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Tag Archives: War Stories

What’s I&N Store (8/10)

10 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by ScottNerd in Uncategorized

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Action Comics, Aftershock, Alan Moore, Ales Kot, All-Star Batman, Avatar, Black Eyed Kids, Black Monday Murders, Black Panther, Cirque American, comics, Cullen Bunn, Dark Horse, DC, Deathstroke, Detective Comics, Empress, Garth Ennis, Grabriel Hernandez Walta, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, Harrow County, horror, Image, James Robinson, Joelle Jones, Johnny Red, Jonathan Hickman, Marvel, NCBD, New Superman, Providence, Rebirth, Scarlet Witch, Superwoman, Symmetry, The Flash, The Vision, Titan Comics, Tom King, Tula Lotay, Tyler Crook, War Stories, Wonder Woman, zero

Lots of good stuff this week.  Pretty hero heavy thanks to Rebirth–and my complete rejection of the tenet of temperance.

  • Harrow County #15 (Dark Horse): I&N Demand Re: #14: Emmy’s mother’s heart everything-melting backstory frames a frightful “family” reunion, facilitated by an Old Scratchy Levi, whose serpentine smile has me thinking that at any moment his jaw’s gonna drop open and he’s going to swallow sweet little Emmy whole–and me with her!  Oh, maybe I’m just being paranoid.  No need to be; see: Cullen Bunn’s devilish dandy assures us safe passage–  Oh, come on!  Of course he does; that’s what smiling devilish dandies do!  Any reader knows there’s nothing safe about him.  Hell, there’s nothing safe about this issue or about this series.  Thanks to Tyler Crook’s ghostly gouache, every effing panel’s a gamble–like playing hopscotch in a field littered with landmines–and the bodies of hopscotchers come before.  That’s right, I&Nmates: welcome to Harrow effing County.

STL013660

  • Action Comics #961 (DC)
  • All-Star Batman #1 (DC)
  • Deathstroke: Rebirth #1 (DC)
  • Detective Comics #938 (DC)
  • The Flash #4 (DC)
  • Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #3 (DC)
  • New Superman #2 (DC)
  • Superwoman #1 (DC)
  • Wonder Woman #4 (DC)
  • Black Monday Murders #1 (Image): Just I&N Class warfare à la Jonathan Hickman.  It’s arrived just in time!  Here’s a promise: a big world that reads small thanks to writing that’s tighter than a fat cat’s money belt.

STL014236

  • Symmetry #6 (Image)
  • Black Panther #5 (Marvel)
  • Empress #5 (Marvel)
  • Scarlet Witch #9 (Marvel): I&N Demand I’m happy to report that James Robinson’s tucked his junk away for his intriguing turn on Scarlet Witch.  This book’s been monthly magic!  OK, so we celebrated Robinson’s The Shade (DC)–feels like forever ago–and celehated just about everything else since then save for his full-of-hot Airboy, which was a balls-out blast to the past that sold me on Robinson’s page-bound prickish self, particularly as he hit some notes that recalled David Duchovny’s cock(un)sure Hank Moody in the hilariously depressing Californication.  What a Wanda-full world he’s created here–with the help a different artist for each effort in order to create an interconnected series of singular experiences, which reminds of Ales Kot’s groundbreaking-and-then-standing-over-the-broken-pieces-and-gloating Zero (Image).  Issue #8 found artist Tula Lotay delivering an appropriately hypnotic performance–one that helped to sell the all-important intimacy and to deliver the Ringmasterful twist.  This month: Joëlle Jones assumes art duties.  Something tells me the lady’s gonna kill it.

STL013398

  • The Vision #10 (Marvel): I&N Demand Later, this very reader, on this very blog, would write a review of The Vision and its creators that no one has written before–and it’d go viral, leaving dancing grooms and blustery moguls dancing and blustering in the datadust.  A blurb would be bounced about the Twitterverse enough to convince some eager editor to snatch it and put it in print somewhere Marvelous.  Then and only then would the world come to realize how integral Tom King’s vision and his voice have been to the evolution of the medium during this Vibranium Age for comics.  For now: on the strength of #9, and King and Walta’s playing us like a Wakandian piano, before diving into #10, don’t forget your flak jacket, your helmet, and, for obvious reasons, your safety glasses.  This could get ugly very quickly.

