What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: Sneak Peek Reviews 11/11/08

Batman: Cacophony #1 (of 3) Written by: Kevin Smith Art by: Walter Flanagan
Every now and again someone from Hollywood decides to spend some time slumming and grace the comics world with their presence. So, since it's been a little over three years that means it's time for Kevin Smith to come stumbling through the doors and brings a really quirky and kind of perfect story. This time he wandered in with a long time friend and, in all reality, rather talented artist Walter Flanagan. They have come together and crafted Batman: Cacophony, which brings back the incredibly interesting and throughly frightening villain that Smith created for the second, and final, arc of his run on Green Arrow: Onomatopoeia. The last time we saw Onomatopoeia he had just tried to, and nearly succeeded in an attempt to, kill Conor Hawke (curious that Smith brings him back just after Hawke comes out of a coma and has returned home). The character is one of my all time favorite villains because he is so enigmatic (in my opinion the best villains are the ones who are completely inhuman or the ones who have a great deal of humanity). The story has some classic super villains alongside Onomatopoeia, like The Joker, DeadShot, and not to mention Maxie Zeus. This story, in many ways, deals with each of the characters with the same kind of respect and that shows that each of these villains, no matter how serious they have been treated in the past, are serious characters. I really think that if you are looking for a really fun and really interesting Batman story that you would do yourself a great service by checking this one out.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Storm Front #1 (of 4)
Written by: Jim Butcher & Mark Powers
Art by: Adrian Syaf

Well, the first miniseries was rather satisfying. So, I went into this one with a mix of anticipation and fear. First the anticipation kicked in. I really enjoyed the issue even though I have already read the first novel on which this is based. The characters remain very true to their personality as depicted in the novel. The artist has done a bang up job in crafting the characters and Adrian Syaf is bound to be a big name after his work with the Dabel Brothers is concluded. The story moves along at quite a quicker clip than book itself did, but it still manages to get across the important points. My fear came in when I started to realize that Butcher didn't have as much to do with this miniseries as he did with the last. Mark Powers isn't quite the writer I had hoped would be attached to the series as it progressed but I had a great hope that at least Butcher would be co-writing ... but anticipation is folly. Powers does have the benefit of a user-proof manuscript to work from. Butcher crafted a fantastic first novel that achieved the perfect mix of introduction to the characters and brilliant plot. I think that if you liked the first miniseries that you will be plenty pleased with this one, and that if you read the book that it'll be nice to revisit a time when Harry's life seemed so much simpler ... before everything became so complicated. Butcher fan's rejoice, they managed not to screw it up.