This is a god-awful mess and a half.

Let’s start at the beginning and examine some oif the dialogue. During the battle with the Absorbing Man, she throws her cloak over him. Absorbing Man: “Just like a woman…she don’t know when to let go!” When he is knocked out, she responds: “Three seconds in a museum and you’re sound asleep. Why am I not surprised?” At this point, I am 8 pages into the book and I am surprised I’M NOT ASLEEP. Danvers and Spider Man meet up and he comments about her hair style (this weird looking Mohawk thing). “Tread carefully. I could vaporize you on a whim.” A sparring match follows with repeated references to Spider Man not wanting to be vaporized.

From there, it gets confusing. We get the back-story and the reference to Helen Cobb. Then we are reintroduced to long time Marvel character Tracy Burke. Think of her as the female Jonah Jameson. Apparently she is suffering from cancer and undergoing Chemotherapy. “90 degrees out and I’m freezing my balls off.”

Did I just read that? Yeah…I did. And it is rated T+. Just had to check that out.

Carol: “You don’t have balls, Tracy”

Tracy: “You don’t know that.”

Then there is the brief article on Helen Cobb that leads to a meeting some time ago and a challenge which, I assume, never got answered. At least, there is a funeral and our heroine is off in space. I assume the funeral is Helen Cobb’s. Either that or Burke died from frozen balls!

So this is how the dialogue goes throughout the entire book. Actually, those were both the bright spots and the worst spots. Dexter Soy’s art is like such bad art school painting…the stuff everyone tells you is wonderful and really is awful. It’s a third rate Alex Maleev at best. If the book looked like the cover by Ed McGuiness, I could possible get through this book. But take an awful story with equally awful art and I end it here.

My bet? This book tanks out at 6 issues, maybe 10. It all depends on how badly Marvel Now needs titles.

SECRET SERVICE reviewed

Mark Millar is a one man comic empire responsible for KICK ASS, THE ULTIMATES, WANTED, THE AUTHORITY and the truly special THE UNFUNNIES. Dave Gibbons is known for illustrating one of the greatest comic mini-series of all time, WATCHMEN. The two have combined on a new Millar masterpiece, SECRET SERVICE. And, like much of Millar’s work, it is rather over the top!

The book starts with a mysterious group kidnapping Mark Hamill. The Secret Service arrives and, in bloody fashion rescues the aged Luke Skywalker actor. Unfortunately, the snowmobile they are riding in has a bit of a defective parachute. Yeah…Mark Hamill won’t be coming down for breakfast after this incident. And Hamill isn’t the only one, as we learns that actors from DOCTOR WHO, STAR WARS, STAR TREK and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA have all been kidnapped. This is where Jack, a James Bond type secret agent steps in and gets to act as mentor to his nephew Gary who defines hooligan. From here on out, it’s mostly about Gary and his transformation from street punk to secret agent. Through it all, there is also the existing subplot involving the celebrity kidnappings. Add in a bizarre case of mind control resulting in 100 brides and grooms murdering each other and you’ve got the makings of an Ian Fleming novel gone mad.

Gary’s tasks range from the sublime to the absolute ridiculous. At one point, he decides the go back to his old stomping grounds…with his uncle’s sports car in tow. While he has some of the highest scores in history, he just can't seem to make himself who he needs to be.

This is one wild and strange comic. Not as over the top as KICK-ASS and not as anti-authority as SUPER CROOKS, but it is typical Millar as the angry writer. Dave Gibbons art is just amazing, as always! Give it a try. I think you’ll like it just for the inside jokes.

Terry Moore's RACHEL RISING

I have been a huge fan of Terry Moore’s work since the first time I stepped into an issue of STRANGERS IN PARADISE back in 1993. Like any good fanboy, I hung with that series for it’s complete run., along with 14 issues of PARADISE TOO and 30 issues of the science fiction epic ECHO. I also followed his work on SPIDER MAN LOVES MARY JANE and RUNAWAYS. Terry Moore has done it again with his newest series, RACHEL RISING. And, as always, the book is a masterpiece of art styling, characterization and intrigue.

The series begins with Rachel digging herself out of a grave and going back home as she tries to reconstruct her last her hours before her death and resurrection. She also has no idea why she has rope burns about her neck and why people don’t know her. She visits her Aunt Johnny who works on corpses at a local Mortuary. It takes Rachel to bring Johnny to her grave to get her to believe she’s not an apparition. Meanwhile, a mysterious woman (who we saw at Rachel’s rebirth) arrives at the home of a young girl named Zoe Mann. Not long after, the Zoe kills her sister after whacking her with a frying pan. 

Rachel goes to a nightclub to visit her friend Jet. The mysterious woman is there too. Rachel tells someone she meets in the bathroom that she won’t live long. The mysterious blonde gets to talking to the bathroom woman’s fiancé and the next thing we know the woman AND Rachel are taking a long tumble off the roof while the blonde watches. And Zoe Mann? She’s torched her house and is in the process of stealing a car to dispose of her sister’s body.

