Book of the week: Incognito #6

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Book of the Week: Incognito #6

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips close out their first Incognito mini-series from Marvel's creator-owned Icon line.  It's almost a shame that Incognito and Criminal are on Icon. Had they been published under Vertigo, I have no doubt they would be top-selling comics.  

Incognito goes out with a bang as semi-reformed villain Zack Overkill discovers his origins and confronts both his evil former-friends and his evil brother.  He also deals with the S.O.S. which is not evil.

While Criminal is undeniably better than Incognito, I'm sad to see this series go away for a while (Bru and Phillips return to Criminal next month).  Zack Overkill is one of the better anti-heroes ever created.  He has no particular desire to be a hero.  He's just bored and misses his power.  It's refreshing and much more relatable than the usual crop of blood thirsty heroes we see.

And in the end, Zack never really changes from his experiences.  He's not going to be a hero.  He's just embracing his inner killer.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Lindsey Lohan!

Runner up: Marvel Zombie's Return: Spider-man

I stopper reading Marvel Zombies half-way through the second mini-series.  After the phenomenal introduction in Ultimate Fantastic Four and a fairly uneven debut miniseries, the concept had run dry for me.

The series ran for 2 more mini's after that, and now continues in Marvel Zombie's Return.  After reading a brief rundown of the synopsis, I was convinced this would be worth a second chance.  I'm happy to say that Fred Van Lente has convinced me that Marvel Zombies is fun again. 

Zombie Spider-man has been teleported into another dimension where the characters are still trapped in the 70's era Spider-man stories.   And yes, that concept is just as goofy and awesome as it sounds.

And that may be it's downfall.

Make no mistake, this first issue of the series is worth every penny for pure, insane fun and gore.  It is very much Army of Darkness with Spider-man.  Unfortunately, it's a little hard to take seriously, no matter how great the overall product is.   Also, it's notable that each issue of this series is written by a different writer, so it will likely feel very disjointed. Still, you won't find more fun on the shelves than a Fred Van Lente Zombie comic.

Only Nazi Superman can prevent house fires.  Damn.

Runner up: The Boys #34

While Garth Ennis' series about sticking it to Capes isn't ever going to live up to his work on Preacher, it's one of the most mindlessly fun books around.

The book constantly qualifies as pornographic in it's extremes (and that is both literal and figural in this case), yet it's hard not to enjoy.   Mostly this is due to the characters.   While the Capes the Boys kill are comic conventions and archetypes, The Boys themselves are each unique and surprisingly nuanced.   

This issue highlights many of those personalities, after a hefty helping of Ennis' trademark uber-violence.   More than half the book is dedicated to a fight between the Nazi Superman, Stormfront and Butcher's team.   Truthfully, its just another fight, albeit a confusing one, considering it takes four of them to take down Stormfront, when Butcher took apart Payback so easily the last two issues.  The epilogue focuses on Lil' Hughie's feelings towards the team and the insane world he's been almost kidnapped into.   It also takes time out to mention the surprisingly tender relationship between Frenchie and the now-comatose Female.

Perhaps the highlight of the issue is the acknowledgement that the next few issues will focus on revealing the backgrounds of The Boys.   First up is Mother's Milk.  Judging from the teaser cover, I'd say my suspicions about his origins are dead on.  That said, I know Ennis well enough to know that there will be a few surprises along the way.

Nearly three years in and this series still has my attention for the foreseeable future.