Comicy

I'm feeling comicy this afternoon, so those of you who don't care, feel free to click off.

At the comic shop, here in town, I don't have much of a pull list. I keep a few things on there to mostly make sure I get the 10% discount and when I'm feeling on the very pathetic side, it's nice to have someone outside of work call me by my name, it's like I've made a friend in this town. Anyway, I pick up what's in my pull file, Countdown (Which has been a big disappointment. One of the reasons for me buying this comic, Kyle Raynor, hasn't even appeared yet. Darkseid has only appeared once, so far. And there's been way too much Jason Todd. That character was way more important when he was dead. There was no reason for bringing him back except to annoy me. So, what I want to say to Paul Dini and the rest of the crew on Countdown is to bring Darkseid back, use Jimmy Olsen more, ditch Jason Todd, and hurry up with the Giffen layouts.), this week, and then peruse the rest of the new things.

I don't read Previews. I don't go through the monthly solicits for the big two at Newsarama every time they come out. (I will check them when one of the comics blogs I read mentions a cover, but it's not a regular monthly thing for me like it is for so many other comics people on the 'net, though.) Hell, I even avoid reading the Grumpy Old Fan columns on Blog@Newsarama that focus on the solicits which, since Amateur Art Appreciation hasn't been around for a while, is probably my favorite column on Blog@. I like to be surprised when I look. And this week was a good week to be surprised.

The first happy surprise was the latest issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 was there. Reading these has been a lot of fun, especially since I finished watching the entire series a couple of weeks ago. The one thing that gets me is that Joss Whedon used Jane Espenson's spin-off idea by bringing back Warren (I remember an interview I saw, or read, as Buffy was working its way off the air where Ms. Espenson was asked if she was asked about doing a Buffy spin-off and she said, "I pitched one idea to Joss. I went in there and said, 'We all know Warren is dead, but what if he wasn't?'" (I'm paraphrasing, there. I can't find a link. And when I Googled most of the Espenson spin-off rumors are around her and Battlestar Galactica.)), although much creepier, since he still doesn't have any skin and Amy's in love with him, which is actually creepier than the no skin thing. Looking forward to the next issue. I wonder which Buffy look-alike it'll be about. Maybe all three?

The next happy surprise was the newest Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. This book is so wonderful. Every time I read it, I just get the warm fuzzies. And I'm proud to admit that I've been there since the first issue of the first mini, but I am missing some of the earlier issues of this latest series. After two minis, I was confused for a while. For some reason, this series makes me think of Everwood, which is a very good thing. I wish that Marvel would announce what's going to happen when they run out of McKeever written issues. Will DC let him continue? Will Marvel try it with someone else writing? Will it be cancelled for good? Will there ever be another letter column? Anyone?

The ruler of the comics kingdom this week, to me, has got to be Gail Simone. I saw two comics by her, Birds of Prey and Welcome to Tranquility, and I snagged them before I even knew what the cover images were.

I have to admit, although I bought Birds of Prey 100, I never really thought about the comic much. It always struck me as a sort of Batman spin-off staring women, but really written for boys. Sure, I'd read and heard good things about it, but I'm not much of a Bat-fan, so I didn't care much. And then I read about a favorite Giffen/DeMatteis era character showing up in the book, and I had to buy it. It was fun. Eventually, there was Barda beating the crap out of Knockout and that was even better. The only thing that would have improved this issue is if Ice had been asked not only about what Guy would have thought about her behavior, but what Bea would have thought about it because she was just as much of a balancing influence on Bea as she was on Guy, maybe even more so.

The other Simone book, Welcome to Tranquility, is such a hoot. It's one of the best love letters to superhero comics out there. It's about a town where retired superheroes have moved with their, often super powered, families and how the human sheriff and her human deputies try to keep the peace. Five reasons I enjoy it so much: 1. A super speedster with a cane. 2. Emoticon, the grandson of The Typist, has the coolest mask, ever. 3. The Pink Bunny back-up story was a hoot. 4. Minxy Minerva and her solid gold plane. And 5. Zeke and his wonderfully horrible puns about death and other semi-inappropriate things. When I started reading the book, I bought the first five at the same time because I'd been poking around the book since it was released, but I always had plenty in my hands, and then one week I only got a copy of 52 in my file and money burning a hole in my pocket and I'm happy to report that it was worth every penny. If you're not already buying it, you should.

Okay, that's it for now.

If you haven't already, move along.