Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 5/25

DC Universe: Rebirth #1
Story: Geoff Johns
Art: Gary Frank, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis, Phil Jiminez, Brad Anderson and Jason Wright, Joe Prado, Hi-Fi Colors, Gabe Eltaeb, & Matt Santorelli

Last week, the internet broke in half twice, and I'm here to tell you about the time that filled me with joy and hope. DC Universe: Rebirth begins a new phase in the history of DC Comics, linking the old with the new, and done through one of my favorite characters of all time, Wally West, the pre-Flashpoint version. I'm not even going to try to avoid spoilers here, since everything was spoiled on the internet days before the comic came out. The book is framed around Wally trying to make his way out of the Speed Force, where he has been trapped since the events of Flashpoint. Through Wally's tour of the DC Universe as it stands, we see hints of the existence of the Justice Society and the Legion of Super-Heroes, we see the return of the idea of legacy, as Ted Kord and Jaime Reyes meet, Ryan Choi has to take up a size changing belt to aid Ray Palmer, and Wally himself sees his cousin, the Wally West of the New 52, and feels his own legacy is in good hands. We get a heart breaking scene as Wally reaches out to Linda Park, his true love and anchor, who can not remember him, and a moment of triumph as Barry Allen does. What Wally talks about, as he tries to break through, is that there is a secret threat, one that has not only stolen a decade from the lives of the DC Universe, but has also stolen love and hope. This is some intense meta-commentary about the state of DC Comics, some that has come through more and more of late (the pre-Flashpoint Superman, who has been living in secret for years and who appears here as well, has commented repeatedly in his recent mini-series how much more cynical this new world is then his own), but coming from Johns himself, it's more palpable, as he is the man who wrote Flashpoint, who wrote the flagship title of the New 52, Justice League, and who has been a driving creative force behind DC Comics for over a decade now. And the use of the characters from Watchmen, while something that will/has polarized fans, is to me a very smart move, as it is the real life story that brought that sense of cynicism to comics, for good or ill. I loved this comic more than any event comic I've read in many many years. The idea of hope and legacy coming back to DC Comics is something I've been hoping for, and this is a huge step in that direction. It's got beautiful art, and engaging story, and the return of a character I love. I could not be more excited to see where DC takes their universe next.

Munchkin #17
Story: Sam Sikes & John Kovalic
Art: Mike Lucas and Meg Casey & John Kovalic

I've talked about my love of games before, and while I have enjoyed playing Munchkin, the game where you rob tombs, kill monsters, and stab your buddies in the back, it's not a game that I play a lot. However, the comic that the game has spawned is a delight, It's a simple, fun comic that is funny and each issue features a couple of bizarre and quirky stories. I've always meant to review it, because it's fun, but never got around to it. Until today. As always, this issue features two different stories. The first one, "My Faire Munchkin" has one of the series two major Munchkins at a faire in his medieval world, attempting to win the PRINCESS (not the capitalization) in the tournament. For those of you who don't know the term, in this case munchkin means a player who plays a non-competitive game aggressively, usually to the detriment of those around him or her. Spyke initially gets trounced, and then spends the rest of the story, well, cheating. Munchkin isn't a series that rewards good behavior, but it doesn't reward bad behavior either; Spyke is a lousy little jerk, and when he wins by cheating, well, the princess he meets is not the PRINCESS he anticipated. The story that made me decide to review the issue, though, was the second, "Munchkin Fu Mikado." Written and drawn by Dork Tower creator, and original Munchkin artist, John Kovalic, this story features Spyke meeting up with a monster and fighting him, before they're both tricked out of their swag by Flower, the series other principle Munchkin. Again, pretty simple story, but what made me love this was most of the dialogue is set to the tune of songs from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. There are notes to what song you can YouTube or Spotify to read along with, but I know most of that music, and it totally works. It is singularly ridiculous, and that just completely sells me on this issue. If you want to read a comic that just gives you a laugh, this is a perfect issue.

Secret Six #14
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Tom Derenick & Jason Wright and Rex Lokus

And once again, we reach the end. The second volume of Secret Six reaches its end as the team raids the League of Assassins stronghold to rescue their lost comrade, Strix, from Lady Shiva. As they face down the guards of the League, we get a bit of narrative from each of them. We see the theme that has been central to not just this volume of Secret Six, but the original as well, that of family. It's a violent, bloody, and bizarre family, but a family nonetheless. It's a big, crazy, issue, with all the blood and guts, and all the humor, that is the trademark of Secret Six, but each of these  people, Black Alice, Elongated Man, Catman, Strix, and Porcelain, as well as the Female Furies, as Knockout calls herself and Scandal, Jeanette, Ragdoll, are a mess, and together they have made something akin to a family. Despite them all being killers, and most of them completely mad, you feel not just sympathy, but genuine affection for these characters because they are all so clearly trying to make something better of themselves. I don't use that in the respect of, "They're trying to go straight and become productive members of society." No. They're trying to become something fuller than what they are by becoming something greater together. And it's heartwarming. But there's a character I didn't mention above, and that is the Ventriloquist, and her dummy Ferdie. And that's because not everyone is wired to be like this Secret Six. Having the Ventriloquist be treacherous and selfish not only makes perfect sense for her character, and also fits well with the history of the Six, as they've had their share of traitors, but because family doesn't save everyone. Some people are just too broken. Although you have to wonder, since the part of her that was Ferdie did really and truly want to help the others, if maybe there's some kernel of light in her dark soul. The final pages are just a smile inducing scene of the team enjoying the backyard of Ralph and Sue Dibny (and they're together and happy! Thanks, Gail!), and Strix, who has been lonely and lost since she first escaped the Court of Owls some time ago, now living in a big treehouse in Ralph's back yard, ends the series with this, "I am Strix. I have a weird family. And that is enough," And I think if that was enough for everyone, we'd be in a better place. So that ends the new volume of Secret Six. As far as I know, there are no plans for a return to these characters any time soon, but I can only hope that we'll meet again.

Star Wars #19
Story: Jason Aaron
Art: Lenil Franic Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, & Sunny Gho and Java Tartaglia

"Rebel Jail," the current arc on the Star Wars ongoing, wrapped up this past week, and it ends on a strong note. Leia, Dr. Aphra, and Sana have arrived at the hanger bay, only to find Luke and Han having just arrived and been captured by the armored mystery man who attacked the titular rebel jail, Sunspot Prison. And he's going to blow them up if Leia doesn't kill Aphra, to show to him that she's willing to make what he views as the hard choices. It's a war of ideals, and when the man takes off his helmet, it becomes all the harder. The man in the armor has been Eneb Ray,the Rebel spy from Star Wars Annual #1, so broken by the failure of the assassination of the Emperor that he has become this cold killer. And while things are dicey, Leia is clever enough to find a way to stop him. I love that it's the Princess who saves the men who rescued her at the Death Star this time, but not without Sana and Aphra getting their licks in. Sana and Aphra are the best human characters that have been introduced in the new Star Wars series (I say human because Triple-Zero and BeeTee-One, the evil Threepio and Artoo, are my favorites period), and adding a complicated backstory between them is a nice touch, giving them depth and not depending on their relationship to movie characters to define them. And while Leia walks out of the story with her idealism intact, offering hope and a hand to both Aphra and Ray, the parties hunting the rebels are all the closer, and this seems to be far from the last we've seen of Eneb Ray. I hope to see more of all these characters, and maybe it's time to have a spotlight mini-series for some of these new characters; we've seen plenty for movie characters, but the spotlight on new characters has always been something I've loved in Star Wars fiction. Star Wars often works best when the good guys are on the run and surviving by wits and the skin of their teeth, which is why the period between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back is such a fertile ground for stories, and it looks like the classic characters are in for it as tis series continues.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 3/23

Batman #50
Story: Scott Snyder
Art: Greg Capullo, Danny Miki, and FCO Plascencia & Yanick Paquette and Nathan Fairbairn

While next issue will be a one off epilogue issue, Batman #50 wraps up most of the threads that Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have been weaving throughout not just the current arc, "Superheavy," but their entire fifty issue run. Bruce Wayne is back as Batman, and he and Jim Gordon team up to stop Mister Bloom and the people he has infected with his seeds. It's a double-sized issue, and deservedly so, because there is a lot going on. Bruce is fighting Bloom while Gordon is heading to the Powers building to shut down the the collider under the building that is generating a "strange star" which will obliterate much of Gotham at least. And if that weren't enough, Duke Thomas has discovered the person responsible for Bloom and is headed to confront him.

