New Crusaders

Two issues in, and New Crusaders from Archie Comics is one of my favourite comics of 'right now'. My tastes in favoured comics can be varied (well varied within the superhero genre at any rate), extending from the dark and mature themes of books like Black Summer, Marshall Law and Watchmen, and Ellis' Stormwatch and Authority, to 'big-screen'-like books such as Ultimates, Morrison's JLA, to the off-the-wall books like Jack Staff and Xombi,  heart-felt comics such as Astro City, and populist stuff like Avengers, New Avengers and Civil War, to more sentimental and warmer fayre such as All-Star Superman (also Morrison), Mudman and even Young Avengers (it has such heart that book by Heinberg and Cheung).

Yet amid all that, give me something that captures a tone I recall from way back when I started reading comics more than three decades ago and suddenly I am very, very interested. New Crusaders is just such a comic book, informed by decades of progression of superhero comic books as an art-form, and also the varied history of this stable of characters. For parents (read: probably dads) wanting to have a comic book they can enjoy but can safely show to their kids (harder to achieve these days than it used to be, especially with DC), then New Crusaders is just such a comic book. And I for one am hooked!

Images © Archie Comic Publications 2012

Before Watchmen - In Response To Alan Moore's Perspective

In January I linked some images and rumour regarding Watchmen, the seminal graphic novel. Of course, since then DC has announced the Before Watchmen project more fully, and the interwebz has been abuzz, perhaps even aflame, in places where the interested vocal minority hang out. And of course ye Pulp Citizen is definitely one of them!

Alan Moore has expressed his dissatisfaction, citing his moral indignation rather than any financial imperative. Quotes from a New York Times article with Moore's comments:

Mr. Moore, who has disassociated himself from DC Comics and the industry at large, called the new venture “completely shameless.”

“I tend to take this latest development as a kind of eager confirmation that they are still apparently dependent on ideas that I had 25 years ago.”

“As far as I know,” he said, “there weren’t that many prequels or sequels to ‘Moby-Dick.’ ”

Okay, consider this; if it is about exploiting his work, and therefore concepts, then there are separate legal and moral arguments. Ignoring the legal argument, since I am no lawyer, the moral one is the one that interests me, especially given some of the outrage at the prospect of Before Watchmen I have seen. Now personally I am kind of indifferent to it - it has yet to capture my imagination and has not evoked feelings of revulsion, so hopefully my stance is pretty objective, or at least as objective as it can be.

So he regards it as 'completely shameless' - well the man may have a point there. More shameless would have been to have done this a couple of years ago when the film came out to maximise cross-platform interest, but that is by the by. And yes, arguably the original contract that has allowed DC to reap the rewards of the success of Watchmen for so long is 'shameless' given it was expected that the rights would revert to Moore and Gibbons within a couple of years; the freak success of Watchmen in collected editions was unprecedented so the contract was formulated against prior market conditions, not conditions created by its own success. But on the moral aspect, I will concede this to Moore.

To talk of dependency on ideas he had 25 years ago is a pretty rich claim that smacks of double standard in my opinion, since much of his work can be seen to build upon what others have done. Marvelman/Miracleman? Superman (in the "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" story)? Batman and the Joker (the Killing Joke)? the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? None of the originating characters are his creations. And it is well-known that the Watchmen cast was based to a great extent on the Charlton stable of characters.

And it has been argued that From Hell draws partly upon the theory of author Stephen Knight, which inspired the movie Murder By Decree among others.

The point is that Moore is not averse to playing with the toys of others, even if he does so through deconstruction and reinvention - take for example his use of the Superman-analogue known as Supreme from Rob Liefeld; Moore crafted a brand new era for the formerly very limited character, but drew his inspiration from the tone of Superman tales of yesteryear. How different is that to others playing with toys he created?

So to claim that DC is dependent on him and his work more specifically smacks of hypocrisy in my opinion. The entire structure of comic book publication has been founded upon the work of predecessors. If Moore believes all work should never be revisited in a creative capacity, then we would not have had much of his popularly know works. If he feels it is for the originating creator to decide - and I am not saying that is his assertion by the way, but it seems one of only a few alternative arguments - then what is the point of work for hire and contracts? And at what point does permission need not be sought? In a creator's lifetime? Where is the cut-off?

And as for his comment on sequels or prequels to Moby Dick - well Stevenson never offered a sequel to (the) Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, nor Wells with the Griffin character from The Invisible Man. So therefore is it for Moore to decide what work of the past may be plundered and what is considered sacrosanct? Priceless hypocrisy if so, and blinkered point of view if not.

If it is simply that he does not appreciate further exploitation, then why his prior endorsement of extraneous material such as the rpg adaptation from Mayfair Games in the 80's? [link]

I think that some of Moore's arguments against Before Watchmen are flawed when set against the context of his own body of work, but that may down to the individual observer's own outlook.

I don't think he can argue against DC exploiting the properties while they have a legal right to do so, and his moral indignation and pronouncements do not really stand up. As to whether the original contract that has caused this enduring dispute between Alan Moore and DC was morally sound, well that is for more informed people than me to pronounce on.

Watchmen Prequels?

Rich Johnston on Bleeding Cool has been speculating about what seems like possible prequels to the legendary Watchmen series.

I don't use the term legendary lightly as the collected story has been heaped with praise over the years and critically considered within a wider milieu of modern prose.

It appears that Alan Moore will have nothing to do with this, although Dave gibbons may well be involved.

I found these images on the net and thought I would share them.

It looks like a few different artists could be working on these books, judging by the fact that Andy Kubert and Joe Kubert were responsible for one picture (Nite Owl), JG Jones another (Comedian), Amanda Connor another (Silk Spectre).

Assuming that these comic books do appear, I wonder if DC have some ultimate plan for the long-term, or simply aim to use them as another inevitably-hyped revenue stream. Could there be long-term publishing plans afoot, or just a splash event?

No Longer Mighty - The New Crusaders

Not much on the minis front right now as the (lower) Pulp Citizen Cave has been recently co-opted as a store-room for bedroom furniture as the main bedroom has been decorated. So the only stuff I have managed was brief and modelling base (preparing some bases for Monsters; 80 mm Fenris recessed round-shoulders as the basis) and basing up some Pixels kindly given to me by Hendybadger (more on those in due course!).

So in lieu of minis and modelling (I have been able to pitch in some writing and development bits and bobs in that time...), back to one of the reasons why Pulp City was such a big draw for me: comic book superheroes. Now in tone Pulp City probably reflects much of the tone from the big two over the last decade or so, but as I grow older, I find my comic-book reading sensibilities are actually changing so that I yearn for simpler, less gory, less sexually-suggestive fayre on the whole. And DC in particular are not aiming in the same direction. Marvel I find strangely more recognisable.

