Star Trek: Boldly Go #1 - IDW Publishing

STAR TREK: BOLDLY GO No. 1, October 2016

The first in a “new ongoing comic series” by “IDW Publishing” which chronicles the adventures of Captain Kirk following the 2016 “Star Trek: Beyond” motion picture and the publisher’s previous sixty-issue long title “penned primarily” under Mike Johnson’s watch, this premiere edition of “Star Trek: Boldly Go” must still have left something of a disheartening taste in the mouths of its 14,690 readers with its plodding plot cataloguing the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise’s re-assignments to “new ships and new roles.” It’s certainly doubtful many readers would have become thrilled by a narrative which focusses upon Spock’s father preparing “a special Plomeek Soup of his own recipe” for Nyota, and Bones’ gruff welcome aboard the U.S.S Endeavour by (Medical) Chief Groffus; a Tellarite “with decades more experience” than Doctor McCoy.

Fortunately however, the former “Transformers: Prime” tie-in author does finally inject some tension into his storyline by having the Iowa-born officer’s latest command pick up the “fragments of what appear to be a distress call from the U.S.S. Concord near the Delta Quadrant Border.” This interruption of the Captain’s “leisure time” with Pavel and Leonard, not only raises a concern as to the welfare of the apparently endangered starship’s new Commander, Hikaru Sulu, but also provides an opportunity to explore the somewhat taught relationship between James Tiberius and his potentially untrustworthy, yet clearly highly capable, Romulan First Officer, Valas.

In addition, the rescue mission also sets up the twenty-page periodical for a genuinely pulse-pounding cliff-hanger, as both Uhura and the “second-in-command of the Concord” repeat the ‘famous’ Trekkie phrase “resistance is futile…” and editor Sarah Gaydos arguably makes good on her promise that “Mike and Tony [Shasteen] are poised to take the series in such an exciting direction” including “some interesting friends and foes from the past.”

Without doubt this “all-new” title’s greatest asset though, is Shasteen’s crisp, albeit slightly cartoony, illustration work, which genuinely captures the likenesses of all of Kirk’s “iconic crew” from the franchise’s 2009 cinematic reboot. Indeed, the Art Institute of Atlanta graduate appears to have a particular penchant for pencilling actors Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. Whilst his ability to draw Federation starships really helps bring home the destruction of the Concord after the vessel has its saucer section just ‘taken away’ by the hostile “angry machine” it unexpectedly encounters.

The regular cover art of "STAR TREK: BOLDLY GO" No. 1 by George Caltsoudas

James Bond #11 - Dynamite Entertainment

JAMES BOND No. 11, October 2016

Having previously ‘told’ the story of “Eidolon” in a straightforwardly linear manner, Warren Ellis tries something a little different for Issue Eleven of “James Bond” by revisiting M’s previously depicted arrival at “designated Safehouse India Uniform Lima” via a series of flashback sequences, and resultantly shifts the vast majority of this twenty-two page periodical’s focus firmly away from the lead protagonist. Indeed, for those very few bibliophiles ignorant of Ian Fleming’s creation, and purely cognisant of Eve Sharma’s ability to thwart both Beckett’s crack-shot henchmen and the facially-disfigured SPECTRE stay-behind operative himself, this particular publication would seem to be more about promoting the female MI5 “prime field team” leader as Britain’s foremost secret agent, rather than the titular character.

Such a somewhat disconcertingly lop-sided narrative is actually made all the worse by the Essex-born author’s seemingly intentional portrayal of an incredibly impotent 007. For despite his role in a ferocious fire-fight fought within the cramped confines of a lavish lounge, as well as the agent spending the better half of the magazine chasing after the ‘Heathrow Hitter’ Hawkwood in a pulse-pounding car chase through the English countryside, the secret serviceman’s sole success comes courtesy of his close-range shooting of Sir Stephen Mackmain in the back, and even then the spy's marksmanship is so surprisingly poor that the blue-suited traitor requires a subsequent ‘head-tap’ before he’s truly ‘out of the picture’…

So poor a showing by Bond behind both the wheel of a Bentley and a hand-held firing piece must genuinely have dismayed many of this comic’s 11,340 readers, and frustratingly seems to take place simply to ensure that the adventure continues into a sixth, arguably unnecessary, instalment. There certainly doesn’t appear to be any other justification as to why Ellis depicts James being unusually presumptuous in writing off a nemesis who has tried to kill him repeatedly and has access to “a volumetric vacuum bomb”; “Hawkwood’s in the wind. But he’s the last member of the Eidolon cell. What can he do on his own?”

