Quick Thoughts on 'Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness' #1

Hastings exclusive variant cover to Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness #1, art by Erfan Fajar. Paramount Pictures/IDW Publishing.

Although I wrote up a very spoiler-filled piece for Movies.com on the comic book prequel to the Star Trek Into Darkness film, I avoided any critique of it. Readers of that site want to know about the film and how the book might relate to the film, and don't care if I think David Messina wears his Terry Dodson influence on his sleeve.

Typically, I find Trek comics boring, though I count myself as a Trek fan, and I think I was mostly relieved to find that this comic wasn't dull. More than that, I'm so hooked by the last page reveal, that I'm definitely in for the second issue, if only to sate my curiosity as to how this all fits in with J.J. Abrams' sequel. As movie tie-ins go, Countdown to Darkness #1 is quite the little tease.

Licensed comics with recognizable likenesses are not the best showcase for an artist, as they're usually hamstrung by photo reference, but Messina does a nice enough job. Kirk looks almost boyishly young, missing some of the darkness in Chris Pine's face, but his Spock is right on (and appears more than Kirk in this first issue).

Screenwriter Robert Orci lends Mike Johnson a hand so that the book can be canonical with the Abrams version of the Star Trek universe. The set-up for this issue is strictly Star Trek 101 stuff - routine scanning turns into something unexpected, the Prime Directive is questioned - so for hardcore devotees, the real reason to pick it up is for promise of the last page. If you're not too into Star Trek, or you're only really familiar with the 2009 film, then this book does a capable job as the start to what should be an interesting space adventure.

(Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness is a four-issue limited series from IDW. The first issue is released today.)

The Trophy Room: Frankenstein, Captain Marvel, and Talking Cats

Hello, folks. I've asked Jacob Hall to come up with a regular feature, and this is it, in its inaugural form - The Trophy Room. Jacob is a writer for Screencrush.com and Movies.com, and a lover of storytelling in all of its forms. With The Trophy Room, he'll give weekly awards to the comics that he thinks stand out.

Welcome to the Trophy Room, where I'll recap my week in comics through arbitrary awards. Everyone's a winner! Unless you're a loser. And then you're probably not a winner. Sorry.

Hickman-iest Comic of the Week: New Avengers #2

The second issue of New Avengers has everything you'd expect from a comic penned by Jonathan Hickman: a few dramatically blank (wasted) pages, lots and lots of dialogue that's bound to pay off three times over in twenty issues and a villainous scheme so complex that it literally requires Mr. Fantastic to pull a Doc Brown and draw a diagram to explain it to the rest of the Illuminati (and the reader). This book certainly isn't going to win over Hickman's detractors, but if you like your superhero stories decompressed and filled with all kinds of nutty hard science fiction, well…then you really should be reading New Avengers.

Unadorned variant cover to Savage Wolverine #1, art by Milo Manara. Marvel Comics.

Least Hickman-iest Comic of the Week: Savage Wolverine #1

On the opposite end of the spectrum from New Avengers, you'll find writer/artist Frank Cho's Savage Wolverine, which manages to squeeze a ridiculous amount of action and momentum into its debut issue. I'm not enough of a Wolverine fan to pick up issue two (I hugely prefer Jason Aaron's silly take on the character over the every-popular growling badass), but this is a perfectly fine book that's going to please fans of the character and satisfy those who hungering to see Wolverine snikt his way through legions of baddies.

Best Use of a Talking Cat: Saga #9

What's up with talking cats becoming the break-out characters in my favorite books? Socks, the Animal Totem turned house cat over in Jeff Lemire's Animal Man, is somehow one of the best characters currently inhabiting the DC universe, but he's got stiff competition in this category from Lying Cat over in Image's Saga. The sidekick/companion of the mercenary known as The Will, Lying Cat is able to detect whenever a character is lying, no matter how petty the mis-truth. It's no exaggeration to say that I laugh out loud each and every time Lying Cat makes an appearance, so I was more than happy to spend an issue away from the series' protagonists and get to know The Will and his world a little better. This issue doesn't get the Comic of the Week award only because this series would win that honor every time it comes out and that's just not fair.

Best Horror Comic Disguised as a Batman Comic: Batman #16

There are parts of me that are deeply uncomfortable with Scott Snyder's Batman, mainly because I can't help but imagine an eight-year-old Batfan picking up an issue and being traumatized for life. But I'll just have to get over that because Snyder and artist Greg Capullo have turned Batman into one helluva horror comic, albeit one starring the Caped Crusader. Although the "Death of the Family" arc has been consistently unsettling, issue #16 is a special brand of grotesque, following Batman as he navigates an Arkham Asylum that's been completely taken over by the Joker. Readers looking for more friendly Batman adventures should check out John Layman's exceptional Detective Comics - Snyder's is a comic for grown-ups with strong stomachs.

