Pulp Fiction Comics & Games

Blair Butler.  Kevin Mellon.  MMA.

Heart.

Here’s why you should pay attention to these words.  Blair Butler, of the popular nerd news program Attack of the Show, is the writer of this book.  This is her first foray into comics and, by certain accounts, she’s already keeping pace with the industry’s top talent.  Speaking of top talent brings me to the next word on the list:  Kevin Mellon.  Kevin’s been a supporter of Pulp Fiction since our inception (and a collaborator with Dennis Hopeless), so we’ve been able to see, firsthand, how his work has progressed, now coming to a point of expert draftsmanship and storytelling excellence.  This book appears to be the pinnacle of his recent superb work.  Not only is the talent on the book exceptional, but the content is not the standard comic fare.  Revolving around mixed martial arts fighting and the desire these athletes have to rise to the top, the book should peak the interest of any regular UFC viewer.  That’s Heart, folks.

You’ve read Watchmen.  You’ve read V for Vendetta.  You’ve read From Hell.  Where do you go next for your Alan Moore fix?  League of Extraordinary Gentlemen would be the correct answer.  Thankfully, DC has been generous enough to make it nice and easy for you by releasing a new omnibus edition of the first two volumes of LoEG.  That means you just have to pick up one beautifully bound hardcover edition as opposed to two.  How gentlemanly of them, right?  What are these two volumes about, though?  The general premise is that the British government is assembling a team of some of the literary world’s most famous characters (Alan Quartermaine, Mina Harker, Dr. Jekyll, Captain Nemo, you’ve seen the movie) to combat a sinister evil.  And if you have seen the movie (I’m sorry), don’t be scared off.  The book is so beyond comparison it’s rather embarrassing.

Christmas comes only once a November.  Or, at least, that’s the case this year, thanks to Lee Bermejo‘s original graphic novel, Batman:  Noel.  Following the plot structure of A Christmas Carol, Noel takes Batman through a tour of his past, present, and future on a cold winter night.  Most of you probably know Bermejo because of the Joker GN from a few years back.  You probably also know that the guy draws Batman and his world with a style and design that no one can match, which makes him the perfect guy to write and draw a story about the character.  And if you really want a sample of the book, check out the preview pages here. 

Last week Wolverine got his time at the pulpit, so now it’s Cyclop‘s turn.  The other key X-Men book in the relaunch, Uncanny X-Men, drops this Wednesday with Kieron Gillen at the helm and Carlos Pacheco in the artist seat.  As Wolverine‘s book follows his team in New York, Uncanny X-Men sticks with Summers and his group of mutants (Magneto, Emma Frost, Colossus) on Utopia island in San Francisco.  Gillen has been on this book since Matt Fraction left and has kept pace with the quality level he established.  In fact, his tie-in arc to Fear Itself, where the team had to stall Juggernaut at San Fran’s borders, was one of the best tie-in books.  Oh, and he’s writing a little book called Journey Into Mystery, which is one of the best reads at Marvel right now.