Serials for today: Avenging Spider-Man, Chew and more

Avenging Spider-Man #5
by Zeb Wells and Leinil Yu

When I read the previews, it sounded like Zeb and Leinil had something to say about the industry: Captain America used to draw WWII comics! And I was right: the issue's a dedication to Joe Simon, co-creator of Cap himself.

Zeb writes something of a fraternity of Avengers, in which everybody likes to rib around with each other -- beating up the bad guys is merely a formality to these guys. The meat of the issue is Peter Parker fawning over Captain America, because he realized that Cap was a "nerd," just like him. What follows is something like a little dog jumping around to impress the bigger dog. It's sweet and shows a side that super comics doesn't show a lot. Zeb has a knack for character writing, and this is a team-up story that'll be a good team-up story years from now, no matter Spidey's status quo.

One nitpick: here's a shield scene from Leinil:

It's not very good. I can see where the shield starts, but where does it go? Who does it hit first? Is this a quantum shield, that exists simultaneously across different space?

What I'm trying to say is, the shield goes from point a to point b, and the art does a poor job of showing how it gets there.
 

Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures #1
by various

Five stories! Four pages each! I love anthologies; if you don't like a story, there's four more you can look at. This issue is the platonic ideal of serialized fiction: you're meant to get a full reading experience from one piece, and that's what three of the five stories do. The other two are the first of six-parters, and tell their own self-contained stories.

I'm not sure if I can recommend this to people unfamiliar with the characters of Atomic Robo, but here's a velociraptor cackling as he hijacks a lab in India:

I like Atomic Robo, and if it so happens that you're curious, you can check out the preview.


Chew #25
by John Layman and Rob Guillory

It's the conclusion to "Major League Chew"! And it's a doozy. Amelia takes over the issue, but we still manage to see what every other side character is up to. She does some top-notch sleuthing to save Tony, and it's a sight to see.

Here's a page about Amelia. I think it speaks for itself about the quirky world that Chew's built and what a joy it is to read. If you like good comics, give Chew a try.

Secret Avengers #24
by Rick Remender and Gabriel Hardman

The Secret Avengers make a bigger mess as they try to rescue a mutant's son from the Adaptoids in their own world. Beast gets shot in the chest, both he and Hawkeye are captured, Valkyrie and Black Widow are besieged by Adaptoids, and Captain Britain and the Human Torch (the android version) don't know what to do.

It's a per-diker-ment that's compounded with a killer cliffhanger. Remender's telling an exciting storyline with Marvel characters, and Hardman's drawing it intensely. Check out this one panel here:

It's less than an inch tall, and occupies less than an eighth of the comic page. Look at the detail! There's more detail here than there are in some whole pages in comic books. It's crazy.

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Wednesday's comics, today: Chew #24 and more

We're going to change the schedule a bit in the coming week. I advertised some trade reviews for next week, but these will be pushed to the week after. I'm going to take a break to deal with the Real World, but I have a few backlog posts. Here's what you can expect from me next week:

• A recap for February's comics
• a conclusion of Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
• and
• whatever the hell else I felt like talking about

That's next week. This week, I got a few comics, so here are they are:

American Vampire #24
by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque

This is the third part of the four-part "Death Race," and it's not any better than the second. Scott Snyder maintains the same methodic-but-slow pace without taking the real-time story anywhere else. There's this trend for quick, wordless panels that convey small actions, but these are overused. Do we really need three panels in a half-page to show, "Young Travis walks suspiciously from one side of the Doctor's door, to the other." Television shows can afford to include this decompression, because they can convey motion in mere seconds, but comic books are visually static. Snyder employs these wordless panels in a substantial number of pages, and that hurts the story, because it fails to move forward. I can't imagine anyone purchasing this comic book issue for the single issue itself.

The creative team has a high pedigree, and this issue did not match it. This is going to read better in trade format, in a collected reading experience, but it fails by itself, as a single reading experience.

The Flash #6
by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato

Have you seen the variant cover for this, by Mike Choi? It's so baller. I love the use of the logo.

