COMIC HEROES 15 PRINTED IN THE UK £7.99

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JUSTICE LEAGUEAND BIRTH OF THE SUPER-TEAM

Plus: All-New X-Men / Iron Man Fantastic Four / Marv WolfmanRich Buckler / Simon Bisley

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14 Comic Heroes

WORLDSCharlie Adlard

Every year seems to be a big one for The Walking Dead these days, but 2012 has been especially so: there’s been the recent(ish) arrival on our

TV screens of the third season of AMC’s brilliant adaptation, featuring the hotly anticipated debuts of fan-favourite characters Michonne and the Governor, while, over in the original black-and-white Image Comics, this summer saw the monthly celebrate its 100th issue in style.

Now, 100 issues is a good run for any title these days – but when it’s got no colour, no superheroes, no world-famous characters involved… well, it becomes simply remarkable. But there’s more: boasting eight variant covers by star artists such as Todd McFarlane, Bryan Hitch and Marc Silvestri, The Walking Dead #100 has so far sold around 380,000 copies, making it the biggest-selling comic book of the 21st century to date. It’s gob-smacking, really; there’s little more to be said.

Except, perhaps, that there’s more to come. Early next year, Walking Dead’s ever-reliable artist Charlie Adlard – good with the grit, great at making talking-head pages interesting, spot-on at defining character without the aid of costumes or even colour – will enjoy a very special anniversary of his own, when he reaches a century of issues since taking over from launch artist Tony Moore on the Robert Kirkman-scripted series with #7.

“To complete 100 issues of anything is a very special moment,” he tells Comic Heroes. “Personally, #106 is my benchmark issue. Hopefully something special will happen, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

Dead Again

No one does 100 issues of the same comic any more, but it seems nobody told The Walking Dead team. Of course, nobody sells comics in the numbers they do, either…

By Stephen Jewell

BORN SHREWSBURY, UKHIGH THE WALKING DEADNOW THE WALKING DEADMORE www.charlieadlard.com

Comic Heroes: You must be pleased with the overwhelming response to The Walking Dead #100…Charlie Adlard: It’s been phenomenal. We couldn’t believe it when the sales figures came in and we discovered that we’d fallen just shy of 400,000. After 12 years of comics not selling very much – even the big-name characters – by the old standards, that’s quite an achievement. Who would have thought our little comic, which I joined eight years ago, would become one of the sales giants of the industry?

CH: It must have been fun seeing different artists play around with your characters for the #100 covers…CA: It’s always nice to see someone else translating what we do, especially because I maintain a fairly rigid hold over most of The Walking Dead visual content usually. I try to draw all of it, and the few bits that I don’t are purely because of lack of time, so it’s not often that I get to see fellow professionals tackling the same subjects.

I really liked Sean Phillips’ cover, which he told me he spent a couple of days painting. Like me, Sean’s really fast so he must have really been into it to spend that long on it. And Frank Quitely’s was great [a pink-clad zombie Nancy Reagan-type] and just so funny. Only he could have come up with something like that!

CH: You’re just back from a visit to The Walking Dead TV set in Atlanta. Did you have a good time?CH: It was amazing, although it wasn’t as spectacular as when I went on set the first

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Comic Heroes 15

time, which was ages ago when they were making the pilot. Back then, they cordoned off the streets and had all these zombies wandering about – and I got to play a zombie myself!

This time it was a lot more low-key. There weren’t any action scenes, but I saw plenty of character stuff. It still looks as spectacular as it did a couple of years ago, and it was good to meet Danai Gurira, who plays Michonne. I couldn’t be happier with her look. When I saw her walk out on set the first time, the hairs on my arms all stood up and I thought, ‘Wow, that really is her’.

CH: With the third season, we are, of course, now deep into material that you originally illustrated…CA: The second season was my territory as well, but this is where I really came into my own. That was really why Robert wanted me to come out on set, so that I could see all this stuff that I had drawn writ large on the screen. The prison is amazing, and I thought, ‘My God, it’s exactly how I drew it’. Stuff like that is really quite magical.

CH: You’ve been working with Robert for nearly a decade, of course…CA: We’re used to working together. We’ve got into a rhythm, and have this kind of perfect synergy. He writes fairly minimally because he knows that I can pretty much do what he needs without him going into loads of detail.

We’ve worked together long enough to know each other’s strengths. He leaves me to get on with the artwork, and I leave him to get on with the scripts. The first Robert sees of most of my artwork is the finished page.