STL013431

  • Black Eyed Kids #5 (Aftershock)
  • Cirque American: Girl Over Paris #2 (Jet City Comics)
  • Johnny Red #8 (Titan)
  • Providence #10 (Avatar): I&N Demand Word wizard Alan Moore’s painstakingly finger-banging my brain.  I offer it up to him again.  There’s nothing like it on the shelf.  There can’t be anything like it on the shelf.

STL013038

  • War Stories #19 (Marvel): I&N Demand More war from Garth Ennis!  Goody, goody bomb drops!

STL007288

Avery’s Pick of the Week

  • Disney Princesses #5 (Joe Books)

What are you looking forward to this week?

Turning pages,

Scott

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Best Books of the Spring

05 Wednesday Aug 2015

Posted by ScottNerd in Top 5 Books of the Month

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

A Christmas Carol, Alan Moore, Ales Kot, Allen Ginsberg, Ant-Man, Archie, Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw, Avatar, Benjamin Dewey, Black Mask, BOOM!, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Chris Peterson, Crash, Curt Pires, Dan Slott, Downton Abbey, Eddie Campbell, Erica Henderson, From Hell, Garth, Giant Days, God Hates Astronauts, H.P. Lovecraft, Howard Chaykin, Ian Betram, Image, Jacen Burrows, Jeff Lemire, John Allison, Jordie Bellaire, Juan Rodriguex, Kaptara, Kurt Busiek, Lissa Treiman, Marvel, Material, Matt Fraction, Mayday, Mike Allred, Nick Spencer, Ommegang Abbey Ale, Penn State, Pete Toms, Providence, Robert Hack, Ryan North, Satellite Sam, Silver Surfer, Stathis Tsemberlidis, The Crucible, The Shining, the unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Tomas Aira, War Stories, Watchmen, Will Tempest, William S. Burroughs, zero

Summer is in full swing! As you lather up the sunscreen, fill the cooler with your beverage of choice (Ommegang Abbey Ale for me, thanks) and break out your thongs (sandals or otherwise, hey, we don’t judge) we present a list of recent comics that are well worth tracking down for your seaside, margarita-sipping, swimsuit-watching summer reading. Enjoy!

Top 5 Books of March

5. Giant Days #1 (BOOM!): OK, so, about 25 years or so ago, I made my way to The Pennsylvania State University, University Park campus; got settled in on the 4th floor of Pinchot Hall, a 10-storey sausage factory; cycled through a few roommates–smokers, snorers, and  psychopaths–during my two years on campus; fell in with a group of dorks who’d be my best buds for four blurry years; and all together, as fun as I think it was–as I remember it was–it was nothing like John Allison and Lissa Treiman’s irrepressibly jocular Giant Days #1.  Maybe that’s why I loved it so much.  Co-ed Musketeers–Daisy, Esther, and Susan–are the hyperbolically dramatic center of this university; and hilarity revolves around them in effortless ellipses, much to our benefit.  So good that I can confidently quote McGraw, the mustachioed hate interest, as I consider what the future holds for Giant Days and, fearing a sophomore slump, threaten the creators of this tasty treat: “Nothing you can do can spoil gravy for me.” (SC)

Giant Days #1

Giant Days #1

4. Autumnlands #5 (Image): Fantasy books are all about world-building. No comic in recent memory has presented a realm so fully realized as Autumnlands. Credit goes equally to writer Kurt Busiek (no stranger to this kind of thing – see Astro City) and artist Benjamin Dewey, whose lush style seems to belong to another era (it doesn’t hurt, of course, that it’s being colored by the omnipresent Jordie Bellaire, who I’m convinced at this point must be some sort of collective of robot artists). Floating cities, magical lore, calcified social strata, layer upon layer intertwine into a cohesive whole. Impressively, one doesn’t hear the awkard, behind-the-scenes clanging of this universe’s construction; rather, it’s as if it has always been there. It is merely our happy fortune to discover it, and get lost in it. Higher praise for a fantasy tale I can scarcely think of. (DM)

The Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw #5

The Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw #5

3. Ant-Man #3 (Marvel): I can’t even with this book. It is just too funny. I literally (and I mean that in the literal sense) have to keep putting it down because I’m laughing so hard. Literally! Nick Spencer is a comic (and I mean that in the comic sense) genius. Here’s your blurb: “The hero may be small, but the laughs are BIG!” (DM)

