Comic Review – Kick-Ass #5, Wolverine #70, Incognito #1, Punisher: Warzone #4, Back To Brooklyn #3, The Boys #26, The Walking Dead #57 and No Hero #3

That’s what I get for skipping a week of reviews. Anyway, off we go…

Kick-Ass #5

Written by Mark Millar

Art by John Romita Jr.

Inks by Tom Palmer

Colors by Dean White

Lettering by Chris Eliopoulos

Published by Marvel\Icon

In a nutshell: Free of any boundaries whatsoever, Mark Millar continues to entertain immenselly with this not very original but fucking funny book.

“Superheroes in the real world” is to comics what “World War II” is to games. It quickly became one of the most explored trends in the medium and now, it’s starting to be despised for having been around for so long. But some titles still manage to milk out good reading from this concept – “Kick-Ass” is an unpretensious ride: a teenager who’s sick of his own life decides to take inspiration from comics and become a superhero – who, after beating up a gang of thugs (apparently the boy has a natural talent for brawling), is called KICK-ASS.

As he usually does, Millar sets the world of this book in our reality – very much like “The Ultimates” did, with Air Force One being taken down and President Bush still in it (drawn with enormous likeness by Bryan Hitch, right down to his eternally stupid expression). In “Kick-Ass”, Millar uses YouTube, MySpace and even the famous comics forum Newsarama as ways of making the reader feel as if the main character is real and could be next door. Of course, this destroys this book’s immortality – in twenty years’ time, few will remember what MySpace, YouTube or Newsarama were – but when the protagonist thinks, “Before this guy came along, I was Heroes Season One. Now, as far as the net was concerned, I’m Season fucking Two”, it’s hard not to laugh. It’s a great reference, even if one that won’t survive for long.

(I haven’t watched Season Two of Heroes, but it amazes me it was actually considered worse than Season One, which was already a bag of shit)

In fact, all the references Millar uses work – especially the moment where Kick-Ass complains about New York being so safe since Giuliani (”Why couldn’t I have been around during the shit-heap era?”, he whines). Annoyed by a rival superhero who started getting all his attention, Kick-Ass calls out on this guy and they do a team-up. This is how Millar reveals how the protagonist is, instead of a righteous crusader, more of an attention-whore – and this is an aspect “Kick-Ass” shares with Garth Ennis’ excellent “The Boys”: portraying superheroes not as good-to-the-soul knights, but more as celebrities – often stupid ones. But Millar also shows how a part of Kick-Ass takes what he does seriously, as the third-act of this issue proves. Fortunately not giving two shits about censorship, Millar doesn’t hesitate even in adding a foul-mouthed child superheroine who kills people as casually as one blinks. With two samurai swords, too.

John Romita Jr. is doing some of his best work in years – thankfully, since his art in “World War Hulk” was so terrible it seemed to have been pencilled with his arsehole. Thankfully no longer working with Klaus Janson – whom I consider one of the worst inkers in the industry and a ridiculously overrated one (”But — he worked with Frank Miller!!!”) – Romita Jr. joins the efficient Tom Palmer and is clearly at ease with this book. His visual narrative – Romita Jr.’s greatest strength – is as good as ever, and his cartoony style suits the story well. Clearly understanding the satiric tone of the plot, he doesn’t try to draw Kick-Ass as a bad-ass hero – instead, he always looks spectacularly ridiculous in those tights.

Funny and entertaining, “Kick-Ass” is good while it lasts. Half the jokes won’t make much sense in the future, but for now, it’s a good book.

Wolverine #70

Written by Mark Millar

Art by Steve McNiven

Inks by Dexter Vines and Mark Morales

Colors by Morry Hollowell and Justin Ponsor

Lettering by VC’s Cory Petit

Published by Marvel

In a nutshell: Millar reveals what made Logan sheath his claws forever, and the revelation doesn’t disappoint – mainly thanks to Steve McNiven’s phenomenal artwork.

