Mister X: Condemned

Dark Horse has really led the pack this year with a number of tasty offerings to the comic gods. They have inched their way up to become the largest comic publisher that I wouldn't want to describe as a corporation; their motives are pure. Sure, they want to make money--but they make money publishing really top notch art. They appear to have no intentions to slow down in 2009.

To coincide with the release of an all-new 4-issue Mister X mini-series (by Dean Motter himself) DH has released a hardcover collection of the first 13-issue Mister X series (featuring Dave McKean, Seth, the Hernandez Brothers, Bill Sienkiewicz, Howard Chaykin and more!) I have been suckered into scwooping up some really expensive hardcover books, but I was a little reluctant with this one since I wasn't sure I was going to like it; I wasn't even familar with the character until recently.

I decided to dip my toes into the first issue of the new series to make sure I was even interested. I don't want to talk about it. I'll just say that it looks like now I have to buy an $80 hardcover.

Mister X: Condemned #1 (of 4) gets 3.5 (out of 5) demonically possessed children.
-sanford c bledsoe iii

Joker (Azzarello/Bermejo)

Brian Azzarello pretty much sweats the type of uncomfortable crime fiction where good and bad become grey, where everyone is getting played, and most everyone is going to die. The really neat thing about this Joker book is that it's perfect for fans of Batman comics or fans of Batman movies. Not that those affiliations are mutually exclusive, but there are a lot of folks out there who just don't read comics (for whatever reason), and this book is a perfect segue to convert those who have not discovered the glory of "sequential narrative". At the end of the day, this was just a really good story, with a really creepy villain. It didn't have to be the Joker, necessarilly, but boy was he fucking scary. Bermejo's art doesn't make you any less uncomfortable, and occasionally he takes off the kid gloves and throws in a nasty fully-painted panel.

A must read for fans of Criminal, 100 Bullets, Hellblazer, Scalped, etc.

4 (out of 5) wounded children,

-sanford c bledsoe iii

so, you've read watchmen........

ASTRO CITY-CONFESSION and TARNISHED ANGEL
w-kurt busiek a-brent anderson

hey man,watchmen was totally sweet wasn't it! maybe you're like "aw crud what's next?" well check out this Astro City! its phenomenally scripted by Kurt Busiek (dude wrote Marvels!) and he does superheroes as Extra-ordinary folks who do extraordinary things.start with "confession" for a wholly original take on the batman/robin dichotomy! "Tarnished Angel" follows multiple felon "steeljack" as he's released from prison and determined to go straight.He has no where to go,can't get a job on account of him being a career criminal and his flesh being 100% steel.He ends up in the slums of astro city where all of his former friends and partners in crime live.....and someone is killing them one by one.The law doesn't care at all because they're all criminals and steeljack is hired to find the killer.Problem is steeljack is no detective and is hired 'cause he's pretty much invincible.It's great mystery but its totally from the point of view of a terrible investigator.What steeljack lacks in brains he makes up for in heart...he really wants to stop his friends from getting murdered.Oh,and Steeljack's appearence is based off of one the greatest actors and faces in film history,Robert Mitchum.He has a face that has seen rough times and still has optimism,this is a perfect "cherry on top" to get the right "noir when its down on its luck" feel.awesome.

-5 outta 5 perfectley made bloody marys.

Invincible Iron Man #8

w-matt fraction a-salvador larroca marvel comics $3.99
dude this ish of iron man so effing sweet!last week i was real hyped up for what "dark reign" would do to invincible iron man since marvel made it the core iron man book,.......and it totally fuckin' delivered! the issue is the set up for one of the illest mistaken-identity espionage/action movies,and the dude everybody wants ice is IRON MAN! Im not excited much about the company wide bannering of "dark reign" but it is making tony stark an underdog which is awesome.this might even cleanse tony out of "complete asshole" fallout from civil war.

- matt fraction writes Tony Stark as a dude who puts on a suit not a robot with a human inside. GO GO GO FRACTION ACTION!
-salvador larroca-all the tech looks amazing! (OOH!they have this really fresh technique of showing tonys face through the armor so you can actually see HIS emotions!its badass.)
-the color is amazing here as well.i kinda finally noticed it.my apologies Mr.Frank D'Armata.
-this is an amazing place to start reading up on this piece.WORD.