Ant-Man #3

Ant-Man #3

2. Silver Surfer #10 (Marvel): Dan Slott and Mike Allred are producing the definitive run of this classic character. They spent most of the first year bringing the fun, with story after story teeming with imagination and wit. But with the Silver Surfer, the piper must always be payed. They tackle the central pathos of the character head on: how can a being who played a role in the deaths of untold millions ever be redeemed? The story they come up with is so simple, so perfectly elegant, that I almost can’t believe no one’s thought of it before. Everyone knows that superhero stories from the Big Two are ‘never-ending’. That’s a shame, because this issue would serve as the perfect coda not just for this series, but for the journey that Norrin Radd has been on since Fantastic Four #48, all those decades ago. Beautiful. (DM)

Silver Surfer #10

Silver Surfer #10

1. Zero #15 (Image): The Jeff Lemire variant queries innocently enough, “What is Zero?” Answers inspired by fourteen issues of Ales Kot’s crazy, crazy calculus: Soldier.  Spy.  Hero.  Killer.  Storyteller.  Everything.  Nothing.  Open up the book, open mind, as always, as necessary with this schizophrenic series, ask again: Who is Zero?  Answer inspired by page one, panel one: I have no effing idea! <–I borrowed an exclamation point; don’t think it’ll be missed.  Kot unexpectedly offers up a figure who’s furiously fingering a typewriter and, in doing so, adds a literary layer, making the book more than Zero.  He’s gone meta, forging unforeseen relationships, crafting, out of the story thus far, a psych-session confession and a catharsis-in-progress.  This stunning thing with its wild spirit sees Kot exploiting his poetic proclivities: his words build images that build upon artist Ian Bertram’s images and affecting layouts: it’s a conscious stream of Ginsberg and guns, fathers and sons, drugs and drugs–all of it burrowing into the brain like a drunk bullet.  Stories don’t get more tragic than William S. Burroughs’, and Kot’s made magic by borrowing it–as if you couldn’t tell.

Zero #15

Zero #15

The Biggest Dis(appointment): Descender  #1 (Image)

Descender is the perfect title for this highly anticipated offering from the frustratingly inconsistent Jeff Lemire: the book, which starts off well enough, descends quickly–and dizzyingly so–to robotic schmaltz, lowlighted by the insultingly saccharine introduction of Tim-21, which bored a hole nerve-deep in my otherwise pretty resilient sweet tooth.  Anyone know a good dentist?  (SC)

Descender #1

Descender #1

 

Top 5 Books of April

5. the unbeatable Squirrel Girl #4 (Marvel): There’s a long-overdue resurgence taking place in monthly comics that are putting the ‘funny’ back in ‘funny books’. We’ve been trumpeting the aforementioned Ant-Man for a while now; add to that the likes of God Hates Astronauts, Kaptara, and East of West (ok, maybe not that last one). Enter: Squirrel Girl. Ryan North (fresh of his excellent, award-winning run on Adventure Time) and artist Erica Henderson have already established a quirky charmer through three issues. Well the fourth installment is, simply put, the funniest single comic I’ve read all year. Most books are lucky to get a chuckle; this one had me laughing out loud five times before I was even that many number of pages in (I’m laughing now, just remembering them). Or maybe I should just put it this way: Squirrel Girl Vs. Galactus. Nuts Said. (DM)

the unbeatable Squirrel Girl #4

the unbeatable Squirrel Girl #4

4. Mayday #1 (Black Mask): Curt Pires pops for real with this frenetic filet o’ film–one that drops some noms de cinéma (Kaufman, Lynch, and Bay) and goes to effing guerre with them.  Oh, yeah, man: it’s a wild ride that reads like a regiment of lines on a mirror meant to be snorted with the eyes and sorted out with a muddied mind.  Re: minds: Pires, paired with the more than competent Chris Peterson, sells a story that, in terms of comics, is “sort of like” Matt Fraction channeled through Ales Kot with Tyler Jenkins and Michael Walsh trying to one-up one another from one panel to the next.  Mayday #1 will leave you questioning your life choices–especially if most of them have sucked.  But you will not question your choice to pick it up–even if it is “just one big blur”; nor will you question whether or not you should pick up #2.  I mean, Kleio and Terrence have “just murdered two dudes.”  You totally don’t want them to come after you. (SC)

