The Web #3

Sales may be in the toilet, but darn it, I like the Web and his web hosts. There are a ton of original ideas in this series, from the super-hero franchise to the Web's competition with the JLA brand. Things of course go wrong when the Web decides to arm a ton of franchise folks with their own web-suits, and it takes the intervention of Batgirl and Oracle to make him take action to regulate his "employees." His disastrous Web Conference was hilarious, what a bunch of nutcases. The Web is forced to deactivate most of the folks using his suit, but a few stick around so there is some team-up potential down the road. He also starts working with Oracle to make his internet interaction more useful. In addition to a Facebook-type interface where he can exchange "Hero Kisses" the Web can now call out to a ton of people who want to help. He's using cell-phone and internet users better than any other hero. It's another great idea from writer Angela Robinson. This book isn't long for this world, but I will dig it for as long as I can.

Roger Robinson is great. I love the heavy blacks from his books, and this is no exception. The Web's terrible costume looks awesome, as do the guest stars. I would hope Robinson could get a top tier book, but that would make too much sense.

Good

The Shield #1 &2

Sometimes a book is improved by its inclusion in a shared universe. While I like Eric Trautmann's writing, I wasn't sure if I'd dig The Shield. It turns out that the book is actually pretty decent. The core idea is a strong one. The Shield is a moral, upstanding member of the American military, and he uses all his resources (both personal and the military's) to do what is right. He doesn't like killing, he believes America can help, and he does his best. Most of the military heroes we get these days are almost bad guys, so the Shield is a welcome change. Trautmann does a nice job with his powers too. There is a great sense that the military was smart about this experimental nanotech. In the second issue, when a villain tries to dominate the Shield's mind, his suit takes over and starts busting heads, since the suit is programmed to keep itself out of enemy hands. It's a neat idea. It could end up being over-used if the programming gets him out of every problem, but on a limited basis it is a great example of competence from the supporting cast.

The excellent use of the shared universe comes in with the use of Magog. As a military character, his appearance makes sense. But rather than having the two heroes get along, Trautmann plays up a competition of toughness and efficiency. These two would actually be great leads for a buddy book, at least as they are portrayed here. The surprise villain is a nice get too. This guy is in a lot of comics but using him like this instills a more dangerous feel on this DCU mainstay.

Marco Rudy does a serviceable job on art. He's not fantastic, but his storytelling is clear and his rendition of the big villain is downright chilling.

Good

The Inferno by Brandon Jerwa and Greg Scott is starting to "heat up" a bit, but I'm still not very interested in what's going on. The shadowy group as villains is sort of played out. I'm not too concerned for Inferno either. I mean, he's going to be on the run, and that sucks for him, but I don't really think he's in danger of getting killed. He took on Green Arrow and Black Canary and came out on top, so he's pretty darn tough.

Fair

The Web #1

This was a fun little issue. The Web isn't going to revolutionize the way we think about super-hero comics, but it is a solid book. The Web is a likeable hero with a decent supporting cast forming around him. Based on the one-shot and this first issue, it seems that John Raymond's family will be ongoing players in the book. I love the approach of having them be a mix of money-grubbers and kinder folks. We've seen the rich playboy heroes like John before, but I'm not sure we've seen their extended families. Angela Robinson sets up a nice love interest right away too, it seems John's former flame had rebounded to his now-dead brother. So I'm sure as they work through the investigation of David Raymond's life, the two will be drawn back together.

There isn't as much media grand-standing in this issue as there was in the one-shot, but that's ok, since the Web is more driven to seek revenge for his brother. I do hope those more vain tendencies do crop up again, that's what made the one-shot so interesting.

Roger Robinson is a fantastic artist. His dark pencils actually make that weird yellow and green suit look awesome. The action scenes are laid out very nicely and while the villains are generic now, I'm sure when given the chance any "name" villains will look great. Good stuff.