So it was with a warm smile that I saw news that one of my favourite comic book properties (see posts here and here) is making a come-back, and seemingly with a tone to my liking. The Mighty Crusaders are giving way to the New Crusaders, and it looks good to me.

It appears that the new stuff will be in digital format first, with the possibility of print collections later (if understand a source of mine correctly). So pleasing all around. Yes, purist may baulk, but I have to say this is the kind of thing I could really like, so happy times even as my other comics reading diminishes (DC for example).

Nocturnals Volume 1: Black Planet & Other Tales

I had been aware of the Nocturnals comics for a long time without ever trying them out. I recently took the plunge with the second hard-cover (it was a cheaper 'tester') and I am so very glad I did. I was even aware of Dan Brereton through the excellent DC Elseworlds story Thrillkiller (sadly out of print as far as I know), I simply missed out on Nocturnals for whatever reasons for around 17-18 years.

The Nocturnals centres on exploits of a supernatural cast of characters led by Doc Horror and his daughter Eve in Pacific City, a fictional California town which seems to have more than its fair share of paranormal activity. The series features an eclectic mix of pulp-crime influenced storytelling, monsters and the phantasmagorical, an array of colorful characters, mostly rendered in Dan Brereton's readily recognisable painted art style.

Nocturnals Volume 1: Black Planet & Other Tales is a handsome volume with its black leatherette cover and nice production values. It presents the stories that are reprinted therein in a great way and so over the last couple of nights (I think this kind of stuff needs to be read at night!) I have dived in and devoured them all.

A fan of comics for over 30 years, my sensibilities have been very directly superhero orientated. I was never interested in other genres such as crime or monsters/horror, yet the Nocturnals takes all of those blending them with verve into a brew that is most heady. Having begun to engage with Dan Brereton's fantastically realised world I only wish I had started sooner - but then again if I had, maybe I wouldn't have been prepared to embrace the stories and art the way I do now, so maybe all good things come to those who wait?

I think Nocturnals is one of those overlooked gems. It has not had the same high-profile associated with Mike Mignola's Hellboy, yet has an equal depth in my view. And yes - I do wish this were made into a movie, by someone like Tim Burton or Alfonso Cuaron.

If you like comic books, horror, pulp sci-fi, and pulp crime, and more besides, then you could do worse than try and pick up one of the collected editions; even if alas they can be hard to find.

The Forthcoming 'New' DC Universe

DC are at again. First in 1956 they introduced a new generation of their existing concepts (starting with a new Flash - Barry Allen), meshing them with the continuously published Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. It was a time of renewal as a science fiction slant was added to creations such as Green Lantern, the Atom and Hawkman amongst others.

More golden age heroes would be revived and new characters added in to this era. It was a rebooting of the DC Universe, even if there was no word such as reboot to adequately describe the process in the fans' lexicon.


In 1985-86 DC published Crisis on Infinite Earths; a series intended to simplify the weighty continuity of 50 years (well 47 years from Action Comics #1....) of DC continuity/in-comic history. And of course Barry Allen died in that series, maybe as a signpost that the era begun in 1956 had passed. But DC is as DC does in my view, and so in trying to simplify they in fact created mess after mess of contorted retelling and repositioning of new continuity. Of course DC felt they needed to fix things...


So we had Zero Hour in 1994 which was intended to rectify the post Crisis problems as well as other ones that were around (time-lines, wibbly-wobbly timey-whimey stuff and time travel shenanigans in the DCU).

Of course, DC being DC (spot the theme here...), it meant that come 2005-2006 we got Infinite Crisis; a follow-up to Crisis on Infinite Earths (see what they did with the title there! oh so clever those involved in Infinite Crisis...), and once again some focus on fixing continuity.

Third time is a charm, isn't it?


I hated Infinite Crisis when I first read it. I thought the violence was way over the top in a medium that I first came to as a 6 year old; it was not something I would show to a 6 year old. It also brought us the most creatively and morally bankrupt creation I have come across in mainstream comics for some time - Superboy Prime (as villain). Superboy Prime was intended to be "a simplistic character who becomes complex" apparently, possibly as allegory to the fan-boy reactions of a cross-section of DC readers. Yet in the hands of an admitted fan-boy what I read was a morally reprehensible story where the excuse is "I didn't mean to do it" after Superboy Prime has butchered and maimed many, many heroes and villains. No complexity there, just sledgehammer storytelling lacking grace, wit or subtlety as Superboy Prime's punches to reality reshape reality (read continuity) in a way more in line with then current DC vision.


So cut to 2008 and we had Final Crisis (surely DC have cornered themselves with THAT title!); the third in the trilogy' as it were, and something from the pen of Grant Morrison. He who wrote the brilliant Zenith, and one of my favourite JLA runs (which I posted about here), and the stunning All-Star Superman. What could go wrong?

Everything as it turns out.

A mess of a story, Morrison decided to tell it via series of set-pieces, so it jumps around so much that we have in incoherent mess. The main impetus of the story was killing off Batman (he came back of course) and shunting the New Gods and related Jack Kirby concepts outside of the regular DC Universe.


So now we come to 2011 and we have Flashpoint, after which DC continuity will be reset once more. For the fifth time as a whole by my count, and for the third time in 5-6 years.

The same person is still in charge of DC amid this latest shift in shared back-story (Dan Didio) and one cannot help but wonder why his bosses have not taken a closer look at the direction in which their employee is guiding their ship, especially in taking 3 attempts to fix what is essentially the same core problem: accessibility.

DC are aiming this new DC Universe post-Flashpoint to be more accessible; in other words a jumping on point for new readers. However, after enduring 3 changes too many, I am now after 32 years of reading DC comics contemplating the once-unthinkable: using this new era as a jumping off point. I don't think Flashpoint will be the final problem solving event of DC's, and in that I think it a third trip to the well too many. The backwards-looking focus is evident as well: the return of Barry Allen/The Flashh in Final Crisis and the fulcrum of Flashpoint; are DC rolling things back in a way to try and ensure accessibility? That is an arguable fallacy, because a roll-back only creates accessibility for those who read the old stuff, it is a pointless exercise for 'new readers'. The architects of the DCU are its custodians, but I think that the powers that be may have lost sight of that, allowing the re-defining of the properties and characters to become the be-all end-all for 6 years, rather than focusing on, y'know, telling good, engaging stories.

