Ohhh Archie: Weaponization
Best of the Week // Archie Andrews, Not the Worst?
Welcome, dear readers, to another week of comics and commentary at Comics! The Blog! We kick things off, as always, by handing out awards for the Best of the Week - beginning with two Award postings, followed closely later with this past week’s Best.
You Read These With Your Eyes! | March 6th, 2013
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.
You Read These With Your Eyes! | October 2nd, 2012
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.
Another month, another continuation in Archie Comics’ Never-Ending Hit Parade. I’m not joking; month in and month out, the publisher is making some of the most entertaining and rewarding comics around, all without ever straying from their all ages mission statement. That alone is worth celebrating here every month.
This month, the cause for celebration - following the gender-flipped fun of #636 - is “A Riverdale Fable, Part 1”, where Archie unleashes mysterious powers and everybody in Riverdale gets turned into a fairytale character with the appropriate traits.
Reggie is probably a troll, I’m sayin’.
Stories like this are a testament to how amazing the Archieverse (and Archiemultiverse) is: one month they can do a straight story about teens. Another month they can do a story where everybody spends the day as the opposite sex. Then they’ll do a fairy tale story. The Archieverse is so plastic and resilient that it can handle all of these different permutations and still always be identifiable as belonging together; that’s something other comic continuities (and their fans) often have trouble with, but it’s something that Archie and their superstar writer/artist Dan Parent do pretty much effortlessly. It’s like Riverdale never quite left the Silver Age, and that’s amazing.
Plus, one of the plot points in this story is that Archie is a prince who has to pick the fairest in all the land, which basically guarantees he’s going to be a dick to Betty and Veronica. I mean, look at the cover. That’s totes gonna happen.
AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #12 (Marvel Comics)
At this point, you probably know already if you’re going to buy AvX #12. It’s the final issue of a 12-part, bimonthly series that took over half the Marvel Universe, so if you didn’t catch it yet, there’s basically no jumping on now. However, we’re reminding any of you that might have been confused by the recent breaks in the mostly biweekly schedule to pick up the series, if that’s your thing.
And dang, there was a lot to like about this series! An interesting premise that became a lot more than “X fights Y,” and a great lineup of creators involved. The final issue alone features a script by Jason Aaron, who’s written some of the most exciting tie-in issues for Wolverine & the X-Men, and art by Adam Kubert, ensuring that the ending will look good and have great dialogue.
Whatever your opinions of big superhero comic events are, AvX will shape the Marvel Universe for at least the next year, and I’m excited to see what the beginning of that new direction is.
BATMAN/SCOOBY-DOO HALLOWEEN FEST #1 (DC Comics)
Welp, we got exactly two days into October before the comics rack started reflecting it. Luckily, the first instance of Halloween’s influence in comics (discounting the Cow Boy Halloween ashcan if you were lucky enough to get it from Archaia Press) is a pretty good one, even if it doesn’t feature new stories.
Let’s be honest: it’s a Halloween special. A free Halloween special at that. Expecting something wonderful new stories might not have been entirely realistic. At the same time: great old stories!
For free!
And great-sounding stories they are. One half is classic Batman Adventures stories - aka Batman: The Animated Series comic stories. Better yet, they feature work by such amazing creators as Dan Slott and Ty Templeton, which means they’re pretty good. The other half are Scooby-Doo stories, and that’s nothing to shake a stick at. Between a hero who preys on fear and a team of teen sleuths that challenge it, the issue makes for a thematically appropriate read for the Spooky Month (or whatever). Plus, it’s autumn, and it never hurts to curl up on a brisk day with some old friends.
DAREDEVIL: END OF DAYS #1 (Marvel Comics)
You know how Mark Waid has has such great success with Daredevil in part because he’s broadened the tone of the book to include aspects other than “Soul-crushing depression”? Well, good news, folks! Those days are over!
I am, of course, kidding. But with the long-awaited release of Daredevil: End of Days #1, Brian Michael Bendis is returning (with co-writing by David Mack and art by Klaus Janson and Bill Sienkiewicz) to the character for a miniseries exploring the possible future of Matt Murdock, a la Old Man Logan, X-Men: The End or Spider-Man: Reign. For any reader who wants to dive back into the mood of Bendis and Alex Maleev‘s initial run on Daredevil, or just likes alternate future stories, this is one that shouldn’t be missed.
Even if you’re someone - like me - that got brought into the character by Waid and his collaborators’ run, consider checking out End of Days. Nothing in superhero comics was ever made poorer by having multiple interpretations, and one of the great strengths of characters like Daredevil is that they can be adapted to tell so many different types of stories. Ongoing stories need to be, at minimum, just bright enough that it makes sense for them to continue; miniseries like End of Days have no such compunction, and sometimes it’s fun just to see that kind of playground in action.
LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #1 (DC Comics)
Here’s an issue you don’t want to miss if you’re a Batman fan, even one who might not always be digging the overall creative direction of the New 52. Because at the same time that they switched up their entire line and rebooted, DC also set in motion initiatives like this: short, out-of-continuity Batman stories by all-star creators like Nicola Scott, Jeff Lemire and LOST c0-creator Damon Lindelof, all released digitally first and then collected in paper later.
The resultant stories are pretty amazing. Lindelof and Lemire‘s, “The Butler Did It,” is almost worth the $3.99 cost of admission all by itself, it’s so beautiful and evocative. Everything else is gravy, and it’s also really, really delicious gravy that you’d just be drinking straight out of the boat even if you didn’t have “The Butler Did It” to pour it over.
