Dead Wood pull list (aka "These are the stories I'm looking for...)

 

All New Ghost Rider 9

Not too many people I follow around the social networking sites say much about this book by Filipe Smith and Damien Scott and I'm my opinion that is a shame. The new story arc is telling the sort of origin story for this new spirit of vengeance and things have heated up as Robbie's encounter with Jonny Blaze last issue has allowed Eli, the source of his power, take the drivers seat and it seems he's not all that nice a person. Filipe Smith has grasped the feeling of the original series returning it to its street level thriller and horror roots. 3.99 (cover looks really nice in this old image that didn't have the logo or anything.....)

 

Ody-C 1

I could just say that you had me at Matt Fraction writing this science fiction interpretation of the Odyssey but all the promotional images of the art and some of the sample pages clinched it. To me this is the perfect storm of need to have... a mix of science fiction, fantasy, mythology, classic epic adveture and a re imagining of the players as the opposit sex, ex really pretty artwork does not hurt. I'm so sad to see the end of Hawkeye but its nice to know there is some more Fraction coming soon. 3.99

 

Gotham by Midnight 1

So for anyone who likes a mix of police procedurals and supernatural this is probably just the title for you. Its a deal where it comes to comics these days at the price of 2.99. For me its got the extra draw that will have me calling my local shop to hold me one along with my weekly dose of marvel books, that would be the inclusion of Jim Corrigan, the Spectre in the book. He's one of those crazy powerful characters that sometimes be handled so right that he's all kinds of fun. I've read some interviews with Templesmith who is doing the art and the cast sounds pretty great.

 

 

Sundowners 4

This is my choice for best new continuing superhero book right now. Tim Seely has me wondering where he is heading with this take on superheroes; are they really heroes or are they just down right crazy people who think they are heroes after the sun goes down. I'm pretty sure there us a lot more then just that going on. This is a book that I'm sad I missed the initial issue and somehow doubt I'd be any the wiser about the real story. I love the art on this one and the character designs are winning also. If your up for a more odd read this one is your man this week. 3.50

 

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Judas Contact...

 

I loved the old Marv Wolfman George Perez new Teen Titans from the eighties when I was a teenager their book in my memory is brighter then the Claremont/Cockrum/Smith Uncanny Xmen so this new interpretation I had to read. Jeff Lemire has a great repututaion and has written some books I have enjoyed including the new 52 title Frankenstien and the Agents of SHADE which was my favorite of any of the initial offerings given the Dodson's did the art my expectations were pretty high. Overall I dug this book which strikes me more as the beginning of something rather then a full ing in and of itself. Jeff sets up three story arcs and hints at several more within the pages of this but only pays off on one of the promises he makes. As an old time fan I have to give Jeff and Terry kudos for making me not notice the characters they chose not to include by getting me fully investing in the handful the do use; Victor Stone, Tarra Markov, Garlfield Logan, Joseph Wilson Raven and the mysterious alien Starfire.

 

Though I can not say for sure how more recent fans of the Titans might feel about this book I can say that for an old fan the re visioning works pretty well. Jeff has clearly defined personalities for these characters and reveals them clearly over the corse of the story, the rebellious angry young girl, the underachieving son of the successful mom, the precocious smart caring son of a different family, the respectful girl raised by her grandparent, the disaffected loner and the terrifies outsider looking for help. Jeff know his DC and Teen Titans history; you can tell from the Easter eggs throughout the book for long time fans like me.and much like the amazing Guardians of the Galaxy film last summer they were winks to fans more then integral parts of the story. This book stands well on its own I believe having gone back to read it several times. Its a solid teenage hero tale that spins out of the feeling most teens have of disassociation with their parents and finding a place where they belong among people like them seen throught the lens of the superhero origin story. If anything the end comes all too soon leaving what seems to me the most interesting part for the future volumes. Fans of the marvel series Runaways would likely find the book happily familiar both with the characterful writing that keeps you engaged and with the clean and well thought out art choices.

Terry and Rachel Dodson pull from several styles in creating the overall look of this book. I think given one of the entryways into the Teen Titans comes from the animated series's that have been around its no wonder that the style they chose has hints of animation influence; Joseph Wilson's design looks almost pulled from Japanese animation particularly his profile at times and Tara Markov could easily at times have been drawn by Adam Warren who first adapted the Dirty Pair for US comic audiences. The color palet that they cose to work with also has more of the vibrancy that I associate with animation and doesn't go in for lots of the dark and more stark contrasts that I feel are being I used more in the "grittier" and grimmer comics DC seems to put out lately. This book looks more in line with the Batgirl with art by Babs Tarr and Cameron Stewart the it does with sat Batman or Superman right now. Anyone who likes comics that straddle that style line between American comics and Japanese manga and animation should likely enjoy the look of this.

Teen Titans: Earth One may not hit everyone the way it did me. Jeff Lemire really hit it right in my opinion in terms of taking a classic comic story I loved, The Judas Contract by Wolfman and Perez, character that I fondly remember and rich comic history and revisited with a lot of love and respect. He changed things yes, it's not the same story and people looking for that will be missing out on what he did write. I think this will play well for most old fans with open minds and hefully just create some new ones I'd expect people who loved the Runaways from marvel or who are now enjoying coming of age hero tales like Nova and Ms.Marvel are just the right new audience for this.

