Tpb Reviewer's December Picks

Jingle bells, jingle bells...if you still have any money left after buying Christmas presents, why not spend them on comic books! That way you have fewer spending decisions to make and something to do with all the extra time you get from not having to decide on how to spend your money. Okok, on to the picks...

The first I want to point out is the two books by David Lapham coming out: Silverfish and Young Liars Vol. 1. David who? you say. Well, if you haven't read anything by mr. Lapham yet, you should stop reading this right now and hurry out and find the collected editions of his stellar Stray Bullets series published by his own label El Capitan. I cannot think of a better comic book (published in the US that I have read) since Watchmen. Unfortunately, since most comic book readers (yes, you and you) are ignorant drooling swine that will not recognize genius when it is served right in front of their eyes on a silver platter, mr. Lapham has had to stall the series due to low sales and resort to hired work for the Big Two. Silverfish and Young Liars are the latest outcomes of this, so while waiting for Stray Bullets to come out again, I will certainly accept this as something to kill time with. Btw, I should mention that Young Liars is an ongoing from Vertigo and Silverfish is an original graphic novel also published by DC. You can read an interview with Lapham right here: http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=110197

Marvel has a couple of interesting things this month, although it seems that they're gearing down a bit before unleashing the tpb version of Secret Invasion on the world in January.

First up is Captain America: The Chosen written David Morrell who you might know as the guy who wrote First Blood aka. Rambo I. Captain America done Rambo-style you say? Well, I'm intrigued and since the art is handled by Mitch Breitweiser, who also did the Drax the Destroyer story in Annihilatin Book 1, I will probably check this out. You can find a lengthy interview with Morrell here about the book: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=11191

Then, of course, there's Spider-Man: Brand New Day Vol. 2. I just love the fact that there's a new Spider-Man book coming out every second month now. They should just publish the series as tpb's straight away if you ask me, but I guess it'll be a while before that happens.

Just barely interesting enough to mention we find Cable Vol. 1: Messiah War. The thing is I never really found Cable to be a very interesting character, with all the big guns and crazy 90's style cyborg thingies. He just reeks of Liefeld. What this book may have going for it is that is seems to be a direct continuation of Messiah Complex and the art looks pretty sweet as evidenced by this interview with the writer, Duane Swierczynski.

Finally, there's Runaways: Dead End Kids. Now, this is the Marvel series that was awarded with one industry award after another, and this particular book is written by Joss Whedon, you know, the guy who wrote Astonishing X-Men. But, the parts of the series that were awarded were written by Brian K Vaughan and also, the issues of this book experienced several delays and after Whedon finished the book a new creative team took over. So I have a distinct feeling that it might not be as good as it sounds. In any case, the new creative team consists of Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos, so I might get those anyway, so why not try it out. As you may sense, I still haven't completely decided on this one...

Ok, that's it for this month. As usual, the solicitations were provided by Collected Comics Library (sorry for forgetting to mention that last month!). January is Secret Invasion month, so do stay tuned!

Northlanders vol 1: Sven the Returned

Collects Northlanders 1-8
Written by Brian Wood
Artwork by Davide Gianfelice

Review by Michael Lindal

I might be Danish, but I’m not really into Viking stories. They seem too distant from my own life and the world, I live in, which may sound silly as they are very much a part of my cultural heritage. But I admit it: I can be quite narrow minded sometimes. So sue me.

I tend to prefer books (be that both comic books and “real” books) about the world we all live in. I like stories to say something profound and intelligent about the state of the modern world and the human condition in general, which is probably why I think Brian Wood is one of the best writers in American comic books at the moment. Books like DMZ, Demo, Supermarket and Local all tell stories about social issues, the complexity of modern (geo)politics as well as emotionally profound stories about the individual and communities. Woods characters are complex and realistic and he knows more about the modern world, than I will ever know. He gets it.

So it was quite a surprise, when it was announced that Wood’s new book would be a Viking book. I honestly couldn’t picture it, but I decided that the guy had more than earned the benefit of my doubt. And indeed, I was rewarded. Northlanders is a great book!

The first volume in the series is called Sven the Returned and it more than delivers as a Viking story. Battles, violence, hard men and rough landscapes. It’s all there. But this first volume is about so much more than that. It’s about a small community’s place in an increasingly globalized world. It’s about the clash of cultures and it’s about politics. In other words: It’s a real Brian Wood book.

Wood doesn’t spend his time getting tangled up in historical details. He just tells his story. Another thing that sticks out during the first couple of pages is the rather modern dialogue, which (as with most Vertigo books) drops its fair share of F-bombs. This is not Thor from Marvel and there is no “I SAY THEE NAY” type dialogue. Which is quite refreshing.

