Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Dead-wood dispatch Pull List July 1 2015

Pull list pull list pull list.... So here's the game I play weekly; I post up a representation of what I think is worthy of buying even though comics are so bloody expensive and try to keep my list to a manageable twent dollars but sometimes that does not happen. I post about what I actually plan to buy myself and follow that up with a collection I think is worth getting if that is more your thing if there is anything of note recently. I start it off with the book I have to get out of the bunch..

The Wicked + the Divine #12

Though I like this book lots I don't know if I ever have said it was at the top of my list. Ok this is fully influenced by the shocking finale of the last issue as even though I think myself jaded I never saw coming but now think I should have. I'm not spoiling it but I think there is a whole fecking lot we have not been told the truth about and I for one want some answers. I do know we most like will not be getting them any time soon but the creators behind this marvelously twisted book about godhood and celebrity have my full attention. Man do I miss Luci from the first volume. Its $3.50 and the second volume of the collection is out now too sho you have no excuses about not getting this.

 

Secret Wars #4

Not the edgy guy in my is embarassed by just how much enjoyment I'm getting out of this highly commercial book by Jonathan Hickman but I have to say Secret Wars is delivering on story in ways crossovers usually really don't. This is one of the few incidents other then Original Sin where the cental book really stands alone as you done need to read the rest to really grok the point of this one as its pretty clearly spelled out. Doom is omnipotent but not the omniscient god of this world and he needs the help of his many lieutents like the sheriff and Valeria to keep the Battleworld working as well as it can. Knowing the greater marvel mythos helps in enjoy thing is book as with most what ifs and I'm genuinely curios where they are going; the big question here is with most of my favorite creators leaving will I get much of the post SW books. $3.99 (oh and this week get get the free travel guide to the post SW Marvel and some of it just may be interesting....)

 

8House Arclight #1

This series of interconnected fantasy books is the brainchild of the man who took the character Prophet from the old Leifieldverse and made something distinctly French-comicy cool out of it spearheading the way for reimaginings like Glory to happen too. I really have no clue as to how the titles under the 8House brand are going to work but just looking at the art and the blurbs I'm fully invested in this at least enough to give it a go. I mean look at the art for the cover... Really this is a $2.99 fantasy book that seems to be wanting to take itself serious and that is something I really want.

Spire #1

Oh and look here another serious looking fantasy book from Boom who I have come to like a lot for they apparent desire to make more diverse types of books. Si Spurier is the creative mind behind this and he, I think its a he, has been writing the more inventive mutant books at a certain Marvel in the last few years. I'm likeing the advertising I've seen for this one and the preview pages are interesting and not at all what I was expecting and that is often the sign of good thing. $3.99

We Stand on Guard #1

So I was not too keen on the book when I read about it in the upcoming announcements but I didn't think about how much I really enjoy the storytelling of Brian K Vaughn and well now I'm wondering what was wrong with me. Steve Scroce was on the artists that used to clinche my interest in a book and though the premise still is something I'm on the fence about I'm totally there in wanting to give this book a look. I love me some giant robot stories and I know that its fully likely that the US may someday look with military might toward the north if well there was anything to be gained. Anyway its something to flip through and at $2.99 I'm a bit more willing to give it a go.

Midnighter #2

I did dig the first issues of both Midnighter and Omega Men and they come out this week and either will put me just above twenty dollars and I'm possibly going to get either or both. I'm choosing Midnighter right now and that may just be because of last weeks Supreme Court decision on gay marriage nd I kind of want to celebrate that. Midnighter was a book that was so not like Batman that well I really liked it... its odd to think of a Batman like character that enjoys what he does.... Anyway either are solid books and at $2.99 are worth the buy in...

 

 

Supreme Blue Rose by Warren Ellis and Tula Lotay is my suggestion for a trade this week.. I picked up the first issue of the series and its was really a georgeous book to look at and Warren is ever the interesting storyteller that this well be well worth gracing your shelves as it will mine this month sometime... Its a take on a Superman mythos story without the superman being the center of it...$14.99..

