Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Wednesday Pickups 7/14/10

Huge week based on more than a few impulse buys and recommendations. So large in fact I couldn't fit is all on the table in one photo, so lets get right into it:



First up we have the first three issues of Kill Shakespeare. Now a normal person would probably try the first issue (or just one issue) to see if they like the book before picking them all up but the collector inside took control when I saw it was the last issue of numbers one and two on the stands. Enjoying this book from cover to cover, starting with the title (ala Kill Bill). Although I am not the most familiar with the bard's tales, only read Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and The Sonnets, the story stands on its own while still paying homage to his great plays and stories. After the murder of his Father and his own bloody soaked deed sweet prince Hamlet, our protagonist, is banished to England but his after mysterious visions and a pirate attack ends up on the shores of the land belonging to King Richard the III (a real historical character who I always thought got the shaft in Shakespeare's play after reading The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, but that is a tale for another time.) Richard explains to Hamlet the prophecies of his land that claim The Shadow King (Hamlet) is going to save them from the tyranny of William Shakespeare, and lures him to his cause of assassination with promises of resurrecting Hamlet's father. Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col (the writers) breath new life and alternate stories into these age old characters which any reader can enjoy and coupled with Andy Belanger's art make for one fine comic series, definitely a new addition to the monthly pull list.

Moving on to another impulse buy we have the $1 reprint of Jonah Hex #1. This was my first taste of the character and while it was good and ok, nothing really makes me want to pick up the book regularly. The art showcases the old west quite nicely and the story was decent. Reminiscent of and "Old West" Punisher, Johan sticks to his guns and makes those committing monstrosities pay the ultimate price. While I see the appeal to most the book just isn't for me. If that sounds like something you might be interested in though you should not hesitate to shell out one buck for this book.

Next up is the latest book from the Icon imprint of Marvel, Scarlet #1. In this new book Bendis and Maleev introduce us to innocent runaway turned armed savior Scarlet. While I initially passed on picking up the book, I am glad I went back and checked it out. With a breath of fresh air, the story is told by our protagonist narrating and breaking the fourth wall all while questioning her own very sanity. Drawn a bit grittier than my usual picks, it fits the story well and I for one can't wait to pick up the issue (the bi-monthly schedule is going to be annoying though.) Also if you read reviews comparing it to Kick-Ass, I have to almost entirely disagree. Despite liking both I was not reminded of Kick-Ass at all while reading this.

Going for dark and gritty to bright and yellow we have Comic Book Guy The Comic Book #1. While its been years since I have really enjoyed anything Simpsons I decided to give this one a shot and was pleasantly surprised. This one had me cracking up at every turn of the page and the alternate covers (all recreations of famous comic death covers) featured inside instead of shipping with 4 different ones was a great move. Filled with mockery nerd humor in vintage Comic Book Guy fashion this one is sure to entertain those who remember those great Simpsons episodes of yesteryear (and who knows maybe some descent ones from recent history if you've seen any.)

My largest pick up of the week was the awesome one-shot/prelude The Man With The Getaway Face. Another one I hadn't planned on getting till I saw that over sized bad boy sitting on the shelf and for only two bucks. This adaptation of Richard Stark's Parker novel of the same name is amazingly well handled by Darwyn Cooke, who did both the illustrations and the adapting of the story. Covering one heist this comic is perfect for those looking to get into Parker's world or just enjoy a single comic. I think Cooke and IDW's ploy of putting this out as a slick one shot is going to get me to check out the previous graphic novel or the one soon to be released.

Going straight from this week's tallest book to the smallest we have The Stuff of Legend Vol. 2 The Jungle, Part 1. I was originally going to wait for this to be collected but couldn't resist the temptation to check back in with our favorite toys on a mission. This title follows a group of toys set to the task of tracking down their master in the dark, closet world of the sinister Boogeyman. After narrowing escaping the town of Hopscotch our favorite play things are going to have to pass through the Boogeyman's army as well as the creatures that inhabit this jungle. Can't say enough good things about this book. The first collected edition I have of volume one was a book I could not put down and could not stop talking about when asked what I was reading. If you get the chance definitely pick up the first TPB of this book, you will not be disappointed.

