Broken Frontier

Greetings and salutations! You are now reading Guiding Lines, a look at tomorrow’s comics today. My name is William Gatevackes and we will be taking a look at some of the comic books coming out August 16, 2006.

Justice League of America #1 may or may not be coming out tomorrow. While it doesn’t appear on Diamond’s advance Shipping List for this week, the DC Comics website says that it should be there. To be safe, I will profile it this week.

This is the issue where the team of Brad Meltzer and Ed Benes begins in earnest. Many long time fans of the League will greet this news with a great deal of disdain. After all, Meltzer was the one who, in the Identity Crisis series, turned the team into the type of people who would brainwash their own teammates and alter personalities of the villains—and let’s not forget what he did to Sue Dibny.

But despite that, Meltzer does seem to have affection towards these characters. I would even say that the way he left Ralph Dibny at the end of Identity Crisis was better than what the writers of 52 are doing to him presently. And you cannot deny the knowledge he has of the history of the group. His prior writing shows that he knows continuity and is able to work with it.

Number one will be the selection issue, the one where Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman pick who they want on the team. Judging by Meltzer’s professed love of the “Satellite” era team (the Satellite era was the time in the comic from the 70s to early 80s where the team was headquartered in an Earth orbiting satellite), we could assume that the new team will find plenty of heroes from that time period on its roster.

I’m sure a lot of people are expecting a relentlessly grim and gritty version of the JLA. However, one of the supposed aftermaths of the Infinite Crisis series was a return to a kinder and gentler DC. Which type of book will we be getting? I’m hoping for the latter, but would accept a well-written version of the former.

Claws #1 features the team-up that fans were itching to see happen: the meeting between the Black Cat and Wolverine. It seems only natural that these two would share adventures because...um...well...let’s see...uh...they both have claws?

Yes, this team-up seems more created out of some hidden agenda by Marvel to have Wolvie team up with every other character in the Marvel Universe (after this I think that all he has left is Millie the Model and Forbush Man) rather than an organic story built from a shared history. Black Cat has been exclusive to the Spider-Man universe, and Wolverine mostly to the X- universe.  Sure, they’ve both worked with Spidey often, but who in Marvel hasn’t?

Marvel, and writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, appear smart enough to realize the differences in the characters and have developed a plot that plays on it. It appears to be a take-off on Richard Edward Cornell’s 1924 short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” where rich people pay good money to hunt human beings (the humans being the most dangerous game in question). Only this time, instead of humans they try to hunt Wolverine and Black Cat. I feel sorry for the hunters.

Joseph Michael Linsner, an artist who’s gained fame from his Cry for Dawn series, draws the miniseries.  Linsner does have a talent for drawing the female form, which he shows off quite nicely on the Black Cat featured in the solicitation and preview pages, but his take on Wolverine is most interesting.  Rumor has it that when artist Darick Robertson was drawing the clawed mutant’s series he was criticized for drawing the character too ugly. Marvel was pushing for a more Hugh Jackman-esque look for Logan. However, Linsner’s Wolverine is arguably uglier than Robertson’s was. 

Speaking of Robertson, he joins Garth Ennis in bringing us The Boys #1 from Wildstorm. The pair has worked together many times in the past, most notably on Born and the recent Fury: Peacemaker series. This current collaboration focuses on a government-funded group who keeps tabs on super humans.

Garth Ennis is seldom named when you list the superstar writers currently working in comics. But he should be. He has been writing comics for over 16 years and, in my opinion, everything was of a high quality. He uses violence and humor in a way that is more thought-provoking than just to raise controversy.

His run on Hellblazer was landmark in helping to define the character. His “Dangerous Habits” arc on the title was used for a main part of the plot of the movie Constantine. His Preacher series was one of the best comics Vertigo ever published and his current work on The Punisher revitalized the character.

Perhaps one of the reasons Ennis isn’t mentioned by fans in the same breath as Bendis, Johns and Morrison is because he works outside the mainstream. He works on urban vigilantes, the supernatural and war books. Rarely does he work with the capes and spandex crowd. Maybe with The Boys a wider audience will appreciate his work.

Deadman #1 comes to us tomorrow from Vertigo. Don’t be mistaken though, this is not your father’s Deadman. No, in this book Boston Brand is nowhere to be found. While the concept might remain similar, this is a complete and total revamp.

Much like 2003’s Beware the Creeper, a cult mainstream DC character gets shipped over to Vertigo and receives a complete make over. Instead of a circus aerialist, we now have an airline pilot named Brandon Cayce. He, like the previous Deadman, tries to find out the real reason behind his death.

When companies revamp characters, usually there will be fans that get upset. Even though characters haven’t been seen in years and aren’t popular enough to support their own series, even the most minor hero or villain has a loyal and dedicated fan base. 

What DC/Vertigo is doing here is ideal. The fans of the Boston Brand character can rest assured that he is still kicking around in the mainstream DC Universe while new fans get a chance to try out Bruce Jones and John Watkiss’ version of the character.  We get a revamp and get to keep the classic. It’s the best of both worlds.

Finally, Rex Mundi #1 comes to us from Dark Horse. This series continues the tale started in the 18-issue Image comic of the same name. The comic, told as a murder mystery, features a doctor searching for an ancient artifact, an artifact the Catholic Church doesn’t want found and will do anything to make sure it’s not.

Plot sound familiar? Similarities to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code novel are there, but the first issue of the first Rex Mundi series came out close enough to the first printing of The Da Vinci Code so that those similarities are only coincidental. And Rex Mundi is different in that it takes place on an alternate Earth where the Protestant Reformation never happened and the Inquisition is still around, nastier than ever.

But the closeness in plots brings up an interesting point. I’m sure we all remember the controversy The Da Vinci Code raised when its movie was released earlier this year. Catholic groups were up in arms about the way their religion was portrayed in the book and film. Imagine if that kind of controversy was aimed at Rex Mundi instead. Perhaps there is an alternate Earth where comic books hold more stature than books or movies and Bill O’Reilly is interviewing Mundi creator Arvid Nelson on his show as we speak.

Sometimes I wish comics would get more respect and positive notice in the mainstream. But times like theseI’m glad that my hobby flies under the radar. My friends and family already ask me questions whenever comic-related issues hit the mainstream press. Should a Da Vinci Code-like furor hit the world of comics, I might never leave my house ever again.

# # #

William Gatevackes is a writer living in Mamaroneck, NY. The alternate Earth William is also a writer, but lives in a penthouse apartment in New York City. This Earth’s William is married to his completely awesome wife, Jennifer. The alternate Earth William is still married to Jen, but is constantly harassed by calls from Scarlett Johansson and Winona Ryder asking him to leave her (Not going to happen ladies). This Earth’s Bill writes the occasional comic review for the PopMatters website. The alternate Earth Bill had the idea for Harry Potter instead of J.K. Rowling and therefore is monstrously rich.