#IReadsYou Review: THE SCORCHED #1

THE SCORCHED #1
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Sean Lewis; Todd McFarlane (additional dialogue)
ART: Stephen Segovia; Paulo Siqueira
COLORS: Ulises Arreola; Nikos Koutsis
LETTERS: Andworld Design (King Spawn)
EDITOR: Thomas Healy
COVER:  Puppeteer Lee
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Todd McFarlane with FCO Plascencia; Brett Booth and Todd McFarlane with FCO Plascencia; Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion with Dave McCaig; Don Aguillo; Marc Silvestri and Todd McFarlane with Peter Steigerwald; Ryan Stegman and Todd McFarlane with Peter Steigerwald
56pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (January 2022)

Rated: “T/ Teen”

Spawn created by Todd McFarlane

Spawn is a superhero/antihero character that stars in the long-running comic book series, Spawn.  Created by writer-artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1 (cover dated: May 1992).

Spawn was Albert Francis “Al” Simmons.  A career military man who becomes a highly capable assassin and dies a violent death.  He makes a deal with the devil, Malebolgia, in order to return to the living realm to see his wife one last time.  However, Al returns with almost no memories accept that his name is Al Simmons, and he learns that he is now a “Hellspawn” in service of Malebolgia.  Rebelling, Al Simmons, now “Spawn,” finds a new purpose in stopping evil.

Back in February 2021, Todd McFarlane announced his plans to build a larger, multi-character, interconnected, comic book universe based around his Spawn comic book – a “Spawn Universe.”  McFarlane also announced four new comic book titles coming out in 2021, with three of them continuing as regular monthly titles.  The last of the three monthly titles, The Scorched, has arrived.

The Scorched is written by Sean Lewis; drawn by Stephen Segovia and Paulo Siqueira; colored by Ulises Arreola and Nikos Koutsis; and lettered by Andworld Design.  The Scorched features the debut of the “Spawn Universe's” first superhero team.

The Scorched #1 opens somewhere in Russia.  Medieval Spawn, Gunslinger Spawn, Jessica Priest/She-Spawn, and Redeemer are trying to save two young women, Odessa Turgnev and Natasha Gorky, from the clutches of Russian Colonel Kruschev.

Before this, however, see how Spawn brought them together.  Or did he?  Who made whom?  Plus, Gunslinger Spawn takes on the “Locust Rangers” in Crowheart, Wyoming.  And Al and Terry argue and debate, again.

THE LOWDOWN:  I read Spawn #1 back in 1992, and I had mixed feelings about it.  Yet I was a fan and followed the series for another five or six years.  I've always expected more of it...

2021 saw the expansion of the Spawn publishing line and the full birth of the “Spawn Universe.”  Writer Sean Lewis is emerging in this new era as the most consequential writer of Spawn comic books since the creator-master himself, Todd McFarlane.  McFarlane's storytelling is full of craziness, in the tradition of classic comic book weirdness and in the vein of the madness that was and is Robert E. Howard.  Lewis embraces that craziness and, using his own inventive turns, delivers high-octane fight comics, dark fantasy violence, and edgy, angry character drama.  It wouldn't be Spawn without some monsters and some edgy people.

The art team of Stephen Segovia and Ulises Arreola and the team of Paulo Siqueira and Nikos Koutsis each deliver in a solid way, and the latter's textured illustrations and painterly colors stand out.  Andworld Design's matter-of-fact lettering delivers the real foot up the ass to your imagination.  The Scorched #1 is an excellent start and is the kind of first issue that will bring readers back for more of … whatever craziness is to come.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Spawn will want to read The Scorched.

[This comic book includes four back-up stories and “Spawning Ground” Presents “The Breakdown,” in which Todd McFarlane looks back at the beginning and at the year's covers.]

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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#IReadsYou Review: KING SPAWN #1

KING SPAWN #1
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Sean Lewis; Todd McFarlane (additional dialogue and back-up stories)
PENCILS: Javi Fernandez (King Spawn); Stephen Segovia (Haunt); Marcio Takara (Nightmare); Philip Tan (The Hero); Brett Booth (Gunslinger)
INKS: Javi Fernandez; Adelso Corona; Daniel Henriques
COLORS: FCO Plascencia (King Spawn); Andrew Dalhouse; Marcelo Maiolo; Peter Steigerwald; Dave McCaig
LETTERS: Andworld Design (King Spawn): Tom Orzechowski
EDITOR: Thomas Healy
COVER:  Puppeteer Lee
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Todd McFarlane with FCO Plascencia; David Finch with FCO Plascencia; Sean Gordon Murphy; Brett Booth and Todd McFarlane with FCO Plascencia; Greg Capullo and Todd McFarlane with FCO Plascencia; Donny Cates and Todd McFarlane
56pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (August 2021)

Rated: “T/ Teen”

Spawn created by Todd McFarlane

Spawn is a superhero/antihero character that stars in the long-running comic book series, Spawn.  Created by writer-artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1 (cover dated: May 1992).

