Trinity of Anticipation… (for the week of Mar. 14)

Last week was a hard one to follow – it packed a lot of heavy hitters, and a healthy dose of surprise enjoyments as well!  This week looks a little lighter on quantity, but it sure holds a lot of promise for quality – and a little something extra special…

That extra special something is The Magic Teeth Dailies #50.  A milestone any time a series reaches #50 – but especially so for the local comics scene in Victoria, BC.  Since the summer of 2004, Gareth Gaudin has been committed to drawing one comic strip a day, which have found their way to countless fans through a variety of means – most notably through the Gaudin’s publication of The Magic Teeth Dailies, which have collected the strips since the first (there are even two TPBs now, to cover the first 1000).  Now, some 2800 (or s0) days later comes issue #50 (- which also features a new CD release from Magic Teeth Records)!  The strips themselves range from personal anecdotes to various portraits, and often feature some vicious vicious punning.  And, of course, the Perogy Cat.  I’ve enjoyed this strips for as long as I’ve been aware of them, and am especially pleased to be around for this milestone…

Perhaps a little less special, but still well worth looking forward to is Punisher #9.  Greg Rucka’s run with The Pun has been amazing thus far – it hard to imagine that changing any time soon.  The solicit I’ve seen doesn’t even sound at all like it holds as much potential as the series has proven it does – this is definitely one of Marvel’s biggest books to be reading at the moment!

And rounding out this week’s Anticipation Station is Paul Cornell’s Saucer Country #1.  I’ve been impressed by much of what I’ve read from Cornell in the past couple years, and the preview for this series in the most recent Vertigo sampler was enough to catch my attention – it’s exciting to have more aliens invading comics…

Five Faves… (for the week of Feb. 29)

Scalped #56  {Jason Aaron * R.M. Guera}  Vertigo

Eight months after Red Crow’s arrest at the hands of now former agent Bad Horse, the status quo of the Prairie Rose Reservation may be changing, but the tension in the story is still ratcheted up nice and high as we approach the finish line of one of the finest series to be published in the past five years…

Since the beginning of the series, Jason Aaron has done a delightful job of pacing Scalped’s story – never rushing ahead too fast, nor crawling along too slowly. He continues to do the same here as he shows us that while the story is near to finishing, it’s far from over. Heartbreak, hope and intrigue – this issue has got it all! Of particular interest is Chief Red Crow’s replaying in his head of every misdeed undertaken by undercover Dash while refusing to implicate him in any way. Why?

I don’t feel there is a whole lot I can say about this comic without sounding as repetitive as 4/4 timing with minimal flourish – it’s a constant reiteration of “Jason Aaron’s story is astoundingly captivating, while R.M. Guera’s art sets a perfect tone in character to the series!” that is certainly well-deserved. I’m going to miss this series immensely when it ends, but before that happens I’m going to keep enjoying it while I can…

Moon Knight #10  {Bendis * Maleev * Hollingsworth}  Marvel

And on the topic of near-endings, here at Moon Knight we’re even closer to the finish line, as Bendis & Maleev’s “epic” take on Moon Knight rapidly approaches its close (2 issues left!), and the duo find themselves in full stride, seeming not to even break a sweat…

With Echo dead at the hands of Count Nefaria, Mark Spector/Moon Knight/Steven Grant and his Wolverine/Captain America/Spider-Man personalities head further and further off the deep end in their seeming inability to cope with the loss. Fortunately for him, he made the right decision to hire Buck as a right hand – as he seems to be the sole thing keeping him in game through it all.

With the Ultron now in enemy hands, we’re sure to see some shit hitting some fans over the final two issues of this run!

The Walking Dead #94  {Kirkman * Adlard * Rathburn}  Image

I felt far better after reading this week’s issue of The Walking Dead than I did after watching this week’s episode of the TV series, that’s for damn sure!

Besides an interesting parallel between the two, with Carl sneaking behind his dad’s back to investigate prisoners being held by the group, we’re definitely looking at drastically different stories. And this issue of the comic series brings us closer to the larger world promised by the current arc’s title that takes up a hefty portion of the cover. It’s nice to see some expansion in this grim world – though very interesting that the group going out to explore the new possibilities is made up strictly of folk we’ve been following for so long now.

When this series has taken its moments to slow down, it usually features some marvelous character advancement – which is a big part of what’s made it so engrossing. That said, it’s nice to be back out on the road again…

Amazing Spider-Man #680  {Slott * Yost * Camuncoli * Janson * D’Armata}  Marvel

“The Ends of the Earth” storyline isn’t slated to begin until two issues from now, but this issue sure makes it feel like it’s already begun as Dr. Octopus re-enters the frey and Spider-Man finds himself in space with his dear friend Johnny Storm…

In fact, the first scene between Spidey and Johnny Storm is a brilliant bit of humour that shows precisely why Amazing Spider-Man is such a consistently enjoyable title – there’s even a nice little nod to The Walking Dead TV series within its pop culture pastiche!

