Doc Savage #1

Doc Savage #1
DC Comics
Paul Malmont & Jason Starr
(a) Howard Porter, Art Thibert & Scott Hampton
FC 40 pgs w/ ads $3.99 US / Higher in Canada

“Let me strive every moment of my life to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it. Let me think of the right and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice. Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do. Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.” – Doc Savage’s oath.

Scalped #36

Scalped #36
DC Comics / Vertigo Comics
Jason Aaron
(a) Davide Furno
FC, 32 pgs w/ ads $2.99 US / More in Canada

Page 4 of issue #36 of Scalped contains one of the most shocking images to appear in this title to date, which is saying a lot for a book as brutally surprising as this one. The image is shocking not because of the act it depicts but because I didn’t see this one coming. In a book of unexpected acts and revelations this one caught me unawares, and with this one image writer Jason Aaron and guest artist Davide Furno tell us a lot about the character Shunka, more than we’ve learned about him in 36 issues.

Shunka is Chief Red Crow’s right-hand man, the tough, enigmatic Lakota most recently seen scouring the badlands of South Dakota for a fugitive that could reveal the mole inside Red Crow’s criminal organization. Shunka has been a reoccurring character in Scalped, but always in the background, an enforcer to be used, not a character to be explored. That changes with issue #36, which kicks off a new story arc in which Shunka is the main character.

Scalped is a consistently solid read, filling the void left by the completion of 100 Bullets. Both are gritty crime sagas featuring a roster of hard-as-nails and morally flawed characters, none of which are heroes and very few of which are outright villains. (Chad Boudreau)

Blackest Night #8

Blackest Night #8
DC Comics
Geoff Johns
(a) Ivan Reis, Oclair Albert & Joe Prado
FC 40 pgs w/ ads $3.99 US / Higher in Canada

“Live!”

I was hoping for Johns to repeat his success with the last big Green Lantern epic – The Sinestro Wars. Instead I ended up with an all right mega-crossover with a cheesy ending. It’s not the same cheesy ending that I was expecting. But it’s pretty cheesy.

“Live.”

And just like that a bunch dead characters are back. In a four page fold out none the less. The Hawks I expected. Dying and resurrecting is part of their shtick. The rest I really could care less about. In fact I have less interest in picking up the new Birds of Prey now that I know the mysterious silhouettes on the cover are the resurrected Hawk and Dove. But it is Gail Simone so I’m still willing to see where it goes.

I enjoyed Blackest Night for the most part. There was enough twists, turns and surprises to keep my interest but the cheesy ending hurts it. The dead means dead makes me laugh too. It reminds me of similar promises that the big two have made in the past. It never sticks for long. (Shane Hnetka)

American Vampire #1

American Vampire #1
Vertigo / DC Comics
Scott Snyder & Stephen King
(a) Rafael Albuqyerque
FC 40 pgs w/ ads $3.99 US / Higher in Canada

This isn’t the first time that a famous writer has supplied his name to a comic. Over at Marvel, several Stephen King novel’s are currently being adapted into comics. The Dark Tower, The Stand and his short story N. But someone else is always writing the actual comics – Peter David, Marc Guggenheim, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa are just a few of the names of the scripters for those stories. In fact back in the ’90s there was a comic company called Tekno Comix that had a whole line of comics featuring people like Neil Gaiman, Gene Roddenberry, Isaac Asimov and Leonard Nimoy coming up with ideas and then having someone else write the comics. So when I heard that Vertigo had a Stephen King comic with a writer named Scott Snyder I just assumed that it was just more of the same.

Sgt. Rock: Between Hell & A Hard Place

Sgt. Rock: Between Hell & A Hard Place
DC Comics / Vertigo
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Joe Kubert
FC, 144 pgs, $24.95 US / Higher in Canada

One of the most consistently talked about and read comic series in the last 50 years has been Sgt. Rock from DC Comics. Along with The Unknown Soldier and G.I. Combat, the three titles had been printed in various forms during the 50s and down through the 80s. Most people can remember reading a Sgt. Rock comic when they were a kid, carrying their beat-up copies around and sharing them with their friends. But since DC’s war line ended in the mid-80s, most of the characters within those books faded into obscurity, popping up now and again in unlikely places like the 90s The Demon (with the “Haunted Tank of G.I. Combat” fame by Garth Ennis!).