People tend to believe that there is a specific kind of readers usually buying and reading comic books, the same kind of readers that have to go through a pretty hard time of acne in high school, listen to music genres that would make their parents’ ears bleed and play video games all night long. Well, there are of course exceptions but let’s face it, people tend to be right. That is precisely why most widely known comics’ publishers choose stories and series with subjects that would be familiar to their potential reader, like mini series about famous serial killers from horror movies (God only knows how many Jason, Freddie and Chucky comics we had), cliché stories about your usual misunderstood teenager whose skills are revealed in 10-75 issues (depending on the sales) and, why not, adaptations of video games. How long did you think it would take them to make an ongoing series about the most played game in the world?
There have been a few tries to adapt the versatile and unique universe of World of Warcraft in many different ways but most of them lead to disappointing, at least, results. There was the Sunwell Trilogy, a manga about a dragon and those trying to kill or help him, I read it about a year ago but wasn’t impressed at all, black and white, not much of a story and female characters with big boobs (I really have no idea if they published the other two parts of the trilogy). There are also some soft cover books with stories based on the WoW mythology but still, none of the really big names in the comic industry had shown actual interest in the potential of a huge world with an immense storyline that keeps about 8 million people occupied in the biggest massive multiplayer role playing game ever made. That’s not the case anymore.
Starting this November Wildstorm will try to fit WoW in a monthly ongoing series and although available information are extremely limited it seems like pretty serious work. The first story arc will be about a human (warrior by the looks of the cover) found on the shores of Kalimdor with no memory of his past whatsoever. He is soon captured and enslaved by an Orc Shaman and finds himself fighting both Horde and Alliance characters with the aid of his new companion, most of who are not even of the same race.
For those of you that are familiar with WoW it seems like a pretty standard rpg story, a man starting from nothing, creating a party with different characters and fighting everything in his way. Will the main character change after the first 6-issue story? Will it cover the known WoW mythology or expand and create new stories and heroes (that might also appear in the new upcoming expansion for the game)? Will it be good for Warcraft fans and other comic book readers or just another rip-off of a successful series of video games? We’ll know pretty soon!
(I have to admit I was desperately trying not to quote Illidan “You are not prepared”, darn I knew I wouldn’t make it to the end…)
The latest Marvel Knights title is here and it’s about out favorite silver bald guy, his own “end” mini series, Silver Surfer: Requiem! With his debut on the big screen coming in a few months with the new Fantastic 4 film and his latest appearances in the Ultimate Universe it was inevitable that there would be an event of his own, and this is it, the fall of the Silver Surfer in a 4-issue mini series.
For centuries he was the herald of Galaktus, the world devourer, he surfed through space to find worlds capable of sustaining his master a little more while they would be extinguished by his hunger. But everything changes when he discovers Earth and its heroes, a planet that actually has a hope, there he makes his stand with new friends and allies and faces his master, earning his freedom and salvation. Now, years later, the Silver Surfer feels that his death is imminent and decides to return to the place he sacrificed to save, the one part of the universe he kept himself away from for all those centuries, his home world, Zenn-La. But to do that he must travel great lengths, meet old allies and villains and even if he succeeds there’s no way he could know what he’ll meet there.
Coming from May till August from Marvel this is a potential ending to the Silver Surfer saga. It’s a pretty popular subject, like a What If mini series with a more realistic subject, but will it be really good or just another mini series to fill up the monthly catalog? Only time will tell.
This column mentioned one of the previous days the forthcoming comic book “God Save the Queen” by Mike Carey and was actually thrilled to present a new work by him. This is the second time in a short period that we enjoy that privilege, Carey’s new mini series will be released this July by Vertigo and is titled Faker, it also seems capable of rocking your world (I know, I can’t control my enthusiasm).
Jessie is reaching the end of his freshman year in University in a tough Minnesota winter and to celebrate it he and his friends plan a great, wild party. After the party though everything seems to go terribly wrong for everyone, Jessie is hunted by memories she avoided for years, her best friend seems to have lost his identity and nobody outside their circle remembers or recognizes him with every official record of his existence deleted. What begins as a joke soon becomes a horror story where someone is something else than what he showed to his friends.
Faker is written by the great Mike Carey (Lucifer, Crossing Midnight, God Save the Queen) and illustrated by also well known Jock (he made The Losers, a great action story about a missing black-ops military team betrayed by their own bosses which is also planned to become a movie). It’s a story taking place the first year of its heroes’ independent lives when they choose what they want to be and what they want to pretend they are. All that through the prism of Carey’s story telling charisma and Jock’s beautiful drawing, this is something you can’t miss!
