Hit-Girl #1-5

The latest outing in Mark Millar and John Romita Junior's "Kick Ass" franchise is a spin-off series starring the breakout character Hit-Girl. Although originally announced with Leandro Fernandez as the artist, the series was eventually laid out by the "Kick Ass" co-creator John Romita Junior, with Tom Palmer providing the inks and the finished art.

Chronologically, "Hit-Girl" takes place between the first and the second mini-series of the parent title, and serves to further delineate the motivation between the key players, most notably Mindy, the 12 year old assassin. As the story starts, she has moved in with her mother and the police officer foster father, trying to balance the life of an ordinary school girl with her nighttime activities as a vigilante serial killer.

It goes without saying that the book is completely over the top. Hit-Girl's bizarre attempts at fitting in the school's social structure are played as a parody, with the child assassin showing her classmates the same ruthlessness that she dishes out in her superhero escapades. Unfortunately, Romita junior's depictions of children leaves a lot to be desired, as most of Mindy's peers are rendered in a way that bears only cursory resemblance to actual human anatomy. The artist has spent his whole career in the superhero industry, and naturally feels much more assured when tackling the scenes dealing with out of school activity, which thankfully make up most of the book.

Besides the main narrative detailing Hit-Girl's troubles with the secret identity, Millar weaves several subplots, with the girl's relationship with Kick Ass being perhaps the most interesting. Using the knowledge thought to her by her late father, the hyper competent protagonist spends the first half of the book drugging her parents and going out to train the five years older Dave, who also doubles as a sympathetic school friend. This kind of a reversal from the traditional superhero/sidekick dynamic is relatively fresh for the medium, and certainly in keeping with the book's general tone, but once Kick Ass suffers a minor injury, the character's arc more or less ends.

Millar uses the remaining space to spotlight more of the villainous Red Mist's origin, which is entertaining, despite being largely divorced from the main plot. The fact that Dave's nemesis doesn't get to play the antagonist here presents a major problem, as the criminals opposing Mindy never outgrow their roles as one-dimensional foils. Red Mist's scenes ultimately serve to further explain his motivation and set up his actions in the second series, while also reminding the reader of his role in "Kick Ass 3".

Thus, the role of a direct foil ends up belonging to Marcus, Mindy's foster parent, who presents an honest policeman in a crooked squad. He is aware of his daughter's vigilante past, but actively discourages her nighttime activities, citing her mother's fragile health. By calling back to Spider-Man's original motivation for hiding his secret identity, Millar is simply using the genre tropes to support his story, and ultimately ends up fully utilizing the set-up in the book's action packed conclusion.

The gangsters Hit-Girl dispatches left and right end up threatening her family, by way of blaming her foster father for refusing to actively side with the Genovese family and their associates. The plot contrivance, coupled with smart scripting leads to a conclusion that epitomizes Mindy's abilities, but also leaves her largely unchanged for the beginning of the second "Kick Ass" miniseries, which it precedes chronologically.

This is another, and perhaps the most profound of the book's weaknesses. Despite seeding the debuts of some of the minor superheroes and providing the details regarding Mindy's secret identity and her family dynamic, the book is largely static. "Hit-Girl" serves to provide fans with more of the breakout character, but is largely superfluous to the main plot, while being completely anti-climatic. Having read "Kick Ass 2", the reader is aware of the ultimate outcome of the characters and their struggle, robbing the book of the shock factor that has provided so much of its appeal.

Millar and Romita junior could have utilized the spin-off to subversively introduce a major element, such as a romantic subplot between two teens (which would have been shocking considering the age difference), but they seem satisfied with providing another look at the ruthless world of the Kick Ass. The reader is offered a slight plot, filtered through the eyes of a side character, but at least in that respect the book is a success.

Mindy will never be as shocking as she was when she debuted in the original "Kick Ass" mini-series (as well as the movie adaptation), but she is still reasonably entertaining and, more importantly, works as a lead character in her own book. The creators' mandate seems to have been to present a well paced book with high production values, in order to keep the attention on the property while the second movie is being produced. Despite sacrificing some of the original's notoriety, "Hit-Girl" likewise works as a lighthearted tie-in, published in anticipation of the creative team's supposed final work on the subject, the "Kick Ass 3" mini-series.

Darwyn Cooke's final word on "Before Watchmen"

"It'll never be like it was when it was new, but there's still plenty of life in this old baby."

This is how Darwyn ("Parker", "New Frontier") Cooke ends "Minutemen", the linchpin of the first wave of "Before Watchmen" books. The prequels were controversial while they were still in the concept stage, with the original "Watchmen" co-creator openly denouncing them, while deriding the company for opening a new channel for exploiting the comic book classic. DC countered by touting the talent involved with the relaunch, announcing a slew of mini-series that revisited the 1985 series, purporting to be a faithful to the original.

The ones that have seen completion so far have maintained a respectful attitude towards "Watchmen", paying close attention to plot details, and genuinely picking up on the stray threads, but staying away from a serious attempt to challenge (or even try to attempt) the original's formalism. "Night Owl", "Moloch" and "Silk Spectre" have settled for providing the back stories to some of the original "Watchmen" players, elaborating on the character motivations while maintaining the quasi-reality of the original.

The "Silk Spectre" was even co-written by Cooke, but it doesn't stray too much from the coming of age model mostly adopted by the other two series. And while there's still as many tie-in mini-series that have yet to conclude, it is the just finished "Minutemen" that is arguably the most important. Even among the line-up of solid mainstream-oriented creators signed by DC to revisit "Watchmen", Darwyn Cooke sticks out as the most potent creative voice. Brian Azzarello, the writer of "Rorschach" and "Comedian" is also a very influential writer, but one that remains a presence in DC's ongoing "New 52" initiative, despite his bias towards working with superhero material.