Justice Gravy.
Anyway! Legends of the Dark Knight #1 is great for anyone who likes Batman, whether or not they read comics or are caught up with the latest happenings in the DC Universe. All one-part stories, too. Someone cut their face off in Detective Comics and is coming back in Batman? Who cares? Not this series, that’s who. And isn’t that the real secret of being cool?
These are 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.
C!TB’s Best of the Week | August 27th, 2012
It was a long, full weekend for us, which means we’ve got a lot to say about comics this week! Tune in for some new pieces, some with feelings! First, however, let’s all go through the comics we thought were the best last week.
INVINCIBLE SHMINVINCIBLE
As we get closer and closer to the end of Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca‘s Invincible Iron Man series, it’s harder and harder to recommend the book every month as something potentially interested parties should check out, because at this point that train has long since left the station. This week’s issue, #523, is heavily dependent on the years of story before it. With the ending in sight - or at least as in sight as it ever gets for a series that is definitely going to throw at least a couple more twists at readers before the end of the final issue - the series stopped being something curious readers could look into around a year and a half ago with Issue #500.1. However, as the final pieces are being set for a giant ending, the series has never been more rewarding for readers who have stuck around.
While being forced to work for the Mandarin building machines that we’ve seen before in Tony’s dreams and in the future (Issue #500), the hero is setting up his own counterattack. He’s been outplayed by his arch-foe for a couple of years. The chips are down, and he’s turning his rogue’s gallery into accomplices in his plans. While the action of the book is being taken care of by other characters, like Pepper Potts and Jim Rhodes, the most suspenseful and engaging parts are seeing Tony and the Mandarin engage in mental warfare. It’s a testament to the skill of the creators that they can have Tony out of his suit for so long and still make him more dangerous than ever, while never slouching on doing right by one of the best supporting casts in superhero comics. The number of balls in the air is not only impressive, but staggeringly so, and it’s all in the service of an endgame that’s being teased.
Invincible Iron Man is all about the long game. The scenes between Ezekiel Stane and Tony, centred around their unlikely reunion as allies, is impactful because Zeke was the very first villain in the series. We’ve seen Tony and Pepper come together romantically during “World’s Most Wanted,” and it’s this fraught history that makes Pepper’s new relationship so intriguing and surprisingly cheery for the readers. Fraction combines these elements from his run with the character with classic ones, from the Mandarin as a villain to Tony playing Ho Yinsen to Zeke. The series works because it’s such long-form comic storytelling done extremely well; the occasional jumping-on point has kept the series viable for new readers, but the longer you’ve been reading, the more you’ll get out of it.
Of course, the series isn’t just working towards an Iron Man/Mandarin confrontation; we all know Tony is going to come out on top in the short term, because he’s got a new series launching and killing the title character for good would be bad for business. But remember, this is the long game. Issue #500 showed a dystopic future where the weapons Tony is making for the Mandarin were still around, the Mandarin had won and Tony’s descendants were waging a war against him. Even if Tony comes out ahead, there’s still that future to fight against. This isn’t just about the end of this storyline; it’s about avoiding something catastrophic decades down the line, and there’s no guarantee Tony will do it; he could defeat the Mandarin this fall but still lose in the coming years. But for Marvel’s foremost futurist, it’s the most suitable challenge he could possibly face. Iconic stories are known as such because they reach something at the very core of the character. Issue #523 is further evidence that, should they stick the landing, Fraction and Larroca are making a story that will stand among the best, because it’s so wrapped up in who Tony is and not just the suit he puts on. For that, they’ve easily earned the Marathon Men Award. (J)
LADY MAN LADIES
For those of you following along with the company’s trajectory lately, Archie Comics can get pretty strange. Just recently, in the pages of their top selling Life with Archie series, the ongoing dramas of Archie’s life with both Veronica and Betty devolved briefly into a CRISIS OF INFINITE ARCHIES, in which every form of Archie came together to with the help of a good Dilton Doiley to foil the evil Dilton Doiley.
Yeah, it was kind of a thing. But shortly after all that craziness, things went back to “normal” for the book - meaning melodrama aplenty, including the bestowment of cancer on one miss Cheryl Blossom.
Elsewhere in Riverdale, the gang has also recently had a team up with KISS, turned Veronica into a vampire for Betty to slay, AND early next year, they’ll be hanging with the class from GLEE. So yeah, strangeness abounds in Riverdale - but I don’t think it has ever been as weird as Archie #636 from this week, in which Sebrina’s cat Salem decides to cause a bit of miscief and switch the genders of pretty much everyone in Riverdale. Forget about the stark existential horror that is Archina. You haven’t seen anything quite like Dilton as a lady or “Joey and the Junkyard Dogs” (which made me wonder what Rachael Leigh Cook would look like as a dude, for which I will never ever forgive my brain for thinking of). That said, the story is quite amusing, and a good break from the regular Riverdale stories, of which they are still producing quite regularly (see most of their other books).
Thus we bestow this book the Rule 63 of the Internet Award for, uh… obvious reasons. (B)
It has been over a decade since I have seen The Rocketeer. I barely remember anything about it; I’m pretty sure the Nazis are bad and that a man in a crazy jetpack getup fights them. Or maybe the real Nazis are… inside of us?
