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Comic List Highlights (5/8/2013)

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May 042013

There’s been whining about Avengers Arena out there, about how it’s just Hunger Games or Battle Royale, about how it’s all just a gimmick to kill characters, waah, waah, waah! We’ll we’re here to tell those people to shut up. Avengers Arena is easily one of the best books to come out of the Marvel NOW line of relaunch comics. And that is for the same reason that all the above complaints mean nothing: characters. Dennis Hopeless excels at many aspects of the narrative process, but primary among them is his ability to write layered, rounded, fascinating characters. With characters you care about it doesn’t matter what plot structure you apply (because let’s be honest, they’re all just repeats of Shakespeare), the story is always compelling. So, place your bets, because sixteen teenage superheroes have entered into a deadly game of cat-and-laser-shooting-adolescent. And only one will leave.

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Shaw is on the run. He’s been running for hundreds of years. ’Cause he’s immortal. And pissed off. Now he’s in Chicago, surrounded by gangsters, police, and other mystical creatures who want him dead. But that’s okay, because he’s got a closet full of Tommyguns and a pack full of smokes. This is Chin Music. Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and Tony Harris (Starman, Ex Machina) have combined their mighty horror powers to produce a moody ongoing series of sci-fi scares and supernatural action. If you loved this week’s Ten Grand, you’ll dig Chin Music.

Thanks to this next trade paperback, I just jumped backwards in time and change the course of the day so that Free Comic Book Day occurred on May the 4th. That’s right, time travel. Comeback is a political thriller basted in a thick coding of time travel mayhem. Two agents for a prestigious time traveling firm (who you hire to go back in time and stop you from dying) get stuck in the past, chased by the FBI, and their own bosses, who’ve come back to “wipe out the evidence”. Think Criminal meets Back to the Future.

Finally, because it was FCBD (meaning it was a madhouse), we’ll end tonight on a simply mathematical picture of the Jake figure from the Adventure Time Pop Vinyl figures coming in this Wednesday (also including Finn and Marceline).

Comic List Highlights (5/1/2013)

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Apr 272013

It’s not a crime story, it’s a love story. Just a really, really messed up one.

J. Michael Straczynski returns to his Cup of Joe imprint, this time through Image Comics, for his first new ongoing series, Ten Grand. JMS brings Ben Templesmith (Fell, Choker, 30 Days of Night) with him on art duties, with Templesmith lending his normal gloomy, hazy, atmospheric quality to the tale. And this is a tale that cries for it. Former mob muscle Joe Fitzgerald lost his beloved wife during his “last job” many years ago. However, on that same night, Joe himself lost his life, but also received a special deal on his entrance into hell. Joe was allowed to return to Earth, in order to complete assignments from below, with the benefit that each time he dies in the line of duty, he gets to spend five minutes in heaven with his wife. A noir burnt to a crisp, fans of Fell who’ve been aching for more since the series ended years ago need to pick up a copy of Ten Grand #1.

Tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street #1!

For all the kids in the audience, all your favorite friends are showing up at the comic store next Wednesday. That’s Big Bird, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Elmo, Bert, and Ernie, all in one special issue. And because it’s a comic book you’ve got to have a superhero story. But when it’s Elmo, who has no superpowers, trying to be the hero, there may be trouble. Don’t worry, though, because he’s got all his friends and imagination on his side. Any parent looking to get their kid into comics, need look no further than Sesame Street #1.

With last week’s Jupiter’s Legacy we saw the birth of an alternate world’s super beings. This week we see the origins of our world’s superhumans with Suicide Risk. Set in San Diego during the arrival of the world’s first wave of super beings, Suicide Risk focuses on a police officer out-of-his-depth as these new arrivals being to discover their powers in bad ways. Because, of course, in our world, when you’re given the ability to shoot lasers out of your eyes you use it to melt your obnoxious boss’ car. With the world going to hell around him, officer Leo Winters is left to wrangle up the madness with a bulletproof vest, a shotgun, and some stamina. From Unwitten, X-Men Legacy, and Lucifer writer Mike Carey, Suicide Risk #1 is a taught cop thriller laced with capes and cowls.

Gail Simone funnels her recent “firing” by “The Man” into a new series from DC called The Movement. The series will focus on the underprivileged of the superhero community. These super-poor are out to take down the social elite, the 1%, protecting the other disadvantaged in the process. And in a world where Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen are the equivalent of Bernie Madoff, you can expect some major fisticuffs as the series progresses. And who better to draw some shenanigans than local artist Freddie Williams III (JSA All Stars, Captain Atom, Green Arrow). Given that Gail Simone has been killing it on Batgirl lately, and wrote one of DC‘s best series of the last ten years, Secret Six, The Movement is on my must-read radar.

