Let’s start with Doomsday.1, here is a book I was seriously excited about #2 for. I went in blind, read the blurb on the net before picking up #1 and was seriously pleasantly surprised. Issue #1 sets up the story… the thrilling tale of seven adventurous astronauts, who watch in horror, aloft in the International Space Station, as most of Earth is annihilated by a titanic solar flare.
The author of World War Z adds another zombie tale to his bibliography. But this has a twist as Brooks decides to tackle another highly popular supernatural creature, the vampire. From the off Brooks wasted no time in introducing everything you need to know about his new concept. Vampires are arrogant and have underestimated the threat zombies present. Brooks criticises previous popular incarnations of vampires, but crucially he doesn’t build a unique angle for his own interpretation.
And low, so it came to pass, that the first proper comic book series I’ve ever read was a Superman arc, and not just any arc, but the beautifully, poignant, thought provoking All Star Superman. It also must have been providence since this week sees the last son of Krypton being very much in the spotlight with Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel being unleashed like a speeding bullet in the cinemas with reviews claiming it to be more powerful than a locomotive and leaping over tall buildings in a single bound is the new comic series Superman Unchained from Scott Snyder and Jim Lee.
The Massive is the tale of a group of eco-activists called the Ninth Wave and their struggles as the World collapses around them. Spurred by a string of environmental disasters, society is bordering on collapse and the crew of the environmental-action ship Kapital (think the Sea Shepherd) battle to survive, find their friends and keep their ideals.
I love fresh comics though. By fresh I mean something that makes me step outside my comfort zone, broaden my paradigm and engage with something new. A lifestyle I haven’t encountered before in my day-to-day, a character I would never befriend in real life, or sometimes, something that’s altogether too familiar to me but reimagined in a way I’ve never seen before. Matt Miner’s Liberator mini-series from Black Mask Studios gave me everything I could ask for: its counter-culture, heavily liberal in its ideology, horrific and disgusting but wonderful at the same time.
Another good mix of comics this week. Life lessons are learnt, villains beaten and herculean feats are achieved (and that’s just in My Little Pony). So how did they do? Welcome to the Six Shooter! The weekly column that reviews six specific comics. Big new releases, small interesting titles and random curiosities. All will be looked at.
Welcome to the Six Shooter! This is a weekly column that will review six specific comics. Big new releases, small interesting titles and random curiosities. All will be looked at. The way it works is that there will be a brief review of the comics followed by our rating system. This week i’ll be looking at Age of Ultron #9, Mice Templar IV: Legend #3, Virga: Sun Of Suns #1, Miss Fury #3, Shadowman #7 and Astro City #1.
Gail Simone has been consistently knocking it out of the park with her writing, even overcoming being controversially sacked from Batgirl only to be reinstated 2 issues later! The second installment of her standalone title The Movement is a fast moving and well worked comic book. The first issue was an almost text book example of how to launch a new comic, there was no slow steady build up with too much time spent talking for page upon page.
Issue 3 focuses on El Chupacabra, a character we’ve only seen in small amounts since he inadvertently caused the death of another team member. The kicker is it was because he was drunk, which has caused him a great deal of guilt and the ire of his teammates. Still riddled with regret Chupacabra is looking to make amends and has travelled to Siberia to do so, specifically to the hometown of his deceased teammate.
During thirty years of indifference to Godzilla I had managed to avoid nearly all contact with the legendary beast. Barring the odd glimpse across the channels of his 90′s American movie, I knew little and cared less. Turns out all it took was the work of one very talented cartoonist to get me deeply involved in the world of rampaging radioactive lizard monsters and the men that struggle to contain them.
Injustice Gods Among Us tells the backstory of the recent video game of the same name. The gist of the series is: Superman has gone power mad. His former allies are splintering into two factions, those with him and those against him. Set out of main continuity, writer Tom Taylor has a lot of freedom to really push the boundaries of what we’re used to seeing in a regular monthly DC book. Thankfully, that’s exactly what he does.
Welcome to the very first Six Shooter! This is a weekly column that will review six specific comics. Big new releases, small interesting titles and random curiosities. All will be looked at. The way it works is that there will be a brief review of the comics followed by our rating system. As it’s the first ever Six Shooter it would seem prudent to focus this edition on First issues. Thankfully the gods of comics where smiling down on us and we actually have six new number ones (we cheated as one of them is a one-shot) to review.
This week sees the re-launch of the “adjective less” X-Men. It’s written by Brian Woods, drawn by superstar Olivier Coipel and stars a female only cast. It may not seem like a big deal but in today’s superhero comics, where diversity is quickly becoming the norm, it is a huge step forward to have such a high profile title feature a cast full of women. There are comics out there that focus on female protagonists, but the difference is that this is the X-Men.
The interior art is what has really sold me on this series. Millar is a great writer, sure, but I hadn’t previously encountered much of Quitely’s pencils and inks outside of a few issues of The Invisibles and his symbiosis with Peter Doherty on the interiors is really a spectacle to behold. The 1932 pages of the story at the start called to mind that nostalgic feeling of an awesome adventure I just couldn’t wait to dive in to. Doherty and Quitely then demonstrate their adaptability and transplant us to the glitz and glam of the red carpet in modern day, March 2013.
I’m not going to lie, when I saw a comic was coming out called “Sex” a couple months back I rolled my eyes and continued to scroll down the web page to see what else there was. But after deciding to laugh about how juvenile such a comic must be with my colleges I realized I had no idea what it was actually about. After a brief read of the blurb I was shocked to find myself pre-ordering issue 1.