A bunch of great comics read recently have been piling up on my desk. So here’s some reviews so I can reclaim a bit of room in my work space!

Black Terror 2
Dynamite

Spinning out of Project Superpowers Black Terror is in search of his sidekick who he believes to be captive of the government. Who do you talk to for government related gripes? The president apparently. Black Terror invades Washington and the White House.

Brit 11
Image

Well, this is the second to last issue. And that’s too bad. I really like this character and Kirkman has done a nice job of overseeing it. He picked some great writers and artists and they should be proud of what they’ve done.
This issue wraps up the jump to the future story arc and the ending was terrific. Issue twelve will wrap everything up and finish the series. Hopefully this won’t be the last we see of Brit and his pals.

Chance 1
Dabel Brothers

The Dabel Brothers have been scooping up authors of novels to come try their hands at comics, so far the results are pure grade top notch entertainment.
Chance is written by C.E. Murphy, author of a number of series of novels, The Walker papers, The negotiator Trilogy and The Inheritor’s Cycle. I enjoyed this enough that I’m going get a few of her novels. ( So I guess the plan worked…)

Chance is a regular person with no powers, which on her Earth is a novelty. An incident gave a large part of the population powers. She became a crime fighter because her daughter was killed. In this first issue the killer escapes from jail and she goes after him. Unfortunately when he went to prison he was normal, now he has powers.
This is a nice first issue and it gives enough background to satisfy and leaves plenty to tell later. The writing is great and I liked the art by Ardian Syaf. I’m on board for this seires.

Cyblade 1
Top Cow

2007 Pilot Season winner comes out with its first issue written by Joshua Hale Fialkov and drawn by Rick Mays.
It’s a nice kick off to the new series with loads of action and a whole bunch of questions waiting to be answered as Dominique’s brainbox is compromised. Her handler Rashdell is trying to save her but he’s going to have his work cut out for him.
The story moves nicely and the art is cool, a little manga-ish but crisp and sharp. This title with be worthy of following.

Darkness 8
Top Cow

The start of a new story line written by Phil Hestor puts our boy Jaime in New Orleans and trying to make a buck. He’s disconnected from the Darkness but he isn’t without skills at his disposal. He’s been pulling some scams, but the latest goes wrong when Aphrodite IV shows up to abduct him. High action and a pretty respectable body count too!
Hestor is doing a great job with this title and this new storyline has me hook line and sinker. Artist Jorge Lucas is really perfect for this, a style that is shadowy and yet not overly dark. And I love the colors. Darkness take my hand.

Doktor Sleepless 10
Avatar

This series written by Warren Ellis gets more and more interesting and more and more weird. I love every page of it. Someone from our good doktor’s past is in town to kill him and the police commissioner seems to think it’s a good idea.
The backmatter pages by Ellis are totally entertaining as well. This is a series to keep an eye on, great art and a wild future setting in which we see an America that could come to pass if we’re not careful.

Dresden Files: Storm Front 2
Dabel Brothers

Jim Butcher’s series rocks and I’m enjoying seeing the first novel retold in graphic form. Written by Butcher with Mark Powers the adaptation is obviously going to be faithful to the novel. Adrian Syaf is doing the art chores here as well and his vision is very similar to what I imagined when I read the novel. It’s interesting to read in this form after having already read the novel and seen a television version of the same story. People new to the character need to read this as it really sets up who Dresden is. Fans who have been following Chicago’s favorite wizard will enjoy this version.

New Exiles 16
Marvel

I’ve had about enough of the New Exiles. I loved the old series and thought I would keep going with the new, but I just can’t seem to really care what is happening with anybody in it. The stories seem much too drawn out and they feel like they are just rambling on. If this was a novel I’d say it needs an editor to eliminate about half the words, maybe what it needs is someone to speed things up a bit and stop shooting for six issue runs for the trades. I’m done for now. It was kind of like in high school dating that really pretty girl and finding out she had nothing to say

Punisher 65
Marvel

The Hurwitz story of Frank in Mexico comes to a close as everyone gets what’s coming to them The ending was great and I really liked all the woman stepping up to take their lives back. This title is in safe hands and Hurwitz was terrific on his first run.

Punisher War Zone 2 (of 6)
Marvel Knight

I have no idea why Ennis left Punisher just to switch over to another title with the same character, but I’m not complaining. I like the new teams working on Punisher and I love seeing Ennis with Steve Dillon again. Plus the return (again) of Ma Gnucci. You can’t keep a good villainess down, even after you take her limbs and blow her up. If you like the Punisher at all you have to read this.

Spider-man Noir 1 (of 4)
Marvel

While not quite as intriguing as the X-Men noir this is still a fun book. Set in the 30’s we see Peter Parker on the run and looking to avenge his Uncle. Ben was killed by people working for Norman Osborn, though it was just a job for hire.
The story is good and I will keep up with it what really got me was the art. Carmine Di Giandomenico is amazing and I love the look of the whole book.

Wizard Issue 207

Great magazine and this issue was packed with great stuff. It opens with a nice, if brief, interview with Alan Moore talking about a number of things including his next installment of league of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Some nice features about what’s coming in 2009 and a visit to the set of Watchmen. Also a talk with Tim Kring on what’s up ahead for Heroes.

X-Files 2
Wildstorm

Loved the TV series, loving the comic. So far this feels like the most true to the series adaptation. Having Frank Spotniz writing it probably doesn’t hurt.
Mulder and Scully wrap up a case involving a strange new form of chemical warfare and the company behind it. The great art by Brian Denham is right on for this series and Potnitz’s story gives me the same buzz I got when I first watched the show.