Greetings from Battleworld: Secret Wars Week 8

X-Men ’92 #1

Story: Chris Sims and Chad Bowers

Art: Scott Koblish and Matt Milla

I’ve liked a lot of the titles connected to Secret Wars so far: the main book, Thors, MODOK: Assassin, Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars, to name a few.

I LOVE this series.

Granted, as someone who came of age in the 1990s, I’m the target market for this book, which is based on the Fox Saturday morning cartoon that ran from 1992-97.

Everything about X-Men ’92 captures the show’s essence perfectly: The lack of color gradients, Cyclops’ abject refusal to have fun, Wolverine’s action-hero one-liners, Gambit’s creepy Cajun come-ons, Rogue’s Southern charm, Storm’s need to enter into histrionics every time she uses her powers, Beast’s insistence on quoting Shakespeare, the way telepaths use their powers and then scream and pass out, Jubilee’s front-and-center status, the use of lesser X-characters as background decoration, the never-evolving Sentinels, the meddling of Basic Standards and Practices, etc. There’s also laser tag.

It helps that the book is written by a guy who spent months cataloging the show’s every eccentricity for an online audience. It helps even more that the book is drawn by an artist known for illustrating flashback issues of Deadpool in Marvel’s past house styles.

Fitting, given all that, that the book’s antagonist is perhaps the most decidedly un-’90s X-villain: Cassandra Nova, created by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely at the dawn of the following decade. Nova’s cartoon-verse origin is not the same as Morrison’s, but equally as convoluted: She’s a clone of Charles Xavier created by Apocalypse that ends up serving as a vessel for the Shadow King. And she wants to force peace through mind-control. “The era of the extreme is over,” she says, in dialogue that could not be veiled more thinly. “The world that’s coming deserves a better class of mutant, one that isn’t burdened by all those pouches filled with aggression and inner turmoil.”

How does all this tie in to Secret Wars? Westchester is its own domain of Battleworld, ruled by Baron Kelly, aka Sen. Robert Kelly (aaka President Kelly in the cartoon), who wears a cloak over his suit and flies around on a chariot pulled by Warwolves from the early issues of Excalibur. That’s about it, really.

Easter egg: Look for cameos by Rachel Edidin and Miles Stokes, the hosts of the excellent and authoritative Rachel & Miles X-plain the X-Men podcast. Sims is a friend of and past guest on the show, and I could hear his pleased-with-himself fanboy giggle in my head as I read this book.

In fact, for more ’90s X-Men fun, check out the second most recent episode of X-plain the X-Men, in which the hosts play a tabletop game based on the cartoon, voices and all.

 MODOK: Assassin #2

Story: Christopher Yost

Art: Amilcar Pinna, Terry Pallott, Ed Tadeo and Rachelle Rosenberg

MODOK is the best at what he does, until he finds a woman who can give his swelled head a [redacted for poor joke quality].

The second issue of the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing’s adventures in Killville is a protracted misunderstanding/fight scene, as the Angela-Thor that fell into his domain at the end of the first issue comes to and the first thing she sees is one of Jack Kirby’s most famous grotesqueries.

And that grotesquery is in love. So much so that he can barely focus to counter Angela’s thrusts and parries with his arsenal of guns, bombs and chainsaws. It’s adorable really, especially when the creative team plays up the fact that his little T-Rex hands can’t reach his nose to wipe the blood off it or help him get up under his own power, like a homicidal turtle stuck on its back.

Meantime, the three leaders of the Assassins Guild – Wilson Fisk, Viper and the Shroud – are investigating Bullseye’s murder, and all the evidence points to ol’ bighead.

As the book closes, there are new mysteries to be solved. What has made Angela-Thor unworthy of wielding her hammer? And how will she and MODOK fare against the murderer’s row of, well, murderers the Assassins Guild is about to send their way? Stay tuned.

Infinity Gauntlet #2
Story: Dustin Weaver & Gerry Duggan
Art: Dustin Weaver

Even on a world overrun by giant bugs, family is important. After last issue's harrowing escape from Annihilation bugs, series narrator Anwen has been reunited with her mother, Eve, and they have found the rest of their family. Not having time to mourn her grandfather, who gave his life to save her, Anwen is immediately given a Nova uniform and pressed into service by her mother, along with the rest of her family. I like that, despite being overjoyed that they're together again, Menzin, Anwen's dad, doesn't immediately think this is a good idea, giving his daughters suits of alien armor and preparing to fight the bugs. Of course, with how dangerous the world is, it winds up having to be that way, and Fayne, Anwen's little sister, and their dog Zigzag, also get Nova uniforms and are ready as the bugs attack. Things seem to be going badly until Eve finds out her daughter has found the Mind Stone (something I still have a hard time typing. They're the Infinity Gems to me and always will be), which she uses to wipe out the bugs that are attacking. It's clear that the war has had an impact on Eve, and that the stones are what she came back to Earth for. She's glad to have the one stone, but isn't as happy to find the Nova base has been destroyed and the Stone they already had is gone from the Nova Gauntlet. Here's one of those things that has become sort of canon in recent years and I want to address. There's a good explanation as to why a Nova Gauntlet needed to be created to harness the gems for a normal mortal, but I find it odd that many recent writers make the Infinity Gauntlet an artifact of its own, when it was originally just the glove Thanos was wearing as he gathered the gems. Back to the actual issue, with the main story of the family over for the issue, we get to see the other players in this cosmic drama. We see who stole the Stone, and it's not Thanos. It's Star-Lord and Gamora, both of whom are considerably more mercenary than we are used to seeing them. And after a jump into the future where we see Thanos fighting Anwen, we return to the present with the future Thanos to see him meet his present self, and Thanos learns the last person you should trust is Thanos, even if that's you. Infinity Gauntlet continues to be a well rendered character piece, sort of a cosmic Walking Dead, with gorgeous art from Dustin Weaver. This issue starts moving the plot out of just a family drama into something more cosmic, and I hope that the character driven aspect doesn't get lost as the cosmic amps up.

Where Monsters Dwell #2
Story: Garth Ennis
Art: Russel Braun

You know that story where two very different people come together in hardship and find some common ground to succeed? The modern version of which comes from the novel/movie The African Queen and is a plot device done a million times in mainstream comics? Yeah, this doesn't seem to be shaping up to be that. Stuck together in a land that time forgot, Where Monsters Dwell protagonists airman Karl Kaufmann (The Phantom Eagle) and lady who I'm pretty sure is a spy or secret agent of some kind Clementine Franklin-Cox hate each other. HATE. And for good reason. Kaufmann is a sleaze. Not a Han Solo charming rogue, but an honest to God crappy person. He flat out says he came back from war expecting people to worship him, but women who didn't drop to their knees to do that him make sick. And when he propositions Clementine and she spurns him, he says that if things got complicated, she could always get an abortion. Garth Ennis tends to write characters in moral shades of grey to pitch black, with little to no white, and boy howdy if he wants us to hope the dinosaurs eat Kaufmann, he's succeeding. I can't say Ennis is failing at characterization, because we see Kaufmann as exactly what he is. I do want to know more Clementine, as I'm still not exactly sure what her game is. Last issue, I thought she planned to go to this dinosaur land, but it's now clear she didn't, so I'm not sure what her deal is. I do have to say, though, that Russel Braun is the star of this show. Between his drawings of natives, of the jungles, of crocodiles, and of dinosaurs (particularly a gorgeous T-Rex devouring said natives), you are completely drawn into this world. And as with the previous issue, there is no indication whatsoever that this takes place on Battleworld or has anything to do with Secret Wars, so if you're feeling a little Battleworld fatigue, this might be a place to stop by and rest before re-entering a world of Doom.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 6/10

