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In “Agent Carter: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary” #1, writer Kathryn Immonen and artist Rich Ellis check in with Peggy Carter in 1966. In a story that opens above Greenland, Peggy and Dum Dum Dugan are testing out new weaponry off the decks of a helicarrier, in pages colored by Rachelle Rosenberg and lettered by Joe Sabino, readers learn that Dugan has a special request of Carter, one that should test her mettle while evaluating a new S.H.I.E.L.D. recruit. That recruit is Sif, and once introduced, Immonen wastes no time in pairing the Asgardian warrior with Carter and letting organic storytelling determine the path of “Agent Carter: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary” #1. No stranger to Sif (having written her adventures in “Journey Into Mystery”) or Carter (see the miniseries “Operation S.I.N.”), Immonen finds common ground and mutual respect between the two characters and powers the story forward, serving up action around a sliver of a mystery. Ellis keeps pace with Immonen, giving each

“Vertigo Quarterly: Black” rounds out the first year of the Vertigo color-model-themed anthology series. True to Western associations with the color, all nine stories involve death or evil, but the strongest contributions have other themes as well. “The Dying of the Light” by Francesco Francavilla is a horror story in which light is life and darkness, death. Francavilla’s art page and panel composition and color are eye-catching and elegant, but the ending fails in its dramatic goals because Francavilla leaves readers in the dark about why the light dies. “Super Blackout” by Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew has a sentimental but unusual approach to the theme of death with the creation of the blackout game app. The game’s inclusion in the story climax feels artificial. The moral of the story is to make the life you want, and the game doesn’t make that obvious insight any fresher. However, Yang’s dialogue makes the characters appealing and Liew’s attention to background detail makes the h

In “John Carter: Warlord of Mars” #1 John Carter returns to Dynamite Entertainment’s publishing line, but this time it bears creator credit to Edgar Rice Burroughs, a result of Dynamite Entertainment’s agreement with Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Already familiar with the Burroughs’ group through other creative endeavors, writer Ron Marz displays another sort of familiarity in his knowledge of Barsoom. Marz introduces readers to the conflicts on Barsoom (which some call “Mars” or maybe even “G’loot Praktaw”) through Dejah Thoris, the princess of Mars, and as of this comic, John Carter’s wife. Dejah is inflicted with a truth serum that incites her to reveal the truth of all she knows to an invader. The identity of that invader is revealed at the end of the book, setting this series up for a very personal conflict to come. The vehicle of the truth serum makes for a fantastically natural plot device to enable readers to quickly and efficiently get up to speed on the adventures of John Car

“Vertigo Quarterly: Yellow” #1 is the third installment of Vertigo’s CMYK anthology. The nine stories are variously set in outer space, different countries or imaginary lands, tied together only by the color yellow. The majority of the creative teams are able to tell a story with substance and shape in the space of a very small page count. “The Vision of Sita” by Steve Orlando and Emilio Utrera is a monologue and flashback told by Raz, a former artist and now an immortal witness to the death of worlds. Raz’s turn of fate from success to failure is a vivid surprise, but the narrator becomes unlikable at the end as he reflects on fate. The story doesn’t quite measure up to its own ambition since Raz’s gravitas and martyrdom are not convincing. “Untitled” by Gerard Way and Philip Bond is an excellent story, more for what it wisely leaves out than what is explicitly says. It opens smoothly and dives straight into some wild action, grounded by the reactions and reassuring ordinariness of

“Vertigo Quarterly Magenta” is a solid second installment in Vertigo’s “CMYK” anthology series. As with all anthologies, there’s a range in quality from story to story, but each one in this issue has a clear, creative point-of-view. “CMYK” continues to offer a compelling demonstration of the unique strengths of the short comic. There are nine stories in “Magenta,” of which my favorites were probably “Bone White, Blood Red”, “Adrift” and “Gem Pockets.” (That said, what I most enjoy about “CMYK” is how difficult it is to pick a favorite.) Some of the stories reach complete, clear conclusions, while others are unresolved slice-of-life tales, and each approach has different strengths. “Bone White, Blood Red” is one of the shortest and arguably least “complete” of the nine, presenting a wonderfully creepy and unresolved world. Deering’s script is lively and filthy; she uses dialogue to develop the characters, and lets Scalera and Dinisio’s art develop their supernatural world. Scalera’s