This is McNiven’s show – Millar knows that and therefore allows for several splash pages. This issue relies more on image than words, and this is when having a brilliant artist counts.

Logan tells Clint what made him promise himself never to “hurt another living soul” – and fortunately, it’s not underwhelming. It makes sense and it more than justifies Logan’s decision. But while the script is good, I won’t waste my time talking about it – because it’s McNiven who owns this episode. His art is detailed without ever becoming a mess (yes, that means you, Geoff Darrow) and his lines are as clean as Steve Dillon’s. It’s amazing, but McNiven IS the complete package. His visual narrative is flawless, his facial expressions are excellent, his angles are well-composed and difficult to draw (not to him, though). And in this issue, he rocks out, extracting as much emotion as possible from every panel. Dexter Vines and Mark Morales’ inks, along with the color art by Morry Hollowell and Justin Ponsor, complete his artwork with sheer perfection.

After the revelation, the issue sets up a new challenge for Logan and Clint to face – a friend of mine described it as “LAME”, but I don’t mind it. It’s not terribly clever, mind you, but I don’t think it lowers the quality standard of this very enjoyable arc.

Incognito #1

Written by Ed Brubaker

Art by Sean Phillips

Colors by Val Staples

Published by Marvel\Icon

In a Nutshell: Another damn super (anti) Hero. Brings absolutely nothing new to the table.

Common Sense: Hey, Ed! You just wrote one of the best books of late, “Criminal”. What’s your next step?

Ed Brubaker: I’m thinking… mmm… maybe a supervillain-who’s-not-really-a-villain kinda book.

CS: …

EB: What?

CS: … really? I mean, you just wrote a noir in comic format – something, y’know, original for the medium – and you’re gonna write superheroes?

EB: Well, not a superhero. A, well, a superhuman with a tendency to evil but not really.

CS: Well, have you got at least something original to say in that book?

EB: Nah. Protagonist is apparently a super-strong freak who was in the Witness Protection Program, but gets tired of his boring life and decides to go back to doing what he used to do – which is… hopping around buildings and saving dames from being raped, I guess. Oh, and there’s a mad scientist kinda guy after him. And he had a twin. Who’s dead, although he’ll probably turn out not to be at some point on the book. The protagonist, not the mad scientist.

CS: …

EB: I think it’s cool.

CS: What’s the book’s name?

EB: I think I’ll call it “Incognito”.

CS: What does that mean?

EB: It’s like the X in an equation. The protagonist likes being no-one, disappearing below his disguise – which, strangely, is a mask no bigger than sunglasses, but still.

CS: That sounds…

EB: Great, right? I’ll call Sean right away. *calls*

SEAN PHILLIPS: Yeah?

EB: Hey, Sean, have you got time to draw another comic for me?

SP: Jesus, Eddie, I’m not the only artist in the fucking industry, you know.

EB: C’mon, we’re like Ennis and Dillon, Sean.

SP: Dillon gets to draw cool stuff, like heads being blown away by shotguns.

EB: I have even cooler things for you to draw.

SP: What’s that?

EB: *Explains*

SP: Another superhero book?

Common Sense: See?

ED: Shut up.

SP: What?

ED: Not you, sorry. C’mon, Sean. You’ll get to draw a woman having sex with a guy in a Santa costume.

SP: *Sigh* Okay. Tell Joe to send an extra check to my mail.

ED: Will do. *hangs up*

CS: Why does nobody listen to me?

ED: Hey, at least I’m not like Grant Morrison. He rapes you every time you show up at his doorstep.

Punisher: Warzone #4

Written by Garth Ennis

Art by Steve Dillon

Colors by Matt Hollingsworth

Lettering by VC’s Cory Petit

Published by Marvel Knights

In a nutshell: Ennis +  Dillon + Hollingsworth + Punisher + Dark Humor = Buy This Fucking Book.

With Schitti’s ear having been accidentally injected with some kind of drug, Castle drags him along as he tries to find Ma Gnucci (or at least one of them). Meanwhile, Molly Von Richthofen finds herself trapped in a bad situation.

