This week’s haul

Just back from my local comic book shop. More superhero books than I normally buy for some reason:

Chew #5 – John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image): The final issue of this fun little read about an FDA agent who gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats (including severed fingers and deceased pets). Doesn’t take itself seriously, which I like in a comic.

Ignition City #5 – Warren Ellis, Gianluca Pagliarnai (Avatar): About time this one comes out.  I love this series, but Avatar’s publishing schedule is giving me a headache. I guess these smaller press outfits (Boom! and IDW included) operate like the golden age of comics publishing – you get it when you get it. My series review is posted here.

Fantastic Four #572 – Jonathan Hickman, Dale Eaglesham (Marvel): The first arc by the new creative team. It’s really a Reed Richards solo story. The jury is out for me until the story is complete. I gave the Millar/Hitch a try, but abandoned that one two issues in because it wasn’t really doing much for me. I like my FF cosmic adventures and domestic strife.

Guardians of the Galaxy #19 – Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Wesley Craig (Marvel): Kang the Conqueror’s still around? I grabbed this one totally on a whim. I loved what Keith Giffen did with the team in Annihilation Conquest. There’s no Rocket Raccoon (presumable he’s dead?) but I was sold on Cosmo the dog. I’ll be curious to see if it’s still as much fun as Giffen’s run.

Die Hard Year One #2 – Howard Chaykin and Stephen Thompson (Boom! Studios): I don’t usually go for licensed books, but this one intrigued me based on the write-up on the Living Between Wednesdays blog. Definitely a slow build with the introduction of far too many characters. I’ll be interested to see how issue #2 unfolds.  But I definitely prefer Brubaker and Phillips’ Criminal for a good crime/heist story.

Astro City Special: Astra #2 – Kurt Busiek, Brent E. Anderson (Wildstorm): The latest entry in the Astro City family. The book goes monthly starting with the next issue that comes out. I’m debating whether to keep picking this one up. It’s not at the top of my list, but it’s definitely not at the bottom (unlike the latest New Mutants series, sorry).

Madame Xanadu #16, cover

And finally Madame Xanadu #16 – Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder Hadley (Vertigo): New arc. The original creative team is back. Sexy magic – the best kind? Includes a preview of Luna Park, which look wicked.

Unfortunately, Northlanders #21 was sold out. I really enjoy Brian Wood’s DMZ, but haven’t tried this series yet. Based on some pencilled pages posted on the Vertigo blog recently, I thought I’d pick up this new arc.

Comic review: Ignition City

     

 

 

 

 

 

Ignition City #3

Just finished reading issue #3 of Ignition City (Avatar), by Warren Ellis and Gianluca Pagliarani.

Ellis seems to be one of the few who can write sci-fi comics really well. Maybe it’s because he stays away from space opera, which seems to dominate much of this comics genre, and approaches it more as speculative fiction. His worlds tend to be believable (like Global Frequency or the alternate history tale Ministry of Science) or satirical (Transmetropolitan) – in which case the unbelievability is a device to further the narrative. And his superhero stuff is often quite outrageous but very entertaining.

So Ignition City falls into the first camp. It’s alternate history that imagines a world where humans have effectively shut themselves off from space after a series of misadventures. The story follows a young pilot searching for her father’s murderer among a group of fallen space heroes who spend their remaining days living in Earth’s last spaceport.

This is my first introduction to Gianluca Pagliarani‘s art, which is very interesting and reminds me of Jean Giraud’s work (aka Moebius). But it’s probably a European styling I’m not familiar with. Makes me think of Marvel’s Epic imprint circa 1980’s for some reason. Pagliarani seems to balance detailed backgrounds with iconic-looking people, drawing the reader into the story quickly while leaving a canvas to draw fantastic settings.

The first half of issue #3 really drove home the pathetic hopelessness that dominates these characters’ lives.

Highly recommended.