The thing that Snyder spends the issue really talking about, when it comes to theme and more than a bit of dialogue, is about Batman as hope and an idea. About how the person behind Bloom wanted to e power the people of Gotham, to allow them to be their own Batman. Bloom continues to spout his usual brand if nihilistic, every man for himself, philosophy. And Jim Gordon, the Batman who should never have been, gets the big speech as he saves the day. He gets in the speech about how the world needs heroes, not super heroes. How Batman is there because he, "fights our nightmares to teach us to fight the real terrors by light of day." It's a big, climactic scene, and while Batman's return inspires the hope that people need to remove their seeds and weaken Bloom, it's great to see Jim, who has always been a hero, get the final win on this one. The epilogue to the issue has Gordon, recovering from grave wounds, thinking about the first time he saw Gotham, and talking to Batman about it, and so it brings the series full circle; issue one had narration about what Gotham was to the people of the city, and it ends the same way.

For his big finale, Capullo pulls out all the stops, drawing legions of Bloom's freaks and different generations of Bat armor. The final big fight, between a giant Bloom and a giant Bat-Mech is a sight to behold, Capullo also debuted a new Batman costume, a slight variation on the classic theme, that is a nice final touch, a little something to remember him by.

With the announcement of the changes in creative teams coming with Rebirth, Batman #50 is a perfect coda to everything that Scott Snyder has had to say about Batman. It talks about hope and people, and while there's plenty to mill over about the nature of heroism and superheroism, there's still a ton of things going boom. This issue finds the right balance between destruction and thought, like the best blockbusters. I'm looking forward to what Snyder has planned for All-Star Batman, but he's got a tough act to follow after this.

Birthright #15
Story: Joshua Williamson
Art: Andrei Bressan & Adriano Lucas

Like all of Joshua Williamson's series, Birthright has a strong mix of character, action, and big surprises that makes it a rewarding read, and this issue, the end of the series' third arc, is a perfect example of this. Two confrontations of very different kind take place in this issue. While Wendy, mother of our leads, and winger-warrior Ryo are trapped in a cage by Mastema, one of the mages barbarian Mikey is hunting, Mikey and Brennan are surrounded by a SWAT team and Agent Kylen, secretly another of the mages. The two scenarios play to all Williamson and Bressan's strengths. The scene with Wendy and Ryo discusses the nature of prophecy, exactly what Mikey's journey was like in the fantasy world of Terrenos, and Wendy coming to terms with what her son now is. A spread over two pages shows Mikey growing up, and it's very cool to see the intermediate steps between the young boy we see in his origin flashbacks and the looming barbarian he is now. And Wendy's journey to truly believing that all this is real has finally reached the place where she's ready to embrace Mikey as her son, which makes me hope for a reunion soon.. Mikey's fight with the SWAT team is short and brutal, and it's in the reactions and expressions of his brother, Brennan, and his father, Aaron, manipulated by Kylen into leading him to Mikey, that really carries the scenes impact. That and the smugly satisfied look on Kylen's face. But that expression leaves when Sameal, the final sorcerer appears, and instead of fighting with Kylen's men, quickly dispatches them. The "spirit smoke" he uses moves across the pages, undulating and terrifying, as the ninja-like Sameal picks off the SWAT team one by one (and boy howdy, if these pages don't say Bressan should do Batman at some point in the future, I don't know what would). I will also admit I did not see the big last page reveal of Sameal's identity coming, and when I saw it, I realized how much sense it makes, and how much it's going to change things for Aaron especially. There's a two month break before arc four begins, so that's plenty of time for everyone out there to get the first two trades, and volume three when it hits, and be caught up when Birthright returns, so what are you waiting for?

The Death-Defying Dr. Mirage: Second Lives #4
Story: Jen Van Meter
Art: Roberto De La Torre, Al Barrionuevo, & David Baron

The second mini-series starring Valiant's supernatural heroes Drs. Shan and Hwen Mirage ends with an exciting ghost battle and some amazing visuals. The showdown with the ghost of evil sorcerer Denis De Walt is on the horizon, and so Hwen, himself a ghost, enters into the magic scroll known as the Vita Secunda to learn what it will take to stop De Walt. The pages with Hwen inside the scroll are stunning, some of Roberto De La Torre's most impressive, reflecting a strange world at first beautiful and then corrupted by the abuse of the primal magic. It's trippy in that classic Ditko Dr. Strange way, and aided by David Baron's colors. The thing that really sets this comic above and beyond and that drives not only the story engine but the readers interest is the wonderful relationship between the living Shan and the ghostly Hwen, and so as the two set their plan in motion to stop De Walt, the palpable sense of dread that Hwen might have to sacrifice himself to win makes the book all the more tense. The final battle is won more through cleverness than brute strength, something Shan excels at, and it's nice to get a comic with a happy ending. That final battle is again really benefited by Baron's colors, both in the way that he makes the ghosts look, each one of the important ones a slightly different color to help easily remind the reader who's who and who's dead. Also, as Hwen and De Walt cast spells at each other, their word balloons stop having words but instead symbols and colors, which I think is a fascinating representation of magic, being more feelings than actual words, and I wonder if that was handled by the artists or the letterer; one way or the other, I hope it's used again when we get another Doctor Mirage tale. The final pages, as Shan starts up the old TV show she and Hwen had before he died with actor Alex standing in for Hwen has a couple teases;  Hwen's expanding powers and the ramifications of Alex's brief possession by De Walt, setting up a third mini-series in the not too distant future. Each Valiant title has a very different feel, and I like that the supernatural adventure and romance of Death-Defying Doctor Mirage makes it a fairly unique series on the racks, and one that I enjoy each time a new issue comes out.

Secret Six #12
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Dale Eaglesham, Tom Derenick, & Jason Wright

I'm putting this review last so you can stop if you're shy about spoilers and don't want to know about the end of this issue. So HERE THERE BE SPOILERS...

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Writing about the new issue is Secret Six is tricky. Not because it is at any point lacking in the usual brand of off kilter friendship as any other issue, or lacks in brutal action. But because at the end of the issue, a reunion between two characters happens, and it made me, a grown man, squeal with joy. There are certain characters in comics that you just love. And for me, among those characters are Ralph and Sue Dibny. I wrote in the review above about how I love the relationship between Shan and Hwen Mirage. That goes triple for Ralph and Sue. They are characters that belong together. Ralph might be a pliable and hilarious detective on his own, and Sue might be a whip-smart globe trotting socialite, but through their fifty plus years in comics, they have been the best couple; they make each other better, like the best couple do in real life. They have inside jokes and tolerate each other's foibles (although most of those foibles are Ralph's). So the end of this issue, when Ralph comes home and finds Sue back, her memory restored, and they embrace? God, my heart grew three sizes. Gail Simone, congratulations on making me smile so hard my face hurt.

Aside from that, the issue also spotlights the thing that makes Secret Six such an interesting comic: no matter the version of it, these characters are a family more than a team. They're all broken in some way, and in many ways completely insane, but they care for each other. Facing down Lady Shiva, a character who has been used sparingly since Flashpoint, it would have been easy to make the issue a wall-to-wall fight, but Strix, who Shiva is seeking, won't let that happen. Because these people are her friends and family, and she won't let them enter a battle that she knows will get them killed. And so we get a sad farewell between the conscious members of the Six and Batgirl for Strix, and then she's off with Shiva. And while Ralph gets his happy reunion, the others think about what to do next. The growth these characters have gone through in twelve issues, from the disparate band of loonies into this family us never clearer. It's great how these characters, who mostly exist just on the verge of doing something monstrous, can also tug at the heart strings. I'm going to miss Secret Six when it bows out soon, but until then, I'm going to enjoy this crazy ride for as long as I can.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 8/19

Batman: Arkham Knight #7
Story: Peter J. Tomasi
Art: Viktor Bogdanovic, Art Thibert, & John Rauch

Tie-in comics are a tricky business, especially when it comes to video games. Video games are an interactive medium, and often these prequels are doing their best to not spoil any of the aspects of the game. The comics that have tied into the Arkham franchise have been mixed: some have been good, many have been passable. This issue has two stories, one the epilogue to the previous Bane story, the other the beginning of a new Suicide Squad story. The second story is fun, with a Squad made up of Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and Killer Croc (all of whom will be in the upcoming movie, by the by) working for the Penguin, keeping the Squad name despite escaping Amanda Waller's leash, to assassinate Bruce Wayne. But it's the first story that impressed me. After an explosion, Batman is found in a dumpster by Archie Freeman, and old man who was scrounging for anything he can to pay off the people who are running a protection racket in his building. Batman, of course, helps him and scares off the thugs. What I liked about the story is how Batman interacts with Archie. Batman can often be portrayed as gruff and not exactly a people person. But Pete Tomasi, who beautifully built the relationship between Batman and Damian in his run on Batman and Robin, writes an empathetic Batman, who listens to Archie talk about his late wife Alice and about Archie's time as an usher at the Monarch Theater (the theater from which Bruce's family was leaving on that fateful night). There's a Batman who wants to connect, who wants to hear more about Gotham before its decline, and who wants to hear more about this man. It's a sweet story, one that reminds us that Batman is about helping people, not just beating on criminals. That's a Batman I like.

