Hero Comics 2012

Written by Kevin Eastman, Tom Ziuko, Chris Ryall, Russ Heath, Christian Gossett, Alan Kupperberg, Richard Starkings, Robert Washington
Art by Kevin Eastman, Gerry Acerno, Ashley Wood, Russ Heath, Christian Gossett, Alan Kupperberg, Dave Sim, Chris Ivy

There is a different expectation when reviewing or discussing a book like Hero Comics.  To begin with, the comic is an anthology produced to funnel profits to the Hero Initiative, a fund that helps ailing and destitute comics creators who are in financial need.  The work they do is essential - these writers and artists are freelancers who have contributed to an art form that does not provide a pension or, frequently, gratitude for a life of service to a product that we all love.

The collection of work in books like this, then, is a hodge-podge of work by creators who are donating their time.  Usually, there are some cool and special things in these books for true comics fans.

This issue opens with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles story by Kevin Eastman.  I've never been a Turtles fan, but this is a nice story.  There is also a collection of Zombies Vs. Robots strips, which did very little for me.

What had me most excited here was the fact that there is a new The Red Star story by that comic's creator, Christian Gossett.  I love the Red Star, and have been missing it.  Gossett gives us a story about soldiers fighting in Al'Istaan, and the comic is clearly a metaphor for America's current involvement in Afghanistan (the rest of the series can be read as an examination of the Soviet Union's Afghan policies, albeit with science fiction flying crafts and magic).  Gossett doesn't use any of the digital tricks he usually employs, but I still got a thrill out of reading this.

Dave Sims draws an Elephantmen story here too.  This is a matching of artist and story that I can't believe hasn't happened before now, as I can't think of a better artist for this.  The story is wordy and doesn't go anywhere, but it looks incredibly cool.

There are also a number of one-page strips spotlighting creators who have had to turn to the Hero Initiative for help.  They include comics legend Russ Heath, which just feels wrong to me.  Also included here are Tom Ziuko, Alan Kupperberg, and Robert Washington.

This is the type of comic that everyone should be buying, as it goes to a good cause.  If you felt even a little bit of outrage about the Avengers/Jack Kirby thing, you should go buy this comic, just to balance out your karma a little.

Be Warned! Skrull Kill Krew #1-5

Written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar
Art by Steve Yeowell and Chris Ivy

Okay, so I figured that a 90s Marvel comic about a group of shapeshifters who got their powers by eating beef tainted with dead Skrulls and use these abilities to seek out Skrulls and kill them would not be very good, even despite the fact that it was written by two of the most acclaimed comics writers of the 00's, but I had no idea it would be this bad.

Because the Skrull Kill Krew is BAD.  Really, really bad.  It's obvious when reading it that Morrison had a very limited involvement in this title.  I can see the concept being his, but there is no way that he wrote even a word of this dialogue (even if it was the first comic he ever wrote not under the influence of something).  Instead, this has Mark Millar's hands all over it, but not his usual hands, more like the ones that were recently reattached after some kind of horrible accident, before he started physiotherapy.

The book follows Ryder and Moonstomp, the founders of the Kill Krew, as they start to travel the country looking for new recruits.  I'm not sure how they found people, or how one batch of Skrull meat would travel so far before being eaten, but let's not worry about that.  Instead, let's worry about what horrible stereotypes all the characters are.  Ryder is an ex-SHIELD agent (or something) and a black activist who has Nick Fury worried (although not enough to do something).  Moonstomp is a British skinhead (who uses the word 'fagging' a lot) who is slowly turning black out of his hatred of black people.  Or something like that.  Then we get characters like Cowboy and Catwalk, who are as two-dimensional as you can imagine.

In the course of their mercifully short five issues, the Krew tangles with Hydra (and Captain America), and exterminates a town full of Skrulls, protected by the Fantastic Four (who are also Skrulls).  They kill them with guns and with their shape-shifting powers, which are apparently more formidable than the Skrulls' own abilities.

The dialogue is ridiculously bad, and not even edited to reflect the fact that the book is American (unless people in the mid-West also call phone booths 'call boxes').  The art, by the usually skilled Steve Yeowell, is rushed and horrible in all kinds of 90s ways.  Truly, this thing is a trainwreck, and I can't believe it's by the same team (minus Millar) who gave us the wonderful Sebastian O.  What I also can't believe is that Marvel brought these characters back for a bit part in the Avengers Initiative Secret Invasion chapters.  I'd have thought it would be better if all involved never admitted to this thing existing.