Broken Frontier

Hello, everyone! This is Guiding Lines and I am William Gatevackes. Let’s take a look at the comics arriving in stores tomorrow, June 7, 2006.

Wonder Woman #1 is one of many revamped titles resulting from Infinite Crisis (Flash is the next on the block, coming in about two weeks). Hot creators Allan Heinberg and Terry Dodson handle her stories this time around and are supposed to be taking her in a new direction. What is this “new” direction? Judging by future solicitations, the new direction is that the Wonder Woman in this series is a brand new character who has taken over the mantle from her predecessor.

While this path is new in the fact that it is a change from when we last saw the character, a new person wearing an old hero’s costume is anything but. In one way or another, the same has previously been done with Batman, Green Lantern, Spider-Man and Iron Man. It’s not even unique for the month it’s published in. The aforementioned Flash series rumors to have either the Golden Age Flash or Kid Flash taking over for Wally West. And this isn’t even the first time it’s happened in the pages of a Wonder Woman comic book.

Why has DC done this? Was it editorial decision or Heinberg’s idea? The basic principal of any revamp is to shake up the status quo, and nothing does that better than placing a new face behind the mask. But is it necessary?

Greg Rucka’s work at the end of the last series showed the potential the Princess Diana Wonder Woman had. He crafted several very good stories with the character. I’m sure that Heinberg could do the same. 

Having an all-new Wonder Woman might gain interest for a while, but history has shown that these types of change never last. In all the changes mentioned above, Bruce Wayne returned as Batman, Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, Peter Parker as Spider-Man, and Tony Stark as Iron Man. The short shelf life of replacement characters makes these changes even harder to understand.

I’m sure Heinberg and Dodson will create some great stories with the new character. But Wonder Woman has also been known as Princess Diana for 65 years. In an attempt at generating excitement, DC has broken with tradition. And more than a few fans might not like that.

Civil War: Front Line #1 should actually be The Pulse #15. The creative team of Paul Jenkins and Ramon Backs had planned to carry the Sally Floyd character they created for the Generation M series over to The Pulse when the Bendis and Gaydos run ended, but Civil War interceded, and here we are.

Front Line will be taking a look at the Civil War through the eyes of reporters Floyd and Ben Urich. This will give a look at events through the eyes of the common man, which is what The Pulse was originally supposed to do, though the series seemed to stray from the mark a bit as time went on.

Jenkins and Bachs did a good job on Generation M of balancing tales of recently de-powered mutants with Sally Floyd’s story. If they continue this trend with Front Line, they could succeed where Pulse failed, showing us the human side of the superhuman struggle.

Cyberforce #0 reprints a story that first appeared in the Image Anniversary Hardcover. The story purports to tell the origins of the Cyberforce characters and act as a prequel to the current arc. 

The Image Anniversary Hardcover has an interesting legacy. Originally, it was supposed to be released to celebrate Image’s 10 years in existence. Instead, it arrived in November of last year, 3 years late. Of the seven Image founders, only four participated in the collection (Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen, Jim Valentino and Cyberforce creator Marc Silvestri).

I wonder how the fans who shelled out $25 for the hardcover (or $75 for the limited edition) feel now. In addition to Cyberforce #0, Valentino’s and Larsen’s contribution are set to be reprinted too. No word on whether McFarlane’s will join them, but with Cyberforce #0 priced at $2.99, and Larsen’s Savage Dragon #0 at $1.95, anyone who spent that money in November must now feel cheated.

Sure, these people have a sturdy, hardcover copy of the stories, and McFarlane might choose to never reprint his entry, but if they knew they could have saved $10 by just waiting a few months, they might not have bought the book. One could say that Silvestri and the others are doing this as a service to fans that couldn’t afford the hardcover and would have missed out on the stories otherwise, though that wouldn’t make me feel better if I bought a book that I really didn’t have to.

Manifest Eternity #1 comes to us from WildStorm tomorrow. Written by Scott Lobdell with art by Dustin Nguyen, it tells the story of a war between an empire of science and an empire of magic in outer space.

This appears to be yet another attempt to entice readers by mixing together two genres with loyal fan bases: science fiction and fantasy. Most comic readers are fans of at least one of these styles. And if their friends are into sci-fi or fantasy, but don’t yet read comics yet, this could be the title to recommend to them.   

Anything that could increase readership of comics is alright with me. However, comics exist in a vacuum. I doubt anyone other than comic fans who read the Previews book cover to cover or visit comic news sites would even know about this title. But if any of you out there have friends who would be intrigued by a mixture of these story types, be sure to inform them about Manifest Eternity.

Speaking of genres outside the norm, Silent Devil offers us The Last Sin of Mark Grimm #1 tomorrow. It tells the tale of Mark Grimm, a hard-boiled detective who goes to any lengths to save his kidnapped wife.

The gritty crime drama story is no stranger to comics. This is the bread and butter of Frank Miller’s Sin City books, a line that was popular enough to spawn a film franchise. So there is a precedent of success in this type of tale. Will the Sin City comic or movie audience transfer to sales for The Last Sin of Mark Grimm? Not automatically. But if you are a fan of that type of story, you might want to check this book out. 

# # #

William Gatevackes is a hard-boiled writer living on the mean streets of Mamaroneck, NY.  He lives with his number one dame, his wife Jennifer. He writes the periodic grim and gritty comic review at PopMatters.