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| via Comic Vine Artwork from Hawkeye #1. |
H.G. Wells' The Chronic Argonauts (New Baby)
From 2013.
Based on an obscure Wells book published prior to his well-known classics, as demonstrated by this comics adaptation Chronic Argonauts is actually pretty interesting. Not having read the original prose edition, I can only speculate how much was altered, although it seems to be conspicuously faithful to a fault at times. But the thing is, it gets better as it moves along, becoming far more comfortable with its considerable world-building, which may not be as iconic as, say, The Time Machine or straight-forward as War of the Worlds. A kind of Doctor Who adventure taken to its logical conclusions with no concern to whether or not there will be another adventure next week, the fate of mankind is in the balance and the echoes of history examined, and maybe, just maybe we have an alternate look at, say, how Tesla could have turned out if he'd created a time machine.
Hawken: Genesis #1 (Archaia)
From 2012.
Apparently a preview for a graphic novel based on a video game...If I were more into video games, the prior sentence would not have included the word "apparently." But that's where we are, folks. Video games, it should be understood, are excellent at world-building, but the thing is, that's usually where the story ends, because actual game-play tends to be pretty...static. Which is one of the many reasons why I don't generally play video games. (Which is to say, another is that I'm actually pretty horrible at them.) So this preview features world-building. And only world-building. And it must be said, excellent art. Because art tends to be pretty important to video games, too. In fact, of the things video games and comics have in common is the importance of art. Good comics have good storytelling as well. Good video games have...visceral qualities. Which is why they're popular, like porn one of those hugely significant subcultures that's hard to talk about adequately in mainstream society, because it's just hard to talk about. Anyway...
Hawkeye #1 (Marvel)
From 2012.
So, this is the little comic that helped revolutionize mainstream superhero comics, which is a ripple effect that is being felt more and more across DC's and Marvel's lines. But the thing is...if it had been any other title but Hawkeye, the series that achieved this would be considered an instant classic. And that probably won't happen for Hawkeye. Writer Matt Fraction has parlayed this and other success into making a name for himself, but I wonder if he'll have the same amount of overall exposure as, say, Frank Miller or Mark Millar before him. What Fraction achieved with Hawkeye was making a mainstream superhero title into an indy book. But instead of, say, Daredevil, it stars Hawkeye(s). And really, no one cares about Hawkeye. He has no solo track record. He's an Avenger. This comic happened at all because of the movie The Avengers, where Hawkeye is one of two members (Black Widow) who will probably never have a solo movie (as opposed to the rest of the team). And so while Hawkeye gets a series out of it, Marvel let Fraction do whatever he wanted because it just didn't care. And fans still talk about whatever it is Mark Waid's been doing in the pages of Daredevil even though creatively it's not in the league of Fraction's Hawkeye. And with an impact that's much greater...
FCBD 2011 Headache Preview (Kickstart)
From...2011.
Written by Lisa Joy, wife of Jonthan Nolan (brother of...Christopher Nolan), this is one of those variations-on-the-Greek-gods stories. Knowing the Nolan connection, I wish there had been the full Nolan approach, focused on a strong character perspective. Except there really isn't. Jonathan frequently collaborates on his brother's films. Now it seems he'll be working with his wife on such projects as a Westworld reboot. I don't know. Hopefully she's better than this...
Henchmen #1 (Robot Paper)
From 2014.
If I were better at math, I could come up with a convincing statistic concerning how much of this comiXology stuff I've got that ends up being a pleasant surprise. A lot of it's mediocre or worse, but I've found a few really good ones in the mix. Henchmen is one of those. Although something of an awkward mix that may be selling the concept a little too hard, this is the story of, yes, henchmen, the goons who support the supervillains who are usually as dispensable as the redshirts in Star Trek. Except Henchmen focuses on Gary, the guy whose world has crumbled around him, which means losing his job, his wife, and discovering a fortuitous ad in the paper while recovering from a somewhat obscured medical emergency. Which is an invitation to become a henchman. Some of the rough edges in the storytelling are easy to overlook because overall it's pretty darn good. I can't say how Henchmen: I, Henchbot (what's currently being published) compares, but as far as how the story begins, there's a lot that's done right. So it receives a recommendation from me at the very least.
The Heroes of Echo Company #1 (Joseph Henson)
From 2013.
What's with all the military comics at comiXology? Because as you may or may not be able to tell from the title, this is one of them. It's also a space-based comic, and one that kind of awkwardly tries to meld military with superhero comics (in the way G.I. Joe has code names and only sometimes outlandish costumes to go alone with them, and more often than not for the villains...this comic has the costumes and code names...taken from hero history...for reasons not properly relevant to the rest of the story, at least as presented here). Something like that. I think actual military-enthusiasts would like this one more than I did, but I'm not convinced at all that the concept was figured out. Maybe it gets better? But I'll never know...
I read some of those. The Hawkeye one was pretty good.
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