Review Date: Friday, September 21,
2012
Here in Bongo Congo
Good King Leonardo has
found four interesting-looking new comics on the
That's Entertainment new issues shelves, so let's get
right to it and see what these new titles are all
about: |
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Dan Didio: Writer
Brent Anderson: Pencils
Scott Hanna: Inks
Jeremy Cox: Colors
DC Comics has just relaunched perennial mysterious
favorite The Phantom Stranger into his latest title within the latest crop of
New 52 storylines. As all Good DC Readers know, The Phantom Stranger is an
occult-based character with Silver Age origins who has been represented by many
creative teams in many comic book titles throughout the years. His origin has
always been an intriguing point of mystery within the DC Universe, with many
hints being given, most of which place him as originating back in Biblical
times. The current title is scripted by Dan Didio with pencils by Brent
Anderson, inks by Scott Hanna and colors by Jeremy Cox.
Issue #0 is a stand-alone prequel tale entitled "A
Stranger Among Us." DC has finally rolled the origin dice with this tale,
presenting an actual detailed origin story for this long-lasting DC Universe
figure. The plot alternates between two storythreads. One sub-plot expands
upon one of the previously-explored origin possibilties; taking the Biblical
route, its clear without actually naming him that the Phantom Stranger was
originally Judas Iscariot, who for his Biblical transgressions has been judged
by a powerful Council of Wizards to wander through time, attempting to make
amends until a certain level of tasks is completed. A second sub-plot focuses
on the origin of The Spectre, providing a different perspective on the
often-told origin tale of that superhero which reveals a major role for The
Phantom Stranger as he unwittingly helps to create his fellow paranormal DC
character.
I was attracted to reviewing this comic book due to
its scripting by Dan Didio, an A-list DC writing veteran and current DC
co-publisher, and I wasn't disappointed in the resulting product. Didio has
done an excellent job in fleshing-out the previously referenced thin details of
this occult character's background and more fully explaining his reason for
existence. There are also two very effective plot elements connecting the
Stranger to additional characters for future story progression within this
title. The first obviously is the Stranger's connection to creating The
Spectre, an act which The Spectre clearly resents. The second element
connects The Stranger to two other damned people who are judged along with him
before the Council of Wizards, one being Pandora of the classic fable and the
second rumored among fandom to be Victor Sage, the original Question.
So for the strong plotting quality detailed above,
combined with a well-paced sense of storytelling and an approriate artistic
style, a definite thumbs-up positive review recommendation is well-deserved for
this latest worthy addition to the lengthy publishing lineage of DC's The
Phantom Stranger.
|
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Mark Waid: Writer
Steve Bryant: Art
Ron Riley: Colors
BOOM! Studios has just released issue #0 in a new
title based on the popular 1960's British television show The Avengers. For
those of you too young to remember, the show and this comic book are not based
on the Marvel superhero team! The Avengers was a very popular British spy
thriller series, starring Patrick Macnee as the dapper British
Gentleman spy/crimefighter John Steed. While he had a string of co-stars come
and go throughout the series, his most popular spy partner was the young and
lovely Mrs. Emma Peel, played by Diana Rigg. This latest comic book incarnation
of the series is scripted by well-known writer Mark Waid with art by Steve
Bryant and colors by Ron Riley.
The issue #0 stand-alone introductory tale is
entitled "The Dead Future." Set in 1966 London, the plot centers on our
duo investigating a science fiction-themed crime pattern. When accelerated aged
murder victims pop-up around London, Steed and Mrs. Peel's investigation leads
them to The New Hellfire Club, an old British wealthy men's club that has been
redesigned to promote a sci-fi decor and theme. Steed quickly stumbles upon a
club-based scam in which an accelerated aging formula is used on captured
intelligence officials in an elaborate attempt to con them out of espionage
information. Without spoiling any details, action ensues as Steed becomes the
latest target of the scammers. With Mrs. Peel in the mix of the spy action all
works out in the end, setting the stage for next month's kick-off issue #1
adventure.
