Secret Warriors #6
Book of the week: Secret Warriors.
Jonathan Hickman's fledgling series continues to impress. This book always seems to be out-shined by whatever event or publicity stunt is going on each month, but it's a sleeper to be sure. Secret Warriors is a layered spy drama wrapped in a bleeding edge Super Hero team book. But when all is said and done, the book is primarily about Nick Fury.
Issue 6 picks up right where number 5 left off; right in the middle of a war zone between Fury's Howling Commandos and Secret Warriors, Hydra, A.I.M. and Norman Osborn's H.A.M.M.E.R. agents.
The true strength of this series is that it is just as much a spy book as it is a team ensemble. What could have been a 22 page brawl instead pivots back and forth to wars of a different kind; one involving Hydra stealing an artifact from the Silver Samarai, and another expanding on the incredible dynamic between Daisy Johnson and Fury. This too, is a surprise. Many writers would push this relationship off as a cheesy May/ December romance. Instead Daisy clearly looks to Fury as a sort of Father figure, but even then it isn't that simple, because as much as Fury would love to let her in, he can't. He's Nick Fury, the world's greatest spy, and he knows better than to tie himself to anyone or anything, or worse yet, to trust. Instead he pushes her away. She's an able bodied Leutenant. That's all.
Stephano Casselli's artwork is, as always, stellar. Many artists these days are labeled as having a cinematic feel to their artwork, but in Casselli's case, I'd say it's true. His art combines a bit of Manga and cartooning, but feels much more kinetic than a lot of today's artists. Casselli has quickly become one of my favorite up and comers and is yet another reason to look forward to this book each and every month.
This arc should come out as a trade in a few months, so if you aren't reading it, get going. Secret Warriors is No Country for Old Men for the 'cape' set.
Runner up 1: Detective Comics #855
If you're interested in art in any form, you should be reading Detective Comics. It's written by Greg Rucka, who is amazing, but the real draw is the art of JH Williams III. No other artist in comics compares. The nuances to his style which shift with every book he draws are unbelievable. Even the way he lays out his panels is unlike anything ever seen before. Every second of each panel is like candy for your eyes.
In fact, the only reason this issue didn't make Book of the Week is because I'm still not sure what is going on in the story. Last issue introduced us to Alice, the Joker to Kate Kane's Batman-- literally. While the new villain is undoubtedly intriguing, her physical resemblance to the Joker's motif and personal similarities to the Mad Hatter are a bit distracting.
Nevertheless, it's a strong issue as Batwoman confronts Alice, the new head of the Religion of Crime, for the first time and ends up paying for it.
The back up feature, featuring The Question, doesn't fare so well. It's a shame really. Renee Montoya is awesome as the new wielder of Vic Sage's mantle. But in many ways the story feels like an afterthought to the main story. Also, while Cully Hamner is a talented artist, he should not be lined up after J H Williams. It's like Cheap Trick playing after Led Zepplin. But even with it's faults, I'll take a Question story any way I can get it.
Detective Comic should absolutely be on your pull list each month.
Runner up #2: Fantastic Four #569
It's a bit shocking that this book was as enjoyable as it ended up. The last few issues were a disaster as Mark Millar's and Bryan Hitch's final FF arc, the one with the most promise, fell apart.
For one thing, neither Hitch nor Millar actually completed most of it. Last issue Hitch only did about half of the panels, while relying on fill in artists to clean up his mess. The truth is, even what he did draw was pretty much his worst work in recent memory, and a travesty when you consider his work on the Ultimates. It's even less excusable when you consider that the reason for his shabby work is because Marvel picked him to draw the so-far dreadful Captain America Reborn.
And I'm not even sure why Millar isn't writing the script. Perhaps he had a lunch to attend in Hollywood.
In any case, this issue is left in the capable hands of Joe Ahearn and the incredible (and for my money, very under appreciated) Stuart Immonen.
I'm not familiar with Ahearn's work, but if this issue is any indication, he's a god. His unenviable task was to piece together a readable story out of the scraps of crud that Millar had thrown out in the past few issues. And while it doesn't necessarily make much sense (particularly the resolution to the Marquis of Death's ultimatum), it still reads fairly well.
Unfortunately the Thing's wedding, while suitable emotional, does end rather dully. I won't ruin it for you, but it is somewhat predictable. Also, it seems to ignore the fact that Ben Grimm's fiance Debbie was revealed as a con artist fairly soon after her introduction.
Still, the fact that Ahearn managed to pull the whole thing off is either a testament to the strength of his talents... or the weakness of my judgment.
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