Mayday #1

Mayday #1

3. War Stories #8 (Avatar): Sounds like a given: Part 2 of “The Last German Winter” hits the mark with this icy mid-arc march through moral relativism; but let’s be honest: there’s nothing easy–nothing safe–about it.  I mean, who can take a Nazi, humanize his ass, then make you wonder all along when hell will come to pass?  Only Garth Ennis can.  Only Garth Ennis can.  (No, you’re not imagining things: go back and hum the tune as you read–heck, sing it out loud, you Sammy wannabe!)  He crafts a German hero–Gerhard the Gallant–who, considering the situation, is easy to root for; but we know better, don’t we?  Don’t we?  Just in case, Ennis reminds us, elbows us to make sure we’re paying attention; oh, but then he nudges us–so vulnerable to his charms–right back to where he wants us–seeing the man, not seeing the monster–thanks mostly to his narrative voice, the vulnerable Rachel Kohler, and to the portrayal of the even more monstrous Russians, their evil punctuated by an horrific splash from Tomas Aira.  The execution is near Nabokovian!  (No, you’re not imagining things: go back and Hum.)  Now that, dear reader, is a war story! (SC)

War Stories #8

War Stories #8

2. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #2 (Archie Horror): Was a long time coming–so long that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa offered up an apology to kick off the letter page!–but this second issue of Sabrina, which introduces with verve the vengeful and irredeemably evil Madam Satan, was well worth the wait.  The aforementioned writer–who not only sets a scene, he sets it on fire with his precise imagery–and artist Robert Hack, whose retro style is equal parts pillowy soft and boldly bloody, own the tone of this witches’ brew, which is bubbling over with literary allusions.  It’s campy; it’s creepy; it’s killer, kids! (SC)

 

Sabrina #2

Sabrina #2

1. Silver Surfer #11 (Marvel): Dan Slott and Mike Allred follow up the powerhouse of issue 10 with a comic that is as formalistically daring as it is emotionally satisfying. Surfer and Co. are trapped in a time loop and the question becomes not only whether they’ll escape, but whether they’ll even realize it at all. A graphic illustration of Free Will versus Determinism, a metaphor for the repetitive cycle of our everyday experience, a tale of love, forgiveness and redemption; this issue delivers all three in a thrilling marriage of form and content. I maintain that issue 10 would have provided an excellent ending to this wonderful series. But I’m glad it didn’t. (DM)

Silver Surfer #11

Silver Surfer #11

 

Top 5 Books of May

5. Zero #16 (Image): Collective unconscious, the inevitability of change, the destiny of DNA, the life sentence that is guilt–Zero‘s certainly much more than its title insists.  It’s a proving ground, of sorts; it’s Ales Kot’s firing range of ideas: it’s rhyme-free reason; it’s a game of William Tell: Kot himself is the tortured William S. Burroughs, and we’re the trusting Joan Burroughs, with an apple of expectations balanced precariously on our head.  Too.  Tempting.  BANG!  Somehow this experimental spy story became an experiment in layers deep meta-fiction; and, despite the jarring shift, the result is nothing short of spore-born brilliance.  Wherever this crazy thing ends up, rest assured, Ales Kot will not fail us–but he’ll sure as hell phallus, as evidenced by Tom Muller and Stathis Tsemberlidis’s cocky cover, which, in turn, is further proof of an air of youthful arrogance in Kot’s work, especially here in Zero.  I’m more than happy to breathe it in for as long as it lasts.  (SC)

Zero #16

Zero #16

4. Afterlife with Archie #8 (Archie Horror): Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla continue to add to their modern horror mash-up by seamlessly incorporating elements that you didn’t even know you wanted; everything from The Shining to The Crucible, even A Christmas Carol. The result is rich tapestry that continues to add texture to the story, a mix that acknowledges the high-points in the history of horror through the unlikeliest of lenses. (DM)

Afterlife With Archie #8

Afterlife With Archie #8

3. Mind MGMT #33 (Image): The ultimate showdown’s coming, but there’s no sign of a slowdown–even as Matt Kindt slows things down to foster a touching family reunion, one that frames Team Meru’s Soldiers of Fortune Cookies and their receiving and executing–with stunning efficiency–their munching–er, marching orders.  The decidedly deliberate issue ends with a Dalicious splash that promises a wild time.  With the end of the series so near, I’m excited, I’m anxious; but, no, Pipe Kid, I’m not ready–and I’m as not ready as I’m ever going to be.  (SC)