Giant Days #6
Story: John Allison
Art: Lissa Treiman & Whitney Cogar

Giant Days is the story of three roommates, Susan, Esther, and Daisy, away at college for the first time, their friendship, and the madcap adventures they get into. It's a fun series, with great characters and whimsical plots, which seems to be what the Boom Box! imprint, which also publishes Matt Signal favorite Lumberjanes, specializes in (It also specializes in suckering me into buying limited series that get expanded into ongoings or maxi-series, but since they're great comics, I try not to grumble too much). This issue takes place over the Christmas holiday, and sees Esther and Daisy called by a desperate Susan to come to her hometown and help her as she's gotten into trouble. Not answering her phone, Esther and Daisy grow more worried about Susan, and begin a wild search, from going through clutches of smokers, a joined record/comics store staffed by twins, one a record store hipster, one a comic book guy just to the good side of the Simpsons line. Discovering that Susan ran afoul of Karen Shaw, a member of the town's rough Shaw clan, Esther and Daisy track down McGraw, a school friend with a complicated past with Susan, and they head to the nightclub the Shaw's own to rescue Susan. The story ends with madness on the dance floor, lock picks, and a confrontation on the roof between Susan and Karen Shaw. This is a great issue if you haven't read Giant Days before, as it spotlights the main characters' personalities, as they're thrown into this adventure. Lissa Treiman's art is wonderful, another artist who falls into a category of artists I love, ones who draw really broad and expressive faces, ones that can tell a story almost without the words. This issue marks the halfway point in the twelve issue series, and so it's a great time to dive in and enjoy.

Princeless- Raven: The Pirate Princess #2
Story: Jeremy Whitley
Art: Rosy Higgins & Ted Brandt

The second issue of the spin-off from the amazing all-ages fairy tale re-imagining Princeless starring Raven the Pirate Princess, hits with even more force than the first issue, which is saying something, as I thought the first issue was great. This issue sees Raven trying to gather herself a crew so she can go and find her traitorous brothers and give them what's coming to them. But before that can happen, we get some more time with characters who I feel are going to be important to the series: Dancer/pickpocket/half-elf Sunshine Alexander, Cookie, the pirate and cook who knew Raven as a young girl, and Jayla, Cookie's bookish daughter. Raven was usually scheming, trying to find a way to get her way, when she was in the main Princeless title, so this is one of the few times we've seen her with her guard down. This little domestic scene, as Cookie prepares breakfast is pleasant, and as Cookie gives Raven the advice she needs to gather a pirate crew, we segue to the bar Cookie now owns, as pirates line up to join the crew. Unfortunately, the male pirates are... I'm not sure of the word for it. Basically, everything they say could come out of the worst depths of non-swear laden internet forums, full of misogyny and arrogance, up to the point where one actually says, "not all men..." It's hilarious and a little depressing at the same time. Things look lost until Katherine "Katie" Kling shows up, looking to join Raven. Katie immediately is impressive, tall and strong, but also talking of honor and justice; she has a real Brienne of Tarth vibe going. And after Katie's suggestion of an all female crew appeals to Raven, and they get their first recruit in Sunshine, there is the somewhat expected brawl as the male pirates don't take it well. The fight ends with a little help from Jayla (who will be joining the crew next issue if I'm not at all off base), and so the course is set (pun intended). Raven: the Pirate Princess is just as good as its originating title, filled with the same joy, action, wit, and smarts as Princeless, and it a great addition to the reading list of anyone who's looking for a new take on some old tales.

And now some quick reviews I wasn't able to flesh out in my conference shortened weekend, and Dan Grote's review of the second issue of the relaunched Archie...

Black Canary #3- Bravo Brenden Fletcher. I actually like and am curious to see what happens to Kurt Lance, a character who was a walking plot device in every earlier appearance. Plus, Annie Wu continues to absolutely blow me away with every page. Black Canary is easily my favorite book launched in the post-Convergence DCU.

Book of Death #2- Valiant's event comic continues, with a great fight scene that makes me want to read Ninjak's ongoing, since he is clearly the Batman of the Valiant Universe, and a flashforward that shows you exactly why Gilad the Eternal Warrior is the best.

Secret Six #5- Answers abound in this issue, as we learn why the Six were gathered, what's up with Ralph and Sue Dibny, plus we see some more of Strix and her pet lawn gnome. I'm happy to see that Gail Simone isn't teasing this mystery out too long, and that there's a chance of a happy ending for my favorite comic couple ever.

Star Wars #8- One of the things I've enjoyed about the new Star Wars continuity is watching old things pop up for the first time. This issue reintroduces one of my favorite EU settings, Nar Shaddaa, the Smuggler's Moon. For those of you only familiar with Star Wars movies, picture if Mos Eisley, the wretched hive of scum and villainy, basically covered an entire moon. We see Luke at his most naive, and Han dealing with the fallout of his wife (or is she?), Sana, meeting an increasingly irate Princess Leia. It's a pretty fun book.

Archie #2

Story: Mark Waid

Art: Fiona Staples

Fun fact: Archie Andrews is a world-class klutz who often gets by solely through the herculean efforts of his friends, in the kind of good fortune you can only have when you’re the star of your own comic book.

In the second issue of the adventures of Archie 2.0, Riverdale’s mainest character tries to get a construction job so he can afford to fix up his old beater of a car, since his previous mechanic was his ex-girlfriend.

Archie gets the job and immediately wrecks the work site, despite the best efforts of ancillary characters Dilton, Kevin, et al. He then returns later in the evening to fix the damage, only to completely tear down the frame of soon-to-be-stately Lodge Manor.

The story serves to reintroduce two important characters to the Archieverse: Veronica Lodge and her father, the new richest man in town (social standing is a big part of Archie. Veronica has it, Reggie wants it, Jughead used to have it, and Archie does not).

Fiona Staples draws Veronica exactly how you’d expect her to: as a raven-haired knockout in heels. She doesn’t get any dialogue, just a coquettish giggle, but Archie falls in love at first sight.

But let’s shift focus to the first girl in Archie’s life: Betty Cooper. It’s B’s birthday, and her friends are trying to get her out of her post-Archie funk, and push her into embracing her budding womanhood. This leads to a wonderful montage of Betty awkwardly applying hair extensions, false eyelashes, makeup, heels, teeth-whitening strips and press-on nails, then hating the face she sees in the mirror. Mark Waid’s Betty would rather be playing video games and fixing cars, specifically Archie’s car, which she does – secretly, and in collusion with Archie’s dad – before she finally feels feminine enough to make her grand party entrance. Watch what she wishes for when she blows out the candles.

For historical evidence of Archie’s butterfingers and dumb luck, consult the 1942 backup strip at the end of this book, completely with a handy glossary of dated terms.

