What I Got and Why: Mixed Doubles

Guten Tag!

Just two posts in from the long hiatus and I’m reminded why the "What I Got" posts get a bit same-y from me; apart from the new titles, I've got my favourites that I say the same bloody things about week in, week out. With that in mind I’ll keep it short and sweet on the old faithfuls and have a re-jig on the next instalment. In the meantime, enjoy!

American Vampire #28

The past two storylines have been great, so hoping this one keeps up the momentum. Now we’re still in the fifties and back to the series' original cast members and setting albeit a long time later with a lot more water under the bridge, certainly for Pearl, who is worlds away from the naive ingénue we first met in American Vampire #1. Although there is certainly an ongoing story in American Vampire, it is a very new reader friendly book. The start of each new story arc is always marked clearly on the cover, and often feature heavily if not entirely on new characters. A very noob friendly and highly enjoyable series.

Creator Owned Heroes #2

This series is quite the curio. Spearheaded by Jimmy Palmiotti, whose Jonah Hex work I’m very fond of, this is a collection of creators mostly known for their big company work, displaying their craft in, well, Creator Owned Heroes. Does what it says on the tin I guess. The series features two strips and magazine style articles and interviews at the back. A full read for your extra dollar, it feels a bit like a short US version of Judge Dredd: The Megazine. The stories are a bit forgettable so far but Trigger Girl 6 is a fantastic showcase for the beautiful art of Phil Noto, a real favourite round these parts.

Fatale #6

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are two creators at the top of their game. No matter what they turn their hands to they ‘knock it out of the park’ as I believe the yanks say. The collection of the first five issues has just come out so it’s a great time to catch up. I recommend buying the individual issues of any Brubaker/Phillips series when you can as they fill the back of each books with fascinating articles on the films, shows and books of the genres they are dealing with. With this pair there is almost always a ‘noir’ filter; Criminal was crime noir, Sleeper and Incognito were Superhero noir and Fatale is Horror noir and damnit, who don’t like noir!

Fatima #1

Gilbert Hernandez, the batshit-crazy half (occasionally third) of Love and Rockets’ Los Bros Hernandez is back with a new series which, judging by the promo pages online deals with some kind of zombie crisis. On a quick flick through it looks like everyone involved keeps their clothes on which is pretty bloody weird for a Gilbert Hernandez book. The lead still has a figure Russ Meyer would be proud of though, so don't worry. In all seriousness, although I'm giving this a try, I'm enjoying Gilbert's books less and less these days so I've not set my hopes too high on this series.

iZombie #27

Onward goes the apocalypse! Only one more issue after this. Why, you bastards, why?

New Deadwardians #4

For me, this has been the best of the new batch of Vertigo titles that launched together a few months ago. The other three were Dominique LaVeau: Voodoo Child, Fairest and Saucer Country, all of which were pretty lacklustre. Although this series does have that unfortunate appearance of being "yet another zombie/vampire story" the book has enough of its own identity, brought about by the pacing and the understated nature of the Edwardian characters, that it’s been a rather pleasant surprise to me. Focus less on the criminally overdone vampire/zombie angle and it’s a very enjoyable crime mystery comic.

Prophet #26

I decided to stick around with this series after last month's blatant jumping Jumping-Off point. Brandon Graham’s straight-sci-fi approach to Rob Liefield’s Extreme 90s badass character has been a real success for me so far, but I fear that a lot of this was to do with the creepy art and design work from Simon Roy. Without this factor, I'm reminded that my interest in far-out space stuff can be a bit limited, and with no real characters cling on to, this can seem more and exercise in world-building, and I prefer my stories with a bit more human interest.

Resident Alien #2

Talking about human interest, this new series from Dark Horse by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse has human interest in abundance. This quirky tale follows a murder mystery in a small town from the perspective of an Alien who crash landed in the area some years ago and is posing as the local GP. I’ve been a big fan of (2000AD alumni) Parkhouse for a long time so it was his art that made me try the book but the perfect combo of his expressive characters and the charming, if occasionally gruesome story have made this a real win for me, Like a (very well made version of) the kind of murder mystery TV show they rerun on TV during the day; clever, but not so clever as to alienate younger viewers, gruesome, but not so gruesome that your Nan couldn’t watch it, a quirky twist in the lead detective role, and a charming supporting cast. It’s sort of a comic book version of Monk, or Diagnosis Murder, and all the more compelling for it.

Scalped #59

The excitement is too much!!!!!!! After 5 years of superb hard boiled crime fiction from Jason Aaron and RM Guera we’re reaching the high octane finale (in #60). There’s a lot of water under the bridge between these grizzled bastards and it's all coming to a head in a Mexican standoff. All secrets are out and all hell has broken loose! It's too difficult to avoid spoilers at this stage, so suffice to say this series is really, really, really fucking good. To be read with some Hank III blaring loud and proud and some sippin' whiskey on the go.

