Comic Quickies: Recent Great Reads

Comeback #1: I've been waiting for there to be an Ed Brisson penned comic ever since I picked up his three issues of Murder Book at last year's Emerald City Comic Con.  Those three issues showed me a writer with a knack for telling compelling stories and I've been eagerly awaiting Comeback.

In Comeback, time travel has been developed, but is illegal.  However, the technology is used very discreetly by the ultra-rich who enlist the help of a secret company, Reconnect, to go back in time and save a loved on from death. For a hefty fee Reconnect will collect the loved one, stage their death, and bring them to safety.

Mark and Seth are two of the agents who do the collecting and time traveling.  However, on the mission that plays out in the opening pages, something goes terribly wrong, and the person they are meant to be saving dies during the time travel.  If that's not bad enough, Seth is starting to look a bit worn down by their job, which isn't good considering that in the wake of their most recent mission, they've been given another tough job.

The art, which is handled by Michael Walsh, is definitely easy on the eyes.  His art reminded me a lot of Tonci Zonjic from Who is Jake Ellis? fame and Where is Jake Ellis? (which I'll cover here shortly).  Anyway, Walsh's art is another strong aspect of this title.

This one gets positive marks for being a story about time travel, with a healthy dose of crime mixed in...a combo that I couldn't resist.  This opening issue is definitely a stage setter, but I like how things are looking.  I just hope that this doesn't wind up being one of those "Just one more job, then I'm out" kind of stories. For now, I'm feeling it.

Where is Jake Ellis? #1: The five issue series (Who is Jake Ellis?) which proceeded Where is Jake Ellis? was one of my top reads from last year.  High octane espionage action anyone?  However, since then, I've admittedly become a little bit lukewarm on writer Nathan Edmondson.  The stuff he's written since then hasn't impressed me nearly as much.  In fact, I almost didn't pick this issue up.

I did though, and I'm glad because it appears that Edmondson is in his groove when it comes to writing stuff with "Jake Ellis" in the title. If you haven't read the previous Jake Ellis material, I urge you to do so, not only because it is awesome, but because nothing in this new story arc will make any sense if you don't.

That being said, it will still be a shit ton of fun because Edmondson has distilled his comic down to pure, unrelenting action.  His agent, Jon Moore, is on the run from mysterious spooks who want him dead.  It's that simple.  Moore uses his considerable spy/survival skills to narrowly avoid death in awesome and exciting ways.  The kicker is, in the past he's had a voice inside his head (Jake Ellis) who has helped him survive, and now that voice has mysteriously gone silent, and Moore's head is on the chopping block.

Tonci Zonjic's art is stylish and cool, and very inviting.  He captures action and emotion with equal skill.  He and Edmondson are a great pair for this title, and I'm definitely excited to see what they have in store for us.

Batwoman #14:  All hail the best superhero title on the shelves.

(I actually have zero proof that the above statement is true, given that this is the only superhero title I read...but it is really fucking awesome so there!)

So why is Batwoman so awesome?  It's awesome for a lot reasons: Kate Kane is a really cool character, Batwoman battles stuff straight outta myth and urban legend, and there's a whole bunch of stressful and distracting stuff in her life such as relationships, family, and job stress, that make Kate seem like a real person. And now this comic is even more awesome because Wonder Woman has been added into the mix. Okay, sure, Wondy's been on the scene for at least two issues now, but I'm loving the Wonder Woman/Batwoman team up.

On top of a fun team up, and a cool story that has spanned the entire length of the series so far, this comic has J.H. Williams III on art knocking that shit out of the park with each issue he works on.  I love looking at Williams' art.  He has the most creative panel layouts, and he always experiments with interesting ways for the art and story to interact.  I was really taken with how he chose to show how Pegasus received his grievous injuries in this issue.

After dropping all the other DCnU titles I was reading, Batwoman continues to go strong, despite putting a lot of Kate Kane's personal issues on the back-burner for the moment.  I will say, I like this title a lot more when JHW III is doing the art, but Batwoman is good stuff.

Comic Quickies: War and Tights

Peter Panzerfaust #1: This one here is my surprise of the week.  Why? Because even though it is written by Kurtis Wiebe, (who is pretty much the shiz in creator owned comics lately) I hadn't planned on picking this one up.  However, when I made my weekly pilgrimage to the comic shop I decided to give this bad boy the flip check and it really caught my attention.

First off, the art here is pretty cool.  It's got this loose energetic feel to it that fits very well with the narrative. What you have here is a hefty helping of WWII action and mayhem with a bit of a re-imagining of the Peter Pan story.

