There is a sense of irony overcoming me as I flip through the first issue of Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs, a comic based off a cult film directed by Joel Schumacher, the man responsible for absolutely destroying comics on celluloid a little more than ten years ago. I’m sure there have been novel length essays on why Schumacher sucks, easiest example being bat-nipples, but I’m here to talk about Lost Boys which is actually “good.”

Reign of Frogs is a mini-series being printed under Wildstorm that serves as a bridge between the first Lost Boys film and the soon to be released, direct to DVD sequel, Lost Boys 2: The Tribe. The story follows the two best characters the franchise has, the Frog Brothers, as they hunt down vampiric bloodsuckers, now as adults. That’s right, the Frogs have grown up, also seeming to have distanced themselves at the stories’ opening.

The introduction, with Edgar Frog taking on a young apprentice, does a commendable job as the series’ hook. We get some campy (a staple of Lost Boys) vampire tests to prove the young child’s worth, along with some witty dialogue from Edgar that I can picture Corey Feldman delivering. However, things turn sour real fast as we jump back to 1990, three years after the original film, and all of a sudden the Frog brothers are slaying vampires for the president. Really?! One of the best aspects of the original Lost Boys was the Frog Brothers talked a big game, but when it came crunch time, they were just as scared and horrified as the rest of the cast. That was the charm of Lost Boys. Instead, Reign of Frogs makes them out to be major bad-asses, and while they still throw out witty banter as they slice vampires in half, it doesn’t fit the model of what I have come to expect from the characters.

Though not all hope is lost on issue #1, I can toss out some praise for the art team working on Reign of Frogs. Joel Gomez has a style fitting of Freddie Williams II over at DC and it works for the tone of the book. Like I have said, Lost Boys is not a serious property, so it’s nice to see art that reflex that.

I wish I liked the book, but in all honesty, I didn’t. Nor did it help pump me up for the forthcoming Lost Boys 2: The Tribe (but let’s be serious, I was already pumped for that). But do take note; there are two panels that will make you absolutely die laughing while reading this issue. I won’t spoil the surprise, but it is comedy gold. And although it isn’t worth shelling out the three dollar for, it is definitely worth a look next time you make a trip to the comic shop.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

After something of a mid-series lull, Black Summer regains the strong form of its earlier issues here. We see the outcome of the Seven Guns' battle with their opposite numbers at the same time as John Horus descends to speak with the military, as the book commences the build-up towards a climax that promises to be more complex and layered than I had expected.

Throughout the series, Warren Ellis has made sure to dedicate a certain amount of space in every issue to the back story of the Seven Guns, giving each member of the team a believable and fairly original motivation for wanting to play superhero, and fleshing out their characters in flashback sequences. Dominic Hyde's character gets some welcome attention here, with Ellis contrasting the idealism of his younger self with his opposition to the actions taken by John Horus at the start of this mini-series. The happier, more optimistic moments of days past are juxtaposed with the horrific violence that has resulted out of Horus and Tom Noir's activities in the present day, and it gives the issue a bittersweet quality that reinforces the idea that the world may have gone to Hell, but that it has been a result of good intentions.

We're also provided with a long-overdue scene of intelligent dialogue between Horus and the military forces that have been attacking him for the last couple of issues, with an exchange that examines John's own perception of the mess that he has created, and reveals that he might not have all the answers after all. Ellis also uses the scene to make an implied plot point from an earlier issue more explicit, revealing the apparently-deceased Tom Noir to be even more of a key player than he first appeared and making me wonder whether we'll see more of the character in the final issue.

Some readers have complained that the political elements of Black Summer have taken a backseat since the first issue, but I think that those who are bemoaning the lack of politically-oriented debate might be missing the point. Yes, the series opened with the murder of the U.S. President by a superhero who had taken the law into his own hands, but Ellis seems far more interested in exploring the moral elements of his story than he is in lecturing us on party politics. The decision to focus on the characters and their individual motivation (rather than whether the current President of the USA deserves to be killed for his perceived crimes) anchors the book in more dramatic territory, allowing Ellis to examine the deeper moral issues of whether anybody should be allowed to take the law into their own hands, and to what extent individual members of society should be given power over everybody else. Instead of having his characters spout cliché liberal or conservative points of view, Ellis allows them to express multi-faceted points of view on issues of national importance as viewed through a superhero lens, introducing political discussion into the book without making it feel as though it has been forced into his story. It's been interesting to see Ellis revisit the same moral and political issues that he explored in The Authority almost a decade ago, and I'll be interested to see whether he attempts to draw any conclusions in his final issue, or whether he'll leave readers to make up their own minds.

As well as offering intellectual stimulation, Black Summer provides a treat for the eyes, too. The book's artist, Juan Jose Ryp, has won over many new fans with his impressive visuals on this series, and this issue is no exception. Ryp's work is intricate and highly detailed, from an opening splash page that must have taken days to render (complete with 'easter eggs' for eagle-eyed readers in the form of several different cartoon characters that are scattered around the page) to the minute details that are present in even the most mundane scenes (such as the logo on a coffee cup or the graffiti and detritus that can be seen on the pavement during one of the book's flashback conversations). Ryp has a strong grasp of form, as evidenced by his consistent character designs. He has even taken the time to give the Guns' seven adversaries distinctive and different costume designs, despite their overall similarity. There's also a wonderful three-dimensional quality to the final shot of John Horus as his adversaries descend, setting up an epic showdown for the final issue.

However, I do occasionally feel that Ryp's pages are a little busy, and that his storytelling can sometimes be unclear from one panel to the next. The uniformity of the line weight in his inking occasionally makes it difficult to distinguish the characters from their surroundings, and the individual panels can sometimes threaten to become a mess of lines when more definition might be useful -- even if it came at the expense of the high level of detail. That said, careful readers shouldn't have too much trouble working out what is going on in most of his panels, even if the storytelling isn't the most flowing or elegant. Ryp's style is a good match for the harsh and uncompromising tone of Ellis' script, and I was pleased to see the back cover of this issue announce a second collaboration between the two creators; No Hero, that will be published by Avatar later this year.

To label Black Summer as a superhero comic would be to sell the concept short, because it's difficult to identify anyone as the hero of this book. For example, there are increasingly obvious parallels between Horus and the murdered President, and it's perfectly possible to understand why Frank Blacksmith is so keen to take the Seven Guns out of the picture given the carnage and destruction that they have caused over the last few issues. That's a testament to Ellis' skill in crafting a morally ambiguous and complex story that refuses to commit to a single point of view, and it makes the story far more engaging and involving than many superhero books manage to be. Black Summer is a comic that has intellectual depth without sacrificing the visual thrills that are a big part of the appeal of the superhero genre – and from the looks of the last page, issue #7 is going to provide a big bang ending to go along with the meaty moral debate that the book has offered up for consumption here. I look forward to it.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

Everything is different now.

Actually, everybody is basically dead now.

The new arc for the Walking Dead promises a change of pace after the recent high-octane battles with the Governor and his minions. This issue focused heavily on set pieces with an emotional impact. The story opens with Michonne in tears as she machetes her friend’s corpses to insure they don’t come back hungry. A moving set of panels has Rick Grimes needing his son to open a can of beans for him (he lost his right arm while a prisoner in Woodbury, a nice, middle American town where zombies and outsiders are used in gladiatorial combat).

The pace of this title almost has to change after a high body count over the last ten issues brought a definitive end to a lot of character arcs. Fewer characters mean a leaner story line, something the book probably needs at this point. Of the original group of survivors, we are down to Rick and Carl.

But not for long. Rick, overcome with grief at the loss of his wife, despair over the zombie-infested future and wracked with pain from multiple wounds, apparently decides to off himself with meds he finds in the latest hideout (or maybe he OD’d). Adlard draws these panels perfectly, letting us watch grief become panic and terror on Carl’s face as he sees his father slumping over, apparently dead, in the last panel.

What appears to be the death of Rick Grimes will amount to a reload of the series. Longtime followers of the Kirkman’s “humans running from zombies and dying in droves” narrative have likely seen this coming. The internal logic of the book has been to kill characters at any moment and most especially when the readers become attached to them and / or they seem integral to the continuing story. It makes some sense to get rid of Rick here at both a narrative and numerical turning point in the title.