In other news, I’m bummed to hear that Fiona Staples is leaving Archie with this issue. Her pencils have been 50 percent of the reason to read the book. That said, Annie Wu (Hawkeye, Black Canary) will be filling in on issue 4, which is about as fine a substitute as you can find.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 7/15

Black Canary #2
Story: Brenden Fletcher
Art: Annie Wu & Lee Loughridge

After a strong debut, there is no sophomore slump in Black Canary. With the threat of weird monsters after youngest band member Ditto, Dinah Drake (the titular superheroine, if you don't know) decides it's time to show her bandmates how to defend themselves. The flashbacks to their hand-to-hand combat training is exactly what you'd expect, but it's the gun training we see, and immediately it's clear Paloma Terrific, keyboardist and the person least likely to support anything Dinah says, has an aptitude. Paloma is getting less and less inclined to hold back her criticism of Dinah's role in the band, and a confrontation is growing inevitable. The problems in the band are made even worse when Maeve, the original singer when the current quartet was a trio, shows up out of nowhere and starts poking at things. I have a bad feeling about Maeve, and I have a feeling there's more to her than meets the eye. The charm of this comic, like all the ones Brenden Fletrcher has been writing since he burst onto the Bat-scene with Batgirl, is the characters and their interactions. Dinah just wants to get her life back, and while this started as a means to an end, now that Ditto is in trouble, Dinah's instincts are almost maternal towards her, trying to get some hint of her past out. The band are all well formed characters two issues in, and while I think Paloma is being hard on Dinah, I can understand her point of view; some singer shows up and suddenly she's starting fights and monsters are attacking your shows? I'd be pissed too. To makes this the most rock n' roll comic ever, there's also a two page spread in the middle of the issue that is an article about the band by a music mag called Burnside Tofu, another connection between this book, and Batgirl, that feels like the best of old school Rolling Stone actual fun music journalism, and it's a nice treat before the chaos ensues again. It seems like the black slime monsters aren't the only thing tracking Black Canary, as the issue ends with Dinah fighting a stealth suited opponent in a music store at the issue's end. Annie Wu's fight choreography still leaves me breathless; there are few artists I've seen that can capture the kinetic action of a good fight as well. And I like Dinah's clever use of flutes as escrima sticks too. A very nice touch. But when her opponent is defeated and unmasked, the reveal is that (SPOILER WARNING) it's Dinah's husband, Kurt Lance. And I admit to an eye roll. Kurt, from his appearances in Team 7 and the end of Birds of Prey, was a character I just couldn't care about, partially because of what Dinah turned every time he was a plot device. She would be willing to do anything to save him, and was moody, irrational, and not the Dinah I was used to. I am hoping that Fletcher can do something to flesh him out and make him more interesting, make him seem like a guy that the amazing character that is his Dinah would love. If he can do what he's done in two issues with everyone else, I think he can finally put this romance to rest, or make it one for the ages.

Book of Death #1
Story: Robert Venditti
Art: Robert Gill, Doug Braithwaite, David Baron, & Brian Reber

The Valiant, Valiant's last stand alone event mini-series, was a tremendous success for the publisher, both critically and financially. So Book of Death has some pretty big steps to follow in. And if the first issue is any indication, it will succeed. Written by Robert Venditti, who is the writer of Valiant's flagship title, X-O Manowar, picks up one of the major threads from the end of The Valiant, the death of Geomancer Kay McHenry and the appearance of a new Geomancer from the future. The issue opens with a boy named David, sitting on his lawn as vermin and snakes crawl all over him as he smiles and says they're talking to him. From that chilling image, the book doesn't get any less creepy as we cut to soldiers finding a small town murdered by trees, which have sprung to life and murdered everyone. It seems that Gilad Anni-Pada, the Eternal Warrior and guardian of the Geomancer, is on the run with Tama, the girl who appeared as the only hope to stop a great dark age, along with the Book of the Geomancer, which foretells what is to come. Neville Alcott and Jamie Capshaw, the UK and US representatives to the superhero team Unity respectively, are butting head about what to do about Gilad, but the decision is made to send X-O Manowar, who is probably the closest thing Gilad has to a friend, to try to talk him down and get him to turn over the girl, who they believe is responsible for this horror and series of others. X-O tries his best, but Gilad is, well, bullheaded to begin with and used to playing a long game. Not to mention he knows the girl is innocent. When X-O flies off, Tama reads to Gilad from the pages of the book, pages only she can read and telling him about what is to come. This flashforward/story sequence is drawn by Doug Braithwaite, an artist who I've liked since a run on Green Arrow with Chuck Dixon in the 90s, and his art is outstanding here, detailed and full of the pathos as we see all the heroes of Valiant's universe fall. This is not to take away from Robert Gill, the artist on the main story, whose work is also stellar, really adding to the creepy air of the horror sequences while still drawing the quieter ones with subtlety. As with The Valiant, this book is standing on its own and doing a good job of explaining anything you'd need to know if you are new to the Valiant universe. We are given hints of the big bad who is hunting Gilad and Tama, and I have a strong suspicion a major player in the classic Valiant Universe is about to re-enter the stage in a big way, one that will reward older fans, and next issue should give s a fight scene between Gilad and the rest of Unity, which I can only imagine won't end well for one side (and my money is on Gilad to win this one). Valiant has proven that they can pull these standalone event mini-series off in the past, and this one looks to be a winner as well, so it's a good way to enter the Valiant Universe. Oh, and if you're a variant hunter, Level Up Entertainment, home store to contributor Dan Grote, in Mays Landing, New Jersey has an exclusive variant for this book available only at their store from a local artists that's really sweet (I scanned it and completely forgot to put the file on my flashdrive, but take my word for it, it's awesome), and it's a full on Variant, so you might want to head down or get in touch so you can complete your variant collection.

Secret Six #4
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Tom Derenick, Ken Lashley, & Jason Wright

Originally solicited as issue three, this issue of Secret Six now fills in some of the gaps between the end of the second issue and where we popped up last month. As with any issue of Secret Six, there's a lot to love. The team dynamic deepens each issue, and I am developing a deep affection for each of these characters. Gail Simone has done a phenomenal job with them all, but it's Strix who drew my attention this issue. I love how childlike she can be, taking a lawn gnome affectionately with her into the house or waiting to enter the fight until she was done eating a cookie. I also think Simone has done something interesting with the gender fluid Porcelian, adding a new layer of diversity to the book. I was also momentarily worried when Big Shot, who we know from last issue as Ralph Dibny, seemed to have a transphobic moment, only to instead have a moment of class and charm by offering Porcelain a hat. I love how Simone writes Ralph, love it, and it makes me happy that, if I had to wait this long for the character to pop up, it's by a writer who clearly loves him. Speaking of characters who I've been waiting to see pop up again, Mockingbird sends three agents along to return the Six to his prison, and it's quickly apparent that they are Scandal, Jeanette, and Ragdoll, members of the original Simone written Secret Six! I was thrilled to see them back, and happy that Gail Simone found a way to work them back into the title. The fight between the three of them and the Six was fun and exciting. I liked how they were clearly fighting for form's sake, with the three bringing cookies and first asking if the Six would just come with them, or where Jeanette let's Big Shot call a time out in their fight so he could stop a vase made for him by his wife from breaking and putting it somewhere safe before resuming. Secret Six finds a way to both be dark and disturbing and hilarious, in ways that many of the best horror movies are, and it's a joy to see it back in that top form.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 6/17

Black Canary #1
Story: Brenden Fletcher
Art: Annie Wu

Brenden Fletcher flies solo this week with the debut of his new Black Canary series (yes, I went there with that pun). Black Canary has left Gotham and her regular super-heroing behind to tour with the band called, well Black Canary. Now know as the lead singer, DD (that's Dinah Drake), is doing her best to get her life back together, but her penchant for heroism and kicking butt is getting in the way; when you keep wrecking the club you're playing, you're not making a ton of money. We get to meet each of the members of the band: Lord Byron on drums, who seems the member working hardest to keep the band together; Paloma Terrific, who maintains an animosity to Dinah that isn't even veiled; and the mysteriously silent Ditto on guitar, a child prodigy who never speaks. After another disastrous outing, Dinah promises to not start a brawl, but when black oily demon things attack, that goes out the window. But the hook is this: they're not after Dinah, but another member of the band. It's a great set-up, and one issue in I already like the band, and there are interesting mysteries to solve. I also love connectivity in my superhero universes without it feeling like you need to read every book, and this book does a great job of tying in with Fletcher's other two books. Obviously, Black Canary and her band spin out of the first arc of the new Batgirl title, but I was pleasantly to see that the band's manager is Heathcliff from Gotham Academy. I've been impressed with how well Fletcher matches his books with the artists he's working with, and it feels like Annie Wu was made to draw this book. Her kinetic style works well with Dinah's martial arts and fighting, and the whole style feels like it fits with CD and poster art from the kind of band that plays the clubs that we're seeing. It's a great package and another win for DC in trying to do books that don't feel like they're all the same. Black Canary is vibrant, different, and exciting, with a good blend of super heroes and the life of a band on the road.

