Slugfest!

The first story arc titled Love Will Get You Killed comes to a close this week in
Jack Cross # 4. This series features characters written and created by Warren Ellis and artwork by Gary Erskine.

In the opening scene in the first issue, four-armed assailants, a girl, a mechanic, a mailman, and a shooter, steal a suitcase from a group of South African men in a Chicago tenement and blow up the building to cover their tracks. So the questions: what's in the briefcase? and who's gone to extremes to acquire it? form the basis for this four-issue thriller.

National Security Council operative Karen Huang calls in Cross to interrogate a Department of Homeland Security agent, James Wilkie, who has been captured after he turned on his own security team as they were intercepting the suitcase weapon from a South African terrorist outfit: PAGAD, or People Against Gangsterism and Drugs. In exchange for interrogating Wilkie, Cross gets "two million dollars and an additional three years of total freedom and official nonexistance"; presumably to continue with his political activism, like staging a protest march in San Francisco that includes "takes against the occupation, rights infringement, and the way the country's changing."

Under the watchful eyes of DHS assistant-director Tom Morden, Cross uses some unforgiving tactics on Wilkie and uncovers a CIA cell hidden within DHS. In the second issue, Wilkie explains that the weapon is a Neurological Derangement System device: a non-lethal psychotronic warfare unit which induces a specific kind of permanent brain damage, making its victims docile. Wilkie went rogue in an effort to acquire the weapon as a bargaining chip to free Yasamin Saad, an anti-Saddam activist he believes is wrongly interned at Guatanamo Bay...who he happens to be sweet on. (aww!) But as no good deed goes unpunished, a back-end PAGAD squad foils Wilkie's scheme and acquires the briefcase, leaving him alive to lie his way out of the mess he's created.

After a little more harsh treatment, Wilkie divulges the members of his cell: Paul Philip Pogue, Harry Gouvea, John N.J. Snow. Then Cross promptly shoots him in the head. Assistant-director Morden immediately confronts Cross, who responds by putting him in his place saying, "You don't get to question me. I have sold my sanity for the last ten years in defense of this country. Real defense. Real threats. Including the ones we made ourselves."

When Jack flies to Miami for a rendezvous at Guatanamo Bay, Cuba, he is met by Lauren Charlton, a DHS agent assigned by Morden as a "handler" for Cross. While Charlton drives Cross to his hotel, they exchange stories and find they have a bit in common, as they both grew up as military brats. Cross soon realizes they are being tailed and pulls some high powered slugfest! action to stop his assailants. Artist Gary Erskine uses some Sam Pekinpah style techinques as he slows the action down to a frame by frame pace to develop nuances of this graphic sequence. Cross and Charlton bring their vehicle to a stop and approach the dying men who mumble, "...killed my people..blew up the whole house...and you call us terrorists...." Cross recognizes the accent as South African. Back at the hotel, Cross contacts Huang as news reports of the Chicago tenement bombing are hitting the TV airwaves. Jack surmises the device Wilke was trying to acquire is still at play.

Issue three begins the next day, as Cross and Charlton arrive at Guantanamo to meet with Yasamin Saad to learn more about the Neurological Derangement System, or NDS device. A chaplin accompanies Saad and remains in the interrogation room along with Charlton as Saad explains that DHS agents contacted her two weeks prior. But when Cross asks for the names of the DHS agents, all-out action cuts loose as the not-so-holy chaplin pulls out a high-powered weapon to prevent Saad from talking! After 6 pulse-pounding pages of slugfest! action, Cross uses more of his convincing techniques to get the vicar to reveal that he's actually CIA. And not only that, he recognizes Cross and calls him by his real name, John Craske. Saad then reveals the names of the visitors: Snow, Pogue, and Gouvea....the CIA operatives in Wilkie's cell planted in the Department of Homeland Security!

Cross hustles it out of Guantanamo, contacts Huang to prepare a jet in anticipation of their arrival, and along with Charlton, boards a helicopter to return to the mainland. But it's out of the frying pan and into the fire as an aggressive Apache helicopter targets them and shoots to kill! This time it's 7 pages of slugfest! action in the air! Agent Charlton reminds Cross he is in an unarmed helicopter, and Jack tells her: "Guns make you stupid. Guns make you forget that anything can be a weapon." Then he directs the helicopter toward the side of the Apache resulting in a collision that spells the end for the instigators.

