What Is Wrong With You People? (A voyage into the DC readership Part One)

Valhallahan

When DC announced that letters pages were returning to their books after a long absence, I was pleased to hear it. I enjoy anything that adds to reading time in my monthlies, even those annoying little Super 8 pull outs, I read The Walking Dead’s letter page every week and fondly remember the nerd raging fanboys in the X-Force/X-Statix issues, proving that sometimes there’s none so backwards as the fans of the fantastic. But what are today’s fan’s thinking what kind of person reads Jonah Hex? What are my fellow consumers thinking these days? How about the Vertigo readers, surely they’re my Kind of People right? Our survey says: “Hell Naw!”

Some people just don’t know when they’re on to a good thing. In this series I'll share some examples from three of my favourite books.

Scalped #48

In Scalped #48 Joe Fonseca of Kitchener, Ontario goes to great lengths to prove that not everyone in the land of Wolverine and Neil Young has the level of discerning taste we’d been led to believe. He writes:

“…Most Vertigo titles have Very good writing but poor art, Scalped is the exception…regarding the covers: I understand why Vertigo is going for a different look to their covers, but the fact of the matter is that the vertigo covers are not very appealing to the eye. The ironic thing is that of all the Vertigo books, I find Jock’s to be some of the more interesting ones (next to Bolland’s Jack of Fables covers).”

Couldn’t disagree with you more Joe, week after week the Vertigo covers pop out at you from the shelf, if anything, Bolland’s are the least interesting compared to the madness Jeff Lemire comes out with every month on Sweet Tooth, the pop art dynamism of Mike Allred on I Zombie, or the sheer force of Jock’s masterful works. Ask any grown up who hasn’t been trained for years to enjoy the stylised musclemen and women of modern superhero comics what stands out to them as something that might be worth reading...

“...If I was editor, I would let R.M. Guera do the covers as a straight scene from thee story or try some of the great superhero artists like Ivan Reis, David Finch, Gary Frank or Jim Lee.”

Well thank fuck you’re not Joe! I’d drop that book like a hot turd if you were! Perhaps you should stick to Green Lantern or Legion of Superheroes or some other artistically stunted dross. I’m just going to put up a little compare/contrast for you readers at home.

Vertigo's I, Zombie #1

Jim Lee's X-Men #1

Vertigo's Sweet Tooth #1

David Finch's Psylocke #2



Vertigo's American Vampire #1

Gary Frank's Superman: Secret Origin #2



Vertigo's Hellblazer #275






Ivan Reis' Blackest Night #0



Vertigo's Scalped #38



I guess it’s a matter of taste. Whether you have any, that is.




Stay tuned for parts two and three where I look at the letters from Hellblazer and Jonah Hex!

The Comic Books of March: A Valhallahan's Eye View

Hi there!

Been a while, but now I'm back, from outer space! Well, Stevenage, but whatev's, the point is not where I was but where I am now. You know what I mean? The journey, though important is oft mooted by the destination. You dig? No? Ah sod you then, here's what I've been buying.

Mostly I've been buying from Chaos City in St Albans lately as I've been largely Herts bound and also because it's a jolly nice shop. It's a bit like when Silver Surfer was earth bound but with more pubs, less moping and a day job in social services.

Oh and Post It Notes. But I digress.

What I Got and Why...

Hellblazer: Original Sins

Inappropriate cover artist nothwithstanding (Jim Lee, WTF?) this is a loverly looking package. DC are finally reprinting Hellblazer in its entirety starting with his appearances in Swamp Thing. Thank The First of the Fallen for that! I started reading Hellblazer at around the #100 mark, so there's soooo much cool shit for me yet to read. Expect a full review of this when I'm done.