Spawn was Albert Francis “Al” Simmons.  A career military man who becomes a highly capable assassin and dies a violent death.  He makes a deal with the devil, Malebolgia, in order to return to the living realm to see his wife one last time.  However, Al returns with almost no memories accept that his name is Al Simmons, and he learns that he is now a “Hellspawn” in service of Malebolgia.  Rebelling, Al Simmons, now “Spawn,” finds a new purpose in stopping evil.

Back in February (2021), Todd McFarlane announced his plans to build a larger, multi-character, interconnected, comic book universe based around his Spawn comic book – a “Spawn Universe.”  McFarlane also announced four new comic book titles coming out in 2021, with three of them continuing as regular monthly titles.  The first of the three titles, King Spawn, has arrived.

King Spawn is written by Sean Lewis; drawn by Javi Fernandez; colored by FCO Plascencia; lettered by Andworld Design.  King Spawn finds Spawn battling one of his old adversaries, but it is someone only Spawn knows that exists.

King Spawn #1 opens at an elementary school in Seattle, Washington.  There, a bombing kills sixteen people, including fourteen children aged five and six years old.  Spawn and Jessica Priest (She-Spawn) surreptitiously attend the funeral of one of the children, and Spawn, enraged, tells Priest that he knows who committed this crime and that he is going after them.

The suspects include a legendary angel, Metatron, and perhaps, an underground religious group, “Psalms 137.”  Or maybe, the people behind the bombing are fans...

THE LOWDOWN:  I read Spawn #1 back in 1992, and I had mixed feelings about it.  Yet I was a fan and followed the series for another five or six years.

2021 finds me reading my a Spawn title first-issue for the first time since I read Curse of the Spawn #1 back in 1996.  I like the main story in King Spawn #1.  In fact, Sean Lewis has written the best first issue for an ongoing Spawn comic that I have read to date.  His dialogue is sharp and natural-like, which I can't say for Spawn creator Todd McFarlane's dialogue and exposition, which often describes things that we can see in the art.  Lewis' script is lean and mean, and Lewis does something at which McFarlane is quite good – make the reader feel for the victims.

I've always preferred my Spawn comic books to be drawn by McFarlane, but as a businessman from the beginning of Spawn, he really could not commit to drawing Spawn on a regular basis past the first two years of the original series.  However, Javi Fernandez's art and storytelling shares a sensibility with McFarlane's art that will satisfy me.

So far, I find that King Spawn #1 is the closest to what I will get to those early days of Spawn.  Also, the ending makes me want to come back for more.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Spawn will want to read King Spawn.

[This comic book includes four back-up stories and “Spawning Ground” Presents “The Breakdown,” in which Todd McFarlane and Sean Lewis interview each other.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/Todd_McFarlane
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#IReadsYou Review: SPAWN #300

SPAWN #300

IMAGE COMICS

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Todd McFarlane with Scott Snyder (Chapter 2)

PENCILS: Greg Capullo (Chapter 1); Todd McFarlane (2); Jason Shawn Alexander (3) J. Scott Campbell (4); Jerome Opeña (5)

INKS: Todd McFarlane with Jonathan Glapion and J. Scott Campbell

COLORS: FCO Plascencia; Brian Haberlin; Peter Steigerwald; Matt Hollingsworth

LETTERS: Tom Orzechowski

EiC: Jon Goff

COVER: Todd McFarlane

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Todd McFarlane; Greg Capullo; Greg Capullo and Todd McFarlane; J. Scott Campbell; Jerome Opeña; Jason Shawn Alexander; 

72pp, Color, $7.99 U.S. (September 2019)

Spawn created by Todd McFarlane

Spawn is a superhero/antihero character that stars in the long-running comic book series, Spawn.  Published by Image Comics since its first issue, Spawn is Image's longest running title and, in terms of number of issues, is one of the longest-running independently-published comic book series in American comics history.  [When I use the term, “independently-published,” I mean that it is not published by a comic book publisher like Marvel or DC Comics that is owned by a media conglomerate.]

Created by writer-artist and Image co-founder, Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1 (cover dated: May 1992).  Spawn is Albert Francis Simmons.  He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, and he went on to work for the United States Secret Service and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  Simmons joined the U.S. Security Group as a highly capable assassin, but is murdered during a mission.

Because of his life as an assassin, Simmons is sent to Hell where he made a deal with Malebolgia, one of the major Lords of Hell.  Simmons agreed to become a “Hellspawn” (an officer in Hell's army) and to serve Malebolgia if he is allowed to see his wife, Wanda, one last time.  While Malebolgia does return Simmons to Earth as a creature named “Spawn,” he stripped Simmons of his memories.  Eventually, Spawn decided to break his agreement Hell, and then, began a long campaign to stop the forces of evil.

Spawn has reached its three-hundredth issue, and like he did for Spawn #100 and Spawn #200, McFarlane adds big names to this special issue's creative team.  That includes DC Comics' superstar, Scott Snyder, as co-writer; superstar comic book artist Greg Capullo; rising star, Jerome Opeña; artist Jason Shawn Alexander; and variant cover hustler, J. Scott Campbell.  Colorists FCO Plascencia, Brian Haberlin, Peter Steigerwald, and Matt Hollingsworth join longtime Spawn letterer Tom Orzechowski to complete the creative team.

