"You wanna reach the stars?" Fantastic Four Fanfare review

Fantastic Four Fanfare was a 4-issue mini-series released this year to celebrate the release of the film Fantastic Four: First Steps. It's an anthology series with 3 stories per issue. I do wonder why the series didn't feature 4 stories per issue - I mean, why not? What we have here is a mix of stories either featuring the Fantastic Four as a team or a spotlight tale on one (or two) members of the FF. Several of these stories were written or drawn by past creative teams on Fantastic Four. I'll briefly describe the 12 stories:

Fantastic Four: Fanfare #1 spotlights the Human Torch and features "You Realize, of Course, This Means War" by Mark Waid and Ramon Rosanas, "Life's a Gas" by Alan Davis and "Monster Island of Love" by Andrew Wheeler and Sara Pichelli. Waid wrote Fantastic Four 2002-2005; Davis has been a frequent Fantastic Four cover artist, served as penciler briefly in 1998 and wrote and drew the 2007 mini-series Fantastic Four: The End; and Pichelli was briefly the Fantastic Four penciler in 2018.

Waid's story is about Johnny's love of playing practical jokes on Ben, which Waid accelerates to the nth degree; in this story, Johnny had an entire filing cabinet labeled "Ideas for Pranking Ben." Many of the pranks are depicted in the style of a 1960s "Marvel Masterwork Pin-Up," which is a fun joke. Davis' story features the FF on a mission underground where Johnny's flame is bit more dangerous than usual; it's pretty light, but Davis is maybe the finest living FF illustrator, so it's worth a look. The final story features Johnny as a constestant on a reality TV program which turns out to be the favourite program of the Mole Man.

Fantastic Four: Fanfare #2 spotlights Mr. Fantastic and features "Dinner and a Movie" by Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver, "Future Uncertain" by John Tyler Christopher and "Hide and Seeker" by Mark Buckingham. Hickman wrote Fantastic Four 2009-2012; Buckingham drew a few Fantstic Four stories in 2003.

This issue is very mixed; Buckingham's story concerns two of Dr. Doom's underlings trying to recover his robot the Seeker; it looks terrific but it's incredibly slight. The other two stories are simply underwhelming.

Fantastic Four: Fanfare #3 spotlights the Thing and features "Fight or Flight" by Dan Slott and Marcos Martin, "Another Round" by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz and "Universal Appeal" by Chip Zdarsky and Mike Allred. Dan Slott wrote Fantastic Four 2018-2022 and wrote a Thing solo series in 2006; DeFalco wrote Fantastic Four 1991-1996 and the Thing's solo adventures in Marvel Two-in-One 1981-1983; Zardsky wrote the Thing and Human Torch in Marvel 2-in-One 2018-2019 and Allred drew F.F. 2013-2014.

This issue is certainly my favourite, as it features three writers whose work I truly admire. Slott's story - with phenomenal art by Martin - focuses on Ben's experiences as a pilot over the decades. It's a very good character piece. DeFalco/Frenz's story brings back the Sandman, whom they'd done a bit of work rehabilitating into a hero back in the 80s, only for later writers to revert Sandman to a villain; this story tries to thread the needle, restoring his friendship with Ben but suggesting he'll still be a problem in the future. The final story features Johnny heading to an extraterrestrial fashion shoot, only to be upstaged by Ben.

Fantastic Four: Fanfare #4 spotlights the Invisible Woman and features "Ain't No Grave" by J. Michael Straczynski and Cafu, "One Night" by Greg Weisman, Mark Bagley and John Dell and "Clobberin' Time" by Daniel Warren Johnson and Tyrell Cannon. Straczynski wrote Fantastic Four 2005-2006 and Bagley penciled Fantastic Four 2013-2014.

Straczynski's story (which seems to be set circa 1970?) is about the Mole Man on his deathbed - which means this anthology won't read well in a trade paperback as this follows on the humourous treatment of Mole Man in issue #1. Still, it's a very good character piece on Mole Man that takes him seriously, which is not how... well, anyone else in the last 35 years has treated the character. Weisman's story is set around the time of Fantastic Four Annual #5 and features the Circus of Crime; it's appealing fluff. The last story is a kind of embarrassing story about the Sub-Mariner fighting the FF in a tournament but at least the art's appealing.

Anthologies are always a mixed bag; in this case, you might want to just cherry-pick the creators you enjoy the most. Still, taken as a whole, this is a fine collection of stories.