Ghostbusters: Get Real #1
Story: Erik Burnham
Art: Dan Schoening

Dan Grote wrote a piece a couple weeks ago about accepting change in our favorite properties. And I think outside comics, one of the examples or this is the upcoming female led reboot of Ghostbusters. Let's give it a shot, people! But before any of that starts up, we still have IDW releasing comics featuring the original Ghostbusters, and this time they're teaming up with the other greatest team of ghost fighters ever: The Real Ghostbusters! Yes, it's like a classic JLA/JSA crossover, where the Flashes and Green Lanterns of two worlds must meet, only better because it's the Egons of two worlds! The Greek god Proteus has decided he wants to get rid of the Real Ghostbusters before they can trap him (no comment on how the arrogant god isn't even on their radar; he's just that full of himself), but the help of a friendly witch's spell interacts with Proteus's and sends the Real team into the regular Ghostbusters world. And after interacting with the Slimer of that world, they realize something is very wrong just as the Ghostbusters show up. Firmly established as in the same continuity as the previous series and TMNT/Ghostbusters team-up mini, the Ghostbusters are familiar with alternate dimensions, and so it looks like things will work out fine, but a job comes up and Proteus is still out there, so I'm sure the boys have much more to deal with on the horizon. I've written plenty about the creative team of Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening, who have been the principle creators on two Ghostbusters ongoing, plus various minis and specials.so it goes without saying they know these characters inside and out. It's Schoening who blew me away this issue, with his ability to not only ape the style of the classic Real Ghostbusters cartoon, but to blend it seamlessly with his own style; it gives me flashbacks to Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, with two worlds that shouldn't interact working perfectly side by side. Oh, and kudos to Burnham for the callback of Janine mistaking Real Egon for her ex-boyfriend Roger, who's hair and looks were based on Real Egon; it's a little nod that rewards people who have been reading all this. Real Ghostbusters is one of the best cartoons of the 80s when it comes to plot and story, and so it makes sense it would work this well when interacting in a modern setting, and teaming these versions of the characters up with their movie versions works like a charm.

Lumberjanes #15
Story: Noelle Stevenson & Shannon Watters
Art: Brooke Allen

There's a lot going on in this issue of Lumberjanes, with wolf monsters, traps, and teases of mysterious secrets and the past of camp director Rosie.  But for me, the star of the issue is Jen, the cabin councilor for our usual cast. I want to talk about our Lumberjanes and their adventures before I deep dive into what's happening with Jen. The ladies of Roanoke Cabin are loyally travelling through the woods with Barnes, their friend from the boy's camp, searching for Jen, despite encountering the mysterious blizzard and the woods' usual array of monsters. Again, I can't stress enough how important the theme of friendship is in Lumberjanes, and how these girls would sacrifice anything for each other, and that includes the often flustered and frustrated Jen. But Jo is getting jealous of Barnes and how he's getting in the middle of her friendship with April. This isn't uncommon when a new person comes into a group dynamic, but Jo is freezing out Barnes as best she can. More than that, she is beginning to wonder exactly what is going on in Lumberjanes camp, that they are neither learning survival skills nor what is going on in the woods. But while Jo is a little bothered by this, it's the crux of what's going on with Jen at the cabin of the mysterious Abigail. I might be one of few people who would say this, but Jen is probably my favorite character in the book. She's responsible, she's flustered by all the weirdness, she does her best to keep to the rules; so basically how I would act in these situations. But she's also loyal to her campers and willing to do what it takes to protect them, which makes her all the more impressive. But after being told she was abandoned, and seeing the comforts, of and the library in, Abigail's cabin, it would be easy for her to decide to not go back. But she's still loyal. They're still "her girls" and she still needs to do what she feels she needs to. And I love that. More, though, when Rosie arrives and we see the confrontation between her and Abigail, we see exactly what has been going on with Jen. She's fed up with the secrets, with Rosie not telling the Lumberjanes what is really going in. The scene where Jen and Rosie are in Abigail's trap and Jen lets loose all these feelings is one of the best character scenes in any issue of Lumberjanes. But with Lumberjanes, there's not just the personal stakes but the supernatural stakes, and it looks like whatever Abigail is up to is going to lead to some major action next issue, and as ever the book finds its balance perfectly.

Secret Six #3
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Dale Eaglesham

Oh, what a difference an artist can make. The first couple issues of the new Secret Six, as enjoyable as the story was, were marred by multiple artists that muddied the waters. But this issue sees new regular artist, and artist on the mini-series Villains United that introduced Gail Simone's original version of the six, Dale Eaglesham, and it lets me feel like I know the characters. He already has a great feel for each of these oddballs. I've been a fan of Eaglesham since he worked on chapters of "No Man's Land" back in 1999, and his art still grabs me to this day. This issue juxtaposes the complete cast of lunatics with the suburban normalcy of Big Shot's house and neighborhood, and it's a thing of beauty. These characters are all severely broken, and they just stick out like sore thumbs. I like that Catman still has this sense of honor, as shown by defending a dog, something he hates, from a human who beats it, something he hates more. It's also nice to see him being kind to Strix, showing he isn't quite the sociopath as, say, Ventriloquist, who remains this volume's Ragdoll, the character you never know what they'll say. But the moments that really got me this issue were the ones with Big Shot and Black Alice. We see a tenderness that Big Shot has for the girl, something that made me perplexed how he wound up grouped with the rest of the lunatics that comprise the Six. And as we see more of Alice's background in the new world, she grows in sympathy too. I was happy to see this, and the fact that the group binds as a team for the balance of the issue. But it's the last page that knocked me over. Because we find out Big Shot's real name, and it's a name I've been waiting for since the advent of the New 52. What he says to Black Alice earlier about the wife he lost, makes so much sense now, and tears my heart a little. But I wonder if she's gone, or if her not being there has something to do with Mockingbird, whose identity is also revealed. It's another shocking reveal, but one that makes a lot of sense, especially in relation to that characters current disposition in the DCU. I don't want to spoil the twists, but they're satisfying and going to keep me guessing until next issue.

Stumptown #6
Story: Greg Rucka
Art: Justin Greenwood

Stumptown's back! The best dang P.I. comic I've ever read returns with a new case, and a different one than we're used to seeing Dex Parios involved in. Instead of searching for missing girls or guitars, or investigating who beat her friend, this time Dex has a simple job: pick up three pounds of coffee. The fact that it's designer Kopi Lawak coffee, unique in the world, designed by a brewmaster named Patrick Weekes, and worth twenty-five large, well that's icing on the cake. Almost immediately, things take a turn for the Hammett & Chandler when Mr. Dove, a creepy guy in white, shows up with a cell phone and ten gold coins, and his boos tells Dex over the phone that he will pay her twenty thousand dollars for a sample of the coffee, half of it in these coins now, and the other half when she delivers. And even more guys trail her when she picks it up! This is some desirable coffee, and Dex still has it by issue's end. But in Stumptown, the mystery is only half the story, as Dex is a character with a rich life outside of her casework.  Still on the outs with Grey, her neighbor, Dex picks up her brother Ansel from work only to find her seemingly wayward, and previously unknown, sister, Fuji, waiting at her apartment, let in by Grey. It's clear that the two sisters have certain problems, as Fuji seems more free-spirited, and Dex is annoyed by her popping up unannounced. Greg Rucka has done an excellent job fleshing out the world around Dex, letting you understand the personal stakes as well as the professional ones, and so each new character adds another layer. While I liked Justin Greenwood's art on the last arc, this issue seems even stronger, looking really clean and crisp, with some great character work on Dex as she's confronted with these new mysteries and hurdles. I'm sure things won't go as smoothly for Dex next issue as they did in this one because things never stay quiet for her for long, and it wouldn't be interesting if they did.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 12/3

