Four Color Commentary - Books Shipped 8-02-06

Agents of Atlas #1 (of 6)
Jeff Parker, Writer
Leonard Kirk, Penciller
Kris Justice, Inker

Oh if only this were a period piece rather than a reassembling the team piece. Of course that is my only complaint about the book, so things are looking good from the get go with this series. Of course how could they not? The book involves a talking gorilla, a robot, S.H.E.I.L.D., and a villain with a racially pejorative name. What’s not to like? I do not know if I have read anything else by Jeff Parker (and I suppose I am going to have to get ComicBase and get the collection in there at some point so I can stop saying that) however I really enjoy his style. In this issue he manages to give us a background on all the main characters without having it feel too much like a speech from Basil Exposition. I also really enjoyed Leonard Kirk’s art even though sometimes it seems like the mouths are an afterthought on the figures. All in all this was a very strong debut for the series and I am looking forward to more.


Battler Britton #2 (of 6)
Garth Ennis, Writer
Colin Wilson, Artist

I think it has become apparent through my posts that I likes me some WWII action therefore it is natural to assume I would like this book. You would be right. Despite my occasional misgivings about Garth Ennis, he is always a damn fine read when he is writing war comics. I have to admit that I do not understand the cliché used in the first issue where the Americans and British have to fight each other before they can get down to brass tacks and kick some Nazi ass but I clearly did not let that deter me from buying this issue. This issue really worked for me in no small part due to Colin Wilson’s art. As I am something of a warbird aficionado it really bugs me when artists are too lazy to properly draw a specific plane. I am not talking about artistic license here, either, too often we end up with C-47s which look like a sad cross between a modern jetliner and a cigar or we end up with a fighter which is ½ Spitfire, ½ Mustang, and ½ Warhawk, and this is at least ½ too much fighter for my tastes. Wilson does not fall into this and all of his planes stay true to form, even the rather ungainly Beaufighter. From Ennis’ script to Wilson’s artwork this was 22 pages of pure joy for me and I am hoping for more of the same from the rest of the series.


The Leading Man #2
B. Clay Moore, Writer
Jeremy Haun, Artist

I am still not certain what I think of this series. The central conceit, a movie star who is also an elite government agent, actually works fairly well here, even though I think it might work better as a period piece set in the Swingin’ ‘60’s. Of course that would invite comparisons to the Austin Powers debacle so perhaps it is best that Moore did not go there. I am really digging Jeremy Haun’s art here in this series although the coloring makes me think of anime cel-shading, kind of what Dreamwave was doing with their Dark Minds series. I am in for at least the next issue, however since there are only a total of three more issues I will probably end up getting all of them.


Mouse Guard #4
David Petersen, Writer & Artist

I swear I am not a furry. This is an important distinction to make here as my two favorite books this week are about anthropomorphic characters with swords. I don’t really know what to say about this book and it is pretty late at night. There are mice. They have swords and spears. They’re building up to a massive fight between mice. I imagine this is what the best of the Redwall novels would read like were I to actually read them. If you’re not checking out this series I would definitely pick it up once the trade come out. Regardless of whether you’re in it for the art or the story, you will not be disappointed.


Usagi Yojimbo #95
Stan Sakai, Writer & Artist

Let me just say that if you are not reading this comic then you need to have your head examined. This book is one of the most consistently great comics in the LCS these days and deserves as wide an audience as possible. As someone once said, if there were any justice in the world this book would be selling 250,000 copies a month. Now in this issue we do not ever actually get to see the title character, which is something that would normally have me decrying the state of modern comics storytelling and castigating the author as a no good hack who felt the need to cram as many guest appearances in his run as possible. Not so with Mr. Sakai. This issue centers around a sword-for-hire Shizukiri. While the story is a done-in-one, and a good one at that, it also sets up the character for a confrontation with Usagi somewhere down the line, which I am eager to see.



The rest:

• 52 #13
• The usual suspects.

• The All-New Atom #2
• Gail Simone, Writer
• John Byrne, Penciller
• Trevor Scott, Inker

• B.P.R.D. – The Universal Machine #5
• Mike Mignola & John Arcudi, Writers
• Guy Davis, Artist

• The Creeper #1 (of 6)
• Steve Niles, Writer
• Justiniano, Penciller
• Walden Wong, Inker

• Detective Comics #822
• Paul Dini, Writer
• Don Kramer, Penciller
• Wayne Faucher, Inker

• Ex Machina #22
• Brian K. Vaughn, Writer
• Tony Harris, Penciller
• Tom Feister, Inker

• Moon Knight #4
• Charlie Huston, Writer
• David Finch, Penciller
• Danny Miki with Allen Martinez & Victor Olazaba, Inkers

• OMAC #2
• Bruce Jones, Writer
• Renato Guedes, Artist

• Outsiders #39
• Judd Winick, Writer
• Matthew Clark & Ron Randall, Pencillers
• Art Thibert, Inker

• Uncanny X-Men #477
• Ed Brubaker, Writer
• Clayton Henry, Penciller
• Mark Morales, Inker

Tags: Comics