Living Up To Expectations: The Reviews That I Forgot to Do for The Last Few Days

Let's start with my brief mentions from last week:

Captain Britain & MI:13 #12

Written by: Paul Cornell

Art by: Leonard Kirk

This book is so good that it gives me goosebumps sometimes. I mean seriously this is some kick ass comic-booking. Leonard Kirk does a great job on the art and depicts the characters with an excellent level of craft and talent 

(the only unfortunate thing is

 that there are often pages that he does not draw in issues or fill in artists who don't bring quite the level of craft at times [thankfully this issue is drawn entirely by Mr. Kirk]). And this book is really written with a level of craft that is woefully missing from a lot of other books, there is a sense of awareness of everything that is going on in the Marvel Universe without any necessary kowtowing to it, something that books like Daredevil, and Captain America do with ease and grace. This book also has DRACULA in it ... 

THAT'S RIGHT DRACULA! A nation of vampires living on the dark side of the moon who have made a tenuous deal with Dr. Doom to take over England. How awesome is that? And this book has the intellect to do all of this with the kind of coniving instinct with which vampires would actually comport themselves. There are secret agent vampires in this book ... allow me to repeat that Secret Agent Vampires. This is the kind of book that has the potential to change the landscape for comic bound bloodsuckers for quite some time to come. And all with Vlad Ţepeş at the helm. This is the kind of book that Marvel UK has needed for a long time and here's hoping that it will be around for a long time to come.

The Best Book You Didn't Read Last Week:

Ignition City #1

Written by: Warren Ellis

Art by: Gianluca Pagliarani

Warren Ellis is a mad genius. I think that even he would agree with that assessment. this book is ostensibly about understanding that your hero might not have been who you thought they were as well as what it feels like to grow up and exceed your parent's wildest expectations. Or at least that's what I read into it. Being the first issue of a Warren Ellis Avatar release is sort of like being a casting of runes, no one is really certain what it portends but plenty of people are willing to pontificate about it. I really think that if you liked Ellis works like Ministry of Space, Aetheric Mechanics, or any of Ellis' other Apparat releases that you'll probably really like the look and feel of this series, and I think that it's got a lot of hidden promise behind it's veneer of giant lizard diarrhea and food pellet constipation.

Sneak Peek Review:

You know what ... since you've already been to the comic store (I'll assume) I won't bother.

Living Up To Expectations:

Oracle: The Cure #2

Written by: Kevin Vanhook

Art by: Fernando Pasarin & Julian Lopez

It was only after reading the first issue and looking into Kevin Vanhook that I realized that he wrote on of my favorite guilty pleasure comics of all time ... and it's not a guilty pleasure in the sense that it was a bad book but that it was from a publisher that most poeple don't remember particularly fondly (and I only managed to put hands on the issues when they were collected into back issue collections at the store I shoped at in high school [and even then only when they were like 50% or 75% off ...]). Vanhook was the writer behind the first 39 issues of Bloodshot from Valiant Comics, I spent a long time in bed reading those books during a Christmas break back in Junior year of High School (there was a whole other reason for me being in bed that whole time but that is another story for another time ... maybe). I really, really like this book. I think that the artwork is fantastic and that the writing is very above average and has moments of brilliance (in my humble opinion). And I think that reading a story about Barbara Gordon without having to jump away to the action beats provided by Black Canary or The Huntress. The Oracle is one of my favorite characters currently in comics and I think that having her on the mainstage with this mini-series will be very rewarding. Also this gives a chance for The Calculator to be shown as a true foil to The Oracle and that is also very entertaining and very interesting. Does this book live up to my expectations? Yes, yes, yes, yes ... and then some.

The Best Books You Didn't Read Last Week: 3/2/2009

Dynamo 5 #20


Written by: Jay Faerber


Art by: Mahmud A. Asrar

Picking up pretty well right where last week's #0 left off (which was 99¢ and would have been a steal at twice the price ... what do you mean you didn't get it? Go get it! It was 99 F*#KING CENTS ... seriously ... the frustration) we see the family Dynamo getting down on some serious butt kicking action against War Chest (go ahead ... giggle ... you know you want to) and another guy wearing the Strong Suit from issue #0. We also see some really cool inter-sibling drama as Scatterbrain starts to question Myriad's orientation while Scrap and Myriad decide to bunk up and share an apartment for the betterment of both of their wallets during these tough economic times. It's clear that the series is moving toward something big as more and more we see this Priest, Father Gideon trying his very best to remind Cynthia that she is also one of Captain Dynamo's children and that her half siblings have stripped of her memories and her life ... things are getting pretty sketchy all around as the team is really only just getting back in stride from their time spent apart. This is without question one of the best team books currently on the market and does everything that classic runs of Teen Titans, Fantastic Four and The X-Men ever did with a more modern sensibility and art that is out of this world. It's time for you to check in with the Dynamo Siblings, they've got something to show you when it comes to how a super-family is supposed to work.

Hack/Slash #20


Written by: Tim Seeley


Art by: Kevin Mellon

Alright, I know that I might be late coming to this party but this book totally rocks. Equal parts action and comedy mixed with drama and horror. And actually good horror ... and good comedy ... and good ... Comic-booking. Seriously, Tim Seeley knows what the hell he's doing and really does a killer job doing it. This might be a comic wonk kind of comic, or a horror wonk kind of comic, but it's really, really fun. I didn't start reading this book until Devil's Due started having all the trouble with Reanimator LLC, last fall. I figured if someone was going to go to all the trouble that Tim Seeley and the artists that he gets to draw his horror romps every month that they shouldn't get screwed for trying to do the right thing when someone else is just trying to make a fast buck. So I started ordering Hack/Slash for the store. Prior it would only come in for pull and holds and I would flip through it and laugh from time to time and say "Wow, cool sequence" from time to time, but I never really read the book. But when we started getting it in for the shelves I figured that it deserved my time and effort to read it in order to try and turn more folks onto the book. And it was, it really, really was. This is a whole lot of fun and I think that more people should be checking this book out. If you liked movies like Scream, television shows like Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, and comics like 30 Days of Night then you'll love Hack/Slash, it turns all the typical horror tropes on it's head and it has a hell of a time doing it.

