Empire State: A Love Story (or Not)
Jason Shiga, Abrams ComicArts, $17.95 (144p) ISBN 978-0-8109-9747-9
Jimmy's first crush/best friend Sara has moved to New York to encounter the wider world. So Jimmy, a socially awkward man-child who likes reading hard sci-fi (the kind with rocket ships) and has no idea what a latte is, embarks on a perilous bus trip from his home in Oakland to Brooklyn to profess his love to her. He soon learns that the only thing worse than sharing a small bus with random ex-cons comparing notes on their prison experiences is crashing on a couch in a small Brooklyn apartment with Sara and her new boyfriend, Mark. Sara and Mark do their best to welcome Jimmy to the grown-up world, showing him different parts of the city and trying to broaden his limited horizons, but there's a real question as to whether their gentle coaching will take. Shiga (Meanwhile, Double Happiness) walks a fine line between sappy rom-com and maudlin love-lost tale, but largely succeeds in maintaining a balanced middle. He's aided by a crude yet geometric penciling style that draws the reader very effectively into Jimmy's point of view. He also displays a wicked sense of comic timing, which is equally effective at portraying awkward pauses and slapstick physicality. (May)
The Flash, Vol. 1: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues
Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul, DC, $19.99 trade paper (228p) ISBN 978-1-4012-2970-2
Barry Allen, the super-fast superhero the Flash, is back from the dead and rebuilding his life in Central City. Allen finds a city transformed; the population has tripled, the crime rate has quadrupled, and the forensics department is overworked and staffed with burnouts. Flash finds a city overrun with costumed villains, in particular the Rogues, both the villains Barry knew and new criminals stepping into established personae. A bad situation takes a turn for the worse when the Renegades, the 25th-century descendants of the Rogues, arrive. Futuristic policemen enforcing draconian, inflexible laws, the Renegades' target is the man who the Renegades' records show will commit murder, a killer better known as the Flash. In keeping with the retreat into Silver Age nostalgia that saw Barry Allen's successors pushed aside to reintroduce one of the few fallen heroes whose death seemed both permanent and meaningful, this story resembles a '60s-era tale expanded six-fold. Manapul's art is lively, making for a comfortable but unchallenging tale. (Feb.)
