Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo's Hellboy: Darkness Calls #2. I never care about the story -- Hellboy always stands around while things happen to him, then he makes a Whedonesque quip. I love the design on the character and the world, however -- for me The Art of Hellboy is the only indispensable Mignola work. Duncan Fegredo is doing a good job keeping me hooked on this one though, so I will continue to pick it up.
Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham's Justice Society of America #6. There are literally more main character heroes in this issue than there are pages, and I don't know most of them. It is all sort of fun in the way Infinite Crisis was fun -- I am a sucker for superhero insanity just smashed together and to hell with anyone who does not know all these guys. But this issue seemed like filler: the Legion distracts the JLA and the JSA with some nonsense threat so they can complete their secret mission, but they are really distracting the reader from the fact that this is a four issue plot and not a five issue plot.
David Peterson's Mouse Guard Hard Cover Graphic Novel. I have not read this yet, but I wanted to try something new. It had mice with little tiny swords. It looked fun.
Nothing in the news jumped out at me. Review, recommend and discuss this week's comics and comics news.
One thing caught my eye in the news this week: DC is collecting Grant Morrison and Ed McGuinness's JLA Classified #1-3 (and Morrison's JLA/Wildcats) in a trade called JLA: Ultramarine Corps. It's not out 'til November, but definitely one for the Christmas lists.
ReplyDeleteI like Mouse Guard. The coolest thing about it is how it's both Anthropomorphic and realistically natural... it's an odd balance and it works.
ReplyDeleteI must say that I am freaking LOVING Countdown. Geoff, you'd hate it. It's Yggdrasil to DC's U, and the embodiment of much what I love about comics. (gotta say how cool it is that Google Spell check sees 'Yggdrasil' as a real word)
Oh yeah, another thing was this gorgeous concept art from an upcoming Supergirl artist. I doubt the writing (or even the finished art if that coloured image is by the same guy) will be good enough to make me want to buy the book, but those drawings are incredibly nice to see in the current climate of Mary Jane statues and Heroes For Hire covers.
ReplyDeleteoh, Duncan Fegredo: He was the one guy at the Bristol Comicon who I was most geeked out about. I LOVE the Enigma series he did with Peter Milligan about 10 years back. It's one of my top 10 fav series of all time easy. He was super nice and I'm always glad to see him on bigger things.
ReplyDeleteI read Volume 3 of SM Loves MJ this week. As good as usual, but ... say, what's with the volume breaks? They seem pretty much arbitrary, as in "here's five more issues." There didn't seem to be any closure at the end of this one.
ReplyDeleteWhat's happening with that series anyway, now that Sean McKeever is leaving? Are they continuing with a different writer or will it end?
Back-issue recommendation: First get the GLA Disassembled trade (Great Lakes Avengers, that is), and then get GLX-Mas (The Great Lakes X-Men Christmas special). It's all great. Or maybe I just like it because I was born and raised in Milwaukee, where GLA takes place. Then in August get the GLA/Deadpool special, which will probably also be hilarious.
Geoff, none of my many local comic book stores (seriously, Milwaukee has a freakish amount of them) had the Casanova HC, so I special-ordered it. I'll read it eventually. I ordered the Agents of Atlas HC while I was at it. I'm getting more new comics these days than I have in a long time, thanks to blog recommendations ("recomblogdations") from people like you and Matt "Warren Peace" Brady...
Mouse Guard is muy muy terrifico. I got the HC even though I owned all the floppy issues. I'm also looking forward to the next six-issue series from Petersen due out this July. Which I will then buy a second time AGAIN next year...
ReplyDeleteI thought that Mouse Guard was okay but not as all-fired great as I expected given the general level of enthusiasm for it. It's a children's book, and I think it would make a great book for kids... but while some children's books are equally fun for adults, I'm not sure this was.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong: the art is very pretty, and it's compelling. I just don't think I'll remember much about it a year from now.
Jason, where did you hear about the GLA/Deadpool special? I didn't see it in Marvel's August 2007 solicitations. (I don't even know who Deadpool is, but I really liked Slott's GLA trade, and the GLX special, so if Slott writing it I'll probably get another GLA issue...)
ReplyDeleteStephen, the first place I heard about it was on Matt Brady/Warren Peace's blog. You can link to it from Geoff's here, or you can go here: http://warren-peace.blogspot.com/2007/04/solicitationary-blatherings-marvel.html
ReplyDeleteMy comic book store owner also told me it's due in August, when I bought the Christmas one last week.
It's actually Deadpool/GLI, which apparently stands for Great Lakes Initiative. I guess it's a running gag that the third word in the team's name will change with each new special.
(Oh, and Deadpool is a Rob Liefeld creation from 1990. I'm not a fan of the character at all, but he does have a fanbase, apparently. He's basically a wise-cracking mercenary. I imagine you won't need to know much more than that to enjoy Slott's take on him...)
Jason,
ReplyDeleteThanks. I think I missed it because of the "GLI" thing.
SF
I bought the trade of Garth Ennis and Derick Robertson's "The Boys", because I was in the mood for something mean and profane. It didn't disappoint. More of Ennis' patented hero bashing, literally in this case. Also, it read very quick... I went through the whole trade in just two hours.
ReplyDeleteI also got >sigh< J. Michael Strazinski and Esad Ribbic's "Silver Surfer: Requiem", which isn't that great, but looks gorgeous. I love the Silver Surfer as a character, but I'll be damned if I know where I can read anything just-above mediocre stories about him. I like the old Lee/Kirby, Lee/Buscema stuff, but it's still pretty dated. I also like the Jim Starlin/Ron Lim stuff, but aside from the Infinity Gauntlet Starlin's Surfer doesn't really do it for me either. Even the newer series wasn't bad, but again, nothing spectacular. Any suggestions?
Yeah, the Hellboy this week was really nice-looking. I'll get to reviews on my blog sometime (tonight maybe), but my favorite of the week was probably Shaolin Cowboy #7. I love Geof Darrow.
ReplyDeleteI like Mouse Guard quite a bit, but it's nothing revolutionary. A bit of a kids' book, but one that I found enjoyable. The biggest draw for me was probably the really nice artwork.
Wait, back up: JLA: Ultramarine Corps collected in November? Sweet! I've actually bought multiple copies of JLA Classified #1-3 just to give to friends as an example of a perfect contemporary superhero story. It has wit, ideas, fast-paced action, tells you everything you need to know about a staggeringly large cast along the way, and beautiful art, all in three issues. A collection was badly missed as it forms the necessary prequel to Seven Soldiers and now my winter holiday shopping for friends who haven't received it is sorted out.
ReplyDeleteOf course, that Ultramarine Corps trade includes JLA/Wildcats, or something like that. I haven't read that story, and I don't know if it's good or not, but keep that in mind if you're going to be buying it.
ReplyDeleteJLA Wildcats is silly but very funny.
ReplyDelete