Every week, Comics! The Blog goes through the list of new releases and we tell you which comics to plug into your mind hole. Your mileage may vary.
ACTION COMICS #1 (DC Comics)
Listen, I’m gonna have to put on the Straight Talk Hat here, and that’s not a stance I usually like to take on this site, which primarily exists so that I can come up with dong jokes that will make you buy Superman comics. And by all accounts, this is a fantastic comic! Everybody who’s read it has said as much! The problem is, a lot of people who haven’t read it have decided to spread a lot of snark - which is, frankly, the internet’s cancer - about the comic. Specifically, Superman’s costume or relative lack thereof in it. And yeah, he’s wearing patched jeans, a t-shirt and a cape, hurr hurr hurr. Whatever. If that’s the only reason people can think of not to pick up the series, that’s fantastic. It means you probably should buy it. Here are a few other reasons:
1. It’s Grant Morrison writing Superman. Remember the last time he did that? It was a little series called All Star Superman that was, hands down, one of the finest Superman stories I’ve ever read. It got me reading Superman comics, and that’s something I hadn’t done… ever. And if Morrison can make someone like me into a Superman fan, then he’s probably the exact person the character needs in the New 52.
2. “Bruce Springsteen Superman”
That’s how Morrison described his take on the character, especially in the first arc of the series, and for someone like me who has a couple of deluxe boxed sets of Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town sitting next to his TV on display, that basically sells the book automatically. For other people, the important part about that is that the Superman we’re going to see is one more like the one that debuted in the first Action Comics #1: not the squeaky clean protector of the national faith, but the man who fought for the downtrodden and those being victimized by the powerful, who fought the lingering Depression. That’s the Superman we’re getting back, and that sounds pretty damn exciting.
Batgirl is easily the most controversial of the titles in the New 52, due to the return of Barbara Gordon to the cape and cowl at the expense of the version comics readers have known for over 20 years, Oracle. I completely understand why there are many people hurt by the decision or otherwise unwilling to see this change through, but I honestly think that if anybody can make it work, it’s Gail Simone, who has given us such great Barbara stories over the years already.
What I’m excited about is Babs getting to use the skills and intelligence she showed as Oracle in a different role. As awesome as she was as Batgirl before, she never really got to show her skills the way she did as Oracle, and the New 52 represents a chance to see the physical and the intellectual sides of her completely unified.
Plus… have you seen the art? What’s been released so far makes it clear that Ardian Syaf and Vincente Cifuentes are going to make this one of the most gorgeous books out there. Combined with Simone‘s singular style of writing, this is definitely one of the new series I’m most excited about.
CASANOVA: AVARITIA #1 (Icon Comics)
We got a chance to check this one out early, and it’s definitely one of the finest comics that will be released all year. Besides the fact that it’s a full 32 pages of content, a big bump up from both the original slimline editions and still 60% more than the Icon reissues for just a dollar more in price, it’s simply the most jam-packed, exciting, heartbreaking, and thrilling-to-the-soul comic there is. I wanted to read it again the second I finished it, and that’s the first thing I’ll do on Wednesday.
MORNING GLORIES #12 (Image Comics/Shadowline)
I have, very honestly, no idea whatsoever what’s going to happen this comic. The series’ first arc proceeded at a certain pace until its final issue - what with the revelation about one of the main characters’ role in the future of the Morning Glory Academy and all - blew all that out of the water. The second arc, where each issue focused on the background of one of the main characters as the overall story inched inexorably ahead, deepened the series’ mystery while simultaneously adding layers of science fiction and the paranormal. So imagine thinking all that was wondrously crazy and then having the prospect of all that being blown sky high again.
Damn, I love comics.
Morning Glories is a series that rewards close attention and repeated readings, and I could not be happier that it does. I missed out on the years of debate and theorizing with Lost, so getting the chance to do it with a comic feels like the smile of a benevolent god. But don’t tell Nick Spencer, alright? I don’t the knowledge of my crude folk religion based around him and Morning Glories to swell his ego too much.
MYSTIC #2 (CrossGen/Marvel Comics)
I never read any of the old CrossGen titles before Marvel resurrected a few of them this year, so when I say that you need to be reading Mystic, it has nothing to do with the old series or my residual love for it. I’m recommending it because it’s wonderful.
Mystic is the story of two orphans and the world of magic, intrigue and adventure they find themselves in by chance. At the end of the first issue, only one could enter the academy to study magic, and now we’re going to see the fallout of that and the crushing of her friend’s dream. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but very few series fill me with such enthusiasm and joy as the first issue of the series did, and I plan to chase that feeling for as long as the rest of the series will let me.
G. Willow Wilson is one of the most talented young writers in the comics industry, and what she’s created in Mystic is a book that defies the stereotypical demographic of the comics reader. Mystic is a book that fits just as well in the hand of someone of any age, and that’s a real triumph. If you have a young adult or especially a girl in your life, buy them a copy. This is a comic that the rest of the industry would be well-off to imitate, full of wonder and boundless possibility. What little boy or girl or adult wouldn’t be better off for having something like that in their life?
These are just five of the many great books being released this week! You can find the full list of comics being released here. If you have any other recommendations, let us know in the comments below.
