John Woo's 7 Brothers #1

Creators: John Woo, creator; Garth Ennis, writer; Jeevan Kang, artist
Virgin Comics, 32 pages, color, $2.99
So? John Woo and Garth Ennis have a lot more in common than you might think. Both take action to extremes and have a sense of humor about it. That makes 7 Brothers worth a look, even as the first issue is nagged by a sense of little happening and a coincidental similarity to a certain hit TV series about a group of strangers who happen to have strange powers. Here, seven men are lured to Los Angeles by an offer of unexpected riches. They meet a beautiful but deadly woman named Rachel Kai, whose purpose in assembling the men is, as yet, unclear. The best bits involve Rachel’s recruitment of the sad sack member of the group, Ronald Wipes, a wannabe gangster/pimp who wants to go by the name “Double Double” but lacks any ability to back up his street bravado whatsoever. There’s a lot of potential in this book, especially with the brothers hailing from all over the world, that could make this the hard-core, uncompromising flipside to NBC’s “Heroes.” Virgin has found some amazing artists for its books, and this is no exception. But as a story the single issue is sorely lacking for being a less than satisfying fragment of a story. Grade: B-