Cooke has, on the other hand, enjoyed a career that used the "New Frontier" prestige format series' success to ensure that he could be much more selective when it comes to his forthcoming projects. The writer/artist was the one DC turned to when they relaunched Eisner's "the Spirit", another major contribution to the medium, leading to his producing a series of graphic novel adaptations of Donald Westlake's "Parker" novels, garnering him even further acclaim, and cementing him as one of the Direct Market's strongest creative voices.

The decision to create a flagship "Before Watchmen" title came with the writer/artist announcing that he had a particular story to tell. Citing this as the only reason for his participation might have made his involvement with the "Silk Spectre" series slightly dubious, but it seemed to strengthen the sympathetic fan's decision to keep up with "Minutemen". If Darwyn Cooke was willing to devote his time and energy into a editorial-lead initiative that revisits the themes he worked with in "New Frontier", he would not go on to produces something that would only besmirch his reputation in a part of the comics culture that wanted nothing to do with "Watchmen" comics produced without Alan Moore's consent.

Yet, it's hard to look at the resulting series as a major argument, both for the creator's participation, or the continued existence of more unsanctioned "Watchmen" related material. While revisiting the Silver Age past of Moore and Gibbons' "Watchmen", the writer/artist takes a thorough approach and crafts a multi-layered narrative that jumps through different time frames, revolving around Hollis Mason, the original Night-Owl's desire to publish the book he wrote detailing the true history of the 1940s superteam. The manuscript shows up as a back-up in "Watchmen", fleshing out the alternative history and providing a better understanding of the dynamic between the various superheroes alluded to in the main narrative.

In the original, Moore and Gibbons use these pages to parody the genre's past and further embellish the unreality of the superhero ideal, when brought out in the open. The superheroes of the comics' idealized past were no paragons of virtue, but a dysfunctional band of misfits, satisfying dark cravings under the masks, and more often then not failing spectacularly to live up to any kind of ideal. Their story existed as a little more than a backdrop for a major reveal between two of the book's characters, with the rape scene shattering away all semblance of nostalgia.

In the original "Watchmen", the men and women of the Minutemen were highly sexual individuals, with the hideous incident being the final proof that they could never exist as a functional band of heroes. Having a superhero rape his team mate could never have happened in the comics' Golden Age, which is precisely why the original creative team proceeded to depict it, in their attempt to present the genre with deeper characterization and actual human violence.

The original Minutemen's villains are likewise completely forgettable - the whole point of the back-up material was in presenting the origins of these superheroes as people, full of human flaws but never outright evil and villainous. Cooke picks up on this, and his characterization of the Comedian as an anti-hero, and a deeply complex individual pertains throughout these six issues, but it also leaves him without the plot.

Thus, the writer/artist resorts to making "Minutemen" the coming of age story of Night-Owl, detailing his Minutemen years. In order to provide a sense of mystery, Cooke resorts to inserting an artificial plot involving a serial killer, which picks up on some of the hints regarding the team's characterization. The only way to make this prequel relevant is to draw out some of the original "Watchmen"'s side characters and build them up into fully realized people, while hinting at a dark secret of their mutual past.

Thus, "Minutemen" attains a strange relationship with the original text, that has relegated these characters to little more than one sentence cameos, parodying the stiffness of the Golden Age characters. Cooke takes these as a starting point, and uses them almost like a bad reputation these characters must escape, while proving themselves as real people. Night Owl, Silk Spectre and the Comedian, are obviously the strongest when it comes to this (as they all had supporting roles outside the back-up strip), but Cooke tries his best at elevating the characters such as the Mothman and Sillhouette, who were specifically designed as being miscast in the superhero community.

The writer/artist's insists on referring to them by their first names, adds a lot of personality to their make-up, trying to convince the reader that they are capable of supporting the narrative as key players. This counter intuitive approach is best illustrated when it comes to Dollar Bill, a man who dressed up in superhero suit to entertain the customers of a chain of banks he worked in. In the original "Watchmen", the character was presented as merely the butt of a dark joke on the part of the creators, but Cooke insists on him being a capable superhero, whose life ended in bizarre irony.

Narrating the story, the Night Owl begrudges the reader for assuming that the Dollar Bill was only a superhero who met his end because of his stupidity and the sheer impracticality of the traditional superhero uniform. At first, this seems like a misreading of the material, concerning the character that got his personal name out of a tie-in RPG sourcebook, but it proves crucial to understanding Cooke's effort. If the writer/artist was to acknowledge the ridiculousness of the situation, he would also acknowledge the key problem of the whole project.

Thus, "Minutemen" largely shies away from making any kind of meta commentary regarding the comic book medium, aside from presenting a few panels in the mock Golden Age artistic style. These act as excerpts from the superhero comics that idealized these character's adventures in the world of Watchmen, in contrast to the harrowing realism that supplanted them in the true story of Minutemen. In effect, Cooke insists that "Minutemen" tells the story of "Watchmen" in half the length, making the same juxtapositions that Moore and Gibbons depict in the characters' 1980s future.

The writer/artist seems to be saying that the rape of Silk Spectre wasn't the only notable event in these characters' past, but that there was a heretofore unknown whole other story boiling around the team's largely uneventful existence. Cooke uses the intrigue and ambiguity in Moore and Gibbons' portrayal of the Hooded Justice to get to the center of the child killer case, but the plot remains extraneous precisely because it's contrary to the group's original conception.

