DAMN Good Comics -- DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH #1

Fair warning, there will be spoilers here, even though just about every comics news site already spoiled this issue a week ago.

Almost five years ago, DC Comics rebooted their fictional universe as "The New 52," which featured a few successes with Batman, Justice League and Harley Quinn, but largely was considered a creative disappointment.  DC's legendary heroes of hope and optimism were replaced by younger, grimdark versions that lacked the essential charm and appeal of their pre-Flashpoint incarnations, and declining sales soon reflected that.

So at long last, DC is taking major steps to address their mistakes without completely hitting the shiny, candy-like reset button, and who better to set the tone for this "DC Rebirth" than DC's Chief Creative Officer, Geoff Johns?  Ever since his days writing JSA and The Flash, one of Johns' greatest strengths as a mainstream comics writer has been his ability to zero in on what fans once enjoyed about DC characters and incorporate that into modern storytelling.  Sometimes that comes off as personal self-indulgence or fan service, but for the most part, Johns is great at getting readers to remember why they love comics.

And that's exactly what he does with DC Universe: Rebirth #1.  Armed with some outstanding art from Gary Frank, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis and Phil Jimenez, Johns frames the entire issue around the return of none other than Wally West -- the original green-eyed redhead who many still consider to be their Flash instead of Barry Allen.  DC fans (including myself) were upset when Wally was erased from the DC Universe with The New 52, only to eventually be reintroduced in The Flash Annual #3 as a younger, biracial version that wasn't The Flash anymore, wasn't married to Linda Park, and bore little resemblance to the character we loved.

Johns makes some important statements with Wally's return, primarily that the post-Flashpoint DCU has been missing something, that sense of legacy where a new generation takes over while honoring what came before.  As Wally struggles to return from the Speed Force, we take a tour of the reborn DCU to give readers and jaded DC fans a taste of the greatness to come.  Ryan Choi is tasked with suiting up as The Atom to find a microscopic Ray Palmer, current Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes is working with Ted Kord, Green Arrow and Black Canary are being pulled together once again, Aquaman proposes to Mera, senile old Johnny Thunder is tasked with finding the Justice Society, Dream Girl teases the return of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Pandora (an early symbol for The New 52) is murdered for our mutual satisfaction.  And then we get a final payoff, with references to classic Flash imagery, as Wally makes a connection with his mentor Barry Allen and the two share a heartbreaking scene where Barry apologizes to Wally for forgetting him.

Wally realizes that someone out there in the DCU has stolen ten years from them, apparently to make them inexperienced and weaker for some reason yet to be revealed. That someone, which should piss writer Alan Moore off to no end, appears to be Doctor Manhattan from the classic 12-issue series Watchmen.  Now, we don't actually see Dr. Manhattan in this issue, possibly an important point, but we have a character speaking with his traditional blue Watchmen caption font with some imagery and a "The clock in the DC Universe is ticking down" tease clearly meant to imply the character.

So with all this in mind, I have to wonder, is this mysterious Big Bad really Dr. Manhattan or actually someone else?  Dr. Manhattan certainly has the power to pull off these continuity shenanigans, but as we all know, Watchmen wasn't intended to be set in the DC Universe. Bringing Dr. Manhattan into the DCU would be bold, sure, and makes great commentary against Watchmen, which introduced Grimdark storytelling along with Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns back in the '80s.  Wouldn't it be even bolder if we're meant to think that Dr. Manhattan is the Big Bad?  What if it turns out to be someone like the Time Trapper instead...?

Obviously, To Be Continued.  In the meantime, though, the DC Universe is reborn once again and let's just appreciate that, especially since it happened on the same day that Marvel Comics alienated a good chunk of their fanbase by making Captain America a Hydra agent.  If you're a longtime DC Comics fan that felt burned, bitter and betrayed by The New 52, please give this issue a chance and see what you think.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

DAMN Good Comics -- STAR WARS #1

I have a good feeling about this.

Like many of my fellow Generation X geezers who watched Star Wars over and over and over when it debuted in 1977, I snapped up Marvel's Star Wars comic book series as soon as found each new issue on the local drug store spinner rack.  (The dark times before comic book shops.)  The license eventually moved to Dark Horse Comics in 1991, which had a good 23-year run with the Lucasfilm property until Disney assimiliated Marvel into the Mouse Collective and the rights were finally returned.

Although I have major respect for Dark Horse keeping the torch going all those years before, during and after the prequels, I have to confess that I really had no interest in buying any of their Star Wars comics.  Oh, I'd flip through some every so often, but the titles looked so desperately dull, overly convoluted and lifeless, compared to Marvel's crude but fun and innovative comics before The Empire Strikes Back arrived.

And now, the Force has awakened at long last.

Right from the very first page, Marvel captures the tone of Star Wars better than Dark Horse could ever dream with the very simple words "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...." in the proper blue font.  You flip the page and BAM, a double-page spread with the Star Wars logo coming at you so hard in widescreen that somehow, inexplicably, you can hear that John Williams theme blasting through the pages.  You turn the page again and Oh, thank the Maker -- there's the familiar opening crawl presenting the story title along with a quick synopsis that tells you this new series is set just where you hoped it would be, right after the very first Star Wars film.

Writer Jason Aaron, artist John Cassaday and colorist Laura Martin quickly prove to be the dream team for Star Wars comic fans, because they seem to understand the one important thing that many Dark Horse creators didn't -- getting the tone right.  This book looks and feels like a Star Wars comic, from the right amount of glib humor to the frantic escapes when things go inevitably and horribly wrong.

