He still remains as DC Comics’ most radical hero. Mike Grell created The Longbow Hunters and pushed away the trick arrows for a time, getting Ollie back to his roots as a cutting-edge back street brawler, then enjoyed a long run on the strip. Chuck Dixon shortly followed Grell and even killed Ollie off long enough to give us a new Green Arrow in Connor Hawke.

Even though he’d died and gone to Heaven, Ollie come back in issues penned by Kevin (Daredevil, Clerks) Smith. Lately Judd Winnick has married him off to Black Canary and invented a whole new Speedy for this generation.

But Andy Diggle (The Losers) got the green light to pen the adventures of Oliver Queen’s Year One origin while so many longtime DC Comics heroes are getting spotlight treatment. I really enjoyed Diggle’s run on The Losers as well as some of his other forays, but I didn’t know if he was the right guy for Green Arrow. As it turns out, Diggle was just the guy to bring Ollie once more to the masses.

Diggle’s scriptwork is excellent. He moves the story along and finesses the characters and relationship through dialogue and action, and the overall effect is like watching a movie with first-person voiceovers. An added bonus in the graphic novel contains the first few pages of the actual script Diggle turned in to the editor and artist. He didn’t just put the words on the page, he actually planned on where the action would go and how it would be revealed.

In the beginning, Oliver Queen was a playboy with more money than he knew what to do with. He rambled and tried extreme sports to fill the gaps in his life, constantly trying to find his happy. Diggle does a masterful job of portraying that, and even ties in the Robin Hood touchstones of Errol Flynn and Howard Hill’s longbow at a fundraiser where Ollie really makes an idiot of himself.

Jock’s artwork is fantastic. The panels and spreads flow cinematically across the pages. Movement comes alive, tension is as tight as a bowstring, and the sweeping majesty of nature fills the senses so much I could almost smell the grass and the gunpowder. The fact that Diggle and Jock have worked together before shows. They’re a well-oiled machine attuned to turned out powerful stories.

The plot of Green Arrow: Year One is absurdly simple, but it shows off so much of what has become canon for the character. Oliver’s disenchantment of his own prosperity, the dislike of the image of so many of the rich and celebrity, the false platitudes so many hucksters and politicians spout, and his search for real meanings takes shape in these pages.

His inherent survivalist’s nature shines through in the wilderness and the human adversity he faces. Diggle also touches on Ollie’s abhorrence of drugs (which became a major plot point in the 1970s when it was revealed that Roy Harper, Green Arrow’s original sidekick Speedy who has now gone on to become Red Arrow, had a drug problem). Understanding that Ollie got addicted to opium while healing on the island actually shores up Ollie’s overreaction and disappointment in Roy at that time. There’s even a comment made after a drastic injury regarding the potential of Ollie losing his arm that plays off the way Ollie was killed – for a time.

There’s a lot to love about this graphic novel if you’re a Green Arrow fan. I had a blast reading it, then re-reading it. And it’s a great introduction to the character if you’ve never read anything about him. Despite the fact that his series seems to constantly respawn, there’s a resiliency of Oliver Queen that just won’t go away forever. He’s become an icon in the DC Comics universe, and Diggle and Jock reveal here in these pages.

Teen Titans: Titans East is the latest graphic novel gathered from the pages of the newest incarnation of the young heroes in the DC universe. Led by Robin (Tim Drake, actually the third person to wear the Robin uniform), the team consists of Wonder Girl, Miss Martian, Kid Devil, Ravager, Cyborg, Raven, and Jericho. They formed the new team after the events of Infinite Crisis (which would take a HUGE column to explain).This volume opens up with an introspective peek into Kid Devil’s life. Since he mysteriously appeared in the pages of the monthly comic series, writer Geoff Johns works his familiar magic in bringing the character to three-dimensional life. I love watching Johns write stories like this, and I knew I was going to be in for a treat when I started in with first-person narrative from Kid Devil.

Johns has got a deft, sure hand with every character he touches. I’ve yet to hear him strike a false note. To be honest, I wasn’t very enamored of the Kid Devil character. He looks kind of neat and is probably fun to draw for the artists, but he just didn’t appear to have much depth. After Johns’s first arc of the Titans East storyline, I can safely report that just isn’t true.