The Best Book You Didn't Read Last Week: Absolute Darkness

The Darkness #75

Written by: Phil Hester

Art by: Matt Timson, Joe Benitez, Michael Broussard, Lee Carter, Jorge Lucas, Marc Silvestri & Steve Firchow, Frazier Irving, Dale Keown, Ryan Sook, Stjepan Sejic

Man, there were a ton of great books that you foolishly forgot to read this week ... I mean a TON. In a week where I could have talked about Green Arrow/Black Canary (that so many of you left when Winick did [Fools! Fools, I say!]), DMZ, Scalped, Green Lantern Corps, Captain Britain & MI:13 ... I decided that it was probably best to reward a company that knows what kind of book is worth you $4.99 and talk a bit about the wonder that is The Darkness. 37 pages of incredible art by 10 different teams of amazing artists, all written by the impeccable talent of the one and only Phil Hester. The Darkness, for those of you who have never read the series, is the story of Jackie Estacado. Jackie is the bearer of a unique power known as The Darkness, it's basically the dark counterpart to The Witchblade. Jackie has used his abilities in the execution of his duties as a mafia hitman, as an amnesiac nyctophobe doing everything he can to run from the mafiosos he worked for, a brutal force against those who wished him dead, and recently as a sadistic druglord in South America.

In the last few issues we have seen Jackie reduced to a repo man of sorts working for The Sovereign, collecting on both contracts for immortal souls as well as condemning demons back to hell, he has also done all of this without most of his power as his body may be walking the Earth but his soul is trapped in Hell. The Sovereign has assured Jackie that if he does his bidding long enough that he will retrieve his soul for him ... who knows how long this agreement will go on, and little does The Sovereign know that Jackie has a pretty bad track-record when it comes to respecting authority figures no matter how much they might hold over his head.

This issue in particular is a look into the future (the far flung and dark future at that) and the possible death of Jackie Estacado, as told to him by a fortune teller. It is a really gripping and interesting story of the evil nature of Mr. Estacado overtaking the world and making it an infinitely dark place ... the perfect home for the weapon he is cursed to bear. Ultimately this is sort of a cross-roads issue for Jackie and I think that anyone who has even the slightest interest in reading the series would be well served by picking up this issue and getting right into the thick of it.

The Best Books You're Not Reading: Ghost Rider #31

Ghost Rider #31
Written by: Jason Aaron
Art by: Roland Boschi & Tan Eng Huat

Guys and girls (there are girls who listen to our podcast, they admitted it to Rob's very hairy face) ... it's time for you guys to start listening to some of the very sound advice that we dish out. When I tell you all that a book is fantastic you should give it some credence. I mean we've been at this whole podcast thing for right at a year now. I can't even begin to tell you how big a rush that is for me and while we've never had more than 40 people download a single episode I think that we do our very best to give a good overview of each and every book we talk about and that we only talk about books that we really and truly enjoy. We wouldn't talk about a book just because it wasn't selling well and we had a bunch of copies in the store, that's not our job. So when I come here and tell you guys that there are really great books that you aren't reading I'm doing it to try and give you all a more satisfying experience with your comics every week. I mean there are times when I have over 20 books in a week and I hear someone say, "Well, nothing for me this week." ... and that hurts my soul. I mean I understand that the number of people who are going to have 15+ books each and every week are going to be small and are going to be even fewer and further between during these times of economic strain, but every single week there is something on the shelf of your local comic store that is worth your $2.99 ... and too many of you are so stuck in this rut of buying your same old titles month in and month out that you've become blind to the rest of the variety on the shelves. I've talked here before that there are titles out there for every man, woman, and child out there who enjoy fiction ... regardless of what kind of fiction you enjoy. Seriously, just look at the books, ask a few questions and the weeks that you thought you could just write off and wander out of the store will be far less often and you'll always have something enjoyable to read.
Taking all of that into account I will now tell you that one of those books that you're missing out on is Ghost Rider. Jason Aaron is without question the most exciting new creator to grace the world of comics in the last 5 years. He takes more chances in a single issue than most writers take in an entire run on a title. And it's becoming more and more clear that he's being recognized by the higher ups at Marvel as he's being given more and more product to work on (when a writer is given the reigns on a new ongoing Wolverine title you know that their writing is loved by someone at Marvel). And it's (as I've said before) certainly a strange position for me to be in when I can honestly say that I am enjoying a Ghost Rider book. There is just something on each and every level of this book that excites the hell out of me from the art to the plot to the dialog to the production quality. I really think that if you aren't reading this book that you are missing out on something special from a book that has largely been known as The Punisher with powers for far too long.

