The Clockwork Girl #0 & #1 ~ Okay, first things first: the issue #0 is 25 cents US, so go out and buy it - there's simply no reason not to give it a try at that price. Then again, issue #1 is only US$1.00, so buying this comic is no hardship to the wallet in any case, and the experience is all the better because it's really, really good work. It's a charming steampunk fairy tale about a clockwork girl and patchwork mutant boy who form a friendship in spite of the rivalry between their two creators, Wilhelm the Tinkerer and Dendrus the Grafter. The first issue is largely about setting the stage, and building a sense of the poetic 'once upon a time' storytelling style - we get relatively brief glimpses of Clockwork Girl herself, though Huxley, the 'mutant boy', is afforded more screen time, and comes across as a likeable character, sulky due to the way people see him as a monster, but good-natured at heart.
Grant Bond's artwork is the perfect complement to Kevin Hanna and Sean O'Reilly's accessible yet inspired writing - Hanna is also credited for art, which the additional material in #0 indicates is that he did the character designs, while Bond provides the pages we see here. Either way, the art is lovely, storybook-like in a way, yet layered with textures and shadows that keep this from being a 'children's story' in any negative sense of the word. There's nothing in here an adult shouldn't be able to enjoy for its own sake - it's one of those true all-ages works. From a child just learning to read to someone who devours a novel a day, this is a winner of a comic book.
Wonder Woman #13 ~ This issue's cover tagline is 'From the flames', and it could just as easily refer to the book as the title character. Following the double-whammy of Allan Heinberg and Amazons Attack, Wonder Woman is at a decided low point, with the approaching transition to Gail Simone as writer the only real reason not to just drop the book and be done with it - but this interim issue, written by J. Torres, actually lifted my spirits somewhat. The dialogue contains numerous veiled references to Wonder Woman's woes as a comic, and the hope that bad writing and bad storylines can be put behind it: "The war is over, the Amazons are no more, and now I have to get my house in order," Diana muses to herself in the opening scene, and fortunately Torres backs this up with a solid issue all about Diana rediscovering her sense of purpose and conviction, in spite of the muddled morass of sub-par stories she's had to endure of late. The final page could well mark the rebirth of Wonder Woman as a worthwhile DC title, with its bold 'mission statement' of Diana defining herself; it may be eight issues late, and no credit to Heinberg, but we finally have an answer to the question "Who is Wonder Woman?"
The Diana Prince secret identity and the Department of Metahuman Affairs angle of the book is present in a few pages, but in my view, Torres uses it as a vehicle for exposition, and otherwise treats it with the contempt it deserves - I can only hope this is a sign of things to come, and Simone will ditch the concept entirely, as it's never provided anything of value to the title. Everything worth reading in this issue comes from Diana as Wonder Woman - that's who she is, and the ideas and issues she faces are far more important and human than using a credit card or figuring out a subway turnstile. The aftermath of Amazons Attack is actually used to some good effect, with a rather telling portrayal of public hostility towards anything connected to Amazons - this is an idea worth exploring, and it makes for some thoughtful pages in this issue (much to my surprise - who'd have thought Amazons Attack would result in anything interesting?). The art team of Julian Lopez, Bit, and Marta Martinez allow themselves a geek moment by 'signing' the splash page where Diana transforms into Wonder Woman, with a twist of her lasso spelling 'Julian' and the other names below, but they earn it with solid art throughout the issue. I'd be interested to know whether this issue was written in consultation with Simone, so as to serve as a prelude to her run - I hope that's the case, because this, at last, is a Wonder Woman I wouldn't mind reading more of.
Heroes for Hire #14 ~ The penultimate issue of HfH's World War Hulk arc, and as has become the custom for this title, many interesting character-driven plot threads are hung on the central storyline, that being what the hell is Humbug up to? We get some progression of his bizarre involvement with the Hive, and it ain't pretty (unless you like that sort of thing), but the best of this issue is in the other characters who are still themselves, and the choices they make under pressure. Colleen and Tarantula are being tortured by the Warbound, and the rest of the group is ready to do whatever it takes to get them back - Shang Chi is zen but driven, Misty shows just how ruthless she can be when Colleen's life is at stake, and Black Cat's temper is all over the place when the Scorpion/Paladin storyline rejoins the main story. Black Cat is worth taking particular note of - she was woefully under-used while Gray and Palmiotti were writing this title in its opening couple of arcs, but since Zeb Wells took over she's been slowly developing to the point where she's now the equal, in story terms, of any of the other main characters, which is a very pleasing correction. There are persistent rumour this book may be cancelled, though I'm not aware of any official word to that effect (I do wonder if it might be people jumping to conclusions based on the 'who will die?' cover coming up, showing everyone's faces as skulls) - if so, it'd be a shame. Wells has shown he's got what it takes to write this book, and write it well - he can even make Paladin seem like a worthwhile addition to the story, and that takes some doing for me.