But the real problem for me? I feel like DC have taken their readers for a ride for 6 years, intentionally or not, yet some of us are still here and my connection is such that letting go at last seems near-unthinkable. We are just under 4 weeks from the relaunch and I still have not decided whether I buy in or not.


Images copyright © DC Comics

Ultimate Comics Captain America (Marvel)

I love the Captain America character, I really do. Being British of some Finnish and Swedish ancestry, I have no nationalistic allegiance to Cap, but if ever I wanted one super-hero to be real, to be the man to save the world, Cap would probably be that man. Of course in that I am referring to the Captain America established in mainstream Marvel continuity whom I first read about in the early 1980's in issues of both his own comic and later the Avengers.

This is not that Captain America. And the character is probably more entertaining for that fact.

Marvel's Ultimate universe was established over 10 years ago and after success with first Ultimate Spider-Man and then Ultimate X-Men, Ultimates followed - basically the Ultimate version of Marvel's Avengers. Amongst the line-up was the Ultimate version of Captain America and from my first exposure I loved this different take. The Ultimate version of Cap emphasizes the soldier aspect over the super-hero of Marvel's original super-soldier; he epitomizes certain conceits of the Ultimate universe where super-humans are potential Weapons of Mass Destruction and the world has been involved in an arms race to create such viable assets.

This storyline plays out strongly in Ultimates 2 and may be something I post about at some other time. In addition Ultimate Cap is able to play the man-out-of time character aspect that doesn't really work anymore in the regular Marvel universe since that Cap has been so-long established. What we have is an old-fashioned and very un-PC super-human who does things his own way - kind of like the public persona of Clint Eastwood in Brad Pitt's body with super-powers.

So after that preamble we come to Ultimate Comics Captain America, a four-issue mini series recently collected into hard-cover (I presume the paperback will be available now or soon). As with UC Thor previously, this no doubt was designed to pick up on buzz for the associated movie. Regardless of that decision, I think it is a worthwhile book. Jason Aaron writes Ultimate Cap as mostly recognisable from the Mark Millar blueprint (although maybe a little more potty-mouthed than I recall), while Ron Garney offers some very dynamic and action-filled art. The plot centres on Cap's hunt for a rogue US super-soldier who fell off the radar during the Vietnam War. The story is shot through with concepts and imagery recognisable from Vietnam war films (an antagonist that can be seen to have parallels with Kurtz from Apocalypse Now/Heart of Darkness) and recognisable soldiery/war imagery (one issue cover recalls the classic image of helmet resting on upturned rifle).

The emphasis is strongly on the soldier element of the super-soldiers involved. The plot is fairly recognisable as being about two men with similar backgrounds both coming to represent polar opposites in the roles they cast for themselves and the objectives they have. Along the way Aaron as writer shows a Cap that is not ignorant of the fact that the world he awoke in after decades in suspended animation is not the one he left. He presents Captain America as a man who is principled and determined and ultimately heroic, while communicating that the guy can kick ass. A fun read and mostly in-keeping with the Ultimates canon that I have enjoyed (Ultimates 1 & 2; Ultimate Comics New Ultimates; Ultimate Comics Ultimate Avengers 1, 2 & 3; Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates; Ultimate Comics Thor). For anyone who has enjoyed those stories but not picked this up, then I thoroughly recommend Ultimate Comics Captain America.


Image copyright © Marvel Comics

Thor (Movie)/Ultimate Comics: Thor

Painting Perun - a Slavic analogue to Thor in some ways - in recent days amid seeing the Thor movie and re-reading Ultimate Comics: Thor prompted me to put down a few thoughts.

Thor (movie)

I really enjoyed the movie; I am a comics fan and so I am occasionally wary of the (necessary) liberties taken with film adaptations, but this felt faithful enough to the source material to be recognisable and respectful in my view. I thought it was a well-structured film that managed to incorporate a lot of the Thor/Asgardian comics-mythos without being overwhelmed in doing so. I enjoyed that they got the explanation of what the Asgardians were/are done and out of the way so quickly that the movie could get on with being what it was.

I really liked the designs - echoing the source material sufficiently in so many instances. I thought Chris Hemsworth played Thor as a good translation of the early comic book persona, and I loved the Clint Barton (Hawkeye) cameo, as well as the end credits scene. The three central male Asgardians - Thor, Odin and Loki - were all well-cast, and I thought Tom Hiddleston's performance was great and subtle where it needed to be. Thoroughly recommended, and after the end-credits scene, roll on Captain America and next year the Avengers. I wonder if we have seen a plot point for the team movie?

Ultimate Comics: Thor

Following on the heels of New Ultimates, this series concluded just before the movie launched. The art is great as I love Carlos Pacheco's work on stuff like Avengers Forever and Ultimate Avengers, and the writing was great on a book which essentially sets out to define an origin for Ultimate Thor, a character from the first Ultimates series. What we see is a story not weighed down by decades of regular Marvel continuity, but that at once sets out to reconcile the Mark Millar vision of Thor (Ultimates; Ultimates 2) alongside the version seen in New Ultimates (which, under the oversight of Jeph Loeb, alas resorted to the old-Marvel cod-Shakespearean Asgardian dialect - a big mis-step in my view), while explaining both Thor's ablities and his relative lack of power compared to the reality shaping power possessed by Loki in the earlier Ultimates stories. The story takes place across 3 eras, and features Ultimate Asgard, Frost Giants in the German WWII army, a small side-mystery, and a neat explanation that posits Thor into the Ultimate Marvel Universe. I really enjoyed it at first, second and third sitting so wholly recommend it to anyone interested.

Dwayne McDuffie (1962-2011)

Dwayne McDuffie passed away a few days ago, I learned today. He was one of the architects responsible for one of the comic book lines/universes that I cherish most - Milestone; home of Static, Icon, Rocket, the Blood Syndicate, Xombi, Hardware, the Shadow Cabinet and so many more besides. His name is probably not readily familiar to many, but his impact certainly went far beyond those Milestone comic books, or the work he did for DC and Marvel comics amongst others. Dwayne McDuffie also worked as a writer, story-editor and/or producer variously on the Static Shock, Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans and Ben 10 cartoons.

Dwayne was a regular presence on the forums he maintained, and was responsible for printing my only letter to a comic book letter column. He was always courteous and open with his opinions which were fair and erudite in my view. I feel he never got the recognition he deserved from DC or Marvel, but that is for another time. More than the passing of other creators, for me Dwayne McDuffie's unexpected death at the age of 49 years is a sad event.

Rest in peace Dwayne McDuffie. Your talents will be missed.

