Madame Mirage #2
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Kenneth Rocafort
Colors by Imaginary Friends Studios
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: $2.99; On-sale date: Sept. 2007

The chameleon-like Madame Mirage chooses a face and a body that men will die for, and that bras will want to hide from.

Paul Dini, the Emmy-winning creator of The Batman Adventures cartoon series, teams up with very talented artist Kenneth Rocafort to create Madame Mirage, a new superheroine for Top Cow.

Madame Mirage can change her appearance, and seemingly, the appearance of others. She can change her clothes at will and look exactly like any other person she is around. It may be as simple as her just seeing them. She can change into inanimate objects as well and also different masses do not seem to be a problem. She is taking out a criminal organization one peg, henchman, at a time.

These events pick up right from issue #1, and we learn all we need to from the banter between Madame Mirage and her sidekick, whose name we don’t learn in this issue. We’ll learn even more about the Madame in the next issue, including her shocking past.

Dini seems to want the reader to use their eyes, and wits, to follow the story, rather than spoon-feeding them the whole thing. I like, want, and respect that. He is taking it slow in this issue, letting us get a feel for Madame Mirage. It’s nice seeing her work her magic and using her brain at the same time.

Ripclaw: Pilot Season #1
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Jorge Lucas
Colors by Studio F
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: $2.99; On-sale: 8/15/07

For those of you who don’t know Ripclaw, this is a good jumping on point. However, don’t expect to learn too much from “The Harrowing,” the Pilot Season issue of one of the most popular members of Top Cow’s original flagship series, Cyberforce. Pilot Season is the big event happening at Top Cow comics this Fall. They will be releasing Pilot Issues for six titles between August and November: Velocity, Angelus, Cyblade, Necromancer, Aphrodite IX, and of course, Ripclaw. Fans will decide which two titles will get an ongoing series for 2008 by casting their vote at the Top Cow Pilot Season MySpace page. (More information about the voting, visit the Top Cow blog.)

We only catch glimpses of the bloody action via video monitors as Ripclaw, aka Robert Bearclaw, “an Indian of some sort,” kills his way through the multi-level fortress of Japanese crime lord Yamamoto. Which is a shame because the detailed, sometimes cartoony, art of Jorge Lucas, which is very similar in style to the cover by Tony Moore, begs for some real Ripclaw action sequences. I don’t know if the carnage shown would be too graphic or if Jason Aaron is teasing you into following the series, but comics, especially with a character like Ripclaw, and especially with an artist that’s up to the challenge, requires that we see the fight scenes. “Just look at him,” says Number 9 to his similarly numbered associates as they watch Ripclaw on their surveillance cameras. But we can’t! In fact the only time we spy a hint of Ripclaw’s ability is on the second to last page where we see his hand enlarged into a giant, deadly, steel claw. Until then it could be Wolverine minus the arbitrarily designed lines drawn on his face, minus the facial hair. We do see some awesome level setups for great challenges of Ripclaw’s abilities, but all we see are piles of dead soldiers, ninjas and broken weapons.

Finally, after 2500 years, the DVD for
300 has been released. Well, it’s actually been only a few months since its theatrical debut, but the historical, bloody, action-packed events depicted in 300, based on Frank Miller‘s graphic novel, happened in Greece well before the birth of Christ.

Three DVD versions of 300 were released on last week. The Single Disc Edition; the Two-Disc Special Edition, which has an embossed wrap around cover; and the Deluxe Edition, which includes a replica of the mask worn by the Immortals, the elite Persian fighting force. Where I purchased Two-Disc Special Edition for $22.99, the regular edition was $14.99, the Deluxe edition was sold out by the afternoon, but the other two editions were prominently exposed in abundance.

There are a few reasons I wanted to purchase the Two-Disc Special Edition version. One reason is that I am a comic book collector and 300 is literally Frank Miller’s graphic novel brought to life. Miller is a legendary comic creator and has already gotten the movie treatment for another of his works, Sin City. Sin City was a very close adaptation of Miller’s vision, which was the main goal for director Zack Snyder‘s when making 300 into a film. Snyder said, “I didn’t want to make Hollywood’s version of 300, I wanted to make Frank Miller’s version of 300.”

Witchblade #109
Written by Ron Marz
Art by Sami Basri
Colors by Imaginary Friends Studios
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: $2.99; On-sale: July 25, 2007

Ménage à catfight anyone?

The only man in issue #109 of Witchblade from Top Cow Productions is during a Dani Baptiste (the current Witchblade bearer) flashback sequence. The three women in the issue — Dani, Sara Pezzini, the pregnant, previous bearer of the Witchblade, and Celestine — get along as well as Hef’s girlfriends vying for the last bottle of blonde hair dye.

A tight manga-style Townsend cover starts off part two of the “One Good Turn” storyline in this very important issue of Witchblade with a bang. Dani is very surprised to see how her life has turned as the current wielder of the Witchblade. The Witchblade is an ancient, mystical, and powerful gauntlet that Dani has inherited from Sara Pezzini. Sara is a pregnant New York City police officer that is not only charged with showing Dani the ropes, but also finding out about the mysterious circumstances of her pregnancy and what that may mean to the whole Top Cow Universe.

The psychopath Celestine has cornered Dani and Sara at One Police Plaza. Dani’s inexperience with the Witchblade and Sara’s pregnancy serve Celestine well as she quickly takes them both down. Just before Celestine can have her way with Sara, Dani has her back using the Witchblade very effectively, giving Sara the opportunity to actually go full term.

This 14-page episode does not cover a lot of ground, but what it does cover is very crucial. Celestine will play a major role in the upcoming First Born mini series, the summer blockbuster, universe-shattering crossover from Top Cow that promises serious ramifications for all the Top Cow heavy hitters such as The Darkness, The Angelus, Cyberforce, and of course Witchblade. And if you haven’t guessed it yet, it may revolve a certain unborn child being carried by a certain former Witchblade wielder.

Unholy Union
One-Shot Crossover
Written by Ron Marz
Art by Michael Broussard
Inked by Rob Hunter, Rick Basaldua
and Joe Weems
Colors by Larry Molinar
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: $3.99; On-sale date: July 2007

There’s something big going on in the Top Cow universe. So big, in fact, that the Marvel universe had to get involved. Unholy Union kicks off the big First Born summer event over at The Cow. The forces of light, The Angelus, and the forces of Dark, The Darkness, are headed for a showdown and both the previous and current Witchblade bearers seem to be caught in the middle of it all. Both series star not only all the big guns from Top Cow — The Witchblade, Cyberforce, The Darkness, and The Angelus — but some of the big ones from Marvel also — Ghost Rider, The Hulk, and the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange.

Doctor Strange feels a disturbance. That disturbance is the unhosted body of The Angelus. What this portends, he’s not sure, but it frightens him enough to feel that he has to warn people about it.