So if you're a fellow Star Wars fan who rediscovered your love for the films when the teaser for The Force Awakens appeared online, or just a comics fan who loves good sci-fi action tales with snappy dialogue and beautiful artwork, you owe it to yourself to pick this book up. Oh, and may the Force be with you...always.

DAMN Good Comics -- GRAYSON #4

After all this time fighting the worst supervillains imaginable as the first Robin and as Nightwing, Dick Grayson faces his greatest challenge yet -- horny college girls.

Three issues and a Futures End special into Grayson's new role as an agent of the espionage organization Spyral, we finally get a reminder of what used to be so great about the pre-New 52 Nightwing -- his sense of fun.  Writers Tim Seeley and Tom King, along with artist Mikel Janin, take a brief departure from the series' more serious tone, without making things feel so wacky and silly that you wonder if you're reading an issue of Harley Quinn or Deadpool instead.

In "The Raid," Seeley and King starts things off with an interesting mission involving Checkmate, another DC Universe espionage organization, only to go through the entire thing in only three pages.  We abruptly shift focus to Helena Bertinelli's young proteges at St. Hadrian's Finishing School, who have obtained pictures of a certain shirtless ex-Boy Wonder, reinforcing the commonly held belief among straight female and gay male fans that adult Dick Grayson is one of the hottest comics characters ever.  So what do these aroused young women do after drooling over these photos?  They decide to go on a "man-ty raid," of course.

And just before you wonder if the series is completely breaking format, the ongoing mysterious mystery of Spyral head Mr. Minos continues as Grayson uses a sucker, of all things, to obtain skin samples of Minos off the ground for Batman to analyze.  We learn how creepy, paranoid and meticulous Minos is with the revelation that he uses microscopic nanite machines to eat his skin flakes and any pieces of hair that shed in order to protect his identity.  Meanwhile, Minos has Helena investigate transmissions sent to someone else by Agent 8 in the previous issue, but she ends up finding Grayson's communications tech to Batman in his alarm clock.

As for the art, Mikel Janin provides outstanding work as always, showcasing Grayson's physique along with his impressive acrobatic skills as part of the girls' chase across St. Hadrian's campus.  And best of all, we finally get a proper overhead shot of St. Hadrian's, complete with some building descriptions so that the setting feels like an actual place in this current DC Universe.  Janin is particularly adept at facial expressions, including the girls' hot-and-bothered reactions to the photos and Grayson's reaction to his new cover identity as "a French former Olympic gymnast.  And whose face is so indistinct as to be unmemorable.  And who is gay."

If you're one of those people who wasn't up for Dick Grayson having a completely new status quo and miss the days when the character was fun and charming as Nightwing, do yourselves a favor a give this issue a try.  Grayson has been a stellar series so far, quickly becoming one of DC's best books at the moment, and deserves as much attention from fans as it can get.

DAMN Good Comics -- THE FLASH SEASON ZERO #1

Are you pumped for the Flash's long-awaited return to the small screen?  If not, you will be.

After two digital comics series based on the CW series Arrow, it doesn't take a S.T.A.R. Labs scientist to figure out that a new digital comic based on the spinoff series The Flash was a no-brainer.  However, since the TV series premieres just under a month from now, what better way for DC Comics to build anticipation than by releasing a "Season Zero" that takes place just after the events in the pilot episode?

With a story idea by The Flash's executive producer and writer Andrew Kreisberg, writers Brooke Eikmeier and Katherine Walczak start things off with our hero Barry Allen quickly reliving his secret origin that flashes (get it?) before his eyes as a large stone column outside the Central City National Bank begins crumbling on top of him.  It's a simple but effective narrative device to bring new Flash readers up to speed (sorry, I'll quit with the puns), especially if they haven't yet seen the pilot episode that leaked out over the Interwebz a while back.

In addition to the necessary background and supporting character introductions, "Freak Show Part 1: The Strongman Cometh" sets up the Flash's encounter with an extraordinarily strong circus strongman robbing the bank.  And yes, you just know he got his super-strength from that wacky S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator accident.  After a futile attempt on the Flash's part to subdue the strongman that results in a couple of broken ribs and a busted ankle, we learn that the strongman belongs to a small, mysterious circus located just outside Central City that might be familiar to anyone who read issues #7 and 8 of the beloved Jack Knight Starman series from 1994-2001.

As for the art, Phil Hester isn't the first artist you'd think of for the Flash, but he does a pretty nice job here.  His somewhat angular, cartoonish style gives The Flash: Season Zero a mostly animated appearance instead of lifelike depictions, but you can't deny the boldness and energy in his work.  Every page is interesting to look at, especially in the digital format where the colors really make his artwork pop.

All in all, a promising start to the series that should continue to entertain Flash fans on a bi-weekly basis every other Monday, alternating with Arrow Season 2.5.  If you're a Flash completist, someone who is curious about the upcoming TV show, or simply enjoy lighthearted superhero tales, be sure to check DC's digital comics store for more adventures with everyone's favorite Fastest Man Alive!

DAMN Good Comics -- SENSATION COMICS FEATURING WONDER WOMAN #1

Think Batman, Robin, Nightwing and Batgirl are the only ones who can protect Gotham City?  Think again.

After the recent digital anthologies Legends of the Dark Knight and The Adventures of Superman, DC Comics is now focusing on the remaining member of their Holy Trinity with the release of Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman #1.  The title may be a tad clunky, but there's no denying the appeal of a series that isn't overly dramatic like the current Wonder Woman ongoing and confined to only The New 52 continuity.

In the opening two-part story "Gothamazon," former Wonder Woman writer Gail Simone returns to one of her favorite characters with the simple, but effective story premise of what would happen if Wonder Woman was called in to save Gotham from an army of Batman's biggest enemies.  And if that isn't enough to hook you, the setting is somewhere before the events of Flashpoint, meaning Wonder Woman gets to wear traditional gold instead of silver, Oracle (a Simone favorite) is in play, and The Joker thankfully still has his face attached.  Good times, good times...