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: Best Books You Didn't Read Last Week 12/29/08

Guerillas #3
Written & Art by: Brahm Revel

Alright. Go back to your store. Speak with the clerk who is there, talk with the Manager if you must. Have them order Guerillas #1, #2, & #3 for you right that very instant. This is going to be one of the best books you read ever. And you're not already reading it. As a matter of fact if you don't start reading it soon you might miss out on one of the most overlooked books of 2008 and what might be the best book of 2009. Brahm Revel has created one of the most unique and pleasurable reading experiences of my comic reading life (20 or so years long now ... I've been reading comics for 20 years?!?! ... I'm old). With his deceptively simple pencils and incredible hand at inking and grey toning he has managed to make an amazing visual style that suits perfectly the story he is telling. Which is equally as amazing. The story is at once a dark and frightening look at what it must have been to be a soldier in Vietnam ... constantly kept in the dark of what your future holds, always afraid of what lay around the next corner, lied to by those who were meant to be your leader. At the same time it's brilliant the way he has juxtaposed John Clayton's experience among his squad, that of being the man left out, with his experience among the chimps ... one of solitude of a whole different kind. This is easily one of the most satisfying comics that I have read in a very long time and I think that it is a tragedy that more people aren't reading it. Make sure you at least check it out, you can read the whole first issue over at Newsarama, once you've read it make sure that, if you haven't already, you go to your local comic store and have it ordered for yourself ... I'll know if you don't

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Still Injured

Elephantmen #14 came out last week, as did Lone Ranger #16, Green Arrow/Black Canary #15, and many other books that I would love to be writing about right now but having had my arm in a sling for a week means that my muscles have atrophied and that it hurts to do things ... like type ... so just make sure that you check some of those books out because they were all great and I think that some of you are still missing out on them.

-The Still Injured Scott

A Brief Look at Why There Isn't A Brief Mention Review or The Best Books You Didn't Read Last Week ...

This is what my face looks like after falling off of the ladder on Friday ... I look like I just stepped off of my latest victory in Bum Fights 13. Typing isn't the easiest thing to accomplish with the damage that happened to my arm so I'll keep this brief.









This is what the culprit looks like. If you see this ladder anywhere contact the authorities, it will fall out from underneath you and it will hurt. 12 feet up for the feet, nearly 18 up for the head ... Don't Try This At Home!

The Best Book You Didn't Read Last Week, Issue 15

Lone Ranger #15
Written by: Brett Matthews
Art by: Sergio Cariello

Westerns. I know you're probably sick of hearing me talk about them. The best way to get me to stop writing articles about them is to start making them "The Best Book You READ Last Week". Brett Matthews has spent the last two years writing great crime stories, great revenge stories, recreating some of the greatest characters of 20th century American fiction. This issue we see the truth of what justice was in the old west. We see that cruelty and inhumanity is not something reserved for modern times. We see that those who seek real justice do not always act on the right side of the law, but those who do real damage to society are not always the kind of men who can be brought down by the system society has put in place. I think that if you like books like Punisher that it's time you start reading westerns. I think that if you like books like Criminal it's time you start reading westerns. I think that The Lone Ranger is as much a superhero as Superman, Batman, Spider-Man or any of the rest. He wears a costume, he conducts himself by a moral code, he brings those who wish to do harm to innocents to see the face of justice, even if the trial they face, is one of fire.

The Best Book You Didn't Read Last Week, Issue 15

Guerillas #2 (of 9)
Written and Drawn by: Brahm Revel

As Darren mentioned in his article yesterday we, the Comic Dorks, have an incredibly difficult task on our plates each and every week, where we have to pair down the pile of books each one of us reads and talk about just six of them a week. Since I have a much larger pile than either of my other co-Dorks each week I have a much more difficult task. I have to figure out which two of the 20+ I am going to be able to talk about. That's one of the reasons you'll often hear me talking about a book all on my own on the show (Like this week with Gigantic #1). So that's why fifteen weeks ago I also started writing the "Best Books You Didn't Read Last Week" article. Each week I pick one book from the stack that I think more people should be checking out. Once in a while it is a book that is so good that it actually hurts a little to have to write about it. This is one of those books.

Guerillas is one of the best books of this year. Without question. Brahm Revel is one of the names that needs to be talked about in every comic store across the country. He is a craftsman of exemplary talent and the story he is writing is nothing like what you might expect based on the covers or the solicit text.

When I first saw this series solicited I thought it was going to be a fun little farcical tale about monkeys with guns. What I actually found was a dark and complex tale of a man trying to fill his father's shoes, and a dark experiment by a strange scientist gone awry.

Looking at the book you might expect talking monkeys ... you won't get them. You'll get monkeys that have distinct personalities, non-verbal personalities but distinct nonetheless. Quite seriously this book went from being really great to absolutely priceless. I think that it is going to make for one hell of a collected story when it's done, fortunately it also reads FANTASTICALLY in single issues.

Brahm Revel is most assuredly going to become one of the hot names to look for over the next year and a half as this series progresses towards it's conclusion. From what I am aware the first issue is no longer available from Diamond but perhaps if enough people demand it we'll see a second printing of the quiet hit of the year, and my favorite book of the 4th quarter of 2008.

