It's a good week for me. Eric Powell is back with the first issue of the next Goon storyline, and it's a beaut. The long-anticipated Conan vs. Groo is out, and weirder than we expected. Warren Ellis' Trees has a new issue, and continues to be much more slower-paced and less provocative than I'd hoped, but maybe it's just a slow-build up to some night transcendental weirdness. I don't know why I continue to read Saga, because while it's awesome each new issue is a gutpunch, it must be what it's like to be addicted to soap operas where everyone makes terrible decisions all the time and no-one is allowed a happy ending.
And one I'm sort of liking is Thomas Alsop, now on its second issue, which they really should have just called Hand of the Island. It's yet another one of those comics that sort of fills in the gap that people want for a proper Doctor Strange or Hellblazer comic, except we can't have those (no, Constantine doesn't count, shutup). I think it compares favorably with the new Doctor Spektor series, mainly because that one went off the rails completely in issue #2 for no conceivable reason and shows no signs of slowing down. Still not as cool as Witch Doctor, but then the series is young. Ah, well.
What's new? Well, the end of Prophet - with the story continuing on in a new series or mini, Earth War.
Fatale ended. I'm sort of vaguely pissed about that. It wasn't bad. Maybe a bit rushed. Definitely didn't have any particular revelation. I think the fate of the writer was a bit too cliche Lovecraftian.
Caliban continues apace. It really is very solid.
Decided to pick up a few issues of Steve Niles' run on Army of Darkness/Ash Gets Hitched. I do like Niles, and I think he's got the personalities down well, but this isn't his best work.
On the other hand, I've also picked up the first couple issues of The Squidder from Ben Templesmith, and it is a joy. Much more of a slow burn than some of his other comics, and leading off of Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, but that's not a bad thing. I'm expecting the crazy to ramp up in the next couple of issues.
I'm a bit behind these days, but among the comics you should be reading, I nominate Death Vigil. Now on issue 2. Come for the great art, stay for the unbearable sweetness and cheesy dialogue, maybe get hooked by the hints of Drama and Plot Twists. Whatever, it's solid and I like the guy's work.
I'm less sure of The Fade Out, from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Mainly because Fatale ended so...lacklusterly. But you don't get a lot of good, proper Hollywood noir in comics these days, it's basically Howard Chaykin or Mike Vosberg, and Brubaker can talk the talk - it only remains to be seen if he can deliver. I really kinda like the first issue, it's got a West Coast Satellite Sam feel to it.
Death Vigil is indeed a lot of fun, still have to pick up issue 2 later this day. I actually didn't know any of Stjepan Šejić's work before it (the last Top Cow thing I read was a Casey/Maguire oneshot. Before that the Darkness when Garth Ennis was writing it) so I also picked up Ravine by him.
Steam/Origin: davydizzy
+1
Options
UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
I think I've mentioned Finder here before. Carla Speed McNeil is a beast, and her stuff is amazing. She also goes straight for the gut-punch. The thing about Finder is the closest thing to a main character is awesome, if sometimes an asshole, and something of an enigma to himself and others. So we have long stretches of the comic where the focus isn't on him, it's on the people whose lives he's impacted. The world is amazing, realistic, fantastic, incredibly detailed. The art continues to get better. The stories punch you in the genitals of your choice. There is heartbreak. There is bellyache. There are people that you liked in small doses who you grow to understand are assholes. And moving in and around and through all this is the Finder. I think my favorite arc of the whole thing is "King of the Cats," but that was a few years ago. Recently, though, there's another arc which ran in the new Dark Horse Presents called "The Third World." It's awesome, and you should read it. And you can! Because it's being collected, so you don't have to go hunt down the individual issues. I love how she can just flip a switch and there's still a very organic transition between fantasy and sci-fi, urban and rural, comedy and commentary. I tried to read her notes in the back once, but my brain shut down; some sort of spoiler alert warning. I don't want to know everything that's going on. I don't want to guess what happens next. I want to see it. Go buy this book.
Been falling behind on this. Prophet Strikefile is interesting. It's a universe book, which is a thing you don't see much of these days. I think it makes a nice companion to the series, and a nice jumping-on point for new readers. All the artists are there, lots of interesting little background elements, it's really the sort of thing you don't see these days.
Saga #23 - I thought this was going to be a gut punch. I really did. I thought Volume 4 was going to hurt me. But it surprised me! Read this.
Lumberjanes continues to be fun. We actually got some hint of what's going on, which isn't what I was expecting - a little more traditional than I thought - but remains way more fun than I expected.
Southern Bastards #4 - I like Jason Aaron. I liked Scalped, up until it started to really drag. I'm on the fence about this one. At the end of the first arc, this has the potential to go either really First Blood or really Rambo: First Blood II.
Weird Love is on issue #3 for - these are classic romance comics like your parents and grandparents read, but they're the classic romance comics that were insane. They're surprisingly fun.