Spawn #300 opens in Kearney, Nebraska, where the Johnston family is having its annual family reunion during the first weekend of August, as it has for the last twenty-six years.  What is different this year is that there is a killer among them.

Meanwhile, Spawn continues his mission to free humanity from the clutches of both Heaven and Hell.  Having already freed his own ass, Spawn is without his allies from Hell, and Heaven sure hasn't stopped being his enemy.  Now, Spawn must face two of his oldest adversaries, the Clown and Violator.  While Spawn fights to survive to the next stage of his struggle, new allies, however, are emerging...

I was a Spawn reader from the first issue back in 1992.  I even read spin-off miniseries and ongoing series like Angela (Image Comics, 1994-1995), Curse of the Spawn (Image Comics, 1996-1999), and Spawn/WildC.A.T.S. (Image Comics, 1996).  I stuck with Spawn for almost six years.  Why did I quit?  The story never really seemed to be going anywhere, and the story was stuck in a rut.  It was always about Spawn either pining for his life as Al Simmons or struggling against his destiny as a “Hellspawn,” a member of the officer corps that would lead the forces of Hell.

Twenty-seven years later, Spawn has not changed much.  Spawn is still struggling against Hell, but now he sees Hell and Heaven as interchangeable adversaries.  Spawn wants to lead humanity in a war against both sides in order to free itself, as he did.

Todd McFarlane, like many of his Image Comics cohorts, launched Image with comic books that looked like superhero comics.  However, these superheroes were military types – special operatives, secret agents, mercenaries, etc., and the stories featured the kind of action and violence of military science fiction and fantasy.  Quite frankly, the initial Image Comics titles were closer to movies like James Carmeron's Aliens (1986) and select titles from actor-screenwriter Sylvester Stallone's filmography (especially the Rambo film series) than they were like classic comic books.  Sure, some Image titles had a passing resemblance to Marvel and DC Comics titles.  Cyberforce and WildC.A.T.s shared elements with Marvel's X-Men, and Spawn had more than a passing resemblance to Batman, especially to the Batman of Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.  Still, Image Comics was introducing new kinds of superheroes to the American comic book artists.

The problem was that Todd McFarlane and his Image colleagues were never really good at the techniques of writing comic books.  They were all about big action-oriented illustrations that depicted violence and characters in action-figure poses.  Comics uses graphics, including illustrations, to tell stories.  Pretty art, overwrought, “detailed” art, and striking visuals does not really tell a story.

However, it is good to see the art team of Greg Capullo (pencils) and McFarlane (inks) back together.  The Capullo-McFarlane team drew most of the issues of Spawn that I read, so their reunion in Spawn #300 gives me a nice feeling of nostalgia.  Nothing else in this issue registers with me, although I must say J. Scott Campbell is perfectly utilized here.  The chapter that Campbell draws, which introduces “She-Spawn,” epitomizes the low-brow, exploitation, speculator-market crap heap from which Campbell emerged on his way to being a “superstar creator” and comic book “legend.”

The coloring and lettering in Spawn #300 are of professional quality but don't make the issue feel like the landmark it should be.  In the end, I did find some things in Spawn #300 that I liked, enough to make me be generous with me grading.

★★★ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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#IReadsYou Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: The Tornado's Path

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: THE TORNADO'S PATH
DC COMICS

STORY: Brad Meltzer
PENCILS: Ed Benes
INKS: Sandra Hope
COLORS: Alex Sinclair
LETTERS: Rob Leigh
EDITORS: Eddie Berganza (original); Bob Harras (collection)
COVER: Michael Turner with Peter Steigerwald
MISC. ART: Ed Benes with Alex Sinclair; Ed Benes and Maria Benes with Alex Sinclair; Michael Turner with Peter Steigerwald; Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning with Jeremy Cox; Chris Sprouse and Karl Story with Alex Sinclair; J.G. Jones with Alex Sinclair; Art Adams with Alex Sinclair; Adam Hughes; Ed Benes; Gene Ha; Luke McDonnell; George Perez; Howard Porter & Drew Geraci; Eric Wright; Kevin Maguire with Alex Sinclair
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1580-4; paperback (August 2008)
144pp, Color, $17.99 U.S., $21.99 CAN

Justice League of America created by Gardner Fox

Introduction by Damon Lindelof

The Justice League of America is a DC Comics team of superheroes.  The team was conceived by writer Gardner Fox in the late 1950s as a then modern update of the 1940s superhero team, the Justice Society of America.  The Justice League of America's original line-up of superheroes was comprised of Superman (Clark Kent), Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (Diana Prince), The Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman (Arthur Curry), and the Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz).  This group first appeared together as the Justice League of America in the comic book, The Brave and the Bold #28 (cover dated: March 1960).

