Not that Mark Waid needs to prove himself anymore. Long ago he elevated himself into superstar status but since leaving The Big Two, and taking up residency with BOOM! Studios, the writer has varied his output considerably. Moving away from his mastery of superheroes (though he still has something to say on the topic, as can be seen in the astonishing Irredeemable), he seems to be embracing every genre he can get his hands on, from crime in Potter’s Field, to kid-friendly adventure in The Incredibles and now to the mysteries of science in his latest series.
The Unkown is a 4 ish mini that follows Catherine Allingham. Apparently she’s a very smart woman – the world’s smartest person in fact, though we are only given hints as to why. The take charge private eye only has 6 months to live, thanks to an incurable, and growing, brain tumour. She seems very confident and as focused as a laser beam, assumedly because of her limited time left on this earth, but perhaps she was like that before her death sentence.
The first few pages aren’t a flattering start. They’re staged quite awkwardly, with page transitions that need to be re-read to get a sense of time. Catherine wakes up to a hallucination (that occurs again, twice) of a creepy Frankenstein lookalike, before making it disappear thanks to some pills. She’s then called into a murder scene and deduces the culprit almost immediately before heading home. On the way she meets James Doyle, a perceptive bouncer. Before Doyle knows it, he’s teaming up with the famous detective and on a plane with her to Vienna. It is there that the new partners find twin scientists working on a huge machine. The Faderbauer brothers claim they are victims of the world’s first quantum crime, while Catherine discovers what their machine is capable of measuring.
This left me unimpressed. It’s a great premise, to be sure. The world’s best investigator chasing down the world’s last mystery – life after death. Well, this mission isn’t stated in this story, but that’s what the promos tell us. Presumably, Catherine is on a quest to grasp what has eluded mankind since it first discovered death – what happens next. Motivated by the tumour that’s robbing her remaining days, she’s in a hurry. That makes sense and is intriguing. The problem here is that we not given any real glimpse into who Catherine is. Hopefully that will come in future issues, but I found myself wanting to know more about Doyle than her. The way Waid handles Catherine kind of reminded me of how some writers handle Batman. To prove his proficiency, they make him always appear to be the smartest person in the room. He easily solves dilemmas and dashes to the next one, leaving those in his wake appear helpless. Catherine is not so much a character as a force of nature, merely a blur of multi-tasking self-reliance. Now that can work, but there’s no anchor to her humanity. She’s not aggressive, or rude or cocky, which in the hands of a lesser writer she easily could have been. It’s just that there’s no awareness of her as a real person.
Minck Oosterveer’s art is great though. Similar to John Paul Leon, with his use of blacks and muted textures, he can draw pretty much anything. It all looks real and never awkward. Felipe Martin’s colouring is perhaps too restrained however, though it does add a noir feel with the use of shadows and silhouettes.
I’d be a foolish man to give up on Waid. He knows what he’s doing and BOOM! has had a superb recent history with strong female characters, such as with Hexed. Hopefully Catherine Allingham can be one more, but it’s not immediately obvious just yet.
As promised, I have given this series another shot. I’m glad I did. This issue is slightly better than last month’s debut. Unfortunately one of the areas DC falls down compared to Marvel, is their lack of an introduction page. So, if you haven’t read Dead Romeo #1, this won’t mean much of anything to you. However, here’s the skinny: Romeo is a vampire recently revived from far too long in hell. He’s now trying to avoid going back there,which means avoiding satisfying his bloodlust. The white haired hero meets a sassy virgin, Whisper and falls head over heels for her far too quickly, though he does wonder why at least. Romeo’s old gang also return from the grave and they’re a motley crew of nasties. They want Whisper too. Now Romeo must make a choice -kill her and save himself, or save her and kill himself. Last issue we were introduced to the man characters, while this issue is effectively a 22 page run and fight feature, bringing him closer to a fateful decision.
When I saw the first X-Men film, way back in 2000, 2 Canadian girls sitting next to me audibly gasped upon seeing the bare chested Wolverine debut. And with good reason. Hugh Jackman cuts a menacing figure, and he’s only been getting buffer in every film. I say that from a strictly heterosexual point of view, by the way. So as the X-Men films continued to be released, offering increasingly spectacular action, and Marvel cameos, it was only a matter of time until Logan received the honour of his own flick. It’s no surprise that Wolvie is the most popular X-Man, even headlining the recent (and excellent) animated series. He’s a bad boy.
This really is bland action film, with no concern for Logan’s love life and no complete understanding of his motivations. The special effects are okay, Liev Scrieber as a lunging Sabretooth rocks and the ending makes sense to those who wondered upon seeing the trailer how Wolverine met Cyclops and Sabretooth, yet forgot them in the first X-Men film. At times, Logan’s claws are very fake looking and the character is really only referred to as Jim or Logan prior to his adamantium lacing procedure, rather than James Howlett as he was in the comics. There’s also no sense of a proper time-frame, though it should be set in the 1980s primarily. At least he acknowledges his Canadian heritage though. Origins should’ve been better. Fanboys won’t be pleased and film fans won’t have any satisfactory answers. If you want more Wolverine in your diet, go to your local comic shop, or wait for the DVD of this film and the obligatory, but welcome doco on the history of the character.
Sure, the first two issues of this excellent series from BOOM! Studios have sold out, but second printings will be available very soon. I heaped my praise on the first issue (as did many others) and will do so again now.
Marvel Comics has teamed up with Eminem and XXL magazine to celebrate his anticipated upcoming album Relapse with an all-new story featuring the renowned rapper and Marvel’s notorious vigilante, The Punisher, in Eminem/Punisher: Kill You.
The publisher once known as ASP or Archaia Studios Press are back! After being away for far too long, their new titles hit with full force in June. With it also comes a new logo and a new name – 
“In addition, books like Robotika, Killing Pickman and Titanium Rain, which had just started toward the middle and end of last year, will be relaunched in double-sized formats, with 48 to 64 pages of art for only a $4.99 cover price,” exclaimed Smylie. 
Now this is a press release I can get excited about. The comics website, Broken Frontier has just received a classy facelift. BF has been around since 2002 and why there may be many comics sites out there, the Frontier has always given coverage to the spandex clan as well as indie gems. And why am I excited about that, you ask? Becuase I write for them! Yay for me. I’ve got heaps of stuff on the new site now, including reviews for 
There are almost 50 different free comics being offered around the world as part of FCBD. Here’s the best.
Resurrection. Oni Press’ series centered on the world after an alien invasion has gained many fans. Now you can see why. There’s also a mildly humorous Tek Jansen preview. #1 pick for alien lovers.
Savage Dragon. This reprint of SD #148 by creator Erik Larsen and Image features almost forgotten hero, Daredevil (the red and blue hero from Project Superpowers, not Matt Murdock). Also included is a history of Daredevil and a recap of the finned one’s journey thus far. #1 pick for Larsen loyalists.
I remember struggling to catch as much of the glorious 1990s X-Men cartoon each day before heading off to school. It was surprisingly faithful to the comics of the time, and often written by comics scribes. Many people came to be aware of Marvel’s merry mutants due to this show. Now you can see them all over again, as well as the new Wolverine and the X-Men animated series, which is my fave thing on TV, along with the fun Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Press release below.
comicbookjesus 