Eddie Bloomberg (Kid Devil) is, literally, a tormented soul. Hero worship was what brought him into the hero biz when he wanted to be the sidekick for Blue Devil. I never much got into Blue Devil either, but he was pretty interesting the way Johns presented him. And, in the end, it was hero worship that boomeranged and trapped Eddie in a situation that could leave him as one of the devil’s own – literally – when he turns twenty in three years. That story detail is left dangling for the time being, but I was good with that.

As the story moved into the next section of the arc, Deathstroke the Terminator attacked the Teen Titans with a group of super-powered kids he’d gathered and called Titans East. Long-time readers of the Teen Titans will remember that Deathstroke has been a main opponent of the Titans since writer Marv Wolfman created him for the reboot of the series he did back in the 1980s.

Johns is very clever about his plotting. He generally is. Sometimes he lays all his cards on the table and lets the readers simply watch him work magic. Other times, he keeps a card hidden or turned over or turned so that it looks one way when it’s really another. That’s what he does in this graphic novel and it makes it a little difficult to talk about much of the plot without giving too much away.

Jericho and Ravager are the son and daughter of Deathstroke. Jericho He tells the Titans that he’s there to reclaim what is his. Of course, a battle to end all battles ensues.

In Deathstroke’s corner there is Batgirl (who we find out later is drugged into listening to Deathstroke), Risk, Sun Girl, Bombshell, Kid Crusader, Match, Inertia, Enigma, and Duela Dent. If you’re not a comic geek, the names aren’t going to mean much and it would take too long to explain. Just let me say that the line-up is impressive and filled with a lot of Teen Titans history.

Johns’s scripts crackle with energy and vitality. The characters, complete with strengths and weaknesses, transcend the page and become real. Wonder Girl is still struggling with the death of Conner, as is Robin, and they’re conflicted about the attraction between the two of them. (If Conner ever resurrects and comes back, that’s going to be a can of worms!)

Tony Daniels’s art matches Geoff Johns’s writing. They are really a good match. Johns provides plenty of room to work and lots of emotion and action to draw. There aren’t any static pages, no filler. It’s all high-action storytelling that keeps readers turning the pages.

I love supergroups because of all the dynamics possible within them. Teen Titans has consistently provided that kind of storytelling, and this current volume delivers again. I had a blast reading the story, even slowing down and re-reading scenes and pages to savor the smart dialogue and the beautifully drawn sequences.

The flip Johns provides at the end of the novel is fantastic. I didn’t see it coming, and I’m used to his kung fu. But his kung fu is mighty. If you like the Teen Titans, you’ll have to pick this one up. Sadly, this is one of the last story arcs Johns will be writing on the book for the foreseeable future. But I continue to enjoy what he’s doing on Justice Society of America and Green Lantern.
 

Meg Cabot is a high profile author whose books have gone on to become movies and television shows. Her series include The Mediator, 1-800-Where-R-You (which became the television show, MISSING), The Princess Diaries (which became movies of the same name), and others as well as many stand-alone books of romance and humor.

Avalon High was originally a stand-alone title but was picked by TokyoPop to become a 3-volume graphic novel series. The book is also in development with Disney to become a live-action film.

The story is very familiar, culled from the Arthurian mythos and brought into the high school arena. Arthur is now known as Will, and he quickly becomes the boyfriend of Elle, who is basically the character of the Lady of Shalott. All of the other Arthurian legends are represented as well: Merlin, Lancelot, Guinevere, Modred, and Morgan Le Fey.

Jinky Coronado’s black and white drawings are a pleasure to view and up the frenzied pace of the book. Coronado blends the pure manga stylings with current, popular comic book art that creates an interesting hybrid on the pages. The sequential action draws the eye naturally. Several of the panels kept drawing my attention back to them because they were so well done.

Cabot’s story is pretty straightforward and simple. King Arthur has been reborn once more, but that means his enemies have also been reborn. The main problem: according to Mr. Morton (Elle’s history teacher and very probably Merlin the wizard), Will Wagner must recognize and accept himself as the rebirth of Arthur. That’s not going to be an easy feat because Will is certain he knows who he is. And he has to do it within a few weeks or the world will be destroyed.