Readers will disagree about how Kirkman killed off Grimes, especially if it becomes clear that Grimes willingly left his son alone in a world of the undead. Some will have wanted him to go out on a splash page, firing a shotgun, wielding his signature hatchet and swinging a chainsaw at the hundred thousand flesh-eaters that have surrounded him (all with his one good hand). I actually liked Kirkman’s decision here. I’m not the president of the zombie fan club and what makes this series worth reading for me is the writer’s and artist’s ability to capture a range of human responses to a world-as-we-know it-coming-to-an-end-and-we-may-get-eaten crisis. Suicide, especially for a character as emotionally and physically battered as Grimes has become, certainly would become one of those very human responses.

Still, we have to wait to see if the Rick the Indestructible is really deep-sixed. So far, we’ve just seen him take pills and slump over. The teaser cover for super-duper issue #50 asserts that Carl is on his own. We have to wait and see. Kirkman offed Tyreese when it was least expected and for a lot of fans, least appreciated. He could be head-faking us.

Kirkman is mostly the silent partner in this issue, letting the tale unravel through Adlard’s art. The art has been one of the great pluses of this book from the beginning, giving those of us who think the world needs fewer post-apocalypse Zombie books reason to pick it up. Get this one, especially if you haven’t followed the series and if, like me, an occasional viewing of early Romero takes care of most your zombie needs. It’s a great introduction to a good book that may be about to get better.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

Jonathan Hickman has taken the entire concept of mockumentary and driven it into a completely wild and uncanny direction. With the first issue of this mini-series, Hickman set up the story of two rival companies, both starting the journey into human enhancement. As members of this corporate plot are interviewed by the host of the documentary, readers learn that one company creates super powers while the other creates attachments that enhance the human body. The second issue develops the intriguing war of entrepreneurs that will have you both laughing and freaked out.

All of this unfolds before the eyes of the reader as if they were watching a documentary. That’s what separates this book from anything else on the shelves; it’s unique. Characters look head-on at the panels, almost like staring directly into the lens of a camera. The whole experience is unnerving in a very strange way. Hickman has managed to break the rule of the fourth wall in the world of comics by making Transhuman move and tell like a documentary.

The concept of one man interviewing key players in the buildup of one of the greatest corporate wars the world in subject has ever known is absolutely loony. Loony, but charming. The drive of the story is literally to find out what happens next. Hickman pushes readers through the panels with witty dialogue and absolutely hilarious situations; super-powered monkeys immediately come to mind. Through all of the dramatic, corporate, money-making banter, there exists a thin line of ridiculousness that Hickman always seems prepared to cross. Super-powered monkeys, pissed off human test subjects and angry ex-wives; they’re all here to be enjoyed.

This book is also incredibly heavy on exposition. There's a lot to be read, which, as sad as it sounds, may be a turn off for a lot of readers out there. Plenty of comic fans find it tiring and frustrating when they are trying to read the second or third in a series only to be greeted with a slew of dialogue and explanation. But that's the thing -- through all of the writing, never once did I feel taxed. Everything was just so quirky and alive that I never zoned out when flipping the page and finding nearly 1,000 words worth of talking. It just worked.

The art is no exception to the charm. JM Ringuet does a great job of capturing this feeling of otherness that Transhuman pushes across. This world is not our world; it's like nothing we've ever experienced. Ringuet's art does a great job at driving that home. It's attractive, too. The style is unique and gritty while not overbearing.

By the end of the second installment, readers of Transhuman will likely find themselves excited for the next little tidbit. The book is great. There are no ads, no interruptions, just story. The second issue even comes with a nice little mini that Hickman felt needed including. A story told with only symbols and pictures, no words. A nice, quaint, two page read. The addition feels just fine. Transhuman itself really is a great buy, and buyers won't regret the purchase. It’s a mini that's only two issues deep, I suggest you pick it up.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

While Booster Gold and Blue Beetle hunt down their old teammates from the Justice League International days, Max Lord continues to show this twisted version of a world returned to mankind from the grasp of the meta-human. Also, Rip Hunter also continues to talk in riddles!

Booster Gold is a series for fans of DC Comics, no doubt about it. Almost every page is littered with references for long time readers to grab hold of. While that makes for an engaging, and rewarding read for DC veterans, it also segregates its audience by veering away from a fundamental principal of comics; being able to pull in new readers. However, Booster Gold #9 seems to correct a lot of these mistakes, filling in readers with the motives of all the cast involved, and thusly produces a comic that continues the adventure of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle for followers of the series, but is also 100% accessible for newbies.

The issue’s opening page with a monologue by Max Lord, details exactly why he wants to rid the world of superheroes, returning the future of mankind to, well….mankind. And while we have known his reasoning behind his motives for a few issues, it has never been so plainly stated in one page. That single opening page lays the groundwork for our villain, and from there we are treated to the real meat of the issue: Following our heroes, or lack there of, around.

It should be no surprise the dialogue in Booster Gold #9 is as crisp as ever, with Booster and Blue Beetle slingin’ banter while they search for a solution to their impossible task. Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz have a great voice for both of these characters and it oozes off every page making me kind of depressed with how easy they make scripting look. By the time the rest of the Justice League International team is introduced, Johns and Katz have created a sandbox with infinite dialogue possibilities that all make perfect sense and flow seamlessly. Nothing feels awkward and forced for plot service, it all fits naturally. And before you ask, the whole JLI concept is also made clear through clever dialogue for new readers.

Dan Jurgens also turns in some of the best work on Booster Gold with issue #9. Every panel has a refined finish that makes his characters “pop” off the page without unnaturally pulling them out of their environment. A lot of that praise can be slung at Norm Rapmund and colorist, Hi-Fi, for adding that little extra something to Jurgen’s pencils. I also have to comment that Jurgens draws an exceptional Mister Miracle, a real treat for me, being a huge fan of the character.

However, not everything is perfect. While the banter is witty, and solid, I still miss the overly humorous approach the first half of this series took. While I’m all for epic plots, space battles, and correcting wrongs, Booster Gold was something special because it did all these while slipping on a banana.

Even with the “Indiana Jones” model (everything working out based solely on luck instead of skill) of the first four issues seeming to faded away for a more standard superhero plot progression, I can still highly recommend Booster Gold to anyone, now more than ever. It seems fan service problems have been addressed to avoid alienating audiences, which in turn, makes for a fun, engaging comic.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

If you had told me 10 years ago that a publisher would take on the task of faithfully translating the pulp fiction fantasy stories I have read most of my life into comic form, I probably would have laughed. Honestly, I always thought that they could make great stories for comics, but the thought of properly translating them was laughable. That was, until recently. Devil’s Due Publishing has been very diligent in the process of transferring some of the more popular stories over to the comic genre.

The first challenge with any adaptation is the adaptation itself. The novels carry with them a deep description of the world in which the story takes place. Hickman and Weis and Salvatore were outstanding at doing this; they also excelled at describing action scenes. Moving that into panels and pictures is somewhat daunting. There is always the chance that the wrong parts will be translated into the narration, with the comic becoming more and more words when it would be better done with actual art. These books do not suffer from this at all. Schley and Kleid have done a great job of setting a storyboard that actually uses the art to communicate the correct parts through art, and the correct bits through narration.

The second challenge is with the art: Can you translate beloved characters that people have grown up with, and created mythologies in their heads for into a single image? This has been accomplished a couple of times, in particular in the third edition of the D&D game manuals. However, when you are talking about more than characters posing against stock backgrounds, there are dozens of ways it can be done. In this book, the art is more than serviceable, with characters being communicated precisely as I imagined.

The book covers two stories, one from the Realms of Valor about Drizzt the Dark Elf Ranger, and the other from the Tales of Magic series about Palin, the nephew of the second most famous wizard in fiction: Raistlin Majere.

The action sequences, in particular with Drizzt are outstanding. There are a few moments where the loss of his bow is muddled, and it is unclear to me exactly what happens to it; however, the scenes with Twinkle and Icingdeath flashing about were amazingly accurate to the type of fighting style that Salvatore has described in his books. I also adore this depiction of Cattie-brie. I want a large version of her to go on my wall.

On the other hand, the Dragonlance tale has the reader visiting two Towers of High Sorcery and meeting several of the great wizards discussed throughout the chronicles of Krynn. Each was distinctive, especially Palin and Dalamar the Dark, and the artists do a great job on Caramon looking both young and strong, and old and worn. The Towers match the descriptions in the books almost flawlessly, and manage to create the overwhelming sense of age and mystery. My only complaint was the lack of hourglass pupils on Raistlin; I’m not sure how that was missed.

