The humble bindle – a hobo’s best friend, but a terrible way to transport comics. At best they would slowly but surely develop a nasty crease; at worst they would be ravaged by the elements or used as emergency band aids/ toilet paper/ prophylactics. No no. We all know the best way to transport comics is not at all. You read them, you bag n’ board them, you file them away in a long box, and there they shall remain until the end of time or until your mother, who doesn’t understand that New York apartments don’t have a ton of storage space and she has a giant house all to herself why can’t she just keep them where they are they aren’t taking up any room besides do you want to be that Mom who throws out the box of Mickey Mantle baseball cards no good then just leave them alone they aren’t hurting anyone and no my brother’s kids can’t read them they don’t know how nor could they appreciate what exactly Chris Claremont or whomever was trying to do in that X-Men arc and besides they have grubby hands and do you want their grubby hands to be what stands between you and the good nursing home when I sell my collection and retire, asks you to move them for the thousandth time. No, mother. The answer will always be “NO.”
The first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have a problem. WELL I AIN’T GOT ONE SO SHUT YER YAP. One of my Winter Solstice-brand holiday gifts I will be giving myself this year is a huge stack of comics. LOOK UPON MY WORKS, YE MIGHTY, AND DESPAIR (for my wallet).
Cover of the Week: I am absolutely loving the David Aja Hawkeye covers. The series has also been a must-get. Other notables this week (aka the comics I’m not just reflex buying): Saga, Thor, All New X-Men, Wolverine & the X-Men, Indestructible Hulk, Daredevil. HOORAY COMICS.
You know, I picked up Journey into Mystery 646 (start of the non-Kid Loki JiM) featuring Sif and it wasn’t bad! It’s not my new favorite or anything, but I’m intrigued enough to see where it goes. Panel picks will be up later in the day to showcase some of the other books I read last week. In other news, Uncanny Avengers handily wins Cover of the Week this week with the crazy good Red Skull cover by John Cassaday. Glad to see that Before Watchmen returns after it’s weirdly long hiatus, with Ozymandias, which is probably the best book of the lot.
What I’m most likely picking up this week:
– Uncanny X-Force #34 (didn’t #33 just come out?) – Iron Man #2 – Indestructible Hulk #1- Hawkeye #4 – Deadpool #2 – Daredevil #20 –Captain America #1 – Amazing Spider-Man #698 – Harbinger #6 (best cover of the week) – X-o Manowar #7 – Wolverine and the X-Men #21 (I know that #20 came out last week! What’s with the ramped up publishing schedule, Marvel?!)
Literature (?) alert! So there’s a terrifying circus (Frankenstein’s Murder Circus, to be exact) coming to Salem Center, NY to molest (ed.note: word choice?) the X-Men. Is this just a super old trope or did Jason Aaron just rip-off Something Wicked This Way Comes?
Black rain falling from the sky look strange:
– Not going to lie; Shadowman #1 was “meh” at best. Hopefully this isn’t how the rest of Valiant’s second tier titles are going to go. Never fear though, there’s a new Archer & Armstrong this week to clear away the bad taste.
– Because I’m a sucker who is terrible with money, I am getting on board with at least the first one or two issues of the Marvel NOW! relaunch/rejigger/re-whatever that is happening in the wake of AvX. Iron Man last week wasn’t bad! Let’s see what Matt Fraction can do with Marvel’s First Family.
– New Locke & Key. That’s all that needs to be said. I want to treat this comic like I treat Homeland; it’s so good that I can’t bear waiting one second more after it’s over to start the next one. Go to your local library and pick up the trades!
– “Death of the Family” continues in Batman & Robin and Batman this week. Death in comics is a tricky thing; you know it’s not going to be forever, but at the same time it’s a great talking point & sales generator. But when you’ve been reading “Death of…” stories for 20 years, they kind of lose their gravity. But crazy Joker antics = take my money.
– After 72 issues, The Boyswraps up. Not in the same ballpark (or even state the ballpark is located in) as Preacher,but still clever & interesting enough at times to warrant picking up here and there.
– Saga is so weird/charming that I keep getting it because I need to know where it’s going. Also the robots with fancy military uniforms & televisions for heads. I like them. ‘Cause they have TVs. Where heads should be.
– Spider Glider! <— shouldn’t that rhyme?
– As for the rest, that’s just reflexive grabbing & impulse purchasing: Gambit, Thor, X-Men. Passable but most likely not life altering. But who knows? Maybe Marvel NOW! has got some tricky sleeves & Gambit is able to recapture the charm of the first issue.
What are you buying this week?
Sooooo… How’s it going? Updates have been a little sparse around here (minus the excellent posts from Adam & his 31 Flavor of Terror posts) due to my recent nuptials and Escape From New York scenario this past weekend. Never fear, I made it out before another hurricane could ruin another vacation.
I’ve barely been on the Internet since last Friday (now that’s real terror) and have absolutely no idea what’s going on. Well,two points made it through the all-you-drink-alcohol haze: GTA V got a release date & Disney bought LucasFilm (Star Wars/Avengers mash up here we come).
If you feel like doing me a solid, drop me a note in the comments about one or two interesting things that’ve happened in the video game/ comic book realm these past few days. I dread opening my RSS reader at this point in time; I anticipate at least 6000 items. (Maybe over 9000!?!)
At least I will be this week as there are basically zero comics coming out this week (and some super basic zero issues ZING OH SHIT DC CHEMICAL BURRRRRRRRRRRRRN)