"The older I get, the dumber I feel." The Fox #1-5 review

Last year Archie Comics published a new five-issue mini-series by Dean Haspiel & Mark Waid featuring their long-time super hero the Fox. I reviewed Haspiel & Waid's first mini-series some time ago and enjoyed it quite a bit, but the situation at Archie changed a bit between the two series. This new Fox series ("Fox Hunt") was branded as being part of "Dark Circle Comics" (rather than the Red Circle brand their super heroes traditionally have appeared under). Dark Circle is an attempt to create mature readers comics because when you think Archie, obviously you think mature readers. The previous series was good all-ages fun; how do Haspeil & Waid adapt to this new reality?

Previously, Waid had said he would have wanted to explore a father-son dynamic in the series if he had been plotting; evidently that put a bug in Haspiel's ear as he made much of this series a family story about Paul Patton Jr (the Fox), his son (Ghost Fox) and his wife (She-Fox). Like the previous story, Haspiel has a bit of fun playing around with previous Archie super hero comics, digging up old enemies from their obscure past appearances. This time the "freak magnet" Fox finds himself targeted by the financier Mister Smile, who hires a score of super-criminals to kill the Fox.

Perhaps the most surprising appearances amongst the criminals were two from Archie's Shadow comics! If you recall my series "Bitter Fruit" you may well remember Radiation Rogue and Elasto; both villains are back in this series as Archie evidently owns them, not Street & Smith (why would Street & Smith want ownership of those comics?).

It's unfortunate that Archie's decision to render all of their super heroes as mature readers titles affected this book as I feel Haspiel would have been much happier keeping the previous all ages tone; his art is clean and bright and the tone is mostly very jocular, but there is profanity and gore thrown in to justify the mandate - as if anyone ever said "you'll like this comic, it has swearing and a guy who bursts through someone's chest."

More significantly, the story leads up a confrontation with the main villain who is relentless in his determination to bring down the Fox and his family; to keep Ghost Fox from killing Mr. Smile, She-Fox kills the villain herself. It's a tough moment which is at odds with much of the book's tone - I mean, one page after the horribly scarred She-Fox snaps the villain's neck then collapses we have the Fox and Ghost Fox fighting a living tree. How much better to seek out something bright and fun - because frankly, the "super heroes and killing" dilemma hasn't progressed at all since the days of Claremont's Wolverine. It's a minor speedbump in an otherwise clever and fun comic book series.

"Since when is Golgoth indecisive?" Empire: Uprising Vol.1 review

Mark Waid & Barry Kitson's Empire is back... for the third time and at its third publisher.

I wasn't present for the original release of Empire and its premature death at Image Comics after merely two issues. However, it became a series I heard about from my friends. In discussions about incomplete comic books they wished would come back, several of my friends would bring up Empire. It finally did return for six issues at DC Comics and I came aboard then, enjoying the series quite a bit. I didn't imagine there would be more Empire, yet here is the first volume of Empire: Uprising, published now by IDW.

Assuming you're unfamiliar with the set-up, Empire is set in a world where super-villains have won. An armored figure named Golgoth has killed (or otherwise incapacitated) every super hero on the planet and conquered every military power. Although various resistance forces have sprung up, none have been able to seriously challenge Golgoth. And yet, the various lieutenants who serve as Golgoth's ministers need something to keep themselves occupied and so they plot against each other - and also against Golgoth, believing that if he proves himself compromised in any way, it might be the opportunity they need to usurp his empire.

Being what it is, Empire tells a very bleak story; there is not one of the ministers who exhibits laudable behaviour. It's a world where the powerful prey upon the weak and no one can be trusted. The previous series ended with one minister going rogue and finding himself in contact with a resistance movement. If you think that means there is anything approaching hope in this tale, then I'm sorry to disappoint you: his guidance results in a resistance attack on Golgoth which - although it cleverly exploits Golgoth's affections for his deceased daughter - is ultimately futile. Further, Golgoth proves to know exactly where and what the minister is doing, leaving him alive as a game.

Indeed, if there is no hope then why wallow in this world of transgressors? Empire is at its most entertaining as the ministers vie against each other. It is easy to imagine that if Golgoth were killed the resulting civil war amongst his ministers would outstrip even the devastation seen in this series thus far.

