September 2008 (PDF) - Antigravity Magazine

REVIEWSCOMICS
GREGG HUR-
WITZ, LAURENCE
CAMPBELL
PUNISHER #61
(MARVEL MAX)
was skeptical, I’ll admit
I it. Anyone who wants to
write Punisher so badly that
he’ll turn Foolkiller into a
third-rate Frank Castle just for
the chance seemed like a guy
who might border on fanficquality
for the character. And
following up Garth Ennis’s long run on the character, which
has had a whole lot of high points? It’s a suicide mission.
But I’ll be damned if Hurwitz and Campbell (ably assisted
by ace colorist Lee Loughridge) didn’t deliver a hell of a
crime thriller here. Un-investigated violence in Mexican
border towns seems to be a comics meme of late (witness
Blue Beetle, Manhunter, etc.), and that’s the central story
here—girls are being abducted by a scary group of people
for unspeakable reasons. Their town in trouble, one man
heads north to find a hero in America who can help them.
It’s the plot that launched a thousand and one westerns, and
Hurwitz makes it interesting largely due to seeing inside
Frank Castle’s head on the thirty-first anniversary of his
family’s death but also because the moment-to-moment
characterization and dialogue is believable and interesting.
Hurwitz makes the reader care about the plight of these
people, fleshing them out in the few pages he has so when the
Punisher inevitably steps in, even at his most ultraviolent, he
comes across not as an unhinged vigilante but a white knight
whose brutal methods are nothing less than what the villains
deserve. It doesn’t hurt that the ambiance in this issue is
dark, moody but absolutely readable, as Campbell turns
in craggy, textured work reminiscent of Michael Lark and
Alex Maleev and frames the story with clear, perfect panelto-panel
storytelling and snapshot moments. Loughridge
serves up a dark world with occasional bright spots in the
form of neon lights and burning cigarettes. It’s a palette built
for crime stories and that’s what Hurwitz has going here, an
intriguing little crime drama whose protagonist just happens
to be the baddest vigilante comics ever created. I know the
inclination for most was probably to bail on Punisher now
that Ennis has had his final say, but if Hurwitz, Campbell
and company can follow up as strongly as they open, that
would be a big mistake. —Randy Lander
G. WILLOW WIL-
SON, M.K. PERKER
AIR #1
(DC/VERTIGO)
Neil Gaiman’s cover quote
for Air indicates that he’s
read the first half-dozen issues
and enjoyed them to no end. I,
on the other hand, have only
read the first issue, and while
it’s not unpleasant I honestly
have no idea what the book is
about. There’s an acrophobic
stewardess, a mysterious man of many aliases, a vigilante
airplane patrol group with sinister leanings and plenty of
fight sequences, but despite all these goings-on there are
only hints about what the book is about, either thematically
or in terms of plot. In addition, while the long game can
work for a series if it’s interesting on a moment-to-moment
basis, Blythe (our lead) takes everything in stride, and so
the weirdness, the excitement and the suspense are nonexistent.
The reader isn’t worried because the character
isn’t worried, and so every event passes with as much
passion and intensity as crossing items off a to-do list. On
the upside, Perker’s artwork is very nice, with beautiful
attention to detail and a style that blends realism effectively
with a touch of stylization, similar to the kind of thing that
Dave Gibbons does so well. And as I said upfront, there’s
nothing particularly wrong with Air. But an unclear premise
and a somewhat dry approach to the writing makes this
another soft Vertigo launch when what they need is another
barn-burner like Fables, Y The Last Man or Preacher, a first
issue that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. Air
more kind of softly nudges you to try and get your attention.
—Randy Lander
There are two different
takes on Venom. One is
that his motivating force is the
symbiote, and without it Eddie
Brock is at best a mediocre
human being. The other is
that Eddie is a true scumbag,
with or without the symbiote.
Truthfully, I prefer the former. Venom: Dark Origin is all about
the latter. We see Eddie doing the wrong thing at every turn,
and he’s a class-A creep, just this side of sociopathic. It’s all
a bit much, especially since writer Zeb Wells is a bit on the
nose in showing that every single thing Brock experiences
ties neatly into what he will become.
Continued on Page 37...
ZEB WELLS,
ANGEL MEDIA
VENOM: DARK
ORIGIN #1
(MARVEL)
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