(All Star) Section 8 #1

Story: Garth Ennis

Art: John McCrea

Garth Ennis hates superheroes. If you've ever read his Marvel Knight Punisher, Hitman, and especially The Boys, this shouldn't surprise you. So it was surprising to see DC give him a shot to resurrect his team, Section 8, from the pages of Hitman. These are superheroes so bad and creepy they make the Inferior Five and the Great Lakes Avengers look like the JLA or the Avengers. And it's not a comic for everyone. If last week's Bizarro and Bat-Mite were all ages, comic, this one is the opposite. It's dark, biting, and it's sense of humor runs to, well, the kind of humor Garth Ennis comic usually have, with bodily fluids flying. But if you like Garth Ennis deconstructing super heroes, this is right in line with what you expect. We see what happened to Six Pack, the drunkest hero ever, after the end of Hitman (Ennis seems to be ignoring any and all reboots so that the events of Hitman still occurred). And after an accident returns his memories, he goes about reassembling his team, despite six of the remaining seven members being dead. The new Section 8 might even be weirder than the previous, with new members like Guts, who seems to be just guts, and Powertool, as well as a new version of Dogwelder (his name says it all), and Bueno Excellente, the less said about on a family friendly blog the better. With seven members in place, Six Pack needs to find an eighth, and so when the Batmobile stops outside, he decides to recruit Batman. And as you might imagine, Batman isn't even noticing. What does happen, in a montage featuring art homages from Batman through the ages, is Batman gets a parking ticket, and winds up saying something that makes him look like a pretty big racist. Whether this is a specific shot at Batman as the ultimate example of the white man as superhero, or just something Ennis thought would be funny, I'm not sure, but it works. All Star Section 8 isn't going to be for everyone, but it's definitely right in line with the wackier issues of Hitman, with Garth Ennis writing at his broadest, and is enjoyable for that if nothing else.

Batman #41
Story: Scott Snyder
Art: Greg Capullo

The new era of Batman begins, and if this issue is any indication, it will be a good era for as long as it lasts (anyone really think Bruce won't be back?). I'm going to be be pretty open about the new Batman's identity, since it's been common knowledge since Free Comic Book Day. Jim Gordon makes his debut as Batman this issue (well, this issue or this week's issue of Detective Comics or Batman/Superman, depending on which order you read them, though I'd suggest reading this one first), and the issue moves back and forth through time, watching Gordon both in action as Batman and seeing how he came to the decision to become the new Batman. We see both Geri Powers, CEO of Powers Industries (an ominous name if you're at all familiar with Batman Beyond), working to convince Gordon, while Harvey Bullock tries to talk him out of it. Snyder has a great feel for Gordon, and has since "The Black Mirror," his run on Detective Comics, and so if anyone is going to really hit it out of the park with Gordon as Batman, it's going to be Snyder. The issue serves to really set the status quo, about how Batman now relates to the GCPD, and exactly what Gordon's support structure is. We meet his two tech and tactical helpers, Daryl Gutierrez on tech and Julia "Perry" on tactical, If you read Batman: Eternal or "Endgame," you know that last name is a pseudonym, and it's smart that the old Bat allies now have an inside woman. The actual case involves a giant energy being wreaking havoc on Gotham's Little Cuba. It not only allows Gordon to show off the power of his new robo suit, but it also allows him to use his cop brain to figure out exactly what's going on. It was a good choice of case, allowing the reader to really see everything that Jim can do. Aside from all that, there are a couple nice fan moments in the issue. A demonstration of the Bat armor's ability to shift color is a great moment for anyone who knows his Batman history, seeing different eras represented in those color schemes. There is an acknowledgement of how bunny-like the armor looks, and I wonder if that was written when the armor was created, or since there was so much time, if ti was inserted to point out to fans that they are heard. I also rather liked Gordon's under armor costume; it looks like one of the better action figure Batman variants we get in all sorts of toy lines. The first and last page each give hints at upcoming stories in the book, the first discussing new elements discovered that exist under Gotham for only moments, and the last that may feature the return of a character thought dead. Snyder knows how to structure a story, and so I'm counting on these hints paying out over the next few issues in exciting ways. Batman might be dead for now, but this new Batman is worth watching.

Gotham Academy #7
Story: Becky Cloonan & Brenden Fletcher
Art: Mingjue Helen Chen

On the other end of the Bat title spectrum form the much changed Batman is Gotham Academy, which picks up right where it left off and doesn't miss a beat. This issue is a fun one-off, narrated by the super excited Maps Mizoguchi. Maps has been the sidekick/best friend of series lead Olive Silverlock, but Olive is away this issue, so it's Maps's time to shine, hanging out with new student Damian Wayne. But this is Gotham Academy, so it's not like it's going to be a simple event. No, Maps finds out the quill pen she took from the headmaster's office in issue five has magical properties (I love how such a little moment comes back around to pay off). And of course, by writing her name next to Damian's in her journal, she has bound them together. Literally. Maps and Damian spend most of the issue holding hands and unable to let go. It's adorable, especially when you contrast the hyper-bubbly Maps with the hyper-grumpy Damian. It's a great odd couple dynamic, and I wish we could have gotten more of it. It's unsurprising, since Damian's new title has him travelling the world, that he wasn't going to be sticking around, but I wish we could have seen more. The plot of the issue revolves around Damian and Maps attempting to get the quill back from a raven that stole it to undo the curse, all the while being attacked by Maps's friends who seem to be possessed. Along the way they encounter Professor MacPherson, the friendly history teacher, who recounts a story of Batman in Scotland that I thought was a summary of Alan Grant and Frank Quitely's one-shot The Scottish Connection, although I wasn't able to dig up my copy to confirm, and is in fact World's Finest #225, which I now have to track down (thanks to Brendan Fletcher for the correction). I love Cloonan and Fletcher's handle on Batman history, using things like that one shot and cameos from different eras to make this book feel like a natural fit to the universe. Another of those cameo characters, Bookworm, pops up again as the English teacher, and he clearly knows more about what's going on than a normal teacher would. I also absolutely love how Maps swoons over every gadget Damian happens to have, from his grappling gun to a Batarang; she has quickly become my favorite character in the book. In the end., Damian leaves, but only after doing something noble to help Maps, which is in character for the evolved Damian. Oh, and on a sidenote, how has there never been a Batman villain themed around The Raven?  It seems such a natural fit. Food for thought, creators.

Harrow County #2
Story: Cullen Bunn
Art: Tyler Crook

Harow County #1 came out on one of those weeks I wasn't able to get reviews up, which is a shame, since it was a great first issue, but I'm looking to remedy that omission with this review of issue two. A downhome horror comic, Harrow County stars Emmy, a young girl who just turned eighteen, and lives out on a farm with her father. But there are spooky things in the woods around her house, as evidenced in this issue by Emmy walking out of the woods with a human skin with no body. She realizes that it's a "haint" an object that is possessed by a spirit, one that might have lived, might be alive, or never lived in any way we understand. Emmy is curious about the haint, so folds it and hides it in her bedroom. The haint is possibly the thing that saves her as it awakens her as the locals, including her father, gather at the withered hanging tree near her house to discuss things in the dead of night, and Emmy gets a vision of what was in the tree, and knows to flee before the townsfolk come for her. As she runs into the woods, she encounters her friend Bernice, who had come to try to save Emmy, and they wind up wandering into an ancient potter's field, where things only get worse. This is far from Cullen Bunn's first touch of horror, as his weird Western, The Sixth Gun, and his viking monster comic, Helheim, both are more than tinged with horror and monsters. But this is deep dive into atmosphere, which is the thing that makes for really good horror in my opinion. The dialogue and narration is ominous, and contrasts nicely with how innocent and sheltered Emmy is. And this atmosphere could not be better fostered by Tyler Crook, who has officially ascended into the elite list of artists I will follow wherever they go. From the high concept, bigger than life horror of B.P.R.D. to this more domestic horror, Crook knows how to lay out of panel and page that ratchets up the tension in a horror comic. Add in a couple text pages about a ghost story Bunn's father told him as a kid and a one page story of another horror in Harrow County, and you have my favorite horror ongoing of the year hands down. I try not to compliment a comic be referencing another, but if you're missing Scott Snyder and Jock's Wytches while it's on hiatus, Harrow County is the perfect comic to keep you up at night.

