Hello lovelies. Zaphod here with my weekly Tuesday night comic blog (it's coming in after midnight but to be fair, I did start writing it Tuesday). To be honest, I've really come to look forward to these Tuesday nights where I get to share with (all four or so of) you what I got to read and what I'm excited about in comics right now. As much as I love talking about comics and what I'm reading, I'd love to hear from you all as well. I'm going to try to add a section to the blog where I will ask you, the reader, a few questions about what you're reading and just comics in general.
So tonight, was a very exciting night for me comic-wise. Here's why:
This is my stack of comics this week
As you can see, I decided to read Batman first. This is because , in addition to it being a consistently kick-ass title, I had been sent a cryptic text "let me know when you've read Batman #28" from my boyfriend. You see, we both read Batman and we usually just talk about it afterwards. I knew he hadn't read it yet, so I was wondering why he wanted to hear from me once I had. I had my suspicions, and it turns out I was right. After double-checking on Bleedingcool.com, I jumped right in to it.
Batman #28
Scott Snyder had mentioned that they were doing something different with this issue, and if you look at the cover it says "A Secret Glimpse into Batman Eternal." This issue jumps forward a bit in time to a point where Gotham is drastically different. I will try not to give anything away, but certain roles of characters have changed and it seems that the stories taking place in Batman Eternal (starting in April, add it to your pull list!!) will have a drastic impact on Gotham, and not for the better it seems. This issue focuses on one Harper Row, a character I am really coming to love so I'm happy that they're bringing her back into the story. It seems she may have a larger role in this future Gotham...anyway the spoilers are below. Click if you want, but I warned you.
The Walking Dead #121
This issue is part 7 of the 12 issue "All Out War" arc. At the just past halfway point, this issue does lead into a change for the characters which I think will be really good for the story. At this point, everybody knows no place is safe for long. They've been in the town for far too long and they've found quite an enemy in Negan and his followers. I'm really looking forward to the story shifting as things are getting a little stale with them all having been in this same place for a while. Kirkman's still doing a great job, don't get me wrong. It's just hard to keep things fresh when the people aren't moving. But it's all out war, after all and things never go well for Rick and his group for long. I'm still sad about Shiva...
Coffin Hill #5
I am really quite taken with this series. The art is incredible and the story is super engaging so it always makes it towards the top of my to-read stack. For those of you not reading it, this is story takes place in Salem, MA with the main character being a member of the Coffin family, all of whom have been dark witches. As a teen, a ritual went wrong and something terrible happened to her friend. As an adult, she has come back to her hometown to find that people are disappearing again. Instead of a rebellious, occult practicing youth, she is now an ex-police officer and her friend's (the one who ended up in a bad way) old boyfriend is now the chief of police. Together, they are trying to figure out what is happening in their town. Apologies for my crap description, this is why I'm not in the blurb writing game. But really, this series is amazing. This issue has a lot of crazy magic-stuff going on as well as a big lead in the disappearances.
Letter 44 #4
One of my two Charles Soule comics tonight, Letter 44 is a great story put out by Oni Press. The newly elected President enters the Oval Office and reads a letter from the former President. The former President who was widely criticized for his rash actions and mismanagement of the country was really trying to protect Earth. It seems that a mysterious alien structure was discovered and a secret mission had been arranged to make contact and examine it. The team of astronauts has been in space for some time and things have gotten...friendly. With such close quarters on a mission this long, the crew has adapted to a very open attitude towards sexual relationships. If the other partner agrees, everything's good and no member of the crew can pass judgement. This had led to having a very pregnant female crew member with no idea the paternity of her child. In this issue, the President has a problem within his office, and wonders who he can trust. The crew send a small team to investigate the alien site. This series is a hell of a read and I highly recommend it.
Batgirl #11
I forgot to include this one in my pictures, sorry! I love Batgirl, and Gail Simone is really doing great things with the character. Batgirl is given a task requires her to ask the help of a person that she hates. Introducing the new character, Silver (it's not a spoiler if it's written boldly on the cover) who is trying to destroy the "vampires of Gotham." What? Vampires? This is crazy talk. No, it's Batgirl and it great so go read it!
