Secret #2

Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Ryan Bodenheim

Jonathan Hickman's new series, Secret, is kind of the 'other' Hickman book.  His Manhattan Projects has been garnering more attention, and while that book, about the variety of secret science projects rolled into the development of the atom bomb, is a lot of fun and generally pretty nuts, Secret feels to be its opposite.

The first issue established that this series was about espionage in the business world, and it introduced a number of characters, but Hickman kept most of the comic's goals and purpose quiet.  I thought this new issue would clarify what's going on, and it did to a certain degree, but it also just piled on a number of new questions.

The comic opens on two boys who are waiting for their father to mete out punishment for something they did.  We are given enough to know that the father is involved in organized crime, and that his punishment is pretty harsh (I'm not going to spoil it, but the cover kind of does).

From there, we move to today, where Grant Miller is target shooting with a woman.  She gives him a letter, and they both realize that this particular day has significance to Grant.  Later, he's called into his boss's office, where he learns that his friend was killed last issue, and that the company's 'fixer', who he doesn't like, will be handling that problem.

Hickman takes his time establishing Miller's past and relationships, without really getting into the nuts and bolts of what he, or Steadfast Security Solutions is really up to.  The mystery works very well though, as I find I'm completely invested in finding out what's going to happen moving forward.

Ryan Bodenheim's doing some very good work with this comic.  His previous books, A Red Mass For Mars (with Hickman), and Halcyon, have both been much more over the top.  I like how he handles normal everyday situations, and Michael Garland's colours, which fit with Hickman's usual monochromatic palette, work very well here.

This title deserves at least as much attention as The Manhattan Projects is getting, and is perfect for anyone who enjoys Thief of Thieves or Criminal.

Secret #1

Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Ryan Bodenheim

It seems like almost every week there is a new on-going or mini-series coming from Image that is of the highest degree of quality and ingenuity.  This week, the second of two new Jonathan Hickman-written series debuts, and it is a very cool book, harkening back to his first comic series, The Nightly News.

As Secret opens, a man is awoken from his sleep by a masked assailant, tied up, and tortured in order to learn his work computer's password.  His interrogator pulls out one of his teeth during their conversation.  Later, we learn that this man is the CEO of a large Washington accounting firm, and that his password gives him access to the financial secrets of many powerful people and corporations.

Scared, our executive goes to his lawyer, who is in turn able to put him in touch with the group that his firm uses for industrial espionage and security.  That group is run by Grant Miller, who proceeds to point out to the law firm, in the most arrogant way possible, the numerous gaps and weaknesses in their own security, in a bid to have them increase their use of his services.  Miller later meets with Dunn, our man from the beginning of the issue, and they outline a plan to capture or mislead the guy who attacked Dunn at his home.  Of course, there is more going on than either Dunn or his lawyer suspect, as Hickman begins to lay out just the beginning of what looks to be another multi-layered and complex story from the man who excels at these kinds of things.

At one point in the book, Miller tells the lawyers that, as 'nations are crumbling... soon all we will have left are the little tribes we call corporations."  In The Nightly News, Hickman explored people whose lives were hurt or ruined by the media; now we appear to be on the other side of the glass, as scared millionaires fight to hold on to their ill-gotten riches.  It's interesting, in the post-Occupy world, to find the 1% being portrayed as the more sympathetic characters, although I do find myself much more interested in the people who are working to ruin them.

Hickman is joined on this book by Ryan Bodenheim, the artist he worked with on A Red Mass For Mars.  This book is, by necessity, less visually gripping than that futuristic outer space story, but Bodenheim still does very well with the numerous talking-heads scenes that make up this comic, and balances them nicely with the terror of the home invasion.  The comic is coloured by Michael Garland, but I suspect that Hickman had a firm hand in the design of the comic, as most pages are monochromatic, or only have splashes of one colour.  This is a technique we often see in his independent books, and helps give them all a unified look, despite the fact that he works with a variety of artists.

I'm not sure if Secret is an on-going or a limited series (Image never seems to share that information these days), but I'll be with it for the long haul.  I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is enjoying Thief of Thieves, as the two comics go well together.

Halcyon #2

Written by Marc Guggenheim and Tara Butters
Art by Ryan Bodenheim

It feels like there aren't all that many new angles to approach a superhero world with, but Guggenheim and Butters have found a unique take on things - a world where superheroes have become obsolete.  Okay, that's been seen before, but not where it's happened through natural progression or evolution - people have just stopped doing bad things.

