When it was first announced that Darwyn Cooke’s first major project after “DC: The New Frontier” would be a graphic novel adaptation of Richard Stark’s “Parker” novels, some fans might have been left confused by the choice. Why, after crafting one of the great modern examinations of DC’s Silver Age glory, would Cooke shift his focus to a series of crime/noir novels that had until now only been adapted into films? In a way, that question answers itself. Anyone familiar with Cooke’s previous comic work knows that noir has always been present, from his first major work in Batman: Ego, through his reinterpretation of Catwoman. Citing Stark’s Parker novels as a major influence, it makes perfect sense that Cooke would use this opportunities provided by his New Frontier success to finally establish the relevance of these novels in a graphic novel format.

Upon first reading it quickly becomes clear that Cooke is enjoying every aspect of this production. The pages initially read like film storyboards, but a closer reading makes evident the methodical and deliberate pacing of the panels. For example, readers don’t see Parker’s face until page 20, but during that time we do see his cruelty and have an immediate understanding of what this character is all about. Propelling the story’s pacing is Cooke’s use of space between the panels. While there is no linear deliniation of panel borders, the art never bleeds together. Rather, there are borderless white spaces separating the art. This lends itself well to the book’s ease in reading. It’s not a book that one has to read closely to appreciate, but if that avenue is taken there are enough artistic elements to satisfy critique.

It would perhaps be too obvious to classify Cooke’s art as cinematic, but there might not be a more appropriate description of his work here. It’s evident that Cooke is employing his experience as an animator to great effect, but what struck me as an even more successful element is what seems to be his obvious maturation as a storyteller (both through narration and illustration). There are times when Parker’s brutality has to be physically shown to move the story forward, but other times when it need only be hinted at. If we saw every murder or every display of cruelty in great detail the reader would tire quickly. Such subtlety is a great reminder that in any kind of art, less truly can be more. Not everything has to be shown to an audience for a work’s minutiae to be grasped.

In the case of this book there are no lengthy, overindulgent monologues or tedious dialogues. A character speaks only when necessary, and when it’s time to hear a character’s backstory, it is presented in a succinct manner. After the technicolor demands of New Frontier, a book like The Hunter seems to allow Cooke the possibility of exercising a greater amount of artistic restraint – not that New Frontier was overdone, or too dense. One could easily argue that it was restraint that ended up being one of the great aspects of that book. But many super hero comics don’t typically allow an artist a lot of room to be subtle. With a streamlined cast, a monochromatic color scheme, and a relatively basic plot, it’s clear that Cooke is enjoying the opportunity that a smaller story provides.

Working in a monochromatic color scheme (in this case, just one shade of blue), there are certainly limitations that are imposed on an artist. But an artist might also be afforded new alternatives in the process. Regarding the flashback scenes, Cooke cleverly uses an artistic device that is relevant to the time period in which the story takes place (1962). The flashbacks are represented in a pixelated style, which we can imagine as a set of frame-by-frame television images which replay themselves like reruns in Parker’s memory. No fancy camera tricks, no smoke or mirrors, just something that makes sense in to a character living in 1962.

In all honesty, Parker: The Hunter isn’t all that complicated a tale. But it is that simplicity which has sustained it in numerous genres over the past several decades. In the hands of some artists, a graphic novel adaptation could have easily come across as a set of contrived cliches. But Cooke excels because he takes advantage of the straightforward source material and expounds upon it, not with over-the-top violence or blood-splattered pages, but with subtle, nuanced storytelling. There’s a lot more that could be discussed about this work: comparisons between this book and the life and art of Edward Hopper; comparisons between the book, film and graphic novel – but I’ll leave all those possibilities to you as individual readers. This book will be released on July 22nd, with the second volume to follow in 2010. While crime/noir is a genre which understandably doesn’t appeal to everyone, I hope all kinds of Heroes customers will give this book a try, if for no other reason than to see a true craftsman of the comic industry working at the top of his game on one of his dream projects.

