Mysterius #1

I liked this setup — a grumpy real mystic in today’s society — and the characters, especially his assistant Ella, who’s a skeptic and yet three-dimensional and very cool. And I like the work of the creators, Jeff Parker and Tom Fowler, a lot. But these days, when I’m so far behind on my reading that I’m just now talking about a Christmas comic (below), why would I buy a six-issue miniseries? I’d much rather have the eventual book collection.

However, this is good enough to not want to wait. Magic is real, but unpredictable, and Mysterius’ motives are disconcerting at best, possibly uncaringly malicious. The dialogue is very strong and the art more than ably supports it. There’s a preview at the publisher’s website, and more information at the writer’s blog.

Hellblazer #250

Neat idea, to get some impressive creators to do holiday stories featuring the grand grumpy git of comics. And it’s the first Vertigo title to reach that milestone number, which roughly equates to over 20 years the series has been running. That’s pretty darn impressive.

It’s a shame that I just don’t like the character enough to truly relish seeing stories by writers Dave Gibbons, Jamie Delano, Brian Azzarello, Peter Milligan, and China Mieville and artists Sean Phillips, David Lloyd, Eddie Campbell, and others. I’m old-fashioned enough that I don’t want magic and demons and nasty people on Christmas. I know lots of people have a more jaded take on that time of year, and I hope they enjoyed this much more. There’s a preview at the publisher’s website.

Captain Britain and MI: 13 #9

The problem with big magical threats is that no matter how hard you work to make the ending seem meaningful, the likelihood is that it’s going to come across as “they all tried really hard and believed in themselves.” And so this does. I liked this book because of the characters, but when they’re all split up during most of the issue, that appeal is lacking.

The interesting part about this issue is foreshadowed on the cover, which would have been better suited to last issue. And the hint here is really just a repeat of what happened then. The new relationship feels rushed and presented ham-handedly, given Lady J’s “Doesn’t that make things more interesting?” It sounds as though she’s talking to the reader, which I didn’t care for. Then the final page is meant to be a cliffhanger, only it’s already been revealed in solicitation copy, and it’s perhaps the most over-used guest star ever. So I guess the bloom is off the rose for this series for me. I hope next issue sparks things up again.