The Hangman backup was enjoyable too. John Rozum wisely continues using flashbacks to Civil War times to show the roots of the character, but quickly flashes to the present where Hangman is trying to scare some scumbags straight. I like that the Hangman isn't necessarily a killer, since he spends this whole issue just warning people to turn away from their evil ways.

As a whole, this Red Circle book is a strong package.

Good

Red Circle: The Shield #1

JMS did a nice job with his Red Circle re-launch. The last two one-shots were much stronger than the first two. Both the Web and the Shield made very positive first impressions.

The issue opens with a tense scene of combat as a unit commander takes his group into danger facing off against arms traffickers in Afghanistan. It ends with an ambush that kills most of the unit but leaves the leader mortally wounded and perfect for an experimental new procedure. After a few months, Joseph Higgins is reborn as the Shield, one of the first super-heroes to be an active part of the military. Higgins is an earnest patriot doing his duty. He's got a public ID to inspire his fellow soldiers and he's out there fighting for them until the Shield procedure drops in price to be available for more soldiers. There is some typical shady dialogue from Higgins' commanding officers, but for the most part I was pleased at the positive portrayal of the American military. In his Civil War tie-ins, the heavy-handed political statements were very common, but I think JMS may have dialed back his agenda a bit here. I love the idea of a public hero working in the military, I'd love to see him interact with other heroes like Magog. Another great character available (and previously drawn by Scott McDaniel) would be the Veteran.

Scott McDaniel's art is a known quality now; you either love it or hate it. I love the way McDaniel handles kinetic action scenes and his storytelling is very clear. I think the Red Circle experiment was a successful one and I'll keep an eye on both ongoing titles over the next few months.

Good

Red Circle: The Web #1

This is by far the strongest of the JMS-helmed relaunches of the Red Circle characters. The Web is a hero for hire out to do good and stay in the public eye doing it. He's had his entire life (and fortune) come easily, so after seeing how his brother does so much good for the unfortunate, John Raymond has decided to spend millions of dollars setting himself up as the Web, a hero for the people. In a grand-standing move, The Web has a website where anyone can ask for help, and it certainly seems like the Web enjoys the spotlight in his heroics. He helps starlets and normal people from normal problems, but he also seems to make time for cool stuff like chasing off bullies.

After John's brother gets wrapped up in some trouble the Web can't get him out of, John re-dedicates himself to helping people who are truly unfortunate. It seems John Raymond will still get himself in the spotlight, but he's going to try to maximize the actual good he can accomplish. The Web is a character in the Booster Gold mold, and that's probably why I like him so much and I'm so interested in reading more about him.

Roger Robinson is one of my favorite under-rated artists, and his stuff looks fantastic here. The Web's terrible costume might have looked awful, but it actually looks neat rendered by Robinson. I'd read an ongoing with this creative team in a second.

Good

Red Circle: The Hangman #1

This was a fascinating comic for a couple of reasons. I read about the Black Hood back in the Impact Comics days, and always thought the character was decent, but I wasn't aware of the Hangman. JMS opens the story with a lengthy flashback about a Union doctor left behind enemy lines. After delaying his escape to help a wounded Confederate soldier, the doctor is captured and set to be hung. In a neat cutaway scene, a mysterious being offers Dr Robert Dickering the chance to survive his hanging, but he must stay on the Earth meteing out justice until the end of time. It's a neat scene since we don't know who this stranger is. The devil? God? JMS never lets us know, shrouding the Hangman's origin in a neat little mystery.

The story actually goes a bit downhill when the story jumps forward and we see more of the Hangman in modern times. He's a pretty generic brute with very few qualities to set him apart from the heroic masses. I found the story much more interesting while it was set in the Civil War.

Tom Derenick's art always leans towards hulking heroes and hot ladies, but he actually does a really strong job on the normal builds of the soldiers in the first half of the book. I do like his art most of the time, but I didn't find the design for the Hangman to be too interesting. I'm not sure this is a character I care about seeing that much more. He's kind of like a crappy Ghost Rider. I find myself much more interested in Dr. Dickering than in the Hangman.

Fair