The Best Book You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 14

Resurrection Annual #1
Written by: Marc Guggenheim
Art by: Douglas Dabbs

Oni Press has long been known as a publisher of mini-series and Graphic Novels. They have published very few ongoing series. The ones they have published have been stellar. The spy/thriller Queen & Country written by the incredible novelist and one of the most amazing comic writers working in the industry today Greg Rucka and drawn by a slew of incredibly talented artists (Rolston, Samnee, Speed-McNeill, Alexander, Hurtt). The sci-fi/fantasy/post-apocalyptic epic Wasteland from one of the best and most overlooked writers working in indie comics these days Antony Johnston and with art by the wholly underappreciated Christopher Mitten. And the newest of the ongoing series is Resurrection. A story of what happens on Earth after the end of what seems to have been a failed invasion attempt by an Alien species. This is also the conclusion of the first volume of Resurrection. Resurrection is a book written by Marc (Young X-Men, Eli Stone) Guggenheim and with art by (usually) David Dumeer, both of whom are incredible talents whom the comics industry should be glad to have. This annual is drawn by Douglas Dabbs who manages to craft some really incredible pages. Ultimately this is a story about the tenacity of man, as well as the resilience (or in some cases the lack thereof) human faith. I think that this is at once a nice endcap to the first volume of Resurrection and is as well perhaps the best issue (of a series of great issues) to date. Volume 1 of Resurrection will be, all told, 6 issues and one Annual, it will all be collected in a trade paperback that will be sold for the staggeringly great price of: Six whole American dollars. Talk about one hell of a good deal. When Volume 2 of Resurrection begins it will be the first ongoing series published by Oni Press in FULL COLOR! I cannot honestly think of a series that more people should be checking out. It is a thrilling ride from the very first page and when the trade comes out everyone, not just everyone who has read this book but everyone who reads comics, should buy 2, one for themselves and one for a friend who has never read comics but loves sci-fi, who loved the TV show Jericho, who thought Independence Day was kind of silly but desperately wanted to know what the next day looked like as the world picked itself up off the ground and dusted itself off. There honestly aren't enough positive words in the English language to convey how much I like this book and respect it's creators. And the way you can thank me for recommending this incredible series is to, once you are done reading the upcoming trade, go buy all the Queen & Country and Wasteland trades and prove to Oni how loved and appreciated their ongoing series really and truly are.

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 13

Aetheric Mechanics
Written by: Warren Ellis
Art by: Gianluca Pagliarani

I certainly was not expecting the kind of story that I got from this "Graphic Novella" (that anywhere else would have been called a "Prestige Format One-Shot"). What I got was one of the most unique of Warren Ellis' Apparat Releases to date. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Warren Ellis' Apparat line an explanation is probably in order. It started back in 2004 when Ellis decided that too few of the comic publishers were taking advantage of the phenomenon known as "The 5th Wednesday". Basically comics are scheduled to come out monthly and for all intents and purposes comic publishers only plan for 4 Wednesday months. But occasionally (usually only 3 or 4 times a year) there will be a 5th Wednesday. What this often results in is one really weak week of releases. While companies have gotten a little bit better at anticipating events like this (I mean all you have to do is look at a calendar) no one has figured out quite such an interesting way of utilizing the 5th Wednesdays as Warren Ellis. To date he has released 6 projects under the Apparat banner. In 2004 he released: Angel Stomp Future, Frank Ironwine, Quit City, and Simon Spektor each of which was (ostensibly) a one shot story set in a genre that Ellis thought might have been more popular had Super-Heroic fiction not subsumed the entire industry. Then in 2007 he released (the highly overlooked and incredibly awesome) Crecy, a historic tale of the Battle of Crécy where a much smaller British force defeated a much larger French force thanks to the English Longbow. Now we have the kind of tale that only creators like Ellis, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and perhaps Grant Morrison could get away with telling. 1907 London is under attack from the Ruritarians. Technology has become much more evolved thanks to the practice of Aetheric Mechanics, allowing for much more controlled flight due to the bending of space and time. What might seem like a simple murder mystery in an alternate history becomes much more as Sax Raker (a man who seems to be very much like Sherlock Holmes) welcomes home his erstwhile companion, Doctor Richard Watcham (a man who seems to be very much like Dr. John H. Watson). Things become very complex in the mystery they title "The Case of The Man Who Wasn't There". Really a must read for all Ellis fans, especially those who are fans of Planetary or who loved Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 12

Green Lantern Corps #29
Written by: Peter J. Tomasi
Art by: Pat Gleason

I know I have said it before but I think that one of the books that far too few people are reading is Green Lantern Corps. The problem is that so many people started checking it out during The Sinestro Corps War but few stuck with it afterward. What you are missing out on is the kind of sci-fi story telling that can be found in far too few comics in the industry these days. This is the beginning of the Sins of the Star Sapphire story-arc where we are going to find out quite a lot more about the Violet Lanterns of Love, and despite how positive they might sound I have to say that they are not by any stretch of the imagination the good guys out in the universe. Watch as the march toward The Blackest Night continues on and even more of the players are revealed. Watch as one of The Guardians of OA plots and plans against the rest of the Universe right under the noses of the Universe's greatest protectors. Seriously this is a criminally overlooked book.




Pulp Tales: Josh Medors Benefit One Shot
Written by: B. Clay Moore & Seth Peck, Josh Fialkov, Kody Champerlain, Tony Fleecs, and Steve Niles
Art by: Chris Samnee, Andy B, Kody Chamberlain, Tony Fleecs, and Sarah Wilkinson

There is something tragic about this country when we can, seemingly with little or no hesitation, offer the risk takers on Wall Street a $700,000,000,000 (and that's a conservative estimate) bailout but guys like Josh Medors can get diagnosed with cancer and be S.O.L. when it comes to being able to pay for treatment. Far too many artists and writers in the comics industry are without proper health coverage, it's a tragedy. Support the HERO Initiative and the CBLDF because the country certainly isn't going to help comic creators or the comics industry. But, more importantly if your Local Comic Store stocked Pulp Tales on it's shelves go in this week and make sure that you buy it, and if they didn't make them special order it for you. All the proceeds go to helping to pay for Josh Medors medical bills. A chance to really help someone by purchasing a comic comes along so infrequently so we must take it when it happens. It also doesn't hurt that it is full of great stories, and great art by great creators.



Lone Ranger #14
Written by: Brett Matthews
Art by: Sergio Cariello

Alright, so ... I love me some westerns. I think that has to have been made rather clear from the kinds of articles I have posted and some of the reviews that I have written. And what I have said in the past is that the first western that I ever experienced was Lone Ranger. When I was a very small child I would wake up at 5 in the morning to make sure that I could watch The Lone Ranger and Tonto and hear "Hi Ho Silver, Away!". Dynamite Entertainment's Lone Ranger has really been on the forefront of the modern western comic genre. For quite a while it was anything but timely, but recently the book has been much more punctual and that has made for incredibly rewarding reading. Brett Matthews has a great grasp on how to tell an engaging western tale and Sergio Carriello's art just gets better and better as the series goes along.