Mind MGMT #33

Mind MGMT #33

2. Providence #1 (Avatar): Avatar’s publicity department has been describing this new series by Alan Moore as “The Watchmen of horror”. But the story from Moore’s oeuvre that it more readily calls to mind is From Hell (an even more impressive achievement to this reviewer’s mind). FH brilliantly examined the underlying brutality of patriarchal hegemony through the lens of Victorian England, using the Whitechapel murders as a vehicle. Providence promises to delve into the repressed corners of American society of the past century using the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft (a passion of Moore’s for some time now) as a framework. Moore explores the Jungian implications of Lovecraft’s mythos (underlying realities masked by our limited human perception) by using them as a metaphor for aspects of the American experience that needed to remain hidden, given the times (in this case, “the love that dare not speak its name”). Yes, there is much to unpack here. Yet for all that,  this first issue is a master’s class in restrained, subtle storytelling. The deliberate pacing, the seemingly minor details that gain importance as the issue progresses, the symmetry of the opening and closing segments; Moore’s assured control of the material, when he’s on, has never been matched by another comic book writer. To say nothing of the insane amount of research that is woven throughout. Which brings us to the art. Here another comparison to FH is apt: Eddie Campbell’s nonpareil art in that tome had a scratchy looseness, a sketchy immediacy that pulled the modern reader with its irrepressible energy, despite the period setting. Here, Jacen Burrows takes the opposite approach: meticulously rendered, exhaustive research evident in every carefully placed line. The effect is polished, subdued and certainly visually impressive, but with a formal stiffness akin to watching an episode of Downton Abbey. And yet this is reflective of Moore’s otherworldly precision. Ultimately, the hyperbole of comparing this new series to the well-known Watchmen is needless. This first issue promises an epic Alan Moore tale to match or exceed, in scope, ambition and execution, anything he’s previously produced. That alone should suffice. (DM)

Providence #1

Providence #1

1. Material #1 (Image): With Material, Ales Kot’s has found his forum, the perfect space for him to keep pace with the injustices of the world.  No matter how desperate or disparate, they have a home here; and God knows he’ll never want for material as long as he never casts off the lenses–the perspective-altering critical approaches to analyzing, well, everything so relied upon by campus comrades, the arrogant academicians and their lecture-hall spawn–that help him to see the Ugly Spirit* in, well, everything.  Despite the pessimism that pervades the four narratives, which may or may not Crash into each other at some point, what Kot’s come up with–in tandem with the ironically-named Will Tempest–is beautiful.  He asserts that there’s hope in moments, in connections, and what better way to convey that point than with a comic book!  Holding its pages open is like holding hands with Kot himself as he leads the march toward enlightenment–toward Utopia.  And even if that march is born of naÏveté, it’s fueled by honesty, by brashness; and in the context of this comic, it’s something I want to follow.

*See Zero to see Burroughs to see that Kot’s got the Spirit–yes he does! (SC)

 

Material #1

Material #1

Biggest Dis(appointment)(April/May): Convergence/Secret Wars (DC/Marvel) – A bunch of heroes and villains from various alternate universes battle it out on a patchwork planet in a Secret Crisis of Ultimate Infinite blahblahblah. Yes, I’ve just described the plot of both summer blockbuster crossovers from the Big Two. In the cynical cycle of endless Events, this has to be a new low. I don’t know who’s guiltier: the company that seemingly pilfered the other’s concept, or the company that came up with such an awful idea to begin with. (DM)

Convergeance #1

Convergeance #1

Secret Wars #1

Secret Wars #1

Turning pages,

Derek & Scott

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What’s I&N Store (4/1)

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by ScottNerd in What's I&N Store?