CH: You’ve always been known for your remarkable speed, but how do you approach drawing a page?

CA: I’ll lay it out in pencil first, but it’s not full pencils by any means. That takes about half an hour per page, and then I’ll go in with the inks – which for me is the most fun part, because I do a lot of drawing in ink.

There’s an awful lot of stuff I’ll leave loose in the pencils, and I’ll do all the detail in ink. It takes about 90 minutes, or maybe two hours, to complete a page. I also draw small now, same size up, because that’s a good time-saving device.

CH: Do you know what’s coming up in future issues?CA: Generally it’s a surprise, because Robert and I don’t chat that much online. I tend to just get the scripts, but I enjoy that – I like to read them as a fan would anyway. It’s fun to be shocked by the events that have occurred, just as the fans are.

CH: Of course, this strip dominates your working life, and some artists would have been getting ready to move on long before now. How long do you think you’ll keep working on The Walking Dead?CA: I’m happy, at the moment, to do it indefinitely. There isn’t an ending planned for the series. We have a finale that can be implemented at any time, but that could be #150 or #500.

We’d both be happy to see it through to #200 – when I’ve worked out I’ll be 53, as I’m 46 now. I’ll be 61 if we get to #300, which puts it all in perspective! We probably won’t get to #300, because I’ll likely be dead by then!

Robert, however, is more than a decade younger than me, so he might have to get in some enthusiastic kid to replace the jaded old man!

Like The Walking Dead? Seems you’ll be able to buy issues for a fair few years yet…

We’d both be happy to see it through to

#200 – when I’ll be 53!

Above: Adlard’s spent eight years drawing fl esh-eating shamblers on The Walking Dead, but Phillips and Quitely (top left and right) lately helped out.

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56 Comic Heroes

Marvel’s main man, Brian Michael Bendis, is switching sides: after nearly 10 years guiding The Avengers, all shields and hammers and mainstream acceptance, he’s now deeply immersed in comics’ premier outsiders. The X-Men won’t know what hit them… By Stephen Jewell

With the imminent arrival of Marvel NOW!, it’s all change at the House of Ideas. But the biggest shift of all surely

concerns Brian Michael Bendis, who – after eight years helming The Avengers, and numerous ancillary titles – is now moving across the Bullpen to chronicle, instead, Marvel’s other centre of gravity: the X-Men, and all the rest of their Merry Mutant crew.

Springing out of the traumatic events of Avengers Vs X-Men, next month’s All-New X-Men #1 opens with the X-Men in the classic state of disarray, this time because Cyclops has just killed his former mentor, Charles Xavier, after being totally consumed by the Phoenix Force. Teaming up with his erstwhile Ultimate Spider-Man foil Stuart Immonen, Bendis is set to follow up all this with one of his trademark curveballs, as Stan Lee and Jack

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Comic Heroes 57

Interview Brian Michael Bendis

Kirby’s five original X-Men – yep, the teenage gang first introduced in 1963 – are sucked from Marvel’s (relatively innocent) past right into its grim, complicated, in-fighty present.

Already deep into his scripts, Bendis took some time away from his busy schedule to talk to Comic Heroes about all things mutant.

Comic Heroes: So, how does it feel to be leaving The Avengers after nearly a decade?Brian Michael Bendis: I’m not quite done! I’m actually working on the last issues this week. It’s not bittersweet; I’m feeling good, as I’ve just finished up working with Walt Simonson, who is one of my heroes. That was a high point for me, personally. The last issues are gorgeous and are coming together beautifully, with Brandon Peterson, Mike Mayhew, Mike Deodato, Mike Oeming and Michael Gaydos to come. It’s a real pile of my favourite artists,

some of whom I’ve worked with before and some of whom I haven’t.

So it all feels very good – and I’ve actually already written quite a few issues of All-New X-Men, so I don’t feel like any door is closing as much as that I’m already onto the next gigantic thing that I’m doing. I’m not having that whole ‘end of an era’ feel, because I’m not being allowed to feel that yet!

I’m also working on Age Of Ultron with Bryan Hitch for next year, which – even though it’s not a Marvel NOW! book – does deal with all the Avengers. So I’ll let you know how it feels to leave Avengers maybe in, like, a year.

