East of West #1: I know that this blog finds me singing Jonathan Hickman's praises quite often, but he just won't stop earning it. This week in AWESOME sees us taking a look at his non-superhero work. This title puts Hickman's sci-fi skills to good use, blending equal parts fantasy, western, early American myth, biblical lore and cyberpunk to craft a story about the Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse awakening to a world that looks like half Sergio Leone/half Orson Scott Card seemingly in search of their fourth, shooting, stomping and maiming everything they come into contact with. He doesn't seem to be shy about letting you know right away that this is going to be a bloody ride with a ridiculously high body count. Although the action and the immersion into this new world and it's history leaves a small bit to be desired as far as story direction, we're left just enough of a sample to make us curious about where it's all headed.You never know if you're going to see a saloon right out of Unforgiven or a towering behemoth of a skyscraper compound that looks right out of Star Trek. This new, strange world offers much to explore thanks to dazzling visuals compliments of Nick Dragotta. Anyone who is familiar with his work alongside Hickman on FF will be able to attest to his ability to leave you reading a book twice in one sitting just to go back and enjoy details and mannerisms you previously missed. And you certainly won't want to miss anything here.
Bottom Line: A strong, gorgeously rendered start to what looks like a promising sci-fi/fantasy tale. 8.5 out of 10
Green Hornet #1: I'm going to be the guy who says what nobody else wants to say. It's time to go ahead and forgive Seth Rogen. In fact, we should go ahead and thank him and his script being 100% awful. The Green Hornet movie sucked so badly, it's virtually faded from memory (now if only that same theory worked for pogs, Herman Cain and the Dallas Cowboys), meaning it's totally okay to start from scratch and reintroduce Batman's archetype with the action packed gusto he deserves. Mark Waid's work on Daredevil leaves him more than qualified to offer his take on the classic pulp hero, giving a proper introduction to new readers who were sound of mind and saved their money when the movie came out.
All You Need to Know: Britt Reid is a newspaper magnate who is secretly a vigilante masquerading as a criminal mastermind. Oh, and he has a sidekick named Kato with "a mastery of something called 'the martial arts'."
Make no mistake; this is a bare bones opening, giving us the basic premise as well as the cast of characters we're going to dealing, a crash course with which to navigate the gritty, noir world of 1930's Chicago. However, fans like myself will frown a bit at the fact that, aside from the twist ending, that's pretty much all we get. Despite a fun, well written (albeit slightly talky) adventure, there's not much you're left to wonder about if you're ever read, watched or listened to a standard Green Hornet adventure. It's a nice book to look at, too. Daniel Indro's dark, rough pencil work serves the tone of this story and its characters well. His facial expressions really come alive in dialogue heavy moments. Although some panels feel a little too scratchy at awkward times, it's still a good looking book nonetheless.
Bottom Line: An exposition heavy but fun jumping-on point to pull new readers into a classic character. 7.5 out of 10.
Fantastic Four #5AU: Since I'm not reviewing Marvel's big crossover title, Age of Ultron, this week, I decided to offer a look at one the tie-in issues. The great thing about this event is that it's so straight forward (an evil robot finally got smart enough to conquer/kill mankind), it doesn't require a lot of tie-in "community service" issues from other comics, subtracting from their respective plotlines to feed the ongoing event. However, Marvel is just greedy enough, they'd hang your baby kitten upside down and shake it if they thought there was money in it. So, of course, they're going to do tie-ins anyway. On the upside, the powers that be over at the house Stan Lee built have decided not uproot existing stories and, instead, just give us an "AU" issue in addition to the ongoing series that you don't necessarily have to read to keep up with your title.
Of course, if you're not already reading Age of Ultron, reading this book is going to be awkward for you. Although it's not a bad book, Matt Fraction would really rather not be telling this side-story (the main FF story is already awesome) and he doesn't seem to care who knows it. Basically, Reed Richard's children are left a holographic message that the gang had to go fight Ultron and they'll be back....perhaps. In keeping with Age of Ultron's opening survival aftermath theme of "Where Were You When the Evil Robot Came and Took Revenge For Not Being Pre-Programmed with Flash", we get scenes and flashbacks of Marvel's First Family joining the fight for mankind. There's not much left to the imagination plot wise. If you were already reading A of U, you know what's going on. If you weren't and you just investing in Fantastic Four...well...now you know. If nothing else, the book looks amazing. Andre Araujo's style has a catchy, old school look with a penchant for rounded, asymmetrical figures. The action looks urgent...especially where Ben Grimm's fight panels are concerned.
Bottom Line: It's not the most urgent book in the world to read, but it sure is pretty. 7 out of 10
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