KC Carlson by Keith Wilson

A KC COLUMN BY KC Carlson

It’s a pretty unusual week for comics this week as at least six new #1 debut today, seven of which I want to talk about. (I cheated by including Man of Steel #1 & 2. When you get your own Westfield Blog column, you can cheat too!) Let’s take a quick look!

Ant-Man and the Wasp #1

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP #1 by Mark Waid, Javier Garron, and Isreal Silva. After a very funny fake-out introductory page, we meet the stars of the book: Nadia Van Dyne is Hank Pym’s daughter, Janet Van Dyne’s adopted step-daughter, and a professional genius, crimefighter, and incredibly cheerful. Meanwhile, Scott Lang is the current Ant-Man, as well as an engineer, C student, crimefighter, and normally not… uh… UNcheerful. Things go downhill from there, and that’s only page 2. Waid’s at his best with bickering super-science couples and a truly-shocking, implication-loaded cliffhanger.

Dazzler: X-Song #1

DAZZLER: X-SONG #1 by Magdalene Visaggio, Laura Braga, and Rachelle Rosenberg. There’s a new band called Lightbringer making waves. Described as a “Mutant Pride Band”, they are fronted by Alison Blaire (AKA the former Disco Dazzler in another life). This one-shot comic serves to reintroduce the character back into the spotlight — in more ways than one! The politics are a bit ham-fisted and hackneyed, but this comic (and band’s) heart is in the right place. After this, Dazzler reappears in Astonishing X-Men #14, on sale in August.

Deadpool #1

DEADPOOL #1 by Scottie Young, Nic Klein, Scott Hepburn, and Ian Herring. Tried to read Deadpool a long time ago. Didn’t “get it”, so I moved on. Scottie Young is a good guy, though, so you might want to check it out for that. You know him best for dozens and dozens of hysterically funny Marvel variant covers (especially the “Marvel Babies” covers) and the hugely acclaimed Oz Graphic Novels, done in conjunction with Eric Shanower!

Doctor Strange #1

DOCTOR STRANGE #1 by Mark Waid and Jesus Saiz. In which Stephen Strange has a run of very bad days, and to get better, Tony Stark gives him a spacecraft to sail among the stars until he crash-lands on an alien planet and things actually get worse. Wow, I can’t believe I just typed that. Doctor Strange In Space. Luckily, I’ve known Mr. Waid on-and-off over the last couple of decades, so I usually trust him enough to see what he’s got up his sleeve. Because this first issue is quite… odd. Mark and I had a very nice chat at this year’s C2E2, and then less than an hour after that, I accidentally got locked out of the building. (In March. In Chicago. Without a coat.) Weirdly, none of that was his fault, including the horrible cold I had for the next two weeks.

The Immortal Hulk #1

THE IMMORTAL HULK #1 by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy Rose, and Paul Mounts. Sadly, the only thing I liked here was the Alex Ross cover, and even that wasn’t his most inspiring work. The story itself seemed ripped from the script pages of the (very) old 1978 live-action Hulk TV series starring Bill Bixby as Bruce Banner, where the Hulk (as Banner) gets accidentally caught up in something bad (here, a convenience store robbery gone bad). Three people end up dead and in the morgue… oh wait… it looks like one of them is still alive after all! Gah! But to be fair… if you loved those old TV shows, you’ll probably also love this new comic book take.

Justice League #1

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 by Scott Snyder, Jim Cheung, and Mark Morales. I’m not always the biggest Scott Snyder fan (I think great artwork should always trump word balloons and captions), so Jim Cheung and Mark Morales’ exceptional artwork wins the day for me here. Best moments: J’onn J’onzz’ new job, the heroes bantering while protecting the Earth (they’re mocking Batman’s “over-serious” voice), and Villains, Villains, Villains! Although this is mostly setup, I’m looking forward to more development over the next few issues. Glad this title is twice-monthly.

The Man of Steel #1

THE MAN OF STEEL #1–2 by Brian Michael Bendis, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Jay Fabok, and Alex Sinclair (issue #1), and Brian Michael Bendis, Doc Shaner, Steve Rude, Jay Fabok, and Alex Sinclair (issue #2). I like it so far, and the weekly publication of this six-part miniseries is definitely a plus. For me, Superman’s always at his best interacting with normal everyday folks, as he does here. He’s rescuing little kids (and puppies) from fires, and then immediately meeting up with Metropolis’s newest Deputy Fire Chief — Melody Moore — on the job. (Hmm… Melody Moore… MM… just one letter removed from the famous Superman “LL” girlfriends… I see what you’re doing there…) VERY “meet cute”… Speaking of Lois, she’s still nowhere to be seen, except in flashback where she and their son Jon seemingly mysteriously disappear.

The Man of Steel #2

Another fun visual montage consists of framed Daily Planet front pages over the years, which also apparently provide some clues to what’s still “canon”: “1: A Superman IS HERE, 2: A Justice League is BORN, 3: Superman RETURNS, 4. Superman DEAD.” I haven’t read many Superman titles for years, and The Man of Steel is the perfect pathway back into the mythos — especially for people like me who wandered away for a while.

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KC CARLSON SEZ: Next week’s DC & Marvel number-ones include Hawkman #1, Plastic Man #1, Titans Special #1, Deadpool: Assassin #1 (of 6), Marvel Rising Alpha #1 (Squirrel Girl meets Ms. Marvel!), and Thor #1. Yikes! I’m already broke this month!

WESTFIELD COMICS is not responsible for the stupid things that KC says. Especially that thing that really irritated you. Apologies for the weird sign-off last week. Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na Batman!

(Sorry, I may need professional help!)