Project Superpowers #0-#1

Project Superpowers from Dynamite Entertainment is a new series out, with covers and plotting by comics superstar Alex Ross, scripted by Jim Krueger and interior art by Carlos Paul.

The basic idea as seen in the link above is that shortly after the second world war, all the superheroes mysteriously disappeared, and were, for the most part, written off to live on only in history books. The truth is more sinister than that, with ghosts and myth and betrayal all mixed in.

The Alex Ross covers are nice, if not a little static and cluttered, but his plotting gets me down a little bit. The first two issues really seem to tell you that this is basically Ross' attempt to play with DC's "All-Star Squadron" and making his copies to work the book over at Dynamite. The characters all feel familiar, but in this case, I found that to be detrimental to the storytelling.

Krueger does what he can with the scripts, but the star player here has to be Carlos Paul. I tried to do some research into him, but the web doesn't offer me much more than his work on this book. He's new, he's good, and he'll be big once all is said and done. His art looks like a mix of Neal Adams, Cary Nord, and is obviously influenced by Ross' character designs for the book.

So far, I've dug the first two issues, but I'm worried that Dynamite made a mistake with the release of a #0, as the exposition and the setup all happens there, and without it, #1 would have been hard to understand. But, as you may have noticed, I really dig WWII comics, so this one will be on my pull list for a while.

Kick-Ass

I really have been a fan of John Romita jr. since his work back in the early 80's on Uncanny X-Men. Mark Millar hasn't ever really bombed either. Kick-Ass, from Marvel's Icon imprint should have been a slam dunk as far as I was concerned, but after reading issue #1, I'm feeling it was more of an air-ball.

I feel for Romita, who is a brilliant artist, and has always been one of my favorites, because the story really doesn't give him much to play with. His angles, "cinematography", and dynamic action are all spot-on, and if this was just a book of pretty pictures, I'd have gotten my money's worth.

But the plot was so...leaden. Millar doesn't take the reader anywhere, and for a first issue of a series, he really fell flat. Page after page of exposition, introduction, and pop-references meant that by the time the action did happen, I was already bored. Sadly, #1 did not kick-ass.

All-Star Superman

I just picked up the hardcover collection of "All-Star Superman" by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely yesterday and finished it up this afternoon. Whenever Morrison and Quitely get together, something magic happens, as in their collaborations on New X-Men and for the JLA one-shot "Earth 2".

All-Star Superman had a lot of hype around it before I picked it up, as it topped many a top-ten list before I had gotten around to reading it, and the accolades it garnered over at Fanboy Radio and Comics Should Be Good basically wore away my general apprehension of the big boy-scout outside of the Justice League. Superman usually comes across as a little too good, too powerful to really have anything interesting to say in his stories, and without a Batman or Wonder Woman to offer up some contrast, Superman just becomes silly or boring.

First off, before really even getting into the story, the first thing to catch ones eye is the absolutely gorgeous art by Frank Quitely. He has his share of detractors, but I've always been a fan of his, and on this title he really shines. It looks just so...pretty, which is a little odd to say about a comic, but I can't think of another way to say it. It just looks that good.

Morrison and Quitely do a great job of breaking Superman out of this stigma and really whittling away all the junk from his history, hearkening back in some ways to the Richard Donner film in their simple presentation of the icon.
From the first page, you can see the simplicity of it all. Four panels. Eight words. The origin told more completely and more efficiently in decades. And it doesn't stop there, either, as Morrison takes care to takes us to visit all of the members of the supporting cast, with issues that feature Lois, Jimmy Olsen, Ma and Pa Kent, and of course Lex Luthor.

Taken in all in one sitting, the book did lack a little bit of the mounting pressure that I've come to expect from Morrison's writing. Instead he churns out little 22-page gems that just tell you a nice, fun, perfect little Superman tale. All in all, I can say that the hype and reviews were right, and "All-Star Superman" was one of the best super-hero books in years.

Legion of Super-Heroes

I picked up Legion of Super-Heroes #37 as I dropped Amazing Spider-Man due to the stupid stuff that Joe Quesada had said about "One More Day". Making a decision to drop it and replace it with a DC book, I chose the Legion as it was a new creative team coming on, and I liked the old issues Jim Shooter wrote as a kid, and the art inside looked great.

The issue was good fun, and Francis Manapul has got some pretty good chops, so it looks like the book will be a keeper for a little while. Shooter isn't 13 anymore, but he still seems to think that comics are supposed to be fun, and his writing reflects that thus far. Plots are set up, action scenes are there, characters are introduced without it having to be spelled out for you, and the book ended having both said something and leading into the next issue.

Hellboy II images

Over at Dark Horse, they've released a few preview images for the upcoming Hellboy II: The Golden Army movie. They look pretty awesome, and they also state: "Hellboy II is set for release on July 11, 2008."

Pardon the pun, but that Liz picture is smokin'.

What If... Vol II #33

What If... The Phoenix Rose Again?

I just happened across what is quite possibly the funniest "What If?" ever. Boy, I sure wonder what it would be like if Marvel reintroduced the Phoenix. But they'd never stoop so low as to recycle that story, would they? Oh 1992, you are so cute when you're naive.

Showcase: Sgt. Rock

Finishing off the triple threat of DC war comics, after “The War That Time Forgot” and “The Haunted Tank”, I picked up “Sgt. Rock”. Of the three, this is the one that I was the least nervous about diving into, as the great Joe Kubert is really at his best when he's working on Sgt. Rock and the Easy Company, and even in the black and white Showcase format, his pages still look great.

The one thing I am really enjoying, both in this book and the other war books, is the fantastic examples of compressed storytelling that is on display. Ten, fifteen pages, and the tale has solid characters, efficient drama, and a sound conclusion. Reading this in contrast to the books that are coming out monthly is really illustrating the trend away from self-contained tales in modern comics, and it makes me a little sad that this type of story is nearly extinct.