Disappointingly, Jason Masters artwork for this somewhat underwhelming script is just as inconsistent as its writing. True, the South African’s pencilling for the majority of the shoot-outs is pretty dynamically drawn, just as his breakdowns of the car chase appear to genuinely emanate a sense of racing, break-neck speed. But his two-dimensional illustrations of Miss Sharma overpowering Hawkwood’s heavily-armed goons, followed by an awkward-looking Bond running for a car are amateurish in appearance at best.

Writer: Warren Ellis, Artist: Jason Masters, and Colors: Guy Major

Conan The Slayer #4 - Dark Horse Comics

CONAN THE SLAYER No. 4, October 2016

Whilst undoubtedly this comic’s 8,657 quite rightly expected Issue Four of “Conan The Slayer” to feature a plot within which the titular Cimmerian was the central focus, Cullen Bunn’s narrative for “Blood In His Wake” does so in a somewhat illogical manner. For having previously shown Kyrylo selling out his brother to the Turanians, as well as murdering his father in order to attain the title of Kozaki hetman, the Bram Stoker Award-nominee disconcertingly pens for the overly-ambitious traitor to attain his thoroughly deserved come-uppance via a certain black-haired barbarian, rather than his rival sibling, Taraslan.

Admittedly, the “inexperienced” horseman is still carrying a somewhat debilitating arrow wound courtesy of his younger counterpart conspiring “with the Turanians to assassinate” him, and additionally, is evidently exhausted from his flight on foot from “a pack of hideous troll brothers and their amorous sea-witch mother”. But surely it would still make much more sense for the true heir to Mykylo’s chieftainship to boldly “stride into the funeral of a great man while brandishing a weapon” and face the monster who had “slain his own flesh and blood out of arrogance and jealously", rather than the mercenary outlander; especially when Taraslan is still aided by “the battle-proficient Oksana”..?

Equally as implausibly lazy as the North Carolina-born writer’s ‘excuse’ to have Conan stride into the midst of the Kozaks and mutilate a handful of them, is the American author’s highly questionable plot-twist concerning the captive conspirator’s unfathomable release by the Eater of the Dead and subsequent escape in the pincer-like arms of several flying demons. Just why a deity who has haunted the wastes “for boundless centuries” has decided to aid a failed usurper of a small horse-faring tribe is never explained, nor why he determines the smartest way to extract Kyrylo from his imprisonment is to conjure a flock of noisy, winged creatures and thereby risk his ignoble pawn's safety at the hands of an enraged Cimmerian..?

Enthusiastically pencilling all these dubious ‘goings-on’, Sergio Davila’s breakdowns are as refreshingly raw as his figures are well-muscled and dynamically drawn. Indeed, it is hard to pick out which is the commissioned artist’s best work within this twenty-two page periodical; the phenomenally gory head-removing sweeps of Conan’s infamous broadsword or the characters’ wonderfully dramatic facial features.

Script: Cullen Bunn, Artist: Sergio Davila, and Colors: Michael Atiyeh

Daredevil [2016] #6 - Marvel Comics

DAREDEVIL No. 6, June 2016

As ‘magazine-long’ fight-fests go, there is little that is technically wrong with Charles Soule’s script for Issue Six of “Daredevil”. True, the actual motivation behind such a vicious battle across the rooftops of New York City isn’t made clear until the comic’s final splash panel, and ‘new’ incoming penciller Matteo Buffagni’s imitation of his predecessor’s distinctive art-style arguably leaves quite a bit to be desired. But this twenty-page periodical does feature a fast-moving contest between two of the publisher’s most enduring ‘street level’ combatants, and even manages to momentarily depict the titular character’s protégé, Blindspot, squaring off against Frank Miller’s “Deadly Assassin”.