Secret Invasion Dark Reign

w-Brian Micheal Bendis a-Alex Maleev published by marvel comics $3.99
Five dudes (one who is dressed like a woman) hang out in a room with no windows and stare and a gorgeous scantily clad woman.I need a $4.23 comic to do this? I call that saturday night.

- Alex Maleev really phones it on this one.Maybe he was trying a new style but it ends up looking like half photocopied uh...photos.
- All jokes aside, this was kind of a cool issue.It was all talking and set up but got me kind of curious as to what is gonna pop up next in the marvel universe.
(the inevietable answer is "WHATEVER THEY WANT" )
-I really want to love you marvel you just have to love me back.
- Some things are revealed and alls im saying is that Matt Fraction's Invincible Iron Man is going to get REALLY good.The collection of issues 1-7 just came out and #8 drops this wednesday.Get it.

Tommysaurus Rex!!

w/a- Doug tenapel published by image comics,2004 $11.95
Doug tenapel is the creator of the earthworm jim videogame series.much like those games which included loads of bathroom humor and challenging gameplay; Tommysaurus Rex is comic suitable for most ages while still having some real substance to it.Ely is a young boy who finds a A FRICKIN T-REX in a cave on his grampas farmland!Ely christens him Tommysaurus and they become fast friends under the judgemental watch of the small town.Families are united,lives are saved,lessons are learned,and the local fauna are rejuvenated by the copious amounts of T-rex turds!By the last page of this book i was leaking from my eye....uh cuz there was somethin' in it....yeah.Much like one my favorite comics of '08 "the Amulet", Tommy Rex (yeh,we're homies now) is mostly appropriate for all ages and is immediately accessible and enjoyable for everybody.

- Mr.Tenapel's work is always top ranking.in the vault's continuing effort to read anything that could be cool for kids,im reading everything by him again and im going bonkers for it.get used to posts like this.

Have You Read Young Liars?

Who forgot to blog about Young Liars? That shit will get you FIRED. Reading Young Liars is like getting kicked in the nuts by a super-hot chick whose foot is wrapped in hundred dollar bills. From writer David Lapham (Stray Bullets, Murder Me Dead). A bunch of twenty-somethings conspire against one another, plot thefts, drink too much and tell horrible lies. This book is super graphic and makes me feel a little nauseous sometimes, but I love it.

READ IT, IF YOU HAVEN'T.

Unknown Soldier #1

Originally appearing in 1966 from prolific Silver Age writer Robert Kanigher, Vertigo has just released an updated, socially relevant, kick-ass redux in association with Joshua Dysart (Swamp Thing, Violent Messiahs) and Alberto Ponticelli (Sam & Twitch, Various). This is one of the best first issues I've read in ever. Child soldiers, gun-play, social commentary, the Motherland, etc.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Criminal Vol. 1: Coward (w/ Brubaker, a/ Phillips)

Hardboiled, crime-noir books are in no short supply. GOOD crime-noir books are a little more rare. I had given up on Criminal back in 2006, after the second or third issue, deeming it derivative and uninspired. I brushed off Christian and Curtis' repeated attempts to persuade me otherwise. I don't know what made me pick it back up, recently, almost exactly 2 years later. I have to admit that I've written off Ed Brubaker, despite enjoying his run on Captain America, and despite the fact that he is a very critically acclaimed comic book writer (having won two Eisner and Harvey awards in recent years.)

Every volume in the Criminal series is a separate story arc, containing new characters and new plot twists. The catch is that all of these characters, in all of these stories, are connected. Thematically, and dramatically, the series sits halfway between 100 Bullets and Sin City. As of yet, however, there are no mysterious government organizations like 100 Bullets, and the characters are a little more realistic and human than those in Sin City. The series feels a lot more plausible.

The characters are dark, but not flat. You aren't sure if you like all of them or not, but you want to. Try to limit yourself to one volume a week, as rushing through the series might leave you experiencing the world with a Frank Miller-esque inner monologue.

I give Criminal 3.5 (out of 5) starving children,
-sandy

DeVoid of Life

Story and art by Raffaele Ienco



A hidden planet is discovered by a group of astronomers which results in their immediate extermination by a guard of xenophobic warriors determined to keep their existence a secret. Police chief Rochelle Bonner finds one survivor in the mess, why did she live? The investigation alerts the Xenos, and they come to contain the infection of knowing. Who is this secret man behind the iron door? What are all the strange flashes in Rochelle's mind? How is she tied into all of this?!

