I recently read two rather entertaining science-fiction-flavored comics from Marvel — with two very different approaches to the genre.

First up was Astonishing X-Men No. 29. I know that the X-Men is widely thought of as a superhero comic. But as Grant Morrison proved during his acclaimed run on New X-Men a few years ago, the X-Men is best when it’s considered a sci-fi book. Writer Warren Ellis delves even deeper into the sci-fi pool by telling a tale of artificially created mutants and instant parallel universes. Ellis’ approach is incredibly cerebral — short on action but long on big ideas. For some, this may come off as a “talking heads” issue — and it is thick at times — but the arc’s ongoing mystery presents some challenging concepts. And its ending leaves us with an ominous cliffhanger.

Now, where Astonishing X-Men was all about heady ideas and challenging exposition, Guardians of the Galaxy #13 is all about mindless action and fun. This month, the team gathers all its old members, officially adds a few new heroes to the team and gets involved even deeper in the “War of Kings” crossover event. I’ve been promoting this comic for months; for me, it provides the best old-school Marvel fix of any comic on the stands. It’s got guest stars galore, the most far-out pseudo-science ever and features probably the lamest cast of any team in comics — but that’s the draw. Guardians has become, for all intents and purposes, the repository for all of Marvel’s “homeless” cosmic characters. So if you like Bug from the Micronauts, Moondragon or Rocket Racoon, buy this book.

[Ed. note–some SPOILERS below, although pretty mild unless you’ve really been out of the Cap loop for the last two years.]

Writer Ed Brubaker really knows how to stretch out a story.

His propensity to tell long yarns is evident in comics like Daredevil — where he dangles plots and character beats over the course of several storylines — but it’s on full display in the pages of Captain America.

Cap, under Brubaker’s guiding hand, has essentially consisted of one adventure that’s taken four years to tell. The comic seems like a throwback book in this day of six-part arcs created for the express purpose of later publishing a trade paperback.

For avid readers, Brubaker’s approach is the ultimate form of serialized fiction. He gives an audience the necessary time and space to really know, understand and care about the characters — good guys and bad guys. For casual readers, however, this approach can lead to stories that seem to move too slowly.
But in Brubaker’s defense, Captain America is not “padded” in the least (like the old Bill Jemas days). Each issue serves up significant character moments, contains elements that keep the story going and offers enough nuggets to satisfy dedicated members of the audience.

On top of that, when I read Cap I get the feeling that we’re going somewhere — that we’re not on some endless ride leading to a dead end (so, no crap like a third Summer’s brother or anything like that).

The first sign of forward progression in the pages of Captain America was the reintroduction of Bucky Barnes. That was a BIG deal. The second sign was the murder of Steve Rogers. That was also a BIG deal — made even bigger because the guy has remained a corpse for a few years. The third sign was the introduction of the new Captain America (aka Bucky). Now, judging from some new ads I’ve seen in the pages of Marvel books, it looks like another chapter in this ongoing saga MAY be coming to a close.

And knowing Brubaker, that ending will undoubtedly lead to a new beginning.

Instead of just reviewing one comic book this week, I wanted to take some time to recommend a few different titles:

Dark Reign: Hawkeye No. 1 — A few reviews ago, I talked about how I liked my comic book villains “bad” — not misunderstood monsters or anti-heroes. Well, I guess writer Andy Diggle and I are on the same page because his Dark Reign: Hawkeye limited series chronicles the adventures of the gleefully villainous Bullseye (who’s currently dressed as Hawkeye). Diggle pulls out the stops to show Bullseye committing a bunch of atrocities on innocent and not-so-innocent bystanders — the results are both heinous and hilarious.

Superman: World of New Krypton No. 2 — I’m fairly engrossed with Superman: World of New Krypton. The latest and second issue, written by Greg Rucka and James Robinson with art by Pete Woods, is a little thick on the subject of Kryptonian culture, but there are enough mysteries percolating about the storyline to keep my interested. And I must admit, I appreciate the hole Rucka and Robinson are digging for Clark; if the creative team keeps going on this path, I’ll more than likely stick around to see how everything gets resolved.

