Every Wednesday we take turns to delve into our trusty longboxes, pluck out a dusty back issue at random, and give you our thoughts. We’ll also try and place it in the context of the time it was originally published.

You know what you hardly ever see in “Big Two” superhero comics any more? Genuinely new characters. By that, I don’t mean new members of supporting casts, new members of team books, or new characters that have taken on the role, costume and/or legacy of an existing hero. I mean brand new superheroes with no connection whatsoever to any existing character in the universe, with a setup and supporting cast all of their own.

This is hardly surprising, of course, when you consider what happens to those sort of characters when they do actually show up. Case in point - Aztek : The Ultimate Man. This mid-nineties title was an excellent little series, with a strong lead character and conceit, some big ideas about putting a fresh twist on superhero storytelling, and a writing team that would nowadays be considered absolutely stellar – given that it’s Grant Morrison and Mark Millar. Yet it only lasted for ten issues, before the titular hero got a brief stint in Morrison’s JLA, and was finally killed off.

Which is a shame, because it’s actually among the best superhero output DC had to offer in the grim years of the mid to late 1990s. The setup – a man raised and trained from birth in an isolated community overseen by a shady corporation, and sent into the world with a helmet granting mystical powers in order to carry out an (initially unspecified) protectoral mission – sounds a bit hackneyed, but the Glaswegian duo used the series to give something of an outsider’s take on the then state of superheroics. And, much like James Robinson’s peerless Starman, quickly set about building a distinct setting and support cast while also integrating the character into the DC universe.

By issue three, plot wheels were well underway – no messing about with “decompression” here – and we open at the funeral of Bloodtype, a violent sociopathic “hero” in the early ‘90s Image mould, killed accidentally in a skirmish in the first issue. His funeral is attended only by villains, rather than heroes, and MozMillar use him – if a little unsubtly – to contrast with the morality of Aztek, who in his opening scene is seen attempting to find a non-violent solution to dealing with a gang of muggers. If you’re the sort of person who sees Superman as too “goody goody”, and have a distaste for the Silver Age feeling that’s being evoked, then you’re probably less likely to engage with the lead character; but he’s played very much as a fish out of water (a little overly so, in a somewhat clichéd scene that sees his alter ego out on a date and perplexed by the menu in a restaurant), and his own highly moral code is seen to cause problems in a world drenched in shades of grey.

The main antagonist of the issue is trademark Morrison – the former girlfriend of Bloodtype, once a hero but rebuilt largely in plastic by the CIA after an unspecified “accident” and now going by the name Death Doll. There’s an attempt to bring pathos to her character when she first appears, although by the time she gets to actually fighting Aztek she’s turned somewhat into typical ranting villain mode. Nevertheless, what we see once again is an examination of a comic book trope – here, villain created by extra-normal circumstance is given a vaguely human background, even though they’re not particularly likeable.

Interestingly, the series also made use of Watchmen-esque text pieces at the end of every issue in an attempt to flesh out the fledgling background – the one here taking the form of a review of a biography of Vanity City’s founder – and it’s a neat touch, although one that ultimately proved futile once the series crashed and burned. Meanwhile, if there’s one thing that does let the title down, it’s the art, which while passable enough, falls very much into the DC house style of the time (comparable to Howard Porter’s JLA work), and while there’s a good sense of character design, it’s dragged down by some weak storytelling at points.

Nevertheless, Aztek remains a series well worth tracking down, even though the issues lead more to a “what could have been” point than managing to tell a full and satisfying story. It’s a largely forgotten moment in the careers of its two writers – but it’s very much indicative of the steps that both would take over the decade that followed.

We don’t usually do much in terms of new updates here, but since the April 2008 Marvel Solicits have just been released, and in light of all the secrecy over the casts of various titles, I couldn’t help noticing this Greg Land X-Men poster (top image below, click to enlarge)

Colossus, Frost, Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Pixie? Odd set of characters to be appearing on a poster together. It doesn’t appear to be the cast of Ellis’ Astonishing X-Men, after all (depicted here) though there is a little crossover. Could it be something to do with the post-Messiah Complex X-Men line? The Uncanny cast, perhaps?

There’s also this leaked Young X-Men cover (bottom image on the left, also click to enlarge.) YXM is, as we know, the successor to the dearly departed New X-Men.