Cover to Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #16, art by Alberto Ponticelli. DC Comics.

Most Confounding Final Issue For a Series That's Been Unceremoniously Cancelled: Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #16

Despite being one of the most consistently entertaining titles on the stands, Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. is no more and its final issue is baffling, to say the very least. That doesn't mean it's bad, per se, it just means that it ignores everything that went down in the past couple of issues, leaps backwards in time, revives a bunch of dead characters and tells a story set prior to the events of the "Rotworld" crossover event. I get why this happened - it lets the series end with our titular hero and his Creature Commandos triumphant - but it feels wrong, especially since the whole "Rotworld" thing is still ongoing over in Swamp Thing and Animal Man, leaving Frankenstein's side of the tale feeling woefully incomplete. This is a perfectly entertaining issue, but there's something quietly insulting about it. Instead of an actual ending, this final issue promises future adventures…which we'll never get. Because the series is canceled. Delightful.

Runner-Up Comic of the Week: Daredevil #22

Fact: there is no superhero book on the stands better than Daredevil. Mark Waid and Chris Samnee continue to tell the ever-pitch dark story of Matt Murdoch without wallowing in grime, walking the finest of fine lines between fun and morbid. Daredevil is telling a story about damaged people at the end of their ropes, but it's still, somehow, an absolute joy and pleasure to read. Bonus points for Waid's take on the Superior Spider-man, which made me realize that character is going to be genuinely hilarious as he navigates the dense Marvel Universe.

Comic of the Week: Captain Marvel #9

For its first eight issues, Kelly Sue DeConnick's Captain Marvel has been a consistently entertaining series with a solid grasp on its characters and fun (if not especially memorable) conflicts. Well, something went wonderfully right with issue #9 and the result isn't just good: it's Matt Fraction's Hawkeye and Waid's Daredevil good. Instead of sending Carol Danvers on another journey through time and having her fight another giant robot, DeConnick sends the former Ms. Marvel on her most interesting adventure to date: a very, very busy day in New York City (drawn by Filipe Andrade, whose anime-influenced pencils are stunning). By keeping her on the streets instead of in the cosmos, DeConnick grounds Danvers and her conflicts, making scenes like a battle with two time-displaced dinosaurs somehow relatable (because it's going to make her late for her cat's vet appointment, you see). I don't know if this signals a major shift in the book's tone or if it's just a one-off, but consider me a big fan of this (pardon the pun) grounded Captain Marvel.

Review: John Byrne Returns with IDW's 'The High Ways' #1

I am probably more forgiving than most for John Byrne's work. I overlook the flaws of every new project, chasing a thrill from my youth of being consistently blown away by Byrne's pencils and his imagination as a writer. Some projects come very close to that sweet spot (Dark Horse-era Next Men), but most of the time, being a Byrne fan these days feels like a solitary experience. His storytelling has reached a technical plateau that he hasn't been able to rise above (though there have been some dips below), and he hasn't had a superstar gig on a high-profile title in a very, very long time.

The High Ways #1, cover art by John Byrne. John Byrne/IDW Publishing.

And "high-profile" doesn't have to mean something for the Big Two - Byrne's creator-owned projects have never caught on in the way that some of his peers (Frank Miller, Mike Mignola) have. So, here I sit, having just finished his latest monthly - IDW's The High Ways #1 - and I'm over-thinking Byrne's legacy as a creator, wondering what he wants people to remember him for, when all is said and done. Surely not this?

I know I'm over-thinking it because The High Ways is not a deep book, nor a particularly commercial one. It's the story of a kid named Eddie (nicknamed "Sprout") who we follow on his first interstellar job aboard what's basically a space tow truck. The freighter he's on is called out to move a ship, but it turns out to be a false alarm (maybe), and the crew is forced to stay over with strangers at a space station while the freighter refuels. Short of a last panel cliffhanger, there's not much else going on except introductions to a handful of working-class spacefarers.

And it's fine. The book is fine. And every single time I read new Byrne I want it to be more than fine; a classic - something I can praise from the rooftops, and confidently pass along to friends as a must-read, so that people will understand the impact Byrne had on the 9-year old me - and every time, I'm let down. I can praise The High Ways #1 from the level carpet of my living room. I can pass it along to some friends who don't mind their sci-fi with a slight retro bent. They won't understand why I'm a Byrne nut, but they'll probably like the book just fine. It's fine.

I can't fault for the book for what it's not; only what it is, and there's the danger in getting a fan to review something he has complicated feelings about, I can try to remain objective, try to think, "who is this book for, anyway?" but even Byrne knows that the book is for me and people like me - Byrne fans, the core he's been softballing comics to for the past twenty years.

