Comic Pick of the Week (sort of): July 29th, 2009

I haven't written anything in a few weeks, I'm on holidays, it's hot... sue me. I figured, rather than doing a pick of the week this week, I'd just write a little bit about the two major comic "events" that everyone else seems to be talking about. Which are, of course, "Wednesday Comics" and "Blackest Night".


First up, "Wednesday Comics"!

This has been a LOT of fun to read! It's DC's new weekly feature after the end of "Trinity". I hate weekly comics, they're expensive, and they never seem to be particularly good. "Trinity" never really managed to capture my imagination like a lot of the other books I read. Now, that being said, I am due to re-read the whole thing now that it's finished, and maybe I'll like it better? But it seems like the year long, weekly books are MUCH more about profit than story, and you end up with a story that feels like a lot of unnecessary bullshit has been crammed into it to fit the schedule, rather than letting the story dictate the length of the book.



The set-up is pretty straight forward, a throw-back to the old serials from the 40's/50's, there are 12 single page stories in each issue, which, over the course of it's 12 week run, will give us a complete story for each character. It comes as a standard comic book size, but folds out into a newspaper sized book. It manages to make me feel SLIGHTLY more adult when I read it than a standard comic. I don't think I'd want to read a regular series with this set-up, comics are already a jarring form of story to read. You get (in the best case scenario) single chapters, with a month or more in between each one. With "Wednesday Comics" it's more like reading a story one paragraph at a time. Since it's weekly rather than monthly, and for only 12 issues though... it works! This is a great read for anyone unfamiliar with the DCU (DC Universe) or comics in general. You get a little taste of everything, and can then go pick up whatever monthly titles have inspired you. The art and writing varies from story to story, with so many differing styles of both, that everyone will find several things to enjoy. The Superman art blows me away, and the Azzarello Batman story is fantastic. I'm VERY much looking forward to seeing where this is going.


Now... the story I've been waiting YEARS for has FINALLY arrived!

When I got back into comics, I picked up an issue of Green Lantern and glanced through it, very briefly. I was impressed by the art, it seemed like more of a Sci-Fi book than anything else, and as I love Sci-Fi, I thought, "I'll give THIS a try." After that first issue (can't remember what number it was, early twenties?" I went on a mad quest to find all the back issues of Geoff Johns' run, finding all but issues #4 & #9. It has since become my favorite book, the one I am chomping at the bit to read every month. Geoff Johns was planting the seeds for "Blackest Night" right from issue #1 and it has been a slow and maddening build up, with the last year being nothing but hype about DC's answer to "Marvel Zombies"

"Blackest Night" is now in FULL swing, we've been treated so far with:

• "Blackest Night:Tales of the Corps" Issues #1-3 (of 3)
• "Blackest Night" Issues #0 & #1
• "Blackest Night:Green Lantern" Issues #43 & #44

I'll admit it, I've become a bit of a Green Lantern fanboy... and I may be a bit biased toward this first major Green Lantern event after "The Sinestro Corps War" but this whole thing kicks ass! The "Tales of the Corps" are unnecessary, but extremely enjoyable. They flesh out some of the new Corps, and Corps members, both old and new. Doug Mahnke has taken of the art in the main Green Lantern book, I wasn't a big fan of Philip Tan, who was the temporary guy who took over for Ethan Van Sciver. Doug Mahnke has always been one of my favorites, and the idea of him working on my favorite book has had me innappropriatley stroking my inner thigh for months! And I have not been let down. Issues #43 & #44 are GORGEOUS!!! And although we haven't been given much of the story yet, it's got me hooked. We've been teased with who may show up as a Black Lantern, as well as seeing the first few who get rings. Issue #43 was the origin of Black Hand, and was harsh... fucking harsh. Awesome full page spread of his suicide that hits you like a train, along with the terrifying last page. I think "Blackest Night" may turn out to be the best thign ever, not just in the world of comics, but in ALL the world.