I cannot say enough good things about the whole process that DDP is doing with the books of my childhood. I look forward to reading more of it, and picking up the trades of Chronicles and the Dark Elf Trilogy.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

They say you can't judge a book by its cover; apparently that is not entirely true. Demon’s Regret is an excellent book, however I must admit that the cover left me wondering what I would find inside. The cover style did not catch my interest, but after reading the book its inner meaning speaks to me, which is a really positive achievement for Michael Golden.

Have you ever chosen sides in an argument against a friend, gone through with it, and then realized you were on the wrong side? Imagine doing that against God. Now you have some idea of what the protagonist in this book is dealing with. He is the once Angel now Demon, Asmodeus followed the Morning Star Lucifer, and boy does he feel that he got the sharp end of the stick so to speak. He now spends his unending days using people with evil in their hearts to upend greater evil. This way, he feels like he is doing his part, and Lucifer is still happy.

It is interesting that the writer has chosen the name Asmodeus for his demon, given that the name shows up throughout religious and historical texts. However, there are no direct references I have been able to find where he performs anything remotely close to how he is described in the book. In most stories he is depicted as a demon of death and murder, usually related to lust and carnal desires. These themes occur in the book of Tobit, the Talmud and Dictionnaire Infernal. Nearest I can find is that in the Dictionnaire Infernal, Asmodeus is related to revenge, which seems to be the aspect of the personality that he preys upon to get humans to perform the heinous acts that he believes will one day bring about his own redemption. As a result, I think with the exception of the passing relation to the Kevin Smith movie Dogma, this is quite an original work of fiction that has been created by Mitch Brown, for that alone he should be commended.

The art itself is really beautiful, with Wilfredo Torres using excellent pencil strokes to create an intriguing interpretation of demons with them being largely unchanged from the Angels of heaven, but they live with some ugly folks in some pretty dank surroundings. He does a great job of conveying facial expressions, and in particular the pain and anguish of the lost soul recruited by Asmodeus. The coloring by Mike Kilgore does a great job of feeling warm in the light of Heaven, and dank and dingy in Hell.

Overall, this book was a pleasant surprise. It tells an interesting story, and executes that story well.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

Kaput and Zosky are two aliens out to conquer every planet they run across. Zosky is the taller, blonde alien. He likes to infiltrate planets and negotiate surrenders. Kaput is the short red-head. He prefers to go in blasters blazing, shooting first before the planet can even consider surrendering. After all, what fun is it for a world conqueror when the planet surrenders without a shot being fired?

The problem is that no matter how many plans Zosky comes up with or how many blasters Kaput fires, they can never seem to hold on to their planet after they get it. They end up defeated every time.

That’s the basis for nearly every Kaput and Zosky story in this volume. They see a planet, dramatically chortle, “Behold, the planet Zaga-maximok! Ha ha ha! We’ll enslave their entire population!” land, and then are defeated by their own inability to understand what’s going on.

You’d think the joke would wear thin very quickly. And yet it doesn’t. Granted you don’t want to sit down and read the volume through at one sitting, but Lewis Trondheim and Eric Cartier provide enough variety on the theme to keep it from becoming boring. Three stories stand out in particular.

In one, they land on a planet of vampires. In another, Kaput bumps his head. His entire personality changes and he becomes a charming pacifist. In the third, they try something new: they run for president of the planet.

Obviously, there’s some satire going on here, which makes these stories suitable for adult reading. The best way I can describe this series is Marvin the Martian meets Dilbert. It has that kind of vibe.

Also appearing in this volume is “The Cosmonaut,” a series of one-page, silent, twelve- to sixteen-panel stories. Like Kaput and Zosky, this little space-suited man is continually encountering aliens and alien worlds. These pages remind me a bit of the original Pink Panther cartoons, as they have that same combination of slapstick and smartness.

At first glance, the art seems very simple, as if any kindergartener could do it. They couldn’t, obviously. However, at first glance, it does seem rather crude. The format is simply one rectangular panel after another, and the forms within each panel are very simple shapes--which is not to say they aren’t sophisticated. If you look longer, you’ll see how finely detailed the panels really are.

Kaput and Zosky would actually be a very good collection to use to introduce non-comic readers to the format. With its easy to follow lay-out and brightly colored panels, it has a non-threatening, welcoming look to it. But that does bring up a problem: just who is this collection intended for?

While the characters are apparently very popular in their native France--the indices indicate these stories are all adaptations or have been adapted for television--who is the English-language publisher, First Second, targeting with this compilation?

While adults who aren’t into super-heroes will probably enjoy it, if they enjoy humor strips at all, they might have a problem finding it. The library journal reviews I’ve seen suggest it be placed in the children’s section. The satiric material mentioned before, however, is going to go right over the heads of younger readers. And I’m not sure the art alone will hold their attention.

Some of the humor of the drawings depends on knowing what’s being said. It will be interesting to see which audience enjoys it more. However, if you enjoy comic strips with a bit of a bite or the classic cartoons that were written on several levels, you owe it to yourself to check this book out.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

The Scott Pilgrim series of books is one that I've heard many people rave about over the last couple of years but, until now, I've never got round to picking up a copy to check it out for myself. The first thing I noticed about the book was the format. As with the other volumes of the series, Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life is presented in a small, square-bound black-and-white digest-style book that seems designed to appeal to the manga crowd.

The art style reinforces this impression, with a wide-eyed squat-nosed cartoonishness to the character designs that reminds me of the typical visual stylings of manga. However, despite the manga stylings, the subject matter is resolutely Western--presenting a cast of characters and a story that will feel accessible and familiar for English-speaking young adult readers.

The book revolves around Scott Pilgrim, a man who is undergoing the transition between childhood and adulthood, and finds himself caught between childish pursuits and the more complex world of adult relationships. In many ways, the book reminded me a little of the TV show SPACED as it's peppered with plenty of pop culture references and goes off on frequent tangents (sometimes humourous, sometimes surreal), but ultimately remains grounded in a realistic world of fully-formed characters and true-to-life situations.

Scott plays in a rock band, shares a Toronto apartment with his dryly-witty roommate Wallace Wells, and finds himself torn between dating a 17-year-old high-schooler and pursuing a slightly older, more mature and experienced girl from New York. It's from this simple setup that the book's story flows, and whilst that might not sound like much of a basis for a 168-page graphic novel, Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life gets a lot of mileage out of its well-observed character interactions and humour.

Young adult readers will identify with many aspects of Scott's life. Judging by the pop-culture references, the book feels specifically geared towards readers in their early-to-mid-twenties--who will likely appreciate the specific references to certain videogames and movies, and will no doubt empathise with Scott's stumbling and incoherent attempts to impress women and manage his love life.

There's also a frank and honest approach to topics like sex and alcohol, which helps the book avoid feeling patronising. It never oversells these aspects or come off as self-conscious. Rather, it feels like a pretty accurate portrayal of the interests of modern-day “kidults.”

It's unusual to read a comic that has been produced by such a small group of people. Scott Pilgrim is essentially the work of one man, Bryan Lee O'Malley (the only other names listed in the book's credits are that of editor James Lucas Jones and co-designer Keith Wood). As such, there's a more unified creative vision here than most comics can boast, and it helps to give the book a distinctive voice and a consistent feel throughout.

The characters feel believable and genuine, and O'Malley manages to make all of them sympathetic, to an extent, without glossing over their flaws and foibles. There's a maturity to the characterisation and character relationships that's belied by the simplistic artwork and occasionally juvenile preoccupations--and it's difficult not to be won over by the book's overall warmth and charm.

However, if the book has one major flaw, it's the ending. I feel as though the climax of this first volume doesn't capitalise on the strong buildup of the rest of the story. It's as though O'Malley didn't really know how to end this first chapter, and decided to throw in an incongruous super-powered videogame-inspired fight scene in order to give the book a memorable and dazzling conclusion.

It doesn't sit well with the tone of the rest of the story as, despite some fairly surreal tangents, the rest of the book is always rooted in a tangible and grounded reality. The final scenes dispense with any pretense that the book takes place in a realistic world, and I feel as though it works to distance readers from the characters that they've been gradually getting to know over the course of the preceding pages.

The less realistic nature of the finale makes me unsure as to whether the future volumes of the book will continue in the same vein as the first or whether they'll be more surreal or fantastical in tone. As a result, I came away from the book feeling a little confused, and I didn't feel like my investment in the characters had been rewarded with an ending that was satisfying on an emotional level.

