In random order…

SKY APE: KING OF GIRLS
Written by Phil Amara, Tim McCarney, and Mike Russo and Drawn by Richard Jenkins
Published by AiT/PlanetLar

Giving an ape a jetpack wasn’t exactly the most ingenious idea in the history of Western civilization, but it’s certainly been one that’s given me a lot of laughs since this series started. I’m a total sucker for funny monkeys, and when they riff on pop culture with an alacrity that would shame Joss Whedon, I love them even more. This episode finds the big monkey attempting to put an end to a school that trains nerds how to be players, but that’s really not the point; Hell, two-thirds of the book has gone by before the cast even moves towards the “villain” of the piece. Nope, this exists simply for the pure fun of it all, and succeeds nicely. The only real problem? The previous entries in the series all had a spine. The lack of one here is a huge disappointment for those who want to put this latest effort on the shelves with the rest.

PAINKILLER JANE #1
Written by Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti and Drawn by Lee Moder
Published by Dynamite Entertainment

After a long layoff, Q&P’s unstoppable assassin returns to comics. Jane is a ruthless badass with a gift for healing and ignoring the pain from the wounds she gets along the way. Handy talent. This new series finds her on a mission in the New York sexual underground, and when she eradicates the employees of a dungeon, all Hell breaks loose. PAINKILLER JANE isn’t the sort of series you go into looking for the answers to your existential angst; you’re looking for solid action, cool quips, and just enough story to keep you engaged to the page. Following that model, the new series is a huge success. Personally, what carried the book over the top for me was Moder’s art; his textures and shadings are lovely, and the book appears to have been digitally colored using just his pencils. I never saw the Sci-Fi Channel movie based upon the character or saw what sort of ratings it got, but I’d guess the comic is likely infinitely better than what made it to the screen.

POLLY AND THE PIRATES #4
Written and Drawn by Ted Naifeh
Published by Oni Press

Young Polly Pringle, having sold out a good man to some nasty pirates in order to preserve her good name, sets out to restore her honor in the opening chapter to the last half of this charming little mini-series. While Polly continues to struggle with the idea that her mother may have indeed been the Pirate Queen, she finds new self-confidence as she attempts to bargain for the one item that will save Scrimshaw, the man she betrayed to her rival, the Pirate Prince. Naifeh has a gift for blending together hijinx, adventure, and the slight whiffs of danger that cross Polly’s path, and that keeps the tale both friendly to younger readers and entertaining for grown-ups. It’s rare for a comic to make me giggle; yet each issue of POLLY has done the trick. While Oni has made its reputation as the go-to publisher for hip graphic novels, they’ve also managed to quietly maintain a solid grip on creating stories for the younger market with titles like this one and ALISON DARE. More publishers need to follow their example.

THE MIDDLEMAN #2.1
Written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Drawn by Les McClane
Published by Viper Comics

Ex-temporary worker Wendy Watson and her heroic paranormal-fighting partner are back on the scene in this new mini, and like the first series, the book is full of solid laughs, witty banter, and ludicrous scenarios that could only happen in a comic book. Wendy is sent to the airport to pick up Sensei Ping, a martial arts master meant to train her to be a better Middleman. Of course, nothing is ever that simple, so you’re not surprised when this surly Asian fellow appears wearing a Mexican wrestling mask, and an entire clan of similarly dressed ninjas attacks them on the route home. When you’re dealing with a book like MIDDLEMAN, it isn’t fruitful to try and attach true logic to it; you must merely make sure that it successfully follows its own internal logic, and MIDDLEMAN never misses the mark. It isn’t brain surgery; you’ll either laugh or you won’t. I laughed.

KILLER 7 #1
Written by Arvid Nelson and Drawn by El Dazo
Published by Devil’s Due

Using those same criteria, KILLER 7 skids off the rails early and never gets back on track, making for a very unsatisfying reading experience. Based upon a video game, KILLER 7 takes place in an alternate reality where many things have changed, including the name and purpose of the United Nations. In 2006, world peace reigns as the order of the day, and the functions of technology have been shifted towards ways of getting goods to those who truly deserve it. The problem? This is spelled out in a text piece on the opening page, and is far more interesting than anything else in the book. The story concerns itself with terrorists who can turn into monsters and blow themselves up, and in following a faux Bush and administration as they bring an off-the-book hired killer onboard to take out the terrorists. Throw in some narrative jumps that make no sense, characters who aren’t really characters, and art that goes for the kewl factor instead of telling what story is actually there, and you have a complete miss.

VAMPIRELLA: REVELATIONS #3
Written by Mike Carey and Drawn by Mike Lilly
Published by Harris Publications

The sorting out of Vampi’s many origin stories concludes in satisfying fashion. While you’d have liked to see Carey hit a homerun in this final chapter, though, he settles for a double. Having learned that her entire life and purpose has been a lie orchestrated by her mother, and that she has been fool enough to want to believe it all this time, Vampirella goes on the warpath, playing into the hands of her mother’s followers. All that’s needed for Lilith to be reborn is for her daughter to slaughter enough demons and undead, and in her current shitty mood, that’s precisely what our heroine does. Fortunately, Carey shows some restraint and makes the solution to Vampi’s battle with Lilith a more cerebral one, and it works solely for that fact. Again, it doesn’t deliver as well as the opening chapters suggested it would, but it is far from a burn. The one true curiosity here is that they refer to this issue as the “end… for now”, leaving you wondering about the work coming from other creators they publicized as scheduled after this piece.