Stan Lee's 'New Comics' (BOOM! Studios)

Stan Lee inevitably looms large over modern comics, since he along with a host of talented artists including luminaries such as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko among many others, re-invigorated superhero comics in the early 1960's with a new way of telling superhero stories with a tonally different style to what went before.

I can't help but look upon Stan Lee with a mix of awe and wonder, all mixed in with a healthy dose of skepticism due to controversies that are attached to him (the disputed credit for seminal works associated with him; the failures of some of his businesses; his subsequent legal wranglings following those business failures). The man seems to be an incredible salesman, so much so that it is hard to be truly objective about his talents: good or ill.

So it was that I come to a new set of comics from BOOM! Studios; 3 superhero comics based on Stan Lee's own concepts, but handed over to other creators. Well, given that I like small nascent comic book universes, I had to check them out. And I am glad I did.

I don't really care for Lee's hyperbolic writing style that I feel was his 60's trademark; I much preferred work by those who followed him such as Roy Thomas, Len Wein and Marv Wolfman to name a few. So I was glad he was not directly writing these books, but if he had a hand in their creation, then good for him, since conceptually they are are not too bad, and in execution so far I have found them to be enjoyable.

So my doubts of Lee allayed, what do we have? Soldier Zero (top image) kicked off quite neatly, taking a paralysed veteran and offering a new life with a suit of alien armour. The acquired-symbiotic armour premise has shades of many other comic book characters (Hero Zero; X-O Manowar; Darkhawk; Venom; etc), but it still felt like a good hook for the book and the first two issues have been an enjoyable read. The book offers a straightforward set-up pitching our hero as a defender against a looming alien threat.

The Traveler (middle) is all about mystery: who the titular hero is; what he is up to; and who is he working against. Consequently there is more than a little head-scratching from the introduction to the series, but again an entertaining comic book for me. The primary theme is time travel, a theme that main writer Mark Waid is very familiar with through many of his stories and concepts.

Rounding out this line of Stan Lee inspired comic books is Starborn (bottom). In this title we have our hero, who aspires to be writer and has dreamed up a whole-cloth conceptual sci-fi/space opera setting for his stories. Except that they may not be stories, and he may not be who he thinks he is. Of course he isn't, he is a superhero - he just hasn't realised it yet.

None of the character concepts feels entirely original, and even outside of comics there are plenty of tropes from sci-fi used (symbiotic armour; the layered reality of films like the Matrix for the Starborn premise and so on). Yet I enjoyed them, and there is pay-off for readers following all 3 titles. So for anyone looking for some new comics to try, without masses of convoluted past history, then I'd recommend these.

JLA - Grant Morrison's Tenure (an era of big superheroics)

I love that Grant Morrison works in comics. I consider myself a fan of his, not a completest, but a fan nonetheless. In saying that, I don't agree with all of his storytelling choices, or that everything he does is great or even 'just' good, but instead that when he hits a note that resonates with me, it is in a way that I think is brilliant. I'd include work of his like Zenith and currently Batman & Robin. And especially a book like JLA that he tackled in the late 90's.

Morrison oversaw the relaunch of DC's premier super-team - the Justice League of America - when re-launched in 1997. The concept had been altered and watered down in the preceding decade and a half, first jettisoning the 'big guns' - Superman, Batman (for a while), Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman etc. - then seeing a whole new direction with comedic overtones during the mid to late 80's. Morrison chose to reinvigorate the concept by returning to a 'big 7' line-up based on the original incarnation from 35 or so years earlier: Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, J'Onn J'Onzz - the Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman. Not precisely the same characters, or the same as they had been characterised during the inception of the JLA, they represented the modern representation of that original incarnation. Primarily aided by Howard Porter and John Dell amongst others, Morrison made a decision to go back to basics and use that as a building block for big ideas. And it worked.

This JLA series covered the spectrum of big ideas, while trying to faithfully represent the core characters. The ideas covered everything from Earth-shattering threats, alien invasions, renegade angels, all manner of metaphysics, time travel, to multi-dimensional perceptions, military-political machinations, an enraged Earth, silver age-inspired silliness, as well as the more perfunctory alliance of villains plot. The great thing is that Grant Morrison tackled these concepts with verve and aplomb, and would do so over, 1 to 2 or 3 or however many issues he needed, making a dense read. Compared to many overly decompressed comics of the past decade, JLA today reads like the biggest comic book blockbuster brimming with ideas and a sense of purpose. It leaves many other modern books in its wake. Porter is not my favourite artist by any stretch, yet his style suited this era of big superheroics. The overall package they delivered creatively was and remains a great one in my view - a high watermark in mainstream superhero comics.


I have recently re-read much of the run through the JLA Deluxe collections (see pictures right for volumes 1 to 3), and highly recommend them to any superhero fan.



Characters and images are © 2010 DC Comics.

Irredeemable

I started reading this only very recently, and is one of a growing number of series that I will be picking up in trade paperback (tpb) format (I also get Invincible in the hardcover collections that turn up fairly sporadically).

It is ironic, I think, that if I could read only one - just one - comic book each month, then it would not be a book like Irredeemable. That isn't a commentary on the quality of the book, but rather a reflection that I would prefer to read simpler, more action-orientated stuff that isn't awash with visceral violence, and some measure of shock value, something that is very much present in a lot of work I have enjoyed lately. I see a certain sense of nihilism in a lot of these works, something that I am not wholly comfortable with - which should be the point from the creator's perspective, I suppose.

In recent years a growing number of creator-owned books have ploughed what looks to be a Modernist or more likely a Postmodern approach; deconstructing the underlying mythos of comic book superheroes, something that stretches back to publication of Watchmen. And it is among these books (most of which I will say I have enjoyed), that a degree of nihilism is frequently part of the fundamental work in plot, imagery and dramatic beats. Books like Irredeemable, Black Summer (enjoyed this), Cla$$war (didn't enjoy this), etc. all take a view of superheroics beyond the norm of good guys versus bad guys in bright colours and vivid action. And all share a theme of violence which could be argued to be excessive or gratuitous. But that is not to say that they are not worthwhile works of course, but it is just that I have a dichotomy that I want to read different comic books for different reasons, yet if I had to read just one, it would be the kinder, gentler type.

So on to Irredeemable - the premise is simple, not precisely original, but interesting nonetheless. A great and powerful superhero (the Plutonian - a Superman analog) becomes the greatest, most powerful supervillain, and the world suffers for it.