Byrne fan or not, The High Ways #1 is an old-fashioned sci-fi comic and serviceable in every sense of the word. Bonus points for the book having not one, but two appealing black lead characters. The real test of the book's potential will be in the second issue, now that all of the character introductions are out of the way, and we can get to the meat of whatever this book is really going to be about, because, let's face it, John Byrne's Space Tow Truck Adventures is a hard-sell in a crowded marketplace. And there's gotta be more to this book than that, right? Or am I just a Byrne apologist?

(This review covers The High Ways #1. The first issue of four hits stands on Wednesday, 1/16)

Review: 'The Maxx' Creator Sam Kieth Dazzles with 'The Hollows'

It's pretty miraculous that someone with such an alternative approach to mainstream comics like Sam Kieth experienced superstar artist success. Kieth made his name with the initial arc to Neil Gaiman's ground-breaking Sandman, and went on to become part of Image's second wave of creator-owned books with his The Maxx, providing the source material for a beloved animated cult hit on MTV. His work is distorted, scratchy, at times downright sloppy, but there's a consistency of worldview that is distinctly Sam Kieth's. His characters are appealingly lumpy in form but optimistic, and the combination is weirdly comforting, as if we're being reminded that it's perfectly okay to be living in our own weird skin. We're all little odd, misshapen creatures.

The Hollows #1, cover art by Sam Kieth. Sam Kieth & Chris Ryall/IDW Publishing.

That humanity has earmarked some of his best work (I always preferred the underrated Friends of the Maxx spin-off to the more surreal Maxx series), and it's back in fine form in IDW's The Hollows. On paper, the book sounds like almost like zombie manga - in a future version of Japan, an ecological holocaust has left the "have-nots" of the world surviving against all odds from soul-sucking zombie hordes called the Hollows, while the "haves" routinely loot the survivors from floating cities high above in colossal trees. That's the setting, but two issues in and this book is really more about the human experience than zombie panic or dystopian future-worlds.

Craig Mayerik is the central character, an inventor from the upper world who forgoes the looter-style jetpacks for a home-made set of mechanical bat wings so that he can fly down to the surface for supplies to care for his family. He's so surprised to see people on the scorched-earth surface that he promptly crashes and learns there are folks who are content to call the surface home, despite the daily horrors of their lives. Mayerik is touched by these people, and frustrated that he can't do more to help them, which leads him to his second experiment and a return trip to the surface world (one that goes far worse than the first).

The Hollows evokes the same proud sense of people fighting for the place they know as home, despite miserable circumstances, as the film Beasts of the Southern Wild (though not as overtly referencing real-life Katrina refugees). Mayerik pities them, but there's complexity in the question of whether he should pity them or not. Is it guilt from living high above or is it real empathy? After two issues, these questions provide the actual hook of the series.

The Hollows #2, cover art by Sam Kieth. Sam Kieth & Chris Ryall/IDW Publishing.

Kieth is working with writer Chris Ryall (Zombies Vs. Robots and EIC of IDW) and the two compliment each other nicely on the book. That manga-like log-line I mentioned earlier is nothing like the final version of the comic, which reveals that the two creators are working as one seamless unit to bring this particular, unusual vision to life. One wrong writer, one different artist, and The Hollows might have become just another sci-fi riff. Once you read it, it's exactly the kind of book that you can't imagine coming from anyone else.

If you're looking for another title like Saga - an off-beat, more personal touch to sci-fi fantasy - The Hollows should definitely be on your radar. Its fantasy trappings are stronger, almost whimsical and storybook-like, but there's the same sense of unpredictability to the universe that's being created here that I really responded to well. Kieth's smudgy artwork, taken on its own, looks almost unfinished at times during the first two issues, but it just proves even more that a comic can be much more than the sum of its parts. It's imperfect, but perfect for The Hollows.

(This review is for The Hollows #1-2. The first two issues are available now.)

I Want My Marvel NOW: The Superior Spider-Man #1

Spoilers? Are there any such thing as spoilers by the time Thursday hits? It certainly doesn't seem that way anymore, but let's be realistic here - this is the fifth issue since Dan Slott's Big Twist was revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #698 (followed up in #699 and #700, as well as Avenging Spider-Man #13.1, oh, and one issue of Daredevil if we want to count that). So if you're unaware of what's going on with Spider-Man (and how could you be by this point?) then consider yourself warned, because we're going to talk about this issue with specifics.