The team received its own comic book title entitled Justice League of America, beginning with a first issue cover dated November 1960.  Justice League of America #261 (cover dated: April 1987) was the series' final issue, and a new series, simply titled Justice League, began with a first issue cover dated May 1987.  The title, “Justice League of America,” would not be used for an ongoing comic book series for almost two decades.

After the events of the event miniseries, Infinite Crisis, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman reformed the Justice League of America as seen in Justice League #0 (cover dated: September 2006).  The kickoff of a new Justice League of America ongoing comic book series was under the guidance of writer Brad Meltzer and pencil artist Ed Benes.  The rest of the creative team was comprised of artist Sandra Hope (inks); colorist Alex Sinclair; and letterer Rob Leigh.

DC Comics reprinted Meltzer and Benes' Justice League of America issues #1 to #7 (cover dates: October 2006 to May 2007) in the collection, Justice League of America: The Tornado's Path.  It was released first in a hardcover edition in June 2007, and was later released in its first paperback edition in August 2008.

Justice League of America: The Tornado's Path begins with a framing sequence.  It depicts Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman's mission to build a new Justice League of America.  Elsewhere, dark forces have gathered to take down a longtime member of the League.

John Smith, the robot superhero known as “Red Tornado,” is about to get a new lease on life.  With the help of Deadman and Dr. Will Magnus (creator of the Metal Men), John is going to transfer his “soul” into a duplicate body of the recently deceased metahuman, Multiplex.  The duplicate or clone is brain dead.  By becoming a flesh and blood human, Red Tornado believes that he can become a real husband to his wife, Kathy Sutton, and to their adopted daughter, Traya.  However, a conspiracy led by some of the Justice League's most powerful and evil adversaries has other plans for Red Tornado and for the new Justice League of America.

THE LOWDOWN:  I remember, lo those many years ago, what big news it was that bestselling novelist, Brad Meltzer, would be the writer that would help launch (or relaunch) a new Justice League of America comic book series.  Meltzer had already wowed fans and courted some controversy just a few years earlier with his DC Comics event comic book miniseries, Identity Crisis (2004-05).

Meltzer's opening Justice League of America story arc, “The Tornado's Path,” lived up to the anticipation.  For one thing, the Red Tornado/John Smith's situation was just so tragic.  Sure, the idea of his soul being transferred into the brain dead clone body of a dead man was (and is) super-gross.  Still, Metltzer made me feel that Smith's journey was honest and genuine.  Also, the villains were damn mean and evil.  Meltzer wasn't trying to do  something similar to what Marvel Comics writers have been trying to do with X-Men character, Magneto, for four decades – turn an evil, racist mass murderer into a tragic Holocaust survivor.  No, the villains that appear in this story arc (and I don't want to spoil their identities for those of you who have not, but should read this story) are evil, lowdown, dirty-ass muthas, and they want to annihilate some JLA ass.

Speaking of the Justice League, I find that Meltzer did not so much give them personalities as he simply wrote an engaging character drama in which he made all the characters interesting.  The characters were equal parts poignant, dramatic, and humorous, but the potential for superhero action-violence was always there.

Artist Ed Benes did some really good work here.  His pencil art, especially under Sandra Hope's inks, was clearly inspired by some of the artists of the late 1980s and early 1990s who founded Image Comics.  However, Benes' graphical storytelling was powerfully dramatic.  He drew costumed characters with broad, muscular, meaty, and thick bodies that filled up the panels with power and the potential for power.  Benes made every threat of or potential for violence feel real.  The contents of each panel were designed and staged for maximum effect.  He gave this story epic power, although “The Tornado's Path” did not feel so much like an epic as it did feel like a consequential moment in the history of Justice League of America comic books.

I don't have much to say about the coloring by Alex Sinclair; his work here is among his lesser achievements.  On the other hand, Rob Leigh's lettering helps to sell the elements of drama, violence, and danger in this story.  I had been putting off reading Brad Meltzer's Justice League of America comics for years, and fortune brought this trade collection into my hands.  I'm glad it did.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Brad Meltzer and of the Justice League of America will want to treat themselves to Justice League of America: The Tornado's Path.

A
9 out of 10

[This volume includes additional commentary by Brad Meltzer, Ed Benes, Alex Sinclair, and Sandra Hope.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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#IReadsYou Review: KICK-ASS VS. HIT-GIRL #1

KICK-ASS VS. HIT-GIRL #1
IMAGE COMICS

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Steve Niles
ART: Marcelo Frusin
COLORS: Sunny Gho
LETTERS: John Workman
DESIGN: Melina Mikulic
EDITOR: Rachael Fulton
COVER: John Romita, Jr. with Peter Steigerwald
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Matteo Scalera; Andre Lima Araujo with Chris O'Halloran
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S.(November 2020)

Rated “M/Mature”

Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl created by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.