Joe The Barbarian #8

Finally this delightful little series has come to an end. I recently caught up on this series at Chaos City's sale, but I've been waiting for this issue to come out so I can sit and read it in one sitting. Sean Murphy's artwork in this is su-fucking-perb! He really is a superstar in the waiting. Also be on the look out for an American Vampire mini series from him soon. I can't wait. Never has a story about a young boy drifting in and out of a coma, whilst tripping balls looked so damned purdy. Top hole.

Sweet Tooth #19

The one we've all been waiting for... well, more like the one we've all been kinda curious about, but hey, this is my blog and I'll huckster all I like. This issue is primarily flashbacks and dream sequences, which has given series writer/artist Jeff Lemire a chance to rope in some other indie talent to give us their interpretation of his vision. and what a vision it is. A great issue, absolute top quality, well worth your shekels. This issue also pushes the overall story along in an exciting direction with the final pages' creepy cliffhanger. I bloody love this series.

American Vampire #12

Yee-Freaking-Haw! Danijel Zezelj, the unpronounceable master of the dark and moody, lends his considerable artistic talents to Scott Snyder's American Vampire this month., and a bloody good job he did too (pun not intended, but welcome). This issue is a standalone story featuring outlaw vampire Skinner Sweet going to and old timey rodeo show and reliving some past ignomies with some old... friends? This is one of those melancholy "how the west was lost stories" and a jolly good one it is too. I'd recommend this as a standalone, regardless of whether you're reading the series.

New York Five #2

I am now the proud owner of issues one and two of NY5. How is it, I hear you ask? I must like it right? Weelllll...... I haven't actually read them yet, I can't quite bring myself to. This stupid predicament stems from my ongoing beef with the artistic works of Brian Wood. I'm always suckered in by the gorgeous art, product design and premises of his stories, but I'm always disappointed by the characters. Every. Fucking. Time. It just seems to me that he can't write anything but pretentious hipster douchebags. Even his fucking vikings come across as hipster douchebags! How is that even possible? I'll read these at some point I'm sure but, maybe not soon.

Scalped #46

Scalped is Scalped. Scalped is good. Yep, it's still bloody great and I'm still loving it. I highly recommend this series to anyone comics fan or no comics fan. Actually, scratch that, I wouldn't recommend it to children or depressives as it deals only in adult themes and is truly fucking bleak. Anyway the point is, yet another top-notch storyline, back to the trials, temptations and failures of Chief Redcrow and the continual corruption of Dashiel Badhorse, and back on form after arguably dipping (slightly) with the Agent Nitz story a couple of months a go.

Jonah Hex #65

"Snow Blind" - Yet another classy Jonah Hex strip from Messrs Gray, Palmiotti and Bernet.Hex is one of those series that I have very little to say about month in, month out except that it's so damned entertaining, and such a quality package. $2.99 a month for a mean and fearless western yarn, that's done in one and features invariably monstrously beautiful art from some of the industry's most underrated masters. Just pick up a copy, I double dare you you sunofabitch!

Infestation: GI Joe #1

I'm still following the Infestation series, but after a little break, I'm losing enthusiasm. It really is absolute nonsense, good fun, but bloody stupid. The artwork in this GI JOE tie-in is proper shit though, someone should have a word as these 2 issues will probably outsell any other GI JOE book they produce, and they could have at least put a B or C caliber artist on this. To cap it all off the only character I've heard of in it is Baroness, and through boredom at work, Google and a childhood as an Action Force fan I probably know more than most about the franchise. They must know they can do better....and knowing is half  the battle (drumroll optional).  

Incognito: Bad Influences #4

When this issue came out I sat and read this series from #1 and boy does it read better that way! Don't get me wrong, I love reading my books periodically, but sometimes a book just takes an age to come out and you forget all about it. Anyway, Incognito is going from strength to strength. Expect a full review when we read #5 but suffices to say this is some of the very best super-work on the market. Brubaker and Phillips are so good at what they do it should be illegal. The Secret Ingredient is Pulp apparently...

