Trailblazer

Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by Jim Daly

Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are a real pair of workhorses in the comics field.  I don't even know how many comics they have written in the past year, but I find that they are pretty dependable (unless they stray too far into mainstream superhero comics - their Freedom Fighters was not terribly good), and they usually impress with their work on Jonah Hex  month after month.  Lately, they've started putting out some rather random one-shots and short graphic novels.  While I didn't much like their Tattered Man, their Random Acts of Violence was one of my favourite comics of last year.

And so I figured that I'd give Trailblazers a try, and I enjoyed it.  These two writers have a knack for challenging the usual genre tropes that inhabit comics, and this book is a good example of that.  When the comic opens, we meet Jacob Mills, an ex-special forces guy who has become a hitman for hire, who only takes on mafia cases.  When things don't go according to plan, an intended target destroys Jacob's life.

Jacob decides to testify against all of his clients, in return for being inducted into Trailblazer, a project that puts people into a very secure witness protection program by sending them into the past - the Old West to be accurate.  Of course, Jacob's problems with his pursuers don't end there...

The book is a good thriller comic, with an interesting premise.  It probably doesn't stand up to close scrutiny, but it is an entertaining and professionally completed comic.

Bad Planet #6

Written by Steve Niles and Thomas Jane
Art by James Daly III and Tim Bradstreet

Well, this was a bit of a surprise. This book was solicited for last November, and I'd kind of forgotten about it. It's not the oldest thing on my pull-list (Pirates of Coney Island and Gutsville - where are you???), but the fact that the cover is by Dave Stevens gives you an idea of how long ago this series began. (This cover is more than enough reason to buy the book though - he really was a great artist).

The story has always been a weird mix between a celebrity vanity project and a straight-up B-movie with some great concepts working in the background. This issue features killer alien spider-hordes, a gigantic ax-wielding alien, a beautiful scientist in ripped clothes, a barefoot African computer genius who grew up in a slum but knows about the Smithsonian, and the science of Nikola Tesla. It's hard to balance a list of plot elements like that, and this issue feels a little rushed towards the end.

This is a fun comic. I wonder how it will read in trade form, without the 12 month lag between issues.