Over at Marvel we have an X-Men quadruple feature! Kicking things of with Second Coming Revelations: Hellbound #3 of 3, we find Sam's strike force failing at their mission but providing a nice little bonus tale to Second Coming none the less. Not necessary reading for the even but it does provide a little more story/set up for the ongoing Magick/Pixie soul-feud. Besides the spectacularly drawn limbo the highlight of this issue are some killer burns from Cannonball towards Gambit. Concluding this epic X-Event, next is X-Men: Second Coming #2 (Chapter 14.) A fitting end to great crossover, split into four chapters to allow all the creators working on the event to each get their own little wrap up. I had planned on leaving a lot X-books behind after this event but think I will be at least checking out how all our merry mutants begin their next chapters. Almost as a second conclusion The Heroic Age: Uncanny X-Men One-shot offers us a bit more perspective in to Cyclops, Beast, and Hope through their conversations with Steve Rodgers, Molly Hayes, and Reed Richards respectively. All three make for interesting tales but I really enjoyed the dialogue between two of Marvel's greatest leaders. Last of the X-titles but certainly not least we have X-Force: Sex and Violence #1 of 3. Showcasing some spectacularly bloody art work from Gabriele Dell'Otto, we find Domino in a bad situation facing off against the assassin's guild. Making her way back to the safe house to get healed by Elixer and interrogated by Wolverine, she begrudgingly picks up the former to help her out and more than mentions the recent sexual tension between the two. Can't wait for the next issue as I am slowly falling in love with everything modern X-force.

Hopping over to sexy and violent I checked out the second issue of Hack/Slash: My First Maniac. Just as gorgeous as the first issue in this issue Cassie makes some new friends and edges closer to meeting Farmer Fig and his gore tactics of dealing with promiscuous teens. I know I said it when I pick up the first issue of this but I really need to check out some of the TPBs of the ongoing series.

From lady slayers to lady spies we move over to Frenemy of The State #2. Still digging this book although this issue did seem to drag a little. Humor was a little more on the stale side as well, hopping next issue picks both up a bit.

Jumping into my DCU books for the week we have Justice League Generation Lost #5 and Booster Gold #34. Not to much action over in JLGL but this issue really solidifies the guys and girls as a team, as they start getting all up in each others' business. The art is still awesome and the beginning and ending scenes of Booster's past were a great story addition. This book is quickly rising up the ranks as one of my favorites out of DC. In Booster's solo book he continues his quest to get evidence of Maxwell Lord from the past but get sidetracked and roped into and adventure with Ted Kord (the former Blue Beetle.) Wasn't exactly thrilled with Chris Batista's art on this one but the story and humor are still keeping me around. Well that and you have got to love a villain named Hieronymous, The Under-Achiever!

Saving the best for last (although a lot of books were really amazing this week) we have the monthly Vertigo double feature of The Unwrittern and Daytripper. In The Unwritten #15 Count Ambrosio makes his play for Tommy, Lizzie gets back to her roots, and the question some of the questions surrounding Wilson Taylor are answered. This book is still running strong and shows no signs of slowing down and the latest opening passage from the "Taylor novels", this latest being from the new fake one, has got to be my favorite. Pick of the week should come as no surprise to anyone I have talked comics with in the last few months, Daytripper #8 is just as (if not more) amazing than its previous issues. Bras' career as an author is going well and in this issue he is no where to be seen due to work related travel. Despite being absent except for emails, phone calls, and old fashion letters his presence and effect on Ana and little Miguel's lives are tremendously felt. Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba (the Brazilian creator duo responsible for this master piece, who also happen to be brothers) consistently put out a book with more soul than 90% of the stuff on the market! Anxiously awaiting the final two issues of this limited series knowing full well I am that I am going hate this ride ending.

That is it for last week, but you know the deal. Leave and comments, suggestions, lewd remarks below and I will be happy to comment back. This week's stack is significantly shorter so look for that in next few days so I can back to a regular posting routine.

3 comments:

  1. Seriously, the past few weeks of comic have been GOLD (not a Booster reference there, I promise)! It saddens me to know that one of these weeks I will hit another lull and that will only lead to crying!

    Glad to hear that Scarlet didn't automatically seem like Ultimate Kick-Ass to you, it also was grating to me to have people say it was following in Kickass' footsteps.

    Great time to be an X-Men Fan!

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  2. It is a great time to be an X-fan but my people had to put up with a lot to get here. I still automatically hate anyone new I meet with the last name Austen.

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  3. Austen was not the worst . . . just the most prolific of the worst! ;)

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