Glad I gave it a try

Cover tpb Vol. 1
Jinxworld/DC Comics
Creators: Brian Michael Bendis, David Mack, Zu Orzu, Bill Sienkiewicz and Michael Avon Oeming
Release date: May 2019

The advance solicits for this series caught my eye with its mixture of comics culture and international spycraft. Add in the creative team of Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack, and I was very curious. The fact that the narrative was a fictionalized version based on some actual events from David Mack’s life was just icing. And now that I’ve held the book in my hands and read its contents, I can attest that it did not disappoint.

Mack writes the graphic novel’s foreword and tells a bit about the real-world events that both inspired and led to this book’s creation. As I’m already recommending you go and buy Cover, I’ll let him tell those details for anyone who follows my recommendation and heads to their LCS.

As for the fictionized story, it follows fictional comic book artist Max Field, who is gaining no small renown for his latest creation, “Ninja Sword Odyssey.” Suddenly, he finds himself being recruited by a government spy who wants Field to engage in some basic spycraft under the cover of attending international comic conventions. The novelty and thrill of being a covert spy, however, quickly takes a dangerous turn for Field as he learns that his recruitment is not a unique situation and that not everyone is recruited by the same side.

I’m usually more of a story consumer, and it’s no secret that Bendis can weave quite a story when he is hitting on all cylinders as he is in this book. I’m sure Mack also had a hand in the writing chores here as this is his story. But I have to give a lot of credit where it’s due on the art side of this book, too. Mack uses a more traditional comic book cartooning style for much of this book than I am used to seeing from him, but that feels right in the passages about the conventions and the fictional creator’s everyday life. Mack’s excellent painting skills are also expertly showcased in the sequences of “Ninja Sword Odyssey” that are presented here, and also show up from time to time in the more intense moments of Field’s life (as depicted above). Bill Sienkiewicz and Michael Avon Oeming also lend their talents to portions of the book that need additional styles to further differentiate portions of the narrative. So the art style truly follows and shapes the story being told in different ways at different times in this book.

Overall, it adds up to a very nice, engaging package that was a joy to read. Well done, all!

Bendis is hooking me again

Action Comics No. 1010
DC Comics
Creators: Brian Michael Bendis, Steve Epting, and Brad Anderson
Release date: April 2019

I wasn’t sure what to expect with Brian Michael Bendis taking over the Superman titles at DC, but I’ve enjoyed his writing in the past, be it in Avengers titles, Ultimate Spider-man, Powers or Daredevil. So I opted to give his runs a chance.

I very much like the dynamic stories he’s presenting in Superman, first taking us back to the Phantom Zone, then recounting Jon Kent’s adventures with his grandfather, Jor-El. The Ivan Reis and Joe Prado art certainly doesn’t hurt that title, either. I fell in love with these guys’ art when they helped relaunch the New 52 Aquaman title, and they are still at the top of their game.

But if I had to pick a current favorite Bendis Superman title, it would be the story arc going on in the pages of Action Comics, “Leviathan Rising.” Superman and his wife, Lois Lane, are both embroiled in an espionage tale that also involves all the clandestine groups from DC lore — A.R.G.U.S., the D.E.O., Checkmate, Spyral, Amanda Waller, Sam Lane, Mr. Bones. It’s all here, and I’m loving how Bendis is weaving it all together.

I’ve said before, here and in other forums, that Superman should be a light character. Superman represents the very best of what humanity can be. He is the shining light for which we strive. I believe Bendis gets that. And he’s wisely using the bright, shiny Superman sparingly in this story. Rather, he’s focusing on Clark Kent and Lois Lane, two investigative journalists who sometimes have to root around in the shadows to properly do their jobs and bring things to light. Take it another step darker, and even Lois and Clark are having to utilize assumed identities to go undercover. (That's them in the image above, if you didn't know.) Bendis' storytelling simply adds more and more layers to a mystery that desperately needs to be unraveled.

Getting Steve Epting for the art on this story was a great move, too. I have loved a lot of Epting’s past work, but he thrives illustrating this type of story, with shadows and subtle shifts, all the cloak and dagger stuff. He’s a brilliant choice for this arc.

It doesn’t hurt that this story is promising to explode out of Action Comics into other titles soon, either. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by that prospect, I’m looking forward to new titles like Event Leviathan and Lois’ solo title. That’s how good this story feels, and how excited I am to read each new piece of the puzzle.

I’m hooked, Mr. Bendis; please, don’t stop.