Later, back at the FBI office in Miami, issue three concludes as Cross posits that the National Security Council should have enough evidence to make the CIA "come clean." Karen Huang shows up by surprise and informs them that on the guarantee of agency immunity, the CIA director revealed that the device is in San Francisco and is going to be used on the protestors in order to quell civil disobedience in the bay area for a generation. Huang says, "The CIA doesn't have to guarantee free speech to anyone. Protestors aid the terrorists. Heard that one before?"

So as issue four begins, Warren Ellis completely blurs the line between comicbook reality, current events, and his own personal agenda.

Cross now has a personal stake in the matter since he organized the protest march. Ellis reveals his entire plot: In our post-911 world, the Department of Homeland Security is comprised of sixteen agencies including the FBI. DHS does not include the CIA. Ellis proposes that DHS was created to snub the CIA for their failure on 9-11, and the FBI was included in DHS to allow them "to make good."



So, back in comicbook reality, the CIA has infiltrated the DHS with two cells: 1) Wilkie, Snow, Pogue, and Gouvea ; and 2) the backup cell of assailants who blew up the tenement at the beginning of the story: the girl, the mechanic, the mailman, and the shooter. All in an effort to use the weapon on protestors undermining governmental authority by expressing free speech, and to pin it on the DHS. On the jet ride to Chicago, Warren Ellis again uses Cross to prostelitize, proposing that since there was no terrorist activity on the Millennium, the intelligence community did their job....without the aid of DHS or "without impacting the rights of the American people or our visitors. Free speech is not a terrorist activity."

As they land in Chicago, they are met by the FBI and board a helicopter. Cross and Charlton continue their conversation, and Charlton questions how protesting will change anything. Jack responds with another question: "What did taxation without representation change?" Charlton responds, "Not a lot without the revolutionary war." And Cross gets the last word in: "Then maybe that's next."

Pretty heavy handed stuff for a comic book, if you ask me! So where the slugfest!?! action??? Why, on the next page! It's practically non-stop slugfest! action for the rest of the book!

With photo IDs of Snow, Gouvea, and Pogue in hand, the FBI spots Pogue. Cross wastes no time. As he directs the helicopter pilot to decend, he grabs a rope until he low enough to drop onto the roof of a car....glass flying in every direction from the impact. He targets and assaults Pogue with a direct hit! But Snow is close by, and although he arrives too late to provide back-up, he engages Cross in a fire-fight while they use parked cars for cover. Next, Jack uses his marksman skills to puncture the gas tank of the car Snow is hiding behind. He then lights his lighter and sends it toward the puddle of gasoline spilling onto the street, engulfing Snow in a ball of fire as the vehicle erupts into flames!

The protestors march on and we see single panels of the surviving members of the cells. Time ticks by as the Neurological Derangement System device is primed for detonation. Gouvea spots Cross and fires a slug that hits him in the gut! But Cross' training supercedes the pain and he puts a bullet in Gouvea's brain and keeps moving.

Meanwhile, Agent Charlton has the helicopter land and proceeds on foot in search of Jack. Amidst the protest march, Cross fires his gun into the air causing the crowd to disperse. Well, that is everybody except the man with the briefcase! In the final confrontation, Jack points his gun and directs him to give up. Then the shocker! He hears the voice behind him instruct him to do the same; it's Lauren Charlton....revealed as "the girl" in the second deep-cover cell! She tells him, "...there has to be limits to freedom. Because dissent scares people. Jack you kill him. I kill you." Cross responds, "See? Guns make people stupid."

Then Jack fires a direct hit at the briefcase device which bursts into flames. Charlton fires the bullet, which Cross has anticipated. It strikes Jack in upper left arm as he turns and fires a bullet through Agent Charlton's heart, then turns to the man engulfed in flames and does the same. Before Cross blacks out, he see Karen Huang standing over him, reassuring him that help is on the way.

The story closes with BBC news reports stating the tenement explosion was a result of a "gas leak" and CIA director George Tarrant was found dead at home in an apparent "burglary gone wrong."

In the end, Jack is back at home recovering from his wounds. And adding a little cross-shaped cutting to his body in memory of Lauren Charlton, as he does for every person he sends to the grave.

Warren Ellis gives a whole new meaning to the old adage: Just because you think you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you. Even if you not a huge fan of his work, you have to admit he is certainly one comicdom's most prolific modern writers. But from my own perspective, he seem to be one who's work shines when under close editorial scrutiny. I say this because some of his stories published independently seem to lack the focus of work he has generated through mainstream publishers. However, I enjoy reading stories featuring characters he has created rather than see him redefine or remain constrained to previous continuity.