Yeah, the concept sounded a little iffy to me too, (I mean Peter Pan isn't exactly the coolest guy in school) but so far things are looking pretty good.  I'm not sure yet if Peter is all that magical, or if his feats just seem magical through the eyes of the other orphan boys in his crew. So far the guy is an enigma.  All in all this was a pretty solid first issue, and I'm definitely looking forward to learning more about the characters and seeing what else Peter Panzerfaust has to offer.

The Activity #3: I'm on a bit of an espionage/war kick right now (which you'll see manifest itself around here in the from of reviews prolly in March) and it all stems from  this comic.  I wasn't totally sold on the first issue of The Activity but over the past couple of months, this comic has slowly grown on me, and now I'm pretty much smitten.

Nathan Edmondson has taken a very realistic, non-glorified approach to espionage in this title and the results are pretty great.  While his previous effort Who is Jake Ellis was an adventure-romp, this one is much more gritty, and character driven.

So far, each issue has been more or less a stand alone, and has centered around a mission where the team goes in and gets the job done in an incredibly professional manner. However, in this third issue, the shit hit the fan on their latest mission, and what we get is the aftermath rehash and finger pointing session with bits of the actual mission mixed in.  It is a pretty cool way to tell a story, and Edmondson pulled it off quite well.  This guy is pretty impressive.  Looking forward to seeing more of this title.

Batwoman #6: This title is still the best thing to come out of the DCnU, even with an artist switcheroo for the second story arc.  Taking over the artistic duties for the next five issues is Amy Reeder.  I was disappointed to hear that she and J.H. Williams III would be trading art duties for the story arcs on this title, but it turns out Reeder is a pretty solid fill in, despite the monstrously huge shoes she has to fill.

This issue takes a unique story telling approach as it delivers the story through six different POV characters.  This was a little bit confusing at first, but once I got the gist of what was going on, I actually thought it was a creative idea and it worked out pretty well.

Like I said earlier, Reeder's art is pretty great.  Sure, her art is a step down from J.H. Williams III, but just about anyone would be a step down.  Anyway, Reeder still delivered on series art specialties like changing art styles depending on the story, and delivered six or seven double page spreads too.  Her art felt a little more cartoony than I'd like for this title, but some of the pages here are quite impressive.  Out of all the DCnU titles I've tried, this is the only one I can say I love.

Action Comics #6: The last time I talked about comics, I mentioned that it looked like Action Comics was about to take a turn towards more epicness, and that Grant Morrison needed to bring the thunder to this title...Well, be careful what you wish for!

This latest issue definitely got more epic, and Morrison definitely brought some extra thunder to the story, but I'm not so sure the results are positive.

This was a strange and confusing issue, despite having some very familiar Superman plot moments.  What goes down is that Superman punches some shit, gets poisoned by kryptonite, almost dies, then at the last minute doesn't die.  However, why these things are happening is anyone's guess.  Oh, and from what I can gather, all this shit is occurring sometime in the future, but some of the people involved are from even further in the future and already know how shit will turn out.  Uh huh.  Part of me thinks that I'm missing something, part of me thinks I'm over-thinking things too much.  Maybe the next issue will clear things up.  I'm putting my faith in you Grant Morrison.

Comic Quickies: In With the New

The Activity #1: When I heard that Nathan Edmondson, the author behind the awesome Who is Jake Ellis? had a new spy/espionage series coming out, did two things: 1) fist pump  2) immediately add the comic to my pull list.

When The Activity finally arrived in my pull box, I took it home, pulled it out and began to read. From past Edmondsonian reading experiences I was fully expecting to be completely hooked by around page two or three.  Sure enough, I was pleased to see things get off to a nice start with a slick little spy-team mission.  Sadly, that early momentum wasn't sustained throughout the entire issue.

Once the opening sequence is over, you meet the cast of characters, learn about their job: a soldier and civilian team of covert operatives who use the fanciest technology and handle the most high-stakes operations.  You also learn that one of their team was recently killed in action, so with their new recruit in tow, the team heads to Rome to clean up a botched mission by another agency.

It's sad to admit, but as far as first issues go, I found this one to be pretty boring.  The cast introductions were pretty standard, and the clean up mission was dull and lacking in any kind of tension.  My hope is that with introductions and introductory missions out of the way, things will pick up from here.  I have pretty high expectations for this considering how great Who is Jake Ellis? was, hopefully The Activity will deliver.

Sacrifice #1: Completely self published and self distributed, Sacrifice is a title that is probably pretty hard to come by, especially considering the hype surrounding this title prior to it's release. Admittedly, I bought into the hype, and even went to a rival comic shop (the only one in town to carry copies) to secure my copy.  With illicit comic in hand, I dove in.

Your basic package is this: some time travel, Aztec sacrifice ceremonies, and some trippy ass art.  Apparently there's some Joy Division references or something in there too, but if they were, they went right over my head.

