November
3 A Novel Idea

Some views to tide you over for a day or so while I'm in transit to Wizard World Texas. I will be posting from the show this weekend, so stay tuned.

Tricked

Creator: Alex Robinson

Top Shelf Productions, 352 pages, black and white, $19.95

So? Big, thick and compelling original graphic novels are not the easiest thing in the world to produce. Just ask Dave Sim. But Alex Robinson shows it can definitely be done in this follow up to the excellent and popular "Box Office Poison." "Tricked" is a drama and a thriller that plays to the real strength of the medium. There's several long, twisty plots, each extremely different with their own fascinating protagonists, relationships and subplots. The story is told expertly, with attractive, clear and cinematic art and top-notch dialogue and narration. The only drawback is that a story like this puts a lot of its eggs in the basket of a truly gut-wrenching finale, and that's the one area "Tricked" falls short. But the path to that finale is reward in and of itself and well worth traveling. Grade: A-

Sunset City

Creator: Rob Osborne

AiT-PlanetLar, 80 pages, black and white, $9.95

So? As someone who's experienced in the "snowbird" experience (which constitutes being stuck behind a car full of retirees driving 15 mph with the blinkers on to the buffet dinner at 4:30 in the afternoon and no way to get around them) "Sunset City" is a guilty pleasure. Set in an Arizona retirement community, story follows a retiree and widower who struggles to deal with the changes in his life and to fit in to the "active senior lifestyle" of his new home. Watching the violence and decay that occurs underneath the smiling facade leads him to take action in the only way he knows how. Osborn's previous book, "1,000 Steps to World Domination" was a straight comedy, and there are some great bits of humor tucked away in the corners of this story. Osborne's art is solid and his characters clearly delineated, but the main drama is slight for a  full-length story and it lacks a compelling motivation for the finale. Grade: B-

Advent Rising: Rock the Planet  #1

Creators: Donald Mustard, Bill Jemas and Rob Worley, writers; Arthur Dela Cruz, Cliff Richards and Dennis Crisotomo, artists.

360ep, 64 pages, color, $2.25

So? Former Marvel comics exec Bill Jemas is back in the comics game with a surprisingly enjoyable and light series based on the popular sci-fi videogame from Majesco. Story is about a pair of teens, Ethan and Gideon Wyeth, whose father is a scientist whose moved his family to a new planet with a new high school to get used to. What makes this fun is that it's a and earnest funny high school drama that echoes the early issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, which Jemas worked on during his Marvel stint. There's the usually bullies, cliques, snob girls and pranks. But the Wyeth boys are written as normal kids and good kids. The clear art and sense of fun make this the sort of comics that kids would like if they knew comics existed and that no parent would find much to object to. Grade: B

The Book of Lost Souls #1

Creators: J. Michael Straczynski, writer; Colleen Doran, artist

Icon/Marvel, 48 pages, color, $2.99

So? Straczynski brings a compelling and haunting concept to this, his second outing with Marvel's Icon line after the Dream Police one shot. This is the story of Jonathan, a 19th century man with a broken heart who finds himself in modern times where he must serve the Dark Man by tipping lost souls in his favor as part of a larger, very mysterious conflict. To say this is cool, is an understatment. It reads like the pilot to a TV series that could rival "Buffy" or "The X-Files" at its peak. Doran's artwork is, of course, amazing and perfectly suited to the dark fantasy material. Definitely one of the most interesting debuts of any Marvel-related book in quite a while. Grade: A

Jonah Hex #1

Creators: Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, writers; Luke Ross, artist; Jason Keith, colors

DC Comics, 32 pages, color, $2.99

So? It looks like Westerns are back at DC, with this revival of Jonah Hex coming a week after the debut of the Vertigo series "Loveless." While the first issue of "Loveless" promises the kind of epic tale Vertigo readers have come to expect, Jonah Hex is a straightforward Western with the simple but reasonably satisfying thrill of Old West violence and a solid story told and finished in one issue.  The art is beautiful, with fantastic coloring from Jason Keith that makes each page and panel pop like a photograph. The tale is far from challenging as a mystery, but the violent parts are fun and there is a semblance of the thrill comics bought off the newsstand as a kid 30 years ago in these pages. Grade: B-

House of M #8

Creators: Brian Michael Bendis, writer; Olivier Coipel, John Dell, Scott Hanna and Tim Townsend, artists

Marvel, 32 pages, color, $2.99

So? The epic comes to a close with a whisper that wipes out most mutant powers on the face of the Earth. What's frustrating is that after all the hype, we're left with another transitional story that's there seemingly only to set up the next big event. The book also exploits some imagery and scenarios we've seen before (exactly how many times has Wolverine had his claws at Magneto's throat?) and that adds to the feeling that House of M is just treading water until the real story starts. To be fair, the vast reduction in Marvel's mutant population is an intriguting idea that should squeeze some good stories out of the line. But that doesn't change the disappointment in House of M not being a better read on its own. Grade: C