Wait, that sounds wrong.
Despite that lack of familiarity - I’ve never read any of the comics, either - one of the best things about The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom #1 last week was how none of that mattered. There was certainly a sense of previous adventures having happened, but the comic was so successful at making an engrossing read that not knowing else didn’t even matter. What was important was what was happening on the page.
Just like most comic readers weren’t actually around for the pulp adventure days that Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom is a loving homage to, it’s likely most comic readers weren’t around for the character’s comic origins, either. Like me, it’s likely their first (or at least most notable) experience with Cliff Secord is either a hazy childhood memory or just getting sucked in by the idea of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee working together on another series. Luckily, what readers seeing Cargo of Doom #1 with fresh eyes will discover is a comic that will make them want to check out everything else in the franchise, it’s just that good.
What’s most interesting is how it fits in with Waid’s other current work. Daredevil (currently featuring art by Cargo of Doom artist Chris Samnee) is a (successful) attempt at creating an iconic modern version of Matt Murdock, and its artists have been the kind who can blend a classic or nostalgic aesthetic with genuinely modern, innovative storytelling. With Thrillbent, Waid’s new digital publishing initiative, and its flagship series Insufferable, he’s pushing the medium forward into a digital era that’s not defined by .pdf files of pages. By comparison, Rocketeer isn’t as experimental as Insufferable or as modernly classic as Daredevil is; it is, however, pure nostalgia, a love letter to not just the title character, but an entire former age of mass entertainment.
With Chris Samnee delivering nuanced art that creates a different response than his work on Daredevil. Instead, it feels more like his work on Captain America and Bucky; evocative of a past era. Of course, he’s also helped out by Jordie Bellaire, who’s making a name for herself as one of the best colourists in the business. With Bellaire and Samnee’s art and the great dialogue from Waid, the punches feel larger, the danger feels realer and the aerial adventures are more pulse-racing. By the end of the issue, I feel like I’m caught up with Cliff Secord and already looking forward to the next slice of his latest tale. Combined with horror suspense and romantic comedy, it’s a smorgasbord of several old pulp traditions that comes together as something nostalgic but unmistakably new.
This is Comics! The Blog. We now commence our broadcast week.
You Read These With Your Eyes! | August 22nd, 2012
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.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #692 (Marvel Comics)
It’s finally here, people! The 50th Anniversary issue of Amazing Spider-Man is here! Half a century into his life, Peter Parker is still going strong and Issue #692 is dead set on proving it.
This is an anniversary issue very much in the spirit of Fantastic Four #600 from last year; while full of back-up stories from great creators like Joshua Hale Fialkov, it’s also got an integral main story, one that pushes forward Peter’s story while celebrating his past.
Issue #692 introduces Alpha, a teen sidekick for Spider-Man. And while that may make some of you groan, the way in which Dan Slott is doing it, like the recent “No Turning Back” story, is simultaneously something old and new. The idea of a teen sidekick for Peter, is certainly new, but the execution of it is something that mirror’s Peter’s own origin as a fellow teenager gifted with extraordinary powers and a need to use them. But like Peter was responsible for the events that caused his Uncle Ben’s death, he feels similarly responsible for Alpha’s origin, and he sets out to be something he never had: a mentor.
That’s the part I’m most interested in seeing. The Avengers Academy crossover showed that Peter as a teacher to young superheroes could work, but there were no ongoing stakes involved; he was a substitute teacher. With Alpha, Peter gets to try out a truly new role for himself: that of Uncle Ben.
What better way to celebrate the history of the character and the nature of the medium than that? It would be easy to have a Spider-Man: Blue-esque story of flashbacks and narration, revisiting moments in Peter’s past. Amazing Spider-Man #655 from last year showed that not only can you still revisit Peter’s past, but you can still generate incredible emotion from it. But even that moved forward an entire year of Spider-Man stories. What’s special about Slott‘s run is that it loves the history of the character but never tries to generate new ideas. And for the House of Ideas, what is an anniversary better for than a new beginning?
ARCHIE #636 (Archie Comics)
One of the most consistently impressive things about Archie Comics is how they’re able to consistently tell new, entertaining stories despite the fact that the characters have been around for as long as 70 years. With a cast so old that they’ve actually become archetypes in their own right, it’s great to see characters like Kevin Keller and series like Life With Archie. But more than that, it’s great to see the company doing interesting things across the board in all its series, whether it’s “Occupy Riverdale” (somehow one of the more cogent discussions of the issue I’ve seen in the last year), last week’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer spoof in Betty & Veronica or the fact that this week’s Archie issue is a story about how everybody in Riverdale gets gender-flipped in a story that probably legitimizes at least three dozen fanfiction stories out there.
Yes, you are absolutely correct in what you’re thinking right now. Archie #636 literally out-internets the internet.
Basically, the issue starts quite simply, with Riverdale’s boys and girls arguing about which gender has it harder. You know, like ya do. Then, in an effort to be an outrageous dick have some innocent fun, Sabrina’s cat Salem decides to give everybody a taste of their own medicine and Freaky Friday their butts.
It is impossible to overstate how much I have been looking forward to this. With great art by Gisele, the issue looks great while being both familiar and just slightly “off” enough to heighten the sense of other-worldliness, this really isn’t a comic you want to miss, if only to find out that yes, Archie is still completely unfair to both Veronica and Betty even when they’re Archina, Billy and Ronnie. The more things change, people.