Despite this reaction, I'm still interested enough in the characters and their story that I'll probably check out the next volume. I just hope that O'Malley manages to keep the book's (admittedly enjoyable) fantastical diversions in perspective, and that he uses them as dressing for the more human elements of the book rather than the other way around.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

Editor's Note: Sky Doll #1 arrives in stores tomorrow, May 14.

For a comic that looks like a cheesecakey, sci-fi adventure romp, Sky Doll starts off quite interestingly, with the main character (Noa, a sentient sex robot) looking straight out at the reader and addressing God, informing him of his poor management skills and proposing the installation of a suggestion box. It's a cheeky way to kick things off, letting readers know that while there will be lots of sexy shenanigans and colorful visuals, there's also a theme of religion and control running through the story. Of course, the "god" that Noa was addressing turns out to be the reptilian manager of a heaven-themed spaceship wash that employs sexy girl-bots in order to draw in customers, so things shouldn't be taken too seriously.

But there's still some interesting stuff going on, from commentary on religion, to consumerism and advertising, to the meaning of love and sex in a world where sexual robots are acceptable, to the nature of the soul. You see, this spacefaring future society is ruled over by one Papess Lodovica, whose symbol (which appears to be a cross with breasts) is festooned all over the city and prompts adoring love from the masses, who eat up her "miraculous" appearances, even though they consist of special effects like blood spurting from fake stigmata and lasers that fry worshippers, supposedly sending them to heaven in a blaze of holy fire. We do get a bit of backstory, in which we learn that Lodovica once had a co-Papess named Agape, but a rift developed between them, with Lodovica seizing power and condemning all of Agape's followers.

But how does all this relate to Noa? Well, after stowing away on the ship of two Papal emissaries who are on some sort of church-related mission, she finds that she is somehow linked to Agape, and she might have a soul after all, even though she is just a machine. It's an interesting development in the story, and while this first issue seems to consist mostly of setup, I'm quite intrigued as to how it will all pay off.

A big part of the appeal of the book is the art, which takes a bit of a manga influence and slaps a whole lot of candy-colored detail on top of it. The pages are crammed with little bits of information, like towering architecture, neon billboards, spaceship design, weird creatures, and futuristic gadgetry. The character art is well-done too, with the dog-like inhabitants of the world exhibiting quite the range of expression. Noa, being the central character, benefits from the art, showing her perky, lively personality and demonstrating her forceful nature, refusing to be confined to the life a simple sex toy.

Her emissary companions are nicely-defined as well. The chubby goofball Jahu is the horny type, wanting to visit the spaceship wash just to eyeball some robot bosoms, while the more sedate Roy doesn't like to tempt himself. But Roy is the one that connects with Noa (and seems to be more aroused by her once they're actually making contact and not just looking at her through the windshield); he's more ready to believe in her individuality, while Jahu only sees her as a device for sexual pleasure. It should be interesting to see them continue to develop their relationship with her.

It's definitely an interesting book, and the art is absolutely incredible, full of astonishing detail, bright, shiny colors, and nice character work. Not to mention a good sense of humor, whether it's in slapstick comedy or a sly level of sexuality. The only thing that I don't especially like about the book are superficial, namely the price ($5.99 for 48 pages of story and an additional 16 pages of promotional material for the other Soleil books that Marvel is publishing) and the format (the "album-size" art has been shrunk down to fit into the standard U.S. comics pamphlet, leaving strips of white space at the top and bottom of each page). If you can overcome those factors, and you like a little bit of offensiveness mixed in with your social commentary, you should definitely check it out.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

Editor's Note: Guardians of the Galaxy #1 arrives in stores tomorrow, May 14.

"Somebody’s Got to Do It"

Steven Bari: 3 Bullets
Shawn Hill: 3 Bullets

---

Steven Bari 3 Bullets

"NNFFF…Form a Team, Protect the Universe. Gotta say, Pete Ol'Boy…" mutters Starlord a.k.a. Peter Jason Quill, as he hangs from a window on a giant starship heading toward an enormous spatial fissure, "…Not one of your best ideas."

The Guardians of Galaxy are back in town and they're here to make sure no evil villain or unruly symbiotic alien race launch another galactic sales event (Who's down for Annihilation: Conquest: The Search for Curly's Gold ?). Instead, this interesting consortium of cosmic characters is stopping plots before they're hatched, but they may need some time to get the hang of it.

Assembled in the aftermath of Annihilation: Conquest, Starlord leads Adam Warlock, Gamora, Quasar, Rocket Raccoon, and Drax on their first mission to a starship of the Universal Church of Truth (UCT), which is heading toward a fissure in space that could release a whole bunch of nasty things into the universe. The narrative is split between the present mission and the past. We see Adam Warlock choosing to join, seeing the team as a justification for his resurrection. There are other great character moments like Starlord and Rocket Raccoon getting get drunk at a bar, and Drax and Quasar finding resilience from Moondragon's death. These scenes help flesh out the team and give each member connection to the other, while pushing the action and story forward.

Pelletier's art dutifully mixes these moments with energetic action, but the most impressive shot is the bridge to the ship's control room. Adam, Gamora, and Drax run toward the control room as a horde of UCT fanatics start running towards them. The bridge where they meet is a grand structure that mixes cobblestone and futuristic design into architectural symmetry. The archway to the control room is vaulted above like a church organ, incorporating the cobblestone motif. The entirety is surrounded by hundreds of floating bodies in glowing vertical streams; they are devout members of the UCT whose faith powers the ship. The splash page is breathtaking at first, but rather unsettling once who you understand the context.

I really enjoyed this book. Although I have never read any of these characters in their previous incarnations, I was able to follow along and understand their history. I can't speak for fans of the old Guardians of the Galaxy series (which didn't have any of these characters and took place in the 31st Century), but for anybody looking for a fun space adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy #1 is a good place to start.

---

Shawn Hill 3 Bullets

Plot: It's the obligatory "gathering of the team" approach. But in space. After two annihilations. And not 1000 years in the future. But all those dimensional incursions still make the local reality pretty screwy out here on the Rip, the "outer edge of time-space." Lots of familiar faces are ready to spring into action in newly rehabilitated guises from page one.

Comments: The question is, are we ready to tag along? I didn't check in for much of Annihilation and know only that Annihilus and the Phalanx tried to invade our galaxy, and did wipe out the Nova Corps among others, and now our universe is unstable due to all the dimensional rifts involved in those events. Damn that Negative Zone!

This issue I learned that Moondragon has died (which wasn't the case in the last Annihilation-related issue I purchased), that Drax is smarter than he used to be (but no less bitter), that Phylla-Vell and Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon and Warlock (who's alive again, and may or may not be from a different timeline) are all gung ho for more heroism, while Gamora is both surly and horny, and her latest squeeze Nova himself has other things to do. Still, it's most of the major players of the recent space opera events, now being invited, scene by scene, by Star-Lord to join his crazy new pro-active team of unofficial space cops.

The set-up is formulaic to the extreme, but not badly done. Still, the titular imperative of the story doesn't really come across, especially as they spend most of the issue not repairing reality warps, but fighting some space fundamentalists.

The battle is intercut with post-battle commentary (sporting event-style) from each participant, as well as flashbacks set in a planet-rich tapestry of sci-fi conventions. Those places are, if anything, overly familiar, if not bizarrely Earth-centric. Hala, the Kree capital world, has never seemed so human ("Hotel Supremor?"), Rocket Raccoon makes eBay jokes, and breeding seems to be on the minds of these mostly humanoid aliens, inter-species or not.

Dialogue based on character distinctions shows a positive development for Abnett/Lanning (given their more plot-driven Legion of Super-Heroes years), and the package is made quite visually appealing by Pelletier. The Universal Church of Truth ship is basically a Gothic cathedral on a space dock, and it's impossibly ornate and fantastic inside and out. Many of the heroes are energy-wielders, and they look great wielding their powers, while Gamora and Drax get a little less of a chance to flex their muscles in this outing.

Everybody else is really good with guns, and that's about the level on which this thing plays. That the two main guys, Star-Lord and Nova, are such average joes causes me to focus more on the regal and always bizarre Warlock, but there's potential here, and the action takes place amidst much pertinent (if not very colorful) dialogue. Pelletier goes for the drama in a mostly realistic style that fits in with the earlier crossovers, so Marvel seems to know the appeal of this segment of their universe.

