The Losers #10

March 20, 2004

Quick Rating: Average
Title: Island Life Part Two

The Losers close in on their latest target, and we get more dirt on Max.

Writer: Andy Diggle
Art: Jock
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Dennis
Cover Art: Jock
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

After a fairly entertaining start to this story arc, Andy Diggle gets back to the stuff that makes this title less appealing to me. Conspiracy theory, black ops and some action. To make matters worse, the conspiracy we’re faced with in this issue is pretty stale and overdone. It would have been possible to fit in more clichés, but he would have had to employ either John F. Kennedy or Area 51.

To his credit, Andy Diggle does work in a scene that fills us in on the background of the title. That’s something this book has needed to grab new readers — he wisely uses a “briefing” scene that works perfectly in the context of the book and it helps to bring everybody up-to-date. The problem is, even though we get more of a sense of who the characters are, there’s nothing here that makes us particularly care about any of them. Even in a conspiracy/action comic like this, if you don’t care about the characters you’re pretty much treading water at best.

The action, as I’ve often found with this series, is the best of the title. Diggle writes a good fight scene and Jock draws one. Considering the generally shady nature of this book, both in terms of story and artwork, it would be very easy to get lost in darkness and lose the visual sense of progression, but Jock keeps it clean enough to follow and Lee Loughridge does spot-on colors that set each scene off and never dominates anything.

Overall, though, this book will appeal to its core audience that shares its rather cynical philosophy and alienate others. That’s how I’ve felt about it from the beginning, and I don’t expect it to change.

Rating: 5/10

The Losers #9

February 23, 2004

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Island Life Part One

The Losers regroup to begin their next mission… to hunt down the traitorous Max.

Writer: Andy Diggle
Art: Jock
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Dennis
Cover Art: Jock
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

While this title is in no danger of becoming one of my favorite must-read titles, I must admit that this is a far more enjoyable, accessible issue than the previous three, even with the last two issues being a stand-alone story arc. The Losers reconvene and make their way to the West Indies on the trail of the man who set them up to die.

This issue gives us a much-needed roll call right at the beginning and a highly entertaining scene where Pooch haggles, island-style, to secure the team the use of a plane. We also get the requisite shootout/car chase and some conspiracy theory “backroom” scenes. These scenes are probably the biggest reason I don’t enjoy this title more – I’ve never been big on big government conspiracy tales and that’s what Losers is at its heart. If you enjoy that sort of thing, you’ll enjoy it more than I will.

Like it or not, I’ve got to say that Jock’s artwork is perfectly suited for this title. Scenes in the shadows, gunfights, sunny days on the beach and a great page with a car plunging off the side of a bridge all come together to create a very effective visual package.

Tthis book isn’t going to topple Fables as the best book Vertigo offers, but it does fulfill a purpose and is quite entertaining for people who are into this sort of thing. Even if the book’s not for me, it may be for you, and I’m not going to discourage anyone interested in this sort of story from checking this issue out.

Rating: 6/10

The Losers #8

January 27, 2004

Quick Rating: Below Average
Title: Downtime Part Two

How do the Losers spend time between missions? Tracking down their pasts.

Writer: Andy Diggle
Art: Shawn Martinbrough
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Dennis
Cover Art: Jock
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

In the second issue of a two-part story arc, the Losers take a break from each other and — they hope — from action, to connect a little with their private lives. Of course, things just don’t go right.

With all due respect to my fellow reviewer Andrea Speed (who I know loves this title), I just can’t figure out what the big deal is. Granted, the first issue I read was the end of a story arc, but I’ve read three issues now and I still don’t feel like I know any of these characters (three issues in a row of any comic book should give you a feel for the characters) and I don’t particularly care what they’re doing when they’re not being Losers.

The book isn’t a total loss — the first scene with Pooch’s run-in with the law is done well and shows some real family conflict. Similarly, most of the other story threads have a decent enough beginning, but never feel like they lead to anything. I know this issue is intended to show the Losers when they aren’t together, but there’s a real lack of connectivity here that really hurts the book and makes it difficult and, frankly, pretty boring to read.