Batman: Battle for the Cowl No. 2 — The only reason I’m reading this limited series is to find out who becomes the new Batman. Based on the way things are rolling — and from reading Previews and a few comic news websites — I think I have it figured out. So, basically, I want to see if I’m right. Is the story or art in this comic any good? The art has its good and bad moments, and the writing, by Tony Daniel, is good enough to make me stick around to the last issue of this three-part series.

Destroyer No. 1 — I’ve already said how much I love Robert Kirkman’s writing in this space and his work in this Marvel/Max limited series doesn’t disappoint. The art, by Cory Walker, is on-point as well. Both the drawing and the writing is crafted with such economy — Kirkman using the least number of words and Walker using the least number of lines — that everything comes across effortlessly.

I haven’t been thrilled with Marvel’s Black Panther title since writer Reginald Hudlin took over the comic a few years ago.

Although, to be fair, I probably wouldn’t have been happy with the work of any writer who followed up Christopher Priest’s run on the Panther’s solo series.

For those who never had a chance to read the Priest-helmed Black Panther, let me just say it was brilliant. I would even dare to say that it was “Alan Moore/Neil Gaiman good.” Yeah — THAT good.

During that series, which ran for more than 80 issues (I think), the Panther was remade from a sometimes-bumbling supporting character into an enigmatic, powerful and ultra-competent leading man.

Then along came Hudlin … who basically took Priest’s revitalized Panther and wrote a few lackluster stories based around the cat-tastic hero. Which brings us to the latest issue of Black Panther. I like it.

Yeah I know I just bashed the guy’s work on the book. But since the series was relaunched with a new No. 1 three months ago, setting the stage for a new female Panther, things have improved.
Hudlin has assembled a great cast of characters, and he’s given them some interesting conflicts to resolve. The dialogue is crisp and witty — yet still in character. And the mystery surrounding the new lady Panther is surprisingly intriguing and doesn’t seem as contrived as I initially feared.

Another great, well probably the best, aspect of the new Panther series is the art by Ken Lashley. Where did this guy come from? While not perfect, his work is lush, yet lightly stylized; it strangely seems to marry the best elements of Jim Lee and Keith Pollard. I hope he sticks around a while.

And speaking of sticking around, I’ll do just that for this new iteration of the Black Panther. Let’s hope it takes a while to start sucking.

When it comes to comic book villains, I’m from the camp that likes bad guys bad.

I don’t like tragic figures, misunderstood monsters, or anti-heroes. I like motivated, organized, methodical meanies who plot and scheme to do terrible things to all kinds of people, places and things on a regular basis. So — for example — I’ll take Lex Luthor over the Lizard and Dr. Doom over Black Adam.

Yes, I’m all for the humanizing of super baddies; I mean, it never hurts to add multiple dimensions to any character. But once attempts to humanize a villain make that villain “less bad,” then we’re headed for trouble.

That’s sort of what happened to the Kingpin.

The Kingpin, aka Wilson Fisk, used to be this ultra-hardcore mobster who mercilessly plagued Daredevil, and other Marvel heroes, in a number of legendary tales. But in recent years, he went from a dude trading blows with super-strong Spider-Man to a grief-stricken sissy who was easily spanked (in like 2 pages) by Daredevil not too long ago.

Needless to say, I haven’t been enamored with the “Kingpin of Crime” in recent years. But hidden within the latest issue of Daredevil lies the hope that perhaps the evil, sadistic Fisk I love to hate might be making a comeback.

The title of DD’s current story arc, “Return of the King,” sort of says it all.

In the storyline, the Kingpin returns to New York after dealing with some tragedy of his own in Europe. His goal is to bring some pain to the ninja group known as the Hand, who are currently running around the city doing ninja-type things (like disemboweling people).

