FEARLESS DAWN #1 (ASYLUM): Okay, I’m a little behind on this one, as it came out way back in December of ’09… Remember those days? Conan O’Brien was still hosting The Tonight Show, Brittany Murphy was still with us, and nobody had ever heard of Haiti… But I digress. Steve Mannion’s Fearless Dawn is a riff on ’50s adventure comics, with all that implies: over-sexed women; barrel-chested strong-men; and more evil Nazi scum than you can shake a stick at. It plays as both parody, and tribute, while not easily settling into either category.

To give you a little sense of the plot, Fearless Dawn is our big-chested heroine, flying on a rocket into Manitoba to investigate a new fight drug that grants its user super strength for a limited period of time. Turns out, its being used by undead Frankenstein monster Nazis. Dawn gets captured, and its up to the hunky Old Number 7 to save her neck from the clink, and being tortured by the also sexy, big-chested Nazi general who’s running the whole racket. Things go south, and…

Honestly, the plot barely matters. Mannion is taking a bit of every genre cliche and throwing them through a blender, to get a cheeky, nostalgic look at the comics of yesteryear. Personally? I like my tributes with purpose, something that either skewers, or illuminates the previous works, giving your own work a reason to exist. Otherwise it strikes me like a written version of cosplay: these things are cool, I’m doing these things, so look how cool I am! But! I do understand this may not be my cup of tea, but others will find it appealing.

Things are slightly more positive for me on the art side… Mannion’s pencils and inks are dynamic and cartoony. One sequence in particular lovingly references Flash Gordon/Batman/any male adventurer type fights that’s perfectly drawn and fun to read. And yes, I do realize the hypocrisy in liking straight reference on the art side and not on the writing side. Stop pointing out my hypocrisy!

Point is, this is a fun issue, but I’m curious to see if it will grow into something lifted beyond its genre roots (like say, Tank Girl) in the next issue. Only time will tell…

FEARLESS DAWN #2 (ASYLUM): …Hey, time told! Because I’ve got the second issue right here! So how does it stack up to the first, and does Mannion start to address my criticisms (given that he’s had no time to read them between the first review and the second)? Well… Yes and no. The parody and humor is certainly much broader in this issue, which matches the more cartoony style well. The addition of Frank Forte on colors has made the whole thing look slicker and more four-color. I’m now pretty curious to see whether every issue, we’ll be moving forward a little bit in comic-book style, until we reach the present; though, that could just be wishful thinking on my part.

Again, personally, I’d like a little bit more of something going on to keep me coming back to this comic, whether its over-the-top situations, genre subversion, or something else other than tribute. But again, I realize there’s a place for this sort of comic, as well.

(By the way, the second issue came out mid-January, so only slightly less behind… The next issue is coming out Mid-March, so I’ll try to review that sometime in 2012.)