On The Shelves: 05/09/07, 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, 5/9/07. 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]
Okko: The Cycle of Water #3 (Archaia Studios Press)
ARCHAIA STUDIOS PRESS
Killer #4 (of 10), $3.95
Okko Cycle of Water #3 (of 4), $3.95
Secret History Book Two, $5.95
Do yourself a favor and tell your friendly local retailer to pull anything Archaia publishes for you. Mark Smylie and company have an eye for great comics, and a blind pull of their stuff is almost always a better guarantee of good reading than anything else on your pull list. Okko: The Cycle of Water is particularly good.
BOOM! STUDIOS
Cover Girl #1, $3.99
Two Guns Cvr A #2 (of 4), $3.99
ADVANCE REVIEW: Cover Girl is another of Boom!’s Hollywood pitch comics, the first issue of which limply translates to the opening 15-20 minutes of the intended movie. It’s promoted as “A Lethal Weapon and Rush Hour-style action comedy!” but lacks the energy of either of those films, opting instead for lame Hollywood cliches, bland characters, and humor that’s not nearly as clever as it thinks it is, as comics neophytes Andrew Cosby and Kevin Church’s co-scripting reads like a phoned-in Giffen/DeMatteis effort. R.M. Yankovicz’ art is serviceable, but light on details and personality, making the whole thing feel like a low-budget direct-to-video movie produced by a video store clerk who hit the lottery the week before. *** While Two Guns #1 offered another Hollywood-friendly premise — a clever spin on an undercover bank heist gone wrong — it did so with a meatier story as comics vet Steven Grant knows how to spin an entertaining yarn, developing character while building suspense and delivering a cliffhanger that demands you return for the next issue. If you like Criminal, but aren’t generally a big fan of noirish atmosphere, check Two Guns out.
DARK HORSE COMICS
Star Wars Legacy #11, $2.99
 Star Wars: Legacy #11 |
If you’re not reading this, you’re missing out on the best Star Wars story since the orginal trilogy.
DC COMICS
Countdown #51, $2.99
 Countdown #51 |
I used to think it was sad whenever there was a week where no DC or Marvel comics piqued my interest, but nowadays I’m surprised when there’s more than one or two that actually do. Somehow, seemingly when I wasn’t looking, I stopped being their target demographic. I feel sorry for anyone who’s a slave to continuity or a stubborn completist. It’s just not worth it.
DEVILS DUE PUBLISHING
GI Joe Dreadnoks Declassified Sauve Cover A #3 (of 3), $5.50
$5.50 for a spinoff featuring characters I know nothing about, and I’m buying it anyway. That DC comment above makes me a bit of a hypocrite, I guess!
HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHERS
Miki Falls Vol. 1 Spring GN, $7.99
I had no idea Harper Collins was publishing manga. Good for them!
MARVEL COMICS
Criminal Vol 1 Coward TPB, $14.99
Hulk And Power Pack #3 (of 4), $2.99
Immortal Iron Fist #5, $2.99
 Hulk And Power Pack #3 |
 Immortal Iron Fist #5 |
Criminal Vol 1 Coward TPB |
Seeing how they’re turning the first Criminal TPB around so fast, guess what ongoing series just got cut from my pull list and switched to trade-waiting status? *** Between the Hulk and Power Pack mini being so much fun, and World War Hulk getting off to a solid start, I guess I’m officially a Hulk fan for the first time ever! *** Immortal Iron Fist has been a fun read so far, but I’m having difficulty considering it essential reading and it may be headed to trade-waiting status, too. With Daredevil and Criminal already there, I’m thinking Brubaker’s knack for telling mutli-layered stories isn’t necessarily a strength when it comes to serial fiction. Imagine him on bi-monthly, 48-pages/issue series? That’d be killer!
TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING
Write Now #15, $6.95
Having no interest in 52 nor Abadazad, this is one of the weaker issues of one of my favorite comics-related magazines, but John Ostrander and Steven Grant offer up a couple of interesting columns that are worth reading.
VIPER COMICS
Lost Books of Eve #2, $3.25
I vaguely recall being pleasantly surprised by the first issue of this series, but it feels like it’s been a while and #2 is going to have to pique my interest all over again to get me to pick it up. More likely, I’ll check out the inevitable digest collection.