Starfire #1
Story: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti
Art: Emanuela Lupacchino

Starfire is a hard character to write, I think. Otherwise, we wouldn't get so many wildly divergent versions of the character. This new ongoing takes Starfire and drops her in a new setting with a new cast, and writers Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti set about using the same whimsical style they used on Harley Quinn in her title to give us a different Starfire than the one in the early New 52 books, and it's one I have already fallen in love with. It's actually similar to the Teen Titans animated version, this naive alien princess on a strange world, with a bit of a temper and a big heart. Deciding to live in Key West, Kori is shown around by local sheriff Stella Gomez, who serves as a reader proxy in getting to know her. We get commentary on Kori's... unique fashion sense, we see that she doesn't exactly get human language, in the sense that nuance and sarcasm are lost on her. We also see just how much Kori empathizes with others, as she cries when Stella mentions her beloved grandmother who had died. I'm sure this Starfire has the same warrior's heart she always has, but it's nice that she also has such warmth within. The issue also introduces Stella's brother, Sol, in mourning for the love of his life who he lost in a storm two years prior, Boone, the handyman of the trailer park where Kori is renting a trailer as temporary lodging, Boone's grandmother, who runs the trailer park, and Burtie, grandma's pet parakeet. One of the standout aspects of Harley Quinn is it's unusual and well developed supporting cast, and it's nice to see a similar cast, if not one as actively bizarre, being built here. Another charming aspect of the issue is the thought bubbles that Kori has. They're little images that pop up, usually demonstrating a literal interpretation of human slang; three big ones is three elephant, horny as an alley cat is a literal horned cat. It reminds me of early issues of Impulse from the 90s, where a similar trope was used, and it still works today. Other than breaking up a bar fight that broke out between two jerks who were both coming on to her, there's no violence or action in the issue, which is a good choice, allowing the story to stay character focused. I was also very happy to see that, while Conner and Palmiotti are up front about Kori's nature as a physical being who enjoys touching and being touched, they do it without making her either overly-promiscuous or slut-shaming her, which isn't unexpected if you've read Harley's title (the new issue of which, by the way, came out this week as well and was also excellent). Add in stunning art from Emanuela Lupacchino that finds a way to make Kori look gorgeous but not oversexed, and you have a fun book that is great for fans of Starfire and the Teen Titans in any of their incarnations.

Greetings from Battleworld: Secret Wars Week 4

Hello all, Matt here, and welcome to our first official Greetings from Battleworld, weekly Secret Wars reviews. Dan wanted to focus on Secret Wars reviews for a while, and so we figured, instead of cramming them in with Monday's reviews, we'd give you two days of reviews a week for a while. Each week, Dan and I will hit the highlights from Battleworld. This week, we start with two from Dan, MODOK: Assassin and Inferno, and then two from me, Infinity Gauntlet and Where Monsters Dwell. This isn't going to be comprehensive, since Marvel is releasing six to ten Secret Wars titles a week, and will probably range from two to five a week of the best books Marvel will be doing. Enjoy!

MODOK: Assassin #1

Story: Christopher Yost

Art: Amilcar Pinna, Terry Pallot and Rachelle Rosenberg

The gleeful assassin is by no means a new character type – see the Joker, Bullseye, Deadpool, et al – but the gleeful assassin who’s part robot and can transform the chair that supports his giant noggin into a sweet purple roadster, well, that’s certainly one way to turn a convention on its, um, giant noggin.

MODOK: Assassin is part-noir, part spiritual fill-in for the dearly departed Deadpool. Our hero, the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, cruises the streets of the Battleworld domain of Killville, taking out targets on the orders of the Assassins Guild and largely anyone else he feels like, occasionally running afoul of the domain’s ruler, the Dr. Strange villain Baron Mordo.

As is a running theme of many of the Secret Wars books, characters concern themselves with cross-border breaches that could earn the wrath of God Emporer Doom (GED for short), and the issue ends with the appearance of a thing that’s familiar to the reader but not to the protagonist, specifically a Thor that appears to be Angela.

Writer Chris Yost starts the body count ticking early in this series, killing off three major Marvel characters – one on orders, one out of spite, and one just for funsies. Yost also does a great job drawing a map for the reader, as MODOK narrates his way across Killville and describes the surrounding territories, including the Monarchy of M, 2099 (“a city drowning in temporal stupidity”), and a territory lousy with Sentinels. Oh, MODOK kills some of those, too.

Amilcar Pinna gets MODOK’s proportions perfectly, from the enormity of his head to the dangliness of his arms and legs to the cartoonlike assortment of bladed and missile-launching weapons protruding from his body. It’s a violent book, but it’s a fun book. And while it doesn’t feel like required reading for Secret Wars, it’s a great palate-cleanser for the weight of Hickman and Ribic’s main book.

Inferno #1

Story: Dennis Hopeless

Art: Javier Garron

Inferno feels less like a Secret Wars book and more like a What If or one of DC’s Convergence titles. It’s one of a few books that visit classic X-Men storylines (See also X-Tinction Agenda, Old Man Logan, Years of Future Past, Age of Apocalypse, House of M) and show geezers like me the X-Men as we remember them, with a little twisting of the timeline for good measure.

In this story, Manhattan fell to the demons of Limbo, despite the X-Men’s best efforts. Once a year, Cyclops – the domain’s baron – permits Colossus to lead a raid on the Empire State Building in an attempt to retrieve his sister, Illyana, who has been fully consumed by her demon Darkchild persona. Once a year, he fails, and any X-Men who go with him die or are crippled.

It’s a pretty grimdark premise, but what makes this book work is watching the X-Men interact like the world isn’t burning all around them. Colossus finds love and support in Domino and friendship in characters like Nightcrawler and Boom-Boom. They quip (Kurt, to a demon: “My name is Kurt Wagner. You remind me of my father. Prepare to die”). They take out lesser X-villains like Pyro and Omega Red. We even get to see a variation on the old X-Club science team, with Beast, Forge and Dr. Nemesis.

And yeah, then there’s some more injuries and deaths and stuff, but it’s an alternate-reality X-story, so is that really a surprise?

Where Monsters Dwell #1
Story: Garth Ennis
Art: Russel Braun

I didn't expect to see a comic from the team that brought us most of the back half of The Boys doing a crossover comic for Marvel at any point, well, ever. Garth Ennis has in the past shown little but contempt for the tropes of mainstream superheroes in general, and his crossover issues of titles he's written have shown their share of irreverence. That's why it should surprise no one that this comic has absolutely nothing to do with Secret Wars. Other than being set on Battleworld, which isn't mentioned or referenced in anything but the text page at the beginning of the issue, this could be a post World War I monster/weird war comic that takes place in the regular Marvel Universe or be creator owned if Ennis wanted to change some names. That's not a dig; it's a statement of fact. As a matter of fact, the comic is a lot of fun.