Jack Cross, like many of Ellis' other characters, is a tough-as-nails maverick, whose single-mindedness plays out in dead ahead storytelling. With Cross, Ellis gambles blending elements of science-fiction and the dangers of jingoism, into a character with questionable moral idealism. Ellis liberally uses Cross as a platform for his personal opinions; much of it bordering on didacticism....in other word, sometimes Ellis seems to take himself a little too seriously! For example, when in the FBI offices in Miami, Cross lectures Charlton on the definition of a conspiracy by saying, "When someone is ordering an operation, and others are tasked to perform it, that's not a conspiracy." Or when on route to the protest, Charlton says, "It's not a global village we're in. It's a global city. And people who live in the city don't leave their doors unlocked." C'mon Ellis! Lighten up a bit!

DC seems to be taking a chance publishing this book sporting a DC logo, as it seems it would more logically fit under the Vertigo imprint. I seriously doubt that Batman or Superman will be showing up within the pages of this book....ever. But more and more, DC seems to be including titles like Jack Cross or the upcoming return of Steve Gerber's Hard Time under the DC umbrella. Perhaps they are considering collapsing the Vertigo imprint post-Infinite Crisis.

Although the indicia states this is a monthly title, anyone who reads Planetary knows Warren Ellis won't be held to a timeline! So it's no surprise that the next issue blurb says, "Stay tuned, in a few months, for the next chapter in the Jack Cross saga!" And those of you who enjoyed it....will. Hey, I'd rather wait and see a complete story released in a timely manner than have to wait months for them to finish it. Wouldn't you?

Professor X is missing, presumed dead. Earth's mutant population has been reduced to a fraction of its previous size. And in the aftermath, the X-Men are left to pick up the pieces under the watchful gaze of a Sentinel positioned outside the mansion for government surveillance. Billed as "the greatest mystery in the history of the X-Men", X-Men: Deadly Genesis written by Ed Brubaker with pencils by Trevor Hairsine and inks by Kris Justice, revisits the story presented in Giant-Size X-Men # 1 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its release.

After a one-page recap, the story moves past the exosphere (heh) where the crippled space-shuttle Prospect is host to a dead crew. And from the depths of space, an unknown visitor appears with glowing eyes and hands, his body alive with energy. He says, "No...it can't just be me..." leading us to believe there were others who were accompanying him on his journey. In an attempt to orient himself, he approaches the dead astronauts, and simply by touching one he gets a glimpse into the past and how they met their demise: a flash of light and its resultant energy surge. And although the reader is only left to wonder, the blazing eyes of this visitor seem to understand exactly what has transpired. After boarding the ship, he realizes he is now in the 21st century, abandoned or exiled by "them", and none to happy about it.

Over at the mansion, Piotr finds Kurt lost in thought as he examines a photo of the original "new" X-Men team: Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Banshee, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Professor X....with Sunfire and Thunderbird noticeably absent. The point made a little more apparent when Kurt says, "And it occurs to me this is one of the few times all of us have been together since this picture was taken. All who are still with us." Meanwhile, reluctantly under the supervision of Kitty Pryde and Lockheed, Emma Frost is using Cerebra in an effort to try and locate Professor X and instead picks up on an "omega level" energy signature. As she tries to lock on its position, a psychic slugfest! knocks Emma unconscious, with Kitty witnessing Emma's mental projection of the shuttle Prospect as it crash lands.

As Hank and Scott rush Emma to the infirmary, Kitty relates the events and Scott decides to take action. With Rachel and Logan, he boards the Blackbird as he wonders aloud who else beside Professor X might possibly register as powerful a signature. Once they out-manuever the Sentinel on guard, they proceed toward the crash location in upstate New York.

Back in the mansion, Kitty trying to recover from the entire incident, screams as she looks into a mirror and momentarily sees a reflection of a walking, decayed corpse. As she turns to face the horror, she see Piotr instead, who has come to check on her. Simultaneously, Kurt is walking about in the woods surrounding the mansion and finds himself confronted by an angry mob with murderous intent, which harkens back to the time he was rescued by Professor X. Just when it appears that there is nowhere left to turn, Kurt realizes it is all just an abberant vision.

