SAGA’S BACK, SAGA’S BACK, SAGA’S BACK!
Hello friends, welcome to a look at some of the best comics released in the past week! A big week for the industry, as Marvel released their new event book Infinity, which we’ll take a look at later. FIRST THERE MUST BE SAGA TALK! Image’s biggest and bestest book (I know what I said, come at me Walking Dead fans!) has returned from it’s 3-4 (aka an eternity) month long hiatus, and all is good in the world. If you want a quick issue summary, here it is: this issue fills in some events that went down prior to issue 12. Not exactly the most exciting of recaps, I know, but I don’t do spoilers. Is the Lying Cat in this issue? Yes it is! Should I need to tell you anything else in order for you to buy it? No I shouldn’t, unless you haven’t been reading this book, because you are crazy and/or stupid. BKV and Fiona Staples come back with a bang, introducing new characters, bringing back some old ones, checking in on the regulars and just being the damn best at it. While this isn’t exactly the best jumping on point for new readers, it’s still an incredibly satisfying comic, one of the best you’ll read this month. Saga is the “The Book” (according to David Brothers, prior to being hired at Image) and it’s reall in your best interest to get caught up, especially when you can do so for under $30 at the moment (Vol.1 $9.99, Vol.2 $14.99 #13 $2.99)
Frazier Irving returns to Uncanny X-men this week, and my fears in a drop of quality are proven wrong. I’ve made it no secret, that I was not exactly a fan of the prior arc Irving came on to draw, but issue 10 is a huge improvement from that arc. Just ignore the gorgeous cover, as it really doesn’t have much to do with the events in the interior (A Bendis-book trademark!) I do take issue with the fact that a character getting a major redesign last issue is completely ignored this issue, but I’m not sure where to place the blame., as it could just be a result of a lack of communication from the creative team and the editor(s). That aside, it’s a good issue. Irving continues the trend of widescreen panels, and the finish product is as solid as when Bachalo attempted it. Frazier’s art, a mixture of digital pants and god only know what else, gives the book a sharp look, especially with the bright backgrounds. The coloring really stands out in this issue, and it’s hard to describe why it’s great, but I assure you it is. Uncanny X-men still isn’t the best book Marvel puts out, nor is it the strongest X-book, but it’s still good, and worth it. The premise is solid, the art is great, and Bendis does an admirable job on the scripts. Well worth the $4.
And now to get back to Infinity. Quality wise, it’s the best debut for an Marvel event book in quite some time, as Johnathan Hickman and Jim Cheung absolutely KILL on the first issue. It’s a surprisingly smart, dense read with fantastic art. The only downside to it is that you NEED to be 100% caught up on Hickman’s Avengers books. I’m not, and there’s an entire 1/4th of the book that might as well have been written in pig Latin to me. Cheung also suffers a bit from same-face-syndrome with some of his characters, so that didn’t help either. Again, a strong debut, but not for everyone, especially at $5.