But the quest and the setup and the goals are standard ones, and this series is going to need more of a fresh approach to distinguish itself, especially as it has abandoned almost everything about the original concept that goes with its borrowed title.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

Editor's Note: newuniversal: Shockfront #1 arrives in stores tomorrow, May 14.

"Tumble"

Thom Young: Three and a half bullets
Paul Brian McCoy: Three bullets (as a first issue); Four Bullets (as a seventh issue)


Thom Young: This was a difficult issue for me to assign a bullet ranking. If I rate it purely on its own merits, it deserves four bullets--possibly even four and a half. However, my biggest concern coming into this issue is that it wouldn’t pick up where the story left off in newuniverse #6 because it needed to be "new user friendly" as the first issue of a new series.

Unfortunately, it both does and doesn't pick up where the previous series left off--which would make me give it only three bullets.

Paul Brian McCoy: My initial reaction was that on its own, as a first issue to a new mini-series, this book would be three and a half if I was feeling generous, and the art didn't make me feel very generous. However, when read as a continuation of the issue that came before, my score goes up. I don't think this is being written for new readers at all, and if you haven't read the first series, then this might just be a confusing mess.

Thom Young: Oh, I agree. By "on its own" I didn't mean as the first issue of a new series. I meant as an issue that is neither new-user friendly nor connected to a previous story. It's definitely not a good entry point first issue for new readers, but it's also not exactly picking up where the former series left off.

What I mean by it being a four-bullet issue "on its own" is that it's very well-written and I enjoyed it a great deal more than I enjoy most comic books that are being produced nowadays. I even enjoyed Steve Kurth's illustrations more than I enjoy the work of most pencilers nowadays.

After a year layoff, and without re-reading the previous six issues, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to recall all that I needed to, but Ellis provides a three-page expository introduction of the seven key plotlines from the previous series and that jarred my memory enough to enjoy this issue.

Paul Brian McCoy: I didn't think the recap sections were very effective. I gave the book a couple of reads before going back and rereading the first six issues, and this works much better as an issue #7 than it does as a first issue.

There's not a lot to really grab a new reader and establish just what the hell is going on here. This was especially problematic for me because my memory isn't any good to begin with, so all I remembered from the first series were the broad strokes stuff that was mentioned in the recap. The real beauty of those first six issues was in the details that laid out an interesting and intriguing alternate reality.

But after rereading the first series and then picking up this issue again, it works much better. Maybe too much time has passed between then and now (both in-narrative and out) to make it a comfortable transition, but reading the first series is pretty much required.

Thom Young: Yeah, it is. Yet it doesn't exactly pick up where the previous issue left off, and that bothered me more than having to have read the previous issues bothered me (since I had read those issues, and could sort of recall what was in them).

According to the timestamp on page five ("March 16, 2006"), exactly two weeks have passed since the White Event occurred on March 2, 2006--and that means it's been about 13 days since the end of newuniversal #6 (which ended with the words "To Be Continued"). Ellis stopped using timestamps in the first series after the third issue (at which point about 17 hours had passed since the White Event), but it looks like the entire previous six-issue series occurred in no more than 24 hours.

So we're picking up the story 13 days from where we left it a year ago--and that's not too bad. However, considering the events in the initial six issues happened in about 24 hours, I almost feel as if I've missed 78 issues.

Not really, but I am a bit disappointed that we weren't shown some of what transpired during those missing 13 days--such as Phil Voight and Dr. Swann's interactions at Project Spitfire at Fort Meade, Maryland. Perhaps we'll get caught up with all of those events either in flashback or expository dialog.

Paul Brian McCoy: Those missing elements are really the main reasons my score isn't higher for this issue. There are three pages of story lost because of the recap pages, then we open with a full page from a Chinese comic that the character Izinami Randall is reading, followed by a page and a half discussion of fanboy behavior and comic shop traffic. That's almost a quarter of the book spent already and nothing has happened yet.

Again, the character work done here is effective if the reader is coming in from the previous series, but otherwise this stuff comes completely out of the blue. I mean, I love the conversation Izinami has with her boss, but I'm not sure it's really beneficial in the context of a first issue narrative. I suppose it does provide some emotional grounding for what comes later, but I'm not even sure why it had to play like it does.

Plus there's no indication of why this is a manhua shop instead of a typical American comics shop or what the cultural significance this is to Ellis' fictional world. If a reader hadn't read the previous series and wasn't familiar with the socio-political landscape that Ellis had established there, this all may just seem odd and confusing.

Four and a half pages is a lot of room to touch on another previous storyline or two.

Thom Young: I particularly enjoy scenes like that one. They create a sense of verisimilitude for me that not only grounds the emotional content that comes later but those types of scenes ground the entire fantasy world of superheroes for me in a world that becomes identifiable for me in some small ways.

In a way, it's the last vestige of what Jim Shooter had in mind when he originally came up with the New Universe concept 20 years ago. It was supposed to be "the world outside your window"--a universe of interconnected titles that would create a deeper sense of verisimilitude than most superhero comics.

Twenty years ago, it seemed that such an approach was the future of comics--taking the next step from the Silver Age stories of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Stan Lee in which the heroes had "identifiable problems" up to the "real world perspectives" of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen and Alex Ross and Kurt Busiek's Marvels.

Warren Ellis has mostly gone to great lengths to show us that his New Universe is not "the world outside your window," but with scenes like the one you mentioned he's at least letting us know that the people populating this New Universe have the same emotional worlds inside ourselves.

Paul Brian McCoy: It just seems like a new reader isn't going to be invested enough in this world to wade through all the Asian names and characters being discussed right out of the gate. Especially if one doesn't already know that China is the dominant political and cultural super power in this world.

It's clearly an echo of the use of pirate comics in Watchmen to reflect the in-narrative pop cultural preoccupations, and it helps to provide texture to the world Ellis has created. Eh, I’m probably just over-thinking this anyway. I liked it. New readers might not.

Thom Young: Yeah, the idea of there being manhua stores rather than comic book stores was interesting--and it definitely relates back to the first issue of the previous series where it was disclosed that bars in rural Oklahoma serve Tsingtao beer and that the Chinese have multiple bases on the moon. I suppose we'll see more of China's position as the top political superpower as the series progresses.

I was also wondering, though, if Ellis wasn't having some fun with a possible pun in which manhua, the Chinese word for comics, sounds like manure. Because, of course, everything else in that scene is typical of American comic book culture--as in Tuesday being a slow day because the fanboys only come in on Wednesday to get their manhua (manure).

Paul Brian McCoy: I wouldn't put it past Ellis. However, it's apparently just the luck of the pronunciation. According to Internet wizardry, manhua (the Chinese word originally borrowed from the Japanese manga and referring to all comics) became associated particularly with Chinese comics as early as 1925.

And, in a neat bit of trivia, the Chinese characters for manhua are identical for those used in Japanese manga, Korean manhwa, and Vietnamese manhoa.

Thom Young: Yeah, they're obviously all etymologically related, but I just thought Ellis decided to have some punning fun with the word in relation to American comics--especially with the couple of references the manager of the store makes to "crap."

Anyway, when I reviewed the sixth issue of newuniversal (which I had no idea was to be the last issue for a year), I wrote, "What became painfully obvious to me as I read this latest chapter is that the story really needs to be read in one collected graphic novel."

Of course, Marvel then collected those six issues into a "graphic novel" even though the story wasn't completed and the sixth chapter ended with "To Be Continued."

I'm now inclined to wait out the entirety of this current series until it, too, is collected in a paperback edition. It should not only be cheaper (and I am a damn cheap jackass, as you know), but it should also be easier to follow the social, political, and personal aspects of the story.

Paul Brian McCoy: Without a doubt it'll read better collected, especially when read with the first series. Part of me kind of wishes that they had just released the whole thing at once, like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier (although, to be fair, that was a stand-alone story, whereas this seems to be plotted as an ongoing series of minis), since there are so many storylines (two new characters are revealed this issue, making a grand total of nine narrative threads) and so little space to give them the attention they deserve.

Thom Young: If I remember correctly, the original series was planned as an ongoing monthly, and I would now recant my statement in my review of the sixth issue had Ellis, Larroca, and Marvel been able to produce it on a monthly basis. In a literary world of greater verisimilitude, six or seven separate plotlines should not be expected to all conclude around the same time unless they eventually all intertwine (which, of course, they might).

It's much more realistic, though, to think of plotlines that don't directly intertwine. Instead, if Ellis had planned for them to indirectly intertwine over the course of several dozen issues--much like the structure of a TV soap opera. In retrospect, the soap opera structure of plotlines coming together both directly and indirectly would have been the hook for me to keep buying each issue as it was published.