Without giving too much away about plot and characters beyond the essential premise, the book (from writer Mark Waid and artist Peter Krause; from BOOM! Studios) tries to offer point of view to see why - really why - this hero descends into villainy. It is captivating but bleak - but then it has to be. The hero has to be seen to become so awful, so mired in atrocity, that to make the book work a dark tone is necessary. Yet due to that, the book is able to rise above the simple premise of good versus evil (which is of course at the heart of the story) to become an exploration of characters. Which in turn means it rises above what is probably the necessary violence depicted within.

Having read only the first tpb volume (collecting issues 1-4), I suspect that as the series progresses we will see parallels drawn between the Plutonian and those fighting to resists him (the heroes of the team known as the Paradigm). I will be along for the ride if the quality is sustained. DC and Marvel have done similar things in the past, but have ultimately retconned those character changes away. Waid isn't tied into any external drivers of licensing etc., as Irredeemable (and its subsequent companion title, Incorruptible) inhabits its 'own universe', so I hope he sticks to his guns and the title of the book and that the Plutonian does remain Irredeemable, at least until the end or near end, whenever that may be.

Irredeemable is a book I would recommend, especially for people who enjoy titles like Watchmen, Black Summer, Ultimates (volumes 1 & 2), the Authority and the like. If reading in tpb form, be mindful that the first volume doesn't feel like a concluded story arc, but instead very much like a chapter of a much larger story.

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters

This post was provoked by news of a new series coming out later in the year from DC Comics, Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters. An ongoing series, it is set to be a continuation of two previous limited series, so I decided to re-read both.

The Freedom Fighters is a DC concept that has a history stretching back over 35 years, built on a stable of characters acquired form another publisher (Quality Comics), and in recent DC fashion, has been used as fodder in various reimaginings and worse, 'big events'. As readers may know from my previous posts, I am not a fan of the current focus on 'big events'. One of the reasons is that the top tier characters are kept safe by and large (even if temporarily this does not appear to be the case), whilst the second and their tier characters are often mangled and disposed of, frequently for shock value alone it seems; and such has been the fate of the Freedom Fighters at various times.

The first iteration lasted for more than a decade, largely as a background concept set on one of DC's many Earths of their multiverse. Crisis on Infinite Earths took away their raison d'etre, thus they fell by the wayside. Cut to 2000 and a team comprising old members and new iterations of others surfaced, only to be summarily dispatched a few years later in Infinite Crisis. A year or so later and the next version arrived - Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, spinning on from the arguable mess of a series that was Battle for Bludhaven, which was part of the bigger mess (in my opinion) that was Infinite Crisis.

So cut to the recent history of the team: Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters (USatFF) (written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti; art by Daniel Acuna) was spun out of a DC special called Brave New World, a kind of post-Infinite Crisis restart for a lot of characters, and ran for 8 issues from 2006-7. USatFF is an interesting book for me, taking as it does a very political stance to it's plots and sub-plots, not something I have normally associated with DC as a publisher. It is a story that is primarily focused on the efforts of USatFF to oppose a threat within the US government, as well as within homeland security. Themes touched on are politics, celebrity, freedom, necessity of actions for the greater good, and more besides. What we get is a book of a type that DC doesn't often publish.

The central plot is all about trying to stop specific machinations at the highest levels of power, an attempt to subjugate the American people, and the political themes are ever-present. The political angles may lack nuance and subtlety, but then this book was never intended as the superhero equivalent of the West Wing, and so that is a harsh criticism held by some in my view. The political stances are adequate to the story at hand in my opinion. The dialogue is often in service of the various stances that the individual characters hold, but again this felt right to me, suitable for the overall tone of the book.

I loved this series when it came out, and it is one that has borne several re-readings for me. I have read mixed reviews, most praising the art and many attacking the writing, but it is a story I found to be enjoyable, although there are weaknesses (for example, Sam eschews fatal violence against his foes, yet there are frequent such actions by his team-mates). On the whole a story I found to be engagingly-written and nicely rendered by Daniel Acuna who uses a type of computer painted art.

The cast is varied and each character has a distinct role and voice. My favourite is probably Firebrand, arguably one of the weakest in terms of raw power, yet determined nonetheless. And Uncle Sam is just great, basically the kindly straight-talkin' uncle-figure with vast power and a great set of values. The villain of the piece - Father Time - is a classic character who I really want to see more of in the DCU.

In the story we get introduced and reintroduced to a new cast with a lot of legacy code-names (numbers in parenthesis indicate what iteration of a given character we are dealing with:
Uncle Sam (I) - the spirit of the American people, reborn in the healing waters of the Mississippi River.
Firebrand (IV) - libertarian, agitator and Sam's 'herald'.
Human Bomb (II) - unfortunate scientists co-opted by SHADE, who joins Uncle Sam.
Doll Man (II) - miniature super-soldier, SHADE operative who joins Uncle Sam.
Phantom Lady (III) - addiction-influenced media starlet and superheroine, SHADE operative who joins Uncle Sam.
Red Bee (II) - young scientist who yearns to be a heroine.
The Ray (II & III) one is a self-serving SHADE operative who joins Uncle Sam, his predecessor a hero with a few years under his own belt and part of the previous incarnation of the team.
Black Condor (III) - an avatar of the elements of earth and sky, a man serious in his duty as protector.
Invisible Hood (II) a somewhat reluctant legacy hero.
Miss America (I) a golden age heroine returned when her country needs her most.

It was reported that the writers (Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti) wrote the story loosely based on notes by Grant Morrison - this is something I can see, that there are faint echoes of his work on JLA, which in my view is no bad thing: mainstream superheroics meets 'big ideas', something Morrison and Mark Millar seem to have cornered a market on, and territory that I feel Gray and Palmiotti succeeded in. The Morrison influence extends further with concepts from his own title Frankenstein appearing in the form of SHADE and it's leader Father Time.


Characters and images are © 2010 DC Comics.

Sludge (Ultraverse)

Sludge was a title in Malibu Comics Ultraverse line, hence my previous posting about that imprint.

There was a lot about the earlier Ultraverse work that I enjoy, with some great runs of stories, marred only by very changeable art styles through those runs. Sludge is my favourite book of the imprint as a Dead Universe reader, one I didn’t pick up when it came out, and having read it in the past and re-reading it recently I feel it holds up pretty well and I wish I had been able to enjoy it when it came out. Of course my sensibilities were different then, so I may have dismissed it, but it is a comic-book I regard fondly.

Sludge centres on a man-monster, formerly Detective Hoag, a corrupt cop and a man transformed by a horrible accident. In this a tradition is continued, dating back to the Heap, and later characters such as Man-Thing (notable for a run written by Sludge co-creator and primary writer Steve Gerber) and Swamp Thing.

