Comics I Bought This Week 12-20-06

I stole this idea from my buddy Jared. While undoubtedly he's not the first person to write about this subject, and in this way, he won't sue me for my million$ for stealing his brilliant idea (I hope)... Since this is my first post of this sort, I'm going to list the last 3 weeks of comic book purchases. I mention this because, if my wife reads this, she won't think I'm spending thousands of dollars a month on geeky comic book shit...

Fantastic Four: The End #3 (of 6)

Midway through this Alan Davis miniseries, I must say I'm enjoying it. I'm generally not a big fan of alternate future type stories, but Davis seems to be having fun using every single character in the Marvel Universe. It helps that his art, with inks by Mark Farmer, is as good as ever. Check it out, or wait for the inevitable collected edition.

Sandman Mystery Theatre: Sleep Of Reason #1 (of 5)

I was a fan of the original Sandman Mystery Theatre series back about 10 years ago, so I gave this a shot. I'll give #2 a chance, but it had better start to make sense soon, or I'm done with it.

Fallen Angel #11

This book, about a hot, drunken, former Angel who's pissed off at literally everything, is a hoot. Peter David, one of the best comic writers out there over the last 20 years, is clearly having fun and so should you. Read it because I say so.

Damned #3 (of 5)

I really like this book. It's essentially a gangster/mystery tale with demons and the damned taking the place of actual gangsters, but the story, though overly complicated, moves along at a brisk pace and the black and white art by Brian Hurtt is appropriate and extremely well-done for this type of story. There's a (fairly necessary) synopsis at the start of every issue so if you haven't read it yet, check it out. It's cool, man.

Fear Agent #9

One of the best books out right now continues it's high level of excellence. Fear Agent kicks alien ass!

Hellblazer #227

Some people I know have legitimate problems with this book. It is hard to jump into the middle of a long story, but I still love it. It's like comfort food for me. Demons, witchcraft, generally evil goings-on. That's what I expect out of my horror comics. Hellblazer usually delivers. So there.

Rex Mundi #3

The only thing that annoys me about this book is they started the numbering over when it moved to Dark Horse. Granted, it's a minor beef, but that just smacks of the usual "let's milk our stupid audience for all they're worth" cynicism usually reserved for the Big 2 companies. I suppose I'm exaggerating, but I've seen the comics industry eat itself alive before by pulling stupid shit like that. Any way, the story 's good: It seems a long-lost descendant of someone related someone who knew Jesus has captured the throne of France and is starting WWI in an alternate reality (or maybe I'm mixing up my fictional religious conspiracy stories). I love stories that make religion the cause of all evil in this world. Check it out, but don't expect to figure out what's going on unless you go and read the previous 12 issues.

Red Menace #1 & #2

I only picked this up because Jerry Ordway is one of the best artists working today and "Red Menace" was the name of the comic company some friends and I started a million years ago (perhaps we should sue). Ordway's the kind of artist who can make a pedestrian story seem better than it is and this is a perfect example. The fact that it took three writers to come up with a typical "McCarthy and the Red Scare were bad" story amazes me. I mean, we've all seen this before, right? In real life, Joe McCarthy was red-baiting asshole and Roy Cohn was a scumbag of the highest order. I'm sure it was such a challenge portraying them as such. The plot revolves around a Captain America-type hero who gets smeared by McCarthy and Cohn mostly because they're basically, well, evil motherfuckers. By the end of issue 2, there's some huge frame-up/conspiracy and a new hero arrives on the scene. Whatever. I'll continue to buy it because the story isn't really that bad, it's just been done before. Ordway makes it worthwhile.

Criminal #3

This is one of the best books out at the moment. It's a heist-gone-bad story about a professional criminal, his hot, damaged girlfriend and some really corrupt cops. Well written, beautifully paced, and with art that fits the throwback/70's style of the story to a tee, this book is worth every penny. The only problem with this issue was a production error that doubled up the printing of some pages, totally messing up the story, as, I assume, some pages did not get printed. Wait for (hopefully) a reissue or just suck it up, and buy all three at once. You'll like it.

Infinite Holiday Special #1

Ever since I was a kid, I've been a sucker for holiday specials. Apparently, I'm not the only one as Chris Sims, a very entertaining (and obsessive) writer whom I regularly read, has dedicated a whole series of articles to Holiday comics. I guess Infinite Holiday Special is loosely tied into DC's Infinite Crisis crapfest that I've managed to ignore up until now. It's OK as a one shot (I assume numbering it issue #1 was merely to drive sales up...), but the only story that stands out is the last one, in which Superman gives Batman what for in a funny, violence-is-the-answer kind of way. Happy Holidays everyone!