Now, if the new approach is to wrap up all plotlines in six-issue increments, then I'm much more inclined to just wait for the collected edition.

Paul Brian McCoy: I haven't been able to find any interviews about this new project online, so it's hard to tell what the game plan is going to be here. I hope Ellis plans to continue with the characters, even if it is as consecutive minis I know there's a one-shot planned for July (newuniversal: 1959), and it's being written by Kieron Gillon (hand-picked by Ellis, the ads say). I suppose that's one way to keep building and fleshing out this world.

But I really want to know what happened with Dr. Proudhawk more than any other character--which again reinforces for me how much stronger this issue is when read as issue #7. The timing of this issue's new character revelations builds on the introduction of Proudhawk near the end of the previous series.

Without that bit of previous knowledge about the story (that there are other people whose powers are awakening, even though they may not seem to be connected to the White Event), the new characters just seem to be random appearances (accompanied by horrific gore) with no context from which to draw meaning.

Thom Young: I don't even remember Proudhawk in either this issue or the previous, so I'm obviously going to have to re-read all seven issues when I get the time.

Paul Brian McCoy: Well, he's not even referenced in a single panel in this issue. However, his vision quest and the discovery of his role in what's coming were my favorite parts of the first six issues. That was in issue five, by the way.

Thom Young: I guess I don't recall the plotlines from a year ago as much as I thought I did. I'm going to have to add the entire run to my ever-growing stack of stuff I have to get around to reading. I won't mind, though, because I love the writing on this series. It outshines every other series that I'm reading with the exception of All-Star Superman.

Paul Brian McCoy Ellis' Thunderbolts shines like that for me. I'm sad that he's wrapping up on that one. Twelve issues just wasn't enough for me.

Thom Young: That's a series I should have tried, and will probably buy in the collected paperback. I know you indicated earlier that you didn't like the illustrations, but I should point out that I like Steve Kurth's pencils on this issue more than I liked Salvador Larroca's on the six issues of the previous series.

Paul Brian McCoy: I really don't care for the art at all, which may be making me more cranky about the pacing than I normally would be. I've never seen Kurth's work before, and after a quick Internet search, I see he's done G.I. Joe, Ghostbusters, Dragonlance titles and, most recently, Marvel's adaptation of Last of the Mohicans. Well, there's nothing in this book that makes me want to see any of his other work. It's just ugly.

Actually, I take that back. He does a good job with exploding bodies. The gore is realistic and graphic, which is something I like when it's in service to a good story. And it is in service to a good story here, regardless of my bitching and nitpicking.

But the rest of the book looks pretty bad to me. This could just be a combination of his pencils with Andrew Hennessy's inks, but generally, the people really don't look quite right. Faces often seem twisted or squeezed into unnatural positions and the use of heavy shadows and swaths of black tends to add to the ugliness rather than create mood or drama. There's just no reason to have the shadows as heavy as they are when a more subtle shade of color would work much better.

Colorist Chris Chuckry does the best he can to create depth and texture, but he can only do so much. This might have worked better as color art over unfinished pencils, although that wouldn't change the basic ugliness of the characters. Regardless, I found it to be a dramatic step down in art quality from the first series (even though I usually didn't care for Larroca's photo-referencing choices).

Thom Young: Fair enough. We disagree about something else besides gun control and which bands were the progenitors of heavy metal. I found Kurth's pencils to create even more of a sense of verisimilitude for me than Larroca's did (though I didn't realize this until I started looking through the previous series in preparation for this review).

I also like Kurth's work more than I do many other illustrators working for either DC and Marvel nowadays--but that's sort of faint praise as far as I'm concerned, since I find a lot of comic book illustrations nowadays are being produced by pencilers who have little understanding of how their panels should complement the story by moving the action flowingly from panel to panel, and then when to cause the flow of the action to stop when the story requires it. I didn't find any of those types of problems with either Larroca's or Kurth's, but I did find Kurth's figures to be more natural.

What I particularly liked about this issue, though, is related to something I noted in my review of the previous issue where I mentioned that it seemed that Ellis had introduced General Thunderbolt Ross into the story--again indicating that this New Universe is not "the world outside your window" but is actually a parallel Marvel Universe in which none of the inhabitants of the regular MU (whatever it's numerical designation is) had achieved super powers.

Paul Brian McCoy: I agree. That was a very nice touch. I also love how this is just a given here, whereas other companies might use this detail as the cornerstone for a company-wide epic event.

Thom Young: Yeah, in Ellis's New Universe, I'm sure Peter Parker exists but will never be bitten by a radioactive spider. Instead, he's probably a geekish high school student in Queens getting picked on by Flash Thompson. My suspicions are born out in this current issue in which we see Captain George Stacey (Gwen's father) briefing a room of detectives about the "Justice Killer," Det. John Tensen.

Capt. Stacey's first team of detectives who will be coordinating the case are:

• Jean DeWolff (presumably not a captain here as she was in the Spider-Man comics of the 1970s and 1980s),
• Det. Flint (who dates back in the Marvel Universe at least as far as Moon Knight volume one #12 in 1981),
• Misty Knight (who was an NYPD police officer before being injured in the line of duty and getting a bionic arm in the Iron Fist story in Marvel Premiere #20 in 1975--presumably the New Universe version never received a bionic arm and she made detective), and
• Det. Nick Manolis (who was a corrupt cop in Frank Miller's 1981 Daredevil stories, but seems to have avoided being murdered in the New Universe.

Even though I'm more in tune with DC Universe history than I am Marvel history, I really enjoyed these appearances and the idea that Ellis is giving us an alternate version of Marvel's 1970s universe set in 2006.

Paul Brian McCoy: I'm glad you detailed all that, since my faulty memory only recognized Stacey, DeWolff, and Knight. For what it's worth, this makes Ellis' second alternate version of Misty Knight.

All in all, I'm a little disappointed with this as a first issue. It moves a little too casually for a first issue, and I thought too much space was given over to recap with not enough new information included. It does get stronger as it goes along, though, but then we run out of pages, just as it's getting interesting. The pacing works better if this issue is read in succession with the previous six.

In fact, I'm amazed at the difference rereading the first six issues made to my enjoyment of this comic. And luckily for the readers out there, both a trade and/or a premiere hardback collection is readily available. Hell, instead of digging through the piles of back issues in my closet, I just ordered the hardback cheap from Amazon on Thursday morning and had it Friday afternoon (with no shipping charge and the regular discount, the hardback was just over 13 bucks--you can't beat that).

Thom Young: No, you can't. I'm half inclined to sell my six issues on eBay for a fourth of what I paid for them and then just buy the trade paperbacks from Amazon. The only downside to that is that I wouldn't be able to enjoy Ellis's writing as soon as it's originally published, but it would probably be worth it both financially and in being able to follow the story more closely.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

Editor's Note: Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1 arrives in stores tomorrow, May 14.

"No-one gets back alive! Part 1: Negative Energy"

The first chapter of this crossover-tie-in miniseries recaps the events of Secret Invasion #1, plunging the Baxter building into the negative zone portal as the Skrull infiltration threatens the Marvel Universe's first family, before showing us what happened to its occupants when it appeared on the other side.

After reading the first issue of the core Secret Invasion title, I didn't have particularly high hopes for this tie-in book. The appearance of the FF in that issue served to shuffle the team off to the sidelines, trapping them in the Negative Zone and suggesting that they didn't really have a place in Brian Bendis' larger plans for Secret Invasion, regardless of their long history with the Skrulls. Despite that, the existence of this book suggests that somebody thought that there was a Fantastic Four story worth telling amidst the chaos of the Skrull invasion--but after reading this first issue, I'm not really convinced that there is.

One of the most appealing elements of the Fantastic Four is the family dynamic of the team, but the constraints of Secret Invasion's larger story prevent Aguirre-Sacasa from really exploring that dynamic. With the events of Secret Invasion #1 already having taken Reed and Sue Richards out of commission, the writer is left with only Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm to play with, and whilst he's able to have some fun with both characters, it's not really enough to sustain an entire story. The Thing is tasked with protecting Franklin and Valeria, and Johnny is left to deal with the Skrull impostor who impersonated Sue in order to sabotage the Baxter Building in the first place. Whilst there is a small amount of action and a reasonable dramatic premise, it all feels a bit pedestrian and a little too straightforward and predictable to be a really compelling story.

