High-interest Conflict: Salvation Run #5

Conflict! Everybody loves conflict, right? Without conflict, you can't really have much of a story. A book about people sitting around having amiable conversations would get old pretty fast. Throw in some good, old-fashioned conflict, and things start to get interesting.

Super-villains are notorious conflict starters. They run around stealing things, trying to take over the world, or punching good guys in the face. Generally, this behavior creates conflict and super-powered mayhem ensues. So what would happen if all the villains of the DC Universe were gathered up and sent to an alien planet together? No heroes, no innocents to victimize, just bunches and bunches of villains. Do they gather around the alien bonfire, sing songs, and tell evil anecdotes? No! They bring the conflict and start punching the daylights out of each other!

That is pretty much what happens in Salvation Run # 5 from Matthew Sturges and Joe Bennett. The villains have all been gathered up and sent to Hell Planet. (Probably not the name on the time-share brochures.) Of course, some of them would like to work together and go home, but career criminals and sociopaths tend not to play well with others. Some leaders have emerged from the crowd, like Lex Luthor and the Joker, but they don't get along very well either. Throw in a few potential spies from Earth, and you've got conflict aplenty! (Though I imagine the heroes back home are all pretty bored. With no bad guys around, I assume they just appear at car shows and sign autographs.)

If you haven't been feeling conflicted enough recently, check out Salvation Run #5. It is guaranteed this week at Four Color Fantasies, so give it a read. If you don't, we might have to come rough you up a little. You don't want that do ya? Huh? Do ya? I didn't think so. (Aaahh, sweet, sweet conflict.)

Humorous, Dark undercurrent: The Last Defenders #1

Let me just start by saying that "Defenders Defenestrate!" is the greatest battle cry in the history of super-team battle cries! If you don't know what defenestrate means, I strongly encourage you to grab the nearest dictionary and find out. I'll wait. (Insert soothing elevator music here.) See? I told you it was amazing! "Defenders Defenestrate!"

Shockingly, The Last Defenders #1 has even more to offer than an awe-inspiring battle cry! This limited series from Keith Giffen, Joe Casey, and Jim Muniz brings readers the return of Marvel's most dysfunctional super-team, the Defenders. If you are unfamiliar with the team, it is generally a group of heroes who have no business working together, or even being in the same room. Usually, circumstances have forced the team together, and, usually, they don't stay together for very long. Past line-ups include Namor, Doctor Strange, the Hulk, Nighthawk, Hellcat, and the Gargoyle. The Defenders are kind of like a family that can't stand each other, but still get together for holidays and weddings.

Now that the whole Super-Human Registration kerfuffle has settled down a bit, Kyle (Nighthawk) Richmond has talked Tony Stark into allowing the Defenders to reform. Typically, Stark decides to do this his way, and sticks Kyle with a team that is, in theory, better suited to the job than the old Defenders. That lineup includes Colossus, the seemingly unhinged Blazing Skull, and an unwilling She-Hulk. (Personally, I think She-Hulk should appear in every Marvel Comic. We need to keep raising awareness of She-Hulk's awesomeness.) At least Stark gives them the glamorous New Jersey beat to patrol. That Tony Stark is a swell guy. Someone should make a movie about him.

Casey and Giffen do a great job with the characters in The Last Defenders. When Keith Giffen is involved, readers can generally expect an irreverent edge to the story, with plenty of funny bits. That is certainly true of the first issue, but it would be a mistake to think of The Last Defenders as purely a humor comic. There are clearly darker things afoot that may have serious consequences for our heroes down the road. Jim Muniz's art, over Giffen's breakdowns, is perfect for this book. It is very clean and simple, but perfectly captures both the action and the more subtle bits of character interplay.

The Last Defenders #1 has great writing, great art, the greatest battle cry, and Quetzalcoatl! All in one issue! I don't really see what more you could ask for. Head over to Four Color Fantasies today and try out this issue, risk-free, while it is the guaranteed Book of the Week. If you don't, the Blazing Skull will track you down and defenestrate you, and nobody wants that.

Jeff Smith for Adults: RASL #1

Some of you might remember, way back in 1991, upstart self-publisher Jeff Smith started putting out a little all-ages fantasy book about some weird little guys with big noses. And some stupid, stupid, rat creatures. The result was a book you may just have heard about called Bone. To say Bone was successful is probably a massive understatement, as it went on to be a huge success with comics fans, mainstream readers, and kids everywhere. The series is still a big seller through Scholastic Books, and is probably available in every school library in the country.

When a creator achieves that kind of stardom with his or her work, the question most people ask is: what's next? (I'm looking at you JK Rowling!) It took a few years, but Jeff Smith fans finally have an answer! It's RASL! A book where huge men put on spandex and pin each other to the mat! OK, I'm lying, it's not that kind of wrasslin'. So just what is this mysteriously titled book, you ask? Good question!

