On sale in October is Tracker: First Look, which is a peek at Top Cow’s new mini-series, Tracker which launches in November. This First Look was previously only available at last month’s Comic-Con. At the Cow panel at the Con it was mentioned that Tracker would be a new look at werewolves, with serial killers thrown in. Now with this special issue we get the full story, or at least the beginning of it.
It opens with Agent Jezebel Kendall (cops never have boring names in fiction, do they?) arriving on the scene of a bus crash. She wonders why a Federal Agent like herself has been called to a traffic accident until she looks inside the bus and discovers not only a mass of mutilated bodies, but also a survivor. The survivor is an agent too, and it appears the reason he alone survived the “Blue Line Massacre,” is more than just luck. Alex O’Roark returns to work nursing a cane and tender ribs and is put on the case of the massacre – the work of a serial killer called Herod. O’Roark knows what he’s doing as he’s the tracker of the title.
There’s only 10 story pages in this preview book, but it’s certainly a meaty start. Writer Jonathan Lincoln introduces us to not only O’Roark, but his girlfriend, boss and fellow cops, all while creating distinctive voices for them all. There’s no big reveal of Herod or the werewolves that are hinted at, but there’ll be plenty of time for such when the series kicks off proper. Francis Tsai’s art works well, and his colouring deserves to be mentioned. From the red glare of the bus massacre to the bright lights of the police precinct and hospital he makes each scene diverse enough to be interesting, and it’s all entwined with a subtle painterly approach.
Rounding out the extra pages are a few words from the 3 guys behind HVE, or Heroes and Villains Entertainment. In the new tradition of Top Cow aligning themselves with outside story developers, HVE appear to be men after my own heart and mention their love of Star Wars, Street Fighter 2 and Halo. Lincoln also mentions his love of werewolves and ends his text page with a powerful summary of Tracker’s premise – “A good man wakes up with blood on his hands.” Nice.
Also included are 3 pages of character summaries and a neato mini-poster of the cover, which reminds me of Ash from the Evil Dead films. Lastly writer of the excellent series Impaler, William Harms gives a one page intro to his new series, also aided by HVE, called Epoch. At the Cow’s Con panel Epoch was described as a “supernatural Fight Club,” with a bunch of diverse mythological creatures laying the smackdown on each other. Sounds good to me.
Only in the Comic-Con exclusive of Tracker: First Look are 7 pages of The Darkness/Pitt x-over by Paul Jenkins and Dale Keown. All I can say is that it looks very appealing, thanks to Jenkins and Keown, and that book hits shelves on August 26. As for Tracker, it’s off to a good start. I’m intrigued by the concept and O’Roark seems to be a great protagonist. Cops chasing serial killers we’ve all seen before, but not like this. With a new twist on the hairy moon howlers, the lone man who knows how to destroy them and the psycho Herod, who’s described as, “Hannibal Lecter with fangs,” this looks like a story worth following.
I remember seeing Nite Owl’s ship, and the excellent repeating trailer, on display at last year’s Comic-Con and here we are a year later. The film adaptation of DC’s classic 12 issue maxi-series has come and gone and has excited and perplexed many. I 
Having been somewhat perplexed by Slave Labor Graphics’ recent 
There was a time when this title and JLA were among my favourite DC series. They were always reliable. However the last 2 or 3 years, like any monthly book, has seen its fair share of ups and downs, creatively speaking. This issue is a return to form though I gotta say. Anytime I see Michael Green and Mike Johnson’s names under the writing credit I know I’m in for a treat. The duo have catapulted this series back to where it belongs with their handful of issues together.
Brian Cronin’s excellent column for comicbookresourecs.com continues to be fascinating reading. This week it’s all about those popular creatures of the night – vampires. Read it and astound your Twilight loving friends with some fascinating trivia. Where else will you find Bob Hope, a cross dressing Frankenstein and a Japanese animated movie based on Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula?!
The opening page of this issue from BOOM! Studios states that, “this series is the complete text of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, presented in graphic form.” It’s an interesting message to those who may be expecting these pages to show Harrison Ford running around in the dark getting beaten up by androids. I recently watched the ultimate edition of Blade Runner, the 1982 film directed by Ridley Scott that loosely adapted Dick’s novel, so the differences are fresh in my mind.
Now up at 
DC’s Wednesday Comics came out this week, on Wednesday! (which is new comics day for US residents).I think fans have put undue pressure on the series, whereas DC are just playing it as an experiment. It’s a grand idea from art director Mark Chiarello, but it’s not the saviour of the comics industry as some would like to believe. However, featuring the first Superman tale in USA Today, with future Supes installments on the USA Today website holds great cross-over potential. The new weekly series is in old newspaper, or tabloid format, at 14″ x 20″ and holds 15 one page stories, by different creative teams. To give you a sense of scale, 
Right off the bat I must say that Noology is a cool name and it’s a real word! It’s also a pretty cool abstract comic by Aussie artist Tim Gaze. Gaze is apparently quite well known in the world of such comics. It’s also a world I’ve only recently been made aware of, thanks to Fantagraphics’ excellent Abstract Comics: The Anthology, of which Gaze is a contributor. You can see some of his recent work on the diverse Abstract Comics blog 
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