The impending destruction of the world is such an easy thing to lay on teenagers! But Elle is quickly off and running as she tries to deal with being the new girl in school, being Will’s girlfriend, and dealing with the enemies they have separately as well as together. Morgan in particular doesn’t care for Elle.

Unfortunately, the first third of the graphic novel is more or less a summary of things that have gone on before. This choice really impedes the story for a while, and it takes up so many pages that by the time the tale gets underway, it’s practically over. Still, the cliffhanger ending should bring readers back around for a do-over.

I’m looking forward to reading the other two volumes in the series, as well as handing it off to friends of mine who are heavily into graphic novels. But now I have to go back and read the book as well, because I somehow missed that one. And I’m going to be interested in the upcoming movie as well.

If you want light, easy entertainment with some extended value (or at least something you can share with other and talk about quickly), Cabot’s new manga series is a good choice. It’s not as far out there as some of the Japanese manga, and it’s a great size to throw in a backpack or back pocket for on-the-road reading.

Ms. Tree started out as a comic book series back in 1981. Conceived by writer Max Allan Collins and artist Terry Beatty, she began the longest ever career for a lady private investigator in the comics field. She also set some milestones in the publishing world. Much has been said of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone and Sara Paretsky’s V. I. Warshawski. I’ve read both those series, as well as Linda Barnes’s excellent Carlotta Carlyle books, and can honestly say that none of them have ever been as cold-bloodedly ruthless as Ms. Tree.

Of course the name is a tongue-in-cheek joke, but the lady’s work isn’t. Ms. Tree was written by Collins as a tribute to his friend and mentor Mickey Spillane, who penned the tales of Mike Hammer, who was about as hard nails as tough has ever been.I read all the comics that came out about the character, beginning with the release by Eclipse Comics and finishing up with the run at DC Comics. Those haven’t been re-released, but hopefully they won’t be long in coming now that interest has once more been stirred.Deadly Beloved is a new novel about Ms. Tree. In fact, it is the first – and thus far – only novel about the character. But longtime readers who remember the stories are going to get a feeling a déjà vu. Collins and Beatty recently got an option for Ms. Tree as a television movie, with the intention of potentially adding more movies to the initial one.

The book has been published by Hard Case Crime, a line of novels produced by Charles Ardai that is about 50% new material and 50% books that have been out of print as much as fifty years. All of the books are crime novels, and all of the covers offer noir stylings that make my heart beat faster. I can remember reading some of those books back when I was a kid and got them at the secondhand stores.

Dearly Beloved is a blindingly fast read. Clocking in at a little under 200 pages, Collins spins his story quickly, dipping in and out of two plotlines that he dovetails neatly back into one cohesive whole. The action is intense, the dialogue gripping and constant, and the feeling of the city around Ms. Tree and her colleagues feels true.

For me, this was a pleasant walk down memory lane with a few interesting twists and turns thrown in for good measure. I generally like all of Collins’s novels, and have re-read several of them over the years. I loved his Mallory series as well as his Nate Heller books.

If you haven’t met Ms. Tree before, this is the perfect place to do so. The book is lean and mean, and the character steps right off the first page and into your face. And if you have read about her before in one of the comics or graphic novels, it’s probably been too long. Pick this one up, put your feet up, and prepare to spend a couple hours in total tough gal noir bliss.

When I was a child back in the early 1960s, I wanted to grow up to be a hero. I tied a towel around my neck and was sometimes Superman or Batman. I ululated in the back yard like Tarzan and shamed the cats in the neighborhood. I ran as fast as Jonny Quest in my PF Flyers.

But the hero I loved most of all at that time was the Lone Ranger. His adventures came on every afternoon, and I’d get home from school in time to watch him shoot the guns out of the bad men’s hands, give lectures on the evils of, well…evil, and leave that cool silver bullet behind so people could ask, “Who was that masked man?”

The Lone Ranger was the brainchild of George W. Trendle, a radio producer, but he was given life by Fran Striker in radio script and novel form, and brought to iconic life on television by Clayton Moore.

But in the beginning, he was a young Texas Ranger named John Reid who was with his father and brother the day they were gunned down by Butch Cavendish’s men. Reid clawed his way out of the grave, donned his signature mask, and started cleaning up the West.

