Hellblazer #195

April 24, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Out of Season Part One

Constantine’s friends hunt for him as his amnesia causes him even more problems.

Writer: Mike Carey
Art: Leonardo Manco
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Dennis
Cover Art: Tim Bradstreet
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

After an encounter with an unpleasant fellow with telepathic tendencies last issue, John Constantine is trying to figure out who he is with nothing but his first name. His large friend is looking for him, a new friend isn’t exactly stable, and his old friends are trying to find him by any means necessary.

This is listed as the first of a two-part story, but it essentially continues from last issue’s quite good “Ward 24” story. Seeing Constantine trying to get by without his usual wit, snarky nature or anything else is new territory for the character, and for someone with 195 issues under his belt, finding something new isn’t easy. He gets into a seriously dangerous position in this issue and is unable to rely on any of his usual tricks, not remembering what they are, and the result is much more perilous than usual without actually making the stakes as high as they often get in a book like this.

Leonardo Manco does a fantastic job with the artwork on this issue. He has a handle on Constantine that actually echoes the rendition of the character done by cover artist Tim Bradstreet. It’s not quite as detailed – but doing the level of detail on a Bradstreet cover for the interiors would virtually eliminate any chance of getting an issue done on time. The facial structure is similar, however, and moreso than it usually is when it’s just different artists trying to draw the same character. It’s as if they used the same model.

Manco’s creepier scenes work well too, with just the right touch of blood and gore interlaced with some pretty normal-looking characters. These guys are still in shape, but unlike some horror comics, there is no character in this title that could be mistaken for a superhero.

With My Faith in Frankie over, this is easily the best title Mike Carey is writing now. He manages just the right mix of horror and potboiler, and that’s something that’s always fun to read when it’s done right.

Rating: 7/10

Action Comics (1938 Series) #775

June 12, 2012

Title: What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?

Writer: Joe Kelly
Pencils: Doug Mahnke & Lee Bermejo
Inks: Tom Nguyen, Dexter Vines, Jim Royal, Jose Marzan, Wade Von Grawbadger, Wayne Faucher
Letters: Comicraft
Colors: Rob Schwager
Cover Art: Tim Bradstreet
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Publisher: DC Comics

With the new DC animated film Superman Vs. the Elite coming out today, I thought I would go back and reread the comic book that inspired it. This 2001 story by Joe Kelly was one that I remembered really enjoying when it was first released. Now, over ten years later, does it still hold up?

Hell, it’s more relevant than ever.

In “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?” Superman is shocked when a new group of metahumans arrives on the scene. The Elite, led by Manchester Black, is a quartet of extremely powerful individuals who hand out their own form of brutal, murderous justice to criminals, often with no concern about civilian casualties or collateral damage. Public opinion of the group, remarkably, begins to rise, and Superman is suddenly faced with the question of his own relevancy.

This book was written as a response of sort to the growing popularity of comics like Wildstorm’s The Authority, itself a book initially conceived as the Justice League taken to brutal extremes. Then, like now, people questioned whether Superman could fit or belong in a darker, harder world. The thing that Joe Kelly did so perfectly in 38 short pages was show just why it was vital that a character like Superman refuse to cross the line the Elite trod upon. The final sequence of the story, the showdown between Superman and the Elite, is one of the hardest, most gut-wrenching sequences I’ve ever seen in a DC Universe comic book, but it isn’t gratuitous or shallow. It makes the point, it reminds us who Superman really is and why he’s important, and why characters like Black and the Elite are, ultimately, taking the easy way out.

The artwork here isn’t bad, with two strong pencillers and a tag team of talented inkers, but it does lack a bit of consistency, shunting from one style to another with more frequency than one would want. It tells the story well, though, and that story is strong enough that any glitches moving from one art style to the next can be easily forgiven.

