I fully plan to do some more reviews soon (I know, I know), but Ryan emailed me some, so I am throwing them up here for your enjoyment.
Hey, all. I’m Ryan, and here’s some quick reviews of a few books that came out this week (and one that didn’t).
Axe Cop: President of the World #1 is hilarious mix of imagination and weirdness, which makes sense as it’s written by 8-year-old Malachai Nicolle and illustrated by his 29-year-old brother Ethan. The basic plot is that Axe Cop, a burly policeman who wields an axe against bad guys, has defeated every villain on Earth and been elected president of the entire planet. The danger isn’t over, though, as prophecy states that Earth will be invaded by more bad guys in 1 million years. Axe Cop’s mission to prepare for the coming invasion leads him to team up with goo aliens, talking gorillas, and a bizarre mix of superheroes (like Sockarang, a hero with socks for arms that he can throw like boomerangs) against evil robot penguins and aliens bent on turning humans into…more aliens.
It’s really crazy and off-the-wall, but that’s what made this issue so much fun to read. The story is pure childhood imagination unbound, the kind of thing that comes from backyard, make-believe adventures on a Saturday afternoon. There’s also a two-page text piece in the back, accompanied by character design sketches, written by Ethan that explains his process of turning his younger brother’s stories into comic books. And speaking of the art, Ethan’s style is a great fit for the book. It’s appropriately cartoony, expressive, and just as funny as the story. Where else can you see a giant, talking gorilla shoot a volcano out of his tail?
It might not be to everyone’s taste, but if you’re looking for a funny comic with crazy ideas, Axe Cop: President of the World #1 is for you. There’s another three-issue Axe Cop series that was published last year, Bad Guy Earth, which is available in trade, as well as two other trades collecting the original Axe Cop web comic.
Justice League Dark #11 continues to draw more Vertigo concepts into the main DC Universe. So far we’ve seen John Constantine lead Zatanna, Deadman, and others against Felix Faust, tour the House of Mystery, and inch closer to finding the famed Books of Magic.
Lemire is one of the best writers at DC right now, and his skill shows in Justice League Dark. There are two great things running here – the character interaction and the ideas that drive the series. Seeing Constantine and Steve Trevor go at each other, armed with sarcasm and sincerity respectively, makes for some great interplay. There are also some older DC characters and concepts being used in new ways that leave room for plenty of new stories to be told. Lemire has already brought in older characters like Dr. Mist and Black Orchid, and teamed them with Steve Trevor’s new A.R.G.U.S. organization, which seems to double as both support for the Justice League and an anti-occult task force.
The art by Mikel Janin is also a great draw to this series. While Janin has been illustrating the book since the relaunch, his layouts seem more dynamic in the past few issues than at the beginning of the series. Perhaps he’s just settling in, but if that’s the case I hope he’s staying with the title for the long run. Additionally, the coloring by Ulises Arreola and Kyle Ritter really lends to the tone of this series, with great use of light and shadow to enhance the creepy nature of the book.
This run of Justice League Dark will be fairly easy to pick up for those who haven’t jumped on it yet, as the story just started in issue #9. Be sure to look out for John Constantine’s origin in Justice League Dark #0 in September and the conclusion to Lemire’s first story arc in #13 and Annual #1 in October.
On the trade front, Marvel released the first trade paperback of Mark Waid’s take on Daredevil, appropriately titled Daredevil by Mark Waid Volume 1. If you haven’t read this series yet, definitely give it a shot. There’s literally nothing you need to know in advance about the character or even the larger Marvel Universe, and any additional bits are explained deftly in Daredevil’s narration – Matt Murdock is back in New York, practicing law again after being outed as Daredevil and taking a leave of absence to regain his composure. He’s also back on the streets as Daredevil, facing off against beings made of pure sound and corporations laundering money for the criminal elite.
Waid’s not just exploring Matt Murdock, though. All of the supporting characters get their own story arcs, and it’s apparent that Waid has a story to tell with all of them. The art is also some of the best in the business right now, with Paulo Rivera and Marcos Martin providing pencils. They’re styles are similar, almost retro with clean linework and expressive figures. They also give us two takes on Daredevil’s radar sense, so it’s cool to see how they each approach visualizing the same superpower.
Daredevil by Mark Waid Volume 1 collects Daredevil #1-6, along with the one-page origin and back-up feature that appeared in Daredevil #1, along with some making-of interviews and sketches at the end of the book. I highly suggest picking up some of the newer issues of the series to get caught up, and watch for issue #17, which sees guest-pencils by Mike Allred.
As for the book that didn’t come out this week, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #5 was really good, and I’ll be catching up over the next few weeks. I was never a big TMNT fan as a kid and I’ve never really known too much about the franchise as a whole, but the new series from IDW got me interested, and getting to read some issues from the original series has put me on a kick of comparing the old with the new.
The new series started last year, and has one of the original creators, Kevin Eastman, co-writing and co-illustrating the book with additional writing from Tom Waltz and finished art by Dan Duncan. It’s an updated take on the TMNT story, but it’s not just a coat of new paint. There’s an underlying theme of family and brotherhood in this new series that makes this book shine.
Issue #5 sees Donatello, Leonardo, and Michelangelo reunited with Raphael, who was missing following the accident with radioactive waste that turned them teenage and mutant. Their joy at being reunited as a family is contrasted with Casey Jones’ struggle to maintain a relationship with his alcoholic father, as well as with Master Splinter reflecting on how his relationship with the turtles mirrors the one between the ancient Japanese warrior Hamato Yoshi and his four sons.
The art from Eastman and Duncan is dynamic and eye-catching, and issue #5 features guest art on the Hamato Yoshi segments from Mateus Santolouco, who is now drawing Dial H from DC. Santolouco’s art, likewise, is a strength here. Both styles are realistic enough for the slightly more serious tone of these series, but still stylish enough to make man-sized turtles not look ridiculous.
The current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series is up to #12, which came out this week. The first trade paperback is also available, collecting the first four issues of the series. For anyone looking for old-school TMNT, IDW is also reprinting the original comics as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Classics, with issue #3 of that series also released this month.
That’s it for this week. Go read some comics!