One Shot for the week of January 18th
By Troy-Jeffrey AllenJan 19, 2012 - 20:32
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Comic books are stupid.
There. I said it.
In the midst of tired reboots, retcons, point ones, and schisms, I’ve found myself looking more and more forward to the summer comic book movie than the wonderful bastardized medium that has inspired Hollywood.
Unfortunately, like most maladjusted, underweight/overweight, twenty-somethings, I can’t quit the damned things. Comic books are second nature to me --- right along with making eye contact with cleavage and talking on the phone while I use the bathroom. Which is why it is important for us nerds to share new discoveries offered by the comic industry. If we don’t roll the dice on a first issue from time to time then we are just feeding the endless cycle of soon to be redacted superhero adventures.
Yes, comic books are stupid. However, with each new discovery, hopefully, we can end the cycle and find something all-new and all-different to justify our Wednesday spending habits. That is where One Shot comes in.
Every week, I will pick up and review a handful of #1s from my local comic book store (Hi, Alliance Comics and Games in Silver Spring, MD!) and review them in a desperate attempt to reclaim my loose lost love…the funny book.
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HALO: FALL OF REACH – INVASION #1
Marvel
$3.99
Previous to his stint at Marvel, writer Brian Reed wrote for video games. Now, cynical critic logic would dictate that moving from the stiff structure of an X-Box game to the unique personalities of the Marvel U. would prove to be a difficult transition. Surprisingly though, Reed has a gift for relaxed plot and equally relaxed dialogue. No small feat when you consider the fact that he’s restricted to a licensed property such as Halo, a franchise bound by several games, novels, and the expectations of frothing FPS fans.
Nothing is particularly stand out about Fall of Reach, but it maneuvers through the restrictions of cross media marketing by effectively pacing itself through its first issue. If Reed’s goal was to, either, intrigue you enough to skim through issue 2 or to just make you go and pick up the game again, then he succeeded at both.
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DANGER GIRL: REVOLVER #1
IDW
$3.99
A seemingly harmless layover from the comic industry’s 90s bad girl craze, the Danger Girl series of books are playfully inspired by any number of Bondian action-adventure films (one of the characters even displays a knowing resemblance to Sean Connery).
The creative team of Andy Hartnell (writer), Chris Madden (art), and J. Scott Campbell (co-creator) seem to successfully translate their enthusiasm for girls, guns, and international action to the page. Regardless, the thumbtack-ed cliffhanger (involving the ex-fiancée of protagonist Abbey Chase) will receive as likely a repeat visit as a 007 one night stand. (Yeah, I stretched it there.)
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STEED and MRS. PEEL #1 (of 6)
Boom Studios
$3.99
Created in the 1990s, but based on a popular TV show from the 60s, Boom Studios has reprinted this The Avengers mini-series for the 2012 market. Despite the fact that no one outside of British readership will give a damn, Steed and Mrs. Peel does offer something of interest to fans of Grant Morrison. You see, this book was created somewhere around the Scottish writers’ earlier groundbreaking works on Arkham Asylum and Doom Patrol.
While the murder mystery plot appears to be a basic game of cat-and-mouse, it is intriguing to witness the building momentum of one of contemporary comics’ most recognizable figures. With issue #1, Morrison wisely keeps things playfully cosmopolitan, displaying a mad genius that serviced him well beyond his --- at the time --- initial wave of success.
Last Updated: Jan 31, 2012 - 7:31
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