 

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Dead-wood dispatch update

Batgirl #41

So in my enthusiasm for the series I seldom get I fully forgot about the first of the new DC book I really began to enjoy and that was Cameron and Bab's Take on Orac.... Um Barbara Gordon's Batgirl. It's been great fun seeing how they have remixed her story and the only let down is her separation from her roommate from the Gail Simone era which to me was too plagued by crossoverage. I have to say I also really really like the diverse cast around her and the aspect of her running into the new Batman is too much a draw given I dug the Jim Gordon Bat's in his first adventure. Its 2.99 and will likely bump Dardevil or Wayward to next week as I have to get this...

 

Monday, June 22, 2015

Dead-wood dispatch pull list June 24 2015

Last week was a real mixed bag and give that I was so dissappointed by the book I put at the top of my pull list I'm a bit unsure of things all told. Ok I was trepidatious about it and I guess I should have been given my feelings for the characters but hey the last time that happened it was the Axis event where I had expectations based on the writer.... Anyway here's the jist I post a weekly column, this one, where positing a twenty dollar budget I put up a list of books I'm actually buying and will hopefully review come Sunday. I start the list with the book I would buy if I was limited to just one and end the list usually with a collection hat I just might get at some point for the people who buy mainly that way. Anyway here we go....

 

Jem and the Holograms #4

I feel good putting up fist a book that is not primarily action adventure this one hooked my with Sophie Campbell's art and design but the story by her and Kellt Thompson is quite good and given I have little memory of the series I watched occasionally its great they are reinventing it for a new audience. They have given each of the characters in this at least a hook for us to know a bit about them as they have concentrated on Kimber, who has quickly become my favorite, Jerrica and the wonderfully realized Pizzaz who makes such a good antagonist. Artistically this book is a lot of fun given that they are having a field day with style colour and layouts to give the impression of music and old style music videos. This is one I look forward to and don't mind when its a bit late. $3.99 I really have come to not want to miss this book.

 

Southern Cross #4

At the other end of the spectrum colour wise if this largely shadow ladened science fiction horror/mystery tale from Becky Cloonan. Her covers give just the right about of background dread feeling as there has been little of the haunting in the story as of yet but its been building in cribs and drabs and may just become center stage this issue. Given its heroine and the overtones of corporate malfeasance and corruption from beyond this book is very reminiscent of the original Alien movie or the early cyberpunk books of William Gibson as they were a bit tinged with Lovecraftian alienation. One of the better Science Fiction comics out there right now in my opinion and its a meer $2.99

 

Wayward #9

This book hits a couple of my wants in comics at once; I will soon be missing the urban fantasy Hexed as its next issue is the last at least for now and better yet Zub and Cummings seem to have a real grasp of the Japanese horror action comic thing going on. The only thing I will say is that the book is getting a bit crowded with the manga archetypes that they have used to build their main cast and with the addition of their new cast member its hard to think that I'll get to learn more about my favorites any time soon. The book is a lot of fun to read and the inclusion of Japanese mythology articles in the letters pages makes getting the individual issues pretty much a must. $3.50

 

 

Kaptara #3

Chip Zdarsky is getting a lot of attention these days, he's the artist on Sex Criminals and the writer on Howard the Duck, apparently on a new Jughead book and on this weird fantasy book. Inspiration for this book is pulled from the He-man series of toys filtered through the very twisted mirror of Chip's and illustrated by Kagan McCleod who does some really fun action scenes and makes the bizarre characters in this look pretty fun. Issue two of the featured Cat-Tanks yes giant cats mounted on tank treadsand he pulled it off. My guess is that this issue we get this settings version of the He-man wizard Orco. Um I'm digging this and I can only say that if your curious its $3.50 and its sure to be an experience and you just may dig it if you give it an honest chance like I did and I never loved the He-man thing back in the day...

Legend of Luther Strode #2

This title does the Fist of the a North Star fan in me good because its the same kind of romance tale laced with over the top violence, perhaps this is the book that may feed the Mad Max fix as the heroine of this bood is far more dangerous then its hero. Traad Moore is back for this to do the art and he has by far the most kinetic and motion suggesting art I've seen in a long time; with his clean crisp thin lines detail just ooses from the panels. Story art action character what more could I ask for all for $3.99... Can't wait to see if this creative team does something else together in the future...

