What Looks Good #254 – Brutal, Bizarre, and Bittersweet


By Paul Brian McCoy

Greetings and Salutations! It's me again, Paul Brian McCoy. Work snuck up behind Michael today, threw a bag over his head, and wrestled him into the trunk of a big, black limousine before anyone could put a stop to it. A few hours later we received a message, via carrier pigeon, saying Michael was unharmed but if we ever wanted to see him again, then someone else had to write What Looks Good this week.

Curse you, Work. We just want our Michael back. We'll do whatever you say.

So here's What Looks Good!

AVATAR

ANNA MERCURY HC VOL. 1: THE CUTTER 27.99 (Warren Ellis / Facundo Percio)

She's tall with a huge pile of blazing red hair, a body-hugging black leather jumpsuit, guns, and an attitude. She's Anna Mercury and she's got an hour to save New Atraxia from certain doom. And even then she's not really finished.

Ellis and Percio crafted a non-stop thrill-ride of a comic that looks as good as it reads. And no matter what you think may be really going on, once you hit that halfway mark and find out what Ellis has sprung on you, you're going to be surprised. If you can understand it. It took me a few reads to really wrap my brain around it.

I can't praise this book highly enough, and I'm completely in love with Avatar's hardcover format. None of those easily damaged paper slipcovers for Avatar! No! The hard cover itself is part of the artistic package, and while the list price might seem steep, especially for a 5-issue mini, it's not hard to find it at a discount, and I'm telling you, these Avatar hardcovers are things of beauty.

CROSSED #4 (of 9) $3.99 (Garth Ennis / Jacen Burrows)

As Nathan Explosion might say, this series is BRUTAL. I'm almost hesitant to include this book, as most of the readers of this column are actually well-adjusted people with pleasant personalities and good natures. This book makes me cringe, and I'm a cold-hearted bastard. But it's a good kind of cringe.

Every issue so far, our heroes have been pushed closer and closer to their breaking points, and we're not even halfway through the thing yet. The characterization is minimal and the movement of the plot is not the quickest, but this is a comic that is dedicated to putting its characters into the worst imaginable situation and seeing what happens to them, emotionally, psychologically, and physically, in the end.

It's kind of what Walking Dead would be if Kirkman didn't like his characters. Not that I think Ennis hates his characters. I just think Ennis is more clinical about putting his characters through the wringer. He's not writing this to present you with characters you can admire and root for. He's writing this to push the limits of what we're willing to take in a plague/apocalypse setting.

I mean, if zombies didn't want to mindlessly eat you, but instead wanted to creatively torture, rape, and maim you until you were either dead or one of them, then I think zombie stories would be a lot scarier. And that's what we've got here. Not zombies, but worse.


DARK HORSE

UMBRELLA ACADEMY: DALLAS #5 $2.99 (Gerard Way / Gabriel Ba)

I'm not going to say much of anything about Gerard Way's band. Mostly they're not my thing, but they've done a couple of songs I enjoy, particularly "Teenagers." Did you know Way was 32? That makes that song even funnier, especially given his fan base.

Okay, enough of that. Umbrella Academy was great. Umbrella Academy: Dallas is just as good, and even more imaginative and narratively complex. I'd rank this comic up there with Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol and Matt Fraction's Casanova for sheer crazy enjoyment practically exploding off of every page.

This month, little boy version of Number 5 leads a crack squad of time-agents to stop the adult version of himself from stopping Kennedy's assassination. Yeah, that's right. Our heroes have to kill Kennedy (or at least make sure it happens in order to maintain the timeline - or something like that).

Oh, and the rest of the team are on their way through time to Dallas, 1963, as well!

MARVEL

CAPTAIN AMERICA #48 $2.99 (Ed Brubaker / Butch Guice)

This month brings us the finale of the three-part "Old Friends and Enemies" story, and I have to say, I'm glad. While I've really enjoyed seeing Bucky and Namor team-up for some old-fashioned Invaders action, I haven't really cared much for the story. If anything, this, along with his earlier handling of Spitfire, Union Jack, and Toro, has made me want to read an Ed Brubaker penned Invaders series.

Which reminds me; when is The Marvels Project due for release?

DAREDEVIL #117 $2.99 (Ed Brubaker / Michael Lark)

Brubaker strikes again this week, with the first chapter of "Lady Bullseye 2" and the return of the Kingpin to Hell's Kitchen. I have to say, at times I take Daredevil for granted. It's always good. The writing is extremely well paced and the characterizations are perfect. The art captures the feel of the stories perfectly, especially when Lark is handling the storytelling.

