Punk Rock Jesus #1

- Sean Murphy (@Sean_G_Murphy)

Written as well as drawn by Murphy who expertly eschews triteness, Punk Rock Jesus is a comic book with ‘swag’ despite the absenteeism of the title character. Tackling the cult of celebrity and mass media head on - unlike the previously reviewed America’s Got Powers - as well as exploring the murky relationship between science and big business, Punk Rock Jesus is brutal and intelligent from beginning to end. Consider this a modernist revisionism of the Book of Revelations. And each issue will be a glorious 32 pages without an inflated cover price. Sean Murphy, you have a new disciple.

Rating **** (stick)

Danger Club #1

- Landry Q. Walker (@LandryQWalker) & Eric Jones (@CartoonJones)

With the World’s greatest heroes departing Earth to fight “the deadliest peril the universe has ever known”, Danger Club deals with the sidekicks who remained and will have to deal with this threat - violently. However, the big, bloody prize-fight, although the centrepiece, was not the be all and end all of this exciting opening issue. The opening page is a wonderful interpretation of comics from yesteryear (sadly lacking from this preview here) and the following 25 are crafted with equal skill, with action sequences akin to those of Romita Jr’s in Kick Ass. Another hit from Image.

Rating *** (stick)

Revival #1

- Tim Seeley & Mike Norton

Religion and horror have oft gone hand in hand and whilst a stranger to Seeley’s work, I knew he’d had success within the genre with Hack/Slash and Loaded Bible. The solicits had offered a “farm noir” (and an as yet realised, new twist on the zombie tale), and given Norton’s cover – a possible homage to Sarah Lund and her jumpers – I parted with my 2.25 (and additional 6 for the wonderful variant by Craig Thompson, creator of Blankets). I was transported to and rapt in Seeley and Norton’s Wisconsin and eagerly await the second instalment – thankfully only a week away.

Rating *** (stick)

Hawkeye #1

- Matt Fraction & David Aja

Fraction and Aja are champions of the underdog.  After sterling work on The Immortal Iron Fist, they’ve been given the reigns of what must be one of Marvel’s premier titles, given the success of The Avengers. Here Barton, rather than his alter-ego, with no armour, magic or superpowers, gets the all-star treatment. Influenced by Waid’s re-booted Daredevil, our good guy is injected with genuine personality, bucking the trend of modern Marvel comics. It was a brave decision making this a one-shot, with no cliffhanger - one which paid off. Aja is clearly a genius. How comics used to be, bro.

Rating *** (twist)

The New Deadwardians #1

- Dan Abnett & INJ Culbard

Class struggle is not often portrayed in mainstream comics. Here Abnett displays a deftness often lacking from the medium with members of the aristocracy escaping ‘the great unwashed’ zombie horde by becoming vampiric (something they’ve always been surely?). At heart, this is a detective story but one can only imagine the themes which will be introduced and developed given this excellent first issue. The simplicity of Culbard’s artwork (blog here) is a wonder and matches the playful tone of the book. This is not another vampire/zombie crossover and I shall return to the store forthwith for the latest issues.

Rating *** (stick)

America's Got Powers #1

- Jonathan Ross & Bryan Hitch

Unfortunately, America’s got powers isn’t the sum of its parts - JMS’ Rising Stars, Collins’ The Hunger Games and Glaser’s 1987 classic The Running Man, all of which it borrows heavily from. However, despite this, the meandering storytelling (even though the book benefited from twice the normal page count) and the inevitable twist, America’s Got Powers demonstrated a craft beyond Ross’ previous effort Turf (rights of which have recently been sold to Hollywood by all accounts). Bryan Hitch is a master of widescreen action – see The Authority or The Ultimates for conformation – and the pair have scrapped a passing grade.

Rating ** (twist)

Supercrooks #1

- Mark Millar & Leinil Yu

Millar has some of the greatest artistic talent at his disposal at present with the likes of Quitely, Romita Jr and Gibbons (see The Secret Service #1). And yet, his current work consists mainly of tired ideas, readily adaptable for screen. Supercrooks has little to no characterisation and/or plot; it lacks nuance and, more surprisingly, humour and is yet another book reminiscent of the Ocean’s series (12, I think, this time). Furthermore, Millar is guilty of self-plagiarising, as I was reminded of earlier, better work (Wanted) and has done nothing to persuade me to return. However, Yu’s artwork is sublime.

Rating * (bust)