A Review of DAREDEVIL #1 and some Ardden & Atlas Comics...

DAREDEVIL #1

Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Paolo Rivera
Publisher: Marvel Comics
"Eventually I had to leave the city, my legal practice, my friends. But now I'm home, determined to put it all behind me and start fresh...because it's either that, or succumb to insanity.

Again."-- Matt Murdock

Pardon the pun, but I went into this comic blindly and came out feeling like a kid again. My formative comic-reading years were the Frank Miller years on DAREDEVIL and as far as I was concerned, the story of Matt Murdock came to a pretty definitive close in 1987 with the "Born Again" storyline. I've never held any interest in any run on DD since then. So, that would make it, what? 24 years since I've picked up a DD comic? Just about. I did pick up THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR retelling of his origin by Miller and John Romita, Jr. (loved it) and I did eventually pick up the trade of the Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada story where Karen Page got killed (didn't love it, though the art was pretty good).

So, what happens when someone weaned on the gritty and dark world of the Miller version of DD comes back to try out this relaunch? He finds one of the most enjoyable pure super-hero comics he's read in a long time. Without the need to retcon out the last 20 or 30 years of increasingly horrible events in Matt's life and the utter lack of humor and fun in his exhaustingly depressing existence, Waid embraces it all with great humor and a positive outlook.

Basically, DD is at a point in his life where he either spirals into a suicidal depression or decides that it's not the world that needs to change, but his own outlook on life. Matt Murdock has rediscovered the joy of life and it spills over into an enthusiasm throughout the entire comic and a whimsical approach to his derring-do that has been missing for way too long.

This does not mean that there's no danger or that the comic has slipped into parody zone. What this means is that Matt remembers who he was before his world started falling apart around the time that Elektra reappeared in his life. Yes, he has lost everything, including his secret identity, over the years (over and over) but he has decided to step up his game and start moving forward in control of his life rather than letting circumstances control him.

What this means for the reader is that we feel the enjoyment that Matt is feeling. It is infectious. Rather than being frustrated by those around him trying to continually bring up his DD identity, he instead just relentlessly holds the position that he is not DD and just smiles. The logic here is that really, only a few people "actually" know Matt is DD for sure. The rest of the people have "heard" it or "read" it, but we shouldn't believe everything we read on the Internet and in papers *wink*wink*. To the public, DD doesn't appear to have any special powers, so how in the world could he be...blind? It's a great way for Waid, as writer, to deal with the loss of identity and eventually be able to remove it from the platter of plot complications.

I just really enjoyed everything about it. I loved the creative way that DD prevented the kidnapping at the start of the book. Waid took an otherwise lame villain and turned him into someone who should be almost impossible for DD to defeat. The cleverness and quick-thinking of DD used to be one of charms of the character. It was a thrill to see that in play here. The visual representation of his radar sense was fascinating to see (and read). I particularly loved the "voice-over" monologuing of Matt throughout the book. It helps the reader truly see the world through his "eyes." The visual choices made in this book demonstrated some serious thought and consideration on how to visualize this aspect of the character.

Paolo Rivera does an amazing job, as artist, with this comic. Amazing. Flawless artwork and storytelling from cover to finish. The cover, particularly, is an astounding work of art and sums up DD in a single, smiling, image. The backup story by Waid and artist Marcos Martin was a brilliant piece of work to catch up any new readers on exactly what this "radar sense" actually is and how Matt uses it in his daily life.

I loved the one-page origin recap by Fred Van Lente and Martin. That is the way to do it. Get in; get out. On with the story. Sweet cliffhanger moment too at the end. My highest recommendation for fans of super-hero comics.

Huge Block of Reviews of Arrden & Atlas Comics

FLASH GORDON, COMEBACK KINGS, MINX,

GRIM GHOST, PHOENIX,  and WULF Reviews

 

FLASH GORDON: INVASION OF THE RED SWORD #2(PART 2: THE MISSION)

Writer: Brendan Deneen
Artist: Eduardo Garcia
Publisher: Ardden Entertainment

“I guess I should be surprised that you're still alive, Ming, but I'm not.” – Flash Gordon

A good follow-up to the first issue in this newest miniseries. Artist Eduardo Garcia settles in quite nicely on the art chores as we pick up on the cliffhangers of the first issue. The plot complication that scrambled the translators on Mongo so that the various races and tribes could no longer communicate is quickly resolved and Ming moves to the forefront.