The Woman Who Just Wouldn't Quit Part 2

The Pulse 1-14 (2004-2006)
Marvel Comics
Brian Michael Bendis, writer
Mark Bagley, Scott Hanna, Brent Anderson, Michael Lark and Michael Gaydos, artists

Last time, we talked about Jessica Jones and her book Alias, which ran its course and was ended by its creators on a high note because they felt like they'd done with the character what they had set out to do. Except, as writer Brian Michael Bendis himself explains on the last page of Alias' final issue, that wasn't really the end of Jessica's story.

Jessica was actually a pretty popular character in the Marvel Universe at the time of Alias' cancellation. And Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada had another book in mind that he thought might be a good fit for Bendis and Jessica Jones, this time told squarely in the Marvel Universe, not the Marvel Max periphery.

The idea was for an investigative procedural-style comic that could go anywhere story would take it in the Marvel Universe, and Jessica Jones seemed very nicely suited to such a venture. After the personal changes the character underwent at the conclusion of Alias, there was also a natural personal path for her to undertake. So The Pulse debuted a few months after the last issue of Alias was released. In story, "Daily Bugle" publisher J. Jonah Jameson is not fond of costumed vigilantes, but he has to concede that tales of their exploits sell newspapers. So he decides to create a weekly sister publication to the "Bugle" that will play up the doings of the super-powered denizens of New York City. Jessica agrees to take a job consulting and investigating for the new publication, to be named "The Pulse." And "Bugle" staffers Ben Urich and Kat Farrell will write much of the copy. The upside of the steady gig for Jessica is health-insurance now that she is pregnant and in a steady relationship with the baby's father, Luke Cage.

The Pulse was an interesting title, although it had a much different feel than Alias had. And the art on the initial arcs was quite a bit different from Gaydos' painted work on Jessica's initial adventures. But the stories put Jessica and the other "Bugle" staffers next to heroes like Spider-Man, the Avengers and Nick Fury while pitting them against the likes of the Green Goblin, Hydra and childbirth. Brent Anderson and Michael Lark took over the art chores for the second story arc and the book took on a darker feel, more like Alias, as it dealt with the aftermath from the Bendis-penned Secret War. And finally, Gaydos returned to deliver the art for The Pulse's final story arc, the birth of Luke and Jessica's baby, and the final missing pieces of Jessica's untold past in costume.

Bendis again penned a text page in the final issue of The Pulse explaining that he'd finished what he'd wanted to do with Jessica's character and was moving on. The plan had been, Bendis explained, for the title to continue on without him. That wasn't to be the case either, however, as the announced new writer for The Pulse, Paul Jenkins, would instead write the Front Line companion book to Civil War. Plans change.

And so, Bendis would continue to write Jessica's adventures, albeit in a third book. Jessica's boyfriend, soon-to-be-husband, was the leader of the New Avengers, the group that went underground and refused to register with the government during the events of Civil War. Jessica and the baby continued to be an important part of Luke Cage's life, and thus, popular back-up characters in the pages of New Avengers.

The Woman Who Just Wouldn't Quit

Alias 10-28 (2002-2004)
Marvel Max
Brian Michael Bendis, writer
Michael Gaydos, Mark Bagley, Rick Mays and Art Thibert, artists
********** Mature Content Warning ************

I didn't pick this book up when it debuted; in fact, I'm not even sure I knew anything at all about it when it debuted. Unlike some books, I'm not even sure exactly why I picked up issue No. 10, my first exposure to the series. But I did, for whatever reason.

I still don't know what was in those first nine issues or how the creators of the series -- Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos -- first introduced the world to Jessica Jones, the main character of the book. But my first exposure to her was in issue No. 10. Jessica Jones is a former superhero in the Marvel Universe who now works as a private detective. She doesn't use her powers much; I didn't even have a clue what her powers or abilities might be from this issue. The entire book is a single afternoon, mostly in the offices of the Daily Bugle. Publisher J. Jonah Jameson has called Jessica to his office and wants to hire her to uncover Spider-Man's secret identity. Also involved in the discussion between Jessica and Jonah are Robbie Robertson, the Bugle's editor-in-chief, and Ben Urich, an investigative reporter at the tabloid. Jonah wants Ben to cover Jessica's investigations into Spider-Man's I.D. Oh, and as a Max book, there's a lot of cussing in the dialogue.

The entire book is also painted in big, bold panels without any word balloons whatsoever. Rather, all of the dialogue is typed out in the negative spaces like the dialogue in a play or movie script. The story didn't have any real action or superheroics at all. It was just the conversations between these characters, but it was intelligent and made you think a little bit to fill in the gaps. And the presentation was so unique, and the story was so thoughtful and thought-provoking to me, that I continued to pick up the book for the rest of the run.

