Wildsiderz #1by J. Scott Campbell & Andy Hartnell
Another blogger (sorry, I forget who) descibed this as Saved by the Bell with artificial super-powers, and that pretty much hits the mark. You've got 'Styler the Sk8ter,' 'Kat the Hottie,' 'Bam the Meathead,' ' Zak the Hunk,' and 'Jess the Brain'--all of whom end up with devices (developed by a military contracter) which allow them to form colorful hard-light extensions of their bodies. If you think about the premise too hard (or, really, at all) it will fall right apart, but if you just take it as is and run with it it works. Campbell's art is the same as always, and the hard-light powersactually look kind of cool as rendered by colorist Roger Delgado. I suspect that Campbell & Hartnell actually have within them the ability to do a rather good high school dramedy sans any super-powers, but let's face it, in today's market that's not going to fly for a 32-page full-color glossy from DC.
Rating: 3 (of 5)
Gimoles #1by Mike Bullock & Theo Bain
Take one part The Smurfs and mix it with the Heat/Freeze Miser parts of The Year Without a Santa Claus and you get Gimoles, a competently done new comic that's strictly for the kids. The Gimoles are little green elves who are resposible for he season fo Spring, but they can't get started because the evil Ichabod Cornelius Frost, lord of Winter, has kidnapped the Groundhog on Groundhog Day, ensuring that his winter-machines can not be turned off. So of course it's up to two young Gimoles to rescue th Groundhog from Frost's ice castle so that spring can come again to the land. The art is a nice style and the story is clear (though it gets a bit too bogged down in exposition in the middle), but it all seems highly derivative. Still, for just 75 cents, you may want to pick up the first issue to see if your kids like it.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)
Brian Pulido's Gypsy #1by Brian Pulido & Paulo Siqueira
Actually better than any comic that has seven different covers should be, Pulido's latest comic about hot babes in historical supernatural action is set at the dawn of the industrial revolution as old and new cultures collide. Liza and Antoinette are two hot young sisters who nevertheless are subject to persecution because they're gypsies, despite, you know, their hotness. And of course there's a supernatural threat lurking in the woods. Siqueira makes a valiant effort in the art to represent the period, although he could stand o vary his line weight to give his art an added dimension, and his women all have the same height, body shape and faces, distinguishable only by their hairstyles.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)
Supergirl #1by Jeph Loeb, Ian Churchill & Norm Rapmund
One might think that DC would use the occasion of a new Supergirl comic to at least try to produce something that would be of interest to the young female manga kids. But seriously, with Loeb & Churchill spinning this series out of Superman/Batman, can you really expect anything else than a story steeped in DCU continuity and a two-page spread with Supergirl in her bare midriff costume fighting a busty Power Girl? Of course not. This one is strictly for the fanboys. It succeeds in being what it is and what it aims for; while direct market sales will probably be strong, I just think that it's aiming in the wrong direction.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)
Gødland #1by Joe Casey & Tom Scioli
Super Cosmic Mind Candy! Scioli made a name for himself by channeling Jack Kirby for his The Myth of 8-Opus, and now he's back with another Kirby riff with writer Joe Casey in tow. Four years ago Commander Adam Archer was in charge of a disasterous Mission to Mars in which although the rest of his crew died, Archer ended up with Cosmic Powers. Now a Cosmic Menace threatens Earth, so it's up to Commander Adam Archer to save us! The story is bold! The art is bold (and looks like Kirby)! Even the color is bold! It's Big! It's Bold! It's Cosmic! (And the bad guy on the last page whose head is a skull floating in a tank of green water? He looks kind of cool...)
Rating: 3 (of 5)
