Global Frequency: Planet Ablaze: written by Warren Ellis; illustrated by Garry Leach, Glenn Fabry, Steve Dillon, Roy Martinez, John J Muth, David Lloyd, and David Barron (2002-2003/ This edition 2004): This collection of the first half of writer Warren Ellis' early-oughts 12-issue miniseries gives us six different artists and the most TV-friendly of all of Ellis' comic-book projects. Indeed, Global Frequency did get a TV pilot made, though it wasn't picked up for series. That's a shame because it's a solid take on a solid, much-used concept in TV. In a way, this is Mission: Impossible for the post-industrial, post-governmental, Internet age.
And the artists are all boss. Global Frequency (the agency) employs 1001 agents across the globe, though they're really more heavily compensated consultants than actual employees. Global Frequency (the agency) is sponsored by the G-8 countries (among other sources named or implied) but run independently by a mysterious woman. Global Frequency (the comic book) shows us six missions, rendered by six great artists.
Held together by phone and Internet, members of the team await the call to either consult on a problem or to jump into the fray. They're 1001 experts in thousands of fields, from parkour (no kidding) to quantum physics to assassination. The crises they face arise from both intent and neglect -- forgotten and now-malfunctioning Cold-War super-weapons can represent as great a threat to the world as crazed death-cultists, insane bionic men, or an invading meme from outer space.
It's all fast-paced and breezy, almost Warren Ellis-lite in terms of characterization and plot density. Done right, it would have made a hell of a TV series. As a comic-book series, it's still a lot of fun. Going with different artists each issue increases that fun, whether it's Preacher's Steve Dillon, V for Vendetta's David Lloyd, or the normally painterly Jon J Muth doing something a lot more sketchy. Recommended.
Hitman Volume 7: Closing Time: written by Garth Ennis; illustrated by John McCrea, Garry Leach, Doug Mahnke, and others (2000-2001, 2007; collected 2012): 11 years after the series ended, DC finally gets around to finishing its collections of Garth Ennis and John McCrea's Hitman. And it's a wild ride to the end, complete with side-journeys to the hilarious Hitman/Lobo one-shot and the melancholy 'coda' to the series, JLA/Hitman, published in 2007 but taking place before the end of the regular series.
Tommy Monaghan's life as a super-powered hitman-for-hire who only kills bad people moves inexorably towards what seems like an inevitable climax. Along the way, the body count will be just south of ludicrous. Had the series not concluded with issue 60, I'm not sure how it really could have continued -- by that last issue, we're down to about three surviving regular characters.
Before the 8-issue closing arc, we get the Doug Mahnke-illustrated Lobo 'team-up', in which the inexplicably popular alien bounty hunter gets literally and figuratively de-pantsed when he bugs Tommy and the boys at their favourite bar. It's taking the piss out of a popular character in pretty typical Ennis fashion, reminiscent of his takedown of Wolverine and Spider-man during his later run on Punisher.
Ennis, of course, really hates superheroes. Except for Superman. And what he really seems to hate are grim, gritty, 'realistic' superheroes. The short arc involving Six-Pack and Section 8, the bizarre quasi-superheroes who frequent Gotham City's more rundown areas, ends with a tribute to the idea of a superhero that also informs Ennis's take on Superman both earlier in the series and in the Hitman/JLA epilogue. Someone should hire Ennis to actually write Superman. It would be a hell of a ride.
In any case, the seven volumes of Hitman mark a fascinating bit of ultraviolent comic-book story-telling that runs the gamut from slapstick to tragedy to odd, quiet moments of uplift. John McCrea's art is gritty and violent and cartoony when it needs to be, with the inks of Garry Leach adding a real gloss to the later issues. Highly recommended in its entirety.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: based on the novel by John LeCarre; adapted by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan; directed by Tomas Alfredson; starring Gary Oldman (George Smiley), John Hurt (Control), Colin Firth (Bill Haydon), Tom Hardy (Ricki Tarr), Mark Strong (Jim Prideaux) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Peter Guillam) (2011): The BBC made a highly regarded 7-hour miniseries out of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in the late 1970's. Starring Alec Guinness, it went on to be a big hit on PBS as well.
Seven hours seems about right for a relatively lengthy LeCarre novel about the intricacies of Cold War espionage in the 1960's and 1970's. This two-hour adaptation seems more like something made on a dare.
Most of the plot is still here. The acting is fine across the board, especially as the actors have to do a lot of heavy lifting with relatively few lines -- Gary Oldman probably did deserve his Oscar nomination for following Guinness in one of Guinness's signature roles and not embarrassing himself. And the details of Cold War espionage are generally fascinating. But...
Two hours? There are a lot of characters here, and only Oldman's George Smiley approaches being more character than character sketch. The movie looks terrific (the director previously helmed the excellent Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In), and the pacing is fine. But there's nothing and no one to care about here as a character one can feel much investment in. It's like a really high-toned adaptation of the Cliff's Notes for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Lightly recommended.
Rocketeer Adventures 2: based on characters and situations created by Dave Stevens; written by Marc Guggenheim, Peter David, Stan Sakai, Walt Simonson, Tom Taylor, Paul Dini, David Lapham, Matt Wagner, Kyle Baker, Louise Simonson, David Mandel, and John Byrne; illustrated by Sandy Plunkett, Bill Sienkiewicz, Stan Sakai, Darwyn Cooke, Dave Stevens, John Paul Leon, Bill Morrison, Colin Wilson, Chris Sprouse, Karl Story, Eric Canete, Kyle Baker, Walt Simonson, Bob Wiacek, J. Bone, John Byrne, and others (2012): Fun anthology series of stories about The Rocketeer, the great 1930's pulp-comic-book character created in the early 1980's by the late Dave Stevens. Most of the entries here strike the right note of light-hearted adventure as we follow pilot Cliff Secord's trials and triumphs as rocket-pack-wearing hero The Rocketeer. Recommended.
Hitman Volume 6: For Tomorrow: written by Garth Ennis; illustrated by John McCrea, Gary Leach, and others (1999-2000; collected 2012): DC's renewed committment to collecting all of Ennis and McCrea's splendid late 1990's/early oughts comic-book series Hitman, about the adventures of super-powered gun-for-hire Tommy Monaghan, is a blessing. In this volume, more tragedy and high-octane violence hit Monaghan and his friends as Gotham City suffers through the end of the massive Batman: No Man's Land event.
Tommy has some good moments taking the piss out of a bunch of vampires last seen during Ennis's run on John Constantine: Hellblazer (like H.P. Lovecraft, Ennis thinks vampires are stupid, though he's a lot more fictionally pro-active in that stance than HPL ever was) and finally getting to see some real, honest-to-god dinosaurs. But Tommy's war with the Mob also takes it physical and emotional toll.
Penciller McCrea and most-of-the-time inker Garry Leach do a great job on the art as always, their violence stylized without being glossy or attractive, their characters cartoony when they need to be and fairly realistic when the story calls for such a thing. Hyperviolence was rarely this much fun. Only one more volume to go! Highly recommended.
