Geek Of The Week : Super Crooks

I Think Its Time To Get The Old Gang Back Together

Super Crooks from Millar World, and published by Icon, a Marvel imprint, is shaping up to be an Ocean’s Eleven type of caper with super villains. Johnny Bolt runs with a group of fairly low level super crooks. They may have enough juice to put them over on the local authorities, but when it comes to handling heroes like The Gladiator, they’re over powered and out classed.

This leads the crooks into a routine of trying to pull off heist, and then being captured and thrown in jail. Jump ahead a few years and these former super criminals are attempting to work mundane jobs and live normal, boring lives. Lives that forbid them from using their powers. Of course for some its hard to walk the straight path.

Carmine, a.k.a The Heat, an old-time costumed bank robber tries to build up a retirement fund by cheating a casino. Using a psychic that can see 30 seconds into the future to feed him numbers, Carmine makes a killing at a roulette table. However, he gets too greedy, and keeps pushing his winnings which draws serious attention from the casino’s security team. The casino catches the pair, and to show that they mean business, they kill the psychic rather  bruitish, mobster manner.

Of course the casino is being run by criminals themselves. Criminals with connection and a long reach. Carmine tried to take them for $12 million, well now they’re putting the squeeze on Carmine to pay them $100 million within one month. And if he can’t come up with the money then they’re going to make an example out of him.

Desperate and beaten, Carmine seeks out Johnny and Kasey, two former criminals trying to get by in their ordinary reformed lives. Carmine was a friend and a mentor. They owe him a lot. And they feel that they have to help. That’s when Johnny comes up with a plan to pull off the mother of all heists. But there are capes everywhere. Being a criminal in America carries a high risk. So why stay in America? Johnny’s idea is to go to Spain. That way they won’t have to deal with all of the super heroes in America that always win, and always throw the crooks in jail. But first they’re going to need a crew.

Johnny and Carmine travel about to piece together their the rest of their team. They have Johnny with electric powers, Kasey the psychic, and The Heat with an old school ray gun. Then they set off to recruit The Ghost, a cat-burglar turned architect. TK McCabe, a telekinetic working a warehousing job. Forecast, a street vendor with weather control powers. And then Roddy and Sammy Diesel, brothers with incredible regenerative abilities fighting in a brutal underground fight-club. Appealing to their sense of loyalty to Carmine, or their need for money, or a more fulfilling life, the team is assembled.

Arriving in Spain there is just one piece left to put in place, the bad-ass. They blackmale The Gladiator, a hero who in the past had put them behind bars, into joing their crew. And at the end of the second issue Johnny reveals their target. Not a bank, or abusiness, or any honest citizens, but the “greatest super villain who has ever lived.”

Mark Millar is writer on Super Crooks, and along with co-plotter Nacho Vigalondo, they are telling a fantastic story. I like how instead of being another super hero comic book, this comic follows the guys on the other side. And it places them in a compelling story that I can’t wait to see more of. This is a cool caper with a lot of character. The art looks great. Lenil Yu is the artist on the comic, with inker Gerry Alanguilan, colorist Sunny Gho, and VC’s Clayton Cowles doing the lettering. The art team is creating a stylish book, and does a superb job of storytelling. These first two issues are a real page turner. This is one of the best comics of the year.

Geek Of The Week : Secret One: Teeth, With Which To Eat # 1

Now We Eat

Secret One: Teeth, With Which To Eat  #1 from Image  is a conspiracy tale dealing with the government, a corrupt private security firm, and corporate espionage.

The story opens with Mr. Dunn being visited at home late at night by a masked interrogator. Beaten and tied to a chair, Mr. Dunn is informed rather matter-of-factly by the intruder that before they can begin to communicate clearly that two things need to happen. The second thing is that the two of them in the room are not the only people who will be affected by this meeting. The masked then presents photos, names and addresses of Mr. Dunn’s family, a very effective tactic to break him down. The first thing was that the intruder needed to impress upon Mr. Dunn how serious he is. And he is rather persuasive with a pair of pliers to efficiently get his point across.