Xombi #1

Xombi sees the return of an obscure Milestone character I know next to nothing about. I picked this up partly because the premise sounded kind of intriguing, but mainly because of the art by Frazer Irving who, to paraphrase, can make whippet shit look like the Sistine Chapel. The story, featuring living paintings, characters jumping from movie screens, inexplicable tuna sandwiches and mystery popcorn looks fucking mental. Expect a full review of this in due course.

Knight and Squire #6

I'm very sad to see this series go, but it has been a wild ride. I loved every minute of it. I wholeheartedly recommend this series. Also as Ash mentioned in the post below, writer Cornell had the dubious pleasure of meeting the bad guys last weekend. I loved what he did in Soundgarden.

iZombie #11

A slightly drab issue by comparison, but it's still so damned pretty. I really am enjoying this series immensely, despite the fact that it's mixture of supernatural action, soap opera, romance, pop-whimsy and occasional moping is not normally my bag.. Waitaminute, that's totally my bag, what am I on about? Anyway, check out this happening series daddy-o.

Casanova Gula III

Talk about happening! This series is happening as fuck! Not for squares dad, this is the heavy scene. If Jim Steranko and Ian Flemming wrote beat poetry this would be it. Dimension hopping, metaphysical espionage jazz from Matt Fraction and Fabio Moon.

Hellblazer #276-7

In which our hero (?) comes back from his honeymoon, tries to find a new thumb and deals with some pesky property developers all with the aid of nasty mysticism, demons and pure British obnoxiousness. I love Hellblazer. This run is really floating my boat at the moment, and as the cover to #277 says, it's the start of a new storyline and a fine jumping on point for new readers. Hellblazer hasn't been this consistently good for years. Long may it last.

The Walking Dead #82

Another series that it's hard to write any more about, either you're reading it or not at this point. All I'll say is that we're currently in one of Kirkman's "everything turns to shit" storylines and it's as exciting as ever. Who'd a thunk a zombie series could still be so good 82 issues in. Wowsers. I will add that TWD is one of those series it's worth starting from the beginning, if you start here, you're really missing out (and Vol 1 is really affordable, so do it).

 

The New Frontier

Many thanks to friend of the blog, Rene, who sent me The New Frontier Volumes one and two which I can't wait to get stuck into. Rene definitely earned a 2Badguys No Prize!

 

Stuff I didn't bother with...

 

FF #1

Because really, who gives a fuck? Does anyone really like the Fantastic Four in 2011? Anyone? Actually I can think of one guy I know, and he's a good bloke so I'll let you have that. Still not buying it though. I'll ask him what it's like next I see him and let you know.

 

Anything Deadpool

Because, despite the great covers from Skottie Young and Jason Pearson, I really don't find Deadpool funny, interesting or cool.

 

Vertigo Resurrected: Finals

Because it looks like some magic fairy wizard flute bullshit.

 

The Marvel Universe

Not really doing it for me at the moment. For the first time in a long time, I'm not reading any Marvel titles regularly. Feel free to suggest something to me to rectify this.

 

And Finally...

 

Wow, the new TV Wonder Woman costume looks like one of those naff "sexy" Halloween costumes.

 

The new Thor animation from Marvel Knight looks fecking awesome! 

 

I'm loving The Boondocks at the moment. Check it out. Thanks to Mr Nick for the recommendation.

 

I like drawing on Post It notes.

 

Keep your eyes peeled for some bargain bin reviews coming up from me.

 

TTFN pendejos!

 

Valhallahan

  

What I Got And Why: January 2011!

Valhallahan
Guten Tag Home-Friends! Welcome sie bitter to What I Got And Why 2011!

Jonah Hex - Well here we have another classic Hex tale, Hex takes a rare execution job off some wronged townsfolk, to take out some low down killer pervert. And kill him he does and then some! The art is by Jordi Bernet who is as close to a regular artist as they get in Jonah Hex. He good, he real good.