The Superior Spider-Man #1 finds Otto Octavius, Spider-Man's arch-nemesis Dr. Octopus, living in Peter Parker's body (with Parker dead in Octavius's buried body). While this isn't technically the first issue in an all-new direction, it is the first time we get to see Dr. Spiderpus take on some villains - in this case a new Sinister Six made up of also-rans from the old, lesser Sinister Syndicate (like Boomerang and Speed Demon). Slott has set up a conceit where Octavius was so inspired by Peter Parker's emotional triumphs, through their shared memories, that Octavius has decided to out-Spider-Man Spider-Man with "superior" intelligence and superhero techniques.

What started as an interesting new direction is already starting to wear out its welcome somewhat after five issues of non-Spidey Spider-Man comics. There's a difference between not being a villain and being a hero, and right now, Otto is simply existing as not-a-villain. He's still a colossally arrogant, alienating asshole who spends dinner with Mary Jane ignoring her conversation to leer at her breasts and treats Parker's co-workers at Horizon Labs with open contempt. Otto may have been a villain we loved to hate, but that kind of love doesn't mean we ever wanted to see him as the star of his own book, month after month.

It's time for writer Slott to introduce a foil, and we don't mean someone from Spidey's rogues. Right now, the book is all antagonist with no protagonist, despite the hero-versus-villians visuals of Spider-Man still fighting his baddies. The fix is a quick one - Superior needs someone good, someone the readers already like, to realize that Peter isn't Peter and start putting those pieces together, to Otto's chagrin. Create some real conflict. Slott may have long-term plans for Peter/Otto, but there's a void left by the general, genuine goodness of the original Spider-Man that isn't being filled by anyone in the current title.

And, frankly, Slott is making everyone in Peter's life look kind of stupid too. Peter/Otto's behavior is so abnormal, his dialogue so different, that I'm shocked that no one in the large supporting cast hasn't really started to suspect something. Instead, Slott has introduced conflict in the weirdest possible form, through Peter Parker's ghost maintaining physical control over Otto/Spidey's actions (in a ludicrous last-page reveal). What will that mean for future issues? Will ghostly Peter be the protagonist holding Otto/Spidey at bay? Is anyone really down for a year's worth of stories (or more) about the relationship between Peter Parker's ghost and his worst enemy parading as Spider-Man?

WILL I BE BACK FOR MORE? I've been on board this whole time until Superior Spider-Man #1 and now I'm iffy. Now that the potential of seeing Doc Ock as a would-be hero has become a reality, I'm not sure it's such a great idea. Sure, It's a great idea to drum up interest and get people talking, but I read Spider-Man, in part, because I simply like Spider-Man. Right now, I don't like Otto/Spidey, and I don't know how many more issues I can stomach the prick as the lead. I'd guess either a huge lesson in humility is on the way, or someone in the book is going to start putting clues together very soon. Maybe both things will happen. Then again, maybe neither will, and the new status quo will be a long-term Spider-Man book starring a dickhead and his ghostly conscience.

Review: Dark Horse's 'Star Wars' On-Going Goes Beyond 'A New Hope'

With Disney's acquisition of Star Wars. the future of this book - an on-going series set immediately after the events in Episode IV: A New Hope - has been called into question. Dark Horse has been very good to Star Wars, and though we may see the franchise return to Marvel, under Disney's watch, there's no better swan song than an indefinitely numbered Star Wars series starring Luke, Leia, Han, and, of course, Darth Vader.

There's an unusual amount of recap exposition going on in Star Wars #1, and I have to assume this is for the Clone Wars crowd, not for those of us that have the original films nearly memorized. It's right after the Battle of Yavin, and Leia is afforded an opportunity by Mon Mothma to assist the Rebels in a way that will help shake her reputation as just a politician. Meanwhile, Vader is sidelined by the Emperor and asked to relinquish control of the Empire's fleet to new character Col. Bircher. I don't want to go into too much more synopsis detail than that because the best thing about Star Wars #1  is how it sets up the potential of an interesting new serialized adventure.

I mentioned Clone Wars, and, if anything, Brian Wood and Carlos D'Anda have made something for all ages in the same way that the best Star Wars films are all-ages. It's an easy read with an intriguing hook, sporting appealingly detailed art by D'Anda. It's not specifically a "kids' book" but it's been a while since I've read anything that I'd be 100% comfortable passing along to an 8-year old. If you're a comic-reading Star Wars fan parent, this could be the series you and your kid both read on a monthly basis (and with a digital copy included with every physical copy, Dark Horse is making Star Wars very easy to share).

For something so highly anticipated, Star Wars gets off to a downright modest start. That's not a huge criticism - it's a book with a lot of polish - but my expectations for the first Star Wars ongoing in years to deliver something truly fantastic were perhaps too high. Wood and D'Anda started this book with all the time in the world, and the first issue is them pretty much stretching their legs a bit and starting their sprint with a slow jog. I'm content for now to sit back and watch them run.