Comic Picks By The Glick

I doubt we’ll ever see the original artist of “The Walking Dead,” Tony Moore, ever come back to that series for anything besides a variant cover.  Meanwhile, over at “Invincible,” original artist Corey Walker just can’t seem to stop making return trips to that title after all these years.  He usually shows up to pinch-hit for regular artist Ryan Ottley whenever he takes on a side project or the story demands a different visual style.  In this case, Walker’s latest return to “Invincible” is precipitated by the former as Ottley takes some time off to deliver his creator-owned “Grizzly Shark” series.  Originally a one-shot that depicted the adventures of the world’s most feared land animal, it’s now back in color with an unspecified amount of new issues to follow.  Which is good because it’s always easier for me to pick up trade paperbacks as opposed to single issues.  As for “Invincible,” Walker is illustrating the story that picks up after the fallout of the “Reboot?” arc where Mark went back in time to the beginning of the series and did something to his timeline that I’ve read vague enough things about to make me interested in seeing just what the heck it is.

“Rebirth.”  That’s the buzzword from DC publisher Dan Didio on Twitter, leading most everyone to think that the company is planning ANOTHER relaunch later this year.  Rich Johnston seems to think that this will involve another round of new #1 issues and a tighter focus between the company’s TV and film projects.  This year will mark the fifth anniversary of the “New 52” and I can’t say that the idea of the company doing it all over again is all that appealing.  “An exciting new jumping-off point” is how I saw it described on Twitter and I fear that’s only the tip of the cynicism iceberg that DC is going to have to surmount here.  Still, one of the rumors from yesterday involved Scott Snyder moving from “Batman” to “Detective Comics” and I can get behind that.  As good as the man’s work on “Batman” has been, he got his start on “Detective” and it should be interesting to see what kind of stories he’ll come up with while working outside of the spotlight of the company’s flagship title.

Not only is this a volume all about the organization’s ectoplasmic medium Johann, it’s also the concluding chapter to the story of Pvt. Patrick Redding that was started in “Sledgehammer ‘44.”  Things start off on a down note as Johann finds himself to be at odds with the members of his current team after a mission for unspecified reasons.  We eventually find out that these reasons involve the death of a much-liked (by this writer at any rate) member of the B.P.R.D. team and the subsequent step Johann took with his corpse to ensure their mission was completed.  It leaves him feeling that he has lost touch with his humanity and a subsequent re-visit to the mission site to fix that has the side effect of making him realize how fragile he is against the monsters his organization fights against on a daily basis.  This leaves Johann to investigate the mystery of the Sledgehammer armor as the fight comes to the B.P.R.D.’s front door.

As you can see, this is meant to be a big turning point for Johann.  Shame it doesn’t come off that way.  Mignola and Arcudi bring up various plot points regarding the character to try and drive home the fact that he’s at a crossroads, but most of it feels like a bunch of huffing and puffing in order to get the character where he needs to be at the end of volume.  That’s not to say that their efforts don’t result in some good material.  The reasons Johann’s team has for not wanting to work with him anymore are disturbingly well-founded and the graveside scene between the medium and the dead member of the team manages the neat trick of being both affecting and creepy.  Yet even if there are interesting things in the story, it still feels like one where the creators had a very good idea of where they wanted to end up and not as much of one with how to get there.  Also, “Sledgehammer ‘44” is required reading if you want to get the most out of the latter half of this volume since it’s almost a direct continuation of the story that was told there.  “Metamorphosis” is a misfire, but one not without its merits -- including some great art from Peter Snejbjerg and Julian Totino Tedesco.

Featuring works from Vaughan, Stevenson, Yasuhiko, Busiek, Morishige, Powell, Gaiman, and (of course) Samura.

Hiroaki Samura has done a couple series since wrapping up his epic masterpiece “Blade of the Immortal.”  This one is just the first to reach our shores.  Expecting something on the same level of brilliance as his signature series would just be an exercise in setting myself up for disappointment.  Yet this is likely to be a series best appreciated by his core fanbase.  After all, they’re the ones most likely to be patient enough to allow this wild and irreverent series the time it needs to come together.

One of these days I’ll eventually migrate to reading comics digitally instead of in print.  Not yet, though.  Not when titles like this, originally published online in a “pay what you want” metric can still find their way into being a physical product.  (Particularly when the way involves a handshake deal between Brian K. Vaughan and Robert Kirkman that will allow the former to write a “The Walking Dead” story for his online operation -- The Panel Syndicate.)  What I’m trying to say is that after hearing about this series for a while and making mental notes to get around to reading it online, this landscape hardcover was released and I get to maintain my old habits.  The wait was worth it, though, as “The Private Eye” is a thoroughly engaging read with lots of things to say about our current state of affairs with its near-future narrative.

Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca’s series was the standout amongst Marvel’s initial round of “Star Wars” collections and this second volume shows that its quality wasn’t a fluke.  Vader continues the rebuilding of his power base with an ambitious heist of a deceased crimelord’s fortune from the Empire.  Though the act, masterminded by his associate Doctor Aphra and several capable bounty hunters, appears to go off without a hitch, trouble soon rears its head in the form of the new adjutant forced on him.  While the previous adjutant was *ahem* found to be guilty of treason and general incompetence, Inspector Thanoth quickly reveals himself to be an intelligent and supremely capable individual.  As he and Vader work together to find out what happened to the stolen fortune, Aphra works to find out if there actually was an heir to the Naboo throne and where the pilot who destroyed the Death Star can be found.

This is the kind of heist story where the crime has to go off without a hitch unless the criminal finds himself in a slowly tightening noose with no way to extricate themselves.  The criminal here is Darth Vader and he doesn’t do the whole “tightening noose” bit.  Gillen maintains the excellent setup from the previous volume of giving us a Sith Lord whose position may be in danger, but still maintains a fearsome presence.  Even as Thanoth draws ever closer to the truth, Vader never once appears to crack under the pressure.  I’ll admit that having a mask like that is great for masking any visual signs of uncertainty or tension, but Gillen’s dialogue also makes it clear that while Vader is taking Thanoth’s investigation seriously he doesn’t feel threatened by it.  The inspector himself is also a great addition to the cast with his sharp investigative mind and ability to roll with disruptions to his plans as we see in the final issue here.

Larroca’s art is also an asset to the story here, mostly.  It’s slick, professional work from the artist that captures the “Star Wars” look well enough to forgive the few times that characters show up with awkward facial expressions or certain scenes -- like Vader’s use of a lightsaber to take down a Y-wing -- don’t have the impact they should.  The overall product is still thoroughly entertaining and continues to set a high bar for Marvel’s other “Star Wars” titles to reach.

jason@glickscomicpicks.com

There’s a new volume of a certain manga being advance-solicited here!  That’s right, after a year and a half of waiting, Dark Horse is finally releasing vol. 16 of “Neon Genesis Evangelion:  The Shinji Ikari Raising Project.”  Can you feel the excitement here!  ARE YOU NOT YET ENTERTAINED!?!?!?

…Ugh.  Well, at least this means the manga news from the publisher can only get better from here on out.  Right?