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It’s not often you’ll catch me recommending a mainstream
comic from the DCU (or whatever the shared universe of The New 52 calls itself
these days), but Detective Comics #36 should be on everyone’s radar and flying
off the shelves in shops across the country. This is the second of a two-part
story entitled “Terminal” by Benjamin Percy and John Paul Leon. If this is any
indication of Percy’s sequential storytelling talent, I’d love to see him make
the jump from novels to additional work in comics. With John Paul Leon’s rich
and moody aesthetic (a rare treat to see interior work from him, I mean just
look at the way he works the title into the cover like he’s Will God Damn
Eisner), the duo manages to weave in topical concerns like epidemiology (Ebola,
anyone?), the frailty of airline infrastructure (Chicago, anyone?), and
post-9/11 paranoia (quick, which would you rather have, national security or
civil liberties?), all framed in a closed-room Batman story with a true
investigative slant worthy of the “detective” name. This is the type of book
you hand aspiring creators to prove that one of the most explored properties and
the most well-tread genre can still be relevant with the right talent. More like
this, please. I’ll take these two issues over all of the Gotham TV show any day.
No week seems to be complete without a full spread of Image
Comics to delight our senses. If you’re in the mood for a smart sci-fi police
procedural, then look no further than The Fuse #7 by Antony Johnston and
Justin Greenwood, which I’ve basically sold to people as “CSI: Galactica.” This
also marks the start of a new story arc with the intrigue of illegal zero-G
“street” racing, literally on a space
station. I've read an advance of this and I dare say it's the best issue yet, so you might as well jump on board. Kurt Busiek, from his seminal Avengers runs to Astro City
and Arrowsmith, is a modern master
whose work is always worth a look, so I’ll be checking out Tooth & Claw #1 with
artist Ben Dewey. It’s getting tired and trite to play the “it’s x meets y!” elevator
pitch game, but if you call something Game
of Thrones meets Kamandi, then
I’m all in. With a creative pedigree that includes colors by Jordie Bellaire,
ongoing status, and a double-sized first issue still at the $2.99 price point,
this is a no-brainer.
If you’re in the mood for humor, Image Comics brings the
thunder this week with not one, not two, but three very strong offerings. God
Hates Astronauts #3 continues Ryan Browne’s self-aware opus that breaks
every genre trope associated with the ostensible “super-team.” The visuals are
unforgettable, with the right balance of familiarity to entice, and a heaping
dose of indie irreverence to do the job at hand. Punks #2 by Joshua Hale
Fialkov and Kody Chamberlain is also out, so when you find yourself hankering
for a Garden Gnome Hate Crime at the hands of Dog, Skull, Fist, and good ol’
Abe Lincoln, you know where to look. I’ll let you in on a little secret: Noah
Van Sciver, Julia Gfrorer, and Tom Neely are my three favorite indie creators
working today, so you’ll be damn sure I’m recommending The Humans #1 by Tom
Neely and Keenan Marshall Keller. I’ve been following Tom’s work for years in
titles like The Blot and The Wolf, where he takes a dark
painterly Fine Art aesthetic and clangs it up against the anachronistic effervescence
of Floyd Gottfredson and E. C. Segar. I picked up the advance edition of this
at SDCC and found it to be a riotous road trip of simian proportions.
It’s a great time to be Jason Aaron. I consider Scalped one of the great modern books,
up there with instant classics like Planetary
and Queen & Country, so I’ve
followed Aaron to his various Marvel work, the new female Thor, the delightfully gritty Southern
Bastards, will likely check out his upcoming Star Wars run (despite some principled reservations), and will certainly pick up Men of Wrath #2 this
week, with artist Ron Garney. The first issue was upsettingly violent, in a way
that was more brutal and seemingly less poetic than something like Scalped, so I’m curious to see why that
is and where he’s going with this.
Now, hold on… I’m sensing… I’m sensing that you need some books
that give good shelf in your life. Fear not, I come bearing recommendations. Art
Schooled by Jamie Coe and published by Nobrow Press looks phenomenal.
The advance pages of this hardcover have that thick and syrupy slathering of
ink that always catches my eye. I’d be remiss in not pointing out the Kinski
trade paperback by Gabriel Hardman, published by Image Comics and collecting
issues 1-6 of this series, previously published via Monkeybrain Comics. Hardman
will also be doing a signing at my LCS, Yesteryear Comics in San Diego, this
Wednesday from 9am to 1pm, celebrating the release of Kinski, so come on out and say hey! Lastly, Dark Horse Comics has a
new printing of Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly’s The New York Four, an
exceptional project from these New York
Times best-selling collaborators. NY4
chronicles the lives of four young women in NYC during their college years.
Don’t let the odd publication history fool you (from the cancelled YA imprint
Minx at DC, to a follow up Vertigo series, to this collection at Dark Horse),
it’s some of Ryan Kelly’s best work. He’s able to show off his ability to visually
capture the diverse personalities of the women and spoils us with detail porn
illustrations of NYC, while Brian Wood’s oft-explored theme of evolving
identity during precarious times of change is front and center. This is a definitive edition, collecting the entire series along with plenty of bonus material.