Dramatizing the Minutemen's pointless clashes with gimmick villains while the team collapses under its own weight could be considered a creatively dubious mission. Having the detailed flashbacks and flashforwards inside the Watchmen narrative while building to the climax around the Comedian's assault might be on par with the various re-visitations of the typical superheroes' origins, but DC was adamant that their "Before Watchmen" prequels amounted to more than that.

The resulting story has the requisite density, a high level of craftsmanship and a definite love for the original, but it fails to make a case for its existence, outside the commercial concerns. "Watchmen" was a success on the plot level, but it's applauded for its style and the ground breaking ideas it brought to the superhero genre it was deconstructing. Returning to the story after more than 25 years, and concentrating on tying up minor concerns from it's back-up strip is hardly the ideal vessel for producing major work in the medium.

In Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' hands, the story of a serial killer hunting superheroes quickly transformed itself into a major reexamination of the long dormant medium, while Darwyn Cookes' narrative involving a child killer inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's children songs never transcends the tie-in format. In his homage to the original, the writer/artist has produced a capable tale, one that reads better than the genre's average, but basically amounts to fan service, giving the reader a continued look at the interesting situations teased in the Moore and Gibbons' back-ups.

There is a clear attempt to provide a working thematic framework and believable characterization, but the writer/artist's work ultimately puts the minor "Watchmen" plot concerns before the people who have created it. And while there would certainly have been a poorer "Minutemen" spin-off without Cooke's involvement, it speaks ill of the whole "Before Watchmen" initiative, when even the creator of his caliber isn't able to provide a potent enough reason for its existence.

Vampirella Lives #1-3

In 1996, Harris comics, then-current owner of the Vampirella licence, commissioned another in a series of mini-series starring the former Warren publishing phenomenon. The publisher was apparently happy to continue working with Amanda Conner, who had become a go to artist for all things Vampirella, sporting a very appealing cartoonish style, that nevertheless succeeded in capturing the darker edge of the property. At that point, she had already collaborated with the up and comer writer Warren Ellis on a short story that ultimately served as a prelude to their "Vampirella Lives" mini-series.

And while Ellis went on to write a couple of other, crossover-related Vampirella stories, it was the three-parter that served as the central attraction of Dynamite's 2010 "Vampirella Masters" series. The property's current owner was wise to market the story on his name (even if it's no excuse for leaving Conner out of the title), as it certainly helps orient the uninitiated reader to an entertaining piece of entertainment starring the character.

In recent years, Vampirella has proved a hard character to update, but what this series proves is that she can work just as well the mainstream publishers' darker titles, if given proper attention. This is not to say that the mini-series is a completely stand alone entry, as it follows up directly from the previous work with the property, but the creative team try their best to limit the number of references and stick to the premise as established in the opening pages.

Following her defeat at the hands of a villainess, and her brief sojourn in the afterlife, Vampirella returns to Earth with a new purpose and outlook on life. In order to ground the story in a semblance of reality, and provide a reader identification figure, the creative team offers Sam Feaveryear, a paranormal investigator of Whitechapel, a US town with a dark secret of its own. The veteran detective serves as Vampirella's guide to her new surroundings, but Ellis and Conner never let his quirks detract from the fact that this is Vampirella's story.

The title character, on the other hand, is far too caught up in the mythological struggles of her own kind to serve as a typical relatable protagonist, but her larger than life persona still serves to effect sympathy from the reader. This is no mean feat when it comes to a property that is defined by her sexuality, sporting a sensuous costume and body language designed to constantly provoke the audience. The mini-series certainly doesn't go as far as subverting the title's main appeal, with Conner continually depicting the voluptulous anti-heroine in a way that emphasizes her physicality, even in scenes where she's overcome with heartbreak and tragedy.

This kind of artificiality has become so traditional with American superhero comics, that it's hard to single out the Warren original as being at fault. The character was always marketed as a seductress and her sexuality is a much firmer part of her appeal than her always shifting origin story. The creators accept this and proceed to make a dark and sexual story of their own, which is the primary draw of the mini-series. Simply put, no matter the excess, and the obscure mid 1990s continuity, Warren Ellis and Amanda Conner make sure that the story is first and foremost.

Their three issues are nothing like the badly paced, aggressive juvenalia that characterized so much of the 1990s superhero output, switching from one subplot to another and generally forming a very unsatisfying whole. "Vampirella Lives" is instead a revenge story, a story of a town beset by vampires, which largely succeeds on the strength of its central mechanism. Ellis and Conner set up a lot of the story in an expertly paced manner and continue to entertain until resolving all of the plot threads in the explosive finish.

Their story is a testament to the best of the genre comics, a complicated narrative which fulfills all of its many requirements, while remaining thoroughly fair to the reader. Ellis doesn't begrudge his audience for their aesthetic choices, he doesn't talk down to them, instead offering a smart and very functional collage that is neither too campy, nor too scary to be actively repulsing. Conner likewise understands that she is illustrating a horror thriller, one that continually fetishizes its protagonist, but she is at least as concerned with panel layouts, clarity of storytelling, and keeping a sense of humor about the whole thing.

These are comics featuring a vampire resurrection, psychokinetic assassins, and above all, a town called Whitechapel. Yet, the storytelling is so strong that it manages to be much more than a sum of its parts, and ultimately ends up making a real story. The protagonist's return is contrasted with her brethern trying to bring another of their own kind back to life, while Vampirella's selfless actions are continually compared to that of Nyx, her self-serving nemesis. This kind of thematic resonance is typically instinctive in the material of this kind, but it is anything but accidental when it comes to Ellis and Conner.

