What made me think about this whole female comic book character thing I have been writing about?
Well, it was this little preview on comicbookresources.com for a comic called “Lorna: Relic Wrangler.”
It has yet to debut, but it sure looks cool. The artist, Loston Wallace, is an alumnus from “Batman: The Animated Series,” and as such draws in the wonderfully simple yet expressive style of the great Bruce Timm.
Let us note Timm’s Batman show and the companion Superman show always has great female supporting characters, from Batgirl, to Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn on Batman to Lois Lane and Supergirl in the Superman show.
Often Timm is joined with writer Paul Dini to tell his stories, and perhaps one of the greatest comics of the last 20 years is “Batman: Mad Love,” By Dini and Timm. Which is another great story featuring a rather twisted, but memorable, female lead, Harley Quinn.
But, I digress.
I like the Timm style a lot. Sadly, Timm hasn’t drawn a whole lot of comics. Many of his imitators have, though, to varying degrees of success. Perhaps the best of the bunch are Darwyn Cooke, Aluir Amancio, Mike Manley and Rick Burchett.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand: Wallace’s preview pages look as though he is one of the better artists to pick up and use that style.
I think I am in for “Lorna.” I’ll have to check it out when it appears at the comic store, though.
Now, what else am I currently buying? After all I did promise to mention four more great comics with female leads.
Well, since I was talking about Dini, I shall easily transition to “Zatanna.” Zatanna, the magician who says her spells backwards, has long been a member of the DC universe, but has usually been lumped in with al the other characters in the Justice League of America. I remember reading numerous issues of JLA in which she had a bit part, but never had a leading role.
I thought it was cool DC decided to take an old character and give her new life with her own book. When it started with the creative team of Dini and artist Stephane Roux, I was convinced this would be a comic worth watching.
And it was, for the first few issues.
You see, I cannot entirely recommend it carte blanche for a couple of reasons:
1. Too many guest writers and
2. Too many guest artists.
“Zatanna” started out strong under its original creative team. Then Roux left. Then Dini left. Then Dini came back. Roux is supposed to be back for an issue in a couple of months.
DC got a really great three-issue fill-in job from Cliff Chiang, one of the younger comics artists whose work I really, really enjoy, much like Shawn MacManus on Cinderella. Chiang reminds me a little bit of Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez at times, but his finished work is a little rougher and more spontaneous. His sense of layout and storytelling is original, but still simple and easy to follow, like MacManus. Frankly, I like Chiang better than Roux, but they are both really good.
Other than Chiang’s issues, the fill-in stories have not been memorable.
So, “Zatanna,” at its best is a very welcome, very well-written and drawn vehicle for an old character to shine. At its worst, it’s pretty mediocre.
I hope the comic stays at its best for a while, because if not, I’d suspect it’s in danger of being cancelled.
Speaking of cancelled, I think I shall end here for now. I went on too long about Bruce Timm and why you should and shouldn’t check out Zatanna to fit in the other stuff.
I know I still owe you a few more female-led comics, which I promise to deliver next time.
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