It's a particular shame that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa doesn't have the whole FF family to play with here, because I was quite a fan of the writer's Marvel Knights Fantastic Four title from a few years ago, which managed to focus on the more grounded and human aspects of the characters without losing the appeal of their fantastical lifestyle. Unfortunately, the story concept here is just too restrictive to allow for that kind of focus on the characters, and it feels like the writer can't exploit one of his greatest strengths as a result. That said, the final-page reveal adds a slightly more personal element to the story, giving the FF's battle against their Skrull adversary a more emotional dimension than a simple battle against an army of generic Skrull soldiers would provide. However, I feel as though it's a development which will only really mean anything to longtime readers who are familiar with FF history, rather than the casual Secret Invasion reader who seems like the most likely audience for this book.

Barry Kitson's artwork is more than serviceable here, presenting a take on the FF that's in keeping with their subtle redesign in the pages of the ongoing Fantastic Four title without losing the classic feel of the characters. I was a fan of Kitson's work on The Order recently, and he brings the same aptitude for facial expressions and body language that he showed in that title to the pages of this book. Unfortunately, it's not quite enough to redeem a story that doesn't really get going until the second half of the issue, and that doesn't manage to make much of an impression even then.

This book feels like a fairly inconsequential tie-in to Secret Invasion, albeit one that will probably keep Fantastic Four fans happy enough. You can't blame Marvel for trying, and it's far from being an offensively bad comic--but neither is it a particularly good one. It's difficult to escape the feeling that this is a title that has been created for the sake of having a Secret Invasion/FF tie-in, rather than because anyone had a particularly good story to tell, and I doubt that I'll be interested enough to pick up the next issue.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

Editor's Note: X-Men #211 arrives in stores tomorrow, May 14.

Awwww… I was hoping the Juggernaut was going to wreck stuff. Even if that wasn't the case, there is promise of future smashing which excites me, and a solid entry by Mike Carey to add to the depth and character of Charles Xavier.

Let's face it, after 40 years it would seem to be an impossible task to add anything new to the character of Charles Xavier, but Mike Carey and the art team are delivering some great stories exploring the broken spirit of the once leader of the X-Men. His dream has died, he has nothing really left, and he is on a quest to remember more about who he was and how he came to be who he is now. I really like this exploration, and I think it is the only way that one can rejuvenate a character: have that character re-evaluate and grow beyond what he/she was previously.

Much of the issue is committed to reviewing previous events in the life of Xavier including those revolving around his twin, the long forgotten Brood episode, Proteus and, of course, arguably Xavier’s greatest failure: the Phoenix. The review of events seems to point to Charles missing obvious signs of his own failings, not noticing the subtle signs of cracks in the façade of his control. It also exposes the dramatic flaw of Charles: he always has to be in control.

The events surrounding Charles' childhood, and his former friend Carter Ryking (Hazard) are muddled at best. Carey does an excellent job of weaving a mystery about what experiments were being conducted on Xavier and Ryking by a scientist working with Xavier's father Brian. I will dodge too many spoilers, but these tests fit a long pattern of another X-villain, and his appearance in Ryking's life finally answers the question about what the link is between Hazard and the character that appears at the end of the book at Xavier’s door. I cannot wait until the next issue to see if Carey exposes what Hazard was working on with Fontanelle (that should be enough hints for long time fans to piece together who I am talking about). I must give props to Carey for weaving recent and ancient history together into an interesting tale.

Carey is also playing with the audience a little bit, with covert ops teams hunting Xavier. They know who he is, and they know his powers, and they are out to kill him. In this issue we get no clues as to why they are doing this, but by the setting and the way it is presented (the idea of a mindscape that Xavier monitors) creates an overwhelming sense of dread. Carey has Xavier cleverly use his powers to interact with his environment. Finally, we have a writer who remembers that Xavier is powerful, very powerful, and can actually do things without Cerebro/Cerebra.

The second story line in the book, about the Hellfire club, is less engaging. For some reason, the panels fell a little flat. I love the Hellfire club, and Sebastian Shaw is one of my favourite X-villains; however, he just doesn't carry the menace I expect. The Hellfire club felt more like I was watching the British parliament than a true secret society.

Now for the question you have all been asking: what about Juggernaut? Well he gets one page, with the promise of more. He is clearly back in the thrall of Cytorrak after the events in World War Hulk. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem like the tortured soul I was expecting, doing compelled evil. Instead, he seems to have completely reverted to his "my rotten half-brother" routine. Please Mr. Carey, Juggernaut has grown a lot, and while I want him smashing stuff, do not toss away all of the interesting things that have been done with the character's personality.

The art is beautifully rendered, with the first page with Juggernaut being fantastically coloured. Shadowed crimson just popped against the stark background. The pencils on Cain Marko were outstanding. I also have to say that Eaton produced the single most gorgeous panel of Jean Grey I have seen in years; the detail on her hair alone after she gets into the Phoenix costume is gorgeously rendered. Kudos have to go to the inkers and colourist as well for the memory montages: they could have been very muddled, but instead they are clear and distinctive.

I must admit, I did not expect to write this glowing a review. When I finished the book, I considered it to be average. After analyzing a number of aspects though, I have to say that it is far above a lot of the recent material I have read out of the Big Two in the last year. Solid story, interesting plot developments, great art, it is hard to ask for more out of a comic book. Between Mike Carey and Ed Brubaker the X-Men stable of books is in great hands right now.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

Editor's Note: Thunderbolts #120 arrives in stores tomorrow, May 14.

"Caged Angels: Part V"

This is going to be short, but sweet.

Warren Ellis' penultimate issue of Thunderbolts is his best yet. There is not another book on the stands that is as good as this. Period. Deodato's art is perfect. The Green Goblin has never been scary to me, but in this issue, he's a freaking nightmare come to life. And there are at least two full page splashes that are as disturbing, frightening, sexy, and beautiful as anything you're going to find in comics.

The two artists work together with a spot-on rhythm and cinematic pacing. Just look at the preview pages, where we follow a psychically pushed past the tipping point Norman Osborn as he literally descends into full-on psychosis. None of the dialogue is plot driven. It all is being used to reveal character, from free-associations about historic moments in comics (and their retcons), to delusional power fantasies. All this while the panel layouts, the angles, and the effective use of heavy, dramatic shadowing build the tension and work thematically, and look great doing it.

Ellis may be one of the best writers in comics today when it comes to scripting and plotting out a character's transition into costume. And Deodato's images capture perfectly the particular brand of crazy that Osborn is ranting. Just look at that naked stance as he declares, "So says President Goblin!" He's a hero in his own mind.

Mr. Ellis and Mr. Deodato should be chained to chairs and made to create this comic until they are slobbering, gibbering messes. Providing they aren't already.

No other comic on the shelves makes me as gloriously, derangedly happy as this title, and this is the best issue yet. Or did I say that already? Whatever.

If you're not reading this, you are truly missing out on some of the most gleefully evil and entertaining work out there. The only thing that would make this better would be if the characters could swear. It's that kind of great.

I'm going to miss this when it's over.

What's that? The series isn't ending when Ellis and Deodato leave?

Yes it is.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

Editor's Note: Captain Britain and MI:13 #1 arrives in stores tomorrow, May 14.

"The Guns of Avalon: Part One"

I never expected to be actively picking up a Captain Britain book, let alone be looking forward to one as much as I've been looking forward to Captain Britain and MI:13. Despite being British myself, I've never held any particular affection for the character, even as Avalon's answer to Captain America. In fact, I've never even read a Captain Britain book before--not even the much-lauded issues by Alan Moore and Alan Davis (although I'm sure I'll get round to them at some point). What I have read, however, is the six-issue Wisdom miniseries that Marvel published last year by British writer Paul Cornell (of Dr. Who fame), which took former X-Man Pete Wisdom and threw him into a series of fantastical adventures with the paranormal British Intelligence division of MI:13. My eager anticipation for this issue can be traced to the good work that Cornell accomplished in the pages of that book, and I was keen to see whether he could pull off the transition to a more mainstream superhero title with stronger connections to the modern Marvel Universe.

Thankfully, Captain Britain and MI:13 #1 doesn't disappoint.

