Been a while, but we’re back, with a renewed emphasis on drawing attention to what is and isn’t worth your hard earned dollars in these lean economic times. Comics have never been more expensive, with cover prices that have far outpaced inflation (despite an increasing number of full page ads). The $3.99 price point is in sight. 

No more B.S.  We ‘re committed to a weekly comic highlighting some things we think are worth a look, and some that should be overlooked.

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Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion #1 (of 6) (DC Comics)
By Sean Fahey

Being the proud son of a Vietnam War hero, I often wonder how Vietnam veterans (and even Korean War veterans) feel about the unabashed love affair this country has for World War II vets, specifically (almost exclusively, actually) American veterans fighting in Europe. You know, “The Greatest Generation.” Seems like not a month goes by without a new first-person shooter, film, TV miniseries, biography or comic book about this select group of men. Quite frankly, it’s overkill. I say this not belittle their tremendous sacrifice, quite the opposite actually. It pains to me to see their sacrifice become so marketed and overexposed that it’s become a “genre,” a cliche, while at the same time veterans of the Korean War and Vietnam (and to be honest the first Gulf War) continue to slip into obscurity. 

That’s not say that there aren’t plenty of important World War II stories left to be told.  There are.  But the latest Sgt. Rock miniseries, Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion, isn’t one of them, nor is it entertaining.  It’s a four-color rehash of everything we’ve already seen in Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, Ken Burns The War and read in the pages of just about every Stephen Ambrose book. Sgt. Rock and Easy Company take part in the invasion of Normandy, and just in case you haven’t turned on a TV, been to the movies, played a first-person shooter or walked into a bookstore recently, the narrator goes to great lengths to make sure the reader understands that this was a sacrifice...a really, really big sacrifice, and we should honor these men. Maybe it’s just the way that the narration reads, but it’s not inspiring. It’s paternalistic.

To be fair, series writer and artist Billy Tucci is in an impossible situation. He’s dealing with a character that will be forever associated with one creator, Joe Kubert.  That said, while Tucci undoubtedly believes he’s working a different take on this character -- a more “realistic” take, more tied to actual historic events, and with photo-realistic art to heighten the “realism” -- he’s not. As I’ve already mentioned, this has all been done before...and continues to be done over and over again. The beauty of Kubert’s Sgt. Rock stories is that they walk a fine line between entertainment and reverence. We know and love the men of Easy Company, and what they represent, but at the end of the day we feel like we read a good story, not a sermon.  

I respect Tucci’s desire to try (what he believes to be) something new with this character. I do. I was also delighted with some of the Easter Eggs littered throughout the comic, such as cameos by The Haunted Tank and The Unknown Soldier. But at the end of the day, despite good intentions, this comic is poorly executed and sacrifices good storytelling (at least in this inaugural issue) in order to spend time preaching at the reader.


TWO OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS



Trade Winds: Joker (DC Comics)
By Eric Cordo

To start off this review, I’m going to be perfectly honest with you; I’ve been waiting for this original graphic novel for about three years. The combination of Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets) and Lee Bermejo (Lex Luthor: Man of Steel) taking on a character such as the Joker had my interests piqued immediately, and I never expected it to be anything less than stellar. Well, in another bout of aforementioned honesty I have to tell you that I was almost right. I also have to tell you that I’ve heard people tell me to read this as a prequel to The Dark Knight, and that it’s more fun to read if you pretend it’s Heath Ledger’s voice. I couldn’t disagree more. Just to be clear to any of you unfamiliar with the history of this project, the concepts and designs for the look of Joker were created before and without knowledge of what was happening with Christopher Nolan’s small, independent film. If you want to read it differently, be my guests, but I think that takes away from the credit you should give Azzarello and Bermejo when you treat this like a film tie-in. Now to hop off the soapbox and into a review!

It became apparent very early in reading Joker that it was structurally similar to a recent film, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. The way Johnny Frost parallels Bob Ford is quite eerie at points, and not because I think either project influenced the other, but because that type of psychotic devotion and false idolatry is nothing less than creepy. Maybe even horrifying, but definitely creepy. I was always fond of the line about how when super villains tell scary stories, they tell Joker stories because it gave you a bit of insight into how the rest of the criminal underworld felt about the Joker himself, and this book extrapolates that simple idea ten fold. Not only do we get to see the Joker from Johnny’s perspective, but we also get a glimpse of the fear he instills in rogues like Croc, Penguin, and most disturbingly subtle, the Riddler. Something this made me think about was how do we choose our heroes? It took his entire ordeal with the Joker to make Johnny realize he made the wrong choices, but why would he have settled on the most deranged man in all of Gotham City to be his shepherd in the first place? It would have been nice to see a little bit of Johnny’s life before the Joker was released from Arkham, but that wasn’t really the story Azzarello was intent on telling.

Instead we have a story about a low level thug named Johnny Frost who garners an intense fascination and admiration for the Joker upon him being cut loose under mysterious circumstances from Arkham Asylum. Oh, and Batman’s not on more than eight pages of the entire graphic novel which weighs in at about 125 pages. Instead of an entire graphic novel of Bats and the Joker facing off against each other, Azzarello focuses on Johnny’s view of the Joker’s relationship with the city, and a running theme of insanity. I suppose my interpretation of the Joker convincing doctors to release him from Arkham is as simple as he figured out that to stop seeming crazy you just had to stop seeming crazy. I think most of the hints from the story point to that, so you can see what you think because I wouldn’t be surprised if there was something I missed. The most interesting relationships the Joker have in the book are Harvey Dent/Two-Face and with the Batman. He has a more direct and morally confusing relationship with Harvey, but it’s clear from the beginning that everything he’s doing from robbing banks and murdering mob bosses is to gain Batman’s attention and wrath. It’s all he lives for and that’s all that matters to him. He’s Batman’s Johnny.

