Comic book update! Here's what you need to be reading:
John Constantine: Hellblazer(DC/Vertigo) The latest arc, 'No Future' is a fantastic bit of nastiness about a punk commune based around an effigy of Sid Vicious, and the shitbags in the growing conservative party that are trying to brainwash and employ them to be their new foot soldiers. It's Peter Milligan and Simon Bisley-enough said.
Sparta U.S.A.(DC/Wildstorm) I'm a huge David Lapham junkie, and now that the world is without 'Stray Bullets' AND 'Young Liars' I'm a total wreck. But alas, his new mini-series is a full-strength spike right into the mainline. It's about an all-American football-worshiping town secluded from the rest of society, and the return of its greatest quarterback, a man who wants only to tell the truth about what's really happening to his fellow citizens.
Air(DC/Vertigo) This is one of the most underrated gems that Vertigo has ever produced, and you should go buy many copies at once so that it does not end up like 'Testament' or 'The Exterminators'. The insanely talented creative team of G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker will change the way you think about travel, in the most awesome way possible.
Rasl(Cartoon Books) Yes, Jeff Smith created 'Bone', and yes, it IS one of the greatest comics ever put to paper. What you might not have heard is that he has shifted tone and subject matter entirely and come out with 'Rasl', which is an amazing sci-fi drama about all the crazy shit that Tesla could have achieved with his technology. So good!
Echo(Abstract Studio) Speaking of sci-fi drama from one of comics' greats, do yourself a favor and check out Terry Moore's 'Echo'. This one is based around a bizarre metallic super-suit, and the unfortunates who get bits of it stuck to their bodies after it gets nuked. One of them is a crazy hobo, who uses it to make people go 'squish'. Bet you wanna read it now, don't you?
Locke & Key(IDW) This book is a straight up kick-ass supernatural thriller about an old house which contains keys with strange properties, and the beasties that want to get their claws on them. Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez just kill it on each and every issue. What exactly do they kill? Um...your preconceived notions about how good a comic can be? Sure. That sounds about right.
In the 'Still Fucking Top O' the Pile But You've Probably Already Heard of Them' category we have: Scalped(DC/Vertigo), The Walking Dead(Image), Fables(DC/Vertigo), Irredeemable(Boom!), DMZ(DC/Vertigo), Criminal(Marvel/Icon), and BPRD(Dark Horse).
In the 'I Will Cry Like a Little Bitch When This Series Ends' category we have: Ex Machina(DC/Wildstorm) and The Sword(Image).
Best Graphic Novel I've Read Lately:
Peter Bagge's 'Other Lives'(DC/Vertigo) It's the man who brought us 'Hate' doing what he does best: skewering human oddities and goofy subcultures. This tale focuses on characters with dual natures, secrets, and bullshit personas, and takes hilarious potshots at paranoid conspiracy theorists, gambling addicts, and just plain assholes who spend too much time on Second Life.
Best Single Issue I've Read Lately:
The Unwritten #12(DC/Vertigo, by Mike Carey & Peter Gross) 'Eliza Mae Hertford's Willowbank Tales', like many of the stories in this excellent series, will sound a tad familiar. That's because this is a story all about stories, and the power that is contained within. I know, that sounds like some Alan Moore Reading Rainbow shit right there, but if you are a reader you will LOVE this book. Especially this issue, about a man exiled to a children's story he cannot escape, surrounded by lovable dim-witted forest critters. You've never heard a rabbit say 'fuck' so many times before in your life. Well, except maybe in Garth Ennis' 'Chronicles of Wormwood'.
Okay, that was a bit long. But I have so much love to share. It's a great time to be a comics fan, boys and girls. See you next time!
John Constantine: Hellblazer(DC/Vertigo) The latest arc, 'No Future' is a fantastic bit of nastiness about a punk commune based around an effigy of Sid Vicious, and the shitbags in the growing conservative party that are trying to brainwash and employ them to be their new foot soldiers. It's Peter Milligan and Simon Bisley-enough said.
Sparta U.S.A.(DC/Wildstorm) I'm a huge David Lapham junkie, and now that the world is without 'Stray Bullets' AND 'Young Liars' I'm a total wreck. But alas, his new mini-series is a full-strength spike right into the mainline. It's about an all-American football-worshiping town secluded from the rest of society, and the return of its greatest quarterback, a man who wants only to tell the truth about what's really happening to his fellow citizens.
Air(DC/Vertigo) This is one of the most underrated gems that Vertigo has ever produced, and you should go buy many copies at once so that it does not end up like 'Testament' or 'The Exterminators'. The insanely talented creative team of G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker will change the way you think about travel, in the most awesome way possible.
Rasl(Cartoon Books) Yes, Jeff Smith created 'Bone', and yes, it IS one of the greatest comics ever put to paper. What you might not have heard is that he has shifted tone and subject matter entirely and come out with 'Rasl', which is an amazing sci-fi drama about all the crazy shit that Tesla could have achieved with his technology. So good!