Issue 116 depicts Fisk going head-to-head with an army of ninja. In issue 117, writer Ed Brubaker shows the mafia boss throwing his ample weight around against lesser criminals who now run the tatters of his former organization. By the end of the comic, the Kingpin makes an unholy deal with DD himself — a deal that promises to have buckets of blood running throughout Hell’s Kitchen. All that said, while I’m not sure what exactly lies ahead for Fisk in this storyline, it appears that things are getting back on track.

We’ll see.

When it was first announced (a while ago) that writer Gail Simone was going take over Wonder Woman, I’ve gotta admit that I got excited. I was hoping that the lady who turned the once-mediocre Birds of Prey into a must-read could turn around a book starring one of DC’s flagship characters — a book whose quality fluctuated wildly over the years and various creative teams.

But once the first few issues of Simone’s stint hit the stand, I read the comics and thought they were decent, but nothing mind-blowing. Checking out the latest issue (No. 30), however, its seems that she’s finally found her footing.

So what’s working now and what didn’t work before?

In interviews done before she started writing Wonder Woman, Simone promised to finally prove that Diana was the world’s greatest warrior. But if you look at the writer’s initial story arcs, she really didn’t show DC’s favorite Amazon doing anything all that “great.” On top of that, she surrounded her with supporting characters — like a group of talking gorilla’s and the super-spy Nemesis — who seemed to hog the page more than the star of the comic.

Issue 30, on the other hand, shows Diana sans any sidekicks, talking tough and doing things you’d expect a warrior to do (I don’t really know any warriors, but you get the point). There’s a scene in the issue where Wonder Woman goes all Jack Bauer on the Cheetah and later she stomps members of the Secret Society — both instances show the character in a whole new light, without betraying the core fundamentals of the classic hero.

Simone has also succeeded in finally creating some villains tough enough to stand up to Wonder Woman … and we all know that villains make a superhero. One bad lady by the name of Genocide sports an awful costume, but her back story and powers present a unique foil to the Amazon Princess.

All in all, I’d say Simone is at last living up to her own promises — and also to the inherent potential that has always existed in the character of Wonder Woman. Here’s hoping they don’t fire the writer and replace her with some fly-by-night dude like Kevin Smith.

A few months ago, I wrote (in the pages of the newspaper I edit, Creative Loafing) that X-Force was one of my favorite comic books of 2008. Shortly thereafter, a blogger at Newsarama.com made fun of my pick.

I guess I’m not supposed to like a comic like X-Force. But I do. And I’m proud of it.

And, really, what’s not to like? I mean, if you like comics starring spandex-clad heroes, that is, there’s a lot to like.

The comic features an interesting mix of heroes from the X-corner of the Marvel Universe (guys and gals like Warpath, X-23, and Archangel, among others) and shows them doing what readers have wished the X-Men would do for decades: putting down the bad guys permanently. Honestly, how many times can the world’s most popular mutant heroes get impaled, poisoned and shot before they say enough is enough?

And while the heroes are interesting, X-Force’s villains are even more enthralling. Since the first issue, writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost have thrown a legion of classic bad guys at the team — from the Demon Bear (ala the old New Mutants series) to Bastion to the Purifiers, Magus and even Cameron Hodge. I come from the school of comic reading that says a hero is only good as the villains he/she faces … which makes the X-Force crew pretty freakin’ good at what they do.

Now, those great qualities aside, is X-Force a perfect comic book? Of course not.

One of my biggest gripes with the book is the use of the character Wolfsbane. The shape-shifting hero from the old New Mutants series has always possessed a ton of potential, but in X-Force she seems to be the resident punching bag. And in the latest issue she’s been reunited with her old-time lover from Asgard. I thought I was reading a high-octane action comic, not Young Heroes in Love.

One other complaint: If you’re gonna be a black-ops team of heroes willing to murder your enemies, then don’t whine about it. I’m sure it’s difficult to create stories about people who have little regard for human/mutant life (at least when it comes to their foes), but I’d like to see everyone involved with the book just be courageous and wholeheartedly take a bloodthirsty walk on the wild side.