Sadly however, all these shenanigans surprisingly seem to lack any real semblance of life or energy, and instead simply seem to suggest that this twenty-page periodical’s creative team were just ‘going through the motions’ in order to deliver a monthly title. Indeed, the vast majority of “Practice To Deceive” feels as if it is merely a ‘filler-in’ edition, penned purely for the book’s cliff-hanger ending in which Elektra accuses her former lover of ‘abducting’ her child; “It was all I had. The one bit of light in all this hell. And you will tell me, Daredevil, if I have to cut away every lie your body holds. What have you done with my daughter?”

It certainly seems hard to justify why else the Milwaukee-born writer would dedicate three whole pages of his narrative to a depressingly grey-toned scene, set inside the New York Supreme Criminal Court, solely to depict Orestez Natchios’ sister meeting Matt Murdock, or a similarly-sized chunk of the comic in which the tale’s 48,745-strong readership must painfully watch the uncomfortable couple subsequently dinning out together… 

Buffagni’s lack-lustre renderings must also partially shoulder this publication’s palpable listlessness. The Parma-born illustrator’s breakdowns appear awkwardly animated at best, with the vast majority of his figures looking wooden, slightly angular and one-dimensional. Such artistic lethargy may well survive unnoticed within the more sedentary scenes of a bored courtroom, but that unfalteringly flat, self-same technique performs quite miserably when used to supposedly show Elektra and Daredevil duking it out in the rain amidst the night skyline of Hell’s Kitchen.

The variant cover art of "DAREDEVIL" No. 6 by Bob Mcleod

Daredevil [2016] #5 - Marvel Comics

DAREDEVIL No. 5, May 2016

Packed full of fist-fights, swordplay, extravagant firearms and supernatural mumbo jumbo involving stolen mystical powers, there can be little doubt that Issue Five of “Daredevil” tries to squeeze as much action-packed mayhem from out of Charles Soule’s script as it can. In fact, whether it be the Man Without Fear’s protégé, Samuel Chung, protecting innocent congregation members from Tenfinger’s cut-throat assassins, or “the full-time crime-fighter” battling “a half-dead beast infused with evil energies through the mystic arts of the Hand”, this twenty-page periodical rarely pauses to allow its 44,868-strong audience to catch their breath.

Fortunately, such energic storytelling doesn’t come at the cost of character development either, as the Brooklyn-born writer’s narrative manages to both finally portray the plot’s “mysterious crimelord turned cult leader” as the cowardly villain this comic’s readership has always known him to be, and temporarily resolve the turbulent relationship between Blindspot and his eight-fingered ninja parent; “Your mother is dead, Samuel. Don’t ever try to save me again.” There’s even a momentary break in the pulse-pounding proceedings to highlight Matt Murdock’s difficulties in juggling his super-heroics alongside a life working for the New York County District Attorney’s office.

Arguably this publication’s greatest boon however, is the Stan Lee Excelsior Award-winner’s ‘monster of the moment’ known as “a Fist.” Not only is this formidable-looking “corpse-engine” memorably created by the Hand sacrificing “a hundred of their own to the Beast”, but it is also an opponent Daredevil has “never fought” before, and as such provides Bill Everett’s co-creation with a seemingly rare opportunity to demonstrate just how he first ‘feels out’ his opponent for weaknesses before he (fatally) strikes.

Quite possibly inspired by this comic’s cacophony of combat, Ron Garney’s highly-stylised artwork is exceptionally dynamic throughout, and really provides each and every blow landed with the gravitas they deserve. It’s certainly hard not to hear the grisly sound of a long blade carving flesh as the Hand’s heavily-armed behemoth chops his way through Tenfinger’s overwhelmed and outmatched hoodlums, or inadvertently move as if to dive for cover as the fallen Chinatown messiah indiscriminately sprays an especially well-drawn panel with semi-automatic pistol fire.

The variant cover art of "DAREDEVIL" No. 5 by Sara Pichelli

World Of Tanks #2 - Dark Horse Comics

WORLD OF TANKS No. 2, November 2016

Selling a somewhat demoralising 6,115 copies in November 2016, a figure slightly reduced by “Diamond Comic Distributors” due to its shipment’s returnability, Issue Two of “World of Tanks” arguably must have come as something of an overly-wordy disappointment to fans of the massively multiplayer online (computer) game upon which the series is based. Certainly, Garth Ennis’ script for “Roll Out” lacks any sort of actual action throughout the majority of this twenty-two page periodical; an especially strange situation considering the Northern Irish-born America’s reputation for extreme violence, and the fact the title’s premise is built upon the armoured conflict in Normandy during the Second World War.