Echo(Abstract Studio) Speaking of sci-fi drama from one of comics' greats, do yourself a favor and check out Terry Moore's 'Echo'. This one is based around a bizarre metallic super-suit, and the unfortunates who get bits of it stuck to their bodies after it gets nuked. One of them is a crazy hobo, who uses it to make people go 'squish'. Bet you wanna read it now, don't you?
Locke & Key(IDW) This book is a straight up kick-ass supernatural thriller about an old house which contains keys with strange properties, and the beasties that want to get their claws on them. Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez just kill it on each and every issue. What exactly do they kill? Um...your preconceived notions about how good a comic can be? Sure. That sounds about right.
In the 'Still Fucking Top O' the Pile But You've Probably Already Heard of Them' category we have: Scalped(DC/Vertigo), The Walking Dead(Image), Fables(DC/Vertigo), Irredeemable(Boom!), DMZ(DC/Vertigo), Criminal(Marvel/Icon), and BPRD(Dark Horse).
In the 'I Will Cry Like a Little Bitch When This Series Ends' category we have: Ex Machina(DC/Wildstorm) and The Sword(Image).
Best Graphic Novel I've Read Lately:
Peter Bagge's 'Other Lives'(DC/Vertigo) It's the man who brought us 'Hate' doing what he does best: skewering human oddities and goofy subcultures. This tale focuses on characters with dual natures, secrets, and bullshit personas, and takes hilarious potshots at paranoid conspiracy theorists, gambling addicts, and just plain assholes who spend too much time on Second Life.
Best Single Issue I've Read Lately:
The Unwritten #12(DC/Vertigo, by Mike Carey & Peter Gross) 'Eliza Mae Hertford's Willowbank Tales', like many of the stories in this excellent series, will sound a tad familiar. That's because this is a story all about stories, and the power that is contained within. I know, that sounds like some Alan Moore Reading Rainbow shit right there, but if you are a reader you will LOVE this book. Especially this issue, about a man exiled to a children's story he cannot escape, surrounded by lovable dim-witted forest critters. You've never heard a rabbit say 'fuck' so many times before in your life. Well, except maybe in Garth Ennis' 'Chronicles of Wormwood'.
Okay, that was a bit long. But I have so much love to share. It's a great time to be a comics fan, boys and girls. See you next time!
I was hoping to scratch that Lapham itch with his Crossed spin-off, but it kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I guess not so much in the writing, but visually I have some issues. Here's where I get off track and thread-jack you for a rant.
There's a panel where the female protagonist is being menaced by one of the crossed-crazy whackos, with the butt of her rifle raised to ward the nutter off; then in the next panel the whacko's head explodes. The third panel is the protagonist standing beside her father; both of them have guns but they are lowered. So.. did the protagonist bash the whacko? Did her dad shoot it in the nick of time? Beats the hell outta me, 'cuz they didn't bother to draw any of this in. I'm never a big stickler for my action scenes, but don't make me assume, people, this stuff is important! If our lady protagonist was forced to bash somebody's head in, murderous nut or not, that shows both a strength of will and perhaps a loss of humanity. If it was her father, it sends a completely different message about the characters in the story. Sure, it's got that zombiepocalypse vibe where you probably shouldn't get too attached to anyone since they might be dead a page later, but character development is where it's at. Don't skimp on these details and leave me to assume anything. Guh.
...I guess that's really nothing against Lapham. Javier Barreno, I don't like you very much.
it amazes me how hellblazer has stayed so consistently good over the years. well, except for that "movie," if you can even call it that. ugh. however, i do loves me some john constantine. i'm an impatient bitch though, so i'll probably get a bunch of issues at once. i don't know how people do that waiting every month for a new issue thing. it baffles me.
god, the exterminators, now THERE'S a name i'd almost forgotten! i loved that series and i don't know why it never caught on. what a bummer. here's to hoping that air doesn't suffer the same fate. while i hadn't read it up til now [though i have heard of it] if it's on the same level as the exterminators, i'm totally willing to give it a go.
i think i might be the only person who wasn't a huge fan of locke and key. i set weird standards for my lovecraftian works, admittedly, and by no means was it bad, it just didn't grab me the way it has everyone else. hm.
i recently got caught up on my walking dead collection, as in "i have them all and now i need to go back and reread them in order." i was current until the 6th trade came out [like, a billion years ago] and then i somehow missed the two after it and read the 9th one and got all fucked up.
criminal! sddddagdfyh god i fucking love me some brubaker. please tell me i wasn't the only one that saw angel of death. somehow everyone's either never heard of it or never got around to watching it all the way through, which is such a shame. nobody does noir quite like he does.
oh, and speaking of peter bagge, apparently bbc picked up the rights to apocalypse nerd as a miniseries? it's being marketed as "fallout" which means that gamers are going to be pissed off and comic geeks aren't going to know about it. i haven't heard anything new since it was announced in january/february, but i'll let you know if anything new pops up.