This new comic has several strongpoints which are
unfortunately dragged down by horrendous artwork; Steve Bryant's primative
visual style takes away from a lot of the fun and squanders the opportunity to
provide a potentially impressive artistic depiction of 1960's British mod/pop
culture. Bryant deserves a lengthy time-out in the comic book artist's penalty
box just for his unattractive and sloppy drawings of the beautiful Diana Rigg as
Mrs. Peel. However, Mark Waid's impressive script saves this comic book from the
negative review list and elevates it up into an average decent comic book read.
A-lister Waid has the skill and most likely a fanboy devotion to the original
television series that helps him to capture onto the comic book page the
balanced blend of dry, British drollness and interesting spy thriller
mystery/action that made the t.v. series both a hit and a continual cult
treasure with devoted fans through the decades.
Positive review points also are deserved for the
details of 1960's-era science fiction culture depicted in this issue, from bulky
analog computers that spit-out ticker-tape information to the campy futuristic
depiction of the year 2000 utilized in the elaborate intelligence scheme. Its
also interesting that a back-of-the-book narrative reveals that the London
mod-era badguy Hellfire Club at the center of the plot is the original
inspiration for its namesake in X-Men comics. So while the art is a
disappointment, Waid saves the day in giving us a worthwhile and very high grade
storytelling that is well-worth gritting one's teeth a bit and tolerating visual
disappointment in order to savor a very well-written homage to one of the
great series spy thrillers of the 1960's television era.
|
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Matt Fraction: Writer
David Aja: Art
Matt Hollingsworth: Colors
Marvel Comics is up to issue #2 of its new Hawkeye
title, in which the bow and arrow-slinging Avenger member stars solo. I decided
to review last month's issue #1 to get a good feel for the title's
particular concept from its kick-off issue. The new series is scripted by Matt
Fraction with art by David Aja and colors by Matt Hollingsworth.
Issue #1 establishes an entirely fresh perspective on
the solo lifestyle of Hawkeye. The focus in this initial storyarc is on the
civilian side of Hawkeye's life as he recuperates from serious injury sustained
in a bad fall. However, even in civilian guise our hero gets embroiled in
conflict. Here its in the form of a Russian mob landlord pressuring to evict
Hawkeye and his neighbors from their New York tenement building. The story
alternates between present-day and flashback segments of the plot, with the
pressure and heavy-duty threats ratcheting-up to the eventual,
unavoidable violent confrontation between the bad guy landlord, his gang and
Hawkeye. Without being a detail spoiler, by issue's end Hawkeye not only
adequately resolves the issue but gains a dog sidekick as well for further
man-and-dog adventures in upcoming issues.
While this is a highly entertaining plot, even more
impressive is the creative team's very fresh new perspective on the well-known
Hawkeye storyverse. Writer Matt Fraction comes at this character from a
groundbreaking new angle, presenting Haweye as a day-to-day New Yorker civilian
who somewhere off-camera functions at other times as an Avenger. I don't think
I've ever read a comic book that succeeds as much as this one in humanizing a
superhero; while efforts such as Tim Sale's "Superman For All Seasons" and xxx
xxx's "Thor The Mighty Avenger" made some degree of progress down this
storytelling road, Fraction and crew take us much farther along this path. The
result is an absorbing tale balanced with beautiful artwork, absorbing
storytelling and an enchanting element of light humor that pops-up at unexpected
but very effective story moments. A final perfect brushstroke is added with the
character of Hawkeye's new dog, who goes through his own trials and tribulations
that by issue's end make him as worthy a superhero as his human sidekick
Hawkeye.