Spaceman #7

The 100 Bullets team of Azzarrello and Eduardo Risso have teamed up again to produce this intriguing science fiction mini series. Set in the half submerged wreck of a dystopian urban sprawl, we follow a "Spaceman", a large grotesque, specifically designed to survive deep space exploration, a task no one has any need for or interest in anymore, leaving him to eke out a dangerous living scavenging for scrap in the watery ruins. That is, until he comes into contact with a kidnapped Reality TV child star and the shit really hits the fan. This is another class act as you'd expect from creators of such pedigree, but will be a shock to the system for anyone expecting 100 Bullets 2, as this is much more like Eduardo Risso's 'Borderline' series from earlier in his career (written by the late Carlos Trillo, available in four paperback collections from Dynamite and highly recommended by me). Worth checking out, but as this is issue 7 of 9 you may as well wait for the trade collection at this point.

Sweet Tooth #35

Look, just go and buy the first Trade Paperback OK?

Whispers #1-3

This was recommended to me by a mate, and looking at the creepy covers I’m surprised I missed it when they were on the shelves the first time. Luckily the kind folks at Orbital had them in stock. The book is by Joshua Luna, who normally works as one half of the Luna Brothers. I've heard good things about their previous work (Ultra, Women, The Sword) but never actually read any. I know very little about the book, but if I can judge this book by it's cover, I'm impressed and slightly creeped out. I'll let you know either way.

Collections!

(I’m a firm believer in buying my comic books monthly, but I loves me some readin' in chunks too.)

Invincible Vol.16: Family Ties

One of the few series I trade wait on. Invincible is superhero comics done right. Over the years the series has gone from a refreshingly simple and exciting modern take on a Spider-Man-esque superhero coming of age story into a full blown space epic set in a 'shared universe' as complex as Marvel or DC but without spilling over into a million other tie-in books. One of the all time best long form superhero tales, if ye ask me. Well done Kirkman!

Joe Sacco: Notes From a Defeatist

After catching him on the bizarrely presented but informative TV show ‘Ink: Alter Egos Exposed’ (Sky Arts. More on this another time) I realised that I hadn't read everything Joe Sacco has done, so I thought I'd rectify that. Most famous for comic book as journalism work in 'Safe Area: Gorazde' and 'Palestine', this is a collection of his smaller more personal works, a lot of which don't even take place in a warzone for a change.

Valhallahan

Comic books: The perfect hangover cure!

Action Ash

I woke up to find myself sprawled across an air mattress on the floor of a flat I didn't recognise as my own (it was much tidier). As I rolled over to my right, above me on the couch was sleeping a hairy ogre of a man. You guessed it, it was Valhallahan. As he snored away, the previous night's events began to come back to me. I was at a pub in Hoxton, surrounded by trendy wankers while The Fabulous Penetrators rocked my face off. Then Liam and I ended up staying at a friend's place and that was where I had just found myself. After spending half the day there, kindly being made breakfast and watching a film, we felt it was time to get out of the way and we stumbled out into the streets of Limehouse feeling like mere shadows of our former selves. We were not, however, without direction. We both knew that the best way to regain our humanity was to find a comic shop and quick. We headed for central and Gosh was our first port of call.

One of the first things I noticed after entering was a particular horror comic high up on the wall, who's cover I had come across on the Internet: Chamber of Darkness #7 (1970). Chamber of Darkness was a short lived horror title that for some reason didn't sell well (despite wicked offerings from Bernie Wrightson and Steve Ditko) and was retitled Monsters on the Prowl from issue 9 onward. After browsing some more I bought it and we moved on to Comicana in Shaftesbury Avenue, which has a fantastic collection of back issues. I bought a bunch of stuff that I'm too lazy to mention but among my stack were two issues of Marvel Spotlight featuring The Son of Satan, some old Horror titles such as DC's  The Witching Hour and Marvel's Tomb of Darkness and a bunch of other titles.

Monday and Tuesday went by without anything worthy of mention happening and then Wednesday rolled around and it was time for even more comic books from Chaos City. Here's what I picked up:

Conan: Road of Kings #2 - I read a preview online and this issue looks like a good'n.

Detective Comics #873 - The conclusion of Snyder's first story arc and I'm pumped to see how Grayson's going to get out of this one. Also it's nice to read a comic story that only three parts and not stretched beyond it's natural limit to six issues solely to make it easier for trade conversion.


Namor #6 - Now all that vampire nonsense is over I want to see what they're going to do with a favourite character of mine. Note the fantastic Phil Noto cover.

Astonishing Thor #2 - It's a shame they had to go and give it an Ed McGuinness cover when there's all that gorgeous Mike Choi on the inside.

Chaos War #5 - This didn't turn out to be as epic as I had hoped it would be. Still been fun but tbh I forget it exists between issues.

New Avengers #8 - I am not happy by the change of art and hope it's only temporary. It's not that I don't like Daniel Acuna, it's just that Immonen was doing a brilliant job and I think he captured the perfect look for the series. Never mind, prove me wrong Acuna.

X-Men #7 - Now all that vampire nonsense is over I want to see what they're going to...Whoa, I just experienced some De Ja Vu.

On top of this I also bought three back issues of Hellblazer to start catching up. Those of you with excellent memories will recall that I started buying it after a swap shop where Liam suggested it. Shortly after I forgot I was buying it and am now a few months behind. That's not so bad though as I know someone who has been buying it but is still YEARS behind when it comes to actually reading it. He shall remain nameless =P

What I Got and Why:Double Feature!

