Weekly Spinner Picks for 08/13/2014
Weekly Spinner Picks is all about the hot comics of the week and getting to know the tastes of the writers at Comics: The Gathering. Each week the CTG contributors spotlight which comics they are most looking forward to on Wednesday and how those picks got to the top of their to-read piles. Let us know if you agree or not with our picks and most importantly don’t forget to add your list!United States of Murder Inc #4: This crime saga brought to us by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming is my favorite ongoing series of the year right now. It’s such an original take on an organized crime tale with absolutely amazing artwork. Guaranteed this will be mentioned among the best stories at the end of 2014.
Abe Sapien #15: Simply put Abe has been killing it since issue #12. The series has catapulted to my current favorite from the Mignolaverse. It’s been a creepy good read and one that the next issue can’t come out soon enough! Add to that one of the best up-and-coming artists, Juan Ferreyra, is taking over and I might read this one in the car before coming home. If you are unfamiliar with Ferreyra’s work and are a horror comic fan I highly suggest you check out his work in the Dark Horse mini-series Colder. Amazing!!
Genius #2: I picked up #1 on a whim last week and really enjoyed. It’s brought to us by the Image Comic imprint Top Cow and was some sort of competition winner back in 2008. I got a little lazy researching the competition but if you’re interesting in looking it up this was the Pilot Season Winner of 2008. Anyway the first issue brought with it a lot of intrigue, a great cast of characters, and some amazing artwork. This is being released as a weekly series which is awesome since I’m excited to see how it all unfolds.
Starlight #5: I have to admit I’m 2 issues behind in this Mark Millar series but I really enjoyed what I read so far. Its weird Millar’s release dates are usually so far behind schedule I never have to worry about falling behind in reading his work. This time I’m the one behind! I think I’ll catch up on Monday to prepare for the new issue.
Batman #34: I'm actually really excited for this issue because after the behemoth Zero Year arc it's nice to have just a one and done issue. I actually don't know too much about this issue besides that, so the mystery has my interest piqued. Hopefully, it's a more quiet and subdued Batman story since recently it's been nothing but bombastic.
Captain America #23: Third to last issue of the current Cap run and now with Steve Rogers unable to perform his Captainly duties it'll be interesting to see where this arc goes. It'll most likely lay the groundwork for Falcon taking over, but it'll be cool to see how it ties back to the Dimension Z arc.
Superman/Wonder Woman #11: After two underwhelming annuals and a solid Action Comics #34 I'm getting reading for the Superman: Doomed crossover event to be over (mostly for my wallet's sake). There's only four more issues including this one so I'm expecting it to go out with a big bang across these last few issues.
First off I want to get my honorable mention out of the way.
Watchmen - Dave Gibbons Artifact Edition: I honestly don't know where I'd be without this graphic novel existing in the world. I'm not a big fan of rereleases, but Watchmen can be rereleased a million more times and I'd still read it, mouth agape. Alan Moore may be the biggest weirdo/asshole in comic book history, but this is his magna opus. Dave Gibbons also breathes a lot of life into this piece with his amazing artwork. If you haven't read Watchmen or you only saw the (alright/not great) movie by Zach Snyder, then you owe to yourself and to your reputation as a comic book reader to put eye onto paper with this baby.
Now that I've inflated Alan Moore's ego for the day, I move onto ACTUAL NEW RELEASES!
Godzilla Cataclysm #1: Godzilla is near and dear to everyone's heart, unless you don't have a heart. In this book, he returns to lay waste to another cityscape as he does so often. Nothing is better than a good Kaiju story and most stories that involve TOHO monsters (especially Big G) are amazing. IDW publishes this one, so expect some good artwork and writing.
Walking Dead #130: My comic book love affair with Robert Kirkman spans more than 10 years. While this comic has strayed away from zombies and began focusing on the lives of Rick & Carl Grimes years after the initial storyline, it is still an epic adventure that shows us almost exactly what would go down if the dead did in fact rise. I'm gonna read this issue, you're probably gonna read this issue, people that enjoy the TV show maybe AREN'T going to read this issue. It's Kirkman though and God love him, he knows how to write with ease.
Genius #2: While I'm not a big advocate for female protagonists in comic books, this series looks pretty well fleshed out. Essentially the plot is a take on whether we as human beings would be willing to accept the second coming of a warlord in the form of a teenage girl in Los Angeles. I can dig it and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes. Image publishes this beauty.