If you’ve never read this comic before, it is currently available from the Comixology store (and if you’re reading this review on the date it’s published, it’s currently part of a 99-cent Superman Vs. the Elite sale). It’s well worth checking out before you watch the movie. It’s truly one of my picks for the greatest Superman stories of all time.

Rating: 10/10

Hellblazer #194

March 30, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Ward 24

An amnesiac John Constantine wanders into a hospital where treatment takes a back seat to torture.

Writer: Mike Carey
Art: Leonardo Manco
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Dennis
Cover Art: Tim Bradstreet
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

As uneven and inaccessible as I’ve generally found Mike Carey’s work on Lucifer to be, I get the exact opposite reaction from his Hellblazer series. This is a book I’ve found very easy to jump in and out of, with a well-identified and defined protagonist and clever storytelling. After the cataclysmic events of last issue, Constantine is wandering around wounded and bereft of his memory. He encounters a young, injured girl trying to fish with gummy worms and, in an act of kindness, takes her to a hospital to get help. His own wounds and memory loss land him a bed as well, and he finds himself at the tender mercies of a man who seems to know every dark secret about everyone, and is upset that he can’t read the blank slate Constantine represents.

This issue really sums up what makes Hellblazer work – dark fantasy just this side of outright horror, some mystery elements and a dash of black comedy to keep everything from going completely off the deep end. Carey does a very good job with this character, and hopefully has plans to stick around for some time.

I’d like to say the same for our guest artist, Leonardo Manco. He draws a great Constantine and his entire issue had a good look to it – not totally grim and gritty, but not lighthearted superhero fare either. Drawing Hellblazer is as delicate a balancing act as writing it, and Manco does it better than most I have seen.

People already reading this title will enjoy this issue. People who haven’t been reading it may find it an odd place to jump on, but I think with a little effort and imagination even a non-reader who knows a little about Constantine will be able to fill in the blanks and enjoy this issue… even if our hero can’t.

Rating: 8/10

Hellblazer #192

January 27, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Staring at the Wall Part Four

Constantine sets up a last stand.

Writer: Mike Carey
Art: Marcelo Frusin
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Dennis
Cover Art: Tim Bradstreet
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

With only one issue left in this story arc, Mike Carey has set things up for a really epic climax. As a demon has found a way to invade and take over the collective unconscious of the human race, John Constantine has found a way to shield himself from the insanity, making him humanity’s last hope. Outside mob rule has taken over, riots rip apart the cities, fires burn and things are plunged into chaos.

I must say, however, my favorite thing about this issue is that we are reminded that several of the Vertigo titles do take place in the DC universe proper, and as such, the fact that it’s a shared universe is recognized and used to the story’s advantage in this issue. Aside from Constantine’s own battle, we see how other mystic creatures are dealing with the insanity about them with cameos by Lucifer, Swamp Thing and one of my personal favorites, Tim Hunter (the new Books of Magic series cannot begin soon enough).

In fact, if one didn’t like the shared universe concept, that could be the biggest complaint they have about this issue, that it reads a bit too much like a superhero comic and not the horror/dark fantasy title it is purported to be. But why can’t it be both? If the book reads well — and it does — what’s wrong with that sort of thing?

Marcelo Frusin wouldn’t be one of my favorite artists on other projects, but his talents are very well-suited to this book. He and colorist Lee Loughridge craft a very good dark, dismal world, reflecting the horrors that Constantine’s enemy is inflicting on the planet Earth. Frusin also does a very good Swamp Thing, and with rumors floating around about that book being resurrected later this year, editors would do well to look in his direction.

Although I’ve always enjoyed Constantine’s guest appearances in other titles, I’ve never bothered to read his own book until this storyline. I think I found a good one to come in on. Dark, funny and horrifying sometimes, this is a good comic book, and with only eight months to go, one can’t help but wonder what Carey has in the works for the big issue #200.

Rating: 7/10

28 Days Later: The Aftermath TPB

April 19, 2007

Quick Rating: Very Good

The birth of a plague, and the destruction of a world, unfold in the bridge between 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later.

