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Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Dusty Star
Model Operandi, Force 51, Lone Ranger, Cross Bronx, Codename: Black Death, and others
 Model Operandi #1 (After Hours Press)
Written and Illustrated by Dennis Budd and Joe Caramagna
I was a little thrown by Model Operandi. After Budd and Caramagna’s serious exploration of celebrity and suicide in 7 Days to Fame, I wasn’t prepared for a completely light-hearted follow-up. In a press release, After Hours describes the book as appealing to “people who like the action and humor of the Alias TV show,” but that’s only about half-right. Both series feature strong, butt-kicking, female leads and both have senses of humor, but the humor is different enough that I wouldn’t recommend Model Operandi to my female friends who liked Alias.
There’s crudeness in MO’s humor that Alias didn’t have. Alias was sexy, but it didn’t have a 48 DDD homosexual heroine who just happened to be named Ann Lezbee. And it didn’t have lines like, “After college, I managed the office of Gaga, Inc. under this broad named Ellie Donaldson. Not only was she a woman, but she was a real crotch and rode my staff hard.” Alias also didn’t try sneaking things by like naming a couple of French cops Javert and Valjean.
So, no, I wouldn’t recommend Model Operandi to my friends who liked the smarter aspects of Alias. But for guy friends who don’t mind raunchy humor and are looking for an action-packed comic with lots of super-spy excitement and double-crossing: you bet I would.
I was pretty hard on that Alias quote because I was a big fan of that show, but in all fairness, the intro to the actual book describes it as “mindless fun.” If the Alias comparison went too far, “mindless fun” doesn’t give the book enough credit. Model Operandi is fun, but the plot is complex enough to keep it interesting far above the level of “ooh, boobies!” and “cool explosion!” And there are characters in the book that I would love to read more about in future volumes. And not just because they’re hot. Though they are.
 The Miscellaneous Adventures of Stykman #2 (a.k.a. Comics)
Written and Illustrated by Jonnie Allan
The first issue of Stykman was very funny, but it’s hard to tell sometimes if that’s repeatable. Chuckling out loud at the front cover to #2, I knew that wasn’t going to be a problem. The ingeniously designed, stick-figure superhero is even better this time around than he was in his first appearance. I found him charming in #1; I darn near fell in love with him in #2. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic: Stykman is the best thing to happen to crime-fighting since Jacques Clouseau.
 X Isle #2 (Boom!)
Written by Andrew Cosby and Michael A. Nelson; Illustrated by Greg Scott
I don’t know what it says, but I’m already casting the movie or TV version of X Isle in my head. It’s got Samuel L. Jackson in a non-typical role for him (unless you consider his part in that shark movie typical), the Rock, and that old guy with the gravelly voice who played the coach in Major League. I just gotta figure out which forty-ish, dark-haired guy I want for the lead and which hot, blonde actress in her twenties should play his daughter. Which is all to say that X Isle is a fast-paced, cinematic comic and I’m enjoying the heck out of it.
 Force 51 #1 (Dakuwaka)
Written by Shawn Lewis; Illustrated by Pietro
I was prepared not to like this book. From the generic title to the cliché premise of having a team of supernatural heroes fighting supernatural villains, nothing immediately makes this book stand out. The reading experience is surprising though. The premise may be standard, but the characters aren’t. Lewis populates his team with familiar concepts like vampires, superheroes, and Asian mystic warriors, but their personalities aren’t what you’d expect and make for some truly interesting group politics. Add in the fact that the story has some genuinely scary – or at least uneasy – moments and this is a book that deserves a deeper look than its surface suggests.
 Rush City #2 (DC)
Written by Chuck Dixon; Illustrated by Timothy Green II
I think Rush City is supposed to be a car ad, but I’m not sure. That’s a compliment though, because it reads like a valid story, not an ad. The main character, Rush, drives around in a Pontiac, but no one really draws attention to it. In fact, I don’t think the model is ever even mentioned.
I picked up this issue for the Black Canary appearance. It’s been a while since Dixon’s written her and I was curious to see how he’d do. Not too shabby, it turns out. Rush gives her a harder time in a fight than he deserves to, considering that Canary is supposed to be one of the DCU’s premiere martial artists now, but it’s a good fight, so I’ve forgiven him.
I need to mention Timothy Green’s art too. Even with Black Canary, I don’t know that I would’ve picked it up had the art not been excellent. Green’s got a Leinil Francis Yu thing going on that works really well for this story.
 The Lone Ranger #1 (Dynamite)
Written by Brett Matthews; Illustrated by Sergio Carriello
The Lone Ranger’s origin may not be as well known as Batman or Superman’s, but it’s not exactly a story that’s itching to be told yet again. I’m disappointed that this entire issue (and at least the next one as well) is devoted to it. I’d much rather Matthews and Carriello have just jumped right into an adventure with the Lone Ranger already masked and Tonto already his faithful companion. As it is, I’m tempted to give the series a rest until it gets going and finds a status quo.
 CSI: Dying in the Gutters #1 (IDW)
Written by Steven Grant; Illustrated by Stephen Mooney
What a great concept: the CSI cast solves a murder at a comics convention, and the victim and all the suspects are actual comics creators and editors. It’s perfectly designed to create a lot of buzz amongst folks who know the industry and has all the makings for a fun mystery, especially since the murder victim is controversial gossip columnist: Rich Johnston of “Lying in the Gutters.”
