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| Sunday, July 8, 2007 12:09 PM |
| The Take |
 by Fëanor |
I had some trouble finding a few things this week, and the books I did pick up have inspired me to drop a few series. But really that's a good thing, as it means I'm separating the wheat from the chaff, and will be spending less money each week (theoretically). Also, I'm happy to say that I got more bags and boards, made use of them, and now all my comics are packaged and organized in my long box upstairs. Hooray! The graphic novel/tpb/hardcover collections still need to be alphabetized and placed on a shelf somewhere, but other than that, I'm in pretty good shape.
Casanova Volume One: Luxuria
They didn't seem to have this one. I see it on Amazon, though, so maybe I'll just pick it up there one of these days.
BPRD: Garden of Souls #4
Couldn't find this backissue, either, but it's sure to turn up eventually, and I did manage to find the first three issues, which is certainly a good start.
Irredeemable Ant-Man #10
The All New Atom #13
A horrifying thing occurred with these two books which I don't remember experiencing before: they were both sold out by the time I got to Fat Jack's Thursday evening. Horrors!! Luckily, I wasn't particularly looking forward to these two issues (well, except maybe Ant-Man...), and I have plenty more comics to tide me over. Plus, the guy said they'll probably get more in stock in a couple days. But still! My comics! Sold out! Damn!
As it turns out, on Saturday I found a copy of The All New Atom #13 at Hall of Heroes in the Cherry Hill Mall. And, as it turns out, it was a pretty crummy issue, and it looks like now they want you to read Countdown before you get the next issue, and that I cannot abide, so that's it for me; I'm dropping this one. It's really a shame, too. All New Atom #1-6 were all really quite excellent; a lot of great ideas, a lot of very funny comedy. But starting immediately with #7, the series took a serious nose dive, and has never really recovered. So, no reason to waste any more money on it, I figure.
Ultimate Power #6
Thor #1
Maybe it had to do with my current dislike of JMS, but I was pretty disappointed with both of these books (both written by him, of course). I had been really looking forward to Thor's comeback, but JMS didn't really explain it very well, and the issue just didn't really go anywhere. There's some cool art, certainly, and some vaguely thrilling moments. But in general, I responded with a big "eh." Pretty much the same for UP. The ending reveal is kind of exciting, and there are some fun face-offs. But I kept getting annoyed by JMS's corny prose, and his poor attempts at science metaphors.
And you know what, I think that's it. I think I'm done with JMS. I might finish off UP, since that series is almost done, anyway, but I'm dropping Thor and Amazing Spider-Man. Why keep reading his books when they always leave me vaguely disgruntled?
Runaways #27
Joss Whedon, I'm happy to say, has not disappointed me yet with any comic book I've read by him. This latest issue of Runaways was full of funny gags, interesting new characters, and a totally fascinating story that had me hooked, right up to and including the usual surprise reveal and cliffhanger at the end that leaves you drooling for the next issue. Brilliant!
Batman: Ego and Other Tails
Hey! This Darwyn Cooke collection that was supposed to have come out like three weeks ago was finally sitting on the shelf! So I picked it up and gobbled it down. It was no New Frontier, but it had some fun stories in it. Cooke's artwork in Ego was particularly beautiful (and surreal and breathtaking), even if the story was just a bit over-the-top and cliche. I really enjoyed the short, fun Catwoman story "Date Knight," as well as the longer Catwoman story, whose title I can't think of at the moment, that's essentially a noir crime caper, in which Selina never actually wears the suit (and in which old school DC detective character Slam Bradley makes a cameo). There's also a silly Batman story about a statue that's fun, and a very grim and impressive Batman story called "Deja Vu" in which Batman is particularly dark and vengeful, and in fact never speaks. This story is apparently a homage/remake of one of the Batman stories that made Cooke fall in love with the Batman character all over again when he got back into comics.
So all in all, a decent collection.
BPRD: Garden of Souls #1-3
Holy crap, am I glad I decided to start collecting this series. It is absolutely fantastic. The combination of Mike Mignola and John Arcudi's writing, and Guy Davis's ridiculously fantastic artwork is just dynamite. The story is rather complex, takes place in various places and times, and features many strange characters, including a young retarded girl who has a weird connection with cats, a bunch of guys who walk around in steam-powered metal diving suits all the time on an island populated by weird chimeras, and an ancient, undead female mummy, to name a few. In general it's an investigation into the mysterious origin of Abe Sapien, although it's also touching on the mysterious origin of another of the BPRD team, and Liz the firestarter is having some weird visions, apparently about her new girlfriend. The point is, totally riveting and beautiful and weird and fantastic.
All-Star Superman #8
In this issue of one of my favorite current series (put together by the all-star team of writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely), Superman is trapped on Bizarro world, and with the sunlight drifting into the red end of the spectrum and his powers dissipating, he has to find a way off, and quick! It was a little hard reading an issue in which most of the dialogue is in the clumsy, backwards speech of Bizarro World, but it was still a good time, especially when the Bizarro Justice League showed up. You can tell Morrison is just having a ball with this title, throwing in all the crazy Silver Age-style stuff he can think of.
Dark Tower #6
And the story I've already read continues! Still not sure why I feel compelled to continue buying and reading this one. But hey, there's only one more issue left, so... might as well!
New Avengers/Transformers #1
This was actually not nearly as terrible as I thought it would be! In fact, it was thoroughly readable! Not great, but okay. If I'm feeling particularly bored and not carrying too many other books the week that #2 comes out, I'll probably pick it up. It's only a four part series, anyway. |
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