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SPOTLIGHT ON MORE FIRST ISSUES
It's that time again, time to dig into the comp pile and pull out the first issues for review. As usual, there's a whole bunch of jumping on points and new stories for those adventurous enough to give them a try. Some of these (Rocketo #0, Voicebox Preview, Last Battle) are actually convention exclusives, so the review is geared less for the issue itself and more for the regular issue one that will follow. I've got several new books from Speakeasy, a new company that is generating a fair bit of buzz, as well as new books from Oni Press, Image and a few self publishers. Oh, and if you want to look for further information on any of these books, I've put links in various places, usually on the creator names and/or publisher names.
 Banana Sunday is the kind of comic that has you laughing throughout and leaves you with a smile on your face. There's a wonderful innocence to it that makes it kid-friendly, but there's a sharp wit that makes it a joy for adults as well. To sum up the concept, Banana Sunday is about a young girl named Kirby, her three talking monkeys (Go-Go, the glutton, Chuck the arrogant genius and Knobby the hopeless romantic) and her newest friend Nickels, a school reporter with an insatiable curiosity for the truth. There's a secret about what gives Kirby's monkeys the ability to talk, which presents an interesting dilemma for Nickels, who can't resist uncovering the truth but doesn't want to ruin her new friendship with Kirby.
It's impossible to get into all the great moments that Nibot and Coover have created here, because there's one on just about every page. Perfect comedic timing bits like Go-Go's reaction to the microphone, memorable and funny lines like Nickel's "No time for dating! I'm a reporter! Truth is my boyfriend!" and the follow-up of "I'd dump truth in a second for a cute boy with flowers!" are only a few examples. Nibot also really gives each character a memorable speech pattern, from Nickels' rapid-fire delivery (evident even as she relates her "origin") to the distinctive personality of each monkey to the practical joker style of Martin. Coover, meanwhile, provides art that is just remarkably cute and features flawless storytelling.
Banana Sunday has all the appeal and simplicity of an Archie comic with a sophistication that Archie comics can't touch. This is one of the most fun books of the year, and it's a nice bonus that it's all-ages, but really, even those without kids will want to check it out.
 Call it "robot noir." In the letter column, Armstrong explains that Ferro City is the product of too many Humphrey Bogart movies and too much Isaac Asimov's Caves of Steel. Obviously, there's no such thing as too much, but it is clear that Armstrong has both done his homework and really gets both genres, because Ferro City really does read like exactly that, a blend of classic detective noir with a bit of science-fiction flavor. One could argue that it's cliche, but I prefer to think of Armstrong as working well within the boundaries set by the genre, and delivering some memorable bad guys, a hardass hero and an interesting mcguffin in the form of "the medusa key," a doohickey that's wanted by at least three different forces at this point. On top of a solid premise and execution, Armstrong's artwork is really beautiful to look at, a graytoned detail-oriented style that reminds me at times of Darwyn Cooke, Mike Avon Oeming and even sci-fi comics pioneer Wally Wood. The backup feature about robot boxing is also a nice bit of flavor and a good story to boot. Armstrong makes good use of the serial format for his cliffhangers and puts a good chunk of first issue in his first issue, ensuring that at least this reader will be back for more.
 The last comic that Buell and Lost in the Dark put out was about the son of Jesus and the coming of the Rapture. Fragile Prophet is not, at first glance, quite that big, but it is just off the beaten path. Jeff Davidson's story cuts across a travelling carnival and a daytime talk show, exploring the story of a man named Esau and his younger brother, who is autistic and quite possibly precognitive. There's a really nice tone to Fragile Prophet, a mixture of light-hearted humor and vaguely supernatural weirdness that works very well in establishing both interesting characters and some solid suspense in wondering where the story will take them. Jake, the "fragile prophet" of the title, is probably the most interesting character, very innocent and likable and yet carrying an unusual premise thanks to his gift, and the flirtation between Lilith and Esau is enjoyable as well.
Buell is on art duties for Fragile Prophet just as he was on Video, and again, I find myself with mixed feelings about the art. The storytelling is top notch and I generally like the style, but there are times when the people look kind of freakish, and a bit more consistency in facial shapes would certainly help things. On the other hand, the storytelling is key, and it's pretty solid. Which is good, because there are some fairly notable balloon placement issues in the talk bubbles that make the story less than easy to follow at times. A little more attention paid to the dialogue balloons so that the dialogue flows more clearly would be helpful in making sure that the reader gets the conversations in the order originally intended.