The last couple of years, Dynamite Entertainment Comics brought the Lone Ranger back to comics, which had to have been one of the coolest and riskiest things ever done. I mean, in an age of FaceBook and MySpace, who’d buy a cowboy hero?

More people should, because the graphic story rendered by Brent Matthews (a Hollywood scriptwriter) and Sergio Cariello (an award-winning graphic artist) is one of the best stories that came out in novel form this summer. The story is familiar to everyone, but Matthews’s way of telling it in cinematic presentation, and Cariello’s beautiful drawings, give the tale a life that hasn’t been seen before.

There’s enough new twists and turns, between the principal characters as well as the legend itself, that even old-time fans like me will find something to celebrate and enjoy.

I loved the pacing of the book. The story came to life and moved toward an emotional peak that will leave you breathless at the end. I enjoyed the way the friendship that developed between the Lone Ranger and Tonto was the same, yet different, from everything I’d known. That relationship was re-imagined in a way that works perfectly.

Matthews stays off the page as an author. Some comics authors give in to the temptation to clutter the pages up with narrative boxes and dialogue. Matthews is only there when he needs to be. He stays out of the way and lets Cariello work his magic.

The art is astounding. Vivid and raw, I could taste the dust and feel the heat of the day as I zipped through the panels. At first glance, Cariello’s art looks a lot like Joe Kubert’s pencils. Kubert was another favorite of mine for his tenure on Sgt. Rock and The Haunted Tank as well as several other war strips.

The graphic novel has drawn some flak from Lone Ranger purists, but I believe it’s one of the best stories that’s ever been done that brings in all the elements of the character. I loved the story enough that, after finishing it the first time, I opened the cover again and read it once more.

If you like the Lone Ranger, you’ll probably enjoy this book. Unless you’re one of those purists. If you want a good read or a fine example of everything the graphic novel can be, you’ll want this book. So saddle up, pardner, because it’s time to return to those thrilling days of yesteryear.

Before I read The Goon: Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker I’d heard of Eric Powell’s creation. I’d even picked up an issue and dismissed it (probably more for the reason that it was a mid-book in an arc and I was reading way too many comics at the time).

As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one to make that mistake. From its inception in 1999, The Goon has – from time to time – been dismissed by readers and retailers. Well people, it’s time to put a halt to that.

Eric Powell writes and draws the bi-monthly comic book, but he infuses it with passion and a keen eye for characters that aren’t cut from traditional hero material. Powell’s writing is spare and lean, appearing over his bold, brash art only when necessary. It’s hard to say if Powell is a better writer or a better artist. I’d say that he’s a lot like Frank Miller when Miller was writing and drawing Sin City. Powell’s as easily at home in his Depression-era metropolis as Miller ever was on the grimy streets of Sin City.

After runs at Avatar Press and Albatross Exploding Funny Books (Powell’s independent comics publishing venture), The Goon found a home at Dark Horse Comics. Six graphic novels plus one hardcover have been published previously.

The Goon: Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker is an original graphic novel that hasn’t been gathered up from the bi-monthly issues. Dark Horse Comics backed Powell’s desire to tell one of the most important stories in the Goon’s history and release it as a hardcover.

The book is a sheer delight from cover to cover. I was immersed in the characters from the beginning. Powell tells two stories in the graphic novel: one from the Goon’s past and the other in the present. Using sepia tones to separate the pages recounting the past was simply brilliant. The change is subtle and doesn’t jar the reader. I was pulled through the stories effortlessly, turning pages as the two stories kept dovetailing back into each other.

In the pages Powell pulls from the Goon’s past, we see him as a wide-eyed child. His mother was the circus strongwoman, but she had definite ideas about her son growing up to be a good man. Longtime readers know that the Goon’s mother was killed by Labrazio, a gangster that everyone in town seemed to owe.

Labrazio kept all the information about those debts in a book. After his mother was killed and Labrazio talked about how stupid she was, the Goon lost control and killed the gangster. The Goon decided not to tell anyone. Instead, he passed himself off as Labrazio’s chief enforcer and basically took over the whole crime syndicate.

