What I’m Getting Wednesday August 22

Actually they are mailed to me and I get my books on Thursday, but Wednesday is comic day in America so why quibble.

My standard DC fare is down to bare bones. This week it includes All Star Western, Batman Inc, I Vampire and Justice League Dark, I can make a strong argument that all four of those are not normal DCU super hero books. One thing that DC has done that has kept me on as a fan of any DCU books is a strong sense of diversification of the type of books being published.

All Star Western moved Jonah Hex to Gotham, but kept the time period. We could argue about it being a “Western” as it takes place on the east coast. I liked it before and I’m enjoying this series even more as it has maintained Moriat as the artist for most issues.

Batman Inc. is Grant Morrison’s swan song on Batman and I believe Grant reinvigorate the Batman line, Not since O’Neil and Adams made him back into the Dark Knight has the core of the book had so many changes. As with his X-Men run, Grant pumped up life into the character and has had fun with the book. It is a shame that the new DCU blunted some of what he had done.

Justice League Dark is not a Justice League book at all but DC knew putting a JL banner on it would make it a bigger seller. It is a quirky book as we have some of the old Vertigo characters now running around as a magic group having adventures with the teamwork often lacking and often non-existent. It is amusing on many levels and the switch to Jeff Lemire writing the book was a positive move.

Finally I, Vampire continues to be a great story that has Andrew Bennett trying to keep his race of Vampires in check. This book is my brass ring for the new 52.  A very cool story, great moody artwork and it has been even works being shoe horned into the DCU.

Also published by DC are Scalped (the final issue), Fables and Before Watchmen Dr. Manhattan.

Scalped has to go down as one of the great all time series. For me it will be Jason Aaron signature work. I’m sure he will produce some excellent super hero books, but this book was an outstanding series and would make an excellent TV series ( AMC please consider doing it). I will miss Scalped, but by having an ending it only makes the book stronger.

Fables continues to be an enjoyable series. It is not #1 on my hit parade anymore and often it is easy for me to put off reading it, but I enjoy it.

The Before Watchmen stuff has been very good to great material. I’m looking forward to Before Watchman Dr. Manhattan as I can’t believe Adam Hughes will be drawing an entire four issue mini-series. I’m not a diehard Watchmen fan, so it is easy for me to just enjoy reading more in depth stories about characters I have only a passing familiarity. Some readers are tied to Alan Moore’s story and may feel these creators are either hurting the legacy of the book or something, but I have found all the stories to be well done and some are outstanding. It shows good creators can usually create good comics.

Marvel only gets one buy from me this week and it is Secret Avengers. I dropped so many Marvel books, especially with Marvel Now coming out. Marvel has basically decided to create a new jump on point and many books are just playing out the string. Secret Avengers has been good and is another dark vision of the world from the mind of Rick Remender, it is similar to Uncanny X-Force, with less bloodshed. I’m just happy it is done with its cross over with Avengers vs X-Men and is back to being its own thing again.

Published by Marvel under Icon I’m also getting Super Crooks. This is a weak story and typical Mark Millar, but it is entertaining. I think Millar’s goal is to entertain first and then worry about whether he has anything to say or not. I have avoided most of Millar’s stuff before on principle, but realized just because I don’t think he is the gift he and some of his fans think he is, it doesn’t mean he can’t entertain. A lot of what I read is to entertain and when it does more great, but it doesn’t always need to do more.

The other category consists of stuff I’m getting from all other publishers. It includes America’s Got Powers, Invincible, Planetoid, Lobster Johnson, Mind Mgmt, Cobra, Mars Attacks and Rachael Rising.

America’s Got Powers has been uneven and the delay between issues has left me with a gap in memory of what is going on. I know the young kid who apparently had no powers is very powerful and a government conspiracy is in the mix, but the rest is a blur.

Invincible is always a fun read. The recent advertising of someone is going to die in issue #100 is perhaps premature as the book is about six months away from that landmark issue number. I still like Invincible as it is unpredictable most of the times and the characters advance and grow. What happens matters and the characters do not magically reset and de-age.

Planetoid is a newer series and I still haven’t gotten 100% into the flow of the story. The main character is stuck on a planetoid and trying to get off and shit keeps getting worse. It is a fast paced story, with decent art. A solid book that I hope continues to get better.

Lobster Johnson is a one shot. The last mini-series had the artwork of Tonci Zonjic and his work made a fun book even better. Lobster is another Mike Mignola creation and fits into the overall Mignolaverse as a hero of yesteryear who battled a lot of occult and strange creatures that inhabit the Mignolaverse. This one shot promises a shoot out against a mummy. Mike Mignola is a prolific creator and he has crafted a ton of brilliant characters and produces some of the best comics in the market.

Mind Mgmt #4 hits the stands and due to me not reading #3 until a few days ago I’m chomping at the bit for the next issue. Matt Kindt is producing an engaging tales with layers of mysteries. It is clear he has an extensive back story for this series that he is playing into and revealing bits and pieces the story progresses. This issue is part one of the secret history of Mind Mgmt and the agent who nearly destroyed it from within. Do not miss getting into this series.

Cobra is the only GI Joe book I get and I almost fell off this series. The newest arc with a small covert Joe group working off information from a former high level Cobra operative is back to making this a great spy series. Crosses, double crosses, lies and hidden motives abound.

Mars Attacks is of course the book I get to satisfy my need for high brow entertainment and feed my need for cerebral entertainment. Of course I’m kidding; crazed Martians are blowing up the Earth, what is not the love. John Layman and John McCrea bring us all the fun every issue.

Last and far from least is Rachael Rising. Last issue revealed what the heck is going on with dead people not dying and now we get to see how all the demons and witches will play out. What makes Terry Moore’s work so great is that it reads well as single issues, but I know it will work well as a collected edition.

Two posts in a short period of time, still not sure I want to go back to working on a deadline all the time.

For a the list of all the books coming out click here and see the list from my store of choice Cosmic Comics (who does a great mail service for me since I moved).