Detective Comics #37
Story & Art: Brian Buccellato & Francis Manapul

Regular creative team Brian Buccellato and Francis Manapul return to Detective Comics after a two part fill-in story to introduce Anarky to the New 52. I like Anarky as a character, always have, despite some overuse in the late 90s, and I think in a world where government gridlock and income inequality are in the news every night, a character who is against the wealthy and the government seems to fit a certain zeitgeist. Hints were dropped to Anarky in issue 34, and Harvey Bullock and his not-partner-but-sort-of-partner Detective Margaret Yip are looking into the mysterious A symbols. We get a nice scene with Bullock and Yip talking about how they view Christmas and the New Year, how one sees it as a chance to start fresh, and the other sees it as a year where every open case goes down as unsolved, and how Bullock sees his cases and the GCPD as his life; Buccellato and Manpul are writing a great Harvey Bullock, and I'm glad to see him getting a spotlight. This is shown in comparison to Batman and Alfred, with Alfred taking Bruce on a walk on the grounds of Wayne Manor with Titus, Damian's dog, and Alfred insisting Batman have some, "Bruce time," something Bruce doesn't like the phrasing of, since he feels it makes him sound like he has multiple personalities. The primary action of the book involves Anarky killing a crooked Wayne Enterprises employee (one who was introduced in the previous arc, making it look like the creators are playing a long game with lots on interconnected plots, which I like), and then hacking Wayne Enterprises and setting everything networked to the system to blow. Batman, Bullock, and Yip, with a hand from Lucius Fox, attempt to evacuate the building, seemingly to no avail. I was pleased to see the creators using Anarky's established hacking skills, and not just changing him to be some murderous thug with a chip on his shoulder. I also want to throw credit to Manapul for drawing the CREEPIEST Mad Hatter ever in a scene at the beginning of the issue where Batman fights ol' Jervis Tetch. When he reappeared in  Batman: The Dark Knight, Ethan Van Sciver drew him in grotesque detail to the point he felt a little too realistic for a character who is so outside the norm. Manapul's style captures that madness and the creepiness of the Hatter perfectly, with some very clear influence from the original John Tenniel illustrations in Through the Looking Glass. There are a lot of questions left with the return of Anarky, and I'm looking forward to seeing the answers from Buccellato and Manapul.

Fight Like a Girl #1
Story: David Pinckney
Art: Soo Lee

Action Lab Entertainment publishes one of the best all ages comics on the racks, Princeless, a book that tosses fairy tale tropes on their ear and has a heroine who is tougher than any Disney princess, and I accept the blasphemy of  saying anyone is better than a character from Frozen gladly. This week, Action Lab released a number one of  a new series, Fight Like a Girl, which looks to capture the same magic. And while Princeless is still in a league of its own, the first issue of Fight Like a Girl is a solid introduction to its protagonist and its world. Amarosa has a brother who is dying, and since no doctor can save him, she goes before a council of gods from a mixture of pantheons, and asks to take a series of nine trials, which if she succeeds, the gods will cure her brother. It's a classic conceit, and it's presented well. We see a little on Amarosa's life outside the mystical realm, but mostly this issue is letting us understand the stakes. We get to see the fairy that is Amarosa's gods' provided sidekick, and we do get to see the first trial, where Amarosa confronts a shapeshifter who attacks her in the form of a T-Rex. So girl with a bat versus T-Rex doesn't seem too fair, but when the bat turns into a chainsaw, I feel like we're entering Scott Pilgrim territory, with that blend of realism and fantasy, which is a sweet spot I'd be happy to live in. But what grabbed me, and elevated this to something I'd like to talk about is that fact that the shapeshifter isn't s ravening monster. When we first see her, she's a in the form of a young woman. And while she's clearly a monster (she has to absorb other living things to enable her shapeshifting), she doesn't just attack Amarosa; she gives her a chance to walk away, and only takes action when Amarosa makes it clear she isn't going anywhere. And in the end, the shapeshifter points out to Amarosa how proud her family must be of her for killing someone who was willing to just let things go. I hope that thread, that idea of how far you're willing to go to do what you feel you need to, and at what point do you become something worse than what you're trying to kill/stop, is explored further. It's heady stuff for an all ages comic, but I feel we don't give kids enough credit for deep thought. So if, like me, you're feeling some Princeless withdrawal, I'd snag Fight Like a Girl.

Nailbiter #8
Story: Joshua Williamson
Art: Mike Henderson

OK, I feel guilty. Nailbiter is one of the best horror comics on the racks, and I've only reviewed it once. Last month's issue featured a guest appearance by Brian Michael Bendis, and it was a great issue, but I skipped reviews that week, but I'm reviewing this week, and so I have to hit Nailbiter. This issue begins the second major arc in earnest (after two stellar one off issues), and we get to spend some time with each member of the cast. Disgraced NSA agent Nicholas Finch continues to follow the trail left by his friend, FBI Agent Carroll, to try to find out not only who kidnapped and beat Carroll into a coma, but the secret of Buckaroo, the town that spawns more serial killers than any other. And his investigation leads him to a small farm that keeps bees. I am not really phobic when it comes to bugs of any kind (rats, on the other hand...), but Mike Henderson has made this book atmospheric from page one, and watching what is going on with the bees, and the sing song of the man in the basement, might make me reconsider that, because even if the bees aren't creeping me out, everything around them is. Meanwhile, the town preacher is ranting against the sins of the town that have brought this curse upon them, and cost him the life of his son, the bully who was killed at the serial killer super store in the first arc. He confronts Sheriff Crane, who was the childhood sweetheart of Buckaroo's celebrity serial killer, Edward Warren aka The Nailbiter, and talks about how prayer is going to stop these horrors. While Finch is usually the center of the action, I think Crane, as well as high school outcast Alice (who also stands up to the preacher), are my favorite characters in the book, and I think the introduction of a local rival with the preacher is going to give Crane more time to shine. And of course, Warren, the titular Nailbiter, gets his moment to shine, in a scene with a reporter that would make The Joker nod in approval. Nailbiter is a study in character and atmosphere, with each issue pulling you deeper into the terrifying town of Buckaroo, and this second arc looks to give us some answers. Or maybe not; with horror, who knows if what you'll get is what you want. Oh, and as an aside, the third issue of Williamson's fantasy series, Birthright was released this week, another book that continues to twist genre and move at breakneck speed, so I'd check that out too, if you aren't.

Secret Six #1
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Ken Lashley

It's baaaaAAAAck! Yes, Gail Simone's team of supervillains make their triumphant New 52 debut in an issue that is different from the old series, but still has enough of the familiar that it's clear we're in for the same insane ride. Gail Simone's trademark mix of humor and violence is well on display in this issue, as we're introduced to the new members of the team that will become the Secret Six: two old members (Catman and Black Alice), two characters from Simone's run on Batgirl (Strix and the Ventriloquist), and two new characters (Porcelain and Big Shot). The point of view character for this issue is Catman, which shouldn't surprise anyone, as Simone clearly loved that character. Catman is a slightly different character in his new incarnation. He seems, if not quicker to anger, far less strategic; when fake law enforcement come to pick him up, he simply starts attacking them with not much of a plan. Still, he tough and a complete badass, which keeps the original Catman formula in place. It's also interesting to see him with some more cat-like behaviors; if you've ever seen a cat shut in a room, you can see that reflected when he's trapped. And that's where he meets the rest of the team, trapped in a room with a big monitor and a voice telling them one will be killed if they don't discover the secret. The dynamic between each member of the team is already starting to build, and each character is distinct: Strix is quiet and haunted, Black Alice is distant and damaged. Big Shot seems to be the one trying to make things work, Ventriloquist is completely insane, and Porcelain seems the most together, which means, if I know Gail Simone, she's the most screwed up of the bunch. Ken Lashley's art is good for the book, dark and violent. His fight scenes are great to watch, as the action is clear, and his Catman has a cocky look to him, although when he realizes he's trapped, the terror bleeds off the page. While I'm going to miss Bane and Scandal, and the bromance between Catman and Deadshot, Gail Simone has proven she can take a concept she has done before and breathe a very different life into it, so I'm excited to see where Secret Six goes.