Both of them were at an early stage of their careers when they collaborated on Vampirella, but they still demonstrate a high level of craft in every aspect of the book's production. Ellis' dialogue is highly idiosyncratic and functional, the characters finely chosen genre archetypes serving to accentuate every part of the protagonist's unique nature. Conner  visualizes them in her own animated style, placing them in a seedy, cynical world which she makes sensual and inviting.

Despite both creators' subsequent ventures in the world of mainstream publishing, their early collaboration still remains one of their most potent genre offerings, avoiding the headier concerns of their more ambitious material to provide what Dynamite has rightly recognized as highly commercial material selling on the strength of its creator(s).

Best of Comics in 2012

When it comes to new releases, 2012 was a year where I had access primarily to mainstream American publications. The bulk of my reading consisted of older material, which I found of much higher inherent value than the current works I came in contact with. That said, these are some of my 2012 reading highlights, broadly categorized with my comments underneath the images.

Best Event Series 

I felt that "Everything Burns", Marvel's crossover between "The Mighty Thor" and "Journey into Mystery" managed to tell a reasonably entertaining story that also served to wrap up the current incarnations of the two Thor-related titles in a satisfactory way. The Kieron Gillen/Matt Fraction nevertheless chose Loki as their focal point, and used the series to finally explain the supposed paternal relationship between Loki and Hela. The Asgard/Vanir war looked delightful in the chapters illustrated by Alan Davis, but suffered when paired with the imcompatible work of Carmine di Giandomenico.

Best Storyline

"The Court of Owls" debuted as the most dynamic of DC's "New 52" opening storylines, featuring a well done Batman mystery that managed to slowly build a very ominous mood, threatening to undermine the underpinnings of the company's most marketable character. Following up on the episodic nature of his previous "Detective Comics" run, writer Scott Snyder proceeded with a much more concentrated narrative, that was illustrated in a remarkably fitting caricatural world of Greg Capullo. Unfortunately, the arc was continued with a mini-event in "the Night of the Owls", and ended up setting up a new villain, whose inclusion swiftly overshadowed the events leading up to it.

Best Ongoing Title:

I felt that Image's "Prophet" best fulfilled the role of an ongoing series where each issue was both a dense, self-contained read, as well as part of the greater whole that worked to update Rob Liefeld's character in a way that made him truly relevant to the medium. What was once a clone of Cable, modified to enable the writer/artist to continue with the character he created after he left Marvel, became a much different title in the hands of Brandon Graham and a cadre of artists sympathetic to his art style. Starting with Simon Roy, Brandon Graham continued to write scripts for Farel Dalrymple, Giannis Milogiannis, as well as illustrating his own stories, all informed by a truly idiosyncratic aesthetic. Bringing to bear influences ranging from "2000 AD" and "Heavy Metal", Graham has found a way to tell his own stories using the long dormant 90-ies property, presenting a title that is continually challenging and entertaining.

Best Album

Dark Horse's reissue of the latest "Blacksad" entry counts as perhaps the most visible reprint of a Francophone mainstream  publication. Abandoning the more political themes of the series' previous two entries, "Silent Hell" features the return to the traditional noir of the title's debut. This time, the anthropomorphic characters play out their crime drama on the streets of mid-century New Orleans. Once again, Juanjo Guarnido's gorgeous artwork presents the absolute highlight, but Juan Diaz Canales' still gets to write an interesting story, that stays true to the characters, allowing the Americana elements to slip in the background as the book's heart continues to center on sociopolitical issues.

Best Mini-Series

In deciding to publish James Stokoe's proposed "Godzilla" series, IDW has given the independent sensation his first high profile release. The "Orc Stain" creator charts the story across the decades of the kaijo movies continuity, grounding the story in the relationship between a soldier, who gets to know the monster through decades of rampages. The story's primary appeal lies with the visuals, which are both impressively detailed and highly personalized takes on the original Toho property. That the writer/artist (who for the most part also colors the work) still serves a solid story, which forgoes the fan service for a respectful and entertaining narrative that stands on its own, serves to round out the project as a rare licensed comic that truly stands out as an artistic achievement.

Best Webcomic

2012 was the year Koren Shadmi turned to Kickstarter to fund the second part of his webcomic. Having secured the financial support, the writer/artist continued with his Sartre-inspired story, once again pairing flawless cartooning with a curious, very accessible story. Hopefully, "Abaddon" will soon continue to grow his audience once it's finished and finally collected, but until then, it remains of the most interesting free sequential offerings on the Web.

Best Single Issue

Last year's Angouleme Festival saw Boulet try another 24 hour comic experiment. The result was "Darkness", a complete and endearing story, every bit as potent and well realized as a typical indy comic. The French cartoonist's highly subjective and charming narrative regarding his roommate's romantic persona was a definitive highlight when it comes to successful stories told in short form. Hopefully, we'll hear more from the artist born Gilles Roussel in the years to come, whether it comes to work in short form, or longer stories.

Best Graphic Novel

After taking 2011 off to complete his work on "the Score", Darwyn Cooke and IDW prepared the new Parker adaptation for the San Diego Comic-con debut. Designed as a heist story on a grand scale, the book shows a writer/artist's consolidating all of his talents in service to storytelling. The reader is entertained with a complicated story told in the clear and playful manner, assured at all times that he is in the hands of a veteran visual stylist. Cooke is literally doing the work of his career on these adaptations, in the process bringing Westlake's writing to a whole new audience, and "the Score" might just end up being the best of the series.

