Thanks DC!

Valhallahan

"For the long term health of the industry, we are willing to take a financial risk so that readers who love our medium do not abandon the art form."

DC Comics apparently prove they're the bigger man by putting their cover prices back down to $2.99. Good show, chaps. I hate to say it, having been raised a True Believer, but the Distinguished Competitor is getting much more of Valhallahan’s sterling these days.

*I read this on Bleeding Cool News, Innit.

Shadowland: Powerman

Action Ash
I am generally quite positive about the comic book industry, but I thought I'd join in with Valhallahan's Positivity week anyway, to talk about the comics I've enjoyed in recent times.

Being a Luke Cage fan I was excited when I heard about the new Powerman character, as some of you may remember, and I must say it did not disappoint. Well it hasn't yet anyway. Sweet Christmas! I am loving the this series. The first two issues have been great, with references to Luke Cage's past and the cameos in issue 2, this mini series has been an enjoyable tribute to the legacy of Luke Cage. Although I am upset that nobody has been called, nor called anyone, a turkey. I think all this needs is a bit more jive and street talk to sweeten the deal.

Even so, this is a brilliant introduction to a new character, and one that I hope will stick around. The new Powerman is different from Cage, a fresh new take on the "Hero for Hire" deal. The writing is yet another example of Van Lente's wit and extreme competence in the realm of satisfying storytelling, with amazing action sequences. Asrar's art suits the tone well, not taking itself too seriously but could be a little better in some places.

Van lente my brother, you keep this up and you gon' have plenty of stash in yo' slide. Ya dig!

Walking Wounded

"The House That Dripped War"

Story By Chris Denton

Art by Steven Denton

Valhallahan
I picked up Walking Wounded while in the grip of a buying frenzy. Me and Action Ash were at a Comic Exhibition (Con? Festival? I don't know what you'd call it, leave me alone) quite a while ago, but much like 12 Hour Shift, that I bought at the same time, I've only got around to reading it recently. My plan on the day was to buy a shit tonne of self published comics to review for the site, but for the most part I wasn't that impressed and rather than rip them apart on the blog, or just do a puff piece out of politeness they just ended up filed under "Shit I might Read At Some Point" on the floor next to my bed. It's a pretty big pile.

Any road, I finally read WW this week and I was very pleasantly surprised. It's a series of rip-roaring war yarns held together in places by scenes of Martian historians in the year 3174, so far so mental. The artwork is strong, it's very reminiscent of the old Combat magazines or some such Boy's Own adventure magazine. What sets this apart is the tongue in cheek charm of it all and the extreme comic book violence betwixt the covers. I absolutely loved it, and although it's a little rough around the edges at times, I heartily recommend picking it up.

Oh and what made me get it in the first place? The title of this issue is The House That Dripped War! I don't think I need say anything else really.

The Bulletproof Coffin

The Bulletproof Coffin

Story by David Hine

Art by Shaky Kane

VALHALLAHAN
I've only managed to track down #2-3 of this so far, but I really like what I see. Shaky Kane's trippy visuals are certainly an acquired taste, a taste I hadn't acquired in the olden days when I were a lad and he was doing "Shaky's Believe It Or Not" in the back of 2000 AD those really twisted my melon man. Now, life having twisted my melon right round baby right round I am thoroughly digging Mr Kane's artwork. Kane somehow makes everything in central character Steve Newman's life so relatably mundane yet at the same time... off. The seams of Steve's little life don't quite meet. His drab reality is being broken apart by the comic book worlds he so obsessed over, the lines blurring between what is and isn't to the extent that he may be living his dream or he may just be tripping balls.

Packed with cultural references real and falsified at the same time as being a gripping yarn in and of itself, this is a real princely package. Kane and Hine also embellish their weird world with features on the double fictional stars of the story at the back, alongside fake letter pages, which is just spiffing of them quite frankly.

TOP HOLE!

All Will Be Well!

Valhallahan
Well I'm in a bit of a quandary this week; I skipped the What I got and Why last week because all I picked up was a back issue of The Bulletproof Coffin and this month's Hellblazer. I thought I'd just add them in this week but I've looked at the books due to hit the shops this week and the only one I'm interested in is Batman Streets Of Gotham #16, and I'm not 100% sure I'll even bother with that. Hmm...

I had hoped to do a proper post on CLiNT, having read it, but to be honest, I was a bit disappointed with the end product, and I didn't just want to harp on about how utterly bad the "Top 10 TV Mums" segment was (even though it really was bad), because at least they're trying and we at 2Badguys don't want this to be a relentlessly negative blog, so.....

I've decided I'll just tell you lovely people about some of the things I have really enjoyed the past week or so that I haven't really mentioned here yet. Some of it's recent, some of it's just stuff I finally got around to reading due to lack of shiny new cool things. Expect thrills, spills and cloying enthusiasm in what I'm calling:

VALHALLAHAN'S HALF WEEK OR SO OF PICTURE BOOK POSITIVITY!

Enjoy.