As ideas for a series of anthology one-shots goes, having each comic focus on one of the four colors used for CMYK printing is certainly odd. But first out of the gate “Vertigo Quarterly: Cyan” is off to a strong start, with enough good stories to make this comic worth your while. The book starts and ends with two of the best pieces, but they’re about as different from one another as you can imagine. Shaun Simon and Tony Akins’ “Serial Artist” involving a serial killer who considers herself an artist teamed up with an undertaker is the sort of idea that could sustain a huge story, and it’s much to Simon and Akins’ credit that they can boil it down to a satisfying 8-pager. The end result is a story that has no fat on its bones, but also isn’t afraid to use its opening page just to properly set a scene and give you a feel for how Liz is killing her victims. It doesn’t hurt that Akins’ art is gorgeous — I suspect I’m not the only person who’s missed his work on “Wonder Woman” — with ge

“John Carter: The Gods of Mars” is plucked from a sequel to the story currently making the rounds in movie theaters. Of course, the original story predates every single character published by Marvel and most of their creators but that doesn’t stop the House of Ideas from properly celebrating one of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ most intriguing creations. Sam Humphries creatively adapts the story from Burroughs’ works, including a passing reflection from Burroughs’ notes as the author did when he originally penned “A Princess of Mars” and the original manuscript for “The Gods of Mars.” The device works well to advance the action of the story, juxtaposed with imagery depicting Carter’s struggles against the Plant Men — imagery is beautifully drawn by Ramón Perez and collaboratively colored by Jordie Bellaire. Perez and Bellaire melt into one another, making the art an indistinguishable cooperative. Cory Petit plays alongside the two, adding sound effects (or perhaps preserving those effects i

For many, the upcoming “John Carter” movie will be their first exposure to the Edgar Rice Burroughs creation. This story is designed to help smooth out the introduction, serving as the “Official Prequel to Disney’s highly anticipated film,” as pasted on the cover to this first of four issues. The Disney logo does appear on the cover to this comic, but I have to say I am pretty sure that is the smallest usage of the logo I have ever seen. Disney-approved or Marvel-produced, it matters little for this comic book, which is a nice primer to all things Barsoom (that’s Mars as the Mars-dwellers call it). It starts off with John Carter, but it quickly shifts focus from Carter over to the two characters that most impact the life of Carter on Mars: Dejah Thoris, princess of the city of Helium; and Tars Tarkas, Jeddak of the Tharks. Through this story, and reinforced by the glossary at the back of this first issue, we are introduced to the three races of Mars: Zodangans, Heliumites, and Thar

Opening up “John Carter: A Princess of Mars” #1, I had no idea what I was getting into. A kinetic and incredibly fun Skottie Young cover, an intriguing title, and a (far too slight) familiarity with Edgar Rice Burroughs’ work suggested it was something I should try out, though, and I’m glad I did. In this issue, our hero, John Carter, wakes up in a very strange place and has no idea how he got there. His last memory is of prospecting in Arizona and then being accosted by strange fumes in a cave. In short order, Carter realizes he’s on Mars. Because he seems to be able to jump to incredible heights and read his captors minds, he is kept as a prisoner, guarded by a giant “dog” he calls Woola. He defeats some giant apes and, out of respect, the Martians agree to call him John Carter, instead of “mammal.” When some ships from the great Martian city of Helium crash land and a prisoner — “The Princess” of the title — emerges and is human, John finds his priorities and interests shifting, t

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