As you can see, Ennis continues to take care of the supporting characters as well as the main one. Focused on his unpretensious, dark-humored style (among the many he has), the Irish writer comfortably moves the plot forward with excellent dialogue (”Who’s gonna really need the refrigerator here?”) and good characters. He even finds some gaps between the moments of pitch-black comedy to add some low-key drama – like in the scene a character loses his temper and says Castle’s kids are in Hell – to his face.

Steve Dillon’s art – no, no need to say anything more about the script, since I would merely be repeating my points from the previous review – Steve Dillon’s art is… actually, no need to say anything about the art either, since it’s still… Dillon, therefore exceptional. Especially with Matt Hollingsworth coloring it.

Really, nothing else to add. Continues to be a fucking great book.

Back to Brooklyn #3

Written by Garth Ennis, with story by Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti

Art by Mihailo Vukelic

Additional Coloring by Bryan Free

Lettering by Simon Bowland

Published by Image Comics

In a nutshell: cliched and Mihailo Vukelic’s art has dropped in quality like a fucking cliff, but guess what: Garth Ennis makes it work.

Jimmy Palmiotti isn’t a good writer. All I’ve read by him was cliche, or silly or downright mediocre. And now that “Back to Brooklyn #3″ – a story mainly conceived by him – reaches its third issue, the flaws on the plot start to make themselves clear – the cliches start to creep up. No, Jimmy Palmiotti isn’t a good writer.

But Garth Ennis is a brilliant one. So he makes it work, as he always does. He steamrolls over the cliches with his sharp dialogue and good characterization, which make “BtB” an above-average story, even if not one of Ennis’ best by far.

This might sound weird, considering I was singing my praises for the second issue of this very book not long ago. Well, I might worship Ennis but I’m not blind – what seemed like forgivable, not-worth-mentioning problems in the previous issues have evolved into considerable ones. Churchill – the psychopath who’s after the protagonists – is completely devoid of any originality. Ennis tries, but can’t seem to make him interesting – the writer has created far better psychopaths in the past, so Churchill is no more than a faint shadow of them. There’s the old-friend-who-offers-refuge-to-the-protagonists-and-ends-up-killed-by-the-villains, the worst cliche of this book. And there’s the three main characters – while Bob Saetta is a good one, Vinnie is The Sidekick and Maggie is The Ex-Girlfriend – potential stereotypes.

I say “potential” because Ennis manages to avoid these faults in Palmiotti’s work and milk out a tense story out of this. Yes, Churchill’s monologue in the beggining of the book fails to be truly threatening, but the argument between the Comissioner and the Fed is depressingly hilarious and Maggie and Vinnie’s reactions to Bob Saetta’s violent world are plausible and sensitive. It’s interesting to notice how Maggie doesn’t want anything to do with Bob’s problems until he mentions there’s a kid involved – it’s also worthy of note how Vinnie, not Maggie, weeps when they watch a terrifying video – a lesser writer would make MAGGIE cry, because she’s a woman – but Ennis always wrote characters, not stereotypes, so they react like their personalities would make them.

Mihailo Vukelic’s art… I have no idea what happened. It went from excellent to decent in a single issue. His backgrounds are badly-detailed and blurred, as is the overall artwork. Even with additional help from Bryan Free, and even with the good visual narrative, the art is not a reason to buy this issue.

Ennis is. As always. But it’s sad to see that not even him could save this issue from some bad flaws. Let’s hope the next two live up to the potential of the first two.

The Boys #26

Written by Garth Ennis

Art by Dar… er, John Higgins

Colors by Tony Avina

Lettering by Simon Bowland

Published by Dynamite Entertainment

In a Nutshell: interesting, funny and with a strong, dark ending – also, John Higgins manages to keep up with Darick Robertson’s usual art, not disappointing in the slightest bit.