Part One opens with Gotham's most notorious supervillains finally waking up and realizing how formidable they would be if they joined forces instead of fighting Batman one at a time.  After taking Batman, Robin and Nightwing off the board (to what extent, we don't know) with an explosion, the Batrogues proceed to take control of Gotham in less than four hours, forcing Oracle to look for help elsewhere.  Deciding that The Flash is "too kind-hearted," Green Lantern is "too cosmic," and Superman is "too noble," GoldiOracle calls in "the big guns," which are juuuust riiiiiiiight.

As for the art, Ethan Van Sciver (with colors by Brian Miller of Hi-Fi) blends some Pre-Crisis nods into his designs -- Two-Face wears his classic half-orange, half purple-checked suit, The Penguin wears his top hat with tails and white gloves -- while incorporating Batman: The Animated Series' original look for Mr. Freeze.  Although his artwork seems a bit rushed in places with some uneven anatomy, Van Sciver utilizes the digital panel layout well with a number of bold close-ups that create very striking images that enhance the overall story.

All in all, a very promising start to the series that should continue to entertain Wonder Woman fans with upcoming creators Cat Staggs, Chris Sprouse, James Tynion IV, Cecil Castellucci, Laruen Beukes, Caitlin Kittredge, Amanda Diebert, Renae De Liz and Georges Jeanty.  Be sure to check DC's digital comics store every week for more adventures with everyone's favorite Amazing Amazon!

DAMN Good Comics -- MOON KNIGHT #1

"I've died before.  It was boring, so I stood up."

 

I know what you're thinking -- Another Moon Knight #1?  Really?  What is this, volume 7?  Yeah, it's another Moon Knight series, with another take on the Fist of Khonshu from another completely different angle.  But the thing is, unlike so many of the others, this approach actually works.

 

A couple of years back, writer Warren Ellis wrote an incredible six issues of Marvel's Secret Avengers series, giving us stories far better than a superfluous Avengers book deserved.  One of those stories, "Aniana" from Secret Avengers #19, featured Moon Knight wearing a tailored white suit and mask instead of his traditional superhero costume and coming off more insanely cool than ever before.

 

Well, Marvel and Ellis must've loved the idea, because Marc Spector is rocking the white suit once again (Does he shop at the same men's store as Planetary's Elijah Snow?) in a new ongoing series, with art by Declan Shalvey.  Instead of wiping the slate clean as you might expect, the book is a subtle continuation of previous Moon Knight incarnations, including previous runs by Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev, and Charlie Huston and David Finch.  And for old-school Moon Knight fans, Ellis even brings back characters like Joy Mercado and Detective Flint.

 

This first issue brings the character back home to New York (after Bendis' series set in Los Angeles), a location Ellis seems to know well after his recent novel Gun Machine.  Instead of flying around in moon-shaped helicopter, however, Marc now rides in the back of a white limousine, driven by a computer named Driver.  Oh, and he and Detective Flint now have an arrangement where "Mr. Knight, a concerned citizen," is able to assist the NYPD without them being forced to arrest a dangerous vigilante.  If you've ever wondered what a Batman series written by Warren Ellis would be like, Merry Christmas.

 

Shalvey's art feels a bit sketchy in places and may depend on your personal taste, but there are some incredible visuals here that add considerable impact to Ellis' script.  There's a particularly effective sequence where Moon Knight parks his limo over a sewer manhole and climbs down at least three levels of underground tunnels.  I'm not exactly sure how he manages to keep his suit so pristinely white in the process, but hey, it's comics and sometimes you just have to roll with that sort of thing.

 

Ellis caps off the issue with some intriguing revelations about Marc's presumed Dissociative Identity Disorder and how it may be something else entirely...unless, of course, Marc is actually hallucinating these revelations and it's just yet another example of his mental instability.  This book is going to be one hell of a ride that could take us practically anywhere, so here's hoping Ellis is in this for the long run.

 

DAMN Good Comics -- BLACK WIDOW #2

You know how frustrating it is that Black Widow has never received her own solo movie?  It's even more frustrating after reading this comic.

After a solid, "Done in One" debut two weeks ago, the second issue of the new Black Widow series continues the exploration of Natasha Romanov in her dangerous and often deadly personal crusade for atonement.  Writer Nathan Edmondson and artist Phil Noto keep peeling back layers, ever so slowly, to one of Marvel's finest espionage characters and make her more intriguing by the issue.

In "Shanghaied," Edmondson opens with a bang -- or rather, a car crash -- that immediately puts Natasha at the wrong end of a gun and hooks the reader in the process.  It turns out to be an effective tease, as we quickly jump back fourteen hours, feeling like we're watching an episode of the ABC TV series Alias.  We learn that she's been hired by an old acquaintance named Mr. Lin to find his kindapped son that, of course, results in an encounter with a new adversary named the Iron Scorpion.

Meanwhile, the mystery of Natasha's lawyer/manager/central supporting character Isaiah Ross deepens, with an office meeting involving a man called Aames, a representative seeking restitution for his client's "significant loss of property."  Apparently more than just an empty suit, Isaiah takes it upon himself to find out more, discovering a plan to blackmail Black Widow and also kill Isaiah in order to encourage Natasha to pay up.  To our surprise, Isaiah's response to this isn't simply warning his superspy employer, but instead taking upon himself to shoot Aames and his two cohorts dead inside their limousine.  Obviously, there's more to Isaiah than meets the eye and he's definitely of interest in the future.

