So hey special friends. Do you know what we did for this weekend? We watched us some Doctor Who, in which The Doctor dressed up in a swank ass suit and rocked out some time lord awesomeness. And it. Was. Awesome.
Anyway, now it’s time for comics once more. So let’s get to doing that.
ALL THE COMICS, IN ONE CONVENIENT PACKAGE
I wasn’t around for the first volume of Dark Horse Presents. I think. I may have had a file at the local comic shop by the time it all came to an end, but as much as I loved that store, it wasn’t built to carry a lot of indie books. If you ever wanted to see a lot of that stuff, you had to pre-order or else you’d end up awash in a sea of spandex - and there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just, sometimes a person needs a little variety in their diet.
Anyway, when Dark Horse announced the second volume of Dark Horse Presents, I have to admit, I got pretty excited - mostly because they were loading the deck with a lot of fine creators. I mean, what other book would you see contributions from Frank Miller, Fabio Moon, Dave Gibbons, Carla Speed McNeil, Paul Chadwick, Howard Chaykin, Neal Adams, Brian Wood, Even Dorkin, Jill Thompson, Eric Powell, Geof Darrow, Jim Steanko and more? There isn’t any other regular book that can boast that heavy weight slate. And man, it’s pretty amazing. Each issue features impeccable design, offers done-in-one shorts and serialized stories, and gives the readers a sample of all kinds of tastes. I mean, do you know how many copies of Finder I started selling because of this series? So freaking many! And Concrete. And soon, Beasts of Burden. And I also heard a rumour that Hellboy will be making an appearance soon. And dammit, that’s great.
Also, each issue is spined with the comic title and issue number… which means that I can pretty much keep these babies in stock as long as they are in print, as I can put them up in the trade section for people to buy long after the shelf date has “expired”. Dark Horse has done a great thing bringing this book back. And now? It’s monthly, so we’ll be getting greatness even more often. And that’s not something to sneeze at. Thus, I give the Death Rides a Pale Horse, Radness Rides a Dark Horse Award for just… being awesome. (B)
If I needed to describe just why it is that Ed Brubaker has made me a fan of Captain America, despite my lifelong ambivalance towards the character (1993’s Captain America Annual #12, first appearance of the Battling Bantam, aside - never doubt the power of a Puerto Rican boxer with augmented strength dressed like a chicken), it would be Captain America and Bucky. Don’t get me wrong, his other work with the character has been undeniably fantastic, but what he’s doing together with Marc Andreyko and Chris Samnee? It’s filling a hole in my comic book past that I hadn’t realized was there.
A giant part of this is Samnee‘s art, because the man is easily one of the best artists in the industry today. Sure, he can choreograph a great fight scene. Sure, his characters look so fluid they could actually be moving. But lord, it’s the faces he does that capture me and have me reaching to my wallet to buy some of the inked sketch art he regularly posts on his website. Nobody draws faces like him, with that style that feels like it stepped out suspended animation and the subtle emotions of a life that’s suddenly changed forever. That look on Bucky’s face in the aftermath of his actions? His eyes? That’s why I’ll follow this man anywhere. Captain America and Bucky #621 feels like it could be anybody’s first Captain America comic, in any time period. For capturing time in a bottle and making me feel like a kid again, I give the comic and its creators C!TB‘s first Jim Croce Award. (J)
Dammit, why is this never easy? As always, there were tons of strong contenders for the title of “Best” this week - Greg Rucka’s Punisher was a thing of beauty, FF was stellar as always, and Gates of Gotham brought the sound and the noise… but in the end, I had to go with something a little bit off the beaten path…
Mystery Men has been a fantastic mini-series from Marvel. At first blush, the book might appear to be more of the same superhero stock, the series is really much, much more than that. Set in the 1930s and using old pulps as inspiration, David Liss and Patrick Zircher have introduced a set of new heroes that are slightly different than what you’d find running across the Marvel U today. With a light touch of period appropriate abilities and technological limitations, these superheroes aren’t so heroic, borrowing more from the pulp school of story telling - in that while they might all do heroic things, their methods are a lot more… vicious? No, um… primitive. Almost. I mean, one of the heroes goes around spouting off medical jargon as he plunges needles filled with death into the necks of those who deserve it. For justice. And that’s just one of the heroes.
This series has been brilliant - a turns a rollicking adventure and dark mystery, it’s something absolutely fresh and delightfully familiar. And it’s the best. Buy it now in singles (if your store still has them) or wait for the great collection that will be on the stands later this year.
This is Comics! The Blog. We now commence our broadcast week.
Books like Mystery Men and Vengeance are proof that hipsters that say big superhero companies like Marvel and DC aren’t doing anything new or different or radical or fresh and are “getting different versions of the same thing” need to take a look around.
They are willing to try if you are willing to buy.