Annihilator #1 - Grant Morrison's latest. I have to admit, I'm not loving this one. Maybe it'll pick up later. I think it doesn't help that it comes out at about the same time as Roche Limit, which has some gross similarities vis-a-vis space station at the edge of a black hole/thingy.
One thing I do like about Comixology is that you get broader exposure to some of the smaller indie titles that don't make it into the brick-and-mortar stores as often...but I'll be damned if I can think of a really good one right now.
So, The Squidder finished, and the kickstarter books were sent out. I love me some Ben Templesmith. I will say that if you bought the 4 issues in the store, you're getting a fun little story. If you got the kickstarter - you got more. I still want more, but it's a beautiful comic.
Something new on the radar: Dark Gods, from Avatar Press. Lovecraftian, but not explicitly Mythos (yet). Typical Avatar production so far, doesn't skimp on the sex or the glore, although this is far from pornographic or gore-porn just yet. I like it, but it's early days.
C.O.W.L. is out with their first trade; I'm on the fence about this one. I actually really like the presentation so far, but I feel that it's missing the mark slightly - writing not tight enough, pacing off, maybe not enough of the secret history coming through. It kind of wants to be "What if Watchmen met Superhero Registration a la Marvel's Civil War and it worked?," and it's playing with all the race and gender stuff of the time...but, I dunno. Something missing.
Also, gave out over a hundred comics to trick-or-treaters last night. Good showing.
What happens to a superhero team when their enemies aren't just attacking them from all sides, but fighting them from within? Next February, a team of creators join forces to bring you "Secret Identities," a new series released through Image Comics. Co-written by Brian Joines and Jay Faerber with artists Ilias Kyriazis and Charlie Kirchoff, "Secret Identities" tells the story of The Front Line, a crew of heroes that banded together to protect the Earth from an alien invasion. Although their mission was successful, the Front Line still has a nemesis -- and he just joined their team.
Valiant are the little-engines-that-could of the indie comic world, bless their black little hearts. They may not always get the success that is do them for their hard efforts, but they don't go out for cheap, cheesy stuff and the easy sell. So it was with real pleasure that I picked up Punk Mambo #0 this week - in part because I'm a succor it. I read Dr. Strange and Hellblazer when they had their own series, and Gravel and Witch Doctor in their minis, and I even suffered through the last painful issues of the Vinyl Underground and loved every minute of Phonogram.
So what is it? Well, it's a Hellblazer for today - and not the neutered bollocks that is Constantine over in the DCU. My only concern is that it might be a little too Hellblazer, trying to tap into something a bit too close to John Constantine's enfant terrible punk past - but I think it manages to do very well. It's not a love letter to punk that Honour Among Punks was, lacks the bite to the dialogue, but the plotting is original and the magic is grisly, and it moves fast. Issues zeroes are good for setup and exposition, gets it out of the way. I think I'll add this to the pulls, and see what they can do.
Jay Faerber tends to turn out consistently good-to-great work, so yeah, I'm in. Speaking of, Faerber's Copperhead is off to a good start, with three issues on the shelves. A sci-fi western set in a small mining community, the book follows Clara Bronson, as she moves to Copperhead with her son, in order to take over as the town's sheriff. In doing so, she displaces Deputy Budroxifinicus (Boo for short), who'd been acting sheriff, leading to no small amount of tension.
Adding to her troubles, a local family of redneck aliens is murdered during her first night in town. Now, Bronson must establish herself as a figurehead in the community, protect her son, and solve a murder, while surrounded by an unwelcoming (or outright hostile) populace.
Faerber's been billing it as "Deadwood in space," but I'm not sure that's really apt, just yet. Though the cast of characters has been expanding with every issue, it's still very much the Clara and Boo Show, rather than the ensemble drama that Deadwood was. That said, Faerber's always been good at playing the long game, as evidenced by his work on Dynamo 5, or Noble Causes. So I'm very curious to see where this comic goes, if Faerber's given enough time to really flesh out the world.
We sort of lost this with the break, but I didn't want to make a new thread. Saga continues, and continues to break hearts. Lumberjanes is on its second storyline - I think the first one wrapped up a bit too quick'n'clean. Satellite Sam is back, and I can almost forget Fraction is writing this thing, it reminds me so much of Chaykin. Dark Gods and Crossed 100 from Avatar continue to be interesting, and I'm really liking the first issue of Nameless. 2015 is looking to be a good year for indies, so far.
On the graphic novel front, if anybody remembers I Am Legion - originally published in French by les Humanoids Associates, and then they did an aborted translation from DC, and then a full translation - gorgeous art, a bit John Le Carre meets...well, that would be telling, but Nazis and supernatural mystery/horror. Good stuff. Anyway, they've made three prequel volumes to the story, the first two of which are out in English. Big, European-style hardback tomes. Beautiful.
