Variant Covers: Transdimensional Super Spy Swagger.
Oh my gosh! The Flashpoint has come and gone! The DC ‘New 52’ has arrived with all the musty fart pomp-and-circumstance-and-nothing-much-else that you’d expect. Last week saw just the conclusion of the worst storyline to cause a Universe relaunch ever, and the first issue of JL(A). And yeah kids, I’m counting Heroes Reborn as better than this nonsense. It had Onslaught! Franklin Richards! Other stuff! Rob Liefeld! This is a new week though, and filled with new titles from DC that actually get me a bit excited. More importantly, this is the return of Mr. Quinn.
Variant Covers. Your pull-list for the week. Show me. I’m practically begging.
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Wolverine: Debt Of Death #1.
This one-shot is being drawn by David Aja. It’s all you really need to know when weighing whether or not you’re going to purchase it. Aja’s artwork is always a blessing, and consistently rare to come by. I follow his work with a fanaticism, so I was sold on the name alone. Combine that with the stand-alone’s premise that finds Wolverine fighting “FLYING BATTLEROBO SUITS IN JAPAN!!!! “ per the issue description and I’m rather excited for the entire endeavor.
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The Big Lie #1.
Wolverine isn’t your speed? Oh, okay. Well, let me ask you something. Are you a Lies Assassin? Are you an Info Warrior? Then this comic book is for you. This week a glorious 9/11 Truther comic book is hitting the shelves. This isn’t some small press outing here. Droppin’ hot a few days before the decade anniversary, Image Comics is putting out a bona fide 9/11 Conspiracy Theory comic book. They have giant balls and swollen ovaries that we must all appreciate if not respect.
The comic’s protagonist is a young woman who uses her job at the Large Hadron Collider to travel back in time and try and evacuate the Towers before the first plane strikes. Catapulting off this ludicrous and wonderful use of the LHC is apparently some hardcore Truther wankery. It’s like Loose Change meets the funny books! As someone who likes to surf the wave of mutilation and ingest the oddity and asinine at the fringes of pop culture I’m so interested in this. I can’t help it. It’s too much crazy for me to turn down.
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Animal Man & Swamp Thing #1.
As part of the DC New 52 is the reintroduction of a couple of sacred cows from the DC Pantheon. Desperate to show they’re not just swaggerin’ with neat Jim Lee costumes full of chitin armor and knee pads, they’ve given Animal Man and Swamp Thing new lives within the Relaunched-Rebooted-Refried-Universe. Normally I’d discuss the gesture with my snarky sausage fanboy fingers. DC must know this. Know that there is no way that the average fan would sneeze at a new take on the characters than Moore and Morrison mastered many moons ago. So they’ve stacked the titles’ creative teams. Jeff Lemire is spearheading Animal Man, while Scott Snyder is taking on Swamp Thing.
It’s impossible to operate outside of the aforementioned shadows, but I don’t doubt the capacity of these two fantastic writers from leaving their own marks on the characters. It’s worth a shot. Isn’t it?
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Casanova: Avaritia #1.
My title of the week right here. Capable of filling my pathetic pantaloons with a lather for the Gods. Fraction and Gabriel Ba bring the world the first original Casanova tale after the reprinting of all the title’s previous work. In full color. I cannot wait. Fraction is possibly my favorite writer, and I look forward to see his entire psyche unchained. Unhinged. Unencumbered by editorial mandates, or events, or anything else that would prevent an unfettered access to the tale he wants to tell.
Casanova is high-concept. A title that smashes both time and dimension a-go-go. It’s seven parts transdimensional espionage thriller, nine parts filthy violence romp. Thirteen parts hyper-aware meta-text. Throw in some sexiness. What should not be missed is the genuine amount of heart Fraction packs into the tale. Underneath the trappings of glitz, glamour, and hyper-reality is a tale of addiction, depression, familial strife and more. It is simultaneously extravaganza galore and deceptively personal.
Do not miss.
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Action Comics #1.
The fact that Grant Morrison is writing the newest iteration of Action Comics is what keeps me from despairing at the idea of Superman running around in jeans and a cape tied to his silly ass. Nothing in the promotional materials surrounding the release have gotten me that excited. Though, truth be told I abstained from trying to squint through recently released preview pages. Yo DC, next time you drop a preview it’d be most dope if you made sure that the prose is legible.
It’s Morrison, and while he isn’t always dagger-sharp he’s forever-interesting to a glutton for his work like me. The man who gave me my favorite Superman story ever within the pages of All-Star is making his mark on yet another Clark Kent origin story. I don’t think he can top his previous effort, but if someone has to be guiding the Kryptonian Mothership I’m happy it’s my favorite Alien Abductee.
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Also In Addition To.
This week sees Morning Glories #12 and Sweet Tooth #25, of which I’m also digging. There’s a plethora of other DC new #1 titles, like the quirky Static Shock by Xombi writer John Rozum that seem interesting enough to merit a look. There’s also new issues of True Blood and Transformer comics, for people who like to cross-mediumize their pop culture black holes. Which we all do at this point. Oh! Slurpee cup referencing a movie based off of a comic book inspired by a teleplay? Fuck yeah!
What are you folks buying this week? Hit me.