And once again, Noto produces some exquisite artwork filled with bold coloring and exciting action sequences.  He gives Natasha's red hair considerable emphasis, with the color popping off the page against her dark bodysuit and more subdued backgrounds.  It makes sense, immediately drawing your eye to the character and giving his take its own distinctive style.  This is, quite simply, one of the most gorgeous and cinematic books Marvel's currently producing.

All in all, if you're not already sold on this newest run of  Black Widow, I highly recommend jumping on board now instead of waiting for the trade.  Like Hawkeye, this could turn out to be an unexpected hit, one that builds through positive word-of-mouth over the next few months, then has slackers and latecomers scrambling to track down early issues.

DAMN Good Comics -- THE SANDMAN: OVERTURE #1

It's been far too long of a time, but welcome back to The Dreaming.

Neil Gaiman's 75-issue masterpiece The Sandman came to a close in 1996, leaving fans heartbroken but thoroughly satisified with the conclusion.  The dark fantasy series had brought critical acclaim to the world of comics, with The Sandman #19, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," earning the World Fantasy Award in 1991 for Best Short Fiction.  In 1993, the series became the flagship title for DC Comics' new VERTIGO imprint became a cult success that attracted a strong young female readership, many of whom never read comics before.

Gaiman returned to the world of The Sandman twice, once in 1999 with a novella called The Sandman: The Dream Hunters that was illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano and later adapted for comics by P. Craig Russell.  In 2003, Gaiman wrote a graphic novel, The Sandman: Endless Nights, that was broken up into seven chapters, one for each of the Endless with a different artist per chapter.  As great as these projects were, they weren't proper Sandman.  Not really.

But now, at long last, we have a new six-issue Sandman story titled Overture, which essentially serves as the prequel Before Sandman.  Some things are different, such as the cover price being two dollars more, with a glossy cover stock and a four-page foldout supposedly justifying the additional expense.  The truly important things remain, however, with Dave McKean providing one choice of covers, Todd Klein lettering the characters as only he can, and even Karen Berger's name listed as co-editor.

Gaiman finally reveals the tale of what happened before Dream, the Lord of Dreams, was captured in an occult ritual and held prisoner for seventy years as shown in the pages of Sandman #1.  In "Chapter One," longtime fans are reunited with old friends such as Dream's older siblings Destiny and Death, his support staff Lucien and Merv Pumpkinhead, and even his deadliest creation, The Corinthian.  Oh, and if that isn't enough, one of the Endless dies on page five, setting off a rather troublesome mystery.

And per Sandman tradition, there's a different artist for this new story arc.  J.H. Williams III, best known for his work on Batwoman and Promethea, feels like the perfect choice of a modern artist reintroducing The Sandman for a 2013 audience.  Williams is at the top of his game right now, with swirling, stylish layouts and innovative panel design.  One sequence has panel borders progressively catching fire, another has them arranged one panel per tooth within a mouth (or is that an eye?), and still another as pages within a book within the actual comic.

The true price for all this, of course, is that the limited series is bimonthly, meaning we have to endure two whole months before finding out what happens next.  But compared to the past seventeen years, two months should feel like tomorrow.

DAMN Good Comics -- VELVET #1

The name is Templeton, Velvet Templeton.

For any comics fans living in a cave without wi-fi for the better part of the last decade, writer Ed Brubaker and artist Steve Epting arguably crafted the definitive Captain America run from 2004 to 2012, breathing new life into the Marvel superhero with a healthy amount of espionage style twists and adventures.  And now, Brubaker and Epting have reunited for Velvet, a new espionage series from Image Comics that looks to be even better.

The first issue, "Before the Living End," opens in 1973 Paris with Jefferson Keller, a British secret agent for ARC-7, which according to the cover, stands for Allied Reconnaissance Commission 7.  Keller, codenamed X-14 (possibly because he's twice the agent OO7 is), resembles your typical dark-haired superspy in a tuxedo that looks and acts every bit of James Bond.  One problem, though -- He's assassinated within the first four pages.

Surprise, the series' central protagonist isn't Keller after all, but Velvet Templeton, the personal secretary to ARC-7's Lieutenant Director.  Velvet is no mere secretary along the lines of Miss Moneypenny, however, but a more than capable agent who was able to have affairs with a number of X-operatives without any of them being aware of the others.  And since Keller was one of those affairs, she takes it upon herself to investigate his death, starting us off on what promises to be an engaging tale of shadows and secrets.

Ever since the nineties on Marvel's The Avengers, Epting has steadily grown as an artist.  His work has evolved so much over the years, from DC's Aquaman to Crux and El Cazador for CrossGen, and eventually onto Captain America, Fantastic Four and New Avengers for Marvel.  Together with his Captain America colorist Elizabeth "Bettie" Breitweiser, Epting gives Velvet the perfect look and tone to complement Brubaker's vision.

And with the series' 1973 setting (think Live and Let Die, which was released in the same year), Velvet is able to avoid the traditional early Cold War stereotypes without getting sucked into modern technological intel storytelling.  As long as Brubaker and Epting maintain the level of intensity, and there's no reason why they shoudn't, this looks to become a spectacular series.  As of fan of comics and spy fiction, Velvet is the espionage series I've been wanting to read for years.

DAMN Good Comics -- LAZARUS #1

Family above all.

That's the tagline provided in the back matter section of Lazarus #1, a new Image Comics series from writer Greg Rucka and artist Michael Lark.  Set in an oh-so-trendy dystopia of powerful Families, Lazarus is the story of Forever Carlyle, a young woman skilled in the arts of combat and weaponry that happens to be able to resurrect herself in the inconvenient event that she's killed.  Like Lazarus, get it?