Oddly this issue is part of DC's line-wide "Covers with characters in front of logos without the title" month and as Jonah Hex doesn't have a logo as such, they've opted to go for "HEX" in the title font in the Dixie flag colours. I suppose just showing a Dixie flag would send the wrong signals what with the reb flag being the international symbol for redneck. I have to say I really like the idea behing these covers, and it looks great on the shop shelves but as Hex shows, it's not a comfortable fit for every title.

Knight and Squire #4 - Another dandy of an issue of Knight and Squire. Not my favourite by any means, if anything it's the weakest, but a weak issue of Knight and Squire is still funnier than a pile of Deadpool books big enough to build a stairway to the sun. This issue Knight fights... himself! And Squire fights... the awkwardness of budding teen romance! Plus Hank the American butler.

Scalped - Scalped is as Scalped does, so yet again we have some hard boiled brutal misery from Aaron and co. I wouldn’t have it any other way. This month the focus is on Special Agent Nitz as his overly complicated shitty downward drunken spiral misery he calls a life finally gets on top of him and he decides to end it. Hillarity ensues obviously.

Casanova: Gula I - I picked up the latest issue of Casanova, which is reprinting stuff I don't already have in trade now. This is one trippy book Daddy-o. It also looks rather delightful, drawn by 2Badguys' favourite artist Fabio Moon. Casanova is written by 2Badguys' seems-quite-good-but-not-quite-boner-enducing-yet-guy Matt Fraction and he really goes hell for leather with the nutso sci-fi concepts. Silver age madness filtered through European spy movie cool now in almost Technicolor!

Cutting the crap though, this is a great, fun series worthy of all the hype it got when it came out.

iZombie - iZombie continues apace, and what a pace! Actually that statement doesn’t even mean anything, I just wanted to say something other than "Still going. Still like it". I must say though, that this title has gone from a book I was considering dropping, to one I look forward to every month. iZombie is a fun, almost shamefully pretty-looking series.

Sweet Tooth - Sweet Tooth's second big storyline comes to a climax and shit really does hit the proverbial. I would like to talk about this series in depth at some point, because I really am loving it. The problem is I can't really understand why. I will say that it is a bizarre, exciting and utterly fresh book, once rather aptly described as "Mad Max meets Bambi". I recommend it to all, regular comic reader or not.

Science Dog #1 - Science Dog is a recurring double-fictional character in Robert Kirkman's Invincible universe. He's (Invincible alter-ego) Mark Grayson's favourite comic book character who apparently was created as a genuine comic book pitch by Kirkman and Invincible co-creator Cory Walker before they started on Invincible. This collects the first two mini stories by the pair which were originally printed in anniversary issues of Invincible. I really have said Invincible a lot now haven’t I? Anyway, it's a fun but forgettable romp, reminiscent of the lighter issues of that other book I keep mentioning, something beginning with I...

Incognito: Bad Influences #2 - To be honest it's been so long since issue one came out that I've completely forgotten what is happening in this series, but it's the second issue of the sequel to Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' superb Pulp-bad-guy-goes-sort-of-good series from a year or so ago, so you just know it's going to make a lovely collected story. I might wait till another issue is out and start from the beginning again.

The Walking Dead #80 - This Week: Zombies! Red hot zombie action makes a welcome return in the first part of new storyline, "No Way Out".

Bulletproof Coffin #6 - And so we bid adieu to one of my favourite series of 2010. I heartily recommend all you pretty folk go and by this series when it comes out in Trade Paperback. In fact, I fucking dare you!

Chaos War #4 - I'll admit that I'm kind of losing interedt now, but we're nearly done so fingers crossed for a doozy of an ending. I'll also note that this is the only Marvel Universe title I'm still reading.

Hellblazer #264 - This issue wraps up the time travelling trip and puts all the peices on the board for next issues big ol' wedding event. I'm on the edge of my seat! Hellblaxer really is a book worth talking about again. Nice.

and that, my freunds, is that. Keep your peepers peeled for some extra fun goodies from us in the coming weeks. not just more What I Got And Why's, oh no brothers and sisters, we are diversifying! Can You dig it?