There are several different opinions on who’s the most popular character in Vertigo’s acclaimed series Fables but the creators decided to create a spin-off series about Jack, the trickster, thieving, attractive guy that got banished after the discovery of his actions back in the main series. Jack is an anti-hero, he’s cynical, street smart, basically good but only when it fits him right. So what’s special about his own series?
Actually not much. I started reading this out of hope that it might approach the success of Fables but the first issues were kind of disappointing, Jack roaming the streets on his own gets kidnapped by a mad collector of Fable characters and manages to escape after a series of quite predictable events. The interesting part is that as the story continues it seems to obtain a style of its own, interestingly humorous with grasping story telling. In this issue Jack being recently widowed seems unable to do anything right, his fortune is lost, lady Luck hunts him and Mister Revise with his librarians finally track him down.
Another interesting fact about issue 10 of Jack of Fables is that the creators mistakenly deleted a dialogue box in page 10, it’s not such a big deal but it might add collective value to it. The official announcement of the creative team:
Dear Readers–
We goofed.
During the production and printing phase of Jack of Fables #10, the dialog on page ten was accidentally omitted. We present here, in Sneak Peek form, the corrected page with the dialog in place. If you are very enterprising, feel free to download the Sneak Peek, print it out, and paste this into your copy of Jack #10. Or you can wait for the trade paperback, wherein the mistake will be corrected.
We apologize for the error.
-The Jack of Fables Team
Your favorite Vertigo series is back and the synopsis of the July issue is released! Marching towards the last 15 issues 100 Bullets becomes more thrilling than ever, the plot is finally being revealed step by step and the dark characters of Azarello’s and Risso’s noir vision approach the grand finale. What really happened in Atlantic City? What’s agent Graves’ secret agenda? What will be Dizzy Cordova’s fate and what about the rest of the Minutemen? Well, in a little more than a year there will be no secrets left so enjoy it while it lasts!
After the events of #81-83 in Rome the story shifts to two other heroes, the Minutemen Victor Ray and Remi Rome, the description in the official site of Vertigo is the following:
“Minutemen Victor Ray and Remi Rome are in need of a vacation, so they head to scenic Lake Tahoe for some R and R with the beautiful people. But you know what they say — “All play and no work make The Minutemen dull boys…””
So is this going to be a revealing issue about the facts of the past through a seemingly indifferent event or a break between two big story turns? There have been quite a few of both in the past 83 issues so any bet is not safe, but really who cares? This is one of the best written comics ever made, a masterpiece of narrative coming to a peak, are you really going to ignore it?
Most of the heroes in Marvel series have undergone several changes after the significant events of Civil War but none as important as the Hulk! Now, after all those months that the green hot blooded menace spent away from us he’s coming back, and he’s really mad.
In the beginning of Civil War Nick Fury asked Bruce Banner’s help to deactivate a weapon satellite made by Hydra years ago, Banner accepted and Hulk was sent in outer space to destroy a potential threat to human kind. A threat that proved to have been created not by terrorists but by SHIELD and Fury himself, so after his mission was accomplished the situation changed dramatically. SHIELD found it convenient that Hulk would not return on Earth and the other heroes discovered a chance to get rid of him at last in order to protect civilian lives, so instead of bringing him back they threw him in a black hole to be left alone in a world empty of intelligent life forms!
Of course nothing worked out as planned and Hulk found himself on a planet scourged by war and death, a battlefield between imperial and rebel forces in a war he didn’t understand and didn’t want to be involved, but things change when he proves to be the savior a whole world waited for, the Green Scar, and a whole new chapter in Hulk’s history opened which you can follow in the storyline. But enough with that, Planet Hulk is over and the Hulk is coming back frustrated, betrayed, confused and very, very mad. They have sent him away when he tried to save them but he will never do that mistake again, the puny humans will pay for what they’ve done to him, Hulk smash!
The Civil War is over and all the Marvel characters that got involved one way or the other (which might include all there are) continue in their separate series through the changes they suffered, well or bad. Spidey is back in black, Cap is hurt somewhere in a S.H.I.E.L.D base, the Iron Man leads the registered heroes, but what about Fantastic 4?
If you followed the events of Civil War you will know how they affected Marvel’s most famous family, Sue and Reed Richards came one step away from separation (Sue was frustrated by the turn things took and the outcomes of her husband’s actions like Hulk being thrown in a black hole and the Thor clone murdering one of their own) and only in the last moment they agreed to give their marriage a second chance, one that would need their entire attention and effort. So Mr. and Mrs. Fantastic took off leaving their team lacking two members, or do they? The second most famous couple in the Marvel Universe takes their place in the quartet in issue #544, Storm and the Black Panther, after their recent wedding in the middle of the war!