PLANETARY BRIGADE #2
Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis and Drawn by Various
Published by Boom Studios

The conclusion to the Bwahaha crew’s prequel to HERO SQUARED is much better than the first half, as it balances the funny with the actual story in ways the opener did not. Captain Valor and his comrades in the Brigade are faced with a somewhat tragic scenario; a random schmoe who’s body has been usurped for use as a portal by a number of horrific demons. Along the way, a good deal of death and destruction occurs. With this problem lurking in the background, however, the writers still find a way to inject a ton of dark humor into the tale and the final solution of how to save the world. The only bit here that doesn’t work is in making the world’s smartest hero, Mister Brilliant, a stereotypical fat-slob comic shop owner. That’s territory that’s been mined to death, and the writers can do better. Still, another terrific effort from these guys, and a solid hit for the growing-in-stature Boom.

HATTER M #2
Written by Frank Beddor and Liz Cavalier and Drawn by Ben Templesmith
Published by Image Comics

Chapter two of the companion piece to Beddor’s THE LOOKING GLASS WARS struggles to find footing, but eventually delivers the fascination and intrigue that the first issue promised. The issue opens with a flashback, but because the book doesn’t make that clear in the recap space, it leaves you confused for a while. That left me going into the story trying to figure out the timeline of what was happening, rather than focusing on the actual events on the page. Once I sorted it out, I was drawn right back in; Madigan believes he has found Alyss, but forces other than he are just as interested in the young girl. And his skills as a man of action must be drawn upon as those who oppose him assault him. I think the test for HATTER M is whether or not you could take away the “Alice in Wonderland” story element and still be left with a compelling and lovely looking story, and to my mind, this generally works. I’d like to see the creative team make a stronger recap and timeline available, though.

SCHIZO #4
Written and Drawn by Ivan Brunetti
Published by Fantagraphics

SCHIZO is an amazing piece of work, a collection of autobiographical and biographical strips that appear to have exploded out of Brunetti’s head and onto this over-sized collection of pages. Printed at 11x17, Brunetti’s work consists of a number of strip stories that run anywhere from 20 to 32 panels and tell emotionally and intellectually interesting tales. When Brunetti isn’t diving into the lives of others, he is poking around into his own subconscious and peeling away the layers wrapped around his own insecurities. What jumped out at me was that Brunetti thanked Chris Ware in the credits; I like Ware’s sense of design but find him emotionally empty as a writer, failing to create compelling characters that hold my interest. Brunetti excels in doing precisely the opposite thing; his sense of design is pedestrian at best, but his characters, even when they include himself, grab me and hold me tight. SCHIZO is an excellent little collection of work, and worth the time to seek out.

DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES #3
Written by Dwight MacPherson and Drawn by Mike Fiorentino and Jeff Austin
Published by Arcana Studio

Pirate ships captained by Blackbeard and Black Bartholomew Roberts, each entrusting their fortunes to Ichabod Klump, are primed and ready to race towards a final showdown over the location of the Lost Relics Of Christ, not knowing or caring that pursuing the treasure brings damnation and the punishment of eternal life for coveting the booty. This under-the-radar miniseries has gotten a little bit better with each issue, and this penultimate chapter is no different. MacPherson does a good job in crafting a story that feels historically authentic and yet has plenty of action, intrigue, and horror. The art has changed hands a bit too often for my taste, though, but I understand the need for a small publisher to establish itself and a reputation for reliability with retailers. It is with genuine admiration that we have reached the third of four issues and I honestly have no idea how the series is going to conclude. I wish that happened more often.

ROBOTIKA #2
Written and Drawn by Alex Sheikman
Published by Archaia Studios Press

Back on my soapbox for a moment: recaps. Love them. Very useful. Especially when there’s a chance that someone is reading your book for the first time, or when a lot of time has passed since they read the previous issue. Issue two of ROBOTIKA finds royal bodyguard Niko in pursuit of a group of assassins and a stolen invention at the behest of his Queen. The reason I knew this as I jumped into the first page is because I read it in the accompanying press material; the book had no recap. With the press stuff, I’d have been screwed. Now, having read the p.r., I was able to slide right into the story, enjoy Sheikman’s really pretty art, and marvel at his design ethic. One thing that I did appreciate was the brief glimpse into the decision making process Sheikman went through in creating the book; one of my gripes about issue one was a character whose word balloons and text read parallel instead of horizontally. While I still don’t like it, Sheikman’s reasoning and creative impulse in doing so are solid. Reading his thoughts on it made me wish that more creators took the time to do the same.

THE LAST ISLAND
Written and Drawn by Alex Cahill
Published by The New Radio

Cahill’s first book, SOMETHING SO FAMILIAR, was a Xeric winner. A powerful exercise in silent storytelling, it marked him as a talent to watch, and rightfully so, as his sophomore effort is even better. LAST ISLAND is the story of a young boy living an idyllic existence away from mankind, at least until that existence is disrupted by strange things falling from the sky (such as a steering wheel and a propeller) and the arrival of another young boy who simply walks out of the ocean, dry as sand. Again, Cahill tells his story silently, and we watch as the two young men begin facing off in a series of more and more absurd scenarios, climaxing in a completely off-kilter series of events as the island changes location of more things begin to fall from the sky. The only disappointment here is that Cahill uses the last two pages to explain where the story is actually coming from, and I think I’d have been just as happy with it not knowing. This is an amazing little piece of work, cerebral and gorgeous to look at. I look forward to seeing what else Cahill has up his sleeve.

See you in seven.

Review materials may be sent to: Marc Mason, P.O. Box 26732, Tempe, AZ 85285. You can also find me at Happy Nonsense and The Comics Waiting Room

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