Daredevil #16

So I don't pick up the new Daredevil all the time and whenever I do I have to ask myself why am I not buying this series because this run has never failed to entertain me and manages to involve me even in the middle of a run of issues. Matt is having Foggy ghost write his autobiography for the publisher mogul father of his current girlfriend. I'm really not sure as to what will come out on the other side of Secret Wars when it comes to the creative team for Matt Murdock but I know this will be a good read regardless. $3.99

That brings me right up to the edge of my budget but there is one more thing I have to signal boost for....

Wytches volume 1 should totally be on your want list. Thought I never really thought about it horror comics have pretty much been one of my things since I was a kid and this is a series I passed over but got a second chance to read the opening salvo with the 1.00 dollar version and I sad I missed out on it as its grabbing lay written and actually creepy. This is also one of those extra cheap image initial volumes so its a steal at $9.99 and I could actually get in in my normal pile if I elimate a coulple things....Scott Snyder is aparently knew of the sweetest guys in comics and his revenue stream is better from image then all his Batman work I hear...

 

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Sunday Comics June 21 2015

This was a week of books that well I think this quote says it pretty well... A wiser man then me once said Sometimes you eat the bear sometime well sometime the bear he eats you..

https://youtu.be/aPVLyB0Yc6I

And by that I'm referring to expectations when it comes to reading....

Mad Max Furiosa #1

I try not to do this on my blog but I think most fans of the movie need to know what another fan who loves both the movie and its message thinks about this. There is only one choice I can defend in this and that is the maintance of the myster behind Furiosa herself and giving more focus on Angharad, Capeable, Cheeto, Toast and the Dag. The story they chose to tell is one that focuses on the one so well defined in the movie and also not needed to be seen, the victimization they suffered under Joe and his men... we know it happened and we know these women are affected by it deeply but there is more to them all the just being things as they so well stated in the movie.this is one purchase I was trepidatious about and seems I was right to be. It doesn't change how much I still love the film but you can pass this over and get yourself some Pretty Deadly, Captain Marvel, Ms Marvel or The marvelous Bitch Planet to name just a few great feminist books... Sad but have very little good to say about this one tempted to quote a moment from the movie and I'm going to go with "That's bait"

Ms Marvel #16

The brilliance of this book is the way G Willow Wilson keeps building on what she has done before and makes this end of the world tie in Kamala and crews' story. Alphona does a great job with all the massive crowd scenes and though I have been in on the incursion story since New Avengers 1 the event here as he illustrated it was pretty frightening in light everyone's ignorance of this impending end. This book really taps into just how much matters to Kamala, her family her friends her city and the bigger pcicture. I loved how she is willing to do what needs be done and even in the face of a planet pappearing in the sky she is willing to try. The cameo on the final page is so well worth waiting a year and a half for her to arrive, gave me chills. Love this book and the creative team never dissapoint. Can't wait till next month for the team up between the marvels. Aces.

 

Black Canary #1

Brenden Fletcher Annie Wu and Lee Loughridge created an experience to paraphrase Garnet from Steven Universe. Let's talk about colour, this book looks like little out there right now with the palet that Lee is working with and it does create a real mood for the book much like the unique colours used for a certain book also about music. Though being a reader of the magnificent reimagined Batgirl helped set up this new book its fully accessible wether you know about D.D.s past or not. This book is a fun and interest creating read, I want to know more about these characters and I also dig the fact that there was a bit of a fake out with the plot that was built up in the eight page preview. I almost can fully forgive the half page add ALMOST. Annie Wu is someone I'm new to but I dig her use of expression and I have to look at it again as I'm trying to create a bit of a drawing style myself. Not to gush on but Black Canary is pretty aces in my book...

 

Giant Days #4

So let's keep the ball rolling with another female lead book and another one I can fully endorse as its a good read. The characters in this one are college students, no superpowers here though just regular real world issues. This books is a lot about freindships, relationships and the rash actions and assumptions we and others may make. The book is a bit funny a but weird a bit sad and a bit frustrating in that these characters act like people you know and people screw up make asses of themselves and others and all that. The art is a real joy to look at for me being a bit comicy and a bit animated looking and well its nice to have something like this among the other things I read.... Pretty great marks all told.

 

 

Runaways #1

 

I wish I could comment on this one but I got a certain book that really dissappointed me instead...

