The Lone Ranger and Zorro: The Death of Zorro #3

June 3, 2011

Writer: Ande Parks
Art: Esteve Polls
Colorist: Oscar Manuel Martin
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Cover: Francesco Francavilla
Editor: Joseph Rybandt   
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment

Don Diego, the man called Zorro, is dead. Last issue John Ried, the Lone Ranger, returned his body to his widow with a promise to avenge his death. But Zorro wasn’t killed by a lone bandit – a veritable army of rogue former Confederates has taken over the Chumash mission that Zorro protected. In this issue, the Lone Ranger and Tonto seek allies to help them in their plan of attack against Zorro’s killers. This miniseries is teetering on the edge for me. None of the stuff we’ve gotten so far is bad. In fact, last issue’s demonstration of how Zorro indirectly inspired the Lone Ranger was absolutely spot-on. But here we are in the third issue, and there’s still been very little action to speak of. Lots of planning, yes, lots of talking, and this issue delves into the history of the Chumash tribe that the Ranger is trying to ally himself with, but we’ve had very little avengin’ going on. While the writing is good, the artwork is good, and the covers are beautiful, this is a miniseries about the two greatest heroes of the old west. It feels like we’re just not getting our money’s worth in terms of the actual sword-slinging, whip-cracking, gun-slinging action attached to these two names. With two issues left, there’s still time to bring it in, but I really hope that Ande Parks isn’t saving up all of the action for the final issue. That’s too long a road to take to get to what we all came for.

Rating: 7/10

Aquaman (2003) #17

April 12, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: American Tidal Part Three

Aquaman frees hundreds of people in the underwater ruins of San Diego… but how did they all survive the earthquake that has trapped them beneath the ocean for five weeks?

Writer: Will Pfeifer
Pencils: Patrick Gleason
Inks: Christian Alamy
Colors: Nathan Eyring
Letters: Rob Leigh
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Cover Art: Alan Davis & Mark Farmer
Publisher: DC Comics

Will Pfeifer continues the best Aquaman story in a very long time. The city of San Diego was toppled into the Pacific Ocean and thousands of people were lost, presumed dead, until Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter discover that the people still in the submerged city have been converted into water-breathers and no one knows why. In this issue, the rescue and recovery mission begins to help the people who will never be allowed to go to the surface again. Meanwhile, accompanied by the girl whose memories helped him find the survivors in the first place, Aquaman begins the search for the cause of their astonishing transformation.

People who have complained about Aquaman having lame or limited powers should be made to read this issue. What good is it to be able to talk to fish or breathe underwater? All you need is a writer good enough to craft a gripping story set underwater, and that’s what we get here. Pfeifer also avoids the trap of making Aquaman’s story too centered on Atlantis, which may also have turned off people in the past, by dropping the entire population of an American coastal city right underwater with him.

Patrick Gleason and Christian Alamy do lovely underwater work, with colors by Nathan Eyring. Swimming characters, floating debris, assorted underwater creatures and beautiful effects like shafts of light cutting through the tides all come together to give this book a wonderful visual feel. There’s a bit more of the gore that struck me about this team’s first issue on the title, including a strangely hideous revelation, but none of it feels superfluous, and it all helps to give this title a more mature feel.

Aquaman is a book that I’ve never read more than sporadically over the years, but as long as Pfeifer is handling the writing chores, I think I’ll be a regular reader. It’s just that good.

Rating: 8/10

Abe Sapien: The Haunted Boy #1

October 21, 2009

Abe Sapien: The Haunted Boy #1 (Dark Horse Comics)
By Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Patric Reynolds & Dave Johnson

Continuing Dark Horse‘s “One Shot Wonders,” we get a nice tale of Hellboy’s pal Abe Sapien, called in to investigate reports of a ghost on a lake where a 10-year-old boy died beneath the ice last winter. Abe’s search takes him to the boy who survived the same incident, who seems to be carrying around much more than simple survivor’s guilt. This is a nice little supernatural mystery, one that works in very well in Mignola‘s macabre world. The underwater nature of the mystery also makes it uniquely suited to Abe Sapien as opposed to any of the other Hellboy-univerese characters. Patric Reynolds has a style that works well for the character. A bit more grim and realistic than Mignola‘s work, but very strong and very appropriate for the theme. Good one-shot for fans of the characters.
Rating: 8/10