THE BEST OF ARCHIE COMICS BOOK TWO (Archie Comics)
Stop right here, everyone! You have found the BEST DEAL OF THE WEEK.
You might remember the original Best of Archie Comics from last year. Over 400 pages. Introductions and explanations for a selection of the publisher’s greatest stories spanning 70 years. Full credits for the creators of iconic characters - better late than never. And all for the insanely low price of $10.
Well, it’s back.
Because of course it’s back. The best of Archie Comics can’t just be contained by 400 pages, just like there isn’t one “Best Of” collection for other comic icons like Batman or Spider-Man. And thus, a year later, a second volume has arrived.
Truth be told, you might have read some of these stories before. We all had truckloads of double digests as kids and in my family’s case, they basically came home in plastic grocery bags from the used book store and quickly went back, to be replaced with more, so a lot of the stories bled together. The Best of Archie series remedies that, by condensing all of those amazing stories from the decades into manageable and affordable digests, and there’s really no reason you shouldn’t pick this up. If you can think of even one Archie story you liked, just one fond memory, you’ll be able to either find it or make a dozen more like it with this book.
CAPTAIN AMERICA & NAMOR #635.1 (Marvel Comics)
Long after Ed Brubaker stepped away from Captain America & Bucky, the series has maintained a vibrant life of its own. A big part of the credit for this goes to the creators, including writer Cullen Bunn, who is proving himself to be a worthy successor to one of the greatest Captain America writers of all time. Another big part of it, however, goes to the editorial team for creating a book that’s a lot like Avenging Spider-Man or Marvel Team-Up in how it gives a big open page for the creators, and for letting Bunn and his artists play with the whole of Captain America’s history.
It’s hard to imagine the regular Captain America book having an entire story that takes place in World War II as Cap and Namor fight occult Nazis and a kraken. It plays with Cap’s history, but generally in a more modern setting. The Captain America and… series is then free to make things as big and crazy as a summer blockbuster movie and focus on a different part of the character. It drives home how big the Marvel Universe is and why there’s so much possibility in it. It also has Nazis with giant squids and secret societies, which I can’t even pretend isn’t a big selling point.
(Plus, colours by Team Casanova member Cris Peter!)
PUNISHER #14 (DC Comics)
With every month, The Punisher just gets darker and darker. For a series that is already about a man haunted by loss to the point that he’s become a mass-murdering vigilante never able to see past his ongoing grief (even if he tells himself otherwise), this is a hard thing to do. Greg Rucka has found a way, however:
He made himself a new Punisher.
Of course, Frank Castle is still there. At this point, he’s a terrifying constant in the Marvel Universe, always tiptoeing towards the line of acceptability among the world’s heroes (at least until Rucka‘s Punisher: War Zone in October). There’s little real emotion to carve from him at this point, but Rucka and his artists have found the corollary in that: if Frank is a constant, how does that affect the variables - the people - around him? With Marine Sargeant Rachel Cole-Alves, they’ve found an emotionally resonant version of the Punisher by finding her earlier in her timeline than Frank is now. There’s still room for Rachel to avoid becoming Frank, and for a while, it looked like she was going to. After the previous two issues, however, her jumping-off point looks even smaller in the rear-view mirror, and the series now carries a lingering sense of dread and tragedy. We still remember when Rachel was truly trying to do the right thing, and that sense of fresh loss is that drives the series’ emotion. Is there still a happy ending for her? Or are there only different types of bad ones, where she either dies or keeps on her path? With this week’s issue, we’ll get closer to finding out… if we’re up to it.
Frank Castle is never going to be a hero. By understanding that, the team working on The Punisher have found a way to make the series and the character more vital than they ever have been. Most of us have long since stopped caring about Frank as a person, but with every month, these creators make us care more and more about this world.
[Also, buy Scalped #60! It’s the series’ final issue and, while I haven’t actually read the series, if you have been, this is something you don’t want to miss.]
These are 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.
You Read These With Your Eyes! | August 1st, 2012
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.
Brandon: What up crackers! This week, I’ll be doing things a little bit differently for ridiculously selfish reasons. In addition to the regular picks we hand out in this weekly showcase, I’m also going to mark THINGS that the comic book industry has seen fit to get me as birthday presents. Seriously, this week of books seems to be tailored to make me happy.
PICK: ANIMAL MAN #12 & SWAMP THING #12 (DC Comics)
After circling each other since the launch of the New 52, Animal Man and Swamp Thing finally team up to stop a common enemy from taking over! Will they succeed? Whelp, considering these issues lead us into the big Rotworld storyline that kicks off in October… probably not. But we do know these books will be awesome. Jeff Lemire has been knocking it out of the park on Animal Man and Scott Snyder has done a similarly stellar job re-inventing Swamp Thing. Having both those dudes working together on something this big can only mean good things! It also means I need to catch up on Swamp Thing - I managed to fall a couple issues back in the midst of all the amazing books out there right now. Seriously, there’s an embarrassment of riches out there right now. Speaking of which…
PICK & PRESENT: HAWKEYE #1 & DEFENDERS #9 (Marvel Comics)
In what I can only assume was a move coordinated to give me the happiest of birthdays, Marvel is releasing Hawkeye #1 and Defenders #9 tomorrow! Which means that not only will I get a brand new instalment of the craziest Marvel book on the stands, but I’ll get my first taste of Hawkeye, which I’ve been waiting for with baited breath ever since the teaser that told us all about the re-teaming of Matt Fraction and David Aja on a brand new ongoing. If you’re not familiar with the Fraction/Aja team, that’s perfectly okay. They worked together at Marvel fairly early on in Fraction’s tenure at the company alongside Ed Brubaker, re-inventing Iron Fist for a new generation. That book was rad as hell and took Danny Rand’s quite convoluted history and boiled it down to the core of what makes him awesome: he’s a kung fu billionaire and he has rad, pulpy adventures. (Side note: if you have yet to experience the pure joy that is The Immortal Iron Fist, head out now and procure yourself copies. Do this. For your health.)