Hoag-as-Sludge is desperate. His mind has become addled by the process that has turned him into a monster, his thoughts incoherent. A grotesque figure, he possesses superhuman strength and resilience, tremendous regenerative capability and a touch that causes hyper-accelerated cellular growth – fatal to most he encounters through the series. Sludge becomes desperate to end his own nightmarishly-transformed life, and it is into this context that the series unfolds.

The scene is quickly set for the man-creature, an existence of sorts in the alleyways and sewers, where he encounters those on the periphery of society and vile creatures haunting those locations. Sludge soon gets drawn into a three-way battle between New York mobs, one of which is tied into his transformation. In this Sludge is manipulated by my favourite Ultraverse villain – Lord Pumpkin, the otherworldly interloper who sets out to create his own criminal empire aided by the child-criminal Pistol. Further tales cross paths with Prime, revealing more about the origin of the chemicals that transformed Hoag into the man-monster Sludge.

The series is very much the brainchild of two creative forces: Steve Gerber as writer and Aaron Lopresti as artist. It seems strange that for parts of the run Gerber takes a back seat to Lopresti’s creative influence. For whatever reasons he chose to do so, the book benefitted from the work that the artist delivered, which echoed past greats of the medium including Steranko, Frazetta, Basil Wolverton, Mike Ploog, the EC artists and many more. Sludge is visually a treat in my view, and holds up well today thanks to Malibu’s pioneering use of computer colouring techniques. Lopresti did not draw every issue, but his style is across the series through his covers and the design of Sludge he depicts in the early issues.

The series lasted only 12 full issues, a several page continuation in Ultraverse Premiere (UP 8 flipped onto the back of Sludge 12, and continuing the story from Sludge 12), and a one-shot – Sludge: Red X-Mas. Despite that I would argue it is one of the strongest books that the Ultraverse imprint spawned, and well worth tracking down since Marvel are at this time and for the foreseeable future very unlikely to reprint the title as a collected edition.


Characters and images are ™ and © 2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Malibu - Ultraverse

Another bout of Dead Universe comic book re-reading, and so some more musings. A little context first, however, about Malibu Comics and especially its Ultraverse imprint. This is no accurate historical record of events, but simply my thoughts and opinion on a defunct comic-book imprint that I happen to like.

Malibu Comics was founded in the late 80’s and was a modest publisher that grew to encompass other small-press comic book publishers like Aircel and Eternity. It was also the original publisher-of-record on behalf of Image Comics.

The Ultraverse line launched in 1993, conceptualized as a shared universe built on tight continuity, an ethos shared with the VALIANT, Milestone (published by DC Comics, owned by Milestone Media) and Comics Greatest World (Dark Horse) lines. These lines either launched during (Milestone, Ultraverse, CGW) or benefited from (VALIANT) the speculator boom of the early 1990’s and none are now in regular publication (although the Milestone characters are currently licensed to be used in the DCU). There were of course lots of other small publishers that attempted to capitalize on the boom. So a heady time, and a time of change.

The Ultraverse is today owned by Marvel Comics, who have resisted revisiting the properties due to claims by them (Marvel) that it is too costly to do so due to the contracts that were in place with the various creators of the Ultraverse stable.

Joe Quesada (Marvel’s publisher) was quoted by Newsarama in June 2005:

Let's just say that I wanted to bring these characters back in a very big way, but the way that the deal was initially structured, it's next to impossible to go back and publish these books.

There are rumors out there that it has to do with a certain percentage of sales that has to be doled out to the creative teams. While this is a logistical nightmare because of the way the initial deal was structured, it's not the reason why we have chosen not to go near these characters, there is a bigger one, but I really don't feel like it’s my place to make that dirty laundry public.

I picked up a handful of Ultraverse books at the time of their publication, like Ultraforce (second image, right). They seemed a little flashy and gaudy and not like my main favorites of the time (Milestone and DC), so I didn’t pay too much attention. Years later I started picking up as much as I could, completing most of the runs of the various titles. I enjoyed the first phase of the publisher’s offerings, less-so the transition to Marvel (which I see as the second phase) and hate what the normally excellent Warren Ellis appeared to do by tearing everything up with the Black September reboot.

The tone of the early work (the ‘good stuff’ in my opinion) was based on the concepts laid down by the Ultraverse ‘founding fathers, a truly diverse bunch: Mike W. Barr, Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, James D. Hudnall, Gerard Jones, James Robinson, Len Strazewski and Larry Niven (yes, the sci-fi prose author). There are tight and clear threads woven amongst the books that reward re-reading. With the departure of the lead creators the quality of the line visibly worsens, to the extent that Malibu probably published the worst comic book that I own – a piece of bad-girl wannabe tat called Witch Hunter; it is truly awful rubbish of the worst kind that I was embarrassed to read. Unfortunately I am a completist (hence the Painting Challenge), so in my collection it stays for good or ill. Mostly the latter.

I think that is such a shame that these characters may never see the light of day again. There have been rumors of a Prime movie for a number of years (see cover image right), which could be a great idea. There was a Night Man T.V. series that I believe ran for two seasons and 44 episodes, but I cannot comment on its quality. I liked the short-lived Ultraforce cartoon which I enjoyed the little I saw, but it is not commercially available (at least legally). There were of course various video games while the line was in publication. This all suggests to me that there is value in other media exploitation of these characters, even if Marvel chooses not to pursue comic-book publication.


Characters and images are ™ and © 2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Shadowman (VALIANT Comics)

VALIANT (all capitals, all the time) was a publisher that achieved success and some arguable notoriety in the early 90's as it rose and fell amid the speculator boom that destabilised much of the comic book industry. The superhero line it started under the guidance of luminaries such as Jim Shooter, Barry Windsor Smith, Bob Layton and many others - a mix of veteran and new talents alike - took a quite different approach to their major competitors.

The books read differently - the timeline was in real time so characters were aging in real time and they looked different, with a painted colour approach that only one other notable publisher had anything similar to (Milestone - a subject of future posts no doubt). The books were rooted in an initially defined pseudo-science. In all, they were not Marvel, DC or Image (the latter the young upstarts of the era). And of course I overlooked them. By the time I was aware of VALIANT, their back issues were going for vastly inflated prices (that speculator boom), which of course settled down after their demise as a business. The properties have since been acquired by VALIANT Entertainment Inc., but only 3 collections of recoloured old material (with some new supplementary material) have appeared - none of them Shadowman.