The rest of the issues are a little more traditional in their presentation: more action taking place, word balloons, multiple panels per page, etc., although there were still several scenes with prolonged conversations between two or more characters. This is still a Bendis book, after all. The subsequent stories were still thoughtful and thought-provoking. Not everything was spelled out for the readers, and more is revealed about Jessica's past in each successive story arc. See, Jessica is a continuity implant. The character never existed before Bendis and Gaydos dreamed her up in the last decade. But her story is that she gained her powers through tragedy and tried to use them for the betterment of mankind by putting on a costume and being a hero. She took the hero name Jewel, and while she never became a household name, she tried. Until something bad happened to her. It took a long time, but after she recovered from that second tragedy, she tried again to be a hero, this time a decidedly darker hero named Knightress. That didn't last long either before she quit superheroing for good and became a P.I. That, in a nutshell, is Jessica's back story, but it never really happened in any Marvel Comic before this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the series and the various arcs that followed that stand-alone issue No. 10. There was one where Jessica is hired to find a teenage girl who disappeared. In the middle of that case, Jessica is fixed up on a blind date with then-current Ant Man Scott Lang, and they begin to date. Another case begins with Jessica coming home to find an intruder in her apartment, an intruder that turns out to be the missing Mattie Franklin, former Spider-Woman. That arc brings in guest-appearances by Jessica Drew, another former and now current again Spider-Woman, and J. Jonah Jameson. Matt Murdock, Jessica's friend and attorney, and not-so-secretly at the time Daredevil, also makes several appearances, as do other heroes of the Marvel Universe. But very seldom is anyone powered seen in costume in this book. Oh, and the last two story arcs flesh out a lot of Jessica's back story previously only hinted at. As I said, I very much enjoyed the rest of this series, and I guess I never went back to see what was in those first nine issues because Jessica's story felt pretty complete with what I had. I just never missed those first nine.

So Jessica's book ended with issue No. 28. Not because sales were particularly bad or anything, but because it felt like an ending to her creators. They'd said what they wanted to say with the character. So Alias ended. But Jessica's story was not yet over.

Like Meeting Up With An Old Friend

Powers Bureau 6
Marvel Icon
Brian Michael Bendis, writer
Michael Avon Oeming, artist
********** Mature Content Warning ************

I don't know that Powers is a book for everyone, but I enjoy it.

I didn't start out with the book from the beginning. This is another title where I came late to the party. I was curious about it for a long time before I decided to just buy the first trade and try it. That would be Who Killed Retro Girl, the story arc that launched this series in 2000. In that story, readers are introduced to two police detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim. The pair work in a special division of the police force assigned specifically to cases involving people with superpowers. Some such people are good guys. Others are bad guys. Like in most fictional universes where some people have superpowers, there are a lot more bad guys than there are good guys, but even some of the good guys tend to forget there are other non-powered people around.

I liked that first trade so much, I bought the next couple and so on. I continued to enjoy Powers in trade format through the rest of its Image run, and then switched to buying single issues when Bendis and Oeming moved the title to Marvel's creator-owned Icon imprint in 2004. Like any series, some story arcs are better than others, but I've enjoyed reading about the characters through all of the changes in their lives and their world.

In mid-2012, a major catastrophe struck the Powers world and its characters, changing them even more. The title went away for a bit and then relaunched earlier this year under the new name Powers Bureau. The name change reflects the series' new reality after the world-altering event that ended the previous series. In this new world, all powered individuals are outlawed and any case involving superpowers is literally a federal case, handled by the FBI. Pilgrim had joined the FBI before the previous series ended in 2012. This first story arc shows Walker joining the FBI, too, so a casual reader might think little has changed with this series. Rather, the renewed focus of the characters and of the creators is obvious in every page of Powers Bureau.

I've always enjoyed reading Powers; that's why I continued to buy the title despite its erratic publishing schedule. But there's an excitement in the book now that I hadn't really noticed was missing until I felt it come back again. Bendis knows these characters and writes their dialogue in a kind of shorthand that feels like two friends talking to each other. And while Oeming's art still has the same cartoony Powers style, it also seems to have matured some as these characters have aged in the series.

Powers Bureau is definitely good comics!