Of particular interest to me in this story is the appearance of "New Angola," one of Golgoth's states. It is extremely rare to find mention of Angola in a super hero comic, much less to find a major superhuman character who is Angolan; one of Golgoth's enemies in this volume is a woman named Kianda who helped Golgoth conquer Angola but is now masterminding a movement against him. She remains a threat at large to be explored in the next volume of Empire; Uprising, which hopefully will be along before too much longer.

Empire: Uprising is marked for mature readers and features some noticeable gore. And yet, Barry Kitson shies away from lascivious material with regards to the female cast members. Although female characters get undressed in the course of the book, he doesn't delve into the expected curvy breasts & buttocks found in most comics. In fact, he seems unwilling to draw butt cracks. It's kind of nice to see this approach to female bodies, but at the same time it might also be another manifestation of North America's willingness to indulge in gore while being skittish about sexual situations.

Empire: Uprising is best enjoyed by people who have read the original Empire series. If that's you, then hurry out and get a copy!

Unearthed: Secret Origins #48

In my previous Unearthed entry, I looked at an issue of DC Comics' Secret Origins which interested me because of the two characters who were featured; this time, I have an issue which features four characters in short stories - only one of which I had an actual interest in.

Secret Origins#48 assembles four stories which editor Mark Waid (yes, he was an editor circa 1990) helpfully places in context on the editorial page. There's nothing in particular which weaves Ambush Bug, Stanley & his Monster, Rex the Wonder Dog & the Trigger Twins together, but heck, why not cover them? While I'm a big fan of Ambush Bug - and sought this issue out to complete my collection - the other three I know only of primarily via their Who's Who entries. Let's learn their stories together!

There's not much point in describing the plot to an Ambush Bug story, but here we go...

We open with "The Secret Origin of Ambush Bug: We Thought Him Up," by the same team who delivered the Ambush Bug mini-serieses - Keith Giffen & Robert Loren Fleming. Here, the Bug is approached by an agent of the National Bureau of Origins (N.B.O.), who demand he comply with the laws of having a "credible origin story." The Bug sends the agent packing to Kansas to find a rocketship while Ambush Bug himself tries to dredge up memories of his origin. Instead, he finds himself before another agent who isn't fooled by his claims of being bitten by a radioactive spider. Ambush Bug tries again to remember his origin, this time by returning to the warehouse where he first fought crime with Cheeks, the Toy Wonder (his toy sidekick from Ambush Bug#1). Instead, the Bug finds the warehouse now full of leftovers from Giffen's recent Invasion! crossover and he has to scour every DC comic just to make sure Cheeks wasn't misplaced during a tie-in.

Ambush Bug finally concludes that the secret of his origin can only be found with Cheeks and that since Cheeks is dead (again, Ambush Bug#1), he'll have to find him in Heaven. To accomplish this, the Bug taunts one of the Lords of Order (from Giffen's Dr. Fate, I think) until the Lord of Order kills him. We then switch to "The Origin of Ambush Bug," drawn in Giffen's stick-man style, presenting Ambush Bug as a being sketched into life by Irwin Schwab who leaves the printed page in order to save Irwin's class from a rampaging dinosaur. From there, we move to "The True Origin of Ambush Bug" as Vril Dox (of L.E.G.I.O.N. - not sure why he's here) tries to interrogate Ambush Bug's charred remains. We switch again, this time to "The Honest-to-God, Swear-on-Our Mothers'-Graves, Real Origin of Ambush Bug," wherein a bat splatters itself on a window pane next to the Bug's ashen remains.

Meanwhile in Heaven, Ambush Bug finds out he's due to be sent into a new life and is routed back to Earth, landing in an alley (where a newspaper can be seen displaying: "Lord of Order Gets the Chair"). Ambush Bug realizes now that he's on a new life the N.B.O. won't be able to find him and he can have a new identity; unfortunately, that identity is as one of the "Big Fat Freakin' Frogs" (this was 1990, after all) and he's horried to discover "I've come back as the one thing even lower than a comic book character! I'm... merchandise!" Not unlike Giffen's own Rocket Raccoon, come to think of it. Anyway, the N.B.O. collect Ambush Bug and send him to Belle Reve, hoping he'll be sent on a mission with the Suicide Squad and quietly killed without having to deliver an origin story. Then we learn that Cheeks is still alive, and running the N.B.O.! It's a twist ending worthy of a 1990s comic book!

