#January2011

Variant Covers: If You’re Reborn, Is There Reafter Birth?

Hello good souls, and welcome to Variant Covers. I am your pilot on this trip of stupidity. ‘Tis a trip where I tell you the comic books I’m excited and/or curious about that are coming out tomorrow. Your job, should you choose to partake, is to hit the comments box with your own pull list.

It’s my favorite game: show me yours and I’ll show you mine. The elementary school principal down the street isn’t too cool on it, but I hope you are.

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Thor: The Mighty Avenger #8.
This week sees the final issue of Roger Landridge and Chris Samnee’s Thor: The Mighty Avenger. The title has been felled by something that not even Mjöllnir can beat into submission: poor sales. The title is suffering an unjust fate, as yet another part of an inexplicable comic book market. One of the best, most heartwarming titles on the shelf is being served a Viking’s funeral while other dreck continues to march onward.

If you haven’t picked up this title, I fart in your general direction. Actually, that’s unfair. I miss countless good stuff dropping every month. Budget constraints, et cetera. Even the local comic book shop dude couldn’t believe it when I told him it was one of my favorite monthlies. Isn’t it a kid’s book?, he asked quizzically. Naw dude, not even.

At the root of it, its a growing-up tale. The story of a dude forced to leave home, and cut out his own place in the world. You can’t go home again, even if the road that leads back there is the Rainbow Bridge. The storyline is complimented by humor, romance, and gorgeous pencils and coloring. It’s a shame that the title is ending, but there’s always a chance the bitch is blasted with a scroll of resurrection somewhere down the line.

To Landridge, Samnee, and everyone who worked on the title: you boys rock. Please snag this final issue, and help the argument towards bringing the title back.

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Infinite Vacation #1.
This title was brought to my attention over at Robot 6 yesterday, and it sounds like something straight-up my nerd pipes. The comic, helmed by writer Nick Spencer (Morning Glories) and Christian Ward, takes the concept of augmented reality to the nth degree. Let’s blockquote the premise for great fucking justice!

Billed as a sci-fi love story, the book stars Mark, who lives in a world where alternate realities are up for sale, and buying and trading your way through unlimited variations of yourself is as commonplace as checking your email or updating your status. But then Mark’s other selves start dying.

Awesome! In a world where we’re constantly opting out of reality through a variety of apps; comic books (yup!), television, reality television and computer games where we don whatever identity we want, the premise is both sexily absurd and homegrown. I’m sold. I like my digital persona, I ignore reality while plowing through thousands of pages of fiction, and who the fuck wouldn’t want to escape into our own world? More than we already do.

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Like Sexy Things? Here’s The Cover to Daredevil: Reborn #1

Click this pig to enlarge. Artist Jock revealed today the cover to Daredevil: Reborn #1, and it’s a gorgeous son of a bitch. If you haven’t been following Daredevil, you’re a fool! And I’m not going to waste my time explaining to you why you are missing one of the best character arcs of the best ten years or so. Just fix it!

Get reading!