The Bum’s Rush #30

Anticipation

This week I thought I’d talk about a few of the comics coming out over the next couple of months that I’m really looking forward to. This is by no means a complete list of every new series I’m excited to see. No, that would take forever. Last week’s column was plenty long enough.

Down (Top Cow/Image) – Written by Warren Ellis, Art by Tony Harris and Cully Hamner. Five years ago a cop went undercover in the criminal underworld. Unfortunately he never came back. Instead he’s now head of one of the biggest drug gangs in the city. Now it’s up to another police officer, Detective Deena Ransome, to retrieve him, dead or alive. Will she be able to get the job done or will Ransome follow the same path as the man she’s been sent to pull out?

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Down is a series that I never thought would see the light of day. It was first announced by Top Cow a couple of years ago, back when Warren Ellis could do no wrong as far as I was concerned. Unfortunately the book fell apart and the creators moved on to other projects. I was disappointed because the premise had hooked me immediately. Now, years later, with the help of Cully Hamner, the book appears to be back on track. The original artist for the series, Tony Harris, had already completed most of the first issue when the book was originally scrapped. He will finish up the first issue but because of his commitment as the regular artist for Ex Machina, Harris will be unable to complete the rest of the series. Hamner comes aboard to finish out the rest of the series. Normally I’m not a big fan of switching artists in the middle of a story, especially a mini-series, but Hamner is an amazing artist and his regular projects are few and far between. It will be a treat to see his work on this book.

All-Star Superman (DC Comics) – Written by Grant Morrison, Art by Frank Quitely. This is the latest book from DC’s All-Star line, which promises the biggest creators working on the biggest characters. Morrison and Quitely begin a 12-issue story arc that will focus on some of the most classic elements of the character, pitting him against Lex Luthor, Bizarro World and even death itself.

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This is the book that Superman fans and Grant Morrison fans alike have been waiting to see. Ever since rumors slipped out several years ago that Morrison and a number of other high-profile writers would be taking over the Superman line of comics (a deal which quickly ended before it even began) I have been waiting to see what Morrison would do with a Superman title. Finally the day has arrived and Morrison is unbound by continuity restraints and accompanied by his frequent collaborator, and one of the best artists in the field, Mr. Frank Quitely. With a boundless imagination, the continuity shackles off and a great artist this title looks to be one of the best and most unique presentations of the Big Blue Boy Scout in years. Heck, this could be Superman’s own version of the classic Dark Knight Returns, a book that redefined Batman in the 80’s. All I’m really hoping is that it’s better than the awful All-Star Batman book

X-Factor (Marvel) – Written by Peter David, Art by Ryan Sook. Spinning out of Peter David’s sleeper hit from last year, Madrox, this new team of mutants is an investigative agency operating out of New York’s District X, also known as Mutant Town.

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Not long after I started reading comics regularly one of my favorite books was X-Factor by Peter David and Larry Stroman. It was probably one of the best X-titles ever and definitely the funniest. Last year David wrote a mini-series centering around one of the main characters from his 90’s run on X-Factor, Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man. Madrox was probably one of my favorite mini-series of 2004 and featured the Multiple Man acting as a detective in the slums of District X, with the help of a few pals from his days with X-Factor, Guido and Wolfsbane. The series ended in a way that was a definite set up for more stories but I wasn’t sure enough people had picked up the book to warrant a continuation. I was wrong. The story of Madrox and crew (now joined by a few other lesser known mutants, Rictor, Siryn and Monet) continues in this new X-Factor title that looks to be very different from the original, but just as entertaining. Add to this the gorgeous art of Ryan Sook and there’s no way I’m not buying this book.

Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein (DC Comics) – Written by Grant Morrison, Art by Dough Mahnke. The final of seven new mini-series written by Morrison as part of the Seven Soldiers line, Frankenstein also sounds like the most bizarre. It’s Frankenstein’s monster like you’ve never seen, carrying guns and battling fantastic and unusual threats from another world.

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I’ve been enjoying all of the Seven Soldiers books immensely but this is the one I’ve been most eager to read. Mostly because of artist Doug Mahnke, who draws some of the best monsters and the best action in the industry. The guy’s a workhorse, with the regular Batman book, Team Zero from Wildstorm and this mini-series. This book looks to be dark, twisted, bizarre and hugely entertaining.

Rival Schools (Udon Comics) – Written and drawn by Corey “Rey” Lewis. The Rival Schools comic adapts the awesome Capcom game of the same name.

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At this point I will purchase pretty much anything that has Corey Lewis’ name on it, as that assures some damn good comics. Sharknife was great, PENG! was better and the 40-page black and white issues of the Rival Schools book will probably kick even more butt. This is the kind of comic Rey was made for, crazy combo arcade action, humor and faced paced storytelling. Up till now he’s been working on purely creator-owned projects so it will be interesting to see how well Rey works with someone else’s toys. But considering he is a self-proclaimed Capcom video game fanatic (and given that his style was hugely influenced by Capcom) I can’t see how it will be anything but great.

Perhapanauts (Dark Horse) – Written by Todd Dezago, Art by Craig Rousseau. When horrible monsters manage to slip through the thin walls between dimensions it’s up to the Perhapanauts, agents of an organization known as Bedlam, to send them back where they came from. But the Perhapanauts themselves, with agents like aliens, ghosts and Bigfoot, are just as bizarre as the creatures they fight.