It's funny that Giffen often likes to take shots at comics fandom when he's perhaps the second greatest fan of DC's Silver Age in the business (the top spot belongs to this comic's editor). I don't always understand Giffen's references, though, as noted above, I have at least a hazy idea of who Vril Dox and the Lords of Chaos are (my main DC Universe interests are the Suicide Squad & Ambush Bug; I still don't know much about Invasion! and that's despite having read tie-ins). This story was best enjoyed by audiences in 1990 and even then it wouldn't have been to everyone's tastes. You've really got to love comics to enjoy seeing them mocked Giffen-style. Giffen evidently trusted that his readers - recognizing Ambush Bug was a character without a real status quo - wouldn't expect an origin and simply wanted another Ambush Bug tale; thus, so he did deliver.

The second feature is Stanley and His Monster, written & drawn by Phil Foglio. The story concerns a demon whom Lucifer has to expel from Hell because he "brings sno-cones to the souls in the inferno... knits mittens for those entombed in the plains of ice... sings hymns in the great wasteland of the TV evangelists" and spreads "Have a Nice Day" stickers everywhere. Lucifer's reasoning is that being amongst humans, the demon's true nature will be unleashed due to the cruelty humans heap upon each other. However, this doesn't work because the demon meets Stanley, a friendly and adventurous young boy who welcomes the monster into his home. It's a brief tale, but it's gentle and works well; Foglio revisited the characters in a 1993 limited series.

Next we have "The Birth of Rex the Wonder Dog" which, unfortunately, requires a few words. Written by Gerard Jones and drawn by Paris Cullins, the story opens in World War II (a strange place to start given that Rex dates back only as far as 1952) as Dr. Anabolus has designed a Super-Soldier formula; anyone with a smattering of comics knowledge will recognize this as a parody of Captain America, but we have no choice but to read through all 8 pages (or leave now! it's not too late! I warned you!!!), rather than Giffen's super hero origin parodies in the lead story which sometimes took up all of one panel (don't bring your weak sauce Captain America parody to an anthology with a Giffen lead feature; just don't). The one and only good gag in the story is the Airplane!-like bit above: "But where did you learn to draw so well?"

Anyway, all you need to know is that the Captain America origin is faithfully recounted, but with Rex the Wonder Dog in his place for some reason. If you find that inherently funny, please tell me before I have to sit next to you on an airplane. One Lt. Dennis (who looks vaguely like Bob Hope) brings Rex (and his son Danny) to Dr. Anabolus where the pooch is tranformed by Anabolus' serum into a Wonder Dog (complete with Kirby crackle, seen above). Dr. Anabolus is killed by a German agent and because he didn't write down his formula, Rex is a one-of-a-kind. Lt. Dennis suggests to Danny that after the war they could travel the globe: "We'll work for circuses and rope wild horses and solve strange crimes and find lost civilizations..." which Danny thinks is "a lotta hooey." The joke is that that's exactly what they wind up doing in Rex's 1952 adventure series. Get it? That's the joke! THAT'S THE JOKE! It's funny! You're supposed to laugh! It's hysterical because the ideas Lt. Dennis suggests are so unrealistic next to the entirely grounded and believable story we just suffered through. Ha. Ha. Much like Power Pachyderms, this story is comic book humour on life support. Even the writers of Spider-Ham knew there had to be a joke beyond "Spider-Man, but a pig!"

Gerard Jones would go on to inflict Wonder Man on readers, but I understand his Justice League was a cult hit and I know his various non-fiction books about comic books such as Men of Tomorrow are very good. Plus, I'm sure he'd hold the door open for you at the gas station.

The Trigger Twins close out the book with their origin, as presented in eight pages by William Messner-Loebs & Trevor von Eeden. There's very little I can say about it; twin brothers Wayne & Walter Trigger are followed through their birth to fighting in the US Civil War, to Walter becoming a gunfighter and sheriff of the town where Wayne works. Wayne helps out Walter in a gunfight by pretending to be him and from then on, they are the Trigger Twins. On the editorial page, Waid admits he was a great fan of the Trigger Twins stories, hence their inclusion here - they don't fit the humourous tone of the other entries. Von Eeden's art is totally solid - evocative of 1950-60s Gene Colan here in his silhouettes. DC could have printed this story in the 70s and no one would have batted an eye - I mean that as a compliment. After the previous 8-page tale, the Trigger Twins are more than welcome to close the issue out.

One great story, one lousy story and two okay tales; but really, if you're an Ambush Bug fan you won't care what's on the other pages.