Wolf Moon #1
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Jeremy Haun

I think I've said this before, but in case I haven't, I love werewolves. Whether it's the classic movie versions like Larry Talbot from The Wolfman, Joe Kelly's haunted one from Bad Dog, the terrifying one from An American Werewolf in London, or the cute ones like Patrick the Wolf Boy. So, I was interested to see what Cullen Bunn, a writer whose horror and weird tales have always appealed to me, would do with the werewolf myth for Vertigo. And Wolf Moon is a very interesting take. Dillon Chase is a man who is haunted by the wolf, and now he hunts it. His girlfriend is similarly damaged, and she doesn't want him to go, but he must find it and stop it. But what Bunn does that is different is that this is not a werewolf that is transmitted by bite, as is usually the way. No, this wolf possesses someone for the three nights of the full moon and then leaves them, and their life, in shambles. What this does is making hunting the beast all the harder, as Dillon realizes when he has the werewolf in his sights; the person the wolf is riding ill be free soon, and has done nothing wrong. That doesn't mean they don't know what's going on. We do see some of the wolf's previous hosts, and the horror of knowing what they did. "The wolf," says Dillon, "doesn't just reshape flesh and bone... it reshapes lives." This issue is a number one, and so it spends much of its time introducing concept and character, but we still get a brutal attack from the werewolf in a fast food restaurant, drawn by Jeremy Haun. I've been a fan of Haun since Battle Hymn, and while I enjoyed his recent run on Batwoman, I'm glad to see him on Wolf Moon. His wolf is huge, menacing, and looks like it could swallow you whole. There is more going on here, a mysterious someone else hunting, and Bunn has built enough of a mystery to add another layer to his horror. With The Sixth Gun, Bunn's weird Western, wrapping up in a few months, it's good to see he has some more supernatural stories lined up to keep his fans coming back for more.

Reviews of Comics from 5/14 & A Special Announcement

Abe Sapien #13
Story: Mike Mignola & Scott Allie
Art: Max Fiumara

This is not a normal issue of Abe Sapien. This is not a normal issue of most mainstream comics. While our titular protagonist does appear in the issue, he is by no means the center of the story. This is a story in the classic Eisner Spirit vein, where Abe steps into a situation and it is more the story of the people who are in that situation. This is the story of a man driven mad by his own past and by the changes in the world that have been wrought in the past few years throughout the books featuring the B.P.R.D. and their allies, and the woman he has kidnapped. He believes they are the last man and woman on Earth, and she has been broken by the losses she suffered when the horrors came out of the ground. The issue has no dialogue; it is told entirely through narrative that goes into the head of these two characters. It isn't first person narrative either, but a sort of third person omniscient that allows you to see without the bias of a first person narration. Throughout the issue, you get to know these two characters well, you see the man's background and the woman's pain. You see him first spot Abe and view him as the serpent in his new garden of Eden. The art of Max Fiumara is dark and perfect for this particularly dark story. Abe Sapien has been the most introspective book in the Mignolaverse since its inception, and this issue does such interesting things with point of view that it is something well worth checking out.

Batgirl #31
Story: Gail Simone
Art: Fernando Pasarin

So, first a quick discussion of the actual issue. This is a great creepy horror movie kind of story, with people trapped in a building with a monster chasing them. Barbara has a reunion of sorts with her sorta boyfriend Ricky, only to have things go very wrong; I guess when your dad shoots your boyfriend, things aren't going to go so well. And the issue ties nicely with both the rivalry between Batgirl and her main nemesis in this current series, Knightfall, and the new mastermind from the recent annual, Mr. Rain. And the story is done in one, so it makes a good starting point for new readers. But, as good as any issue of Gail Simone's Batgirl is, let's talk about what I came into this issue really excited for: Ragdoll! For those of you who don't know Ragdoll, and shame on you, Ragdoll was created by Simone as part of her Villains United mini-series, which lead into the ongoing Secret Six. Ragdoll is a man who had extensive surgery dome to himself to allow all his joints to move freely in any and all directions, making him the ultimate contortionist. He is also completely out of hiss mind, having little to no morality and saying things that qualify at best as random and at worst as creepy to the extreme. Being his first full appearance in the New 52 (he has appeared in the background in Arkham scenes before), I was a little worried. Despite being written by his creator, I admit to being worried that he might be changed in this new world. Boy was I wrong! Ragdoll is still the complete, unpredictable madman that he was before the change.Simone hasn't lost any of the voice, and artist Fernando Pasarin draws a creepily bendy Ragdoll. If you loved Secret Six, or just like great, weird villains, this is a great issue to jump on.

Tales From the Con: Year One

Story: Brad Guigar

Art: Chris Giarrusso

This issue is a collection of comic strips published on the website of Emerald City Comic Con. They're fun little one offs poking gentle fun at fandom and con culture. It's hard to write a full on review of something like this, since there's no continuity or continuing narratives, and trying to describe the strips would be like explaining a joke; it just doesn't work. But I can say writer Brad Guigar writes some very funny material without sinking into snark or nastiness, like so many strips about comic book culture do.And the art is by Chris Giarrusso, best known for his amazingly funny Mini-Marvels strips that appeared in Marvel comics throughout the 90s and for G-Man, his all ages creator owned superhero comic published through Image. His art is a delight, fun and whimsical, and its what got me to pick up this book. I'm glad to say the words lived up to the art, and if you're in the mood for a good laugh, Tales from the Con is a good book to sit back and chuckle your way through.

Now, for this week's special announcement: over the weekend, Matt Signal contributor Dan Grote and I joined the regulars on the Shut Up Kids Podcast for their superhero extravaganza. Check out the podcast here at talkbacker.com to hear a discussion of comic books, movies, and TV, as well as super hero music and the madness of Alan Moore. Oh, and for those of you who read this blog at work (and I know some of you do, don't deny it) there's is some stronger language than I use here and some suggestive dialogue, so plug in those headphones or wait until you get home before you listen, k? Thanks to Dan Milczarski, Nick Nightly, and the Colonel for having us on!

Recommended Reading for 12/14: Secret Six

Theoretically, Secret Six was a losing proposition. It was a book starring villains, something that rarely, if ever, succeeds. And they were B, C, & D list villains at that. And the team leader was a gay female character. But somehow, it succeeded, and became one of the best comics DC Comics has put out in the past decade.

The first book featuring the team known as the Secret Six (which is actually a much older name, from spy comics published in the 60s) was Villains United, part of the countdown to Infinite Crisis. There, the team fought against the Secret Society of Supervillains under the auspices of Lex Luthor. This was followed by a Secret Six mini-series and a couple appearances in Birds of Prey. All of these stories were written by Gail Simone, one of my favorite writers in comics. Her handle on this oddball assortment of broken and insane characters endeared them to me, and I was excited when the monthly was announced, with two new members to fill holes left by the deaths of  members over the course of the earlier stories.

The principal cast of Secret Six are the characters appearing in the picture at the top of this post. Scandal Savage was the daughter of immortal caveman Vandal Savage, and was a master of bladed weapons. Deadshot, former Suicide Squad member and Batman rogue, was a master marksman with a deathwish. Catman, a D-list Batman villain who had become something of a joke, was revitalized by Simone to be a master hunter, heartthrob, and badass. Ragdoll was the son of the original villain of that name, an old Flash and Starman foe, who had surgery to make him triples jointed like his dad, and is as twisted in mind as his body could become. The two members added for this incarnation were Bane, who I've written about at length in the lead up to a certain movie from this summer and Jeannette, an immortal banshee.

The principal theme of Secret Six was redemption. Each of the Six were there for seemingly different reason, some for companionship, some for family, some just because they didn't have anything better to do. But each of them had done very bad things in the past, and most of them saw an opportunity with the Six to make right with themselves and maybe even the universe. Throughout the series, the Six flirt with both sides of the hero/villain coin, and try their best often to follow their consciences. This often leads to infighting, and not in the cute, "Wolverine and Cyclops are bickering again," way. There are often blows and blood shed among the members. But, like the twisted family they had become, they always seemed to wind up back together, following their path with the good intentions of redeeming themselves. But you know that they say what good intentions pave the road to...

Now, here's where I usually talk about plot, and I will get there, but I want to spend some time really focusing on the characters, simply because these are a collection of really interesting one. For a bunch of hardcore killers, Simone (and a guest writer who I'll be talking about in a minute) made them some of the most three dimensional characters I've ever seen an a superhero comic. Each of the characters exists in a web of relationships with others, their teammates as well as other supporting character, with some in particular pairings which bring out the best and worst in each other. Simone truly captures the way we are all defined in our journeys by the people who we surround ourselves with, something that I often find missing in superhero fiction.

