Heroes Jargon
by Bob Butman
illustration by James Corwin
Well, Fall is here (I know, what an enlightening start) but as everyone knows that when fall is here, so are all the latest cartoons! HAPPY, HAPPY! That’s right, pretty soon I’ll be able to veg in front of the tube three times as long as last year. Joining the print in the T.V. guide with the X-men is Ben Edlund’s The Tick and Jim Lee’s WildCats, I can barely wait. Oh well, on to the stuff you actually gotta read.
Surprising me once again is Darkhorse. For years, I usually associated Darkhorse with just Aliens and Predator comics but I don’t think that I’ll be making that mistake again. With the latest issues of Badger on the shelf, fans have got to be happy with their psychotic hero’s return.
The Titan Special also shows us that Darkhorse is serious about its World’s Greatest Comics line — a good thing, since Aliens Earth Angel by John Byrne is completely disappointing. Unlike the above mentioned, this book reads like a really low budget horror movie that puts you right to sleep, and if that’s not unfortunate enough, than take a look at the $2.95 cover price.
Image continues to keep me walking along the old fence, unable to fall one way or the other. First the good side. (Ha Ha Ha!) No, just kidding, there actually is a good side. DeathBlow is a character that I’ve neglected to mention for a while. The fact that it was being put out so infrequently and sharing space with Cybernary made it hard to mention. I mean, how much can you say about an 8 page storyline. Well, as you probably know, now he’s got his own book and it’s about time. He starts out as a real bad ass merc doing fairly realistic merc stuff with cool art and a great story but I should’ve known that that couldn’t last. Now we have our hero running around the world with a kung-fu Nun, protecting a small black child (supposedly the next messiah) from Satan who was recently released from purgatory.
Wait, if that’s not enough, the real reason he’s helping Jesus 2099 and sister Death is that he hopes that he’ll be forgiven by the Church (Ha! Now there’s a good one) and be allowed to drink from the Holy Grail, so as to cure the cancerous tumor lodged in his brain (I think most of the Image Bullpen should seek out the Grail). All that was actually the good part, the bad part is that it kinda grows on you .
Hellshock, by Jae Lee, joins the commercial ranks of Image and finally adds a touch of the darkside. This dark style of comic is refreshing to see at Image and will hopefully inspire others. Here comes the negative! The bad boys of comics have truly become the biggest sell outs in the comic world! They’ve become so cocky that they give themselves a full page ad on their appearance schedules. What are they now, rock stars on tour?! Give me a break! I think they should concern themselves a little more with the fact that it took WETWORKS two years to come out. Also, have you noticed that the Image titles seem to have an overabundance of ads? For instance, Spawn #22 had 22 pages of story, 14 pages of ads, and 4 pages of fan art and letters. To me, that’s not a very good ratio. Oh well, maybe from now on I’ll just go buy some Spawn toys and watch WildCats on Saturday mornings. At least I’ll know when it’s on.
Marvel takes an interesting step towards Vertigo with Alice Cooper The Last Temptation. Recruiting Mr. Vertigo himself, Neil Gaiman (of Sandman fame), gives Marvel a weak rendition of the popular comic darkness that has become his trademark. This three issue limited series is lined with a creepy gothic look by Michael Zulli and is relatively enjoyable except for the fact that it costs $4.95. I’m not sure what the world is coming to, (artist want to go on tour and rock stars want to be in comics) so what’s next? Rob Leifield – The Movie?
CLANDESTINE hatches a start in the mighty Marvel universe with its very own #1 written and drawn by Alan Davis. This gold covered gem seems to have an unlimited amount of potential for an on going series, and hopefully it will be used to its fullest. So watch for it.
Punisher/Batman takes us to the second phase in the battle of everyone’s favorite vigilantes. The Punisher finds himself back in Gotham in search of his arch nemesis, Jigsaw, who is now all chummy with you-know-who; that’s right Batman’s evil counterpart, the Joker. So now we know how the story ties together and it’s evident without even reading it what happens. They don’t like each other but they respect each other. They’re enemies that team up to get the job done and when it’s over, they go back to hating each other. All in all, it’s pretty generic, but for $5 you can find out for yourself.
D.C. is starting to show some of the form that made them what they are. Giving true meaning to what a #0 title is all about, D.C. breaks new ground with old and new characters alike. I’ve read just about all the zeros out at this point and surprisingly enough, there’s not a bad one in the bunch. Rebels, Fate, and Xenobrood were a pleasant change of pace and if they follow up these titles with the same quality in on going series, maybe I’ll actually continue to say nice things about them. (You probably think I’m a negative person?)
Showcase 94 is one of the most under rated books on the comic racks today. #10 features the first appearance of Azrael since his failure as the DarkKnight. Nothing violently exciting happens in this issue, but Azrael is far too good of a character to be out of the mainstream for long. So keep your eyes peeled.
Before saying later, there is one more book that I’d like to mention. The Spider Presents by Blazing comics is certainly some of the most impressive stuff I’ve seen from a small company in quite some time. So if you’re wondering what to put on your want list, Blazing comics is it.
Oh yeah, about that negative thing, you’re right. Na Noo, Na Noo!