RASL is, at the moment, the only name we have for our hard-bitten hero. He's a mysterious, no-name, kind of guy. He's also an art thief with a twist. He's apparently built a device that allows him to cross into other dimensions, via the Drift, to steal great works of art. RASL is the tag he leaves at the scene of the crime. Running back home, to another world, provides a pretty clean getaway. There does seem to be a downside to dimensional travel, though. It really, REALLY, hurts. It hurts a lot. In fact, it hurts so much that our hero needs several days of drinking, smoking, and debauchery to recuperate before he can do it again. Of course, in the first issue, a job doesn't go quite as planned. Action and punching ensue!

RASL has the quality art and writing you expect from a star creator like Jeff Smith. What you may not expect is that he is bringing readers something very different from Bone. This sci-fi, noir-ish, tale is clearly aimed at more mature readers. Our hero is a hard-edged, shades of gray kind of guy, about as far removed from the sweet and naive Bones as you can get. As much as I loved Bone, I was excited to see that this is something different and that Smith is not a one-trick writer. Hooray for diversity!

If you enjoy great comics, you don't want to miss Jeff Smith's RASL. As an added bonus, it's the guaranteed Book of the Week! There's no need to plan an elaborate heist to steal a copy, you can buy one completely risk-free, no dimensional travel required.

A Great Package: Locke & Key #1

It may be a cliché, but you really should be careful what you wish for. Probably every teenager ever has wished for a more exciting life, or wished their crazy parents would go away and leave them alone. Of course, they only wish for such things because they don't consider what would happen if those idle wishes came true. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happens to Tyler Locke.

In Locke & Key #1, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez, Tyler's whole world changes when his family is attacked by a pair of inbred delinquents on a killing spree. Tyler's father is killed, so the rest of the family goes to live in Uncle Duncan's mysterious home, Keyhouse. Keyhouse, located in charming Lovecraft, Massachusetts, is the one place Locke believed his family would always be safe, but it's a pretty weird place, nonetheless. Isolated, on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean, with architecture like a mix of a medieval castle and the house from Psycho, Keyhouse seems like a strange choice to comfort a grieving family. On top of all that, there is something really weird going on with some of the doors in this place...

Locke & Key is the brainchild of Joe Hill. Horror/Fantasy fans may, or may not, know that Hill is the son of Stephen King, an obscure genre writer you may have heard about once or twice. OK, we ALL know who Stephen King is, but Joe Hill has gone out of his way to earn success based on his work, not on his father's famous name. Based on this first issue, he certainly seems to have the talent to go far on his own. The characters in Locke & Key are immediately likeable and well-rounded. The story has unexpected twists and some very unique ideas. Rodriguez's awesome artwork perfectly complements the story. The art is very detailed, but is also very clean and stylish, with a cinematic approach that would translate perfectly to the big screen. (And, yes, Locke & Key has been optioned as a movie already!)

If what you've really been wishing for is a great new book to read, you're in luck! Locke & Key #1 is Four Color Fantasies' guaranteed Book of the Week! Don't worry; the doors of the store are perfectly normal. Nothing weird will happen as you pass through. Nope, definitely nothing weird. Nothing to worry about at all. Really.

Better than Therapy: Green Arrow & Black Canary #5

Every kid in history, at least for a brief moment, has probably believed that he or she has the worst parents ever. Your parents don't pay enough attention to you, or they pay TOO much attention to you. The rules are unfair. Your allowance is too small. All your friends were allowed to go hang gliding over an active volcano. As valid as these complaints may seem, count yourself lucky. At least your dad wasn't Green Arrow!

On the surface, a super-hero dad sounds pretty darn cool, but, let's face facts here, most of them are a disaster. Sure, your super-dad may be able to take you on vacation to the Negative Zone, or teach you how to fight off a horde of invading aliens, but he's also going to get you kidnapped, threatened, mutated, lost in time, or get your brain wiped in an assassination attempt. At least, that's what happens to Connor, the son of Oliver "Green Arrow" Queen.

In Green Arrow and Black Canary #5 by Judd Winick and Andre Coelho, Connor is bed-ridden with a mind that is a completely blank slate. On the occasion of Connor's birthday, dear old dad looks back on what a rotten parent he's been, and he's been a pretty rotten parent. As a young scoundrel, he had no interest at all in his son or the boy's mother. Later, as a budding super-hero, he had no time for his son and other priorities came first, like shooting arrows at bad guys. Not surprisingly, Connor had a pretty troubled childhood. Now that he's an older and wiser man, Ollie wants to make things right, but it may be too late...

This issue takes a break from crazy super-action to give readers some nice character-building moments. Not only will you feel Ollie's pain, you'll better appreciate your parents, or your own parenting skills. This comic is a way better bargain than all that expensive therapy! Plus, if you felt slightly ripped off by the Green Arrow/Black Canary "wedding," you'll definitely want to check this issue out. Pick up Green Arrow and Black Canary #5 now, while it is Four Color Fantasies' guaranteed Book of the Week!