Short week, which means next week will be heavy. Just one regular title and one new thing to try, because I got a reviewer copy. Spoilers ahoy.
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 6/12/13:
BUBBLEGUN #1: A little over ten years ago, well known Top Cow artist and creator Michael Turner founded his own comic book publishing company, "Aspen MLT". Named after the lead heroine of his creator owned "Fathom" series, it quickly became the home of that and other Turner productions, such as "Soulfire". While Turner sadly lost his battle with cancer in 2008, the company has lived on in his stead with establishing new franchises by rising stars. To this end, Aspen has begun its "10 for 10" initiative - offering ten new #1 issues for ten new franchises for a price tag of one dollar each in 2013. First among these is "BubbleGun" by writer Mark Roslan, artist Mike Bowden, colored by David Curiel and lettered by Josh Reed, which went on sale this week. In an era where so many publishers, including Turner's former employer, Image Comics, are releasing dozens of creator owned series each week, how does "BubbleGun" stack up?
Set a hundred years in the future in the technological metropolis of Neocapital, "BubbleGun" seems to tap into emulating the flair and style of 1990's era Image Comics material, only with a lighter hearted tone and brighter color palette. Inotech, one of presumably many hi-tech corporate conglomerates, becomes the victim of two teams of mercenary espionage squads with advanced gear and tactics. A mysterious MacGuffin is stolen out from under the crew of thieves run by Caprice by another run by the purple mohawk-clad Devlyn and her own partners in crime. Her kid sister Molli is the issues' narrator and user of the titular weapon - an over sized gun that sticks targets in wads of pink gum. The rest of her squad round out to the hulking Roman, the sagely Zuse and the quiet Kyu. While their mission seems to deliver a big score, Devlyn and her squad are quickly targeted by a larger scale competitive squad and discover that Inotech's "prize" was more than met the eye.
Bowden's art style seems to resemble the flair of Joe Madureira, with big muscles guys, athletic girls, and a lot of para military and/or cybernetic gear. Fortunately, the color work by Curiel makes the art look far brighter and energetic than some old issues of "Wetworks" back in the late 90's were. Rather than a dystopia, "BubbleGun" seems to set a tone similar to many manga and anime style adventures where a cabal of plucky characters have over the top adventures in a futuristic setting. In fact, the revelation of the MacGuffin at the end may spark memories of such manga and anime stories such as "Chobits", "Outlaw Star", or even "Genesis Survivor Gaiarth"; thankfully "BubbleGun" offers a slight twist of its own. The action is fast and furious and the dialogue is crisp and fast paced, even if some of the male gaze friendly designs for the female characters could be less appealing for some. It also takes almost half the issue for the series' stars to properly introduce themselves, which is fine for the overall arc or trade package but could be a flaw for a single issue. While all of the major characters are introduced, devoting the first nine pages to the rival gang forces a bit of compression later on. For the moment all of the characters' archetypes are apparent; Molli is the inexperienced novice, Devlyn the stern commander, Roman the muscle, Kyu the quiet one and so forth.
Overall, this is a light hearted and brightly colored "cyberpunk" romp which seems to wish to emulate the tone and style of 90's era Image Comics as well as manga and anime while offering its own story, characters, and twists. While it may not be for everyone, it may be for those who could quickly confuse its title for "bubble gum". Much like some bubble gum, it offers a dash of color, sugary fun and some pop, and unashamedly so. Its logo is a smilie face, and all the team members don it somewhere on their armor. The one dollar price tag to try it out is a perfect incentive for new readers, who get enough of an action romp and a mystery to keep them coming back for more.
VENOM #36: Writer Cullen Bunn continues his resurgence of his run on the spin-off that Rick Remender launched with this "slice of life" issue of the series. Pepe Larraz performs spot on fill in work on pencils with Lee Loughridge on colors, taking over for Declan Shalvey. The tale is titled "Simple", and perhaps that is a metaphor for why Bunn has rebounded on this title. His opening solo arcs involved demons and mysticism and complicated shenanigans, which didn't quite work as well as they should have. Since moving Flash Thompson/Agent Venom to Philadelphia and establishing a new gig and supporting cast for him, the series has gotten back to its roots under Remender, but in Bunn's unique style. Picking up the previous issue where a truce was hashed out with Toxin, Thompson attempts to keep things as simple as possible. By day he's a high school gym teacher who attempts to keep his symbiotic impulses in check, even when being watched by the loner student (and one of his neighbors) Andi who may have figured out some secrets. By night, Agent Venom violently tears into criminals to make a dent in the Philly underworld - ultimate running afoul of the latest crime boss, Lord Ogre. This may be a set up or development issue, but it plays to both Bunn's strengths as a writer and Thompson's strengths as a fractured hero. One bit with the symbiote manifesting through a car makes no sense outside of "The Mask", but it works as a visual. Larraz's artwork is terrific and hopefully this arc continues the positive march in quality towards a fortieth issue.
