Deathstroke No. 6
While Father's Day is still a few months away, writers at DC just can't seem to get away from an old-fashioned father and son quarrel, "Deathstroke No. 6" being the epitome of the subject.
Though Slade Wilson isn't the only father having progeny problems this week (Peter Tomasi's Batman and Robin being the other example), Wilson's have to be the bloodiest. Telling stories about the teenage years of Deathstroke's son Grant, writer Kyle Higgins has not only torn open a hole in Slade's family history, but also readers' hearts.
Issue No. 6 does well to both push the plot forward and setup a new narrative within the confines of the issue, quite a feat for the comic's sparse 20 pages. While the motivation for Grant's interference with his father's legacy still remains a mystery, longtime fans of the shadowy assassin can't help but watch the father and son spill their genetically equivalent blood.
Artwork by Eduardo Pansica and Vicente Cifuentes is nothing short of astounding. Bloody and brutal, Deathstroke tests the limit of how graphic a "teen-rated" comic can go. From blood-splattered battles to sanguinary splash pages, every panel presented in the issue is a lesson in the art, each page weaving together into one crimson tapestry.
With Deathstroke's debacle just beginning, sadly Higgins' is coming to a close, with the story changing hands in just a few issues. While the writer's run hasn't set a record year for the shadowed soldier, the comic's short six issues have only gotten better with time and, unfortunately, will be cut down in their prime.
Wolverine and the X-Men No. 5
Believe it or not, the Mayans may be right about their 2012 day of destruction, considering there have already been a few telltale signs: global warming, increasingly prevalent natural disasters, and, most importantly, a Jason Aaron X-Men story that is on the verge of being unreadable. Good luck to all who survive.
Inside Marvel, and by the community at large, Aaron has been labeled as being one of the company's primary story architects, but this issue out of context may be one of the worst series on the rack this week.
From a cover that looks torn straight from an adult Japanese manga, to the ludicrous plot points and accompanying visuals, Aaron's team could've continued to deliver on a series that has thus far been the focus of Marvel's marketing year, but instead gave its readers a $3.99 kick in the underoos.
The plot picks up with Logan's lot falling on a bit of hard fiscal times and without an extreme donation from Warren Worthington's Fortune 500 company the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning may just be shutting its doors early this semester. Humorous conversations between Logan and the school's rabble-rouser Quentin Quire keep the comic from complete despair, but little is done to keep readers from shaking their heads during the issue's completely unnecessary alien birthing scene.
Barring the issue's near pornographic cover art, the panels in the issue are drawn and inked in perfect tone, a testament to a team who seems to be able to work with any creative input.
For $4 wasted and nearly nothing gained, Jason Aaron's complete polypropylene trash of an issue may finally prove to Marvel readers that the end is nigh.
Conan the Barbarian: Queen of the Black Coast No. 1
Though the college crowd can hardly imagine it, 1932 must have been an odd year. Radio sets were a new technology, at the time there had only been one "Great War," and a pulp novel visionary named Robert Howard published the first in the long-line of epic Conantales.
And while the license has changed hands numerous times in its 80-year run, Conan today may be more similar to its depression-era counterpart than ever before thanks to the creative team at Dark Horse.
Most of the series' long, illustrious history revolves around three main aspects: stealing, fighting, and making love are pretty much the staple of any good Barbarian tale. Brian Wood, Conan's 21st century scribe, is one of the most skillful at his trade, cramming all three aspects easily within the confines of the series' first issue.
Wood's Conan the Cimmerian is both brutal and just, an outlaw in his own right, but brings his own brand of justice to the land of Aquilonia. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the tale Wood tells in this issue is more of a rehash than anything else, bringing an ink and panel construction where only text has gone before.
The issue works on the simplest of levels. The plot brings both mystery and intrigue into the vagabond's past, and action, though sparse in its inaugural issue, looks to be a focal point for future comics, and while the art style is tri-tone and bland, the world of Conan the Cimmerianhas never quite looked so appropriate.
For those uninitiated into the land of blood baths and bedding women, there is no better entry point than Dark Horse's latest entry into the conversation, Queen of the Black Coast.
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