Basically, what happens is a dude named Hector eats some fast food, then mysteriously time travels back 700 years or so to the time of the Aztecs.  Next thing you know he's caught up in some sort of political struggle between rival religious factions and literally trying to keep his head on his shoulders, and hopefully avoiding getting killed once the Europeans come.

Though there was a degree of guilty pleasure involved in getting this title into my possession, I can't say that I was really drawn in by the story, which is a bit confounding to me, because I'm usually a sucker for time travel, and things trippy.  The art is sorta bipolar; great one moment, then ugly the next.  Sadly, there was nothing here to hook me, and without the power of being written or drawn by a trusted creator, I probably wont give this another shot. Just not my flavor.

Fatale #1: Crime, magic, horror and a story-within-a-story all rolled into one?  Without a doubt, Fatale, the latest from super duo Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips is right up my comic reading alley. As you can imagine, I was hooked quite early in this one, and then Brubaker and Phillips continued to set the hook, and reel me in as the issue progressed.

There's a lot going on in this first issue, a lot to take in, but the gist is this: the godson of a recently deceased crime writer discovers an unpublished manuscript, and winds up running for his life from would be killers.  He is saved from being gunned down by a mysterious woman he's only met briefly once before at the writer's funeral...only to nearly die in a fiery car crash.  When he awakes in the hospital, he begins to read through the manuscript, further unveiling more mysteries, and questions for the already beleaguered reader.

With points of view that alternate between the mystery woman, a crooked cop, and a reporter who's in over his head, Brubaker definitely throws the reader in at the deep end.  Plenty of seeds were planted here in the first issue, and from the looks of things, this is gonna be an incredibly entertaining comic to read in the coming months.  A very promising start to a new series from two of my favorite comic creators.

2011 Comics of the Year

TOP 5 COMIC SERIES of the YEAR:


In a year where I was still finding my feet in the comics medium, discovering what I like, and don't like, the battle for the Top 5 Comic Series of the Year had some stiff competition.  Last year I only featured two titles in what was a tie for my top comic, but this year I read way more titles, and it wouldn't be fair to only cover one title, so this year I'm giving you seven!  Damn, I'm nice.  With last year's co-winners Sweet Tooth and Chew still cranking out issues on a monthly basis, will any fresh contenders be able to unseat the champs? (I'll give you a hint, one of them slipped completely out of the rankings all together...) What am I waiting for?  Let's find out!

#5.  Rocketeer Adventures:  This title was an absolute blast.  Basically, a bunch of the industry's best writers and artists got together and cranked out a bunch of short comics and gorgeous pin-up tributes to Dave Steven's Rocketeer.

Each issue of this four issue mini featured some of the best comics creators in the business. The first issue was pretty astounding, but with each issue, there seemed to be a theme of each creator trying to out-do the others.  The result is some absolutely wonderful comics that offer a wide variety of Rocketeer action.  High caliber writing and art is pretty much standard across the board in this Top 5 list, but Rocketeer Adventures offers more variety and plenty of bang for your buck.

Probably my favorite comics moment of the year came when I discovered Geoff Darrow's lovely double-page spread pin-up.  Jaw Droppingly awesome.

#4. Batwoman: In case you've been living under a giant rock all year long, you know by now that DC relaunched all it's titles and started all their shit over at #1.  This provided me with the opportunity to jump onto a bunch of their titles that looked worthy my attention.  Out of the 52 titles they released, I deemed 7 of them worthy of my time and money.  Of those 7, only one gets the glory of being a Battle Hymns Top 5 comic of 2011. That title is, of course, Batwoman.

Batwoman doesn't spend her time battling classic villains like her compatriot Batman, but she seems to have carved out her niche in Gotham's caped and cowled crime fighting community: the supernatural.  In her most recent adventures she finds herself up against a ghostly child stealing wraith; with lots of personal and professional distractions going on amid all the action.  The writing is solid, Kate Kane's sexuality is maturely handled, and issue after issue, this seems to get better and better.  Oh, and the art?  J.H. Williams III is at the top of his game.  Absolutely beautiful work.

#3. The Sixth Gun: I love westerns, and I love fantasy so it should come as no surprise that I love The Sixth Gun, because those two elements have never been so wonderfully intertwined.

Sometimes I feel like the creators, Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt had me in mind when they came up with this concept, because it is very much geared to my tastes. I've been loving this title since issue #1 and have gladly been hooked for the whole journey so far.

The most recent story arc, Crossroads has been extremely entertaining and full of tense, shocking moments.  This comic is pretty much guaranteed to deliver engaging characters, fun western-style action like train hijackings, and crazy supernatural moments like re-animated evil spirits each and every month.  The art seems to just be getting better each go-around too, so there you go.  All around awesomeness.