Original story, decent art. The Xenos are pretty creepy, flesh hoods and all. I'd recommend it to horror and sci-fi fans. One complete story, thumbs mostly up.

All-Star Superman #12

Superman? SUPERMAN?!? Really?!? One of the best comic books in recent memory is a fucking SUPERMAN run?

You bet your ass, buddy. Listen:

Grant Morrison has crafted science fiction gold here; every alien race, every gleaming ray gun is wrought with with metaphor and deep connections to the human condition. Nothing is accidental, nothing is glitz without substance and all the while Morrison isn't beating us over the head with it. I'm talking about explosions with SOUL here, people. One could easily read every one of these dozen issues and enjoy them on a visceral, surface level but you only have to look a little deeper to see the messages of love, brotherhood and other such beautiful, perfectly cheesy bullshit.

Morrison understands Superman in ways that the rest of us do not. A common complaint of the Man of Steel is his tendency to have a solution for everything, the fact that over the course of sixty-some years his abilities have inflated and exaggerated to the point that there is nothing he cannot do: he has limitless strength, limitless speed and so on. This is, obviously, boring. Morrison takes this complaint, this expectation, and turns it on its head. What if the source of Superman's power became the source of absurd power AND the cause of his death?All-Star Superman DOES have all those powers we've come to yawn at over the years and NONE OF THEM MATTER! They will not save him, but he might save everyone else in the meantime.

I could go on and on. Remember Earth Q? His double arm-wrestle with Samson and Atlas? What about Jimmy Olsen as Doomsday? Clark Kent and Lex Luthor having a chat in the middle of a super-human prison riot? Lex Luthor' s final revelation? Were you there? Will you REMEMBER?

Morrison has said that this will be the end of his work on the title as both he and the brilliant Frank Quitely (whose praises would take another blog in and of themselves) have other projects in the making that will require their respective attentions. So aside from one-shots and perhaps some special issues, this is the end of the line. The feeling is, of course, bittersweet. Part of the appeal of this run was the finality of it all, the idea that Superman has peaked and can go no further, both in terms of the quality of the stories and the character himself. But we're all of us worse off for not having this book to look forward to anymore, and that is a bummer.

I know this has been a long winded blog but if you only take one thing away from my rantings here it should be this: read issue twelve of All Star Superman. Then read issues 1-12 of All Star Superman. Then do it again. Then thank your lucky stars that you were able to read something this good, this printed proof that the comic book medium is as powerful and important as it ever has been, maybe more so.

Osamu 'Rob Zombie' Tezuka

Osamu Tezuka just blew my mind. MW is dark. Black, even. Blacker than the Earl of Hell's waistcoat, this is. And I thought 'Buddha' was colorful! I mean, it's got it all: murder, mass murder, rape, child rape, torture, invalid rape, suicide, and once in a while you'll see a priest slug someone in the gut.

The story follows two men, bound by fate, one a priest, one the devil incarnate. MW 'probes' the complexities of homoeroticism and throws in a little political espionage for good measure. The brutality in this book cannot be ignored. Not one punch does Tezuka pull and it makes for great reading. I read the trillion page epic 'Buddha' earlier this year and was impressed, but this is something else. My favorite of his so far. Please read this, guys.

Thank you Nathan Fox

One more issue of Pigeons From Hell to go. The horror! I just want to thank Nathan Fox, if he's out there, for kicking ass all over this book. Issue #3 has a panel of a bloodied kitchen that's just tremendous. I also need to thank him for selling me the coolest thing I own for only $40. Let's see if I can explain it:

It's two prints (roughly 24'' X 17'' each), they're entitled "Purple Rain and Red Napkins."

The two prints make up two panels of a picture of a speeding train. On top of the speeding train is a huge specter, or demon, speeding along with it, tearing it apart.

And it's in old school red and blue 3-d.

You're all invited to come look at it.

Or you could just check it out on www.foxnathan.com. Actually, I'm not sure if "Purple Rain and Red Napkins" is on the site, but he's got a real nice website with a lot of cool work. I'd post a photo of it, but I'm... well, technologically embarrassed right now. It'd probably be easier for all you guys to just come to Chicago to my living room.

