In space, no one can hear you chuckle: Outer Orbit #2

Science-fiction very often takes itself WAY too seriously. In an effort to be seen as serious, intellectual fare, sci-fi all too frequently gives us heaps of angst, dystopian futures, mysterious aliens, and heroes who never seem to smile. Don't get me wrong, I love sci-fi. It's just that, every now and then, someone needs to come along and poke some holes in its inflated sense of self-importance. Luckily, Outer Orbit #2 is here, and it brought its poking stick.

Dark Horse's Outer Orbit, by Zach Howard, Sean Murphy, and Reed Buccholz, takes a ton of standard sci-fi ingredients and mixes them up with a heaping helping of fun. The unlikely protagonists of Outer Orbit are the mismatched pair of Quinn and Krunk. Quinn is a goofy, blue, inter-galactic pizza delivery guy with a motor mouth and a tendency to lose his pants. (Don't worry, his undies are quite fetching, and very tight!) Krunk is a disgraced (thanks to Quinn) space cop, and all-around tough guy with a distinct lack of social skills.

Quinn and Krunk find themselves drawn into a plot of galactic intrigue and mayhem by Neoki, a super-hot chick with loads of guns, and a stolen idol that has the criminal underworld's baddest dudes hot on her tail. (Quinn's just hot FOR her tail, but that's just 'cause everyone can totally tell that they're a couple.) The second issue starts with Quinn and Neoki on the run, and the action keeps coming at a fast and furious pace. There are explosions, gunfire, fiery crashes, underwear, more explosions, and a viscious lunch box attack. The action only stops for potty breaks and poker, which seems reasonable to me.

All three creators contribute to the story, and their combined hilarity is awesome to behold. Every line of dialogue is packed with funny, and you'll find yourself quoting lines like you would from the Simpsons or a Kevin Smith flick. The art is equally great, as it perfectly captures the manic energy of the story. Quinn and Krunk's facial expressions alone are worth the price of admission.

I love Outer Orbit and, if you read it, you will too! This series isn't generating nearly as much buzz as it deserves. This book has it all: a hot space-babe, big guns, hilarious dialogue, a fun story, loveable heroes, space gangsters, and tons of action! What could you possibly be waiting for? Try Outer Orbit #2 while it is Four Color Fantasies guaranteed Book of the Week! (Poking stick, unfortunately, not included.)

If you're lucky, there might even be copies of #1 still available. Act now!

How we'd really react: Irredeemable Ant-Man #4

You know, it's all well and good to say that "with great power comes great responsibility," but, in the less-than-ideal real world, most people would probably fall short in the great responsibility department. If Joe Average suddenly found himself with laser-vision, would he risk his life trying to make the world a better place or just mess around in the backyard zapping birds and empty cans? Is that laser fried pigeon I smell?

Eric O'Grady, the star of Marvel's Irredeemable Ant-Man #4, is one such average guy. Eric is a low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who, through a mixture of incompetence and criminal mischief, ends up in possession of Hank Pym's latest Ant-Man suit. Does Eric bravely shoulder his responsibilities to become the next great hero of the Marvel U? Does he team up with his S.H.I.E.L.D. buddies to save the helicarrier when a brainwashed Wolverine attacks? Does he use the suit to thwart a Skrull invasion and deliver Aunt May's heart medicine?

Nah. Eric O'Grady takes the suit off of his dead friend's body and uses it to pick up chicks, sneak into women's locker rooms, and stage ant races. The comic itself does bill Eric as "The World's Most Unlikable Super Hero," and, in many ways, he is pretty awful. He steals the suit on a whim, betrays his commanding officer who is tasked with tracking the suit down, and lies to score with his dead best friend's girlfriend. O'Grady's not evil or villainous, he's just a selfish jerk who doesn't think about the consequences of his actions. He's a lot like one of those idiots on YouTube who sets three friends (and himself) on fire after uttering the immortal words, "Hey, guys, watch this!"

Written by the amazing Robert Kirkman, with art by the equally awesome Phil Hester, Irredeemable Ant-Man is a unique take on the world of super heroes. The story is often laugh-out-loud funny and offers a very different perspective on life in comic book land. You wouldn't catch Hank Pym using his shrinking powers to secretly live in a stranger's apartment or spy on a woman in the shower, would you? But I bet you can think of at least one friend who, if he found an Ant-Man suit, would do exactly the goofy stuff Eric O'Grady does. He's not heroic, noble, or very smart, but Ant-Man is a lot of fun. He's a guy that, unfortunately, many of us can probably relate to.

The beauty of a Kirkman book is that you never know what to expect. Irredeemable Ant-Man is nothing like Walking Dead, which is nothing like Invincible, or Marvel Zombies, or Battle Pope, or...you get the idea. I'm not sure where this book is going, and that makes it much more fun to go along for the ride. Plus, Hester's design for the new Ant-Suit is really nifty, and would make for a sweet action figure. A tiny, annoying action figure.

What are you waiting for? Get real small and scuttle over to Four Color Fantasies right away to pick up this guaranteed Book of the Week!

Worth it for Action & Characters: Exiles #89

Everyone knows that parallel universes are a pain in the butt. In a parallel universe, everything is kinda like our universe, but different in weird, annoying ways. Like the old Star Trek episode where Spock is a jerk and has a goatee. You never know who you can trust in a parallel universe because maybe you missed your best friend's birthday party when he was six, so he became a serial killer or a dentist or some other scary thing. Freaky!

For Marvel's Exiles, parallel worlds are much more than just annoying places with opposite facial hair. The Exiles are a team of mutants and heroes whose job it is to travel between all the thousands of different realities and make sure everything happens the way it is supposed to. Apparently, if all those pesky universes aren't properly maintained, they could all come crashing down into each other causing untold havoc and destruction.

The Exiles team is an interesting mix of characters. There are alternate versions of characters, like Sabretooth, T-Bird and Power Princess. There are future alternate reality heroes, like Spider-Man 2099. There are characters that are dead or missing in the regular Marvel U, like Morph and Blink. There are even characters that don't exist in regular reality at all, like Nightcrawler's daughter. Anyone that is under-used, or dead, in the Marvel U may well end up in Exiles. In many ways, Exiles is like a What If series where all the "what ifs" really happen.

Exiles #89, by Tony Bedard and Jim Calafiore, is a good issue to showcase what this series is all about. The Exiles find themselves facing an impending crash of realities and their weary team has very little time to fix a bajillion problems on many alternate Earths. They come up against an alternate Sinister Six, and alternate Serpent Society, and an alternate Hellfire Club. As more and more of their members are taken out of action, the dwindling team also has to cope with the fact that their greatest enemy is brainwashed into their ranks and could turn on them all at any moment.

This issue offers a lot of character development, despite also having rapid-fire action. Calafiore's art is dynamic, even when he has to draw a ton of characters on each page. I actually found his art style very reminiscent of the nineties Marvel style, which is very appropriate for this book. Many of these characters first appeared in that much maligned decade, and got pushed out of the spotlight too soon.

Call a truce with your evil twin from Earth #3799, and take time to give Exiles #89 a try. What have you got to lose? It IS Four Color Fantasies guaranteed Book of the Week. (Except on Earth #4907, where the BoW is Archie: Civil War. The Jughead Registration Act is a disaster!)