In sum, Hawkeye is one of those unexpected high
quality surprises that seem to show-up on the new issues comic book shelves from
time-to-time just when you least expect it. So savor this treat right now, and
hope that Marvel keeps publishing this wonderful new title on a monthly basis
for quite a long time.
|
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Miscellaneous Writers & Artists
IDW Publishing has previewed its new Doctor Who title
by releasing a one-shot Doctor Who Special 2012 comic book. The oversized
edition features a sampling of four new Doctor Who tales, each produced by a
different creative team. For the uninitiated, Doctor Who is the very
long-running BBC-syndicated Science Fiction television series, starring the good
doctor himself as the last of an immortal race known as Time Masters. For
decades, the show has featured a string of actors taking turns playing the good
doctor, who uses his time portal to have adventures across space and time
accompanied by a few human friends.
The first featured tale is entitled "In-Fez-Station"
and actually takes place in the present day. Scripted by veteran Len Wein, the
tale centers on a plot uncovered by Doctor Who in which his reptilian alien
enemies The Slitheen implement a scheme to destroy mankind using the Moroccan
hat known as the Fez. Without spoiling any details, the Doctor obviously
prevents the bad aliens from obliterating mankind. The next three tales follow
the television show format of time-traveling adventures. Accompanied by the
human married adventurers Amy and Rory Pond, the Doctor sets his time portal in
these stories for 1992, 1962 and 1936, respectively. Each of these tales
presents a plot that mixes interaction with aliens (both good and bad),
action-adventure and the Doctor ultimately solving the mystery or resolving the
plot conflict with the use of his handy sonic screwdriver, an all-purpose device
that apparently is useful for many purposes beyond merely installing screws!
This is a fun and entertaining compilation of Doctor
Who tales that serves very well the purpose of kicking-off IDW's new Doctor Who
title series. I liked the variety of artistic story presentations; while the
four tales present completely different visual styles, there's a common goal
here of providing both new and old Doctor Who fans with the three basic elements
of the television series: time-travel adventure, interaction with good and bad
aliens, and accompaniment of the Doctor by a few trusted ordinary human
sidekicks. The characters of Amy and Rory are very well fleshed-out in all four
stories, serving as equal partners in the Doctor's adventures as opposed to
serving as background or supportive characters.
As a final positive review comment, my favorite tale
is the first story featuring the alien attack utilizing Moroccan hats. The
humor is cute and there's a nice twist to the story resolution. On one negative
note, there is a side to Doctor Who's personality in these stories in which he
seems to behave at times as more befuddled and eccentric than the character from
the television series. It seemed a bit overdone in this issue and hopefully
will be reduced in upcoming tales within the regular monthly title. But
all-in-all, a positive review recommendation is well-deserved for this
well-crafted and enjoyable primer for the new Doctor Who science fiction
adventure series from IDW Publishing.
|
Contest Winner Announcement!!!
Our latest contest challenged you to think outside
the box and suggest an unexpected role for one of your favorite comic book
characters that could be explored in the future. And our contest winner is
(drumroll, please)...David McBarron, who writes "I don't know if this has been
done, but what if Daredevil finally snapped and turned bad and took out the King
Pin. At which point, he would take over as the new King Pin of New York." I'm
not a regular reader of Daredevil, but even if its been done, its an intriguing
original proposal by David and worthy of our contest. We'll forward David's idea
to Marvel Comics and see how they react. So congrats to our winner of the first
prize $10.00 gift certificate to That's Entertainment!
New Contest Announcement!!!
In honor of the science fiction theme of some of this
week's comic book reviews, the Bongo Congo panel of contest judges has decreed
that we offer a science fiction trivia challenge this week. So your challenge
is to e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com no later than Wednesday,
October 3 with the answer to the following trivia question: who was the very
first character to actually speak a line of dialogue in the first Star Wars
movie? There's lots of well-known characters in that first movie and the rest
of the series franchise, but one kicked it all off with the first words! As
always, in the event of multiple correct entries, our winner of the $10.00 first
prize gift certificate to That's Entertainment will be chosen via a roll of the
dice. Please note that our first prize $10.00 gift certificate to That's
Entertainment is redeemable for regular retail merchandise or in-store ongoing
specials, only.
That's all for now, so have two great Fall
leaf-peeping and comic book reading weeks and see you again on Friday, October 5
Here In Bongo Congo!
|