Wednesday Pickups 8/31/11

While I skipped out on most of August, I figured this small, final week would be a good place to get back on track. So without further ado, here are two new titles (neither the main topic of this week for most, JL#1) and a usual suspect as pick of the week.

First up is The Rinse #1, the latest title from Boom Studios. Jeff Sinclair is a cleaner, of sorts, who instead of working with water and soap, prefers burners and as little paper trail as possible. It has worked out pretty well so far, but his newest client might be biting off more than both of them can chew. I enjoyed this first issue, especially being a deal you can't pass up at $1. Marc Laming's art carries the right amount of grit and grim for a crime tale, while Darrin Moore's varied colors keep it from being just another noir-wannabe on the shelves. Gary Phillips story didn't grab me quite as much as I would have liked it to, but I think others will find it right up their alley. All in all, I won't be picking it up regularly but I could see myself grabbing a collection of it somewhere down the line.

Moving over to Marvel, we have Ultimate Comics Hawkeye #1 of 4. Continuing straight out of last week's Ultimate Comics The Ultimates #1, we see what is happening with every one's favorite archer on his "business" trip to Bangkok. While this first issue eats up a lot of it's space with exposition, I still found it a fun read and think it will end up being a good mini-series. Hickman has found a nice balance for this mini (at least based on the first issue of each title) that doesn't make it mandatory to read The Ultimates to know what is going on and vice versa. My only complaint so far with his story is any character could be exchanged for Hawkeye, I am hoping in future issues his character becomes more relevant than just being the action star of the book. Pencils are done by Rafa Sandoval, whose character faces aren't the greatest but are made up for with everything else. Not a must read, by any means, but if you are a fan of the character and the political world The Ultimates sometimes touches on, you will probably enjoy it.

Saving the best for last, we have Uncanny X-Force #14. The Dark Angel saga heats up, as the titular character is awaiting his former teammates return from the Age of Apocalypse with his own horsemen, and is about to usher in the Age of Archangel. I've written many times on how great this book is and how well Remender writes these characters (which still remain true in this, it's 14th issue) but far too often I have just glossed over Jerome Opena's art. Yeah, I've said "it's great and I love it" but I don't usually get into specifics. The special attribute the makes a lot of Opena's art on this book, and the issue specifically, amazing is that it doesn't need the dialogue. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy Rememder's writing (as mentioned just sentences ago) but this book could be enjoyed just looking at the pictures. The characters faces and movements are so precise and articulate, conveying exactly what their feeling or thinking, that they give credence to that old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words", even if in this case that picture is a drawing. So now that I have successfully geekgasmed over this book for the 14th time, you need to do yourself a favor and pick it up so you can do the same.

That is it for this short week, but next week looks to be quite a full one as I dig into some of the DCnU books. Be on the look out for that as well as my attempt to catch up with my stack of Oscilloscope Labs films.