Brief Mentions: Doktor Sleepless #9 & Four Eyes #1

You know most people probably looked at the shelves this week and were disappointed to find a small number of titles to read ... not for this Comic-oholic ... I had over twenty books to read this week and almost all of them were better than just average. So, while I can't talk about all of them on the show this week I can highlight both of my Brief Mentions and try to point out some really great books you might have missed when perusing the shelf on Wednesday, AND some things you might want to make sure you pick up when you are in your Local Comic Store next.

Doktor Sleepless #9
Written by: Warren Ellis
Art by: Ivan Rodriguez

Just because we haven't talked about this book since Episode 1 doesn't mean that it hasn't been really great, cause let's be honest: If you've been following this book then you probably know that it has been engrossingly awesome. This has been the height of decompressed story-telling, progressing much more like a novel than like anything even closely resembling a comic story. Think of issues #1-8 as having been issue #1 of a 3 issue story arc. Going by that logic issue #9 is the beginning of issue #2. When you think of it like that you start to realize that what Warren Ellis is doing here is completely unparalled in the comics industry. For those of you out there thinking that decompression is just a way to fill out a storyline so that it makes a handsome little trade that can be sold for $15 or $20 then I think that maybe it's time to think again. Warren Ellis has so whole-heartedly grasped the idea of decompression and for that we are being rewarded with perhaps one of his most well rounded stories. The character of John Reinhardt (sometimes known as Doktor Sleepless) has become just as engagingly bizarre as any of Ellis' other leads. Perhaps he is most similar to Spider Jerusalm but in many ways he can be far more insane and at other times far more relatable. This has every possiblity of becoming Warren Ellis' best work of his career and you are missing out on it. So, do yourself a favor and go out and get the trade paperback that is coming out later this month and get caught up on perhaps the most underrated title of the year!

Four Eyes #1
Written by: Joe Kelly
Art by: Max Fiumara

So, at some point someone must have asked themselves, "What can I do to make a story about 'The Great Depression' a must read comic book?" ... Well ... At least Joe Kelly must have asked himself that at some point, fortunately for his sanity he managed to find an answer. This is the story of a young boy who lost his father. A father who worked too much and ultimately for the wrong people. On their one day of time to spend together, at the beach, Enrico's father went for a walk, and a smoke. But Enrico's father was really going out for another reason altogether. To procure something for his boss. Something he should have never gone hunting for. But he got it. And his boss was happy. And ultimately wound up providing a pretty hefty reward for what his father found. But these are hard times, and money spends faster than anyone might like. And now there is a strange man in the apartment Enrico shares with his mother, a boarder. And Enrico must now work in a dangerous factory, where the hands of a child fit in where things are really dangerous, and where ten hours gets him a whole quarter. Like any child Enrico is curious. About the thing his father found. About the thing his father died for. About The Dragons.