This week’s new #1 issues run the gamut from dark realism, to out of this world cyberpunk. Kicking things off is The Crow: Curare #1. While the premise of the series is certainly dark and gothic, few Crow stories have the gut wrenching realism of this week’s release. Detective Joe Salk, a family man who’s haunted by the one case he couldn’t close, is the focus of the story. His obsession with the brutal rape and murder of an unidentified young girl is hardly the only darkness in Salk’s life. He’s long been haunted by the horrors his work exposes him to, and his wife has had enough, leaving him and taking the kids with her. When the murdered girl’s spirit appears in Det. Salk’s living room with the powerful Crow on her shoulder, will Salk be able to put this demon to rest? And how will the spirit of vengeance manifest itself in the body of a 9 year old? This is a unique direction for James O’Barr’s dark series, and it’s possibly the most disturbing of the Crow series to date, if only for its stunning realism. As a parent, the brutal murder and subsequent autopsy were difficult reading, and I find myself, more than ever, rooting for the Crow to put things right.
Author Joe Hill comes to IDW once again for a comic adaptation of his novella with Thumbprint #1. The main character is Army Private Mallory Glennan, who’s been dishonorably discharged after the events at Abu Ghraib prison. She’s settled back into a ho-hum life in the states, tending bar and fending off the unwanted advances of her pig of a boss. When a letter arrives at her home with only a single thumbprint inside, Mallory’s training and fight or flight responses kick in hard. Is this a threat? And why is the print so familiar? This is only the very beginning of the mystery, and it honestly took a while to set up, leaving me wanting by the end of the first issue. Scripted not by Hill himself but by comic writer Jason Ciaramelia (The Cape, TMNT), the set up getting around to the story is time well spent, giving us a remorseful woman with a reserve of inner strength that’s about to be fully tested. This one has some of the feel of Greg Rucka’s Stumptown, but with darker themes, and should be an enjoyable read.
The dark vibe continues with a special one shot from Vertigo, An American Vampire Special: The Long Road to Hell. This tale is set in the 1950’s era of the American Vampire universe, where a new breed of vamps with new abilities are fighting a war with each other and some older generations of bloodsuckers. The tale is the dark take on the quintessential American Dream: a boy, a girl, a stolen car, and a trip West through the desert. Sadly, our rebellious young dreamers have been bitten, and are struggling to come to terms with the changes they have undergone. Their dreams may be shattered, but a Vegas marriage still isn’t out of the question, as long as the “Heartbreak Killers” can find some bad folks to feed on. Featuring series favorite vamp hunter Travis Kidd, this is both solid action adventure and a fantastic slice of Americana.
We move overseas for Dark Horse Comics’ Breath of Bones: A Tale of The Golem #1. It’s a World War II era story about a young Jewish man named Noah, a soldier on the European front. In his memories he recalls the beginnings of the war, when a downed pilot crashed in his village and his grandfather gave him a small stone statue, telling him, “Sometimes it takes a monster to fight monsters.” The cover art depicts a giant stone beast fighting Nazis, but this first issue is all prelude: gritty war time action, a flashback of a young boy’s dream of going off to war, and little supernatural activity. In fact, part of me hopes the Golem is simply metaphor and the story will stay grounded in reality, as Noah is a compelling young boy who grows into a brave soldier. This is either the book’s strength, or its great flaw, but I am definitely reaching for issue #2 to find out the answer, all the same.
From there we venture into steam and cyber punk weirdness with three new stories, or new-ish ones, anyway. The most radical tale of the bunch is Boom! Studios’ Six-Gun Gorilla #1. Set in a far off future where mankind is colonizing new planets and waging a civil war with each other, this tale has one thing in common with its fellow off the wall entries this week: the dialogue is incredibly obtuse and often difficult to follow. As a fan of a great turn of phrase, I found myself really wanting to enjoy the characters’ jargon, but it was inconsistent and made the story tough to follow. Also, the titular character only appears on the final page of the comic, and has but one line, a long time pet peeve of mine (no pun intended). With a title like Six-Gun Gorilla and the striking cover art of a giant ape dressed as Clint Eastwood, the ape should do some damage with those six-guns for a good portion of the book, in my opinion. This story had none of the charm of my favorite talking gorilla tale – Rex Mantooth: Kung Fu Gorilla, highly recommended early work by superstar Matt Fraction – and likely won’t see me returning for #2.
The next book, The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys #1, is served by original dialog only a touch better. Written by Gerard Way of the band My Chemical Romance, this is in fact the beginning of the final chapter of the Danger Days saga that he has written. It tells of the aftermath of a group of heroes known as the Killjoys, who were sworn to protect a youngster (known only as The Girl) from the evil Better Living Industries. Now, with the Killjoys wiped out by BLI, which controls the great metropolis of Battery City, The Girl is alone dealing with a new generation of Killjoy worshiping heroes and the villainous company that would seek to destroy her. It is unclear how this Messianic figure will fulfill her destiny, as is a great deal of the narrative direction. Perhaps, not surprisingly, the book has the feel of a poetic music video, and while we are certainly headed somewhere, where that might be is a matter of conjecture. Still, The Girl is an interesting savior, fairly confident in her destiny but less so in her ability to bring it about. If you’ve been following along before, I imagine this is right where you were hoping to end up, but it makes for a difficult jumping off point in the overall saga.
There’s more lighthearted female driven action fare to be found in Aspen Comics’ Bubble Gun #1. Young hothead Molli and her streetwise tactician sister Devyn are half of a team of cyber thieves in a future world of technology and espionage run amok. When their latest job turns out to be more than they bargained for, can team leader Devyn get her wild child sibling in line, just in time to save them and their friends Roman and Kyo? The juxtaposition of the sisters’ wildly different attitudes is the core of this ensemble tale, and it’s interesting to see such a realistic sisterhood dynamic in a wildly technological, manga-fueled sci-fi setting. The bickering and attitude sounds like it’s coming from my teenage daughters’ bedroom. It’s lighthearted fun, and the ladies are well written and drawn with respect, which isn’t always Aspen Comics’ M.O.
Last but certainly not least, DC brings us a new Superman title just in time for this weekend’s Man of Steel release, with Superman Unchained #1. I had long ago dropped the other New 52 Superman titles, but this one, from creative rock star team Scott Snyder and Jim Lee, has some depth that I think the others were lacking. Here we’re not figuring out a new version of Superman and his place in the DC Universe, nor are we seeing his origins in a new light, or looking at him in the past and the future at the same time. Here, Big Blue is doing what he does best, things that no one else could ever conceivably do. For years, that was about all Superman was good for – feats of strength and ability so far beyond the abilities of mere mortals that they became downright boring. Now, Superman is trying to stop a series of satellites from falling to Earth and wiping out the population, all the while unaware that the US Government just might be secretly holding a villain that can at last go toe to toe with Clark Kent. This has the promise of good, classic comic book mayhem; a pure action story that will delight comic lovers and superhero fans everywhere. It was tons of fun.