CH: You were famously a big Avengers fan growing up. But did you also follow X-Men?BB: I’m a big Marvel fan, and other than Ghost Rider – and Howard the Duck – I don’t think you can find any Marvel characters that I don’t

like. I was a devout fan of Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s Uncanny X-Men, which you can tell from House Of M or my small run on Ultimate X-Men.

There are so many X-Men issues that are high watermarks for me as far as comics are concerned, including the issues by Neal Adams, Paul Smith, Barry Windsor Smith and, of course, Frank Miller and Chris Claremont’s first Wolverine miniseries. I still think that X-Men/Teen Titans is the best crossover of all time – and it was only 48 pages long.

CH: What about the original ‘Phoenix Saga’? Avengers Vs X-Men couldn’t have happened without that historic storyline…BB: Without a doubt! It was mind-blowing, and the one thing that I miss from back then is that you could kill a character and it would be genuinely shocking. When I first read the

The AvX crossover kicked off in April…

…but Bendis has been writing this lot forever.

AvX #11: an absolute shocker of an ending!

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58 Comic Heroes

death of Jean Grey or Elektra, it blew my mind – because no one had spoilt it for me on the internet. Everything is teased nowadays, and you have no idea of the gymnastics we have to do at our end to keep things secret.

CH: You’ve been at Marvel over a decade but you’ve never written Uncanny X-Men before…BB: In coming to X-Men, I have a bit of a notorious reputation – because I’m the guy who hasn’t written X-Men proper yet, but I’m also the one who decimated the entire mutant population. And I gave Wolverine his memories back! And then I’m going to get crap for what happens at the end of Avengers Vs X-Men #11 [Cyclops killing Professor X] too!

CH: Still, having written Avengers for eight years now, at least nobody can say you don’t like, or get, team books…

BB: Writing a team is almost a whole different discipline. It’s different to writing Spider-Man, for example, where there’s a very specific idea of whose point of view the story is told from. Whereas in a book like Avengers or X-Men, you, the writer, has to constantly decide whose point of view is most interesting.

And then there are the interactions between the characters, which almost constantly bring surprises that completely affect the story: you think you’ve got it all planned out, and then you put Kitty and Wolverine in a room together for two seconds and one of them will say or do something surprising that will alter the story. It’s like the characters are trying to tell you something.

It’s scary, of course, but good too, because it usually means that everything is working right; that you have a good handle on the voices of the various characters. And if the

writer is surprised by what they say or do, chances are the audience will be surprised too.

CH: Do you find that the X-Men have a very different dynamic to the Avengers?BB: With the Avengers, people come and go all the time – because they can. The only thing holding them together is usually their loyalty to Captain America, or to the idea of the Avengers, whereas the X-Men kind of need each other. They’re a family by necessity: who else is going to understand what a particular X-Man is going through, or challenge them to be a best version of themselves?

They’re joined in a cause and that’s a very powerful thing – to hold together an adopted family, or a family by proxy. That gets exciting, of course, but it’s also frustrating because you feel like some of them want to branch outside the X-Men – but sadly the only place where

This tough-talking lass started a revolution!

Bendis tackles ‘real world’ crime in his creator-owned Scarlet.

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Interview Brian Michael Bendis

they’re really safe, or feel truly trusted and loved, is with other mutants.

CH: The X-Men have frequently been described as a metaphor for different forms of prejudice, and the ways in which the world deals with this, whether it’s racial equality that’s the issue, or generational conflict, or gay rights. Is that how you see these guys?BB: I’m Jewish, and when you’re young and faced with the first anti-Semitic moment in

your life – when people say stuff and you go ‘What does that mean?’ – you realise that there are people who dislike you, or disrespect you, because of how you were born.

The X-Men are therefore very appealing, because through them you can blow off some mental steam and feel that you’re not alone in the world. When someone insults you racially or religiously for the first time, it’s such a big thing – because you don’t even understand what’s happening. I have a mixed race family,

and a couple of times people have said something that’s not necessarily racist, but more racially insensitive, to my daughter.

Even though she’s too young to understand, I’m very aware that it was inappropriate. I just know that any day now it’s going to hurt her, maybe on purpose or just by accident, as both have happened in our lives. Knowing that’s coming just kills me, because I know what it feels like – and the X-Men represent that feeling to a lot of people who read these books.

CH: What can you tell us about what to expect with All-New X-Men?BB: Not much without spoiling anything, but the landscape of the Marvel Universe will be very different coming out of Avengers Vs X-Men. It’s almost like a brand new look at the Marvel Universe. All of us who are doing these

Bendis started writing Daredevil back in ’01.