I continue to really enjoy the pacing and storytelling in Arrden's FLASH GORDON comics. Vultan is developing into a favorite and plot points to pick up on are well laid regarding his relationship with his daughter. Likewise, Dale is proving herself to be a strong, attractive character fully justifying the attentions of both Ming and Flash. That I'm inwardly rooting for Ming is a sign of a well-developed villain.

This issue adds more depth to Ming's background and makes the reader almost clamor for an unlikely partnership between Ming and Flash against a common enemy – the humans who are invading the planet Mongo.

I look forward to what comes next and recommend this series and the trades of Arrden's previous FLASH GORDON series.

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THE COMEBACK KINGS #1

Writers: Matt Sullivan & Gabe Guarente

Artist: Ethan Young

Publisher: Ardden Entertainment

“The fame justifies the means!” – Jean-Luc Lambert (before blowing himself up live on television)

Okay. Not so hip to this one. Billed as a “dark satire.” I get the “dark” part, but I'm not feeling the “satire” part. It seems right now like just a “gag” project--the type of thing that a couple of guys might come up with while sitting around a beer tower at a hotel bar after hours at Comicon.

Anybody else seen “Bubba Ho Tep”, where an aged Elvis Presley and John F. Kennedy still live and have to team up to take down a resurrected evil Egyptian mummy? It's good stuff. Played straight, but a very dark comedy/horror flick that (I think) is growing in cult status. Well, this is sort of spiritually in the same ballpark but instead of Elvis and J.F.K, we have Elvis and Bruce Lee and Jim Morrison and Andy Kaufman and Tupac Shakur.

It's Project Resurrection and an older Bruce Lee has to come out of hiding, for some inexplicable reason, and “get the band back together.” In this case, the “band” is the above odd grouping of dead celebrities who, in this comic, faked their deaths.

I wanted to like it. The art is pretty good, though very inconsistent in the look of the characters. It was almost like the artist couldn't decide from page to page whether our “celebrities” were supposed to look the way they looked when they “died” or actually age them by the decades that they should be. Plus the appearance of Tupac seemed especially out of place and the interaction between him and Bruce Lee was just odd and implied some kind of a past relationship that didn't quite gel with the timeline as best as I could tell.

Now, if it had been played a bit broader with a go-for-broke style comedy (like, say, BLACK DYNAMITE) I could probably appreciate it more. However, I think I could tell when something was intended to be funny...but it wasn't working for me. And especially, I didn't see the “satire.” What exactly is being commented on here? I get that it's a funny thought that these (and the big “surprise” not-dead celebrity) are actually out there functioning like a super-secret A-Team of dead A-List Celebrities (though Kaufman would be the oddball there). But beyond that, I lost interest about halfway through.

I give it a “B” for effort, but a “C-” in the end.

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MINX #1
Writer/Artist: Andrea Grant
Publisher: Ardden Entertainment

“Where do humans go when they dream? Does the soul leave the body and wander in another dimension? There is an urban legend which claims if you die in DREAMTIME you'll not awaken in real life. THIS IS TRUE. It's the reason the gods never dare to slumber sound.” – Andrea Grant

This comic intrigues me. I find Andrea Grant's art very good; in fact, I am an instant fan! And I love that she is aspiring to touch something deeper, more primal, and archetypal than your average comic book. That intrigues me.

Apparently Grant is a member of a Native American tribe and she is building this comic book around a certain spiritual worldview that believes and accepts that there is a dream dimension that we live in during our sleep. In our waking hours, we lumber along through the world of the mundane, but when we sleep we enter a world of fantastic possibilities and adventure but also horrific dangers.

Minx is the story of a woman who seems able to blur the dimensional lines and is attacked by a creature from the dream dimension and nearly killed. Instead, she spends the next seven years in a coma. In the comic, she closes her eyes in one panel and opens them in the next and it is seven years later.

Her struggle to adjust to the world and her relationships when seven years have passed for everyone else but merely moments have passed for her make a good set-up for her story. I may be inferring too much, but I get the impression based on the way this issue wrapped up, that she has quite a lot of history built up in the dream dimension called “Dreamtime” from the last seven years asleep in a coma and it is not going to be an easy transition back to the world of the mundane.