Back in the Adirondacks, somewhere near Lake Placid, the team in the Blackbird flies over a fist of clay which has risen out of the earth and is clutching the shuttle, Prospect. Surmising this is not the work of Charles Xavier, Rachel's psy-scan of the area reveals the prescence of an "omega-plus level mutant.

Meanwhile on Muir Island, Sean Cassidy is on a mission to go through Moira MacTaggart's files in an effort to find clues to the Professor's whereabouts. McCoy tells Cassidy, "If anyone knew Charles' secrets, it'd be her." Sean experiences a vision similar to Kitty and Kurt, and thinks he see Moira.

And at the crash site, Scott, Logan, and Rachel have disembarked and begin their search. They too experience a strange vision in what appears to be Jean. Rachel falls for the ruse and pursues the image only to captured by the visitor. Cyclops and Wolverine spring into action!

On Muir Island, the vision of Moira leads Sean to a set of offices before he realizes what he is witnessing is impossible. As he wanders into the building, he finds what appears to be a zip cartridge labeled "Charles Xavier's notes: Important".

Meanwhile the visitor attacks Wolverine with a lightning bolt which lifts him off the ground rendering him totally helpless. The visitor tosses Wolverine toward Cyclops and knocks him down. As Scott scrambles to his knees and the battle reaches a fever pitch, Cyclops fires an optic blast which is not only deflected with the wave of the visitor's hand, but is also sent back in their direction which essentially finishes the battle. In the wake, Cyclops is still conscious and listens to the visitor call him by name and asks, "You don't remember me?" Scott finally loses consciousness and we witness the visitor drag Cyclops into the cave.

The issue closes with Sean viewing the zip tape of Moira accusing Charles of being a "total and utter bastard." And the over in the Adriondacks, Wolverine has regained consciousness at the same moment the Sentinel and a cadre of military choppers converge upon the crash site informing him he is under arrest.

The X-Men have always explored characters and relationships, many times at the expense of a lot of real action. And here in this first issue, we get more of the same. The Charles Xavier I know isn't a "total and utter..." And I'm hoping by the end of this story we return to the status-quo.

Brubaker should pick a good villain to dump on instead of creating some bit of retro-continuity which seems to be...Moira hates Charles because he knocked her up and never accepted responsibility for their relationship and their child: Proteus. Yes, my money is on the visiting alien being revealed as none other than Moira Mac Taggart's son, Proteus a.k.a. Mutant X. Although for a second, I was thinking it might be Xavier's son, Legion, who has time-travelling powers, or perhaps one of the Upstarts.

Either way, long about issue 5 or 6 of this mini-series, hopefully things will heat up to a frenzy and make it slugfest! worthy material. But my advice for now is to read comprehensive reviews (like this one) until this action comes around.

What raises my eyebrow most about this story is billing it as "the greatest mystery"...blah...blah..blah. It suspiciously smacks of an Identity Crisis type story where "everything you thought you knew about the characters"...blah...blah...blah. But I'm willing to play along for now.

As for the artwork, I enjoyed Hairsine's work in Ultimate Six, so if you liked the artwork there, you'll enjoy his work here too. His has good storytelling style and helps keep this character centered story from becoming visually dull. I chose the Mark Silvestri cover over the Quesada cover because it had a little more snap. But how could it not, especially since it is a take off of Gil Kane's classic cover to Giant-Size X-Men # 1!!!

This issue also includes an 8-page back up story titled Petra, written by Brubaker with art by Pete Woods. It seemed a little odd including this story here when readers are supposed to be agog by the fact that so many mutants have simply vanished overnight, yet here's the story about one you've never heard of.

This new book in the All-Star line up provides an excellent canvas for writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely to do their thing in a story titled ...Faster.... Unlike the approach that Frank Miller has taken with All-Star Batman, All-Star Supes is not written like a complete primer for new Superman fans.

Morrison never talks down to his audience and begins his story with a one-page recap of everything you need to know about the Man of Steel's background, succinctly explained in four phrases: "Doomed planet."; "Desperate scientists."; "Last hope."; "Kindly couple." Then Quitely takes charge with one of the nicest two-page splashes ever published of Superman flying near the Sun's chromosphere, replete with solar flares blazing in the background.

The set-up: Big Blue is attempting to rescue four genetically engineered astronauts lead by scientist and philanthropist Leo Quintum aboard the spaceship the Ray Bradbury on a mission to map the sun. And who is responsible for the genetic engineering? Why none other than Lex Luthor, of course! Or so it seems.

