Wednesday Pickups 1/4/12

New year, new comics, new posting schedule (as in a little more often then every four months); so without further ado let's get right into the first batch of comics from 2012!

First up, Team Cyclops is making the world love and fear them in Uncanny X-Men #4. In a one-off tale, spinning out of Mr. Sinister's return, The Phalanx are back and still having problems "making friends." Not a ground breaking comic by any means, but it is always nice to get a one'n'done in sea of trade formatted titles.   Keiron Gillen weaves an interesting and humanizing story of a solitary phalanx (phalani?), which accompanied by Brandon Perterson's art and Justin Ponsor's thematic colors makes for an enjoyable read. I would love to see more of this kind of thing from the book, but the arc starting next issue doesn't sound too bad either as it is spinning out of the previous events from the next title here.

We once again head to the Age of Apocalypse with Uncanny X-Force #19.1. Phoenix and Sabretooth return to their home-world after helping out X-Force, and are immediately thrown back into the fire. Another solid writing effort from Remender, who has been knocking it out of the park lately, this time paired up with Billy Tan's softer and more dramatic art making for a compelling read. My only real complaint with this one is that it should have been Age of Apocalypse #0, as it leads directly into #1 of that series and offers no introduction to the current X-Force (the original goal of these .1 issues.) Still, I'm looking forward to more of this story and these characters when their title starts in March.

From the horrors of a post-apocalyptic world, we head to the horrors (and whores) of the werewolf world in Ferals #1. It seems strange beasts have descended upon the small Minnesota town of Cypress and they aren't too fond of it's human inhabitants. In true Avatar Press (and writer David Lapham) fashion, this book features blood and guts galore but also harbors some psychological under-currents that will keep readers coming back. Maybe not their best first issue, when compared to the likes of the Crossed minis and Caligula, but still definitely worth a look, if only to check out the various ways Gabriel Andrade decides to layout corpses in his art.

We continue this horror spree over into DC with Animal Man #5. Buddy Baker confronts the third hunter to save his family, but he might have just put them into more danger. Another fantastic issue from Jeff Lemire (writer) and Travel Foreman (primary artist) that not only raises the stakes in the series but sticks some beautifully grotesque art in ones mind that won't soon be forgotten. Definitely looking forward to more from this creative team in the coming months, especially when it starts officially crossing over with the next book here.

Concluding DC's horror, double feature for the week is Swamp Thing #5. Alec and Abby continue chasing her half brother, the soon to be avatar of The Rot, with disastrous results. As the similarities between this and Animal Man continue to grow, so does the quality in each of them. Scott Snyder is quickly becoming the top man in horror comics and Yanick Paquette's art (especially the fluid panel layering) makes almost every page worthy of a wall frame.  Hard to deny this the top spot of the week, but a well know noir team has snatched it out from under them.

My favorite comic of the week is Fatale #1 from Image Comics. The famous Criminal team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips reunite to tell the tale of the fictional novel 'The Losing Side of Eternity' and the trouble it brings it's new owner. Interestingly enough, this is my foray into the teamed efforts of Brubaker and Phillips and I really enjoyed it. The former's knack for interesting yet mysterious dialogue and the latter's expressive and shadowy artwork work well in tandem, creating a murky world of beautiful women and troubled men. Looking forward to more as the first issue only gave the reader barest taste of the mythology, murder, and magic it advertises but sometimes a little goes along way.

That's all folks! Next week looks to be shaping up nicely with lots of Image titles and X-books to get to, so make sure you swing by your local comic shop and grab a few.

Wednesday Pickups 9/7/11

This week, I get my first taste of the new DC universe and a few regulars make an appearance. Lots of good things to say about this group, so let's get right to it:

Kicking things off this week, from Image Comics, is Hack/Slash #7. The Fame Monster story arc continues as Cassie discovers the identity of the slasher while Vlad has to return to his "Meat Man" roots to deal with a few of the slasher's lackeys. I have been enjoying most of this series so far, Daniel Leister's art was good as usual, but this particular issue felt a little dry. The humor-action combo I've come to expect on the book seemed pushed to the side for the old cliché of the villain revealing his master plan for multiple panels, which one could find appropriate in this book but to me just seemed boring. I'm hoping Tim Seeley rights the ship in the next few issues.