Shawn Martinbrough, pinch-hitting for regular series artist Jock does a fine job on the pencils, keeping with the current style of “cartoon gritty” that’s become so popular since Eduardo Risso’s work on 100 Bullets took off. One has to give credit to Loughridge’s coloring work as well — the scene in Mexico for the Day of the Dead in particular looks just wonderful, with the fire dancing and the shadows cast everywhere. Great visuals.

I’m trying to be fair to this book, I really am. I’m trying to read deeper, trying to understand what it is that’s getting this book so much critical acclaim, but I’m just not getting it. It doesn’t seem special or different or even particularly exciting, and for me, that’s a death-knell for a comic book. The Losers just isn’t a title for me.

Rating: 4/10

DC: The New Frontier #1

January 18, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Our Fighting Forces

In the 1950s, the DC Universe begins to change.

Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Letters: Dave Stewart
Editor: Mark Chiarello
Cover Art: Darwyn Cooke
Publisher: DC Comics

This is not an easy comic book to categorize. It’s been suggested that it’s a thematic sequel to James Robinson’s The Golden Age. It’s called a new beginning for the DCU. The only thing I can say for sure is that it’s a few interesting Silver Age stories set in the DCU, and we’ve yet to see how they link together.

In the first chapter, the group of American warriors called the Losers (the original group, not the ones running around the Vertigo imprint), are sent to rescue Rick Flagg, commander of the first Suicide Squad, from an island populated with dinosaurs. Chapter two reveals the final fate of the golden age heroes, focusing mainly on Hourman, and chapter three focuses on a young Korean War fighter pilot named Hal Jordan.

Cooke, both in writing and artwork, displays a real love for the silver age characters and style. Jack Kirby would be proud of how it looks, and the climax of chapter one is absolutely spellbinding. I can honestly say it’s the best Losers story I’ve ever read.

The problem is that the book seems disjointed. You get the sense that everything you’re reading is supposed to come together, to link, to mean something, but it doesn’t. Cooke is a good enough storyteller that it will almost certainly come together in future issues, but that does weaken this debut. As so many comic books these days go, it will probably read much better in a collected edition.

The other problem is the Cold War setting. Cooke uses it well, but the parallels to McCarthyism have been done and done and done again, and if he doesn’t find a new way to tell the story, this entire series runs a very high risk of being clichéd and boring.

Still, I love old-school superheroes, and Cooke has tapped into one of my favorite eras of the DC Universe, so I’m pre-inclined to be forgiving of bumps in the road. He uses the pre-Green Lantern Hal Jordan well, has a great scene with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, and as I said, the climax to chapter one was fantastic. This is a title that, when all is said and done, could go either way – it may be another classic, or it may be another footnote. Let’s hope for the former.

Rating: 7/10

The Losers (2003 Series) #6

November 23, 2003

Quick Rating: Below Average
Title: Goliath Conclusion

The Losers chase down Roque in a slam-bang airport action sequence.

Writer: Andy Diggle
Art: Jock
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Denis
Cover Art: Jock
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

Accessibility, accessibility, accessibility! I never thought I’d find myself being the sort of person who’d walk around preaching accessibility in comic books, but that’s rapidly what’s happening to me as I see more and more comic books that don’t bother to bring a reader up-to-date if he or she hasn’t been following every issue of the title. Perhaps it’s part of the new trade paperback focus, perhaps writers know that if they work a recap into the story it will be tedious when read in collected form. If that’s the case, then we have the perfect argument for a “previously” page.

The Losers, apparently having narrowly escaped a watery grave, chase down Roque on an airport runway in an action sequence that takes up most of the book. I can imagine that this would be a really exciting sequence on film, as it’s a really exciting sequence to look at. I’m not crazy about Jock’s style – a little too grim and gritty for my tastes, but he handles the centerpiece battle very well, depicting the high-speed combat on the runway in a way few artists are capable of.

I just can’t recommend this book, though, because what I can understand doesn’t seem like anything special to me. The last page, which is clearly crafted to be some major revelation to the reader, is pointless to me because there’s nothing in the book cluing the reader in to who Diggle is referring to.

The book is a disappointment, mostly because I’ve heard so much about how great it is and didn’t find anything in the book to stand out. If you’ve been reading and enjoying, more power to you. If you haven’t, this book isn’t going to win any people over.

Rating: 4/10

(2010 Note: I later went back and read the Losers trade. The story is much better when you’ve actually read the whole thing.)