In the past decade Marvel has increased its focus on the Avengers, bringing that title into the forefront of its publishing efforts and expanding the number of related titles in the Avengers family of books. Many of the recent years’ company wide crossover events (i.e. House of M, Civil War and Secret Invasion) have had their genesis in the primary Avengers title, New Avengers. Yet in spite of Marvel’s placing a greater importance on the Avengers family, many new customers have expressed confusion as to what titles they should read, how all the titles relate to each other, and where a good place to start reading might be. So in the interest of clarification I offer a few brief summaries of who’s doing what, what characters appear in each title, what each book focuses on, and other Avengery quandaries.

First off, it should be noted that the initial issues following the Secret Invasion tie-ins were all designed to be transitional issues introducing new characters, rosters and creative teams. So these would be an ideal place to start reading if you’re interested in seeing what’s going on in this part of the Marvel Universe. New Avengers #48-50 introduce a new roster which feature some returning characters (Luke Cage, Wolverine, Ronin, Spider-man), and introduce new members as well (Ms. Marvel, the new Captain America, and potential members/supporting characters Jessica Jones and Mockingbird). This series, still written by Marvel mastermind Brian Michael Bendis, continues to play the same role it always has: this is still a ‘new’ Avengers team that has no ties to the government or other agencies. They continue to rebel against corrupted authorities and taking care of threats and situations that might otherwise get overlooked. They are also still on the run from those authorities who would wish them imprisoned or worse. The artist on the series for the next few months will be Billy Tan before recent Ultimate Spider-man artist Stuart Immonen takes over. With Bendis and Immonen on yet another of their best selling titles, Marvel has a creative team that is known for its timeliness and its potential for having a long, well-crafted run on the title.

Mighty Avengers #20-22 not only act as an epilogue to Secret Invasion, but introduce a completely new roster, focus and creative team. The series initial creative team of Bendis and artist Frank Cho, while great on paper, was plagued by lateness, a slightly odd roster of characters, and occasional uneven storytelling. Post-Secret Invasion, Bendis has passed the writing duties off to Dan Slott, and the art is being handled by Khoi Pham. The new creative team seems intent on making their book more classic in terms of roster and focus. That new roster is led by Avenger co-founder Hank Pym, now calling himself the Wasp in the aftermath of Secret Invasion. There is another giant character in Stature, former Young Avenger and daughter of another Ant Man. There is a classic Avenger in Scarlet Witch. There is a shield-wielder in U.S. Agent, a mythological god in Hercules, and two androids in Vision and Jocasta. So there are plenty of Avenger archetypes in this book. If you’ve not tried Mighty Avengers because you didn’t like the first few issues or heard negative comments about certain story lines in the book, I’d urge you to try out the title again, especially if you were a fan of the Avengers title in the ’70’s and ’80’s.

Avengers: The Initiative, thanks to Secret Invasion, is a title that is understandably up in the air as far as its direction is concerned. This title was a direct result of Marvel’s Civil War series, and had consistently good story lines and an interesting concept from the beginning. Writer Dan Slott has passed the torch to Christos Gage, a capable writer who has been co-writing the book for months. Original artist Stefano Caselli has moved on to the Secret Invasion spin off series Secret Warriors, written by Jonathan Hickman. The book still contains a large, varied cast of characters, including but not limited to Tigra, Taskmaster, the New Warriors, Gauntlet and several new characters introduced throughout this series. Issues #20-22 wrap up the Secret Invasion tie-ins and lead into a new storyline called “The Initiative Disassembled.” With the status of the Initiative program made irrelevant in a post Skrull-invaded Marvel Universe, it will be interesting to see how Christos Gage and artist Humberto Ramos change the direction of the title, and whether or not the Initiative as a whole can continue to exist in a Marvel Universe controlled by villains.