Kick-Ass is a comic book series created by writer Mark Millar and artist John Romita, Jr.  The initial Kick-Ass comic books were published by Marvel Comics' “Icon” imprint, before the series moved to Image Comics.  Kick-Ass is now known as Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years, and is comprised of four book collections (or graphic novels)

Kick-Ass #1 (cover dated: April 2008) introduced Dave Lizewski, a teenager who becomes a real life superhero.  Dave takes the name “Kick-Ass,” and his superhero activities are publicized on the Internet and inspire other people to become like him.  Dave eventually gets caught up with the ruthless father-daughter vigilante duo, “Big Daddy”/Damon McCready and “Hit-Girl”/Mindy McCready (both introduced in Kick-Ass #3 – cover dated July 2008).  The McCreadys are on a mission to take down the Genovese crime family.

Kick-Ass 2018 (now known as Kick-Ass: The New Girl) introduced a new Kick-Ass.  She was Patience Lee, an Afghanistan war veteran who returned home to Albuquerque, New Mexico and discovered that her husband had left her and also had run up large debts.  Taking on the Kick-Ass identity, Patience started off stealing cash from neighborhood criminals before eventually killing off the local boss and his gang and taking over his operations as the new crime boss, using the name, “Kick-Ass.”

Hit-Girl now travels the world doing her own thing in her own comic books.  But it is time for Kick-Ass/Patience Lee and Hit-Girl to finally meet, and they do so in the new comic book miniseries, Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl.  It is written by Steve Niles; drawn by Marcelo Frusin; colored by Sunny Gho; and lettered John Workman, with original Kick-Ass artist, John Romita, Jr. providing cover art.

Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl #1 opens in the aftermath of Patience killing her brother-in-law, her sister's husband, Maurice.  At Maurice's funeral, Patience does a lot of thinking, and she decides to destroy the criminal empire that she has built.  But not everyone agrees with that move.  Elsewhere, a young killer makes her noisy arrival in Albuquerque, NM.

THE LOWDOWN:  I am a fan of the Kick-Ass comic book franchise, especially of the comic books produced by both Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.  I think that the original Kick-Ass series is a revolutionary moment in superhero comic books, probably the biggest shift since the dawn of Marvel Comics in 1961 with the publication of The Fantastic Four #1.  For one thing, Kick-Ass liberated superhero comic books of nostalgia and sentimentality.  This was the first step in creating a comic book that convincingly depicts what it might be like if superheroes existed in our real world.

The post Millar-Romita, Jr. Kick-Ass comic books are entertaining, but they read more like Vertigo crime and hard-boiled comic books than like Kick-Ass superhero comic books.  In this first issue, Marcelo Frusin's graphical storytelling is stylish and fast-moving, filled with edgy drama and hard-hitting violent action.  Writer Steve Niles builds the first issue on anticipation.  He offers a simmer that the readers know will result in explosive, but pivotal violence; readers just have to wait.

The colors by Sunny Gho throb and sometimes take on a neon quality.  The coloring gives this story's edginess a moody filter.  Meanwhile, John Workman does what the best letterers have been doing for decades – create the illusion of an audio track so that a comic book, in this case, Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl #1, is a thing of sound and graphics.

So, what is the verdict on Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl #1?  Well, I'd like to be cynical, but by the time I reached the last page, I really wanted more.  And I shall come back for more

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Kick-Ass comic books will want to try Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl #1.

7.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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Review: KICK-ASS #1

KICK-ASS No. 1 (2018)
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Mark Millar
PENCILS: John Romita, Jr.
INKS: Peter Steigerwald with Megan Madrigal
COLORS: Peter Steigerwald
LETTERS: John Workman
COVER: John Romita, Jr.
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Olivier Coipel with Sunny Gho; Frank Quitely
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2018)

Rated M/Mature

Kick-Ass created by Mark Miller and John Romita, Jr.

Kick-Ass is a comic book series created by writer Mark Millar and artist John Romita Jr.  It began as an eight-issue miniseries published by Marvel Comics under the company's Icon imprint, starting in February 2008 and concluding in February 2010.

Kick-Ass is the story of Dave Lizewski, a teenager who sets out to become a real life superhero.  Dave's actions are publicized on the Internet and inspire other people to put on costumes and play hero.  Dave gets caught up in the activities of two costumed, ruthless vigilantes, an exceptionally talented fighter/killer, Hit-Girl, and her father, Big Daddy.  Father and daughter are on a mission to take down the gangster. John Genovese.

Kick-Ass became a comic book franchise with three follow-up miniseries, the seven-issue Kick-Ass 2 (October 2010 – March 2012),  the five-issue Hit Girl (June 2012 – February 2013), and the eight-issue Kick-Ass 3 (July 2013 to October 2014).  The Kick-Ass comic books yielded two movies, Kick-Ass (2010) and Kick-Ass 2 (2013).

Last year, Mark Millar announced that the Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl comic books were going to be revived in a new series of miniseries slash ongoing series.  The first new six-issue miniseries, entitled Kick-Ass, is written by Mark Millar; drawn by John Romita, Jr. (pencils) and Peter Steigerwald (digital inks); colored by Steigerwald; and lettered by John Workman.

