Post by droidofages on Jul 6, 2009 11:33:43 GMT -4
Man, there have been some great books on the shelves in the last couple of weeks! Let's go over just a few to keep an eye out for.
These first two are instant classics:
Batman & Robin (the REAL All-Star Batman & Robin IMHO) & Detective Comics[/u]
If you've never been a fan of Batman (especially the brooding emo version that's dominated DC since Miller's Dark Knight) or if you think you could be a fan, but have always been just a little too intimidated by decades of history, these are the books for you... Hell, if you've loved Batman since you were in short pants, these are the books for you too!
The geniuses who produced All-Star Superman (one of the best superhero comics of all time) are delivering some of the best story telling in mainstream comics today with a new(ish) cast of characters. For those of you living under rocks recently, Bruce Wayne is gone and in his absence, his friends and colleagues have taken up the slack, including Dick Grayson taking on the mantle of the Batman. As a testament to the creators' abilities, the character in the role of Robin this time around is one of my least favourite comic characters in recent years, but I'm absolutely loving the dynamic Between Dick & the hellion. While we're on the subject of great storytelling, Quitely steps up his game even more in the second issue with a remarkable fight sequence that is frantic, energetic and clear as a bell with nary a speed line to be found! I was blown away by how much movement and energy is conveyed without excessive details, tricks or silly poses. Two pages into the second issue I was shaking my head in disbelief while rereading the panels over and over again. I'm probably going to get these issues in a collection in addition to the floppies (Damn double dipping!) 'cuz the art is so gorgeous that it deserves and ad-less treatment. I just hope that Philip Tan and Jonathan Glapion's issues between Quitely's have even a fraction of the quality we've seen so far. Those two guys have one hell of a tough act to follow and I don't envy them at all!
Speaking of quality and shaking one's head at stupid amounts of talent; J.H. Williams shows us all the largely untapped potential of multimedia superhero comics with his work on Detective Comics. People like Sienkiewicz, McKean and Mack have given us glimpses but not as much in the mainstream supertights category (Mack's run on Daredevil being the closest I can think of in recent memory). We got a glimpse of what to expect from Mr. Williams' waaaaay too brief three issue run in Batman with Grant, where J.H. incorporates various hand and digital approaches in the same book. For this incredible reboot of the longest running comic in the biz, we get a multi faceted character taking on the role of Batwoman (first appeared in 52 with a number of brief cameos in other books since then). While most artists are thinking about the next cool pose, Williams dedicates all his talents and knowledge to delivering subtext, symbolism and groundbreaking layouts. There's a great interview with him on CBR HERE where he goes into greater detail about his approach and the admirable amount of thought and consideration that goes into it. I wish more superhero creators realized the potential of the medium they work in like this guy.
P.S. - As an added bonus, this comic comes with a great Question back-up series! It's not a reprint of previously existing material either! It's brand new stories and art making the higher cover price a little easier to swallow.
Jonah Hex has begun it's first six issue story arc introducing the character Quentin Turnbull, who is a arch enemy of Hex's from the original comic series, as well as in the live action movie now in the works, starring Josh Brolin (as Hex) and John Malkovich (as Turnbull). So far, I've been a big fan of the mostly done-in-one nature of the new Jonah Hex series and I'm happy they've avoided the occult stuff (with exception to a Halloween special) that would occasionally appear in the original series. Although this arc spans a larger number of issues and appears to incorporate supernatural elements, it's still one of the best titles from DC on the shelf right now and will serve as a good entry point if you're at all curious about the film (although I'd recommend reading the entire series). I could go into detail as to why it's such a great book, but you may as well just read any of my other Jonah threads to get the gist of this fantastic series.
Thor - Tales of Asgard is a new limited series that is reissuing the Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (mostly Kirby I think) stories with new colouring that rejuvinates these great stories focusing on the Norse mythology of the character as opposed to the superhero part of his life. If you've heard about how great Straczynski & Coipel's run has been (more on Straczynski leaving the book in another thread) and have heard about the movie in the works, now is the time to get on board. I was never that interested in the character before this new series and now have all the one-shots and the first of these reissues of Tales.
