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February 07, 2006
To Buy Or Not To Buy?
Howdy, true believers. Sorry about the spare posting lately. I could give you all sorts of excuses but then I'd be one of those people who blogs about why they aren't blogging, and who needs more of that? Of course now I've become one of those people who complains about bloggers who blog about not blogging, and in some ways, that's worse. So instead, I'll point you towards a happy little thing that I saw this morning: Tom Spurgeon posts a preview of Tony Millionaire's upcoming comic, Billy Hazelnuts. It looks as amazing as you would expect and even more grotesque.
With no further ado, it's time for this week's installment of the comic blogosphere's 963rd most popular feature, "To Buy or Not To Buy!"
Batman Legends Of The Dark Knight #200 - Featuring the strangest pairing of creative talent in recent memory: writer Eddie Campbell and artist Bart Sears. In ads for his upcoming Warlord series, Sears actually seems to have reigned in his tight, hyper-muscled, thick-necked style (which was so over-the top that it was sort of appealing in its ugliness) in favor of a brushy look that's more expressive and yet more naturalistic. It will be interesting to see which way this book swings.
DMZ #4 - This weekend I had a brief exchange with Brian Wood, wherein one of my biggest fears about doing this site finally came to pass. After graciously chatting with me a couple of weeks ago in Rocketship, Wood dug up an old post of mine wherein I snidely dissed him for his work on Demo. As I explained (ie, attempted to weasel out) to him, the post in question was written mere weeks after I started this blog, back before I developed the baseline level of decorum and professionalism that I try to maintain today (quiet, those of you snickering in the back of the room). At some point I realized that more than two people might be reading this site, and as such, it was irresponsible and lazy of me to turn criticism of somebody's work into an attack on their character. Anyhow, let me take this opportunity to confirm that Brian Wood is decidedly NOT a wannabe hipster. In fact, his work in DMZ and Local has shown a marked departure from the non-reflective "coolness as a redeeming character trait" tendency that hampered my enjoyment of Demo. How's that for a qualified, backhanded compliment? Jeez, even when I try not to be a jerk...
Jonah Hex #4 - This book has beaten out Loveless as the DC western that I'm still reading. The old-school charm of these self-contained, moralistic stories is refreshing, and Luke Ross' classically realistic art fits the material perfectly.
Showcase Presents House Of Mystery Vol 1 TP - I still have about 250 pages of that Superman Showcase book to plow through, but it's hard to resist the lineup of talent in this horror comic reprint collection: The writers include Len Wein and Gerry Conway, with art by legends such as Bernie Wrightson, Neal Adams, Gil Kane, and Alex Toth! Holy cripes!
Marvel Knights 4 #27 - The only current Fantastic Four title worth your time and money, in my opinion. While it's more charming than mind-blowing, it inspires considerably less head-scratching and cringing than Ultimate FF or the flagship book.
Marvel Monsters HC - Some of the comics in this collection, especially the Duncan Fegredo, Roger Langridge, and Eric Powell contributions, were so good that I am ALMOST tempted to pony up the $20.99 for the hardcover edition. Almost.
Marvel Zombies #3 - Speaking of backhanded compliments, this is my favorite book ever by Robert Kirkman.
Powers Vol 9 Psychotic TP - I know that it didn't start until after the issues collected in this trade, but I just want to take a moment to mention how inappropriate, self-indulgent, and unwelcome Bendis' "stand-up comedian" routines have become in the pages of Powers lately. They are distracting to the point of preventing me from finishing the story. Do I want to think about the writer looking at internet porn while I'm reading about superheroes? No, not particularly. Does it add anything to the narrative? Not that I can see. Ugh.
What was I just saying about being decorous and professional? Er, ummm...
Ultimate Extinction #2 - I enjoyed issue #1, especially the depiction of the Ultimate version of Silver Surfer as a cult leader. I also enjoyed Rich Johnston's comparison of #1's script to a script that Warren Ellis submitted for a different Marvel project in 1999.
Young Avengers #10 - Ladies and gentlemen, here they are... the world's ugliest action figures!
Conan #24 Ltd Ed Nude Variant Cvr - For all the folks who'd rather perpetuate the marginalization and humiliation of the entire comic industry than buy real porn.
Action Philosophers #4: World Domination Handbook - For those who haven't read Action Philosophers, here is my review from the Buzzscope site of issue #3. In case you still aren't sure whether you should buy this book, here is the description from Evil Twin Comics' web site: "Spawn world-wide revolution with Karl Marx! Seize political power with Niccolo Machiavelli! And, best of all: command the very building blocks of reality with Moses de Leon and The Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition!" If you're still unconvinced, there's a preview posted at The Pulse. Now go buy it already! Sheesh!
Tales Designed To Thrizzle #2 - While Pagus does not appear in this issue, I have it on very good authority that a return of everybody's favorite half-brother of Jesus is in the works!
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at 01:59 PM | Comments (9)