#2. The Intrepids: The Top 5 list would be sadly incomplete if I failed to mention the awesomeness that is The Intrepids.

Mad science, a tech-ed up teen team battling crazy creations like cyber bears, battle baboons, and robo-squids are all involved in this crazy fun, crazy awesome 5 issue mini series.

Series creators Kurtis Wiebe and Scott Kowalchuk definitely delivered the goods here.  The writing by Wiebe is fantastic, and he delivers action, drama, tension and jokes with equal aplomb.  Kowalchuk's art is some of my favorite from the year.  He draws mad-science creations extremely well, and makes them look incredible...oh, and the rest of his art is great too, but those mad science creations...*sigh*

What astounded me the most about The Intrepids is that the story delivered on multiple fronts, and even packed in some emotional moments, and still managed to be the most fun comic to read on the shelves.

If you still haven't checked this title out, do so immediately.


#1. Sweet Tooth:  You're still the one Sweet Tooth.

Impressively, despite some stiff competition, Sweet Tooth manages to find itself at the top of the heap once again, and really, it was an easy decision to put it at number one once again.  The reason is simple: Sweet Tooth gets better with each issue.  Not only that, but writer/artist, Jeff Lemire continues to explore new ways of telling the story, and by doing so, stretches the boundaries of the comics medium.

Not only is this my favorite on going comic, but it is steadily creeping up the list and becoming one of my favorite all time stories, period.

For as much as I think, discuss, and gush on and on about this series, I still have almost no idea how this will all turn out.  So much of the bigger picture is still shrouded in mystery, but Lemire has done an excellent job off hiding his cards and slowly revealing them one at a time.  I can't wait to see what the next year of Sweet Tooth will bring.

Runners Up:


Who is Jake Ellis?: Wonderful action packed espionage thriller.  Great writing, satisfying ending to the series, and really cool art.

Blue Estate: A seedy Hollywood crime story with plenty of ins and outs.  Crafty, twisty crime writing at it's finest.


BEST SINGLE ISSUE of the YEAR:

Who is Jake Ellis? #1: In a year where I read more comics than I ever have in my entire life, one issue stands out from the crowd, and that is Who is Jake Ellis? #1. When I read it, I felt like I was reading something completely new and unique, which is very rare these days.  Both the writing and the art had a very fresh feel to them.

This issue pretty much did everything perfect.  The writing by Nathan Edmondson was captivating, it introduced the primary characters, set up the plot, and delivered some great action and chase scenes.  The art by Tonci Zonjic has an incredible vibe and personality that gave the series a signature style that is one of a kind.

This issue pretty much stormed the gates... and the whole damn castle fell with the following issues.  In a year bulging with "#1" issues, this one easily takes the cake.

Runner Up: The Intrepids #1: I've got two words for you: Cyber Bear.

Welp, there you go, my favorite comics from the year.  Are there titles I completely overlooked?  What were your favorite comics from the year?

Comic Quickies: Tales of Death

The Unexpected: 'Tis the season for horror, and The Unexpected, a one shot from Vertigo, is packed full of the stuff from the glorious cover drawn by Rafael Grampa to the back cover, which has an ad for The Big Bang Theory which is a wholly different brand of horror.

Vertigo managed to pull together some pretty big names to contribute to this anthology, but for the most part, I was disappointed with the content.  There was a decent ghost story in there from Joshua Hale Fialkov and Brian Wood delivered the goods with his tale Americana, (though it was a story that didn't actually feel like horror) and I enjoyed looking at Farel Dalrymple's art, but aside from those few high points I was pretty underwhelmed.  The rest of the content seemed to fall into one of two categories: "gore-fest" horror, which I don't care for at all, or "shocker endings!" which were never very shocking and at times outright predictable.

The $7.99 price tag makes me feel like I was ripped off.

 The Shade #1 of 12: After Batman, The Shade is my favorite DC character.  I say this despite my only previous experience with the guy being the first Starman Omnibus.  His shady demeanor, (pun intended), his ambiguous morals, and his creepy ability to make shadows come to life as beastly constructs makes him a memorable and like-able character.  The fact that this twelve issue mini-series is written by James Robinson, who wrote the Starman stuff and has an all-star lineup of artists working on the issues made this title a must have for me.

The first issue got things off to an odd start.  From what I can tell, The Shade basically spends his time sipping tea with superheros, and engaging in post-coitus repartee with his lady.  He also takes a stroll.

Robinson seemed to more intent on showing who The Shade is and only gives readers a very small taste of what he is capable of.  There is a shocker ending that was actually shocking, and has me pretty excited for the next issue.

Also, Cully Hamner handled the art for this issue, and he makes everything look beautiful.  Definitely worth checking out.  It'll be interesting to see where the hell this one is going.