 I've been following Bryant's career since the early days, and I'm pleased to see that he's got a couple new projects coming out from Speakeasy Comics. The Gatesville Company is the first, and it's due to hit comic stores sometime very soon. The premise is about a halfway point between heaven and hell where spirits settle any differences left from the living world before moving on to their final reward (or punishment.) Bryant spells out the premise and his inspirations in some of the extra material at the back, a nice bonus feature that also includes his take on other comics and design sketches and predesign work by McEvoy. There's definitely a lot of potential for tales using this premise from this creative team.
So that's the premise, how's the actual first issue? Pretty good. McEvoy's artwork, painted over his pencils, is gorgeous to look at. The action sequence between villainous cowboy Combs and samurai swordsmith Kazuo is a little bit lifeless all things considered, but in all other respects, the storytelling is great and the look is beautiful. Bryant does a good job with a short space in telling the tale, conveying the crux of the dispute, the personalities of both men and the resolution of the conflict. The limited space of the story means that there isn't room for a lot of embellishment, which is a shame, but the story is a good one and the premise has room for a lot of future exploration as well.
 This one is less a first issue and more a preview, being a color 14-page preview of an Italian comic about a Roman general that is due to come out in English relatively soon. The publishing details are still up in the air, but The Last Battle is definitely worth keeping an eye out for. It represents a genre departure for Dan Brereton, who has usually painted more gothic, horror and monster stuff, and it looks absolutely gorgeous. Faraci's story steers clear of the stereotypical glory of Rome, instead allowing Brereton to show off an impressive but relatively crude settlement, a wilderness hunt and a gladiatorial arena more in common with the first out of way ring in Spartacus than the ones seen in Gladiator. The story here is three short segments presented out of sequence, so it's difficult to judge the strength of the overall writing, but the moment-to-moment work is very strong, and I would guess that when we see Last Battle in its final form, it will be well worth checking out.
 Of Bitter Souls is a pretty strong debut from Speakeasy comics and creators Satterlee and Breyfogle. It's a little bit mystical, a little bit superhero and if you catch a tiny bit of a Buffy vibe, I can only imagine that isn't accidental either. The creative team serves up four souls, each with a unique superpower gifted to them by a mysterious mentor, who now fight the occult in New Orleans. The action sequences, pitting the heroes against four vampires trying to dine on a graveyard tour group, are exciting and fun, and deftly show off the team's powers, and I'm just overjoyed to see Breyfogle's art in comics again. His distinctive style, featuring long and lean bodies and faces and polished storytelling, is one I've liked since his Batman days in the late '80s and early '90s, and his design for the four heroes of the group makes good use of the black leather garb that was all the rage around the time of the Matrix and X-Men movies. Sure, it's a look that might seem dated, but it's not entirely worn out yet if it looks good, and Breyfogle (along with colorist Mike Kowalczyk) makes it look good.
Though Speakeasy isn't a shared universe, it does seem that some of the titles that have struck a chord with me have set up shop in the mystical side of the comic book medium, and that New Orleans serves as the home base for that the way New York has for traditional superheroics. Satterlee and Breyfogle's New Orleans isn't quite as convincing as that of Jose Torres and Chris Dibari on The Hunger, but it's passable enough, and the use of a graveyard tour to introduce the vampire clan is a nice "local" touch. I'm also quite pleased with Satterlee's invention of powers for the group and Breyfogle's execution of them, in particular the "time travel" power of Lynette Story. Of Bitter Souls has a solid action sequence, a clear origin and plenty of mystery left for the future, one of the more well-constructed first issues I've read in a while, and a mystic adventure book with plenty of potential.
 One of those buzz books that's been making the rounds, even so far as getting linked off of Boing Boing, Rocketo is another new Speakeasy offering. The reason the book is getting buzz has less to do with the concept (about a pulp style explorer in a "shattered world" that may be a post-apocalyptic version of our own) and more to do with the artwork of Frank Espinosa. Espinosa's artwork is definitely worthy of such attention, a distinctive and unique style that has surface similarities to Darywn Cooke's New Frontier work, but really stands out as something all its own. There's a terrific use of color on Rocketo, a subtle variation in colors, and Espinosa uses a lot of lines to give a sense of blurred, constant motion that really serves his adventurous premise. He also has a terrific sense of design, from the hawk nosed Rocketo himself to the giant robots, floating cities and monstrous serpent creatures found in these pages.
