Markley’s Fevered Brain: More New Ones

Wayne Markley

Wayne Markley


by Wayne Markley

It seems that on a weekly basis there are a slew of new number ones issues coming out these days. Almost every publisher is pumping out new number ones like they are printing money, and in some cases, they are as speculation is running rampant in today’s collector’s market. Putting that aside, in this blog I am going to look at a number of new first issues from a variety of publishers. These are from all genres and my opinion varies greatly, but I tend to like most of them or I would not be taking the time to write about them.

Rebels #1

Rebels #1


The first book I want to discuss is the new series by Brian Wood and Andrea Mutti called Rebels. Rebels is great. It tells the story of Seth Abbot, who lives in Vermont in 1775 and is a farmer and a revolutionary. He is working with Ethan Allen on the early days that lead up to the American Revolution. This book is part history lesson and part fictional biography that combined make for great reading. There are only two issues so far but both of them have been well written and the art is excellent. I cannot wait to read the next issue after I get to the last page. I have always enjoyed Brian Wood’s writing, and I think his DMZ was a masterpiece. These early issues of Rebels have all the makings to be as good, if not better, than DMZ. Rebels is published by Dark Horse Comics.

Pisces #1

Pisces #1


Pisces is a new book written by Kurtis Wiebe and drawn by Johnnie Christmas and is published by Image Comics. It features three separate stories set in the past, present, and the future. Each story features the same two characters and the story seems to carry over all three of the time periods. Only the first issue is out so far but I found it fascinating. It was intriguing enough to draw me back for issue two. It is too early to tell if this is going to be a really good time travel tale like Chrononauts or Eight, but I am hooked through at least the second issue.

Secret Wars #2

Secret Wars #2


Secret Wars is the culmination of Jonathan Hickman’s multi-year run on the Avengers and is Marvel’s big summer event. The basic gist of it is all of the various Marvel Universes are collapsing into one universe which puts the Ultimate Universe and the traditional Marvel Universe in the same place, as well as all of the other dimensions that have been created over the years. To be honest, I have been lost reading the Avengers for over a year now, and that was the story building to Secret Wars. Part of Secret Wars is all the heroes are sent to different Battleworlds which leads to a ton of miniseries over the next few months. Come the fall, Marvel will re-launch a number of titles in this new and combined Universe. Unlike DCs New 52, they are not dumping the past, but they are streamlining it.

Before I get to the first two issues of Secret Wars, I would recommend reading the Secret Wars Free Comic Book Day book as in ten pages Hickman was able to make sense out of the last three years of Avengers and explain the Secret Wars set up very nicely and it had great art Paul Renaud. The first two issues of Secret Wars are by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic. They are pretty to look at but I found the first issue to be quite a mess and I really did not follow it very well. That said though, I found issue two to be much better as it clearly sets up the concepts of the Battleworlds and starts to explain where this whole story is going. The main villain, if that is the correct word here (it is not clear he is a villain yet as much as the man in charge), is one of my favorite Marvel characters so that helped my enjoyment of the issue. (I am not going to say who it is in case you do not know yet). I was ready to give up on Secret Wars after the last three years of the Avengers and the first issue, but the second issue tuned my opinion around and has drawn me back in and I am interested in reading more of both the Secret Wars as well as the Battleworld books. Hopefully the rest of the series will continue on this positive path.

Howard the Duck #2

Howard the Duck #2


Howard the Duck is once again being revived by Marvel, this time with the creative team of Chip (Sex Criminals) Zdarsky artist Joe Quinones. I must say I prefer Zdarsky’s art to his writing, but that is not my main issue with this book. There are three issues out so far and I did not care for the first two. I thought number three was much better but the series still feels forced to me. It is almost like the creators are trying too hard to re-create the Steve Gerber era, much like most creators have done with Alan Moore and Swamp Thing (that is, trying to write Swamp Thing like Moore did instead of doing their own take on the character, with the exception of Charles Soule). There was only one Steve Gerber and no one will ever be able to re-capture that version of Howard. With issue three I can see a little bit of a change and I hope this leads more to Chip and Joe’s version of Howard and less trying to capture the Gerber feel. I do like how they are carrying over the storyline from the late She-Hulk comic, as the big green lady guest-stars in the Howard book as he is based in the same building She-Hulk’s law office is in, so it makes sense. With all of the great books Marvel has come out with lately – Squirrel Girl, Silk, Spider-Gwen – I just found Howard to be bit of a disappointment.

Savior #1

Savior #1


Savior is the new book from Todd McFarlane, Brian Holguin, and Clayton Crain and, of course, it is published by Image. The basic story is about a young man who survives a plane crash and seems to be a savior of some sort. The story is very interesting and there are not a lot of religious overtones even though the title would imply that. The first two issues are out and they move at a very quick pace with very nice art by Crain. The book is filled with explosions and violence, but there is also a subtext of intrigue that I found very interesting. This title is different enough from Spawn that I would recommend it to almost anyone, but it is also very enjoyable to fans of Spawn because of the art style and the beautiful production. Worth a look.

Convergence: Shazam #1

Convergence: Shazam #1


As DC’s Convergence experiment comes to a close over the coming weeks, it comes as no surprise I was not overly impressed with many of the books in the series. There are a couple of highlights, such as the Nightwing/Oracle series (issue two is also excellent) and the Swamp Thing series was a nice trip down memory lane. A third Convergence title I really liked was Convergence: Shazam #1. This was another blast into the past with a fun story by Jeff Parker and great art by Evan Shaner that greatly reminded me of the classic days of Shazam (Captain Marvel, the Big Red One) by the great and largely forgotten Kurt Schaffenburger. The story and art are bright and colorful and a touch of whimsy perfectly capturing the Shazam from the late 1940s and 1950s. It features Billy Batson and his sister Mary and their friend Freddy and their alter egos and has nods to the entire classic supporting cast for the past, including an appearance by Mr. Tawny. This was so much better than the recent re-introduction of Shazam into the new DC Universe. Convergence: Shazam is without a doubt my favorite book from the whole Convergence event. This is kind of book I would love to see done monthly, and I am sure I am not alone. A big thank you to my co-worker Jeff (Aquafresh) Worthen for pointing this book out. I read a number of the Convergence books early and greatly disliked them so I did not read all of them; thankfully other people have been kind enough to point out my oversights.

Exquisite Corpse

Exquisite Corpse


Exquisite Corpse is a beautiful, full color and thoroughly entertaining hardcover by Penelope Bagieu and is published by First Second Books. The tag line on the cover of this graphic novel is “dying to be an author” and that is very true. The basic gist of the story is an early 20 something girl who does some modeling and booth girl work is not thrilled with the work or her life. Quite by accident she meets a very reclusive writer. From there the story takes a number of twists and turns as the two become friends and muses to each other and the story ends in a way no one will see coming. A charming book that is part crime novel and part personality study. It is extremely well written and the art is very stylized but is perfect for this story. I was not familiar with Penelope Bagieu, who is quite well known worldwide, but having enjoyed this book so much I am going to seek out more of her work. Highly recommended.

There have been so many new number ones lately I will no doubt return to this subject soon, perhaps next week. All of these reviews are my opinion and in no way reflect the thoughts of opinions of Westfield Comics or their employees. I do hope you will try some of these books. If you already have, what did you think? Did you enjoy them? Why not? I would like to know. As always.

Thank you.

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