Dolis

by Maki Kusomoto



Alright. The main character's cup floweth over with self loathing. Mitsu is aloof and mysterious, beautiful and intriguing. Kishi knows that she's uncompromising and selfish, but he doesn't realize how seriously disturbed she is. She's obsessed with being as perfect as the paintings that her ex boyfriend used her as a model for. The visual layout of the book is really nice. I like the colors and the paneling. The character design is not my cup of tea. Everyone has really big foreheads, tiny chins and huge eyes (adorned with borderline ridiculous lashes). I figured I'd give it a try.

1985

Written by Mark Millar
Art by Tommy Lee Edwards



One more Mark Millar mini series to add to the list. Toby is 13. His parents are divorced. His mom remarries some rich guy. His dad is a loser, but a nice dude. Toby loves to read comic books. Him and his dad take a walk in the woods to look at a house where his dad used to hang out as a kid. Toby peeps something a little weird in an upstairs window. News reports later in the day validate his suspicions. He sneaks out in the middle of the night to spy on the house in the woods...

Good storytelling! I do, indeed, look forward to the rest of this series.

Angel: Revelations

Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Art by Adam Pollina



I'd like to start this off by saying that I don't read too many Marvel titles. I've never been a huge fan of superhero comics, I kinda pick and choose. So, this comic is about Angel, of the X-Men. I like the way the story is told. It's very welcoming to me, as an outsider of sorts. A tiny girl with stigmata tells her local priest about dreams she's been having which involve Warren Worthington (Angel). And so begins the tale, but the real sugar here is the art. It is absolutely unique, I love it. Check it out, breathe it in.

It gets a triple threat out of a double entendre.

Withheld

Should be read by no one. I don't even know why this woman wrote this comic. It's a shitty comic, about stupid people. No one in this book is likable. Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb. Can literally read it in 20 seconds and be mad about it for an hour. *shakes head*


This was a random rant by Christian. So much more, I couldn't type fast enough...I'm so sorry.

*all information withheld to avoid hurt feelings and bad press*

Princess Resurrection

by Yasunori Mitsunaga



Princess Hime (princess princess) wears a tiara, fights with a chainsaw and still has time for tea. A tiny robot girl, a zombie boy, and a half human-half werewolf are on her team. As her siblings try to kill her to become the heir to the throne, we get super sweet fights with werewolves, demons and crazy hospital staff.

chainsaw - check.
zombies - check.
big titties - check.

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Burn

by Camilla d'Errico and Scott Sanders



Man and machine have been co-existing for years. Under the peaceful facade, some have been harboring resentment for one another. One man creates Sheftiel, a sentient machine programmed to destroy mankind. A young boy named Burn is playing with his friends in their village when the madness comes down. One frantic act of self preservation will change things forever. Man and machine will never be the same.

I have yet to solidify an opinion on this one.

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Setting Sun TP (w/ Warren Ellis, a/ Various)

This is a small collection of Warren Ellis penned Hellblazer stories, with various artists, like Tim Bradstreet (!) and (of course) Marcelo Frusin (who I love). My only complaint with the book was the thing I also enjoy most: the Ellis-ness. I love Warren Ellis, but after reading so much Brian Azzarello (who takes a backseat in regards to the story he is telling), I'm starting to wonder if Ellis isn't just a one-trick pony after all (read this book and then read Fell and then read Desolation Jones and then read Transmetropolitan). But, you know what? It's one really awesome trick. I just wish he could find the time to sober up and actually finish a title.

3.5 (out of 5) aborted right-wing babies,
-sandy

P.S. Let the "Dude, Back Off Warren Ellis/Brian Michael Bendis' Nuts" flame war begin.

Dead, She Said

Written by Steve Niles
Illustrated by Bernie Wrightson



This book displays many qualities of a top notch mystery, one being on the opening page you get a dead man describing the fouler qualities of rigor mortis. From the beginning to the end the raunchy details left me wanting more.

Somehow the lead character is a "zombie"(?) I'm not really sure though because he talks and acts as though he's living. The only noticeable zombie quality he has is the smell of his own rotting flesh.

Overall I'd have to say this comic gets four out of five major internal organs.

-Dana-

P.S. Bernie Wrightson draws intestines real good. -liz-

Pigeons From Hell

Written by Joe Lansdale
Art by Nathan Fox



Louisiana swamplands, two sisters inherit a mansion with a history. People have all heard the stories about the Blassenville house. The sisters make a trip of it with a group of their friends to check out the sweet inheritance. After one of them falls through the rotted staircase and breaks his leg, they're forced to spend the night. Things are creepy, cold, and not quite right in this house. The second issue kicked my dick in the dirt, for real. HOLY SHIT. A+, thumbs up and all that. Jenkies.

