12.02.10 Releases

With the big haul last week and slim pickings this week, it feels a little like feast or famine on the shelves for me. I don’t know that I’ll be purchasing anything for certain this week, but here are the handful of maybes that will attempt to entice me. Supergod #5 (Avatar Press) finally wraps up the mini after long delays from Warren Ellis and Garrie Gastonny. Because Gastonny’s art wasn’t Juan Jose Ryp and the narrative felt like Ellis was simply monologuing to the camera like the guy on the cover, I ditched after a couple of issues, but I’ll give it the ol’ fliparoo at the LCS. Ditto those thoughts on The Killer: Modus Vivendi #6 (Archaia) which wraps up this Franco-Belgian crime noir cum politico thriller that just never seemed as focused or crisp as the first volume, but nevertheless I’ll give it a requisite Casual Flip Test™ at the shop. The only thing that might make me check out Heroes for Hire #1 (Marvel) is that Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning are writing it, and it features some interesting street level characters like Black Widow, Falcon, and Misty Knight. I’m not into more Wolverine comics glutting the market. I’m not into the writing of Charlie Huston. I’m not into the $3.99 price point. And I’m not into the bland new villains functioning as the premise of the book, but hey, I do like Juan Jose Ryp’s art, so Wolverine: The Best There Is #1 (Marvel) raised an eyebrow. On the graphic novel front, if you missed the hardcover or didn’t want to plunk down the money for the Absolute Edition, here's Planetary TPB: Book 04: Spacetime Archaeology (DC/WildStorm), which should be the last incarnation of this book we’re likely to see. Finally, the single bright spot in an otherwise snoozer of a week is probably Achewood HC: Volume 03: Home for Scared People (Dark Horse), from Chris Onstad. I don’t seem to be as enamored of this book as many of the critics I read, but if all else fails, I may give it another shot.