Absolution

Written by Christos Gage
Art by Roberto Viacava

Christos Gage has made a name for himself as a superhero writer who can navigate difficult continuity terrain, and is often used to help iron out difficult consequences of poorly thought-out event books at the big two (think of his Spider-Man tie-in to Age of Ultron).  I was curious to see what his work is like when he can develop his own world to play with, unconstrained by corporate policy and the weight of years of stories.

Absolution is set in a world where superheroes are embraced by law enforcement, and work within the police or government agencies.  John Dusk is one of the most respected 'enhanced' police officers; he can project a blue 'aura' around his body, giving him abilities somewhere between a telekinetic's and a Green Lantern's.  Dusk has always had a strong sense of justice, but lately he's decided that he needs to take matters into his own hands, when he finds that too many of the world's most reprehensible individuals are given too many opportunities to reoffend.  Using his powers creatively, he starts executing some pretty awful folk.  And, this being an Avatar book, some of their crimes do get pretty disturbing.

Of course, this kind of thing can't last forever, and Gage does a good job of examining Dusk's responses to his own actions, as well as the reactions of the people he's close to.  The comic is a very good read, moving into some territory that superhero comics don't often explore.  The art, which adhere's to the standard Avatar look, is a little weak.

This book works well as a trade, and I will probably wait to pick up the current follow-up mini-series in the same format.

Area 10

Written by Christos N. Gage
Art by Chris Samnee

When Vertigo launched their Vertigo Crime imprint within an imprint, this is what I was expecting.  This is a straight up serial killer/angry cop story, with a typically atypical Vertigo twist.

Adam Kamen is a detective for the NYPD, who has been following a string of murders caused by a serial killer the press has dubbed "Henry the Eighth", because all that is ever found are the decapitated bodies of the victims.  Kamen is already having a hard time with the case when he gets attacked by a random crazy person, and has a screwdriver driven into the centre of his forehead.

He returns to the job, but is finding that his perceptions have been altered such that he can sometimes get a glimmer of the future.  He and the Department shrink that has been assigned to evaluate his fitness for duty look into the effects of the accidental trepanation he received, and soon learn that the whole thing might be connected to "Henry".

What follows is a police procedural gone slightly off the rails because of the bizarre way in which Adam sees things.  We learn that he has some secrets in his recent past, and stuff starts to get pretty bloody and suspenseful.

I think it's amusing that the best of the Vertigo Crime books is one of the first I've read not written by a 'crime writer'.  Gage is an emerging star of mainstream comics, and has TV experience on shows like Law and Order, but he hasn't written any mystery novels.  Perhaps that's why this is effective; the other writers don't really know what they're doing in this genre.

Gage is joined by Chris Samnee, who is an artist whose work I always enjoy.  His stuff looks great in black and white, and he helps to establish the creepy tone of this book quite nicely.  If you've been turned off this imprint before, this is the book that makes it worth trying again.

Resurrection #6

Written by Marc Guggenheim and Christos Gage
Art by Justin Greenwood and John Proctor

I'm still quite enjoying this book, as Sara, Bill Clinton and company discuss the wisdom of traveling to DC to try to re-establish the government, while Dolan discovers, and suppresses, further proof that Clinton is alive.

As usual, this book works quite well, although the fact that Ben didn't appear in this issue makes me wonder if he is in fact dead.

The main story ended too quickly (I kind of wish the main feature would be longer), although I quite enjoyed Gage and Proctors' back-up, about a man who spent most of the invasion trying to protect Hollywood's cultural treasures from destruction. I really like Proctor's art, and would like to see more of it.