Skim

by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki



High school sucks for some people (I know I hated it). Skim is a chubby, wiccan, goth would-be that can't stand the ignorant, self absorbed Heathers that run rampant. Love, suicide, and sexuality are a few things that it touches on. It's introspective and gentle. The art has a very classic Japanese feel to it, reminiscent of Edo period pieces. An enjoyable read, even though it reminded me of being in high school.

Sour Leaves

by Brendan Monroe



Teeny and delicately illustrated, this book tells the story of a journey through life. Ups, downs, ins, outs. Everything comes full circle.

10 dimes out of a dollar.

Sky Doll

Story and Art by Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa



Marvel's first collaboration with the French publisher, Soleil. Sky Doll is the story of a runaway pleasure bot named Noa. She escapes her job at the car wash, and stows away on the ship of man that she'd intrigued earlier in the day. The world is controlled with religious propaganda, and the elaborate ruse of Papess Lodovica. What are the mysterious ties between Noa and Agape, the defrocked papess and sister of Lodovica?

H.O.T. positive

Kick Ass

Written by Mark Millar
Art by John Romita, Jr.



Dave Lizewski: he wasn't a jock, or a geek...but he was a comic book fan. One day, he put on a super hero costume...and got his ass kicked. But that didn't stop him. Bad guys beware...Dave will not give up so easily. This comic is so AWESOME! The art is good, the writing is great!

Jessica Farm

by Josh Simmons



A detached, immersed, frenetic, emotional roller coaster ride through a young girls imagination. What's real? What's made up? Who are these people? Slightly irritating (this does not change my opinion of the book, its still fantastic): This book is being created at the rate of one page per MONTH. He started in 2000 and after 8 YEARS, he put out the first volume. So, every 8 years...we'll get one 96 page volume until the year 2050...totaling up at a 600 page body of work. Novel (pun intended) idea.

Swamp Thing: Saga of the Swamp Thing TP (w/ Alan Moore)

Alan Moore took over Swamp Thing with issue #21 (of Volume 2) in 1984 (due to low sales), 2 years before the first issue of Watchmen was released. Moore has a knack for reviving obscure (read "shitty") DC comics characters and making them less shitty. I can't imagine Jason "Floronic Man" Woodrue ever actually being scary, but he comes pretty close in this book. Even Etrigan (who also pops up in the Sandman series) is an interesting character!

Moore reinvents the origin of Swamp Thing, although the story remains roughly the same, in theory, with a few major differences (including the appearance of Jason Woodrue). Environmentalism is a heavy theme in this series, as Floronic Man discovers the secret of Swamp Thing's power, "The Green" ("Gaia", the earth as an ecosystem of interconnected plant organisms). Woodrue's symbiotic relationship with "The Green" allows him to see (and feel) the horrors of humanity's abuse of our planet. Woodrue goes on a killing spree, fueled by The Green, and Swamp Thing attempts to save The Green, the world, and the woman he loves, from Woodrue's (naive) vendetta.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing is more important than ever, with the reality of global climate change knocking on our door. 24 years later, we need Swamp Thing more than ever.

I give Saga of the Swamp Thing 4 (out of 5) drowning polar bears,
-sandy

100 Bullets: First Shot, Last Call TP (w/ Brian Azzarello, a/ Eduardo Risso)

If you read my Loveless review, you would know that I hated this book the first time around. I'm really trying to give Brian Azzarello (Sgt. Rock, Hellblazer, Superman: For Tomorrow) what is due him, as a comic writer, and I'm really glad that I am. Azzarello writes really complex stories that unravel themselves slowly and deliberately. I would recommend this book to fans of Heroes or Lost. There is even a mysterious "Agent Graves" of a mysterious (non-governmental?) organization (although he comes off a bit more benevolently than Benamin Linus or Noah Bennet)!

Eduardo Risso's art is reminiscent of Frank Miller's Sin City and it is SUPER sexy (unlike Miller's, which I find gratuitous). Azzarello and Risso do Frank Miller better than Frank Miller. There, I said it.