This comic book issue follows, in that it's also baller visually stunning. Captain Cold brings in his own color scheme, creating a snow-y backdrop in Central City. This turns the background into this vibrant white that highlights the literal clash between his color (blue) and the Flash's (red), cold (blue) vs hot (red). It's exciting just to look at.

Where American Vampire had these panels that looked empty and required only a glance, every panel managed to look substantial, without getting crowded by dialogue bubbles. The Flash manages to convey more information in 3 panels on a page than American Vampire does in 10 panels on two pages.

Here's an example of the colors I was talking about. Look at how Flash's costume lining, normally yellow, turns bright blue in Captain Cold's presence, because he's slowing down the Flash's molecules. It's a wonderful detail.

Look at the dialogue too: Flash is stuck on why Captain Cold changed his powers, but Captain Cold answers quickly, "Don't need 'em!" He isn't concerned about the past, because it's not going to help him: he wants to move forward, and that's the tone that the creative team's been taking this entire time. They're interested in telling new, exciting stories with old characters, and they're interested in pushing the medium to do it. The script itself for this issue is nothing innovating, but these guys can only improve, and I look forward to that every month.

Chew #24
by John Layman and Rob Guillory

I don't have to read comic books. I could go play Wii with my friends, or talk to people on Facebook or, heaven forbid, exercise. I could even read more about Daredevil online, instead of picking up Daredevil the title.

But I choose to read comic books. I choose to spend my time every week to look at the weekly issues, and I even choose to talk about them online, because comic books have two things that nothing else offers. They offer a serial experience, and a visual experience, and this comic book in particular nails both of them. Visually, Guillory brings an attention to detail that nobody rivals. Every panel has life to it, and rewards the reader who takes the time. The first scene, at the butter sculpture competition is full of these small details, like a Paula Deen banner and an Eiffel Tower made out of butter.

Serially, this is the ideal comic book issue. The story itself is self-contained and we get a full story from page 1 to 20. But, when you read it in the larger context of the storyarc, it brings new depth to the story. When I put this in my comic book pile, I'm going to organize my issues of Chew, and I'm going to re-read those issues one after another, and it's going to be awesome.

If you haven't heard of Chew yet, get your bad self over to the first free issue at comixology. Tell 'em Kevin sent you.

If you have heard of Chew and you did purchase this issue, go to the letters section. Do you recognize a certain Kevin Tam in there?

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Hey Agent Mason Savoy of the FDA!

What's the past tense of the verb, "swim"?

What was that?

Oh right, gotcha. Thanks.

From John Layman and Rob Guillory's Chew.

Trades for 10-24-11: My first digital trade!

Hi guys! Today will be a special article because it marks my dip into the digital comics pool. I've been reading the free stuff from comiXology.com, and I made an account so I could read the 17 yrs+ free comics like Animal Man #1 and Chew #1.

See if you can find me! My username's chezkevin.

Captain America vol. 1: Winter Soldier Premiere HC (out of print)

by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting
Collecting Marvel Comics' Captain America (v. 5) #'s 1-7

The best word to describe this would be subtle. Yes. The Red Skull is assassinated and his followers attempt attacks on the world in order to fuel his Cosmic Cube, but that's not the main conflict. The main conflict comes from Cap's inner demons. He comes off as this stoic war hero with all these memories that attack him at night. It's a bit more psychological than your average capes-and-tights book.

Epting is sound as the penciller, and the inks/colors really emphasize the noir tone in the pages. It's war, with all the sound and the fury, but it's also war in Cap's head. The scenes of action are a reprieve from Cap's inner turmoil. By the end of the book, we find out who assassinated the Red Skull, and, yes, Steve knows the guy from WWII, but we don't quite get the full story. Captain America is a title that rewards the patient, meticulous reader, but the story here is incredibly long-form for the format.

This volume doesn't really stand on its own: an interested reader would be better off reading the Winter Soldier Ultimate Collection, collecting #'s 1-9 and 11-14.