Wood is at his best when he tells small stories. Both Demo and (the AMAZING) Local did single issue stories and even the ongoing DMZ is composed of small stories from the war zone, even if they are parts of a larger narrative. It seems that Northlanders doesn’t tell stories in single issues, but in story arcs. This tradepaperback IS a story in itself. And it seems that the next story arc will be about entirely different characters. Unfortunately this also means that the artist will change from arc to arc. Which is a shame as the artwork by Davide Gianfelice is rather amazing. Detailed, rugged, subtle and realistic. The colouring also deserves a special mention. A very nice job.

I do look forward to Ryan Kelly’s artwork on a future story arc, but that’s because I love anything to do with Local. It will be interesting to see this artist, who is so good at drawing the modern world, try something completely different.

Northlanders is another home run from both Brian Wood and Vertigo. The fact that Wood is doing BOTH Northlanders AND DMZ (best book on the stands) is rather incredible.

8/10

Immortal Iron Fist Vol. 1: The Last Iron Fist Story

Collects Immortal Iron Fist #1-6 plus the 'Choosing Sides' story from Civil War: Choosing Sides #1, all written by Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction and drawn by David Aja.

If people are getting tired of me reviewing Brubaker books, I can understand that. But the truth is, I think that Brubaker is responsible for some of the best (current) Marvel books that money can buy, and missing out on those would be foolish for anyone with the slightest interest in the Marvel Universe. On this book he shares the writing credits with Matt Fraction, and rumor has it that Fraction actually is doing most of the work, especially with the later issues. But this book does show off some of the characteristics that other Brubaker books have, especially in the areas of conceptualization (out-of-date character given an update) , structure (long story lines as opposed to self-contained stories) and tone (somewhat dark, although this time with room for humor). Brubaker's main trademark, though, is simply solid storytelling, and this book has that in ample amounts.

Having been brought up mainly with 80's Marvel, I don't know that much about Iron Fist aka. Danny Rand, except that he's a pastiche of 70's kung fu movies. Ahh, to have lived in the 70's... Anyway, since then he has only rarely surfaced, although his pal, Luke Cage, has seen a bit of a renaissance lately, especially in the hands of Brian Micael Bendis over in New Avengers. This series was originally planned as a mini to rectify that, but was turned into an ongoing due to popular demand, as they say.

Brubaker and Fraction reinvents Iron Fist by adding to his origin. He is now the latest to wield the power of the Iron Fist in a long line of Iron Fists, and this implicates him in a tournament that somehow involves both weird gods and Danny's father. But first he must face hostile takeover atttempts of his corporation as well as attacks of the somewhat more physical kind by Hydra and a contendor to the title of Iron Fist, who is somehow linked to Iron Fist's past. All the while, we are given details of some of the historical Iron Fists, adding depth to the character while moving the plot along. The plot delivers just enough twists and surprises to keep the reader glued while leaving room for some crazy ass kung fu action.

Aja has received loads of praise for his work on this title, and I can certainly understand why. He commands a broad palette of visual storytelling techniques here. Some of the page layouts will move the reader's eyes across the page in ways that will make the characters and action really come to life, while the shadow-heavy style adds to the dark content of the story.

All I can say is that this is yet another gem from (at least partly) the mind of Brubaker. Fans of same should not miss out, and I recommend those yet to be converted to definitely check out either this one, or his work on Captain America or Daredevil. When that is said, Fraction and Aja on their own are in fact reason enough to get this book. If Marvel keeps attracting talent like this, the future of men in tights looks bright indeed.

8/10

Annihilation Book 1

Collects Drax the Destroyer #1-4 written by Keith Giffen and drawn by Mitch Breitweiser, Annihilation Prologue written by Keith Giffen and drawn by Scott Collins (with Arial Olivetti) and Annihilation: Nova #1-4 written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and drawn by Kev Walker.

I've never been much into the intergalactic corner of the Marvel Universe, but I heard a lot of good stuff about this one, so I decided to give it a try. Also, it's a Marvel Universe crossover, and who can resist those? Not me it seems... This one is a bit different from the other crossovers. It's not part of Bendis' big Scheme of Things, and it only involves Marvel's space resident super heroes such as Nova, Quasar and Silver Surfer. Well, Silver Surfer only shows up on the cover and one interior page of this book, but hey, there's still two books to go!

The first part of this book sees Drax the Destroyer on Earth as the prison space ship carrying him crash lands outside a small American village. He is not alone though, and soon the few prisoners that survived starts enslaving the humans nearby in an attempt to repair the space ship. I'm a little unsure about the purpose of this story, because nothing much really happens here. It does however set the mood for the rest of the book very well and it introduces some of the characters that are likely to play major roles later on. On its own the story is a bit weak, but it does serve as a good pre-prologue, so to speak. The art is good, reminiscent of Cassaday, but not quite there, but I guess that is really an unfair comparison.