 Clearly no Pixie there. Though I do recognise Wolfcub, Blindfold (in costume!?) Rockslide and Dust, clockwise from the far left, along with an (apparently) new guy on the far right and either Elixir or a new character in the centre. That’s clearly a Dodson cover even before you read the signature, though whether that means he’ll be the regular artist is anyone’s guess.

Still, I suppose we’ll find all this out soon when the full X-Men solicits come out on Thursday.

And, while we’re speaking about the solicits, it’s also good to see this has finally been announced:

X-MEN DIVIDED WE STAND BOOK 1 (of 2)
Written by MIKE CAREY, MATT FRACTION, CRAIG KYLE, CHRISTOPHER YOST and SKOTTIE YOUNG
Pencils by BRANDON PETERSON, JAMIE MCKELVIE, SANA TAKEDA and SKOTTIE YOUNG
Cover by BRANDON PETERSON
*Solicit classified until 1/24/2008*
48 PGS./Rated T+…$3.99

Frankly, that’s going to be worth it for McKelvie’s first mainstream superhero work alone. Excited? Yes sir.

DMZ #27 once again features guest art from Nathan Fox, and continues the “Hidden War” non-arc concentrating on various new and supporting characters from around the DMZ. Under the spotlight in this issue is the DMZ’s own club DJ, Random Fire, who finds himself just angry enough with the world to make some seriously bad decisions.

At the start of the issue, Random Fire’s set is bumped in favour of DJ Grendel, a celebrity DJ who has moved in to the DMZ to do a “dangerous” live webcast. RF discovers that he’s manipulating the situation for his own popularity, planning to stage an atack during his set, and he’s just angry enough that when the chance arises to stop it, he jumps at the chance. As ever, the politics are vivd and the characters realistic in their motivations and decisions. A large part of DMZ’s appeal is the well-realised world it’s taking place in, and the recent issues have exemplified that by telling stories largely removed from the main cast.

Wood’s solo issue, #12, which was a magazine-like “guide” to the DMZ in the style of say, Timeout, has clearly proven a goldmine for ideas, as club Rezurrection, which appeared on fliers in that issue, finally makes a grand entrance here as the focal point for the action (and my nerd credentials would be at stake if I didn’t mention that it’s got the same name as the club from Wood’s debut work, Channel Zero.)

Still, it’s also fair to say that the ongoing plot of DMZ is also a big draw. This arc has been great, and next issue about the Central Park “Ghost” has me particularly excited because they were always a neat concept, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to pick up Matty’s story and see how the larger series arc is shaping up. Granted, everything contributes in its own way, but with an arc focussing on a DMZ Guevara/Chavez analogue around the corner, it’s hard not to get excited for a return to whatever passes for normalcy in this series.

An incredibly odd title comes to an incredibly odd end as the penultimate and otherwise unremarkable part of a crossover. I have to admit, were I a big fan of New X-Men, I might feel a bit short changed. As it is, I can’t get too worked up, not least because the rumours of a “Young X-Men” title are flying thick and fast which will presumably fill the niche this book, and Generation X, and (the original) New Mutants occupied before it (though as an aside, having run the “New” branding into the ground off the back of Grant Morrison’s New X-Men,  it seems Marvel are now eyeing up Young Avengers’ branding. What’s next? Young Daredevil? Young Punisher? Young New Excalibur?!)

Still, while it may not be much of a send-off for the plucky young group of cannon-fodder, it is a fairly decent chapter in its own right. There are some concerns, however. Rogue’s sudden reappearance as a major plot point doesn’t feel very foreshadowed, unless you’ve been reading the series prior to Messiah Complex, and her current “death touch” isn’t even mentioned shortly before it’s used to kill off Sinister, if you can believe that’s actually happened. Still, the idea of Mystique and Gambit working together in the Marauders is a logical one, and Gambit’s change of heart in giving the child to Xavier makes plenty of sense. There’s an excellent scene where Gambit looks over Sinister’s corpse and considers that if Sinister is dead, then his debt is truly over and he’s free again.

Perhaps the other major point in the issue is that the Predator-X arc finally intersects with the rest of the plot, which seems fitting because he is a New X-Men villain, after all. Faced with a battle they can’t win, the NXM have a fairly frantic battle which culminates in Pixie freaking out and teleporting the New X-Men - and more importantly Predator-X - to the X-Men, who she believes can stop it. Unfortunately, the X-Men are with mutant baby that made Predator-X go insane with hunger in the first place. Uhoh. It seems, then, that Predator-X will be providing the culminating battle, and in a few days we’ll get to see exactly how this all ends.

