THE KITCHEN
Vertigo
I’m a sucker for good mob stories and this is a wonderfully fresh twist on the 70s mob. The wives of gangsters have become “prison widows” after their mobbed up husbands go to the joint. Not willing to sit back and hope things will work out they step up and start doing what their husbands did, and they do it well. Eventually they move up and start stirring up shit with other gangsters. As you might guess, things get a little nuts a bit violent.
Written brilliantly by Ollie Master and drawn by Ming Doyle THE KITCHEN is a book that is hard to put down and like the Godfather, a book that I want to reread often.
If you dig mafia related fiction this is your book.
Jon
MIDNIGHTER Vol 1 OUT
DC Comics
I’ve been a fan of Midnighter since he first showed up in Windstorm’s Stormwatch and then moved into The Authority. It’s great character idea done well. Amazing fighting abilities able to anticipate the moves of opponents, enhancements to make him an even better fighter, a snaky attitude and unwilling to back down. He’s almost always fighting for what is right. When Wildstorm was folded into the DC universe some of the characters floundered as if no one knew what to do with them. Not true of Midnighter. The latest run has just collected the first story line in OUT.
I love this character for a number of reasons. I also think it’s cool that Midnighter is an openly gay super hero. I enjoyed the way his relationship with Apollo worked and in this new tale they have broken up and how that plays into the story works well. I think the real reason it works for me is that it’s a great character with a cool story and he also happens to be gay as opposed to being gay being the dominant character feature. I’m not reading any comics because of sexual orientation one way or the other, if that adds to the story cool, if not leave it out. Here it works perfect.
In this first run of the new Midnighter someone has busted into the God Garden, the place where Midnighter became Midnighter and stole all the strange tech that was hidden away. And it was hidden away for good reason because in the wrong hands it could bring unprecedented power into the wrong hands. Midnighter pays a visit to his creator and begins a quest to track down the stolen tech and get it back where it belongs. Along the way he has a few drinks, a few dates and beats the crap out of a lot of people. It’s loads of fun. Steve Orlando has a nice handle on the character, I always seem to get a little nervous when a new writer takes on a character I’ve been reading since the beginning. No worries here, it is obvious Orlando is a fan and he does a great job. I really enjoyed the way he wrote the team up with Dick Grayson.
This is a fun crazy violent book and old fans should love it and new fans will want more.
Jon
CONSTANTINE Vol 1 GOING DOWN
DC Comics
I’ve been following the adventures of John Constantine since he first showed up in Swamp Thing. I am a huge fan. I’ve loved almost all of it. Towards the end of the Vertigo run it felt a little lost and I didn’t care for the art.
Now on it’s second relaunch since reentering the DC Universe mainstream I am seeing glimpses of what I loved about the character going back to the early days.
We’re getting some background retold and I expect that. The angle on this first arc to do that is a throwback to John being in a punk band and a casualty of the punk days an magic that now years later he is trying to save.
Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV are doing a fine job of writing, but I can’t help but think I may be a little more familiar with the character than they are. I like the art though it took a bit to get used to the look.
As with some new comics I don’t feel this is MY Jon Constantine but a version of that. I’m enjoying it enough to keep reading though. It’s like buying a new trench coat, you love the way it looks but you need to walk around in it for a little while to get used to the way it fits.
Jon