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Tags

Alex De Campi, Alex Maleev, Avatar, Blackcross, BOOM!, Carla Speed McNeil, Colin Lorimer, Colton Worley, Convergence, Dan Jurgens, Dark Horse, DC Comics, Diego Bernard, Dynamite Entertainment, Feathers, G.I. Joe, Garth Ennis, Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., IDW, Image, Iron Fist: The Living Weapon, Jamie S. Rich, Jason Aaron, Jason Latour, Joe Harris, Joelle Jones, John Arcudi, Jonathan Hickman, Kaare Andrews, Lady Killer, Marvel, Mike Mignola, Millennium, My Little Pony: Fiendship Is Magic, Neverboy, No Mercy, Robert Venditti, Shaun Simon, Southern Bastards, The Dying & The Dead, Tyler Jenkins, Valiant, War Stories, Warren Ellis, X-O Manowar

& now 4 the abbr ver o’ ur fav wkly rundown:

  • Hellboy and The B.P.R.D. #5 (Dark Horse)
  • Lady Killer #4 (Dark Horse) I&N Demand Has been so very good.  How good?  #1 was our #4 Book of January.  #3 will probably end up in our Top 5 for March, what with that stair-raising page turn and all.  (I love how serpentine Josie looks as she’s about to slither up the stairs.)  With this month’s offering and one more to go, Jones and Rich’s Lady Killer sure is “going somewhere”–straight toward our Top Ten for 2015!  High heels down, it’s been the year’s best mini.
Lady Killer #4

Lady Killer #4

  • Neverboy #2 (Dark Horse) I&N Demand I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the first one.  At first I found it kind of annoying; I was really ready to race through it just to get it over with.  When I got to that moment–if you read it, you know the moment–I was like “Wow!” and, wouldn’t you know, not put off by the –ugh!–police force, which reminded–and not in a good way–of the Sex Police from Sex Criminals; and as I ultimately finished–not in a manner that reminded of Sex Criminals, mind you–I felt compelled to give it another go.  That’s right: I read it again, right then and there, displaying a rather impressive rereading refractory period, if I do say so myself.  Yeah, that doesn’t happen often.
Neverboy #2

Neverboy #2

  • Convergence #0 (DC)
  • G.I. Joe #7 (IDW)
  • Millennium #3 (IDW)
  • The Dying & the Dead #2 (Image) I&N Demand Really liked #1.  It had the potential of collapsing under its own weight–and weighty it was in more ways than one; but it held up well, delivering those heavy Hickman notes that, when they’re right, are as good as it gets.
The Dying and The Dead #2

The Dying & The Dead #2

  • Southern Bastards #8 (Image) I&N Demand Aaron and Latour deserve a championship ring for almost every issue of Southern Bastards--but particularly for Coach Boss’s backstory, which has been executed like the perfect game plan.
Southern Bastards #8

Southern Bastards #8

  • No Mercy #1 (Image)
  • Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #11 (Marvel) I&N Demand So, whatever Daddy Rand has brought to NYC is clearly the mother of all mistakes.  But what Kaare Andrews has brought Iron Fist–hey. and to comics, in general–is a the most kinetic visual narrative this side of Kindt’s perpetually energetic Mind MGMT.  I mean, come on: in #10, Andrews destroys the staple-bound rules of space and time by having Danny punch his way across six pages–three double-page spreads of strike and follow-through that come together as a bone-and-nut-and-bolt crushing six-page spread–in a striking scene that leaves Danny, despite his best shot, at the mercy of his maniacal–and mechanical–father.  Sure, Iron Fist may be The Living Weapon, but Iron Fist: The Living Weapon is about as close to a living, breathing comic book as you’re gonna get.
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #11

Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #11

  • Blackcross #2 (Dynamite)
  • War Stories #7 (Avatar)
  • X-O Manowar #35 (Valiant)

Avery’s Picks of the Week

  • My Little Pony: Fiendship Is Magic #1 (IDW)
  • Feathers #4 (BOOM!): Avery loves following the adventures of Poe and Bianca!  Aw, heck: so do I!
Feathers #4

Feathers #4

What are you looking forward to this week?

Turning pages,

Scott

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What’s I&N Store (3/11)

11 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by ScottNerd in What's I&N Store?

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Abstract Studio, Ales Kot, Ant-Man, Astro City, Avatar, Cullen Bunn, Dan Slott, Dynamite, East of West, Ed Brisson, Fred Van Lente, Garth Ennis, Hellbreak, Image, J. Michael Straczynski, Jason Aaron, John Cassaday, Johnnie Christmas, Jonathan Hickman, Kurt Busiek, Magnus: Robot Fighter, Marvel, Matt Kindt, Mike Allred, Nick Dragotta, Nick Spencer, Ninjak, Oni, Rachel Rising, Sheltered, Sidekick, Silver Surfer, Star Wars, Terry Moore, The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood, The Sixth Gun: Dust to Dust, The Surface, Thor, Vertigo, War Stories

A real conversation I overheard in my head:

What are you looking forward to most this week?

