Aaaap-choooo!

Blarg.

I've been fighting off a cold for the past couple of days, and this morning the Germ Armies waging war in my head-meats decided to up the ante by giving me a constantly running nose and sneezing fits every ... every ... ev...

BLAAAACHOOOO!!

Sorry 'bout that. In any case, I'm taking the appropriate medications and while I haven't had any orange juice yet, I have been eating a lot of tiny oranges that showed up in the office recently (in your face, #appleclub!)

...

Still, it is new comics day, so it's not a total loss. My list is light, but its heart is true and it's a pal and a confidant (holy crap, did I just quote the Golden Girls theme? I need a nap). Here's what I'm getting:

Incorruptible #1: I enjoyed Mark Waid's recent Irredeemable, even if it did seem to mostly cover the usual ground of good-guy-gone-bad (or in this case, really bad). Incorruptible is a kind of companion piece, this time following the story of a bad guy trying to go straight in a world essentially ravaged by its greatest hero, and I'm digging it already. Waid is building a whole new universe here, and it's shaping up to be some thought-provoking fun. You can take a look here.

Nola #2: I want to like this title more than I do, but for some reason I'm just having a hard time getting into it. I hope the characterization makes the character of Nola a bit less of a cipher while maintaining the unanswered tension behind why she's out for vengeance — otherwise, I'm afraid the burden of carrying a story with so much potential will rest on a character with barely enough substance to carry herself.

Underground #4: This continues to be a neat little crime comic with a unique setting and characters who become more fleshed out with each issue. I've praised this book before, and with Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber at the wheel I don't have any reason to think Underground will be anything but good stuff.

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Quick Aside: So, I think this Girl Comics thing is a pretty good idea, and actually I wish it was a regular title instead of just a three-issue anthology. The name's kinda dumb, but I understand it's supposed to be a fun nod to Marvel's publishing history; it's a minor complaint in what I think is overall a very positive move from the Bullpen.

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Holy smoke, I'm running out of steam here. I'd better wrap it up before I start hallucinating or ...


Oh, god.

Review: Rage and revenge flow through 'NOLA'

NOLA #1 is the definition of visceral.

Unrelenting in tone and unapologetic in characterization, it's a story centered on someone you wouldn't necessarily want to know, but still find yourself morbidly drawn toward. Nola was a fairly typical kind of person once; apparently successful, well-liked in the community, good to her mother and the people around her. If she's got a flaw it's her weakness for the married man who flaunts the fact that she'll never be anything more than the gal he bangs in the back room of a bar.

Set against the backdrop of the property damage and human wreckage left behind by Hurricane Katrina — no more than days past, judging by the waters still swallowing up homes and highways in the background — we can see disaster has hit Nola in more ways than just the obvious. Something Happened to Nola, and whatever it was has led her to hide her face behind a scarf, to launch an assault into her sunken city, to coldly and ruthlessly kill in search of revenge.

Clues are dropped in NOLA #1 that hint at what might have taken her from a life as a sophisticated, charming woman to someone barely recognizable anymore, a stormy reflection of a city suddenly deeply and poisonously scarred. It's these clues that give NOLA it's hook. Almost everything here is a catalyst, serving as clues to what drives Nola to pursue revenge in such an apparently single-minded way, no matter what or who gets in the way.

Vigilante violence is old hat, but an origin story is almost always intriguing, and NOLA has kicked its off with the sting of an unexpected slap. Normally I'm against decompression in comics; too much of it keeps a story plodding along when it should at least be jogging. But in this case, I hope series creator Chris Gorak and script-writer Pierluigi Cothran continue to take their time letting readers in on the big picture — a little mystery gives this story its tension, and there's plenty of other action to keep things moving.

I also appreciated the way characters speak with that particular, Southern-Gulf Coast drawl in a was that feels natural rather than forced. It's these details — the accents, the wrought iron chairs and fences, the all-too recognizable view of roofs poking out of the floodwaters like the bows of sunken boats — that help put NOLA in a particular time and place. I'd be surprised if New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina don't become characters in their own right in later issues.