 

Anyway I'm going to go see Mad Max this week and look forward to better books this Wednesday

 

Monday, June 15, 2015

Dead-wood Pull list June 17 2015

Here's the game every week I post mu pull list based on books I'm buying keeping to an average budget of twenty a week and I will be staring with the book I can't pass up or my if I could only get one book followed by the rest and lastly I'll usually include a collection or OGN I think will be of interest and that I'll likely get at some point.... Please comment and write me back especially if this is entertaining you...

 

Mad Max Furiosa #1

Ok yes here's me being a total fan boy since I'm not sure I really need to know the back story since I kind of love not knowing but I adored the movie and like it more with successive viewings. The book is aparently culled from the backstory George Miller and crew worked up so its not added on and possibly the other glorious characters on the cover will be featured too as I loved them all too. Ok enough gushing the first Mad Max Fury Road was actually pretty good and I felt I got my monies worth so I'm hooked for this one. I have very conflicted hopes and fears for this one so well see and its a big old $4.99 killing a quarter of my budget so I guess you can see how much I'm willing to invest.

Ms Marvel #16

So were winding down the 616 continuity with Kamala and the cast of this marvelous book and if your not as hooked on the Mad Max thing as me this is the one of the week if it was not around. Ms. Marvel if your new to this is one of the most consistantly entertaining coming of age superhero books out there now, really for me its the only one its full of heart, imagination and feeling. I'm going to worrying about the future of this fine book till I see the solicitations for Sept or Oct when I hope to see it coming back...$2.99 and worth so much more most of the time.

Runaways #1

I missed out on Runaways in its old incarnation till after the first few arcs were over and I was very happy when I got a chance to read them. This is a totally different animal I believe picking up only one of the old titles stars along with a version of Cloak and Dagger Skar the Hilks son Amadus Cho a teen age Bucky (?!) and I can't recall the last one. What has me on board is the writing talents of Noelle Stevenson who does the online free comic Nimona which had its first collection printed and got picked up for an animation project. (Congrats). I am yet to be dissappointed by a Secret tears title and I have faith in her skills and enthusiasm to buy in her. $3.99

 

Black Canary #1

DC's track record is spotty of late but I happen to dig the work that Fletcher shares on Batgirl and their handling of one of my favorite characters in the company in the aformwntioned title has been pretty credible so... I'm also reading Jem which focuses on a rock band so this has some competition to live up to but at $2.99 I'm willing to give it a go for an issue or two and I like the art and the colour palet they are useing....

 

Giant Days #four

A book I passed up on the first issue on for something else I no longer read or even recall what it was, damn me on that account. I picked up the second issue of this look at college girls lives inside and out of class and its been a hoot. The second issue showed them dealing with a flu infecting the house they live in and the third dealing with cyber harassment in a very entertaining manner. I like these girls and enjoy their story its a great book about people being people and that's something I don't read much of. Its also not overblown big eventy or nor over sexualized. The art is its own thing amusing, cute, and has a great colourist working on it I mean just look at that cover. Really can't wat for this one. $3.99

 

(So I can get this up tonight I'm posting the collection tomorrow after I have a chance to think that over.)

 

Sunday Comics June 14 2015

 

1602 Angela#1

So overall this was a great week of books and thinking about the creative team behind this one I'm not surprised its one of the best of the week. This new take on Angela and Serah was really entertaining and had a lot of humorous moments due mostly to the personality and dialogue they gave to Serah and the well placed cameos credited and not. The art was a great mix too of traditional and painted took with a version of the Enchantress that I hope survives the Secret Wars story. Though What Iffy its a great slightly scued look at a mythology that we are just starting to know and one I'm really enjoying the creation of. Top marks for this alternate urban fantasy history with marvel flavor.

Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #1

This one tops my list this week too at no surprise to me given the writing team of Deconnick and Thompson. Tripping back to the early part of Kelly Sue's story and retuning to the all woman jet squadronis both welcome and kind of heart wrenching given the events in the last issue of Captain Marvels last Marvel 616 issue (its odd even typing that). This book has a kind of flavor all to itself given its extended focus on more of a ensamble but hinting back maybe Carols old book was a bit of that too. Anyway they kept the very real world looking artwork from Lopez going strong in this and the trying to make sense of the seemingly senseless world makes this kind of a central book for the Secret Wars setting as they mentioned facts of the Battleworld I'd not read elsewhere. Love this heroine centered book and it will remain on my regular list as I must actually start keeping to my actual budget. Again top marks all around.