Me?  Without a doubt: Thaw.

Oh, wow, OK.  I was expecting you to say something else.  You know, with Kindt and Kot and Slott and whatnot.

Hmm?  I said thaw.  Right?  Thaw.  Especially after all of the ice and snow.

Yeah, no, I know.  Frost giants are bad-ass.  But whoever the hell it is under that helmet is all business.  Girl power, baby!

Thaw.  Not Thor.  Thaw.

That is the question, isn’t it?

No, it isn’t.  You’re just not getting it, are you?

Are you kidding me?  Of course, I am!  I mean, Aaron’s hammering home a relevant point about gender, about identity–it’s almost Shakespearean if you think about it!

Just did.  And, no, it isn’t.

I’m so confused right now.  Doesn’t really sound like you’re really all that interested in Thor.  I mean–I don’t know.

Third base.

 

  • Astro City #21 (DC/Vertigo): This Quarrel-centric arc’s been a drag.  Wondering if Astro City‘s suffering from Busiek’s attention to his excellent–and anthropomorphically-fresh–The Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw.
  • East of West #18 (Image) I&N Demand I always look forward to getting lost in Hickman’s fatal vision, particularly now with the increasingly-intriguing boy with the A.I. balloon.  Alas, Babylon: I wish you well on your journey!
East of West #18

East of West #18

  • Sheltered #15 (Image): Wait a sec.  This is the end?  Oh, well.  I guess the volcano’s gonna blow after all.  Kinda glad it’s over.
  • Sidekick #10 (Image): I’ve liked Sidekick a lot.  Hard to imagine I almost quit after the first one!  Oh, and then there was the time I accused J.M.S. of plagiarizing–his own material, for goodness sake!  (In an odd twist, Straczynski employed a plot device in The Twilight Zone [our #10 book of 2014, by the way] that just so happened to be an integral part of fellow shelf-sitter Sidekick.)  All blood under the bridge.  Can’t wait to see how this wraps up.
  • The Surface #1 (Image) Just I&N Ales Kot–love him (Change, Zero) or hate him (Suicide Squad, Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier)–demands attention with his off-beat, oft-rhythmic writing style.  He definitely does “mind-bending” well, so I’m definitely down with discovering what lies beneath The Surface.
The Surface #1

The Surface #1

  • Ant-Man #3 (Marvel) I&N Demand Never in my life–or at least in the last couple of months–did I expect to find myself excited about Ant-Man.  Ant-Man for God’s sake!  It’s mostly promotional material, isn’t it?  And what about Secret Wars?  I mean, is this series gonna get stepped on after #5?  But Spencer’s having a good time and it shows!  (See Darth Vader and Princess Leia for very much the opposite feeling.)  And, then, of course, there’s the promise of the Taskmaster, one of my all-time faves.
Ant-Man #3

Ant-Man #3

  • Silver Surfer #10 (Marvel) I&N Demand Any regular reader–or occasional clicker–worth his power cosmic knows that we love Slott and Allred’s Silver Surfer, our #4 book of 2014.  What you don’t know–no matter your status–is that #8 was a Top 5 Pick of January and #9 was a Top Five Pick of February.  (Yeah, no links.  Sorry: we’re kind of behind.  It happens.  A lot.)  It’s been the perfect balance of humor and huge moments–none huger than the coming of Galactus.
Silver Surfer #10

Silver Surfer #10

  • Star Wars #3 (Marvel): Of the three newly relaunched Star Wars books, this one’s the only one that seems to care.  How much do I care?  Not as much as I had hoped.  We’ll see if this one helps.
  • Thor #6 (Marvel): OK, so I’m intrigued.  Sure, there have been some terrible moments (#5, for example: What is that nonsense between Thor and Titiana?  Is it The Sisterhood of the Traveling Spandex?); but they’ve been generally tempered by the well-developed mystery and the emergence of the Odinson as a superior supporting character.
  • The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood #5 (Dynamite): A decent Twilight Zone-ish story with some literary notes comes to close.
  • Magnus: Robot Fighter #12 (Dynamite): Yet another series comes to a close–a merciful, merciful close.
  • Ninjak #1 (Valiant) I&N Demand Matt Kindt’s proving that Valiant picked the right guy to power up their universe–especially with his latest wave of books (The Valiant, Divinity)  Ninjak promises to be further proof.
Ninjak #1

