Wednesday Comics

DC Comics has always been willing to play with the form of its comics and characters, from those giant Superman vs The Flash books back in the 70s to the panoramic Zuda books. And over the past few years, they've experimented with weekly comics--successfully with 52, less so in Countdown, and a return to form in the more tightly focused Trinity, which finished its run a few months ago. As an encore, DC has set up Wednesday Comics for a summer run. Rather than one story serialized in the normal 32 page comic format, Wednesday Comics is done in the style of an old Sunday Supplement--modern superheroes translated to the Prince Valiant age. Each issue consists of 15 pages, each by different creators, over the next 3 months.

Wednesday Comics #1 came out this week. It is on full color newsprint, and each page unfolds to a glorious broadsheet size. So a brief look at some of the stories on offer:

Kamandi by Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook

Sook (Doctor Thirteen, X-Factor) is a wonderful artist and this is one of the pages that really puts you in the mind of an Alex Raymond or Frank King. As Kamandi may be an obscure character to the wider audience DC hopes to attract, the page basically consists of an introduction to the Great Disaster and Kamandi topped off with a good old fashioned cliffhanger in the last panel.

Superman by John Arcudi and Lee Bermejo

The story begins in medias beatdown with a nice panel of Superman being pounded across the Metropolis skyline towards the reader. Along with Batman and a few others, in Bermejo's painterly style this is just a good normal comics page, reproduced at a larger size.

Deadman by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck

A nicely designed page that puts Boston Brand square in the center and is able to get both Deadman's convoluted backstory and the beginning of its murder mystery out on to the table. The art was a bit like the work Darwyn Cooke did on the Spirit last year.

Metamorpho by Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred

A lot of white space--almost a 3rd--taking both the top title and the bottom list of characters. Again, just setting up the background and relationships. Allred is perfect for Metamorpho as it was obvious he would be.

Strange Adventures by Paul Pope

With Kamandi, this page most successfully gives off the vintage newspaper strip vibe. It intro's Adam Strange and Alana on Rann with an attack by the Rock People of Ragathann(!) Pope's style as always straddles the line between mainstream and indie. Subtle, green-greyish coloring as well.

Supergirl by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor

On the other side of the spectrum from Strange Adventures. On first read, I thought that Wednesday Comics lacked a Sugar and Spike humor comic but on reflection, here it is. Amanda (Power Girl) Connor just has one of the most appealing art styles out there right now, a lot like Kevin Maguire way back when he was on Justice League International. And with Supergirl chasing after Krypto and Streaky the Super Cat, 'nuff said.

Wonder Woman by Ben Caldwell

This will probably be the most polarizing strip. It is incredibly dense, with easily the highest panel count that, along with muddy color (at least on my copy) and cursive lettering, makes it hard to follow. With that said, Caldwell gives us a dreamy fairy tale Princess Diana that has the potential to be my favorite of these stories.

Sgt. Rock by Joe and Adam Kubert

Joe Kubert can do anything. Here, Rock is being tortured by the SS as he tells us in voiceover that Easy Co was on a mission to rescue some french partisans.

The Flash by Karl Kerschl and Brenden Fletcher

One of the cleverer pages. It's divided into 2 parts as though it was 2 strips sharing the same page, The Flash and the Mary Worth-like Iris West. First, The Flash strip opens as though it is at the climax of a story that has been going on for months, complete with Gorilla Grodd and a bomb on a speeding subway train. Then, in counterpoint, the bottom Iris West strip features Iris leaving Barry a Dear John letter because of his neglectful ways. And in another nice touch, Iris West is colored in that old school 4 color dot process.

Hawkman by Kyle Baker

And finally, a powerful opening here with Katar Hol ascending with a flock of birds towards a highjacked plane. I haven't been a fan of a lot of Baker's more recent work--his line getting squiggly to the point of annoyance--but his recent miniseries Special Forces was a return to form as is this.