Saturday, March 20, 2010

Comics on the Rack, Quick Picks for Comics Due 03-24-10



COMICS ON THE RACK
Quick Picks for Comics Due 03-24-10
By John Judy
 
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #626 by Fred Van Lente and Michael Gaydos.  Next Spidey villain to get the "Gauntlet" treatment: The Scorpion!  No, the other one…
 
ANGEL SPECIAL: LORNE ONE-SHOT written and drawn by John Byrne.  This time it's the beloved green crooner's turn to save the world.  An overdue tribute to the memory of the late Andy Hallett.
 
BLACK BLIZZARD GN written and drawn by Yoshihiro Tatsumi.  A little unearthed treasure here from Drawn and Quarterly: A re-issue of a 1950s manga noir that's part "The Fugitive" and part "The Defiant Ones."  A couple of violent crooks escape a derailed prison train into a blizzard.  Hijinks ensue.  Gotta look!
 
BOOK OF GRICKLE HC written and drawn by Graham Annable.  A collection of off-beat humor strips by the award-winning animator and storyboard artist on "Coraline."
 
CAPTAIN AMERICA #604 by Ed Brubaker and Luke Ross.  Bucky America and the fifties Cap duke it out while the Falcon beats on some racist anti-government extremists who are NOT the teabaggers!  Honest.  They just carry the same signs and believe the same stuff.  But they're different.
 
GREEN LANTERN #52 by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke.  Okay, looking at the cover I can honestly say I never saw that one coming.  Recommended.
 
GUILD #1 of 3 by Felicia Day and Jim Rugg.  The comic book adaptation of the web series about a bunch of role-playing gamers.  You will regain your virginity just looking at this book.  On the other hand, the preview was great and it contains the line: "Oboists.  All that blowing makes them brain dead."  Recommended.
 
HELLBLAZER #265 by Peter Milligan and Simon Bisley.  Constantine gets tangled up with a bunch of punks who worship Sid Vicious.  (Sid was a naughty lad who died before you were born, children.)
 
HOME FOR MR. EASTER GN written and drawn by Brooke A. Allen.  Just in time for the season!  The story of an awkward teen who inadvertently finds the Easter Bunny.
 
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE RISE OF ARSENAL #1 of 4 by J.T. Krul and Geraldo Borges.  Things Roy Harper can no longer say: "Boy, I'd give my right arm for ____."  And the story proceeds from there.
 
KING OF FLIES, VOL. 1: HALLORAVE HC by Mezzo and Pirus.  The first of three graphic novels containing what appear to be random short stories, but which in fact are setting up an epic trilogy of suburban suspense.  Volume two is due out this Summer from Fantagraphics.  Appropriate for older teens and up.
 
MARVELS PROJECT #7 of 8 by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting.  Cap meets Bucky, the world meets the Destroyer and Prince Namor meets his match!  Recommended.
 
MIGHTY AVENGERS #35 by Dan Slott and Khoi Pham.  Ultron's back.  Isn't he always?  And at the worst possible time!
 
NEMESIS #1 of 4 by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven.  If you are a fan of the unchecked ultra-violence and incidental story of KICK-ASS and everything else Millar's ever written then this is the book for you.
 
NEW AVENGERS #63 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen.  Much fighting out Asgard way.  That Sentry boy ain't got no sense, no-how!
 
NEWSBOY LEGION BY SIMON AND KIRBY, VOL. 1 HC by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.  Back in the early 1940s there was a book called STAR-SPANGLED COMICS featuring the adventures of a bunch of kids who sold newspapers, which were sort of the internets of their day only more literate and you could touch them.  Anyway, these kids fought crime with the aid of a super-hero called The Guardian.  It was great and you should read this if only for the intro by the surviving co-creator, Joe Simon.  Recommended.
 
NORTHLANDERS #26 by Brian Wood and Leandro Fernandez.  Gunborg is totally on top of his frozen, plague-scarred village.  Those heads on pikes are strictly decorative.  Nothing to see here… Recommended.
 
NORTHLANDERS, VOL. 3: BLOOD IN THE SNOW SC by Brian Wood and Many Fine Artists.  Collecting issues #9, 10 and 17-20.  Bunch of awesome tales of blood and thunder from the bad, old Viking Days.  Highly recommended.
 
PETER PARKER #1 of 5 by Bob Gale and Patrick Olliffe, plus a back-up by Fred Hembeck.  Between three issues of his regular book each month, his guest-appearances in others, his daily newspaper strip and the underwear I have on right now, is it possible to have too much Spider-Man?  Let's find out shall we? 
 
SCALPED #36 by Jason Aaron and Davide Furno.  After all this time, we finally get to know Shunka a little better.  And what better way to do so than by watching him sort some things out for his boss Lincoln Red Crow?  This is the one comic each month you always have to buy.  Highly recommended.
 
THE STAND: SOUL SURVIVORS #5 of 5 Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Mike Perkins.  Y'know what's really interesting after all the doctors in the world die of the super-flu?  Surgery.  Not for kids.  Recommended.
 
SUPERGOD #3 of 5 by Warren Ellis and Garrie Gastony.  That nice Mister Ellis makes Gods that fight!  Wizard!
 
SUPERMAN #698 by James Robinson and Bernard Chang.  Supes and Mon-El duke it out with Brainiac.
 
THOR #608 by Kieron Gillen and Billy Tan.  The Sentry has destroyed Asgard.  Now it's Thor's turn at bat.
 
THUNDERBOLTS #142 by Jeff Parker and Wellinton Alves.  In which we find out which of the current T-Bolts is good, bad and/or crazy.
 
UNCANNY X-MEN #522 by Matt Fraction, Phil Jimenez and Whilce Portacio.  Kitty Pryde is back with a silver bullet!
 
VICTORIAN UNDEAD #5 of 6 by Ian Edgington and Davide Fabbri.  The penultimate issue of this great series finds Holmes and Watson as the last hope against the undead plague sweeping London.  And is it possible Moriarty the Living Zombie has more tricks up his blood-soaked sleeve?  Recommended.
 
WACKY PACKAGES NEW NEW NEW HC by Various Creators including Art Spiegelman, Bill Griffith and Kim Deitch with an intro by Jay Lynch.  All the product parody stickers from series #8-14 (1974-75) that weren't included in the first hardcover.  A must for boys of a certain age.
 
X-FACTOR #203 by Peter David and Valentine Delandro.  Monet and Guido go on a jungle rescue mission.  Those always go well.
 


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