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I am in love with Craig Rousseau. I’m not ashamed to say it. I’ve been visiting his website for years, looking at all the gorgeous artwork and hoping that someday I might be able to work with the guy. On his site I also read about the little book he put together with writer Todd Dezago. Initially a self-published venture, Perhapanauts was picked up by Dark Horse earlier this year and I can’t wait to see it. Aliens, monsters, faeries, ghosts, all kicking butt and taking names? This might be the next Hellboy.

Nextwave (Marvel) – Written by Warren Ellis, Art by Stuart Immonen. Crazy explosion OMG action! Nextwave, made up of b-list superheroes like Photon, Machine Man, Meltdown, Bloodstone and The Captain, were put together by H.A.T.E. (Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort) to destroy Bizarre Weapons of Mass Destruction. But when the group learns that H.A.T.E. is nothing more than another terrorist cell, they go AWOL, bent on revenge against the organization that put them together. And they blow stuff up.

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One of the taglines for this book is: “If you like anything, you will love Nextwave!!” That alone might have persuaded me to pick up the book and give it at least a glance. What makes me really want to buy it is the creative team of Warren Ellis, who is back on top of his game, and Stuart Immonen, who has recently gone from good artist to super-frikkin’ badass artist. This book just looks and sounds like pure, kick-splode fun. And fun books are the best. More comics should sound this freakin’ exciting.

Batman: Year One Hundred (DC Comics) – Written and drawn by Paul Pope. It’s the year 2039 (that’s one hundred years from the debut of Batman, kiddos) and the grandson of Commissioner Gordon is a detective with the GCPD on the trail of a murderer. All roads lead Gordon to the most unexpected of suspects, the outlaw known as Batman.

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All hail the Pope of Comics! Lord it’s been way too long since Paul Pope’s last epic work, 100%, hit the shelves. But Pope is one of those comic artists you’d wait an eternity to see new work from. His comics are full of emotion, life and an energy that is infectious. Comics that make you want to dance. Batman is one of the only mainstream characters that Pope has worked on multiple times outside of his creator-owned work. Each story seems better than the last and now he’s got four giant (48 pages each) issues in which to weave a tale about the dark and mysterious Batman of the future. Joy!

 

More books to look forward to:

The Thing (Marvel) by Dan Slott and Andrea DeVito
The Exterminators (Vertigo) by Simon Oliver and Tony Moore
Team Zero (Wildstorm) by Chuck Dixon and Doug Mahnke
X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl (Marvel) by Peter Milligan, Mike Allred and Nick Dragotta
Iron Man: Inevitable (Marvel) by Joe Casey and Frazer Irving
GLX-Mas Special (Marvel) by Dan Slott, Georges Jeanty, Paul Grist, Mike Kazaleh and Mike Wieringo


Quick Bits

1. Not with a bang, but with a whimper, the last issue of Breach, one of my favorite new series of the year, came out last week. A beautiful, if not totally satisfying end, to a great series.
2. Infinite Crisis #2 was great. For anyone who was lost reading the first issue and had never read Crisis on Infinite Earths, this issue of Infinite Crisis featured a great explanation regarding the Multiverse and the events in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Not only that, but the entire sequence was drawn by George Perez and Jerry Ordway, the original artists on Crisis on Infinite Earths.
3. The price for DC’s weekly series *52, a fifty-two issue series (duh) that fills the gap between Infinite Crisis and the “One Year Later…” event that will effect all comics in the DCU, has been announced. $2.99. For a weekly series? I was kind of hoping the price would be a little lower, somewhere in the $1.50 to $1.99 range. Whatever, I’ll still get it.
4. Lots of DC series will be ending during and after the Infinite Crisis series. Some of the books include Wonder Woman, Gotham Central, Batman: Gotham Knights and The Flash. Rumors I’ve heard indicate that Wonder Woman will relaunch with Young Avengers writer Allan Heinberg at the helm. I’ve also heard whispers that Gotham Central will be relaunched as Streets of Gotham. A new Batman book, Batman Confidential, will probably replace Gotham Knights. As for The Flash, I’d say it’s a safe bet that there will be a new Flash book somewhere on the horizon.
5. TV Guide reported that there will be an Aquaman TV series, likely a spinoff from the recent Smallville episode featuring Aquaman, portrayed by Alan Ritchson.
6. Joss Whedon will be writing a new Buffy comic book series for Dark Horse, which will pick up where the TV series left off. He also feels confident that the long-anticipated Spike movie may soon become a reality.
7. DC Solicitations for February right here! More than a few final issues are listed.
8. Probably one of the most talked about subjects in comics at the moment has nothing to do with big events, new series or exclusive contract signings. It’s about the explosion of advertisements littering most comics on the stand right now. The worst offender seems to be Marvel Comics, with 28 pages of ads to 22 to 24 pages of story. It’s distracting. That’s like watching your favorite hour-long drama and seeing 35 to 40 minutes of commercials. At least TV is free though. If advertising is meant to lower production costs (which is why we get free television) then why am I seeing more ads than story and still paying $2.99 for most regular comic books? Bleh.

NEXT WEEK: The best comics for kids!


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