Comics of the Week - Beginnings and Endings

True Story: On November 24, 1971 a man who referred to himself as Dan Cooper, hijacked a plane in Oregon, claiming to have a bomb, and demanded $200, 000 in cash and a parachute. The plane landed in Seattle where his demands were met and the passengers were released, at which point Cooper demanded to be flown to Mexico City following a specific flight plan. At some point during the flight to Mexico City, Cooper parachuted out of the plane with the cash, never to be seen again. The Secret History of D.B. Cooper by Brian Churilla is a fictionalized (I hope) account of this man leading up to the events of 1971. The first issue introduced us to some wild concepts, as this man works for the CIA as a "dream assassin." This month, the second issue expands on those concepts and begins to give us a glimpse of some of his personal motivations. This book is pretty out there, particularly when Cooper is in the dreamscape. I'm not sure where it's going and that's a good thing. If you're looking for something completely off the wall, but grounded in the cold war spy/assassin genre, that is what this is.

As Irredeemable wraps up, I have no idea how it will end. Just when you think these characters are headed one way, there's a turn and then another and you have no clue where you stand. Is Tony really going to get a second chance by the end of the series? Is he actually going to contradict the title and be redeemed? I doubt it, but who the hell knows, except Mark Waid, who made a smart decision in ending the series, rather than have it go on too long. The next issue is the last one and I can't wait to see what happens. This, and Incorruptible, are required reading for anyone who wants to see how to play with the superhero genre in a good way. There a lot of stories about heroes gone bad, but for my money, this beats them all. Waid didn't simply create a Superman analogue here. He created a character that stands on his own in a fully fleshed out universe with a wide range of fully developed characters. It all holds together well, with cause and effect rippling across both titles. I've said before I don't care about continuity, but the continuity Waid created and maintained in these two books is outstanding. It would be easy to go back and tell "classic" stories in this universe (Before Irredeemable?), but then, this is so fully fleshed out, that it's not necessary. We know those stories already.

Comics of the Week

What Mark Waid has created in his books Irredeemable and Incorruptible is a continuity in a world with consequences. Incorruptible #19 has one thread that deals with consequences in one of the most realistic ways I've seen in a superhero comic. Max Damage was a villain who after The Plutonian (think Superman) went insane and started killing everyone in Irredeemable, decided he had to do the right thing. The problem for him has been that he wasn't just a supervillain. Max Damage did some truly horrible, evil things. In previous issues, we already dealt with the fact that his sidekick was an underage girl named Jailbait, who he had a sexual relationship with. In the last issue, Max went looking for the only man honest enough to rebuild the city of Coalville, which is in chaos. The problem is, a few years back, Max killed this man's young son in cold blood. Issues of redemption and forgiveness are impossible in this situation. Instead, this is just the struggle of a man trying to do what he thinks is right, now, and coming up against the brick wall of his past at every turn.

My journey back to Marvel and specifically X-Men is going well. Uncanny X-Men #539, by Kieron Gillen, is a stand alone story focusing on Hope and Wolverine. I don't know much about Hope, but it doesn't matter. This issue gives you enough so you can follow along. Wolverine has been keeping his distance from her, and she doesn't know why. Then, she is kidnapped by The Crimson Commando who wants her to heal him. Wolverine goes in to rescue her, alone. What makes the issue great is the same thing I've been loving from Uncanny X-Force and the Wolverine book. Apparently, Wolverine is interesting again. The reason he has been staying away is because Hope may turn into something horrible (Dark Phoenix?) and he knows he'll have to be the one to take her out. The moments between Hope and Wolverine have me ready to read more X-Men stories. Also helping matters, I have to say the art by Ibraim Roberson had me staring at some panels in awe.

Detective Comics #878 continues the amazing run of Scott Snyder and Jock and ends the arc that started a few issues back about Tiger Shark. That's all well and good and there were amazing moments, like Batman using an ultrasonic device to communicate with killer whales in order to get out of Tiger Shark's death trap. But the real jaw dropper is the last page, leading into the next issue and arc. I can't say this enough, I will miss Dick as Batman. I'm sure Snyder will do well with Bruce on the Batman book, but this is just so good. As I was reading it, I could see this as an episode of a new, gritty, Batman TV series, where the stories can be a little smaller than the Nolan films, but tight and well told just the same.