 

Weird world #1

So who remembers Arkon, well if you don't the simple description would go something like; he's a familiar looking barbarian like warlord who wields a sword and lighting bolt weapon and has appeared in Marvel on and off over the years and to me memorably in a certain X-men annual. This truly beautifully painted weird fantasy book is so the right place to encounter him again and if this is anything of a hint as to where marvel may be going with storytelling after Secret Wars its looking good. Sure its a bit of a Conan riff but its a damn good one heavy on interior monologue and not just little bit tongue in cheek at times. Perhaps marvel editorial is chucking stuff at a wall to see what sticks but a book this all round pretty hopefully will be one of them. So close to full marks as make no never mind and it was up against some great books this week.

Injection #2

Though still playing a bit of the inscrutable story game this issue dives deeper into the nature of the characters Warren is playing with here and introduces us to the Holmesish hero and the superspy of the group with some very well wrought or drawn action scenes by Declan Shavley. If you come to this expecting to have things explained well you'll be sadly dissappointed but as with Mad Max Fury Road you'll be rewarded by paying attention and multiple read throughs won't hurt. I think it will be a bit before the story fog clears up her but I have to say I'm enjoying revisiting this creative team and its nice to think that they get more out of my purchasing this then when they did the fantastic Moon Knight. Not for everyone but this weird fiction stuff I'd certainly for me.

Gotham Academy #7

So after the Coversion hiatus at least Maps and most of the gang is back for this issue that skipped the Kitty Pryde reference in welcoming Damien Wayne to the school. The issue riffs on the Raven by Edgar Allen Poe and has a lot of fun at the expense of Damien's pride and introduces what may just be the DC couple I'm hoping to see happen with Maps and he. As with before this title still neither looks not feels like the modern DC book and that is such a good thing as most of they new selection still puts me off even when I want to like it. Gotham Academy maintains that blend of shojo/shonen high school adventure, Buffy TVS, and Harry Potter that recalls what being a teen was like a bit. Cloonan and Fletcher are a great writing team and the art by Mingjue Helen Chen is a joy to look at given my love for animation art... I'd say if you like the look of it get it .... Its is pretty damn sweet all told....

 

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Dead-wood Dispatch pull list June 8 2015

Into the second week of June and this week is going to break my budget so badly I really don't know how I can actually keep to my rules for this column. Anyway here's the jist, I post up a list based on what I actually plan to spend money on this weeks comics starting with the one I would get if I could only buy one and going through a list of what I get based on a budget of twenty bucks. I'll also add a collection as a suggestion for people who pick up collected editions and OGNs instead of periodicals....(too much good looking stuff this week)

 

Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #1

So Secret wars took away Captain Marvel from my hands and then gives back something kinda the same with two of the writers I'm loving at the moment. Kelly Sue Deconnick is still writing the story of Carol Danvers and that's a great thing but pairing her with Kelly Thompson who's doing a bang up job on Jem and the Holograms with her is the one I can't do without this week. This looks to be taking us back to the initial Captain Marvel storyline that had Carol trip back to the past and mingle with a all woman Air Force unit and I can not wait to see what this writing duo has in store. And since I'm reading the Secret Wars book with the revelations of issue three I have to wonder which Captain Marvel is in this book. The rest of the Captain Marvel creative team is right on this one so I know it will look as good as it reads. $3.99 and really a must...