This first issue opens with a demonstration of said resurrection ability as Forever is shot three times and left for dead, only to rise a minute or two later and swiftly kill all three of her attackers.  As Forever relays the details of what happened to her doctor James, we get our first glimpse inside her head with hints that she isn't entirely satisfied being her Family's protector against people who are only looking for something to eat.

Rucka reinforces this initial drama of "problematic questions" by having James share his concern with Forever's brother Jonah.  It seems Jonah and James know far more than they're telling Forever, to the point where James is giving her stronger doses of oxycontin to keep her from "getting ideas."  A later scene underscores the series' dark tone, as Forever hesitantly executes an old man taking the rap for someone who provided access to the attackers.

As for the art, it's wonderful to see Rucka reunited with his Gotham Central creative partner Michael Lark once again.  The two mesh so well, with Lark's gritty realism enhancing everything Rucka is attempting to deliver to the readers.  He doesn't skimp on the brutality or violence, but it's never gratuitous and only adds to the overall storytelling.  The only problem area seems to be Lark's lettering, which often uses narrow word balloons that make the dialogue stilted, and confusing caption boxes that aren't distinct enough to differentiate between characters.  Hopefully these minor issues will be addressed before too long.

All in all, a promising introduction to the world of Forever Carlyle.  It's only a matter of time, of course, before Forever is able to resist what's being done to her and uncover what her Family is really doing.  However, comics like these are more about the ride than the destination and already there are plenty of unanswered questions to keep you coming back month after month.

DAMN Good Comics -- EAST OF WEST #2

Boy, nothing says Apocalypse like American Presidential politics.

The second issue of writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Nick Dragotta's sci-fi Western saga continues our introduction to life in 2064 America.  We pick up the pieces from last issue's brutal murder of the President with three of the Four Horsemen interviewing his replacement.  It seems belief in the power of The Message is pretty important to them and one by one, the Horsemen work their way through the line of succession before finally settling on a new President they can use.

(Of course, they probably should've done some homework first and realized their new handpicked President has the feminized name of Anton LaVey.  You know, that wacky author of The Satanic Bible and founder of the Church of Satan?)

In addition to East of West, Hickman is producing an insane amount of work right now -- Two issues per month of Avengers, plus issues of New Avengers, The Manhattan Projects and the upcoming Infinity event.  All of those titles have big ideas and East of West is certainly no different.  It's quickly becoming a series you could easily see developed for television, preferably on HBO or Showtime, and unique enough that people aren't going to shrug it off as another Firefly or even Syfy's current series Defiance.

Nick Dragotta, meanwhile, is proving to be the perfect choice as creative partner.  Together with colorist Frank Martin, Dragotta is cutting loose with bold, stylish designs that blow his previous work with Hickman on Marvel's first FF series right out of the water.  Regardless of his art style that partially resembles animation, Dragotta brings tons of mood and gravitas to every scene.

We're introduced to several more major players this issue, with the closing exchange between Death and Andrew Archibald Chamberlain, Chief of Staff of the Black Towers, the seat of power for The Confederacy.  Chamberlain drops a cliffhanger bombshell on Death straight out of Kill Bill Vol. 1, one that practically dares the reader to not come back next month to find out what happens next.  East of West is one of the most promising new series of 2013, so if you're in the mood for a fun and fascinating ride, hurry up and jump on board now.

DAMN Good Comics -- HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #1

Once upon a time in the eighties, kids known as Generation X came home from school and watched a crudely animated syndicated TV series called He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, based on the popular toy line by Mattel.  For half an hour, they were transported to the fictional fantasy realm of Eternia to see the adventures of Prince Adam and his allies Battle Cat, The Sorceress, Teela, Man-At-Arms and Orko.  The series lasted only two seasons, but featured a total of 130 episodes, and launched a spinoff series, She-Ra: Princess of Power, centered around Adam's sister Adora.

Well, there's nothing that now-fortysomething Generation X loves more these days than reliving childhood nostalgia, so it's no surprise to see He-Man and the Masters of the Universe making a comeback in comic book form.  After an initial six-issue limited series last year, He-Man finally returns in a new monthly ongoing format by writer Keith Giffen and artist Pop Mhan.

In this first issue, "Desperate Times," we return to Eternia for the funeral of The Sorceress, who was killed and beheaded by Skeletor in the previous limited series.  Teela, who has recently learned The Sorceress was her mother, apparently copes with the news by giving herself a drastic hairstyle change from blond to traditional animated series red.  She also learns that she was named after The Sorceress' real name, Teela Na, which doesn't exactly sit too well either.  Meanwhile, Despara has arrived with a Horde invasion force and launches an attack on Eternos that culminates in a surprising revelation for He-Man and Teela.

The script by Giffen is well-paced, as you would expect from him, with plenty of action balanced with the right amount of lighthearted humor.  He has a solid enough grasp on the characters without writing them too rigidly and wisely focuses most of the first issue on Teela and Despara, who have more interesting storylines right now than their male counterparts.  It was also nice to see Skeletor put on the backburner for a while in favor of the less obvious Hordak.  My only minor concern is that for a first issue, some parts aren't friendly to new readers and may require picking up the previous limited series to bring them quickly up to speed.

As for the art, Pop Mhan produces some excellent work here.  I first started noticing Mhan on the SpyBoy series for Dark Horse and The Flash for DC Comics and it amazes me how much he's grown as an artist since then.  His depictions of Eternos are big and lavish as you would want them to be, and they look even better with the solid color work by Kathryn Layno.

All in all, a very promising return for the Masters of the Universe characters.  With this new monthly format, Giffen and Mhan have the power -- Yeah, I went there -- to craft a great fantasy series and I can't wait to see what happens next.