Admittedly, the Holywood-born author’s narrative starts off energetically enough, as Simon Linnet’s isolated crew come face-to-face with a German Flak position, and battered British tankers Nobby and Whitey give their lives fighting off a squadron of Panthers. But as soon as ‘Boilermaker’ is destroyed by half a dozen well-aimed shells and Hauptman Kraft finds the time for a swift smoke of a cigarette, all sense of excitement is lost, and instead replaced with a series of dreary conversational pieces concerning British tank engineering, the calling in of “a stonk” after “one of our shufti-kites spotted the fireworks", Karl’s unpopular assignment to support a Waffen S.S. unit, and Corporal Budd’s realisation that ‘Snakebite’ is a training tank…

Such long-winded, supposedly character-driven scenes clearly have an important place in helping to move the Eisner Award-winner’s plot along, particularly when they help clarify precisely why a supposedly experienced tank driver like Trevor inexplicably loses control of a vehicle during a fire-fight and “drives them right off the battlefield!” Yet such sedentary interruptions surely should be interspersed in between the action, and not used to seemingly pad out the rest of the publication just so it can end on something of a dilemma…

Fortuitously, despite being populated by some disconcertingly large and cumbersome-sized speech bubbles, all these dialogue-rich breakdowns are still somehow mesmerizingly pencilled by “legendary illustrator” Carlos Ezquerra. Emotionally-charged and visually wearing their hearts on their sleeves, the Spanish artist’s figures all somehow take on a personality of their own, and help make even the souless Third Reich puppet Munchen's stilted discourse at being the ‘new’ senior battalion commander something of a compelling read.

Script: Garth Ennis, Artist: Carlos Ezquerra, and Colors: Michael Atiyeh

Moon Knight [2016] #7 - Marvel Comics

MOON KNIGHT No. 7, December 2016

It is extremely doubtful that many of this comic’s 33,866 readers were expecting Issue Seven of “Moon Knight” to contain a narrative featuring (Captain) Marc Spector’s futuristic exploits battling a ravenous horde of Space Wolves, rather than the ‘grounded’ crime-fighting exploits of the Fist of Khonshu as originally envisaged by his co-creators Doug Moench and Don Perlin. In fact, considering Greg Smallwood’s infuriatingly misleading cover illustration of Jack Russell's’ hairy alter ego, the vast majority of this book’s audience were in all likelihood anticipating some sort of homage to the former West Coast Avenger’s first ever appearance within the pages of “Werewolf By Night”.

Sadly however, this twenty-page periodical contains absolutely no such reverence to the ex-mercenary’s mid-Seventies debut whatsoever and instead, somewhat surreally, contains a truly bizarre science fiction-based adventure which seems far closer to something found within a George Lucas “Star Wars” motion picture than the psychologically thrilling series previously promised by “author extraordinaire” Jeff Lemire. Certainly, the Canadian cartoonist’s incredulous storyline concerning the titular character fighting the lycanthrope General Lupinar on the moon’s surface seems a million miles away from the wonderfully atmospheric penmanship of the comic’s previous tale “Welcome To New Egypt”; even if it does provide ample evidence of the writer “using Marc’s illness against him to question his very identity.”

Admittedly, the large-scale space battle between “Humanity’s last hope” and their “Wolfkind” foe provides plenty of intense action, as well as gives Spector’s sidekick Jean-Paul “Frenchie” DuChamp a copious amount of ‘screen-time’. But that doesn’t excuse the preposterousness of a plot which depicts the schizophrenic pilot of “Moon Knight One” falling before the claws and fangs of an animalistic extra-terrestrial…  

Equally as choppy as the Joe Schuster Award-winner’s script for “Incarnations” is this publication’s interior breakdowns. Drawn by James Stokoe and the immeasurably talented Francesco Francavilla, the two artists’ differing styles are so remarkably opposed to one another that any bibliophile able to somehow immerse themselves in Lemire’s patchy proceedings will immediately be jarred out of any such reverie. Indeed, Stokoe’s detailed, yet exceedingly amateurish-looking panels with googly eyed-figures and fanzine pencilling, makes it extremely hard to take any of this comic’s content seriously.

Writer: Jeff Lemire, and Artists: Francesco Francavilla & James Stokoe