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So, let's see how short I can keep some of these.
The Brave and the Bold #33: "Wonder Woman, Zatanna and Batgirl in Ladies Night" (Straczynski/Chiang; DC)
This one is a remarkably deceptive story. It starts out with Zatanna experiencing a dream that isn't just a dream, and then she inveigles Diana and Barbara Gordon's Batgirl into having a ladies night out. It's actually rather puzzling, since it clearly takes place in the past, but a couple of anomalous things pop up here and there. And then you get to the last five pages, and Straczynski shows you exactly what's going on -- and despite the fact that it's a two-week old issue, I'm not saying. Chiang's art actually seems a bit unusually flattened -- and, then, again, you hit the last five pages and you see what's going on. It's a truly remarkable story.
Excellent; Highly recommended.
The Misadventures of Clark and Jefferson: Hairy Things (Jay Caravajal/Marc Borstel; Ape Entertainment)
In which Clark and Jefferson decide to head out west, along with Mary and other survivors of their last adventure, the one with the aliens. This time they run into sasquatch and some ... INteresting people, let's say. And it's all fun mayhem and blood and guts and weird Western adventure. There's also a backup story, telling us the tales of two of the aliens who survived the last story, and their attempt to conquer the earth. (I don't think I'm giving too much away to say that this does not quite go as planned, what with there being just the two of them, and all their ships having been blowed up real good last time.) Nicely illustrated by Borstel.
Good; Recommended.
First Wave: The Spirit #1 (Mark Schultz/Moritat; DC)
The latest attempt to revive The Spirit, as part of DC's new First Wave/Earth-One initiative, in which some titles get the regular monthly treatment and Batman and Superman get quarterly/semi-annual graphic novels. It's worth noting the art first; Moritat doesn't make the mistake that everyone but Darwyn Cooke made on the last run of the Spirit and try to somehow invoke/echo Eisner's art. The story is ... OK. There's an assumption that the characters make early on, and it's kind of baffling; any reader should know immediately that what they're assuming is clearly wrong. That said, it'll be interesting to see where it goes.
OK; No recommendation.
And now we get to the Dynamite Entertainment section, a.k.a., "Wow, that's a whole lotta Green Hornet, isn't it?"
Green Hornet: Year One #1-3 (Matt Wagner/Aaron Campbell/Francesco Francavilla)
Kevin Smith's Green Hornet #1-3 (Kevin Smith/Jonathan Lau/Ivan Nunes)
Kato: Origins (Jai Nitz/Colton Worley)
Again, slightly mistitled. This isn't about the origins of Kato, which we're getting over in "Year One"; this seems to be stories of Kato working independently of the Green Hornet to investigate specific cases. In this case, Kato, Britt's servant, is asked by the police -- whom Britt has misled into thinking that Kato's a Korean -- to help investigate a murder in Chinatown, more or less on the principle that all East Asians are alike, or some such. The other police express some startlingly bigoted opinions, entirely in character for the times but a bit startling to modern ears. Once there, Kato discovers that the murder is more than it appears. Nitz' characterization of Kato works perfectly -- the buried resentment at how he's treated, the sharply analytical mind. There are a lot of narrative captions, but they work for a character that, at this stage, is expected to be seen and not really heard by all of the people that he's working with. Worley's art manages to evoke a sort of old-fasioned line without actually being old fashioned.
Very Good; Recommended
Note: Kevin Smith's Kato, about Kato the younger, is allegedly up to issue 4, according to the Dynamite site. However, I ordered the title -- I ordered the entire suite of the new Hornet titles -- and I haven't seen issue 1 as yet.
The Brave and the Bold #33: "Wonder Woman, Zatanna and Batgirl in Ladies Night" (Straczynski/Chiang; DC)
This one is a remarkably deceptive story. It starts out with Zatanna experiencing a dream that isn't just a dream, and then she inveigles Diana and Barbara Gordon's Batgirl into having a ladies night out. It's actually rather puzzling, since it clearly takes place in the past, but a couple of anomalous things pop up here and there. And then you get to the last five pages, and Straczynski shows you exactly what's going on -- and despite the fact that it's a two-week old issue, I'm not saying. Chiang's art actually seems a bit unusually flattened -- and, then, again, you hit the last five pages and you see what's going on. It's a truly remarkable story.
Excellent; Highly recommended.
The Misadventures of Clark and Jefferson: Hairy Things (Jay Caravajal/Marc Borstel; Ape Entertainment)
In which Clark and Jefferson decide to head out west, along with Mary and other survivors of their last adventure, the one with the aliens. This time they run into sasquatch and some ... INteresting people, let's say. And it's all fun mayhem and blood and guts and weird Western adventure. There's also a backup story, telling us the tales of two of the aliens who survived the last story, and their attempt to conquer the earth. (I don't think I'm giving too much away to say that this does not quite go as planned, what with there being just the two of them, and all their ships having been blowed up real good last time.) Nicely illustrated by Borstel.
