I thought I'd make the theme of this column crime. Then I realized that with the domination of comics by superheroes and supervillains, 97% of all comic books are about crime in some form or another.

Oh, well.

 Anyhow, let's take a peek at a new universe of super-powered crime fighters and some crime fighters who are a little closer to the real world.
 

NINJAK #1-3
X-O MANOWAR #1-3
SHADOWMAN #1-3
 
 

On the surface it looks like the formula for success. Take some established, well-known characters. Throw in some of the best writers currently working in comics. Mix with some nice art by seasoned pros and promising newcomers. Blend them all together in a revamped shared universe. So why is Acclaim's Valiant Universe so disappointing?

 I confess that I skipped the first incarnation of the Valiant Universe (which was the second incarnation of most of the characters contained therein) due to lack of interest in the characters, writers, and artists. Besides, I was already knee-deep in the Marvel and DC universes, each of which has several sub-universes. How many universes did I really need?

 By the time this new Valiant Universe came along, I had mostly abandoned the Marvel Universe and had an open slot. I still wasn't much interested in the characters or artists, but, oh, what a dream team of writers editor-in-chief Fabian Nicieza had assembled! Garth Ennis of PREACHER (DC Comics/Vertigo, grade: A+) for SHADOWMAN! Kurt Busiek of ASTRO CITY (Image Comics/Homage, grade: A+) and THE UNTOLD TALES OF SPIDER-MAN (Marvel Comics, grade: A-) for NINJAK! Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn of FLASH and IMPULSE (both from DC Comics, grade for both: A) for X-O MANOWAR! I placed my order with high expectations.

 I am underwhelmed by the finished product.

 The main problem is that none of the protagonists are the least bit interesting. Ninjak is really an adolescent boy more comfortable in the safe worlds of comic books and video games than in the real world. Y'see, he's a geek. X-O Manowar is really a non-conventional, arrogant scientific genius who is not at all heroic and is forced to wear the armor only because of an extraordinary set of circumstances. Y'see, he's a geek. Shadowman is a living zombie of a man with no memory of his past and no real emotions now. When not pursuing his vocation as a hitman, his favorite pastime is drinking vodka while staring at his teddy bear. Not only is his name Zero, he is a zero. And since he'd probably bite the head off a chicken if you offered him more vodka, he's a geek too.

 NINJAK is additionally hampered by the silliest premise. A Caucasian boy solves the special final puzzle in a video game and wins a super power. He's struck by a bolt of lightning from his computer after winning the game which allows him to transform at will into an adult Japanese ninja just by saying some magic words. And, hey, some evil force is going around transforming other people into villains from the same video game. Then guess what? They fight! Hoo, boy. The only redeeming features are the scenes featuring teenagers just trying to relate to each other and cope with real life. These scenes make me wish they had ditched the superhero aspects, especially since the artists Neil Vokes and Michael Avon-Oeming excel at illustrating real folks in real settings. Too bad.

 SHADOWMAN doesn't really need a premise. Basically, it's just a bunch of Garth Ennis' patented shocking-but-humorous blood 'n' gore scenes strung together by some beautiful artwork. Imagine Bill Sienkiewicz inking Kelley Jones and you have the style of newcomer Ashley Wood. His art is so dark and edgy it shows up Ennis' script and leaves the reader wishing for more substance. But, hey, it's a moot point, because both Ennis and Wood are leaving by issue #4. The new creators may do something with this title, but I'm afraid I won't be around to find out.

 X-O MANOWAR is the most solid and standard of the three series. It features a reluctant hero bonded with an indestructible suit of armor. He works with the military to find an escape from the armor and occasionally put down a paramilitary terrorist group. This book has the best plot twists and turns. The artwork by Sean Chen and Tom Ryder is nice and straightforward. That said, the book is just sort of generic.

 To end on a positive note, the coloring on these books is fantastic. An organization called "Atomic Paintbrush" is responsible for bringing the pages alive. They throw in tons of special effects on top of an already spectacular coloring job.

_____	NINJAK	_____	Grade: C+
_____	X-O MANOWAR	_____	Grade: C+
_____	SHADOWMAN	_____	Grade: C+

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KANE #1-13 (Dancing Elephant)

 While cop series are a staple of television, they are pretty rare nowadays in the world of comics. It just so happens, that one of the few cop books available is one of the best comics being published today.