Kick-Ass #1 introduces Staff Sergeant Patience Lee, a combat veteran in the Afghanistan part of the “(Global) War on Terror.”  When she returns to civilian life in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as a wife and mother, Patience discovers that her husband has left her and the children.  Short on money and have to put her dreams on hold, SSG Lee decides that it is time to get paid.  So she puts on a familiar costume...

Because the original Kick-Ass miniseries kept selling out, I originally read the story in its first hardcover collection.  I loved it.  Kick-Ass is so gloriously deranged, and it seems like the ultimate encapsulation of writer Mark Millar's oeuvre, at least to that point in time.

Kick-Ass 2018 is quieter.  It also seems like more of a study of the post-Barack Obama America, with its resentful white middle class, its seething white working class, and its newly invigorated white supremacy slash white nationalist culture.  It is an America in which the balance between the haves and have-nots is completely out of whack because the haves not only want more, they also want it all.  They want it all and will have it all by any means necessary – legal, illegal, or otherwise.  In this America, even black people are turning into the very people and turning to the very systems they have traditionally lambasted – most of which revolves around violence.

John Romita, Jr.'s illustrations, compositions, and graphical storytelling are as powerful as it ever is when put to use for an intense story.  Let's be honest; drawing “real” superhero comic books are mostly a waste of JRJr's time, but Kick-Ass brings out the power, heft, and meatiness of his storytelling.  Here, Romita's art is served by a really good colorist, Peter Steigerwald, and John Workman is one of the few comic book lettering heavyweights capable of placing his fonts inside the Romita, Jr. graphics package.

So Kick-Ass is back, as strong as ever.

8.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: ALL-NEW WOLVERINE #1

ALL-NEW WOLVERINE #1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Tom Taylor
ART: David Lopez and David Navarrot
COLORS: Nathan Fairbairn
LETTERS: VC's Cory Petit
COVER: Bengal
VARIANT COVERS: David Lopez; Art Adams with Peter Steigerwald; David Marquez with Marte Gracia; Keron Grant (Hip Hop variant cover)
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (January 2016)

Parental Advisory

Laura Kinney is a Marvel Comics character.  She is best known as X-23, a female clone of classic X-Men character, Wolverine.  X-23 was originally created by writer Craig Kyle for the Saturday morning animated television series, “X-Men: Evolution” (Season 2, Episode 11).  X-23 made her first appearance in Marvel Comics in the comic book, NYX #3 (cover dated: February 2004).

Like Wolverine, X-23 has a healing factor, superhuman strength, senses, speed, agility, and reflexes. She also has retractable, adamantium-coated bone claws in her hands (two per hand rather than the three per hand that Wolverine has) and also in her feet.

After Marvel's Secret Wars event miniseries, X-23 succeeded Logan/Wolverine as the star of the current ongoing Wolverine comic book series.  That new series is entitled All-New Wolverine and is written by Tom Taylor, drawn by David Lopez and David Navarrot, colored by Nathan Fairbairn, and lettered by Cory Petit.

All-New Wolverine #1 finds Laura and her boyfriend, the X-Men's Angel (the young, time-displaced Warren Worthington, III), in Paris trying to stop an assassination.  Their showdown with the assassins takes them to the Eiffel Tower.  Laura's opponents are formidable, but the identity of one of them shocks Laura, but does not necessarily surprise her.

The first issue of All-New Wolverine is fairly straight-forward:  stop the assassination.  Everything else is just set-up for future issues.   Still, All-New Wolverine #1 is an enjoyable read, an old-fashioned action-adventure, superhero fight comic.  Tom Taylor does not dazzle readers with character drama the way he did in the short-lived, but excellent Superior Iron Man.

The art by David Lopez and David Navarrot is fast-paced and kinetic; the graphical storytelling really sells the action, but also captures the intimacy of a flashback featuring Logan and Laura.  I did not plan on reading this series beyond the first issue, but I think that I will keep reading it for a bit.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: MS. MARVEL #1

MS.MARVEL (2014) #1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

WRITER: G. Willow Wilson
ART: Adrian Alphona
COLORS: Ian Herring
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
COVER: Sara Pichelli with Justin Ponsor
VARIANT COVERS: Arthur Adams; Peter Steigerwald; Jamie McKelvie
28pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (January 2015 – Seventh printing)

Rated T+

“Meta-Morphosis” Part One of Five

The original Ms. Marvel, a Marvel Comics female superhero character, was created by writer Gerry Conway and artist John Buscema.  First appearing in Ms. Marvel #1 (cover dated: January 1977), she was meant to be the female counterpart of Marvel's Captain Marvel (who first appeared in 1967), not to be confused with Fawcett and later DC Comics' Shazam-Captain Marvel.

There is a new Ms. Marvel, and she is Kamala Khan.  Created by Sana Amanat, G. Willow Wilson, and Adrian Alphona, Kamala is the fourth character to take the name Ms. Marvel.  Kamala, who first appeared in Captain Marvel #17 (cover dated: November 2013), is a 16 year-old Pakistani-American from Jersey City, New Jersey.  She idolizes Carol Danvers, the original Ms. Marvel who is now the new Captain Marvel.  Kamala was given her own Ms. Marvel series, which premiered in February 2014, and she became Marvel Comics' first Muslim character to star in her own comic book.