Even when Lark's not around though, his influence on the look of this book is one of the best things about it. It's very reminiscent to how Epting's art on Captain America defines the series, and everyone who does guest spots or fill-ins or tag-team issues, does their best to maintain that visual style. It creates a sense of continuity and dedication to the overall project.

And it's one of the things that makes Daredevil such a consistently good read. But for some reason, sometimes I forget just how good this book is, but then an idea like Lady Bullseye gets tossed into the mix and everything just comes to life for me again. I wasn't sure about the character at first, but she's an instant classic.

What's that? Brubaker's leaving the title in a few months? Aw, man.

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #24 $2.99 (Duane Swierczynski / Kano)

This issue gives us a breather from the Iron Fist in Hell storyline to tell the tale of Park Li, pacifist Iron Fist. And not only do we get a look at his legend, we also find out where the citizens of K’un-Lun came from.

This is a pretty tight, done-in-one story from Swierczynski and shows a lot of imagination. I like that for his Tales of the Iron Fist, he's choosing characters that aren't what we would normally expect to see. I'd just prefer a more understandable schedule. This issue doesn't seem to have anything to do with the current story, which makes me think that it's intended to give Travel Foreman time to gain more ground with his amazing art. So instead of a delay, we get a fill-in story.

Except the previous issue was released just a couple of weeks ago, so there doesn't seem to have been a rush to get this one out.

So, I'm just not going to complain or worry. Instead I'm going to enjoy a good story with excellent art by Iron Fist veteren, Kano. Is it wrong that I'm entertained by the simple fact that Swierczynski's name is so hard to spell, and Kano's is so easy? I'm very easily amused sometimes.

INCREDIBLE HERCULES #127 $2.99 (Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente / Dietrich Smith)

I'm not sure where this story is going to go at this point, but this month (and next) we have guest appearances by the Dark Avengers. And I'm getting very tired of the Dark Avengers. As in Thor 600 a few weeks back, it looks like there's a throw down coming between two forces, this time it's Hercules and the Olympus Group, when the Dark Avengers show up to arrest them all. Mayhem ensues, I would guess.

I find myself torn about this. Incredible Hercules is a title that seems to thrive on its immersion in current continuity. It was born out of World War Hulk and had one of the best Secret Invasion tie-ins of them all, so I should just trust Pak and Van Lente to do that voodoo that they do, right?

I'll try. But I really would like to see this whole "Dark Reign" stuff come to an end. Soon.

DVD

QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2 DISC SPECIAL EDITION) $34.98

I didn't get a chance to see this in the theater, and I know the critical reaction was mixed, but from what I understand, this film takes place almost immediately after the close of Casino Royale and plays out the emotions and violent actions that were still kind of pent up when those credits rolled.

And I'm all for that.

Daniel Craig may have knocked Sean Connery off of my James Bond throne after just one film. I want to see where he stands after two. Or three. Or four, really.

Casino Royale was the first James Bond film to feel relevant in my adult lifetime. It was certainly the best thing to happen to the property since Roger Moore was handed the mantle. So on the strength of all that, I can't wait to see this one.

WATCHMEN: TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER & UNDER THE HOOD $27.95

Gerard Butler voices the lead character in Tales of the Black Freighter, the animated version of the pirate comic from The Watchmen, and I couldn't be happier. While I thought the film was ultimately a failure on a number of levels, it was still filled with fantastic moments and a few great performances, and was probably as good a theatrical film that we could ever get. I wish that they'd been able to include this in the theatrical version, but then it would have been almost three and a half hours.

And they would have had to explain just why it was there, which is even more time. Regardless, I think it's going to be edited into a director's cut version somewhere down the line, so I don't know how economically feasible it is to buy this DVD. I might just wait for that big Watchmen special edition, but I really want to see this now.

I guess that's what Netflix is for, eh?


Man, my Marvel picks were kind of bittersweet this week, weren't they? Sorry 'bout that. I think I'm just hungry. I hear a slow-cooked pork roast calling me, along with a cold Sam Adams White Ale. Mmmmmmm. That Tastes Good, for sure.

So, what's got you geeked this week? Just stop by the WLG message boards (see link below) and share!

Hopefully we've appeased that evil Work and Michael will be back next week! Until then, see ya on the boards!

-PBM