Writer: Steve Niles
Stage 1 Art: Dennis Calero
Stage 2 Art: Diego Olmos & Ken Branch
Stage 3 Art: Nat Jones
Stage 4 Art: Dennis Calero
Colors: Dennis Calero
Letters: Dan Nakrosis
Book Design: Symon Chow
Editors: Jimmy Palmiotti & R. Eric Lieb
Cover Art: Tim Bradstreet
Publisher: Fox Atomic Comics

A few years ago, Trainspotting director Danny Boyle hit the scene with a low-budget, pseudo-zombie flick called 28 Days Later. The surprise hit has turned into a veritable franchise, with the second film 28 Weeks Later set to premiere this summer. Now, the new film studio’s new multimedia arm, Fox Atomic, is launching their comic book line with an original graphic novel bridging the two films.

Steve Niles, who has some experience in the horror genre, has been tapped to set up this story, and he’s done a good job. Niles gives us four separate, but linked stories, beginning with the tale of the scientists who developed the Rage virus in the first place. While there isn’t anything particularly surprising in this story, it’s a really solid set-up and fills in a lot of blanks. Stage 2 takes place during the first days of the outbreak, and is a more personal take on the situation. Here Niles focuses on a single family, one of the first to encounter the Rage virus as it is unleashed, and shows how they deal with the hell that has descended upon them. This is as much a tragedy as it is a horror story, and it works very well.

Stage 3 is the oddest and, perhaps because of that, the best story in the book. Twenty-nine days after the outbreak, a single sharpshooter has decided to make London his own, taking out the infected and fighting a solitary war. When someone else has the same idea, though, he doesn’t take it very well. This is completely unlike most zombie stories you’ve read, a totally different perspective on how a survivor’s mind may become warped.

The last chapter takes place even further out from the outbreak, as characters from previous chapters find themselves in a government quarantine camp – but the question is, why are they there?

Three different art teams handle the four different stages as well. Dennis Callero handles the first and last stages (as well as coloring the entire volume) and has a pretty traditional horror style. Diego Olmos and Ken Branch is more of a standard comic book look, which works for chapter two, and Nat Jones’s scattershot designs in stage three are perfect for that chapter. The book is wrapped in a Tim Bradstreet cover, although this book doesn’t really showcase his talents. Really, all that was required of him was a skyline, over which was superimposed the movie logo. It’s a good cover, but Bradstreet is so good with characters it almost seems a waste.

In addition to telling some intriguing stories (which this book does), the volume is also intended to act as a segue into 28 Weeks Later. There are clearly elements in the book that could easily be picked up on in the next film, but which ones and how well they are used can’t really be told until the movie is released. Taken on its own, the book is a very entertaining horror story, a good expansion of the world introduced in the first movie, and a nice launch property for Fox Atomic Comics.

Rating: 8/10

Somebody’s First Comic-Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep of Reason #4

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

TITLE: Sleep of Reason Chapter Four

CREDITS:
Writer: John Ney Rieber
Art: Eric Nguyen
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Rob Leigh
Cover Art: Tim Bradstreet
Editor: Jonathan Vankin
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: The Sandman is the guy who puts you to sleep at night, right? But why’s the guy on this cover wearing a gas mask? Looks more like he could give you nightmares.

IMPRESSIONS: This comic book seems to be telling two different stories at the same time. One of them is in the present day (which I assume is 2007, when this book was published) and the other set in the year 1997. Both of them involve guys in gas masks fighting terrorism or something. To be honest, it’s a little confusing.

The present-day sequence works much better, I think. We quickly learn the hero’s name (Kieran Marshall) and the situation is obvious. His buddy Jake is strapped into a bomb that he can’t remove without killing him. Also, his face is really messed up by the same guy responsible for the bomb. Vengeance time.

The other sequence features a guy named Wesley Dodds, also fighting someone in the Middle East, but this one is a lot more muddled. I can’t really tell who the rest of the characters are or why they’re fighting, or for that matter, why Dodds looks so old when he takes the mask off.