Dominatrix #1 & #2 ~ I admit, I was a bit reticent to try this - a comic about a dominatrix superheroine? Would it be just some shallow 90s throwback, relying on T&A and Gene Simmons' name on the cover to sell? I shouldn't have worried: let me set all doubts to rest now, this is a solidly written book, and its title character - and her occupation - are treated with dignity and respect. Which is not to say that it's all sombre - there's plenty of humour, often at heroine Dominique's expense, but the saving grace is that this is not being written by someone who associates 'dominatrix' with lurid teenage fantasies. Of all the elements to this book - Dominique's personal life, her kind-of-friends, her inadvertent involvement in a menacing conspiracy, her chance acquisition of enhanced physical abilities and subsequent battles with various adversaries - possibly the most interesting is how her job as a dominatrix is portrayed. And the key is, it's just that: a job. She's good at it, and she enjoys it to a degree, but she admits there are days when it's tedious, and like any other wage slave sitting behind a PC in a cubicle somewhere, she just slogs through it to earn a living. It's mature, insightful writing - Sean Taylor has obviously done his homework on the subject (whether via literature or first-hand, who knows? But there's a confidence and acceptance in the writing that suggests, if the latter, he wouldn't be ashamed of it).
Flavio Hoffe provides the art for both issues, and colours his own work for the debut - it's clear, effective visual work, not over-rendered (perhaps it could even stand a little more), and a good match for the story. Just because she's not a shallow sex fantasy doesn't mean Dominique isn't sexy - she's clearly meant to be, and Hoffe's art makes her so. Debora Carita provides colours in the second issue, and the comic also switches to a glossier paper stock, which I think I prefer, as it allows the colours to be subdued or vivid as occasion demands, where the matte finish to issue #1 tended heavily towards the former. Incidentally, the incentive cover variant for issue #2 - which I didn't see at the shop (and likely would have been out of my price range anyway) - features, I'm almost certain, the likeness of adult model Aria Giovanni under Dominique's mask; she's something of a sentimental favourite of mind (yes, I get whimsical at odd moments). Odd coincidence. Anyway, it's a good book, interesting and created by talented people intent on giving the book the attention it deserves. If you were toying with the idea of picking it up, but hadn't because 'a comic about a dominatrix' sounds silly, you have nothing to worry about - go check it out.
Manhunter: Street Justice ~ If I recall, I said in last month's Previews round-up that I wanted to have a look at Manhunter; well, I did, and it was so worth it. In brief, Kate Spencer is a well-known prosecutor at the top of her field, but she finds herself frustrated that the law just isn't set up to deal with supervillains, who keep getting light sentences, and inevitably escaping, due to technicalities. So she gathers up a load of super-tech confiscated from arrested metahumans and, armed with an ability-enhancing costume and an energy weapon fighting staff, she takes the law into her own hands as the Manhunter - and unlike the cops and other superheroes, she's quite willing to see that supervillains don't get another chance by putting them six feet under. It's hardly a new concept - basically a costumed version of the 'cop who's had enough of perps walking' idea - but it's written with intelligence and style, and the way it fits into the DC universe makes it stand out from the crowd: it raises questions without easy answers, about the role of the law and the practice of vigilantism. Kate is far from perfect - she smokes, her marriage ended in messy divorce, and as much as she tries, she's not great at being a mother to her son - but she's still an intelligent, reasonably humane person. For her to decide that extra-legal killing is warranted carries a meaning that escapes more radical characters like Punisher and Judge Dredd a lot of the time - Kate isn't a caricature, and her world isn't that different to our own. As a comic, Manhunter is respectful of its heritage and its place in the DC universe, but at the same time it strives to be strongly tied to the real world, regardless of the presence of superheroes. This is, I gather, a book that's found much critical acclaim, but has struggled for wider recognition and sales; I very much hope it continues as long as writer Marc Andreyko wants it to - in Kate Spencer, he's created a very worthy addition to DC's roster of heroes.