Best Colorist

As part of their "Marvel NOW!" initiative, the publisher has formally acknowledged the quality of Dean White's work. By reuniting the "Uncanny X-Force" colorist with the series' original artist Jerone Opena on "the Avengers", the company has fully embraced the layered painted style which has brought consistency to the former title, even when it was pencilled by artists as diverse as Billy Tan and Greg Tocchini. White currently enjoys the profile previously held by Richard Isanove, and it will be very interesting to see how he continues to improve his craft and his profile in the medium. 

Best Inker

Tom Palmer has enjoyed a long career as inker and embellisher, working on titles such as "the Avengers", and providing visual continuity between genre greats such as John Buscema and John Byrne. His continued efforts in helping Mark Millar and John Romita jr. round out the most potent version of the "Kick Ass" franchise (along with the "Hit-Girl" spin-off) serve as yet another reminder of the importance an inker can make to the final product. Credited with both finishes and ink washes, at this stage in their collaboration, Palmer is just as responsible for the final look of Romita jr's art, as was Klaus Janson, who has inked so much of the artist's output.

Best Writer

Finishing "The Boys" for Dynamite and starting the critically acclaimed "Fury MAX" series for Marvel, Garth Ennis has been having a very strong year in writing genre comics. The writer has firmly stuck with his interests, and has continued to hone his own unique creative voice, while staying away from typical opportunities provided for his peers. And while his brief run on the "Shadow" may count as the closest he gets to a typical work for hire assignment, he has continued to write passionate, well realized scripts, that make use of his gifts for characterization and dialogue. "Fury" is yet another example of the unique blend of highly personalized, historical fiction inspired genre work from Ennis, who has still to announce his new next long form creator owned project.

Best Artist

In the year in which he has reworked "Building stories" from an interesting side project to a full blown major work, Chris Ware has once again come to the forefront of the medium that has long hailed him as one of its premiere innovators. In the years since coming into his artistic prime, the writer/artist has even seen such important figures as Daniel Clowes and Seth producing work following the same storytelling techniques, and it's tempting to say that at this point Ware works in a league of his own. In any event, the Pantheon published box of comic and artistic objects presents the creator continuing to work out his themes and obsessions in an even more ambitious form, bridging the gap between comics and fine art in a way that is both widely successful and completely personal.

Marvel mini-events: EVERYTHING BURNS #6, MINIMUM CARNAGE #3

MIGHTY THOR #21

"Everything Burns" comes to a conclusion with Loki and Thor outwitting Surtur and halting his nihilistic plan. After meticulously weaving their summer crossover, the co-writers try to ambitiously wrap it up, settling for an ending akin to a typical coda for a "Journey to Mystery" story. The crossover certainly needed a wider and grander exit, but there is still a chance that the upcoming last issues of both Thor and Loki's titles will be able to smoothen the anti-climax.

The co-writers are certainly to be lauded for having Wilson and his Engels play a role in the Muspelheim gambit. Since coming to the fore, Surtur has largely overshadowed the other parts of the conflict, thus it makes sense that one of his allies would end up being key in his downfall. Unfortunately, the underrepresented Vanir receive no such coda, being relegating to the thematic resolution between Odin and "Frigga".

The focus on Surtur comes as no surprise given the threat he represents. Since Walt Simonson reintroduced the character as a major foe for the first third of his run, the publisher has been in a unique situation. The writer/artist had produced a  villain on the scale of Galactus, at the same time forcing Marvel into the same situation regarding the cosmic level threat. His rare appearances in the following decades attest to the fact that it's hard to find a story that justifies the scope involving the ultimate nihilist, with each defeat doing away with a bit of credibility when it comes to the threat he poses for the Nine Worlds.

Having the character use the phrase "I am your doom" twice in the space of two pages (no matter the emphasis) almost relegates him to a cartoon villain. Confining him to Muspelheim's caves and attacking the Asgardian armies with Twilight sword does little but establish him as a fire giant. His defeat is a foregone conclusion, and the heroes seem more concerned with where they will store the energy released in his fall.

Without the only visible losses once again relegated to a rare panel depicting the battles in the other realms, the co-writers have effectively put all their strengths into the trickery involved with bringing victory to Asgardia. Alan Davis certainly tries his best to make the scenes suitably epic, but the lack of proper dramatization relegates all his efforts to a reading of the script visualized in his style. The bizarre visual of Twilight's shadow grafted onto Mjolnir is a poor substitute for a heroic conclusion.

The trickery that the protagonists resort to amounts to a couple of overly verbose scenes tackling the mechanisms of Surtur's plot that have barely been mentioned since the story began. A crucial conversation between Loki and Wilson draws on the previous "Journey to Mystery" and quickly dissolves into endless exposition regarding the internal logic that seems primarily of interest to Gillen and Fraction. It doesn't help that Davis has trouble adjusting to Richard Elson's design of Wilson, with the scene saved primarily by the veteran artist's command of body language.

The co-writers make an effort to have Thor devise the final part of the plan, resulting in a scene that determines Odin's role following the crossover. The stylized dialogue is to blame for robbing the sequence of its proper impact, but even this is overshadowed by the increasingly experimental conclusion. Three whole pages are devoted to nothing more than a gag setting up the epilogue with a few irreverent lines and no art.