Her story is one of two worlds and I want to read more of that story. Check it out and see if you agree.

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GRIM GHOST #2
Writers: Tony Isabella & Steven Susco
Artist: Kelley Jones
Publisher: Atlas Comics

“The Fringe. It's a world wrapped around and within the living world, a place where lost souls seek their ultimate fates.” – Michael

Better and better and better. The first issue of GRIM GHOST was good. This second issue is better. The pacing picks up. The art gets more expressively dark and moody.

Michael, the man who has passed from this world into “The Fringe” but can't remember his past, begins to...remember. At the same time, we get the backstory that was missing from the first issue as to the earthly relationship between Dunsinane (Grim Ghost) and the evil, demonic Braddock.

And the thing is, neither of the three come out smelling like roses. They are all flawed yet powerful, and morally nebulous. Braddock is the most outright cruel and evil, but both Grim Ghost and Michael show aspects that reveal that they are willing to be less than holy themselves in order to accomplish their purposes.

I'm hooked. Really enjoyed it. There's something about the look and feel of this series that evokes the nostalgia inside of me but is as modern as anything else out there.

GRIM GHOST, like the other Atlas Comics titles, is solid, good comics and well worth taking a look and committing your time and energy.

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PHOENIX #2

Writers: Jim Krueger & Brendan Deneen

Artist: Dean Zachary

Publisher: Atlas Comics

"You should have killed me when you had the chance!” – Max

I don't have much more to say on this title other than, if the first issue intrigued you, then this issue does not disappoint.

The art is gorgeous. The storyline a bit harrowing when putting yourself, as the reader, into the footsteps of Ed Tyler and his resurrection nightmare. He's on the run from the aliens who were killing him repeatedly and just trying to stay alive and sometimes failing at that.

This is a comic that hits the ground running and never stops running. It is over before you realize it and leaves you on another great cliffhanger moment. The mystery is not only unfolding but deepening with the appearance, almost Constantine-like, of a mysterious “detective” who seems out of place but also knows much more about what is happening to Tyler than he should.

I continue to be impressed by the way the characters react to this situation and I noted the first inclusion of a reference to Detective Lomax from the WULF comic to tease the reader with knowledge that these Atlas characters do indeed co-exist within the same world.

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WULF #2
Writer: Steve Niles
Artist: Nat Jones
Publisher: Atlas Comics

“I let you down. Ever steady, ever strong, always by my side. Rest well, my friend. Rest well.” – Wulf (saying goodbye to his dead horse.)

Saving the best for last, WULF ran away with the Atlas prize this month. Simply put, the synthesis between writing and art was complete once this team had their footing after a somewhat lighter-paced first issue.

This one really does have it all. A sword-wielding barbarian with an honor code, a hard-boiled New York police detective, terrifying bloodthirsty other-dimensional monsters, and a horribly disfigured powerful evil wizard.

With a radical twist on the “buddy cop” formula, I really dig how Niles is developing the relationship between Lomax and Wulf. There is a real sense of sadness in Wulf, the Barbarian, who has lost everything (seemingly) and Lomax picks up on this and reaches out to him. He can see the good heart within. However, in a shocking scene, Wulf demonstrates violently how he still is a barbarian raised in a world where brutality rules the day and is the first choice when confronted by evil.

The desperation and depravity of the villain in this story is dark and tortured--perfect for the tone of this violent but entertaining comic book. Not for the faint of heart though.

The writing rocks this comic and the art is just slightly primitive enough to give it a look and feel of something other-worldly.

I recommend WULF highly. This was my favorite comic of the past week.

A Call for Help from Comics Fans (Yes YOU can help a Moose!)

It's a refrain that is becoming way too familiar in this country right now.  I am talking about the disastrous healthcare and health insurance system as it stands right now.  Particularly within the Comics' industry where the vast majority of writers and artists build their careers on relatively low-paying work with no feasible options for affordable health or life insurance, much less retirement.  So, when the work starts to dry up and a medical emergency hits, there are few options available to these people.

