I've got a few moments, so let's run down this week's comics that I purchased with my hard-earned cash (he said, as if he just stepped out of the salt mines for long enough to tiredly bang this out on a manual typewriter with a stuck N key.) We're doing this in random order because I'm lazy, mmmkay?
Caveman Robot may suffer a bit with its almost-too-high concept: titular character fights an evil Abraham Lincoln fetishist that just happens to be a gorilla (Ape Lincoln, natch,) but everything seems to be put together just well enough so I didn't mind it one bit. Interestingly, this first issue was a mere two point five Yanqui Dollars and is in full color with no ads. I enjoyed this well enough to order my own handmade Caveman Robot doll and a double comic featuring the character from the site.
Rocky: The Big Payback is the first English-language collection of Martin Kellerman's Swedish strip that feats a very angry, cynical dog making his way in the world. There's quite a lot of misogyny and autobiography being worked through in the chapters that I've read so far, but it's more Buddy Bradley than Archie Bunker1 The art's quite charming and easier for me to look at than, say, Fritz The Cat.
The Surrogates. I've not read the third issue yet but unless the creative team has been replaced by lobotomized bears, I think it'll be just fine.
Showcase Presents: The Justice League Of America. Gloriously, splendidly stupid superhero comics. Exactly what I want when I want that sort of thing.
Image Holiday Special 2005. Quite a lot of "meh" in here from Kurtz, Larsen, and Valentino, but that Amazing Joy Buzzards story is like a syringe of adreneline to the eye and almost justifies the $10 price tag by itself.
Jonah Hex #2. Golly, it's nice to know that Palmiotti and Gray have enjoyed Deadwood enough to make sure Ian McShane's character gets a print doppelganger. Maybe if I lived in a pop-culture vacuum I could forgive this sort of thing, but I don't, so I can't. Luke Ross, please stop using such heavy photoreferencing on the title character. It's starting to turn into Man With No Name slash fiction.
Speaking of photoreferencing, Greg Scott's art on Case Files: Sam And Twitch may be the best match yet with Mark Andreyko's scripting, but I really didn't need John Goodman and William H Macy showing up,. even if that's some mighty fine casting.
I finally read Books Of Doom #1 and it was just fine. I'm going to wait for the trade for the rest of this series, but Brubaker seems to do his job well enough and Raimondi's arting is a thing to behold on quite a few of the pages.
Optic Nerve #10 finally arrived in my box. While I may question the need to actually talk about myths and truths concerning the size of the Average Asian Male Member, this is Tomine doing what he does best - exploring the uncomfortable realities of day-to-day life. His art is, as always, clean and he consistently makes sure that even banal conversations are punchy without having to show off any tricks. Of note: a detailed synopsis of the first issue of the current three-part series (this is the second, of course) appears on the inside cover, making it so that people who just keep hearing that Optic Nerve is like, ohmigod, awesome from the popular press can pick up this issue and hit the ground running.
Shame about the overly emo letter column, though. It made SexyCyberGrrl6969's appearance in Fell's look downright restrained.
Demo hits the trade paperback format this week and if you didn't read the issues, now you can catch up on the series thatdid come close to cracking the internet in half. I loved it, others thought it was shallow. They probably know more about X-Men continuity than me, though.
The Ultimates V2 #9. Well, Josh called it in a conversation months ago and I said "Oh, that's just too obvious..."
Fucker was right. At least it's really pretty and the scenes of Massive Destruction were horrifying enough to make me pause, which has not happened in a while.
Mister Miracle #2. OK, like, the character (as Scott Free, even if I like Shiloh well enough) and concept is right up there in my Top Five. Morrison's urban horror taken on the whole thing was the sort of sudden shift in direction that would have made Kirby happy. Too bad his enjoyable script is just completely ruined by Billy Dallas Payton's art, which lacks completely in the fluid lines and zing that Pasqual Ferry brought to the project. Heaing that yet another artist is going to get his hands on this project just makes me sad, as it could have been my favorite.
Penny Arcade 25 Cent. It's a quarter and serves as a great teaser for the upcoming paperback. Get it and toss it in the bathroom magazine pile. Hell, get ten and toss it into your friends' bathroom as well.
Rock N Roll snuck up on me like a ninja with soft-soled shoes. Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba, together with Bruno D'Angelo and Kako, give the reader a wordless modern fable that's just plain beautiful to look at. It's from Image and I doubt many shops ordered it, but it's well worth seeking out.
Gotham Central made me gasp a bit and I may have choked a tiny amount. If Corrigan isn't stuck in a wig and dress and turned into Dr Light's special lady friend, then I won't feel justice has been properly meted out to the fucker. Rucka's managed to make sure that I stick around until the end, and Kano's art is just a pretty, pretty thing.
Down. Chris made all the salient points I would have in his "Week In Ink" rundown2. I find the cover art carrying a date of 2001 much more amusing than I should.
Essential Spider-Woman. This is the definition of Pub Comics - books that are better after a couple of pints, when you can just enjoy the dumbness of the whole thing.