I remember the debut of the new Ms. Marvel comic book series, but I ignored it.  Then, I read The Amazing Spider-Man #7 (2014), in which the new Ms. Marvel appeared, and I suddenly became interested in her.  Luckily, my comic book shop had reprints of the first issue of Kamala's Ms. Marvel comic book series, written by G. Willow Wilson, drawn by Adrian Alphona, colored by Ian Herring, and lettered by Joe Caramagna.

Ms. Marvel #1 (“Meta Morphosis”) opens in Jersey City at a Circle Q, where Kamala is holding court with her friend, Nakia, and an employee, Bruno.  This gathering, in a small way, encapsulates the problems that Kamala is having with her parents, her culture, and her religion.  Wouldn't it be cool if she could eat bacon?  If only she could be like her beloved Avengers:  Captain America, Iron Man, and especially Captain Marvel.  Eventually, she will get what she wants, but not the way she wants it.

It was not until after I picked up a copy of Ms. Marvel #1 – Seventh Printing that I discovered that Ms. Marvel was a buzzed-about new comic book.  Some are calling it the best comic book of 2014, as I learned via an email from Diamond Distributors and also from an article at website, Comic Book Resources.  I don't know if I would call it the best comic book of the year, but if I made a list, it would definitely be in my “Top 10.”

I think of Ms. Marvel as a “girl's comic book,” but I do not mean that in a derogatory way.  I am not one of those fans who think that every superhero comic book from either Marvel or DC Comics must be alike.  They don't have to all be rehashes and revamps of the same templates and editorial mindsets that old white guys established beginning in the early 1960s, i.e. the Silver Age.  I don't mind something completely different.

This new Ms. Marvel is something different; it is something else.  It presents a girl's point of view; it is about a young woman struggling to come into her own.  Ms. Marvel is not aimed at me; it is not written to appease my fanboy demands.

And that doesn't matter.  I like Ms. Marvel anyway.  It's so good.  It is so different, yet some of the things with which Kamala Khan struggles are universal, so I recognized the dilemmas she faces.  When I ignored what I expected from the typical superhero comic book, I found myself embracing Ms. Marvel.  I want more of it, and I want to share this with my niece when she is older.

I guess I should not be surprised.  Ms. Marvel writer, G. Willow Wilson's late Vertigo series, Air, was decidedly unusual, but alluring and intriguing.  I had recently stopped giving letter grades to first issues, but I will make an exception for the first issue of Ms. Marvel.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: SAVAGE WOLVERINE #7

"Zeb not well; Mad is crazy good"

SAVAGE WOLVERINE #7
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

WRITER: Zeb Wells
ARTIST: Joe Madureira
COLORS: Peter Steigerwald
LETTERS: VC’s Cory Petit
28pp, Color, $3.99 (September 2013)

Parental Advisory

One of the titles to come out of Marvel Comics’ “Marvel NOW” initiative is a new Wolverine series, Savage Wolverine.  The first five issues of the series were drawn by good girl artist, Frank Cho.  Now, Joe Madureira (A.K.A. Joe Mad) is the series artist, and he is delivering some of his best work in well over a decade.

In the current storyline, Wolverine and Elektra find themselves helping Wilson Fisk – The Kingpin.  Fisk is now the head of The Hand, the notorious ninja clan.  [I didn’t know that, either.]  A faction of The Hand apparently plans to resurrect the deceased lethal marksman, Bullseye, as their champion to depose Fisk.  No one, least of all Elektra, wants that Bullseye brought back to life.

As Savage Wolverine #7 opens, Wolverine and Elektra launch an attack on a New York City hideout of the Hand.  The two (anti) heroes end up in a pitched battle against a legion of ninja and some of the Arbiters, which are particularly grotesque members of the Hand.  Nothing can prepare Wolverine and Elektra, however, for the thing known as Shikaru.

I’ll be honest and admit that I bought Savage Wolverine #7 solely because of Joe Madureira.  I was a rabid fan of Joe Mad’s art after his then original art agent gave me a tip about a hot new talent.  After finding a few comic books featuring his art, “Joe Mad” became something like my Justin Beiber of comic book artists.  I am happy to say that his art in Savage Wolverine #7 reflects what I consider the period of Madureira’s best work.  That would be the latter half of his run on the Uncanny X-Men in the mid-1990s, when Tim Townsend was his inker, into the early issues of his creator-owned series, Battle Chasers (for Cliffhanger, an imprint of Image Comics’ Wildstorm Productions).

Even without Townsend as an inker, Madureira produces art for Savage Wolverine that also recalls the influences that shaped his style:   anime, manga, and Art Adams.  Peter Steigerwald’s colors give Mad’s Savage Wolverine art a kind of futuristic and apocalyptic mood.  That is a good thing, because the art’s sinister atmosphere saves the story.

