|
THE HOOD #1
Highly Recommended (9/10)
|
Marvel Comics/MAX Comics
"Blood From Stones, Chapter 1"
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Pencils: Kyle Hotz
Inks: Eric Powell
Colors: Avalon Studios
Letters: Randy Gentile
Editor: Tom Brevoort
"The Call of Duty"
Writer: Bruce Jones
Pencils: David Finch
Inks: Art Thibert
Colors: Matt Milla
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Price: $2.99 US/$4.75 CAN |
Blood From Stones: Super-powers? Mutants? Aliens invasions? The basics of the super-hero (or in this case, super-villain) genre are pretty fantastic, and they can stretch the credibility of the story and characters. Here, Vaughan takes the same approach with the genre as Kurt Busiek has with Astro City: he delves into the potential reality of such an unreal world. But unlike Busiek, there's a sharper edge to Vaughan's go at the more grounded approach to the genre.
Parker Robbins is a crook, looking to make a quick score in New York's underworld. Though he may be a criminal, he's not a complete jerk, though. He visits his mother regularly in a mental hospital, and he loves the mother of his unborn child. But responsibility is something he's never managed to master. One night, though, his entire life changes when he and a friend happen upon the remnants of a dark cult's evening activities.
I've enjoyed Hotz's work for some time. I was introduced to his dark, haunted style on Night Man, a title under Malibu's Ultraverse line in the early 1990s. There's a strong Kelley (The Crusades) Jones influence at play in his work, but his work reflects the tones of other artists as well, like Mike (Hellboy) Mignola and Joe (Daredevil) Quesada.
Now, I had the chance to read this story and enjoy Hotz's artwork a couple of months ago thanks to a black-and-white preview copy. Man oh man... the photocopy didn't do the art justice. The coloring job is stunning, adding an even greater level of darkness and detail to Hotz's already-strong visuals. Avalon's Brian Haberlin reinforces the realistic tone of this story with his contribution.
Vaughan has crafted a fascinating and fleshed-out character in Parker Robbins. I'm reminded of Changing Lanes, the recent Ben Affleck/Samuel L. Jackson movie. It featured the stories of two men who were inherently flawed, but ultimately, they're not bad guys. Affleck's and Jackson's characters are decent human beings, but both have darkness and anger within them. Parker is the opposite. He is not a decent guy, but he's got a lot of humanity within him, making it easy to relate to the character.
Note: Some of the comments in this review were reproduced from a previous feature on the website.
Call of Duty: I was surprised to find Chuck Austen's firefighting tale suddenly missing from the backup slot in Marvel titles this week, as we really haven't seen how it ends yet. But it's hard to gripe about it given the strength of Bruce Jones's cop script here. Jones's work on Incredible Hulk has been rather... quiet, but here, we see just how effective his dialogue can be. The two main characters come to life in an entertaining and thoroughly believable short story.
Matt Gunzer and Sam Liebman are cops in Brooklyn and partners. As Gunzer waits for word on a possible promotion, they respond to a potentially volatile situation in a tenement where a crackhead has taken his girlfriend's daughter hostage, ready to end her life with a single gunshot.
Finch's sketchy style -- which reminds me a great deal of Joe Kubert's work here -- captures the grimy, everyday feel of Urban America nicely, and Milla reinforces the down-to-earth tone of the story with his color details. The real star of the show, though, are the characters, whom the reader gets to know well and quickly thanks to some sharp banter back and forth between the two cops. The quick exchanges and humor reminded me of the style of Brian Michael Bendis. This take on "The Call of Duty" is what NYPD Blue would be like if created by Aaron (The West Wing) Sorkin.
Note: Since the backup story appears in several of this week's Marvel Comics releases, it does not factor into the rating for this review.
Email Don MacPherson comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.
|
