Variant Covers: Behold, The Fetus Of God!
What a fantastic week in the world of funny books. There’s a good amount of shit dropping that I’m digging and/or have been anticipating for a while now. Some weeks it’s bare bones, other weeks it’s a raping and pillaging of my wallet. There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground, which is cool, because what is the internet for! If not for bitching and moaning?
—-
S.H.I.E.L.D #4
Whenever S.H.I.E.L.D drops, it’s my favorite book of the week. Easily, and without contention. Hickman and Weaver are combining their powers like fucking Captain Planet to give me a mind-raping that I welcome with open uh, mind-anus? Whatever. Seriously though, it’s a combination of epic Marvel action during the days of DaVinci, humanist philosophy, and really, really, really gorgeous artwork. It’s raged from being unknown and underneath the radar to one of the dopest and most acclaimed titles of the year, and if you haven’t hitched yourself to its Icarus wings yet, it’s about time that you got on board.
Last episode was Sir Isaac Newton copulating with an alien, and enslaving Nostradamus to help him guide the trajectory of human history. This episode? Apparently there’s a fetus of god being born, as well as a throwdown with a Celestial. This son of a bitch is hitting on so many cylinders, it’s scary. Well worth your $3.
Also In The Marvel Universe:
Sometimes I kick it around the horn in a Universe when there’s a particularly large deluge rocketing down the pipe, and this week seems fitting. There’s a huge heaping of Thor dropping this week. The aforementioned scribe superior, Hickman is debuting his Ultimate Thor this week, and like a moaning fanboy of his, I’ll be checking it out. Not content, more Thor for you? Even though he’s becoming the Asgardian equivalent of Deadpool when it comes to over-exposure? Hit up Thor: For Asgard. The artwork by Bianchi sells it by itself. Uncanny X-Force #1 debuts this week, and yeah? I don’t know man. At one point in my life, the word “Uncanny” meant a shitload to me. Know it just bums me out, and makes me which I was still running the Australian outback with Claremont and Silvestri.
—-
De:Tales
When I found out that twins Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba were seeing their critically acclaimed De:tales reprinted, I ripped off a couple of cartwheels. I first found these dudes through their work with Matt Fraction on Casanova, which is absolutely gorgeous work. Their breaking of typical panel structure and their tinge for the surreal is something I can really get behind. I apologize for my lack of adequate terminology in describing their artwork, I don’t have the set of mental structures to do them justice. In layman’s terms, it’s fucking gorgeous. Word?
De:tales is their their collection of short stories that takes on life in urban Brazil, and it has been described as a both gritty and full of magical realism. Awesome. As someone who gets down with the surreal, I’m anticipating checking this out. I know I’ll have to go out of my way to request it from my comic shop, but sometimes it’s fucking worth it. If you can’t find this hotness, Midtown Comics got you.
—-
Baltimore: The Plague Ships #3
Baltimore has gone from a curious pick-up of mine, to something I anticipate every month. The son of a bitch is just pure undead fun. It’s not particularly much to describe, and either you’re sold, or you’re not. A dude with one leg and a penchant for killing vampires is cutting across the country searching for the vamp who cost him a limb and a good amount of his fellow army men during World War I. Like I said, the story is simple, but that isn’t always a bad thing. Especially if you’re supplementing a heady hardcover like De:tales with something more relaxing to kick back with. Worth noting is that art is fucking fantastic. Steinbeck pencils a creepy world, and the dark inking gives the whole work a fitting ambiance.
—-
Batman: Odyssey #4
Neal Adams’ revisiting of the man whose lore he helped construct can be nailed in one word: bananas. Full of atemporal narration directed at the reader themselves, guns, bullet wounds and more, I find myself ocscillating between being entertained and heavily confused. I continue reading it out of some pledge to the man who helped shape Batman way back in the day when I was just a tingle in a testicle bag. I don’t particularly dislike it, which is why I’m recommending it.
It’s so different, and maybe that’s what icons such as the Bat need to keep them fresh. Interesting investigations that delve below the crust that we’re used to munching on.
Also In The DC Universe:
If you’ve been following Brightest Day (I haven’t), you’ll be stoked to know issue eleven comes out tomorrow. As well, Vertigo sees American Vampire #7, which is a series I’ve only heard good things about. The hardcover of the first collection comes out this week, and I’m looking to pick it up soon. For what it’s worth mentioning, there’s also new issues of Scalped and Unknown Soldier, which are two titles I can’t afford/don’t have time to read these days, but I’m very intrigued by.
And finally, Scooby Doo-philes, you get your newest issue this week. Be excited, b-e excited!