Is it a five for five shots that is for you to decide but it hit much more then not for me... Worth the money in my opinion. Out today Nov 19th at your local friendly comic stores....

Ps among the best bits in this for me were the seen a new cool take on Raven and getting Cyborg back where he belongs with his friends.

 

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Sunday Comics (Monday nov 10 really)

 

Rocket Racoon 5

This was the winner of the week and pretty much had me in stitches from just about page one till the last panel. Scotty Young may be stepping away as artist and just do the writing from now on for Rocket but his swan song was my call for best story of the week. This book really was the one that grasped the same tone as the Guardians Movie, sure in this format it was a gimmick they can do only once but it so worked. Honestly the "Rocket" version of Kitty's Fairy Tale from back in the day of Uncanny Xmen by way of Giffen'ish Lobo was the fun that I needed. Five shot out of five.

 

Amazing Spider-Man 9

Its surprising to me just how much I have been enjoying the Dan Slott Spider-Man. I have been a Spidy fan on and off over the years and the reason I finally checked this out were the upcoming Silk, Spider-Woman and Spider Gwen series and its been a real hoot. I grabbed the first Original Sin issue which I really liked and the Edge of Spiderverse were another draw I can credit for picking up this wild fun issue. This issue plays wild and loose with the alternate universe thing that Marvel has been doing so well lately. The art by Oliver Coipel has a clean and clear style and has a panel flow that was ps easy to follow it made me think of movie storyboards. The backup that reintroduces the villains behind the story who have been kicking around in the last few issues in a manner where you don't really notice the exposition to being us occasional readers up to speed. Its definitely a four shots out of five is not a bit more because its got just enough tongue in cheek to make it a Spidy story.

 

I've got some other issues to get too but these won me pretty clearly out of the books I got to this last week.

 

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Rocket.....

So I'm pretty surprised with how much people loved Rocket and Groot in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie that no one seems to be talking about the Scotty Young Rocket comic book and particularly this issue. Very few comics these days make me laugh out loud as much as this single issue did, sure it was a gimmicky issue, they can only really do this once and get away with it but this was worth four dollars for all the honest laughter it brought me. Sometimes comics should just be funny; I needed a break from all the not so great news of this week in particular and well this twenty some odd pages did the trick for me. Will this issue be a big piece of continuity, will it be relevant in ten or seventy five years well who knows but it was damned funny and gave me a great amount of joy for the visual jokes and storytelling and yeah it gave me the Rocket and Groot I really wanted. Great work. If you need some levity this is the Racoon and tree your looking for. Five stars if you need a rating....

 

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Dead Wood Comics Pull List Nov. 5

 

Amazing Spider-Man 9

This one is a total surprise to me but I've been checking out ol Peter Parker because of Ms Marvel making an appearance and some actual interest in the character Silk who seems to be getting a series next year. Dan Slott is a pretty amazing writer who has a handle on how to subvert the Parker formula and still make a great hero tale about one of the original hard luck heroes. Back in the seventies and eighties I was a big fan of the Jessica Drew Spiderwoman and she's aparently a big past of this two getting her own title again after all this time too. So I guess I'll be getting at lest this issue to see if it is my kind of think like Original Sin surprisingly was. Its 4.99 so it saps about a quarter of my budget this week but I'm lucky some books appear to be shipping late....

Nailbiter 7

Joshua Williamson is one of the writers that I've just recently discovered and as a fan of good police procedurals I can say this is one fans will want to take a look at. I got a chance to read the first volume as an arc and will be posting a review and its a creepily wonderful about a small town that has produced multiple serial killers and the investigator who gets rooked by an associate into looking into the place. To me it reads like a version of Riverdale all grown up and being scripted by the writers of Justified. The art is pretty spare, characterful and moody. This issue features an appearance by Brian Michael Bendis as a character so don't be mislead by the cover but its should be well worth your time even if you are.

 

 

 

Birthright 2

Oddly here is another book by the above mentioned Williamson by the name of Joshua but this time writing an Epic Fantasy and at 2.99 its among the comic deals these days. The end of issue one set up an intriguing couple of storylines that will make this issue a must try. The set up goes something like this... child disappears to become prophecied hero for fantasy realm and we the readers remain with the family as life goes to hell for them. The child returns a full adult a real world year later with an impossible tale and an impossible resolution to a missing child case. I'll not give away the final reveal but its a good one. So get this and the first if your a fantasy fan this week.

 

 

Legendary Star-Lord

Looking at the several page preview last week I was pretty much sold giving the references to old alien characters from the Marvel universe including references to the equine race from Power Pack, the Alpha-Centarans just to name a couple and not to ruin the other surprises. Now I skipped the last issue so far so all I know is that the identity do Mr. Knife is still hidden and that the "fight" with Thanos must have gone ok.... At 3.99 you have to like Peter Quill to get it but Sam Humphries is one of the funner writers at Marvel right now so.... You ow you want to pick it up.

 

 

 

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