Who is Jake Ellis #5 of 5: FINALLY!!

I think it was about at two or three month wait (it felt like longer!) for this final installment of what has been one of my favorite comics of the year.  Delays suck, but Who is Jake Ellis is worth the wait.

Since the very first issue, this has been an comic steeped in mystery, with a healthy dose of espionage action tossed in to make a delicious concoction of comic genius. I loved everything about this comic, from the writing, to the art, and the colors, and the final installment delivers on all fronts.  (Except for the ugly gray-tone cover, what the hell?)

I've always said that good endings are hard to come by, and the ending here (or is it?  More Jake Ellis please!) is pretty well handled.  Writer Nathan Edmondson wrapped up much of the mystery that was swirling around the primary characters, and answers most of my burning questions, and manages to leave the door open for potential sequels.  Not too shabby by my book.

If you aren't already reading this in single issues, buy the trade when it comes out. You will thank me.  Who is Jake Ellis is one of the best titles to hit shelves this year.

Sweet Tooth #26: Jeff Lemire is a busy dude lately.  He's writing and illustrating Sweet Tooth, plus writing  two other comics, and working on his creator owned graphic novel Underwater Welder in his spare time.  So when I heard that he was taking a three month hiatus from his Sweet Tooth drawing duties, I wasn't that surprised.

His sub, Matt Kindt, has been the subject of much scrutiny between myself and other Sweet Tooth readers at the comic shop.  I wasn't too thrilled to think that someone other than Lemire would be drawing the likes of Gus, Jeppard and the other Sweet Tooth folks, a feeling that seemed to be universal.

Well, boy was I surprised when I cracked open issue #26, Kindt's first call of duty, to find that he would be handling the art for a three issue side story titled The Taxidermist that is set one hundred years prior to the events of the main story line.

The story follows Dr. James Thacker on his sea-faring journey to the icy northern wastes of Alaska in search of his brother in law, who has gone missing while attempting to set up a Christian mission for the native Alaskans.  As soon as Thacker, the ship's captain and first mate hit land and begin their trek towards the settlement, things start to get weird, and before too long, their sled dogs are mysteriously killed, and things go south from there.

An awesome start to what looks to be an interesting side story.  Oh, and Matt Kindt's art is a good match to the strange story of icy Alaskan mystery and mayhem.

Near Death #1: Would I read a crime thriller set in Seattle? Sign me up!  Well, that's just what you get with Jay Faerber's Near Death.

Markham is a killer for hire, but from the looks of things in the early pages, his most recent job went to shit.  Now Markham is severely injured, and racing to save his own life.  He winds up on the operating table of a friend who runs an animal hospital and flatlines during surgery.  During his near death experience Markham is confronted by the hundreds of souls he's put to death, and told he needs to make amends for his sins.  Markham eventually is saved, and during his recovery, decides to use his skills to save people rather than kill them.

This first issue delivers the concept for the series in a pretty straight forward and workman like manner.  There is a no nonsense feel to the comic, which is possibly meant to make the story seem more spare and hard boiled, but to me it made the characters, especially Markham come across as empty vessels.  There is an interesting twist at the end that makes me think there might be more to this fledgling series than meets the eye, but I'm definitely on the fence with this title.  I do have the second issue waiting to be read, so I'll see if #2 can deliver the goods before I decide whether to carry on with this series or not.

A Look at the DC Relaunch

DC comics has a massive relaunch set for September 2011.  In an attempt to attract new, younger readers, and make their hallmark comics easier for readers to jump onto, DC has decided to reset or kick off 52 comics at #1 in September. 

In some ways I can see this being a good plan.  As a relatively new comic reader, one of the reasons I've steered well clear of many of the popular DC and Marvel titles is because I would feel pretty damn lost picking up a random Batman issue and trying to figure out what has been going on with the character since I last read a Batman issue back when I was twelve.  In that sense, by DC relaunching all these titles, It would be much easier for people like me, and young readers to jump on and hypothetically become life-long readers.

Taking a look at the list of writers and artists working on the 52 new titles, it is pretty clear that DC is playing for keeps and putting their best writers and artists on the titles they really want people to read.  They've got Grant Morrison on Action Comics #1, Scott Snyder on Batman #1, Geoff Johns on Green Lantern and Justice League to name a few of their big titles.

I'll admit, I have a pretty high level of nostalgia for a lot of the DC characters, and I'll also admit that I'm intrigued by a few of these titles.  I could definitely see myself reading the Action Comics trade, and maybe some trades of the Batman titles, but what really interests me are the comic written by guys who are currently working creator owned material.

