Now you all get to put up with me in print too.
*Let’s get right into it.
LAST WEEK'S REVIEWS:
The Surrogates #1 (of 5) (Top Shelf's first 'mainstream' miniseries, but I think I've heard this one before...)
Pluto #1 - 19 (of ?), Astro Boy Vol. 3 (of 23) (two connected works, the former a remake of the latter... give this a read, it's one of my better recent pieces)
Short week due to the holiday weekend, so that's it. But there's much to come,
THIS WEEK IN COMICS:
The Comics Journal #269: This is the shoujo manga issue. You should probably buy it.
I mean, I’m in it, for one thing.
It’s like taking a little piece of me into your home!
Didn‘t want to jinx it, so I haven’t announced this fact until now (ha ha, hope I didn‘t jinx anyway at the last second). I was thinking about not announcing it at all and just waiting to see if anyone noticed me whilst flipping through the book, but I’m too excited for that. Did I mention this week is my site’s anniversary week?
Yeah.
So I’ve got a little thing I wrote for the Journal, a small review of some older stuff, Here is Greenwood by Yukie Nasu. It’s the first comics-related work of mine to see print in a hardcopy publication, ever. It will be out this Wednesday (obviously), the day before the one-year anniversary of the beginning of this site. I am excited, very very excited. I hope you will like my small contribution.
Beyond self-promotion, this is a pretty big issue, with tons of reviews and essays by a wide range of folks; I’ll be sure to link to the full list once the Journal’s site updates, but I know Johanna Draper Carlson has some big stuff lined up, and I bet a lot of Journal regulars will be there too. The feature interview is Moto Hagio, one of the key figures in the evolution of shoujo manga (girls comics) in Japan, and a full-length short story, Hanshin, is included.
Just look at that cover. Yes, this will be a good edition.
Really hoping I didn’t jinx it right there.
Smoke #2 (of 3): Alex de Campi and Igor Kordey present the second part of their satire-laced political thriller thing, as dirty deals and dirtier acts spill out onto the streets of London. I was sufficiently impressed with issue #1; Kordey is plainly more in his element here than he was at Marvel, and de Campi manages to wring some interest out of an admittedly old plot and familiar characters. It’s all in the tone, a fairly intriguing one.
Desolation Jones #2: Also turning up in stores, the latest from an obvious de Campi influence, Warren Ellis, who ushers us back into sick LA. According to Bad Signal, J.H. Williams III is already working on issue #4 right now, so the bimonthly release schedule should be staving off delay for the time being. Not much more can be said for the story right now: it’s Ellis at his most amusing and most familiar, and sweet goddamn does it look pretty.
Seven Soldiers - Guardian #3 (of 4): Will the third issues be ‘exposition’ issues, or ‘Sheeda attack!’ issues? More will be revealed here, hopefully in way that’ll take attention away from the terribly boring title character and deeper into his world. He’s a dull man in a wild city, that Guardian is.
The Punisher MAX #23: Hmmm, briefly going biweekly then jumping back to monthly makes it feel like this book is late, though it’s really just reverting back to a normal release schedule. I get antsy without my Punisher, that’s all. Still haven’t bought that Dave Lapham book with Frank and Daredevil yet; anyone here know if it was any good? It looked like it got pretty middling reviews.
All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder #1: Meanwhile, DC goes back to the well of past success for that other dark avenger of the streets at night, enlisting Frank Miller to once again show the way, if only in a writer‘s capacity this time out. Regardless of critical reaction, DK2 (which I rather liked) made a goodly chunk of lucre, and lord knows Jim Lee won’t be driving them out of the shops, so let’s just presume this book is going to be a gigantic sales success at first. What’s going to be interesting is how Miller plans to tackle his return to open-ended comics storytelling (I can’t even remember the last time he worked on something that wasn’t a miniseries or an original graphic novel), and what he plans to do with the titular Boy Wonder. Considering that Miller has busted the character’s age all the way down to 12 and that Lee’s breaking out the Lincoln Green short-shorts again (actually, the first thing Miller did upon bringing back Flash in DK2 was putting him back in shorts; maybe the guy just likes shorts), it seems to me that the team is looking to play up some of the most unbelievable elements of Batman’s sidekick, a strange move to make in a story that’s largely being sold as “The Real Year Two.” Perhaps Miller and Lee want us to accept the absurd parts of Batman along with the oooh so gritty bits; that’s sort of what Miller seemed to be getting at in DK2 as well (albeit on a wider superheroic scale), and I’m interested in seeing how much of that much-maligned work resurfaces here, if only in shadow, which is appropriate.