With a background like this, the Goon doesn’t come across as heroic. He’s definitely an anti-hero. But he has heroic tendency. Powell’s world is peopled by off-beat supernatural creatures as well. You’ll find zombies, skunk-apes, cannibalistic hoboes, robots, vampires, and werewolves in the pages of this comic book, and you’ll probably be just as fascinated by the mythology and stories as I became.

In the graphic novel, the Goon experiences romantic complications that suck him back to that earlier time in his life when he went through similar circumstances. Of course, the earlier life had him matched up with Chinese gangsters trying to muscle in on “Labrazio’s” territory. Their leader turns out to be a shape-shifting, fire-breathing dragon.

The present story involves the Goon’s love for a nightclub singer who spurns what he has to offer. There’s also a new threat on the streets: a mysterious being that seems to be made of wicker. He calls himself Mr. Wicker, and he’s out to unite the underworld against the Goon and take over. Mr. Wicker has a secret that rips the Goon’s world apart again.

As I read the book, I couldn’t help being reminded of Popeye the Sailor. I mean the Popeye Elzie Crisler Segar created that strode defiantly through the panels of Thimble Theater, not the spinach-swilling near-superhero he became in the cartoons. Popeye didn’t even show up in the original strip until it had been going strong for ten years. But the Goon has the same earthiness and vulnerability of those long-ago strips, and there are the supernatural elements.

The Goon: Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker is an amazing read that I finished in a single sitting, then found myself immediately wandering back through the pages to study the art and the interpersonal relationships that Powell builds and renders so gracefully. Everything in the book is tight. It constantly pushes toward the two resolutions that hammer the Goon mercilessly.

The Goon is an ugly brute of a man. He’s got scars all over the left side of his face and his left eye is dead. In this graphic novel, you get to find out where all those scars came from. More than that, though, you get a peek at all the scars on his heart and understand more about why he’s so hardcore about running “Labrazio’s” business.

As a side note, you also get to see a lot of his relationship with Franky, the guy who watches the Goon’s back. This friendship between these two men is done so well and so muscular that you can’t help but root them on. These are men that Ernest Hemingway or John Steinbeck would have known and understood completely.

Powell’s art is simple at first glance, but not to look more deeply is an injustice to his craft. He draws it to look simple, to be easily absorbed, but if you take time to realize that he had to plan each panel and to work hard to keep it that simply, I think you’ll be blown away as well. The sepia tones of the story set in the past contrast to the present-day story, but the color even in the present-day story is subdued and never overpowers the action.

If you’ve never read The Goon, this graphic novel is a fine place to jump on. And if you’ve been a longtime reader, this is the story that you’ve been waiting years to read. Now I’ve got to go back and read the previous volumes.

I love comic books. Every time I open one, it’s almost like holding a movie screen in my hands and watching the progression of action taking shape. However, lately I’ve found it hard to keep up with monthly titles. Too many of them are continued from one month to the next, stretching out least six months or more, and I only get a sense of completion twice a year. This is so the comic book companies can put out what they call “graphic novels.”

In the old days, graphic novels were illustrated stories that couldn’t be told in 22 pages (or 24 pages as when I was growing up). At that time, graphic novels were stand-alone stories that might or might not feature recurring characters.

Somewhere in there, graphic novels simply became a format for comic book companies to re-merchandise product. That form is one of the most successful in publishing these days. When comic book monthly sales were down, the sales of graphic novels were growing. Libraries picked them up. Collectors picked them up. Bookstores put them on the shelves and sold them.

And America, young and old, discovered a brand new love for the format. Graphic novels are published in all sizes these days. My nine-year-old reads pocket-sized versions of Teen Titans while I usually pick up the regular-sized editions of my favorites. If a story captures my interest and I know I will read it over and over again, and if it’s available, I buy it in hardcover.

While I was at Comic-Con in San Diego this year, I got the chance to preview a brand-new graphic novel that is a genuine exercise of the form. The actual book won’t be out until November 19, 2007.

Shooting War by Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman is absolutely amazing. Lappe is a Guerrilla News Network reporter that has provided extensive coverage of the Iraq war. He’s the author of a previous nonfiction book, True Lies, that was unflinching in its view of the existing war. Lappe isn’t a fan of how things are being handled in that part of the world, nor does he appreciate the slanted news coverage and lack of information that’s been given to the American people.