Robot 13 is a cool new series from Blacklist Studios which would likely appeal to fans of Mignola & Atomic Robo. The description I heard from Mike was "Frankenstein meets the Odyssey". This oldschool robot (I'm always a sucker for the retro, tin-can style of robots in comics) is dredged up from the ocean floor without any memory of who it is or why it exists. Right away, the task of dispatching a great and terrible beast of the depths presents itself, presumably giving us an idea of what to expect in his future. It's obvious Daniel Bradford draws great inspiration from the likes of Mike Mignola and Jae Lee. Some may be turned off by the similarities (Daniel has a bit more of a cartoony style with a few more curved lines and exaggerations IMHO) but I think most fans of Mignola will just be happy to see something similar in a comic interior. When is that jerk going to do more than covers again? (That one-shot and a bunch of covers isn't enough Mr. Mignola!!! Don't pull a Tod McFarlane on us!)
the Life & Times of Savior 28 is a mini series from IDW that seems to be sneaking under the radar for most, despite high quality writing and art from J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Cavallaro. Although we've seen many deconstructionist takes on the Superman archetype, this one seems to have a slightly different tone. Rather than having the main character display human foibles and faults to the point of breaking down and ceasing to function as a hero, we see a good person in tights who has become accustomed (as a lot of us as readers have) to punching problems until might makes right... only one day he realizes the basic conflict of interests this presents and strives to become a ture hero. Can one fight for peace? When someone in the position of keeping the war machine going stands up and speaks out against it, what happens? The opening of this intelligent and engaging comic attempts to answer this question, only to present many more to the reader. With three issues out, you may be on the fence as to whether you want to get the issues or wait for a collection for this one but either way, check it out for a great read.
Finally Unknown Soldier is another example like Jonah Hex or House of Mystery where a comic from the 70's has been retooled for a modern audience in an extremely effective method. This one, from Vertigo, jumps right into the complex and heart-wrenching problems in Sudan's political strife. There is no flinching from the uglier aspects, nor is it a simple answer from a North American perspective. Joshua Dysart & Alberto Ponticelli seem to have captured the vitality of the people of Sudan and the horrible difficulties that region has had to endure in recent years. The most recent issue has a quote on the cover that says it best: "Buy this book... There's literally nothing else like it on the stands."
So there you go. Just a handful of amazing comics on the stand now that are well worth checking out. READ MORE COMICS!!!
These first two are instant classics:
Batman & Robin (the REAL All-Star Batman & Robin IMHO) & Detective Comics[/u]
If you've never been a fan of Batman (especially the brooding emo version that's dominated DC since Miller's Dark Knight) or if you think you could be a fan, but have always been just a little too intimidated by decades of history, these are the books for you... Hell, if you've loved Batman since you were in short pants, these are the books for you too!
The geniuses who produced All-Star Superman (one of the best superhero comics of all time) are delivering some of the best story telling in mainstream comics today with a new(ish) cast of characters. For those of you living under rocks recently, Bruce Wayne is gone and in his absence, his friends and colleagues have taken up the slack, including Dick Grayson taking on the mantle of the Batman. As a testament to the creators' abilities, the character in the role of Robin this time around is one of my least favourite comic characters in recent years, but I'm absolutely loving the dynamic Between Dick & the hellion. While we're on the subject of great storytelling, Quitely steps up his game even more in the second issue with a remarkable fight sequence that is frantic, energetic and clear as a bell with nary a speed line to be found! I was blown away by how much movement and energy is conveyed without excessive details, tricks or silly poses. Two pages into the second issue I was shaking my head in disbelief while rereading the panels over and over again. I'm probably going to get these issues in a collection in addition to the floppies (Damn double dipping!) 'cuz the art is so gorgeous that it deserves and ad-less treatment. I just hope that Philip Tan and Jonathan Glapion's issues between Quitely's have even a fraction of the quality we've seen so far. Those two guys have one hell of a tough act to follow and I don't envy them at all!