What follows basically sets up Loki's last adventure in the next issue of "Journey to Mystery", and feels largely extraneous to the wider crossover. Having Hellstorm, an unlikely supporting character in Gillen's run on the title announce that Thor's half-brother still has a one final crisis to, while hinting at the character's true nature has little bearing on the immediate aftermath of the mini-event. A true reunion with Volstagg and the rest of Asgardians would have provided for a more natural ending to the crossover.

As it stands, Marvel will likely be collecting the final issues of both "the Mighty Thor" and this iteration of "Journey to Mystery" along with the bulk of the mini-event, explaining the somewhat truncated ending of the crossover proper. Hopefully, Gillen will find space for more scenes involving Leah, as her interactions with Loki have been a highlight of this issue, possessing a human quality lacking in the interactions between the rest of the cast.

VENOM #26

What started out as a tedious mini-event has, after the largely entertaining sophomore issue, turned once more in the direction of randomness and irrelevance. At this point, the story seems scattered, with the primary players scattered around Microverse, a fantasy locale wholly unprepared for the symbiotic horrors.

The story tries to reassert Carnage as the chaotic murderer who does away with his Microverse hosts, with Bunn content to dismiss with the characters before the reader is has gotten accustomed to their strange character designs. Shalvey, the regular artist of "Venom" proves particularly adept at illustrating Kasady, whose elongated body is constantly boiling with madness. The writer/artist seems somewhat less convincing when called to illustrate fight scenes featuring Micronauts (calling themselves "Enigma Force", as per the recent Hulk mini-series), leading to dense pages with unclear layouts.

Both Venom and Scarlet Spider narrate their own scenes, with Venom's creative team being a chief factor in individualizing this chapter of "Minimum Carnage". The writer instills more of a challenge in Flash's scenes, given that symbiotes seem to be harmful to Microverse, but even than the conflict seems obligatory. Having Bunn make the protagonists comment on the arbitrary nature of their predicament has the opposite of the intended effect, and brings to the fore the main problems with the crossover.

Why are these characters interacting with Microverse? The story tries to link the alien nature of their symbiotes to the science fiction world they found themselves in, but the remits of the crossover preclude the creator's ability to do the requisite world building. In theory, placing Carnage in Microverse means that the character can do much more damage when compared to the confines of Marvel's New York centric universe, but so far the mini-event hasn't really been able to exploit this.

The chief source of intrigue in the story so far stems from the role of the ambiguous Redeemer, who instills a dose of mystery regarding his identity and the role in the wider story. To arrive to the middle point of the crossover and still be largely kept in the dark regarding the stakes and importance of the story beyond the need to get the Spider-Man supporting characters together and have them exit the dimension is very curious. On one hand, Marvel seems willing to slowly reintroduce the Micronauts characters to their broader audience, but "Minimum Carnage" is surely the wrong place for it (not to mention that a ongoing "Enigma Force" title could hardly be expected to succeed in the current market).

Frankenstein, agent of the SHADE #13 - Rotworld "Secrets of the dead"

FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #13

Unexpectedly, DC has decided to tie "Frankenstein" into the "Animal Man" and "Swamp Thing" crossover. Having the Frankenstein story appear with the Rotworld banner may be one of the last promotions regarding the book that's steadily approaching cancellation levels. The creative justification for the tie-in lies with Jeff Lemire's last issue on the title.

Building up on Frank's previous meeting with Animal Man makes the crossover slightly less abrupt, with Matt Kindt never forgetting to include a threat specific to the protagonist. Remaking Victor Frankenstein as an agent of the Rot is a compromise that the writer slows down the story to explain, but it stands to present a puzzle to future readers who encounter the material divorced of the context of the Animal Man/Swamp Thing crossover. Unfortunately, in order to line up with the crossover, Kindt puts the book in a nebulous place when it comes to the chronology, making it unclear when in takes place in regards to the other two titles.

The book continues with the larger than life pulp moments regarding the title character, who is both carried by condors to his destination, and eventually gets to ride around the devastated Metropolis on a horse. There is little spontaneity involved, as all of the animal emissaries of the Red talk, guiding Frank towards the threat. At the same time, the writer posits that the character's undead nature makes him invulnerable to the Rot, which gives him an interesting role in the crossover.

In a way, Frankenstein fills in for Animal Man, who is away due to the events of "Rotworld - Prologue". Ultimately, Frank's special nature largely makes the fight scenes redundant, and it is only when Velcoro shows up that the book regains a degree of suspense. In a lengthy dialogue, the character describes the exact role Frank is to play in the crossover, hinting that the book will take on a quest-like structure for the duration of the tie-in.

Ultimately, the writer adds another wrinkle in the character's ever evolving relationship with S.H.A.D.E. - the organization that never quite gelled into a functional version of Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. At this point, it's quite clear that Frank's association with the agency is not liable to continue for much longer, as the company has already announced the departure of artist Alberto Ponticelli. His inker since the aforementioned Animal Man tie-in issue, Wayne Faucher, has been credited with some of this issue's interior art.

Ultimately, the book has never really managed to recreate the over the top madness of Grant Morrison/Doug Mahke's initial "Seven Soldiers" mini-series. It remains to be seen whether DC's latest effort in trying to attract the "Animal Man" and "Swamp Thing" readers will pay off, and at least prolong the title's shelf life.

Comic reviews for Wednesday, October the 10th

BATMAN #13

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo debut the opening chapter of "the Death of the Family" crossover. The main story is set to run in "Batman", while spin-off titles tie-in, and for the moment, the creators deliver what they've promised. There is an ominous feeling to the episode from the start, building to the start of Joker's depraved revenge. With the character single-handedly executing his plan, the story maintains an atmosphere of the slasher horror movie, albeit one drenched in Batman mythos.