Fraction and Aja are looking to rejuvenate Hawkeye in a similar fashion, casting the character in a Rockford Files type show within the Marvel universe. The stories presented will be a mix of done-in-ones and short arcs that build on top of each other, giving readers quite a bang for their buck with each outing - and with Aja drawing, it’ll look slick as hell. Whether you like Hawkeye, or hate him, check the series out.
And Defenders… well, come on. You have Fraction telling a tale that rivals Kirby’s craziest, with Jamie McKelvie and Mike Norton destroying the art. I’ve just paged through this issue, and oh my god you guys, just you wait until you see how shatteringly good everything in this issue is. I’m pretty sure taken in a concentrated dose, you will be able to impregnate dudes with just a touch. But only dudes.
PICK: HIGHER EARTH #3 (Boom! Studios)
The SHUMPHRIES comes back to Higher Earth right where he left off - with our erstwhile heroes facing down a big fucking dinosaur! Because that’s just how this planet hopping books works. Just when you think things can’t get crazier, they do, in astonishing style.
With each issue, we become more and more aware of the revenge plan at the core of the book… and in this issue, we catch a glimpse at just what is facing our heroes, and holy wow, is it a twist. As always, a great read that more need to be reading. I need this to go until Sam decides it’s time to stop, not truncated before its time. Please make this happen. Thank you.
PRESENT: TMNT ULTIMATE COLLECTION HC Vol 3 (IDW) & ARCHIE ARCHIVES VOL. 6 (Dark Horse/Archie Comics)
Two beautiful archive books feature two sets of my favourite characters. Both run $50 American, but WHAT OF IT. The Archie books are particularly gorgeous, and when you slide the slip cover off, the actual hardcover itself is styled like an old Riverdale High yearbook. So cool.
PICK: AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #10 (Marvel Comics)
Kelly Sue DeConnick returns to the stands this week (again!) with the second part of her Captain Marvel/Spider-Man team-up tale! There’s airplanes! Quips! Jet packs! The Dodsons! Missiles! Giant robots! Awesomeness! Everything you could possibly want in a comic and more! And hey, what’s this we heard about you not picking up a copy of Captain Marvel when it came out a few weeks ago? Don’t you realize how disappointed we all are with you? We’re all prreeeeeeeetty disappointed. Get on that, please.
PICK & PRESENT: BEASTS OF BURDEN - NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH (Dark Horse Comics)
New Beasts of Burden comics come once every never, and to have it happen on my birthday? Again, it’s like Dark Horse knows. You guys are grand.
Anyway, for those out of the loop, Beasts of Burden is the kind of book that will make you weep from inadequacy. You’ll read the words, look at the painted art, drink in the story, and you’ll swiftly realize that there is no way you’d be able to pull of anything this spectacular. The series is about a group of animals on Burden Hill, who solve paranormal mysteries… and generally keep us safe from some terrifying Hellboy style monsters. It’s a book that’s equal parts sweet and horrifying, and it. Looks. Beautiful. Try this one shot out and then head back to your store for the hardcover collection of the gang’s previous adventures. You’ll be glad you did.
PRESENT (BACK ORDERS): PINOCCHIO - VAMPIRE SLAYER VOL. 3 & SONG OF ROLAND (Slave Labor Graphics & Conundrum Press)
And finally, two very different projects to round out my week. These ones are back orders, as I gave up my copies to those in need… but that doesn’t mean I’m not champing at the bit to finally read them! The first is the third installment of the far-better-than-it-should-be Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer series, featuring everyone’s favourite wooden puppet in adventures that would make Buffy proud - both in terms of killing vamps, and in terms of tone. The series is quite Whedon-y and deserving of your love.
On the other end, there’s the Song of Roland, the english translation of Michel Rabagliati’s latest Paul book. The series features Rabagliati’s alter ego Paul, chronicling different periods of his life, this book focusing on the life and death of his (and the character’s) father-in-law. As I have done before, I fully expect to be in tears at least once during the course of reading this book, from either laughter, or sadness.
(BONUS POINTS: If you’re looking for something else that’s far-better-than-it-should-be, then you need to check out Helen Killer - the untold story of Helen Keller’s secret life as an assassin/bodyguard after she’s given a machine by Alexander Graham Bell. I know it was on Comixology… maybe it still is? Go look!)
These are five way more than 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.
C!TB’s Best of the Week | July 30th, 2012
We’re back, baby!
After missing last week’s Best of the Week due to a crippling bout of vacation, we’re on the job and ready to tell you the things you liked, or at least should have.
EEE-UHHHH EEEE-UHHHH
Grim Leaper #3 surprised me. The series’ first two issues presented an interesting idea: a twisted love story about two souls trapped in a cycle of death and reincarnation, trying to connect. And for those first two issues, it was a sprawling, frequently exciting story, but even as Lou and Ella connected, I found it difficult to connect, myself. Then the third issue arrived, and I just about had a panic attack.
