Comic Proportions

Wednesday Comics No. 1

Published by DC Comics. Art and writing by various.

The Deal: I've been waiting months for this ... at last, DC Comics' new weekly series Wednesday Comics finally hit shops yesterday. Now, for those who haven't heard, Wednesday Comics is DC's attempt at capturing the look and feel of those old, full-page comic strips that used to run in the Sunday editions of newspapers waaayyyy back in the day. The folks at DC have gathered together a star-studded group of writers and artists — like Neil Gaiman, Joe Kubert, Brian Azzarello, Kyle Baker and many more — to create over-sized, one-page, serialized comic strips starring an eclectic bunch of the company's characters.

The Good: I'm blown away by the big, full-page format. Of course, I'm a little biased: I've always loved those old full-page newspaper comics. When I was a kid, I used to go to the library and read old reprints of "Wash Tubbs" comics (Yes, I'm a geek!); and as I read them I thought, "Damn! I wish newspaper strips were like this now!" So seeing this secret "strip" fantasy of mine realized is definitely a dream come true. But beyond my own personal affection for the full-page format, no one can deny the mind-blowing quality of the art and the writing found on these pages. I mean, you've got Paul Pope writing and drawing an Adam Strange strip ... and it's as off-kilter, kitschy and alien as you'd expect. Other standouts include Kyle Baker on Hawkman; the art for his pages have been floating around the Internet for a bit, so it's not a secret that he switched up his style to draw this strip — but it's breathtaking. Busiek's Green Lantern strip is also engaging, retro and incredibly iconic in its approach. And ... and ... wow, there's a lot, lot, lot to like.

The Bad: Comic Shop News kind of screwed up this series a little bit. I don't mean that the reporters over there gave it bad press or anything like that, but that weekly magazine about comics has been giving away their similarly formatted publication for free for years. So, I think it makes it hard for comic buyers to think of Wednesday Comics as something they have to pay for — especially $3.99. Now, it's definitely worth the price, but some readers have just been trained to not buy a folded, newsprint publication like this for a long time. We'll see how the fanboys react. Another gripe is (and it's a small one) not all the strips in Wednesday Comics have a "To be continued ..." line of text at the end; some do and some don't. Are all these strips serialized or are some done-in-one? I'd like to see some consistency on that front.

The Verdict: It's really a wonderful product. I can't recommend it more. Buy it, dammit!

Reviewed materials provided by Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find: www.heroesonline.com.

Jonah Hex No. 45

Published by DC Comics. Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. Art by Cristiano Cucina.

The Deal: It’s the newest issue of DC’s only monthly Western comic: Jonah Hex. Hex tales are usually told in single-issue, done-in-one adventures. This issue, however, is part two in a six-part story arc called “The Six Gun War,” which brings together some of the company’s most famous Western characters — like Bat Lash and El Diablo.

The Good: My father used to watch Westerns films on TV all the time when I was a little kid. At the time, I was more into Star Wars, so I wasn’t really interested in seeing cowboys and Indians ride horses and shit. Years later, however, I got into the genre and started to dig the gritty tales of lone gunmen battling ruthless bad guys on the prairie and such. And that’s why I like DC Comics’ Jonah Hex series: The comic perfectly captures the look and feel of a great Western movie. Writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are on the money when it comes to iconic cowboy-flavored dialogue, characterization and plots. And you gotta respect Palmiotti and Gray for having the balls to tell straight Western stories and not fall into the trap of adding aliens or monsters or some crap like that. I have to believe that this series is not doing good in terms of sales (just a feeling I have), but with a Hex movie on the way, maybe the monthly comic will stick around ... at least until the film disappears from theaters.

The Bad: I pretty much liked everything. I’ve got no complaints.

The Verdict: I suggest buying this book every month.

Reviewed materials provided by Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find: www.heroesonline.com.

Captain America: Reborn No. 1

Published by Marvel Comics. Written by Ed Brubaker. Art by Bryan Hitch and Butch Guice.

The Deal: Well, here it is — the comic that folks have been waiting for — Captain America: Reborn No. 1. Now, in case you hadn't heard, Marvel's greatest patriotic hero is dead ... or, was dead. This five-issue limited series promises to bring him back to the land of the living.

The Good: You know that old saying that "every comic is someone's first comic"? I think writer Ed Brubaker took that to heart when crafting this first issue — because he takes a big chunk of the book to explain everything that led up to the possible "resurrection" of Cap. And, look, I'm not complaining. I've been reading Brubaker's Cap series for years, and I can't say that I remember everything that happened on the road to Reborn. All that said, I just really wanna know how the hell they bring Cap back from the dead and what happens after that. I mean, honestly, that's why I'm reading the series. So, I'd probably pick it up if it was awful. Luckily, the story and art are high-quality.

The Bad: Can we cut this down to a two-issue series?! Really. Seriously.

The Verdict: If you're a Cap fan, you just wanna know. So buy it.

Reviewed materials provided by Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find: www.heroesonline.com.