Manifest Destiny #4
This is a telling of the Lewis and Clark journey with some really intriguing fantasy / mythological elements thrown in. In addition to their announced journey to the Pacific, they are tasked with a secret mission to record any mysterious and unknown creatures they come across. And believe me, they do come across some strange creatures. Who knew the unexplored west was so dangerous? I like to give most new #1s a shot if they sound in any way interesting. At the very worst, I'm out a few bucks and hate it. But at least I'm able to talk about it with customers and if I do like it, I can recommend the hell out of it. This was one of those I picked up without knowing much about it and I am so happy I did. This story is fresh and exciting and I love stories that incorporate historical events and then create around it.
Batman: Li'l Gotham #11
Yeah, I'm an adult. But I love all ages comics, I love Batman, and I love Dustin Nguyen. Throw that all together, and you get super cool, family friendly tales of Batman and Damian! Since this was a digital first title, it started coming out before the death of Damian. And as it's an all ages title, they're not likely to kill him off once he's in it. So this is my monthly dose of Damian Wayne, who is a personal favorite of mine. This issue has ninjas and zombies, the Clock King, and an evening with the Al Ghul family. What could be better?
She-Hulk #1
I love She-Hulk. When I first dipped my toe into reading more superhero comics, She-Hulk by Dan Slott was one of the earlier books I read. It was fun and also gave you little glimpses into a bunch of Marvel characters which is an excellent thing for someone just starting out. I tried reading Red She-Hulk and it was fine, but Jennifer Walters really is the Hulk for me. This run is written by Charles Soule (Letter 44!) and is really quite a lot of fun. For me, She-Hulk is not a comic that you pick up if you want something gritty and serious but it is the absolute perfect comic to read if you want something lighthearted, smart, and fun. This lived up to all of my expectations. The art style is much different from previous runs, Pulido has an unique style, and with fairly simple coloring, but I really like it and it fits the series quite nicely. This issue gave me a good chuckle at one point and did a really good job of setting up for what is going to be a potentially great series.
Ten Grand #7
I'm really torn on this comic. The story is absolutely brilliant. The main character worked for some bad people but he decided to leave to be with his wife. On his last job, things went wrong and she was killed. He was given an option by an angel (I think it was an angel, can't quite remember. Someone working for the guy upstairs) that for every time he died a righteous death, he would be allowed to spend five minutes with the woman he loved. He still feels the pain of dying every time and there's always a chance that if the death isn't deemed righteous that he would just, well die. But he takes this offer. A few issues back, he was sent to what is essentially Purgatory and has learned that his wife may not have made it to heaven and is instead trapped in hell. Hell of a good story, right? The problem is that this comic was originally drawn by Ben Templesmith, and his creepy. strange style was perfect for this series. Every issue was illustrated beautifully and everything was PERFECT. However, due to stuff going on with Templesmith, he left the series. This new guy C.P. Smith is fine but after Templesmith, it just looks...meh. I really do still love the story and the art really is not bad but I am just having a hard time adjusting. I want to keep loving it but Templesmith's art really made this series so special.
The Fuse #1
I picked this up because liked I said, I enjoy reading new #1s. I had no idea what to expect, but it turned out to be pretty good. A German homicide detective relocates to work on The Fuse, essentially a giant space station. He is partnered up with an older, humorless woman. This feels much like any other detective story, but in space. I'll give it a few issues. It has promise but could easily just become "just another cop story."
The Mercenary Sea #1
This is about the crew of a ship, going from place to place looking for any job they can find. Everyone in the crew is running from something in their past. In this sense, it feels a bit like the crew of the Serenity but with less charming, fleshed out characters. The captain is obsessed with this myth of a mysterious lost island. Not too much happened in this first issue, which is the case with many first issues as all of the characters have to be introduced and the basic premise set up. It's not bad but there's nothing about this issue that was really grabbing for me. I may give it another issue or two but I'm not sold yet.
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Well that's it for my comics this week. It's still relatively early and I have tomorrow off so I think I'm going to smoke a bowl and start reading Joe the Barbarian by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy. Love the two of them and am excited to finally read this.
Questions for You:
What's your favorite comic you've read recently? It can be something new or something you've just discovered
Do you have any pet peeves when it comes to your comics or graphic novels? For example, it pisses me off when you're collecting a story in graphic novel format and for some stupid reason, they decided to change the style format on one book and then it looks weird on your bookshelf next to all the others. Locke and Key has five black volumes and one white one, my Oz hardcovers from Marvel all have nice small colorful Marvel logos and then one has this godawful huge red Marvel logo, one of my Elephantmen books is an earlier printing and the format they used on the spine changed. I'm crazy, I know but I like things to be consistent.