Cut to a few years ago and I chanced on a very cheap VALIANT back issue. Intrigued I picked up more and more, and in time discovered some real gems, the greatest revelation for me being Shadowman, the series about the travails of Jack Boniface as he faces up to the responsibilities and challenges that come with his acquired power. This is not the Shadowman of the later video-game; that was a connected character but a different take in many ways.

The initial art by David Lapham suited the book, and the stories I found intriguing, and certainly not typical superhero fayre. Reading that early stuff though made me feel that those responsible for the book knew they had a solid idea but didn't quite know what to do with it. That feeling was compounded for me by the myriad writers the book had. Between issues 1 and 6 there are 9 people given story or writing credits. Not the best way to find a 'voice'. To me the voice of a comic book is the tone, the rhythm of the storytelling, the dialogue, the pacing - all those things combined.

With the arrival of Bob Hall I think the book found it's voice. When Bob took on the art (especially with Tom Ryder's inking), the book takes off for me in terms of direction, story focus, character development, seeing the world(s) that Shadowman and Jack Boniface inhabit and so on. The cast grew and grew, with seemingly minor characters coming back time and again. A larger picture developed, but as it did so the style of the book changed subtly, as did the look of the titular hero going from a fairly straight spandex look to something more rooted in the 'real world' in some ways.

Pick an issue in the late teens and compare the art to the early 40's issues. The art becomes more expressive in the time between. The story increasingly highlights that Shadowman and Jack Boniface may share the one body, but they are not one and the same.

As the book progresses Shadowman (the character) becomes wilder, increasingly atavistic. We are guided through a nightmarish world of his fictionalised New Orleans with crazy voodoo mixing with vigilantism and Jack Boniface's gradually splintering and fragmenting sense of himself and his alter ego. It is a great, dark, ride. Silly at times, yes. Removed from the pseudo-science of the majority of the rest of the VALIANT line? Undoubtedly. But it feels true to the creative vision behind it, although I felt a sense of self-parody towards the end as issues hurtle along at break-neck pace until we are left with an amazing and unresolved cliffhanger.

I am still wondering what Bob Hall intended with this - to leave the audience wanting more? To send a message to the owners regarding the changes that had occurred at VALIANT? Had he written himself into a corner he felt unable to get out of? Was he poking fun at the '1999 prophecy' (whereby the title hero looked to have his days numbered) which effectively acted to limit any real sense of peril for the character? Was he trying to communicate an essential truth of the character of Jack Boniface as he (Hall) perceived him? To be honest, I don't know. All I can say is that it was an exhilarating ride. One which I can't wait to take again.

To anyone who likes to hunt out back issues of comics, you could do worse than give Shadowman a try, a series from one of my favourite Dead Universes, and most especially the Bob Hall tenure.

Characters and images are ™ , ® and © Valiant Entertainment

Project Superpowers

In the past few days I have been doing a lot of re-reading of stories from a fairly new comic book universe: Project Superpowers from Dynamite Entertainment. The line kicked off in 2008.

The line is still young, and the publisher is not averse to controversy, especially as much of its business model is founded on collectiblity with variant covers, but nonetheless I really like what is happening in the stories of this emerging universe. I say emerging, as there is more to it than that.

In a nutshell the premise is that almost all of the Golden Age superheroes were trapped beyond time and place and released into the modern day; they emerge into a world that is changed with the US and the world being policed by technologies that owe a great deal to the first generation of superheroes. And all of those heroes who emerge have been changed in some way great or small. Amid all of this it emerges that a cabal - the Supremacy - is a hidden power, with self-interests on a vast scale.

The primary architect of Project Superpowers is Alex Ross - one of my all-time favourite artists. Fans of comic book movies but not so much comic books themselves may recognise his work from the title sequence of Spider-man 2; he did the 15 paintings recapping events from the first movie. Ross is credited as co-plotter on every issue and provides a cover for each issue (most if not all have variants as well). His main collaborator has been writer Jim Krueger, and others have helped with this ongoing project.

I described Project Superpowers as an emerging comic book universe earlier. In some ways this is both true and untrue. The Project Superpowers Universe (PSU) has been founded on characters freely available for use as they have fallen into the 'public domain' with no individual copyright holder. Ross has gathered together a great swathe of such characters - with names such as the Black Terror, Death Defying 'Devil (originally Daredevil), the Ghost, Masquerade (formerly Miss Masque), Samson, the Green Lama, the Twister, the Target, and dozens more besides. The cast is huge. But that is one of the things I really like about the PSU.

The line has featured a number of interlocking series. The spine of the PSU are the various 'chapters' of Project Superpowers. Chapter 1 comprised 8 issues (0-7) and has been collected in hardcover (top image) and softcover editions. Chapter 2 is still being told, and the first half has been collected. Parallel to these are series focusing on particular characters, although each features a plethora of guest stars from the main series and background, lending the feel of a real tapestry being woven.

Chapter 1 sees the return of these time-lost heroes, altered by the time and place in which they have been gone. The heroes are scattered and slowly begin to gather in factions, trying to make sense of a new world. Lines are drawn and some of the heroes rise to face a grave threat in the Middle East as secret powers (the Supremacy) deploy resources to achieve their aims.

The Black Terror is the PSU's righteous-angry-man. Bullet-proof and strong and powerful, the Black terror is like Douglas Fairbanks with superpowers (not an allusion I can claim as my own). His first story concerns his search for his former sidekick Tim/Kid Terror, and sets him on a collision course of conflict with the US authorities. There is a lot of action and the character is great in that he is both flawed and recognises his major flaw, and highlights the effects of the metaphysical interment the Black Terror suffered in the preceding decades. There are great plays on the imagery of the pirate which is evident from the costume (a great glowing-ethereal skull and crossbones effect), and a good few surprises along the way. I really enjoyed some cracking adventure scenes as well as the more thoughtful moments, and so think it is a great compliment to the main series. Issues 1-4 are collected in a trade paperback (cover right), and more issues are due for collection soon.

Death Defying 'Devil is the renamed Daredevil (probably done to avoid any possible legal hassle from Marvel Comics); it is an interesting series as we learn nothing factual about the hero, whether he is who he purports to be (an antagonist thinks not), or indeed what his motivations are. Athletic and acrobatic, the 'Devil in action is all about action, and has a great costume that has inspired others in later years (Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt from Charlton, who in turn was the template for Ozymandias from Watchmen - see how these things work?). The plot is basically a prelude in my view: setting the stage for the real emergence of a big threat at a later time. This series worked less successfully than Black Terror for me, and his co-stars Silver Streak and the Ghost arguably steal the show, as the 'Devil simply gets entwined in a very specific personally-orientated plot. Not as strong or well-rounded a series as Black Terror.

