By: David Hine (story/writer), Shaky Kane (story/art), Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt (lettering) and JG Roshell (design)
The Story: Not exactly sure, but we get an origin for the Shield of Justice character.
Four Things:
1. Just glad to have Bulletproof Coffin back! - The first 6-issue run of Bulletproof Coffin that ended in January 2011 was so much fun. It was such a loving, campy homage to pre-comics code comic books that also layered in an interesting commentary on creator rights. We readers get lots of great mini-series from Image, but it’s kinda rare to see a second act because the creators often move on to other projects. For example: We’ll probably never see another issue of Cowboy Ninja Viking. So, anytime the creators of a beloved creator-owned miniseries come back for an encore, we should cheer because you know they’re not getting rich doing this stuff.
2. Love how the flat colors pop. - I talk a LOT in reviews about wanting more flat, primary colors in comics. Bulletproof Coffin is a great example of what I’m talking about. These pages are just alive. For anyone who doubts me, take a nicely colored Marvel comic (say, Fantastic Four colored by the reliable Paul Mounts) and open it up and do the same thing with Bulletproof Coffin. Now walk to the other side of the room and see which comic can still catch your eye. Flat colors just have a power to them that can never be matched by this highlighted crap.
3. Not really sure what it’s about yet. - I really struggled about what to write in “The Story” section up above because it isn’t at all clear what is going on (yet). We DO get an origin for the Shield of Justice vigilante character that we met in the first miniseries, but how this relates to the opening scene of a naked man tunneling under a graveyard and coming up in the middle of other Bulletproof Coffin characters is beyond me. Surely there is some meta-commentary going on here; I just don’t recognize it yet.
4. Loads of old-school camp/homage. - The story isn’t all muddled though as the origin of the Shield is smacking you right in the face! It’s a straight up homage to pre-comics code stories. It follows a hard-boiled police detective who is investigating murders and shows how he gets turned into a vigilante. But, what makes it awesome is the intentionally overwrought dialog. It’s about as subtle as a brick to the face. As the detective describes his partner, “Don’t let the looks fool you. She’s tough as nails and as sharp as a stiletto.” Or when we see the detective’s vigilante fantasies (which involve his sexy partner all tied up in a homage to early bondage comics), and they’re busting up a labor union… He’s shooting his gun at the labor union guys (who are all dressed in red with Soviet sickle and hammer motifs) and yelling, “How d’ya like the taste of AMERICAN LEAD you Commie Creeps!” I love how the language is so powerful and provocative without resorting to profanity. And of course, after busting up the commie labor union organizers, the vigilante gets nekked with his buxom sidekick. Great stuff!
Conclusion: Great to have Bulletproof Coffin back. If you love homages to the more adult entertainment offerings from the 1950′s, this is something you’ll enjoy a LOT. It makes me want to go read some old EC vigilante comics. The thing holding it back is that I don’t really know what is going on with the bigger story, but I’m sure that’ll come.
Grade: B
-Dean Stell
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Filed under: Image Comics Tagged: | Bulletproof Coffin, Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred #1, Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred #1 review, David Hine, Dean Stell, Disinterred, Image, JG Roshell, Jimmy Batancourt, review, Richard Starkings, Shaky Kane