The newest Avengers title, Dark Avengers, is also written by Bendis with art by Mike Deodato, Jr. While Bendis has in the past been one to draw out story lines over several months (such as the mystery behind the identity of the first Ronin), with Dark Avengers he lets readers know who the characters are and what their motivations will be, all within the span of the first issue. There was not a need to draw out the issue of the characters’ identities this time around, as it was fairly obvious from initial promotional art. Dark Avengers is essentially a revamped take on the Thunderbolts concept: what if villains masqueraded as heroes? Not to worry, it’s doubtful that this will end up being a grand redemption tale. This is a title firmly cemented in the new post-Secret Invasion/Dark Reign era. Villains have the spotlight; they have control. The only question remaining is how they’ll use/abuse that power, and to what extent they’ll exert their will on humanity and super-humanity in the Marvel Universe.

All these titles have some interaction with each other, but each has it’s specific function. In other words, you don’t have to read them all in order to understand any one of them. That being said, this is a good time to start reading any of the Avengers books if you haven’t already. If you’d like even more of the story, check out the one shots Secret Invasion: Requiem, which offers a nice introduction to the new direction of the Mighty Avengers. Dark Reign: New Nation offers sneak peaks at upcoming Avengers-related titles and miniseries, and Secret Invasion: Dark Reign picks up immediately following Secret Invasion, and plants the seeds for the primary direction of Marvel titles in ‘09. And if you want to go back even farther, there are trade paperback versions of Civil War, Secret Invasion, and recent Avengers titles all available at our store.

by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston
reviewed by Seth Peagler

With Marvel’s series The Twelve being 1/4 of the way to completion, it seems like an appropriate time to offer an overview. This series coincides with the recent trend of publishers offering titles centering around the notion of “heroes from yesterday” trying to find their way in the modern world. This idea is not a novel one in the realm of comics. Anyone remotely familiar with Captain America knows this kind of story has been around for a long time. Part of the reason for the success of The Twelve is that writer J. Michael Straczynski and artist Chris Weston begin the series by assuming that most readers are familiar with the ‘man out of time’ archetype. While assumption is usually not a great thing for any artist to often employ, in this case it works.

With the Marvel Universe still reeling from the loss of Captain America, Straczynski has the government see these newly-discovered past heroes as a necessity, both from a moral standpoint, and a public relations one. In a post-Civil War Marvel Universe, the public’s faith in their heroes has been tested, and with the national symbol of morality, heroism and patriotism dead, it falls on the shoulders of these twelve lost-and-found heroes to shoulder some of those responsibilities whether they want to or not.

The point-of-view character in this series is a hero named The Phantom Reporter, a cape and mask-wearing character who has no super powers to speak of. He was, however, a reporter in his civilian life, which makes him the ideal character to narrate this series. Here Straczynski uses another arguably overused archetype – that of the journalist secret identity. In this case, having a journalist narrate the story works especially well because we get a first-person telling of the many difficulties a person would have in integrating themselves into a world sixty years ahead of the one they remembered. Straczynski and Weston take their time with this aspect of the story, particularly in the scenes where hero Captain Wonder learns of the deaths of his wife and children, then visits their graves in an understandably emotional sequence. The authors want everyone to understand that before these people can get back to being heroes, there are many difficult things they’ll have to deal with in coming to terms with their sixty year absence.

In fact, if there has been a overwhelmingly present theme of these first four issues, it is that the modern world is a much different place than the world of the 1940’s. The authors use several of the characters attempts at dealing with their new situation to describe many possible conflicts. Dynamic Man, for example, while always claiming to be the hero of the future, can’t reconcile his rightly outdated views of race with his desires to be a hero. Mr. E reunites with a scornful son who resents his father’s past attempts to conceal the reality of his heritage. And Master Mind Excello, who can see and hear things outside of a normal human’s range, suffers from horrible headaches as a result of his inability to handle the noise of a world with so many new technologies.

