Chew #1

June 5, 2009

Chew #1 (Image Comics)
By John Layman & Rob Guillory

Image Comics has really been pushing this book with previews and press all over the place, and putting the first few pages in the back of The Walking Dead a few weeks ago was enough to make me check out this first issue. I’m really glad I did. Chew is one of the most original ideas for a comic book I’ve seen in a very long time. Set in a world where bird flu fears have led to the banning of (and subsequent black market in) poultry products, Chew is the tale of Tony Chu, a cop with the bizarre power to absorb psychic impressions of the past of any piece of food he eats. While the potential in this sort of power is there, the problems definitely outweigh it. Can you imagine having to relive the slaughter of the cow that makes up your hamburger — or worse, find out what really went into your hot dog? Chu and his partner are undercover, staking out a poultry speakeasy, when a few clients show up that are about to complicate Tony’s life exponentially. This issue is mostly set-up, getting Chu where he’s probably going to spend the bulk of this series, but it’s great set up. It explains the world in general and Tony Chu’s situation in particular perfectly well, and it sets things up for an intriguing story down the line. Rob Guillory‘s art compliments the story nicely, creating a comic really unlike anything else I’ve ever read. If you think there’s nothing new in comics, think again — you just need to know where to look.
Rating: 10/10

Somebody’s First Comic Book: Power Pack (1984 Series) #47

Wondering what Somebody’s First Comic Book is all about? The explanation is on this page!

TITLE: Elsewhere

CREDITS:
Writer/Artist: Jon Bogdanove
Finishes: Hilary Barta
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Carl Potts
Publisher: Marvel Comics

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: I’ve never heard of this before. The cover is… a flying kid holding a cartoon character and flying away from dinosaurs? Who are… biting her rainbow? Apparently, this is a comic book for and by people on a bad acid trip.

IMPRESSIONS: Oh – no, it’s a kids comic. Seems like our heroine, little 5 ½-year-old Katie Power (information helpfully given to me on the first page) and her sister and brothers are young superheroes, but their parents don’t know about this. Also, they’ve (evidently) recently switched powers somehow, which makes her older brother suggest they should also trade costumes so that everybody is wearing the right get-up. His reasoning is that because the costume changes along with them when they use their powers, clearly, they’ll also grow or shrink to size. Yeah, I see the logic there… But alas, it doesn’t work, and it didn’t occur to the oldest child that he would now be wearing the costume of his smallest, younger sibling.

Katie points out that their costumes magically go “elsewhere” whenever they shout “Costume On!” and that maybe whoever it is that launders and mends them while they’re there may be able to help. She reaches into her pocket (no, seriously) and falls into a portal that takes her “Elsewhere” and also turns the page sideways. From there, the book is all about Katie trying to find a way home.

This is actually a cute little book. The writer seems to have drawn inspiration from dozens of classic books for kids (there are shades of The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland here) and mixed them together with in-jokes about really old newspaper comic strip characters. I don’t really like the sideways pages we get while Katie is in “Elsewhere” (which is most of the book). Turning the comic sideways makes me feel like a centerfold is about to fall out, and a few of the pages where the orientation gets even weirder are really difficult to read.

But the story is cute and the writer tells me absolutely everything I could possibly need to know to understand it right in the first few pages. Plus, it’s a nice explanation for all those superheroes who pull off their quick changes without the help of a phone booth or bat pole. I think it’s something kids would probably like a lot.

GRADE: B

JLA Classified #4

February 15, 2005

Quick Rating: Great – But Bittersweet
Title: Withheld for spoiler reasons (I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League Part One)

The Superbuddies are back!

Writers: Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis
Pencils: Kevin Maguire
Inks: Joe Rubinstein
Colors: David Baron
Letters: Bob Lappan
Editor: Steve Wacker & Mike Carlin
Cover Art: Kevin Maguire
Publisher: DC Comics

For all you people who decided to drop this title after Grant Morrison’s three issues were up, you’ve made a terrible mistake. The old Justice League team is back together again, and this issue kicks off another six issues of hilarity. This book begins the sequel to last year’s wildly popular Formerly Known as the Justice League miniseries, and it’s happening not a moment too soon.

This issue mainly catches us up on what our “heroes” have been up to since the miniseries ended: Fire and Mary Marvel have decided to become roommates. Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are both trying out some costume modifications. L-Ron is still insufferable, and Sue Dibney is investigating the Superbuddies’ new neighbor… who looks awfully familiar.

It is the inclusion of Sue that gives this book sort of a bittersweet tang. There’s a brief allusion in the first page to this story taking place in the past, and clearly, the thing is set before the devastating events of Identity Crisis. Reading a story with Sue and Ralph, particularly one with a comedy/plot point such as the one picked by Giffen and Maguire for the two of them, dredges up some of the pain that still lingers from that series. Reading this comic, as a result, is like getting a letter from a loved one who has died. You sit there, reading their words, chuckling at the intent but at the same time slightly anguished because the person who wrote the letter has no idea what’s about to happen to them. You’d think it would be easier to get over that, but perhaps because Identity Crisis is such a recent story, it’s surprisingly difficult.

That’s not to say it ruins the book, though, far from it. The writers are still on the top of their game, the book is hysterical, the artwork is spot-on perfect, and the last page includes a cameo that I know a lot of readers have been waiting for. If you loved the 80s comedic Justice League, if you loved Formerly Known as the Justice League, you will love this book.

Rating: 9/10