Slow does not describe the comic week ahead of us. Let’s get right down to the good stuff, shall we?
Vamparella Master Series, (W) Mark Millar and Grant Morrison, Dynamite Press
One of the best bets this week, and again this will give you an idea of how sparse the goodies are, is this reprint edition of Grant Morrison and Mark Millar Vampirella stories.
You know Mark and Grant, right? Without them there would BE NO contemporary comic book market. You are also aware of the, ah, “body of work” of Ms. Rella’s, aren’t you? She’s the lady Vampire who came from space to wear skimpy outfits and eat criminals.
There is no way in heck these stories are going to be run-of-the-mill. Run of the Millar, maybe. Two of the industries top talents reprinted from days past when they were struggling for a wider audience, telling stories about a wardrobe challenged Vampire with a thirst for justice. NICE.
Still, sometimes I wish there was a comic book character with BIGGER breasts than Vampirella. Sigh, if only….
Battle Chasers Anthology, (W/A) Joe Madureira, Image Comics
WHA?! Image is reprinting the not so great abandoned comic by top video game concept artist and former comic book artist Joe Madureira?! Why, that’s the comic that’s noteworthy for it’s break out cleavage, I mean character “Red Monika,” the lady who makes Red Sojna look like two mosquito bites on a twig.
Battle Chasers, for those needing a history lesson, was the end result of the remaining Image guys (I.e. Eric Larson) asking Marvel’s top talents at the time to create a second wave of Image books. Notable break outs from this experiment include Steam Punk from Chris Bachallo, a boring as heck book with art SO FANTASTIC you couldn’t tell from one page to the next what in the world you were looking at.
Battle Chasers was Joe “Age of Apocalypse” Madureira’s entry. Weird swords and sorcery schtick mixed with bad girl art and flashy graphics. The story was better than some of the other Image books at the time, and the art was sensational…when it showed up.
Ya’ see, the death of these comics were the economic realities of the 90’s. As top talents, Joe and the gang got paid top dollar, and had no publishing deadline pressing them down. The books shipped later and later.
Till Joe realized he could make more money in video games and never have to draw 25 sequential pages ever again.
Unlike Humberto Ramos! He’s Drawing Amazing Spider-Man these days, including this week’s #648 written by one of the best working-class writers in the biz, Dan Slott. Check this out!
Like I said, slow week. Let’s pray for a better tomorrow, shall we?