While Straczynski’s name is probably the one bringing most readers to this book, his contributions are equally matched by artist Chris Weston. Weston has illustrated a wide range of characters and stories in his career, and does a good job here of giving each character their own personality. He especially excels at scenes where the characters must face their surviving relatives, or the graves of those who passed on. If there is a major complaint about this series thus far it is fair to say that it is highly derivative, owing many of its ideas to over-used archetypes. Then again, since these are all characters from the 1940’s it is understandable that the authors would focus on archetypes. In four issues there hasn’t been a great deal of action, which some might not appreciate. My thought is that the authors are using these initial issues to deal with the character’s ramifications of being away from life for sixty years. It seems likely that they’ll add more action sequences in the second or third act of the story.

With other similar series like Project: Superpowers from Alex Ross being released all around the same time, it might seem like these books are just a trend not worth buying into. The Twelve is worth buying, if for no other reason, than to see a good writer and a good artist team up to tell very human stories of superheroes out of their time. It’s also worth checking out just to see some of these forgotten heroes that most of us have probably never encountered before.

While my work at Heroes usually keeps me in the warehouse, I’ve been a loyal customer for over 17 years and have been turned on to great books by the staff over the years. So I thought I’d share some of my suggestions for not only the holidays, but also items worth checking out at our upcoming sale (December 1-2 for those who may have forgotten). Similarly to my Heroes colleagues, I thought I’d break down my suggestions into groups and focus on specific genres.

For fans of crime fiction, there’s definite worth in checking out any of the “100 Bullets” storylines or trade paperbacks. High on my list is volume 5, “The Counterfifth Detective,” my favorite storyline thus far. Also recommended is “Scene of the Crime: A Little Piece of Goodnight.” This one’s especially a good idea for fans of Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark’s current run on Daredevil, as they both collaborate on this book from a few years ago.

For fans of cosmic superheroes, I’d recommend the recently completed “Silver Surfer: Requiem” series. Brought to life by J. Michael Straczynski and Esad Ribic, this mini series follows the pattern of “The End” books that Marvel Comics has released in recent years. Though never overtly called “The End,” the story follows the last days of the Silver Surfer and reminds us of the character’s greatness and nobility.

Good suggestions for those enjoying comic strips or archival reprints are Drawn and Quarterly’s “Walt and Skeezix” compilations. These reprints of the long-running “Gasoline Alley” comic strip feature great art from creator Frank King, and offer an accurate glimpse of day-to-day life in the 1920’s. It’s also important to point out that this series takes place in real time, so characters age and progress as anyone would over time, something rare for comics and comic strips.

Horror fans should consider looking at “Baltimore,” the recent illustrated novel from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and co-writer Christopher Golden. Mignola has long been known for incorporating elements of folklore and classic horror into his work. This novel is no different, and effectively puts a new twist on vampire lore and vampire hunters, while still retaining the gothic tone tone of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.”

Western fans are wise to find “Showcase Presents: Jonah Hex,” DC’s black and white reprints of the early appearances of their famous western hero. Featuring work from comic legends Gil Kane, Joe Kubert, Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, among others, this affordable collection gets you over 500 pages of classic comics for under $20.00, a deal hard to pass up for any fan of westerns.

Those preferring their comics a little more psychological should seek out Grant Morrison’s run on “Doom Patrol.” Written before his runs on “JLA,” “New X-Men,” “Seven Soldiers” and “All Star Superman,” “Doom Patrol” follows bizarre characters with strange powers (or situations) as they face threats with names like Mr. Nobody and the Brotherhood of Dada, among other odd creations.

Fans of indy, or non-superhero books might enjoy Alex Robinson’s “Box Office Poison,” the recent reprints of “Love and Rockets,” or any of Chris Ware’s excellent offerings from “Acme Novelty Library.” While each of these series are very different, they all deal with humans who are neither super nor powered, but all the more interesting because of that fact.

Those are just a few brief ideas for the holidays. Enjoy.