Chew Vol. 1: Taster's Choice ($5.99 ComiXology, 128 pages)
by John Layman and Rob Guillory
Collecting Image Comics' Chew #'s 1-5

There's a crazy amount of options out there if you're looking for comics. For this specific trade, I could have gone to Amazon ($9.99), discount comic book service ($5.99 + shipping), half.com (from $3.75, used) or ComiXology. I decided on comiXology because I was getting another trade that was priced cheaper than anywhere else. There's also that sense of instant gratification.

When you buy it on comiXology, you get the five issues, separately along with a 3-page bonus material. When you finish an issue, it takes you back to the table of contents, not to the next issue. And that's a great way to read the trade, because each issue has its own story and contributes to the larger arc of Tony Chu's inaugural work for the FDA. Y'see, Tony Chu's a cibopath -- from the taste of any one thing, he'll get an idea of its life and how it died. In the first issue he's hired by the FDA for his talents in order to break up the chicken black market. Thanks to the bird flu, poultry is now banned in America! Chew takes a fresh idea and a believable main character and makes a great comic book out of it.

The art and the writing is full of flair that you won't find in any other comic. The comedy is great and Guillory lands the emotional beats in Chu's life. I'm on board. Expect me to be reviewing next month's issue.

Serials for 10/12/11: Animal Man, Daredevil and Chew

Animal Man #1
by Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman 

The blogosphere was on fire from this #1, and for good reason. For a new 52 book, it keeps the original continuity but keeps it accessible. It's not so much a reboot, as it's a new phase in Buddy Baker, Animal Man's life. Continuity is nice and tidy and, as a well-read comic-book-er, that makes me happy. Buddy returns to super-hero-ing on approval from his wife, only to find that his daughter's sprouted animal powers. . . zombie animal powers. It's a bit more horror than it sounds, which I'm all for, but the thing overall doesn't feel fresh to me. I'll pick up issue 2 on a slow week.

Best part in this ish: a dude takes the children's wing of a hospital hostage, because his daughter died of cancer there. After getting pwned by Animal Man, he covers his face and says, "I'm sorry. . . I'm sorry. . . I just want her back." We don't get enough of that in comic books, a dude who does one bad thing but is not a bad person.

Daredevil #1
by Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera with Fred Van Lente and Marcos Martin

Comic books are a visual medium. We can't hear a comic, we can't listen to them, and well, eating them would just ruin the mint condition. The only information comics can convey is through your eyes, and it's your job to take that information and read the story out of it. We read a BAM, and it's the sound of Batman punching a dude, even though we don't hear anything. Nothing's traveled through your ear drum and sent a signal to your nerves, but still we know that it's the sound of Batman, the sound of justice being served.

Daredevil is blind. The only information he can gain is through his four other senses, and his "radarsense." A liar's spike in pulse. The expensive perfume on a bride. The way Waid and Rivera convey his radar sense is amazing. By translating Daredevil's radarsense to the one sense he doesn't have, it transcends the idea of sense. I highly encourage you to check out the preview at comicbookresources.com.

The main story covers Daredevil's appearance at a mob wedding, and Matt Murdock's new take on life. The inner monologue brings him to life and into his head. There's a back-up at the end from Waid that really makes the issue. There are no costumes, no Daredevil -- just Matt Murdock taking his pal Foggy Nelson through New York, and visiting his dad's grave. It's beautiful, emotionally and visually. Heck, even the letters column got a tear out of my eyes, as one reader talked about his father and the parallel to Matt's dad.

My point is, read this comic. It is the most perfect comic book out there. You can get a better-worded opinion from Chris Sims over at comicsalliance.


Chew #21
by John Layman and Rob Guillory 

It excites me to no end to see a Chinese-American in American comics. "Chew" involves a police detective, Tony Chu and his adventures in. . . cannibalism???

That's right! Dude's a cibopath, which means whenever he eats something, he gets these flashes of its life and what happened before it died. He'll eat a Big Mac and he'll see what exactly happened to the cow! It's uncanny, and it's fresh. In issue 21, his commissioner transfers him to. . . the traffic beat???

The comic reads a lot like a sitcom would, with typical, uh, typecast characters: the splash page ending is a gag as well. Also, the letters column is littered with kitty photographs. Chew is a fun book, even if some of the gags are over my head. This one, I might get in trade, if anything.