The comic book world is like America’s political system. For the most part we have a two party system, with DC/Marvel standing in for the bigger political parties. Luckily for us, strong third parties such as Image and Dark Horse carry more industry clout than the libertarians, Green Party or Bull-Moosers EVER did.
Let’s look at the comics shipping this week alone, shall we?
QUALITY MERCH
Marvel is giving everybody a humor bail out this week, as this week’s fantastic double dip of the Deadpool: the merc with a mouth will have you dying of laughter and stab wounds. First Wade Wilson joins the X-men in Deadpool #17, and then it’s time for Amazing Spider-Man #611, with Spidey & Deadpool sitting in a tree, K-I-L-L-I-N-G! Deadpool is everywhere. Who does that guy think he is, Wolverine?
Two more MARVELous book out this week include the second comic to bear the title Dark X-Men #1 this year, and X-Babies #2. Both would seem to be crap titles, but Dark X-Men has Mimic in it and X-Babies is drawn by one of America’s finest cartoonists, Jacob Chabot. I’d buy anything that guy put out, even X-Babies. HE’S THAT GOOD.
Across the aisle DC is giving us the solid Batman grounded platform that has always done well for the party. Paul Dini’s Batman: The Private Casebook TP is 160 pages of Bats and Zatanna duking it out with Two-Face, Catwoman, and the Ventriloquist, straight from the pages of Dini’s amazing run on Detective Comics. Batman/ Doc Savage Special #1, on the other hand, sees 100 Bullets writer Azzarello and artist Phil Notto firing the opening salvo of the incoming Pulp-Influenced DC Universe invasion.
Mark Millar’s Superman Red Son HC Deluxe HC Edition is another safe bet this week, telling the chilling elseworlds tale of the “big blue boy-scout” first landing in Russia to become the “big red Commie.” YIKES!
VOTE THIRD PARTY
Good for the big boys: now let’s see what’s out this week from the independent publishers, those lean, mean mammals to DC/Marvel’s dinosaurs. These books have to be more entertaining to stay alive, and they almost always deliver!
IDW is bringing it’s a-game this week with The Ghoul #1, a new-monster noir comic created by the all-star team of Steve “30 Days of Night” Niles and Bernie “Swamp Thing, Ghostbusters, you name it” Wrightson. Meanwhile the multiple award winning team of Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey are once again making comic book history with their Comic Book Comics #4, the complete cartoon history of comics!
Then it’s time for B.P.R.D. 1947#5 and Hellboy Wild Hunt #8 from Dark Horse, as well as their super weirdo book: Doctor Grordbort Presents: Victory, the journal of Scientific Adventure and Violence for Young Men and Literate Women. Created by WETA concept artists Greg Broadmore, Doc. Grordbort is a fictional account of Victorian scientific colonists and the bug-eyed aliens they destroy bringing civilization to the stars. It’s all “Stiff-Upper-Lip, eh-wot?” but its tongue is planted firmly in it cheek.
VOTE
We vote with our dollars in this industry, and wether it be for a third or mainstream party you should always get out to the polls to vote. ME? I’m voting for Chris Wisnia’s ASTONISHINGLY funny collection of silver age influenced monster comics: Doris Danger: Giant Monster Adventures. One of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time! GO CHRIS!