1602 Angela Witch Hunter #1

This one is all about my faith in the creative team given I totally missed the Neail Gaimen 1602 series during my time in Canada and away from Marvel comcs. Kieron Gillen, Marguerite Bennett and Stephanie Hans made me love Angela who was a kind of nothing character from the initial issues of Spawn with the mythology and characters that they added (Sera has to be around in this book too) and this book promises a lot but they have proven that they deliver on promises. I kind of expect a bit more myth making in this book but that is what all the best superhero books are like, looking at the myth from multiple angles and having a good time while doing it. $3.99

 

Injection #2

Injection #1 was abut as far from the one and done as you can get from the team that made the glorious Moon Knight comic but Warren Ellis is such a known quantity as a storyteller I'm willing to be confused as long as its a good confused. Declan Shavley talked a lot about the differences between the two books with Kate Leth on her podcast Less Than Live alluding to that difference and like him I have hopes that people don't expect the two books to be the same kind of thing. Aparently they do share a lot of themes in common and the fact that Warren has revealed very little to Declan of the secrets in the book I think is pretty interesting and kind of genius. Confusing or not its a very very pretty book to read and that goes a long way sometimes but I was interested in the characters though we know them only a little so far. Its one of the few $2.99 books out there and its worth it to say the least in my opinion.

 

Gotham Academy #7

Becky Cloonan has done something particularly personal for me in this book, I can't say exactly why I love it so much but its brought me back to reading DC comics a bit more since my disillusionment with the new 52. Maps, Olive and the extended cast of this story have hooked me as have the hints of deeper themes she seems to be playing with in the overarching story of Olive's mother who was once in Archam asylum. I'm also a big fan of the old Mike Barr Son of the Demon story that was the origin of Damien Wayne and his inclusion here just adds a bit more hook to make me want to read it higher in my small group of books. The art too in this book has a kind of manga/animation bent to it that makes it look little like the DC current house style to me, also a great thing. Along with Batgirl this book is the one that opened the door to harder choices in my pull list at least this good read is just $2.99

 

 

 

Monday, June 1, 2015

Dead-wood Dispatch June 1 2015

A new week a new shipment of comics to look forward to. When I worked for Comics and Comix and Amazing Fantasy in SF every Wednesday was like Christmas and it kind of still is, its just Christmas on a budget. So this is my weekly suggestions based on my actual pull list hopefully kept to a budget of 20.00 given that is what I attempt to stick to. I start the list with my choice for the book I would not do without and finish up suggesting a recent collection since I know some people prefer their comics in larger doses and sometimes they are better that way....

 

The Wicked + The Divine # 11

So I posted about this one last week and got the shock when I looked at the actual sips list and its was not there. So I'll say this again about The Wcicked + the Divine that the title has been a slow burn character centric story and Gillen is very good at building the tension and giving satisfying reveals even is I'm still confused. Perhaps is lay out or the ominous undertones but since the early issues this has reminded me of the early days of the old Ennis title Preacher. I have no clue as to where this book is headed but I'm so happy to take to trip along with Gillen McKelvie Eilson and Cowles. A must even if its a week late. $3.50

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl # 6

Given last issues laugh fest I would be remiss if I didn't have Te Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Doreen mentioned in my pull list. I am strangely so happy to now have such a range of books to,choose from these days; books that are creepy, books that focus on adventure and books that are fun and funny. Ryan North's other comic triumph Adventure Time I've been checking out and been surprised by the depth of character I have found in these places I didn't expect it. Book like this have reawakened by interest in the diversity of stories out there. Squirrel Girl is an excellent break from all the grim and gritty eventhough its mired right in the middle of it. Its worth the $3.99 for me compared to other things out there right now. It may not be your thing but prehaps it is and you just haven't tried it out for size yet...

 

 

There are a few other book comics out this wee that I may pick up including Secret Wars #3 which is kinda likely and Omega Men issue 1 since I have such fond memories of the old book from the eighties but we will have to see....

And for the more collectively minded...

 

Velvet:The Secret Lives of Dead Men

I'm reading this right now and am quite enjoying this sixties era British spy story. The book follows the experiences of agent Velvet, a female spy relegated to desk duty. She misses the fied and as the book opens she's framed for a crime that puts her on the run trying to out the ones who betrayed her. This book picked up on the story revealing in images and words how she feels about being sidelines and how she feels about her onetime bosses and partners. It also follows the investigations they are doing to find this woman on the run supposedly. Reading this with little now ledge of volume ine has not been an issue as the characters are so well defined, conceived and drawn by the creative team. This is the group that made bringing back Bucky Barnes one of the best concepts that I so so poo pooed back when I heard about it and I loved so so much and still do. This is a great book and I don't know what drugs I was on when I passed on it after reading issue one. Ed Brubaker knows how to write great modern spy fiction and this shows him at the top of his game I think.