What I Got and Why Last Week!

Valhallahan
Sweet Tooth #14&16 - It’s all kicking off now! And now that I’ve picked up the issue that I didn’t realise I was missing, it makes a lot more %$*&ing sense! There’s a big ol’ showdown a-happening at the compound and a glut of arses are about to get thoroughly kicked! Verily I doth Proper love this series init bruv.

DC Presents Chase - Ash pointed this out to me in Orbital and I had to pick it up for the J.H. Williams III art. It’s his early stuff, but he’s still a total master of the comics page. No Idea what the book is actually about, aside from the fact that it is set in the DC Universe and has that cool skeleton-in-a-suit guy who was in that Justice Society of America book that I got from a bargain bin in one of those warehouse clearance discount book shops, you know the one. You don’t? I don’t know why I even bother with you! Anyway, looks fun!

ASIDE!
As an aside, I want to point out that I’m digging these semi-Trade things that DC are publishing at the minute. It seemed to start with Vertigo Resurrected, but they’re doing them for quite a few mainstream DC titles too now. Essentially they’re three issues’ worth of stories bound as a cross between trade paperback and a comic, reprinting some out of print lesser heard of DC stories that aren’t long enough put into trade paperback format. I think they could do with being a quid or so cheaper, but it’s great to get these obscure stories back in circulation. Which leads me to...

Vertigo Resurrected: The Extremist - I didn’t actually but this, but the upshot of it being released is that the issues I was missing from the original mini series popped up in Orbital’s back issue boxes. I snapped them up for about a quid each. Nice! I’ll not say much about the story now, aside from the fact that it’s about ordinary people and the power of masked anonymity. By Ted McKeever.

V2K: Totems - I picked this up on a whim (it was cheap), it’s a one-shot crossover from 1999/2000 that sees different 90s Vertigo characters meeting up at John Constantine’s Millenium New Year’s Eve bash. Check out the full review what I has done.

Knight and Squire #3 - I don’t know what Action Ash is missing, but I’m loving this series. This issue the Potent Pair take on an evil army of cloned British Monarchs led by Shakespearian villain, Richard III. Sterling.

Jonah Hex - Jonah Hex drawn by Eduardo Risso. EDUARDO ****ING 100BULLETS ****ING RISSO! Yep you know I’m all over that like shit on a blanket (to paraphrase Lord Sugar).

Also I got a bit bored at home and ordered these beauties from Amazon.

Myspace Dark Horse Presents Vol.1 - I know Myspace is like so totally last week yeah? But short comic book stories from a fantastic selection of artists and writers don’t never go out of fashion. Well, maybe fashion was the wrong term, but you get the gist. Featuring bits and pieces from Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon, Gerrard Way, Joss Whedon, Steve Niles, Guy Davis, Cary Nord, Tony Millionaire, Don Heck, Ron Marz, Rick Remender, Kieron Dwyer and others.

Beyond! - This little Marvel Universe team up mini series slipped under a lot of people’s radars when it came out but seems to be well regarded by those who did actually read it. The creative team is Milestone/Static/Justice League/JLU guru Dwayne McDuffie turning in a rare bit of marvel work and drawn by 2Badguys favourite Scott Kollins, so it should be a treat. Add to that the eclectic cast and the fact that it is a sort of sequel to the original Secret Wars story from the 80s and I’m hoping to find my Marvel Heroes itch well and truly scratched!

Ex Machina Vol.10 - This is it, the final volume of Ex Machina! I have to say that my interest in the series has waned over time but I’m eager to find out how it ends. Written by some guy called Brian K Vaughan, whom I’m led to believe used to be a comics writer?

What I Got and Why 03/09/10

Valhallahan
Howdy folks! Well it looks like I'm buying for 2 this week, because I got a bumper crop of (hopefully) awesome books. Let's get stuck in on the Whats and the Whys.