Nathan Edmondson has been kicking serious ass with Who is Jake Ellis? and I had a feeling it was only a matter of time before one of the big two scooped him up.  Edmondson makes his DC debut with Grifter #1, a book that might have some potential.  From the looks of things it has a bit of espionage, a bit of the supernatural, and plenty of action, all areas in which Edmondson excels. 

Jeff Lemire, of Sweet Tooth notoriety, has two comics he'll be penning in the DC relaunch.  The first, Animal Man looks like it might call upon Lemire's ability to deliver some writing that'll punch you right in the emotions. 

His second title, which I'm actually pretty excited about, is Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. Hmm...Frankenstein battling monsters even more ridiculous than himself?  And it's written by Jeff Lemire?  Sounds pretty awesome to me.  That cover looks pretty damn promising too!  Gattling Gun? Check.  Broadsword?  Check.

Even though from my standpoint I see some positives for this relaunch, I still think it could be a blunder by DC.  It seems crazy to me that they would reset some of their long running, well-read titles like Batman and Action Comics.  I'm pretty sure Action Comics is up around 900 issues so far and it seems crazy to reset that comic to #1.  That's like 75 years of comics!  Crazy I tell ya.  It just seems disrespectful to their long time readers to make such huge changes to titles that already have a readership.  Perhaps an Ultimates style approach would work better here, and have a separate universe for their big characters and get new readers on while still maintaining their long-running titles. 

I know many people have stronger opinions on this than me, but whatever happens, it'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out.  In the meantime, it looks like I'll be reading some cool comics.  I'm sure they already thought of that, but still, DC should hire me. 

For more information on the DC relaunch...well it's just about everywhere on any comics site.  For the sake of this post I referred to the coverage at Comics Alliance. 

Comic Quickies A Mixed Bag of Greatness

Rocketeer Adventures #1: This amazing ode to Dave Stevens' Rocketeer is a glorious comic that should be owned by all.  This issue features stories and pin-ups from some of the biggest and most talented artists and writers in the field.

First off there's the beautiful cover by Alex Ross, plus a story written and drawn by John Cassaday, a Mike Mignola pin-up, a story by Mike Allred, and another story written by Kurt Busiek...along with many others.  Along with the field of wonderful talent comes a few great Rocketeer stories.  It was cool to see each creator's unique take on this classic character.

Despite the bevvy of talent I was most taken by the art of Michael Kaluta, a guy who was an unknown to me prior to this comic.  His artwork on the Dear Betty story was nothing short of amazing and his Robo-Squid and Samurai Gorilla were wonderful additions to a couple of sweet black and white panels.  One of the most entertaining and high quality comics I've read this year. I highly recommend picking this up, along with the other three Rocketeer Adventures issues that are forthcoming.

Strange Adventures #1: First things first, I'd like to point out how awesome that Paul Pope cover is.  As much as I like looking at it, the actual copy of the comic I own is not nearly as pretty to look at due to a GIANT Green Lantern movie banner that runs across the top cover.  Thanks DC.  Why the fuck would I want to look at Ryan Reynold's face when I'm reading a Vertigo title?  Keep your lame DC hero movie ads on your lame DC titles please. Ok, moving on...

Strange Adventures is a collection of sci-fi themed short comic stories.  I openly admit that I pretty much only picked this up based on the fact that I knew there'd be a Jeff Lemire story in it.  His entry Ultra the Multi-Alien  was pretty wonderful.  Like all great Lemire stories it was tinged with a heavy dose of tragedy.  In the span of eight pages the guy nearly had me in tears.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Lauren Beukes had a story in here also.  All the Pretty Ponies was pretty damn good, and I'd love to see her idea get fleshed out in greater length.  Of all the stories, the Lemire, and Beukes tales stood out as the best, and I was pretty underwhelmed by the Brian Azarello and Eduardo Risso story Spaceman which gives readers a first look at their new series.  I don't think I'll be diving into that one anytime soon.

 The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde #2: The plot thickens in a big way here in this second issue as we see Detective Adye team up with Dr. Jekyll in hopes of putting Jack the Ripper in cuffs.  There's some incredibly tense and nerve wracking moments as the two work together and get into and out of trouble.

I was happy to see Dr. Jekyll get some more page time, as he struck me as a very interesting character in the first issue.  Jekyll more or less stole the show in this issue, and looks to be a major player in the next two issues.

Somehow Cole Haddon, the writer, manages to pack plenty of story into one issue.  I definitely feel like I'm getting my money's worth.  The art of M.S. Corley is also quite good again, and I'm definitely looking forward to the next issue.

The Intrepids #'s 3 and 4: I know I'm way behind on my comic reading/reviewing when I lapse and have to double up on one of my favorite comics.