The story of Rocketo, however, is not as compelling as the artwork, at least not yet. Which isn't to say that it's bad, just that Espinosa sort of meanders a bit. There's no clear introduction of Rocketo and his world, and the reader is dumped into the middle of one of his adventures without a lot of context. Fortunately, the adventure itself is pretty entertaining, an updating of the sirens myth from The Odyssey, and Rocketo is a great square-jawed all-American style hero with a likable sidekick in Spiro. Rocketo #0 is a teaser of things to come, so I can't bring myself to judge the story too harshly. At 13 pages, there's only so much backstory Espinosa could include, and at any rate, the action, ideas and especially the art will definitely get me to give issue one, due out this week, a look.
 I missed the second arc of this book (hoping for a trade), so I didn't know Bobby Pope and his supporting cast, but that hardly matters, as the creators have done a terrific job of creating a self-contained issue that serves as both a catch-up on the premise and previously introduced characters and a new story that's an introduction to the world of Small Gods. The book's high concept is a relatively simple one, about a world where 1 person out of every 100 has some sort of psychic ability, and how that changes society, particularly the side of it that deals with crime and law enforcement. From that premise, Rand has created stories with memorable characters and moral dilemmas. This issue is no exception, as it deals with the always thorny issue of hostage negotiations, with the added wrinkle that one of the cops knows how the whole thing could end in violence and he has to try and stop that future from coming true.
The Ferreyras do a terrific job on art, giving it a photo-real look but still keeping things expressive and lively. The big double-splash of Detective Young's precognitive vision is particularly impressive, and I also like the special effects they use to match up his precog vision to what's happening in the real world. This issue was originally supposed to be in color, and it's a shame that didn't happen, but the art still looks fantastic, and the story features great suspense and strong characterization. This is an excellent book, and Small Gods Special is another chance to check it out.
 When I was first reading G.I. Joe, the mystery of Snake Eyes was one of the big drawing points of the book. Slowly, his story started to unfurl, as we learned how he lost his voice and started wearing a mask all the time, what his relation was to the Cobra ninja Storm Shadow and how he learned his own ninja skills. As time went on, though, just as with Wolverine, Snake Eyes's popularity led to more and more "revelations" about his past, each one adding another layer onto an already overloaded backstory. Snake Eyes: Declassified is, unfortunately, an example of more of the same, adding more depth to a backstory that really doesn't need any more. Jerwa and Santalucia expand upon Snake Eyes's Vietnam experience, and the actual story and art is solid, synching up nicely with previously revealed elements of his past. It's just that, to this mostly lapsed G.I. Joe fan, it all feels sort of unnecessary. Jerwa is the guy who has most closely captured the feel that the early Hama G.I. Joes had, and that continues here, but I'm not sure we needed yet another miniseries focusing on yet another aspect of Snake Eyes's past, which had started out as mysterious and intriguing and has become one of those stories we've seen told over and over again.
 It's always a joy when someone takes a weird but cool sounding high concept and delivers on all the promise that flooded into your brain when you heard it. That's definitely the case with Strange Detective Tales, the first issue of a new miniseries that pairs horror film sidekicks Renfield and Igor together as private detectives helping out the "creeps" in '50s-era Los Angeles. Bausch really nails the '50s private eye genre, and there's also a clear love of the horror movies in the creeps that Renfield and Igor encounter, along with a self-aware sense of humor that this kind of thing is funny. It's not played strictly for laughs, but it's not played too straight either, and the tone is pretty much perfect.
On top of a great concept well executed, Bausch has also provided a pretty compelling story. It's an old chestnut, as the P.I. is forced to dig into the life of an ex-flame who has gotten into trouble (or at least, in this case, disappeared), but it's got a nice bit of mystery to it and some really entertaining personal struggles as he faces his own demons, both mental and physical, in chasing down the trail of his ex. Bausch is accompanied by James Callahan on art, and all the praise that Bausch gives Callahan is well-deserved. It's a clean-line style that's hard to describe by comparison to anyone else, and Callahan has a special gift for lovingly rendered viscera and gore that isn't too gory or, well, visceral. There's all kinds of potential for overly grossing out the reader, with Renfield eating roaches or having his guts splayed out or running across a variety of decomposing flesh or exposed internal organs, but while Callahan gets it all across, he doesn't go for the grossout factor, because that's not really the point.