The history-making Miles Morales Spidey.

The landscape will be very different – it’s like a brand new look at the Marvel Universe

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60 Comic Heroes

Marvel NOW! books have an opportunity to make a very strong statement about the books that we’re on.

What I keep referring to is when Joss Whedon did Astonishing X-Men a few years ago. That’s an example of, ‘Here’s a person with a very strong take on what the X-Men are, here and now, but it doesn’t throw anything out to get there’. I’ve kind of done that with All New X-Men. It’s a strong jumping-on point.

CH: Can you tell us how the teenage Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Beast and Angel come to join the contemporary X-Men? (Please!)BB: How this happens, and who does it, is going to remain a mystery until you read the very first issue, but you find out right away. After the fallout from Avengers Vs X-Men, the X-Men are in a very different place. Somehow it becomes a good idea to bring the original

X-Men to the modern day, so you’re going to get the five fresh-faced, 16-17-year-old original X-Men brought here from a very specific place in their history, and they get to witness what the X-Universe has become. Jean Grey sees everything that has happened with her and Cyclops, and some pretty bold changes and ideas are going to come out of what they’ve witnessed, and what they then do about it.

CH: You’ve described the various time travel elements here as more like Pleasantville than Back To The Future…BB: The hardest part of the sell is that it’s really not about that Back To The Future thing, where they have to go back to where they started. It’s more about being here, and it’s a bit more like Spider-Men in that regard.

In Spider-Men, it almost didn’t matter how Peter crossed over to the Ultimate Universe,

and it wasn’t about how he got back. It was about what happened when he was there.

There will be a big logic to it, but that’s not the focus of the story at all. It’s very much about the emotions of who the X-Men are and what they represent, and what they are versus what they could be, and – going forward – what they should be.

CH: Will All-New X-Men be accessible to new readers, do you think?BB: The downside of the X-Universe is that it’s so complicated, and there are so many characters – even with the cull in mutant population after House Of M. It can sometimes feel pretty daunting to even pick up a trade paperback. What we have here is a wonderful way for people who are not religiously devout readers of the X-Men, but are interested in them, to come in and witness the X-Universe

Moon Knight, Bendis’ LA-based crime fighter.

Amazing: Peter and Miles join forces.

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Interview Brian Michael Bendis

through the eyes of the original X-Men. It’s like an eyes-wide-open, fresh-faced look at things, and you’ll be able to follow it with them. But for people who’ve been devout, and follow everything, all of it will be there. It’s just that we’re looking at it through the eyes of someone else, who doesn’t know everything that we, as readers, might know.

CH: But the original five will also not be the only X-Men in the book…

BB: Well, they’re certainly the sexiest, most interesting part of what’s happening in the book as far as promoting it goes, but, yes, there are many, many other characters and stories going on in All-New X-Men too.

CH: Is it good to be working with Stuart Immonen again?BB: The unique aspect of getting to do this is that I knew I was going to be the X-Men writer a couple of years ago, before any of Avengers Vs

X-Men had even been written, so I had a lot of time to wrap up my Avengers run, and to then get started on All-New X-Men. At that time, Stuart was very much in Fear Itself, which was a lot of drawing. I thought he’d be perfect for this, because he’d bring to it the youthfulness of Ultimate Spider-Man – which this resembles, in a sense – plus all the qualities of the regular Marvel Universe.

I was worried that he wouldn’t want to do another team book so soon, because after an event artists usually want to do something a bit quieter – like drawing just Spider-Man or Wolverine. But we hit him up with it, and he took to the idea straight away. He’s already drawn quite a few issues, and they’re so beautiful. I’m very excited for it to come out, which is a very good feeling indeed.

All-New X-Men kicks off on 7 November.

It’s very much about the emotions of who the X-Men are

and what they represent

Bendis’ movie tie-in Avengers Assemble.

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96 Comic Heroes

Avengers Vs X-Men: six months and lots of fi ghts, but there’s more to it than that…

MARVEL ROUND-UPThe golden rule of event

books is that they usually start strong before fizzling

out in a tumult of forgettable slugfests. Perhaps because it pitted the House of Ideas’ two leading super-teams against each other, Avengers Vs X-Men has smartly bucked that trend, maintaining a consistent level of quality throughout its 12-issue, five-month run.