Gorak lived in New Orleans for more than five years, and his connection to the city shows. I hope that authenticity carries throughout the story; I'm optimistic that we'll see the people of New Orleans and the victims of Katrina treated as characters, not caricatures, without minimizing what they went through for the sake of story.

My only minor complaint, really more of a pet peeve, is the art by Damian Couceiro. Let me be really clear here: There's nothing wrong with the art itself. Personally I'd like it if was a little cleaner, with stronger lines, but that might be more a matter of the way it's been inked and colored than anything else. Mostly it just looks a lot like the art that turns up in many other BOOM! books. That look has been less true prevalent recently, but as I reader I've seen similar artwork from the publisher enough times that, in my mind, it's the house-style. I'm ready for something with a different look.

Still, that could just be me, and the art is solid and detail-minded in a way that sets the stage — and the mood — for the story being told. The character of Nola herself is fascinating; she seems to be a real car-wreck of a person, with an internal, emotional ugliness you can't help but stare at as you try to put the pieces back into a shape you can understand. I'm looking forward to seeing where Nola's brutal story goes from here.

The Pull List (11-18-09): A good week for robots

Hey guys, I'd just like to apologize. I know that lately I've just kind of been phoning in posts lately and *ring! ring!* Oh, hey, it's a pull list!

Drone #1: I first talked about this title with writer Scott Chitwood way back in April, and I'm glad to see if finally coming to press. The concept — remote-controlled warbots are taken over by the bad guys and the only ones who can stop them are some good guy hackers who have been using the drones as a form of reality show entertainment — is solid, and the art by Randy Kintz looks lush and kinetic. Bringing the human element into contrast with the often depersonalized idea of the battlefield is something I hope will be explored in Drone — plus, it always fun to see things get blowed up real good.

Flash: Rebirth #5: It's never a good sign when you're putting your pull list together and you get to a title and wonder, "Wait ... was I still reading this?" Whether that's a reflection on the time between issues or the story itself, I'll let you decide. At this point, I'm in it out of sheer stubborness and a hope that Geoff Johns will be able to pull it all together by the time it wraps up with the next issue.

Nola #1: BOOM! Studios has consistently produced uniquely interesting stories that use some pretty high concepts as jumping off points. Not every title has been a winner, but hits have been more common than misses, which is what I'm hoping will be the case with Nola. A lot of people's nerves are — rightly — still raw concerning the events surrounding the Hurricane Katrina debacle, and I'm both intrigued and leery of a revenge story set around the disaster. It can either be gritty and real and honest — or it can be pandering, shallow and insulting. My fingers are crossed that the folks at BOOM! will guide it in the right direction.

Robot 13 #2: If Hellboy and Atomic Robo made sweet, strange love and had an awesome bastard child that was equal parts science, magic and mayhem, it might look a little something like Robot 13. The art by Daniel Bradford is appropriately pulped (though maybe too-obviously indebted to Mike Mignola), and makes watching a robot with a harpoon fight a kraken as much fun as it sounds. The script by Thomas Hall promises more fights with more mythological monsters for mysterious reasons, and that should be all you need to know to pick this one up.

Underground #3: Writer Jeff Parker continues his slow burn with his tale of intrigue and violence surrounding a greedy developer trying to open a cave as a tourist attraction and the park rangers who are in danger of being killed for trying to protect the natural wonder. Parker is single-handedly inventing ranger-noir amid a story of high-stakes spelunking, but I do wish he'd kick things into a slightly higher gear since so far things have been interesting, but lacking any real tension. Maybe that will happen with this issue. In any case, Steve Lieber continues to bring the goods with his artwork, particularly with his moody covers and claustrophobic interiors (though, again, the story probably would have worked better in black and white).

Victorian Undead #1: Look, I'm sick of zombies, OK? Just sick of 'em. But dammit, this is SHERLOCK HOLMES VS ZOMBIES. And I'm so, so weak.

So what did you pick up this time around? Let me know in the comments!