I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of Giuseppe Camuncoli’s pencils throughout the issue – but he’s also far from the worst penciller I’ve seen in the Marvel stable of late. There doesn’t seem to be much dynamism in his face work, which feels overly square, and lacking the appropriate emotion at times.

Aside from that small gripe, this remains an extremely enjoyable issue of ASM (as they almost always are!), and it appears the showdown between Spider-Man, The Human Torch and John Jameson and a space station full of Octobot controlled astronauts will prove to be an immediate launchpad into what’s being built up as the largest Spidey epic in awhile… Fun!

New Avengers #22  {Bendis * Deodato * Conrad * Beredo}  Marvel

As the shit hits the fan in Avengers land, the fan is hitting back! New Avengers wins between the two currently closely connected Bendis-penned Avengers titles for having a bit more emotional punch than the flagship title, and its self-referential moments mocking the New Avengers moniker.

Between double-crosses, triple agents and a raging Skaar, Son of Hulk, it’s nearly impossible to tell exactly what’s gonna happen next as the New Avengers throwdown and/or stand their ground in the building battle against Norman Osborn… And I’m okay with that.

Trinity of Anticipation… (for the week of Mar. 7)

In so many ways, I might as well just take the week off. The only thing that seems to be changing here, in the least, is the order – and even that is quite a seldom shift. In fact, I’m going to list (with no write-ups!) my secondary anticipation list (of 5 titles!) at the end of this, just to spice things up a little…

Topping the list this week is Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Fatale #3. No surprise, really. If you’re not already familiar with this duo – they’ve done amazing things within the “crime” genre up to this point that have established them as one of the top teams. Add some Lovecraftian horror to the mix, and you’ve get a recipe for amazing! The fact that this issue promises to tie the story together even further within the realms of the two makes it impossible not to be excited!

And pretty much just as much so, impossible not to be excited for Jeff Lemire’s Animal Man #7 – a title repeatedly mentioned as a 3-way tie for top of the New 52. Everything about what Jeff Lemire has done to bring Animal Man back into the DCU – and especially the slow build to sharing space with Scott Snyder’s Swamp Thing – has been amazing thus far. Again it’s impossible not to be excited. “Animal vs. Man” begins here – and looks like it might be some of the best of this series yet!

Similarly, Swamp Thing #7 is building to the same showdown between The Green, The Red and The Rot! We’re being promised our strongest dose of Swamp Thing proper yet, and told to wonder what exactly its relationship will be to Dr. Holland. Scott Snyder is writing two of the top three DC titles going right now (as well as one for Vertigo that only misses this list due to my commitment to it in Trades…) – and it’s impossible for me to pick between the two! But they come out in different weeks, so for this week it’s this one!

BONUS FIVE:
Amazing Spider-Man #681
Avengers: Children’s Crusade #9
Winter Soldier #3
Action Comics #7
Batwing #7

Trinity of Anticipation… (for the week of Feb. 29)

This week sees the beginning of the end for two series, as well as what looks to be the end of another’s current status quo. In all three cases there has been some epic storytelling up ’til this point, and I suspect it will just get even more intense from here…

The most anticipated this week is a no-brainer for me. Scalped #56 is the opening issue of the final chapter of what has been my favourite ongoing series for some time. The series hit a big climax at the end of last month’s issue, but the denouement is set to last a few issues, and will surely bring about some more climactic action before the series concludes its natural course. Set to start a few months after the end of issue #55, we’re going to have a bit of catching up to do…

After preparing for the end of Scalped, The Walking Dead #94 holds a high place in my excitement. “A Larger World” is setting the stage for the series’ race to issue #100 – quite a feat for a handful of survivors in a world overrun by zombies. The gated community the group has called home for quite some time is but a fraction of the world-at-large, and their eyes are being opened now to a larger web of survivors. I’m quite intrigued to see how this is all going to play out!

And, for a dose of super hero action, Bendis & Maleev’s Moon Knight #10 rounds out this week’s anticipation station. Their run is set to end in two months with issue #12, and has been easily one of the best Moon Knight stories told to date. It’s a shame it’s not going to carry on to the epic proportions of their Daredevil run years ago – but I’m gonna damn well enjoy every moment of what we’ve got left.