"Your vanilla-breath made me hallucinate!" The Fox#2-5

This month Dean Haspiel's 5-issue series the Fox drew to a close at Archie Comics - although Haspiel has indicated he intends to do more with the character. It's been a fun, creative and diverting super hero comic published in a time when super hero comics are sorely lacking in fun and creativity. Not only did Haspiel plot & draw this mini, he seems to have virtually edited it by himself! He recruited Mark Waid to script issues #1-4 and J.M. DeMatteis to contribute a Shield back-up story in #2-4, then script #5; artists Mike Cavallaro & Terry Austin drew the Shield back-ups and letterer supreme John Workman completed the ensemble.

In my review of issue#1, I covered Haspiel's premise - photojournalist Paul Patton is the semi-retired super hero the Fox, seeking only to lead a normal life yet forever cursed as a "freak magnet" to find outlandish adventure everywhere he turns. It's not necessary to know anything about the Fox's history at Archie - in fact, Haspiel's collaborators have admitted they knew virtually nothing when he recruited them! Many of Archie's super hero characters turned up during the series, some of them absent from comics for decades: the Queen of Diamonds, Bob Phantom, Inferno, the Marvel and the Shield were only the tip of the iceberg, but the story presented each character in a straightforward way so you might assume some of them were appearing for the first time (I myself had no clue the Queen of Diamonds was an existing character until Haspiel mentioned it).

From issues#1-4, the Fox's story sees him being recruited by the Queen of Diamonds to rescue her husband from an evil druid (known as... the Druid). Along the way, the Fox meets and/or fights Bob Phantom, Inferno and the Marvel, surviving perilous situations with nothing more than his athletic prowess and a stubborn refusal to take danger seriously.

Meanwhile, the back-up strip has the present-day Shield narrating a tale to unseen friends about a World War II adventure which pit him against Nazi & Japanese super-soldiers, only for all three men to learn their common enemy was a Lovecraftian monster.

At the end of #4, the two plots merged as the Lovecraftian monster turned into the Druid (maybe not the original intent, but okay) and the Fox was flung back in time to help the Shield and other super-soldiers against him. The plot leads to a finale which Haspiel himself noted is familiar territory for DeMatteis, a "beautiful message for world peace, the very thing I was hoping he could make work without being too preachy." From the top of my head, DeMatteis' conclusion to the tale brings to mind stories he's written for Star Wars and Thor; there have probably been others.

The most compelling idea in DeMatteis' contribution, I found, was a line by the Shield in issue#2 (almost a throw-way until it resurfaces in #5) about how the flag-draped Shield relates to the similarly-garbed Nazi character Master Race and Imperial Japanese champion Hachiman:

"I've read the files on both of you-- Master Race and Hachiman -- Super-powered experiments created by your governments to rain unholy death and destruction in their names!"

"Forgive me for interrupting, Joe-- but... couldn't the two of them have said the same thing about you?"

"They could, Dusty-- and they did. We'd all been expertly programmed to despise the enemy-- reducing him to a subhuman stereotype. After all, when you see your opponent as less than human, it makes it that much easier-- to kill him."

When Captain America is compared against other nationalistic champions, it's only to see how they fall short of Cap (and, by extension, how their nations fall short of the USA); this kind of parity - in World War II, of all times! - is an interesting idea.

It's then I'm reminded DeMatteis wrote some very fine Captain America back in the day (he was the first Cap scribe I ever read - probably made a huge impression on how I view the character) and the Shield is, notably, the (only?) patriotic hero who predates even Cap; judging by the Shield's gray hair in present times, he seems to have lived out the decades since World War II, unlike Cap; DeMatteis seems interested in doing more with the Shield and hopefully he'll get the chance.

In an interview with Waid in the back of issue #4, Waid admits to Haspiel if he had been the plotter, the Fox would have likely been much more grounded and examine ideas about father-son relationships. Which, considering Waid's already telling that story in Green Hornet, I'm glad he left the plotting to Haspiel - they make a great team.

Each issue of the Fox featured 22 pages of story by experienced professionals telling tales with dynamic art, snappy dialogue and neat ideas. All the advertisements were kept to the back pages, special features including scripts, interviews and character biographies expanded on the reading experience, it was bound in a high-quality cover and all cost $3. In an industry where so many books have become joyless, inconsistent, repetitive tales at $4 for 20 pages interrupted by ads and printed on cheap magazine stock... well, if you've had the Fox why would you even bother with the rest? Fortunately, there's more to come from Haspiel and his collaborators!