No, I’m not joking. A big part of Issue #3, like in the whole series, is death. This issue features Lou and Ella connecting once more and, after a surprising bit of honesty between each other, they try to break the dread of not knowing what will happen and take a proactive approach to their fates. But things go wrong. And I freaked the hell out.
Behind its elevator pitch, Grim Leaper surprised me with how deep it is willing to get. Issue #3 not only moves the plot forward, but tackles issues like fear, self-honesty (if it’s good enough for Hamlet, it’s good enough for COMIC), the experience of dying and all those primal fears. For those keeping track at home, it was at this point that the room started getting claustrophobic, I started hyperventilating and had to take a few laps around my home while convincing myself that death is still a ways off.
All this is to say that if any story can inspire that kind of physical reaction, it is probably a Very Good Comic That You Should Read. For making me confront my own mortality for a good ten minutes, I’m happy to award Kurtis J. Wiebe and Aluisio Santos the Brush Your Shoulders Off Award for Excellence in Jigga-ness. (J)
THE 99 PERCENT OF MY HEART
If you’ve been keeping track of the site, you’ve probably noticed that Archie Comics have been doing a lot of crazy-balls things lately. This week’s slice of strangeness? The “Occupy” movement hitting Riverdale. Now, with Archie’s publication schedule and lead time, this is falling a scooch out of the news cycle, but daggit if this isn’t an amazing comic. First, you have the script from writer Alex Segura (yes, the same fellow what did the Archie Meets KISS comic from earlier this year) which manages to wobble on that fine line of conveying the Occupy movement without being preachy or judgmental about it. Honestly, I would challenge you to tell me what Segura really thinks about the issue. And further, the art is quite a treat. As always, the gang fits the Archie style, but this time around things are a bit more stylized by new Archie artist Giselle, who brings just a touch of manga influence, as well as a heap of expression. All in all the issue merits our Geraldine Grundy Memorial Award.(B)
This should come as no surprise, but…
I’ll say it again: John Carter: The Gods of Mars is a limited series that I think a lot of people missed out on because they missed out on the John Carter movie because it was promoted so poorly I am still genuinely shocked five months after the movie opened [Ed. Note: I actually thought it had been longer because I distinctly remember seeing the movie when it was below zero and there was snow on the ground, but hey, that’s Canada for you]. And it kills me, because this is a series that embodies so much of what I’ve loved about science fiction since my father first turned on Star Trek and gave me his copy of Dune.
The first issue of The Gods of Mars had a moment that summarized my feelings about the genre, and in the issues since, the team of Sam Humphries, Ramón Pérez and Jordie Bellaire have told a planet-spanning adventure that matched - if not surpassed - the scale of the movie. The issues since have been full of big, devastating action and bold characters, brought to life by Pérez and Bellaire‘s incredible art.
There is no simpler way to put it: The Gods of Mars was probably the most gorgeous book on the stands last week, as it was every week it was released. The art is so expressive, with elastic facial expressions and Pogo-esque environments, brought to life by Bellaire‘s incredible colours. Have you ever seen a science fiction story that left you wondering why everything looked so much like Los Angeles or Vancouver? In The Gods of Mars, that isn’t an issue, as Bellaire‘s colours are so otherworldly they almost glow. Nothing looks like this comic. Nothing feels like it.
A special note needs to be made about Pérez‘s layouts, which are as wild and inventive as they capture. Instead of the industry standard layout that draws the eye in rows from left to right, in several instances in John Carter: The Gods of Mars #5, Pérez uses double page layouts to guide the reader’s eye in a path through the page, winding in every direction, never once being hard to follow. It’s a tough feat for any artist to pull off and the fact that Pérez does this so seemingly effortlessly is astounding.
All this comes together in an adaptation of a classic story that’s viscerally entertaining. Everything evokes a flash of emotion, from John Carter’s wolfish grin, a burst of explosion, a heartfelt reunion or a crushing setback at its very end. The Gods of Mars, like John Carter before it, ends with sadness, separation… and hope. It’s melodrama in the most classical sense of the term, brought to the present by a talented team. I hope you’ve been reading this, or that you seek it out. It could remind you, like it has me, why we love these stories so much.
This is Comics! The Blog. We now commence our broadcast week.
You Read These With Your Eyes! | July 25th, 2012
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.
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Note: Before we start this week’s recommendations, we have news of a book that will not be on the stands this week.
Batman Incorporated #3 will be held for a month, in deference to the recent tragedy in Aurora, Colorado. Comic shops will be receiving copies of that issue this week, but have been urged to keep it off shelves until late August. That said, if you stumble across a copy (because let’s face it, there are some lazy and/or unscrupulous shops out there), please refrain from blabbing about the contents on the internet. People will want to remain spoiler free until they can get their hands on a copy. Thank you.
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ARCHIE #635 (Archie Comics)
I’ve never been shy about my love of Archie Comics. When you walk into the store and linger around the all ages section long enough, chances are I will accost you with my ideas on the whole Archie/Betty/Veronica love triangle. If you happen to stumble across a copy of the Life with Archie collections in which he marries both of the girls and say the words “wait, he married both of them??!”, then you’re pretty much mine for the next half hour or so.
