Starring in alphabetical order: Adam, Devon, Eric, Graig, Jeb and Max as “Max”.

Tonight’s episode: Clip Show (tune into Rack Raids for more)

Hercules: The Thracian Wars #1 (of 5) (Radical Comics)
by Jeb D.

One of the great strengths of HBO’s series Rome was its ability to give that ancient city’s people attitudes and motivations that would feel wholly recognizable and convincing to modern audiences, without seeming anachronistic. In this limited series (the first of several projected), veteran British comics writer Steve Moore helps to launch the new Radical Comics line with a similar spin on the adventures of the legendary Hercules: here less a man-god than a man, trading on a reputation based on legends that are swiftly losing hold on his contemporaries. Here (as on Rome), the gods and monsters of ancient myth are less articles of faith than metaphors for man’s dismal fate in a capricious world. Indeed, if there are any supernatural beings to whom everyone in the series owes allegiance, it’s the cold and pitiless Fates.

In this series, Hercules is a soldier of fortune, whose relationship with his legendary status is uncomfortable, at best. He leads a band of mercenaries that resembles nothing so much as James Cameron’s Marine troop in Aliens (there is even a female character– the fleet-footed Atalanta - out to prove herself as capable as any man). Summoned to the decrepit, debauched land of Thrace to aid its king, Hercules and company quickly find themselves insulted by the court’s denizens, and provoked into bloody action, the consequences of which are, by turns, predicable… and then unexpected. The dialog skirts a fine line: eschewing the pseudo-Shakespeare that Stan Lee made the lingua franca of legendary heroes, it goes for a naturalism that generally works, though some of Hercules’ weary snarking, and the occasional bit of phrasing like “cross-dressing sex monsters,” can pull the reader out of the period just a bit.

The painted art by Admira Wijaya is most impressive. It’s lithe and fluid, but carries enough real weight that the extended battle sequence never feels overlong. With the aid of Moore’s research, Wijaya imagines a bleak and brutal ancient world that contrasts sharply with the golden legends that form the basis for Hercules’ reputation. It’s also worth noting that the character design (and logo) are by the legendary Jim Steranko, who also offers one of the two covers for this issue. It’s nice, if a bit static, but any new Steranko is cause for celebration.

The only slight reservation I have about recommending this comic has to do with the pacing: while the book is a great buy at 22 pages for $1.00 (and future issues will carry a $2.99 price tag), at the end, we’re not terribly far along into the story (we’re not even certain just why Hercules and his team were summoned, or what their task will be). Still, at full price the book would be worth your money; for a buck, it’d be crazy not to try it. The most impressive series debut so far this year.


FOUR OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS

 

Local #11 (of 12) (Oni Press)
by Graig Kent

Local has had its share of delays and late-shippings, something which usually causes me much consternation, but even though this is Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly’s first issue since August of last year, I’m not as fussed. It could be because this issue is set in my fair city of Toronto, which always excites my Canadian blood, but more likely it’s the fact that the series is comprised of stand-alone stories, meaning no cliffhangers, no dangling story threads, no messes to clean up, and no knuckle gnawing wondering, “What happens next?”

Starting out as a storytelling experiment by Brian Wood, attempting to capture an aspect of a city using his character Megan as a common cypher to explore, the tables naturally turned on the writer and he found that the character was taking the focus and the city was taking the role of atmosphere, which has actually turned out quite well. Each issue is a step forward in time, and we reconnect a year later with Megan, sometimes directly, other times indirectly, like in this issue where a coworker of hers, Nancy Bai, a student at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD), makes her the subject of her graduate showcase The art exhibit reveals Megan’s curious, semi-nomadic, semi-enigmatic past and finding her at the cusp of having grown up and moved beyond her old ways.

As I said, this issue takes place in Toronto, and as captured by Kelly (who also co-wrote this issue), it acts as a vibrant, living environment in which Megan an Nancy feel part of. Without quibbling over minuscule details in the illustration, Kelly nails this city, both it’s corporate culture (much of which are open-concept offices in repurposed garment buildings) and one of its many cultural scenes (many of which coalesce at the Drake Hotel, as featured).

That I could both appreciate (and scrutinize) the locale and also feel the resonance of the story on the central figure of this series is a testament to both Wood and Kelly’s dedication to the project, it’s original intent and it’s shifted character focus. They could have relaxed and tossed off the final few issues quickly but they committed to the series and seeing its evolution through to the end. Between each Local is a period of growth and understanding from both the writer and artist in what it is they were attempting to create together, and like any organic work, it shifts a little more as time goes by. Kelly mentions in his closing essay this issue that he had seeded a few easter eggs in previous issues that even he didn’t know would pay off as big as they did this issue. I’m sure only the most dedicated of readers picked up on that, but once revealed, the effect it has on the story is huge.

Is it the best issue of the series? No. But it does make the series a series, if that makes sense. It sews a thread between the disparate elements of each issue and, for the first time puts a figurative and literal spotlight on Megan, which at times Wood has purposely avoided. She’s never been the star of Local, but now she’s no longer is she just an empty vessel for random storytelling. If you haven’t read the series, and plan on catching up with the final issue, or waiting for the inevitable compilation, let’s just say it’s a unique, sweet and bumpy ride, both from city to city and the traipse through these slices of Megan’s life, but certainly not one to miss.