Three days of reviews part 1: "...At first, the suit was just to draw out the weirdos."

Approximately eight months ago, I decided I would scale back on trips to my local comic book shop. Not, I told myself, because my interest in the medium was waning, but because with my newly-received ipad I could switch to the electronic format and save a fair bit of money (considering how expensive my hobby is).

You know what saves even more money than switching to digital comics? Not buying digital comics.

Without the impetus to visit the shop on the days my favourite titles released, I suddenly discovered I had no compulsion to buy the digital comics. Yes, I could buy and read them any time of the day no matter where I was. Thus, I moved on to other pursuits and forgot about the comics.

This past week I visited the local shop again and bought three recently-released books. By way of making up for my lackadaisical interest in comics, I'll be reviewing all three books across the next three days.

We begin with The Fox#1 by Dean Haspiel (plotter/artist) & Mark Waid (scripter). The most difficult part of buying this comic was choosing which variant cover I wanted; each one had something I liked, but the Will Eisner-esque copy above ultimately won my $2.99. I also dig the way one of the Fox's ears bends; why don't Batman's ears bend? Do we really take him that seriously?

Mark Waid's name drew me to the project, which is a little odd when I consider how I (shameful to admit now) loathed his work in the 1990s, especially his scripting. Even now, I would say if I had to choose between Mark Waid the plotter and Mark Waid the scripter, I would pick the former. Regardless, considering the work he's done in recent years to revive calcified characters like Daredevil and the Green Hornet, I was willing to see him tackle another long-ignored super hero property. Haspiel's art was the tipping point - as soon as I saw Fox's bent ear in the promotional images I suspected this was a super hero book for me - something light and adventurous which didn't take itself too seriously (ala Lee & Ditko's Spider-Man).

As it transpires, my instincts were correct. "Public Face," the lead story in the Fox#1, doesn't bother with any made-for-TV origin retellings - we join our hero fully-formed and in action. The most devoted to the hero's origin is this handy recap (appearing on the inside cover, first page and back cover): "Paul Patton was a photo-journalist who couldn't seem to find the story. So Paul donned the costume of the Fox to make the story come to him. Now the story won't stop." A back-up feature explains the publishing history of the Fox character and is the only place where it's mentioned our hero is the son of the 1940s Fox. It's just not relevant to the story contained within.

We learn only so much about Paul through the course of the story - he's a photo-journalist who prefers film-loaded cameras; he's married, but has a (seeemingly grown) daughter from a previous marriage; although he's devoted to his wife, he can be tempted by a pretty face; oh, and he dresses up in tights when it's time for a fight.

Happily, the Fox#1 breaks from the staid tradition of many contemporary super hero comics where stories simply tease action. Haspiel & Waid are not ashamed of setting up problems for the Fox to solve with his fists and further, aren't too proud to make these fights seem clever and fun. Through the main feature of this book, the Fox faces the diabolical Madame Satan, leading to an altercation with two henchmen of another villain, Mr. Smile, then sets up a cliffhanger involving a character called Queen of Diamonds. Along the way there's also a terrific burn at the expense of the film Man of Steel.

This isn't even the whole comic - your $2.99 wins you an 18-page main adventure plus a 6-page back-up "A Picture Lasts Longer" where the Fox faces a living house. Also included is a 2-page editorial by Haspiel and the aforementioned 1-page history of the Fox. Further, the only advertisements in the comic are house ads, found in the back of the book.

Although the first story is rousing good fun, the second story is awfully cramped. The Fox faces a living house and tricks it into destroying itself. So much is compressed into so few pages that even one more page might have helped to better establish what the threat is (the explanation of the house being alive is derived from a single narrative caption by the Fox, who's just guessing at what he's facing).

Haspiel & Waid's Fox is projected to run only five issues. Between the unrestrained energy of Haspiel's storytelling and the smooth dialogue contributed by Waid, I was quite happy with this first issue. It should be good fun experiencing the rest!

Review: Green Hornet#1

Although I'm very keen on old-time radio programs, the Green Hornet isn't one I'm particularly interested in, even though it was one of the longest-running super hero programs on radio. I suppose my lack of interest is because I found the series to be much the same from episode to episode, nothing in particular which stood out. Although Dynamite have been publishing a ridiculous amount of Green Hornet comic books over the last few years, I didn't pay attention... until they added two magic syllables: "Mark Waid."

