KFR Comics Roundup - 10.23.06
Author: AF Duncan
October 23rd, 2006
WildCATS Volume 4 #1
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Jim Lee
$2.99
Volume 4, eh? I don’t give a crap that this book shipped late and might be bi-monthly or whatever, but it is weird how Marvel and DC keep trotting out certain characters/teams for ongoing series over and over even when it’s obvious they don’t seem to keep anybody’s interest over a long period of time. I’m just saying is all. Anyway, here we are in a month with a couple more new comics from Morrison, and that’s swell beyond belief.
As you might expect, WildCATS V4 #1 is a 100% set-up issue: moving various pieces into place, foreshadowing, firing the plot machinations, re-introducing characters, re-establishing relationships, you know the drill. There isn’t too much happening, although the issue is still lively and fascinating. At the very least, it’s exciting to see Morrison jumping into a new sandbox and enjoying himself. There’s even some of that good old patented Morrison superhero metafiction at work — check out that conversation between Spartan and Voodoo.
Jim Lee — our generation’s Kirby — does the usual. Should be a wild ride.
KFR Rating: B+
The Damned #1 (of 5)
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Brian Hurtt
$3.50
Eddie’s under a curse that prevents him from dying, so he makes his living as a hired hand and trusted advisor for a demon crime family in an unnamed Prohibition-era metropolis. But trouble’s brewing. There appears to be a war on the horizon between the demon families, and Eddie’s latest gig is leading him towards a dark secret that could spell his doom.
Bunn sometimes strays way too close to “Miller’s Crossing” in the first half of the book, but other than that one nitpick, this is a terrific first issue from two talented storytellers. Densely plotted and consistently engaging from front to back, Damned benefits tremendously from Hurtt, whose atmospheric and finely tuned pencils capture the gritty, melodramatic tension and psychological paranoia of the best noir.
KFR Rating: A-
After the jump, John Woo’s first comic and the other new Morrison book released last week.
John Woo’s 7 Brothers
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Jeevan Kang
$2.99
Virgin Comics, the newest pusher on the block, plans on publishing a couple on-going titles created by renowned film directors, and the first of these is John Woo’s revisionist superhero saga 7 Brothers.
The hard-working and consistent Ennis leads the book off with a legend about ancient global exploration by the Chinese, then goes into a sort of “Ocean’s Twelve”-with-superpowers deal. The Ennis-by-numbers dialogue lacks his usual bite, and the book could overall use more drive, but there are a few compelling mysteries waiting to be uncovered. It’s probably worth noting that Ennis’s books can sometimes take a couple issues to get going.
Kang does an ok variation on the stylish painted art style Bill Sienkiewicz popularized 20 or so years ago. It’s certainly evocative in spots, but also monotonous at times.
In short, nothing exceptional, but worth a look and another issue or two.
KFR Rating: B-
The Authority Volume 4 #1
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Gene Ha
$2.99
A superhero comic whose first page includes a giant floating penis and a possible anagram promises to be strange, and one would do well to expect nothing less from the always unpredictable Morrison.
Nothing in this book is expected, which is fantastic. Not the focus on the grey, dismal home life of a deep-sea military salvage diver, or the striking, claustrophobic art from Ha, or those exceptional last three pages.
Overall a tad slight, but also compelling and even a bit creepy.
KFR Rating: B
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6 Responses to “KFR Comics Roundup - 10.23.06”
October 23rd, 2006 at 5:52 am
Grant Morrison is certainly getting around isn’t he? Haven’t read Authority yet, but I enjoyed WildCATS. “Jim Lee — our generation’s Kirby — does the usual.” — YES!
October 23rd, 2006 at 6:40 am
Morrison is incredible. Prolific AND consistent. Although the thing with him is he always reads better in large chunks.
October 23rd, 2006 at 1:30 pm
If Jim Lee is our generation’s Kirby, we’re in worse shape than I thought…
October 23rd, 2006 at 2:11 pm
Ha ha…not a Jim Lee fan, eh? Understandable. For better or worse, his influence runs deeeeep.
October 24th, 2006 at 2:49 am
If he had been compared to Neal Adams, it would have been on target. But to be the new Kirby, you’d have to create a score of great characters and series… and even the best guys these days have come up short there…
October 24th, 2006 at 5:31 am
Hmm…that’s very true. Although I’d still argue that Lee might be the closest thing we’ve got to Kirby — a lot of that in terms of being such a huge figure in superhero comics.
Clearly, Lee’s not on the same level as Kirby. Should Kirby hang in a museum? Yes. Kirby is one of the single most influential artists of the 20th century. Should Lee hang in a museum? Probably not. Nobody comes close to Kirby except maybe Miller on his best day, and nobody will match Kirby’s creative output probably ever.
But in terms of the best and most consistently stylish, dynamic, modern, over-the-top epic superhero melodrama, I would argue that Lee’s your man these days. Not to mention he’s clearly the most influential superhero artist of the last 20 years. Like Kirby, people STILL are trying to draw like him…although sometimes I wish more people would still try to draw like Neal Adams… Anyway, for better or for worse, in my opinion Lee created the look of the modern superhero comic.