All that writer Zeb Wells is offering in Savage Wolverine is an unimaginative, barely inspired rehash of everything that Frank Miller has done ten times better with Elektra, the Hand, the Kingpin, and Wolverine.  Yes, Virginia, Savage Wolverine #7 is a catalogue of Frank Miller clichés. There is a saying that those who can’t do, teach.  In comics, those who can’t do original, do Frank Miller.

B-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The New 52 Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE #1

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Geoff Johns
PENCILS: Jim Lee
INKS: Scott Williams
COLORS: Alex Sinclair
LETTERS: Patrick Brosseau
COVER: Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair
VARIANT COVER: David Finch, Richard Friend, and Peter Steigerwald
40pp, Color, $3.99

DC Comics’ premiere superhero team, the Justice League of America, first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #28 (cover dated February/March 1960). The League’s original lineup of superheroes was Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. The League got its own title, Justice League of America in 1960. Over time, that series was re-launched as Justice League (1987), JLA (1996-cover dated 1997), and Justice League of America (Vol. 2, 2006), among various other miniseries, specials, alternate versions, etc.

Now, DC Comics is re-launching its superhero comic book line with 52 #1 issues – “The New 52,” and the first new #1 is Justice League, written by Geoff Johns, penciled by Jim Lee, and inked by Scott Williams. This new League has a starting lineup: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, and Cyborg (originally of The New Teen Titans). Additional members will include The Atom, Hawkman, and Deadman, among others.

Justice League #1 opens five years prior to whatever is the current time in the DC Universe. Batman is caught between a vicious alien creature that he is chasing across the rooftops of Gotham City and helicopter-borne members of the Gotham City Police Department that want to put a cap in his ass. Just when it seems that Batman is in trouble, Green Lantern arrives. Now, Batman has an unwanted partner as he tries to unravel a mystery that seems to originate from outer space.

I didn’t expect much of Justice League #1, but I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s not great, but it is a very good read. The art by Jim Lee and his longtime collaborator, Scott Williams, features some impressive compositions and designs… of course, though Lee’s figure drawing is below his recent work. Between the coated paper stock used to print this book and Alex Sinclair’s succulent and gleaming coloring, there was a glare off this comic that tried to blind me.

Seriously though, I like this. Batman is Batman. With Green Lantern, Geoff Johns seems to be channeling Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark and Kanye West. I haven’t read a Justice League comic book in the last five or six years, and this is a great issue to welcome me back.

B+


FLASHPOINT #5: http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/flashpoint-5.html

I Reads You Review: Ultimate X #1

ULTIMATE X #1
MARVEL COMICS

WRITER: Jeph Loeb

PENCILS: Arthur Adams

INKS: Aspen MLT’s Mark Roslan

COLORS: Aspen MLT’s Peter Steigerwald

LETTERS: Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s Albert Deschesne

Last year Marvel Comics brought an end to its Ultimate Comics line with a big event called Ultimatum. Never one to let its suckers… I mean customers keep a few extra bucks in their wallets, Marvel has relaunched the line and Ultimate X-Men is now Ultimate X.

Ultimate X #1 introduces readers to shirtless Jimmy Hudson, the adopted son of trailer park denizens, James and Heather Hudson. In the regular Marvel Universe, the Hudson’s were part of Alpha Flight. Here, James is a redneck sheriff and Heather is a home-bound harpy. Their little Jimmy is actually the spawn of Wolverine and some unnamed female. It’s a good thing that Bill Jemas and his regime of “realistic” comic book stories no longer reigns at Marvel or Jemas would make Jimmy’s mother an actual Wolverine.

The rest of the story (Chapter One: “His Father’s Son”) involves Kitty Pryde showing up to tell Jimmy all the secrets he should know. God forbid that he could learn that on his own and give this story a little more drama and action.

When I first heard of this comic, I was excited because I am a long time fan of artist Art Adams. I figured that it would be hit or miss with Jeph Loeb, and it is all miss. I’ve often wondered why Loeb is so acclaimed and popular. He has written some good comics, but most of his work is so stunningly mediocre. I figure that Loeb gets so many writing assignments because (1) people like him and (2) he is good at kissing ass, brown-nosing, and/or bee-jaying. The script for Ultimate X #1 is so dull that it is practically a strong dose of sleeping pills. Obviously, it is not good, but it isn’t so much bad as it is flat. In fact, even when Loeb attempts to create intrigue, it comes out as the opposite of intrigue.

As for Adams, he’s good enough to keep me coming back. I think Adams best days are behind him, having peaked in the 1990s around the time of his work on Monkeyman and O’Brien and his work with Wildstorm. Peter Steigerwald’s colors are professional, if not inspired. The coloring on Jimmy’s jeans, however, really stands out for some reason. Overall, I don’t see myself paying $3.99 per issue for Ultimate X, unless there is improvement, but I’ll continue to read it even if I have to shoplift a copy or download a pirated copy.

C

[This comic also includes a preview of New Ultimates #1.]


Buy Ultimatum