The plot is that "Agent Graves" appears to persons whose lives have been ruined by the negligence or brutality of other peoples' lives. Graves offers said persons an opportunity: a briefcase, containing a gun and 100 untraceable bullets, and perhaps most importantly, irrefutable evidence of their victims' connection to the event(s) that ruined their lives. They are given carte blanche, as long as they don't show anyone else the contents of the briefcase. What would you do if you knew you could get away with (justifiable?) homicide?

The stories are sad but exciting. Lots of dead babies, ruined futures, and shattered families.

I really recommend this book if you're looking for another lengthy series to commit to, or another huge mystery to sink into.

3.5 (out of 5) bible thumpers,
-sandy

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits TP (w/ Garth Ennis)

Garth Ennis is the only person I know who hates religion as much as I do. Well, I don't actually know Garth Ennis, but, if I did, I think we'd have some things in common. I wonder if he gets as many death threats as writers like Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens.

The premise of the book is that everyone's favorite alcoholic anti-hero/magician/trickster/hellion gets diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Constantine reevaluates his life to find some comfort in his death, but only finds a graveyard of friends in his wake. In order to save his soul from the clutches of the Devil himself, Constantine tries to redeem himself to his few living friends, but must ultimately face his demons alone.

This book rules. Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys, Punisher MAX) is at his most human in this story arc, as he explores the meaning of friendship--in life, and in death--in true Garth Ennis fashion (i.e. severed reproductive organs). Scoop it up!

4.275 (out of 5) dead babies,
-sandy

Loveless Vol 1-2, Vertigo (DC)

I have never really cared for Brian Azzarello. I can't say that I've read all of his work, but I suffered through the first 12 issues of 100 Bullets and could not force myself to read any further. I even tried reading the first few issues of Loveless when it first started coming out a few years ago (believe it or not I had a subscription). I liked the first 6 issues, illustrated by Marcelo Frusin (Hellblazer), but when the artist switched to Danijel Zezelj (Desolation Jones #7-8), I was turned off. I fell off with the series and would wonder, occasionally, if it would be worth picking back up.

It is.

I have come to LOVE Zezelj's work on Loveless, and I have come to love Azzarello's writing (at least on this series, but I am going to try 100 Bullets again very soon). Zezelj's work is raw and gritty and his backgrounds are elegant but minimal (there is a lot not to look at, if that makes sense). I tore these two volumes apart.

I don't generally go for Westerns (and would defer any questions about good Western comic series' to my friend, Christian); I don't really care much for the Civil War (though I am, believe it or not, distantly related to Abe Lincoln!); but this story is really raw. You love and hate everybody here and you keep turning pages to figure out who is really screwing who. The book is set in the years following the Civil War, when blacks are "free" but still enslaved by a nation of bigots, and when the South has yet to put down their arms.

The setting is volatile and the morals are ambiguous. This book is a gem!

4 (out of 5) homeless guys,
-sandy

now you're all in BIG trouble

There is some irony in the fact that I am at Vault of Midnight right now, on Day 1 of my 1 week visit to Ann Arbor. I have lived in Seattle since this past January, and despite the presence of Fantagraphics Books, the comic scene there is lacking (On an unrelated note, I shared a plane ride home with David Petersen of Mouse Guard, who is a Michigan native, and a good friend of our shop). I haven't been reading as many comics as I would like (no $$ for getting my comics shipped!), but I've been getting some 80's books from the library (can't seem to bring myself to buy comics from a shop that I don't have a tattoo of) and you can bet your bottom dollar that I'm going to write up some Alan Moore titles for you sexy humans in the near future.

Anyway, I sense that a small child has committed an act of injustice against one of our display tables. Just wanted to assert my presence on this little section of the internet; I look forward to getting flamed by all of you (more so) in the near future.

-sanford c bledsoe iii
(the c is for "comics")

Immortal Iron Fist #14

HOLY F*@#ING SHIT BALLS

this is my favorite comic out

art
story
chariktors

all dope

100% awesome juice dripping down my chin

Sanford "cheatin' sandy" Bledsoe to make blog debut.....eventually.

long time comic reader,game master and former vault of midnight employee "sanford bledsoe" will make his long awaited reviewing debut on "we read comics". after an initial confusion over invites and scheduling (as per usual sanford was seeing double and was confused about his options). no exact date had been locked down but "we read comics" industry insiders expect "sometime" in 2nd quarter 2008. From all of us at "We Read Comics", welcome to the team sanford! we look forward to your constant enthusiasm for the medium, biting sarcastic wit, consistent striving for political correctness and grammar, and hugs...oh my, the hugs. Welcome to the team.
(don't fuck this up)

Pax Romana #1-2

Story and Art by Jonathan Hickman

Ah, my first blog post. Where is the fanfare? The teeming crowds of adorers? No matter...

