When the ‘Image explosion’ erupted in the mid-nineties, Rob Liefeld’s contribution could (in retrospect) be considered to be the weakest of line. Still, the stories came through thick and fast, Youngblood, Brigade, Youndblood Strikefile, Chapel, Bloodstryke, more Youngblood, Glory, New Men, Badrock and various ‘has-beens’ from the other companies, Supreme, even more Youngblood…
You get the picture. The ideas flew as thick and fast as the multiple variant covers, but the execution was less than riveting, seeming little more than generic. As with many of Liefeld’s projects, shipping on the time was also a problem.
When I first saw Liefeld’s art in the pages of the New Mutants, at first I liked it. Within three issues, I was bored of it, the freshness melting away into sameness but the speculator market at the time did not seem to agree with me. This enabled Liefeld’s controversial career and the X-odus to Image.
However, one thing shone through. Here was a bunch of characters that Liefeld had created as a teenager, that were reasonably thought out on some level (even if that didn’t translate), and most importantly loved by their creator. And there was no shortage of good core ideas, as Alan Moore was able to demonstrate with the fantastic Judgement Day.
So I was pleasantly surprised to find a new Brigade #1 on the shelves, and had to give it a go, just for old times sake. Out of all the Extreme Studios titles, these were my favourite. Rob Liefeld is again at the helm, but scripting is provided by Mark Poulton; and the difference shows. Unlike the early offerings, this time there appears a depth to the speech and thoughts of the characters. I did find with a few of the characters I found myself going ‘Hang on, isn’t he dead?’ but then this is comics. Death is not a handicap, especially if this is a reboot, which I think it is. And guess what? Not one oversized gun in the entire issue, despite Battlestone’s appearance in the last panel! Give it a chance, they night do it right this time.
The other comic that has drawn my attention is The Sixth Gun from Oni Press. I’m not a western comic fan, but I love this. There’s an element of Jesse James meets Warehouse 13, but I’m not sure saying that entirely does it justice. We have mercenaries, a potentially unwilling heroine that does not really do anything until the second issue, zombie type things (but not your standard viral zombies), a guy who seems to be the closest thing to Satan on Earth, all peppered with that frontier spirit and lawlessness. We can tell that the ‘hero’ of the title is a thoroughly despicable sort, but his own moral standing so far seem almost irrelevant to the action, you feel for him even if he would stab you in the back at the sight of a profit. The third issue ships today and if you can grab the first two, it’s a fun romp that draws you in.