While not quite reaching the shocking heights of the penultimate instalment’s sensational death of Professor X at Cyclops’ megalomaniacal hands, Avengers Vs X-Men #12 brings the whole sorry story to a satisfying if anti-climactic close.

published alongside various past summer blockbusters, six-part companion title AvX was designed to present literally blow-by-blow accounts of several crucial Merry Mutant/Avenger smackdowns, but has also occasionally fleshed out the fast-developing plot at certain key intervals.

Featuring some pleasing, rare interiors from erstwhile Young Avengers artist Jimmy Cheung, AvX #6’s no-holds-barred battle between Hope and Scarlet Witch is torn straight from the pages of Avengers Vs X-Men #12 and is enlivened by Kieron Gillen’s trademark wry dialogue: “No more nose!” indeed! In celebratory style, the issue is rounded out with some one-to-two page strips that cast a refreshing humorous light on proceedings, with Brian Bendis and Jim Mahfood’s foul-mouthed ‘Verbal Abuse’ and Jason Aaron’s ‘Iron Fist Vs Iceman’ standing out from an impressive pack.

WEB WINNERSStill, for all its spectacular bombast, Avengers Vs X-Men hasn’t been Marvel’s standout offering of the

AVENGERS VS X-MENWRITERS: Jason Aaron, Brian Michael

Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction,

Jonathan Hickman

ARTISTS: Adam Kubert, Mark Morales,

John Dell

OUT: Now

AvXWRITERS: Kieron Gillen, Brian Michael

Bendis, Jeph Loeb, Jason Aaron

ARTISTS: Jim Cheung, Mark Roslan, Mark

Morales, Jim Mahfood, Mike Deodato

OUT: Now

SPIDER-MENWRITER: Brian Michael Bendis

ARTIST: Sara Pichelli

OUT: Now

ULTIMATE COMICS: ULTIMATESWRITER: Sam Humphries

ARTISTS: Billy Tan, Luke Ross,

Terry Pallot

OUT: Now

HAWKEYEWRITER: Matt Fraction

ARTIST: David Aja

OUT: Now

Smartly shifting between time periods, Jason Aaron’s terse script conjures up allusions not just to the pivotal conclusion of 2005’s House Of M, which devastatingly resulted in Scarlet Witch declaring ‘No More Mutants,’ but also 1980’s original ‘Dark Phoenix Saga’.

With its five authors and three core pencillers, the whole enterprise could have degenerated into an incoherent mess – and the combination of Adam Kubert’s pencils and three different inkers veers on the ragged side in this double-sized conclusion – so it’s to Marvel’s credit that Avengers Vs X-Men reads as smoothly as it does. Inevitably, almost as many questions are raised as answered – but it paves the way enticingly for the brave new world of Marvel NOW! Bring it on!

FIGHT CLUBWith Avengers Vs X-Men, Marvel has mercifully kept the number of requisite spin-off and tie-in issues down to a refreshing minimum. In stark contrast to the gritty man-in-the-street perspective of the Frontline minis

All action AvX battles galore…

…romp across most of Marvel.

Oh Jean Grey, you are a one.

A little scared are we, Spider-Men?

Reckon you’re outnumbered, pal.

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Comic Heroes 97

Reviews Comics

Avengers Vs X-Men: six months and lots of fi ghts, but there’s more to it than that…

summer, with that auspicious accolade instead going to Brian Bendis and Sara Pichelli’s simply superb Spider-Men.

Seeing as it mostly takes place in Ultimate wall-crawler Miles Morales’ neck of the woods, it is only fitting that the five-parter is closer in tone to Bendis’ fresh-faced Ultimate Spidey than Dan Slott’s more seasoned Amazing Spider-Man. After four issues of deft characterisation and heartfelt pathos, Spider-Men #5 finds the two web-spinners finally teaming up to fight their common enemy, Mysterio, who is initially overwhelmed by their incorrigible

traditionally struggled to command his own ongoing series – ludicrous, really, when you consider that he’s one of the most entertaining, dynamic figures virtually every time he appears.

Feeding off the goodwill generated by Jeremy Renner’s rather dour performance as the big screen Clint Barton, Marvel has decided to give the sharpshooting superhero another shot at the monthly big time.

Downplaying action-packed plots in favour of subtly nuanced characterisation, Matt Fraction’s introspective script evokes memories of Brian Bendis and Ed Brubaker’s gritty Daredevil runs as he depicts a more grown-up, brooding Clint, who is gradually coming to terms with his immense responsibilities as one of the planet’s premiere protectors.