LAST WEEK'S REVIEWS:
The Surrogates #1 (of 5) (Top Shelf's first 'mainstream' miniseries, but I think I've heard this one before...)
Pluto #1 - 19 (of ?), Astro Boy Vol. 3 (of 23) (two connected works, the former a remake of the latter... give this a read, it's one of my better recent pieces)
Short week due to the holiday weekend, so that's it. But there's much to come,
THIS WEEK IN COMICS:
The Comics Journal #269: This is the shoujo manga issue. You should probably buy it.
I mean, I’m in it, for one thing.
It’s like taking a little piece of me into your home!
Didn‘t want to jinx it, so I haven’t announced this fact until now (ha ha, hope I didn‘t jinx anyway at the last second). I was thinking about not announcing it at all and just waiting to see if anyone noticed me whilst flipping through the book, but I’m too excited for that. Did I mention this week is my site’s anniversary week?
Yeah.
So I’ve got a little thing I wrote for the Journal, a small review of some older stuff, Here is Greenwood by Yukie Nasu. It’s the first comics-related work of mine to see print in a hardcopy publication, ever. It will be out this Wednesday (obviously), the day before the one-year anniversary of the beginning of this site. I am excited, very very excited. I hope you will like my small contribution.
Beyond self-promotion, this is a pretty big issue, with tons of reviews and essays by a wide range of folks; I’ll be sure to link to the full list once the Journal’s site updates, but I know Johanna Draper Carlson has some big stuff lined up, and I bet a lot of Journal regulars will be there too. The feature interview is Moto Hagio, one of the key figures in the evolution of shoujo manga (girls comics) in Japan, and a full-length short story, Hanshin, is included.
Just look at that cover. Yes, this will be a good edition.
Really hoping I didn’t jinx it right there.
Smoke #2 (of 3): Alex de Campi and Igor Kordey present the second part of their satire-laced political thriller thing, as dirty deals and dirtier acts spill out onto the streets of London. I was sufficiently impressed with issue #1; Kordey is plainly more in his element here than he was at Marvel, and de Campi manages to wring some interest out of an admittedly old plot and familiar characters. It’s all in the tone, a fairly intriguing one.
Desolation Jones #2: Also turning up in stores, the latest from an obvious de Campi influence, Warren Ellis, who ushers us back into sick LA. According to Bad Signal, J.H. Williams III is already working on issue #4 right now, so the bimonthly release schedule should be staving off delay for the time being. Not much more can be said for the story right now: it’s Ellis at his most amusing and most familiar, and sweet goddamn does it look pretty.
Seven Soldiers - Guardian #3 (of 4): Will the third issues be ‘exposition’ issues, or ‘Sheeda attack!’ issues? More will be revealed here, hopefully in way that’ll take attention away from the terribly boring title character and deeper into his world. He’s a dull man in a wild city, that Guardian is.
The Punisher MAX #23: Hmmm, briefly going biweekly then jumping back to monthly makes it feel like this book is late, though it’s really just reverting back to a normal release schedule. I get antsy without my Punisher, that’s all. Still haven’t bought that Dave Lapham book with Frank and Daredevil yet; anyone here know if it was any good? It looked like it got pretty middling reviews.
All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder #1: Meanwhile, DC goes back to the well of past success for that other dark avenger of the streets at night, enlisting Frank Miller to once again show the way, if only in a writer‘s capacity this time out. Regardless of critical reaction, DK2 (which I rather liked) made a goodly chunk of lucre, and lord knows Jim Lee won’t be driving them out of the shops, so let’s just presume this book is going to be a gigantic sales success at first. What’s going to be interesting is how Miller plans to tackle his return to open-ended comics storytelling (I can’t even remember the last time he worked on something that wasn’t a miniseries or an original graphic novel), and what he plans to do with the titular Boy Wonder. Considering that Miller has busted the character’s age all the way down to 12 and that Lee’s breaking out the Lincoln Green short-shorts again (actually, the first thing Miller did upon bringing back Flash in DK2 was putting him back in shorts; maybe the guy just likes shorts), it seems to me that the team is looking to play up some of the most unbelievable elements of Batman’s sidekick, a strange move to make in a story that’s largely being sold as “The Real Year Two.” Perhaps Miller and Lee want us to accept the absurd parts of Batman along with the oooh so gritty bits; that’s sort of what Miller seemed to be getting at in DK2 as well (albeit on a wider superheroic scale), and I’m interested in seeing how much of that much-maligned work resurfaces here, if only in shadow, which is appropriate.
posted by Jog at 9:55 PM
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