DAMN Good Comics -- BATMAN AND ROBIN #18

Comic book deaths, especially ones involving superheroes, rarely get the treatment they deserve.  They're often reduced to little more than cheap shock value or quickly brushed aside in order to move on to the newest status quo.

When Damian Wayne, son of the Batman and the latest to serve as his partner Robin, was abruptly killed off two weeks ago in the pages of Batman Incorporated (vol.2) #8, there wasn't much of an emotional impact.  One minute, Damian is there and the next, he's killed off by his overgrown genetic clone. 

Hunh.  Okay.  Oh, and thanks for spoiling it in advance for everyone, New York Post.

So in a series of follow-up stories known as "Requiem," it's up to the other Batman titles to show how Damian's death has affected the Batman Family.  The best of those released this week is easily Batman and Robin, appropriately enough, considering the series regularly featured Damian more than Batman himself.

In an entire issue without dialogue, writer Peter J. Tomasi constructs a powerful story titled "Undone" that is just filled with sadness, grief and raw emotion.  Bruce sits with Damian's dog Titus inside Damian's room and discovers small pieces of his son's life that were left behind.  Faithful friend and butler Alfred Pennyworth grieves privately over an unfinished painting of the Wayne family.  And after donning his Batman uniform, Bruce is reminded over and over of the time he spent with his son fighting crime.  This quickly becomes too much for Bruce to bear, causing him to lash out in a completely unexpected manner that reveals how deeply this latest death is affecting him.

With a silent issue, the heavy lifting naturally falls to penciller Patrick Gleason, inker Mick Gray and colorist John Kalisz.  To say their work here is effective would be a tremendous understatement, because this story wouldn't have nearly the same weight without such a talented artistic team.  Gleason's style is very clean and refined, even a bit animated at times, but his heavy use of shadows and silhouettes help to make each heartbreaking sequence feel like a solid punch to the gut.

All of this results in the strongest issue of Tomasi and Gleason's Batman and Robin run and "Undone" will probably find its way into several Greatest Batman Stories Ever lists and collections many years from now.  If you're a Batman fan, or just find stories of loss and grief compelling, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up.

DAMN Good Comics -- AVENGERS #6

It's taken a little while, but The Avengers finally feels like Jonathan Hickman's Avengers.

I've made no secret of my love for Hickman's truly fantastic Fantastic Four run, so needless to say, I was elated to learn that he was taking over Avengers and New Avengers for their Marvel NOW! relaunches.  He seems to have a solid grasp of epic, cosmic storylines that few comics writers are willing to tackle these days, so it's a delight to see him playing with various corners of the Marvel Universe.

Or should that be Marvel Universes?

In this issue's story, "Zen and the Art of Cosmology," Hickman finishes up the last of three spotlight tales of his brand-new Avengers, this time focusing on Tamara Devoux, the new Captain Universe.  I've never been a fan of the character much, probably due to the ever-changing host bodies for the Uni-Power force, but here there's an opportunity to make Captain Universe a character with actual depth underneath a spiffy blue and white costume.  Shang-Chi, the contemplative Master of Kung Fu, is a perfect choice to sit down with Captain Universe and slowly explore who this new "broken" host is and what her presence brings to the Avengers.

And to break up pages of Shang-Chi and Tamara peeling back memory after memory, Hickman lightens things up with a fun exchange between Spider-Man, currently possessed by the mind of Doctor Octopus, and former New Mutants Sunspot and Cannonball.  By incorporating continuity featured in the pages of The Superior Spider-Man, Hickman creates some early conflict between some of his Avengers and reminds us that holy crap, Doc Ock/SpOck has infiltrated the team and nobody's noticed that he's suddenly acting like a complete tool these days. 

Artist Adam Kubert finishes up his three-issue arc with style, balancing images of cosmic scale with the one-on-one exchange between Shang-Chi and Tamara.  He skimps a little bit on backgrounds, preferring a lot of facial close-ups, but some outstanding coloring from Frank Martin makes Captain Universe visually fascinating. 

All of this builds to major revelations that a mysterious alien visitor "Blackveil" is actually a new incarnation of Nightmask and The White Event that created Marvel's New Universe is rapidly approaching Earth.  And finally, Hickman provides the Builder Machine Code that's been frustrating us for the past few issues so we can decode everything that desperately needed subtitles.  Yes, there's a lot going on here and incredibly, we're just six issues in.  I don't know about you, but I can't wait to find out what happens next.

DAMN Good Comics -- GREEN ARROW #17

At last, an issue of Green Arrow that doesn't curl up in embarrassment when compared to the Arrow television series.

When DC Comics debuted their rebooted DC Universe "The New 52" almost a year and a half ago, many fans of Green Arrow hoped the new series with a younger Oliver Queen would finally get the character back on track with fresh, engaging stories and artwork.  Unfortunately, writers J.T. Krul, Keith Giffen and Ann Nocenti, and artists Dan Jurgens, Harvey Tolibao and Freddie Williams seemed at a loss about how to make that happen.  The revolving door of creators and poor editorial direction combined for some of the most impenetrable Green Arrow comics in recent memory.

And then, almost mercifully, along came the TV series Arrow to remind everyone about how interesting Green Arrow could actually be when handled well.  Classic runs like the Mike Grell era and Green Arrow: Year One by Andy Diggle and Jock were major influences over the look and tone of the television adaptation and the supplemental Arrow digital comic series.

