Myriad #1-4
Various Artists
Approbation Comics
Cover Price $2.99; Available Now

Anthology comics are few and far between, and are always tricky to market to the masses, especially when you are dealing with a title with not just multiple short stories, but multiple titles and storylines that are entities unto themselves under that anthology umbrella. The choice to make it as homogeneous as possible to target a specific audience (think Marvel Comics Presents), or to make it a diverse compilation that will force readers out of their comfort zone and expose them to new genres and storytelling is always difficult. Approbation Comics, with their Myriad line, decides to take a huge gamble by bringing together five titles that couldn’t possibly be more different under the same umbrella, with each title getting approximately eight pages per book. Does the gamble pay off?

In Chi Sai, a mysterious black female warrior dressed head-to-toe in special bulletproof fabric and armed with two sai, returns from the past to wreak havoc on the city’s crime syndicate. But when the crime boss realizes that this woman has previous ties to their organization, he sends his top assassin to make her life a living hell. Bart A Thompson, who runs Approbation Comics, takes a stab at the “human” superhero genre as he begins building the base for one badass woman that just won’t stay dead. As has become expected from Thompson’s writing style, he hits the ground running with action, and only fills in the reader on a need to know basis. And for now, all you need to know is do not get on Chi Sai’s bad side!

When retired gang leader Wang-Jae is murdered, detective Tae-Soo returns to his hometown for the first time in ten years after leaving to become a detective in Seoul. Tae-Soo reunites with his old high school friends to say farewell to Wang-Jae, but feels that something is not right about his death. With his fists and temper at his side, Tae-Soo uses the power of the law to stir up a few hornet nests trying to figure out just what happened. For his troubles, Tae-Soo is beset by multiple gangs, all trying to keep Tae-Soo from finding out too much. But with his friend Seok-Hwan at his side, whose fists are just as merciless, Tae-Soo starts tearing through the lies, deceptions, and criminal activity setting up shop in the tourist district. And when he finally gets someone to talk, he learns that it may just be their mutual friend Pil-Ho behind the murder.

Ryoo Seung-Wan, who both directs and stars as Seok-Hwan, may not be pushing any boundaries with this 2006 action-drama from South Korea, but his style and enthusiasm more than make up for treading in safe waters. Ryoo, who has previously brought fan favorites No Blood No Tears, Arahan, and Crying Fist to the screen, once again dives head first into a world of brotherhood, betrayal, and sacrifice, which are themes that should be more than familiar to those who have swam in the waters of South East Asian cinema. Using a series of flashbacks and storytelling, Ryoo gets all of the characters and their relationships set up quite quickly, but by no means skimps on their depth. Even given the film’s short time devoted to the character build-up, Ryoo shows his strength at giving the audience all the information they need to understand what is going on.

The Misadventures Of Clark And Jefferson #1 of 4
Writer: Jay Carvajal
Artist: Marc Borstel
Ape Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.50; On-sale: Nov 2007

In the sun-baked Arizona desert, Sheriff Clark and nearly blind Deputy Jefferson keep the small town of Sagebrush at peace. But when the ornery Dempsey Gang rides into town with plans of staying a while, Clark goes in for the arrest, with Jefferson cowardly following behind. And despite Clark’s best efforts, one of the Dempseys escapes into the desert. But Clark and Jefferson are quick to take up their own horses and follow after the desperado. While on the trail, the duo come across over a hundred dead cattle, with only their guts and eyes eaten up. The pair press on diligently, unaware that their journey is about to lead them straight into a close encounter of the third kind!

Western comics have been few and far between on the new release shelves of comic book stores for quite some time, with only the Marvel Max title The Rawhide Kid and DC’s Jonah Hex easily coming to mind. And as for westerns with science-fiction elements to it? Well aside from Firefly, there hasn’t been too much of a crossover since 10-year-old boys in the backyard couldn’t decide whether to play spaceman or cowboys n’ indians. But none the less, like Franco Nero standing off against fifty bandits, writer Jay Carvajal and artist Marc Borstel have dug in their heels to bring together this western with a touch of the extraterrestrial and plenty of lowbrow laughs.

The Boys Vol. 1: The Name Of The Game
Written by Garth Ennis
Illustrated by Darick Robertson
Covers by Robertson and Avina
DC Comics/Wildstorm & Dynamite Entertainment
Cover Price: $14.99; Available Now

Who watches the supers? Butcher, that’s who. Billy Butcher. An English gent employed by the CIA to keep an eye on all the horrible deeds that superheroes do when they are not on camera, or get away with when they are on camera simply because of the recognition. Butcher hates supers. And with a very good personal reason. And when he gets a chance to do some damage, whether it be stomping some superhero or pulling some of darkest humored pranks on them, Butcher and his team, known and feared as The Boys, are the best at what they do.

Hughie. Wee Hughie to his mates. He just your average Scot bloke who think he has just the perfect woman. Unfortunately that woman is killed right in front of him during a skirmish between two supers while at the fair. Hughie is devastated, and when the men in black come knocking at his door, they easily coerce him to sign a document stating he will not hold the government responsible. Hughie is just the man for Butcher’s newest line-up of The Boys — someone who has a personal hatred for the supers’ disregard for humanity, and someone with the balls big enough to stand up and put them in their place.

Take the melodramatic relationships and good looks of Dawson’s Creek (don’t forget the soft indie rock that plays under everything for additional heartstring pulling), get the entire cast drunk on Jameson’s Irish Whisky, give them a thorough pub brawl beating by the members of The Pogues and Flogging Molly, and then dump them in a New York mob neighborhood and you’re getting somewhere close to what NBC’s single-season show was trying to come across as.

The Donnellys — Jimmy, Tommy, Kevin, and Sean — are four brothers who have grown up in a small Irish neighborhood in New York, and now as adults are trying to carve out something resembling a living, and while not trying to kill each other, are standing up to the powerful Italian mob that wants to take over the neighborhood. Jimmy, is the owner of the Firecracker Lounge and as eldest is also leader of the small crimes that perpetual gambler Kevin and baby-brother Sean commit with him. Tommy, on the other hand, has foresworn crime and hopes to make a living as an artist. But his love for his brother, as well as his secret love for childhood friend Jenny, keeps him in the neighborhood.

When one of Jimmy’s latest schemes, which involves the Italian mob, goes sour and then continues to snowball from there, Tommy’s lifelong separation from the criminal mischief of his brothers is severed, as he kills not only the local Italian mob boss, but the neighborhoods’ Irish mob boss who he feels has betrayed them to save Jimmy’s life. But with Tommy’s hands covered in blood, and the neighborhood in need of someone to protect them from being overrun, he begins down a one-way path that seems to have been waiting for him to turn down since he was a small boy.