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REVIEWS // 11.21.02 Global Frequency • Little White Mouse • Mek GLOBAL
FREQUENCY #1 I took my sweet time picking up the first issue of GLOBAL FREQUENCY, trying to stick to my guns and buy fewer new mainstream titles. The snazzy Brian Wood cover and the promise of Ellis delivering-well, on his promises, I guess, finally overtook me. The result: eh. GLOBAL FREQUENCY isn't bad, per se. Garry Leach's pencils are nice, although his work reminds me of Chris Weston Lite. The visual package as a whole is well-done, if not a little plain. Ellis' dialogue is easy to read, and the book moves along at a nice pace. There's
nothing in-particular to nit-pick about GLOBAL FREQUENCY, which
appears to be about a worldwide network of do-gooders who save the
world through cooperation and communication via computer and cell
phone. If Michael Bay directed a Verizon Certainly some consideration must be given to the fact that first issues tend to fall into one of two categories: 1) They either spend the first 22 pages introducing characters and situations only to end on a cliffhanger to lure you into the second issue, a tactic most recently used by the premier of Y: THE LAST MAN, or 2)
Open with action to rope you in and fill in on the details later.
GLOBAL FREQUENCY opts for the latter and provides a thrill or two,
but it leaves the characterization a little thin. (The only memorable
character sticks out thanks to wearing a bondage suit throughout
the issue.) Perhaps Ellis is taking the book somewhere more unique
than the first issue The problem with GLOBAL FREQUENCY is that it's not startling, it's not refreshing, and it's not a change of pace. While no one in the heroic organization appears to be a super hero in the most literal sense, they may as well be. One could argue that PREACHER and TRANSMET were both superhero books (Custer equipped with his supernaturally persuasive Word and Jerusalem armed with his almost super writing abilities), although I would disagree, but one would be hard-pressed to argue against GLOBAL FREQUENCY as anything but barely tweaked superhero fare. That's not to say there's anything wrong with writing or reading a superhero book, but when the writer in question has railed against the superhero trend for years and incessantly talks about the dire need for diversification of comics (I couldn't agree more), one expects him to write something other than super heroics masquerading as techno-espionage. Call a spade a spade and drop the pretensions - XXX was a superhero movie, and GLOBAL FREQUENCY is a superhero book. This is what we get after all the tough talk about big and new ideas? This is what we get even as we continue waiting for the final installment of MINISTRY OF SPACE, a book that was pleasantly differentiated from the mainstream? That's a bad signal indeed. (Bryan Miller) LITTLE
WHITE MOUSE: OPEN SPACE #1 It drives me absolutely fucking insane when I have to take extraordinary measures to find things that by all accounts should be easily accessible. In a perfect world, Paul Sizer would be recognized as the creative genius he is, and LITTLE WHITE MOUSE would be at my comics store, stacked ten issues deep every Wednesday and sold out by Thursday. I wouldn't have to tear my hair out trying to find the minuscule Blue Line Pro section in Previews. I could simply grab it off the shelf with my X-Men comics. This is so not a perfect world, but there is hope. While the rest of the comics buying public is busy making MASTERS OF THE Fucking UNIVERSE the top selling comic for November, an elite cadre of comics fans who appreciate masterfully rendered artwork and top notch storytelling, are going that extra mile to dig LITTLE WHITE MOUSE out of the monthly Previews slush pile. This story works as a great jumping on point for new readers, as Sizer takes the central character Loo away from her asteroid prison and into "open space", marking a dramatic shift in the series narrative. This is Paul Sizer's fourth LWM mini series and he still rocks. He re introduces all of the central characters by a short synopsis and creative use of several flashback sequences that actually help the story along rather than interrupting its narrative flow. It's a chance for all you cheap bastards out there who wouldn't afford the fifteen bucks for the graphic novels to jump in on one of the greatest comics to come along in a decade. LITTLE WHITE MOUSE kicks ass! If you're not reading it, your life is empty, worthless, and devoid of meaning. Go to your comics store, give the guy behind the counter $2.95 and the info at the beginning of this review, and make him get LWM for you. If he can't or won't, he is obviously not worth your time and you should seriously consider shopping elsewhere. If you want, just order it online at www.littlewhitemouse.com. Trust me on this one folks. It'll balance out your karma for the whole MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE thing. (Dan Traeger) MEK
#1 The first of Warren Ellis' three-issue-mini amd one of the first stories produced under his DC exclusive has arrived. MEK means Mechanical Enhancement Culture, a sub-culture cybernetic body parts are the height of fashion. Returning to the city where this sub-culture is biggest is Larissa, who's been away for three years, wanting to find out who killed her ex-boyfriend. But, of course, no one wants her there. With his "Mad Ideas" abounding on every page this is typical Ellis. From almost any other writer the MEK concept would lead to Big Fights but as this is Ellis, it leads to Strange Sex. If you want to know which of his works this is closest to, its TRANSMETROPOLITAN, but here, the insane background detail is very much to the fore. A group of people project light in time to music, a man flies on mechanical wings and a couple kiss, their tongues connecting. The TRANSMET connection is made all the more pronounced by Rolston's cartoony style. On first look, the style may appear to be simple but, as in QUEEN AND COUNTRY Vol.1, every expression is exactly right for the dialogue that's being spoken-you can almost read the book without the dialogue and still understand what's happening. The important thing that the art has to achieve, particularly in this first issue is to make the idea of being a cyborg look not just good but sexy. This it manages more than adequately but its Baron's coloring that really does the job, so shiny and bold it strikes you square between the eyes, especially in the club scene. Whilst you don't need to read the dialogue to get the gist of the story, you do need it to pick up the details. There are places in the script which, with its use of slang, can be confusing but most of the time any questions you have are answered a few pages later. This works very well, feeling far more natural than trying to answer them straight away. The biggest weakness of the issue is just that-it's a single issue but its meant to be the first third of a book. However, despite this, it's a fun read. (Stuart
Dalgleish)
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