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.

[Raided] Detective Comics #850
by Graig Kent

Kudos to Paul Dini for turning Hush into a viable Bat-villain, even if he's not exactly the ultimate rogue that he's so desperately trying to be. "Heart of Hush" has indeed been a rather rollicking, epic cat and bat and mouse ordeal, playing with the supporting cast and Bat-mythos in some interesting ways, but keeping the focus primarily on building Hush's character, and succeeding. Through his various tenures with the character, Dini proved time and again he has the pulse of Batman under his finger and every beat is like his own.  While his run on Detective Comics isn't necessarily unforgettable, it remains consistently solid, remarkably good stuff.  Dustin Nguyen has done an equally solid job with his pencils on the series, adding weight to the page through his lines where necessary and thinning them out when calling for a lighter touch (watching Alfred take on Hush was a particular joy and well orchestrated). The only major detraction to "Heart of Hush" over the past few months was the cover's continued insistence that it's somehow tied into "Batman R.I.P." when not a single thread of the story has intertwined with Grant Morrison's work over in Batman. If anything it's doing a disservice to Dini's storytelling, distracting the reader as they try to figure out how it connects. Hell, at one weak moment I actually wondered if the Batman we were seeing over in the real "R.I.P" story was actually Hush, having succeeded in replacing Bruce Wayne and taking over his life.


FOUR OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS



[Raided] Nightwing #150
by Graig Kent

Reports of late have Nightwing on the chopping block (with Robin and Birds of Prey also feeling the axe) in a few month's time, and to be honest it's probably for the best.  Not that I've been a devoted reader or anything (I've dabbled, it's my wife who's the Dick Grayson buff) but the title hasn't had much consistent quality since Chuck Dixon left the title over 8 years ago. Devin Grayson, Bruce Jones, and Marv Wolfman all put in less than stellar (at points I'd even say "tragic") runs, and current writer Peter Tomasi has made the book interesting if frequently overblown. This issue, for example, the flying Grayson weaves a cable through the nose loops of a half-dozen zepplins threatening to release acid over New York City, and then tows those suckers into the Hudson (or something) immediately after having a crazy, no-holds-barred brawl in one of the cabins with Two-Face (have to say, though, artist Don Kramer manages to sell it very nicely). Some comics start well over the line of suspension of disbelief, while others, like Nightwing, Batman, Daredevil, and other kung-fu vigilantes of the night straddle that line as much as possible. While he understands the man and has written some great scenes with Dick and Bruce and Tim and Babs, Tomasi's problem is he doesn't know what Dick Grayson's superhero persona. He wants Nightwing to be bigger than James Bond, to be more Spider-man than Batman, and he tends to push things just an inch too far to retain a natural balance of the comic book physics and the real world. This final chapter of Nightwing's conflict with Two-Face is almost fun, but too many niggling bits (like Two-Face suddenly being a fighter on-par with Nightwing, and knowing he was once Robin) made my brain hurt. And, again, the big "R.I.P." banner on the front cover, all sound and fury signifying nothing. Nary a connection to Morrison's Batman tale.


TWO AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS



Batman: Cacophony #1 (DC)
By Eric Cordo

To a generation of film geeks Kevin Smith is either your beloved messiah who can do no wrong, or he’s a one hit wonder still living off of the good will garnered by a lightning-in-the-bottle indie classic. To a generation of comic geeks, he’s one helluva superhero writer when he’s delivering scripts in a timely fashion. His work on Daredevil and Green Arrow are fantastic representations of what these characters can be when the spirit of the comic is captured correctly, and now that he’s stepping up from lower tier characters* to tackle arguably the biggest name in all of comics – Batman. A few months ago we were treated with the information that two of the three issues were already through the writing phase and the third was well under way, so unlike many of Smith’s past projects, there was more optimism that Batman: Cacophony would ship on-time, and here we are with the first issue right on schedule! But, with a name such as Kevin Smith attached to a character such as Batman, expectations expectedly have been through the roof. So the question has been - Does it live up?

