Last Week In Comics

It Girl and the Atomics #1
Story by Jamie S. Rich with Art by Mike Norton

The background given to the story states a group of people were turned super by an alien spore and half are on a music tour with Red Rocket 7 (whether this is a band or another group of heroes is unknown). The rest are left to their own devices and the tale begins with the inner monologue of purple and fuschia clad hero, It Girl. As she cleans up the town, pummeling a baddy or two, she comes across her nemesis, Lala Wah-Wah (seriously), and puts the henchmen out of their misery while a bystander is hit by a car, causing her mission to…fail?! Turns out, this It Girl is a character in the popular video game, Dark Streets, and the blonde girl playing it is the REAL It Girl dealing with her boredom since the other heroes left on their cosmic music tour. Her presumed roommate Dorrie urges her to get out there and be a hero for real instead of wasting her time on games. She begrudgingly sets out on patrol and notices a former criminal adversary entering a pawn shop with a gun and sets out to foil the robbery before it happens. A flashback reveals this criminal killed It Girl’s sister and served time in jail for it, leaving him an ex-con and unable to find a job. He is confronted by the gang he used to run around with and they beat him up while we see It Girl convening with the remnant of the Atomics, agreeing to be Dr. Flem’s scapegoat, the first experiment of which will teleport her to a fixed location a short distance away. As she disappears, she feels something pulling her back to Earth before she arrives. The issue ends with her panic. It’s a cute start and I’m intrigued to see where the story goes from here.

Those of you who have read Michael Allred’s Madman series will be a bit more familiar with the characters and universe, but even if you haven’t, I think It Girl and the Atomics is great to jump right in. The art is okay, not really to my liking, but does well with the story; the writing is where the story really shines. This is my fourth brush with Jamie C. Rich and while I think his prior work is better, I’m keeping in mind that this is the first issue and will inevitably improve.

The Creep #0
Story by John Arcudi with Art by Jonathan Case

Honestly, the title fucking confused me. There is no creep in this zero issue, so I’m wondering if that’s just a clue of what’s to come. Anyway, a kid (Curtis) kills himself via shotgun in the mouth and his mother reaches out to her old college boyfriend to search for a reason as to why he’d commit suicide, depression being out of the question. As he, Oxley, begins to delve into the boy’s life, he finds out his closest friend (Mike) committed suicide two months prior and so he interviews his mother to see if there are any details in common. His interview comes up dry and instead finds out both boys regularly went on hunting/fishing trips with Curtis’s grandfather, Jeffrey, who was heartbroken to have lost both boys. Oxley finally tracks down the grandfather who is now a homeless vagrant who has lost his mind and suffers from depression. He is angry to find out depression runs in the family and decides to opt against making the call to his ex to accuse her of denial.

This was a more grim, serious sort of comic, not unheard of for Image, but it’s not a happy romp in the park. It’s dark and the art suits it with it’s simple style and heavy shading.

I’m not 100% sure if I’ll pick up any other issues just because it feels like it’s trying a little too hard to be mysterious. There are odd hints in the beginning that may point to a bigger picture, so I’m unsure of if everything is at it seems.

Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #1
Story by John J. Miller with Art by Andrea Mutti

This feels like the Sith version of Dawn of the Jedi, but I sighed and flipped it open, hoping to be proven wrong. So far Dark Horse’s EU comics have been pretty hit or miss and since this one takes place thousands of years BBY, any chance of seeing anyone familiar is slim to none, but again, I’m hopeful. I always hate this font (I refer to it as Asgardian) because the h’s are hard to make out and it takes double the time to understand what the fuck these people are saying. This annoyance aside (which, thankfully, lasts for only one whole page), the story begins on the planet of Kesh and the people are celebrating the landing of the Sith so many years ago. One particularly robust native decides to act out and attempt to murder one of the Sith who are being honored, but she quickly puts him place. The story progresses and becomes convoluted with names and places, too many to keep track and our rebellious youth is paired up with the Sith nobles’ daughter as she struggles to prove herself among the Sith. Her plans go awry as they end up as stowaways on a ship to an arctic land and they battle the ship laborers, barely escaping to the icy tundra. This also doesn’t go very well and they narrowly miss being skewered by arrows, shot by vagabond nomads who reveal themselves to be The Doomed and also happen to recognize the scarlet hair and golden eyes of the Lady Takara.

Intrigue and gorgeous art is enough to make me pick up the second issue, but I’m hoping the story will be fleshed out a little more.

Gambit #1
Story by James Asmus with Art by Clay Mann

Oy vey. The first panel is a naked Remy LeBeau showering as he remarks on his life and ponders how much of him is just a costume. He dresses for a benefit at esteemed Empire State University with the underlying motive of robbing the host blind, but of course, not without flirting shamelessly with several ladies. His accented asides are wonderfully toned down so the garish, cliched lines he was given in his prior series are near nonexistent and it’s a welcome change. He creates a diversion with a cleverly charged toothpick after deciding to find out where Cich keeps his stolen mutie goods and instantaneously changes into a new, streamlined outfit. It’s certainly not the duster ensemble we’ve come to know and love, but it’s a realistic change. He successfully breaks into the room, and shows us how he acquired the items needed to bypass the tough security, which made me chuckle in appreciation; there’s always more than meets the eye. The issue ends on an interesting, cliffhanging note and I’m certainly intrigued, but nowhere near blown away as I was with Hawkeye #1.

The art is nice, although at times, especially where the ladies are concerned, it looks badly photoshopped. I was hoping this would relaunch the character into hearts everywhere, much like Geoff Johns did with Aquaman in the DC reboot, but alas, I fear this issue wasn’t strong enough.