By the time you’re reading this, I’m either in a perpetual state of bummed because the Seahawks just lost, or I’ll still be insanely pumped on their crushing win over the Broncos. I’d be vastly underestimating the atmosphere in Seattle right now if I said it wasn’t a big deal, and an infectious one at that. That’s all I’ll say about sports.
On to comic talk…. I’ve got nothing. These are comics and you should buy them.
(Honorable mention books that I talk about them all the time but want to remind you that they have new issues: Judge Dredd: Mega City #2, Catalyst Comix #8, Archer and Armstrong #0.1)
Alone Forever by Liz Prince
Just in time for Valentine’s day, Liz Prince has collected a book of her popular online series that brings you joy, laughter, sadness, and other emotions. Okay, I sound less than enthused, but that’s only because I can so scarily relate to the perils of modern romance in the OkCupid age. Prince draws characters that are fun, funny, and engaging; who are more about figuring themselves out in a comedic, self-deprecating way, than figuring out how to “catch the cute boy”. Online romance, punk jams, bearded alternative boys. Yep, sounds like my life.
Ant Colony by Michael DeForge
You’re an idiot if you’re not reading DeForge yet. I hate to be that honest but it’s true. [not really -ed.] He’s been putting out stuff with various magazines like Study Group, and The Believer, online, and independent publishing. His first collected book came out last year in Very Casual, and it’s very good. Scholars like to freak out over him, pegging him as everything from the next Clowes, to Burns, to Ware, but really…he’s just the next DeForge. Oh yeah, his Drawn and Quarterly debut is about the impending war between the black ants and the red ants of a singular ant colony; a microcosm of the destruction of civilization, but an exploration of the human condition, handled with humor, sensitivity, and insight that is rare in any medium but the best. And this is the best. I want to be reading it right now (and then sleeping with it under my pillow so I can osmosis all the feels you’ll feel when reading this).
Sucker Bait and Other Stories by Graham Ingels
The first story from this new EC collected book by Fantagraphics is about a guy who keeps lying to his girlfriend of 15 years about going fishing every weekend, and why he wont marry her. Some fun stuff in the middle happens and she ends up mounting him on the wall like one of his trophy fish he kept bringing her. Awesome. I love the absurdity of a woman stuffing and mounting a grown man on the wall. It’s not even possible, but it’s amazing to imagine. Ingels is the master of horror; his zombies have influenced the like of Romero and other goulish artists for generations to come. The stories are classic, and what a lot of pop culture jokes are based off of. So if you want to actually get people’s references instead of just laughing along in confusion, pick up all the EC books that you can! (Zero Hour is another one that’s out this week for all you Sci Fi nerds (me)).
Ms. Marvel #1 by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona
I don’t want to boil this comic down to the first topic of conversation that’s brought up when discussing this comic, but it’s hard to do when Marvel reintroduces Ms. Marvel with a Pakistani-American, Muslim, female character. On the outset, reactionary folks might be critical to the simple fact that Marvel is trying to cram as many underrepresented groups into a comic as possible, but that’s how shit gets started. Anyone should be able to feel like they can be a superhero (if they’re born with/have powers bestowed upon them) no matter who you are. A lot of the early issue will be the basics of an origin story; who is Kamala Kahn? There’s a lot of reasons to pick this book up: curiosity, amazing art, a classic character. The bottom line is, for the sake of expanding the superhero genre, buy this book. (And for the sake of the Internet, please refrain from flaming the book for reasons other than its artistic and storytelling merit).