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 11

Usually I review a few different books that you might have missed out on last week but this week I am going to highlight a review that I posted over on the Message Boards on a thread that m31plusus started called "Reviews of stuff I am currently reading/2008" of the most recent Original Graphic Novel release from DC/Vertigo.

The Alcoholic
Written by: Jonathan Ames
Art by: Dean Haspiel

A while back Vertigo started releasing a new line of Original Graphic Novels. They were all just about square (a little over 9 inches by a little over 7 inches) and of the eight six have featured creators who had never worked with Vertigo. Some were well known names in the comics industry who had just never published anything through Vertigo: Harvey Pekar's The Quitter, Gilbert Hernandez's Sloth, and David Lapham's Silverfish. While others have featured creators who have simply never worked in comics before: rapper Percy "MF GRIMM" Carey's Sentences, journalist G. Willow Wilson's Cairo, and now novelist/essayist/playwright/all-purpose-storyteller Jonathan Ames' The Alcoholic.

While ostensibly this is just a slice of life story about the loosely veiled "Jonathan A." it is of such an incredible quality that it must immediately take a place among my favorites of the genre. It is both funny and heart-wrenching, apologetic but unrepentant, brutally honest while clearly mixed with fiction. We follow Jonathan A. through the perils of a lifetime of alcoholism and drug abuse, fall in love, get his heart broken, go to France, become a novelist, and have an incredibly touching relationship with his great Aunt. Quite seriously this was one of the best stories I have read all year and this has been a year of great stories. Dean Haspiel is also fast becoming one of the artists that I am most intrigued by in the industry, he works in several styles and all of them are picture perfect for the stories he is telling.

If you like stories like Brooklyn Dreams, Fun Home, Blankets, the works of Harvey Pekar, Complete Lowlife, Box Office Poison, Too Cool To Be Forgotten, then it's time to tell your LCS to get you a copy of The Alcoholic!

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 10

Blue Beetle #31

Written by: Matthew Sturges

Art by: Andre Coelho

OKAY! SERIOUSLY! START BUYING THIS BOOK!
It's funny, it's action packed, it's dramatic, there are incredibly interesting characters and original characters. Seriously. This has gone from being one of my quiet favorites to being one the books that I have been shouting about from the rooftops! This issue had a great fight scene and quite seriously one of the funniest three panels I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Blue Beetle has become just as great at quipping as Spider-Man ... he might not do it as often, but when he does they are fall out of your chair funny. So, start buying this book. The 4th trade paperback comes out this week and it's time to get the trades and get caught up. Get on it!



Legion of Superheroes #46

Written by: Jim Shooter

Art by: Francis Manapul

As exciting as any team book could be I think that we all realize that it is the interactions between the characters that really keeps you reading the book. Mark Waid had a great grasp on the characters when this title was launched, and Tony Bedard had a pretty good handle on them as well, but it's hard to challenge a the kind of long term experience that Jim Shooter had. This might not be as popular a book as books like Teen Titans or Titans or Young X-Men but I think that it is one of the more solid team titles currently coming out. Sometimes what is great about a book is that it is a blue chip, it's a consistent hitter ... it might not be a power hitter, it doesn't hit a lot of home runs, but it gets some pretty consistent doubles and it always gets on base. If you are looking for fun then look no further.




Youngblood #5

Written by: Joe Casey

Art by: Derec Donovan

I never thought I would like a Youngblood book ever again. But Joe Casey has this way of making any concept incredibly worth reading about. Whether it's corporate intrigue, zany sci-fi, campy magic, probation officers, guys with bar-codes on their faces, guys slowly turning into stone ... even straight up superhero fare. This has been a really cool title and it has been plenty easy for me to get into even though I hadn't read a Youngblood book since like 1996. Derec Donovan is also a totally awesome artist. I think that if you are looking for a superhero book that looks a little deeper into the way that fame is entirely created then this is the book for you, if you are looking for something that is a scathing condemnation of the way that the media works and looks at celebrity then look no further.

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 9

SCALPED #21
Written by: Jason Aaron
Art by: R.M. Guera

Yes it was my pick of the week but it also deserves to be on the list of "Best Books You're Not Reading" BECAUSE YOU ARE STILL NOT READING IT! Jason Aaron is easily as good at writing crime fiction as Ed Brubaker, he also pens fantastic characters and deserves your attention and you dollars. I have mentioned before that this is a book that has floored me from the get go, I was sold from issue one. And as I have said before if you don't like it you can get your money back. As a matter of fact if you haven't yet checked this book out then you should go to www.scalped.info and you can read the first issue for free via Vertigo's website, and also as you can see on the website if you buy the first trade paperback and you don't like it you can mail it to Jason Aaron and he will refund your money and the cost of shipping, so if you don't like it you are out absolutely nothing. AND, as I have mentioned before if you are at all interested the first two volumes are currently available buy one get one free at the Fairview Heights location of The Fantasy Shop. So really, there is not a single good reason to have not checked out one of the best books currently being produced. The book that plenty of great people are having even greater things to say about:

"SCALPED is some of the most compelling character work and crime writing I've seen in a long time." - Ed Brubaker

"The best new series in years. Spread the word. Tell your friends. Talk about it. Blog about it." - Garth Ennis

"Aaron's talent for dialogue is complemented spectacularly by R.M. Guéra's vivid pencil work." - Playboy