1I thought of that before noticing the pull quote on the back from Mr Bagge himself, damn it.
2He even uses my description of the series, so you know it's quality.
Caveman Robot may suffer a bit with its almost-too-high concept: titular character fights an evil Abraham Lincoln fetishist that just happens to be a gorilla (Ape Lincoln, natch,) but everything seems to be put together just well enough so I didn't mind it one bit. Interestingly, this first issue was a mere two point five Yanqui Dollars and is in full color with no ads. I enjoyed this well enough to order my own handmade Caveman Robot doll and a double comic featuring the character from the site.
Rocky: The Big Payback is the first English-language collection of Martin Kellerman's Swedish strip that feats a very angry, cynical dog making his way in the world. There's quite a lot of misogyny and autobiography being worked through in the chapters that I've read so far, but it's more Buddy Bradley than Archie Bunker1 The art's quite charming and easier for me to look at than, say, Fritz The Cat.The Surrogates. I've not read the third issue yet but unless the creative team has been replaced by lobotomized bears, I think it'll be just fine.
Showcase Presents: The Justice League Of America. Gloriously, splendidly stupid superhero comics. Exactly what I want when I want that sort of thing.
Image Holiday Special 2005. Quite a lot of "meh" in here from Kurtz, Larsen, and Valentino, but that Amazing Joy Buzzards story is like a syringe of adreneline to the eye and almost justifies the $10 price tag by itself.
Jonah Hex #2. Golly, it's nice to know that Palmiotti and Gray have enjoyed Deadwood enough to make sure Ian McShane's character gets a print doppelganger. Maybe if I lived in a pop-culture vacuum I could forgive this sort of thing, but I don't, so I can't. Luke Ross, please stop using such heavy photoreferencing on the title character. It's starting to turn into Man With No Name slash fiction.
Speaking of photoreferencing, Greg Scott's art on Case Files: Sam And Twitch may be the best match yet with Mark Andreyko's scripting, but I really didn't need John Goodman and William H Macy showing up,. even if that's some mighty fine casting.
I finally read Books Of Doom #1 and it was just fine. I'm going to wait for the trade for the rest of this series, but Brubaker seems to do his job well enough and Raimondi's arting is a thing to behold on quite a few of the pages.
Optic Nerve #10 finally arrived in my box. While I may question the need to actually talk about myths and truths concerning the size of the Average Asian Male Member, this is Tomine doing what he does best - exploring the uncomfortable realities of day-to-day life. His art is, as always, clean and he consistently makes sure that even banal conversations are punchy without having to show off any tricks. Of note: a detailed synopsis of the first issue of the current three-part series (this is the second, of course) appears on the inside cover, making it so that people who just keep hearing that Optic Nerve is like, ohmigod, awesome from the popular press can pick up this issue and hit the ground running.Shame about the overly emo letter column, though. It made SexyCyberGrrl6969's appearance in Fell's look downright restrained.
Demo hits the trade paperback format this week and if you didn't read the issues, now you can catch up on the series that
The Ultimates V2 #9. Well, Josh called it in a conversation months ago and I said "Oh, that's just too obvious..."
Fucker was right. At least it's really pretty and the scenes of Massive Destruction were horrifying enough to make me pause, which has not happened in a while.
Mister Miracle #2. OK, like, the character (as Scott Free, even if I like Shiloh well enough) and concept is right up there in my Top Five. Morrison's urban horror taken on the whole thing was the sort of sudden shift in direction that would have made Kirby happy. Too bad his enjoyable script is just completely ruined by Billy Dallas Payton's art, which lacks completely in the fluid lines and zing that Pasqual Ferry brought to the project. Heaing that yet another artist is going to get his hands on this project just makes me sad, as it could have been my favorite.
Penny Arcade 25 Cent. It's a quarter and serves as a great teaser for the upcoming paperback. Get it and toss it in the bathroom magazine pile. Hell, get ten and toss it into your friends' bathroom as well.
Rock N Roll snuck up on me like a ninja with soft-soled shoes. Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba, together with Bruno D'Angelo and Kako, give the reader a wordless modern fable that's just plain beautiful to look at. It's from Image and I doubt many shops ordered it, but it's well worth seeking out.
Gotham Central made me gasp a bit and I may have choked a tiny amount. If Corrigan isn't stuck in a wig and dress and turned into Dr Light's special lady friend, then I won't feel justice has been properly meted out to the fucker. Rucka's managed to make sure that I stick around until the end, and Kano's art is just a pretty, pretty thing.
Down. Chris made all the salient points I would have in his "Week In Ink" rundown2. I find the cover art carrying a date of 2001 much more amusing than I should.
Essential Spider-Woman. This is the definition of Pub Comics - books that are better after a couple of pints, when you can just enjoy the dumbness of the whole thing.
1I thought of that before noticing the pull quote on the back from Mr Bagge himself, damn it.
2He even uses my description of the series, so you know it's quality.
