Free time is a precious thing. Don’t waste it reading bad comics out of habit!
My weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 6/13/07. The full shipping list, as always, is available at ComicList.
[NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com]
Aviary (AdHouse Books)
ADHOUSE BOOKS
Aviary, $12.95
If AdHouse publishes it, it’s always worth a look, and the description of this one is certainly intriguing: “Enter the strange world of the Quiet Bird-Man; a world of mysterious corporations, foul-mouthed robots, drunken ghosts, amputee comedians, wealthy simian pornographers and canine scientists; a world of disasters, murders and masquerade balls.” Between AdHouse’s stellar track record of high quality, off-beat comics, and a very reasonable sticker price for a 312-page story, that’s enough to get me to give it a try and recommend it to others! Especially in what appears to be a surprisingly light week, even for me.
DARK HORSE
Conan and the Midnight God #4 (of 5), $2.99
Star Wars: Legacy #13–Ready to Die, $2.99
Conan spinoffs remain as strong, if not stronger, than the main series, and Midnight God has been a solid read, but I’m getting very close to switching to TPBs for them as I continue to slash my pull list. *** Star Wars: Legacy, on the other hand, continues to be a monthly pull and has actually gotten me to start checking out some of the older Star Wars comics in TPB, with Dark Empire I & II being first up to bat. (Both were solid, and have some connections to Legacy, but I think I’ll likely stick to Boba Fett and Han Solo stories for future sampling.)
DC COMICS
Fables Vol 9 Sons Of Empire TPB, $17.99
Gotham Central TPB Vol 5: Dead Robin, $17.99
Fables is one exception to my “No current-Marvel/DC” rule (Marvel’s Power Pack minis and Marvel Adventures: Avengers digests are the others) as it’s one of the best things either of them publish and my decision to cut the vast majority of their output from my pull isn’t like a hunger strike or anything. I have to say, though, that it’s done wonders for my weekly discretionary cash flow, and has enabled me to pick up more OGNs and TPBs of stuff I’ve been eyeballing for a while but couldn’t afford.
IMAGE COMICS
Death Jr Vol 2 TPB, $14.99
I loved the first volume, which I bought as “floppies”, but I was waiting for the trade on this one. Still haven’t picked up the videogame, but that’s primarily because I have zero time to play videogames and have a backlog as it is.
MARVEL COMICS
New Avengers #31 CWI, $2.99
The beauty of not buying any of Marvel’s stuff anymore is that the majority of the writing on their core books is so plot-driven that I can still follow along online and piece together what’s happening from reviews and commentary on various blogs. All the concerns over sexism and lack of miniorities, etc., plae in comparison to the simple fact that most of their comics suck. It’s kind of like complaining that the younger Wayans’ brothers movies reinforce negative stereotypes. Sure they do, but for the audience they appeal to, they’re the hangover, not the drinking problem.
TITAN
Greys Anatomy Magazine Special #3, $9.99
I’m not actually buying this issue, but its release allows me to slip in a comment on Isaiah Washington’s being fired from Grey’s Anatomy, allegedly because of his calling castmate T.R. Knight a homophobic slur on-set last season, the reporting of which pushed Knight out of the closet. If you didn’t think they were going to do it before the season finale, you knew it was coming when his character bailed on the wedding and disappeared. While they handled it pretty well in context, it was rather unexpected and felt like a pretty sudden and dramatic shift in direction. It’s particularly unfortunate because it was a great role for the tempermental actor, who I always suspected was only partly acting when it came to the incredibly tense personality of his character, Preston Burke, which made the slur and his subsequent comments about it that much more offensive. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle his departure on the show next season, one of many plates Shonda Rhimes shattered in the finale that will need to be pieced together again.
TOKYOPOP
An offhand comment from PCS’ own manga guru, Katherine Dacey-Tsuei, tipped me off to Planetes, the first volume of which I picked up recently and enjoyed, only to be disappointed the following week to see Midtown didn’t have the second volume in stock. It’s available via Tokyopop’s site, but I hate ordering just one book, and I don’t want to order more than the next two volumes, so if anyone has any suggestions for something you think I’d like, hit me up.
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