Comic List Highlights (4/17/2013)

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Apr 132013

The mind can be a prison.

That’s the premise of Marvel NOW‘s X-Men Legacy series. Written by the psychedelic pen of Si Spurrier (Gutsville, X-Club), X-Men Legacy follows in the footsteps of other C-List character-centric books like Immortal Iron Fist, Hawkeye, and Fearless Defenders by focusing on Charles Xavier’s son, Legion. Formerly a schizophrenic super-villain, Legion has now found his inner peace by entrapping his numerous vile personalities in a brain prison. Yes, brain prison. This out-of-the-ordinary series is one of the most unusual, pleasing reads at Marvel right now, primarily because Spurrier is unafraid to venture into the weird realms of the X-Men universe. The volume one trade paperback features the first six issues as well as a mound of mental distress.

Science = bad.

That’s the prime equation for Jonathan Hickman’s Manhattan Projects. If you picked up the first collection of this psychotic series, you’re well aware of Hickman’s brilliance and the utter depravity of the scientists involved therein. If you didn’t, the basic premise is that the Manhattan Project was a mere cover for what was actually occurring, i.e. time travel, alien encounters, robots, cybernetics, and vast A.I. computer systems. From there Hickman throws in a slew of mentally unstable geniuses like Einstein, Oppenheimer, and Fenyman, each of which are hiding a dark secret, and you’ve got the madhouse pot boiler that is this series. Now, volume two is being unleashed upon the unsuspecting public, this time with more alien disemboweling, evil FDR, and Russian cosmonaut dogs with machine guns. Science = bad, Manhattan Projects = good.

Think bigger.

That’s Jonathan Hickman’s mandate for his recent relaunch of The Avengers. Not has crazy as Manhattan Projects, Hickman’s Avengers has been all about expansion. Spinning out of the Marvel NOW relaunch, this first volume of Avengers collects issues one through six, wherein Captain America puts out the call for new members in order to fight back a godly force on Mars. All of this is building up to figuring out the original recipe for the universe. This version of the Avengers moves far, far away from the Bendis era, with grand, epic adventures and huge comic book imagery! Given that Jerome Opena (Uncanny X-Force) lends his fluid pencils to the affair, this is THE Avengers book to read if you loved the movie!

While the Avengers are fighting baddies on Mars, they are not, in fact, fighting the aliens from Mars Attacks! However, nearly everyone else is!

IDW continues its annual tradition of crossover miniseries where some evil force ventures into the various property universes the company owns. Previously, its been zombies and Cthulhu fighting the likes of GI Joe, Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the Transformers (Infestion v.1-2; check’em out!), but this time around it’s the Mars Attacks! martians versus the IDW universe! Mars Attacks IDW includes each of the one-shot volumes released, featuring KISS, Transformers, Ghostbusters, Zombies vs. Robots, and, the best of the bunch, Popeye! Each issue is drawn and written in a style appropriate to the character so, for instance, the Popeye issue looks like a 40s era golden age book being invaded by twisted, murderous aliens. And the only thing standing in their way is a can of spinach and one pissed off sailor! If you never thought you’d see such insane crossovers, your mind will melt when you lay eyes on this trade paperback volume!

Comic List Highlights (3/6/2013)

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Mar 022013

Welcome to the bad old days.

The world is a pit of despair, Ultron is in charge, and there’s no hope for survival…except for a rag-tag bunch of heroes with a plan. Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Emma Frost, Wolverine, Invisible Woman, Taskmaster, Beast, She-Hulk, and Moon Knight are the last ditch effort for the Marvel Universe to continue existing, but something tell’s me they may have a chance. This dystopian future tale is THE EVENT for the Marvel Universe this year, with three issues coming out a month for the next three months. And don’t worry about crossovers with other series, because they’ve been kept to a minimum and left as non-essential; read’em if you want, don’t if not. With the mad puppeteer of Marvel, Brian Michael Bendis (All-New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Scarlet), having worked on establishing the implications of this tale over the last four years, Age of Ultron is going to leave its mark. And for a series that epic in scope you need an artist that can match the tone. Luckily, Bryan Hitch (The Ultimates, America’s Got Powers) was able to lend his deft talent at cinematic realism to the book! Don’t get left behind like so many did with Avengers vs. X-Men, pick up issue one of Age of Ultron, or one of its many variants, this Wednesday!

