Real Ones: Drop Everything. Frank Quietly Drew a Comic.
Peacemaker Tries Hard!
Kyle Starks,
Steve Pugh
Jordie Bellaire
DC Black Label
Peacemaker Tries Hard! is a new mini-series that springs to life in its first issue which is amazingly hilarious. Peacemaker is a member of the Suicide Squad, who were brought to life in James Gunn’s film of the same name. Peacemaker was then featured in his own TV series, following that film, and this series picks up where that left off.
This first issue finds Peacemaker working on his own, first to get the right ingredients for a cake at the grocery store and then to bust up a terrorist squad plotting to bomb S.T.A.R. Labs. He is desperate for recognition and friendship. Peacemaker has to explain who he is to the cashier at the grocery store and a shopper asks if he would eat poop for peace, for which he gives the affirmative. The Suicide Squad does not want to go to his party because they say the last time they went to his house he showed them his collection of VHS porn.
Peacemaker busts a terrorist group and the banter during the fight scene is priceless. He punches one of the guys in the crotch and the accompanying graphic says “Flawless Dicktory!” He finds a dog at the crime scene (who he names “Bruce Wayne”), takes him home and is then promptly stolen and held for ransom. By the end of the issue Peacemaker encounters The Brain who sends him on a mission in exchange for the return of his new dog.
Kyle Starks is a comic genius. There are so many amazing one-liners in this book that I had trouble picking out the best ones to mention. This first issue was so much fun. Peacemaker is the perfect mixture of potty humor, f-bombs, and brawling. DC Black Label rules and I dare Marvel to say “fuck” in any of their books.
5 out of 5 daggers
The Ambassadors #1
Mark Millar
Frank Quitely
Image
This is the first issue of six from a new mini-series by Mark Millar. There are super-powered beings around the world, including a beer guzzling ape who loves Simple Minds and a South African man who can crush skulls with his mind. There is also a super scientist from South Korea who is in prison for life, but who has created a real-life avatar with super powers. She’s out for revenge against her ex,who put her in prison, but also has an offer to make. She’s looking for six people from around the world who are the most altruistic, to be blessed with super powers to join her rescue squad.
While it’s a serious story, there are laughs to be had here. When trying to remember the name of Willy Wonka, she asks her assistant, “What was the name of that British character that fetishized over consumption?” When Jamie, the super ape, is telekinetically holding a truck in the air, he agrees to put it down in exchange for a bag of Skittles. When Choon-He, the South Korean super-woman broadcasts her intent to exact revenge upon her ex on television, he reacts by saying “Still a drama queen.”
It’s a fantastic first issue, with an equal mix of awe and humor. Mark Millar’s writing is really strong, but the standout is Frank Quitely’s art. It’s really immaculate and breathtaking. It’s hyper detailed and spare at the same time, from the scene in the clouds to the dark room at the Pentagon. Quitely’s colors are also amazing and jump from the page, especially the contrast between Choon-He’s white costume and the red background during her presentation.
The Ambassadors is a really nice surprise. The premise is the flipside to Eight Billion Genies. It’s a perfectly executed first issue. I highly recommend reading it and can’t wait to finish the rest of the series.
5 out of 5 daggers
Dark Spaces: Good Deeds #1,
Che Grayson,
Kelsey Ramsay,
Ronda Pattison,
IDW Original
Good Deeds takes place in the universe that Scott Snyder created with Dark Spaces: Wildfire. There is a new creative team on this particular book with Che Grayson and Kelsey Ramsay. The series takes place in St. Augustine, FL and features two intertwining stories.
Jean McKnight is a disgraced reporter from Atlanta who is haunted by a story she wrote five years earlier that went horribly wrong. She’s been sent to St. Augustine to write a puff piece celebrating the 450th anniversary of its founding. However, she stumbles upon a much more sinister story during her trip.
Rebecca and Cheyenne Rite are a mother and daughter who have moved to St. Augustine to take over an old diner to fix up and reopen. It’s purchased from a certain Mr. Foster who gives off strong scumbag vibes. Cheyenne’s first day at school is predictably terrible and although some of the leaders of the town seem to think that this is a great place to live, she soon learns that the horrors she has experienced at school run even deeper.
This was a really well written first issue by Che Grayson and although it has nothing to do with Wildfire, it has equally good potential as a story. The standout for me, though, was the artwork by Kelsey Ramsay and colors by Ronda Pattison. The drawing style is loose but expressive and the characters are full of life. The colors are muted but spring from the page in purple and red. It’s a very unique look and I dig it. It’s a story about a city that seems wholesome and historic as an outsider, but is grimy and insidious just below the surface. I recommend checking it out as a unique take on horror in a state that’s, in reality, truly terrifying.
3 out of 5 daggers
