Disclaimer: This is actually three weeks worth of books so that I can play catch up.
Tom Strong Deluxe Hardcover vol. 1: I own trade paperbacks in a variety of formats. There’s the standard trade format, digests, hardcovers, Absolute Editions (DC’s oversized slipcase collections of classics), etc. These formats range in quality from poor and flimsy (standard trades) to cumbersome and epic (Absolute Editions, but damn are they pretty) and that can make it hard to read them in a casual fashion. One format that has always stood out to me as practically perfect is the deluxe hardcover format that both Marvel and DC use for larger collections of classic works. Marvel did it with Runaways and Astonishing X-Men, for example and DC is doing it with Gotham Central and Grant Morrison’s JLA. This is why I’m glad I’ve waited so long to begin buying Tom Strong in collected editions: I just knew DC would find a great way to present the series for consumption. For those that haven’t read it, the series is Alan Moore’s take on the classic science heroes of pulp times like Doc Savage and Tom Swift with a bit of Tarzan thrown in for good measure. Moore takes these classic pulp icon tropes and updates them for the new millenium (Tom Strong’s hometown is even called Millenium City) and shows off some great art, amazing story-telling and endearing characters. Whether Tom is fighting his own rogue’s gallery of foes like the Modular Man or the Pangaen or traveling to distant worlds populated with a collection public domain superheroes from the 1940′s or having guest artists send him to the afterlife via a phantom autogyro, the series maintains a level of quality and charm throughout every chapter. Great collection of a great title.
Showcase Presents: Warlord vol. 1: Ok, I have a confession to make: I’m kinda a hypocrite with my proclamations regarding genre likes and dislikes. What I mean is that I can be known to swear up and down that I hate a particular type of material because I’ve never actually read anything in that genre that I liked before. Sword and Sorcery is one of those genres that I just can’t stand because I’ve never gotten into any of the material that people have told me was the creme de la creme of published works in that field. Lord of the Rings, for example, just didn’t do it for me. Neither did Conan the Barbarian. Hell, He-Man and Thundercats even left me cold. So you can imagine how red my face was when I discovered Mike Grell’s Warlord series from DC circa 1975. Now, in this case, what drew me to the book was the fact that it was Mike Grell working on it. I’m a huge fan of the man’s work including Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters and his own character, Jon Sable: Freelance. When I’d first read about Warlord in an old Who’s Who comic, nothing about it really intrigued me. It seemed like yet another “warrior against sorcerers and demons, etc” story and I didn’t go out of my way to find any issues. Then the Justice League Unlimited cartoon did an episode on this bygone character and suddenly, I was slightly interested. Lo and behold, after digging up a couple of freebie issues in a back issue been from the 70′s, I was hooked. Thank the reprint heavens that DC included this comic in their Showcase Presents series of black and white collections because it’s a great read. The book follows Travis Morgan, an SR-71 pilot and Vietnam war veteran, who accidently finds himself sent to the mystical land of Skartaris when his flight plan goes awry over the North Pole. Once he becomes familiar with the enchanted land, he learns that there is no one who will fight for the freedom of the besieged indiginous people and takes it upon himself to become their defender, thus earning the name Warlord. The book is packed with action, terrific art by Grell, and one of DC’s hopefully not forgotten characters. Currently, the company brought Warlord back for a new series written by Grell and drawn by Joe Prado. Once you’ve made it through this collection, go give that series a shot, too. Especially if you’re into this sword and sorcery stuff.