Despite my love/hate of the main character, I love hanging out in the town of Riverdale. I love the residents, despite the fact that everyone seems to be cool with Archie traipsing about with at least two ladies without much consequence. (Seriously, stop by the shop. I done got OPINIONS.) But more than all of that, I love it when they do something truly insane, such as crossover with the rock band KISS or do a spoof of Jersey Shore which involves Mr. Lodge yelling at the kids for speaking jibberish when they start talking about the “Riverdale Shore” gang. (That story ends with Hiram getting a faux hawk, and it’s delightful.)
In this issue, the gang tackle the whole “Occupy Wallstreet” deal with a bitter split that sees the haves vs. the have-nots, with an amazing cover by Jill Thompson. Yes, that Jill Thompson. The story is a done-in-one (they have to clear the decks so they can up the ante with next month’s even more insane offering, which sees the cast get gender flipped) and should be worth a pop-in.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #690 (Marvel Comics)
I’m just gonna’ say it: Dan Slott’s Spider-Man stories are the best that I have ever read. I will concede the point that I didn’t start reading comics until the early ninties, and didn’t start buying comics personally until the first issue that Ben Rielly “officially” became Spider-Man, but I believe my point stands. There’s been about 20 years in between my start with Spider-Man and now (oh sweet god why did I just say that what what what happened to all the TIME) and a whole lot of Spidey books have come out in those years. These are quantifiably the best that I’ve read.
This issue is the third part in a four part Lizard story, which follows up on the whole “Doc Conners is dead” thing that happened in the book a little while back. While that past story is referenced, Slott doesn’t bog things down with continuity. He uses the past to build new things, but never concerns himself with the minutae, and gives the reader all they need to know to continue on without incident. He also writes each issue as though it’s someone’s first, so even if you’re coming in the middle of this story, you can pick up this issue and be perfectly fine. Of course, if you can find the past two issues, that would probably get you the best experience, but really, it’s not required. If you saw the Spider-Man movie recently, and wanted more (like I did), then this is your best bet.
DEBRIS #1 (Image Comics)
The creative team behind Green Wake is back, and they’re bringing a new kind of strange with them!
While Green Wake was very much a murky take on some kind of twisted purgatory, Debris is a brighter book - even if the book doesn’t sound like it has much room for brightness. The story takes place in the future when the planet has been covered in garbage, doomed to decay and rot until its dying days. Then, these giant monsters start popping up, destroying what’s left of humanity. Which is not good. But hey, earth (or part of it) is getting a protector… and she looks pretty rad. The pages shown of this look amazing, with a bright palate (contrary to a lot of doomed-future stories) and big, crazy action. I’ve been looking forward to this ever since the demise of the aforementioned Green Wake and can’t wait to see what Kurtis Wiebe and Riley Rossmo have in store.
(Spoiler alert: it will be rad.)
NATIONAL COMICS: ETERNITY & THE UNDERWATER WELDER (DC Comics & Top Shelf Comics)
It’s a Jeff Lemire sausage party this week! Not only does the new issue of Justice League Dark come out this week, but two bigger projects are also hitting the stands. First up, a one shot with artist Cully Hamner reinventing Kid Eternity, into the new DCU. The last incarnation of this character was given a foundation by Grant Morrison (which is a great read that’s still in print through DC’s Vertigo imprint), so once again, Lemire has some big boots to fill - but hell, he’s doing that job with no problem over on Animal Man and is rocking Justice League Dark with its roster of more Vertigo-esque characters… so whatever. The guy’s got this.
And elsewhere, Lemire is returning to Top Shelf with The Underwater Welder, his follow-up to the award winning Essex County. Taking place in Nova Scotia, this is a quiet story about a new father who is finding the pressure of fatherhood to be more than the pressure of his regular job of… well, of being an underwater welder. Beyond that, I’m sure we can expect a touch of strangeness from Lemire (all of his stories usually feature a twist on the more fantastical side of reality), but even if such a twist is absent, the read should be great. He’s a guy who can just nail any emotional beats he searches for. I legitimately expect to cry before I close the book. No foolin’.
ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #13 (Marvel Comics)
And finally, Sam Humprhies kicks off his solo run on this series with his first contribution to the Divided We Fall banner of stories. Previous to this Washington has been destroyed, Texas has declared itself to be its own nation, and a bunch of the south has been given away by the US government to the Sentinels that control them. And things are only going to get crazier from here. Stop on in and check out what SHUMPHRIES can do! (Psst: he can do amazing, Magic Mike type things.)
These are 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.
You Read These With Your Eyes! | April 24th, 2012
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.
ARCHIE #632 (Archie Comics)
Man, are people upset about this whole Archie-marries-Valerie thing? Is that a… thing… that people care about? Well, nuts to them! Here’s what you need to know: in the surprisingly complicated Archieverse, there are things happening. Following up on another story where Archie and the Pussycats’ bass player briefly dated, the publisher is exploring a story where not only did that happen, but it was the great, unrequited love of the characters’ young lives. After jumping back into their romance, we now get to follow it to its logical end: marriage. Babies. The return of the amazing plot device that is Memory Lane.
Stories like this are reasons why Archie Comics is, no jokes, one of the greatest publishers around. The conventional wisdom surrounding a set of characters that is so firmly ingrained into public consciousness is that there aren’t any new stories to tell. Archie strings along two women and works on his jalopy. Jughead is a glutton. Moose has rage issues. What “Archie Marries Valerie” points out is that the real strength of such an established brand is that it’s such a great sandbox to mess around in by telling stories that surprise readers. Riverdale is a place free of prejudice, where everyone gets a shot at happiness. It’s full of limitless potential, and that means there are so many stories to discover. Isn’t that wonderful?