Strange Detective Tales features a great premise, interesting characters, several memorable interrogation scenes and a compelling mystery with terrific art. What more could you ask for? Well, how about some nifty pin-ups from indy notables including Becky Cloonan and Rob Ullman? This was a pleasure, and I'm definitely looking forward to more.
 Sometimes, no matter how much you try to keep on top of stuff, you miss things, and Students of the Unusual is definitely one of those books that flew beneath my radar. It's a full-color horror anthology from an independent publisher, which means it's right up my alley, and this first issue, written entirely by Terry Cronin with several different artists, is a pretty good opening act. Cronin's stories are, by necessity, kind of short, but they all make their points pretty effectively. They're also accompanied by artwork that is fairly strong, with notable standouts being Julia Lichty's amaingly stirring colors on "Stubborn," Poly Bernatene's lush visions of New Zealand jungles and their Maori inhabitants in "Moko Mokai" and Steve Mack's stylized and perfectly humorous complement to "The Dead Beats!" Of the stories, the humorous "Dead Beats!," about a guy who signs his soul over to the devil in order to get musical legends for his band, is probably my favorite, but there are more serious horror stories here as well, including the predictable but enjoyable "Moko Mokai," the brief but effective "Stubborn" and "Under the Bridge," a tale of a murderous, homeless troll.
 OK, technically, Supernatural Law is a long-running series and this is a "first amendment" issue rather than a first issue, but it's a standalone story, so it fits the criteria. There can be a tendency on the part of many folks to get overly preachy when talking about free speech and the CBLDF, but Lash neatly avoids that here, instead offering up a clever and funny story revolving around free speech issues that also happens to raise some thought-provoking issues. Cameos from Charles Brownstein and Chris Staros lookalikes in roles as part of the "Art Gallery Legal Defense Fund" (AGLDF) make for neat winks at the audience, but the meat of the story revolves around paintings suddenly talking as the result of a spell, and whether or not that speech is covered under the freedom of expression. Lash gets some fun mileage out of what paintings might say, contradicting their painters' intentions or revealing things best left unsaid, and gets to engage in a little legal "what if" story as well that should please those with a fondness for legal procedural drama. I was kind of surprised (but pleased) that Lash also serves up a bittersweet ending, indicating that the fight for free speech and tolerance is never really won, it's an ongoing battle with occasional victories and losses.
 Like The Last Battle, this is more of a "keep an eye out for it" review than an actual recommendation for the comic I've read. Voicebox is the name of three writers who are working in a shared universe that features magic and magic-based superheroes, allowing them a variety of genre while still having links of at least a loose sort between the titles. The first story in the book is Dan Jolley's "Sawed-Off Mojo" about a private detective with a mystical bent working in Georgia, with art by Robert Atkins. This first story, an eight-pager about the lead detective rescuing a rich runaway girl from a cult intent on sacrificing her, is solidly executed if lacking in the sort of flavor that makes hard-boiled detective stories really work.
The second story is my favorite of the bunch, "Shelter" by Marie Croall and Aleksandar Sotirovski, about a woman who might be pregnant and who definitely has the magical ability to suck the life out of someone with a touch. The story is too brief to really give an insight into anything but the flavor, but it's got a general style that I like, and the artwork by Sotirovski is gorgeous in black and white, like a mix of Joe Quesada's best work and the art of guys like Eduardo Risso.
"The Last Bastion" is the third story, written by Brandon Jerwa. This is more of an illustrated proposal, with the illustrations done by veteran superhero artist Leonard Kirk. Jerwa's story, about a group of four friends who become the world's first costumed heroes using their magical powers, sounds interesting. It's a superhero story, but it's one that sounds a little bit off the beaten path for the genre, and the built-in purpose of a destiny to stand against the end of the Earth is a nice touch. Kirk's designs are likewise nice, but there isn't much context to judge them on yet, and of course the actual artwork will be done by a different artist, so the jury is out on that side of the story. "Last Bastion" is still a bit of a question mark, but what I see in the proposal intrigues me, and I'm curious to see Jerwa's work outside of the G.I. Joe realm, as he's proven to be pretty good on the G.I. Joe books, even when my interest in the whole set of characters was waning.
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