Kiss Me, Satan #1

Kiss Me, Satan may not be the most subtle of name choices for a new comic book, but since when have comics really ever been about being subtle?  Kiss Me, Satan is a new creator owned limited series from Dark Horse Comics written by Victor Gischler (Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth, X-Men) and with pencil work by Juan Ferreyra (Rex Mundi, Falling Skies: The Battle of Fitchburg).

The tale opens with a monologue from our presumed protagonist Barnabus Black, a gunman working for a cigar smoking Angel named Jules, as he describes just who runs the city of New Orleans.  And that somebody happens to be Cassian Steele, leader of a mob-like pack of werewolves that deal in everything from protection to prostitution.

Barnabus is tasked with protecting a small group of witches who know some pretty sensitive information regarding Steele’s unborn child.  While the wolves hunt the witches, Barnabus must also evade a team of demons sent from Hell as a “retrieval team.”  We understand that the demons are here to retrieve Barnabus, but we don’t know why yet.  Is he himself a former demon?  Is he just a soul that escaped Hell?  Did he lose a bet with the Devil and is now on the run? We don’t know, but I’m sure excited to find out.

Gischler does a good job of setting this story up and doing a lot of world building in a small amount of time and in a way that doesn’t scream, “I’m world building right now and just feeding you some information that may or may not at some point become relevant.”  That’s not easy to do.

Ferreyra’s pencil work reminds me of Raphael Albuquerque’s work on American Vampire, especially when Ferreyra unleashes the werewolves upon us for the first time.  Ferreyra is doing a good job at reversing the damage that preteen movies of the past few years have done to werewolves and vampires, and is making the frightening to be around again.

I’m very excited to see where Kiss Me, Satan will take us.  As a huge fan of werewolves and their lore, it’s good to see them popping up at one of the “Big Four.”

Kiss Me, Satan #2 comes out October 23^rd.

Action Comics #23.3: Lex Luxthor #1

Villains Month continues this week from DC Comics.  This week, Lex Luthor walks right out of prison to begin his scheming ways.

Is Lex Luthor the smartest man on Earth?  If he isn’t, he’s at least the most self-obsessed.  The story opens with Lex casually exchanging his orange prison jumpsuit for a charcoal business one.  Here we get a glimpse into the man, where he can seemingly do anything he wants with just a ten minute phone call.  Once into his suit he proclaims, “It’s time to stop being selfish.  The world needs Lex Luthor.”

The story revolves almost entirely around Luthor’s two great obsessions, himself, and Superman.  After strolling out of prison and not being greeted by the big blue boy scout, Luthor took it opon himself to find Superman.  After searching media outlets worldwide for hours, Lex comes to the only logical solution a billionaire psycho would.  He spends $80 million to put people in danger in order to draw Superman out.  He sends four privately funded astronauts into space from his private company and orders them to shut off their engines and alter their orbit in such a way that they will fall out of orbit and plummet to their doom.  Of course, they are just under the impression that this is a marketing ploy for LexCorp to come in and save the day.   What follows can only be described as genius in a way, but I won’t spoil it for you.

Charles Soule’s (27, Swamp Thing) writing shines throughout this book.  A relative newcomer to the industry (his first professional credit coming in 2009), Soule demonstrates a tremendous understanding of Luthor’s character and has him coming across oh-so-deliciously evil.  If a Lex Luthor series were ever to come back into play (Lord knows we could probably do away with one of Batman’s 11 thousand ongoing titles), I would definitely read it if Soule were to have writing duties.

The pencil work provided by Raymund Bermund is very clean, showcasing Luthor’s own opinion of himself.  There’s very little use of shadow within the book, which seems fitting.  My favorite panel however is actually the panel where the engines to the starship are shut off.  The ship is in orbit over the Earth and a lens flare reflects off the ship.  As far as my research has shown, this is Bermund’s first professional credit.

Overall, I really enjoyed this comic and I think that this is the best comic DC has put out for Villains Month.  At the end of the issue we are invited to continue Luthor’s story in Forever Evil #2, which comes out October 2^nd.

Batman & Robin #23.2: Court of Owls #1

They're baaaaack.

Who, you might ask? Who? Who? Who?

The Court of Owls.

Created by Scott Snyder (American Vampire, Swamp Thing) and Greg Capullo (Spawn, X-Force) for their initial story in Batman, the Court of Owls are Gotham City's Illuminati. They work in secret, behind the scenes, tightly controlling the inner workings of Gotham. They have been seen most recently in the pages of Talon, written by James Tynion IV (who also wrote this issue) which follows the exploits of a former Court assassin who is being chased down by his former employer.

Court of Owls follows two members, a man and his young daughter, as they make their way from their home into the underworld, where their organization calls home. As they travel, the father recounts stories of how over the decades the Court has used their deadly assassins, called Talons, to impost their physical will when scheming and manipulation weren't enough.

While James Tynion IV gives you bits and pieces of history through the pages of Talon, this comic gives us just what we've been asking for. We follow the Court throughout history, learning more and more about their way of life, their attitudes, and their philosophy.

Cutting back and forth between time periods can be a bit jarring at first, but once you have a handle on it, things start to even out.

Jorge Lucas' (Iron Man, Darkness) art lends itself very well to this story, slightly adjusting for the different times to better fit that period. My personal favorite was the art for the 1862 segment. His art combined with Dave McCaig's colors make these pages beautiful to look at.

My biggest gripe is a character from the 1862 segment known as the Gotham Butcher. He is one of the Talons from the past and frankly, his story felt a bit out of place, even if it did give a sense of how the Court would react to such a character.

Overall, this felt less like a chance to show off a great villain organization and more like an attempt to create interest in Tynion's Talon, whose readership has fallen steadily since it was introduced last October. Last month's sales fell below the 20,000 mark (which led to the recent cancellation of Marvel's Gambit), ranking in at 110th place, as reported by Diamond Comics Distributer. Comparatively, the top five comic series regularly sell over 100,000 copies, with 200,000 not uncommon.