Thus, here we have Green Hornet#1 by writer Mark Waid and artist Daniel Indro (with a swell cover above by Paolo Rivera). This series is set in 1941 and features all the vintage cast members found in the original radio program. Mention is made of the Green Hornet's ties to his grand-uncle, the Lone Ranger (who has somehow wound in the hands of a separate copyright office) and all the basics are in place: we have Britt Reid serving as publisher of the Daily Sentinel by day, dressing up as the Green Hornet to fight crime by night. Kato is Reid's butler and the Hornet's chauffeur. Lenore Case is Reid's secretary, while Mike Axford is the hapless Irish reporter who runs a one-man crusade to capture the Hornet, unaware he's after his own boss. If I didn't find this set-up interesting as a radio program, why should I find the comic book any different?

That's where you have to reckon with Mark Waid, who's never content to simply rehash an old formula, but instead is always seeking new angles for worn-out premises. The key to Waid's take comes out during Reid's introductory narration as he takes pains to describe how he set himself up as the Green Hornet, only to subvert our expectations by describing himself as "the world's first super-criminal." On the radio, the Hornet would frequently exploit his status as an outlaw to trick criminals, but here his self-described "sting" operation is the apparent focus of the series.

There's an extremely effective two-page sequence where we see glimpses of how the Hornet's "sting" functions: he meets with his "fellow" criminals, unleashes his (non-lethal) gas gun on police officers and shoots criminals who are enemies of his "allies." Lest we think he's gone too far with act like an amnesiac Sonny Crockett, we also see the Hornet burn down a building (then learn it was owned by Britt Reid) and sink a man in the river (whom Kato secretly rescues). There's no attempt made in this issue to place our sympathies with the criminals, that is see the seduction of crime from Reid's perspective where we might wonder if he'd become a true villain - instead we get our vicarious thrills by witnessing how the Hornet outsmarts his supposed allies while secretly dismantling their operations.

Some space is given over to explaining why Kato doesn't use a codename while wearing a mask; "I don't need a name." is some sort of response, although it's unwieldy to think Kato could get by without needing to be called something. Because it's part of Green Hornet lore that Kato doesn't use an alias, Waid seems trapped into supporting the notion. I would say it's fine to leave Kato without a codename as long as you don't draw attention to it; now that Waid's has drawn attention to it... well, we'll see if it remains a problem.

It's been a while since I seriously sat down with a super hero comic (this is my one-year anniversary of having quit Marvel) and it's pleasing to see how much plot and how many characters factor into this tale compared to what I'd been seeing before; when I gave up working for Marvel, one of my few regrets was being deprived of Waid's Daredevil, which was easily the most entertaining book in the line. As with Daredevil, Waid seems to have fresh perspectives on familiar tropes. After sampling various #1 issues of Dynamite titles which weren't to my liking, I'm pleased to say I intend to be back for Green Hornet#2!

Green Hornet#1 had 11 variant covers. Such is the world we live in.

Comics That Changed Me: Captain America #445-446

In my last installment I talked about my early days as a "Marvel Zombie" and how Mark Gruenwald's run on Captain America made me a dedicated fan. Today, I'm here to talk about how I shrugged my shoulders and left comics behind. It has a bit to do with Gruenwald.

Although in the early 90s I bought comics at an alarming rate - not only grabbing about two dozen Marvel titles per month, but easily matching or exceeding that in back issue purchases - by the mid-90s I wasn't feeling as strongly connected to the hobby as I once was. It's not as though some other hobby had come along to distract me, nor did I feel that I had "outgrown" comics (though I often feared that I should have been outgrowing them yet wasn't). Perhaps it was simply the state of Marvel Comics itself. Because I was devoted solely to Marvel's line of titles, I had blinded myself to what options might have existed in other publishers' stock.

For all the flak I've seen the X-Men receive as a supposedly new reader-unfriendly title, the X-Men titles circa 1995 were actually some of the friendliest titles on the stands; they had a generally high standard of art, they used familiar characters, nearly every place that carried comics had copies on sale and even if you didn't read the titles for a few months (and I often wouldn't), you could get caught up quickly. Even by 1994, I was down to following just two comic books on a monthly basis: John Francis Moore's X-Men 2099 and Mark Gruenwald's Captain America.

I had wavered on Gruenwald's Cap a few times, but always came back to the series because I was invested in the continued development of the characters. No matter how I felt about the story or art, I still cared enough about Diamondback and I still wanted another great Crossbones story. But 1995 was Gruenwald's last year on the title, bringing it all to an end with #443.

