Wednesday Number Ones 4/29/09

Wednesday Number Ones is a weekly feature here at Comic Pants. We take the books that are premiering a first issue from that week and give a quick opinion on them. From time to time we may also include more than issue number ones in this feature. If a noteworthy one-shot or the first issue of a new story arc is released, we may talk about it in this feature.

This week, we will cover Dark Reign Cabal One Shot, Dean Koontzs Nevermore #1, and Sherlock Holmes #1.

Nick Budd Read and Thought:

Sherlock Holmes #1 of 5
Writer: Leah Moore & John Reppion
Artist: Aaron Campbell
Company: Dynamite Entertainment

This was the surprise of the week. As a fan of Sherlock Holmes, and with the hit or miss track record that husband and wife team Moore and Reppion have, I half expected this book to disappoint on various levels. Turns out, not so much. The story, which does a nice job at reintroducing readers to the characters of Holmes and Watson, also carries with it a palpable sense of malice and intrigue. There's a hint of the kind of stuff that Mark Waid has in his Ruse title, but this also feels like quintessential Sherlock Holmes, which is exactly what you want. It has a slow build, and the mystery starts off very strong. Campbell, an artist that I'm not familiar with, puts together a nice showing. He nails the cluttered look of Victorian England and he does a nice job with giving good representations of Holmes and the other characters. The one thing that I wasn't super thrilled by was the on occasion lack of backgrounds, but it's a minor thing at best. Fans of Holmes should definitely check this one out, but if you're in the mood for a well done suspense story, I'd recommend it too.

Dark Reign Cabal One Shot
Writers: Various
Artists: Various
Company: Marvel Comics

Mediocre offering, all told. I love some of the creators here: Fraction, Granov, Fiumara, Gillen and a whole bunch of others. Still, this exploration of the members of Norman Osborn's answer to the heroes Illuminati doesn't hold much appeal to me. I can see how if people are enjoying Dark Reign to an extent will love this, as none of the stories are badly done. The notion of short stories dedicated to each member is a great formula. The one story that really did sort of steal the show was Hickman's Doom story, as he, unlike many writers lately, understand exactly how Doom should act. The art may in fact be the showpiece here though. There's a lot of pizazz to be found. For that alone, it's probably worth a thumb through.

Dean Koontz's Nevermore #1 of 6
Writer: Keith Champagne
Artist: Andy Smith
Company: Dabel Brothers Publishing

Dean Koontz stories aren't normally the best in the world. He's had some great ones though, and typically, when he's dealing with time travel or anything in that wheelhouse, he tends to excel. Nevermore, one of his books that I've never read before, basically is about a group of individuals who "slide" from our world to another adjoining parallel world. Champagne's adaptation seems okay. Some of the dialogue is a bit off and doesn't gel as well as you'd want it to, but there's a general flow to it and the ideas are fun. Smith's art is hit and miss though. His future tech has a some cool factor to it, but his story telling isn't the best and there's a bit of murkiness in his anatomy. Overall though, an okay outing, though if I had to guess, it's only going to appeal to people who are already fans.