I sincerely doubt this will be a long term change in the series, I find it hard to believe they will be able to tie in effectively these characters in the same book, especially the Thing and the Human Torch who are totally connected with the two missing members of their team, but who knows, maybe for 5 issues or so it will be a nice change. What seems even more interesting though is the turn the story takes in issue #545 with the return of Galaktus and the Silver Surfer, can you imagine the Black Panther against the devourer of the worlds? I can’t!
It’s not the most famous comic series this one nor the best out there but it’s coming to an end and that’s something (possibly anyway because DC is reconsidering 5 more issues after an organized fan’s reaction). The title seemed to enjoy great success but it never lasted long, every few months the sales would go down and DC would program its finale, every time postponing it for a little longer. Is this the final goodbye to Kate Spencer? The following months will show.
Kate Spencer is a lawyer, one of the best there are, but frustrated by the inability of the law system to apply justice she becomes a masked vigilante, the Manhunter. Using gadgets other heroes left behind (like Batman) she gains super strength, agility and resistance to injuries in her fight against crime, she hunts them down and finishes them off
before they have the chance to bypass the corrupted system and roam the streets again. In her struggle she has to fight not only the organized crime but also all those traditional heroes that consider her a threat because of her harsh ways and killer instincts.
In issue #30 after the end of Wonder Woman’s trial (where she was responsible for her defense) for murder, Manhunter finds herself in crossroads, having accomplished everything on Earth she looks at the stars to find a new purpose. This might be the end, a short revival for one more story arc or a new beginning if it goes well, can’t say I’m thrilled but I’ll get at least this one issue and I’ll be here to share impressions!
There are so many different kinds of comics, and it’s never bad to like or dislike a certain category, but some of them always seem capable of concentrating public reactions and loathing feelings. Those are the cynical, ironic, macabre sometimes, full of black humor and far-sighted remarks, comics like Hellblazer, Transmetropolitan, The Boys and so many others. One of them is Exterminators, at first look a splatter, old school horror comic about bugs but also a perceptive look on our community, its clichés and dark secrets.
Written by Simon Oliver the Exterminators is the story of, what else, an exterminating company ready to kill your bugs, rats, termites, heck whatever crawls in your walls and chews your leftovers. Not much you’d say, and you’d be wrong, for there’s more in this story. Like an insecticide company, Draxx, creating a new product that not only doesn’t kill pests but makes them huge, scary and extremely dangerous. Or the dark past of these characters which sometimes takes place in American prisons and others in eastern civil 
wars. And yeah, there is that ancient Egyptian curse, the scarabs, the dead pharaoh ready to resurrect and the box in which nobody knows what’s contained but that might be part of the secondary story for all we know (right).
This May with issue 17 the Exterminators begin a new story arc, “Showdown at Scatshot”, featuring guest art by Ty Templeton (Batman Adventures, The Simpsons). Stretch and Saloth (that creepy guy) visit a convention of exterminators where there are more going one than what meets the eye. Stretch finally confronts his sinister past and Saloth gets a tip about Draxx and what’s being created there. If you feel at all intrigued pick up this issue, it’s a pretty good point to check if you like the series and then look for the previous albums!
When an absolutely great series like 100 Bullets is approaching its finale (well, not exactly, it’s in its last quarter anyway) every single issue is an event you just can’t ignore. It started in August ’99 and keeps on pioneering in the depths of noir, crime story telling and realistic narrating, a masterpiece in its kind, loved by critics and readers. Written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Eduardo Risso (Johny Double, Batman) 100 Bullets is one of those stories you can’t put down and end up looking for all the previous albums!
The story is really complex and reveals itself in every story arc in a way that things you encountered before and didn’t seem to matter are now explained, and still not entirely, an ongoing puzzle, like watching Nolan’s Memento. In a setting sometimes pulled out of a noir film, others reminding Italian mafia and more usually the ghettos, the anti-heroes of this story make their choices knowing or not that everything fits in a greater plan, the ultimate control of America’s most secret syndicate that controlled the world the last half century (yeah, they were not always American, there was no America back then), the Trust. Where in this does agent Graves fit, with his strange suitcases and his secret agenda? As you keep reading you’ll make your own conclusions why this man goes around offering a chance for revenge and redemption, he gives people a gun, undisputable proof of why their lives were destroyed and 100 untraceable bullets, a carte blanche to kill the person responsible for their downfall. Intrigued?
In issue 83 the moment comes when Dizzy Cordova finds out what it takes to be a Minuteman and the Minutemen learn things about her that might hurt. Also Ronnie Rome’s story continues with him under a gun and his only friend ready to take the money and go, but you’d better check it out yourselves, no spoilers are needed. If you haven’t read it go get vol.1 First Shot, Last Call, if you have 83 will be out soon enough!
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