When Batman does show up we see his battle with the Joker through Johnny’s eyes, and conceding that the only cure for the criminal scourge of Gotham City is Batman. It’s a fairly powerful scene that benefits from Bermejo having the time to have traditionally painted the panels instead of modern coloring.  At this point I’m not quite sure why DC didn’t just wait a little longer to have the book released as intended. It could have something to do with being released in the year of The Dark Knight, but it doesn’t really matter anymore now that it’s out. Either way, the art is fantastic and the grim and gritty – almost noirish -- world Bermejo creates compliments Azzarello’s complex and colloquial* dialogue. I can’t recommend this book enough and I suggest you pick it up sooner rather than later if you’re one of those first printing geeks like me.

*Alliteration is your friend.


FOUR AND A HALF OU T OF FIVE VIKINGS



Scarlet Veronica #1 (Ape Entertainment)
By Maxwell Patterson

Yeah baby, Thor's Comic Column is back taking names and leaving footprints on asses! This isn't your mama's Comic Column though; this as an all new, all sexy dose of comic goodness, delivered directly from our brains to your eyeballs weekly! In honor of this all fresh batch of review-y goodness, I've decided to take a look at a brand-spanking new series from the fine folks at Ape Entertainment. Also, since this is my first review for our new launch AND my first review after a long absence, I'm going to forgo my usual snark and bitterness and try to be extra cute and cuddly for this review. That's right Scarlet Veronica, you've got 5 Vikings going in. DON'T PROVE ME WRONG!

Alright, we're a few pages in and so far, so good. The art is reminiscent of Nate Lovett's work on Xombie: Reanimated, but doesn't seem to quite have that title's polish. There's definitely an amateur vibe to the proceedings here, and not in a bad way; while there are some questionable design choices and blips in quality, overall there's an energetic and cartoon feel which I can dig. We've got some angels battling it out, a pyramid, a dead guy; all the makings of a grade A supernatural shindig. Also, I should mention that while artist Jason Moody may not have the world's most sophisticated style, the page layout thus far is excellent. While a lot of indy works seem to fall into the Panel, Panel, Panel trap, Moody nicely breaks out interesting shifts that give the action a very stylish, cinematic feel.

Alright, we've moved out of Egypt and into our titular character's bedroom. Mom rousting the lazy teen, very sitco-Oh no Scarlet Veronica, not terrible manga expressions! I know what you're thinking; “Hey Japanime super-comical facial expressions! The kids will love it!” but that's no excuse for this Teen Titans abomination. Ugh, positive outlook or no, that's not gonna fly. I'm afraid repeat offenses may cost you a Viking. Alright, moving on...dammit, on the very next page! Agh, that drives me bonkers. It's a shame too, because when Mr. Moody actually takes time to draw out real expressions, the result is entertaining. I don't use the word “fun” much (mainly because my idea of fun would turn your hair-white), but I think it's appropriate here. While a lot of this book is talking, everything has an energetic vibe, a real cartoon exuberance that's lacking from your average Marvel or DC title. It's not just the facial expressions, but the posture, anatomy and movement of the characters which is so appealing. It's good stuff and makes the occasional artistic shortcuts (or stylization or whatever), all the more grating.

So the art's good, how about the writing? Well the writing is very...uh, well it's kind of....you see, I think the best way to describe it might be, serviceable? Yeah, that works. Clichéd probably would work too. Or hackneyed. But I'm trying to be nice, so lets go with serviceable. Look, I've got no problem riffing on familiar themes. Heck, Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars and Last Man Standing are three of my favorite flicks, and they're all basically the same movie! The thing is though, if you aren't going to take the creative route, then you've got to sell on the execution. This is, minor details aside, a Buffy/Angel knock-off, but while those shows carried themselves on the appeal of their characters and the strength of their scripts, Scarlet Veronica simply lacks that sort of wit. While there's a few good lines (OK, one), most of the script seems cribbed directly from any given Nickelodeon tweener show (or 80's high-school film). Bitchy cheerleaders? Check. Moronic, bullying jocks? Check. The worst offender is the nerdy hanger-on who befriends Veronica after she rescues him from said jocktacular bullies. Honestly, after about three lines of dialog from him, I could understand why somebody would want to pound him into jelly. Here, judge for yourself:

“These glasses aren't just for reading. They hide my secret identity. Comic geek by day! And, well, I guess, comic geek by night too.”

HOHO! It's funny cause he said the same thing twice! I realize this isn't supposed to be Shakespeare, but that's not even Saved By the Bell material. This is supposed to be the comic relief guy, so shouldn't he have the best lines? Although maybe he's supposed to represent the average nerd trying to be funny and failing miserably, in which case hats off to you fellas; you've created a perfect simulacrum of that guy everyone avoids in the cafeteria. Also, while I appreciate the book's nods to cult movies and characters (Campbell 4 life yo!), they never rise beyond “Hey, I know that guy!” Yes, I patted myself on the back for being such a huge nerd, but it seems like a cheap trick to disguise the fact that the book really doesn't have any of its own material.

Oh Scarlet Veronica, I tried to go easy on you, but you just wouldn't let me! While I liked your upbeat art and B-movie premise, your writing just left me cold, cold like your protagonist, who is apparently too dumb to buy a new jacket. Hopefully writer Robert Barry can step up his game for future issues but for now, I gotta place this one in the Wait and See list. If I was to give this an unofficial break-down, I'd probably give the art around a 4 and the writing roughly a 1.5 on the old Appeals-to-Max-o-Meter (patent pending), but since we here at The Column look at complete packages, I gotta go with...


TWO AND HALF OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS