Comic Picks By The Glick

While the release schedule for DC’s once-celebrated Vertigo imprint continue to thin out with each passing month, it’s still in better shape than Marvel’s was-almost-kinda-sorta-a-contender creator-owned imprint Icon.  It launched with the first issue of the second volume of “Powers” by Bendis and Oeming and in that moment it looked like the imprint could be the next big thing.  Particularly with all of the Mark Millar projects that followed such as “Kick-Ass,” “The Secret Service,” and “Superior.”  Other creator-owned work from creators like Jason Aaron and Ron Garney’s “Men of Wrath” followed, but projects like these were few and far between.  These days with Bendis’ creator-owned output having all but dried up, it would appear that Millar is the only creator left to carry the Icon banner forward.

Until this round of Image solicitations, that is.  There’s a new “Kingsman” miniseries solicited here along with a reprint of the original “The Secret Service” collection as well.  If Millar has no problem with taking away one of his most successful titles when a new movie promoting it is all set to come out then it’s not too hard to assume that the rest of his output from Icon will be making the jump to Image at some point as well.  Thus leaving Icon dead in the water and most people to remark, “Wait, that was still going?  I thought it closed down years ago.”  At least Vertigo has history to its name.  Icon is just going to be remembered as that imprint Marvel started up to keep its top-tier creators happy until they realized they could get a better deal at Image.

Vol. 2 of this series carries on in much the same way as vol. 1 did.  There’s plenty of over-the-top thrills on tap here, but not a whole lot of depth to go along with them.  The first two-thirds of vol. 2 are dedicated to wrapping up the “Murder Party” arc from the previous volume as our lady-lovin’ psych protagonist Kuroko eventually finds herself going tongue-to-toe with the unfeeling maid bodyguard of the mansion’s master.  Other characters figure into this arc, but they only exist to provide exposition, die in order to build up the threat, or are Kuroko’s airheaded follower Hinako who is here to provide (weak) comic relief.  The battles featuring Yukari, the maid, are the high point of this part and mangaka Yoshimurakana handles them with style.  Kuroko’s utter amorality in this struggle continues to be refreshing when compared against your average shonen, seinen, or even American comic book protagonist.

That said, the only time this series becomes thought-provoking is when I ask myself, “Is it okay to be entertained by scenes where the antagonist is threatened with sexual assault by the protagonist if they’re both women?”  Yes, “Murcielago” is that kind of series.  Kuroko’s lasciviousness doesn’t manage to become off-putting until the final third when she “rescues” a little girl who may have seen her dad murder someone on DVD.  Our protagonist is insistent on getting the little girl to strip so that she can see if the girl has been abused.  Forget character consistency, that’s just fucking creepy!  Fortunately in Hinako’s one worthwhile action in this volume she manages to convince Kuroko that it’s not necessary before taking her in for a bath to calm the girl down.  A bath which is at least thankfully free of any casual nudity.

If I seem hard on Hinako here, that’s because I think her character description from vol. 1 to vol. 2 has changed.  Where she was a bubbly airhead” in the first volume, now it looks like she has to occasionally be reminded to breathe.  Hinako becomes a focus of the last third with an underwear thief plot at school and that, along with the aforementioned creeper business, makes this section noticeably less entertaining than what has come before.  I’m still onboard with Yoshimurakana’s stylish brand of action trash, but let’s make sure any new characters have at least reached the age of consent and are smarter than Forrest Gump, okay?

jason@glickscomicpicks.com

One of the titles in this month’s round of solicitations either represents a welcome second chance for a series or evidence that Dark Horse needs to re-think the way they promote original titles without a built-in audience.  The Once and Future Queen is a modern-day female-centric spin on the Arthurian Legend from writers Adam Knave and D.J. Kirkbride, and artist Nick Brokenshire, the creators of “Amelia Cole.”  This was originally solicited as a five-issue miniseries, of which two saw print before the remaining three were cancelled.  Why?  Well, the impression I got is that despite good reviews and word of mouth, the first two issues sold badly enough that releasing the rest would only put everyone involved further in the hole.  Better for everyone to cut their losses now and release the whole thing in trade paperback form to see if it can find its audience that way.

While I’m sure the people who bought the first two issues may wind up feeling burned by this move, isn’t it good thing that the story will be completed in the end?  I bring this up because it’s a similar situation to what the company has found itself in with regards to The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.  Editor/English adapter extraordinaire Carl Horn has talked about how the sales of individual volumes of the series had rendered the title unprofitable, but reprinting it in three-in-one omnibi have actually brought it out of the hole.  The problem is that they’ve already got volumes 13 & 14 in print so doing another omnibus collecting these and brand-new vol. 15 would burn faithful readers of the series.  You know, ones like me.

Except I wouldn’t mind.  I’d much rather pay $20 to get a brand new volume of the series along with two others I already own.  It’s a much better prospect to consider than possibly not getting anymore “Kurosagi” at all.  The same pretty much goes for “The Once and Future Queen.”  Who knows, maybe it’ll sell well enough for the creators to consider doing a follow-up story.  One that debuts as an original graphic novel, of course.

“Marvel Legacy.”  This is the plan that’s going to return the company to creative and commercial dominance in the industry?  Based on all of the teasers for the initiative Marvel released last Friday, their plan does not inspire confidence.  While some of the plot points teased have promise -- just what is Spider-Man going to do that will put him behind bars -- others seem dubious from the start.  Having the Punisher take up the War Machine armor of the deceased James Rhodes?  Teasing the death of the Jane Foster Thor?  A new Falcon series apparently starring Sam Wilson?  These appear to be big steps back regarding Marvel’s diversity efforts and fans will be (even more) livid if they turn out to actually be true rather than just promotional images.  Also, there were no new creative teams announced for any of these upcoming titles, save for the apparent confirmation that Greg Pak will still be writing “Weapon X” and the rumor that Ta-Nehisi Coates will be taking over “Captain America.”  Maybe some good creative teams for the titles will get people excited, like the one for the one-shot that kicks this all off after the break:

While I haven’t been actively looking for info on DC’s latest event “Dark Nights,” it’s hard to miss the articles about it which begin with the exclamation that the DCU will be invaded by seven evil alternate-universe Batmen this summer.  Honestly, I think it’s a solid setup for the event.  If our “good” Batman can take on the Justice League singlehandedly, then how is everyone going to cope when seven “evil” Batmen come knocking on the DCU?  It does remind me of “Invincible’s” classic done-in-one crossover event issue where all of the Image superheroes came together to take on evil versions of the title character.  “Dark Nights” certainly won’t be able to match it for economy, but they can probably top it for scale.  Particularly with Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo masterminding the main event.

Also, has anyone noticed how slim the Vertigo solicitations have been in recent months?  This month there are only four items solicited:  The third issue of John Ridley and Georges Jeanty’s new “American Way” series, the penultimate issue of Justin Jordan and Ibrahim Moustafa’s “Savage Things,” the third and final volume of the new “Lucifer” series, and a new one-volume repackaging of Grant Morrison’s “Sebastian O” and “The Mystery Play.”  Without any new announcements soon (though Comic-Con is just around the corner) Vertigo will cease to exist as a creative entity by the end of the year.  The imprint’s best days are certainly behind it, but it’s just sad to think about it fading away after all it’s given us over the years.

Was this event series as bad as everyone says it was?  I look into it and some of its tie-ins.

I went into this volume with high hopes.  While that may sound somewhat delusional given Dark Horse’s, how should I put it, decidedly uneven track record when it comes to “Evangelion” manga there’s actually a reason for it.  The “Evangelion Comic Tribute” anthology stands as one of the company’s better publications regarding this legendary anime franchise.  One of its high points were the multiple shorts from writer Yushi Kuwata and artist Yukito which were as funny as they were savage in their takedown of the conventions from that series.  They were good enough to make me want more, and now I’ve wound up with exactly what I wanted.

If that last statement sounds just a little bit ominous, that’s because I’m trying to misdirect you from what I actually thought about this series.  The individual chapters of “Legend of the…” may not be as densely packed with comic goodness as the ones by the creators in the “Comic Tribute” were, but the jokes hit more often than not.  While a good portion of them rely on sight gags and wordplay, ably localized by Carl Horn as usual, much of the jokes stem from the warped but still recognizable interpretations of the main characters.  Shinji may have confidence and self-esteem issues, but even he’ll try to throw down with his dad when he’s had enough.  Gendo also rushes right past his detached indifference to his son into active trolling, comparing the act of pulling out Shinji’s controller during a game to when he didn’t pull out in time and has been regretting it ever since.

As much as I enjoyed this, I recognize that a healthy knowledge of “Evangelion,” specifically the cast and their personalities, is necessary to getting most of the jokes here.  So if you’re not already onboard that particular train of anime fandom, you’d best stay away.  All “Evangelion” fans looking for some good laughs at the expense of its cast, however, should pick up a copy right now.

jason@glickscomicpicks.com

This latest volume takes the story in two different directions and timelines, which ultimately converge in the end.  With the present-day scenes the focus is on the Carlyle-aligned families assault on Western Europe.  In the past, we see what happened to Forever after she was brought back from her successful but costly battle in Duluth.  The present-day scenes do a nice job of flipping the script on the battle as seen in the previous volume.  Where vol. 4 showed Carlyle and co. facing near defeat, this time we see them pressing their advantage to the fullest extent.  Until the end of the volume that is, leaving us with not quite a cliffhanger but some nasty unfinished business that’s not going to sit well with me until vol. 6 arrives.

While the present-day stuff is good, the flashbacks are better as there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes drama playing out in Family Carlyle’s compound.  Forever not only has to contend with her physical rehabilitation but her growing feeling that she’s not really a member of the family she has been raised to be a part of.  As a reader, it’s hard not to be sympathetic to her plight since we know that her replacement clone is being trained at the same time.  This is something that Johanna Carlyle, acting head of the family, has to deal with herself in addition to her current business of trying to win a war and dealing with her father, Malcolm, who has finally regained consciousness.

I’ve enjoyed seeing Johanna work her way to the top of Family Carlyle and there’s more fun to be had as she matches wits with Malcolm as he tries to gauge her worth himself.  What’s different here is that I think I can actually start rooting for Johanna to succeed in her agenda as she makes it clear that she’s not happy with the way things are right now.  How do we find this out?  Well, that’s another reason I’m pulling for her as she takes a decidedly unorthodox, for the story and the genre, approach to addressing Forever’s trust issues with the family.  It’s that kind of clever plotting which I’m hoping to see more of in the interim miniseries “Lazarus:  X+66” as Greg Rucka and Michael Lark get things together to deliver the issues of vol. 6 on a *crosses fingers* monthly basis next year.

jason@glickscomicpicks.com