Geekscape Comics: Weekly Reads!
Welcome to Weekly Reads! It’s your little dose of comic book goodness that focuses on some aspect of my comic book reading!
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That’s right, we are swimming in a pool of awesome comic books this week! Let’s talk about them!
Ongoing Reads
Brian K. Vaughan’s PAPER GIRLS is back with it’s 6th issue! Vaughan tells the story of a group of 12-year-old paper girls who get caught up in some pretty crazy apocalyptic scenario. Aside from a ton of awesome 80’s references, there are also some cool time travel mechanics. There are so many questions I’m dying to find the answers to. I’m really digging Cliff Chiang’s poppy art style too. You won’t want to pick up this book without reading #1-5 first, but they’re definitely worth it.
Jason Aaron and Giulia Brusco’s THE GODDAMNED is a book I want to like a lot more than I actually do. Brusco’s work is breathtaking throughout the series, the sense of bareness and desolation that his settings matchings the book’s tone perfectly. As always, I think my lack of enjoyment for the title stems from some bad expectations on my part. The main character, Cain, just isn’t who I expected him to be. He has done too much crying and not enough kicking ass… It looks like that might change next issue though. I can’t recommend this series because I’m just not a fan, but I think there are a lot of people out there who love and would love THE GODDAMNED.
The second issue of THE PUNISHER was pretty standard Punisher stuff; the Punisher kills a lot of people a lot of different ways. Well, mostly by shooting them. The books ending left me in shock though, it’s a moment that you only see in the medium of comic books. Before you ask, no, Frank Castle didn’t hail hydra.
Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camuncoli’s run on Spider-Man continues with AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #13. If you like seeing super heroes get into school yard fights, this issue is for you. Iron Man and Spider-Man squabble and insult each other while Miles gets into a little bit of trouble with Regent. I can’t see myself getting too invested in this storyline, I just want Dead No More, but we still have 3 more issues to go.
New Reads
DC’s Rebirth is in full effect! Last week brought us four Rebirth issues; Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and Green Arrow. These issues feel a lot like Free Comic Book Day books, it’s mostly just setup for things to come. If you aren’t familiar with the DC Universe (like me!) these books are still accessible. Even at the new, lower, price point, I don’t think any of these Rebirth issues are worth picking up, just read a summary instead. If you’re on a tight budget, just pick one of the characters and roll with that. Or wait a month or two and find out what book everyone is loving. Got no shortage of cash? Read em all! Nothing has wowed me yet, I’m just enjoying the newness of it all.
A simple guide for getting into DC Comics:
1. Listen The Geekscape DC Universe: Rebirth Special
2. Accept that Ian Kerner is human and not a walking comic book encyclopedia.
3. Pick one character (or more) that interests you and start reading.
BOOM! Studios’ Power Ranger line-up is expanding with this week’s MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: PINK #1 by the creative team of Brenden Fletcher, Kelly Thompson, and Daniele Di Nicuolo. This book is pretty much what you see is what you get. It isn’t on the same level as the other Power Rangers book but if you like the universe this is probably worth picking up, otherwise, you’re probably better spending your money elsewhere.
Amongst all the DC Rebirth, Marvel quietly began their big summer event with CIVIL WAR II #1. All the big surprises took place in the Free Comic Book Day issue and this book shows us what led up to it and the aftermath. We won’t get into spoilers, but basically a new inhuman is discovered that can see the future, a couple of characters die, and everyone is conflicted over this. There are A LOT of books involved in this arc, and right now I’m worried that it’s going to be hard to keep up with if you aren’t reading everything. This book did nothing to calm my worries.
On that note, I decided to read some more Brian Michael Bendis this week and checked out INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #10. That didn’t do me much good. Unless I’m missing something, this book is lagging behind the rest of Marvel’s ongoing stuff. Mary Jane isn’t even working for Stark yet, which we are seeing in both Civil War II and the Amazing Spider-Man books. So basically we are getting some back story explaining the events that took place on Free Comic Book Day and Civil War II #0, which I guess makes sense since it’s “Road to Civil War II.” Anyways, long story short, it’s frustrating to be reading these things out of order and for me, just makes me feel crazy for not just reading in trade.
Next Time
More Rebirth! More Civil War! The Fix #3!