Cullen Bunn has managed to blend sci-fi, horror, and western genres in the long lived Sixth Gun series with ease. Now Bunn is applying the same strategy to a tale of viking carnage! Helheim begins with a brutal siege on a tiny, seaside village by forces of evil. But standing between them and the meaty townsfolk is Rikard and his horde of viking warriors. Though you might think you know where this story goes from there, you’d be surprised. This is only the beginning. Bunn just rocked Marvel NOW! with his first issue of Fearless Defenders (you know we’ve been talking it up at the store!), an issue which also featured some viking fisticuffs, and aims to do the same to Oni Press with the start of this new ongoing series. When you blend gothic horror, witchcraft, and zombies, you get Helheim!

Searching for images of Joe Casey’s Sex #1 resulted in some awkward moments at the store. Yeah….

One of this month’s Image Comics releases, advertises itself as “a good reason to come into the comic store – to buy SEX!” Though it may be crass, it’s true. Joe Casey has written everyone from Wolverine to Batman to The Avengers to Spider-Man, but he’s never written anything as chock full of debauchery. A former superhero is forced to give up his vigilante lifestyle only to take to the streets for some much needed R&R. However in a town like Saturn City, R&R can get rather S&M. Follow Simon Cooke on his dark, dirty journey through the recesses of a town gone wrong in a post-modern superhero tale unlike any other in comics today.

And finally tonight, another twist on a classic tale.

No Place Like Home was one of my favorite miniseries from Image Comics last year thanks to its intelligent, inventive reworking of the classic L. Frank Baum fable, The Wizard of Oz. Dee is a rocker from the city, but a rural kid at heart who must return home to Kansas after the grisly murder of her parents during a tornado. After getting home and rekindling friendships with old acquaintances, Dee stumbles into a decades old mystery that ties together her parents, the two sheriff, a local drunk, and…a flying monkey? Comic newcomers Angelo Tirotto and Richard Jordan dropkick Judy Garland and replace her with a twisted slasher film sprinkle with famous imagery and characters from the classic tale. Oh, Tirotto claims this is only the beginning of an epic arc that’ll take Dee all the way over the rainbow.

Comic List Highlights (2/27/2013)

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Feb 232013

Hey, everyone, come on, grab your friends! We’ll go to very distant lands!

Jake and Finn have stopped playing with BMO and are back for a second round of Adventure Time trade paperback mathematics! Adventure Time volume two collects issues five through nine of the series that’s sweeter than Peppermint Butler. Within these flippin’ sweet pages are stories of Finn and Jake turning into robots, traveling in Princess Bubblegum’s time machine, and laying some smack down on the Ice King. Make your kids (or, hell, yourself) happy and pick it up!

Liches and zombies need not apply.

Scott Snyder just finished what is sure to become a classic Joker story in the main Batman series, but, before he made a name for himself, Snyder wrote one of the creepiest runs of Detective Comics ever. Set during the period of time where Dick Grayson was Batman, this extended run has an entirely different tone from other Batman books as Grayson is all about the sarcasm and acrobatics, both brought to life by Jock’s expressive pencils. Faced with a complicated murder mystery to solve, Grayson must team-up with Commissioner Gordon to crack the case. Not only do Gordon and Grayson share sleuthing duties, but the story is also evenly split between them. Gordon must deal with the arrival of his prodigal son, James, Jr., who may or may not be entirely sane. Snyder is incredibly dept at pacing horror and suspense on the page, a talent uses handily during many of Gordon and James, Jr.’s scenes together. Just remember to watch out for that water running under the bathroom door.

One thing you will certainly not find in Image Comics Five Weapons miniseries is a sorting hat.

That just makes it all the more important to choose wisely when you’re enrolling in The School of Five Weapons, because the weapon you choose will define the rest of your life. Knives, staves, archery, exotics, and guns may be deadly, but they have nothing on the brain of Tyler, the most recent arrival to the premiere assassin school. Join Jimmie Robinson (Bomb Queen), handling both art and writing duties, as he leads you through the halls of the deadliest high school in the country.

Just don’t call it Harry Potter with guns.

Talking raccoons make every comic better.

Brian Michael Bendis got to sample the Guardians of the Galaxy in his recent run on Avengers Assemble, but now he launches deep into the stars with the beginning of another ongoing Guardians of the Galaxy series. The first point one issue details the origins of Starlord, the boy from Earth who grows-up to lead the meanest bunch of space police in the universe. With crisp, detailed artwork from Steve McNiven (Civil War), the addition of Iron Man, and the eminent Marvel Studios film adaptation the only reason to skip this book is if you’re off planet.

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