I got to meet fan-favorite award-winning comic book colorist William "Moose" Baumann on the weekend of my 39th birthday at the Wizard World in Dallas.  He was there with Ethan Van Sciver and the two of them had an exclusive Green Lantern print that was my birthday present to myself. :)  Easily one of the best colorists working in comics today.

Moose has for a number of years been supporting his wife through a courageous cancer battle.  Medical bills have racked up to extraordinary amounts and I would describe their financial situation as one that has reached a dire point.  Moose is the type who would be reluctant to come right out and ask for help, but he has set up a web page where he is offering gorgeous 13x19 prints featuring his beautiful handiwork.

He is only asking $20 per print (includes shipping worldwide) and every penny goes to this important cause.

I would like anyone who reads this to check out the prints and order at least one of them.  I ordered the fantastic SPIRIT/DOC SAVAGE print by Neal Adams with Moose on colors (it was published as a variant cover for the FIRST WAVE series last year).

Also, if you would please repost and spread the word across the web-o-sphere, I think we can all make a difference in a real and practical way.

All my prayers and best wishes to Moose and his family.

You can view all the prints HERE and then PayPal $20 to Moose's email: moosebaumann@mediacombb.net

FLASH GORDON Comic Review

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FLASH GORDON: INVASION OF THE RED SWORD PART 1: TERROR #1

Writer: Brendan Deneen
Artist: Eduardo Garcia
Publisher: Ardden Entertainment

 
“I'm not saying I had a 'life flashing before my eyes' moment or anything...but still...I was scared, Hans. And it made me realize how important things are to me. Like home...and Dale.” -- Flash Gordon

Arrden Entertainment hits the stands this week with the further adventures of Flash Gordon, Dale Arden, and Dr. Hans Zarkov. The three humans are trapped on the planet Mongo and while Arden and Zarkov try to figure out how to return to Earth, Flash is working with Prince Barin, King Thun, and Prince Vultan to plan a series of tournaments as a way of peacefully uniting the people of Mongo in the post-war environment after toppling the despotic regime of Ming the Merciless.

This new series is set just a few weeks after Ming's first defeat (first of many, I will assume) at the hands of his frustrating human nemesis, Flash Gordon. This issue is an excellent set-up for this new story arc continuing the same successful approach of Arrden's earlier series. The developing relationship between Flash and the beautiful, and smart, Dale Arrden has solidified into something good. Zarkov is still throwing surprises Flash's way, which makes the development of the three humans into one of my favorite aspects of this comic.

I enjoyed the interaction between the three humans and the various alien races on Mongo. There is respect, but not necessarily trust, between many of these peoples and Deneen does a good job distinguishing the different cultures and attitudes. Adding to the difficulties here is that the “global translators” are malfunctioning. Yes, that old sci-fi standard for ease of communication is on the fritz which forces everyone to have to figure out different ways to be understood and cooperate.

Thrust into the middle of this “Tower of Babel” situation, an armored group of humans from Earth appear and begin an invasion of the planet Mongo and throw everyone's plans into turmoil. They have barely begun recovering from defeating the internal threat of Ming and now they have to face an unexpected external threat. Ending the issue with an unexpected and intriguing cliffhanger should bring anyone back for issue 2.

Overall, this is another excellent publication from Ardden. The art of Eduardo Garcia continues in the same style as established with the original series artist Paul Green. This makes for a seamless continuation of the story and characters from the first story arc. It's almost an American Anime (is there such a thing?) heightened reality look to the art. The colors are credited to “Estudio Haus” and what I really like about the coloring work in this comic (and in the previous series) is the otherworldly glow that the panels have when the story takes place on Mongo. I really get the sense of this being an alien world because it feels...different. The sun looms larger and its rays infuse every daylit scene with its presence. I like the way Garcia structures the panel flows from page to page. He breaks things up in an interesting way and when he starts angling the panels during scenes of movement, there's almost a lightning bolt sense to it, which makes sense for a FLASH GORDON comic book. I even liked the fact that “Consulting Editor” Jim Kreuger injects himself in the panels where appropriate to refer the reader to earlier trades. It's “old school” and I like seeing that.

I think Ardden demonstrates, once again, they truly understand how to take classic characters like Flash Gordon and modernize them in a relevant and fun way. And that's the bottom line as to why you should get this comic:

It's fun!