To Know Her Is To Fear Her

Believe it or not, that fear tagline above was printed at the top of each issue of Spider-Woman, not some Marvel monster book from the 1970s. But reading the character's beginnings in Essential Spider-Woman Vol. 1, I learned that the character owes just as much to those great old Marvel monster books as she does to the spandex set.

Much has been made of the convoluted origin and back story of Jessica Drew, alias Spider-Woman. In recent years, writers such as Brian Michael Bendis have tried to streamline Jessica's back story and bring the character back to prominence in the Marvel Universe. So I knew, or thought I did, a little of how she was first introduced as a villain, an agent of the international terrorist organization Hydra, who later became a hero and was ret-conned as being always a hero, working for Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. as a double-agent planted in Hydra. That's an oversimplification, but essentially my understanding before reading this great Essential volume. Now, I see that it was waaay more convoluted than that.

Jessica does start life as a pawn of Hydra in Marvel Spotlight No. 32 (February 1977) dispatched by that organization to slay Nick Fury. In a tale written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney, Spider-Woman is revealed to be a secret weapon held prisoner by Hydra and brainwashed into being loyal to the organization. She fails her mission to slay Fury, being overcome by doubts about what she is ordered to do, and is betrayed by her fellow Hydra agents. Spider-Woman is left believing that she was one of the New Men created by a villain known as the High Evolutionary, who mutated various animals to make them more human-like. Spider-Woman believes she only appears human, but began life as a real spider. Also, her costume is slightly different in these early appearances, completely covering her head — except for the area around her mouth and chin — and sporting a black back.

Just a few months later, in July 1977, Marv Wolfman and Ron Wilson take up Spider-Woman's tale in the pages of Marvel Two-In-One Nos. 29-33. This book matched Ben Grimm, the Thing from the Fantastic Four, with other Marvel heroes. Initially, Thing and Shag-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, are battling Hydra, and Spider-Woman comes on the scene. At first, she is again a pawn of Hydra, but her encounters with the Thing again make Spider-Woman question her loyalty to Hydra, and eventually she breaks from the group and sides with the Thing and a modern-day incarnation of Modred the Mystic. With the Hydra cell finally defeated, along with some other criminals along the way, Modred agrees to unlock Spider-Woman's hidden memories to reveal her true origin, which he does off-panel.

Readers had to wait a few more months, until April 1978 and the debut of Spider-Woman No. 1, to find out what Modred revealed. It seems that Spider-Woman was born human and named Jessica Drew. Her father created a serum to help protect mankind from radiation by using the blood of a spider, since spiders are immune to radiation. Jessica's family, along with another scientist named Herbert Wyndham, moved to a place called Wundagore Mountain to complete their researches. The site was chosen for its rich uranium deposits, needed for the men's work, but which, over time, caused Jessica to become deathly ill. The only way to save the girl is to inject her with Dr. Drew's spider serum, but it works too slowly to save Jessica in time. Wyndham suggests also placing Jessica in his genetic accelerator to speed up the healing properties of the serum. After much time in the accelerator, Jessica is revived by the High Evolutionary (previously known as Herbert Wyndham), and her powers are put to use by him in his organization, Hydra.

Jessica has the spider-like ability to cling to walls and other surfaces. She is immune to most radiations, and becomes immune to any poison or toxin after a single exposure. She also is able to generate a bio-electric "sting" of varying intensity. Finally, her costume is made with light-weight filament glider webs which allow her to glide on air currents, simulating flight.

All of those powers sound like a typical superhero, but as I mentioned above, Spider-Woman's solo title tried to play up the horror aspects of the character at first. Jessica's natural pheromones were changed by her transformation, so that many people reacted to her presence with a strong sense of unease. Werewolf By Night, Jack Russell, made guest appearances in Spider-Woman twice in her first 25 issues. And the villains Spider-Woman tended to run into were of the creepy variety, too. She had more run-ins with Hydra, of course, but there was also a Kali-worshipping death cult, a serial killer made up like a circus clown, a flesh-devouring muck-monster and a pair of possessed "dolls" among her most troublesome opponents. She also had a confrontation with Morgan Le Fay and a recurring alliance with a Merlin-like sorcerer.

Aside from her earlier alliance with the Thing and her attack on Nick Fury, the only other superhero she crossed paths with early on was, of course, Spider-Man. But even that somewhat obvious match-up didn't occur until issue No. 20 of Spider-Woman's own title, more than two years after her debut. And she and Webhead didn't really even get along when they DID finally meet.

All-in-all, Essential Spider-Woman Vol. 1 was a great read and an interesting Marvel history lesson. Most definitely not what I expected when I bought it, but in a good way!