Secret Warriors vol. 1: Nick Fury Agent of Nothing HC: I love a good espionage comic. This is probably why I’ve been such a huge fan of Marvel’s classic super spy character, Nick Fury. The best part about Fury, to me, was that he wasn’t your usual dapper secret agent like Patrick McGoohan or Pierce Brosnan. No, Fury was a grizzled Word War II veteran who was still kicking ass in modern times with a cigar and a laser pistol. Fury’s charms came from his tough-as-nails nature and had little to do with the idea that this guy could be sly or sneaky. Imagine Kurt Russell doing a James Bond movie except he’s playing a character who’s a combination of his classic John Carpenter characters, Jack Burton (Big Trouble in Little China) and Snake Plisken (Escape from New York). Now for a long time Fury ran the largest espionage network in the Marvel universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. The acronymn has gone through many definitions. When last defined, it stood for Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage Logistics Directorate. Currently in the Marvel universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been shuttered and Nick Fury is on the outs with the federal government. After watching former supervillain, Norman Osborn (the original Green Goblin), put in charge of national security, Fury goes underground and assembles a team of young and inexperienced superhumans as his team of agents to perform missions that S.H.I.E.L.D. would have taken on had it still been in existence. Y’know, defending the world from the scum of the earth and such, since Osborn is really just making life safe for supervillains while he’s in charge. The series is written by Jonathan Hickman who is one of my personal favorite up and coming comic book creators. He’s had four books published through Image Comics, the first of which, Nightly News, is an amazing mixed media work showing off Hickman’s skills at characterization and suspense. Hickman brings those talents to writing this comic and it makes the twists and turns the plot takes work excellently alongside the expertly-rendered action scenes handed in by artist Stefano Caselli (Hack/Slash, Avengers: The Initiative). All in all, this is a great title filled with brand new characters (thus, you never know if they’ll survive the issue and genuine suspense is created!) and classic heroes and villains, side-by-side in the classic Marvel manner.
Salt Water Taffy vol. 3: Truth about Dr. True: There really aren’t that many comics for kids and adults. For a long time in comics, it was seriously either/or with very little that could be enjoyed by both sets of readers. Then writer/artist Matthew Loux showed up with Salt Water Taffy, his series of graphic novels from Oni Press. The series follows two young brothers, Jack and Benny, as they’re begrudgingly dragged to the New England coastal town, Chowder Bay for the summer. During their time there, Jack and Benny discover that there is a great deal of adventure to be had against the sleepy beach town. All of the volumes released so far are full of innocent and fun tales of taffy-stealing lobsters, hat-loving giant eagles, and, with the release of volume 3, ghosts with a mystery to solve. Loux’s art is fluid and dynamic while his story-telling style is both charming and well-paced. You never feel pandered to or patronized as an audience member mostly due to the fact that his art carries a very innocent and yet witty comic timing that can translate very well in sequence. It’s great to read a comic and then realize when I’ve finished it that I could pass it off to a friend’s kid and know that they’d enjoy it also.
Sleeper Season 2 TP: Ed Brubaker is one of the better writers working in the mainstream today. His Captain America is hailed as one of the best takes on the character to date and his run on Daredevil was one of my personal favorites. He can find the voice in any character and can add a genuine flavor of noir to the darker books he chooses to write. Sleeper, to me, was the best example of why Brubaker is an expert at his craft. The book takes place in the Wildstorm universe of comics which I’ve always felt peaked with Warren Ellis’s Authority series and has since been coasting on characters and concepts that need to come to a calm and satisfying conclusion. Within this world is an intelligence agency called I/O run by veteren spy, John Lynch. Lynch is a master puppeteer of espionage and had decided that the best way to take down a villain known as Tao, rising star in the world terrorism trade, was to send in Holden Carver, a deep cover operative armed with superpowers. In the mini-series, Point Blank (which can be picked up along with the two Sleeper trades), it’s revealed that Lynch was the only person who knew of Carver’s existence, but through the manipulations of Tao, Lynch is put in a coma and Carver is left in the cold to fend for himself. This is where the Sleeper series picks up. DC has made the wise decision to collect the series into two “seasons” (the story-telling is very similar to a television show) and has released them both as 12-issue trade paperbacks. The book’s art by master artist Sean Philips is dark, gritty, seeped in noir flavor and the writing is rife with twist after twist as we watch Carver try to get out of the mess that he has become stuck in while trying to serve the mission and his country. Sleeper is a great read for fans of Graham Greene-style spy novels and modern espionage comics.
