Jennifer Blood #4
Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Marcos Marz, Kewber Baal
Letters by Rob Steen
Colors by Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Covers by (A) Tim Bradstreet, (B) Jonathan Lau, (C) Ale Garza, (D) Johnny Desjardins
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: September 7, 2011
Cover Price: $3.99

Writer Garth Ennis has a history of creating characters who like to get violent from time to time, and his new series, Jennifer Blood features just such a character. Jennifer Blood is a housewife by day and a killer by night, hunting down mobsters and other criminals and dispatching them with brutal efficiency. The series has got all of Ennis’ trademark outlandish characters and some of the old ultra-violence. From what I’ve read, it seems like a fun series with tons of action.

In previous issues of the series, Jennifer Blood has made a name for herself and has attracted the wrong kind of attention. Now someone has hired a team of killers to take Jennifer out. The killers are a team of young girls who act like every anime schoolgirl ninja stereotype, complete with broken English and inappropriate laughing. Jennifer has a plan though and isn’t going to let herself be taken out by a bunch of clichés.

Kevin Smith’s The Bionic Man #1
Written by Kevin Smith and Phil Hester
Art by Jonathan Lau
Dynamite Entertainment
Release date: August 24, 2011
Cover Price: $3.99

The last time Colonel Steve Austin was published in comic book form was in June of 1978. Thirty-three years later, Dynamite Entertainment brings him back in The Bionic Man #1. Ladies and gentlemen, it was worth the wait.

For those of you expecting Steve Austin of Six Million Dollar Man fame to be full-on bionic in this issue, you’ll be a little disappointed. But, that’s about the only thing that’s lacking in this first issue. Dynamite made a spectacular decision by putting their A-Team of Phil Hester and Jonathan Lau on this book. The team did a fantastic job adapting Kevin Smith‘s Green Hornet screenplay into a fun, action-packed and all around excellent comic, and to no one’s surprise, they do the same thing here.

Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet #4
Written by Kevin Smith
Breakdowns by Phil Hester
Art by Jonathan Lau
Covers by Joe Benitez, John Cassaday, Alex Ross, Stephen Segovia
Dynamite Entertainment
Price: $3.99
Released date: May 26, 2010

Continuing in Dynamite’s tradition of pleasing me with their revamped Green Hornet line, Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet #4 brings a swift roundhouse kick to the reader’s face by really bringing in the meat of the story.

When we last left the series, Britt Reed, Jr had been dealing with his father’s recent demise when he met Kato, his father’s assistant in fighting crime who literally opened the doors to his father’s past. We pick up directly where we left off as Kato sheds light on Britt, Sr’s motivations to lead a double life as the crime fighting “mob boss,” The Green Hornet.

While opening Britt, Jr’s eyes to this world, Kato also expresses the Hornet’s wishes to have his son and all evidence of the Hornet shipped to China while Kato and his daughter rid the streets of the Hornet’s assassin. Britt concedes, and we directly go into the legacy Kato confronting the mob, and just when things are looking there most grim, a new Green Hornet bursts on to the scene.

Green Hornet #1
Written by Kevin Smith
Breakdowns by Phil Hester
Pencils by Jonathan Lau
Dynamite
Price: $3.99; Released March 3, 2010

Lone Ranger, Zorro, Buck Rodgers, and now we get Green Hornet. Comics featuring old pulp heroes are the new zombie comics, so it’s no surprise we are now getting a resurrection of the character, especially with a movie coming out eventually. Some might remember that Kevin Smith was set to direct the film version at one point, and since he also likes to dabble in comic writing, it makes sense for him to write this series. He does a good job with Green Hornet #1. If you’re like me, you might be aware of the Green Hornet, but only so far as to know that he drives a car, and Bruce Lee was his sidekick on the TV show. If that’s all you know about the character, Smith succeeds in explaining the basics of the character.

We see the Green Hornet and his sidekick Kato as they take down the last of the mob and yakuza gangs that are operating in his city, and Green Hornet announces to his wife that he’s going to retire. We then skip ahead to the future, where we meet the Hornet’s son, who I have to assume will be the star of the series. By the end of the issue, I understood the character and what his deal is, and was interested enough to consider picking up the next issue. It did feel very similar to the first issue of the Zorro reboot, and I hope the origin story that we’ll be seeing over the next few months moves quickly.