Dan Goldman co-authored Everyman: Be The People, an illustrated satire of George W. Bush’s presidency and the theft of the American dream. Goldman isn’t noted for pulling punches either.

Together, Lappe and Goldman have created a brand new graphic novel called Shooting Wars. The book is about a young, independent newsblogger (someone who has independent access to the Internet and specializes in covering breaking stories – which isn’t too far removed from what’s actually taking place on the Internet these days).

Set in 2011, Jimmy Burns is a sympathetic character still wrapped in innocence when he first appears on the pages. The opening scene reveals him on the front line in the Iraq warzone. We don’t yet know why he’s there. The story cuts immediately to a time two months ago when Jimmy has his brand-new satellite-feed camera that allows him to upload to the Internet in real-time (which is a really scary thought if you think about it, and that technology is not that far off when everyone is going to Wi-Fi. This look at emerging technology is one of the things I liked about the book, and that wasn’t even a primary focus.)

Almost immediately, the action breaks loose as the Starbucks coffee shop beneath Jimmy’s apartment blows up. The art is amazing. It’s a blend of traditional comic art as well as mixed media involving photographs with computer-generated images cast over them. The visualization of the scenes lends itself to screenplay style format. (And I’ll be really surprised if someone in Hollywood doesn’t snap up the rights to this story really quickly.)

The carnage that occurs during the explosion is visceral. The way that the reaction to Jimmy’s broadcast spreads around the world is awesome. This is the way real-time video blogging would work – but only if the blogger had an audience. In the story, Jimmy’s broadcast is seized by a news conglomerate and broadcast everywhere. The whole world sees the newest terrorist attack on American soil.

The conceit used in the story is one that would happen, and has happened, in today’s world already. When something big happens, people are usually there with video recorders, digital cameras, and cell phones with image-capturing functions (the recent Barry Bonds homerun and all the amateur photographers in the stand comes immediately to mind). The American people know they can usually sell these images or digital footage to media corporations. In fact, there have been shows on television that specialized in live footage shot by amateur photographers.

Overnight, Jimmy becomes a media superstar. The news corporation, Global News, pushes Jimmy into the limelight. And that’s exactly where Jimmy wants to go. However, Jimmy isn’t prepared for what the news corporation is going to do to him. He – and we – find out that they’re not that interested in what he has to say. He’s just part of the show.

But that doesn’t mean they’re going to be able to control him. And I know that’s going to cause all sorts of problems.

The preview ends there. But this backstory is intercut with scenes from the Iraq front line where Jimmy looks haggard and desperate. I know that the authors have a political agenda with their story, and I’m fine with that. But they’re also going to be telling a coming-of-age tale that looks to be filled with adventure and heart. That’s plenty to keep me turning pages.

Although this preview is only sixteen pages long, it’s whet my appetite for the rest of the story. November can’t get here soon enough.

At Amazon

I recently watched Ultimate Avengers 2 with my son
Chandler.   We had a good time with the first direct-to-dvd movie, and we had a good time with the second.   The material is easy and fun to absorb, plenty of fights, lots of super-hero action, and the “blooper” reel on Ultimate Avengers 2 was hilarious.

But it reminded me of the comic book series by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch that started it all.   I bought the monthly (that was a joke for the comic buyers among you, because the series didn’t come out monthly, but that was only because Bryan Hitch was knocking himself out on the art) series and then picked up the hardcover edition because I really loved the story.   I thought, since the DVDs came out, that I might point readers to the original source material, and give a review of the hardcover.

In the beginning, there was a global altercation that became known as World War II, an altercation that plunged sons into a similar bloody chaos that had enveloped their fathers only twenty years ago.  During this second World War, though, a choice was made to create a new hero and wrap him in the red, white and blue of the flag of the United States-a living, breathing, battling embodiment of strong-willed freedom.

They named him Captain America, and he was every bit the symbol that those far-thinking men had hoped he would be.  Only one day they lost him.  The loss came as they had thought it would, in the heat of battle, warring against impossible odds for the highest stakes imaginable.  Even in tragedy, Captain America still succeeded. Years later, with the future of the world in question and stakes rising around the globe, another decision has been put into play regarding the invention of not one, but several super-powered beings-and all of these heroes would come together under the close-knit supervision of General Nicholas Fury, the one-eyed leader of S.H.I.E.L.D who was known for kicking butt and taking names later. 

