On The Shelves: 04/04/07, by Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Reprinted courtesy of Comic Book Commentary.

Reading is fundamental. Read what you like; don’t waste your time reading bad comics out of habit!

My weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 4/4/07. The full shipping list, as always, is available at ComicList.

[NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com]

PICK OF THE WEEK
Image from Amazon
Elk's Run
by Joshua Hale Fialkov, Noel Tuazon, Scott A. Keating

AKA COMICS
Miscellaneous Adventures Of Stykman #1, $2.95

From the preview on its web site, Stykman looks like it might be kind of fun. It also looks like it would be better off as a webcomic until it builds up an audience because I can’t imagine it a) coming out on a regular schedule (#1 is noted as coming out LAST February), or b) generating enough orders to stay in Diamond’s good graces.

DC COMICS

Absolute Batman The Long Halloween HC
, $75.00

Jack Of Fables #9
, $2.99

Jonah Hex #18
, $2.99

Jonah Hex Vol 2 Guns Of Vengeance TPB
, $12.99

The only Absolute Edition I’ve been tempted to buy so far has been New Frontier, but The Long Halloween still holds a special place in my heart as one of the very first TPBs I picked up back in 2003 when I started reading comics again. Who knew then that four years later I would despise Jeph Loeb’s writing so much that I’d refuse to read (or watch) anything he’s connected to, no matter how much I might be interested in it? (ie: Fallen Son) I’ve intended to re-read The Long Halloween to see if my opinion has changed any over the years, but I don’t want to taint the memory of it. *** I’m reading Jack of Fables (as well as Fables) in trade-only and highly recommend both series. *** I’m glad to see DC supporting Jonah Hex by releasing TPBs relatively quickly — it’s a good read, with a similar tone and feel as Dark Horse’s main Conan series — though it reminds me how they didn’t similarly support Gotham Central, which still ticks me off.

DEVILS DUE PUBLISHING
GI Joe Americas Elite #22, $3.50

Pure licensed goodness.

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
Savage Tales #1, $4.99
Six From Sirius Vol 1 Mass Mkt Cvr TPB, $19.99

I’m a big fan of sword-and-sorcery fare, as well as of anthologies, so Dynamite caught my attention with Savage Tales, which will “feature a rotating cast of characters and creators featuring the savage and brutal worlds of Red Sonja and the Hunter, Cthulu and the Old Ones, Gleaming Atlantis and much, much more!” Sign me up! *** Marvel’s original Epic imprint included some of my favorite comics as a kid — Alien Legion, Coyote, Dreadstar, Groo — and while Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy’s Six from Sirius rings only the vaguest nostalgic bells, I’ll definitely be picking up this TPB as I’ve wanted to read the series for a while now but have been too lazy to dig through my Epic longboxes to find it.

IDW PUBLISHING
Fallen Angel IDW #14, $3.99

Fallen Angel is somewhat cursed by its consistent level of quality as I look forward to every issue but, because it’s such a densely layered story lacking in easily digestable hooks, I am never able to properly proselytize on its behalf. It’s very good; you should be reading it; ’nuff said.

IMAGE COMICS
Cross Bronx Vol 1 TPB, $14.99
Dynamo 5 Var Cvr New Ptg #1, $3.50

I read the first issue of Cross Bronx, thought it was solid, then fell way behind on picking up my comics on a regular basis and missed the next couple of issues, so I’m looking forward to the TPB. Oeming and Brandon tread tricky ground here, though, as I’m much more critical about stories that hit too close to home, and other than minority representation, nothing gets me immediately on the defensive than depictions of my borough. Brandon has plenty of credit in the bank with me for NYC Mech, though, and Oeming’s a good guy (despite his craptacular Wings of Anansi), so I’m hopeful. *** Dynamo 5 #1 rocked my socks off! If you missed it the first time around, do yourself a favor and grab a copy and add it to your pull list. Great debut!

MARKOSIA ENTERPRISES
Hunger Vol 1 TPB (AA), $18.95

A Speakeasy refugee that seemingly got lost in the shuffle over at Markosia, they’re reoffering the very entertaining Hunger and you should pick it up.

MARVEL COMICS
Avengers Initiative #1 CWI, $2.99
Fallen Son Death Of Captain America Wolverine, $2.99
Hulk And Power Pack #2 (Of 4), $2.99

Immortal Iron Fist #4
, $2.99

Incredible Hulk #105
, $2.99
Thunderbolts Presents Zemo Born Better #3 (Of 4), $2.99

Despite the inept execution of Civil War, Marvel has several good titles on the shelves that either found an interesting aspect of Millar’s hamfisted reworking of the MU and ran with it, or simply ignored it completely. While I have no interest in Jeph Loeb’s stripmining the emotions over his own son’s death as a means of examining Captain America’s place in the MU, I am curious about Dan Slott’s take on the New Mighty West Coast Ultimate Completely Random Avengers. *** Marc Sumerak continues his entertaining and underrated spin on the Power Pack kids, this time with a new art team — David Williams and Gary Martin — who aren’t as appealing as GuriHiru, but do a solid job matching the fun tone of his stories. If someone thought TMNT was worth producing, a Power Pack movie must be on a fast-track somewhere. *** “Planet Hulk” will quite possibly go down as one of the best things Marvel published over the past couple of years, flying mostly under the radar due to its lack of a direct connection to Civil War. I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I’d much rather see the continued adventures of Hulk in Space than the upcoming Hulk Smash Idiot Superheroes.

VILLARD BOOKS
Elks Run GN, $19.95

FINALLY!!!! I championed this book so loudly, for so long, it seems almost anticlimactic now that it’s finally hitting the shelves. Don’t sleep on it, though, as Fialkov, Tuazon and Keating deliver the goods through to the very end, telling a gripping story that packs an emotional whallop at the end.