 The title character, Kane, is a detective in the New Eden Police Department. A pariah, he is hated by almost everyone in the department for killing his last partner while trying to arrest him for being corrupt. Kane has betrayed the brotherhood of cops by taking down one of his own. Also making him an outcast is the fact that he has a rigid sense of morals while most of the NEPD are either corrupt, morally bankrupt or ethically challenged. Embittered and aloof, Kane is slow to accept potential allies such as his new partner, the competent Kate Felix, and his captain, the fair and just John Dexter.

 Kane has faced many challenges so far. Issue #1 has a kidnaping which turns into a hostage situation. Issues #2-3 have a mad bomber terrorizing the city. Mob surveillance at a restaurant is interrupted by an insane robber in #4. Issue #6 features a cool twist on RASHOMON: we get to watch each character intentionally lie to Internal Affairs about events that occurred during a drug bust where the money has gone missing. In #8, Kane has to talk the star of an old sixties super-hero TV show off the ledge of a tall building. The shooting of mob boss Oscar Darke and its consequences are covered in #9-12.

 The series is imbued with a wicked sense of humor to offset the serious aspects. Each issue generally has a comic relief sub-plot. The best ones feature Mister Floppsie Whoppsie, a street performer who wears a pink bunny costume. After one too many comparisons to Bugs Bunny he goes over the edge, declaring, "I'm my own rabbit." His hijinks include making a jailbreak, taking the mayor hostage, and being on the run from loan sharks. Issue #3 features a running gag about a commercial for an indestructible safe which the makers have allowed to be stolen. A hidden camera follows the thieves' attempts to break it open while another camera follows a spokesman to the police station to report the theft. The payoff is great! For SIN CITY fans, issue #7 is a parody of Marv and a tribute to Frank Miller.

The creator of KANE is Paul Grist. From England, Grist is probably not too well known here in the U.S.. He did the art on GRENDEL: THE DEVIL IN OUR MIDST. He collaborated with writer Grant Morrison on a little book called ST. SWITHINS DAY. He did a couple of books about another character he created called Burglar Bill, which was mostly light-hearted stuff. It is with KANE that Grist has become a major writer/artist in my gradebook. His dialogue is terse and witty. His art is cartoony enough to pull off the humorous bits, but is dark enough to match the overall tone of the series.

 KANE makes use of many challenging storytelling techniques. Most issues feature two storylines. The first is a self-contained story set in the present and usually lasting only one or two issues. The other is an ongoing unravelling of the past events surrounding Kane's partner's death and its aftermath. Via a series of flashbacks interspersed throughout each issue, Grist keeps adding twists and turns to what at first seemed to be a straightforward event. The transition between the two storylines, as well as scenes within each storyline, can be difficult to track unless you pay close attention. (Grist has provided one visual cue to aid the reader: the pages featuring flashbacks have a wide black bar running vertically down them.) Mob boss Oscar Darke speaks in a slurred mumble which the reader is forced to decipher. While Grist makes each character distinctive, he does not always label or identify them directly in each issue. His characters are not in the habit of giving the awkward expository background speeches such as Chris Claremont used to spoonfeed the readers of UNCANNY X-MEN. Grist expects you to keep track of characters and plots from issue to issue. And he makes it well worth the effort.

 His current issues are good ones with which to join the series, as they are each highlighting a different character from the series. For instance, issue #13 follows a veteran and a rookie through a typical night of graft and brutality. Grist puts an interesting spin on the story by fixing the point of view in the back seat of their squad car, allowing us to see mostly the back of their heads and the view through the windshield. It's a hard concept to pull off successfully, but Grist manages it easily.

 Indeed, the same could be said of the entire series. Even on television, where there are more series featuring cops, the stories often aren't done very well. With the exception of "Hill Street Blues" and a few others, most simply result in a lost hour. Grist, meanwhile, regularly rewards the comic book reader with a very generous package: 30-32 pages of perfectly amazing story and art.

_____

Grade: A

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JINX #1-5 (Caliber Comics/moving to Image Comics)

 JINX is a crime story.

 David Gold, a/k/a Goldfish, is a con man. He and his partner Columbia have been making small time money off various scams, but the disdain they have for each other is starting to explode into violence. Indeed, Columbia is intent on dissolving their partnership with a bullet. Then a dying man, who knows where three million dollars of stolen mob money is hidden, crashes into their lives. But Goldfish and Columbia each end up getting different halves of the location before the man dies. Now they're each trying to figure out how to get the other half of the information and all the money.

 JINX is a love story.