Snyder never forgets that he's writing a Batman story, structured as the traditional chase the villain ends the dark knight detective on. It's also just as much a Joker story, calling back to the character's numerous previous misdeeds, albeit with a ring of finality to it. Batman's nemesis launches his campaign of terror so aggressively, so relentlessly, that "the Death of the Family" seems poised to leave lasting ramifications to the title.

Capullo is likewise in full form here, making sure the reader sees every important detail of the grim proceedings, while drenching the story in unbearable paranoia. The artist keeps the Joker's character design a secret until the cliffhanger (which goes to explain his frustration when the posting of an upcoming cover spoiled the reveal on the Internet), but the character is still present throughout the issue. In contrast, the artist continually shows Batman under heavy light, caped and broad-shouldered, but woefully ineffective. Bruce is continually two steps behind his enemy, and it seems like he can barely follow the trail.

The story climaxes with Joker crossing the line and attacking a key Batman figure, revealing the extent of his knowledge of Bruce's operation. The rationale behind his enemy's current plan of attack works to establish the tie-in for the rest of the Batman line, but it remains to be seen how much it factors into the Snyder and Capullo's main story.

This is not to say that the start of the creator's second year of Batman stories is flawless, as the police station sequence and the later television broadcast announcing the villain's plan to the Gothamites exhibit some confusion in layouts leading to the lack of effectiveness. The fight in the factory that closes the issue is likewise so dense with details that it lacks a seamless storytelling flow (including an unfortunate prop that will momentarily take the reader out of the story), but in general the issue portrays both creators in a very strong light.

Snyder utilizes a lot of dialogue in these plot-oriented 24 pages, working in concert with Capullo's quirky, caricatural visuals to create a rare story that lives up to the hype surrounding it. The back-up reunites Snyder with Jock, the illustrator of his previous run on "Detective Comics". The painted pages are likewise disturbing, with the co-writer James Tynion IV elaborating on the plot point previous to Batman's arrival to the factory.

The story is no more than a vignette featuring Harley and the Joker, elaborating on their sick relationship in regards to a particular plot point. Tynion IV quickly achieves an atmosphere of abject dread, but his is a thankless task giving that the reader is already aware how the scene ends. In a way, the co-writer is being asked to shock the reader into a few moments forgetfulness, before the story returns to the relatively comforting reality of what the reader just saw in the final Snyder/Capullo pages.

Jock's work is traditionally angular and moody, but realized in the limited palette of reds and blues, except for the shock of Joker's hair.The close-ups on Joker's mouth are likewise effective, keeping the reader unaware of the character's position in regards to Harley. It goes without saying that the two character's share a very one sided abusive relationship, which excuses some of the violence on the part of creators, who thankfully restrain from depicting the full extent of implied depravity.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #18

The finale of "New World Orders" follows the pattern when it comes to this arc, being the end of the plot-based exercise that had little to show for it. The Bunn-scripted issue covers the three fronts of Captain America and SHIELD's battle against Codename Bravo and the Hydra, with a real sense that the heroes are over-matched. Yet, once the protagonists make their way to the enemy commanders, they prove relatively easy to beat.

It's doubtful that Brubaker would have realized his plot in much the same way had he written the arc on his own, but as it stands, the villains who have tormented Cap since this iteration of the title launched prove little more than braggarts, who have managed to brainwash the American public to their side. The issue continues last issue's Baron Zemo/Agent 13 fight in a decent way, but the co-writer's addition of Dum Dum Dugan's work behind the scenes ultimately ends the satellite in a way that is a little too easy and convenient.

In turn, this makes Falcon and Diamondback's efforts superfluous, but the co-writers choose to utilize their short scenes to show the effect of enemy manipulation on the common man and set up a new dynamic between the characters. The heavy handed real world relevance issue ultimately proves like little more than an afterthought, and gets little more than a mention in Cap's fight against Bravo and Queen Hydra. The duel is remarkably short and efficient, but is notable largely because of its finality and the way Marvel chooses to present it.

Throughout the issue, Eaton underplays the more brutal elements of the script and sticks to a superhero aesthetic that de-emphasizes the violence. The reader is not made privy to the body-count behind the fake Discordian invasion, with the dialogue carefully explaining that despite the appearance, the fights against Zemo and Bravo carried no fatalities. Scott Eaton's work is therefore allowed to maintain a darker edge, while still working in the artist's exaggerated superhero style.

Unfortunately, the careful framing only accentuates the feeling that "New World Orders" shows the creators at their most restrained, presenting a story that tries to provide an epic sendoff to the plots and themes of this volume of "Captain America", but only succeeding in the former. The co-writers try to use the character's out of costume appearance to provide for some measure of closure, but the lessons learned feel broad and obvious. The writers are ultimately use the sequence to spell out their intentions and clue the reader in on the eventual fate of the principal players.

The story concludes on a genre standard vignette aiming to provide some ambiguity to the heroes' victory, but a long-time reader will likely be more interested in the one page teaser for the next month's story. With #19, Ed Brubaker concludes his run on the title, with the relaunch already solicited as a part of the Marvel NOW! initiative. Reunited with Steve Epting, the primary artist of his original "Captain America" stories, Brubaker will no doubt leave provide a poignant coda for the title that never really gained a foothold in this latest iteration.

SCARLET SPIDER #10

Interestingly, the second part of the arbitrary "Minimum Carnage" crossover provides for a pleasant diversion. Chris Yost, the regular writer of "Scarlet Spider" scripts the issue himself (with special thanks to "Venom" writer Cullen Bunn), and the mini-event feels slightly more organic.