"One of the richest, most rewarding reads around." - Wizard

"SCALPED has attitude, SCALPED has guts and SCALPED is no holds barred. In short, SCALPED is fucking great." - Crimespree Magazine

"If you're not reading SCALPED, you're crazy. You are literally, not metaphorically, a lunatic, and you will probably end up in some sort of asylum if you're not careful. It's that good. It will keep you sane with its greatness." - Timothy Callahan, author of GRANT MORRISON: THE EARLY YEARS

"If SCALPED doesn't leave shivers down your back, read it again." - Reznet News

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI 13 #5
Written by: Paul Cornell
Art by: Pat Oliffe

Often times when a book gets launched as a part of a giant crossover it falls apart after the connection to the crossover fades away. Marvel and DC both have mixed luck when it comes to creating titles that spin out of events or that start in the middle of events. What Paul Cornell is doing with his British super-team though is not only incredibly interesting, and incredibly fun, it is also doing very well for a new title featuring a bunch of characters who have never managed to hold their own ongoing title for too awfully long. I have to honestly say that there is a lot of really great stuff about Captain Britain and MI:13. Part of what is great about it is that despite Marvel being a "Universe" we really rarely see outside of New York City and deep in space. And when we have lately it has either been cancelled or written by Chris Claremont, neither of which is good. But this book is great. And I think that if you haven't checked it out that you are missing out. Jump on to a great new team book that has taken The Order's place in my heart.

LOCAL HC
Written by: Brian Wood
Art by: Ryan Kelly

This is seriously a great series. And add to it the fact that this is perhaps one of the single most handsome hardcover collections I have ever had the pleasure of putting my hands on and adding to my collection and you can soon see why it is one of the best books you didn't read last week. This is another one of those books that great people have a lot of great stuff to say about:

"The coolest short film never shown on The IFC or Sundance Channel." - Sequential Tart

"... Each page is a lush, inky image to be savored." - Variety

"You're going to want this one. Trust me." - Warren Ellis

"The Best Ongoing Indie Comic of 2007" - G4 TV

"The Sharpest slices of life the medium has ever seen." - Bryan K. Vaughn

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 8

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #28
Written by: Peter J. Tomasi
Art by: Luke Ross

The Blackest Night grows ever closer and the menace of the Sinestro Corps remains ever present. A lot of people started picking this title up when the Sinestro Corps War event was going on but not everyone stuck with the title after the crossover was finished and boy howdy did they make a mistake. We have seen Mongul wielding multiple Yellow Power Rings, we have also seen the home planet of Mongul's frequent weapon "Black Mercy", We have seen a quintet of Sinestro Corps members who hunt and kill the family members of Green Lantern Corps Rookies and steal their eyes. We have seen the terrifying change in the Guardian who stood toe to toe with The Anti-Monitor and will live scarred for the rest of her life. We have seen the birth of the first ever Lantern Bar, Warriors. But most importantly we have been seeing the growing camaradarie and brotherhood growing between two of the greatest Green Lanterns to ever live, Guy Gardener, and Kyle Rayner. This has been an incredibly fun book that everyone should still be following.



DARKNESS #5
Written by: Phil Hester
Art by: Michael Broussard

I have never been the biggest Top Cow fan. Marc Silvestri wasn't my favorite of the Image Founders and thus a house style based on his own never really grabbed me. Recently however there have been some titles and concepts that have really caught my attention. Bringing Ron Marz onto Witchblade for a 5 year long run was a smart decision, the growing talent of Stepan Sejic has been something worth watching, the idea of The Top Cow Pilot Season involves fans in a way that I think is incredibly interesting, but perhaps most importantly they brought one of my favorite current writers in the industry on to one of the only characters they have that has ever interested me. Back when they relaunched the series with Paul Jenkins writing and Dale Keown on art I decided to check it out and was pretty pleased with it for about 7 or 8 issues, but I eventually lost interest and stopped reading. Then I hear from an interview that Phil Hester is going to be taking on the third relaunch of the title. I have loved pretty much everything Phil has ever worked on, whether it was in his capacity as an incredibly talented artist or in his growing portfolio of incredibly engaging writing projects. I really think that this issue was amazing and that Michael Broussard has grown out of the house style and has become more than a Silvestri clone. This book is a quiet winner. Check it out.

DYNAMO 5 #16
Written by: Jay Faerber
Art by: Mahmud A. Asrar

With the recent announcement that Noble Causes will be ending with issue 40 it has become more and more important that people start checking out the other books that Jay Faerber is currently producing. So, my suggestion is to start with Dynamo 5. With two trade paperbacks already available it's easy enough to jump onto the title and start enjoying the incredible characters and relationships that are present in this title. Imagine, if you can, if a character like Superman who has a little less commitment to his marriage ... who had some illegitmate children ... and then died ... in the bed of one of his mistresses. His widow looks at the city around her and realizes that it needs protectors, and that only the offspring of her husband, the recently deceased lothario, will do. So she exposes them to the same radiation that gave Captain Dynamo his powere in the hopes that they will become super-humans as well, and it works, they each get one of his powers. And for a while they work together as a team. But Maddie's interference causes the group to disperse and now Scrap has put together a new Dynamo 5 and protects the city as best they can. CHECK THIS BOOK OUT!