Masquerade is another collected series of 4 issues; focusing on the heroine formerly known as Miss Masque; the updated look works really well, giving a real 40's look. The story is very fragmented, intentionally so without doubt, as the titular hero is herself a rather fragmented personality. She has gained the power to possess others but is losing sight of herself in the mean-time, and is also able to reflect on her past experiences to guide her present actions. While I can see what the creators were aiming for, the story takes too long to get any real direction as Masquerade tries to connect her past with her present. It is in essence an origin story, yet as such could have benefited with a stronger narrative pull, and focus, and threat in the present. That said, in the comic book medium, and particularly the super-hero genre, it is a story that has a more literary narrative than most works, so is pretty sophisticated fayre in that regard.

Meet the Bad Guys is a markedly different series to the others. Each issue (except the last) show-cases a brand new villainous threat, pitting them against one of the stars of the PSU with whom they have a connection: the Revolutionary is a somewhat rebellious and destructive - possibly even anarchic - individual whose path intersects with the Fighting Yank; Bloodlust is a beautiful and bloodthirsty revenge-driven woman (no surprise given that code-name) who collides with the meditative Green Lama - the Bloodlust character seems very much a pastiche of 90's comic book bad girl cliches which I am sure was the plan; Dagon is an ancient evil returned to plague mankind (well a part of the US coastline at any rate), and is met by the mighty Samson; and most intriguingly for the wider plot-line of the PSU, in the final part The Supremacy, and particularly the Black Baron, face the Scarab in an indirect confrontation - a great chapter showing the politics behind the superhumans of the PSU. Each chapter of Meet the Bad Guys is a self-contained story, and I would highly recommend it to anyone trying the main series.

If anyone is intrigued enough to try dipping a metaphorical toe into the PSU waters, the core recommendations I would make are the main series collections, Black Terror and Meet the Bad Guys. Each series can be enjoyed alone, but more is gained by reading everything.


Cover images © Dynamite Entertainment

Kick-Ass

What can I say? Cresting the wave of my mid-thirties into my later-thirties I have found my comic book sensibilities now are probably closer to where they were 25-30 years ago than say 15 years ago. Life is funny that way, isn't it? These days I want heroic heroes, and villainous villains. I generally don't want an unrelenting grim and gritty mixing of the two. I don't seek for gratuitous violence, sex or profanity in my comic books. I generally want to read comic books that I could show my six or ten year old self. Most of the time with modern comic books, it just isn't the case.

So of course in this situation, wanting cleaner, simpler comic books on the whole, Kick-Ass places me in a dichotomous situation: it is filthy, ultra-violent and in very bad taste. And I love it for that. Hats off to Mark Millar (writer; also Ultimates and Wanted) and John Romita Jr. (artists; too many Marvel comic books too count).

The movie version has been described as Superbad meets Watchmen, and I get that kind of short-hand description. The comic book would equally well wear it. I love Kick-Ass in that it set out to be something and was clear about it from the start. No pretences. This is violence and profanity cranked up to 11 ('one higher, because where do you go when you reach 10?' to paraphrase Nigel Tufnel). The book is honest about that, which I am cool with - what I am not cool with is the silver-age resurgence elsewhere dressed up with shock-tactic story-telling (which is happening in far too many comic books that I read), but that isn't an issue with Kick-Ass.

The book is funny, and it is a well-crafted read, with decent structure starting as it does in media res while entertaining with the back story of how a hapless teen becomes an Internet and cultural sensation while suffering all manner of violent incident. The structural strengths were more apparent on re-reading, as I originally read it episodically and the series met with a few delays as it progressed, disrupting the flow.

Kick-Ass does not present the real-world as some super-hero comics would like to attempt to do (and usually fail for trying), or even deconstruct the genre in the same way that a book like Watchmen did. No this is something else. Kick-Ass is about a big simple idea, which is used to look at the rise of a phenomenon, and it is the story of an awkward teen who finds his own niche through all of that. It is the story of the coolest 10 year old girl ever. It is the story of people wearing costumes for all the wrong reasons. And it is a great read, even if not a read suitable to my six or ten year old self. I so look forwards to seeing the movie.

Image copyright © Mark Millar and John S. Romita, published by Marvel Comics

Incognito

While I seem to be without camera for the time being, we may see more non-miniatures posting for now.

I first read Incognito (written by Ed Brubaker, drawn by Sean Phillips) last year, while it was being released in serial form by Marvel through their creator-owned imprint 'Icon' (also the home of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s Kick-Ass). I really enjoyed it, so much so that I picked up the collected trade paperback edition to allow ease of re-reading.

I had read stuff by Brubaker before (like Immortal Iron Fist), but he is not a writer whose work i closely follow since he has a heavy crime-fiction focus for his comics work, and that is a genre I have never been particularly into. Similarly I have seen Sean Phillips art on a few occasions but have never been an avid fan. So it was that i was searching for something new to read that wasn't tied into the massive story lines overwhelming both DC and Marvel these days. The cover of issue #1 of Incognito grabbed me enough to try it out. And I am glad that I did.

I won't offer a detailed synopsis since I don't like having stories spoiled that way, but I will try and say what I enjoyed about Incognito. The story centres on Zack, a science-villain (love that designation) formerly known as Zack Overkill, a brutal criminal who wreaked some terror along with his twin Xander at the behest of a master criminal. The story begins with what is evidently an life devoid of any direction for Zack, and devoid of any real motivation in any direction except numbness. Zack's past catches up with him as he finally discovers a new and unanticipated direction for himself. The rest is a pretty wild ride.

Incognito is a real mash-up. It has pulp overtones (in imagery and the characters populating this skewed universe); it has hard-boiled noir and crime-genre themes; it features some visceral and violent action; it has shades of super-heroes filtered through all of the other elements. What this adds up to is a great hard-boiled story of one man's transformation. It isn't for the squeamish and the language is very coarse in places. But that for me didn't detract from the enjoyment I had from this story. Of late I have begun to want brighter, simpler superhero stories to read - at least in the DC and Marvel universes. Outside of that I am more accepting of the kind of themes that a book like Incognito features.

This isn't a story about four-colour superheroes and supervillains. Instead it is about a man caught up in the unsteady and shifting circumstances associated with science-hero and science-villain culture. Brubaker and Phillips have created a compelling and absorbing little comic book universe in this story - I look forwards to revisiting it both with this story and any follow-ups they have planned.

Image copyright © Basement Gang Inc.