The opening scene is there not for plot but for pure character, to establish just what kind of a sleaze our lead, Karl Kaufmann (The Phantom Eagle, a pre-existing, if obscure, Marvel character), is; he has gotten the princess of a tribe pregnant and, after swearing he'll talk to her father, flies off. When he arrives back at his airfield, it's even more clear as he is not only broke and clearly running out of credit with people who he's friendly with, but he has a guy called, "No-Balls" (A Garth Ennis character if I've ever heard one), after him because he's responsible for his nominative condition. And when he's seemingly able to con the seemingly naive Clementine Franklin-Cox into paying him to fly her to meet the ship she needs to make, well, it's a way to escape No-Balls and his men. Only Clementine is nowhere near as naive as she seems, and pretty soon there are pterosaurs flying by, machine guns being fired, planes crashing, and more dinosaurs.

Russell Braun draws the heck out of both the WWI era planes and the dinosaurs, and my only complaint is that there weren't more dinosaurs, something I think will be remedied in upcoming issues.

Garth Ennis writes in a couple of different modes, and while this starts out of the gate as pure fun Ennis, like his Marvel Knights Punisher and some of the more off-the-wall issues of Hitman or The Boys, never get too complacent in that; Ennis can turn on a dime and bring the emotional resonance. And that would be great, but I just want more dinosaurs.

Infinity Gauntlet #1
Story: Dustin Weaver and Gerry Duggan
Art: Dustin Weaver

If you're going into the first issue of The Infinity Gauntlet expecting god-like characters and the main cosmic heroes of the original epic, which I have written about a time or two, I'd suggest you reset your expectations before you read this issue. While Thanos has a couple cameos in here, this is not a comic that follows up the original series. As a matter of fact, it seems to follow up Annihilation more than Infinity Gauntlet, as this region of Battleworld is overrun by the bugs of the Annihilation Wave. We don't have a lot of details about what happened, but it's clear the Nova Corps called Earth for backup against the Wave and lost. Now, our lead are a family trying to survive in a world where man is no longer the alpha predator. The issue, narrated by a young woman named Anwen, follows her, her father, her sister, and her grandfather, as well as their dog, as they make their way through this world. We find out her mother was a Nova recruit who never made it back from the battle with the bugs. It's great character work, as we get to know each of these characters in a few short pages, and care about them when the bugs find them. Weaver's art is astounding; I liked his work on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, but he's grown in leaps and bound between then and now. The issue ends with a reunion and a tease of exactly what the Infinity Gauntlet and gens have to do with the story. While this is clearly a first issue with a good amount of set-up, it's handled well, and any comic that can introduce that many new characters and get you invested is one worth checking out.

An Annual Event: A History of Crossover Events in DC Comics Part 3

Welcome back to our final installment of the history of events in DC Comics. This final installment talks about the crossovers and theme years of the Annuals, the oversized comics that were published, obviously, once a year. Originally, this was done to get around certain publishing and postal regulations about magazines, but over the years, as these rules were relaxed and books could come out more than once a month, the annual faded from prominence. Annuals used to be a big deal, especially over at Marvel. Many landmarks happened in those massive Stan Lee-era annuals. The Sinister Six made it's first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, and Reed and Sue got married in Fantastic Four Annual #3 While I can't recall any such huge events in DC Comics annuals, you still got Alan Moore writing Batman in Batman Annual #11 and Superman in Superman Annual #11, so there are some pretty great stories in those earlier annuals.

But in 1991, DC tried to get some extra buzz going on their annuals. Marvel had been doing company crossovers in their annuals for a few years, and so DC decided to give it a try with...

Armageddon 2001, bookends (issues at the beginning and end of the series, with the crossovers doing the heavy lifting in the middle) written by Archie Goodwin and with art by Dan Jurgens, was a classic sci-fi dystopia story. In the year 2030 the world is ruled by Monarch, an armor clad conqueror who is said to once have been a great superhero who turned on his own, and wiped them all out in the year 2001. Matthew Ryder, a scientist in that time, travels back in time to find out who Monarch was and to stop him from becoming the despot. Transformed into a being of pure time energy called Waverider, he arrives in 1991 and goes about encountering as many heroes as he can, and by touching them, he sees their possible futures.

This is a really fun conceit, as it allows for all these stories of the heroes in the future, What If? or Elseworlds type stories, but they have a little more resonance because they are presented as actual possible futures. Of course, Waverider learns the classic time travel trope that if you interact with the past it can change things, so he has to touch some (more popular) heroes multiple times to see if he's actually created Monarch. The ending of the crossover is legendary, as the original ending, that Captain Atom was Monarch, was leaked, and so a quick change was made to make the much less logical ending that Hawk of Hawk & Dove was in fact Monarch. A great event was somewhat spoiled by this quick change, but it's still my favorite full scale annual crossover.

Some of the annuals are really solid stories. Superman Annual #3 is one of the early examples in the Modern Age of a trope that's gotten stale now, where Superman is corrupted and has to be stopped. Since it's 1991, it's one of the first comics to riff on the classic conclusion of Dark Knight Returns, inverting the final battle between Superman and Batman. Justice League America Annual #5 steps back from the darkness of the Breakdown story happening at the time to tell a series of very funny vignettes. New Titans Annual #7 introduced a team of Titans from the future who came back in time later to form the Team Titans, which must have seemed like a good idea at the time. And Flash Annual #5 tells the story of Wally West coming out of retirement and witness protection to save his son from old enemies in a story written by a fresh young writer named Mark Waid a year before his legendary run on The Flash would begin.

The 1992 annual event was Eclipso: The Darkness Within, bookends written by Robert Loren Fleming and Keith Giffen with art from Bart Sears. This story took Eclipso, a C-List villain from 60s villain who was the Hyde to solar scientist Bruce Gordon's Jekyll, and made him a world beater by revealing he's not just Gordon's dark side, but is in fact an ancient vengeance god who has been trapped on the dark side of the moon in a castle for centuries, and is now making a play for his freedom. To do this, the black diamonds that hold Eclipso's earthly essence begin to posses and control super beings so Eclipso can gather an army.

This series gives a lot of classic hero on hero action, as various heroes and their allies become possessed by black diamonds. The black diamonds in some cases don't possess characters but create monsters made of the anger of the holder. So if you ever wanted to watch Jim Gordon vomit up a smoke monster to go kill the Joker, you can check out Detective Comics Annual #5. I'm being glib, but it's actually a solid event, and Eclipso is made into a really solid threat.

There was also some very distinct fallout from this series. Eclipso remains a major part of the DC Universe to today, having an ongoing that spun out of this series that had some ripples. That series brought Amanda Waller back from limbo, was an early example of a DC trend where a squad of B- and C-list heroes raided Eclipso's fortress and were mercilessly wiped out, and had a great two part story in issues seven and eight where Eclipso fought Sherlock Holmes in Victorian London. He showed up after that series in John Ostarnder's The Spectre, Geoff Johns's run on JSA, and James Robinson's run on Justice League of America. He has appeared in a few places in the New 52 as well. The series also seemingly killed off Will Payton, the sixth Starman, setting the stage for Jack Knight to take the name, and making the quest for what really happened to Payton a key point on James Robinson's seminal Starman.

Bloodlines was... well, not either of these previous two events. Large, spinal fluid sucking aliens arrive on Earth and begun feeding on the populace. If you happen to survive the encounter, you get superpowers. Seemingly random powers; it's not a consistent set. This was an attempt to create a batch of popular new characters. It did not succeed in that. Instead of having bookends like the previous two events, Bloodlines culminated in a two issue mini-series called Bloodbath, written by Dan Raspler with art by Chuck Wotjkiewicz and Sal Velutto, where these New Blood heroes joined the other DC heroes to stop the parasites.