I'll try to put this simply: The Intrepids is one of the most entertaining and fun comics out there.  I'm pretty amazed by how many awesome/crazy ideas Kurtis J. Wiebe has managed to pack into this series so far, and I get the sense that the best is yet to come.  Scott Kowalchuk's artwork continues to be some of the most unique and visually interesting art in the business.  I truly believe he's the perfect guy to draw Wiebe's mad science imaginings.

As this story progresses, I find myself getting further invested in the characters.  Most of the character development attention is given to Crystal, the team leader.  My only gripe with the series is that I wish there was more attention given to Doyle, Rose, and Chester, the other team members.  Still, even though they don't get as much character development, those characters still have unique and interesting qualities that make them stand out and add more depth to the story.

With only two issues left, I'm starting to feel pretty depressed that The Intrepids is coming to a close.  I know I've gushed about this series before, but I highly recommend it, as I think its an accessible and high quality story for just about anyone out there. 

Green Wake #2: Kurtis J. Wiebe's other comic effort is the dark mystery story Green Wake.  This comic takes a definite slow-burn approach that fits the plot well, and I personally really enjoy.  In this day and age of instant gratification this drawn out style of story telling may be a turn off for some readers, but I think it makes the mystery element of this comic more intriguing.

Though things move slow, and important information is kept obscured, hidden and slowly revealed, there is some important reveals and clues in this issue.  That being said, there's a plenty of further mysteries and questions that result from those little nuggets that are revealed.

Green Wake is another example of great story telling and art in the comics medium.  Each issue so far has demanded my full attention and I've had to force myself to take my time with Rossmo's art which can take some adjusting to.  I'm looking forward to the next installment which hits stores today.

 Who is Jake Ellis? #4: Rounding out this mixed bag of comic awesomeness is the latest WiJE?.  I've discussed the hallmarks of this series before but I'll reiterate: if you like fast paced espionage action and a story that is paced perfectly with a clean no-frills, no-waste plot this is your comic. 

I really try to avoid gushing like a depraved fanboy around here, but shit, Who is Jake Ellis? is really fucking good.  The writer, Nathan Edmondson does a great job telling the story, but I also appreciate how he'll let Toni Zonjic's art take over at times and do the heavy lifting.  These two guys seem to work really well together, and it shows in how flawless the connection between the art and story is in each issue.

There's a great twist/plot reveal at the end that'll probably have me pulling my hair out until the next issue lands in my pull box.  Really great stuff, and so worth checking out if you haven't done so already.

Comic Quickies or Comics with Guns on the Cover

Undying Love #1:  I gonna sound like a broken record here, by Undying Love is another great looking new comic from Image.  Is it just me, or is Image the only company cranking out new stuff?

Undying Love is set in China, and tells the story of John and Mei, a couple who appear to be on the run.  When the comic begins, they are hiding out in a small secluded temple, and are attacked by the sword and spear wielding minions of a talking fox and a Geisha.  From the ensuing battle two important details are learned: John appears to have some special forces training, and Mei is a vampire.

John and Mei are in love, and they want to share a life together, but the whole vampire thing causes a lot of complications. John wants to free Mei from the vampire curse, but to do that he must destroy the vampire that made her.  The hang up is that Mei was made into a vampire by Shang-Ji, the oldest and most powerful vampire in China.  If John can take down Shang-Ji, he can cure Mei.  Simple as that.

From the way things are set up, there should be some bad-ass vampire slaying going down in this comic, and that sounds like a recipe for awesomeness.   I'm looking forward to what this one has in store.

The Mission #2: Our hero, Paul, knows he fucked up.  He was supposed to kill Neal Corman at the behest of God, but didn't, then innocent people got killed and Corman kidnapped his own six year old daughter.  You can't really blame Paul, it is hard to kill someone based on the word of some sketchy aggro old dude claiming to represent the word of God.  However, from the looks of things, Gabe, God's messenger, seems to be right, and Paul, fearing the repercussions of not completing his mission, decides to do the deed.

I'll be straight up, I'm not a fan of the art in this comic.  Compared to other titles I read, it doesn't measure up.  Since The Mission doesn't look as sexy as some other titles, I feel like I instantly down-grade it to second rate...but that would be doing this title a great disservice because I love the writing.  It took me about 10 minutes to read through this issue.  I was totally sucked in from the first page and enjoyed it to the very last.  The character of Paul is such a regular dude, stuck in such an irregular situation that it makes for some compelling reading.  The sharp, gripping writing is top notch, and a great reason to check this comic out.

The Intrepids #2: When we last left the Intrepids team they were about to get the drop on Darius Dread.  Too bad for the Intrepids,  but this issues starts out with Dread's battle baboon whoopin' some Intrepid ass.  It turns out Dread is a much more gracious host then the baboons initially let on, and he hooks the team up with some valuable intel.  Dread's info puts the team on the tail of a mysterious man named Jonah.  Like Dante, the mysterious benefactor for the Intrepids, Jonah appears to have some sort of background in mad science.  The team can only hope that Jonah will lead them to Dr. Koi.