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 7

End League #4
Written by: Rick Remender
Art by: Mat Broome & Eric Canete

The world has ended. The Super-heroes lost. The Super-villains have taken over. Thor has been lobotomized and has killed the most powerful force for good in all of the world, Astonishman. With little choice but to do whatever it takes to survive more and more of the heroes spread further and further apart as their one greatest shot at re-taking Mjolnir, what might have been the only thing that could have leveled the playing field, has perished. More important than the story this is the first issue with pages pencilled by Eric Canete, the new ongoing artist for the series, and thus with this issue we go from a bi-monthly shipping schedule (which Mat Broome for all his talents could not manage to stay on) to a monthly shipping schedule and one of my early picks for best new ongoing series of the year might actually get 8 or 9 issues out before the year is up. Rick Remender is one of the most exciting new creators working today and if you aren't into what he's doing with Fear Agent, or Punisher War Journal then maybe just maybe you need to check out his mix of super-heroes and "Lord of the Rings" style epic fantasy.

Manhunter #34
Written by: Marc Andreyko
Art by: Michael Gaydos

Kate goes toe-to-toe with the whole of the Suicide Squad and allow me to assure you that if nothing else she gets some much needed stress relief out of the way in her combat with Multi-Plex. There is a pretty big twist to be found in this issue so I will do my best to avoid spoiling it and instead focus on the creators behind this book. Marc Andreyko is one of the most underrated writers currently working at DC and to be honest I think that he might be one of the most underrated writers working in the industry, this guy has just as much going for him as creators like Geoff Johns, Brian Bendis, Greg Rucka, and Ed Brubaker ... all it is going to take is that one big moment for everyone to start paying attention. Allow me to assure you that you should get in now while the getting is good and you don't have to fret about tracking down all the hard to find issues and out of print trade paperbacks. So go get Torso and the first 4 volumes of Manhunter while the getting is good. And if you want great art with your Super-hero books then look no further. Michael Gaydos is perhaps best known for his work with Brian Michael Bendis on Alias but if more people would pay attention to the work he is doing here they would see that he is doing some of the very best work of his career. Great characters who all look distinctly different and all look distinctly great.

Jonah Hex #35
Written by: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray
Art by: J.H. Williams III

I LOVE WESTERNS! I do. And really there isn't a higher quality western currently on the shelves than Jonah Hex. Each issue is completely stand alone and tells a story with a beginning middle and end. The character of Jonah Hex is incredibly compelling, deeply complex, and a bastard through and through. I assure you that if you check out just one issue of this book that you will find yourself one fine story with incredibly interesting artwork. This issue in particular features the incredible artwork of J.H. Williams III and a story the likes of which you would expect an artist like J.H. to undertake. Jonah fights off a band of ruffians with the help of a posse from town only to be invited to the sheriff's home for dinner ... but the sheriff ... he has ulterior motives. No one illustrates a hallucination better than J.H. Williams III and allow me to assure you that if you decide to just pick up this issue that you will not be disappointed.

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 6

The Immortal Iron Fist #18
Written by: Duane Swierczynski
Art by: Travel Foreman & Russ Heath

The Mortal Iron Fist story-arc continues as we see the continuation of the confrontation between Danny and the Demon that wants him dead. Ultimately I think that the most impressive part about this comic is that despite changing creative teams that the book remains as high quality and as action packed and exciting as it ever was when Fraction and Brubaker were at the helm. I might even say that it is somewhat better when those two were steering the ship. Travel Foreman's artwork continues to knock my socks off and the flashback sequences by Russ Heath are everything you could possibly ask for. This story started out in a dark place but I have to say that the plans that the demon has for Danny's circle of support promises to make the story even darker as we progress. I highly recommend that if you haven't already started reading The Immortal Iron Fist that you at least give this arc a shot, because I can assure you that you won't be disappointed.



DMZ #34
Written by: Brian Wood
Art by: Riccardo Burchielli

Honest to god I believe that DMZ should be the successor to Y: The Last Man. Everyone is always looking for that one great Vertigo book to follow and I think that if you are overlooking DMZ that you are doing yourself a complete disservice. The characters of DMZ are incredibly compelling and are constantly growing and changing thanks not only to the changing world around them but also to the way that they look at the world around them. Matty Roth is a character that I love to follow, his role as the narrator of the story is engaging and complex as he fights with himself over whether what he is doing is right or wrong. Matty must constantly debate whether or not he does the people of the DMZ service or disservice by the way he reports what he sees. Should he keep at arms distance in order to be an ethical observer or should he get his hands dirty to try and foster the kinds of change he would hope to see in the place he has come to call home. Honestly this is probably one of the best books I am currently reading and there are 5 trade paperbacks out there for all of you who have yet to check it out.

Blue Beetle #30
Written by: Matthew Sturges
Art by: Rafael Albuquerque

At some point every protege has the chance to outdo his mentor. I think that between what Matthew Sturges is doing with House of Mystery and what he has already begun here with Blue Beetle that he is starting to consider that everything he has learned from Bill Willingham might just make him a better writer than his mentor. What Sturges does here is craft incredibly interesting and identifiable characters within these already established voices. Watching the way he deals with the still young and learning super-hero Blue Beetle is fantastically fun and even moreso the way he plays with the supporting cast makes for a thrilling ride. I think that if you haven't yet started checking out The Blue Beetle that you are missing a book on the same kind of level as Ultimate Spider-Man or even Invincible. Add to the fantastic story telling of Sturges the incredible graphic story telling of Rafael Albuquerque and you have all the right components for a long lasting and incredibly entertaining series. Count me in as one of the fans who hopes that DC, as well as the fans, let Sturges and Albuquerque make a run for Bendis and Bagley's record!