Kicking off with a pre-credits sequence involving Wisdom's John The Skrull and a high-ranking government official who is revealed as a Skrull impostor, the book firmly establishes itself as a continuation of Cornell's previous series, but one that is also an integral part of the present-day Marvel Universe. This year's Secret Invasion crossover allows the title to make use of the Skrull threat as an exciting, action-packed backdrop, but thankfully Captain Britain and MI:13 has loftier aspirations than just being a spinoff book for a larger event. Cornell uses this first issue to introduce several subplots and an interesting character dynamic that promise to give the book a life far beyond Secret Invasion, and I'm keen to see what kinds of challenges the writer cooks up for his team once the Skrull threat has passed.

Despite the difference in scale and scope between this book and Wisdom, Cornell shows that he hasn't let himself get carried away by the opportunity to play around with a greater number of pre-existing characters and concepts than he used in that title. In fact, this issue seems even more character-centric than Wisdom was, allowing readers to fully invest in the cast before sweeping them up in a grand adventure that builds towards a cliffhanger climax--all in the space of just one issue.

Readers who haven't read Wisdom won't feel left behind, as this first issue allows us to spend a lot of time acquainting ourselves with the book's key players. We meet both Pete Wisdom (who seems slightly less abrasive and cynical than before, and appears to be experiencing strange supernatural "visions") and Captain Britain (who is presented as just as iconic and reliable as his American cousin), two characters that work well together and share the spotlight comfortably, without feeling as though they're competing for attention. I was pleased to see Cornell eschew the easy option of creating a forced rivalry and false drama between the two characters, opting instead to imbue them with a sense of mutual respect and comradeship that makes their rapport feel far more natural and believable.

More minor characters also get their own chances to shine, albeit briefly: the Black Knight, Spitfire and John the Skrull all get a comparatively small amount of page-time, but Cornell still manages to establish them quickly and efficiently. As a writer who also does a lot of work in television, he seems to have a particularly strong grasp of the maxim "show, don't tell," with Spitfire's introduction to the book a perfect example of how to condense a lot of information about a character into a small space.

Finally, we meet the much-talked-about Faiza Hussain, a new character that Cornell has talked about as being our "gateway" character for the series. We only get a quick glimpse of her here, but she already feels well-rounded and interesting (I enjoyed her acknowledgement that she's a complete superhero fangirl), laying to rest any fears that she could be a one-note cliché character who has been introduced solely to crowbar a British Muslim point of view into the story. At this point, she reminds me slightly of Dr. Who's Martha Jones due to her medical background, but I'm sure that Cornell will do more to distinguish her personality in the next few issues.

My only real complaint is that Wisdom's Captain Midlands doesn't make an appearance, but there's still plenty of time for that yet.

The book's artwork is provided by Leonard Kirk. I know Kirk from his work on the much-loved Agents of Atlas series, and if anything, his work seems even better here. There's a cleanness and consistency to the visuals that makes the story easy to follow (even during the more crowded scenes), and the artist seems to be having fun with the concepts he's playing with, such as the weird and wonderful combinations of Marvel-Universe powers and physical attributes that are displayed by the numerous Super-Skrulls that populate the issue. There are some fun touches of background detail (I loved the scared reaction of the Super-Skrull to Spitfire's attack), and Kirk also shows a real knack for dramatic visuals--especially during the powerful closing pages of the issue. He even manages to avoid making the Captain Britain costume look silly, which itself is no mean feat. Jesse Delperdang's tight, delicate and detailed inking is just as good here as it has been in the pages of Batman recently, really enhancing the overall package. Finally, Bryan Hitch's cover rounds things off beautifully, creating an iconic, poster-worthy image of Captain Britain that sells the book well.

Many readers may be buying this book due to its ties to Marvel's big crossover event. However, whilst this first issue certainly plays up to some of the themes of Secret Invasion (there's more than one reference to the idea that the superheroes are "playing characters," and there's some subtle allegory for real-world events in the "War on Terror"), it's worth buying for many more reasons than that. Cornell's enjoyable and individual sense of humour has survived the transition from Wisdom wholly intact (what other Marvel title will give you references to Norman Wisdom, Abba and Frankie Goes To Hollywood?), the characters are distinctive and original, there's plenty of drama and large-scale action, and it's great to see a book take such pride in its sheer Britishness ("They want summat we've got." "What Britain has more of than anything else - magic!"). I get the sense that this book isn't going to be ashamed to be a fun, fast-paced and reasonably traditional superhero comic, with as many concessions to the conventions of the genre as there are attempts to do things differently. I haven't read a stronger first issue than this in a long time, and I can't wait for the next.

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---

Editor's Note: X-Men Origin: Colossus arrives in stores tomorrow, May 14.

Plot: The defining moments for Russia's metal mutant.

Comments: Having an "Origin" story for a mutant doesn't make much sense. The mutants in the Marvel universe are, of course, born that way. There is no radioactive spider or super soldier serum to kick things off. Piotr Rasputin was just born with special powers which emerged in his teen years. Not to say there isn't a story to be found in a mutant's early years; there are plenty of plots to explore and an "Origin" story allows a deeper look into the background of a character. But what defines a mutant origin story? The first time his powers activate? When the mutant in question joins the X-Men? Unlike Peter Parker or Tony Stark, there is no particular moment in time when a mutant becomes a mutant. So it has to be something more character driven. Sure, character informs all hero origins, but character development is all a mutant has, a collection of "Defining Moments." So an origin story can have all the significant events that kick start an X-Man's career (meeting Xavier, the first meeting with an arch enemy) but for a true origin you need only one thing: motive. A mutant has no choice about being a mutant, but a person does have a choice in what to do with the gift(s) he is given, and those defining moments shape that choice. Chris Yost understands this with a writer's gift. X-Men Origin: Colossus gives us the defining moments that turned Peter Rasputin into Colossus. That is how Yost makes sense of an "origin" story for a mutant.

Origin wastes no time in laying the groundwork for the man who will become Colossus. Peter had an older brother who was a cosmonaut. In the first page of the book Mikhail promises to watch over Peter, always, no matter what. It's a defining moment for Peter in many ways. Of course, when Mikhail tells Peter to "Look to the stars and know that I'm looking back," we know exactly what fate is in store for Peter's older brother. When Peter learns of his brother's death, it triggers his mutant power, another defining moment. This moment also drives the plot forward. Mikhail's best friend, Alexander, was the only witness to Peter's transformation, but the "powers that be" have their radar up. It's the cold war, and mother Russia wants some mutants of their own. Peter is watched.

The next big moment for Peter is the birth of his sister Illyana. He makes the same promise to "watch over her no matter what" that his brother made to him. The echo in sentiment shows just how much Peter worshipped his older brother and how Peter views the same role. We as readers know to what lengths Peter will have to go to keep that promise, but it's a touching human moment and our foreknowledge only makes it more bittersweet. As the years go by, Peter learns of the X-Men's battle with Magneto (A front page picture from the New York Times that looks very familiar. Why wasn't it the Daily Bugle though?). Because of the world's reaction he keeps his ability a secret. Eventually, the wrong people do find out, though, and they come for Peter with helicopters and guns. Another defining moment: Peter steps up to protect his family and those copters and guns find themselves on the wrong side of an angry organic metal mutant.

The next defining moment is meeting Xavier and making the choice to join the X-Men. Peter understands that Xavier's dream is the best hope for his family and especially his sister to have a peaceful future. He leaves Illyana, restating his promise to always watch over her. This time that statement is not only as a loving brother but as someone who has just made a defining choice. It's hard to get around the knowledge of what fate has in store for Illyana and the tone leaps over bittersweet straight to sadness. The last page is a beauty shot of Xavier's new team and Peter taking his place among them.

The art for the book complements the level of quality in the writing. Trevor Hairsine hits all the right visual notes in the emotional development of Colossus. Each defining moment punctuated with a beautiful splash page. Peter's transformation becomes a strong counterpoint to the bleak snowy landscape of Siberia. The coloring has a naturalistic approach (once again, Siberia) with cold blues and similar chilly tones. The exception are the moments of violence near the end of the story; bright red backgrounds snap you out of the chill of the mundane. Illyana, the other exception, has dresses that step out of the earth tones of the rest of the characters, but that’s because she is the real color in Peter's life.

Final Word: What motivates Peter Rasputin to become an X-Man are his family and his desire to make a better world for his baby sister. Chris Yost clearly defines this motivation in a believable and well structured story. He also smartly plays off of our knowledge of Peter's future to make his choices even more poignant. The book has a sense of continuity, a solid command of tone and atmosphere and a gentle melancholy heart. Peter's transition from Russian farm boy to X-Man makes sense. What more could you ask from an origin book?

---

What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!

---