As the ship's shields and engines begin to fail, one of the astronauts goes rogue and the first one-panel slugfest begins! The rogue punches a fellow astronaut's head through a control panel and reveals himself to be "a genetically modified suicide bomb in human form." And we find Luthor remotely controlling his genetic-weapon using a voice command sequence from Earth.

Luthor has been released from jail and is working for the military under the watchful eyes of General Sam Lane, Lois' dad. Of course, Luthor has his own agenda, and an expose of his criminal misdeeds is plastered all over the front page of the Daily Planet.

Meanwhile, Superman enters the capsule and engages in an all-out battle with the rogue assailant. And with the help of Astronauts Flora and Quintum, Superman is able to safely move the dramatic, explosive finish away from the capsule to the confines of space!

Back on the moon after the rescue, Leo Quintum performs tests on Superman to find that exposure to "critical levels of stellar radiation" has tripled his strength and caused the manifestation of "one new super-power" (which is yet to be revealed), but unfortunately the exposure has also resulted in apoptosis, cell death from super-saturation of solar energy. Superman laments that the source of his powers may be the one thing that kills him, as Quintum realizes Luthor has successfully used the mission to theoretically kill Superman.

Quintum explains that he is involved with the resurrection of the the DNA P.R.O.J.E.C.T. dedicated to rebuilding a new race of superhumans: photosynthetic giants, Bizarro drones, anaerobic meganthropes with liquid nitrogen for blood, genetically modified P.R.O.J.E.C.T. nanonauts that are "unlocking the mysteries of the cell, atom and the infinitesimal yoctosphere"; all in case anything should happen to Superman.

The issue closes with Superman returning to Earth to offices of the Daily Planet. Quitely renders an awesome panel of Clark Kent in action!


And the issue ends with Luthor getting arrested for attempted murder and crimes against humanity. He goes willingly prepared to witness the results of the plan he has set into action from the safe confines of a guarded cell. Meanwhile, with the apparent end in sight, Clark reveals his identity to Lois in this issues' cliffhanger.

Morrison peppers his stories with a good mix of hard-science and psuedo-science to produce a great story. And although he populates his stories with a few of his own quirky characters, he is fairly straight when it comes to writing the mainstream characters. And so even though this issue is a little weak in the slugfest dept., overall Morrison and Quitely hit one out of the park in their first trip to the plate. I'm looking forward to next issue's exploration of the Fortress of Solitude!

The inaugural post here at Slugfest! begins with none other than Mr. Grimm's new series written by Don Slott with art by Andrea DiVito in a story titled Money Changes Everything.

Ben Grimm has gained control of his quarter of Fantastic Four Industries and is now living in the lap of luxury in Atlas Towers, his new digs off of Central Park West. Ben comments, "Hard to believe this place is on the same planet as Yancy Street, let alone the same island!"
The inclusion of a romantic interlude with his current girlfriend, actress Carlotta LaRosa, and her gripe with her antagonist, Milan Ramada (Paris Hilton?) make the story run a little thin, especially when Milan drives out to Luna Park to secure what seems to be a contract on Carlotta for snubbing her out of an invite to a party?!? And the plot really starts treading on thin ice when Ben and Carlotta attend the party hosted by Irma Roberts (Martha Stewart?) who happens to have a penchant for collecting sculptures of the Thing done by none other than Alicia Masters. Ben's reaction: "Guess I'm like a walkin' Warhol soup can to you people."
So when guest-stars Kyle Richmond, Nighthawk, and Frank Schlichting a.k.a. the Constrictor show up to the party, along with Tony Stark, who does not appear in costume, it almost makes having to endure the sappy set-up worthwhile.
Once the slugfest begins at the party, things (heh) start to get more interesting, but Grimm is much too quickly put down for the count. "Wotta revoltin' development." Fade to black and fade-in to what initially looks like a scene from Lost, but turns out to be this issue's cliffhanger, as Thing, Nighthawk, and the Constrictor find themselves facing Arcade at Murderland.

DiVito artwork is spot on. I really liked his work on Brath but didn't follow the series because the characters and concepts didn't really grab me. But I'm glad to see him work at Marvel. His artwork reminds me of George Perez/Joe Sinnott artwork from late 70s Fantastic Four. Unfortunately, the awesome first page montage of a lot of Marvel characters (Can you name them all???) is slightly marred by poor placement of a story caption.

Hopefully Slott will up the excitement factor next issue by letting the Thing cut loose alongside his pals.