Brit No. 1
Published by Image Comics. Plot and script by Bruce Brown. Pencils and inks by Cliff Rathburn.
The Deal: Advertisements for Brit describe the character like this: “He is a one-man killing machine. Indestructible. Unstoppable. And eligible for a senior citizens discount.” And that pretty much sums up this new ongoing series. The brainchild of Robert Kirkman — the writer/creator of Invincible, The Walking Dead, The Astounding Wolf-Man and more — Brit is an elderly government agent who kicks the shit out of bad guys. Nothing else to see here.
The Good: The art in Brit is right up my alley; clean, minimal and devoid of unnecessary lines. His design work is fresh, incorporating some interesting forms (especially when it comes to drawing technology). Checking the credits, I notice that artist Cliff Rathburn is the man behind the book’s pencils, inks and color — and it shows. His coloring style is flat, washed out and elegant (not bright or gaudy), which is a perfect foil for the light-hearted nature of the story. Speaking of the story, writer Bruce Brown has — with this book — shown a mastery of engaging, conversational and damn funny dialogue. Brown’s script forgoes the use of exposition captions and instead lets the reader figure out the flow of action through pictures and conversations between characters. And that approach to comic writing leads to open, airy panels that allow the art to shine through.
The Bad: Brit is an amusing book … but that’s about it. The story is funny but there ain’t much meat to the damn thing. Brit‘s creator, Robert Kirkman, is on hand as an editor — and maybe that’s why the book comes off like The Astounding Wolf-Man: all candy. Now, there’s nothing wrong with a lightweight storyline, but I’m just not sure I can stick around every month.
The Verdict: The art is great and the story is fun and … well … that’s it. I’ll read a few more issues, but I’m not sure how long I’ll stay with it.
Thor No. 3
Published by Marvel Comics. Plot and script by J. Michael Straczynski. Pencils by Olivier Coipel. Inks by Mark Morales.
The Deal: Have you heard? Thor is back from the dead, and he’s starring in a new version of his solo book. This issue, he goes head to head with Iron Man over some crap that went down during the Marvel Civil War. A few months ago, I reviewed the first issue of the new Thor series, so I decided to check back in with the book to see if the quality has remained stellar.
The Good: What’s good about the latest issue of Thor? Everything. (And if you’ve been following Marvel Comics for the last year or so, you’ll really love this issue.) Coipel’s art has reached a whole new level of dynamism, presenting a bold — yet pared down — cinematic style of pacing. His pages feature a small number of panels, but convey a ton of story movement; that’s the sign of a master storyteller. His action shots are kinetic and awe-inspiring — particularly his drawings of lightning. Straczynski’s approach to the script is the same as his first two issues: sparse and filmic (matching Coipel’s drawing style). And as much as people have complained about decompressed storytelling (aka unnecessarily “padded,” boring storylines) over the last few years, it takes a guy like Straczynski to prove that it’s OK to unravel the threads of a yarn slowly. In other words, not a lot happened this issue, but it was still an entertaining and satisfying read.
The Bad: God, I wish I could find something. I hate to come off like a fanboy. But, dammit, I love it. Every. Damn. Page.
The Verdict: I love it. Every. Damn. Page.
Reviewed materials furnished by Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find: www.heroesonline.com.
This article appears in Sep 12-18, 2007.