Ninjak #1

  • Rachel Rising #32 (Abstract Studio): I had this book written off for dead after #29.  #30 found Terry Moore resurrecting everything that made Rachel rise above the rest–and into our Top Ten Books of 2013.  Pretty glad I kept it on my pull list.  Thing is, I know that Moore can slip to less–and that knowledge is going to linger, maybe even spoil.  Rats.
  • The Sixth Gun: Dust to Dust #1 (Oni):  If it’s The Sixth Gun, it’s going to find its way into my bag.
  • War Stories #6 (Avatar): Garth Ennis and Tomas Aria are telling the harrowing story of the Children of Israel, and I’m on the edge of my seat to find out how it ends.

What are you looking forward to this week?

Turning pages,

Scott

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What’s I&N Store (2/11)

10 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by ScottNerd in What's I&N Store?

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Astro City, Avatar, BOOM!, Brides of Helheim, Cullen Bunn, Dan Abnett, Dark Horse, Darth Vader, Divinity, Fred Van Lente, Garth Ennis, Howard Chaykin, I.N.J. Culbard, Image, Jason Aaron, Jason Latour, Joelle Jones, Kieron Gillen, Kurt Busiek, Marvel, Matt Fraction, Matt Kindt, Oni, Rachel Rising, Resurrectionists, Satellite Sam, Southern Bastards, Terry Moore, Thor, Trevor Hairsine, Uber, Valiant, War Stories, Wild's End

Snow what?  I’m definitely digging the blizzard of comics–whether good or bad–in the forecast for my area.

  • Resurrectionists #4 (Dark Horse)
  • Astro City #20 (DC/Vertigo)
  • Satellite Sam #11 (Image): I&N Demand Sam‘s been gone for a while.  Can’t wait to get back into the sordid swing of things.  Hope my guy has it in stocking–I mean, stock.  Gosh.  This cover’s got me Chaykin in my heels.
Satellite Sam #11

Satellite Sam #11

  • Southern Bastards #6 (Image): I&N Demand The shift in the focus of the narrative was surprising, sure.  It’s also been pretty boss.  A punishing tale of persistence that is its own reward.
Southern Bastards #6

Southern Bastards #6

  • All-New X-Men #36 (Marvel)
  • Darth Vader #1 (Marvel)
  • Thor #5 (Marvel)
  • Brides of Helheim #4 (Oni)
  • Divinity #1 (Valiant): Just I&N Matt Kindt’s next Valiant venture.  Sure, I didn’t like Rai very much; I even lost interest in Unity pretty quickly.  But I’m enjoying The Valiant and am curious to see Kindt’s take on Ninjak.  This, however, is the one I’m looking forward to the most.  I certainly wouldn’t mind if Kindt manages to give me another book to love–you know, to eventually fill the massive void that’ll be created as Mind MGMT reaches its inevitable end.
Divinity #1

Divinity #1

  • Magnus: Robot Fighter #11 (Dynamite)
  • Q2: The Return of Quantum and Woody #5 (Valiant)
  • Rachel Rising #31 (Abstract Studio)
  • The Sixth Gun #46 (Oni)
  • Über #22 (Avatar)
  • War Stories #5 (Avatar)
  • Wild’s End #6 (BOOM!): I&N Demand Wild’s End ends here.  How much does that suck!?  The first five issues have been anthropomorphically delicious!  We have been in love with this series–from Dan Abnett and I.N.J. Culbard–since the deceptively simple and surprisingly affective first issue.  (Between you, me, and the scary-ass lamppost: we loved it so much that we named it one of our favorite books of 2014.  No, you haven’t missed anything: we haven’t gotten around to publishing the list yet; but it’s coming soon–I promise.)  If you’ve pretty much missed the train on this one, do yourself a favor and put the trade on your list.  You will not be disappointed.
Wild's End #6

Wild’s End #6

 

What are you looking forward to this week?

Turning pages,

Scott

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