This is not to say that the "Minimum Carnage" is now free of the exposition that weighted heavily on its first part, but that it builds up some rhythm when its two leads finally start interacting. The repentant, yet still aggressive Kaine has little time for Agent Venom, following Carnage's disappearance, but at least for a short while it feels that the writer will forgo the cliche of having the two protagonists fight as soon as they meet.

Yet, utilizing Venom's symbiotic nature, Yost still gets to include the fight a mere few pages later, providing for the issue's major fight sequence. Flash losing control of the symbiote seems to be unconnected to Bunn's plot of demonic possession and seemingly operates in disregard to the set-up as presented in the character's own book. Pham and Brown illustrate the sequence in a clear and energetic way, providing a lot of the flair missing from the story's initial "Alpha" issue.

The Microverse sequences substitute the slaughter from the beginning of the story with the fantasy sequences, teasing the role of an evil mastermind that is profiting from Carange's actions. The hooded figure could well turn out to be an analogue for the "Micronauts" arch-villain Baron Karza, but so far he appears only in hologram.

Meanwhile, the story's two discuss crossing over into the microscopic world, with Yost doing his best to discern between two anti-heroes. Scarlet Spider reluctantly follows Agent Venom's lead, with both ultimately defining themselves after Spider-Man. Following the requisite comic book super science, the two are once again separated. Pham and Brown don't invest a lot in the backgrounds of these Microverse sequences, but the colors help make the setting distinctive.

The microscopic world has a truly alien feeling, especially when compared to the drabness of the ruined space center where the most of the issue takes place. When Micronauts finally show up, they feel entirely of the place in what has become Venom and Scarlet Spider's space opera adventure. The reader is not expected to be aware of the company's struggle to keep the characters created while they held the licence to the property, with the freedom fighters instantly recalling the better known "Masters of the Universe", or even "Star Wars" characters.

The issue ends with Yost going so far to explicitly mention the "Star Wars" connection, right before Scarlet Spider is subjected to the monster that would not feel out of place in George Lucas' movies. Keeping Carnage out of the spotlight has definitely helped the story settle in a pulpy, adventure story direction, but there is still no indication that the crossover will ultimately cohere into a satisfying whole. For the moment, "Minimum Carnage" appears to be a little more than an unlikely, but inoffensive outing for its well defined leads, playing out in a completely different fashion than the 1990s crossover that inspired it.

WALKING DEAD SPECIAL: MICHONNE

To tie-in with this Sunday's premiere of Season Three of "the Walking Dead" TV-series, Image and Skybound present a Special issue of the comic book that inspired it. The "Walking Dead Special: Michonne" is meant to reintroduce the character whom the TV audience briefly saw in the final episode of the last season, a katana wielding lawyer who has long since become a permanent fixture of the comic book.

Two days before the Season Two finale, the March issue of "Playboy" published a short presenting the character's origin story. The six page Kirkman/Adlard collaboration wasn't reprinted in "Walking Dead" #100, and it's only now that Image has decided to present it, along with the character's original appearance. "Walking Dead Special: Michonne" thus combines the "Playboy" short along with "Walking Dead" #19, and offers no new material except for the Charlie Adlard cover.

The 6-page "Michonne's story" basically presents the first days of zombie apocalypse from the titular character's point of view, without offering any new information. There is very little dialogue in the story itself, as Kirkman prefers to narrate the events using caption boxes. Reading Michonne's recollections largely dispenses with the excitement reserved for the series, as the character obviously survives to join the book's cast at a later date.

The main series has long abandoned the initial shock of the zombie invasion, thus seeing the creators revisit the "Days gone bye" setting has some novelty. In the end, the short, no matter how well put together proves no more than a promotional item. As for the longer story that follows it, it takes place relatively early in the series run, and mostly presents an extended fight scene. There is some initial confusion regarding the setting, and the characters opposing Rick, but it ultimately boils down to a decent episode of a longer serial.

Rick and his group are vying for control of the prison with the group that previously held it, with the new player using the ensuing confusion involving a zombie attack to join in with the cast. And while #19 is ultimately Rick's story, showing one of the first steps in the character's gradual loss of humanity, Michonne is given enough space to showcase her use to the group. Basically, she is a genre character initially divorced from the every day problems of the group.

Kirkman and Adlard choose to portray her value primarily in terms of her fighting prowess and the appeal a beautiful woman wholly capable of fending for herself has to the audience. The character has since enjoyed a couple of relationships, but is still largely defined by her ferocity, which is somewhat softened with the "Playboy" short. Michonne is still a long way from a rounded character (that role has gone to Andrea, who also appears in #19), but the Special does enough to make her stand out.

Beyond the return to earlier storytelling modes, "Michonne" also offers a look into the evolution of Charlie Adlard's artwork. Reading the two stories back to back, it's apparent how the artist has changed the way he approaches the series. For a start, Adlard now chooses much thicker inking lines and seems to rely more on Rathburn's gray tones. The artist was stylistically mature when he inherited the book from Tony Moore, but he seems much more assure in these newer pages.

There is a more natural flow to the pages of material that premiered in "Playboy", as well as a tighter grasp on the figures. It remains to see how the artist's style will further evolve, but for the moment both him and Kirkman are overshadowed by their popular character. Even if this tie-in Special doesn't work to increase the readership of the series, it works to increase the awareness of the connection between the TV-series and the comic book that inspired it, which is more than enough, given the latter's success.