New rule: anyone who leaves the theater while the credits are rolling to end a Marvel movie are henceforth banned from buying tickets for Marvel movies–for no other reason than they piss me off and ruin my experience because I can’t help but bitch about them to my wife, who, at this point, is pretty well fed up with my bitching and with waiting ’til the end mostly because she doesn’t get the references and either A) I bore her to tears with an explanation or B) she asks and ultimately finds my explanation awash in condescension, which makes for a fun ride home that’s for sure.  So, yeah: new rule.

New books:

• Superman #42 (DC):
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #48 (IDW)
• Invisible Republic #5 (Image)
• Lazarus #18 (Image)
• Low #8 (Image): I&N Demand Just how low can Remender go?  He’s lowered the bar, bro, playing expectation limbo; and wouldn’t you know, low is high here, in this fluid world; and I’m a little loathe to admit it, because regular readers should remember, I, for the most part, hate Remender, save for the low blow he’s rendered with Greg Tocchini.  So, if you’re doing the math: I, more and les, loved–Whoa!  Some admission, no?  Take a screen shot!–#7.  Let me ramp it up even more: it’s one of my favorite books of the year.  (Wow.  Despite the betrayal, it feels good to have typed it.)  Two solid “Oh sh!t!” moments did it for me.  So, yeah: Remender’s Low is I&N Demand.  Damn right it is, fellow doubters!  Can’t wait to be dragged down further into the mother-effing abyss.
  

• The Manhattan Projects: Sun Beyond the Stars #2 (Image)
• Material #3 (Image): I&N Demand So what if I don’t agree with Kot’s politics: the son of a gun can write.  So what if Material is here, there, and everywhere: the son of a gun can write.  There are zero reasons to not follow Kot wherever he happens to find himself–as long as wherever he finds himself is in a world of his own divining.  So far, his Material material has been plied into a pattern that’s comic haute couture.  Yeah, that son of a gun just makes it work.
  

• Rasputin #7 (Image)
• Southern Bastards #10 (Image): I&N Demand More offensive than defensive, that’s for sure.  Aaron and Latour score over and over with their ground and pound approach–and it doesn’t look like they’re ready to take their collective foot off the gas pedal; oh no, they’re not afraid to show their readers who’s boss–even if they have to make a sacrifice or two to get the point across.

• Daredevil #18 (Marvel)
• Hit: 1957 #4 (BOOM!): I&N Demand What’s even more unlikely than my giving a Remender book an I&N Demand designation?  No, really: Bryce Carlson and Vanesa Del Rey deserve it after #3.  Only took one “Oh shit!” moment to cement this issue of Hit as an I&N Demand pick; and what a moment it was!  Yeah, I needed that like a hole in the head; but, hey, what the hell?  It ends here.  (Boy, that was quick, no?)  Wondering: what are they going to do to top the shot they took in the penultimate issue?
  

• Ninjak #5 (Valiant)
• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #4 (Archie Horror) I&N Demand Which witch–and there’s a comic coven from which to choose, ain’t there?–has cast the most chilling spell over you?  Clearly, if you’re reading Sabrina, then you know the answer.  Each of Roberto Aguirre Sacasa’s words is a magic mot, and Robert Hack’s artwork brings to life the period and one exclamation point after another, punctuating both hilarity and horror as the spirit moves and crafting a tone that is as witch perfect as you’re bound to find.  Damn, it’s like these dudes sold their souls to the devil or something.

What are you looking forward to this week?

Turning pages,

Scott