Supreme Power: Nighthawk, Daniel Way

"As a boy, Kyle Richmond - the man who would one day become Nighthawk - witnessed the senseless murder of his parents. There was no reason for their deaths, no provocation - they were just simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a traumatic event that has left him scarred for life - and turned him into a hero more feared than the criminals he polices. Now, it's happening again... but on a much larger scale. The people of Chicago - men, women and children - are dying in the streets, victims of a monster whose thirst for slaughter cannot be quenched, whose soul is a bottomless void and whose scars run even deeper than Nighthawk's. Long ago, Kyle Richmond looked into the face of madness - now, it's looking back at him. And it's flashing a killer smile. Collects Supreme Power: Nighthawk #1-6."






The main draw of this is the Steve Dillon art, a guy who is the go to for obscenely sterile violence (read Preacher or The Punisher, and be amazed at the hurt that can be drawn from a guy who doesn't detail his work in any way). Sticking him on an alternative take on Batman vs The Joker is a stoke of genius  and it helps that it's written by Daniel Way, the guy behind some of the best of Deadpool, and another man who's very at home with impressive levels of serious violence.

So there is a competent team in place, and they certainly don't disappoint. Whilst it's an inconsequential tale its nice to see a story that doesn't take its subject matter very seriously. Nighthawk is a character that's rife for this kid of treatment - as a Batman parody he doesn't really work, because he's too in-jokey for the reader. His entire set up in the Supreme Power reality is that of an amoral Billionaire who only intervenes in those cases where he can help black people, and sees everything through a prism of perceived racism.

It's basically taking the concept of Batman as a protector of the weak and turning it to Batman being the protector of some of the weak, the few that are like him, a concept that just makes him ridiculous.

Still, it's amusing to see him breat the crap out of racists and bullies, and his lack of limits make for a refreshing solution when he does confront the joker analogue who is murdering anyone and everyone across Chicago. There's little of substance there, but it works, and it's a nice addition to the Supreme Power universe.

Also Try:
Scott Snyder, Death of the Family
J. Michale Straczynski, Supreme Power
Daniel Way, Thunderbolts
Garth Ennis, Preacher

Global Frequency, Warren Ellis

"Created by Entertainment Weekly "It" writer Warren Ellis, Global Frequency is a worldwide rescue organization that offers the last shred of hope when all other options have failed. Manned by 1001 operatives, the Frequency is made up of experts in fields as diverse as bio-weapon engineering and Le Parkour Running. Each agent - equipped with a special mobile vid-phone - is speciffically chosen by Miranda Zero, enigmatic leader of the Global Frequency, based on proximity, expertise, and, in some cases, sheer desperation!"











Every time I read something by Warren Ellis I'm reminded how much I love his work.

I mean, obviously, he's great, and on a purely intellectual level, I know he's great. But somehow I always forget just how much he's written that I absolutely adore.

The Authority, Planetary, Transmetropolitan. All cracking. And NEXTWAVE, probably the most comicy comic ever.

And now, add to that Global Frequency, a book that reminds me how much I love Warren Ellis writing Fringe style science investigations, detective work and crazy situations. Much like Planetary this is a comic that explores big ideas. Weaponised black holes, Alien memetic incursions, cyborg supermen - every issue has a totally different feel (and the rotating artist means a totally different look too)

The central idea, a super-national organisation with 1,001 members; each an expert in a specific field, who can be called upon to solve crises beyond the reach of anyone else. It moves around the idea of traditional superheroes, whilst bringing in enough high concept science as to make anything possible.

These are human heroes, masters of a craft, solving non-human and post-human problems - like a hundred strong Thunderbirds team.

But like NEXTWAVE this is a series that seeks to transcend the stereotypes of comics. One issue is simply a fight between two people. Panel after panel of two men punching and kicking one another, escalating into stabbings and limbs being pulled off. It quickly approached and surpasses parody - played totally straight and drawn with sombre seriousness.

This is an excellent antidote to the silliness and unthinking extravagance of mainstream cape comics - if you like anything Ellis has written, this is amognst the best.

Also Try:
Warren Ellis, Planetary
Warren Ellis, Transmetropolitan
Warren Ellis, NEXTWAVE
Jonathan Hickman, The Manhattan Projects
Brian Wood, DMZ

Kung Fu High School; Ryan Gattis

"Fifteen-year-old Jen B is a student at Kung Fu High School, a place where violence is routine and the only goal is survival. But keeping her head down becomes impossible with the arrival of her cousin, Jimmy Chang, a Chinese-trained kung fu master who became notorious after vanishing into thin air during a fight. Ridley, leader of the school's most vicious gang, wants to see what Jimmy can do. The only problem is Jimmy's sworn never to fight again ...Jen struggles to cope with the sudden murder of her brother, an ailing father, and an uncomfortable attraction for Jimmy, while tension at school builds to a dramatic final showdown. Razor-sharp and unexpectedly moving, KUNG FU HIGH SCHOOL stamps on the throat of the American Dream."

If I ever get the opportunity to adapt a book to film, or write a HBO series based on a novel, the first place I will go to is my bookshelf to pick out my copy of Kung Fu High School.

I use superlatives pretty freely on here (because I like almost everything I read), but Kung Fu High School is the kind of book that sticks with you. It's a work of breath taking power. If Tarantino dropped the dialogue and just filmed violence, it might look like this. It's not a pleasant read. It's neither cathartic or comfortable. Make no bones of it, this is a truly horrible book. But it's also incredibly real.

Originally conceived in the wake of the Columbine shootings, Kung Fu High School imagines a school system so desensitized to violence and so throughly corrupted and forgotten about that every day is a (literal) battle for survival. Every pupil belongs to a gang, the most powerful person in the school is the drug dealer who owns the staff, local police, media and politicians, and maiming or death are a routine hazard of daily life.

Through the course of the book main characters die with reckless abandon - bones are snapped, people are shot, stabbed and kicked to death. Unflinching explanations of eye-gouging, flesh rending violence starts on the first page and runs to the end.

Few words are wasted, creating a storyline that rushes towards the inevitable total destruction of every character and the whole system of violence. It's startlingly compelling, and I found that I could remember vividly much of the plot despite not having read it since it was newly published, nearly 8 years ago.

It is, frankly, AMAZING. It's also out of print, and that shouldn't surprise you, because it's incredible that this book was ever published. But you should definitely read it, and I think (I hope) you'll like it.

And maybe, one day, you'll get to see the film.

Also Try:

Melvin Burgess, Bloodtide

Koushun Takami, Battle Royale

Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games