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I don't think you'll be disappointed, Dave.....unless you like stuff that sucks!

Another terrific recent Image series is Five Weapons! This surprising series with an almost all-ages vibe has as its premise a kind of Hogwarts school for wannabe assassins. Maybe that doesn't sound all-ages, but thru the first three issues, the violence is limited to some cuts, bruises and abrasions, and the language is appropriate for the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon.

So the school in question is basically an exclusive private boarding high school where kids get an appropriate education but are required to choose membership in one of five weapon-centric clubs: archery, guns, blades, blunt instruments or exotic weapons (the latter being a catch-all for anything from garottes to snakes and so forth!). The overall plan for the students is that they will some day go on to be proficient assassins. Many or most of these are themselves children of assassins.

The series begins with new student Tyler Shainline serving as our guide to discovering this most unusual school. Tyler comes with very high expectations as his father is an exceptionally legendary assassin. But mysteriously, Tyler refuses to choose a club. In the process he infuriates the faculty and feels the wrath of his fellow students. Tyler shows incredible cunning immediately as he challenges members of the various clubs and ingeniously manages to come out on top without ever using a weapon.

As the series progresses we learn more about Tyler, who is not what he appears to be. We also meet several other students, some of whom befriend Tyler. Lots of interesting characters presented in a context that you would feel absolutely comfortable sharing with tweens at the very least.

Jimmy Robinson is the multi-threat creator of this comic. (His previous work includes the Bomb Queen series, of which I'm unfamiliar.) He's credited with the writing, art and lettering. His style is very clean and straightforward but with a certain flare that's subtle and difficult to describe. It's kind of like Joe Eisma's work on Morning Glories but with the slightest manga touch. The coloring by Paul Little has a light borderline-watercolor touch that is muted but quite lovely--a perfect complement to Jimmy Robinson's lines.

I'm enjoying it a lot so far, having read three of five issues (all have been released). I'd say it's easily one of Image's strongest recent releases from a company which constantly surprises with the excellence of its offerings. I seem to recall reading that this book has been/will be upgraded to ongoing status. I dearly hope that this is the case! Five Weapons proves that a creator-owned book doesn't have to have "mature content" to absolutely kick ASS!

I just picked up Mind the Gap TPB two.


awww yeahhhhh!

Hope you enjoy it, Peebz! (You, too, Dave!) Please share what you guys thought!

Anyone else (say...Cobie?) tried Five Weapons?

I passed on Five Weapons and yours is the first review I've seen actually. I'm surprised you're enjoying it so much! Makes me regret not giving it a shot, but I might still be able to play catch up.

I'm excited about Satellite Sam which comes out soon, or may be out now for all I know. Fraction seems on fire lately and Chaykin also seems to be in midst of a big surge of creativity.

First issue came out 2 or 3 weeks ago. It's very hot, so you may have to get a 2nd print if your CBS didn't hold it for you.

I had it on my pull--I've gotten a lot better about that. So it best be there!

There's so many new Image releases that I'm continually forgetting to add most to my pull. My CBS guy's usually good about ordering lots, though.

Wow! I finally just read Ten Grand #1 by JMS and Ben Templesmith and thought it was terrific!

The high concept isn't going to wow you with it's originality. It's basically the story of a hitman who chooses to come back from the dead, rather than rot in Hell, so that he can earn the chance to spend five minutes in Heaven with his wife each time he dies. He's still doing hits, but ones that serve Heaven's interests. It's not explained in the first issue, but the jobs appear to come from actual people who pay him the titular amount.

But as with most concepts, as there are few-to no original ones, the difference lies in the execution, which was really nice...exciting even! Some gorgeous, moody artwork from Templesmith, who is best known for the 30 Days of Night series with Steve Niles. And JMS turns in the best script I've seen from him since the excellent Midnight Nation. IMO, most of what he put out for DC and Marvel was basically dreck, with very few exceptions. His first-person narration and storytelling choices are top-notch.

But I'd say Templesmith is the shining star, here. Not many could do what he does in this book. He does full art and colors here for full, haunting effect. I particularly love his amber-yellow tones he uses in much of the story. And the scene where a stripper is possessed by an angel is stunning in how the after-image of the angel overlays t form of the stripper. So many artists would have fumbled this script or delivered less imaginative execution, but Templesmith fuckin' NAILS it!

I very much look forward to reading the rest of this series based on the excellent first issue. It's nice to see that JMS still has the talent to overcome his recent sell-out image. And templesmith's artwork is just jaw-droppingly awesome!

I've gotta say, I stopped having any faith in JMS at to produce decent art. Not only was the quality of his corporate work poor, his interviews about Before Watchmen painted him (to me) as a sellout pansy.

I'd be interested in your continued reviews of his comics, Lardy. I'm not ready to put money in his pocket (unless he admits "I'm a corporate sellout whore bag" for his BW comments), but I can always be convinced to buy good art.

I think in the entirety of my life I've only ever been exposed to two works by JMS:

1. The Brave & the Bold which was one of, if not the BEST comics produced during the Dan Didio era; and
2. Superman which was one of, if not the WORST comics produced during the Dan Didio era.

So I'm a little unsure of what to make of this guy.

I found JMS' work on Midnight Nation to be amazing.

Rising Stars was also very good, but mired in writing delays, because he was doing other stuff (reading it all at once later would probably be much better than waiting four months for the next issue was at the time).

And then there was The Twelve, which meandered around and I don't even know if it ever got finished. I don't even care if it did, it wasn't compelling enough to seek out, and I'm usually pretty obsessive about finishing stories / shows / etc. that I've started.

I haven't read any of his mainstream DC / Marvel stuff, and have heard both high praise and angry criticism directed towards his Spider-Man run.

