6.20.12 Releases

I think most people would probably lead with Saga #4 (Image) as the buzz book of the week (and I have a hard time resisting after artist Fiona Staples, blogger Keith Silva, and I traded Twitter quips about the infamous perineum of all things), but I’m going to go with Casanova: Avaritia #4 (Marvel/Icon) as my pick. It’s the last issue of this third creator-owned installment of the greater Cass saga, and regardless of the huge gaps between issues, will still probably go down as Matt Fraction’s recombinant avant-garde contribution to the medium some day. Throw in all of the luscious Brazilian art at the hands of the dueling brothers Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon and you’d be foolish not to check it out. Image Comics continues their assault on the stale offerings of Marvel and DC with one of their first two shots fired (Prophet and Glory) with Glory #27 (Image). I wouldn’t say it’s as crisp a genre distillation as the aforementioned Prophet, but it’s still something different and entertaining. It’s an interesting counterpoint to Prophet (which has short definitive arcs, currently in the middle of the second), with its longer form meandering arcs (still running through its first, though they began at the same time). As you may recall, I recently gave up the Marvel and DC mainstream, so even though I won’t buy them, I’ll still probably give Batwoman #10 (DC) and Before Watchmen: Comedian #1 (DC) a flip in the LCS just to point and laugh.