FOUR OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS

House of Mystery #1 (Vertigo)
by Devon Sanders

Vertigo Comics as a publisher, of late, has been threatening to eat itself. Much in the way that Marvel holds up Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four run as gospel, Vertigo, as a company, seems dumbfounded about what do towards adding anything new to the house that Alan, Grant & Neil built. While series such as 100 Bullets and Preacher have put Vertigo back on the map,“once-DC Universe-based series” such as Animal Man, Swamp Thing and Sandman are the ones that got them to the dance. Subsequent “DC” Vertigo series like The Witching have tried to re-capture some of that initial zeitgeist but have collapsed under the weight of what came before. How do you have a new reader step into a shared universe that sort of ceased to exist a decade before?

Simple. Tell good stories.

That said, you should be checking out House of Mystery #1, on sale now.

Abel, brother of Cain, lies dead , again. Within The House of Secrets, Cain sips from his tea, admiring the ax he’s delivered unto is brother’s heart. A stroll home to The House of Mystery seems is in order after a day’s work, only The House has gone missing, ripped from its very foundation. “Somewhere else,” the house sits, its occupants singing a song of farewell to one of their own. Elsewhere, a young girl from “the world” runs towards a door and twist the knob…

“Welcome to The House of Mystery, fabled in story and song. The first drink is on the house” God, I love metatext!

Writer Matt Sturges is having fun and it shows. Sturges crafts a story that Vertigo fans, new and old, can cut their teeth on. He’s given the house new occupants and in effect, new stories. Sturges’ writing is clever and colorful, immediately drawing you deep into the story. Sturges, in a bit of inspired re-casting, has turned the house into a bed and breakfast for the damned where tabs are payed down in stories. In a tale written by Bill Willingham (Fables), we get one featuring Hungry Sally in a tale so heartbreakingly wrong for all the right reasons, it’ll leave you damned near speechless. Sturges brilliantly follows this all up with a warmth rarely shown in collaborative storytelling. These two have a genuine love of story and it shows on every page.

Series artist Luca Rossi art is pitch-perfect. Blending bits of Hellboy’s Mike Mignola with 100 Bullets‘ Eduardo Risso, Rossi crafts a page beautifully complimenting whatever dark and twisted thing the writer hand his way. Rossi’s command over shadows and blacks is astounding, the highest compliment I can hand his way is, Why haven’t I seen this guy’s work before?” In the story “The Hollows,” artist Ross Campbell creates a visual landscape so eerie it almost dares you to not look away.

House of Mystery #1, with its love of storytelling is a like taking your brain for a enjoyable stroll by torchlight down a very twisted path. It’s creepy, scary and new. House of Mystery certainly seems to be leading my imagination in all the right directions.

 


THREE AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS

 

Secret Invasion #2 (Marvel)
by Eric Cordo

With the first issue being such a blast, it could go unsaid that I was anxiously awaiting issue number two of Secret Invasion. But, in the interest of filling space, I was fairly excited for the second installment of the series that could finally put the event comic back in high standings with the readers who will buy it regardless of quality. So far I’ve read it twice, and I’m still not sure how I feel about this issue, and possibly it’s because after the craziness that was Secret Invasion #1, this seems a bit scaled back and unsure of where it’s heading. If I recall correctly, and I’m never wrong, Brian Michael Bendis said that this second issue had the Skrull reveal that he felt would cause the most interesting fan reactions. Maybe I’m blind, or maybe I need to read it more than twice, but this issue lacked the impact that the first issue carried, and I couldn’t find a reveal worth noting throughout this entire issue.

With that being said, to me a Skrull reveal is just the means to an end and I’m more interested in the overall plot of Secret Invasion than I am a character reveal. And this issue carries very little in the area of story advancement. We pick up at the moment the first issue had all of the Skrull or not Skrull characters coming off of the ship, and I’m not going to lie, the panel layout, the dialogue, and the structure left me a bit confused as to what was actually happening. I don’t think it benefits the story or the reader to have panel after panel over-laying with dialogue from other people and conversations interjected into what seemed to be random spots. I can say that I’m usually a fan of Bendis’ dialogue, but even this was populated with too many “Yeah, well” conversation for my liking, and it will cause quite a few people to go back and re-read pages because everything happened so quick and in a convoluted manner.

The part of this issue that stood out to me, like issue number one, was Lenil Yu’s art. I know there is a steady contingent out there that has problems with every book he does, but count me as a fan and someone who’s very glad he landed Secret Invasion. I’ve had an opportunity to see a few of his Secret Invasion splash page pencils in person, and if Marvel put out a black and white issue of just those I would double-dip because they are gorgeous.

This issue read very quick, and very trite. With the exception of a few sequences including a Hawkeye moment, and the final pages, there isn’t really much in the way of content this issue. Which as I said before is a complete one-eighty from the previous issue where things kept happening and compounding on our heroes. I suppose the biggest grievance I had with Secret Invasion #2 is that it felt like a fill-in issue or a tie-in. It read like it should have been in the pages of New Avengers and not the main series. Perhaps the story structure is meant to make the reader feel as confused as the characters on the page, but that’s only going to work for a few people, and it’s not the way to get people who weren’t interested in the book to support it. The last pages do make the next issue look promising, and I hope that Secret Invasion will adhere to a more streamlined narrative, as the combination of odd panel placement and disjointed dialogue did little in the way of explaining anything at all. We’ll have to wait for the next issue, but this one sort of makes you wonder and feel that Bendis is writing for the trade; and that’s not going to be any incentive for the reader who drops $3.99 on an event comic and each subsequent tie-in.

TWO AND A HALF VIKINGS OUT OF FIVE