Pre comics, his Babylon 5 TV series started slow and kind of inconsistent, but by the third and fourth seasons was balls to the wall awesome.

Believe me, I was hesitant at first. But knowing how great Midnight Nation (and to a lesser extent Rising Stars) was, I suspected JMS would put his best foot forward with new creator-owned projects. So far it looks like I was right!

I think most people, including Cobie, would agree that his run on B&B was pretty much outstanding.....and lamented since there were solicited issues that never saw print. To be fair, also, his run on Thor was very good. What I've read of Supreme Power was really good as well. Lots of people really seemed to like The Twelve, despite Blacula's opinion.

His first arc on Amazing Spider-man featuring Morlun (plus the 9-11 issue) was really good as well. Initially, that was all JMS was supposed to do, but Joe Q saw dollar signs and convinced him to stick around for the long haul. Turns out, that arc was the only good Spidey story JMS had in him, imo.

And I remember everyone being super-excited about his Superman and Wonder Woman arcs he launched concurrently. I remember the quality was there initially, but the wheels fell off as soon as he announced his departure from those arcs. Superman: Earth One Vol. 1 was not really a bad story at all (though not really my cup of tea), and the enduring popularity of it has to speak for something.

Everyone shouts his failures from the rooftop, and we all know what they were. But to dismiss his stuff for the Big Two completely as dreck is unfair and clearly a fallacy.

^ Just a correction: that was Set's opinion about The Twelve. I haven't read it.

I will disagree about the initial quality of Superman though. I found the opening chapter and 'inciting incident' of that whole run to be monumentally stupid and wrong-headed, and then the rest of the story just got worse from there.

I sometimes can't believe that that story was written by the same man who gave us those awesome B&B stories. I still cry for those announced team-ups we never got - Lois Lane and Adam Strange, Two-Face and Swamp Thing...

I definitely agree that JMS’s Brave & Bold was a high point for DC Comics in the last 10 years, and was a fantastic series that was cancelled too soon (or more accurately, JMS simply found better things to do, as he tends to do with monthly comics). That makes it all the more frustrating that his other comics tend to be such crap.

I agree on the assessment Lardy made of his Spidey run. He had a great initial story and that was all he ever had. He subsequently was involved in what I consider the worst single thing blunder Marvel has ever made with Spider-Man. For a time, I didn’t really think he was too blame, but now I’m not so sure considering what a “company man” he’s revealed himself to be.

Supreme Power started off good but never went anywhere. That had a hard cancellation from me eventually after I bought way too many issues I didn’t enjoy. Again, he starts off full of steam and it slowly dies out.

His Superman was as atrocious as Blacula says. His Wonder Woman wasn’t much better—it started okay but he clearly wasn’t all that into it.

The real problem with him for me is that he came off as such an asshole in the Before Watchman interviews. Besides the fact that he was clearly wrong, and from what I’ve heard, his two minis were terrible anyway, he just became DC’s apologist and corporate lapdog, which angered me to no end, especially considering how seriously he takes his creative role in Babylon 5.

He’s emerged as one of those writers who I avoid at all costs, like JT Krul or Chuck Austen. Because almost always, I end up highly disappointed. All that being said, if the reviews of his recent material continue to be good, I’m open to try it. His late 90’s stuff with Top Cow seems to have been great, though I’ve only ever read the first trade of Midnight Nation.

^ In writing the above, I realize that I don't really like JMS all that much.

Oh well.

I call revisionist foul on you there, Cobie! I could be wrong, but I recall you praising that first issue or two...

All I remember is the issue where Superman battles a wife-beater in middle America, which has to be one of the single worst issues I've read in 10 years. That's honestly the only thing that sticks out in my mind, other than Chris Roberson having to step in and write his stories and only get 50% of what he deserved since JMS was credited as "co-plotter".

I actually just found my initial reviews of JMS's run. It appears I did like the first few issues, so I can admit when you're right Lardy (which is another way of not admitting I'm wrong ;)).

It seems like 4 or so issues in, the whole thing started to go off the rails for me, which I compared to "an after TV punky Brewster trapped in a refridgerator / Judd Winnick very special story" every issue. It was as preachy as one could imagine, apparently.

I guess that fits with his standard M.O. though. Start off full of steam, peter out, and lose interest, leaving readers in a lurch.

I was never a huge fan, and when I saw him at SDCC in 2010, he just seemed like an arrogant jerk. I liked some of the B & B stuff, but really didn't dig Earth One. The Before Watchmen stuff just really sealed the deal.

What was funny though, were Mark Waid's twitter snipes against him at the time.

Defending Gail Simone: "Dear big-name comics egomaniac: just ONCE can you talk about your genius in an interview without crapping on the work of your predecessors?"

Angered over JMS attacks on AMS sales :"Half an hour later, still fuming at JMS’s shitty passive-aggressiveness. I should probably go walk it off. Maybe with a long walk. A long, dull, pointless, boring walk. Across America.
…
That I won’t finish."

The weird thing about JMS' runs on Midnight Nation and Supreme Power for me is that they introduced me to Gary Frank's art, which I kind of liked for those series, as it seemed fresh at the time, kind of pseudo-realistic and yet sexy, too.

And then he started drawing Superman and Legionnaires and various other established characters, and I suddenly loathed his art (particularly the painful rictus-like grins), being the fickle, fickle person that I am...

Take note, comic book artists, I will turn on you like that!

Yeah, there's a major difference between Hulk-era Gary Frank, with his smooth, energetic line work, and Action Comics-era Gary Frank, where so many characters look like they've been using heroine for years.

I stopped by Frank's Booth to see about a head shot sketch, but his rates were pretty much unobtainable. Which is a little sad when you consider someone as legendary as Ramona Fradon was doing the same thing for a fraction of the price.

I don't even think he's ever been "all that", TBH...