Creator-Owned Heroes #5 Jimmy Palmiotti, Steve Niles, Justin Gray, Jay Russell, Jerry Lando, Andrew Ritchie, Paul Mounts, and Bill Tortolini
The Solicitation
ALL-NEW STORIES BEGIN!
"KILLSWITCH," Part One
Part one of a brand new four-part story. Introducing Killswitch, an enigmatic, and devastatingly handsome killer with a fetish for blunt force, a strong code of honor, and more than a few skeletons in his closet. Killswitch is drawn into a game of death with the world's top assassins to find out who is behind the contract on his head - and why.
"BLACK SPARROW," Part One
A brand new two-part story begins, as a family living in the old west must reconcile that someone close to them might be a killer, or worse. A dark tale of haunting family dedication and the price we pay for love.
PLUS! An interview with AMANDA CONNER, art galleries, con photos, and original articles all celebrating the creator owned spirit.
Preview
Why I Bought It
It is a "jumping on point" for Creator-Owned, but only because new stories are featured. Hell, just about any month can be a "jumping on point" with this book.
What I Liked
We get a couple of good starts for the next couple of stories. I favored the Killswitch one has having more about the story told to you with some awesome art to match. Black Sparrow also had great art, but the story, especially for a two parter, just didn't seem like it had the space that it needed to be fully developed. It hit some notes, but if we are going to take it at face value and expect a conclusion where I care about any of the characters, then that's about out the window.
The Amanda Conner interview continued the trend of having a really good interview in the center of the book. Hell, sometimes just that interview is worth the price of admission. Amanda gives some great advice to, like how not to piss off your editor so you can get a job or how persistence is something you will need in order to get an editor's ear and find work.
Steve Niles also goes into a bit about how he approaches a script, which is very interesting. Having a couple of books and learning a lot through the years about how comic creators have pitched and written for the Marvel or DC, I am a little more interested in how the creator owned path works. Steve doesn't let the details go to the wayside either, as you can see that this is only part one of the continuing saga.
What I Didn't Like
It is hard to tell how old Killswitch should be. On the cover he has a couple hair colors going on, the book has one, and then the ad for the next issue features him sporting gray temples. Weird.
We also got a bonus feature of Palmiotti and Gray's new comic Retrovirus. The preview isn't bad, but it just sort of cuts off. It really felt like there should have been another page there but alas, there was none.
Panel to Remember
I'm going with the layouts that showed Amanda Conner's work for the Captain Brooklyn cover. From pencils, to ink, to finished product. Nicely done and nicely laid out through the article.
Quotable
"When working for the corporate companies, I'm sure there are some rules to go by, but I'm talking about creator-owned comics. I'm also talking about producing comics, not pitching them. That's a whole other ballgame." - Steve Niles
Grades
Words: 9/10
Pictures: 9/10
Buy Next Issue: I think I'm down for as long as this book comes out.
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