Last week I read Witch Doctor, Vol. 1: Under the Knife, which was closer to traditional super heroes than I normally read.  Actually, it was more of a supernatural slightly humorous noir story than anything else.  But, because it was more mainstream I felt like reading some more superheroes this week.  This lead me to Chase, written by Dan Curtis Johnson and J.H. Williams III, illustrated by J.H. Williams III and more, published by DC.

Chase is the story of Cameron Chase, an investigator for the D.E.O. (Department of Extranormal Operations).  It’s the D.E.O.’s job to catalog existing superheroes and ‘assist’ emergent metahumans before their powers get out of control.  In this collection, among other adventures, Chase encounters a boy whose pyrokinetic abilities are just starting to manifest and has to go on an assignment to determine Batman’s real identity. 

I picked Chase because of a couple of reasons: (1) J.H. Williams III, and (2) its’ cult status.  Between his work on Promethea with Moore, Seven Soldiers of Victory with Morrison, and his current Batwoman series J.H. Williams III is one of the great artists of this generation. I rarely pass up a chance to see great art!  Chase was published just before Promethea so this was a great opportunity to see how Williams art has developed over the years.  Also, I believe this is one of his first attempts at writing a series so I was very curious to see how this compares to his current writing.

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