Deadshot, Floyd Lawton, was a Bat villain who had appeared no more than half a dozen times in his history before being taken by John Ostrander and made into one of the stars of his classic Suicide Squad series. Deadshot had lived a life of luxury, but a twisted one, where he and his brother had been manipulated by their parents, leading to Floyd accidentally killing his beloved brother. From then on, Floyd held a death wish, not actively suicidal, but willing to take chances that others would consider insane. Ostrander redefined a minor villain into a brilliantly well rounded figure, and the Deadshot mini-series he wrote was voted the greatest story he had ever written on Comic Book Resources. After Suicide Squad ended, Deadshot more or less went back to gun for hire status until Simone picked him up. She gave him relationships, a bromance with Catman and a romance with Jeannette, but neither of them changed who he was deep inside. He was still a man who still doubted his own worth, and who still had a hard time relating to people. It was a great evolution of the character. On a side note, one of the few issues of Secret Six not written by Simone was a Deadshot one off written by none other than John Ostrander, which was as good as any Deadshot story written before or since.

The last time Catman, Thomas Blake, appeared before Simone took him up, he was a joke; an overweight third stringer in witness protection. The first time we see him in Villains United, he's in the best fighting trim of his life, and living in Africa with a pride of lions. When the pride is killed, Catman joined the Six. He was one of the members most seeking his redemption. He wanted to do right, and tried to steer the Six towards missions that would do some good. He even thinks about assuming the mantle of the Bat after Bruce Wayne's apparent death. But the wild cat in Catman does come out, and when his pride is threatened, he is as deadly, if not moreso, than any of the Six. When his son is kidnapped, Blake goes on a spree that would make Liam Neeson's character from Taken faint. But like the others, Blake doesn't exist in a void, and aside from being part of the new Abbot and Costello pairing that is Catman and Deadshot, Catman had a tempestuous relationship with the Huntress, a cast member of another Simone series, Birds of Prey. These two relationships show exactly where Catman was: one foot in the mercenary world of Deadshot, who might care more than he lets on but is still a killer, and one foot in the heroic world of Huntress, a character who understands the urge to kill but has done her best to not.

Scandal was a mystery character when she first appeared in Villains United. In retrospect, the connection between her and her mystery father is obvious; the rhyme between Scandal and Vandal should have jumped right out at me (I had thought she was possibly Nyssa Raatko, the other daughter of Ra's al Ghul until the reveal). Scandal has the fast healing and nigh immortality of her father, Vandal Savage, and is deadly with any blade, especially the ones on her gauntlets, the ancient Laminas Pesar. Scandal as she first appears in Secret Six is mourning the loss of her love, the former Female Fury, Knockout. She pulls herself out of her depression and gets the team their first mission, and is their leader. Scandal, like Catman, tries to find the moral right in what the Six are doing, and tries her best to do right by the others, as hard as they make it for her. Bane takes a strangely paternal interest in Scandal, protecting her and coddling her in a way that makes her uncomfortable on more than one occasion. She also begins a new romance with Liana, a stripper she met in a somewhat awkward attempt by Catman and Deadshot to cheer her up after the death of Knockout. The courtship and burgeoning relationship is very sweet and real, with Scandal having to work through her feelings for Knockout, which never truly go away.

Bane is, of course, best known as the man who broke the Bat. As I said above, I wrote a long feature on Bane back in July, but suffice it to say, I love the way the character was handled in Secret Six. Other writers have forgotten that Bane truly believes he is among the righteous, but Simone never did. She wrote Bane as a character who feels like he is a paladin, even though underneath that there is a small doubt that he is possibly not as good as he portrays. His relationship with Scandal is at times sweet, and at times kind of creepy; Bane wants to be her protector and father, but doesn't seem to understand what that means. Simone plays with Bane's limited life experience when she sends him off on his first real date, which is a delightfully funny scene.

Jeannette was the new member of the team, introduced in the third issue of the ongoing series. She remained something of the outsider, seeing the team's foibles and acting as an audience proxy, or as much as one can associate with an immortal banshee. Having lived for over four hundred years, and seen many monsters and monstrous deeds, Jeannette is not shocked by the evil deeds the Six take part in. Her attraction to Deadshot is initially sparked by the fact that he is steeped in death, something that appeals to the Banshee in her. She is cultured, clever, and friends with Scandal, which is what initially brings her into the Six. By the end, though, she is as much a part of the family as the others.

And then there's Ragdoll. Oh, Ragdoll. I don't know if I have the right words to sum up Ragdoll. He's covered in scars. He's completely insane. But under all that, there is a tremendous well of pain, caused by the brutality of his father, the cult leader and original Ragdoll, who ignored him because he wasn't born with powers, hence the scars from all the surgery he had to replicate them. I actually think I'll let Ragdoll speak for himself.

That is possibly one of my favorite pages of anything ever.

Other members joined the Six over the course of the run. Members from before the series began included Cheshire, Parademon, Knockout, Mad Hatter, and Harley Quinn. Black Alice, the young mystic with the power to duplicate the magical powers of others, joined the team to make money to help treat her father's cancer. She was an odd fit, which she was meant to be, with her seemingly cold to the actions of the Six, but still being young and unable to quite grasp what she was getting into. King Shark, the bipedal shark man, though, fit in just fine as a walking death machine, and that's pretty much what he did and was for his time in the book, which was perfect.

Other than the cold road to redemption, the core members of the Six also share an important issue: they all are lacking or have issues with family. Deadshot's upbringing was a nightmare that ended with him killing his brother, and he lost his own son to a child killer. Catman's father was abusive, and led young Thomas Blake to becoming a patricide. Scandal's father is an immortal world conqueror who trained her from her youngest days to be a killer. Ragdoll's father was a creep, a killer, and probably worse judging by his other kid. Bane was born in jail to a broken mother who died and left him, a young boy in the hardest prison in the world. And Jeannette was given by her poor family to serve as a handmaiden to Countess Elizabeth Bathory, one of history's greatest serial killers. These people had no family, so they found a way to make one of their own, as twisted and dysfunctional as it was, and for them it worked.

The stories that Simone tells in Secret Six would have worked in few other superhero comics. They are twisted and dark, perfectly fitting the book's protagonists. The first story sees them breaking the Tarantula out of jail to use her to retrieve and item for the mysterious crimeboss, Junior. The mcguffin of the story is a card, forged by the demon Neron, that is a "Get Out of Hell Free Card." But think about it: with a group of characters unsure of their own fates, their own righteousness, that card means the world, and the card will come into play later. Over the series, the team fights slavers, the government, undead Suicide Squad members, other villains, heroes, and dinosaurs.

The penultimate arc of the series sees the Six travel to Hell with the card. Ragdoll stole the card from Scandal to resurrect his dead friend, the Parademon, while Scandal wants to use it to free Knockout. In the end, though, the six are told by Blaze, the queen of Hell, that they can do what they wish, that they are all damned and will be back soon enough. The road to redemption has ended without any redemption, and the broken Six are left to determine their future. The final arc sees Bane take charge and lead the Six on one final grand attempt to take out Batman. If he is damned, Bane has decided to embrace his villainy. In the end, the Six makes a final stand against the gathered heroes of the DC Universe. Despite all the betrayal and backstabbing, the Six make their final Butch and Sundance stand together.

Simone had two excellent artistic compatriots on Secret Six. Nicola Scott, who had worked with Simone previously on Birds of Prey, brought a smooth style to the series; her Jeannette being stunningly beautiful and her Catman more handsome than he had ever been portrayed before. She could draw monsters just as well, with the twisted Junior (whose identity is one of the big twists at the end of the first arc. I don't want to spoil it for you) sending shivers down my spine. J. Calafiore took over after Scott left, and didn't miss a beat. I've loved Calafiore's work since his run on Aquaman with Peter David, and he drew an awesome Six. One day, I'll get around to sharing some of the sketches I've gotten in my sketchbook, and my Calafiore Deadshot is a favorite.

There's so much more to say about Secret Six, but I'd rather let you discover them for yourselves. Any comic that mixes pathos, action, horror, and humor so perfectly needs to be read to be believed. Sadly, this past week Gail Simone was removed from her last book at DC. I'm sad to see her go, but can only imagine what wonder she has waiting for us. Gail, let me know, and I'll be first in line.

Secret Six has been collected in six trade paperbacks, listed in chronological order for your ease, since I am unsure if they are numbered on the spines: Unhinged, Depths, Danse Macabre, Cat's in the Cradle, The Reptile Brain, The Darkest House. But to get the full story, you should start with the trade of Villains United, followed by the first Secret Six mini-series Six Degrees of Devastation, and the Birds of Prey arc featuring the Six, Dead of Winter.