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 5

Fear Agent #23
Written by: Rick Remender
Art by: Tony Moore

This is much like Criminal. One of the greatest books on the shelf that far too few people are reading. This is a book all about Heath Huston, think alcoholic Han Solo, one of the last surviving of a band of Texas Ass-Kickers known as The Fear Agents. He's basically an intergalactic exterminator who does very little thinking before acting. It's simple and fun on many levels and is complex and wonderful on so many others. It's a book that can bend genres and be anything that it really wants to be. I Against I has been a story arc where we have seen Heath get stranded on an unknown planet that has seemed one part Oz, one part Old West, and one part ... a planet where packs of giant ants try to eat you ... y'know? Heath is easily one of the luckiest sacks of skin to ever lace up combat boots but at the same time he is an absolute curse to all those around him. If you're missing a book that can have a 5 page foot chase scene where the protagonist is naked and is being pursued by seemingly invulnerable hot women who appear to be clones ... then look no further, you've finally come home!

Madman Atomic Comics #10
Written and Drawn by: Mike Allred
Colored by: Laura Allred

Seriously this is one of the best titles that Image is putting out, and nobody seems to know. Mike Allred is one of my all time favorite artists who has ever worked in this industry. I have been a huge fan ever since I was first introduced to him many, many, many years ago ... if I remember correctly it was when Tim Kaiser showed me an issue of the original mini-series back when I was in like the 5th grade. But it wasn't until I encountered his work on X-Force (which eventually became X-Statix) with writer Peter Milligan that I realized that he was an artistic genius. So I started going back and rediscovering how amazing his work on his creator owned projects had been. Recently Image has been releasing trade paperbacks of all of his Madman works and they have been great. Each one containing tons of extras and all of them looking just like you remembered. Two weeks ago the first trade paperback of the Atomic Comics run was released and it collects some really stunning material. What Allred is doing with this comics should be looked upon in awe by all those who read comics ... but ... it wouldn't be on this list if it was.

Scalped #20
Written by: Jason Aaron
Art by: Davide Furno

So, we've gotten the Criminal revolution started. Everyone who has taken home Criminal on our (either in store or due to the show) reccomendation has recognized the brilliance. So, not it's time to start the Scalped revolution. What Jason Aaron has done with this book is create a character who is incredibly compelling to follow and is simultaneously one of the most flawed human beings I have ever read a story about. I guess that is something that I love ... I'll be honest, I know that is something that I love. Heath Huston from Fear Agent, Leo from Criminal, Teeg Lawless from Criminal, Spider Jerusalem from Transmetropolitan. Scalped follows Dashiel Badhorse, a Native American badass from the Oglala tribe, he grew up on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation in South Dakota but ran away when he was around 13 and is now returning under suspicious circumstances. Watch as the world around Dash unravels at a truly stunning pace. This is seriously one of the greatest books that is currently coming out right now that too few people are reading right alongside books like Fear Agent, The Walking Dead, Criminal, and Invincible.

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 4

Golly! #1
Written by: Phil Hester
Art by: Brook Turner

Several years ago there was a television show on HBO that caught my attention and held me rapt for two seasons before it was ultimately and untimely canceled. The show was called "Carnivàle " and it introduced the concept of magic into the time of the Great Depression. It was a truly brilliant show and if you are looking for something really great to add to your DVD collection I highly recommend that you head out to a Best Buy or something akin and get the two box sets that comprise the entire series. It was brilliantly dark, had such a great dramatic flair, and featured the unique language of the 1930's combined with the even more unique nomenclature of Carnival folk that it instantly became one of my favorites (the creators of this show, Charlie and Daniel Knauf now work at Marvel comics and part of me hopes that someday they might finish their story in the pages of comics). Phil Hester must have watched this show. And he decided that there was a place for this kind of story in the world of comics and what he came up with was "Golly!". The main character is Golly Munhollen, a carnival ride repair man/race-car driver at the carnival's demolition derby/dirt track race. He has just been chosen by God's angelic representative to be a force for good on earth. Apparently due to lack of interest on either side of the afterlife have lost interest in having an apocalypse altogether and while it has been agreed upon by the forces that be that many of the agents of hell who have already come to earth in order to enact their own machinations of something to do as we draw towards the end times ... sadly their plans are about to come to a stop. Golly is surrounded by a weird cast of characters and it is totally awesome and incredibly hilarious, I highly recommend that anyone who wants to laugh check this book out and anyone who was a fan of Carnivàle or Preacher check out this awesome little book.


Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1 (of 4)
Written by: Joe Pokaski
Art by: Tom Raney

Once Heroes went live on television it became a certainty in my mind that more and more of the creators of the show would eventually start working in the world of comics. Some have shown promise others have yet to make their voices known. Joe Pokaski is a writer and Executive Story Editor on Heroes and is very close friends with fellow writers Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander and now can add to his writing resume, Comics Writer. I have always had sort of an odd fascination with the Inhumans, it all started with the Paul Jenkins penned series with art by the absolutely brilliant Jae Lee. It continued in the pages of Sean McKeever and Matt Clark series that debuted under the Marvel Tsunami imprint. Now the time has come for the creatures created by the technology of the Kree to take part in the war between Earth and the Skrulls. When, in the pages of New Avengers: Illuminati #5, Black Bolt was revealed to be a Skrull it was certain that it was only a brief amount of time before the rest of the Inhumans would become involved, and now that time has come. Understandably they have all become wary of their fellow Inhumans and a sort of martial law has been declared in their city on the moon and once again a tie-in has much more action than the pages of the actual Secret Invasion mini-series event. All in all I would recommend this issue to people who are fans of the Inhumans but think that ultimately there isn't much reason for the story aside from a chance to see how the often unlit corner of the Marvel Universe is reacting to the "universe-wide" event.

Antoine Sharp, The Atheist #1
Written by: Phil Hester
Art by: Kevin Mellon

I have already written a rather in depth review of the first trade paper back from this series and I have to say that I was hugely excited to see this series return, anything I say here would just, ultimately be repeating what I said I loved about the previous mini-series so instead I will just link you to the previous review, click Here