The second part is the actual prologue. It brings together Nova and Drax (now no longer the Destroyer) as the Annihilation Wave, a massive force of destruction moving at the speed of light, announces its presence by destroying Xandar, the home world of the Nova Corps and killing all of the Corps except one. Yes, they do mean business. This part establishes the scale of the story in a very convincing manner. The reader is left with no doubt that what is going on here is big, and the big guns are out. The commander of the Annihilation Wave is revealed to be Annihilus, but Thanos also makes a brief appearance in the very beginning, and it probably isn't his last in this context... Meanwhile, a few seeds are planted for some of the future story lines of the Annihilation crossover. The art is good, what I like best about it is the way it manages to capture the scale of the story. There are battle scenes with literally hundreds of space ships flying around and huge explosions. Also, Kolins is great at drawing mechanics and futuristic cityscapes, and that makes this an entertaining read. A good beginning for the story.

The last part of this book sees Nova and Drax team up with Quasar to save the next world that lies in the path of the Annihilation Wave. They're running out of time however, and the ending sees the first stand off with Annihilus as the heroes desperately attempt to halt the incoming invasion. Surprisingly, as the two first parts were written by Giffen, this part has the most humor in it. It also has the first death of a major hero in the story. This part was my favorite part of the book. Not only does it have the best art, Walker's art is both dynamic and atmospheric (am I the only one who is reminded of 80s Mignola here?), it is also the most well written. The characters seem a little more fleshed out here, although this could be due to the reader being more familiar with them by the end of the book, and the story stands pretty well on it's own.

All in all this is a pretty good start for the Annihilation crossover, although the reader is left with the feeling that the best has yet to come. It is definitely a beginning, and works well as such. Even though I had virtually no emotional attachment to the characters in this story before reading it, I was drawn into the story and was left wanting for more. It is space opera on a huge scale, and there is no doubt that big things will happen. The art is generally good, and the artists are well suited for this kind of story. I also like the fact that Marvel has managed to produce a crossover that feels very cohesive. Nothing here feels really unnecessary, unlike some of the crossovers they have put out in recent years (coughCivilWarcough). Recommended.

7/10

Daredevil: The Devil Inside And Out Vol. 1

Collects Daredevil #82-87 written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano.

The first book of Brubaker and Lark's popular Daredevil run starts right where Bendis left the blind crime fighter. Matt Murdock is in prison, it's a little fluffy of what exactly he stands accused, but the implication is that someone knows that he is Daredevil and that someone is out to put him away for good. It's become a household tradition within Marvel to have Daredevil ride an emotional roller coaster once in a while and this is certainly no exception to that rule. Matt/Daredevil is as hard bitten and imposing as ever, and yet he seems strangely in control, which is kind of scary. This is only made worse when Foggy Nelson is stabbed to death during a visit to the prison. After this, Matt, as well as his allies outside of prison - Ben Urich and private detective Dakota North, investigate Foggy's killing as well as the mysterious Daredevil impostor making head lines in the news papers.

This is classic Daredevil, and yet Brubaker makes it feel refreshingly new. Maybe because we haven't seen Daredevil this good since Miller? (I haven't read Bendis' run). Brubaker sure knows his Daredevil, all the usual suspects are there: Kingpin, Turk, Urich, Jameson, Gladiator, Bullseye, Punisher etc. (even Tarantula!), and this makes this feel like a real Daredevil story. But some of them are a little different from what we're used to. Kingpin is now a manipulator in prison clothes, far removed from his tower of power. Bullseye is a full blown psychopath, who is brought into the prison Hannibal Lecter-style. It is as if each character seems a little more real than what we're used to. And the villains seem a little more dangerous than what we're used to. I attribute this to Brubaker's excellent sense of dialogue and Lark's darkly expressive character drawings. The contrast between how well Kingpin is depicted here as opposed to the chickenshit Kingpin of Spider-Man: Back in Black, in which Spider-Man beats the crap out of him in the same prison, is striking. Brubaker shows both deep knowledge and respect for the characters he is writing.

What also makes this feel like a classic Daredevil book is the theme of Matt slowly breaking down psychologically. This is the kind of a story to which Daredevil will always return, like Spider-Man will have to prove his sense of responsibility again and again. Brubaker equips Matt with a little more edge than usual, although he is breaking down on the inside, he keeps a tough facade and only lets go when it's to his own advantage. And when he lets go, those who stand in the way pay for their follies with broken bones and blood flowing.

Matt's mental health is not the only thing keeping the reader glued, though. All the way through a plot against Daredevil is unfolding and this is what keeps the story going. This storyline does not end in this book, and thus we are treated to another of Brubaker's signature long running storylines. Just my cup of rum!

There's not much to complain about here. I have to admit I thought the Punisher's appearance was a little weak and uncalled for. But that's about it. There's not much of Hell's Kitchen, but for obvious reasons. Probably this will be redeemed later in the series, but I happen to know that in the next book Daredevil goes to Paris.

