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Snapshots for 1/7
There's no way that Don and I can cover all of the material we have for review in full reviews, so these capsule reviews will offer some brief comments on other recent releases.
THE GOON #4
by Eric Powell & Kyle Hotz (Dark Horse Comics)
 I love The Goon, but this month, it seems like Powell couldn't quite top his own cover. Don't get me wrong, the interior stories are a lot of fun, but nothing made me laugh quite like the over-the-top cover captions of "The Sea Hag Demands A Mate!" and "Beware the Beast's Lust for Pie!" OK, maybe the appearance of a cursing Rod Serling in perfect black-and-white on the first page. And the ad for the "Junior Goon" kit that includes a switchblade and bottle of poison. Or an angry fish beast calling his overly amorous sea hag mother an "aquatic trollop!" Or The Goon solving a problem by betting on a beast in a pie-eating contest. OK, you've got me... The Goon #4 is, as always, fun from cover to cover. Kyle Hotz's artwork is a nice complement to Powell's style, and Powell continues to impress with his off-kilter and nicely detailed artwork as well. 8/10
HELLBOY WEIRD TALES #6
by Will Pfeifer, P. Craig Russell, Doug Petrie, Gene Colan, Craig Thompson and others (Dark Horse Comics)
 This is easily the strongest and most consistent issue of Hellboy Weird Tales so far. Craig Thompson's darkly comic "Vacation in Hell" is probably the highpoint, showing off a clever and twisted sense of humor that is somewhat different from the introspective style of his Blankets graphic novel but which has the same beautiful art style, albeit with some grotesque imagery and a touch of medieval woodcut style that is ideal for the subject matter. Doug Petrie's tale, focusing on beautiful but lonely pyrokinetic Liz Sherman, is a bit short to really get into anything, but it has spectacular painted-looking artwork by Gene Colan that reminds me of Dan Brereton's Nocturnals work. Then there's Will Pfeifer's clever story which pits Hellboy against a weird immortal troupe of performers and has beautiful artwork by P. Craig Russell. Throw in a gorgeous pinup by Steve Purcell and two more pages of John Cassaday's weird pulp tribute/parody Lobster Johnson and you've got a great treat for Hellboy fans. 9/10
LEGENDS FROM DARKWOOD #1
by Christopher Reid & John Kantz (Antarctic Press)
 Legends from Darkwood is only the second Antarctic Press title I've read, and I regret that it didn't capture my imagination the way that Rod Espinosa's Neotopia did. Legends from Darkwood does have an interesting premise and artwork that, while not entirely consistent, has some excellent moments as well, but it's a bit inconsistent in tone and sometimes not wholly clear in storytelling. Kantz's artwork, which reminds me in many ways of Lea Hernandez, is often very beautiful to behold, but his action sequences tend to disappear in a flurry of speed lines and weird camera angles, and though the context usually makes the events clear, the effect is that of watching a really good prize fight with a camera man who keeps swinging down or away whenever a key punch connects. The story's premise, a town full of unicorn hunters and a young girl who resists that destiny, is intriguing, but Kantz can't quite decide whether to do it as melodrama or comedy, and it doesn't really work as both. There are certainly some chuckles to be found here, such as the notion that the girl never twigged to her role when she was being shown charts of unicorns that read "Tasty - Tastier - Tastiest," but the general angst of Rose when she discovers the truth or witnesses a unicorn murdered is very much on the darker, sadder side. As a result, I could never quite get into the groove of the book. All of that said, though, the last page hints that Rose might have a rather unusual method of redeeming her town or getting even with the murderers of unicorns, and I am curious about where the story will go from here. 6/10
MYSTIQUE #9
by Brian Vaughan, Michael Ryan & Matt Milla (Marvel Comics/Tsunami imprint)
 I've been off and on this book with each issue, but I'm back on as of this one, as Vaughan and Ryan serve up some spectacular espionage action in the Alias manner. Vaughan's Mystique still feels a little soft to me, not at all the ruthless thinker that she was when she first showed up in Uncanny X-Men, but she makes a good Jennifer Garner stand-in, and I like the easy camaraderie that has developed between Mystique and her handler Short Pack in such a short time. While the character interaction, and the nifty mutant power (and weird motivation) of The Host, are certainly interesting, it's the action that really makes the book shine this issue. Ryan designs what looks like a slightly sci-fi motorcycle for Mystique to use in chasing down The Host's BMW (a quintessential spy car), and both the chase and the fight sequence that follows should be textbook examples of how to combine witty banter and fantastic action choreography in comics. 8/10
SUPREME POWER #6
by J. Michael Straczynski, Gary Frank & Jonathan Sibal (Marvel Comics/MAX imprint)
 On the surface, Supreme Power is a real (or at least, realer) world with super-powers story that blends the best aspects of Squadron Supreme, The Ultimates and maybe even a little bit of Watchmen. However, there's definitely a lot more going on here, and both the surface super-powers and societal interaction stuff and the more subtle reinvention of super-hero cliche makes Supreme Power an engaging read every month, even though we're six issues in and there's really not been any big conflict to speak of, aside from some tension between Hyperion and his adopted family and government. The conflicts start in this issue, as Straczynski reveals a little bit about why Hyperion kicked off a surge of super-powers instead of being the lone superhuman, and it includes some nice alien invasion paranoia to add onto the secret government organization paranoia that's been in the background. There are also some terrific first meetings this issue between Hyperion and the Blur, which is a friendly and fun talk about the differences of living with powers, and Hyperion and Nighthawk, which is considerably less cordial and features some great work by Gary Frank in showing what Nighthawk is thinking with a darkly comic touch. The sense of the boulders starting to roll downhill begins in this one with the implications of alien invasion and some relatively innocent comments by Blur sparking Hyperion to what could be dangerous action, and I remain very impressed with the series. 9/10
ZEBEDIAH THE HILLBILLY ZOMBIE REDNECK BITES THE DUST
by Scott Mills (Oddgod Press)
 I am a big Scott Mills fan, and have come to expect a certain weird sensibility in his work. However, Zebediah is without a doubt the most bizarre thing I've read from Mills, and it seems to owe more than a little bit to the strange sensibilities of James Kochalka. The storytelling sometimes falters, as Mills challenges himself with mostly characters who can't speak, but the general gist of the story, a strange little fable about hope and goodness in even the most dire of places, is clear enough. Mills's artwork doesn't always carry the day, and the opening segment of the story in particular has some panels where I honestly couldn't even tell what was supposed to be going on. However, as things went on, the bizarre shapes like a one-armed zombie or a mad scientist in a "biteproof suit" made me chuckle, and the strangeness of the story and its multiple elements charmed me as well. Certainly it's rare, and perhaps completely unique, to find a tale where a mad scientist controls an army of zombies in a post-apocalyptic wasteland and uses them to invade an enclave of peaceful elves. Zebediah is an odd and somewhat quick read, but it's got an undeniable, strange charm that fans of James Kochalka or those who have enjoyed Mills's Top Shelf work would definitely enjoy. 7/10
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