After striking up a vibrant rapport with the Young Avengers’ erstwhile Hawkeye Kate Bishop, Hawkeye #2 finds the pair going undercover at the sinister Cirque Du Nuit, which boasts a crafty link to Clint’s murky past.

Excellently illustrated in a gritty ’70s style – Mean Streets meets Tarantino – by the brilliant David Aja, a future issue will be told entirely from Hawkeye’s pet pooch’s point of view, so you better enjoy this precious gem while you still can! Stephen Jewell

a platform for considerably more radical storylines than they would be able to get away with in the main Marvel Universe.

As promoted in US media before #15 had even hit the shelves, the clumsily titled Ultimate Comics: Ultimates #16 sees Steve Rogers elevated to the lofty position of President of the not-so-United States. Purer than his more conflicted original Marvel U counterpart, who cannot help but be weighed down by decades of continuity, President Cap is faced with an even more daunting task than Barack Obama’s current economic woes as he sets out to unite an anarchic America divided by civil war in the only way that he knows how: by punching endless hordes of bad guys!

Harking back to the political overtones of the seminal original Ultimates run, Sam Humphries’ fast-paced script channels Mark Millar’s turbo-fuelled spirit while there’s also a hint of Bryan Hitch in Luke Ross’ sturdy pencils. But that’s not to say that the story entirely revolves around the Sentinel of Liberty, as there’s something distinctly Asgardian about the mysterious villain.

Despite being an Avengers stalwart for many years, and one of the star heroes of Joss Whedon’s blockbuster film of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Hawkeye has

Hawkeye is just about Marvel’s most handsome book…

Spider-Men #5 fi nds the two web-spinners fi nally teaming up to fi ght their

common enemy, Mysterio

wisecrack overload before being defeated by their predictably instinctive interplay.

While meetings between the Ultimate and main Marvel Universe hopefully won’t become a regular occurrence, Spider-Men not only sets the tone for Bendis’ upcoming All-New X-Men but also ends on a beguiling plot twist that could have significant future ramifications.

ULTIMATE EDGEEvidenced by the apparently permanent death of Peter Parker and the arrival of Miles Morales, the creation of the Ultimate universe in 2000 has provided writers with

Can’t get enough Avengers, eh?

Then there’s always the alternative take too…

…and almost nobody draws cars like Aja.

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98 Comic Heroes

The next New 52 books are upon us, but which make the grade?

DC ROUND-UPW ith the New 52 now a

strapping 12 months old, it was a canny

move by DC to mark its first anniversary with not just a month of zero issues but also a Third Wave of brand new titles.

But as a character that has seldom commanded his own monthly title, and then only in DC’s dim and distant past, the Phantom Stranger seems like an odd choice to kick off proceedings. However, the mysterious occult figure is rumoured to play a significant part in next year’s Trinity War, suggesting that this seemingly un-asked for book will be required reading for crossover completists – something that is enhanced by the brief presence of the equally enigmatic Pandora.

Written by DC co-publisher Dan Didio – who will be hoping to have more luck than he did with the promising but shortlived OMAC – The Phantom Stranger #0 has already upset long-time fans by heavily hinting that he is actually Judas Iscariot, a development at odds with his

7 also harks back to the New 52’s dark history. Combining elements of the old DC-verse with the now defunct Wildstorm line, it brings to mind espionage-flavoured titles like Checkmate and Chase. Acting as a prelude to next month’s series proper, Team 7 #0 begins with Gen 7’s John Lynch charging future Black Canary Dinah Lance with recruiting the eclectic likes of Slade Wilson (Deathstoke), Cole Cash (Grifter) and Amanda Waller (Suicide Squad) to the ranks of the DC U’s shady outfit.

If the various disparate elements don’t quite gel together, the verve and energy of Image alumni Justin Jordan’s script keeps events

THE PHANTOM STRANGERWRITER: Dan Didio

ARTISTS: Brent Anderson, Scott Hanna

OUT: Now

TEAM 7WRITER: Justin Jordan

ARTISTS: Jesus Merino with Norm

Rapmund, Rob Hunter

OUT: Now

SWORD OF SORCERY FEATURING AMETHYSTWRITER: Christy Marx

ARTISTS: Aaron Lopresti, Jesus Saiz

OUT: Now

TALONWRITERS: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV

ARTIST: Guillem March

OUT: Now

DETECTIVE COMICSWRITER: John Layman

ARTIST: Jason Fabok

OUT: Now

previously unexplained origin. For all its allusions to blood money, ‘A Stranger Amongst Us’ is also inferior to Walt Simonson’s brilliant recently released graphic novel The Judas Coin, which charted the sinister influence of the tainted currency throughout the centuries.