OH!...... i see, I...uh...thanks!

Jonathan Hickman, you clever bastard. I put off reading this one for months when on perusal it seemed dense and remarkably similar to your last title, Nightly News. Not that I had a problem with that one, but I was starting to get the feeling that you were a one-trick-pony. A flash in the pan. A pretender to the whatever. I am standing, here, corrected. Let it be known that I have found correction.

This is one of the sweetest premises to a comic book, or any work of fiction, that I've read in a long time. The idea is that the Vatican (in 2053 or thereabouts) is sponsoring a trip BACK IN TIME to assert the dominance of the Catholic Church for time eternum using modern day soldiers and weaponry. Hickman uses sneaky little mechanics like transcribed minutes from meetings between Vatican officials and Private Military Contractors to explore the morality and practicality of what they want to accomplish. Brilliant. Love it. Yes.

Here's the thing: the art is way over the top. I get that every page is this meticulously crafted piece that I should hang on a wall but in terms of the narrative it's just fucking distracting. Each frame is a portrait of some dude (that looks a lot like all the other dudes) making a Lenin-stance surrounded by 75 speech bubbles. So, props for the effort, but you're not pulling it off.

Nevertheless, between this and Transhuman I will be watching you from here on in, Hickman.

Everyone else: READ THIS SHIT. 6 clever things out of 8 clever things.

Here's my list of comics this week.

Amulet: book one

w/a-kazu kibuishi
this comic was so COOL! i was emotionally involved with these characters and expressed myself aloud frequently! I laughed!I gasped! I even exclaimed "OH NO!" when drama went down!the story is about a brother and a sister who relocate to their grandfathers farm house with their mom following the death of their father.Emily the oldest child,finds her grandpappy's study/lab and a portal to a fantastical world.some strange tentacled creature kidnaps her mom,so Emily and Navin (the younger bro.) must find her mom and confront the dark overlord of this awesome world....but they get help from their new sweet robot pals!I AM FLIPPING OUT IN ANTICIPATION FOR VOLUME TWO!!!!!
-the color is phenomenal! kudos upon kudos for the great coloring team that made this book happen.
-great,slightly cartoon-y facial expressions that really made everyone's emotions clear to me.dude,..at one point navin almost gets caught by his mom doing something he shouldn't and the face he makes had me cackling and slapping my knees.
-really cool designs on the buildings and technology.robots awesome..vehicles ill.
-reminescent of "spirited away" and "totoro" but wholly original and individual.
- MR.Kibuishi stopped into our store and was a totally cool and nice gentleman.I really would like to buy him a beer.
PLUS THIS HAPPENS

HOUSE MECH!!!!
I GIVE THIS BOOK 4 OUTTA 4 KIDS IN THE BACKSEAT NOT ASKING IF WE'RE THERE YET!

Miriam Issue One

by Rich Tommaso



Random peeks into the life of Miriam Capaldi. High school fights, sibling rivalry, childhood friendships developing over time...all presented in short, semi-unrelated vignettes. A second issue would be nice.

Toupydoops

by Kevin McShane



So, the comic book industry is the movie industry. Superheroes are the celebrities, and Toupydoops is determined to become the star of his own comic. He sets off for Hollywood with hope in his heart and a twinkle in his eye. He's accompanied by his best friend, Teetereater. An all star cast of quirky characters make this book a treat to sit down with. Follow the adventures of Toupy and Teeter as they let loose on Hollywood, antics are sure to ensue.


This one's for you, X.

Noble Boy

by Scott Morse



A lushly illustrated tribute to Maurice Noble. Noble worked in the animation industry for more than 60 years. His works include classics like Duck Dodgers and What's Opera Doc? He's worked on Disney, Warner Brothers, MGM, and Doctor Seuss. This book has thick, cardboard pages and cute, whimsical rhyming verses.

