Comic Book Marathon
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
My Comics Can Beat Up Your Comics - 05/25/05
And so the pendulum swings from Marvel to DC this week. Actually, I thought it was going to be even an bigger week, but Top Ten: the 49ers has been pushed back until July 13th, so good news/bad news there.
I have also added a new feature to the listings this week, a "Waiting for the Trade" section at the bottom, for comics coming out this week that I will buy when they show up in collected form. I hope that this will give a fuller idea of my tastes, so that anyone reading this can give recommendations on what I am not reading, but should be.
Lastly, I have been invited to guest-blog on The Low Road for the next couple of weeks, so look out for reviews and commentary from me over there.
Onward ...
Gotham Central Vol 2: Half A Life - Ever since his comics debut Whiteout, I have never read anything by Greg Rucka that has lived up to the hype. On the other hand, I have been a big fan of Michael Lark since Terminal City. Here the two collaborate on the tale that won the 2004 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story. Thus, I have no idea how to set my expectations, so wish me luck.
True Story Swear to God Vol 2: This One Goes to 11 - On the other hand, I have nothing but absolute praise for this series, which I have already read in serialized form and will savor all over again with this edition. This brisk, charming, and heartfelt tale focuses on the internal storms that Tom faces as he chooses between his hometown and the woman he loves, while 3,000 miles away, Lily braves a more literal storm in the form of a category 5 hurricane. Good stuff.
Wrath of the Spectre! - An essential piece of comic history is reprinted here, as the worlds of super hero vigilantes and supernatural retribution collide is this collection of gory and brutal stories from the mid-70's. Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo focus on what happens when a god-like vigilante is a force for vengeance instead of justice, and the results are chillingly horrific. These tales predict many of the more regrettable trends in current comics, but taken on their own, they are highly effective stories that did open up new areas for comics to explore. Also includes the 1988 revisitation by Fleisher and Aparo, the original covers for both the 70's and 80's editions, and the original Who's Who entry for the Spectre from 1987.
Different Ugliness, Different Madness - This striking graphic novel (sadly, one of the last of the DC/Humanoids co-publishing agreement) presents the tale of an emotionally-tortured young woman in post-World War II France who meets a famous radio announcer with secrets of his own. The cartoonish art drawn with a heavy painterly brush reminds me of Alex Toth, with all the gorgeous stark shadowing that implies. I've really enjoyed all of the non-sci-fi books I've read from Humanoids, so I'm looking forward to this one as well.
Desperado Primer - $2 for a sampler of a new publisher's work? I can handle that. Joe Pruett edited a few very cool books at Caliber, so I'll give him a shot to impress me.
Comics Journal #268 - The feature interview this time around is of "new mainstream" poster-boy Craig Thompson. Also, an interview with somebody whose comics I just don't "get," Bob Burden and a color comics section spotlighting Pogo creator Walt Kelly's work on Dell's Our Gang comics. And the usual plethora of news articles, columns, and reviews that will help make my quest for the best in sequential art that much easier.
Excalibur #14 - The Dread Dormmamu so declares! "Strange! I know not by what power you have brought me to this place -- but you will pay for such effrontery -- first with your misbegotten life . . . AND ULTIMATELY WITH YOUR SOUL!" Awesome! Also, Professor X mopes a lot. Meh.
Waiting for the trade: Runaways Vol 2 #4 and Ultimates Vol 2 #6. Apparently, though, I can expect these trades to be mis-printed when they finally do come out.
Safety? Just danger out of place.
I have also added a new feature to the listings this week, a "Waiting for the Trade" section at the bottom, for comics coming out this week that I will buy when they show up in collected form. I hope that this will give a fuller idea of my tastes, so that anyone reading this can give recommendations on what I am not reading, but should be.
Lastly, I have been invited to guest-blog on The Low Road for the next couple of weeks, so look out for reviews and commentary from me over there.
Onward ...
Gotham Central Vol 2: Half A Life - Ever since his comics debut Whiteout, I have never read anything by Greg Rucka that has lived up to the hype. On the other hand, I have been a big fan of Michael Lark since Terminal City. Here the two collaborate on the tale that won the 2004 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story. Thus, I have no idea how to set my expectations, so wish me luck.
True Story Swear to God Vol 2: This One Goes to 11 - On the other hand, I have nothing but absolute praise for this series, which I have already read in serialized form and will savor all over again with this edition. This brisk, charming, and heartfelt tale focuses on the internal storms that Tom faces as he chooses between his hometown and the woman he loves, while 3,000 miles away, Lily braves a more literal storm in the form of a category 5 hurricane. Good stuff.
Wrath of the Spectre! - An essential piece of comic history is reprinted here, as the worlds of super hero vigilantes and supernatural retribution collide is this collection of gory and brutal stories from the mid-70's. Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo focus on what happens when a god-like vigilante is a force for vengeance instead of justice, and the results are chillingly horrific. These tales predict many of the more regrettable trends in current comics, but taken on their own, they are highly effective stories that did open up new areas for comics to explore. Also includes the 1988 revisitation by Fleisher and Aparo, the original covers for both the 70's and 80's editions, and the original Who's Who entry for the Spectre from 1987.
Different Ugliness, Different Madness - This striking graphic novel (sadly, one of the last of the DC/Humanoids co-publishing agreement) presents the tale of an emotionally-tortured young woman in post-World War II France who meets a famous radio announcer with secrets of his own. The cartoonish art drawn with a heavy painterly brush reminds me of Alex Toth, with all the gorgeous stark shadowing that implies. I've really enjoyed all of the non-sci-fi books I've read from Humanoids, so I'm looking forward to this one as well.
Desperado Primer - $2 for a sampler of a new publisher's work? I can handle that. Joe Pruett edited a few very cool books at Caliber, so I'll give him a shot to impress me.
Comics Journal #268 - The feature interview this time around is of "new mainstream" poster-boy Craig Thompson. Also, an interview with somebody whose comics I just don't "get," Bob Burden and a color comics section spotlighting Pogo creator Walt Kelly's work on Dell's Our Gang comics. And the usual plethora of news articles, columns, and reviews that will help make my quest for the best in sequential art that much easier.
Excalibur #14 - The Dread Dormmamu so declares! "Strange! I know not by what power you have brought me to this place -- but you will pay for such effrontery -- first with your misbegotten life . . . AND ULTIMATELY WITH YOUR SOUL!" Awesome! Also, Professor X mopes a lot. Meh.
Waiting for the trade: Runaways Vol 2 #4 and Ultimates Vol 2 #6. Apparently, though, I can expect these trades to be mis-printed when they finally do come out.
Safety? Just danger out of place.
posted by chasdom, 10:01 AM
2 Comments:
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