Recalling his bit-part status in the likes of Alan Moore’s landmark Swamp Thing saga, the Stranger is reduced to mere supporting status in his own zero issue, instead ceding the spotlight to the origin of the wrathful Spectre, aka vengeful police detective Jim Corrigan.

And while much of the New 52 seems to hark back to the ’80s – for good and for bad – there’s an especially vintage cartoony quality to Brent Anderson’s pencils that wouldn’t have been out of place three decades ago. Much will have to improve if the Stranger is to really find himself a loyal audience and avoid becoming the Third Wave’s first casualty.

LUCKY SEVENCentreing on a band of covert Special Forces operatives, Team

Phantom Stranger: imposing, and a bit full of himself.

Team 7: happy to fi re in every direction at once.

Or jump in every direction. (See what we mean?)

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Reviews Comics

moving forward at a furious pace as he dials down the graphic ultra-violence of his bravura debut The Strange Talent Of Luther Strode in favour of some breathless action sequences. A solid first offering.

First created by Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn and Ernie Colon in 1983 in an effort to appeal to female readers, Amethyst, the one-time Princess of Gemworld has been given a Twilight-esque modern-day makeover designed to appeal to fans of Stephenie Meyers’ best-selling novels. Reinvented as a raven-haired goth – well, initially – there’s definitely something of Bella Swan’s brooding loner about the unsuspecting Amy Winston, who is even ostracised by the downtrodden Beryl after she unexpectedly saves her from some school bullies.

Written by TV veteran Christy Marx, ‘The Catalyst’ successfully introduces the long-lost mythical royal to the New 52 while Aaron Lopestri’s quirky, manga-esque art is pleasingly out of the step with the dynamic styles favoured by the majority of DC’s resident artists.

And if that wasn’t enough Tony Bedard and Jesus Saiz’s Beowulf back-up brings a touch of Game Of Thrones to the DC Universe.

FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGScott Snyder has pointedly said that he is only co-plotting Talon – leaving the bulk of the scripting to his frequent co-writer James Tynion IV – but his distinctive stamp is all over this deftly executed zero issue.

Spinning out of recently concluded Batman epic ‘The Court Of Owls,’ ‘The Long Run’ focuses on renegade assassin Calvin Rose, who attempts to leave the secretive order after growing uncomfortable with its ruthless activities. An escapologist by trade, Rose is integrated cleverly into the existing Batman mythos. Like Dick Grayson, the young Talon-to-be learnt the ropes as a member of Haly’s Circus, but instead of being adopted by Bruce Wayne, he was – unlucky! – inducted into the clandestine ranks of the malevolent Court.

Excellently supported by Guillem March’s fluid linework, Talon #0 is a

fine first turn by a fascinating new addition to the New 52, and I can’t wait for his first encounter with the Caped Crusader himself.

While Scott Snyder’s Batman has deservedly been one of the New 52’s trailblazers, Tony Daniel’s fitful Detective residency was a disappointingly patchy affair. But with John Layman taking over the writing reins with Detective Comics #13, Snyder now has a foil of note to bounce off of on the Dark Knight’s original monthly title.

Bringing some of the sardonic wit of his Image hit Chew, Layman brings some much-needed humour to the table, opening by comparing

the generous donations Bruce Wayne makes to various medical charities with the serious injuries that the Bat inflicts upon his unfortunate victims. And while The Joker is poised to hog the limelight in Batman, the Penguin takes centre stage in ‘Duck And Cover.’ Unleashing a deadly conspiracy to assassinate Bruce Wayne, the somewhat bumbling Oswald Cobblepot’s spiteful schemes predictably goes awry.

Enhanced by Jason Fabok’s bold art, Layman makes himself right at home in the New 52. Guess #13 isn’t unlucky for some!Stephen Jewell

Good girls wear purple: only one dress shop in Gemworld, it seems.

The Penguin’s back, here looking a little huge and Kingpin-esque…

Talon’s outfi t’s odd: we’re a tad worried about that collar…

The one-time Princess of Gemworld has been given a Twilight-esque makeover

CHM15.revDC.indd 99 10/9/12 4:06 PM