The following morning Mr. Dunn meets with his attorney to try and figure out what he should after his frightning encounter. Coincidently, the counselor’s firm is having a visit from their security company to go over some services that they have recently delivered. After which the security firm’s representatives impress upon the board members how important it is that they upgrade to their expanded swervices package. They make their point by telling the board how easy it was for them to access their offices, bypass their firewalls, and access their records. All of them.

The pitch seems to be rather effective demonstrating how important the security compnay’s enhanced security package can be. But it has the feeling that perhaps the security company in angling for more than just selling more services. They may also be trying to gain influence in Washington.

Later, the attorney arranges a meeting between Mr. Dunn and one of the security company’s representatives from the earlier meeting, Mr. Grant. Mr. Grant impresses upon Mr. Dunn that his late night visitor means that business. And that his firm can help Mr. Dunn with his problem, but they are very expensive. Grant is able to clinch the Deal with Mr. Dunn, however, Grant actually is playing against Dunn. Grant is working with Dunn’s visitor and is setting Dunn up.

Secret One: Teeth, With Which To Eat #1, written by Jonathan Hickman is an intriguing read. The story sets up the whos in the story, but is building up a mystery by leaving out the whats and whys to be discovered later. This is an interesting story that has me eager to read the next issue. The artwork on the issue is impressive. Ryan Bodenheim is the artist on the issue, with Michael Garland handling the colors, and Rus Wooton doing the lettering. The art team does an exceptional job of story telling and created a comic book that looks incredible. The coloring for the issue is quite interesting and unique in the way that it paints panels with an overall hue, but then at times it uses splashes of another color for a dynamic effect.

Secret One: Teeth, With Which To Eat #1 is a fantastic read. The art and story create an engrossing comic that keeps you moving through the pages. This comic book is a must read.

Bendis and Avon Oeming Bring Back Takio and Powers

Have A Cup O’ Joe

During Marvel’s  Cup O’ Joe panel at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2), it was revealed that Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming will return to two creator-owned series. First up will be a new all-ages comic book series, Takio 2 in May. Bendis, a father of three, teamed with his Powers co-creator, artist Michael Avon Oeming, to create the original Takio graphic novel last year. The new comic will will be a monthly comic that picks-up right where the first series left off and follow the two sisters — Taki, 13, and Olivia, 7 — who gained powers through an accident. The follow-up series is coming after lots of children and their parents have requested more of the super powered girls.

“It is a huge gift that my life has changed to a place where I feel confident to do something like this, and to feel it back is the best,” Bendis says. “I’m kinda more into people who are just having fun and digging it. It’s a lot easier to handle than, “Excuse me. In West Coast Avengers No. 97 …”

The upcoming series has Taki and Olivia going out and being heroes even though they have no idea what that means.”They’re completely basing their superhero ideas on Olivia’s muddled 7-year-old version of what she thinks a superhero should be, which is fantastically innocent and naive,” Bendis says.

The girls will also be getting some enemies, including Kelly Sue, Taki’s best friend who was endowed with powers in the same accident as the sisters. Plus, their classmates start thinking that the two masked girls running around town might go to their school. And to makes things even worse, a large evil corporation is trying to duplicate the accident to create nemeses for the two girls to fight.

Secondly, the duo will launch Powers: FBI, a comic book series to help bring new readers in before the FX TV series hits the airwaves. After a run of inconsistent releases, caused by the filming of the Powers TV show pilot for FX, Bendis and Oeming will be relaunching the popular comic about two police detectives who investigate super powered crimes under a new name, and with a new number one issue.

No longer centered on a police station, Powers: FBI #1 follows Deena Pilgrim, who has become a FBI agent that deals with federal  powers cases, as well as dealing with her past and the challenges of the present. Its unknown what this means for Walker, the focus of the previous Powers series, although it looks like the two might be working together again.

“There’s something crazy cool about getting these oppressive noir, dark (Powers) pages from Mike, and then a day later getting Takio pages that are from the same brain,” Bendis says. “There’s nothing about them that says they’re from the same brain, and I love that.

“I legitimately enjoy this immensely,” he added, “and I’m just a believer that joy, if done correctly, can come all the way to the reader.”

Mark Waid Launching Digital Comics Portal

Get Thillbent

Long time comic book writer Mark Waid gave an interview to USA Today where he reveals his plan to launch thrillbent.com on May 1rst. Thrillbent is a new digital comics venture from Waid and his partner John Rogers (show-runner for Leverage, and co-creator of the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle) that will be destination for creator-owned digital-only comics.