The various heroes of this world are struggling with finding a place for themselves.  Some have embraced the new status quo, while others struggle to find a reason or explanation behind the changes.  There is some suggestion that this world's equivalent of Dr. Doom, Oculus, may have something to do with it, but that feels like a red herring.

While I like this approach, and love Bodenheim's art, the problem with this comic is that the characters are not developed enough to be differentiated on the page.  There's the scene where the Batman-analogue tracks down another character, and I had no idea who anyone was throughout the scene.

This series does have a lot of potential, and I hope it's better able to rise to it as it continues.

Halcyon #1

Written by Marc Guggenheim and Tara Butters
Art by Ryan Bodenheim

A comic by the writer of Resurrection, and the artist of Red Mass For Mars is a no-brainer purchase for me, and although the first half of the comic made me nervous, I'm happy to see that my instincts were correct once again.

The comic opens with a number of short scenes which try too quickly to establish a number of superhuman characters.  They mostly fall into the usual archetypes - there's a Captain America figure, a Superwoman, a Batman, and so on.  It's a few too many characters coming at the reader too quickly, although the situations they are in serve the purpose of filling in the reader to the fact that crime in the world has dropped precipitously in a very short span of time.

It's an interesting concept - that the superheroes, a team called Halcyon, are the ones most concerned with a drop in crime.  There's also something going on with the Dr. Doom figure, a guy called Oculus, but we're not too sure what that is yet.

This comic reminded me a little of titles like The Authority and the classic Squadron Supreme mini-series.  Bodenheim's art is very good.  It comes off here as something of a mix of Bryan Hitch with Frank Quitely.  I think he's going to be an artist to watch in the next couple of years, depending on how quick he is (I'm not sure whose fault the delays on Red Mass were - his or Hickman's).

This is an interesting new title, and it deserves some attention.

Red Mass for Mars #4

Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Ryan Bodenheim

In the year and one month since the last issue came out, I've managed to completely forget what was going on in this book. 

This issue has the heroes of Earth fighting against the alien horde (looking at my post of a year ago, they are called the Hun-Du, not that you would know this from reading this issue).  There is a black hole bomb, and a God Gun, all of which sound like the types of things one would see in Hickman's Fantastic Four run.  There are also a couple of flashbacks, but they don't add much to the proceedings I felt.

Really, this issue is a big disappointment.  I liked the first three quite a bit, and could have managed to read this as just a big epic ending if the books had come out in any sort of reasonable stretch of time, but at this late date, the whole thing feels a little like Hickman has forgotten his original intent, or has since used a similar idea elsewhere, so he just blows stuff up and kills people instead.  It's a let-down.

On the positive side, Bodenheim's art is wonderful, and more or less worth buying the comic for.  I would still recommend that people read this in trade, as the beginning was excellent; just don't expect a great ending.

Red Mass for Mars #3

Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Ryan Bodenheim

This issue starts with a text box saying "Four Months Later." I think "10 Months Later" would be more appropriate, as that's how late this book is. I'm not complaining however, because, as with all of Hickman's independent work, it's really really good.

In this issue, we learn much more about Mars and his history with humanity, and why he left Earth. We also see what is happening with the invading Hun-Du horde, and learn the outcome of last issue's attack plan.

Hickman is a fantastic writer, and this title serves as a strong bridge from his earliest, counter-cultural pieces like 'The Nightly News' and 'Transhuman' to his current work for Marvel. It's a superhero comic, but one with a great deal of intelligence, and an interesting look at the psyche of immensely powerful beings.

The art in this title is also fantastic. Bodenheim's art is improving with each issue (is that why it's so late?), and the colouring by Hickman really stands out. I hope that the final issue comes sooner rather than later.

Red Mass for Mars #2

Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Ryan Bodenheim

This is another Hickman masterpiece. This series is set in a future where the Earth is about to come under siege by an overwhelmingly powerful alien race. The title character, Mars, is an eternal Superman-analogue, who has no interest in helping with the situation at all.

This issue introduces us to his son Phobos, and gives some explanation to the bizarre actions of Lightbender in the previous issue. Even though this is the second issue of a four-issue series, it feels like the plot is still being set up.

The art by Bodenheim is interesting. I like his designs for characters and futuristic technology. The colours are by Hickman, and he works with his usual pallet, giving the look a bit of consistency with Pax Romana.

As usual with Hickman, I have no idea when the next issue's going to come out, but I am looking forward to it.