We’re No. 1! is a weekly feature looking at first issues in new comic series, as well as one-offs and special releases. In his reviews, Jeff highlights stories with diverse characters and plot lines Geekquality readers can care about, as well as points out comics that miss the mark.
Pickings were slim this week but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t some interesting stuff worth highlighting. Zenescope Comics returned to the shelves, and before you just skip this paragraph, let me say that for once it wasn’t a tragedy. Like the Big 2, Zenescope is fond of the cross-over event and the mega-team series, this time with Realm Knights #1. After reviewing (largely against my will) a great many of Zenescope’s books, I’ve finally gotten a handle on their Universe. Basically, there are five “Realms”: Earth, Myst (presumably the first Zenescope Realm), Wonderland, Neverland, and Oz. Thus, we get a lot of reimagined fairy tales, Zenescope’s bread and butter. This is not unlike ABC’s Once Upon a Time, though as I’ve railed about in the past, Zenescope seems to ply its trade via exploitation rather than affirmation. This week, they may be starting to change their tune a touch. In some part of one of their many mega-crossover events, The Gods (the Greek ones) put down the Titans (also the Greek ones), just as legend tells us. Now, the nastiest Titan of all, Chronos, is back and ready to seek vengeance upon … well, whomever. Some of the Realm’s most powerful warriors have been gathered to do battle against such nastiness. Enter Captain Hook, alternately a loud-mouthed lecher with a bionic laser hand rather than a hook, and Red Riding Hood, a sword wielding part werewolf maiden in a red cape. (As I said, these fairy tales are strongly re-imagined.) She’s joined by Robyn Hood, the female archer we’ve seen before, a woman named Sela who is apparently Snow White, and Abraham Van Helsing’s daughter Rachel, a vampire hunter carrying on his legacy. As I’ve pointed out before, Zenescope books are quite packed with interesting female characters, but for once, the focus here isn’t on their sexuality but on their need to save the world in good old comic book style. Perhaps the company that built its canon on sexy fairy tale heroes is beginning to realize there has to be a reason for portraying their characters a certain way, as female sexuality can be a powerful asset when properly applied. All five of the covers, which are traditionally Zenescope’s Achilles heel, are all relatively tame by their standards, and this feels like their first book in a more positive direction. We can only hope it continues.
In a great example of new technological directions in the comic world, Dynamite Comics brings us a new series starring their pulp-comics heroine Miss Fury. Miss Fury Digital #1is the first issue of a two-part mini-series, presenting an ongoing story that originally appeared and was released in digital format only. The first three chapters appear in this extra-sized 40-page volume, and they are a cracker. Miss Fury, for those who missed her previous #1, is a woman out of time, bouncing around between the World War II era and the modern day. She was in fact the inspiration for Catwoman, without the co-dependent Bat-relationship. Here, she’s set adrift in time and space on the trail of a Nazi with a time travel “button” (there’s really no better way to describe it) that brings forth terrors of the past. The first is a legion of Roman Centurions, who seem to have their own agenda on arrival and become Miss Fury’s adventuring companions. Miss Fury’s appearance may change with each artist (Wagner Reis, Johnny Desjardins and Fritz Casas each contribute a chapter) but her attitude and wit are consistent, thanks to solid writing by Rob Williams. She’s got a sense of humor that really makes the book, and the battles with space pirates and dinosaurs are merely vehicles for the verbal sparring. While Miss Fury is a great example of a female led comic, it’s an even better example of a great comic, with rip roaring adventure and witty banter paired with exciting art work.
And that about wraps it up with new titles, as far as we’re concerned. If you feel you must, you can check out Kiss Kids #1, which is funny in its own right, but is largely fluff for metal loving parents to give to their kids.
In the broader world of comics, I Love Trouble #6 is worth noting. I was fond of the first issue of Kel Symons and Mark Robinson’s book, and have been following through to the announcement of a six issue arc, with artist Nathan Stickman taking over from Robinson. The book is about small time hustler Felicia, a spunky young Latina woman with a unique ability to teleport. After discovering her gift during a plane crash, she is recruited by a shadowy government organization to become an assassin, and she takes to the job like a duck to water. Little does she know, at least until the final issue, what a great deal of the trouble she’s found along the way, from mob debts to international intrigue, all due to the manipulations of her boyfriend. The story also involve’s Felicia’s younger sister Maggie, who has telekinetic gifts of her own. Mags is the studious type, and thinks she’s keeping this a secret while she sorts out what is happening to her, with no idea of her sister’s own unique gifts. This entire series has been about women getting rather rudely dumped on by men, one in particular, and how they use their gifts to get past the problems life throws at them. Felicia takes matters (and the law) very violently into her own hands to conclude the first arc, and it will be a shame if this concludes the series altogether. The sisters have a very strained but very real relationship, fraught with actual drama as opposed to melodrama, and it’s nice to see two women of color with so much to do in a comic series. Hopefully the good folks at Image, who know a good thing when they see it most of the time, will bring them back after issue #6’s rather fiery ending.