Still, despite these gripes, I really dig X-Force.

So there.

Carlton Hargro is Editor-In-Chief of Creative Loafing. You can read more of his writing at their website.

by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato Jr.

Fans of the Avengers should be pleased these days — and that’s due to the fact that there are at least four ongoing Avengers-centric titles currently on sale at comic book shops.

Now, I say should be happy because, although there are multiple Avengers-related comics in the marketplace, not all of them are good.

I’m sort of bored with The New Avengers. It seems like these guys have been fighting the same villains and dealing with the same conflicts for 50 issues straight. I used to love The Mighty Avengers because it was most like what I used to love about the comic back in the day: big-time heroes and big-time villains; with Dan Slott at the helm, however, I’m not so excited. Hank Pym as the new Wasp? I’m not feeling it.

But while I’m not head over heels about the New or Mighty titles, I am enjoying Dark Avengers — and that’s a surprise.

When Dark Avengers was announced, I groaned. To me, it just seemed like a re-hash of the Thunderbolts. (Of course, I really liked Warren Ellis’ Thunderbolts.) But after reading the first two issues, I found myself hooked. Why? I think the team’s line-up is what makes interesting.

Look at it like this: the other Avengers have to live by their “heroic” code of conduct, and that sometimes results in some “blah” characterizations. The Dark Avengers on the other hand, are villains and psychopaths, so their personalities are over just naturally the top — and that’s fun. You never really know what the team’s members are going to do and you can always count on some great dialogue coming out of their mouths. Series writer Brian Bendis is clearly having a ball with this group of bad-guys-gone-good, and it shows on the page.

In addition, Dark Avengers is drawn by Mike Deodato, so it’s pretty to look at, too.

Buy the book. It’s good. Trust me.

Carlton Hargro is the Editor-in-Chief of Creative Loafing. Read more by Carlton at the Creative Loafing website.

by Jen Van Meter and Cully Hamner
reviewed by Carlton Hargro.

I hate Black Lightning.

And, honestly, I hate him mostly because I’m black.

You see, African-American comic readers — especially guys my age — have been subjected to a legion of lame black characters over the decades, and Black Lightning is one of the lamest.

I mean, here’s a guy who wore a 1970s-inspired costume with big, flyaway collars until the 1990s — and a mask that was attached to a huge afro wig.

On top of that, the guy had lame powers and lame villains (like the fat gangster Tobias Whale). Moreover, he was another brother (one of many and plenty) fighting crime in “the hood” while guys like Green Lantern were flying to other planets.

Taking my hate for the character into consideration, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that I wasn’t excited about picking up Black Lightning: Year One #1. I figured that any re-telling of the character’s first year in action would be some lame storyline involving BL fighting gangs in the ghetto. After reading the comic, however, I’m happy to say that I was only partially right about the series.

In BL:Y1, the hero does fight gang members, but the story — by writer Jen Van Meter — is far from lame. The issue does wonders for showing BL as a complex person, instead of one-note B-lister. Read an old issue of The Outsiders, and BL comes off very Tabula Rasa-ish. But Meter presents him as someone who gets angry, has hopes and sometimes gets things wrong.

On the art side of things, I have to admit that Cully Hamner really put his foot in these pages (that’s a compliment). His line work, as usual, is clean and confident. You’ve got to love an artist like Hamner, who gets the storytelling right, fills the background with great details and still serves up everything with his own stylized personal style. I wish all these wannabes artists who swipe from manga art could learn lessons from Hamner.

Oh and, still focusing on the art, the colors — by Laura Hamilton — are very much on point: rich, moody and cinematic.

After reading this, do I still hate BL the superhero? Yep. But, I’ll be sticking with this series.

Carlton Hargro is the editor-in-chief of Creative Loafing. For more reviews from Carlton Hargro, visit the Arts section at http://www.charlotte.creativeloafing.com/.