As I was promised by both Kurtis J. Wiebe and Scott Kowalchuk, this second issue definitely kicked some serious ass.  Not only that, but it provided some great moments of humor, especially when the team was getting their asses handed to them by the baboons.  Aside from providing some great entertainment, this story also delivered some solid character development and dropped some valuable info on the various scientific power-ups each Intrepid member possesses.  So far most of the character development has focused on team leader Crystal, but the other team members have distinct personalities, and seem to be strong characters in their own right.  Hopefully more development will be given to Doyle, Rose and Chester in the coming issues.

The awesomeness of the second issue proves that The Intrepids is no one-hit wonder.  I could gush more about this comic, but I'll spare you, and just say that The Intrepids is a comic that deserves to be read.

Who is Jake Ellis #3:  In the last issue of Who is Jake Ellis? Jake Ellis, the man inside our hero Jon's head, got Jon exposed.  Now Jon is on the run and he needs to get the hell out of France, preferably on the sly. Aside from the switch of locales, Jon is also looking to score some information regarding the whereabouts of the secret facility that performed the procedure that linked him to Jake Ellis. 

Jon and Jake make a pretty slick and efficient spy team, but what is the most compelling to me is how easily Jake can convince Jon to do things a certain way, and how Jon is so willing to listen to Jake Ellis.  As a reader, I am definitely beginning to question not only Jake Ellis' motivations, but also his methods.  Jon is a pretty likable character, and I definitely wonder how everything is going to turn out for the guy.

Not only does Who is Jake Ellis? continue to feature great writing, but the art is great too.  I really enjoyed the "club" color palette  that added vibrancy to the opening scene of this issue. 

Who is Jake Ellis continues to be one of the most entertaining comics on the shelves.  With each issue I get even further sucked into the story, and further invested in the characters.  The story is unfolding at a nice clip, and each issue leaves me yearning for more.  Who is Jake Ellis has solidified itself as one of my favorite monthly comics.

"Who is Jake Ellis?" Extended! And some awesome looking debuts...

Good news for fans of the Who is Jake Ellis? series.  I recently learned via Multiversity Comics that the sweet spy/espionage series is getting a much deserved extension! What was initially slated to be a 5 issue mini series has now been extended to at least 10, possibly 15 issues.  Writer Nathan Edmondson says that he'd always had a longer story line in mind, so the extension of the series will allow him to delve into some areas he wouldn't have had time for in the original format. 

This is pretty awesome news, as Who is Jake Ellis has been extremely entertaining through the first two issues and one of my surprise hits for 2011.  This title has quickly risen through the ranks and has become one of my most eagerly anticipated titles.  I know I've said it before, but it is worth saying again: If you aren't doing it already, read this damn comic!


In other comic news, two brand spanking new comics come out today that I feel are worth mentioning. These two debuts have been on my radar for the last few weeks, and at last they are hitting the shelves.

The first is Green Wake, written by Kurtis J. Wiebe, also known as the writer of the very awesome comic The Intrepids, and the art is done by Riley Rossmo, who has done work on other cool titles that I haven't gotten around to reading yet. 

This one is a sort of horror/crime noir that looks to be absolutely gristly and amazing.  It'll  be interesting to see how Wiebe switches up his style from the somewhat light-hearted Intrepids to something more dark and gritty.  The art in the preview is looking prety great too.  This looks to be another hit for Image.  Check the link to the website for a preview of issue #1, or just get down to your local comic shop and buy the comic.  It comes out today!

The other comic I want to mention is Nonplayer by Nate Simpson, who in true hero fashion writes, draws, and colors this absolutely stunning comic.  The art truly stands out in this one, as it is some of the most beautiful and detailed art I've ever seen, and on that quality alone, Nonplayer is getting tons of much deserved attention from all the big comic sites out there.  However, as amazing as the art is, the story appears to be equally as interesting.

This one is basically about a young woman who leads a rather mundane and ordinary life, but on the MMORPG game, Warriors of Jarvath,  she is an elite assassin.  The edges between reality and virtual reality get blurred after her latest hit.  Sounds pretty mind-bending and cool to me.  Once again, feel free to click the link and check out the preview, or simply search "Nonplayer" and take a look at the bevvy of previews and promos.  There are rumors swirling around that this might be an instant comic classic, so now's your chance to get in on a piece of comic history.  "Classic" or not, I know that it looks awesome, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

If you happen to be in Seattle, Nate Simpson is doing a signing at Comics Dungeon today as well.