So it's welcome to see that DC woke up, smelled the (damn good) coffee, and made the Green Arrow comic series more like Arrow.  They turned to Jeff Lemire, who has had considerable success with Animal Man and taking over Justice League Dark to rescue Green Arrow from the downward creativity and sales spirals.  In his first issue, "The Kill Machine, Part 1," Lemire strips away pretty much everything from the previous sixteen issues.  Bland supporting characters Emerson, Jax and Naomi are swiftly taken off the board, Queen Industries is bought out without Oliver's knowledge, and Oliver is being hunted by a rival archer named Komodo.  Oh, and a mysterious figure with no eyes named The Magus shows up with ominous hints that there was more to Oliver's marooning on an island than he realizes.  That's more like it.

There's a major upgrade artwise as well, with Andrea Sorrentino producing some excellent work.  His moody style resembles a cross between Jock and David Aja, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at.  Also, his deliberate panel layouts draw the reader's eyes exactly where he wants them to go, with rectangular box outlines focusing on specific elements of action sequences.

All in all, Green Arrow #17 is essentially another Green Arrow #1 and that's a good thing.  As long as Lemire and Sorrentino continue to deliver and positive word-of-mouth spreads, this series should claw its way back from almost certain doom.  If you're a longtime Green Arrow fan that gave up hoping for something better, or an Arrow fan hungry for more, do yourself a favor and jump on board now.

DAMN Good Comics -- YOUNG AVENGERS #1

At last, a Marvel NOW! title that actually feels like Marvel...now.

This first issue by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie may be titled "Style > Substance," but proves you can have both style and substance.  As a book featuring the next generation of Avengers, you expect it to have a younger, looser feel and so far, it certainly does.  It's a fun and promising series with character moments that remind me of the glory days of Wolfman and Pérez's The New Teen Titans or Levitz and Giffen's Legion of Super-Heroes.

Gillen isn't very big on backstory here, choosing instead to dive right in and let the readers fill in the blanks as they go along.  Hawkeye's protégé/future replacement Kate Bishop is now sleeping with the alien Noh-Varr, the former Marvel Boy and The Protector.  Hulkling tells his boyfriend Wiccan that he's tired of living "in the phone booth" and wants to return to being a superhero.  The new latina Miss America is gunning for Kid Loki, informing the young Asgardian, "You've got a head you don't need."

The dialogue is sharp and fresh, without trying to be overly hipster, complemented by McKelvie's clean artwork and some solid coloring by Matthew Wilson.  McKelvie's style (which, yes, also has substance) suits the book's tone nicely, with visually interesting panels and a slightly animated look that adds to the characters' youth.  The spread on pages four and five is particularly innovative, working what could otherwise be a house ad showcasing the series' premise into the story.

Since this issue is really just a prologue of what's to come, it remains to be seen how all six of these characters will play off one another after they're brought together.  If you're one of those comics fans frustrated by how Teen Titans and Legion have forgotten what it means to be young and relatable, or miss books like New Mutants and New Warriors even though you're not sure why, you may want to consider checking out Young Avengers.  As this first issue says, after all, everyone should try it.

DAMN Good Comics -- BATMAN #13

He's baaa-aaaaack...

One year after having his face removed in the relaunched Detective Comics #1, Batman's arch-nemesis The Joker has returned to Gotham City.  And he hasn't been this menacing -- or this entertaining to Batman readers -- in a long, long time.

If the opening chapter of this latest event storyline, "Death of the Family," is any indication, this promises to be one hell of a ride from writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo.  The regular creative team has produced some terrific Batman tales since the New 52 relaunch and if the rest of this storyline pays off, their status as one of the all-time greatest Batman storytelling pairs should be assured.

The Joker returns in "Knock Knock," seemingly out of the blue from wherever he's been hiding all this time, and promptly and methodically creates an incredible body count inside Gotham City police headquarters.  Snyder's take on the Joker is instantly recognizable, with his dialogue written in such a way that you find yourself imagining the late Heath Ledger voicing the character's lines from beyond the grave.  The Joker verbally tortures Commissioner James Gordon from the shadows, snapping the necks of police officers one by one and hinting that he's hidden underneath Gordon's bed while he sleeps.  Creepy, creepy stuff.

In a particularly welcome nod to the past, Snyder murders John Claridge, son of diamond magnate Henry Claridge, who was the first person the Joker ever murdered in Gotham.  As diehard Batfans know, Henry Claridge was indeed the first person killed by the Joker all the way back in the first Batman #1 in 1940.  The original version by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson had the Joker breaking into radio programs to announce that he would kill Claridge at midnight and steal the Claridge Diamond.  Now, Snyder naturally updates the radio announcement for television, but it's reassuring that the very first Joker story still counts in current New 52 continuity.

Capullo excels at bringing Snyder's script to life.  He makes effective use of shadows, as always, but captures the necessary moods perfectly.  There's a genuine sense of horror and dread in these pages, culminating in a cliffhanger where the Joker finally emerges into full view.  Some absolutely fantastic storytelling here.

Even the title's regular backup feature is strong, with Snyder reuniting with his Detective Comics partner Jock along with co-writer James Tynion IV.  In "Tease," we learn what happened when the Joker and Harley Quinn reunited before the events depicted in the main feature.  It's an especially brutal short story and one that defines Harley's relationship -- such as it is -- with this latest version of her Mister J.

All in all, a very impressive opening to "Death of the Family."  This latest event will be weaving through the Batman-related titles for the next three months, so let's hope the rest of this storyline proves to be just as epic.

DAMN Good Comics -- STAR TREK: TNG/DOCTOR WHO #4

Okay, now we have ourselves a crossover.

After a few issues of introducing Doctor Who to Star Trek: The Next Generation fans and vice versa (as if there aren't plenty of us who follow both already), the central plot to "Assimilation²" is finally engaged.  The Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond and her husband Rory Williams are, at last, working with Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D to stop the combined universal threat of The Cybermen and their illegitimate Star Trek offspring, The Borg.