 Walking into a diner one evening, Goldfish sees a strikingly beautiful woman sitting in a back booth writing in a book. He's intrigued. For him, it's love at first sight. And she's not lagging far behind. Only they can't quite explain to each other why both of them are carrying guns at their first meeting. But that doesn't stop David from arranging a date with Jinx Alameda.

 Jinx is a bounty hunter.

 Jinx Alameda is not a happy person. The cops hate her for infringing on their territory. The crooks hate her for hauling their butts back to jail. And Jinx is not too fond of herself either. She's taken enough hits in life professionally and personally to be justly cynical, but she's thinking David Gold might be worth taking a chance . . until she sees his face on a wanted poster . . . and learns about the three million bucks. This time, she swears, she's only looking out for herself.

 JINX is a damn good book.

 Brian Michael Bendis is the writer/artist of one of the slickest crime comics going. His knack for dialogue is dead on. His art is dark and moody. JINX compares favorably to the works of Quentin Tarantino. It's fresh and audacious and loaded with surprises. It follows up Bendis' high quality A/K/A GOLDFISH series from a couple of years back (now collected in trade paperback and available through Caliber Comics), but the JINX storyline is totally independent of that series. Both books contain lots of harsh language and are for mature readers only. Oh, and after issue #7, JINX is moving to the ever-growing stable of quality books over at Image Comics. Watch for it.

_____

Grade: A-

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ANOTHER CHANCE TO GET IT RIGHT (Dark Horse Comics)

 With the tremendous amount of public interest in the recent assault and murder of JonBenet Ramsey here in Colorado, it is pretty evident that everyone agrees the most heinous crimes of all are those perpetrated against children. Children and their innocence are to be protected, and when that protection fails, we are all shocked and disturbed. While most of us only look on and shake our heads in despair, some people act. Writer Andrew Vachss is one of the few. He is a man on a crusade to protect all children everywhere.

Vachss has assumed several different roles in the course of his crusade. Vachss the lawyer devotes his time exclusively to representing children. Vachss the child abuse expert frequently writes articles for magazines such as PARADE detailing the mindset of abusers, the punishment they deserve, and the treatment their victims need. Vachss the activist supports the Don't! Buy! Thai! movement to boycott Thailand until child prostitution is ended there. Indeed, Vachss the novelist wrote THE ULTIMATE EVIL, a novel about Batman fighting that very crime. Vachss' other novels focus mainly on a character named Burke, who is a con man, robber and murderer. One of Burke's few redeeming qualities is his explosive outrage at crimes against children. Whenever he discovers an abused child, Burke is compelled to declare war on the pedophiles or child pornographers involved and use his criminal genius to wreak vengeance upon them. It's pretty obvious Vachss' writing is a cathartic release from the frustrations he faces in daily life.

 ANOTHER CHANCE TO GET IT RIGHT, which is available each month on Dark Horse's backlist, serves as a manifesto of Vachss' crusade. The book is a bit hard to describe. It is not a comic book, though it does have spot illustrations by artists like Paul Chadwick (CONCRETE), Geof Darrow (HARD BOILED), and Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN, MARTHA WASHINGTON). It is not a novel. It is not an essay or short story collection. Sub-titled "A children's book for adults," ANOTHER CHANCE TO GET IT RIGHT is an almost stream of consciousness combination of epigrams, vignettes, anecdotes, short stories, autobiography, and philosophy written in a terse, dramatic style which is at times poetic. "Biology does not make a man a father--nor a woman a mother. We are what we do. There is learning in play, play in learning. Terror in fear, heroism in its mastery." (Page 15) "We are tested, and sometimes we fail. The maltreated child cries 'I hurt.' Unheard or unheeded, that cry becomes prophecy." (Page 21)

 A story near the end of the book deals with a child victim confronting her abuser in court. Her lawyer tries to prepare her for the ordeal. In a clever artistic choice, Gary Gianni, who writes and draws the "Monster Men" back-up stories in Mike Mignola's HELLBOY, creates an allegory for the modern day story by illustrating it with pictures of 19th century characters confronting a Frankenstein's monster.

 In recent years, Dark Horse Comics has produced several projects with Vachss. HARD LOOKS adapted Vachss' short stories into comics format. Each issue of UNDERGROUND featured a new illustrated Vachss' short story along with comics by various writers and artists set in a dystopian future world Vachss created. Vachss has also written the comics PREDATOR: RACE WAR and CROSS. All of the above are good and worth seeking out, but ANOTHER CHANCE TO GET IT RIGHT is the truly definitive Vachss work available from Dark Horse.

_____

Grade: A

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