The first issue wasn’t quite what I expected though. The mini-series is obviously designed to appeal to people who know the behind-the-scenes personalities, politics, and drama of the comics industry, but all of those things are caricatures of themselves as presented in Dying in the Gutters. Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada is portrayed as a loud-mouthed, arrogant jerk who’s constantly surrounded by an entourage of beautiful women and passes out TV sets like they’re business cards. IDW Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall becomes a paranoid businessman who’s sure that Marvel is out to steal “his” artists. And Ed Brubaker sheepishly follows Quesada around; acting uncomfortable any time he’s around Greg Rucka, his former colleague at DC. It’s all very funny, and I’m sure the people on whom these parodies are based got a nice chuckle out of it, but I was hoping for a more straightforward take. As it is, the characters all seem to be acting out mystery-story archetypes.
Maybe it needs to be that way though and I have to adjust my expectations. What’s most important about this series isn’t that the characters are realistically portrayed; it’s that the mystery is good. And for that to happen, there’s got to be more drama than you’re going to find at a typical gathering of comics professionals. So, if personalities get exaggerated for the sake of the story, I’m all for it. I tend to trust Steven Grant’s storytelling sensibilities anyway. And he did come up with an interesting way to kill Johnston.
 Fell #6 (Image)
Written by Warren Ellis; Illustrated by Ben Templesmith
Whenever you hear in the news about someone doing something horrible to their children, you can’t help but wonder what was going through the person’s mind. Are they truly, incomprehensibly insane? Or is there some sort of mad logic to their actions? Ellis uses this issue to try to get his mind around that question and it works. Another brilliant issue.
Note: The cover pictured here is the cover that was originally solicited and not the one that was actually printed on the book. Apparently, Image messed up and ran the wrong one.
 The Cross Bronx #1 (Image)
Written by Michael Avon Oeming and Ivan Brandon; Illustrated by Michael Avon Oeming
The Cross Bronx drags at the beginning as we get to know the lead character, Detective Rafael Aponte, who’s investigating the mass murder of members of a street gang. He’s a troubled soul and Oeming devotes several pages to showing it and how dismal his city is. One page in particular, showing several cuts back and forth between the detective and a picture of a Catholic saint that he’s looking at, was excessive.
But as Aponte starts investigating the case and uncovers a connection to a dead hero cop and his spooky widow, things quickly get interesting. When more gang members die at the end of the book, and we see how it happens, Oeming guarantees himself another sale next month.
 Dusty Star #1 (Image)
Written by Andrew Robinson and Joe Pruett; Illustrated by Andrew Robinson
My God, Dusty Star couldn’t be a better looking book. Robinson draws horses and motorcycles and rainy streets and flying rattlesnakes all with equal skill in this Sci-Fi/Western. I’m not sure what the plot is yet, but I don’t care because Robinson’s created such an interesting world visually that I’m just happy to be transported there by his illustrations, regardless of what’s actually going on in it. Not that there’s a problem with what’s going on. There’s all the action and great dialogue you could ever hope for, plus a mystery about what Dusty’s up to and why. That’s what I mean about not being sure what the plot is. It’s obviously going somewhere; we’re just not supposed to know where that is yet. But in the meantime, fortunately, Robinson gives us exactly what we need to stay interested until we do.
Note: This isn’t the actual cover for this issue either, but it’s been… well, a very long time since it was originally solicited and it must have changed since then.
 Agents of Atlas #1-2 (Marvel)
Written by Jeff Parker; Illustrated by Leonard Kirk
My interest in Agents of Atlas was roused when I heard that it would include Marvel’s old Yellow Claw character. He’s not exactly Egg Fu, but he was created as an example of Yellow Peril and so isn’t the most PC character of all time. I was curious to see how Parker would handle him and how readers would respond. Interestingly, I’ve heard absolutely no backlash against bringing the character back. Maybe I’m not visiting the right websites.
Moving on, the first two issues are an excellent example of how to do a team comic. There’s a real reason for the team to form, even if we don’t exactly know all the details behind it yet. The characters are fascinating and – more importantly – likeable, even for someone like me who knows nothing about their Golden Age backgrounds. There are a couple of powerful (though not completely unsympathetic) enemies for them to fight and they get busy doing so right away.
The second issue explains the origin of Gorilla Man, who is now my favorite talking monkey. Sorry, Monkeyman and Detective Chimp. (Grodd and M. Mallah, you can both eat it. I never liked either of you.)
 Codename: Black Death #1 (Triumph)
Written by Steve Zinngrabe; Illustrated by El Dazo
Like Force 51, I had pretty low expectations for this book. Generic title; equally generic design to the superhero’s costume. Even the cover is a generic, crouching-on-the-rooftops pose. Thing is though, like Force 51, the characters are actually interesting and the origin story is inventive. Triumph is setting itself up to be a publisher of another shared universe of heroes and that makes me nervous for them (since that’s never actually worked long-term outside of DC and Marvel), but this initial offering is better than the average endeavor. It’s not going to woo over any readers from Spider-Man, but if you’re in the mood for a new superhero book, it’s worth a look.
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April 22, 2008:
February 4, 2008:
November 20, 2006:
A Comic-Con without the Captain