 

Five Faves… (for the week of Feb. 22)

I’ve not yet been able to get my hands on Ted McKeever’s Mondo #1, which may have led to a slightly different list – particularly given its status on my “most anticipated” list for the week. That said, I feel pretty damn good about this week’s five, nevertheless – so here they are…

Secret Avengers #23 {Remender * Hardman * Breitweiser} Marvel
Yep. Rick Remender on Secret Avengers is already well on its way to exceeding my hopes and expectations, and an Avengers title is rocking my socks!

This is a delicious second chapter to Remender’s run, progressing the story along swiftly while holding space for Remender to get into the heads of all the characters. Beast particularly shines in this issue thru his razzing of Hank Pym and his kind-hearted but frank “tone it down” speech to Hawkeye (and his need to prove himself) as the two of them fall from the sky. Not only is he the brains of the bunch, but Beast is proving to be the rock solid backbone of this book.

It’s nice, also, to see that Captain America isn’t gone completely – but nor are his ideas so welcome after appointing Hawkeye to the team’s leadership. I really hope (and suspect) this isn’t the only sighting of “Agent” Venom we’ll have during the current course of this series. As for Ant-Man, his narrative frames the book beautifully – and is perhaps the best use of this character of seeing since his beginnings. Almost a shame it looks as though his end has come!

Prophet #22 {Graham * Roy * Ballermann} Image

Rob who?! Like Jimi Hendrix once took Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” and made it his own, so too have Brandon Graham and Simon Roy done just that with John Prophet.

Back in the early days of it’s run, I gave not a single shit about Prophet. I think I bought one issue once because Stephen Platt had done the artwork and was the current hot shit buzz artist of comicdom’s near implosion. Otherwise, I was mostly over the muscles and bullets over substance of Leifeld’s Extreme imprint. This re:visioning of the whole series into a long gritty slow moving sci-fi epic has got my attention and is holding it hard!

I’m not sure how I’d feel about Simon Roy’s art, were this not such a vividly strange world we’re entering. At times John looks more cartoon-y or ape-like than others, but it only adds to the fantastical pulpy feel of the book. Meanwhile the story’s deliberate pacing reminds me of 70′s English cinema – something missing from the world today. And we now have an obvious adversary on John Prophet’s mission, besides the elements of this future-Earth itself – which I suspect will bring about quite a showdown, when Graham and Roy (and we) are ready for that to happen…

Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred #2 {David Hine * Shaky Kane} Image

For my number one most anticipated book of the week to find itself third on this list is less about the quality of this book being anything less than what I’d expected, or hoped – it’s a case of the others exceeding all expectations. Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred is definitely giving me exactly what I want!

This issue finds Red Wraith leading us thru some “Tales From the Haunted Jazz Club” – tales with all kinds of wacky weirdness that may not do it for everybody, but certainly hit a fancy in me. A beatnik throwback pulp horror suspense story for the modern age – with a deliciously appropriate portrait of Burroughs on the back page!

The stories themselves are self-contained and well framed by the jazz club motif, but The Shield of Justice also lurks, and appears to be gathering the twisted heroes of this world to save it from a yet to be revealed terror.
All this, plus a history of The Jumping Jive Joint, Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” and how David Hine first found the stories in this issue – thanks to yet another editorial by Destroyovski. This truly is a wonderful book!

No Place Like Home #1  {Angelo Tirotto * Richard Jordan}  Image

How can one not be intrigued by The Wizard of Oz being retold featuring small town goth girls, a homecoming for the one that got away in order to bury her parents who’ve died far more violently than by the tornado as she’s been told.  Plus a crazy old drunk guy, who may or may not be a killer!

To be perfectly honest I was a little skeptical on this one (perhaps made moreso by my disappointment with Peter Panzerfaust earlier this month), citing in my mind the often drastically hit-or-miss nature the retelling of “timeless” tales can hold.  But thank you Angelo Tirotto and Richard Jordan, you’ve got me hooked for the first arc at the very least!

Wolverine and the X-Men #6  {Aaron * Wong * Bradshaw * Ponsor}  Marvel

See, The X-Men can be fun!

Thanks to Jason Aaron and the post-Schism era, Wolverine and the X-Men is allowing the X-Men to be fun again (outside of X-Factor, that is!).  There is so much going on at mile-a-minute pacing within this issue that it’s hard to choose a favourite – The space casino?  The anti-body broodlings?!  The big badass with the leash?!  Kitty Pryde calling a gun out of thin air to save her on skin from an alien set to kill her!!  It’s nice that this series can manage to keep things light and suspenseful at the same time – Jason Aaron has been proving very adept at this whenever he puts his pen to the X-verse.  Not all high-action alien invasion stories need to have heavy drama hanging over them.  This is definitely one of those…