The mask makes for another problem. Since the heroes of both stories are wearing the gas mask, it makes it really difficult sometimes to tell which time period we’re reading on any particular page. We bounce back and forth so much that it gets very confusing. The artwork isn’t clear enough here either.

The book has some good elements, but the time jumps and confusion in the plot make it too hard to recommend to somebody. I doubt I’ll look for more of this story.

GRADE: C-

Jonah Hex (2005 Series) #5

February 27, 2006

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Christmas With the Outlaws

On a cold Christmas, Hex finds himself defending a bounty’s life.

Writers: Justin Gray& Jimmy Palmiotti
Art: Tony DeZuniga
Colors: Rob Schwager
Letters: Rob Leigh
Editor: Stephen Wacker
Cover Art: Tim Bradstreet
Publisher: DC Comics

I’m a bit of a traditionalist, I must say… if you’re going to do a story called “Christmas With the Outlaws,” I’d rather see them hold off and print it in December rather than the March issue, even when the holiday itself is only incidental to the story. Still, the chance to see Tony DeZuniga drawing Jonah Hex again makes it worth reading this story even in the wrong month.

On Christmas, Jonah Hex rides into another generic western town with another bounty that’s he’s rounded up, this one wanted alive – at least until Hex can get him to Texas for execution. Unfortunately, not everyone wants this particular varmint alive… the brother of one of the many victims of his train robberies wants him dead, and he’s willing to destroy the train depot where Hex is holed up and everybody in it.

Like every issue in this incarnation of Jonah Hex thus far, Gray and Palmiotti have given us a strong, stand-alone western tale. There’s no big picture to consider here, no tapestry to breathe in like with most current comics. It’s one strong story.

The big selling point – of this issue, at least, since the great writing and art is always a selling point of this title – is the guest-art by Tony DeZuniga one of the artists that created Jonah Hex back in the 1970s. The artwork may not be as clean or polished as modern readers are used to, but the slight sketchiness works for this character and this milieu. DeZuniga does a fantastic job with the layouts and staging. Having him do this book is like having Ditko or John Romita Sr. drop in for an issue of Amazing Spider-Man – it’s like having a founding father coming home.

Overall, a good issue with art that makes it worthwhile all by itself.

Rating: 8/10

Hellblazer #191

December 29, 2003

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Staring at the Wall Part Three

John Constantine finds himself face-to-face with a demon.

Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Marcelo Frusin
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Will Dennis
Cover Art: Tim Bradstreet
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

If there’s anything more frustrating than coming into a comic book in the middle of a story arc, it’s liking everything you read and getting frustrated because you don’t understand more of it. Mike Carey tells a very intriguing tale, featuring Constantine’s face-off with a demon that’s taking over human minds and turning them into homicidal mobs. Unfortunately there’s nothing here to really tell you what the demon is up to or what his connection to Constantine is. Yet another comic book cries out for a “Previously” page.

Constantine screwed up somehow, allowing the death of a “great Guardian,” and is chastised for his failings by a mysterious man in a trenchcoat (Dr. Occult? The Phantom Stranger? If anyone knows who this guy is, please chime in.) Eventually, he takes a rather drastic action to bring himself face-to-face with the beast responsible for all the troubles.

I’m not familiar with Marcelo Frusin’s artwork, but he nails this title. The images are, at turns, gory, chilling, frightening and even darkly humorous. Credit must also be given to colorist Lee Loughridge for keeping this book suitably dark without ever obscuring the artwork. It isn’t easy to render a book with this much blood and this many shadows, but here it looks easy.

For a character that’s been around as long as Constantine, you’d think it would be a bit easier to come in, even in the middle of a story arc. Please, someone at DC, take a page from Marvel’s book and start giving us recaps in each issue! You’d hold on to a lot more readers that way.

Rating: 6/10