The first issue brings us the new status quo (at least for now) – Dick Grayson has taken over the role of Batman, with Damien al Ghul as Robin. Yeah, he’s the grandson of Ra’s al Ghul, and possibly Bruce Wayne’s illegitimate son. He’s also an overbearing brat who needs to get smacked, hard and often. He’s impossible to like, which really just makes him hilarious. It’s a nice twist on the old dynamic – Grayson brings a smile and upbeat attitude to Batman, while the new Robin is a grim and driven little SOB.
It’s a great mix of the old and the new, with the return of the Batsignal and Commissioner Gordon, as well as the debut of new villains and an all-new Batmobile. As much as I love the old reliables, there’ve been maybe 10 great Batman villains created in the last 20 years, and it’s good to see some fresh blood. Here, we get Pyg, a nutbar in a pig mask who reconstructs people’s faces into featureless dolls. And then there’s the mystery of who’s paying his henchmen in dominoes…
Since it’s the first issue of a three-part arc, there’s no resolution here, but the set-up is fantastic. The same team that brought my favorite single issue of 2008 just may be delivering the best of 2009, too. And they’re doing it without Bruce Wayne, which goes against everything I believe in. This book is just that good.
Special Forces Book 1 (Image) – Kyle Baker is probably my favorite cartoonist working today. One day, I’m going to try and write a whole piece on him, mostly because it would give me an excuse to go back and re-read The Cowboy Wally Show. He’s masterful at both drama and humor, from dark character examination to flat-out slapstick. (Try reading I Die at Midnight and his run on Plastic Man in one sitting. You’ll get whiplash!) Here, he combines over-the-top action and cutting satire.
How cutting? Well, this book is set in the midst of the Iraq War, and it’s inspired by a news 
story about an autistic soldier who was deployed to the Gulf. Baker takes every piece of war propaganda on both sides and tells a story in which they are all the literal truth. And then he makes the lead character a hot chick with a dark sense of humor and a propensity for gunplay.
He takes the satire so far that several critics ended up dismissing it as a pro-war tract. Sure, he takes great delight in having soldiers blow things up, but there’s also a terrorist leader who actually says “We hate your freedom!” The tight plotting and mixture of sex and violence might throw people off, but this is satire for people who understand the concept of satire. And as seen by the Blackwater gunmen who actually dress like Road Warrior extras, he’s spreading it all across the board.
Special Forces is as dark as it gets, and this collection needs to sell so many copies that Bill O’Reilly publicly freaks out about it. Or maybe he’ll love it. Either way, we all win. By the way, the back cover proclaims that this is “The Comic Book that Ended the Iraq War”. And that is not nearly as funny or shocking as Baker’s last page dedication. Not to go all literary critic on you, but this is actual Swiftian satire.
Spider-Man: The Short Halloween (Marvel) – Before you wonder why a Halloween special came out in May, let me drop some knowledge for you. This one-shot is written by Bill Hader and Seth Meyers of Saturday Night Live fame. Yeah, that’s right. Vincent Price and the Weekend Update guy wrote a Spider-Man story. Pretty great, right?
And you know what? It is pretty great. Of course, it’s helped by the pretty, pretty Kevin Maguire art. Maguire has an incredible talent for facial expressions and can really sell humor in a superhero book. He was also the artist on my favorite run of all time, so seeing his art always makes me happy right off the bat. (By the way, apparently Seth Meyers has the same favorite as I do, as he was insistent that Maguire be the artist for this one-shot.)
The premise is that the real Spider-Man gets knocked out in a battle with a D-list villain on 
Halloween. He gets mixed up with a guy in a Spider-Man costume who drank too much and passed out in an alley, and comedy ensues. Real Spidey ends up back in the drunk guy’s apartment where his buddies (dressed like Hunter S. Thompson and Shaun of the Dead) and girlfriend air out their grievances with him. Meanwhile, fake Spider-Man is kidnapped by wannabe villain team, The Furious Five. (No, they have not seen Kung-Fu Panda and don’t know why people keep asking that question.) By the way, the Five include villains named Mr. Think and Badger Teeth. Hee.
Mistaken identity comedy is difficult to pull off, but the SNL boys nail it by making the supporting characters the focus of the humor. I mean, there’s a guy named Badger Teeth! That’s still making me laugh! It’s light and breezy, which is not a bad thing. The script is solid, the jokes are funny (sometimes really funny), and the art is outstanding. Bill and Seth, those guys are going places!
I’m still not sure why this didn’t come out near Halloween, though.
That’s all for this week! I’m so full of positive feelings right now that I won’t get into Marvel’s Ultimatum (Damn, is that one bad comic. Why are they trying to punish us?) or DC’s Last Days of Animal Man (It takes a lot to publish a story starring Animal Man that I won’t like. Somehow, they pulled it off.). Next week, we’ll look at some recent hardcovers that you should own, including the series that is beloved by both me and Seth Meyers. (Ooooh, suspenseful!)