Of the 27 annuals, six individual titles were spun off, as well as a team called Blood Pack. Most of these were mini-series, and of the three ongoings, two ended pretty quickly. The only real breakout success was Hitman, the irreverent story of Tommy Monaghan,written by Garth Ennis and drawn by John McCrea, who debuted in Demon Annual #2, and whose series ran 60 issues plus an annual and some specials. Some of these characters, like Flash Annual #6 debut Argus, were pretty decent characters, but it seemed they couldn't escape the Bloodlines stigma. One favorite Bloodlines moment is in Hitman #1,000,000, a tie-in to DC One Million, where Tommy is pulled into the far future by hero fanboys, where he confronts Gunfire 1,000,000, the long distant inheritor of the title of a New Blood hero who could turn anything he touched into an energy or explosive weapon, who Tommy shoots and embarrasses, and who dies from inadvertently turning first his medpack into an explosive, and then, well, let's say his last words are, "Oh my God, I turned my ass into a hand-grenade--" Garth Ennis, everybody.

After Bloodlines less than stellar success, DC changed it's tactic. Instead of going with full on crossovers, it's annuals started having themes. The first years of themed annuals were all Elseworlds tales, where the heroes of the books were put in unusual settings and time periods. As with a lot of Elseworlds stories, these were hit and miss, but there were some highlights. Detective Comics Annual #7, from Chuck Dixon and Enrique Alcatena, told of Leatherwing, Batman as a privateer fighting a pirate version of Joker. This was actually a world adapted by Grant Morrison as part of the 52 Earths in Multiversity. Karl Kesel told a two part stories of the DC heroes in a dystopian future in Adventures of Superman Annual #6 and Superboy Annual #1. And the modern Batman learns he had a predecessor in Renaissance Italy in a story involving Leonardo da Vinci in Batman Annual #18.

Skipping a bit ahead, 1997 annuals were also Elseworlds themed, this time specifically called "Legends of the Dead Earth" which all take place in the far distant future where the heroes are legends in the same way the Greek heroes are to us, and we see some very interesting variants on classic themes and heroes, some very magical, some very sci-fi. The one that sticks out in my head is Aquaman Annual #2, where Peter David tells the story of two men meeting and sharing their conflicting versions of the history of Aquaman, only to reveal they both believe themselves to be his direct descendant and begin fighting, thus continuing the brother versus brother theme that pervaded David's entire Aquaman run from Atlantis Chronicles onward.

The year in between the two Elseworlds themes was for "Year One" annuals. This was a somewhat perplexing choice, as some heroes had long established early years (like Superman in John Byrne's Man of Steel, Batman in Batman: Year One, and Flash in Mark Waid's first arc on Flash called "Born to Run"), while many others had origins retold less than two years earlier in the zero issues that followed Zero Hour. But what this allowed was for the creators to get, well, creative. Mark Waid spent time in his annual focusing not on Wally West's first year as a hero, but his first year as the Flash after Barry Allen's death. Each Batman annual focused on the first year of a particular villain. The Superman annuals focused on various firsts for Superman, like his first trip into space and his first confrontation with magic.

But some annuals stretch farther to make for substantive changes. Since we watched Jean-Paul Valley become Azrael, Azrael Annual #1 focused on Jean-Paul's father, the previous Azrael, and fleshed out a character who only appeared on a few pages before this. The Superboy Annual revealed that Paul Westfield, the evil director of Project Cadmus, was in fact the human half of Superboy's DNA (later retconned by Geoff Johns to be Lex Luthor. Superboy probably should have been happier when he thought it was Westfield). And New Titans Annual #11 tried to clear up some of the time travel hi-jinks left over from Zero Hour concerning team members Terra and Mirage.

DC's final year of full Annual themes was Pulp Heores in 1998. Each of these annuals had a painted cover reminiscent of classic pulps and with pulp-like titles running down the left side of the cover (many drawn from old DC anthology titles), and a theme that went with that painted cover and title. Thus you got lots of adventure, detective, and western themed stories. Again, while most of these are not major continuity intense stories, they were a ton of fun. Hitman Annual #1 was "Weird Western Tales" and had a classic standoff tales with Tommy and his allies against a gang. Aquaman Annual #3 was "Suspence Detective" and has a Peter David story narrated like an old detective pulp, and has a very funny riff on Aquaman's old power limitation that he would die if he was out of the water for more than exactly one hour. Starman Annual #2, pictured above, was slightly different, as Jack Knight learns about the past love affairs of his friends and family as he has problems with his girlfriend, Sadie, and ends with a major revelation that would change the direction of the series.

The next three years had much smaller annual events. "Ghosts" and "JLApe" both only involved annuals for the big seven Justice Leaguers and the annual for JLA. The former featured the Justice League haunted by the spirits of people whose deaths they felt responsible for, so kind of a downer. The latter, though, featured the League fighting, and getting turned into, apes in a plot by Gorilla Grodd, so that was monumentally fun. The following year, 2000, was a series of Annuals called "Planet DC" that again tried to introduce new heroes, this time all from different nations. Most never appeared again.

Our final stop on this whirlwind tour is a bit more of a stretch. In 2001, DC started an event called Our Worlds at War, where a being called Imperiex was on his way to destroy Earth, and if he did so, it would bring about the end of all reality in a massive wave off entropy. The core of the series ran through the four Superman titles over the course of three months, with various other titles, including Batman and Young Justice, tying in. As there was no core mini-series, I left this out of the rundown of previous events, but thinking about it, I realized something. Many of the crossovers were oversized one-shots released over the course of those three summer months showing how the war effected other heroes. And that made me realize that those one-shots took the place of annuals that year, so I figured I'd include Our Worlds at War here.

Our Worlds at War was frankly kind of a mess. Imperiex's power set was nebulous, but so powerful that Darkseid actually teamed up with the heroes of Earth. Superman, the title that the series spun out of and was one of the core books of the event, had a narrative device where speeches by American presidents served as narration throughout, and cluttered up the pages on gorgeous Ed McGuiness art. And nearly all the character deaths and fallout, and there was quite a bit, was reversed almost immediately. While there was some very cool art and great space battles, this remains one of the more forgettable and somber events comics from DC.

In recent years, DC went back to publishing annuals, but kept them more tied to their parent titles, letting them wrap up big storylines or providing background to tie into the events of the ongoing. Thus the annual event and theme faded into the past, left for people like me to comment on in posts like this.

And that's it for our survey of event comics and the history of DC Comics. I hope you enjoyed it. But I hear some of you saying, "What about Marvel? Secret Wars is coming up and there have been plenty of Marvel events that are tying into that." Well to paraphrase someone intimately related to Marvel Comics, have no fear Matt Signal faithful! Next week, Dan Grote will begin a series of articles directly addressing Marvel crossovers (with me stepping in for one on the cosmic corner of the MU). So stay tuned for more.

DC Comics New Series Announcements Make for Some Good News on a Friday.

So, I go onto the internet this morning, and what do I see? A whole slew of new DC titles announced! I'm going to put on hold what I normally would do on Friday so I can gather the list here and comment on the books I'm excited for, which look like quite a few of them. The list has been confirmed over a couple sites, so I feel safe running with it.