My understanding on Lumberjanes is that it wrapped up very quick and clean because it was originally to be a miniseries rather than an ongoing. It's a great book though. Supreme Blue Rose just wrapped up too - and while I haven't finished actually reading the story, I can say it's one of the best comics visually I've been buying.
I'm not sure if there are any other Jason Aaron fans out there but Southern Bastards is pretty okay.
Far as I can tell it's more of an anthology about Craw County. It leans pretty heavily on southern gothic tropes and has a fair amount of shady characters and wrong-doing. It's a fair depiction of a corrupt small southern town. The first volume has a feel that's pretty similar to things like Walking Tall but Aaron does a good job of throwing in enough twists and turns to keep things fresh.
I like Jason Aaron. I think Scalped (at least the first three years or so) would still make a damn good HBO series. But Southern Bastards lost me after the first arc.
I like Jason Aaron. I think Scalped (at least the first three years or so) would still make a damn good HBO series. But Southern Bastards lost me after the first arc.
Did you read any further ? I'm one issue after the first arc ended.
I'm kind of curious as to where it's going with the attempt to humanize Coach Boss by showing the abuse he went through to become the Coach Boss we were introduced to.
Nah...I had kinda hoped it would just be an old-badass-grampa-stomps-in-and-cleans-up-the-town kinda thing, so after the first arc I rather lost interest. Nothing against Aaron - he does some great twists and turns - but it wasn't capturing my soul.
I read most of the series but was borrowing it so I sort of skimmed some of the later books just to get through them. It was really good and at some point I'd like to own all of them (I have the first two trades) - but the whole time I was reading I couldn't stop thinking how great it would be as a pay channel tv show too. I loved how the art style just absolute fit the story so perfectly too - it was really great.
Edit: Referring to Scalped, sorry I didn't clarify - haven't tried Southern yet.
It's a link to Dark Horse's August Solicits, with Empowered #9 being one of them. Woo!
SUPERVILLAIN MAGNET! Empowered Volume 9 TP
Adam Warren (W/A)
On sale Aug 19
b&w, 208 pages
$17.99
TP, 6 1/2" x 9"
Already under suspicion and suspended from her superteam, costumed crime fighter Empowered finds herself the bewildered target of every major supervillain in the cape-and-tights field for her supposed access to alien technology. Underestimated as she is, can our long-suffering but plucky heroine outwit her tormentors—and escape the sinister Fleshmaster’s revenge?
• Over 100,000 copies of Empowered volumes in print!
"The short and skinny is that this is a book that is silly and fun on the surface, but has a lot more working for it underneath."—Florida Geek Scene
Posts
Ha, I love how these old Valiant properties still manage to be fertile ground for some great shit.
Fixed that for you.
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
Quantum & Woody is one of the funniest comics I've ever read.
Harbinger has been good stuff.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
And one I'm sort of liking is Thomas Alsop, now on its second issue, which they really should have just called Hand of the Island. It's yet another one of those comics that sort of fills in the gap that people want for a proper Doctor Strange or Hellblazer comic, except we can't have those (no, Constantine doesn't count, shutup). I think it compares favorably with the new Doctor Spektor series, mainly because that one went off the rails completely in issue #2 for no conceivable reason and shows no signs of slowing down. Still not as cool as Witch Doctor, but then the series is young. Ah, well.
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
not sure what thread this belongs in but it is an indie (web/printed) comic:
http://issuu.com/celineloup/docs/honey_web
Honey by Celine Loup
All the ladies are bees
There's some wasps
shit gets real and also existential
Super awesome
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
Fatale ended. I'm sort of vaguely pissed about that. It wasn't bad. Maybe a bit rushed. Definitely didn't have any particular revelation. I think the fate of the writer was a bit too cliche Lovecraftian.
Caliban continues apace. It really is very solid.
Decided to pick up a few issues of Steve Niles' run on Army of Darkness/Ash Gets Hitched. I do like Niles, and I think he's got the personalities down well, but this isn't his best work.
On the other hand, I've also picked up the first couple issues of The Squidder from Ben Templesmith, and it is a joy. Much more of a slow burn than some of his other comics, and leading off of Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, but that's not a bad thing. I'm expecting the crazy to ramp up in the next couple of issues.
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
I kept hoping Brubaker and Phillips would bring it to a satisfying conclusion, but noooope.
Tumblr Twitter
I'm less sure of The Fade Out, from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Mainly because Fatale ended so...lacklusterly. But you don't get a lot of good, proper Hollywood noir in comics these days, it's basically Howard Chaykin or Mike Vosberg, and Brubaker can talk the talk - it only remains to be seen if he can deliver. I really kinda like the first issue, it's got a West Coast Satellite Sam feel to it.
