About Guy

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez is a Mets fan from the Bronx, and has a beautiful wife and two amazing kids. He won some poetry slams, founded a reading series, co-authored a book of poetry, and still writes when the mood hits him and he has the time. He prefers Pumpkin and India Pale Ales or Skyy Vodka with cranberry, still reads comic books, and hasn't completely let go of his plans for world domination.

Latest Comic Book Commentary

NEWEST BLOG POSTS > view archive

LATEST HEADLINES > view archive

For Your Consideration: 7/5/07

July 5th, 2007 by Guy LeCharles Gonzalez Bookmark this post

Free time is a precious thing. Don’t waste it reading bad comics out of habit!

Have you seen Ratatouille yet? Amazing! Brad Bird’s a genius, bringing more humanity to his CGI creations than most directors bring to their live action efforts. It’s Pixar’s best yet, beating out previous faves The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, in spite of the whole rat thing still not quite working for me. (Ick!) I had my doubts going in, thinking it might be their first bomb — relatively speaking, that is — but now I think it’s going to have the kind of legs none of the other summer sequels have had and end up posting some very nice box office numbers.

You know what ongoing comics are working for me like Ratatouille did these days? Very few. :-(

That said, here’s my weekly look at select comic books being released Thursday, 7/5/07. 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]

PICK OF THE WEEK

GI Joe: Americas Elite #25 (Devil’s Due)

DEVILS DUE PUBLISHING
GI Joe Americas Elite #25, $3.50

It’s not that I’m tired of the “Big Event”, because I’m totally looking forward to “World War III” in the GIJU. The difference? It’s self-contained, it’s taking place within an ongoing series that I’ve already been enjoying, and it makes sense within the context of the series to-date. As long as Devil’s Due doesn’t get crazy with the spin-offs, I’m onboard for the full ride.

IMAGE COMICS
Dynamo 5 #5, $3.50

This new series continues to be one of the best superhero titles on the shelves these days, having quickly established its intriguing premise, appealing cast and distinctive identity, offering a worthwhile alternative to spandex fans looking for something new. Highly recommended!

MARVEL COMICS
Essential Defenders Vol 3 TPB, $16.99
Fantastic Four And Power Pack #1 (of 4), $2.99
Ptolus City By The Spire Vol 1 TPB, $14.99

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Defenders, and I’d much rather read their verbose, over-the-top adventures from back in the day than any of the new superhero teams running around in today’s Marvel Universe. Except, of course, for the Marvel Adventures stuff, which the Power Pack minis aren’t technically part of but really, they should be. *** Ptolus is apparently like the Absolute New Frontier of D&D, and I was intrigued by the Dabel Bros. imprint before they hooked up with Marvel, so this seems like something that’s right up my alley.

TOKYOPOP / VIZ COMMUNICATIONS

Seeing as I skipped my weekly pick-up last week since there wasn’t much of interest, and this week isn’t looking all that great, either, I’ve decided to pick up two new manga from among these choices: iD_eNTITY, Chrono Crusade, Bizenghast and Berserk (Dark Horse). Which one would you recommend most?

URBAN MINISTRIES INC
Genesis Five #3, $2.99
Joe & Max #3, $2.99
Seekers #2, $2.99

The Guardian Line’s bi-monthly schedule can apparently be interpreted as loosely as the whole God made everything in six days and chilled on the seventh. Nevertheless, my two favorites — Joe & Max and Seekers — have some real potential and I’m hoping they get on track sooner rather than later before retailers loose patience with them and they completely fall off of my radar. The direct market may not be their primary audience, but it’s the only place I’m likely ever going to be able to pick them up.

Filed under: Blogs, Comic Book Commentary, Shelves, Dabel Brothers

5 Comments Add your own

1. Katherine Dacey-Tsuei | July 5th, 2007 at 12:32 pm

If I had to choose from your list, I’d buy Bizenghast. I think you’ll find Berserk is guilty of many of the same things you object to in the DC/Marvel catalog, including some reprehensible scenes of violence against women. Not one of my favorites.

If you’re looking for something with great artwork and plenty of action (but nothing that will make you want to roll your eyes), I’d recommend another Dark Horse title, Shaman Warrior. Or you might want to check out Hiroki Endo’s Eden: It’s An Endless World, a beautifully illustrated sci-fi scenes in which a lot of stuff blows up.
2. Jon Haehnle | July 5th, 2007 at 1:55 pm

At the risk of sounding like a broken record: Death Note, damnit! Death Note!
3. Guy LeCharles Gonzalez | July 5th, 2007 at 3:56 pm

@Kate: Thanks for the background on Berserk. Assuming the first volume kicks off that way, it sounds like I’d have gotten that impression from a quick flip-through and passed, but I trust your judgement and won’t even bother with it.

@Jon: Death Note is actually another one I’m intending to flip through but I forgot it on my list there. Thanks!

One of the things that’s kept me from jumping into manga more fully is the daunting feeling I get whenever I look at the shelves at Midtown and see double-digit volumes for so many series, especially with the tendency for any ongoing series to sag at some point down the line. It’s one reason the newer OEL stuff has had more appeal at first glance, but I haven’t had a lot of luck with most of my somewhat random selections to-date and I want to be open to anything that might be good, regardless of how long it’s been around.
4. Katherine Dacey-Tsuei | July 5th, 2007 at 7:03 pm

One of the best titles in Tokyopop’s OEL catalog is Queenie Chan’s The Dreaming. The first two volumes are available now, and the third and final one will be published in the fall. It does take place at a girls’ boarding school in the Australian outback (you’ve been warned!), but it looks great and tells a good, creepy yarn. (Another plus: no panty shots!) I’d also recommend June Kim’s one-volume 12 Days and Brandon Graham’s brand-new sci-fi series King City.

Two other short series I’d recommend: Keiko Takemiya’s To Terra, a three volume mash-up of Star Wars, Star Trek, and 2001 from Vertical, and Mail, a three volume psychological thriller published by Dark Horse.
5. SKleefeld | July 6th, 2007 at 1:05 pm

Guy, I also picked up Earthlight this week and was quite impressed. I’ll blog a review of it sometime in the next day or three.