MARVEL UNIVERSE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1 (Marvel Comics)
It is a pretty incredible world where we can bet a comic based on a cartoon that is based on a comic that was based on another comic. To some people, that is maybe the most ridiculous thing imaginable and an example of one of those sins of the recursive world of superhero cross-media business, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say this not just a brilliant marketing decision, but one of the core reasons I love Spider-Man and superheroes in general.
First, it is a genius business decision because if there’s one thing that comics fans complain about, it’s that the industry is in danger because despite having millions of TV and film viewers, there aren’t that many that read the comics themselves. And as someone who relatively recently jumped back into comics (in a big enough way that he co-founded a site about them), comics continuity can be incredibly difficult to try and understand, and as much as Ultimate Spider-Man the cartoon is inspired by Ultimate Spider-Man the comic, it’s its own beast. A kid who loves Spider-Man because they saw a cartoon can’t just jump onto the comic - it doesn’t even star the same character right now - but if he or she can pick up Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man, set in the same world as the cartoon, he or she can start reading comics. And once you start, it’s hard to stop. This comic? It could be like a spark that sets kids’ imaginations alive and gets them excited about the medium, and that is so wonderful it deserves a shot.
But maybe you’re already a dude or lady that knows about Spider-Man. There’s already a chance you’re buying no fewer than three or four Spidey comics series per month already, so why spend another few dollars on more Spider-Man? Well, let’s assume you’re not like me and don’t just have a problem. The comic’s great strength is, like the original Ultimate Spider-Man before it, it’s a blank slate, an open field to play around in and discover. Each different version of a character as ubiquitous as Spider-Man can emphasize a different aspect of his character, and this is an opportunity to see something new that doesn’t have to play nice with a whole fictional universe around it. It just has to be Spider-Man. And what’s that? We can see a bit of it in the cartoon, but this is just a chance to see more.
More Spider-Man? Sometimes I feel like I’ve based the bulk of my adult life around that quest.
MOON KNIGHT #12 (Marvel Comics)
Farewell Moon Knight, we hardly knew ye.
Let’s set something straight: while I’m not surprised that Moon Knight is ending after only twelve issues - he is, after all, a relatively minor character in the Marvel Universe, and it’s hard for those kinds of series to get traction - what I am surprised about is that I care. Over the last year, Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev have done something pretty incredible: they reintroduced a character, stripped him of the bulk of his baggage, and told a different kind of story with him. A story that was consistently engaging and entertaining for an entire year, even for someone who is not exactly sure how to spell the character’s civilian identity’s name.
It’s also a story that gets an end. With so many series, especially ones with more vulnerable characters, getting canceled before the have a chance at resolution, twelve issues is a relative gift, and it’s not one to be passed up. In the perpetual Second Act of superhero comics, a pair of fantastic, star creators telling a pretty self-contained, finite story without having to worry about other titles’ interference is a pretty rare thing, but it’s also pretty dang cool. So what if there’s not an Issue #13? With Issue #12, we get an end to this story, and hopefully a big horizon for what comes next.
PLAY BALL HC (Oni Press)
Do you love coming-of-age stories? Do you love baseball? I’m guessing you already love comics, otherwise you’re probably just here for my hard-hitting coverage of cartoons intended for children. But if by chance you like comics, baseball and coming-of-age stories, Play Ball, by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir and Jackie Lewis, is probably something that will scratch an itch you didn’t know you had, unless you also recently bought Cross Game.
Play Ball is a story about the difficulties of navigating adolescence, especially when you don’t really fit into preassigned gender roles. For some reason, I identify with this. Dashiell Brody loves baseball, and she just wants to play it at the highest level she can. Unfortunately, the highest level for girls isn’t the same as the highest level for boys, and she has opinions about that. What will happen? Well, I’m pretty sure she’s gonna play some goddamn baseball, and I couldn’t be more excited to watch her fight for her right. If this sounds like a story you can get behind - or that a young person in your life can - don’t miss it.
TEEN BOAT (Clarion Books)
If you honestly need more than the following pitch, I just don’t know about you:
The ANGST of being a teen - The THRILL of being a boat!
From breaking out in barnacles to facing pirates and detention, all the challenges of adolescence are given a nautical twist. Being a teen and being a boat means dealing with a lot of pier pressure!
Much like Play Ball, Teen Boat is another book about a teen, coming-of-age, coping with being different. But whereas the former is about a girl trying to break through the gender barrier to do something she loves, Teen Boat is about a boy who can… well… turn into a boat. It’s probably a metaphor or something.
Whatever.
Here’s what you need to know: this book is SILLY. And SURREAL. And SELF-AWARE. Do you think it would be possible for Dave Roman and John Green to make a book like this and not know exactly what they were doing? By their own admission, Teen Boat was a joke that somehow turned into a real thing filled with real, genuine emotion, and that kind of aw-shucks enthusiasm and presumed giggling fits is something that needs to be rewarded, by adult and young reader alike. For god’s sake, there is a chapter where TEEN BOAT runs for class president, and it is called “VOTE BOAT.” Why haven’t you broken into your comic shop/bookstore to grab this already?
These are 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.