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
XBL: JyrenB ; Steam: Jyren ; Twitter
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
Saga #23 - I thought this was going to be a gut punch. I really did. I thought Volume 4 was going to hurt me. But it surprised me! Read this.
Lumberjanes continues to be fun. We actually got some hint of what's going on, which isn't what I was expecting - a little more traditional than I thought - but remains way more fun than I expected.
Southern Bastards #4 - I like Jason Aaron. I liked Scalped, up until it started to really drag. I'm on the fence about this one. At the end of the first arc, this has the potential to go either really First Blood or really Rambo: First Blood II.
Weird Love is on issue #3 for - these are classic romance comics like your parents and grandparents read, but they're the classic romance comics that were insane. They're surprisingly fun.
Annihilator #1 - Grant Morrison's latest. I have to admit, I'm not loving this one. Maybe it'll pick up later. I think it doesn't help that it comes out at about the same time as Roche Limit, which has some gross similarities vis-a-vis space station at the edge of a black hole/thingy.
One thing I do like about Comixology is that you get broader exposure to some of the smaller indie titles that don't make it into the brick-and-mortar stores as often...but I'll be damned if I can think of a really good one right now.
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
And man, the wait for next month after you read an issue of Saga is painful.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
This series does little timeskips beautifully. I went heartbroken at the end of #23 to 'oh hells yeah' at the end of #24.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
C.O.W.L. is out with their first trade; I'm on the fence about this one. I actually really like the presentation so far, but I feel that it's missing the mark slightly - writing not tight enough, pacing off, maybe not enough of the secret history coming through. It kind of wants to be "What if Watchmen met Superhero Registration a la Marvel's Civil War and it worked?," and it's playing with all the race and gender stuff of the time...but, I dunno. Something missing.
Also, gave out over a hundred comics to trick-or-treaters last night. Good showing.
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
so my friend chris has been doing the art for Dead Letters, a supernatural crime thriller from boom studios
it's definitely worth a look if you haven't checked it out yet
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=57132
"Ride or Die" confirmed Dominic Toretto, as they took off to find the Dragon Balls in hopes of reviving their friend Sonic
So what is it? Well, it's a Hellblazer for today - and not the neutered bollocks that is Constantine over in the DCU. My only concern is that it might be a little too Hellblazer, trying to tap into something a bit too close to John Constantine's enfant terrible punk past - but I think it manages to do very well. It's not a love letter to punk that Honour Among Punks was, lacks the bite to the dialogue, but the plotting is original and the magic is grisly, and it moves fast. Issues zeroes are good for setup and exposition, gets it out of the way. I think I'll add this to the pulls, and see what they can do.
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
Jay Faerber tends to turn out consistently good-to-great work, so yeah, I'm in. Speaking of, Faerber's Copperhead is off to a good start, with three issues on the shelves. A sci-fi western set in a small mining community, the book follows Clara Bronson, as she moves to Copperhead with her son, in order to take over as the town's sheriff. In doing so, she displaces Deputy Budroxifinicus (Boo for short), who'd been acting sheriff, leading to no small amount of tension.
Adding to her troubles, a local family of redneck aliens is murdered during her first night in town. Now, Bronson must establish herself as a figurehead in the community, protect her son, and solve a murder, while surrounded by an unwelcoming (or outright hostile) populace.
Faerber's been billing it as "Deadwood in space," but I'm not sure that's really apt, just yet. Though the cast of characters has been expanding with every issue, it's still very much the Clara and Boo Show, rather than the ensemble drama that Deadwood was. That said, Faerber's always been good at playing the long game, as evidenced by his work on Dynamo 5, or Noble Causes. So I'm very curious to see where this comic goes, if Faerber's given enough time to really flesh out the world.
Tumblr Twitter
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
On the graphic novel front, if anybody remembers I Am Legion - originally published in French by les Humanoids Associates, and then they did an aborted translation from DC, and then a full translation - gorgeous art, a bit John Le Carre meets...well, that would be telling, but Nazis and supernatural mystery/horror. Good stuff. Anyway, they've made three prequel volumes to the story, the first two of which are out in English. Big, European-style hardback tomes. Beautiful.
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
Far as I can tell it's more of an anthology about Craw County. It leans pretty heavily on southern gothic tropes and has a fair amount of shady characters and wrong-doing. It's a fair depiction of a corrupt small southern town. The first volume has a feel that's pretty similar to things like Walking Tall but Aaron does a good job of throwing in enough twists and turns to keep things fresh.
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
Did you read any further ? I'm one issue after the first arc ended.
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
Edit: Referring to Scalped, sorry I didn't clarify - haven't tried Southern yet.
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
HBO/AMC exects read this post.
thanks!
WGN got there first.
Ah well then. That will be terrible.
It's a link to Dark Horse's August Solicits, with Empowered #9 being one of them. Woo!
And here's a link to the cover.