Edison Steelhead's Lost Portfolio: Exploratory Studies of Girls and Rabbits

by Renee French



Renee French is OUT OF HER MIND! I love her books, they're poignant and have a tendency to send you into a more uncomfortable dimension. In this collection she sketches girls and rabbits with deformities and/or equipment attached to their heads. They're adorable and terrifying. With each sketch you get a description of surroundings, things consumed, and pencils used. Truly unique. Stick with it Renee, you're hot stuff.

Tonoharu

by Lars Martinson



A very lonely story about a man living in rural Japan as an assistant junior high school teacher. He speaks little to no japanese, shares no common interests with his co-workers, and fails several attempts to make friends with the other American in the area. The awkwardness of the character is crisp.

Anna Mercury #1

w- warren ellis a-Facundo Percio avatar press $3.99
another week,another warren ellis book! this ones about a future(?) city where a woman with huge red hair zips over the skyline and beats fools up while looking for a weapon of huge destruction.the art and panel layout is very clear from new comic homie Facundo Percio.like much of warren ellis' work everything is "mad and beautiful",but really cool and intriguing.the ending on this first ish made me re-appraise what i just read and i eagerly await issue #2 for clarification and more dual wielding of pistols.i would like to see a new issue of Black Summer first but...i'm trying to complain less so i'll just shut up.

-i give this book an "ill" out of "st(ill) taking my time to perfect a beat,and i st(ill) got love for the streets."

Logan #2

w-brian k. vaughn a-eduardo risso marvel comics $3.99
LOGAN IS EFF-ING AWESOME! literally awe is spread when this comic is read.wolverine is totally cool,he's flashing back to fighting fools in WWII japan and it's beuatiful.risso's art is top notch. logans hair looks realistic and sexy.big things go down and it's mad poetical.i'm sad this is part two of a three issue series but i am really enjoying it while it lasts, and there's no ads! check this one out or wait a couple months and get the collection when it comes out.

five outta five biscuits on the plate covered in gravy.
good work Msrs. Vaughn and Risso.

Walking Dead #48

w- robert kirkman a- charlie adlard published by Image $2.99
Now as some of you know i read the Walking Dead every month and for the last two years i don't know why.i think i'm just reading it on reflex....or possibly like a crack pipe left on the table, like " this is probably a bad idea but shit,it's there and i got nothing else going on".in this issue SOMETHING ACTUALLY HAPPENS...i know it's weird but trust me it works.it's a real nice change of pace to have some shit go down/hit the fan.at the end if this issue i said to myself "damn,i REAALLY wanna read that next issue" which hasn't happened in a long time...coincedently this marks enough issues to collect into the vol.8 collection.ohh and it's got (another) cliffhanger ending ....aaallriiight kirkman....

Highlights:
-gunbattle for 28 pages.sweet.
-characters only explain events directly to the reader once in the whole issue!
- an excerpt from Dana Sullivan's review "..i can't wait for rick to, ya know..grow a pair,and put a chiansaw on his hand stump". from the mouths of babes,good call D.
-characters getting merked out every 5 pages
- i really like ellipsis.

I"s

Created by Masakazu Katsura



This book is loaded with tender moments, misunderstood situations, and FAN SERVICE up the waz! If nothing else, this dude can really draw a young lady's bum. Two classmates crush on each other for years and years. They're both so awkward and shy that they never tell each other how they feel and constantly misinterpret the most random situations. The story is good, the humor is right on, the art is very nice to look at. Fifteen volumes later, I'm sorry to see it end.

The Piper #1 - Zenescope

Written by Mike Kalvoda, Joe Bruscha, & Ralph Tedesco. Art by Alex Medellin Machain.



I want my dollar back.

SECRET INVASION 1 of 8

HOT SAUCE HOT SAUCE HOT SAUCE

squish evan reads this hot shit
peep it suckaz

"THE MARVEL COMIC EVENT OF THE YEAR! "

this issue of world war hulk is kinda weird , the hulks not in it .WAIT this is a whole new wacky crazy EVENT that will change the marvel universe forever ------ you know what? PISS OFF!
BUT since i love the new avengers or secret avengers or whatever the one it is that i love ... skrull invasion could be a fun time , the writing was fast paced and on point ... the art is the big homie LEINIL YU mashin shit out with a lil less crosshatching but keepin it still fresh thou

shits going crazy

im reading this for fun
im givin it so far
43 dookie gold chains and a melted butterscotch in the pocket of your dapperdan fit