Waid has taken an active part in developing digital, recently spearheading Marvel’s Infinite Comics movement and relaunching his own MarkWaid.com site as a resource for creators interested in making digital comics.

“We are in this unique position as a creative force, the people in comics, to for the first time really decide for ourselves what the future is going to be by publishers,” Waid said in the interview. “The great thing about the Web is the democratization of the art form. It means there’s going to be a lot more bad comics out there, yes, but more importantly, there’ll be a lot of other good comics out there that couldn’t survive the print market.”

Pushing digital comics hasn’t made Waid popular with some comic book retailers who have threatened to stop selling his print comics in their stores. However, Waid insists that digital is a step that comics need to take. On his Print Math blog, Waid discusses how expensive printing is, and how the distribution system of comics, with a monopoly in charge, thin profit margins, and shrinking number of storefronts, is broken.

While print comics don’t seem to offer much hope, Waid sees great potential in digital comics. “I don’t yet comprehend the size of the tiger whose tail I just grabbed. It’s very liberating and it has me energized in a way I haven’t been energized for probably 10 years.” And he is throwing everything that he has behind his digital venture. Waid is selling off his 125 long box comics collection through Blastoff Comics to help fund Thrillbent.

“I love my comics, I love these books. I love print,” he lamented. “But I’m willing to make that sacrifice because that’s how much I believe in this being a big part of the future of the comics medium.”

 Thrillbent’s first weekly series will be Insufferable, a dark and humorous turn on superhero dynamics illustrated by Irredeemable artist Peter Krause. “It’s a dramedy about what happens when your superhero sidekick grows up to be an arrogant, self-righteous, self-aggrandizing Kanye of a man,” Waid says, “and about the only case that could ever make him re-team, however reluctantly, with the ‘old man’ who raised him.”

Waid will also be posting one-shot stories on Thrillbent every week. “We’re going to toss it up there, it’s all going to be experimental, I’m going to learn a lot, some things are going to work, some things won’t, but let’s roll the dice and see what we can come up with, before I subject other creators to the other mistakes I’ll make.”

Waid aims to sit down and talk with retailers about their concerns and “smooth over some of that civil war mentality of us vs. them.” He plans to communicate with them and his fans through his blog, where he’ll offer insight into the industry and release information about what they’ll read on Thrillbent comics.

“I’ve always been a huge believer in transparency. You make it about the work and not about the trade secrets, and you live and die based on the strength of the material, not on the strength of your secret pricing paradigms you have worked out with your marketing team in the dark corners of your office.”

Marvel Shoots For New Hawkeye Series

Hawkeye Takes Aim

During the Cup O’ Joe panel at C2E2, Marvel announced that Matt Fraction and David Aja will be the new creative team on a new ongoing Hawkeye comic book series. The former Immortal Iron Fist duo will take Clint Barton through Marvel’s seedy underbelly and introduce new villains along he way.

“Hawkeye was one my favorite characters when a kid,” Aja said in an interview on  Marvel.com. “One of first Marvel comics I read was Avengers #25, and I [fell] in love with [the] guy; he acted as real person, was a complete jerk, so I suppose I identified with him.”

Matt Fraction offers that he is looking forward to taking on the avenging archer in a solo comic series that looks at Barton’s life outside of The Avengers.

“Never had the chance to write a character like him, or to do a book like this before,” the writer reveals. “And I wanted to chronicle him in an ongoing series because it’d keep me from getting bored. Repetition bores me to death. I had this idea for how to do a book that wasn’t like anything else we’d seen him in before, wasn’t like anything I’d done before, and couldn’t stop thinking about.”

Fraction also explained that Kate Bishop (Lady Hawkeye of the Young Avengers) will be in the series.

“She’s his junior partner, his apprentice,” says Fraction. “It’s a very Avengers relationship—meaning Steed and Peel—and she’s as adrift as he is. What the hell are these two doing with their lives? Turns out, helping people is what they have to do to get through the night. In costume, in life, doesn’t matter. Good guys don’t punch a time card at 5:00.”