Thursday, April 14, 2011

Comic Roundup: March 30 and April 6, 2011

  • It has been too long since I've done one of these. Since I miss writing about comics, it's time to get back. I don't buy enough comics to for a weekly thing, so I've throwing a couple weeks together to bulk it up. You are welcome.

  • Axe Cop volume 1 - As I grow older, I think back at some of the things I created as a child and wonder what I was thinking. Through the haze of years and maturity, I've lost touch with self that could be that wildly inventive. Axe Cop broke through all that and reminded me what it was like to be a child again. The comic is mad crazy, but it's also inventive and hilarious. And let's not forget the art. Malachai and Ethan Nicolle have created something unique and I am a happier person for having read it.

  • Blue Estate issue 1 - I probably would have passed right by this book without thinking twice if not for the beautiful cover. Blue Estate seems to be a mystery/crime comic. It's really interesting. I know that is damning with faint praise, but it is the best I can do. The entire issue is told in caption boxes over the panels with very little dialogue, setting up the premise of the story. But that is the problem; it is all set up. Maybe it reads better in the trade, but it's not the strongest start for a monthly periodical. Nonetheless, I'm curious enough to pick up issue two.

  • Glamourpuss issue 18 - There is no way I'm going to sell anyone on this comic by now. If you really are interested in seeing Dave Sim hold forth on women's fashion magazines, the cartooning styles of Alex Raymond and Stan Drake, or pretty much anything else that comes to his mind, you probably want to read this. I suspect the audience for such a product is vanishingly small, but I happen to fall on the Venn diagram so I enjoyed it.

  • Incognito: Bad Influences issue 5 - Incognito has always felt like the poor second cousin to Brubaker and Phillips' Criminal. But since anything by them is an order of magnitute more awesome than most other comics, that is not such a bad thing. This final issue of the arc takes some nice twists and turns, leaving the series in a much darker place. While my reaction to the first arc wasn't as positive, I think Bad Influences actually makes the series as a whole that much stronger.

  • Ruse issue 1 & Sigil issue 1 - I'm just going to do these together because this is already getting old. I was a fan of CrossGen back in the day and I was disappointed when it crashed and burned. Ruse in particular had a lot of potential. Yes, it was one of the recent fad of "he's just like BLANK, only now he's an asshole" (in this case BLANK is Sherlock Holmes), but the writing and art really rose above that premise. Both of these issues were a lot of fun and I'm glad that Marvel is giving them a chance to fly again.


© 2011 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.

2 comments:

  1. CrossGen was awesome! I too was upset when they folded. In the comic boxes my parents recently sent back to me, I found my old issues of Meridian, Scion, The First, Sigil and Mystic...ah the memories.

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  2. @ MMOGC - That sounds great. On top of all of those, I really enjoyed Sojourn and El Cazador. So much good stuff!

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