Bat-Mite by writer Dan Jurgens and artist Corin Howell

I love Bat-Mite. That might be an unpopular opinion, but when you look at Alan Grant's amusing Dark Mite stories from the 90s, Grant Morrison's darker take from his run on Batman, and Paul Reubens's bonkers portrayal of the character on Batman: The Brave and the Bold, you can see there's potential for something fun in Batman's universe.

Batman Beyond by writer Dan Jurgens and artist Bernard Chang

New 52: Futures End has turned out to be a far better series than I had anticipated, and part of that has been its use of Terry McGinnis. I'm not entirely sold on him interacting with the DCU, but that series has made me curious to see what could happen. I don't know exactly how this series will spin out of Futures End, whether Terry will arrive in the present, still be five years in the future, or back to his own time, and what that will look like, but I'm curious enough to check it out.

Bizzaro by writer Heath Corson and artist Gustavo Duarte

Black Canary by writer Brenden Fletcher and artist Annie Wu

The new run on Batgirl has been very well received, and I've enjoyed it for the most part. Barbara as a modern 20-something wasn't on my list of things to expect, and I was already acting like I was in my 30s in my 20s, so her experience doesn't speak to me as much, but it's smart and well written. The main surprise for me was the surly, grouchy Black Canary as supporting cast member, and how much I like Fletcher and Cloonan's take on her. The idea of Black Canary as the singer in a band is so natural an idea, I'm shocked no one has done it before, and making Black Canary an on the road, rock n roll action superhero comic is brilliant. Annie Wu's art on the Kate Bishop Hawkeye issues were gorgeous and gritty, so I think she's a perfect fit for the title.

Constantine: The Hellblazer by Ming Doyle and Riley Rossmo

I never felt like Constantine worked in DC's house art style, so Riley Rossmo, one of the kings of modern horror/monster/action comics (Proof, Green Wake, Bedlam, Rasputin) drawing Constantine? Sign me up.

Cyborg by writer David L. Walker and artists Ivan Reis and Joe Prado

This one is a long time coming. A Cyborg monthly has felt like a gimme since his addition to the Justice League in the post-Flashpoint world. It feels like DC is really giving this a push, by putting one of it's A-List artists on the book. And getting an African American writer for the title will help with DC's creator diversity issues. I'm not familiar with Walker's work, but I'm willing to see what he'll do with Vic.

Dark Universe by writer James Tynion IV and artist Ming Doyle

Doomed by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Javier Fernandez

Dr. Fate by writer Paul Levitz and artist Sonny Liew

Earth 2: Society by writer Daniel H. Wilson and artist Jorge Jimenez

Green Lantern: Lost Army by Cullen Bunn, Jesus Saiz & Javi Pina

Harley Quinn/Power Girl by writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, with artist Stephane Roux

After the recent team-up arc in Harley's ongoing, this combo is going to be one to watch for sheer madcap joy. They fought supervillains, alien warlords, and each other, as well as performing a burlesque act. What more can they do? Plenty, if Palmiotti and Conner's past stories are any indication.

Justice League 3001 with the same creative team of Keith Giffen and Howard Porter

Justice League of America by writer/artist Brian Hitch

Martian Manhunter by writer Rob Williams and artists Ben Oliver and Paulo Siqueira

I love the Martian Manhunter, I've never hidden that. But I've not warmed to the dark, manipulative Manhunter of the post-Flashpoint world. It seems that, since Superman has been doing the Stranger in a Strange Land thing that was always part of J'onn's character, J'onn has gone darker. There have been some light spots, particularly his relationship with Stargirl (once more proving J'onn is DC's Wolverine, mentoring young heroines), but mostly he's been a mind-wiping mastermind type of character. I don't know if this title will change that, or will simply flesh it out more, but either option is the least a great character like J'onn deserves.

Midnighter by writer Steve Orlando and artist ACO

 Mystic U by writer Alisa Kwitney and artist Mauricet

Omega Men by writer Tom King and artist Barnaby Bagenda

Prez by writer Mark Russell and artist Ben Caldwell 

Thanks to Neil Gaiman's use of the original Prez, a character from a 70s comic about the first teenage president of the USA, in The Sandman, the character is not completely forgotten, and well, it's just so weird an idea I can't resist seeing what the concept will look like so many years after it's initial conception.

Red Hood/Arsenal by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Denis Medri

Robin, Son of Batman by writer/artist Pat Gleason

Taking the place of Batman and Robin, it looks like Damian is getting his own title, along with a giant Bat demon looking thing, and they're in snowy mountains. That sounds good on its own, but when you think about the fact that Talia is out there somewhere near Nanda Parbat, which is in snowy mountains, I expect we'll be seeing some of the threads from the current title followed up and a continued evolution of Damian as a character.

Section Eight by writer Garth Ennis and artist John McCrea

Oh, good lord, I never thought I'd see this! Ennis and McCrea created Section 8 for their run on Hiitman, a team of homeless and insane super heroes, including, but not limited to, Six Pack, who was the world's greatest hero in his own dreams, Dogwelder, who welds dog to his enemies, Defenestrator, who throws people out of windows, and Bueno Excellente, who fights evil with the power of perversion. are some of Ennis's most bizarre creations. Only one things I can say about it... Bueno.

Starfire by writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, with artist Emanuela Lupacchino

Starfire has been a problem character since the dawn of the pre-Flashpoint world, but I think breaking her off from her current Outlaws teammates and letting her have her own adventures in Miami (or somewhere in Florida. Palm trees and old folks make me think Florida) seems like a good chance to let her grow back into a more balanced character. Factor in the funny Harley Quinn writing team of Conner and Palmiotti and Emanuela Lupacchino, whose work on X-Factor I remember fondly, and you have a winning creative team. Also, the new costume is a vast improvement, closer to her animated Teen Titans look. I would have included the little skirt too, but it's more practical than her gravity defying current costume, so I'll take it.

We Are Robin by writer Lee Bermejo and artists Rob Haynes and Khary Randolph

Another brand new title with very little information, I can assume from the image that we're dealing with a group of kids inspired by Robin working together. I'm wondering if this might become the home for Duke Thomas, the future Robin who has appeared as a teenager in the current Batman story. It's interesting to see Rob Haynes return to mainstream comics. 

Of the creative changes to current books, three artist changes and one writer change jumped out at me. Juan Ferreyra, whose art of Colder has been astounding, will be taking over Gotham by Midnight, a perfect fit. Dale Eaglesham, who introduced Gail Simone's Secret Six in the Villains United mini-series, will be taking over as artist on that title, which is great to see, as I feel like he should be a superstar and never quite reaches that point. And Carlos D'Anda, another vastly underrated artist, will be the new artist on New Suicide Squad, a book that has suffered under multiple artists per issue, so hopefully D'Anda can add a nice unified feel to future issues.

The most exciting change is Gene Luen Yang on Superman. Sure, I would have liked more Geoff Johns Superman, but he did his part of setting up a new status quo for Superman in the current DCU. I recently read Yang's Shadow Hero, the origin of the first Chinese super hero, the Green Turtle, and it was such a brilliant mix of action, humor, and myth that I was blown away. I'd been waiting for the right week to do a recommended reading for it, and now it looks like June will be the time, to line up with the release of this new project. I hope he brings out the humanity in the Man of Steel, and does it with as deft a touch as he did in his other work.