Rachel is brought to the hospital morgue where a distressed Jet gets the surprise of her life when Rachel is reborn for the second time. The distraught husband to be goes to the woods, the same place where Rachel arose, to bury his partner but not before a snake climbs into her mouth and crawls inside of her. Soon Zoe crashes her car into his and now the pair buries the girl’s sister. And then she kills him too. The blonde arrives and the girl tells her to go away and that she won’t be needed ever again. 

Jet and Rachel recall their youth and how they made a pact to be together “to the grave and afterlife”. A certain Dr. Seiman comes to dinner and insists that Rachel is actually the “Angel of Death”.  Zoe ends up with an agency and pair of potential foster parents arrive. Mr. Boyle, the father, apparently has done some bad things, because Zoe tells us so. He chases after her as she threatens to expose his deeds. He ends up losing his head in a scene straight out of FINAL DESTINATION 2.

Johnny, Jet and Rachel investigate the scene of Rachel’s second death while Dr. Seiman goes whom to the corpse who is his wife. Meanwhile, the dead fiancé comes back from the grave and the snake within her begins to attack victims. The trio run into Zoe and Rachel has a talk with the mysterious blonde, who only she and Zoe can see. Zoe explains that every time she sees the witch (Zoe’s words), who calls Rachel her sister, someone dies. True to form, there is a car accident. Johnny is mortally wounded, Rachel gets impaled and Jet dies. 

And then she is reborn too. And that really manages to freak out morgue attendant Earl who has a long conversation with Jet. We also learn that Johnny is a lesbian (Terry does enjoy writing strong lesbian characters into his work), police report Zoe not being at the scene and that Jet died from a broken neck, even though Rachel insists they spoke before she died. At a graveyard on the outskirts of Manson, bodies explode out of the ground and form a pentagram in the ground. Jet gets stitched up and gains a neck brace. The blonde “witch” commands wolves to drag the dead husband to be from issue #2 out of the witches’ cemetery where they consume him.  We soon discover that 10 year old Zoe is actually a demon name Malus who has been living in her and murdering people for 47 years.  The woman, who we learn is Lilith, gets to talk to the demon but not for long. Zoe slits her wrists and Malus must flee or die. And it looks like he has fled into…Jet’s body!

I can’t say enough. First: it’s Terry FREAKIN’ Moore!!! That in itself should be enough to have you buy this book. Second: he writes some of the best characters in the world with some amazing dialogue. Quentin Tarrantino writes amazing dialogue. Terry is that good. Third: his art. While not as detailed as his early SIP work, it still is wonderful and he features some of the best looking faces in comics. His expressions are priceless! Fourth: I have no idea how this whole thing will end but I’m sure it will end with a twist we never see coming. Last: it’s Terry FREAKIN’ Moore!!!  

Just buy this book! You have been advised!

DC's NEW 52 presents: WORLDS' FINEST

As part of the Second Wave of NEW 52,  DC brought us EARTH 2. Now, also as part of the Second Wave, DC presents WORLDS’ FINEST. Right off the bat, you notice the spelling difference in the title. That is because it is not the old WORLD’S FINEST, which (mostly) was a Superman/Batman team-up title. This title follows the adventures of Earth 2’s Robin and Supergirl, who have been exiled on THIS Earth during the Apokolips War. On this Earth, Robin is now The Huntress and Supergirl is now Power Girl.

Right off the bat we learn that The Huntress of OUR universe has apparently been dead for some time and Helena Wayne(yes…she is Earth 2 Batman’s daughter) has been masquerading as Helena Bertinelli and, as we know from her mini-series, has been doing her hero thing as The Huntress for some time. Karen Starr and Helena are having a meal when they race to Starr Industries, which is being besieged by fire. Huntress discovers incendiaries, so we know the fire was arson. The Quantum Tumbler takes the biggest beating. And this was the device Michael Holt, Mr. Terrific, had worked on and Karen Starr had hoped would allow the pair to go back home.
 
Then we flashback to five years ago on Earth 2 when our young heroines, as Supergirl and Robin, got blown into our Universe during their Apokolips War and found themselves here at the birth of the heroes. Karen invests her resources wisely(jhow did she get that money?) and Helena has been using her finances to buy “toys” as she calls them.
 
Back in the present, Karen unveils the costume she designed to make her Power Girl. And the next thing you know, it’s a battle with Hakkou the Irradiated man. That’s not good.
 
I have to admit, I was so depressed after Paul Levitz’ turn on the last few issues of THE HUNTRESS mini-series, that I was convinced I would pick up the first issue and that would be that. But this was much better than I expected! Levitz script is fun and filled with just enough mystery to keep the reader interested. And there are just enough hints to their past(Lois being killed by one of Darkseid’s infiltrators) to make me want to keep reading. Now having George Perez draw the present day sequences and Kevin Maguire handle the art on the flashback sequences also can’t hurt. yeah…I’ll be reading this one for at least the next two or three issues and see how it all works out.

And the mystery woman, now known as Pandora, is in the middle of a panel on page 4.