Speaking of quality and shaking one's head at stupid amounts of talent; J.H. Williams shows us all the largely untapped potential of multimedia superhero comics with his work on Detective Comics. People like Sienkiewicz, McKean and Mack have given us glimpses but not as much in the mainstream supertights category (Mack's run on Daredevil being the closest I can think of in recent memory). We got a glimpse of what to expect from Mr. Williams' waaaaay too brief three issue run in Batman with Grant, where J.H. incorporates various hand and digital approaches in the same book. For this incredible reboot of the longest running comic in the biz, we get a multi faceted character taking on the role of Batwoman (first appeared in 52 with a number of brief cameos in other books since then). While most artists are thinking about the next cool pose, Williams dedicates all his talents and knowledge to delivering subtext, symbolism and groundbreaking layouts. There's a great interview with him on CBR HERE where he goes into greater detail about his approach and the admirable amount of thought and consideration that goes into it. I wish more superhero creators realized the potential of the medium they work in like this guy.
P.S. - As an added bonus, this comic comes with a great Question back-up series! It's not a reprint of previously existing material either! It's brand new stories and art making the higher cover price a little easier to swallow.
Jonah Hex has begun it's first six issue story arc introducing the character Quentin Turnbull, who is a arch enemy of Hex's from the original comic series, as well as in the live action movie now in the works, starring Josh Brolin (as Hex) and John Malkovich (as Turnbull). So far, I've been a big fan of the mostly done-in-one nature of the new Jonah Hex series and I'm happy they've avoided the occult stuff (with exception to a Halloween special) that would occasionally appear in the original series. Although this arc spans a larger number of issues and appears to incorporate supernatural elements, it's still one of the best titles from DC on the shelf right now and will serve as a good entry point if you're at all curious about the film (although I'd recommend reading the entire series). I could go into detail as to why it's such a great book, but you may as well just read any of my other Jonah threads to get the gist of this fantastic series.
Thor - Tales of Asgard is a new limited series that is reissuing the Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (mostly Kirby I think) stories with new colouring that rejuvinates these great stories focusing on the Norse mythology of the character as opposed to the superhero part of his life. If you've heard about how great Straczynski & Coipel's run has been (more on Straczynski leaving the book in another thread) and have heard about the movie in the works, now is the time to get on board. I was never that interested in the character before this new series and now have all the one-shots and the first of these reissues of Tales.
Robot 13 is a cool new series from Blacklist Studios which would likely appeal to fans of Mignola & Atomic Robo. The description I heard from Mike was "Frankenstein meets the Odyssey". This oldschool robot (I'm always a sucker for the retro, tin-can style of robots in comics) is dredged up from the ocean floor without any memory of who it is or why it exists. Right away, the task of dispatching a great and terrible beast of the depths presents itself, presumably giving us an idea of what to expect in his future. It's obvious Daniel Bradford draws great inspiration from the likes of Mike Mignola and Jae Lee. Some may be turned off by the similarities (Daniel has a bit more of a cartoony style with a few more curved lines and exaggerations IMHO) but I think most fans of Mignola will just be happy to see something similar in a comic interior. When is that jerk going to do more than covers again? (That one-shot and a bunch of covers isn't enough Mr. Mignola!!! Don't pull a Tod McFarlane on us!)
the Life & Times of Savior 28 is a mini series from IDW that seems to be sneaking under the radar for most, despite high quality writing and art from J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Cavallaro. Although we've seen many deconstructionist takes on the Superman archetype, this one seems to have a slightly different tone. Rather than having the main character display human foibles and faults to the point of breaking down and ceasing to function as a hero, we see a good person in tights who has become accustomed (as a lot of us as readers have) to punching problems until might makes right... only one day he realizes the basic conflict of interests this presents and strives to become a ture hero. Can one fight for peace? When someone in the position of keeping the war machine going stands up and speaks out against it, what happens? The opening of this intelligent and engaging comic attempts to answer this question, only to present many more to the reader. With three issues out, you may be on the fence as to whether you want to get the issues or wait for a collection for this one but either way, check it out for a great read.
Finally Unknown Soldier is another example like Jonah Hex or House of Mystery where a comic from the 70's has been retooled for a modern audience in an extremely effective method. This one, from Vertigo, jumps right into the complex and heart-wrenching problems in Sudan's political strife. There is no flinching from the uglier aspects, nor is it a simple answer from a North American perspective. Joshua Dysart & Alberto Ponticelli seem to have captured the vitality of the people of Sudan and the horrible difficulties that region has had to endure in recent years. The most recent issue has a quote on the cover that says it best: "Buy this book... There's literally nothing else like it on the stands."
So there you go. Just a handful of amazing comics on the stand now that are well worth checking out. READ MORE COMICS!!!