So that's what's coming up from DC. I love my DC Comics, always will, and I hope that this breathes a new life into the line. If the creators and titles are any indication, it's going to be an interesting summer.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 11/14

Batman #14
Story: Scott Snyder/Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV
Art: Greg Capullo/ Jock

After last issue, I thought Snyder's Joker couldn't get any creepier. And then I read this issue. The Joker works best when he's unpredictable, and when he works as a sort of deranged chess master, making moves that make no sense to anyone as he does them, but fall perfectly into place when looked at in retrospect, and here the Joker fits that mold perfectly. No one seems to be safe from his macabre plan. The splash page of Jim Gordon collapsing into Batman's arms, bleeding form everywhere, is horrifying. One would think the image of the Joker with his face strapped to his head would get less disturbing the more you see it, but that's not true; it actually gets worse. The Joker's speech, saying he is the court jester to Batman's king, and that the Batfamily is weakening him, and that all this is being done for Batman's benefit, is actually chillingly logical. I mean, as logical as anything that the Joker says, and that makes the plan all the more interesting. The lack of Alfred was keenly felt this issue. Alfred has been a major part of Snyder's run on Batman, and as Batman's own inner monologue says, the possibility of the loss of Alfred is something Bruce can hardly fathom. this is a remarkably personal story, and even though it is writ large with action and gore, it really is a confrontation between these two great opponents. One thing that I want to really draw attention to in this issue is the distinct lettering of the Joker's dialogue. Letterers Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt have done a great job of creating that style that is being used across all the "Death of the Family" tie-ins, and it's so perfectly warped. The back-up again focuses on the Joker interacting with another member of Batman's rogues, this time the Penguin. The Joker's plan seems to involve even using other villains to make Batman better, which is a nice wrinkle; not everything Joker is doing is directly in front of Batman. I especially liked Jock's Penguin, whose body language and appearance was even more birdlike than he is usually drawn without being freakishly Batman Returns. Batman continues to be the flagship title of the Batline, and each issue just makes me more excited for the next.

The Boys #72
Story: Garth Ennis
Art: Darick Robertson

Even under all the blood and swearing, I think Garth Ennis is a sentimentalist. While the main plot of The Boys wrapped up last issue, this final issue puts a nice little bow on the series. Wee Hughie, one of the few truly decent people in the series, does get his happy ending, but not before putting the hurt on The Man From Vought, Stillwell. It's not a physical thing, and it's not one of those grand good triumphs over evil sort of endings. Ennis isn't that soft. Stillwell points out that you can't really beat a company, and that they'll always find a way to make their profit, but what Hughie does do is give Stillwell pause, and in the end he might not be as confident in the plans that he has for the supers. Former CIA Director Rayner also gets some righteous payback at the hands of her former underling, Monkey, with a hand from Hughie in a scene that is mean and funny at the same time, something that's pure Ennis. But it's in the quiet scenes with Hughie, where he makes a small gesture of tribute to his fallen friends and where he makes his reconciliation with Annie January that this final issue sings. It's been a long, hard ride for Hughie, and while power does corrupt, maybe sometimes the good guy gets a victory, even if it's just a small, personal one.

Locke & Key: Omega #1
Story: Joe Hill
Art: Gabriel Rodriguez

As Dodge, the demon freed from beyond the black door, now is residense in the body of Bode Locke, begins its endgame to open the door again and let its brethern in, the other Locke kids face demons far more personal. One of the true strengths of Locke & Key has been its ability to juxtapose the everyday lives of the Locke family against the supernatural horrors of Keyhouse. The pages of Dodge using the keys and the crown of shadows to move past the things keeping him from the door are gorgeous. Gabriel Rodriguez does great work with the shadows that the crown brings to life, animating them in horrible ways. The other plot deals with Scot Kavanaugh, one of Kinsey's friends with whom she had a falling out, making a video of the graduating seniors from Lovecraft Academy, and asking what people would say to their younger selves. Ty Locke talks about the fight he had with his father, right before he lost him, and both Scot and Ty's uncle Duncan try to remind Ty that he isn't responsible for everyone, something Ty has struggled with over the course of the series. We also see Ty learning to smelt and pour iron, something that is clearly a set up for the climax of the series. Kinsey jumps into Scot's path, and has her own cathartic moment after reclaiming her fear and tears, and with that, and a grand gesture from Scot as well, Kinsey, Scot, and their two other broken friends, Jamal and Jackie, and reunited and reconciled. It's a touching scene, but one made bittersweet as, on the final page, Dodge arrives at the black door, presaging great horrors for the end of the series.

Saga #7
Story: Brian K Vaughan
Art: Fiona Staples

Oh, Saga, how I have missed you on your two month hiatus. Picking up right where the last issue left off (well, after a brief flashback to Marko's youth), Marko's parents make quite a splash. Marko runs off to retrieve Izabel, baby Hazel's ghost babysitter who his parents banished, with his mother following behind, while Alana and Marko's father have a heart-to-heart. Well, the closest one can have to a heart-to-heart when one of you is being held immobile in the air by the spaceship you're traveling in. Vaughan has always done a great job of mixing humor into his series, and Alana and Marko's father's conversation is both revealing and amusing, as is the talk Marko and his mother have while hunting for Izabel. Fiona Staples cotinues to do an excellent job drawing not just the central characters, but creating interesting sci-fi and fantasy backgrounds and some really hideous looking monsters. While we stop in briefly with our heroic couples pursuers, The Will and Prince Robot, this issue is really about the family. I like the mechanic that Vaughan has created for magic in his world, the fact that it is fueled by secrets, and the final secret revealed by Marko's father is quite a doozy. Vaughan is one of comics' kings of the cliffhanger, and the end of this issue is a great example of that. I don't know how anyone could read this and not come back to find out what happens next.

Where is Jake Ellis? #1
Story: Nathan Edmonson
Art: Tonci Zonjic

I really enjoyed the sci-fi/spy comic Who is Jake Ellis? and I was excited to see that image was releasing a sequel. The series opens with Jake Ellis, the titular CIA operative with the ability to astrally project into the mind of others, in a hospital with the scientists and spies interrogating him. Jake had spent the past few years comatose and only able to interact with another agent, Jon Moore, who though Jake was his subconscious, and at the end of the last series, the two had learned differently. Jon is still out there, on the run from the people behind the performed the experiments on Jake. The issue is an exciting thriller, with Jon and Jake escaping their pursuers. It's a fun action comic; nothing too deep happens this issue, but we get a great feel for our two leads and set them on their course to meet up again. I'm looking forward to see what happens to them next.

Recommended Reading for 11/9: The Boys

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we're back. Apologies for missing Monday, but I was a bit under the weather, and while I'm sure it would have been hilarious to read my ramblings on cold medication, I don't think it would have been very productive. So, without further ado...

Garth Ennis hates superheroes. Anyone familiar with his work in either the DC or Marvel Universes can tell that. Whether he's using Wolverine as Wile E Coyote in his Marvel Knights Punisher, or having Hitman's Tommy Monaghan toss his cookies all over Batman's boots, Ennis clearly thinks that superheroes are nothing more than adolescent power fantasies (which isn't to say he can't write them well. He won an Eisner for his excellent Hitman #34, one of the best Superman stories of the past 20 years). And his most recent opus, The Boys, takes this distaste to its logical, or at sometime twisted and illogical, ends.

There are really two ways to read Garth Ennis's work. You can read the surface, and get comics full of ultra violence, sex, and bizarre humor. But Ennis writes most of his long form work with subtext and theme. Preacher is really a love story, Hitman is about friendship, Punisher MAX is about the cost of violence; it's been a long time since I read his run on Hellblazer, and it was my first Ennis, so I didn't know what to look for then, but I might have to go back and see what he was talking about there. The Boys is about power, its use and abuse. And mostly the latter.