Don't worry, there are still a number of indulgent moments for fans of both series to enjoy, starting with the ever-mysterious Doctor meeting the ever-mysterious Guinan in Ten Forward.  It's here that we get full confirmation that the worlds of Doctor Who and Next Gen exist in two separate universes, with Guinan telling the Doctor "You don't belong here.  You shouldn't even be here."  You know, with the same timey-wimey tone she used in the Next Gen classic "Yesterday's Enterprise."  A few pages later, we get the long-awaited scene of the Doctor, Amy and Rory beaming down to a planet using the Enterprise's transporter.  The Doctor remarks the experience is "Marvelous," without even a hint of a "Geronimo!" or even a cheeky nod to Whovians about transmats.

Thankfully, writers Scott Tipton, David Tipton and Tony Lee keep all the characters' voices consistent with their television depictions, apart from the Doctor calling Amy "Pond" a bit too frequently.  The issue's art, however, is more uneven.  Longtime Star Trek comic artist Gordon Purcell pencils this chapter with J.K. Woodward coloring to match the look with the previous three issues.  The resulting product ends up with panels where photo references are obvious and don't quite work with the panels drawn without them in order to convey the story.  It's not a dealbreaker though, thanks to the central plot moving forward and an interesting but not entirely unexpected twist involving the Cybermen's partnership with the Borg.

With four more issues to go, we still need to find out how the Cybermen managed to intermingle the two fictional universes and what their plans for the Borg are.  The cliffhanger with Captain Picard, the former Locutus of Borg, has him going all Team Cybermen and I'm guessing it's going to take more than a hot cup of Earl Grey to settle him down.

DAMN Good Comics -- HAWKEYE #1

No, no way.  I'm not going to say this book was "on target" or "hit the bullseye" or some other lame archery-related pun.  You can't make me.

What I will say is that after several attempts over the years to produce a Hawkeye series actually worth your valuable time and money, Marvel finally got it right.  The first issue of this post-Avengers movie take on the character features Clint Barton in costume for only two pages, while the rest focuses on what happens all-too-rarely in Hawkeye comics, namely giving Clint a substantive personality.

In "Lucky," writer Matt Fraction reminds us what we loved so much about his run on Immortal Iron Fist and the first few years of Invincible Iron Man.  Once again, we have a classic Marvel hero somewhat down on his luck, with the entire universe seemingly stacked against him, but still forging ahead to Do The Right Thing.  Clint is seriously injured as Hawkeye early on, during some unexplained skirmish, and as soon as he leaves the hospital six weeks later, he's mixed up with Russian "tracksuit mafia" goons threatening to evict his neighbors from their building.

So essentially, Clint is the one looking out for the little guys who can't stand up for themselves, just not in the traditional Robin Hood way that his DC Comics counterpart Green Arrow tends to favor.  No, Clint's way is to try to make the Tracksuit Mafia problem go away with money and when that fails, only then does he step up and physically resolve the issue.  However, a dog that befriends Clint over a slice of pizza also ends up seriously injured in the process, making Clint extremely sympathetic as he becomes determined to save the dog's life.

Reuniting with Fraction is his Immortal Iron Fist artist David Aja, who alters his traditional style somewhat with thicker lines.  The resulting effect resembles David Mazzucchelli's work in Batman: Year One, with colorist Matt Hollingsworth reinforcing this style using a very similar color palette.  That's definitely not a bad thing, mind you, because it complements this gritty New York in August setting nicely.

Longtime Hawkeye fans should absolutely love that the character finally has a series that looks sustainable for the long term.  If this first issue is any indication, Fraction has done some considerable thinking about how he wants to handle Hawkeye and it's going to be highly entertaining to see where he and Aja take the series from here.

DAMN Good Comics -- BATMAN #10

At long last, ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a Big Bad.

The penultimate issue of the year-long Court of Owls storyline, titled "Assault on the Court," brings some much-desired answers to all the death, destruction and despair surrounding Batman and Gotham City since "The New 52" began.  Month after month, writer Scott Snyder has steadily built up one of the most epic Batman storylines in several years, pushing the Dark Knight to his limits and beyond.

Interestingly, the more Batman begins to piece together the true mastermind behind the Court of Owls, the more questions he ends up having.  Ultimately, his quest takes him to The Willowwood Home for Children, a former hospital for children suffering from mental illness and neurological disorders.  After being partially consumed by a sinkhole eighteen years ago, Willowwood is now dark and abandoned, a perfect place for Batman's nemesis to finally reveal himself.

Secrets are exposed as we learn that a man calling himself Thomas Wayne, Jr., Bruce's "brother that never was, from the other side of the mirror," is the one behind the Court of Owls.  Thomas claims that he was "born early, born hurt" after Bruce's mother Martha was in an accident while pregnant and he was hidden away at Willowwood until he healed.  However, this only brings up more questions -- Is Thomas really Bruce's brother or is he just delusional?  Or is Thomas really the villain Owlman from a parallel Earth?  We still have one more issue to go in this storyline, but it seems the classic issue World's Finest Comics #223 was a major source of inspiration for Thomas.

Artist Greg Capullo produces another stellar issue here, using shadows and lighting to superb effect in terms of mood.  His Batman continues to become more imposing with each issue, while the amount of detail he puts into backgrounds only enhances the creepiness of Snyder's script.  Rafael Albuquerque doesn't far as well in the backup story "The Fall of the House of Wayne, Part 2," but still conveys the appropriate tone to carry the additional background effectively.

So next issue is the conclusion to this incredible saga, Batman vs. Owlman, owl to bat.  Can't wait.