Moving over to Dark Horse Comics, we have Star Wars: Dark Times #2. Former Jedi Dass Jennir continues to traverse the desert moon of Prine, looking for civilization, while the crew of the Uhumele continue searching for him while getting acquainted with their new Jedi companion, Beyghor Sahdett. Admittedly, I was kind of hoping for more from Dark Times when it returned to store shelves. While Douglas Wheatley's art is stellar, and great for a Star Wars book, Randy Stradley's story feels predictable, slow, and just doesn't have that same galactic thrill of the former series. I will be giving it a few more issues to see if he turns it around, as for now though I wouldn't recommend anyone jumping on it.

A returning character that has retained his luster is Casanova, from ICON, who is back this week in Casanova: Avaritia #1. Everyone knows the the truth about Cass and his father (well, the guy who would be his father if he was from this dimension) has put him to the arduous task of cleaning up all the time-dimension anomalies caused by Newman Xeno kidnapping him in the first place. As I already mentioned, I am still in love with this series. Matt Fraction (writer), Gabriel Ba (current artist), and Fabio Moon (former and future artist) have created a world quite unlike anything else in comics today. The craziness of the art and story blend into a perfect storm that causes one to either love or hate the book, with not surprisingly many readers choosing the former. Usually I would suggest grabbing the first collection of the series to get a good grasp of the happenings, but I think this issue is actually a great jumping on point being a little more straightforward with the story than the book has been in the past. Get on this book one way or another and start having some nonsensical fun with your science fiction.

Filling out the second half of my comic stack this week is DC with four of their new/relaunched titles, first up is Action Comics #1. Sporting blue jeans and an arrogant attitude, this rebooted Superman has his sights set on the corporate fat-cats, who exploit the working man and operate outside the law but he soon finds this also puts him at odds with law enforcement. While I am digging the art in this first issue, penciled by Rags Morales, I'm not yet sure how I feel about the direction of this book. Instead of something new it feels like Grant Morrison (the writer) is just turning Superman into more of a public menace/vigilante ala Spider-Man or Batman. Going to pick up a few more issues to get a better grasp of it, and to get more of Luthor who was great in this first issue, but I hope it isn't just more of the same.

From Metropolis, we go global with Justice League International #1. The United Nations has decided it's time to get a few superheroes in their pocket, a group that can handle large threats but also answers to them. Lead by Booster Gold and composed of heroes from various nations, this team looks to save the world while having the authority to do so, that is if they figure out how to work together. Overall, I liked this first issue but not really as much as I was hoping to. The art is great, with pencils by Aaron Lopresti and inks by Matt Ryan, but the writing leaves something to be desired. A lot of Dan Jurgen's (the writer) dialogue feels forced or just out of place, some of them talk like they've known each other forever when this is supposed to be the first time they're meeting. I did enjoy some of the book though, especially Godiva and Booster Gold, so I'm hoping the writing evens out as we go along.

Bringing things back in a bit, we head to Louisiana to check in on Swamp Thing #1. Mysterious events occur in simultaneously throughout the planet and no one has any idea why. Superman decides to track down Dr. Alec Holland, the only man who might be able to understand these occurrences due to having the memories of the titular force of nature, and while Superman gets no answers Dr. Holland hasn't been totally truthful with him. Great first issue from Scott Snyder (writer) and Yanick Paquette (artist)! No real back story is required to get what is happening, and the natural/horror elements leave you wanting more. Can't wait to see where Snyder and Paquette take this book.

Animal trumps nature for pick of the week, as Animal Man #1 nabs the top spot. Buddy Baker has been out of the tights more and more these days. With having a family that is growing up, being an active animal activist, and enjoying some success as a Hollywood stunt-man turned actor, he rarely goes out on patrol, but that doesn't mean when a guy takes a hospital hostage he is going to sit on the side lines. I loved this first issue from Jeff Lemire (writer) and Travel Foreman (artist)! Instead of making Animal Man more like every other hero book on the stands, they focus on what makes him unique and base the entire book around it. Foreman's art excels equally in the domestic interior of Buddy's house and the trippy, exotic locales of his nightmare, leaving me salivating for whatever he draws up next. Easily my favorite book of the new DC Universe, so far, and I can only hope there is more coming that is just as excellent.

That is it for this week, next week should have a few more regular titles but I am sure some of the DC newness will slip in as well. Until then ponder what you would serve at a meal where both Animal Man and Swamp Things are in attendance, my guess is Spam.