Rarely has something so sweet left such a bitter taste. The joy at the fact that Dan Slott is so far proving to be an absolutely inspired choice of Spider-Man writer, and is already turning in the best material the main title has seen in years, is tempered by the fact that the success and acclaim of the run will surely allow Joe Quesada to crow that he was right all along – and that you can’t tell good stories with a married Spidey. Yeah, well, nice trick, Joe – but how different would it have been if you’d had Jeph Loeb up your sleeve for the relaunch instead?

Anyway, as it happens, the fact that the precise nature of the story is unimportant to the quality of the telling is demonstrated by the fact that, so far, Slott’s story has been neither groundbreaking nor particularly gripping. The villain is generic, “broke and misunderstood” is the quintessential Spidey scenario, and there are even elements of Ben Reilly’s brief and underappreciated tenure under the mask (that might just be because he’s skint and hanging out at a coffee house, but still). No, what makes this book so instantly unmissable is the way in which it’s told – finally we have a writer who just gets the core elements of good Spidey storytelling, balancing drama with genuine laughs. The whole thing feels effortless, and there’s a lightness of touch that even spreads as far as editor Steve Wacker (the editorial note on the last page is possibly the funniest bit of the whole thing). It may not be all that forward-thinking, but it’s exactly the kind of Spider-Man story for which we’ve been crying out for yonks. Watch out, too, for Slott’s deft grasp of structure – he’s now opened two successive issues with near-identical imagery used in completely different contexts. Who’ll Peter be smooching on the first page of issue #548, I wonder?

On art duties, Steve McNiven often gets criticism for his work having something of a staid, “action figure” quality, despite his undoubted technical brilliance. He definitely takes some time to settle in here, I think – his first full-costume shot is a bit awkward – but gets to grips with it later on, and in the final scene in particular he nails the Romita Jr-esque “lithe Spidey” look pretty well. The whole thing, though, is undeniably sharp and pretty, with a good grasp of character design – and a vast improvement on the artists Amazing has had to put up with in recent times. And if he can make it to the end of his allotted run without having to delay the book at all, well… job done, frankly.

It can’t be denied that it would be nice to see Slott flexing his muscles a bit more, and throwing Peter into a story with a bit more intrigue and interest to it. For the moment, though, he’s taking it one step at a time – restoring the character to his position at the pinnacle of purely entertaining superhero comics (and thereby ensuring that Spider-Man doesn’t get out-Spider-Manned by DC’s Blue Beetle, for once) and making great strides towards winning back the affections of longtime fans. Quesada’s story decisions may be abominable – but at least he can pick his writers.

While I was none too impressed by the first issue, I did keep buying Angel on the grounds that I’m a hideous wreck of a man more interested in completism than quality. Luckily, it’s starting to pay off. Issue #3 shows a marked improvement in both art and story as we finally get the last of the principal cast members filled with when Illyria shows up (I’m not sure Lorne needs to be included after how Angel S5 ended, though I’m sure he’ll turn up in the comic eventually…)

Angel still doesn’t appear to have a clue what’s going on, but at least we’re starting to see suggestions as to why that’s the case. The final page revelation - that Angel is no longer a vampire - seems wildly out of place when we’re already a quarter into the story - though on the other hand, including it in the first issue could’ve seemed like overload. In any case, it’s something that’s finally made me interested in the plot, though it’s lucky for them that I was still actually reading it at this point. 

Urru’s art is starting to look a lot cleaner. The muddyness of the last two issues is gone, and characters are finally as recognisable as they need to be, though the demon designs are - as with all Buffy comics - still very hard to believe on the page, but I’ve discussed the problems with TV-to-Comic translations elsewhere so I won’t go into it now. Despite that minor issue, I do at least feel as though we’re finally seeing the qualities that led him to be hand-picked by Whedon for this assignment.

It was a rocky start, but if it continues improving at this rate the comic should be genuinely enjoyable by about issue 6. At the moment, it’s hard not to think it’s running off Whedon’s goodwill - certainly, that’s the only reason I’m still here - but it’s made a significant step towards winning me on its own merits now that there’s a specific goal in place for Angel, and a genuine mystery to keep me interested, rather than the confused status-quo changes that have been stapled onto the rest of the characters. Given that it’s essentially telling a story that was best left untold (what happens to Angel after Season 5) it’s good to see it finally trying to justify itself.