As you’d expect from any Kevin Smith project, this book is dialogue heavy, and that really is the highlight of this first issue. But don’t let the witty repartee fool you; this is a fairly dark book and I would only recommend it for teenagers and up. If you buy this for your kids and they’re any younger than twelve or thirteen, expect them to ask you some awkward questions about sodomy and naked guys. If that sounds like a conversation you don’t want to have with your children, steer them away from this title. It’ll save us all a headache. Anyways, for at least the first issue of Batman: Cacophony, this is above all else a Joker story. Now, the Joker is beyond a doubt one of the more fascinating fictional beings in all of popular culture, and after him sitting on the sidelines in the Batman mythos for a couple of years it’s nice to see him back in such forceful way with Batman R.I.P. (Grant Morrison), Joker (Brian Azzarello, Lee Bermejo), and of course The Dark Knight.

While Smith presents us with a more ‘jokey’ Joker, he doesn’t shy away from tackling adult themes, and taking a page out of Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth (Grant Morrison) he toys with the foundations of the Joker’s sexuality a bit. But, that’s not the point of this story so I don’t feel like I should dwell upon it, instead I’ll tell you about where this story is in fact heading, and that’s towards an emergence of Onomatopoeia as one of the DC Universe’s premier bad guys. If you read Smith’s Green Arrow, you’ll know this is one tough hombre, and with nothing known about the character’s origins or really anything beyond his cryptic yet literal dialogue and skills as a fighter there are plenty of stories begging to be told about him. But, as Smith’s creation it’s only fitting that he’s the one to bring him into the Batman universe as a force to be reckoned with, and I’d even like a Green Arrow cameo at some point, although I won’t hold my breath.  With the Joker and Onomatopoeia, there is also a very creepy appearance by Victor Zsasz. How he’s going to play into the overall story is yet to be seen, but I’ll go out on a limb here and say this is the farthest anyone’s taken the character in a few years, and out of all the players in this comic, he might just be the craziest. And that’s saying something.

Another move by Smith that I felt was quite interesting was the idea to place Maxie Zeus as the head of a major crime family selling ‘chuckles’, a street drug that’s cut with the Joker’s patented poison. There’s a pretty daring pay-off at the end of this issue that I think will wind up being what sets the tone for the next two issues in the sense that I don’t think this story will shy away from anything, no matter how dark it might get. Which brings me to my only real point of contention with this issue; the art. For years, art is what made people buy comic books. It almost killed the industry in the 1990s and if it weren’t for the medium moving into a more story and character driven era, we might not even have comics anymore. Walter Flanagan is a guy who, personally, I’ve never heard of, and a quick look on his Wikipedia page tells me that I might not be the only one. He seems to be a mainstay in the Kevin Smith film universe and while I don’t have anything against getting your friends a paying gig, I think the book would have benefited a bit more from having a professional and named comic artist doing the pencils. Since it’s only three issues, and Kevin Smith, I don’t doubt there would have been a line around the corner to land this job, but they went a different route and I’ll just have to live with heads that are 1/3rd the size of the bodies in which they’re attached. 

There’s so much more I feel I could put in this review because the book really was that jam-packed with story elements, and this might be one of the few books in recent memory that actually delivers content-wise on it’s $3.99 price tag. Smith might never be able to outrun the polarizing opinions about him in regards to his films, but there’s no doubt in my mind he’s one of the top level comic writers out there, and he could maybe benefit from stepping out of his collaborative comfort zone once in a while because the art is the only thing holding this book back from being almost perfect.

*Green Arrow is my favorite character in comics, but there’s no denying he’s not exactly A-List. Same goes for The Man Without Fear.


THREE AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS


The Cleaners #1
By Maxwell Patterson

Unlike most of the new comics I pick up which must battle gladiator style for my hard earned dollar, The Cleaners had me hooked the minute I heard its crime-scene mop up meets paranormal investigator premise. Finally, a comic that would allow me to reconcile my love of forensics with my love of Patrick Swazye, the movie Ghost, the supernatural! Those expecting a cross between CSI and Buffy should be forewarned though; while series writers Mark Wheaton and Joshua Hale Fialkov have promised other-worldly shenanigans, this issue is heavy on the science, in a good way.

