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.
The internet has been abuzz about two of the big releases out this week from Image, and neither title disappointed. Pretty Deadly #1, from writer Kelly Sue Deconnick (Captain Marvel, Ghost) and artist Emma Rios (Osbourne, Hexed), has generated a lot of early interest and the book delivers on several levels. It’s a Western, at least in setting, but the narrative has a dreamy, fantastical quality that moves it beyond being just a good shoot-em up. Pretty Deadly is the story of Deathface Ginny, a vengeful spirit and the daughter of Death himself, who rides the plains bringing vengeance to those who deserve it. Ginny might be the focus, but she’s part of a bigger tapestry. Her tale is told by two traveling performers: an old blind man named Fox and a little girl called Sissy, dressed in a robe made of vulture feathers. They enact Ginny’s story as they travel from town to town, collecting a little cash at each performance, but there is more to these wandering minstrels than meets the eye. Bone Bunny (an actual dead rabbit), in turn, is telling Fox and Sissy’s harrowing tale of gunfights and adventure to a butterfly, and both layers of engaging, dreamlike narration hold the heart of the story in their hands. There is gritty Western action and great dialogue, and the beautifully mystical artwork by Rios helps the poetic narrative ascend beyond mere action-adventure. While Pretty Deadly isn’t the powerhouse of feminist ass-kickery that DeConnick’s Captain Marvel has been, it’s a fantastic book about women by women, which we can’t get enough of, ever. But beyond that, after two readings of the first issue I was struck by what ELSE Pretty Deadly is: it’s damned scary.
Pretty Deadly turned out to be my favorite Halloween book of the year, bar none. Any tale about the Daughter of Death, vengeance incarnate on horseback, ought to be creepy, and despite the childlike magical realism in some scenes and the soft, warm coloring throughout (handled brilliantly by Jordie Bellaire), this book is dark and frightening. Ginny has her own rhyming song, a horror fiction device as old as Freddy Krueger or Bloody Mary, and when Sissy related it to the townsfolk, I got actual chills. Other characters are teased here, including the bounty hunter Big Alice, and they add not just mystery but real fear to the mix. Who Ginny might be riding to destroy isn’t fully clear, and who Sissy and Fox are running from isn’t either. That puts the reader in fear for all the characters involved, and their eventual confrontations promise riveting suspense. Pretty Deadly may deliver more bloody violence, but hopefully it also hangs onto its spookiness.
Now, for straightforward action adventure, you can’t beat superstar writer Ed Brubaker (Fatale, Captain America) and artist Steve Epting’s latest book, Velvet #1. Velvet Templeton is a secretary to the Director of a super secret spy agency in the early 70’s, a stereotypical “his gal Friday,” at least on the surface. Who and what Velvet Templeton really is serves as the soul of this book, and like any good espionage thriller, it’s much more complicated and mysterious than it seems at first glance. Velvet has been on the inside of the secret operation known as ARC-7 for years, right next to the top brass, and as close as she can get to its best agents, from the legendary X-2, to the recently assassinated X-14. She’s bedded and beguiled the best agents in the world, all for her own purposes. When her own curiosity and investigative skills land her in the jaws of a trap, it turns out she’s more than just a master manipulator and seductive charmer. Velvet is probably the deadliest agent of all! This book is just too much fun, loaded with familiar tropes of Cold War era fiction. Like much of Brubaker’s work, the story focuses on a character that would normally sit on the sidelines, and Velvet herself is happy to appear to be sidelined for as long as she has to. The book never tried to hide that she’d get to jump into the fray herself, but it doesn’t make her story any less exciting. Velvet is a first rate character because she’s not just a strong woman but a complex one. She’s used her extraordinary intellect and her feminine wiles to great effect over the years, but her years are catching up to her. It’s nice to see a story about a truly experienced, slightly older woman – as opposed to another perfectly formed 20-something – getting a chance to prove what she can do. Velvet is straight up action-adventure to be sure, but the human depth we see in its title character makes this a book to come back to.
Not to be outdone, DC Comics brings some unexpected goodness with Beware the Batman #1. This all ages comic serves as the print tie-in to the new animated series, and a lot of the value in this book is that it’s intended for a younger audience, setting good examples while introducing them to characters most older readers know well. Bruce Wayne is his usual stoic and driven self, but he’s got two interesting partners this time around. The first is the iconic Alfred, re-imagined as a former secret agent (looking a bit of a football hooligan with his clean pate and bowler hat), more an active partner than a subservient lackey to the Batman. Instead of Robin, Batman is partnered with a kid friendly version of Katana, a sword wielding young woman who holds her own next to the Dark Knight. It’s that example, that both Katana and Alfred can be equals to the Batman that makes the biggest impression in this book. Katana (whose first name is Tatsu) isn’t depicted as a sidekick, and saves Batman at least once in the first issue rather than it always being the other way around. There are subtle hints of equality here that are perfect for young readers, like Alfred referring to them both by name over the radio, rather than simply directing information solely to Bruce. Tatsu is in on the action as much as Mr. Wayne is, and Alfred and Bruce treat her with respect. There are issues of social inequality happening here as well, with a villain named Anarky using an analog of the Occupy movement to set off a crime spree in Gotham City, but the overwhelming take away is that a young woman of color can stand up and be the Dark Knights equal partner and it’s a powerful example for new young readers.
Lastly this week, smaller indie publisher Renegade Arts Entertainment brings us Dept. of Monsterology #1. This book is sort of a supergroup of characters gathered into a mash-up of Indiana Jones and The X-Files, with a healthy dash of B.P.R.D. mixed in. Thankfully, the book moves beyond such comparisons rather quickly. The Department of Cryptozoology, Mythological Studies, Parapsychology and Fortean Phenomena at Dunsany College might sound like a bunch of wacky old professors chasing Bigfoot, but it’s so much more. Two teams of experts – scientists, explorers and mystics alike – travel the dark corners of the world, looking for forgotten monsters and dangerous relics. The cast is diverse and interesting: associate fellow Amelia Court, expert in “field work”; her boyfriend, Professor Harry Wilmington, a living brain inside a robotic body; Dr. Jang Sonem, a former monk and soldier, and Astral tutor to a young spirit walking girl named Samwi; and Dominic Belasco, psychic, magician, “necronaut” and possible charlatan, just to name a few. There are a few tropes here we’ve seen before, but never in quite such an abundant mix. The book has the feel of a really great casserole that you might make from a refrigerator full of leftovers, something that ends up better as a whole than each of the original ingredients. It’s something that’s hard to do and even harder to do over and over again, so let’s hope that writer Gordon Rennie and artist P. J. Holden can keep it up. There are two intertwined tails here, the discovery of some ravenous mer-creatures and a plague of vampires held inside China’s terracotta warriors, both prime Halloween fare. To see these stories be woven with such a diverse cast of characters is a treat, so we’ll be back for more.
