Comic World News | Pull List

April 22, 2008:
CWN and the Grand Finale! -

February 4, 2008:
In Conclusion - David ends his CWN run with Tezuka's MW from Vertical

February 2, 2008:
Acting Like You Have Nothing to Prove -

February 2, 2008:
The Shoegazer Returns - A New Year Begins, And Our Narrator Makes A Pledge

January 30, 2008:
Tim's Reviews -

September 13, 2007:
Wizard World Chicago Loot, Part One - Stykman, Empty Chamber, the Ztarian Saga, and yes, Little Bunny Foo Foo

February 15, 2007:
I Come Not to Bury Nick Cage... - But to mourn the death of my punchline

November 20, 2006:
The End - Rich's last Chicks & Romance

November 8, 2006:
Joann Sfar's Klezmer - And a Front Racks Hiatus

October 4, 2006:
This Month's Guest: Dave Gibbons - From the pages of Elephantmen!

September 18, 2006:
Back in Berlin - or How I spent my summer

July 29, 2006:
KICKING UP A STORM - An interview with David Lloyd

June 19, 2006:
You Ain't Never Had A Friend Like Me. - Graeme looks at Spidey's "genies"

December 18, 2005:
Disappointed - Sad news for fans of Busiek's CONAN, Stephen King, and others

December 13, 2004:
JUSTICE UNPLUGGED 2 at last !!! - By Fabrice Sapolsky & Xavier Fournier

December 2, 2004:
THE TWELFTH AND FINAL STEP - Say it ain't so, Dan.

November 23, 2004:
The importance of editing -

September 29, 2004:
Mystery and Conundrum indeed! - Where in the world is Jason Pomerantz?

September 13, 2004:
Hello and Goodbye and Hello Again - Change is in the air at CWN and it smells sweet.

August 12, 2004:
The Rise of the Web Toon - New Business Model or Dumb Luck?

July 30, 2004:
The Name Says it All... - Spin Doctors revamp Boomerang.

July 27, 2004:
Bigger Isn't Always Better -

June 8, 2004:
Pre-emptive Strike: MoCCA Arts Festival - Looking forward to the con, rather than looking back at it

The Layer Method
Our top Secret time-saving technique for creating and merging balloons and tails in Illustrator.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Manhunter

Michael finally checks out the adventures of Kate Spencer and falls in love

Manhunter #25-30 (DC)
Written by Marc Andreyko; Illustrated by Javier Pina

I wish I could say, �Why hasn�t anyone told me how cool Manhunter is,� but let�s face it: everyone�s been telling me that. I was starting to feel guilty for not being interested in a comic about a supervillain defense attorney by day; costumed vigilante by night. Just not guilty enough to try it.

The problem is that all the positive reviews I was reading were of the �This is cool! Why aren�t you reading it?� variety, and those aren�t any more helpful in influencing my purchases than �This comic sucks!� I need to know why I should or shouldn�t try a book. The only reason I ever picked this story arc up was because I read somewhere that this is how Wonder Woman ought to be written. And not getting enough of that in her own title lately, I thought I�d look for it in Andreyko�s.

The main thing I loved about these issues is that there�s so much going on. Remember the old days when you�d have an �A Plot� carrying the issue and then a �B Plot� kind of sneaking in here and there just waiting for the �A� to resolve so it could take over? You don�t see that much anymore. These days it�s mostly all �A Plot.� I thought I missed those days until I saw Andreyko work an �A,� �B,� and �C� all at once with �B� and �C� fighting for dominance not with each other, but with �A.�

I�ve heard folks praise Manhunter�s supporting cast and the reason isn�t just that they�re well-developed as characters; it�s that they�re given so much to do. While Kate Spencer (Manhunter) tries to figure out how to get Wonder Woman through grand jury proceedings without being indicted for killing Maxwell Lord, Cameron Chase (from the old Chase series) is haunted by an old enemy who�s out to get at her through her sister, and Mark Shaw (a previous Manhunter) is being approached by the Order of Saint Dumas to be the new Azrael. Any one of those would be worthy of its own story arc, but Andreyko weaves them together to make �Unleashed� three times as exciting as it otherwise would�ve been. And oh yeah, just as he�s wrapping up the �B Plot,� he sneaks in a �D Plot� to get you interested in coming back when Manhunter resumes.

But the whole cast is well-developed as characters too. Kate is a completely believable single mom with a great support network of friends helping her to raise her charming little boy. I�ve read enough comics to know that when writing kids there�s a thin, faint line between charming and annoying, but Andreyko stays way far away from the annoying side with Ramsey.

And her friends are all people you�d actually like to hang out with if they weren�t fictional. None of them are caricatures or supporting cast stereotypes. They�re real people, from uptight Chase and her sleazy, but loyal boyfriend Dylan (who, incidentally, has a secret past) to the first depiction I�ve ever seen of a gay couple in a superhero comic that didn�t read like a publicity stunt.

And yes, it�s true. Wonder Woman is also done correctly. This isn�t the kind of woman who doesn�t know how to pump gas or use a credit card. On the contrary, she knows what WNBA stands for well enough that when being asked about it she explains that she prefers soccer. Let�s see Jodi Picoult�s Wonder Woman do that.

So, I�m convinced. I�ve got to find the first 24 issues now, but that�s going to be a joy. And you can bet I�ll be around for the rest of them as long as Andreyko�s writing.