Wheaton and Fialkov do a great job drawing the reader into The Cleaners' world quickly, but with enough hinted details and dangling plot points to keep them coming back for more. There is a lot in this issue, but each scene plays out in a natural fashion, without any sense of crunch to shovel in backstory. We get introduced to the members of the crime-scene cleaners team and learn a bit about the tools of the trade, and also see clues to a bigger mystery involving two blood soaked crime scenes and missing runaways. It's an interesting narrative, backed up by well-written dialog. The overall effect is like a great TV pilot; your biggest complaint is that there isn't more to watch immediately.

Rahsan Ekedal handles art duties here, and folks, he's good. While his style isn't the hyper-detailed norm of some of the bigger books, it's very much grounded in reality, with an emphasis on extremely expressive characters. What's more, the amount of detail in this book is top-notch, making it a treat to read. I'm a word man myself, but even I could appreciate how much care Ekedal seems to place in each panel.  One of my biggest pet peeves is when artists slack off on background characters and environments; yes it's awesome that you can see every vein on Captain Herculoin's bulging forearm, but when your background elements look like vaguely formed doodles, it detracts from the overall experience. Here, Ekedal imbues each and every panel (alright, ALMOST each and every panel), with a sense of care and attention to detail which had me stopping on each page and pausing to soak it all in. Again, it's not that every image is super-realistic, but merely that each element is given the detail its position warrants. It's a tough concept to get across in writing, but anyone who takes the time to flip through this issue (and you should), will get what I'm trying to say here.

Overall, I'm more excited about The Cleaners than I have been for any title in a long time. While it's not without its minor flaws, there's a sense of freshness here, of unexplored territory that has me anxious to see what comes next. Honestly, while the actual science and forensic parts of this book have me hooked, my biggest fear at this point is how the book's “supernatural” elements are going to be handled. I can't see it myself (yet), but considering the quality of talent at work here, I'm more than willing to give these guys a chance to blow my mind.


FOUR AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS



Gauze #1 (Arcana Comics)
By Jeb D

OK, maybe I was wrong when I wrote that there's nothing I'm more tired of than vampires and zombies; I forgot about serial killers. In particular, the faceless, unstoppable variety.

Gauze is a comic about just such a killer, with each issue to be presented from the point of view of another of his victims.

In the first issue, we meet Liz Morgan, who two years ago narrowly escaped our relentless murder machine, and is living under police protection in New York. But after the murder of a young girl and her parents on the outskirts of Nashville, Liz has to bid farewell to a new boyfriend, move with three cops to a safe house out in the middle of some creepy-looking woods. Why this seems like a better idea than keeping her protected where there are lots of police and resources isn't explained; as if we haven't got enough foreshadowing, one of the cops accompanying her remarks that they're so far away from the city that the car radio won't pick up anything. 

Particularly after the blood-soaked opening (detailing the Nashville murders), the reader won't be terribly surprised at what happens to the cops, or the fact that Liz spends the last few pages of the book bound and gagged, along with her boyfriend, awaiting a grisly fate. And while that's a bit more spoilery than I usually get in these reviews, most readers will be ahead of the story from the get-go.

Writer Gerry Tramis' characterizations are pretty much par for the course, with glimpses of Liz' reconstructed new life, and the young cop who tries to gain her confidence. In the end, though, they're all meat, grist for a familiar mill. And in a post-Buffy world, female characters who are simply victims (even fairly sympathetic ones) feel pretty dull.

Artist Dave Hannam treats the grim subject matter in a somewhat cartoony fashion that tells the story well enough, and allows the moments of gore to stand out-though given the plot's familiar structure, it never takes us unawares.

It's possible that, as the series goes on, the shifting perspectives different characters have on this killer  may provide something additional in the way of insight or entertainment (it does appear that different art styles or artists may be employed in future issues). If you haven't yet had your fill of Jason and Mike and their ilk, then you might take a chance on this. Otherwise, not a strong recommendation.


TWO AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS