I’m so depressingly behind in my reading.  I can barely think about what’s bound for my bad this week.  Ugh.

• Colder: Bad Seed #1 (Dark Horse): I had the hots for Colder through the first two issues; yeah, I sweated over Juan Ferreyra’s gorgeous artwork, which remained at a high degree through the rest of the series.  I cooled to the story, however, as the series made its way to its ultimate frozend.  Based on that, maybe I should let it go, let it go…
• Bodies #4 (DC/Vertigo): Issue #3 was an improvement over a #2 that struggled to live up to the promise of #1.  The transitions–the all-important transitions amongst the four time periods–are becoming more intense.
• Catwoman #35 (DC): Big fan of Garry Brown.  No other reason why I’d bother.

• Dead Boy Detectives #10 (DC/Vertigo): A solid read.  This arc isn’t blowing me away, but I’m still very much interested in the goings-on.
• Multiversity: The Just #1 (DC): Let’s be honest: I’d buy Multiversity: The Feces.
• Superman #35 (DC): This is the Superman we’ve been waiting for.

• Lazarus #12 (Image): Rucka and Lark have yet to disappoint.  Thus far, we’ve enjoyed eleven issues of top-notch storytelling; and they’ve given us every reason to expect another–and another…
• Sheltered #12 (Image): Close to the end now.  Good thing, too: as much as I wanted to know how the story ends, I’m not sure if I would’ve stuck around if there were another, say, twelve issues to go.
• Starlight #6 (Image): At this point, I’m still wishing upon Starlight #1, hoping Millar’ll recapture the magic.  He’s not going to recapture the magic, is he?
• Stray Bullets #8 (Image): Can’t say I liked #7 as much as I did #6.  I really liked #6–enough to name it one of our Top 5 Books of August.  (You did catch that, right?)  I don’t know: things were too…convenient, I suppose.  Can’t knock the end, though.  (See what I did there?)  Oh, David, you ambiguous bastard.  You’re the Raymond Carver of comics!

• The Wicked & The Divine #5 (Image): Has been divinely wicked!  #3 won me over and #4 did nothing to change my mind.  Regarding Gillen: I’m finding that I can no longer say, “Sure, but Über…”; and the team of McKelvie and Wilson is doing a terrific job of bringing out the pop gods’ star power.
• Zero #11 (Image): Out of nowhere, really, Ales Kot has delivered back-to-back issues that make the most of a minimalist writing approach–thanks to the maximum efforts put in by artists Tonci Zonjic and Michael Gaydos.  They spoke to us so much that we named them–#9 and #10–our #1 books of July and August.  An amazing feat, indeed!

• Crossed Special 2014 (Avatar): Credit the all-star panel at NYCC–comprised of series creator Garth Ennis, Si Spurrier, Kieron Gillen, Justin Jordan, and Avatar’s president William Christensen–for sparking my interest.  I’m going to try this–an installment by Jordan–and then jump into the trades.

• The Delinquents #3 (Valiant): Hasn’t been as much fun as I hoped it’d be.  Feels a bit forced, doesn’t it?  Certainly hasn’t delivered what A&A and Q&W delivered on their own.
• Southern Dog #2 (Action Labs/Danger Zone): The first issue was pretty heavy handed.  Perhaps if it were let off its leash…  Isn’t that what being in the danger zone is all about?  Credit–blame?–Dry Spell for raising the bar for this Action Labs imprint.
• Stumptown Vol. 3 #2 (Oni Press): I didn’t like anything about #1.  Rucka’s earned my attention, however.  He didn’t come through with Veil, but I’d be a fool to give up after such a meticulous set up–even if it was boring as all get out.
• The Twilight Zone #9 (Dynamite): Straczynski’s been in the zone–as evidenced by the way he wrapped up the Diana Westby arc.

Avery’s Pick of the Week:

• Bee and Puppycat #5 (BOOM!): Duh.

What are you looking forward to this week?

Turning pages,

Scott