Good; Recommended.
First Wave: The Spirit #1 (Mark Schultz/Moritat; DC)
The latest attempt to revive The Spirit, as part of DC's new First Wave/Earth-One initiative, in which some titles get the regular monthly treatment and Batman and Superman get quarterly/semi-annual graphic novels. It's worth noting the art first; Moritat doesn't make the mistake that everyone but Darwyn Cooke made on the last run of the Spirit and try to somehow invoke/echo Eisner's art. The story is ... OK. There's an assumption that the characters make early on, and it's kind of baffling; any reader should know immediately that what they're assuming is clearly wrong. That said, it'll be interesting to see where it goes.
OK; No recommendation.
And now we get to the Dynamite Entertainment section, a.k.a., "Wow, that's a whole lotta Green Hornet, isn't it?"
Green Hornet: Year One #1-3 (Matt Wagner/Aaron Campbell/Francesco Francavilla)
This title involves the classic Green Hornet and Kato, and "Year One" is a slight misnomer. It's not at the moment so much about their first year on the cosntumed crime fighter beat as it is about how they get there. We see young Britt floundering and searchng for a purpose, travelling the world and trying to do good, and discovering that there's a lot of evil out there willing to take advantage of the uninformed. We see young Kato, searching for a purpose and winding up in the Japanese military during its conquest of Manchuria and the Rape of Nanjing.At the moment, both of them have seen massive amounts of injustice perpetrated on the innocent, and haven't yet figured out what to do about it. The alleged foreground story -- which is by far the least interesting element so far -- features the Hornet and Kato battling a local gangster and wreaking havoc on his business.
Wagner's study of the building of the Green Hornet and Kato, and how they wind up becoming who they are promises to be truly fascinating and engrossing. Once the establishing section is done, it's going to be interesting to see if he can maintain that; so far, as mentioned, the more recent section detailing their actual first year really isn't as interesting as the building of the characters. Campbell's artwork is very good, and matches the tone of the story perfectly.
Very good; Recommended.
Kevin Smith's Green Hornet #1-3 (Kevin Smith/Jonathan Lau/Ivan Nunes)
In which Kevin Smith takes the script he'd intended for the upcoming Green Hornet movie, which he wound up not writing or directing, and turns it into a comic book series. This story tells the origin of the modern Green Hornet; Britt Sr. has retired, and Britt Jr. is a rich wastrel, albeit one astoundingly well trained in the martial arts, mostly because he had nothing better to do with his time. His father is hosting a fundraising party for one of the candidates for mayor when the house is attacked, and despite the best efforts of Britt Jr and an Asian woman who appears out of nowhere, Britt Sr. is killed. Shortly thereafter, Britt Jr. learns a few interesting things.
Say what you will of him, Smith can write a captivating yarn. On the one hand, you know what's going to happen -- after all, you have Britt Jr, you have an Asian woman who, according to the illustrations on the various covers, is clearly going to turn out to be the new Kato, and the story is called "Green Hornet". You know that Britt Jr. is going to take on his father's fedora. But seeing how you're going to get there is, so far, pretty damn enjoyable. The Lau/Nunes art is very striking, dynamic and angular, and a perfect fit for the story.
Very Good; Highly Recommended
Kato: Origins (Jai Nitz/Colton Worley)
Again, slightly mistitled. This isn't about the origins of Kato, which we're getting over in "Year One"; this seems to be stories of Kato working independently of the Green Hornet to investigate specific cases. In this case, Kato, Britt's servant, is asked by the police -- whom Britt has misled into thinking that Kato's a Korean -- to help investigate a murder in Chinatown, more or less on the principle that all East Asians are alike, or some such. The other police express some startlingly bigoted opinions, entirely in character for the times but a bit startling to modern ears. Once there, Kato discovers that the murder is more than it appears. Nitz' characterization of Kato works perfectly -- the buried resentment at how he's treated, the sharply analytical mind. There are a lot of narrative captions, but they work for a character that, at this stage, is expected to be seen and not really heard by all of the people that he's working with. Worley's art manages to evoke a sort of old-fasioned line without actually being old fashioned.
Very Good; Recommended
Note: Kevin Smith's Kato, about Kato the younger, is allegedly up to issue 4, according to the Dynamite site. However, I ordered the title -- I ordered the entire suite of the new Hornet titles -- and I haven't seen issue 1 as yet.