Scarlet #8 comes out via Marvel/Icon this week, and I'm as surprised as anyone to see that this comic is still coming out. I'm pretty sure I remember picking up issue #1 around the same time Morning Glories started. Most people are probably trade-waiting this comic at this point, but if Scarlet was ever on your radar, guess what, it's back. At least for now. Who knows when we'll see issue #9, but that's okay, because there's plenty of other comics to engage with.
Such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #37. Last time I reviewed TMNT I was getting annoyed with all the chit chat, but this issue, the chit-chatting is going on between Shredder and Krang! It has to be good, it has to! My personal quibbles aside, TMNT is never not solid, and Mateus Santoluco is a gift to all of us who enjoy art with some character. Really excited for this one.
If you want a little more bang for your comic-reading buck, check out Juice Squeezers Vol. 1 available from David Lapham and the folks at Dark Horse. 120 pages of bug-fighting, claustrophobia, and childhood bonding! This is Lapham's idea of a kid's comic, but it aint for sissies. The cover image depicts a girl struggling for her life against the pincers of a giant beetle, and the comic itself promises more nastiness.
Dark Ages #1 (Dark Horse) - You had me at Dan Abnett. Dan reteams with his "New Deadwardians" artist I.N.J. Culbard for this period piece set in medieval times. Of course, there's a twist! Aliens! This looks like it'll be a fun read with some good knight-on-alien violence. Never thought I'd type out that sentence.
Sex Criminals #7 (Image) - The series lost a little ground with the completion of the first arc. However, I have renewed faith in Sex Criminals since reading's the Jon-focused sixth issue. If Fraction can continue that style of writing, I'll be hooked.
F1rst Hero #1 (Action Lab) - Debuted as an Indiegogo funded project last Fall, now seeing print through Action Lab. In this world people with powers eventually go insane, so what's going to happen when the main character retains his sanity? Should be an interesting read.
Original Sin #7 (Marvel) - This comes out. Jason Aaron is handling the writing duties for this event, so I was really hoping for more. Maybe something interesting will happen in this issue.
Hexed #1; A supernatural thief named Luci (everyone calls her Lucifer) eventually unleashes some kind of horror from her mentors painting. I'm guessing she's gonna have to hunt them down right afterwards too. This book is going to be the most interesting read of the week for me.
Dead at 17; It was published by Viper but now this new arc will be handled by Image. The last series showed Nara's soul being torn as she attempted to flee purgatory. It was a gnarly cliff hanger and I am dying to see where this issue 1 will start. Make no mistakes, this title has the ability to be Image's Sandman.
Genius #2; Read #1 yet? Go read it. Your welcomed. Number 2 is guaranteed to take this oppressed group of thugs and delinquents over the edge thanks to Destiny's orders. This book took an intelligent lead female (something this industry needs more of btw) and conditioned her mind to be a complete war strategist. Oh, she also unites a bunch of gangs in her own special way. Freaking amazing and over the top!
Spider-man 2099 #2; I'm not gonna put up a front. I didn't like how #1 ended. After letting that ending marinade for a month. I'm hoping that maybe this is Marvels was of letting us know that Spidey 2099 isn't going to conduct himself the way a hero would. I guess it's wait and see at this point. I'm giving issue 2 a shot, so lets see what happens.
Dark Ages #1: There aren't really a lot of books doing a middle ages theme right now aside from Rat Queens and the entire point of that book it seems is to just make fun of the played out "fantasy" themes we all know and either hate or love. Dark Ages, though, looks like a nice and contained (only 4 issue) story about what I'm assuming is knights v aliens. I like stories that know exactly what they're doing so the 4 issue thing is appealing to me, we'll see how it turns out.
Sex Criminals #7: I have kind of a love/hate relationship with this book. I like Matt Fraction, sometimes I REALLY like Matt Fraction especially Immortal Iron Fist which I think might be one of the best Marvel books in recent history but, I don't think Sex Criminals is living up to the hype that a lot of people are giving it. It's funny, the art is refreshing, but it's not what I've come to expect from Fraction. This issue seems like it'll be the real start of the second arc so I'm gonna give it a shot.
Lobster Johnson get the Lobster #5: I'm a huge Mike Mignola fan, I love Hellboy, I love BPRD, I love Abe Sapien, I love Lobster Johnson. The funny but actiony twist that Johnson brings to the neo-noir genre is great and I love the little hints and references to other Mignolaverse books. Hopefully this issue finishes off the run well.
Zero #10 Previous issue unexpectantly wrenched my heart. This series is constantly catching me off guard - in a very good way and looking forward to what surprises await in issue 10.
United States of Murder Inc #4 as well as being such a unique take on a familiar premise, I'm particularly drawn to the eye catching colouring and artwork in this series. Candy for my eyes (same goes for Zero)