Lark's artwork is in the category I like to call darkly realistic. If I were to compare him to other artists, I would probably put him stylistically somewhere in between Sean Phillips and Steve Epting. But Lark needs no comparing, he is formidably skilled and a perfect choice for Daredevil.

If you like classic Daredevil (Miller), I think you will like Brubaker's Daredevil as well. And if you haven't read much Daredevil, now is a perfect time to head into the darkest corner of the MU. Just be aware that the story in this book comes without an ending, you'll have to get the next book in the series for that. I know that I am certainly on for the ride.

8/10

Captain America: Winter Soldier Vols. 1 + 2

Collects Captain America #1-7 (vol. 1) and #8-9 and #11-14 (vol. 2) written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Steve Epting, Michael Lark, Mike Perkins and John Paul Leon.

I don't usually review more than one book at a time, but in this case the titles do sort of indicate that they belong together. They also do read very much like one long story line, and could just as well have been packaged into one book. I do prefer this format, however, twice a year is a nice pace for an ongoing series.

Comic book marketing theory has it that there are basically two ways two get a book with dwindling sales numbers back on track. The first is to kill off a character from the cast (max effect is achieved by killing the main character, but this is usually only in the short run...), the second is to revive a popular character that was previously killed. The shock and awe that these turns of events will provoke will bring sales numbers soaring, and can in some cases save a book from early retirement. In any case, it'll bring in some $$$ in the short run which makes investors clap their hands.

In this, the beginning of his still-going-strong Captain America run and his first major work for Marvel, Brubaker does both. In the very first issue he kills off the Red Skull with a sniper's bullet and a couple of issues later it is revealed that the sniper was none other than Bucky, Cap's long thought dead sidekick. With a plot like this, the outcome can only go really well or incredibly bad. Unless you've only just discovered the Internet you will probably already know that consensus has it that Brubaker's Captain America is pretty much the best thing since three-layered toilet paper, and I pretty much agree with this (I know, what a shock, me liking a Brubaker book...).

Winter Soldier is plotted as a good old fashioned espionage thriller with plenty of action and character based subplots. Instead of the Reds we have an old Russian general running an international corporation and buying high tech weaponry from AIM, the leading weapons dealer for advanced terrorists. Also, they made the Cosmic Cube, so that plays a part here as well. This is not the MU we grew up with, here the heroes and villains kill each other and the bad guys are not afraid to take out a building full of civilians to obtain their goal. A lot like the real world, you say? Well, maybe... There are men in tights in this story, but most of the time they don't take center stage, and when they do, it's to make a point.

The overwhelming thing that people will talk about regarding this book is the return of Bucky, the one Marvel character that people thought would never be revived. I mean, what's next, Uncle Ben? The thing is, Brubaker brings him back with style. He does this by retconning the relation between Bucky and Cap, while still paying respect to what's been told so far. All the stories where Bucky was mentioned still hold true, that version of Bucky is simply what was told to the public by US Army propaganda. Like Cap, he did not die on that day, but was picked up by the Russians, who brainwashed and trained him to be their assassin. S.H.I.E.L.D. has heard rumors of this, but has not been able to confirm them until now. The tough and gloomy Bucky that Brubaker reintroduces is a very different sort than the merry teenage sidekick from the 50s, and this reflects very well the change of perception that has occurred since that time. No longer is anything black and white, and no longer are there any good wars. Winter Soldier is a product of the dark aspects of our time, just as Bucky was of his.

Brubaker has proven on numerous occasions that he is a master of making characters come to life in his stories, of infusing them with a voice of their own, and this book is no exception. Cap and Bucky are obvious examples, but I also enjoyed his take on Nick Fury who plays an important role in the book. Fury is here portrayed as cynical secret agent who manipulates the people around him. Surely, his intentions are good, but his actions can seem questionable at times. I hope the new Nick Fury series takes a cue from this!

The artists are well picked to match the story. There is a heavy emphasis on shadows and the coloring is dark and moody. There are very few massively muscled men, and this contributes to the realistic feel. Most of the artwork is handled by Epting with the numerous flashbacks by Lark, so the art is cohesive throughout. Epting style is perfect for Captain America, it has a classic feel to it and he is a master visual storyteller.

The only complaint I have on this story is that the ending does not feel as climactic as I think it was intended to. Maybe spending another issue on this would have been appropriate, but really, this is just nitpicking.

All in all I recommend this to anyone looking for a good comic book. Brubaker and co. succeeds in reviving Captain America as a very relevant book, while grounding it in its classic roots. And besides that, it's a damn good story! Also, Brubaker is still writing the book after almost four years, so I think there is reason to believe that more goodness is still to come. The next two books in the series are called Red Menace, so maybe the Red Skull is not as dead as appearances would have it?

8/10