I knew that the end was nigh thanks to the Captain America Collector's Preview special, which helpfully interviewed the imminent new writer Mark Waid. As I said above, I was blind to what was going on at other publishers and this was Waid's big break at Marvel. The Preview made mention of him being a renowned Flash author, but that gave me no idea of whether he would impress me or not. I was disappointed that Gruenwald was leaving, but he gave Waid his blessing in the Preview, which was actually a better endorsement than "this guy writes Flash" in my book.

I bought Waid's first issue, #444, but it wasn't especially helpful at convincing me that Waid was the scribe I hoped he would be. #444 barely features Cap, instead focusing on the Avengers defusing a terrorist attack and talking about how great Cap is. It demonstrated that Waid had some respect for Captain America, but not whether he could write said character.

So, this finally leads me to the issues at hand: Captain America#445-446.

Writer: Mark Waid. Art: Ron Garney, Scott Koblish, Danis Rodier.

I bought these issues simultaneously from a department store (K Mart?). This is where Waid's run on Captain America began in earnest, reintroducing Cap's former-dead former-love interest Sharon Carter, and teaming Cap with the Red Skull to face the greater threat of a Cosmic Cube imbued with the mind of Adolf Hitler.

It sucked.

That was my reaction then, and it's still hard to divorce myself from my initial emotions. Waid and Garney's Captain America run is looked on favorably by fandom - it's often ranked higher than Gruenwald, in spite (or because?) of Waid writing little more than 30 issues versus Gruenwald's 130+.

Although Waid did resolve Cap's recurring health problems from Gruenwald's run (which had consumed the series for the past twenty issues) and picked up the Red Skull from where Gruenwald had left him, he jettisoned all of Cap's supporting cast, bringing in just Sharon Carter to replace them.

I think everything I disliked about these two comics - and what kept me disassociated from Cap for the rest of Waid's run - was his use of Sharon Carter. I wasn't reading Cap back when she was alive, seeing that she died when I was one year old. Having been nurtured for years by Gruenwald's stories and essays, I firmly agreed with his statement "Every character's rebirth diminishes the Marvel Universe by robbing the concept of death of its dramatic impact" (see it here). I knew of Sharon because Gruenwald's own Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe introduced her to me as "the dead girlfriend."

Waid's means of restoring Sharon to life were as plausible as the average resurrection, but while the person appearing in Cap#445-446 may have called herself Sharon Carter...she certainly didn't act like her. Throughout the story Sharon is...how to put it...an ice-cold bitch? She never drops her guard around Cap and let her emotions show, instead seemingly resenting him for believing she was dead. Well, fair enough, but this was not the way to warm me up to this character. I was already apprehensive of the very notion of resurrecting Sharon; making her an acid-tongued harpy who renders dismissive, disparaging remarks to Cap (my hero! the star of the book!) angered me. Cap's relationship with the Red Skull was actually warmer and more human than his relationship with Sharon. You know where you sit with Johann Shmidt*. I felt that Waid had unnecessarily resurrected an old forgotten character and transplanted an entirely new personality into her, to the extent that he was using her just for the name value, because he could take advantage of Cap's pre-existing emotional connection to Sharon, rather than inventing a new sardonic, bilious shrew that Cap would have to learn to like. So this Waid was the great wunderkind of DC Comics? Fah!** This was surely an example of why I had given up on DC six years earlier (I convinced myself I had actually disliked DC; the "Marvel Zombie" days were very emotional).

As Gruenwald observed, just as every issue can be someone's first, each issue can also be their last. This was where I called it quits***, not only on Captain America but on X-Men 2099 as well, since there seemed to be little point in scouting comic shops to find just one title. Consequently, I had given up on comics. In short order, I began cutting immense swaths of titles from my collection, only retaining series I didn't want to break up and issues that held an emotional connection with me. Cap#445-446 stayed in, but only because they were part of my Captain America collection. I was resigned to my course: I was finally done with comics.

In my next installment: the heartbreak of coming back to comics. * Under his heel. ** I did eventually warm up to Waid on Fantastic Four and succeeding titles like Empire, Potter's Field and the Unknown. I still don't like re-reading his Cap, yet found myself writing a piece for one of the collections anyway. *** Not to return as a monthly customer until Brubaker's 2004 relaunch. Sharon Carter was still around, but had long since repented her Joan Collins-esque ways.