Jonah Hex #59 - Jordi Bernet, my favourite Jonah Hex artist (alongside Phil Noto and J.H. Williams III) returns this issue and it looks like another classic ish. I'm glad they haven't made a really shit film of this character to taint my joy.

Sweet Tooth #13 - I love this series, it's just so beautifully fucking bizarre.

iZombie #5 - I'm still getting this for the pretty pictures really, which means it could be lining up for the chopping block if the story doesn't hook me soon.

Scarlet #2 - The first issue had me intrigued but not entirely sold. Either way, Alex Maleev's art is gorgeous and it's nice to see Bendis away from the Marvel Universe for a change.

Taskmaster # 1 - I've always had a soft spot for this character, goofy costume and all (think Skelletor's head stuck on a Deathstroke toy). This mini has Taskmaster fighting for his life against a who's who of Marvel's Manic Militias, all of whom his previous employers. With Fred Van Lente writing I'm sure it'll be a doozy.

Gorilla Man #3 - Despite some gripes I have about the art, I've really enjoyed this series. It's been a fun tale with Mr Hale and the golden age Gorilla Man back up reprints make each issue a groovy package.

Origins of Marvel: X-Men - I'm not a regular X-Reader, but I've got enough stored up fondness for Marvel's Merry Mutants that I do like to keep up to date with what's being done with the characters. This issue is another one of those one page per character origins books that I'm digging at the moment. Some lovely art (X-23) and some shite (Wolverine) but the good outweighs the bad. My problem is that they're starting to repeat themselves now, that and the feeling that this is something they should be giving out free to ensnare new readers.

Stumptown #4 - It's been ages since I saw this on the stands but I'm pretty sure I was enjoying it. I was wasn't I? Oh well I've bought it now.

Ex Machina Vol 9: Ring Out The Old - Another book I buy in trades and another book that I've totally forgotten what's happened in. Always a good read, stellar art by Tony Harris and it's written by Brian K Vaughan, remember him? He used to write comics.

CLiNT #1 - Hmm... could've done without the Lad's Mag bits but I'm glad it exists.

This weeks books were purchased at Chaos City Comics in St Albans. A fine establishment.

What I Got and Why 15/07/10

Valhallahan

After a lacklustre week a couple of weeks ago and an I-spent-all-my-money-at-Gypsy-Hotel-so-couldn’t-buy-comics week the week after that, I'm here once again with a what I got and Why, which strangely has no overlap with Action Ash's. Okeydokey, here we...

Sweet Tooth #11 - Continuing to be intriguing and exciting and charmingly disturbing.

Scalped #39 - ‘Nuff Said.

X-Women - Novelty Value. See Review.

iZombie #3 - I’m really just getting this for the art. The story has enough to keep me interested, but some of the cutesy stuff like the were-terrier would normally be a big turn off for me.

Gorilla Man #1 - I was explaining this one in the pub: "It’s a man who's been turned into a gorilla, who's also a secret agent fighting a man with talking tumours of his ancestors for the head of Lucretia Borgia". That shit just sells itself.

The Walking Dead #74 - I heartily recommend this series to everyone. Start at book one and see if you can stop yourself from reading the lot. 74 issues and still going strong.

Jonah Hex #57 - I actually managed to get a copy this week which is nice, and it’s a Jordi Bernett issue so win/win! Thank you Orbital, now I've got my mean disfigured sonofabitch quota for the week without having to set foot in my local.

Daytripper #8 - This has been a great series. Interesting premise, lovely art, it's kind of pretentious, but really worth your time. This is a great alternative to superheroes and crime fiction.

I would be getting Shadowland, but a combination of Billy Tan art and not having finished Brubaker's DD run mean I’m just going to borrow it of Ash. Nice Cassaday covers though. I meant to get Scarlet, but I clearly wasn't that bothered as I forgot to look for it in either of the shops I went to.