Fury has talked the American government into reactivating the Super-Soldier program that created Captain America.  Unfortunately, under its first incarnation, Dr.  Bruce Banner created a rampaging entity that came to be known as the Hulk and all but got the program cancelled. Banner takes the number two spot on the new program, and the lead designer role goes to Dr.  Henry Pym, who has already begun experimenting with communication with ants and size-changing powers, calling himself first Ant-Man then Giant-Man.  His lovely wife Jan, hiding dark secrets of her own, is the Wasp.  Tony Stark, known throughout the world also as Iron Man, has also agreed to join the team for reasons of his own.

Even as the new Super-Soldier program goes on-line, Captain America turns up in suspended animation, a combination of the freezing waters of the North Atlantic Ocean and the super-soldier drug in his system.  At the same time, General Fury opens negotiations with Thor, a self-proclaimed deity, environmental activist, and New Age guru, resides in Norway but has powers over the weather that no one can explain.

A considerable amount of political jockeying has to take place before the team of super-powered individuals begin to assemble-and that cohesion also takes the reappearance of the Hulk, bigger and badder than ever, and way past control.  If Fury’s Ultimates aren’t careful, they could only be singing the opening stanza of their swan song. Mark Millar, author of The Ultimates, has also written The Authority, Ultimate X-Men, The Flash, Superman Adventures, Vampirella, and The Column for Comic Book Resources.  Bryan Hitch has drawn for JLA, The Authority, Martian Manhunter, and WildCATS.

Their effort was subjected, unfairly I think, to comparison with Alan Moore’s The Watchmen, which has its own history with the Charlton Comics heroes.  I believe Millar and Hitch created a post-9/11 feel to comics by blending superheroes, politics, and the military.   This book isn’t for everyone, and definitely not for the younger set that enjoyed the Ultimate Avengers dvds.   Not until those kiddos are a little older.   Then they’ll love it.

Anyone who has read comics, especially Marvel Comics, is familiar with the genesis material for this Ultimate Marvel series.  The original Avengers (Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and the Wondrous Wasp) gathered to defeat the menace of Thor’s evil half-brother Loki in the 1960s.

Comic books have never been the same since.  The Ultimates is clearly a 21st century relaunch on that comic.  Mark Millar brings darkness and a razor-edged thrill to the series.  All of the characters have been made over in his or her own image, but with new oddities and twists that increase long-time readers’ interest with a new look at favorite heroes, and offer an organic history of very real characters for the uninitiated.

In some ways, the flow of the story seems very familiar: the Hulk is a rampaging monster trapped inside weak Bruce Banner, Captain America is rescued from a frozen wasteland after being preserved in suspended animation, Hank and Janet Pym are married, Thor was an emergency medical technician till something changed him into a Norse god (or revealed that aspect of himself), and Tony Stark/Iron Man is a rich playboy.

But the spins that Millar brings to the characters and to the stories are unique and the stuff from which successful series spring from and run for years.  Bryan Hitch’s artwork is jaw-droppingly beautiful, panels and splash pages of action and character interplay that seizes the eye and just won’t let go.  Even after a reader has finished the graphic novel, he or she will probably find himself or herself wandering back through the pages just admiring the art.

The decision to set the first issue (first arc of the tale for those of you who are reading the hardback) back during World War II was dead-on.  Seeing Captain America in action, especially dressed in Hitch’s take on the familiar red, white and blue uniform (complete with pistol, ammo belt, and helmet) draws the reader into the story with the urgency of an all-or-nothing mission in the final days of the war.  The final couple pages showcasing Tony Stark atop a snow-covered mountain peak, knowing he is Iron Man, whets the appetite for the next issue.

Each of the issues of the monthly comic gathered in this graphic novel lends itself to the next, building on the action and sharp character byplay of the previous issue.  The Ultimates is recommended to regular Avengers fans and to anyone who is only now discovering the breathtaking world of the graphic novel.  Readers that have learned to enjoy the graphic novel medium can’t afford to pass up on a book that is definitely going to be an award contender.