Dear all,

I've been busy as a bastard these last couple of weeks so I haven't been gracing you with my Funnybook Wisdom. I don't know what the venerable Action Ash's excuse is. Maybe there’s a new Zelda or some shit. Anyway folks, let's crack on with the Round up...

I got some darned good Marvel books lately, I've cut down dramatically on my Marvel consumption this past year, but what I am getting is pretty much awesome with chips. They are floating my boat and no mistake!

Chaos War #3 - Zeus Versus Galactus. 'Nuff Said. But to elaborate, Zeus Versus Galactus! If that isn't enough to sell it to you, I give up, I really do. Hot and sweaty God-on-God action as The Chaos King unleashed hell on earth. Because that’s how he do.

Taskmaster #3 - "The Town That Was Hitler" - this has to be my favourite Superhero series at the moment, it's action packed and willfully revels in the inherent silliness of the Marvel Universe. It's laugh out loud funny and genuinely touching in places. If you want a giggle and a thrill and to be touched in places, give this series a go!

Strange Tales 2 #2 - Los Bros Hernandez do Marvel. Yes, you read that right. Los Bros provide the stand out strips, and really go to town with the goofy, this is more akin to the oddball side stories like BEM or Music For Monsters rather than recent Locas or Palomar tales. Both set firmly in the Silver age, that both brothers' styles fit perfectly. I never thought I'd read an Iron Man story by the auteur behind Birdland *ahem*. Oh, and other people wrote and drew stuff too, some of it good.

Scarlet #3 - I'm still digging this even though the I'm not really sure what message Bendis is trying to put across here. It’s a good comic with an intriguing premise, but I’m still waiting for it to really knock my socks off.

Jonah Hex #61 - Another one off story and another written by 2Badguys fave Jordi Bernet. Seeing his work in Jonah Hex really makes me want to track down his work on Torpedo. Which by all accounts is several shades of bloomin' marvelous. Bernett is a great choice for capturing the mood of these brutal, dark settings but without the excessive murk or overwrought detail that so many artists do. This go round we get to meet Mai Ling the broad what Jonah hitched. She must've been drunk...

Sweet Tooth #15 - Great to get some new Sweet Tooth this month too. I'm in the strange situation that I’m loving this series but not able to explain why. The story is odd, the art is odder, the pace is hard to figure out and it's really bloody good. To paraphrase Cliff Richards or someone "I don't know why I love you but I do".

iZombie #7 & American Vampire #7 - these are both really enjoyable, fantastic looking books that take these overplayed Horror concepts and give us a fresh new spin. Where American Vampire plays it straight and gives us a ripping yarn about yankee vamps in the 1930s, iZombie takes us on a far out trip man with Zombies and Vampires and Weredogs - Oh My! A pair of thumbs up from me.

Pilot Season: 7 Days in Hell - The Stelfreeze Cover made this stand out for me and I'm glad it did. If you don’t already know, Top Cow's Pilot Season is there annual run of one issue try-out series, the winner gets a full run. This is definitely the best I've read the premise is good and you can see how a series would run from it, a bit like a supernatural 100 Bullets. The art is by Phil Noto, which means it's beautiful to look at, this bloke can do no wrong in my book. I have to say that although I can see it working as a series, for me one shot was probably enough. I heartily recommend reading it.

Yours Sincerely,

Valhallahan

Missing In Action: O Infinite Horizon Where Art Thou?

Valhallahan

Welcome to a new series of posts about comics both good and bad which have started well but seem to have drifted off into the ether, starting with Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto’s The Infinite horizon.

A year or two ago, whilst perusing the shelves of Fantastic Realm, my local, no longer extant comic shop my eye was drawn to this fruity little number. Not having heard anything about the book prior to this chance encounter, what first hit me was the art. Set in some near-future Middle Eastern conflict, the simple but expressive artwork of Phil Noto really shone. The palate was dramatically different to the bold superheroics or dark shadowy crime and crying comics I was reading at the time, and felt like a breath of fresh air. So enrapt was I by the package that it took two issues for me to realise that I'd read this story before.

Issue one opens with a small group of US soldiers finally ceding control of the last operative airstrip after what we’re led to believe was a gruelling, prolonged attack. The last plane leaves, leaving our heroes with a long walk home. The story follows this group's epic journey, interspersed with the struggles of the commander’s wife back on the home front; a fractured, bankrupt America. Our heroes are lost at sea, face a cruel 'Cyclops' on an island of slaves, while at home wife and son fight off the attentions of nefarious men who want their land and her *ahem*. Yep, you guessed it, it’s a (post)modern take on the Odyssey; the battle of Troy is The War Against Terror, and Classical Greece is a United States torn apart from within.

Now this may sound like a naff idea, but trust me on this, it’s a real class act. I don’t know why, but it seems to have stopped at issue 4 with no sign of recommencing any time soon, but I bloody well hope it does.

Four thinly veiled metaphors out of five. Go out and buy it.