The Boys is about a team of black ops agents whose job it is to police "supes," the world's super powered population. While Ennis has crafted a world of his own here, the supes are mostly analogues for the superheroes that most comic readers know. The series mostly follows Hugh Campbell, or Wee Hughie, the Boys newest recruit, as he enters a world that he never knew existed, one of superpowered debauchery. Hughie is the character who we watch learn and change as the series progresses. Hughie, a quirky little native Scot who comes to New York to join the Boys, is a likable, often naive figure, and serves as the audience surrogate, as the rest of the Boys are not quite as easy to understand.

Wee Hughie

The leader of the Boys is Billy Butcher. A former member of the Royal Marines, Billy is a large, intimidating figure who has a deep and abiding hatred of all supes, and will do anything to put them in their place and to get his revenge. Mother's Milk is the calmest, most normal member of the Boys aside from Hughie, who serves as operational support and intel gatherer, although he can crush some heads when the time comes. The Frenchman is, well, the Frenchman, a wiry, off balance lunatic who has a soft spot for the underdog. Finally, the Female of the Species, is a seemingly mute Asian woman who small size belies her capability for extreme violence.

From my descriptions, I hope I made it clear that the Boys have no problem wreaking lots of physical havoc on their powered opponents. One of the most interesting things about Hughie's journey is watching how he deals with violence. Hughie is not a violent man by nature, and Butcher spends much of the series seemingly trying to toughen him up. Hughie is put in situations time and again that force him to have to work his way out of them not through discourse or by running away, but by having to simply clobber his opponent, something he is ill suited to do. The reader watches Hughie have to learn to choose how he is going to deal with this new world.

While we see various teams of supes, including Payback (The Avengers) and the G-Men (The X-Men), the principal supes are The Seven. The Seven are all analogues of the principal seven members of the JLA, and they serve as the main overt antagonists for the Boys. The Homelander is the Superman analogue, and has all of the Man of Steel's powers and absolutely none of his morals. Homelander is a smug, superior person who cares nothing for those he is supposed to protect. These are fairly common traits amongst the supers, and that is where Ennis sees the problem.

Billy Butcher

While Ennis is using superheroes as his vehicle to make his point, he is really talking about anyone with power. Ennis is talking about the way those in power will simply use their power for their own benefit, and not really care about those "below" them. All the members of the Seven (save one at least) are hedonistic at best, and take part on vile sexual acts and extreme violence for its own sake. Queen Maeve (Wonder Woman) keeps a parade of submissive men following in her wake, providing her with liquor whenever she wishes. Black Noir (Batman) sexually assaults Hughie for no reason other than he can. The inciting incident of Hughie's entry into the Boys is when A-Train (The Flash) accidentally kills Hughie's girlfriend while in combat with an enemy and doesn't even acknowledge the act. These are small examples of the kind of chaos the supes reek throughout the series, and each act is shown with them caring less.

The Homelander is a particularly frightening character, as the reader watches his slow descent into madness over the course of the series. Suffering blackouts, he finds after the fact that he has done things that he even views as horrible. And as these episodes grow worse, even in his normal waking hours he begins to consider showing that power is the only thing that matters, and that maybe the country would be better with him in charge. This of course puts him on a collision course with the Boys, and Billy Butcher in particular, who bleames the Homelander for the death of his wife. You see, the Homelander raped Butcher's wife, and left her pregnant with a baby that a normal human body just couldn't deal with. And the only thing that kept Butcher from going off the deep end for years was his wife. That's why Butcher joined the Boys, and this is what he's been looking for all along.

The exception to the Seven's callous attitude is Annie January, the heroine Starlight. Annie is the newest recruit, chosen after the death of one of the other members. Annie is sweet and innocent, a woman of faith, truly wants to help people. Unfortunately for her, the rest of the Seven do not. She is immediately shown how terrible the others are, and begins to suffer a crisis of faith that leads her to become jaded. But before she can begin to change into someone as bad as her teammates, she meets someone; a sweet young Scot named Hughie. You know from the minute they meet that this is going to end poorly, but you can't help root for them. The final fate of Hughie and Annie is one of the questions that will be answered at the end of the series.

Mother's Milk

 

 

Behind the scenes, Ennis does deal with a threat far greater than rogue supes, and one that is far more tangible to the real world: the military industrial complex. Supes are not a naturally occurring phenomenon, you see, and the entity responsible for creating them is a corporation, Vought-American. Vought is a monolithic corporation that share the same amoral stance as many of the supes. The members of Vought, represented often by James Stillwell, who spends most of the series simply called 'The Man from Vought", have various plans to further insert themselves into the governing structure of the US by having the Vice President in their pocket and preparing to replace conventional armaments with their own superpowered soldiers. Throughout the series, the history of Vought and the supes is pieced out gradually, giving a world portrait that is disconcerting. It's a world where the people in power just don't care.

 

While Vought and the Seven are the "bad guys" of the series, it doesn't put the Boys above reproach. The same kind of abuses of power the supes and Vought use, Butcher is more than willing to use for his own agendas. Butcher has no problem with blackmailing government officials for his funding, for degrading people he feels are beneath him. I feel like Ennis gave us a character in Butcher who we want to sympathize with, and often do. Butcher seems to really care about the Boys, and loves his dog, Terror. One of the three spin off mini-series to The Boys was Butcher, Bake, Candlestickmaker, which detailed Butcher's life, and you see he loves his family, and his wife Becky was someone he cared about more than life itself. But that doesn't stop him from being highly, frighteningly, violent. He stands in stark contrast to many of the supes, who have no morality. Billy Butcher knows what he's doing is wrong many times, but for Butcher the ends justify the means, which might make him all the more frightening.

 

The Frenchman

 

For all of the darkness of the series, and there is a lot of it, Ennis is known for his sense of humor, and there are some issues of the series that are absolutely hilarious. A personal favorite is issue #37. Hughie is trying to learn the histories of the Boys, and when he asks the Frenchman about his origins, Hughie and the reader are treated to a bizarre story involving baguette jousting and deadly stale croissants. The story is probably completely fictious, a delusion of the somewhat off balance Frenchie, but who cares? There need to be spots of light in even the darkest tales.

 

 

The Female

 

The art for The Boys is a good compliment to Ennis's scripts; it is rarely cartoony, keeping the horrors that Ennis is writing about grounded in a frightening reality. Co-creator Darick Robertson drew most of the series, as well as one of the spin-offs, and his art is a blood drenched horror when it needs to be, but he draws the very human scenes just as well, giving us a Hughie who is so completely lovable you can't help but want him to make it out of this. Russ Braun stepped in for the last few arcs, and while not aping Robertson's style, he fit his work to keep the feel of the series right on with the standard Robertson set. Regular Ennis collaborator John McCrea stepped in for a couple of issues here and there and the two other spinoffs, Herogasm and Highland Laddie, both of which fit his more exaggerated style.

 

I know that I write often about all ages comics on here, but just in case I haven't made it clear, The Boys is not one of them. As a matter of fact, I can safely say it is not for everyone. The violence and sex is graphic, and the sheer level of profanity would make David Mamet blink. And the treatment of clearly veiled analogues of superheroic icons as monstrous perverts and psychopaths will put some readers off. The thing that keeps The Boys from sinking to the level of what it is lampooning, or becoming something without any redemption, is that it is never heartless or needlessly cruel. There are good people as well as bad people, and some of the worst people have moments of clarity, although not many. Ennis is writing satire, satirizing a genre and making a point about society and human nature as a whole.

 

The final ongoing issue of The Boys will be released this Wednesday, serving as an epilogue to the main narrative, and tying up loose ends, giving a nice coda to Hughie's story. The entire series will soon be available in twelve trade paperbacks, which include the spin-offs, and are all in print and available at your local comic shop.