Hughie takes a break from spying on G-Wiz (a task that is finished, but that he wants to draw out a little longer out of curiosity) to see Annie, Mother’s Milk continues his investigations and Butcher finds out what seems to be a horrible secret. A lot of stuff happens in this episode, presented with Ennis’ usual mix of dark humor, subtle romance and good foreshadowing. Hughie and Annie’s relationship is believable and never resorts to cheap romantism to touch the reader – Ennis portrays them both without pulling any punches, showing them both naked in the woods (something reminiscent of Jesse and Tulip on their bed, in Ennis’ magnificent magnum opus “Preacher”) and talking to each other naturally. Meanwhile, Butcher has some fun with a cat (oh, how I laughed when he says the “magic words” to his dog Terror…) before doing something quite unexpected that sheds some light on his true personality: Butcher is far from being as mentally balanced as he seems.

While some would say the G-Men are a cheap satire of the X-Men – which they are – Ennis expands his horizons further, adding several groups that form the G-Men, like G-Wiz, G-Style and etc., which don’t keep good terms with one another (”Throw them a basketball?”). Still, Ennis can’t resist taking the piss, like when this book’s version of Iceman kind of exaggerates on his power when tryng to freeze a can of beer.

John Higgins replaces Darick Robertson on this issue, and he doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. Nailing all the characters, Higgins has excellent narrative and lines, and Avina’s colors are, as usual, impeccable. I especially like the last page.

“The Boys #26″ is… well, guess what. I’ll happily keep reading.

Written by Robert Kirkman

Art by Charlie Adlard

Grey tones by Cliff Rathburn

Lettering by Rus Wooton

Published by Image Comics

In a Nutshell: Yep. “Walking Dead” is back on track.

It fills me with joy to see that, finally, Kirkman has written two excellent issues in a row. In this one, the group’s making their trip to Washington – until they get to an interstate, when they decide to stop and see what to do. Rick and Carl team up with Abraham to go look for supplies and run into serious trouble – and Rick’s reaction is one of the best scenes since the moment Rick found out who it was on the phone, about six issues ago.

In a fairly lengthy issue with great dialogue, Kirkman is in no hurry and builds the relationship between Rick and Abraham with plausibility. They might dislike each other, but they’re both adults and therefore act like it, cooperating with one another even if cursing under their breath. And the way they bond when they get into trouble comes naturally and leads up to a very good final page.

The credit also goes to Charlie Adlard, who draws the shit out of aforementioned scene – including a very threatening, barely recognizable Rick. Both writer and artist are on top of their games here, and “The Walking Dead” seems to have returned to its usual brilliance.

I hope it stays there.

(Larger image I could find on short notice – quit complaining, you can see it, can’t you?)

No Hero #3

Written by Warren Ellis

Art by Juan Jose Ryp

Colors by Digikore Studios

Published by Avatar Press

In a Nutshell: “No Hero #3″ takes a turn for the best and surprises me with a good change of pace – it’s now oficially interesting and worth a read.

At first I wasn’t liking “No Hero” – now, it’s turning out to be way less predictable than I thought, with the sudden death of a character and a questions some of them ask about the protagonist, who at first was very much against drugs but didn’t even flinch in taking FX7 (the drug that turns people into superhumans).

Creating a good feeling of tension, Warren Ellis seems to be returning to his usual self – the dialogue is great, no longer the same for every character, and the narrative is intriguing and flows well, starting with a very mysterious interview. The protagonist, Joshua, is left aside and the supporting characters dominate the narrative, revealing other facets of their personalities that make them more interesting and tridimensional – especially Carrick Masterson, whose desperation in a certain scene of this episode comes as a surprise.

Juan Jose Ryp is also sharp, and while his facial expressions still need some work, his narrative and detailed artwork are pure eye-candy. He refrains himself from overdoing it, and keeps a steady balance from beggining to end, aided by good coloring by Digikore Studios.

Yes, “No Hero” is very interesting all of a sudden – and being a fan of Warren Ellis, it makes me happy to say this.